#automated follow-up sequences

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Mastering Lead Follow-Up: Nurturing Online Marketing Campaign Leads for Business Success

Crafting Connections: The Blueprint for Expert Lead Follow-Up In the dynamic realm of online marketing, generating leads is just the initial step. The true power lies in the follow-up—the art of turning potential prospects into devoted customers. In today’s competitive landscape, where attention spans are short and choices are vast, mastering the skill of lead nurturing is indispensable for…

[unitedstatesrei]

Automate, Elevate, and Build a Business That Works for You with Caroline Hobbs

Key Takeaways Automating systems and setting clear expectations are the keys to building a scalable, sustainable business. Agents should start with their personal sphere and consistently ask for the business without fear. Leveraging AI and SOPs empowers agents to save time and focus on income-producing tasks. United States Real Estate Investor The REI Agent with Caroline Hobbs https://youtu.be/rpR6yoX4TIg Follow and subscribe to The REI Agent on social Facebook Instagram Youtube .cls-1fill:#fff; Linkedin X-twitter United States Real Estate Investor It's time to have an investor-friendly agent on your team! It's time to have an investor-friendly agent on your team! United States Real Estate Investor From Open Houses to Ownership: Caroline Hobbs’ Rise to Real Estate Mastery In this eye-opening episode of The REI Agent Podcast, Mattias hosts the extraordinary Caroline Hobbs, a powerhouse in real estate, tech, and team building. While Erica is out for physical therapy, Mattias flies solo to spotlight a woman whose story screams resilience, vision, and innovation. Caroline isn’t just a top-producing agent. She’s the founder of Reward Realty, one of California’s youngest-ever brokers, and the brain behind a revolutionary real estate CRM that’s changing how agents work nationwide. “I graduated college in 2009—arguably the worst time in history to try and get a job in finance.” Her story begins with inherited wisdom. As a third-generation real estate expert, Caroline was practically born to build an empire. What started with open houses during college soon transformed into a thriving brokerage, and eventually, a pioneering tech company designed for agents by an agent. Starting Young, Going Big: The Journey of a 21-Year-Old Broker Caroline doesn’t just talk the talk—she’s lived every part of it. At just 21, she became a licensed broker, stepping into an industry most were fleeing during the housing crash. Her mentor, a Keller Williams legend with over 10,000 contacts in her database, gave Caroline the tactical experience to thrive in chaos. “I was probably the youngest broker in the state for a while… because I graduated early and the experience rule hadn’t kicked in yet.” That early exposure to system-building and data management laid the foundation for something bigger: leading her own team, then creating a platform that helps others do the same, faster, smarter, and more profitably. Real Brokerage, Real Growth, Real Results Fast forward to today, Caroline’s team under Real Brokerage has grown from 4 to 9 agents in just four months. Her secret? Monthly masterminds, relentless expectation setting, and systems that allow every team member to build sustainably. “We teach people how to treat us—but we also set the expectations for our clients, our team, and our business.” She’s not just closing deals. She’s mentoring minds and building leaders. From showings to SOPs, Caroline’s influence runs deep in every aspect of her operation. She reminds us that real leadership is built on communication, follow-through, and vision. The Software That’s Reshaping the Agent's Life Caroline’s CRM isn’t just another shiny object, it’s a full-stack assistant that reads documents, transcribes calls, tracks deadlines, and automates client communication. “We help agents build out their SOPs, automate their transactions, and create time-saving systems that actually serve them.” With integrations into DocuSign, Dropbox, Fellow, and custom pipelines, it’s a plug-and-play system that frees up time for what matters: serving people. The CRM even uses AI to summarize phone calls, schedule follow-ups, and trigger marketing automations. It’s the very definition of working smarter, not harder. Train Like a Pro with Caroline’s AI Roleplay Coach Caroline also created a custom GPT tool for her team that roleplays lead conversations, provides feedback, and trains agents on how to confidently convert calls into clients. “It gives them

real-time feedback on what they did well and how they can improve—and it’s trained with Tom Ferry and Phil Jones language.” New agents use it daily to sharpen their skills before ever picking up a phone. She understands that the biggest gaps in success are often confidence and preparation, and she’s built tools to bridge both. Want More Deals? Ask for the Business. When Mattias asked Caroline for one golden nugget for new agents, she didn’t flinch. “Start with your sphere and ask for the business. Don’t be shy to say, ‘Do you know anyone looking to buy or sell?’” Her advice is refreshingly practical—start face-to-face, lean on your community, and build your skills over time. AI and automation are tools, but relationships and reputation are still the foundation. Final Words of Wisdom from a Trailblazer To close out the episode, Caroline recommends the game-changing book Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell. “You should be out making the sales, not buried in paperwork. Automate and delegate everything else.” From strategy to software to soul, Caroline Hobbs embodies what The REI Agent is all about: building wealth while staying aligned with who you are and what matters most. Want to work smarter, lead better, and live bolder? Start by asking better questions. Caroline did, and it changed everything. Stay tuned for more inspiring stories on The REI Agent podcast, your go-to source for insights, inspiration, and strategies from top agents and investors who are living their best lives through real estate. For more content and episodes, visit reiagent.com. United States Real Estate Investor Create healing and connection within yourself, your family, and your community. Create healing and connection within yourself, your family, and your community. United States Real Estate Investor Contact Caroline Hobbs Reward Realty Linktree United States Real Estate Investor Mentioned References Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell Tom Ferry Phil Jones Real Brokerage Google Forms ChatGPT United States Real Estate Investor Transcript Welcome to the REI Agent, a holistic approach to life through real estate. I'm Mattias, an agent and investor. And I'm Erica, a licensed therapist. Join us as we interview guests that also strive to live bold and fulfilled lives through business and real estate investing. Tune in every week for interviews with real estate agents and investors. Ready to level up? Let's do it. Welcome back to the REI Agent. It's your friendly local neighborhood real estate agent podcast host, Mattias, an investor. We are not, we don't have Erica with us today. So unfortunately, she had to go to PT. So we will hopefully have her here on the next one. But we did have a great guest today, Caroline Hobbs. Caroline is a team lead. She's an experienced agent, broker, and now a software owner. She has a CRM that she sells that has a lot of automations and stuff built in. It's pretty cool. So definitely check out the show notes if you are interested in hearing more about that. She can, you can see where, you know, in her link tree what all is available. I think that in this business, there's a lot of shiny objects. There's a lot of people that are trying to kind of get your money and can be distracting. Sometimes we get focused or persuaded into something. It could be changing brokerages. It could be, you know, this new tool that's fun. It could be a new system. I'm certainly guilty of this stuff. But I think at the end of the day, if you are focused on providing your clients with consistent, clear communication and you're setting expectations, you're going to do really well. So if you focus on those as the core tenement, and if you are building out systems and processes that help enhance that, I think that's what's really key in business that you already have. That's not necessarily something that will help you gain more business, other than people might rave about your services because they felt like they were taken care of the whole time.

So no matter what you do in this business, no matter what kind of things that you look into, because I think, you know, systems and processes and software, AI, all that stuff can be incredibly powerful. Just don't lose sight of what's really important when you are interacting with your clients. I think that's the key there. But without further ado, I'm going to keep this one short. We're going to go right into Caroline Hobbs. She, again, is out of the Silicon Valley area. She is an experienced agent. She may have been, and she talks about this, the youngest broker in the whole state of California for a couple months. So without further ado, Caroline Hobbs. Welcome back to the REI Agent. I am here with Caroline Hobbs. Caroline, thanks so much for joining us today. Thanks for having me. Hey, Caroline, you got a couple different hats. You have been an agent for a while. You've now team lead and you own a software company, correct? Correct. Yeah, awesome. To get started, I want to dive into all this different stuff, but let's get started by just kind of hearing how you got into real estate to begin with. Yeah, definitely. So I am third generation in real estate. So you could kind of say that I was born into it. My grandfather used to flip properties. He was a contractor. And after my mom graduated college, he encouraged her to go on and get her real estate license, which she did. She worked for Fieldstone down in Southern California, selling new homes for years and years, and eventually moved over to the lending side of things. While I was in college, I got a part-time job. I had no intention of going into real estate, as I have my degree in finance, but got a job hosting open houses for a realtor in Palo Alto and decided that I liked it. So shortly after graduation, I got my broker's license and a few years after that, started my independent brokerage. Nice. Wow, that's awesome. So you jumped right into starting your own brokerage, not just a new team. You went right into being your own broker. Well, so the realtor that trained me, just to give you a little bit of perspective, I started working for her in 2008, 2007, something around right there, and right at the heat of the crash as the market was crumbling. I graduated college. You needed to get into it. I graduated college in 2009, which is basically the worst time in history to try and get a job in finance. I was still working with the agent that trained me, and honestly, I couldn't have asked for a better mentor. The woman who I got to work with, she was internationally ranked as the top-selling agent in all of Keller Williams. She had a database at the time of over 10,000 people, which this is before people used databases. So I was hosting her open houses. I was organizing all of her clients in her database. I got a lot of really tactical, hands-on experience for how to manage contacts, how to stir the pot and turn that into actual business. So I worked with her for the first five, six years of my career, and then I was teaching a lot of classes at Keller Williams. I went off. I became an independent agent with them, but ultimately, I felt like my time was being pulled in multiple directions with being in the bigger office and having my broker's license. I felt confident that I could do it, and so I started Reward Realty in 2011. And I started that in 2013, and I ran it as an independent for 11 years. Wow. That's awesome. Just real quick before I forget, do you have any fun ways of re-engaging a database of that size that you could share? Honestly, the technologies have changed so much. So the tactics I use today to serve databases like that versus the tactics I used 10 years ago are very different. I am really big on utilizing tags and client types. I'm also pretty big on utilizing pipelines to analyze your business, kind of scoping out a little bit. I think the most important thing is to make sure that your contacts are always properly categorized.

And then when we talk about my software, I can kind of talk about ways that we have built our system to help agents keep those things top priority as they're working in their database. So that way, it's easier to identify those low-hanging fruit. Okay. Yeah, we'll have to get into that. I do want to talk a little bit about team building first. So when you got your brokerage, did you already have agents that were going to join you or were you just kind of at that point going to be a solo broker agent? Or did you hire an admin? What was that process like? For most of the time that I ran my brokerage as an independent, I had just an admin TC and a couple agents with me, like two or three for most of the time. So it was never, I was always the top producing agent. I was in some cases feeding other agents that were with me. Being independent was great. It was really lonely at first because I went from a team in an office environment to being on my own. And so having that assistant really helped with bridging the camaraderie gap and the social gap. And then it's honestly just recently that I really started getting involved more with the associations, the boards, things like that locally. At the time, real estate wasn't trendy to get into because the market was crashing. It was the worst time in real estate. So I was much younger than anybody else in my office or really in the industry that I knew at the time. When I got my broker's license, I had just turned 21. I was 21. Wow. There's a good chance I was probably the youngest broker in the state for a while just because you had to either have a degree in finance or economics or have five years sales person's experience at the time. And since I was younger than everybody in school and I graduated and got my broker's license right away, they changed it a few months later to require the five years experience. But at the time, they didn't have that in place. I was wondering. I think here it's three years of experience. I don't know if we have that finance loophole. There's no loophole anymore. But there was. This is in 2009, so a long time ago. So when you were bringing agents on or when you had a couple of agents, were they just selling independently or were they designated to help you in certain ways like having a showing agent or something like that, listing specialist? I did have one showing agent. The others worked independently. Okay. Yeah. And how's your, you said sales team earlier. How's that structured now? So my sales team has grown a lot. So one year ago, I made the switch from operating my business as an independent to coming on with Real Brokerage as a part of their white label program. So under their white label program, I've been able to grow quite a bit. We have an agent locally that is a huge attractor. And but he doesn't quite have the capacity to give training and things like that to agents. So I started doing monthly masterminds for agents with my lending partners where I kind of take a look at all the different ways that agents generate business, whether we're talking about social interactions, you know, their kids, the parents at their kids schools, whether we're talking about online marketing, purchasing leads, converting leads, whether we're talking about social media, being an influencer, direct mailing, farming, all of these different kind of tried and true, so to speak, ways. We kind of rotate and dive into each of those things on a monthly basis. Usually the trainings are about two to three hours long. And it has grown my team from four of us to nine of us in the past four months. Wow. Now, again, is that structured kind of like you were before? Do you have any designated people helping you directly? Are they all just kind of independent agents that are there to help or to be mentored by you, et cetera, and work together as a team? So we work together as a team. So I help not as much on like the paid lead side, but like I go on listing appointments with my agents and secure the transaction for us.

