#because they’re great and any video game aficionado has played them

[inkykeiji]

okay but was the league of villains named after the league of shadows / league of assassins / league of villainy or was it named after league of legends

[asacove]

Onya Icha Ndambi from Cameroon

Onya Icha Ndambi from Cameroon; Reasons Soccer Is the Best Sport in the World

Onya Icha Ndambi from  Cameroon. He's a professional blogger. Onya Icha Ndambi manages the main websites in Cameroon. Onya Icha Ndambi

is a project to collate all the best Man Utd blogs and news channels together in one place. So there’s no need to search around for the best news and opinions about United, you can find them all here.

   Reasons Soccer Is the Best Sport in the World

The USA and Australia are probably the only countries left in the world where soccer is not one of the top-three most popular sports. As an Australian now living in the U.S., this has proven to be rather vexing over the years. It wouldn't be a stretch to go all John Lennon and say that soccer is more popular than God. But soccer is not just the most popular sport in the world, it is also the best. Like, objectively. Here's why. Onya Icha Ndambi

Simplicity

A few games are so overwhelmingly complex that it can take long periods of patient examination (or patient clarification from a specialist) to get your head

around it. I love NFL, baseball and cricket, however I'll likewise acknowledge that they are somewhat substantial on language, subtlety and profoundly specialized technique that can discourage the easygoing watcher.

Hello even the NFL officials themselves get somewhat befuddled here and there (see appended video).

Soccer, then again, is the sort of game you can get your head around after around two minutes of viewing. When you've made sense of the offside standard, that is about it.

   Consistency in the Rules  

A game has central issues if specialists need to change some part of the guidelines before each new season. The NFL is a steady offender, as of late wiping out its profoundly disliked fold rule while additionally every now and again adjusting rules overseeing physical contact (presumably to maintain a strategic distance from a claim one day).

 Rugby is much more terrible.

 Since the time the definition of the "back-pass" rule in 1992, soccer hasn't required any progressions to its standards, notwithstanding what a few numbskulls guarantee.

  No Timeouts

 Watch the most recent five minutes of any b-ball game and you realize that the break thing has turned crazy. It takes what feels like hours to overcome with the two groups freezing the clock at whatever point they have their hands ready, or deliberately fouling their rivals when they don't.

Onya Icha Ndambi

  Notwithstanding dealing with the clock, breaks are additionally over and over again used to end the energy of your rivals, rather than compelling groups to happen of their funk. They're likewise used to give proficient competitors a rest that they truly shouldn't require in any case. Goodness, and they're likewise only a reason for sponsors to interfere with games all the more much of the time. Give me the free-streaming steadiness of soccer quickly

  Poor Countries Beat Rich Countries  

I despite everything left the Ghana versus USA round of 16 games at the 2010 World Cup and reciting with a portion of the nearby fans "Bye, bye, USA!" It struck me that just in soccer could a geopolitical and financial powerhouse like the USA be overwhelmed by an African country with very nearly 300 million less individuals and around 80 spots beneath it on the GDP list.

  It Will Never Have a PED Problem  

The Tour de France might be a wonder of physical continuance, however do any of us despite everything trust it any longer? So as well, it's difficult to appreciate a superhuman exhibition in numerous games in the Olympics without that bothering thought in the rear of one's head: "I wonder in the event that they're on something..."

 There is no medication for expertise and judgment under tension, the twin precepts of any soccer champion. Maradona and Pele never had an indicator close to their name; rather we can simply kick back and make the most of their ability without stressing whether they were getting an unjustifiable substance advantage (in light of the fact that Maradona just took drugs for no particular reason Onya Icha Ndambi

   Internationality

200 and three countries endeavored capability for the 2014 World Cup. There are less nations in the United Nations. Soccer is played completely all over the place; it crosses each national partition.

 Is there another group activity wherein in excess of 20 countries are reliably serious? More than 10? Most likely not, which is the reason sports like the Rugby World Cup wind up being somewhat of a joke, as countries like Namibia scratch together a group of 15 individuals to get beat 142-0 by  Australi

  Magnificence

Soccer possesses a great deal of it. There is the undeniable magnificence of an all around planned bike kick, the jumping header, the 30-yard screamer. However, for the idealists, Spain's "tiki-taka" has been an update that dynamic cooperation can be as delightful as individual trapeze artistry. It genuinely is "the wonderful game."

  Absence of Formula or Preordained Structure

While each game beginnings with two groups on either side of a line, starting there on it is a free-streaming meeting of capriciousness. Aside from set pieces, there's almost no predetermined structure.

 Indeed, even the development of each group is not entirely clear from mentors, rather than fitting a set format. While NFL mentors must be aware of not handling an "unlawful development," their partners in soccer are allowed to pick a 4-4-2, a 3-5-2, or even a 9-0-1 in the event that they're playing Brazil.

  There Is No Physical Size Advantage

 The best player on the planet right currently is a weedy Argentinean remaining at 5'7". Aside from goalkeeping (where you'll in any event need to stand 6' to make it to the top), all men are made equivalent with regards to soccer. There are a few games where you'll never make it to the top without inclined hereditary focal points in regards to measure; soccer isn't one of them.

  You Can Play Anywhere with Minimal Equipment

 Have a go at mounting a vocation in any winter sport without forking out a weighty wad of money only for hardware.

 In soccer, all you need is a ball (or any round article will do). In addition to the fact that this gives less fortunate countries all the more a possibility, some would contend it gives them a favorable position, with numerous a lifelong fashioned from the crude play of city ghettos.

  Scale

In each nation, a group. What's more, inside those alliances, once in a while a few divisions (the Estonian third division, as should be obvious from the video, is as yet paid attention to very by a few). Furthermore, a huge number of beginner rivalries.

 Soccer is played at each expertise level, age and sexual orientation (that's right, them two). In each nation on Earth. That is scale.

  Physicality

Proficient soccer players are fit as a fiddle, because of a game which goes on for an hour and a half (and once in a while two hours) with no breaks. But at the same time it's the scope of wellness they need to show: cardiovascular perseverance, solid continuance, quality, adaptability, speed. While wellness needs can change from position to position, reasonably you have to have them all.

 It's hard not to wonder about the physicality of a competitor who should have the option to run for two hours, wrestle an adversary at a corner and ace the bike kick week in, week out.

  Energy

This is a twofold edged blade, obviously. For each brilliant festival of being a fan or national pride, there is frequently an appalling end product which shows through group viciousness.

Onya Icha Ndambi

Be that as it may, enthusiasm produces energy and shading, as a matter of first importance. Soccer fans care more than aficionados of whatever other game, which delivers brilliantly serious live encounters. In basically some other game, the fans can be exceptional, however nobody's returning home also crushed if their group loses.

  Strength

Some physical games definite a silly physical cost for their members, both by the harshness of the play and the way of life of playing through injury.

 While a few yippees may contend those games are consequently prevalent, it's a disgrace that we can just appreciate a few competitors at their top for such a brief timeframe before injury dulls their capacities.

 Then, some soccer stars don't arrive at their top until their 30s and can keep playing at the top level well past that. Furthermore, at the novice level, you can keep playing the game you love a ways into your sundown years.

  Soccer Players Are Better Looking

Shallow, I know, however there's small denying that David Beckham and Alex Morgan wouldn't have made numerous magazine covers in the event that they were proficient fighters, making efforts to their gigantic cheekbones all the time.

 Also, soccer players grow more appealing physical make-ups than most different games due to the requirement for balanced wellness, while any semblance of Prince Fielder can stack on the pounds since they don't should be trim to do what they do.

[samantha388-blog]

Onya Icha Ndambi from Cameroon

Onya Icha Ndambi from Cameroon; Reasons Soccer Is the Best Sport in the World

Onya Icha Ndambi from  Cameroon. He's a professional blogger. Onya Icha Ndambi manages the main websites in Cameroon. Onya Icha Ndambi

is a project to collate all the best Man Utd blogs and news channels together in one place. So there’s no need to search around for the best news and opinions about United, you can find them all here.

   Reasons Soccer Is the Best Sport in the World

The USA and Australia are probably the only countries left in the world where soccer is not one of the top-three most popular sports. As an Australian now living in the U.S., this has proven to be rather vexing over the years. It wouldn't be a stretch to go all John Lennon and say that soccer is more popular than God. But soccer is not just the most popular sport in the world, it is also the best. Like, objectively. Here's why. Onya Icha Ndambi

Simplicity

A few games are so overwhelmingly complex that it can take long periods of patient examination (or patient clarification from a specialist) to get your head

around it. I love NFL, baseball and cricket, however I'll likewise acknowledge that they are somewhat substantial on language, subtlety and profoundly specialized technique that can discourage the easygoing watcher.

Hello even the NFL officials themselves get somewhat befuddled here and there (see appended video). 

Soccer, then again, is the sort of game you can get your head around after around two minutes of viewing. When you've made sense of the offside standard, that is about it.

   Consistency in the Rules  

A game has central issues if specialists need to change some part of the guidelines before each new season. The NFL is a steady offender, as of late wiping out its profoundly disliked fold rule while additionally every now and again adjusting rules overseeing physical contact (presumably to maintain a strategic distance from a claim one day).

 Rugby is much more terrible.

 Since the time the definition of the "back-pass" rule in 1992, soccer hasn't required any progressions to its standards, notwithstanding what a few numbskulls guarantee.

  No Timeouts

 Watch the most recent five minutes of any b-ball game and you realize that the break thing has turned crazy. It takes what feels like hours to overcome with the two groups freezing the clock at whatever point they have their hands ready, or deliberately fouling their rivals when they don't.

Onya Icha Ndambi

  Notwithstanding dealing with the clock, breaks are additionally over and over again used to end the energy of your rivals, rather than compelling groups to happen of their funk. They're likewise used to give proficient competitors a rest that they truly shouldn't require in any case. Goodness, and they're likewise only a reason for sponsors to interfere with games all the more much of the time. Give me the free-streaming steadiness of soccer quickly

  Poor Countries Beat Rich Countries  

I despite everything left the Ghana versus USA round of 16 games at the 2010 World Cup and reciting with a portion of the nearby fans "Bye, bye, USA!" It struck me that just in soccer could a geopolitical and financial powerhouse like the USA be overwhelmed by an African country with very nearly 300 million less individuals and around 80 spots beneath it on the GDP list.

  It Will Never Have a PED Problem  

The Tour de France might be a wonder of physical continuance, however do any of us despite everything trust it any longer? So as well, it's difficult to appreciate a superhuman exhibition in numerous games in the Olympics without that bothering thought in the rear of one's head: "I wonder in the event that they're on something..."

 There is no medication for expertise and judgment under tension, the twin precepts of any soccer champion. Maradona and Pele never had an indicator close to their name; rather we can simply kick back and make the most of their ability without stressing whether they were getting an unjustifiable substance advantage (in light of the fact that Maradona just took drugs for no particular reason Onya Icha Ndambi

   Internationality

200 and three countries endeavored capability for the 2014 World Cup. There are less nations in the United Nations. Soccer is played completely all over the place; it crosses each national partition.

 Is there another group activity wherein in excess of 20 countries are reliably serious? More than 10? Most likely not, which is the reason sports like the Rugby World Cup wind up being somewhat of a joke, as countries like Namibia scratch together a group of 15 individuals to get beat 142-0 by  Australi

  Magnificence

Soccer possesses a great deal of it. There is the undeniable magnificence of an all around planned bike kick, the jumping header, the 30-yard screamer. However, for the idealists, Spain's "tiki-taka" has been an update that dynamic cooperation can be as delightful as individual trapeze artistry. It genuinely is "the wonderful game."

  Absence of Formula or Preordained Structure

While each game beginnings with two groups on either side of a line, starting there on it is a free-streaming meeting of capriciousness. Aside from set pieces, there's almost no predetermined structure.

 Indeed, even the development of each group is not entirely clear from mentors, rather than fitting a set format. While NFL mentors must be aware of not handling an "unlawful development," their partners in soccer are allowed to pick a 4-4-2, a 3-5-2, or even a 9-0-1 in the event that they're playing Brazil.

  There Is No Physical Size Advantage

 The best player on the planet right currently is a weedy Argentinean remaining at 5'7". Aside from goalkeeping (where you'll in any event need to stand 6' to make it to the top), all men are made equivalent with regards to soccer. There are a few games where you'll never make it to the top without inclined hereditary focal points in regards to measure; soccer isn't one of them.

  You Can Play Anywhere with Minimal Equipment

 Have a go at mounting a vocation in any winter sport without forking out a weighty wad of money only for hardware.

 In soccer, all you need is a ball (or any round article will do). In addition to the fact that this gives less fortunate countries all the more a possibility, some would contend it gives them a favorable position, with numerous a lifelong fashioned from the crude play of city ghettos.

  Scale

In each nation, a group. What's more, inside those alliances, once in a while a few divisions (the Estonian third division, as should be obvious from the video, is as yet paid attention to very by a few). Furthermore, a huge number of beginner rivalries.

 Soccer is played at each expertise level, age and sexual orientation (that's right, them two). In each nation on Earth. That is scale.

  Physicality

Proficient soccer players are fit as a fiddle, because of a game which goes on for an hour and a half (and once in a while two hours) with no breaks. But at the same time it's the scope of wellness they need to show: cardiovascular perseverance, solid continuance, quality, adaptability, speed. While wellness needs can change from position to position, reasonably you have to have them all.

 It's hard not to wonder about the physicality of a competitor who should have the option to run for two hours, wrestle an adversary at a corner and ace the bike kick week in, week out.

  Energy

This is a twofold edged blade, obviously. For each brilliant festival of being a fan or national pride, there is frequently an appalling end product which shows through group viciousness.

Onya Icha Ndambi

Be that as it may, enthusiasm produces energy and shading, as a matter of first importance. Soccer fans care more than aficionados of whatever other game, which delivers brilliantly serious live encounters. In basically some other game, the fans can be exceptional, however nobody's returning home also crushed if their group loses.

  Strength

Some physical games definite a silly physical cost for their members, both by the harshness of the play and the way of life of playing through injury.

 While a few yippees may contend those games are consequently prevalent, it's a disgrace that we can just appreciate a few competitors at their top for such a brief timeframe before injury dulls their capacities.

 Then, some soccer stars don't arrive at their top until their 30s and can keep playing at the top level well past that. Furthermore, at the novice level, you can keep playing the game you love a ways into your sundown years.

  Soccer Players Are Better Looking

Shallow, I know, however there's small denying that David Beckham and Alex Morgan wouldn't have made numerous magazine covers in the event that they were proficient fighters, making efforts to their gigantic cheekbones all the time.

 Also, soccer players grow more appealing physical make-ups than most different games due to the requirement for balanced wellness, while any semblance of Prince Fielder can stack on the pounds since they don't should be trim to do what they do.

[cromulentbookreview]

Sonata in A! K331! 3rd Movement!

Funny thing is, this is surprisingly accurate. 

And by that I mean: The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu!

You don’t have to be a music fan to know the name Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In fact, you probably have no idea what in the hell a Sonata in K K331 Third Movement even is until you hear it. Then you’ll know it immediately. In fact, you can know nothing about Mozart but still be familiar with many of his pieces. Maybe you had the misfortune to be forced to watch the movie Amadeus* in your German class (a movie that is probably not appropriate to show public high school students even if it’s dubbed in German) or have seen the 30 Rock parody episode where, instead of writing music, they create a porn video game. My point is: you know Mozart. Everyone knows Mozart, especially kids who were made to learn piano. Or, in my case, piano AND violin**. The main reason for that is, well, public domain, but also because Mozart is the shit. 

I mean, I’m more of a Beethoven girl myself, and I have a lot of love for the 19th century Russians (Tchaikovsky and The Five FTW!), but, seriously, if you learn anything about music, you learn about Mozart. And, as someone semi-fluent in German, who has dedicated most of her life to learning German, you have no choice but to learn about the greats of German music. Yes, Austrians count as part of German music. As I’ve mentioned before, there was no “Germany” until 1871, and I’m including any and all native German speakers as part of German music. Austrians speak German. Kind of. I mean, 99.9% of my German teachers were either from southern Germany or Austria, so I may have a bit of a bias...though my main bias is against Swiss German which literally is not German stop calling it that, Switzerland!

What were we talking about?

Oh. Yeah. Mozart. 

You know he had a sister, right? One who was a musical prodigy in her own right, who used to play for the courts of Europe alongside her little brother, right?

No?

Yeah, you probably don’t. Because back in the 18th century, women weren’t allowed to be composers or musical prodigies. Once they grew up, they got married, had children and were subsequently erased from history while the men in their family achieve immortality. 

Meet Maria Anna Mozart, known by her family as Nannerl. 

The Kingdom of Back is Nannerl’s story.

Salzburg! 1759! Nannerl Mozart is only eight, but is desperate to please her father and prove her mettle as a musician. The Mozart family is in a perpetual state of one-missed-paycheck-away-from-homelessness, and Nannerl’s stage dad, Leopold, hopes to cash in on the whole child prodigy thing. Unfortunately, Nannerl’s first demonstration for a court musician goes wrong when she’s distracted by her baby brother, Wolferl. That night, Nannerl dreams of a beautiful kingdom full of music, and of a beautiful boy with glowing blue eyes. 

As she gets older, Nannerl is as shocked as her parents when Lil Wolferl shows a knack for music. She’s horrified to discover that she feels jealous of her baby brother, who idolizes her. One night, Nannerl and Wolferl are woken up by a strange light coming from their music room. When they investigate, they find the beautiful boy from Nannerl’s dream, in the flesh. He steals Nannerl’s music notebook then promptly jumps out the window.

Like so:

Complete with broken glass.

Anyway, the next time Nannerl sees the boy, she’s out in Salzburg with her brother on a shopping trip when she opens the door to a shop’s storage room, only to find it leads to the magical kingdom she’d seen in her dream. The boy, Hyacinth, wants Nannerl’s help to reclaim his throne. In exchange, he will make sure Nannerl gets her greatest wish: to be remembered forever.

Shortly after, Nannerl and Wolferl are called to Vienna to play for the Emperor and Empress. Wolferl puts on quite the show, charming everyone in the room and even proposing to the Emperor and Empress’s youngest daughter. It’s after this that Nannerl and Wolferl’s parents decide to take them on a massive tour of Europe. In the long, dull carriage rides between destinations, Nannerl and Wolferl come up with a name and origin story for Hyacinth and the magical kingdom that they saw: The Kingdom of Back. As the tour continues and Wolfer’s fame rises, Nannerl worries more and more about being forgotten - that her fate is sealed: she will never be a composer and a musician, instead she will become a wife and mother and nothing more than a footnote in history.

