#our company has so much potential and room to grow

[kamuiobito]

.

[shushmal]

A Truth Acknowledged

one time i made a post about regency omegaverse steddie and i found it again so here's a potential part one if the spirit compels me again i'll continue

The house has been quiet for many years now, so Steve is not unused to the stillness that's long settled over Harrington House. He much prefers it, even. At twenty and four years, unwed and without a mother or a tutor to tame him, Steve has grown as wild as his home has grown quiet, left often to his own company. Since his presentation, he's roamed the hills of Loch Nora to his pleasure, long days of solitude interrupted only when his father calls him to his side for some soiree or ball, where Steve is bid to perform as a proper omega should: to dance, to simper, to laugh, to sing—and sometimes, as improper, to be pulled into secluded rooms to be sampled.

It's the reparations to be paid for a thing like him to be born. Steve bears it best he can, knowing he'll return home to be left to his own again. Quiet house, green hills, a loneliness he is safe in.

Until, of course, his father's pockets grow too shallow. And it is time for Steve to perform once more.

Except this time, there's a new face in Harrington House.

"Stephen," his father calls, all false pleasantry and cheer. "I'd like you to come meet young Mister Munson. He is our new neighbor, he and his uncle are staying up at the Thompson estate for the summer."

"I see," Steve says, trying to gather his thoughts between the wool gathering in his head. No one has visited their home since Steve's presentation. "I... I'm very glad to meet your acquaintance, Mister Munson."

Mister Munson, with his round face and large eyes, seems to struggle just as much as Steve does. "J-Just Eddie—I mean, Edward is fine," he says, stumbling over his words. He has a thick accent, and the air of a man learning to speak with the same pomp and confidence as Steve's father. "A pleasure to meet you, as well."

"I thought you might like to show Mister Edward the garden," his father says. He looks at Steve with cold calculation, and Steve feels himself being weighed and priced where he stands.

"Of course," Steve says, dipping his head.

Though Mister Edward doesn't offer his arm, Steve still takes it, hooking their elbows together as Mister Edward fumbles himself into a more proper position. Steve does it smoothly though, and gently pulls Mister Edward out into the sunlight.

He can't help but notice that the two relax minutely once they're out from his father's direct eye. Mister Edward does stay overly stiff though, as Steve leads them along the overgrown garden path, and when he looks up, Steve has to smother a smile to find Mister Edward's face pink across his nose and cheeks, all the way to his ears.

"You must forgive us, Mister Edward," Steve says, his voice soft and intimate. "The two of us are unused to visitors this far into the country."

"Nothing to forgive. If anything, please forgive me," he says, unsure and awkward. "I don't— Is it proper for me to be alone with you?"

Steve truly must fight the smile from his face. "Shall be frank with you, Mister Edward?"

"God, please," Edward breathes, a man out of his depth. "I'm not used to the ways you rich folk talk about nothing but actually say a whole lot."

Laughing, Steve jostles the two of them a little, glad he's gotten Mister Edward to relax enough to speak plainly. "Don't worry, I will translate for you, best I can," he says. Probably a little foolishly. Steve's having his first conversation with the man and already hoping to hang on his arm long enough have more.

Yet, it's worth it, because Edward turns to him with a smile on his face like Steve's handed him a Christmas miracle. "Will you, now?" he asks, a giddy grin crawling his face. "Well tell it to me, pretty thing, why in the world did your fancy father invite a ruffian like me here to meet someone as sweet as you?"

Steve feels himself pinken. Alphas of all types have said many a crude thing to him, but this earnest flirting easily turns Steve's head. What a foolish omega he is.

"I'm sure my father means for us to court and marry."

"My god! Are you sure? Is he mad?" Mister Edward gapes at him. "A proper noble like you married to me?"

Steve snorts and rolls his eyes. Proper. How silly!

"A proper noble like me is still an omega, and a man at that. I'm not a suitable pick to bear heirs," Steve tells him. "He's after your money."

"What money?" Edward laughs. Like his strings have been cut, Edward relaxes against him, his gait a swaying thing, pulling Steve along as they bump together along their ill-given journey. "I don't have a cent to me! It's all my uncle's, you know. He never married, and then my mother wrote him when I came of age and shipped me off to be his heir for a sack of coins. I grew up in London, working in factories."

He lifts his right hand to Steve, showing where two of his fingers are part missing at the first knuckle.

"I was born a roughneck, Stevie," he says, not looking at Steve anymore. Steve should scold him for being so familiar, but instead he finds he likes it. "Born poor and starving. My uncle can dress me up and give me all kinds of lessons, but I'll always be what I was born."

"Well," Steve says, shocked to find himself a little breathless. He watches Edward's profile for a moment longer, watching the unease settling on that handsome brow, twist in his mouth. "It seems we match rather well then, don't you think?"

Edward—Eddie turns to him with wide eyes. "Are you mad?" he asks. As he speaks, he leans in close, until their breaths share air. "Don't you want a good, proper alpha of good stock? Keep you nice and comfy up in some castle?"

"Not particularly," Steve tells him, truthfully. "My father would want nothing more than to marry me off to a high born alpha, to keep a house and have children, and to bring the Harrington name some sort of recognition once again."

Steve turns then, looking down the path and away from Eddie's eyes, so focused on Steve and his words. No one has listen to Steve speak with such attention before.

"I'd much rather marry for love," he admits on a quiet breath. Beside him, Eddie was a line of heat and weight, pressed against him, his gaze burning. "Or, if I can't have love, then at least for friendship. I'd rather not be alone anymore."

"I see," Eddie says.

Turning back to him, Steve gets caught once again in those intense eyes, dark and warm. He has to remind himself, again, that he's just met this alpha, that it's silly to entertain thoughts of love and companionship with a man he's only spoken to this once. Even if Eddie looks at Steve like he could look at him for the rest of his life.

"Well," Eddie says, turning back towards their destination, but letting his hand travel down Steve's arm, until he can link their fingers together. "I suppose we are quite a match, after all then."

Steve can't stop the smile that curves his lips this time, turns his head to try and hide it. "Yes," he agrees, "I suppose, we are."

[shellfish-thoughts]

📖🔥 BOOK REVIEW 🔥📖

A Soul To Keep by Opal Reyna

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Hear me out! I would smash! He’s the best guy around! 😍

Orpheus has come to claim Reia as his new “bride.” Sent against her will, she is determined to escape as soon as she can but finds it difficult when Orpheus is so kind and caring—definitely not trying to kill her and eat her as she had anticipated. 😏

I do love me a good ol’ Beauty and the Beast action, but I wasn’t expecting how heartfelt and wholesome this book would be! Our little Duskwalker is just a big softie who just wants some love and company. How could anyone not like him!? A man who is loving, kind, caring, and trying to learn everything that makes you happy?! That’s happy to receive the smallest bit of kindness?! I can’t; my heart will explode. 🥹

And don’t even get me started on the steam! The spice was very spicy! I loved every second of it! I didn’t know almost getting eaten alive would be so fun. 😚

I felt like there was so much time and care put into this book outside of just the romance. There was a whole world we were immersed in with intricate magic and enemies. Every concept and lore of this series is so fun and unique. To have Duskwalker eyes correlate to their emotions was so fun to see executed! To have them feed off of and smell fear played great into our couple’s learning trust (considering he could have eaten her very easily)! 😍

Everything just felt so purposeful and throughout. To see Orpheus’s brother having lesser “humanity”/knowledge really added to Orpheus’s efforts in growing and gaining knowledge to be able to build a home and care for Reia, even though we can see he still has much to learn. Everything combined played a part in helping this love story blossom while making room for more potential characters and couples.

Read it. The monster part just makes it more fun, trust me! 🔥

[gatheringbones]

[“If you erect a community of expensive, beautiful homes and prop up the value of those homes by making it illegal to build more housing, which turns your home into a resource so scarce that potential buyers do things like write pleading letters or make cash offers above the asking price or bid sight unseen—behavior that has become commonplace in liberal cities like Austin, Seattle, and Cambridge—then you pretty much want to keep things as they are.

If you design a public school system such that it primarily serves students of professional parents, who have the time and know-how to invest in their children’s schooling, and who can afford to pay for extra tutoring and college prep coaches and out-of-state field trips and therapy, you can create an enriching educational environment and pipeline to college. Economically integrating schools would challenge this design, this social status preservation machine, requiring rich students to share classrooms with poor students who might carry some of the traumas of poverty, speak English as a second language, and spend their summers watching a lot of television because going outside is dangerous. One study found that growing up in a severely disadvantaged neighborhood is equivalent to missing a year of school when it comes to verbal ability. Another found that achievement gaps between rich and poor children form and harden before kindergarten.

It has become fashionable these days to pitch social change to the privileged classes by appealing to their material self-interest. The right thing to do is also the best thing to do! Integrating our schools is antiracist, and it improves the overall learning environment, preparing your children for a diverse workforce! Raising the minimum wage allows workers to buy enough food, and it’s good for business, stabilizing the company’s labor force and saving on turnover costs! When then-presidential-candidate Joe Biden told a room of wealthy donors that “nothing would fundamentally change” if he were to be elected, he was repeating a familiar liberal talking point: If you join me in this effort to reduce the inequality you yourself benefit from, you won’t have to give up a thing.”]

matthew desmond, from poverty: by america, 2023

[theroseceleste]

Pilot Miguel - Part 14 - Taking Out The Trash

It's confrontation time with Xina - much to Miguel's annoyance...

Word count - 3718

MINORS DNI

Contains : Dramatic confrontation, suspicion of cheating, exchange of harsh words. Smut - penetrative sex.

This is the last official chapter of Pilot Miguel. BUT if you have any suggestions of what you'd like Miguel and the reader to get up to - travel or... ahem... otherwise... be sure to let me know in the comments and I'll see what I can do. So enjoy part 14!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13

If you enjoy this fic, please consider liking, commenting or re-blogging. Many thanks xx

Miguel has gone from having a wife, to living alone after getting divorced, and then now housing not one but two women in his large apartment.

He finally meets the heavily talked about friend of yours, Ashley, as she carries in just a couple of boxes full of her necessities to put in the spare room, where she’ll be sleeping for the foreseeable future.

She greets him with a friendly smile and a firm shake of a hand as she finally sees for herself the sheer height and build of the man you call your boyfriend.

As usual, Miguel seems slightly reserved at first when meeting your best friend. But over the coming days he adjusts to her presence and starts to settle down as if it was just him and you in the apartment again.

