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yoditorian · 4 years

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lacuna- part 7

din/reader

cooking is my love language so i made it rebel’s too (as ever, thank you to my love my life @brothersdrxke for being my shara) 💛 there’s rly only two more parts after this huh

series masterlist // main masterlist

word count: 2.7k

warnings: i don’t think there’s any swears in this one but just to be on the safe side, rebel has PTSD although it’s more suggested than actually experienced there’s a couple of moments that are shaky, softness and domesticity or just sadness?, sadness, the usual type of smut, 18+ no babies thanks

“No.”

At least Colonel Cintass has the decency to look surprised, he blanches when you show no sign of joking and sits up a little straighter.

“If it’s a question of pay or location, both are negotiable. There’s academies all over the Inner and Mid rim, you’ll have your pick of the lot and a promotion if you accept.” He’s clutching at all the straws he has at his disposal, but you don’t budge. He huffs when you say nothing and asks, albeit agitatedly, what your plans are instead.

“Maybe I’ll go private. Pays well, I can do what I want-”

“There’s no glory in the private sector.” Cintass interrupts you, and your eyebrows furrow further.

“And there is here? If you joined up for glory, Colonel, I don’t think you should be calling the shots.” You’re right and you both know it. You’re all too familiar with the friends who’ve retired to find something quieter, and with the officers who spent their Rebellion days discussing facts and figures with politicians. People who’d never been on the front lines in the thick of it, never even seen a firefight, now in charge of fresh faced cadets and veterans with too many demons to feel like they belong anywhere else. You won’t stay here, not for any longer than it takes to pack your things.

You pulled out of Green Squadron the day after Shara told you she was retiring, the last of the original crew, you hadn’t wanted to fly any more missions without her. At least the Colonel heard you out and didn’t argue. He’d let you stay on as a temporary mechanic, while you figured out what it was you wanted to do. Although, now it’s clear he fought to keep you so he could get things in place to offer you a teaching job.

It’s a good position, in all honesty. Miles better pay than you’ll get for the same job anywhere else, the choice to relocate to any of the shiny New Republic Navy training centres across the galaxy. But you can’t look a bunch of teenagers in the eye and tell them that this is everything they hope for. Not when the war chewed you up and spit you out the way it did. The scars on your back ache at the thought of it.

Shara finds you in the hangar, loading up a couple of bags into your A-Wing’s pitiful storage compartment. All your belongings, your whole life, packed up and ready to go wherever you decide to take them.

“I don’t think you’re gonna be able to live in there.”

“Ah, I’ll get a couple of hanging plants, maybe put up some curtains,” You smile at her from the top of the ladder, “Could be cosy.”

You know why she’s here. Not to talk you into accepting the teaching job, she knows you better than that. The idea was one she’d had right after she and Kes had found the old farm on Yavin IV, in need of a little tlc and a lot of patience, it was the perfect spot for them to raise their boy. And the little house further down the track, right at the edge of their land, was the perfect spot for you.

“I’m not saying you have to stay there forever,” She starts when you open your mouth to decline again, “I’m saying that when you need some solid ground under your feet, you don’t have to go looking for it.”

“Shara-”

“We’re family. You will always have a home with us.” It��s final. Non-negotiable. And something about the look in her eye makes you want to cry just a little bit. You think about the collection of scribbles tucked carefully away in one of your bags, the more recent ones at least are a little easier to distinguish as people. Four multi-coloured potatoes with legs. As far as little Poe is concerned, he agrees with his mother.

You hop down the ladder and pull Shara tightly to you, maybe tighter than you have before. Because you’ve never really had a home, not a place you ever felt was worthy of such a title. But here she is, offering one to you like it’s nothing.

“So, where are you off to now?” She asks when you finally have the strength to let her go. Both of your eyes are a little watery, but neither of you mentions it.

“Well, I turned down Cintass so it's up in the air. I’ve got some old contacts, so as long as they’ve forgiven me I can get a little income before I have to make any concrete decisions.” You don’t tell her exactly who the contacts are. Something about the way she raises her eyebrow makes you wonder if she’s already guessed where you’re going.

It feels strange, guiding your A-Wing out of the hangar for the last time. You hope it's the last time. At least you had enough put by to get Green Four decommissioned and released to you, it might have been a little more difficult than you’d initially thought if you had to leave the ship behind. She’s old and you’ve put her through hell, but she’s yet to let you down.

You’re not overly surprised that your comm signal goes unanswered. You weren’t exactly the most gracious guest on your last visit. But you don’t get shot up on your approach, so maybe your old friends are feeling a little more amicable nowadays.

“Impressive.” Ran says when you hop out of the cockpit, helmet under one arm and a sheepish smile on your face.

“She used to be.” You know he’s already calculating how much he can get for it, or whether he wants to strip it for parts. Your heart aches at the thought of it but there’s not a lot you can do. If letting go of your starfighter is what gets you back on the team, then it’s what’ll have to happen. Even if it hurts.

Ran gestures at a couple of new crewmates, a Devaronian and a human, and you selfishly hope you won’t have to work too closely with them. There’s an insignia on the shoulder of the human’s jacket, one you don’t want to examine too closely for fear you’re right. He’s about to offer you your old room when the shooting starts.

The men are taking turns at a set of old side panels, blaster bolts melting the old steel on contact, and you know that. You flinch before you can stop yourself. Ran watches you suspiciously, but he says nothing. Before the war, you would never have even batted an eyelid at a little target practice. You probably would have been in the thick of it, laughing and betting and not watching your friends die over and over in your mind.

“You stink of soldier.” Xi’an sneers, although she means it more as an observation than an accusation. You don’t disagree, only shrug, and your hand hovers warily over your holster as you watch the shooting competition. Just in case.

“Where’s Qin?” You ask once your heartbeat returns to normal. Anger flashes across Xi’an’s face as Ran explains he’d outsourced a job a few years ago, and Qin hadn’t made it back. It’s unexpected, the odd way you find yourself a little disappointed. Even though he’d been cold with you on your last visit, even though you’d bickered and been at each other’s throats more than once. Qin had been a friend once, a lifetime ago. You suppose that’s exactly the problem.

“Are you still terrible at throwing?” Xi’an asks, and the awkward tension finally melts away. Her wicked smile returns and you find yourself mirroring it.

“I’m a little better.” You say. Although you’re still certain she’ll wipe the floor with you, it’s nice to see at least somebody around here missed you. It’s about as close to a confession as you’ll ever get from Xi’an. You’d be an idiot not to take the olive branch she’s so selflessly holding out in front of you. Maybe you won’t be so alone on the station after all.

Din’s wondering about you, some part of him always is, as he looks at the new pucks in his hands. A couple of humans, a mythrol, and a chiss. None of them should cause him too much trouble, but none of their last known locations are exactly close. He settles on one of the humans, last seen in the Yavin system, and tells himself it’s because he can stock up on supplies for some of the more long haul flights the new assignments will take him on. Definitely not because he could stand to be around people who might remind you of him, even just a little. Definitely not because he misses you.

Din watches you from across the market, chatting animatedly with a dark haired woman he’s half-certain he’s met before. The way she leans so casually, so naturally, against your shoulder as she laughs makes his ribcage ache. He wants that with you, always has. He wants to be able to take you to places like these. To hold you close in front of throngs of people and meet your old friends. He shouldn’t even be here.

The Armourer’s words still echo in his ears. He is responsible for the covert, their hardest working hunter. He cannot, should not, waste thought on times past.

He shouldn’t be here.

But it’s too late.

Your eyes zero in on him, abandoning the conversation, and your friend follows your gaze. Din takes that as an invitation, slowly making his way towards the two of you in the shadow of a baker’s stall. The crowds part, as they always do, and for the first time he finds himself wishing they wouldn’t. You might have a life here, for all he knows. It’s been long enough. You deserve one, really. To have a home. To feel loved all the time, to not have to wonder. And then he’s there, in front of you, just staring. What are either of you even supposed to say?

A small boy peers around your hip, looking up at him in wonder. Too old to be yours, if he remembers correctly, but for a moment his heart seizes. You rest your hand in the kid’s curls, absentmindedly ruffling them. You’ve always fiddled when you’re nervous.

“We should probably get home, but I’ll see you tomorrow?” The woman clears her throat, snapping the sudden tension into shards. Din’s careful not to cut himself on the edges.

You nod enthusiastically, every language you know still lodged uncomfortably in your throat, and wrap an arm around her shoulders for a brief goodbye hug. She calls the boy after her as she leaves, their matching black curls bouncing when she heaves him up onto her shoulders.

“Shara,” You say, watching the two disappear into the waning crowd, “She teaches some of the older kids piloting basics. I help out when I’m here, mechanics mostly.”

“You find somewhere to settle?”

You shake your head. Give him some vague answer about drifting where the wind takes you. He doesn’t need to know you went crawling back to the only thing you knew before the war. It’s quiet for a moment, and even though you’re standing in the middle of the market, it’s as though you’re the only two people on the whole street. Din’s floundering for something to say, something to keep you here for just another minute, until you break the silence and save him. Just like you always do.

“When was the last time you ate something that wasn’t a ration pack?”

Even with the way he treated you last time, you’re still showing him the kindness you always have. He’s still not sure he deserves it.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Come on.” You take his silence as an answer, and start towards an alleyway between two buildings. Din follows you without hesitation, and the path opens up to a small parking lot half-full of different speeder models. You lead him to an older one, yellow paint faded and scratched, and drop your bag in the backseat. He falters a little when you climb in and gesture to the seat beside you.

“Unless you wanted to sit in the back.” Your smirk is warm, familiar. It hurts to look at. So he hops in and settles on the front bench because he’s not sure he can bear to watch you look at him like that much longer.

The little home down the dusty farm track is not somewhere he ever expected you to call your own. You’ve always seemed like you should be on a background of stars, a hyperspace lane, not somewhere this domestic. At least that way he wouldn’t be consumed, so suddenly, with a very real idea of staying.

You just look so comfortable, bathed in the low light of the afternoon sun through the windows, pulling vegetables out of a fridge covered head to toe in kid’s drawings. The little boy from the market, presumably. And it makes his ribcage ache to know that this too, is something that’ll always be missing from his every day. He won’t get to sit at your kitchen table and watch you fuss over a pot of stew, or have you slide up behind him and kiss his shoulder as he follows your favourite recipe.

It’s the best stew he’s ever had. Easily. The sun has disappeared behind Yavin, bathing the whole moon in an odd red glow as he eats. The helmet seems to glare at him from the middle of your kitchen table. You’d ducked into the bedroom to eat before he could even suggest that you take the kitchen. Another sacrifice you’ve made for him. What does that make the number now?

His gloves stay on the table while he washes the dishes, at his insistence. Although you’d put up a little bit of a fight. Din doesn’t bother to pick them up when he passes the table, when he appears in your bedroom doorway and you look up from your datapad like it’s the most natural thing in the galaxy.

You’ve pulled the curtains, shut the world out, and the room is plunged into darkness when you flick the lightswitch by the head of your bed.

You’re expecting the warmth of his skin on yours when he finally finds his way to you in unfamiliar space. He always sheds his armour so silently. You don’t expect him to take your hands in his, and raise them to the sides of his helmet.

The breath catches in your throat, you know he can hear it. His fingers tremble slightly over yours but he doesn’t waver. He settles them both solidly on either side of his helmet, and guides you for a moment. Your hands follow the rest of the way when he drops his to your waist, you set it carefully on the bedside table and turn back to him. He’s not stupid. He knows you can’t actually see him. But it feels like every barrier between you is finally, melted away. And Din can lay you back on the bed as himself.

It’s strange to have him in a space that’s become yours. Knowing that in the dark his helmet is sitting on a bedside table next to a picture frame of you and Green Squadron. That he probably saw every drawing Poe’s ever scribbled for you stuck to your fridge. But you force yourself to forget that. You shove it right down until there’s no room in your head for anything but the way he’s clinging to you. Until he is all you know.