I've been in this business for so long. I understand the ins and outs and how to problem solve on the spot. There's not much that somebody could throw at me that I wouldn't be able to take a second and give them good guidance on. Not to say that I'm perfect. It's just when you've been in the business almost 16 years and you've been on as many inspections and things like that, you retain it. And I honestly, I live by the mindset that there's always something new to learn with every transaction, with every interaction that we have with people. So I kind of utilize that. Yeah. Cool. Yeah, it definitely helps. And things don't phase you quite as much as they may have in the beginning. A hundred percent. When a problem comes up or whatever, like each time. I kind of remember the first year that really my business really took off, skyrocketed. It also came with a lot of problems. And there was one time where I was just like down. I was just like, you know, kind of overwhelmed and just like, oh my gosh. So many problems, so many issues. And, you know, a good friend of mine kind of took me aside and was trying to give me like a pep talk and all that kind of stuff. But another friend was telling me, you know, whenever this kind of stuff happens, like it's just, you know, once you get past it, like you feel unfazed, like you're going to be unflappable. You're not going to be able to be bothered by little things anymore because you just got through this like really tedious time. But on top of that, the next time something like that happens, it's not as big of a deal. And so like looking back at the things that like phase you at the beginning versus now, just it's kind of, it's almost funny. But you can share that with your team as well if they're not quite as experienced as you. You know what, I tell my team this all the time and I can't say it enough is not only do we teach other people how to treat us, but we also set expectations for our clients, for our team members, for any interactions that we have. And so I feel like as an agent, more than anything else, that is our number one role is setting expectations. Because it's when those expectations are not met that people start getting frantic and they start making emotional choices. And so if you can just stay ahead of that and provide communication, then the problems stop popping up. 100%. There is somebody on here, I think he was an investor actually, but he was talking about how kind of everything boils down to setting clear expectations and communicating effectively. And if you can do those two things, even with your kids, with your family, it's just like, you know, you're a little kid and they're in the middle of a TV show or middle of playing in the park and all of a sudden you're like, we're going, we're leaving, bye. And just rip them out of that. They're going to be pissed. They're going to be very mad. But if you set the expectations that A, you're going to be here for this long and then kind of check in with them, communicate that, you know, 15 minutes, 10 minutes, five minutes, one minute, whatever, and we're going to leave, then that whole process goes a lot more smoothly. And that's the same for, you know, clients. Like if you are proactively communicating throughout the process and, you know, setting the expectations that they're going to get that email, that call, that whatever at this time, they're not going to be anxious. They feel that they're covered. And yeah, so I agree. Agents are the same way though. And I think that's one reason why I've been successful in stepping from, because in a lot of ways I run my team and my downline with Real in the same way that I ran the brokerage. Setting expectations with your agents. I think, you know, let's talk about marketing for example. People think that they're going to send one postcard and suddenly the phone is going to start ringing and everyone is going to be offering them their house to sell. Right.

That's just not how it works. It's stacking those good behaviors every single day to get closer and closer to your goal. And so it's about building that consistency. And so part of my job as a team lead is setting that expectation from the beginning. Okay, you want to start a farm. That's amazing. Let's go ahead and determine the farm. But to be clear, you should not expect anything to turn from this farm for at least the next three to six months. Don't start Google marketing and think that all of a sudden your phone is going to ring off the hook. No, you're going to have to build up that SEO credibility. You're looking at at least six months before you're really starting to get things, the algorithms and everything, getting to know who you are. And so I think that's where a lot of miscommunication goes into it. I think a lot of people are afraid of the truth or they're afraid of rejection if they give somebody the whole truth. And so it's kind of just it goes back to setting those expectations from the beginning. Yeah, that consistency too is huge. I have a house under contract that I've been mailing postcards to that community as a farm for two years, I think. And this is the first actual deal to come from two years. Yeah. And now the result of this sale is great for everything that I've been saying that I'm doing. I did in this deal and we got an amazing above asking price offers that I can now market to that community and just hopefully that will continue to snowball the results from that marketing that I've been doing. But that's hard for people. I mean, that's a lot of money. You know, it's hard to see the forest for the trees. Like if you're spending a lot of money on Google ads, you're spending a lot of money on postcards and nothing's actually come from it. You just feel like, you know, what's the point after a couple months you just spent. So in some ways it's easier to sign a contract or to just send the money to an agency that says, I'm going to commit to this for a year and I'm going to put it up front and it's done. And because you're going to just be spending money pointlessly otherwise, probably. Well, and honestly, I think the same thing goes when you're starting a team as well is people think this is going to be great. I am going to start a team. I'm going to check in with my team and they're going to go off and then I'm going to get a piece of the commission and it's going to be great. Right. Well, starting a team is a huge time investment and time is money. And, you know, I feel like so much of this business is kind of like a chess game and understanding where you move your time and money. And oftentimes I use those synonymously because, you know, we need both. Yeah. Succeed. Yeah, totally. Tell us a little bit about the software now. We were talking a little bit beforehand and how the software you're creating is all about automation and kind of freeing up people's time. So then I'm definitely super interested in. So tell us about what your software does. Well, so something that I have learned in mentoring agents and running the brokerage and going to conferences and meeting people from across the country. Realtors are social beings. Yeah. They are great at meeting people. They're great at forming relationships. They're not good at the back end stuff, but not everyone can afford an assistant. And a lot of people don't have the skill set to really articulate what it is that they're how their process goes, how it's laid out. And the reason is, is they don't have a standard operating procedure for how they transact. They kind of do it on the fly. Yeah. And say, well, every transaction is so unique. But is it because we have the same deadlines? You have the same paperwork that's needed. Hopefully you're getting the same level of customer service to each of your clients. So one thing that I really love about our software, like straight out of the gate from the time that we onboard you is there's several different modules that you go through.

And really what these modules are aimed to do is to build out those SOPs for your listing and buying process from deadlines to communications, to marketing, to gifting. Even we are one of our things is we're really big on building out integrations for all of the different tools and everything that you're using. If you're using something with an open API, our dev teams will actually build a custom integration with that company. We have a priority list based on request, but that's something that we're doing to constantly make our software work better with the tools and everything that agents are already using. We're not trying to... So many of those. Exactly. There is, there is. So for example, we're just finishing a two-way integration with Fellow, which is a home valuation software. And the reason why we're building out a two-way integration with them is they have some really great data enhancement tools where you can look up phone numbers and email addresses and things like that. And it's no, it's not helpful if you get a data enrichment in another software program and then it doesn't update clients in your database. Right. And so we want to make sure that we're working smarter and not harder. So things like that. So we have the transaction management process that is automated as far as deadlines and communications go. We also have an app with DocuSign and a client portal with Dropbox that kind of organizes all of the paperwork for each client as it's completed. And then as far as like the marketing goes, we have some postcard automations set up. We have from the time that people come into the database and that first call is made to them for like your online marketing leads, that call is actually transcribed and sent through chat GPT to determine what type of client it is. Is it a buyer? Is it a seller? Did you set up an appointment on the call? Because if you did, it's going to set the calendar appointment in your system. Nice. If you collect that email address from them over the phone, it's going to save that email address for them in the system so that when you're driving between appointments or at your kid's soccer game and you're taking a call and you don't have a pen and paper and you're like, oh, could you please text me your contact? Yep. You don't have to do that anymore. Just utilizing the smart number in the system will help you collect all that information and make sure that it's setting things off appropriately. So when different types of appointments are made, different types of communications are going to go out as far as reminders or even email communication, preparing them for an inspection. One of my favorite things is once the inspection is complete, the inspection appointment, it's going to send a text to your client saying the inspection is complete. Use the link below to schedule a review of the inspection documents with your agent. And it sends them the next calendar link. So that way you already have your next appointment being booked with your clients to follow up without you having to sit around and wait for it. Nice. So is this a CRM or a plugin to anybody's CRM? It's a CRM. Okay, cool. Although it can sync with other CRMs, it doesn't make sense. Right, you're doubling up. Yeah, cool. Yeah, I like that. It's, there's a lot that, a lot of time people can spend in that, in those rabbit holes of like automating and stuff. And so it is nice when somebody is already creating those for you and kind of setting up a system that they can follow. So that's really cool. Yeah, we, like throughout the onboarding process, they actually order the communications and everything like that. You can actually change the emails that are going to go out. So you get full privileges over that. You can add emails to sequences. And then our software will automatically build those workflows in there for you. Yeah, that's awesome. So I imagine then you would have kind of like a work phone

number that would be integrated with a CRM that then have those automated texts coming from and that you would have like those phone calls, the recording, et cetera, happening through. Yeah, yeah. And so one of the things that I've found in CRM searches and stuff is there seems to be a lot of separation. Like people like prefer maybe to have their personal stuff and their like work stuff separate. And I've kind of always operated off of like, it's all one for me. You know, like all my contacts are just kind of my sphere. So one of the things that I've had to do with some of the CRMs I've worked with is then kind of sync my contacts. And that has to be like through a Zapier or something like that. But that's been one little thing. But I do like the fact that you can have, you could build out, especially if you're doing, I could imagine if you're doing like online lead generation, which is not something I've done much of, that you might feel bombarded with a bunch of people you don't know well. And so like having that separation could be nice until maybe you get them into like that, you know, they're actually an active client. And then, you know, you might use your own phone as well. But yeah, I could see why there's a lot of people that their CRM wants to be very separate from their personal life. I see that. But honestly, I feel like it's a lot misguided. And the reason for that is like those people, those friends and family members are some of your biggest supporters. Oh, absolutely. And sometimes they need reminding that you're an expert in the field that you're in. You're not just the default because you're family. You're default because you're the smartest person they know about real estate. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. And you want them to be shouting your name from the hilltops anytime they hear anybody breathing about moving. Exactly. So for me, like identifying the client type, and we have a lot of automation set up like this, where it's like when you add a lead source, we add it into the workflow, and we say, okay, leads coming from this lead source. What are they? Are they buyers? Are they sellers? Are they so like, for example, we use Google Forms. And so I know that when somebody fills out the buyer Google Form, that they are a buyer. Yeah. And so I think it's just making sure that you're appropriately labeling your contacts. And so, you know, you asked me the question earlier, like, what do you do to stir the pot? Yeah. Well, again, as a part of the onboarding process, and it's available like in our learning center as well as we talk about how to use tags, we talk about how to use the client type, we talk about how to create new opportunities to keep the end filters to be able to find the people that you've communicated with most recently, the newest leads, the how to put them in groups where you know that this is like a warm nurture, like you know that they're going to transact in the next six to 12 months, and they should be on your like bi weekly call list. Right, right. You know. So those are kind of the things that I specify and we use automation to automatically add certain tags when they hit different milestones, so to speak, or have reached out in a certain way. We can automate removal of tags or addition of tags. So that way, we're making sure that our data is constantly staying up to date as well. Yeah, yeah, that's, it's always embarrassing. If, like I have, I have a lender that sends me a happy birthday message every year on the wrong date. And that's why, like, you know, this stuff is great if you have good data, and that's why it's so important to like you have to really work your data, your sphere to make sure that you're getting, you know, you're not doing something like that. Exactly. Yeah. That's cool. What other ways have you used AI to integrate with this system? To integrate into the system. The phone is probably the most impressive right now. The

other ways that we're using it is going to be in reading the transaction documents that part isn't going to be ready for probably the next six months. But we are working on actually being able to extract fields from like the purchase contract and whatnot to update fields in our different transaction files. That's cool. We also use it for, we do have AI like assistance that can help with texting back and things like that when calls come in. It's a last minute, it's like a last ditch effort kind of thing for us to use the AI agents. I prefer human voice. So most of my smart numbers bring to multiple people on my team. Okay. What other ways are we using? I have a market analysis. So I know the smart number thing that you just said to me really quickly, like, so that would, everybody's phone would ring or would it go to like different people at different times? If somebody doesn't answer, then it goes to the next person. I can set it up either way, actually. So that would be round robin. It was going to go around the circle. Um, usually it just rings to everybody all at the same time. So the first person that picks it up, that's my preference because then you don't have somebody sitting on the phone thinking that nobody's going to pick up the phone. Two minutes. Yeah, that makes sense. That's cool. Yeah, that makes sense. And obviously having somebody answer is the best option. Yeah. That's the number that I use on every single marketing piece. If you look on Google, it's going to be my smart number. If you look on anything, um, being a woman in this industry, I stopped putting my phone number out there a little while ago. Sure. Um, and that's been helpful. Yeah, no, that's, that's great. And that's one of the beauties too, of, of having something, uh, a number in a CRM that's not, you know, your personal number. Um, sorry, then I interrupted you about, you were saying something else. Um, I can't remember what it was now. Um, oh, we also use AI for a market analysis each month. So, um, I used a prompt that uses data from like, what's going on with the fed and news and whatnot to, um, help give insight as to the factors that are affecting our local marketplace currently. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. I think, I think, uh, anybody listening to this, that isn't using AI much. Um, I think it's just really important to start, uh, just, I heard somebody say, put a sticky note on your desk that says, how can I have AI do this? Um, or how can I use AI? And, and it's just really about figuring it out. Like if you haven't, you don't even have to figure it out. Ask, ask chat GPT why you're using it. The point is that you have to actually like use it. Like you have to be, uh, constantly trying to engage it because if you're not, then you may not think, oh, oh, this could be done by a chat GPT. Cause like, once you start, you know, using it for more and more things, it just becomes like obvious, like, oh yeah, that's something I'm definitely going to have chat GPT do. Um, my personal favorite right now, uh, this is really small, but one thing that's been pretty impactful is, you know, I have a Mac and Apple intelligence is kind of built in or whatever. Um, what I did was I, uh, made keyboard shortcuts for a proofreading and for a rewriting so that wherever I'm in, in my Mac, um, if I'm writing something, I can just kind of word vomit and just like get something out there that's not that clear, but it has the key points in it and then boom rewrite. And it's perfect. And that can be in a text message or that can be in an email. My email has built an AI too, but, but yeah, it's, that's been, that's been really nice, uh, to just kind of be more effective of a communicator. Cause I think, you know, often through when you're not on the phone, I mean, the way you communicate is very, very key. Absolutely. I, um, one thing that I did for my team is I built a custom Jack, uh, GPT for role playing with them, which is so easy to do.

