#also condensing them down to elevator pitches is HARD

[ftmeriwether]

Beela: when Beela's best friend Nona insists they mess around with her so called magic book, Beela’s the only one of their group of six to protest. After all, magic isn’t real. Then the end up on a different world, despite to get home, with an impossible task at their feet.

Wysteria: Wysteria is a witch who lives in Downtown Olympia with her familiar, a turtle named Pants. Her day to day involves pulling him out from places he doesn't belong and running her mysticism shop. (This one was hard. It's slice of life queer joy)

Riix: smugglers and pirates Riix and Clementine don't get along great. It's Riix's fault with their firecracker temper and prickly personality. When they both get stolen off their ship in the midst of a battle, they're forced to work together to get back (not sure how to work it into the elevator pitch that Clementine is trans and Riix is enby)

Architect: They wake up in the dark with no memory of their past, no idea how they got here and no clue who they are. The only way out is though a nonsensical labyrinth full of doors that shouldn't work

elevator pitch me!!!!! tell me about ur projects!!!! hiiii

[hockeyboysiguess]

i think he knows | n. mackinnon

a/n: in honor of mine and @nolypats‘s campaign for nate mack for july 2020 hockey boy of the month, i had to provide with you some content. here’s my pitch. 

warnings: language, smut, smut, smut. this really doesn’t have a plot and none of you are here for one anyway. also, wrap it before you tap it, kids!

wine pairing recommendation: a nice dark red bordeaux, classy and sexy, like nate mack, even though i would not call this fic particularly classy in any way whatsoever.

word count: 4.6K

You took a deep breath before taking a second sip of your drink. The bartender has turned your larger than normal tip into a much larger than normal pour of vodka and you weren’t sure his response was entirely proportional, meaning the drink had burned the entire length of your throat. Your momma didn’t raise a quitter though, so you drank on anyway. 

“Baby, come meet Landy.” 

Nate’s hand was pressed against the small of your back as he caught your attention. He had a hand hovering over you, on the small of your back, your hip, an arm across your shoulder, the entire night. He was showing you off all night, letting you take center stage at the kick off to the season party, also your first party as his girlfriend. You were smart, funny and your favorite little black dress was doing wonders for your confidence tonight. You were charming every coach, teammate, and Avalanche executive in your path. Nate wasn’t the least bit surprised. He knew everyone would love you and told you in the car on the way over, in the kitchen before you left, the second after he’d invited you to come.

“Oh, he’s finally unattached?” you asked with a raise of your eyebrows. 

His captain had been occupied all night, but Nate was desperate for you to meet him. You knew Gabe was important to him, so you took another sip of your too strong drink, wincing a little at the taste.

“Bad drink?” he asked you, catching your micro-expression out of the corner of his eye.

“Too strong,” you admitted with a sigh, “but momma didn’t raise no quitter.” 

Nate laughed, letting his large hand slide from the small of your back to your side which allowed him to pull you against him for a quick squeeze. He pressed a lazy kiss to the side of your head as he laughed. 

“But my momma raised me,” he reached over and plucked the glass from your hand with his free one, “to be a gentleman. A gentleman doesn’t let a lady drink a bad drink.”

He took a sip of it, lips pulling back in disgust at the taste. You watched as he made his peace with the drink, shrugging before going back for another sip. 

“It’s bad,” he nodded softly in agreement with what you’d informed him earlier. “But doable. Let’s get you a different one before we bug Landy, okay?” 

You let him guide him over to the bar, large hand spanning across your back as he did. The heat from the palm of his hand felt like it was burning through your dress and into your skin below, lighting a fire within you. Passion had never been something you and Nate had lacked together. He ordered you a drink, something you would’ve verbally undressed your last boyfriend for angrily, but the way Nate did it made you want to undress him after this event was over.

You couldn’t stop yourself from letting your eyes rake over your boyfriend as you waited for your new drink, taking him in. Nate was leaned against the bar, an elbow resting on the dark wood as he waited. He was wearing an absolutely impeccable blue gray suit, with a black button up underneath. He’d chosen to forgo a tie, a decision you were slightly bitter about since you loved pulling him in by his tie, but you had to admit, he was always dressed perfectly for events like this. Your eyes trailed down, seeing how the fabric fit his strong arms, pulling and tensing when he shifted to grab his glass again. Your breath hitched in your throat as you watched his hand wrap around the cold glass as he brought it up to his lips. Nate’s large hand enveloped the glass, dwarfing it as his fingers wrapped around the condensation covered glass. It made you swallow hard as your mind wandered to other times those hand were wrapped around you, long fingers in you, making you scream his name. If you played your cards right, he’d probably make it happen again tonight. Seeing you fall apart for him and then carefully putting you back together again after with soft kisses and touches was one of his absolute favorite things to do. He’d do it every day if he could.

“See something you like?” 

Nate cocked an eyebrow at you as he asked his question, but made no effort to hide how his eyes travelled up and down the length of your body, hovering at his favorite parts, the curve of your chest, the way your hips filled out in that dress. That dress was going to kill him, but damn was it going to be a nice way to go. 

“I hope you do,” he cut in before you could respond, “because I see something I’m dying to get my hands on as soon as possible.”

You swallowed hard, trying to pull your thoughts out of path they’d begun to speed down as your legs unconsciously crossed, desperate for friction. At least you knew Nate was feeling the same way you were. That knowledge carried you through the rest of the evening. You were sure Nate’s captain and everyone else you met were wonderful, but you couldn’t remember a single thing about any of them. Your mind was focused on one thing and one thing only, getting Nate back home with his hands all over you.

When you walked out into the cool September air, you breathed in deeply, feeling relief that Nate had finally found an opening to escape the party that wouldn’t be seen as rude. Nate had an arm around you, large hand spanning across your hip as he guided you to the car. You were usually grateful Nate hired a car for events like this, but tonight you wished one of you had driven because then you could speak your mind as loudly as you wanted. You had to settle for whispering into his ear after climbing into the backseat. 

“You look so good tonight,” you whispered in his ear, letting your lips graze his skin as you spoke as your fingers ran through the hair at the back of his neck. 

Nate sucked in a breath through his teeth. He’d never made any effort to hide how he felt about you, how easily you turned him on, and he wasn’t about to start tonight. One of his hands slid under the hem of your dress and gently started to rub up and down your thigh, staying away from where you wanted him and where he wanted to touch. You were his and he wasn’t about to give the driver a show Nate paid him to attend. His hand covered your inner thigh easily, fingertips dragging across the soft sensitive skin there in a way that made you desperate for him and his touch. 

Nate tilted his head softly, encouraging you to turn your head so he could whisper in your ear this time. You knew whatever he was about to say was going to make this twenty minute drive seem like hours. 

“I cannot wait to watch you cum for me tonight,” he said softly, his tone a mix of love and lust for you. “Hope you know I’m in charge tonight.” 

He gave your inner thigh a squeeze as he spoke. You opened your mouth to try and debate him, thinking you’d love to see him under you, begging for you tonight, but Nate suddenly changed the status quo. His hand on your thigh shifted and his long fingers reached up, brushing over your lace-covered slit. When he ghosted over your covered clit, you almost screamed in the car, having to bite your lip hard enough you had teetered dangerously on the edge of drawing blood to stop yourself. You were aching for him and he knew exactly what he was doing to you. In all fairness to Nate, you were his weakness and you had worn that little black dress he loved so much. 

Nate teased you the entire ride home, spilling filthy words into your ear and letting his fingers make you soak through your panties with the lightest of touches. You were practically in pieces by the time the car rolled up in front of his building. You were sure he was going to have to pick you up out of the backseat to get you inside because you thought your legs would crumple as soon as you tried to stand. Nate had an arm out, waiting for you, so you leaned heavily on him instead of really finding out. 

The second the elevator closed, you let out a small chuckle. 

“You know how hard that was, right?” you asked him.

Nate smirked as he looked down at you. Nothing Nate did was an accident and you knew that before you’d even asked. He also never made the same mistake twice, which is why his fingertips were drumming on your hip and why he didn’t have you pressed against the wall of the elevator as his mouth worked to pull moans that you didn’t even know you could make from you. Coming seconds from getting caught with his mouth on your throat and hand up your skirt once had been one too many times for Nate. The elevator was strictly off limits, but you’d never wished more that the rule was flexible. It wasn’t and you knew better to push. 

The second the elevator doors open, Nate pulled you toward his front door in a rush. He tried to keep it together in public, but this was inches from his apartment. He wanted his girlfriend and fifty feet of carpet and a door he had the key to were the only things stopping him. Damn if he didn’t cross that fifty feet faster than he normally did. Damn if his hands weren’t shaking that it took six tries to get the key into the lock to actually get the damn door open. 

He managed to get the door open on that sixth attempt, finally, and pulled you into his apartment, kicking the door closed and locking it again with one smooth motion. You paused, waiting to see what he had planned. 

“Clothes off, bed, now,” was all he said as he kicked off his dress shoes. 

You turned on your heels and headed for his room without any debate. Sometimes you liked to give Nate a hard time, but the wetness pooling between your thighs was demanding your silence since you knew if you listened to him, you’d get what you needed faster. You kicked off your heels and unzipped your dress, letting the soft material pool at your ankles before stepping out of it, hands working to unclasp your bra before you heard a whistle behind you. 

“Hold on, hold on,” Nate said from the doorway. “Turn to face me.” 

You spun on your heels, hands fidgeting anxiously as Nate extended the time before you could really feel some relief. He was leaded against the doorframe, still fully dressed in that incredible suit. His arms were crossed over his chest as he let his indigo eyes drink you in, relishing at the site of you in front of him 

“That’s a new set, isn’t it?” he asked you.

“Saw it and thought you might like it.” 

You let an easy confidence come through your words. Nate always made sure he told you when you thought you looked particularly good, which was multiple times every single day. He considered making sure you knew he found you “absolutely mind-blowing kinds of sexy” one of his most important jobs as your boyfriend. He loved when you were confident in yourself. It made him feel like he was treating you right and also just thought you looked your best when you thought you looked your best. 

“You’re wrong,” Nate shook his head before letting out a long breath. “I fucking love it.” 

You giggled and Nate was pretty sure if he died right then, that would be okay with him. Sure, he’d really like to touch you and taste you one more time, but if that laugh was the last thing he ever heard and if you in a black lacy lingerie set you bought with him in mind standing in his bedroom was the last thing he saw, that would be alright with him. 

Nate shook his head softly before pushing off from the doorframe with his shoulder to meet you in the middle of the room. He reached for you and you leaned toward him, biting back a moan as his hands touched your skin instead of your dress. The things this man did to you were either angelic or downright criminal, depending on how you looked at it. He let his hands coast up and down your sides, feeling the transition between the lace and your skin, feeling the goosebumps rise as a result of his touch. He loved how your body unconsciously reacted to him. Sometimes he felt like you were made for him.

Neither one of you could take it any longer and his mouth found yours. Both of you moaned at the contact as Nate wrapped you up in him, his large hands sliding around you to find purchase on the small of your back. His mouth worked vigorously against yours, tongue working across yours, his teeth nipping at your lips, as he guiding you backward to the bed. Nate’s hands slid up, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake as he reached up to unclasp your bra. You worked with him to toss it to the floor. It had a good two minute run, longer than you’d thought it would last. 

Nate’s hands trailed down your body, two long fingers on each side sliding under and curling around the edge of the waistband of your thong before he yanked it down, letting it join the rest of your clothes on the floor. You thought it was unfair he was still fully clothed and you were fully naked, that is until he pushed you back onto the mattress and sank to his knees in front of you. The sight of him between your thighs in the suit made you moan. Nate’s eyes snapped from your pussy he’d been admiring to your face. He gave you a knowing soft smile as he placed his hands on your calfs, slowly and steadily making his way up your legs, fingertips dancing over your knees and thighs as he made his way to exactly where you wanted him. 

“Like what you see?” he asked you, knowing full well he never intended to hear you answer before two of his long fingers found your slit. 

Your head dropped back onto the mattress as you let out a moan that was far too loud considering this was the first time Nate had actually touched you all evening. His fingertips found your clit and starting working in smooth, slow circles. You could feel his eyes on you, studying your body for your reactions. You would tell him if you wanted him to go faster or slower, but he was trying to figure it out for himself so he wouldn’t even need you to tell him. It was his latest challenge to himself and he was getting pretty fucking good at it. 

His fingers shifted forward, applying more pressure and pulling another moan from you. You were so wet for him, so needy for him, you were closer to your orgasm than you usually were. You thought about letting Nate know, but suddenly he brought his other hand up and slide two long fingers into you without warning.

“Oh, fuck, Nate,” you whined at the sensation.

His fingers were so long inside of you and he knew exactly what he was doing. He curled them ever so slightly up as he pulled out, pulling the moan he wanted from deep in your chest. His fingers on your clit starting moving a little faster, pushing a little harder down, as his fingers inside you slid in an out at a steady pace. Nate knew better than to think he should change what he was doing when something was clearly working for you, just doing slight adjustments that make you want to scream. 

“Nate,” you whined again as your hands grabbed onto his bed sheets, pulling them tight in your hands. 

“That’s it,” Nate said softly before placing a kiss on your inner thigh. “Just focus on me.” 

The idea that you could possibly be thinking of anything else right now was beyond you. You did your best to listen to him, prying your eyes open to look at him. You bit your lip at the sight. Nate was focused on you, his eyes jumping all over you. He was noticing how your breathing changed when he changed an angle slightly or added more pressure. He was noticing what made your legs start to shake. He was taking in every single detail, committing it to memory so he could do even better the next time, and so he could make through the long road trips to come. How he was supposed to go up to two weeks at a time without your pussy was beyond him. 

“Nate,” you breathed out. “I’m so close.” 

Nate shifted on his knees, bringing his face closer to your core. Without warning, he replaced his fingers on your clit with his mouth and sucked on the bundle of nerves softly and slid a third finger inside you at the same time. You couldn’t stop yourself from screaming this time as your hands flew to tangle in his blond hair as your orgasm hit you. Nate pulled you through it, milking you for every shake and moan he could. He slowed his movements as he felt you come down, coming to a stop when you fully did. He pulled back slowly, placing a soft kiss on your clit, before sliding his fingers out of you. You winced at the loss of contact, making Nate smirk a little. 

You felt the bed shift to your right as Nate climbed up next to you and you turned your head to look at him. His lips were slightly swollen and wet with you. His eyes were dark and hungry and he was still wearing his fucking suit. You wanted to rip it off him more than anything, but Nate was in charge tonight so instead, he offered you his fingers.

“You want to taste?” Nate asked. “You taste so fucking good, baby.” 

You nodded softly and sat up next to him, making Nate smile. He offered you his fingers and you obliged, parting your lips so he could slide them in between. He was slow and steady as he slid his fingers deeper, letting you take over and see how deep you could take them. When his fingers hit the back of your throat, Nate groaned and cursed softly. 

“Jesus, fuck, baby,” he breathed out as you sucked hard on his fingers and began sliding back, letting his fingers fall out of your mouth after a few moments.

“You’re still dressed,” you mumbled, wiping the corners of your mouth off. 

Nate smiled at you, the facade of the moment falling as he leaned forward to press a searing, sweet kiss to your lips. By the time he pulled back, he was already back in the moment. He stood up, taking his suit jacket off as he went. You watched with eager eyes as his fingers fumbled with the small buttons on his dress shirt because he was just as eager to be inside you as you were. He sighed as he managed to get the last button open, letting the shirt fall to the ground. His dress pants and boxers joined almost immediately and you subconsciously licked your lower lip at the sight of him. 

Nate groaned in relief as he wrapped one of his large hands around himself and stroked up and down a few times, his eyes trained on your body as he did. He bit his lower lip when you spread your legs for him, giving him a full view of how wet you still were for him. He shook his head softly and smiled in a way that told you he was thinking that he couldn’t believe you were really his. 

He dropped onto the bed next to you again, sliding his back against the headboard and stretching his legs out in front of him. You hadn’t expected that, so you gave him a curious look. He just pat his thighs and waved a hand at you, encouraging you to come over. You didn’t fight and swung one of your legs over his large thighs to straddle his lap. One of his hands grabbed your hip keeping you suspended above him. He grabbed his hard cock in the other hand, lining it up with your entrance, before pulling down on your hip to pull you down onto him. You both groaned at the feeling of him finally being inside of you tonight. 

“You always feel so fucking good,” Nate mumbled out between deep breaths as he adjusted to the feeling of you around him. 

Both of his hands slid under the curve of your ass, one of them tapping the flesh there softly in a way that made you yelp and Nate laugh on his way to his destination. His fingertips dug into the soft skin there and his arms tensed as he pulled you up, almost sliding out of you, before guiding you back down. You hissed out as he filled you completely. 

“Too much?” Nate asked you, pausing his movements to check in with you. 

“So good,” was all you could say in reply. 

Nate’s hands pressed harder into the skin of your ass as he pulled you back up, letting gravity drop you back down again. Nate’s arms tensed each time he lifted you up, but he was far from complaining about the amount of work he was putting in right now. He was in control of everything and loving every second of it as he tucked his face into your neck, mouth moving across the skin there to heighten the sensations for you and just enjoying the feeling of you around him as he slid in and out of you. Your nails were digging into his broad shoulders to find stability, but he certainly wasn’t complaining

Nate paused for a moment with you lifted. He shifted beneath you, sliding down the mattress a little to get better leverage, before he bucked his hips up to meet yours. You gasped at how deep he was able to get from that angle, your head rolling back. Nate took it, as he should, as encouragement and repeating the motion, fucking you from below as he held you up. 

“Jesus, Nate,” you moaned as he hit a particularly good angle and bit down on a sensitive spot on your neck at the same time. 

“Fuck, baby,” he breathed out in response. 

He paused again, his hands sliding up to your waist this time as he guided you onto your back, shifting so he was hovering over you instead. Nate grabbed one of your legs and placed it up on his shoulder, checking in with you to make sure the position was good. He settled himself between your thighs and guided himself back into you after he got your enthusiastic approval. You both were grateful and groaned to show it. 

From this angle, Nate could pick up the pace more. One of his hands was on your leg, fingerprints digging into your skin, and the other was splayed out on the mattress by your head to keep his balance as he fucked you. You looked up at him, face twisted in concentration and pleasure, and you bit your lower lip. You hesitantly slid one of your hands down your body towards your slit. 

