#revenue generating tips

[ronaldtateblog]

Secrets to Mastering Affiliate Marketing in 2025

As I explore affiliate marketing, I’m amazed by its size. In 2025, the United States spent $9.56 billion on it1. This shows how powerful it is as a digital marketing tool. With spending expected to hit $10.72 billion in 20241, it’s clear this industry is booming. I’m eager to learn the secrets behind its success, including online and digital marketing strategies. The affiliate marketing world…

[yo-job]

10 Expert Tips on How to Succeed in Affiliate Marketing

to see this book click here

Introduction to Affiliate Marketing: What It Is and How It Works When I think about affiliate marketing, I see it as a business model built on collaboration and mutual benefit. At its core, affiliate marketing is a performance-based strategy where I, as an affiliate, promote a company’s product or service in exchange for a commission on successful sales or specific actions, like lead generation. What makes this strategy appealing is that I don’t have to create my own product or maintain inventory. Instead, I focus on connecting potential customers with products they’ll find valuable.

[marketingprofitmedia]

How to Create Passive Income With Ai-Powered Children’s Storybooks

Create passive income by developing AI-powered children’s storybooks and selling or licensing them online. Monetize through regular sales, subscriptions, or ad revenue.

The key is to offer unique stories which adapt to the reader’s responses, creating an immersive experience. Utilizing platforms such as Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing or establishing a dedicated app, authors can reach a global audience. As digital media consumption continues to rise, parents and educators seek out innovative educational materials, positioning AI-generated storybooks as a lucrative venture. By establishing a robust online presence and employing strategic digital marketing techniques, you can attract a loyal customer base, ensuring a steady stream of income with minimal ongoing effort.

>> My Best Recommended & Proven Way to Make $100 Daily — Watch THIS Video FREE Training to START >>

The Rise Of Ai In Publishing

Imagine a world where books come to life with the help of AI. That’s what’s happening in publishing today. AI is changing the game for authors and readers alike. Stories can now be personalized and crafted in ways we never thought possible. This rise of AI is making it easier to create passive income streams, especially in the world of children’s storybooks.

Innovations In Storytelling

AI-powered storytelling introduces a new era in children’s books. Interactive experiences now captivate young minds like never before. Let’s explore this innovative world:

Personalized Endings: AI can create multiple story endings. Kids feel the thrill of unique outcomes each time they read.

Character Customization: Children choose and name characters. This builds a personal connection with the story.

Language Learning: Stories adapt to include new words for language skills. Kids learn while they enjoy a magical reading journey.

Ai’s Role In Content Creation

AI is not just a tool for innovation; it’s now a creator. In the realm of children’s books, AI aids content creation by:

AI FunctionContent Creation ImpactWriting AssistanceAuthors receive help with grammar and story flow. Stories become polished and more engaging.Image GenerationCustom illustrations are crafted at the click of a button, bringing stories to life in vivid colors.Interactive ElementsStories gain puzzles and quizzes. These elements make reading fun and educational for kids.

Identifying Opportunities In Children’s Literature

Exploring the magical realm of children’s literature opens doors to incredible passive income possibilities.

Dive into the world of kids’ stories and discover how leveraging AI can unlock earning potential.

Gaps In The Market

Uncovering hidden niches in children’s books is akin to finding treasure. Look for:

Underserved genres: Seek out themes or topics less common yet in demand.

Age gaps: Find age groups that lack variety in storytelling options.

Cultural diversity: Offer tales that embrace different backgrounds and experiences.

Languages: Tap into the need for stories in multiple languages.

Trends In Children’s Preferences

Keep a finger on the pulse of what captivates young minds:

TrendOpportunityInteractive StoriesCreate engaging experiences with choices that shape the tale.Educational ContentCombine learning and fun to attract parents and educators.PersonalizationDevelop stories that can be customized to each child.Augmented RealityIncorporate AR to bring narratives to life in a new dimension.

By identifying these opportunities and capitalizing on them with AI, creators can craft stories that not only enchant but also generate passive income.

>> My Best Recommended & Proven Way to Make $100 Daily — Watch THIS Video FREE Training to START >>

Building The Foundation For Your Ai Storybook

Welcome aspiring authors to the exciting journey of bringing stories to life through the power of Artificial Intelligence. Crafting an AI-powered children’s storybook is an adventure in itself, one that begins with laying a solid groundwork. This foundation is crucial for creating a passive income source that entertains, educates, and inspires young minds. Let’s start with the basics and build our way up to a magical AI storybook!

Choosing A Theme

First things first, selecting a theme is like picking a destination for your storybook adventure. The theme serves as the backbone of your AI tale, guiding the plot, setting, and characters. For a children’s storybook, consider themes that are enchanting, educational, and relatable to young readers.

Adventure in Outer Space

Secrets of the Enchanted Forest

Life Lessons at Summer Camp

These are just a few ideas to get the creative gears turning. Think about what captivates the imagination of children and embark on a theme that unlocks a world of possibilities.

Crafting A Diverse Character Cast

Next up, we create a cast of characters as vibrant and diverse as the world around us. Each character should bring their own flavor to the story, promoting inclusivity and representation.

CharacterRoleUnique TraitZara the BraveHeroineLoves to solve puzzlesLeo the InventorSidekickInvents cool gadgetsMr. WhiskersMentorWise talking cat

Credit: m.youtube.com

Leveraging Ai For Personalized Stories

Leveraging AI for Personalized Stories is a game-changer in the world of children’s books. Such technology allows for unique narratives tailored to each reader. Imagine storybooks that address your child by name and incorporate their interests. This is not just a dream anymore; AI makes it possible for every story to be as unique as the child reading it. Engage young readers like never before with tales crafted specifically for them.

Customization Tools

Create magic with AI-powered storybooks using advanced customization tools. Start by selecting story themes and characters. Build an imaginative world with options that mirror your child’s world. Choose a protagonist with the same name or similar traits. Decide on settings familiar to the child or fantastically exotic. With AI, each book morphs into a private universe where every plot twist feels designed just for them.

Choose protagonist names

Select favorite themes

Personalize character traits

Custom environments

Interactive Experience Creation

Beyond names and traits, enrich your stories with interactive experience creation. AI integrates puzzles and educational challenges relevant to the story. Children interact directly with the tale, making choices that influence the outcome. An endless combination of options means no two adventures are the same. Kids stay hooked. Learning becomes fun. They grow through play and storytelling.

Integrate interactive puzzles

Include educational activities

Offer choices that affect the story

Provide a variety of outcomes

AI-powered storybooks offer personalized and interactive experiences like never before. They captivate young minds, making reading an adventure uniquely theirs. Customization tools and interactive experiences empower kids to be the heroes of their own stories.

>> My Best Recommended & Proven Way to Make $100 Daily — Watch THIS Video FREE Training to START >>

Monetization Models For Ai Storybooks

Exploring the ‘Monetization Models for AI Storybooks’ reveals effective ways to turn smart, AI-crafted tales into streams of passive income.

Subscription Services

Subscription services offer readers a treasure of stories. They pay regularly to access new AI storybooks. This creates a dependable income for creators. Here’s how to shine with subscriptions:

Set clear plans: Offer monthly, quarterly, or yearly options.

Provide perks: Subscribers love exclusive content or features.

Keep content fresh: Release new books consistently to keep kids excited.

With the right books, children will eagerly await each update. This model builds a loyal audience. Loyal readers are assets.