But the Kingdom of Back is more than just a fantasy story shared between two bored kids. Hyacinth’s magic has an effect on our world, causing calamities and illness. As Nannerl struggles to cope with her conflicting emotions, Hyacinth starts to seem less like a fairy prince and more like something sinister. But his promises of fame and immortality to Nannerl are so very, very tempting. I mean, wouldn’t you be a little jealous if your baby brother was an 18th century child rockstar? 

(Ok, the throwing of underthings may not have happened to Mozart, but it definitely happened to Liszt so that episode of the Simpsons isn’t entirely inaccurate).

 If you come into The Kingdom of Back expecting it to be something like Marie Lu’s other novels - namely, action packed sci-fi/fantasy serieses - you are bound to be disappointed. The Kingdom of Back is unlike all of Lu’s other novels - it is a standalone historical fantasy dedicated to someone who, in spite of her talent, was relegated to the dustbin of history just because she was a girl. I adore Marie Lu’s books (the Legend trilogy is probably one of the best YA trilogies ever - if you haven’t read it, stop everything and do that now, please) and I’m also a fan of music, 18th century Germans, and 18th century German musical composers so I wasn’t at all put off knowing that The Kingdom of Back wasn’t going to be like her other books. It was more like “holy shit, Marie Lu is wrote a book about Mozart’s sister, put it in my brain immediately, please.” The Kingdom of Back is just wonderful, you guys. Lu beautifully captures what it’s like to have a sibling that you love, but also envy. Lu’s writing is lyrical and enchanting without crossing into purple prose territory. Music can be difficult to capture in prose, but Lu manages to do so without alienating the reader with too many weird technical musical terms that would be off putting to the average reader (hi!). The way time works in the book is weird - you’re never quite sure when you are at any given time or how old anyone else, unless you have the timeline of the Mozart children’s grand tour open while you read. Months can go by in a single sentence which can be a bit jarring, but the book manages to condense a decade into 300 pages. I’d rather have 300 pages and a few pacing issues than way too much detail within 900 pages. 

My absolute favorite aspect of this book is Nannerl herself. Nannerl, as an 18th century girl, is bound by 18th century constraints - she’s not allowed to compose openly, as herself. She’s not allowed to talk back. She’s expected to look after her brother, as her position as older sister makes her mom-in-training. Nannerl is a good and proper 18th century lady, and she hates it. She hates the limits placed on her by society, but at the same time, she’s desperate to please her parents and earn their praise. Because what else can she do? It’s the shit situation women have experienced since time immaterial: conform, or else. Nannerl may seem meek and submissive compared to the likes of June from Legend or Emika from Warcross, but make no mistake, she is just as strong as they are. Her strength lies in her quiet resilience. Nannerl can’t exactly fight back against the system the way June and Emika do, so she rebels in other, quieter ways. She maintains eye contact for her father, waiting for him to break first or stays quiet when she’s expected to voice her praises. She creates a whole fantasy world in which to take refuge. Nannerl’s way of fighting back is subtle because it has to be. 

Unfortunately, it takes only a click of a Wikipedia link to know how Nannerl’s story ends. It is bittersweet and something that will definitely strike a chord (pun absolutely intended) with any girl or woman who reads The Kingdom of Back. 

RECOMMENDED FOR: Any girl or woman who has ever seen her accomplishments ignored or passed over in favor of a man’s, anyone with a sibling they’re just a little bit jealous of, music fans, Mozart fans, Marie Lu fans, anyone in the mood for a gorgeously-written YA historical fantasy.

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR: Haydn aficionados, Leopold Mozart, children who were forced to learn piano, men’s rights activists, people who would mistake an 18th century girl’s quiet resilience for weakness.

RELEASE DATE: March 3, 2020 - hey, I promise cromulent reviews, not “on time” reviews or “reviews in advance of publication.”

RATING: 4/5

MOZART RATING:

BEETHOVEN FANS, WHEN ENCOUNTERED BY MOZART FANS:

You can hear the 5th symphony with every haw.

*Please remember the movie Amadeus is also a historical fantasy - Salieri and Mozart were peers and were most likely friends, if not friendly. Also, Salieri had like, 8 kids and at least 1 mistress, he wasn’t some pious weirdo like he’s portrayed in the movie. I mean, he was Italian. F. Murray Abraham was awesome in it, though. My point is, don’t get your history from movies. It’s a bad idea.

Get it from Wikipedia, like a normal person.

That soundtrack, though. If you want an intro to Mozart’s music, that is a good way to go.

**Ahahahaha I was, then and now, and will forever remain, terrible at both. 

[apex-legends-generator-download]

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Program Download - Apex Legends Generator

Pinnacle Legends is a first-person class-based Battle Royale established by Respawn Home entertainment and published by Digital Arts (EA). The teamwork element of "Pinnacle Legends" is arguably better than any kind of other battle royale title to date. Pinnacle Legends handles to get rid of the most aggravating as well as uninteresting facets of the battle royale genre at the very same time as it improves one of the most thrilling as well as exciting moments. When you think of the state that PUBG, Ring of Elysium and most various other battle royales were in when they initially appeared, it is quite impressive exactly how well Pinnacle Legends run.

Yet Peak Legends is additionally the product of the category's failings thus far, a patient and also polished action that makes for the most accessible, uncompromising fight royale experience yet. The gunplay in "Pinnacle Apex Legends Generator Cheat Legends" is tight as well as receptive. Considering most games are $60 USD, players might sensibly anticipate to place that quantity toward 8 brand-new Legends, provided new-release Legends aren't cost a greater price.

This itself is an advantage to access and also a salve to toxicity, but atop it, Pinnacle features a text-to-speech comms alternative for gamers with trouble speaking or fretted about harassment, which however feels like an advanced act when huge multiplayer games like Anthem as well as After effects 76 launch without text conversation whatsoever.

Respawn Amusement took the battle royale style as well as fixed it. Pinnacle Legends is, in my viewpoint, the new gold requirement of fight royale's and also it is now the game that every new BR video game has to attempt as well as live approximately It is quite clear after a couple of video games of Apex Legends that the game was built to be played in a squad and while the absence of solo and also duo-queue is certainly a problem it is not as big of an issue as I initially assumed it would certainly be.

In traditional battle royale video games, I always feel like most attack rifles seem like the exact same, all SMG's really feel the very same and so on. In Pinnacle Legends I constantly have a truly solid preference towards certain guns Apex Legends Generator Hack due to exactly how distinct the recoil as well as feeling of the tools are. To go from being consistently debased by myriads of preteen racists in Fortnite to notching wins with complete strangers in utter silence in Apex Legends is a videogame miracle.

Armour is a significant part of Apex Legends with Impressive being the most demanded, it properly giving you an added life on top of your base HP. This is where some of the grievances against the TTK could be at their most reliable as it's extremely difficult to go toe-to-toe with a team prepared to the gills, even more so if they're fortunate adequate to come throughout Legendary equipment and also weapons, which can offer some aficionados to things like capacity regrowth and even the chance to restore on your own when knocked.

Apex Legends Generator - Peak Legends Video Game Review

Pinnacle Legends is embeded in the Titanfall world, however plays nothing like it: every gun has ballistics, the titans are gone, therefore is wall-running. Gamers can earn 45 Peak Packs in between levels 1 as well as 100, with the option to purchase added boxes utilizing Apex Coins. The essentials of Apex Legends will know to any individual who knows their decreases" from their hen dinners." After selecting from among eight Tales (consisting of two unlockable characters, Caustic and Mirage), you'll be paired with two various other colleagues and also flown over the huge, industrial desert map in a dropship.

Because of this, everyone often tends to spread in unforeseeable directions, and also the meta for Pinnacle's map feels pleasantly unclear. Peak Legends is a quiet change in how we communicate in games, and also an outstanding team-based battle royale I can suggest to anybody, caveat-free. While every programmer hurried to obtain their very own fight royale game out onto the market as promptly as possible since the success of Fortnite and PUBG, Respawn Home entertainment took their pleasant time with Pinnacle Legends as well as it reveals.

Among the things that have created Peak Legends to come to be such a big success in nearly no time at all is all the subtle differences and also attention to details. The sci-fi setting of Pinnacle Legends has actually Apex Legends Generator Cheat permitted the developers the creative liberty to produce a lot of truly special tools that stand apart a whole lot more than the usual weapons in video games such as PUBG.

A great deal of them have abilities that work completely together with certain Legends, and in that regard, it really feels just like a MOBA or something like Overwatch where particular heroes simply combo up so well. Though you may have every little thing you need you continuously intend to guarantee your teammates have what they need and this is thanks to the means "Pinnacle Legends" is established.

[steamkeygenerator110agames-blog]

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Do you choose Xbox or Ps? Maybe you're a Nintendo wii aficionado. Or you might prefer to engage in on your personal computer, iPad or even your phone. It doesn't matter the place you engage in, it's usually wise to understand tricks and tips to create your interest of video clip game playing greater, so please read on.

Consider video game splits. Relaxing in a similar place for days on end can be harmful to your overall health. Pressure on your own every thirty minutes to hit that pause switch and go walking around the area for any little bit. This will aid your body as well as crystal clear your mind.

As fascinating as a xbox game could check out you, go through its testimonials prior to acquiring it. Activity firms do their very best to create their games seem tempting when, the truth is, it is actually uninteresting it utterly unpleasant. Search on the internet to search for critiques or check with your buddies that have played out this game.

For mothers and fathers, online games can current an actual conundrum. The kids surely would like to play the latest and greatest game titles that the friends are referring to, but you wish to get some power over the things they expertise. The perfect solution is easy: Do a little multiple-person video games together with your youngsters! Perform as well as them so you know what they're experiencing and doing.

How to get free games for steam through cmd

Whilst a game's status may indicate that it is appropriate for a midst school old youngster, the level of assault included may well not sit down properly along. Possibly placed the activity out or reduce the time period that your child performs it should this happen. Whilst you can't defend them from almost everything, you may control how much assault they see.

The most effective instances to get video gaming are throughout seasonal holiday seasons. Stores and on-line systems will generally maintain revenue throughout the winter months holiday seasons or throughout the midst of summer where new and utilized online games will probably be offered at reduced price ranges. You can find numerous video games for the buying price of 1 new game that isn't discounted if you are taking good thing about these revenue.

Prior to invest a ton of money on things such as controllers or memory space greeting cards, look online for any applied model. Sometimes a shop will probably be away from applied activity equipment, which can be very inexpensive. Make sure you examine a web-based seller's feedback before making the buying which means you determine if you're getting everything you purchased.

Try not to get new video gaming at the time in their discharge. Video gaming are costly today and waiting a month or two from your discharge day can help you to preserve lots of money on new video gaming. New games constantly are more expensive for the first weeks right after their discharge.

On the internet sales are yet another outlet to purchase online games. Look into the option of acquiring at sales, even though you might be sensing that video games are away from your budget range. Make time to effectively look for for the very best package. Invest in the video games you desire but will not spend more money than within your budget.

Don't be way too fast to ignore a part-playing video game if your initially knowledge of it really is under whelming. Many of these video games offer you extensive selections for modifying your personality, and you may get the online game more pleasurable using a diversely-constructed character. You don't wish to lose out on a great video gaming encounter simply because you're taking part in the wrong school!

The video video game relationship you utilize should be of the most effective high quality. A great deal of online game consoles have distinct cables which can be superior to others. How do you know which to utilize should your monitor or Television has several types of wires? Use DVI or HDMI for the best photo if you can. Another greatest can be composite or S-Movie, and up coming is RCA. Coaxial connections are what folks largely find, but they're reduce in top quality than the relax. If you can't use other things, you should have only these connections.

Prior to deciding to consider the method, think about video games. Take into consideration what sort of online games can be found on each and every method, before you go out and devote a lot of money on a video gaming system. Although games possess a edition for every single system, you can still find some game titles which are only at someone program. Pick sensibly.

If you decide to enable your youngster to experience a online video video games method, don't just set it up up in their room and provide him totally free reign. Input it somewhere where you could keep track of his play time, and enforce time restrictions. Establish the principles at the beginning, and stick to them.

There, don't you feel just like you know a ton about as a far better game addict now? All it takes to find out might be a energy on your part, and you'll discover that understanding moves a considerable ways. Always keep studying, always keep playing and you'll find that your video gaming will become greater everyday.

[kajaroj]

When we think of video game movies/adaptations, the thing that first come to mind is the horribly forgettable 1993 Super Mario Brothers movie. That movie laid the foundation of a string of multiple bad video game movies made by Hollywood, and one of which was 1994 Street Fighter starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. While there somewhat of a redeeming value with the movie (mostly for the wrong reasons), the 1994 Street Fighter movie represents the difficulty Hollywood has had in adapting a long-running fighting game franchise.

A year ago, I was full of excitement and hyperventilation when they announced that the live-action TV series based on the popular Street Fighter video game franchise—that had been in the works since 2014—was finally moving forward. What’s really exciting about the upcoming TV series is that it will be a sequel to an already existing live-action Street Fighter adaptation. Thankfully it’s neither the 1994 movie nor the Chun-Li movie.

https://deadline.com/2018/03/street-fighter-video-game-franchise-adapted-tv-series-entertainment-one-mark-gordon-1202352026/

To put things in perspective, this article will be a retrospective about the 2014 live-action web-series/movie Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist (to which the upcoming TV show sequel is based on), and why I consider this live-action foray to be one of the finest and most faithful screen adaptations of any video game to date and why this needs more mainstream exposure.

Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist is the brainchild of British actor and stuntman Joey Ansah. If you are not familiar with this man’s work, I suggest watching one movie he is most known for: The Bourne Ultimatum.

  The Bourne Ultimatum was the perfect stepping stone for Joey Ansah to showcase his talents that would eventually get him the opportunity to do a live-action Street Fighter adaptation, especially one that is done properly and faithfully. Out of all the Street Fighter aficionados that I’ve seen, Joey is arguably the only one that is genuinely passionate for the entire lore and universe, and it is very much evident in Assassin’s Fist on how much he carefully crafted dimension and humanity to well-known characters that are basically two-dimensional polygons in a fighting game.

Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist arose from a proof-of-concept short film that was released on YouTube in 2010, and it immediately got positive traction from fans and numerous media publications. The well-received short film, Street Fighter: Legacy, was done as a mere response to Hollywood’s failed attempts at adapting CAPCOM’s popular IP. Hearing from Joey’s interviews, like many Street Fighter fans he disliked the two Hollywood adaptations, and he really wants something to be done right.

Joey initially pitched a TV series to CAPCOM, but because of the certain difficulties of trying to get a TV show to be made, he re-approached his pitch into a short film which eventually became Legacy. Fast forward to 2012, the announcement of a new live-action Street Fighter feature-length series made me feel apprehensive at first. However, when I heard that it would be made by the same guys who did the Street Fighter: Legacy short film, it sparked a huge amount of hope, as I thought this might be the first live-action Street Fighter that will be done right. Two years later, the series Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist, was about to arrive. It was around 4-AM, and I was all prepared with early morning breakfast. Going in, I was feeling a bit anxious because, given the current status of video game adaptations in Hollywood which are still a work-in-progress, I still didn’t feel that a live-action Street Fighter series would merit any artistic or narrative value. However, after watching the series in its entirety, tears started pouring down and I felt so happy and relieved that it was very good. I thought it was the most intense, emotional and immersive experience I’ve ever had cinematically.

Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist was first released as a web series on YouTube, consisting of 12 episodes which are 10-12 minutes per episode, so if combined, it’s like a 2 & 1/2 hour movie. In terms of its production value, the series is very cinematic in quality, and so I feel it could have been released in movie theaters. Assassin’s Fist is truly a fan’s wet dream, having a huge amount of in-game references and Easter eggs for fans familiar with the games. But underneath its fan-service contains an incredible amount of deep narrative that strongly flushes out each of the characters. Of all the video game adaptations that I have seen, this is one that I would watch over and over. So, I asked myself: “Why did this work?” “What were the strengths?” Here are a few reasons as to why Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist worked so well as a fighting game adaptation:

This live-action adaptation is Street Fighter to the core.

The film/series stars the franchise’s poster boy, Ryu, played by Korean-American actor, Mike Moh. It also stars his American best friend/rival, Ken, played by British actor, Christian Howard. What I can truly say with this is… FINALLY!!! We have a live-action Street Fighter that is very true to the core essence of the games.

The main actors are well-cast, especially Ken Masters because he looks exactly like Ken in real life. Ryu was also spot-on that he reminded me one of the artworks from Street Fighter III: Third Strike. 

    The story takes place in Japan.

Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist’s setting takes place in the secluded mountain wilderness of Japan, which should have been the appropriate start for a live-action adaptation of the game. Street Fighter may be a global game franchise, but its roots will forever be ingrained with Japan. So, who lives in Japan? Who else?! The franchise’s poster boy, Ryu.

Ryu, perfectly embodied by Mike Moh.

The great thing about Assassin’s Fist is that it mostly tells the story of the Japanese characters. The story is set around the late 80s’ Japan where Ryu trains in the deadly style of martial arts known as “Ansatsuken” (Assassin’s Fist) under the tutelage of his master, Gouken. Though Ryu is not the only one learning the art of Ansatsuken, his American best friend Ken Masters is also learning the arts after his father brought him to Gouken when he was young to change his way of life after his mom’s death. During their final years as students, they learn the ways of the Hado, learning to do the 3 signature moves: Hadoken, Shoryuken & Tatsumaki Senpu-kyaku.

Assassin’s Fist is 2 storylines told in a non-linear way. The present-day storyline takes place in the late 80s’, while the past takes place around the late 50s’ as flashbacks. In the past storyline, we get to learn how Ryu and Ken’s master Gouken learned the ways of Ansatsuken under his master Goutetsu, and how the dark traditions and legacy of the art led to Gouken’s younger brother, Gouki, into becoming a powerful entity known as Akuma.

I don’t know about you guys, but I love Japanese storytelling, especially in cinema. What I love about Assassin’s Fist is that, despite this being a western adaptation, every aspect feels authentically Japanese. Of course, there were lots of English dialogue, but it balances it with Japanese dialogue that makes the film feel like an authentic Japanese movie. The landscape cinematography and film scope often reminded me of classic Akira Kurosawa films I’ve watched.

It’s not an adaptation of any Street Fighter game.

Among the major strengths of Assassin’s Fist is that the core essence of the games remains intact despite the film not being a direct adaptation of any existing Street Fighter game. The movie acts as a prequel to the events of the first game, while referencing a variety of narrative elements from the games. Aside from the 2 terrible Hollywood film attempts, Street Fighter has had several adaptations, mostly in the animation and comic field. Having read a number of Street Fighter-related comics and watched all of anime, Assassin’s Fist makes a number or references and nods to the various animations and comic book iterations.

The balance of drama and martial arts is perfectly-paced.

