#it's the only website just decent enough for selling your products because it's the only one where you can find clients | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

blazehedgehog · 1 year ago

Note

What do you think of AI stuff like DAll-E or Midjourney?

It's not as useful as some people want you to believe. A lot of people pushing for the acceptance of this kind of software are the same tech bros that invested in crypto currency and were trying to sell you NFTs, which should tell you enough.

All of this "it's democratizing art!" and "finally, people can make art even if they don't have natural talent!" is snake oil.

You know where my "natural talent" came from? I started drawing when I was 4 or 5 years old. I drew at least one thing per day for over 20 years. I earned the ability to crank out dumb doodles on a whim.

You can't just show up one day and think you deserve to make artwork without putting in the work to learn and get good at it. Art's importance comes from the length of time needed to learn to master it. And I don't just mean drawings, I mean music, film, food, everything. No matter what it is, effort is value.

Financial value, sentimental value, it doesn't matter. All value is derived from the effort required to make it.

If you can just push a button and churn out artwork en masse, that devalues the importance of art. I mentioned this back with the Martin Scorsese ask, but it's like, which has more value? An original hand-made piece of artwork, or a print of that artwork? Prints are easy to mass produce. You can get a nice, high quality, glossy print of the Mona Lisa almost for free at this point. But the actual Mona Lisa, the original product, is actually valuable beyond value.

Art prints are literally just replicating a single file over and over and over again, but the original is one-of-a-kind and where all the effort is most evident. All the layers of paint can be felt as DaVinci sought perfection in his work. That's what makes it special. That's what makes it important.

My uncle does woodworking. He's so good at it, he gave my Mom an end table that looks like it came from a high-tier furniture store. A mass-produced end table like that would be at least $100. He made it by hand. It is beautiful. I will treasure that end table forever.

Effort is value.

If you spend any length of time looking at art websites where AI art is allowed (such as deviantart or pixiv), what you'll often find is these AI art chumps submitting massive amounts of artwork. They'll submit 10, 20, 40+ images a day, all from the same prompt, all with slight differences, because to them, every single thing the generator produces is worth submitting.

Even when I was drawing regularly, I could only really do maybe one finished piece per day. Two if you were lucky. Not only because sketching, inking, coloring and shading would take so long, but because after I was done the tank was empty. I'd used up all my effort for the day and had no more creativity left to give.

All the claims of "letting people without artistic talent generate art" are bogus because it throws the whole signal-to-noise ratio out of wack. Too much signal in itself becomes noise. And it devalues the effort that real artwork takes, because real artwork is now part of that noise, instead of rising above it.

When anyone can vomit out hundreds or even thousands of AI generated images that are of decent-to-good quality, a lot of what would be considered "b-tier" artwork ceases to be important anymore.

In a world where AI generated images are normalized, only the top 0.1% of artwork (your Mona Lisas) are considered to have real value. And who benefits the most from that kind of stuff? Rich people. Rich people who can afford to drop a million dollars on a historic piece of hand-crafted artwork. And just to be clear: these are exactly the same people who are trying to sell you on how important AI generator software is going to be going forward.

Or to simplify it even more: the people who stand to profit the most from AI "art" are the ones trying the hardest to sell you on its benefits. Because it benefits them more than it will ever benefit you.

Because, full disclosure, over this last week, a friend of mine has been having a lot of fun with Bing's new image generator feature, and I couldn't help but also play with the toy. The quality of images it can generate is shocking.

Microsoft, in their endless desperation to get anyone to use Bing on purpose, is clearly playing with fire here.

When effort is value and value is effortless, nothing has any value anymore.

I understand how, if you aren't an artist, this is all probably incredibly difficult to comprehend. The lure of fast and easy artwork from a simple line of text is a net gain to you, and nothing else really matters to your perspective. But imagine all of the up-and-coming artists who get completely pushed out of the conversation because of how easy it is to crap out endless AI generator output. I spent 20 years drawing every day for results that can be beaten in 20 seconds.

How many future artists is that going to discourage? There's a lot of buzz, now more than ever, about "late stage capitalism" and the way that's manifesting in our lives. When AI generated images are "good enough", how is that going to change the world around us?

You can't just think, "we'll figure something out" because the people trying to control this narrative do not have your best interests in mind. The people trying to control this narrative think they still don't have enough money yet even though there's not much money left to give them.

Their solution is to stop paying people to do work that they can get a computer to do for free, even if it means destroying the entire foundation of human culture. Long term destruction for short term gain. The same old story.

Are they going to get away with it?

(Another good ask along this line is over here, from February.)

#questions #Anonymous #dalle #dall-e #midjourney #bing #ai art #effort is value #ai

37 notes · View notes

fromdevcom · 1 month ago

Text

Images are always loved by the customers. They speak louder than words and have the potential to describe several pages of bland text into a self explanatory scene with just one glance. However more importantly, they can dramatically arouse the viewer to a take action, because when it comes to pictures, customers just can get enough! Over past few years the fabric of internet has formed into image centric platform compared to the text-centric approach of the past. Images are being widely used in terms of marketing and the internet is full of them. Facebook itself has a storage of more than 220 billion images, which means almost 220 images per each active monthly user. Recent studies have shown tangible evidence that adding images to just any perspective of marketing can become a formidable force of conversions for any product, any service. Without images you are likely to fail in selling your product online. This is also the reason why viewers now expect more creative and high quality images in their daily appetite of internet browsing. While new ecommerce stores emerge in the market, the need for better and more comprehensive photography has risen to captivate and engage the customers with products. To keep up with the task, merchants must please their clients with a healthy diet of images through photo galleries. Here are some guidelines you can use to acquire handsome amount of conversions for your ecommerce store by adding images the right way. Offer Options with Images The prime reason why websites underperform even in the presence of photo galleries is the lack of options. A photo of a product carelessly posted on your website only explains it from your perspective; the customer however, is interested in how the product looks under his. A Shirt or a shoe for instance must appear photographed in all its color combinations available. To give it a tactual feel, you can even feature an attractive figure wearing or holding it. This produces a sensation of in-store shopping that prompts the customer as though they are looking in the try mirror. Use HQ Photos with Alternate Angles Online shopping nowadays is the proper definition of convenience. However, the one aspect that deters its position as the replacement of conventional stores is the experience of physically handling the product, only possible in brick and mortar stores. To make sure your customers are satisfied with the product without actually grabbing it, use High Quality photos and provide multiple angles so customers can view it from various positions. Once customers get intrigued by this feature they are most likely to visit your store more often. You can use High Definition cameras for photography, an investment that will eventually pay off. Use a Featured Image Your products can never achieve the visibility they deserve even if you write a song about them. In today’s online shopping, visibility depends on images both literally and figuratively. You ought to be the best seller if you use right image to feature on the categories and product pages. The featured image should never be taken lightly. It’s basically the ambassador image of your entire photo gallery and a well dressed ambassador always sells. You can use cleanest angle with most popular color of the product for the image, and put in against a decent contrast so the product is shown to its full spectrum. Zooming Image There is absolutely no point in putting out pictures of your product when they fail to be seen through the naked eye! This is another notorious mistake many merchants make while marketing their products online. You image is only purposeful when it’s large enough to be convincing for the customer or else it’s a waste of space. By adding zooming tools to your store, you can display your high definition photos to the size of a theater screen. Remember, the bigger the better because size matters. To obtain these features you can always use a tool like photo gallery extension for Magento that

covers all these functions, but also throws in some extra to give a full package to the customer. Select the Proper Position Another fatal mistake that most marketers make is choosing the inappropriate position to display the image. Your website layout has white spacing (also known as Negative Spacing) which helps differentiate the content from the sides and maintains order with the various elements of the website such as headers, tabs, blocks and search boxes etc. Similarly, your featured image and gallery images should be rightly acquainted with white spacing so they don’t mess up the layout or tighten the content on the page. Bad placement of photo galleries can cause confusion and result in page abandonment by the customer. If your images are elegantly sought out on the page they will make it appealing and invite more customers. Optimize your Thumbnail Images Thumbnail images carry a lot of weight when it comes to conversions. All it takes is a glance of the thumbnail and the customer agrees to spend his cash. Many marketers miss this detail where as clever markets exploit this gap and use their best to produce an image that not only entraps the client, but keeps them busy enough to find other product to purchase. If you optimize your thumbnail images properly, they have the ability to score triple digit improvements in conversion rates. You can start by adding a HQ image of the product, using the right colors and combine it with a strong call to action that synergizes with image. Various Ajax based extensions are also available that can enhance the appearance of the thumbnail such as Zoom, quick view and hover functions. Conclusion Although images are easy to get and easily uploaded, they bring out some serious gains regarding marketing objectives in online stores. It is also true that adding photo galleries doesn’t really require a road map; instead you can use them at your will where you need to increase your conversions and revenues. However, in order to make sure your images are used to their fullest potential, you must abide this handful of rules which will help your content thrust up to top and get you the best conversions around the block. Simon walker is among the biggest eCommerce pioneers of FMEextensions that develops the top class Magento extensions and customized eCommerce stores. He has worked in the eCommerce industry for over 7 years as a Consultant and Developer in multinational projects. You can also reach him at Twitter and Google+.

0 notes

heymarketeer · 1 year ago

Text

6 Fears That Stop You from Starting Your Own Freelance Business

I am already freelancing for two years this month. I did not renew for another few years in my previous work and honestly, I don’t have any idea what to do then with my life. Years before becoming jobless, I already knew that there are people working on the internet and earning decent dollar salaries doing virtual work. I actually envy them. Out of a whim, I decided to learn how they do that. That quest for new knowledge led me to start my own freelancing business. Who would have known, right?

While investing in my education before launching my business, I have lots of fears. Is this a good idea? I am new to the business so what should I offer? Will I be able to get clients? What if clients reject me? Will I be paid regularly? Are the job platforms legit and will not scam me? What will my parents and friend say?

I believe that you have these fears, too. You see, I started out just like you. You wanted to try freelancing, but you have so many negative thoughts that you’re crippled with fear. You know what, that’s okay. No one is born fearless. It’s acceptable to be terrified of something like building your own business. I believe that all successful business owners and entrepreneurs felt the same fear as yours when they’re starting out. Just learn from them, take the plunge (but with all the caution possible), and build your business ground up.

Here are some of the most commonly acknowledged fears of freelancers, and how you can overcome them.

1) Will I ever get my first client and where?

My story:

My first paying client is from the UK. He is a clothing apparel owner and he promotes his products on both his website and Facebook page. He knows that I am a new Facebook ads manager when I came on board. I am very thankful that he accepted my proposal and chose me to work with him on his campaigns. I remembered we worked together on his Black Friday campaign and I was really glad that that particular campaign brought more followers for his page and buyers at his websites. Years after, we still communicate with each other. I will always remember him as the 1st client who supported my budding freelancing career.

2) I don’t think I’ll be okay with rejections.

My motto is always like this: if I am rejected, that’s okay. NEXT, please.

I will not sugar coat and say that it’s easy to land good clients. It’s definitely not the case, especially in your first few months. There will be rejections left and right, sometimes more than you can count on your fingers and toes. That’s fine because it’s part of the business. Cry a little, but don’t let the rejection sit in your mind for long. Move on and find your next potential client. Anyway, you might be rejected because you’re not a good fit for the project. Your match will come along next.