One-time Purchases

One-time purchases are simple. Parents buy a book and own it forever. Here’s why this model works well:

Easy to understand: Pay once, enjoy forever.

No commitment: Perfect for those hesitant to subscribe.

Sample your service: Lets families try your stories without pressure.

Creating combinations of popular stories can lead to special edition sales. Bundles attract purchases. Kids love collections!

Credit: clydedz.medium.com

Marketing Strategies For Success

Embarking on the journey to create passive income with AI-powered children’s storybooks requires savvy marketing strategies. These strategies are vital for success, turning a great product into a commercial hit. Let’s explore how to capture the hearts and imaginations of both parents and children for your AI storybook adventure.

Social Media Promotion

Make waves online with social media promotion! Showcase your storybooks where parents and children spend time scrolling: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Vibrant images and engaging snippets from your books will spark curiosity. Here are some social media tips:

Create captivating visuals: Post colorful and immersive book scenes.

Interact with followers: Respond swiftly to comments and messages.

Use hashtags strategically: Help your content reach a wider audience.

Run contests and giveaways: Engage users and spread the word.

Share testimonials and reviews: Build trust with real-life feedback.

Partnering With Educational Institutions

Forge powerful alliances with schools and learning centers. This partnership can give your AI-powered storybooks a stamp of educational approval. Here’s how:

Pitch to educators: Show how your storybooks can aid learning.

Offer samples: Let the quality speak for itself.

Propose co-branded events: Fun reading sessions or book fairs.

Provide discounts: Encourage bulk purchases for classrooms.

Seek endorsements: Earn recommendations from teachers and librarians.

Credit: www.udemy.com

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

How To Use Ai For Passive Income?

To generate passive income using AI, you can create AI-powered content for blogs, develop smart tools or applications, and trade using AI-driven investment platforms. Always monitor performance to optimize revenue.

Can You Make Passive Income From A Book?

Yes, you can earn passive income from a book by self-publishing or securing a traditional publishing deal, thus receiving royalties from its sales over time.

What Is Passive Income With Ai Storybooks?

Creating passive income with AI storybooks involves leveraging artificial intelligence to generate children’s books that continually produce revenue with minimal ongoing effort.

How Do You Monetize Ai-generated Storybooks?

Monetizing AI-generated storybooks can be done through direct sales, subscription models, or by placing them on platforms that offer royalties or pay-per-read schemes.

Can Ai Create Original Children’s Stories?

Yes, AI can craft original children’s stories by using natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to generate unique content.

Conclusion

Embarking on the journey of AI-powered children’s storybooks offers a new frontier in passive income. It merges creativity with technology, helping writers tap into a lucrative market. As we’ve explored, the right tools and strategies can turn a simple idea into a steady revenue stream.

Let’s transform storytelling and financial growth together by embracing this innovative approach.

>> My Best Recommended & Proven Way to Make $100 Daily — Watch THIS Video FREE Training to START >>

Thanks for reading my article on “How to Create Passive Income With Ai-Powered Children’s Storybooks”, hope it will help!

Affiliate Disclaimer :

This article Contain may be affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission at NO ADDITIONAL cost to you if you decide to purchase something. While we receive affiliate compensation for reviews / promotions on this article, we always offer honest opinions, users experiences and real views related to the product or service itself. Our goal is to help readers make the best purchasing decisions, however, the testimonies and opinions expressed are ours only. As always you should do your own thoughts to verify any claims, results and stats before making any kind of purchase. Clicking links or purchasing products recommended in this article may generate income for this product from affiliate commissions and you should assume we are compensated for any purchases you make. We review products and services you might find interesting. If you purchase them, we might get a share of the commission from the sale from our partners. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended.

Source : How to Create Passive Income With Ai-Powered Children’s Storybooks

[zakir77]

Maki money

[14dayswithyou]

How cutiesai made 14 Days With You

I've received quite a few requests in the past asking how I made 14DWY, what resources I used, how I organised my lore, etc. — so I figured I'd make one big post and share it with everyone else as well! It features a buuunch of helpful stuff I wish I'd known when I first made 14DWY, so hopefully this will help others too!

⚠ This is all copied & pasted from a Discord post I made back in early 2024! I'll also be adding to it over time, so feel free to check back every so often! ^^

What engine do I use?

14DWY uses the Ren'Py engine!

There are two preinstalled games (called "Tutorial" and "The Question") that give you a basic rundown on how to use the program!!

Zeil Learning's video called "Ren'py Tutorial For Beginners" is also a good place to start for those who have no idea where to begin with Ren'Py!

I also really recommend these Ren'Py resources:

Lemma Soft Forums

Ren'Py Discord server

Ren'Py subreddit

Zeil Learnings, ElaineDoesCoding, Visual Novel Design, and Ess Ren'Py Tutorials on YouTube

Searching through the "Ren'Py" tag on itch.io for community-made assets and resources (make sure to give credit if you use someone's asset(s))!

Feniks and Wattson offer some really helpful stuff!!

Not Ren'Py related, but helpful for creating a VN:

Obsidian and Notion for planning and worldbuilding

Visual Studio Code and Atom (comes preinstalled with Ren'Py iirc?) for scripting/coding

Pixabay and Pexels for royalty-free images and stock photos

DOVA-SYNDROME for music

Clip Studio Paint (paid) and Krita (free) for drawing

Toyhou.se to store your littol guys (If you need an invite code, I have over 300 to give away lmao ^^ Send in an ask to @cutiesigh if you'd like one!)

An itch.io account to upload your game for free and share it with others

General tips to keep in mind:

Make games for fun, not for fame. Too often, I see new developers create VNs with "trending tropes" because they see how successful it is and want the same level of popularity. As harsh as it sounds, this only makes your game feel hollow and superficial, and players will notice.

When using Ren'Py, it's better to have multiple .rpy files rather than putting everything into one large file!! It makes organising and finding things easier, and if something gets corrupted... at least you won't lose everything!

Plan everything beforehand, but give yourself room to expand and implement new ideas.

Start small and slowly expand over time. Don't start off with an overly ambitious project, as it can be disheartening when you put all this effort into something just for it not to gain any traction. Also, be grateful for your earliest supporters, as they're the ones who will lift your project off the ground!!

This is a personal preference, but I recommend starting off with itch.io as your main distribution platform. Most storefronts take a cut from your donations and revenue, and sites like Steam require a $100 fee just to publish your game on their platform. Itch is free, and you can even toggle off revenue sharing in your profile settings! (I like to keep it at 10% though, because I'm grateful for everything the site provides ♡)

If you ever need help with Ren'Py, you're always welcome to join the 14DWY Discord server and ping me in the help channel!

[darkmaga-returns]

Former President Donald Trump has unveiled a bold plan to eliminate the federal income tax, signaling a dramatic shift in U.S. fiscal policy as part of his 2025 economic agenda.

The plan follows a string of other tax cuts put forward by Trump, including the removal of taxes on car-loan payments, social security benefits and servers’ tips. But a potential elimination of personal income taxes for all Americans goes much further.

The prospect of abolishing the federal income tax carries a sense of bold possibility. It envisions a simpler system, freeing millions from the complexities of annual filings and reshaping how the nation generates revenue.

When podcast host Joe Rogan asked Trump last month whether he was serious about the plan, Trump said, “Yeah, sure, why not?”