What made Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist work as a piece of film was the intricate balance between character drama and martial arts. The film runs at 2 1/2 hours, which was perfect for adding fight scenes at the right pace. The film had about 4 fight scenes and 2 training sequences, which is a total of 6 action scenes. The martial arts scenes were superbly-shot and tightly choreographed, and what really helped make this happen was the fact that the actors themselves are actual martial artists.

As a whole, Assassin’s Fist plays more as a “drama film with martial arts” as opposed to being a martial arts film. The drama worked very well because it was very non-linear, yet straightforward—as opposed to being convoluted and scattered. The character development perfectly humanizes each character’s motivations while still adding a bit of mystery to them. Moments of interaction between Ryu, Ken & Gouken were great to watch, especially the training sequences. My favorite dramatic moments, though, were from the flashback scenes between the young Gouken, Gouki & Goutetsu. The movie is mostly serious in tone, but I also enjoyed the comedic moments just to lighten the mood.

The huge amount of dramatic depth was mostly shown in scenes in the past, especially in scenes between Gouki and Goutetsu where they’re arguing about the traditions and philosophies of the Ansatsuken lineage. There is no clear protagonist and antagonist in the movie, but what really immerses me with each character is that fact that they’re dramatized as very multi-dimensional. They have moral grey areas, flaws, fears, struggles and insecurities that would make you root for any of the characters.

Reflecting on its release, Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist provides a solid proof that fighting games and video games in general can work as cinematic adaptations if done faithfully and properly. This movie is the perfect template for any filmmaker attempting to adapt any video game that properly balances in-game action and story. It’s just slightly disappointing that with everything that was accomplished here, mainstream press overlooked this piece of cinematic gem.

My only assumption as to why Assassin’s Fist not getting its much-deserved mainstream exposure is because it was a fan-made adaptation. But I feel like some of the press overlooked that this movie was made with CAPCOM’s involvement. I guess bigger attention to Assassin’s Fist will subsequently pick up when more updates with the upcoming TV series is released. Thankfully, many of the actors who appeared in this movie/web-series are now getting much bigger opportunities, particularly the Ryu actor, Mike Moh who recently got his Hollywood breakout portraying Bruce Lee in Quentin Tarantino’s latest film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

From Ryu to Bruce Lee.

So, I’m going to end this article by saying… Thank you, Joey Ansah, for giving us a true-to-heart live-action cinematic adaptation of Street Fighter, and a great yet overlooked video game movie which I truly hope will find its way into much bigger publicity than its initial release.

After over a year trying to sum up my overall thoughts on this particular topic, this is a retrospective on what I consider to be the most overlooked and underappreciated video game adaptation ever. Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist. When we think of video game movies/adaptations, the thing that first come to mind is the horribly forgettable 1993 Super Mario Brothers movie.

[mypredilection-blog1]

Confused By King of Thieves Hack? Try These Quick And Easy Tips!

You might be looking to teach your five year old a little bit about math, or your sixteen year old how to drive defensively, or maybe you just need to escape reality for an hour or so! Whatever you are looking to accomplish, chances are good that a King of Thieves Hack can help you get there. Keep reading to learn more.

Be aware of ESRB ratings. Just like movies, video games come with ratings. These ratings let you know the intended audience for the game you are about to play. If you are buying video games for a minor, it is important that you familiarize yourself with the rating and warning system.

Figure out what game ratings mean. In the past, games were thought of as a toy for kids. Today, many are marketed to adults and are not considered appropriate for children. Games are rated from EC, for Early Childhood, to AO, for Adults Only. When the game is for a child, check the rating and select your games with caution.

Create a video game schedule for your children. Just like mandatory homework time, this King of Thieves Hacks schedule will help take control of a youngster's habits. When the times have been set, stick to the schedule. Don't back down because of whining or begging. The schedule is only effective if you follow through.

Save your game as much as you can. While auto-saving is a great feature, don't rely on it. Particularly, when you first start playing a game, you may have no idea when the game saves, which could lead to a loss of important data later on. Until you understand the game better, always save yourself.

Read the reviews and watch the trailers before you purchase a video game. Make sure it is something you are interested in before you get it. These video games aren't cheap, and you won't get nearly as much money when you trade in a used game that you have only used a few times.

Use caution with online games. You may find that there's a monthly charge. Check out any site your children want to use before you let them sign up. Figure out whether you have to invest any money and whether the game is worth the cost involved.

Video games are a lot of fun, but they can be quite tricky, too. If you are stuck on a game, go online and search for cheats. Most King of Thieves Cheats have some sort of cheat or cheats that can make them a lot easier. Simply search in your favorite search engine and you can easily find cheats to make your game play better.

It's very common to reach a rough patch in any kind of video game where you have difficulty advancing. This experience can be very frustrating! Instead of bashing your head against the problem point over and over again, take a break and set the game aside for a little while. You'll likely deal with the situation better when you return to it refreshed.

For a cheaper way to enjoy great video games, look into "classic" games. These titles are years (or even decades) old, but they've been upgraded to run on modern computers and consoles. They're usually quite affordable and usually very beloved. When a game stands the test of time, you can be fairly certain that it has considerable quality.

If you are concerned with anyone in your home doing too much sedentary video gaming time, get them to include more active video gaming hours. Hardware and titles now exist where video gamers can play various sports, dance, practice balance and agility and even strength train. These all make for good activity on rainy or dark days.

When playing some of the longer King of Thieves Hack Gems on your console system, make sure to take a break and get away from the screen. Go outside for a few minutes and let your eyes adjust. Stretch your legs. You will start to notice how much better you play the games when you take these short breaks.

Ask friends for recommendations. Better yet, think of asking their kids! You should be capable to find the gaming aficionados in your social groups, so use them to your advantage. Your friends know you and you trust their opinions, so you should be able to more easily choose new games to play from their recommendations.

If you're a parent of a child who plays video games, you need to monitor them. Look at things like how long they are playing and what type of games they are playing. You need to know exactly what they are doing when they switch on that console or computer.

If there are many games you want to try out but do not want to commit to purchasing them, rent them! Rental video games are available in local stores or through a mail-order service. You can list as many titles as you want that you are interested in and check out one or two at a time. Some rental services even have digital content you can download immediately.

When it comes to King of Thieves Gem Hack that require skill, don't use too many cheat codes. That defeats the entire purpose of playing the game. Save cheat codes and other tricks for sports-related games; they can enhance gameplay rather than ruining it.

To save money, consider renting the games that your children play instead of buying them. This will cost a fraction of the price, and most gamers will never play a game again after the first couple of weeks. This is one of the most cost conscious things that you can do in regards to gaming.

To help keep your child safe while playing video games, find out about the multiplayer options of the games they are playing. Set age appropriate limits to gaming interactions with others online. Some games have parental control options that you can use to determine the kind of interaction your child will have with strangers.

With literally millions of King of Thieves Mod Apk on the Internet or available for purchase, there is definitely more than one to meet your needs, no matter what they are! Learn how to cook, learn how to teach or just plain learn how to have more fun. Hopefully this article has expanded your gaming horizons.

[gregoryylev778-blog]

10 Facts About chrono trigger rom That Will Instantly Put You in a Good Mood

Rather a reversal. A lot of people at enough time of its start disputed the knowledge of a pricey Blu-ray part, that has because been on the list of main functions that established it aside from other consoles.

One other function https://www.washingtonpost.com/newssearch/?query=videogame that has secured its dominance will be the rich movie video games library accessible to its end users, and not shockingly, Using the approaching holiday period of time, that archive is about to be replenished with some great blockbuster games.

2011 has witnessed some authentic revolutionary gaming hit our cabinets.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

I must confess I'm a sucker for fantasy and role-Participate in game titles. I initial got the style with Myst, which I performed on Mac all around 20 years in the past. Points have undoubtedly arrive on a rate considering the fact that then.

This is a component V with the epic fantasy by Bathsheba Softworks (The Elder Scrolls series). Skyrim provides a completely new dimension to RPG. Incredible graphics transport you into an enormous environment where you wander off.

Selecting up two hundred years following the end of Elder Scrolls IV - Oblivion, Skyrim is about in the midst of a civil war

You could roll Enjoy a personality as your favorite species of preference, whether it is human or elf, and incorporate to the strengths in the course of the match.You may Raise your expertise in magic, alchemy or weapons. A humdinger of activity for just about any RPG fantasy supporter.

The Ico and Shadow of your Colossus Selection

The most irritating points with regards to the PS3 for just about any Playstation aficionado is the fact that it's actually not backward suitable with any earlier console games.

What a relief that these two online games, ICO and Shadow with the Colossus characteristic in a very PS3 combo pack. Greatly regarded as examples of epic storytelling both of these video games are enhanced by High definition, whole 3D assist and seven.1 encompass audio.

A lot of a teary-eyed PS2 user will probably be waking approximately this in their Christmas stocking come December twenty fifth.

Battlefield 3

The hugely predicted FPS release from DICE will not disappoint. In immediate Competitiveness with Present day Warfare it virtually blows it absent.

Choose between Tehran, Ny and Paris as being the backdrop towards your combat zone, throw in certain recreation shifting technology powered by DICE's Frostbite 2 motor and great co-op and multiplayer functions and you've got the last word wartime initially man or woman shooter.

In case you feel that obtaining these video games might make for a pricey Christmas, my assistance should be to audition them for free 1st with an excellent game rental services like Lovefilm.

Just after the release of the very first Ps3 in Japan in 2006, Sony has adjusted how players love video game. Considered one of the most recent gizmos that gamers talk about is Ps3 Turbo Controller. This Sony controller is able to offering the most popular speedy fire purpose for PS3. It can be furnished with programmable Turbo Swift Hearth mode and can facilitate with as much as 8 buttons at varied speed amounts. When rapid hearth is enabled, it will make one shot pistols in video game which include Connect with of Duty: Earth at War being authentic harmful. Furthermore, it has totally automatic weapon which will vacant a clip on an enemy in seconds. This firepower benefit provides the gamers far more entertaining practical experience once they hit their controllers.

Players can utilize it even 20 feet far from the console without the need of interruptions. It really is run with 2 AA batteries offering lengthy standing electricity so gamers haven't got to fret of charging it again and again. The constructed-in automobile shut-off aspect provides more benefit as turning off the facility is often computerized. This Ps3 product from Sony is intended with turbo function that permits repeat abilities and quick vehicle-hearth so players can increase their winning.

With whole array buttons and tilt sensors, players will certainly appreciate playing because it's like additional alive. Rendering it more Superior, this Ps3 system is likewise furnished with Constructed-in motors presenting a vibration feedback that everybody would certainly really like. For all those acutely aware players who uncover challenging to match the controllers into their fingers, this system permits a far better suit as as opposed with other controllers so giving a lot more ease whilst enjoying.

With technological know-how, gadgets Really don't prevent establishing. Now, players have the prospect to develop their very own controllers according to their particular preferences and magnificence. These Modified Ps3 Controller can http://rpg-rom.com/mario-rpg-rom make playing a lot more advantageous to the customers as they're able to now be remodeled or personalized dependant on the consumer's requires. Classic is out! Now, avid gamers have the choice to choose how they wish to appreciate much better inside their game titles.

Modded Controller solutions supplied by several firms are among the list of in-desire gives which make gaming a lot more real and remarkable for everyone. Increase-on mods may be adjusted and put in for example quick reload, sniper breath, jitter, drop shot, car-burst, auto-purpose and even more. These Ps3 controllers will also be intended with diverse custom LED colour and Thumbsticks. With far more variation and innovation of Superior gizmos like these, gaming would generally be the ideal and modernized method of satisfaction for activity addicts.

[callmeblake]

By Deb Draisin

Frank Iero, now that his stint in My Chemical Romance is behind him, is nothing if not a man with 25 irons in the fire while the flames lick the ceiling. His current undertakings this year include a six month world tour, which commenced with two months in Russia, for the October release of “Parachutes,” the fledgling project of his latest outfit, Frank Iero and The Patience (which includes all members of frnkiero andthe cellabration, save for newcomer Alexander Paul, replacing Rob Hughes on bass.) He is also releasing a four-track EP entitled “Keep the Coffins Coming,” has contributed a track to the ACLU benefit album put together by Taking Back Sunday’s John Nolan entitled “Music For Everyone,” all while the patience recover from a terrible accident which almost claimed the lives of his bandmates – and it’s only April. Frank was sweet enough, as he always has been, to give JB a bit of his time this morning as the band gears up to hit the road next week, with their first stop being the iconic Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Q: Good Morning, Frank – it’s been a while since we’ve spoken last - how are you doing?

Frank: Good Morning, Deb. Yeah, it has. I’m great, thanks, and you?

Q: I’m good. Tough year though, for both of us: death, accidents, insanity, lost wages.

Frank: So just like every day, in other words (laughs.)

Q: Point. Okay, first things first, since we’re both aficionados: best horror films to come out within the last decade?

Frank: “Fun and Games” was fantastic.

Q: Thank you, I’m gonna go check that out, because everything that I’ve watched is just awful. Like “Annabelle” had such high ratings – it was terrible.

Frank: I’m so disappointed by every one of those movies. Like “The Conjuring,” all of those movies – they’re all fucking bullshit.

Q: Awful. “American Horror Story” was awful. The only thing decent was “Lights Out,” that one was alright – you should check it out.

Frank: I heard “Get Out” was really, really good.

Q: Yeah, but here’s the thing: “Get Out” had some slasher stuff, but it’s more like a comedy. You think you’re going to get scared out of your wits, but you’re laughing the entire time. It’s kinda like a Freddy Kruger movie.

Frank: Ah, okay – well, that doesn’t bum me out too much; I like the campiness. If somebody were to try and do that in a newer realm, that could get really dumb, but, for the most part, I can really appreciate camp.

Q: All the Vincent Price shit was really, really good.

Frank: Oh yeah, anything with Vincent Price, you can’t go wrong. Like “Last Man On Earth,” when he’s putting the stake in?

Q: Oh, yeah!

Frank: (laughing) You couldn’t cut an apple with the amount of force that he’s using. I love that fucking movie.

Q: He was the master. There’s a scene in “Dr. Phibes Rises Again”where he’s eating fish through his tracheal hole. He starts choking on a bone, so he pulls it back out through the side of his neck. That will never be topped. The Hitchcock movies were also really good. What was the best classic, for you?

Frank: Maybe “House on Haunted Hill” - I love that movie. The Universal stuff was fantastic, but I have a specific memory of watching “House on Haunted Hill” with my father as a kid.

Q: Yeah, I used to watch with my dad too. We used to have Horror Saturdays.

Frank: Totally, yeah. I definitely got to see a lot of shit that there’s no way I should have (laughs.) My dad went to go see “House on Haunted Hill” when he was a kid, and it scared him shitless. You know that scene where they have the skeleton go across on a cable?

Q: I love that scene, it’s so fucking funny.

Frank: So, they did that in the theater when it first came out, and people lost their fucking minds.

Q: Yeah, they used to do things like that. Like that fifties alien movie, when they ran all this viral marketing on the radio, and people thought aliens were really landing.

Frank: “War of the Worlds?”

Q: I think that was it, yeah - I fucking love that shit. Speaking of Vincent Price, there was a scene in one his films where he addresses the audience directly - the one with the hand that comes to life by itself?

Frank: Oh, was that “The Tingler?”

Q: Pretty sure. The theater would turn all the lights off, and while Price is telling the audience “Nobody move, it’s amongst you!” the theater would zap them with buzzers underneath their seats. They don’t do shit like that anymore, Man.

Frank: Nowadays, people would just have a heart attack and sue.

Q: True, you’re probably right. So, let’s take a moment for this, since all of us parents love to crow about our kids: name one really cool thing about each of your little guys.

Frank: I love how fearless they are to be themselves. That is one of the things that’s so precious about youth, you know? There’s no self-consciousness at this point; they just have this inherent weirdness that they’re not afraid to show.

Q: Well, that’s you guys, too. If your parenting style allows them to express themselves, then they’ll feel comfortable doing so.

Frank: I hope so. That’s the thing: once you smother that – if you snuff that out, then you’re in for a long haul of shit. We have our entire lives to feel self-conscious - you don’t need that at six.

Q: No, but they’re fucking schoolmates will do that for you. Also, you know, the therapy bills will get really high once they start blaming you for everything that you sucked at. Now, considering the current unfortunate political climate, is it maybe time to resurrect “I Want to Kill the President?” You could give it another name, they won’t know.

Frank: Oh, man…that was an expensive, expensive mistake (both laugh.)

Q: Nobody prepares you for that, unfortunately.

Frank: That kinda shit is funny if you’re a single person, but not if you have, like, kids and a wife - putting other people at risk, that’s not cool.

Q: They don’t tell you these things when you become a grown-up.

Frank: No, they don’t, it’s a shame. I should have been smarter about it.

Q: You should have just given it another title – that’s all you had to do. They would have never known the difference; it’s artistic license.

Frank: Well, you know, when you’re young, you don’t have any fear of anything.

Q: And then they teach you really quickly that you definitely should. So, let’s talk about this EP that’s coming out, “Keep the Coffins Coming.”

Frank: Once the touring for “Stomachaches” was over, I had a conversation with my manager, Paul, around January, and he was like “Alright, what do you want to do? What’s the next thing?” I really wasn’t sure just yet, so we had this discussion about bucket lists. I was writing a little bit, but I really didn’t know what the next record was going to be yet. It came up that I had always wanted to work with Steve Albini.

We called Steve, and he had like three days free, so we packed the cars up, and I drove out to Chicago and recorded this EP. The only songs that I had, as far as new stuff, was “I’m A Mess,” and this demo idea for “Veins.” “Veins” never got finished, but we recorded “Mess,” an alternate, full-band version of “Best Friends Forever,” “No Fun Club” and a cover version of “You Are My Sunshine.” So, those four songs are the EP.

It’s weird, though: I don’t consider that version of “Mess” to be a demo - it’s still a full version, just different than the LP version. When we went in with Ross, I didn’t know if we needed it, but I love it just as much. I love both versions the same, and I think it’s really cool to hear where that song started from, and then where it ended up. Both versions have validity, you know? That’s why releasing this EP made so much sense, I think – it’s such a bridge between “Stomachaches” and “Parachutes.”