But don’t leave it as it is. If you keep on getting rejection letters one after the other, maybe you need to re-evaluate your situation. You might be pitching to the wrong audience, your profile is not selling a unique skill set or maybe your proposal letters are not brilliant enough to catch the clients’ attention. Evaluate and modify your plan to help you get the best clients.

3) Will I get paid on time?

Most freelancers work to earn a decent living from the internet and others work to add some extra cash to their monthly budget. Whatever the case, getting paid on time is a major concern for freelancers. This is actually my greatest hesitation about working freelance years back. I started during a time when online scams were headlining every news items on TV and print (at least in the Philippines) I’m terrified that I will get scammed by clients who are only after getting free work from new, unsuspecting freelancers like me.

4) Will people take me seriously?

The people you know will probably raise an eyebrow (or two) and roll their eyes when they’ll discover your freelance business. I can relate pretty much. I told friends and family that I am no longer working for the government and instead, I started my online marketing business. I work as a Facebook advertiser and social media marketer for busy business owners abroad. They thought I am joking. Some even thought that I am jobless. Most people thought believed I lost my mind working in an unpopular working environment.

But let me tell you, entrepreneurs, business owners, and marketers will take you seriously. They’ll mean business through and through. They want you for your special skills; you can do something that they or their staff can’t do. They’ll certainly respect your skills, time, and dedication. Therefore, they’ll hire you.

Start your freelancing business regardless of other people’s opinion on it. Be professional and take your business seriously. In this business, people need proof of your abilities. Start by creating your brand’s website and showcase your shining portfolio. Let your potential clients know your unique selling points and why they should partner with you.

5) Can I handle the workload alone?

You’ll start on your own and I understand your fear of getting projects more than you can chew. Learn along the way. It is just a matter of proper time and project management. Over time, you’ll develop work routines and you’ll get a good grasp of your work dynamics. Make a business system using the most appropriate freelancing tools. Based on this, decide on how many projects you can handle at a time. It is important to deliver quality work to your clients so smart project management is a must.

6) Can I handle toxic clients?

I avoid confrontations at all costs. I’d say this is my fear before I started my business and is still an occurring fear even if I am already two years into my business. Honestly, you can’t avoid working with these so called “toxic” clients. They are out there; you just need to become smarter on not signing them up.

My story:

I had one client before who’s so conscious about the number of hours I spent on social media management. She wanted me to just spend 4-5 hours on managing 2-3 social media pages including curating content, creating the social media updates, scheduling them and engaging with the followers. That was absurd. I explained it to her but she declined to accept my reasonings.

I also had a client who didn’t pay the last month of work I rendered for his project. He just disappeared into thin air. I’ve also failed to negotiate good hourly rates on several projects in my first 3 months of freelancing. When I got more experience, I realized that I didn’t take care of my financial interests in most of my early projects. I am so eager to please my clients and over-deliver that I realized I suffered in the process.

Freelancing is an actual business. Some clients do not understand that, unfortunately. You’re running a business and you’re not some meek employee of an opportunistic boss. Demand what you deserve and what’s your worth. Choose your clients and project smartly. Refuse accepting projects that you don’t feel comfortable working on.

In conclusion

If you are seriously considering building your online business by freelancing, overcome your fears. Don’t let these negative thoughts delay your progress. It is good that you are reminded to take caution in every way, but at the end of the day, you should be able to work on something until you’re successful in this new career. You can do it. I did it, more successful freelancers before me, did it. Just take the plunge.

0 notes

areyoumissingpieces · 1 year ago

Text

Oh the Advertising Woes

I don’t think it is possible for me to grow organically. I feel like you have to be lucky with the algorithm of all the sites, an overnight social media star, or know enough influential people to talk about your business in order to make it successful organically.

I have had over one thousand sales and a total of three of those were on my own website. The rest of these were from ebay, tcgplayer, at shows, and through my wholesale account. I know the product I’m selling is good. It moves on third party sites and at the store where my wholesale account is. The product I sell is in a pretty saturated market online, but I am comforted by the fact that it is successful in some locations. Naturally I want more sales going through my website where I have way fewer fees than at shows, on other websites, or at a wholesale rate. I just need some well placed advertising and I think I will be on my way.

I have been trying to promote myself on tiktok, instagram, and facebook. Most of my followers are friends and family. I love that they support me but I’m not reaching buyers.

I also have a fairly decent presence on Pinterest. I can see on my analytics that people do go to my website from there. My first sale on my website was thanks to a pin. That only happened once in 2018. It is now 2023.

Now I am on tumblr as yet another attempt to promote myself for free. Truth be told, I’m also on tumblr because it is nice to get all these thoughts out of my head and onto a page. I hope it will help me think clearer and maybe give me a few customers.

I use business cards to help promote myself. They have some basic information and a QR code to make it easy for people to access my website. I throw a business card in every sale I make on ebay, tcgplayer, or at shows. I always keep a few in my phone case in case I bump into someone who asks if I have a website. If I am at a coffee shop or someplace that has a local bulletin board where people can put business cards I will put one of mine up. When I go to physical shows I also have my business cards available for people to grab. Some of my wonderful family and friends have received a little handful to disperse if they desire. I think there have been a few visits to my site from all of these different approaches but no sales.

I would love for my business to grow organically through any of my existing channels but I don’t think that is likely. At least in the last five years of me attempting organic growth it really hasn’t happened.

The problem is I am a little bit spooked by advertising. I hate having to give a company money to force ads in front of people. I don’t particularly like ads most of the time. Sometimes I see a product I like and look at the website but know I’m not going to get anything. I worry that will be the mindset of most people. “Oh look!” They’d think, “That stuff is amazing! I love that! I can’t afford luxuries right now. I could make that.” I don’t want to spend money on so many maybes.

I’ve also worked for a few online companies that have gone down the advertising path. I’m a little bit scared by their experiences. One company did mail out fliers. I have no idea how much they spent, but they got two customers out of the deal. The same company also paid to have a couple page blurb in a business magazine. That, as far as I can tell, did not drum up any business. Another company hired a professional marketing team. This did result in a huge bump in business. It also resulted in way more work while only breaking even. They were never able to profit out of it and have some regrets about how much they spent. These stories do make me worry about the validity of marketing campaigns. I know everyone has their own advertising stories, and just because the people in my life haven’t had a very good result with advertising doesn’t mean I won’t.

I was worried for a long time that I don’t have enough merchandise available online and was embarrassed at the idea of promoting it. After my last show, in May, I realized that I do have enough merchandise posted. I have mailed so many orders now I am confident in my systems I have in place. I AM ready for business. I need to put on my boss lady kick ass pants and get my first advertising campaign rolling! Let’s aim for the beginning of October. Please hold me accountable for this statement. Stay tuned for updates!

#advertising #marketing #self promotion #small business #social media #the struggle is real #organic growth

1 note · View note

landscapeinsights · 2 years ago

Text

Free Stuff on Craigslist - Step by Step

Do you know the feeling of getting something for free? No? You are missing out on something you must try; yes, Craigslist it is! You have heard about buying and selling stuff like TVs, furniture, pianos, clothes, music-related stuff, firewood, kitchen essentials, mattresses & many more from craigslist. Still, you must be wondering about the free goodies you will get in your area without even doing much. When someone tells you there’s not anything as free, tell them it’s craigslist without a doubt! You are required to do a bit, just like the creators you see in the marketing campaigns. Or if you still worry about the authenticity, All you have to do is to check whether the site have the decent amount of dofollow backlinks pointings towards it from the other sources which helps you to trust the website more. Here is how you can get free stuff by following a few easy steps which will not only help you to get your desired things but also helps you to find your free stuff; if you’re using this website for the first time, it might look complicated, but when you search the process it is not a complex process. 1. Search Craigslist from Your Browser The first question that comes to your mind is how exactly you search craigslist. To find a website many search engines will help you to reach the websites for your country or city from the location of your phone or laptop. One thing you may face while searching for free stuff is that you do not get the search results that take you precisely to your city. In this scenario, all you need to do is search through the towns on the craigslist homepage, where you will get to know about your current location, or you want to get free things from them. 2. Locate the Free Page on Craigslist When you are done searching for craigslist and selecting the area of residence where you would like to have your free things, the next step is to follow the navigation of the free page on craigslist. You will see the categories page automatically on the website once you are done with the first step. When you come to the categories page, you will find many categories and subcategories that will make it easy to find what you need. Though you only came here for the free thing, you will end up in the “free” category. Next, you will find the for sale section, where you will find a free link. If you get into the link, you can open and see all the free things in that area. 3. Find what you need for free on Craigslist In this procedure, the next step would be to find out what exactly you want from the free page. You may find many free things in your area or not enough things, in both cases, you need to use the search bar on an existing page to filter out the option on the current offer. You may not need to go through the list and select from anything if you like to source through your store. Though you are searching for things like furniture or electronic stuff, you will be able to see if there is any availability of what you need from the search box. Read the description thoroughly. If you would like to take the items for free, you need to contact the person whom you are communicating for your gift before the time you reach. They probably want you to call them or email them, they may prefer pickup, so you need to follow the complete directions. If they do not tell you how to contact the person, then choose the reply button to show the email close to the top of the page so you can message them. Are there good quality items for free on Craigslist? When you are getting anything for free, you might think about the quality of the product whether it’s good or not. The same is the case with craigslist. Some of the things on websites may be used or need replacement because many things have been given by the people who usually give away their slightly used or brand-new products for free. Before you get the free product, make sure to read the description to check the items and ensure that this is what you want to have. Safety regarding free stuff on Craigslist? Some people do not trust that they are getting anything for free, and people have insecurities regarding the products and websites. It is essential to know everything, as nowadays we get to know everything from social media. There are many websites who help people to get their stuff for free by just posting on the social websites like instagram and facebook. You will find many articles on different websites, some of them are legit like poptribe.com, you will also find an article about craigslist free stuff there, which helps you to trust the craigslist even more. This website not only gives you articles but also it will give you a chance to get free things by just posting on your instagram. Things comparatively get easy for us, so whenever you plan to meet in a public place, take someone along and also communicate with the seller through email or phone before going to meet them in person. Do not give personal information or financial details. Craigslist Free Hack Nowadays, it is tough to get free stuff, but sometimes we need to use our brains to make things easy for us; just like craigslist, we are giving free hacks to tell you how to be mindful to create something easy for you. There are many ways and websites like poptribe, which are helpful to get your things for free. All you have to do is create catchy content on your social websites like Facebook and Instagram and get trendy stuff from poptribe for free. The process is straightforward as you must do the shopping and add things to your cart from poptribe and checkout. If you select your stuff, you will be notified by the brand you are interested in, and then you will get the approval of the brand that thinks you are a good fit. They will send you the stuff you choose & required to engage your audience with your creative posts on Instagram and Facebook. You will always get all the free things you want using this simple hack. Read the full article

0 notes

landscapeinsight · 2 years ago

Text

Free Stuff on Craigslist - Step by Step

0 notes

basiliskonline · 1 year ago

Text

Yeah, putting them up is a gamble, but in the end if it gets taken down it doesnt really come with any consequences. Its safer to do without using tags, but in the end that makes it harder to get seen. I've had a lot of fanart stuff taken down over the years, some vague enough they shouldnt have been able to, and some that was totally legit. But you dont get sued or anything.

The quality of the product has taken a huge dive. The last things I got through redbubble/Teepublic have been:

A Hoodie that within a couple months was completely blank. (the art completely rubbed off) the pocket also very quickly ripped.

A shirt that's colors were just came out really poor.