[sunshinesmebdy]

Astro-Economics: Using Astrology to Fuel Your Creative Business (A Series)

Astrology can be a powerful tool for understanding how celestial movements influence your creativity, productivity, and ability to innovate. By aligning your strategies with current transits, you can create impactful content that resonates with your audience—and generate meaningful revenue along the way. Let’s dive into today’s cosmic energy and how you can use it to elevate your creative work.

💬 Mercury & Asteroid Banks in Capricorn: Practical Plans, Big Opportunities

Right now, Mercury and asteroid Banks in Capricorn are setting the stage for clear communication and solid financial planning. Mercury in Capricorn sharpens our focus, making it a great time for presenting ideas, pitching projects, or refining your business strategies. Whether it’s crafting a detailed proposal or networking like a pro, Capricorn energy ensures your efforts are polished and goal-oriented.

Asteroid Banks adds an extra layer, emphasizing financial opportunities. Think long-term: secure funding, map out revenue plans, or present the value of your work to potential clients or sponsors. Capricorn rewards professionalism and meticulous planning, so now’s the time to show off your dedication.

✨ Pro Tip: Highlight the financial and long-term benefits of your projects. A well-structured pitch or a polished launch plan can make all the difference.

💞 Cancer Retrogrades: Emotional Reflection

Asteroids Forbes and Wage retrograding in Cancer invite you to revisit your emotional and financial foundations. This energy asks: Do your creative projects align with your values? Retrogrades are all about second chances, so look back at past collaborations, clients, or ideas. Is there something worth revisiting?

Cancer thrives on authenticity and emotional connection, making this a perfect time to share the heart behind your work. Storytelling focused on personal growth or nostalgia can help you engage your audience on a deeper level.

✨ Pro Tip: Consider running a behind-the-scenes campaign to connect emotionally with your audience. Reflect on your relationship with money and success, and let that g uide your next moves.

🍀 Fortuna in Taurus: Build Beauty, Reap Rewards

Starting January 19, Fortuna, the asteroid of luck and prosperity, enters Taurus—a sign that loves beauty, simplicity, and stability. This energy favors creative projects with tangible, aesthetic value. Whether it’s a beautifully designed product, an elegant portfolio, or a stunning visual campaign, Fortuna rewards quality and attention to detail.

Creators in art, design, photography, and lifestyle industries can thrive. Taurus values sensory experiences, so focus on creating content that feels grounded, lush, and visually stunning.

✨ Pro Tip: Upgrade your visuals, whether it’s investing in branding, refreshing your portfolio, or creating a new product that reflects Taurus’ love of craftsmanship.

🌌 North Node in Pisces: Dream Big, Inspire Deeper

The North Node in Pisces encourages us to infuse our work with imagination and emotional resonance. This energy is about tapping into universal themes and creating something that feels meaningful.

For creatives, this means embracing storytelling, spirituality, or even fantasy elements. Think dreamy, meditative, or otherworldly vibes—content that helps your audience escape or reflect deeply.

✨ Pro Tip: Align your projects with a purpose bigger than yourself. Use storytelling and visuals to evoke emotion and connection.

🚀 Uranus Direct in Taurus: Innovate to Stand Out

On January 30, Uranus stations direct in Taurus, igniting a wave of innovation. This is a fantastic time to explore unconventional revenue streams like NFTs, online memberships, or tech-driven projects. Uranus favors forward-thinking, so embrace futuristic tools and platforms to push your creativity to the next level.

Sustainability is also key with Taurus energy. Creatives who incorporate eco-friendly practices or messages into their work will resonate strongly with today’s audiences.

✨ Pro Tip: Experiment with tech-driven content like virtual galleries, interactive digital art, or online courses. Stay open to new ideas—you never know what might take off!

🔥 Mars Retrograde in Cancer: Slow Down, Reflect Deeply

Mars retrograde in Cancer is a reminder to pause, reflect, and channel emotions into meaningful work. While external progress may slow, this transit provides an opportunity for internal growth.

Themes of family, resilience, and emotional vulnerability will resonate strongly during this time. Consider revisiting past projects or refining unfinished ones with a fresh perspective.

✨ Pro Tip: Lean into emotional storytelling and create content that offers comfort or healing to your audience.

💡 Actionable Suggestions for Creators

Capricorn Energy: Launch structured offerings like workshops or professional courses.

Cancer Retrogrades: Monetize nostalgia by reviving old content or highlighting your creative journey.

Fortuna in Taurus: Focus on aesthetics and quality—invest in visuals or branding.

Pisces North Node: Create imaginative, spiritually resonant content.

Uranus Direct in Taurus: Explore cutting-edge platforms like NFTs or interactive digital art.

🌟 Final Thoughts: Align Your Creativity with the Stars

This astrological moment is a blend of grounded practicality, emotional depth, and forward-thinking innovation. By balancing these energies, you can craft content that resonates deeply and supports your financial goals.

How are you planning to align your creativity with the cosmos? Share your goals in the comments or save this guide for inspiration. 🚀✨

[blogidea]

Masteringenterprise - Gold

App marketing is a key component of any successful digital strategy. With the right app marketing tips and b2b social media best practices, businesses can increase their visibility, reach more customers, and generate more revenue. In this article, we will explore various strategies for app marketing tips and discuss how to use b2b social media best practices to maximize your success in the digital space. It is essential for companies to understand the best practices and strategies when it comes to app marketing in order to maximize their reach and engagement. Similarly, B2B social media best practices are also important in order to ensure that companies can effectively engage with their target audience. In this article, we will discuss some of the key app marketing tips and B2B social media best practices that can help businesses increase their visibility and engagement online.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Mike Luckovich

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

February 25, 2025

Heather Cox Richardson

Feb 26, 2025

On Friday, February 21, former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg posted: “A defining policy battle is about to come to a head in this country. The Republican budget will force everyone—especially Congress and the White House—to make plain whether they are prepared to harm the rest of us in order to fund tax cuts for the wealthiest.”

Buttigieg was referring to the struggle at the heart of much of the political conflict going on right now: How should the U.S. raise money, and how should it spend money?

Generally, Democrats believe that the government should raise money by levying taxes according to people’s ability to pay them, and that the government should use the money raised to provide services to make sure that everyone has a minimum standard of living, the protection of the laws, and equal access to resources like education and healthcare. They think the government has a role to play in regulating business; making sure the elderly, disabled, poor, and children have food, shelter and education; maintaining roads and airports; and making sure the law treats everyone equally.

Generally, Republicans think individuals should be able to manage their money to make the best use of markets, thus creating economic growth more efficiently than the government can, and that the ensuing economic growth will help everyone to prosper. They tend to think the government should not regulate business and should impose few if any taxes, both of which hamper a person’s ability to run their enterprises as they wish. They tend to think churches or private philanthropy should provide a basic social safety net and that infrastructure projects are best left up to private companies. Civil rights protections, they think, are largely unnecessary.

But the Republicans are facing a crisis in their approach to the American economy. The tax cuts that were supposed to create extraordinarily high economic growth, which would in turn produce tax revenue equal to higher taxes on lower economic growth, never materialized. Since the 1990s, when the government ran surpluses under Democratic president Bill Clinton, tax cuts under Republican presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump, along with unfunded wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, have produced massive budget deficits that, in turn, have added trillions to the national debt.

Now the party is torn between those members whose top priority is more tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations, and those who want more tax cuts but also recognize that further cuts to popular programs will hurt their chances of reelection.

That struggle is playing out very publicly right now in the Republicans’ attempt to pass a budget resolution, which is not a law but sets the party’s spending priorities, sometimes for as much as a decade, and is the first step toward passing a budget reconciliation bill which can pass the Senate without threat of a filibuster.