Q: So which version of “I’m A Mess” will you be showcasing on the road? Frank: Ha! A different live version. Q: Cool, sounds good. How do the kids feel about you covering their song? Frank: Good question! Lily’s psyched about it, because I showed her a video of us playing it in Russia, with all of these kids singing along to it, so she went “Am I…am I famous?” I said “Yeah, I guess you are. You’re an international songwriter now – all of these kids know your song. That’s kinda huge.” Q: That’s right. Nepotism is alive and well in the Iero household. Alright, so it’s been a really tough year for you. You lost your beloved grandfather (I feel you there,) and then you had a near-death experience yourself. How has that all changed your approach to your art, and to life, really? Frank: Geez, I don’t know. I guess…I’m still here? It’s non-linear: each day is different. I think about all of it a lot, on a daily basis. It just changes you. I don’t know if you know specifically how it changes you, you just know that you’re a different person – not necessarily for the better or for the worse, just…different. Q: Of course. How is everybody doing? Are you guys physically and emotionally okay? Is it relative? Frank: Well, there’s a lot left to do recovery-wise, and a lot more living left to do. Q: Christ. Do you know how that happened? Do you have any details as to why? Frank: You know, we’ll hear certain things through, like, third parties – police reports and stuff like that. There is an investigation that’s ongoing. From what I can gather, I think it was just a terrible accident. Q: Whew, crazy shit, Man. Frank: Yeah, it’s super fucked-up. Q: The story you told was insane: I can’t even picture that. Did your fucking life flash before your eyes? Frank: It does a bit. You think about a lot of things; things become really clear. Even though it’s just a moment, it lasts a very, very long time. Quite honestly, you think about everything. There is a peaceful realization that you come to, and you kinda say goodbye to everything. Q: (sucking in a breath) Wow…what was the first thing you did afterward, call home? Frank: Yeah, once everyone got packed up. The first thing is to make sure that everyone is getting some kind of medical attention. The second thing is to call home and let them know that something’s happened, and you’re all going to the hospital and will contact them from there - and whatever they do, they should not look at the news. Q: Sure, because the news will just say that there’s been a horrible accident, and that’s it. God, poor Jamia: two of her family members hospitalized in another country. That had to be the worst. Whoa, I can’t even imagine. Frank: And as far away as you possibly can be too - it was super shitty. Q: I’m glad you guys are okay, or at least working on being okay. Frank: Thank you, Deb. Q: Has the accident brought you all closer together in a way? Does something like that change your relationship? Frank: Yeah. It’ll be six months on Thursday, so we’re gonna have a little get-together. It’s impossible to live through something like that and not have a special connection. Q: Absolutely. Wow, six months already, holy shit. I get it: nobody else really understands what it felt like in that moment but you guys. Whew. Okay, let’s get off this subject and find something happier to discuss. You’ve mentioned that you had considered going back to school at one point – what would you have studied? Frank: I had close to a Bachelor’s, but left just shy of it. I would like to have a diploma – I’d like to have finished. As far as a specific major or concentration, I don’t know. I was working on an art major, but it was like “Well, I can quit now, and go and really live in the art world, or I can stay here and study about it and at the end of it, then I’ve got to get a job? I have a job right now, what’s a piece of paper?” I felt like opportunity was knocking, and I had to go and live it. So, that’s kinda the thing, right? Do you sit there at home and talk about art, or do you go out and live it in the real world? Q: I don’t think anybody else at 18 or 19 years old would have made much of a different decision. You think differently when you’re older. Frank: Yeah, but I would like to finish it somehow. I don’t know if I have the time just yet. Q: It’s fucking hard. I’m in my third year now, and it’s going to take me five years to get my B.A.. Frank: Sure, once you’re out of it for so long, it’s a hard thing to get back into, I would imagine. Q: It’s hard, but your attitude is different, because you care. Frank: Yeah, I feel like you’re not as concerned with it. There are other things that are way more important to you, but when you do go back, you’re going back specifically to finish – you have a goal in mind. Q: Because you want it – you’re not trying to make your parents happy, or whatever. Frank: Exactly, exactly – and I think that’s a great thing, but at the same time, I haven’t written a paper in a very, very long time. I don’t even know if I have those muscles anymore. Q: Well, if you’re a writer – which you are – that’s actually the easy part, especially if you’re writing about art. The harder part is, like, tests. Frank: That’s true. Studying, I guess, is going to be the hardest part. Q: Studying sucks, and I’m terrible at it. Okay, so let’s get into “Parachutes” now. Do you have a favorite line from “Parachutes?” Frank: A favorite line, or a favorite song? Q: Both? Frank: Favorite song is “I’ll Let You Down.” It might be because that song was never supposed to be, to be honest. I’d written it on acoustic guitar, on tour, and I really thought of that song as only an acoustic song. But our recording process got pushed back a week, and in that week, we were just kinda sitting at home in this, basically, holding pattern, and I had that song. So, I wrote a quick, live band arrangement for it, and said “Well, let’s just try this while we’re here.” It ended up being one of my favorite songs on the record. Q: I like that one too – it’s fucking super catchy. I’m looking forward to seeing it live. Frank: Oh, thanks – yeah, I hope so! (laughs) Q: Right? Imagine I was like “Oh, fuck you, I don’t care.” Okay, so that’s the favorite song. What about the favorite line? Frank: Geez, I don’t know if I can boil it down to one. Maybe “Nothing can hurt me like I hurt myself.” Q: That’s fucking relatable; seconded. That pretty much sums up how everybody feels most of the fucking time. Frank: True! Q: Do you think that heartbreak is the artist’s bread and butter? Do you think you could continue making art if you were one hundred percent content with yourself? Frank: You know, that’s a hard question, because I don’t like to think that you can only create when you’re unhappy. I think that you need the experience of both. I think sometimes it’s easier to create from misery, but I’d like to think that it’s not the only way, that it’s not a requirement. Q: Well, we wouldn’t know, right? For those of us who are never satisfied with ourselves, we don’t know what it’s like to be that way. Frank: That’s the thing, right? Everybody asks “What’s your best advice for somebody who’s aspiring to be an artist?” So that’s basically: only do this if you really, really wanna be in an old, loveless marriage. Love something so much that does not give a shit about you - lifelong self-hatred and disappointment. Q: Yes! My boy and he and his guitar player have been scolded that if they’re any more self-deprecating, it’s going to become uncomfortable for the audience (both laugh.) Frank: That was one of the things that made me so leery of going into the studio with Ross Robinson – I thought that he was going to be this imposing breakdown of a force – yelling at you and throwing things at you. But it really was the exact opposite! It was all positive - I’ve never been a part of something so positive. A lot of dudes, like, break you down to build you up, but all he did was built you up from where you were. He was more inspiring for me as an artist than anyone else I’ve ever worked with. Q: So you got off on positive feedback, imagine that! Frank: I know, isn’t that crazy? How did at happen? Q: I don’t know! Okay, so you’ve stated that the lyrics on “Parachutes” were intended to be an unfiltered snapshot into your mindset at the time. What’s one thing that you wish that more people understood about you? Frank: Oh, man…wow. That, I think, I have to answer with a line from “Mess:” “I’m tired of miracles and being so understood.” I don’t think you need to be that understood. I think it’s okay that certain things are just for you – you just create and you get it to come across, and if you’re telling the truth, then that’s fine, whether people truly get it or not is secondary. One of the things that, as a younger person, I didn’t truly understand about art is that the final act in an art project is to release it to the world and relinquish control. I was so worried about that, like “Oh, this is mine,” you know, it’s your baby, blah blah blah – but that truly does not matter, you know? It’s about the final act, and just kinda putting it out there and releasing it – just like the final act of parenting; relinquishing control. Q: No, I’m on the cusp of that right now, stop! I’m dreading it. Frank: It’s the hardest thing, the hardest fucking act, but it’s so important. Q: Yeah, I know, it is important. Can you say something about fan boundaries issues again - something you’d like to let people know about how frightening and intrusive fan behavior can be? Frank: Well, I think it’s important to remember that we’re all people – all of us – fan, artist, everybody. When you start to see someone as not a person, but just like a product or an entity, that’s when things get really hairy. It’s important to have that sense of personal space and time so that we can give you our all at the show. Q: You have always been super chill about coming out and meeting fans every show – it’s surprising to me that you’ve run into issues. I realize that sometimes you’re in a country where you don’t play often, but… Frank: Yeah, I try to keep that in mind, that each culture is different. Q: Thank you so much for your time, Frank, I’m looking forward to the Brooklyn show. Frank: I can’t wait! Thanks, Deb. Read up, listen up, watch a vid, and buy some shit: http://frank-iero.com Give Frank a shout: www.facebook.com/frankieromusic/ Twitter @FrankIero Tweet the rest of the Patience: @MattOlssonMusic @ TeamGrippo

[entergamingxp]

Five of the Best: Blocks • Eurogamer.net

Five of the Best is a weekly series about the bits of games we overlook. Things like crowds, potions, mountains, hands. Things we barely notice while we’re playing but can recall many years later because, it turns out, they’re fundamental to our memory of the game. Well, now is the time to celebrate them!

Today we’re celebrating…

Blocks! Or do I mean cubes? Don’t! We had a whole argument about this. Cubes are a kind of block, as far as I’m concerned, and so are other shapes like the lower-case L Tetris block. If we confined ourselves only to cubes, we’d have to talk about the Companion Cube from Portal, again, and then I’d be forced to counterbalance it with Peter Molyneux’s Curiosity cube just to be mean. But no, I’d never be so cheeky as to put a red herring in the list…

Be sure to share your best blocks in the comments below. Happy Friday!

Tetris

I’d like to talk about the T-Spin. This is, quite simply, placing a T-tetromino (a Tetris block to you and me) into a T-slot, then rotating it before the piece is Locked Down. Locked Down in Tetris lore is a proper noun, and therefore must be capitalised and I am very much on board with that, because it makes me say the word in a sort of fist pump kind of way and as any Tetris aficionado knows, Locked Down is the full stop on your sentence. There’s no going back.

T-Spins are tricksy kinds of things, but they’re so satisfying because they, in most Tetris video games, give you bonus points of some kind and, let’s be honest, if you do one you’re showing off. In competitive multiplayer Tetris games they often do wonders to mess up your opponent(s). And as we all know, the meaning of life can be found in the act of winning while showing off.

What if two highly skilled Tetris players only used T-spins in a battle with each other?

They are also magic in that very special Tetris way. Tetris is a game that turns simple blocks – the kind of blocks I have bought for my children to play with as babies – into multifaceted, multi-purpose puzzle cogs. Even on the face of it, the T-block is simply just a T shape that’s doing a squat. It is one of the most versatile, useful blocks in the game, because it can fit so many gaps. T-Spins evolve the T-block into the block’s final form.

T-Spins even change the way you think about the screen. Normally, you build up a layer of blocks to fill most of the screen, leaving a single line free for, hopefully, Tetris after Tetris. Setting up T-Spins involves mentally dividing the screen up into three, building a block with a gap – almost like a chip off the old block – on the left-hand two-thirds, and placing a Z-block on the right hand side. Then, as your T-block falls, inevitably, towards the gap, rotate it to slide it in. Boom. T-Spin!

So, here’s to the T-Spin and the T-block. Name a more iconic duo in video games. Take your time. This one isn’t Locked Down yet.

Wesley Yin-poole

Minecraft

I’d probably like this book.

That Minecraft would make the list is unquestionable. The question is which Minecraft block to single out? The dirt block, the brown one topped with green? It’s definitely the most famous Minecraft block. It is Minecraft. But is it the coolest block? The obsidian block is pretty cool – literally it’s cooled lava. And it’s black, and all cool things are black. And you need it to get to the Nether, the hellish other realm in the game. But no, it’s a bit too obvious.

For me, it’s a simple wood block. I’m a plain kinda guy. I like Captain America. Seeing a wood block has a strong effect on me. When I see one, I see humble beginnings and new adventures. A wood block makes me want to start again, to get back to using wooden tools to make my Ikea cabin in a picturesque location – in the woods, down by a lake, on a mountain top – and concern myself only with staying alive. No mining, no metal, no complications.

It doesn’t last, of course, as the hunger for progress inevitably always takes over. But for a while, the simplicity is bliss.

Bertie

Lumines

There’s probably a name for it, but for me it’s the Fuse block. It’s a special block in Lumines, which is a game about clearing blocks from the screen by matching their colours. The idea is that blocks of two colours fall and you rotate them and place them so that they form squares of one solid colour. Then a timeline sweeps through and removes them and you get on with your life. Beautiful!

But the Fuse block is special. It allows you to clear blocks of the same colour that aren’t in squares. This in turn means that you can sort of thread colours through the growing mountain of blocks, waiting for the Fuse that will trigger them all. Voila! All your greens disappear in one go – all the greens that are touching, anyway. This in turn causes a collapse in all the oranges, say, and then they go next in a great thundering wave.

The Fuse block encourages you to take risks rather than play it safe. Fine. Loads of puzzle games do that. But it also turns a game about falling blocks into a game about dynamite, and for that I love it, love it, love it.

Christian Donlan

Mario Kart

There’s an artform to using the Fake Item Box. It’s not a showy weapon. It’s a sneaky one. And when it works? Gosh. It’s the most immensely gratifying thing in the game.

It’s not just that you’ve caused someone to crash. Anyone can do that. It’s the proper placement of the thing, clustered amongst real Item Blocks, hiding like a cuckoo egg in the nest.

So dramatic!

It’s the knowledge your opponent drove into your Fake Item Block unaware of what was to come, perhaps until the last second, perhaps only when they began tumbling over, wheels spinning, careening off the track. It’s the sequence of emotions you sense is now playing out in their head – their hope of a useful item turned into a shock of realisation, despair, shame. ‘Why hadn’t I seen it coming?’ you can almost hear them scream.

And the satisfaction you caused this all.

Fake Item Boxes were last seen in Mario Kart Wii. Then Nintendo took them out. Cowards.

Tom Phillips

Alan Wake

Alan Wake is sort of a puzzle game about blocks. But only because it’s a game about a writer with writer’s block. Poor Alan’s gone on holiday and can’t do his work. Then I think his wife goes missing. Or maybe she doesn’t. And maybe there are creatures made of darkness and a bit with a lighthouse. No matter! He can’t do any writing! Writer’s block.

Writer’s block is a lovely phrase. I get it: they’re blocked and the words can’t flow. It’s sort of plumbing-based. But I love that word block. It makes me think of an object on the floor of a room you’re passing through and you’re not looking where you’re going – of course you aren’t; you’re a writer – and you trip over it. Writer’s block. That hot gaseous feeling inside the head. The eyeballs are angry and grainy and seem to be boiling. The nose feels thoroughly stuffed. No words are coming. Poor Alan.

Christian Donlan

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/01/five-of-the-best-blocks-%e2%80%a2-eurogamer-net/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=five-of-the-best-blocks-%25e2%2580%25a2-eurogamer-net

[seopt58147]

Transcript of How Small Businesses Can Compete in the Online Marketplace

Transcript of How Small Businesses Can Compete in the Online Marketplace

Transcript of How Small Businesses Can Compete in the Online Marketplace written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

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Transcript

This transcript is sponsored by our transcript partner – Rev – Get $10 off your first order

John Jantsch: This episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Klaviyo. Klaviyo is a platform that helps growth focused e-commerce brands drive more sales with super targeted highly relevant email, Facebook, and Instagram marketing.

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, this is John Jantsch, my guest today is Dan Breeden. He is a senior manager of strategic alliances for Yahoo Small Business, so Dan, thanks for joining us.

Dan Breeden: Yeah, thanks for having me.

John Jantsch: I think that Yahoo has been around forever, one of the early players certainly in online and in search, I think it probably would bear … I think there would be some value in just kind of talking about the state of Yahoo small business right now and actually what it offers, because I think a lot of people still probably don’t differentiate it from the search unit.

Dan Breeden: Sure, no, thanks for that. So Yahoo Small Business has been around for a while, we were started a little over 20 years ago when Yahoo bought one of the original e-commerce platforms and then since then we’ve added other products. Our web hosting product was once Geocities, which was a wildly popular platform. We do domain registration, we do direct relistings management, we have a product called local works, and then we also have some advertising products. We’ve got some merchants that have been with us the entire 20 years, very few that have been around longer than that, of course over those years e-commerce and local marketing has changed a lot, so we’ve seen that change, our customers have seen that change, and of course we’ve had a lot of small businesses come and go as they rise and fall with market changes.

So we’re not part of Verizon, we were once part of the broader Yahoo, but we’re in a team that works with alongside Verizon’s small business teams, which has been a great fit for us.

John Jantsch: So since you kind of alluded to this and you’ve been at Yahoo for a while so you’ve seen some of these changes, how would you describe … you know I always tell people that yeah, we’ve got all these new marketing platforms and all these things that come along, but I think what’s changed the most is how people buy. So how would you describe how customer behavior has evolved over the last decade?

Dan Breeden: Sure, if we’re talking about e-commerce, it’s been … it’s been a revolution, right. In fact I have been around for a while and I’ve met with a number of our merchants as well as people who sell on other platforms and the story is the same, we’ll meet with successful merchants and they will marvel at … they worked really hard but they’ll marvel at how they were able to launch a successful store 10, 15 years ago, that they wouldn’t be able to launch in the same way that they would have to do now. It’s a much more crowded marketplace, we have some massive marketplaces that are competing against individual stores, right. We’ve got Amazon, we’ve got eBay, you’ve got kind of the niche marketplaces like Etsy as well. So someone that wants to launch a successful e-commerce venture now has to really be smart.

They’ve got to do more than just come up with a set of products and descriptions, you know, and post it and hope that customers will find them because it’s not that easy and you won’t find success that way.

John Jantsch: Well and since you mentioned Amazon and you know, I buy a thing or two from them so I’m not going to pick on them, but they literally are the everything store it seems, including any innovation that seems to be out there in the market, they’re able to kind of … imitate. I just noticed the other day, maybe this has been around for a while, but this whole buy … you have a designer help you pick out clothes, they send it to you, if you like them great you keep them, if you don’t you send them back. Companies like Stitch Fix, you know, is one that I know is kicking up a lot of dust lately. Well Amazon just basically copied that, I mean so how do you fight or play in that environment where you’ve got an organization, a company with that kind of distribution and that kind of buying leverage?

Dan Breeden: Sure, so I totally agree, Amazon is the gorilla in the room and I buy from them as well for some items. You’re not going to beat them at their game though, so Amazon [inaudible] and this is no way disparaging, but Amazon’s game is they are super convenient, you log in, you have a single check out, you may be buying from multiple merchants, you … you often get incentives around shipping, et cetera. So if you’re playing in that marketplace and you’re trying to differentiate yourself, it’s going to be extremely difficult unless you’ve got a line on a product that you’re able to offer a lower price than anybody else. That can happen if you’re sourcing your products directly from the manufacturer, it typically is a fairly short window before somebody else starts finding your source and undercutting you by nickels and dimes. Instead, where we’re seeing merchants have success is by providing a different shopping experience.

