#and i dont think either of those are necessarily ideal options. but i think one is far less damaging to dogs and to dogdom

[fjordfolk]

i think one of the biggest challenges with advising new dog people on how to find responsible breeders is teaching them norms. I've spoken to so many people who've started a sentence with "i don't know much about dog breeding so maybe this is normal, but-" and then say the absolute wildest shit I've ever heard in my life. no, it's not normal for a dog breeder to want to talk to your mom because you're 25 and female. no, it's not normal for breeder's dogs to not have been vaccinated because of 'herd immunity'. no, it's not normal for breeders to have 7 litters at a time, expecting 5 more next month.

and what all of these people tend to have in common is that they're just looking for a companion, and they probably did feel bad about the situation. but they didn't have the context to realize just how abnormal it was, so they doubted their own reaction, and really really wanted a dog.

[goldensunset]

i'm curious, do you have any thoughts on whether its more narratively fitting for n to have zekrom in black or reshiram in white? its been a debate for ages, i'm personally on the zekrom side and dont really understand the reshiram argument

OOOOH ok i think i did overhear a snippet of that debate on your blog a while back but of course i didn't understand any of it yet. i have been thinking about that... my first instinct would be to agree and say zekrom the dragon of ideals is more fitting. buuuut i really do think you can argue both ways so i will do so here

so! truth and ideals. what he wants and what he thinks is true. what he wants, deep down, is undeniable- he wants pokémon to be happy. that's his ideal world no matter what. what he seems to want specifically is the separation of pokémon and humans. that's the ideal that he works toward, and it's because he holds a misguided view of reality. what he believes to be true is that keeping pokémon is abusive. because of this factoid, because he firmly believes the world is a certain way, he feels spurred to action to remedy that. he values that which he perceives as truth and wants to bring it to light. both truth and ideals are therefore thematically relevant to him because they line up- hold firm to the truth you know, not letting anyone else tell you otherwise, and let it drive you to make changes for the better in the world and seek your ideal.

BUT. does he really believe that idea about abuse to be true? at first, yes of course. but as he says- from the moment he begins traveling the world, and more specifically upon meeting the player- he begins to notice that pokémon seem happy with people. he doesn't understand. this goes against everything he had been told about the world. so, do these experiences make him change his mind about what the truth is? maybe bit by bit. does he admit the error of his ways and step down and step off? NOPE.

and that's the crucial bit. the real, actual truth is right there in front of him but he can't bring himself to acknowledge it. he has committed himself to a certain ideal and he's going to see it through or fall gloriously while trying. he's set his heart on conquering unova and making it perfect, bringing about the noble ideal of happiness for humans and pokémon alike- except by now he knows that's founded on a lie. would reshiram, the dragon of truth, really accept him as a hero with that sort of dissonance in his heart? or would it rather accept the hero who truly does understand and accept the way the world is, as a mixed bag of good and bad?

but on the other hand you could argue he's well aware of and in acknowledgement of the truth. he truly has witnessed the abuse of pokémon before. that isn't a lie- it's just a statistical minority that he's only just now finding out is a minority. but even if it is- for a guy who loves pokémon that much, that's completely intolerable. it doesn't matter how many trainers are good people- even one hurt pokémon is one too many. it's not worth the gamble of continuing to let it happen. so even if he has witnessed the truth of the majority of the world now, his truth isn't all wrong either. it's still very much significant to him. he has a fuller understanding of the world than most do, as someone who's seen both the good and bad of it. and he does admit something like this to the player at mistralton- he knows they're a good and kind trainer, but still says the separation needs to happen, even though that would bring about injustice to good trainers.

in this situation, he can probably recognize that there's both something to be gained and lost either way, whether trainerdom continues or not- and also that those two aren't necessarily equal. there will be pain for certain pokémon if it continues, and there will be pain for MANY people and MANY pokémon if it stops. maybe in that situation after having travelled the world he can understand by now which option is truly better. which is the real ideal world, the lesser of two evils. but that sad fact of pokémon abuse is so significant to him that he'd rather still forgo the world as it is now. he clings so stubbornly to a certain truth that he forgets to look at the big picture of things and consider what really is ideal.

in the end though the question is, i guess- which is more thematically fitting for him to fly off on and keep as his best friend? he's learned his lesson in the end that he was doing the wrong thing, and determined that the two dragons representing truth and ideals don't need to fight. but even so it's not like the two dragons reunite. he still stays with one. and he still lost the fight to the player with the other one. so the real question is, in the greater scheme of things, which one won the fight narratively? truth or ideals? what lesson did he learn? what lesson did we learn?

SIKE i think that's taking things too far lol. like i said it could go either way and also they don't need to fight. and the dragon isn't purely symbolic it's also like his bestie at that point of course he's gonna keep it even if he's a changed person lol. anyway hope you enjoyed my academic essay i only completed my degree in this particular field of study about 18 hours ago so i hope i'm qualified enough to talk about this

[naiamaree]

Im very grateful to see the art that you share ,i think you talked about making a neocities i honestly think thats the ideal option at this point,there doesnt seem to be a way to not be negatively affected when posting art on socialmedia.....

Thank you for talking about art and sharing what you make its impactful and feels like a reminder to me i am really happy to see it...... I don't know if you have a neocities blog or not right now but if you do i would love to see it..

Have a lovely day regardless take care Stay safe 💗🌱☀️

A little about this while I feel like writing something. Many alt web people probably know about Yesterweb closing recently and on Sadness' main website in her new manifesto she makes a very good point: because of its social features (followers and following back, which is prominently displayed on profile + view counter which is shoved in your face even on dashboard screen); neocities is pretty much social media too. now luckily anyone with basic css knowledge can either find or make a user end script to hide all of that shit (in fact mothershipreconnection made one that i will link to this post later in a reblog); but it should still be considered about what kind of thinking is going into the ethics behind something like neocities with those types of features. is it an improvement over other options? yes. do I think it is a definitive answer to the crisis artists and creatives are currently facing in net space? no. and unfortunately im not the person with a magic answer. in fact before January this yr i couldnt code even the simplest webpage. but if i have gotten anything out of my LEARNING to code (i have gotten many things from it actually) it would be the awareness that anyone can make progress into new creative/ethics territory w their art just by thinking on these issues and having a basic application skillset its tricky because i dont necessarily think gemini protocol is the right answer either. its easy in theory to say that tearing down the framework and making a new one is the most direct solution but realistically outside of country-locked net space we are probably on THIS web for the foreseeable future. the other thing that stood out to me from the yesterweb debacle however was the concept that people operating under a directive are always going to be more effective at creating counterculture then people who see movements as badges of honor or something. i think that progress against the current dilution and domination of the web + creatives can be counteracted but it will take individual organization and action and small but concrete ethos/pathos.. if anyone has more thoughts on this please submit them via an ask id love to talk about it but i dont check tags or notifs i only check the asks

[writingwithcolor]

Avoiding Anglocentric Bias with a Universal Translator, Writing a Magic School on Indigenous Land

@king-ofconfusion​ asked:

So im writing a fantasy story that mostly takes place on an island between canada and russia. The magical community is hidden from everyone else and their main land/school is on this island, and even tho there are smaller places all over the world this is the main place. Theres some sort of translation spell so everyone understands eachother but i dont want it to seem like american washed or smth? race isnt a problem plot wise but i also dont want it to be so background that it seems all white?

I’ll focus on the part about the translator, as when you say “American washed” I assume you mean the Anglocentric (English-centric) bias that could arise with the concept of a universal translator. Mod Lesya will talk about your...choice of location for this school.

As a bilingual & linguist who thinks in a quasi-combination of languages, I think I’d like to see an idea of a spell that translates to that individual’s unique linguistic interface; if your story has multiple closed POVs, you can show hints of that by having different POV characters hear dialogue differently—maybe language-unique lexemes (vocabulary) are being borrowed! Maybe there’s code-switching! If your story has a more omniscient POV then you might have a part that explains how the spell works, or show through ambiguities in dialogue that shows that characters are hearing dialogue differently depending on what languages they understand. 

As an example, think of how a character who speaks German, an agglutinative language, might create new vocabulary by stringing together morphemes, and a character who doesn’t speak an agglutinative language would hear that via the spell as a literal-translation-of-words-strung-together. 

Think of semantic differences/ambiguities that the spell might not (or might! Up to you!) catch—I give an example on the differences between answering negative yes-no questions in English vs. Japanese here. 

You might even get cases of characters who speak languages that may name borrowings with prototypical labels (English does this, but other languages like Spanish do too). An example is referring to masala chai as “chai tea.” What happens if a Hindi or Urdu speaker hears this? The translator may either literally translate and return “tea tea,” or it might apply context and return “masala chai.” Here’s some more food for thought on borrowings & prototypes! 

Assuming you’re writing this story in English, there will unavoidably be some bias towards English as the basis for your translations. But hopefully this approach gives some ideas for challenging English-as-default by representing forms and meanings that don’t exist in English, and not assuming English is necessarily the prototype for these translations.

~Mod Rina 

Here’s the elephant in the room Rina tapped me to answer: you’ve chosen Indigenous land for a magic school, without acknowledging any Indigenous peoples in your worldbuilding or ask.

The arctic is not uninhabited. That stretch of land between Russia and Alaska (Canada does not go that far West) is the region of Yupik peoples, both on the Russia and Alaska sides (it’s the only language family that is found in both the old and new world), and the Iñupiat peoples, just on the Alaska side (as far as I’m aware).

If you do mean Canada, then you’re getting onto the polar ice cap… and this is also not completely uninhabited. This territory would belong more to Inuit peoples.

In short: you’re at a pretty large risk of having this school be on Indigenous lands, and whether or not it’s a colonial outpost or simply a safe haven depends on how they go about it.

It is possible that there is a genuine, respectful relationship between the Indigenous peoples and the school. The school would have to surrender its land ownership to the people local to the region, respect hunting grounds, not muck with the ecology of the place, and help the people of the region. They would, essentially, acclimate into Arctic life, creating a cultural hybrid between their old customs and what is required to be in the Arctic.

But if you start to have this school try to recreate European ideals, foods, and have them insist their way of life is the only way that can exist, then your magic users have become colonizers. It’s, unfortunately, that simple.

The thing about this island is: Indigenous peoples would’ve known about it, probably before these magic users did.

Arctic peoples also crossed between Russia and Alaska “late” (after the land bridge sank), and very well could have found this island in the time they travelled by water between the two countries. Late is relative, because it was still at least ten thousand years ago.

