#like ok obviously yes we have texted a crazy amount tonight that is not the behavior I'm worried about texting is eh

[buysomecheese]

It's fucked up that barely anything has changed yet I feel so guilty

[jjkpls]

(y)our name 2 - two (m)

> genre : smut, fluff

> pairing : jeon jungkook x reader (f)

> total words : 10.3k

> warnings/content : dumbassesfriends to lovers, unrequited love, slice of life; cursing, dirty talk, penetrative intercourse, oral (m receiving), thigh riding, some filth and then some more filth; jk being a lil shit, oc still panicking

jungkook : Who said I don’t want it

It took him a good twenty minutes to send this. You don't know if he pondered over it for that long or if, after getting back to whatever it is he was doing, the thought suddenly sprang in his head. It's such a curious message. Makes your heartbeat stutters and your hands clammy and it takes you an eternity to formulate a response.

you : Well you sent me the link for a reason

jungkook : Yea cause I thought it might help but it has nothing to do with what I want

What?

jungkook : You’re the one who said you wouldn’t do it again with me

What?

you : Did i say that?

jungkook : Yes you did

You start to type but stop as you realise you don't even know what to say. He wants it again? And what is he even saying? You don't remember ever saying that. Everything's a blur honestly, but Jungkook's words, his insistence, it almost gives off the feeling that he remembers well. Perhaps he hasn't just brushed it off like you thought he did.

you : Would you want it again?

jungkook : Say what you meant to send and I’ll answer

Those goddamn dots.

you : That’s not very fair but whateva

you : You wanna be a big baby as you always are

jungkook : I’m not even going to answer that

you : Well you just did idiot

You purposefully waste time, just trying to delay the confession.

You want to test your luck -maybe rejection is not what's waiting for you. He's pushing it, demanding you to tell. He's admitted some of his own feelings so you should do the same.

you :  it’s just that I found myself very frustrated, to an extent solo doesn’t do anything for me anymore..

As soon as you send the text, you shut the device off, throwing it down on the carpet. It's burning like your shame on your face and you can't bear to hold it any longer.

You really sent that. Your heart is beating furiously. You feel yourself sweating bullets. It's so hot, you sway your legs nervously, vainly hoping to ventilate the suddenly overly-heated room.

Jungkook is sweet, he doesn't leave you hanging for too long and soon enough, your phone is vibrating, begging you to pick it back up.

jungkook : Of course it wouldn’t 

you : Ok don’t even get cocky with me dude

jungkook : Why not? It’s my fault isn’t it?

jungkook : Cause I made you feel that good

So he knows. You were annoyed for you found yourself troubled, anxious and restless. Shaken to your core, moved to your soul. But a side of you, the rational one, kept pestering that you were the chaotic, dumb and weak one responsible for the mess he's made of you. However, here, he admits he knows. He's known all along. He's done it on purpose: fucking you up.

you : 😐

jungkook : Don’t admit it it’s fine we both know it

What an ass.

you : Seriously you’re too cocky what for

Your brain is off right now. You don't know what to say, tempted by the teasing warmth your chest is taken over but nervous to let it spread too far.  

jungkook : I know I’m right

jungkook : I’m not trying to embarrass you

jungkook : Maybe embarrass your exes a bit

jungkook : But it’s pretty easy to tell

jungkook : When someone hasn’t felt a certain way before

jungkook : I know you’ve never come that hard before

jungkook : Don’t lie to me

jungkook : And more than once you reacted like I was crazy

jungkook : Thats the whole fun of playing with a cunt it’s to make it come endlessly until it hurts and your soaked sore and allswollen adn red

Shit. How does he even do that? With just a couple of texts, rendering you speechless, breathless and burning. Soaked in your panties, the discomfort so evident you have to sit up, thighs pressed to one another by fear of exposing the incriminating dark spot out in the open.

He does own you. Capable of manipulating your body and mind with a few well-chosen words. It's something you've never played with, dirty talking. And you didn't know you'd like it as much as you do. But when Jungkook does -the other night, tonight by text- it's lethal.

But how could he do it so easily? Turning so lewd so suddenly? When for the past weeks, he's acted so natural, so casual as if he couldn't care less about the sex you've had. How can he just switch like that?

you : Are you drunk?

jungkook : 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂

jungkook : A bit tipsy we went to a bar with the crew

That explains some of it.

jungkook : Was it too much?

you : Nono it’s fine

you : I just don’t know what to say

jungkook : Tell me what you want

jungkook : What you meant to ask me the other night when I so rudely interrupted you with a dumbass article

Well, shit.

It's just Jungkook. Honesty and shamelessness are the main keys of your friendship. However, you're not him and expressing your sexual desires as easily as he does is not innate.

jungkook : Don’t be shy just tell me

Fuck it.

you : I’d like it if you could be with me again like the other night

You can count the excrutiatingly painful seconds as they tick by. It's been fiveteen.

you :  😬

Now, fifty.

you :  😖 😖 😖 

Finally, he decides to spare you.

jungkook : Is being friends is not a problem anymore?

you : Idk i trust you you trust me

you : We communicate well most of the time

you : Last time wasn’t such a big deal was it? I feel like we’ll be fine

you : Don’t you think?

You're rambling. You need to stop rambling. It's one thing to be in constant panic mode with this shit -this you can deal with, you know yourself and you accept it- but Jungkook really doesn't need to know.

jungkook : Idk I guess you’re right

you : So when you come back are you going to consider it?

jungkook : No

What a dick. Toying with you, bringing you there to then, deny you. How dares he?

jungkook : I’ve made up my mind already

jungkook : You’ll have me if you show yourself convincing enough

you : like how?

jungkook : It’s not that hard 

jungkook : I love it when someone makes me feel like you really want me

jungkook : *they

Oh boy.

you : k ill try

You’re resolute to try. To try your hardest. It kills you, the idea that he somehow managed to have the upper hand in this. It feels like he's going to make you suffer. But the point of the matter, the only thing you care about anymore is the fact that you were wrong -he did enjoy the first time if he’s up for a second. Oh, and also, obviously, the fact that you are a couple of hours away from a devastating orgasm you've been craving for for weeks. 

You spend the whole day -luckily for you, you're not working- prepping you. Trimming and grooming. Exfoliating and moisturizing. And as you’re doing all that, your stamina is twitching in anxiety because, holy shit, it feels like it never stops. There’s always a thing to arrange, another one that wouldn’t let itself fixed and when was the last time you spent that amount of effort into looking (that) attractive for someone? Even for Namjoon, you did not.

You did a lot. You cared about him. Namjoon was always so class and handsome and you hated the idea of being an ugly potato attached to his side so you’d take care of yourself more than you would when completely single -just gotta be honest. But not as much. You’re not exactly sure why. Probably because Namjoon was attentive and sweet but not the same kind of lover. He wouldn’t feel you up as heavily as you remember Jungkook doing. He’s never specifically asked to see you with the lights on. He’d talk to you and listen and maybe that’s more what it was about. He would lean in and seem to be drinking in your appearance when you’d be having a good conversation. One where you’d get animated and passionate. You’re pretty sure your brains -no matter how lame you consider them to be next to his- were what he liked the most about you. He must have found you pretty. Surely. But you’d never really caught him giving you a longing stare from the other end of the sofa when you were not looking.

He’d call you pretty and ravishing when he’d come to pick you up for a date and you’d spent a lot of time dolling yourself up. But always the same way. Always the same words. Never anything specific to what you were wearing or whatever. And his eyes were not really looking, were they? It didn’t hurt your feelings nor your ego that much. Because there’s probably nothing more flattering for you to have someone like you for your mind rather than your appearance -the flimsy quite irrelevant thing that you don’t really have much control over. It was fine. And like everything that used to be fine, Jeon Jungkook had to make it a problem.

As you stare at your own reflection in the mirror, pinching your lips together to spread the lipstick more evenly, you’re reminded of the way his hot stare was burning you that night. You remember how every time you’d look his way in the dark, you’d see his big round eyes locked on you with the cute stars in it shining fondly. You have no idea how attracted he is to you physically. You have no idea if he is at all or it’s just a thing that he does. Maybe he likes you the way you like an ugly old picture of yourself. With time and fondness, it becomes sweet and special and you just like looking at it.

Maybe, it's a weird analogy.

More so given what he’d be doing to you, the words he was saying while looking at you like he did. You don’t know how to read this distinctive mind of his. It’s new territory. Not completely terrifying because there’s your guide, your best friend, walking you through it. But it’s like a new mansion you’re just visiting. So bright and light and welcoming, with so many doors all closed but not locked and you don’t know what’s behind any of them even though you’re so curious to figure it out. There’s all those new faces, secrets behind those doors. You hope he’ll open them to you. All of them. They’re holding, you're certain of it, mind-blowing surprises -if the other night, where you discovered an actual man instead of your little boyish baby of a friend, is anything to go by. And it’s wonderful, that idea. That after all this time, after being so sure of knowing the kid like you’ve crafted it from scratch yourself, there is still more to learn about him. New things for him to amaze you with.

“What are you doing?” Eun is watching you with a hand on the frame of the door, eyes blown wide and a weird stance. She looks about ready to flee like she’s witnessing something so unspeakable she is that close to jump on the phone and call the cops.

That’s rude. You’d frown if you were not so concern about munching up your freshly applied mascara. Fair enough, lately, you haven’t been exactly runaway material but the way she’s looking at you is plain blank offensive. 

“I’m just making myself pretty. Do I look weird to you?” Maybe you do. Maybe you overdid it a bit. 

She completely ignores your concern to jump on the exciting bait you did not even mean to throw. “What for? You have a date?”

“No, I don’t. It’s for my own, uh, enjoyment.”

Her face twists comically while she tsks in disdain. “Bitch, please.” Getting ruder by the second, she is. “You have a date. It’s not Namjoon is it?”

“No, not with Namjoon. But do I look too different, like strange-different?”

“You look gorgeous, babe. I was just surprised.”

“Oh okay, cool.” You decide to take her words for facts, panicking over potentially looking like a clownish try-hard is not what you need.

“So... A date? You little cachotière*.” Here, the nerves hit. You have been nothing but excited since the text conversation you had with Jungkook the night before but now, merely an hour before he’s supposed to be home, you begin freaking out.

It’s Eun and her overuse of the “d-word”. Because it’s not like that. At all. If it becomes a date then you have to rightfully so freak the fuck out. Thanks to her, even if it's not one, you start losing it. In your state of panic, while you observe yourself liquify in the mirror -it’s quite interesting to watch, you having a crisis in real time-, blanching in utter destress, another scary thought assaults you.

Jungkook lives across the short hall from here. He and Jimin and you and Eun are so close and comfortable around each other, you basically share one giant apartment, allowing yourselves to just barge in no matter how inappropriate the moment is. The whole floor is a constant open house. The probability of having Eun find out that you’re in fact sleeping over to their's is so high, it’s almost prophetic.

Shit. She’s going to ask so many questions. And of course, she won’t believe you if you say you dressed yourself up to the nines just to go play games with Jungkook. She’d think there would be something else to it. And she’d be right. But she doesn’t need to know just yet. You were blessed enough the other night, that she drunk herself to sleep with Jimin, knocked herself out so bad she couldn’t remember anything past the cake cutting. Not that you have or want to preserve secrets from her. It’s not really secrets. “Secrets” sounds like you’d purposefully want to withhold information from her from lack of trust. It’s not like that. It’s just whatever Jungkook and you are doing is yours. There are a lot of things you two never consider sharing with other people just because they are your thing.You two share a private garden and no one will ever be invited to visit it.

“Who is it?”

“I- just- it’s a bit soon to-“

“You don’t wanna say yet. Ok, I get it.” She says it with geniune sympathy, yet her glossy lips puckered in a little pout. “Do I know him?”

“Uh- possibly.” Her eyes widen for a second before they’re looking up to the roof, searching her brain for the full list of your common acquaintances -she’s understanding and respectful but that doesn’t mean she's not eaten up by curiosity.

After a while, as you ponder over your own image and consider wiping your whole face off of the makeup to just go with something more like your everyday self, the one Jungkook knows better, Eun gives up on the investigation and redirects her attention back to you, “Is he handsome?”

You don’t know how to answer her and end up giving an incoherent babbling and spilling of squeaky sounds that can only describe it better than words would. She’s smiling a wolf grin, picking up a lipstick from her personal shelf before taking a makeup remover tissue to drag over your already painted mouth. She applies, meticulously, the new taint she’s chosen. It’s a deep red, very sultry that gives you the look of a sexy vampire or maybe a succubus.

She gets it. Jungkook's tending to observe you is not the only reason you've worked so hard on yourself. He is so deadly handsome. You always knew but not felt it arouse anything within you. You saw him as that little brother of yours who’s grown so much into a very charming, universally attractive boy. But that night, with his hair -you’d never, in more than a decade of being his friend, seen his forehead and you’re oh-so glad you did not because horny-high-school-you would probably have freaked about it, who would think that eyebrows could do so much to someone's face- pulled back and his leather jacket, quirking his eyebrow and biting his lip and leaning around like he was some kind of James Dean. You don’t know how responsible are the orgasms -surely, they can have an impact on your perception-, or your thirst, but you’ve decided, observing him more attentively since that night, that he was one of the most beautiful men you’ve ever seen. Truly.

Also you can’t actively name who would be standing right next to him on the podium but that’s just a detail. A detail you won’t share with him more than you did last time because you don’t want his ego to inflate and explode right in your face. It wouldn’t be pretty nor pleasing. He's cocky enough already as it it.

Anyway, you just want to look beautiful because he, himself, is so much so. 

“I hope you’re aiming to get laid because with this magic...” Eun leaves the sentence pending, her sharp eyebrows high over her protruding eyes conclude it. You can’t control the widely telling grin drawing itself on your mouth.

“You’re gonna need a lot of convincing.” It’s the first thing he said as he saw you walked in through the cracked open door. You’d just sneaked your way through the whole length of their apartment, trying to not get caught by Jimin while having a mini attack because said Jimin was sitting right there, in the living room you had to pass by. He had headphones on and was so engrossed in whatever he was doing on his cellphone that he didn’t even notice you, staring at him like a deer caught in headlight, not even flinching when in your panic to run from the scene while luck was still on your side, you had knocked down a craft bag full of noisy ramen boxes. You hadn’t even picked it up, just rushing to the end of the hallway for Jungkook’s bedroom.

You don’t know what you look like right now. You feel awkward and dishevelled and quite exposed, standing in front of him in your fancy outfit while he’s in his pyjamas, looking up at you from the bed, with an unimpressed expression masking his face.

“You know I arrived 2 hours ago, right?” He is not genuinely upset, you can tell. But there’s a little edge to his tone. An honest curiosity. And maybe a relief. Maybe he thought you had changed your mind and hadn’t bothered letting him know about it.

“Yes, sorry. Mom called.” You say it with a bratty roll of your eyes as if you’re not left warm and fuzzy each time you hang up a phone call with her.

She’s lovely. You miss her often but not to the point of actually wanting her around -she’d pester and nag the life out of you if she were to see the state of your room and just the general way you chose to do things. And she talks so much. She has so much to say every time she picks up the phone to ring you. Everything about her and about your dad and the rest of the family and the rest of the neighbourhood and what the mayor has been up too and what her colleagues at work have been discussing about these days. It goes on and on and on and you understand that it comes from a place of her missing you dearly but when most of the times it is okay and a fairly entertaining way of wasting two hours doing nothing, you couldn’t care less about whatever the hell was going to be replacing the shop next to your uncle’s when the stupid story is delaying the event of tonight. But how could you tell her that? So you sat on the barstool, your forehead pressed onto your handbag (that you didn’t need but you were supposed to go out on a date so that fit better the narrative), shoe-clad feet bouncing nervously in the air, half-listening, half-dreading, humming noncommittal monosyllabic words into the phone, as Eun watched you from the sofa, staring with a beyond confused, low-key judgmental gaze, miming with all her body how you should hang up and head out. And that’s how you arrived two hours late when you meant to be in his bedroom before he even came back from the station.

You shrug, grimacing in a form of apology. But Jungkook knows your mom like his own and doesn’t hold you accountable for the lateness anymore, his face being recovered by a soft layer of fondness at the mention of her. “She said to tell you she thinks about you a lot and misses you. And to give you kisses too.” He chuckles at that and you match him, amused by the double meaning you now give to the term. You used to almost fear those innocent kisses -more subconsciously than not, it just wouldn’t come about, none of you needing to express your affection like that- and look at you now. About to get screwed by him. For the second time.

He is staring up at you with an intensity, you don’t want to get ahead of yourself and assume what it means but it is here. And you can't help but stare back, hoping to not show too much how bad you want to jump on him right now. Lain in bed like that, back pressed against his headboard, with a half unbuttoned white silky-like shirt, and his expression and his demeanour, you can see that under the cover his legs are taut and slightly parted: he looks like he’s expecting something. You. He’s been expecting you and you’re finally here and he’s tantalizing you with the meal he knows you want to consume. Tantalizing because no matter how sure you are that his expression means he still is on board and wants you, he doesn’t look willing to make a move. “So, as I was saying: a lot more convincing will be needed.”

“Well, I’m here already. Doesn’t that tell you I- like- want it?”

“Sure. But still it’s late and I’ve been travelling all evening and I’m so tired.” He feigns a yawn. “As you can see, I was going to sleep.” What an annoying little shit. He makes his eyes all big and sorry-looking, putting his mouth in a pout like he’s saddened. But you see the quirks of his stupid eyebrows. He has the “bullshit face”. It’s pretty self-explanatory. Whenever he has it on, and he has very little control over it by the way, you know he’s in for some bullshitting. Either it shows when he wants to get away with something he’s done or doesn’t want to admit it out loud, or he’s straight on wanting to mess with you. He has had that stupid face since he was fourteen and he pretended in that one conversation about porn and sexism that he shared the same opinion as you and yes, lesbian porn for male was wrong and disgusting. He didn’t believe a word of it, and this not because he was a big fan of the genre but because he wasn’t a big consumer of porn in general -which you didn’t know at the time. You just knew that he was lying because his face contorted in a way it never did before and that was suspicious as hell.

So here comes the bullshit face and you already know why. You’re in for some torture. Jungkook and his stupid competitive ass. While he doesn’t like competing in 'real' life with other people because he doesn’t like to win over them, he has no problem with you. He loves to make your life harder. He balances it out by being the best friend you've ever had but still, so aggravating.

“Guk, seriously, don’t be mean. I already made the first step the other day!”

“And then you avoided me for a week.” He says, totally unfazed.

“It wasn’t even a week.” You’re the one scowling now. Mumbling through button-shaped lips. “Seriously, I can’t do this...” There’s a flash of alarm blinking for a second on his face as he straightens up in his bed, the cover slipping completely from his torso, exposing all the golden skin peeking from the open shirt.

“Do what?”

“‘Convince you’. I can’t- like- seduce you or whatever.” You grumble like an upset kid and that’s pretty much what you feel like. It’s like your favourite toy, the one you’ve been wanting for many Christmas is just right here, within reach, but you won’t have it because you’re required to resolve an impossible math problem or something. It’s too hard. You already feel yourself burning from embarrassment, your heart is thumping in your temple and you just decide to give up, taking a few tentative steps backward, hand already reaching out for the handle when Jungkook jumps off of his bed to grab it. Standing so tall and broad, hovering you, his warm hand holding yours and the breeze of his perfume hitting your nostrils, you’re taken by a rush of excitation. It’s crazy what the context does to perception. He stood that way in front of you so many times but never have you felt so small, never have you found him so big and attractive because of it and that scent, you’ve smelled basically all your life -a soft flowery carress-, never made your head spin that way.

“Don’t leave!” His voice is a bit loud, almost desperate and the thought that he might be makes you smile internally. “Lemme help you.” He demands so gently, with the stars in his eyes as fervent supporters to his cause, there’s no way you’d say no. He could ask you anything when he’s looking and talking to you like that, with his warm hand now pressed to your neck, thumb caressing your cheek.

You nod your head once and he kisses you. As softly as he is, your hands clutch at his shirt way too intensely to match. He’s so gentle like you’re a tiny little thing he’s dreading at the idea to scare away. So different from the kisses you remember him giving you the other night. It’s lovely anyway. Tender as can be. Delicate and kind and when he pulls back to look into your eyes again, your heart warms up with all the love and adoration you have for this man. He really is your best friend, the most important person in your life that you had chosen and he makes you so happy.

“Is it okay?” He whispers so sweetly you want to wrap your arms around his neck and suffocate him with love. You nod again this time more dismissively because a scent in his breath has just interpellated you.

“Have you been drinking?”

He smiles cheekily, dipping his head down in guilt. “I had a shot or two.” You relish in the shameful tremble of his confession.

There’s this complimentary thing about you two. One would often compensate for the other's lacking. It’s never been conscious or anything but it’s always been there. You see the way he gulps visibly, you recognize the tiny blush of his cheeks sauntering to his ears, you know why he had those shots, and you feel the rush of confidence run through your veins because he is so nervous, you can see it now. Therefore, you have to tease. It’s only fair.

“You were not this nervous by text, were you?”

“Stop saying that, I’m not nervous!” He exclaims with passion but you both know he’s lying and it makes you laugh right in his face, uncaring of his pinching your cheek to make you stop. He’s just too cute and dumb.

“Keep that up and I really won’t be nice to you.”

Even if the grin remains on your face, you shudder from head to toes. His tone has dropped to a lower purr, his gaze is dark with a gravity that wasn’t there before. That's funny because it really feels like a deja-vu. Last time unrolled so similarly and you know what is supposed to happen now.

“You always say that.” He doesn’t say anything, keeps staring, engaging in an eye staring contest, daring you to not drop your own. “You threaten me but you never act on it.” You say quietly. You don’t know what comes over you, probably just the heat of the moment, but you regret almost instantly to be so reckless. You don’t want him to be merciless with you. You had a taste of him being fairly nice the other night and almost died. You’re terrified of him being mean. But here you are tempting him into doing just that.

Perhaps he, who knows you the best, reads you again like a book he’s written himself and he settles for being soft and lenient with you. He leans in to smash his lips to yours, now wet and demanding, sucking your bottom lip between his teeth before you even get to close your eyes. His hands holding your head firmly, his hips leaning forward making his thighs dig into you, his tongue greets for the briefest of moment your own, sending a direct message to your centre which you can feel clench around nothing. But before you can gather back your thoughts and try and meet him and work his mouth too instead of just letting him devour you, he’s let you go. All grip on you, any proximity allowing you to feel his warmth are gone. He’s so far the only thing that's still been linking you, the thin strip of saliva joining your mouths, snaps. You’re cold outside yet burning inside, heart erratically pumping in your chest, feeling dumb and confused and abused and revolted, because why would he already stop? Especially to step back and look at you like he’s decided he now wanted to be mean.

“I’ve helped you enough. Now it’s on you.” You gawk in silence, watching mindlessly as he proceeds on making his bed, laying the cover flat so he could hop back down on it.