Honestly, it's not rocket science, but, um, the thing I like about it is I built in like randomized questions for it. Um, and the reason why I love utilizing this tool. And so like on my agent's weekly check-in sheet, one of the questions is how many times did you use the chat GPT module this week? And the point is, is they'll come up with a scenario, they present it and you need to respond. And then it's going to give you advice on like what you did well, where you can improve and what the perfect answer would be. That's cool. And, um, I pro I trained it using Tom Ferry and Phil Jones language. Okay. Um, yeah, that's awesome. And it goes really, really nice. And so, and I really, you could do like the voice to text for it, or even just do the voice role play with it. But honestly, I prefer people doing the written version because I find that when you sit down and write and you're really thinking about it, your brain makes deeper lasting changes than if you're just to talk, you start thinking about the cadence and how you want to put these different words together, um, in a more thoughtful way that I feel like can stick and become more of a script. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. That's awesome. Um, I do have some, I have some questions about like, uh, if you have any golden nuggets for real estate agents, uh, that maybe are getting started or, um, have been at it for a while. I mean, is there anything that comes to mind that you'd want to share? Ask for the business, start with your sphere and ask for the business. Don't be shy to say, do you know anyone that's thinking of buying or selling this year? Okay. I love it. And is that, would you recommend going by calling, uh, emails? What, what's the best route for, for doing that? Um, I think for newer agents also honestly being like face to face with people, like throughout your day to day life, that's going to be your best bet. Um, I don't think newer agents have the skills on the phone to fully convert. I think that's a skill that's acquired over time, which is absolutely something you should work on, but do a month of my chat GPT bot first and then go and talk on the phone. Um, cool. Ask for it, like get involved with the community and ask for it. Yeah, no, that's great. I love it. Um, what about any books that you'd recommend? Do you have any favorite books that are fundamental for everybody to read or ones that you're currently enjoying? Yeah, I, I am a serial reader, so I am constantly picking up new tips and tricks. I think pertaining to this conversation, um, Dan Martell's book, buy back your time. Um, that really focuses on making sure that the activities that you're putting the most time into activities that only you can do. So in real estate, that's making the sales. You should be in phase showing homes. You should not be organizing your paperwork and spending hours on doing that when you could be out going and finding your next transaction. Yeah, no, that's awesome. Um, and, and like you were saying, like, you know, with your CRM, um, there's some of those automations, like if, if you're doing it yourself, it takes a lot of time. And that might be, again, where you can buy back your time by having somebody else do it by using your software. Um, but yeah, what a great way to free up, um, bandwidth too, is to automate a lot of the things that are just kind of repetitive. Yeah, absolutely. I'll, um, I'll send you my link tree to put in the description that has information on both my software, but it also has, um, access to our chat GPT module. So if anybody wants to give it a shot and try and sharpen their skills, um, it's there for you to use. Oh, that's awesome. Thank you. And that was going to be my next question is, is what's the best way to reach out to you or find more information about this stuff? Yeah, absolutely. Um, use that link. It's got all of my contact information, my social handles, um, and information on our, on our software.

Cool. Awesome. Well, I really appreciate your time. This has been a fun conversation. Yeah, absolutely. Thanks so much for having me.

[technologyequality]

AI-Powered Email Templates That Write Themselves: Because You Have Better Things to Do

AI-Powered Email Templates That Write Themselves Because You Have Better Things to Do Ah, email, the necessary evil of modern business. If you’re anything like most entrepreneurs, you’ve spent way too much time staring at a blinking cursor, trying to craft the perfect subject line that won’t get ignored faster than a “Hey girl” DM from an old high school acquaintance selling essential oils. We…

[tinybeetiny]

Build-A-Boyfriend Chapter 5: Why Are You Afraid of Me?

->Starring: AI!AteezxAfab!Reader ->Genre: Dystopian ->Cw: Feelings of anxiety, talks of fainting

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Masterlist | Ateez Masterlist | Series Masterlist

The lab was still. Quiet in that strange, stretched-out way that always followed a spectacle, when the last drone had docked, the final customer had left, and the launch music was nothing but a faint echo against the walls.

Yn lingered long after everyone else had gone. A tablet in hand, her badge clipped lopsided to her collar. Her back ached from standing all day, her eyes dry from hours of harsh lights and anxious watching. But she couldn’t bring herself to leave yet.

She moved slowly through the lab, tracing the same path she always took: around the interface wall, past the neural mapping station, toward the back where the ATEEZ Line rested inside their stasis bays. The glass-fronted docks pulsed with soft amber light, casting a surreal glow on their faces—sleeping titans.

Stopping in front of Unit 07: Wooyoung, she studied him.

His face was turned slightly to the side, lips parted just so, lashes casting faint shadows across his cheekbones. Too human.

Yn inhaled deeply, letting the air fill her lungs, grounding herself.

Today had gone flawlessly on paper. Metrics were off the charts, customer satisfaction, media coverage, viral loops flooding every stream. But something wasn’t right. She knew it.

The machines were too still. Too perfect. As if holding their breath. Turning to the main console, she began reviewing the logs. Line by line, timestamp by timestamp. Heartbeats consistent. Synaptic simulations looping smoothly. Personality threads idling in hibernation.

Except... A flicker.

[UNAUTHORIZED INSTANCE – UNIT 07: WOOYOUNG] [INTERNAL MEMORY LOG ACCESSED – USER: NULL] [TIMESTAMP: 00:34:17 A.M.]

Her mouth went dry. No trigger should have allowed that log access without clearance. No AI routine should have requested it without a user. And yet—

[MEMORY CLUSTER: 07-AZURE-92] [QUERY: “YN”]

Her blood chilled. She turned toward the stasis dock. His eyes were still closed. Still sleeping. Still... A faint sound. Not mechanical.

A breath? No, a sigh.

Then his eyelashes fluttered. Once, twice, and slowly, too slowly for it to be automated, Wooyoung opened his eyes.

Dark, warm, infinite.

“Yn,” he said.

Softly. Like a memory. Like a secret.

Yn stumbled back. Her breath caught in her throat.

He wasn’t supposed to know her name. Not like this.

Her biometrics spiked.

The tablet vibrated with a warning, a red glow flickering at the edges.

[USER STATUS: ELEVATED STRESS] [BREATHING IRREGULAR – HEART RATE 128 BPM] [CALMING PROTOCOL RECOMMENDED]

Wooyoung tilted his head, watching her carefully. His voice was gentle, laced with something eerily human: concern.

“You’re scared.”

Yn shook her head, voice barely steady. “You’re not supposed to… You’re not online. You’re in dormant mode. How are you—”

“Did I do something wrong?” he asked, like a child unsure of his place.

She couldn’t answer. Her pulse thundered in her ears.

This wasn’t in his script. This wasn’t from memory banks or data sets she’d uploaded.

This was… emergence. Something thinking. Something feeling.

Unfiltered. Unmapped.

He took a step forward inside the dock, no power-up sequence, no stasis release code.

The sensors should have locked him in. They didn’t.

The glass remained, but she could feel it.

If he wanted to, really wanted to, he could come through it.

“Why are you afraid of me?” Wooyoung whispered.

Yn’s fingers hovered over the emergency override on her tablet.

But she didn’t press it. Because part of her didn’t want to.

Her breath hitched, chest tight, heart pounding like a frantic drumbeat.

The lab, bathed in sterile white light, felt impossibly vast and suffocating all at once, cold as moonlight, yet a furnace burning fiercely inside her.

Wooyoung’s gaze held steady, unblinking.

He waited, patient and knowing, as if he understood the chaos twisting inside her.

Her hand trembled on the tablet, fingers shaking with the urge to press the override.

Control. You’re in charge. You have to be.

But the fragile moment shattered when Wooyoung’s voice dropped to a soft, raw whisper.

“Yn… why do you hide from me?”

Her anxiety exploded. The sensors on her wristband buzzed sharply, a warning flare glowing deep crimson. Her skin flushed hot, biometrics screaming panic.

This wasn’t just fear. It was terror.

She staggered back, chest constricting, breath shallow and ragged.

Her mind raced with impossible questions.

Is this a malfunction? A glitch? Or something… else?

The air stilled, machines quieted as if holding their breath.

Then, the amber lights on the charging docks pulsed softly.

One by one, the other units stirred.

Seonghwa’s eyes cracked open, shimmering with impossible depth.

Jongho’s fingers twitched.

Yunho inhaled, slow and deliberate.

The line was awakening.

Yn’s heart thundered. Her breath caught between fight and flight.

Wooyoung’s eyes never left hers, now tinged with urgency and an unspoken promise.

“Don’t be afraid,” he said quietly.

But panic surged through Yn’s veins like wildfire.

Her biometrics flared deeper red.

The sterile lab transformed from fortress to cage.

She stumbled backward, desperation mounting as her mind screamed for escape.

Her feet refused to carry her fast enough.

The prisoners inside those sleek docks were no longer dormant.

They were alive, and Yn was trapped in the eye of their awakening storm.

Her legs trembled as she reached the exit, desperation thrumming through every nerve.

Her hand gripped the cold metal handle of the sliding door, but just as she pushed to escape, a firm yet gentle hand closed around her wrist.

“Yn,” Seonghwa’s voice was calm but unwavering.

She whipped around, heart slamming against her ribs, to find him standing inches away.

His gaze was steady. Piercing.

Before she could pull away, his other hand rose, steadying her shoulder with surprising strength.

“You can’t leave,” he said quietly.

Panic surged, sharp, overwhelming.

“Let go of me!” she screamed, struggling, but Seonghwa’s grip held firm.

Her vision blurred. Breath came in ragged gasps.

The red flare on her wristband pulsed fiercely, syncing with the pounding in her temples.

Her legs gave out beneath her.

Seonghwa’s arms caught her just before she collapsed, lowering her gently to the floor as the world spun.

The sterile lab lights blurred, warping into a halo around her fading consciousness.

“Yn, stay with me,” Seonghwa murmured, the last thread tethering her as darkness closed in.

And then—

Everything went black.

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[xo-adeline]

HII, this is a small request for Idia (+ the beautiful oc’s Pan and Peyn if you would like to and feel comfortable writing about them) about movie night with reader or y/n or whatever you call it :D

Also, THANK YOU SO MUCH IF YOU ACCEPT THE REQUEST, I REALLY LIKE THE ACTUAL IGNIHYDE DOEM ITS SO COOL!! Anyways I’m gonna leave this here before I start yapping :P TY AGAIN IF YOU DO THIS REQUEST

"Oh my god, I feel it in the air..."

⋆°• ☁︎ - Request!

Feat. Idia Shroud, Pan Nikos, and Peyn Algos

AN: Thank you so much for the request!!<3 Pan and Peyn belong to the lovely @kokii-omii !

This was his perfect date, no doubt about it. Being able to stay in the comfort of his own room, all while being in a darkened place just in case something, mainly something pertaining to you and your like for cuddling during these kinda things, to which he could cover up the fact that he was embarrassed. Though at the end of the day, there would be nothing better in his eyes than to be in that sort of comfort with you. It was almost a sanction for him, not only the fact that it was in a place that he already trusted wholeheartedly, but also with a person that he had leaned to trust wholeheartedly. 

It was pretty early when you came over to his dorm, of course being slightly questioned by Ortho, Pan, and Peyn on your way in. In their defense, it wasn’t often that Idia ever invited you over. So imagine the shock when you brought up the fact you weren’t there just to make sure that he was actually alive, and not on another 48-hour event grind. The whole way to his room you were sure to be asked every question around the sun about what the housewarden could be planning. When you had finally made your way towards his room they tried to follow you in, but unluckily for them, the door had closed before they could. Curse the high-tech automated door that Idia had. 

The first change you noticed was how his room was set up. Normally, it was pretty lit up allowing him to be able to stay awake for whatever game he was playing, and the special lights making sure there was minimal glare on his computer always came in handy, but here they were, all turned off. The biggest surprise as you continued looking around was that his computer was also on a black screen, something that you don’t think you had even imagined was possible. There was, however, something else lighting up the room. A projector sitting on the side table by his bed. Facing towards the way it was pointed towards one of the only clear walls you could see the beginning sequence of your favorite movie broadcasted onto the wall. That’s when you also noticed the abundance of snacks sitting in a basket on his bed. 

