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atlafan · 2 years ago

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Peaches and Cream - One Shot

a/n: okay yall went crazy for this blurb so I wrote a full one shot for it. lmk if you want to see more from these two! Please reblog, put notes in the tags, send me asks. All feedback is important. It keep me writing! not proofread

warnings: smut, enemies to lovers

words: 8.6K

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There he was, looking at her with the smuggest look she’s ever seen. He’s tucking his shirt back into his pants, fastening the button and zipper, and looking up at her with rosy cheeks and closed-mouth grin. When all she does is look at him stoically, he chuckles softly, shakes his head, and finishes getting dressed. He leans in to leave a peck to her forehead before departing.

“Harry.” She calls to him, making him turn to look at her. “This was a one-time thing.”

“Whatever you say, Peach.”

And then he’s gone. She frowns at the use of her nickname. The one bestowed upon her by her mother. It was “Peaches” actually, but over the years people have just come to call her “Peach”. It wasn’t something she thought would carry over into her adult life, but she did. Then in bled into her professional life. She doesn’t mind when people call her that…except for him. Whenever Harry calls her Peach or Peaches, he says it in the most condescending tone. Sometimes when he’s feeling especially obnoxious, he likes to call her “Peaches and Cream”. He turned her sweet nickname into something she almost hates hearing now. But everyone knows her as Peach, and she doesn’t want to rock the boat by making them call her, her actual name. (Which she can’t stand. And her middle name is no good either.)

She hates Harry. He’s been a menace to her for years. So how she allowed him to take her home and fuck her into her mattress…she can’t really recall. As she shuffles into her bathroom and washes her face, she thinks about how the night’s events transpired. They weren’t intoxicated. They weren’t under the influence of any kind. They were simply working late, which was nothing out of the ordinary for either of them.

She and Harry are both account managers at a prestigious PR firm – Harris Public Relations & Media Consultation. Harry is a nepotism baby though. His father worked at Harris for years, was the CFO, that whole thing. So it was easy for Harry to get an internship during undergrad in the marketing department. And it was easy for Harry to get hired on as a copy editor while going for his MBA. And it was easy for Harry to move up the ranks until he was one of the lead account managers.

Peach, on the other hand, well…she worked a little harder. She got a full ride to Columbia thanks to hours upon hours of writing letters and essays for scholarships. She thought she might like to go into journalism, but she only ended up minoring in it. What stole her heart was media relations and literacy. She just found it fascinating! The theory behind what media are, and how to properly learn how to use them interested her more than anything. She took a course on the art of media training, and that was it for her. She knew she wanted to do something in the world of public relations. She also looked up to Samantha from Sex and the City, and how she was able to basically build an empire all on her own. That was Peach’s dream, to someday have her own PR firm.

But she knew it would take time to be able to do that. She had to learn the business and make a name for herself. She found an internship during undergrad, but she had to go through a more rigorous interview process than Harry had. She also got her start in copy editing, but for a small marketing company. Working at a place like Harris would be a huge stepping stone for her career. So when a job opened up on the media relations team a few years back, she applied. And thanks to her networking skills, she had some incredible people to put down as references. It took over a month, but she was hired. She was doing copy editing, working with clients, doing some media training to up and coming artists. All things that were good experience for her to get under belt.

Being an account manager though…that’s where the big buck and the notoriety are. This where are a person can put their money where their mouth is. The CEO, now Harris’ son Jeremy, is the one who assigns the account managers to specific clients. Each manager has a team, that team puts together a pitch, and they all pitch it to the client. The client then picks which pitch they like best, and that manager and their teams gets to work with the client going forward. Everyone gets paid a standard salary, but account managers are given a commission when their pitch is selected. Not to mention the pure bragging rights.

So, she knew if she ever wanted her own PR firm, then she’d start needing experience managing accounts. She requested a one-on-one meeting with Jeremy after working for the company for two years. She did good work. She brought him facts and figures. He was impressed. When he asked what she wanted when she was done selling herself to him, she explained her work goals and aspirations. She didn’t say she wanted to have her own firm, no, she told him she wanted to be an account manager here at Harris and she wanted to be the one to continue getting them in the 21st century. She wanted to bring the company more money and more clients. This is exactly what Jeremy wanted to hear. But since she’s a woman, she had to be a bit more persuasive. She knows how Jeremy is. He looks, but never touches. He’s a married man, after all. So, she gave him various things to look at that day. She wore her tightest pencil skirt that fell about halfway around her thighs, sheer, black tights underneath, a pair of pumps that would help her legs look a little longer, and a blouse that showed off her cleavage beautifully.

It was in the bag. Jeremy’s eyes drifted and wandered as she spoke. She pretended not to care that she was being openly objectified by the CEO of the company. And by the end of the meeting, he told her that one of the other account managers would be retiring at the end of that month, but no one knew yet. So, the open position would go right to her if she wanted it. She accepted, and shook his hand, lingering just a tad to make him feel wanted. Giving a man an ego boost is always the icing on the cake. She got exactly what she wanted.

This tactic may not have been obvious to the other account managers, but it was obvious to Harry. He has no problem working with women. He prefers to work in a diverse space, so that’s not the problem. The problem is he knew exactly how she played it. She used her looks and body to weasel her way into an open position that she didn’t have a formal interview for. Harry was hoping there would be a legitimate search done for a new account manager so one of his friends at another frim could apply. But no…Peach got it.

She was given the office right next to Harrys. Glass all around for easy view of the city and the people working at the desks outside of the offices. There were blinds that could be pulled for privacy, of course. She had her own assistant that would help manager her calendar and meetings. And now she’d be able to put her own teams together for pitches. She knew who she liked in the graphics department, and she knew who she liked in the print shop, and she knew who she liked for writing copy. It was all falling into place.

Harry was convinced that she slept with Jeremy to get the position. To him, it seemed like she had no experience for pitching to clients and making the important things happen. To him, she had more experience in damage control, quality assurance, those types of things.

At her first account managers meeting, Jeremy was there to deliver some new updates. He was a hands on CEO, just as his father was. He didn’t just want to be a figure head for the company. He still took on the occasional client and everything.

“And my last announcement is to welcome our newest account manager, Peach.” He smiled in her direction, and everyone looked at her. She smiled at everyone sheepishly, then they turned their attention back to Jeremy.

After the meeting, Harry saw her refilling her water bottle at the water bottle station near the bathrooms. He was going to refill his bottle as well.

“Congrats on movin’ on up.” He said her. At first she thought he was being sincere. Could the nepotism baby actually be a kind person with a soul?

“Thank you, Harry.”

“Please, just call me H, everyone else does.”

“Alright.” She smiled and stepped aside to let him refill his water.

“So, what kind of a name is Peach? Did your parents have an affinity for the fruit?” He asked her nonchalantly.

“No, it’s just a nickname my mom gave me when I was a kid. She used to call me Peaches, and then that shortened to Peach as I got older. It sort of stuck, and I prefer to use it. It’s shorter than my actual name. Rolls off the tongue easier.”

“Ah.” Harry nodded, screwing the cap back onto his bottle. “I bet Jeremy thought you were just the sweetest thing, then?” He said sweetest thing with a slight country twang. Was he mocking her? Her mother may have been from the south, but she was no bumpkin.

“I don’t know about that, but I know he liked what he saw when I showed him my portfolio.”

“Mm.” He nodded again. “Well, bless your heart, Peaches. Welcome to the team.”

He turned and walked away from her, leaving the foulest taste in her mouth. So what if she was born in Georgia. She wasn’t raised there. Her parents got divorced, and her mother moved them up north to Boston where one of her cousins lived. Her mother met a man that worked in IT, and she got a new step-dad in a matter of a couple of years. She doesn’t even have an accent. Her mother barely has one anymore. What the fuck was Harry’s problem?

The two didn’t see much of each other except for the weekly account managers meeting. They were often working on different projects, and they never used the same people for their teams. Jeremy assigned specific managers to specific pitches because he knew where certain people had expertise. Different clients needed different things. So, really, Peach didn’t have to work with Harry all that much. She hated that her office was next to his, but it’s not like he was a distraction.

He knew how to push her buttons, though. He’d throw in various version of her nickname during meetings to make her look stupid and juvenile. Saying things like, “We haven’t heard from Peaches on this”, or, “Settle down Peach and Cream”, or literally anything that would make her the butt of a joke. She loathed him. Harry knew it was childish to pick on her, but he was pissed. If she could schmooze her way into this position, who’s to say she won’t do that again for an even higher position? No way will she ever be the boss of him. Harry works hard, and he’s good at what he does. He’s one of the top account managers at the firm. If anyone’s going to get a bump up, it should be him.

It went on like this for a year. They made each other crazy. Then came the day when Harry, Chris, John, and Peach were all called into a meeting with Jeremy and his executive assistant. This is usually how he assigned really important pitches to a select number of account managers. What both Harry and Peach couldn’t figure out is why they were being called into the same meeting.

“You all are familiar with the popular hotel chain called RJR, right?” Everyone nods and hums in agreement. “They’re looking to rebrand. They’ve had the same logo, slogan, and branding for over thirty years, and they want to change things up. They want to get more young people using their website to book rooms and events. The majority of their clientele are older people, and they love them, but they want to expand and market to more.” Everyone takes notes as Jeremy explains. “You all have experience when it comes to helping a company work through rebranding. This is going to be an insanely involved project, so I wanted my top managers on this.”

Harry thought he was going to explode. Since when was Peach a top account manager? She’s only been at this for a year! Harry’s been managing accounts for over five! He knows he gets paid more, especially since his pitches are usually the ones chosen by the client, but now he seems to have some real competition. Jeremy’s assistant emails everyone the briefing on what the hotel is looking to do. Now it’s on the account managers to do some market research before pulling their teams together. They have a week and a half before the VP of Marketing from RJR comes to hear the pitches.

She stays late every night to do take notes and put her information together. They all still have other work during the day to get done. It’s not unusual for people to stay late. She wants to be able to articulate what different populations are looking for in terms of hotel service. What’s important to these different age groups? 24-hour front desk service? A proper mini-fridge? Storage space? Free breakfast? It’s a lot to consider. If the nightly rate is high, what are the customers getting for that price?

“Well, look he’s still here.” Harry’s graining, agitating voice rings loud and clear to her as he steps into her office. “It’s Miss Peach Pie.”

“What do you want, H? I’m busy.” She says flatly.

“Nothing.” He shrugs. “I was just finishing up my work for the night. I used one of the conference rooms that has a larger whiteboard so I could brainstorm a little.” He puts his hands in his pockets and smirks at her. “Don’t get too excited though, I erased everything, so you won’t be able to steal any of my ideas.”

“Your ideas are probably just as stupid as you are, so I’m all set.”

“Oof.” He puts his hands over his heart to fake that she’s wounded him. “That was a good one. Calling me stupid is so high level.”