“Oh, fuck yes,” Nate groaned appreciatively.

Nate absolutely loved watching you touch yourself while he fucked you and you were more than happy to do it. You placed two fingers on your clit and started rubbing in smooth circles. You immediately tightened around Nate, making him curse between his teeth and making you feel proud. You loved that you could pull that reaction from him and he loved giving it to you. 

“Oh, Nate!” you shouted as he hit just the right spot inside you, making your toes curls. 

Nate shifted his hips to allow him to hit that same spot again and again, watching you fall apart as he did it. You chased your second orgasm of the night and Nate brought you over the edge, screaming his name again. He almost lost it at the feeling of you orgasming around him, but he had other plans and losing it then wasn’t in the cards. 

“God, that’s,” Nate leaned down, planting a wet kiss on your mouth, “so fucking hot to watch.” 

You giggled, but it turned into a moan as Nate thrust into you again. He picked up the pace, meaning he was close to the edge. You were surprised he’d lasted past your orgasm since usually that pulled him over the edge with you. 

“I want to cum on you,” he got out between thrusts.

You nodded in approval and Nate moaned when he saw your reaction. He really hadn’t expected you to say yes, so his mind was  fighting to try to keep himself together long enough to pull out so he didn’t finish inside of you. He pulled out quickly, one of his large hands wrapping around himself and stroking one, two, three times before hot ribbons of cum began to fall onto your chest. Nate groaned as finished on you, his eyes taking in the site of you covered in his cum. His. 

As Nate came down from his high, he rocked back onto his knees and let your leg fall from his shoulder onto the bed. His indigo eyes danced over you, taking in the sight beneath him. You looked absolutely incredible spent and covered in his cum, all because of him. Nate reached out, his hands hovering slightly over your chest for a moment, before he placed his hands onto your covered skin. He slowly and steadily, large hands taking their time, spread his cum across your chest, thoroughly covering you in him. You hummed in pleasure at the feeling, loving the feeling of his hands sliding over your skin. The sound made Nate choke a little as he had been expecting you to push him away before he’d even gotten this far. 

“God, you look so good like this,” he mumbled. “Covered in my cum.” 

“Mm, all for you,” you answered softly, a hand going up to stroke his jaw.

Nate breathed in deeply before pulling his hands back. You could see his mind working for a second before he offered you his fingers for a second time that night, pressing the tips of two to your lips. You let your lips part, allowing his long fingers into your mouth. You could taste him and yourself from earlier on his fingers, making you moan around him. Nate cursed at the sound and again when you sucked on his fingers, letting your tongue roll around them in your mouth to clean them off. You released them with a pop and Nate let out a long breath. 

“How about,” you cleared your throat before continuing, “you go start a shower for us and we do round two in the shower?” 

You didn’t have to tell Nate twice. He was already off the bed and heading to the bathroom as soon as the words “round two” left your lips. 

[boogiewrites]

Never Break the Chain Pt. 3

Part 3 of 5

Characters: Javier Peña x OFC

Summary:  Esme keeps her distance and Javier's obsession gets worse. She decides to let him find her and they're both faced with the hard questions they've been suppressing for decades.

Warnings/Tags: Reunited Lovers.  Angst. Yearning. Difficult adult conversations. Regret. Nostalgia. 

Click on my icon then go to my Mobile Masterlist in my bio for my other works and chapters. (Had to do this since Tumblr killed links, sorry.) Please like, comment and reblog if you enjoyed it! It helps out us writers A LOT!

Steve stood staring and ignored by a red-eyed and greasy Peña still hunched over a desk with boxes of old files piling up around him. The boxes obscured half of him, stacks that started on the desktop, now on the floor. His nose twitched from the dust and his eyes burned from lack of sleep.

“Did you ever leave?” Murphy moves a few boxes to sit on his desk that had been commandeered for Pena’s obsession.

As if snapping out of a trance, Javier looks up and around, seeing morning light again through the high windows in the cool-hued room that lacked any warmth in its sterile choice of furnishings. “Guess not.” he yawns and looks back down at the work he’s done.

“You look like shit, man.”

“Thanks.” he gruffs out and stretches, a noise that half groan and half yawn escapes him.

“Did you at least find anything?”

“Plenty.” he pauses and rubs his face. “Unfortunately.” he pushes a legal pad full of scribbled notes with dates.

“These...all her?”

“I think so.”

“Damn Javi, you sure can pick ‘em.” he grins at the expense of his partner.

“She always said she was gonna be rich.”

“The Lucchia Heist?” Steve snorts in amusement.

“Potentially. She’s…” he lets out a slightly crazed but hushed laugh. “She’s fuckin’ good.” he covers his face before resting his head on his palm, supported by the desk. “I’d bet my badge she’s framed more people than I’ve even had time to find. Had a million aliases. Been everywhere from Corpus Christi to Lima. I’ve traced her down the continent.”

“And she landed right in your backyard.” Steve tosses the roughed-up papers, months of research, back in front of him. “You’re not a man who believes in fate are ya Javi?” he smirks.

“She said she didn’t know I was here.” a mumbled response as he begins putting away his research.

“And you believe her?”

He focuses on removing the evidence of his fascination, putting it away in a drawer that’s near full and dedicated to her. He stops and pauses, a thoughtful expression before answering, “I might be another sucker in the long list she’s got but... yeah, I do.”

-----

With the aged bulbs in the generic hotel room, the woman with him was easy to push out of his mind. He outstretched his arm as she pulled on her panties with a jump.

“Who is Esme?” she asks softly, attempting to make a connection with a man she felt she almost knew with as many times as they’d been together.

He didn’t look her way and motioned the hand with the money in it again.

“You’ve had your nights before but… the past few months you’ve... and now tonight? Should I be worried?”

“No,” he states with a bite. It wasn’t directed at her but himself. He tossed the money onto the bed and moved to light a cigarette. “You shouldn’t be no matter how I act.”

She holds in a sigh, a grimace on her face as she pockets the money and dresses. “Are you su-”

“What do you want to hear?” he turns his head sharply her way, brow low, but not aggressive enough to make her fear him.

She knew men, and she knew his problem was a woman, not the job like it usually was. Javier didn't get emotional over work when they were together. He would be rougher sometimes, softer others... but a disconnect was far from the usual. He was a client she was glad to hear from. He treated her with respect, he looked her in her eyes and handled her as if he cared about how she felt while they fucked. It was rare but entirely welcome. She curses herself silently for caring. He was right.

“I’m sorry,” she answers curtly. “You’re right.” she nods and gathers her things. “I’ll go.”

“It’s not you-” he begins with his head down before she passes him at the foot of the bed.

“I know. It’s not my business. It’s... I know women. It's hard to believe you would have trouble with one.” she lets out a smile to break the tension and his face doesn’t tell her if she succeeded or not. “You know where to find me.” she says kindly, something he felt he didn’t entirely deserve at the moment. He could hear her heels patting down the hallway outside when she left, fading until she was down the elevator and gone.

He gives his forehead a hard rub, nails scratching into his scalp before taking a long drag. “Fuck.” he exhales loudly to an empty room. He couldn’t get her out of his head.

-------------------------

The heat was something he had grown up with, he never found that part of Colombian weather to be difficult. But the humidity, that was a different experience. He quickly lost any self-consciousness about the sweat showing through his shirts, everyone else's looked the same. Propped against a stucco wall that was radiating the sun's warmth into his back, he partook in his condensation-covered beer bottle and his favorite public activity, people watching. It was an art form for him, once an amusing pastime that he made a living off now. There was no short of things to look for, the Festival of Flowers was in full swing and everyone was crowded into the streets. It was loud, a bit chaotic, and exactly the sort of crowd he felt comfortable observing.

The Discoteca a few streets down was powerful, sending music out over the radios in stalls and stores dotted along the streets surrounding it. It wasn’t entirely unpleasant but that didn’t stop Javier from having an annoyed expression. Songs from his past would play casually, feeling anything but in his head. He knocked back the rest of his drink and promptly got another every time a memory was triggered.

It had been almost a year now since he’d seen Esme. From what he’d learned, he wasn’t surprised. She could keep playing the phoenix forever. She could’ve been across the world by now and he was powerless to pursue her. Of all the possibilities, he still held onto the statistical probability that she was still around. She had good connections here, it made sense for her to stay. This unignorable fact led his obsession to be indulged by his profession, his paranoia fueled by his keen observational skills. A handful of times he would’ve bet he'd seen her. Sometimes he could follow, others he couldn't. Either way, he ended up at a brothel and with a woman who may look like her but wasn’t. The boisterous festival crowds would be a perfect place for her to be anonymous, the plumes of flowers were cover to disappear in plain sight. He wouldn’t admit to himself, but he was feeling hopeful. Or was it the alcohol?

Esme, with her head heavy from the large crown of flowers she wore, matching her brightly colored traditional dress skipped and hopped her way across the rooftops of the lively streets. She held the flowers to her head and jumped from pitch to pitch with her woven shoes. She knew this part of the city in light or dark. Not just for her safety but for means to get the drop on others. Her work with the cartel made sure she was knowledgeable in such things. But it also came in handy for a specific reason she’d been indulging in for almost a year now.

He was moping around his usual watering hole for this part of town. She sat with her head on her hands, between two flower pots, watching Javier from the safety of the rooftop across the street. She’d seen him many times, mostly taking home girls, or spoiling them with nice hotels for the night. Since she now knew the Pena she’d heard of was HER Pena, she asked the local sex workers about him and she wasn’t let down with the gossip they shared. She found out he’d been looking for her, not that any of them knew she was this infamous woman the playboy was hung up on. After a polite offer of employment, she dipped out and felt an odd satisfaction in what he’d become. It wasn’t ideal by any means but he was a good man. That was more than she would’ve guessed he’d become with the company he kept.

Each song from their past hit their ears at the same time, both suppressing a sigh as it floated down the streets, imagining a simpler time with one another. She’d missed him. Just as he had, she’d tried to drink and fuck the pain away for a bit but it didn’t work as well for her. She was left feeling nostalgic and downright amorous about him, seeing him lean, strong, and handsome against that wall. Sweat beading down his neck like it did on the bottle he held. She wanted to pop those buttons right off his shirt and- she knew it wasn’t smart to indulge in such fantasies. But he was the only man left that she even cared to think about when he wasn’t directly in her line of sight. She wanted to see him again. Was she willing to throw away months of laying low for a rendezvous? The summer sun made her feel young, the songs pumping blood to places, like her heart, it didn’t normally flow anymore. It made her feel young again. And at this point, it was a welcome and sought-after feeling.

——

A group of dancing girls covered in flowers with wide sweeping skirts made their way down the street. They wore smiles and the brightest of colors, dancing with each other and passersby as carts of flowers were pushed around them. Esme had been in South America long enough to know how to blend in. It was easy considering she didn’t look like a gringo. Her Latin heritage assured a degree of anonymity and mixing in, adding in the factor of whirling skirts and a blur of color from flowers she melded right in. Her chameleon skills were enviable but Javier’s observation skills were better.

Of course, he’d look at the group of beautiful women flouncing towards him. He seldom passed a woman he didn’t take a second glance at. As he glanced over their faces, to see if any had been friendly to him previously, the set of emerald green eyes grabbed him as they sat deep-set in a heart-shaped face he used to know intimately. Like a dog with a scent caught in his nose, he perks up, bottle discarded as he takes a step towards the street. She separates herself, a clear view of each other for a moment before a smile as bright as the sun beating down on them meets his gobsmacked expression. For only a moment there’s an unbroken line of sight and he instinctively pursues. With a bite of her lip that was a mix of flirtation excitement and a challenge, she spins on her heel and runs to an alleyway. He was fast on his feet behind.

This was where she felt at home, fast and light on her feet through small spaces and over walls. She desired to test Javi, combined with her caring about anyone seeing them, luring him to a safe space. She could hear his grunts and calls of her name like it was a swear as she’d climb and hop drain pipes and fences. All he could hear was the occasional heavy breath and giggle coming from her. They moved away from the busy streets, up higher over every sketchy rooftop, and eventually came to climb onto a secluded and blocked-off rooftop together.

“You've still got it Javi.” she laughs breathlessly, hands on her knees from the far side of the roof he’s slid onto.” her face beams his way, a sheen of sweat catching in the sun as she fluffs back her hair.

“I never lost it,” he grunts, dusting off his jeans. “Can’t afford to.” he pauses and regains his cocky posture.

“You look good.” she offers as a compliment, both closing the space between them to face off.

He takes his time, looking her up and down, unsure of her motives, yet she'd always had that wild streak. He used to love that about her. Now it made it hard to read. “So do you.” he presents in response to her out-of-place compliment.

“It's nice to finally see you up close.” her face is relaxed, too relaxed in his opinion. She touches his chest, hands light on his collar and moving up to tuck back the messed pieces of dark hair from his sideburns.

“That mean you’ve seen me from afar?” he stands stoically still, letting her touch him, not ready to reciprocate.

“Possibly,” she smirks, eyes trailing over his now-adult facial features. His brow had hardened, his jaw rounder but still sharp. Her favorite part, his nose was now proportionate and he was even more attractive up close. She lets a small sigh slip, dedicating his handsome face to memory. “Couldn’t let you pick up on my location could I?”

“Is that why you knocked me out?”

She lets out a chuckle and pats his chest. “That was… an unfortunate mistake on your behalf and a fortunate one for me. I have laced lipstick I wear during jobs. Easy to kiss a man and get away. Less messy than shooting. And far quieter.”

“Poison lipstick…” he nods thoughtfully.

“I’ve spent years perfecting it, dosing myself with tiny amounts to have immunity. Took a note from the Renaissance covert killers.” she smiles proudly. “I’m very proud of it.”

“You should be,” he admits begrudgingly. “I’ve looked up your work. It’s… impressive.”

“That means a lot coming from you. Your career has been notable as well.”

“Looks like we both got what we wanted, huh?” The response was bleeding with sarcasm.

She bites her lip, her shoulders slumping just enough for him to notice. “It is what we said we wanted.” her voice was softer now, less playful and confident as he sees the lump in her throat bob up and down. He lets her sit with her words for a moment, seeing a passing sadness behind her eyes. They seemed even brighter green than he remembered. But memories aren’t always honest.

“Where have you been?” a demand, not much of a sweet inquiry.

“If you’ve looked at my records then you know already. “

“This past year. Where have you been?"

“In Colombia.” She gives a subtle shrug.

“So I don’t get an answer?”

“You want the longitude and latitude? I can’t give you exact locations so you can know where to find people.” She frowns.

“You think I give a shit about that?” His brow furrowed and his head tilts. She’s caught off guard by his defensiveness. “The shit I deal with… a couple of stones means nothing. I want to know about you. That’s why I asked where you had been. Not who you’d been with.”

She felt scolded. It wasn’t something she was used to. Still, he was the only man who could pull it off. “I have a place in the mountains I stay at on occasion. I float around and do jobs. There’s no specific place.”

“You have a place here and you couldn’t come find me?” He sounded almost hurt.

“I can’t have anyone know we know each other. They’d kill me. Kill you.” She knew he was accusing her of not caring. Which couldn’t be farther from the truth. “I didn’t want you getting hurt.” She finally averts her eyes, a vaguely familiar ache in her chest growing.

He lets out a harsh laugh. “Should’ve thought about that twenty years ago when I thought you were dead.” He spits out. He sees the hurt in her eyes and he takes a moment to move her hands from him, and take a ragged breath. “You’ve been SO close this whole time. And I didn’t know…” he clenches his jaw and looks away to the horizon. Readjusting his posture he swings his head back her way and flares over her, an accusing finger in her face. “I can’t take this... you running around and not knowing SHIT about it.”

With sad eyes but a firm expression she swallows. “You used to get possessive like this. I remember… I’d-” Her voice is breathy and her hand moves to remove his from her face, a gentle hold that he answers harshly.

Grabbing her wrist, her eyes widen as he stares her down. “Don’t fucking tease me, Esme.”

Her brow furrowed quickly as she tries to tug away.

“I could take you in right now you know. For so many reasons.”

“You wouldn’t though.”

“Would I not?”

She stares with wide eyes that would’ve made him drop to his knees and beg her forgiveness when he was young. His worst fear was to hurt her back then. Now it was her getting hurt from her own actions.

“You have no idea the hell you put me through, do you? All this time not knowing for sure. And you’ve raised from the dead and think you can fuck with a man's head like this?” She could feel the bite of his words as he spoke quietly to her, letting her wrist go after he made his point. “Do you even give a shit or is this another game you’re running? Are you conning me too? Is there some guy who’s fallen for this shit somewhere with a gun on me right now?”

“How could you say that? I’d never.” She holds back a stutter in her throat. She felt something she hadn’t in a very long time, the sting of tears in her eyes. He regretted his outburst as soon as he saw it. He just had so many years of anger and hurt built up it was hard not to explode.

“Did you miss me at all?” His voice a whisper now, eyes wider and opening up like he was trying to.

It broke her to see him like this now. This stoic figure was just a shell covering that young man she left. She didn’t know it would hold onto him this long, that he did love her that much. “If you saw the wear on my rosary you'd have your answer. I prayed you to be safe. For you to get what you wanted.” She clears her throat and tries not to break.

“All I ever wanted was you.” A clear and plain statement. It was a fact.

“I had to make my own life.” She said it as an excuse and she hated the way it sounded coming from her. It made her feel weak. “You wanted yours.”

“We were kids. We didn’t know what the fuck we wanted.” He huffs out a strangled laugh.

She takes a deep breath and her time in answering. “We were. We didn’t.”

It was an admission of guilt on both their behalfs. They got what they said they wanted but was it really what made them happy? They’d been chasing a fix to fill a void of their own making. And now on the other side, the ugly truth of their dreams stares them and their unhappiness down every day.

“I’m sorry.” She adds and lowers her head. “I felt trapped and I knew you’d… do exactly what you are right now if you thought I was out there.”

“You were right.” He sighs and reaches to lift her chin revealing tears falling down her cheeks. He cups her face and wipes them away with his thumbs.

“I shouldn’t have reached out to you again.” She shakes her head.

