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theglassishalfsomething · 6 years ago

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Bing Interviews Darcy: Romance <3

1. You’ve talked before about why you don’t believe young people should date in college. Can you explain that more for us?

STRANGELY ENOUGH, I made a post about this (or very near to this) just today. Basically I believe our culture has shifted and we no longer are equipped, by the time we get to college, to form the kind of serious and stable relationship that has to underpin all the rosiness and joy of romance. I don’t think it’s IMPOSSIBLE, but I also don’t think it’s ADVISABLE to look for love in college. The immaturity, the artificiality of structured interaction, the immense emotional, physical, and financial pressures that too often exist in the modern college setting are all hostile to being in a calm, self-secure state of mind. And I do believe that you have to be READY for relationships, so when I perceive an environment that is not conducive to such readiness, I say...hey. Wait. Be patient. 22 or 23 or 25 is not too old to find love. Far from it! And once you are settled in your life, and responsible for your life, in ways that college is now designed to make impossible, you’ll be in a much healthier position to make life-impacting personal choices.

Now. No doubt anyone reading this OTHER than you, Maria, is very much like “this is dour and out-of-touch af.” And hey, maybe it is! (It’s not. I just spent 8 years in higher ed, thank you very much.) But the point is: a romantic relationship--a TRUE romantic relationship--has an inherent element of separation and isolation in it, in that you and that person are committing to each other in unique ways that cannot be shared communally. And in the barren wasteland of the “college experience,” a lot of young people can’t AFFORD to isolate themselves from what little support system they’ve scrabbled together of friends, a reliable schedule, study buddies, etc. In other words...it’s not a great time to cordon yourself off with another young person who is probably very stressed and at least a little immature.

BUT, you say, I HAVE KNOWN MANY PEOPLE WHO--yes. Yes, I’m sure you have. And I’m sure you will again! But I like to approve of such successes when they ARE successes--and that leaves their reckless impetus in hindsight.

2. What is the most common mistake you believe people make in relationships? Just starting out dating + in a marriage! (A bold question, but I’m excited to hear your answers)

- Insisting that infatuation is love.

- Insisting that your friends/family “get on board” immediately, and also are willing to take second-tier precedence

- Insisting.

3. What’s one thing that is widely considered romantic that you don’t think is romantic? What’s one thing you think is romantic that most people wouldn’t commonly think of as romantic? (this was a mouthful lol)

Using a relationship as a status symbol is gross and any man who tries that with me can find the door himself.

Getting to know someone’s family and friends may seem like a non-sexy, non-romantic task that just goes along with a relationship, but it’s actually SUPER romantic.

4. What IS romance?

I love the broader understanding of the word that infuses it with something fanciful and adventurous and classic. I think that romance is that which should make our souls more beautiful. Transformative love--for our soulmate, for God, for our creative passions.

5. When it comes to romance, is it more important to be prudent or take risks?

Life is full of risk. We must do our best to be prudent. I mean, it’s always both, right? We’re always living through a complication, and we are all the more fortunate AND unfortunate for it. Whenever I advise, I tend to sound a little cold and clinical (I think). But I want to acknowledge here and now that we ALL make decisions, constantly, that may not be wise, or that may not be fair to our future selves. But we have to keep living. We have to keep trying. We have to carry prudence with us through our eternal attempts at self-reflection, even when we’re leaping over chasms.

This is very vague and incoherent. To simplify it and apply it to the context of romantic love, I would say: prudence in pursuing a relationship is another form of kindness towards the person you love. Of course you’re taking a risk by the nature of choosing them--by the nature of choosing anyone. But when you reflect, and try to be sensible, and wise, you are doing it FOR their good. You are developing your own heart and wellbeing for the good of another. And that makes prudence a pretty romantic virtue!

6. What makes for a healthy romantic relationship? An unhealthy one?

Communication, the lack thereof. Justice, and the lack thereof. Humility, charity, passion, and hope--and the lack(s) thereof.

7. What’s the best written romance you’ve ever read?

1. Everything by Jane Austen

2. Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

3. Queen’s Thief series by Meghan Whalen Turner

4. Waking Rose by Regina Doman

5. The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

AND...

1. A number of really, really good fanfics (Janus, Out of the Blue, The Politician’s Wife)

8. Why are people so quick to dismiss romance? How would you defend it as a worthy subject in art? (besides your iconic “I won’t be debating this” response)

People mock simplicity--which romance clings to despite all cynicism and ugliness--because they fear it as a complete answer. People fear what clarity would show them, and true love IS clarity.

(I think that answers why it’s also a worthy subject for art.)

9. What’s something our current culture gets wrong about romance?

That sex is the appropriate way to first say I love you, that you can “fix” someone by your love, that uncontrolled anger = passion, that women are the “emotional ones,” that cheating is sometimes inevitable, etc etc etc

10. What makes a couple have good chemistry or is it something that can’t be put into words?

Shared trauma. (Sorry, that’s just my angsty fic-writing heart.)

No, seriously--there has to be a sharing of connection while there’s also a clash of purpose or will or personality. That, at least, is what gets the sparks going for me. I want CONFLICT!

And on that note, I’ll close. :D

#bing interviews darcy #romance #love

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casualmaraudering · 4 years ago

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Youtuber Sirius AU

yes i’m making a post about a yt au in the year of the lord 2020 get over it

sirius’s channel is pretty varied - he posts with no particular schedule, or theme, he just. posts whatever he wants

there’s gaming videos. there’s just chatting about stuff. song covers - electric guitar, piano, or singing. but he also does a little bit of cinematography sometimes, or live streams where he composes songs

titles including: “why is Mr Darcy the perfect man” (which is 47 minutes long btw), “properly caring for a motorbike engine (tips)”, “beach trip + getting terribly sunburnt (no, i’m not actually a vampire)” “pranking my flatmate pt 39”

james features on his channel quite a lot, usually as a victim of pranks or someone to play games with

he gets famous cause his videos are so chill, and often super funny, not to mention he has a fucking fantastic voice and his covers are some of his most viewed videos on his channel. and welp. he is good looking

known as the eye candy of youtube pretty much

he’s got a wide fanbase and a huge instagram following, got quite a few interviews on TV and even a magazine cover

he didn’t expect to be famous, especially since he did it just cause he was bored, as a hobby more than anything, but hey, he has a great community and it works out fantastic tbh. the money is a plus, yes, but he already had a very cushy life cause of inheritance, so he donates most -if not all - of his yt income

remus isn’t famous at all. he's a student who works at a bookstore. he’s very much a Normal Person TM

he has the biggest fucking celebrity crush on sirius which is real unfortunate cause sirius has like 30mil subscribers and is pretty much a model on ig. and remus. remus is remus

he stumbled on one of his videos by accident. and sirius was gorgeous and funny and talented. and then he binged his whole channel. and the crush hit so hard

they get together somehow i don’t know, i didn’t plan out this post too much don’t judge me, but it probably involves remus freaking the fuck out about it a lot

sirius has always been pretty nonchalant about his sexuality but when he finally makes a video about it - titled “yes i really am gay it’s not just for a twitter meme” - it’s actually a rather serious video (aside some jokes) cause he wants to be a good role model for the younger queer boys that might be watching him

when they start dating, he doesn’t mention remus that much, but he does mention A Boyfriend, and his fans pick up on that quick cause hello, that’s new

remus’s guilty pleasure is scrolling through social media and seeing memes/posts about the mystery boyfriend and how whipped sirius seems

at first, remus doesn’t appear in sirius’s videos at all, for like a good couple months

when he does start appearing, at first it’s through comments off camera - it’s also when the people learn his name

cue fanmade videos like “remus bullying sirius for 29 minutes”, “remus being sassy (compliation)” or “sirius being gay for remus part 1/2347823432″

which just get better when remus finally does agree to be on camera

“compilation of remus looking at sirius like he’s the dumbest being on earth” “sirius hearteyes black” “remus being relatable for 12 minutes and 29 seconds”

sirius loves posting photos of them being cute together just because he loves his boyfriend okay? usually they involve remus hiding his face cause he’s insecure, but that’s so adorable sirius can’t be mad

