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innuendostudios · 4 years ago

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Thoughts on... some funny games

[no spoilers to speak of]

Thoughts on Lair of the Clockwork God

The wisdom of the gaming cognoscenti insists that comedy is hard to do in video games. Having grown up with Monkey Island and Zork, I've never found this convincing. But one true thing is this: it's hard to write about comedic games. The ineffability of humor is hard enough to describe in less-interactive media; I can't even explain to my partner why Gretchen saying "I met January Jones once!" on You're the Worst busted me up, and they were sitting right next to me when she said it. Throw in the "you had to be there" nature of the player's active participation and I lose myself in a cornfield. The thing I found hilarious might come a beat to early for you, or not at all, or not be funny in text like it is in gameplay.

Why did I like Lair of the Clockwork God? It made me laugh.

The premise and particulars are a lot of "that could go either way." Ben and Dan - stars of Ben There, Dan That and Time Gentleman, Please! - have returned. Ben is still an adventure game star, but Dan has adopted platforming mechanics in an attempt to get with the times. So playing the game involves switching back and forth between a character who can leap across canyons but can't pick up items or talk to people, and one who can combine inventory but can't climb over a 3-pixel rock.

Does that sound potentially funny? Potentially grating? Yes to both!

The plot centers around our heroes trying to save the world from several simultaneous apocalypses and having to teach human emotions to a supercomputer in order to do so. (Don't ask.) These means, rather like Ben There, Dan That, traipsing through a number of fantasy worlds (read: computer simulations) until the correct emotion is provoked. This requires cross-genre cooperation: finding ways to get Ben to areas only Dan can access, getting Dan new power ups by combining objects in Ben's inventory (an act Dan insists on calling "crafting").

The best bits are at these intersections, when Dan's platforming is the puzzliest and Ben's puzzles take advantage of Dan's skills. Periodically the game gives you a Dan-centric platforming gauntlet the controls are NOT precise nor pleasant enough for, or a Ben-only moon logic puzzle that leaves you googling the walkthrough.

But I liked it! A lot. The genre-hopping seems to have invigorated the developers, Ben Ward and Dan Marshall. I discussed my favorite joke in Ben There, Dan That (in what is probably the least popular video I've ever made that wasn't asking for money), but was also dismayed that the game was never that clever again. But this one is, several times over! Progression here involves cheating your way to a better respawn zone, goofing around in game menus, exploiting "glitches," exiting out and loading up entirely other games. There is a lot of poking and prodding at what a game of this nature can or should be.

But, honestly? The only real selling point is... it was funny. The humor is as anarchic and metatextual as in previous titles, but it feels good-natured in a way BT,DT didn't. And there are, here and there, little bits of meat on its bones - the characters wondering if, as a couple thirtysomething white guys, the world hasn't left them behind, no longer comfortable with the juvenile humor of their youth but not really understanding the youth of today, but having not yet fully escaped the mentalities they used to hold. (There's an unspoken humor to Dan's idea of "modern" gameplay being 2D platforming mechanics, especially at a time when adventure games are significantly more popular than on his last outing; this is a good joke whether or not it's intentional.)

Also: this game contains the most poignant urinating-on-a-grave puzzle in gaming history, and you may quote me on that.

Having finished it months ago, I can't even remember what all the gags were that tickled me at the time. Comedy fades from memory faster than drama or frustration. Mostly I just remember having a good time.

Thoughts on The Darkside Detective

Here's a hook: sometime after the mayhem ends in Ghostbusters, The Exorcist, Evil Dead 2, or some other paranormal blockbuster that you watched over and over in the 90's until the VHS wore out, some overworked detective has to come into your town and piece together what the hell happened.

This is his story.

It's a good gag, and the devs wring every drop from it. Existing in a world where these things are commonplace and you have to fit them into some notion of "police procedure" is just funny. Like, it's one thing to have a running gag where you keep observing the moon in outdoor scenes, commenting, with increasing hostility, that its behavior is suspicious (it has been present at multiple crime scenes); it's a slightly different thing when, given the things you've encountered, the moon being the Big Bad is actually somewhat possible.

The game is divided into six main cases and three bonus DLC missions (which come included in the base game now, and the third of which is the proper ending/setup for the sequel). You are the cop tasked to deal with The Other Side - and, when The Other Side bleeds into our own world, its cops have to deal with you. You have a sidekick with a mental maturity of about 6, which I guess makes you the straight man. (You have to grade on a curve to find a straight man in this game.) And you solve tasks like rounding up escaped gremlins or finding an AWOL lake monster all juxtaposed with mundane problems like inter-office squabbles and having not bought your Christmas presents early enough. It's (pleasantly) lo-res and sparsely isolated, so the dialogue and premise do most of the work, but they are ably up to the task.

The gameplay... not so much. I'm an adventure game lifer, so I can put up with a lot of nonsense. It's mostly straightforward inventory puzzles and occasional minigames. Most of the puzzles are fine enough. As the cases progress, things get more involved, and the DLCs especially involve some awful moon logic. And the minigames are not above using that same jumping peg puzzle you've solved in a dozen other games already. So gameplay ranges from serviceable to irritating, but it mostly exists to string together funny lines and silly images. (Christmas mall elves being secretly in service to Krampus - that's the kind of thing we're talking about here.) You won't feel much guilt for opening up a walkthrough; the puzzles aren't why you're here.

The sequel has just been released, and both games are cheap, so check them out if you feel like smiling.

Thoughts on The Procession to Calvary

It's rare for a game to be hilarious to look at.

The Procession to Calvary takes its name from the Bruegel painting. It also takes all it's graphics from Renaissance oil paintings, and the designer delights in making famously rendered heroes and religious icons steal, stab, fart, and swear.

A strong Terry-Gilliam-with-After-Effects vibe is what we're describing.

You play as a lady knight from a war that's just ended, which sucks for you because, in this age of peace, you're no longer authorized to kill. And killing's, like, you're whole thing. But the one person your new, pacifist king wouldn't stop you from killing is the warlord you just deposed, who fled to the South. So you embark on a nonsensical journey to seek out the one human on Earth you are authorized to kill, because killing is just The. Best. Ever.

Of the three games we're discussing, this is the most overtly cheeky, and, at times, the most scatological. I could've done with a bit less scatology, if I'm being honest, but the cheekiness is very winning. As with Lair of the Clockwork God, a lot of jokes could go either way - a field of people being tortured and a woman on a blanket selling commemorative torture merch could be painfully try-hard. But something about the victims being seemingly everyone ever crucified or broken on the wheel in a famous painting, and having them writhe on their crosses in a way that is both gruesome and goofy, and having a cacophonous soundtrack of their screams and moans that you will now imagine every time you look at one of those elegantly elegiac paintings from now on... it works. That the music score is being played by an extremely jaunty piper who dances behind you just out of sword's reach as you traverse the field pushes it over the top.

Oh, and the puzzles, while never hair-pullingly obtuse, will leave you stumped at times. Push past that to get the proper ending, but, if you're sick of trying, you can, at any point, just start stabbing your way through problems. Which, again: it takes a very deft touch to make "protagonist resorts to violence" actually funny rather than lazy and obvious. And maybe, in another game, the perfect timing of every animation, the clever quips, the careful contrast of cathedrals and high-society music halls with gleeful sword-swinging wouldn't be enough. But something about it being frickin' Renaissance paintings carries it the last mile.

This is probably the basest game of the three, but it's also the one that made me giggle the most. Having a BFA that required several art history classes may have something to do with it. But check this thing out.

#capsule review #darkside detective #lair of the clockwork god #procession to calvary

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yurimother · 5 years ago

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LGBTQ Visual Novel Review - OshiRabu: Waifus Over Husbandos

If you are at all interested in Yuri or visual novels, you will have undoubtedly heard of OshiRabu: Waifus Over Husbandos. The Yuri rom-com was one of Steam’s top 20 February releases, and it hit the trending page on the platform. These accomplishments are incredible, and it is lovely to see both a visual novel and a Yuri game get so much love and recognition. However, whenever a title succeeds and manages to make an impact outside of the Yuri community, it always brings up a few questions. Mainly, does it deserve to be one of the few Yuri titles to obtain “mainstream success” and is it a positive ambassador for the genre, one which can further Yuri’s popularity and pull new consumers into it? These concerns boil down to one question, is it good? Usually, this inquiry is pretty quickly answered, with most elements of a product either being positive or negative. However, OshiRabu delivers more of a challenge. There are some fantastic parts to this game which I applaud and gush over, yet there are also several problems, both major and minor. The dichotomy between OshiRabu’s highs and lows is possibly the strongest I have ever seen in a Yuri title.

OshiRabu: Waifus Over Husbandos is the debut game of SukeraSomero, the new sister brand of the excellent Yuri studio, SukeraSparo. The plot follows Akuru Hayahoshi, an otaku with an obsession with her “husbandos” from gacha games and seriously bad luck. One day she bumps into a cute and bubbly student, Ren Furutachi. After Ren shows off her uncanny good luck to Akuru, a miscommunication sees Ren believing that Akuru confesses to her. For Ren, it is love at first sight, and she persistently negotiates her way into living with the older woman.

The rest of the game flits between comedic moments as Akuru and Ren live together. Examples include the girls shopping for a new bed, since Ren insists on sleeping next to Akuru, and Akuru creating boys’ love doujinshi with her friend Shino. There is, of course, a climax, which will not be spoiled in this review, and three possible endings, depending on two-player choices. An optional 18+ DLC expands on one of the endings and offers several explicit scenes.

There are some enjoyable aspects of this plot. For one, it is light and pleasant, never letting itself settle too much or grow stale. The situations are not hilarious but enjoyable and well suited to the with the characters’ personalities, and establishing several recurring themes and jokes, such as Shino teasing Ren and Ren accusing Akuru of cheating. There is an excessive amount of adorable fluff, which matches well with the overall tone of the game. These delightful moments cater to a variety of interests and fixations, so every reader is likely to find something they like. My personal favorite was a brief imagination sequence where Ren and Akuru have a child together, cute Yuri stories about women raising a kid are one of my weaknesses, and the reason Voltage’s Lovestruck has stolen hundreds of dollars from me.

The writing is also fantastic. The descriptive prose makes me laugh at the poor quality English translations we had a decade ago, and sometimes still unfortunately get. SukeraSomero deserves a great deal of praise for the simultaneous English, Japanese, and Chinese release. It is amazing that everyone got to experience this game together all over the world, without having to wait years for a possible license and translation. English translator Meru is one of the best in the business, and her work shines here. Her adaptation is amazing and fits the games’ modern setting and feel. I personally do not care for the amount of internet culture language included, such as Ren calling Akuru a “thot,” simply because such terminology tends to become dated quickly. However, I will defend the creative choices as accurate to Oguri Aya’s original story.

There is one more major compliment I have to give this game, and it is a big one. OshiRabu is extremely queer. While most Yuri titles exist as lesbian or lesbian adjacent content with little construction of LGBTQ identity, for example naming, displaying meaningful sexual and romantic relationships, or showing any aspect of queer culture, OshiRabu does all of these. I was floored when, early on in the story, Ren confesses to Akuru that she is a “lesbian.” The word lesbian is actually used directly in the visual novel, an unfortunate rarity for the Yuri genre. I even swapped the game into the original Japanese to confirm, and there again was the coming-out moment; the word “lesbian,” in all its glory, was planted right on the screen. This fantastic scene was not a one-off occurrence either.

Throughout OshiRabu, Ren continuously mentioned her homosexuality, which is usually juxtaposed by Akuru pondering her own sexuality, which she defines as an attraction to 2D men and nothing else. Although, her identity obviously changes because you know the women must end up together by the end. Some other excellent scenes feature queer representation. For example, at one point in the game, Akuru goes to a gay bookstore where another woman approaches her. When trying to explain that she is not interested, Akuru almost exclaims, “I’m normal,” a sentiment which she quickly realizes is hurtful and prejudice with some spectacular self-reflected narration. Moments like these offer nuanced and thoughtful presentations of LGBT culture and are the definite highlight of the game.

Sadly, not every aspect of the visual novel is as fantastic as these. In fact, many parts of it range from unfortunate to downright atrocious. First, the characters, while not awful or unlikeable, have some harmful qualities to them. Akuru is distant and introverted, which often leads to her being cold or even rude to Ren, which is never confronted or resolved. On her part, Ren is sadly the stereotypical aggressive lesbian, and frequently invades Akuru’s personal space, a topic which is again never reconciled. It is fine to have a character make problematic choices, but when their actions do not have consequences and conflicts have no resolution, it is a significant issue. The only character I unequivocally enjoyed was Shino, as she spends the whole game humorously teasing the two.

Speaking of conflicts, the final dramatic twist comes about as a result of Ren running away and refusing to communicate with Akuru. It turns out, minor spoilers, that she was testing her, which is a pathetic and ridiculous action which in real life can and should have serious repercussions or even end the partnership. Additionally, the topic of Akuru’s shared affection for Ren and her virtual husbandos, which is an immense source of stress for Ren, is not addressed in the base game, only the DLC. The extra content has its own set of problems too.

It is not uncommon for visual novels to include adult content in a separate patch so they can sell the base game on Steam. However, such adult patches are usually free, and OshiRabu’s is not, instead it sells for $4.99. This price is on top of the $24.99 base game, which means you are shelling out 30 dollars for the complete experience. An experience which, mind you. only clocks in at about 3 hours, hardly what I would call a value. It is an additional shame because the adult content is really well done. All the 18+ scenes, except for maybe the brief first one, showcase a tender loving relationship and skillfully written erotic content, although one or two metaphors did not land very well. However, not every player will want the 18+ content, and OshiRabu essentially forces them to play through it if they are going to see all the base game’s conflicts resolved.

There is also an unfortunate amount of service. While most of OshiRabu’s service is just sweet and cute moments between the characters, there is plenty of exploitative artwork designed to cater to specific players of a more perverted persuasion. Ren is usually the subject of such content, with shots featuring her panties and one extremely revealing cosplay outfit consisting of little more than two strips of cloth. Obviously, some players will enjoy these aspects of the game, but they did not work well for me, especially when I compared such clumsy service with the robust adult content.

However, this exploitative artwork, along with the rest of the game’s art, is phenomenally well crafted. Artist and character designer DSmile creates detailed and colorful illustrations that match the light comedic tone of the game. The adorable and vibrant artwork, drawn in a light watercolor style, makes my heart sing! There are also plenty of CG pieces, over 20, including the DLC, which adds six more. Given the games short length, this means you will see a new CG every ten minutes or so. The UI is also incredibly clean, easy to navigate, and blends well with the aesthetics of the art. My only complaint visually is that the sprites are entirely static. Except for different facial expressions and a few outfit changes, they are always the exact same, standing like flat mannequins against a backdrop. There is no animation or even alternative poses for them.

The voice acting is similarly high quality. Voice actors Nekomura Yuki, Kitaooji Yuki, and Waou Kirika all give fantastic performances in Japanese, and the quality of the recordings is consistently amazing. Even the adult scenes are voiced and showcase the range of talent present. The music is not nearly as good, but it does not intrude either. There are enough tracks to prevent the music from getting too dull, although the central theme and one of the tracks, “Let’s Go Out!” push this boundary a little far. Unfortunately, none of them are too memorable either, and I can guarantee that I will never be touching the BGM tab of the extras menu.

OshiRabu: Waifus Over Husbandos is a highly polished and visually impressive experience. The visual novel contains incredible artwork and is well constructed, showing the promise and talent of SukeraSparo. The stellar, although unfortunately necessary, adult DLC, and inclusion of LGBT themes are superb aspects that could have made playing this game a blast. However, a poorly constructed story, weak characters, and a high price tag compared to the amount of content offered severely detract from the game’s success. If you do not mind excessive service or are interested in lots of cute Yuri moments, pick this one up when it goes on sale.

Ratings: Story – 5 (6 with DLC) Characters – 4 Art – 9 Voice – 10 Music – 5 LGBTQ – 10 Sexual Content – 5 (9 with DLC) Final – 5

The visual novel is available on Steam and MangaGamer

#yuri #reviews #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtq+#queer #gay #lesbian #visual novel #oshirabu #oshirabu: waifus over husbandos #girls love #gl #wlw #video games #gaming #game

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finneve · 5 years ago

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Dreamland- part 1

Summary- after being convinced to visit a 1940s’ themed night, Steve Rogers falls in love with one of the performers. but jealous rears its head when he sees Bucky there one night.

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He had wanted to go back, return to what he knew. Finally, to be with the woman he loved. But as he stood on the street where Peggy lived and watched her embrace with her husband, Steve Rogers knew, this time truly held nothing for him anymore. Steve knew he could never live with himself if he were to ruin a happy marriage.

So, he returned to the future, his future. The warm embrace of friends and to the world he had helped save so many times over. Though, he didn’t miss the questioning look he got from Bucky when he had reappeared on the time travel platform only mere seconds after his departure. Bucky had been surprised to see him again at the lakeside.

“What happened?” he asked later when the pair were sharing a drink back at the compound. “Ah, she was happy and in love with someone else,” Steve admitted. “she got married,” Leaning back Bucky let out a low whistle.

“Sorry man,”

“Don’t worry about it,” Steve half laughed. Perhaps it was a silly dream to begin with, to think he would be able to go back and slot perfectly back into Peggy’s life. Buck didn’t press any further for more information and for that, Steve was relieved.

Steve resigned himself now to a quieter life. The mantle of Captain America passed onto Sam. In all, Steve was glad to be rid of it. The pressure to constantly uphold truth, honour and justice was a burden lifted from his shoulders, when he gave Sam that shield. While he had been sad to part with it, he knew Sam was the best man for the job. He would still help the team of course, but from more of a logistics point of view. Finally, he was free, but to do what exactly?

Suggestions were made, some jokes at his expense. About the need to get laid or find a hobby. Like collecting fast cars or various properties, like some weird dragon’s hoard. While the idea of driving a nice car did appeal to him, Steve couldn’t see the logic in owning multiples of anything.

“Man, maybe spend some of that money you got stockpiled,” Tony had decried one day. The man had been trying to convince to get into vintage luxury cars, or even some that they could race around a track and waste time and money on.

“That bank account would be looking very healthy these days,” Sam joked, “all that interest from 1945, you’d be a rich man even without stark’s money,”

“Yeah I guess,”

Steve didn’t like the idea of spending money just cause he could. A childhood of being told to save every penny and the depression era combined did wonders for his spend-thrift attitude. No, that money would stay in the bank for now.

It had been Natasha that made a more reasonable recommendation.

“Hey,” she called after him. They had just stepped out of a meeting. Slowing down, Steve allowed her to fall into step beside him.