“What does that mean?”

“Make me feel good. Remind me why I’m letting you have me when you’re being such a bitch.” You gasp at the choice of word. He’s never used it in front of you, not even in a joking manner -or maybe once or twice but he was talking about his roommate who happens to be one at times. Your astonishment is met with the greatest smirk. He’s having so much fun because he’s got the upper hand again. “Treat me better and I’ll be good to you when it’s your turn.”

And this is one of those moments you'd encountered so many times since you were a little girl. This instance where two options would be presented to you and you had to make a choice. An important one. One that you decided would define you and therefore, it needed to be the right one. Either you choose the easiest option, indulge in your fear of the unknown, turn into a coward, denying yourself what you really want because you’re scared. Or you carry your virtual balls, decide that even if you might fail, you will follow this terrifying path out of your comfort zone because you want the future you to be proud and thankful for you. Most of these times, you did not only think about you but also about the little boy with the bunny teeth and fluffy hair and big and soft wondering eyes which were always watching you, you couldn’t permit yourself to bend and plead because you wanted to inspire him to be strong and adventurous.

The boy's right there. Not so little anymore. Not needing any push nor any light to follow. But eyes still as big and soft, looking at you so expectantly, you recall those would never hurt you. You can face the shame. You can even face the embarrassment of not knowing what to do or try and end up doing wrong because it’s just Jungkook. He’d smile to heal your bruised ego and guide you gently the way he did before.

You step forward, carefully, as if he’s become the fragile being ready to fly away now. It's silly. The precaution is for you more than for him. Legs twitching slightly, eyes set on your every move, lips now hanging open as if he’s struggling to breathe, he doesn’t look whatsoever wanting to back away. He’s waiting for you. You slip your feet out of your shoes in a swift motion, before kneeling on the bed, one hand setting on his knee. You see his Adam's apple jump up and down and you wonder if he doesn’t wish he had downed more than two shots. He keeps switching from a nervous wreck to a hot “alpha” dude and you don’t understand how you're supposed to deal with that.

When you look down, pondering over your next move, you notice the blue shorts he has on. You know them for you’ve seen him wearing them multiple times before. They’re meant to be rather loose. At least you thought they were. But as you gawp at them, you’re struck by how tight they look on his legs. They end way higher than they should because of his position, his thighs filling them up to the point of straining -if he keeps them for too long you’re sure he’ll have a thin indent along his skin. His thighs look so meaty and the part just before his knees, lacking fat rendering his monstrous muscles enhanced. You press your own legs on reflex. You had no idea a man's legs could be so attractive.

The glorious view finishes to urge you on. Trailing forward, your hands set on the object of your new obsession, fingers loving the warmth of his skin and dipping in the flesh. He feels wonderful under your touch.

Would he let you bite them a bit? Maybe if you ask nicely, he will. You shake the thought off. It’s not the plan right now. You don’t even know if he’d like that and you’re supposed to please him.

You raise yourself from the bed, keeping your balance thanks to the grip you have on his thighs and get even closer to take a seat on the left one. Jungkook looks so handsome from up close. You’re met with his soft skin and pretty shades. There’s the rather deep scar he got on his cheek one of those times when you were fourteen and you were practising riding your bikes on the low stairs in front of the subway station. You remember how scary it was to have to entangle him from his fucked up bike with half of his face pissing blood. Terrifying. But it left him with this eternal scar, charming along with his boyish features, and memory of a not-so-pleasing moment but precious friendship. You love it even more because he lies each time he's asked about it, telling crazy stories that'd never happened, while sporting a cheeky smile only you understand. And there are his beauty marks scattered here and there like they’re playing a game of hide-and-seek. You find your favourite one hiding under his bottom lip, lean in to place a kiss on it.

When you back away his eyes are shut, his face so relaxed, he looks so peaceful and happy with this tiny curve of his pink lips -lips that you notice are smeared with a faint dark red you know to be the lipstick you're wearing-, you want to squeal from how grateful you are to have him like that.

Jungkook scrapes his throat when he opens his eyes again, shifting a bit under you as if to get more comfortable and you’re reminded that he’s waiting. He’s been waiting patiently and your clit from down here pulses as to remind you that you also need something.

So you start moving. Hands pressed to his shoulders, loving how sturdy and big he feels under you, you grind languidly along his thigh. You feel it building already. You've lost the manner, the way to do this for it to be nice, but it's so hot: he is, his breath on your lips is, the room, everything is. Soon the intense gaze you’re sharing with him is broken as his head falls backward, all teeth out from how amused he is. You don’t stop moving, no matter how confusing his reaction is, because the contact on your clit feels incredible. It shoots a succesion of electric shocks through you, blanking your mind momentarily each time, there’s no way you’re stopping because he wants to make fun of you again. 

“So I tell you to please me and that’s what you come up with?” He asks once his fit of chuckles have quiet down. 

Breathlessly, you counter, “You said you liked that.” You’re not offended about his change of mood. You couldn’t care less. Not when you’ve figured out exactly how to move your hips to treat your cunt, when the motion has come so easy to perform you can now speed up comfortably. 

“I do but when you’re done, you’ll have to try harder than that.” You nod, eyes closed and eyebrows furrowed. He takes hold of your hips. He’s not guiding, just letting his hands there as to feel you, encourage you. “For now, just make yourself come, babe.” Your eyes open again on his, the latter having a lot to say. You read them outright. He wonders if it’s ok to call you that. He apologizes every time he does it by accident so it feels a bit weird, unfamiliar. But the pet name, for some reasons you don’t care to elucidate, renders you all putty and giddy. He can probably feel it in the way you melt even more in his embrace, looking up at him with large eager eyes. 

“I promise I’ll do better after.” It slips out of your mouth straight from your hazy heart and Jungkook catches it with eagerness. You sound so tiny and lenient. Almost pitiful. 

“You’re doing great, baby.” He assures you right away, kissing your jaw with way more tongue than lips. “You’re so sexy.” You moan over him, from the pleasure building, the wetness on your skin, the praise, the name. Your fingers slip under the open folds of his shirt, too lazy and incompetent to unfasten the buttons, but so eager to grant your eyes with the glorious vision of his thick chest, they drag the tissue down as much as it’d go, not caring the least about how the stretch might hurt the skin around his neck. “Are you close?”

“Yes.” You moan in his ear. His hands on your covered hips glide along your thighs to sneak under the skirt of your dress and grab the flesh the find there. 

“You know one thing that I would really like you doing for me?” His voice, texture of honey, meets the crook of your neck and coats your heart in a thick, warmth layer.

“Tell me.” You pant in his face without an once of embarrassment left. You’re rutting like a horny bitch on his thigh, begging him to tell you how you could please him. How he brought you there, how he is doing all this is beyond your comprehension but you're loving every aspects of it.

“I'd really like you to cover my cock with the pretty lipstick you have on.”

Your lips press against one another. May Eun be blessed.

“I’d love that.” His tongue is at your collarbone for a devilishly short instant. “'Will show me how desperate you are for it.”

“Ok, I will.” He smiles to you, from his bunny smile to his glittering eyes. “Can you kiss me? Like ear-earlier?” His mouth is on yours before you get the question fully out. You moan into him, finding out this is the tiny push you needed. As he licks and sucks, his fingers digging deeper in your thighs, you get off both from the friction and his kiss. You’re almost there. You can feel the heat spreading. You sneak one of your hand down his chest to his crotch to get a grasp of his cock. It’s so hard and so hot under your palm. So hot and wet in your mouth. And you are coming undone, hips snapping on his leg, eyes shut and lips open only to leave out a small, broken whine. The pressure against your clit feels a bit too intense, a bit raw and makes you jerk and wince, until Jungkook wraps his arms around you and welcomes you into his chest, kissing the top of your head while whispering something you don’t really catch through the ringing in your ear.

It’s decided. If he’s ok with it you’ll come back to his bed for all your sexual needs. Rubbing yourself on a pillow never felt that good and he hasn’t done much to you, just being there and turning you on in a way that shouldn't be allowed. When you withdraw from his lap, you’re cringing visibly from the sensitivity, movements slow and careful, face contorted. Jungkook is watching you with undisguised enjoyement, a grin biting on his lower lip. 

“So I gather you like thigh riding too, now?” You shrug, red in the cheeks, avoiding his gaze. He doesn’t comment further. He just sits there, the tips of his fingers grazing mindlessly the thigh you just rode. The other set of fingers toying with the hem of his dishevelled shirt. You watch him from under your lashes, not ready to meet his eyes just yet, resulting in you having to face the prominent bulge of his crotch. The moment lasts for an eternity. All you can think about is why he won’t give it to you already. “If there’s something that you want, you should know how to ask for it.”

Aggravation is heavy on your temples. You take the time to think about it and quite frankly you don’t have it in you to start arguing for something you both know that you both want. You’re not that petty. He can have his stupid win if he wants. 

“Strip already so I can- suckyouoff.” How is it so difficult to say out loud? You’ve never thought yourself to be that prude but here you are, having to say the words, and you realize you’re so unfamiliar with them if not for the erotic novels you used to read back in high school. While he, on the other hand, says all those obscenities with such perfect phlegm.

His slender fingers raise to his shirt, toying with the first button and after an excruciatingly long time which tastes of pure torture, they unfasten it. They aim for the next one but just stop there. You’re boiling, shaking, this close to jump on him and rip it off already. Decency and, to a bigger extent, pride keep you from doing so. He would like this too much.

“That won’t do, ___.” You can't help the long sigh that escapes you.

“Remember what I said? Convince me.” He says again, stressing the syllables as to make sure you get them right this time. He's pushing you so far. Too far. You don't get why he would challenge you this much. He was gentler the other night, more complaisant. Maybe it turns him on. Maybe he's not a total dick and actually likes to be worshipped rather than simply enjoying your misery. You do want to please him. Therefore, with a trembling voice, breath shorten by timidity, you pronounce aloud the words you mean but hurt to admit.

“Can I please have your cock?” Those are the magic words. In a blink of the eyes, his shirt is thrown away, one of his hand sets on his crotch, massaging it softly while the other reach for you, open palm welcoming you forward. You fit yours in it, Jungkook presses the inside of your fingers to his mouth before he drags you to him. Once you've kneeled in between his opened legs, your hand slip from his. You look up, gnawing on your lip. “Can you like- guide me through it?”

“You've never given head before?”

“I did but- I don't know. I want it to be good.” He smiles wide. That big, big grin that shows off both his up and down lines of teeth, with his dumb nose all scrunched up.

He nods, observing you quietly. And you reach for the waistband of his shorts. You mean to just drag it down to his thighs but he takes upon himself to strip completely out of it. You have no idea how he does that, standing fully naked there, in front of you -who's still fully clothed, by the way. You're not complaining; when he's looking this good, it makes it rather understandable. He looks perfect. Perfect but not in a linear, boring way. In a shockingly stunning way.

You've never had the full experience. You had the massive thighs, the broad shoulders and lean chest, his pretty face and opulent fluffy hair on top of it. But all put together, he's a deadly piece of art. Hypnotizing. Shaped like an Adonis. He looks so handsome. Gorgeous.

And of fucking course, as any piece of art, not a detail is left neglected. He's this remarkable to his very sex.

It's so fucking ridiculous. And unfair.

Quick before letting yourself the time to look at it for too long and get intimidated, you wrap your hand around it. Fairly long and lean, fair with a blushy tip. So soft and warm and hard in your hand. Such a pretty cock. The thought plagues your mind but you're smart enough to not say it aloud. It's one of the weirdest thought you've ever had, you realize.

It's true though. So true. So pretty it just pulls you in.

You kiss the head a few times, slowly, before you slide to the length. Walking your way up with your tongue, you hear him hiss aloud, see his abs contracting in spasms.

The tip of his cock is so tender. Flushed, silky and soaked, tasting and feeling so nice on your tongue, on your lips. Your eyes meet his. You're just curious to see how sweet his face looks when he's letting out all those tiny whimpers. You see him grimace, frown before he closes his eyes shut and throw his head back, blocking entirely the view you're giving him and you're wondering if you're doing this right. He's not giving you any guidance like he said he would. He's not that loud, quite quiet even, if you consider how talkative he was the other night. He's not bucking his hips uncontrollably in your wet heat like you remember your ex, Taehyung, used to do.

As you suckle on the head, dipping the tip of your tongue in the slit, your left hand holding him firmly upward while the right one, curiously tests its way down, caressing his balls. There's a switch hidden there apparently. Each time the tip of your fingers dip there, he leaves out a languid groan.

“You're not telling me what to do.” You complain between two deep inhale, raising up. Your lips feel hot, tingly, and you imagine them swollen and red. You imagine it's the reason why he's staring at them the way he is.

“I don't need to tell you anything. You're- You're doing perfect.” It makes you roll your eyes. His voice is tensed, his words stuttered but he might be faking it. He's not even cursing or anything. His hands not gripping your hair. Awfully disappointing. Perfect in your mouth but disappointing around you. Even more so, when he stops you from leaning to work your mouth on him again. “You wanna give me more?” You stare silently, not having a clue of where a yes would take you. “Wanna try to ride me?”

It’s the best sensation you’ve ever felt. Sitting on his chest like it's your throne, having him look up at you with the giant marbles he has for eyes, enchanted and eager. “Should I eat you out first?” You’re soaked. You’ve been feeling yourself drip since you tasted for the first time a drop of his precum, you don’t need to be eaten out. You know what’s to come. You’re about to have him fill you up again. After all this time craving for it, dreaming day and night about it. You wouldn’t want to delay it any longer.

When Jungkook gets busy grabbing a condom from the nightstand, you take the opportunity to throw your dress over your head. You’re not sure why he hasn’t hinted at taking it off yet. His wandering hands have been teasing the skin under it non stop but he’s never tried to actually take it off.  

“Jungkook, why not take my dress off?”

He looks up from the wrapper he’s been struggling with, confusion shining in his eyes. His mouth opens, about ready to answer but he catches sight of your form, naked except for the delicate black lace lingerie you carefully picked. He’s never seen you naked with proper lightening, nor any close to this state of undressing as the last time he’s seen you in a bikini, well, you can't remember but it was probably in late middle school. He seems to like it. It’s the special gaze again. The one of a lover. The ardent one, dark, almost teary as his hands graze up your sides so lightly it leaves a painful scorching along the skin. “You’re beautiful.”

“Thanks.” You mean to hit his chest to chastise his over-exaggerated gravity but you can’t deny his sincerity and your hand simply lands flabbily instead. “Can I keep my, uh, underwear?” He just nods, doesn’t get cocky or mocking, eyes still bathing in your appearance, and a crazy thought occurs. Could it be possible that he sees you the same way you see him?

You don’t like to talk in leagues. It’s ridiculous and pointless and for the most part inaccurate. You know your worth. You’re a good person with a lot to offer, fairly pretty on a good day, with some flaws, of course, but nothing that outrageous, just like most people. But Jungkook is quite, he’s quite phenomenal. Friendship put aside, you can see how much of a surreal deal he is. And physically -even though it doesn't usually matter to you but since it’s about sleeping together for the sake of sex rather than feelings, it kind of does matter here-, he’s beyond anything you have ever seen, in real life or on a screen. He’s something else. Something else from another world. A perfect dream of a perfect sculptor brought to life. And he’s looking at you like he doesn’t know that, like he can’t see that and he believes it’s you the piece of art.

“Sure. You’re- It looks so pretty on you.” His voice has lost some of the heavy tension from before. He's smoothing the tissue under his fingers, studying the quiet intricacies in the pattern.

“Thanks. I just bought it.” His dark orbs snap up.

“For me?” You could lie. You could and he would never know about it but you want to tell him the truth. You nod. Shrugging slightly to pretend casualty. Kindly, he whispers, “Thank you, babe. I love it.”

Maybe it's the timid blush on your cheeks that manages to change his heart. Either way, it’s like he finally thinks you’ve done enough and don’t deserve to be waiting any longer. However, now it’s your turn to delay the action a bit. Placing your hand on his just wrapped firmly around his cock, you prevent him from covering it up just yet. There’s still precum shinning at the slit, and the head looks so sweet, you just need to know if it’d feel as good against your clit as it did on your tongue. It does. It’s soft and sleek, warm, it toys so pleasingly with your button and the visual, the visual is sinful. The cherry on top is the expression you catch on his face when you look up. Jungkook is as mesmerized as you are by the sight.

“I want you now, Guk.” It takes him a good five seconds during which he gauges your gaze. You’re not sure what he meant to find there. Doubt maybe? Disappointment? Probably. Disappointment matching his own for he seems to drag on the moment he separates your two sexes to proceed on slipping the condom on. You feel it too. The almost dread. There’s a vivid image of him jerking himself off against your clit that blinks furiously behind your eyelids. Fuck. It doesn’t help to see him tug at his cock and manipulate it between those beautiful veiny hands of his.

“Up.” You obey forthwith, pushing on your knees to let him place the tip just under you. His free hand push the crotch of your panties to the side, managing to sneak a couple of fingers between your lips. It makes him smile when he sees you unwittingly bucking your hips forward. “You control it all, ok? It’s like for my thigh, you just do what feels good to you, yeah?”

You nod. The rational part of your brain is freaking out but the greedy glutton that is the other side jumps on the occasion. Literally. In one swift motion, you've downed yourself completely on him, taking his cock entirely in, you’re almost positive you can feel him in your womb. It has him gasp loudly, cursing under his breath as his hands fly to your hips to squeeze them meanly. You don’t know if it’s a manifestation of a brusque and unexpected rush of pleasure or if you’ve hurt him as much as you hurt yourself. He should have done it. He’s the one that knows how to get you off. He gives you the power for five seconds and you manage to hurt the both of you with your incompetence and stupid hormones. It's not a good time to give up though. Not when he still has the steamiest kisses for your collarbones. You start rising up slowly this time, it’s decided you’re keeping it slow. It’s easier for you and brings you progressively to a more comfortable fit. Also as you take your time to free every inch and take them back in one by one, you get to feel him graze your walls. It’s a wonderful sensation. Being that filled up. Being on top of this man who’s still holding you like you’re holding his faith between your hands and he’s so willing to know what you’ll decide to do with it.

Lucky for him, you're feeling merciful. It’s hard not to when through the layers of sweat and crimson covering him into your lover, you still catch glimpses of your best friend. The cute little boy, forever the cure to your loneliness and adversities, the one person you would give up your whole life and its aspirations for. Even your family, you care so much about them, love them so dearly but you’re still marked by that time you had to come to the realization that your life was your own and you had to disappoint them by going against what they wanted for you just because it didn’t match your vision. But Jungkook, Jungkook could ask anything from you, anything and you’d give it to him. You’d give up on anything that’s ever meant something to you. Because he is everything. He's all the meaning your life owns. You’re not sure if it’s the right time but it’s there, sitting on his cock, riding him minutely that you feel a rush of utter love and adoration for the one friend that possesses your happiness since you were little. He's so sweet to have never withheld it from you but you know it depends on him. You could cry just meeting his pretty eyes looking back at you with as much fondness as your heart feels.

You’re getting too sappy, it’s ridiculous. You gather it comes from the pace, nice but not high enough to have you two focused entirely on the pleasure. Therefore you proceed to mix it up as much as your body would allow you. Switching the speed, the movements, rotating your hips instead of rising them, going back to jumping on it, just guiding yourself by his reactions, the quiet curses, the kneading of your flesh under his hands, the wincing of his features. He’s so hot. So sexy. You can’t keep your eyes off of him. You don’t even deliberately control your hips anymore. It’s just your body following closely Jungkook's advice. Doing whatever feels good.

“Guk, I’m close.” His eyes which had been closed for the past few minutes from the deep grinding of your hips against his pelvis suddenly shoot open. They’re not soft nor gentle anymore. All dark and intense again.

He grabs your face in his hand, the thumb digging in your left cheek as the rest of his fingers press the other one. Pressing his mouth hard to yours he asks, “Will you come for more?” He's harsh, voice severe as he doesn't speak but growl, sending an electric jolt to your spine. Soon the idea that there might be even more hidden wherever that Jungkook comes from is sending liquid fire to your cunt.

“Yes, yes, I will!” You gasp, blinking a tear down your cheek. He notices it and let his grip on your face to wipe it away. You’re about to come. You’re so fucking close. You can tell the ball of your orgasm has reached its maximum size, it just needs something, one little something to burst and annihilate everything else. “Why?” His hand is back to the side of your face, not rigid like before instead warmly cupping it. Eyes searching for yours, he presses, “Why is that? Baby, tell me please.”

“Cause you’re so goo-uh”

“Me or my cock?” He chuckles against your hair and you wonder how the fuck he has enough brains left to make jokes, when he’s that deep inside of you and must be, has to be, as close as you are.

“B-both” That makes him laugh again, that same mean chortle.

“Yes,” He’s moaning it so languidly. He relishes in the idea. “Shit- come here.” Jungkook presses down on your lower back, you follow leniently, like clay in his hands, laying entirely on top of him. He helps you raise your ass up higher and once you meet the perfect position to take it, he starts thrusting upward hard, slowly but brutally, each time you can hear the loup clap of his hips against your skin, you’re pretty sure it’s going to hurt tomorrow but for now, it feels fabulous.

It’s so rough and it feels like you’ve been going at it forever. The girth is dragging the ring of your hole along with the movement and that stimulation alone is electrifying. You’re almost there.

“Tell me- talk to me,” Desperation is laced closely to his tone now. It fits him so well, you're loving it. “Tell me y-you’ll come back to me for m-more, please.” He’s losing it, you can hear it in his tremble, his cute stutter. And the grunts he’s leaving between each needy word sound animalistic.

“I will, Jungkook.” It comes out before you even get to think the confession over. But as it does, you realize you mean them entirely. “I’ll always come back, you just, ah, you fuck me so well. So fucking good, your big cock always-” A particularly strong thrust, resembling more of a spasm, pushes a new tear down your cheek. “fills me up so good, you- no one has ever-“

“Fuck. No one has ever what?”

“Fucked me this good, shit.” Shockingly enough it’s your own words, filterless, genuine and born from the fabulous heat of this moment, that suffice to push your orgasm to the edge and make it explode and invade your whole being, body and mind. You don’t even take notice when Jungkook ends up coming, blinded and rendered deaf by your own pleasure.

It's when your erratic heart starts to calm down, and your muscles to relax, melting calmly into Jungkook’s body who’s welcoming you so kindly, not complaining about the heat or the weight or the stickiness, you gather he came too.

It’s incredible this sensation. Not that you’re proud of it but being taken over by pleasure so much so to render you selfish and clueless of your every surrounding, even your lover, it’s never happened before. You wonder if that’s not the precise reason why none of your before-Jungkook orgasms can compare.

As you land back safely on his chest, you're only granted a few minutes with his agitated heart beating under your cheek and his comforting warmth before your surroundings reappear to you, obnoxiously reminding themselves to existence. “Oh my god, Jimin!” You whisper yell in a theatrical gasp. It just makes Jungkook laugh. This moron.

