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heoneyology · 5 years ago

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Monsta X "We Are Here” in LA

I’m doing this before I completely lose all memory of the concert!!! askljafsdf I actually had an audio recording of me going through the hi touch line that I was attempting to normalize before posting this so I could kinda do it together?? but unfortunately the audio is kind of funky and I can’t get it to work :’)) literally the only interaction you can make out is between me and wonho.

anyway of my concerts I’ve been to this year, I would rank monsta x as the best overall performance-wise, and second in management. there were some hiccups on the side of powerhouse that left me waiting in line 4+ hours which was not the greatest but at least monbebe are the sweetest people in the world and I made 5 friends that day to a concert I went to alone and was kind of anxious about. by the time management came around and said we could come back later to pick everything up, we were all pretty dedicated to just waiting in line... basically management didn’t have tickets for ult vip and vip + all the freebies ready so despite being a numbered queue I still spent all but like 2-3 hours of my day in line, something I was hoping to avoid this time around.

uhhh so I’m just gonna go through what I remember, below the cut is a concert recap and hi touch recap! sorry for how long this is!

concert recap

the announcement about kihyun having injured himself started to circulate when we were all in line around 4-5pm waiting to get back in to the venue, and the hashtag for kihyun immediately picked up after that but it kind of shifted the energy of a lot of people waiting in line (which was weird to experience in a sense, it was kind of surreal, everyone was really worried about him)

of 21,000 people in the stadium, of a sold out concert, I ended up with one person in front of me I wanted to cry :’))

I literally, in my life, have only ever left one concert before this one (and it wasn’t a kpop concert) practically deaf.

they opened with shoot out and idk who decided to turn down the bass but being right in the pit next to the speakers you could literally feel the floor rumble as soon as the music started klajdlkfjsf

seriously the concert ended and I felt like I was underwater I couldn’t hear worth shit, I couldn’t hear clearly until halfway through the next day I literally thought something in my ears got fucked up

the screen rose and my eyes found jooheon immediately and I’m not sure if I lost all sense of self when they performed hero, the second song, or when I saw the screen lift and reveal him to be quite honest

watching kihyun separate from the boys and walk over to a chair on the other side of the stage almost fucking broke my heart at the start of the concert but oh my god if I could explain the look on his face? he didn’t seem to mind that he was injured, he was living out his dream and he was in a state of bliss and his smile and the way he was looking at the crowd... seeing him that happy made me want to bawl...

kihyun’s eye smile in person is probably the purest thing on the planet

hero is one of my favorite songs and hearing it live oH MY GOD- also the energy during trespass holy shit I can’t even explain it??

jooheon’s rap for trespass live is on some other fucking level

minhyuk, kihyun, and jooheon spent a lot of their time on my side of the stage so I have a lot of videos of them

sometime between the end of party time and start of play it cool I decided to stop recording and just kind of focus on cheering for the boys because kihyun kept walking by and I was trying to give him lots of love but uh jooheon was walking back towards the main part of the stage and I was holding up my lightstick against my phone (with my photocards of jooheon facing the stage) and uH JOOHEON SAW BRIEFLY AND POINTED AND WAVED AT ME I DON’T THINK I WAS COHERENT I ASCENDED-

jooheon also told a girl in our little area of the pit that he liked her headband it was the cutest interaction aklsdjfsk (there were a lot of jooheon stans in our area I chose the perfect spot tbh)

I forget what song it was after but streamers fell from the ceiling and at the end kihyun bunched all the streamers on stage up together and his small frame was carrying this ball of streamers almost as big as him and in front of my area of the pit he decided to throw the streamers and they didn’t go very far and he just... paused... and stared at the ball... then continued on his way... it was really funny akjldskfj he’s the cutest boy alive??? probably?

minhyuk is rude as fuck and his hips don’t lie he came over multiple times during fallin to fucking just... with his hips... in front of us... wheezes-

sambakja was my favorite unit stage for obvious reasons aklsdjdfjsdf jooheon came out and I realized what time it was and my only thought was uh oh here we go like fuck can he fuck up my bias list any more he’s my bias how does he keep?? doing shit???

I don’t really remember if he just dropped it or like it flew into the air or something but jooheon dropped one of his drumsticks and the little gasp that left me in the middle of this loud ass crowd it was laugh-worthy

jooheon had me convinced he was gonna crack a cymbal please calm down boy-

the VCRs were amazing shownu’s was an asmr mukbang and he kept shushing it was adorable and jooheon... jooheon cooked... that domestic au, wow, I love him...

myself was my second favorite unit stage, or tied with the maknae line’s tbh I was super sad when kihyun was sitting but god hyungwon, minhyuk, and kihyun in those suits and the song and the choreo alkjdflkjsdf

for all the photos of wonho during the mirror stage I’m surprised there aren’t more of shownu?? he was absolutely stunning I can’t even put it into words, wonho looked great but... shownu... had my full attention...

DJ H.ONE’S SET WAS THE COOLEST FUCKING THING EVER THE ENTIRE STADIUM WAS JAMMING OUT

hyungwon stopped and stared at monbebe’s a lot in awe and I stared at him in awe it was the sweetest thing, it melted my heart

jooheon did a lot of funky dorky things going back and forth across the stage I can’t even sum them all up??? like at one point he was doing this kind of crab crouch thing idek- and then at one point coming back toward the end I think minhyuk? asked him to show his abs and he teased lifting his shirt right in front of our section, I almost died-

monsta x and the fucking bottle flip was a kind of chaos I can’t explain

at one point minhyuk was chanting, “if I’m success, I am king,” and changkyun had to tell him to watch his pronunciation because it sounded like “if I am sex, I am king” like that’s the kind of chaos it was-

minhyuk pulled up hyungwon’s shirt to expose his abs at one point but all I really saw was his back from where I was but hyungwon’s reaction as minhyuk ran for his life aklsjdkfjs

my favorite interaction of the night had to be when minhyuk, hyungwon, and kihyun were discussing the myself stage and minhyuk was prompted to explain it in one word and he started to very very very slowly spell out “sexy” and he only got to s-e-x and paused long and dramatically before saying the y and monbebe were literally losing it screaming and he just kind of glanced at the crowd taken aback and then hyungwon just goes, “I think today he’s a little drunken, sorry!”

also during that interaction they made kihyun laugh and the poor boy was like, “don’t make me laugh, it hurts!” and I was ready to jump on stage and fight minhyuk tbh for making him laugh

I don’t remember what stage we were waiting for, I think it was h.one, but there was a very long pause and THE MONBEBE IN THE STADIUM STARTED DOING THE WAVE WITH OUR LIGHSTICKS AND WE GOT IT TO GO AROUND AT LEAST 7 TIMES, COOLEST FUCKING FANDOM EVER-

kihyun, jooheon, and changkyun’s ending ment made me cry. kihyun explained how standing on staples stage was his dream and it was so hard to stay mad at him for performing while he was injured. jooheon just... the love he has for everyone god that boy my heart... and then changkyun explaining the staples dream since their first kcon made me tear up and wow I’m so proud of them-

meanwhile shownu’s ending ment was him telling monbebe we’re an in-n-out burger LOL I love a simple minded intellect

hi touch recap

okay so for hi touch I was fucking exhausted, as I said I’ve only ever been to one concert that completely drowned out my senses and so by the time I got to the boys I wasn’t really coherent. in comparison to my past hi touches I wouldn’t say I fucked up because I wasn’t nervous but... I was just too tired to form words... maybe someday I’ll get this hi touch thing right!!!

for reference of my descriptions of them: I’m 5′7″ with small hands. all the boys were taller than me, so I did look up at them a bit.

kihyun wasn’t present due to his injury. this list is in order of how they appeared in line:

SHOWNU: I saw shownu and my heart melted, although I was very confused for a split second walking up to him (which probably messed up my train of thought more, because I wanted to simply just say to him “best leader!!”) because a staff dude that was ushering the line forward stepped in front of me to grab something off the table like dude wtf is with your timing-

anyway... shownu... is literally a god among men. the pictures don’t do him justice. he’s so handsome, so beautiful. he glows. he’s tall, I remember actually tilting my head back just a bit to look up at him. and he’s so tan and beautiful and his persona glows!!! he had on his trademark crinkly eye smile, which gave off a very reassuring, calming, and dorky air which really made me less nervous if I was nervous at all (I just remember being exhausted). he feels calm and safe.

I saw him and my heart melted and immediately I just blurted out, “hi!” in the most awed and amazed tone. I don’t remember if he replied but he smiled really cutely and he looked like such a boyfriend with his snapback on backwards and his concert shirt on, like you could literally hug the boy and with the air he gives off he feels so safe and comfortable and wow I love son hyunwoo!! he has really nice arms too, he was standing up straight and tall with his broad shoulders oof, and his hands were cold, kind of broad with long fingers.

CHANGKYUN: pictures don’t actually do changkyun any justice either, to be completely honest? he’s perfect in real life. he looks like a sculpture. him and shownu have to be the most handsome men in the entire world, I swear. his features are so defining and up close they’re that much more prominent. he’s literally drop dead gorgous. I don’t know how to explain it-

despite the intensity this boy gives on stage he’s really soft and intense in a more private way. I was already putty after seeing shownu up close but he was just an absolute sweetheart. I think he knew half the people going through the line were insanely nervous. the girl in front of me (who I ended up making friends with earlier in the day) biases him and managed to tell him she loved him and in reply he actually said, “I love you, too.” meanwhile my tired ass simply said “hi” to him and he said it back and his voice is so smooth and raspy and like... his voice is so soft and comforting. he was speaking quietly and kind of privately to each monbebe and making it sort of personal he’s so thoughtful and kind.

he was also half sitting on the table, like he had a leg up and was leaning against it and would kind of lean forward just a bit every time he high-fived someone. his hands were probably the coldest of all the members and he had long hands and a slender wrist. he also was very small and like... slender? overall?? he was still taller than me, though, so not small in that way.

HYUNGWON: is he... is he a fairy?? he didn’t even seem real. like I can’t even process that I saw and touched his hand... is he really real... hyungwon is so freaking pretty in real life and he’s tall and kind of lanky but he’s beautiful! he’s so tiny though a good strong wind could blow him away he was so freaking petite? and his hair was so fluffy!!! his hands are also very petite and long, and his fingers are so long. like my hands felt extra tiny high-fiving his...

but oh my god the way he looked at every monbebe though like?? he was so insanely happy to be there and to be saying hi to all the monbebe coming through the line. that look of awe I said he looked at the crowd with a lot during the concert? that was on his face during the hi touch. and each time a new person stepped up to him a little light lit up in his eyes and they sparkled, he was the cutest boy ever!

WONHO: okay so rip to any wonbebes that went through the line because if I had any sense or if I hadn’t been as exhausted as I was, I probably would have died. wonho. wonho literally was sitting half on the table, leaning across the table, with his hand stretched outward and I swear to god if there hadn’t been a table there he probably would’ve been in every single monbebe’s face. that table needed to be there. it was holding wonho back from monbebe, not the other way around kaljsd;lkfjsdf.

this boy though. I love him. the love he has for monbebe. it emanates from him. literally rolls off him in waves. from the way he was leaning forward and greeting people as they stepped up to him to the way the light shone in his eyes. he makes eye contact with you and he looks at you like you’re the entire center of the universe. and the soft, yet awed smile that was on his face. he literally looked like he was in love?? wonho’s pure love for monbebe never ceases to amaze me and seeing it in person, just... wow. but honestly rip to wonbebes because having him lean across the table with how buff he is can be slightly intimidating.

he’s the only one I remember my interaction with clearly, besides with jooheon. as I said hi, at the same time he blurted out, “nice to meet!” (not even a you at the end, just “nice to meet!”) in such a singsong, happy voice!! he was the only one with a warm hand of all the members, and they were broad, a bit meatier? idk if that’s a good word? with thicker fingers. they were smaller than other members but bigger than mine still. also his biceps are... and his broad shoulders... his muscles are no joke. that close it’s intimidating yet he’s the softest teddy bear I could cry.

MINHYUK: oh my god I have tunnel vision I am so fucking sorry I... don’t remember minhyuk. or my interaction with him?? I said hi, I think he said hi back??? he was loud, too, like his whole personality is loud... I remember him being taller than me, I remember very clearly his bright red headband and his fluffy mop of hair, and the fact that he literally had a :D smile on his face. but jooheon was on the other side of him and??? I have fucking tunnel vision I’m so sorry minhyuk-

minhyuk’s hand was really cold next to changkyun’s, but he has really long, broad hands with long fingers... his hands were huge... I remember his hand being in front of my face and him being on the other side of his hand and I remember looking at his hand to make sure I high fived him correctly but I was hyperaware of jooheon at this point, sorry to any minhyuk stans I have let down kalsjdfljdsf I’ll do better next year...

