#sadly they’re the best craft store in town

[undeadorion]

I need to raid the aggressively religious craft store for my satanic pope plush project and other obscenely sinful crafts.

[restaurantinsanjuan]

The Best Things to See, Eat, and Do in San Juan

Why come to Puerto Rico when you could travel in Mexico, or Miami, or even the Dominican Republic nearby? Great inquiry. Come to Puerto Rico to encounter the unusual impression of being in a completely unique nation (gas by the liter, streets by the kilometer, Spanish is spoken) while as yet being in the United States (same dollar, same president, no requirement for a visa). An outing here is a 3-for-1 deal of Caribbean sea shores, tropical rainforests, and wonderful mountainscapes - with the uncommon special reward of not one but rather three bioluminescent sounds. There's sufficient to see and do in Puerto Rico to keep you occupied for quite a long time.

All things considered, at the top of any Puerto Rico agenda ought to be San Juan, the dynamic capital city where most of the island's visitors land. Set up in 1521, this is the most established European-established settlement in the US and the second-most seasoned in the Americas. You don't need to squint too difficult to see that rich history around you: The pastel-hued Spanish frontier structures and thin cobblestone roads of the Old Town are ensured by seventeenth century strongholds and a 15-foot-thick crisscrossing divider. Take a mobile tour around Old San Juan to get the full impact. Additionally of historical import: The piña colada was concocted here.

Be that as it may, San Juan is something beyond enchanting old stuff and tourist shops. It's a mosaic of steadily advancing areas, similar to the cosmopolitan Miami vibes of Condado, or the fashionable person bars and road craft of Santurce. Regardless of whether you're here for the afternoon or remaining for a whole week, here are the best things to do in San Juan.

The Best Things to See on a Trip to Puerto Rico

Tour the history-pressed San Juan, zip line through a tropical rainforest, and hit the sea shore.

Visit the absolute most seasoned fortresses in the Americas

We should move the touristy stuff first, will we? Two tremendous fortresses front San Juan's northern face. To the west, the sixteenth century Castillo San Felipe del Morro (normally known as El Morro) is undoubtedly perhaps the most notable attractions in Puerto Rico. With its essential area ignoring the San Juan Bay, El Morro protected this port city from 1539 to as of late as WWII.

Passage into El Morro costs just $7.00 - save your ticket, since it likewise incorporates section to "that other fortification," Castillo San Cristobal, inside 24 hours of procurement. This is fundamentally El Morro's neglected younger sibling, yet San Cristobal is cool too! It's the biggest European fortress in the Americas and features the notorious Devil's Guerite (Garita del Diablo). Rumors have spread far and wide suggesting that warriors would randomly vanish as they stood watch in this guerite.

It's about a mile stroll from one fortress to the next, and the walk alone is breathtaking, with pastel provincial houses on one side and a capturing blue ocean on the other. A mammoth esplanade fronting El Morro fills in as a public social event spot, and is a great spot to take a break.

Take a look at the lead representative's home

After you visit the fortresses, walk the waterfront down to La Fortaleza, another walled compound where the island's Governor lives. You're not permitted to go in - it's in a real sense the Governor's home and office - yet you'll see it from the entryway. Lately, the First Lady has stepped up and brighten Fortaleza Street paving the way to the fundamental door. Right now, it's adorned with many bright umbrellas drifting over the road.

Snap a selfie at La Puerta de la Bandera

Since 2012, the passage doors of a flimsy structure on San José Street have become a significant image for Puerto Ricans living under the island's present financial emergency. Craftsman Rosenda Álvarez initially painted the doors with the Puerto Rican banner, just to revisit her painting four years after the fact, quiet the red and blue shades of the banner, and paint them dark all things considered. It was an analysis to the questionable monetary oversight board that is currently controlling the island funds. The structure is presently a famous selfie spot among tourists and local people.

Chase for noticeable (dead) local people in the graveyard

Despite the fact that it's found right close to El Morro, this pioneer time graveyard is regularly neglected by tourists. It lies right external the divider, confronting the ocean. The Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery is the last resting spot of a few noticeable Puerto Ricans - among the most acclaimed names discovered here are Pedro Albizu Campos, Jose Celso Barbosa, and José de Diego, among numerous others.