That land could very well have been inhabited before the magic users got there, which means they would have had to be extremely respectful to not colonize that land. As I said above, it’s possible to be respectful, but requires the magic school default to Indigenous voices when it comes to how to live there.

If it’s uninhabited, then it’s likely known about. These magic users probably don’t have enough magic to completely alter the wave patterns of the ocean, which an ocean-navigating Indigenous people would absolutely know how to use in order to find land (this is one of the ways many peoples navigate at sea).

The other option is the school is actually Yupik or other Arctic peoples founded and uses their belief structure, which would require an intense amount of working with the peoples in question to inform your worldbuilding. 

To be clear: you still need to account for Indigenous peoples and research/talk to members of the peoples I listed above. It’s just going to be less work if you stick with a European magic system and have them be visitors working heavily with Arctic peoples, instead of having the magic system be based in Arctic peoples’ customs.

I’m not from the Arctic. The Arctic has a unique colonization history that I’m not very well educated upon, beyond the fact it’s unique, recent, and suddenly devastating. I cannot advise you on this any more than saying you are on Indigenous lands. I would strongly suggest you look at all of the other “remote, uninhabited” compounds you’ve created to see what Indigenous peoples live in those regions, as well. 

The idea that the earth is mostly barren and unused and lacks meaningful human presence is a colonialist myth that is used to perpetuate the concept (white) Europeans can move in without consequence. Many harsh climates have Indigenous peoples living there, and any magical communities need to do similar practices to the ones I outlined above.

Make sure they’re not taking land, and make sure they learn how to respect it the way the local peoples do: sustainably. That’s the bare minimum.

~ Mod Lesya

[paint-lady]

hey, if you don't mind, i want your advice: i'm going to be running a chronicle set in chicago (i am using the chicago by night 5e book) for players who are new to vampire for the most part in a few days and i can't For The Life of Me to come up with an interesting chronicle hook (yeah i have read the hooks in the book). any ideas/suggestions/general advice?

Hiya! I could talk your ears off on how I write my chronicles- so hopefully I have taken all my processes and reduced it down to a lovely World of Darkness jam. 

Here are two good hooks I just came up with- feel free to use them! The third is what I got for my first chronicle, and I just think its a narrative that works very well for new players.

>Option 1: Guilty Until Proven Innocent ”Chicago is a series of paradoxes and transitions, of ever changing paradigms and whimsy,” (CbN 47). Have your coterie be newbies to the city. Ask why they have come to Chicago. Power? A new start? Perhaps this is a political arrangement between the clan of one city with another. Whatever their reason, they have arrived right when a Primogen vanishes- and guess who is first on the suspect list? The fresh faces on the streets >:) The coterie, having barely settled, has to suddenly prove their innocence. And finding evidence lets them uncover something much more sinister....

This one is ideal for new players as it sets everyone on an equal footing. Even if they create a character that has been a vampire for 50+ years and has amassed several dots of influence, herd, status- whatever, they are still new to the city. And being new means you have to start all over again. (This may be frustrating to a player that invested all those points at character creation- but it is on you as the ST to make sure they have opportunities to use those dots and on them as a player to think cleverly.)

Starting the tale off with defending their innocence is actually a very engaging questline. It effectively sets the stage for the political powerhouses. It lets new players know there are rules- and those in power are watching. It also sets the consequences for failure. Understand that the Camarilla probably isnt going to outright kill the coterie if they fail- always make the punishment just harsh and grueling enough to make final death feel like a mercy. Failure isn’t the end of the story.

For new players- I would be lenient with the time it takes for them to find evidence. But within reason. Think like your Prince and Seneschal. Do you really want this coterie running around for a full week, unsupervised, making more messes? No. You don’t. (You might wanna send an npc with them to watch and keep em out of trouble. Your npc is also able to vouch for them.)

This story lends itself to be a Camarilla Chronicle very easily. You can go Anarch, but an Anarch leader suddenly vanishing and blaming the newbies is much more quickly going to end with blood spilled. Thank your local sweeper.

> Option 2: Containment Breach Blacksite 24 (Loresheet on page 264) was temporarily occupied by Operation Firstlight. It has now been transformed into a medical research facility. While most kindred of Chicago know of Blacksite 24, they have zero clue what happens inside other than bad news for them- the less they know the safer they are. The chronicle opens with a car crash. The captured soon-to-be coterie was in transit to this feared medical facility. The crash did kill the driver and the agent in charge of transporting them. The crash did not fully break their restraints, but it did enough damage that first responders are freaking out. They are all at hunger 3. The chronicle is a hunt. The coterie should have some knowledge of what had happened to them and how lucky they are to have escaped. Operatives are already on their way to recapture them. They must hide in this city- and do their best to survive and stay out of sight.

The point of this story is to invoke dread. I highly recommend one player either being a thin-blood (or an npc) with the Daydrinker merit, or a player to have a ghoul. If they decide to not have a daywatch, they increase their chance of being found.

This story also sets up a feeling of desperation. They would be willing to take shelter from anyone- anyone. Eventually the other kindred will catch on that these guys are on the run from something. Any sane kindred would toss them out to protect themselves. A compassionate kindred who takes them in will suffer the final death as a compassionate fool- or join them in captivity. 

This story lends itself to be an Anarch Chronicle much more easily. This is the time the Camarilla will likely be a bit more paranoid and bloody. While they might not outright kill the coterie- they will send them somewhere that is a death trap. They wont dirty their hands with this. After all, you do not want any evidence to fall into the hands of the SI if you hired the hit.

This story is ideal for newbies without background merits. No allies, no influence, no herd. Let them take more mythic merits such as bloodhound and unbondable (Consider finding some from V20 too! There are some really awesome supernatural merits!). These powers would certainly be more fascinating for a medical team to study- not how many instagram followers they have. This kind of story also lets your players feel more powerful- but out of the loop. It lends itself to them forging alliances and getting caught in one-sided favors a lot more quickly. 

The challenging aspect of this story is that is starts with a masquerade breach. New players may not know how to handle such a blatant breach and thats okay. I would let the crash slide- and the Camarilla in the background handles it. Breaches after the crash need to be handled with proper consequences. 

> Option 3: New Blood This is what my storyteller did to me and my first time players (and its also very close to the plot of CoNY). We were shovelheads. Embraced to make a huge mess for the Camarilla and die quick deaths. We were all thin-bloods. The last thing the pcs remember is the sweet rush of ecstasy washing over them, before clawing out of the earth and driven mad by an insatiable hunger. The thrill of the hunt, and the sweet, warm blood on their tongue, nothing was going to be better. All three will awake next to each other, surrounded by the corpses they drank dry in their frenzy. What a way to play the name game! The players have three nights were they figure out their new condition or coverup their tracks (if they think to do it). They contend with their hunger and hatred of sunlight, wrestle with accidentally drinking their family member dry. After three nights, the Scourge comes knocking. Rather than outright killed, they are dragged to Elysium. For some reason, they are adopted by an upstanding member of the Camarilla- or the Prince orders a political rival care for them (hoping they fail). The players are the errand childer of this kindred, and slowly they figure out what they have been gathering through all these errands....

This one lets the characters all have the moments where they discover their disciplines and powers- and bestial tendencies. It naturally flows to allow players to slowly discover the rules and mechanics as well. All players must play fledglings for this tale. 

This story is much more a personal tale than a political one. Eventually politics makes its way in...but it does not have to be a focus. 

This story has less of a hook and more of a “Figure it Out” survival mode until the errands begin. The story is how the character’s react to their condition. It very quickly lends itself to a narrative of finding your own path in the night, rather than mindlessly obeying.

So here are a few questions that I ask myself when crafting a chronicle story:

1. What kind of story do you want to tell? Not asking for a plot hook, I’m asking for a general concept. Is it a tale of good triumphing over evil? (Not necessarily a wrong answer, but if you wanna play good guys...vampire is not the best game for that). Is this a chase? Is this a race against time? 

2. How do you want your story to make your players feel? Do you want to tell a story that invokes as much dread as possible in your players? Do you want them to feel ultra powerful? Vampire is both a power fantasy and a dread inducing game- it can do both. 

3. If you don’t know what kind of story you want to tell, switch gears to worldbuilding. CbN has so many NPCs with the rumors already written for you. Its your setting, perhaps switch two rumors around with prominent NPCs. Decide which ones are true in your setting- Maybe Primogen Annabell did kill her predecessor. Perhaps the Lasombra are attempting to infiltrate the Camarilla as everyone fears- but no one is able to prove it or stop it. Deciding what is true, false, and undetermined usually blossoms into hooks and stories worth investigating.

4. What is a historical event of the city that the Vampires would have endured/ scars would have remained? For example, in my chronicle set in Richmond, the tale of the Richmond Vampire is true. Depending on who you ask, it is the Camarilla’s best or sloppiest cover up. Have the chronicle coincide with the events and the coterie live through them. No one said this must take place in 2021- you can do 2015, 2008, -hell go back the 1990s. Its actually super fun if you set your chronicle in the 90s and your Malkavian is using phrases from 2020.

5. One of my things I do when writing scenes and moments is play Dread by myself. Dread is a role playing game played with jenga. There are no dice rolls, if you want to attempt something, you have to pull pieces from the tower. If the tower falls, you die. If there is a moment where I really really really dont want to pull from the tower, though the reward for succeeding is so so sweet- I keep the moment. If its really easy to shrug and go eh, I can live without performing that action- go back and rewrite it. If you have no incentive to pull from the tower, why would they?

6. Examine your player’s desires and ambitions- and do not neglect them in your chronicle. The plot wont magically allow all of them to achieve their ambitions. However, provide opportunities for them through the plot. Its on them to strive for what their character wants- its on you to make them struggle but have the path to get there. For example, if a player wants to become a Baron, provide a political opening. Perhaps then by announcing their power, they have made a bigger name for themselves and it has become harder to hide. Perhaps by doing this, the kindred they owe a favor is suddenly much more vocal about it. 

Here are some suggestions for handling new players:

> You are going to have to handhold them through some things. New players to vtm won’t be able to see the cascading political web and how the consequences of their actions will ripple into waves. I like to use Wits+Insight and call it Common Sense. Common Sense was a merit in V20- and damn is it WONDERFUL. All they need is just 1 success (they can take half) to have you explain how whatever plan they just thought of is actually a TERRIBLE idea. 