“No...no, you should have.” He sighs heavily and pulls her into his chest, something she didn’t expect. “I’m sorry too.” He remarks into her hair, closing his eyes and feeling her in his arms. “I’m just…” he trails off. What could he say? I’m lost, I’m tired, unhappy, empty, angry? There wasn’t enough time to explain how he felt about this... about her. “I’m sorry too. I’m glad you let me find you. Okay?” He leans her head back to look up at him.

“I didn’t know you were here. In Colombia. I came here for work.”

“So did I.” He looks away purses his lips. “You know you can’t work for those men.” He wipes away her tears again, his hand smoothing her black waves away from her face. “They’ll kill you, Esme. The second you do something wrong they won’t even blink.”

“Like talk to you?” She arches a brow and gives him a soft smile. “I know, Javi. I know the risks.”

“And you still did it?”

“I missed you.” she admits with a soft exhale.

He pulls her in again, tighter this time. A kiss to her hair as he strokes his hands over her. “You know you need to get going. It’s almost night they’ll be crawling all over soon.”

She nods but doesn’t pull away. “They can’t see us here. There are no lookouts. It’s why I brought us here.”

“You know this place that well?”

“I have to. I don’t have a choice.” It felt hopeless as it left her trembling lips and it reflected more regret as she let it escape. It sounded as tired as she felt. It was as if being in his arms made her aware of how exhausted she was. How worn and hollow she was.

He knew the sound of exhaustion well. He heard it when he would deflect questions from the women he would pay to distract him from the one in his arms. “I know, sweetheart. Believe me, I know.” When she didn’t pull away, he didn’t make her. It gave him the answers he needed. At least what he needed to make it through another day without her for a short while.

@jaegeeeeer​ @likedovesinthewnd​ @inkededucatednnerdy​  @biharryjames @ladamari68​ @past-romantic​ @weliketomoveit @shikin83​ 

[vannahfanfics]

Before you read, here’s the previous chapter.

Skyward

Ao3

Chapter 1: Earthbound, Heavensent

The brake lever squealed as Katsuki yanked it hard, a toothpick clenched between his teeth as he cast a look at the elevator. The ancient metalwork shuddered and groaned as it came to a screeching stop within the shaft, its rusted top barely brushing the jagged top of the stone roof. I keep tellin’ the old man that damn elevator is too ancient! Katsuki thought bitterly, leaning back in the torn cloth stool on which he was perched. The wire elevator door squeaked as the miners wrenched it open; the mine cart was even squeakier as they wheeled it in across the coal dust-covered metal tracks. Katsuki crossed his arms as he squinted at their haul. 

“What do we have?” Vlad grunted as he crossed the rocky mine, a massive wrench hefted on his shoulder. He didn’t wait for his workers to answer, plucking up a black slab of stone to inspect it critically. “Coal again, huh? The market’s becoming saturated with the stuff… If we don’t start finding something more valuable, then we’ll be out of business.” He tossed the coal back into the cart. The men looked defeated as they pushed it away, preparing to unload it alongside the mountains of coal they’d already mined that day. 

Vlad strolled to a large wheel attached to the machinery lining the blue stone walls. He gripped it with his gloved hands, grunted as he turned the rust-covered wheel to shut down the mine workings for the day. The pipes overhead squealed and shuddered and groaned as high-pressure steam changed course within their bowels. Just as Katsuki was slipping down from the stool, a pipe released a high-pitched whine and began to swell up, bulging with building-up steam. 

“Boss!” he exclaimed, and as Vlad whipped around with narrowed eyes, the pipe aneurysm burst. “Damn it!” Katsuki cried as hot steam gushed from the open pipe just mere inches from him. The heat bloomed across his forearm and legs, the water vapor hissing against the cloth of his overalls and white cotton shirt. Somehow he managed to avoid being scalded as he scurried to the nearest bypass valve. “This damn mine is gonna be the death of us, not the market!” he yelled over the wailing steam. 

As he closed off the pipe, it shifting the steam pressure to another path. The stream of vapor rapidly dwindled until only condensed water dripped from the jagged-edged hole in the metal. Katsuki sniffed in disdain, rolling the toothpick around in his teeth. Vlad only growled at the busted pipes and pulled the brim of his hat down over his blood-red eyes. 

“If this keeps up, we’ll all be starving soon,” he mumbled. He tapped the wrench against his broad shoulder with a small sigh, then lifted his hat to look at Katsuki. “All right, lad, your turn to lock up for the night. Go grab yourself some grub first; I know you skipped lunch today to repair the elevator.” 

“Yeah, only on your orders, old man!” Katsuki retorted snidely, trying to retain his pride as his stomach yowled and scratched within his belly. His mouth twitched in discomfort as the beast of hunger raged inside him. It would be a pain to trek to the village, even if it was ten minutes or so, but… he could really go for some meatballs about now. His boss tossed his head invitingly, indicating for Katsuki to follow the miners on their departure. Snorting, Katsuki grabbed his bag and stomped after them. 

“You should be ashamed of yourself, leavin’ a kid like me to lock up the mine,'' he huffed as he tromped alongside the large man. “What if I get eaten by wolves, huh?” 

“You, eaten by wolves?” Vlad laughed, tilting back his head as he guffawed. “I’d be more concerned about you eating them !” 

“Come on, now, I ain’t some beast !” 

“Are ya sure? You’re pretty beastly to me, youngun,” Vlad teased and threw a burly arm around his neck to yank him close. Katsuki snarled as his nose was pressed right into his sweaty armpit, dank with sweat and toil and the tang of coal dust. As Katsuki squirmed around, bleating to be released, Vlad continued to chortle and dug his knuckles into his scalp, mussing up his ash-blond hair. 

“Fuck off, ya old geezer!” Katsuki finally managed to yank his head away and sucked down a breath of fresh air, relishing the taste of dew and earth replacing the musty sweat of Vlad’s armpit. “ You’re the beast! You smell like a dump; you go home to yer wife smellin’ like that?” 

“At least I have a wife,” Vlad grinned. Katsuki flushed in anger and looked away; a few paces away, fellow mine worker Tetsutetsu— and the only one around Katsuki’s age— was regaling an older gentleman about his lovely wife Mina who was cooking his favorite dish that night. Katsuki wasn’t exactly jealous or anything; why the hell should he be concerned about things like that? Still, it did get lonely, living by himself in his house on the hill. 

“Fuck off,” Katsuki repeated. His quiet tone made Vlad hum thoughtfully and gave him the sense not to push the issue further. Katsuki wasn’t jealous or anything, not at all. He just lived his life, working in the mine and trekking back to his shack on the hill— day in, day out, all by his lonesome. 

Katsuki stopped at the general store in the middle of town, while Vlad and the other workers continued on, trundling home to their wives and families. Katsuki’s expression was pensive as he quietly ordered some meatballs from the young woman manning the counter; though the place was mostly a general store, the old woman who owned the place also had a little to-go diner set up in the corner, mostly because the miners trekked by on both their morning and evening commutes. The woman filled a metal thermos with steaming, sauce-coated meatballs and he fished out some crumpled bills to pay. 

As he walked the path he came, he used his fingers to fish out some of the meatballs. He popped them into his mouth, silently chewing with lidded eyes. His footsteps crunched on the dirt path, echoing through the fields flanking him on either side. His only accompaniment was his shadow, bobbing alongside him as the bright white moon cast him in its gentle light. He actually did hear a coyote howl in the distance, making him look into the hills with a slight shudder. As he did, he caught a glint of pink light in his peripheral vision. 

“What the…?” He stopped on the path as he squinted at the strange pink light twinkling in the inky black sky. He could almost mistake it for a star, except it was slowly descending to earth. 

“It’s heading toward the mine!” He took off down the path, ignoring the canteen of meatballs swinging against his thigh. He was too concerned with getting to the strange, slowly falling star dropping towards the mine. The pink glow grew brighter and brighter, flickering like a soft flame. 

Within, he thought he could see… a body? 

“Is that a person ?” he exclaimed in disbelief. Finally, he came to the scaffolding overlooking the large shaft leading down into the mine. The glow was heading downwards, towards the center. He slammed his meatballs down, cursing as they fell over and sent sauce spilling across the wood; he hurriedly righted it, cursing again as it scalded his skin, and looked back to the strange falling person. 

He could see clearly now; it was a girl in a white nightgown, the fabric and her short-cut chestnut hair gently fluttering as ribbons of pink magic streamed around her. She drifted down over the large platform holding the winch, so Katsuki scrambled up the rickety steps on all fours to clamber like a beast across the platform. He stood up on the edge, panting slightly from his feverish dash, and held out his arms. 

The girl gently floated down, the wisps of rose-colored magic swirling around her like water. It tickled his skin as it flickered around him, and it was cool like water, too. It rose goosebumps on his skin as it rippled over his arms, soon joined by the soft kiss of her cotton nightgown. She suspended over his touch for a second, the magic swirling around them like a storm, before it slowly retracted into the glittering gemstone pendant hovering above her neck. 

“Whoa…” he murmured, his red eyes reflecting the beautiful coral of the pendant. It has a gold insignia painted on its round surface. As the light retreated within its translucent surface, the girl stopped hovering and flopped down into his arms. The sudden weight shocked him, bringing him to his knees. He groaned as he just barely held himself in a crouch, arms straining to keep the girl from plummeting out of his grip and into the mineshaft below. He crab-walked his way away from the edge, hefting her over the edge of the platform and gently laying her down.  

“Damn, girl,” he huffed while rubbing his burning muscles. “You couldn’t have drifted a few feet left?” He crossed his legs underneath him as he caught his breath, looking down to inspect the strange girl that had fallen from the sky. 

His eyes slowly drifted up to the sleeping girl’s face, and he drew in a sharp breath, because this time he didn’t even have words to express the beauty his eyes beheld. She looked so peaceful as she slept, her plump lips slightly parted as she breathed slowly. Her short brown hair framed her face, which was pale despite her rosy cheeks. He reached out to stroke his knuckles across the soft skin of her cheek in a featherlight touch; she felt cold, and he wondered how far from the sky she’d fallen if the chill of the atmosphere had seeped into her skin. 

“Just where did you come from?” he murmured. She dozed on, her chest rising and falling with unlabored breaths. He grabbed a nearby blanket, inspecting it for grease stains as he unfolded it, before gently laying it over her snoozing form. He pulled back the blanket a little to peer at her strange necklace, but it just gleamed typically in the moonlight, showing no hint of the strange magical power at play just a few moments before. “Strange…” he said aloud before covering her again, tucking the blanket under her chin. 

He still had to close the mine. Grabbing his forgotten meatballs, he got up and piled almost all of them in his mouth by the time he made it down the stairs. His cheeks bulged like a chipmunk as he began cleaning up the mine. Every so often he glanced up at the platform, but the mysterious girl slept on, peacefully unaware that she’d drifted down from the sky like an angel. 

After an hour, he’d finally taken care of all the tasks for closing down the mine. He scampered back up the stairs to find the girl just where he’d left her, though she did hum something unintelligible and shift a little under the blanket. With the way her head was turned, he could see her chubby cheeks shining in the moon. 

“Guess I’ll call you ‘Cheeks’ since I don’t know your name,” he chuckled with a slight smirk. He squatted down, bundling her into his arms; now that it wasn’t unexpected, she was lighter than he realized. He easily held her close to his chest as he stomped down the stairs, carefully tucking her in one arm as he doused the lanterns at the mine entrance and closed the gates behind him. The girl murmured something and buried her nose into his chest, smiling faintly as she breathed in. Heat tinged his ears as she snuggled into him. “Do you have any idea who you’re cuddlin’?” he muttered, but couldn’t help but smile a little. She was kind of cute, for a girl who fell from the sky. 

He eventually shifted so that he was carrying her piggyback, the blanket wrapped around her to shield from the night wind. Her head bobbed gently against his shoulder with each step he took down the long, winding path leading up the hill, where the silhouette of his humble home was barely visible against the starry night sky and cloudy mountains in the distance. As he walked, the moonlight bathed him in its gentle white glow; his shadow walked beside him, with that of the girl wrapped around him like a cocoon. 

He glanced up as the light was suddenly eclipsed to see the shadow of a plane passing over the full moon. He scowled at the bird-like silhouette; it circled the moon like a hawk, spying on the earth below. That’s a bad sign… 

He pushed the girl up on his back before setting off at a quick pace. The mysterious appearance of the girl and that strange biplane in the sky were undoubtedly linked, and so he needed to hide her before the moonlight betrayed them… because the sky could not be trusted.

Enjoy this story? Here’s the next chapter! Please consider perusing my Table of Contents.

[jareddillian]

Gold Is Your Life Insurance

I have always secretly wanted to work at a precious metals bullion dealer. I love gold. And silver and platinum. I love them philosophically, and I also just like shiny rocks.

But if you think about it, trading metals is a really weird business.

Say you are bullish on silver and want to speculate on it, thinking it will appreciate in price. You can buy the ETF, yes, or you can buy silver miners, but the most straightforward way to invest in silver is just to buy coins or bars.

The most popular coins come from the U.S. Mint, but you can get coins from other countries, too. The most popular silver bars for retail investors are the 100oz bars, which are typically manufactured by one of a few silver refiners. Asahi is the new standard, after Johnson Matthey sold its gold and silver refining operations to them in 2015.

Anyway, you can go to a bullion dealer, tell them you want a 100oz bar, and they will charge you the spot price of silver per ounce, times 100 ounces, plus a small markup.

So you buy it, and now you have a shiny rock. It is satisfying to have shiny rocks, especially the 100oz silver bars, which make you feel like a baller.

But the shiny rocks don’t do anything. You aren’t going to use them to sew a button, wash your car, or paint your ceiling. They just sit there. You hold them for a while, and if the price goes up, you are supposed to sell them.

But most people don’t sell them, and then the price goes back down, and they end up in an estate sale, and the dealer buys them back at a discount.

Paraphrasing Warren Buffett, someone watching from Mars would be scratching their heads.

There really is nothing more useless in the world than a shiny rock. But we love ‘em.

The Bigger Picture

I am not going to get too deep into the philosophical reasons for owning shiny rocks, but briefly:

In recent history, the government has had a habit of abusing its currency.

Most governments abuse their currencies.

Gold, is an objective store of value, while the dollar is a subjective store of     value.

Big deficits will probably be monetized. Some lunatics want to inflict Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) on everyone.

Inflation is trending higher, measured and unmeasured.

Trump is literally going to take over the Fed and do what he wants.

That is my elevator pitch on holding precious metals.

I have a theory that computers started to suck when dumb people started to use them. The same is also true of precious metals, which turned into a speculative football in 2011.

Those geeks are gone, and only the die-hards are left—the shiny rocks passed from weak hands to strong hands.

Gold prices have hit new 5-year highs, which did not get a lot of attention in the financial press.

Precious metals also improve the risk characteristics of your portfolio.

In a 35/55/10 portfolio—with 35% equities, 55% bonds, and 10% commodities—it’s not unreasonable to allocate the entire commodities portion to gold and silver. Most other commodities have a pretty high cost of carry.

And there’s a general rule of thumb that you should have 5–10% of your portfolio in gold, anyway.

A Hedge on Your Life

Here is the key point: Gold isn’t an investment; it’s a hedge. And it’s not a hedge on your portfolio. It’s a hedge on your life. It’s a hedge on this place turning into Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

So if the price of gold goes up a lot, you might be happy, but you will probably be unhappy about political developments in this country, including your marginal tax rate, and lots of other things.

I’m not saying that we’ll someday be reduced to a state of nature where people barter for cans of condensed pea soup with Silver Eagles. The more likely scenario is that things will mildly suck and the price of gold and silver will be a lot higher.

I spend most of my time thinking about how things can go wrong rather than how things can go right. That’s how I’m wired. If I see Mel Gibson running around outside with a chainsaw, I’ll probably be financially fine.

People buy insurance on their houses, cars, and even themselves, but they won’t buy it on their portfolios. Seems strange to me.

Get Contrarian Investment Ideas from a Wall Street Veteran

Jared Dillian writes The 10th Man, a free weekly newsletter for contrarian investors. Every Thursday, he delivers a torpedo of incisive commentary that crushes consensus thinking and exposes the true workings of “Mr. Market.”  Subscribe now!

[jbrentonparker]

Plotting Method #3: The Snowflake Method

Ah, the Snowflake Method! You’ll hear this one mentioned a lot if you’re looking for help with plotting, and it can be very helpful if you have a vague outline of an idea, but are struggling to expand upon it. However, it does involve coming up with elements like main conflicts and character motivations very early on in the plotting process, which some writers prefer to let emerge later after they’ve had the chance to actually familiarize themselves with the characters. In short, this method works for a lot of people--but not for everyone. Give it a try, but if it’s not your cup of tea, don’t worry about it. Here’s the quick and dirty:

Snowflake Method:

Developed by Randy Ingermanson, this is one that’s popular with many writers, especially because if its pick-and-choose nature in which you can skip steps, only using what works best for you. Step 1: Write a one word sentence, 15 words or less, describing in broad terms the subject of your story (”a young boy learns he is a wizard and goes to  a magical school”). Step 2: Turn one sentence into five: the first describes the set up, the next three describing the main conflicts, and the last describing the conclusion. Step 3: Write a one page summary of each main character, describing their major goals, motivation, conflicts, and epiphanies, as well summarizing the story from each of their respective points of view. Step 4: Take the five sentences from step 2 and turn each one into a paragraph, fleshing out the details of the set up, conflicts, and climax in the form of a one page synopsis. Step 5: Write one page for main characters and half a page for supporting characters describing the story from their point of view, expanding on step 3. Steps 6 through 10 continue to add more to the previous 5 steps, so I’ll skip over that for now. I’ll discuss it in more detail in the post devoted to the Snowflake Method, but you can google it to check out the other steps for yourself.

Now to expand upon it a little.