“Tell me you don’t love me.” You’re almost asleep when the traitorous words slip out.

Oh, you think you’re clever. You think you’re leaving him no choice but to confess. You think this is where things finally, finally, start to go your way. They don’t.

“I don’t love you.”

No differently than if he was recounting the weather forecast. And it hurts. But you don’t have it in you to run, to cry, to be angry with him at all. Instead, you fall back down to press your cheek against the warmth of his bare chest, defeated. He holds you there until you’re sleeping.

TAGLIST (add yourself here):

@brothersdrxke @rebloogggs @keeper0fthestars @remmysbounty @sirianisrock @thevoiceinyourheadx @firstofficerwiggles @1800-fight-me @ew-erin @chatterbean

#early drop lets go #why am i so nervous about this #lacuna #the mandalorian #the mandalorian x reader #the mandalorian x you #din djarin #din djarin x reader #din djarin x you #star wars #fic #liz does words #smut

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amphtaminedreams · 4 years

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COVID-19, Negligent Manslaughter, and a Timeline of Tory Indifference

“I feel sorry for Boris Johnson. He is doing the best he can in the situation and I don’t think anybody else could have done a better job.”

[exhibit A: a gem somebody that I’m Facebook friends with reposted earlier]

It’s a sentiment that I cannot quite wrap my head around. I sit here hopeless and furious and trying to hold back tears because it’s been almost a year since England first went into lockdown and yet here we are, almost 100,000 dead, in an even worse position than we were before whilst other countries begin to slowly return to normality. It is clear to me who is to blame for this, however there are a large proportion of people who don’t want to “politicise” the actions of the PRIME MINISTER with regards to his approach towards handling a virus sweeping the country he GOVERNS.

Typically, these kind of posts making the rounds on social media will be accompanied by some kind of photo of Boris Johnson looking somber as if to suggest that the way things have played out were beyond his control and that he is some kind of broken man beleaguered by the suffering he has, despite good intentions, inadvertently caused.

This one in particular of Johnson with his head in his hands is a staple. In reality, this is a photo taken back in 2018 whilst he was receiving flack from party members for comparing Theresa May to a suicide bomber (for her handling of Brexit, ironically) as well as from the papers due to his rumoured (now also proven, in a completely non-surprising turn of events, to be true) affair with his former aide, Carrie Symonds.

So let’s shut this narrative-where we should feel for Boris because he’s doing his best, and apparently a better job than anybody else could’ve done in his situation- down right here. In a supposedly developed country with one of the world’s largest economies, if we’re talking by proportion, our COVID-19 death toll is up there with the worst of them. It seems that every other state figurehead (bar a small handful), and I mean almost every single one of them, is doing a better job. People love to throw figures out there about how densely populated we are to combat damning statistics as if we haven’t got just as many factors playing to our advantage, as if it’s unfair to compare our response to Germany’s or Japan’s or Singapore’s (both of which are far more densely populated) or New Zealand’s or Vietnam’s, but we are an ISLAND with world-leading technology and infrastructure and healthcare equipment and professionals and a relatively high standard of living. In what world is almost 70,000 dead in a country with abundant time and means to prepare a response reflective of said country’s leaders doing a good job?

Apparently we’re supposed to believe that Johnson feels some sense of moral responsibility for this astronomical failure. A man who refuses to acknowledge the multiple children he has fathered outside of his marriages and who has had repeatedly engaged in affairs and one-night stands throughout said marriages. A man who continued to cheat whilst his most recent wife was receiving treatment for cervical cancer, for fuck’s sake. Yep, a real stand-up guy.

So where does this idea that Johnson must feel remorseful for this catastrophe come from? We haven’t seen a second of remorse or a hint of accountability for the lives lost from him nor any members of his cabinet. That much is really no surprise; I have this hypothesis, and it’s not a stretch, that these people do not have an ounce of empathy in their bodies. These ridiculously privileged, privately-educated individuals who have had everything handed to them their entire lives simply cannot put themselves in the shoes of the average working person and that is the problem. Unable to recognise that what distinguishes them from most others is little more than the luck of being born into wealth and the abundance of recourses and connections that has entailed throughout their lives, they see us as beneath them-as less intelligent, less driven, and thus less deserving of the status and respect they enjoy. They see us as a bunch of whining, unmotivated idiots who do not recognise the chokehold they have over our media nor the fact that everything they do is a desperate grab to keep money and power within the hands of a select group of people, an exclusive members club from which most of us are barred (just take a simple Google search and watch Jacob Rees-Mogg’s opinion of the Grenfell victims or the buried Johnson speech where he talks about how inequality is essential). They know that we will squabble amongst ourselves about who is to blame rather than wising up to the truth which is that every decision they make is fuelled by cronyism and the inability to make and follow through with difficult choices, the pandemic being no exception. The supposedly self-made elite see the life of the average working class person as having far less value than their own, and their parties actions over the last 10 years have made that very clear.

It was in December 2019 that the first case of COVID-19 was declared to the World Health Organisation and on March the 11th that they announced they considered it as a pandemic. In Wuhan, people were dying of pneumonia in their clusters. And what was Boris Johnson doing in this time? Well for starters, here in the UK we didn’t even have a pandemic committee-Johnson had scrapped it six months before. If years of benefits cuts and defunding of the NHS in favour of funding nuclear weapon programs, keeping British troops on other people’s lands, and tax breaks for the mega corporations that donate to their party didn’t convince you that the Conservatives have little regard for human life, them getting rid of this committee-whilst a pandemic has been declared year after year as the greatest threat to mankind-should have been the first sign of trouble. As if that wasn’t enough, he also skipped five of the COBRA (meetings are made up of a cross-departmental committee put together to respond to national emergencies and PMs routinely attend those pertaining to crises on the scale of COVID-19) meetings addressing the situation. Whilst other countries were closing their borders and stocking up on PPE, Johnson and his ministers were selling PPE abroad and simply telling people to wash their hands to the length of the tune of happy birthday. Their only policy was one of “herd immunity”, which was in fact not a policy but just an abandonment of their party’s public duty disguised as one, intentionally obfuscated with pseudoscientific jargon.

Even thinking the absolute worst of politicians you would hope that when it came to the point where the UK’s non-response to COVID-19 was becoming an international disgrace, Johnson and his ministers would take proper protective measures if only to save face. But when they eventually seemed to do so, it became clear that the priority was not the safety of the ordinary people affected by the virus. Outsourcing their test and traces system to companies such as Serco, Sitel, Deloitte and G4S rather than public health services, Conservative ministers could not resist attempting to line the pockets of their friends and benefactors in the process. According to the Guardian, instead of reaching out to the experts or using publicly funded services to handle COVID containment measures, the Conservative party has awarded a disgusting £1.5 BILLION WORTH of contracts to businesses with explicit connections to its MPs and donors, the majority of which lack any relative experience of the tasks they’ve been trusted to carry out. Unsurprisingly, the National Audit office found that when awarding contracts relating to the production of COVID-19 protection measures and treatment needs, there was a “high-priority lane” for suppliers referred by senior politicians and officials; companies with a political referral were 10 times more likely to end up winning a government contract than those without. On top of this, it is not hard to draw a link between the late initiation of lockdown measures and preemptive openings of pubs and restaurants against scientific advice to the interests of frequent donors such as Wetherspoons owner Tim Martin. Even if one chooses to ignore the blatantly obvious correlation between the owners of the businesses whose profits were prioritised over safety concerns and the number of those owners who donate to the Conservatives, party officials at the very least were reluctant to follow the lead of many other countries in financing furlough schemes themselves and instead avoided this responsibility by using loose lockdown measures to leave it down to the discretion of small business owners, who couldn’t themselves afford to furlough staff, whether or not to stay open.

Time and time again, as the government flounder and fuck about, favouring personal desires to keep their powerful, high-paying jobs and to satisfy the corporate allies who make this possible, blame has been shifted from the public to care homes to NHS workers and back again whilst we, the public, make the biggest sacrifices of all under the illusion that we were being guided out of this pandemic rather than lied to and thrown under the bus. Whilst the elite continue to pick and choose what rules apply to them, it’s students and the elderly and the vulnerable paying the fines and scrabbling to afford basic living costs and hoping that they don’t lose someone dear to them.

Don’t get me wrong, a large proportion of the public have contributed to the spread too with their selfishness and entitlement and the arrogance it takes to develop a sudden refusal to acknowledge basic science from experts who have studied in the field their whole lives so that they can justify their need to go to the pub (speaking of, it’s absolutely HILARIOUS how many “mental health advocates” are suddenly coming out of the woodworks on football avi Twitter after they’ve spent years calling people on mental health Twitter attention seekers). And don't get me wrong, there were inevitably going to be casualties of this pandemic. But it didn't have to spread to this many people, and there didn’t have to be so many deaths due to a lack of preparation, and this wouldn’t have been the case if it weren’t for the inherent apathy of the Conservative party towards the lives of people of lesser status than them, the reluctance to put those lives before party interests. I wish I felt like there was an end in sight, I wish there was some positive takeaway from all of this, but even now, we continue to see corners being cut with the vaccine lauded as our saving grace and anti-maskers gathering outside hospitals to chant about how “oppressive” it is to be urged to wear a bit of cloth over their faces for the short periods of time in which they leave their houses and all I can think of is the selfishness that runs like poison through our country. It makes me sick and leaves me to question desperately where we go from here. I don’t like unanswered questions, I don’t like feeling politically directionless, and I don’t like the growing fear I have about the state of the world which seems to intensify every single day. In the UK at least, it’s starting to feel like nothing will ever change-we’re told we live in a democracy and yet mainstream media is owned by the people whose interest is to keep their Conservative friends in power. The stronghold they have over print media in particular allows them to continually get away with smearing and defaming every person who comes along and seems to want to actually help ordinary people, without being challenged, to the point where the only kind of “opposition” we’re left with promises nothing but a big boss approved tactical reshuffling of the status quo (which they call “electability”); it doesn’t feel like democracy when the majority of the country are being fed misleading information and convinced against voting in their best interests.

This is the result of that. The state we find ourselves in is the inevitable result of being manipulated into helping the elite build their protective wall whilst the rest of us scrabble to get in and step on each others heads along the way, the people inside shouting over that it’s those even more vulnerable than ourselves that are taking our places. Outside the wall, the earth is falling from beneath our feet, and instead of throwing over the ropes to help us out, the people inside are stockpiling them so they can secure their firm place above ground and then later flog the rest. How many more people have to die before we reach some kind of widespread realisation of that? Where do we go from here and what do we do? Well for one, we can stop spreading those god-fucking-awful textposts on Facebook and get our heads out of our arses. Wear our masks over and wear them over our fucking noses. Have some fucking consideration for others. Don’t wait til an issue affects you personally to give a fuck about it. AND START HOLDING THE FUCKING PRIME MINISTER AND HIS MINISTERS AND HIS ENTIRE PARTY AS WELL AS THE OPPOSITION MPS THAT HAVE SAT BY THE SIDELINES AND ALLOWED THIS TO GO ON WITHOUT PROTEST ACCOUNTABLE. That would be a good start.