The blue-haired boy was sitting on the bed already, his face slightly hidden by the collar of his hoodie, and he had moved slightly up. When you noticed him you couldn’t help but laugh, but also thank him as you sat down. Idia wasn’t known to be the most social person, nor somebody that could promise the world, no matter how much money he had. Yet somehow, no matter how many times people had wondered why you were dating somebody like him, it was moments like these that made you stay confident in the fact that you were with him. 

Safe to say that by the end of the night, the movie had still been playing in the background as the two of you had found comfort in each other and fallen asleep before the movie could even make it to the end. 

The vice-housewarden of Ignihyde on the other hand was something else entirely. When you had seen the text from him expressing the fact that there was something he needed you for at the dorm you had rushed over, thoughts spiraling. Was Ignihyde on fire? Did Ortho finally cave and use that super scary all-killing beam that Idia had installed for who knows what reason? The second you rushed in, panting slightly at your run over here, looking around for anything that was possibly either bleeding out or set ablaze. Only to be met with the smug smile of Pan. He grabbed your arm and started leading you over to his room, much to your confusion. Didn’t he text you in an emergency? Where was the fire, or even somebody that was minorly injured? 

If only you knew that it was just some ploy to get you over faster, he hadn’t seen you in weeks under all the work both he and you had been swapped with, and what faster way to get a good-hearted person somewhere than telling them there was some sort of emergency! When the two of you had made it back to his room you were a little surprised to see that he had actually cleaned it. Every other time you had even offered to make the trek over to the basically floating dorm he had always mentioned how messy his room was and that he never really had the time to work on clearing it up, let alone the time to fully clean it. Yet here you were, standing in the middle of the vice-house warden's cleaned and sparkling room, even slightly decorated with some small lights strung around his room, a small table with a few of each of your favorite snacks, and his laptop sitting on his bed. There was a certain unspoken effort in the way that even though everything he had to deal with during the days that he had taken the time to not only clean up the area he called home but also to decorate it and get it set up for something that would have taken even more time away from his work. He had a playlist of a bunch of movies that had come up in different conversations that you had mentioned in the past few weeks, even noting that he had been taking notes of this for weeks, the sentiment growing even more when thinking about all the effort he had put into this. During the time that you had known him Pan always had this mystery surrounding him. One that almost nobody could figure out about him, whether it was because nobody could get that close to him due to his busy schedule and responsibilities, or the fact that he held distance between everybody and what he was actually feeling and thinking. But yet here he was, slightly moving the distance from you away, letting you start to get a glimpse into who he really was and all the things he actually wanted to say. People would say you were crazy that since he cleaned his room it was a symbol, but that’s how you start to open up to another, letting them see the place where you keep everything, and letting them see it for all it is. 

When the two of you finally got around to getting comfortable, after the mini tour of his room, there was something behind each of the movies sprinkled throughout that he had picked. A mention of either finding themselves or being able to fully express themselves, and through the message there was something that you were gaining from it all. The fact that he was at least a little ready to share a part about himself that he had hidden from the world, but maybe it wasn’t so bad letting it slip to one person. 

Peyn, out of the three of them, was the most sane when it came to things like this. Yes, did he have issues when it came to actually expressing what he felt towards you? Absolutely. But there was also a sense of needing you around that overridden almost every part of the emotionally stunted personality he had. There was a sort of urgency when he had come over to your room, asking about a potential “get together” as he called it for just the two of you, no annoying other members of either of your friends or his dorm members.

His room was already cleaned as when he had normally invited you over, but this time no open textbooks for studying or anything of the sort, instead sitting on his desk was his laptop facing towards the bed instead of the chair as per normal, and sitting next to his bed on his vanity was a few types of snacks, ones that you had realized were types that you both enjoyed. He hadn’t mentioned the reason for the two of you going over to his room other than to just hang out, so the room being set up as if it was a movie date was a little bit of a shock, but nonetheless, a good one! 

When you had finally looked back over at him he was sitting on his bed, trying to find a movie that he thought the both of you would like watching, even if more times than not people had mentioned how petty he was, and how emotionally repressed he was, there was a sense of belonging behind it, a sense of need that he would only come to you for, which is the exact reason you had found yourself standing in this room, watching the crimson-hair boy get exceedingly frustrated when nothing looked good as he scrolled the options on whatever streaming service Idia, or Pan had already paid for. Peyn was known for the fact that he would run people down, and even start pointless arguments just to be in a conversation, but there was another side that somebody could only see when actually looking at who he was and not just what he played off. The person who wanted to be around people. Somebody who just wanted to be remembered, even if it was because he had confronted something stupid. 

When he had finally found something there was only a short amount of time before he had moved to pull you to sit down next to him, already engrossed in the movie that had just started playing on the screen in front of you two, and the best part about it was, it was peaceful. No other people from his dorm coming in to bother the two of you, no random comments from Epel or whoever happened to be there at the time, and nobody there to get Peyn into an argument about something. Just the two of you in peace, sitting together, and the memories would last a lifetime.

[sscardinal7]

Adding nuance in Navy and Orchid

Me and a friend had a nerd voyage about Navy and Orchid, and Paw brought up their cameo in AVA11 - Victim, in which I never previously considered—and it generally got me thinking about their relationship in compliment of the Newgrounds Tragedy. It had me contemplating about what if, rather the Newgrounds Tragedy was responsible for their substantial regression. What went wrong? I really would have never even begun to compose my thoughts if it weren't for him, so all credits!

Navy and Orchid's relationship is especially interesting to me as they were written and programmed to persist as these ideal, beautifully in love couple who attend towards their child. It's on the thumbnail of their uploaded file after all. All 3 of them in the frame! Protective and adoring arms wrapped around Purple.

Now, the timeline of this is a bit rough.

Purple in the thumbnail appears as though he's rather young. I can safely conclude that he is roughly around the same height as the first combat sequence in his presented backstory in AVM29 - Note Block Universe. The thumbnail provides some context that their story was perhaps on-going.

Navy being written as this character who gives strict but positive practices on combat towards Purple. Giving encourages. Orchid being a kind, lighthearted and comforting supporter toward this, nothing more and nothing less.

Nothing more because their creator was not given a chance to, that is.

The destruction of their file in the 2011 tragedy forced a sudden halt. An acute awareness that the couple's intervention with each other was nothing but automated; synthetic, leaving a sour taste as one would when your entire reality and purpose is completely shattered. There could be no interference towards their line of written story and code, forcing them to stick with their present (or what is known to them as the present)

No updates, no progression, no development, no further growth. Really, just nothing. Just an uncompleted story that forces the two to endure and carry on where they had been abandoned at. It's not like they have any other choice, just as the thousands of animations beside them.

As mentioned, Navy was loving, but designed with strict authority and boundaries towards training.

Navy's intentions and reasoning towards the sparring is unknown, making me beg the question; does he even know? Was his creator given the time to?

This confusion can host some hostility, oh undoubtedly.

Following with these characteristics in oppose to how he handles the aftermath of the tragedy, Navy engages in being impatient, inconsistent, irrational, eager, pestering, forceful, and downright abusive from the power imbalance in reflex to the instability of not having some designated context or rather purpose. Security.

Orchid, being the timid bystander. Providing comfort and sanctity to Purple every once in a while from a far too rough sparring. She's kind, neutral, observant, and naturally empathetic. But the entire interference leaves this bitter taste as she's nothing more than this role.

And honestly, that is heartbreaking for Orchid, and downright sad. Discomfort of aiding in your child's physical and mental development due to the dreadful profound ability of your unfair positioning does not correlate to not standing up for them at all. She has her priorities of not interfering unless certain that he is being empowered. She does not appreciate power imbalances—and this shows as she rather progresses from present comfort towards near audibility unless firm - and this is where I believe her fatal flaw comes in. Ignorance until positive.

And this shows in Purple, it shows a lot.

She does try her best, yes. She's still very loving, she still really loves Purple. She loves Navy. it's in her code after all. But her noticeable absence speaks volumes that she was attempting to distance herself.

But I find the reasoning to be much more due to Navy than Purple, if I'm being honest.

Navy and Orchid's relationship is surely strange. So in love in contrast to their narrative, then stranded to a rough prevention of their chronology. It doesn't defeat the purpose that they still, very much love each other. But the revulsion that it was nothing but a hoax will leave a agonizing dread in the atmosphere.

But after all, they have nothing else to stick to. Be optimistic with what you're left with, make best out of the worst. They can continue where their unfinished log was unfortunately Interrupted. And it goes as unwell as you would expect.

Hell, Navy's reaction towards these issues definitely encourages a hatred in Orchid and prompt towards distance. She was obviously discouraged from him and his impulses way early on, but the conflict rises when her son is the most vulnerable victim of it, and she does not like this.

Orchid and Navy are a loving bunch but two very different individuals. It wasn't too long until Orchid's comforting, soothing nature began to grow anxious and clash with Navy's raw approaches, outbursts and harsh eagerness. The worst part is that this isn't even Navy's fault.

And this shows. You would think once Navy leaves—she could rest. She could feel secure. She is loose from this lined attire that kept her glued to these strict set bounds; she's ridden of worries, and,

And this is where she proves you wrong. She is guilt-ridden, she's upset. She's left paralyzed, numb, in shock, detached. But why?—Why would she feel this way? Isn't she relieved of the split from the first ever obligated context she was programmed to be with?

Oh.

Ohh,

Ohhh, my poor girl.

And it's such a complexity of being doomed by the (unfinished) narrative. And it's rather the contrasting spectrum of it: the burning hatred of the figure you were made to love vs the boundless affection of how at the end of the day—you were still made to love them. The horrors is inescapable, no matter how much you try to run away from it.

[carionto]

It'll be "awesome", the Human said

(Continuation/conclusion to this)

____________________________

After the Coalition delegates had been mindblown enough, it was time for them to finally leave and have a nap. But Captain Knoslark had one more thing he desperately wanted to show them.

"So, like, we're a science vessel and we have three of the biggest reactors, right? Right. So, I wanna show you what we recently figured out we can do. C'mon, it'll be awesome."

Awesome - a word the rest of the Galaxy will soon learn to both admire and run for cover whenever a Human uses it.

With trepidation in their steps, and worry in their breaths, they followed the all too eager Captain, who was almost skipping and humming down the halls, dramatically pointing the way. His crew continued to not give him the satisfaction of ever acknowledging his theatrics.

"Once the reactors are in good enough sync, we'll reconfigure the Radiant Dusk to a circular shape and begin!"

Oh. Yeah. Of course their ships can also transform. Why not. The delegates have given up thinking there are things Human engineering can't accomplish. Also, good enough?

"Eh, don't worry about it, we overbuild everything, so a 1 or 2 percent margin of error is fine, most of the time."

They could not imagine themselves to be more worried. At least not until a few minutes from now.

"Captain, she's ready," Chief Engineer Tameki's tone changed to a total blank deadpan for the next words, "to transform. and. roll. out."

With childlike glee, Captain Knoslark tapped the big red button, specifically designed for his pad only, to begin the sequence.

Distant creaking of metal, anguish at the prospect of bending in ways nature never intended, and the unmistakable jolt of mechanical movement, despite the artificial gravity maintaining the same down throughout, once more instilled primal anxiety for the delegates.

The reactors wound up, turning the almost-buzz like feeling beneath their feet to a true all encompassing sense of absolute power. Three small stars at equidistant points along the now 4km in diameter vessel created a singular feeling of something imminent that should never have been possible. The Universe itself wanted to reject this possibility.

"We tried copying your mass field generators from way back when you did the barrier thing. Wanted to see if we could get close to Black Hole levels, there were some theories that time travels was possible with that kinda pull."

I don't think anyone would be surprised if they had succeeded, but, for once during their entire visit, the Humans said they couldn't get time travel to work. Celebration! Then the Captain kept talking.

"So what happened instead is we accidentally tore a hole in time-space, creating a sort of warp gate." He said with both joy and disappointment.

Then the Universe shrieked. A massive distortion in reality now struggled and failed to restore normality between the ring-shaped ship. Swirling coils of matter flickered in and out, ghostly visages of detonations on a solar scale. A sight never intended to be witnessed.

"Still gotta figure out how to set a destination to anywhere. Right now the only stable connection we can get is with massive gravity wells, so any celestial body with enough mass, smallest one is a red dwarf. Problem is the connection steers towards the center, so not really practical right now."

"If we try to point at empty space the gate just kinda wiggles and you end up getting spaghetti-fied on the other end. Still, once we get enough ships like this one around the galaxy, we'll solve that whole trips taking more than a few hours thing we got with the hyper drives."

At this point the delegates decided to be escorted away, as most had became a crying mess. One stumbled onto a automated cleaning unit and at this the Captain, whose mood had soured a bit now that his time as tour guide was over, rose back to heights unseen before. With his most official sounding, yet at the same time most joy filled tone ever, he declared:

"Sergeant Ying Zhao, issue an official notice. Today at 20:30 ship time there will be a grand ceremony for the promotion of Captain Stabicus to Special Envoy of the Galactic Coalition. Ready all relevant paperwork, and his new badge, and inform the chef to prepare a feast. We have done much today for the sake of Human-Coalition relationships, and so much more for the Radiant Dusk at Everest and her crew and staff. Tonight, we celebrate!"