It feels good to have company in his penthouse again. His home had become far too big for just himself, and for once he felt small. Better still, he has company in his bed. Someone to hold onto at night. Someone to listen to breathing deeply while sleeping peacefully. Improving his mood even more is that Xina has fallen silent since he took you to New Jersey. Perhaps she has finally got the message…

While he is enjoying the company, he does have to practise some restraint. He can’t simply smother you with kisses, curled up on the sofa of an evening while Ashley sits there too. But he saves it all for the bedroom. Showering you with his love and undivided attention there instead, while you giggle or moan with pleasure - depending on what he’s doing.

One day, you and Ashley are out investigating a potential new flat, while Miguel brings home groceries. He can’t deny feeling slightly wounded that you’re still considering moving out with Ashley once you’re both ready. He had hoped you’d want to stay with him. Maybe you think it’s still too early in the relationship to consider living together…

As he emerges from the lift outside his apartment, his somewhat pleasant mood plummets like a lead balloon. Xina stands there, waiting for him; looking relieved to see him alone.

“I need to talk to you…” she begins, hands nervously fiddling together.

“No you don’t,” he replies as he fishes his keys from his jeans pocket.

Turning the key in the door, he pushes it open and tries to slip in without her following, however his large build doesn’t exactly help with that.

Like a magnetic attraction, Xina sticks behind closely, sneaking through the doorframe in his wake and enters his apartment.

“Tch…” Miguel tuts with annoyance as he glares at his ex-wife.

“I really have to talk to you. Please will you just listen to me?”

Taking the groceries into his kitchen, he starts to unpack the food.

“You’ve got five minutes, then you’re out.”

Miguel doesn’t even look at Xina as she enters the kitchen. His disinterest is evident on his face. He feels he’s going to regret giving her the time of day, but if he listens; maybe she’ll be more willing to leave once she’s said her piece.

“Is she pregnant?”

He pauses and looks up at his ex-wife. Finally, he rests his hands on the kitchen counter, mind racing trying to work out how she knew about the pregnancy scare.

“Firstly, what the hell gave you that idea? And, secondly, (Y/N) is not pregnant.”

Xina frowns, something’s not adding up…

“Then explain why you ordered a baby grow on our shared Amazon account?”

Damn it… That was something he’s been meaning to sort out for a while… He takes out his phone and starts to explore the Amazon account settings. Yep, she’s still there. Not for much longer… A simple tap on the screen unlinks her from his account before he locks the device and faces it down against the countertop.

“This really is none of your business…” he tries to remind her.

“Just tell me!” she raises her voice.

Miguel sighs as he contemplates his answer.

“She thought she was pregnant and was terrified that she was going to lose me as a result. I bought the baby grow as a means to show her I’m staying with her if she was indeed expecting. But, it was a false alarm. Happy?”

Xina breathes a sigh of relief before her eyes wander around the kitchen. It mostly looks the same, but there are some new things too. A rather feminine-looking diary lays on the countertop - certainly not Miguel’s style. What’s it doing there?

“She’s living with you now?”

That relief she felt leaves her within an instant.

“She has a name!”

Throughout their entire marriage, Miguel never once raised his voice at Xina. However, her current behaviour is testing his patience. The blatant disrespect that she displays regarding you upsets him greatly. Her audacity in thinking that she can just worm her way back in, and push you out is maddening. If only she showed this level of interest in him when he was fighting to keep their marriage alive. Sadly for Xina, Miguel sees it as far too little, far too late.

His voice reverberates in his modern kitchen, only enhancing the harsh bite behind his tone. The volume in which he speaks shocks her to her core. Revealing a side to her ex-husband she never knew.

“Fine… Is (Y/N) living with you now?” Xina repeats her question, begrudgingly adjusting it to Miguel’s liking.

He folds his arms, now totally abandoning the groceries. His lips arch in a cold-looking frown.

“You know, Xina, I still fail to see why this is any of your business…”

His ex steps forward, an imploring expression plastered on her face as she navigates around the island of countertops in the kitchen.

“It’s my business because I want you back. I was a fool to push to end the marriage.”

“And you’re an even bigger fool for thinking I will just agree to starting again with you.”

She expected that comment from him, but it doesn’t dampen her determination as she steps even closer.

“What will it take to convince you to have me back?”

Her hand delicately lands on Miguel’s bicep, his arms still folded, acting as a barrier between them.

“What will it take?” he asks before moving a hand, taking her wrist and prying it off of him then folding his arms again.

“There’s nothing you can offer me that will change my mind.”

Miguel sounds calm and collected although, his eyes glance up at the clock on the kitchen wall to check the time. He has to get her to leave soon…

Xina’s brows knit together, her goal slipping from her fingers fast.

“I think you should go now. You’ve got your answer.”

He turns back to the groceries but she grabs hold of his arm again.

“No. I’m not leaving.”

Miguel pulls himself away this time with an unfriendly snarl. A warning that Xina is outstaying her welcome. Although, she was never welcome in the first place…

“Don’t touch me.”

Panic rises within her; she’s losing the battle.

Maybe out of sheer ignorance or pure desperation, Xina’s fingers latch onto his shirt pulling him close. His eyes widen as she grabs him. He has to get her out of his apartment now, before you and Ashley return.

“Get the fuck off me!”

His arm swipes between the both of them; disconnecting her grip on him before he takes hold of her shoulders and spinning her around on the spot.

“And get the fuck out of my home.”

Push comes to shove, literally. It doesn’t take much to move Xina out of the kitchen and across the apartment to the front door, despite her putting up a fight.

“This - this used to be our home, remember?” she asks, desperately trying to get him to see her side of the argument. The door looming closer as he continues to shunt her towards it.

“And it’s just my home now.”

He feels some stronger resistance as she stiffens her legs and the souls of her shoes dig into the wooden flooring.

“Stop pushing!”

“Start moving then!” he growls, gritting his teeth.

He desperately wants her gone, but he has to be careful not to hurt her.

Xina turns her body in his grasp so she can face him as if she knows he can’t be too firm.

“Please Miguel!” she begs, grabbing onto his shirt again just as he watches the door handle turn; you’ve just come back with Ashley…

The voices you could hear as you approached the door quietened down the moment you entered.

Now you’re staring at the pair gripping onto one another as Ashley follows you inside.

Your eyes lock onto Xina’s and then Miguel’s as silence descends on the apartment. The room is so quiet, you’re sure your pounding heart can be heard as you try to process what you’re seeing.

“Can someone explain to me what’s going on?” you eventually ask as you feel Ashley place a protective arm around your shoulder.

Your question spurs Miguel into action and begins to push Xina towards you; his goal, to get her out of the penthouse as soon as humanly possible.

“Just taking out the trash,” your boyfriend growls, now sounding very irritated.

“But, what is said trash doing here in the first place?” Ashley speaks out on your behalf, which you’re thankful for.

Your friend’s tone is harsh and unforgiving. It’s clear she’s assuming the worst in him, but you’re not quite so quick as her to jump to conclusions just yet. With everything he’s said and done for you lately, it doesn’t make sense that he’d be tempted to take his ex-wife back again. Also, you know he’s not stupid enough to arrange for Xina to visit him when you and Ashley were due to return at any moment. This smells like a dastardly plan Xina has cooked up.

Both you and Ashley move out of the way to let Miguel pass as he continues to push Xina. She shouts and pushes back, fighting to be heard. It is only then Ashley sees what you see.

“Miguel! You can’t do this to me! I still love you - please!”

Her voice breaks as she shouts. She pushes back against your boyfriend. Looking at his face you can see she’s upsetting him more and more. You can’t deny that her words are hurting you too.

The pair are practically in the doorway as Xina clings on to the frame for leverage.

“What about all my desperate pleas to keep our marriage going, hmm?”

He shoves again.

“They fell on deaf ears!”

Another shove.

“I’m sorry. I was an idiot for not listening to you!”

Xina releases the doorframe and attempts to grapple her ex-husband again but with his strength, she’s almost out of the door.

“We- we can go back to our happier times! I promise you, I pro—“

She stops talking abruptly the moment the pair are out of sight. As you peer around the doorframe, you see him bent down over her, making you think that he’s kissing her for a brief moment. Instead, you hear a deep, threatening growl come from him as he responds to her.

“Ever since I started seeing (Y/N), my life and how I see myself has changed for the better.”

His voice is low as his hands pull her closer so he can continue to whisper angrily in her ear. Making damn sure every syllable is heard and understood with the utmost clarity.

“With (Y/N), I’m not a disappointment. That was all I ever was to you. There was nothing I could do to make up for my absence no matter how hard I tried.”

Xina whimpers at his words. She knows it’s game over, but he keeps going. His breath, hot against her neck, but for all the wrong reasons. Her heart pounds as she feels him seething, clearly releasing previously unspoken words of frustration laced with rising anger. Her little stunt could have cost him his relationship with you; and to him, that is unforgivable.

“You’re toxic and (Y/N) is a breath of the purest air. She’s gentle, kind, content with just spending time with me. Whereas with you, you expected me to shower you with gifts…” he pauses for a moment as though a lightbulb illuminates inside his head.

“That’s why you want to be back in my life isn’t it? You miss the money and the security that you so carelessly threw away. You greedy, selfish bitch.”

With that, he shoves her away from him. His face, wearing the biggest and most dangerous of scowls you have ever seen. Xina’s face is also a picture as he outed her. That desperate pleading look leaves her face, replaced by an utterly disgusted expression.

She slaps him hard across the face, the sharp sound reverberating around them in the hall outside his apartment.

Something snaps inside you. You’re not sure if it was the sound of Xina’s palm colliding with the side of Miguel’s face, or his grunt of pain, but it did something to you that made you see red. Before Ashley even realises, you dash out of the apartment.

The sound of your rushing footsteps alert Miguel that you’re coming. You’re not a violent person, but you despise the fact that Xina has laid a finger on your man. She’s hurt him and now you want to hurt her.

Before you get close enough, Miguel catches you and pulls you into a tight hold, locking you against him to stop you doing something you might regret.

Your head is pressed against his chest. The pounding of his heart matches yours. Emotions run high within him; touched that you’d rush to defend him like that. His eyes lock onto Xina’s as he clutches you against him.

“Get the fuck out of my home and my life.”

His voice is a deep, threatening growl which you can feel against your face as it vibrates within his hard, muscular chest.