“I apologize, I’m a bit tired from the day. I promise to insult you properly tomorrow morning after a good night’s sleep.”

“You know you’re not going to be selected for this, right? You’re going up against me, John, and Chris. You don’t stand a chance.”

“Sounds like someone’s projecting.” She sing-songs. “You’re that scared of me stealing your thunder?”

“All I’m saying is, you’re running with the big dogs now. Some of us aren’t exactly friendly.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice about that.”

“Just don’t be surprised when one of us bites you on the ass.”

“Hm.” She grins and crosses her arms over her chest, leaning back in her chair. “And what would a bitchless guy like yourself know about biting asses?” Harry’s mouth falls open. “I mean, it’s one thing for a woman to work late. I don’t have kids to get home to, and I pay my neighbor’s kid to feed my dog and take him out. But you, a man of such stature and status, you’d think you’d have some hole to rush home to.” She pouts mockingly at him. “What’s wrong? Your pocket pussy just not doing it for you anymore?”

Harry narrows his eyes at her. “My private life stays separate from work. Pardon me for not talking about what or who I get into on the weekends like some of our other colleagues.”

“It’s okay to admit you’re a virgin, H. Everyone does everything in their own time. I’m sure it’ll happen for you someday.” She smiles ever so sweetly at him. “Life isn’t a race.”

“Go to hell.” He huffs, and leaves her office to go to his, gathering his things and leaving her in their wing all alone.

He hates her. He loathes her. He has to beat her at this, he can’t let her win.

After a week and a half of snide comments, and hours upon hours of extra work, the VP of Marketing from RJR is here in the nicest conference room to hear the four different pitches. Jeremy is sitting with her. Her name is Adelaide Benjamin. She looks to be in her late forties, but her eyes are kind. It’s not often the managers get to pitch to a woman. It makes John and Chris a little nervous for their presentations. They’re both guys’ guys. Harry can charm anyone, so he’s not worried one bit. And Peach, well, she’s not stupid enough to relax just because she’s pitching to a woman. Often times in business, women aren’t so quick to support other women.

The four of them get to meet with Adelaide, sharing a delicious breakfast catered by the firm’s dining department. She goes over her plans and what the company over all is looking to do. They all are given time to freshen up and use the bathroom before the presentations start. John goes first, then Harry, then Peach, and then Chris. The four of them are brought back in after Adelaide and Jeremy chat for a while.

“Thank you all so much for your marvelous presentations. I’m going to take back the materials you’ve given me to my team, and talk things over with them. I should have an answer on who I’d like to take this on in a few days.”

Oh, she’s thorough. Today is Thursday, which means they won’t have an answer until Monday. Which means the four of them are going to be on edge until then. It makes it difficult to concentrate on their other projects. Peach’s stomach isn’t feeling too great. She’s not sure if she ate too much or too little earlier. She’s not sure if it’s the nerves. She’s not sure if maybe her skirt is just a little too tight around her stomach as she sits. It’s really a better outfit for standing.

She manages to get through the day unscathed, but around 5:15, she’s rushing to the bathroom. She’s never sure which end is worse for things to come out of, but at work, she’d prefer to throw up. Luckily, that’s all it is. She heaved hard until her stomach was empty, and it was just bile coming out. She stands up slowly, and goes to rinse her mouth out at the sink. She keeps a spare toothbrush in her office, and makeup wipes. She sighs with relief at the thought because looking at herself in the mirror right now…

Her forehead is clammy, her body feels sweaty, and she looks like a raccoon because now her eye makeup has smeared and clumped under her eyes. She’s just happy she had the good sense to put her hair up before coming to the bathroom to throw up. Feeling exhausted, she pushes the bathroom door open only to be met with Harry refilling his water bottle. He looks at her like he’s looking at a ghost. He almost looks concerned? That can’t be.

“Was…was that you in there?” He blinks, and she nods. “Christ, I don’t think I’ve heard someone yak that violently before. Do you always sound like that when you spew?”

“I don’t know, I don’t usually pay attention to the way I vomit while it’s happening.” She wipes under her eyes and sighs when she sees how much makeup comes off on her hands. “I need to go clean myself up.”

“Are you feeling alright?” He asks as he follows her back to her office. He watches as she pops a piece of gum in her mouth, and uses a wipe to clean her face. “Are you sick?”

“My stomach’s been bothering me all day. I think it was something I ate this morning.”

“Well, I feel fine and no one else seemed to get sick from the food.”

“Maybe it’s a stomach bug, then. I don’t know. I plan to take a sleeping aid and knock out when I get home.”

“Could be something else.” He smirks. “Maybe you’re pregnant. What a blessing that would be. You’d go on maternity leave, we’d hire someone on in your place on a temporary basis, they’d excel, and then you’d be fired a month after returning.” He looks off, smiling, as if he can really picture it. “What a world that would be.”

“Just because a woman throws up does not mean she’s pregnant.” She bites. Harry looks at her. He’s never seen her face look so plain and delicate. He’s seen her at the end of the day before. He knows what she looks like when she’s exhausted. This is just the most vulnerable he’s ever seen her. It’s like she’s taken all of her armor off. “I’m packing up so I can go home. Hopefully it was just a one and done.”

“Maybe you should stop by a pharmacy on your way. You know, grab some Nyquil, maybe some O.J., and a pregnancy test, just to be sure.”

“You know, you really shouldn’t be an ass about things like this.” She huffs as she stuffs her bag with her things. “What if I was trying to get pregnant, hm? What if I’ve miscarried? What if I couldn’t have children? Do you know how awful it would be to be questioned like this if I had all that going on? You don’t like being asked about your personal life, well, neither do I. So drop it.”

“You’re right, it was insensitive me to joke about that.” He says genuinely, and it helps her to calm down. “It was stupid for me to even bring it up. I mean, it’s not like you’re fucking anyone. You said it yourself, the only thing you’re going home to is your dog.”

Her bottom lip juts out in a pout. Harry’s about to roll his eyes because she’s famous for using that pout to her advantage, but when he notices her lip start to quiver and tears slipping down her cheeks, well, his entire demeanor changes.

“Shit, I took it too far.” He crosses the room over to her just as she’s grabbing a tissue to dab her eyes with.

“You always do, it’s nothing I can’t handle.” She says through her tears. “Don’t go all soft on me just because I’m tearing up.” She wipes under her eyes and reaches for her coat. “You have no idea what I’ve been through in the last six months because I check my shit at the door. Work is a good distraction. I used to have more to go home to, but I don’t anymore.” She brushes by him over to her door, and she motions for him to leave so she can lock it. “But at least I still have something there that’s happy to see me when I get in. What do you have, huh?” He furrows his eyebrows as he looks at her. “You have absolutely nothing outside of this place.” She zips up her jacket and locks her office door. “See you tomorrow, asswipe.”

She doesn’t see him tomorrow. She actually had to call out of work. Turns out she does have a stomach bug. She’s feeling much better by the time Monday comes around. She knows she was really harsh when she last spoke to Harry, but she doesn’t care. He’s been harsh with her time and time again. It’s about time someone gives it back to him.

Her assistant tells her she has a meeting with Jeremy at nine, so she prepares for that. She wonders if he’s letting her down easy for not getting the pitch. She figures Harry probably got it. She stops short at Jeremy’s office when she sees Harry chatting with Jeremy’s assistant.

“Oh, good, you’re both here. Come in.” Jeremy says, and she and Harry both go to sit on the other side of his desk. “I had a video call with Adelaide last night. After looking over all the materials with her team, she feels as though it would be best if the two of you worked on the account together.”

“What?” They say at the same time.

“She enjoyed both of your pitches immensely, and was having a hard time choosing. She said you both bring different and interesting ideas to the table, and she’d like to see them combined cohesively. You each will still get a full commission, so it’s not like you have to split this one.” He looks at Harry, then at her, smiling fondly as his eyes rake over her body. “Peach, I think it would be a good opportunity for you to work with Harry. As you know, he’s one of the top account managers at this firm, he has plenty of experience under his belt, especially a rebrand of this caliber.”

“Yes, sir, that makes sense.” She says, swallowing her pride a bit as she nods.

“And Harry, you could learn a thing or two from Peach. She’s very up to date on what Gen Z is up to online. Adelaide noted that she enjoyed Peach’s ideas for getting the company on Tik Tik. I know social media outside of Facebook and Instagram isn’t your favorite, but it’s a fad that seems to be everlasting.”

“Tik Tok…right.” Harry nods slowly.

“You have a month to get a concise concept together for her review. You’ll be sent some of their own market research that her team has done. It should help you figure out how to best target the audiences they’re looking draw in. Any questions?” They both shake their heads no. “Excellent. Hop to it.”

The two stand up and leave in complete shock. They don’t speak to each other for two days. Neither of them know what to say to the other. But Wednesday rolls around and it hits them that a month really isn’t a ton of time to put everything together, so they need to meet. They block out the whole afternoon to meet in one of the larger conference rooms so they can looks over the other’s materials and use the whiteboards to brainstorm.

“I still don’t understand the need for a Tik Tok account for a hotel chain. Who would want to watch videos about a hotel?” Harry asks her.

“The videos wouldn’t be about the hotel. People like it when brands jump onto weird trends that have absolutely nothing to do with their product. It’s funny and unexpected. It drive those viewers to their account page which is where a link to the hotel site would be.” She smiles smugly. “I didn’t think I’d have to explain something so simple to you, but that’s on me for assuming you have at least one brain cell in that giant head of yours.”

“Making fun of someone’s personal appearance is shallow, rude, and cheap.” He turns his nose up at her. “I didn’t look at the Tik Tok thing in that way. I don’t use the app myself, so I guess I’m not up on all the trends and whatnot.”

“It’s actually pretty fun. There are definitely people on there with brain rot, but you can just block the accounts you don’t want to see. Let me guess…you use reels?”

“No.” Harry says defensively. “But I have friends that send them to me from time to time.”

“Wait a second.” She shakes her head in confusion. “You have friends?”

“Not all of us prefer to only converse with four-legged animals, Peaches.” He sighs. “What did you think of the mock ups my team did for the logo?”

“I actually really liked them. You had Lee do these?”

“Yeah, he’s always my go to.”

“This one’s my favorite, it’s sleek, not too busy, but it still has some pizazz.” She taps her finger on one of the pieces of paper.

“Alright, something we actually agree on.” Harry sets the other logos aside on the other side of the table. “Now, I was thinking we could do some type of mailer for the crowd that doesn’t like digital marketing. A post card with a coupon code could go over very well. They can be directed to the website or call the hotel directly.”

“We can send it as an email as well.”

“Right.” Harry nods. “I was thinking long-time rewards members could get a voucher for one free night, or free breakfast during their stay. Adelaide said the company is fine with spending a little to make a lot.”