Step 1 is easy if you barely have an idea at all (“all I know is I want to write a book about a talking dog who solves mysteries”), and much harder if you already have a more in depth idea of your novel. Condensing a 150,000 word novel into a 15 word summary is hard for most writers, but it’s an important skill to have, and it does become easier with practice. This 15 word summary is frequently called an “Elevator Pitch”, the idea being that is you end up in an elevator with a big name agent, you could pitch them your novel in a single sentence (maybe three at the most) that will catch their interest. A really good Elevator Pitch covers the core element of your novel. The conflict in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is the search for the stone and Harry’s eventual confrontation with Voldemort, but a large portion of the book is about Harry’s experiences at Hogwarts and learning about the Wizarding World. If you were writing a 15 broad description of The Sorcerer’s Stone using the Snowflake Method, you could either writer “a boy discovers he is a wizard and is sent to a magical school”, or “a wizard boy tries to uncover the mystery of a magical artifact before and evil wizard can”. Okay, my examples aren’t the prettiest, but you get the idea, both are accurate, succinct descriptions of the book. So if you don’t have a concrete conflict in mind to begin with, that’s fine, start with the general subject of your novel instead. Don’t get too comfy though, because figuring out your conflict comes next.

Step 2 is expanding the single sentence you just wrote into five. The first describes the set up, the next three describe the conflicts, the last describes the conclusion. Here’s an example: Original sentence: “A boy discovers he is a wizard and is sent to a magical school.” Expanded 5 Sentences: “1) An orphaned boy is raised by his ordinary aunt and uncle until his 11th birthday, when he discovers he is actually a wizard and is sent to a magical school. 2) He learns his parents were murdered by an evil wizard and his survival has made him famous, which comes with challenges from both his peers and his teachers. 3) He suspects one of his teachers is trying to steal a magical artifact for the evil wizard, and decides to investigate. 4) The evil wizard enacts his plan to steal the artifact, and the boy and his friends are forced into action themselves to save the day. 5) The boy and his friends get through a series of challenges, the boy faces the evil wizard and defeats him, saving the artifact and gaining respect and glory by winning the house cup for his bravery.” Don’t feel forced to come up with 3 conflicts, or feel limited to 3 conflicts. On the other hand, having a main conflict and two conflicts for subplots can help add a little extra depth to your story, and having too many competing conflicts can make your story muddled and confused. If you don’t have much experience with writing long novels, stick to 3 if you can until you have a good feeling for building a workable plot. Now, if you’re more of a panster, this is a good point to stop and just jump into your novel. You know how your story begins and how it ends, and you know the main conflicts to guide you, but how you will get to each point is still up to you to discover during the writing process. If you like more structure to work with, continue on. That’s the beauty of the Snowflake Method, it’s made to be picked apart, so you can use only what elements work for you, and drop those that don’t.

Step 3 shifts from plot to characters. It asks for a one page summary for each of the main characters. That’s one page total, not one page each, so just a paragraph or three, depending on how many main characters you have. Stick to main characters here (e.g. Harry, Ron, and Hermione; maybe Voldemort and Quirrell since their motivations affect the story so drastically). You really want to nail down their motivations before you start delving into secondary characters, because it’s character motivations that drive the plot. For each character, briefly describe their  major goals, motivation, conflicts, and epiphanies, as well summarizing the story from each of their respective points of view. For example: HARRY POTTER-- Goals: to find his place in the wizarding world and a place where he feels like he belongs, and to keep the Sorcerer’s Stone safe from Voldemort. Motivation: He always felt like an outsider in his life with the Durselys’ and had no friends; and he is horrified by the idea of the man who murdered his family coming back into power. Conflicts: characters like Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape make him doubt himself and feel like an outcast; and getting the Sorcerer’s Stone involves overcoming challenges related to what he has learned during his year at Hogwarts. Epiphanies: Bravery is about doing the right thing to help those you love even if your are afraid. And the summary would just be a brief summary of the your five sentences from above from Harry’s POV. Since the book is in third person limited, it would be pretty much the same as your summary--but imagine a summary of the book from Quirrell’s POV. That’s going to be a very different summary, and can help give you an idea of how Quirrell (or your own antagonist) would react to certain parts of the plot and conflicts.

Step 4 turns back to your summary. Take the five sentences from step 2 and turn each one into a paragraph, fleshing out the details of the set up, conflicts, and climax in the form of a one page synopsis. So you are turning five sentences into one page by adding in more details, going more in depth to the set up and the conflicts, a paragraph for each. This is when you (if you were writing Harry Potter) might add in that Dumbledore drops Harry off at his aunt and uncle’s after his parents are killed, and that it’s Hagrid who shows up on his 11th birthday. You would mention the characters Snape and Malfoy as being the ones who give Harry the hardest time integrating into the wizarding world. You might describe a little more exactly what Harry has to do to discover the Sorcerer’s Stone. What you won’t have are the minor subplots yet, like Norbert or Hermione and the Troll, or any Quidditch stuff. All the subplots will come later. By the end, you will have a one page synopsis that covers all the main conflicts and the climax/conclusion of your novel. This is extremely helpful to have, since many agents want to see a one page synopsis in the query letters you send them. You may end up tweaking it once the novel is actually finished since it’s quite rare that a completed novel totally reflects the outline, but hopefully all the bones will still be there.

Step 5 returns to characters. Now you’ll take your one paragraph for each main character and expand it into one page. Really go into depth here and try to get a good handle on their personalities, goals, and motivations. You want to have a clear vision of what they want, and how they would go about getting what they want. Nothing is quite as disconcerting in a novel as reading a character acting wildly out-of-character, just because the author decided they needed “A” to happen and made the character behave in a way that doesn’t align with their previous established personality to make it happen. This part, especially writing a summary of the novel from each character’s POV, can help keep that from happening before you’re knee deep in the climax and realizing that your main character’s motivation shoots a big ol’ plot hole in the life raft that is your story. This is also the part where you get more into subplots and supporting characters. You may have mentioned in step 3 that Hermione is not friends with Harry and Ron until the rescue her from a troll, and here is when you’ll really go into more detail about that, and about all the ways she specifically helps during the search for Nicholas Flamel and the Sorcerer’s Stone, as well as what she brings to the table during the climax. You’ll write about a half a page for Neville, Hagrid, Filch, and all the other supporting characters who appear to the story, and nail down their roles and motivations in relation to the plot and any subplots.

Feel free to stop here, but if you like to plot every scene down to the dialogue, continue on with steps 6 through 10. I’m going to copy the descriptions of steps 6 through 10 from the Advancedfictionwriting.com article on the Snowflake Method, which is Randy Ingermanson’s (the guy who invented the Snowfl;ake Method) own website, because he clearly does a better job of explaining it than I do, and because I have guests coming over soon and need to rush through the rest of this post. Check out the original post, it’s a good one.

“Step 6) By now, you have a solid story and several story-threads, one for each character. Now take a week and expand the one-page plot synopsis of the novel to a four-page synopsis. Basically, you will again be expanding each paragraph from step (4) into a full page. This is a lot of fun, because you are figuring out the high-level logic of the story and making strategic decisions. Here, you will definitely want to cycle back and fix things in the earlier steps as you gain insight into the story and new ideas whack you in the face.

Step 7) Take another week and expand your character descriptions into full-fledged character charts detailing everything there is to know about each character. The standard stuff such as birthdate, description, history, motivation, goal, etc. Most importantly, how will this character change by the end of the novel? This is an expansion of your work in step (3), and it will teach you a lot about your characters. You will probably go back and revise steps (1-6) as your characters become “real” to you and begin making petulant demands on the story. This is good — great fiction is character-driven. Take as much time as you need to do this, because you’re just saving time downstream. When you have finished this process, (and it may take a full month of solid effort to get here), you have most of what you need to write a proposal. If you are a published novelist, then you can write a proposal now and sell your novel before you write it. If you’re not yet published, then you’ll need to write your entire novel first before you can sell it. No, that’s not fair, but life isn’t fair and the world of fiction writing is especially unfair.

Step 8) You may or may not take a hiatus here, waiting for the book to sell. At some point, you’ve got to actually write the novel. Before you do that, there are a couple of things you can do to make that traumatic first draft easier. The first thing to do is to take that four-page synopsis and make a list of all the scenes that you’ll need to turn the story into a novel. And the easiest way to make that list is . . . with a spreadsheet.For some reason, this is scary to a lot of writers. Oh the horror. Deal with it. You learned to use a word-processor. Spreadsheets are easier. You need to make a list of scenes, and spreadsheets were invented for making lists. If you need some tutoring, buy a book. There are a thousand out there, and one of them will work for you. It should take you less than a day to learn the itty bit you need. It’ll be the most valuable day you ever spent. Do it.Make a spreadsheet detailing the scenes that emerge from your four-page plot outline. Make just one line for each scene. In one column, list the POV character. In another (wide) column, tell what happens. If you want to get fancy, add more columns that tell you how many pages you expect to write for the scene. A spreadsheet is ideal, because you can see the whole storyline at a glance, and it’s easy to move scenes around to reorder things.My spreadsheets usually wind up being over 100 lines long, one line for each scene of the novel. As I develop the story, I make new versions of my story spreadsheet. This is incredibly valuable for analyzing a story. It can take a week to make a good spreadsheet. When you are done, you can add a new column for chapter numbers and assign a chapter to each scene.

Step 9) (Optional. I don’t do this step anymore.) Switch back to your word processor and begin writing a narrative description of the story. Take each line of the spreadsheet and expand it to a multi-paragraph description of the scene. Put in any cool lines of dialogue you think of, and sketch out the essential conflict of that scene. If there’s no conflict, you’ll know it here and you should either add conflict or scrub the scene.I used to write either one or two pages per chapter, and I started each chapter on a new page. Then I just printed it all out and put it in a loose-leaf notebook, so I could easily swap chapters around later or revise chapters without messing up the others. This process usually took me a week and the end result was a massive 50-page printed document that I would revise in red ink as I wrote the first draft. All my good ideas when I woke up in the morning got hand-written in the margins of this document. This, by the way, is a rather painless way of writing that dreaded detailed synopsis that all writers seem to hate. But it’s actually fun to develop, if you have done steps (1) through (8) first. When I did this step, I never showed this synopsis to anyone, least of all to an editor — it was for me alone. I liked to think of it as the prototype first draft. Imagine writing a first draft in a week! Yes, you can do it and it’s well worth the time. But I’ll be honest, I don’t feel like I need this step anymore, so I don’t do it now.

Step 10) At this point, just sit down and start pounding out the real first draft of the novel. You will be astounded at how fast the story flies out of your fingers at this stage. I have seen writers triple their fiction writing speed overnight, while producing better quality first drafts than they usually produce on a third draft.You might think that all the creativity is chewed out of the story by this time. Well, no, not unless you overdid your analysis when you wrote your Snowflake. This is supposed to be the fun part, because there are many small-scale logic problems to work out here. How does Hero get out of that tree surrounded by alligators and rescue Heroine who’s in the burning rowboat? This is the time to figure it out! But it’s fun because you already know that the large-scale structure of the novel works. So you only have to solve a limited set of problems, and so you can write relatively fast.This stage is incredibly fun and exciting. I have heard many fiction writers complain about how hard the first draft is. Invariably, that’s because they have no clue what’s coming next. Good grief! Life is too short to write like that! There is no reason to spend 500 hours writing a wandering first draft of your novel when you can write a solid one in 150. Counting the 100 hours it takes to do the design documents, you come out way ahead in time.About midway through a first draft, I usually take a breather and fix all the broken parts of my design documents. Yes, the design documents are not perfect. That’s okay. The design documents are not fixed in concrete, they are a living set of documents that grows as you develop your novel. If you are doing your job right, at the end of the first draft you will laugh at what an amateurish piece of junk your original design documents were. And you’ll be thrilled at how deep your story has become.”

-Randy Ingermanson, “The Snowflake Method for Designing a Novel”

[himluv]

“Come Here Often?”

This was a prompt idea from the amazing @blacksheep33512 that I couldn’t unsee. The idea was to take the Garrus romance sequence from the Citadel DLC and put Reyes and Ryder into it instead. I had a ridiculous amount of fun writing this, and I hope you all like it!

Artwork is by @blacksheep33512 

Reyes waited in his room at Tartarus, pacing the length of the couch. It’d been so long since he’d had an occasion to dress up that he found the collar of his white button-down shirt confining. He wanted to tug at it, to loosen its stranglehold on his windpipe, but he couldn’t. This was what Sara wanted, no matter how ridiculous he felt. His omnitool beeped, and he looked down to see Kian’s message.

She’s at the bar.

God bless that man, he thought. Reyes took a moment to pull on the formal coat, buttoning it with jittery fingers. The jacket was cut in the long lines that were fashionable back on the Citadel when he’d left it in 2183. The collar was high and tight, and though it tried to suffocate him, he had to admit he looked good. The coat made him look taller, leaner than he really was, and with the white of his shirt collar beneath it, and the white trim details, he looked ready for a formal event. Which was the point. He checked that his hair was perfect, not a single black strand out of place, and then tugged at the hem of his coat, straightening it. “All right, Vidal,” he murmured to himself. “Show time.”

Sara sat at the bar, chatting amicably with Kian. She knew the bartender and Reyes were friends and she was hoping that a well placed smile and kind words would convince the man to share some details about the ever mysterious Charlatan. But, Kian was impervious to her charms. Movement on her left pulled her from their conversation, and she turned to see Reyes leaning casually against the bar. Her eyes widened as she took him in, the sharp lines of his coat hinting at the strength in his shoulders and chest, the tall collar accentuating his jawline. When she finally met his gaze he smirked at her, no doubt pleased by her obvious approval of his choice in formal wear.    “A Pathfinder on shore leave,” he drawled. He motioned for Kian to pour two drinks and then turned back to her. “You come here often?” Sara bit back a smile as she took her drink from the bartender, who rolled his eyes but didn’t say a word. She took a drink, whiskey of course, before she answered him. “I do. It’s a good place to blow off steam.” She smirked at him, and let her eyes wander around the club, lingering over the caged dancers. “Scenery’s not bad either.” She felt the weight of his stare, and her comment was rewarded with the faintest traces of a frown tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Though,” she said, pitching her voice lower, dragging her eyes up and down his body. She really did like that suit on him. “The view in front of me is even better.” He raised an eyebrow at her and grunted softly. “That supposed to melt a guy’s heart?” He asked, playing into his wounded pride at her wandering eyes. She bit her lip, not entirely on purpose, and locked eyes with him. “No,” she said, leaning closer to speak in his ear. “But, this voice is.” She sat back, satisfied to see he’d closed his eyes at her words. “I’m Sara Ryder, Human Pathfinder, all-around human biotic and conquerer of worlds.” His lips twitched with humor at her title, but she wasn’t done yet. “Also, I kill Kett on the side. And you are?” He sipped at his whiskey, the motion languid and self-confident. Perfectly controlled. “Reyes Vidal, smuggler.” He smirked at her, that patented Vidal the Smuggler expression, and Sara had to take a sip of her whiskey to keep from laughing. “Vidal, huh?” She asked. “I might have heard a few things about you.” His eyes slid over her, taking in the tight black dress, and the glittering angaran necklace that rested against her collar bone; a gift from Keema just for the occasion. And then his eyes were back on her, full of heat and mischief. “If they’re naughty, they’re right.” There was a familiar, pleasant heat gathering between her thighs, and Sara didn’t have to try as hard to add a husky quality to her voice. “Well, I’m looking forward to finding out,” she said. Reyes licked his lips and readjusted his grip on his whiskey glass, beads of condensation gathering under his fingertips. Those were the only hints at the arousal he felt at their little game, and then he shut it down completely, leaning away from her slightly. “Uh-huh,” he said dismissively. He raised a dubious eyebrow at her. “And do most guys fall for that?” The song changed, the driving beat of the electronic music fading away to something more subtle, slower and… familiar? She stared at him as the jazz song from their first dance in his room echoed through the club, but his expression never changed from one of mild interest as he waited for her reply.    She cleared her throat. “Well sure,” she said. “You know, this voice and, uh…” Reyes grinned then. “Seems you’re all out of banter, Ryder.” He finished his whiskey and took her hand. “And since you’re speechless, you won’t be able to protest.” He tugged her out of her seat and onto the dance floor. “What?” She screeched. “What are you doing?” She pulled against him slightly, desperate not to make a fool of herself for all of Tartarus to see. Reyes looked back at her over his shoulder. “It’ll be fun,” he promised. “No, no, no, no!” But it was too late. Reyes spun her out onto the floor before him, and it was a miracle she managed to keep her feet from tangling together in her strappy black heels. And then she was pressed against his chest, his arms firm as they wound around her, guiding her through the steps. “You’re going to pay for this later,” she hissed. Reyes smiled as he spun her away from him, and with a sharp pull on her hand, brought her back. “Promises, promises,” he murmured, but his eyes were bright with humor and affection. He lead her through the dance, his feet sure as he placed them, his hands commanding and agile as he directed her movements.    They found their rhythm, the steps making sense to Sara as she let her body relax. He smirked. “There you go,” he said as she added an extra step with a flare of her hips. She smiled, forgetting about the gathered crowd, the dancers who made way for them as they swept across the floor. And then she upped the ante. Sara let her hands wander while Reyes led them in sweeping circles. He moaned slightly as her mouth brushed his jaw before he spun her out and away from him. This time, when he pulled her back to him, she was ready. With her weight in her toes, she twirled into him, her body flush against his as she lifted one leg to hook onto his hip, her hand in his hair. Reyes gasped, the sound just audible as the song ended, and he held her there, searching her face with wonder. “So, tell me” she drawled. “You think a guy would fall for that?” “Oh, hell yes,” he groaned. His eyes flicked down to her lips, but didn’t linger there. “You’ve been practicing.” She shrugged as he released her leg, allowing her to stand on her own. “Lexi recommended yoga for stress relief,” she said. And then she leaned into him, her lips at his ear. “I’m betting it’s even better when you try it in bed.” The look on his face guaranteed that he was determined to find out. He nodded to Kian and marched off the dance floor, Sara in tow as they hurried back up to his flat. She chuckled as they stood in the lift, heading up to the port. “What?” He asked.    She glanced at him, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. “I’d say our first ‘date’ was a great success,” she said. His hand fell to the small of her back, guiding her out of the elevator as the door opened. As she stepped in front of him, his breath was hot in her ear. “It’s not over, yet.”

[fitnesshealthyoga-blog]

New Post has been published on https://fitnesshealthyoga.com/13-business-tips-to-follow/

13 Business Tips to Follow

With an expected job growth rate of 16% through 2024, and a growing client base of consumers who believe food and nutrition play a significant role in maintaining and improving overall health, the need for holistic health coaches won’t be declining any time soon. As more holistic health coaches start their own businesses, the competition also increases. Be sure you set yourself up for success by following these business tips.