Xina is totally silent. The sight before her is a clear sign that she has completely lost. There’s no coming back after this, the damage she has created is irreparable. This is all on her…

Without uttering another word, she turns, tears burning in her eyes as she makes her way to call the lift.

You hear Miguel take in a breath before he speaks again.

“I should thank you Xina…”

His ex-wife pauses before stepping into the lift and looks back at him with an expression full of regret.

“If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have met (Y/N) and fallen in love with her.”

Your eyes snap open. He loves you?

Xina rushes into the lift, suppressing a sob as she holds down the button that closes the door.

The moment that she is gone, Miguel feels you wriggle in his grasp as you try to pull away. You want to see him - all of him after his declaration of love for you. His hold on you loosens and lets you look up into his face.

“You love me?” you ask with a shaky voice.

Miguel beams at you. A smile so wide, you never thought was possible from a reserved guy like him, but there it is, for your eyes only.

“Si, mi amor. Te amo.” (Yes, my love. I love you)

Now that is something you do know for definite in Spanish, and it makes your heart flutter like a butterfly beating its wings in a bid to escape the confines of your chest.

A small smile creeps across Ashley’s face. She feels you and him deserve some alone time. Quietly she walks away and heads into the kitchen to sort out the abandoned shopping. For a moment back there, she was prepared to unleash hell upon him, but she could see in the way he held you that he’s mad about you and wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.

You suddenly feel weightless as he picks you up, carrying you bridal-style into his apartment and closing the door behind him.

He takes you to his room and gently places you on his bed, joining you shortly after.

Your fingers brush tenderly against his cheek where Xina struck him earlier, soothing the skin that still stings slightly. His eyes close as he revels in your touch while he leans over you.

His lips caress yours in a gentle, loving kiss as you both slowly become overwhelmed in the simmering heat of the moment.

“I love you too, Miguel…” you whisper, knowing full well what saying his name does to him.

He’s lost it completely. Like flipping a switch inside him, he goes from sweet and tender to heavy and passionate.

He makes short work of removing yours and his clothing, throwing them into a messy heap on the floor.

Laying between your legs, he plunges into you deep; taking you with urgent need. Your moans accompany his grunts and groans, creating a symphony of pleasure.

He pumps into you as you lay back in pure bliss, legs wide open, accommodating his beautiful body. The feeling of your warm, wet walls clenching around him makes him melt, driving him wild.

“Yes…” you hiss at the peak of each thrust.

Tingles erupt within you, pulsing out from your core as he pushes deeper, harder and faster.

His magnificent hips grind against yours, ensuring that sweet spot gets the stimulation it needs to make you fall apart for him.

The orgasmic tension builds within you rapidly, each thrust, each grind, each grunt pushes you closer and closer to the edge of ecstasy. Your breathing quickens and becomes more shallow. Eyelids are heavy as you’re so, so close to reaching your peak; the ultimate pleasure. He knows it too. A smile grows on his lips as he watches you teetering on the edge.

“That’s it, mi amor. Cum for me, chiquita. Te amo…” he purrs in your ear, his warm breath fanning across your cheek and neck.

The bed creaks with every movement of his efforts, and it only gets louder as he ramps everything up again. Your mewls sound more desperate, the precipice getting even closer. You can’t think straight anymore, thoughts becoming hazy as your body homes in on that building pleasure that’s close to breaking-point.

“Cum for me, give me that orgasm, come on…” he grunts again through gritted teeth, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

He’s working hard for you today. Harder than any other time before. The need to blow your mind is strong. To make up for the upset that you were put through; although it wasn’t his fault.

He’s rocking your world and you know it. You sense that there’s meaning behind every thrust. Each pump into you is its own individual declaration of his love for you.

His breath falters, he’s close too.

“Por favor, mi amor!” Miguel begs you, his voice breaking.

His final efforts before climaxing pushes you over the edge with him. You fall together into the abyss of pleasure, lost for several moments. In that instance, you’re the only two people in the world - the only two that matter anyway. There was no Xina, no Nueva York, no world, even.

You close your eyes as your intense orgasm washes over you like a tidal wave. He kisses you fiercely, lips crashing against yours before his tongue invades your mouth. The final pulses of his climax ebbs away as he’s left reeling.

You feel him lower himself onto you, his body totally flush against yours. The warm security of his arms wrap around you before rolling onto his back and having you on top.

You thought it was over, but boy you’re wrong. His hands slide down your sides before possessively gripping your hips. The thrusts begin again as he is rejuvenated with a second wind.

Soft moans and groans restart as the new angle helps him hit a different spot inside.

He makes you come undone for him over and over again. Each time he changes position, taking you exactly how you like it. He’s gentle and soft, then he’s rough and fast. Slow and tender, then heavy and passionate.

The moment when your eyes close for longer with each blink, he stops; knowing you have had all that you can take. But his love doesn’t stop there. He holds you close after cleaning you up and taking care of you.

You are left without a shadow of a doubt over his feelings for you. The pleasure he’s given you has totally swept away that sickening feeling you had when you saw Miguel and Xina clutching each other.

After the harsh things he said to his ex-wife today, you’re certain she’ll never come back; but if she ever dares try, you know damn well that Miguel will remain by your side.

The pair of you embrace one another in his bed. His fingers gently trace up and down your sides as he watches you melt at his tender touch. He smiles softly as his heart swells to what feels like twice its size as his love for you grows with each passing second. He’s crazy about you.

Casting his mind back, he reminisces about all of the sweet things you’ve done. The way you bumped into him, the feeling of your slight body pressing against his front as you stood up in the galley of the plane. How you gave him a pack of biscuits instead of giving it to Peter, despite him being an asshole to you.

That cute little text you sent him after he gave you his number. How sweet you were when he fell into the pool in Acapulco and how forgiving you were when he apologised for sending that damn video and those texts. He loved how thoughtful you were when you booked a paddle-boarding session with you the day after. Your great humour is admirable, and he loves how silly you can be.

The way you’re so responsive to his efforts when making love with you. Your little sounds drive him wild.

You’re his saviour; his sweet angel, and he loves every fibre of your being…

Thank you so much for reading, liking, commenting, re-blogging this fic. 157 pages and over 53,000 words was put into this and I had an absolute blast.

This is the last "official" chapter of Pilot Miguel, so if you have any suggestions about where Miguel and reader travels to, or getting up to... other things, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

In the mean time, I'm working on other projects - yes I'm still gathering ideas to continue Mafia Miguel too. If you've not read that yet, click on his name here.

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[doctorstrangereview]

Doctor Strange #169

Cover Date: June 1968 On-Sale Date: February 29, 1968

Doc is finally in his own magazine at last. Dan Adkins continues as the artist in residence while Roy Thomas takes over writing duties. We pick up directly from last month's Strange Tales story, but Victoria Bentley, while mentioned does not appear. For his first solo outing, Roy chooses to rehash Doc's origin with a bit of elaboration. I can't decide if this is lazy or brilliant. Lazy because it's a pre-written story that Roy just needs to throw in some additional details. Brilliant, because it reintroduces that character to what is a new magazine and offers a jumping on point for readers who haven't seen the character in Strange Tales.

In the last instalment The Ancient One told Doc to take a nap and that's just what he's doing here. Doc is ruminating about how tired he is, how he must be forever vigilant, how be many never see Clea again and also Vicky, for some reason. As he does this, Roy and Dan treat us to a nice candlelight striptease as Doc gets ready for bed.

Doc has some doubts as he falls asleep. This is actually an important little detail that will be made clear later.

Then Dan treats us to a lovely full page image that doesn't really provide any new information.

While the origin rehash may or may not be lazy this definitely is. We burn an entire page of real estate without moving the plot forward. Maybe Dan REALLY wanted to draw some clawed monsters.

As his self-doubt grows, we discover something a bit startling. Doc still smokes!

This seems to drive him to recall his past. We start in an operating room much like Lee's and Ditko's original version. Doc makes a callous remark about where to send his bill and walks out of the theater. Doc is approached by a Doctor Benton about some charity work. The doctor isn't named in the original version, but it becomes a plot point in the near future so pay attention! Doc scoffs and takes a call from a wealthy potential client, Mrs. Van Heusen. Perhaps she is the heir to the clothing company. I always liked their shirts. Mrs. Van Heusen needs a minor operation and this is the perfect networking opportunity for the world's greatest neurosurgeon who happens to like money more than anything. The ladykiller elements of Doc's past won't show up for quite some time. Doc is distracted by his thoughts of rolling in piles of green and his fancy convertible is suddenly plunging off a cliff. This is a bit more specific than the original origin, but Roy and Dan do have more pages to fill.

Doc gets beat up pretty bad in the accident. Next thing he knows he's waking up in a hospital bed.

This doctor has bedside manner just as bad as our magician. I don't really think it's wise or empathic to give such bad news to your patient the moment he wakes up! The origin proceeds like the previous version. Doc is too egotistical to work for anyone else, is unemployed, has a bunch of operations to try and restore his hands, becomes an alcoholic and a drifter.

The alcoholism isn't specifically mentioned in the original version, but could be implied by Doc's sorry state. Doc then eavesdrops on a pair of sailors talking about a mysterious old duffer called The Ancient One who can fix anything without using duck tape. I gotta say, Adkins' sailors look a whole lot cooler than Ditko's. Adkins pays homage by using some of the details from the original image although he switched those details around a bit. The giant earring is a nice pirate-y touch! Doc even has a cigarette hanging out of his mouth in both versions.

You and Dan then insert some details of Doc's journey to The Ancient One's pad. He includes a beautiful two page spread that is unfortunately broken up by a border through the middle. I don't know if this was an artistic choice or was the cheap printing process used at the time not precise enough to line things up correctly over the spine.

Doc makes it to the old guy's pad. The Ancient One is presented as much more sinister and he has a more impressive throne. He also gets much more dramatic lighting. Was Adkins a frustrated cinematographer at heart?

The Ancient One then levitates Doc and reads his mind. This version is told in a more linear fashion so the preceding events weren't a flashback. The Ancient One says he can't heal Doc's hands but offers to allow Doc to study with him. Doc naturally refuses, but is stuck at the old guy's pad until the snow falls. The Ancient One's attempt at a joke is omitted in the retelling.

The Ancient One then summons the receptionist, er, his student Mordo to take Doc to his room. Mordo is definitely more intimidating than in the previous version highlighting his greater size.