I’m so tired. Things didn’t need to be this way, and yet because of the selfishness of the few, thousands upon thousands are dead. It’s not about “throwing around blame”, it’s not about “throwing around” anything, it’s about expecting a leader to do his best to protect lives. If that is “throwing blame”, let’s get things clear, I have no issue with hurtling it torpedo style at those who handed out a death sentence to so many in this country rather than do anything that might compromise their own privilege. Honestly, pass me the shovel after and I’ll happily bury the wreckage in the ground. Who wants to join?:-)

#rant #politics #anti capitalism #anticapitalist #covid-19 #covid #england #labour #socialism #fuck the tories #fuck the torys #fuck boris #rant post

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louisishj334 · 4 years

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How to lose $1 million and risk it all again

When Abbas Dayekh was 18 several years aged, he walked confidently to the reception of Sussex Location, London Enterprise University’s primary campus, and asked: “Where can I enrol?” Safety advised him he would have to wait a several years. Dayekh was in the wrong spot. He was in search of Regent’s University London, exactly where his parents experienced sent him to check a BA (Hons) in Worldwide Enterprise with French. Dayekh, ethnically Lebanese, is from Nigeria, the grandson of the textiles’ industrialist. He was sent to the united kingdom to achieve knowledge, then return and insert benefit inside the loved ones business.

Dayekh, CEO and founder of OyaNow, an application-primarily based shipping and delivery service in Nigeria, chuckles within the memory. It’s not the first time he has taken a detour in his life, and it possibly was one of many additional pleasant – and less expensive - events. With no doubt, one of the most tricky was having to notify his mom he experienced shed all her price savings – about $600,000 – that she invested in him to put in place a Beirut branch of distinctive Parisian couture model CLVII in 2012. “It absolutely was a buddy’s store. The purchasers are certainly top quality; elite footballers and these kinds of. It’s obtained a particular image.

“I ran CLVII notion capital for about a year, and afterwards the Syrian civil war escalated. Bombs started heading off in Beirut. The Saudis and Emirati holidaymakers – my buyers – they went household and didn’t return. I used to be trapped with a great deal of expensive couture and no funds”

I ran CLVII for around a year, and afterwards the Syrian civil war escalated. Bombs started off going off in Beirut. The Saudis and Emirati travellers – my prospects – they went residence and didn’t come back. I was stuck which has a large amount of pricey couture and no dollars. Involving my mom’s price savings, a buddy’s financial commitment of about $two hundred,000 and the money I’d expended in that two-year period, I’d managed to lose $one million.

‘Not a tech dude’

While Dayekh, from Kano in Nigeria’s northern province, felt upset that he’d Enable down his mom, his initial – and biggest – entrepreneurial flop did nothing at all to dampen his enthusiasm for the entrepreneurial route and his zeal to triumph. In actual fact, he reflects that it spurred him on to at some point found OyaNow, an application-primarily based logistics enterprise aiding enterprises to achieve Nigeria’s progressively related populace of just about 200 million by trustworthy and rapidly previous-mile shipping and delivery.

This Regardless of the simple fact Dayekh promises to generally be “by no means a tech man”. He laughs: “I'm able to’t code.” Dayekh has gained the Persons’s Decision Award while in the George Bernard Shaw Unreasonable Individual category at this calendar year’s Serious Innovation Awards (RIA) in recognition of his dogged perseverance to succeed Even with there becoming no fantastic rationale that he should really.

When he had The theory for OyaNow, he was pretty much broke, acquiring returned from Shanghai the place for 9 months he had been performing being an outsourcing broker for just a number of Nigerian clientele he’d managed to secure. “They had been tiny contracts and Therefore the Fee was little,” he claims. “I had return to Abuja for being with my mom and determine what I had been gonna do with my life. I barely experienced any revenue, but I nonetheless realized I used to be about to do my own factor.”

It transpired to him that buyer self esteem in Nigeria was zero. “There was no rely on in the market in Nigeria and not Considerably purchaser treatment possibly. I thought of the accomplishment of foods shipping expert services in Europe and The us like Deliveroo and Uber Eats. Nigeria is probably one of many final nations around the world on this planet with such a big inhabitants that remains so underdeveloped. I observed that hole as a huge possibility.”

But who was about to buy the coders? And to the bikes? In fact – this was Africa, not Europe. Banks don’t give financial loans to people with no property. Dayekh was fortuitous to have a network of Intercontinental experts and traders he cultivated from having long gone to one of the better boarding schools in the world in Switzerland. A friend came by with a few seed income Which paid out for creating the app and the main motorbikes.

Ideal time, right solution, proper place

“I realized This may be a really diverse proposition from Deliveroo and Uber Eats. For 1, we would want to supply total pastoral care to our riders – whom we contact Entrepreneurs – mainly because they could be coming from all around the country. We would have to give them a destination to Are living. They would be the brand. I needed to be sure that I did all the things I could to empower them for being entirely engaged in OyaNow and assist the manufacturer to accomplish its key performance indicators of reliability, usefulness and high quality of assistance usually.

“My uncles felt I were born which has a silver spoon in my mouth Which I'd volume to nothing exterior the relatives small business. I'd a burning desire to establish them Improper and clearly show the entire world I could allow it to be by myself”

OyaNow is definitely an abbreviation of the phrase indicating “we've been coming” in Nigerian slang English. It really is widely recognized throughout ethnic teams and tribes and was a great match with the operating product and to the cultural context. It soft released in Abuja, in advance of launching in Kano after which Lagos.

Starting up off to be a foods shipping service about 3 many years ago, OyaNow obtained an sudden fillip within the Covid-19 pandemic which noticed desire for its very last-mile supply provider go with the roof. Now, it delivers Pretty much anything at all that may be shipped and OyaNow has business associations with lots of factories across the country.

The organization now has about eighty five bikes and vans as well as other vehicles, microinvestors which is eyeing the subsequent stage of enlargement in other nations in Africa, but Dayekh can’t say too a great deal more at this time. The serial innovator also has enterprise passions in medical marijuana and hemp in Malawi by way of a Swiss-based startup called House Africa. Previously this yr, Malawi legalised the expanding, promoting and exporting of cannabis for professional medical use.

“Winning this award – the George Bernard Shaw Unreasonable Individual Award – I love it! It pleases me in excess of if I had been to generally be manufactured President of America! It appears that evidently I do new points on a regular basis. But, the truth is, there is a pattern. Africa is often a tough area to know if You aren't from listed here. Western organizations see likely during the economies here but are nervous to generate a transfer due to perception of danger and a lack of certainty.

I've realised that I may be that bridge that inbound links Africa With all the West. It is a fairly distinctive situation to be in and I am just getting started.”

six tips about entrepreneurship from OyaNow founder Abbas Dayekh

Being an entrepreneur seriously isn’t straightforward. You require conviction and dedication. It’s probably a cliche but You can not succeed devoid of it. It’s a lonely highway. You may get dangers. You will upset the established order, and people don’t like that. Men and women like it any time you fall short. Personally, when I turn into devoted to a thing, no one can cease me.

The most important enterprise lesson I've discovered was the four Ps: value, products, promotion and spot. They're the key elements for achievement. OyaNow delivers all 4 together beautifully.

Failure is Studying and almost nothing to become ashamed of. Be honest with your self about what went Mistaken and go forward, striving not to generate precisely the same mistakes once more.

Entrepreneurship can be difficult on your own mental health and fitness. You can find every day considerations about cashflow, and regardless of whether you'll have enough funds to pay your charges; to pay your employees. Even now, I put up with panic assaults. It might be very difficult to repeatedly need to project a façade of strength for your personnel, buyers and the market when deep down you don’t know wherever your following tranche of cash will originate from to maintain heading. Be sincere with oneself about whether or not you can handle this strain.

Any time you expand, empower your personnel. They can be your small business. They will be the distinction between accomplishment and failure ultimately. Be humble as a pacesetter and hear your staff. Apologise for the mistakes. They must invest in into your eyesight. Empower them to co-create that eyesight mainly because it evolves.

Use a disproportionate number of Gals in the management staff. Females tend to be a lot less self-centred and aggressive. Coming from the patriarchal household business enterprise dominated by warring factions, I wish to be surrounded by Girls, who often carry balance and direct for your greater great rather then individual acquire.

The Real Innovation Awards is undoubtedly an once-a-year ceremony celebrating business innovation all over the world, hosted via the London Business Faculty’s Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE). To determine this year’s celebration occurring on ten December 2020 and hear insights on ‘Innovating in Adversity’ sign up below.

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#Passion Capital #Venture Capital #VC london

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eadigitalrepublic · 3 years

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Legal Marketing - 8 Steps to Successful Marketing For Attorneys

I know that many lawyers reading this went to law school never giving thought to the idea of having to do any legal marketing. In fact, I suspect that you would rather undergo root canal surgery than spend your precious time marketing and selling.

Just the thought of legal marketing causes an allergic rash to mysteriously appear all over our bodies. Can't we just be left alone to "practice"? After all, isn't practicing difficult enough? The long hours, demanding clients, time constraints, firm politics, and of course, dealing with opposing counsel on every nit.

Yes, practicing law is hard, especially in today's economic environment. It doesn't help that today the practice of law looks more like a business than ever before. With over 1 million lawyers in the United States alone, competition is fierce. Outsourcing, increased utilization of RFPs and contract attorneys, budgetary caps and alternative fees, hiring freezes, deferred start dates, reduced salaries, mass demotions, de-equitization of partners, and technology that commands 24/7 attention, are all altering the legal landscape. Practicing law may be a profession, but today's law firms are run more like a business than ever before. And like their counterparts in the business community, revenues and earnings drive major decisions.

The result of all this change is that just being a good lawyer or tactician is simply not enough anymore. If you really want to succeed in today's environment, you have to become knowledgeable about Legal Marketing and client acquisition. It's the only way you'll be in complete control of your professional destiny. Sure, you could bill an outrageous amount of hours, be a national expert in your area of the law, even a partner in a large firm, but these factors no longer guarantee your financial and personal success. Deep down inside you know this to be true...unfortunate...but true.

And getting started is the most difficult part. An attitude and belief shift may be in order. For many of us, Legal marketing services is seen as demeaning, time consuming and a waste of our precious time. It goes against everything we believe in. Yellow page ads, obnoxious late night cable commercials, glossy brochures and similar looking web sites all serving only to gratify an attorney's ego rather than sell real benefits and value reinforce this negative view of legal marketing. Most of us know that today's typical legal marketing activities represent the opposite ends of the spectrum...either professional garbage about the impressive "image" of the lawyer, or raunchy ads about getting the client massive amounts of money for injury claims. And worse, they all look alike.

The reason the majority of us dislike attorney marketing is that we were never taught how to do it in a professional and personally fulfilling way. And with the pressure to bill hours, how do we find the time to market? Even more, what tactics should we use that fits our personality and are comfortable to implement? Let me assure you that when you know how, marketing your solutions can be easy and enjoyable...if you implement a few of these ideas.

First and foremost, determine what it is you really want to be, do and have with respect to your legal career. Failing to address these important and unique issues will render any legal marketing strategy completely useless and boring. In other words, what do YOU want to do with your legal career; where do YOU want to do it, and what do YOU want your professional legacy to be? The answers to these three important questions explores what inspires and motivates you, what it is you stand for, what activities you love to do, the environment you want to do them in, who you want to serve, and what you want your professional life to stand for.

Second, you will need to adopt the mindset of a rainmaker, for being a rainmaker should be the most important activity you're engaged in and having a list of profitable and loyal clients should be viewed as your most important asset. You are simply going to have to recognize that legal marketing is not selling your soul or compromising your ethics, but is the key that will dictate your future. A marketing mindset is simply the expansion of your value proposition and awareness into the relationships and assets that already exist within your business and sphere of influence. You already have what you need to become a master rainmaker; you just have to leverage your existing assets for the opportunities that await you.

Third, get some help. There are coaches, consultants, books, experts, all sorts of people out there who can help you get started. You're an expert at the law...not marketing. If you want to cut years off your learning curve, cut down on failures and save thousands of dollars, get the expert advice you need.

Fourth, the key ingredients of any marketing plan include: (i) strategic planning, (ii) tactical execution, and (iii) follow-up. Woody Allen may believe that half of life's success is just showing up, but real achievement comes from preparation and follow-up. Marketing cannot be performed as a shotgun approach like the occasional power lunch or attending a dreaded networking event. You wouldn't prepare for a deposition or trial without a plan; why implement a marketing plan without the same thought process. Every aspect of your client development plan must address your long and short-term goals, your strengths, niche, and what you want out of your business. Your strategy should be laser-focused and measurable.