> Do your RPG consent list. Know what is safe to discuss and what is off the table. I highly recommend utilizing something my Storyteller used for my first chronicle, and subsequently I use for all my ttrpgs now: Invoking the Veil. The metaphor is that you are slowly lessening the intensity of a scene- as if raising the opacity or looking through layers of fabric. Eventually, there is too much fabric and you can no longer see the scene. If something is too intense, the ST or the player may announce they are invoking the veil. Reduce the scene by lowering music, speaking in third person, or avoiding heavy descriptors. You can reduce it further to just dice rolls. Role play stops, and the consequences of the scene are solely dictated by the dice. Or fade to black. If a player is repeatedly fading to black on something- ask to talk to them about it. Clearly something is too intense and they are not having as much fun as they can. Debriefing after a session is also a good idea. Do something silly! Share and check all the memes in the discord chat. Its important to make sure you and your players know that at the end of the night- its all just a game.

> I find the sabbat and new players don’t tend to mix well. You may absolutely still use the sabbat in your chronicle! But the dogma and philosophical ideals of the sabbat can be offputting and downright upsetting to a first time player. You may absolutely build to it- that’s what I did to my players. And in the moment of the truth, they chose to cling to humanity. 

> The taking half mechanic is your friend! V5 says players may announce how many dice they are rolling- and if the dividend is greater than the DC- they auto succeed. This streamlines play. Of course, you as the Storyteller may say this is a roll they are not allowed to take half on. Usually these are contested rolls (combat).

> The three turns and out rule keeps combat intense but not too lengthy. It actually streamlines encounters super super well. 

> My ST used a phrase, “The quickest way to kill Cthulhu is to give it a healthbar.” If Methuselahs and Elders are involved in your game- avoid giving them stat blocks. This cultivates a conflict that new players must find a way to overcome without brute force combat. It makes them think critically and defy these super old antagonists through narrative means. This also gets the notion out of your and their heads, “if they die, its over.” Its never that easy. Never. 

[oppressiveliberator]

What are things Ghetsis likes to do in his spare time? Does he have anything in particular that he really enjoys doing that most wouldn’t know about? (Like. Knitting or some hobby type thing like that.)

Hobbies, huh. . . .

Ghetsis is a very goal-oriented person. Back when he was Plasma Boss and all, he wasn't really one for many hobbies--he certainly enjoyed doing things in his free time now and then, but by the time he'd adopted N, he was putting most of his free time into Plasma and advancing his goals and such.

But like I said, he did enjoy things now and then!

((snip snip unless you’re on mobile in which case as always I am sorry--maybe i should start putting these into multiple posts instead of singular big ones?  lmao

Also brief mentions of I think abuse, Pokémon abuse, torture??  i don’t think there was anything else triggering in there but i’m also too lazy to reread it lmao))

Ghetsis loves to read. He most enjoys nonfiction--true crime, history, religion, culture, Pokémon, human psychology, science, world news; Ghetsis really loves just about anything that can teach him something new. He's all about doing lots and lots of research, too, and he's actually well versed in old languages, too, especially old Unovan. He made a cypher for translating(and even taught Zinzolin how to read it a bit! In fact, Zinzolin is the one who has the Old Unovan linguistic work he's done atm because he can't let go of his boyfriend's old things) But he also likes a good fiction novel--crime, historic, alternate history, adventure, thriller, horror. . .he's picky about fantasy and science fiction and romance, but he'll read them now and then too.

While he's not really that into it, he does watch a lot of TV lately. He has days where he's pretty much immobile, so something he can just lie down and watch is nice to at least keep him from just sleeping all day. His taste in TV and movies is pretty similar to his taste in books. However, he's not much of a TV person and it's more something he just kind of accepts as what he 'has to' do nowadays. Sometimes he just. Doesn't have the energy to turn pages in a book. But entertainment is always better than boredom.

In his current state, Ghetsis doesn't really do much daydreaming or quiet contemplation, because ultimately it leads to a heavy slew of negative thoughts and emotions and makes him feel terrible. But in the past, he spent much of his time thinking about the world, plotting, planning. Lately if he does anything it's daydream or dissociate but. The latter isn't really, y'know, a hobby or something he really wants to do.

Music! Is one of his highest interests!! The Harmonia family is a very musical and artistic one, so he was surrounded by music and taught to sing and play instruments since he was in diapers. He doesn't think of himself as being able to play instruments nowadays. . .even though he still played now and then when he lost most usage of his arm, so long as it obviously didn't really require both hands or a need for both could be worked around. At present he's more into listening to music than anything--and his tastes are far more variant than you'd expect, as he's able to find some enjoyment in most any genre. He's started to sing more lately, too, although since his voice is often poor, he hates to do it and have to hear how terrible he sounds. But after Bede told him not to be discouraged over it and that some practice would surely restore his voice to its former glory, he's been singing to himself a bit more in an attempt to get his vocal chords back in decent condition.

(The unexpected part of this is when you find him singing old pop songs. . . . . . . .)

Ghetsis is, despite being antisocial as far as his personality/mindset/comfort levels, actually quite outgoing and enjoys people's company and talking to them, watching them. He loves social events and crowds and being around people--although he also hates it because, well, everyone is below him and the world around them is usually disgusting. But he quite likes company, especially from interesting and intelligent people, and he's playfully flirtatious too. While he prefers to do the talking and teaching, he's not against listening if somebody catches his attention and, again, Ghetsis has an insatiable desire for knowledge. Oh and socializing doesn't always have to be positive, either! He l o v e s to harass his protags. He likes to disturb people and make them afraid and uncomfortable and upset. He'd probably be an internet troll now and then if he bothered with internet socializing.

(Also, Ghetsis fucks to survive is a hedonist. So having people around means getting laid when he wants to. And how can he say no to being attended to and having his body worshipped and pleasured? To the power that comes with controlling someone else's pleasure, making their whole body respond with a mere touch, sometimes even less?)

As of late he also quite enjoys taking walks when he can--and while he's still beginning to accept it, he has started taking his wheelchair out(though, not in the regular world, only in the magic plane he’s hiding on) if he can't do his own walking and just enjoying the world outside. He. . .misses it.

He actually is very well travelled and he loves travelling, visiting new places, learning new things in person, going on expeditions and to archaeological sites and ruins and historic places. . .! Up until BW he travelled a good amount and enjoyed the bounties and interests his the world had to offer, practical or not. He likes himself a good time and experiences. Of course it lessened when he acquired his kids, especially N. And nowadays he hardly even leaves the house, let alone the region, though with the way his magic hideaway works(rather, doesn't work) he can wind up travelling by accident simply because it isn't stable enough not to move around.

And, of course there's magic. Ghetsis habitually draws little magic circles and things here and there, little spells to store magic or discourage nightmares or encourage remembering things. If he's idly tracing something on a table that's probably why. If he's idly tracing something on a person, that's probably why--in particular, he'd 'bless' N with safety when he went outside, or put magic on him that would ideally 'lock' his mind somewhat so he wasn't influenced by the outside world and had his plans ruined. Ghetsis does rituals every now and then(there used to be some cultish stuff in Team Plasma. . .maybe. . .but rituals aren't necessarily cultish, just like regularly done things) and magical cleanses, protection for his own spaces, charging the crystals and things he has around, and practices little bits of magic here and there just so he knows he can still do it. Now and then he tries to learn or develop new magic, but he's really not in the best condition for good magic usage. It certainly doesn't stop him but, y'know, tries to keep playing with fire to a minimum lest he burn his house down.

Of course, these are mostly things he does at present. . .with the strokes and the weakness in his body and the problems with his cognition and mind in general. . .his options are lessened in his opinion. His depression and lessened will to live make it hard for him to do even those things--let alone some of the things he used to do.

Sports are among the things he'd done in the past--namely basketball(just kinda happens when you're over 6ft tall.) He gave his old ball to N to teach him to play, but back then he could still play, one arm or not. Nowadays he has trouble even sitting up let along standing, running, and he's still accepting that he needs a wheelchair now and then when he can't get around so easily himself, so wheelchair basketball isn't something he'd even consider trying. Playing basketball? Tennis? Hell, any sport? He can't even consider it. He hates watching sports now. Whereas he used to love to do so because he could watch Unovan teams VS other regions and feel proud and cheer for Unova and so on, but now he can't stand it because it makes him think of how he used to be.

One of the things he did a lot up until the end of BWB2W2, was, of course, train his Pokémon, care for them, sometimes even play with them. They needed exercise and enrichment, and keeping them in fighting and killing shape was a high priority, both for enjoyment/entertainment and for the sake of having strong Pokémon. But now his Pokémon are all gone. . .and he resents all Pokémon for it and his hostility towards them all has increased. If anything at present, he takes even greater delight in hurting Pokémon than he had in the past.

Public speaking, debating, evangelizing, convincing people of Plasma's ways, giving and writing speeches was also a hobby he enjoyed. Usually, however, he winged his speeches, simply spoke from his cunning heart. Of course, if he tried to do something like that today. . .well, someone would call interpol and it'd be a whole thing. . .he does talk to himself a even more than he used to now, but it's not the same.

Punishing and teaching Plasma's members and anyone they decided to. . .host for a while, so they could learn the truths and come to know Team Plasma's might and perspective. . .being able to torment captives, seeing the hope leave somebody's eyes, god. He misses power. He misses victims. He misses taking out his frustrations on somebody locked in his dungeons, beating them and spitting on them and showing them how above them he was, torturing them--. . .expressing his power, he never really gets to do it anymore. . . . Harming others. . .even less. . .and what power, authority, strength does he have to at present anyways. . . . .

Training members of Plasma and their Pokémon, using the Pokémon they'd liberated for various behind the scenes work like building the castle, abusing people and Pokémon alike, really he found such bliss in it. Yes, it was something he kept quite quiet about or explained away until Neo Plasma--after all, nobody knew of his plans and intentions until he was defeated--but that didn't mean he didn't enjoy it.

Unexpected things. . .hm. he's pretty adventurous so I'm sure he's tried lots of things, but ultimately discarded them as things to do often for one reason or another. Knitting he can't see himself doing, one hand and all.

When N was younger, he actually took care of the human dolls and toys he gave him, since n mostly cared about the pokémon ones and was neglectful towards the human ones. Which was what was intended! But it irked Ghetsis's sense of perfectionism to see them all messed up, so he'd do their hair and dress them and so on just so they were in order and not a messy pile in the corner.

Ghetsis liked visiting dig sites and such, but he also enjoyed personally going on expeditions now and then too! He'd been planning one to the Abyssal Ruins for some time, but it never came to fruition. . . .