“Look there’s a place in the city that might help with your nostalgia blues,”

“What the museum?” Steve scoffed. The blond man scratched at his chin in slight annoyance. Not that he didn’t like the museum, but he was sick of seeing that memorial to him as Captain America. While it had been aimed at informing the public about the heroics of him, the Howling Commandos and their wartime exploits, now it just felt empty. Littered with half-truths and faces long gone from this world. It had become an unwanted reminder of what he had lost all those years ago when he was frozen in the ice. Steve knew Bucky too had mixed feelings about it, as it still said that he was dead.

“No, idiot,” though she insulted him, Natasha grinned.

“A club downtown, I think it would be your vibe,”

“What’s the point if I can’t get drunk?”

“The general aesthetic,” the woman just shook her head at him. Snatching up his phone she set about putting her plan in motion.

“There, I put in the address to your phone, it’s a good place for a drink and to relax,” and with a wink the former assassin spun on her heel and strutted away. But the thought of going to some dive bar to get his rocks off was just so unappealing. No there is no way he could go.

However, in the quiet of the night, nightmares haunted his sleep. The flashbacks of Bucky falling from that train, the horrors of wartime Europe, having to say goodbye to Peggy before hurdling into the icy Atlantic, it all swirled through his mind. The replay of falling to stop Thanos, losing Buck again, it made he want to avoid sleep. In in those moments after he wakes in fear that, he pulls up the address of the club on his phone. “Dreamland”, the clubs’ name seemed very poignant right now, giving his troubles with actually sleeping. What could be the harm in checking it out at least once? Rubbing at his eyes Steve shakes the enticement from his head.

But still, he puts it off. Going to the place Nat had suggested. Not wanting to give in to the temptation of nostalgia. Still the nightmares persist. Every night he wakes in cold sweat, showers and proceeds to walk the somewhat quiet streets. Something to keep the nightmares at bay. He wandered more and more.

Again, he looks at the address. Hmm only a street away, he thought pensively. Maybe a quick look and a drink wouldn’t hurt. At least then when Natasha questions him over it, he can say it just didn’t work. But as he stood before it, suddenly the pieces fell into place. At the top of the arch, a bright neon sign. In cheery pink, the word “Dreamland” glowed.

A cabaret club?

“You’ve got to be joking Nat,” Steve voiced his thoughts. Loud enough for an older woman hurrying past to give him a quizzical stare. A burly bouncer sat aside the door. The mountain of a man looked Steve up and down.

“The show’s nearly over pal,”

Steve just shrugged. Even only a few moments of respite would be heaven-sent. He paid the admission and finally entered the club. Down the rabbit hole of a corridor. Soft coloured lights shimmered off the wall as he moved further in. The clamour of the club carried out to his ears.

A decent sized room opened before him. Steve rubbed at his eyes, a wave of shock creeping over. Nat had been right, of course. This unassuming place appeared to be an almost exact replica of old club from the 40s’. Art deco stylings had been made. Soft warm lights illuminated the space well. What looked to be a fully stocked bar crowded much of the back wall. Waitresses dressed like cigarette girls bustled around taking drink orders and selling other items, like candy or chewing gum. From the stage the swinging, soulful notes of jazz reverberated around the room. A real jazz band rather than music that was blared over a speaker system. A nice touch, he thought as he slid up against the dark wood bar.

“What can I get you honey?” the barmaid’s toothy smile was sweet enough.

“Ah, just a beer, does matter which,” he shrugged, setting down enough bills to pay for said beer.

“sure thing,”

Upon its arrival, Steve took a swig of the beer. He nodded his thanks. Maybe he should have brought Bucky, he would have gotten a kick out of seeing this club done up like it was 1941. The music had kicked up as two dancing girls pranced around the stage, to a cheery jazz tune. Though Steve wasn’t sure of the actual song. They were a pretty sight. Big smiles and glimmering eyes shone brighter still as they twirled and danced their set. Their red costumes dazzled and gleamed up under the bright stage lights.

Taking the empty table, Steve sipped at the beer. Argh, the craft beer was not worth the price. But he sipped again, after he had just paid ten dollars for it, even though the alcohol won’t affect him. The beer in his hand would not make him feel so out of place amongst the other patrons.

As he sat, nursing the beer, Steve allowed himself to glance around the room. Nat had been right. This place truly felt as if it had been plucked straight out of time and thrown back down, unchanged, untouched in the last 70 years. How easily this could have felt like cheap imitation. Unnoticed by the modern eye but The art deco stylings on the wall continued around the whole bar. Plush velvet booths had been pushed back against the walls and set with a singular soft light. The rest of the open space before the stage was scatted with tables and chairs, creating an almost amphitheatre around the performance space.

Even a thin haze of smoke emanated around the space, giving off that dreamlike quality to it all. Briefly he wondered where the smoke came from, as Steve was positive you could no longer smoke cigarettes indoors. A machine perhaps. His best friend would enjoy this, a brief glimpse back in time. Bucky would utterly indulge in the spectacle, drink in the ambience of it all. Be glad to be reminded of the times before they shipped off to the war, until memories of what happened after plagued him once more.

His fingers picked at the label on the beer. A minor way of venting frustrations that really didn’t alleviate anything of the feelings Steve had swirling around his mind. But he sipped at the beer once more. He might as well stay until closing and then continue with his insomniac walking.

The final notes of music played out, as the girls dipped into a bow. A table of men down the front whooped and cheered for the pair as a smattering of polite applause rippled out from those closest to the stage. Steve took another swig of the beer. He allowed himself to wonder what the next act would be, if it too would be a poor attempt to capture past nostalgia. The din of the other patrons rambled and pitched the time between the acts came to an end.

The red lighting altered, filling the room with a cool blue hue. Soft tones of a piano filled the air as the crowd fell into a collective hush. Even the rowdy men at the front table had fallen into hushed whispers. Looking back at the stage, he wondered what act would get such a reaction from the gathered crowd.

As if out of thin air, there she appeared, alone on the stage. Agape, Steve barely heard the announcer call her name. he couldn’t help but stare at the vision before him. Soft hair perfectly coiffed and curled, soft plump lips painted a deep red. Clearly an effort to make her into a siren of the 1940s had been made.

Slowly the piano was joined by a mellow tune of a trumpet and string instruments harmonise along. Slowly as the music warms up the woman on stage began to sing. Unexpectedly Steve can’t tear his eyes away. The sweet dulcet tones that spilt from her, struck him to the core. He couldn’t move; but sit transfixed on 1940’s dream. On how the silk of her dress fell over her hips, how soft and inviting her skin seemed to be as it shone under the bright stage light. Through the steady beams of light, the soft material appeared almost see-through. It made her look otherworldly and gorgeous. Delicate in a certain unspoken way and to Steve’s utter shock, it stirs him.

She glides over the stage, floating like an ethereal being. Steve leans forward, gaze fixed on this utter vision. Her tour of the stage stops almost directly in front of him. A smirk graces her features. Her eyes piercing as if into his very soul, making him come undone with just a look. Her hips bopped to the soft melody, as she twirled back to the piano.

Her own gaze didn’t waver or falter, even splayed out over the piano. She eyes him with subtle curiosity. Still that smile beamed off her. Her form pushed off the piano, allowing her to take centre stage once more. The final beats of the melody rung out from the band as her fingers grazed over the mic stand.

“Dream a little dream of me,”

As her song finishes and her voice cooed the last few notes, she eyes him again and with a sly wink, she smiled. To an eruption of applause, the vixen did bow. Before exiting, her eyes scan over the room before seeming to land on him. Even from his seat, Steve could see they were the most brilliant shade of (y/e/c). A wink, a smile. She bounced with a girlish grin before disappearing off the stage. An eruption of applause still followed her.

Dumbstruck, Steve still stared after her, to the place where she had vanished from sight. Instantly his mind was racing. As his eyes darted around the bar, a million questions seem to flood his brain, all clamouring to make it impossible to answer a single one. Who was that singer? Why had it taken nearly a decade to hear about this place? Had he been under some rock since waking from the ice? What was her name? My, how that was an important question. Steve had to know her name. Oh, how he wanted her all for his own.

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swifterm · 3 years ago

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The complete guide to ecommerce marketing

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In general, marketing done for online stores remains online. This includes social media marketing, email marketing, and a large number of other options to reach out to new and old customers. However, prudent ecommerce store owners also know that marketing is bigger than the internet.

That’s why the entirety of ecommerce marketing includes things like word-of-mouth and in-person marketing. It’s also not out of the question to consider physical marketing tactics like TV commercials and billboards.

A successful ecommerce marketing strategy relies on a company’s ability to remain flexible and work with the right tools. There’s no telling what new technologies will come out in the future, so it’s important to not get too settled into one marketing solution for the lifetime of your business.

Overall, ecommerce marketing should be considered in your costs. There’s no way to find new customers without ecommerce marketing, so every shirt or electronic sold must also have a per-unit line in your accounting figures showing you how much it cost to acquire that customer through ecommerce marketing.

As with all ecommerce topics, there’s no one answer. An online company like Dollar Shave Club found marketing success with funny television and YouTube ads. Other online stores like MVMT Watches have podcast advertisements.

Therefore, you need to figure out the absolute best course of action for your brand. Does that mean you should make a hard push with social media influencers? Is there potential for your product to be marketed at craft shows?

In this article, we’ll help you uncover the ideal marketing channels for your business. As you read on, mark down the ecommerce marketing types that seem appealing for your business. After that, you can begin testing them one-by-one to see which are the ideal solutions.

The Different Types of Ecommerce Marketing

Keep in mind that there are probably more than nine ecommerce marketing types. These are the primary forms of marketing, especially when it comes to selling products online. We also do our best to consolidate different marketing niches into over-encompassing categories, giving you a solid view into each specific category.

People often confuse advertising with marketing, and vice versa. However, marketing is actually an umbrella category, and advertising falls underneath that category.

Therefore, advertising is in fact a form of marketing, and it’s extremely important to the success of an online store.

Advertising is a unique form of marketing because it entails how you directly promote your products, and it almost always involves the company paying a fee to list those advertisements in a relevant area.

Luckily, today’s online world offers incredible targeting tools for your advertising. For instance, you can advertise on places like Google and Facebook by targeting users who have already searched for similar products. You can also target based on things like demographics, age, sex, and online location.

In general, paid advertising is available in the following areas:

Social media websites like Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.

Search engines such as Google and Bing and DuckDuckGo.

Other websites, whether that’s by reaching out to those websites or by utilizing an ad network.

Print documents like magazines and billboards.

Visual media such as movie theater previews or TV ads.

Tools to Help With Advertising

Google Ads – Your one-stop shop for building, targeting, and paying for ads that show up on Google and its network.

Google Merchant Center – The best way to get your products logged in the Google Shopping section of the search engine. In short, visitors can buy your products directly through Google.

Facebook Ads – A dashboard for configuring and target ads to go on both Facebook and Instagram.

Pinterest Ads – An advertisement manager where you choose an objective, insert your design and product, then launch the ad for Pinterest users to see.

Amazon Ads – Solutions to promote your products and brand on Amazon.

Bing Ads – The advertising platform to reach more customers through the Bing search engine.

Instagram – Get your brand in front of the right people with targeted Instagram advertising campaigns.

Ecommerce Marketing Type 2: Email Marketing

Email marketing remains one of the most effective methods of marketing for both physical in-person stores and those that run exclusively online.

Sending emails to customers has many advantages. First of all, people open their emails on a regular basis. Not to mention, they tend to expect things like promotions and messages from companies, as opposed to more personal messaging on places like social media or texting.

Email marketing often serves as the first order of marketing business for online stores. The reason for this is because you can start building a subscriber list whenever you want, and many ecommerce platforms offer various ways to use email marketing.

Email messaging comes in many forms in the ecommerce world:

Receipts.

Newsletters.

Abandoned cart messages.

Promotional offers.

Customer loyalty emails.

Product recommendations.

Account registration messaging.

Re-engagement or defunct customer emails.

Upsells and cross-sells.

And that’s only a taste of what can be done with your email marketing campaigns. What’s great is that ecommerce platforms like Shopify and Bigcommerce and WooCommerce already have email marketing integrations. Also, popular email marketing tools like Sendinblue and Omnisend provide built-in ecommerce automation features to guide your users through the customer lifecycle.

The importance of personalisation, or more accurately predictive personalisation

Personalisation is now a big deal for marketers and for good reason. A study shown by O2 showed that adding personalisation to their eCommerce experience increased sales by 7.8% over a short period of time and that online retailers monitoring their personalisation efforts have seen increases in sales by an average of 19% across the board.

Predictive personalisation software (where an algorithm watches all the buying habits and impressions made for each consumer individually) , using predictive analytics technologies like SwiftERM, identify consumer’s future behaviour, then rank every SKU by greatest likelihood of “that individual consumer” will purchase from all the SKUs you have listed, in order of greatest likely buying propensity. In other words, the ones they love best. CLV soars and RoR is all but eliminated. It out performs segmenting manyfold. But the art to it isn’t choosing one over the other, the seasoned marketer runs them both in tandem, to achieve maximum effect. the effect a 26x higher overall return, yes huge!

Tools to Help With Email Marketing

Omnisend – One of the more powerful ecommerce marketing tools on the market. It offers integrations with the major ecommerce platforms, beautiful templates, and automated ecommerce workflows.

Klaviyo – An option for both email and SMS marketing through several platforms. Features include segmentation, data science use, and reporting.

Mailchimp – One of the most popular email marketing platforms. It’s not made specifically for ecommerce but it provides powerful automation for that purpose.

SwiftERM – predictive personalisation software, that runs in addition to your email software identifying and capturing each consumer’s next most likely purchase.

Seguno – Email marketing with targeting and recommended products, made just for Shopify.

Ecommerce Marketing Type 3: Social Media Marketing

If email marketing is the old mainstay of retail and digital marketing, social media is the wild west. Over the years, social platforms have come and gone, while popular networks evolve on a regular basis. That makes for an exciting but tricky landscape for online store owners.

However, social media generally allows companies to reach customers in a more casual setting. It also presents rare opportunities for those customers to interact with the brands through the comment and tagging features.

The most popular social networks are Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, yet many other options are available.

The interesting part about social media marketing is that some business types thrive on one network but have trouble with others. For instance, clothing brands usually find success on Instagram, while crafting or design stores go to Pinterest (although Instagram is also worthwhile for them).

Social marketing involves general posts that reach out to followers while also attempting a more organic discovery process for new customers. For instance, you may share a blog post on Facebook and see customers share that post with other people who don’t currently follow you on Facebook.

Social Ads

Another way to market on social media is through advertisements. From Facebook to Pinterest, and Instagram to Twitter, the major social networks all have advertising opportunities.

Although we touched on some of the main advertising networks on social media, here’s a list of the top contenders:

Facebook Ads

Instagram Ads

Pinterest Ads

LinkedIn Ads

Twitter Ads

Snapchat Ads

Organic Content on Social Media

Another way to market on social media is through the use of organic social content. Essentially, organic content is a fancy way of saying that you’re using the social network the way it was intended to be used.

In short, social posts include things like pictures, GIFs, videos, links, or even text-based thoughts.

A solid social content strategy is key to building your followership and giving your current customers a way to reach out to you in a less formal manner.

Selling on Social Media

Social commerce evolves all the time, and the way in which it’s configured depends entirely on the social network.

Some social platforms let you build a little ecommerce shop for processing your payments through their system. This is advantageous because your customers don’t have to leave their favorite social network. Yet, it’s also a disadvantage for your brand since they never come to your website.

Other platforms like Pinterest and Instagram allow for some variation of product tagging. Essentially, you’re able to post a picture of your new product and include a tag and link to the actual product page. This redirects them to your ecommerce website so the customer can purchase the product.

Social networks have a tendency to occasionally modify rules and capabilities for social selling (Facebook seems to do this all the time). So it can be frustrating for merchants, but potentially profitable if you locate the right system and configure a desirable social commerce section.

Tools to Help With Social Media Marketing

Social scheduling tools – These are great for managing your organic social content. Tools include options like Buffer and Hootsuite.

The social ad networks – The links are included above. Many other social networks have their own advertising systems as well.

Rapid social design tools – Not every online business owner is a graphic designer. Therefore, we recommend tools like Canva and Adobe Spark to find templates and quickly design beautiful social posts to fit your brand.

Ecommerce Marketing Type 4: Search Engine Optimisation

Marketing through search engines requires nothing more than a published website that’s accessible to those search engines to crawl your website.

An indexed website could find itself on the front page of Google or Bing for certain keywords, yet it all depends on how competitive that keyword is and what people are searching for.

Therefore, having an indexed site is usually the bare minimum when it comes to search engine optimisation (SEO).

Additional search engine marketing tactics include paid advertising (covered previously,) search engine shopping platforms (also covered earlier in this article,) and organic search improvement.

Organic SEO may sound like you sit back and let the internet work for you. And that’s certainly an option, but the opportunities for improved search engine rankings lie in your own hands.

Follow these steps to boost your search engine rankings, and in turn, bring in more potential customers:

Sign up for webmaster tools when available. These modules, offered by search engines like Google and Bing, provide reports to check the success of your search engine tactics along with tips to improve.

Optimize your website for faster speeds and a better user experience. This usually entails optimizing larger images, making sure your website is mobile-ready, and many other areas of site cleanup.

Optimize product pages, and all website pages for that matter, with keywords that are not only relevant to your business but used for searching on a regular basis.

Create written and visual content that elevates the user experience and adds value to your brand. Blog posts, videos, and infographics provide opportunities for high-quality customer resources while also allowing you to optimize them for target keywords.

Optimize your checkout process. How easy is it for someone to drop a product into the online shopping cart and get checked out? Everything from the number of steps required to the speediness of the site comes into play.

Tools to Help With Search Engine Optimisation

Ecommerce Marketing Type 5: Content Creation and Optimisation

Content creation ties in nicely with search engine optimisation seeing as how the content you create tells search engines that you’re offering additional content to customers. Not to mention, blogging, video creation, and the many other forms of content creation supplement the products you sell online.

Customers love seeing behind-the-scenes photos of your brand, and they definitely appreciate tutorials or product guides to advance their understanding of the item they just bought.

For an online store, content falls into the following categories:

The content on your product pages.

Informational content on every other page of your website, including an FAQ and the homepage.

Your blog.

External content marketing like guest posting, video creation on YouTube, and even what’s posted on social media.

Content marketing efforts often work by indirectly promoting your products and offering relevant assistance for your products or the industry in which your items are sold.

Examples of Content to Get You Started

Infographics explaining the benefits of your product or the state of your industry.