A more customized, more personal shopping experience. When you go to Amazon, you may be buying from multiple merchants. Often you don’t care if those merchants don’t have the ability brand themselves, and so it’s not the same in depth high touch field, it’s really in the super convenient. On the other hand, if you’re looking for something very specific around something you love, a hobby, a pursuit, maybe a gift for someone, you’re more likely to be looking for something that is not one of thousands that’s offered on a marketplace, right. You might be looking for something very specific that’s not like everybody else’s or you may be looking for a store where you know that it’s not just kind of almost a nameless retailer. Instead it’s people that have touched the product, they have product knowledge, they may use the product themselves, and you’re more involved in that purchase, right. You’re more invested in that purchase and in the company.

John Jantsch: Well I know I personally like … I’m kind of almost a Cheers model, I like going to stores where they know my name. That to me and my wife laughs because it’s like okay, you’re going to be a customer there forever now because they just called you John, and she’s right. I get an emotional attachment there, but some would suggest that the Amazon’s of the world actually created personal experience in some ways … in the online world because they were the first ones to know what you bought before. They were the first ones to suggest oh if you like this, you’re going to like these, I mean isn’t that the basis of personalization?

Dan Breeden: It has a personalization feel, it also has an artificial intelligence field right, everybody that came before me that bought brown socks, 75 percent came back for blue socks, so the next thing I see is blue socks, right. So they’ll do that artificial intelligence kind of following the pack and that can work but I think when we’re talking about personalization, it’s more than just throwing more products into … in front of a consumer. It often is getting in front of that and knowing what the consumer is going to want even before they have seen the product, right. One of our merchants is … their site is called Pro Tuning Lab, and these guys sell import automobile parts for people that customize their cars. It’s a family run business, these guys are super in touch with the marketplace, they know what is gonna be hot on the street before it’s even on the street and they are very intuitive.

They’re very much in touch with the different clubs and their promoting products and they are putting products out there so when their followers, their customers see that, they know that it’s not only going to be one of the first time seen on the streets but you know, it’s cool. It’s trending or it will be trending, right. Amazon can’t do that because they’re going to have to wait until the buying trends show that this is a popular product, you know, but this merchant knows because they are themselves an aficionado, right. They are themselves a thought leader in that area and so they’re able to lead that buying purchase by getting the products ahead of time.

John Jantsch: Yeah and I think a lot of times … I know what makes me … connects me is maybe not even technology that’s involved but it’s the branding, it’s the story about the product, it’s the story about the company, those … so I think a lot of times personalization can come from knowing your audience so well that you’re able to tell a story that really connects with them.

Dan Breeden: Yeah, that’s exactly right, and actually that reminds me another merchant that we’ve had whose been around a long time, in fact it’s a family run business. One of the brothers that’s involved in the business wrote the original Yahoo Stores for Dummies book which was probably one of the first e-commerce guides that was ever written. These guys run a specialty store for pet supplies for people that have sporting dogs and it’s called Gun Dogs Supply and they started out as a small pet store. They were basically selling pet food out of a shed, they decided to get online when they first started hearing about people selling online, and they have a really interesting site because they have managed to outlast the Pets.com, the Pet Smarts that sprang up in their neighborhood, and they have such product depth of knowledge that when you go to their site they have product videos … they aren’t just putting up your generic product descriptions.

They do their own testing, they take things and literally field test it, right. They put the collars on the dogs, they try out the retrieving tools, they write about it, they blog about it. When you buy from them … and I don’t have a sporting dog but I have a … one of my dogs is deaf and so I bought a signal collar for her. When you call them and I ended up calling them to get what I needed, I mean they’re able to tell you exactly which product they’re recommending because they’ve used it before. You’re not going to get that in a marketplace, right, you’re not going to get anywhere near that, that level of high touch.

John Jantsch: I want to remind you that this episode is brought to you by Klaviyo, Klaviyo helps you build meaningful customer relationships by listening and understanding cue’s from your customers, and this allows you to easily turn that information into valuable marketing messages. There’s powerful segmentation, email auto responders that are ready to go, great reporting. You want to learn a little bit about the secret to building customer relationships, they’ve got a really fun series called Klaviyo’s Beyond Black Friday. It’s a docu series, a lot of fun, quick lessons, just head on over to Klaviyo.com, beyond BF, beyond Black Friday.

I think that’s the real message, we don’t have to out tech them, we have to out story tell them I think and I think that’s really … that can be a huge differentiator but however, now that consumers are getting really used to this nice technology that works a certain way and flows a certain way and removes friction and makes it easier for them to buy.

You know what tech needs to be involved in that personalization because we want high touch but we also want … we don’t want friction, right, does that make sense. So what does a small business do now to sort of adopt the technology that we as consumers have come to expect?

Dan Breeden: Sure, so a lot of the technology that you’re going to find in the marketplaces can also be added to stores. I mean we have some of the more sophisticated stores … have things like customer reg, they’re building email lists for news letters, et cetera. The … if they’re using customer registration they’re able to recognize the buying history of that customer and so they know that maybe they’re coming back and ordering something they’ve ordered before, or maybe they’re coming back and they’re ordering something similar, right. You can recognize that they’ve ordered Chevy Blazer parts for that type of car, it’s a very good possibility they’re going to be looking for more parts for that type of car, so you can display those types of products in front of them. So all of that segment … I mean one of the great things about the internet is that it democratizes a lot of that technology.

So a lot of that is available, it’s just a matter of implementing it. I think one of the things that’s even more interesting though and we see it on some of our top merchant sites is things as simple as product categorization that are based on the owners in depth knowledge of the product. So it’s putting things into categories that might not otherwise be apparent but because they know their customers, because they touch their customers so often, they know that people shop for certain things in certain ways. I mean I was just looking this morning on the Gun Dog site and they have product categorization around the type of dog you have because certain dogs I guess have certain things that work better with them.

Then they also have areas where if I’m just shopping for a collar and I know I want a yellow one or a pink one, I can just go there and find all of the products that fit that categorization.

John Jantsch: So staying with this story telling theme, how does small business … how do you feel the small businesses can take their story out off of the site? So a lot of the places where people get recommendations, ask for recommendations, write reviews or are on social media. How do you take that story out off of the actual e-commerce platform … obviously the intent is to get them back there to buy it, but how do you integrate those two ideas?

Dan Breeden: Yeah, that’s a great question, now we’re kind of talking about content marketing and story telling is huge, right. You know, it wasn’t long ago where people thought content marketing meant just talking about the products features and benefits but you’re right. People like to buy things that they’ve heard about that they’ve heard about the product being used, sometimes it has a backstory. You need to get into social channels, the ones that are working for you, the one where your users are active, and that’s really key, is don’t just think you’re going to go into three channels because they’re your favorite channels, right. You want to choose the channels that your customers or intended customers favorites, and then find ways to incent people to try things or find ways for people to incent people to blog about or post about a product they’ve used, a product that maybe they’ve used in a different way, you know.

A lot of it becomes a conversation, it’s fascinating to me how often marketers will run and small businesses will run small programs to try and get things like product reviews or somebody to post about shopping on their site or using a product but then they don’t continue the conversation, you know. The more you’re able to make that two way back and forth, the more likely that people are going to not only share it more broadly, but also understand that this is the conversation with a person, right. This isn’t just a campaign where you’re trying to drive new posts and clicks.

John Jantsch: So I think you even mentioned it and of course it’s almost a sin to have a marketing conversation today to go more than about 10 minutes without using the term AI. So how does artificial intelligence play into the mix, I mean every … you know, I talk to small business owners all the time and they’ve all heard the term and they can’t … it’s all over network TV talking about it as the wave of the future. What’s the implication of AI for a small business right now?

Dan Breeden: Yeah, for most small businesses the implication of AI is understanding what kind of data you’re getting and trying to figure out how you can use it to make intelligent choices. It’s … every site has Google analytics and Google analytics is an amazing tool, one of the problems is it’s so rich and the data is so deep that a lot of small businesses just … they get buried in it and they’re not sure exactly what it’s showing. But the key is figuring out number one, what am I actually seeing, what is this data telling me, what’s important because a lot of it … it may all be interesting but it’s not all necessarily important and you need to decide as a small business what you’re trying to drive, what it’s showing, and then really what you need to do is you need to figure out what you’re going to do about it, right.

Then measure against your future data, if all you’re doing is just tracking this monster of data, you’re not going to get anything out of it. The business that succeeds is the one that’s constantly improving, constantly trying things, unfortunately constantly failing, but pivoting into a successful position from that.

John Jantsch: So let’s end up topic that we’ve kind of led to this … one of the things that I think is really challenging for a lot of small businesses, particularly e-commerce folks is the segmenting of promotions. We’ve all experienced that oh I went to this new website and they offered me 10 percent off because I’m new or I’m a returning customer and I’m going to get a certain price or it’s a holiday and I’m going to get a certain promotion. How do you really balance because I tell you one of the things that happens is if you’re not really good at that, you actually run the risk of alienating your best customers by promoting and giving special offers to everybody except them. So how do you kind of balance that promotion and maybe the exclusive feel of it without alienating your best customers?

Dan Breeden: Yeah, you’re right, and it’s a balancing act. It’s something that each business is going to have to look at individually. You do have to be very careful about acclimating your shopper to expect a constant discount unless that’s your business model, right, and if it is your business model, then it’s a good idea to just not waste time, just put it right up front right on that front page that we offer free shipping or we’re running a promotion and there’s 15 percent off. One of the interesting things I’ve seen and it’s used on our site, it’s actually a third party developer that does it, is a very intelligent product that the merchant decides how many pages someone clicks. How long they maybe sit on a single page, and then at a certain point and in particular if they start to show signs of going to a back button or leaving the site, it will then bring up a discount.

It will bring up sometimes a shopping timer that says that if they check out within the next five minutes they’ll get a discount. Those are really interesting highly valuable tools but they are tools that you’ve got to use intelligently, right. You don’t want to cannibalize your sales, you want to be … and that’s where data comes in right. You’ve got to run some tests, you’ve got to see what’s working, what’s not working, certainly if you’re going to do something like that though there’s a lot of ways that you can incent repeat customers to come back to your site, loyal customers to come back to your site, then you can often do it through news letters, email, et cetera.

You know, one thing that you remind me of though is one of the traps that a lot of e-commerce customers or merchants fall into, is having a check out with a discount code that can be entered at the end. If you’re displaying an area, a field for a discount code, my recommendation is you’ve got to also provide that discount code somewhere on that page. The last thing you want to incent people to do once they are … here I am in the cart, I put the three items in, I’m ready to go, and then I see that some people have a discount code. Well that’s going to often prompt the shopper to go out on Google and do a search and unfortunately I may find some discount codes but I’ll probably find alternative sites to buy the materials and products I may be buying from you. That’s the last thing you want to happen, right.

So if you’ve got that kind of program, figure out how to keep those people there, right, those are your customers, you’ve worked so hard to get them into the cart and get them … on the cusp of claiming that purchase and you want to follow through with that. If you need to give them a discount, display it right there, that’s part of your incentive and part of your promotions than put it right there to keep them on the checkout page.

John Jantsch: So Dan, where would you like to send people and of course we’ll have any of this in the show notes too, to find out more about Yahoo Small Business?

Dan Breeden: Well check out our site at Yahoo Small Business, we’ve got a number of products that are available, we’ve also got an advisor site as well. Like I said we’ve been around 20 years, we provide not only the tools that we know merchants need as well as brick and mortar companies, but we also work really hard to provide advice and guidance. We know that running a small business can sometimes be a lonely job, it can be confusing, a lot of times the things that small businesses struggle with especially early on is figuring out what to do next. So we provide articles and conversations, we of course have social content as well and so we’re happy to engage with new merchants and figure out how we can help them succeed.

John Jantsch: Awesome, well thanks for joining us and I invite people to check out the offers at Yahoo Small Business. Thanks, Dan.

Dan Breeden: Hey thank you.

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Transcript of How Small Businesses Can Compete in the Online Marketplace

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John Jantsch: This episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Klaviyo. Klaviyo is a platform that helps growth focused e-commerce brands drive more sales with super targeted highly relevant email, Facebook, and Instagram marketing.

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, this is John Jantsch, my guest today is Dan Breeden. He is a senior manager of strategic alliances for Yahoo Small Business, so Dan, thanks for joining us.

Dan Breeden: Yeah, thanks for having me.

John Jantsch: I think that Yahoo has been around forever, one of the early players certainly in online and in search, I think it probably would bear … I think there would be some value in just kind of talking about the state of Yahoo small business right now and actually what it offers, because I think a lot of people still probably don’t differentiate it from the search unit.

Dan Breeden: Sure, no, thanks for that. So Yahoo Small Business has been around for a while, we were started a little over 20 years ago when Yahoo bought one of the original e-commerce platforms and then since then we’ve added other products. Our web hosting product was once Geocities, which was a wildly popular platform. We do domain registration, we do direct relistings management, we have a product called local works, and then we also have some advertising products. We’ve got some merchants that have been with us the entire 20 years, very few that have been around longer than that, of course over those years e-commerce and local marketing has changed a lot, so we’ve seen that change, our customers have seen that change, and of course we’ve had a lot of small businesses come and go as they rise and fall with market changes.

So we’re not part of Verizon, we were once part of the broader Yahoo, but we’re in a team that works with alongside Verizon’s small business teams, which has been a great fit for us.

John Jantsch: So since you kind of alluded to this and you’ve been at Yahoo for a while so you’ve seen some of these changes, how would you describe … you know I always tell people that yeah, we’ve got all these new marketing platforms and all these things that come along, but I think what’s changed the most is how people buy. So how would you describe how customer behavior has evolved over the last decade?

Dan Breeden: Sure, if we’re talking about e-commerce, it’s been … it’s been a revolution, right. In fact I have been around for a while and I’ve met with a number of our merchants as well as people who sell on other platforms and the story is the same, we’ll meet with successful merchants and they will marvel at … they worked really hard but they’ll marvel at how they were able to launch a successful store 10, 15 years ago, that they wouldn’t be able to launch in the same way that they would have to do now. It’s a much more crowded marketplace, we have some massive marketplaces that are competing against individual stores, right. We’ve got Amazon, we’ve got eBay, you’ve got kind of the niche marketplaces like Etsy as well. So someone that wants to launch a successful e-commerce venture now has to really be smart.

They’ve got to do more than just come up with a set of products and descriptions, you know, and post it and hope that customers will find them because it’s not that easy and you won’t find success that way.

John Jantsch: Well and since you mentioned Amazon and you know, I buy a thing or two from them so I’m not going to pick on them, but they literally are the everything store it seems, including any innovation that seems to be out there in the market, they’re able to kind of … imitate. I just noticed the other day, maybe this has been around for a while, but this whole buy … you have a designer help you pick out clothes, they send it to you, if you like them great you keep them, if you don’t you send them back. Companies like Stitch Fix, you know, is one that I know is kicking up a lot of dust lately. Well Amazon just basically copied that, I mean so how do you fight or play in that environment where you’ve got an organization, a company with that kind of distribution and that kind of buying leverage?

Dan Breeden: Sure, so I totally agree, Amazon is the gorilla in the room and I buy from them as well for some items. You’re not going to beat them at their game though, so Amazon [inaudible] and this is no way disparaging, but Amazon’s game is they are super convenient, you log in, you have a single check out, you may be buying from multiple merchants, you … you often get incentives around shipping, et cetera. So if you’re playing in that marketplace and you’re trying to differentiate yourself, it’s going to be extremely difficult unless you’ve got a line on a product that you’re able to offer a lower price than anybody else. That can happen if you’re sourcing your products directly from the manufacturer, it typically is a fairly short window before somebody else starts finding your source and undercutting you by nickels and dimes. Instead, where we’re seeing merchants have success is by providing a different shopping experience.

A more customized, more personal shopping experience. When you go to Amazon, you may be buying from multiple merchants. Often you don’t care if those merchants don’t have the ability brand themselves, and so it’s not the same in depth high touch field, it’s really in the super convenient. On the other hand, if you’re looking for something very specific around something you love, a hobby, a pursuit, maybe a gift for someone, you’re more likely to be looking for something that is not one of thousands that’s offered on a marketplace, right. You might be looking for something very specific that’s not like everybody else’s or you may be looking for a store where you know that it’s not just kind of almost a nameless retailer. Instead it’s people that have touched the product, they have product knowledge, they may use the product themselves, and you’re more involved in that purchase, right. You’re more invested in that purchase and in the company.

John Jantsch: Well I know I personally like … I’m kind of almost a Cheers model, I like going to stores where they know my name. That to me and my wife laughs because it’s like okay, you’re going to be a customer there forever now because they just called you John, and she’s right. I get an emotional attachment there, but some would suggest that the Amazon’s of the world actually created personal experience in some ways … in the online world because they were the first ones to know what you bought before. They were the first ones to suggest oh if you like this, you’re going to like these, I mean isn’t that the basis of personalization?

Dan Breeden: It has a personalization feel, it also has an artificial intelligence field right, everybody that came before me that bought brown socks, 75 percent came back for blue socks, so the next thing I see is blue socks, right. So they’ll do that artificial intelligence kind of following the pack and that can work but I think when we’re talking about personalization, it’s more than just throwing more products into … in front of a consumer. It often is getting in front of that and knowing what the consumer is going to want even before they have seen the product, right. One of our merchants is … their site is called Pro Tuning Lab, and these guys sell import automobile parts for people that customize their cars. It’s a family run business, these guys are super in touch with the marketplace, they know what is gonna be hot on the street before it’s even on the street and they are very intuitive.

They’re very much in touch with the different clubs and their promoting products and they are putting products out there so when their followers, their customers see that, they know that it’s not only going to be one of the first time seen on the streets but you know, it’s cool. It’s trending or it will be trending, right. Amazon can’t do that because they’re going to have to wait until the buying trends show that this is a popular product, you know, but this merchant knows because they are themselves an aficionado, right. They are themselves a thought leader in that area and so they’re able to lead that buying purchase by getting the products ahead of time.

John Jantsch: Yeah and I think a lot of times … I know what makes me … connects me is maybe not even technology that’s involved but it’s the branding, it’s the story about the product, it’s the story about the company, those … so I think a lot of times personalization can come from knowing your audience so well that you’re able to tell a story that really connects with them.

Dan Breeden: Yeah, that’s exactly right, and actually that reminds me another merchant that we’ve had whose been around a long time, in fact it’s a family run business. One of the brothers that’s involved in the business wrote the original Yahoo Stores for Dummies book which was probably one of the first e-commerce guides that was ever written. These guys run a specialty store for pet supplies for people that have sporting dogs and it’s called Gun Dogs Supply and they started out as a small pet store. They were basically selling pet food out of a shed, they decided to get online when they first started hearing about people selling online, and they have a really interesting site because they have managed to outlast the Pets.com, the Pet Smarts that sprang up in their neighborhood, and they have such product depth of knowledge that when you go to their site they have product videos … they aren’t just putting up your generic product descriptions.