“I think giving that to long-time members is a good idea. It costs more to get and retain new people, let’s focus on the people we have.”

“Exactly.” Harry smiles. “So, here’s a binder full of information I had my assistant put together. If you could look through it and take some notes, I can-“

“I’m going to stop you right there.” She slides the binder back over to him. “I’m not your admin, I’m not going to be the only one doing the clerical work. Also, do not assign tasks to me like I’m lesser than you.”

“Jeremy said you could learn from me. I’m just showing you my process. Like me or not, I have a good track record with my clients. I’ve already looked through the binder and put my notes in the margins. I just wanted you to look it over as well so we have the same information.”

“You could have said that in the first place.” She murmurs.

“You’re very hostile when you don’t need to be.”

“If I’m hostile it’s because you make the environment that way. You’re always so combative. You make everything a competition!”

“That’s our job! We compete for clients.”

“But you’re especially competitive with me. I’m a woman in a male dominated field and office, I have to work twice as hard as you. If I show the wrong emotion, I’m a bitch or a pushover or weak or nasty.”

“Are you telling me that I don’t work hard? That I didn’t work hard to get to where I am?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Your father was the CFO! Of course you got one of the best jobs here.”

“I worked my way up same as you.”

“It wasn’t the same, Harry.”

“You’re right, I didn’t sleep my way to top.”

“Excuse me?!”

“Don’t act so surprised that I figured it out, it’s obvious.”

“What’s obvious?” Her eyes and nostrils are flaring.

“You hooked up with Jeremy, that’s how you got the open position without going through the formal interview process. That’s why you dress and act the way you do. You wanted his attention, you got it, and you have him something in return. Now, I don’t know if you blew him under his desk or if you let him fuck you, but-“ Smack! Harry clutches at his cheek, and looks at her in shock. Her chest is heaving and her eyes are watery.

“How fucking dare you.”

“Did you just slap me?! I could report you, I could-“

“And I could report you for sexual harassment and defamation of character! That’s how you think I got this job? By sleeping with the CEO?”

“It had to have been! I see the way he looks at you. I see the way everyone looks at you.”

“I asked for a meeting with him, not even knowing there was going to be a position opening up. I just wanted to sit with him and go over my goals and where’d I’d like to be in the next few years. I showed him my portfolio, he asked me a few questions, and we had a great conversation. He didn’t touch me, I didn’t touch him, it was all professional.”

“Mhm.” Harry rolls his eyes. “So every time we meet with him, I’m just imagining the look he gives you?”

“What look?”

“Like he’s ready to devour you right then and there.”

“Jeremy looks, but he doesn’t touch. He would never cheat on his wife, he needs her, and he knows she’d leave him if he did anything behind his back.”

“How could you possibly even know that?”

“His assistant told me. She wanted to know what the meeting was for, she was excited for me, and she gave me some tips. So, yeah, I wore one of my best outfits and let my cleavage pop a little, but I didn’t sleep with him. And even if I had, shame on you for shaming me for it. We all have to learn to play the game, Harry. Women are dealt a different hand, so we play the game differently. I didn’t do anything wrong.” She starts gathering her things. “I cannot believe that I have to continue to work on this project with you.”

“I can’t believe you slapped me.” He rubs his cheek and starts chuckling. “Got me pretty good.”

“I’m not a particularly violent person, but you said something totally out of line, H.” She looks at him. “It’s not funny.”

With that, she leaves the conference room. They communicate via email and Teams all day Thursday. She couldn’t bare to be in the same space as him. She even worked in a separate area so she wouldn’t have to look over and see him in his office. They agreed to meet late on Friday to get back to the task at hand. They ordered takeout and got to work. Keeping things strictly professional, not getting distracted by petty conversations. Harry ended up ordering some ice cream through Uber Eats. He’s got a sweet tooth, so now they take a break while they soak in the sugar.

“I think this is really starting to come together.” He says as he walks around the conference table, looking over their materials. “I think we could probably start putting our team together next week.”

“Agreed.” She nods. “I have to say, ice cream was a good idea.”

“Much needed.” Harry sets his cup down and stuffs his hands in his pockets. “I…haven’t formally apologized for what happened the other day. I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.”

“It’s not about the way you spoke to me, it’s about you assuming I was fucking around with our boss to move up. And even if I was, it’s none of your business.”

“You’re right, it’s not.” He slowly approaches her. “To be honest, I don’t think it would have bothered me if it were anyone else.”

“Why? Because you already didn’t like me?”

“Yeah.” He smirks, stepping closer until her bum hits the edge of the conference table. He’s never been this close to her before. “But also…” He places his hands on either side of her on the table, their noses nearly brushing. “I hate the way the other guys look at you, especially Jeremy.”

“What do you care how other people look at me? Why do you even notice?”

“Because after I’m done looking at you, I’m looking to see if anyone else is seeing what I’m seeing.”

“What do you see?” She asks carefully, not faltering or backing down even though Harry is extremely intimidating in this position.

“The most frustratingly gorgeous woman.”

“You’re being mean.” Her bottom lip pouts ever so slightly, and Harry’s eyes darken.

“I’m being serious.” He closes his eyes and presses his forehead to hers. “You have no idea what it does to me when you pout like that.”

“H.”

“Tell me to back off if I’m making you uncomfortable.” He looks at her. “We can get right back to work, and I’ll promise to never get this close to you again.”

“You’re trying to get me caught up in something for leverage.” She pushes on his shoulders to get him to back up. “You want me to make a move so you can hold it over me. You’re being an ass and messing around.”

“I’m not messing around. Jesus Christ, not everyone in this world is out to get you.”

“I never said they were! God, you love to put words in my mouth.”

“I actually only have one thing I’d love to put in your mouth, but something tells me you wouldn’t go for it.”

“Oh, please.” She scoffs. “You’d blow your load the second the open air hits your prick. Virgins tend to lose it a little faster, but I’m sure you’ve looked that up before.”

“Why do you think I’m a virgin?” He laughs, exasperated.

“You seem very sexually repressed.” She crosses her arms over her chest, and looks him up and down. “And all this.” She gestures around him. “It doesn’t exactly scream, ‘this guy fucks’.”

“I’ll have you know I get compliments all the time on my clothes.”

“Just because they fit right doesn’t mean they’re appealing.”

“How would you know if they fit right?” He smirks.

“It’s hard not to notice when you’re always wearing pants that are tight around your ass. You’re like a math teacher or something, you love to lean over a table during a meeting and stick your butt out.”

“It’s more comfortable to stand that way.” He shrugs. “And just to circle back, if anyone’s sexually repressed, it’s you.”

“Me?”

“You’re entire aura screams that you need to get dicked down, and you need it bad.”

“Well you’re right about that.” She agrees. “But not from you. I’m not in the mood to explain the female anatomy to someone. Did you know that women can orgasm too? It’s not just something men can do.”

“Is that right.” Harry nods.

“Mhm, and we can get wet as well. Not something I would expect you to know anything about.”

“Are you wet right now?”

“That’s not a question you ask someone.” Her cheeks flush.

“Why not? Our conversation is already so vulgar. Answer the question, are you wet? Are you turned on? Are you hot?”

“Come find out for yourself.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah.” She motions to him to come closer. “I give you full permission to touch me and find out.”

“You’re bluffing.”

“I’m not.”

Harry steps towards her, slinging an arm around her waist to pull her closer. His other hand reaches to unzip the zipper on the side of her skirt. His fingers skim along her sheer stockings before tucking them inside. She takes a deep breath, but continues to hold eye contact with him.

“You’re sure you’re okay with this?” He asks.

“Yes.”

His fingers slide down further, moving between her folds and the cotton cloth covering her. His nostrils flare when he feels how wet she is. He didn’t think he did it for her, he’s pleasantly surprised. She’s not overly drenched or anything, but she’s definitely aroused. They look at each other, both of their hearts beating rapidly.

In a flash, Harry’s hands are flying to her jaw and he’s taking her bottom lip between his teeth. The surprised gasp she makes gives him access to the inside of her mouth. His tongue molds with hers. He’s aggressive, but not in an inexperienced excited way that would have him slobbering all over her, no, it’s the type of aggressive where if he doesn’t keep kissing her they’ll both die. He moves the various papers behind her on the table and sits her up on it. She’s on her back in seconds with him on top of her, pressing his hard cock into her hip. She tries to shift to get him where she wants him, but her skirt is too tight around her thighs. She moans into his mouth and tugs on his tie. They’re doing a lot of grinding and grabbing, but it’s frustrating.

“I’m about ready to just rip your blouse open.” He growls against her mouth.

“We can’t do this here.” She pants. “C-cameras.”

“They’re only in the halls.”

“Harry.” She pushes on his chest and she sits up. “I don’t feel comfortable doing this here.”

“Right.” He runs a hand through his hair. “It’s late, we both got carried away. We should-“

“Let’s go back to my place.”

“Are you serious?”

“I’m only offering once.”

“Text me your address, I’ll meet you there.”

She’s freaking out. She almost tells him not to come, but it’s too late. She can see his headlights through her front windows. She opens the front door before he even has a chance to knock, but he’s not complaining because his lips are back on hers. He pushes her up against the nearest wall, hard, and gets a hand wrapped gently around her throat. He hooks his thumb into her mouth, and she sucks on it, but she doesn’t give him the satisfaction of smiling while doing so. She nips at the pad of his thumb before he takes it out.

“Where’s your bedroom?”

“Upstairs.”

“Lead the way.”

She tugs him up the stairs, and into her room. She starts unbuttoning her blouse, but Harry’s got her on the bed before she can get it off. He kisses on her chest, biting and sucking on the top of her breasts. She weaves her fingers through his curls, pushing him closer to her. He kisses down her sternum and tugs her skirt off of her. He cups her over her stockings, grounding his palm against her. She arches her back slightly and moans. He grips the band of her stockings, curls the material around his fist, and stretches it tight over her pussy. She gasps as he wedges his thigh between hers while keeping the material tight over her. It all provides the perfect amount of friction.

“Go on, work for it.” He says to her.

“Huh?”

“You like working hard for things, right? Show me how you work for your orgasm.” He moves his thigh from side to side against her, and she groans.

She moves along with him, feeling herself get warm all over. He licks into her mouth, and stretches the stockings tighter. She’s breathing heavily against his mouth. She didn’t something like this would be getting her there, but the whole thing is just so hot, and he’s really turning her on. Her back arches as she grinds against him, her head moving from side to side on her pillows, and she comes just as her stockings tear at the crotch.

“Oops.” He says as he looks down.

“Happens more often than you think.” She breathes. “They’re not expens-“

Harry’s tearing them further at the crotch, and moving her panties to the side so he can lick over her. He presses down on her stomach to keep her in place. His mouth is warm, and he’s moaning into her. She’s squirming against him. It’s been a really long time since someone’s made her feel this good. And being fucked by her colleague that she can’t stand is giving her a type of euphoria she’s never experienced before.