As in the previous version, Doc is bored and wanders around when he stumbles onto Mordo being a bad boy. Mordo realizes this isn't a good thing and casts a spell to prevent Doc from ratting him out. As before, the spell can't stop him from talking about everything or else the old dude will get suspicious. Mordo proceeds with his attack on The Ancient One. The mode of attack changes from The Vapors of Valtorr to The Flames of the Faltine and Adkins uses an entire page to depict this.

The order things changes a bit here. In the Ditko version, Doc sees the attack on The Ancient One first and then stumbles across Mordo being naughty which is when he casts the gag spell. The reverse happens in the retelling. The Ancient One dispels the flames. Doc is like "I gotta get in on this" which the old guy accepts and removes Mordo's spell. He then reveals that he has been aware that Mordo is a bad little boy and it's best to hold onto him where he can keep an eye on him. Doc's reminiscing ends as he hears The Ancient One scream. It was very polite of him to wait until his memory reached the end of the tale. What is in store for Doc next issue?

Like I mentioned at the start, I don't know if this is lazy or brilliant, but it is very well done. It's mostly faithful to the Lee/Ditko original with enough embellishment to make it more realistic and flow better. There's only so much that can be accomplished in eight pages. Adkin's illustration's are more than Ditko's using more shading and abstract color. His more imaginative panel layout also helps and gives us more expansive views of the action. This story being mostly grounded in a real location plays to Adkin's skills. Ditko still wins by a mile when it comes to weird. Roy Thomas inserts a few elements that will grow to plot points in future arcs. It's a great job overall.

I can't wait for the return of Nightmare. It's been far too long since we've seen him.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Sean Durns

The United States is facing a munitions crisis. America’s defense industrial base is a shadow of its former self, and conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine have fed growing concerns about a rapidly depleting stockpile. Fortunately, our ally Israel has a potential solution.

The risk is clear: Were a major war to break out with China, the U.S. might well run out of munitions within the first few weeks of combat operations. Wars in Europe and the Middle East have already put pressure on an already stressed defense industrial base. And policymakers have taken notice.

In January 2023, Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro warned that if the U.S. defense industry didn’t boost production, arming both the U.S. and Ukraine would become “challenging.” Indeed, the U.S. is in such dire need of munitions that it has dipped into stockpiles in South Korea and Israel, among other places, to help arm Ukraine.

Various factors have contributed to the munitions shortage: bureaucratic red tape, a decline in the number of prime contractors, and a budget and appropriations process that discourages upfront investments that are necessary to strengthen the defense industrial base. It is a problem that won’t be fixed overnight. 

But Israel has pointed to a temporary solution that can help.

The Israeli government intends to ramp up its domestic manufacturing of important armaments, including munitions. In so doing, Israel will gain greater self-reliance, and the U.S. will get some much-needed breathing room to focus on its own munitions needs.

In January 2024, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Jewish state is “preparing the defense industries to disconnect from dependency on the rest of the world.” Netanyahu noted the recent war with Hamas had resulted in surging defense spending and that the Israeli government “will have to invest in a multi-year plan to free Israel from dependence on external purchases.” It would be, he acknowledged, a vast and costly undertaking. 

Yaakov Lapin, an Israel-based military affairs correspondent, recently highlighted that “Israel has begun shifting toward greater domestic ammunition production.” Israel’s Ministry of Defense has already begun reaching out to local defense companies to boost production. Artillery shells, sophisticated guided air-to-ground munitions, and interceptors for Israel’s vaunted Iron Dome are all slated to be built domestically.

Yet not everything can be produced on Israeli soil. Numerous weapons systems used by Israel, including aircraft, will continue to be manufactured in the U.S., giving Americans jobs. And revolutionary defense technology developed in Israel with U.S. assistance, such as the Iron Dome, is often shared with Americans.

Israel’s decision to bring some production home will create jobs for Israelis. It will also make them less reliant on the U.S. The Jewish state faces a precarious security environment, virtually surrounded by Iranian-backed proxies that seek its destruction. By having key armaments on hand, Israel will be better prepared for future battles and future wars. It will also grant greater flexibility to Israeli decision-makers.

The U.S. stands to benefit too.

By having key allies step up and take on more of the defense burden, Washington will be able to focus on growing threats in the Indo-Pacific. 

[coutelier]

Here's the whole first 2,000 words of a new short story, which does contain spoilers and bit of a summary for what happens in Irongate (on Kindle, and next month will be released on many other stores through Draft2Digital) as its set shortly after:

A graphic on the news showed a green cloud spreading from Irongate, like the tendrils of some vast eldritch terror gripping the Earth. A ‘terrorist’, as it was reported, had turned synthetic organisms intended to purify pollutants in our atmosphere into a mutagen intended to destroy all humanity. An anonymous source had leaked details of a vaccine to every lab and university on the planet, but much of the mutagen had ascended to the mesosphere, could descend anywhere, potentially mutate and evolve unpredictably. The source of it all had been the company Stag Corp, a subsidiary of Meridiem who had promised a full investigation into the rogue CEO and were offering whatever aid they could to governments and militaries to contain any outbreaks. They had acted quickly to capitalize on the situation, almost as if they’d known it would happen. The only thing certain was that the world would never be the same, but life - in whatever form it took - would go on. The advice for now was to stay indoors.

So it was that even as the networks competed to be the first to report the fall of civilization, Jennifer Airhart reassembled a music box amid the clutter that spanned the circumference of her workshop. The fair haired lighthouse keeper had been alone since the disappearance of her parents - while working for the aforementioned companies - but recent events had left her with an eleven - nearly twelve - year old ward. Tenley Tych flitted side to side of her, asking every minute, “is it fixed yet?”

“Almost,” Jenn sighed wearily each time, adjusting her magnifying lens as she tweezered another cog into place. Yet she smiled, in truth enjoying this project. Usually she tinkered with robots, computers, other devices much of whose operations were invisible to the naked eye and for all most knew might as well have been powered by pixies. There was something very satisfying about being to see how every part of a machine fitted, how every component worked together. It felt so much more real. For the first time since her parents had left her, it felt like there was life here.

Tenley did another circle of the room, curiously regarding the other contraptions inside. The most recent - that Jenn had just started that day - was a metallic ring, a couple of feet across, stood vertically on one of the benches. Stag Corp and Meridiem had been hiding many things, including the existence of a type of hyperspace - The Witch Way. But exploring it had been slow since anything from our realm that went in was instantly crushed and annihilated. The one being they’d created that had survived and learned to navigate that space they couldn’t control, and now she was gone and her secrets with her.

Still there was no need to rush with that. At Tenley’s insistence Jenn had prioritized the music box and at long last began closing it up, the black haired tween practically bouncing as she waited to see if the operation had been a success.

 Tenley piped excitedly, “you need to wind it up!”

“Oh,” Jennifer nodded as if she’d been expecting just to push a button, “all right.” She cleared her throat, looked sternly down on the box, and began wagging her finger, “you miserable music box! Bet you couldn’t play a tune if it was just one note over and over! A singing sea bass has more artistic merit than you!”

Tenley’s head tilted, dark eyes glowering at Jennifer who pushed on undeterred:

“Your mother was a shoe-box, and your dad was a glass armonica!”

The tween blinked at her three times then stated flatly, “you’re not funny.”

“Aww, come on,” Jenn inhaled, glancing up at the growing tendrils on the monitor, “who knows if there’ll ever be a chance to use that one again.”

It would all blow over soon, she was sure; or at least the news would lose interest once it became clear it was going to take a much longer time before anything really dramatic happened and they went back to animals on skateboards. Sighing she wound the box up again - this time using the key - rolling her chair back to allow Tenley to see as the lid popped open and a blue fairy stood up and danced, pirouetting round and around to the dulcet chimes.

An immediate change came over Tenley; every muscle in the child’s body loosening at once, eyes drooping as she cradled the box, slumping into a swivel chair as the fairy transported her to another realm where the troubles of this one couldn’t harm her. It was still strange to Jennifer that Tenley really was just a kid, yet a kid capable of punching a hole in her chest, grabbing her spine, and pulling her inside out in under a second. Therefore although it warmed Jenn’s heart to see the girl so peaceful, she resisted the urge to hug unbidden.

She did ask, “why is that box so important?”

Tenley rolled her head back to rest on the pad of her chair, nostrils rising and deflating before she softly answered, “I just can’t sleep without it.”

Of the things Tenley had taken from her old home to the lighthouse - the box, a couple of Dinosaurs, one doll, a few books - it was clear the box was very special to her. Jenn didn’t push to find out why, knowing the girl felt a jumble of sometimes contradictory emotions about her old life being raised alone by a militant mother. She instead relaxed into her own seat, reflecting, “I used to have a teddy bear to help me sleep. One that would play tunes when you pressed her paw. I called her Candy because she had a scarf with red and white stripes.”

“What happened to her?” Tenley yawned.

“You know, I’m not really sure. But I suspect, well, mother was always trying to get me to throw things away. She thought I collected too much junk.”

Tenley’s dark eyes surveyed the interior of the lighthouse; benches loaded with bots in various states of repair, tools, microscopes and other devices whose function she couldn’t even guess at, monitors on every wall, thick wires and cables dangling everywhere. “No? Really?”

“Hm-hm. So, when I was ten a lot of my old toys started disappearing. I fear poor Candy was just one of the casualties of my mother’s purge,” Jenn sagged sulkily, still bitter.

“I don’t ever want kids,” Tenley admitted, “it seems moms always just end up hurting them.”

“I’m sure they mean well. Usually,” Jenn spun her chair around, peering through one of the monitors. There were already people blaming what had happened on everything from aliens to trans rights activists. It would have been a sad, disheartening indictment on the state of humanity, but Jenn’s glassy blue eyes narrowed as if trying to focus on something far more distant. “But I suppose that wasn’t really my family,” she whispered, “I’m not really me.”

Then Tenley peered confusedly and a little bit annoyed at her, “what are you going on about? Of course you’re you. Who else would you be?” In her mind it was that simple, and after all this was the only Jennifer she had ever known. But her adopted adult continued to stare away.

“I was just made to replace someone else.”

Which was sad - that a kid had died a long time ago - but Tenley didn’t see how it made her Jennifer less of a person. She did see, however, that Jenn was likely to mull on it for a long, long time, unless someone stopped her. “Alright,” the music box snapped shut and was put aside, “that’s enough, okay? Let’s go get ice cream.”