Podcasts to talk about lifestyle choices that align with your products.

Behind-the-scenes photos or promotional imagery that can go on social media and your blog.

Blog post tutorials, how-to articles, and product roundups.

Videos that highlight products or show them in action.

Case studies to prove the effectiveness of what you’re selling.

eBooks or online magazines with long-form content that advises customers on in-depth strategies for relevant lifestyle changes or how to work with a product.

Ecommerce Marketing Type 6: Influencer Relationships

An influencer is someone who has a significant following in a specific niche. Celebrities are the more legitimate influencers but nowadays many people on social media are calling themselves influencers.

The idea behind this type of marketing is simple: Contact someone who has a large, relevant following. See if they’d like to promote your product in some natural way, maybe through a blog or social media post. Then you pay the influencer.

Keep in mind that you should do your homework since many people have thousands of followers on Instagram but they’re not active followers. You also want someone who would actually use your product in the first place. The partnership should make sense.

Tools to Help With Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is tough because there are plenty of non-influencers who claim they have quality followings. However, you can start your search on websites like HypeAuditor or Upfluence.

Ecommerce Marketing Type 7: Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing may very well be the lifeblood of the entire content creation industry. Bloggers use it, as do many recommendation platforms online.

The idea behind affiliate marketing is rather simple. A brand creates an affiliate marketing program. Bloggers/marketers sign up and promote the brand. Every purchase through a unique affiliate link sends a “finders fee” to the blogger/marketer.

For an online store, an affiliate marketing program has far more reach and potential than any influencer setup.

It’s essentially free marketing until a purchase is actually made. You set the payout structure and provide a tool for the marketers to create their own accounts and affiliate links. Those marketers recommend your products in things like newsletters, blog posts, and social media outlets.

Tools to Help With Affiliate Marketing

GoAffPro – An excellent affiliate management app for Shopify. Other platforms like Bigcommerce and Volusion provide affiliate manager add-ons as well.

Affiliate Program for WooCommerce – A plugin for WooCommerce with role-based affiliate settings and all sorts of sharing tools.

ReferralCandy – Based more on a referral model, ReferralCandy is suitable if you’d like to give out affiliate commissions or rewards to regular customers when they recommend your company to friends and family.

Ecommerce Marketing Type 8: Shopping Experience Marketing

We call this the “shopping experience” marketing category because much of the promotional content gets presented while a user is on your website and already browsing the catalog.

The point of your on-site marketing isn’t to bombard users with repetitive popups that draw attention away from what they’re currently looking at. In fact, the entire notion of interrupting customers is a balancing act.

The key is to remain out of the way but occasionally offer more value to the customer if they want or need it.

An example of this type of marketing is a chatbox, both run by humans and bots. Many of these chat boxes answer questions about sizing and other product details. You can also recommend other products that may fit their needs.

Popups are also essential parts of on-site marketing. However, a popup should only show up once while a customer is on your site, and it must provide something of great value, like a 25% off coupon to sign up for your email list.

Other on-site, or shopping experience marketing tactics include:

Links to your customer support resources.

Guides and sizing documents.

Recommendations for other products.

Wishlist modules.

Case studies.

Testimonials.

Customer reviews.

Tools to Help With On-site Marketing

Live Chat – This is an excellent chat box to integrate with any platform and utilize bots if needed.

Cross-Sell Related Products – Although this app is for Shopify, you can find various other add-ons for different platforms.

Bigcommerce Wishlists – Check with your ecommerce platform to see if wishlists are included. You may have to find a plugin or a special theme that has the functionality.

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce – Accumulate social proof for your products with a customer reviews panel. Again, other platforms provide apps for this too.

Ecommerce Marketing Type 9: Local Outreach

Word-of-mouth marketing is one area of local outreach, but it also involves your brand getting out into the real world to partner with other brands, visit industry events, and sell your products at markets.

As for online marketing, local outreach requires site optimisation with keywords that relate to your location.

This doesn’t apply to all online stores, but it’s an easier way to tap into a market if you focus on specific locations.

The goal is to optimize for that local area and create specific landing pages for those regions.

Top Ecommerce Marketing Tips and Strategies

Now that you have the knowledge and tools to get started with ecommerce marketing, feel free to continue reading for tips on how to improve your marketing efforts and develop a solid strategy.

Use Smart Experiments

Experimenting comes into play for many aspects of ecommerce marketing. If you’re using an online tool, chances are it has some sort of testing module to see if your marketing plan is actually on the right path.

An example of this is A/B testing for email newsletters and automated worflows.

A graphic designer gets trained to know what formats and colors sell, but unfortunately, their gut feeling isn’t good enough to compete in the world of ecommerce. You’re better off forgetting about gut feelings and chnce by making several email marketing templates and testing to see which ones perform the best.

Other testing tools include keyword research apps, visual website heatmaps, and even customer surveys.

Gain Feedback From Your Customers

A quality customer survey goes a long way to get an idea of what your customers like and don’t like about your products.

Going a bit further, you can gain more objective feedback from customers by implementing areas for them to speak their minds, whether that’s through review modules, forums, or social media.

Be sure to keep a regular eye on online review sites to accumulate data and understand what’s making customers happy or disgruntled.

Utilize Targeting and Consumer Research Before Spending Money on Marketing

Similar to A/B testing, there’s no reason to spend money on advertising if you’re targeting consumers and making your designs based on instinct or preference.

Building an ad campaign on Facebook or Google can get expensive. Therefore, you should utilize their tools for seeing which types of designs actually work for businesses like your own.

In addition, take advantage of the target marketing tools so that your ads are only showing up to people who potentially want to buy from you.

Get Creative – Don’t Just Keep Sending Out Promotions

Some companies fall flat in the personality department when all they send out are coupons and promotions.

It may seem like all your customers want are discounts, but human connection can serve a greater purpose.

Take Zappos, for instance. Early on, Zappos became known for sending out handwritten thank you cards in some boxes. They also rewarded random customers with overnight shipping. Furthermore, the Zappos website was filled with behind-the-scenes content showing the outside world how quirky and relatable the employees were.

Customers appreciate that they’re buying from real people, not some faceless company. Show them that with your creativity.

Upsell Products On a Regular Basis

An upsell often seems like a salesperson attempting to get a person to buy more stuff. Luckily, the internet makes upselling more discrete.

There are so many messages that go out to customers, from receipts to thank yous to email newsletters. All of these can include recommendations and upsells. You can show upsells in your checkout area as well. The great part is that the suggestions aren’t popping up in the customer’s face and distracting them from whatever it was they were doing before.

Think About User-generated Content as a Viable Marketing Option

User-generated content is cheap and effective. Think about ways to get your customers involved on social media or other outlets. Ask for videos using your product or run a contest asking for users to suggest ideas for your next big marketing campaign.

Make it Almost Impossible to Not See Your Customer Support Resources

There’s an unsettling trend in ecommerce to hide away customer resources like they’re something to be embarrassed about.

The footer area has become the default spot to dump a list of links leading to things like forums, blogs, and knowledgebases.

That’s strange because your customer support is one of the best complimentary marketing tools you have.

Those resources don’t have to be the first thing your customers see, but it’s not a bad idea to include them in your primary menu.

Make Sure Your Entire Site Looks Good on Mobile Devices

People shop on mobile devices, that’s no secret.

Complete rigorous testing to ensure that your website theme or design looks and functions properly on tablets and smartphones.

Our Conclusion on Ecommerce Marketing

If all of this ecommerce marketing talk makes you feel overwhelmed, don’t fret.

Start with one suggestion or marketing practice and see how well your company can excel at it.

The best method is to set smaller, attainable, concrete goals so success is more likely. That way, your marketing efforts gain momentum and you’ll have an easier time transitioning to a new marketing tactic.

If you have any questions about ecommerce marketing in general, let us know in the comments!

We hope you enjoyed this article, intended to help improve our client’s profitability. It reflects the care SwiftERM offer. If you haven’t already done so, then please enjoy a FREE month’s trial of our predictive personalisation software on your site, and let us know what you think.

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Other articles of interest below: (Index to all articles here)

#ecommerce #marketing #business

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antiracistkaren · 4 years ago

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“Not One”

Yesterday I stumbled on a TikTok that asserted that all white folks are bad and liars. It advised Black youth to remain skeptical of white people, as they would capitalize on antiracism and once being antiracist fell out of fashion, they will no longer champion the rights of Black people.

Of course it was hard to hear as a white person. And I am certain that if I got my white feelings hurt, the backlash that would inevitably grow against this creator will be great.

Whenever I hear something that triggers the deepest parts of “Not ME!” as a reaction to something a Black person says about white people, I step back immediately and do a lot of thinking about it.

Realizing that there is potential for me to make money off of, and capitalize on, ideas that Black people have been pushing for centuries is very real. I have been invited to join the creator fund at TikTok several times, and I refuse. I want to make sure that my platform is not a stopping point, something standing in the way of Black creators, but a sieve that points to creators who are the very people I am advocating with (not FOR, but with--alongside).

The statement made by the creator that there is No Good white person is valid. The creator hasn’t met one yet--meaning, she has never not been betrayed or hurt by a white person. It is as similar as me saying I am skeptical of every man I met, because I have not yet met one who has not caused trauma to me... except it is much worse, much deeper, because as this creator is a Black woman, which means that her trauma and her hurt is much more than I can even imagine. My oppression and abuse at the hands of men is small compared to her oppression at the hands of men and also at the hands of white people.

So I took my white feelings and sat with them for a while. I let myself feel hurt by it, while also acknowledging that she is right. Her lived experience is correct. Just because I consider myself antiracist does not shield me from the opportunity and temptation to capitalize on Black trauma. In a capitalist system, monetization has been made into a goal. It is no longer advantageous to create a platform or art or education for its own sake. That’s the sad state of affairs we live in.

Now that I have sat and done some reflection, I know that her truth is true because she’s lived in the same world that I have. She has a perspective that I do not share. And although I want to believe that “not all white people are racist” I know that’s fundamentally untrue. It must be, because I live in a country that based capitalism on the exploitation of someone else’s labor. Because I grew up reading white-washed history, and had to deliberately go out of the way to find historical perspectives of those who have been oppressed in America--written by BIPOC and not a white historian.

There is nothing I can possibly to do prove that I am a “good” white person. It is fair for any Black person to view me with suspicion, to never fully trust me, to be waiting for me to sell out to capitalism in exchange for a comfortable existence where my world view is unchallenged. I can get paid to give lip service and never actually do any real work in the world to bend the curve toward Justice for those who have been oppressed by colonizers like me.

Much like being in a committed relationship, I have to choose every day to resist my own upbringing, my own racist thoughts, my own ingrained deference to a capitalist society. I have to choose to be uncomfortable and accepting, to welcome opportunities for paradigm shifts and cognitive dissonance to break down these “rules” that have been handed down generation over generation: poor people are poor because they want to be, that I deserve what I get based on my hard work alone, that although racism exists I’m somehow exempt because I have done SOME antiracist work. Breaking these rules in my own head is painful work: that’s what paradigm shifts are, but if I get tripped up on crying “NOT ME THOUGH!” I miss an opportunity to accept and wrestle with someone else’s pain and lived experience.

If I turn away from the grief cycle (the anger, denial, etc), I miss the opportunity to accept reality: that the world was especially crafted around white people, able-bodied people, straight people, Christian people. It is only by accepting what reality is that I can be effective or even begin to try and undo systems of oppression in the country and resist the temptation to make it about *me* and how *good* or *great* I am as an ally. I have to remind myself that it’s not about me. It’s been about me for too long.

#thankblackwomen #antiracism #actuallyautistic

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excorcismic · 4 years ago

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❛ remember the time . . . in SAN FRANCISCO ? with me by your side , in SAN FRANCISCO ? you are such a s i g h t , the deepest brown eyes , my dear . . . ❜

❛ MISA MISA !! ❜ playlist . plotting call . listen as you read !

the mirrors surrounding you did as they were meant to, reflecting back a spitting image of HIRAI MOMO - but it’s clear something is wrong from the moment that a vision of VALENTINE’S DAY , 2011 strikes you. perhaps it was a passing daydream in the frenzy of the funhouse. you reassure yourself - you’re MISA AMANE ! , a TWENTY-FOUR YEAR OLD STREAMER / MUSICIAN whose virtue lies in your + LOYALTY & + OPTIMISM , although you’ve been told that you tend to be quite - NAÏVE & - IMPULSIVE , and you’re associated with BLACK PAINTED NAILS HOLDING A FOUNTAIN PEN , RUBY RED LIPS & EYES THAT MATCH , GIVING HIM YOUR EVERYTHING IN EXCHANGE FOR JUST HIS HEART by those around you. suddenly, however, you’ve found LIGHT’S WHITE JACKET on your person - was that always there? from the moment you leave the funhouse, memories from your life in DEATH NOTE have begun to return - leaving whoever you had been before in the mirror’s reflection behind you. you can almost hear SAN FRANCISCO by THE DRIVER ERA following in your wake. ( she/her & demigirl )

this is the story of a very lonely girl .

I . WELL , LOOK AT YOUR WATCH NOW !

born in alucard , pennsylvania - misa amane was the child of celebrity parents who settled down in the small town . as of course , a TEMPORARY break . a director father and a failed actress mother , they were determined their daughter continue the legacy and turn into a star . and after a few good , normal years ( if ‘normal’ involved going to school & playing during the day then coming home to intense acting , singing , dancing practice ) , she managed to get wrapped into the world of stardom .

first , it was through commercials . then , small parts in movies that called for cute little girls . then . . . a deal with a children’s network at age nine to star in a series about a child detective . affectionately called , THE MYSTERIES OF MISS MISA-MISA !

from nine to sixteen , she’d work tirelessly - becoming an instant hit the moment the pilot episode aired , selling merchandise all over the country and making appearances on other television shows .

but then there’s the inevitable - kids start to grow up . the childish charm is lost & the children start to realize they were deprived of so much for the sake of fame . such things , like friends . and misa . . . although initially asked for a sequel series that would tackle the child detective now as a high schooler , declined in favor of going back home to pursue her high school years as a normal teen . of course - to the chagrin of her parents . she’d go back home to live with an aunt in alucard for a year , finishing her sophomore year , then her parents would follow - she’d move back in again at the start of her junior . and . . . it was not at all easy . considering a , she already had a reputation as a child star - which was equivalent to a target along her back . and b , the lack of friends was obvious - and even when she smiled at everyone , complimented their styles , helped them out with work she could assist with . . . most of the time , she’d sit by herself at the lunch table . or , with people that she didn’t know if they were actual friends or not .

graduation comes , and misa amane stands to accept her diploma . there isn’t a graduation party ; she just sits in the back of her parents’ car , ready to go out to a fancy dinner she isn’t looking forward to .

II . YOU’RE STILL A SUPER HOT FEMALE !

BUT ALL HOPE IS NOT LOST ! graduation is the end of a chapter - and the beginning of the next rests in amane’s hands . three months pass , and once again the family puts pressure on her to go back into showbiz . it isn’t too late , you’re young & pretty - you’re meant for movies . but . . . misa , of course , refuses . she actually is looking into maybe making another name for herself . . . but in a very different way than her parents would hope .

it’s an argument . an argument about how misa has talent she’s ignoring & an argument about how her parents can’t control her forever . one friend she has sits in her truck in the parking lot as misa packs her bags , and the heated argument ends with the blonde girl slamming the door and her parents telling her to come back only when she has her head screwed on straight . but it’s fine . misa’s alright with this - she’s going to be a star in her own right , since a band she’s started playing in underground has just gotten noticed . YOUR FRIENDS & THE SKELETONS - a hard pop-punk band influenced by the likes of my chemical romance , paramore , two door cinema club , the 1975 , what have you .

alucard is left behind when the recognition comes since misa amane needs the change of scenery . but that doesn’t mean she is gone forever , as sometimes the pursuit of other things only lasts for so long .

III . YOU’VE GOT YOUR MILLION DOLLAR CONTRACT !

the next few years are kind . the band experiences a nice success that means misa gets to live her dream - but she realizes the burnout when she looks back on everything she’s accomplished . the constant moving around , always only talking to the same few people or never anyone she gets to know - it registers that she’s still in some sort of box . and maybe a break from said box is needed .

your friends & the skeletons goes on a touring hiatus , retiring back to alucard . misa does not tell her family she’s going back - she doesn’t give a shit , and she doesn’t think they do , either . she gets an apartment by herself , and starts frequently streaming to still connect with her fans even though she’s taken a step back out of the spotlight .

alucard is quiet . and alucard is home . but there’s a lot that misa again has to face .

she has a history here , yes - but nevertheless , there is still that feeling of loneliness . in every aspect - she never had many friends . little of her relationships lasted long , always ending with unrequited love , quick heartbreak , what have you . only her bandmembers did she have , even though she tried to throw herself at every friendly face she saw .

because she’s always been friendly . always a friend to everyone else , even if they aren’t a friend to her . only hoping maybe SOMEONE ELSE can see her as someone - begging to be somebody’s top-pick , somebody’s vip , somebody to someone . because her whole life she’s lived as only the bridesmaid , but never the bride in the eyes of those looking away from stardom . because it’s one thing to be adored by fans - it’s another to be adored by individual people .

IV . AND THEY’RE ALL WAITING FOR YOUR HOT TRACK !

nevertheless , amane is never one to give up quickly . because she believes that someday , maybe she’ll get what she wants . . . even though of course , when things go south , she still quickly accepts maybe she isn’t meant to be somebody’s someone .

but she always smiles .

misa amane is one of a kind . she’s got so much love in her heart to share - she’s sensitive , maybe she gets hurt easily . maybe she’s IMPULSIVE and naive to where she bites off more than she can chew and believes things she shouldn’t . she jumps into things without realizing how much she could get hurt . talks without thinking . but she is friendly - she’s kind , outgoing , and cherishes those she admires even if they don’t cherish her back . her heart is forever on her sleeve , and all she wants to be loved . she’s been lonely for a long time .

she’s talented ! not only fronting her band with vocals & rhythm guitar , but also taking interests in visual art , crafting . aside from streaming , she runs a little etsy shop where she makes jewelry and keychains of her own little style . she of course can act , but hates it at this point . she also knows how to play the piano & the drums !!

she regularly streams for her fans - whether it’s to watch movies or shows with them or to play video games she has with them . she’s social , in that she always loves to talk to someone . her batteries recharge through social interaction , as an extrovert’s extrovert .

i wouldn’t say misa is stupid . she’s clever - witty . but sometimes she’s a little ditzy and acts without thinking ; i like to thing she did pretty well in school in terms of her grades , but her tendencies to both act and speak without thinking and sometimes forgetting simple things can give the impression she isn’t too smart . but she is ; just in her own special ways . she’s not dumb at all .

she also knows no fear - courageous to some points where it’s even dangerous . she regularly likes to go on adventures in the dark to investigate possible haunted areas , always is the one to kill the bugs when everyone else is scared , heights and the dark are never an issue . she also lives and breathes for the occult , heavily believing in everything supernatural . she even practices witchcraft !

also she's hardcore pan if u think misa is straight U Are Mistaken

it is almost a certain guarantee that misa amane is perhaps one of the friendliest faces in alucard . the one that only hopes you like her as much as she likes you . and maybe one day she’ll find that - until then , she will never stop persisting . she goes everywhere and she smiles at everyone ; a shimmer of sunshine in black platforms & cross earrings .