Under the control of Republicans, the House of Representatives was unable to pass the appropriations bills necessary to fund the government in fiscal year 2025. The government has stayed open because of “continuing resolutions,” measures that extend previous funding forward into the future to buy more time to negotiate appropriations. The most recent of those expires on March 14, putting pressure on the Republicans who now control both the House and the Senate to come up with a new funding package. But first, both chambers have to pass a budget resolution.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s top priority is extending his 2017 tax cuts for the next ten years, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates would add $4.6 trillion to the deficit. If he actually enacted the other tax cuts he promised on the campaign trail—including on tips, overtime, and Social Security payments—that deficit jumps closer to $11 trillion. During the campaign, he insisted that the tariffs he promised to levy would make foreign countries make up the money lost by the tax cuts. In addition to being wildly wishful thinking, Trump’s claim ignores the fact that tariffs are actually paid by U.S. consumers.

So Trump and the Republicans have a math problem. It was always incorrect to say it was the Democrats who were irresponsibly running up the debt, but it was a powerful myth, and Republicans have relied on it for at least 25 years. Now, though, there is a mechanical issue that belies that rhetoric: the debt ceiling, which requires Congress to raise the ceiling on the amount the Treasury can borrow.

On January 21, 2025, the U.S. Treasury had to begin using extraordinary measures to pay the debt obligations Congress has authorized. In order for Trump and the Republicans to get their tax cuts, that debt ceiling will have to be raised. But a number of MAGA Republicans are already furious at the growing debt and the budget deficits that feed it, and they say they will not raise that ceiling unless there are extreme cuts to the federal budget. Other Republicans realize that the cuts they are demanding will be enormously unpopular, not least because for all their rhetoric, it is actually Republican-dominated districts that receive the bulk of federal monies.

This is the mess that sits behind unelected billionaire Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) that is claiming to slash federal spending, although its claims have been so thoroughly debunked that early this morning it quietly deleted all five of the five-biggest ticket items it had touted on its “wall of receipts.”

As Democrats keep pointing out, Republicans have control of the government and could make any cuts they wanted through the normal course of legislation, but they are not doing so because they know those programs are popular. Instead, they are turning the project over to Musk.

They are making it a point to look the other way when people, including judges, ask under what authorization Musk and his team are operating. Today, once again, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt refused to say who was in charge of DOGE, a day after Matt Bai reported in the Washington Post that two of Musk’s DOGE employees, Luke Farritor and Gavin Kliger, used their access to payment systems to override explicit orders from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and shut off funding to the United States Agency for International Development. Bai reports that Farritor is 23-year-old dropout from the University of Nebraska who interned at SpaceX; Kliger, 25, spreads conspiracy theories about the “deep state,” attended Berkeley, and is now installed at the Treasury Department.

This afternoon the White House said that Amy Gleason, a former official at the U.S. Digital Service, the agency that Trump’s executive order may have turned into the Department of Government Efficiency, is serving as the acting administrator of DOGE. Reporters reached her by phone in Mexico.

In an interview with NPR, the U.S. ambassador to Hungary under President Joe Biden, David Pressman, explained that Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán turned Hungary’s democracy into “a system that's designed to enrich a clique of elites to take public assets and put them in private pockets while talking about standing up for conservative values” in what became “a massive transfer of public assets to an oligarch class.” Trump and MAGAs see Orbán as a model, and it is notable that today the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the agency that manages civilian aviation and that Trump and DOGE gutted, announced it has agreed to use Musk’s Starlink internet system for its information technology networks.

But even if Musk is only providing the illusion of savings, Congress still has to figure out the budget. On Friday, the Senate voted 52–48 to advance a budget resolution that called for $175 billion in new funding for border security and immigration enforcement and told committees, including the committee that oversees Medicaid, to find at least $4 billion in spending cuts. All Democrats and Independents, along with Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted not to advance that resolution.

Today the House was supposed to vote on its own budget resolution, and it is here that the stark contrast Buttigieg identified shows most strongly. The House resolution calls for cutting $4.5 trillion in taxes, primarily for the wealthy and corporations, while also adding $100 billion for immigration and border security, $90 billion for Homeland Security, and $100 billion in military spending. It enables those cuts and spending, at least in the short term, by raising the debt ceiling by $4 trillion.

The plan offsets those tax cuts with a goal of $2 trillion in spending cuts, including $880 billion over the next decade in cuts to the part of the budget that covers Medicare and Medicaid, and $230 billion in cuts to the part of the budget that covers the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, formerly known as food stamps. House speaker Mike Johnson claimed that all the cuts would come from the same place Musk claims, without evidence, to be cutting: “fraud, waste, and abuse.”

As Buttigieg noted, this budget cuts benefits for the poorest Americans in order to give tax cuts to the wealthiest, but the proposed cuts are not enough to get all MAGAs, many of whom want far more draconian cuts, on board. Johnson needed either to corral them or to get Democratic votes.

For their part, the Democrats rejected the proposal, concerned about the concentration of wealth in the U.S.: on Sunday, economist Robert Reich noted that “[t]he top 0.1% of Americans control $22 trillion in wealth,” while “[t]he bottom 50% control $3.8 trillion in wealth.”

Shauneen Miranda of the New Jersey Monitor reported the statement of Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) today that 24% of Americans get their healthcare from Medicaid, while the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services say that two thirds of nursing home patients receive Medicaid. Cuts would devastate American families. “For what, because Elon Musk needs another billion dollars?” Murphy asked. “The scope of this greed is something that we have never, ever seen before in this country, and we should not accept it as normal in the United States of America.”

At a press conference, House Democrats called out what Representative Greg Casar (D-TX) called “this billionaire budget resolution.” “I know that I and my colleagues here today are ready to go to the mat and fight all the way until we stop this budget and finally demand that, instead of a tax break for greedy billionaires, that we actually tax those greedy billionaires and expand the programs that working people deserve,” Casar said.

It took pressure from Trump to get the House resolution across the line this evening. It ultimately passed by a vote of 217 to 215, with only one Republican, Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY), voting with all the Democrats against it. Earlier this year, Republicans killed a bipartisan push to enable representatives to vote remotely while on maternity leave, so Representative Brittany Pettersen (D-CO) flew across the country with her one-month-old son to “vote NO on this disastrous budget proposal.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[klapollo]

some basic tips for getting a job in this horrible market

hi all -- long story short, as many of you know, i just finished a three+ month job search after being laid off. here's what i learned:

Your resume should be your accomplishments, not your tasks. When I started searching, my bullet points in my resume were things like "used x software" or "wrote x content." Your resume should be you bragging. EX: "I used x software to turn around 100 deliverables a month," "I managed [x amount] sales associates and was named highest commission earner x months in a row." These don't have to be lifechanging things or massive projects -- any metric that demonstrates your capabilities well can do the job.

Make sure your resume is ATS optimized. Most jobs/companies use automated resume processing, and lots of great people get rejected this way. If you're getting rejection emails on Sunday morning or in the middle of the night, these are probably auto-rejections. ATS is the automatic system that sifts through resumes -- you can find free ATS-optimized templates online, I got min through resume.com. Do NOT use fancy graphics, headshots, any extraneous info. Use sites like jobscan to see if your resume is able to be parsed by an auto resume processor.