sirius starts posting an awful lot of love song covers

honestly sirius probably reads fics of them for the laughs (and sometimes sends remus the hilariously bad ones so they can laugh together)

sirius saves every fanart he sees of himself and remus or just of remus. he has to

people go badshit when sirius posts an engagement photo and sirius is so fucking happy that he gets to just gush about his fiance on twitter as if he’s a schoolboy

like honestly. sirius’s twitter? remus. so much gushing about remus

their wedding video is the most viewed video of the year, and one of the most viewed videos of all times

remus ends up tweeting like “funny how five years ago i had a celebrity crush on that one hot youtuber and yesterday i married him” he’s living the dream tbh

sirius has fucking field day with domestic videos: “giving my husband cooking instructions except i only speak french (spoiler: it’s a mess)”, “mario kart with my husband” “reacting to memes of me and my husband”

a couple months after they’re married sirius has a chill live stream where all he does is literally just. talk about remus and how fucking happy he is in his life. it’s so gay. and so wholesome

there’s an ongoing meme within the community that everyone likes remus more than sirius. sirius runs with it and loves it cause he loves people raising his baby’s confidence. generally posts about remus? 10/10, reblog/retweet, saves them, sirius is his no.1 stan

there’s people hating on them, of course. people who shipped sirius with james. homophobes. people who are just jealous of remus. at first that hits remus a lot, like, he’s not used to getting hate DMs, so that sucks extra hard. but sirius always tries his best to cheer him up and hey, it doesn’t matter what the people say, cause sirius would drop his career immediately if remus as much as asked

another fandom favourite meme: sirius being a simp for remus. sirius never denies it

#i don't know what this is but here sdfjkdsfs #wolfstar #sirius black #remus lupin #my tag #headcanon tag #au tag #is this post coherent??? probably not. but im tired #i almost threw my deaf or trans remus in there but i tried to keep it fairly general dfhds

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superlocktvd · 3 years ago

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Heartstopper

Hello Guys,

Its been over a month that Heartstopper released, and every time I think the fandom is slowing down, a new interview pops up, following which a new info about the cast pops up following which you get the greatest news that can be there for a show which is not 1 but a 2 season renewal.

All hail Alice Oseman for this series!!!! Netflix too for not (in a polite manner) fucking it up.

I have a lot of thoughts, which were put on hold due to the normal life because one needs to do all that to have simple pleasures in life. Over the month there hasn’t been a day I haven’t read about Heartstopper. When I first saw the teaser it promised itself to be a cute story in a very rom-com setting. The trailer came and my interest was piqued. Netflix dropped all its episodes on 22nd April and binging it was the only way to do it. It took me roughly 4-5hrs and in lack of better words I wasn’t the same.

The show is Perfect. I don’t think any words suits it. It’s perfect who already recognize themselves, it’s perfect for those you are discovering and learning about themselves, it’s perfect for those who need to check their action and behavior, it’s perfect those who don’t know how to approach this side.

Let’s start with basics shall we,

Storyline - Alice Oseman giving us what we didn’t know we ever needed. Although the graphic novel came back in 2016, which has a following itself, the show was decided to be adapted in 2019 and today in 2022 we finally have this beautiful piece in front of us.

Casting - A1, I don’t think you could have found anyone better for their roles if you searched with a candle anywhere. It’s like God was so impressed with this graphic novel that he made sure we have freaking re-incarnations of these characters. Kit, Joe, Yasmin, William, Sebastian, Corinna, Cormac, Izzy, Rhea and Tobie all were downright commendable. Hat’s off to you guys because no one could have done it better, especially when for so many of them it’s their first acting credit. Sebastian Croft and Cormac, you both easily bring out something in me that should not be named which goes to show how much I hate Ben and Harry, an unhealthy amount easily though. Please seek therapy.

Cinematography - Probably one of the best I have seen. Especially the Tara Darcy Kiss, because that scene is supremacy. It embodies everything good about being in love because that’s what it is all about isn’t it, to find someone you love even if it’s yourself.

Emotions - I have laughed, cried, sobbed, smiled, got angry and every other emotion that could possible existed has been felt during this watch. Also the other 4 times of re-watching. It’s always the same which is saying something. They were not overboard or fake, but natural and I think it resonated not just with me but everyone who watched it given the success it has risen to and continues to do so.

Music - By god, I have never heard a better playlist than Heartstopper, it was like every track was custom made for all the different situations that were happening. The songs embodied the situations perfectly because even without saying you can understand a lot just lyrics.

A lot of us regardless of age have been able to relate with different experiences that have been portrayed in the series. A lot of us have had nostalgia, something to reminisce and relive those ugly, harsh and even traumatic memories because the world and this society has not always been kind to those who don’t fit in their mold and idea of a person should be.

This series was treat to watch and highlighted so many things from the smallest things that matter to the biggest of conversations that needs to talked about. I’m thoroughly grateful for Netflix for renewing this show and I just hope the integrity, the soul and the charm this show had in season 1 is carried well into the other 2 seasons.

Can’t wait to see these people grow and succeed. The best is yet to come.

#heartstopper #alice oseman #charlie spring #nick nelson #charlie x nick #charlie spring x nick nelson #tara x darcy #joe locke #kit connor #sebastian croft #yasmin finney #william gao #tao x elle #oscar

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sarcasticbookaddict · 4 years ago

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Okay, so I just finished episode 86 of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and I am sad that I am almost finished with the series. I haven’t really read/seen many adaptations of Pride and Prejudice. In terms of on-screen adaptations, I’ve seen the 1995 and 2005 versions plus Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Also, Austenland counts too, I guess, since it has many elements as Pride and Prejudice. So The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is kind of the the first modernized version of the story I’ve seen and there are so many things I love about it, such as:

Fitz. Like honestly, I want to be friends with him. He is just so fun and outgoing. It makes me want to see some interactions between him and Darcy. Their impersonations of each other were great. Also, I appreciate the fact that he tried to be a wingman for Darcy, but it turned into an epic fail.

DARCY. Need I say more?

Well, I could actually talk so much about I love this version of him.

He looks so adorable with his bowtie. He really does give off a Newsie vibe.

And he is so awkward yet he still tries to be on camera for Lizzie.

AND DARCY AND LIZZIE FLIRTING DURING THE CORPORATE INTERVIEW EPISODE

LIKE WHAT THE FUCK

MY HEART CAN TAKE HOW ADORABLE THEY ARE

Gigi Darcy is such a precious character as well. I’d like to personally thank her for pushing Darcy and Lizzie together. Truly the captain of this ship.

But when she told Lizzie that she has said worst things about Darcy to his face, you can tell how much she regrets saying what she said. She truly respects her brother and wants him to be happy.

I really loved Lizzie’s interactions with Bing as well. She was pushing him to actually reach out to Jane. Were Darcy and Caroline trying to pull him away from Jane? Yes. But he allowed himself to be pulled away and just left Jane without having an honest and civil conversations, though. So, part of the blame does rest on him.

But I do like Bing. He is a really loving character. He kind of reminds me of a puppy.

I do think that the way the whole Lydia and Wickham situation was modernized was well-written and heartbreaking.

I am aware that there is a book version of the series and I am definitely eager to read it. Although, with my semester starting soon, I’m not sure I’ll have the time within the next few weeks.

So yes, this was just me rambling and fangirling because I really am enjoying this series.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

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artemisegeria · 4 years ago

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WV Final Rewatch Episode 7

kind of binge watching does relieve the cliffhangers.

I do like how Wanda reached for Vision the first thing upon waking up.

Why is it “quarantine-style” staycation? Presumably there is no coronavirus in the MCU.

It annoys me even more that the boys are not concerned about Vision and Wanda doesn’t try to go look for him.

Also, still uncertain about the source of the glitches.

Fuck Tyler Hayward!!! Every time I see his face, I hate him even more.

I wonder why the signal disappeared. I’m not sure that part is Wanda’s doing.

Poor Vision feeling his shoulder after the previous night.

I do like Vision and Darcy interacting, but I still want him to interat with Wanda and the boys more.