Chill with something fruity

In the event that you see a little kart with "piraguas" composed on it, do not spare a moment! Piraguas are squashed ice cones seasoned with nearby natural product syrups like cherry, enthusiasm organic product, strawberry, tamarind, coconut, and lemon. Sadly they're a withering practice, yet they can in any case be found in Old San Juan, particularly close to El Morro and Paseo la Princesa.

You'll likewise see hand crafted popsicles sold to a great extent at inhabitants' front doors, generally for $1. These are paletas, seasoned with pretty much every natural product on the island. Guava. Coconut. Other stuff. I got one that was an orange-and-cream blend, and I discovered it some way or another gooier than I'd anticipated. It was likewise truly reviving. Which was fundamental around noontime in the late spring, when the city can be, ah, I'll simply say it, abusively hot.

See the rotunda in the Puerto Rican Capitol

The capitol building is a marble structure fronting the Atlantic, not a long way from Fort San Cristobal. Passageway is totally free, Monday through Friday. Look upward at the roof, where the history of Puerto Rico is portrayed in a dazzling, point by point mosaic. Remain in the focal point of the rotunda, and you'll be encircled by glass-encased duplicates of the Puerto Rican and U.S. constitutions. Outside, the Puerto Rican and U.S. banners fly one next to the other.

Visit the most established house of God in Puerto Rico

In the first place, look at the gallery at Casa Blanca, a house worked for the Spanish traveler Ponce de León and his family. De León, who broadly (and uselessly) looked for the wellspring of youth, kicked the bucket on a campaign before he could move in. Walk a couple of squares to the San Juan Bautista basilica where Ponce de Leon moved in, and where he'll remain forever; he's entombed inside.

There's nothing extravagant about the design, however San Juan Bautista is the most established church in Puerto Rico and the second most seasoned in the Americas. Notwithstanding the tomb of de León, it contains the holy place to Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Santiago - the principal Puerto Rican and the main layman in the history of the United States to be beatified.

Dance to the beat of "Despacito" in La Perla

La Perla has gained notoriety for strict hundreds of years. This historic shanty town was initially settled in the nineteenth century to house previous slaves and destitute workers who weren't permitted to live inside the city dividers. Today, the area appreciates newly discovered acclaim as where Luis Fonsi shot his music video for "Despacito." It was hit hard by Hurricane Maria is still amidst remaking. In case you're nearby on a Sunday night, go celebrating at La 39 Bar, a shoddy bar based on the top of a house that was mostly obliterated during the typhoon. Request a Medalla, the most mainstream brew in Puerto Rico.

Go to a well known speakeasy mixed drink bar

Likewise featured in the "Despacito" music vid is the speakeasy El Condal. This spot is so well known among local people, it doesn't require a sign outside. It's found where the well known Hijos de Borinquen bar used to be (you can in any case see the first name inside, painted on the divider), and El Condal holds the calm vibe of the famous unique.

It's tourist-accommodating, however as you advance inside you'll discover more than tourists drinking - and moving - there. Past the covered up indirect access are four more individual spaces, including a wine-bar, dance floor, and basement like bar - each with its own music, vibe, climate, beverages, and food. You may even get spendy and drop $9 on a mixed drink.

Attempt a delectable tripleta

Puerto Rico has no deficiency of delightful road food, particularly since the food-truck fever has assumed control over the island. In any case, Puerto Rico has had its own customary food-truck dish throughout recent decades - it's called tripleta. What's a tripleta? It's a sandwich. Tripleta implies three, so this sandwich has marinated barbecued 3D square steak, ham or pork, and chicken. It is served on a portion of yam bread with chips, mayonnaise, and ketchup. Trust me, it is delightful! Among the most famous tripletas is El Mariachi, found in Caguas and numerous different districts. You can visit best Italian restaurant in San Juan.

Absorb the Miami vibes along Ashford Avenue

Ashford Avenue feels like a Caribbean adaptation of Miami Beach with its Miami-style design, very good quality stores, popular lodgings, and beachfront bistros. Stroll along the road to absorb the climate, chill at the beachfront Ventana del Mar Park, have a dynamic night at the historic La Concha Resort, or tune in to live groups at the Hard Rock Café.