“S’fine, he has Eun to discuss it with.” You raise up, fighting the fatigue, just to glare at him. It's the same stupid argument as last time. Except this time, it's so fucking worse. You still don't get how casual he can be about this. “I don’t care. Do you?”

a/n : Phew. That was a big chunk. If you made it this far, i thank you immensely. I’m sorry if the editing is a bit off, i’ve been looking at this piece of work for too long and my head is torturing me so yea, soz. What did you think? Tell me all your thoughts!! There’s still one chapter to go (but i don’t know when it’ll be up - i have other little spooky projects to attend to, i hope you guys don’t mind). ANYWAY. A beautiful week-end to you guys, kisses, love & 🍗🍜. :)

tag list : @lavscenery @busansgloss @batakookie @jwlmnbt @somewhereinthestarss @amanda-deann @feminist-goddess

[lovinmcu]

New life in Cali, ch. 8

Chapter 8

Pairings; Chris Evans x reader, Sebastian Stan x reader

Warnings; overthinking

A/N; I’m breaking this up as best i can. 

Monday’s day at work is moving by so slowly. You are busy finishing up details on Frozen 2. Details are time-consuming, and all over encompassing. By the time you look up from your computer your phone is lite up with texts and missed calls. It was only 12, you could have sworn you missed lunch you’d been so busy.

Chris 8:40 am “Hey, headed out of town today. Can you help Seb with Dodger?”

9:00 am “If it not, no biggy. I hope you had fun at the party. Sorry, we haven’t talked.”

9:10 am “Hope you aren’t ignoring me, let me know.”

Chris missed call, 9:50 am

Seb 10:00 am “Chris said you hadn’t been answering, everything ok?”

10:15 am “Y/N?!?”

11:00 am “Lunch?!?! 12:30 is when we’ll break.”

They were obviously worried about you. You smile at the thought of having someone care about you this much in Cali, unlock your phone and call Seb. No answer. You sign, turn your phone off silent and turn back to answer some emails that were sent while you engrossed in your work. Five minutes later Sebastian calls you back.

“Hey, everything ok?” Seb says as soon as you answer.

“Yeah, just busy meeting these deadlines. Sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you and Chris.”

“It’s ok, it’s just not like you, but we understand deadlines more than most. So, lunch?”

“OH, yes please, I’m starving!” You look down at your half-eaten breakfast, and cold coffee, and think “wow, I HAVE been in the zone”

“I’ll head that way now, see you soon,” you say before hanging up, you hit save, and head out the door. You need to come back to reality, your brain is in a fog from concentrating for so long. As you pass your coworker in the hall, they also notice your zombie-like state and tell you to get some air. That was a good idea, so you walk to the studio. On your walk, you make a conscious effort to not think about work. Then you panicked, you’re first date with Sebastian is tonight! What are you going to wear? Where is he taking you?

You grab your phone and send a quick text to Brittney on your way. “Hey girl, you had a crazy weekend, huh?” “Date with Seb tonight, what should I wear?” You arrive at the gate to show your id, as soon as you speak to the guard none other than Sebastian Stan himself pulls up in a golf cart to drive you over to lunch.

“Hey Doll!” Sebastian greets you with a hug.

“Hey,” you hug him back as the butterflies start to flutter. You think, Chris might be cute, and a lot of fun, but he never makes you have these butterflies. You smile at Seb and grab his hand he has obviously placed in between us not trying to make a move. He smiles back at you as you both arrive at the circle of trailers you recognize. Chris and Dodger run up to greet you, you accept all the kisses from Dodger and hug and peck on the cheek from Chris.

“He gets more action than both of us!” Sebastian smirks.

“Only because she hasn’t had some Mackie lovin’,” Anthony comments as he puts his arm around you, attempting to be cute. You draw him into a hug.

“Hey, Anthony.” You say.

“His NAME is Mackie,” Robert Downing Jr. says walking up to you all. You try to remain calm but it’s freaking RDJ! Maybe not on your celebrity crush list but absolutely one of your favorite actors. “This must be y/n, that I’ve heard you all talking about.” He shakes your hand and draws you in for a hug. You do everything to play it cool, but your 100% sure you came out looking like a giant geek. “They’ve been going on and on about this pool party I missed and I also overheard someone’s taking you out on a date tonight.” You instantly go red, even your ears burn. RDJ smirks, realizing how much he’s embarrassed you and hides you with another hug. “Sorry” he whispers.

“It’s ok!” You smile back at him.

“Well, let’s eat!” RDJ announces as he so nicely changes the subjects and takes you to the head of the food line.

You grab food and take a seat. Chris directs you where to sit and takes the seat next to you. You wonder to yourself where Sebastian is, but Chris answers as if you asked it out loud. “He’s gone to change.” “So, he asked if I was fine if he took you out tonight.” You could hear the disappointment in his voice.

“Yeah, not sure what he has planned. But I should probably ask what to wear.” You reply. “So, you and Brittney were having a lot of fun Saturday.”

“Oh, yeah it was a lot of fun, ya know, till she got sick.” He chuckles and continues to eat.

“Was she feeling ok when she left?”

“Yeah, a lot better. She left not long after you did. Nothing happened.” You were curious as to why he felt the need to add that last part. About then Sebastian sat on your other side. Plate full of food. “Worked hard this morning I see!” You comment about the amount of food in front of him.

“He didn’t do anything but make snarky comments all morning, not even sure how he calls this a job,” Mackie said while taking the place across from all of you.

“I hate you,” Sebastian says with an evil grin on his face, with all of us knowing he’s taking a line from Bucky. He quietly says, “Maybe it's nervous eating,” as he winks.

Lunch went on with a lot of stories and attempting to do their own stunts, and stupid inside jokes they all had and tried to explain to you. As lunch was wrapping up Sebastian was called away to get ready for his next scene and to get back into his prosthetic.

You and Chris go back to his trailer and talk about the trip he’s leaving for tonight, a comic con in Chicago. He asked you to make sure Dodger gets enough love because in his words “he likes you more than me anyway.”

“Jealous much?”

“About what?” Chris replies.

“About Dodger liking me more!” You give him a big smile as Dodger jumps into your lap. Proving your point.

“Just a little.”

You sense something more in his answers, “Are you ok with Sebastian and I going out?”

“Not sure, hate that I missed my chance with you.” He replies shyly while lowering his gaze.

“Chris? I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say, I had no clue you felt that way.” You pause.

“Yes, you’re on my celebrity crush list, well, look at you, of course, you are. And for a moment I thought there might be something, but there are far too many things we disagree on. Can you tell me that wouldn’t be a problem?” You say what’s on your heart, but your heart is breaking thinking of how much Chris is hurt. You move over toward him and pulling him into a hug, he tries to resist but you win. The two of you stand there hugging, for what seemed like forever and he strokes your hair. “I’m sorry,” you whisper, “Please don’t hate me, I need you.”

You two finally part ways and look into one another eyes. “Really?” He responds.

“Yes, you’re making California start to fill like home.” You stand up on your toes to kiss him on the cheek. You pull back and look up at him again. And at that moment he leans down and crashes his lips into yours, taking the air out of your lungs. You instinctually pull back, praying no one was about to walk in unannounced. “CHRIS!” To escape, you rush to the bedroom with tears streaming down your face.

You sit on the end of the bed, trying hard to grasp what just happened. More tears flow. How can things be this complicated 10 days after meeting someone? Having Chris in your life made you happier than you’ve been in a long time, you weren’t lying when you told him, he made California feel more like home.

You send a quick text to the secretary at work, you were already late getting back, “going to need some personal time this afternoon. No worries I’m way ahead of schedule.” Chris knocks on the door and peeks in. “I have to go back. Take all the time you need. Text me when you’re ready.” He shuts the door and then you hear the door to his trailer shut and lock.

You collapse onto the bed, trying to figure any other this out. Why did things have to get so complicated? Sure, Chris is fucking sexy but so is Sebastian. Both have eyes you could stare at forever. But, Chris takes things a little too seriously, delete the twitter rants already. Seb was much more chill, but now, all of this drama. You weren’t even sure if you could go out tonight with Sebastian. You didn’t want to compromise their relationship or the relationships you had with them.

A headache is starting from all the stress and crying, you close your eyes to make it go away. And you drift off to sleep.

Tag List

@melannie77  @thejemersoninferno  @thummbelina​ 

[pug-bitch]

That’s not why I’m going (34)

Worth fighting for

Book: The Royal Romance

Pairing: Drake Walker x Amara Suarez

Rating: some foul language, some extremely suggestive. This is absolutely NOT appropriate for people under 18. 

Word count: about 4,350 (let me know if the ‘keep reading’ cutoff isn’t working well!)

Notes: This picks up pretty much where we left off, except on the next morning, while the gang is at Ramsford the day before the rehearsal dinner! We’re starting with Amara’s POV. This is a bit filler, but it sets up important moving parts for the next chapters, where shit is really gonna go down!

*****

Amara slowly opens her eyes, to see Drake sitting up in her bed, reading a book. She glances at the clock. 9 AM. It’s been a while since she’s slept in so late. 

Crazy how, when she was a bartender, not so long ago, 9 AM was the earliest she ever got up, since the night shifts took a lot out of her, and so did the nightmares. But last night, no nightmares for her, at least none that she could remember. All she remembers is having a great time at karaoke, and going up to bed with Drake. Making love lazily right before falling asleep. 

‘Morning baby,’ Drake whispers. ‘I brought coffee up from the kitchen.’

Her savior. She sits up next to him and he opens up his arm for her to nuzzle in the nook of it. She wraps her arm around his waist, pulling him closer, and leaving a trail of kisses on his chest. ‘Thank you,’ she says, her voice raspy.

‘Someone sang too much last night,’ Drake chuckles. He kisses the top of her head. God, she loves his smell. His puffy eyes in the morning. His sweet smile that he keeps only for her. His kisses, always the right amount of tender, or sexy. She closes her eyes again, to try and retain as much as she can from the moment. 

‘Guys, are you dead?’ Maxwell shrieks through the door.

Drake and Amara both burst out laughing. ‘No, Max, we’re alive, just chilling,’ Drake yells out.

With no warning, Max walks in. ‘Good morning beautiful people!’

Amara rolls her eyes and thanks God that she’s covered up by a sheet. ‘Morning, Max. We were about to get up.’

He sits on the love seat by the bed. ‘Great! Hana is making pancakes and we were thinking of spending the day by the pool. We need to enjoy our life before--’ he stops himself and pauses. ‘Before we die, dammit!’

They both chuckle and Drake finally says, ‘If you let us actually get ready, I promise we’ll be downstairs very soon.’

Max smiles excitedly and takes his leave. As soon as the door is closed, Drake turns his head to capture Amara’s lips in a deep kiss. ‘Let’s hop in the shower, Suarez. Get your sexy ass in there.’

*****

Drake’s breath catches as soon as he sees Amara remove her beach wrap, and reveal the stunning bikini she’s wearing underneath. Dammit, this swimsuit looks like it was made for her. He’s completely enthralled in her, even after they just spent half an hour having sex in the shower before breakfast. But still, he feels a twinge in his own swimsuit at the sight of the beautiful woman he loves. He takes a deep breath, tries to cool off, and takes a sip from his lemonade glass. Amara takes a seat next to him in a chaise longue after kissing his cheek.

‘Hey handsome,’ she says excitedly. ‘Beautiful day to be by the pool. I can’t believe we’ve never used it for all the times we’ve been at Ramsford.’

Drake smiles at her. ‘I know.’ He lowers his voice. ‘You’re so fucking hot, I’m gonna need to chill a little.’

Amara cracks up. ‘Yeah take a chill pill, Walker, our friends are joining.’

Maxwell comes out of the house running, in his blue swimsuit with squids on it, and without stopping for even a second, jumps into the pool and splashes both Drake and Amara.

‘How’s that for cooling down?’ Amara asks jokingly.

Drake shakes his head.

Liv comes out, wearing a giant sun hat, sunscreen in hand, lathering it in thick layers on her arms. She sits down under the umbrella, and settles into her seat, a frown on her face.

‘You ok, Liv?’ Amara asks.

‘Yeah,’ she replies, annoyed. ‘The sun is blasting already. Not good for me.’

Maxwell emerges from the pool and makes eye contact with Drake and Amara, before saying: ‘You know, Liv, if you wanted, you could tell Rashad to join us. Plenty of food and drinks for everyone. Right guys?’

Drake nods vigorously. ‘Of course. I like Rashad, he’s fun to be around.’

Amara and Hana nod as well, bright smiles on their faces.

Liv rolls her eyes. ‘Guys, you’re very transparent. And pains in my ass. What tells you I want to see Rashad right now?’

Amara sits up and slides her sunglasses off her nose. ‘Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the fact that you’ve been staring at your phone and moping all morning.’

Liv scrunches her nose. ‘I’ll have you know, Suarez, that I’m not like you. I don’t need to be romanced at all times.’ She gestures at Amara’s hand in Drake’s. ‘I’m fine on my own. Better than fine, in fact, I’m grand.’ She pauses and returns to her sunscreen application.

Maxwell lets out an exaggerated sigh. ‘Oh, so you want us to insist, huh? Alright, fine by me. Pleaaaaase Olivia, tell Rashad to come! We are desperate to see him in a swimsuit. Pretty please?’

Olivia snorts. ‘How would it even work, huh? He doesn’t know about these two,’ she gestures to Drake and Amara.

Drake shrugs, ‘We can keep it in our pants for a day, Liv. We’re not animals.’

She snorts again. ‘Tell that to the bar bathroom last night.’

‘Seriously, Liv,’ Amara insists. ‘We’ll play it cool! Plus, Drake and I might go to a little restaurant tonight for dinner, so we’ll be out of your hair.’

‘It won’t work,’ Liv replies. ‘He’ll see right through you.’

‘Um,’ Drake brings his hand to his ear, ‘is that an excuse I’m hearing? Look, Rashad is sneaking around with a suitor. He has no reason to rat us out, even if he suspects something. He doesn’t care. And tonight, you and him can go out, and Amara and I can go out, too. No one will be the wiser. Come on. Stop making excuses, Nevrakis.’

Amara nods furiously. ‘Come on, I’m with Drake and Max. Specifically on the swimsuit front.’ Drake nudges her with his elbow and feigns shock. ‘Oh please,’ Amara continues, ‘I’m kidding.’ She turns to Olivia and mouths ‘No I’m not.’

Olivia lets out a throaty laugh. ‘Ughhhh guys, this is torture. You’re trying to turn me into one of you sensitive types, who sneaks out on dates and bones in a bathroom because she just NEEDS to have him right here right now--’

Drake interrupts, ‘Please stop talking about the bathroom.’

‘Yeah Liv, get over it,’ Max adds. ‘They celebrate each other’s bodies and it’s beautiful.’

Drake makes a disgusted face. ‘Alright, let’s all calm down. And Liv, text him to come over. Say we all invited him because we wanna hang out.’

Olivia rolls her eyes, but grabs her phone again. 

*****

Bastien walks into the King’s study and curtsies. ‘Hello, Your Majesty. You called for me?’

Constantine sighs painfully. ‘Yes, thank you, Bastien. I wanted to know how things were going with the plan for tomorrow.’

Bastien nods and hands him the file he brought with him. ‘I figured you’d want to know, Your Majesty. I brought you the ticket, as well as a full report on him.’

Constantine takes the file and peruses it, nodding. ‘Great. Are we still on for hitting the nail on the head during the Decision Ball? I want nothing left to chance, Bastien. I cannot afford for Liam to make the biggest mistake of his life.’

Bastien gulps down. Maybe he’s the one making a mistake. Still, duty first. He nods. ‘Everything is in place, Your Majesty.’

*****

‘Hello? I’m coming in!’ Rashad announces through the main door. Amara walks back from the kitchen, where she was preparing a pitcher of margaritas, and comes face to face with the newcomer.

‘Hi Rashad! Welcome to Ramsford,’ she says as she gives him a one-armed hug, the other hand busy balancing the pitcher. ‘So glad you came!’

‘Oh,’ he says, running his hand through his hair. ‘Thank you guys for inviting me. I’ve never been here during daylight, or um...without any peacocks around. It’s awfully quiet.’

Amara laughs. ‘Well, Max and Bertrand sent the staff home until they figure out who snagged Liv’s phone, when, you know…’

Rashad nods understandingly. ‘Oh, I wasn’t complaining. It’s nice to have some peace and quiet.’

Amara leads him to the pool area, where everyone else is either swimming or sunbathing, except for Olivia who is safely under her umbrella. Amara notices that Liv sat up a little straighter upon noticing Rashad. It makes her smile. ‘Rashad’s here, guys!’

‘Hey everyone, thanks for letting me crash! I brought some whiskey.’ He holds up the bottle for everyone to see.

Drake predictably lights up. 'Thanks, man! Good to see you.’

‘Is it good to see him, Walker, or is it good to see the booze he brought?’ Liv asks sarcastically.

Drake rolls his eyes and smiles at Rashad. ‘Obviously both.’

*****

Two drinks in, Hana and Amara are waddling in the pool, enjoying the sunshine and relaxation. They chat together about everything and nothing at the same time, and observe the people around them. Drake and Maxwell on one side, chatting excitedly, and on the other, Liv and Rashad, talking intensely and having a drink. They look sweet and bashful and all the adjectives Amara never thought she’d use to describe Olivia.

‘Jeez, they look cute together,’ Hana whispers, before taking another sip of her margarita.

‘I know, right? Liv’s features actually relaxed when she started talking to him. It’s almost magical.’

Hana giggles. ‘Are you guys ok spending our last free day pretending not to be together?’

Amara shrugs. ‘I’m having fun with everyone. I’m not gonna avoid Drake, we’re just going to avoid PDA, that’s all.’

Hana nods. ‘You know...you two are also very cute together.’ She nudges her with her elbow. ‘Something tells me everything is gonna be ok.’

Amara sighs. ‘I hope so, Han. I’m so nervous about tomorrow and Saturday’s events, you have no idea. I feel like something’s gonna happen, or maybe Liam will find us out and throw us both out of the country. Either way…’

Hana raises her eyebrows. ‘Look, you’re too in your head. You need to take a step back. Remember what I told you a while ago? Don’t lose sight of what’s important. Of love.’ She lowers her voice. ‘Of what’s worth fighting for.’

Amara chuckles. ‘How can you always stay so positive?’

‘Well hun, I know both you and Drake by now. I know you’ll be fine, if you keep your eyes on the prize.’

‘Woooo!’ Maxwell yells out behind them, suddenly jumping in the pool again. Hana and Amara cover their faces from the splashes.

Drake seamlessly slides into the pool next to them. ‘Hey ladies,’ he whispers. ‘Look at these lovebirds. This guy is the Nevrakis whisperer. I swear I saw her laugh.’

*****

Amara gets out of the shower after a long, fun pool day. She dries her hair with a soft towel and moisturizes her face. As she’s about to take off her towel and put on some clothes, her bedroom door bursts open. 

She jumps up, ready to pounce on the intruder the way she destroyed Tariq at Applewood, but as she gets out of the bathroom, she realizes it was Olivia.

‘Fuck,’ she yells, ‘you scared me, Liv! Ever heard of knocking?’

Olivia shrugs and sits on the bed nonchalantly. ‘Don’t be dramatic.’

Amara rolls her eyes, tightens her towel around her chest, and sits by Olivia. ‘What’s going on?’

Olivia stares at her nails, not making eye contact with Amara. ‘Nothing. I wanted to catch you before you’re off with Walker, that’s all.’

Amara nods and plays with a strand of her hair. ‘And?’

‘And I wanted to catch up, that’s all.’ Liv sighs. ‘Also, um… I wanted to clear the air. I didn’t mean to chew Drake out last night. For telling me that Liam knew.’

Amara exhales slowly. ‘Liv, that’s no problem. He knows you didn’t mean it. You scared me, you know, I thought something was really wrong. In case you didn’t notice, I’m a tad on edge these days.’

Liv gives her a sympathetic smile, which sends a shiver down Amara’s spine. ‘I get that, Suarez. It’s just new for me.’

Amara raises her eyebrows. ‘What’s new for you?’

Liv takes a deep breath and says, ‘Human interactions. How to talk to other people, people who are not Liam. He’s the only one I let in, in the past what, 23 years. Now--’ she interrupts herself, stares at her nails again. ‘Now you guys have weaseled your way into my life, and I don’t know how to act.’

Amara can’t contain her smile. ‘Aww, Liv, that’s so sweet!’

Liv turns around briskly and frowns. ‘Don’t you dare, Suarez.’ 

Amara throws her hands in the air. ‘Fine, sorry.’

‘I’m not used to it. People having my back. Like all of you last night, about the Rashad thing. And Max inviting him over today. No one ever thinks of me like that. So, I just wanted to say that.’

Amara bites her lip to make her smile disappear. She knows what Liv means, and she decides not to push her any further. She gets up from the bed and says, ‘So, since you’re here, do you wanna help me pick an outfit? Drake and I are going to a little pub in town, for fish and chips. Something casual.’

Liv rolls her eyes, but can’t hide the seed of a smile. ‘Fine. I guess you need my help. I noticed that there’s been an awful lot of color in your outfits lately. What’s up with that?’

Amara shrugs, ‘It’s sunny out, why not wear color? What’s wrong with wanting to be cheerful?’

Liv stares at her blankly. ‘I’m gonna pretend you didn’t say that. Go with jeans, and oh, this blouse.’ She picks up a white, flowy top, with a plunging neckline. ‘It’s classy, yet casual, and it will show off the goods.’

Amara chuckles. ‘Thanks. Shoes?’

Olivia stares at the closet intently. ‘Maybe these tan sandals. I like these.’

Amara nods and grabs the outfit. ‘What color nails should I go with?’ She gestures to her massive nail polish collection.

Olivia’s eyes widen. ‘What? Last time I was in your room, you had like half of this. When did you go out and stock up on nail polish?’

Amara shrugs. ‘I have an addiction. My friend Mia says it’s better than buying drugs.’

Olivia cocks her head. ‘I’m not so sure about that.’ She pauses. ‘Light gray. Go with light gray for your nails.’

Amara changes in the bathroom, and gets out triumphantly, showing off the outfit curated by Liv, who nods in approval. Amara sits at her vanity to paint her nails, and notices that Liv swiped a light red polish from her collection, and is starting to do her own nails. Amara smiles, and decides not to comment. They sit in silence for a couple of minutes, both paying attention to their manicures.

‘Rashad asked me to dinner tonight,’ Liv finally says.

Amara smirks. ‘Oh, that’s so nice! Where are you guys going?’

She shrugs. ‘I think we’re going to this tapas place about half an hour away. Quiet spot that Rashad knows.’

Amara nods. ‘That’s awesome. I’m glad he’s here, Liv. He’s really fun to be around. We all had a great day with you guys.’

Liv flashes an awkward smile. ‘Yeah, yeah, he’s great. Should I fuck him?’

Taken aback by the bluntness of the question, Amara shakes her head in disbelief. ‘Oh, um, I’m not gonna tell you what to do with your body, Liv. Do you want to sleep with him?’