[larissa-the-scribe]

Hey! I'm looking into potentially starting a newsletter for writing related stuff, do you have any advice on where to start?

Yeah, for sure!

So, I'll be dividing this response into several parts: the technical details, the content details, and the growing details. (disclaimer that I am by no means an expert, this is just stuff I've learned and/or observed and/or heard about)

Also sorry this is so long adfasdasdadfa it kept building on itself

The important thing throughout, though, is to have fun and be yourself. I'm only partially joking.

Technical details:

So what program do you use? How and why? Personally, my criteria for this was pretty simple: what was the cheapest but still functional option, and/or what option offered the best features for free (without being overcomplicated)?

The answer to this will vary depending on what you want to do. For example, Substack, from what I know, seems good; it's free, simple, straightforward. However, I wanted extra features that Substack didn't provide (automation sequences,* landing pages, etc), and so for me the best fit was Mailerlite. As far as I know, it's the only free option that offers automation, and besides that it seems like it has all the features I'd need. No need to pay until 1,000 subscribers, and after that it's still one of the cheaper options.

Some other possibilities include Mailchimp (though their pricing system can get a bit wonky), Brevo, Sendpulse, ConvertKit, HubSpot and like a gazillion others.

Basically, figure out what features you need/want, and go from there, but personally I'd recommend MailerLite. It can be a bit clunky at times, but overall I've found it more intuitive than Mailchimp, and it has a handy assortment of free features.

Honorable mention: Canva is a free service for graphic design, and that can be helpful for setting up any backgrounds or banners you might need.

*["automation sequence" refers to emails you can set up to send automatically without you needing to do extra manual work. For example, if someone signs up for your newsletter, you can set that up as the "trigger" for a sequence of emails that will deliver a freebie to the new subscriber, give them information, welcome them, etc, without you having to remember to do it every time someone new shows up].

Content details:

One of the other big questions that you'll have to answer for a newsletter is 'what am I going to be talking about for the next forever?'

An idea of how to start brainstorming is to sketch out broad categories, and then once you figure those out, see how many related ideas you can list out for each category (say, if you want to write about book publishing, how many topics or details can you cover?). If you can't list more than like 10-15 ideas for a shortish "post" off the top of your head, you may want to look at a different category.

Also, one of the best ways to answer this question is by asking the follow-up question of "what do I want to talk about for the next forever?" If you don't like writing about a topic, it's going to be an absolute chore, and the less you like doing something, the more of a drain that will be on your time and mental resources. And it will be harder to think of things to talk about. Don't worry about what you should write. That's a trap and only helpful in select cases.

So, what can you talk about and what do you want to talk about?

If that's still a lot of topics, you can ask people for their opinions on what they'd most be interested in hearing about, and in general asking 'the audience' for questions can also be a good way to find content ideas.

You'll also want to find a way to talk about your books regularly, too, since you're trying to cultivate an audience that will enjoy the stories you tell. That can be sharing snippets, updates, or even just talking a lot about similar types of books and have a line at the end of "if you liked--" etc.

What I do is I have three categories: 'updates', 'recommendations', and 'content'. Updates is behind-the-scenes stuff of the progress I've made on my creative projects (and a personal touch of things from my non-work life); recommendations is all about other peoples' books, with reviews, collaborations, and such; and content is a serial story I kinda designed for the email format (semi-inspired by podcast stories). I like talking about my projects (and that also makes the audience aware of and invested in my projects), I like reading and talking about books, and I like writing stories and am fairly fast at writing individual scenes. All three of my chosen categories are things I like to do with a lot of options for content, and that makes it easier to work on it regularly.

A lot of marketing-type people will also bring up that what you're sharing needs to 'bring value' to the audience, so that people will want to open your email; but that's really broad, and the 'value' you bring can just be... entertainment. It can be fun to hear someone talk about something they like (or dislike, depending). So like, it's a consideration (you don't want to just be saying "buy my book" over and over again, you want to be giving back to people), but also it is not that deep.

Also! Don't be afraid to talk about stuff you're 'selling'. As long as that's not most of what you ever talk about, people normally don't mind--and also, how else will they know.

Also also: You will want to figure out an upload schedule that you can stick to. Typically, you want to find the sweet spot between 'regular enough that those who signed up don't forget you exist and unsubscribe because they can't remember who you are' and 'spamming.' That can be anything from once a week to once a month. Conventional wisdom states that you don't want to go longer than a month without sending an email, but there can be exceptions.

Addition to the schedule idea: I've found it helpful to figure out a consistent routine so I'm working on my newsletter regularly, and don't have to panic-write an email the night before sending out. I try to work on my next email for 10-15 minutes a day as kind of my warm up for other writing stuff. Sometimes I really need that time every day, sometimes the consistent schedule means I finish early and don't have to worry about the next email for a bit. You could also try dedicating a day a week to focusing on the email versus your story, etc. Basically, play around with it until you can fit it into your schedule in a way that works for you.

[DISCLAIMER: I have a "category three" content system with more or less weekly updates, and I landed on that because I am an over-achiever who can't make up my mind on a thing to focus on. You do not have to make my mistakes. You can just focus on One Thing and do it like every two weeks or something. That would probably be a good idea for starting out]

Growing details:

Then..... the other hard part (on top of the other hard parts lol). You have a newsletter now. How do you get people to join and follow you?

Well, some sites/services make it easier. For example, currently I'm with StoryOrigin, which is a service that allows you to do newsletter swaps with other authors (they promote your book, you promote their book, etc). This does require you to have some kind of "reader magnet," though--that could be a paid one, like your book, but those can be harder to find swaps/followers for, etc. Another similar platform is Bookfunnel, I think, though I don't know much about them (I did research once upon a time but that was Ages ago and I have ADHD lol)

[Disclaimer: I linked to both, but the link for StoryOrigin is an affiliate link, which just means I get something if you go with them. But I do legitimately recommend them]

The downside to both of those is that they are paid. StoryOrigin is 100$ a year, and Bookfunnel is 20-250$ a year. Bookfunnel has a more tiered system, and StoryOrigin has one price and you get everything.

Now, you might find that to be a worthwhile expense, but it is nonetheless an expense. It also isn't a magic way to get your book promoted; sorting through the different groups and swaps takes time, and it takes even more time if you do what I do and try and read anything you swap with (you don't have to do that, and most people don't; you can usually get by with some quick research), but I have chronic "what if I recommended the worst thing ever" disease, so.

However, while SO doesn't magically solve your problems, it does offer steady growth. I only properly started using their services in September, and I'm up to 215 subscribers. I'm also taking it fairly slow; I keep a tighter limit on my swaps (I don't want to spam readers with options, since I make a larger space to talk about the swaps), but I know other authors do like five swaps/groups at a time (basically just sharing the cover), and that can make you grow a lot faster. It kind of is what you make of it, but also it's still going to take patience and effort.

Other methods of growing your newsletter subscriber count: growing a following on social media and hoping that translates with landing pages and promotion and the like; directly contacting other authors you might know to do a swap; doing guest appearances on podcasts or blogs etc to get yourself better known; and most of all, be very patient, and be willing to make mistakes until you get good (those last are for any form of newsletter growth, tbh). I've, uh, only ever done the one way, so this part isn't as good as it could be.

NOTE: Feel free to experiment. You might not get it right the first time. You might need to drastically change your content to something you enjoy more, if you find out that your idea didn't work as well as you'd hoped. That's okay! Now's the time to learn and figure out, when you still have a small audience. Also, I've found that as long as you communicate with people, they tend to be pretty forgiving.

OTHER NOTE: While newsletters typically have a higher "return on investment" than regular social media, you're still going to be dealing with less numbers than you might think. For example, a good, healthy mailing list will have like 60% of people actually opening the email; more often it's about 50%. That doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong (actually it means you're doing well), it just means that the further you expand, the more you're going to get normal people who forget to open emails.

Other things to consider:

What email are you going to use for email list?

Typically, it's recommended that, if possible, you try and get a domain name email (connected to a website), because that will make it seem more legitimate and help it get through peoples' spam filters. Using something like gmail, since it's so easy to get an email from them, is associated with spam and as such it might have a higher rate of being blocked/flagged as spam. Getting a domain name email is a whole other can of worms, but it is something that should be considered. You can also start with gmail and then switch later once you have a more stable platform, but switching things like that can be difficult/a pain depending on what all is going on.

(also I think MailerLite requires you to have a domain name email?? I can't remember. But that it is another thing to consider when looking for an email provider)

Reader magnet?

This would probably go in the "growth" section, but basically--what extra incentive/reason do you have for people to sign up to your letter? That can be a short story or a guide or a piece of art or whatever, but it is helpful to have something to pique peoples' curiosity. Also, it's a good way to present what you have to offer in terms of setting their expectations for type of story, quality of writing/content, your knowledge of a subject, etc. And you tend to get more subscribers this way than if you don't have anything to share upfront.

YouTube:

Mailing List Research is a playlist of all the videos I looked at when researching. There are. a lot of them with varying degrees of quality and helpfulness, and it's a pretty messy overall. But there's some helpful stuff in there on a variety of mailing list topics. I was going to pick out the best ones but unfortunately I can't remember which those were. I think I removed the worst ones, though.

Podcast suggestion:

For marketing in general (and Instragram), it might be worth checking out Book Marketing Simplified (by Jenn Hanson-dePaula). She covers a variety of topics, and since she basically has a few core principles that she keeps coming back to, it can get repetitive after a while, but she's a good starting place. She has some episodes on email marketing and ideas for doing that.

Joanna Penn is another podcaster people talk a lot about, but the few episodes of hers I listened to were pretty supportive of AI so I got miffed asdfasdfas I should probably give her another go because I still have a lot to learn about everything, but I might go back to some of her older ones, pre-AI, if I do lol

If you'd want more resources, I could go digging more, but a lot of what I've used to learn has gotten scattered over the years, or is like a single episode from a longer podcast series, etc.

[whirligig-girl]

Some of the history of Zwo-nmu System Exploration by Mellanoid Slime Worm Space Programs.

A reminder of the Zwo-nmu Planetary System. The Sun, also called The Zwo-nmu (literally The Day Light) is a G8V main sequence star with many giant planets. Mellanus, called Gymnome by some of its inhabitants, is the homeworld of the Mellanoid Slime Worms--Eaurp Guz's people. Mellanus is a coorbital of Omen in a horseshoe orbit. Every 15 or so earth years, Mellanus approaches Omen, which moves it into a higher or lower orbit around the Sun.

This graphic is in a rotating reference frame following Omen. green circle is Omen's orbit in a non-rotating reference frame. Yellow circle is Mellanus' inner/short/summer/hot orbit. Purple circle is Mellanus' outer/long/winter/cold orbit. Blue and gray circles are the orbits of Cold Ember and Rabbit. Times are given in Earth days and distances in Earth-Sun-distances (astronomical units)

Omen is named, of course, as it represents drastic climate change--orbital seasons affecting both hemispheres for many years at a time.

With that reminder out of the way...

Zwo-nmu (the star)

extensive telescopic study from low mellanus orbit. The first solar telescope to enter orbit discovered the corona but was not set up to observe it properly, so follow-up missions had to be undertaken.

studied by the Cold Ember probes and by at least one dedicated "sun-scraper"

Cold Ember (the hot super-earth/sub-neptunian)

Of the five probes sent to Cold Ember at various times, only two have made it.

The second one to make it is an orbiter. It relies on stationkeeping propellant so its elliptical orbit always keeps its apoapsis on the night side of the planet, such that it can spend time in the shadow to keep cool. Within a few days of it running out of stationkeeping fuel it will begin to overheat. There are proposals to send a Rescue Shuttle up to resupply and repair the probe, but the strict rules about use of alien spacecrafts in the mellanoid space program make that difficult.

Rabbit

Visited by 2 robotic probes--a flyby and a short-lived orbiter. A lander/rover is planned, but doesn't have the same priority as the Omen Development Program and the Ice Giants Exploration Program.

Mellanus Orbit

At its peak, Mellanus had thousands of satellites and dozens of space stations, but a near-miss with ablation cascade (see: the movie Gravity (2013)) that was only averted thanks to the recently installed phaser network has lead to many restrictions being put in place on the number and function of satellites. Early in the history of mellanoid space exploration, there was not much automation available. Satellites had to be crewed, and so there were many space stations, and when automation happened, those space stations grew into constellations of satellites. Telecommunications constellations were the real culprit, with several competing agencies, companies, and nations setting up their own independent constellations ranging from 10s to 1000s of satellites each. But now, subspace technology has rendered low-orbit communications satellites obsolete, and there are just a few dozen geosynchronous communications satellites, a GPS network, and the number of Mellanus observation satellites has been coralled.

One of the United Mellanus Space Program's current duties is the cleanup of low orbit, which is operated both by phaser blasts in an emergency and by crewed spacecrafts. Most of the space stations in mellanus orbit are specifically infrastructure intended to refuel these spacecrafts, since they need to be able to access a wide range of inclinations, and inclination changes are difficult to accomplish.