[exhoe-imagines]

the green room → jww

summary → watching wonwoo’s twitch streams had always been something you’d enjoyed, but never in a million years did you think you’d run into him so casually at his daytime job

word count → ~2k

genre/warnings → gamer/streamer!au, florist!au, gn!reader who is oblivious to flowers and their meanings, random overwatch references that i had to guess on bc im clueless djfkdsjfsd

a/n → SO @gamerwoo did not think i could attack her,, hence this fic was born !! i pray it will wound her the way i am hoping for !! also any references to overwatch were made from the content i see about it on her blog/faq so thank u rocket for unknowingly educating a dumb bitch like me 😪

“Anyway, I’ll see you guys tomorrow at the same time.” The boy smiled into his webcam, giving a shy wave to the screen. His brown eyes were hidden behind his round glasses, but they did little to cover up the flustered blush that covered his cheeks. It was obvious, as usual, that ending a stream proved to be difficult for him -- the awkward void of noise from his game commentary or the sound effects coming from his computer speakers leaving him in uncomfortable silence as he said goodbye.

You giggled softly as the stream turned black, before his offline screen popped up, displaying his social media and schedule links in a thin blue font. There was no need to click on them, at least for you, since you’d memorized his handles and stream times months prior.

To call you a fan of gamerwoo_96’s twitch would have been a bit of an understatement, one could say. You were quite picky with who you spent your free time watching, especially when it came to hour long streams. Besides Wonwoo, which was his real name, only a few other lucky gamers had you regularly on their accounts -- notably, yutodagames and pcy92, but your casual viewing on their channel was nothing compared to your dedication to Wonwoo.

There was something about how natural he was at playing, that you and his other couple hundred regular followers greatly appreciated. He didn’t seem dedicated to becoming big on Twitch, even showing signs of embarrassment when a large number of people tuned in for his streams. However, no one, not even himself, could deny his channel grew rather quickly.

You’d stumbled across his account one Saturday while looking for Overwatch players, and you’d been hooked ever since. He wasn’t as loud or annoying as other guys his age on Twitch, but he wasn’t too quiet either, where it made it uncomfortable. He commented on things every now and then but stayed focused and would go silent every few moments. It was a nice balance, allowing you to concentrate on the gameplay, but also get to hear his thoughts, and very deep voice whenever he voiced his opinion on something.

Of course, you’d be lying if you didn’t say his looks kept you on his channel as well. He was cute, that much was obvious. His loose white shirts and tousled hair always gave him a laidback look, that contradicted the focus he’d put into his gameplay. Wonwoo’s nose would scrunch, his eyes squinting behind his gold glasses. It was downright adorable, and completely uncalled for considering he was already the prettiest gamer boy you’d ever seen.

Months later, you were still tuning in for his morning Saturday stream -- a perfect way to start your weekend if anyone asked you.

You clicked out of Twitch and closed your laptop before rolling on your back, letting out a deep sigh as you sunk into your bed. You had a list of errands to run, but you’d been putting them off, deeming Wonwoo’s stream more important. However, now that it ended, you had no excuse for putting off your tasks.

Begrudgingly, you got out of bed a few minutes later, trudging to your bathroom to get ready.

Mentally, you’d already planned your schedule for the day. Grocery shopping and getting gas were first, then gift shopping, and lastly, meeting your friend later in the afternoon to celebrate her birthday.

As expected, the first two errands were nothing special, and you got them done rather quickly. However, the next one was not as simple. Your friend had always loved flowers, and you wanted to get her a big bouquet when you greeted her. The only problem was, florists in your area were rare, which meant you had to drive out of town to find one.

“Thank god I don’t have any cold groceries,” you mumbled, before setting off on your detour.

When you finally pulled up to The Green Room, you were pleased with what you saw. It certainly seemed worth the drive, beautiful baskets and arrays of flowers decorating the outside of the small white shop.

Making sure you had your keys, wallet, and phone on you, you made your way to the entrance, noticing it seemed to be empty from your view through the large windows. Shrugging it off, you pushed the door open, a little bell sounding your arrival.

“Good morning,” a smooth voice from behind the counter greeted you. For a second, a slight feeling of recognition passed through you, and when you turned to face the cashier, you understood why.

Wonwoo stood there, a white apron tied around his waist, and a polite smile on his lips. Your eyes widened and your voice was caught in your throat, something he noticed quickly.

“Is there anything I can help you with?” he asked, probably viewing your silence as confusion.