JOOHEON: okay so part of the reason I was hyperaware of jooheon while interacting with minhyuk was the fact that I saw jooheon smile at my monbebe line friend in front of me and I saw dimples and my eyes and heart practically lept out of my chest for him I really am so soft for and love jooheon akljsdkfjs. I stepped up to jooheon and at that moment my exhaustion went away for the split second to remind myself of all my previous hi touch mishaps and not to fuck it up with jooheon.

he looked so jooheon alkjdfsf he had on his hat and rag from the end of the show, and he was casually sitting on the table leaning against the wall behind him. his hand was also cold, and he has very slender and long hands and small wrists and long fingers. my hands were tiny... as soon as I high-fived him, I made eye contact with him and told him and I loved him, and jooheon literally went, “Yeee!” and smiled at me and his dimples poked through and he did that thing where he widens his eyes and raised his eyebrows?? here’s a gif for reference, it’s the third one in the set. he kept eye contact with me and I think I fucking shut down at some point because I giggled like a damn school girl as I walked away and almost collapsed in the lobby of the staples center when I caught up with my line friends.

also to any joobebes, guard your heart carefully because that boy’s eyes actually sparkle in person. I held eye contact with him so long that I noticed his little eye mole and his eye sparkle? his face is a little bit thinner up close but he still has those pudgy cheeks and full lips and he borders somewhere between absolutely fucking gorgeous and the most handsome man I’ve ever laid eyes on? and he’s a lot tanner in person??

anyway yes I love jooheon can you tell he’s an ult-

if you stuck around this long thank you for reading :’))

#m.txt #monsta x in la #monstaxinla #we are here in la #mine

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annyeongkc · 7 years ago

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G-Dragon (Motte Act:III) Experience

Okay.. This is one of the best night of My Life, I have been through so much just to get into this Coliseum, I will give you my schedule that day

First I started to find a Concert buddy since none of my real life friends is crazy enough to go with me they are muggles that are not listening to k pop that much I have a few but not as crazy me. I go to twitter to find VIPs (Big bang fandom name) I actually found loads of them and I was thankful to them we have a system you see.. We made a CSI-like plan to get the best seats since it a free seating

Chapter 1:

will camp out in-front of the Coliseum and take turns to sleep and of course protect our spot.

make a queue number for the whole seating section

take turns again so the others that camp out can take a nap

there is someone who is a look out for freebies (our fandom is the best, they give free water and cookies and oh there is a banner and a lot more actually)

meet up is 9AM

Chapter: 2 The Execution of the plan (Drama starts.. here)

Yes, We are 50% successful here.. You see the picture we are quite proud other members are not here since they are taking a nap but so.. everything went smooth till its my turn to take a shower (this boo do shit always happens to me)

~~Before the queue numbers were agreed to be given since the promoter of the concert is a freaking dumb ass and I am giving a shout out to IME-PH you guys royally screwed up both our boys. (white night is scheduled to be on in about 22 days here y'all already know) The guard who are in-charged of the event started to get all cocky and says that we are not authorized to organize the line because they have a way of doing things and the mini fight we had with them (was one of the most stressful hour of my life) and then finally agreeing to our terms.

I took a shower around 2 pm been protecting the spot for about 8 hrs now, So my friend chatted me that they started to open the gates and the line broke apart and was not in order and the queue number we gave that was like 700+papers.. while I was there in my dorm.. I quickly change and wanted to teleport to the coliseum.. when I arrived there is chaos indeed and I took the chaotic atmosphere to my advantage and waltz my way in the entrance and internally praying I wont get caught that I just got there, and guess what? (y'all say what in your head right?) Okay.. I got in like a boss yess a boss and walk thru the long ass line and find my squad in front of those thingies you see only in sub-ways and train stations and found my squad but y'all there was a lot of things that happened but if you are really curious just searched about this in Twitter #MotteinManila to get bits of info, I was really lucky that day, if you have seen the line and the chaos on the line, You will get down on your knees and thank god real time, Anyways I kind of feel bad to the members that took a nap. they were left outside and here we are the one who benefited for their hard work, and just going to give them a shout out, Hi Guys!! you guys are on my first blog!! yay!!

Chapter III: (inside the coliseum)

I can't express with words oh how overwhelming I felt that night, It feels surreal. The person you liked for years, listening for years.. Finally I can see him live with the people around me who loves him just as much, This is my first k-pop concert and it did not disappoint guys. He gave his all like always he sings and rap and it is legit and oh dances like a God, The concert, the set up of his intro of the concert was like a movie and a key pass into his inner thoughts like saying "Welcome to Kwon, Ji Yong's world" not G-Dragon but Kwon Ji Yong and he started with Heart-breaker! I CAN'T EVEN SCREAM BECAUSE I WAS IN COMPLETE AWE. like you rarely see me quite and I am usually a person who jumped around like a madman but I. DID. NOT. It was like.. I am absorbing his presence and aura and at the same time pinching myself asking "Fuck!! is this real? I looked to the people around singing their heart our for Jiyong and chanting his name every chance we get! the beautiful yellow ocean.. is L I T fam

Chapter IV: Jiyong-Dara collab stage after 8ryrs (Daragon whats good?!)

I was not expecting much since these two is not really vocal on whats their relationship to each other they often says that they the following:

Friends

She is My Noona (GD)

He is My Deongsaeng (Dara)

YG Family

Label mates

office mates

But I like them yes, I am a shipper but I don't shove that the people's faces I think there is nothing wrong with, Yes I am a delusional fan at times. You want them to be together that is why you ship people they are like my ultimate OTP (one true pair) I like the concept of this two the Bad boy meets the Good Girl vibe. They have these chemistry and weird tension when these two are around each other they have known each other for almost 11yrs? maybe more.. and still.. it is a mystery to me that why they are awkward on-camera than off-camera but anyways.. Dara of 2ne1 is a guest in Motte in Manila best believe ya girl was ecstatic about this just them on stage singing for 3mins is heaven for and to feed my shipper-self little did my shipper-self know that OTP will serve a buffet meal for applers and did 2 songs plus an Encore with matching couple hoodie!!!!! I was like "!!!!!!! triggered !!!!! triggered !!!" Dara improved and her vocals are on point that night, tho I can't hear that much because these two slayed that stage and all you hear is apols screaming and shouting "Daragon" for a good 2 minutes? maybe less.. then back to "Kwon, Jiyong" chant. they sang Missing you and it was very appropriate to my feels they have not had any form of interaction for months since that "joke of the year" that they pulled then hello was next then who you of Jiyong he was so extra and cute calling her Noona "Baby" the feed us well and Encore was a pleasant surprise btw Jiyong hurt his lips and it was bleeding and that boy joked that the mic love him too much then he went back stage and was Dark for a while and then Crooked started playing and the lights went back up fans starting to scream Jiyong's name again when the box thing in middle opened I thought jiyong will pop up but it ain't Ji instead it was Dara Dancing and Jumping like a kid I assumed that jiyong was seriously hurt and got treatment that is why Dara will do the encore instead, To my freaking surprised again it was Jiyong started singing crooked they are so cute let me tell ya.. just look the picture

(ctto: google)

Chapter V: MOTTE

This is the most important part of the concert, where he was in a room looking himself in a mirror like reflecting.. it was very raw we all know him as the Super star of South Korea, One of the best artist Asia has to offer he is expected to be always number 1 and consistently doing it slaying day by day just to perfect his craft, half his life he dedicated it to performing and making music that will stay as his legacy but he is human that is what I was reminded while watching that monologue, like he is telling me that he has flaws and he is not perfect I felt sad when he said that sometimes G-Dragons clothes feels heavy on his shoulders, I was thinking as a fan I only admire him as GD untouchable in Music Charts, living a very glamorous life he is that Trendsetter everyone wants to follow.. there are two questions in the video and I thought about it.

Who is G-Dragon to you?

He is a Leader of the Best Boy Group I have come to love over the years, He is a music producer and founder of peaceminusone , He is one of the best rapper in his generation and one of the people who paved the way for Korean Music to get recognized all over world Him and Bigbang help other Artist to be recognized internationally for me, they hold the key for me to appreciate the other culture and language. He is a national treasure to me.

2. Who is Kwon Ji yong to you?

I shall ask his family? But watching the concert and observing him over the years.. Kwon Jiyong is a shy guy and He is a Brother, Son and a Friend ~ I have seen a glimpsed of Kwon Jiyong on his concert and I want to know him more, I hope you continue to live as Kwon Jiyong more do whatever makes you happy and be careful when you enter the Military we are all going to wait for all of you.

~ He's life was never easy probably feel like he was isolated and while making his Album he thought of a lot of things and wanted to sort who he is, since he had lived as GD half his life and forgot who is Kwon Jiyong, But one of the reason why I made this blog is to Thank him, I know he will never see this. At least in the cyber world I get say Thank you for letting us see the other side of you. The person in you not the celebrity you, Thank you and stay safe.

-- Pyooong!

#motte tour #dara #bigbang jiyong #gdragon #daragon

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clarencenicholsonata · 4 years ago

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7 Simple Ways To Grow Your Email Subscribers With Facebook Giveaway

Looking forward to leveraging Facebook's user base of 2.7 billion monthly active users to build your email subscriber list?

Sounds a good idea but the organic reach on Facebook is consistently declining, and you would definitely consider converting those likes into email list subscriptions.

Regardless of your current engagement, convincing your audience to join your email list is a smart move since you don't need to compete with the rest of the content. Running a Facebook giveaway will motivate and incentivize your audience to join your email subscriber list and giveaways are time-tested list building techniques.

In this article, you will learn seven ways to grow your email subscriber list using Facebook giveaways. Before we jump to the strategies, let's brush up on our basics and why you should go for it in the first place.

Why Should I Convert My Facebook Followers Into Email Subscribers

Emails are required for almost every service and platform on the internet. By making people join your subscriber list, you are ensuring long-lasting relationships that are unlikely to break anytime sooner due to changes in preferences or user trends or social media algorithms.

Emails give you better returns. Email marketing has an ROI of[ $51] for every dollar pumped in, which is much higher than any other platform.

Unlike the Facebook feed, once your subscriber opens your message, you own the entire screen. You don't need to worry about your competitors publishing ads targeted towards your fan base or some other content draining your reader's attention.

You don't need to pay a single dollar for reaching out to the same contacts once you have onboarded them in your subscriber list. Your email developers and creative team will help reach out to them without paying for visibility.

The Formula For A Successful Facebook Giveaway

Running Facebook giveaway campaigns to grow your subscriber list quickly is very much possible. Marketers have attracted thousands of subscribers in a matter of a few days using this tactic.

Here's my formula that might help you in running a successful Facebook giveaway:

Offer gifts that are relevant to your ideal buyer persona. That's the simplest way of attracting leads relevant to your business without doing much homework.

Run exciting contests on different themes like photos and hashtags over a period of at least one week.

Incentivize your campaigns in such a way that the interaction with the contest itself becomes rewarding.

Use a marketing automation tool that helps you in managing the campaigns from the dashboard like Wishpond. Remember, you need to deal with a lot of transactions and attend engaged users, which isn't possible without a proper tool.

Enough of learning basics. Let's head towards 7 ways of growing subscriber list with examples:

1. Directly Drop Email Address

No brainer offers are loved by everyone. Asking people to drop their email address directly in exchange for a giveaway works like a charm in most cases. The monochrome design theme and a simple explanation of entry criteria is one of the major highlights that makes it user-friendly.

People will find it more convenient to simply enter their email addresses without spending much time as in the case of completing tasks. Plus, this wheel spinning game is fun too.

Ideal For:

Industries having a buyer persona that runs short on time.

Businesses wanting massive entrant volumes for their email list and have mechanisms to maintain a hygienic list despite the inflow of all types of people.

Businesses having a huge array of products that they can market to large populations and carry out upselling and cross-selling easily.

Major Highlights:

Monochromatic design

Listing down the benefits visually

One line condition for entry

2. Year-Round Supply Giveaways

Getting year-round supply for any product with daily use is enough motivation to participate in a giveaway contest. The idea of getting long-term benefit in exchange for submitting an email address sounds too good to be ignored. But that's not the only thing you would like in this contest.

They are giving options for choosing the supplies based on whether they want it for themselves, family, or for their store and gifting others. That's a very smart way of increasing the reader's interest so that they would like to participate even if they don't need the supplies in the first place.

Even in the second example, they have emphasized on '145 locations', '5 lucky winners', and '$4000 each' in order to make people feel that gave a higher chance of winning.

Ideal For:

Sellers dealing in consumables and perishable goods.

Fashion and lifestyle brands.

Subscription-based OTT platforms.

Major Highlights:

The total evaluation of the giveaway is clearly mentioned.

Various product options displayed in the advertisement along with the option to get the prize for different purposes other than personal consumption.

The details are mentioned in such a way that the reader finds the chances of winning broader, and they will be genuinely able to access the benefits.

Need help with your next contest?