Since he was so well researched and did lots of discovering things himself, he’s written academic papers and things of that nature too.  Spreading his knowledge is always great.

Sciences piqued his interests sometimes, although that may not be a surprise. It's probably even less of a surprise that he was interested in experimentation on people and Pokémon--he was usually eager to let Colress do as he pleased as a result.

OH RIGHT ALSO! COLLECTING STUFF!! In particular things relating to or supposedly relating to legendary and mythical Pokémon and extinct ones too and history/legends and other unique things--stuff like feathers from legendary birds or orbs or gems said to strengthen or summon them and stuff like that. . .! He has a raw keystone, but he's not super aware of what it is since Mega Evos only really have recently come into common knowledge and he wasn’t in Kalos to learn about that in particular at the time, so he just thinks it's a cool kalosian rock with a strong life energy.

Tbh idk about any unexpected hobbies for him. . .tbf i also have like. No hobbies of my own. So this is kind of a hard question for me because doing things in your spare time??? I can't even bring myself to do things when o have to do them! Lmao.

He's abandoned a lot of his hobbies and interests. It kinda comes with being old and disabled and depressed and losing your will to live. He's feeling a bit better as of the start of the blog recent--so he's getting a bit active again, but. . .he's still not used to being "incapable" and it gets between him and doing anything for fun.

But hopefully this answer satisfied! And if not, if you're curious about anything in particular, send another ask my way!!

[spirit-shroud]

How do you like your villians? Both in terms of writibg them as well as enjoying them as a character. Irredeemably evil? Affably evil? Edgelord? Well-intentioned extremist? British? Hurt person lashing out at the world? Nihilist? Coward? Egomanic? Handsome? Punchable Faced? Fallen Hero? Unstoppable Conqueror? So many options.

i love villains as a whole tbh, i think there’s a lot of different elements that go into writing them that just makes them so cool ;u; and let me tell you before writing this ask i didn’t think i had a type but it turns out i do. i very much have a type.   (also im sorry for tumblr’s auto-tagging system. rest assured, nonfollowers, i dont want to be here either): Handsome Jack - BL (i want to hug him. and also punch his god awful mask clean off). He’s my favourite because like, of course he’s egotistical, he’s absolutely ridiculous, but what really cemented him in as my top favourite villain of all time was playing through TPS. He’s shown, like, as a person? Where he did actually go in with a sort of? just cause, reasonable expectations, a straightforward goal. Open the vault on Elpis. But as the vault hunters work towards that goal, he’s in the background on this slow descent from ‘decent human being’ to ‘actual monster’ aND ANOTHER THING about Jack is that, despite everything he’s doing, through that insanity and wild stuff he spews, he thinks he’s on the good side. He has a good goal, again -- make Pandora a safer place -- BUT it’s just. his methods of doing that are so disgustingly twisted and wicked it’s less ‘make pandora safer’ and more into ‘wipe pandora off the planetary map.’ it can also be argued that due to the nonsense of tps’ ending, he was quite literally broken by the vault, which is another whole spiral into insanity. anyways, i fucking love being able to WATCH a villain fall into villainy. that’s the good shit. that’s the optimal story. mmmmyeah

tldr: he’s a dick, he’s corrupt as hell, we got to watch his descent into villainy. but he’s the hero, right? GLaDOS - Portal She’s my favourite because similar to Jack, she’s kind of a broken bot. and she says a lot of terrible things, but at heart, her core desire is really just to go some fuckin science!! that’s all she wants!! why does everything need to be so complicated!! and yeah i have some like, actual intelligent thought to put here on why i love her so much but im just going to skip to tldr lest this become the longest ask ever recorded. ever. tldr: she starts as an enemy, but a bigger, badder enemy makes her your friend, she has a goal that isn’t necessarily evil, corrupt, or villainy, she has a lot of traumas and personality cores to work through on her own. Prince Zuko - ATLA i’d die for this boy if he asked. he has it all. he’s perfect. but i’m not too sure if he really counts as a villain in the normal sense? again just going to skip to the tldr bc i’m p sure you already know this one. i am a zuko stan. i always will be. i see far too much of myself in this boy it’s scary

tldr: flawlessly executed villain -> antihero -> hero arc. he has good, solid redemption, unlearns all the nonsense that made him a villain, got a better haircut  and even made some real friends!! wild. and again he has a goal that he thinks is just -- capture the avatar so he can return home -- but he doesn’t really think about the cost of it to the rest of the world. 

The Entity - OS again not another traditional villain by any stretch but definitely an honourable mention. the anxious murder computer is a Whole Gig of its own and the reason why they were slowly destroying the world (and themself, in the meantime) was basically because of their own sentience and their own (again, arguably just) goal.  they didn’t want the world to be saved because that means an innocent child has to die, but they also weighs the life of that singular child to the entire world. they weigh their life above themself because that’s what they were made for. 

tldr: they were more or less forced into their position of “villainy,” they’re working through a lot of stuff, they have a straightforward goal they think is just. also moral grey areas are a big plus. 

Eske Rainsorrow - WT (oh hey i wrote this one :0) god, eske. where do i start. the boy who’s name is literally Serial Killer Serial Killer McMurderRain. he’s fucking awful. he is the worst. however, if you took the murder out of the equation, he sounds like a pretty upstanding guy. he’s a licensed doctor/surgeon who’ll happily take in anyone who needs to be cured of some weird ailment.  he has some issues, but again, he has two big overarching goals that are both in their own right good: 1. protect [his husband, and the man who saved his life] at all costs 2. make sure hurt people don’t get hurt anymore. these are both noble in a sense. except the problem, is that little at all costs. his villainy stems from obsession with these two goals, in which he’d literally move heaven, earth, and the skywalk should anyone ask him to. he’s been mislead and pulled in a lot of different directions and that’s why he does what he does. 

‘this person got hurt by x, so if i kill x, they won’t have to suffer anymore’ 

tldr: has a good goal but the world’s shittiest execution, is incredibly obsessive, tragic backstory heavily contributes to (but does by no means excuse) his villainous habits. also mmmmmm doctors,,, hot,,,,,,

overall? i just. really like people who have good goals but are overtaken by corruption and their own twisted ideals of what right/wrong are or will do everything they possibly can to get to those goals.

[extraplanaire-blog]

BODY SLAMS IN HERE so the group chat was lit, we’re ridiculous and that brings us to THE ESSAY I WROTE A LONG TIME AGO NEVER POSTED AND REWROTE NOW for your edification and also because i will never get over how good and great the jolly duo teamwork is

JOLLY DUO IS A GOOD DUO STRATEGICALLY, A CITED ESSAY

Okay, let’s start this with the topic of ‘the jolly duo is an ideal combination, especially considering alternatives, and per canon is probably the strongest duo that the guild has’.

The last point is pretty easy to prove, actually-- The guild seems to work in duos frequently, with Twain and Fitzgerald teaming up (Twain covering the things Fitz can’t or that Fitz deems security risks re. Atsushi escaping), Fitzgerald and Alcott being the usual combination (power and strategy), Hawthorne and Mitchell (two people with similar abilities, kind of, in a master-apprentice relationship), and John and Lovecraft (A constant duo that, unlike the others, has absolutely no rank imbalance, they’re both fellowcraft).

The reason they’re paired together and not in the Hawmitch situation of a fellowcraft taking an apprentice is because clearly they work really well together. They’re the two that Fitzgerald sends on missions directly into Yokohama, to challenge the agency head-on, and Fitzgerald even says that “with abilities like yours, even if [attacking the secretaries] is a trap, you’ll be able to take care of it”. With that, it’s given that Fitzgerald places a high amount of faith in them, they’re very powerful for what the guild has, and they are expressly designed to be a team. They were never split up for the sake of apprenticeships, and they’re sent to do the most overtly offensive missions that the Guild sets out on (Q’s doll, the secretaries).

Fitzgerald and the Guild treat the jolly duo as a juggernaut, and that’s what they are.

They’re a team that’s designed to cover all of the guild’s bases, as much as possible. They’re not necessarily deadly, but they’re more than ready to become such, while at the same time they’re not limited to only being deadly.

There have been reasonable things pointed out, like they never fight in tandem and their abilities hold the same function of mid-distance offense (hentai team i mean what), but the reason this team functions so well is because those things are not hindrances and relate to how they are expected to deal with adversity.

The way the jolly duo is designed to work and the way it does work is: The Guild faces an adversary that could be dealt with in multiple ways, but the end goal isn’t necessarily death. Lovecraft and Steinbeck are sent to deal with isaid problem. Steinbeck is motivation and intelligence. John’s a smart kid, he knows how to deal with problems and with people. He’s cunning and he’s (superficially) friendly, if there’s a way to get around a conflict by disarming someone into being nice to him or by tricking them, he’ll probably find it. He’s better at acting the way people expect him to act, and he can understand situations quickly. Lovecraft is none of these, so Lovecraft has to rely on John for cues on how to act and what to do, because Lovecraft doesn’t understand strategy. Lovecraft also lacks any motivation of his own outside of a crisis, and without John prompting him to go around and do things, he’d likely become too anxious or lazy to function until the last possible minute. When they go to attack the ADA secretaries, Lovecraft clearly has nothing in mind, he doesn’t know if he’s supposed to attack, and he very pointedly asks John what the hell theyre doing.

 Lovecraft goes to John for what should we do before a fight has started, and John provides answers that Lovecraft consistently trusts and can rely on. He follows John’s orders very easily, immediately relaxing into “no one needs me and I don’t have to do anything, it’s fine” when John tells him that they’ll deal with the secretaries using the grapes alone. 

pictured: lovecraft not giving a single fuck about being in the middle of a kidnapping op because john says he’ll take care of it

Lovecraft has absolutely no problem following John’s orders (which is something that’s also valuable, considering it’s very likely that Lovecraft’s personality would clash with most of the other Guild members’ and he wouldn’t want to obey them as easily. He trusts John greatly and consistently follows his cues with no complaint or argument), and trusts him inherently as a reliable source of what-to-do. Regardless on what anyone thinks Lovecraft’s ability to form relationships with humans, friendly or otherwise, he clearly trusts John to make decisions.