Fifth, get someone to help with the grunt work. Your secretary or a virtual assistant can help write letters, call clients, send out articles, press releases, and help you build a client database. There is no way you can do this alone or completely depend on the firm's marketing manager. It's up to you; but apply the 80/20 rule and spend the brunt of your time on the most important clients and matters.

Sixth, do a little client development every day. Call that client who you haven't heard from. Send an article of interest to a new prospect. Set a little bit of time every day to do some marketing and you'll soon see a flower grow where once there was just a seed.

Seventh, the reason most marketing efforts fail is due to a lack of follow-up with action. And we all make this mistake. In many ways, this is what determines your success or failure, and too often, we don't realize it until it's too late. Your system should utilize a "ladder" or "drip" multi- contact approach which will show you've been there for them and you're the "go-to" person they need and want. The mantra here is to follow-up and stay in front of them consistently. And don't stop until you either die or they tell you to drop dead!

Eighth, have fun with all of your legal marketing activities. Practicing law is difficult enough not to make the marketing fun. Choose tactics that you enjoy and are comfortable, or you won't follow through. Be targeted and optimistic that you're going to meet the people you need to advance your career and cause. And then with only a few simple disciplined actions every day, you will be led to the kind of success you desire. Executed properly, legal marketing will become like a second skin as your leads, relationships, and opportunities begin to grow exponentially.

#Legal marketing services

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genkiro · 3 years

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How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton M. Christensen

Quite many golden bits from How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton M. Christensen

Work can bring you a sense of fulfillment—but it pales in comparison to the enduring happiness you can find in the intimate relationships that you cultivate with your family and close friends.

But nothing can promise you perfect results. What I can promise you is that you won’t get it right if you don’t commit to keep trying.

As such, there is no one-size-fits-all approach that anyone can offer you. The hot water that softens a carrot will harden an egg.

When the winning strategy is not yet clear in the initial stages of a new business, good money from investors needs to be patient for growth but impatient for profit.

But the reason why both types of capital appear in the name of the theory is that once a viable strategy has been found, investors need to change what they seek—they should become impatient for growth and patient for profit.

IKEA doesn’t focus on selling a particular type of furniture to any particular demographically defined group of consumers. Rather, it focuses on a job that many consumers confront quite often as they establish themselves and their families in new surroundings: I’ve got to get this place furnished tomorrow, because the next day I have to show up at work.

The morning job needs a more viscous milkshake, which takes even longer to suck up. You might add in chunks of fruit—but not to make it healthy, because that’s not the reason it’s being hired. It’s being hired by morning customers to keep their commute interesting.

The afternoon make-me-feel-good-about-being-a-parent job is fundamentally different. Maybe the afternoon milkshake should come in half sizes; be less thick so it could be finished more quickly; and so on.

“the customers could say, ‘I could drink a V8, and get all the nutrition that I promised Mom that I’d get, but with a fraction of the effort and time!’” Once the makers of V8 had that realization, the ad campaign changed to focus on how the drink provided the required daily vegetable servings. It worked.

The two fundamental jobs that children need to do are to feel successful and to have friends—every day.

All too often, schools are structured to help most students feel like failures. Rather, we need to offer children experiences in school that help them do these jobs—to feel successful and do it with friends.

Indeed, what he did was important to get done, and he was trying to be selfless in giving Barbara exactly what he thought she needed. Barbara explained, however, that the day hadn’t been difficult because of the chores. It was difficult because she had spent hours and hours with small, demanding children, and she hadn’t spoken to another adult all day. What she needed most at that time was a real conversation with an adult who cared about her.

By working to truly understand the job she needs done, and doing it well, I can cause myself to fall more deeply in love with my spouse, and, I hope, her with me. Divorce, on the other hand, often has its roots when one frames marriage only in terms of whether she is giving me what I want. If she isn’t, then I dispense with her, and find someone else who will.

This may sound counterintuitive, but I deeply believe that the path to happiness in a relationship is not just about finding someone who you think is going to make you happy. Rather, the reverse is equally true: the path to happiness is about finding someone who you want to make happy, someone whose happiness is worth devoting yourself to. If what causes us to fall deeply in love is mutually understanding and then doing each other’s job to be done, then I have observed that what cements that commitment is the extent to which I sacrifice myself to help her succeed and for her to be happy.

Neither Annie nor I feel this intense attachment to the people of those countries or to our church because our work there was easy—it’s the opposite. We feel this way because we gave so much of ourselves.

Resources are what he uses to do it, processes are how he does it, and priorities are why he does it.

I worry a lot that many, many parents are doing to their children what Dell did to its personal computing business—removing the circumstances in which they can develop processes.

Parents have their own job to be done, and it can overshadow the desire to help their children develop processes. They have a job of wanting to feel like a good parent: see all the opportunities I’m providing for my child? Or parents, often with their heart in the right place, project their own hopes and dreams onto their children.

Self-esteem—the sense that “I’m not afraid to confront this problem and I think I can solve it”—doesn’t come from abundant resources. Rather, self-esteem comes from achieving something important when it’s hard to do.

As I look back on my own life, I recognize that some of the greatest gifts I received from my parents stemmed not from what they did for me—but rather from what they didn’t do for me.

Your parents most likely weren’t thinking consciously about teaching you the right priorities at the time—but simply because they were there with you in those learning moments, those values became your values, too. Which means that first, when children are ready to learn, we need to be there. And second, we need to be found displaying through our actions, the priorities and values that we want our children to learn.

if you find yourself heading down a path of outsourcing more and more of your role as a parent, you will lose more and more of the precious opportunities to help your kids develop their values—which may be the most important capability of all.

Children need to do more than learn new skills. The theory of capabilities suggests they need to be challenged. They need to solve hard problems. They need to develop values. When you find yourself providing more and more experiences that are not giving children an opportunity to be deeply engaged, you are not equipping them with the processes they need to succeed in the future.

Instead of taking jobs or assignments because they looked like a fast-track to the C-suite, he chose his options very deliberately for the experience they would provide. “I wouldn’t ever make the decision based upon how much it paid or the prestige,” he told my students “Instead, it was always: is it going to give me the experiences I need to wrestle with?”

Coping with a difficult teacher, failing at a sport, learning to navigate the complex social structure of cliques in school—all those things become “courses” in the school of experience.

Culture is a way of working together toward common goals that have been followed so frequently and so successfully that people don’t even think about trying to do things another way. If a culture has formed, people will autonomously do what they need to do to be successful.

Make no mistake: a culture happens, whether you want it to or not. The only question is how hard you are going to try to influence it. Forming a culture is not an instant loop; it’s not something you can decide on, communicate, and then expect it to suddenly work on its own. You need to be sure that when you ask your children to do something, or tell your spouse you’re going to do something, you hold to that and follow through.

The safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts. - CS Lewis

Marginal thinking made Blockbuster believe that the alternative to not pursuing the postal DVD market was to happily continue doing what it was doing before, at 66 percent margins and billions of dollars in revenue. But the real alternative to not going after Netflix was, in fact, bankruptcy. The right way to look at this new market was not to think, “How can we protect our existing business?” Instead, Blockbuster should have been thinking: “If we didn’t have an existing business, how could we best build a new one? What would be the best way for us to serve our customers?”

And that’s the trap of marginal thinking. You can see the immediate costs of investing, but it’s really hard to accurately see the costs of not investing. When you decide that the upside of investing in the new product isn’t substantial enough while you still have a perfectly acceptable existing product, you aren’t taking into account a future in which somebody else brings the new product to market.

The only way to avoid the consequences of uncomfortable moral concessions in your life is to never start making them in the first place. When the first step down that path presents itself, turn around and walk the other way.

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solutionarygrowth-blog · 5 years

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How Much Should Small Businesses Invest On Their Website and Digital Marketing?

There are a number of variables to consider before a business can determine what they should invest (not spend) in a website and digital marketing. There’s also the question of whether you should hire an in-house person, a freelancer, a design shop, a marketing agency or a combination of all these. Owning a business and making these types of major decisions can be one of the most exhilarating things in life. On the other hard it can be challenging at times. This is especially true for Small Businesses where the owner/operator is wearing multiple hats as they should. The small business owner starts their day thinking about their Customers, from there they move on to Finances, Sales, Marketing, Employees (HR), Product, Logistics, Technology, Contracts (Legal), Purchasing and the list goes on and on. Love it or hate it that’s the reality for most small business owners. The good news for small businesses is that if they’re paying attention and implementing procedures and strategies within each department the job will get easier over time. I think owning a small business means different things to different people. Some enter the world of entrepreneurship as a means of an investment, others are looking for freedom, some just want the opportunity to be the driver, but whatever the reason I applaud the millions of small business owners who wake up every day, actually sometimes they don’t get much sleep at all- and give it their all to make their business succeed. In this blog I’ll briefly covers the following areas to help you navigate through the difficult world of web design and digital marketing.

Questions you should ask yourself

Chart to show you what you should budget for a good website

Features To Include In Your Website Design

Trends To Consider

Questions To Ask a Web Designer or Web Design Shop

Questions To Ask a Digital Marketer or Marketing Agency

Technologies To Consider

There are tons of technologies available for small business owners to make their business run more efficient. The one technology that is often overlooked or just seen as a Marketing and Sales tool is their Website. So the question is, how much should a small business invest on their website and digital marketing? First and foremost, the majority of businesses need to view their website as the most important tool to communicate with their customers, vendors, employees and the community.

Side note: if you have a brick and mortar operation fewer and fewer people are coming into to buy products. Now if you’re a business like a Dry Cleaner, Restaurant, Gym, Medical Practice, Salon and Auto Repair Shop to name a few then people have to come in to consume your product and service. But it doesn’t mean they have to come to your business. It use to be that if you had great customer service, a decent product, a convenient location and fair prices it was enough to build a lifelong relationship with the customer. That is definitely not the case anymore and nowhere is that more evident than metro markets. It’s not just the Millennial generation.

Ok, back to websites and digital marketing. So let’s start with the most important factor for small businesses. Price/Cost! Then I’ll move on to features that may help you run your business more efficiently and help you increase awareness of your brand. How much does it cost to build a great website and maintain it? Well that depends on a number of variables and what direction you want to go into with doing it in-house or hiring a company to design your website.

Questions you should ask yourself

Will I be selling products on my website?

Do I want to generate leads on my website?

Is being an expert in my field a priority?

Are my competitor’s ahead of the curve?

How many pages do I need?

Who will create the content?

What is my time frame to complete the project?

Once you answer some of these questions you’ll be ready to determine whether you should have the project completed in house or outsourced. In the case of companies who already have an up-to-date website it’s a matter of who will maintain it. By up-to-date I mean your website is responsive or mobile optimized. After all the majority of searches are coming from mobile devices. You can easily spend $10k,20k,50k on a website if you don’t really know what you want and what your objective is for your business as it pertains to the internet. It pays to consult with a Marketer or Digital Marketing agency who understands how to pull all the pieces together. While a Web Design shop may be a good choice for designing the website they may not understand your business model or your goals from a Marketing perspective. My advice for small businesses in pricing the design of websites is to look at their overall expense budget and create a line item called Digital Marketing. Once you’ve done your research and consulted with a Marketer to determine how much more business you’re expected to earn through your new or improved website then you can determine your budget. The truth is it will take time to get a return on investment.

Below I’ve created a simple chart to give you an idea for how much you should invest in your website. The investment is based on company revenue. There’s a good reason I did it this way. That reason is based on a growth strategy and 15+ years of experience budgeting for marketing campaigns that would generate leads and satisfy a company’s objective and help their sales team acquire more clients. Ultimately, I know that some small businesses will only invest what they can, but my advice is to seek experienced designers and marketers who understand your business goals. I can’t count the number of times that my team and I had to tell a business interested in our services that we would not be able to accomplish their goals based on their budget.