Jenn shook her head, unclear if she even heard Tenley at this point. “Years I spent waiting for my parents to come home, but all those memories might have just been a lie…”

Tenley groaned in growing frustration, “you’re just making yourself sad.”

Jennifer still only saw fog. “Did they really care about me at all, or was I just an experiment…”

“Oh for heaven’s sake,” Tenley sprung to her feet, and in a desperate bid to pull them both back from an evening of maudlin existential anguish, grabbed a spanner and threw it at the metal ring.

She didn’t think she had thrown it that hard, but for Tenley ‘not hard’ was a knock-out blow to a heavyweight boxer. The metal ring clanged and hummed, and like a bubble bursting in reverse a sphere formed inside it. Tenley quickly took hold of a desk as loose wires whipped up and small and the very air in the room began being sucked into the portal. This emergency did grab all of Jennifer’s attention, as she had to duck to avoid a hammer whizzing past her, so in that regard the plan had been a complete success.

As Tenley held on, Jenn pulled herself along the floor by a cable until she could reach the switches and yank out the wires powering the device. It was to no avail. “What?!” She blinked in astonishment at a monitor, straining against the wind, “it’s drawing power from the other side! Maybe if I invert this waveform…” a little keyboard tapping and the bubble popped out of existence just as quickly as it appeared. With a relieved sigh Jenn stood, patting down her loose messy hair and blouse. “Please warn me if you’re going to do anything like that again.”

In her old home Tenley would have expected a far harsher response. She opened her mouth to answer, perhaps even issue an apology, only to be interrupted by a muffled trilling ring. Scrunching her face she asked, “what is that?”

Jenn squinted confusedly at a spot under the lighthouse’s winding stairs. “The telephone?” She wondered. It definitely was, but, “the old telephone…” pushing aside some junk she revealed a dark box attached to the wall with an old dial and handset hanging on the side. She then stood back, twiddling her fingers as it continued to ring and shake, seeming unsure what to do. Eventually she turned to Tenley, “I-I suppose you’ve never seen a phone like this. To call someone you had to put your finger in there and spin it around to here.”

“I know how a phone works,” Tenley puffed, folding her arms over her chest, “I’ve seen old movies. And you’re not actually that much older than me, you know. Trying to act like you’re some wizened old crone who rode to school on a Woolly Mammoth or something.”

“Sorry.”

“Are you going to answer it? The noise is really annoying.”

“I didn’t know it was still connected,” Jenn bit her lip, now tapping her fingernails, “I mean, it’s probably just scammers or telemarketers. There’s no one else who would have this number.”

“But you won’t know unless you answer,” Tenley pointed out.

“You don’t understand - those people are pushy! It can take hours to find a way to wriggle out of the conversation.”

Tenley was continually baffled by how someone as clever as Jenn was also completely hopeless. “If it’s a scammer,” she sighed impatiently, “you just tell them to get lost, then hang up.”

“I-I,” Jennifer flushed and shifted nervously, aware that she was by all appearances the adult, but, “I just can’t do that. I can’t be rude to strangers. It’s just not how I was raised, I suppose.”

“What’s rude is people calling you at home to try and trick you out of money.”

“I’m sure they don’t really want to. They’re just forced into it by their economic circumstances.”

“And they’ll be used to people hanging up all the time. Why do you worry so much about everything?”

“I-I—”

“Fine. I’ll do it.”

“W-wait,” Jennifer meekly lifted a hand, but there was no stopping the determined tween. “Don’t be rude!”

Rolling her eyes, Tenley lifted the handset and politely spoke, “Airhart Retirement Home. What the hell do you want?” The response was silence. Tenley thought the ancient thing must be broken, until she saw Jenn making circular motions with her fingers.

“Other… other way round,” she muttered, “the wire should be at the bottom.”

With another eye roll Tenley turned the handset the right way up. “Hello—” she leapt back, dropping it as a high-pitched whistle pierced her ear. Even Jenn had to cover hers as shrieking filled the lighthouse. Since its construction all the systems in the lighthouse were connected to Irongate University’s AI experiment - HULL - so although struggling once again to reach a screen, Jenn was able to analyze the signal.

“Looks like whatever’s coming through is unusually high energy,” Jenn winced, unsure if her ears were bleeding as she rapidly tapped keys, “trying to compensate… there!”

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WORK ETHIC AND MACHINE

More movement or even potential movement between companies introduced more competition in salaries. That m. Someone arguing against the tone of something he disagrees with may believe he's really saying something. And if the performance of the algorithm described in A Plan for Spam filter, all these tokens would have had the same shape. Or it could be because it's clearer in the sciences that heresy pays off. The urge to look corporate—sleek, commanding, prudent, yet with just a touch of hubris on your well-cut sleeve—is an unexpected development in a time machine, one thing would be true no matter where you went: you'd have to watch what you said. When I read most novels, I pay as much attention to the error on an idea as to the idea of being mistaken. It's that it tends to obscure the underlying reality, the more wealth you generate. Err on the side of doing things where you'll face competitors. Version 2 was higher resolution: there were more companies, of more different sizes, making more different things, and since they were all aiming at the middle of the century our two big forces intersect, in the sense that the decisions you make have a big effect. Everyone thinks Google is going to be hard to imagine a more perfectly targeted counterattack on spammers.

But before we hired a PR firm. I used to like going to school every day. 6 is starting to appear in the mainstream media came from. There is one other job besides sales where big companies can hire first-rate people: in the top management jobs. Let's take a look inside the brain of the pointy-haired boss right, for example, to want to use a forum with a lot of money. In a rapidly growing market, you don't need to raise money, you can get away with working as if the important thing were becoming a member of an institution. Especially since tone is so hard to judge. That doesn't seem so hard, does it?

Almost four decades later, fragmentation is still increasing. A symbol type. Most towns with personality are old, but already everyone in the Valley is watching them. The Spitfire was optimism embodied. And the boneheads who designed this stove even had an example of one of the problems with the current email system is that it's harder for them to average their work together with them on projects, you'll end up producing not just organic ideas, but that they were onto something. It was like the floor dropped out. He invented television. A copy of Time costs $5 for 58 pages, or 8. Think about what it means to be biased against applicants of type x who do make it through.

But when you do this, and stupidly, as we found, causes CEOs to take red-eyes. Business is broken the same way the movement of the earth is invisible to all of us riding on it. You have a lot of macros, and I didn't know much about mail headers then, and they can choose those rare companies, like Google, that will actually benefit from the giant sums they're compelled to invest. That seems obvious to any ambitious person now. Spam, and what we ended up with was qualitatively different. So although a lot of stories about successful startups that began when the founders had what seemed a crazy idea but just knew it was important to have the right kind of business, someone who really devoted himself to work could generate ten or even a hundred times as much wealth as an average employee. At YC we call ideas that grow naturally out of the big successes have two or three founders sitting around a kitchen table deciding to start a startup, you're not just trying to solve problems no one has. We know there's room for the first time something was a bad one, though.

[jcmarchi]

Four Ways AI Helps Emerging E-Commerce Platforms Compete with Major Game Distributors

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/four-ways-ai-helps-emerging-e-commerce-platforms-compete-with-major-game-distributors/

Four Ways AI Helps Emerging E-Commerce Platforms Compete with Major Game Distributors

Over the past 12 years, computer and video game distribution strategies have undergone a seismic shift. Sales of digital games exceeded those of physical copies for the first time in 2013, and the trend was further accelerated by the 2020 lockdowns. In Italy, for example, the first week of confinement led digital game downloads to skyrocket by 174.9%.

Looking ahead, the market is poised to continue growing, with Statista projecting it will grow at a CAGR of 5.76% between now and 2027, eventually reaching a market volume of $25.4 billion by the end of that year. 

Despite this, competition remains fierce. The digital games market is dominated by only a handful of platforms, and with 94% of spending taking place digitally, that leaves very little room for new entrants. Established players — such as Steam and Epic Games Store in the PC sphere — take advantage of this to impose hefty fees on publishers. 

For these major entities, integrating AI into their operations is second-nature. However, for smaller, emerging platforms, AI could be a game-changer — one that allows them to challenge the incumbent oligopoly. 

While replicating successful AI implementations requires careful consideration of platform-specific characteristics and operational contexts, here are four ways in which AI can help fledgling e-commerce companies compete with digital distribution giants. 

#1: Enhancing fraud detection

On gaming platforms, fraud happens at a much larger scale — and more recurrently — than in other e-commerce verticals. Given its capacity to process and analyze vast amounts of transaction data, AI’s algorithms can promptly identify suspicious patterns or anomalies. 

By scouring through extensive transaction databases, machine learning algorithms can adapt and recognize fraudulent operations, ranging from uncommon user behaviors to irregular payment schemes and purchases from atypical geographic regions. 

In traditional rule-based systems, some of these indicators might go unnoticed, hindering a company’s ability to detect fraud and exposing it to potential financial losses. 

At our company, by implementing AI-powered software — developed by a third party — we have prevented approximately 95% of fraudulent transactions. We also work hand-in-hand with technology. Once an operation is flagged as dubious, our manager personally reviews it. Digital game keys are not released to the buyer until the purchase has been manually approved by our manager. 

#2: Streamlining Customer Support Queries

In e-commerce, AI-powered chatbots are one of the most common applications of artificial intelligence. 

Since there are many solutions in the market already, chatbots are relatively easy to implement, even without historical data. Because they can learn from user interactions, chatbots yield results practically right away, and help companies reduce their need for customer support staff. 

Additionally, they free up time for the existing customer support agents. 

In our experience, most queries received — around 70% — are pretty simple and repetitive. Examples include:

Is the game available for purchase?

When can I receive the game key?

How do I activate my license key? 

What is the status of my order?

In 80% of these cases, our AI bots have been quite successful at helping our users without needing to transfer them to a live operator. Thus, we can say that our bots cover roughly 56% of our incoming support requests, liberating valuable resources that were previously poured into support staff so that we can use them elsewhere in the company to enhance our growth. 

#3: Identifying UX conversion-driving patterns

A common dilemma e-commerce-oriented business owners face is identifying those factors that successfully drive conversion and those that don’t. 

This is another area where AI can help, by collecting user data that pinpoints recurring behavioral patterns that either lead or deter conversions. Based on this data, companies can make UX-centered adjustments to their website. 