Meanwhile this hoodie i got from Redbubble like 15+ years ago is still going strong despite being a bit.. shall we see well-worn (currently fished it out of the laundry so thats why it looks even more crinkly xD).

Redbubble also has increased their production price as things get ever worse. I also know recently they added a tiered seller program, Idk exactly what the details were because ive had a decent selling account for long enough I just got the highest tier which essentially mean things didnt change for me. If someone were to make a new account, i'd definately look at what that entails.

I still have my account up, i just dont tend to do much with it and i personally never buy from there anymore. But i do get decent lil trickles of income from it.

Alternates id suggest come with a lot more work. I use Gooten for mine, Printful would work as well. Both of these are Print on Demand companies (like redbubble) but unlike redbubble/teepublic they don't come with their own host (i host on my website, you can host on etsy or shopify, etc) or their own marketplace, meaning you have to do the extra work on the front end to get eyes on it and sales. There isn't a single place where people all show up search a tag and find you.

It also can be more work to keep your entries updated and created. But it provides better costs and more control on your end.

Things can be hit or miss on shops like this with fan stuff, ive only had one thing rejected and that was actually a personal thing i was trying to get for just me that used a screen shot of a tv show. They e-mailed me and were like "yeah we cant print this sorry" so thats a possibility but i think relies more on art rights than character trademark and i think requires a human in the process to realize and stop it.

The Quality of the product ive gotten from Gooten have been will printed (colors are strong and defined), I personally sometimes have trouble with them rubbing off (i carry a lot of shoulder bags and the straps rubbing across my chest can cause issues), they haven't had nearly as many issues as redbubble has, and look far better.

Question about copyright and IP on creator sites like etsy or redbubble

My wife is considering selling her craft/artwork on etsy and/or redbubble. She mostly makes fan art, and we're wondering how the fan products sold on those (and other similar) sites aren't taken down for copyright infringement? If I want to sell a pokémon t-shirt on redbubble, or a plush on etsy, wouldn't that be copyright infringement because I'm making money off the pokémon IP?

I tried to google some information and everything seems to point at the fact that it would actually be a violation of the copyright. My guess is that it *is* copyright infringement, but it's simply tolerated by the IP copyright owners.

Can anyone help?

9 notes · View notes

jaskierswolf · 4 years ago

Text

Fuck Indeed - 1 of 4

Rating: E

Chapter WC: 2720

Summary: Jaskier scrolled through the terms and conditions of the website he was planning on selling his soul to. It seemed simple enough, and he really needed the money. His music career hadn’t exactly gotten off to a flying start and he was tired of sponging off his friends and they were, quite frankly, tired of him. He wasn’t sure how much longer he’d be allowed to sofa surf and he really needed his own space.

So, he was starting an OnlyFans account. - On AO3

CW (for whole story): 18+ only, anal sex, masturbation, exhibition kink, sex work, rimming, sex toys, talks of blow jobs, Geralt bottoms but it’s mentioned they switch, biting (but no blood), Jaskier wearing lingerie and makeup.

Jaskier scrolled through the terms and conditions of the website he was planning on selling his soul to. It seemed simple enough, and he really needed the money. His music career hadn’t exactly gotten off to a flying start and he was tired of sponging off his friends and they were, quite frankly, tired of him. He wasn’t sure how much longer he’d be allowed to sofa surf and he really needed his own space.

So, he was starting an OnlyFans account.

The only thing he was good at outside of his music and poetry was sex. So why not make some money off of it. He’d already done a shit ton of research on stats, marketing, and the types of audiences he was looking to attract… and yes that potentially meant that he’d spent more money than he could afford on subscriptions to porn but, well, it was an investment.

He was going to be good at this, nay, he was going to be fucking brilliant; pun intended.

He smirked as he clicked to register his account.

Phase one complete.

Phase two… commencing.

He quickly adjusted his photograph to the incredibly alluring photo he’d picked out. Essi had helped him stage a photoshoot after he’d promised to only film his videos when he was staying with Priscilla or Valdo. The photo showed him sitting backwards on a chair, stockings pulled up to his thighs and attached by turquoise lace garters. He was wearing a gorgeous matching lingerie set that was barely visible from behind the chair, a tease for the sort of content he would be putting out. He was also wearing a pair of killer heels.

Heels he absolutely couldn’t walk in yet, but they’d been so pretty and he’d always wanted to learn so he’d bought them on a whim, again more money that he didn’t have…. thank fuck for credit cards.

He wasn’t looking at the camera, his fringe covering his eyes, but he was clearly laughing at something, blood red lipstick staining his lips.

He was rather impressed with how it had turned out.

Now he just needed to get up some content. He glanced at the clock, he had probably missed the best time to post a video today, but he had a few photos from his shoot with Essi. He flicked through his camera roll until he found his second favourite, one where he was looking up just past the camera, eyes catching the light perfectly so they shone a sparkling bright blue.

Not to be narcissistic, but he looked fucking gorgeous.

He grinned and typed out a teasing caption to introduce himself, then hit post. Afterwards, he locked his phone and threw it across the room, not wanting to think about the comments and reactions.

He stared at it as it bounced on the mattress.

The only sounds were his breath and his heartbeat in his ears.

“Bollocks,” he muttered after what felt like a lifetime, and scrambled after his phone, unlocking it quickly with a few nimble taps of his finger.

If he spent the next two hours refreshing his page to see what people thought then… well, no one needed to know. It wasn’t an instant hit, but he was new and it was expected, and he was thrilled at the couple of messages he received and he already had a couple of subscribers.

He could do this, the fluttering anxiety in his stomach beginning to settle slightly as he repeated the words aloud a few times. He sighed heavily and decided to be productive. He still needed to set up his Twitter page and link it, perhaps an Instagram account as well, one that his parents didn’t have to know about, and fuck he needed to sleep.

His clock, glowing in the now dark of his room, was telling him more time had passed than he’d realised.

“Fuck,” he groaned.

He still needed to get to the studio early this morning. He’d practically begged the owner to let him record a demo, promising that it would be worth it, that he was good. Luckily for him, there had been a short break very early in the morning before any decent musician worth a damn was awake. He plugged his phone in to charge and made sure he put it down out of reach from the bed. He’d just wake up in the middle of the night and check it otherwise. He just needed to know he wasn’t terrible, was that really so bad?

“Come on, Jask,” he mumbled “you can check after you record your demo. It’s not that long.”

It felt like fucking forever.

Geralt was busy working at the garage when Yennefer messaged him. He huffed and pocketed his phone, giving his customer an apologetic hum before gesturing for them to continue. Yennefer hadn’t started the text with “Ciri!” so he could ignore it for now, that was their deal. He’d only check his texts from Yennefer at work if there was a problem with their daughter, but that never stopped her from trying. Yennefer got bored easily at work. Her mind was too brilliant and even working in a top law firm wasn’t enough to keep her mind from wondering, the monotony of paperwork getting the better of her.

It didn’t help that she had assistants to take care of the worst shit for her. Geralt wasn’t exactly sure what Yennefer did all day. He was pretty sure she just organised her minions and planned to take over the world, in between bothering him at work, of course.

He shook his head with a fond smile, as he watched the young blonde leave her precious Volkswagen Beetle behind. It was an old banged up thing, and she’d clearly bought it for the looks rather than practicality, and the engine had given out after only a month of her buying it.

“Kids,” he scoffed.

Business was business though, it brought in sorely needed cash.

Not as much as his other job… but that was a more lucrative role, one that only Yennefer knew about. He was careful to keep his face hidden, but so far he’d been lucky. No one else in his physical life knew about his OnlyFans account, probably because he was still just starting out. He’d only been at it a couple of months and he was, admittedly, not the best at having an online presence, which was why he’d begrudgingly asked Yennefer for her help.

- New kid on the block, he’s just your type.

Yennefer’s message read, blunt as ever. He rolled his eyes and clicked the link. Sure enough there was a photograph of a young brunet straddling a chair, wearing fucking lingerie. He swallowed, staring at the photograph just a little too long.

He growled and stuffed his phone back in his pocket. He should have known better than to open the link at work.

But that smile haunted him for the rest of the day, making every second drag, the world turning to a haze and every movement felt like he was wading through mud. He wanted to get home.

He wanted to know more about this Dandelion.

“Fuck,” he groaned, pressing his fingers to his forehead, hoping it would push the thoughts of the man from his mind.

It didn’t.

By the time he got back to his house he felt like he was on fire, his skin crawling, restless, burning. He showered as quickly as he could, just about managing to wash all the conditioner from his hair before stalking back to his room and firing up his laptop. He groaned as he finally had a chance to stalk Dandelion’s page.

The second photograph was even better than the first, bright blue eyes searing into his mind, and the smile of a fucking angel. He looked young, mid-twenties, only a few years younger than Geralt probably, and he was exactly the sort of man he would do well on this goddamn site. He looked charismatic, easy on the eye, definitely flirty judging by the cheeky grin on his face, and he was probably excellent at the marketing side of things.

Geralt glanced at his subscribers and cursed. Dandelion hadn’t even uploaded a video yet but his follower count was crawling up faster than Geralt’s ever had.

And that made him… angry?

Jealous perhaps, but there was a bitterness growing in his heart now.

He had to do better. He couldn’t allow this man to overtake him. He just couldn’t.

He growled and shut his laptop with a snap, pulling out his phone with more force than necessary. Yennefer would know what to do. She was good at this sort of thing. He just hoped that he didn’t need to explain himself. It was pathetic and irrational but… he wanted to win.

Jaskier stumbled upon the White Wolf’s page purely by accident. He’d been looking for inspiration before filming his first video. He knew what he wanted to film but he was tired and wasn’t really sure he was in the mood for it, so he began to scroll. He’d unsubscribed from a lot of accounts to save money but the silver-haired Adonis had caught his attention.

The leather strapped around his otherwise bare torso helped. Jaskier was weak for a man in leather.

Before he knew what he was doing, Jaskier was putting in his details to subscribe, sending off a silent apology to his bank account.

The White Wolf was the silent brooding type, never quite revealing his face, but that wasn’t uncommon. His long hair fell down past the man’s pecs, curling at the ends just above the black leather straps. Chest hairs trailed down the man’s torso, the photo cropped before revealing anything else. Jaskier let out a low whimper at the thought of what might be revealed.

He groaned and scrambled for his bottle of lube before letting out a curse.

He had a video to shoot.

He didn’t have time to jerk off to this god’s account. He grumbled and got changed into the turquoise lingerie from the photoshoot. He had decided to use the photos as a teaser for his first video, creating some continuity and helping to create a brand that he could build on. He hummed happily as he pulled up the stockings, they felt soft against his skin, bringing a fragility to his otherwise muscular frame.

Not quite as muscular as Wolf’s.

What wouldn’t he give to lick the lines of those abs?

Once he was dressed, he pulled out his makeup bag. He wasn’t quite as skilled with eyeliner as Essi yet so he settle for a smudged black look before adding the red to his lips. He gave himself a once over in the mirror, flashing a smile. It wasn’t perfect but it was only his first video. He’d get more practice as he worked. After one final check of the lighting in his room – well, his temporary room thanks to darling Priscilla – he made sure he had lube nearby. With shaking hands, he set up the camera and clicked record. He would edit both the start and the end of the video later.

He sighed and then let a seductive smile grace his lips as he winked at the camera, kneeling on the bed.

“Hello darling,” he purred in a low voice “I am so happy you could join me.”