I do like the affirmation of “vibranium skin” to emphasize the boys’ connection to Vision, since that has been sorely lacking.

suspicious mole - the old idea of the witches mark maybe

I noticed the Fool the Guesser sign in the background - a nod to fooling fan theorists maybe

Darcy did not seem nearly as affected by waking up as others. Maybe because she’s had less grief in her life???

Who’s supposed to be the audience for the circus anyway?

Agatha, you dirty liar again!!!

Why are the twins only concerned about Wanda????????? I do not like that.

I must say Monica’s eye makeup is on point for being on the run all night. So is Darcy’s come to think of. Ah, the magic of television.

I’m curious what Monica is seeing with her new powers.

I really wish Wanda had told Vision everything, but I do like Vision’s mindset changing a bit.

It was definitely Agatha creating obstacles. I will take that with me to my grave, no matter what canon says.

Still appreciate Darcy being the biggest Scarlet Vision stan.

I wonder if the interviewer talking to Vision was also Agatha, or something created by Agatha.

🎶Agatha all along🎶 This is gonna be stuck in my head all day again.

#WandaVision #WandaVision spoilers #spoilers

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michaelandy101-blog · 4 years ago

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How We Became Digital Marketers in Just One Summer

New Post has been published on http://tiptopreview.com/how-we-became-digital-marketers-in-just-one-summer/

How We Became Digital Marketers in Just One Summer

Editor’s note: This blog is from the perspective of five University of Pittsburgh students — Kirsten, Steve, Darcie, Erin, and Sara — who completed a class this summer called “Digital Marketing Search Fundamentals”, taught by Zack Duncan of Root and Branch.

Introduction

Our digital marketing class this summer did not give us credits that count towards graduation (in fact, some of us graduated in Spring 2020), nor did it give us a grade. Instead, we learned about paid search and organic search along with some of the key concepts central to digital marketing. We also became certified in Google Ads Search along the way.

We each had different reasons for taking the course, but we all believe that digital marketing will have value for us in our lives.

At the beginning of the term, in June 2020, we were asked, “What is one thing you’re hoping to get out of this class?” Here are some of our responses to that question:

I hope to gain a strong understanding of SEO and Google Ads, and to get hands-on experience to understand how both would be used in a work setting.

I want to learn something about marketing that I might not learn in the classroom.

I’m hoping to become more competitive in this difficult job market.

I hope to build on my resume and develop skills for personal use.

I want to learn a foundational skill that can be applied in many different aspects of business.

Now that we’ve completed the class, we wanted to share our thoughts on why we believe digital marketing matters — both for our lives today and as we look ahead to the future. We’re also going to cover five of the most important building blocks we learned this summer, that have helped us see how all the pieces of digital marketing fit together.

Part 1: Why digital marketing matters

Why digital marketing training matters now

To become more competitive candidates in applying for jobs

Some of us are recent grads in the midst of searching for our first jobs after college. Some of us are still in school and are actively looking for internships. We’ve all seen our fair share of job listings for positions like “Digital Marketing Intern” or “Digital Marketing Associate”. Given that the majority of us are marketing majors, you might think it’s safe to assume we would be qualified for at least an interview for those positions.

Nope.

Before gaining a solid foundation in digital marketing, we were often quite limited in the listings we were qualified for. But things have been changing now that we can say we’re certified in Google Ads Search and can speak to topics like digital analytics, SEO, and the importance of understanding the marketing funnel.

To help with growing freelance side businesses

Towards the beginning of the pandemic, a few of us were dangerously close to graduation with little to no hope of finding a job in marketing. Instead of binge-watching Netflix all day and hoping some fantastic opportunity would magically come our way, the entrepreneurial among us decided to see how we could use our current skills to generate revenue.

One of us is especially interested in graphic design and learned everything there was to know in Adobe Creative Suite to become a freelance graphic designer, starting a side business in graphic design, and designs logos, labels, menus, and more.

After this class, finding clients has changed in a big way now. Instead of being limited to looking for clients in social media groups, digital marketing knowledge opens up a whole new world. With a functioning website and a knowledge of both paid and organic search, the process of finding new customers has dramatically changed (for the better!).

To be more informed consumers

While a digital marketing background doesn’t instantly translate to job opportunities for everyone, it can help all of us become more informed consumers.

As consumers, we want to pay for quality goods and services at a fair price. Some basic digital marketing knowledge gives us a better understanding of why the search engine results page (SERP) findings show up in the order that they do. Knowing about keywords, domain authority (for organic search) and quality scores (for paid results) can demystify things. And that’s just on the SERP.

Moving off the SERP, it’s helpful to know how nearly every advertisement we see is somehow targeted to us. If you are seeing an ad, there is a very good chance you fall into an audience segment that a brand has identified as a potential target. You may also be seeing the ad due to a prior visit to the brand’s website and are now in a retargeting audience (feel free to clear out those cookies if you’re sick of them!).

The more information you have as a consumer, the more likely you are to make a better purchase. These few examples just go to show how digital marketing training matters now, even if you are not the one actively doing the digital marketing.

How a digital marketing foundation be useful in the future

It’s helpful in creating and growing a personal brand

Your brand only matters if people know about it. You could sit in your room and put together the most awesome portfolio website for yourself and create a solid brand identity, but if no one else knows about it, what’s the point? Digital marketing concepts like understanding SEO basics can help make your presence known to potential customers, employers, and clients.

It would be terrible if your competition got all the business just because you didn’t use the simple digital marketing tools available to you, right? Digital marketing efforts can have many different goals ranging from making sales to just increasing general awareness of your brand, so get out there and start!

To become a more flexible contributor in future career opportunities

One thing we’ve heard consistently in the job search process is employers love flexible, cross functional employees. It seems the most successful and valued employees are often those that are not only experts in their field, but also have a pretty good understanding of other subjects that impact their work. Let’s say you’re an account manager for a digital agency, and you have some great insight that you think could be helpful in driving some new ad copy testing for your biggest client. It’s going to be a whole lot easier talking with your copywriter and media team (and being taken seriously by them), if you have an understanding of how the text ads are built.

To see data as an opportunity for action, as opposed to just numbers

Are you someone who enjoys numbers and performance metrics? That’s great! So are we! But those numbers are meaningless without a digital marketing background to provide context for the data.

Understanding data is a valuable tool for getting to know your audience and evaluating advertising campaigns. Seeing that your Google Search text ad has a poor click-through rate is only actionable if you have the foundation to take steps and improve it. Analyzing your website’s metrics and finding that you have a low average session duration is meaningless if you don’t connect the dots between the numbers and what they mean for your web design or your on-page content.

It’s pretty clear that the numbers don’t give much value to a marketer or a business without the ability to recognize what those metrics mean and the actions that can be taken to fix them. As we advance in our careers and have more and more responsibility for decision making, digital marketing fundamentals can continue to grow our experience with turning data into insight-driven action.

To optimize for conversions — always

Whatever the goal, it’s important to know if you’re operating efficiently in terms of your conversions. In other words, you need to know if you’re getting a return for the investment (time, money, or both) you’re putting in. When you’re operating to get the most conversions for the lowest cost, you are employing a mindset that will help your marketing efforts perform as well as they can.

Having a digital marketing foundation will allow you to think intelligently about “conversions”, or the kinds of results that you’d like to see your marketing efforts generate. A conversion might be a completed sale for an e-commerce company, a submitted lead form for a B2B software company, or a new subscriber for an online publication.

Whatever the desired conversion action, thinking about them as the goal helps to give context in understanding how different marketing efforts are performing. Is your ad performing well and should it receive more media spend, or is it just wasting money?

Thinking about conversions isn’t always easy, and may take some trial and error, but it can lead to making smart, measurable, and cost-effective decisions. And those decisions can get smarter over time as we get more and more familiar with the five key building blocks of digital marketing (at least the five that we’ve found to be instructive).

Part 2: Understanding five building blocks of digital marketing

1. The marketing funnel (customer journey)

The marketing funnel (or the user/customer journey) refers to the process by which a prospective customer hears about a product or service, becomes educated about the product or service, and makes a decision whether or not to purchase the product or service in question.

It encompasses everything from the first time that brand awareness is established to the potential purchase made by the customer. The awareness stage can be known as the “top of the funnel”, and there are lots of potential prospects in that audience.