WHAT YOU WAITING - WHAT YOU WAITING - WHAT YOU WAITING - WHAT YOU WAITING - WHAT YOU WAITING FOR ?? . . .

. . . holding on , i’m holding on to our story . . .

there is a girl . a very lonely girl . a very lonely girl that looks back at misa when she stares into the house of mirrors . and that lonely girl is a thought that misa can’t get out of her head , along with the newfound feeling that there is something - no , someone missing from her life that should be there . or was there . a missing piece that she doesn’t recognize . and the white jacket , a bit too big for her to fit , that appears on her person - the attachment she feels to it gives her security , like a safety blanket ; even though she has no clue where it came from , or who it actually belonged to . . .

god i fried my own brain writing this but anyway HELLO EVERYONE once again i am hylia and . . . i have finally finished . my monster of an intro for misa . once again if u want to look at my plot/connection ideas pls click the plotting call link at the top of this post !! i love this girl to death and i hope u guys like her too c: bc she is my BABIE and i ,,, am so stoked to write her here . I’LL SEE Y’ALL WHEN I GET OFF WORK !! <3

#i'm so sorry this got long and i hope . i am not forgetting anything .#i am just emotional abt miss misa misa god i ADORE her . . .#my bby girl...#again . quietly begs for more of the death note gang in the corner .#duality.intro #░ ★ abt . ❛ sʜᴇ ᴋɴᴏᴡs sʜᴇ·ʟʟ ғɪɴᴅ ʟᴏᴠᴇ﹐ ʟᴏᴏᴋ ᴀᴛ ʜᴇʀ ɴᴏᴡ / misa amane #long post

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vroenis · 5 years ago

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When The Best You Can Do Is Shoot A Gun

The Animal Crossing / Doom Eternal Covid19 launch coincidentally seems to be related to this discussion, even tho I’d say Doom Eternal has an excellent combat system and isn’t really relevant to what I’m going to bring up. I don’t have a problem with shooty-shooty, I have purchased, played and will continue to purchase and play plenty of video games that engage with firearm violence. There are plenty of discussions about how intelligent, consenting adults can do this without any problems and I won’t retread them here. Doom is simple game themed vaguely around demons; demons bad, player protagonist good, good player shoot bad demons - OK you got it, apply an incredible movement system into that and enjoy.

What I want to discuss involves of-course that pesky word and idea nuance, which annoys the shit out of more people these days, for its applications and misapplications - fingers-crossed I don’t fuck it up, but first I want to bring up Ubisoft and systems, so now’s as good a place as any for a stolen picture from the internet.

As far as concept art goes, that’s actually very representative of the final product in-game.

Ubisoft appear to have a long-term open-world tech development objective. I believe at some point very soon, these individual objectives will converge into one single middleware product with a mandate to producce retail licenses that combine what each of these individual franchises have been testing and achieving in isolation, those being;

Ghost Recon Wildlands and Breakpoint: 3rd person Load-On-Demand

The Division: 3rd Person Cover and interactivity

Assassin’s Creed: Environmental mapping and interactivity

Starlink: Scaling Load-On-Demand

Far Cry: First Person implementation of various combinations of above

I’ll put it another way;

Ghost Recon: Load everything

The Division: stick to everything

Assassin’s Creed: climb everything

Starlink: scale everything

Far Cry: do it in first person perspective

It looks like all of these games are running in Ubisoft in-house proprietary engines. Ghost Recon and Assassin’s Creed are running in Anvil, developed for the very first Assassin’s game and in which the Prince of Persia 2008 and Forgotten Sands also ran in. Oddly, (Rainbow Six) Seige, Steep (lol) and For Honor are also running in Anvil.

Both Division games and Starlink are running in Snowdrop and this appears to be due to The Division having come from Massive Entertainment. I’ll be honest, from the perspective of a consumer (read: punter) and someone with extremely minimal 3rd-hand development experience, The Division looks far more impressive than both the Ghost Recon and Assasin’s games, and former Massive brand and art director Rodrigo Cortes has said of the engine that it was design to “do things better not bigger” and I think it shows. Anyway, it was still developed with Ubisoft so as I understand it, they own it. Massive is a Ubisoft subsidiary, their studio based in Sweden.

Far Cry is going to be a little different, being a little older and having its roots slightly before... what shall we call this mess... the cynical age? The microtransaciton age? Anyway. The first game used the CryEngine developed by Crytek. At some point, Ubisoft seemed to develop an offshoot of the engine called Dunia because the CryEngine was licensed and clearly lucrative, I think. I’m not entirely sure, but Dunia does appear to remain in-house and under the auspices of Ubisoft Montreal. Where am I going with all this?

Starlink was “toys to life” a-la Skylanders but way too late, combined with No Man’s Sky-lite, but the game itself other than being overstuffed with Ubisoft copy-and-paste template-quests is an excellent proof of concept.

I do need to say that in general, I don’t have any particular affinity for Ubisoft. So I am yes, absolutely fascinated with something I do think is happening as far as tech goes and now I’m writing about it in this piece, and yes you can tell I’ve played and even enjoyed some of the games they’ve produced and published, but there’s a lot not to like about many of their practices, the least of which is the overbearing sense of cynicism pervasive in many of their games.

I played Far Cry 3 long after it released and got perhaps 20% thru the campaign before giving up entirely. For starters, nothing about how it controlled felt right and I appreciate that’s purely a personal preference. Being a Battlefield player, there’s something about DICE’s sense of locomotion that is perfect to me, even tho it varies from title to title from Bad Company 2 all the way to V most recently. Other things about Far Cry bother me tho - if there’s wildlife around, it always attacks the player, guaranteed. Everything about this game seems to be designed to force the player into engagement, to provide you with materials to collect, craft or sell, but also to run you short of ammunition to either scrounge for more or have to buy it because *surprise* - it prompts you to purchase ammunition for real-world money. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? Fuck off. I uninstalled the game immediately. I can deal with ridiculous AI with magical aim and irrational scripting. I can deal with absurd narrative for the sake of reading (and roasting later), but the entire package culminating in purchasing more ammunition was otherworldly, it was truly bizarre. To this day, I don’t understand what world Ubisoft inhabits that this is something that makes sense to anyone in management or marketing, and yet there it is and there are consumers that not only accept it but embrace it. No doubt there are metrics from the mobile industry that support it and dear lord the capitalist apocalypse is upon us.

What will Ubisoft do when they can merge these technologies? They definitely want to and likely already have in-house, they just need the engine to run client-side for the Consumer. You and I and Inside Gaming are all laughing it up at Stadia right now, but we’re at the wrong end of the business. For Ubisoft, they can ignore the faltering at the start, it’s the long-term they focus on. The pittance Google are losing now, even if they end-up shuttering the project will be meaningless if they end-up getting the hardware to work, even if the end-result is the hardware sitting in a box in the consumer’s home in 10 years. Sure, that’s a long loop, but the journey still doesn’t matter, only the eventual ROI.

If this piece hasn’t gotten boring for you yet, it’s about to because you’re probably excited for what Ubisoft will do with this impending technological power and development and I rally am not. What will Ubisoft do with it? Probably just more Assassin’s Creed, except you’ll be able to snap to cover and have a fully mapped country. Probably more The Division, but you’ll have a fully mapped city that you can also climb on the outside of buildings and then enter them without any loading. Probably more Far Cry but with bigger maps and more interactivity and less loading. The next generation of consumer hardware consoles from Microsoft and Sony are upon us and as much as PC enthusiasts hate to admit it, the consumer market is largely gated by the generational hardware stepping of these platforms. That may change after this era depending on how Google, Amazon and indeed Microsoft and Sony go with cloud computing, but for the moment the status-quo will remain as alternative products develop. Bear in mind with Covid19, climate change and the general sustainability and ethical standards of working and living being under growing scrutiny the world over, things are changing more each day, our technology development may change in ways we don’t expect so who even knows what’s in store for the future.

So What Do I Actually Want?

Good question. NB: before you ask, Animal Crossing isn’t my thing. I played it years ago on Gamecube. It’s cute, it’s fine. I’ve no interest in it. I’m writing this note in retrospect because I realise you may say “Just play Animal Crossing or The Sims but hopefully I can illustrate by neither of those games is what I’m after, nor do I just want to build a house in something like No Man’s Sky and fill it with crap. Let’s see if I get there... A few weeks ago I wrote about how the best thing Naughty Dog did with Uncharted 4 was Elena and Nathan’s domestic spaces. I did purchase The Division 2 on the cheap a couple of weeks ago and I’ll be honest, there’s a lot about it that I’m enjoying quite a bit. For a start, visually it’s stunning. The art team have done an excellent job of both filling the world with immense detail, but also making every area of Washington unique and distinct which is a huge feat given the total space covered. Thus far, I’ve spent a whole lot of time just walking around and gathering resources, in part just to sightsee and explore without any particular objective in mind. After a while, I got the impression that the map was a bit flat, but the more you explore, the more you find places where you get verticality, and then doing missions always adds verticality and variety in environmental and art design, it’s a marvel to see.

Apologies to James and Thomas (above) for ripping these images, but I’m glad your names are in frame so you have direct credit - outstanding work. The art in this game is without question its strongest element.

And that’s just the thing - The Division is an interesting game in that what I enjoy most is the sense of walking around exploring, gather resources and helping people. I’m not here on an anti-violence kick - I play Battlefield, I actually don’t mind the shooting in The Division, it’s fine, whatever, I’m not going to justify that. What I’m saying is that it gets boring.

THERE ARE A LOT OF GAMES ABOUT SHOOTING.

Like... a lot. More than enough. There will always be a lot of games about shooting and that’s fine. I think I’ll always play them. Hey, I even play games about shooting *in very specific ways* - it’s not like I don’t care about the shooting, I’m playing The Division with only a bullpup DMR and shotgun combo, plus I’m trying to use my sidearm when traversing the streets as much as possible so don’t at me, I’m in the game.

But we seem to mostly get high detail assets in games with guns because shooty games get all the money. I get it - shooty games get all the sales because we as gamers like to play them - sure, I’m one of them, but I didn’t buy The Division until it was under AUD$30 because gotdam the shooting is so boring and even now yes, it really do be just more boring shooting, just like it’s boring in Uncharted, just like it’s boring in Ghost Recon (my goooooood so boring), just like it is in Destiny, and the umpteenth shooty mcshooty game. I’m getting too old for this.

Uncharted 4 had an opportunity to do something more and it almost did. For many players, it probably achieved enough of what I was after by those two visits to the Fisher and North residences but I wanted so much more of that. I want to see Sully’s house or houses, more of his life. I want to know where Chloe’s life is at. I want to know of their lives and emotional engagements outside of the frankly stupid narrative I have no interest in because it’s clearly stupid and an excuse for running and jumping that other games have since done better. If Uncharted as a whole was a subtext for character, then by the fourth game, the focus should have been the characters that carried the series thru to the end - no disrespect to Tom Baker - not the heretofore unrevealed older brother.

For Years I Didn’t Know “Walking Simulator” Was A Pejorative

I think this is why I replayed and continue to replay Dear Ester so much. I remember laughing my ass off at YouTubers making videos about how it wasn’t a game and that it didn’t have objectives. Yet there were still threads and might still be on reddit or Discord wherever gamers congregate these days - about “virtual tourism” and “just chillin’ in place x because it’s so awesome” etc. It’s fine, each generation will rediscover virtual tourism again and again and we can’t denigrate anyone for doing so, it’s certainly nothing we invented given it comes from literature and oral tradition before that, but it’s remarkable that there’s this resistance to experiences crafted purely for the purposes of being immersed in them.

I adore Dear Ester and Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture. Absolutely loved What Remains Of Edith Finch and only if you have already played Edith Finch, because it’s full of spoilers but also its own spoiler warnings, I heartily recommend Joseph Anderson’s outstanding video The Villain of Edith Finch. It’s a 53 minute watch so I won’t embed it, and he has a certain style of presentation that won’t gel with everyone, nor do I always agree with everything he says which should go without saying but at some point folks, you have to stop pursuing art, criticism and media that just wholly aligns with your own views. That said, I generally do find most of what he says agreeable, innit. Anyway he’s great and the video is great.

While Dear Esther is more surreal and Rapture and Edith Finch are in part slightly more fantastical than the real-life settings of Uncharted 4′s home and Division’s post-apocalyptic cities, they all visually represent dense, very human object-rich spaces that to me are quite interesting to explore. Dear Esther might be a little more rooted in nature but its human elements tie-in to its narrative in an extremely interesting way. Each game offers different levels of interaction, some that serve the narrative directly, some as subtexts and others quite mildly in the periphery.

I’m sorry if I’m repeating myself but I remember seeing a promo for Battlefield Hardline coming off the back of Battlefield 4 and the ridiculous marketing phrase “levolution” - the term they coined for large-scale environmental destruction (please take the keys away from the marketing department). I remember seeing video footage of a large construction crane falling in a level and thinking

“All this intelligence, all this tech, and this is what we do with it? Is this all we can achieve? This is it?”

That’s how I feel about this emerging technology. Somewhere out there (on YouTube, to be fair), there’s all this footage buried of the Beyond Good And Evil sequel that to everyone’s knowledge is still in development. I’d put my money on that being the first project built in Ubisoft’s convergence engine that they hope successfully implements everything that each of these games executes individually. I know the BG&E fans are frothing for it and when I saw those early demos, what I interpret of the tech did blow me away, but from an experience perspective, I did still think the same thing...

“Is this it?”

Because of-course, a huge part of the new game is going to be combat. I just - don’t - care. When I think about what was lacking in Uncharted 4, what I wanted more of, it was intimacy. What didn’t I like about the conversation and resolution between Elena and Nathan? About the tours of their homes, the little time spent playing as Cassie, the few insights into Sully as a character, the absence of Chloe who was such a great contrast to Nathan, Elena and Sully all-together... it was intimacy. Yea oroight, so I don’t exactly mean the type of real-life intimacy between lovers, do I - that much is clear. But if I don’t mean shooty because there’s enough of that, and I’m leaning into domestic detail and emotional exploration and reflections of that in objects, spaces and interactivity, then that’s what I mean.

Tho I’m loath to bring it up, I feel like in the worst possible way, David Cage is right on the periphery of this discussion (and for that reason, I ain’t tagging him or his games in this entry, get fucked). He has the most vague notion of trying to ground his games in the intimacy of human experience, so he tries to tie human locomotion and objects to the digital representations of interactivity. If we take those as perhaps the worst possible examples and then come back to some really good examples in Uncharted 4 so I can stop whipping it - I maintain that the house tours are strengths and the high-points of the game, and then look at something like The Division and consider opportunities for more complex interactivity centred around helping people and emotional engagement, I feel like that’s what I’m after.

Which is impossible, right? No-one’s going to make a game even a quarter of the scope of The Division, with all that amazing dynamic lighting, with all those awesome textures and mapped objects, animations, rigged character models, complex scripting and AI, interactivity, load-on-demand tech and full voice-talented support, just to be a game about exploring, sightseeing, meeting and learning about people and helping them? Because who would play that?

I would, for a start.

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gumroad · 6 years ago

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Bad*ss product ideas that have turned into giants on Gumroad.

One question we get again and again over here at Gumroad is... What are some product ideas that will make me some moolah?

It is a great question, a lovely question. It is the type of question we like to hear. In fact, we like the question so much that we created this massive article to better answer it.

But, let’s hit pause for a moment.

For those of you who have never heard of Gumroad... we don’t sell bubble gum. But, we can certainly help you sell your bubble gum. That is... if you are a bubble gum craftsman.

We can help you sell anything, actually.

We are a super simple e-commerce and audience building software for creators, educators, writers, designers and influencers looking to make money doing whatever it is they love.

Thus far, we have helped thousands of creators collectively make over $200 million (that is million with an “M”).

Now, where were we?

Oh. Yes. Product ideas to sell on Gumroad.

5 product ideas selling like crazy on Gumroad that you can draw some serious inspiration from.

It doesn’t matter how sweet Gumroad is. If you don’t have a product idea you are crazy about, then our platform isn’t going to do you much good.

Fortunately, we are going to play cupid for the next fifteen minutes and introduce you to a few creators on our platform that have created wildly awesome things that are now selling like hotcakes... Chocolate chip hotcakes.

(Side note: who the hell calls pancakes, hotcakes?)

While we would prefer you don’t just outright steal any of these product ideas –– that’s a big no-no–– we are extremely confident they will spark some serious inspiration in you.

Or, at least we hope so.

Without further ado, here are some product ideas on Gumroad we ourselves are chomping at the bit to buy...

1. A series of illustrated essays about The Office (the TV show not the actual office, that would be boring).

Shea Serrano is a former teacher that today makes his living slinging words as an author and journalist. He is extremely well known for his works over at The Ringer and ESPN’s Grantland (RIP).

In his spare time, he will entertain the Twittersphere with his hilarious thoughts on sports, culture and everything in-between.

And, when he isn’t doing that, he is writing essays about The Office.

In July of last year, Shea chose Gumroad of all places to shower the world with his Dunder Mifflin riffings. We were beyond flattered.

Shea’s ten brilliantly illustrated essays about The Office made its debut with a single tweet...

“we made a thing it’s 10 illustrated essays about The Office and you can pay $20 and then own it and look at it on your phone or computer or whatever it’s beautiful go get it... http://scrantonproject.com”

And, it was all history after that as Conference Room, Five Minutes took Gumroad by storm.

You can buy this digital product for the paperless world, here. Or, you can start selling a digital product (or a paper product), here. Decisions, decisions.

In all seriousness, what product ideas can you pull from Shea Serrano’s recent essay series?

If you have a favorite TV show (and don’t we all have a favorite TV show?)... share your thoughts about it, craft some pretty pictures and illustrations around it and then just make it into a digital downloadable product like an ebook. Chances are if you love the show, others do, too.