He pictured the chiseled torso of his Wolf, mind filling in the blanks of his face, square jaw, soft warm brown eyes, perhaps stubble on his cheek. He felt the warmth of arousal pool in his core at that thought, his cock filling out in the lacy underwear. Definitely stubble then. He wanted to feel the scratch against his cheek, his neck… his arse.

His fingers had drifted down his chest and were toying with the hem of his panties without him even realising it. His eyes fluttered open as he remembered his audience.

“Oops,” he breathed “forgot where I was for a moment there, sweetheart. You don’t mind, do you?”

He paused.

It felt right.

God, he had no idea that he was doing, but the idea of people on the other end of that camera, watching him. Fuck, he hadn’t known he’d be into that. He palmed himself through the thin fabric, letting out a slightly exaggerated moan so the camera would pick it up.

He wondered if Wolf would see this, would he get hard watching Jaskier touching himself… would he touch his own cock?

Jaskier’s breath hitched and he bit his lip. He locked eyes with the camera as he let out a sigh. “I’ve just been feeling so lonely, it won’t take much tonight, just the thought of you.”

The words felt awkward, stunted but it was only his first video and blood was flowing away from his brain right now, making improv difficult. He’d need a script for next time.

“It’s my first video so I wanted to get dressed up, do you like it?” a pause “It feels so soft against my skin.”

His other hand reached up to stroke his nipples through the lace. He tilted his head back and rolled his hips forward to his cock brushed against his own hand, another moan escaping his lips, playing it up for the camera. “Shall I keep them on?” he asked the camera, voice huskier than he was expecting. Fuck this was affecting him more than he imagined.

He swallowed, and licked his lips, fingers pulling down his panties to reveal the tip of his cock already leaking onto the brightly coloured lace. “I might ruin them… but I think you’d like that…”

Would Wolf like that… watching Jaskier cum all over the pretty panties.

Jaskier whined, smearing the precum over his hand and then down the length of his cock under the lace. The touch sent waves of pleasure through his whole body, and he let out a low curse. His eyes fell shut as he slowly stroked himself, taking his time, teasing himself. He pictured his Wolf pulling the straps of his bra down off his shoulders, pressing kisses into his neck, biting on his shoulders as he touched him. God he really needed to watch his videos, if he could pull such vivid images of the man from just one photograph.

“Fuck, that feels so good…” he gasped, struggling to keep his movements slow. He forced his eyes open to look at the camera. He could only imagine how he looked right now, eyes dark, cheeks flushed, lips red from where he’d been biting them, one hand working on his cock, the other pinching at his nipples through sinfully see-through fabric.

“I want you to touch me so bad,” he gasped “would you fuck me, if I ask?”

He swallowed, imagining Wolf’s hands on his hips, pressing bruises into his skin… spreading his cheeks apart… fingers dripping with lube, ready to stretch him. He bit his lip again, almost hard enough to draw blood. He hadn’t noticed he was fucking into his own hand, thighs burning as he knelt on the fresh silk sheets. He was close, too close… not what he’d meant for this video but it was too late now… he couldn’t hold back.

He gripped his cock harder, stroking faster, the underwear pushed down by his efforts.

“I. I can’t…” he stammered through the haze “I need, please…”

He almost sobbed, begging his unseen audience. “Please.”

He pinched roughly on his nipple, the sharp pain tipping him over the edge, and he came all over his hand with a wordless cry.

He struggled not to collapse onto the bed, but he did rest back on his ankles as he gasped for breath. “Fuck,” he whispered hoarsely… surprised by the intensity of his orgasm. He glanced up at the camera with a smirk, flicking his tongue out to lick his lips. “Until next time, darling.”

He winked at the camera and then crawled forward so he could turn it off. Once that was done, he fell back on the bed with a contented sigh before remembering the state of his pants. He grimaced and reluctantly got up to go shower, the thought of the White Wolf still lingering in his mind.

________

Taglist (18+): @geraltrogerericduhautebellegarde @slythnerd @hailhailsatan @thecomfortofoldstorries @gelos @moonysourenza @frances-the-red @honeysuckletook @elliestormfound @sleepy-thief @artistsfuneral @kittynannygaming @stinastar @fontegagrilledcheese @baka-yu @anythinggoesfandoms @veritasrose @trickstermoose67 @nonegenderleftpain @kueble @justjess94 @kozkaboi @wherethewordsare Let me know if you want to be added for this story or in general!

#the witcher #geraskier #onlyfans au #enemies to lovers #geralt of rivia #Jaskier #geralt/jaskier #unrequited enemies #wolfie's witcher writing

147 notes · View notes

raleighliving · 4 years ago

Text

Budget Living Raleigh

Living in any city you’re gonna look at higher costs of living. Rent, utilities, and insurance all add up before you even factor in groceries. But just because you’re living in the city doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have nice things.

If you find all your money is being eaten by rent, and your bed is supported by the ground itself, then this article is for you; cause we’re going to talk today about bargain hunting in Raleigh and what to look for when you want a good deal on good furniture. Maybe I’ll do this again for groceries or other such things but for now we’re just focused on general niceties.

Best part of this is it’s gonna be fairly general too. Anything I mention here you could probably find or do in any American city or small town since the institutions are fairly ubiquitous.

If you find yourself lacking furniture, decorations, or just general quality of life enhancers my answer boils down to two main points: Thrifting and Resale stores. At times they can seem similar enough but there are fine differences that separate the two using fairly recognizable criteria.

“RL,” I hear you say between fistfuls of knockoff Cheetos and self-loathing, “Of course if you want bargains you go thrifting! Did you JUST hear about Goodwill recently?”

Yes, in terms of hot takes this is especially dull but what I can lend to the conversation isn’t about how prices at thrift organizations are cheaper than retailers, how you should support your local thrift organizations, or even the general good they provide to low-income communities; what I’m looking at is knowing what you have and what you can expect to find when visiting.

Take Goodwill, for instance, since everyone has seen at least one in their life. Outside of their larger outlets where you’ll find more furniture, walk into any Raleigh Goodwill and you’ll have seen all of them. 90% of the floorspace is dedicated to cheap clothes with a backwall full of knickknacks and a small bookshelf. If you’re lucky, there may even be a sofa or two and some paintings along the wall but most of what you’ll find is cheap clothes.

Now, if that’s what you’re looking for that’s great! However, I’ve grown to have a deep distaste for the homogeneity of local GCF stores. Customers can donate their clothes, toys, and other items to GCF at any store locations; but those items are shipped to processing and then distributed to other GCFs across the country based on inventory need and sales patterns. What you see in one donation center/store you’ll likely see in every other with maybe the odd rare find if you’re lucky.

GCF aside your options for Raleigh include org thrifts, mom and pop stores, and discount thrifts to provide some much needed variety in your day-to-day shopping. Each with their pros and cons, yet all sharing the glorious benefit of providing furniture and clothing for a fraction of the price of bigger brand stores.

Org thrifts (short for organization thrift stores, creative I know) are exactly what they sound like. Thrifts run by an organization or charity, similar to Goodwill's, with a stated goal of helping others and supporting the organization financially over seeking a profit margin.

Cause 4 Paws, Raleigh/Durham Rescue mission, and Dorcas thrift stores all provide a wide variety of products while using the store proceeds to help the less fortunate; but with phenomenal prices. It’s not uncommon for a thrift store run by one of these organizations to have fifty cent books, clothing sold by the pound, and furniture/power tools under the $40 price tag if you’re lucky. Plus, not to sound like a broken record but, your proceeds go towards good causes like animal adoption and feeding the homeless.

Most thrifts of this nature are run by religious organizations, so if you’re at odds with supporting that sort of thing you might be more interested in the other two options; but otherwise this type of thrift store typically comes with very few downsides.

|Image Credit: Dorcas Thrift on Nextdoor

Of course, one of those other options is the standard mom and pop operation. Not linked to any specific organization or franchise, these tend to be small businesses run by local families serving a smaller radius.

Prices as a result tend to be a little higher than your average thrift store since it’s, y’know, a business; and the selection can be a little below average, usually consisting largely of estate sale leftovers, but this also works to their favor.

There’s no central distribution center for these businesses, so what people sell/donate to these stores comes from nearby communities typically. So if you find one near an upper class area like Honeycutt Rd or Ebeneezer Church Rd, they’ll typically have nice furniture, art, and electronics for thrift store prices.

There’s not too many of these, but my personal favorite is Fabulous Affordable Treasures in Southwest Raleigh. A decent assortment of clothes and decorative pieces (and a very relaxing general environment) makes it a positive visit even when I’m just browsing.

|Image credit: Affordable Treasures Facebook

Finally there’s Discount thrifts. They’re not too common, and are usually supported by an organization additionally although not all are, but if you find one check back with them regularly because it’s almost guaranteed to be worth it.

These thrift stores operate by having a degrading price scale; setting prices when the object comes into inventory, and then lowering them based on how long its been with them or the condition it was received in.

Stores like Habitat for Humanity ReStore and Petersons Consigning Design use this, and typically offer discounts upwards of 60% if you wait long enough. On top of having equally large selections of product from org thrifts, they offer plenty for the savvy shopper.

The downside is, the best possible price you can receive for any given product is a gamble. That sweet leather armchair you have your eye on might be dropped from 40% to 50% in the next two days, but if someone finds the price acceptable where it is then that products gone forever (or at least until something similar winds up in inventory).

|Image Credit: Petersons Consigning Design website

Regardless of which thrift store you choose though, you’re bound to find a bargain in one eventually if you check back every once in awhile. I’ve only mentioned a fraction of the stores available in Raleigh, if you find a few favorites of your own and check back regularly, you’re bound to find something you’ll love at a price you couldn’t find anywhere else.

Of course, if you’re looking for more niche deals you could always use programs like Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist for people just looking to get rid of their junk. They’re easy to use and both are incredibly active for the Raleigh area; but if you’re looking for something a little more...interesting then I’d recommend checking out liquidation stores.

There’s not many of them in Raleigh, but recently this past week a store by the name of Treasure Hunt Liquidation opened up with an interesting premise. They buy tons of returned and opened merchandise from places like Amazon and sell them to other people on a degrading price scale similar to the thrift stores we mentioned above.

Fridays the price-per-item is $10, and then day by day it drops till it hits $1 per item on the following Wednesdays (and they close Thursdays for inventory). large bins full of boxed or repackaged goods line the floor with everything from car parts to 3D printing filaments depending on when you can get there.

Additionally, you can purchase pallets of goods as well; with some of the more high ticket items ranging from $300 up to $1500; but generally containing some of the more desirable items like bikes and kitchen equipment.

Overall, the whole experience is like a giant rotating lootbox; you’re never quite sure what you’re gonna get when you go but you’re likely to find something that at least catches your eye, even if it doesn’t come home with you.

|Image Credit: Treasure Hunt Liquidation facebook group

You can’t find everything you’ll ever need at stores like these, but you’ll definitely be able to find affordable furniture and clothes even on a college student’s budget. Even a few dollars saved can make a huge difference though, so if you get the chance or see a store on the side of the road that catches your eye, be sure to at least stop in and see what they have for sale.

Or, if you’ve read this and have some books/clothes/toys to donate please consider donating or selling them to your local thrift location. These secondhand finds can make all the difference in the world to a kid who wouldn’t be able to get them otherwise. Regardless, hopefully at the very least this article kept you entertained, and I hope everyone reading has a great day!