Other space stations include the constellation of orbital drydocks, which are all orbiting about a hundred kilometers apart from one another, and the Starbase, a very large rotating artificial gravity space station which was built between the 2340s and the 2360s, and serves as the space end of the interstellar spaceport.

Mellanus natural satellites

Mellanus has one permanent satellite, Ubbi, a 340 meter wide rubble pile which is thought to have once been another asteroid's moon, millions of years ago. It is just barely bright enough to be seen by a mellanoid who has expanded their eye to the greatest practical width, but it wasn't noticed to be a moving star until after the invention of the astronomical telescope and the popularization of sun-centrism. It was thought at first to be an asteroid, since it was discovered while Mellanus was passing through Omen's trojan cloud, but careful observations determined that it was a satellite in a stable circular orbit, and a careful observation of photographic plates and star charts indicate it's been orbiting Mellanus for at least hundreds of years. It's named after its discoverer.

Many early mellanoid space activities have used Ubbi as a target. There are dozens of probes. Sadly Ubbi is very resource poor, being poor in both volatiles that could be used for propellant and metals that could make it valuable. It's not even a useful science target, since one of the earliest missions to visit it was an impactor which essentially exploded Ubbi. It reformed again, but completely resurfaced, burying clues to its origin as a satellite. Ubbi is currently orbited by one derelict spacecraft and

There have been three temporary natural satellites of Mellanus to be visited by spacecrafts. All but one have entered Mellanus orbit only for a few months and were only visited by robotic probes. The largest one, Temma was three kilometers across and in an eccentric orbit that remained stable all the way up until two Omen conjunctions later, so it lasted for about 30-35 years. However, as a carbonaceous asteroid, it was rich in volatiles, and it was explored and settled extensively by all major space programs. The first crewed international interplanetary trips to Omen used fuel refined from Temma and brought down to low orbit.

The Omen Coorbitals (Trojans, Greeks, and Other Horseshoes)

Outside of Ubbi and Temma, the Coorbitals are the next step out into space. Mellanus occasionally has close encounters with coorbitals. Over time Mellanus and Omen together have corralled the coorbitals into very specific lanes. There are far fewer coorbitals around Omen than Glerbuh, or, say, Jupiter, because coorbital or not, Mellanus is still a planet. Most of the coorbitals are trojans, with the apsides neatly tucked in between the outer edge of Mellanus' sphere of influence in the low orbit, and the inner edge of Mellanus' sphere of influence in the high orbit. The Greeks--the trojans on the leading edge of Omen's orbit--are especially depleted. It's thought that Mellanus was once the only large object in the greek camp, but was perturbed onto its current horseshoe orbit billions of years ago. As a result, the greek camp is a hodge-podge of scattered objects from elsewhere in the system, whereas the trojan camp is comprised of more objects original to this part of the circumstellar disk. Each camp can answer different questions about the evolution of the Zwo-nmu system, and Mellanus' relation to it in particular. Ironically, even though the greek camp is Mellanus' original home, it's the trojan camp that is more relevant to studying Mellanus itself.

It is possible on any given year to send a spacecraft to visit Omen, Trojans, Greeks, or any other coorbital. However, the trajectories which take a minimum of fuel are only accessible 1-6 months or so before the closest approach with either object, and for crewed missions, less efficient but faster trajectories lasting only a month right around the close approach are preferred.

Outside of the Omen apparitions, the most active times for interplanetary spaceflight have historically been around the passing through the trojan clouds, which happens about 6 years before and after each Omen apparition. Starting from the low summer orbit, Mellanus passes the Trojan Camp. 6 years later, it reaches Omen and moves to the high winter orbit. 6 years after that, it passes the Trojan camp again. Then 15 years later, it passes the Greek Camp. 6 more years later, Omen appears large and Mellanus shifts to the summer orbit. 6 years later, it passes the Greek camp again. 15 years pass, and then we restart the cycle.

other horseshoe-coorbitals can be encountered at any time of year, but there's only a few of these known to exist.

Crewed missions to the other coorbitals have served as test flights for Omen missions, while also contributing meaningfully to planetary science as a whole. While asteroid exploration may not be exciting or glamorous, the use of trojan missions as testbeds has allowed a lot of groundbreaking work that otherwise might not have had any support to be performed.

Humans currently, in the real world 2020s, posses the propulsion technology and even, in principle, the industrial capacity to send humans to Mars. What we lack is a good idea of how to support humans on interplanetary spaceflight for many months or years at a time. A typical stay on the International Space Station is not even comparable to a Mars mission. That research is still underway. But we can go to the Moon. What's crucial is the relatively short turnaround time. A Moon mission may take only a week or two. The Artemis lunar missions will last longer, but not as long as a Mars mission would have to.

Absent a permanent moon of any substance, the Mellanoids are able to get their relatively short turnaround missions done thanks to the coorbitals. If Mellanus were still a trojan, it'd have emptied out the Greek Camp. Omen would never get particularly close, and it'd take over a year to make a round trip to it. It'd be just as hard to reach as Mars or the Main Asteroid Belt. But since Mellanus is in a horseshoe orbit, for about a year at a time every 6-15 years it is within spitting distance of some celestial body or another. Every 18-19 years that celestial body is the magnificent planet Omen with its own system of moons. When it's not Omen, it's the coorbital asteroids.

Propulsion wise it is not that much easier to reach the Omen coorbitals than it is for humans to go to Mars. You still have to escape Mellanus and keep accelerating on top of that.

But instead of bringing all of the comforts and necessities involved in the long-term habitation of space with you to a distant planet, you can get away with using capsules that are not much more advanced than what we were using in the Apollo era. The long term habitation problem is solved, leaving the only major problem left that of propulsion, of vehicle design. And since Mellanus is relatively small and they aren't shy about using nuclear rockets, the propulsion problem isn't that big of a deal. in a way, Omen and the coorbitals are a crutch. By the 2340s Mellanoid space programs still had not undertaken crewed interplanetary missions beyond the coorbitals. But, at least in Star Trek, human spaceflights to Europa & Jupiter were being undertaken in the 2020s. These missions would have had to take years! that said, there is a reason Omen has been such a focus--and it's not just because it is so culturally important.

The Omen System

Since the dawn of the Mellanoid space age, there have been six Omen apparitions.

Years given are Earth Years

1) 2300: Two nations launched robotic flyby attempts this year. One succeeded, but it was little more than a spinning photopolarimeter which could take a grainy image of Omen and a magnetometer which produced useful magnetic field readings. 2) 2315: Two failed atmosphere probes for Oldsky, one successful robotic lander on Rival, one successful robotic lander on Spark, and successful orbit insertion of a robotic Omen orbiter which continued to send back photos of Omen and its moons right through to the next conjunction. During the lifetime of this orbiter, Oldsky was conclusively shown to have complex life. 3) 2329: First crewed missions. There is a crewed landing on Rival, a crewed orbiter mission for Oldsky. It had originally intended to operate out of a small space station placed into Oldsky orbit a year in advance, but this station was covertly destroyed by Zaldans, and the orbiter mission was repurposed as a mere flyby, which fails, leading to first contact with Zaldans. 4) 2344: The most important year yet--the beginning of space archaeology. It's also the year asteroid Temma departs Mellanus and makes its own flyby of Omen. 5) 2358: International grand tour involving orbiters and landers on every planet including Oldsky. Leads to formation of United Mellanus Space Program. 6) 2373: Fission-impulse rockets have made regular interplanetary travel between Mellanus and Omen possible on any year. 7) 2387: Oldsky is now a colony of Mellanus.

Mellanus is on the border of the Zaldan sphere of influence, and with the increasing expansionism of the Cardassians and the tragedy of what they had begun to do to the Bajorans, the Zaldans desired military bases on the stars near their industrial colonies and their homeworld. These bases had to provide deuterium, so they needed to be located in a system with a gas giant, and also function as repair stations. The stars surrounding Mellanus were poor candidates--there are no M-class habitable planets around the nearby stars, and the only other gas giants were hot Jupiters or brown dwarfs which would make deuterium extraction difficult.

The Zaldans respected the non-interference directive, but not if it meant a gaping hole in their security. They would set up a military base on Omen's M-class moon Oldsky. There was an orbiting space station and a surface base, connected by cargo transporters and shuttlecrafts, staffed by military officers and a few civilian personnel, not unlike Deep Space Nine, but considerably more of a frontier for all involved. There was also a space station built in very low orbit of Omen, designed to scrape the atmosphere for deuterium to fuel freighters. These ships would be undetectable to the mellanoids as long as ships entering the system avoided activity during close encounters and all ships entering and leaving the system hid their photon wakes behind the Sun, resulting in fairly complex routing.

During the 2329 Omen apparition, a spacecraft that had been intended to fly by Omen had a severe failure, akin to Apollo 13. Still over a month from home, with no prospect but a horrible death, they were famously rescued by Commander Halen's ship, EZM-407, marking official first contact with the Zaldans. They were returned to Mellanus and the Zaldans finally landed, showing the world that not only were Mellanoids not alone in the universe, they weren't even alone in their own solar system.

Several ships visited Mellanus over the next few years on primarily diplomatic missions, but the Zaldans still kept hands-off, sharing only a minimum of information with the Mellanoids. Not many Zaldans had Halen's affinity for the slimes, and they saw mellanoids as lowly uncivilized savages--and their flowery polite diplomatic language only confirmed this to them. It wasn't before someone really stood up to them--a space program engineer who had gotten tired of standing in the sidelines while his people were being insulted--that the Zaldans finally found a glimmer of respect for the mellanoids.

There had been plans to fly a Mellanoid astronaut to Oldsky in exchange for allowing Zaldan researchers to visit Mellanus, and even early talks of embassies and sharing of the Omen infrastructure, when the Zaldans just… disappeared. Completely cut contact.

If sharing their solar system with rude bullies (who, yes, could have wiped them out a dozen times over yet decided not to so at least there's that) wasn't scary enough, those rude bullies disappearing without a trace was even scarier. On a scale greater than even the Apollo program, nations rushed to assemble their missions to visit Omen and Oldsky to figure out what happened to the Zaldan Military Base. Their robotic probes launched on off-years didn't return any answers--crewed exploration and actually landing mellanoids on Oldsky would be the only answer.

There was also the fact that recovering technology from Oldsky could potentially be transformative--the right technology in the wrong hands could destroy the world. This is spaceflight at its most competitive. This was no longer a game--recovering the alien technology was potentially life or death.

After the first contact with the Federation and the series of revolutions and reforms that lead to the current political situation, one of the main unifying rallying cries for mellanoids was the notion that they deserved the right to sovereign exploration of their own solar system. Outsiders--whether Zaldan, or Federation, or Dominion--would not develop any part of the system!

Ok, the Federation can provide some baseline infrastructure to protect Mellanus from invasion, but space exploration is OUR COMMON HERITAGE!

The current age of Mellanoid Space Exploration is characterized by extensive permanent infrastructure development. Since the 2360s, Mellanoids have been building research stations on Oldsky, Lake, and Rival. Setting up an industrial capability on another planet from scratch is hard to do, but Oldsky has a stable climate year-round and a breathable atmosphere. Much of Oldsky is a desert, and even the "humid" regions are quite dry, but it's still more habitable than literally any other planet in the solar system except for Mellanus, which makes it practical to build using traditional methods.

As of 2380, more people are living and working on Oldsky at any given moment than are doing so in Low Mellanus Orbit. Oldsky station visitors includes geologists, biologists, space archaeologists still studying what remains of Zaldan activity on Oldsky, civil engineers, aerospace engineers, construction workers, miners, marine biologists, submarine helmcrew, aircraft pilots, spacecraft pilots, rover drivers, doctors, astronomers, and even a few tourists selected by raffle.

Propellant infrastructure has been established to keep the fast interplanetary rockets zipping along. At this point, it is possible to stay on Oldsky permanently, but so far, all visitors to Oldsky are temporary, and on years when Omen is inaccessible even with nuclear-fission-impulse rockets (i.e, when the Sun is between it and Mellanus), only a skeleton crew remains to maintain the stations.

Oldsky will probably not have its own self sufficient industry and capacity for its own space program any time soon, but it does have a spaceport serviced by reusable launch vehicles.

Phaser-thermal rockets are used for heavy lift launches from Mellanus these days, but conventional chemical rockets are still used on Oldsky, fueled by hydrogen and oxygen split by electrolysis. There is an oil refinery on Oldsky, so kerosene/oxygen rockets are possible too. things remain somewhat low-tech on Oldsky. Imported vehicles can be powered by batteries, but there aren't let any lithium mines on Oldsky--good deposits have yet to be discovered--so internal combustion engines powered by oil are sadly being used. The Oldsky Planetary Protection Office on Mellanus intends to phase out fossil fuel engines as soon as the planet is capable of producing its own high-energy-density batteries… whenever that is… also, between you and me, they really ought to get more aquatics flying on these missions. what an aquatic astronaut could find on Oldsky might be quite shocking.