Liv snorts. ‘Have you seen the guy, Suarez? Of course I want to sleep with him. But um--’ she blows on her nails to dry them. ‘I’m still feeling a bit...vulnerable,’ she says with a grimace.

‘I get that. Maybe you can take your time, until it feels right.’

Liv chuckles. ‘I’m not in high school, waiting to lose my virginity, Suarez.’

Amara admires her nails. ‘Virginity is a construct, Liv. You can feel like you need to wait at any point in your life, not just when you’re inexperienced. So take it easy if that’s what feels right. He sounds like a really good guy, he knows what you’re going through. You can talk to him about it, if needed.’

Liv nods. Amara notices that she is blushing slightly. ‘Right. Well, no one expects a three date minimum with the bitch who rode her bodyguard in the car, though.’

Amara makes an offended face. ‘Excuse me, Liv, you owe nothing to anyone. This is not Liam we’re talking about, with his entitlement and his warped view of women. This is Rashad, a guy who’s actually grounded in the real world. His formalwear does not consist in a sash like Prince Charming. He’s a real guy. He will not equate you to your past.’ She catches her breath and starts her second layer of light gray. ‘Plus, there’s nothing wrong with riding someone in a car, you know.’

Liv smirks. ‘Right. It’s not like it’s the bathroom of a cop bar we’re talking about.’

*****

Drake waits for Amara in the living room, a cup of tea in hand. Maxwell was keeping him company but Bertrand just called him in the study to discuss tomorrow’s statement about their dad. Drake finds himself get a bit nervous. It’s silly, because it’s not their first time going on an actual date. They’ve been to the cop bar together before, way back when they were barely an item. But now...it’s different. It feels official. It feels real. Drake is waiting for his girlfriend to come down so he can take her to dinner; a casual dinner, but dinner nonetheless. He wonders if he’s overdressed. He ditched the denim shirt tonight --well, he’s still wearing jeans, baby steps-- and, following Max’s recommendation, opted for a white linen shirt that Amara had commented on, on a different occasion. 

Rashad walks into the living room, holding a cup of tea as well. ‘Hey Drake.’ He raises his cup. ‘Great minds think alike.’

‘Heh,’ Drake replies. ‘Cheers. How are you doing?’

Rashad nods, ‘Good, thanks. Just um… waiting for Liv to come down. We’re gonna go get tapas.’

‘Oh good! Are you going to Matador?’

Rashad smiles brightly. ‘Yeah! I can’t believe you know the place! It’s so small.’

‘Yeah, I’ve been a couple of times with--’ he cuts himself off. He went with Savannah, back in the day. ‘With my family,’ he finally says.

Rashad nods. ‘Nice. I love that place. I’m glad Liv texted me today, I’ve had an awesome time with you all.’

Drake smiles. ‘We did too. It was fun to spend time with you, so thanks for coming.’

‘I honestly couldn’t be happier that she texted me.’ He runs his hand through his hair. ‘I um… at the risk of sounding pathetic, I had been sitting at a café, pretending to work, but really I was checking my phone every two minutes.’ He chuckles. ‘I didn’t expect this to happen, man. We’ve known each other for a long time, but I guess something changed, and now…’ he throws his hands up. ‘I don’t know. I’m kind of in disbelief. She’s a little too cool for me.’

Drake laughs along. ‘Eh, you’re cool enough.’

Finally, Liv makes her appearance. Drake notices that she’s wearing her hair down, which softens her features. Rashad’s face visibly lights up at the sight of her.

‘You look great, Liv,’ he says, holding out his hand for her to take.

She smiles. ‘Thanks, so do you. Have a good night, Walker.’ 

Rashad smiles and waves at Drake and they’re on their way. A few minutes later, Amara comes down, wearing a white blouse that highlights her tan skin and her beautiful figure. ‘So sorry babe, I didn’t mean to make you wait, but my nails weren’t dry.’

Drake smiles broadly and gets up from the couch. He wraps her in a tight hug. ‘You’re so beautiful.’ He kisses her tenderly. ‘Let’s go?’

*****

‘That is SO cute,’ Amara squeals.

Drake had filled her in on his encounter with Rashad, and on how he had been gushing about Olivia right away. ‘I know right? I really hope that--’ he interrupts himself and shoves a French fry in his mouth.

Amara frowns. ‘What? You hope what?’

He rolls his eyes. ‘Fine. I didn’t want to say anything anxious tonight, but… I really hope that Liam doesn’t shit all over Liv’s new thing with Rashad.’

Amara nods. ‘I know, right?’ She takes a sip of her beer. ‘He better not ruin things for these two.’ She pauses, and looks at Drake, at his intense expression. The expression of a man who’s completely involved in his friends’ lives. A completely different man from the one she met in New York City, and yet a lot of him is the same. He’s just more open, less impervious to the world around him.

‘What?’ he asks. ‘Do I have something on my face?’

She shakes her head. ‘No. You’re perfect.’ She eats a fry, and continues. ‘You know I’m all in, right? I’m completely, utterly happy with everything that’s been going on between us. All in.’

Drake’s lip twitches, and his face lights up in an emotional smile. ‘Me too, Amara. I’ve never been so sure of anything my whole life.’

‘Whatever happens this weekend, Drake. Whatever shitstorm comes our way. Even if it takes work, time, and energy, even if we lose sight of things for a while, you have to know I’m not giving up.’

She sees Drake’s lip quiver some more, and he swallows hard. ‘I’m not giving up on us either.’ He grabs her hand and brushes his thumb against her knuckles. ‘Fuck, Suarez. Don’t make me cry in public.’

She smiles. ‘I love you.’

‘I love you, too.’

*****

Liam is sitting on the grand patio, a cognac in one hand, and a cigarette in the other. He never smokes, but he figures, for his last night of free time, he can do something a little stupid. So, he sent his chauffeur, Thierry, to fetch a pack. He doesn’t even like the taste, but it keeps his hand busy. It keeps him from grabbing his phone and texting Olivia angrily. Like, ‘How could you do this to me?’, or ‘I was considering picking you!’

No no, smoking is a lot less damaging. To his ego, at least. He takes a big swig of his cognac, then picks up the bottle, and refills his glass to the brim. Who cares about serving sizes? Not him, not tonight.

‘Your Highness?’ a butler disturbs his peace.

‘What is it, Thomas?’ he says a little too abruptly.

‘Lady Madeleine is here to see you.’

‘Ok, thanks.’ He takes another big sip.

He hears her walk out to the patio, but he doesn’t turn around. He’s not sure how he feels about her visit. She’s been more than sympathetic and understanding over the past few days, ever since she was the only one to notice his absence, and she finally opened up to him a bit more. But still, Leo’s warnings resonate in his head like big, red flags.

‘Good evening, Liam,’ she murmurs.

‘Good evening, Madeleine. Take a seat, if you wish.’ He gestures to the seat near him. Does he really want her to sit? Maybe. He likes that she cares so much. About him, and about Cordonia. She may be a less than stellar person in her human interactions, as Leo pointed it out repeatedly, but… she’s kind of trying to redeem herself, right?

‘I didn’t mean to interrupt your quiet moment,’ Madeleine says softly. ‘I just came back from having tea with the Queen and she mentioned that you looked wistful when she saw you earlier. I wanted to see if you needed company.’

Liam smiles faintly. ‘Thank you. I just have a lot on my mind, with the Decision Ball approaching and all.’

She nods. ‘I know. I’m not going to bother you with that. I just wanted to offer my company, that’s all.’

Liam nods weakly. But then, something shifts in his mind. Why not just talk about it bluntly? After all, Madeleine had been the only person who made her intentions clear with him. So, he says, ‘Actually, I’d like you to tell me what you’re hoping for. For this weekend and the end of the competition.’

Madeleine’s eyes widen. ‘What...I’m hoping for?’

He turns towards her. ‘Yeah. What do you want out of this? The King and the Queen are certainly on your side. What is your dream scenario?’

Madeleine smiles elegantly. ‘I think it’s quite clear, Liam. My dream scenario is for you to pick me. I have been at court my entire life, and have never caused any type of scandal. I care deeply about this country and would rule it fairly, by your side. Your brother had chosen me during the last competition, and I know he probably would tell you that he was pushed to do it by the King, but the truth is, before he left court, he truly understood how beneficial our betrothal would be for Cordonia. Except that he and I had no chemistry whatsoever.’ She pauses and eyes his glass. He picks up on the cue, and slides it over to her. She nods gratefully. ‘Us, on the other hand, I’d like to think we would make a good team.’ She takes a sip. ‘I’m realistic. I know there’s no love as of right now. I wouldn’t expect you to give up on your social life…’

She falls silent. Liam nods. ‘Thank you for being candid with me, Madeleine.’

*****

Madeleine has trouble keeping her lips from curling up in sheer satisfaction. For a second there, she thought she’d talked too much, but he seems to eat it up. He’s obviously still reeling from the whole Olivia situation, and he may still be into the Mexican one, but this will change very, very soon.

*****

Taglist:

@drakeandcamilleofvaltoria @jovialyouthmusic @andy-loves-corgis @mariahschoices @drakesensworld @thequeenofcronuts @notoriouscs @drakewalkerisreal @nikkis1983 @simsvetements @alesana45 @iplaydrake @emceesynonymroll @lily1999love @drakewalkerwhipped @drakxwalker @drakewalkerrosenberg @drakeswalkers @drakelover78 @silviasutton1989 @dcbbw @carabeth @furiousherringoperatortoad @hollygirl1269 @sirbeepsalot @ladyangel70 @thisperfectmemory

Thank you for your encouragements, everyone! Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist :)

[fallingforholland]

Your best friend’s best friend

Pairing: Tom Holland x Reader

Requested: Yes. @tommyvelvet said “congrats on 200!! can you write about haz introducing the reader to tom at a party and he is like 😍 and flirts with her a lot”

Summary: you and Haz have known eacheother forever. When he finally introduces you to his ther best friend tom could ther be instant fireworks?

Warnings: the flirting might be a little cringy, you have been warned

A/N : Y/N/N stands for your nickname incase y'alls are new. Also sorry that this took me so long. I wanted to get it right so I procrastinated like crazy...whoopsie. I hope it was worth the wait guys

*******************************************************************************************

"Plllleeeasee (Y/N/N), it'll be funnnnnnn" Harrison entreated in an almost futile attempt to convince his oldest friend to meet his new friends.

"that was what you said about drunk paint ball, and about my surprise party and abo..."

"ok ok I get it I have made errors in judgment in the past. But in my defense those things were fun in the moment. Also this is entirely different" Haz finished, looking quite triumphant, he knew he was wearing you down.

"Why do you even want me to meet your new 'best friend' anyway? he's probably a butt-head just like you"

"ahhhh I see, you're Jealous" before you could object, Haz was ruffling your hair like he'd done since you were 5 and he had grown slightly taller than you "Don't worry, he won't replace you, we've been friends forever, you're practly my baby sister"

you pushed him away from you with a huff and fixed your hair while pointing out

"I'm 3 months older then you and you know it, you prick"

"so you're coming?!" he said, bouncing on the balls of his feet like an excited child

"Yes obviously I'm coming. what are their names again?"

"It's just gonna be Tom, Harry, Jacob and Tuwaine"

 Time Skip

 you double checked the address of the pub you were currently standing outside of against the address Haz had texted you this morning before entering, sure that you would be early. you beelined for the bar to order a drink and texted Haz to let him know that you were already here and to see how far away he was and then opened instagram to mindlesly scroll until Haz either responded or showed up. After a few minutes a pair of hands were clasped over your eyes

"Guess who"

"hmmm the biggest Div in the universe?"

"no because that would be you"

"Haz you have 5 seconds to get off before I start kicking"

"ok ok chill" and the world became bright again as Haz moved his hands. "(Y/N) this is Jacob, Tuwaine, Harry and Tom" you waved at each of them and your eyes lingered a moment longer on Tom, whilst you were being subtle, Tom was quite blatantly staring at you with an expression that could only be described as quite infatuated.

"It's so nice to finally meet you (Y/N)" Jacob said,

pulling you into a hug

"Its nice to meet you too Jacob, Haz has told me a lot about you guys" After swapping introductions and hugs with Tuwaine and Harry who were equally as sweet as Jacob was, then you turned to Tom

"So you're the guy who my best friend has replaced me with, It's nice to meet you" you said, reaching your hand out to shake his

"(Y/N) you overestimate me, I could never replace someone as beautiful as you love"

"that was pretty lame"

You replied, rolling your eyes, trying to combat the blush creeping across your cheek. At that moment, Haz flung his arm over your shoulders

"Tom, I already told you she was off limits. keep it in your pants dude"

You Shove Haz off you and groan in exhasperation

"I can look after myself Harrison, I don't need you to protect me, I'm older then you for christs sake. Anyway, awkward introduction over, lets get a table, shall we?"

when you got a table Tom slid into the booth on one side, you casually sat next to him as Jacob sat on the opposite side of the table, Harry looked like he was about to sit next to you but Haz sat down and gave him a look so he sat next to jacob, and tuwaine sat next to him.

"Haz, chill ok. this is supposed to be fun rememeber" you whispered to Haz, noticing how tense he was.

as the night continued, you guys ate and drank copious amounts, laughed and talked. throughout all this you and tom maintained a constant banter, flirting back and forth. suffice it to say tom is quite impressed that you never miss a beat. he casually drapes his arm on your shoulder, you rest your hand on his thigh. he comes out with some stupid pick up line, you've got a witty response. As much as you were trying to play it cool you couldn't deny the way your heart lept to your throat when he laughed or the way your pulse quickened when he looked at you. and you'd be lying if you said he wasn't exceptionally good looking.

After a few hours you started to get tired, yawning and unconsciously leaning on toms shoulder. He noticed this and looked down at you with a smirk on his face

“Getting tired love?”

“Maybe just a little, I was at work today so I might be just a tiny bit exhausted”

“Do you want me to give you a ride home?”

“Haven’t you been drinking”

“No I’ve got an early morning tomorrow, I haven’t had any alcohol at all, so my offer still stands for a ride home”

“I think that’s my job as her big brother” Haz chimed in, you responded with a playful punch to his stomach

“Haz you aren’t my older brother and you’re too drunk to drive me home”

“Awwww (Y/N/N) that hurts me”

You turned to Harry

“Harry can you make sure Haz gets home safe and with at least some of the contents of his stomach still in his stomach?”

“Yeah no problem (Y/N)”

“Awesome thank you” you replied then you turned to Tom “that ride home still up for grabs?”

“Of course it is love”

“Awesome” you and Tom then got up and said goodbye to everybody. On the walk to the door you almost tripped, causing Tom to instantly wrap an arm around your waist

“Thanks for that”

The drive home continued with the same energy that the whole night had, flirting, giggling and banter. Before you knew it you were at your door.

“Don’t suppose you want to come inside?”

“No I won’t. Not tonight. I really really want to, but I like you and more importantly I respect you. So here” he hands you a napkin with his number on it “when you’re sober, if you want to, give me a call. That way if we end up back here I’ll know it’s what you want and not what the alcohol wants, ok?”

“Ok, I’ll do that” you gave him a kiss on the cheek “that’s what you get for being a perfect gentleman.”

[cocobaek]

Crossfire | 16

Pairing : Namjoon x reader  |   Seokjin x reader Word count: 2K

Previous: 15                       Next: 17

I had always hated hospitals. I never had to go to one for anything more than a few broken bones myself, but the amount of time I spent visiting my mum was enough to taint my view of them forever. The fact that I had spent the last few days in one, glued to my brothers beside didn’t do anything to change this fact. “Are you ever going to go home or are you moving in permanently?” Tae asked as he watched me intently. “As long as you’re in here, I’m in here,” I said with a smile. He shook his head at my answer. “[y/n],” he started. “I want to be here Tae.” He didn’t back down as expected. “I understand that you’re worried, but I’m ok, I’m stable, and you look worn out. Don’t sacrifice your wellbeing for me.” I shook my head. “Or are you just here because he isn’t?” “Of course I’m not,” “You can’t hate him forever,” Taehyung continued, not even letting me speak. “The man was forced to make a choice.” “Yeah and he made the wrong one,” I finally bit back. “I don’t care what the excuses are, he said I could rely on him, and now he’s proved that I can’t.” My voice was shaky and weak as I tried to project the reason I was still mad. The truth was, I didn’t know why I was mad. I didn’t even know if I was mad at Namjoon, I just needed someone to blame. “Right…” Taehyung finally said before shuffling to one side of his bed and patting the empty space. “Come here girlie.” I hesitated, but couldn’t say no to him, and went to sit beside him, letting him pull me into his side for a little cuddle. “I am happy you’re sticking up for me like this, it makes me proud in fact, but don’t compromise your happiness for me…” I rested my hand on his chest, leaning my head on his shoulder, “I’m not… I just. I don’t know how to feel… I know it’s not his fault, I just wish he would’ve listened.” Silence fell between us after that. We lay with each other comfortably, neither one of us wanting to speak and start another argument. Needless to say, a knock at the door was very welcome. “You two awake?” I heard Jin’s friendly voice come into the room. “Sure are,” Taehyung said. “God you look rough,” Jin joked, seeing his friend’s state before looking at me. His smile fell and his expression grew worried as he took me in. “[y/n], when was the last time you slept?” I sat up before moving and standing beside the bed, stretching my arms above my head. “I slept last night.” “He’s your future husband don’t lie,” Taehyung said, trying to lighten the mood, but simply did the opposite. Jin and I hadn’t spoken since our last phone call and although he didn’t know about my breakdown, he was smart enough to figure out that something had happened. Taehyung cleared his throat, “what I meant was she’s been having naps on the chair but that’s it.” Jin smiled at me sadly, “you want me to stay here? You can go home and rest?” I shook my head, “Isn’t Tae the one we should be all worrying about here? I’m fine!” I was rather flattered with the concern, but this should’ve be about me. “I don’t need to be worried about. Dad’s taking me home tonight.” “Oh they are discharging you so soon?” Jin asked, and I was relieved that the conversation had shifted focus. Taehyung nodded, “I mean, I’m still going to be stuck in bed but at least it’ll be my own bed,” he said with a weak laugh. “And who knows, maybe I’ll even make it to the wedding.” “Don’t push yourself, it’s basically a super extravagant party,” Jin said, glancing at me momentarily. “You still trying to find an out?” We stayed silent. “What if you can’t by then? It’s only what, a week away? Will you go through with it?” Jin cleared his throat, “I don’t k-“ “Yes,” I said quietly. Both the boys quickly looked to me. “Sorry?” Jin asked. “You said it yourself, it’s looking unlikely, what other choice do we have?” Taehyung frowned, “don’t be petty just because you’re mad at Namjoon,” he warned, and Jin looked between the two of us in confusion. “I’m not… It’s not about that at all,” I defended. “It’s just what has to happen.” Before anything else could be said, there was a knock at the door. “I apologize, I need to change Mr. Kim’s dressing,” the nurse said as she came in. “Can you take [y/n] home Jin?” “But Ta-“ “No but’s girlie, you can come see me at dads but I’m making you go home and rest.” I knew he wasn’t going to change his mind. “Fine, ok, but text me-“ “If anything happens, I know,” he grinned. Jin placed a hand on the small of my back, “come on then love,” he said, aware of the nurses prying eyes. I sighed, going and giving Tae a hug goodbye before leaving. Jin and I walked silently through the halls before he stopped. I turned to face him and saw his expression. “What’s wrong?” “Just something Tae said,” he shook his head, “but that’s not what I want to ask.” He swallowed, “did you mean it? You’ll go through with the marriage?” I was a bit confused, “yeah?” “No, I mean, god this is going to sound awful, you won’t… Run? Like, escape off somewhere?” He looked genuinely afraid. “I just- I don’t know, don’t want you to think your doomed if you marry me and have to alienate yourself.” I don’t know what came over me, or what caused this sudden feeling, but I moved forward and hugged him tightly. Jin hesitated, before slowly wrapping his arms around me. “I won’t run… I promise you.” He dipped his head, resting it on my shoulder and I felt him let out a sigh of relief. “Thank god,” he laughed before stepping back. The moment had passed before I had the chance to ask why he was so worried about it. “Well now that we’ve made a bit of a scene I’ll get you home,” Jin joked. The whole journey home consisted of me panicking about Namjoon. A part of me kind of hoped he wouldn’t be there so we wouldn’t need to have the dreaded conversation. I said my goodbyes to Jin and headed up to my apartment. I opened the door and heard Namjoon before I saw him. “Yeah, thanks, I’ll check it out, I gotta go.” He chucked his phone in his pocket and turned to face me. “[y/n],” he said, looking relieved to see me. “Hey,” I placed my bag down next to me. I didn’t know what to say, how to proceed. I hadn’t forgiven him, but I couldn’t say I was angry. “Are you back?” he asked, looking to my bags. “Tae said I had to come home. So yeah, I guess.” Namjoon looked defeated when he heard I was here by Tae’s orders and not my own choosing. “How is he?” I nodded, “better…” We fell back into silence, neither one of us knowing how to bring it up. I took the moment to take Namjoon in. He looked rough, really rough. “I’m sorry,” I finally said, obviously shocking him. “I was harsh… I’m- I’m not saying you’re forgiven but I didn’t word it right, I just-“ “I know.” He cut my rambling short and hesitantly stepped forward. “But do you see where I come from? Imagine if that was you in there.” I stayed silent, watching him. He reached for my hands and I let him take hold of them. ““I’m so sorry for letting you down, but I’m not sorry for saving you.” I looked to his hands. “Oh my god, Namjoon!” I said, forgetting what he had said as I looked over his hands. They looked awful, all bruised and scabbed. “What happened?” I pushed his sleeve up, seeing more bruises. “[y/n],” he said, trying to stop me, but I was already looking over him. “Who did this?” I asked, the more I looked the more I noticed, even stepping forward and seeing them littered lightly on his face. I reached up and wiped his cheek with my thumb. As I thought, the bruise became darker when I sis as the makeup he had used to attempt to cover it came off easily. “[Y/n]. Leave it.” “No, Namjoon this is awful!” I said, “Did Yoongi do this? Did he come after you?” “No, no none of that,” he finally held my wrists, stopping my curious hands. “Then tell me.” He hesitated. “I’m going after him.” I narrowed my eyes. “What?” “He needs to pay.” “Yeah, and he will, but you shouldn’t be the one to make him! Not on your own! You can’t do it by yourself that’s crazy.” I stepped back, running my hands through my hair. “The only reason he came after us again was revenge, he’ll leave us alone now, you’ll just do something to piss him off more!” Namjoon shook his head, “it’s not that simple.” “Yes! It is! Just leave it!”  He turned away hearing my words, “can’t you see you see yourself? How hurt you are! That’s just going to get worse.” He walked through the room as I spoke, “I’m not letting him attack the people I care about and get away with it!” “You’ll get yourself killed!” I was shouting now, “and don’t you dare say it’s to protect me because I’d rather be in danger and have you here than be safe and have you gone.” He didn’t reply, his eyes were trained on me as tears began welling up in my eyes. “I can’t have anyone else hurt, please Joonie.” He reached up and cupped my face, “I’m so close baby, I’m sorry, I have to do this.” I stepped back from his touch, “and here I was thinking I’d come back and everything would be ok,” I laughed, wiping my eyes. I turned to grab the bag I had placed down not even 10 minutes ago. “Don’t leave again please,” Namjoon said weakly. “No, I’m not going to watch you do this! You want me to stay? Don’t go after Yoongi!” He didn’t answer for a while. “It’s not safe out there.” “And why’s that? Oh, I know. Because you’re poking the bear Namjoon!” “I’m doing this to protect you.” I shook my head, “you’re doing this for revenge.” He let out a breath and stood back, a silent indicator he had conceded. I took in a deep breath, and for the second time that week, I left. Tears streaming down my face. They didn’t let up as I neared my destination, I couldn’t see them letting up for some time. I felt so much at once. I was angry mostly, how Namjoon disregarded his safety and in a way, our safety for his own revenge, upset at myself for not sticking by and supporting him. That’s what you were meant to do for someone you care for right? More angry and upsetting thoughts raced through my head as I stepped up to my destination. I should’ve text and warned him I was coming earlier, but I knew it wouldn’t matter. I pounded on the door, making no effort to hold back my tears. Despite the ungodly hour, it wasn’t long before the door was opened and I was greeted by a very tired looking Jin. “[Y/n]?” He said, worry instantly covering his expression, which only got worse as he realized I was crying. He didn’t hesitate in pulling me into a tight hug. “I’m so scared Jin.” “Shh, Shh, it’s ok, I’ve got you,” he said softly. I felt so different in his arms to how I felt 10 seconds prior. It was safe and warm. “Let’s get you inside,” he said, leading me into the house.