Use numbers. Make sure your resume has lots of numbers indicating your skills. "I helped my franchise achieve X% of revenue growth," "I drove x amount of deliveries daily." Any impressive numerical amounts are useful. If your company is tight-lipped about numbers, go to press releases. Ex: an app I did a considerable about of work for generated a lot of money that my company disclosed, so I put down that i contributed to that revenue via my work.

Have a template cover letter. Cover letters can give you an advantage, but they're tedious. Take note of what qualities are most sought-after in your field/ideal role, and write a generic cover letter that applies to most of them. When applying, do minor tweaks such as including the company name or any unique qualifications. Be careful about typos and leaving in old tweaks!

Use the free month of LinkedIn Premium if you're on there. I got some results from cold DMing recruiters for jobs I was interested in, and Premium lets you do that freely. Remember to cancel at the end of the month!

If you're looking for remote work, here are some boards I used: Remote.co, Otta, Remote Rocketship, Swooped, Best Writing (writing-focused)

[paper-mario-wiki]

I don't know if you've talked about this elsewhere already but was the break from streaming intentional and/or are you planning on returning to streaming some time in the foreseeable future? no pressure, I just miss your silly antics :o)

felt very burnt out from being someone who people are always lookin at all the time mostly! (and also a lot more reasons)

got a new job that pays just as well as streaming (which is enough to pay for rent in seattle with roommates, buy food for myself, and sometimes buy yet another japanese gamecube via online auction), and have been enjoying the feeling of not relying on anonymous teenagers and young adults who are just as poor as me on the internet for my income. It's something i was extremely grateful for, but it's not only a very infirm way to generate revenue on a reliable basis, but also i always felt an ever-present sense of guilt for it. like, instilling within other people who i know are in my tax bracket (one that is below the poverty line) the idea of "hey if you dont tip me for doing this free service, the quality of which is damningly subjective, I will be homeless. but no pressure haha" is something that i was never able to shake.

also like. performing is quite draining for me! the way i portray myself in my streams is EXTREMELY extroverted while, in my personal life, i prefer to spend 8 to 14 of my waking hours every day by myself in my room with my dog. i like the quiet, and i feel at peace most when i am not being perceived by other people.

lastly, i really dislike having inordinate levels of social power. for a several reasons. like, SEVERAL reasons. this is the longest section of this post.

8 years ago, i got way more famous than any 16 year old should ever be when i got tens of thousands of followers overnight for doing undertale shit. and i think it really fucked up my ability to make friends at a time where my only experience meeting new people was at school or at church, and i lived far enough out in the woods that i couldnt just go outside and hang out with the neighbors cuz the neighbors lived a mile away. my socializing skills in general are way more stilted than i'd prefer for someone my age. in private settings ive got my foot in my mouth a lot. and sometimes in public settings too! im sure if youve seen streams ive been on, youve seen plenty of "chase you really shouldnt have said that" moments. and youre probably right, i probably shouldnt have! my moment-to-moment gauge for what i should and shouldnt say is very slow to catch up cuz ive got like. advanced mental illnesses. like, im not joking when i say ive been formally diagnosed several times over by different doctors with shit ive never heard anybody ever talk about, online or otherwise.

i dont think that's an excuse to say heinous or cruel things by any means of course, but i also think that i should not rely on a job where there's constantly a microphone in my hand and an audience listening intently to what i say. im not at all pulling the "its okay that i say mean things because im mentawy iww" card. as a matter of fact i think it's not okay that i say them! and i feel very embarrassed when i do! the filter that separates "normal healthy thoughts" and "intrusive unhealthy thoughts" is thinner and more flimsy in my brain than in others.

ive only gotten this far because i surround myself with very smart, patient, and kind people, and by trying to be understanding and patient with others too. and ive begun apologizing to people a lot more. i dont like it when people are mad at me, and i dont like that for a long time i had professionally painted myself into a corner where im typically always the "heel" in comedy settings, because the "heel" is the guy everyone shits on all the time. i got this reputation not because i actively enjoy being mean, but because i learned to adapt to the aforementioned "clinically unreliable intrusive thoughts filter" by realizing i would say things that came across as mean, and in real time exaggerating that it into a character that people could shoot back at without feeling guilty while still having fun. theres nothing that ruins a good time quite like someone who is constantly apologizing for doing something wrong, and then continuing to do that wrong thing anyway. dont misunderstand, i absolutely adore dunking on weenies when everyone can get a good laugh out of it (like tumblr anons, who i think should be classified as prokariyotic invertebrates and not people (no offense)) but even though it's a joke it still feels very bad when that's expected of me when i walk into a room. because if i walk into a room, and everyone expects me to be an asshole, everyone is on the defensive before i say anything, and sometimes they take shots at me when im not trying to "play". even worse, if im a heel in a setting where it's expected of me and someone cant really keep up with "the bit" then that just means im being an asshole to someone who cant or doesnt have the energy to fight back. and not just any asshole, an asshole who has had nearly a decade of professional experience being a paid asshole.

if im being frank, i dont know if i'll come back in a full capacity. i might! im not ruling that out! and you'll probably still see me pop up in my friends streams, because i did LOVE what i did for a very long time! but after i took my "break" in december after being more stressed than ive ever been, and i knew it was no longer financially necessary for me to livestream, i had the thought "i will go back to streaming when i find within myself a desire to do so" and ya know what? i havent yet.

and DO NOT FUCKING BOTHER MY FRIENDS ABOUT THIS. if you post a fucking "hey have u heard what chase said" message in their chat or in their DMs or anything, im not joking when i say you are actively being the kind of person i changed my career to avoid! fuck you, for real! stop trying to interface with them to get some new piece of information or opinion about me you fucking weirdo! they'll talk about me if they want to, but going to someone who is doing their own thing and asking them to instead comment on someone else it is ALWAYS fucking annoying. if you want to think about me, do it by yourself! or ask me directly! or do it in the comment section of a video im in! or write a fanfiction about me and then throw it away!

but if ur not that kind of person then ur cool dont worry.

anywho! im sorry if this is a bummer to read. but that's the full skinny.

im still posting regularly on twitter (clown_depot)! and if i DO go live, either on my twitch channel or on a friend's stream, it will be posted there!

thanks for watching :^]

im not goin radio silent, im just gonna turn off the electric window that lets people see me for a while.

[marketingprofitmedia]

Transform Your Business With These Profitable And Proven Digital Marketing Ideas

Boost your business success with top digital marketing strategies like SEO optimization and social media engagement. Leverage email marketing and content creation to propel profits and brand awareness.

In today’s digital age, having a robust online presence is vital for business growth. Entrepreneurs and marketers alike must embrace dynamic digital marketing tactics to stay ahead. This involves understanding the nuances of search engine optimization (SEO) to enhance visibility, engaging with customers on various social media platforms to build relationships, utilizing targeted email marketing campaigns to retain customers, and consistently producing quality content to establish authority.

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Embracing The Digital Marketing Revolution

Embracing the Digital Marketing Revolution has become essential for businesses seeking growth and profitability. Today, the digital arena offers a plethora of strategies to reach targeted audiences effectively. Let’s dive into the shift from traditional methods to digital and understand the critical factors for success in this new marketing landscape.

From Traditional To Digital: The Paradigm Shift

The marketing world has undergone a dramatic transformation in recent years. Digital platforms now offer unprecedented opportunities for businesses to connect with consumers. With the power of data analytics and targeted advertising, companies can craft personalized messages and measure their campaign success with precision.

Accessibility: Digital channels are accessible to businesses of all sizes.

Engagement: Real-time interaction with consumers has become a reality.