Chart to show you what you should budget for a good website

Revenue up to $250k per year – Budget for $7500

Revenue up to $500k per year – Budget for $10k

Revenue up to $1 million per year – Budget for $25k

Revenue up to $2 million per year – Budget for $50k

Revenue up to $5 million per year – Budget for $100k

As for the ongoing Digital Marketing budget you should budget the same amount you invested to build the website for your digital marketing spend. It truly depends on your goals and how aggressive you want to be in building a lead generation campaign. You have to consider other factors that will impact the cost in a big way. Content creation, SEO, PPC, Social Media and Email Marketing should definitely be included in the Digital Marketing plan and strategy.

7 Features To Include In Your Website Design

The features of any website truly depend on your business model and on the needs of your clients. In this section I listed 7, but there are hundreds of features depending on what your clients desire and what your competitors are offering them. For example your target audience may expect to have a member portal to login to a dashboard.

Smart forms integrated into your CRM

Marketing automation to set up email drip campaigns

Appointment setting

Payment processing

FAQ page or Knowledgebase page

Install an SSL Certificate

Automatic Backups

10 Trends To Consider In Web Design

When it comes to web design trends you’ll find that you’re limited in what you can implement. As new features pop up it does not mean you should try to incorporate them into your website just so you can look like you embrace the trends. When it comes to trends I’m mostly referring to redesign or new design. However, in the case of video and storytelling this is a trend you can incorporate into your current website by adding a new page. Maybe you can add a plugin that will display your videos in a creative layout and give you the opportunity to tell your story in an interesting way.

Color with Vintage Quality

Menu Buttons that standout

Custom Scrolling

Blending Tactile with Digital

Subtle animation and micro-interaction

Cinematic experiences

Immersive Storytelling

Grid Layouts

AI chatbots like Messenger

Less Stock photos and more Authentic photos

12 Questions To Ask a Web Designer or Web Design Shop

If you don’t already know there’s a difference between web design and web development. I don’t believe in unicorns or jack of all trades, but I do believe that you can find a good designer and a good developer who may or may not be on the same team and work well together on your project. It’s important to understand what the designer and developer which may be working in 1 agency will be charging you for discovery and revisions. If your budget is set than you’ll want to start by creating a map of your website and the designer will be able to build a wireframe. Every agency, design shop and design approaches this from a different angle. They may use mockup tools like Balsamiq, Invisionapp, Mockingbird, UXPin, Visio and others to get you a prototype. You should expect to pay for this service. Think of it like building a house. You pay the architect to create the basic design. If you choose to hire them to create the blueprint then you’ll have to pay for the plans too. If the architect happens to work with the builder, you may or may not choose that builder to build the house. I would say that the biggest complaint I hear from businesses is that the web designer or agency hired to design/develop their website took twice as long as what they agreed to complete the website. Make sure that the designer or agency you hire can give you clear timelines.

Can you send me a list of sites you designed?

Do you charge hourly or by project?

Do you have a project manager or 1 contact for the entire project?

How many revisions am I allowed?

What are the payment terms?

What CMS will you build it in?

What support do you offer once the site is live?

Do you work using templates/themes or build custom sites?

Will the website be responsive?

Who will write the content?

What services do you provide?

What kind of results can I expect?

8 Questions To Ask a Digital Marketer or Marketing Agency

I could add 100 questions to this section, but I chose to go small and really focus on giving solid advice. I’ve been a Digital Marketer for over 10 years. In that time I’ve attended hundreds of conferences, taken dozens of classes, tested thousands of campaigns

Have you created a campaign in my vertical?

How will you measure your efforts?

How do you stay up-to-date with the latest techniques?

What kind of tools do you use?

What kind of reporting will you deliver?

How long will it take to see results?

How much will it cost?

Who will be working with you on my campaign?

Technology Tools To Consider Using

When it comes to software and technology tools it can be overwhelming to find the right one for your company. Below is a short list of the companies, ideas and tools you can use for designing your website and managing your digital marketing presence.

Simple Web Design: Wix, Squarred Space

Semi-Custom Web Design: Creative Market, ThemeForest

Advanced Web Design: Hire Agency, Web Developer, Marketing Consultant

Freelance: Thumbtack, Associations, Colleges, LinkedIn, Upwork, Fiverr

Marketing Automation: Hubspot, Marketo, Pardot

Social Media Management: Buffer, Hootesuite, Sprout, Klout

Email: Constant Contact, MailChimp, Emma, AWeber

CMS: WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Sitecore

Develop: Code.org, Gitbub, Bluemix

Data: Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, Google My Business, Google Search Console , Lucky Orange

PPC: Google Adwords, Bing, Wordstream

SEO: Moz, Ahrefs, SEMRush, Spyfu

Social Media: Facebook, LinkedIn, Slideshare, Pinterest,Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Vimeo

CRM: Salesforce, InfusionSoft, Insightly, Zoho

Communication: Basecamp, DaPulse, Percolate, WP Plugins, Slack

Design: Canva, Stencil, PicMonkey, Pablo

Content: Buzzsumo, Mention, Epicbeat, Right Relevance

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marketingbuzzing-blog · 6 years

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Legal Marketing - 8 Steps to Successful Marketing For Attorneys

The result of all this change is that just being a good lawyer or tactician is simply not enough anymore. If you really want to succeed in today's environment, you have to become knowledgeable about legal marketing and client acquisition. It's the only way you'll be in complete control of your professional destiny. Sure, you could bill an outrageous amount of hours, be a national expert in your area of the law, even a partner in a large firm, but these factors no longer guarantee your financial and personal success. Deep down inside you know this to be true...unfortunate...but true.

And getting started is the most difficult part. An attitude and belief shift may be in order. For many of us, legal marketing is seen as demeaning, time consuming and a waste of our precious time. It goes against everything we believe in. Yellow page ads, obnoxious late night cable commercials, glossy brochures and similar looking websites for law firms all serving only to gratify an attorney's ego rather than sell real benefits and value reinforce this negative view of legal marketing. Most of us know that today's typical legal marketing activities represent the opposite ends of the spectrum...either professional garbage about the impressive "image" of the lawyer, or raunchy ads about getting the client massive amounts of money for injury claims. And worse, they all look alike.

#LocalSEOLawyers #Websitesforlawfirms #SEOforlawfirms #legal marketing #SEOforLawyers

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shirlleycoyle · 4 years

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The Last Good Summer

In the fall of 2015, Carole Radziwill, author, former reality television star, and owner of a famous couch, sat down to a televised lunch with her then-friend and coworker Bethenny Frankel. The two were filming a scene that would air during Episode 2 of Season 8 of the Real Housewives of New York a year later, and the issue du jour was Radziwill's relationship with her boyfriend, Adam Kenworthy, who is almost a quarter of a century younger than her.

"How is it going with Adam?" Frankel asked Radziwill, who was in her early 50s at the time, before probing further: "Could you be with him for ten years? Could that happen?"

"It's a great relationship. It's just, I'm really happy," was Radiziwill's response. And then, Frankel, known above all else for not beating around the bush, presented the key question:

"What would stop it, if nothing stopped it in the first year?"

"He wants kids. He wants different things in life, and he should have them, and I hope he gets everything he wants," Radziwill replied. "We do love each other. I told him, I only have like five good summers left. He has like 20."

I only have like five good summers left. The words spewed out of television sets across the world, astounding Bravo-watchers everywhere. If Radziwill, a successful, beautiful woman-about-town only had a few good summers left—so few she could specify and count them on one hand—where did that leave the rest of us?

"The five summers plan does not mean I will be dead in five years," Radziwill explained in an interview producers cut to immediately after her shocking statement. "It simply means that I am very aware of the fact that in five years I might be in a very different place in my life. So I am very careful about my use of time, much more careful than I was even in my 40s."

Though she's been off the show for a few years now, the “five good summers left” concept has not left the ether; take, for instance, the dozens of t-shirts available for purchase emblazoned with variations on the phrase, including one from the Real Housewives podcast Bitch Sesh that reads "Carole's Last Great Summer," the words spelled out in a 70s-esque font above a leaping dolphin.

I'd put it out of mind myself, but this year, it came back around, taking on new meaning, when fans of the franchise began to realize that the summer of 2020, in all its inescapable misery, was, according to her original timeline, Carole's actual last good summer. "Just made the realization that this is Caroles last good summer. Wow. Really goin out with a bang," Samantha Bush, who runs the Instagram account @BravoHistorian, wrote in May.

The words struck me too—what a strange, idiotic coincidence, the kind of anniversary you either actively look for while trying to make sense of your life, or stumble across with glee. A summer that for the majority of people on Earth was in many ways like no summer they had ever had before, and not one they would want to repeat again, would be Carole's last good one.

If Radziwill truly was so systematic in her approach to assessing and using her time, she was doing something we have all been forced to think about a lot lately. For the young and the privileged, the idea of Just five good summers is unfathomable, a concept to regard with shock and awe, sympathy and fear. But there is nothing horrifying about trying to create a set of rules, of guidelines for yourself, the way Radziwill was doing. It’s a way to understand and frame your choices, your life, your future—and it’s something we all do with regularity in all aspects of our lives, and with new, constantly shifting urgency right now, given how messy and unsystematized the world has become.

We spend a fair amount of time trying to outsource these rules to other people, and, increasingly, to things, to make our lives easier, but mostly, to make our own choices simpler. If you have only five good summers left, then you know what you have to do—either find more time, or make that time count. Using systems and data to do the latter has become the norm.

This issue of VICE magazine, the third of our year and a collaboration with Motherboard, our tech desk, concerns just that kind of systematic approach: algorithms. An algorithm is, at its core, a set of rules, created by a human, or many humans, to provide stasis and ease. To put a difficult decision or complex function into the mechanisms of a system, one that is all-knowing, logical, and fixable, seems strategic and smart.

But humans make those systems, and they funnel the data into those algorithms, and so nothing is truly untouched by our presence. Along with the logic we’re craving might come groupthink, or homogenization, bias—and unfortunate mishaps, intended or otherwise. In tandem with that mapped-out five-year plan might come a global pandemic, uprisings, resistance to the status quo. That's some of what we tried to explore in this issue—our never-ending presence in our own creations, our inability to get out of our own way, as much as we might attempt to.

I reached out to Radziwill to see if she wanted to talk about the dark irony and accidental prescience of her catchphrase a couple of months ago; she did not get back to me, though her website's auto response very kindly said, "Thank you! Love, CR." She appears, if social media, that carefully controlled beast, is anything to be counted on, to have laid relatively low over the past few months, occasionally speaking out about the necessity of mask-wearing and the pressing need for our country to address its deep-seated civil rights issues. Her on-again, off-again relationship with Kenworthy seems still on, in some capacity, five summers later—they were recently spotted hanging out at former cast member Dorinda Medley’s Berkshires home. "Venturing out of NYC for the first time since quarantine never felt so good. Sunshine, country air, and these two fresh water pearls……" Radziwill captioned a photo of her in the pool in July with Medley and Medley's daughter, apparently taken by Kenworthy. She’s enjoying her “last good summer,” it seems, but surely not in the way she had planned. Rules may not be intended to be broken, but sometimes they end up that way anyway.

Follow Kate Dries on Twitter.

The Last Good Summer syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

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there-is-jaz-nothing-like-yu · 4 years

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Read and practice

31 Things That Happen When You Finally Decide to Live Your Dreams

You’ve been thinking about this for a long time, haven’t you? (UHUH~)

You’ve reveled in shallow friendships, numbed yourself in trivial distractions and justified low-living for long enough. You’ve tried convincing yourself—to no avail—that you’re not the person you can’t seem to escape. ( YES!!!)