11 notes · View notes

lifesuite · 3 years ago

Text

LifeSuite Review 2021 — ⚠️SCAM EXPOSED⚠️

LIFESUITE WHAT IS IT

LifeSuite Is The ONLY All-In-One Powerpact Digital Solution You’ll Ever Need To Provide The Most Demanded Services On The Internet For LIFE – at an unbeatable one-time price.

==> Special Discount: Order Today With Best Price And Special Offers

Sure, we all know we have to adapt to the digital world if we want to stay afloat, feed our families and afford a decent lifestyle. But what comes next? Struggling To Adapt? Then just like me, I’m sure many of you figured out that you need to get so many things right to be able to sell online. The most important tasks to successfully go digital are: Storing your files safely… god forbid you lose all your important data; Hosting your website, it can’t be slow & unattractive after all it is your virtual identity; Reaching out to your audience fast enough, you don’t want to lose the opportunity to convert a client; Creating stunning graphics to make your audience stop & stare at your business; Hosting your own webinars to tap into the new age live-selling market; Creating funnels to successfully sell your product & count your profits.

==> Read More Here: Don’t Miss Out Today’s Special Offer <==

Don’t know about the next door genius. Hopelessly Searching For A Better Tomorrow? For all those who reached this stage of realization kudos to you. But you already know, knowing about what all you need barely solves the issue. It is actually the beginning of great suffering. Tried Everything Possible? Did you just like me get hoaxed into trying everything you possibly could? Wasting all your precious money on stuff like: Digital marketing books & podcasts, Marketing gurus, File storage facilities like DropBox, Graphic designing tools like Photoshop, Funnel builders like ClickFunnels, Autoresponders like Aweber, Webinar hosting platforms like Zoom, Hosting platforms like HostGator. And Still Failed?

>> Visit The Official Website Here to Place Your Order!

And to top it all. Did you still have to try and learn your way around these software, Hire a huge team of experts to work on each software separately, Pay more & more with each passing day, etc. Introducing The One Solution To All Your Problems, The One Trick For All Your Goal Manifestations Is Here. It’s called LifeSuite.

Everything Is Ready-To-Publish In 3 Quick Steps:

STEP 1: Get Access to the easiest all-in-one digital solution

STEP 2: Pick the service you need… cloud hosting, file storage, webinar hosting, auto responding, funnel building or graphic designing

STEP 3: Witness the magic of hot-selling digital services in skyrocketing sales & profits.

The Bottom Line: LifeSuite is designed for anyone who likes to be in full control of their business, but at the same time HATES complicated software. It’s for you if you simply don’t want to pay extra for storing extra data, bandwidth and designs want to build something uncomplicated which grows and makes you more and more as it does. It’s for you if you’re sick and tired of paying monthly subscriptions to storage, hosting, funnels, autoresponder & design platforms in return for mediocre support and massive downtimes.

HURRY UP GET EXCLUSIVE 50% DISCOUNT OFFER ON OFFICIAL WEBSITE.

At the moment – LifeSuite is available for MASSIVELY discounted ONT-TIME price but of course, this special offer CANNOT continue forever. Once this special launch ends – LifeSuite will then turn into a monthly subscription model. So – don’t miss this MASSIVE opportunity and get access right now.

WHAT LIFESUITE CAN DO FOR YOU

EXPERIENCE Ultimate Cloud Hosting: Host limitless websites on rock-solid cloud based servers; Create Ultra-fast loading sites with no downtime; Enjoy absolute peace of mind & security courtesy of End-To-End Encryption; Personalize unlimited email accounts & experience unprecedented bandwidth; Automated creation with maximum ease & sophistication for new-age marketers; End your struggles with one-click installer for WordPress & 100+ apps; Sleep better & live stress-free because your sites are malware protected.

EXPERIENCE Reliable Data Storage: Add, manage & delete your precious files from even the remotest island; Share files & collaborate with your team or family in just one-click; Avoid data snooping & third-party sharing by making the safe shift; Keep cherished memories and all your files secure throughout eternity with the backup feature; Save precious time thanks to quick-view enabled documents, images & videos; Download & upload files instantly using the lightning speed servers without a moment’s delay

With LifeSuite,you can experience Hot-Selling Webinar Creation: Understand the pulse of the buyer by hosting popular pre-recorded or live webinars within minutes; Increase engagement like never before by scheduling meetings, chatting & sharing your screen, audio & live video; Access ready-made webinars & products so that you don’t have to lift a finger to make huge sales; Connect regularly over video call with loved ones, business partners & teams during WFH era

EXPERIENCE Fastest AutoResponding: Access the fastest and most automated email marketing system to rule the charts; Live a life of absolute power with no cap on subscribers, lists or emails; Build your list on the go or simply import your contacts without additional verification; Maintain a harmonious work-life balance by scheduling your emails; Send instant broadcasts to your lists for quick amplification using free SMTP integration; Hit send to beautifully crafted email templates without any hassles

EXPERIENCE High-Converting Funnel Building: Simply drag & drop a few elements to create successful funnels; Pick the template of your choice & publish instantly; Pull high volumes of traffic with the help of social media syndication module; DFY affiliate products to sell the complete package with bonuses and reviews; Level up the pages & OTOs to make more money using the same products

EXPERIENCE Attractive Graphic Designing: Create visually appealing graphic designs without any prior knowledge in just a few clicks; Select from unique & stunning templates to customize and publish in just a few minutes; Skip additional softwares & experts…edit, create, share & embed from within the dashboard; Don’t spend another penny on optimization, all the graphics are already created to rank high across search engines

LIFESUITE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Is LifeSuite a cloud-based software? A. It is 100% hosted on the cloud. You can access it from any device of your choice at any time & get all 8 digital solutions from one dashboard!

What do users have to say about LifeSuite? A. Users are loving LifeSuite & can’t stop raving about how it has changed their lives. You can read the reviews on this page.

What are the restrictions? A. It is 100% hosted on the cloud. You can access it from any device of your choice at any time & get all 8 digital solutions from one dashboard!

What is the monthly cost of LifeSuite? A. During this exclusive special period offer, LifeSuite is being offered (for the first & last time) at a tiny one-time cost. No monthly subscription fee.

I am a beginner, can I use LifeSuite? A. It is incredibly easy to use for anyone. The interface requires you to simply drag-n-drop a few things to create a masterpiece. Don’t worry about anything when you get this incredible technology that does everything for you.

Is training & support included? A. Absolutely. They provide step-by-step training to all their users to get them quick-started on their journey to success. Their team of representatives are also available round-the-clock for any assistance that you may need.

(ACT NOW AND SAVE) Click Here To Get at a Discounted Price!

Special Bonuses for the Dope Review Audience: You’ll get all the bonuses listed on the Salespage, but I’m going to give you guys a SPECIAL bonus as well. If you Download LifeSuite through any link on this page you’ll also get my bonus package over $2400 Value. Believe me, my bonus package will save you time, money and make your life a little easier !

Get For a Special Discounted Price Today (In Stock)

#LifeSuite LifeSuite2021 LifeSuiteReview LifeSuiteBonus LifeSuiteDemo LifeSuiteBonuses

1 note · View note

saiyanhajime · 5 years ago

Text

My First Artist Alley at a Comic Con… What I’ve Learnt

I’ve thought about selling my wears in artist alley for something like ten years now… And aside from feeling like my stuff isn’t good enough to compete until relatively recently, the main reason I hadn’t given it a whirl until now was the cost. I couldn’t understand how it would be financially viable, and if you’re here to find the quick answer to that same burning question, the answer is it’s not - at least for me. But if I’m being honest and perhaps a little harsh, I can’t really see how it could be what I would consider truly “worthwhile” for all but the most successful artists in the alley when you factor in all expenses.

But would I do it again? Hell yes. Did I have fun? Absolutely! Was there value in networking, making friends and social media gains? Yes, yes and yes!

I went to London Comic Con Spring run by Showmasters. I choose this con because of a few reasons, namely that it was the next local con with tables left when I started seriously obsessing over wanting to do this.

The stall was very reasonable at £80 (but I paid an extra £30 for an additional person to help out.)

This convention is a lot more Film and TV focused than was ideal for what I thought my audience would be - with their main highlight being their guest signings. I knew this going in and my assumptions were right, I think. That said, the “small press” section of the event was wildly varied, but it did feel like actual comic creators were doing the best of us all.

The Expenses

The costs add up, fast. A £ here and there and you’ve racked up £500 or so worth of expenses before you’ve even factored in potential travel, food and hotels… Let alone time. I know you’re probably thinking you wouldn’t spend that much, but believe me - if you record EVERY cost related to getting your stall together, you’ll be shocked how fast it accumulates. You’ll find yourself looking at all the £3-5 you spent on bits n bobs wondering how the final sum is so high.

I know what you’re thinking… You can do it cheaper. I just didn’t try hard enough to get these costs down. But believe me, I did.

I spent way more time than was worthwhile researching costs - these prices include VAT & they include shipping - I wanted the most accurate picture of the hard cash I would actually have to spend up front… And the oddly expensive ones like the postcards cost so much because I effectively paid a premium to have multiple designs. My logic was to try lots of different things, learn as much as possible, but have few in quantity of each design. That way, the flops hurt less. You pay more per item for that privilege, but what’s the use in having 100 of something that won’t sell? I’d rather learn from x10 of something even if I’m making half the profit “per item”.

That’s a mistake a think so many businesses make - don’t think of profit per item, think of it in profit on entire expenses. I made a huge loss, just like I expected. :) My 100 postcards for example costing £50 makes them 50p each, and selling at £1.50 means £1 profit per postcard. That’s £100 profit! Except I only sold 10 - that means a £35 loss for the time being. It’s not a profit until you recoup the whole cost. And I thought of the whole cost as that £550 sum from the get go. Only once I cover all accumulated costs am I making a profit.

But most of these costs are reusable… I could go to another con tomorrow and only pay an additional £150 or so for the table, travel, etc. and have enough stock and a decent display. And that’s my intention - don’t give up, do a few, then evaluate. THEN give up. :)

So realistically, you need to be willing to waste £800+ to find out if this game is for you. That’s a big chunk of money not to be sniffed at and you should be aware of that before you jump in.

The Products

What should I take? Who should I order it from?? How much stock do I need???

These are unanswerable questions because they are highly personal. I see soooo many “where should I get prints from??” with people expecting an easy answer. There isn’t one. But I can try and explain why there isn’t one. I think a lot of newbies assume creators don’t want to share their suppliers because they’re being protective or don’t want the competition - nonono, it’s that the answer is different for everyone. An established, popular and successful artist in the alley is likely ordering huge bulk orders from a supplier that has a minimum order of hundreds or thousands. What good is that information to us newbies? It’s useless.

Prints

In the end, I took 7 print designs…. All fanart, with 4 of the designs being Dragon Ball, 2 of the designs Sonic the Hedgehog and one of GLaDOS from Portal 2. Two of the designs were on A3 and the rest on A4.

I ordered A4 and A3 prints from different suppliers, as they were cheaper this way, EVEN with the postage factored in - which is absolutely ridiculous I know, but you begin to see why “x company is best for prints!” is a useless piece of advice. But sit tight, cuz it gets way worse.