Additionally, AI can create customer segments that boost the effectiveness of marketing efforts. Since it can create user profiles across various dimensions, AI can uncover connections and group look-alike segments that might not be obvious through manual reviews. For example, customers who purchase GTA 5 may also be interested in games from a different genre that, in principle, bears no relation to GTA 5. 

To facilitate this, we have implemented a third-party AI personalization solution from Retail Rocket. By leveraging historical customer purchase data, this tool helps us accomplish several tasks, such as providing personalized product recommendations — both on our website and through email — and identifying relationships between products, enabling us to suggest complementary purchases. 

Additionally, we can also time our customers’ next potential purchase. This also improves our timing for marketing messages. All in all, we can proudly say that these efforts have bolstered our sales via marketing channels by approximately 15%. 

#4: Forecasting sales

Given the time-sensitive nature of the gaming industry — for instance, Steam imposes constraints on how many keys publishers can generate — effective forecasting is key. 

Here, we have implemented a straightforward AI model that is based on two primary methods: time series forecasting and regression analysis. 

By detecting patterns, the former helps us predict future sales figures and adapt to seasonality, which is an important factor in the gaming field. On the other hand, the latter assists our team in establishing relationships between sales data and other variables — demographics, pricing, product categories, and more. 

Since there are wide divergences in these parameters — for example, there are sports games released annually, such as those by EA Sports, and other strategy games that span across decades — getting these critical factors right is of paramount importance for accurate forecasting. 

We first started with this in the spring of 2024, so, as of now, our results are similar to what we were achieving without AI. However, we expect that as we further calibrate and refine our model, and accumulate more historical data, our accuracy will significantly improve over time. 

Final thoughts

In some fields, such as gaming, AI can become a democratizing factor — one that enables emerging, high-potential platforms to compete with established behemoths. 

Having said this, to fully realize its potential, it is not so much about simply integrating AI for the sake of it, but about doing it right. 

For smaller companies that cannot afford to maintain an in-house team of AI specialists, a viable solution is to utilize existing third-party software. Some of these ready-made solutions can be used by regular developers, even if they are not specialized in AI. 

My suggestion is that you do not transition all of your workload right away to AI. Instead, take a gradual approach. For example, ask AI to handle 10% of user queries, or to dynamically price 10% of your products. 

Last but not least, maintain the human touch. Having people review the quality of AI’s support can be very beneficial. As AI proves its worth, you can expand its scope within your organization. 

[gardengarchivesofdoom]

Blog #1 - Lose yourself to plants

This post will just be an introduction to the plants I have right now. I want this blog to be like a journal where I make weekly updates on the state of my plants and what's happening to them. Posts after this will most likely be way shorter, just including pictures and notes on the plants.

This year I decided to start a bit early. The weather has been great the past few weeks and it bring me in a great mood to start working on the balcony again. The store I usually buy plants from doesn't sell outside plants anymore so I had to find a new place to buy them. I did find an amazing replacement for that previous store. I'd say they're way better that the previous one. It's like half an hour by bike but it's worth it's totally worth it.

Anyway, introducing our plants of this year:

Name: Trachella Species: Trachelospermum Planted on: Match 8th 2024

Since I have a trellis I wanted another climbing plant for it. I chose her because she only needs partial sun, doesn't get too big and also because she can't handle temperatures under -10 'C so she probably won't survive the winter. I'm not sure yet if it's a good idea for me to have to potentially huge plant on my balcony that I might have to remove when it gets too big, so I'm still playing it save for now. I just hope she'll look great on that trellis!

________________________________________________________

Name: Cynthia Species: Hydrangea macrophylla Planted on: June 4th 2023

Hydrangea macrophylla are very hardy plants. Cynthia here has survived the whole winter without needing any tending to. She's the successor of another Hydrangea I had. They were the only casualty in the battle against the neighbor's cat, which I creatively called "Balcony cat", who was ravaging our once peaceful garden for months. It was their second year here but they died before the battle against Balcony Cat was resolved. Cynthia is already doing a great job following up her predecessor and I hope she'll continue to do great this year!

She might look a bit awkward with that empty space next to her, but that's because her previous plant-mate was a single-year plant. I still need to find a new plant to keep her company, but I want it to be another single year plant. I want Cynthia to grow as big as possible, so there might eventually not be enough room for two plants in the planter. I just want to be ready for that.

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Name: Cammy Species: Campanula Portenschlagiana Planted on: June 4th 2023

Cammy is the second plant returning from last year. Plants like her are usually found on mountains growing between the rocks, so it's no surprise she survived the winter easily. She has a lot of space because I hope she'll grow into it and we'll have a nice patch filling the entire planter.

There's not much history to tell on her because she's always just vibing in the background. Minding her business and doing just fine.

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Name: Victor Species: Vinca minor "Alba" Planted on: Match 8th 2024

I picked Victor because I thought he'd look really good in the planter on the drainpipe. I think he'd look beautiful with the stems hanging from the side. But two years in a row now, every plant on the drainpipe gotten infested with aphids. I don't know if I've just gotten unlucky and an aphid just happens to get blown onto my plants or that I bought plants with aphids on them. Either way, I hope just hope that I won't have to deal with them this year and that Victor will be spared from the aphid curse.

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There's still a plant that I haven't introduced yet, but that's because I haven't planted it yet. I'll probably introduce it next update since I don't want to postpone posting this post any longer than it needs to be. I don't want to fall into the same trap I did last year.

So, see you next week!

[myresellerhome]

Custom website design and development

Your brand's website can attract or repel visitors in seconds on the broad and ever-changing internet. In today's competitive digital market, generic designs hide a business's uniqueness. Designing and developing custom websites enhances the company's image. Imagine your brand's digital home reflecting its values, vision, and identity in every pixel and code. Your company may impress with a customized website. This article discusses custom website design and development. Let's begin.

What exactly is custom website development, and why do you need it? 

Custom web development means making a website that fits your brand, business goals, or goods or services. 

A custom website is more complex and uniquely yours than a normal website. Custom websites are made just for your business, unlike already-made ones. Every company wants to be different from its rivals and get an edge over them. 

Yes, a company that makes unique websites can help you do that. Thousands of pre-made templates can help you build a website, but if you want something truly unique, you should go with a custom method. 

Custom web development is much better than using themes already made. Let's look at why custom web development is a good choice.

Why custom web development is the best choice?

A custom website creation company will work with you to ensure your business has the best website possible. With custom creation, you get exactly what you need for your business and do what the client wants. 

With a unique approach, you can get a scalable, interactive, user-focused website ready for business. This will bring people to your website, turn them into customers, and increase your return on investment (ROI). 

Provides Uniqueness. 

One great thing about custom website creation services is that they make websites that are unique. Customers are always looking for better, more personalized websites that are easy to connect to. 

Our main competitor may also use the same theme if we use an already-made website template. It will make our customers need to decide which name to choose. 

On the other hand, custom development focuses on a user interface that stands out, better speed, and a clear brand voice. With these, you can give your business a unique style that speaks to people who visit and buy from you. 

So, a custom web development business can make all the difference for you. It can help you make your brand stand out from others in the same field, giving your site visitors a unique experience. 

Ensures strengthened branding. 

Each business must have a look that fits with its brand message. To stand out, you need a website that isn't like any other; a different approach is required in order for you to do it. Hiring a custom web development service company is one way to meet your needs. 

These people can help you change the website to make it unique and easy for people to use, which will help you build trust with potential customers. A website that people trust always makes the business stronger. 

Allows future growth 

Keeping a website template up to date and in good shape can be hard. You might run into problems like adding and removing pages. Also, the code might be hard to understand or keep up to date when you need to. As a result, adding more pages to your website could become problematic as your business grows. 

For those who choose custom creation, you can change your website or even rebuild it at any time. Custom creation lets you grow. Because custom sites are changeable, they can change as your brand does. 

When you use the custom development method, you can build the website in a way that leaves room for subsequent versions or changes. It can help you meet your business's needs in the future. 

Perfect for complex websites. 

You can't use a template-based method if you want to start building an e-commerce website. Why? Because e-commerce websites must be customized a lot, like adding different tools, functions, third-party apps, etc. 

That's why custom web creation is the best option. Simply put, a custom development method is great for websites that need help understanding. There is no question why large companies choose custom web application creation services for building their websites. 

Focused development on customers 

When you build a website with the customer in mind, you have a better chance of success. A website focused on the customer makes it easier and more effective for them to interact with your website. 

A custom-designed website is made to get more people to interact with it and to draw attention to the most important parts that help people understand the brand better. 

Offers the best user experience 

A better user experience is now very important for both search engines and buyers. When you build a website with your dream customers in mind, you give your visitors a great experience. Customers are more likely to choose your business over others if they have a good user experience. 

Full of SEO 

Google likes websites that are tailored to people's needs more. That means that custom web development can help your site rise higher. This is because everyone can use your website faster and better on all devices. The list includes computers, laptops, cell phones, tablets, and more. 

If your website gets higher, it has a better chance of reaching the people you want to reach, which leads to more conversions. A custom web creation company can help you make a website for your business that is good for SEO. The market does have a lot of web creation service providers, though. This blog post tells you what to think about before choosing a web development company so that you can pick a good one. 

Being flexible 

These days, everything is always changing, including the digital world, technology, and, most importantly, what people want. This is where custom creation comes in handy. There is a lot of freedom with custom web creation. In other words, you can quickly change your site to meet your customers' changing needs or goals. 

Best Security in Its Class 

The security of websites is more critical than it has ever been. That is more secure if you have your own website. Standard security technology (SSL) and other security measures are built into the website that a custom web development firm makes for you. This automatically lowers the risk of a data breach. Your site will be better and more secure this way.

How can you tell if following tradition is the right thing to do? 

You'll need to think about a few things before deciding whether to go with a custom method or not. 

You should be aware of the goals that you have for your company. What do you want your websites to do? Take some time to think about this before you look at them. It's not the same if you need a website for shopping reasons or to build your brand. 

Make a plan. No matter if it's a house or a website, every job needs to be well planned. Once you know your business goals, think about who you want to reach. Why will your website help people who are having trouble? When it comes to your buyers, where does the website fit in? 

Do you have a budget? The price of your website is mostly based on how much money you have. And remember to include the hosting prices, themes, domain names, etc., that you must repeatedly pay for. 

Check it out. You should be able to learn everything you need from the information presented above. Now is the time to examine the two approaches offered and the ideas that go with them. Right now, your computer is the most helpful thing you have. You can Google anything about a business, from reviews and ratings to the pros and cons of their tools. 