Over time, you’ve disconnected with your environment and relationships. You’ve started, little by little, to be more authentic with yourself and the world around you. ( Authentic coz I thought I had identified all the bad habits that I need to change and then recently I have someone totally unexpected telling me and giving me insights of my blindspots!!! that I missed. But I totally not going to stay at this place, so I am not sure if by the time I leave, this person will let me know all my blind spots)

What took years to hide only took a moment of honesty to recover. And now, here you find yourself, on what feels like the edge of a cliff.

Looking out. (Confused, whether what I prayed for is the one that I should follow. Dont even talk about listening to my heart, it is not responding other than its main function of beating)

You’re terrified of what might happen if you allow yourself to go there. Will everything fall apart? (ABSOLUTELY)

You’re tempted to turn around and go back to the lie you’ve been living. Where it’s easy, convenient and less demanding. You’ve done it so many times before. ( I have always run away, shirk responsibilities ,run back into familiar and easy routes just to escape bad decisions or hardship! When I chose to stick on during the hardship, I should not have turn back. Now I am delayed by myself in the whole process. I am totally not reliable and accountable at all)

So why is this time different?

This time is different because you’ve caught on to the fact that there’s really nothing behind you. It’s all nonsense. At this point, going back would be more painful than the unknown before you—no matter what that might be.

So actually, you can’t go back. How you see yourself has fundamentally changed, and that’s why this time you will succeed. As Zig Ziglar tells of his friend Tom Harmon: “Tom recognized that the image of himself had shifted. Despite the fact that he still weighed more than 400 pounds, he no longer considered himself fat.”

Here’s what you’ll find after you take the leap.

1. You’ll see “it” everywhere.

“Our eyes only see and our ears only hear what our brain is looking for.” —Dan Sullivan

Once you commit to living your dreams, the lids blinding your eyes will be lifted. A completely new world will be opened to your view.

You will notice opportunities that have been in your reach all along, ones your conscious mind simply didn’t pay heed to. From a psychological perspective, your selective attention will zoom-in on what you want in microscopic detail. All other sensory inputs will be outsourced to your subconscious and forgotten.

The fundamental change taking place is your self-identity. This is the point of no return. Once this shift has happened, your whole world changes.

Nothing becomes impossible to you.

Your only limitations are your consciousness, which is quickly expanding.

Whatever you want quickly becomes yours because you see what most people don’t.

Now that you can see it everywhere, you are sprinting.

2. You’ll have boundless energy, fueled by purpose.

After you’ve crossed the threshold of decision, you will find a new wellspring of energy—one that appears to be infinite.

You’ll no longer need to rely on willpower.

Willpower is garbage. It is for amateurs. It’s for people still conflicted about what they want to do.

Once you’ve moved beyond will to why, you no longer have to coax yourself into action. The decision has been made. Your internal resolve and zeal trump external stimuli—no matter how difficult.

Rather than focusing on defense against further damage, you’re on the offense, sprinting to the top of your mountain. From your perspective, you’re already at the top.

3. You’ll learn, grow and understand quickly.

Once you’ve made the leap, you’ll have a thirst for knowledge, wisdom and understanding. You become both student and teacher.

You will become a sponge, soaking up everything you can, creating loads of neural connections and schematic networks. You’ll learn the left-brained logic and rules so your right brain can have limitless freedom to break the rules and create.

With enhanced consciousness, time will slow down for you. You’ll see things in several more frames than others. While they’re trying to react to the situation, you’ll be able to manipulate and tweak the situation to your liking.

You’ll make connections others don’t see. As a result, you will cement your knowledge by generously sharing it with others.

The teacher is always the one who learns the most.

So you will teach and share abundantly. You will experience far more joy seeing others benefiting from your teaching than by experiencing success yourself.

4. You’ll apply what you’re learning.

Thriving is all you understand anymore. Mediocrity is a mismanagement of your innate human potential.

As a result, you are constantly applying new information to accelerate your progress. You’re a scientist of life, experimenting and trying new things.

When something doesn’t work, you don’t persist. You cut your losses and move on, detached from the need to be right. Instead, you want to progress and understand and serve. Humility is your banner.

5. You’ll realize all of your previous fears were unfounded, thus allowing you to embrace future fears.

Someone who has gone from overweight to fit understands the process. It’s now logical to them. Similarly, a person who has learned how to make millions of dollars understands the process. The magic is gone. Theory and experience are two completely different things.

But the person who hasn’t yet reached their goal is still clinging to often highly ambiguous theories. The process doesn’t make sense. There’s still doubt about whether things will actually work out.

But when you fully commit to your path, you are freed from this dichotomy. Like Tom Harmon, you’ll have a completely new self-image. In your mind, you already are where you plan to be.

When the why is strong enough, the how is easily found.

So you don’t worry about it anymore. You see fear as part of the process, as a signal you’re moving in the right direction.

6. You’ll stop worrying about—and instead anticipate—the future.

“Your future is as bright as your faith.” —Thomas S. Monson

Once you’ve made your decision, you have nothing to worry about. You are a magnet attracting nothing but brilliance. Every day is a step closer to your ideal than the last. The future is only getting better and better. You are in creation mode.

You’re no longer chasing happiness. Happiness is within. You have embraced who you are, so you’re not trying to compete with some external indicator of success.

You know success is inevitable because you’re in alignment. Every day your external world more closely matches your internal reality. As Dan Sullivan said, “You can have everything you love in life as long as you give up what you hate.”

7. All of your needs will be met.

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation): that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.” ―William Hutchison Murray

Beyond your point of no return, luck and miracles become your norm. All of your needs are met—be they material, financial, intellectual, spiritual or relational.

The right people will come into your life. You will have enough time and money to get moving. The right books, articles and audios will find their way into your life at just the right time.

You have become a vector for everything you need to accomplish your task. Don’t question why—just gracefully, humbly and gratefully receive. The shocking truth is that receiving is far more difficult than giving. Receiving, at a conscious and evolved level, is your purpose. The universe wants to give you everything as soon as you are ready to receive.

You will be given everything you need when you need it. And you no longer question that fact. Here you are.

8. People will enter your life to help you.

“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” —Unknown

When you are on a dedicated mission, people will come to your aid to help you make it real. This is the essence of Seth Godin’s book Tribes. When you are ready to go, here’s what you will find:

Mentors who will teach you and radically accelerate your progress.

Fans and supporters.

Students who want to learn.

Haters (these are just as necessary as the others who enter your life).

Your relationships are by far the most important aspect of your journey. You will begin attracting the right people in your life when you start doing the work.

It begins with initiative and openness. Once you’re ready to learn, you’ll have teachers. Higher up the mountain, your work will attract the very people who will help spread your message and forward your cause.

9. You’ll have bouts of doubt, but they won’t last long.

From time to time, even after countless pieces of evidence that you’re on the right track, you will be tempted to revert. Doubts will creep in. You’ll question everything about yourself and what you’re doing. You’ll go through periods of time without success. Things will appear to be falling apart.

This is a crucial part of the process. Indeed, far more fundamental than what you do is who you become. Growing in consciousness and progressing as a human being is intended to challenge you to the core. Most people take the path of least resistance and this is not that path.

Living your dreams is not a “cheap experience.” It is supposed to require some effort, something from the depths of your soul.

So even when you’re tempted to quit, you will dig deep. And if for some reason you decide to quit, that will haunt you until you rectify that decision. As Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. said, “A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” You can never go back to the way things once were, even if for a time you pretend to.

No matter how devastating your doubts, you will eventually regain the hope you once had. But now it will only be stronger and more solidified.

10. You’ll feel inclined to do things you never considered before.

You are no longer rigid in your thinking. You’re open to whatever you feel inspired to do, even if—in the moment—it feels extremely uncomfortable. You no longer operate based on how you are feeling in the moment.

You expect to be inclined to do things yourself and others might be uncomfortable with. You are completely open. You are moving.

You no longer stall or question when you get a prompt. You respond immediately and automatically.

And when you act on these impressions, you never regret it. You only regret when you don’t act, and are left to wonder what might have been.

The more open you become, the more you find yourself in places you never thought you’d be. But you don’t question why, you just keep going. Along the way, you “connect the dots looking backward.”

11. You’ll see past the broken approaches most people take.

The conventional approach is broken.

Most people haven’t committed to what they feel they should be doing. They remain unaware of who they are, what they stand for and who they are becoming. They are living in fear and confusion, simply waiting to be told what to do. They want the easiest path. They are following dogmatic assumptions.

Even worse, most people will go against their own values to fit in with the crowd. One of the most famous psychological experiments—the Asch Experiment—discovered that people will conform even when it’s obviously the wrong decision.

But when you’re liberated from conformity, you quickly discern more effective and efficient approaches. This comes from making connections others either haven’t made or are too afraid to make.

12. You’ll progress quickly at anything you undertake.

Carol Dweck, a Stanford psychology professor, has revolutionized our understanding of intelligence. Most people are taught that intelligence is fixed. Either you have “it” or you don’t. However, Dweck redefined intelligence as a fluid and flexible entity where the most resilient come out on top.

Those with this “mastery” approach, who seek learning with an intrinsic desire to improve, are the people who become the best in the world at what they do.

Success is not born; it is made.

Once your decision has been made, you’re no longer restrained in your abilities. Instead, you are enhanced and consecrated in your performance. Where most people rely solely upon themselves, your abilities are channeled and heightened by a source beyond your own.

13. Nothing will seem impossible to you.

“You need to aim beyond what you are capable of. You need to develop a complete disregard for where your abilities end. If you think you’re unable to work for the best company in its sphere, make that your aim. If you think you’re unable to be on the cover of Time magazine, make it your business to be there. Make your vision of where you want to be a reality. Nothing is impossible.” —Paul Arden

Believing something is impossible is arrogant.

It was arrogant of people to believe we’d never fly. It was arrogant of people to believe we’d never put a man on the moon. It was arrogant of people to believe we wouldn’t have satellites in the sky guiding global communication.

We don’t know what we don’t know. Why put a cap on what’s possible? Why live in the past?

Anything and everything could happen. And being open to that fact allows you infinitely more options than those who put an invisible barrier on possibility. Without question, you must believe what you’re doing is possible. As Napoleon Hill said, “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

14. Luck/miracles will become commonplace.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.”

Similarly, Bruce Springsteen said, “When it comes to luck, you make your own.”

Dan Sullivan said, “Luck and God favor those with good habits.”

When you decide to live your dreams, you expect radical and amazing stuff to happen. You don’t define what that must be; you simply trust that things will work out. Your daily habits regularly attract beautiful things from the outside world.

Some will call you lucky. Others will call you blessed. Whatever the case, it’s your new normal.

15. You’ll have little interest in what most people are entertained by.

“Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” —Eleanor Roosevelt

Beyond your point of no return is freedom—freedom from triviality and mediocrity. No longer will you be able to engage in gossip or other destructive activities. These things simply don’t make sense to you anymore.

Your entertainment is learning, growth, connecting deep rather than shallow, and grand adventures. Since you no longer limit what you can have in life, you regularly travel. You regularly meet new and interesting people. Even the small and simple things become significant and allow you to be fully entertained with a few moments of thought by yourself.

16. You’ll live holistically.

“When a man makes his thoughts pure, he no longer desires impure food.” —James Allen

After you’ve have a radical shift in identity, you realize that human beings are holistic. When one area of your life is out of alignment, every other area of your life suffers. And you’re increasingly aware when your top priorities are being neglected. You protect the essentials.

Furthermore, when you improve one area of your life, you grow in all areas—you are the system. Consequently, every small and incremental victory you experience creates a surge of momentum toward your ultimate ideal.

17. You’ll no longer fear success or wealth.

The most crippling and pervasive fear is the fear of success. Many people genuinely believe success is a sin, or that it’s not intended for them. But once you have a compelling vision, you stop focusing on yourself. Money is simply a means to an end. Money is a tool.