I ordered as few as possible, but a couple of websites had the same price for 5 as the other did for 10, etc. so I went with the one that offered more for the same, obviously. I had x6 (including the display print) of each A4 print and x10 of each A3 - not because I thought they would sell twice as much, just because that’s the least I could get for the cheapest price! And to make matters even more complex - I made those orders based on coupons I had found and you often can’t see the total inc postage until you’ve got everything in your basket and entered your address and email. I looked at maybe 20 suppliers. Imagine how long that took, just for prints. And if I did the same thing tomorrow, it wouldn’t be the same suppliers who were cheaper - coupons and offers change the game, quantity required changes the game. Getting 30 A4 prints might be cheaper on one site, but it might be better to get them from another if you’re after 40, and it definitely will be if you’re wanting them to be all the same - then you can probably get 100 for less than I paid. Nightmare. And you find yourself going “but I can get 100 of the same print for £17 - maybe it’s worth the investment…” Maybe? Who knows! Probably not though.

I don’t think I’d bother with ordering A3 again anytime soon - the main reason is that A3 cellophane bags and carrier bags big enough for such a large print are quite a considerable added expense… And a lot of potential buyers commented how they loved a print but just don’t have the wall space. I also couldn’t find a supplier that would offer to print less than 10 A3 prints in one design. One buyer commented that they would get one of my other prints if it was larger - but would they? I know from experience selling online that people often say “oh man I’d so get a ____ if you did one!” and you do and you even link it to them and then silence. Don’t take what potential customers say too seriously, unless you’ve got a decent number of them telling you the same thing. But for me, 3 people telling me that on top of my other reasons for disliking A3 is enough to go, ok… Forget A3.

Perhaps my best piece of advice is to sign up to every supplier's newsletter. I get emailed deals almost daily now and if you’ve got the time to play with, it’s worth getting your stuff ready for print and just sitting and waiting for that coupon to drop. 15-20% off can make a huge difference to your margins. I purposefully waited until January to place my orders, expecting a post Christmas assortment of deals, and I was right. Bare in mind that many suppliers can take a while to get stuff to you and it might not be right - so don’t cut it too late to order things. I ordered everything just under two months ahead of the con and had plenty of time to then play with and practise setting up how I was going to display things.

So, how did the prints do? I sold out of the Sonic and Shadow print - including the display, which I sold at a marked down rate. I sold 2 of each A3 print - Great Ape Vegeta vs Goku and GLaDOS… 1 of Majin Vegeta, 2 of Fleetway Super Sonic. None of Gogeta or Shenron.

So, Dragon Ball wasn’t so hot, Sonic absolutely was. Is that a long term trend, or just this con? Hell if I know.

I didn’t have a portfolio book with my prints in on the table - I thought that was a waste of space if I can fit them all up on my display - but with hindsight, you get two types of people... Those who aren’t interested in artist alley stalls and pass through at a distance and a print up high MIGHT catch their eye and bring them over. But the vast majority of people you’ll sell to have their eyes down at the tables as they pass. This was the most important thing I learnt - I’d read so much about how important it is to use “vertical” space and tried to get as much off the table as possible, but by day 2 I was spreading more out on the table until every inch of it was covered. I often had to tell people about my prints and they would look up having not noticed them! I had read that people recommend having a portfolio book for people to thumb through - but I hadn’t really understood the benefit of that. Having people touch and interact with stuff on the table is such a valuable interaction that sparks natural conversations. It’s really important to have physical stuff ON the table, perhaps more so than getting a fancy vertical setup. If you’re strapped for cash - ditch the idea of grid cubes or similar completely. Just lay stuff out.

Postcards

When my postcards arrived I immediately realised I’d made a stupid mistake. I was obsessed with getting the display vertical and having lots of different designs. Having so many different postcards to display was a nightmare that I think impacted the whole setup. The wall they created took light away from one side of the display, they were really quite oppressive! - and I knew this before I even went to the show, but I didn’t know how else to display them. I don’t think I would order postcards again, they barely sold… But the 90 I have leftover will be displayed in a photo album on the table next time for sure. Seems so obvious now! They were a HUGE waste of money - they’re expensive for what they are to get made and the retail price of them is abysmal. But, there were a couple of times when people who didn’t have the money for a big print maybe wouldn’t have bought anything, but I had something cheap and cheerful to offer, which was nice. The other cool thing about them is you can have your website on the back and it doesn’t seem out of place or weird.

The main problem with finding a postcard provider was I couldn’t find anywhere that would do small print runs to allow me to order several designs, so I ended up going with the one company I knew who’d do that - Moo. But man are they expensive - I could have got 500 postcards of one design for less than half what I paid for 100 of 25 diff designs - but again, having the variety mattered to me.

Postcards are a pain and not worth it, which explains why I so rarely see them for sale. Lesson learned!

If you have a decent inkjet printer, postcards are super easy to make and I used to do this before I lost patience with inkjet home printers and switched to laser. Just get thick photo paper, already the correct size!

Stickers

I had a mix of kiss-cut and die-cut stickers that by day two I was spreading out on the table and absolutely getting more sales as a direct result… They still didn’t do exceptionally well, but I don’t regret having them. They’re a solid low-retail-price staple of the artist alley table. Pieces of art with a purpose, especially in the age of reusable water bottles. A couple of fellow artists noted that my stickers were very cheap priced at £1.50 and I kind of agree. I think next time they will be £2 and this won’t negatively affect sales. There’s a common fallacy that making something cheaper will increase sales - the likelihood is that it won’t, and when you think how many more sales you have to make to gain the same profit, you realise this is the case. Just that small difference of 50p would mean you have to sell 25% less stickers to make the same amount of money. Isn’t that insane? When you think of it this way, pricing your items right really matters.

I also had sticker sheets - the Baa (from Dragon Ball) ones I only sold one of, to a child who I’m not sure even knew what they were from, but the Sonic sheet did pretty well! I didn’t see many other artists rocking Sonic stuff - or even much Sonic stuff on the wider show floor - which is surprising given the recent film release. I guess I just tapped into a niche, but it’s hard to tell.

Several suppliers of stickers offer multiple designs as standard, or a small surcharge for having multiple designs. Shop around. Stickers are overpriced from many suppliers. The popular choice of Stickermule often run deals where you can get 50 for £19, but even this deal price is quite expensive for x50 of the same sticker. They are by far the best quality stickers, to be fair to them… But you don’t need x50 of one sticker for the purpose of artist alley. I’ve jumped on Stickermule promos in the past where they charge £1 for 10 stickers. That’s a great opportunity to try out design you’re really not sure about. I can’t stress enough how important newsletter signup to suppliers is!

Honestly, Zap Creatives are the only company I’ve used that I would recommend without a second thought. Their customer service is exceptional, their postal packaging is not only environmentally friendly but also adequate (I had a lot of issues with other suppliers packaging and items arriving to me damaged! Another reason you need to order far in advance.) and their prices are transparent and extremely good value. They have free postage (globally, I believe!), which makes it so easy to see how much you’ll be spending at a glance. They have detailed “how to” pages for setting up your files. They’re a dream come true. Sign up to their newsletter, follow them on socials, give them your money - they deserve it. Not sponsored, just genuinely impressed.

Comic

Back at Uni a friend and I made a little comic, and I got some more copies made and took it along because, why not… It is COMIC con after all, and this convention actually calls the artist alley “small press”. It sold pretty well for an independent original to a wide variety of people, young and old. It made me really happy to see an original work sell! You’d be surprised how cheap getting a book printed can be - but be willing for the pages to be slightly misaligned and the paper quality eh. But if you just want a cheap comic printed or a zine, it is very doable in small runs even as low as 10. Remember that stuff doesn’t need to be perfect. Don’t stress over imperfections. I wouldn’t recommend the supplier I used because their delivery was an abysmal royal shit-show, but their customer service made up for it and then their re-delivery was only a slightly less abysmal royal shit-show on the second attempt. So, I won’t mention them.

On that note - if a supplier isn’t good enough, get in touch with their customer services and be nice but tell them it’s not good enough. Give them a chance to fix things.

Traditional Art Originals

I took a lot of traditional media original artworks with me, mostly because I had them already. I sold one low value original.

This was a little heartbreaking because the sale of just one high value original would have pushed the worthwhileness a long way - but it is a lot of money to expect people to spend and is a luck of the draw situation, for sure.

However, the larger ones definitely attracted attention to my stall and created conversation - so I’d say if you have larger originals or small low value quick drawings, they’re worth bringing, but I wouldn’t make any for the intent of selling in the future.

I don’t think a single person thumbed through my plate rack of originals. It was a poor display idea. Don’t recommend it at all. But I can’t think of a better idea other than individual easel displays which take up valuable table space better used for spreading out other items flat.

How could I have done better?

I think having more variety of franchises in my prints was the only HUGE mistake that I kinda knew before I arrived might be an issue. The reason I didn’t was I was worried about space and this could have been avoided had I just listened to the advice I read and had a portfolio out - I even have an A4 portfolio book! Stupid. I’m stupid.

Would I have done enough better to make a profit? No way haha.

How did other people seem to be doing?

It didn’t seem like anyone was doing particularly well… But without knowing peoples numbers, it’s hard to say. And I doubt many people keep the obsessive books I do.

I am pretty sure a lot of convention artists don’t realise the amount they are spending vs the amount they aren’t making… But I could be wrong. There’s a lot of talk of “making table” which I did make back, but I came nowhere close to making back all associated costs. I think for it to be legitimately financially “worthwhile”, you’d have to take about £2k over a weekend - to account for the time and all expenses and paying yourself a decent wage. And if your prints are £10 each, that’s more than 10 prints sold an hour. No one was anywhere near this busy. No way.

A few artists told me this isn’t the most amazing show in the first place and they’ve done worse than they did at this same show last year, even if it seemed physically busier at times this year. A lot of this game is luck of the draw - who’s turning up, how much do they have to spend, what's the weather doing, etc. etc…

Do I need a card reader?

My sales were about 50/50 cash and card… But I ran out of exact change at one point, so being able to take card payments saved the sale. I have a Sum Up reader as it was the cheapest to buy up front and I had no issues with it the whole weekend. At £20 it was a bargain. I think I would rather have that than the cube display grid, for example.

Do you have any cost shaving tips?

Oh hell yeah!

First up - like I said before - sign up to every single potential supplier newsletter. Some of them send out coupons almost weekly.

I bought very little in the way of display equipment and salvaged the rest...

I borrowed some plate stands from my nan, I took empty cardboard displays from ASDA and Sainsbury's (I’d try Walmart or Target in the USA). These were great because they fold down flat for transporting, are light and FREE! Keep your eyes peeled when you’re out shopping for ones which might be the right size for your products. Often times you can transfer the one or two items left in them to another box in the store, or they’re simply empty. I found ASDA best for having completely unbranded boxes. I also made some stands for my small originals from thick card rather than by expensive display racks that are heavy to transport and cost a bomb.

Pick local shows if you can and research thoroughly your transport options and the cost. Parking, trains, hotel costs and eating out can be extortionate additions to your overall expense that are easily forgotten.

Make sure you can carry your setup and don’t need to spend additional money on an Uber or something to help you move shit around!

Use what you have. Don’t buy storage boxes and suitcases and trolleys if you don’t have to. Sure, they might make your life slightly easier, but maybe wait and see how your first few cons go.

Any other tips or things you wish you’d known?

One thing that was kinda stressing me out was leaving stock overnight, but I realised there’s a whole show floor of high value figurines down there...

Leaving the stall unattended isn’t a big deal, either. Obviously take your money with you, but your neighbors can let potential customers know you’ve popped to the loo and I saw several “Back Soon!” signs throughout the day. I took a friend mostly as company, but I would confidently do a con alone having seen how much of a non-issue this is. Having a friend is great for chatting and having a chance to have a look around the show and chat to other artists, though!