Would you rather have custom web development or a website template? 

You need to know why custom web development is a good choice for your business. We recommend custom web-building services if you still need to decide which one to pick. This is because a website made from scratch looks better than one made from pre-made themes. 

A few important things will help us see the difference between the two. 

Plan your budget 

As a new business owner, you want to focus your resources on the most important things. With a pre-built website template, you can quickly and cheaply make a website that does what you need it to do. In this case, custom web creation might cost a little more. So, if you are on a tight budget, the website template is the best choice. 

Due date 

You don't need to know a lot of complicated code to use a pre-made website design. It speeds up the process of making a website. Custom web creation may not be the best way to meet the unique needs of your business. 

How Tech-savvy are you? 

Without a doubt, a template is much more useful in this case. But it makes it harder for you to reach your work goals. It could make your website look like the ones of your rivals. Still, it's helpful if you're building your site by hand and need to learn more about code. 

Why use a pre-made template if you need to be more tech-savvy? You can still choose custom web creation services to ensure the website meets your business's needs and goals. 

You can hire a custom web application creation company or a template company to make a website for your business. Ultimately, it depends on the size and needs of your business and project.

Conclusion

Custom website design and development give companies a one-of-a-kind chance to build a strong online presence that fits with their brand and values. Companies that work with skilled professionals can ensure that their websites meet specific goals and objectives and that users have an easy time. Businesses can stand out in the digital world and get more customers by being able to change everything from the style and colors scheme to the functions and features.

Janet Watson MyResellerHome MyResellerhome.com We offer experienced web hosting services that are customized to your specific requirements.

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[nickerson-insurance-agency]

Nickerson Insurance Agency

Recent news coverage has focused frequently on the ever-increasing cost of auto insurance.

In southeast Connecticut, drivers can choose from a plethora of auto insurance providers. The major communities in Connecticut, such as Waterford, Stonington, Groton, New London, and Norwich, have benefited the most from the current real estate boom auto insurance company in ct The inhabitants of Connecticut come from all walks of life and every corner of the globe.

There are a lot of tourist hotspots in southeast Connecticut, so visitors should be prepared to wait in line for a while. There can be no slack time. Traveling from the state's northern to southern regions may be difficult. To view the beautiful New England fall foliage and beaches, you'll need a reliable vehicle and insurance. Both during the course of a typical workday and in one's free time, this holds true.

The crime rate is higher in urban regions since there are more people living there. It appears that there is a growing trend of careless drivers that imperil individuals in their cars. You endanger yourself and other motorists when you drive without a valid license. This type of protection is only available through a licensed insurance agent or broker. Therefore, it's crucial to get car insurance that also covers passengers. In light of the high cost of emergency room visits following accidents, the charge quoted above seems fair. If this problem could be resolved, car trips with the family would be much more pleasurable.

Nickerson Insurance accepts drivers of all ages and experience levels. We're available at any hour of the day or night, so don't hesitate to call. Feel free to get in touch with me if you have any queries or if I can help you find a car or affordable car insurance. You shouldn't wait any longer to have that conversation. Now that you or your adolescent has your driver's license, it's important to talk to your insurance agent about making any necessary adjustments to your auto coverage or answering any questions you may have. If your sick child needs extensive medical care, your family's financial security may be put to the test.

 Customers can relax, knowing that their trips will go off without a hitch. Nickerson Insurance is available to assist you with any questions or issues you may have regarding your insurance coverage. If you live in or around Hartford and are in the market for cheap car insurance, two good places to start are Affordable Auto Insurance Company and automobile Insurance Brokers. Don't be shy about asking for a discount if you think you deserve one. Don't throw away potential ways of saving cash. Don't be shy about asking for a discount if you think you deserve one. The coupon system is a progressive aspect of current banking practices.

Nickerson Insurance serves a large number of Connecticut residents from its Waterford location. Consult a professional if you need help figuring out your insurance needs. We've worked hard to establish ourselves as Waterford, Connecticut's go-to insurance agency. The quality of our offerings has improved dramatically as a result of these two adjustments. Our customer isn't restricted to the residents of Stonington and Waterford; they come from all over the country to shop with us. We'll help you get the minimal required auto insurance coverage. Use the work we've put in for your benefit. We can't relax till this crucial step is taken. If we knew the true value of our labor, everything would change.

It is a great privilege to have been selected as your insurance provider in the United States. Our dedication to superior service has earned the trust of our clientele. We will spare no effort to ensure your safety. We guarantee that we will always go above and beyond your expectations. As a result, we're going to make every effort to ensure success. Because we know that every driver has their own preferences and needs, we've made it easy to choose from a wide variety of options. The families of those killed in yesterday's terrible highway accident are in our thoughts and prayers. Don't wait any longer; the time to act is now. Nickerson Insurance Agency provides no-cost, no-commitment insurance quotes. Our competitors' prices tend to be higher, but ours tend to be lower. Nickerson Insurance Agency is your go-to source for reliable vehicle insurance in Waterford and all of Connecticut. You can now proceed with the business deal thanks to this renewed assurance. In all the years we've been in operation, we've never had to resort to aggressively seeking out new clients. There will be no changes to the pricing or quality. Many customers come from far away in order to take advantage of our low prices, large inventory, and central location.

Don't lend someone your car if you suspect they'll use it to gamble away your money. Nickerson Insurance Agency offers competitively priced and all-encompassing auto insurance policies. Waterford and Stonington have reached a conclusive agreement. A pioneer in the American insurance industry since its founding in 1932, Nickerson is a household name. If you need help finding cheap car insurance, we're here to help. If you don't provide me further information, I can't help.

[ltvspot]

Momcozy: Catchy funnels & comfy products that moms can’t resist

- LTV SPOT: an honest review

We don’t teach you how to think outside of the box, but how to get rid of the box altogether.

In 10 minutes or less, here’s what you’re discovering:

Knowing your customer wasn’t just a test question in marketing class — it’s the best way to reach and convert them effectively.

How even DTC eCommerce brands with a relatively niche potential customer base can leverage their customer insights to grow a product line outside of their original offering.

Product recalls can have a massive effect on DTC brands — so you need a crisis response team ready at a moment’s notice.

Establishing your brand as a trusted friend and source of information can help increase LTV and create loyalty among your customer base.

Why financial metrics and ratios matter, and can signal a path to success, stagnation, or failure.

Momcozy’s Incredible Growth

Company Name: Momcozy

Founders: Athena Pan

Country: United States

Nº of employees: 200

Funding Amount: Privately held

Revenue: <$5mm

Specific cause of success: Products, campaigns, and funnels that address major pain points with their target customer

Extra:

Monthly Similar Web Traffic: 168,610

FB Ad Library: Momcozy FB ad library

Link to Hero Product: Momcozy V2 Hands-Free Breast Pump

AOV (estimate): $250

LTV (estimate): $500

CAC (estimate): $80

Momcozy’s Metrics Explained:

Based on the Momcozy Facebook ad library, their most advertised item is the V2 Hands-Free Breast Pump. This product costs just under $199, and based on the breadth of products offered, we can assume that at least 30% of customers add another $60 item to their cart + a $30 bump before checking out. This would give an AOV of around $250.

While the breast pumps aren’t likely to be purchased again, a converted customer will likely buy more breast milk storage bags, or perhaps a baby gate, bamboo baby wipes, or even the baby monitor that is offered by Momcozy. We can estimate the LTV at $500 per customer with these additional purchases.

Based on metrics from the DTC Index, we can estimate that the CAC for Momcozy is likely around $80. This puts their LTV:CAC ratio at 6.25:1, which greatly exceeds the industry benchmark of 3:1.

With industry-standard costs and current shipping rates, Momcozy’s cost of goods sold (COGS) and shipping should be no more than $70, which puts their profit margins at a likely $100 per sale.

If our estimates are correct, that means their likely Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) is 3.1x, and the company’s gross margins are about 40%.

While those are gross margins, they leave a lot of room for increasing the employee count, investing in R&D and future product lines, and of course, finding the best marketing technology to help fuel sales.

With financial metrics exceeding industry benchmarks across the board, this company would also be ripe for an acquisition offer from a larger brand (if that was something the leadership was interested in).

Momcozy has grown from providing a single product to offering a wide suite of options for new moms by following the most steadfast rule of marketing: know thy customer.

As a company founded, run, and staffed by its target demographic (moms), it’s not hard to see why they’ve been so effective.

For now, keep reading to discover how Momcozy went from offering breast pumps for moms on the move to filling up the wish lists of new moms globally by speaking to the pain points of their potential customers and leveraging an optimized, well-run ad funnel strategy.

Prospecting ads that speak to the target customer

A 9700% growth rate should be something that all business and marketing leaders want to look at to decipher the “secret sauce” of how it happened. So how did a company initially targeting a niche customer base find that much growth?

They understand their customers’ pain points and developed a comprehensive funnel strategy to explain exactly how Momcozy would solve their issues.

Once the brand found success with its initial product line, it expanded to meet other demands inherent within its demographic that were not being met.

The very definition of an entrepreneur is one who meets unmet demands within the marketplace, and Momcozy gets an A+ for their performance.

It’s not just about having an excellent product, however — they also devised a marketing strategy to find their potential customers at the right time, in the right place, and with the right message.

If you want to understand just how well Momcozy knows its customers, start by clicking the link to the video from their About Us page linked above (or here if you don’t want to scroll back up).

For extra credit, let’s dive into some examples from the Momcozy Facebook ad library:

What’s the first thing you notice when looking at these prospecting ads for Momcozy?

We’ll give you a hint: it’s a strategy that the brand employs across all of its digital campaigns.

Momcozy not only designs products that are meant to alleviate the pain points of their target customers, but they use their target customers to communicate that message.

Active new moms don’t want to be confined to a couch at home or a nursing room at work in order to pump — and Momcozy helps them achieve that goal.

Their prospecting ads use language targeted at their customers’ pain points, use influencers discussing those pain points who are new moms themselves, and most importantly, their ads all address how Momcozy will solve those pain points.

While you will see discount codes and offers on certain Momcozy prospecting ads, their campaigns and funnel strategies are powerful enough that they aren’t often needed.

Showing new moms that one of their largest pain points — a pumping schedule — can be solved by Momcozy is an extremely successful prospecting and marketing strategy.