They do their own testing, they take things and literally field test it, right. They put the collars on the dogs, they try out the retrieving tools, they write about it, they blog about it. When you buy from them … and I don’t have a sporting dog but I have a … one of my dogs is deaf and so I bought a signal collar for her. When you call them and I ended up calling them to get what I needed, I mean they’re able to tell you exactly which product they’re recommending because they’ve used it before. You’re not going to get that in a marketplace, right, you’re not going to get anywhere near that, that level of high touch.

John Jantsch: I want to remind you that this episode is brought to you by Klaviyo, Klaviyo helps you build meaningful customer relationships by listening and understanding cue’s from your customers, and this allows you to easily turn that information into valuable marketing messages. There’s powerful segmentation, email auto responders that are ready to go, great reporting. You want to learn a little bit about the secret to building customer relationships, they’ve got a really fun series called Klaviyo’s Beyond Black Friday. It’s a docu series, a lot of fun, quick lessons, just head on over to Klaviyo.com, beyond BF, beyond Black Friday.

I think that’s the real message, we don’t have to out tech them, we have to out story tell them I think and I think that’s really … that can be a huge differentiator but however, now that consumers are getting really used to this nice technology that works a certain way and flows a certain way and removes friction and makes it easier for them to buy.

You know what tech needs to be involved in that personalization because we want high touch but we also want … we don’t want friction, right, does that make sense. So what does a small business do now to sort of adopt the technology that we as consumers have come to expect?

Dan Breeden: Sure, so a lot of the technology that you’re going to find in the marketplaces can also be added to stores. I mean we have some of the more sophisticated stores … have things like customer reg, they’re building email lists for news letters, et cetera. The … if they’re using customer registration they’re able to recognize the buying history of that customer and so they know that maybe they’re coming back and ordering something they’ve ordered before, or maybe they’re coming back and they’re ordering something similar, right. You can recognize that they’ve ordered Chevy Blazer parts for that type of car, it’s a very good possibility they’re going to be looking for more parts for that type of car, so you can display those types of products in front of them. So all of that segment … I mean one of the great things about the internet is that it democratizes a lot of that technology.

So a lot of that is available, it’s just a matter of implementing it. I think one of the things that’s even more interesting though and we see it on some of our top merchant sites is things as simple as product categorization that are based on the owners in depth knowledge of the product. So it’s putting things into categories that might not otherwise be apparent but because they know their customers, because they touch their customers so often, they know that people shop for certain things in certain ways. I mean I was just looking this morning on the Gun Dog site and they have product categorization around the type of dog you have because certain dogs I guess have certain things that work better with them.

Then they also have areas where if I’m just shopping for a collar and I know I want a yellow one or a pink one, I can just go there and find all of the products that fit that categorization.

John Jantsch: So staying with this story telling theme, how does small business … how do you feel the small businesses can take their story out off of the site? So a lot of the places where people get recommendations, ask for recommendations, write reviews or are on social media. How do you take that story out off of the actual e-commerce platform … obviously the intent is to get them back there to buy it, but how do you integrate those two ideas?

Dan Breeden: Yeah, that’s a great question, now we’re kind of talking about content marketing and story telling is huge, right. You know, it wasn’t long ago where people thought content marketing meant just talking about the products features and benefits but you’re right. People like to buy things that they’ve heard about that they’ve heard about the product being used, sometimes it has a backstory. You need to get into social channels, the ones that are working for you, the one where your users are active, and that’s really key, is don’t just think you’re going to go into three channels because they’re your favorite channels, right. You want to choose the channels that your customers or intended customers favorites, and then find ways to incent people to try things or find ways for people to incent people to blog about or post about a product they’ve used, a product that maybe they’ve used in a different way, you know.

A lot of it becomes a conversation, it’s fascinating to me how often marketers will run and small businesses will run small programs to try and get things like product reviews or somebody to post about shopping on their site or using a product but then they don’t continue the conversation, you know. The more you’re able to make that two way back and forth, the more likely that people are going to not only share it more broadly, but also understand that this is the conversation with a person, right. This isn’t just a campaign where you’re trying to drive new posts and clicks.

John Jantsch: So I think you even mentioned it and of course it’s almost a sin to have a marketing conversation today to go more than about 10 minutes without using the term AI. So how does artificial intelligence play into the mix, I mean every … you know, I talk to small business owners all the time and they’ve all heard the term and they can’t … it’s all over network TV talking about it as the wave of the future. What’s the implication of AI for a small business right now?

Dan Breeden: Yeah, for most small businesses the implication of AI is understanding what kind of data you’re getting and trying to figure out how you can use it to make intelligent choices. It’s … every site has Google analytics and Google analytics is an amazing tool, one of the problems is it’s so rich and the data is so deep that a lot of small businesses just … they get buried in it and they’re not sure exactly what it’s showing. But the key is figuring out number one, what am I actually seeing, what is this data telling me, what’s important because a lot of it … it may all be interesting but it’s not all necessarily important and you need to decide as a small business what you’re trying to drive, what it’s showing, and then really what you need to do is you need to figure out what you’re going to do about it, right.

Then measure against your future data, if all you’re doing is just tracking this monster of data, you’re not going to get anything out of it. The business that succeeds is the one that’s constantly improving, constantly trying things, unfortunately constantly failing, but pivoting into a successful position from that.

John Jantsch: So let’s end up topic that we’ve kind of led to this … one of the things that I think is really challenging for a lot of small businesses, particularly e-commerce folks is the segmenting of promotions. We’ve all experienced that oh I went to this new website and they offered me 10 percent off because I’m new or I’m a returning customer and I’m going to get a certain price or it’s a holiday and I’m going to get a certain promotion. How do you really balance because I tell you one of the things that happens is if you’re not really good at that, you actually run the risk of alienating your best customers by promoting and giving special offers to everybody except them. So how do you kind of balance that promotion and maybe the exclusive feel of it without alienating your best customers?

Dan Breeden: Yeah, you’re right, and it’s a balancing act. It’s something that each business is going to have to look at individually. You do have to be very careful about acclimating your shopper to expect a constant discount unless that’s your business model, right, and if it is your business model, then it’s a good idea to just not waste time, just put it right up front right on that front page that we offer free shipping or we’re running a promotion and there’s 15 percent off. One of the interesting things I’ve seen and it’s used on our site, it’s actually a third party developer that does it, is a very intelligent product that the merchant decides how many pages someone clicks. How long they maybe sit on a single page, and then at a certain point and in particular if they start to show signs of going to a back button or leaving the site, it will then bring up a discount.

It will bring up sometimes a shopping timer that says that if they check out within the next five minutes they’ll get a discount. Those are really interesting highly valuable tools but they are tools that you’ve got to use intelligently, right. You don’t want to cannibalize your sales, you want to be … and that’s where data comes in right. You’ve got to run some tests, you’ve got to see what’s working, what’s not working, certainly if you’re going to do something like that though there’s a lot of ways that you can incent repeat customers to come back to your site, loyal customers to come back to your site, then you can often do it through news letters, email, et cetera.

You know, one thing that you remind me of though is one of the traps that a lot of e-commerce customers or merchants fall into, is having a check out with a discount code that can be entered at the end. If you’re displaying an area, a field for a discount code, my recommendation is you’ve got to also provide that discount code somewhere on that page. The last thing you want to incent people to do once they are … here I am in the cart, I put the three items in, I’m ready to go, and then I see that some people have a discount code. Well that’s going to often prompt the shopper to go out on Google and do a search and unfortunately I may find some discount codes but I’ll probably find alternative sites to buy the materials and products I may be buying from you. That’s the last thing you want to happen, right.

So if you’ve got that kind of program, figure out how to keep those people there, right, those are your customers, you’ve worked so hard to get them into the cart and get them … on the cusp of claiming that purchase and you want to follow through with that. If you need to give them a discount, display it right there, that’s part of your incentive and part of your promotions than put it right there to keep them on the checkout page.

John Jantsch: So Dan, where would you like to send people and of course we’ll have any of this in the show notes too, to find out more about Yahoo Small Business?

Dan Breeden: Well check out our site at Yahoo Small Business, we’ve got a number of products that are available, we’ve also got an advisor site as well. Like I said we’ve been around 20 years, we provide not only the tools that we know merchants need as well as brick and mortar companies, but we also work really hard to provide advice and guidance. We know that running a small business can sometimes be a lonely job, it can be confusing, a lot of times the things that small businesses struggle with especially early on is figuring out what to do next. So we provide articles and conversations, we of course have social content as well and so we’re happy to engage with new merchants and figure out how we can help them succeed.

John Jantsch: Awesome, well thanks for joining us and I invite people to check out the offers at Yahoo Small Business. Thanks, Dan.

Dan Breeden: Hey thank you.

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Transcript of How Small Businesses Can Compete in the Online Marketplace

Transcript of How Small Businesses Can Compete in the Online Marketplace

Transcript of How Small Businesses Can Compete in the Online Marketplace written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

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This transcript is sponsored by our transcript partner – Rev – Get $10 off your first order

John Jantsch: This episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Klaviyo. Klaviyo is a platform that helps growth focused e-commerce brands drive more sales with super targeted highly relevant email, Facebook, and Instagram marketing.

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, this is John Jantsch, my guest today is Dan Breeden. He is a senior manager of strategic alliances for Yahoo Small Business, so Dan, thanks for joining us.

Dan Breeden: Yeah, thanks for having me.

John Jantsch: I think that Yahoo has been around forever, one of the early players certainly in online and in search, I think it probably would bear … I think there would be some value in just kind of talking about the state of Yahoo small business right now and actually what it offers, because I think a lot of people still probably don’t differentiate it from the search unit.

Dan Breeden: Sure, no, thanks for that. So Yahoo Small Business has been around for a while, we were started a little over 20 years ago when Yahoo bought one of the original e-commerce platforms and then since then we’ve added other products. Our web hosting product was once Geocities, which was a wildly popular platform. We do domain registration, we do direct relistings management, we have a product called local works, and then we also have some advertising products. We’ve got some merchants that have been with us the entire 20 years, very few that have been around longer than that, of course over those years e-commerce and local marketing has changed a lot, so we’ve seen that change, our customers have seen that change, and of course we’ve had a lot of small businesses come and go as they rise and fall with market changes.

So we’re not part of Verizon, we were once part of the broader Yahoo, but we’re in a team that works with alongside Verizon’s small business teams, which has been a great fit for us.

John Jantsch: So since you kind of alluded to this and you’ve been at Yahoo for a while so you’ve seen some of these changes, how would you describe … you know I always tell people that yeah, we’ve got all these new marketing platforms and all these things that come along, but I think what’s changed the most is how people buy. So how would you describe how customer behavior has evolved over the last decade?

Dan Breeden: Sure, if we’re talking about e-commerce, it’s been … it’s been a revolution, right. In fact I have been around for a while and I’ve met with a number of our merchants as well as people who sell on other platforms and the story is the same, we’ll meet with successful merchants and they will marvel at … they worked really hard but they’ll marvel at how they were able to launch a successful store 10, 15 years ago, that they wouldn’t be able to launch in the same way that they would have to do now. It’s a much more crowded marketplace, we have some massive marketplaces that are competing against individual stores, right. We’ve got Amazon, we’ve got eBay, you’ve got kind of the niche marketplaces like Etsy as well. So someone that wants to launch a successful e-commerce venture now has to really be smart.

They’ve got to do more than just come up with a set of products and descriptions, you know, and post it and hope that customers will find them because it’s not that easy and you won’t find success that way.

John Jantsch: Well and since you mentioned Amazon and you know, I buy a thing or two from them so I’m not going to pick on them, but they literally are the everything store it seems, including any innovation that seems to be out there in the market, they’re able to kind of … imitate. I just noticed the other day, maybe this has been around for a while, but this whole buy … you have a designer help you pick out clothes, they send it to you, if you like them great you keep them, if you don’t you send them back. Companies like Stitch Fix, you know, is one that I know is kicking up a lot of dust lately. Well Amazon just basically copied that, I mean so how do you fight or play in that environment where you’ve got an organization, a company with that kind of distribution and that kind of buying leverage?

Dan Breeden: Sure, so I totally agree, Amazon is the gorilla in the room and I buy from them as well for some items. You’re not going to beat them at their game though, so Amazon [inaudible] and this is no way disparaging, but Amazon’s game is they are super convenient, you log in, you have a single check out, you may be buying from multiple merchants, you … you often get incentives around shipping, et cetera. So if you’re playing in that marketplace and you’re trying to differentiate yourself, it’s going to be extremely difficult unless you’ve got a line on a product that you’re able to offer a lower price than anybody else. That can happen if you’re sourcing your products directly from the manufacturer, it typically is a fairly short window before somebody else starts finding your source and undercutting you by nickels and dimes. Instead, where we’re seeing merchants have success is by providing a different shopping experience.

A more customized, more personal shopping experience. When you go to Amazon, you may be buying from multiple merchants. Often you don’t care if those merchants don’t have the ability brand themselves, and so it’s not the same in depth high touch field, it’s really in the super convenient. On the other hand, if you’re looking for something very specific around something you love, a hobby, a pursuit, maybe a gift for someone, you’re more likely to be looking for something that is not one of thousands that’s offered on a marketplace, right. You might be looking for something very specific that’s not like everybody else’s or you may be looking for a store where you know that it’s not just kind of almost a nameless retailer. Instead it’s people that have touched the product, they have product knowledge, they may use the product themselves, and you’re more involved in that purchase, right. You’re more invested in that purchase and in the company.

John Jantsch: Well I know I personally like … I’m kind of almost a Cheers model, I like going to stores where they know my name. That to me and my wife laughs because it’s like okay, you’re going to be a customer there forever now because they just called you John, and she’s right. I get an emotional attachment there, but some would suggest that the Amazon’s of the world actually created personal experience in some ways … in the online world because they were the first ones to know what you bought before. They were the first ones to suggest oh if you like this, you’re going to like these, I mean isn’t that the basis of personalization?

Dan Breeden: It has a personalization feel, it also has an artificial intelligence field right, everybody that came before me that bought brown socks, 75 percent came back for blue socks, so the next thing I see is blue socks, right. So they’ll do that artificial intelligence kind of following the pack and that can work but I think when we’re talking about personalization, it’s more than just throwing more products into … in front of a consumer. It often is getting in front of that and knowing what the consumer is going to want even before they have seen the product, right. One of our merchants is … their site is called Pro Tuning Lab, and these guys sell import automobile parts for people that customize their cars. It’s a family run business, these guys are super in touch with the marketplace, they know what is gonna be hot on the street before it’s even on the street and they are very intuitive.

They’re very much in touch with the different clubs and their promoting products and they are putting products out there so when their followers, their customers see that, they know that it’s not only going to be one of the first time seen on the streets but you know, it’s cool. It’s trending or it will be trending, right. Amazon can’t do that because they’re going to have to wait until the buying trends show that this is a popular product, you know, but this merchant knows because they are themselves an aficionado, right. They are themselves a thought leader in that area and so they’re able to lead that buying purchase by getting the products ahead of time.

John Jantsch: Yeah and I think a lot of times … I know what makes me … connects me is maybe not even technology that’s involved but it’s the branding, it’s the story about the product, it’s the story about the company, those … so I think a lot of times personalization can come from knowing your audience so well that you’re able to tell a story that really connects with them.

Dan Breeden: Yeah, that’s exactly right, and actually that reminds me another merchant that we’ve had whose been around a long time, in fact it’s a family run business. One of the brothers that’s involved in the business wrote the original Yahoo Stores for Dummies book which was probably one of the first e-commerce guides that was ever written. These guys run a specialty store for pet supplies for people that have sporting dogs and it’s called Gun Dogs Supply and they started out as a small pet store. They were basically selling pet food out of a shed, they decided to get online when they first started hearing about people selling online, and they have a really interesting site because they have managed to outlast the Pets.com, the Pet Smarts that sprang up in their neighborhood, and they have such product depth of knowledge that when you go to their site they have product videos … they aren’t just putting up your generic product descriptions.

They do their own testing, they take things and literally field test it, right. They put the collars on the dogs, they try out the retrieving tools, they write about it, they blog about it. When you buy from them … and I don’t have a sporting dog but I have a … one of my dogs is deaf and so I bought a signal collar for her. When you call them and I ended up calling them to get what I needed, I mean they’re able to tell you exactly which product they’re recommending because they’ve used it before. You’re not going to get that in a marketplace, right, you’re not going to get anywhere near that, that level of high touch.

John Jantsch: I want to remind you that this episode is brought to you by Klaviyo, Klaviyo helps you build meaningful customer relationships by listening and understanding cue’s from your customers, and this allows you to easily turn that information into valuable marketing messages. There’s powerful segmentation, email auto responders that are ready to go, great reporting. You want to learn a little bit about the secret to building customer relationships, they’ve got a really fun series called Klaviyo’s Beyond Black Friday. It’s a docu series, a lot of fun, quick lessons, just head on over to Klaviyo.com, beyond BF, beyond Black Friday.

I think that’s the real message, we don’t have to out tech them, we have to out story tell them I think and I think that’s really … that can be a huge differentiator but however, now that consumers are getting really used to this nice technology that works a certain way and flows a certain way and removes friction and makes it easier for them to buy.

You know what tech needs to be involved in that personalization because we want high touch but we also want … we don’t want friction, right, does that make sense. So what does a small business do now to sort of adopt the technology that we as consumers have come to expect?

Dan Breeden: Sure, so a lot of the technology that you’re going to find in the marketplaces can also be added to stores. I mean we have some of the more sophisticated stores … have things like customer reg, they’re building email lists for news letters, et cetera. The … if they’re using customer registration they’re able to recognize the buying history of that customer and so they know that maybe they’re coming back and ordering something they’ve ordered before, or maybe they’re coming back and they’re ordering something similar, right. You can recognize that they’ve ordered Chevy Blazer parts for that type of car, it’s a very good possibility they’re going to be looking for more parts for that type of car, so you can display those types of products in front of them. So all of that segment … I mean one of the great things about the internet is that it democratizes a lot of that technology.

So a lot of that is available, it’s just a matter of implementing it. I think one of the things that’s even more interesting though and we see it on some of our top merchant sites is things as simple as product categorization that are based on the owners in depth knowledge of the product. So it’s putting things into categories that might not otherwise be apparent but because they know their customers, because they touch their customers so often, they know that people shop for certain things in certain ways. I mean I was just looking this morning on the Gun Dog site and they have product categorization around the type of dog you have because certain dogs I guess have certain things that work better with them.

Then they also have areas where if I’m just shopping for a collar and I know I want a yellow one or a pink one, I can just go there and find all of the products that fit that categorization.