Her toes curl when he sucks on her clit. He pushes her thighs further apart, and licks inside of her. He sucks, and licks, and spit, and makes a sloppy mess of her. She’s in complete shock, but she’s not complaining. She’s too busy tugging on Harry’s curls and grinding against his mouth. He told her to work for it, so she’ll continue to do just that.

“Oh, shit. Oh, shit!” She comes unexpectedly, and it knocks the wind out of her.

He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. They start grabbing at each other and rolling around on the bed to get their clothes off. They can’t get naked fast enough. He pins her down again once they’re unclothed, keeping her wrists above her head on the bed. He slips a finger inside of her and her mouth falls open. He sucks on her bottom lip as a second finger joins the first.

“You’re just as sweet as a peach, you know that?” He says hotly into her ear, making her eyes roll back. His thumb starts rubbing around her clit as his fingers work deep inside of her. “Knew you would.”

“You’ve thought about going down on me before?”

“I’ve thought about doing everything to you.” He moves to look at her, wanting to watch her face as he loosens her up. “I don’t have any condoms with me.”

“I have some in my d-drawer.”

“Good. Get one.” He pulls his fingers from her and stands up. She reaches into her side-table drawer for a condom and hands it to him.

“It’s so big.” She says to him as he rolls the condom on.

“Don’t worry, we’ll make it fit.” He knees back onto the bed and knocks her legs back open. He lines himself up with her and pushes inside. “Jesus.” He clutches at the pillow by her head. “Sucked me right in, but you’re still so tight.” He pulls out and pushes right back in. “You good?”

“Yeah, please, just…fuck me.”

He gets a steady rhythm going for them. He wants to get a feel for her body before doing anything fancy. Besides that, he’s really liking the feeling of being chest to chest with her. He sits up slightly to grope at her breasts. He sucks one of her nipples into his mouth and groans. He wants to touch and kiss her all over. He sits up all the way and puts of her legs over his shoulder, moving her slightly so she’s on her side.

“Oh my god!” Her mouth falls open. “S-so deep. Oh my fucking god.” She starts panting, feeling like she can’t even breathe. This position is incredible.

They shift until she’s on her belly, and he’s fully on top of her fucking her from behind. He snakes an arm between her and the mattress. They’re grinding together in perfect sync, moving their hips in slow circles. Her breathing evens out, and he gives her hip a squeeze. He drags his fingers to her ass and rubs her between her cheeks.

“Is this okay?” He asks her. “Can I play with it a little?”

“Yes.” She nods.

He rubs her clit at the same time with his other hand, and she tightens up the second his finger starts to circle around her other hole.

“Need you to relax for me, Peach.” He nibbles on her ear as she tries to calm herself. “That’s good, just breathe.”

She moans out as she starts to feel completely overstimulated. Her clit is throbbing, her pussy is pulsating around his cock, and his other hole is taking his finger in with ease. It’s all too much, and it’s all so good.

“I’m gonna come again.” She shoves her face into her duvet as cries out into it. Harry doesn’t let up one bit, elongating all of the sensations. She can’t stop moaning and crying. He pulls out of her and lays on his back. She immediately shifts to straddle him, sinking down until she’s completely full of him. Her nails rake down his chest. “It’s really annoying that you feel this good.”

“Still think I’m a virgin?” He smirks, gripping her hips to move her along with his thrusts.

“N-no.” She grabs at her own breasts and lets her head roll back. “You can get a lot of experience by just fucking one person.”

“You’re a brat.” He swats at her ass as he chuckles. “Normally I don’t like, but right now it’s really doing something for me.” He sits up and smiles at her. “Keep your wrists behind your back and fuck yourself on me.” She nods and uses her knees to help herself move up and down on him. She switches between that and grinding down on him in circles. His hands come up to grope at her breasts, loving the way they feel in his hands. She tightens around him and starts moving faster. “Fuck, that’s it. Fuck me, god, just fuck me.”

“Oohhh my god.” There’s sweat rolling down her spine, and she can’t help but wrap her arms around him as she comes around him again, kissing him with everything she’s got.

He moves them so he’s back on top of her, hooking an arm under her knee, and fucking into her deeper than he has all night. His free hand wraps around her throat, gently squeezing and applying the perfect amount of pressure.

“Okay?” He asks her, letting up to make sure she can answer.

“Yes.”

Her hand comes down between them to take care of her clit, making him nearly lose it right then and there. He loves it when a woman just takes what she wants to get what she needs.

“I want you to keep your eyes open and on me.” He tells her. “Can you do that?”

“Yes.” She says to the best of her ability.

“Fuck, you’re so beautiful. I wish you could see how you look right now.”

“Harry.”

“Aww, are you gonna come again?” He pouts mockingly at her, and she nods. He nods along with her, still pouting. “You’re gonna come with me, so hold on.”

“Please, I…it feels so good. You feel so good.” Her free hand comes up to his shoulder, sinking her nails into his skin.

“It must piss you off that I’m making you feel this good.”

“You have no idea.” She says through gritted teeth.

Harry grins, and comes down to kiss her. He moans into her mouth as he starts to let go. His orgasm is right at the base of spine, and he’s ready to spill. She moans louder from hearing moan loudly. The room fills with the sounds of their sex, and they both fully submit to each other. He continues with slow thrusts as he drops her legs. His hands cup her jaw as they kiss each other without any precision, they both just need to do something with their mouths. Her hands squeeze at his hips and ass. His skin feels so good on hers.

After a few tender moments, Harry gets up and makes his way into her bathroom to clean himself up. Her head is reeling. What the fuck did she just do?! Did she seriously just sleep with her coworker whose guts she hates?

He comes out of the bathroom, letting the light from that guide him to find his clothes. He glances at her a few times, his chest is flushed and his forehead is damp. She sits up slightly, covering herself with her sheets. She’s overthinking everything. All of this is insane.

And there he was, looking at her with the smuggest look she’s ever seen. He’s tucking his shirt back into his pants, fastening the button and zipper, and looking up at her with rosy cheeks and closed-mouth grin. When all she does is look at him stoically, he chuckles softly, shakes his head, and finishes getting dressed. He leans in to leave a peck to her forehead before departing.

“Harry.” She calls to him, making him turn to look at her. “This was a one-time thing.”

“Whatever you say, Peach.”

And then he’s gone.

#harry styles imagine #harry styles fic #harry styles smut #harry styles fluff #harry styles x reader #harry styles y/n #harry styles x y/n #harry styles fanfic #harry styles angst #enemies to lovers #harry styles

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adamdenningtondmpdesignpractice · 3 years ago

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Week 1 - 20/09/2021

My first lecture on the module with our tutor, Paul Wilson, was a wonderful start for it gave me an introduction to the fellow postgraduate students on my course, all of whom come from different backgrounds and each carry a broad range of skills from psychology, art, writing and even industry-related experience. I’m sure these individuals will provide a wonderful contribution to any group related projects of mine, if I am fortunate to work with them in the long run. In addition, this lecture provided a good exercise to test my creative mind and understand the areas to take into consideration when designing for digital products, such as the basics of UX design. This basically refers to what the product, or in this instance the app, requires to identify, and thus succeed, with its audience and not seem a ‘failure’ or inferior with what already exists in a similar nature. When posed the question by our tutor of what an app needs to have in order to succeed, my answer was that the product needs a message which a group of consumers can identify with and ultimately take advantage of to fulfil their needs or overcome a certain frustration in their life. While this answer was strongly valid, it was also important to consider the fact that the app needs to be attractive visually, which refers to the appropriate use and composition of colour, text, imagery and graphical assets, as well as the fact that it needs to be accessibly simple by having an easy navigation menu and set of pages.

Further to this matter, I took on board how I shall go about my research, such as considering whether ideas that I might have for digital apps are actually ‘necessary’; the fact of whether there is a growing demand or recurring pattern among people who would ideally like to see a ‘pain point’ resolved in their life, as opposed to my single, possibly bias, opinion. The term ‘pain point’, referring to the varied problems individuals have with scenarios, using an established product or life situations, was an interesting term to learn for I had not encountered it before and through subsequent research I am more intrigued to discover how it is a relatively new and somewhat modern term, having only been coined in the early 2000 decade. 1

My findings on the term pointed me to an article from the July 2000 edition of the American magazine Chief Financial Officers (CFO), in which the-then editor Scott Leibs stated:

“One school of thought holds that companies should focus on a critical “pain point” and buy whatever software product meets that immediate need.” - Scott Leibs, CFO magaziene editor, July 2000 2

Returning to the original point, I intend to make it a priority to motivate and push myself further by conducting primary research, such as going out into the public and putting together a custom survey either with questions or allowing the public their own opinion as to what ‘pain points’ they may have in their life and then build of their response by choosing what the prevailing problem tends to be or possibly finding a compromise where multiple issues could even be merged into one problem-solving app, thus allowing the best of both worlds.

I also took into account from my first lecture that the app or digital asset I will work to produce, should develop a range of different emotions and showcase the fact of how it is ‘better’ than any previous product of a similar nature. I will as a result be exploring what current apps exist, many of which I’m sure at this stage I have not even heard of before or just how successfully they managed to appeal to their intended consumers. For example, Paul referenced the app Flush, designed to point users to the nearest lavatory in public. While at first this app sounded funny on the surface, it does nevertheless resolve a trivial yet somewhat common ‘pain point’ for which I can even confirm knowing people who do have this encounter. Therefore, it broadens my mind as to how successful an app can be for resolving something that the average person may hold as little importance, but that indeed there is a community of people or the odd occasion where it can be a fruitful source of help.

The lecture exercise was then put into full swing when we were given the task to practice creating an app that could address a pain point, identify an audience and possibly describe how it’s UI may even appeal in colour and design. I brainstormed on plain paper with my ballpoint pen, as suggested by the lecturer, a list of my general interests and messages or potential pain points that I’ve always found, the former to allow myself to become invested and passionate in the idea and the latter to give the app it’s ‘leg’s and purpose to which people will become invested in downloading the app to improve or resolve a life issue. Being originally from Suffolk, a very rural county, my general interests are very much in the outdoors; I enjoy nature trails, kayaking, cycling, rock climbing, assault courses and forestry zip lining. After listing my ideas and thoughts, I began to draw up a spider diagram with each path highlighting a key topic, such as the appeal, message, name of the app, audience and purpose, to which I then generate further thoughts on these elements to start visioning the idea. I shared my idea with a fellow student, Henry Marks, who liked my ideas and we began to bounce off each other’s thoughts since he had the idea for an app in which a virtual plant has to be grown and attended to by the user, akin to the established Forest app. His idea was incorporated into the app idea, which I dubbed either 'Trek' or 'Wonder', since we considered the idea of having young users photograph outdoor plants through which can tell them the stage of its lifecycle, where it originates and further interesting facts. We developed a creative rapport and it was a nice collaboration warm-up.