I’m not sure carrier bags are necessary. They’re a pretty substantial extra expense you can skip.

Check all your stock as soon as it arrives in the mail. I had an order of cello bags for A4 prints where about 50% of the pack were unusable as the bottom seal with just... open.

Oh! And the “Sundays are always quieter” rhetoric? My Sunday was twice as good as Saturday, despite being quieter on the show floor.

Overall...

I really enjoyed myself. I loved everything. Chatting to customers, chatting to artists, seeing what people were selling, people watching, eating junk, setting up, tearing down and having a friend to chat with and chill the whole time. I gained a pretty significant Twitter follower boost over the weekend and gave away approximately 150-200 business cards as well as meeting some awesome new friends.

I’m not sure if I will be back for the same show next year - we’ll see. I’d like to try a bunch of different shows with different audiences. Many overlap in terms of being around the same time of year. And all the while I’m carrying limited stock to see what works and what doesn’t, I’m reluctant to book two close together.

I’m lucky enough to live in London - so I have access to several big conventions throughout the year on my doorstep.

I have a table at Hyper Japan in July. A very different con to this one with a table almost half as big. So I suspect most of what I’ve learnt won’t even apply! But that’s kind of exciting. My logical brain tells me not to make more stuff, but I think I’ve got the con bug now and just wanna make more profits!

I hope this has been slightly useful to anyone toying with the idea of doing a convention. I recommend checking out @howtobeaconartist here on Tumblr as well as Ben Krefta’s incredibly detailed experiences of being a UK convention artist.

Another thing I found helpful was to watch youtube video walk-arounds from previous years at the same show - see what people are selling, their set-ups, get a feel for space, see if you see the same people returning year after year. Here’s a video from the show I’ve just done! Artist alley starts at around 7:50.

#artist alley #my art #saiyanhajime art #saiyanhajime #conventions #comic con #lccspring #london comic con

91 notes · View notes

trafficzioncloudreview · 4 years ago

Text

10 Top Ways to Earn Money on the Web

The net provides a broad variety of getting chances for people round the environment. Whether you're a 10 year-old girl or even a 70 year-old person, you may readily figure out ways to make money on the internet. There are lots of chances to make profit diverse disciplines, plus something needs to locate the ideal manner according to his education, expertise, experience, skillset and attention. Here we will go over concerning the 10 most useful methods of making money on the internet.

Infolinks - should you own a site or site that's good content in any particular topic then you're able to get your website or site enrolled with Infolinks. They supply in-text advertisements with your own associates. You'll want observed articles links to various web sites in various article directory sites; they truly are only in-text advertising. It's an excellent supply of Trafficzion Cloud Review.

Construct a distinct segment Store - It's just another simple yet powerful tool to produce some fast money on the web. It offers a chance to produce content based on the web stores and generate income with eBay affiliate application. It's extremely straightforward and folks are getting alot as a result.

Adbrite - Using Adbrite it is possible to sell some empty space in your own site or site because of text advertisement and also get excellent money out of the offer.

Amazon Affiliate Program - becoming a Amazon online marketer that you can either send direct traffic into the Amazon or produce a buying department or perhaps a store in your own website or site and readily build an income on the web. In just about any instance Amazon manages one's customers and high conversion speed and fantastic commission.

Amazon Seller - In case you're creative enough to produce some particular thing that has great requirement from today then you definitely can readily become Amazon seller and begin selling your items on the internet to earn significantly more profits out of these.

Yahoo! Merchant Solutions - If you would like to make an internet shop and sell your services or products then you could always anticipate Yahoo! Merchant Solutions. They supply good services in low cost.

Azoogleads - It's like Adbrite. Provide some distance of your site or site to get Azoogleads advertisers and also make money. Azoogleads has many of wellknown advertisers that offer great chance to earn decent money.

BidVertiser - It's just another wonderful source to make money and understand the actual significance of your site's advertisement department. Put adverts through BidVertiser and also make cash with PPC app. You may always observe the maximum bid for the site advertisement distance that provides you with the chance to bring in big.

Website - Aside from creating sites and making profits through different internet sources, you've a opportunity to make your own weblog based in your own attention, upgrade it regularly, plan and put good adverts, and also get steady money for very long moment.

Commission Junction - It's just world-renowned affiliate application site which offers great chance to all site and site owners ahead and subscribe at no cost. Once you're registered with Commission Junction, then you are able to pick from the million retailers and display their own adverts in your own site. According on distinct performances and provisions laid down by publishers, retailers get yourself a fantastic likelihood of making money on the web.

#Trafficzion #Trafficzion Cloud Review #Trafficzion Review

1 note · View note

vands38 · 4 years ago

Text

things i wish someone told me about coeliac disease (UK edition)

apparently some doctors are still not telling coeliacs what they actually need to know so here’s some fun facts --

*coeliac disease is likely to go undiagnosed if you don’t have digestive symptoms. for a lot of folks, their first symptoms are odd things like weight loss, bloating, mouth ulcers etc that take ages for doctors to correctly diagnose as coeliac disease. I know someone whose only sign was tingling in her fingers (nerve problems are a Thing sometimes). I don’t wanna freak folks out but check this list of symptoms and if you’re worried, ask your doc for a blood test to check for coeliac disease. I went in and out of my docs for years with various symptoms (mostly from the anaemia) and no one caught it until I was finally having noticeable digestive trouble.

* coeliac disease an autoimmune disease. not an allergy. not an intolerance. when you eat gluten, your gut just screams NOPE and throws everything out of there.

* this means if you keep eating gluten you will have serious long-term health problems because your gut can't absorb shit

* as I mentioned, anaemia is one of these associated health problems. a lot of people have this at diagnosis b/c your gut hasn’t been absorbing the nutrients it needs. it leaves you very weak and tired, and the longer it goes on, the worse it gets.

* long-term anaemia / malnutrition causes so many fucking health problems I can't list them all. basically, if your body sucks, there's a good chance it's a side-effect of your coeliac disease going undiagnosed. I got shitty joints and a shitty heart and shitty bones and godknowswhatelse and every time my doc is like "hey, guess what? it’s coeliac disease!"

* you know what a common side effect is? LACTOSE INTOLERANCE. this is because, once again, your gut hates you from all that gluten you've been killing it with, so it starts to muck around and kick out other things too. but good news! most of the time this is reversible!!! lay off any lactose for a couple of months, reintroduce it to your diet slowly, and you -- like me -- might be a-ok

*some folks with coeliac disease can’t digest oats either as they contain a similar protein. I found that I was kinda squiffy with them at first but as soon as my gut had calmed down I was a-ok with GF oats (this is good b/c 99% of good GF biscuits are made with oat flour, RIP to everyone that can’t eat them)

* so... your bones are probably fucked. if you were diagnosed early and your doctors are on it, you might be okay but for a lot of people it means osteopenia, and further down the line, osteoporosis (meaning it's v easy to break bones). you need to be eating, like, double the regular amount of calcium every day. most people are put on calcium tablets with combined vitamin D (to help absorb the calcium) but even on top of that, you need to be getting a lot in your diet. If you're still lactose intolerant then switch to lacto-free versions of dairy products or eat tofu like there's no tomorrow. It's super important that you get enough.

* relatedly, bone health!!! You should be doing MODERATE impact exercises like jogging to strengthen the bones but nothing high-impact like tennis. load-bearing exercises are good too. here’s some examples (in detail) given to me by the rheumatology dept

* people have different sensitivity levels. in the UK, certified gluten-free products have to be 20 parts per million or less, but in the US this is 100! marmite lives somewhere between these two and can cause some coeliacs to have a reaction. please be aware when you eat international gluten-free foods that they might have more parts per million than your body is used to

* because you're super sensitive to gluten, not only do you need to check the bold allergens on the ingredients, but the small print too. it might say "made in a factory that handles gluten" or "may contain traces of gluten" and that’s a no-go

* similarly, be careful in restaurants. Apparently it's still perfectly legal for restaurants to say a dish is "gluten free" and then put your nice GF bread in the same fucking toaster as regular bread and have you shitting your pants for days. Just because the ingredients are GF doesn't mean they're cooking it in an allergen-conscious manner. If its not a Coeliac UK certified restaurant, always ask about their methods. Is that milkshake made in a GF blender? Is your fry-up cooked in a separate pan? The first time I got glutened after my diagnosis it was because my GF naan bread shared a tray with a regular one. A lot of places won't even fucking think about this stuff.

* if you're in a gluten-eating household, you've got a big expense coming up. you need to buy a GF toaster at the very least and I would recommend also a separate baking tray (because pizzas, garlic breads etc stick to that shit like no tomorrow) and a saucepan (or anything else that regularly contains pasta/noodles/etc). You'll also need a separate bread knife and board. Separate butter. Separate strainer if you're the type to drain your pasta. Line anything suspicious (e.g.your sandwich toaster, a communal baking tray) with baking parchment. Don’t use bare rungs in your oven or hob. And buy separate spreads and condiments, unless your household is very well trained in not dipping their crumb-covered knives into those things. I've even got separate plates, kitchen utensils, and cutlery. It seems extreme but I haven't had a cross-contamination incident since. Just think: has gluten touched this? And if so, do your best to minimise the risk.

* living GF is expensive long-term too. GF bread costs twice as much as regular bread. Restaurants often charge extra for GF alternatives. I had to switch from having toast in the morning to cereal because it's much more reasonably priced. I eat more fruit than I ever have before just because GF snacks cost so much. I used to have breakfast bars lol say goodbye to that shit unless you wanna be broke

* things I didn't realise I couldn't eat: crisps (a lot of your standard crisps are made with ??? production methods), candied nuts (most of these are made in factories that handle gluten), soy sauce, strawberry laces and a whole bunch of fave sweets (contain wheat starch to bind them - check this list for safe sweets), marmite (you can buy a GF yeast extract that is only 50% worse than the original)

*good food you actually can eat: most cadburys but not most nestle, GF beer which tastes exactly the same, schar pretzels are actually the shit, so are their BBQ pringles and those little chocolate bars with hazelnuts, Morrisons free from frozen mini hash browns will cure your depression, M&S do these bacon tortilla rolls which... OH BOY. Quiche alternatives are pretty damn good but I've yet to find a pizza that doesn't make me want to cry.

*speaking of supermarkets... Morrisons stock a good range of stuff and tend to have everything in one aisle, M&S have many yummy (and expensive) treats, Sainsbury's has good own brand things including bread, Tesco's are fairly decent and stock a lot of baking things, ASDA are the king of GF cake, if you're still lacto-free then Waitrose sell LF cheese including halloumi, and check your your local hippy food store because I found the best goddamn bread in mine (Incredible Bakery Company - you are £4.50 a loaf but I have no regrets)

*party risks: if there's a BBQ, insist that your things go first or have a separate BBQ, or, if worse comes to worse, just eat cold snacks. (Beware of sausages! Many aren't GF!) If its a chip and dip situation, either everything has to be GF (easily done) or have your own dip. BUFFETS ARE LITERALLY OUR WORST NIGHTMARE. the amount of coeliacs I know that have been glutened at one are INSANE. even if those tasty treats are labelled 'gluten free' they've probably be contaminated. everything at a goddamn buffet is contaminated. Dinner party? Well meaning friends will want to cook for you but unless their kitchen is set up as above, it's safer to bring your own food -- if you're very lucky, you will have friends who take the time to learn about allergens and will clean every item in their kitchen before cooking and serving an entire GF meal. these friends are to be treasured -- nay, worshipped.