Book a free call to learn how our team of contest experts can help you create high converting social media contest today.

3. Use Social Proof With Your Giveaway

Social proof is my top pick when it comes to running mass campaigns. Like money attracts more money, people attract more people.

Here too, they have not asked the readers to pour in much effort and simply submit their email addresses. But people have some suspicion against freebies offered online especially when they don't need to do much work.

To make readers feel safe from spamming and display genuineness, social proof in the form of the number of people that have entered the contest will reassure the participants of the genuineness. The example below echoes users' actions with social proof, gaining instant trust as the campaign reaches more people.

Ideal For:

Too good to believe offers.

Industries where customers were scammed previously.

Campaigns facing a trust deficit.

Major Highlights:

A fine description of what to expect as well as terms and conditions.

Use of timer in the second email example.

4. Pair Email Address Input With Social Media Engagement

Under this strategy, I am going to discuss exactly the opposite of the last one. Why not drive engagement on multiple channels so that you have more opportunities to stay in touch?

This strategy is widely used as you shouldn't view Facebook giveaways as a one-off event when you can shape an entire multi-platform strategy around it. Asking people to engage on multiple platforms through entry points is a great way to increase your chances of staying in touch as well as it adds weight to your social media handles.

Ideal For:

Brands looking forward to creating an audience on multiple platforms.

Brands that are planning to execute social selling in future.

Major Highlights:

Benefits converted into a dollar amount.

Emphasis on 25 winners for improving participation.

Use of timer and clear mention of the participation process and entry points.

5. Use Caption Contests

At times, it is necessary to gauge the interest of your readers in order to ensure that you don't end up with irrelevant contacts. Asking your readers to participate by submitting a caption is a powerful strategy as you could also use this data to understand the buyer persona. Here’s a guide on “How to Run a Facebook Caption Contest (Step-by-Step Guide) to get you started.

In the below example, you can see how Tauck used the caption contest to drive brand awareness and engage people by encouraging them to share their humorous side.

Ideal For:

Creating brand awareness.

Improving your list hygiene.

Major Highlights:

A predefined gift (camera) relevant to the for participating in the contest.

Allowing people to like the captions to turn it into a voting contest.

6. Ask For Video Content Entries

Again this strategy is based on shifting the focus on creating a user experience and gathering data about how people view your products in general. Video content takes effort, and this also ensures that the participants will try to know about your brand as well as invest their emotions into it. Approximately 89% of industries are using video contests to promote their products and services.

Fashion is a very personal experience that always seeks external approval. The below example displays how our tendency of seeking approval is used to further incentivize participation.

Ideal For:

Companies offering experience-based products.

Conducting market research and devising a strategy to create future marketing materials.

Major Highlights:

Sleek design with a focus on creating an emotional impact through copy.

Use of the number of participants that have entered the contest to motivate readers.

7. Use Messenger Bots To Promote Giveaway Campaigns For List Building

In the end, I would like to discuss the most powerful strategies that you can use: Facebook Messenger ads. All of the strategies mentioned above require you to use Facebook ads and landing pages while with messenger ads, you can build an in-app interactive experience.

Messenger ads are much more efficient as well as they have strategic benefits like fetching the email address associated with the account by default to make the process frictionless. Your customers also find it convenient as they don't need to leave Facebook, something that the platform itself values.

Ideal For:

Running low budget campaigns

Generating brand awareness and offering products to your customers as a part of the interaction.

Major Highlights

Properly mentioning the availability of the offer for a period of 30 days.

Excellent product visibility and it requires minimal efforts from the participants.

Over To You

In this article, I have discussed various Facebook giveaway strategies that you can use. Still, I would like to draw your attention towards one point: When you don't promise a reward on a sure-shot basis, don't make your audience invest more time and effort. Have a look at the below example:

As you can see, they have asked a lot of questions. I strongly recommend not doing so because it will surely slash off a significant portion of your mailing list due to people choosing not to enter too much data.

Wishpond has helped thousands of brands to create lead generating contests and giveaways. Our Client SHOC Made Over $45,000 in Sales with Wishpond.

If you play your cards well, Facebook giveaways are undoubtedly one of the fastest list building techniques which don't cost you an arm and a leg. I hope that you find this article on 7 ways to grow your email subscribers with Facebook giveaway insightful for your next list building exercise.

About the Author Kevin George is Head of Marketing at Email Uplers - Email Marketing Agency, one of the fastest growing custom email design and coding companies, and specializes in crafting professional email templates, PSD to Email conversion and custom Mailchimp Templates. He loves gadgets, bikes, jazz and eats and breathes email marketing. He enjoys sharing his insights and thoughts on email marketing best practices on his blog.

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howtostartanessay715 · 4 years ago

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darereport426 · 4 years ago

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the-master-cylinder · 5 years ago

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SUMMARY Freebie and Bean are a pair of maverick detectives with the SFPD Intelligence Squad. The volatile, gratuity-seeking Freebie is trying to get promoted to the vice squad to garner perks for his retirement while the neurotic and fastidious Bean has ambitions to make lieutenant. Against a backdrop of Super Bowl weekend in San Francisco, the partners are trying to conclude a 14-month investigation, digging through garbage to gather evidence against well-connected racketeer Red Meyers, when they discover that a hit man from Detroit is after Meyers as well. After rejecting their pretext arrest of Meyers to protect him, the district attorney orders them to keep him alive until Monday.

After locating and shooting the primary hit man, and distracted by Bean’s suspicions that his wife is having an affair with the landscaper, they continue their investigation seeking a key witness against Meyers who can explain and corroborate the evidence. In the midst of this, they foil a second hit on Meyers by a backup team, leading to a destructive vehicle and foot pursuit through the city, after which they learn that Meyers is planning to fly to Miami before Monday. Tailing him, they receive word that their witness has been located and a warrant issued for Meyers’ arrest. Unbeknownst to them, a woman Red Meyers picked up at a local park is actually a female impersonator looking to rob Meyers.

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During the arrest attempt Bean is shot by the thief, who flees with Meyers into the stadium where the Super Bowl is underway. Freebie corners the hit man in a women’s restroom. Despite being shot himself, he rescues a hostage and kills the hit man who nearly bests Freebie with his unexpected martial arts skills. The D.A. arrives after the shootings and tells Freebie that the warrant is canceled because the witness was assassinated on the way to the station. Freebie goes nuts and demands to be allowed to arrest Meyers, which is granted by the lieutenant in command of his squad, only to find that Meyers has died of a heart attack. Freebie is further demoralized to learn that the evidence they gathered was planted by Meyers’ wife in an extra-marital conspiracy with his lieutenant.

Bean is not dead after all, however, and in the ambulance the two wounded partners engage in a free-for-all when Freebie thinks Bean has been playing a joke on him, causing yet another accident.

When Jimmy Caan and Alan Arkin interrogate me, they did that little scene about the pliers, I didn’t know what they were talking about, because they just threw that in there! What am I gonna say “Hold guys, this isn’t in the script? Who am I 1o cut the scene? I just went along with, and a realy worked out well, Jimmy was selling the pliers, and my finger was in there already So when he tried them out, he really squeezed my finger. I said “owww!” and he was like “Awww, did that hurt? That was real. He didn’t want to stop the scene either. – Paul Koslo as Whitey

PRODUCTION Filming took eleven weeks in 1973. It was a difficult shoot, in part because Arkin and Caan felt their characters were being made secondary to stunts and action sequences.

Arkin said his relationship was Caan “was great. There is a very exciting interaction between us. Jimmy pushes me and forces me to change.. But a lot of the time we’ve taken a back seat to the action.”

There were difficulties between Rush and Arkin/Caan. Rush says “the main factor was Arkin. Caan was a copycat. He was Arkin’s buddy and would do anything Arkin did… Arkin needed conflict as part of his method, and it was horribly disruptive, but it didn’t show in his work.”

Key scenes were shot on location in San Francisco at Candlestick Park, then home of the Major League Baseball San Francisco Giants, and later the home of the National Football League’s San Francisco 49ers. Dealing with local authorities was reportedly very difficult for the crew.

The plot includes the protagonists’ repeated “totaling” of a series of their own unmarked police vehicles during three different chase-crash sequences. One sequence was filmed on an elevated portion of the since-demolished Embarcadero Freeway, ending with their police vehicle car crashing into an apartment building. After the car lands in an elderly couple’s bedroom as they are watching television, Arkin’s character collapses from nervous shock against the wall as Caan’s character calls for a tow truck, adding that their location is “on the third floor”. The couple retains their aplomb throughout.

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Rush said he “shot the film partly in a Tom and Jerry style, with lots of car chases and car crashes, and the heroes are being indestructible. The audience is laughing and enjoying themselves and suddenly Freebie would drive around the corner into a marching band of kids, and just sloughed through them. The audience thought Wait a minute. What am I laughing at?, and the style of the film had changed to stark realism. There was a lot of game-playing in the picture.”

“I never actually knew what Rush wanted,” said Arkin at the end of filming. “He [Rush] is so uncertain it’s hard to handle,” said Caan.

The city really got behind us, except for Herb Caen, who was the big columnist in San Francisco, since we were closing down three or four major streets every morning doing those car chases. Traffic was rerouted and somehow it bothered him on his way to work. So every morning we’d run to buy the Chronicle to see what nasty thing he said about us that morning. The film was very funny. I thought that the timing that Jimmy Caan and Alan Arkin had was incredible. – Gary Kent (Stuntman)

Director Richard Rush going through a street fight

Interview with Director Richard Rush You refer to Freebie and the Bean as kind of a job for hire that you did for the money. Do you really think of it that way? Because your style is all over it. I also didn’t realize until re-watching Freebie that it was based on a story and exec produced by Floyd Mutrux, whose film Dusty and Sweets McGee I love as well. What was the working relationship like with Mutrux? Richard Rush: Floyd Mutrix and I got along famously, but we did not have much, if any, contact with each other on Freebie and the Bean. He had submitted a screenplay to Warner Brothers which they offered to me. It wasn’t really a screenplay. It was a treatment, an idea for a movie that dealt with two cops, one moral and one not, who rode around together in a police car and quarreled with each other like an old married couple. It was a good idea. It was a new one, never done before, regardless of how many times you have seen it since, through the franchises it has spawned. It started the genre of ‘The Buddy Cop Picture’. I turned it down at first, but John Calley, the smartest executive I have ever met, talked me into it: “Do it and write it the way you want, turn it into a Richard Rush picture. We really want this movie, he said.” I wrote a long treatment, flushing out the violent but funny characters, creating the ironic love story for Bean and the esoteric one for Freebie. Allan Arkin had turned down the project, but the studio gave him my treatment, and he approved. Then I brought my collaborator, Bobby Kaufman, in to write the screenplay with me, which was approved and we made it.

Meanwhile, my earlier financiers were doing another project with Floyd Mutrux, entitled, “PINBALL”, and they brought me in with his permission to unofficially supervise it..Floyd and I had a lot of interesting, successful interaction on that. And, Freebie and the Bean turned out to be Warner Bros. top Grossing film of that year.

What excited you the most about the opportunity to make FREEBIE AND THE BEAN? Richard Rush: Well, actually, at the time it was offered to me it didn’t intrigue me. I turned it down several times. It was a treatment written by Floyd Mutrux that the studio had about two corrupt cops who ride around in a police car, quarreling with each other like an old married couple. You were never sure which one was the wife and which one was the husband. They became interchangeable. There was also the somewhat clumsy, rough skeleton of the plot concerning a criminal that they must keep alive to testify while assassins are contracted to kill him, which survived through our final film screenplay. I liked these ideas idea but there was nothing else there to make a movie work. John Calley, who was the head of the studio and was the only great executive that I have ever met in my life, asked me ”Why don’t you want to do the movie?” I said ”I want to make a Dick Rush picture. ” He said ”Why don’t you turn this into a Dick Rush picture?” He was very generous and promised the studio would be very agreeable. It was the kind of offer that you can’t refuse.

So I called my writing partner and we wrote a new screenplay about two bickering cops that became a prototype of the buddy cop movie. I put a lot of meat on the bones, with the unstereotypical wife of Freebie tormenting him with jealousy and the comic relief of their relationship. I also enjoyed holding a Funhouse Mirror up to the audience to let them examine their own attitudes towards violence. I shot the film partly in a Tom and Jerry style, with lots of car chases and car crashes, and the heroes are being indestructible. The audience is laughing and enjoying themselves and suddenly Freebie would drive around the corner into a marching band of kids, and just sloughed through them. The audience thought ”Wait a minute. What am I laughing at?”, and the style of the film had changed to stark realism. There was a lot of game-playing in the picture. At the time, we were in the middle of the Vietnam War, and we were watching villages being napalmed at dinner time on the TV set. Violence was engulfing our culture and it impacted upon our morality. At the same time, we were human beings with families and pets. It seemed to me that it was the time to play some games with the audience in a way that would help the picture and not hurt it.