As a bit of a semi-realist on this topic, I at times found myself 'second-guessing' and questioning the ideas or elements that came to mind whilst brainstorming the app, mainly as to whether these could actually come to fruition, owing to either limitation in technology or even the consumers themselves. For example, I kept speculating as to whether people would be able to use the app in rural areas because of lack of Wi-fi hotspots, device data or whether children would be using the app at a young age. I was able to resolve the issue of children using it by having it be an app assigned by schools to the parents of their pupils, thus encouraging them to take outdoor adventures together as a family and learn about plants, wildlife and possibly earn 'points' or rewards if they can answer correct questions at then of the trail.

While it helped to have these inner debates, since creativity in any form has its share or challenges and obstacles, Paul reminded us that in the early stages it helps to adopt a ‘Blue Sky’ approach to the initial brainstorm and conceptual stage, since creativity will allow the idea to go in new directions and thus can be resolved as things progress or even be re-thought. It was also fascinating to hear the ideas of fellow class members and to also provide creative suggestions to expand upon their ideas, being one of my greatest pleasures in the creative field. I was able to provide a suggestion to one class member named Dom, who had an idea for setting up an app for a job market that helps creative individuals trying to network or break into the industry. It was such a good idea for an app, but he needed the key ingredient of a ‘pain point’, so I made the suggestion to perhaps have the app target the frustrated and somewhat deprived community of graduates or beginners, who don't get the opportunity because of companies demanding previous experience and to thus allow the app to be an easier transition from education to first industry experience. This suggestion was received well; it showed me how exciting it can be to share an idea with fellow creatives who, with their various dynamics can shape the idea further. I look forward to collaborating more with other individual's ideas and providing suggestion on how to help develop the strong concepts they already have.

The lecture helped tremendously by swiftly introducing me to the basics of what I shall be learning for the following few weeks and prepared for me the research that I undertake on this module.

Sources:

Watson, B, March 2011, AOL.com, Article: Buzzword of the Week: Bringing the Word 'Pain Point',

https://www.aol.com/2011/03/14/buzzword-of-the-week-pain-pointbuzzword-of-the-week-bringing-t/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAGdpS9tBtF-e1Mi-B0pyGKq54hUD0cs8AqBlUij1sWZGWK59duGMGrm65JHFp2nuIDK2S3BGdHB5xE0D_AQAmW4lVF9q_mocddQlY9QXyNvy9wG8NCedRIOWXm23JqNDlWIAO4zmeguxOZHqnrSplVuSbkioDji01FQggZi_gQS9

Visited: 21/09/2021

Liebs, S, July 2000, CFO, Article: In Your Face,

https://www.cfo.com/technology/2000/07/in-your-face/

Visited: 21/09/2021

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perfectirishgifts · 4 years ago

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If You Buy Media In Programmatic Channels, Read This Before 2021

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/if-you-buy-media-in-programmatic-channels-read-this-before-2021-2/

If You Buy Media In Programmatic Channels, Read This Before 2021

I’ve been doing digital marketing for over 25 years and publishing data on ad fraud for over 8 years. But Q4 of this year is the first time I have felt that marketers are actually taking a closer look at digital ad fraud and suboptimal digital marketing. All of this starts with challenging assumptions and the status quo. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic when everything was running normally, no one wanted to step out of line and “rock the boat.” But said boat has already been rocked, and many marketers paused digital spending earlier in 2020, for a few months. This gave them the opportunity to observe what their digital ad spending was actually doing for their bottom line. These insights are new to them, because marketers rarely take the initiative to run their own “pause digital ad spend” experiments.

Over the years, we’ve only seen three such experiments that have been documented publicly. When P&G turned off $200 million of their digital ad spending, they saw NO CHANGE in business outcomes. When Chase reduced their programmatic reach from 400,000 sites showing its ads to 5,000 sites (a 99% decrease), they saw NO CHANGE in business outcomes. When Uber turned off $120 million of their digital ad spending meant to drive more app installs, they saw NO CHANGE in the rate of app installs, because those installs came from people who would have installed the Uber app anyway, not from seeing and clicking ads. Those marketers who did turn off digital ad spending for a period of time this year, look back at the business impact. It may be hard to dissociate the impact of reduced digital advertising from the negative impact of the coronavirus on business activity, but take a look anyway. In some cases, business went dramatically up, even though digital ad spending was turned off.

But the point of this article is to get more marketers to take a harder look at their own ad spending. Budgets will remain tight throughout 2021; and CEOs and CFOs will apply more scrutiny on every line item. So as you are considering what to turn back on and what to spend money on, have a look at the following summary of points to consider.

Trade Associations Told You Ad Fraud is Low

Trade Associations like the ANA and IAB have repeatedly claimed fraud is low [TAG press release], despite monthly discoveries of large fraud schemes, throughout 2020, and other fraud schemes not yet discovered. Challenge the status quo they promulgate, and stop wasting money paying for TAG certifications that help neither the legitimate publishers nor you the marketer reduce the actual amount of fraud impacting campaigns. The fraud detection measurements they cite are only measuring invalid traffic (IVT) and fails to account for all the other forms of fraud; so those numbers are always low, and not reflective of the reality of ad fraud.

MORE FROM FORBES2020 Ad Fraud Year-In-ReviewBy Dr. Augustine Fou

Ad Fraud is Higher Than You’ve Been Told

If you’re already using fraud verification vendors like IAS and DoubleVerify, that’s good; it’s better than not using any. But note that their technologies are tuned for measuring IVT — invalid traffic — and are not even looking for many other forms of fraud; and bots know to block their detection to avoid getting marked as IVT. So their reports are perennially under-reporting the true amount of fraud impacting your campaigns. And you have no way to verify anyway, because the tech is black box.

MORE FROM FORBESWhat Your Fraud Detection Vendor MissesBy Dr. Augustine Fou MORE FROM FORBESExamples Of Incorrect Measurements By “Black Box” Fraud DetectionBy Dr. Augustine Fou

Better to use analytics where you can see the supporting data; that way you can understand why something is marked as fraud or not, and take appropriate action. Don’t assume that ad fraud only happens to other people. You fraud vendor reports of 1% are no guarantee that little ad fraud is impacting your campaigns, for the reasons above. Take a closer look at your own analytics and see if there is anything strange.

MORE FROM FORBESFraud So Obvious, You Can See It In Analytics (If You Looked)By Dr. Augustine Fou

Supply Chain Costs Drain Ad Budgets

If you are buying ads through programmatic channels, chances are you are wasting money on unnecessary supply chain costs. This means less and less of every dollar you spend in digital is actually going towards showing ads, because it went into the pockets of ad tech middlemen in the supply chain. Of course they are touting how magical their snake oil is, but take a closer look at your spending and it drove any incremental outcomes for you. Certainly there were incremental costs, but did you get anything more from using those magical ad tech things. Multiple studies over the years have shown that at least 50% of your dollar goes into middlemen’s pockets and less than half goes towards showing ads. What if you could save this 50% tax, and buy ads directly from a few good publishers, you know, the ones that have real human audiences? If you ads are shown, and shown to humans, you will actually have a marketing uplift from their digital ad spending. And your CFO would be very proud of you.

MORE FROM FORBESLonger Digital Ad Supply Paths Mean More Costs, Fraud And HateBy Dr. Augustine Fou MORE FROM FORBESThe Cost-Performance Paradox Of Modern Digital MarketingBy Dr. Augustine Fou

Hyper-Targeting is Crappy, Because the Data is Crappy

Many marketers have been led to believe that more targeting in digital leads to more relevant ads; and more relevant ads leads to better marketing outcomes. Of course that makes sense in theory. But the reality that we have witnessed is far from that ideal. This is because ad tech targeting is based on data collected without consent from the consumer, and the insights derived from said data are also incorrect or suboptimal. So if you are paying extra for ad tech targeting, you should run more experiments comparing outcomes from campaigns with targeting to ones without. And see if you notice any difference. Don’t just assume that targeting works and is working for you. In most cases, the incremental business you are getting is SO small relative to the incremental costs, that you would be better off not paying extra for the targeting in the first place. See the following 2 articles on the topic.

MORE FROM FORBESDespite Claims That More Targeting Means More Relevant Ads, Nope. Here’s Proof.By Dr. Augustine Fou MORE FROM FORBESHow Accurate Is Programmatic Ad Targeting?By Dr. Augustine Fou

So What? What Can I Do Differently in 2021?

As you head into 2021, challenge the status quo and revisit your assumptions. Ad fraud is not as low as the trade associations would lead you to believe. There is more fraud than the invalid traffic (IVT) they keep citing. Look at your own analytics to see if there are suspicious things to investigate and choose fraud detection vendors that can explain to you what they measured, how and where they measured, and show you supporting data so you can verify whether the measurements were correct and made sense. Reduce your programmatic supply chain costs by buying as much direct from good publishers as possible — i.e. those you’ve heard of and actually have large human audiences. Lots of “traffic” is not the same as actual human audiences. And cut out the unnecessary spending on ad tech snake oil. Of course it was cool and progressive to buy into all that previously. But now that money is tight and you will be judged more harshly on what business outcomes your digital ad spending actually drove, stop wasting your time and money on digital shiny objects, like hyper targeting.

Not only can you save significant money, you can do better digital marketing in 2021.

From CMO Network in Perfectirishgifts

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walterfrodriguez · 5 years ago

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Could Bob Zangrillo’s legal troubles imperil Magic City?

(Illustration by Pablo Lobato)

Bob Zangrillo walked out of federal court on a rainy day in Boston in late March 2019 wearing a black heavy coat, a charcoal suit and a blue tie. His face was drawn, forehead furrowed.

The gloomy scene was a far cry from Zangrillo’s carefree days as a playboy in Los Angeles just a few years ago, when he roamed shirtless at Burning Man-themed birthday parties and hosted Coachella after-parties attended by hordes of models and so-called influencers. Zangrillo claims to have made a fortune investing in companies like Facebook and Uber, and had presented himself as the youthful Silicon Valley investor and a Gatsby-esque figure in an Instagram age. And he’s a major stakeholder in Miami’s sprawling Magic City project.

But if the 52-year old looked sober and sullen walking out of court a year ago, he had every reason to be. As part of the sprawling federal investigation nicknamed Operation Varsity Blues, which led to charges against celebrities like Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, Zangrillo had just been charged with mail fraud. He pleaded not guilty.

And while the Norwalk, Connecticut, native faces jail time over the college admission scandal, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is also after him, bringing civil charges in January. The FTC alleges Zangrillo chaired a company that ran scam websites set up to look like government agency portals. Zangrillo pleaded not guilty, with his lawyers arguing that he was just a passive investor.