And, in Shea’s experience, people will pay a pretty penny to read things about things they love.

2. A comic book about falling in love with a vampire at a blood drive.

Marketing gurus adore firing off phrases like “find your niche”... “niche down”... “there’s money in the niches”.

If you are one of the lucky few that have never heard these phrases, what they mean is to find a small segment of the human population that is willing to cough up their hard-earned money for whatever the heck it is you are selling... and market to them.

The problem many creators run into is attempting to create a product that appeals to everyone. And, in doing so, they end up creating a product that appeals to absolutely no one.

But... but... what if there aren’t enough customers in my niche for me to make a living (or half of a living)?

Our answer to that is... My Very First Vampire Blood Drive... a comic book about a girl that goes to a blood drive and ironically falls in love with a vampire.

Who is the target market?

Folks who enjoy comic books about mortals falling in love with vampires.

This little masterpiece has sold like crazy and it’s proof to the Gumroadsphere, and really the world as a whole, that there is money in the niches.

If comics about vampires make your mouth water, you can get your hands on My Very First Vampire Blood Drive, here. Or you can sell a comic book of your own (or really anything for that matter), by gently rubbing your thumb, here.

Vampires aside, comic books tend to do really really well on Gumroad.

If you tore through comic books as a kid and have a cool niche obsession... create a story around it, turn it into a comic book and sell it on Gumroad. There is a good chance others have that cool niche obsession, too.

As Fred, the serial-entrepreneur, says in the tightly packed coffee shop in Silicon Valley to the young aspiring wide-eyed entrepreneur... “there is money in the niches, young blood.”

3. An alternative indie comedy channel with a cult following.

Sam Hyde is a comedian birthed from the Rhode Island-based comedy group, Million Dollar Extreme or MDE. The three-man comedy squad ignited the web with giggles during the early 2010s as they captured videos of themselves hilariously screwing with random unassuming folks.

Hyde, in particular, gained a cult following as he pulled bigger, badder, much more public facing stunts like his “2070 Paradigm Shift” TEDx Talk speech at Drexel University. Give it a watch. It’s incredibly uncomfortable.

By 2015, Hyde’s career had reached an all-time high after he sold a show to Adult Swim. Unfortunately, what goes up... has a way of eventually coming down. Shortly after it aired, Adult Swim decided to cancel the show due to Hyde’s extremely controversial humor.

Hyde is still chugging, though. The comedian has now thrown a price tag on his giggles and has placed his shows and stunts behind a paywall on Gumroad, charging his fans $5 a month.

While here at Gumroad we certainly don’t support Hyde’s more controversial humor, we do support creative expression.

Regardless of your stance on Hyde’s humor, his success on Gumroad’s platform is hugely inspiring, which we will touch on in greater detail here momentarily.

But, first, if you have a dark twisted sense of humor, Hyde can be found here. And, if you want to create your own comedy show, you can get the ball rolling over on Gumroad, here.

Now, back to the inspiration. Whether you’re the next Kevin Hart or the least funny person in the world, there is one major lesson that can be pulled from Hyde...

Youtube Channels, podcasts and blogs have allowed creators to build large followings... but they have made it very difficult for these creators to monetize these followings.

Whether you’re a comedian creating skits on Youtube or some thinker that is sharing her insight on her blog, why not offer exclusive content to your audience behind a paywall on a platform like Gumroad?

You can still record your regular show or write your weekly blog post... but maybe, in addition to this, you offer exclusive content just to your paid subscribers.

Mark Manson, the author behind the New York Times Best Seller, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, does this on his website.

He has published hundreds of articles for free. But, offers exclusive content to subscribers who are willing to cough up a few extra dollars each month.

It seems to be working well for him. It probably would for you, too.

4. A digital handbook that teaches folks how to sketch like an architect.

Besides having a name right out of a 007 movie, David Drazil knows a thing or two about architecture. And, more specifically, sketching architecture.

Drazil is a budding architect, graphic designer and CG artist from the Czech Republic currently living, working and creating really awesome Gumroad products in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Somewhere on Drazil’s path as an architect, he had a very exciting and lucrative realization... architects can draw really well and there are probably a few people out there that would be willing to pay to learn how to draw like them.

No, we aren’t for certain if his realization was this long-winded nor worded quite like this (we can’t read minds, after all)... but you get the idea.

Ultimately, some thought of Drazil’s led him to create the hugely popular digital handbook, Sketch like an Architect, where he teaches both aspiring architects or just folks looking to draw like them, how to breathe life into beautiful architectural pictures.

What product ideas can be inspired from Drazil’s work?

If you’ve lived on this Earth for at least a decade, there is a good chance you have a hobby or a skill or a passion that you are better at than 99% of people.

So... make a handbook.

If you know how to whittle wood… make a handbook.

If you know how to care for succulents... make a handbook.

If you know how to make delicious homemade ice cream... make a handbook.

If you know how to make backpacks out of recycled cement bags... make a handbook.

Sometimes, the best product ideas are simply sharing what you already know and slapping a price tag on it.

Heck, you don’t even have to slap a price tag on it. Drazil, for example, let’s his customers choose what they want to pay for his Sketch like an Architect handbook.

You’re a good guy, Drazil. And, a gosh darn good architect.

Anyway, if you’re a horrible drawer and want to change that, you can get your hands on Drazil’s handbook here. And, if you have a handbook you want to create yourself, why not sell it on Gumroad?

5. A piece of software that helps writers (and non-writers) write better.

We are sure you have probably heard of the acronym “K.I.S.S.” before... and no, we aren’t talking about the iconic 80s rock band.

It stands for Keep It Simple Stupid. We like to play nice here at Gumroad so we use the word “Silly” rather than “Stupid”. But, you get the idea.

Anyhow, it is advice often given to novices overcomplicating things that don’t need to be complicated.

When it comes to writing, both writers and non-writers tend to struggle with the acronym, using big complex language and jargon that is difficult to understand.

If you are in business, you’ve probably been a victim of this.

Do any of these ring a bell?

Circle the wagons.

Low-hanging fruit.

Move the needle.

Core competency.

Open the kimono.

Put out some feelers.

Thankfully, there is an app for that. Brothers Adam and Ben Long created Hemingway, an application that proofreads writing for wordy sentences, adverbs, passive voice and other horrible lexical atrocities.

In a lovely interview with The New Yorker, the Long brothers shared some of the back story behind their creation…

“After spending our days writing, we realized a common mistake: sentences easily grow to the point that they became difficult to understand. The worst part is we didn’t realize we were doing it. Our text was more clear and persuasive when we kept it simple. While complaining about it on the phone, we decided there should be an easy way to help people realize when their writing was too dense.”

The duo decided to create a product that would scratch their own itch. And, thus, the Hemingway App was born. Obviously, named after Ernest Hemingway, the author known widely for his tremendous brevity.

While not everyone is capable of creating a software application, the Long brothers are certainly not technology whiz kids. Nope. Adam works in marketing in North Carolina and Ben is a copywriter living in the big apple.

A lovely aspect about being alive in 2019 is that it is possible to create a software application... even if you don’t have the chops to built it yourself.

If you have an idea, sites like Toptal, Guru and Upwork allow you to breathe life into that idea... and sites like Gumroad let you sell it.

If you tend to get a bit long-winded with your writing and are guilty of getting a little fancy with your language, you can check out the Hemingway app right here. If, on the other hand, you have an idea you’d like to turn into a piece of software, get set up on Gumroad so you can sell it once it is alive.

Which of these product ideas are right for you?

Gumroad is wonderful in that it offers everything you need from an e-commerce and audience-building standpoint whether you’re selling software or coloring books.

However, this makes coming up with the perfect product idea to sell on the platform, challenging. Hopefully, you were able to draw some serious inspiration from the product ideas we just shared that have turned into giants on Gumroad.

Quickly, let’s do an episode recap before you dive into ideation mode, shall we?

One...

Product ideas don’t always have to be crazy original. They can simply be you sharing your thoughts on a popular TV show, movie, book or sports team in pop culture. That’s what Shea did with Conference Room, Five Minutes.

Two...

Product ideas don’t have to appeal to everyone. In fact, it might be better if they only appealed to a select few people. Niching down (oh lord we hate that word) is good for business. If you’re skeptical, My Very First Vampire Blood Drive should dissolve this skepticism.

Three...

Product ideas can be as simple as offering great exclusive content to the audience you’re already giving away free content to. If you have an audience, be it large or small... there is a good chance you have some super fans existing somewhere in there. Ask those fans to pay for exclusive content... they just might. Ask Sam Hyde.

Four...

If you know how to do something reasonably well, you know how to do that something better than 99% of people in this world. Why not charge to teach that skill by making a handbook like the architect that might be an undercover 007 agent, David Drazil. Better yet, if you don’t know what to charge, just ask customers to pay what they can...

Five...

Scratch your own itch. And, if you don’t know how to make a back scratcher yourself, you can always hire someone else to make it for you. The Hemingway Editor is a great example of a marketer and copywriter deciding they were fed-up and downright tired of long-windedness, jargon and complex language. So, they created a back scratcher. And, if you by chance aren’t technically savvy... find someone who is.

And, once you create a product that just might change the world, don’t forget to sell the damn thing on Gumroad.

By Cole Schafer.

Cole is a marketer and ink-slinger that runs a tiny (but mighty) creative writing shop called Honey Copy that helps brands grow with pretty words.

#gumroad #marketing #design #productdesign

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armaina · 6 years ago

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I've been on the internet for about 22 years, and in that time I've used an absurd amount of art galleries. In light of this, I thought it might be of interest to myself and also others, that I list all these services I've used and write up a little blurb about the service and/or my experiences with it. It won't be any kind of structured review just blurbs, a little bit history, a little bit opinion piece. The sites are listed in (mostly) chronological order, ones that are still around will be linked and all sites with a ø symbol are dead. I'll be updating this page over time as I use more sites so that I can have a quick reference to everything I've used at any time.

øElfwood: The first ever art gallery I ever had and very likely the first gallery for others, I'd go as far as to say it is what made the concept of the social online art gallery a thing at all. It was a form of Juried site though, at the time it was the first and only of it's kind. All submissions had to be reviewed by a person, and while that meant it was easier to prevent stealing, it also made keeping a gallery up to date, very frustrating and it also prevented several subjects from appearing on the site at all. I uploaded fantasy art and started my presence as an online illustrator, sharing with other artists. While the site managed to last long past its relevance, the interface hardly changed and its attempts to make a new layout came far too late in its life cycle and the much complained about art screening never really got addressed making it slowly more irrelevant as more options started to appear. I tried to stay with this site for as long as it persisted until it's final days if nothing else because it was the one that started it all.

VCL: It's amazing that this site still persists, to this day. The site is simple, offers no engagement features at all. It looks like a lot of the users that haven't used the site in some time have been purged, but you could still use it if you really wanted. Illustrative works only, no photography, though I think you can upload text files.

øMediaMiner: The first real 'general art site' I encountered in late 1999. I used this pretty extensively at the time, as it was easier to use than both Elfwood and VCL, and also didn't have restrictions on the subject matter I could have.

DeviantArt: Joined in 2002, it's continued to be a mainstay in my work. Like media-miner, it aimed to be a big catch-all art website, not only that it also permitted written works, design, skins, crafts, just about any kind of art and design that had been neglected by anything available (and is often still neglected in many as you'll see). Due to its ability to house all many different types of creative works, easy to use interface, the ability to discover and engage in ways no other place I had used at the time, it grew very quickly. It set the standard for what was expected from art gallery options from then on out and continues to do so. RSS feeds for all galleries and favorites, the ability to watch favorites, drag and drop organization, folders and nested folders for organization, comment management, dedicated critique commenting, groups, easy thumbnail use in comments, this is just a fraction of the type of features DeviantArt has pioneered and influenced other art sites after it. It is the largest gallery archive of mine apart from my personal archive and will remain to be one of my first choices in what I decide to keep up to date and I'll probably keep it going until it no longer exists. About the only type of file it doesn't out-right support is audio, it remains one of the only sites to cover the most bases. (this is due to a sister site dmusic being prevalent at the time of Deviantart's development)

øSheezyArt: DA made some change and people were upset so they made Sheezy Art. It had this reputation for being the more.. drama filled version of deviant art. It permitted mature content in the beginning but then banned it 2 years later (this lead to the creation of FurAffinity) It had all the features DeviantArt did due to it being pretty much a code fork of DA's old code base, and its only real selling point was that you could customize all the colors on your page. But it's lack of management, updates and features just made people go back to DeviantArt and it eventually folded after empty promises of a rebuild.

Newgrounds: Most people had known this place for its flash games, as did I, but I discovered it had a very nice and genuinely helpful artist community on the forums. Only recently has the site expanded to permit more than 4 tags an image, but the upload system, in general, is awkward. It also has a rating system if that's something someone might be interested in. Illustrative works only, no photography, no literary works. Porn allowed.

øStorm-Artists: Also started as a sort of DeviantArt alternative, I honestly don't even know their angle or what made them feel like they could have their own place on the internet and others I think felt the same as it languished with no real updates and eventually died.

FurAffinity: So I've effectively used this site, twice. The first time in its first iteration before it had a huge major security issue that brought it down, making the original owner give it up. And then again years later I tried it one more time only for another security problem to happen. The site is old and archaic, lacking in features and its only benefit is that it's consistently trafficked. I'll never touch the site again until certain key players in FA are replaced. Many forms of Photography are restricted, not really a good place for design work, no video support. Porn allowed.

øFurry Art Pile: Genuinely liked this site, A lot of people did. In 2006 was the first tag heavy oriented art gallery of it's kind and not only did it use tags it was the first one I remember that had tag filtering. It was easy to upload and manage, so between those features, it became incredibly popular and still gets regarded as a site people wish had stuck around, even now. It's sad to say that it took about 10 years for the concept of tag filtering at all to catch on just about anywhere. To this day only Weasyl and a paid Pixiv account have functional, multi-tag filtering.

øJaxPad/ArtSpots: Started out as 2 sites, merged into one. One site was supposed to be one anyone could use, while the other was intended to be Juried like the old Yerf gallery. They had even imported all the old Yerf art with the original creators blessing. But volunteer support faded and it died due to being unable to not having the people to keep up with adding features and changes to the site.

øArt Piles: A revival of the Furry Art Pile code, it had the features people wanted but also ultimately tanked due to just the singular coder.

øPortalGraphics Network: This was a fairly niche gallery, as it was intended for users to post their openCanvas proprietary event files. The cool thing about it was that it would convert the files into a video format that would allow users to see the full progress of the work being done. You could even download those event files yourself to see them within openCanvas for personal study.

øFurocity: Another one of those 'more social media site than art gallery' sites. I used it for a time, gave a lot of direct feedback to the owner, but the site eventually was closed and merged with FurAffinity.

Paper Demon: Most people haven't heard of this site before, and for good reason - it's pretty unremarkable. One of the interesting features is that it has a strong distinction between its adult and clean sections of the site but otherwise there isn't much more going for it. It still exists and I've hardly touched it. Illustration and Literary focused, no photography, no audio or video support. Porn allowed.

Weasyl: It's actual inception came about by a person that was just looking to get rich off of providing 'a better FurAffinity'. Later on, the person who started the site left, and the administration staff that did any of the real work, remained. It had a strong few years where it kept on top of its updates and features but it has since languished, with hardly any real updates at all and no new features and a lead developer that doesn't seem to trust the artist base, it's difficult to say how long the site will last. It's the only other site apart from Nabyn at this time with a Character Profile feature and the only other site apart from Pixiv to have tag filtering. Restrictions on photography, no video support. Porn allowed.

øNabyn: Nabyn's effect and impact felt very similar to Furry Art Pile and it exploded in popularity quite quickly despite requiring a key to make an account. It had a robust character system that seemed to be the inspiration for many others after it. It also boasted a weird separate scrapbook feature that functioned more like blog/forum posts than an individual gallery. The site barely lasted a year before the owner shut it down due to being unable to keep up with the development of the site.

Wysp: An extremely easy-to-use site, doesn't require much for a new submission and has a Kudos feature that is a separate feature from likes, similar to AO3's Kudos feature. Its aim is to try to drive people to be motivated to draw and gives daily challenges and encouragement along with a critique feature. It also has the ability to thank people for comments, a sort of 'hey I read this' recognition which is nice for those short comments you don't know what to do about. However, it's only geared toward illustrative types of art. Illustrative works only, no photography, no audio, no video no literary works.

Pixel Joint: It does one thing and does it very well - host pixel art. It also provides a lot of resources and tools on techniques for making pixel art. However the community itself is not kind, it's elitist and gate-keeping. Which is a shame because it's platform allows you to zoom in on pixel art without requiring the artist to upload pre-upscaled images. It's the best site there is for showcasing pixel art, and that's about it.

Furry Network: I made an account, saw it was owned by Bad-Dragon, then simply filled in a few info bits in my profile and haven't touched it since, don't plan to. Whatever features it has I don't know, because I have no desire to use it.

ArtStation: the answer to the loss of CGHub, except it's better managed than CG hub and has a better interface. It features image stacks - multiple images posted in a single page, and a huge amount of resources and tools for employers to find work and artists to look for work themselves. Though it reads like a site that's only for 'professionals' the truth is, it has no restrictions on the skill level of a person to participate on the site. I think more people should use it, and just get over the fear that it's a 'professional' site. They offer a lot of good resources and the image stacks feature is so dang nice. Visual art and design only, restrictions of photography, no audio, no video, no literary works.

Pixiv: A completely viable gallery, I simply have not used it for myself. It has an English interface but most of its users do not speak English and it is a Japanese run website. Its organization is largely tag focused and it boasts an incredibly robust tag explanation and directory and is a feature I hope some English site adopts one day as this helps keeps tags organized and accurate. It also has an image stack upload feature, and as I'm aware was the first site to implement such a feature, it also now has manga submission support for an e-reader like features on the site. Other fun features are Image Responses, where you can make a submission a direct response to another submission, and reaction images you can use similar to emotes. You can follow people privately and it keeps likes and bookmarks separate from each other, rather than the same thing. Illustrative works only, no photography, no audio, no video no literary works. Porn allowed.

New Sites:

Furrylife Online: This is only just barely starting out, I don't have a lot of feelings on it yet but I'm talking to some of the people involved in its creation. It's a sort of Social Network Art Gallery hybrid much like Furry Network, except run by better people and already has a nicer interface. Also added a new character feature, making it the second only existing art community to have a dedicated character feature section apart from Weasyl. While it does not have tag filtering at this time, there are plans to add it. Only types of formats not supported at this time seem to be possibly photography, unsure about design work. Porn allowed.