Find Your Community

Starting a business and working for yourself is no small task. You have to do all the jobs of a business, like marketing, sales, business development, accounting, content creation, and public relations, while also being the person who delivers the services. Overwhelmed yet? Surely you may get overwhelmed from time to time or get a case of imposter syndrome. You might worry that you are not capable or good enough or that you just cannot find the right clients.

That’s why you want to find your community of fellow business owners to support you. These business owners do not have to be within your industry necessarily either. Think more broadly and connect with owners who share values, have similar goals, and approach their work the way you do. You could also seek out professionals who serve the same client population or work in the same location. Determine what is most important to you, and then take to the internet.

Find and follow individual business owners on social media who keep you motivated and inspire you to continue your work. Connect with some of them directly, either engaging with their posts or through direct messages, to get help and participate in the business to business conversations. You can also join groups on Facebook and search for local meet ups who get together in real life. Look for support, and prioritize connecting with other business owners who will remind you of why you do what you do.

Build Your Network

Your community helps support you and gives you the motivation to get out there and network to generate business and stay up on industry trends. That doesn’t mean people in your community can’t or won’t send business your way, but there is value in differentiating between those business best friends who you can lean on for support and professionals who can help you meet more people and learn new skills.

Even if you provide online services, try joining networking groups to meet people in real life. Join Freelancers Union for free, which has local chapters in most large U.S. cities, and hosts monthly free events in addition to providing useful tips via newsletters. Also check into your local chamber of commerce, which might host meetups as well. You never know who you might run into and how they might help you. These events also provide a way to practice presenting yourself to new people and nailing that elevator pitch over and over again.

Know Your Point of Difference

You might have been drawn to be a holistic health coach because of what you love about the work and what you have in common with other holistic health coaches, but knowing what sets you apart will not only help you nail that elevator pitch, but it will also help you attract your ideal client.

Imagine you are looking for a holistic health coach. Where does your search begin? You probably consider what your own needs are and then you look for a coach that meets those needs. You want to be that coach, and to do that, you need to know what makes you special or different. Stand out from the crowd to make it as a successful holistic health coach.

Know Who You Want to Work With

In order to find your community, grow your network, and attract your ideal client, you have to know who you want to work with. Start with yourself. What is your approach to the work? What are your strengths and weaknesses? Look for people to complement your work that will help you grow as a business owner and holistic health coach, and also look for people who will be a good fit to work with you.

Do you keep to standard business hours? Do you work on weekends? Are you highly organized and stick to schedules or ebb and flow with your workflow? Do you like to work in co-working spaces or from the comfort of your couch? Do you set agendas for meetings or let the conversation develop with a general idea?

The better you know yourself, the easier it will be to identify who you need and want in your community and who you want your ideal client to be.

Know When to Say No

You don’t have to work with everyone, and you do not have to accept all clients. Although it might seem scary at first, saying no can help you in the long run. You want to set yourself and your clients up for success, but working with clients who do not fit your niche or are very less than ideal does not help anyone.

Create space for your ideal clients and fruitful connections by saying no to clients who are not a good fit and declining events or meetings that do not serve a purpose for you as a business owner. Instead, refer those clients to other holistic health coaches who would be a good fit, and be selective about the events you attend and the networking opportunities that present themselves.

Also, know when to say no to work in general. When you are starting out, the pressure to do all the jobs can leave you constantly working. When things get going and business is doing well, you might be tempted to work all the time because you love your job. Know your limits and set work boundaries so that you do not burn out. These boundaries might mean you set a limit on the number of clients you work with at one time and then pace them accordingly or that you schedule time to be off the clock and stick to it.

Make Contracts and Use Them

One of the simplest and best ways to set yourself up for success is to get all the expectations down in writing. You do not have to make a complicated contract or use a lot of legalese. You can use online services like DocuSign or Agree to generate contracts, send them, and sign them for each of your clients. Think of contracts as less of a lasso for your clients and more of a common promise to each other. You promise to deliver the services, and they promise to pay you for them.

Beyond payment terms, also consider what to do when things go wrong. How will you define satisfactory work? What should your client do if he or she wants to stop working with you or does not feel that the services you provide are adequate? What happens if your client wants to continue working with you, but you do not feel he or she is doing the work? You can politely and transparently include these details in your contract. Failing to do so can cause a lot of headache, take you off your focus, and discourage you from continuing your work. No one wants that kind of setback, so be smart about writing your contracts.

Buy In and Show It

You absolutely must wholeheartedly believe in what you do, and do it. Any doubts that you have could sneak into your work and infiltrate your content and your interactions with clients. Practice the values you preach and demonstrate how to live a healthy lifestyle.

Be sure to show what you do too. Make short videos to share on your social media stories and feeds. They do not have to be fancy or overproduced. Share what you do and people will recognize it as relatable and want to engage with you. It will add credibility to your work as well.

Make a Plan

Where do you want your business to be in three or five years? Knowing where you’re going can help you measure your success and it gives you goals to orient yourself to and stay focused on. Your plan can change and it does not have to be complicated, but having a plan sets you up for success and certainly gets you off on the right track to make it as a holistic health coach.

A basic business plan includes a description of your clientele and their needs, what you do to meet that need, your business model or how you make money, your ideal client, what makes you different from other similar businesses or your competitive advantage, what you bring to the business and what roles you provide, and your anticipated earnings and expenses. A very useful exercise is to condense this basic plan down to one page. If you can do that, you are very focused and in a good position to succeed amidst all the other coaches out there.

Balance Focus with Adaptability

Agile marketing and adapting your business to changing market needs are trends that best fit teams who can sprint through marketing together and help analyze the results, but that doesn’t mean you cannot be adaptable too and utilize some agile practices. Have an overarching strategy from your business plan, and adapt your tactics to meet your business needs.

But do not adapt so far that you lose your focus or don’t give tactics a long enough time to prove their usefulness. Set SMART business goals and you will be able to track progress and learn as you grow. While you might be working all the jobs as a business owner, that does not mean your business has to offer all the services possible. Staying focused is key to your success as a small business owner.

Don’t Reinvent the Wheel

When you are getting started, it’s tempting to get lost down the path of ideas and branding. Ideas are easy. Implementation is hard. One way to stay focused and avoid getting bogged down in the details is to know when it’s okay to copy. Ask your community and your network what sorts of tools and resources they use to get all the jobs done, and try them. There’s no need to test out multiple apps, find a different scheduling service, or spend hours and hours on customized branded worksheets or surveys when you are starting out.

Instead, use some standard templates and take notes as you go for what does and does not work well. Then you can make informed customizations. The same applies to apps and tools. Take suggestions and jump in. As you use them, you will learn what does and does not work for your business, and then you can go searching for something better with some information in hand.

Remember, there’s a reason why other professionals are already using these tools: they work! No need to make things more complicated.

Invest in Yourself

When you are starting, don’t be afraid to spend some money on useful tools that will help you do your job more easily, such as accounting software or the professional version of your favorite and most useful apps. As you grow, set aside business income to reinvest where your business needs it most. Remember, investing in your business is investing in yourself. Keep your business plan in mind, and spend money on whatever will help you reach your long term goals.

Truly Believe in Yourself

Along with wholeheartedly believing in what you do, believe in yourself. You started a business! Trust that you will be successful, stay focused, and remember you have your community, your network and your clients to keep you going.

Be Open to Growth

Growth and change are rarely easy no matter how adaptable you are. Be patient with yourself and your business, and know that it will not magically grow overnight. You will inevitably mess things up and make mistakes. Remember that failure is not making a mistake, but failing to take action. Not running a successful marketing campaign on the first go or only having two people watch your first live feed is not failure. Not showing up for a meeting is failure. Know the difference and be kind to yourself as you make it as a holistic health coach. 

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[fipindustries]

Elevation-U2

ok, lets try this again...

i miss music videos from the late 90′s early 2000′s, they didnt only have better budget, effects and cinematography, they had a story. videos like “everybody” by the backstreet boys, or the call, also by the backstreet boys, or even 19-2000 by gorillaz, where musicians werent just singing to the camera but going on surrealist, barely coherent adventures!

Elevation by U2 is my favorite music video ever, and indeed the only song by U2 that i like, mostly because of the music video itself, and i decided im going to share the thoughts that i have been accumulating about this  for over a decade.

first thing we have to understand about elevation before we begin is that it is ACTION MOVIE™: THE MUSIC VIDEO. but the thing is that it makes no earthly sense. When looked closely the images are in no way telling a cohesive plot...and yet, and yet there is sense, not logical, no, but emotional. in a way this video manages to condense all the emotional beats of watching an action movie in barely four minutes. keep in mind that we are shown what at best could be considered a bunch of scenes that have no connection to each other at a frantic pace but our mind actually pieces it all together into a narrative, tony zhou talked about this in his video about bayhem. so without further ado, let's begin.

1) INTRODUCTION AND SETTING.

first thing we see: a plane taking off, we know its taking off because is going up the screen, we are embarking into a journey. another nice thing this does is provide a nice auditory cleanser, is a loud noise, going from low to high in pitch, much like a harp when a flashback begins, that not only wakes us up but primes our ears for whats coming, AND on top of that it quickly establishes the time and place this is all happening, present day, in CITY™, the place where all action movies happen.

we look down and we are introduced to our hero, BONO, notice how he's carryng a bag of groceries. he is just a normal man, living his normal life, going on about his normal day when a phone call interrupts him to call him for adventure. "hello, im evil bono" listen to the low, growly voice, this surely must be a scoundrel! (the fact that he had to clarify he's evil can be considered redundant, but we had to be explained that he is bono's doppelganger). "we have the edge, give us the key, you are surrounded" a threat, stakes are presented, a brother is in danger but in exchange for the artifact we might be saved from a terrible fate. and just to emphasize how dire is our situation the bad guy finishes with "and not even lara croft can save you" so that's it, the story has been introduced and all in barely 15 seconds. who the hell is evil bono? where did he come from? what are his powers and how did he acquire them? why does he want the key? and why in all heavens is he making demands to some irish rockstar? truth is we dont need to know any of this, here is the good guy, here is the bad guy, this is the conflict. our minds got that and dont need anything else to get invested. as a bonus we see some guys in military gear (we are not going to see them again until the very end of the video, they dont do anything during the whole thing) we see the tomb raider because that is where the money is coming from and we see the edge (bono's brother) dealing with his own shit, he seems to be trapped in some alternate universe composed of dismal greenscreens. the adventure begins

2) MUSIC KICKS IN

we are now introduced to the BAD GUYS, who on top of having supernatural powers, and ON TOP of the weather being awful (because we all know evilness has a direct effect in barometric pressures and levels of humidity in the atmosphere, just ask Mordor) they are also dressed in shades and leather jackets, you know who else used shades and leather jackets? bad guys in the 50's that's who, and so mightysome was their cultural impact that even all the way forwards into the 2000's we are still using their style to codify villainy. so, sure, we can see they are evil, but what are their evil deeds? how are they disrupting our nice peaceful world? simple, by screwing the the most fundamental force of reality: time.

and this is a metaphor, make no mistake.  when a terrible event happens completely unexpected it is normal to feel like "time has stopped" as the horror of what we witnessed sinks in. in here there is no need for any specific horror to happen, time just literally stops to show how normal life has been thrown out of whack, and that's whack. BUT LOOK, bono hasn't been completely stopped, he can actually stand up to the evil guy's powers, and as you can see in the shot he is decidedly standing front and center with the normal people in the background, why, he's standing in front of them, he is protecting them. because he truly is our hero. we can also see our allies, the edge is still in greenscreenland with lara, larry mullen jr is about to ride a sweet bike and looking like he means business af and adam clayton is higjacking a taxi, just to show how to the limit he is pushed that he has to engage in acts of petty crime just so he can save the goddam day. finally when elevation is said for the first time we can see the camera alternating between the good guy and the bad guy, they are competing, fighting, over the very name of the song. they are fighting for the fate of the world.

3)THE CHORUS

time starts again, our heroes are fighting back. evil bono can now control cars with his mind, we never see the car chase anyone but we know evil bono could do it if he wanted and that is as good it actually happening for us. we do see larry being chased by a bike without a rider though, and its fucking sweet.

bono is running down the streets because important things are happening but he just has to stop to check out a giraffe plushie. next time we see him he is walking along side a real giraffe. maybe he turned the plushie into a real giraffe by screaming really loud at it or maybe the giraffe is just there to show how into disarray the world is that now animals are walking down the streets.

also there is a firetruck floating and bono cant resist his impulse to bop it.

more chase scenes, the bad guy floating above the good guy to show who is in control right now. and larry performs the most confusing series of actions in the whole video.

so i just explained he was being chased by a bike without a driver, which means the bike was following him from behind but then he switches to another bike (also without a driver) that was coming towards him. then he stops the bike and from within a building another bike explodes out of a window. this makes no sense right?

WRONG, the switching of bikes shows how the tides are turning for the heroes it was a cool decisive action that larry performed flawlessly, and the exploding bike is clearly the bike that was chasing him being defeated. still makes no sense you say? but in your heart of hearts, in the dumb, stupid part of your brain that told you that watching die hard for the ninth timein a row was a good idea, it makes all the sense in the world and you cant lie to yourself.

and now the chorus starts back again because it's that time brothers and sisters, the time we all been waiting for, it's the time...

for explosions. the "OOOHS" are more frantic now, and bono just can take it any more.

it's time to unleash his full powerlevel. a sudden silence, a calm, bono has transcended mortal limitations, a taxi crashes into him and he comes unscathed just to show how powerful he is, he is basically musical super sayin. but this is merely the cal before the storm, it's time for the final confrontation.

4) THE FINAL FIGHT

our heroes are reunited at last.

yes, the fate of the world and indeed the universe is going to be decided by a battle of the bands and, full disclosure here, i love it. this is what made me fall in love with the video when i first saw it. to see the bad guys blasting soundwave after soundwave at our poor heroes while they stood defiant brought many a tear to my eyes. the bad guys are looking just plain cool, they have better clothes, better beats and those cool new floating speakers, whilst U2 only has nomal, crummy, gravity abiding speakers and expensive clothes designed to look urban and down to earth. they are still unmistakably the underdogs. we occasionally cut back to a distressed crowd just so we dont forget what we're fighting for. the battle is epic, all kinds of shit are flying around, debris, cars and why not? also elephants, the giraffes already established that wild animals are roaming the city so this is perfectly normal to us.

"the edge has fallen, this is truly our darkest hour!" both bonos are engaged in a screaming contests and for some reason they are trying to reach each other, maybe so they can start punching each other, i dont know. at one point bono throws his leg in the air as he attempts to charge a kame hame ha or some shit. but then, hark! the edge has risen again! and alongside his brother they release the biggest, baddest guitar riff ever. we see the guys in military gear flailing around, they are defeated. evil bono stumbles againts the battery, bono considers taking his jacket off but its too cold so he puts it back on again, lara croft and the edge both wink at the camera so i am to surmise that they are having sex. the day has been saved.

finally we see our heroes as they walk into the sunset whilst cars and animals are still floating around, implying that things have changed after this adventure, and the world might never be the same. the video ends with a nice bookend: the same plane, this time coming down, we are landing, our journey is over, we can go back to the real world. the end

[brianhandy]

Marketing Needs, Logo Progress

Wow did you know Marketing was a whole thing? It’s a lot - and right now we’re somewhere between finding someone to do it and me just figuring it out myself - but I am starting to establish what the core requirements of marketing are if I need to DIY for everything. In the meantime! A life could be made of learning marketing - content still needs to get made and this game still needs to be finished to launch. So the game development continues, and the marketing side is still being learned.

Crypt of the Necrodancer’s success led me to Ryan’s excellent talk!

Hooks, Audience, and Promotion!

Ryan Clark’s talk about game marketing is excellent. I highly recommend this 48min investment for anyone starting down this path. He breaks it into three parts: what sticks with people most from your idea/plan/game conceptually or aesthetically or... what has pull? Then pt 2 is identifying that you even have a group to sell to, big enough to make that money back. And pt 3 is how to condense those hooks and get them through to the audience via whatever tools you’ve got. Descriptor text, trailers, banner ads - that first exposure has to hook, that second exposure has to convince, then it’s a business thing of how bad the customer wants it vs the friction of paying to get there. It’s fascinating stuff. Also: the Zach Gage video for the Three Reads is great on communicating what matters in your game too.

Spoiler: I do want all these ridiculous and cute animals in the game.

101 Animal Videos

More animals are now planned - on a spreadsheet even! The content isn’t in yet but the selections and their difficulties are all setup. Hoping to get that all in by launch but it’s a good next step for gameplay either way. It went from 29 to more than 70, where our goal was to get up to 100. At a certain point, well known animals with identifiable sounds is a list that starts to run out. It’s hard to balance which bird, insect, and elk sounds are too obscure with how much content we need. But I think there’s a happy medium in this new list so far. The real issue is, for “abstract” animals - why don’t more cryptids have iconic sounds?

Tada! Pixel 1 with working transparent videos! (Necessary for confetti screen)

Gameplay Tweaks & Android

The “next” button is now disabled on sound effect screens until the sound is pressed. Music lowers in volume for questions and serious playthroughs. Confetti is now fully functional (ok ok less gameplay but still). It’s great seeing the game get more refined - we keep getting to tweak the UI bits and pieces at a time, but it’s a bunch of invisible labor! Major features are all in, so why does polish take so long? What’s the right amount of time for it? I think Beta being content complete and leaving 25% of the schedule for polish is a good idea, but I might suggest something more like 40% if it includes a platform launch. That sounds wild but anything less than 30% of the schedule to polish, launch, and marketing is just not going to see a clean release.

We also now have a fully functional APK! Always a risk as a project goes on to not check other platforms. Video had transparency issues and loading time concerns, but transcoding in Unity fixed all that.

Work in progress logo and ideas for non-”fun world window” game icons.

Logo and Icon

This could be a whole blogpost all its own. Logo design is as tough as UI design, but tied into marketing much more too. How do you tell those hooks to the player through typography and color? The name does a lot already, but too “Wild” a wild honesty looks playful only, and what is an icon for deep conversations? Next blogpost will have the final answers here at this rate! So far it’s looking to use the name to say convos, and the icon to say card game and animals. We will see! My biggest takeaway: icons for games feel like windows into a world of friends, fun, and fantasy. You see the world you want to click on and zoom in to join. That’s what a game icon is - an invitation to some place fun. So how do we do that for a good conversation? Or is that best for single player games when clicking is the relationship between just one player and what to do on their phone? Word of mouth might be more important than an icon on this front.