Did Floyd Mutrux have any other involvement in the film? Richard Rush: No. He did not participate in any further writing or production or post-production work, just the original piece of material that the studio handed me. I was later hired by the financier of THE STUNT MAN, Mel Simon, to supervise the filming of a film Mutrux was directing entitled Pinball, but I got busy directing THE STUNT MAN, so I hired a young director named John Theile to supervise the film instead.

Freebie came out the same year as Jack Starrett`s The Gravy Train (aka The Dion Brothers) and I often think of them as films that really complement each other. Did you and Jack Starrett talk about production on your respective films while you were making them? Richard Rush: Jack Starrett and I never got a chance to talk about films when we were making them, except when we were working together on Hell’s Angeles on Wheels. I think he was fascinated by the fact that I was departing from the screenplay, then working my way back to it pages later. It was the first time I started seriously improvising on film – and I never stopped. We discussed that at the time.

There was friction between Alan Arkin, James Caan and yourself during the shooting of the film. Do you think it helped the film in any way? Richard Rush: No, but thank God it didn’t hurt the film too much. I had never had trouble with actors in my life before that film and I have never had problems since. The main factor was Arkin. Caan was a copycat. He was Arkin’s buddy and would do anything Arkin did. When I told John Calley I wanted Arkin for the role he warned me”Arkin is a director killer. We just did CATCH-22 with him and he put Mike Nichols in the hospital. ” I said ”Hell, I’ve never had any troubles with actors. I’ll take my chances. ” It was kind of a stupid mistake on my part. Arkin needed conflict as part of his method, and it was horribly disruptive, but it didn’t show in his work. I found myself having to erase my own laughter from the soundtrack because the work Arkin and Caan were doing was so funny.

Is it true that Alan Arkin and James Caan made your life harder than it needed to be on that set? Richard Rush: I definitely had some problems with Arkin and Caan. Arkin had made it part of his routine, part of his method, to irritate all of the directors he’d work with. It was just his thing. He found creative energy and inspiration out of being combative. And it was the only time in my 50 year career I had a problem with an actor. Warner Brothers approached me to direct the film, and they had a treatment that had been written by Floyd Muturx and Caan was attached and already part of the package. I ended up rewriting most of the script with Robert Kaufmann but I didn’t take credit. And the studio said I could cast the other cop, so I immediately said I wanted Arkin. And John Calley, who was the greatest executive that I’ve ever met in my life, casually warned me not to hire Arkin. He told me he’d driven Mike Nichols into the hospital while they’d been making Catch-22. But I said I didn’t care, and that I’d take my chances. And Calley told me I’d regret it.

Did you? Richard Rush: Yes and no. Arkin just had this thing about him as an actor where he needed confrontation, and it got malicious at points. And Caan was a follower, he’d do whatever he saw Arkin doing. It turned into a living hell for a while, but they did everything I wanted them to do as professional actors and the results were brilliant. Arkin wouldn’t take direction very well at times, though, which became challenging, but he’s a great talent and that was just his process. They had such terrific chemistry on-screen that the off-screen antics, while frustrating, were worth it in the end in terms of the final product. I had to edit out a lot of my own laughter from the set. What I needed out of those two main characters in Freebie was for them to create a four-armed, four-legged, two-headed monster, and they did! It wasn’t easy at times but the movie has a sense of manic energy that I’m not sure we’d have achieved with anyone else in those roles. I just became their common enemy.

I love the scene where Alan Arkin confronts Valerie Harper. How was it working with her? Richard Rush: That’s my favorite scene. It’s a wonderful scene, beautifully written. She was the perfect person for that role, and we specifically wrote it for Valerie. I had to get the studio moving to get her cast, because she was up for another film at the same time that Freebie was going to shoot, and the studio, for whatever reason, was stalling. Arkin had approved her but they were just being lazy. So I got on the phone and demanded that she be cast before we lost her! She was gorgeous and so much fun to work with, and I really loved what she did in the film, because her role elevates the movie a bit more from just being a buddy-cop film, there’s an extra dimension because of her.

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How much of the film was re-written on the day or improvised? Did you devise any new action sequences during filming? Richard Rush: The film was thoroughly written on paper, including all the action and the dialogue, but of course Arkin and Caan kept up a habitual banter talking over each other, arguing and contradicting each other, which I strongly urged. The adjusted dialogue somehow emerged through this banter and therefore sounded completely hilarious and spontaneous. Of course there was spontaneous action. I had never seen the location or equipment when I wrote the stunts. It’s all generated from what you have on hand. Getting a studio to approve a car off a freeway into a building involves a monumental campaign.

Do you think there’s an element of repressed homosexuality at all in the relationship between Freebie and Bean? Richard Rush: Of course. And since Arkin and Caan are such rugged, masculine characters in reality and in their own minds, it makes their dependence on each other more poignant and funnier.

FREEBIE AND THE BEAN inspired so many other buddy cop movies, but few if any had parts for women like your film did. Richard Rush: No, they didn’t. Most of the copycats never ‘got’ what made the movie work, except for a few, like Dick Donner with LETHAL WEAPON (1987) or BEVERLY HILLS COP (1984).

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FREEBIE AND THE BEAN is outlandish at times, but it still stays grounded. Richard Rush: The film shows how life can resemble a cartoon at times, but it’s still very real and actions have consequences. I consider my major value as a filmmaker to be my ability to walk the tightrope between comedy and drama and deliver without falling off.

Is there anything you’d have done differently on Freebie? Richard Rush: You always think of things in retrospect, and there are a few silly things in there I’d probably lose today. Those giant dominoes falling over would be one thing.

Did you have anything to do with the Freebie and the Bean TV series? Richard Rush: Nothing! They had asked me to do one, I said, ‘No, I already did that movie”. When the pilot for Starsky and Hutch was finished, they asked me to look at it, to see if Warner’s could sue for plagiarism. I said, “No, I don’t think they got it”

Freebie and the Bean (TV series) The show ran opposite the very popular series Love Boat, which overshadowed it in viewer polls. In their book The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present, authors Tim Brooks and Earle F. Marsh write, “Unfortunately this series was such as mishmash of comedy and drama, slapstick and reality, that it soon sank without a trace. The fact that it was scheduled opposite ABC’s The Love Boat-which had no trouble defining what it wanted to be-probably didn’t help.”

Freebie and the Bean was a short-lived nine-episode American action-comedy film television series about two off-beat plainclothes police detectives in San Francisco. Based on the 1974 film of the same name, it starred Tom Mason and Héctor Elizondo in the title roles and was broadcast on CBS on Saturday nights at 9:00 PM[5] in December 1980 and January 1981

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CAST/CREW Directed Richard Rush

Produced Richard Rush

Written Robert Kaufman Floyd Mutrux

James Caan as Det. Sgt. Tim “Freebie” Walker Alan Arkin as Det. Sgt. Dan “Bean” Delgado Loretta Swit as Mildred Meyers Jack Kruschen as Red Meyers Alex Rocco as D.A. Walter W. Cruikshank Mike Kellin as Lt. Rosen Paul Koslo as Whitey Valerie Harper as Consuelo Delgado Linda Marsh as Barbara Christopher Morley as Transvestite Maurice Argent as Tailor

CREDITS/REFERENCES/SOURCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY money-into-light Shock Cinema#36 Spectacularoptical

Freebie and the Bean (1974) Retrospective SUMMARY Freebie and Bean are a pair of maverick detectives with the SFPD Intelligence Squad. The volatile, gratuity-seeking Freebie is trying to get promoted to the vice squad to garner perks for his retirement while the neurotic and fastidious Bean has ambitions to make lieutenant.

#70scops #70sFilms

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coumatous · 7 years ago

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Traditionally, I’ve been attending conventions on some of the biggest events every year – Cosplay, Anime, Business Expo or even an exhibit. But there’s one event that excites me every year and that is ESGS 2017. E-Sports and Gaming Summit 2017 is one of the biggest gaming conventions in Southeast Asia. This event was held last October 27-29, 2017 at the SMX Convention Center Pasay City. I love gaming, and as a casual gamer, I am so interested to this kind of event because it showcases lots of released and upcoming games and a wide range hype of the whole gaming community. Join me as I give you my thoughts and comments as well as my coverage for ESGS 2017. And here we go.

I am so amazed by this entrance of ESGS because you can feel the gaming vibe already. “PRESS START” and “WELCOME” sign? I love it so much. It makes me pump already. The stage is set, ready to put all the segments and tournaments throughout the event.

As you enter ESGS, humble staffs await the congoers giving them surprises to make their day fun already.

The first surprise on the list is the Playstation Booth that catches the eye of every gamer in the event. They featured lots of games like this game called the Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet. From the anime series until this game shows up. I tried the game and I like it so much. Worth to buy this game. Followed by the Dragonball Fighter Z in which it is also the hype of the crowd. As you know the Dragonball characters themselves, they will clash on who is the best.

Followed by Dissidia and The Evil Within 2, these upcoming games are also the mark on the list. Gamers are so pumped up playing these games during freeplay.

Biggest booths of Playstation like Call of Duty: WWII, and Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite is an arena-like vibe. Seeing them playing on booth facing the crowd is one of the best for me. Intense matches from MVCI and loud wars from COD is one of the best highlights that these booths acquired. In addition to that, there’s also NBA 2K18 Booth for avid basketball fans out there.

Dive into the game itself as Playstation Booth also brings Playstation VR (Virtual Reality) booth with plenty of games like No Heroes Allowed and The Inpatient. They also showcase these cool joystick controllers right here. Plus, this cool looking Gran Turismo section is also one of the best that I’ve ever seen. I’m feeling like a racer already right here.

Congoers also dance along at the Just Dance 2018 Booth. With enormous recent tracks to choose from, dancers are grooving their body with the music. Even I do some flawless steps in the dance floor.

I heard at many reviews that this game is perfect and it is also one of the games that are worth to buy and that is Assasins Creed : Origins. This Egypt-looking booth is astonishing. Even players can’t get enough to do a freeplay to try this game.

One of the most visited booth in ESGS is the Monster Hunter World booth. They had a long queue for players to try this very hype game and they can’t wait to be released in 2018. Even though they had a long wait for their turn but they had this joy in their face as they finish the quest.

Also, Gunpla joins the party as well. Card games, mecha and figurines, they exhibited only the best in their booth.

HyperX booth has also a crowdy place as they showcase their featured products like Alloy keyboards and Cloud Revolver headphones. They also do a freeplay for people to play with their favorite games using their latest products.

Thermaltake also showcase their products as well. As you look with these cool PC equipments, you’ll have the idea of getting a gaming setup in your house.

This adorable Cherry Mobile mascot is also an eyecatcher in the event, as he appears, he is also ready to take selfies with the crowd. Even I do a quick selfie with him during my coverage. But hey, Cherry Mobile featured their latest product, the Cherry Mobile Flare S6.

Congoers tried their luck as the Lord of Dice game is up for Game Tayo booth. It is one of the most awaited mobile strategic action game that suits for Pinoy gamers. Big smiles were the reaction of those that visited their booth as Lord of Dice gave away surprises as well.

Elite also includes to ESGS 2017 as they announce the release of Ragnarok Journey, a web-browser based MMORPG game. Ragnarok is one of the unforgettable online game by typical Pinoys and by that, Elite gave away freebies and rewards for people who visited their booth, too.

More games were showcased and Monstraunauts will never give up as they featured some of the best games like Ore Bits and Potion Punch.

From time to time, people is getting bigger and bigger as the event goes on and on. Even the whole media of ESGS is so busy tooking their coverages and posting their thoughts in the event also in social media.

Meanwhile, MSI booth is also in the picture of ESGS. They do registration, auctions, and showcasing products like Stealth & Stealth Pro Model, Raider, Camo Squad, Apache Pro, and Leopard Pro. It’s so nice to have these cool stuffs in your PC setup.

Not only MSI did its job, but Viewsonic as well. Viewsonic featured their latest products like XG2401, XG3202-C, XG2703-GS and VX2457-MHD.

Well of course, E-sports is life in ESGS and they have lots of e-sport games that had been going on during the event. In fact, there’s this Mobile E-Sport Arena Invitational in ESGS. Sounds awesome right? Well first is the Vain Glory booth. gamers are playing together and i’m happy seeing gamers playing together and hang along together.

One of the biggest trend mobile game in the Philippines is also in ESGS and that is Mobile Legends powered by Globe. Mobile Legends conduct a tournament for Pinoys to enjoy on and it’s truly a remarkable history for Mobile Legends for a success run.

Well look at here, this is one of the newest esport mobile game to look out for and that is Heroes Evolved. Congoers tried freeplays and spectate matches from participants who competing to be the champion, too.

This is a 100% Filipino-Made Online Game right here. This is Project Xandata. As the game grows, its community also grows as well. Lots of people visited this booth and did a freeplay and giving freebies for everyone.