In converse to that, Lovecraft is who the team relies on when strategy has failed and they need only destruction. Like Fitzgerald and Alcott, it’s a heavily time-reliant brains and brawn dichotomy. Lovecraft waits until John is incapacitated to attack every time he does attack because that’s his only role-- when strategy has failed, when there is no option but to clear the field and murder all those around, Lovecraft steps in. His ability is deadly, when he pulls it out it’s assumed that whoever’s attacking is going to die. John acts first in order to ideally minimize the casualties and provide the non-lethal force necessary in, say, kidnappings. Lovecraft is backup for when John fails, because after negotiations and trying to keep people alive fail, really, the only option for something as ruthless as the Guild (and John) is to kill. You can’t lose a negotiation with someone who’s dead. Lovecraft is the equivalent of an atomic bomb, he is only present in order to destroy and John is the one to decide when he will act, because John’s smart enough to do that. In the Grapes arc, when John’s tactics fail, Lovecraft pretty much immediately neutralizes Kunikida and Juni (ance he gets around to standing up) and also immediately assumes he should kill them (but, again, he checks with John first because he respects John as being in charge). Lovecraft’s backup insurance who acts more or less only when he has to, but when he does act it’s to land a decisive blow that John might not be able to.

Because they rely heavily on communication and taking turns, the jolly duo is a team that’s very heavily reliant on mutual trust and cooperation to work, and the fact that their team does work so well evidences that they’re close friends and they do trust each other (despite john not even knowing what lovecraft is lol).

And I mean, they’re friends, that much is directly stated in the anime (and john’s VA is having a very good time in steincraft city so they’re also [wink wink nudge nude] “friends”, if u put any stock in his opinion that john’s got a doki), and they’re very close friends because of how much John and Lovecraft rely on one another in order to function in the Guild.

And function in general life, if Lovecraft’s constant checking up on what John’s doing in order to pass off as normal and their constant companionship is any indicator. They’re the only two that haven’t functioned independently unless forced, and haven’t functioned independently in a battle whatsoever-- without Mitchell, Hawthorne is still comfortable allying with Dost, and brainwashed or otherwise he attacks on his own. When John’s alone, he won’t even directly challenge or alert Fitzgerald, or use his ability any more than passively. Which is likely related to strategy, but it’s still a point that John could have attacked Fitzgerald when he and Alcott were talking and probably done fine enough, since Fitz had little money and they were in a wooded area, but chose to bide his time. It’s either he wanted to try and see if Fitz was redeemable or he wasn’t used to starting a fight when someone didn’t have his back when things went wrong, or a mix.

They’re a very, very good team, they work well together, in and out of a fighting context. They are 

and it’s really unlikely that during the main guild arc, any of the other Guild teams would have approached them in power and efficacy

(IMO thats why they fought SKK, because theyre on par with SKK’s teamwork and why Lovecraft hasn’t come back to the plot yet, because with Lovecraft on John’s team, John would stop hesitating to act.)

like imagine SKK if skk didnt argue constantly and actually liked each other that’s the scale of good powerful teamwork we are talking here. their abilities aren’t necessarily complimentary, but they fill deficiencies that the other has and provide support that’s necessary to getting things done.

like u dont have to agree with me that they should hold hands and probably make out, but i do think u can’t really argue that they’re important to each other, they’re most definitely friends.

[digitalmark18-blog]

Rebranding your local business? Don't start without reading these tips

New Post has been published on https://britishdigitalmarketingnews.com/rebranding-your-local-business-dont-start-without-reading-these-tips-2/

Rebranding your local business? Don't start without reading these tips

There’s a whole host of reasons you’d want to rebrand your local business:

Your product and service offering might be outgrowing your name and website.

You might have found a new location close to the center of town.

You feel a facelift might revitalize a flagging business.

Whatever your reasons, they must be good given the work it takes to rebrand. It may be the biggest and highest-risk challenge you’ve ever faced. The tone of voice, website design, color scheme, logos, directory listings and sales process may all need to change at once. It’s not an easy or quick switch.

Interest in a local business’ rebranding isn’t as strong as big brands enjoy, so you can kiss that viral piece on the evolution of your brand goodbye. Unlike Pepsi or other big brands, there is a high likelihood few will notice a logo change from a small business.

Small businesses don’t have access to a multimillion-dollar branding and communications strategy. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still make a true impact on the bottom line with a thoroughly researched and well-executed rebrand.

I’m going to go through a few key marketing points and steps to take if you’re considering or in the process of rebranding a local business. While I will be providing insights on the less technical, more strategic side of things, I have included a link that explains how to migrate your site to a new domain.

Involve your audience

Are you looking for a whole new audience or an expanded one? Either way, it’s worthwhile involving your current customers in the rebranding process, even if just in a small way.

First, survey your customers on what they already like about your brand so you can avoid losing those elements in your new branding. Learn why they came to you initially and, almost most importantly, why they stick around.

If your rebranding is already underway, show your customers some potential logos and ask them to vote on their favorite. Remember that unless you make the results public, you’re not beholden to select their logo unless you love it, too!

You can be as open and public or as secretive and private with your customer involvement as you like. The former is great if you already have a loyal customer base willing to share the news of the rebrand.  The latter is better if you are in the very early stages of rebrand consideration.

Go wide and loud with a request for customer feedback on Twitter and Facebook (perhaps with a link back to a website-hosted survey) or via a pop-up on your website using a tool like Hotjar. You can also keep it quiet with face-to-face questions in-store or a segmented email to your most loyal customers.

Whatever amount of noise you decide to make with your customer involvement, make sure you highlight how important it is for you to keep current customers satisfied and happy. They’ll appreciate having their thoughts and feelings considered and be more likely to stay on board when the new brand is launched.

Don’t change too much too fast

Unless you’re determined to completely pivot your business and reach an entirely new and different customer base, I’d recommend not changing too much about what makes your business what it is all at one time.

Smaller, more iterative adjustments to branding (a smoothing of the edges here, a lightening of the color palette there) will lessen the risk of losing your current audience’s connection to your brand. Obviously, the risk will be even less if you’ve involved them in your rebranding strategy.

When faced with a potential name change, try to keep an element of your original business name. This will give you more options down the line. Consider how Snapchat Inc. became Snap Inc. and eventually branched out into products like Spectacles.

The other reason not to change too much too fast centers around your SEO. If, with a snap of your fingers, you launch a new website, new company name, a new tone of voice and new copy, your site may lose rankings and take a while to rebound. It makes sense to slowly tweak things and avoid those negatives.

Research the landscape

Thorough preparation is critical ahead of a rebrand, and one area you’d be foolish to overlook is the competition. This is particularly true if you’re changing your business name.

There can be no worse (and no more easily avoided) frustration than learning the potential name you’ve been cherishing all this time is incredibly close to another business, or worse, a business in your industry.

Checking out the competition on Bing or Google is easy. Be sure you look at local, organic and map results.

It’s also definitely worth making sure your planned business name has all social media usernames available, and I mean all of them. You might not think you need Pinterest or Snapchat right now, but as they’re free to use, it’s better to be covered and safe than sorry.

While you are researching your social media profiles, keep in mind you’ll want to use the exact same username across all platforms for complete brand consistency. When you snag that next new loyal customer, you’ll want them to immediately find and follow your social profiles with ease.

Plan your Google My Business changes well

Whatever you do, it is not a good idea to set up a new Google My Business (GMB) listing for a rebranded company and leaving the old GMB listing intact. Having two profiles does not mean you will dominate the rankings for your local search terms and could cause duplicate listing issues.

The only exception to this would be if your rebrand changed and what you’re selling changed along with it.

For example, if you’re an Indian restaurant pivoting to Vietnamese cuisine with a new chef and a new menu, you would need to open a new listing and close the old one, as all information and customer reviews on the older listing will no longer apply.

Google wants GMB to accurately and fairly represent the experience of using or dealing with a business, so it doesn’t want to see reviews of an Indian dining experience on a Vietnamese restaurant’s GMB profile. In an ideal world, business owners would have the power to remove reviews that are no longer relevant, but this currently isn’t possible, and “flagging” reviews only reports them for offensive language.

If you only need to update your current GMB profile, the extent to which you do so will depend on how big a rebrand you’re going for, but you’ll certainly want to look at the following items to see if they will still be accurate after the change:

Business name. If you’ve changed any part of your business name, you’ll need to update this and get it verified as soon as your rebrand strategy is in progress.

Categories. Only change these if your rebrand involves introducing new services that will fundamentally alter your business category.

Address and phone number. Only necessary if your rebrand includes a move of premises.

Logo, photos and videos. Rich GMB content will need to be carefully considered after the rebrand. Do what you can to encourage people to take photos of your newly rebranded store, and be sure to upload a new company logo. Consider bringing in someone to record a 360 tour of your business to show off the new branding.

Q&As. Will the answers that you and your customers have left for enquiring minds still be accurate after the rebrand? Take a look, and if something is no longer accurate, just click the three dots next to the answer to “Report” it, and then select: “No Longer Applies” to flag it for removal.

Update all your citations

Probably the most important information on your Google My Business listing is your NAP — name, address and phone number.

Sites that carry the details of your business (also known as your “citations”) will need to be contacted and asked if they will update your information as a way to avoid negative impacts on rankings due to inconsistent NAP.

And it’s not just your search results that could suffer. Recent research shows that incorrect or inconsistent contact details or business information found online would make 80 percent of people lose trust in a business. It’s not a simple job to update all your listings, but this shows it’s definitely worth it.

You can update and clean up your citations by using an automated tool or doing it by hand. Updating manually rather than using a tool service allows you to keep complete control of your listings, even if it is a little more work. Automated tools stop working if you stop paying for them, and you’ll likely see your listings go back to how they were if you stop paying for the citation management service.

Make the most of the PR opportunity

A well-planned, creative and significant shift in branding can result in coverage in local and industry press. To increase the chances of this, you’ll need to hold events at your brick-and-mortar store and host a press launch.

This gives journalists something to photograph, and these kinds of events are far easier to feature in publications if accompanied by plenty of smiling faces. Even if you don’t have an offline store, you can still host a media release and a special promotional code to celebrate the relaunch.

Conclusion

Whether you’re tweaking a logo, adding a new partner to your law firm name or completely changing your whole business model, keep these tips in mind as you rebrand. Be sure to involve your customers, update your citations and get the press involved. You’ll enjoy a successful rebrand if you do!

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Marketing Land. Staff authors are listed here.

About The Author

Jamie Pitman is Head of Content at local SEO tool provider BrightLocal. He’s been working in Digital Marketing for nearly ten years and has specialized in SEO, content marketing and social media, managing successful marketing projects for clients and employers alike. Over this time he’s blogged his heart out, writing over 300 posts on a wide variety of digital marketing topics for various businesses and publications.