From there, some prospects “move down the funnel” as they learn more and get educated about the product or service. Those that don’t move down the funnel and progress in their journey are said to “fall out” of the funnel.

As the journey continues, prospects move closer to becoming customers. Those who eventually “convert” are those that completed the journey through the bottom of the funnel.

Understanding that there is such a thing as a customer journey has helped to frame our thinking for different types of marketing challenges. It essentially boils down to understanding where, why, when, and how your prospects are engaging with your brand, and what information they will need along the way to conversion.

2. Paid search vs. organic search and the SERP

For many of us, one of the first steps in understanding paid vs. organic search was getting a handle on the SERP.

The slide below is our “SERP Landscape” slide from class. It shows what’s coming from paid (Google Ads), and what’s coming from organic search. In this case, organic results are both local SEO results from Google My Business, and also the on-page SEO results. Here’s a link to a 92-second video with the same content from class.

We learned to look for the little “Ad” designation next to the paid text ads that are often at the top of the SERP.

These are search results with the highest AdRank who are likely willing to bid the most on the specific keyword in question. Since paid search is based on CPC (cost per click) pricing, we learned that the advertiser doesn’t incur any costs for their ad to show up, but does pay every single time the ad is clicked.

Although many CPCs might range in the $2 – $3 range, some are $10 and up. With that kind of investment for each click, advertisers really need to focus on having great landing pages with helpful content that will help drive conversions.

Organic search, on the other hand, is “free” for each click. But it also relies on great content, perhaps even more so than paid search. That’s because the only way to get to the top of the organic search rankings is to earn it. There’s no paying here!

Search engines like Google are looking for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-A-T) in content to rank highly on the SERP. In addition to making good local sense for Google, it all comes back to the core of Alphabet’s business model, as the slide below shows.

Understanding Google’s motivations help us understand what drives organic search and the SERP landscape overall. And understanding the basics of paid and organic search is an important foundation for all aspiring digital marketers who want to work in the field.

3. Inbound vs. outbound marketing

Are you working to push a message out to an audience that you hope is interested in your product or service? If so, you’re doing some outbound marketing, whether it be traditional media like billboards, television, or magazines, or even certain types of digital advertising like digital banner ads. Think about it as a giant megaphone broadcasting a message.

Inbound work, on the other hand, aims to attract potential customers who are actively engaged in seeking out a product or service. Search marketing (both paid search and organic search) are perfect examples of inbound, as they reach prospects at the moment they’re doing their research. Instead of a megaphone, think of a magnet. The content that does the best job in solving problems and answering questions will be the content with the strongest magnetic pull that gets to the top of SERPs and converts.

If you’re going to be here for a while, click the image below for more information on how we think about content in the context of digital marketing efforts.

4. Basic digital marketing metrics

There are some universal metrics that we all need to understand if we’re going to develop a competency in digital marketing. Click through rate (CTR), for example, is a great way to measure how effective an ad unit or organic result is in terms of generating a click.

But before we can fully understand CTR (clicks divided by impressions), we first need to make sure we understand the component parts of the metric. Here are four of those key components that we learned about during our digital marketing training:

Impression: A search result (paid or organic) or an ad shows up on a page

Click: A user clicking the search result or ad on a page triggers a recorded click

Conversion: After clicking on the search result or ad, the user completes an action that is meaningful for the business. Different types of businesses have different conversion actions that are important to them.

Cost: While organic search results are “free” (not counting costs associated with creating content), paid ads incur a cost. Understanding the cost of any paid advertising is a crucial component of understanding performance.

How does it all work in practice? Glad you asked! Check out the example below for a hypothetical advertising campaign that served 10,000 impressions, drove 575 clicks, cost $1,000, and generated 20 conversions:

5. Platforms and tools a beginner digital marketer should use

Our class was focused on search marketing, and we talked about one platform for paid and one platform for organic.

On the paid side, there is only one name in the game: Google Ads. Google has free training modules and certifications available through a platform called Skillshop. You’ll need a Google-affiliated email address to log in. After doing so, just search for “Google Ads Search” and you can go through the training modules shown below.

If you’re already a Google Ads pro, you can hop right to the exam and take the timed Google Ads Search Assessment. If you can get an 80% or higher on the 50-question exam, you’ll get a certification badge!

For organic search, we learned about keyword research, title tags, H1s and H2s, anchor text in links, and more through the training available on Moz Academy. The 73-minute Page Optimization course has eight different training sections and includes an On Page Optimization Quiz at the end. Fair warning, some of the content might be worth watching a few times if you’re new to SEO. For most of us this was our first exposure to SEO, and it took some time for most of our brains to sort through the difference between a title tag and an H1 tag!

Another platform that we liked was Google Trends, which can be useful for both paid and organic search, and is just generally a cool way to see trends happening!

There are many more resources and tools out there in the world. Some of us are aiming to get more comfortable with these fundamentals, while some others have already branched out into other disciplines like social media.

Conclusion

Thanks for coming along with us on this digital marketing journey. We hope it was a useful read!

During the process of putting this together, things have changed for us:

Kirsten landed a full-time job.

Steve started doing consulting work for a growing Shopify site in Google Ads and Google Analytics, and is planning to make consulting his full-time work.

Darcie landed a job as a Paid Search Analyst for a national retailer.

For all of us, we know we’re only taking the first steps of our digital marketing futures, and we’re excited to see what the future holds!

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#General

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lakelandseo · 4 years ago

Text

How We Became Digital Marketers in Just One Summer

Posted by rootandbranch

Editor’s note: This blog is from the perspective of five University of Pittsburgh students — Kirsten, Steve, Darcie, Erin, and Sara — who completed a class this summer called "Digital Marketing Search Fundamentals", taught by Zack Duncan of Root and Branch.

Introduction

We each had different reasons for taking the course, but we all believe that digital marketing will have value for us in our lives.

At the beginning of the term, in June 2020, we were asked, “What is one thing you’re hoping to get out of this class?” Here are some of our responses to that question:

I hope to gain a strong understanding of SEO and Google Ads, and to get hands-on experience to understand how both would be used in a work setting.

I want to learn something about marketing that I might not learn in the classroom.

I'm hoping to become more competitive in this difficult job market.

I hope to build on my resume and develop skills for personal use.

I want to learn a foundational skill that can be applied in many different aspects of business.

Part 1: Why digital marketing matters

Why digital marketing training matters now

To become more competitive candidates in applying for jobs

Nope.

To help with growing freelance side businesses

To be more informed consumers

While a digital marketing background doesn’t instantly translate to job opportunities for everyone, it can help all of us become more informed consumers.

How a digital marketing foundation be useful in the future

It’s helpful in creating and growing a personal brand

To become a more flexible contributor in future career opportunities

To see data as an opportunity for action, as opposed to just numbers

Are you someone who enjoys numbers and performance metrics? That's great! So are we! But those numbers are meaningless without a digital marketing background to provide context for the data.

To optimize for conversions — always

Part 2: Understanding five building blocks of digital marketing

1. The marketing funnel (customer journey)

As the journey continues, prospects move closer to becoming customers. Those who eventually “convert” are those that completed the journey through the bottom of the funnel.

2. Paid search vs. organic search and the SERP

For many of us, one of the first steps in understanding paid vs. organic search was getting a handle on the SERP.

We learned to look for the little “Ad” designation next to the paid text ads that are often at the top of the SERP.

Although many CPCs might range in the $2 - $3 range, some are $10 and up. With that kind of investment for each click, advertisers really need to focus on having great landing pages with helpful content that will help drive conversions.

3. Inbound vs. outbound marketing

If you’re going to be here for a while, click the image below for more information on how we think about content in the context of digital marketing efforts.

4. Basic digital marketing metrics

Impression: A search result (paid or organic) or an ad shows up on a page

Click: A user clicking the search result or ad on a page triggers a recorded click

5. Platforms and tools a beginner digital marketer should use

Our class was focused on search marketing, and we talked about one platform for paid and one platform for organic.

Another platform that we liked was Google Trends, which can be useful for both paid and organic search, and is just generally a cool way to see trends happening!

Conclusion

Thanks for coming along with us on this digital marketing journey. We hope it was a useful read!