I have also been fascinated by this wikipedia page all week. 

Conclusion

Marketing! It’s literally every step between the game/product and never having heard of it. How do you convince someone, at every step, that your thing (if it is a good fit for them) is worth clicking the next step for? Your space is more limited than a tweet, so what do you do with it? Like elevator pitches, it’s all about compressing things to the most catchy, valuable, intriguing concept. You want that audience member to be so curious that they click to see more. And again. And again - until a purchase is required and they are convinced they are either deeply interested, or that it brings them great value. Then just deliver a quality product as advertised, or you’ll disrespect and lose their trust! And that’s important long term - but especially when trying to do good for the audience.

Next week, hopefully a final icon and logo!

2/15/20

[topicprinter]

Hey! Nathan from Project Hatch - Recently spoke to Jonathan Harris about his property data insights company.What is LeadHub? LeadHub is a SaaS product that offers UK Estate Agents unparalleled data insights into what is happening in their local market, whilst also giving them the ability to act on this data through integrated prospecting options. Our dataset contains in excess of 120 million data points, all of which is continually updated and added to. From a cold start in year one we turned over £600k, and are looking to reach the £1million mark this year. Our costs are minimal and we are completely self-funded to date. Was it a lightbulb moment of a gradual process?The product itself was certainly more of a gradual process - in fact, we’re still very much in the ‘process’. I’m a believer that a product, especially software, is never fully complete. It is a constant cycle of conceptualising, validating and delivery.Out of university, I worked for a company that provided lead generation software for UK Estate Agents. As a key account manager, I was in daily contact with clients and quickly became entrenched in their world - understanding their needs, frustrations and requirements. In many ways, these early days were the test bed for much of the product validation. I had no question in my mind that there was a huge need for a platform like LeadHub. ImageDuring these years, I made contacts within the industry and took to market a number of new businesses. A team of us launched BuyerPrice.com (https://angel.co/company/buyerprice) into the US back in 2016. The uptake was superb, and we hit 10% of our partner agent target in the first day. I spent a lot of time travelling between NYC and the UK, and felt passionately that we had a business here that could change the face of US Real Estate. The journey however was fraught with hiccups, mostly legal(!) and the decision was made to not pursue the idea further. A personal passion project of mine has always been the relationship (or lack thereof) between millennials and the housing market in the UK. Homeownership is becoming increasingly inaccessible, and I set about addressing this. Launched to much media fan far, Uppie looked to take advantage of the sharing economy (specifically Airbnb) to allow us as a business to help fund first time buyers deposits. It was at the testing and validation stage that we really discovered that people were not willing to take the risk on such a large purchase. We iterated to BrixPoints, but within 6 months the decision was also taken that without investment we’d be unable to continue. The impact of this was ultimately detrimental to the unity of the team, and saw a breakup of the team. Determined to launch a successful product in a sector that I both knew, and had had the opportunity over years to test and validate, I teamed up with two former colleagues and set about creating LeadHub. The rest, as they say, is history. How did you get your first three sales? The huge advantage of launching a business into a space that you know, and have formed contacts in, is that you also have a reputation and trust. My first three sales were the result of picking the phone up to clients that I had worked with in the past, and presenting them with the product. Our first clients were fundamental in helping us test and refine the product - these early adopters have since gone on to be huge product evangelists for us, as they felt so involved in the development stage. We operate a freemium model (similar to Amazon Prime, Netflix etc), and subscriptions activate after 30 days. Our retention rate is currently 87% which is unheard of with this approach. What are you actually selling? A SASS marketing and data tool for UK Estate Agents. Leadhub identifies the address of properties as soon as they enter the market, then tracks their marketing journey, informing our clients when the property has been reduced in price, withdrawn, switched agents, gone under offer, fallen through, or turned eg 4, 8, 12, 16 weeks old on the market. Agents can then mail target-specific letters via their Leadhub system within 24h of the event.Our aim is “to provide a comprehensive nationwide platform for estate agents and businesses involved in the home moving process, to track properties on and off the market, act upon this detailed information and in doing so, better understand new opportunities, and exploit them.” About me. My journey into entrepreneurialism is perhaps atypical of many tech startup founders. I am a graduate in History and Global Politics, and initially it was assumed that I would pursue a career more closely aligned to these two interests. It requires delving briefly into my character to understand my founder journey so far, and unpack what fuels me. The question that used to fill me with dread was ‘what do you want to be when you’re older?’. It always struck me, and it still does, that so many of my peers so readily had an answer to this. “Oh, a lawyer”, or “I’ve always wanted to be a teacher”,. orOr, “I’m going to go into business”. They seemed to so easily place their flag, and pin themselves to a predefined career route. Perhaps I have been wired incorrectly  but when asked 'What' I wanted to be, I would draw blanks. The British are notorious, when meeting new people, for pigeon holing them and giving them a social marker based on their response to 'What do you do?'.It wasn't until I really began to analyse what this loaded question meant, that I really began to dissect it and find comfort in how I approached it.From a young age, and my mother will vouch for this through gritted teeth (as would my various driving instructors!) I have been very difficult to teach. Whereas some will settle with a 'fact' being a 'fact', my brain simply will not accept information unless I have had a chance to explore it further. One one hand, this is infuriating, but on the other it means that I have become very good at drawing solutions from situations that I deem to be insufficient, and conceptualising, validating and seeing ideas grow to fruition. LeadHub, especially, is the child of this pursuit of something being done better. What led you to invest in Honeypot? One of the team that I was involved with in Uppie and BrixPoints went on to launch Honeypot - a new dating app for London. Every now and again you see an idea, and a founder, and know that their chances of success rank highly. Through the SEIS scheme the investment was an attractive one, and I have also ensured a close relationship with the team they’re building and fly their flag where I can. The way in which they have tested, built and launched their app really has been superb. What is Your Target Demographic?Our target demographic are independent UK estate agents with 1-5 branches, operating in specific areas of the country. Our product isn’t best suited for new businesses, so we specifically target those with an existing presence and reputation. Estate Agents are great clients to have - they are willing to give things a go, but do not suffer fools lightly! You have to ensure a deep working knowledge of their processes, and how your product fits into them. What happened in the early stages?LeadHub, and all of the others ideas have been privately funded. Each iteration since has been funded by subscription charges from users. This is a fine balance as in the early days the product certainly wasn’t worth very much at all, but those that were willing to adopt it become key drivers of how the app developed and we were able to use this feedback, and early revenues to add layers to the app that allowed further upselling. As a team we have had to scale to match demand. I believe that startup founders can be notoriously awful at being good people managers. I have made a real point of trying to buck this trend as our team has grown, but this comes with its own challenges as all of a sudden you are responsible for managing the workload of people who don’t have the same vested interest, but also who don’t have the same ability to self start. My advice would be to employ people that are willing, and hungry and believe in what you are looking to do. Empower them early on, make them feel included and importantly draw them alongside the wider vision for the company - this may be by means of share incentives, or other involvement, but it’s vital that they feel a crucial part of your growth. What was the reaction of family and friends to launching your own business?This has been a funny old experience! The nature of being an ‘agile entrepreneur’ is that family especially often find it really difficult to explain to people what it is that you do. Elevator pitches are always best done on family, as if you can condense your offering and get them to understand it then anyone will! My wife has been extremely supportive of my various businesses. It’s not always plain sailing, especially if there is a dramatic pivot, but my experience has been that it all boils down to communication. Like with family, if you can’t explain to your spouse why you’ve done an about turn on an idea that just yesterday you were super passionate about, then you have no hope communicating this change to the wider world! Advice for new starters. You hear it on a lot of startup forums, but my primary piece of advice for new starters would be to not be afraid to fail (see https://medium.com/@jonathanharris_43498/the-art-of-failure-c09f6fcd52d5), or to change your mind. There is no shame in setting out with an idea, and changing it. You will be hard pressed to find a successful tech company that hasn’t had to pivot and adapt from their original idea. My second would always be clear in your head what it is that you are looking to achieve, and what it is that that current model looks like. There is nothing more destabilizing than having those close to you question why you’re doing something if you don’t fully understand it yourself. My third and final piece of advice would be to get comfortable with the ups and the downs. Startup life can be glamorized, and there are days where it is all that it’s cracked up to be. Engagement is high, people are loving your product, but there will be days where you feel at rock bottom. If you anticipate this then you will be better prepared to deal with it. What has driven most sales? Besides Linkedin, or target audience are not particularly active across the other platforms. Our greatest successes come from adwords, paid search, email and direct mail and remarketing. We are very active at national conferences and events, and drive a large amount of traffic based on this - our challenge is to convert these visitors either initially or through a cycle of re-engagement. Our method of sign up has also been key in our ability to convert users from a freemium to a paid model. A no-commitment 30 day free trial allows anyone to create an account with no obligation to continue. We demo once they’re in, so we have their details and engagement. Our continuation rate is 87% which is unheard of for freemium SAAS models. What is stopping growth? There are a number of factors at play here. The industry as a whole has been squeezed with uncertainty over Brexit. The housing market seems to be the first to feel any economic murmurs, and this has been true recently. We have prioritised affordability as one of our key client benefits, so haven’t felt this like some other more expensive providers.Internally, our focus this year is on growing a dedicated sales team. As a small team it can be difficult to focus solely on sales without being drawn into the management and development of the product. We continue to report steady growth month on month, but things can always be done better. What tools/apps are essential? Mondays.com - I started using Mondays.com back when it was ‘dapulse’. This has now become a completely ingrained tool for setting work priorities and quickly visualising where we’re at with certain projects. Slack - I’m sure this is a firm favourite! As a team, we work remotely a huge amount of the time (our data specialist is currently in France doing a homestay and working from there!). Slack is wonderful for just keeping up to speed with the team. Base Camp -  We use base camp as our tool for raising and dealing with development queries and future sprints. It is better than Slack for sharing and responding to documents, and seeing when progress has been made/tasks completed. Intercom - This is a chat-bot that has been invaluable with converting web visitors. We have specific engagement messages based on number of visitors, activity etc and it removes the need to spend time on the phone, so efficiency has also been increased dramatically. Future goals? We are constantly planning future sprints. In the pipeline, we have a plan to release data on rental as well as residential. We are also developing various bits of machine learning to begin to predict a propensity for a property to sell, as well as reporting accurately on agents market share and successful listing to conversion ratios. We’re sitting on a gold mine of data, and how we interpret and present this will be key in our future growth. Ultimately the plan is for an exit. We’re targeting a critical number of users, and this will be our priority for 2021. If you enjoyed this post, the original post is here.

[siliconwebx]

How to Write the Best About Me Page Possible

“If we’re gonna be friends, you should know that I re-heat my coffee as many times as it takes to burn my tongue, I only watch horror movies through my fingers and I seriously dislike elephants, although I wish them all the best.”

That’s the most-commented-on line from my About Me page. It’s the very last sentence and the sixth paragraph of 275 words, which means that people read all the way down to it, including one scroll. They then feel compelled to email me to ask about it. (“You reheat your coffee? Like, in the microwave? And what’s with the elephant thing??? Who doesn’t love elephants!”) In a world where it’s hard to keep anyone’s attention for more than a second, I say that’s a success.

As far as About Me examples go, though, I make a lot of mistakes on my page. I focus too little on the business of my business, I haven’t added any testimonials and I don’t have a CTA at the end. While it’s engaging enough for strangers to contact me, it’s unfinished. I know how many people I’ve caught with it, but I’ll never know how many people I lost because it’s missing some must-have points.

Don’t be me. Be you, the person with the high-performing, perfectly-executed About page. Here’s how.

Do I need an About page?

Yes. Next question?

The About page is essential to any and every website, whether you’re an individual sharing your personal thoughts or a full-blown business with countless landing pages. Your About page isn’t necessarily what gets people to your website, but it is where a number of visitors are going to click over to.

Okay, but does the writing actually matter?

Yup. A well-designed website will attract people, but the content is what keeps them there. Having a poorly-written About page is worse than not having one at all. Keep it simple, even if your industry is jargon-filled. Use the Hemingway app if you’re wordy, and check out our article about creating content with high readability.

Also, name your About page something obvious: About, About Me, About Us. Don’t get creative here – people are going to look for an About page, and they need to find it without trying to figure out what the “Our Essence” page could be about.

Look, this is hard!

There’s a reason businesses hire writers: writing is hard. Writing an About page is particularly hard because you have to give people enough information to maintain their interest, but you can’t get longwinded. I limit About pages to 500 words, and Moz’s About page, one of the best About Me examples I’ve seen, is right around there. That word count may not sound intimidating, but writing 500 excellent words is a lot more difficult than writing a 1,000-word blog post. You have to squeeze a lot of information into an About page, which means every sentence counts. It’s sort of like an elongated elevator pitch.

What an About Page is Not

1. An autobiography.

2. The best outlet for sharing a long brand story or company history, even if it’s wildly interesting. Write a blog post about it instead.

3. Boring. You may be enthralled by the backstory of how your company was founded a century ago, but if it’s going to make your reader fall asleep, leave it out. Cherry pick the most relevant and interesting information that enhances your brand image.

4. About you. It may say “About Me” or “About Us,” but it’s really “About the Reader.” What you’re saying about yourself is for the purpose of relating to the reader; it’s not for an ego boost. Unless you’re already a celebrity or an influencer, people don’t really care about your story unless it improves their life.

Elements of a Great “About” Page

I listed these elements in a way that makes the most sense to me, but you can absolutely play with the layout to determine the right flow for your About page.

The Hook

Just like with a blog post, you have to hook the reader. Start with something odd or unusual, something most other people don’t say or are afraid to say. If you want to make it stand out more, bold it to turn it into a headline.

In this section, and throughout your About page, you have to keep three things in mind:

Who you are

What you do

Why you do it

Whatever you do, don’t reiterate that this is your About page. The reader already knows that – they clicked on the link.

The Basics

Start with your name, job title and location, and maybe add in your “thing.”

Hey, I’m Lindsay, a freelance writer in New York. And I’m totally obsessed with true crime podcasts.

Brag a Little

Give yourself some props, but relate it to the person you’re speaking to. What is it about your experience that connects with your visitor’s biggest concern? What’s keep them up at night, and how has that same thing kept you up at night?

I’ve been a full-time freelancer for 10 years, and I’ve talked to a lot of marketing agencies during that time. I know how tough it can be to hire freelancers – they don’t know what you want and you don’t know what they need.

Help Some More

They know what you’re able to help with, but not how you do it. Don’t go into crazy detail here. People are still mostly concerned with results – your process can be completely pared down and still effective.

I act as the middleman between agencies and writers so that you can both get what you need without any delays, surprises or unexpected expenses.

Testimonials

You can put testimonials at the beginning or end of the About page, but I placed them here in this outline because it feels like the natural best place – you’ve told the reader how you can help them and now you’re showing how you’ve helped others. If possible, include testimonials from influencers and impressive publications as well as real people.

Source: SocialTriggers.com

Give Some Background

You’ve got their interest, so there’s some leeway to talk about how you got started or how your company was founded. Include this information:

Founding year

Location

Number of employees

Why you started the business

Business vision and goals

Most impressive achievement(s)

This is your chance to empathize some more. Let them know you shared the same struggles or questions they’re experiencing. Put into words what’s going through their head.

Additional Media

Always include one picture of yourself – recent, crisp and inoffensive. A photo of your face will make you more likable and trustworthy.

Consider adding a video, especially if you want to explain a process or product. You can also embed one of your popular YouTube videos, which will link to your account and help drive traffic there.

Be Human

What makes you offbeat, interesting, different from the rest? What makes you human? List three things.

You can either do a brief “look, I’m just a weird human section” at the end like I did, or you can scatter humanized details throughout – your choice.

Call-to-Action

If people are heading over to your About page often, then there should be a CTA there. This should be one of your more broad offerings – the About page isn’t about one specific part of your business, and the CTA doesn’t need to be, either. What action should people take next in order to reap the biggest benefit from your website?

Check out the rest of Sarah’s About page, too. In terms of About Me examples, this is one of my favorites – the content flows naturally, like you’re having a conversation with her. Sarah speaks right to you and manages to tell you what she does while still making it all about you.

Contact Information

Give the visitor ways to connect with you – email address and phone number, your address if you have a physical store or office, and your social media links. While this should be at the end of the page, experiment with placing it in the center of your page as well, right after the most actionable paragraph, like the “Help Some More” section.

There’s an exception to this, though. If you’re growing quickly and getting inundated with emails and calls, you can remove your personal contact information. Keep your social media links, of course, and consider if and how you want people to be able to get in touch, like live chat on your website or Facebook Messenger.

3 About Me Examples

Let’s go over three popular About Me examples to explore what they did right and where they went wrong.

Mirasee

What They Got Wrong

The About Us page for Mirasee doesn’t immediately convey what this company does. There’s a guy wearing a “Be More Curious” shirt, a tagline that says “Reimagine Business” and a buzzword-heavy description of what Mirasee means, but what do they do? I have no idea.

What They Got Right

Everything is on one page. There’s no reason to keep your About Us information separate from your vision or your team. It all falls under the “About” umbrella, and you’ll get more traction out of the page if it’s all nestled together.

Moz

What They Got Wrong

Nothing.

What They Got Right

Moz’s About page gets right to it. Their copy is equal parts straightforward and punchy, and you know exactly what their expertise is from the get-go: SEO.

Moz puts their “where the name comes from” section at the end – it’s there, but they know it’s the least important part of their About story.

They keep everything on one page, and the copy is short overall despite there being seven sections.

P.S. Backlinko is another website that hits all the right marks with their about page: clarity, social proof, CTA.

Niche Hacks

Okay. You’ll need a fresh cup of coffee for this one. There’s a lot going on with the Niche Hacks About Me page.

What They Got Wrong

There’s a ton of text, and splitting it up into mini-paragraphs isn’t helping. That first above-the-fold section is an eyesore. This could all be condensed into one or two great paragraphs that strongly convey who they are and how they can help you. Shorter content is confident content.