Ludus Booth featured their latest card games and showcased on how to play these games. Check them out.

This wide-looking racing game right here is featured here at the PLDT and Philips booth. Philips also featured their latest monitors.

When I visit the Predator booth, you can see that you are in a snow when you visit this booth. Their featured products are as cold as snow, too.

Fighting game communities united as Playbook, Secret Base and Cosmic Gorgons are jamming along to ESGS 2017. They did lots of activities like tournaments, some giveaways and freeplays for gamers. It is fun to play Tekken and Super Smash Bros with these guys by the way.

Everwing is also part of the game as well. This Facebook game reached to ESGS and now it still marked to every congoer that visited their booth during the event. Paladins is also in this booth powered by Smart. I’m also looking forward into this game in the world of mobile esports.

Congoers are pumped up at the event. Thanks to Mountain Dew, Monster Energy and Bacchus for providing drinks to every gamer right here. Plus, they also do some challenges for them to try some even big prizes from congoers.

Sennheiser had an exclusive deals from their latest products like GSP 300, GSP 350, GSX 1000, PC 373 D, GSX 1200, Game ONE Black, and Game ZERO. They also had a freeplay portion on their booth.

But hey, Synergy 88 looks awesome, too. Aside from having their DJ on top, grooving and making jams for everybody, they also featured some of their latest games like Ang Probinsyano and Barangay 143.

State colleges and universities are also part of ESGS as they represent their best of the best games, arts, game developments and programs of their school. These cool mechanics from Asia Pacific College are awesome while iAcademy dares to be different and be a game changer on their booth.

These cool games from different schools are so awesome to look and try these Pinoy games by Indie game developers. But there’s one game that I tried and one of my favorites. And that is Firefly. Firefly is much of a horror game as the person had a nightmare of some horrific creatures and he must avoid these creatures from his nightmare. As like I said, this is one of my favorites because it’s very challenging, very scary but lots of fun to play this game and I think this has the potential of making it on top of the best games in the market.

Several booths are also in ESGS 2017 like Otaku’s Den, Shop N’ Play, Redmonster Shop, Wallet Codes, Otaku Hobby Toys, Secret Shop and Abubot as they selling their products for gamers to buy at. Gameclub Philippines also had a lot in store for players like lots of freebies, prizes and rewards for everyone.

You may also check out this cool looking swords and awesome products from Long Live Play Philippines right here.

This space-looking hub is powered by IMMRSV Asia as congoers toured them into a beautiful looking virtual reality inside. Looks lovely.

These latest products are also showcased by Red Dragon, Zotac and Gamdias here in ESGS 2017.

Hellwarders is the latest game by Anti Gravity Game Studios by the way. While Last Regiment is also a new game and they did a freeplay for gamers to test and enjoy at. There’s this Dead Prison in this booth where you can wear a VR gear and shoot some deadly creatures in the game.

Ranida Games presented this Pinoy made game called Bayani : Kanino Ka Kakampi. This fighting game is truly inspired by Filipino heroes and creatures if I remember correctly.

The trend of Pinoy these days are flipping bottles and dabbing. But this game, the stakes are high for the Flippy Bottle Extreme as congoers tried this newest game and they dab and dab all along. Meanwhile, Taipei Game Show featured a game called Mokai Adventure. They came here to promote their event in which it will be held in Taiwan this January 25-29, 2018.

There’s also cosplayers roaming around the event and endorsing brands of every booth.

I also witnessed the Just Dance 2018 showcase on stage as dancers are giving their best moves and grooves from recent music tracks that we love like 24K Magic by Bruno Mars, Side to Side by Ariana Grande, Despacito, Daddy Cool, Boom Boom and more. The audience was surprised as dancers did a flash mob for everyone to enjoy and dance along with everybody. Even I danced along with them as well.

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The best highlights for this event are tournaments. Participants from Paladins, Heroes Evolved, Brawlfest and Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite are doing their best in the game, to win the game, to win that gold, and to win their territory. The hype, trashtalks, cheers and winning highlights, its so satisfying to look at these gamers enjoying these glorious moments in ESGS.

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There’s also a cosplay competition by Animax where cosplayers put their best costumes and roleplays with their respective characters. I’m not gonna lie but each and every participant throughout the competition are so awesome, they are the best.

My thoughts for ESGS 2017? Hmm. Overall, this event was a success for me. Each congoer as I encountered is happy and enjoying this event. This event has full of surprises as well. As I asked some of them on how’s their experience, they said that this is one of the best cons that they’ve ever been through. They are so organized and staffs are very accommodating and ready to assist.

Being a part of the media is one of my unforgettable experience here in ESGS. I would like to thank ESGS and GG Network for having me in this event. I’m looking forward to this event and some of the biggest events next time. Well then, see you on my next coverage then.

A Dive Into Gamer’s Paradise at ESGS 2017 Traditionally, I've been attending conventions on some of the biggest events every year - Cosplay, Anime, Business Expo or even an exhibit.

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wesocialmediame-blog · 5 years ago

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Exactly How to Make use of Instagram With Your Direct Sales Organisation

Optimizing your Instagram network for direct sales will certainly bring about enormous rewards. This post will cover just how to make use of Instagram with your direct sales advertising service. The purpose of this article is to turn your Instagram account right into an income opportunity. By overlooking the principles of advertising and marketing on Instagram, you enable the competitors to prosper. Marketing on Instagram grows your web site web traffic and also a variety of views monthly. Yes, Instagram is simply that powerful! (source: www.buzzvoice.com/). Listed below I offer you the top suggestions for all associate marketing professionals. If you are trying to offer your direct sales products using Instagram you require to maintain analysis. # 1: Tell People What to Do. Nothing will expand your company quicker than telling your audience what you want them to do. In the rapid-paced globe of social media, you should reveal your target market how you can aid them. Your audience will appreciate the "straight to the point" method. A regular individual on Instagram will to look at a photo, examine the summary, and also follow the phone call to action. To gain sales on Instagram you have to offer a call to action "Click the web link in account if you desire to learn more!". From experience, when the call to activity comes before the incredible offer you get even more leads. Seems incredible right? Well think what? It functions. There are numerous methods to lure your audience. All of it starts with putting the right pictures and calls to activity out there. This results in tip # 2. # 2. Determine Your Audience's Choice. Pictures that interest the client's choice is one of the most vital action for generating income from business on Instagram. Searching for, targeting, as well as remaining pertinent to your audience is the vital aspect. And whether you make the most income from this system. Recognizing your target market's choice is a significant subject. I have actually seen what happens when local business owner uploads the wrong material to the desired audience. Let's just say it isn't rather!

The good news is, you are reviewing this with some understanding of your target market's choices. Take a look back through your Instagram feed as well as inspect out the popular articles. Your target market will have the very same tastes and also preferences you do. Take into consideration going to your rival's web pages. Have a look at their popular messages as well as images. As you discover images your particular niche target market is engaging with, make similar ones for your page. As soon as you've developed your audience's preferences, it is time to relocate onto suggestion # 3. # 3 Determine the Profit Places. Your monetization options on Instagram remain limited when you stand for a straight sales business. Most direct sales firms do not enable their affiliates to take out advertising space. What are you supposed to do? Do you remember idea # 1? The phone call to action? Your associate scenario demands that you make use of a powerful phone call to action to a revenue place. Your goal is to lead the target market to material. You can upload this freebie link on Instagram and any kind of social network. What is content? Material details your specific niche target market wants. If you stand for the cosmetics market after that maybe a freebie on exactly how to contour is an excellent alternative. If you represent the health and wellness and health sector, then low-fat recipes would certainly function. The function of these earnings places is to take your Instagram target market and turn them right into leads. Give a call to action to "Click the link in the Account" in the description. This is your earnings area. Next you move from the profit place to a sales funnel. Keep reading for suggestion # 4. # 4: Educate, Give Range as well as Repeat. After you have led your audience to the profit location you need to have a plan of action, take the leads that wanted your free offer as well as turn them right into a product sale. We suggest a technique that uses three various attributes. Start with education. A lead who desires your free offer is a "freebie-seeker' till you follow up with education and learning about your important products they will certainly never purchase. Provide info they require and also begin constructing trust fund. Offer your leads range. A basic of bridging the lead right into a sale is to have a multistep follow-up sequence in location. This is essential to moving them via to the sale; what works for some individuals will not work for others. You have to have enough selection to catch sales from numerous various individualities. Repetition. Humans need to hear the exact same message approximately 12 times prior to it finally starts. You may feel worn down at duplicating your info regarding your items over and over. Understandable. But you must recognize that your customers did not hear you the very first time. They have actually not heard you the second or third or fourth time! The objective of Instagram advertising and marketing leads the possibility of a sales atmosphere. If your audience listened to the sales pitch the first time, you would have currently had thousands of sales. Take them off of the social media network with a telephone call to action. Straight them to a 'earnings area.' # 5 Analysis & Optimization. Ultimately, analysis & optimization should be a huge part of your Instagram approach. There are two various evaluation methods you need to recognize. Quantitative (dimension) and Qualitative (non-measurement). Measurable. Here is where you can gauge the involvement with each picture/ post. Develop (or utilize an analysis app) where you can determine the communication from each blog post. Your preferred measurement is going to be the variety of clicks to your web link in account. You will wish to gauge the amount of those clicks transformed to a lead (they gave you an e-mail). Quantitative measurement shows your income capacity. When each of those leads follows your advertising campaign (idea # 4) you have a great starting factor. Your objective is to make reliable Instagram campaigns. A lot more data you can add to this evaluation, a lot more effective you'll be. · Day/ time of day posted. · Web content kind - link, picture, video clip and so on · Ratio of weblink clicks to lead captures. Utilize this technique to construct a picture of which initiatives pay, as well as which are a wild-goose chase. Qualitative. Qualitative analysis is checking out the elements of your marketing that do not include number. Your qualitative analysis will cover the aesthetics of your business. Below are some inquiries to start with. · Am I providing enough info? Does my material support my efforts (providing individuals sufficient call's to action)? · Does my free offer link work well for the Instagram system? · Provided all that I learn about advertising and marketing, do I stumble upon as a "spammer"? · Am I providing true value to my target audience? Are you paying adequate attention to the service that you provide or are you simply trying to make a dollar? Individuals know the difference between a sales individual and also someone that leads with value. The only means you will make sales is by being the value leader first via qualitative evaluation. The more value you give away the even more success you will experience. This procedure is a lengthy one. It might feel risk-free to boldly promote your direct sales items on social media sites. Once again, trust us. Make an effort to represent on your own as the worth leader as well as you will certainly gain higher revenue in the long run. Final thought. You have actually read 5 suggestions to monetize your direct sales organization utilizing Instagram. 1. Tell individuals what to do. 2. Identify your audience's preferences. 3. Identify earnings location. 4. Educate, selection, and repetition. 5. Analysis as well as optimization. Follow these actions, and you will be head and shoulders over your sector competitors. Direct sales pay on social media. But you have to verify that you are advantageous to your target market first. Now you recognize what hundreds of individuals will certainly never ever understand! Put it right into action today, and you will be grateful you did.

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lindoig4 · 5 years ago

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The Big Apple! 17-19 July

17 July

New York, New York! Just love it. Been here a couple of times before and three days now and leaving early tomorrow, but would love to have an extended stay here - 6 to 12 months! There is so much to see, so many places to visit, so much to do. It is full of in-your-face energy and I love it. Definitely want to come back again. We said that about Paris too, but after our visit there last year, the lustre had gone, but not from the Big Apple! As shiny as ever.

We started with a New York Greeter: a great concept where they provide a free ‘guide’ to introduce you to the city and we had booked one from home. Our greeting was a bit truncated because we had also booked a Food Cart tour for late morning, but our guide took us to the Union Square Market where they had fresh food from farm gate to the Square, every imaginable type of produce, maybe a hundred stalls or more and every one of them busy with customers.

We then went to a village area a bit further east and talked about the historical and architectural factors that resulted in several dramatic population shifts over the years. I love the explanations about how and why things happened and why they are as they are. They are very thought-provoking and often quite surprising. Maybe the first time I really thought about this was on our first visit to the sewers in Paris in 1995 where we learned how the availability of potable water and adequate sanitation literally governed the growth and development of the city over the past 2500 years. This trip, we learned how fire and earthquakes dictated many regulations in San Francisco and Chicago- and now, how the lessons learned there have influenced developments in New York too. I found the discussion fascinating.

Our guide then took us to Soho (South of Houston) and thence down to Wall Street where we linked up with our Food Cart tour guide. The greeter took us on three subway trips along the way and we found that public transport is not cheap here. No matter who you are, child, adult or senior, disabled or not, travelling one stop or 50 miles upstate, the fare is $2.75 each. If you change from train to bus or otherwise, a new fare is payable - so just our basic movements getting around for the past 3 days have cost well over $50 US or about $80 Oz!

Our greeter was fine, if not mind-blastingly inspiring: on the other hand, our Food Card tour was a real hit.