During the process of putting this together, things have changed for us:

Kirsten landed a full-time job.

Steve started doing consulting work for a growing Shopify site in Google Ads and Google Analytics, and is planning to make consulting his full-time work.

Darcie landed a job as a Paid Search Analyst for a national retailer.

For all of us, we know we’re only taking the first steps of our digital marketing futures, and we’re excited to see what the future holds!

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

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theglassishalfsomething · 6 years ago

Text

Bing Interviews Darcy: reylooooo

1. What made you start shipping reylo? Meaning both what moment in the movies sold you and what fandom occurrence sold you on them?

When I went to see TFA, I wasn’t in my fangirl mode--more that “family fandom” mode, where you just are like WOW COOL MOVIE without being all, HOW CAN I WRITE FIC ABOUT THIS/BLOW UP TUMBLR. So. I definitely was the most...intrigued by Kylo and Rey’s dynamic, thought Kylo was attractive the MOMENT he took his helmet off, and I think I had this inkling in the final battle of ... wowww ... ok...I wonder if anyone else is shipping this. So, for me, I think the moment was “You need a teacher!” Like--BOI. YOU NEED A TEACHER??? THis is a BATTLE.

Wow. This is a very incoherent answer, but my point is, the spark was there. The fandom occurrence was most likely you. Your blog really won me over to the idea of them not just as A ship but as THE ship. It wasn’t hard to convince me, because it was so RIGHT.

2. When you think of reylo, is there a color that comes to mind?

Let’s not pretend it’s not the violet wash of red kissing blue, against the chiaroscuro wrath of both their tilted faces. *Rey closes her eyes*

It’s not so much a single color as a color story.

3. Real Talk. Are they a Happily Ever After couple or are they made for angst?

BOTH! But they deserve their sunset and sunrise. The peace and warmth of dying light; the challenge and promise of the next morning’s glow.

4. What do you think each of them give the other, besides love and understanding? What’s something particularly theirs that they give the other that no one else can?

Being the Greatest of Their Kind. Rey is “nobody” and Kylo is a “legacy”--but that doesn’t matter. Mind, heart, and presence--they’re both on a different plane than everyone else. That’s what TLJ shows above all--these two are drawn together and it comes down to them fighting together (back to back) or against each other. Everything else is just stage dressing. (I know that’s a bold statement, but I’m STICKING TO IT.)

5. Where would you rank reylo in terms of your OTPs?

WOW. It’s so hard because I THINK Darcy/Elizabeth has to be #1? But at this point they just might be #2. (FWIW, Darvey, Captain Swan, Gen/Attolia, Sherlolly round out the rest of my Ride-or-Dies). Reylo is so high-ranked because I think it’s in-depth and perfect and well-acted and ACTUALLY CANON and ACTUALLY CENTRAL TO CANON, which are all very important facets. The reason D/E ranks above it is because it’s the ultimate prototype. I mean, I’ve written a book about it lol.

6. There are many interpretations of reylo and each focuses on a different aspect of them. Some reylo shipping focuses on their tension and angst, some on their Softness, some on the fact that they’re equals who can fight and protect each other. Which is your favorite? What’s specifically your reylo?

Tension and angst are my middle names :P. I guess I just really love the softness of two hearts connected against the warring world, even when the the two owners of those hearts think they’re at war too. So it all combines--so many of these questions are only answerable by, IT’S ALL OF IT, THEY’RE ALL OF IT, you know? Because this is pretty much the ultimate OTP.

7. Is there a piece of reylo fan art you especially love?

How about I give you five? (These are just a few examples, there are SO MANY GOOD ONES)

http://rxyl.tumblr.com/post/146038743336/rosa-rosa-rosa-where-is-my-heart

https://reyloship82.tumblr.com/post/173061609805/there-is-no-horizon-for-us-cosmo-gonika-the

http://verauko.tumblr.com/post/136695827545/the-kiss-star-wars-meets-gustav-klimt

http://elithien.tumblr.com/post/169890093857/another-reylo-commission-complete-thank-you ( @elithien is my favorite Reylo artist)

https://theforces-of-destiny.tumblr.com/post/169753827520/ben-solo (this is a manip and I love it)

AND WAIT! ONE MORE! I THINK ABOUT THIS ALL THE TIME!

https://i-am-drowning-in-the-rain.tumblr.com/post/169670396977/belonging-because-there-is-no-such-thing-as-too

8. You love Rey; Ben loves Rey. Do you think you love her for the same reasons?

I think that Ben loves Rey because she represents salvation to him, as well as understanding and a future. However, I think we also love what makes Rey Rey...her innocence, her strength, her optimism, her loyalty, her passion. There’s so much about her that is truly heroic, and she is INSPIRING. I think that both Ben and I appreciate that.

9. Looking back now, does one-sided reylo make any sense at all? Do you still find the idea of it appealing in any way?

Haha. This question. So one-sided Reylo was never really a thing for me because I pretty much refuse to acknowledge the existence of unrequited love? Just in general. I always think people are in love with each other. ESPECIALLY with Reylo. I mean, as soon as I started shipping it I knew that they were drawn TO EACH OTHER. The fact that Ben felt it first/sooner/whatever is just part of the narrative.

I guess that unrequited love can improve a person but in a way it’s something that we have to let go of. I often think that unrequited love is either a beautiful failing--in that a person CAN’T let go of something they should have--or it’s just...not actually love. True love is about the intertwining of souls. If someone else isn’t in love with you it just doesn’t last forever. Or if it does, it’s not exactly the best direction to take your life in, you know? (Not to say that people CAN’T love someone who doesn’t love them back, or that I haven’t enjoyed the tragic heroes or villains who DO love someone unrequitedly, but...yeah. I mostly think it’s Not as Real a Thing as we pretend.)

10. How has reylo inspired you in your own writing?

Well, I’ve written a lot of Reylo fanfic (and YES, I REALLY need to get back to nor are we forgiven!).

I must say, I think Reylo inspires me to explore AUs when I’m really more of a canon person in general. Now, I know you just said you wish there were more canon stories! And I definitely get that. I love canon character studies and canon fill-ins and even canon extensions that try to predict what will happen next. But I think there is a universality to Reylo that lends itself well to AUs, and that makes for an interesting and fulfilling experience as a writer.

It’s also made me enjoy and explore the mythic elements of it. I love fairytales and myths and Reylo feels so close to that model.

#bing interviews darcy #m&e interviews

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epackingvietnam · 4 years ago

Text

How We Became Digital Marketers in Just One Summer

Posted by rootandbranch

Introduction

We each had different reasons for taking the course, but we all believe that digital marketing will have value for us in our lives.

At the beginning of the term, in June 2020, we were asked, “What is one thing you’re hoping to get out of this class?” Here are some of our responses to that question:

I hope to gain a strong understanding of SEO and Google Ads, and to get hands-on experience to understand how both would be used in a work setting.

I want to learn something about marketing that I might not learn in the classroom.

I'm hoping to become more competitive in this difficult job market.

I hope to build on my resume and develop skills for personal use.

I want to learn a foundational skill that can be applied in many different aspects of business.

Part 1: Why digital marketing matters

Why digital marketing training matters now

To become more competitive candidates in applying for jobs

Nope.

To help with growing freelance side businesses

To be more informed consumers

While a digital marketing background doesn’t instantly translate to job opportunities for everyone, it can help all of us become more informed consumers.

How a digital marketing foundation be useful in the future

It’s helpful in creating and growing a personal brand

To become a more flexible contributor in future career opportunities

To see data as an opportunity for action, as opposed to just numbers

Are you someone who enjoys numbers and performance metrics? That's great! So are we! But those numbers are meaningless without a digital marketing background to provide context for the data.

To optimize for conversions — always

Part 2: Understanding five building blocks of digital marketing

1. The marketing funnel (customer journey)

As the journey continues, prospects move closer to becoming customers. Those who eventually “convert” are those that completed the journey through the bottom of the funnel.

2. Paid search vs. organic search and the SERP

For many of us, one of the first steps in understanding paid vs. organic search was getting a handle on the SERP.