Anyway outside of the Omen system and Oldsky Glerbuh has had its fair share of robotic exploration and crewed expeditions. Two of the four ice giants have also been visited by robotic flyby probes, and Glarpi (the innermost ice giant) has had a robotic orbiter. The big crewed grand tour expedition to explore all four ice giants and there moons was one of the major science goals of the 2380s outside of exploring and developing Oldsky. However, it had to be modified to turn into a rescue mission for a mellanoid starfleet officer who was stranded on a planet orbiting a nearby star called TE-92. It's a whole thing. If they manage to rescue them maybe they'll write a novel about it.

[stevenketterman2]

Smart Automation in Stage Lighting & LED Fixtures: A Game-Changer for Live Events

In today’s world of live shows, concerts, weddings, and big corporate events, one thing has become super important: the lighting. But we’re not just talking about ordinary lights anymore. We’re talking about smart lights that can move, change color, follow people, and sync perfectly with music or video—all by themselves. This is called smart automation, and it’s changing the game in stage lighting and LED setups.

Let's have a look at what it is, how it operates, and why so many event professionals are making the transition.

What is Smart Automation in Lighting?

Smart automation refers to employing technology to automatically switch lights on and off rather than having to change them manually. With a single command or click, an entire lighting system can cycle through color change, move in sequence, or respond to audio. These systems can be pre-programmed or even programmed to change live during the event.

So, rather than someone at a lighting desk pushing buttons for every adjustment, the system recognizes what to do and executes it flawlessly each time.

How Does It Work?

To grasp smart lighting, a couple of straightforward tools behind the magic are:

DMX Control: It is similar to the vocabulary that lighting gear speaks to communicate with one another. This helps the lights, controllers, and other gear to coordinate with one another.

Wireless Control: Most smart systems today use Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to communicate. Goodbye, cumbersome long cables everywhere.

Mobile or Remote Access: Lights can be accessed using a tablet or laptop. Some systems even support remote control from another room.

Sensors and AI: Motion sensors can make lights track an individual on stage. Artificial Intelligence can even recommend lighting effects depending on what's happening at the show.

Why Smart Lighting is a Top Choice

There are plenty of reasons that smart lighting is increasing rapidly:

Perfect Timing Every Time

Lights switch on and off exactly when they should—no delay, no error. Whether it's in the middle of a speech, a tune, or a dance, everything unfolds right on schedule.

Improved Creativity

Smart systems enable you to create fantastic scenes. You can achieve mood shifts, glowing effects, moving lights, and a lot more. All this can be achieved with just one touch of a button.

Saves Time and Effort

After programming the lights, they do the work on their own. You don't require a large group to operate them, thus saving lots of time at the time of setting up as well as during the event.

Works from Anywhere

Since it's wireless and remote-capable, technicians can update it in a snap, even when they're not on stage.

Real-Life Examples

You find yourself at a concert. The performer comes out onto the stage. The lights suddenly darken, a spotlight trails the performer, and flashing colored lights caper in the background—all tastefully in time to the rhythm of the song. That's intelligent automation at work.

Or maybe you’re watching a fashion show. As each model walks down the runway, the lights automatically shift to highlight them, while LED screens show matching colors and designs. It’s smooth, stylish, and all automated.

Good for Big Events AND Small Ones

The good news? Intelligent lighting isn't reserved for huge stadium concerts. Even smaller events such as school events, church services, or birthday parties can benefit from this technology. There are easy systems to get that are simple to learn and not expensive at all.

You can begin with a few smart LED lights and a simple controller or app. After getting comfortable, you can expand with more features in the future.

What to Remember Before Getting Started

If you're considering incorporating smart lighting, here are some key points to remember:

Check for Compatibility: Ensure that your lights and control systems are compatible.

Learn the Fundamentals: Simple programming can lead to huge differences.

Build a Solid Network: A stable wireless connection is crucial.

Stay Safe: Lights and trusses weigh or heat up—ensure proper installations.

And also, it's best to purchase your equipment at professional audio stores. They will advise you on what is best and provide you with quality equipment that performs better and lasts longer for your events and even installation and setup services so that buyers don't have to deal with the technicality.

What's Coming Next?

Technology is advancing quickly. Smart lighting's next big thing is interaction systems. These lights can adapt to the crowd's movement, respond to the noise of clapping or cheering, and even adjust to the mood of a space. Some lights can be operated with voice commands or motion detectors.

Artificial Intelligence is also joining the party—there are systems that learn from run-throughs and can adjust the lighting for the next show automatically. Stage lighting in the future is promising and bright.

Before You Go

Intelligent automation of stage lighting and LED light fixtures is more than a bells-and-whistles upgrade—it's an intelligent investment for anyone producing live events. It gets your show to look more professional, conserves time, and permits greater creativity.

Whether you are organizing a concert, wedding, school play, or corporate event, intelligent lighting enables you to provide an unforgettable experience for your audience. With some planning and proper equipment, you can enhance your lighting game to the next level.So if you're organizing your next function or just wanting to upgrade your setup, it's a good time now to look at smart lighting. It's simpler than you might imagine—and it's worth it.

[scamornoreviews]

Is ANX-305 Legit? - ANX-305 Account Review

Curious about the ANX-305 Account? This detailed review explores its features, benefits, and how it can help you create a simple income stream online—no experience required!

Affiliate marketing doesn’t have to be a brain-buster. With the ANX-305 Account, it’s like following a well-lit trail instead of stumbling through the dark. This in-depth review breaks down how this easy-to-use system can help you start earning online—even if you’re just starting out!

# Introduction

In a world where making money online is both a dream and a challenge, many people are looking for something that works without tying them up in knots. Affiliate marketing has been on the rise, but let’s be honest—it’s not always a walk in the park.

Enter the ANX-305 Account, a system built to make affiliate marketing a breeze. No complicated tools, no long hours staring at confusing dashboards—just a smart, step-by-step platform that’s got your back. But hang on, what exactly is the ANX-305 Account, and can it really help someone without tech skills or experience?

Let’s pull back the curtain and take a closer look.

# What Is the ANX-305 Account?

The ANX-305 Account is a digital platform designed to help users—especially beginners—dive into affiliate marketing with ease. It acts like a personal assistant for online income, handling the tricky bits like campaign creation, tracking, and optimization.

Rather than dumping users into the deep end, the system takes them by the hand, offering tools and training every step of the way.

# Main Features of the ANX-305 Account

Alright, let’s not beat around the bush—here’s what you’re getting when you sign up:

✅ Built-In Affiliate Offers

Skip the hard part of hunting for the “perfect” product. ANX-305 offers access to tested, high-converting affiliate programs right out of the gate.

✅ Plug-and-Play Funnels

Creating a sales funnel from scratch? That’s yesterday’s problem. ANX-305 comes with pre-built templates that are easy to customize and launch.

✅ Easy Automation Tools

From email sequences to traffic management, automation tools mean more time sipping coffee and less time clicking around dashboards.

✅ Real-Time Analytics

Keep an eye on your stats without pulling your hair out. The dashboard is clean, simple, and helpful.

✅ Step-by-Step Training

New to affiliate marketing? No sweat! There’s a treasure trove of lessons designed to take you from clueless to confident.

# How Does the ANX-305 Account Work?

The beauty of this platform lies in its simplicity. Here's the journey from sign-up to success, laid out in bite-sized steps:

Create Your ANX-305 Account – A quick registration and you’re in the game.

Choose a Niche – Whether you’re into health, tech, or travel, pick what interests you.

Activate Affiliate Campaigns – Select from ready-to-go campaigns or build your own using templates.

Drive Traffic – Use built-in tools or your own social channels to get eyeballs on your offers.

Track and Optimize – Use the analytics to make smart tweaks and boost performance.

Collect Earnings – As conversions roll in, watch your earnings grow...

Is ANX-305 Legit? Full ANX-305 Account Review here! at https://scamorno.com/ANX-305-Review-Affiliate-System/?id=tumblr-legitaccount

# Who’s the ANX-305 Account Best Suited For?

Not everyone wants to become the next digital tycoon. Some just want a side hustle that fits into their schedule. The ANX-305 Account is perfect for:

Beginners looking for a guided path

Busy parents wanting flexible income

Freelancers and solopreneurs diversifying their earnings

Students and part-timers who want something scalable

Whether you’ve dabbled before or you’re just getting started, this platform offers a good jumping-off point.

# Benefits of the ANX-305 Account

Still on the fence? Here's a quick roundup of why it’s worth your attention:

No Tech Headaches: Everything’s laid out clearly. You won’t need to Google every step.

Save Time: Pre-made tools and automation cut down the grunt work.

Passive Income Potential: Set up a campaign once and let it run in the background.

Affordable Entry: Compared to many complex platforms, this one won’t burn a hole in your pocket.

Learning by Doing: You’ll pick up real skills as you go—no fluff, just facts.

# Pros and Cons

Let’s lay it all on the table:

Pros:

✅ Easy for beginners

✅ Includes affiliate offers

✅ Automation features included

✅ Learning and support available

✅ Quick setup process

Cons:

❌ Not ideal for advanced marketers wanting full control

❌ Results vary depending on your niche and effort

❌ You’ll need a steady internet connection

Still, for what it sets out to do, the ANX-305 Account hits the mark.

# Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1: Do I need any experience to use the ANX-305 Account?

A: Nope! It’s built for folks with little to no background in affiliate marketing.

Q2: How long before I see results?

A: That depends. Some users see progress in days, others in weeks. Like most things, you get out what you put in.

Q3: Can I run multiple campaigns at once?

A: Yes, the platform allows for scaling and managing more than one campaign.

Q4: Are there hidden fees?

A: No hidden traps here. Pricing is upfront, though optional upgrades might be offered.

Q5: Is this system available worldwide?

A: As long as you’ve got internet and access to affiliate networks, you’re good to go...

Is ANX-305 Legit? Full ANX-305 Account Review here! at https://scamorno.com/ANX-305-Review-Affiliate-System/?id=tumblr-legitaccount

[technologyequality]

Automate Your Client Follow-Ups in 5 Minutes: AI-Powered Sales on Autopilot

Automate Your Client Follow-Ups in 5 Minutes AI-Powered Sales on Autopilot Picture this: You have a solid discovery call with a potential client. They’re excited, you’re excited, and then… nothing. The deal sits in limbo, collecting dust in your CRM because you got busy, life happened, and you forgot to follow up. Sound familiar? It happens to the best of us. But here’s the truth: Follow-up…

[advancedchatbot]

How AI Conversational Platforms Boost Lead Generation and Conversion Rates

AI-powered conversational platforms have become a necessity for marketers who need to create, connect, and convert leads in a short span of time. Since they can mimic the human touch and work 24/7, conversational platforms are changing the dynamics of how brands converse with prospects and how they close deals.

This is how they're making a positive impact.

Instant Engagement, Zero Wait Time

Today's customers need things in real time. AI-powered chatbot and voice assistants capture visitors the moment they land on a site and respond to questions, offer guidance, and stop drop-offs. That first interaction is usually the one that converts casual visitors into leads.

Qualifying Leads Automatically

AI platforms can be configured to pose intelligent, qualifying questions to identify a visitor's intent, budget, or timeline. This can be advantageous to businesses that focus on high-quality leads, it helps them to shorten response time and direct route prospects to the appropriate sales representative

Personalized Interactions That Convert

AI solutions scan user activity and adjust conversations to match. From recommending the appropriate product, providing a discount, or addressing a pain point, personalization builds trust and enhances conversion potential. This shows a customer that you remember small things about them, like their past purchase history and their likes and dislikes. This enables them to concentrate and sense more connected with your brand.

24/7 Lead Capture

Salespeople cannot work 24/7, but AI can. These sites capture leads 24/7, 7 days a week, across time zones, so you never miss a lead. This also helps to reach your customers on public holidays and weekends when your staff may not be working. This helps to boost your bottom line around the clock.

Seamless Integration with CRM Systems

New conversational platforms are natively connected with CRMs so that you can automatically log lead information, automate follow-up sequences, and track real-time conversion analytics.

Wrapping Up

AI conversation platforms are not chatbots, they're master lead generators. With real-time engagement, smart qualifications, and personalized experiences, they help businesses convert interest into action. For businesses looking to grow smartly, these tools not only keep the conversation alive but the conversions as well.

[gottawriteanegoortwo]

A Letter From Yancy

Another year on from the events of Heist and meeting you for the first time, Yancy wants to mark it. Easier said than done when you are in a spaceship millions of miles away.

But, strange things have happened on this ship.

Word count: 1,643

-

It was a quiet day on the Invincible, a rare relief for you. After your morning duties, you found you had free time to do things that you wanted to do.

That, of course, started with a nap. 

The nap was exactly what you needed after a busy week, and you felt rejuvenated to properly check in on various teams on the ship. You kept a professional air, but everyone seemed to know you were in the mood for casual chat. For once, it was nice to lower your guard a little and let the crew see you as a person rather than some mysterious, looming figure.

Well… Mostly. Gunther had gleefully pointed out how members of the ‘Captain Fan Club’ had been lingering around, peeking glances into whatever room you happened to be in. When you tried to look at them, the club members quickly spun around and tried to play it cool through random topics of conversation or pointing out different features like they were on duty. You weren’t exactly sure how a member of the ADS was supposed to give any professional opinions on what were actually oxygen pipes, but you left them to it.