Our guide, Brian is a full-time food guide and part-time actor and food blogger and we seemed to hit it off with him a bit. We had another 11 young women (Aussies, Kiwis, a Pom and a Yank) who joined the tour as part of a Kontiki tour they have been on and we visited 6 Food carts and sampled street food and drinks at each, all part of the tour. Brian was a great raconteur and got us thinking and talking about the issues of conflicting laws and public opinions about street vendors and how their operations provided a valuable service, but perhaps some unfair competition for local cafes and restaurants. The food and drink was excellent and Brian found places out of the extreme heat for us to sit at most stops – so we had food for thought as well as food for our over-extended bellies.

The last food stop was quite close to the East River so we wandered around a couple of piers looking for a place to sit over a coldie, but found only one place just as it was closing for the day. Too bad.

(Note specifically for one potential reader who will recognise my post. Right on the edge of the pier, pretty much in plain view, we spied a svelte young Asian nymph sunbathing starkers – but I elected not to exercise my camera.)

It was really too hot to do much walking so we took the subway to Times Square and it was at its flashiest best with gigantic HD electronic billboards glaring down at us, in fact surrounding us on all sides. The crowd was rally dense – and it was interesting to see a number of ‘Flow Zones’: designated areas where you weren’t allowed to stop or stand to take photos – you had to keep moving or risk a substantial fine. We were only a few blocks from our hotel at that point so after fighting the crowd for half an hour, we retreated homeward to find a Walmart to buy some food and drinks to take back with us – and we enjoyed them much more in the cool of our room! I reckon we walked at least 10 km on the day.

We channel-surfed for a while, having not turned a TV on since we left home, but gave up after 10 minutes and 50 channels – US TV seems just as inspired as Aussie rubbish. At least that provided another opportunity to sort more photos and white a few more paragraphs while a big thunder- and rain-storm lit up the sky outside the window.

18 July

We ate some of last night’s leftovers for breakfast and finished them for lunch and spent the morning on our photos and blogs.

We then took the subway and a bus to the Chelsea Piers in the West Side to the Hudson River to circumnavigate Manhattan on an architectural cruise. (The bus ride was a freebie! They have just changed the arrangements for bus travel where you have to buy a paper ticket at a machine using your electronic pass – but we didn’t know and there was no machine where we boarded anyway so when I tried to use my electronic pass on the bus, the driver just smiled and waved us through!) We seem to have been on an architectural and historical binge since arriving in the US, but it has been very stimulation - surprisingly so! We arrived a bit early for the cruise so I cruised the nearby gardens looking for birds. Didn’t see a lot, but added two to our US list anyway.

The cruise was great. The guide was an architect and he was brilliant. He was loaded with information and eager to impart it to us all. There was a group (a workmate excursion I think) with us who had no interest in the commentary and laughed and chatted raucously between themselves throughout, spoiling it a bit for everyone else. I really don’t know why people do this. We have encountered it quite often lately at home as well as here. Ignorant people who think their own empty chatter is more important to everyone than the person or event that we all paid to enjoy.

Anyway, our guide made a few partially successful attempts to quieten them and focussed more on those in the front of the boat where we were. We heard stories about hundreds of different buildings we passed and many of the dozens of bridges we cruised under, including a lot of historical context and I thought it was really interesting and educational. It was a pleasant air-conditioned 3 hours with a drink and nibbles – when it was well into the mid-30s outside.

The Highline was nearby so we went there and walked a kilometre or two along it. The Highline was originally an elevated railway that is now disused and they recently developed it into a wonderful linear park. It is probably 6 or 7 metres wide on average and at least 2-3 km long, planted on both sides of a meandering walkway with colourful flowers and shrubs. Only trouble is that 8 million people walked the Highline last year and most of them seemed to be doing it again with their families and friends when we were there. Maybe not quite that bad, but a lot of people in what would otherwise be a wonderfully tranquil retreat from the bustle of the city downstairs.

We found our way home on the subway, changing routes a couple of times and then found our way home again – definitely need a compass and GPS to find your way around in New York, despite the grid system. We decided to go to a pub on the corner for dinner, but hardly got through the door before the noise blasted us back into the street – it was happy hour and the place was hopping with hundreds of young goers trying to out-shout each other. I am so glad I am not young!

We went to a quiet Italian restaurant diagonally opposite and sat outside, getting a few very welcome spots of cooling rain blowing in from time to time – but very little. Would have been nice to get a bit more actually because it was still over 30 at 8 o’clock.

19 July

Unfortunately, our last day in the Big Apple – already yearning to return.

We had a tour booked of the Flatiron District so subway-ed down to Union Square where once again, we were a little early so were entertained by the playful antics of at least 11 squirrels. They are such fun, chasing each other, climbing and jumping from ground to tree and vice versa, rolling over and doing somersaults, just having VERY exuberant and energetic fun. I love watching them even if a lot of people reckon they are pests.

The tour again had a food and architectural flavour with stops at 4 very different food places, mostly buy your own, but a couple of them had inclusions. My favourite was a 90 year old traditional diner where we were given a Rueben – very tasty it was too! We visited an Eatily (really fascinating up-market international food chain that has just opened or is about to open an outlet in Melbourne) and a Beecher’s Cheese factory and restaurant and a few other places with stops en route to discuss the architecture and history of the Flatiron District – the only district where the entire precinct is designated of heritage value rather than individual buildings. I love the Flatiron Building and we had a very moody print of it on the wall at home for quite a few years. It is a really narrow triangular building and has an interesting aetiology and subsequent history.

There are so many things to see and do in New York and it is impossible to incorporate 7 or 8 hours cruising the city and listening to the stories in a blog. You have to be here to really get a feel for the place – and I need a lot more time to get a lot more feel of the place.

I needed a new watch battery – my watch died as we were leaving San Fran and I got tired of asking Heather the time as we went along – but Heather’s feet were giving her grief so I parked her where she could sit and wait and went off to where our guide had told me the closest place was – about 8 blocks away. When I got there, the so-called jewellers was a café and nobody could help me. I called in at several places asking for suggestions and a bank teller finally said the best bet was a further 8 blocks away. I set off on my quest, but came across a locksmith and they often do watch batteries so called in there. Can’t help but there is a barber-shop just around the corner who does them – immediately across the road from the bank and two doors from the café!!! All set, I went back and collected Heather and we walked the few blocks to the Rockefeller Centre/Center. Definitely worth a visit – an amazingly expensive series of shopping colonnades with brilliant huge murals on all the walls and ceiling. Just outside is a sunken restaurant with a big gold artwork surrounded by flags of all nations – except we couldn’t fin an Australian one. We went back in to enquire and the concierge eventually discovered that there was one one, but it was over the road and not that obvious – but at least it was there.

We than walked down to the Public Library – a truly magnificent edifice with collections to match. Monumental to say the least. We watched a 25 minute video about their collections and they really are incredible. Amazing place!

We were looking at our map to figure out where we had to go to catch the subway when an old guy stopped to help. Turns out he is also a greeter and we had a great yarn. He had lots of questions about Australia – had been to New Zealand but never made it to Oz – a pity!

Anyway we got home safely and cooled off before going around the corner to the only BYO pace I have seen here. We took a bottle and went to this Thai place and had a really good meal for under $50 Oz. Eating out here is about twice as expensive as in Australia (we were told about one place yesterday where the booking fee for a table several months out is $US300!) so it is hard to get a meal under $A100 here – so our Thai place was a clear exception.

Back in our room we did our final packing before leaving for Canada tomorrow. Very much looking forward to the rest of the trip, but it is a little bittersweet to be leaving New York.

Photos to come when I have a better internet connection!

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zulmaabroxton1988-blog · 6 years ago

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From Poverty to Owning an Accounting Firm: Here's How She Did It

In 2014, I graduated from college and spent 15 months traveling the world. I'd often stop traveling for a few months to work side jobs and earn enough to travel more. Whenever possible, these jobs were in theater, my dream career.

I came home to get married, but my husband and I promptly moved again so he could start pursuing his Ph.D. Unfortunately, we moved to a rural state without enough paying theaters to keep me employed full time.

Instead, I worked 60 to 80 hours per week at whatever jobs I could find. I was hospitality staff at a golf club. I assisted a wedding planner. I was an office manager. I worked summer camps. I worked after-school programs. I tutored. I continued to take whatever theater jobs came my way.

Undeterred, I decided take my art part-time and began looking for a second career. I scored zero interviews in almost a year of job searching.

By 2016, I was depressed, worn out and lucky to make $300 a week. I was slowly realizing a hard truth: I knew nothing about money. I felt if I could figure that out, then life would get better.

That's when I started reading The Penny Hoarder and learned about work-from-home opportunities like Ben Robinson's Bookkeeper Business Launch program.

Not only did I complete Ben's program, but by 2017, I owned a global accounting firm for creative entrepreneurs. I attended business conferences with the likes of Kyle Taylor, founder of The Penny Hoarder, who hugged me when I told him how his website changed my life.

While learning about money and specialized bookkeeping helped start my business, there are few key personal realizations that actually made it grow.

Money Doesn't Have to Trap You

I'm not alone in desiring nontraditional employment. The rise of the gig economy shows that many are choosing to work outside the classic 9-to-5 schedule. If done well, the opportunities to grow your income are staggering.

Yet so many entrepreneurs fail. Many side hustles never pay off. How did I avoid this?

Well, I almost didn't.

I finished Ben's bookkeeping program in 2016. By the time I shared a celebratory hug with Kyle in 2017, I had clients all over the world, and I wasn't just doing bookkeeping anymore. My team also offered tax services, financial strategy and consulting.

But for the first eight months I was “in business,” I didn't have a single client. All that incredible growth was crammed into four whirlwind months.

What changed in month eight?

When I “quit” theater to pursue bookkeeping, I thought I needed a certain type of client to support myself. There was clearly no money in art, so I had to pursue lawyers, dentists and other traditional business owners to make a living.

Except I didn't fit in very well with traditional business. Of course, they didn't hire me!

The people I actually wanted to help were people like me - creatives who owned a business because they simply loved the work. My new financial skills, and past theatrical experience helped these people the most.

Ironically, I had trapped myself in a dead-end job of my own creation. I thought the money was best in one area, so that's where I tried to work.

Fortunately, no one hired me, and I was forced to examine my values - who I wanted to help, and why I was the right person to help them. Once I aligned my work to that purpose, I enjoyed it more and I made more money.

If you're going to start a business, remember you can't sell something you don't love.

Sometimes We Need to Borrow Willpower

Although my story has a happy ending, those eight clientless months were unbelievably hard.

My husband and I spent the first year of our marriage below the poverty threshold. Even working 80 hours per week, we lived on less than half the average American salary.

We were already exhausted and stressed, and I thought it was a good idea to invest some of our scant, precious dollars into building a business. Then, I quit my jobs because I didn't have enough time to grow that business.

And I didn't have a single client.

I'd like to claim that I'm brave, but the truth is, I borrowed strength from the people around me. I had no idea if I would be successful, but spending time with positive people always gave me little bursts of productivity. So I was very selective about spending time with certain friends during those hard months.

I also did everything possible to be around other successful business owners. I went to conferences. I bought into expensive masterminds. My intention was never to make sales but rather to lean on the experience and mindset of successful people while I didn't have very much of my own.

And it worked! Not only did I build an incredible support network of people who understood what I was going through, but these business friends also became my first referral partners. They are the reason I have clients all over the world, and they are the reason my income has never stopped growing.

Good Financial Habits Will Save You

If you read that I bought into expensive masterminds and thought I was spending recklessly, think again. The difficulties in my young adulthood taught me to be frugal, and I was very intentional about what I invested in my business.

So much so that I continued to shrink our debt. I never missed a bill. I budgeted like crazy, and I prioritized our emergency fund.

That's the only reason we survived eight clientless months. I wasn't digging myself further into a financial hole, but rather, I continued to solidify my family's financial foundation, even if it was only a few dollars at a time.

These good habits allowed me to feel like an overnight success. When the money started rolling in, I had already cleaned up many of our financial messes. I had resources like The Penny Hoarder teaching me good habits, and I could focus solely on growing my business.

Quality of Life Matters

With “success” came a whole new slew of challenges. There is a lot of pressure on businesses to perpetually grow. In the business world, the message is “more clients, more money, more markets, more opportunity, more everything”.

Added to this pressure were the bad habits I developed in my early adulthood. Because I was used to a 60-plus-hours-a-week schedule, I worked too hard and suffered periods of intense burnout. I doubled, and then tripled, my salary. But my fears of becoming poor again meant the pressure for more money never went away.

I needed to learn when I had enough. I needed to separate my success from a dollar amount.

And in order to do that, I needed to measure my quality of life: Where did I want to live? What did I enjoy doing? How did I want to fill my time - morning, noon, night and on the weekends? How much income would this life require?