We learned to look for the little “Ad” designation next to the paid text ads that are often at the top of the SERP.

3. Inbound vs. outbound marketing

If you’re going to be here for a while, click the image below for more information on how we think about content in the context of digital marketing efforts.

4. Basic digital marketing metrics

Impression: A search result (paid or organic) or an ad shows up on a page

Click: A user clicking the search result or ad on a page triggers a recorded click

5. Platforms and tools a beginner digital marketer should use

Our class was focused on search marketing, and we talked about one platform for paid and one platform for organic.

Another platform that we liked was Google Trends, which can be useful for both paid and organic search, and is just generally a cool way to see trends happening!

Conclusion

Thanks for coming along with us on this digital marketing journey. We hope it was a useful read!

During the process of putting this together, things have changed for us:

Kirsten landed a full-time job.

Steve started doing consulting work for a growing Shopify site in Google Ads and Google Analytics, and is planning to make consulting his full-time work.

Darcie landed a job as a Paid Search Analyst for a national retailer.

For all of us, we know we’re only taking the first steps of our digital marketing futures, and we’re excited to see what the future holds!

#túi_giấy_epacking_việt_nam #túi_giấy_epacking #in_túi_giấy_giá_rẻ #in_túi_giấy #epackingvietnam #tuigiayepacking

0 notes

bfxenon · 4 years ago

Text

How We Became Digital Marketers in Just One Summer

Posted by rootandbranch

Introduction

We each had different reasons for taking the course, but we all believe that digital marketing will have value for us in our lives.

At the beginning of the term, in June 2020, we were asked, “What is one thing you’re hoping to get out of this class?” Here are some of our responses to that question:

I hope to gain a strong understanding of SEO and Google Ads, and to get hands-on experience to understand how both would be used in a work setting.

I want to learn something about marketing that I might not learn in the classroom.

I'm hoping to become more competitive in this difficult job market.

I hope to build on my resume and develop skills for personal use.

I want to learn a foundational skill that can be applied in many different aspects of business.

Part 1: Why digital marketing matters

Why digital marketing training matters now

To become more competitive candidates in applying for jobs

Nope.

To help with growing freelance side businesses

To be more informed consumers

While a digital marketing background doesn’t instantly translate to job opportunities for everyone, it can help all of us become more informed consumers.

How a digital marketing foundation be useful in the future

It’s helpful in creating and growing a personal brand

To become a more flexible contributor in future career opportunities

One thing we��ve heard consistently in the job search process is employers love flexible, cross functional employees. It seems the most successful and valued employees are often those that are not only experts in their field, but also have a pretty good understanding of other subjects that impact their work. Let’s say you’re an account manager for a digital agency, and you have some great insight that you think could be helpful in driving some new ad copy testing for your biggest client. It’s going to be a whole lot easier talking with your copywriter and media team (and being taken seriously by them), if you have an understanding of how the text ads are built.

To see data as an opportunity for action, as opposed to just numbers

Are you someone who enjoys numbers and performance metrics? That's great! So are we! But those numbers are meaningless without a digital marketing background to provide context for the data.

To optimize for conversions — always

Part 2: Understanding five building blocks of digital marketing

1. The marketing funnel (customer journey)

As the journey continues, prospects move closer to becoming customers. Those who eventually “convert” are those that completed the journey through the bottom of the funnel.

2. Paid search vs. organic search and the SERP

For many of us, one of the first steps in understanding paid vs. organic search was getting a handle on the SERP.

We learned to look for the little “Ad” designation next to the paid text ads that are often at the top of the SERP.

3. Inbound vs. outbound marketing

If you’re going to be here for a while, click the image below for more information on how we think about content in the context of digital marketing efforts.

4. Basic digital marketing metrics

Impression: A search result (paid or organic) or an ad shows up on a page

Click: A user clicking the search result or ad on a page triggers a recorded click

5. Platforms and tools a beginner digital marketer should use

Our class was focused on search marketing, and we talked about one platform for paid and one platform for organic.

Another platform that we liked was Google Trends, which can be useful for both paid and organic search, and is just generally a cool way to see trends happening!

Conclusion

Thanks for coming along with us on this digital marketing journey. We hope it was a useful read!

During the process of putting this together, things have changed for us:

Kirsten landed a full-time job.

Steve started doing consulting work for a growing Shopify site in Google Ads and Google Analytics, and is planning to make consulting his full-time work.

Darcie landed a job as a Paid Search Analyst for a national retailer.

For all of us, we know we’re only taking the first steps of our digital marketing futures, and we’re excited to see what the future holds!

0 notes

nutrifami · 4 years ago

Text

How We Became Digital Marketers in Just One Summer

Posted by rootandbranch

Introduction

We each had different reasons for taking the course, but we all believe that digital marketing will have value for us in our lives.

At the beginning of the term, in June 2020, we were asked, “What is one thing you’re hoping to get out of this class?” Here are some of our responses to that question:

I hope to gain a strong understanding of SEO and Google Ads, and to get hands-on experience to understand how both would be used in a work setting.

I want to learn something about marketing that I might not learn in the classroom.

I'm hoping to become more competitive in this difficult job market.

I hope to build on my resume and develop skills for personal use.

I want to learn a foundational skill that can be applied in many different aspects of business.

Part 1: Why digital marketing matters

Why digital marketing training matters now

To become more competitive candidates in applying for jobs

Nope.

To help with growing freelance side businesses

To be more informed consumers

While a digital marketing background doesn’t instantly translate to job opportunities for everyone, it can help all of us become more informed consumers.

How a digital marketing foundation be useful in the future

It’s helpful in creating and growing a personal brand

To become a more flexible contributor in future career opportunities

To see data as an opportunity for action, as opposed to just numbers

Are you someone who enjoys numbers and performance metrics? That's great! So are we! But those numbers are meaningless without a digital marketing background to provide context for the data.

To optimize for conversions — always

Part 2: Understanding five building blocks of digital marketing

1. The marketing funnel (customer journey)

As the journey continues, prospects move closer to becoming customers. Those who eventually “convert” are those that completed the journey through the bottom of the funnel.

2. Paid search vs. organic search and the SERP

For many of us, one of the first steps in understanding paid vs. organic search was getting a handle on the SERP.

We learned to look for the little “Ad” designation next to the paid text ads that are often at the top of the SERP.

3. Inbound vs. outbound marketing

If you’re going to be here for a while, click the image below for more information on how we think about content in the context of digital marketing efforts.

4. Basic digital marketing metrics

Impression: A search result (paid or organic) or an ad shows up on a page

Click: A user clicking the search result or ad on a page triggers a recorded click

5. Platforms and tools a beginner digital marketer should use

Our class was focused on search marketing, and we talked about one platform for paid and one platform for organic.

Another platform that we liked was Google Trends, which can be useful for both paid and organic search, and is just generally a cool way to see trends happening!

Conclusion

Thanks for coming along with us on this digital marketing journey. We hope it was a useful read!

During the process of putting this together, things have changed for us:

Kirsten landed a full-time job.

Steve started doing consulting work for a growing Shopify site in Google Ads and Google Analytics, and is planning to make consulting his full-time work.

Darcie landed a job as a Paid Search Analyst for a national retailer.

For all of us, we know we’re only taking the first steps of our digital marketing futures, and we’re excited to see what the future holds!

0 notes

theglassishalfsomething · 6 years ago

Text

Bing Interviews Darcy: Fixing on the Hour

Hi!!!!!! I’m so excited to do this!!!!!!! (How very Bing of me, :D) These are mostly about Darcy’s feelings for Bing and for Eli. Two of her great loves!

1. What is your favorite Darcy/Bing moment?

TLB: I feel like the most amazing moment in Bing and Darcy’s friendship is when Darcy truly and sincerely apologizes to Bing for taking her away from James. Darcy’s in the middle of traffic, miles away from Bing, but she decides that she just can’t take it anymore and has to come clean. I think it’s important for so many reasons--first, that Darcy has already done a lot of great and meaningful acts of personal development, but there is always room for more, and this her more; second, that she’s terrified that Bing won’t be friends with her anymore but does it anyway; and finally, how Bing reacts. I just let Bing speak through me in that moment and it flowed very naturally. Bing is strong because she chooses to forgive. She chooses to love. And although she sometimes lets people run over her in other settings, she is very staunchly protective of her ability to love and forgive. She won’t let Darcy beat herself up about it and insist that she’s done something irredeemable. Bing is, at heart, a redemption stan! So yeah, that’s my favorite moment for them: one where we see inexorable strength from Bing, and generous humility from Darcy, which is a nice reversal of traits.