[switchcheek14-blog]

‘Murphy Brown’ Cast Members Faith Ford And Joe Regalbuto: ‘When We Do Pick A Topic There’s No Sidestepping’

The wildly popular news sitcom Murphy Brown returns to CBS tonight after 20 years. Candice Bergen reclaims the role of Murphy Brown alongside Joe Regalbuto as Frank Fontana and Faith Ford as Corky Sherwood. It’s an entirely different media landscape since the last time the FYI team graced television sets and the whole gang is ready to tackle the modern world.

CBS Local’s Matt Weiss caught up with Faith Ford and Joe Regalbuto ahead of tonight’s premiere to discuss what it’s like to be together again, modern media and the humorous side of menopause.

MW- Good morning to you both, how’s it going?

FF- Great!

JR- Going good man, how about you?

MW- Doing well, doing well. Congrats on the big return tonight, how does it feel to have the gang back together?

FF- We love being together and it’s great to be in New York shooting the show now!

JR- It’s fantastic, every time we get together it’s a lot of fun.

MW- Coming from a local news perspective ourselves at CBS, you’re also covering news on the show. It’s scripted of course, so it’s a different form of news coverage but it’s there all the same. Do you all enjoy that task and what does it mean to you to be a source of information for people?

JR- That’s one of the most fun things that we can do. We’re at a critical time for news and we get to cover it. We’re playing news reporters on television and we get to cover any situation, any topic we want and without constraints…

FF- …Because it’s fiction, therefore we have more license to play.

JR- Our creative producer Diane English and Candice have both said that when we do pick a topic there’s no sidestepping. We’re able to go after it and we take a point of view, let’s put it that way.

MW- Obviously a lot has changed in the real world since the show’s been away but what has changed for your characters in the last 20 years?

FF- Well Corky’s in menopause, full on menopause [laughs]. So that’s different, but I can relate.

JR- It’s a funny menopause [laughs].

FF- So any woman out there who is there, getting there or knows what it’s like to be there should totally identify with Corky [laughs].

JR- You’ll get a few laughs between your hot flashes!

FF- That’s right!

JR- Listen, all the characters we’ve kind of built a history for them but we don;t spend a ton of time with that we want to get right to what’s going on now. Murphy and Frank along with Corky have been getting together since the show’s been over and we hook up and say hey.

FF- And Candice is so amazing as Murphy now as opposed to Murphy then. I mean there’s just sort of this ease and grace that she has, she’s so comfortable, so set in her ways, in the best way possible. She’s not shrill or anything like that and to see her in this energy dealing with these topics is pretty incredible to watch.

JR- You’re also reminded that the woman won five Emmy Awards. It’s no sort of magic that we’re all back here, she’s got a tremendous amount of talent.

FF- Her truth dealing with this is so genuine it brings tears to my eyes, she’s so genuine. She feels it in her heart for Murphy and you can see that it comes across.

MW- There must be such a comfort, I’d imagine it’s like getting reacquainted with an old friend I’d imagine.

FF- Oh yes.

JR- Completely. The set behind us when Faith walked in she started crying, Candice was weeping already and it’s very emotional. They really got down into the details for the set as well as Phil’s Bar it’s really remarkable.

FF- They recreated here (New York), not in Warner Brothers lot in Burbank which is what we were used to, it really made it feel like coming home again for us. It’s crazy, I was a heap on the floor when I first walked in.

MW- Even with all that comfort there have to be changes of course and today social media and news coverage has changed so much due to technology, how will that be reflected in this new iteration?

FF- From the get, That’s what Nik Dodani’s character is for, he’s our tech guy, he keeps us social in the media.

JR- We’re all amazed at how fast things are flowing. Even with the show and presenting the show and launching it, it’s unbelievable how many outlets there are now, how vast things are now. Candice will send out a picture and get like 80 texts back immediately, its nuts what goes on. So the show definitely has to catch up as well as us.

MW- Last question for both of you know, how would you describe this new version of Murphy Brown to all the prospective audience members out there?

FF- How would you describe it Joe?

JR- Smart as hell and very ambitious.

FF- No holds barred, but fun! We’re flawed, we’re definitely doing our thing but we’re human beings. We’re having fun but we’re dealing with situations head on and I think it’s a journey. Hopefully it won’t be divisive, I hope it will bring people together because that’s very important.

JR- And from some angles I actually look OK, I don’t look like I’m 120 on television. Some angles I look in my late 80’s and other’s I look good for a quick second and then it’s back [laughs].

FF- No! You look good Joe! Now he’s being Frank Fontana, he’s not Joe anymore [laughs].

MW- It’s obvious how much fun you all have together and I’m really excited to see that come through on the show again. Thank you both so much for talking to me today and good luck with the new season!

JR- Thank you!

FF- Thank you so much, take care Matt!

Murphy Brown returns tonight at 9:30 PM ET/PT, only on CBS. Check your local listings for more information.

Source: https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2018/09/27/murphy-brown-cbs-faith-ford-joe-regalbuto/

[chinapotato11-blog]

‘Murphy Brown’ Cast Members Faith Ford And Joe Regalbuto: ‘When We Do Pick A Topic There’s No Sidestepping’

The wildly popular news sitcom Murphy Brown returns to CBS tonight after 20 years. Candice Bergen reclaims the role of Murphy Brown alongside Joe Regalbuto as Frank Fontana and Faith Ford as Corky Sherwood. It’s an entirely different media landscape since the last time the FYI team graced television sets and the whole gang is ready to tackle the modern world.

CBS Local’s Matt Weiss caught up with Faith Ford and Joe Regalbuto ahead of tonight’s premiere to discuss what it’s like to be together again, modern media and the humorous side of menopause.

MW- Good morning to you both, how’s it going?

FF- Great!

JR- Going good man, how about you?

MW- Doing well, doing well. Congrats on the big return tonight, how does it feel to have the gang back together?

FF- We love being together and it’s great to be in New York shooting the show now!

JR- It’s fantastic, every time we get together it’s a lot of fun.

MW- Coming from a local news perspective ourselves at CBS, you’re also covering news on the show. It’s scripted of course, so it’s a different form of news coverage but it’s there all the same. Do you all enjoy that task and what does it mean to you to be a source of information for people?

JR- That’s one of the most fun things that we can do. We’re at a critical time for news and we get to cover it. We’re playing news reporters on television and we get to cover any situation, any topic we want and without constraints…

FF- …Because it’s fiction, therefore we have more license to play.

JR- Our creative producer Diane English and Candice have both said that when we do pick a topic there’s no sidestepping. We’re able to go after it and we take a point of view, let’s put it that way.

MW- Obviously a lot has changed in the real world since the show’s been away but what has changed for your characters in the last 20 years?

FF- Well Corky’s in menopause, full on menopause [laughs]. So that’s different, but I can relate.

JR- It’s a funny menopause [laughs].

FF- So any woman out there who is there, getting there or knows what it’s like to be there should totally identify with Corky [laughs].

JR- You’ll get a few laughs between your hot flashes!

FF- That’s right!

JR- Listen, all the characters we’ve kind of built a history for them but we don;t spend a ton of time with that we want to get right to what’s going on now. Murphy and Frank along with Corky have been getting together since the show’s been over and we hook up and say hey.

FF- And Candice is so amazing as Murphy now as opposed to Murphy then. I mean there’s just sort of this ease and grace that she has, she’s so comfortable, so set in her ways, in the best way possible. She’s not shrill or anything like that and to see her in this energy dealing with these topics is pretty incredible to watch.

JR- You’re also reminded that the woman won five Emmy Awards. It’s no sort of magic that we’re all back here, she’s got a tremendous amount of talent.

FF- Her truth dealing with this is so genuine it brings tears to my eyes, she’s so genuine. She feels it in her heart for Murphy and you can see that it comes across.

MW- There must be such a comfort, I’d imagine it’s like getting reacquainted with an old friend I’d imagine.

FF- Oh yes.

JR- Completely. The set behind us when Faith walked in she started crying, Candice was weeping already and it’s very emotional. They really got down into the details for the set as well as Phil’s Bar it’s really remarkable.

FF- They recreated here (New York), not in Warner Brothers lot in Burbank which is what we were used to, it really made it feel like coming home again for us. It’s crazy, I was a heap on the floor when I first walked in.

MW- Even with all that comfort there have to be changes of course and today social media and news coverage has changed so much due to technology, how will that be reflected in this new iteration?

FF- From the get, That’s what Nik Dodani’s character is for, he’s our tech guy, he keeps us social in the media.

JR- We’re all amazed at how fast things are flowing. Even with the show and presenting the show and launching it, it’s unbelievable how many outlets there are now, how vast things are now. Candice will send out a picture and get like 80 texts back immediately, its nuts what goes on. So the show definitely has to catch up as well as us.

MW- Last question for both of you know, how would you describe this new version of Murphy Brown to all the prospective audience members out there?

FF- How would you describe it Joe?

JR- Smart as hell and very ambitious.

FF- No holds barred, but fun! We’re flawed, we’re definitely doing our thing but we’re human beings. We’re having fun but we’re dealing with situations head on and I think it’s a journey. Hopefully it won’t be divisive, I hope it will bring people together because that’s very important.

JR- And from some angles I actually look OK, I don’t look like I’m 120 on television. Some angles I look in my late 80’s and other’s I look good for a quick second and then it’s back [laughs].

FF- No! You look good Joe! Now he’s being Frank Fontana, he’s not Joe anymore [laughs].

MW- It’s obvious how much fun you all have together and I’m really excited to see that come through on the show again. Thank you both so much for talking to me today and good luck with the new season!

JR- Thank you!

FF- Thank you so much, take care Matt!

Murphy Brown returns tonight at 9:30 PM ET/PT, only on CBS. Check your local listings for more information.

Source: https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2018/09/27/murphy-brown-cbs-faith-ford-joe-regalbuto/

[shapesweets83-blog]

‘Murphy Brown’ Cast Members Faith Ford And Joe Regalbuto: ‘When We Do Pick A Topic There’s No Sidestepping’

The wildly popular news sitcom Murphy Brown returns to CBS tonight after 20 years. Candice Bergen reclaims the role of Murphy Brown alongside Joe Regalbuto as Frank Fontana and Faith Ford as Corky Sherwood. It’s an entirely different media landscape since the last time the FYI team graced television sets and the whole gang is ready to tackle the modern world.

CBS Local’s Matt Weiss caught up with Faith Ford and Joe Regalbuto ahead of tonight’s premiere to discuss what it’s like to be together again, modern media and the humorous side of menopause.

MW- Good morning to you both, how’s it going?

FF- Great!

JR- Going good man, how about you?

MW- Doing well, doing well. Congrats on the big return tonight, how does it feel to have the gang back together?

FF- We love being together and it’s great to be in New York shooting the show now!

JR- It’s fantastic, every time we get together it’s a lot of fun.

MW- Coming from a local news perspective ourselves at CBS, you’re also covering news on the show. It’s scripted of course, so it’s a different form of news coverage but it’s there all the same. Do you all enjoy that task and what does it mean to you to be a source of information for people?

JR- That’s one of the most fun things that we can do. We’re at a critical time for news and we get to cover it. We’re playing news reporters on television and we get to cover any situation, any topic we want and without constraints…

FF- …Because it’s fiction, therefore we have more license to play.

JR- Our creative producer Diane English and Candice have both said that when we do pick a topic there’s no sidestepping. We’re able to go after it and we take a point of view, let’s put it that way.

MW- Obviously a lot has changed in the real world since the show’s been away but what has changed for your characters in the last 20 years?

FF- Well Corky’s in menopause, full on menopause [laughs]. So that’s different, but I can relate.

JR- It’s a funny menopause [laughs].

FF- So any woman out there who is there, getting there or knows what it’s like to be there should totally identify with Corky [laughs].

JR- You’ll get a few laughs between your hot flashes!

FF- That’s right!

JR- Listen, all the characters we’ve kind of built a history for them but we don;t spend a ton of time with that we want to get right to what’s going on now. Murphy and Frank along with Corky have been getting together since the show’s been over and we hook up and say hey.

FF- And Candice is so amazing as Murphy now as opposed to Murphy then. I mean there’s just sort of this ease and grace that she has, she’s so comfortable, so set in her ways, in the best way possible. She’s not shrill or anything like that and to see her in this energy dealing with these topics is pretty incredible to watch.

JR- You’re also reminded that the woman won five Emmy Awards. It’s no sort of magic that we’re all back here, she’s got a tremendous amount of talent.

FF- Her truth dealing with this is so genuine it brings tears to my eyes, she’s so genuine. She feels it in her heart for Murphy and you can see that it comes across.

MW- There must be such a comfort, I’d imagine it’s like getting reacquainted with an old friend I’d imagine.

FF- Oh yes.

JR- Completely. The set behind us when Faith walked in she started crying, Candice was weeping already and it’s very emotional. They really got down into the details for the set as well as Phil’s Bar it’s really remarkable.

FF- They recreated here (New York), not in Warner Brothers lot in Burbank which is what we were used to, it really made it feel like coming home again for us. It’s crazy, I was a heap on the floor when I first walked in.

MW- Even with all that comfort there have to be changes of course and today social media and news coverage has changed so much due to technology, how will that be reflected in this new iteration?

FF- From the get, That’s what Nik Dodani’s character is for, he’s our tech guy, he keeps us social in the media.

JR- We’re all amazed at how fast things are flowing. Even with the show and presenting the show and launching it, it’s unbelievable how many outlets there are now, how vast things are now. Candice will send out a picture and get like 80 texts back immediately, its nuts what goes on. So the show definitely has to catch up as well as us.

MW- Last question for both of you know, how would you describe this new version of Murphy Brown to all the prospective audience members out there?

FF- How would you describe it Joe?

JR- Smart as hell and very ambitious.

FF- No holds barred, but fun! We’re flawed, we’re definitely doing our thing but we’re human beings. We’re having fun but we’re dealing with situations head on and I think it’s a journey. Hopefully it won’t be divisive, I hope it will bring people together because that’s very important.

JR- And from some angles I actually look OK, I don’t look like I’m 120 on television. Some angles I look in my late 80’s and other’s I look good for a quick second and then it’s back [laughs].

FF- No! You look good Joe! Now he’s being Frank Fontana, he’s not Joe anymore [laughs].

MW- It’s obvious how much fun you all have together and I’m really excited to see that come through on the show again. Thank you both so much for talking to me today and good luck with the new season!

JR- Thank you!

FF- Thank you so much, take care Matt!

Murphy Brown returns tonight at 9:30 PM ET/PT, only on CBS. Check your local listings for more information.

Source: https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2018/09/27/murphy-brown-cbs-faith-ford-joe-regalbuto/

[marie85marketing]

How to Sell Multiple Products Online: 12 Ways to Boost Sales without Jeopardizing the Experience

Steve Jobs wore one thing.

Zuckerberg started doing it. And even Obama caught the bug.

But why? (Beyond, you know, an apparent lack of fashion sense.)

One less decision to make for these powerful decision makers. More time for everything else, according to the Zuck himself in a Q&A session.

Outfit dilemma hit former Saatchi & Saatchi art director, Matilda Kahl, too. After arriving late to an important Monday morning meeting, her sweater inside out, she adopted the same approach.

Choices are good though, right? Yes and no.

On the plus side, more choice can help bring in more attention to your wares. But on the down side, more choice can also cause analysis paralysis. It can literally freeze people (and more importantly, buyers) right at the moment of truth.

So. What on Earth are you supposed to do if you have multiple products online? How do you sell them without putting your visitors on ice and jeopardizing sales?

Let’s find out.

How to Sell Multiple Products

The jam study is infamous.

It recounts one day in a Menlo Park grocery store. (No doubt surrounded by all sorts of vegan nuts and berries. Because vegans just basically eat nuts, right? Like chipmunks. Crazy California hippies.)

Twenty-four jam varietals were set out. Muchas people came over to check them all out. But the conversion rate (of lookers to buyers) wasn’t all that impressive.

Later, they reduced that number down to only six. Less people came over, but more people ended up buying.

The theory, so it goes, was that too many choices can actually reduce conversions. Now, not everyone is convinced. There are flaws. Biases. And other scientific-sounding things.

But it still presents an issue.

Ecommerce marketers have multiple products. Even a single product page has a TON of ‘variables’ that you have to get right. For example:

Descriptive product names

SEO-optimized product description

High-resolution product images

CTA buttons that are difficult to miss

Additional details such as price, size, availability, and cost savings

Reviews and testimonials

An option to buy later (or save searches) via an “Add to Wish List” button

Related products recommendation for cross-sell and upsell opportunities

Social media sharing buttons

Clear shipping and return information

Product videos

Live chat widget

Of course, there’s the copy as well. Which, when done right, can increase clickthrough rates by an astounding 93%.

So how do you sell multiple products again without compromising the sales experience?

Thankfully, MarketingExperiments.com ran a clinic on selling multiple products online. And they found three major takeaways after performing, you know, some marketing experiments:

Reduce the number of choices

Prioritize product presentation

Communicate the product’s value proposition

Cool. Let’s see how those three work.

Step #1. Reduce the number of choices

Decision fatigue is a thing afterall. Too many choices, too much analysis required, and less purchases are made. (Yes, in that order.)

Too many choices can lead people to second-guess themselves. Question their decisions. Before finally throwing up their hands and exclaim, “Screw it. We’re eating eggs again tonight.”

Turns out, there is some data that backs up the “too many products backfire” claim.

MarketingExperiments.com found that reducing the products on a page from three down to one increased revenue by 24%. (Not conversions — revenue.)

Image Source

Ok… but how, exactly, do you do that? Especially when you’ve got a full product catalog with tons of inventory sitting in an expensive warehouse?

Here’s a few ideas they put forth.

✅ Tip #1: Prioritize the best selling products (duh)

Sounds trite and obvious. But it’s incredibly important. Funnel visitors to your best performing products.

Similar to how you’d ‘funnel’ visitors to your best converting pages or blog posts when trying to increase conversions.

But of course, you can only answer this if you actually have customer insight. Cold hard data. From analytics software. Like the one whose blog you’re reading right now.

Surveys also work. Kinda. Sorta. But only if you are asking the right questions.

✅ Tip #2: Visually streamline how people choose products

Just because you have three digits worth of products sitting on shelves somewhere (undoubtedly collecting dust), doesn’t mean you have to force all of those things onto the same page at one time.

Instead, group your products differently in order to not overwhelm people. That might apply to category (or even sub category pages). If possible, one page, one goal.

That can even apply to the entire conversion funnel on your site.

Helix is one of my favorite examples. They sell mattresses. Boring, right? Not exactly unique or different. You can’t throw a rock in a city without hitting some rundown mattress factory.

So what’s so special about them? Well, for one, they make buying a mattress sexy as hell.

Their Shop page condenses multiple mattresses down into a ‘single’ product.

Then from there, you go into a customization builder to select, add, or remove different attributes.

The result is a simplified, streamlined, approach. You only have one or two decisions to make on each section at a time.

✅ Tip #3: Eliminate (or deprioritize) ‘extra’ products

You can. And you should.

While the goal is to not allow them to overthink and bounce off the page or abandon the cart, you also want to make sure that the product page carries what they came there to buy.

We just saw that in the last Helix example. And here’s another similar one from EvoDesk.

You can literally add almost anything to their stand-up desks. But once again, they remove a lot of the headache and only present you with one option at a time.

The result is that they end up de-prioritizing a lot of the ‘minor’ but cool decisions (like do you want speakers mounted to the top or not) so that they don’t get in the way of the ultimate decision: plopping down a G or two for a desk.

✅ Tip #4: Segment your traffic to tailor what they see

Personalization, yo! Buzzwords! Growth Hacking! Jargon!

Jokes aside, don’t treat everyone the same (if you’re juggling tons of products). Show them what they’d be most interested in. Based on previous visits or purchases.

That’s what Amazon does right on their homepage:

And that’s what the high-converting QVC does, too.

You can try to personalize based on different segments of the market (i.e., financial, marketing, project management sectors, etc.), Or get more granular through targeting: behavioral, location, referring URL, ad content, device, search keywords, customer history, sessions behavior, date and even time of day.

If you can’t personalize pages like this, turn to inbound funnel segmentation. Line up the specific product pages with the source, medium, or channel someone’s coming from.

Step #2. Prioritize Product Presentation

Sometimes you can’t (or don’t want to) eliminate products from a page.

So reducing the number of choices is out.

But… your hands aren’t tied completely. You can still use a few tricks in order to prioritize products. That would give people a visual hierarchy of what’s most important through a series of images, shapes, text, etc.

Once again, MarketingExperiments.com comes through in the clutch. Through a series of product presentation prioritization points (holy Ps), they were able to increase conversions by 66%.

Image Source

And once again, here are a few tips they outlined so you can adopt the same approach.

✅ Tip #1: Size does matter.

Product page sizing depends on a few factors. Like:

How many products are you featuring?

How high up the priority list is the product?

What other elements of focus will the page contain (i.e., text, buttons, menus, etc.?)

It also depends on the site aesthetic that works for your site. But here’s a good example from the Dollar Shave Club:

First, they’ve reduced the number of options. That much is true. But then they also have used product sizing to help you prioritize which one to go with.