Analytics: Data-driven insights inform more strategic decisions.

Critical Success Factors In Today’s Digital Landscape

To stand out within the digital marketing revolution, businesses must acknowledge and leverage several key factors.

Success Factor Description User Experience Sites must be fast, mobile-friendly, and easy to navigate.Content QualityContent should be engaging, informative, and tailored to the audience.SEO Practices Employing SEO techniques boosts visibility in search engine rankings. Social Media Presence Active and strategic use of social channels expands audience reach. Adaptability Staying agile allows businesses to pivot strategies as trends evolve.

Leverage The Power Of Social Media

Embrace the dynamic world of social media to skyrocket your business reach. Harnessing social platforms can spell the difference between average growth and extraordinary expansion.

Strategies For Building A Strong Social Presence

Initiate your digital saga with a robust social presence.

Identify the Best Platforms: Choose platforms that align with your brand.

Create Engaging Content: Regularly post content that resonates with your audience.

Interact with Your Community: Respond to comments and messages promptly.

Use Analytics: Track what works and refine your strategy.

Converting Followers Into Customers

Turn your followers into a loyal customer base with these steps:

Offer Exclusive Deals: Provide social media-only discounts to followers.

Showcase Customer Testimonials: Share success stories to build trust.

Enable Easy Purchases: Use social platforms with integrated shopping features.

Run Targeted Ads: Reach potential customers through tailored advertising.

Content Marketing: The Core Of Digital Strategy

Transform your business with the power of content marketing. Attract and engage your audience consistently. Content is not just king; it’s the entire kingdom in today’s digital marketing realm. A strategy centered on creating and sharing valuable, relevant, and consistent content can drive profitable customer action.

Crafting Content That Resonates And Converts

Creating content that connects with your audience is crucial. It must resonate and lead to conversions. Follow these tips:

Understand your audience’s needs.

Create clear, compelling messages.

Use stories to build connections.

Include calls-to-action that stand out.

Develop diverse content forms. These include:

Type Description Blog Posts Detailed articles on relevant topics. Videos Engaging and easy to consume. Infographics Quick facts and figures. E-books Comprehensive guides.

Measuring The Impact Of Your Content

It’s not enough to create content; measure its impact. Key performance indicators (KPIs) help understand content effectiveness. Regularly check these:

Traffic: Number of visitors to your content.

Engagement: Time spent and interaction levels.

Leads: Sign-ups or inquiries generated.

Sales: Direct revenue from content-related campaigns.

Credit: www.amazon.com

>> My Best Recommended & Proven Way to Make $100 Daily — Watch THIS Video FREE Training to START >>

Seo: Unlocking Organic Growth

Smart businesses know that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a critical part of their online success. SEO drives free traffic to your website and boosts visibility. Understanding and implementing top-notch SEO strategies can transform your business and lead to remarkable growth.

Keyword Research For Maximum Visibility

The right keywords act like beacons that guide users to your content. Effective keyword research puts your business in the spotlight. It’s about understanding what your audience searches for and optimizing your content to meet those queries.

Use tools like Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush to discover popular search terms.

Analyze the competition to find gaps in the market.

Focus on long-tail keywords to target specific audiences and intents.

Staying Ahead Of The Algorithm Changes

Search engines often change their algorithms, keeping businesses on their toes. To stay ahead:

Keep content fresh and high-quality. Google loves new, relevant content.

Follow SEO news and updates through blogs or online communities.

Ensure your site is mobile-friendly, as mobile-first indexing is a key ranking factor.

Staying informed and adaptable to changes can secure your rank on search engine results pages.

E-mail Marketing: A Direct Line To Customers

Imagine reaching out to your customers with a personalized touch that feels like a one-on-one conversation. E-mail marketing offers this direct line of communication. It allows businesses to convey their message in a way no other digital marketing channel can. The personal inbox is a private space, and with the right strategy, your business can shine here.

Creating Compelling Newsletters

Newsletters breathe life into e-mail marketing. They keep your audience engaged and informed. A well-crafted newsletter can turn readers into customers, and customers into brand advocates.

Start with a catchy subject line. This is your first impression.

Design matters. Use clean, responsive templates that adapt to various devices.

Highlight key content with bold call-to-actions.

Keep your message clear and to the point. Short sentences work best.

Use bullet points to break down information.

Integrate visuals. Images and graphics can tell a story more effectively than text alone.

Segmentation And Personalization Techniques

Not all customers are the same. Segmentation divides your audience into groups with similar characteristics. Personalization speaks to each group differently.

To segment effectively, consider demographics, behavior, and purchase history.

Personalization can skyrocket open rates and conversions. Address recipients by name. Tailor content to their interests and past interactions with your brand.

Segmentation Criteria Personalization Tactics Location Localized offers Purchase history Recommended products User behavior Abandoned cart reminders

Automated tools can help tailor e-mails based on these criteria.

Remember, the goal is a click, and eventually, a conversion. Your e-mail marketing should create a smooth path towards this.

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Data Analytics: Making Informed Decisions

In the digital marketing landscape, data analytics is the compass that guides businesses towards success. By understanding and utilizing data analytics, companies can make strategic decisions that lead to increased profits and optimized marketing efforts.

Interpreting Data To Refine Marketing Efforts

Interpreting data is key to refining your marketing strategies. By looking at the numbers, you can identify what works and what doesn’t. This leads to more targeted campaigns and better allocation of resources. Consider these points for effective data interpretation:

User behavior indicates preferences and pain points.

Conversion rates show the effectiveness of your call-to-actions.

Traffic sources reveal the most fruitful marketing channels.

Tools For Tracking Success And Roi

Many tools exist to track success and calculate ROI. Choosing the right ones can streamline your analysis and improve your marketing ROI. Here’s a list of top tools:

Tool Use Case Google Analytics Website traffic and user behavior analysis Social Media Analytics Social engagement and campaign performance Email Marketing Software Email campaign tracking and subscriber activity

Choose tools that align with your marketing goals. This ensures you’re not only gathering data but also applying it effectively.

Future-proof Your Business With Emerging Technologies

As technologies evolve, businesses must adapt to stay ahead. Emerging technologies provide innovative ways to connect with customers and streamline operations. To remain competitive in a digital world, embracing these advancements is critical. Let’s explore how some of these technologies can future-proof your business and lead to exponential growth.

Incorporating Ai For Personalized Experiences

Artificial Intelligence (AI) takes your marketing to new heights. AI analyzes data quickly and accurately. This enables custom-tailored content for your audience. Using AI, businesses deliver personalized recommendations, enhance customer service, and increase engagement. AI tools like chatbots provide 24/7 interaction, ensuring users receive instant assistance. AI-driven insights help in creating marketing strategies that resonate well with your target market.

The Role Of Ar And Vr In Modern Marketing

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are reshaping customer experiences. These technologies offer interactive ways for consumers to engage with your brand. AR adds digital elements to a live view, often by using the camera on a smartphone. Examples include virtual try-ons and interactive ads. VR creates a fully immersive experience, transporting users to different worlds. It’s used in virtual tours and product demonstrations. By integrating AR and VR, businesses offer unique experiences that captivate and convert customers.

Personalized Shopping: Customers try on clothes virtually using AR mirrors.

Immersive Product Demos: VR allows customers to test products in a virtual environment.

Interactive Ad Campaigns: AR campaigns encourage user engagement and sharing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What Are Top Digital Marketing Strategies?

Digital marketing strategies that yield profitability include content marketing, SEO optimization, social media engagement, email campaigns, and PPC advertising.