ArtRise: The site isn't even completed yet, not even in beta.

Honorable Mentions:

øHumbleVoice: It was kinda like a social networking art site? I used it for a time, it was kinda mellow and nice. Kinda miss the chill introspective feel.

øzeros2heroes: This started as some strange social media promotion to promote the comic and eventual reboot of Reboot. It tried to find talent for the new works on the site and ultimately flopped. It now remains as a front end site for a production team.

I do not include sites like Instagram and Tumblr in my assessment as they are not dedicated art galleries.

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leiascully · 6 years ago

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Fic: Between A Rock And A Hard Place (Part Two)

Timeline: Season 10 (replaces My Struggle in the All The Choices We’ve Made ‘verse - Visitor + Resident + etc.) Rating: PG Characters: Mulder, Scully, Tad O’Malley, Sveta (established MSR) Content warning: canon-typical body horror (mentions of abduction, forced pregnancy, etc.) A/N: I’m collecting all the related stories that go with Visitor/Resident under the title “All The Choices We’ve Made”, because it felt right at the time. This story is an alternate My Struggle that reflects M&S’ growth/change in the ATCWM ‘verse. I’m weaving canon dialogue into the stories in an attempt to keep the reframing plausibly in line with canon.

Part One

In the morning, Mulder texts Skinner: "We're in." They get a call ten minutes later, while they're lingering over their coffee.

"You're on speaker," Mulder tells Skinner, putting the phone on the table between them.

"You've been excused from your regular duties today," Skinner says gruffly. "You will meet Mr. O'Malley on Pennsylvania Avenue at 10 a.m. near the National Gallery of Art. He'll provide transportation offsite to meet the subject."

They exchange looks over the table.

"Sounds a little cloak and dagger," Mulder says.

"Mr. O'Malley insists on taking precautions," Skinner says.

"At least he doesn't seem likely to blow up the car while we're in it," Scully murmurs.

"Don't judge a talk show host by his cover," Mulder murmurs back.

"Agents?" Skinner says, just a touch of tension in his voice. He is probably being watched. They are always being watched. Pressure comes from the top and Skinner, Atlas-like, has borne the brunt of it so that they could dart between the shadows, bringing light to the darkness.

"We'll be there," Mulder says, and ends the call. He leans back in his chair. "What's the dress code for subterfuge?"

"I doubt it's black tie," Scully says. "I'm still wearing a suit."

"Come on, Scully, we're out of the office," he teases. "You've got an opportunity to break out the leather pants and the badass jacket."

She raises an eyebrow at him. "I was saving those for your birthday."

"That's better," he says immediately.

"I thought you'd think so," she tells him.

They're at the appointed place at the appointed time. Mulder squints through his sunglasses up and down the street. "Tad O'Malley isn't very prompt."

"I imagine he's the sort of man who likes to make an entrance," Scully says, crossing her arms.

"What do you mean by that?" Mulder teases. "You thinking of anyone in particular?"

"Of course not," Scully demurs with a smile. She glances toward the Capitol. "You know, Mulder, I hate to admit it, but something about this feels good." She looks at him. "Most of it feels like we're being taken for a ride, but part of me welcomes this."

"I know what you mean," he says.

She sighs. "Something else to discuss in therapy."

"The thrill of the chase is real, Scully," he says. "You can't blame your brain for enjoying the rush."

"I know," she says. "I just thought I'd...outgrown it, maybe."

"All the more reason some part of you craves it," he says. "Recapturing our misspent youth."

"I don't want to be most comfortable with my back against the wall," she says wryly. "And yet, here we are."

"With your back against the wall, you always know where you stand," he says, and a black limousine pulls up to the curb. The door opens and Tad O'Malley unfolds himself from the back seat. He's tall, even taller than he looked on television, and dressed like he's heading to a conference where he's the keynote speaker. Scully in her suit looks perfectly appropriate next to him. She shoots Mulder the tiniest smirk. He straightens his shoulders under his jacket and extends his hand.

"Fox Mulder," O'Malley says warmly, shaking Mulder's hand.

"That's quite a coincidence - that's my name," Mulder says just as warmly. "What are the odds?"

O'Malley makes a finger gun. "They told me you were sharp."

Mulder shrugs pleasantly. "It's a sharp world."

"Indeed it is," O'Malley says. He shakes Scully's hand. "Agent Scully."

"You make quite an entrance, Mr. O'Malley," she says.

"She's shot men with less provocation," Mulder jokes.

"Funny," O'Malley says.

"Did they tell you I was funny?" Mulder asks.

"Of course," O'Malley says. "A regular one-man show. Join me for a little ride?"

Mulder exchanges sideways looks with Scully underneath their sunglasses. He expected a show, but the limo is a bit much. "Right here is fine. I'm afraid I'm not dressed for a limousine."

"Allow me my small precautions," O'Malley says, gesturing to the open door of the car. "Low-flying aircraft often use what they call 'dirtboxes' to record conversations that I would prefer stayed private."

Mulder glances at the sky. There's a kid with a kite and the faraway glint of a commercial jet, but no drones, nothing hovering.

"Aircraft employed by whom?" Scully asks, arms still crossed. She leans back slightly on her heels. Mulder can see the glint of her ring on her left hand where it's tucked under her right arm. He wondered if she'd wear it.

"I'm afraid I can only speculate," O'Malley says, as pleasantly as if they'd asked him what the weather was or whether the Cubs would win the World Series. "Shall we?"

He folds himself back into the car. Scully shrugs imperceptibly, looking at Mulder, and they follow O'Malley in, taking off their sunglasses. The interior of the car is dark, the windows tinted probably beyond the legal limit. The partition is up between the driver and the passenger compartment, but even if it's two against three, Mulder likes those odds. He and Scully are strapped and they're scrappy. They've handled worse than O'Malley.

The limo is suitably appointed, luxurious almost to the point of parody. O'Malley reaches into a high hat full of ice and pulls out of a bottle of champagne, offering it to them like a maitre d'.

"None for me, thanks," Mulder says. "Scully?"

She shakes her head. "Mr. O'Malley, your precautions would seem to imply that you have enemies."

"Not of my own choosing, Dana," O'Malley says, his teeth bright as he smiles. He pops the cork and pours himself a glass of champagne. "Truth tellers will always face opposition, as I'm sure you know.

She inclines her head in what might be a nod. Mulder turns toward the window. The old habits come back fast; he can sense her next to him, poised to act if necessary. The city slides by outside and he presses the button to roll down the window. Nothing happens.

"Your windows are broken," he says. "That's a shame. It's a little stuffy in here."

"Oh, those don't roll down by design," O'Malley says, that salesman's grin still wide. "I had the vehicle bulletproofed."

"Sure," Mulder says. "All those gun-toting liberals in the Whole Foods parking lot. What if there's a run on quinoa?"

"How can we help you, Mr. O'Malley?" Scully interrupts.

"I know the briefing you received was brief," O'Malley says, turning the charm on her again. "I also know you've been out of the game a long time. But I'm not some Johnny-come-lately to UFO-related phenomena. I'm a true believer like yourselves."

Scully ducks her head. "I wouldn't categorize myself as a true believer."

"Nor would I," Mulder says. "I want to believe, but actual concrete proof has been strangely hard to come by. Not that that matters much these days. Anyone can claim to be an expert on the internet."

"Sometimes they even give you your own show," O'Malley says, still genial. Mulder can feel the prickle of Scully's disapproval, but O'Malley rubs him the wrong way. "I guarantee if you still ran the X-Files, you'd have a platform bigger than you can imagine."

"Perhaps," Scully says. "But for better or for worse, Mr. O'Malley, those days are behind us. We're off the paranormal beat, so to speak."

"I could give that all back to you," O'Malley says, leaning forward. He's only looking at Scully now. She gazes back, that enigmatic mask in place.

"Mr. O'Malley, how does a man with your conservative credentials come to consider himself a true believer in UFOs and 9/11 false flag conspiracies?"

O'Malley turns away from Scully, but Mulder can tell he doesn't have the man's full attention. "I take it you think my message is disingenuous?"

"Conspiracy sells," Mulder says. "It didn't in the 90s, but it's a hot property now. It pays for bulletproof limousines, among other things."

O'Malley's smile gets sharper. "You think I do it for the ratings?"

Mulder shrugs. "I think you're The O'Reilly Factor with a shopworn little gimmick. I think you're 4chan with a cable contract."

O'Malley snorts. "What Bill O'Reilly knows about the truth could fill an eyedropper."

"At least we agree on that," Mulder says pleasantly.

"Try me," O'Malley says.

Mulder taps one finger to his lip. "The Kelly Cahill incident."

"Kelly Cahill and her husband were driving home in Victoria, Australia when a craft appeared overhead. The Cahills lost an hour of time and Kelly was hospitalized with severe stomach pain after discovering a triangle-shaped mark near her navel," O'Malley recites. "As I said, my interest is real. What I need is your expertise."

"Our expertise for what?" Scully asks.

"I know what you've been through," O'Malley says. "Both of you."

"With all due respect, Mr. O'Malley," Scully says deliberately, "I doubt that's true."

"You're right," he says. "My apologies. I've heard the rumors. I've read the reports. I used to subscribe to The Lone Gunmen. Between your histories and your experience in law enforcement, you have the skills and knowledge I need."

"And why should we put those skills at your disposal?" Scully asks, ignoring the rest.

O'Malley leans forward, the flute of champagne dangling from his fingers. "I'm rattling some pretty big cages in the intelligence community, but I'm prepared to go all in. I'm prepared to blow open maybe the most evil conspiracy the world has ever known."

"That's quite an assertion, given the history of the world," Scully returns cooly. "What's stopping you from exposing this conspiracy? I assume your following would support you."

"If I'm putting my ass out there, I need to know I've got backing I can depend on," O'Malley tells her. "My viewers are with me, but like I said, these are big cages, and the players in them don't care about ratings. They know how to make people disappear."

"So does David Blaine," Mulder murmurs.

O'Malley ignores him, still looking at Scully. "I've got something to show you...and someone."

The limousine glides out of the city as they sit in silence. O'Malley sips at his champagne and checks his phone. Mulder and Scully glance at each other. Mulder shrugs and takes out his own phone, scrolling through Twitter and checking his usual news sites. Scully looks out the window. After nearly four hours of turning onto increasingly narrow roads, the limo makes one last right onto a gravel path that reminds Mulder of the driveway of the house they lived in when they first moved back, before the case with the priest and the organ trafficking. They might as well be going nowhere. Google Maps tells him they're in or near Low Moor, although there's not any signal. It's as good as he's going to get.

The limo pulls to a stop outside a small dingy house and Mulder hears the locks release. He opens the door and steps out, stretching. He offers Scully a hand out. She accepts it, surprising him, and slips her sunglasses back on.

"Aliens couldn't find this place," she says, as if aliens didn't find Skyland Mountain. "How did you, Mr. O'Malley?"

O'Malley smirks. "A man in my position finds himself contacted by interesting strangers."

"I imagine that's true," Mulder murmurs, lurking at Scully's shoulder, in his best for-your-ears-only voice. O'Malley can probably hear, but even in broad daylight, he's always felt like he and Scully have a back channel, code talkers communicating sub rosa. They walk toward the house. Mulder tries not to saunter like he's in a Western, strolling up to the local bar. The door of the house swings open and he automatically reaches for his gun and stops himself. He sees Scully flinch the same way.

"Everyone," O'Malley says in a self-important voice, "meet Sveta."

Sveta lingers just outside the doorway. She is young and lovely, vulnerable-looking, her skin dark brown and her black hair falling around her face. She looks at them as if she is not quite sure whether to bolt. That's the usual attitude of the people they interview. Mulder relaxes slightly. She looks exactly like the person O'Malley might have chosen to be a smokescreen for his flimflam, but she's nervous too. Somehow, that's a comfort.

"Sveta, this is Dana Scully and Fox Mulder," O'Malley says. Everyone shakes hands. Sveta's only tremble a little.

"Hello," Sveta says formally. Her voice doesn't shake. She's got a Midwestern standard accent. Not a lot of clues there. "Welcome to my home."

"Sveta suggested I call you," O'Malley tells them, standing next to her.

"You probably don't recognize me," Sveta says, looking at Mulder. "You interviewed me and my family when I was just a little girl. Right after my first abduction."

"I'm sorry," Mulder says. "I don't remember."

"We lost the majority of our files in a fire a number of years ago," Scully says. "Yours might have been among them."

"It's all right," Sveta says. "I'm sure you've been through a lot since then. Please, come in."

Scully looks at Mulder and follows Sveta in. Mulder follows her, his hand hovering near the small of her back. O'Malley brings up the rear, closing the door. Sveta pulls up her shirt. There are six circular scars around her navel. Scully leans forward.

"May I?" she asks.

"Of course," Sveta says, and Scully peers closely at the marks. "These are from over twenty years. I've lost count of how many times I've been abducted."

"The scoop-mark scars are classic," O'Malley says. "As I'm sure you know. And then there are the memories implanted over actual memories to make the abductees forget."

"We call them screen memories," Sveta says.

"I'm familiar with the phenomenon," Scully says dryly. She straightens up slowly.

"Things come back to me sometimes," Sveta tells her, letting her shirt fall back over her stomach.

"What kind of things?" Scully asks. Mulder recognizes the gentleness in her voice. It's the one she always saved for the times they had to interrogate children.

"Tests," Sveta says in a small voice. "Harvesting." She gestures toward her pelvis.

"Harvesting your ova?" Scully asks.

Sveta looks at O'Malley. He nods. "Yes," she says. "They made me pregnant. But they took the babies before they were born. They tried to take the memories, but I remember. I remember the lights. I remember the way my body changed. They do everything through here." She points at the scars.

"Tell them about your DNA, Sveta," O'Malley says in a hypnotic voice.

"I have alien DNA," Sveta says. "For sure. They take the babies out through here. They put the DNA in."

Scully glances at Mulder. "Have you had a doctor confirm that?"

"No," Sveta says. "I couldn't be sure that any doctor I visited wasn't one of Them." Mulder can hear the capital letter when she says it. Them. He used to talk the same way.

"Is that something you could test, Scully?" he asks.

Scully stares at him. He can sense her reticence. There is something childlike about Sveta, for all that she's an adult. One way or another, O'Malley is manipulating her. They have sacrificed enough children to this quest. He thinks back to the clones of his sister on the farm with the bees, the red-headed scientists in the facility where Scully's ova were stored. Emily. William. Uncounted others.

At last, Scully nods. "I'll examine you myself, Sveta," she says. "If that's all right."

"Thank you," Sveta says fervently, her hands clasped. Mulder knows the light in her eyes. Sveta, at least, is a true believer.

#xfiles fic #xf alternate season 10 #the x-files fic #xfiles season 10 fic #mulder x scully #xf revival #my fic #atcwm verse

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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10 PS4 Games to Play Instead of the Still Broken Cyberpunk 2077

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Cyberpunk 2077 is finally back on the PlayStation Store, but the game comes with this warning that makes it clear that the PS4 version of the controversial title is still surprisingly broken:

“IMPORTANT NOTICE: Users continue to experience performance issues with this game. Purchase for use on PS4 systems is not recommended. For the best Cyberpunk experience on PlayStation, play on PS4 Pro and PS5 systems.”

It’s not often you see a digital store tell you to not purchase a version of a game made for one of the best-selling video game consoles ever, but that update is really just the latest chapter in what has proven to be the shockingly strange Cyberpunk 2077 story so far. While you could wait for CD Project Red to update the PS4 version of Cyberpunk 2077 enough to finally make it playable on that platform, it could be quite some time before that actually happens. Instead, consider playing one of these PS4 games that each offer something that will help you forget about Cyberpunk 2077 (if only for a little while).

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided isn’t quite as good as Human Revolution or the original Deus Ex, but if Cyberpunk 2077 left you dreaming about this franchise, you should know that Mankind Divided is the most accessible modern Deus Ex title available on PS4.

What Mankind Divided (mostly) gets right is the feeling that you’re able to solve any scenario pretty much however you’d like. While your choices sometimes come down to the old “stealth, charisma, action” decision paths, Mankind Divided excels at encouraging you to find unique solutions to complex problems. It then rewards you with the feeling that you may have solved that problem in a way that nobody else quite has (even if that obviously isn’t always true).

Even better, Mankind Divided doesn’t push too hard for an open-world setting it can’t quite handle, which means that it arguably does a better job than Cyberpunk at showcasing its stylish settings filled with little world-building and storytelling moments.

Fallout: New Vegas

Technically, it’s easier to play Fallout 4 on PS4 than Fallout: New Vegas, but considering that Fallout 4 shares some issues with Cyberpunk in terms of ideas that don’t quite land, it might be worth a month’s subscription to PS Now just to play this gem.

After all, Cyberpunk 2077’s best feature is the quality of its side stories and missions, which also happens to be one of the things that Fallout: New Vegas excels at. The difference is that New Vegas’ side missions are arguably better and often help expand New Vegas’ faction-driven world in a way that Cyberpunk seemingly strives for but rarely achieves.

Yes, New Vegas is an incredibly buggy game, but it’s also an example of how video game bugs are easier to forgive when they’re acquired in the service of crafting something quite special.

The Outer Worlds

The Outer Worlds is a (nearly) perfect modern RPG for fans of developer Obsidian’s style or even those looking for a tribute to the best RPGs from Bethesda, BioWare, and other legendary studios.

The Outer Worlds offers a more methodical RPG experience than what you’ll find in Cyberpunk 2077, but if you love great dialog, interesting character-building options, and memorable companions/side characters, then this is absolutely one of the best sci-fi role-playing experiences of the last console generation.

The Outer Worlds isn’t even an especially long game (unless you’re really trying to see and do everything), so you could even pair it with one of the other titles on this list.

Ghostrunner

While Ghostrunner’s October 2020 release date and “cyberpunk” style caused some to initially dismiss it as an indie cash-in on the Cyberpunk 2077 hype, this game is actually closer to a more action-oriented take on Mirror’s Edge.

Actually, Ghostrunner is one of the most fast-paced and creative action games in recent memory. It rarely offers you a moment to slow down, and the skill required to overcome its most devious roadblocks invokes that “zen” state you only get from certain games.

Ghostrunner is a sneakily good Cyberpunk 2077 alternative for those who loved that game’s genre trappings and are on board with this underrated game’s pace and style.

Invisible, Inc.

Truth be told, one of these spots really should go to one of the modern entries in the Shadowrun series. Since those games aren’t available for PS4, though, then let’s take a slight detour into something a little different.