Source: https://marketingland.com/rebranding-your-local-business-dont-start-without-reading-these-tips-245217

[flauntpage]

Sixers Draft Prospects: #26 Overall

I think we hit on most of the guys who will be available at #10 earlier this week, so let’s go through some of the dudes who might be options at 26.

What are the Sixers looking for with this pick? Assuming you get Mikal Bridges, Miles Bridges, or a combo forward/wing depth type of guy at 10, I think you look for a bench scorer at 26. That seems to be the consensus based on most of the mocks out there, with some familiar names popping up.

I would also keep an eye out for a Joel Embiid backup, but the problem is that this draft is so top-heavy with big men that it creates this gap from the teens to the second round talent-wise. With Deandre Ayton, Jaren Jackson, and Wendell Carter among the top-10 projections, there really isn’t any center who falls into that 20-30 range. Omari Spellman might be available, but he’s seen as a power forward/tweener type at the next level. Mitchell Robinson didn’t play college ball and comes with a lot of question marks, while Robert Williams is probably off the board by then.

With that said, here are some of are some of the scorers who might be worth a look at 26:

Keita Bates-Diop (Ohio State)

The 2018 Big Ten player of the year is a 6’7″, 230-ish pound positionless player with a big wingspan.

He’s an athletic swingman, viewed as a 3 and D guy at this level, a Buckeye who scored 19.8 PPG and added 8.7 rebounds during his redshirt junior year. He shot 48% overall and 35.9% from three, but really does a lot of different things well. That sets him up to be the ideal NBA role player, somebody who doesn’t excel at one specific skill necessarily but chips in in a variety of ways. Keep him focused on the defensive end and Brett Brown can mold him into a solid bench guy, someone who can slot in to that small forward role and do the requisite free-flowing offensive and defensive stuff that Robert Covington does.

He isn’t the quickest player out there but has an ideal body type for the next level and gives me a bit of a Mikal Bridges vibe with the way he moves around the court:

Dzanan Musa (Bosnia)

A 6’9″, 195 pound small forward playing for Cedevita Zagreb in Croatia where he average d19, 6, and 2 this season.

The 19 year old is seen as a streaky scorer with high offensive potential but defensive concerns. Put the ball in his hands and he’ll do good things with it. Ask him to run around and defend off-ball and he won’t really impress you. I don’t know if that’s a red flag that turns off the Sixers due to Brett Brown’s high value of defensive intensity and commitment. The thought is that he’ll become a better defender as he grows into his body and becomes familiar with the NBA game.

But he’s a fearless player already, a guy who isn’t afraid to take the big shot or drive to the lane or put the team on his shoulders. He won’t shy away from the spotlight and comes with an intangible competitive side that you really can’t teach.

Look at the film below and tell me if you don’t see a bit of Marco Belinelli and JJ Redick in this kid:

  Donte DiVincenzo (Villanova)

You know him. He had a wonderful national title game and strong combine and now here he is, a late 1st round draft projection.

He does a little bit of everything – scoring, rebounding, assists, defense, a team-first kind of guy who really fit in well at Villanova. That resulted in averages of 13/5/3 in 29.3 minutes per game. He shot 48% overall and 40% from three.

Seems like the biggest knock against DiVincenzo is that people think he benefited from being overshadowed by Bridges and Jalen Brunson and not really having too much of the spotlight on him. Would he had been the same player as a leader with pressure on his shoulders, or did he skate by as a 6th man? I don’t know, but it won’t matter at the next level, where he’s projected to be a bench scorer or a solid role player in a starting lineup next to a superstar or two. He redshirted as a freshman, so he’s 21 years old already, but that’s fine. He’s also listed at 6’5″ but might be a little shorter than that, which would put him right around JJ Redick’s height for a shooting guard.

Either way, he looked fantastic at the combine and I think the Sixers could do much worse at 26:

  Khyri Thomas (Creighton)

Thomas is a 6’3″ PG/SG hybrid and the Big East defensive player of the year.

He’s undersized, sure, but he has a really nice feel for the game, a ferocious on-ball defender and a smooth shooter who improved his stroke during three years at Creighton, hitting field goals at a 53.8% clip this year.

The funky thing about his body is that while he’s not that tall, he still has a 6’11” wing span, which is what makes him so good defensively. He’s small enough to stay low and compact but can still be very disruptive with those long arms. Combine that with the fact that he shot better than 40% from three this year and you’re looking at, yes, another 3 and D prospect for the Sixers’ second unit.

And that’s okay, because he isn’t much a facilitator or shot creator. He doesn’t have much of a mid-range game and isn’t going to blow by you on the perimeter at the next level, but I could see him developing into a defensive minded Avery Bradley-esque combo guard in the NBA:

  Kevin Huerter (Maryland)

He wasn’t sure if he’d stay in the draft or not, but ended up hiring an agent and throwing his name in the hat.

Huerter was great for the Terps this year, a 19 year old, 6’7″ shooting guard who just does a lot of things really well. He’s a smart player with strong fundamentals and a good grip on the game. As a sophomore, he put up 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 3.4 assists in 34.4 minutes per game. He shot 50.3% and 41.7% from three, though only hit at a 75.8% clip from the foul line.

I caught a bit of him this year and was really impressed with how smooth his catch and shoot game is. He’d regularly spot up from 4 or 5 feet behind the three point line and just knock down shots with ease. Fluid motions, good mechanics, wide base, really just a ton to love about his offensive game.

Defensively he’s not bad, but only brings a 6’8″ wing span to that side of the floor. I’m not sure if he has the requisite upper body strength for the NBA level either. Scouts seem to think his lack of explosiveness on both sides of the court will hurt him at the next level, but this is a shooter’s league, and a guy with this kind of ability will find a role on most teams:

The post Sixers Draft Prospects: #26 Overall appeared first on Crossing Broad.

Sixers Draft Prospects: #26 Overall published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

[survivorstorybookarendelle]

Episode 1-He’s Going To Be So Mad To Learn I’m Jordan Pines-Meredith

rob is talking to me trying to woo me with my newbie ways hes going to be so mad to learn I’m jordan pines cause rob hates me also I’m excited to see how brandon plays when I’m not telling him how to do

meredith has a great social game i am litterally talking about the weather with rob

 jordan pines is dead long live Meredith Strogonofsky

meredith is real fucking naiv naive oh this is really fun everyone is so nice blah blah blah

Sidenote: i wish i was on the olaf tribe ALL MY FRIENDS ARE THERE Im elsa locked alone in my fucking room while they run around the palace

Wheeew so I'm super excited to play my third Storybook season and this time I hope it turns into a win and nobody calls me a maggot (@Steffen). For my first confessional I'm just gonna the standard run of the mill tribe analysis. 

 Adrian - Adrian seems cool. He told me hasn't played a game in a while so I think I could possibly work with him. He won't try and play too hard but he isn't completely new so he must want to get into a power alliance with somebody and  make it far for his first 

 Ashley - I love Ashley! I've known her for a little while but we've never actually played a game together before so I think it'll be interesting to see how we work together after knowing each other for a while. 

 Ashton - He's new to the whole Skype thing...I haven't really talked to him. Brandon - who? 

 Connor - bye? 

 Meredith - queen. 

 Rob - I like Rob!!! We've talked quite a bit and he's easy to talk to so I hope this develops into a game alliance and we can work together. We also got cast in Comoros together so I think that will bring us even closer together. I think he's one of the only ones I "trust" rn.   

 Veronica - ICONIC QUEEN I LOVE HER. WE'RE ABOUT TO SLAY BECAUSE WE GOT CAST IN COMOROS TOGETHER AND IT'S GONNA BE LITTTTTT. 

Zach - hasn't talked to me? idk

wow i got the best score out of everyone in the game? Literally steffen knows i suck at comps so much soooo either im just really good at that game or these people suck at comps more than i do Also i messaged Kait becuase i thought she was in my tribe so now i want to kill myself fuck was i sent to exile

CONFESSIONAL TIME Okay so I've talked to a few people here on my tribe and I like them. I talked to Luke, Veronica, Mer, and Ashton. Ashton proposed an alliance to me basically and from our conversations, we both want to include Luke and Mer eventually.

I'm good with that, I think Ashton will be viewed as a figurehead in this game so he could work as a shield for me. He also seems to be gaming hard. Luke is cool and we're playing in two games, maybe three. I want to read up on confessionals to know how he truly is. He seems like a threat honestly. Mer is such a cinnamon roll so far. I hope that she makes the merge just so she doesn't feel bitter about the experience. I did. Veronica is similar to Luke with me but I think she'll be more of an utr player, which to me is threatening in a way.

I'm happy to win reward even though I don't think there's much benefit for it but whatever it boosts tribe morale. END CONFESSIONAL TIME

CONFESSIONAL TIME I skimmed over Westeros' confessionals because what is Arrakis? Just the overall thoughts I have about Luke coming from reading them is that he's pretty loyal, but he can be abrasive to the people he's not with. He can also be sneaky too. I don't know. Maybe I should ask STEFFEN about it? END CONFESSIONAL TIME I GUESS

CONFESSIONAL TIME One more for the hosts, I was looking for stuff for my flag and when I searched Falo on google images I got pictures of weird ass dicks... it was traumatizing. END CONFESSIONAL TIME

Phew well, double tribal council already and no me gusta, not at all. While I try to make a flag, please enjoy my song of the day :)

Confessional #1- The games have begun and it's time to play some survivor. My goal is to just try and stay under the radar and be nice with everyone. Hopefully I can stick around for awhile.

Well my first impression of my tribe was that there were some familiar faces which is good. I want to work with Luke becuase iv known him for a while even though we arent close and ideally he will be my number one on this tribe with me. Then theres Veronica, I know Veronica and Zach will 100% be working together so i NEED to be on her good side so that I have both of them with me and not against. I know Zach is more of a lapdog who follows people in games so as long as I have Veronica liking me then Zach will follow her.