✅ Tip #2: Shape can also play a role.

“Packaged products incorporating more natural shapes or motifs” are more likely to be successful, according one consumer buying study on the impact of shapes.

Shapes can mean many things online. For example, check out these product shots on Amazon:

Sure. The Best Seller tags jump out. But otherwise, the product images loaded with stuff do, too.

Because as a red blooded American, your first instinct is MOAR.

Seriously though, one store saw a 320% increase in sales by making tweaks to their Amazon SEO. And what is ‘Amazon SEO’ you ask?

Basically you’re optimizing for visibility, relevance, and conversions by optimizing product pages just like you would on your own site. So title tags, images, reviews, etc.

✅ Tip #3: Time to gif.

You should probably have a video. People like product videos. According to stats.

But otherwise, design elements like blurring, motion lines, or wave effects can help add a little motion to your ocean.

Check out this Bonobos example to see how motion catches your eye:

Image Source

Obviously though, use a little discretion here. The simpler, the better.

✅ Tip #4: Use color contrasts

Colors also play a huge role on buying decisions. But how do you emphasize a product using colors alone? Answer: contrast.

For example, the first image of the three below has the least amount of reviews. But it catches your eye because of the different background image.

✅ Tip #5: Emphasize eyeliner.

Here’s how people view websites:

The top-left corner gets people’s attention first and foremost

People then scan in F-patterns.

The left side of the page gets more attention than the right.

Fortunately, you can use this information to your advantage. You can use it to define your visitors’ eye path. Just remember the following:

Media instantly attracts.

Use the “compare and contrast principle” (example: full price vs. discounted price).

Use directional cues (example: use arrows.)

Be mindful of your typography (example: relevant H1/H2 tags).

Frame/encapsulate what’s important.

Expedia excels at these:

Step #3. Communicate the Product’s Value Proposition

Last but certainly not least, a clear value prop can make all the difference.

MarketingExperiments.com generated a 93% conversion increase by helping customers better understand why they should buy a particular product.

Image Source

Why is your product worth buying? What are its benefits? How will it help the buyer? Your answer to those questions should be the ‘end result’ that will ultimately make someone’s life better.

Your value proposition should “boil down” your sales pitch (and all the complexities associated with it) into something the buyer can easily understand and remember, grab their attention and eventually say, “Yes, that’s the one for me.”

Because “if you’re the best in at least one way, you’re the best option for the people who value that aspect.”

Cases in point: Apple, not the largest selection of products; QVC, not necessarily prestigious; Tiffany, definitely not the cheapest. But people still buy from them.

SaaS companies regularly have good value props. Because they only have a single product to sell. They’re not burned — unencumbered — by the same flaws of those with multiple. So here are a few lessons you can draw on from SaaS companies.

✅ Tip #1: Emphasize what matters most.

Value props aren’t taglines per se, but they should still be succinct; communicating everything that needs to be said in just a few words. (Irony in action: run-on sentences touting “succinct.”)

Trello’s emphasizes three main points:

Free

Flexible

Visual

And you know, if you’ve used Trello before, those are the perfect three words to describe its benefit.

Unbounce also excels here by not just focusing on the benefit, but also removing a pain point.

Building, publishing, and testing landing pages is one thing. But to do those without the need for your I.T. department is like music to a marketer’s ears.

✅ Tip #2: Clarity trumps cleverness.

Value props run a risk.

The entire concept of it is kinda business-y. Kinda jargon-y.

So you run the risk of being too clever. Too complex. Or too MBA-y.

When in reality, the best value props are incredibly simple; requiring less than a few seconds of thought.

That means no big words. No run-on sentences. No generic garbage. No “collaboration”, or “effectiveness”, or other synergies.

Bitly nails it with three short words that instantly communicate what it does and why you need it.

✅ Tip #3: Incorporate visuals.

If you’re still struggling, visuals can help add context. For ecommerce, think about showing the product in action.

Short videos also work well, as evidenced by Dollar Shave Club’s infamous viral one they still use front-and-center today.

Conclusion

Selling multiple products online can be a recipe for disaster.

Showing visitors too many products might get their attention. But it can also cause analysis paralysis. Too many choices may lead to no choosing at all.

Start by reducing the number of options (if possible). You don’t have to axe them completely, necessarily. But streamline how people discover them, or how you’re prioritizing which products they see (in sequence).

You should then present products strategically by using a visual hierarchy to indicate importance. Think: shapes, colors, motion, contrasts, and where you want someone’s eyeline to go first. And yes, gentlemen, size does matter.

Finally, simple, clear copy always wins. An individual product’s value prop should be instantly recognizable. And instantly communicated. That means no generic stuff or jargon that will confuse us. You and your Ivy League friends might love your Ivy League education.

But more often than not, buyers don’t. So keep it stupidly simple.

About the Author: Brad Smith is the founder of Codeless, a B2B content creation company. Frequent contributor to Kissmetrics, Unbounce, WordStream, AdEspresso, Search Engine Journal, Autopilot, and more.

[samiam03x]

How to Sell Multiple Products Online: 12 Ways to Boost Sales without Jeopardizing the Experience

Steve Jobs wore one thing.

Zuckerberg started doing it. And even Obama caught the bug.

But why? (Beyond, you know, an apparent lack of fashion sense.)

One less decision to make for these powerful decision makers. More time for everything else, according to the Zuck himself in a Q&A session.

Outfit dilemma hit former Saatchi & Saatchi art director, Matilda Kahl, too. After arriving late to an important Monday morning meeting, her sweater inside out, she adopted the same approach.

Choices are good though, right? Yes and no.

On the plus side, more choice can help bring in more attention to your wares. But on the down side, more choice can also cause analysis paralysis. It can literally freeze people (and more importantly, buyers) right at the moment of truth.

So. What on Earth are you supposed to do if you have multiple products online? How do you sell them without putting your visitors on ice and jeopardizing sales?

Let’s find out.

How to Sell Multiple Products

The jam study is infamous.

It recounts one day in a Menlo Park grocery store. (No doubt surrounded by all sorts of vegan nuts and berries. Because vegans just basically eat nuts, right? Like chipmunks. Crazy California hippies.)

Twenty-four jam varietals were set out. Muchas people came over to check them all out. But the conversion rate (of lookers to buyers) wasn’t all that impressive.

Later, they reduced that number down to only six. Less people came over, but more people ended up buying.

The theory, so it goes, was that too many choices can actually reduce conversions. Now, not everyone is convinced. There are flaws. Biases. And other scientific-sounding things.

But it still presents an issue.

Ecommerce marketers have multiple products. Even a single product page has a TON of ‘variables’ that you have to get right. For example:

Descriptive product names

SEO-optimized product description

High-resolution product images

CTA buttons that are difficult to miss

Additional details such as price, size, availability, and cost savings

Reviews and testimonials

An option to buy later (or save searches) via an “Add to Wish List” button

Related products recommendation for cross-sell and upsell opportunities

Social media sharing buttons

Clear shipping and return information

Product videos

Live chat widget

Of course, there’s the copy as well. Which, when done right, can increase clickthrough rates by an astounding 93%.

So how do you sell multiple products again without compromising the sales experience?

Thankfully, MarketingExperiments.com ran a clinic on selling multiple products online. And they found three major takeaways after performing, you know, some marketing experiments:

Reduce the number of choices

Prioritize product presentation

Communicate the product’s value proposition

Cool. Let’s see how those three work.

Step #1. Reduce the number of choices

Decision fatigue is a thing afterall. Too many choices, too much analysis required, and less purchases are made. (Yes, in that order.)

Too many choices can lead people to second-guess themselves. Question their decisions. Before finally throwing up their hands and exclaim, “Screw it. We’re eating eggs again tonight.”

Turns out, there is some data that backs up the “too many products backfire” claim.

MarketingExperiments.com found that reducing the products on a page from three down to one increased revenue by 24%. (Not conversions — revenue.)

Image Source

Ok… but how, exactly, do you do that? Especially when you’ve got a full product catalog with tons of inventory sitting in an expensive warehouse?

Here’s a few ideas they put forth.

✅ Tip #1: Prioritize the best selling products (duh)

Sounds trite and obvious. But it’s incredibly important. Funnel visitors to your best performing products.

Similar to how you’d ‘funnel’ visitors to your best converting pages or blog posts when trying to increase conversions.

But of course, you can only answer this if you actually have customer insight. Cold hard data. From analytics software. Like the one whose blog you’re reading right now.

Surveys also work. Kinda. Sorta. But only if you are asking the right questions.

✅ Tip #2: Visually streamline how people choose products

Just because you have three digits worth of products sitting on shelves somewhere (undoubtedly collecting dust), doesn’t mean you have to force all of those things onto the same page at one time.

Instead, group your products differently in order to not overwhelm people. That might apply to category (or even sub category pages). If possible, one page, one goal.

That can even apply to the entire conversion funnel on your site.

Helix is one of my favorite examples. They sell mattresses. Boring, right? Not exactly unique or different. You can’t throw a rock in a city without hitting some rundown mattress factory.

So what’s so special about them? Well, for one, they make buying a mattress sexy as hell.

Their Shop page condenses multiple mattresses down into a ‘single’ product.

Then from there, you go into a customization builder to select, add, or remove different attributes.

The result is a simplified, streamlined, approach. You only have one or two decisions to make on each section at a time.

✅ Tip #3: Eliminate (or deprioritize) ‘extra’ products

You can. And you should.

While the goal is to not allow them to overthink and bounce off the page or abandon the cart, you also want to make sure that the product page carries what they came there to buy.

We just saw that in the last Helix example. And here’s another similar one from EvoDesk.

You can literally add almost anything to their stand-up desks. But once again, they remove a lot of the headache and only present you with one option at a time.

The result is that they end up de-prioritizing a lot of the ‘minor’ but cool decisions (like do you want speakers mounted to the top or not) so that they don’t get in the way of the ultimate decision: plopping down a G or two for a desk.

✅ Tip #4: Segment your traffic to tailor what they see

Personalization, yo! Buzzwords! Growth Hacking! Jargon!

Jokes aside, don’t treat everyone the same (if you’re juggling tons of products). Show them what they’d be most interested in. Based on previous visits or purchases.

That’s what Amazon does right on their homepage:

And that’s what the high-converting QVC does, too.

You can try to personalize based on different segments of the market (i.e., financial, marketing, project management sectors, etc.), Or get more granular through targeting: behavioral, location, referring URL, ad content, device, search keywords, customer history, sessions behavior, date and even time of day.

If you can’t personalize pages like this, turn to inbound funnel segmentation. Line up the specific product pages with the source, medium, or channel someone’s coming from.

Step #2. Prioritize Product Presentation

Sometimes you can’t (or don’t want to) eliminate products from a page.

So reducing the number of choices is out.

But… your hands aren’t tied completely. You can still use a few tricks in order to prioritize products. That would give people a visual hierarchy of what’s most important through a series of images, shapes, text, etc.

Once again, MarketingExperiments.com comes through in the clutch. Through a series of product presentation prioritization points (holy Ps), they were able to increase conversions by 66%.

Image Source

And once again, here are a few tips they outlined so you can adopt the same approach.

✅ Tip #1: Size does matter.

Product page sizing depends on a few factors. Like:

How many products are you featuring?

How high up the priority list is the product?

What other elements of focus will the page contain (i.e., text, buttons, menus, etc.?)

It also depends on the site aesthetic that works for your site. But here’s a good example from the Dollar Shave Club:

First, they’ve reduced the number of options. That much is true. But then they also have used product sizing to help you prioritize which one to go with.

✅ Tip #2: Shape can also play a role.

“Packaged products incorporating more natural shapes or motifs” are more likely to be successful, according one consumer buying study on the impact of shapes.

Shapes can mean many things online. For example, check out these product shots on Amazon:

Sure. The Best Seller tags jump out. But otherwise, the product images loaded with stuff do, too.

Because as a red blooded American, your first instinct is MOAR.

Seriously though, one store saw a 320% increase in sales by making tweaks to their Amazon SEO. And what is ‘Amazon SEO’ you ask?

Basically you’re optimizing for visibility, relevance, and conversions by optimizing product pages just like you would on your own site. So title tags, images, reviews, etc.

✅ Tip #3: Time to gif.

You should probably have a video. People like product videos. According to stats.

But otherwise, design elements like blurring, motion lines, or wave effects can help add a little motion to your ocean.

Check out this Bonobos example to see how motion catches your eye:

Image Source

Obviously though, use a little discretion here. The simpler, the better.

✅ Tip #4: Use color contrasts

Colors also play a huge role on buying decisions. But how do you emphasize a product using colors alone? Answer: contrast.

For example, the first image of the three below has the least amount of reviews. But it catches your eye because of the different background image.

✅ Tip #5: Emphasize eyeliner.

Here’s how people view websites:

The top-left corner gets people’s attention first and foremost

People then scan in F-patterns.

The left side of the page gets more attention than the right.

Fortunately, you can use this information to your advantage. You can use it to define your visitors’ eye path. Just remember the following:

Media instantly attracts.

Use the “compare and contrast principle” (example: full price vs. discounted price).

Use directional cues (example: use arrows.)

Be mindful of your typography (example: relevant H1/H2 tags).

Frame/encapsulate what’s important.

Expedia excels at these:

Step #3. Communicate the Product’s Value Proposition

Last but certainly not least, a clear value prop can make all the difference.

MarketingExperiments.com generated a 93% conversion increase by helping customers better understand why they should buy a particular product.

Image Source

Why is your product worth buying? What are its benefits? How will it help the buyer? Your answer to those questions should be the ‘end result’ that will ultimately make someone’s life better.

Your value proposition should “boil down” your sales pitch (and all the complexities associated with it) into something the buyer can easily understand and remember, grab their attention and eventually say, “Yes, that’s the one for me.”

Because “if you’re the best in at least one way, you’re the best option for the people who value that aspect.”

Cases in point: Apple, not the largest selection of products; QVC, not necessarily prestigious; Tiffany, definitely not the cheapest. But people still buy from them.

SaaS companies regularly have good value props. Because they only have a single product to sell. They’re not burned — unencumbered — by the same flaws of those with multiple. So here are a few lessons you can draw on from SaaS companies.

✅ Tip #1: Emphasize what matters most.

Value props aren’t taglines per se, but they should still be succinct; communicating everything that needs to be said in just a few words. (Irony in action: run-on sentences touting “succinct.”)

Trello’s emphasizes three main points:

Free

Flexible

Visual

And you know, if you’ve used Trello before, those are the perfect three words to describe its benefit.

Unbounce also excels here by not just focusing on the benefit, but also removing a pain point.

Building, publishing, and testing landing pages is one thing. But to do those without the need for your I.T. department is like music to a marketer’s ears.

✅ Tip #2: Clarity trumps cleverness.

Value props run a risk.

The entire concept of it is kinda business-y. Kinda jargon-y.

So you run the risk of being too clever. Too complex. Or too MBA-y.

When in reality, the best value props are incredibly simple; requiring less than a few seconds of thought.

That means no big words. No run-on sentences. No generic garbage. No “collaboration”, or “effectiveness”, or other synergies.

Bitly nails it with three short words that instantly communicate what it does and why you need it.

✅ Tip #3: Incorporate visuals.

If you’re still struggling, visuals can help add context. For ecommerce, think about showing the product in action.

Short videos also work well, as evidenced by Dollar Shave Club’s infamous viral one they still use front-and-center today.

Conclusion

Selling multiple products online can be a recipe for disaster.

Showing visitors too many products might get their attention. But it can also cause analysis paralysis. Too many choices may lead to no choosing at all.

Start by reducing the number of options (if possible). You don’t have to axe them completely, necessarily. But streamline how people discover them, or how you’re prioritizing which products they see (in sequence).

You should then present products strategically by using a visual hierarchy to indicate importance. Think: shapes, colors, motion, contrasts, and where you want someone’s eyeline to go first. And yes, gentlemen, size does matter.

Finally, simple, clear copy always wins. An individual product’s value prop should be instantly recognizable. And instantly communicated. That means no generic stuff or jargon that will confuse us. You and your Ivy League friends might love your Ivy League education.

But more often than not, buyers don’t. So keep it stupidly simple.

About the Author: Brad Smith is the founder of Codeless, a B2B content creation company. Frequent contributor to Kissmetrics, Unbounce, WordStream, AdEspresso, Search Engine Journal, Autopilot, and more.

http://ift.tt/2tlWRP8 from MarketingRSS http://ift.tt/2sio1rB via Youtube

[ericsburden-blog]

How to Sell Multiple Products Online: 12 Ways to Boost Sales without Jeopardizing the Experience

Steve Jobs wore one thing.

Zuckerberg started doing it. And even Obama caught the bug.

But why? (Beyond, you know, an apparent lack of fashion sense.)

One less decision to make for these powerful decision makers. More time for everything else, according to the Zuck himself in a Q&A session.

Outfit dilemma hit former Saatchi & Saatchi art director, Matilda Kahl, too. After arriving late to an important Monday morning meeting, her sweater inside out, she adopted the same approach.

Choices are good though, right? Yes and no.

On the plus side, more choice can help bring in more attention to your wares. But on the down side, more choice can also cause analysis paralysis. It can literally freeze people (and more importantly, buyers) right at the moment of truth.

So. What on Earth are you supposed to do if you have multiple products online? How do you sell them without putting your visitors on ice and jeopardizing sales?

Let’s find out.

How to Sell Multiple Products

The jam study is infamous.

It recounts one day in a Menlo Park grocery store. (No doubt surrounded by all sorts of vegan nuts and berries. Because vegans just basically eat nuts, right? Like chipmunks. Crazy California hippies.)

Twenty-four jam varietals were set out. Muchas people came over to check them all out. But the conversion rate (of lookers to buyers) wasn’t all that impressive.

Later, they reduced that number down to only six. Less people came over, but more people ended up buying.

The theory, so it goes, was that too many choices can actually reduce conversions. Now, not everyone is convinced. There are flaws. Biases. And other scientific-sounding things.

But it still presents an issue.

Ecommerce marketers have multiple products. Even a single product page has a TON of ‘variables’ that you have to get right. For example:

Descriptive product names

SEO-optimized product description

High-resolution product images

CTA buttons that are difficult to miss

Additional details such as price, size, availability, and cost savings

Reviews and testimonials

An option to buy later (or save searches) via an “Add to Wish List” button

Related products recommendation for cross-sell and upsell opportunities

Social media sharing buttons

Clear shipping and return information

Product videos

Live chat widget

Of course, there’s the copy as well. Which, when done right, can increase clickthrough rates by an astounding 93%.

So how do you sell multiple products again without compromising the sales experience?

Thankfully, MarketingExperiments.com ran a clinic on selling multiple products online. And they found three major takeaways after performing, you know, some marketing experiments:

Reduce the number of choices

Prioritize product presentation

Communicate the product’s value proposition

Cool. Let’s see how those three work.

Step #1. Reduce the number of choices

Decision fatigue is a thing afterall. Too many choices, too much analysis required, and less purchases are made. (Yes, in that order.)

Too many choices can lead people to second-guess themselves. Question their decisions. Before finally throwing up their hands and exclaim, “Screw it. We’re eating eggs again tonight.”

Turns out, there is some data that backs up the “too many products backfire” claim.

MarketingExperiments.com found that reducing the products on a page from three down to one increased revenue by 24%. (Not conversions — revenue.)

Image Source

Ok… but how, exactly, do you do that? Especially when you’ve got a full product catalog with tons of inventory sitting in an expensive warehouse?

Here’s a few ideas they put forth.

✅ Tip #1: Prioritize the best selling products (duh)

Sounds trite and obvious. But it’s incredibly important. Funnel visitors to your best performing products.

Similar to how you’d ‘funnel’ visitors to your best converting pages or blog posts when trying to increase conversions.

But of course, you can only answer this if you actually have customer insight. Cold hard data. From analytics software. Like the one whose blog you’re reading right now.

Surveys also work. Kinda. Sorta. But only if you are asking the right questions.

✅ Tip #2: Visually streamline how people choose products

Just because you have three digits worth of products sitting on shelves somewhere (undoubtedly collecting dust), doesn’t mean you have to force all of those things onto the same page at one time.

Instead, group your products differently in order to not overwhelm people. That might apply to category (or even sub category pages). If possible, one page, one goal.

That can even apply to the entire conversion funnel on your site.

Helix is one of my favorite examples. They sell mattresses. Boring, right? Not exactly unique or different. You can’t throw a rock in a city without hitting some rundown mattress factory.

So what’s so special about them? Well, for one, they make buying a mattress sexy as hell.

Their Shop page condenses multiple mattresses down into a ‘single’ product.

Then from there, you go into a customization builder to select, add, or remove different attributes.

The result is a simplified, streamlined, approach. You only have one or two decisions to make on each section at a time.

✅ Tip #3: Eliminate (or deprioritize) ‘extra’ products

You can. And you should.

While the goal is to not allow them to overthink and bounce off the page or abandon the cart, you also want to make sure that the product page carries what they came there to buy.

We just saw that in the last Helix example. And here’s another similar one from EvoDesk.

You can literally add almost anything to their stand-up desks. But once again, they remove a lot of the headache and only present you with one option at a time.

The result is that they end up de-prioritizing a lot of the ‘minor’ but cool decisions (like do you want speakers mounted to the top or not) so that they don’t get in the way of the ultimate decision: plopping down a G or two for a desk.

✅ Tip #4: Segment your traffic to tailor what they see

Personalization, yo! Buzzwords! Growth Hacking! Jargon!

Jokes aside, don’t treat everyone the same (if you’re juggling tons of products). Show them what they’d be most interested in. Based on previous visits or purchases.

That’s what Amazon does right on their homepage:

And that’s what the high-converting QVC does, too.

You can try to personalize based on different segments of the market (i.e., financial, marketing, project management sectors, etc.), Or get more granular through targeting: behavioral, location, referring URL, ad content, device, search keywords, customer history, sessions behavior, date and even time of day.

If you can’t personalize pages like this, turn to inbound funnel segmentation. Line up the specific product pages with the source, medium, or channel someone’s coming from.

Step #2. Prioritize Product Presentation

Sometimes you can’t (or don’t want to) eliminate products from a page.

So reducing the number of choices is out.

But… your hands aren’t tied completely. You can still use a few tricks in order to prioritize products. That would give people a visual hierarchy of what’s most important through a series of images, shapes, text, etc.

Once again, MarketingExperiments.com comes through in the clutch. Through a series of product presentation prioritization points (holy Ps), they were able to increase conversions by 66%.

Image Source

And once again, here are a few tips they outlined so you can adopt the same approach.

✅ Tip #1: Size does matter.

Product page sizing depends on a few factors. Like:

How many products are you featuring?

How high up the priority list is the product?

What other elements of focus will the page contain (i.e., text, buttons, menus, etc.?)

It also depends on the site aesthetic that works for your site. But here’s a good example from the Dollar Shave Club:

First, they’ve reduced the number of options. That much is true. But then they also have used product sizing to help you prioritize which one to go with.