As a turn-based stealth strategy game, Invisible Inc. doesn’t share a lot of gameplay DNA with Cyberpunk 2077. What the two do have in common, though, are fascinating sci-fi worlds run by corporations and the operatives who oppose (and assist) them.

If you enjoy tactical gameplay at all and want something with Cyberpunk 2077-esque style, then Invisible Inc. could just be the gem you’ve been looking for.

Cloudpunk

Here’s another smaller game that got mixed up in the Cyberpunk 2077 hype despite offering a completely different experience.

You won’t find a lot of Cyberpunk 2077-style action in this game about delivering packages, but in terms of world design and lore, I’d honestly put Cloudpunk above CD Projekt Red’s controversial epic. Cloudpunk may not benefit from a fraction of that game’s budget, but its Blade Runner-like world is so easy to lose yourself in.

Cloudpunk is just one of the best ways to spend a little time in a sci-fi dystopia.

Watch Dogs: Legion

Watch Dogs: Legion generated a little buzz when it was first revealed, but the talk around this title died out a bit too soon.

Watch Dogs: Legion’s “play as any NPC” gameplay gimmick isn’t quite as deep as it maybe could have been, but it ultimately serves to enhance what is otherwise a very good open-world game that still features many of the best qualities that defined its also underrated predecessor.

While not a 1:1 replacement for Cyberpunk 2077 by any means, I’d still argue that this is one of the best ways to explore a large and hostile sci-fi environment while enjoying some clever gameplay.

Prey

I freely admit that I was initially somewhat disappointed by Prey. At the time it was released, I just felt like the game didn’t quite do enough to improve the games that clearly inspired it.

Some of my reservations about the game remain, but what I can tell you is that Prey features one of the best “atmospheres” I’ve seen in a video game in the last 15 or 20 years. Prey’s world falls somewhere between Robocop and a really good sci-fi horror movie. It manages to keep you wanting more of its corporate dystopia setting despite regularly giving you reasons to worry about what’s behind the next corner.

Even better, Prey’s gameplay features enough of that Deus Ex/BioShock style to occasionally offer Cyberpunk 2077 kind of moments.

Dishonored 2

I don’t think it’s possible to sing the praises of the Dishonored series enough. That being the case, let me use this time as an excuse to remind you that you really should play Dishonored 2: one of the most underrated games of the last console generation.

Cyberpunk 2077 occasionally does a very good job of offering multiple solutions to complex problems, but even at its best, it just can’t match what Dishonored 2 achieves in that arena. Not since the glory days of the Thief franchise have I played a game that does such a great job of using level design to sell a world while encouraging players to constantly explore new solutions.

Honestly, you should play Dishonored 2 even if you couldn’t care less about Cyberpunk 2077.

The Witcher 3

Maybe it’s because it’s the game that arguably contributed more to the Cyberpunk 2077 hype than anything else, but I feel like there’s a sense of hesitation when it comes to recommending The Witcher 3 as a kind of Cyberpunk 2077 alternative. Granted, it’s a different game in many respects, but I feel that some of that hesitation is based on the currently low public opinion of developer CD Projeckt Red.

However, it’s fairly easy to separate the two games and elevate The Witcher 3 with one hand while dismissing at least the PS4 version of Cyberpunk 2077 with the other. The Witcher 2 proved that CD Projekt Red was one of the most exciting studios in gaming, but nothing could have prepared anyone for the ways that The Witcher 3 addressed nearly all of that game’s issues while advancing the art of video game storytelling and world-building.

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Maybe it will make you just a little sadder than it used to, but The Witcher 3 is obviously still a truly great game.

The post 10 PS4 Games to Play Instead of the Still Broken Cyberpunk 2077 appeared first on Den of Geek.

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michaelandy101-blog · 4 years ago

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50 Lucrative Blog Niches & Finding One That Works for You

New Post has been published on http://tiptopreview.com/50-lucrative-blog-niches-finding-one-that-works-for-you/

50 Lucrative Blog Niches & Finding One That Works for You

There’s a fairly obscure album by a guitarist named Duck Baker called There’s Something for Everyone in America. I don’t know a ton about it apart from the fact that it came out in 1975 and that its cover art is absolutely next-level.

Image Source: Best Buy

Neither of those facts is particularly relevant to this article, but the album’s title is. That idea that “there’s something for everyone” doesn’t just apply to America — nor does it have anything to do with what appears to be Lady Justice stabbing a tiger in the heart while Duck Baker casually looks on and smiles from a nearby window.

No, that concept is also relevant to niche blog topics. Everyone has something that’s meaningful and interesting to them in its own right, and in a lot of cases, those kinds of passions and pursuits can be channeled into a well-crafted, consistently maintained blog property.

Here, we’ll go over what you need to consider when choosing a niche blog topic and look into 50 potential blog niche ideas you can choose from.

How to Choose Your Niche Blog Topic

So what should you blog about? How do you land on the topic that will resonate most with readers and keep you fulfilled in the long run? Well, first and foremost, you need to consider your areas of expertise.

Where are you an authority? What can you talk about comfortably and compellingly? If you write a blog in some niche you only halfway understand, readers won’t be receptive to it. They want to hear from an expert — someone who can demonstrate that they’re qualified to offer tips or trustworthy opinions. But it doesn’t end there.

Writing a blog is a personal pursuit, so you need to write about something that bears personal significance. What do you like to write about? There has to be some degree of joy and enthusiasm behind your blog.

It takes a lot of work to maintain a blog. It’s tough to keep that effort up if you don’t actually enjoy what you’re writing about. You have to start your blog under the assumption that it will take a while to get off the ground.

You’re probably not going to be able to monetize your site or sell ad space immediately, so you need to be in it — in large part — for the love of the sport.

Your niche has to reflect your passion because you’ll probably be writing for the sake of writing for a while. Attracting an audience neither easy nor a given. If you don’t care about your preferred topic, you’ll be less inclined to stick it out.

Blog Niche Ideas

Career Advice

Learning Employable Skills

Professional Social Media Tips

Study Hacks

Acting Tips

Card and Board Games

Concert Reviews

Film or TV Reviews

Music Criticism

Stand-Up Comedy Instruction

Video Game Tutorials

Budget Shopping

Frugal Living

Investment

Personal Finance

Coffee

Craft Beers

Exotic Cuisine

Kitchen Equipment

Meal Planning

Recipes and Cooking Tutorials

Gardening

Makeup

Photography

Technology

Writing

Blending Families

Dating

Parenting

Relationship Advice

Weddings

Current Events

Ethics

Political Opinions

Political Satire

Meditation

Mental Health

Self-Care

Skincare

Extreme Sports

Personal Training

Running

Specific Sports

Weight Loss

Workout Trends

Hotel Reviews

Language Instruction

Travel Stories

Traveling for Work

Trip Reviews

Careers and Education

1. Career Advice

There’s always a market for professional guidance — particularly in uncertain times.

2. Learning Employable Skills

Job seekers can always use an edge on their competition. If you can offer the insight or resources to give them that leg up, you can find a solid audience.

3. Professional Social Media Tips

Business owners often look for advice on how to bolster and enhance their presence on social media. If you have some experience in this arena, you can likely find a solid readership.

4. Study Hacks

There will always be a base of students looking to improve their study-game. If you’re particularly savvy when it comes to tips and tricks to boost your grades, consider this niche.

Entertainment

5. Acting Tips

If you’re an experienced actor who can share stories and insight that’ll help newbies refine their craft and prepare for auditions, consider giving this niche a shot.

6. Card and Board Games

There’s a lot of material to draw from card and board games. It’s a fun niche with an active base.

7. Concert Reviews

This niche is particularly fun and active. If you can reliably make it to shows and offer meaningful criticism, look into it.

8. Film or TV Reviews

There’s a sizable audience for an aficionado who can dish out some compelling opinions about new movies or TV shows. If you’re an outspoken film connoisseur, try this niche.

9. Music Criticism

This point is similar to the one above. An articulate music buff can rein in a sizable audience by offering their takes on new albums.

10. Stand-Up Comedy Instruction

Newer stand-up comics can always use a little (or a lot) of guidance as they’re starting out. There’s definitely an audience for a comedy veteran to offer some tips, tricks, and anecdotes.

11. Video Game Tutorials

There’s a solid population of gamers looking for walkthroughs and assistance through the trickier parts of certain games. If you’re an experienced gamer who can provide that help, look into this niche.

Finance

12. Budget Shopping

Everyone loves a bargain. If you’re a particularly deal-savvy shopper, check this niche out.

13. Frugal Living

People are always after ways to live a little smarter financially. This niche lets you demonstrate exactly how cost-conscious you are day-to-day.

14. Investment

Do you have a knack for calling all things Wall Street? If so, consider creating a blog up this alley.

15. Personal Finance

People will always need to know how to balance a checkbook and do taxes, so there’s a good chance you can generate readership by covering those kinds of financial fundamentals.

Food and Beverage

16. Coffee

Coffee enthusiasts are always looking for information on new blends. There’s a market for someone who can offer some astute coffee reviews and bean referrals.

17. Craft Beers

Similar to coffee, there’s an audience that loves craft beer and wants to be pointed towards hot new breweries.

18. Exotic Cuisine

Big-time foodies are active online. A lot of traffic can come with some interesting culinary exploits and tales of exotic cuisines.

19. Kitchen Equipment

Consumer electronics and accessories — specifically, those related to cooking — are always a big draw.

20. Meal Planning

Writing about regimented meal prep can bring in all kinds of readers — from cost-conscious consumers to health nuts.

21. Recipes and Cooking Tutorials

People are always looking for fresh new ways to prepare meals and snacks. If you have a knack for cooking, you might want to look into this idea.

Hobbies

22. Gardening

Green thumb readers can always use some tips, tricks, and new plants to incorporate into their gardening repertoire.

23. Makeup

Makeup tutorials have become a big hit across most social media platforms — a blog that capitalizes on that trend can be lucrative if done right.

24. Photography

Whether it’s a forum to offer tips to aspiring photographers or a place to post your own art, a photography blog can draw a solid crowd.

25. Technology

Compellingly writing about new and emerging tech can attract a forward-thinking base looking for the next big thing.

26. Writing

It might be slightly meta, but writing about writing can be a big hit. Many aspiring authors and columnists love a source for new prompts and pointers.

Personal Relationships

27. Blending Families

It’s a touchy, tricky subject to handle, but it’s a tough challenge a lot of people face. They stand to gain a lot from some sound advice on the topic.

28. Dating

Dating can be a minefield, and if you know how to help people navigate it, you can build a sizable, dedicated following.

29. Parenting

It’s arguably the hardest part of life — if you can make it that much easier for people, you’ll attract a solid audience.

30. Relationship Advice

Love ain’t always easy. That’s why plenty of potential readers are looking for someone who can help them figure it out as they go.

31. Weddings

Almost everyone looks forward to their big day, but planning a wedding means having a lot of balls in the air. Anyone who can help soon-to-be newlyweds successfully juggle them can find an audience.

Politics

32. Current Events

In the modern age, people need to stay on top of the news. If you can keep them posted with some eloquence and integrity, you can find readers.

33. Ethics

We could all use a refresher on basic human decency and morality every now and then. A well-crafted ethics blog can rein in a crowd that wants to do that consistently.

34. Political Opinions

Do you have some incisive, compelling political takes to offer? There might just be an audience that wants to hear what you have to say.

35. Political Satire

Sometimes, we need to see the humor in the modern political landscape. If you can tastefully (or not-so-tastefully) find it, there could be some a solid readership for it.

Self-Care

36. Meditation

There are plenty of readers looking to be a bit more mindful and a lot more centered. A meditation blog can tap into that population.

37. Mental Health

It’s an important topic that is (deservedly) getting a lot more attention nowadays than it has in recent years. If you can offer some meaningful insight on how to improve readers’ mental wellbeing, you’ll find an audience.

38. Self-Care

A more general, catch-all self-care blog can register with plenty of potential readers looking to improve every facet of their wellbeing.

39. Skincare

Skincare is a hot topic. There’s a massive crowd looking for the best products and techniques to keep their pores small and skin smooth.

Sports and Exercise

40. Extreme Sports

Out-there, wilder sports can be extremely entertaining in their own right, and there’s always a market for “extremely entertaining.”

41. Personal Training

Hardly anyone can afford a real personal trainer. Posting workouts — no matter how rigorous — can attract an audience composed of everyone from dedicated fitness nuts to out of shape newbies.

42. Running

Running is one of the most fundamental, popular fitness pursuits. There are plenty of readers who would want to hear about your running exploits and anecdotes.

43. Specific Sports

Football, baseball, basketball, soccer — sports are a staple of modern life. If you can consistently break news or offer interesting takes on a given sport, you can find a base.

44. Weight Loss

A lot of people are looking to shed some weight. If you can publish workouts or provide inspiration for weight loss, you can find a fairly dedicated audience.

45. Workout Trends

People want to stay hip to emerging workout trends, so providing news about and guidance for bold new ways to get can help you wrangle in some readers.

Travel

46. Hotel Reviews

Whether they’re looking to book rooms or just want to live vicariously through your incredible hotel stays, there will always be a base interested in hotel reviews.

47. Language Instruction

Nesvarbu, ar tai būtų praktiniai, ar asmeniniai tikslai, yra daugybė žmonių, kurie norės išmokti naujų kalbų. That’s Lithuanian for, “Whether it be for practical or personal purposes, there are plenty of people who will want to learn new languages.”

48. Travel Stories

Travel stories are some of the best ones you can tell. If you have some wild, outlandish exploits to share from your time in Bangkok, Paris, or wherever else, consider maintaining a travel blog.

49. Traveling for Work

Sometimes, travel is for business — not pleasure. There are plenty of readers interested in learning how to do that right.

50. Trip Reviews

A lot of people want to know which destinations are worth their time, and they might find a nicely maintained trip review blog entertaining and appealing.

As you can assume, this list of blog niches isn’t exhaustive. There are more than the 50 potential topics I’ve listed to choose from. If you’re looking to start a blog but don’t know what to write about, consider your passion and areas of expertise before anything else.

It comes down to a matter of want. You need to consider both what people will want to hear and what you will want to talk about.

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samuelfields · 4 years ago

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How to Start a Blog

Key Takeaways

Find a niche and post consistently to see the best results.

Focus on quality, longer-length posts.

Use your content to build authority and monetize services.

If you’ve been daydreaming about creating a blog during yet another endless conference call, an excellent place to start is right here.

In case you haven’t heard, content is king. And there are plenty of full-time bloggers who prove it and make a living writing about hobbies, recipes, or workouts.

Writing with authority on a topic provides serious value in an internet landscape, often filled with subpar information.

With that said, starting up a blog doesn’t mean you can put in your two weeks as soon as you press “Publish” on your first blog post. Monetizing your blog and turning a profit takes hard work and dedication.

Like almost everything else in life, you get what you put in.

A great blog involves research, content strategy, and a fresh perspective.

So, if you have a story to tell or a niche to fill, it’s time to learn how to start a blog and unleash your creativity.

Step 1: Pick Your Blog Niche

Although you can simply start a blog based on broad topics, it’s smarter to narrow your focus. A unique point of view and a distinct voice are essential to building an audience.

There are two main questions you should ask yourself when setting up your blog and choosing your focus. The first is, “Do I enjoy learning about this subject?”

Good writing is infused with the passion of the author. If you’re writing something with thought and care, you’re more likely to benefit from actively engaged, inspired readers while building authority. On the flip side, if you don’t particularly like a topic, it’ll quickly surface in your writing and potentially turn readers off.

It’s important to be intellectually curious about the topic – otherwise, your creativity and ideas for new content might run dry.

Still not sure? Think about what your close friends and family come to you to discuss.

Do you know the best secret hiking spots in your state? Do your vegan recipes on Instagram get the most engagement? Let these answers guide your blog focus.

The second question you should ask is, “Does this already exist?”

You might think that a blog centered around crocheting crafts out of found materials is unique. Lo-and-behold, after a little Googling, you find a blog floating around focused on that exact niche.Although your blog will share space with similar blogs, it needs to be different enough for an audience to seek you out. You need to provide value – especially if you want to monetize your blog down the road.

If the COVID-19 pandemic has you worried about money, check out my free guide on Coronavirus-Proofing your Finances with the CEO approach

Step 2: Choose a Blog Name

Finding a name for your blog might seem intimidating at first, but don’t overthink it. Here are some tips to remember when you’re brainstorming your blog name:

Choose words related to your niche

Keep it simple and stick to one or two words

Don’t pick overly general terms like “travel”

Dotcom domains are preferred

Avoid hyphens or numbers

For a personal blog or branding, consider using a variation of your name

You can keep your domain name as long as you continue to pay your annual fees, which typically run $10 to $15 per year.

Step 3: Choose Your Web Host

So, you’ve chosen a niche around perfecting the art of macramé on a budget and named it. Now, what? The next step is to select your web host.

Web hosting is a service that makes your blog accessible through the web – it has a significant impact on your site’s overall functionality and its performance.

There’s a vast array of web hosts to choose from at all price points, from a few dollars to thousands. Above all, a good web host will walk you through setting up and launching your blog.

Hosted vs. Self-Hosted

You have two options here: hosted (Blogger, WordPress.com) and self-hosted (WordPress.org). “Hosted” blogging platforms, like Wix or Squarespace, offer a hands-off approach to your blog. You deal with one company, and all of your content and files live on the blog platform’s servers. These platforms manage data and web hosting, so you don’t have to.

Unfortunately, hosted platforms can be limiting and slow down the growth of your blog. Some might even put restrictions on how much money you can make from your content. Or you might be prohibited from monetizing at all.

“Self-hosted” platforms require you to install blogging software on your own web server.

Self-hosted platforms like WordPress.org allow you to set up and maintain your blog with a unique domain and web hosting. If you want to sell products, sell a service, or run ads, this is the right choice.

You’ve probably heard of WordPress’s blogging platform already, and there’s a reason for that – it’s easy to use and powerful. WordPress also delivers tons of free plugins you can leverage to customize and optimize your blog.

Step 4: Protect and Secure Your Blog

New bloggers may not realize they should protect their blog by doing some basic security housekeeping tasks.

Backup Your Blog

Backing up your blog should be one of the first things you do after setting up your blog. While it’s rare that a web host will lose or delete your site, it can still happen.

But your site suddenly disappearing isn’t the biggest threat to your blog — hackers are.

Hackers and other cybercriminals can infect your site with malicious code.

If the worst-case scenario occurs, but you have a backup of your blog available, you can restore a clean version of your website.

Be Careful With Copyrights

Copyrights need to be respected, especially when it comes to the visual elements of your blog.