Everyone else isnt that talkative at least not while I was in the tribe chat. I was bummed out at first being in exile but now I have an idol so that will be super useful later on down the road. I think the person we will be voting out at tribal will probably be that one guy who didnt do the reward challenge. Honestly I dont remember his name and Im to lazy to learn it.

yo whats up this is day 3, i've been on exile island for the last 20 hours, and i still havent even said hi to heather, nehemiah, regan, or brian and the only person i actually had a conversation with that lasted more than 2 minutes was shea... oh and because i'm on exile i can't compete in immunity... oh and this week its individual immunity because both tribes are going to tribal :) all of that points to the fact that there is no doubt that i will be going home week 1 but i don't know about thaaaaaat because one of the perks of being sent to exile island is having the chance to try and find a hidden immunity idol and..... https://68.media.tumblr.com/4f46e716c928535edcbfb2f03c869826/tumblr_omd9cz01C31w56gxho1_400.gif WHEW y'all made that a production 12 hour wait, then i had to set an alarm for 9am on a sunday morning, then i had to choose a corridor, i got the most vague clue, then yall picked the most random url, THEN it was like oh no not yet bitch you still got work to do and 2 more urls later i finally got it and that's all that matters :) :) :) :) :) :) :) when i get back from exile i'll try and step my social game up so that i can hopefully maybe stay safe on my own and get to keep the idol for later on in the game but i guess we'll see 

yall meredith is playing the goat game hard so far already been asked into an alliance which is so clearly exploit the new player look at this shit

[2017-03-05, 8:22:55 PM] Connor Wubbenhorst: what do you think about Luke and Ashton? [2017-03-05, 8:23:12 PM] Meredith Stro: they seem nice [2017-03-05, 8:23:18 PM] Meredith Stro: everyone seems really nice [2017-03-05, 8:23:58 PM] Connor Wubbenhorst: what would you think about a lol group of me, you, Ashton, rob, and Luke? [2017-03-05, 8:24:17 PM] Meredith Stro: that sounds really nice [2017-03-05, 8:24:39 PM] Connor Wubbenhorst: Okay awesome! [2017-03-05, 8:24:49 PM] Meredith Stro: is that like an alliance? I’m still not used to how this works lol [2017-03-05, 8:25:05 PM] Connor Wubbenhorst: Yeah it would be :P [2017-03-05, 8:25:15 PM] Meredith Stro: that sounds great :D [2017-03-05, 8:25:23 PM] Meredith Stro: my first alliance this is so exciting [2017-03-05, 8:25:49 PM] Connor Wubbenhorst: Hahaha

meredith is a lil bitch

Ok so WHEW.  Arendelle.  I'm here! Looking at the initial cast, I see some people I definitely like and want to work with.  Amanda, Ashley, Carson, Luke... love those 4 especially.  I know I can probably work with Amanda and Ashley in this game simply because I have never fucked them over, while I have been a messy binch with both Carson and Luke.  It'll be a miracle if they work with me. Like lol [3/3/17, 9:36:45 PM] carson k. (comoros host): HI [3/3/17, 9:38:51 PM] carson k. (comoros host): BRian [3/3/17, 9:39:15 PM] daddy brain ravioli: HI CARSON DJDJSJS [3/3/17, 9:39:23 PM] carson k. (comoros host): I'm having flashbacks [3/3/17, 9:39:31 PM] daddy brain ravioli: ME TOO [3/3/17, 9:39:41 PM] carson k. (comoros host): get away from me brain [3/3/17, 9:39:50 PM] daddy brain ravioli: ILY DONT LEAVE ME So now I just have to work my magic on people, and I can hopefully make em love meeeee. -3- Also, THANK GOD I won first immunity.  I don't think I necessarily needed it??? but not being the first boot is goals asf.  I think Heather might be voted out???  Not that I want to, but I just don't really see any other options.  And I could technically throw out a name, but I don't feel safe enough going into the future with a name coming out of my mouth and then that person DOESN'T go.

so ya boi has got an alliance!!! it's me, luke, ashton, meredith, and rob. rob? bb. love rob. hosted rob in congo. love rob, no worries there ashton and meredith? both of their first games ever, if they're telling the truth, which i hope they are. it was SO easy to bring them together for an alliance. i think this is the first time ive played with total total newbies to games in general so i think it'll be easy to tag them along and use them however i want. i just need to know when to cut them when its time luke im a little nervous about, we played a game called mindoro and uhhh idk i voted him out and im worried there may be some hard feelings. idk. as it stands right now, the five of us are voting brandon because he just isnt active so RIP! but so far this is going pretty well, knock on wood

tbh a majority of these people be silent af idk who is bout to be the one voted out better not be me cause as of now I suck at orgs so I just want to float and hope all is good Atm Heather seems easy to push for so I'm not gonna say it but I'm gonna agree to it

One by one everyone just coming in saying hi i'm dropping heathers name like a fast as I can Heather legit hasn't even added me like good riddance tbqh plus it was fucking stressful to find who the fuck her avi was for that flag tonight should be what I like to call a wake up call. If you're not going to even pretend you're active then bye bye

Confessional #2- So an alliance has been made with myself, Rob, Luke, Connor and Meredith. I trust this group quite a bit especially since it doesn't seem like the rest of them have any options. Our plan is to get rid of Brandon because he's just not helping the tribe win any challenges.

��Did heather literally just apply to infiltrate and promote her game She literally just pm'd me the link Without ever speaking to me

[survivorpanem]

EPISODE ELEVEN - “ONLY SO LONG BEFORE THE PET SNAKE TAKES A BITE “ - ANDREW

hieeeee. omg okay.. i feel like it's been a hot minute since i made an actual confessional and not just me vs kait and jenn in my host chat. ANYWAY. i won my second immunity basically just my luck sdhg. i just had one person in mind and went down the list each and every time and put there name with who i thought fit best and that really played out for me? NOW. i just won my third immunity and jake literally... went off one. saying fuck me and shit. like bro skldhg. im gonna be at work till 10pm tomorrow and im gonna miss tribal and the whole day. i couldn't risk anything because anything could happen so i had to ensure MY safety. like i love jake but i swear he has one more nasty mesage to send me before i ask him "who do you think ur talking to btw?" can i just say this real quick... allison- started the rally to try to get me out me- lets get allison out. allison- goes home. ryan- was partners with jordan pming everyone trying to get me out. me- lets get ryan out. ryan- goes home. jordan- same as above. was partners with ryan pming everyone trying to rally votes against me the allison week. me- lets get jordan out. jordan- goes home. everyone- lets get andrew out its time! me- lets get jaiden out. jaiden- goes home. https://68.media.tumblr.com/02aa5ec34518a894eef3408820de7bbd/tumblr_ohuo4d0OUh1uxnkpto1_1280.jpg NOW. im not getting jake out. he can have his hissy fit all he wants but i know theres loyalty still down there. but do i want isaac or andrew out now? hmm..

ME: TRIES TO SAVE ANDREW IS SUPER EXCITED WHEN JAIDEN FUCKS HIMSELF OVER SO ANDREW CAN SURVIVE THINKS WE'RE GOING TO WORK TOGETHER ANDREW: I'M GUNNA ELIMINATE SAM FROM THIS CHALLENGE ME: BOY WHAT ARE YOU DOING??? I'M OVER IT!! I'M READY TO KILL ANDREW I've decided I want me, Zack, JC, and Sam B to final 4 because fuck Jake and Andrew for killing me and fuck Isaac because he's guilty by association. Also in all of these receipts of Jaiden trying to try up the votes, ANDREW is the one who suggested me! Jaiden said me or JC and Andrew COULD HAVE SAID JC BUT HE DIDN'T SO BYE ANDREW. AND HE THREW HIS VOTE TO ME WHEN IT COULD HAVE GONE TO SOMEONE ELSE HONESTLY BYE

I'm honestly v upset to see Jaiden go :( I was definitely stressed in those last few confessionals but I really do luv Jaiden so much and actually did see us getting so much further in the game together :/ I don't know why he had to flip and not even tell me about it but idk hopefully I can make the best of this. Like I'm not the reason he got out necessarily and I feel like our relationship was good enough to have an ok chance of getting his vote if I ever make it to FTC, which is highly unlikely idek why I'm thinking about that when it's still like 5 votes away if it is going to be a f2 like I think it is. Then the immunity challenge seemed to go well even though I didn't win. It appears to have raised distrust towards Andrew from Sam which is veryyyy good because I'd love to get Andrew out! I'm not a fan of the comp slayers in the game, even miss Zack and Jakey who are my allies are worrisome because of their challenge abilities. Sky Ferreira is sex btw. Speaking of jakey too I'm not sure where his head is at? Idk I got weird vibes in the challenge, especially since he took me out before comp queen Zack which is...interesting, so it's caused a bit of untrust with jakey and I too. I'm just worried that he's actually going to start picking his game up and start slayin and when he does I wonder if he's going to stick with me or flip and go with other people. So I need to keep an eye out for his ass, and another on the finish line. I'm also going to try for the time being to just continue playing as if I don't have an idol. I feel like idols can impair your judgement abilities and actually be a kind of crux to your gameplay because you can get a bit too assured of yourself, and you can never feel safe in these games. It's worrying now too because I see like one of the main benefits that was around keeping Jaiden was that he was such a big threat, it was just like you could just be like oh yeah let's do Jaiden, and people would be like yeah tru and then of course you could flip it to who you really want later. Now jaidens gone and Isaac asked me who I wanted to vote and it's not like I could be like oh yea we should vote Jaiden hurr hurr. So idk I was just like what about jakey idk and he was like yeah I think jaidens high key annoying and I was just like ok 👀 mama calm down as he continued talking about how jakey a lil trifling hoe, but I mean jakey likes Make Me (Cry) by Noah Cyrus so could he really be that bad? Idk. I should ask what his zodiac sign is before I make any decisions for the vote or ideas of his character.

flkjfdsal I don't remember if I did a confessional but this could be my last one since it's 20 minutes before the vote and I've heard NOTHING from anyone except for JC! so like fuck Andrew and Isaac honestly I REALLY hope me Sam Zack and JC stick together but I don't see it happening. I'm pretty sure I'm getting voted out so like it's been real.

I'm so happy I've made Final 7 but more importantly, I made it passed Jaiden! This vote is messy btw I just woke up from a nap and I have no idea what I'm doing.

So I'm being voted by Sam G, JC, and Zack. I know that for sure. I'm hoping Myself, Isaac, and Sam B all vote together. And just get out JC. I guess Zack is playing a map on me. So he'll see I voted for JC. And they might play an idol on JC and I'll be fucked. I dunno if an idol is being played tonight but hopefully if it is then it's played on Sam G? I really don't wanna die. But id I am then Zack is a snake. Like I knew that asdfghj but. I was hoping maybe he would actually take the secret pair beware thing farther. I guess it was fun while it lasted. Only so long before the pet snake takes a bite. Anyway, I'm probs not surviving tonight. So I hope Isaac or Sam B or Jake wins. But like 98% hope Isaac wins because he fucking deserves it. This will likely be my last confessional so. It's been fun and I'm glad I was able to play a pretty awesome all-star season. Anyway DAN GHEESLING IS MY BROTHER BYE.