2. What do you think is the moment Darcy falls in love with Eli? And I know this is a stupid question because: “I cannot fix upon the hour or the spot or the look or the words that laid the foundation. It was too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew I had begun.” But what is the moment, to you, where Darcy realizes/admits to herself that she’s in love with Eli?

TLB: Listen, Darcy immediately knows he’s hot, and subverts the thought before it’s even been consciously observed. But despite that, Darcy doesn’t really take an interest in him until she sees things about him that contradict her assumptions. In their very first meeting, she seems him take control of his dad, and she feels sorry for him. When he shows up at Netherfield, she’s uncomfortable with the way Cal and Harry treat him, and she notices how soft he is with his brother. But I think the moment that Darcy really, truly falls for Eli in more than just a “crush” sense is when she sees him at the Netherfield Ball--obviously she’s all aflutter about dancing with him but what it comes down to is recognizing that there’s a stubborn nobility about him and the way he takes care of his family. It isn’t to be pitied. And Darcy can’t help but respect that.

So, if all the foundation is there--attraction and respect and longing--why doesn’t she phrase it right at Hunsford? I don’t think it’s love, then. She thinks it is! It’s meant to be love! She wants it to be love! (She doesn’t think she’s capable of love...). C.S. Lewis talked about how, if we end up in heaven, everything about our lives was pointing towards heaven, and if we end up in hell, everything about our lives was pointing towards hell. Sobering, right? But I think it’s the same with love. Darcy was infatuated and bothered and interested in Eli, and she put it all on the line at the infamous “proposal” because “she never does anything by halves.” But love, true love? When did it BECOME that?

I think it became true love when it softened. After the letter, which was not selfish, per se, but still a self-focused act...and yet simultaneously a renunciation of self. After the letter, Darcy sees him again at Pemberley. She isn’t asking anything from him, this time, but she also sees how he’s softened. She watches him be kind to George. All of this is quieter and steadier and therefore more real. “In love” as a heady phrase becomes the word itself: LOVE. It’s love that encourages and allows her to help Eli and his family in the chapters that follow. And that’s why we can’t pin it down to an exact moment. It’s a progression, and it’s all pointing towards a beautiful end.

3. What is the moment, if you had to pin it to a moment, in which Eli falls for Darcy?

TLB: OK, this is a bit simpler, because he was being such a dunderhead, wasn’t he? I mean, he had his moments of attraction but it’s DEFINITELY the moment when he sees her with her hands full of roses at Pemberley. It just IS.

4. What was the hardest Darcy/Eli scene to write?

TLB: Getting the Infamous Proposal + the Letter right were not so much hard as just...high stakes. I really wanted it to be the clouds-bursting, earth-shaking moment that it is in P&P. I got good reviews for that, so--I think I did my job? A scene that I got a higher-than-expected amount of critique for was when Darcy rescues Eli from the fight and then patches him up. I LOVE THAT SCENE. But some of y’all had thoughts!

5. Is there a scene in FOTH that turned out better than you thought?

TLB: I guess the Letter worked for people, as I said. And I was glad, because the Letter is iconic. But for me, I feel that the Pemberley arc is some of my most magnificent work. Let’s see how it handles the rewrite!

6. As you wrote this and as you rewrite it, what surprises you about Darcy and Eli’s love story? About Bing and Darcy’s friendship?

TLB: Since Bing and Darcy’s friendship is in large part inspired by our own, as I get to know YOU better, I get to know THEM better, in ways that are unusual for an author, I think, because I have such a vivid muse :). And so this time around, rewriting, Bing is...she’s a bit spunkier! She has bad moments and bad days and she has great one-liners and she’s not afraid to say what she thinks. I think my first draft of Bing was a bit too sparkly and princess-like...and there’s nothing wrong with that, but she has edges. What’s beautiful--then and now--is how much Darcy and Bing work at their relationship. Friendship isn’t inferior to romance. Everyone always admits that romantic relationships need work. So do friendships! And when that work is done sincerely, it’s a joy. So that’s something that’s been cemented, again. And as for a new observation about Darcy...I’m fleshing out her backstory so much more this time! And that will influence all her relationships.

As for Eli and Darcy’s love story, I guess what surprises me is that they’re almost not compatible...and yet they are! I think that they are simultaneously magnetically drawn to each other but also a match that requires a lot of work. They are absolutely meant to be together but it’s not a relationship everyone might understand. I think, rather than being confusing/off-putting to the audience though, it makes it compelling.

7. I like to think about relationships in terms of emotional heaviness and lightness (because as we know everything is about balance. #reylo) So with Darcy and Eli, who’s the heavy one, who’s the light one? Or does it shift?

TLB: I think that Darcy is the heavy one and Eli is the light one. But the problem is that Eli’s life is really heavy and I think that he actually...has a harder time functioning than Darcy does? Like Darcy’s heaviness makes it hard for her to find personal healing and happiness, but she is very competent at carrying out her responsibilities and just...moving through life. She is very narrowly focused, it’s true, and that’s why she needs Eli’s levity to open up her prospects and hopes. But Eli struggles because he was made for laughter and dreams and adventure, and instead he’s trapped by his reality. And I love him very, very much but he has a LOT of growing to do. Both in balancing his emotions and his experiences with what he wants to become, and also in reclaiming his natural levity in healthy, positive ways. Does that make sense? I hope so!

FYI--Darcy is Kylo and Eli is Rey. It’s law.

8. How do you think Eli will ever fully get over his deep-seated belief that he’s not good enough for Darcy?

TLB: It takes longer than FoTH--which is why I planned and am writing a sequel--but yes. He has to, because that’s what real growth looks like. Saying “I don’t deserve...” is inherently selfish and prideful. That sounds really harsh! Let me explain. If we believe our wrongdoing and our shortcomings are too vast to be forgiven, if we believe we can’t be loved in spite of them, despite how much self-loathing we might couch this in, we are kind...elevating our idea of self over all other realities, aren’t we? And so in that sense, it is a generous gift to allow yourself to be loved. I think over time Eli will discover that allowing Darcy to love him is something that helps Darcy immensely, and will sacrifice his own carefully guarded pains for her good and happiness.

9. Name three songs that describe Darcy/Eli at different stages.

TLB:

1. Old Money by Lana Del Rey is perfect for Darcy at the beginning of the story, and though it isn’t a strictly romantic song, it’s exactly the context I’d want the reader to have a sense for how much she longs but can’t seem to reach him.

2. Changes in the Weather by Barefoot Truth was like...a super-important song that I overheard in a Panera around the time I was writing the Pemberley scenes (random sidenote: I often write “watching” instead of “writing” which is kind of a good instance of parapraxis, because I do sometimes feel like I’m writing down what I see!) and then I used it to give me the exact right mood for their eventual joyful reunion.

3. Dancing with Our Hands Tied by, you guessed it, TAYLOR SWIFT. Obviously this came out a year after I started FoTH and six months after I finished, but I think this is the perfectly beautiful and rather melancholy next chapter of their lives.

10. What does Darcy love best about Bing and vice-versa?

TLB: Darcy loves how safe she feels with Bing. She’s constantly judging herself, but she doesn’t feel judged by Bing. So Bing is one of the few people who is kinder to Darcy than she is to herself.

Bing loves most, I think, that Darcy is DIFFERENT. She’s remarkable and one-of-a-kind and Bing isn’t in the least threatened by everything that makes Darcy so removed from the rest of the world, or the typical ideal of a “woman.”

#bing interviews darcy #fixing on the hour #m&e interviews

7 notes · View notes

localwebmgmt · 4 years ago

Text

How We Became Digital Marketers in Just One Summer

Posted by rootandbranch

Introduction

We each had different reasons for taking the course, but we all believe that digital marketing will have value for us in our lives.