These lifestyle goals are much more attainable and much more fulfilling, than any income goal I've ever set. Obtaining them makes me feel powerful and successful. In turn, I am a better business owner - even if I'm not obsessed with “growth.”

It is perhaps strange to attribute so much of my success to a lifestyle, but that's what it took. I needed to be honest about the kind of work I loved doing. I needed friends who could help me experience the life I wanted. And I needed to shape my habits, and mindset, to fit my dream life.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.

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adam16bit · 8 years ago

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Super Mario Bros. 3

I just got through this one on the NES Classic, which afforded me something I could never do on the console version - actually play through every stage! As a kid you couldn’t exactly hog the TV for the hours it would take to play through every world, which is why things like Warp Whistles were incredibly useful. It’s obviously possible to beat this game in a couple of hours, but not unless you skip chunks of it or have beaten it before and generally know what you’re doing.

This was probably the best game the system had to offer in terms of variety and general vastness. There was no save or password system, but you could pick up a variety of items to use later (as needed) and I believe more and better power-ups than on any subsequent Mario game.

Marketing

They did a good job with this one - thanks to it coming out in Japan over a year before the USA, various import video game magazines probably made a fortune by picking up an import copy and posting screen shots. (See: GamePro #1, a freebie at Toys R Us that I got with Blaster Master.) Other publications advertising their product for free - or paying for the right to preview it - would be a remarkable feat for Nintendo, as there were countless unlicensed video game news magazines. But they realized they could go much, much bigger. They could manufacture a significantly larger phenomenon.

Nintendo got itself some fantastic product placement in The Wizard, a feature-length ad for video game stuff with a free mini Nintendo Power (”Pocket Power”) magazine with your ticket purchase. How or why my parents agreed to take me to see this is still a mystery given how few times we saw movies in the theaters - the somewhat insufferable movie did a great job showing us something that many of us to this day still don’t realize. The power of marketing to kids in the 1980s was utterly insane, and while many of us think back on kidvid like She-Ra, He-Man, G.I. Joe, Transformers, and the like as good clean wholesome fun? It was there to sell us stuff. Even though The Wizard had elements of sports movies and road trip movies, it was basically a wish fulfillment fantasy - and that wish was for kids to see footage of a video game they couldn’t actually buy until next year. Given how long a few months seems when you’re a kid, this sort of thing really stirred up the frenzy even more, making the game scarce upon release in the USA in 1990.

The TV ads were similarly kind of creepy with a cultish atmosphere of an endless stream of kids chanting Mario’s name, waiting for their icon to arrive once more. But TV marketing didn’t stop there - there was also a rebranded Saturday morning TV show called “Super Mario Bros. 3″ that had musical numbers. Some are the stuff of pop culture legend, like Wendy O. Koopa kidnapping Milli Vanilli to play her birthday party. Others are more forgettable but more insidious - there’s a whole song and dance extolling the virtues of the Frog Suit power-up from the game. Looking back on it, it’s diabolical, creepy, and insanely effective.

But wait - there’s more! Nintendo Power magazine was famous for being a way to market to kids and charge them for the opt-in privilege. One issue of the magazine was completely devoted to Super Mario Bros. 3 - some may dismiss it as a strategy guide, but it was an ad. Full-color illustrations showing all of the fun stuff in the game could be dismissed as spoilery, but that wasn’t a term people used in 1990. You’d buy a game guide (like the Official Nintendo Player’s Guide) and use it sort of like how people used Leonard Maltin’s guide to the movies. There was no Internet, so these magazines were showing people what to play, rent, or purchase - and boy howdy did they help get kids to ask mom and dad to drop fifty bones on software that they could finish in a couple of weeks.

For your very brief political moment, you might say “that’s fine” or “shouldn’t there be laws preventing this kind of marketing to kids?” As someone in the toy business I’m both creeped out by it and a big part of it - my office is packed with toys and games dating back to my own childhood, and most of the new stuff I get is tied to marketing/programming/culture I experienced as a kid. I don’t buy Avatar, I buy Star Wars. There were indeed laws against carpet-bombing kids on TV with marketing, but comic books were largely fair game and Saturday morning TV changed from kid versions of adult shows and weird puppet entertainment to training wheels for the consumer vehicle of today. Show of hands - who here watched one or more Marvel-based TV show as a child 20, 30, or even 40 years ago and is now a fan of the movie franchise?

We’re in a weird place. I could go on a tear about how the cereal and magazine aisles in 1980s grocery stores served as my Internet but we’re on too big of a tangent here. Point being - SMB3 was a huge success because Nintendo heavily invested in that success. If you had any connection to their target demographic, they probably lobbed something at you and got your attention. It helped that the game was indeed everything they promised.

Believe the Mario Hype?

The first batch of NES games had a bunch of original-ish ideas. Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Castlevania, and others would have one or more sequels on the 8-bit console, although all of them seemed to have an unwritten rule to “return to form” for their third entries. They were bigger and better, sure - but Mario gave us a completely different sequel before reverting back to a powered-up version of the original game. Link’s adventure diverted him into a Metroidvania/RPG hybrid before returning to the not-quite-RPG top-down adventure game format most of us know and love. Castlevania, too, introduced and removed RPG elements to return to the classic block stage format.

Mario’s levels were very similar to the first game, but larger. On the whole you always moved left to right, there was no warping from the right to the left of the screen, but you could go up into the sky by flight or climbing a vine. Auto-scrolling levels were introduced to mix up the dynamic. A map screen allowed you limited control of how you advanced - some levels and challenges were wholly optional, and certain items like Jugem’s Cloud actually allowed you to skip over some of those challenges. In the original Super Mario Bros., your options were to go to the right side of the screen and maybe select a Warp Zone. By the third game, you could choose to assault a fortress, or hop in a Mushroom House to take a power-up, or blow a Warp Whistle when you so decided.

The world was covered in familiar, more modernized versions of faces you’ve seen before with only Bob-Omb returning from the second game. Pretty much the entire cast of the first game came back with prettier sprites, and Mario also got a facelift - not as good as his look in the second game, but his controls were tighter and his pants were, for some reason, blacker.

Power-ups are what really made the game special. A lot of gamers would say Super Mario World from the Super NES was an inferior game, and I’d almost agree. In the 16-bit Mario, you could have fireballs or don a cape and fly. Super Mario Bros. 3 let you get a raccoon tail, fireballs, a Hammer Bros. suit, a Frog Suit, a Tanooki Suit, and the P-Wing which granted infinite flight on a single stage without having to take a running start first. You had options.

Clever enemies - some of which you only met once or twice - included a Goomba jumping around in a giant green shoe, reptiles who would barf up a spiked ball and chuck it at your head, and spiny eggs that would sometimes refuse to hatch. Even the sun itself bore an angry face and would chase you down through the desert! Squids would send their children after you in the seas to bring you down! What did you ever do to them? Oh, right. Calamari.

A World of Difference

One of the things that set Mario games apart from the competition were its themed worlds - “Grass Land” and a desert don’t seem too thrilling, but they were fun. The ice level in this game got clever with frozen bonus items - if you wanted coins, you had to hit them with a fire ball to thaw them out. One world was filled with pipes and man-eating vegetation. Another world - easily the best in the entire series - was Big Island, where you were normal size and most of the enemies were actual giants! I wish they would bring more of that back in the 2D series, which has gone from evolving from game to game to basically being the same thing since New Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo DS. Not bad - but the level of change between each of the Super Mario Bros. games released over 5 years is pretty staggering.

Because of these differences, the game really made you make decisions. Do you skip ahead to world 8 to beat the game and watch the brief, credits-free ending again? Or do you go hang out in World 4 again because World 4 was awesome? Do you use those awesome power-ups you found in a Mushroom House now, or save them for later when you might actually need them? It’s a heck of a lot more to consider than “run to the right, and try not to die.”

I found that the game held up very well to a replay - there were some weird glitches where sometimes an item would hit me and I didn’t die, and others where it didn’t hit me and I did die, but I assume this is emulation bug stuff or something I just lucked in to this time. Levels were significantly shorter than I remembered, lacking the extensive obstacles and obliterating any replay value (per game, that is) as you’re locked out of a stage once you beat it. Nintendo didn’t really start experimenting with forced replay of Mario stages to get all the exits and to find all the secrets until Super Mario World, and then in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine the game was more about replay, replay, replay. The levels were bigger, there was more you could do, the games were prettier, but you also were treading the same ground repeatedly. Super Mario Bros. 3 didn’t make you replay anything until you got a “Game Over” screen.

Very few games had the marketing impact of Mario’s final NES adventure, but Acclaim and Sega did learn a lot from the hype Nintendo created with “Mortal Monday” for Mortal Kombat and “Sonic 2sday” for the second Sonic the Hedgehog title - and people showed up. We saw a lot of this throughout the 1990s, with the first “midnight madness” event for an action figure launch in 1999 for The Phantom Menace, and the film would really kick off the ghastly trend of day- or week-long “line parties.” Now people just reserve their seat online, but back then it wasn’t uncommon to see the cinema briefly transformed into an experience not unlike tailgating at a football game.

The game was a smash hit, which you know - the NES cartridge sold millions of copies. It would go on to be a pack-in game with the NES. They upgraded it to 16-bit graphics and sound as part of Super Mario All-Stars. The upgraded port would be sold separately - at full price - on the GameBoy Advance a decade later. That’s a lot of money for old software, and Nintendo has trotted it out as a download for the Wii and Wii U for about five bones. I don’t doubt it will also be on the switch. Heck, Super Mario All-Stars also got a $20 Wii port. The best value for this game is on the NES Classic Edition from late 2016, which I just played through, because each game averages $2 plus you get the game hardware. I still am somewhat shocked how cheap (for Nintendo) the whole package was, as the Mario games alone are so fondly remembered I bet they could’ve got $60 for just those titles. I still enjoy the games - the marketing worked, I watched the stupid cartoons too, and I’ve got a 20-inch Mario action figure waving to me from the other side of my office as I type this. Is this a good thing? Is it terrible? You tell me.

#super mario bros.#super mario bros. 3 #nes classic edition #video games #nintendo

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sepiadice · 7 years ago

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SepiaDice GMs D&D5e (7/20/17): After School Excursion

After much time, I finally return to the GM’s seat, watching and plotting behind my screen!

So, after many months of scheduling conflicts, and playing other games, I got a small band from my Improv Group (mostly different from the cast of the last campaign) to subject themselves to me. Which is charitable on their part, especially since I’ve still haven’t really read the fifth edition rules…[1]

I went in with my favorite amount of preparation: an opening spiel, a vague idea of what I’d like to have happen, and a large swathe of empty, terrifying space to just let the players run rampant with.

I don’t plan sandboxes, just to be clear. Because that would imply I prepare NPCs and locations. I entered with five paragraphs of introduction and a puzzle.

Of course, my players are seasoned comedy improvisers, so I could’ve also come in with nothing, and they would’ve entertained themselves, even if most of them were new to Dungeons and Dragons.

I told them to make characters, stressing that they should have no backstory before we start. Not even a name or alignment. Because I had an opening twist.

The story began with a spooky dream. Disused lighthouse, shadowy figure, and glowing runes.

Then they had a school day. Because, as it turns out, they’re normal High School Juniors. I followed this reveal by letting them dictate what their school is like.

I admit, if my goal was a normal high school with maybe a couple anime-esques tropes, I shouldn’t have allowed greenhorn players with backgrounds in comedy dictate the terms. However, it does accomplish the more important task of getting the players to make the world their own.[2]

So what I got was a giant, wall-less warehouse named after the setting of High School musical.

Sure, at first I thought “I can interpret wall-less as just being a California High School”, but the players then insisted on specifying that, no, it’s literally a building with no classrooms, instead operating off a grid system.

Also, it’s super-cliquey, poorly funded, and originally a mansion that was part of the underground railroad and bootlegging, so there might be secret tunnels.

After establishing there’s been gossip of the shared dream going on in the (nonexistent) hallways, it’s now lunch, and they’re probably just vaguely themselves,[4] I just let my players go.

(Luckily, unlike me, my players have common names, so I’m going to go ahead and just use them.)

The party reveled momentarily at the chance to go back and do it right, before quickly conceding that, no, they’re totally nerds.

Chris, for whatever bloody reason, decided he wanted to be class president. And also a super Christian, but he’s playing a Paladin, so that’s just foreshadowing.[5]

The others then quickly established his crush on a girl named Tiffany, which they built upon for a bit. Then I brought Tiffany over, only to have three of them immediately give her grief and make her leave.

Which was a nice, subtle method of telling me they didn’t need too much NPC work from me. Again, I prepared very little, and they introduced Tiffany, so I’ve got nothing against that. Let the players define the terms of their entertainment, and fill in what needs be filled in while having fun yourself.

So, after I clarified what is known about the lighthouse (it’s always been there, but they’ve never seen it lit, and it’s on an island), they decide to skip class and go to the docks.