I HATE MAKING DECISIONS! I have 5 minutes to decide whether I want to work with Isaac and Andrew or Jc and zack. I'm super nervous because there will be drawbacks for each option I choose. Zack will probably yell at me a LOT if I flip and Isaac will probably be so hurt by me and not want to be friendship anymore. And I want to work with Andrew in PI Allstars so I don't want to betray him here. Ugh this is messy fuck

welp i have 5 minutes so zack fucked me over hard core in immunity this round and all trust i did have in him is lost. this round it would be ideal for JC to leave but idk if sam b. is smart enough to make that move... um!!! yeah im just trying to convince her but i dont rly see it happening. andrew will prob leave or me tbh. i honestly think its me lmao. oh well. fuck zack

WELL, It appears Andrew is voting me again! Vote me once, shame on you; vote me twice, bitch you gotta go! Ugh idk I'm heeeeella nervous that I might be going tonight so I'm definitely keeping my idol close, we might be seeing a play tonight. Maybe even two if Andrew has one. Hm. So, I approached Isaac, told him I wanted to vote Andrew. He claimed he was down to vote Andrew too, but told Sam that he wasn't going to vote me but would vote someone else. Sounds like an idol might be getting played on andrewwww so they're splitting the votes, huh?! How. Fucking. Cute!!! This is disgusting I'll probably have to play my vote negator on whoever Isaac votes and use my idol for everything to work out tonight. UGH! This is so worrisome, idk why Andrew had to vote me tho! Like girl couldn't you vote either Sam instead since everyone else is on your side and Zack is immune. Whyyyyy meeeeeee 😢😢 it's not like I was pushing to vote for Andrew this week and last week also! *sarcasm* but I mean still, come on! It's not like Sam G wasn't pushing for you too, ugh. I don't know this is tough, if anything I'm probably gonna at least reveal to someone that I have an idol tonight or something. I need to find out how this vote is gonna go down...this is gonna be a long bumpy rife

Later...

Oh my fucking God Samantha BUSSY voted me out I can't fucking believe this. I'm honestly shook like I messaged Sam G first asking if she flipped then when she said no I went to Zack when he said no I was like what the fuck, how could it be pure angel Sam Bussy??? I pressed her and eventually she admitted to it. So I went to her and she denied it at first but finally admitted to it later. Then I called her and I think I flipped her. Hopefulfuckingly! I'm trying to flip Isaac as well just in case anything goes wrong and hopefully I can. I really hope I stay my dumbass should've played my idol when my gut told me to, but I simply didn't listen, I'm so stupid! But if I /do/ survive, then this would really be a wild move and I'll definitely be playing shit next week, if not everything smh. I'm puhRAYING that my mist works, because if not I'm going down as a big idiot who went home with their idol, probably the first big idiot who went home with their idol in storybook history! THE BIGGEST IDIOT IN STORYBOOK HISTORY!!! Kms if I go out this game I'm screaming.

[digitalmark18-blog]

Rebranding your local business? Don't start without reading these tips

New Post has been published on https://britishdigitalmarketingnews.com/rebranding-your-local-business-dont-start-without-reading-these-tips/

Rebranding your local business? Don't start without reading these tips

There’s a whole host of reasons you’d want to rebrand your local business:

Your product and service offering might be outgrowing your name and website.

You might have found a new location close to the center of town.

You feel a facelift might revitalize a flagging business.

Whatever your reasons, they must be good given the work it takes to rebrand. It may be the biggest and highest-risk challenge you’ve ever faced. The tone of voice, website design, color scheme, logos, directory listings and sales process may all need to change at once. It’s not an easy or quick switch.

Interest in a local business’ rebranding isn’t as strong as big brands enjoy, so you can kiss that viral piece on the evolution of your brand goodbye. Unlike Pepsi or other big brands, there is a high likelihood few will notice a logo change from a small business.

Small businesses don’t have access to a multimillion-dollar branding and communications strategy. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still make a true impact on the bottom line with a thoroughly researched and well-executed rebrand.

I’m going to go through a few key marketing points and steps to take if you’re considering or in the process of rebranding a local business. While I will be providing insights on the less technical, more strategic side of things, I have included a link that explains how to migrate your site to a new domain.

Involve your audience

Are you looking for a whole new audience or an expanded one? Either way, it’s worthwhile involving your current customers in the rebranding process, even if just in a small way.

First, survey your customers on what they already like about your brand so you can avoid losing those elements in your new branding. Learn why they came to you initially and, almost most importantly, why they stick around.

If your rebranding is already underway, show your customers some potential logos and ask them to vote on their favorite. Remember that unless you make the results public, you’re not beholden to select their logo unless you love it, too!

You can be as open and public or as secretive and private with your customer involvement as you like. The former is great if you already have a loyal customer base willing to share the news of the rebrand.  The latter is better if you are in the very early stages of rebrand consideration.

Go wide and loud with a request for customer feedback on Twitter and Facebook (perhaps with a link back to a website-hosted survey) or via a pop-up on your website using a tool like Hotjar. You can also keep it quiet with face-to-face questions in-store or a segmented email to your most loyal customers.

Whatever amount of noise you decide to make with your customer involvement, make sure you highlight how important it is for you to keep current customers satisfied and happy. They’ll appreciate having their thoughts and feelings considered and be more likely to stay on board when the new brand is launched.

Don’t change too much too fast

Unless you’re determined to completely pivot your business and reach an entirely new and different customer base, I’d recommend not changing too much about what makes your business what it is all at one time.

Smaller, more iterative adjustments to branding (a smoothing of the edges here, a lightening of the color palette there) will lessen the risk of losing your current audience’s connection to your brand. Obviously, the risk will be even less if you’ve involved them in your rebranding strategy.

When faced with a potential name change, try to keep an element of your original business name. This will give you more options down the line. Consider how Snapchat Inc. became Snap Inc. and eventually branched out into products like Spectacles.

The other reason not to change too much too fast centers around your SEO. If, with a snap of your fingers, you launch a new website, new company name, a new tone of voice and new copy, your site may lose rankings and take a while to rebound. It makes sense to slowly tweak things and avoid those negatives.

Research the landscape

Thorough preparation is critical ahead of a rebrand, and one area you’d be foolish to overlook is the competition. This is particularly true if you’re changing your business name.

There can be no worse (and no more easily avoided) frustration than learning the potential name you’ve been cherishing all this time is incredibly close to another business, or worse, a business in your industry.

Checking out the competition on Bing or Google is easy. Be sure you look at local, organic and map results.

It’s also definitely worth making sure your planned business name has all social media usernames available, and I mean all of them. You might not think you need Pinterest or Snapchat right now, but as they’re free to use, it’s better to be covered and safe than sorry.

While you are researching your social media profiles, keep in mind you’ll want to use the exact same username across all platforms for complete brand consistency. When you snag that next new loyal customer, you’ll want them to immediately find and follow your social profiles with ease.

Plan your Google My Business changes well

Whatever you do, it is not a good idea to set up a new Google My Business (GMB) listing for a rebranded company and leaving the old GMB listing intact. Having two profiles does not mean you will dominate the rankings for your local search terms and could cause duplicate listing issues.

The only exception to this would be if your rebrand changed and what you’re selling changed along with it.

For example, if you’re an Indian restaurant pivoting to Vietnamese cuisine with a new chef and a new menu, you would need to open a new listing and close the old one, as all information and customer reviews on the older listing will no longer apply.

Google wants GMB to accurately and fairly represent the experience of using or dealing with a business, so it doesn’t want to see reviews of an Indian dining experience on a Vietnamese restaurant’s GMB profile. In an ideal world, business owners would have the power to remove reviews that are no longer relevant, but this currently isn’t possible, and “flagging” reviews only reports them for offensive language.

If you only need to update your current GMB profile, the extent to which you do so will depend on how big a rebrand you’re going for, but you’ll certainly want to look at the following items to see if they will still be accurate after the change:

Business name. If you’ve changed any part of your business name, you’ll need to update this and get it verified as soon as your rebrand strategy is in progress.

Categories. Only change these if your rebrand involves introducing new services that will fundamentally alter your business category.

Address and phone number. Only necessary if your rebrand includes a move of premises.

Logo, photos and videos. Rich GMB content will need to be carefully considered after the rebrand. Do what you can to encourage people to take photos of your newly rebranded store, and be sure to upload a new company logo. Consider bringing in someone to record a 360 tour of your business to show off the new branding.

Q&As. Will the answers that you and your customers have left for enquiring minds still be accurate after the rebrand? Take a look, and if something is no longer accurate, just click the three dots next to the answer to “Report” it, and then select: “No Longer Applies” to flag it for removal.

Update all your citations

Probably the most important information on your Google My Business listing is your NAP — name, address and phone number.

Sites that carry the details of your business (also known as your “citations”) will need to be contacted and asked if they will update your information as a way to avoid negative impacts on rankings due to inconsistent NAP.

And it’s not just your search results that could suffer. Recent research shows that incorrect or inconsistent contact details or business information found online would make 80 percent of people lose trust in a business. It’s not a simple job to update all your listings, but this shows it’s definitely worth it.

You can update and clean up your citations by using an automated tool or doing it by hand. Updating manually rather than using a tool service allows you to keep complete control of your listings, even if it is a little more work. Automated tools stop working if you stop paying for them, and you’ll likely see your listings go back to how they were if you stop paying for the citation management service.

Make the most of the PR opportunity

A well-planned, creative and significant shift in branding can result in coverage in local and industry press. To increase the chances of this, you’ll need to hold events at your brick-and-mortar store and host a press launch.

This gives journalists something to photograph, and these kinds of events are far easier to feature in publications if accompanied by plenty of smiling faces. Even if you don’t have an offline store, you can still host a media release and a special promotional code to celebrate the relaunch.

Conclusion

Whether you’re tweaking a logo, adding a new partner to your law firm name or completely changing your whole business model, keep these tips in mind as you rebrand. Be sure to involve your customers, update your citations and get the press involved. You’ll enjoy a successful rebrand if you do!

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Marketing Land. Staff authors are listed here.

About The Author

Jamie Pitman is Head of Content at local SEO tool provider BrightLocal. He’s been working in Digital Marketing for nearly ten years and has specialized in SEO, content marketing and social media, managing successful marketing projects for clients and employers alike. Over this time he’s blogged his heart out, writing over 300 posts on a wide variety of digital marketing topics for various businesses and publications.

Source: https://marketingland.com/rebranding-your-local-business-dont-start-without-reading-these-tips-245217