At the beginning of the term, in June 2020, we were asked, “What is one thing you’re hoping to get out of this class?” Here are some of our responses to that question:

I hope to gain a strong understanding of SEO and Google Ads, and to get hands-on experience to understand how both would be used in a work setting.

I want to learn something about marketing that I might not learn in the classroom.

I'm hoping to become more competitive in this difficult job market.

I hope to build on my resume and develop skills for personal use.

I want to learn a foundational skill that can be applied in many different aspects of business.

Part 1: Why digital marketing matters

Why digital marketing training matters now

To become more competitive candidates in applying for jobs

Nope.

To help with growing freelance side businesses

To be more informed consumers

While a digital marketing background doesn’t instantly translate to job opportunities for everyone, it can help all of us become more informed consumers.

How a digital marketing foundation be useful in the future

It’s helpful in creating and growing a personal brand

To become a more flexible contributor in future career opportunities

To see data as an opportunity for action, as opposed to just numbers

Are you someone who enjoys numbers and performance metrics? That's great! So are we! But those numbers are meaningless without a digital marketing background to provide context for the data.

To optimize for conversions — always

Part 2: Understanding five building blocks of digital marketing

1. The marketing funnel (customer journey)

As the journey continues, prospects move closer to becoming customers. Those who eventually “convert” are those that completed the journey through the bottom of the funnel.

2. Paid search vs. organic search and the SERP

For many of us, one of the first steps in understanding paid vs. organic search was getting a handle on the SERP.

We learned to look for the little “Ad” designation next to the paid text ads that are often at the top of the SERP.

3. Inbound vs. outbound marketing

If you’re going to be here for a while, click the image below for more information on how we think about content in the context of digital marketing efforts.

4. Basic digital marketing metrics

Impression: A search result (paid or organic) or an ad shows up on a page

Click: A user clicking the search result or ad on a page triggers a recorded click

5. Platforms and tools a beginner digital marketer should use

Our class was focused on search marketing, and we talked about one platform for paid and one platform for organic.

Another platform that we liked was Google Trends, which can be useful for both paid and organic search, and is just generally a cool way to see trends happening!

Conclusion

Thanks for coming along with us on this digital marketing journey. We hope it was a useful read!

During the process of putting this together, things have changed for us:

Kirsten landed a full-time job.

Steve started doing consulting work for a growing Shopify site in Google Ads and Google Analytics, and is planning to make consulting his full-time work.

Darcie landed a job as a Paid Search Analyst for a national retailer.

For all of us, we know we’re only taking the first steps of our digital marketing futures, and we’re excited to see what the future holds!

0 notes

daynamartinez22 · 4 years ago

Text

How We Became Digital Marketers in Just One Summer

Posted by rootandbranch

Introduction

We each had different reasons for taking the course, but we all believe that digital marketing will have value for us in our lives.

At the beginning of the term, in June 2020, we were asked, “What is one thing you’re hoping to get out of this class?” Here are some of our responses to that question:

I hope to gain a strong understanding of SEO and Google Ads, and to get hands-on experience to understand how both would be used in a work setting.

I want to learn something about marketing that I might not learn in the classroom.

I'm hoping to become more competitive in this difficult job market.

I hope to build on my resume and develop skills for personal use.

I want to learn a foundational skill that can be applied in many different aspects of business.

Part 1: Why digital marketing matters

Why digital marketing training matters now

To become more competitive candidates in applying for jobs

Nope.

To help with growing freelance side businesses

To be more informed consumers

While a digital marketing background doesn’t instantly translate to job opportunities for everyone, it can help all of us become more informed consumers.

How a digital marketing foundation be useful in the future

It’s helpful in creating and growing a personal brand

To become a more flexible contributor in future career opportunities

To see data as an opportunity for action, as opposed to just numbers

Are you someone who enjoys numbers and performance metrics? That's great! So are we! But those numbers are meaningless without a digital marketing background to provide context for the data.

To optimize for conversions — always

Part 2: Understanding five building blocks of digital marketing

1. The marketing funnel (customer journey)

As the journey continues, prospects move closer to becoming customers. Those who eventually “convert” are those that completed the journey through the bottom of the funnel.

2. Paid search vs. organic search and the SERP

For many of us, one of the first steps in understanding paid vs. organic search was getting a handle on the SERP.

We learned to look for the little “Ad” designation next to the paid text ads that are often at the top of the SERP.

3. Inbound vs. outbound marketing

If you’re going to be here for a while, click the image below for more information on how we think about content in the context of digital marketing efforts.

4. Basic digital marketing metrics

Impression: A search result (paid or organic) or an ad shows up on a page

Click: A user clicking the search result or ad on a page triggers a recorded click

5. Platforms and tools a beginner digital marketer should use

Our class was focused on search marketing, and we talked about one platform for paid and one platform for organic.

Another platform that we liked was Google Trends, which can be useful for both paid and organic search, and is just generally a cool way to see trends happening!

Conclusion

Thanks for coming along with us on this digital marketing journey. We hope it was a useful read!

During the process of putting this together, things have changed for us:

Kirsten landed a full-time job.

Steve started doing consulting work for a growing Shopify site in Google Ads and Google Analytics, and is planning to make consulting his full-time work.

Darcie landed a job as a Paid Search Analyst for a national retailer.

For all of us, we know we’re only taking the first steps of our digital marketing futures, and we’re excited to see what the future holds!

0 notes

xaydungtruonggia · 4 years ago

Text

How We Became Digital Marketers in Just One Summer

Posted by rootandbranch

Introduction

We each had different reasons for taking the course, but we all believe that digital marketing will have value for us in our lives.

At the beginning of the term, in June 2020, we were asked, “What is one thing you’re hoping to get out of this class?” Here are some of our responses to that question:

I hope to gain a strong understanding of SEO and Google Ads, and to get hands-on experience to understand how both would be used in a work setting.

I want to learn something about marketing that I might not learn in the classroom.

I'm hoping to become more competitive in this difficult job market.

I hope to build on my resume and develop skills for personal use.

I want to learn a foundational skill that can be applied in many different aspects of business.

Part 1: Why digital marketing matters

Why digital marketing training matters now

To become more competitive candidates in applying for jobs

Nope.

To help with growing freelance side businesses

To be more informed consumers

While a digital marketing background doesn’t instantly translate to job opportunities for everyone, it can help all of us become more informed consumers.

How a digital marketing foundation be useful in the future

It’s helpful in creating and growing a personal brand

To become a more flexible contributor in future career opportunities

To see data as an opportunity for action, as opposed to just numbers

Are you someone who enjoys numbers and performance metrics? That's great! So are we! But those numbers are meaningless without a digital marketing background to provide context for the data.

To optimize for conversions — always

Part 2: Understanding five building blocks of digital marketing

1. The marketing funnel (customer journey)

As the journey continues, prospects move closer to becoming customers. Those who eventually “convert” are those that completed the journey through the bottom of the funnel.

2. Paid search vs. organic search and the SERP

For many of us, one of the first steps in understanding paid vs. organic search was getting a handle on the SERP.

We learned to look for the little “Ad” designation next to the paid text ads that are often at the top of the SERP.

3. Inbound vs. outbound marketing

If you’re going to be here for a while, click the image below for more information on how we think about content in the context of digital marketing efforts.

4. Basic digital marketing metrics

Impression: A search result (paid or organic) or an ad shows up on a page

Click: A user clicking the search result or ad on a page triggers a recorded click

5. Platforms and tools a beginner digital marketer should use

Our class was focused on search marketing, and we talked about one platform for paid and one platform for organic.

Another platform that we liked was Google Trends, which can be useful for both paid and organic search, and is just generally a cool way to see trends happening!

Conclusion

Thanks for coming along with us on this digital marketing journey. We hope it was a useful read!

During the process of putting this together, things have changed for us:

Kirsten landed a full-time job.

Steve started doing consulting work for a growing Shopify site in Google Ads and Google Analytics, and is planning to make consulting his full-time work.

Darcie landed a job as a Paid Search Analyst for a national retailer.

For all of us, we know we’re only taking the first steps of our digital marketing futures, and we’re excited to see what the future holds!

0 notes