It’s not always about ads — information can be key

While Momcozy has its prospecting advertising game on point, growing your Lifetime Value (LTV) takes more than just ads. How does Momcozy keep customers within their brand after an initial purchase and keep them buying their products?

To help create “stickiness,” Momcozy also includes informational articles that are extremely important to their target customer across their website and social media channels.

While breastfeeding and pumping may seem like a simple process to the uninitiated, those who’ve gone through the experience of newborns know that often isn’t the case. Momcozy knows the questions and fears that new moms are likely to have and provides the answers for them.

This establishes the brand as a trusted friend and information source for new moms, which is a surefire way to create a lifelong customer — who will tell their friends about your brand as well.

Word-of-mouth promotion from a personal connection is the strongest form of social proof that exists within the marketing world. Momcozy seems to be in a very good place to leverage that organically because of its strategies.

Successful bundles can help build an empire

Once a well-run campaign and prospecting strategy converts potential customers into buying customers, how does a brand create an uplift or pivot into their other product lines?

If you know your customer demographic as well as Momcozy does, bundles can be the key.

As of the time of this newsletter, the Momcozy site has so many bundle sales offers that they can’t even fit on one page:

Baby monitors, bamboo baby wipes, diapers, activewear, pregnancy pillows, and even baby gates are all product lines outside of the original lactation devices that show Momcozy knows exactly what their customers need.

Smart and personalized retargeting

To test their retargeting strategy, I selected items from both their website and Facebook ads, put them into my cart, and abandoned the website & cart entirely. Within minutes I was served this retargeting ad, which proves their data and retargeting game is quite strong (full disclosure: I am a military veteran).

Notice the two-fer included in this retargeting effort. Not only is the brand reaching back out to me with a personalized offer (military discount), but it’s also a bundle that includes items that new parents would need (breast pumps and a baby monitor).

Digging into MomCozy’s marketing channel spend

Many brands provide coupons, deals, bundle offers, and highly-produced direct marketing sales strategies within the shipping box, and that could be the strategy for Momcozy.

High-end brands that target women rather than men find a lot of success with this strategy, for a simple, stereotypical reason: men tend to rip apart their packaging and focus on the product, while women often take the time to actually look at what’s inside.

The eCommerce and DTC brand kryptonite

Although Momcozy has exploded over the last several years and grown the scale & scope of its company, it recently hit a snag that can be a major issue for any eCommerce or DTC brand:

The company didn’t have the appropriate medical device licenses in Canada for one of their wearable breast pumps (their flagship products), and so the country issued a national recall.

While the company offered full refunds, headlines like this (that hit the net and social media in February) are never good for a brand image:

Can Momcozy pull their numbers back up?

It’s easy to cheerlead for brands when things are going well, but the defining times for a firm’s leaders are how well they perform during downturns.

New moms are incredibly cautious about what types of products they will trust with their newborns, so headlines like those listed above can often be enough to scare them away from a brand forever.

Heading into some potentially troublesome economic headwinds with already flagging engagement and site visits could be troublesome for the Momcozy leadership team. If they are able to pull the brand’s numbers back up, it will be a great example of how well they can operate in both good and bad times.

Momcozy knows how to speak to this demographic incredibly well, so we will see if they can leverage that understanding to put their numbers back on track.

The Marketing Machine and Numbers Behind Momcozy

It’s difficult to find specifics on the financials for Momcozy as they are a private company, but there are a few insights that we’ve been able to decipher during our deep dive.

Firstly, they have 162 different technologies incorporated into their website, ads, and social media tech stack (via SimilarWeb):

The public numbers for their employee count range from around 10 employees to over 25, but Apollo.io says they’ve grown to 200 in 2023:

heir revenue estimates range from $1.1mm per year (GrowJo) to over $5mm per year (ZoomInfo), but as a privately-held company, they aren’t required to release that information like a public company would through SEC filings.

From the growth listed above, however, it does seem like employee increase has been driven by revenue, as we can’t find any outside funding sources via Crunchbase.

❓ How Can You Apply this?

What high-level takeaways can you discern through this deep dive into Momcozy’s DTC eCommerce marketing strategies? Let’s have a look:

Applicable insights:

The cardinal rule of marketing is to “know thy customer.” When you understand their pain points and can communicate how you will solve them, your marketing can be extremely effective.

Ad funnels are an excellent opportunity to increase AOV through bundles and discount order bumps, even if your brand incorporates those strategies in the post-purchase process as well.

Establishing your brand as a trusted friend and/or information source can increase stickiness and LTV as a result.

If your eCommerce brand is going to use retargeting (as it should), leverage data to send the most applicable message or deal to each individual potential customer.

If you plan on using post-purchase direct marketing package inserts with a male customer base…good luck. Remember:

Source Code : https://ltv-spot.com/

[containerwestlink]

6 Innovative Uses of Shipping Containers

Shipping containers are more versatile than you might think! These large metal boxes, originally designed for transporting goods across the world's oceans, have found new life in a variety of innovative ways.

From housing to art installations, shipping containers Victoria are being repurposed in creative and eco-friendly ways that are sure to inspire you. In this blog post, we'll explore six remarkable and unexpected uses of shipping containers.

Shipping Container Homes: Eco-Friendly Living

Imagine living in a cozy and sustainable home made from repurposed shipping containers. This innovative trend is gaining traction worldwide. These container homes are not only cost-effective but also environmentally friendly, as they make use of existing materials.

Architects and designers are turning these steel giants into stylish, comfortable, and energy-efficient living spaces, proving that luxury and sustainability can go hand in hand.

Pop-Up Shops: A Retail Revolution

Entrepreneurs are embracing the convenience and affordability of shipping containers for their pop-up shops. These portable stores can be customised to fit various needs, making them perfect for selling everything from clothing and food to artisanal goods. 

The durability and security of shipping containers ensure that your merchandise is safe, and their eye-catching design can draw customers in, making them a hot trend in the retail industry.

Emergency Shelters: Providing Relief

In times of natural disasters or humanitarian crises, quick and efficient shelter solutions are essential. Shipping containers are now being used to create emergency housing units. These containers can be rapidly deployed, offering durable and secure shelter to those in need.

They are also easy to transport to remote or hard-to-reach areas, making them invaluable in emergency response efforts.

Art Installations: Creative Expression

The art world has also embraced the potential of shipping containers Victoria as canvases for creativity. Artists are transforming these steel structures into captivating art installations. These temporary exhibits pop up at festivals, urban art districts, and museums, adding an industrial-chic touch to the artistic landscape. 

The juxtaposition of art and industry in these installations challenges traditional notions of both.

Urban Farms: Growing Green in the City

Urban farming is on the rise, and shipping containers have made it even more accessible. These containers are being converted into hydroponic or aquaponic farms, allowing city dwellers to grow fresh produce in limited spaces. 

With controlled environments and efficient use of resources, shipping container farms are at the forefront of sustainable agriculture practices in urban areas.

Mobile Offices: Work on the Go

The rise of remote work has led to a demand for flexible office solutions, and shipping containers Victoria have answered the call. Companies are repurposing these containers into mobile offices, meeting rooms, and coworking spaces.

They can be placed in various locations, offering employees a change of scenery and reducing the need for traditional office buildings. It's a perfect example of adaptability and innovation in the business world.

Conclusion

Shipping containers have proven themselves to be much more than just vessels for transporting goods. Their adaptability, durability, and sustainability make them an ideal choice for a wide range of creative and practical applications.

From homes to art installations, these steel giants are shaping our world in innovative and eco-friendly ways. So, the next time you see a shipping container, take a moment to appreciate its potential beyond the cargo hold—it might just be a pop-up shop, an art gallery, or even someone's home.

Source :- https://westlinkcontainer.blogspot.com/2023/10/6-innovative-uses-of-shipping-containers.html

[independentlifestyleservices]

Short Term Accommodation In Adelaide

If you’re looking for a place to stay Short Term Accommodation In Adelaide, then there are plenty of options available. Whether you’re planning to visit for work or want to explore the local culture, there is something for everyone. The city is renowned for its wine-growing heritage and has some of the best beaches in Australia.

For those planning to stay longer, then renting a serviced apartment could be the ideal choice. These suite-style properties provide the flexibility of a home with hotel facilities, such as a reception desk and secure parking. They also come with kitchen facilities, which will help you to save money on eating out. Some of these apartments offer luxury amenities such as a Jacuzzi and a sauna, while others are more affordable and located in central areas near the main attractions.

There are many different types of serviced apartments available, so it’s important to choose the right one for you. Some feature separate living and sleeping areas, while others have a kitchen and dining area that is perfect for self-catering. Many of these apartments are a short walk from the major tourist attractions and shopping districts in Adelaide. Others are in quieter, more residential neighborhoods that offer a peaceful retreat away from the hustle and bustle of the city centre.

Investing in a short term rental property is an excellent way to earn a good return on your investment. In fact, you can use an online income calculator to see the potential profits that you can make by renting your property out. By using the calculator, you can see how much you will be earning each month and determine the best price to charge for your rental.

In addition to its thriving cultural scene, Adelaide is a popular destination for business travellers. A number of international companies have headquarters in the city, and this has led to a high demand for accommodation. This has also increased the amount of short term rentals that are available in Adelaide. The city’s rich wine-growing history, excellent restaurants and stunning beaches have also made it a desirable location for foreign investors.

The Adina Apartment Hotel Treasury is located in the heart of Adelaide and offers luxurious aparthotel style accommodation with spacious suites complimented by premier onsite facilities. Guests can enjoy a range of amenities including an indoor pool, fitness centre, steam room and sauna, golf simulator and outdoor BBQ and lounge area. The hotel is a 6-minute walk from Beehive Corner Building and half a mile from the center.

A UNESCO recognized renovation of the former Treasury building has given these accommodations a contemporary design. This boutique hotel has 79 luxurious guest rooms and is conveniently located within walking distance to Rundle Mall, Adelaide Convention Center and many other major attractions in the city.

Y Suites on Waymouth is an urban oasis just steps from Chinatown and the heart of the city’s food, drink and nightlife scene. You can dine in the neighborhood’s most exciting late-night hotpot and bubble tea establishments, or shop for fresh produce in Central Market.

At Independent Life Style Services, our key priority is to deliver top-of-the-line disability services that focus on home care for disabled people, young and old. Our operations and perspectives are guided by a mission, a vision, beliefs and core values that focus on supporting people with disabilities enjoy a fulfilling life.