Q. How Does Digital Marketing Boost Business?

Effective digital marketing enhances brand visibility, generates leads, improves customer engagement, and increases conversions, thereby boosting business profitability.

Q. Which Digital Channels Offer The Best Roi?

Email marketing often boasts the highest ROI, followed closely by SEO, content marketing, and social media when executed with a strategic approach.

Q. Can Digital Marketing Reduce Business Costs?

Yes, digital marketing can significantly reduce costs by targeting specific audiences and measuring campaigns for continual optimization and reduced ad spend waste.

Q. Why Is Social Media Vital For Marketing?

Social media platforms offer vast outreach potential, direct customer engagement, and valuable insights into consumer behavior, making them essential in digital marketing strategies.

Conclusion

Embracing digital marketing isn’t just an option; it’s a necessity for profitability and growth. Implement the strategies we’ve covered, from leveraging social media to harnessing SEO, and watch your business thrive in the digital arena. Remember, consistent effort and adaptability are key.

Start now and transform your brand’s future.

>> My Best Recommended & Proven Way to Make $100 Daily — Watch THIS Video FREE Training to START >>

Thanks for reading my article on Transform Your Business With These Profitable And Proven Digital Marketing Ideas, hope it will help!

Affiliate Disclaimer :

This article Contain may be affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission at NO ADDITIONAL cost to you if you decide to purchase something. While we receive affiliate compensation for reviews / promotions on this article, we always offer honest opinions, users experiences and real views related to the product or service itself. Our goal is to help readers make the best purchasing decisions, however, the testimonies and opinions expressed are ours only. As always you should do your own thoughts to verify any claims, results and stats before making any kind of purchase. Clicking links or purchasing products recommended in this article may generate income for this product from affiliate commissions and you should assume we are compensated for any purchases you make. We review products and services you might find interesting. If you purchase them, we might get a share of the commission from the sale from our partners. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended.

Source : Boost Your Website Traffic With Instagram’s Best-Kept Secret Method

[conarcoin]

how do you start on everskies? it seems so fun i love dress up games but. im so confused by the whole site idk how to find specific styles of items or get money

making money:

play memory until level 16, you will always get 5k sd

surveys (if 18+) give you stars. so do offers but most are scams. the ones to visit sites and download apps are good though

sell duplicate items

enter outfit competitions

boosting other users' posts, they will often tip or gift you

host raffles (ticket revenue is decent)

finding clothes:

browsing shop & orbital outlet. there's a lot of free and 1sd stuff, if you sort by "least expensive" and "stardust".

join the "item linking club"

browse showcases

check other users' wishlists

other tips:

join clubs, i recommend "tips/gifts", "free gifting", "giveaway town" and "xp club!"

try to level up as much/fast as possible, it rewards you with sd and items. voting on outfit competitions helps you level up fast

do galactic hunt!! it's very easy and very rewarding

add items and sets you like to your wishlist, people can only gift you wishlist items and people on this game are very generous gifters

[strawberryamanita]

Y'all I'm sorry but this is making me freak the fuck out

I know this is gonna probably cause people to call me a terrible person, but I'm just gonna risk it anyhow because this is getting really scary.

If you are a USAmerican,

Please vote for Biden this year.

I am 1000% aware that the genocide in Gaza is being perpetuated by Biden's administration. It's not good at all. I don't like the guy either, and like every President the US has ever had, he will burn in Hell, guaranteed.

But if we don't vote, then Trump is gonna win. This sounds rhetorical, but I ask genuinely: do you think Trump is gonna stop the genocide?

Has Trump ever shown that he cares about a single human being besides himself? The level of misanthropy that idiot is on is remarkable. I personally cannot see him slowing the flow of genocide in any direction; if anything, he might redouble the effort.

I think it was Warren who is tryna warn people that if Trump gets elected again, he'll never leave. I think back to a time during his first term where he said there might one day be a "forever President", and that makes me sick to my fucking stomach. That's not a presidency, that's a monarchy or a dictatorship. That would be the de-facto end of having a say in who's in control until he finally fucking dies -- and not even then, because then the mantle will be passed down to one of his children.

I know the US shouldn't exist in the first place. I am 100% aware of that. They say that empires fall after 250 years, and the US is gonna be 248 years old in July. But unfortunately, it exists right now, and it's full of people who will not survive another four years of Trump.

Again -- I will say it as many times as I need to -- I don't like Biden. I don't like him. He's done some beneficial things, but using his executive powers to speed up a genocide tips the scale completely over back towards hating him.

But Biden will step down when his term is done. I know the bar is in the fucking Mariana Trench, but for the love of God I do not wanna be under Trump for even a minute more. I hate Biden, but I hate Trump more, and that is fueling me, personally, to show up to vote.

At the end of the day, the problem is systemic. Every single authority over the US, since even before Washington, has only cared about hurting people of color and churning up the earth to make money. Our taxes could help improve the lives of US civilians, but instead they are funneled into the trillion-dollar War Machine aimed in every direction, including the US itself. The US commonwealth doesn't matter to the US government. We are human livestock who generate revenue; no matter how many changes of hands our money makes for hopes of a better cause inside the US, every last penny will find its way back into the War Machine or under the dirty ass of a billionaire who should be tarred and feathered in oil and their own paper money.

With all that said. There are US citizens who are enthusiastically pro-Biden right now, and siding with them might just keep us from living in Trump Hell all over again. The bigots have gotten too proud around here, and it makes my blood run cold. My mother doesn't show enthusiasm for ANYTHING the way she shows it for her freedom to hate people loudly and proudly. It makes her come ALIVE. And I know I'm not the only one who's been subjected to this kind of horror show for the last 9 years. Every state of mind curated by the US is a cult, and there is no escape outside of moving away.

Please. Vote. For Biden.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Vittoria Elliott at Wired:

Ahead of the US elections, Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, has used the platform as his own personal political bullhorn. On July 26, Musk posted a video of vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in which a deepfake of her voice appears to make her say that she is the “ultimate DEI hire” and a “deep-state puppet.” The post now bears a community note indicating that it is a parody. But many alleged that, shared without appropriate context, the video could have violated X’s policies on synthetic, or AI-altered, media. This was the culmination of Musk’s recent political rhetoric. Over the past month, Musk, after officially endorsing former president Donald Trump, has also boosted baseless conspiracies of a “coup” following Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race, and insinuated that the Trump assassination attempt might have been the result of an intentional failure on the part of the Secret Service. After endorsing Trump, Musk announced that he was starting a pro-Trump political action committee (PAC), and initially committed to donate $45 million a month, before backtracking.

Former Twitter trust and safety employees say that Musk’s increasingly partisan behavior around the US elections and other major events is a sign that he is doing exactly what he accused the company’s former leadership of doing: playing politics. “It’s staggering hypocrisy,” says one former Twitter employee. “Musk is smart enough to know social media is media, and it’s a way to control the narrative.”

Three former employees, who spoke to WIRED on condition of anonymity due to fear of retaliation, expressed concern that Musk presents a new kind of actor—someone who seeks to actively use a platform to reshape politics in both the US and abroad, and is willing to endure regulatory fines and declining advertising revenue to do so. “He is consolidating power and has systematically dismantled all markers of credibility at the company,” the former employee says. “However, I think it takes on additional significance when the person he is targeting is a presidential candidate.” Authorities appear to agree. Earlier this week, secretaries of state from Minnesota, Washington, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New Mexico sent a letter to X demanding changes to Grok, the platform’s generative AI search tool, after it returned false information claiming Harris had missed the deadline to be on the presidential ballot in nine states.