✅ Tip #2: Shape can also play a role.

“Packaged products incorporating more natural shapes or motifs” are more likely to be successful, according one consumer buying study on the impact of shapes.

Shapes can mean many things online. For example, check out these product shots on Amazon:

Sure. The Best Seller tags jump out. But otherwise, the product images loaded with stuff do, too.

Because as a red blooded American, your first instinct is MOAR.

Seriously though, one store saw a 320% increase in sales by making tweaks to their Amazon SEO. And what is ‘Amazon SEO’ you ask?

Basically you’re optimizing for visibility, relevance, and conversions by optimizing product pages just like you would on your own site. So title tags, images, reviews, etc.

✅ Tip #3: Time to gif.

You should probably have a video. People like product videos. According to stats.

But otherwise, design elements like blurring, motion lines, or wave effects can help add a little motion to your ocean.

Check out this Bonobos example to see how motion catches your eye:

Image Source

Obviously though, use a little discretion here. The simpler, the better.

✅ Tip #4: Use color contrasts

Colors also play a huge role on buying decisions. But how do you emphasize a product using colors alone? Answer: contrast.

For example, the first image of the three below has the least amount of reviews. But it catches your eye because of the different background image.

✅ Tip #5: Emphasize eyeliner.

Here’s how people view websites:

The top-left corner gets people’s attention first and foremost

People then scan in F-patterns.

The left side of the page gets more attention than the right.

Fortunately, you can use this information to your advantage. You can use it to define your visitors’ eye path. Just remember the following:

Media instantly attracts.

Use the “compare and contrast principle” (example: full price vs. discounted price).

Use directional cues (example: use arrows.)

Be mindful of your typography (example: relevant H1/H2 tags).

Frame/encapsulate what’s important.

Expedia excels at these:

Step #3. Communicate the Product’s Value Proposition

Last but certainly not least, a clear value prop can make all the difference.

MarketingExperiments.com generated a 93% conversion increase by helping customers better understand why they should buy a particular product.

Image Source

Why is your product worth buying? What are its benefits? How will it help the buyer? Your answer to those questions should be the ‘end result’ that will ultimately make someone’s life better.

Your value proposition should “boil down” your sales pitch (and all the complexities associated with it) into something the buyer can easily understand and remember, grab their attention and eventually say, “Yes, that’s the one for me.”

Because “if you’re the best in at least one way, you’re the best option for the people who value that aspect.”

Cases in point: Apple, not the largest selection of products; QVC, not necessarily prestigious; Tiffany, definitely not the cheapest. But people still buy from them.

SaaS companies regularly have good value props. Because they only have a single product to sell. They’re not burned — unencumbered — by the same flaws of those with multiple. So here are a few lessons you can draw on from SaaS companies.

✅ Tip #1: Emphasize what matters most.

Value props aren’t taglines per se, but they should still be succinct; communicating everything that needs to be said in just a few words. (Irony in action: run-on sentences touting “succinct.”)

Trello’s emphasizes three main points:

Free

Flexible

Visual

And you know, if you’ve used Trello before, those are the perfect three words to describe its benefit.

Unbounce also excels here by not just focusing on the benefit, but also removing a pain point.

Building, publishing, and testing landing pages is one thing. But to do those without the need for your I.T. department is like music to a marketer’s ears.

✅ Tip #2: Clarity trumps cleverness.

Value props run a risk.

The entire concept of it is kinda business-y. Kinda jargon-y.

So you run the risk of being too clever. Too complex. Or too MBA-y.

When in reality, the best value props are incredibly simple; requiring less than a few seconds of thought.

That means no big words. No run-on sentences. No generic garbage. No “collaboration”, or “effectiveness”, or other synergies.

Bitly nails it with three short words that instantly communicate what it does and why you need it.

✅ Tip #3: Incorporate visuals.

If you’re still struggling, visuals can help add context. For ecommerce, think about showing the product in action.

Short videos also work well, as evidenced by Dollar Shave Club’s infamous viral one they still use front-and-center today.

Conclusion

Selling multiple products online can be a recipe for disaster.

Showing visitors too many products might get their attention. But it can also cause analysis paralysis. Too many choices may lead to no choosing at all.

Start by reducing the number of options (if possible). You don’t have to axe them completely, necessarily. But streamline how people discover them, or how you’re prioritizing which products they see (in sequence).

You should then present products strategically by using a visual hierarchy to indicate importance. Think: shapes, colors, motion, contrasts, and where you want someone’s eyeline to go first. And yes, gentlemen, size does matter.

Finally, simple, clear copy always wins. An individual product’s value prop should be instantly recognizable. And instantly communicated. That means no generic stuff or jargon that will confuse us. You and your Ivy League friends might love your Ivy League education.

But more often than not, buyers don’t. So keep it stupidly simple.

About the Author: Brad Smith is the founder of Codeless, a B2B content creation company. Frequent contributor to Kissmetrics, Unbounce, WordStream, AdEspresso, Search Engine Journal, Autopilot, and more.

How to Sell Multiple Products Online: 12 Ways to Boost Sales without Jeopardizing the Experience

[seoprovider2110]

How to Sell Multiple Products Online: 12 Ways to Boost Sales without Jeopardizing the Experience

Steve Jobs wore one thing.

Zuckerberg started doing it. And even Obama caught the bug.

But why? (Beyond, you know, an apparent lack of fashion sense.)

One less decision to make for these powerful decision makers. More time for everything else, according to the Zuck himself in a Q&A session.

Outfit dilemma hit former Saatchi & Saatchi art director, Matilda Kahl, too. After arriving late to an important Monday morning meeting, her sweater inside out, she adopted the same approach.

Choices are good though, right? Yes and no.

On the plus side, more choice can help bring in more attention to your wares. But on the down side, more choice can also cause analysis paralysis. It can literally freeze people (and more importantly, buyers) right at the moment of truth.

So. What on Earth are you supposed to do if you have multiple products online? How do you sell them without putting your visitors on ice and jeopardizing sales?

Let’s find out.

How to Sell Multiple Products

The jam study is infamous.

It recounts one day in a Menlo Park grocery store. (No doubt surrounded by all sorts of vegan nuts and berries. Because vegans just basically eat nuts, right? Like chipmunks. Crazy California hippies.)

Twenty-four jam varietals were set out. Muchas people came over to check them all out. But the conversion rate (of lookers to buyers) wasn’t all that impressive.

Later, they reduced that number down to only six. Less people came over, but more people ended up buying.

The theory, so it goes, was that too many choices can actually reduce conversions. Now, not everyone is convinced. There are flaws. Biases. And other scientific-sounding things.

But it still presents an issue.

Ecommerce marketers have multiple products. Even a single product page has a TON of ‘variables’ that you have to get right. For example:

Descriptive product names

SEO-optimized product description

High-resolution product images

CTA buttons that are difficult to miss

Additional details such as price, size, availability, and cost savings

Reviews and testimonials

An option to buy later (or save searches) via an “Add to Wish List” button

Related products recommendation for cross-sell and upsell opportunities

Social media sharing buttons

Clear shipping and return information

Product videos

Live chat widget

Of course, there’s the copy as well. Which, when done right, can increase clickthrough rates by an astounding 93%.

So how do you sell multiple products again without compromising the sales experience?

Thankfully, MarketingExperiments.com ran a clinic on selling multiple products online. And they found three major takeaways after performing, you know, some marketing experiments:

Reduce the number of choices

Prioritize product presentation

Communicate the product’s value proposition

Cool. Let’s see how those three work.

Step #1. Reduce the number of choices

Decision fatigue is a thing afterall. Too many choices, too much analysis required, and less purchases are made. (Yes, in that order.)

Too many choices can lead people to second-guess themselves. Question their decisions. Before finally throwing up their hands and exclaim, “Screw it. We’re eating eggs again tonight.”

Turns out, there is some data that backs up the “too many products backfire” claim.

MarketingExperiments.com found that reducing the products on a page from three down to one increased revenue by 24%. (Not conversions — revenue.)

Image Source

Ok… but how, exactly, do you do that? Especially when you’ve got a full product catalog with tons of inventory sitting in an expensive warehouse?

Here’s a few ideas they put forth.

✅ Tip #1: Prioritize the best selling products (duh)

Sounds trite and obvious. But it’s incredibly important. Funnel visitors to your best performing products.

Similar to how you’d ‘funnel’ visitors to your best converting pages or blog posts when trying to increase conversions.

But of course, you can only answer this if you actually have customer insight. Cold hard data. From analytics software. Like the one whose blog you’re reading right now.

Surveys also work. Kinda. Sorta. But only if you are asking the right questions.

✅ Tip #2: Visually streamline how people choose products

Just because you have three digits worth of products sitting on shelves somewhere (undoubtedly collecting dust), doesn’t mean you have to force all of those things onto the same page at one time.

Instead, group your products differently in order to not overwhelm people. That might apply to category (or even sub category pages). If possible, one page, one goal.

That can even apply to the entire conversion funnel on your site.

Helix is one of my favorite examples. They sell mattresses. Boring, right? Not exactly unique or different. You can’t throw a rock in a city without hitting some rundown mattress factory.

So what’s so special about them? Well, for one, they make buying a mattress sexy as hell.

Their Shop page condenses multiple mattresses down into a ‘single’ product.

Then from there, you go into a customization builder to select, add, or remove different attributes.

The result is a simplified, streamlined, approach. You only have one or two decisions to make on each section at a time.

✅ Tip #3: Eliminate (or deprioritize) ‘extra’ products

You can. And you should.

While the goal is to not allow them to overthink and bounce off the page or abandon the cart, you also want to make sure that the product page carries what they came there to buy.

We just saw that in the last Helix example. And here’s another similar one from EvoDesk.

You can literally add almost anything to their stand-up desks. But once again, they remove a lot of the headache and only present you with one option at a time.

The result is that they end up de-prioritizing a lot of the ‘minor’ but cool decisions (like do you want speakers mounted to the top or not) so that they don’t get in the way of the ultimate decision: plopping down a G or two for a desk.

✅ Tip #4: Segment your traffic to tailor what they see

Personalization, yo! Buzzwords! Growth Hacking! Jargon!

Jokes aside, don’t treat everyone the same (if you’re juggling tons of products). Show them what they’d be most interested in. Based on previous visits or purchases.

That’s what Amazon does right on their homepage:

And that’s what the high-converting QVC does, too.

You can try to personalize based on different segments of the market (i.e., financial, marketing, project management sectors, etc.), Or get more granular through targeting: behavioral, location, referring URL, ad content, device, search keywords, customer history, sessions behavior, date and even time of day.

If you can’t personalize pages like this, turn to inbound funnel segmentation. Line up the specific product pages with the source, medium, or channel someone’s coming from.

Step #2. Prioritize Product Presentation

Sometimes you can’t (or don’t want to) eliminate products from a page.

So reducing the number of choices is out.

But… your hands aren’t tied completely. You can still use a few tricks in order to prioritize products. That would give people a visual hierarchy of what’s most important through a series of images, shapes, text, etc.

Once again, MarketingExperiments.com comes through in the clutch. Through a series of product presentation prioritization points (holy Ps), they were able to increase conversions by 66%.

Image Source

And once again, here are a few tips they outlined so you can adopt the same approach.

✅ Tip #1: Size does matter.

Product page sizing depends on a few factors. Like:

How many products are you featuring?

How high up the priority list is the product?

What other elements of focus will the page contain (i.e., text, buttons, menus, etc.?)

It also depends on the site aesthetic that works for your site. But here’s a good example from the Dollar Shave Club:

First, they’ve reduced the number of options. That much is true. But then they also have used product sizing to help you prioritize which one to go with.

✅ Tip #2: Shape can also play a role.

“Packaged products incorporating more natural shapes or motifs” are more likely to be successful, according one consumer buying study on the impact of shapes.

Shapes can mean many things online. For example, check out these product shots on Amazon:

Sure. The Best Seller tags jump out. But otherwise, the product images loaded with stuff do, too.

Because as a red blooded American, your first instinct is MOAR.

Seriously though, one store saw a 320% increase in sales by making tweaks to their Amazon SEO. And what is ‘Amazon SEO’ you ask?

Basically you’re optimizing for visibility, relevance, and conversions by optimizing product pages just like you would on your own site. So title tags, images, reviews, etc.

✅ Tip #3: Time to gif.

You should probably have a video. People like product videos. According to stats.

But otherwise, design elements like blurring, motion lines, or wave effects can help add a little motion to your ocean.

Check out this Bonobos example to see how motion catches your eye:

Image Source

Obviously though, use a little discretion here. The simpler, the better.

✅ Tip #4: Use color contrasts

Colors also play a huge role on buying decisions. But how do you emphasize a product using colors alone? Answer: contrast.

For example, the first image of the three below has the least amount of reviews. But it catches your eye because of the different background image.

✅ Tip #5: Emphasize eyeliner.

Here’s how people view websites:

The top-left corner gets people’s attention first and foremost

People then scan in F-patterns.

The left side of the page gets more attention than the right.

Fortunately, you can use this information to your advantage. You can use it to define your visitors’ eye path. Just remember the following:

Media instantly attracts.

Use the “compare and contrast principle” (example: full price vs. discounted price).

Use directional cues (example: use arrows.)

Be mindful of your typography (example: relevant H1/H2 tags).

Frame/encapsulate what’s important.

Expedia excels at these:

Step #3. Communicate the Product’s Value Proposition

Last but certainly not least, a clear value prop can make all the difference.

MarketingExperiments.com generated a 93% conversion increase by helping customers better understand why they should buy a particular product.

Image Source

Why is your product worth buying? What are its benefits? How will it help the buyer? Your answer to those questions should be the ‘end result’ that will ultimately make someone’s life better.

Your value proposition should “boil down” your sales pitch (and all the complexities associated with it) into something the buyer can easily understand and remember, grab their attention and eventually say, “Yes, that’s the one for me.”

Because “if you’re the best in at least one way, you’re the best option for the people who value that aspect.”

Cases in point: Apple, not the largest selection of products; QVC, not necessarily prestigious; Tiffany, definitely not the cheapest. But people still buy from them.

SaaS companies regularly have good value props. Because they only have a single product to sell. They’re not burned — unencumbered — by the same flaws of those with multiple. So here are a few lessons you can draw on from SaaS companies.

✅ Tip #1: Emphasize what matters most.

Value props aren’t taglines per se, but they should still be succinct; communicating everything that needs to be said in just a few words. (Irony in action: run-on sentences touting “succinct.”)

Trello’s emphasizes three main points:

Free

Flexible

Visual

And you know, if you’ve used Trello before, those are the perfect three words to describe its benefit.

Unbounce also excels here by not just focusing on the benefit, but also removing a pain point.

Building, publishing, and testing landing pages is one thing. But to do those without the need for your I.T. department is like music to a marketer’s ears.

✅ Tip #2: Clarity trumps cleverness.

Value props run a risk.

The entire concept of it is kinda business-y. Kinda jargon-y.

So you run the risk of being too clever. Too complex. Or too MBA-y.

When in reality, the best value props are incredibly simple; requiring less than a few seconds of thought.

That means no big words. No run-on sentences. No generic garbage. No “collaboration”, or “effectiveness”, or other synergies.

Bitly nails it with three short words that instantly communicate what it does and why you..

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2tFw5R1

[goldieseoservices]

How to Sell Multiple Products Online: 12 Ways to Boost Sales without Jeopardizing the Experience

Steve Jobs wore one thing.

Zuckerberg started doing it. And even Obama caught the bug.

But why? (Beyond, you know, an apparent lack of fashion sense.)

One less decision to make for these powerful decision makers. More time for everything else, according to the Zuck himself in a Q&A session.

Outfit dilemma hit former Saatchi & Saatchi art director, Matilda Kahl, too. After arriving late to an important Monday morning meeting, her sweater inside out, she adopted the same approach.

Choices are good though, right? Yes and no.

On the plus side, more choice can help bring in more attention to your wares. But on the down side, more choice can also cause analysis paralysis. It can literally freeze people (and more importantly, buyers) right at the moment of truth.

So. What on Earth are you supposed to do if you have multiple products online? How do you sell them without putting your visitors on ice and jeopardizing sales?

Let’s find out.

How to Sell Multiple Products

The jam study is infamous.

It recounts one day in a Menlo Park grocery store. (No doubt surrounded by all sorts of vegan nuts and berries. Because vegans just basically eat nuts, right? Like chipmunks. Crazy California hippies.)

Twenty-four jam varietals were set out. Muchas people came over to check them all out. But the conversion rate (of lookers to buyers) wasn’t all that impressive.

Later, they reduced that number down to only six. Less people came over, but more people ended up buying.

The theory, so it goes, was that too many choices can actually reduce conversions. Now, not everyone is convinced. There are flaws. Biases. And other scientific-sounding things.

But it still presents an issue.

Ecommerce marketers have multiple products. Even a single product page has a TON of ‘variables’ that you have to get right. For example:

Descriptive product names

SEO-optimized product description

High-resolution product images

CTA buttons that are difficult to miss

Additional details such as price, size, availability, and cost savings

Reviews and testimonials

An option to buy later (or save searches) via an “Add to Wish List” button

Related products recommendation for cross-sell and upsell opportunities

Social media sharing buttons

Clear shipping and return information

Product videos

Live chat widget

Of course, there’s the copy as well. Which, when done right, can increase clickthrough rates by an astounding 93%.

So how do you sell multiple products again without compromising the sales experience?

Thankfully, MarketingExperiments.com ran a clinic on selling multiple products online. And they found three major takeaways after performing, you know, some marketing experiments:

Reduce the number of choices

Prioritize product presentation

Communicate the product’s value proposition

Cool. Let’s see how those three work.

Step #1. Reduce the number of choices

Decision fatigue is a thing afterall. Too many choices, too much analysis required, and less purchases are made. (Yes, in that order.)

Too many choices can lead people to second-guess themselves. Question their decisions. Before finally throwing up their hands and exclaim, “Screw it. We’re eating eggs again tonight.”

Turns out, there is some data that backs up the “too many products backfire” claim.

MarketingExperiments.com found that reducing the products on a page from three down to one increased revenue by 24%. (Not conversions — revenue.)

Image Source

Ok… but how, exactly, do you do that? Especially when you’ve got a full product catalog with tons of inventory sitting in an expensive warehouse?

Here’s a few ideas they put forth.

✅ Tip #1: Prioritize the best selling products (duh)

Sounds trite and obvious. But it’s incredibly important. Funnel visitors to your best performing products.

Similar to how you’d ‘funnel’ visitors to your best converting pages or blog posts when trying to increase conversions.

But of course, you can only answer this if you actually have customer insight. Cold hard data. From analytics software. Like the one whose blog you’re reading right now.

Surveys also work. Kinda. Sorta. But only if you are asking the right questions.

✅ Tip #2: Visually streamline how people choose products

Just because you have three digits worth of products sitting on shelves somewhere (undoubtedly collecting dust), doesn’t mean you have to force all of those things onto the same page at one time.

Instead, group your products differently in order to not overwhelm people. That might apply to category (or even sub category pages). If possible, one page, one goal.

That can even apply to the entire conversion funnel on your site.

Helix is one of my favorite examples. They sell mattresses. Boring, right? Not exactly unique or different. You can’t throw a rock in a city without hitting some rundown mattress factory.

So what’s so special about them? Well, for one, they make buying a mattress sexy as hell.

Their Shop page condenses multiple mattresses down into a ‘single’ product.

Then from there, you go into a customization builder to select, add, or remove different attributes.

The result is a simplified, streamlined, approach. You only have one or two decisions to make on each section at a time.

✅ Tip #3: Eliminate (or deprioritize) ‘extra’ products

You can. And you should.

While the goal is to not allow them to overthink and bounce off the page or abandon the cart, you also want to make sure that the product page carries what they came there to buy.

We just saw that in the last Helix example. And here’s another similar one from EvoDesk.

You can literally add almost anything to their stand-up desks. But once again, they remove a lot of the headache and only present you with one option at a time.

The result is that they end up de-prioritizing a lot of the ‘minor’ but cool decisions (like do you want speakers mounted to the top or not) so that they don’t get in the way of the ultimate decision: plopping down a G or two for a desk.

✅ Tip #4: Segment your traffic to tailor what they see

Personalization, yo! Buzzwords! Growth Hacking! Jargon!

Jokes aside, don’t treat everyone the same (if you’re juggling tons of products). Show them what they’d be most interested in. Based on previous visits or purchases.

That’s what Amazon does right on their homepage:

And that’s what the high-converting QVC does, too.

You can try to personalize based on different segments of the market (i.e., financial, marketing, project management sectors, etc.), Or get more granular through targeting: behavioral, location, referring URL, ad content, device, search keywords, customer history, sessions behavior, date and even time of day.

If you can’t personalize pages like this, turn to inbound funnel segmentation. Line up the specific product pages with the source, medium, or channel someone’s coming from.

Step #2. Prioritize Product Presentation

Sometimes you can’t (or don’t want to) eliminate products from a page.

So reducing the number of choices is out.

But… your hands aren’t tied completely. You can still use a few tricks in order to prioritize products. That would give people a visual hierarchy of what’s most important through a series of images, shapes, text, etc.

Once again, MarketingExperiments.com comes through in the clutch. Through a series of product presentation prioritization points (holy Ps), they were able to increase conversions by 66%.

Image Source

And once again, here are a few tips they outlined so you can adopt the same approach.

✅ Tip #1: Size does matter.

Product page sizing depends on a few factors. Like:

How many products are you featuring?

How high up the priority list is the product?

What other elements of focus will the page contain (i.e., text, buttons, menus, etc.?)

It also depends on the site aesthetic that works for your site. But here’s a good example from the Dollar Shave Club:

First, they’ve reduced the number of options. That much is true. But then they also have used product sizing to help you prioritize which one to go with.

✅ Tip #2: Shape can also play a role.

“Packaged products incorporating more natural shapes or motifs” are more likely to be successful, according one consumer buying study on the impact of shapes.

Shapes can mean many things online. For example, check out these product shots on Amazon:

Sure. The Best Seller tags jump out. But otherwise, the product images loaded with stuff do, too.

Because as a red blooded American, your first instinct is MOAR.

Seriously though, one store saw a 320% increase in sales by making tweaks to their Amazon SEO. And what is ‘Amazon SEO’ you ask?

Basically you’re optimizing for visibility, relevance, and conversions by optimizing product pages just like you would on your own site. So title tags, images, reviews, etc.

✅ Tip #3: Time to gif.

You should probably have a video. People like product videos. According to stats.

But otherwise, design elements like blurring, motion lines, or wave effects can help add a little motion to your ocean.

Check out this Bonobos example to see how motion catches your eye:

Image Source

Obviously though, use a little discretion here. The simpler, the better.

✅ Tip #4: Use color contrasts

Colors also play a huge role on buying decisions. But how do you emphasize a product using colors alone? Answer: contrast.

For example, the first image of the three below has the least amount of reviews. But it catches your eye because of the different background image.