When investors get themselves into the kind of legal trouble that ends up in a chyron on cable news, the developers on projects they’ve funded often quickly distance themselves out of fear that the project will struggle to score financing. It is unclear how much money Zangrillo has put into Magic City, but he and his family were the largest equity backers as of last year. His current legal troubles have developers practicing the art of social distancing.

Bob before the big time

A graduate of the University of Vermont and Stanford Business School, Zangrillo moved to New York in 1995. There he became the CEO of InterWorld, an e-commerce software supplier that worked with Nike and FedEx. At InterWorld, he also started UGO Networks, an entertainment company focused on gaming, which InterWorld sold to Hearst for an estimated $100 million, according to Forbes.

Zangrillo founded his private investment firm Dragon Global in 2008 and moved the company to Miami in 2010. The company says its current and predecessor funds have managed $1 billion in companies with over $500 billion of market value. Zangrillo also claims to be one of the last late-stage venture growth investors in Facebook as well as an investor in Uber, Jet.com and Twitter, according to his company’s website.

For his part, Zangrillo certainly plays the role of a Silicon Valley venture capitalist to his 10,800 followers on Instagram. On some days he is taking ice baths and practicing the Wim Hof method; on others he is showing off his water jetpack or meeting with Los Angeles megamansion developer Mohamed Hadid.

Many of his posts also show off his 11,508-square-foot waterfront estate on Miami Beach’s Di Lido Island. Zangrillo paid $7 million to acquire the property before building a house there for his primary residence in 2016.

Zangrillo, who has shied away from the media attention, declined multiple interview requests through a spokesperson, who did offer one comment: “Mr. Zangrillo’s commitment to fostering a positive and ethical workplace has never wavered, nor has his commitment to the city of Miami and its opportunity to be a global hub of innovation.”

Burning Man

Part of the vision for Magic City had its origins in the desert of Nevada. Zangrillo is a “Burner,” an enthusiast of Burning Man, the annual festival in northwest Nevada known as much for its ecological message and art installations as it is for its thrill-seeking, power scooter-riding hedge funder attendees.

It was at Burning Man that Zangrillo and his business partner Tony Cho first displayed a silver-colored, 12-foot-high wooden structure spelling out the word “Magic,” which would ultimately become the entrance to the Magic City Innovation District in Little Haiti. The pair, who met through a mutual friend, agreed that Cho, who owns the brokerage Metro1, would be the face of the project, while Zangrillo would help recruit tech companies for it.

In December 2017, Zangrillo and Cho brought on Miami-based development group Plaza Equity Partners along with Lune Rouge, a company led by Guy Laliberté, co-founder of Cirque du Soleil. As the plans solidified, the group attempted to get a Special Area Plan (SAP), which allows property owners who control more than 9 acres of land to apply for zoning changes.

Renderings of the Magic City Innovation District

Under the SAP, the development would include 2,630 residential units, 2 million square feet of office space, 432 hotel rooms and 340,000 square feet of retail, in addition to a pop-up park and sculpture garden at the site in the middle of Little Haiti, at 6001 Northeast Second Avenue.

The development group turned to Miami’s favorite construction lender, Bank of the Ozarks, now known as Bank OZK, for its first round of financing — a $32 million loan issued in February 2018. By that time, the regional bank out of Little Rock, Arkansas, had become one of the most active condo construction lenders in Miami, New York and Los Angeles.

The news hit in March 2019 that Zangrillo was named as part of the college admissions scandal. Later in the month, Zangrillo backed out of his role as managing board member of Magic City. He was replaced by Zach Vella of the New York-based Vella Group.

“He doesn’t have any involvement,” said Vella in an interview with The Real Deal in March 2020. “All decisions are made by the board members, and Bob is completely passive.”

“He needs time to focus on current issues,” Vella added.

Some aren’t convinced that he’s distanced enough from the project.

“Just because they filed that paper in March that he’s no longer the principal in the project doesn’t mean that he is not benefiting from the project,” said Meena Jagannath, an attorney with Community Justice Project, which has filed a lawsuit against the development group for Magic City.

Zangrillo’s still doing some business for his own company, Dragon Global, though it’s unclear if that work intersects with the interests of Magic City. In May, he sought permission from federal court to go to Montreal for a planned trip that “involved meetings with a large current Dragon Global investor and negotiations to invest in at least two such companies.” The motion did not disclose who he was meeting with, but it’s notable that his colleague on the Magic City project, Guy Laliberté has his company headquarters in the Canadian city.

An ownership chart first revealed by Miami blogger Al Crespo showed that MCD Dragon held the largest equity stake the Magic Innovation District Project, at 35 percent.

Zangrillo personally held a stake of 54 percent in MCD Dragon, while a trust that lists Zangrillo’s daughters, Ashley, Alexa and Amber, held 42 percent, and Los Angeles billionaire investor Neil Kadisha owned 3 percent.

Zangrillo also still has some role, at least, in picking out the artwork for Magic City. Twice in August the investor posted about the project on his personal Instagram account. In early December, he tagged graffiti artist Tristan Eaton in a post that read, “New Art acquisition. Cannot wait to collaborate on Art for the Magic City Innovation District

The original @tristaneaton

.”

OnPoint Global

Zangrillo is more than a backer of the Magic City project. He was chair and one of the lead investors for OnPoint Global, one of Magic City’s first anchor tenants, which leased a warehouse near the heart of the development last June.

OnPoint Global had the largest lease out of the first five tenants to sign at Magic City, taking up 12,000 out of 18,650 square feet. OnPoint was also featured prominently in marketing materials and in interviews that the development group conducted with the Miami Herald.

The company describes itself as a “leading worldwide data-driven, online publisher and service-based e-commerce provider with offices in the United States and Latin America.”

But federal officials allege, in charges filed in December, that OnPoint Global was operating a scheme to defraud people who were seeking government services. The scam allegedly included using sites like DMV.com (instead of .gov). In some cases, the FTC claimed, OnPoint would charge people to buy information that was already publicly available.

The feds alleged the money man for the operation was Zangrillo, who they claim chaired, co-owned and invested in the company and personally received more than $2 million in distributions and salary from OnPoint Global and its subsidiaries. A federal court in Florida ruled in January that “the websites were patently misleading,” granting an injunction and freezing assets tied to the scheme.

Zangrillo’s lawyer Matthew Schwartz of Boies Schiller Flexner said that Zangrillo was not involved in the day-to-day operation of the company.

“In his role as an investor and limited partner in numerous organizations, Mr. Zangrillo monitors his investments under his companies’ investor rights but has no role in the day-to-day operations of his portfolio companies,” said Schwartz.

Jeff Schneider of Levine Kellogg Lehman Schneider + Grossman, who has acted as a receiver in other FTC cases and is not involved in the OnPoint Global case, said it is significant that the FTC brought the charges against someone as high-profile as Zangrillo.

“It is surprising to take on so much of a public figure,” said Schnieder. “Even tangentially, these cases are generally 25-year-olds operating in boiler room spaces.”

Former OnPoint Global CFO Bob Bellack said that Zangrillo was not involved in the day-to-day decisions at the company and described his role as being dedicated to bringing investors to the company and providing mentorship to employees.

“His role was pretty typical of any VC [venture capitalist] with a company,” said Bellack.

Yet one former employee of OnPoint Global told The Real Deal he would often see Zangrillo around the office and disputes the notion that Zangrillo was not aware of what was going on.

“I saw Bob Zangrillo walking through the offices at least once a week for 52 weeks,” said Ryan Marshall, who worked at OnPoint Global for a year as head of talent acquisition. “He was involved in major decisions … he invested a lot of money into the company.”

Cho said in an interview with The Real Deal that Magic City has no immediate plans to remove OnPoint Global as a tenant and will let the case play out.

On the horizon

At issue right now is how much the college admissions case and the FTC case have hurt Zangrillo and the rest of the development group at Magic City. Miami is rife with developers, investors and brokers who have faced accusations of fraud. It is a city known for giving second chances.

But for now, Zangrillo is backing off. Last month, Avra Jain, developing a $200 million mixed-use project near the Miami River with Zangrillo, said that he was no longer involved in the project.

“Bob Zangrillo was not a managing partner, nor has he been involved in the day-to-day,” Jain said, declining to comment further.

Even when distanced from Magic City, Zangrillo’s troubles could impact the project’s ability to secure permanent financing beyond the loan from Bank OZK.

David Eyzenberg of the commercial real estate investment bank Eyzenberg & Company, who helps arrange financing for real estate projects, said Zangrillo’s legal troubles will make it more difficult for the group to get financing from a traditional bank.

“If you are a traditional lender you are trying to avoid noise. If you have shareholders, you don’t want noise,” said Eyzenberg.

Andrew Ittleman, an attorney with Miami-based Fuerst Ittleman David & Joseph who is an expert on money laundering, said Zangrillo’s criminal and civil charges could also cause the other developer partners to take on personal guarantees for the project.

“There is not another way to put it; it does not make things easier for the borrower,” he said.

Especially in a world facing extreme upheaval in the wake of the novel coronavirus, what is the appetite for lending to an ambitious development like Magic City? Time will tell. But for now, it appears the project is scrubbing its ties to Zangrillo, who is set to face trial in October for the college admission scandal charges.

Based on his Instagram posts, Zangrillo doesn’t seem too concerned.

“Life is about balance,�� Zangrillo wrote in an October 2019 post. “Too much money or knowledge may not allow you to see the entire picture of life.”

The post Could Bob Zangrillo’s legal troubles imperil Magic City? appeared first on The Real Deal Miami.

from The Real Deal Miami & Miami Florida Real Estate & Housing News | & Curbed Miami - All https://therealdeal.com/miami/2020/03/26/could-bob-zangrillos-legal-troubles-imperil-magic-city/ via IFTTT

#The Real Deal Miami & Miami Florida Real Estate & Housing News | & Curbed Miami - All

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turntothree · 8 years ago

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During the Break: Microsoft Presents The Spectacular Scorpio

Welcome to During the Break, a sort of aside series which will allow me to provide smaller bits of content between larger projects. It just so happens today’s small content revolves around some huge news.

Dateline - June 13, 2016: Phil Spencer rocks a packed crowd at the LA Convention Center with the announcement of the next evolution of Microsoft’s Xbox One, Project Scorpio.

Billed as a technical marvel, Scorpio promised a greatly enhanced console experience; faster load times, smoother performance and true 4K graphics running at a crisp 60fps.

Unfortunately, that’s all Team Xbox was willing to divulge, aside from a vague holiday 2017 release date ... which would put it a year behind PlayStation’s PS4 4K advancement, the PS4 Pro.

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Editor’s Note: I suppose that’s not a totally fair assessment. After all, MS did release the above video featuring third-party developers gushing over Terraflops and such.

Then for a long time nothing happened. Until...