You had to be seeing things.

You shook your head quickly, squeaking out a response. “I-I don’t think so.”

Wonwoo nodded, looking back down at the book on the counter he had open. It was almost finished, and you swooned internally.

A bookworm too? you thought, how perfect is this boy?

Not wanting to stare too long, you scurried towards the back of the shop, trying to make yourself look busy as you racked your brain for an explanation as to why Wonwoo was running the one flower shop by your house. He’d never mentioned where he lived or where he worked, obviously, but never in your life did you imagine that out of everywhere in the world, he was a mere hour from your apartment complex.

What kind of fucking coincidence is this? you screamed internally, barely paying attention to the flowers as you passed them. Speaking of, you couldn’t wait to tell your friend -- she’d gotten sick of hearing you fangirl over your “little gamer boy” as she liked to call him. She was truly in for a treat now, as you’d probably never stop talking about the fact that you met him.

There was nothing you wanted more than to go back up to the counter and talk to him, but you had to get the flowers you’d come for.

The only problem was, you had no idea what to buy.

Your friend had told you all her favorite flowers, but there were so many, and with the thought of Wonwoo at the front of your mind, there was no way you were going to be able to remember them all, let alone know what they looked like.

Letting out a sigh, you decided to pick out a few flowers that looked pretty, and would maybe look nice together. It was the best you could do, and you only hoped your friend would appreciate the effort.

Sadly, it must have been pretty easy to spot how clueless you were, since, after a few minutes of picking different flowers, footsteps sounded near you.

“Who are you shopping for?” Wonwoo asked, as he stood next to you. His proximity and the natural warmth radiating off his form had you stuck in place, unable to escape.

“M-my friend.”

He hummed. “Special occasion?”

You nodded. “Her birthday.”

At that, Wonwoo visibly held back a wince. His eyes darted to the flowers in your hands before he looked back at you. “Maybe white lilies wouldn’t be the best choice then.” His voice was reserved, like he was worried about criticizing your choice. “They’re usually meant for funerals,” he awkwardly explained, pushing his glasses up his nose.

“Oh god,” you groaned, “I really have no idea what I’m doing here.”

Wonwoo chuckled at that, visibly loosening up at your response. “It’s alright, it’s more common than you think.” He held out his hand, sending you a smile. “I can go put those back if you want me to help you make a new bunch.”

You let out a sigh of relief. “That’d be great, thank you.”

Wonwoo nodded, taking the flowers from your hand, his fingers long and warm as they brushed against your palm.

Hearing him ramble about flower types a few moments later was one of the greatest things your ears had ever been blessed with. You’d always liked his voice, but hearing him explain the different flowers and their meanings was the most you’d ever heard him talk at once, and it was amazing. Clearly, the shop was a huge passion of his, which you thought fit his personality perfectly.

“A couple of these alstroemerias, for friendship. Some yellow and orange gerberas too, maybe.” He was clearly mumbling to himself by then, plucking different flowers from around the shop and fitting them between each other. His skill was visible immediately, the bouquet effortlessly beautiful as he crafted it without a second thought.

By the time he was done, you were in awe. He sent you a sheepish smile as he led you back to the front counter, setting the flowers down as he moved behind the cash register.

“Thank you so much,” you said, pulling out your wallet as he told you the price. It seemed unusually low, compared to the price tags plastered across the store. You brushed it off, assuming a sale was happening or something.

“You’re really good at this,” you mentioned, as you picked up the bouquet, careful not to mess up all his work. “I wouldn’t have expected that.” You said the words before you could catch yourself, eyes widening as you looked up at Wonwoo.

His eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

You internally cursed yourself. There was no going back now. “I um, I’m used to seeing you on Twitch.”

You waited for the awkward response that would make you feel like a creep, but Wonwoo just smiled bashfully. “Really? I’ve never had someone recognize me, besides some friends and family, of course.”

You looked at him slightly in shock. “Are you serious? I watch your streams all the time,” you admitted, feeling some heat spread to your cheeks.

“What’s your username?” he asked curiously.

You told him, expecting he would just nod, but instead his eyes widened in recognition.

“You have the D.Va icon right?”

You tried not to openly gape, but the shock was too strong. Wonwoo, your favorite streamer, remembered you?