Musk and X did not respond to a request for comment. Musk has been ramping up to this moment for years. When he purchased Twitter in 2022, he promised free-speech absolutism. After taking over, Musk immediately fired the majority of the company’s policy and trust and safety staff, who were responsible for keeping hateful and misinformative content off the platform. This included those responsible for guiding the platform through contentious elections. As the former employees noted, there is now no one at the company to deal with a flood of election-related misinformation, let alone what Musk himself might spread. “There’s almost no one left,” the former employee says. Disinformation and hate speech on X have ballooned on the site, and a recent Pew Research study found that X has taken on a partisan tilt. Since Musk’s takeover, it’s become more popular with Republican users and less popular with Democrats, who are less likely than Republicans to say their views are welcomed at the site.

Ever since Elon Musk gotten ahold of X (formerly Twitter), he has turned it into a playground for far-right extremism.

[genericpuff]

on the closure of MochaJump, and why we're our own worst enemies in this industry.

"MochaJump? What was that?" is probably your first question, and I'm gonna simply respond with, "Exactly."

MochaJump was a small startup platform made by /u/nunojay2 and a second site engineer (whose name I am not informed of) on reddit. It wasn't anything extraordinary, just a startup site that aimed to offer a more viable alternative to Webtoons and Tapas, with a focus on offering equal visibility to creators, focused recommendation algorithms, loosened restrictions on NSFW content, and bigger cuts for creators on their generated revenue.

Of course, such promises are a tall order, but the creator did their best to host regular discussions with creators in art and webtoon communities to get feedback on what creators really wanted out of their platforms, and they researched what they would need to make in order to keep the site afloat (it came out pretty low at $2 per user per month). Hopes were high and the site launched with a small but eager userbase.

It stayed small. The site shut down in November 2022, just 6 months after launching in May 2022.

Now, I'm not gonna sit here on some soapbox and blame anyone for the site closing down. I unfortunately didn't get much chance to use the site myself so there's surely more I could have done on my own part to help it gain traction. But this is a regular occurrence for start-ups like this, especially in an industry that's as notoriously unprofitable as webcomics. We've seen titans such as SmackJeeves and Inkblazers fall, and MochaJump was merely an infant by comparison.

But it makes me think of how we view and treat these startups as a whole. How we as readers and creators alike have become so trained to exclusively use corporate platforms like Webtoons and Tapas on the promise of "bigger gains". Unlike these bigger companies, platforms like MochaJump depend on building a strong userbase as quickly as possible, and need to find ways to generate revenue to keep things running, otherwise it's only a matter of time before they close down. They don't have a massive conglomerate like Naver or Kakao to pad their pockets through their failures. They don't have the money or reach to inject themselves into society through bus terminal ads and convention sponsorships. They don't have the investors to sink money into their platform until it becomes profitable in return.

So we don't use them. Readers don't use them because we don't see the point in using a platform that has no content... and thus creators don't use them because we don't see the point in publishing our content on a platform with no userbase. Creators seek a place that's "tight knit" and "easy to get seen", but will only post to places that come pre-loaded with massive audiences; because it's not enough anymore to have a couple hundred followers, we're in 2023 now, in the year of consumer bloat, where we expect to now pull in thousands if not millions to be considered a "success". And readers seek a place that offers high-quality high-amount content at the tip of their fingertips, but don't want to pay for the access to these works, and in the case of apps like WT, have given up in trying to support these creators through the platforms themselves because they know that those artists they want to support will likely never see a dime.

The fact of this problem is simple, yet many people seem to ignore it - we cannot expect to have a platform that is tight knit, profitable, and sustainable. These places do not exist, not so long as we continue to raise the bar on what makes a "successful" subscriber count, not so long as we continue to patronize platforms that exploit their artists and writers, and not so long as we keep chasing the dragon of "what these websites used to be". These platforms never used to 'be' anything, they merely existed in one point of time that is now long gone, when owning a smartphone was a luxury and not a need, when online video content wasn't being tethered together by ads, and when the Internet wasn't owned and entirely managed by the same three corporations, the likes of which we haven't seen since cable TV.

Platforms like Tapas and Webtoons are - besides unsustainable - unable to exist and profit in the way they do without undercutting someone along the way. Whether it's underpaying their creators, undercutting their communities, or underexposing the works that have been buried, someone will get the shit hand in the deal and that someone is usually ALWAYS someone who will rarely ever stand to gain anything in the long run from using these platforms despite their issues. The 1% got theirs, and the 10% are barely getting by, while the remaining 89% are pushing onwards, because they have faith in the systemic online enshittification that demands conformity to a single formula for "success".

We are our own worst enemies in this industry. Webcomics are one of the few online mediums that still truly belong to the people - anyone can make them, anyone can find joy in them, but we're letting platforms like Webtoons and Tapas and all the other massive corporate apps rob us of that joy and accessibility in the pursuit of "success" and profiting. Webtoons was never the sole way to profit off this medium and yet I still see people every day who underestimate the existence of legitimate publishing houses and self-publishing, who think that publishing on Webtoons and landing an Originals deal is the only way to find success in this industry. This is meant to be the era of creators, of self-starting and self-actualization, and yet we're still handing all of that control over to corporations that only seek to exploit our art, bodies, and labor, while convincing ourselves that this will somehow all be worth it. We stick with Webtoons, despite the numerous controversies it's been involved in and the lack of support it's given even its own hired creators. We stick with Tapas, despite the undercutting of its most core components such as its community and the outlier genres it used to be known for hosting. We find new ways to justify using platforms that are steadily going downhill - Patreon, Twitter/X, Youtube, Instagram, Facebook - because we've been convinced that these are the routes to success, so if we acknowledge their failures, then "success" can no longer exist.

Because we need to pay rent. Because we need to eat. Because we need to survive. Because it's a lot more complicated than just "stepping away". Because the startups just don't have any of the surface level potential for us to immediately identify and get on board with, so we don't give them a chance.

I realize this post got very existential and depressing. I've been creating comics for well over a decade now, largely unnoticed, and I've fallen victim to these same limiting mindsets that we have to stick to one way, one "formula" for success - a formula that changes with the wind and only works for those who get in on the ground floor. It's been slowly killing me from the very beginning, robbing me of my joy to create, of my reason to even do this in the first place - to tell and share stories with others, to express myself creatively, to live my life surrounded by art and stories and creations made by and for others. It's made me tired and miserable, and I can tell it's done the same to those who have shared that boat with me.

But there's one silver lining I can always be sure of, and it's one I was reminded of after realizing I was still in the MochaJump Discord, with one announcement post that I hadn't yet read.

Webcomics are one of the few online mediums that still truly belong to the people. Corporations are trying their hardest to take that power away. Let's not continue to let them.

If you want to help sustain, patronize, and contribute to the growth of sites that are still being operated by small teams (or even one man armies), please, consider checking out the following websites, some of which serve as platforms or publishers, others which operate as link directories for independent sites run by creators.

ComicFury GlobalComix TopWebcomics The Webcomic List The Webcomic Library Hiveworks SpiderForest SmackJeeves Archive Inkblot.art And whoever wants to use the GitHub source code used for MochaJump (RIP)

Let's do our part to decentralize webcomics again. We may not be able to leave the platforms that weakly sustain us, but we can still support those that strengthen and support us.