I had hoped to dedicate the opening portion of the game with them investigating and trying to figure out how to get to the lighthouse.

Jason,[6] wanting to be helpful, decided to get into an argument over the fact that I gave everyone a different rune in their dream, and used that as inspiration to go to the lighthouse to prove the rune he saw was the correct one. Also, there was optimism that they’d end up as Power Rangers. Which is… fine as a motivation…

It was as they searched for a ride that I realized an easy way to differentiate their high school forms from their future form: use the Adventurer stats, but with disadvantage on everything![7]

Brook wanted to try and skip the dock sequence by establishing her father has a boat. Not wanting them to brush over things too quickly, I subtly killed that and tried to get them to convince a fisherman to take them.

They started with Tim, who, as a compromise, had his shirt both tied off and also just off and draped over his shoulder. Brook tried to flirt with him to get a ride. I decided to play the ‘Ah, no, you’re fifteen, and I’m an adult angle.’

So Jason improvised inexplicable blackmail, because apparently when given enough agency, my friends default to Loony Toons. He also established that Tim’s a furry.

Jason failed the persuasion check, however, so Tim gets to be a proud furry. Little more discussion, and Tim offers to take them to the lighthouse if they could get some dirt on a rival.

Who I named Dave.

So they go to Dave, who casually admits to criminal activity, but also belief in a giant squid cryptid, which the party then spun to get a ride at midnight, forsaking Tim.

They then went to Tiffany’s party, which was made up to handwave time. I made it midnight in case they wanted to do a youth adventure, gearing up sequence, but instead they went to a house party.

Midnight comes, and Dave sails for the lighthouse, since the party told him light attracts the giant squid. The party then enters the lighthouse, where I finally sprung a puzzle on them!

I bought some wood blocks, drew runes on them, and they had to figure out the sequence to open a magic portal.

I colored the runes differently on each of their handouts, and I expected them to share the notes at some point. Once they identified the correct side, it was a simple matter of following the rainbow.

I apparently underestimated the paranoia the last campaign left with Jason, because no one looked at anyone else’s notes. They successfully communicated what the runes look like, but they never picked up on the different colors, even though that was a passing mention in the argument that got them there.

Basically, it was exactly the subtle time killer I hoped the puzzle would be. Even had pull out the ‘roll INT for hints’ trick once or twice.[8]

Like a good pun, a puzzle should be obvious afterwards, but engaging during the set up.

Anyways, go ahead and steal that one for your games, GMs!

Once they solved the puzzle, the portal opened. I described it and gave a little space to let them decide if they’re going in by their own power or if I need to Digimon them.

They walked in. Because who needs self preservation instincts?

Once in, they obviously turned into their Adventurer selves, waking up at the dead end of a dungeon.

‘Do we still have our own minds?’ “No, all this high schooler stuff was just a Shaggy Dog story.”

I had the players introduce what they looked like at this point. By pure coincidence, the one player who made a human went last, describing himself as just looking aged up.

The others were a dragonborn (the Furry Christian), a Tiefling (Jason played this up for the ‘which afterlife did we go to!?’ angle) and a half-elf dressed in leaves (Brook’s playing a druid.)

So, again, sit back and just let the players enjoy themselves. Then, when I got bored, have Kobolds show up and pick a fight.

I surprisingly wasn’t bored. Probably helped that it was an intentionally easy fight just to introduce the mechanics to the players, who mostly one shotted the Kobolds.

After killing six tiny lizard men, and with no clear way out, the players went deeper into the dungeon.

Jason fell into a trap, and they were ambushed by Gnolls, knocking them out.[9]

End of session.

So, lesson? Low expectations and little planning is a good method if you feel your players are fine building off themselves. I probably would never attempt this structure with less improvisational players, but I knew they could take it.

Still, I probably should’ve had a more clear plan for the dock sequence, and maybe a firmer hand on the school environment. However, I had fun, the players tell me they had fun, so it was a success. Hopefully I can manage to get them back for a session 2. Because I have intentions.

Until next time, may your dice make things interesting!

[1] However, I have years of experience in other systems, have played in a couple 5e games, and I principally learn by doing over reading. [2] Besides, if I actually wanted to anime it up, I already have a setting for that.[3] [3] Maybe I’ll let them play in it someday. Maybe. [4] I could’ve pushed them to establish High School Personas, but, again, Improv Club. Just let them do what they want and hope. [5] I can concede that it’s painfully obvious where my set-up was going, but it’s okay to telegraph things to players so they can subtly help the story. [6] Previous roles include Windy Jerk and… other people? [7] I love the Advantage/Disadvantage system. I’m going to houserule it into everything. [8] Well, I gave a freebie by clarifying all the runes are meant to be hexagons. [9] I love gnolls, which is why it’s surprising this is the first time I’ve ever used gnolls.

#SepiaDieGMs #d&d #Dungeons and Dragons #SchoolKidsCampaign #5e #dnd 5e

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poop4u · 5 years ago

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5 Reasons to Set SMART Goals For the New Year

#Poop4U

One of the best ways to help you achieve your goals for the new year is the SMART goal-setting method.

SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. When you structure your goals this way, you are much more likely to achieve them than if you simply create goals without structure.

Notice I’m using the term goals, not New Year’s Resolutions. Why? First, because I don’t believe that you have to wait until the start of a new year to set goals to better your life.

And secondly, resolutions have a habit of falling by the wayside, often before the new year is even a few weeks old. So rather than focus on resolutions, let’s look at ways to set goals that will help you achieve the results you really want for your life.

Be sure to read all the way to the end of this post where I’ll share a helpful FREE tool to help you set SMART goals for the new year!

5 Reasons to Set SMART Goals For the New Year

Setting short-term and long-term goals for yourself is a key to success. If there are things that you want to achieve or ways that you want to grow, setting small goals as stepping stones is an important part of getting there.

Most goals won’t be achieved overnight, so you should acknowledge from the start that change takes time and you have to be committed to the process.

Here’s what you should know in order to set SMART goals:

1. SMART goals are specific.

This means that your goal should be numbers based, or have a specific goal in mind. To say “I want to walk my dog more” is too vague.

A SMART goal might be “I want to walk my dog 3 times per week” or “I want to take my dog to the dog park once per week“. Both are very specific goals without any vague phrasing left open to interpretation.

A few thoughts about specific goals:

The more specific your goals are, the clearer it will be when you finally achieve them;

Breaking your large goals into smaller short-term goals, with each smaller goal phrased just as specifically as the overall goal, provides milestones that help you easily see your progress.

2. SMART goals are measurable.

This is another reason why SMART goals are numbers based. To know whether or not you achieved your goal, you must be able to measure your progress.

SMART goals are goals that you can track and measure that have a clear end or point of attainment, as I illustrated above. Without creating a measurable goal, how will you know when you reach it?

3. SMART goals are attainable.

SMART goals are goals that you can actually achieve. They’re not unrealistic and unlikely like “lose 100 pounds in 90 days” because if there’s no way to actually achieve the goal, why bother to set it?

SMART goals are goals that you are physically and mentally capable of achieving.

4. SMART goals are realistic.

SMART goals are not only attainable, but they are realistically attainable. They are a combination of a specific achievement that you can reach and a time frame in which you can realistically get there.

For that reason, a SMART goal would be “lose 10 pounds in 90 days” for a healthy weight loss of 3 to 4 pounds per month, rather than the 100 pound example I gave above.

5. SMART goals are timely.

SMART goals have time frames, and realistic ones at that. When you put a realistic time frame on your goal, it gives you something to work toward. To simply “lose 10 pounds” without a time frame lacks motivation and direction.

On the contrary, “lose 10 pounds by my birthday” has a realistic time frame that gives you something to work for and a date for completion.

As you can see, when you set goals using this method, it will be easier to stay on track and mark your progress as you work toward the things you want in life.

How about a freebie?

To help you on your goal setting journey, I’ve got a super helpful resource for you. This SMART Goal Setting Worksheet will help you flesh out your goals and dreams and plan for them in a way that makes the easily achievable.

Simply click here to grab your free worksheet now. Just download and save it to your computer, and then print it out for every goal you’re setting for the new year!

Remember, this free resource is for your personal use only and should not be shared or redistributed in any way.

Do you set SMART Goals?

I’d love to hear about your experience in a comment below, or stop by my private Facebook group for dog moms to join in the conversation there!

Also, be sure to check out this article about New Year’s Resolutions for Dog Moms!

The post 5 Reasons to Set SMART Goals For the New Year appeared first on The Everyday Dog Mom.

Poop4U Blog via www.Poop4U.com Christina, Khareem Sudlow

#poop4u #cute dog #dogs of tumblr #puppy doggo #doglover #doggrooming #my doggo #dogmeme

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kennethherrerablog · 6 years ago

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From Poverty to Owning an Accounting Firm: Here’s How She Did It

In 2014, I graduated from college and spent 15 months traveling the world. I’d often stop traveling for a few months to work side jobs and earn enough to travel more. Whenever possible, these jobs were in theater, my dream career.

Undeterred, I decided take my art part-time and began looking for a second career. I scored zero interviews in almost a year of job searching.

By 2016, I was depressed, worn out and lucky to make $300 a week. I was slowly realizing a hard truth: I knew nothing about money. I felt if I could figure that out, then life would get better.

That’s when I started reading The Penny Hoarder and learned about work-from-home opportunities like Ben Robinson’s Bookkeeper Business Launch program.

Not only did I complete Ben’s program, but by 2017, I owned a global accounting firm for creative entrepreneurs. I attended business conferences with the likes of Kyle Taylor, founder of The Penny Hoarder, who hugged me when I told him how his website changed my life.

While learning about money and specialized bookkeeping helped start my business, there are few key personal realizations that actually made it grow.

Money Doesn’t Have to Trap You

I’m not alone in desiring nontraditional employment. The rise of the gig economy shows that many are choosing to work outside the classic 9-to-5 schedule. If done well, the opportunities to grow your income are staggering.

Yet so many entrepreneurs fail. Many side hustles never pay off. How did I avoid this?

Well, I almost didn’t.

I finished Ben’s bookkeeping program in 2016. By the time I shared a celebratory hug with Kyle in 2017, I had clients all over the world, and I wasn’t just doing bookkeeping anymore. My team also offered tax services, financial strategy and consulting.

But for the first eight months I was “in business,” I didn’t have a single client. All that incredible growth was crammed into four whirlwind months.

What changed in month eight?

Except I didn’t fit in very well with traditional business. Of course, they didn’t hire me!

The people I actually wanted to help were people like me — creatives who owned a business because they simply loved the work. My new financial skills, and past theatrical experience helped these people the most.

Ironically, I had trapped myself in a dead-end job of my own creation. I thought the money was best in one area, so that’s where I tried to work.

Fortunately, no one hired me, and I was forced to examine my values — who I wanted to help, and why I was the right person to help them. Once I aligned my work to that purpose, I enjoyed it more and I made more money.

If you’re going to start a business, remember you can’t sell something you don’t love.

Sometimes We Need to Borrow Willpower

Although my story has a happy ending, those eight clientless months were unbelievably hard.

My husband and I spent the first year of our marriage below the poverty threshold. Even working 80 hours per week, we lived on less than half the average American salary.

We were already exhausted and stressed, and I thought it was a good idea to invest some of our scant, precious dollars into building a business. Then, I quit my jobs because I didn’t have enough time to grow that business.

And I didn’t have a single client.

I’d like to claim that I’m brave, but the truth is, I borrowed strength from the people around me. I had no idea if I would be successful, but spending time with positive people always gave me little bursts of productivity. So I was very selective about spending time with certain friends during those hard months.

Good Financial Habits Will Save You

So much so that I continued to shrink our debt. I never missed a bill. I budgeted like crazy, and I prioritized our emergency fund.

That’s the only reason we survived eight clientless months. I wasn’t digging myself further into a financial hole, but rather, I continued to solidify my family’s financial foundation, even if it was only a few dollars at a time.

Quality of Life Matters

I needed to learn when I had enough. I needed to separate my success from a dollar amount.

And in order to do that, I needed to measure my quality of life: Where did I want to live? What did I enjoy doing? How did I want to fill my time — morning, noon, night and on the weekends? How much income would this life require?

These lifestyle goals are much more attainable and much more fulfilling, than any income goal I’ve ever set. Obtaining them makes me feel powerful and successful. In turn, I am a better business owner — even if I’m not obsessed with “growth.”

It is perhaps strange to attribute so much of my success to a lifestyle, but that’s what it took. I needed to be honest about the kind of work I loved doing. I needed friends who could help me experience the life I wanted. And I needed to shape my habits, and mindset, to fit my dream life.

The Penny Hoarder Promise: We provide accurate, reliable information. Here’s why you can trust us and how we make money.

From Poverty to Owning an Accounting Firm: Here’s How She Did It published first on https://justinbetreviews.tumblr.com/

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