Dateline – April 06, 2017: Microsoft finally gives fans a peak under the Scorpio’s hood. Well, in a way.

Microsoft didn’t reveal Scorpio’s system specs with a grand plaza unveiling or so much as a read-a-long on Major Nelson’s podcast. Instead, this intel was passed on to Digital Foundry’s Rich Leadbetter during a meeting earlier that week. Once the standard NDA expired, Leadbetter (being the hardware enthusiast he is) proceeded to vigorously share Scorpio’s blueprint with the world via Eurogamer’s Youtube network. What he shared was illuminating.

I’m not going to pretend to be a specs guy or that I fully comprehend the numbers but it’s clear even to layman like me that Scorpio is a monster and yes, the most powerful home console ever built.

Editor’s Note: At least on paper.

Leadbetter wasn’t exactly at liberty to share the in-game footage he bared witness to under Microsoft’s watchful eye but he did provide a few screenshot samples to back up his source, like this little beauty right here:

Wow! Look at that texture. It’s like a photograph printed on the finest silk. And there’s that GPU percentage. Ooooo boy, talk about efficiency. Having the memory units divide up the rest of the processing workload is a masterstroke in hardware design, making all of Microsoft’s promises possible while also saving the system from the ominous Red Ring of Death!

Editor’s Note: Not one part is left to its own devices; all working together in beautiful synchrony.

Also impressive, that screencap is from Forza 6, which came out nearly two years ago. So we now know pre-Scorpio era Xbox One titles will also be up-scaled on the new hardware, which is certainly a plus.

What about the older third-party titles that have been developed with their own custom engines? Some of those games ran at a resolution as low as 900p. Can Scorpio upscale them to 4K as well? While Leadbetter couldn’t get 100 per cent confirmation, he did note Microsoft is confident that such an impressive feat is doable.

Editor’s Note: Even if it’s not, all third-party games going forward will adapt to Scorpio’s 4K capabilities, including Red Dead Redemption 2!

Essentially the Scorpio is what would now be considered a high-end PC conveniently built into a home entertainment set-up and as I’ve said before, that’s a considerable leap forward.

That being said, I’m not sold on the idea that this will be what slingshots Xbox One beyond its distant second place position...mainly because 4K has yet to prove itself to be a long term draw in the console space.

Let’s take a look at the PS4 Pro, which debuted this past holiday season. Sony CFO Kenichiro Yoshida told investors during a February 2 conference call the 4K units had met or maybe even exceeded sales expectations. He specifically noted the Pro outsold its bargain counterpart the PS4 Slim.

Sounds good, right? Well, yeah. Any day a company can report a profit instead of a loss is a good day. But it hasn’t contributed enough to lift PlayStation out of a slight but steady sales decline. Also from what I can gather; even with that nice holiday uptick and recent success of the Pro, it seems Sony is gearing up to put the Slim back in charge of the heavy lifting.

Why is that? Simply put, the OG PS4s play the exact same games as the Pro units and they are significantly cheaper.

Most early adopters are happy with the serviceable graphics of previous models so they see no need to pay big for an upgrade. Not to mention most PS noobs just want a system to play and will naturally gravitate towards a cheaper option.

Editor’s Note: The graphical upgrade is nice but $100 is $100...besides, most folks don’t have a TV capable of fully showcasing 4K visuals. Also, in all honesty, it seems most folks who want this high end experience are more likely to gravitate towards a customizable PC option.

This same dynamic applies to the Scorpio and its predecessors; the same games library but different graphical fidelities and price points.

Editor’s Note: If I had to predict Scorpio’s price, I’d say maybe in the neighbourhood of $500-$600 USD, because such beasts aren’t caged cheaply. (I shudder at the thought of the Canadian price tag).

So basically, I’m thinking it could go down like this: the Scorpio sells a few extra million units for the Xbox One brand throughout its lifespan but can’t bridge the sales gap keeping X-One in second place.

But you know what could help bridge the gap? A more diversified software line-up!

Editor’s Note: Whoa, maybe I should slow down with that exclamation point. This piece doesn’t come from a place of “Nerd Rage”, I assure you.

Look, I applaud Team Xbox for becoming more accommodating this console cycle with initiatives like its ID@Xbox program, which finally granted indie devs a spot at Team Green’s grownup table.

I think the increased investment in Microsoft’s publishing wing has been a great service to its AA and AAA output.

I love that it’s finding all sorts of ways to re-introduce the classic franchises it acquired with the purchase of Rare, whether it be through the home base or licensing deals with outsiders.

Heck, I even dig the idea of bringing back some of the strange first generation Xbox IP for another go around.

However, even with these recent efforts Sony still has Microsoft’s number when it comes to variety.

Platformer, action, adventure, fantasy, horror, sci-fi, FPS, TPS, fighting, puzzle, strategy, racing, rhythm, RPG, MMO, point-and-click, sports; PlayStation has secured the console exclusivity rights to loads of great new content to fit every conceivable niche and genre.

I could give a long-winded history lesson as to why that is but I think I can sum it up easily enough with this five-point checklist:

Decades dedicated to forging strong business relationships with major studios.

Roots planted and development houses built in various countries around the world.

An in-house philosophy based on experimentation.

It was the first major console brand to truly cultivate and accommodate the booming indie scene.

Being the most recognizable electronics brand-name in its native Japan also helped a lot!

This has been the PlayStation brand’s winning strategy for over 22 years. Oh and if the scales weren’t already tipped, a significant chunk of said 22 years is available for the PS4 via a digital vault that rival’s even Nintendo’s legendary backlog.

Even after 15 years of progress, Xbox still can’t escape the perception that it’s an American-centric brand built solely on explosions, fast cars and gunfire.

So...how does Microsoft go about getting a more diverse array of content?

I’d say putting more money into the publishing branch would be a good idea. It could cast a wider (let’s say, global) net to find more fresh, cool and interesting stuff to fund; and encourage a wider range of ideas in its own studios.

...

Now that I think of it, Scorpio may just be the thing to get the big AAA studios more involved with the Xbox brand.

Following Digital Foundry’s in-depth coverage of the specs, Microsoft continued its press tour with a stopover at Gamasutra to hand over a hot lead on the dev kit. This just in: Developers Dig It!

According to developer feedback, Scorpio’s a well-oiled machine. It provides the PC quality upscale game makers have been demanding, while also allowing for an easy downscale to meet the demands of those playing on standard Ones.

OK that’s neat, but what does that mean for a potential shake up in the software supply? For starters, now that Microsoft has provided the AAA studios with the fancy new tech they wanted, perhaps those same studios will show some gratitude. When I say gratitude, I’m talking loud and proud proclamations that the Xbox ports of their major releases are in fact the superior versions. Or to put it another way, recommitting to those advertising opportunities they had taken away once Sony started dominating.

Blockbuster bundles, on brand pre-order bonuses, timed-exclusive content and Xbox specific advertising could become common place once again.

Editor’s Note: Losing early access to all of CoD’s various expansions in particular was a major blow.

Heck, if that causes enough of a sales boom, perhaps we’ll even see a few publishing houses take Capcom’s cue and allow some of their spin-off studios to craft exclusives titles for Gates’ game machine.

Would they move their marquee titles to Xbox exclusively? No. PlayStation’s following is far too great at this point to be ignored, so the big blockbusters are retaining their multi-platform status. But who knows? Maybe if Microsoft rides this feedback wave into the next-generation they can score some prime cuts of exclusive content for the Xbox Two.

Also, all this stuff I’m saying mostly concerns devs from western territories. As I’ve come to understand, Japanese studios (aside from Capcom, Access Games and a handful of other examples) aren’t totally sold on Microsoft and the few XB things they do make and ship internationally are low cost or low risk. ... To put it as kindly as I can, the Xbox name isn’t all that Big in Japan.

Editor’s Note: I’m sure the recent cancellation of Platinum Games’ Scalebound didn’t do MS any favours either.

If Microsoft wants to import Japanese content, it’ll have to pay up some serious yen.

...

In closing, I suppose what I’m trying to say is it’s not the shinier hardware or buffest stats that’ll draw customers back, but rather how Microsoft and its outside partners utilize them.

Hopefully, Xbox fans (hardcore, casual and newbie alike) get plenty of new and exciting games to go with their new consoles.

Research Sources: Digital Foundry, Ars Technica, Game Spot, Game Informer, The Verge, Gamasutra and Kotaku

#microsoft #Xbox One #Scorpio #Sony #ps4pro #PS4

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buygunsonline-blog · 4 years ago

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ncmagroup · 5 years ago

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Written by Ago Cluytens

What is the #1 challenge or issue you face when it comes to growing sales for your business?

When I recently reached out to my network and asked that same question, 75% mentioned sales prospecting as their #1 challenge.

The problem isn’t that people don’t know what to do; it’s that what they’ve always done no longer works. Want proof? Think about the last time you met an actual decision maker at a networking event, and that conversation led to a sale. How about from a cold call? Trade show? Advertisement?

The simple truth is this: if you do what everybody else is doing, you’ll get the same results everybody else is getting.

Which, in a world where prospects are increasingly turning off their phone and turning on their spam filters, isn’t much.

So, if you want to stand out (and get more meetings), here are five sales prospecting techniques you’ve probably never tried (but should).

5 Sales Prospecting Techniques

1. Become a Video Rock Star

Everything I do these days involves video (in some form or another). And I’m not talking about those fancy marketing videos where the CEO comes on to talk about the new service you just launched. Or those happy, smiling customers on your homepage telling everyone how awesome you are.

I am talking about using video for sales. Specifically, for sales prospecting.

Email open rates have plummeted in recent years. And they continue to go down (and down). According to MailVU.com, the average email click-through rate is now around 5%, which means that if you are sending a whitepaper, blog post, or brochure to 100 prospects, a grand total of 5 will open it. To put it another way, if you want to get 50 prospects to actually read your stuff, you’d need to send 1000 emails, and risk wasting 995 people’s time and being marked as spam.

Now let’s say you were to include a video in that email. Nothing fancy, just you talking to the camera and saying a few words. Educating a little bit. Introducing yourself. Pointing to a helpful resource.

You’ll be surprised how even a simple video will boost opens, the number of people who are engaged with your content, and the number of leads that begin to move down your sales funnel. Time to break out the flip cam.

2. Leverage Your Losses

Think about the last 5-10 deals you didn’t get. Now think about why you didn’t get them. Do you know why? If not, go find out and three things can happen:

You’ll improve. If you lost to a competitor, use this opportunity to find out what your competitor did better – or differently – to win the deal. The best sellers seek to improve continuously through feedback. Arm yourself with all the knowledge you can to ensure your next deal has a different result.

You’ll resurrect the deal. Maybe the timing was off, or maybe there was one buyer who nixed the deal and five others who were ready to go. Find out what happened and you may be able to turn things around.