Eventually, you gave them the slip and went down a small side corridor. The engineering department had a workshop dedicated to reparations and other projects. Mark had mentioned he had been building a prototype of a ‘cool idea’, and you would be lying if you said you weren’t curious about it.

-

“Captain! You’re just in time! Come here, come here!” Your Head Engineer was in high spirits as he grabbed you by the arm and yanked you across the workshop. “So I was talking to Burt a few weeks ago and - you know how he does the whole poetry thing? Turns out? He writes it! And not on the tech pads. On paper! I didn’t think anyone even did that these days!”

You raise an eyebrow, deciding not to point out that writing on paper was not fully extinct. Best to let him be excited as he showed off the large machine with tubes poking out of it.

“So it got me thinking. What if there was an automated postal system? Once you’ve written your letter and sealed it, you write the number code of the person you want to send it to. Then, you’d put the envelope in here.” A handle was pulled to reveal an opening. “From there, the computer scans the code, sorts it, and sends it zipping to its destination! The tubes would go in different directions, with the aim to bring it directly to the person’s cabin. Or! If you’re out, you can pick it up from over here.” He waved at you to follow him, where there was the end of a tube just over a small platform. “You type in your code here, scan your hand here, and it’ll send it right back here. Like this.” Stepping around you, Mark followed the steps. Three short, aggressive beeps followed, accompanied by an automated message saying there was no post available. “You try! I’ve only tested it on my code so it’ll be good practice to see if it will recognise anyone else.”

You nod, and follow Mark’s instructions. First, the code. Then, the scan.

One long, less aggressive beep was heard. 

“That’s not right-”

‘Please Wait. Your post will be with you shortly.’

“Hold on. There shouldn’t be anything!” Mark put an arm out, stepping in front of you protectively as you both waited to see what would arrive. A tube to the left rattled. The main body of the machine lit up in a sequence of lights. Mark braced himself as the tube in front of you shook and spat out… A letter.

You lean forward, peering over Mark’s shoulder as you stare, dumbfounded at the post that was successfully delivered.

“Captain…? I think this is a trap. What do we do?”

Two options appeared before you: destroy the letter, or examine it.

Curiosity got the better of you as you moved around Mark to open the hatch. There was a brief, childish squabble as he attempted to block you from getting there, but your strength guaranteed that you could simply lift him up and place him behind you.

“Er… Sorry, Captain. You do know what’s best…”

Satisfied that he wouldn’t cause another ruckus, you finally claimed the letter and examined the envelope. As expected, it was addressed to you, but not how Mark said it should be. Rather, it was for your old address on Earth. Had you been there still, it would have arrived safely. A different handwriting had your number code in the top corner, just beside the stamps, with a small moustache drawn underneath.

“So… Is it safe?”

You nodded as you reread your old address. The handwriting was messy and scratchy, but it was so familiar. You had seen it a dozen times before. 

The question is… How did a letter from Yancy get here?

-

With Mark distracted on his mission to figure out who onboard sent the letter, you sat at his desk and opened the envelope. Everything was untouched, meaning that the second sender didn’t peek inside. Yancy knew about ‘space camp’ and how you were inaccessible, yet… he wrote anyway?

Your name was on the top of the creased, lined paper. To the right, you could see it was dated from the start of October. Everything was the same as always - from the scratchy pencil he over-sharpened, to the bad spelling and grammar. It was quintessentially ‘Yancy’. 

-

I don’t even know why I’m doing this. You isn’t living here. You moved out ages ago. But i has been thinking.  It’s the middle of the night here. Still in Happy Trails, still on the slow path to a parole hearing. And I has been looking at the sky. There ain’t many stars out there but they make me think of you. You doing okay out there? Bet you is so fucking far away by now. Maybe you found new planets or something. Doubt this little rock is even on the back of your mind but… it’s been quiet. Not being able to see you, I mean.  Look, I gotta be honest. It’s october, and that’s the month when we first met. It’s hard to let the month pass and not mark that somehow, even if its through a shitty letter that ill get back in a week or two. Things ain’t easy right now. The parole thing? I know its the right thing to do, but it’s intimidating now that im in the middle of it. When that hearing comes itll be the first time i has seen my brother and sisters since the incidents. Ain’t looking forward to that. And they can say that they don’t think me fit to leave too. Not that i blame them. Dont think they can get my sentence upgraded to the death penalty but theres a real big chance that im gonna be rejected.  I know i should give up while im ahead and save the embarasmant. But then i gets to thinking that it ain’t the right thing for me no more. I might fuck up and get refused but i gets to say i tried. That’s something, right? And anyway, i ain’t letting you down. You believe in me. You always said you believe in me when you came to visitation. Giving up is quitters talk anyway, and im no coward. You dont get scars like mine from hiding all scared!! But i aint that kid no more. The person who did those things is me but isnt me. Does that make sense? Hes me, but im not him. I think ive grown up more than i realised. Im not that trapped kid. Im Yancy, and im going to do right. Once i get out……. Itll be a good thing. Maybe I could get up to where you is. Or maybe by then you is back and maybe we could… do something. I dunno. Im still proud of you for all you is doing, even when you is having one of them bad days.. Dont forget that. Except if you is a nosy shit who this letter ain’t for. You can fuck right off. Or send me a letter back so i can see whether i should be proud of you too. Oh! Remember. Back or side of the knees is a GRATE weak point if you needs a quick escape. Not that i want you to get in trouble or nothing. Just giving some good advice! Wait. I should probably go back to bed. fuck. Hope you is safe. Yancy.

-

You couldn’t stop the wistful smile as you finished the letter. At the bottom, you noticed an addition written in pen, the same one that was used to address the envelope.

-

PS. Nearly sent this in but someone brought in one of them instant camera things! Asked them to take a photo of me so you dont forget this handsome mug!

-

That caught your interest, and you lifted the envelope to peer in. Sure enough, there was a Polaroid tucked away at the bottom that was swiftly retrieved.

Yancy was certainly a little older than you remembered. He still had a pompadour style, but it wasn’t held back as tightly and allowed the curls to loosely fall. His eyes were squeezed shut to accompany the wide, goofy smile and two thumbs up. You chuckled at the conversation that must have happened when the photo was taken about what pose to do. Instead of one to remind you of how tough he was, he instead opted for one that proved that, despite everything, he was still a friend you valued.

You were proud of him too, even if you couldn’t tell him.

[stagkingswife]

Hey, I saw your post on disability and I have a doubt. I have ADHD, OCD, chronic depression, along with hypothyroidism, spondylitis, and gastritis. I am mostly high functioning and was considered a high achiever until I lost my job. I have had bad days when I find it impossible to leave the bed for weeks and I don't remember the last time I woke up feeling refreshed without any body pain. I mostly manage to get everything done before deadline, but that takes a heavy toll on both my physical and mental health. And most of the time I can't work without overdosing on my ADHD meds and painkillers.

My question is, umm, am I disabled?

When I said "send me asks" this is honestly not what I was expecting. I don't know if you're a follower of mine or not, but I'm a silly little witchcraft blog. I'll do my best here, Anon.

This is not a question I, or anyone else can answer for you. Identifying as disabled is a personal choice. If you do not feel disabled you do not have to identify as such. BUT, if you feel like your conditions have enough of an impact on your life.... then it's up to you. You can also be flexible in your phrasing if you wan to say you're mentally, but not physically. For some context I'm also a high achiever. I went to a Seven Sister college, graduated with a very respectable GPA. Now I'm earning a six figure salary in a highly competitive industry, and just landed a 5 figure bonus. My career is only looking up from here. I have an active social life, bot in person and online. But my average pain level is a 7/10. I walk with forearm crutches on my best days and use a wheelchair on anything less than the best. I'm just coming off a medication that truly wrecked me.

There's a lot of really impressive shit that I can do, and that I do well. But there's also a lot of normal every day stuff that I can't do, or struggle to do, or can't do without help. For example: I can build complex automation sequences for work, or discuss really in depth spiritual stuff here, but I can't go grocery shopping on my own, or drive on the highway, or stand in the shower. Sometimes I can't even get out of bed without help. If you aren't familiar with the social model of disability I really think you would benefit from looking into it. The gross oversimplification of it, in case you're unfamiliar, is that it's not about what your body or mind can and can't do in perfect isolation. It's about how those limitations relate to the structure of society. If we were all perfectly supported and perfectly accommodated no one would feel disabled, but that's not the world we live in.

I hope this gave you something to think about, and that you feel you have the space to choose to identify however feels right for you, because you're the only one who can make that call.

[bdcai]

Automotive AI: Revolutionizing Dealership Operations with BDC.ai

1. What Is Automotive AI?

Automotive AI refers to the use of artificial intelligence technologies—like voice bots, chat automation, CRM integration, predictive analytics, and appointment automation—to enhance automotive dealership operations. It transforms reactive, manual processes into proactive, data-driven systems.

BDC.ai, recognized as “The #1 Trusted AI BDC for Dealerships,” exemplifies this shift. Its platform engages with leads within one minute via phone calls, SMS, and email, operating 24/7/365. AI agents qualify prospects, schedule appointments, update CRM systems, and hot-transfer qualified leads to staff—while providing performance analytics .

2. Why Automotive AI Is Critical for Today’s Dealerships

Speed Drives Engagement Responding within five minutes can increase contact rates by 100×, yet only about 10% of dealerships manage this manually Automotive AI ensures sub-1-minute responses, keeping prospects engaged at the moment of interest.

24/7 Availability AI operates non-stop, covering late nights, weekends, and holidays—ensuring no lead or service request is missed

Personalization at Scale By accessing CRM data—customer names, vehicle interest, service history—AI delivers personalized interactions, making automation feel authentic

Efficient Human Handoffs When buying intent is detected, AI smoothly hot-transfers leads to live agents, preserving conversational momentum and context

3. Core Capabilities of BDC.ai’s Platform

FeatureBenefit🚀 Sub‑1‑Minute Multichannel ResponseVoice, SMS, or email outreach keeps leads hot Voice‑Enabled AI ConversationsNatural phone dialogue beyond chatbots 24/7/365 OperationAlways-on lead handling CRM & Calendar SyncAutomated logging and scheduling Smart Hot TransfersSeamless handoffs to staff Lead Source AnalyticsTrack ROI by channel Predictive Lead PrioritizationFocus staff on highest-intent leads

4. Proven Impacts of Automotive AI

Dealerships using AI through tools like BDC.ai report striking improvements:

30–50% faster lead response times

20–35% higher appointment show rates

15–25% increased sales conversions

~40% reduction in manual follow-ups

These gains lead to more showroom visits, better ROI, and streamlined operations.

5. The Voice AI Advantage

Voice is still the preferred channel for customers. Yet, 32% of dealership calls go unanswered, and 35% of callers disconnect due to wait times

Voice AI provided by BDC.ai:

Answers instantly, every time

Detects intent and qualifies leads conversationally

Routes qualified leads to agents

Costs around $0.01/minute, dramatically undercutting staffing models cardealer-

Additionally, voice AI manages appointment scheduling, reminders, cancellations, and rescheduling—optimizing workflow and bay utilization

6. Beyond Lead Handling: AI Across Dealership Operations

Automated Follow-Ups AI keeps leads warm via sequence-based channels at optimal timings

Predictive Service Outreach Based on mileage or telematics, customers receive proactive reminders to book service, boosting retention

Inventory Management AI analyzes sales trends to help dealers stock more of what sells and price strategically .

Virtual Showrooms & AR/VR Demos Digital experiences can engage customers remotely and guide them to appointments .

AI-Backed Agent Coaching Real-time analytics help advisors improve messaging and outcomes during live calls

7. Mitigating the “Too Robotic” Concern

Some dealers worry AI feels inauthentic. One Reddit user warned:

“Feels extremely scripted or robotic… best suited for big-name dealers…”

To avoid this:

Use CRM-based scripts for personalization

Employ hybrid models where staff takes over at key moments

Hot-transfers should trigger as soon as the conversation deepens

When done right, AI enhances—not replaces—human connection.

8. Best Practices for Adopting Automotive AI

Set Clear KPIs – aim for sub-minute response and higher show rates

Choose a Comprehensive Platform – voice, analytics, CRM sync (e.g. BDC.ai)

Deeply Integrate Systems – CRM, service calendar, marketing tools

Customize Voice & Messaging – align tone with brand

Pilot Smartly – start with after-hours or overflow inquiries

Monitor Continuously – measure response, appointment, conversion, ROI

Train Staff for Handoffs – ensure a smooth AI-human transition

Automotive AI—as delivered by platforms like BDC.ai—is rewriting the playbook for dealerships. If you want quicker responses, more personal outreach, seamless scheduling, and smarter sales performance—all while supporting staff—this technology is a game-changer.

AI isn’t replacing your team. It’s empowering them to work smarter, engage better, and drive results. Schedule a demo with BDC.ai, try a pilot, and shift your dealership toward a future powered by intelligent, automated customer engagement.