They’ve also buried the lead. The “How This Blog Will Help You Succeed Online” section has one bit of information that should be at the top of the page: “I publish epic resources, give away trade secrets, and post information for free that most other internet marketers charge big bucks for.”

What They Got Right

If you continue scrolling, you’ll come to a “What We Hope To Achieve Over The Next 5 Years” section. Whether or not you think this information is important enough to include here, it’s broken down much better than the copy above. It’s neatly sorted into three bullet points and easier on the eyes.

There are also links to “awesome content” on the bottom. Having the links here gives the reader somewhere else to go when they’re done with this page. You’re more likely to click on a link here than go back up to the top, find the blog, etc.

What They Got Sorta Right

They’ve included testimonials from real readers as well as industry influencers. Unfortunately, they have a ton of testimonials, and some are stronger than others. I’d pick the top five, put them closer to the top of the page and let them work their social proof magic. You can always include more on a dedicated testimonials page.

Wrapping Up

There’s a lot to think about here, and it didn’t help that I stressed that these 500 words will be the most important of your website. Here’s the good news: you already know all of this information. All of it. You know who you are, what your business is about, who you serve, why you do it… Take your time to put it together in a way that’s clear. Don’t worry about being creative, just be honest and transparent – readers will respect you for that while learning about what’s in it for them.

Rocked your About page? Now create a cool Twitter bio to land more clients.

The post How to Write the Best About Me Page Possible appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

😉SiliconWebX | 🌐ElegantThemes

[zipgrowth]

What a Vision for Teaching the Whole Child Looks Like in Action

It’s one of the biggest buzzwords in education today: the whole child. Basically, it’s the idea that educating students is about more than what’s said in class. Factors like nutrition, home life and out-of-school relationships can all play a huge role in how kids learn—and it’s something more schools are starting to pay attention to.

The theory behind whole child is one thing. How it gets put into practice is something else entirely.

That’s something Jonathan Raymond had to learn on the job. Raymond is former superintendent of Sacramento City Unified and author of “Wildflowers: A School Superintendent's Challenge to America.”

In his new book, Raymond notes that he walked into his role with a strong vision centered around the whole child, and he wants others to follow his lead to “relinquish dogma and ideology” and focus on putting children first. Yet his arrival in Sacramento coincided with the Great Recession, and six straight years of funding cuts. His ambitious vision began to run up against hard realities.

At the recent EdSurge Fusion conference, Raymond spoke with us about that vision, what it looks like when applied to things like budgets and summer vacations, and what leaders can learn from his missteps.

Listen to the discussion on this week’s EdSurge On Air podcast. You can follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you listen. The transcript below has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

We often start with, “What are the hopes and dreams of your child?” And simply, “How is your child?”

EdSurge: Whole child is a huge topic, and it's a big focus of your book Wildflowers. Can you give us the 30-second elevator pitch about what it is and why it's important?

Raymond: When I talk about whole child education, I like to talk about questions. We often start with, “What are the hopes and dreams of your child?” Or, “How can we give your child what he or she most needs?” And simply, “How is your child?”

It starts with a set of questions, but then it really recognizes that our children are full human beings. We need to really think about educating their heads, making sure that they have the knowledge and the skills and the tools to be intellectually curious and inquisitive. We also need to recognize that to really engage kids, we’ve got to figure out how to get them active and passionate about what it is they're learning. Often that means being able to see that what they're learning is real and has relevance in the world and in their community and they can literally get their hands in it.

We also need to remember that true learning really comes from the heart. Are we paying attention to how we're teaching our children to be understanding?

I would say that whole child education recognizes that we need to educate the whole person, and it also means we need to engage our families, our parents, and our community as partners in this process.

Summer slide is a very well-known phenomenon. Students can lose a lot of ground during the summer months when they're not in school. Can you talk about some of the specific programs you put in place in Sacramento?

My kids were fortunate. They could go back East with grandparents and go to camps. But the majority of our families—75 percent—lived in poverty. They didn't have those options.

Who gets up early on summer vacation? Well, kids get up when they know that there's going to be something really valuable, exciting and meaningful for them

When I got to California in 2009, the mantra was, Close schools down [for the summer]. Turn off the lights, turn off the air conditioning, shut down. The reality was most of our kids were either on the street or home in front of television sets without adult supervision because parents were out working. We decided that to really change things, we needed community partners. We were fortunate at the time that there was a grant opportunity that enabled us to create our Summer of Service Program.

This was a summer program for incoming middle-school students and incoming high-school students where they could actually go to their schools. They could meet their new classmates and some of their new teachers. It provided mentoring opportunities for upperclassmen at both the middle-school and high-school level, and most importantly, these young people got to choose their own community service project that they could work on over the course of five weeks. Some chose to work with homeless. Some chose to work with those who had drug addictions. But the point was that it’s the student's choice. When school started, these kids had already been on their new campuses. They had new friends, they knew some of their teachers and they had a project that they could work on throughout the school year.

I'll never forget driving by one of our high schools at 7:30 on a Monday morning after school had ended the previous Friday. There were hundreds of kids out front waiting to get into school. Who gets up early on summer vacation? Well, kids get up when they know that there's going to be something really valuable, exciting and meaningful for them.

In the book, you talked about rethinking the parent-teacher conference. What does a more integrated approach look like?

We started by building trusted relationships with our parents. I was fortunate that we had the parent-teacher home visit project. It had been started in Sacramento about nine years before my arrival, and it was only in about 20 of our 67-plus schools. It's a program where teachers get trained to go with their colleagues into the home of their students as a way to begin to build a relationship and break down some of the stereotypes and the stigmas and the blame that occurs. During the first conversation the question is always, “What are the hopes and dreams for your child?” And it's amazing what that dialogue can do to start to create a relationship. Our parents are our children's first and most consistent teacher, and we need them.

Building off of that program, we wanted to do something different. At the high school level, usually you have to really push to get a conference, and there's no time to really get into understanding what is happening with my child with four or five different teachers. So, we said, “How about if we take that time and we do something different?”

In the schools where we had the parent-teacher home visit program, we asked ourselves, What if we invite our parents to come to school every quarter as a whole class, and we engage and empower them by showing them their students' work? We gave them a couple things they could do for their child at home during the week, say, something in math and something in English language arts. And we created some goals with them. Then we came back in six or eight weeks and we're able to show the progress that their student had made, and let them ask questions.

That's what I mean by rethinking. How do we use our time and resources? These things don't have to cost more money, but they can yield better results.

When people know that they have a say, they're really appreciative. And they're more willing to lend their shoulder to the wagon to help push it up the hill

Your tenure coincided with the Great Recession. How do we really show families that they're important during budget cuts?

We can start by listening to them. We can start by asking them questions, asking for their ideas, getting their involvement and their input. We would hold community forums around our budget. We would ask our school communities to understand our situation and what we're dealing with. We would ask them for ideas.

When people know that they have a say—but not necessarily that it's going to go their way— they're really appreciative, and they're more willing to lend their shoulder to the wagon to help push it up the hill. You'll be amazed at what kind of resources are available to you within a community when you ask.

You wrote that Americans have a tough time thinking through problems that involve inequality. If we assume that to be true, where do we even start if we can't even think through these problems?

We have to be honest about what we're trying to address. The whole child approach at its very heart is about all children, and it recognizes that we must give children not equal treatment, but equal consideration. Some children in some families—simply by the nature of the challenges that they're facing—need and require more. We just need to be honest about that, and then be willing to do something about it.

There are some areas, as I look back, where I could have done some things differently

I didn't come to Sacramento to necessarily change the way we feed our children. But when you have a vision that's about putting children first and you realize that three-quarters of the children eat the food that we serve them, it makes you start thinking differently about the kind of food you're serving. That's what I mean when I talk about having a philosophy and being grounded in a vision that is about putting children in the middle and making decisions around them. Opportunities present themselves by which you can act and show that you live your values.

You had a very public battle with your teachers' unions during your tenure. At one point, you were even involved in a lawsuit with them over teacher retention. It sounds like it was hard to build that relationship of trust. Does that speak to some of the very real challenges in the whole child, community-building approach?

I would say it had more to do with my inability to develop strong, trusted relationships with some of my partners. In my early days in Sacramento, I think I had a pretty good relationship with our teachers' union. Again, their job is to represent their members, who happened to be our employees during the school day. Sometimes you have to take the time to really develop those relationships and understand where to find common ground, and where we can do things that are really good for kids and adults.

And I think at that time, with the resources being so difficult, and having to make cut after cut after cut, at some point—because school districts are largely made up of people—close to 90 percent of our budget really was about people's salaries and benefits. That’s going to bump up against some of the things that you have to do or want to do. I think that really places the premium on having strong, trusted relationships.

There are some areas, as I look back, where I could have done some things differently. I think I could have spent more time and effort cultivating those relationships. And that's something that I share with superintendents and aspiring superintendents today: the importance of keeping those relationships and knowing when you need to compromise and knowing when you need to stand firm and agree to disagree.

What a Vision for Teaching the Whole Child Looks Like in Action published first on https://medium.com/@GetNewDLBusiness

[masterzii]

GameDev

I periodically get emails from indie devs who are just getting started. They're looking for advice. Sometimes, their questions are so relevant to the kinds of things that I'm currently thinking about that I end up typing way too much in response to them. Seems like a waste of typing for just one person's benefit. I post what I typed here, hoping that it will benefit multiple people.

In this case, the person was looking for advice based on specific games that weren't total failures, but didn't sell as well as they were hoping. They were thinking about giving up, getting a job, etc.

The games in question are here:

Pillar (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z7AAJbMFeU)

The Path of Motus (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXEjMuZmVww)

It's a little weird to make a public example out of someone, but it's hard to understand what I wrote without this context. And furthermore, I think this particular designer is doing something pretty cool, and above-and-beyond what I usually see from first-time designers that email me. So I feel okay elevating the profile if this work while also dissecting it at the same time.

To summarize the question with condensed quote:

I've come to the conclusion that maybe my games just aren't appealing to the mass amount of gamers. Both titles are really strange conceptually... but then I see your games do very well and I feel that debunks my theory as your games also stand out conceptually. I also feel I've made a mistake in taking too long on my games. Perhaps I need to churn out games faster and work on building up more of a following. I'd appreciate hearing any thoughts or advice you have. What do you think helped your games have financial success?

Here's what I wrote in response:

Well, Step #1 is email me so that I watch your Pillar trailer and have my mind kinda blown by the vibe that it's giving me. :-)

Really complicated and haunting feeling. Reminds me of the feeling that I got years ago from "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream."

Next step is read this Reddit post of mine:

https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/7wnud8/note_i_didnt_make_any_money_until_game_14_if/

And gird your loins to keep failing and not give up yet.

That said, when I look at these games, I'm not at all shocked that they're not selling well. I can't put my finger on it.... but there's something about the presentation that feels a tad amateurish. I think part of it may be that you're overshooting your abilities in terms of content creation/animation/etc. You're trying for a "pro" polished look, but falling short. I mean, these games don't look as put-together as Braid, for example, but they're clearly shooting for something like that. Whereas, The Castle Doctrine achieves a cohesive "nu low-fi" look, and no one would try to compare the look to Braid.

I'm too close to One Hour One Life to judge it properly (I absolutely LOVE the way that it looks), but I think that other people describe it's look as "charming". Somehow, these simple cartoons "work" and are seen as cute. Again, the low aim disarms people a bit. It's not pixel art.... but it's like the hand-drawn equivalent of that. Doodles. My first non-pixel-art game in like a decade, but I somehow hit a different kind of sweet spot.

So that's the look component of it. The Pillar look is actually the better of the two. The only thing that feels slightly off on that one is the walking animations, but it almost works anyway.

Next: WTF are we doing in these games?

Weird new games need to be CRYSTAL CLEAR about how they are innovative. The trailers need to get people's gears turning, and make them understand exactly why they've never played a game like this before.

Take a look at the The Castle Doctrine trailer or the One Hour One Life trailer. After watching those, you really have a deep understanding of how these games work (the trailer is almost like a tutorial), and you can clearly see why there has never been a game like this before.

And that may be another canary in the coal mine moment for you. Even if your trailer did explain it better, would the core "what people are doing in the game" part be mind-blowing enough to even be included in the trailer?

"A game where you build security systems and then try to break through security systems designed by other people"

"A game where you're born as a helpless baby to another player as your mother, and you live an entire life in one hour"

Pretty much everyone I've ever told those elevator pitches to (even non-gamers) was instantly intrigued.

I often wait until I have that kind of idea before making my next game. A "Holy crap!" idea. An idea that is so obvious and perfect that I rush too Google, hoping that no one else has thought of it yet. An idea that will make everyone else say, "Why didn't I think of that?"

In the case of The Castle Doctrine, I had at least 5 designer friends of mine sheepishly admitted to me that they had been working on exactly the same game. So I was right to be nervous about someone else doing it first. Then I saw the movie The Purge. A lot of people were thinking along the same lines around that time....

And if you have that kind of idea, it's easier to communicate that in the trailer and get people really excited about it.

Finally: Value proposition

When people decide to plunk money down for a game, they are generally doing one of two things:

They are so overwhelmed by the emotions stirred up by the very idea of your game that it's an impulse buy. Games with extremely evocative visual styles can often pull this off. The Last Night is a great forthcoming example of this. It will make enough people scream HERE DAMMIT TAKE MY MONEY that it will sell well no matter what. Hyper Light Drifter is another. These are first-week games. These games are like Levitron Tops. The idea of a floating top on your coffee table is enough.

They conduct a careful research project about your game, and the math works out to them. This is a deep game that they could get into for a long time and reap many weeks/months/years of enjoyment out of. They kick the tires, pinch the fabric between their fingers, heft the thing in their hands.... yes, this is gonna be worth $20. These games are like backpacks. You spend some time finding just the right one. You're going to be wearing it on your back for a while. (Monkey-on-my-back metaphor is not lost on me here.)

Single-player games usually have to rely on #1 to sell well. There are a few exceptions---usually some kind of endless building games where what the player does is up to them (Stardew Valley, Factorio, Subnautica), or steep-curve rogue-likes (Spelunky, Nuclear Throne). Emergence and long-term replayability is key, either way.

Sadly, as a result, I think single-player games are kindof a dying breed in the modern ecosystem. We're not going to see many Braid or Fez type success stories these days. And the few that do succeed will do so on raw emotion alone (pure #1). But the road is currently littered with big-budget single-player indie failures that totally would have been successful five years ago. Also, we must keep in mind that even Braid- or Gone Home-level success is small potatoes next to Stardew Valley or Factorio.

Thus, I'm skeptical of the indie apocalypse. People are just generally playing different types of indie games now than they were before. The old guard is experiencing system-shock when their short, consumable, single-player games aren't selling like they used to, and first-time indie devs are experiencing the same thing for the same reasons (because first games are almost always short, consumable, single-player games). But indie games are making way more money now than they ever have made.

So, if you're making this kind of game.... you REALLY better be sure that you're punching #1 square in its impulse-buying heart. If your game's initial impression gives people pause, it's already over.

But it's much more viable to target #2.

Many people played The Castle Doctrine every day for 11 months straight. Many people have played One Hour One Life 900 hours over the past seven months. Can your game do that? If so, then it can fit into the #2 ecosystem.

These games are NOT first-week games. These are the types of games that have their biggest week a year after launch, when people collectively realize just how deep the value proposition of the game really is.

Multiplayer is the easiest way forward. But there are also single-player paths here, as mentioned above. But my first "hit" game (14 games in, Sleep is Death) just happened to be a multiplayer game....

Even so, you still have to have a tiny bit of #1 in there to get people intrigued enough in the first place that they conduct the research project and find the value proposition. But it doesn't have to punch them in the heart. It can also tickle their brain conceptually. If they walk away from the trailer musing about the game, that's the seed that will grown into a research project where they will eventually decide to buy it.

But most importantly, you're only two games in. You have a lot of learning to do, and you will keep getting better and better at designing and making and selling games. Go back and look at my second game, and imagine if I had given up there.

[listiqueblog]

How Explainer Videos Speed Up Conversions + 13 Examples of Ecommerce Brands Putting Them to Use

Even if you didn’t know what it was called at the time, you’ve almost certainly seen an explainer video before.

What are explainer videos?

You know them. You do.

Explainer videos are short online marketing videos, usually between 30 seconds to two minutes long, that explain your company’s product or service.

Explainer videos can be live-action or animated, but are always fast-paced, to-the-point, and usually feature a professional voiceover.

But what do they do?

Why have an explainer video?

The purpose of an explainer video is to explain something. Usually it’s your product or service.

It’s kind of like an ad, only it condenses your entire proposal or pitch.

Explainer videos cover:

who you are

what you do

what your product is

what its benefits are

And it does it all in a single, short, hopefully entertaining, video.

Types of explainer videos

There are 9 various types of explainer videos, and it will be important for you to know which kind you want, or which variations.

This can help you determine which agencies to work with or how to craft your message.

1. Live action videos.

Live action videos are an overall type of video and mean that these are not animated. Live action videos use people in real, live action –– often showing someone how to use a product or walking them through it.

2. Whiteboard videos.

Whiteboard videos are video recordings of someone drawing out ideas and concepts on a whiteboard. The whiteboard video is usually sped up to keep up with a voiceover.

3. 2d videos.

A 2D explainer video is an animation shown in only 2d. 2D videos look like drawings on a piece of paper and often have various aspects of the picture animation for interest.

4. 3d videos.

3D explainer videos are also animations, shown this time in 3D. 3D videos are helpful in graphic product breakdowns that show all angles of a product.

5. Stopmotion videos.

Stopmotion explainer videos are typically a variation of 2D explainer videos. Instead of the screen flowing seamlessly from one frame to another, the stop motion video adds in elements throughout the course of the video to build out a frame.

6. Kinetic typography videos.

A kinetic explainer video is one that uses voice over and moving text in a visually appealing way. The text usually tells a story and moves along to a voiceover and/or music.

7. Infographic videos.

An infographic explainer video is a breakdown of an infographic into rectangular frames. They use a combination of text and graphics (typically icons) to tell a story. There is occasionally voiceover.

8. Screencast videos.

Screencast explainer videos are ones with a voiceover walking you through an actual product. Screencasts are most often used for demos, but can also be useful in showing the ease and simplicity of a platform.