Small-time bloggers are often the victims of what is called “Copyright Trolls.” Well-meaning bloggers might accidentally use copyrighted images to add visual interest to their content.

Copyright lawyers can sue you for damages based on the use of a copyrighted image, even if the lawyer doesn’t own the copyright or represent the entity with the copyright. As a result, bloggers can be bilked out of money.

How do you avoid this? Never use copyrighted images for your blog posts. If you’re not sure, it’s better to be safe than sorry and choose an image you’re confident that you can use.

It’s actually very easy to find images available for free through the public domain or free stock photo sites. And on that note, it’s good practice to credit the website or artist (or both), however. A step above using free images you find on the internet is to use your own graphics. Smartphones offer basic but helpful editing tools, and you can get surprisingly high-quality photos. Websites like Canva offer free tools you can use to create blog header graphics and other visual elements you can insert into your text to make your posts look more attractive.

Opt for Domain Privacy

Besides securing your blog, you should also take steps to protect your personal identity. Your web host should offer a domain privacy service that keeps your personal information private.

Besides domain privacy, avoid sharing identifying details in your blog like where you live, your schedule, names, and other similar details.

Use Hard-to-Guess Passwords for Your Blog Login

Although this might seem like a no-brainer, there’s evidence that millions of people still using passwords like “password,” “abc123,” and other easily-guessed combos.

Here are some basic password tips to keep in mind:

Use 12 characters minimum

Include numbers, capital letters, lower-case letters, and symbols

Don’t use dictionary words

You can use a password manager like Keeper if you’re concerned about forgetting a complex password.

Bonus: Want to turn your dream of working from home into a reality? Download my Ultimate Guide to Working from Home to learn how to make working from home work for YOU.

Step 5: Design and Customize Your Blog

Now for the fun stuff. Installing a theme for your blog is a straightforward task, but it can take time to accomplish since there are thousands of free themes to explore. While it’s essential to ensure that your blog is attractive and user-friendly, it’s equally important that it complements your blog content. If you’re working on a WordPress site, look for themes that say “SEO optimized”, “responsive” or “fast loading” themes. Many free themes can make sites look odd when viewed on a mobile device, or make for increased page speed (aka the time it takes a page to properly load). For users on sites like squarespace or Wix, you shouldn’t have to worry about these potential issues.

For example, if you’re starting an urban photography blog, a theme emphasizing visuals is preferable to text-oriented themes.

To get more relevant results, you can apply filters while searching for themes like designs based around your blog subject, for instance.

Step 6: Add Basic Blog Pages

Before you start posting regularly, it’s smart to add a few basic, standard pages to your blog to boost your website’s credibility.

Create an “About Me” Page

Your “About Me” page should explain who you are and the focus of your blog. Spend time making it interesting and fun.

Readers are often interested in getting to know you and how you started your industry or niche. You don’t have to write an entire autobiography, just describe how you got to the point you’re at now. Over everything else, be relatable.

For example, show your readers that you’re a credible source. Why should they listen to you? What experience do you have that makes you knowledgeable on this specific topic? If you’re writing a finance blog, are you a CPA? If you’re sharing recipes, what do you bring to the table that will make your audience want to listen to you? A coupon-cutter, perhaps? Tell your readers how long you’ve been doing it, how much money you save, and why they can benefit from the information you’re sharing.

Add a Privacy, Disclosure, and Comment Policy Page

If you want to monetize your blog, you’ll need to make sure you comply with all laws regarding data collection, privacy, and advertising. Adding standard disclosure language is an essential step if you want to make money.

You should also note your commenting policy. For example, do you allow anyone to comment? Do you ever delete comments? Are there commenting rules?

Craft a Simple Contact Page

It’s important to make it easy for readers and businesses to contact you. Set up a dedicated page with an embedded contact form or just list out your email — speaking of which…

Step 7: Set Up a Custom Blog Email Address

Another step you should take during the initial phases of your blog set up is registering a customized blog email address. At the outset, this may not seem all that important to you.

But details matter — especially to your readership and people who might reach out to you for partnerships, content writing services, and other reasons.

A professional email that matches your blog looks professional, credible, and helps build up your brand’s authority. An email from an email address with tons of numbers and a mishmash of letters can look spammy. If you’re unlucky enough, any email sent from a suspicious-looking email can be automatically filed to the “junk” category of your recipient’s mailbox.

As a professional blog owner, you don’t want to be confused with a Nigerian prince who needs a one-time investment to set up a new school playground. An email that’s simply [email protected] lends polish to your brand and can help you monetize your blog later. Nobody wants to do business with [email protected].

Step 8: Register Social Media Accounts for Your Blog

When you’ve done all the hard parts on your actual blog, it’s time to branch out to the world of social media. Social media is another channel you can use to alert followers to new posts and attract new visitors and more traffic.

Many social media platforms also allow you to set up ads that you can use to extend your blog’s reach.

Have a post on your blog that is performing well? You may want to consider targeting ads for it to get even more people on the page. Or, maybe you have an underperforming post you revamped — you might consider sending more traffic to that post with social media ads.

Below are some basic social media tips and which platforms to target.

Twitter

Set up a Twitter profile for your blog. Add a Tweet button to all blog posts you publish on your blog so followers can easily retweet them.

Follow other big names within your niche and interact with people in the industry already. Tweet out alerts for new posts.

Facebook

Set up a Facebook page for your blog. Share your content on Facebook, schedule posts, and invite friends and families to like your page.

Instagram

Set up an Instagram page. Find compelling images and use tools that allow for longer, evenly spaced captions to publish snippets of full-length blog posts or even exclusive “mini-blogs.”

Although this is a platform for building a professional network, almost any blog can still be relevant to a professional audience. Obviously, a blog about marketing is going to be more relevant to a wider group of people on LinkedIn, but don’t write it off if your blog is more niche.

LinkedIn provides the ability to connect with other bloggers and thought leaders within your industry.

Bonus: Having more than one stream of income can help you through tough economic times. Learn how to start earning money on the side with my FREE Ultimate Guide to Making Money

Step 9: Optimize Your Blog

SEO or search engine optimization is crucial, especially if you want to monetize your blog. SEO helps improve your site’s chances of appearing high on Google’s rankings for relevant search queries.

Although SEO can be intimidating at the outset, WordPress actually makes it pretty simple – even for beginners.

One of the best ways to get started on your blog’s SEO journey is by downloading a plugin called Yoast SEO. Yoast can give you readability ratings, keyword density, and point out pages on your blog that need a little SEO boost.

If you want to do a deeper dive into SEO, you can also conduct some keyword research. In most cases, you’ll naturally be using keywords as a result of providing valuable content around a particular subject.

But SEO tools like SEMrush, for example, can suggest alternate keywords to incorporate. Just don’t get too hung up on keywords and stuff too many in your posts, because Google can penalize your blog for doing so.

Once you have the keywords you want to target, use them in your title, title tags, first sentence, heading, subheadings, and any anchor text you use (the text you link to related pages on your website).

You can also optimize your images for SEO. When you upload images to your blog, use keywords in the file name, and use the alternate text space to write a keyword-rich description.

Step 10: Choose a Posting Schedule and Write Posts to Build an Audience

In most cases, it’ll take a few years to build an audience. Yes, years.

Here are a few blog tips to help nurture a loyal blog following and audience:

Stay Consistent: Try to post at least once a week and try to avoid skipping weeks. You can write a few posts ahead of time and schedule them out if you wish. In an ideal world, you should aim to post two to three times a week.

Focus on Quality: For every post you write, push for quality. Google tends to rank longer blog posts higher on their results pages, but if you’re writing fluff — that doesn’t help anyone.

Observe Your Competition: What is the focus of other similar blogs? Can you do it better or answer a query more comprehensively?

To Thine Own Self Be True: Find your unique voice – are you funny, heartfelt, honest? Build your brand. Write as if you’re talking to a close friend if you’re unsure of the right tone to adopt.

Get Active in Related Communities: Facebook groups, subreddits, podcast interviews, and speaking engagements can be lucrative opportunities for publicizing your blog.

Tips for Keeping a Strong Content Flow

Not every blog post you write will be award-winning. There might even come a time where you feel like you’ve run out of ideas. To avoid frustration and creative dead ends, consider brainstorming smart blog post content ahead of time.

If inspiration for a new post doesn’t pop into your head and you’re stuck fighting through a severe case of writer’s block, you can choose from that list of vetted topics you’ve created.

Okay, but what if you’re out of topics, and now you need to create new ones from scratch?

Read Books, Forums, and Comments: Reading books about your niche or people within your industry. Forums and your own blog comments can also be useful sources of potential inspiration.

Leverage Google: You can mine Google’s “People Also Ask” sections or query suggestions that pop up when you type in a keyword for blog post ideas.

Travel: Some bloggers also find success in coming up with new ideas by traveling somewhere and getting a fresh perspective. A new physical environment might just open up your brain.

Interview Industry Leaders: Can you reach out to other people who can provide insight on a topic? Or maybe you can join a friend in the industry for a cup of coffee and talk shop.

Crowdsource Topics: Use your readership for new ideas. Ask what your readers would like to see with polls on your social media platforms.

Step 11: Promote Your Blog

So, you’re posting regularly, and everything’s set up. Now, how do you encourage people to visit and read your blog?

Create social media posts immediately after publishing a new post.

Since you’ve already taken the first step of setting up your social media sites, it’s now time to leverage them as the fantastic promotional tools they are.

By publishing immediate social posts promoting your new blog content, you can get immediate follows, shares, likes, and retweets that can build momentum, so your post to go farther.

It’s important to remember that your audience is likely to follow you on a few different social media accounts.

That means you need to customize each snippet or preview text you use when promoting a blog post.

What you don’t want to do is copy and paste the same verbiage repeatedly for each of your accounts — it comes off spammy and uninteresting. Optimize your messaging for each social stream and audience.

Re-promote Successful Content

Did you hit virtual gold with a blog post that went viral? Don’t be shy about promoting it again after some time passes.

Re-promoting content that didn’t do well in the first place might not be the best strategy, but posts that have strong stats initially can do well again in the future.

It’s a good idea to focus your efforts on creating evergreen content that stays relevant over time.

“Evergreen” is just a term that internet marketers use to refer to posts considered timeless. This type of content stays useful years after the initial publication because it tackles a core problem or subject. An evergreen post might be “How to Clean Your Bike Chain.” A non-evergreen post would be “How to Clean Your Bike Chain During a Pandemic.”

Spice Up Your Blog Post Descriptions

Are you only sharing a blog post’s headline through your social media channels and calling it a day? Well, that gets boring very fast. To keep the interest in your blog higher, change up the messaging, and get inspiration from your own content.

State the Main Takeaways: Was there a “moral to the story” that sums up your post? Use that to give potential readers a basic, exciting summary.

Reuse Your Meta Description: Your meta description is the preview snippet that shows up in Google search results. (Yoast, that plugin we talked about earlier, will prompt you to customize yours – if you don’t customize it, Google will simply pull the first line or two from your blog.) Reuse your meta description to sell your blog post.

Use Your Subheadings: Your subheadings help readers navigate through your blog post. You can mine these subheadings for copy that you think might attract traffic to your website.

Pull Interesting Quotes: Did an industry leader, influencer, or celebrity give you a quote in your post? Pull out any interesting, odd, or thoughtful quotes and tag the person who said it in your social promotion post.

Use Images: Posts with visual elements get much more engagement than those without visual elements. Don’t just rely on boring stock images. Overlay images with text, create your own memes or use GIFs to demand attention.

Use Hashtags: For Twitter, you can use trending hashtags to see what people are already talking about or focus on hashtags relevant to your industry. For Instagram and Facebook, you can take advantage of pertinent hashtags to your blog. Don’t be afraid to get super specific with your hashtags.

Use Social Media Regularly: Post at least once a week, engage with commenters, and answer messages.

Guest Post

Guest posting is a way to promote your blog by contributing to another blog within your industry. By providing a guest post to another blogger, you can help build your own website’s credibility.

Guest blogging can accomplish three different goals for your blog: showing others you’re an expert, pushing traffic to your blog, and building backlinks.

Quick Explainer on Backlinks: Backlinks serve as a “vote” for your site. But not all backlinks are created equally. Links from relevant, trusted websites pointing to your website can your site move up in Google’s rankings. But, if spammy websites are giving you backlinks, that’s a red flag that may result in a ranking drop.

To pursue guest blogging, you’ll need to find places to submit a guest post. If your blog is about bikes, you’ll want to search for similar blogs focused on your bikes and make sure the blog owner is active with an engaged audience.

You can also use a simple Google search to find blogs accepting guest posts. Just use a keyword relevant to your niche plus “submit a guest post” or “guest post guidelines” and other similar search terms.

Once you’ve found blogs to guest post for, you’ll need to pitch a few content ideas. Make sure you do your due diligence and research the blog’s tone of voice, type of audience, and other information you need to know. Pay attention to guidelines like the required word count.

Some guest post bloggers allow you to post links to your blog in the content itself, while others will enable you to post your blog link in your byline. Each guest blogging site operates differently.

Step 12: Monetize Your Blog

There are many ways you can monetize your blog, but the two you can most easily leverage are affiliate links and services.

Affiliate programs work through pushing links to products relevant to your audience. When your audience clicks through the link to that recommendation, they get a unique tracking code. If they end up purchasing, you’ll get a portion of the sale.

Another way to monetize your blog is to offer services or intensive information related to your topics of expertise or industry.

Depending on your blog’s focus, you can provide live workshops, one-on-one consulting sessions, or comprehensive online courses. Your blog serves as the jumping-off point, but your audience will only convert into customers if you’ve demonstrated authority and knowledge. Neither of which happens overnight.

Takeaways: Building a Blog, Step by Step

Creating a blog requires patience, strategy, and the desire to develop quality content. You don’t have to be a professional writer to create a successful blog. Plenty of everyday people have created a blog out stemming from a genuine interest that exploded into a successful brand. If you’re ready to try something new, blogging is a great way to flex your creative muscle and potentially earn some money.

FAQs: How to Start a Blog as a Beginner

Still, have a few remaining questions about starting a blog? Get answers to your blogging FAQs below.

Can I Start a Blog for Free?

While it’s true that you can, if your end goal is to monetize your blog and transform it into a lucrative side hustle, it makes more sense to pay to host your blog on your own server with your own domain name. Not only will this make your blog more “legit” from the outset, but it also gives you much more flexibility for monetizing down the line.

Is it Difficult to Start a Blog?

Yes and no. While starting a blog is a reasonably straightforward process, the key to creating a successful one is consistency. Consistency and developing a strong content strategy are going to be the most difficult parts of maintaining your blog, especially if you have other responsibilities demanding your attention like a day job, kids, or other obligations.

With that said, writing regularly for your blog is easy once it’s a habit, and you have a running list of future blog post ideas from which to choose.

How Much Money Can I Realistically Make Blogging?

It’s not unrealistic to make a range from just one cent to ten cents per page view through ads. If you get around 1,000-page views each month, you can earn $10-$100! And depending on the success of your blog, it can go up from there. Not everyone will be able to live off their blog income full-time, but there’s still the potential to make a good chunk of change.

Do People Still Read Blogs Anymore?

Yes! Blogs are still critical in the internet landscape. There are a few things to note about how people read blogs that have changed over time. For example, people are much less likely to read a blog post from beginning to end.

Instead, people tend to skim a post for the information most relevant to them. Keep that information in mind as you’re writing your initial blog posts.

Well-structured blog posts should utilize headings and subheadings so that information is organized efficiently, and readers can find what they need.

How Do I Make My Blog Stand Out?

Ultimately, you’ll need to provide value. Good information on a particular subject is the best way to set your blog apart from others. But a difficult-to-use site with a lot of great information is unlikely to garner much attention. First impressions matter, in real life and in virtual life.

Your site should be user-friendly, easy to navigate, and easy to skim. And don’t forget to integrate enough negative space to give your readers somewhere to “rest.”

Focus on making a site that even an older relative could navigate.

How Do I Stop Spam Comments?

If you allow comments, you need to be prepared for spammers and trolls. One way to deal with this issue is by turning off commenting altogether. Or you can also moderate the comments yourself or install plugins that can help reduce the frequency of spam.

How Do Successful Bloggers Monetize Their Blogs?

Bloggers may use their blogs to increase their authority within a certain niche or industry, sell things like memberships, sell digital products like e-books or courses, use affiliate links, or monetize with CPC or CPM ads.

FYI: CPC and CPM stand for “cost-per-click” and “cost-per-thousand-impressions,” respectively.

What Kind of Blogs Make the Most Money?

Before you get your answer, it needs to be said: don’t let the list of blog types inform the choice of your blog alone.

Why? Well, if you want to start a blog about newborns because that’s a niche that’s historically made money, you can only do so confidently if you’ve had a baby yourself or work with babies.

If you’re an 18-year-old single college student without a kid, it doesn’t make sense to start a blog about newborns. Keep that concept in mind before pursuing a subject simply because it historically makes money in the blogging world.

Top Blogging Niches:

Crafting

Parenting or newborn

Health

Lifestyle or family life

Budgeting

Interior Design or home decor

If your blog doesn’t fall under one of these umbrella categories, don’t panic. Ultimately, these are just basic categories that won’t make or break the success of your blog. Stay authentic to what you’re actually passionate about.

How Can I Better Analyze My Website Traffic For Free?

If you want to know what types of people visit your site, you have a few free tools you can leverage. Two of the best are Google Console and Google Analytics.

Both of these tools are easy to install and offer training so you can learn to use them. GC and GA can reveal interesting insights into visitor behavior, backlinks to your site, and other pertinent information about your site’s ranking for particular keywords.

How Long Should My Blog Posts Be?

While there isn’t a hard and fast rule about content length, if you’re trying to get ranked on Google, longer is better. Blog posts between 1500 and 2000 words seem to be ideal. Again, your posts shouldn’t be full of fluff for the sake of reaching those word count goals. Instead, try to create comprehensive posts that cover a particular subject in rich detail.

Will I Make Money Off My Blog Right Away?

While instantaneous success isn’t unheard of, you will probably need to blog for a few months or closer to a year before you see any revenue. Your initial year operating the blog should focus on analyzing what’s working and what isn’t working. Here are some questions you should ask (and know the answer to!) after your first few months to a year of blogging.

What are the most popular posts? The least popular?

What are the demographics of my blog visitors?

How long are people staying on my page?

Is traffic trending up, down, or is it steady?

Starting a blog isn’t going to be an overnight project, but with time and patience, you can turn it into a real side hustle.

How to Start a Blog is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Finance https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/how-to-start-a-blog/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

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