*fast food. there’s no good way to put this but you’re never having that guilty pleasure 2am burger again. mcdonalds fries are miraculously GF though. (a lot of takeaways recycle oil so even if the ingredients are GF it’s often not safe but mcdonalds always use a separate fryer for chips). indian takeaway is great as most dishes don’t contain gluten. on the flip side, you’ll only be able to have about 5 items on the chinese menu (soy sauce is in everything, yo) so be prepared to learn those 5 items by heart. dominoes do Coeliac UK certified GF pizza!!! (buuuuut not during covid). chains like pizza express have got our back and will even serve you GF doughballs

*coeliac UK are your best friend! most of the things I’ve mentioned are described in detail on their website. they also have a barcode scanner app that will tell you if foods are safe, and they have a restaurant guide, and useful things like translation guides for when you go abroad.

That's all I've got right now but hmu with any questions or corrections. Take care of yourself, folks. <3

#coeliac disease #celiac disease #gluten free #info post #allergens #i just could not see another incorrect comment on the coeliac uk facebook page without doing something #i'm sorry #i'm well aware this is of interest to approx three followers #but #someone might need to hear all this #because my god i definitely did when i got diagnosed #long post

2 notes · View notes

makemoneyonline-pedia · 4 years ago

Text

Make Money With Affiliate Marketing in 11 Easy Steps

Affiliate marketing is a fantastic way to build passive income that will continue to flow in, even when you’re spending time on other projects. It’s one of the fastest and most effective ways to begin making an income from your blog or website, even when you’re still building up your following and reputation.

By targeting the right audience, you can enjoy commission while recommending your favorite products and services; and the best part is that affiliate marketing works for all niches.

However, bloggers and niche site owners tend to make a few mistakes that limit their chances of affiliate success. Here’s our guide on how to make money with affiliate marketing so you can maximize profit, making every post pay.

Since there are many considerations involved, please read the full guide before implementing or making any changes to your affiliate posts.

Before continue - If you are uncertain about the future, frustrated with your current situation, or simply desire the freedom of Internet Business ownership. THIS ARTICLE WILL HELP YOU >>

Make Money With Affiliate Marketing Today

1. Target the Right Audience

When I first started implementing an affiliate process, I applied for popular affiliate programs and inserted the affiliate link into my popular posts.

While this affiliate ‘trickle-down effect’ will make you some income, it’s not the best strategy for affiliate success. You need to catch the reader with their credit card in their hand to start making consistent sales.

To really start making money from affiliates, you need to flip your affiliate game around and start the process by choosing the right product/service, that are essential to your target audience, that have prime keywords to help you rank your affiliate article on page one of Google.

For example, instead of just adding Amazon product affiliate links to your guide on studying for finals, you can choose a product that you know will help students study and target the keywords they would be using to search for such products.

Why not do both? You can make money through both methods, but the more targeted approach will likely make more. Track the income to see which type of post brings in the most income.

So How Do I Rank on Google?

This process is called search engine optimization (SEO). If you are not familiar with SEO I suggest you read our introductory guide here and sign up for our free 4-part SEO course. Part of SEO is keyword research.

This helps you target keywords with a decent volume and low competition so you can appear on page one of SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) in Google.

SEO will allow you to reach the right audience who want to buy the affiliate product or service.

We call this process writing ‘money-making’ posts. You can make affiliate income from social media but you need an engaged audience to do so. An active newsletter list is another funnel that you can target.

For us, SEO offers the best outcomes for our travel and food sites when it comes to monetizing through affiliates so this guide is going to focus on using SEO.

2. Choose Products/Services to Promote

When deciding what affiliate products to promote, don’t just choose the popular ones. Really consider the following things:

The affiliate and the product. Do you stand behind the company? Is it something your audience needs or wants? Is it a high enough price point to actually make money from? What commission will you receive? What is the cookie window?

How a buyer would purchase the product. Will they buy right away or consider their decision first? This will affect what kind of marketing you need to do.

What is the user intent of the target audience? For example, what does the Google searcher asking for ‘best neighborhoods in New York’ want? Hotels? Houses for sale? What does a searcher asking for “best slow cooker” want?

3. Consider the Buying Cycle

You need to appeal to readers who are ready to purchase in order for them to get out their credit card and make the purchase right away. So be sure you choose keywords that target the decision/buying stage. These people are beyond the information-gathering stage and are ready to buy as soon as they find the right product.

Using buying words and phrases will attract decision-stage readers. Here are some example buying words:

Product reviews

This product vs That product

Best luxury product or best budget product

For women … for men … for families

If you think you have a chance of ranking on page one of Google with your post, then don’t worry so much about the volume of the keyword. It’s better to rank well for smaller volume keywords than to not rank for high volume ones.

I used to believe you needed a large audience to make money but that’s not true, you need a targeted audience. With affiliate marketing, it is better to have a hundred views that convert, than a thousand that don’t.

For example, one of my targeted money-making posts makes 3x the commission in comparison to another post that receives a ton of views but isn’t targeted.

Affiliate links work much better in a targeted post.

4. Solve a Problem

You can add an affiliate link to just about any post, but the ones that will begin to make money are the ones that solve a problem.

The best way to tackle this is to brainstorm your audience’s pain points. Think about an issue that causes a problem for your audience – something they struggle with.

What are the top three things that keep your audience up at night?

Such as how to source a recipe ingredient they can’t get at home, or how to choose the best elliptical machine when there are so many similar options on the market. Those are the affiliate products you should introduce to your audience.

After brainstorming, conduct keyword research to see if people are actively looking for a solution to that problem on Google. If there is search volume, and the post you write solves the problem, you will begin to make affiliate sales.

Note: Don’t forget to consider whether you can compete against the top ten posts in the SERPs. If there are already dozens of people solving that problem, you might have a hard time getting your solution in front of readers.

Write an in-depth and very useful guide for your audience about that pain point. Identify the issue, empathize with the issue, and introduce your product that solves the issue.

5. Choose The Right Affiliate Programs

When choosing an affiliate program, at the very least you have to consider the following:

Commission – What percentage will you make? Or is there a flat fee you will receive per sale?

Cookie Window – How long does a reader have to purchase in order for you to get the commission?

For example, Booking.com’s direct program gives a 25% commission on the amount they make (not the full hotel booking amount) with no cookie window, whereas Amazon has a sliding scale for commission, product depending, and a 24-hour cookie window.

More advanced site owners will also consider the overall company conversion rate before applying too because the company’s ability to make the sale after you’ve led a reader to them is also very important.

6. Consider the Types of Affiliate Programs

Some companies choose to host a direct affiliate program like Booking.com and Amazon Associates.

Others go via a third party where you sign up for the third-party program (like Commission Junction or Awin), then you must also apply for the individual affiliate program.

There are companies covering every niche thinkable in these third-party sites.

Here are some of the affiliate marketing programs we use on our sites (travel, food and SEO):

Amazon Associates – Direct Amazon product sales

ShareASale – Third party, shop for merchants once you sign up

VigLink now Sovrn Commerce – Third party, shop for merchants once you sign up

CJ – Third party, shop for merchants once you sign up

Partnerize was Performance Horizon – Third party, shop for merchants once you sign up

Awin – Third party, shop for merchants once you sign up

Food52 – Recipes, kitchenware

Avantlink – A collection of international merchants.

7. Focus On The Perfect Products

There are a few ways in which you may be choosing the wrong products or services.

Firstly, you are pitching a product that just does not convert.

It might not be right for your audience, it might have poor conversion rates for the company selling it, the product or service is not available all year round, you’ve failed to optimize the post for that product (see next section) and/or you can’t rank for target keywords (see above).

Secondly, you only focus on low-priced products with low commission rates which in return does not make you much in revenue.

Naturally, in the beginning, you may not want to target high-value products because you don’t think you can sell them. However, you need to break out of that mindset. It’s not about the price of the product, it’s about identifying a need and finding a product that fulfills that need.

A low commission rate isn’t always a negative. If you sell alot of the product, you create a high average order rate (AOV). In some cases, this can earn you additional income for bringing in a lot of sales.

Note: For some affiliates, the reader doesn’t have to buy the product or service you recommend for you to receive a commission. For example, with Amazon, don’t be surprised if you see pet-related goods showing up in your reports when you promote well being products. Although dogs are a great source of happiness, it just means the reader has read your guide, clicked through to Amazon from one of your product links then continued shopping for other items.

This isn’t always something to be celebrated though as it can indicate that the reader did not complete the buying cycle for the targeted keywords/product or service.

8. Optimize Your Affiliate Posts

You may have SEO down but your content isn’t converting for affiliates. There are many reasons that your links might not be converting, such as lack of calls to action, placing it in the wrong spot in the post, and not making the buying signals clear enough.

To fix this issue, see below for some great ideas.

Deep Linking

For many affiliate programs, in-text affiliate links that are naturally placed within context convert better than widgets and images. Widgets can slow your page speed down too.

Clear Calls to Action (CTAs)

CTAs are buying signals, like buy here, act now, check prices, reserve your spot, etc. Not including CTAs might leave your readers without a clear understanding of what they should do. If you use Gutenberg you can use the colored boxes function, bottoms or separating lines to make callouts stand out. You can also create your own CTA boxes using this code: <div style=”background-color: #FEA8EA; padding: 1.0em; max-width: 25.0em; margin: 1.0em 0; border: solid 1.0px #FEA8EA;”><strong> Don’t miss out. Buy today! </div> Example:

Don’t miss out. Buy today!

Change the color coding to match your brand colors. You can also change the thickness of the box.

Linking is such an important part of the post-building process. Read this article and never miss a step again.

Sense of Emotion

Every good marketer knows that fear sells. If you can paint a picture from personal experience which outlines why the reader should buy the product and add a sense of urgency or excitement, you could increase your selling power. Remember, solve a problem!

Avoid Affiliate Stuffing

Just like keyword stuffing, you can overdo affiliates too. Sure you want to encourage click-through, but having an affiliate in every paragraph looks spammy and can be overwhelming.

Sell naturally by putting a personal spin on it. If you’re trying to sell products you don’t use yourself, it will come across as unnatural and salesy.

Use Professional Plugins

There are a couple of affiliate plugins which improve the user experience (UX) as well as making items stand out.

AAWP – Creates stylish Amazon tables, authorized to pull prices which is against T+Cs for you

Thirsty Links – An easy-to-use link cloaking plugin. Redirects your messy + sometimes spammy looking links to a neat URL. Tracks too

Mobile User Experience

Do not ignore mobile user experience. Google now ranks the mobile version of your site, so always evaluate how your posts look to mobile users.

Ask a friend to check for you, sometimes it’s difficult to see issues with your own posts.

9. Track Your Affiliates

Affiliate marketing is not a set-it-and-forget-it process.

Question any affiliate course that screams ‘make money while you sleep’.

Sure, you will be selling while you get shut-eye but to make a lot of money you have to stay on top of securing Google rankings through SEO and working out what affiliate placement is working.

If an affiliate program offers a way for you to track the specific link that is being clicked, use it. This will give you great insight into what links are converting, and what links aren’t.

Check frequently to see what placement is working and be willing to adjust it when it’s not.

Is it a deep link, a buying signal CTA, a button or a box? Can you replicate what it working elsewhere? If it’s not working, tweak it. Business is about calculated risk.