Not only is your success inevitable, it’s essential for accomplishing what you feel inspired to accomplish.

18. You’ll no longer fear “losing it all.”

You are already complete. No form of success or failure will change that. Consequently, you’re no longer attached to your reputation, accomplishments or possessions. If all of it was somehow lost, you’d have complete confidence that you could continue moving forward. You’d adjust and continue to expect the universe to conspire for your good.

This perspective allows you to be more authentic and free. You’re no longer trying to please everyone around you. You are going to do what you believe you should regardless of the outcome. If things fall apart, you don’t perceive it as a negative, but a positive. As Ryan Holiday wrote in The Obstacle is the Way, “There is no good or bad without us; there is only perception. There is the event itself and the story we tell ourselves about what it means.”

19. You’ll consistently do what’s right, even when it’s not popular.

Most people can eat healthy for one day. Most people can be positive for a few minutes. But when things stop being fun, most people’s resolves crumble.

Not you. Not anymore.

Consistency is the evidence of belief.

Zig Ziglar used to tell a story of traveling one day and not getting in bed until 4 a.m. At 5:30 a.m., his alarm went off. He said, “Every fiber of my being was telling me to stay in bed.” But he had made a commitment, so he got up anyway. Admittedly, he had a horrible day and wasn’t productive at all.

But he says that decision changed his life. As he explains:

“Had I bowed to my human, physical, emotional, and mental desire to sleep in, I would have made that exception. A week later, I might have made an exception if I only got four hours of sleep. A week later, maybe I only got seven hours of sleep. The exception so many times becomes the rule. Had I slept in, I would’ve faced that danger. Watch those exceptions!”

Similarly, Harvard business professor, Clayton Christensen said, “100 percent commitment is easier than 98 percent commitment.” When you justify incongruent behaviors once, you open the door to a lifetime of justifications.

20. You’ll have more responsibility.

Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben once told Peter Parker, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Unfortunately, he had it backward.

The constraints of responsibility force you to think more creatively. Responsibility qualifies you to show up at a higher level. Hence Benjamin Franklin’s saying, “If you want something done, ask a busy person.”

The president of the United States doesn’t have responsibility because he first had power. Rather, he has power because he assumed a huge responsibility.

Most people avoid responsibility. They’d rather someone else carry the load. They’d rather not have to deal with the consequences. Fear of failure (i.e., their ego) stops them from trying in the first place.

When you start taking your dreams seriously, you will not initially be qualified. But as you take on greater responsibility, you’ll become qualified to do what you need to do. You’ll grow into your responsibilities and have increased power and influence.

Taking on the right forms of responsibility can put life on easy mode. It’s like injecting yourself with motivation steroids—urgency and desperation.

When you’re desperate to be healthy, you eat right and exercise. No excuses. When you’re desperate to be successful, honing your craft is far more appealing than mindlessly surfing Facebook.

21. You’ll often be questioned and criticized for what you’re doing.

When you begin living your dreams, you will often receive unsolicited critique. If something is noteworthy, there will be haters. As Robin Sharma, author of The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, has said, “haters confirm greatness.”

When you really start showing up, the haters will be intimidated by you. Rather than being a reflection of what they could do, you become a reflection of what they are not doing. This isn’t about you. It’s about them and their own insecurity.

But the majority of people will support the hell out of you. Most people are inspired when someone lives their dreams.

22. You’ll often be misunderstood.

By nature, having a sense of vision is weird to most people. Being real and authentic is weird. It’s unusual and it’s rare. It’s peculiar. And many people will misunderstand you.

A lot of people won’t get what you’re about or why you’re doing what you’re doing. Most of them mean well. They simply don’t get it, and are afraid of what they don’t understand.

Others will understand you. They’ll support you and cheer you on. Don’t take these people for granted. You need them more than you know.

23. You’ll stop caring about what is just and fair.

Social exchange theory is a psychological and sociological perspective on why people do what they do. Essentially, people only engage in activities and relationships that benefit them. If an exchange isn’t perceived as fair, the relationship ends. Consequently, people are seen as purely self-motivated in all they do.

But there is a four stage hierarchy of motivations that allows for the possibility of genuine altruism.

At stage one, you are motivated by fear: living on the defensive to avoid punishments. At stage two, you are motivated by reward: focusing only on exchanges that most benefit you. At stage three, you are motivated by duty: where you no longer care about fairness. You’re going to proceed regardless of punishments or rewards.

At the pinnacle—stage four—you are motivated by love. Your aim is to bring as much joy to each individual as you possibly can. Your love transcends human reasoning. It drives you to do things most would consider crazy. You no longer live by conventional rules or wisdom. You are directed by the highest and purest power in existence.

24. Your goals will manifest quickly.

As an evolved person, you are connected to your higher source. You’ve learned how to create the results you want quickly—often instantaneously. You believe it and quickly you see it. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.”

25. You’ll be completely transparent about the good, the bad and the ugly.

Most people inflate their goodness and minimize their failings and shortcomings. However, beyond your point of no return, you no longer care about looking stupid. You’re more concerned with the truth.

You want deep and intimate connections. Your relationships are a sacred space where you and those you love can be completely authentic. Your faults intensify the love other people have for you, and vice versa.

Furthermore, you’re humble enough to admit when you are wrong or if you’ve changed your mind. At the same time, you’re not hiding. You’re not afraid of being “seen in all your glory,” as Jim Carrey says. You’re not afraid of admitting you rock at something and that you want to use your skills to help.

26. You’ll make things right with people you’ve wronged.

Embracing—rather than avoiding—reality requires that you carry no unnecessary baggage. You want to be completely clear so you’re able to create and flow.

As a result, you openly apologize for things you’ve done wrong in the past. You seek forgiveness, which is really more about you than the person you harmed. It’s not your choice how people respond to your genuine apologies.

27. You’ll be more authentic in public. Who do you have to impress?

Once you know what you want—and you’re completely set on doing it—you stop caring about ridiculous stuff, like what you’re wearing that day.

Steve Jobs wore the same outfit every day. Even among the world’s leaders, he didn’t wear a suit, and people were fine with it. Because he was fine with it. Mark Zuckerberg is similar.

These people are less concerned with fashion and more concerned with efficiency. They don’t care what other people think. They are far less concerned about how they appear and far more concerned about the work they do.

This doesn’t mean you have to be a slob. But if, for some reason, you have a wardrobe malfunction, you won’t let it ruin your day. Beyond clothing and appearance, you are wholly yourself—rather than what society would tell you is proper.

28. You’ll put yourself out there more.

It will initially be embarrassing to start putting yourself out there. But you’re not going to let your ego get in the way of your vision. So you’ll put yourself out there at the expense of looking foolish.

You’ll put yourself out there at the expense of being wrong because fear no longer drives your behavior. Even if you are unsure of what you’re doing, you’d rather act in faith than hide in fear.

You’d rather accept the consequences of trying your best than hiding your talents.

29. You’ll be genuinely happy for other people’s success.

As an evolved person, you are happy when other people succeed and sad when other people fail. The success of others is seen as the success of the whole.

You genuinely want what’s best for everyone, even those you consider your competitors. Jealousy and envy are the ego, which operates out of fear. You’ve moved beyond that. As Ryan Holiday writes, “Ego is the enemy.”

30. You’ll need more alone time for the deep work.

“Delegate everything except genius.” —Dan Sullivan

Once you’re serious about living your dreams, you’ll need to build a team. In the beginning, you’ll probably need to manage most of the logistics yourself. But the sooner you delegate, the more energy you can put into the work only you can do.

Eventually you’ll want to delegate everything accept your superpower. You are the creator and your team makes it real. As Dan Sullivan said, “There are all kinds of great things going on in the company that I know nothing about.”

Deep work is essential for creation. But it is becoming increasingly difficult to do. You will need to be vigilant against endless distractions and time-wasters.

Only you know your body and mind, but most of the world’s highly successful people do their creating early in the morning. They wake up and get to work. No email, no social media, no communication. Just sitting with themselves, their ideas, their resources and getting breakthroughs.

If you’re highly focused (i.e., you regularly get into psychological flow), you’ll be enormously successful and prolific with only three to five hours of work each day.

31. You’ll have way more time.

“You have to work less to make more money.” —Dan Sullivan

When you commit to living intentionally:

You will excrete the elements of your life that don’t fit.

You will repel people who poison your spirit.

You will attract mentors who help you progress.

You will build a team that multiplies your work and takes care of the moving parts.

In short, you will have way more time than you’re used to having.

Your life will be simpler.

You will be focused exclusively on those things which matter most to you. Your No. 1 priority will be your family.

You’ll be holistically healthy: You’ll make time for fitness, learning, engaging with others, rest and recovery, and adventure.

You will be living the abundant life. This is the most natural way to live. It’s the life of creation and power.

DONT TURN BACK. You have come so far to quit now. You have spent precious time to bite your bullet for that. Continue!

In fact, a certain Aw was right, everything, I hate to admit it, every single thing is a bell curve. And the only way to get out of this dumb bell curve is to find that THING that you can work at, and work your ass off to differentiate yourself and own the success of working that.

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729renegades · 5 years

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ANGEL INVESTORS. . . PART 2

INTRODUCTION

Early-stage investors focus primarily on backing great teams. Angels will examine your team members’ complementary skills, out-of-the-box thinking, and mental flexibility to pivot whenever needed. Ultimately, they must trust the business owner to make the difficult day-to-day decisions. If the angel has a positive history with a serial entrepreneur, it’s not uncommon for her to write a cheque before ever hearing their new business idea. However, what type of angel would you want to have as an equity owner in your company?

WHO DO I CHOOSE

It matters greatly who invests the initial capital in your company. As an early stage entrepreneur, you’re walking around with a tin cup asking for money. A well-known angel investor or a credible angel syndicate can validate your deal and positively influence who notices your company next.

However, receiving dollars at the early stages of a capital raise is helpful to jumpstart fundraising traction. Investors want to see strong numbers before they’ll talk to you, and low profile investors are often the people who help provide the traction that brings in well-respected names later.

It’s important to attract a lead or anchor investor who will set the terms of the deal. If she has the requisite credibility, then others will immediately follow without wanting to renegotiate the original deal terms. Additionally, choose an angel who is willing to do convertible debt instead of equity. It’s faster, cheaper ($5,000 using standard legal documents versus $20,000 on average), and provides more flexibility in your first round of funding. She must be fair on valuation asking for no more than 15% of the company in the angel round. Make sure the angel doesn’t want a board seat, requests no voting rights, and won’t micromanage your operations and next round of financing. Remember, the success of each round becomes the platform upon which you’ll launch your next round of funding.

An engaged investor base will help with introductions, referrals, and advice

A word of warning. Don’t allow venture capital (VC) firms to invest in your angel round. If a VC decides not to make a follow-on investment, a negative credibility signal will be sent to the marketplace. Any amount below $1million would be considered a small percentage of a VC’s overall fund and they will consider this investment into your business an experiment that may or may not be continued.

APPROACHING AND PITCHING THE ANGEL INVESTOR

When pitching an angel investor, state your business quickly and succinctly. Use bullet points in your email to indicate what you want (call to action), status of the current capital raise, how much money has been raised and who the investors are, the upcoming milestones, and your team. Demonstrate your sales traction and how you plan to get revenues up 5-10x. Your data will communicate that you’re a desirable investment; never use over-the-top superlatives.

Mark Suster, partner at Upfront Ventures in LA, has on average 35,000 emails sitting in his inbox. The average venture capitalist reads a pitch deck in under 4 minutes. He won’t take more than 30 seconds to read an email. Make sure yours stands out.

If you get no response, then be persistent and send your follow up email 3-4 days later. If there’s still no response, ping them again a few days later with the same email.