John Jantsch: So staying with this story telling theme, how does small business … how do you feel the small businesses can take their story out off of the site? So a lot of the places where people get recommendations, ask for recommendations, write reviews or are on social media. How do you take that story out off of the actual e-commerce platform … obviously the intent is to get them back there to buy it, but how do you integrate those two ideas?

Dan Breeden: Yeah, that’s a great question, now we’re kind of talking about content marketing and story telling is huge, right. You know, it wasn’t long ago where people thought content marketing meant just talking about the products features and benefits but you’re right. People like to buy things that they’ve heard about that they’ve heard about the product being used, sometimes it has a backstory. You need to get into social channels, the ones that are working for you, the one where your users are active, and that’s really key, is don’t just think you’re going to go into three channels because they’re your favorite channels, right. You want to choose the channels that your customers or intended customers favorites, and then find ways to incent people to try things or find ways for people to incent people to blog about or post about a product they’ve used, a product that maybe they’ve used in a different way, you know.

A lot of it becomes a conversation, it’s fascinating to me how often marketers will run and small businesses will run small programs to try and get things like product reviews or somebody to post about shopping on their site or using a product but then they don’t continue the conversation, you know. The more you’re able to make that two way back and forth, the more likely that people are going to not only share it more broadly, but also understand that this is the conversation with a person, right. This isn’t just a campaign where you’re trying to drive new posts and clicks.

John Jantsch: So I think you even mentioned it and of course it’s almost a sin to have a marketing conversation today to go more than about 10 minutes without using the term AI. So how does artificial intelligence play into the mix, I mean every … you know, I talk to small business owners all the time and they’ve all heard the term and they can’t … it’s all over network TV talking about it as the wave of the future. What’s the implication of AI for a small business right now?

Dan Breeden: Yeah, for most small businesses the implication of AI is understanding what kind of data you’re getting and trying to figure out how you can use it to make intelligent choices. It’s … every site has Google analytics and Google analytics is an amazing tool, one of the problems is it’s so rich and the data is so deep that a lot of small businesses just … they get buried in it and they’re not sure exactly what it’s showing. But the key is figuring out number one, what am I actually seeing, what is this data telling me, what’s important because a lot of it … it may all be interesting but it’s not all necessarily important and you need to decide as a small business what you’re trying to drive, what it’s showing, and then really what you need to do is you need to figure out what you’re going to do about it, right.

Then measure against your future data, if all you’re doing is just tracking this monster of data, you’re not going to get anything out of it. The business that succeeds is the one that’s constantly improving, constantly trying things, unfortunately constantly failing, but pivoting into a successful position from that.

John Jantsch: So let’s end up topic that we’ve kind of led to this … one of the things that I think is really challenging for a lot of small businesses, particularly e-commerce folks is the segmenting of promotions. We’ve all experienced that oh I went to this new website and they offered me 10 percent off because I’m new or I’m a returning customer and I’m going to get a certain price or it’s a holiday and I’m going to get a certain promotion. How do you really balance because I tell you one of the things that happens is if you’re not really good at that, you actually run the risk of alienating your best customers by promoting and giving special offers to everybody except them. So how do you kind of balance that promotion and maybe the exclusive feel of it without alienating your best customers?

Dan Breeden: Yeah, you’re right, and it’s a balancing act. It’s something that each business is going to have to look at individually. You do have to be very careful about acclimating your shopper to expect a constant discount unless that’s your business model, right, and if it is your business model, then it’s a good idea to just not waste time, just put it right up front right on that front page that we offer free shipping or we’re running a promotion and there’s 15 percent off. One of the interesting things I’ve seen and it’s used on our site, it’s actually a third party developer that does it, is a very intelligent product that the merchant decides how many pages someone clicks. How long they maybe sit on a single page, and then at a certain point and in particular if they start to show signs of going to a back button or leaving the site, it will then bring up a discount.

It will bring up sometimes a shopping timer that says that if they check out within the next five minutes they’ll get a discount. Those are really interesting highly valuable tools but they are tools that you’ve got to use intelligently, right. You don’t want to cannibalize your sales, you want to be … and that’s where data comes in right. You’ve got to run some tests, you’ve got to see what’s working, what’s not working, certainly if you’re going to do something like that though there’s a lot of ways that you can incent repeat customers to come back to your site, loyal customers to come back to your site, then you can often do it through news letters, email, et cetera.

You know, one thing that you remind me of though is one of the traps that a lot of e-commerce customers or merchants fall into, is having a check out with a discount code that can be entered at the end. If you’re displaying an area, a field for a discount code, my recommendation is you’ve got to also provide that discount code somewhere on that page. The last thing you want to incent people to do once they are … here I am in the cart, I put the three items in, I’m ready to go, and then I see that some people have a discount code. Well that’s going to often prompt the shopper to go out on Google and do a search and unfortunately I may find some discount codes but I’ll probably find alternative sites to buy the materials and products I may be buying from you. That’s the last thing you want to happen, right.

So if you’ve got that kind of program, figure out how to keep those people there, right, those are your customers, you’ve worked so hard to get them into the cart and get them … on the cusp of claiming that purchase and you want to follow through with that. If you need to give them a discount, display it right there, that’s part of your incentive and part of your promotions than put it right there to keep them on the checkout page.

John Jantsch: So Dan, where would you like to send people and of course we’ll have any of this in the show notes too, to find out more about Yahoo Small Business?

Dan Breeden: Well check out our site at Yahoo Small Business, we’ve got a number of products that are available, we’ve also got an advisor site as well. Like I said we’ve been around 20 years, we provide not only the tools that we know merchants need as well as brick and mortar companies, but we also work really hard to provide advice and guidance. We know that running a small business can sometimes be a lonely job, it can be confusing, a lot of times the things that small businesses struggle with especially early on is figuring out what to do next. So we provide articles and conversations, we of course have social content as well and so we’re happy to engage with new merchants and figure out how we can help them succeed.

John Jantsch: Awesome, well thanks for joining us and I invite people to check out the offers at Yahoo Small Business. Thanks, Dan.

Dan Breeden: Hey thank you.

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Transcript of How Small Businesses Can Compete in the Online Marketplace

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John Jantsch: This episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Klaviyo. Klaviyo is a platform that helps growth focused e-commerce brands drive more sales with super targeted highly relevant email, Facebook, and Instagram marketing.

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, this is John Jantsch, my guest today is Dan Breeden. He is a senior manager of strategic alliances for Yahoo Small Business, so Dan, thanks for joining us.

Dan Breeden: Yeah, thanks for having me.

John Jantsch: I think that Yahoo has been around forever, one of the early players certainly in online and in search, I think it probably would bear �� I think there would be some value in just kind of talking about the state of Yahoo small business right now and actually what it offers, because I think a lot of people still probably don’t differentiate it from the search unit.

Dan Breeden: Sure, no, thanks for that. So Yahoo Small Business has been around for a while, we were started a little over 20 years ago when Yahoo bought one of the original e-commerce platforms and then since then we’ve added other products. Our web hosting product was once Geocities, which was a wildly popular platform. We do domain registration, we do direct relistings management, we have a product called local works, and then we also have some advertising products. We’ve got some merchants that have been with us the entire 20 years, very few that have been around longer than that, of course over those years e-commerce and local marketing has changed a lot, so we’ve seen that change, our customers have seen that change, and of course we’ve had a lot of small businesses come and go as they rise and fall with market changes.

So we’re not part of Verizon, we were once part of the broader Yahoo, but we’re in a team that works with alongside Verizon’s small business teams, which has been a great fit for us.

John Jantsch: So since you kind of alluded to this and you’ve been at Yahoo for a while so you’ve seen some of these changes, how would you describe … you know I always tell people that yeah, we’ve got all these new marketing platforms and all these things that come along, but I think what’s changed the most is how people buy. So how would you describe how customer behavior has evolved over the last decade?

Dan Breeden: Sure, if we’re talking about e-commerce, it’s been … it’s been a revolution, right. In fact I have been around for a while and I’ve met with a number of our merchants as well as people who sell on other platforms and the story is the same, we’ll meet with successful merchants and they will marvel at … they worked really hard but they’ll marvel at how they were able to launch a successful store 10, 15 years ago, that they wouldn’t be able to launch in the same way that they would have to do now. It’s a much more crowded marketplace, we have some massive marketplaces that are competing against individual stores, right. We’ve got Amazon, we’ve got eBay, you’ve got kind of the niche marketplaces like Etsy as well. So someone that wants to launch a successful e-commerce venture now has to really be smart.

They’ve got to do more than just come up with a set of products and descriptions, you know, and post it and hope that customers will find them because it’s not that easy and you won’t find success that way.

John Jantsch: Well and since you mentioned Amazon and you know, I buy a thing or two from them so I’m not going to pick on them, but they literally are the everything store it seems, including any innovation that seems to be out there in the market, they’re able to kind of … imitate. I just noticed the other day, maybe this has been around for a while, but this whole buy … you have a designer help you pick out clothes, they send it to you, if you like them great you keep them, if you don’t you send them back. Companies like Stitch Fix, you know, is one that I know is kicking up a lot of dust lately. Well Amazon just basically copied that, I mean so how do you fight or play in that environment where you’ve got an organization, a company with that kind of distribution and that kind of buying leverage?

Dan Breeden: Sure, so I totally agree, Amazon is the gorilla in the room and I buy from them as well for some items. You’re not going to beat them at their game though, so Amazon [inaudible] and this is no way disparaging, but Amazon’s game is they are super convenient, you log in, you have a single check out, you may be buying from multiple merchants, you … you often get incentives around shipping, et cetera. So if you’re playing in that marketplace and you’re trying to differentiate yourself, it’s going to be extremely difficult unless you’ve got a line on a product that you’re able to offer a lower price than anybody else. That can happen if you’re sourcing your products directly from the manufacturer, it typically is a fairly short window before somebody else starts finding your source and undercutting you by nickels and dimes. Instead, where we’re seeing merchants have success is by providing a different shopping experience.

A more customized, more personal shopping experience. When you go to Amazon, you may be buying from multiple merchants. Often you don’t care if those merchants don’t have the ability brand themselves, and so it’s not the same in depth high touch field, it’s really in the super convenient. On the other hand, if you’re looking for something very specific around something you love, a hobby, a pursuit, maybe a gift for someone, you’re more likely to be looking for something that is not one of thousands that’s offered on a marketplace, right. You might be looking for something very specific that’s not like everybody else’s or you may be looking for a store where you know that it’s not just kind of almost a nameless retailer. Instead it’s people that have touched the product, they have product knowledge, they may use the product themselves, and you’re more involved in that purchase, right. You’re more invested in that purchase and in the company.

John Jantsch: Well I know I personally like … I’m kind of almost a Cheers model, I like going to stores where they know my name. That to me and my wife laughs because it’s like okay, you’re going to be a customer there forever now because they just called you John, and she’s right. I get an emotional attachment there, but some would suggest that the Amazon’s of the world actually created personal experience in some ways … in the online world because they were the first ones to know what you bought before. They were the first ones to suggest oh if you like this, you’re going to like these, I mean isn’t that the basis of personalization?

Dan Breeden: It has a personalization feel, it also has an artificial intelligence field right, everybody that came before me that bought brown socks, 75 percent came back for blue socks, so the next thing I see is blue socks, right. So they’ll do that artificial intelligence kind of following the pack and that can work but I think when we’re talking about personalization, it’s more than just throwing more products into … in front of a consumer. It often is getting in front of that and knowing what the consumer is going to want even before they have seen the product, right. One of our merchants is … their site is called Pro Tuning Lab, and these guys sell import automobile parts for people that customize their cars. It’s a family run business, these guys are super in touch with the marketplace, they know what is gonna be hot on the street before it’s even on the street and they are very intuitive.

They’re very much in touch with the different clubs and their promoting products and they are putting products out there so when their followers, their customers see that, they know that it’s not only going to be one of the first time seen on the streets but you know, it’s cool. It’s trending or it will be trending, right. Amazon can’t do that because they’re going to have to wait until the buying trends show that this is a popular product, you know, but this merchant knows because they are themselves an aficionado, right. They are themselves a thought leader in that area and so they’re able to lead that buying purchase by getting the products ahead of time.

John Jantsch: Yeah and I think a lot of times … I know what makes me … connects me is maybe not even technology that’s involved but it’s the branding, it’s the story about the product, it’s the story about the company, those … so I think a lot of times personalization can come from knowing your audience so well that you’re able to tell a story that really connects with them.

Dan Breeden: Yeah, that’s exactly right, and actually that reminds me another merchant that we’ve had whose been around a long time, in fact it’s a family run business. One of the brothers that’s involved in the business wrote the original Yahoo Stores for Dummies book which was probably one of the first e-commerce guides that was ever written. These guys run a specialty store for pet supplies for people that have sporting dogs and it’s called Gun Dogs Supply and they started out as a small pet store. They were basically selling pet food out of a shed, they decided to get online when they first started hearing about people selling online, and they have a really interesting site because they have managed to outlast the Pets.com, the Pet Smarts that sprang up in their neighborhood, and they have such product depth of knowledge that when you go to their site they have product videos … they aren’t just putting up your generic product descriptions.

They do their own testing, they take things and literally field test it, right. They put the collars on the dogs, they try out the retrieving tools, they write about it, they blog about it. When you buy from them … and I don’t have a sporting dog but I have a … one of my dogs is deaf and so I bought a signal collar for her. When you call them and I ended up calling them to get what I needed, I mean they’re able to tell you exactly which product they’re recommending because they’ve used it before. You’re not going to get that in a marketplace, right, you’re not going to get anywhere near that, that level of high touch.

John Jantsch: I want to remind you that this episode is brought to you by Klaviyo, Klaviyo helps you build meaningful customer relationships by listening and understanding cue’s from your customers, and this allows you to easily turn that information into valuable marketing messages. There’s powerful segmentation, email auto responders that are ready to go, great reporting. You want to learn a little bit about the secret to building customer relationships, they’ve got a really fun series called Klaviyo’s Beyond Black Friday. It’s a docu series, a lot of fun, quick lessons, just head on over to Klaviyo.com, beyond BF, beyond Black Friday.

I think that’s the real message, we don’t have to out tech them, we have to out story tell them I think and I think that’s really … that can be a huge differentiator but however, now that consumers are getting really used to this nice technology that works a certain way and flows a certain way and removes friction and makes it easier for them to buy.

You know what tech needs to be involved in that personalization because we want high touch but we also want … we don’t want friction, right, does that make sense. So what does a small business do now to sort of adopt the technology that we as consumers have come to expect?

Dan Breeden: Sure, so a lot of the technology that you’re going to find in the marketplaces can also be added to stores. I mean we have some of the more sophisticated stores … have things like customer reg, they’re building email lists for news letters, et cetera. The … if they’re using customer registration they’re able to recognize the buying history of that customer and so they know that maybe they’re coming back and ordering something they’ve ordered before, or maybe they’re coming back and they’re ordering something similar, right. You can recognize that they’ve ordered Chevy Blazer parts for that type of car, it’s a very good possibility they’re going to be looking for more parts for that type of car, so you can display those types of products in front of them. So all of that segment … I mean one of the great things about the internet is that it democratizes a lot of that technology.

So a lot of that is available, it’s just a matter of implementing it. I think one of the things that’s even more interesting though and we see it on some of our top merchant sites is things as simple as product categorization that are based on the owners in depth knowledge of the product. So it’s putting things into categories that might not otherwise be apparent but because they know their customers, because they touch their customers so often, they know that people shop for certain things in certain ways. I mean I was just looking this morning on the Gun Dog site and they have product categorization around the type of dog you have because certain dogs I guess have certain things that work better with them.

Then they also have areas where if I’m just shopping for a collar and I know I want a yellow one or a pink one, I can just go there and find all of the products that fit that categorization.

John Jantsch: So staying with this story telling theme, how does small business … how do you feel the small businesses can take their story out off of the site? So a lot of the places where people get recommendations, ask for recommendations, write reviews or are on social media. How do you take that story out off of the actual e-commerce platform … obviously the intent is to get them back there to buy it, but how do you integrate those two ideas?

Dan Breeden: Yeah, that’s a great question, now we’re kind of talking about content marketing and story telling is huge, right. You know, it wasn’t long ago where people thought content marketing meant just talking about the products features and benefits but you’re right. People like to buy things that they’ve heard about that they’ve heard about the product being used, sometimes it has a backstory. You need to get into social channels, the ones that are working for you, the one where your users are active, and that’s really key, is don’t just think you’re going to go into three channels because they’re your favorite channels, right. You want to choose the channels that your customers or intended customers favorites, and then find ways to incent people to try things or find ways for people to incent people to blog about or post about a product they’ve used, a product that maybe they’ve used in a different way, you know.

A lot of it becomes a conversation, it’s fascinating to me how often marketers will run and small businesses will run small programs to try and get things like product reviews or somebody to post about shopping on their site or using a product but then they don’t continue the conversation, you know. The more you’re able to make that two way back and forth, the more likely that people are going to not only share it more broadly, but also understand that this is the conversation with a person, right. This isn’t just a campaign where you’re trying to drive new posts and clicks.

John Jantsch: So I think you even mentioned it and of course it’s almost a sin to have a marketing conversation today to go more than about 10 minutes without using the term AI. So how does artificial intelligence play into the mix, I mean every … you know, I talk to small business owners all the time and they’ve all heard the term and they can’t … it’s all over network TV talking about it as the wave of the future. What’s the implication of AI for a small business right now?

Dan Breeden: Yeah, for most small businesses the implication of AI is understanding what kind of data you’re getting and trying to figure out how you can use it to make intelligent choices. It’s … every site has Google analytics and Google analytics is an amazing tool, one of the problems is it’s so rich and the data is so deep that a lot of small businesses just … they get buried in it and they’re not sure exactly what it’s showing. But the key is figuring out number one, what am I actually seeing, what is this data telling me, what’s important because a lot of it … it may all be interesting but it’s not all necessarily important and you need to decide as a small business what you’re trying to drive, what it’s showing, and then really what you need to do is you need to figure out what you’re going to do about it, right.

Then measure against your future data, if all you’re doing is just tracking this monster of data, you’re not going to get anything out of it. The business that succeeds is the one that’s constantly improving, constantly trying things, unfortunately constantly failing, but pivoting into a successful position from that.

John Jantsch: So let’s end up topic that we’ve kind of led to this … one of the things that I think is really challenging for a lot of small businesses, particularly e-commerce folks is the segmenting of promotions. We’ve all experienced that oh I went to this new website and they offered me 10 percent off because I’m new or I’m a returning customer and I’m going to get a certain price or it’s a holiday and I’m going to get a certain promotion. How do you really balance because I tell you one of the things that happens is if you’re not really good at that, you actually run the risk of alienating your best customers by promoting and giving special offers to everybody except them. So how do you kind of balance that promotion and maybe the exclusive feel of it without alienating your best customers?