✅ Tip #5: Emphasize eyeliner.

Here’s how people view websites:

The top-left corner gets people’s attention first and foremost

People then scan in F-patterns.

The left side of the page gets more attention than the right.

Fortunately, you can use this information to your advantage. You can use it to define your visitors’ eye path. Just remember the following:

Media instantly attracts.

Use the “compare and contrast principle” (example: full price vs. discounted price).

Use directional cues (example: use arrows.)

Be mindful of your typography (example: relevant H1/H2 tags).

Frame/encapsulate what’s important.

Expedia excels at these:

Step #3. Communicate the Product’s Value Proposition

Last but certainly not least, a clear value prop can make all the difference.

MarketingExperiments.com generated a 93% conversion increase by helping customers better understand why they should buy a particular product.

Image Source

Why is your product worth buying? What are its benefits? How will it help the buyer? Your answer to those questions should be the ‘end result’ that will ultimately make someone’s life better.

Your value proposition should “boil down” your sales pitch (and all the complexities associated with it) into something the buyer can easily understand and remember, grab their attention and eventually say, “Yes, that’s the one for me.”

Because “if you’re the best in at least one way, you’re the best option for the people who value that aspect.”

Cases in point: Apple, not the largest selection of products; QVC, not necessarily prestigious; Tiffany, definitely not the cheapest. But people still buy from them.

SaaS companies regularly have good value props. Because they only have a single product to sell. They’re not burned — unencumbered — by the same flaws of those with multiple. So here are a few lessons you can draw on from SaaS companies.

✅ Tip #1: Emphasize what matters most.

Value props aren’t taglines per se, but they should still be succinct; communicating everything that needs to be said in just a few words. (Irony in action: run-on sentences touting “succinct.”)

Trello’s emphasizes three main points:

Free

Flexible

Visual

And you know, if you’ve used Trello before, those are the perfect three words to describe its benefit.

Unbounce also excels here by not just focusing on the benefit, but also removing a pain point.

Building, publishing, and testing landing pages is one thing. But to do those without the need for your I.T. department is like music to a marketer’s ears.

✅ Tip #2: Clarity trumps cleverness.

Value props run a risk.

The entire concept of it is kinda business-y. Kinda jargon-y.

So you run the risk of being too clever. Too complex. Or too MBA-y.

When in reality, the best value props are incredibly simple; requiring less than a few seconds of thought.

That means no big words. No run-on sentences. No generic garbage. No “collaboration”, or “effectiveness”, or other synergies.

Bitly nails it with three short words that instantly communicate what it does and why you..

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2tFw5R1

[seo78580]

How to Sell Multiple Products Online: 12 Ways to Boost Sales without Jeopardizing the Experience

Steve Jobs wore one thing.

Zuckerberg started doing it. And even Obama caught the bug.

But why? (Beyond, you know, an apparent lack of fashion sense.)

One less decision to make for these powerful decision makers. More time for everything else, according to the Zuck himself in a Q&A session.

Outfit dilemma hit former Saatchi & Saatchi art director, Matilda Kahl, too. After arriving late to an important Monday morning meeting, her sweater inside out, she adopted the same approach.

Choices are good though, right? Yes and no.

On the plus side, more choice can help bring in more attention to your wares. But on the down side, more choice can also cause analysis paralysis. It can literally freeze people (and more importantly, buyers) right at the moment of truth.

So. What on Earth are you supposed to do if you have multiple products online? How do you sell them without putting your visitors on ice and jeopardizing sales?

Let’s find out.

How to Sell Multiple Products

The jam study is infamous.

It recounts one day in a Menlo Park grocery store. (No doubt surrounded by all sorts of vegan nuts and berries. Because vegans just basically eat nuts, right? Like chipmunks. Crazy California hippies.)

Twenty-four jam varietals were set out. Muchas people came over to check them all out. But the conversion rate (of lookers to buyers) wasn’t all that impressive.

Later, they reduced that number down to only six. Less people came over, but more people ended up buying.

The theory, so it goes, was that too many choices can actually reduce conversions. Now, not everyone is convinced. There are flaws. Biases. And other scientific-sounding things.

But it still presents an issue.

Ecommerce marketers have multiple products. Even a single product page has a TON of ‘variables’ that you have to get right. For example:

Descriptive product names

SEO-optimized product description

High-resolution product images

CTA buttons that are difficult to miss

Additional details such as price, size, availability, and cost savings

Reviews and testimonials

An option to buy later (or save searches) via an “Add to Wish List” button

Related products recommendation for cross-sell and upsell opportunities

Social media sharing buttons

Clear shipping and return information

Product videos

Live chat widget

Of course, there’s the copy as well. Which, when done right, can increase clickthrough rates by an astounding 93%.

So how do you sell multiple products again without compromising the sales experience?

Thankfully, MarketingExperiments.com ran a clinic on selling multiple products online. And they found three major takeaways after performing, you know, some marketing experiments:

Reduce the number of choices

Prioritize product presentation

Communicate the product’s value proposition

Cool. Let’s see how those three work.

Step #1. Reduce the number of choices

Decision fatigue is a thing afterall. Too many choices, too much analysis required, and less purchases are made. (Yes, in that order.)

Too many choices can lead people to second-guess themselves. Question their decisions. Before finally throwing up their hands and exclaim, “Screw it. We’re eating eggs again tonight.”

Turns out, there is some data that backs up the “too many products backfire” claim.

MarketingExperiments.com found that reducing the products on a page from three down to one increased revenue by 24%. (Not conversions — revenue.)

Image Source

Ok… but how, exactly, do you do that? Especially when you’ve got a full product catalog with tons of inventory sitting in an expensive warehouse?

Here’s a few ideas they put forth.

✅ Tip #1: Prioritize the best selling products (duh)

Sounds trite and obvious. But it’s incredibly important. Funnel visitors to your best performing products.

Similar to how you’d ‘funnel’ visitors to your best converting pages or blog posts when trying to increase conversions.

But of course, you can only answer this if you actually have customer insight. Cold hard data. From analytics software. Like the one whose blog you’re reading right now.

Surveys also work. Kinda. Sorta. But only if you are asking the right questions.

✅ Tip #2: Visually streamline how people choose products

Just because you have three digits worth of products sitting on shelves somewhere (undoubtedly collecting dust), doesn’t mean you have to force all of those things onto the same page at one time.

Instead, group your products differently in order to not overwhelm people. That might apply to category (or even sub category pages). If possible, one page, one goal.

That can even apply to the entire conversion funnel on your site.

Helix is one of my favorite examples. They sell mattresses. Boring, right? Not exactly unique or different. You can’t throw a rock in a city without hitting some rundown mattress factory.

So what’s so special about them? Well, for one, they make buying a mattress sexy as hell.

Their Shop page condenses multiple mattresses down into a ‘single’ product.

Then from there, you go into a customization builder to select, add, or remove different attributes.

The result is a simplified, streamlined, approach. You only have one or two decisions to make on each section at a time.

✅ Tip #3: Eliminate (or deprioritize) ‘extra’ products

You can. And you should.

While the goal is to not allow them to overthink and bounce off the page or abandon the cart, you also want to make sure that the product page carries what they came there to buy.

We just saw that in the last Helix example. And here’s another similar one from EvoDesk.

You can literally add almost anything to their stand-up desks. But once again, they remove a lot of the headache and only present you with one option at a time.

The result is that they end up de-prioritizing a lot of the ‘minor’ but cool decisions (like do you want speakers mounted to the top or not) so that they don’t get in the way of the ultimate decision: plopping down a G or two for a desk.

✅ Tip #4: Segment your traffic to tailor what they see

Personalization, yo! Buzzwords! Growth Hacking! Jargon!

Jokes aside, don’t treat everyone the same (if you’re juggling tons of products). Show them what they’d be most interested in. Based on previous visits or purchases.

That’s what Amazon does right on their homepage:

And that’s what the high-converting QVC does, too.

You can try to personalize based on different segments of the market (i.e., financial, marketing, project management sectors, etc.), Or get more granular through targeting: behavioral, location, referring URL, ad content, device, search keywords, customer history, sessions behavior, date and even time of day.

If you can’t personalize pages like this, turn to inbound funnel segmentation. Line up the specific product pages with the source, medium, or channel someone’s coming from.

Step #2. Prioritize Product Presentation

Sometimes you can’t (or don’t want to) eliminate products from a page.

So reducing the number of choices is out.

But… your hands aren’t tied completely. You can still use a few tricks in order to prioritize products. That would give people a visual hierarchy of what’s most important through a series of images, shapes, text, etc.

Once again, MarketingExperiments.com comes through in the clutch. Through a series of product presentation prioritization points (holy Ps), they were able to increase conversions by 66%.

Image Source

And once again, here are a few tips they outlined so you can adopt the same approach.

✅ Tip #1: Size does matter.

Product page sizing depends on a few factors. Like:

How many products are you featuring?

How high up the priority list is the product?

What other elements of focus will the page contain (i.e., text, buttons, menus, etc.?)

It also depends on the site aesthetic that works for your site. But here’s a good example from the Dollar Shave Club:

First, they’ve reduced the number of options. That much is true. But then they also have used product sizing to help you prioritize which one to go with.

✅ Tip #2: Shape can also play a role.

“Packaged products incorporating more natural shapes or motifs” are more likely to be successful, according one consumer buying study on the impact of shapes.

Shapes can mean many things online. For example, check out these product shots on Amazon:

Sure. The Best Seller tags jump out. But otherwise, the product images loaded with stuff do, too.

Because as a red blooded American, your first instinct is MOAR.

Seriously though, one store saw a 320% increase in sales by making tweaks to their Amazon SEO. And what is ‘Amazon SEO’ you ask?

Basically you’re optimizing for visibility, relevance, and conversions by optimizing product pages just like you would on your own site. So title tags, images, reviews, etc.

✅ Tip #3: Time to gif.

You should probably have a video. People like product videos. According to stats.

But otherwise, design elements like blurring, motion lines, or wave effects can help add a little motion to your ocean.

Check out this Bonobos example to see how motion catches your eye:

Image Source

Obviously though, use a little discretion here. The simpler, the better.

✅ Tip #4: Use color contrasts

Colors also play a huge role on buying decisions. But how do you emphasize a product using colors alone? Answer: contrast.

For example, the first image of the three below has the least amount of reviews. But it catches your eye because of the different background image.

✅ Tip #5: Emphasize eyeliner.

Here’s how people view websites:

The top-left corner gets people’s attention first and foremost

People then scan in F-patterns.

The left side of the page gets more attention than the right.

Fortunately, you can use this information to your advantage. You can use it to define your visitors’ eye path. Just remember the following:

Media instantly attracts.

Use the “compare and contrast principle” (example: full price vs. discounted price).

Use directional cues (example: use arrows.)

Be mindful of your typography (example: relevant H1/H2 tags).

Frame/encapsulate what’s important.

Expedia excels at these:

Step #3. Communicate the Product’s Value Proposition

Last but certainly not least, a clear value prop can make all the difference.

MarketingExperiments.com generated a 93% conversion increase by helping customers better understand why they should buy a particular product.

Image Source

Why is your product worth buying? What are its benefits? How will it help the buyer? Your answer to those questions should be the ‘end result’ that will ultimately make someone’s life better.

Your value proposition should “boil down” your sales pitch (and all the complexities associated with it) into something the buyer can easily understand and remember, grab their attention and eventually say, “Yes, that’s the one for me.”

Because “if you’re the best in at least one way, you’re the best option for the people who value that aspect.”

Cases in point: Apple, not the largest selection of products; QVC, not necessarily prestigious; Tiffany, definitely not the cheapest. But people still buy from them.

SaaS companies regularly have good value props. Because they only have a single product to sell. They’re not burned — unencumbered — by the same flaws of those with multiple. So here are a few lessons you can draw on from SaaS companies.

✅ Tip #1: Emphasize what matters most.

Value props aren’t taglines per se, but they should still be succinct; communicating everything that needs to be said in just a few words. (Irony in action: run-on sentences touting “succinct.”)

Trello’s emphasizes three main points:

Free

Flexible

Visual

And you know, if you’ve used Trello before, those are the perfect three words to describe its benefit.

Unbounce also excels here by not just focusing on the benefit, but also removing a pain point.

Building, publishing, and testing landing pages is one thing. But to do those without the need for your I.T. department is like music to a marketer’s ears.

✅ Tip #2: Clarity trumps cleverness.

Value props run a risk.

The entire concept of it is kinda business-y. Kinda jargon-y.

So you run the risk of being too clever. Too complex. Or too MBA-y.

When in reality, the best value props are incredibly simple; requiring less than a few seconds of thought.

That means no big words. No run-on sentences. No generic garbage. No “collaboration”, or “effectiveness”, or other synergies.

Bitly nails it with three short words that instantly communicate what it does and why you..

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2tFw5R1

[seo53703]

How to Sell Multiple Products Online: 12 Ways to Boost Sales without Jeopardizing the Experience

Steve Jobs wore one thing.

Zuckerberg started doing it. And even Obama caught the bug.

But why? (Beyond, you know, an apparent lack of fashion sense.)

One less decision to make for these powerful decision makers. More time for everything else, according to the Zuck himself in a Q&A session.

Outfit dilemma hit former Saatchi & Saatchi art director, Matilda Kahl, too. After arriving late to an important Monday morning meeting, her sweater inside out, she adopted the same approach.

Choices are good though, right? Yes and no.

On the plus side, more choice can help bring in more attention to your wares. But on the down side, more choice can also cause analysis paralysis. It can literally freeze people (and more importantly, buyers) right at the moment of truth.

So. What on Earth are you supposed to do if you have multiple products online? How do you sell them without putting your visitors on ice and jeopardizing sales?

Let’s find out.

How to Sell Multiple Products

The jam study is infamous.

It recounts one day in a Menlo Park grocery store. (No doubt surrounded by all sorts of vegan nuts and berries. Because vegans just basically eat nuts, right? Like chipmunks. Crazy California hippies.)

Twenty-four jam varietals were set out. Muchas people came over to check them all out. But the conversion rate (of lookers to buyers) wasn’t all that impressive.

Later, they reduced that number down to only six. Less people came over, but more people ended up buying.

The theory, so it goes, was that too many choices can actually reduce conversions. Now, not everyone is convinced. There are flaws. Biases. And other scientific-sounding things.

But it still presents an issue.

Ecommerce marketers have multiple products. Even a single product page has a TON of ‘variables’ that you have to get right. For example:

Descriptive product names

SEO-optimized product description

High-resolution product images

CTA buttons that are difficult to miss

Additional details such as price, size, availability, and cost savings

Reviews and testimonials

An option to buy later (or save searches) via an “Add to Wish List” button

Related products recommendation for cross-sell and upsell opportunities

Social media sharing buttons

Clear shipping and return information

Product videos

Live chat widget

Of course, there’s the copy as well. Which, when done right, can increase clickthrough rates by an astounding 93%.

So how do you sell multiple products again without compromising the sales experience?

Thankfully, MarketingExperiments.com ran a clinic on selling multiple products online. And they found three major takeaways after performing, you know, some marketing experiments:

Reduce the number of choices

Prioritize product presentation

Communicate the product’s value proposition

Cool. Let’s see how those three work.

Step #1. Reduce the number of choices

Decision fatigue is a thing afterall. Too many choices, too much analysis required, and less purchases are made. (Yes, in that order.)

Too many choices can lead people to second-guess themselves. Question their decisions. Before finally throwing up their hands and exclaim, “Screw it. We’re eating eggs again tonight.”

Turns out, there is some data that backs up the “too many products backfire” claim.

MarketingExperiments.com found that reducing the products on a page from three down to one increased revenue by 24%. (Not conversions — revenue.)

Image Source

Ok… but how, exactly, do you do that? Especially when you’ve got a full product catalog with tons of inventory sitting in an expensive warehouse?

Here’s a few ideas they put forth.

✅ Tip #1: Prioritize the best selling products (duh)

Sounds trite and obvious. But it’s incredibly important. Funnel visitors to your best performing products.

Similar to how you’d ‘funnel’ visitors to your best converting pages or blog posts when trying to increase conversions.

But of course, you can only answer this if you actually have customer insight. Cold hard data. From analytics software. Like the one whose blog you’re reading right now.

Surveys also work. Kinda. Sorta. But only if you are asking the right questions.

✅ Tip #2: Visually streamline how people choose products

Just because you have three digits worth of products sitting on shelves somewhere (undoubtedly collecting dust), doesn’t mean you have to force all of those things onto the same page at one time.

Instead, group your products differently in order to not overwhelm people. That might apply to category (or even sub category pages). If possible, one page, one goal.

That can even apply to the entire conversion funnel on your site.

Helix is one of my favorite examples. They sell mattresses. Boring, right? Not exactly unique or different. You can’t throw a rock in a city without hitting some rundown mattress factory.

So what’s so special about them? Well, for one, they make buying a mattress sexy as hell.

Their Shop page condenses multiple mattresses down into a ‘single’ product.

Then from there, you go into a customization builder to select, add, or remove different attributes.

The result is a simplified, streamlined, approach. You only have one or two decisions to make on each section at a time.

✅ Tip #3: Eliminate (or deprioritize) ‘extra’ products

You can. And you should.

While the goal is to not allow them to overthink and bounce off the page or abandon the cart, you also want to make sure that the product page carries what they came there to buy.

We just saw that in the last Helix example. And here’s another similar one from EvoDesk.

You can literally add almost anything to their stand-up desks. But once again, they remove a lot of the headache and only present you with one option at a time.

The result is that they end up de-prioritizing a lot of the ‘minor’ but cool decisions (like do you want speakers mounted to the top or not) so that they don’t get in the way of the ultimate decision: plopping down a G or two for a desk.

✅ Tip #4: Segment your traffic to tailor what they see

Personalization, yo! Buzzwords! Growth Hacking! Jargon!

Jokes aside, don’t treat everyone the same (if you’re juggling tons of products). Show them what they’d be most interested in. Based on previous visits or purchases.

That’s what Amazon does right on their homepage:

And that’s what the high-converting QVC does, too.

You can try to personalize based on different segments of the market (i.e., financial, marketing, project management sectors, etc.), Or get more granular through targeting: behavioral, location, referring URL, ad content, device, search keywords, customer history, sessions behavior, date and even time of day.

If you can’t personalize pages like this, turn to inbound funnel segmentation. Line up the specific product pages with the source, medium, or channel someone’s coming from.

Step #2. Prioritize Product Presentation

Sometimes you can’t (or don’t want to) eliminate products from a page.

So reducing the number of choices is out.

But… your hands aren’t tied completely. You can still use a few tricks in order to prioritize products. That would give people a visual hierarchy of what’s most important through a series of images, shapes, text, etc.

Once again, MarketingExperiments.com comes through in the clutch. Through a series of product presentation prioritization points (holy Ps), they were able to increase conversions by 66%.

Image Source

And once again, here are a few tips they outlined so you can adopt the same approach.

✅ Tip #1: Size does matter.

Product page sizing depends on a few factors. Like:

How many products are you featuring?

How high up the priority list is the product?

What other elements of focus will the page contain (i.e., text, buttons, menus, etc.?)

It also depends on the site aesthetic that works for your site. But here’s a good example from the Dollar Shave Club:

First, they’ve reduced the number of options. That much is true. But then they also have used product sizing to help you prioritize which one to go with.

✅ Tip #2: Shape can also play a role.

“Packaged products incorporating more natural shapes or motifs” are more likely to be successful, according one consumer buying study on the impact of shapes.

Shapes can mean many things online. For example, check out these product shots on Amazon:

Sure. The Best Seller tags jump out. But otherwise, the product images loaded with stuff do, too.

Because as a red blooded American, your first instinct is MOAR.

Seriously though, one store saw a 320% increase in sales by making tweaks to their Amazon SEO. And what is ‘Amazon SEO’ you ask?

Basically you’re optimizing for visibility, relevance, and conversions by optimizing product pages just like you would on your own site. So title tags, images, reviews, etc.

✅ Tip #3: Time to gif.

You should probably have a video. People like product videos. According to stats.

But otherwise, design elements like blurring, motion lines, or wave effects can help add a little motion to your ocean.

Check out this Bonobos example to see how motion catches your eye:

Image Source

Obviously though, use a little discretion here. The simpler, the better.

✅ Tip #4: Use color contrasts

Colors also play a huge role on buying decisions. But how do you emphasize a product using colors alone? Answer: contrast.

For example, the first image of the three below has the least amount of reviews. But it catches your eye because of the different background image.

✅ Tip #5: Emphasize eyeliner.

Here’s how people view websites:

The top-left corner gets people’s attention first and foremost

People then scan in F-patterns.

The left side of the page gets more attention than the right.

Fortunately, you can use this information to your advantage. You can use it to define your visitors’ eye path. Just remember the following:

Media instantly attracts.

Use the “compare and contrast principle” (example: full price vs. discounted price).

Use directional cues (example: use arrows.)

Be mindful of your typography (example: relevant H1/H2 tags).

Frame/encapsulate what’s important.

Expedia excels at these:

Step #3. Communicate the Product’s Value Proposition

Last but certainly not least, a clear value prop can make all the difference.

MarketingExperiments.com generated a 93% conversion increase by helping customers better understand why they should buy a particular product.

Image Source

Why is your product worth buying? What are its benefits? How will it help the buyer? Your answer to those questions should be the ‘end result’ that will ultimately make someone’s life better.

Your value proposition should “boil down” your sales pitch (and all the complexities associated with it) into something the buyer can easily understand and remember, grab their attention and eventually say, “Yes, that’s the one for me.”

Because “if you’re the best in at least one way, you’re the best option for the people who value that aspect.”

Cases in point: Apple, not the largest selection of products; QVC, not necessarily prestigious; Tiffany, definitely not the cheapest. But people still buy from them.

SaaS companies regularly have good value props. Because they only have a single product to sell. They’re not burned — unencumbered — by the same flaws of those with multiple. So here are a few lessons you can draw on from SaaS companies.

✅ Tip #1: Emphasize what matters most.

Value props aren’t taglines per se, but they should still be succinct; communicating everything that needs to be said in just a few words. (Irony in action: run-on sentences touting “succinct.”)

Trello’s emphasizes three main points:

Free

Flexible

Visual

And you know, if you’ve used Trello before, those are the perfect three words to describe its benefit.

Unbounce also excels here by not just focusing on the benefit, but also removing a pain point.

Building, publishing, and testing landing pages is one thing. But to do those without the need for your I.T. department is like music to a marketer’s ears.

✅ Tip #2: Clarity trumps cleverness.

Value props run a risk.

The entire concept of it is kinda business-y. Kinda jargon-y.

So you run the risk of being too clever. Too complex. Or too MBA-y.

When in reality, the best value props are incredibly simple; requiring less than a few seconds of thought.

That means no big words. No run-on sentences. No generic garbage. No “collaboration”, or “effectiveness”, or other synergies.

Bitly nails it with three short words that instantly communicate what it does and why you..

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2tFw5R1