9. Testimonial videos.

Testimonial explainer videos are videos that use customers to tell a positive story about the brand. Testimonial videos are a variation of social proof.

Where are explainer videos found?

Anywhere you can embed a video. That includes your:

Homepage

Product page

Emails

Social media channels

YouTube

In fact, a lot of explainer videos live on their owners’ YouTube front pages, since having one there is a great way to introduce yourself to customers and potential customers in a format that’s easy to digest and share.

The power of explainer videos on your website

There are endless benefits to a well-made explainer video. You can use explainer videos to:

Increase conversions

Customer engagement

Customer acquisition

They even have the potential to go viral and increase brand awareness.

Explainer videos also work great on your landing page.

Studies have shown that landing pages which include a video, enjoy 80% greater conversions.

And for email, the numbers are pretty astounding, too. Including a video in your emails can…

Boost open rates by 19%.

Boost click-through rates by 65%.

Reduce unsubscribes by 26%.

And if you’re looking to increase your Google ranking (who isn’t?) then you should know this:

Embedding your own high-quality videos on your site can make you 53x more likely to show up on the first page of results.

A golden opportunity for any ecommerce business!

“Video marketing is exploding in popularity and will eventually be the most popular way to market a business. Because video is a visual medium, videos are extremely effective when it comes to improving people’s understanding of your product or service.”

— Neil Patel, Founder of KissMetrics & Co-Founder of Crazy Egg

And it gets better…

93% of businesses that use video believe that it has increased user understanding of their product or service.

36% of businesses believe that they’ve received less support queries as a result!

45% of businesses who use video say they have an explainer video on their home page.

83% say their homepage has become more effective

Increase conversions, build loyalty –– use an explainer video!

“Explainer videos prominently featured on the homepage can increase conversions significantly. You never want to overload a visitor with copy, but it’s hard to distill all of your features and benefits to images and quick blurbs of text.

Explainer videos allow you take the 300 words you can’t find room for and cut it down to a 30 second video that’s visual, helpful, and conversion-focused.”

— Sujan Patel, Growth Marketer & Co-Founder at WebProfits 

Pretty incredible, right? So…

Where in my sales funnel should I use an explainer video?

Anywhere you’ve got something that needs explaining.

Most often, explainer videos are made to communicate a complex or lengthy idea, even an entire business.

You don’t need an explainer video for every single product in your catalog.

But, if you’ve got a particularly complex product or idea — something like #TeamCatMojo — which would be better explained with a video, then an explainer video could be for you.

Thinking about your sales and conversion funnel, there’s almost always some way to work an explainer video in at any stage.

Take your basic 4-stage sales funnel…

You could apply an explainer video to every stage of this funnel to help potential customers understand your offering and move them onto the next stage.

How?

Awareness Stage

Somebody is still unaware, or has just become aware that you exist. Maybe they stumbled upon your YouTube channel or your website, or maybe they clicked on a link shared by a friend.

Most likely, they saw your explainer video promoted or advertised on Facebook.

This kind of explainer video introduces your business. Specifically, the problem you’re out to solve.

It’s okay to get into product specifics here if you only have one main thing that you make, but think of this as your elevator pitch.

This is your first time with a potential new customer, so make it count by making it clear how your product can solve the problem or fill the need they’ve got.

Interest Stage

By now you’ve got their attention. They know who you are and what you do.

Here, your explainer video might be focused on a particular product or category of products.

In your first explainer, you talked about how your business can help out at high, not too complex level. In this explainer, you can go into a bit more detail.

What do you talk about? Here’s a few ideas:

Testimonials, features, benefits, are all great to include at this stage. You want to create more of an emotional connection.

Make the Emotional Element Pop

“Explainer videos are a great opportunity for any business to introduce or explain their products/services within context. A product page on its own can certainly get your message across but using video will elevate your message to include an emotional element which is one the foundations of sales & marketing.”

— Aldrich Obach, Inbound Specialist at HubSpot

Decision Stage

Alright! They’re getting closer to hitting that BUY button. Now’s the time to really pile on the benefits. Get them excited about the specific thing they’re interested in.

Here, your explainer should include as much high-quality footage and images of your product as possible, with every single feature and benefit clearly explained and demonstrated.

Action Stage

They’re either about to click BUY, or already have.

This explainer is all about closing the deal for those last-minute, possibly hesitant shoppers.

Heavy on the visuals and benefits, this is as close as it gets to holding your product in their hands.

13 ecommerce explainer video examples

Your explainer video covers all the bases at once. It’s the perfect means to turn cold prospects into leads, and leads into customers.

Why Explainer Videos Work

“There are two kinds of people, one that goes with verbal learning and others that go with visual learning. Explainer videos have both powers, which allow more people to engage with it and thus, have more power to convert visitors into leads.”

– Moosa Hemani, Founder & CEO of SETalks

OK, so let’s see some already!

1. Everything Orgo.

At six seconds, Orgo’s explainer is proof that you don’t have to get fancy to be effective.

  2. Biaggi.

Biaggi’s folding luggage explainer uses real people and product demonstrations. No fancy cuts or edits, but you get the jist of what they’re selling.

  3. Tommy John.

Tommy John clothing is made to eliminate bunching, stretching, riding and all that other annoying stuff.

Their explainers are slick, lively and use top-quality animation –– and prove their brand promise.

  4. Native Union.

Native Union has done a great job of growing their business over the past few years, thanks in no small part to their attractive, high-quality explainer videos.

  5. Rand McNally.

Just because a product isn’t consumer-focused, doesn’t mean it can’t benefit from an explainer. In fact, these kind of technical products are often the best to equip with an explainer.

  6. BombTech Golf.

BombTech Golf has been wildly successful over the past couple of years, and while they might not throw a ton of money at their explainer videos, they certainly work!

In fact, these videos prove that you don’t need fancy cuts or expensive videos in order to sell product using this strategy.

  7. The Human Solution.

When you’re selling something like a standing desk, a product demonstration video is essential. The Human Solution’s explainer is a great example of a demo done well.

  8. Fugoo.

Another excellent example of how voiceover, some great camera work and cool music can really help to elevate a simple product demonstration.

  9. New Chapter Vitamins and Supplements.

You don’t need a huge budget to make an effective explainer video, either. A single camera, some music and few graphics can help to boost engagement and conversions.

  10. Spinning.

Spin bikes aren’t cheap, so having an expert walk you through the benefits to help you choose the right one, that’s perfect for an explainer video.

  11. Training Mask.

Training Mask uses top notch animation to introduce their latest line of performance training masks.

  12. RockTape.

Ever wondered what that tape is that you see athletes wearing? RockTape’s got an explainer video for that.

  13. DiBruno Bros.

You can present your explainer video, too. It doesn’t have to be a voice over.

  Alright, but wait a minute…

How do I make an explainer video & how much does it cost?

The real beauty of an explainer video, is that it costs as much you want it to cost.

You’re not limited by your budget, but by your own team’s creativity. Some of the examples above were made with next to zero budget.

If you have a camera, a product and the time to write a script (you can even wing it if you know your customers’ pain points well enough), you’ve got everything you need for a great explainer video.

But, if you did want to pay for something, and you need some ballpark figures, we’ve got you covered.

How much explainer videos cost

Basic 2D animation videos: $1k-$5K

High-end 2D animation videos: $5K-$10K

3D animation videos: $10K-$30K

Live action videos: $5K-$50K

Whiteboard animation videos: $2K-$6K

Stop Motion videos: $5K-$25K

Kinetic typography videos: $5K-$10K

Infographic video: $1K-$5K

Screencast video: $1K-$4K

Screencast video: $1K-$4K

Testimonial video: $50-$3K

As for how paid explainer video are made. It’s a six-step process.

How explainer videos are made

Brainstorming and concept planning: The first stage is to get down as many ideas as possible. Loose ones at first, just let your creativity flow. This is the basis of your explainer.

Scripting and storyboarding: Once you’ve narrowed down your idea, it’s time to storyboard it. Storyboarding is the process of drawing out individual scenes (how product features will be shown off) to help visualize the final result.

Styling: It’s important to style up your explainer before going into production. This might include getting mock-ups done of characters and graphics, so that you’re happy everything matches your brand.

Voiceover: A great voiceover can make or break an explainer video. A bad voiceover, one that isn’t clear, confident or well-produced, can be distracting. Animation: The cost of animation varies a lot depending on the style you want. Take a look at the costs outlined in the image above for guidance.

Sound design: Choosing the right soundtrack for your explainer is important, too. Just like your voice over, a bad backing track can be at best distracting, or at worst a complete turn-off.

The explainer video production process, WowMakers

Of course, if you’re making an explainer video with live actors, the animation and voiceover stages might become shooting stages, but it’s still important to style your explainer beforehand, so that everything you’re doing matches the tone and appearance of your entire brand.

The Time for Explainer Videos in Omnichannel Marketing is Now

“Video advertising is something your competitors are sleeping on. Because of YouTube and Facebook, video unlocks a brand new channel of conversion volume that can’t be tapped otherwise. In addition to that, explainer videos are the most powerful way to generate conversions for products/solutions/services that don’t have a lot of demand already.

They can educate and explain complex topics in delightful ways that not only bring sales, but can help build your brand equity over time too.”

— Jonathan Dane, Founder & CEO at KlientBoost

Final Word

Phew! That’s a lot to take in. Let’s wrap this up with a few solid tips for getting the most out of your explainer video.

How to create high-converting explainer videos

Nail the script — If you can hire a professional, do so.

The shorter the better — Under a minute is great (don’t go over three minutes)

Benefits over features — Focus on the benefits your products can bring first, rather than how cool its features are

Great lighting and sound — You don’t have to go pro if you can’t afford to, but uphold as high of a production value as you can

A clear CTA — Let people know where they can visit for more information, or where to buy

Create for your audience — Don’t create content for the sake of it and then try to find an audience. Find out what’s bugging people, and make content to address it

Have fun — Making videos should be fun, so don’t let the process become a grind.

And if you’re still not convinced that video is worth the effort, we’ll leave you with this kicker…

YouTube is the second most popular search engine in the world.

How about that?

Want more insights like this?

We’re on a mission to provide businesses like yours marketing and sales tips, tricks and industry leading knowledge to build the next house-hold name brand. Don’t miss a post. Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

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How Explainer Videos Speed Up Conversions + 13 Examples of Ecommerce Brands Putting Them to Use published first on http://ift.tt/2wGG0YJ

[changspain]

Decathlon and Swimming

Sadly, I was awakened at about 5am. Not by a soundtrack to some amateur porn but to a soaking wet tent roof that had caved in due to the rain and was sodden from condensation[1]. I opened all the doors, reconstructed the poles and woke up to Luke standing over me. JUGB and Ivy had gone off early in the morning to do a multi-pitch climb (a high one) and would be back around lunchtime. It was already 11am but I hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep in 4 days and I felt no shame despite the disappointed looks of an elderly Spanish couple as I wandered round the campsite in my pink boxers well into the day. I snacked on some leftover tortilla with bravas sauce[2], something that we bought on a whim but became a staple part of all our diets throughout the entire trip. I leaned against a tree and planned my day. I had two main missions: swim and buy a stove – it wasn’t the most taxing of days. Yesterday we had researched that a shop in Lleida definitely stocked a camp stove a well as some other essentials we needed and was about a 30 minute drive. In comparison, a swim consisted of sitting in some water with less clothing on so the quadratic equations to figure that out could wait. JUGB and Ivy returned absolutely beaming and showed us unbelievable pictures of the same valley as the day before but from an extra 200m elevation. I knew that JUGB was handy at climbing but this was only academic until I saw the climb he led that morning and was deeply impressed, scaling a 100m sheer face is so surreal to me I found it hard to comprehend how they achieved the feat with just a few bits of rope and some ballet shoes. Ivy also needed to go to a town to get some cash because she had rapidly run out and I’m not exactly sure how – when travelling your money seems to disappear but rarely at 50 euros a day, she was clearly hording about 37 cans of beer somewhere. Me, Luke and Ivy all set off to find a camp stove and get some money out. I let Luke drive to Lleida to give him his first taste of driving in Spain. He was soon confronted by his first roundabout which must have been as foreign to an American driver as free healthcare. He handled it well and I explained how the lane system worked on a roundabout afterwards more clearly, when I finished he asked: “Why don’t you just stay in the outside lane all the way round?” and I couldn’t provide an instant effective answer straight away which frustrated me so had to give some half-formed reason about a crash that I felt was true enough. As it happened the lane system in Spain was to stay in the outside lane the entire time and the inside lane was clearly just for aesthetic appreciation. Like me, he adapted well to the driving apart from insisting on trying to pull away in 2nd for half the journey from a stand- still. When we reached Lleida we saw signs for a Decathlon on the outskirts so pulled into it rather than delve deeper into an industrial looking Lleida. As the trip has gone on Decathlon has very much served as a port in a storm for us; it’s wide, air-conditioned grey aisles offer a lovely respite from the scorching wilderness we inhabited most of the time. I wandered over to the fishing section and started picking up rods, nodding wisely when employees looked at me and inspecting them as if I knew what I was doing. Before leaving I had been toying with the idea of catching our own fish to cook, I am usually vegetarian[3] but the thought of catching a wild fish and grilling it was quite romantic. However, more appealing than this dreamscape was the fact that it was free and this economic paradise was very enticing. I had selected a random array of apparatus from my garage like it was a line and hook pick ‘n’ mix so all I needed was the rod, that I could buy for a very reasonable[4] 7euros. As it turned out the fishing pick ‘n’ mix I had created was the equivalent of three Toxic sweets, a single sherbet UFO and about 100 of those grim white chocolate circles with shit sprinkled all of them (they taste vaguely of lard[5] inexplicably) – so essentially fucking useless. I also perused the footballs for a moment, as I always do at sports shops, and imagined all the hypothetical screamers I would predictably not put top bins and this thought was enough to dissuade me. I met up with Ivy and Luke, Ivy was buying a roll mat, knife and a chalk bag for climbing whilst Luke was clutching the camp stove and some bottles of gas. We all paid and must have looked like the most ambitious fishermen ever – clearly planning to catch a fish with only a lineless rod and then cook it, then and there, on an open fire, then possibly climb… (the scenario falls apart here). We left the utopia of Decathlon and hit the road again. We introduced Ivy to a plethora of different music on the way home ranging from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah to Heems, it was a bit of a trip down memory lane for me and Luke as we hadn’t listened to this type of music together since year 11. Turns out ‘Womyn’ by Heems is still fucking funny and well worth a listen. It was absolutely roasting on the way home and we were all looking forward to our swim.

JUGB and Seamus were waiting for us and had already been swimming. We used our brand spanking new stove to heat up some Spanish tortilla which we then smothered in so much bravas sauce it became cold again. After letting the bravas sauce with some tortilla thrown in settle in our stomachs we headed down to the pool for the swim we had fantasised bout on the road from Lleida. The pool was large but shallow, at 6 foot 6 I was essentially waist deep for all of it which meant that I could run around it like a two-legged sea leviathan. We played chicken fighting and Luke rode the leviathan like Beowulf in a Scandinavian legend. JUGB then got out and played a variation of catch with Ivy that consisted of them standing incredibly close together and zinging the ball at each other in an attempt to make the opponent drop the ball. I had brought a windball with me, the kind you’d play cricket with in Primary school, which is the best ball for catch because thrown in certain ways can wobble like a knuckleball in football or swing like a Jimmy Anderson fast bowl at Lord’s. Meanwhile, me, Seamus and Luke were performing a type of wrestling show by throwing faux-punches and kicks, the lifeguard watched us carefully whilst the other Spanish bathers would occasionally throw us disapproving glances but none were brave enough to enter the octagon. Our battling slowly petered out and we lay on the scorching rusty pool side, drying off. This tranquillity obviously didn’t last and Seamus standing by the pool looking into the distant hills was too tempting for JUGB not to push him in. A cold, wet Seamus then proceeded to make my life a living hell; firstly, by flicking water onto my warming chest then by convincing JUGB to grab my arms and then together to swing me into the pool. Seamus overestimated his strength and my will to not enter the pool and dropped me onto the concrete edge of the pool and I then flopped into the icy depths like a long flaccid dildo. I returned to the surface in pain and furious. Seamus apologised but in my pleas for help that fell on the deaf ears of Ivy and Luke, I had explained he would drop me onto the hard ground. I lay back on the pool side, seeking heat and safety in the knowledge Seamus was too terrified to awaken the beast again. Another 20 minutes passed and we decided we should go climbing, JUGB had scouted out an easy climb for us all to try together and I was keen to try and learn the logistics of scaling a sheer wall. We got changed, packed the gear and piled into the car. As we were heading out of the campsite we thought we better book an extra night because the site was so perfect. We thought we had already paid for the first two nights and would probably cost an extra 25 euros for another. Luke hopped out, as he possessed the most Spanish but also wasn’t inundated by climbing apparatus. We imagined what the climbs were going to be like and JUGB explained why my trainers wouldn’t really do the trick as climbing shoes. Luke returned with several pieces of paper and got in the car saying: “Not good news.”. As it turned out, the campsite was too good to be true. It was double the price we thought and would cost 100 euros to have one more night and we hadn’t even paid for the night coming up. We discussed the pros and cons of staying another night but at 20 euros each it was a no brainer. We rushed back to our tents, rapidly backed them up then hit the road before the reception charged us the extra night, it was 7pm and we had clearly already overstayed our welcome. We tore out of the campsite in the Seat that may as well been called the Sardine model the amount of stuff we had packed in. We had no idea where we going to stay but wherever it was, it wasn’t going to be 20 euros each – we hoped.

[1] I have reached this conclusion on the basis that I hadn’t pissed myself and I emit an enormous amount of heat.

[2] Spicy tomato ketchup is the best I can do.

[3] When I say this I mean vegetarian, not somebody who says they’re vegetarian but eats fish. I don’t normally give a shit about any vegetarian rhetoric but if you eat fish you’re not a vegetarian – it’s like calling yourself a football player when you just watch Match of the Day.

[4] I assume it was reasonable because Decathlon would never betray me, my knowledge of the rod market is minimal.

[5] “HA TIM!!! I GOT YOU!!! YOU AREN’T A VEGETARIAN!!”. Yeah haven’t always been, NOW GET OFF MY FUCKING CASE YEAH M888

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