Dan Breeden: Yeah, you’re right, and it’s a balancing act. It’s something that each business is going to have to look at individually. You do have to be very careful about acclimating your shopper to expect a constant discount unless that’s your business model, right, and if it is your business model, then it’s a good idea to just not waste time, just put it right up front right on that front page that we offer free shipping or we’re running a promotion and there’s 15 percent off. One of the interesting things I’ve seen and it’s used on our site, it’s actually a third party developer that does it, is a very intelligent product that the merchant decides how many pages someone clicks. How long they maybe sit on a single page, and then at a certain point and in particular if they start to show signs of going to a back button or leaving the site, it will then bring up a discount.

It will bring up sometimes a shopping timer that says that if they check out within the next five minutes they’ll get a discount. Those are really interesting highly valuable tools but they are tools that you’ve got to use intelligently, right. You don’t want to cannibalize your sales, you want to be … and that’s where data comes in right. You’ve got to run some tests, you’ve got to see what’s working, what’s not working, certainly if you’re going to do something like that though there’s a lot of ways that you can incent repeat customers to come back to your site, loyal customers to come back to your site, then you can often do it through news letters, email, et cetera.

You know, one thing that you remind me of though is one of the traps that a lot of e-commerce customers or merchants fall into, is having a check out with a discount code that can be entered at the end. If you’re displaying an area, a field for a discount code, my recommendation is you’ve got to also provide that discount code somewhere on that page. The last thing you want to incent people to do once they are … here I am in the cart, I put the three items in, I’m ready to go, and then I see that some people have a discount code. Well that’s going to often prompt the shopper to go out on Google and do a search and unfortunately I may find some discount codes but I’ll probably find alternative sites to buy the materials and products I may be buying from you. That’s the last thing you want to happen, right.

So if you’ve got that kind of program, figure out how to keep those people there, right, those are your customers, you’ve worked so hard to get them into the cart and get them … on the cusp of claiming that purchase and you want to follow through with that. If you need to give them a discount, display it right there, that’s part of your incentive and part of your promotions than put it right there to keep them on the checkout page.

John Jantsch: So Dan, where would you like to send people and of course we’ll have any of this in the show notes too, to find out more about Yahoo Small Business?

Dan Breeden: Well check out our site at Yahoo Small Business, we’ve got a number of products that are available, we’ve also got an advisor site as well. Like I said we’ve been around 20 years, we provide not only the tools that we know merchants need as well as brick and mortar companies, but we also work really hard to provide advice and guidance. We know that running a small business can sometimes be a lonely job, it can be confusing, a lot of times the things that small businesses struggle with especially early on is figuring out what to do next. So we provide articles and conversations, we of course have social content as well and so we’re happy to engage with new merchants and figure out how we can help them succeed.

John Jantsch: Awesome, well thanks for joining us and I invite people to check out the offers at Yahoo Small Business. Thanks, Dan.

Dan Breeden: Hey thank you.

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John Jantsch: This episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Klaviyo. Klaviyo is a platform that helps growth focused e-commerce brands drive more sales with super targeted highly relevant email, Facebook, and Instagram marketing.

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, this is John Jantsch, my guest today is Dan Breeden. He is a senior manager of strategic alliances for Yahoo Small Business, so Dan, thanks for joining us.

Dan Breeden: Yeah, thanks for having me.

John Jantsch: I think that Yahoo has been around forever, one of the early players certainly in online and in search, I think it probably would bear … I think there would be some value in just kind of talking about the state of Yahoo small business right now and actually what it offers, because I think a lot of people still probably don’t differentiate it from the search unit.

Dan Breeden: Sure, no, thanks for that. So Yahoo Small Business has been around for a while, we were started a little over 20 years ago when Yahoo bought one of the original e-commerce platforms and then since then we’ve added other products. Our web hosting product was once Geocities, which was a wildly popular platform. We do domain registration, we do direct relistings management, we have a product called local works, and then we also have some advertising products. We’ve got some merchants that have been with us the entire 20 years, very few that have been around longer than that, of course over those years e-commerce and local marketing has changed a lot, so we’ve seen that change, our customers have seen that change, and of course we’ve had a lot of small businesses come and go as they rise and fall with market changes.

So we’re not part of Verizon, we were once part of the broader Yahoo, but we’re in a team that works with alongside Verizon’s small business teams, which has been a great fit for us.

John Jantsch: So since you kind of alluded to this and you’ve been at Yahoo for a while so you’ve seen some of these changes, how would you describe … you know I always tell people that yeah, we’ve got all these new marketing platforms and all these things that come along, but I think what’s changed the most is how people buy. So how would you describe how customer behavior has evolved over the last decade?

Dan Breeden: Sure, if we’re talking about e-commerce, it’s been … it’s been a revolution, right. In fact I have been around for a while and I’ve met with a number of our merchants as well as people who sell on other platforms and the story is the same, we’ll meet with successful merchants and they will marvel at … they worked really hard but they’ll marvel at how they were able to launch a successful store 10, 15 years ago, that they wouldn’t be able to launch in the same way that they would have to do now. It’s a much more crowded marketplace, we have some massive marketplaces that are competing against individual stores, right. We’ve got Amazon, we’ve got eBay, you’ve got kind of the niche marketplaces like Etsy as well. So someone that wants to launch a successful e-commerce venture now has to really be smart.

They’ve got to do more than just come up with a set of products and descriptions, you know, and post it and hope that customers will find them because it’s not that easy and you won’t find success that way.

John Jantsch: Well and since you mentioned Amazon and you know, I buy a thing or two from them so I’m not going to pick on them, but they literally are the everything store it seems, including any innovation that seems to be out there in the market, they’re able to kind of … imitate. I just noticed the other day, maybe this has been around for a while, but this whole buy … you have a designer help you pick out clothes, they send it to you, if you like them great you keep them, if you don’t you send them back. Companies like Stitch Fix, you know, is one that I know is kicking up a lot of dust lately. Well Amazon just basically copied that, I mean so how do you fight or play in that environment where you’ve got an organization, a company with that kind of distribution and that kind of buying leverage?

Dan Breeden: Sure, so I totally agree, Amazon is the gorilla in the room and I buy from them as well for some items. You’re not going to beat them at their game though, so Amazon [inaudible] and this is no way disparaging, but Amazon’s game is they are super convenient, you log in, you have a single check out, you may be buying from multiple merchants, you … you often get incentives around shipping, et cetera. So if you’re playing in that marketplace and you’re trying to differentiate yourself, it’s going to be extremely difficult unless you’ve got a line on a product that you’re able to offer a lower price than anybody else. That can happen if you’re sourcing your products directly from the manufacturer, it typically is a fairly short window before somebody else starts finding your source and undercutting you by nickels and dimes. Instead, where we’re seeing merchants have success is by providing a different shopping experience.

A more customized, more personal shopping experience. When you go to Amazon, you may be buying from multiple merchants. Often you don’t care if those merchants don’t have the ability brand themselves, and so it’s not the same in depth high touch field, it’s really in the super convenient. On the other hand, if you’re looking for something very specific around something you love, a hobby, a pursuit, maybe a gift for someone, you’re more likely to be looking for something that is not one of thousands that’s offered on a marketplace, right. You might be looking for something very specific that’s not like everybody else’s or you may be looking for a store where you know that it’s not just kind of almost a nameless retailer. Instead it’s people that have touched the product, they have product knowledge, they may use the product themselves, and you’re more involved in that purchase, right. You’re more invested in that purchase and in the company.

John Jantsch: Well I know I personally like … I’m kind of almost a Cheers model, I like going to stores where they know my name. That to me and my wife laughs because it’s like okay, you’re going to be a customer there forever now because they just called you John, and she’s right. I get an emotional attachment there, but some would suggest that the Amazon’s of the world actually created personal experience in some ways … in the online world because they were the first ones to know what you bought before. They were the first ones to suggest oh if you like this, you’re going to like these, I mean isn’t that the basis of personalization?

Dan Breeden: It has a personalization feel, it also has an artificial intelligence field right, everybody that came before me that bought brown socks, 75 percent came back for blue socks, so the next thing I see is blue socks, right. So they’ll do that artificial intelligence kind of following the pack and that can work but I think when we’re talking about personalization, it’s more than just throwing more products into … in front of a consumer. It often is getting in front of that and knowing what the consumer is going to want even before they have seen the product, right. One of our merchants is … their site is called Pro Tuning Lab, and these guys sell import automobile parts for people that customize their cars. It’s a family run business, these guys are super in touch with the marketplace, they know what is gonna be hot on the street before it’s even on the street and they are very intuitive.

They’re very much in touch with the different clubs and their promoting products and they are putting products out there so when their followers, their customers see that, they know that it’s not only going to be one of the first time seen on the streets but you know, it’s cool. It’s trending or it will be trending, right. Amazon can’t do that because they’re going to have to wait until the buying trends show that this is a popular product, you know, but this merchant knows because they are themselves an aficionado, right. They are themselves a thought leader in that area and so they’re able to lead that buying purchase by getting the products ahead of time.

John Jantsch: Yeah and I think a lot of times … I know what makes me … connects me is maybe not even technology that’s involved but it’s the branding, it’s the story about the product, it’s the story about the company, those … so I think a lot of times personalization can come from knowing your audience so well that you’re able to tell a story that really connects with them.

Dan Breeden: Yeah, that’s exactly right, and actually that reminds me another merchant that we’ve had whose been around a long time, in fact it’s a family run business. One of the brothers that’s involved in the business wrote the original Yahoo Stores for Dummies book which was probably one of the first e-commerce guides that was ever written. These guys run a specialty store for pet supplies for people that have sporting dogs and it’s called Gun Dogs Supply and they started out as a small pet store. They were basically selling pet food out of a shed, they decided to get online when they first started hearing about people selling online, and they have a really interesting site because they have managed to outlast the Pets.com, the Pet Smarts that sprang up in their neighborhood, and they have such product depth of knowledge that when you go to their site they have product videos … they aren’t just putting up your generic product descriptions.

They do their own testing, they take things and literally field test it, right. They put the collars on the dogs, they try out the retrieving tools, they write about it, they blog about it. When you buy from them … and I don’t have a sporting dog but I have a … one of my dogs is deaf and so I bought a signal collar for her. When you call them and I ended up calling them to get what I needed, I mean they’re able to tell you exactly which product they’re recommending because they’ve used it before. You’re not going to get that in a marketplace, right, you’re not going to get anywhere near that, that level of high touch.

John Jantsch: I want to remind you that this episode is brought to you by Klaviyo, Klaviyo helps you build meaningful customer relationships by listening and understanding cue’s from your customers, and this allows you to easily turn that information into valuable marketing messages. There’s powerful segmentation, email auto responders that are ready to go, great reporting. You want to learn a little bit about the secret to building customer relationships, they’ve got a really fun series called Klaviyo’s Beyond Black Friday. It’s a docu series, a lot of fun, quick lessons, just head on over to Klaviyo.com, beyond BF, beyond Black Friday.

I think that’s the real message, we don’t have to out tech them, we have to out story tell them I think and I think that’s really … that can be a huge differentiator but however, now that consumers are getting really used to this nice technology that works a certain way and flows a certain way and removes friction and makes it easier for them to buy.

You know what tech needs to be involved in that personalization because we want high touch but we also want … we don’t want friction, right, does that make sense. So what does a small business do now to sort of adopt the technology that we as consumers have come to expect?

Dan Breeden: Sure, so a lot of the technology that you’re going to find in the marketplaces can also be added to stores. I mean we have some of the more sophisticated stores … have things like customer reg, they’re building email lists for news letters, et cetera. The … if they’re using customer registration they’re able to recognize the buying history of that customer and so they know that maybe they’re coming back and ordering something they’ve ordered before, or maybe they’re coming back and they’re ordering something similar, right. You can recognize that they’ve ordered Chevy Blazer parts for that type of car, it’s a very good possibility they’re going to be looking for more parts for that type of car, so you can display those types of products in front of them. So all of that segment … I mean one of the great things about the internet is that it democratizes a lot of that technology.

So a lot of that is available, it’s just a matter of implementing it. I think one of the things that’s even more interesting though and we see it on some of our top merchant sites is things as simple as product categorization that are based on the owners in depth knowledge of the product. So it’s putting things into categories that might not otherwise be apparent but because they know their customers, because they touch their customers so often, they know that people shop for certain things in certain ways. I mean I was just looking this morning on the Gun Dog site and they have product categorization around the type of dog you have because certain dogs I guess have certain things that work better with them.

Then they also have areas where if I’m just shopping for a collar and I know I want a yellow one or a pink one, I can just go there and find all of the products that fit that categorization.

John Jantsch: So staying with this story telling theme, how does small business … how do you feel the small businesses can take their story out off of the site? So a lot of the places where people get recommendations, ask for recommendations, write reviews or are on social media. How do you take that story out off of the actual e-commerce platform … obviously the intent is to get them back there to buy it, but how do you integrate those two ideas?

Dan Breeden: Yeah, that’s a great question, now we’re kind of talking about content marketing and story telling is huge, right. You know, it wasn’t long ago where people thought content marketing meant just talking about the products features and benefits but you’re right. People like to buy things that they’ve heard about that they’ve heard about the product being used, sometimes it has a backstory. You need to get into social channels, the ones that are working for you, the one where your users are active, and that’s really key, is don’t just think you’re going to go into three channels because they’re your favorite channels, right. You want to choose the channels that your customers or intended customers favorites, and then find ways to incent people to try things or find ways for people to incent people to blog about or post about a product they’ve used, a product that maybe they’ve used in a different way, you know.

A lot of it becomes a conversation, it’s fascinating to me how often marketers will run and small businesses will run small programs to try and get things like product reviews or somebody to post about shopping on their site or using a product but then they don’t continue the conversation, you know. The more you’re able to make that two way back and forth, the more likely that people are going to not only share it more broadly, but also understand that this is the conversation with a person, right. This isn’t just a campaign where you’re trying to drive new posts and clicks.

John Jantsch: So I think you even mentioned it and of course it’s almost a sin to have a marketing conversation today to go more than about 10 minutes without using the term AI. So how does artificial intelligence play into the mix, I mean every … you know, I talk to small business owners all the time and they’ve all heard the term and they can’t … it’s all over network TV talking about it as the wave of the future. What’s the implication of AI for a small business right now?

Dan Breeden: Yeah, for most small businesses the implication of AI is understanding what kind of data you’re getting and trying to figure out how you can use it to make intelligent choices. It’s … every site has Google analytics and Google analytics is an amazing tool, one of the problems is it’s so rich and the data is so deep that a lot of small businesses just … they get buried in it and they’re not sure exactly what it’s showing. But the key is figuring out number one, what am I actually seeing, what is this data telling me, what’s important because a lot of it … it may all be interesting but it’s not all necessarily important and you need to decide as a small business what you’re trying to drive, what it’s showing, and then really what you need to do is you need to figure out what you’re going to do about it, right.

Then measure against your future data, if all you’re doing is just tracking this monster of data, you’re not going to get anything out of it. The business that succeeds is the one that’s constantly improving, constantly trying things, unfortunately constantly failing, but pivoting into a successful position from that.

John Jantsch: So let’s end up topic that we’ve kind of led to this … one of the things that I think is really challenging for a lot of small businesses, particularly e-commerce folks is the segmenting of promotions. We’ve all experienced that oh I went to this new website and they offered me 10 percent off because I’m new or I’m a returning customer and I’m going to get a certain price or it’s a holiday and I’m going to get a certain promotion. How do you really balance because I tell you one of the things that happens is if you’re not really good at that, you actually run the risk of alienating your best customers by promoting and giving special offers to everybody except them. So how do you kind of balance that promotion and maybe the exclusive feel of it without alienating your best customers?

Dan Breeden: Yeah, you’re right, and it’s a balancing act. It’s something that each business is going to have to look at individually. You do have to be very careful about acclimating your shopper to expect a constant discount unless that’s your business model, right, and if it is your business model, then it’s a good idea to just not waste time, just put it right up front right on that front page that we offer free shipping or we’re running a promotion and there’s 15 percent off. One of the interesting things I’ve seen and it’s used on our site, it’s actually a third party developer that does it, is a very intelligent product that the merchant decides how many pages someone clicks. How long they maybe sit on a single page, and then at a certain point and in particular if they start to show signs of going to a back button or leaving the site, it will then bring up a discount.

It will bring up sometimes a shopping timer that says that if they check out within the next five minutes they’ll get a discount. Those are really interesting highly valuable tools but they are tools that you’ve got to use intelligently, right. You don’t want to cannibalize your sales, you want to be … and that’s where data comes in right. You’ve got to run some tests, you’ve got to see what’s working, what’s not working, certainly if you’re going to do something like that though there’s a lot of ways that you can incent repeat customers to come back to your site, loyal customers to come back to your site, then you can often do it through news letters, email, et cetera.

You know, one thing that you remind me of though is one of the traps that a lot of e-commerce customers or merchants fall into, is having a check out with a discount code that can be entered at the end. If you’re displaying an area, a field for a discount code, my recommendation is you’ve got to also provide that discount code somewhere on that page. The last thing you want to incent people to do once they are … here I am in the cart, I put the three items in, I’m ready to go, and then I see that some people have a discount code. Well that’s going to often prompt the shopper to go out on Google and do a search and unfortunately I may find some discount codes but I’ll probably find alternative sites to buy the materials and products I may be buying from you. That’s the last thing you want to happen, right.

So if you’ve got that kind of program, figure out how to keep those people there, right, those are your customers, you’ve worked so hard to get them into the cart and get them … on the cusp of claiming that purchase and you want to follow through with that. If you need to give them a discount, display it right there, that’s part of your incentive and part of your promotions than put it right there to keep them on the checkout page.

John Jantsch: So Dan, where would you like to send people and of course we’ll have any of this in the show notes too, to find out more about Yahoo Small Business?

Dan Breeden: Well check out our site at Yahoo Small Business, we’ve got a number of products that are available, we’ve also got an advisor site as well. Like I said we’ve been around 20 years, we provide not only the tools that we know merchants need as well as brick and mortar companies, but we also work really hard to provide advice and guidance. We know that running a small business can sometimes be a lonely job, it can be confusing, a lot of times the things that small businesses struggle with especially early on is figuring out what to do next. So we provide articles and conversations, we of course have social content as well and so we’re happy to engage with new merchants and figure out how we can help them succeed.

John Jantsch: Awesome, well thanks for joining us and I invite people to check out the offers at Yahoo Small Business. Thanks, Dan.

Dan Breeden: Hey thank you.

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