You’ll generate referrals. Perhaps the corporate powers that be decided it wasn’t such a good idea anyway. In most cases, your contact at the company really wanted to move forward – and to do so with you. This puts you in a great position to ask a simple, yet powerful, question like, “Who else in your network can you think of that could use some help with…?”

3. Gang Up with (Non Competing) Competitors This is one of my favorite sales prospecting techniques. Whoever you’re selling to has dozens of other services and products being sold to them. Let’s say you are a tax advisor selling to CFOs. Accountants sell to CFOs. Legal firms sell to CFOs. Auditors sell to CFOs. Even I – sometimes – sell to CFOs. You get the picture.

By establishing alliances with others selling different products to the same people, you get some major benefits. First, you both get access to each other’s “circle of trust” – people who know you and love your work. Second, you might find ways to partner on the same sales. And finally, you just instantly doubled (or tripled, or quadrupled) the number of people you can network with and sell to.

4. Organize Your Very Own CEO Luncheon

People love to be around people who are like them (or who they aspire to be like). Invite a CEO to a seminar, and you’re likely to get a 0.000-something response rate.

Invite that same CEO to an invitation-only CEO luncheon where they get to rub shoulders with other fellow CxOs, and you’ll get a friendly phone call from their executive assistant.

To make this work, you need to tackle the 3 Ps:

Presence: It has to be a small group of very, very senior players

Packaging: It has to feel, sound, and be exclusive

Positioning: It has to combine lunch/dinner with a “big question”

When it comes to sales prospecting, this technique may seem a little slow going. You’re not blasting CEOs with a sales message. You’re allowing them to network while getting to know you. Not only will your attendees be brushing shoulders with the big dogs, but you will be too. You’ll get to hear about the problems CEOs are having from a room full of them. The key here is building relationships and being available when those contacts need your product or service – and they will eventually.

5. Perform a Walk-in Before you think I just lost my marbles, let me say what I don’t mean by that. I don’t mean canvassing, the (formerly popular with traveling salesmen) technique of going into an office district, knocking on doors, and requesting to see the CEO. These days, you’re likely to get looked at funny (or possibly escorted out by security) if you try to pull that one off.

The next time you meet a friend, business contact, or former colleague for lunch (you do lunch, right?), make a simple request: “Hey. Before we go out, would you mind introducing me to your [boss/CEO/VP of Marketing]? I’ve been wanting to get in touch for a while, and considering I’ll be over there anyway…?”

Do it up front (don’t ever surprise them while you’re picking them up), get their permission, be sincere about your intentions, and don’t ever, ever sell while you’re in the room. Your objective is to get introduced, get contact details, and establish a next step. That’s it.

So there you go, 5 sales prospecting techniques you’ve probably never tried. They’ve worked for me. They’ve worked for others. They just might work for you.

Go to our website: www.ncmalliance.com

5 Sales Prospecting Techniques You’ve Probably Never Tried (But Should) Written by Ago Cluytens What is the #1 challenge or issue you face when it comes to growing sales for your business?

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amazingjackthefactfinder-blog · 7 years ago

Text

It has begun. The blog that will bust the doors wide open.

I’m sure you’ve heard of muck raking and I am not one for buck taking so the buck stops here. I am going out into the world to finally once and for all get to the bottom of all the nonsense and do some cold hard journalism. Pie a la mode style. Meaning i may have a cold creamy gal riding on top of my crisp apples... but watch out she bites. She is one icy B and a half. Nevertheless I will go on to announce that as a promise to my never ending ever growing swarm of listeners I never sacrifice my integrity for a back alley handy and a warm plate of dessert. One other thing I would like to mention is that my theme songs will be extensions of my soul and eventually will amass to form a discography intent on making any record collection obsolete whether it be a slew of Blondie and Barbara Streisand Albums or the record collection owned by Kenny “The Tits” Daffledinger. When asked why they call him “The Tits”, “The Tits” replied “Well Jack, I’m what you could call a connoisseur. I don’t buy nothin’ unless it makes this phrase pop out of my mouth, ‘Oh lawdy lawdy I do declare these be the tits what my eyeballs oogly googly googling at’ I must say that 8 or 9 times a week, and that’s just while I’m out with my grandma. I am also a certified fan of the female anatomy particularly of the booby area so I’m goin’ for a 25% tranny swap under the hood if you know what I mean.” I reply, “No Kenny, but go on, I am enthralled.” Kenny adamantly exclaims, “Well tell me this now Jack, WHY is it that girls get to have sweater puppies when my apartment complex wouldn’t even let me have a pet rock. WHY is it that man has not yet evolved to lactate? AND WHY have you never just racked on a pair of 36 C donkey pillows and gone with the partial sex change. Aint got shit now Jack where are your answers? Well ill tell you what, my chesticles will never see the light of day with you in the room that much is for sure. These are my Tits. I am The Tits. My tits are the Tits so call me Tits, remember... The one with the bangin butterscotch hard candy nipples.” And that was all “The Tits” was willing to share with us that day he said something about pollen in the air and ran off to get some alkaline water from the water store just adjacent of the senior citizen version of hooters, droopies on Mackeral Blvd.

An introductory message and guarantee of service by The Amazing Jack himself.

This is the Amazing Jack reporting for reporter duty. This is my Manhattan Project. An adventure so death defying and deplorable yet heart warming and soul filling it will shape the fate of the world in the same fashion Chicken soup for the Soul gave you a faster decision on what to read while dropping brown. Remember Heroes live forever. But legends never die. And the hallowed reporters creed states “Never shy away from a task so daunting it seems like trying to floss a lion’s back molar when the lion is suffering from a toothache.” (Reporter Creed: subsection 34N-fi-alpha-4) Danger and a story so juicy you’ll be asking if this is an expose on Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit gum. But thats far from the case this path on which we are about to embark is something much more life threatening and repulsive. And we reporters get off to that shit. So to recap Heroes forever, legends immortal. Reporters? They just inject the Novocaine and root canal that overgrown house cat till our restless minds are at peace once more.

With great power does not come great responsibility in reality alongside great power comes manslaughter government corruption and if youre lucky a sweet chopper with a wicked amount of horsies pumpin through the engine. All of which I have leads on and the resulting stories will eventually put your ass where your hat goes with the shistorm of raw unfiltered news that comes in your ears and plops its balls on your favorite addition of home and garden. “Ah hell no not my dream house ‘zine, it’ll be weeks until the next edition, I’m going to march on Washington” You’ll cry as you rally your multiracial family and tell them the news you just heard. But it will be too late old news is cold news so go drink a cold brew and wait for the next delightfully painful kick to the groin that we call current events.

With vengeance,

The Amazing Jack

Legal Disclaimer

(The Amazing Jack is not a registered trademark and is not held down by any one career. Journalistic skills may be lacking as The Amazing Jack is mainly shoe salesman at a shoe store in Southern California, cannot guarantee the sole proprietor ownership of this title: The Amazing Jack, Amazing is a subjective term, Jack may possibly not astonish or excite you, Call your doctor if you experience dry heaves or scabies, toxic chemicals have been used in the production of this blog, all animals may seem hurt but realistically that female miniature pincer was just being a little bitch that day, vengeance may fall upon you by someone other than The Amazing Jack and in such cases, swift blows to the kidneys and spleen have been experienced, Warning do not repeat anything you have read on this blog or listened to in our respective fact finding missions, this is of course if you care whatsoever about your social status or the way people rate your intelligence, otherwise take your “given up sweat pants” out of there secret hiding place and binge on all of The Amazing Jack’s content, talk excessively about obscure insider information, and purchase any and all of our non explosive merchandise [Warning product Amazing Jack DIY Dynamite assault charges mislabeled DIY Dynamite Dance Party and military grade explosives were sold in children’s activity aisles all across 8 countries including the US Mexico and Many Nordic locations. All sales are final, yes, even for merchandise our LLC charged to any stolen credit card you left in our flagship store/roller derby rink, The owner will find a place for the 17 7XL Amazing Jack Daygo Lyfestyle Signature Tube Top Wife beater as it is illegal in all 50 states and us Territories to throw away materials rated with exceedingly high uranium and lead content. [This is a specific but public message about your “stolen” credit card, we are holding a VISA Platinum credit card for Gino Togenclap who claims we here at the The Amazing Jack Production Team have been misusing his identity. This ungrateful piece of filth lives on 3853 Hermdiddle Coast Way, Sweet Lips, Tennessee 38340 Gino tends to be home in the mornings and evenings so for all you scavengers out there only case his residence at this time don’t get those sticky fingers just yet. Use excessive force if necessary to acquire Mr. Togenclap’s valuables and burn his family photos for good measure. Gino we don’t regret to inform you the new season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt has come out on streaming networks but our office has been swamped with murky mud water and what looks like alligators and air boat parts so the mail people don’t pick up our packages anymore, this means we must continue our subscription in your name to hulu, nfl sunday ticket, netflix, amazon prime, Omaha steak delivery, the office wide Disneyland yearly passes we each got as bonuses last quarter, also our CFO Tommy Rimshot was saying he was experiencing some mild to sever spinal pain so we had you hook him up with the deluxe weekly package down at Attitude Adjustment, it’s that new chiropractor that took the idea of being sarcastically really mean and bad at his job like the folks down at dicks last resort, Tommy goes down there first thing they do is just hit him with a baseball bat right below his 7 cervical spine vertebrae and they fracture his hole spinal column, then they yell just kidding! Tommy was laughing so hard he was screaming in pain, 6 months of physical therapy with a lifetime of Oxycontin and he keeps saying he cant believe how dedicated the employees are to providing a comical and impacting experience for every customer, he has no idea how they knew he didn’t have insurance and would have to pay out of pocket, well we just put it on your card, you’ve got to try it out Gino, maybe when you get your credit card back, which I highly doubt will be any time this winter, possibly 2019. I can get you a good referral have em fuck up your back real good then fix it, That’s what we do to all of our friends and associates who “Talk too much” anyway this is meant to be a legal document that will hold up in court I better hold all the fraud extortion robbery and forgery chitchat for when i face time you, gotta jet talk to you soon Big G] Remember we also have a you break it you buy it policy on The Amazing Jack’s patented mustache If you break it you must pay the yearly $89,000 disabled severance from mustache package and if The Amazing Jack may happen to pass away from a sudden spelunking accident, act of nature, act of God, or point blank bullet wound to the facial area after severance from said official patented Amazing Jack Mustache the person/person’s responsible must pay out The Amazing Life Insurance policy Jack took out at age 26. Which is $5,000,000 to each of his 4 children and $800,000 to his pet brown bear to cover room and board along with the domesticated brown bear’s stamp collecting habit.)

Sincerely,

Ron Gotabitabeli

Head of Amazing Jack’s Crackpot Legal Defense Squadron (trademark)

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