Success! The angel replied to your email. Now what? When responding to emails, the same day is the norm. In fact, the more important the person, the sooner you want to respond. Anything beyond 24 hours could be misinterpreted as disinterest. A same day answer signals that you’re on top of things and that the sender is important to you.

WHO COMES ALONG ON THE PITCH?

Fundraising is one of the few things the business owner or CEO can’t outsource. Hunter Walk, partner at seed stage VC firm Homebrew, explains: “You don’t need an intermediary. You need to be out there building relationships with potential investors. You need to understand how to tell your story, to get someone to believe in you. Failure to do this well doesn’t just impact fundraising – your hiring, PR, and partnership development will also suffer. So, founders, please send the email directly to me – preferably with a link to a product demo instead of a 60-page business plan.“

When your company has grown significantly and capital raising becomes more complex, only then is it recommended to hire an investment banker and advisors. Until then, you are the only person who can get yourself financed.

YOUR MINDSET WHEN RAISING MONEY

Elizabeth Yin, a partner at 500 Startups (a small business accelerator) has developed the following guideline for raising capital: 5-100-500. Over 5 weeks, meet with 100 investors to raise $500,000 in your first angel or seed level round.

She suggests to engage in 100 meetings to hone your pitch, and find the right investors that are interested in your space and vision. This translates into 4 meetings per day, 5 days a week, for 5 weeks traveling around to different cities and countries. This requires a lot of planning, countless introductions, and an immense amount of your valuable time.

Putting a 5-week time limit on the raise highlights 3 necessities: the urgency to close, the coordination of funding offers, and the boundaries for running your business.

Firstly, 5 weeks creates urgency. Investors must believe if they don’t invest now they won’t be able to get in at the same price later. An investor will make you her top priority if your deal is going to close tomorrow. Be warned, the time scarcity you communicate to investors must be authentic or you’ll lose your credibility and all likelihood of being funded.

Secondly, timing. You should aim to receive all offers, usually in the form of term sheets, during the same 1 to 2-week period. By receiving multiple offers simultaneously, you gain leverage and pricing power to close the deal quickly in your favour.

Thirdly, boundaries. Raising your needed funds in 1-2 months is an ideal scenario. If you haven’t raised the funds after 5 weeks, you need to stop fundraising and work on building more value in the company to make it more attractive. Although fundraising is an ongoing process of building long term relationships, be mindful it doesn’t continue ad infinitum. As the business owner, you’ll be in a constant struggle to work on the business while raising money.

YOUR FIRST MEETING WITH AN ANGEL

Start your meeting well by always arriving 5-10 minutes early. This signals to the investor that you’re organised and respect his time. Being on time is so important at Andreessen Horowitz, a $4B venture capital firm, that it charges its staff $10 per minute if they’re late for a meeting with entrepreneurs. Again, give yourself the best opportunity possible for success by arriving early.

During meetings, entrepreneurs generally talk too much. They’re nervous and love to talk about their company. Instead listen and ask questions. In fact, after 2 minutes ask for the investor’s initial reaction and build a 2-way conversation. Your goal is to find a match. If you do, great, continue. Otherwise, use your remaining time to get feedback on the pitch and ask for referrals. Don’t wait until there’s 2 minutes left of the meeting to find out the investor is not interested and waste the opportunity for feedback.

Ask questions such as:

1. Now that you know my company what milestones should I reach before an investor would be excited about it?

2. Who should my next hire be?

3. Who else should I be talking to or meeting with?

4. What would you suggest I do when I get stuck?

As you close the meeting, draft next steps with the investor. Discuss a clear timetable to follow up with the angel and create a joint template to reference in future conversations. If the agreed upon path isn’t being followed anymore, ask what has changed. Always be persistent in maintaining engagement. Keep referring to your template, but also give them the opportunity to opt out.

Before you leave the meeting, understand what level of return on investment (ROI) the investor is seeking. Then design your funding needs, desired exit and work backwards towards an investment proposal. You’re looking to collaborate on your inflection points and milestones, how you’ll spend the funds, and your business model.

It matters greatly who invests the initial capital in your company

THE CLOSE

Once you’ve had your first conversation with an investor, follow these steps to lead them to the close. Firstly, ask to keep the investor on your private VIP email list. You’ll be sending out monthly updates about your company to remind them of your progress. These updates will not only include milestones for your company, but also valuable insights into your industry and your competitors so you are at the same time adding value to your investors and their portfolio of companies.

Next, have an abundance mentality and open your network to them. If you’re generous with your assets and connections, more will appear.

When you’re ready to close, get all your angels into 1 room, physical or virtual. Your aim is to close the deal during that meeting. Help them to move fast by offering concessions, such as a lower valuation using warrants or a slightly higher equity stake. Do whatever you can to close the round quickly so you can get back to running your business.

COMMUNICATION

Become known as someone with whom investors want to work. An engaged investor base will help with introductions, referrals, and advice. Have a disciplined management reporting approach and you’ll differentiate yourself from most other entrepreneurs. Your goal is to have each one invest in your next financing round.

Your 1-page monthly report could look like this:

1. Start with the bad news and end with the good news. Warren Buffet starts his annual shareholder report by admitting his mistakes for the year. He disarms the negative impact of any bad news by letting others know he’s aware of the mistakes and will fix them immediately. This gives his investors’ confidence in the rest of the updates he provides.

2. Remind them of your previous targets and state whether they were reached.

3. Share exciting news like product releases, big deals signed, new hires made, editorials published, and news articles about you or your company

4. Share monthly and quarterly financials and core

KPIs, and then give context around the good and bad of those numbers. If you can, provide actual versus budget comparisons.

5. Share strategic objectives to help them understand where you’re going and the challenges you are and will face.

6. Ask for help if you need it. They want you to succeed.

INVESTOR DUE DILIGENCE

Once you’ve accepted the investor’s offer, prepare for their due diligence process to start and make it as easy as possible for them. Put together a virtual ‘data room’ or ‘deal’ room and keep it updated. Your accountant should already have a lot of the data stored to facilitate your annual audit (if you have one). Use Dropbox or upgrade to Light-Serve to allow an angel to access your ‘data room’. Here are the contents that I recommend: general company data, financial information, corporate agreements, IP rights and product information, legal documents, insurance coverage, litigation history, employee and HR information, tax filings and documents, marketing and sales information, and current fundraising information.

Having this information prepared in advance shows transparency, professionalism, organisation, and insight into what investors need.

“All’s well that begins well”. As you raise your first round of financing, remember that the angel investor, seed fund or any alternative source of funding you choose, will lay the foundation to attract your next group of investors for your Series A capital raise. At this level, venture capitalists step in and will expect you to raise between $3-10million.

from Blog | 729renegades http://bit.ly/2KTVYtG

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kiddiemom-blog · 6 years

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Parenting: "It Takes A Village"...Should It? -

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Have you ever been told that parenting a child, “takes a village” to raise them? Stop and think…who is in your village? Do you want your village raising your child? Are you willing to take the bad with the good? I struggle with this regularly.

We raise our young boys, 3 of them, in a bedroom community full of other young families. I work in a church full of young families, with many children. I would be hard pressed to count how many times I’ve heard the phrase “it takes a village” when referring to raising a child. The old adage “it takes a village” assumes your child is being raised by a large number of people, that have your child’s best interest in mind. I’m fortunate to have neighbors in their 70’s who raised kids 45 years ago. They look out for our kids when they are playing outside, and they even watch out for my wife and chickens when I’m not around. I hear story after story, from my Vietnam veteran neighbor, of the days of old, when kids acted right, because everyone held everyone else’s kids accountable. I can see where the village-raising mentality came from. It’s a nice theory. With the “it takes a village approach” raising another child is just as important as raising your own. “Things have changed,” he says.

He’s right. Things have changed. Even in my community, a pretty close-knit one, I have a hard time relying on anyone else to help raise my children. My generation of parents really confuses me. It seems that the overwhelming majority are very protective of their child’s spirit, which is a good thing. But that comes with a heavy price-tag; the spirit of the other children they are around. I’ve noticed that I’m living in a dog-eat-dog world of competitive child-rearing. This type of parenting isn’t conducive to the “it takes a village” approach. The conflict takes place when there’s an incident between two kids from two different families, and both sets of parents don’t witness it first hand. Since they aren’t both there to witness the “incident” all they have to go by is a one-sided, 2nd hand account, from their own child and maybe a sibling. Most parents aren’t interested in getting an unbiased, neutral witnesses’ version of the story, so they take their child’s account as a flawless one. This is why it’s so common to see disagreements break out between kids, parents, and other authorities.

My biggest struggle with “it takes a village” mentality is that I find that many parents are too trusting of their child’s environment and personal influences. This school of thought results in a lot of kids together in activities, without parents, and without accountability. Maybe you can imagine how that works out? Ever heard of “Lord of the flies?” I’ll give you a hint, kids with no adults turns into chaos before too long. Working in ministry to youth, I’ve seen it first hand many times. I’m no statistician but in my 12 years of full-time youth work, I would surmise that parents who trust in the village to hold their children accountable results in the majority of their kids facing mature situations too early for their well-being. And by mature situations, I’m sure you can imagine how dark and damaging that can get. If you need examples, I give them here and here.

Parents get one shot at raising each child. Frankly, I don’t want most of my village raising my children. Most adults are too distracted to think of the ramifications of their actions around other children. And if there are no adults around, then you’ve got children raising children. No child is fit to be making parenting decisions for another child. But don’t get me wrong! I don’t think my kids need to be raised in a bubble, protected from every other school of thought, or adult/child influence. A child’s intentional exposure to other schools of thought and worldviews is incredibly important through the lens of intentional parenting. This is a tough approach…tough on the parents. Because it’s hard work and requires a healthy blalnce. It requires a lot of early and even pre-mature conversations between parent and child. It takes investigative questions and research into influences you are placing in your children’s lives. Obviously, if you can trust another adult or teen to help raise your child, then they need to be part of your child’s life. Every child needs positive adult influences outside of their family. It’s what makes a child into a well-rounded child and eventually a successful adult. But intentionally placing an adult in your child’s life, because they have proven to be a good influence, is different than allowing the village raise your child for you.

I think too many parents in their 20’s 30’s and 40’s approach parenting with the, “they’ll be fine” mentality. That’s a peaceful thought, and very-well intentioned. But it’s ignorant, and in some cases negligant. What you get when the majority of parents take this approach, is a bunch of kids and no accountability. The majority of emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and physically, toughest people I know, were not raised by people who stopped with that thought, “they’ll be fine.” Their folks made sure they were fine, because they talked them through the daily rigors of childhood, and in many cases walked them through it. And if you can’t walk a child through a difficult time, you should have other trustworthy adults nearby your child to help them process that time until you can.

One thing I get told by experienced parents on a weekly basis, is something to the effect of “don’t blink, the kids will be grown before you know it.” I believe them, the older my kids get. These formative years in a child’s life are short, and crucial. Why outsource so much time with your kids to people you don’t know? So many times I see parents just shuffling their kids from one institution to another, never really spending any quality time together. Many statistics I’ve read about adult influence, point to the same truth… Parents are the number one influence in a child’s life. Not a village, not friends, not even a girlfriend or boyfriend are more influential. That doesn’t mean parent’s influence can’t get outsourced, because unfortunately it happens a lot.

We get one shot at this parenting thing. Let’s do whatever it takes to make sure our kids are more than “gonna be fine.” We need to hold each other accountable as parents. Let’s be our children’s number one supporter, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and physically. Let’s be intentional enough that our kids know that our voices are the dominant one they hear the majority of the time. Let’s pick the majority of other influences, carefully for our kids, and ask them to help support our style of parenting. Parenting in this way may seem impossible, but it’s our task as parents. And we will never achieve this task, until our children are no long a part of our lives. We get one shot at this. Do what it takes to get it right.

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