“Y-yeah I do.”

He smiled, glad he’d recognized you correctly.

“Well, maybe I’ll see you at the next stream then?” his tone was hopeful, and you nodded almost immediately.

“Of course.”

He nodded, and his usual awkwardness when it came to saying goodbye became apparent.

“Here um, take this, on me.” He grabbed a flower from one of the baskets behind the counter, and handed it to you with a blush.

You took it, mirroring his flustered expression. “T-thank you.” You smiled shyly before picking up your bouquet and waving him goodbye with your free hand. He tilted his head in response, and you quickly left the shop before he could notice how hard you were crushing on him.

You were able to hold back your scream of excitement until you made it to your car, when you slammed your hands against the steering wheel with a squeal.

However, nothing compared to your excitement when your friend noticed the flower Wonwoo gave you, a knowing smirk spreading across her face.

“Wonwoo gave you that?” she asked, grin growing as you nodded. “Did he tell you the meaning?”

You shook your head, and her expression brightened.

“Well,” she sing-songed, “if that ranunculus means what I think it does, it seems like a certain gamer boy finds you very attractive.”

[szopenhauer]

Have you ever kissed the last person you texted? yes

Are you in a good mood right now? r u serious?...

Is there anyone who you think you deserve an apology from? I won’t get any

Are you talking to anyone right now? my gf online and my mom irl

Did you buy anything today? I didn’t

Were you happy when you woke up this morning? I wasn’t

When was the last time you cried really hard? today, it wasn’t the hardest tho

When did you last hug someone? Who was it? this day as well, parent

How’s life going for you? no comment

Has something someone said today annoyed you? that’s normal Can you hear the crickets chirping at night? sadly not Do you like listening to new music, or just sticking to your favorites? depends on the new song - if it’s good then I like it as much as my old favs

When was the last time you were bitten by a bug? this summer has the worst mosquitos ever Do you have a pair of sunglasses that are worth over $200? I'm not rich, mine aren’t more expensive than 25 PLN  Are you brave when it comes to trying new foods? ...  When was the last time you saw your significant other? weeks ago, not counting video chatting Are you ashamed of your singing voice? I’m aware I have no talent so... Have you ever had a dream where you could understand a foreign language? also animal languages and been talking to plants etc. Do you have anything important to do tomorrow? hospital Are you a fan of retro things? prefer vintage, antiques, shabby - retro is fake but at times there are some good enough pieces as well  Would you be considered to be knowledgeable about World War 2? I mistake WWI for WWII and vice versa If you’re with someone right now, do you think it will last? don’t feed my paranoia Have you heard of the Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers? oooh that’s the one Do you have something to do, that you would rather not do? tomorrow Are you, in any way, feeling hopeless right now? absolutely Do you know who you’re planning to ask to your prom? I wanted to ask my current gf back in the day but my mom didn’t let me and I didn’t go because only me and K. didn’t have a date so we preffered to stay home When was the last time you went shopping? yesterday What’s the limit on how much you would pay for a shirt? 60 PLN but I cry when I pay 30 PLN, luckily I have like 3 shirts that are about 30 PLN Do you like making funny faces in pictures? better to be funny than ugly, right? Is there something you look back on and go “I can’t believe I did that”? regrets Are you good at offering advice? but not following them  What was the last thing to confuse you? confused is my second name  Are you a fan of Keira Knightley? she’s not that good Have you ever resorted to alcohol to make you feel better? it doesn’t make anything better Have you heard about Mel Gibson’s rant/freakout? he was such a good actor, such a shame he’s not a good person  Do you wish your bedroom was bigger? I wish I had my own apartment Have you ever felt like a “new person”? I had my moments that were ruined right after  Do you own any expensive jewelry? I sold the only necklace that was worth something  Has there been someone in your life that just wouldn’t leave you alone? stalkers Do you hate to use public bathrooms? there are way worse things than public bathrooms, even when they’re covered in blood, poop, pee and vomit (but puke is least bearable from all four)

Are there any writing utensils close to you? I packed bunch of them 

What was the last thing that shocked you? brain, remind me what was last... How many other rooms can you currently see into? hall Do you need to take the trash out? done Do you need to clean your room right now? soon Do you need to clean out a litter box right now? my cat’s gone Are these questions reminding you of things you put off to do this survey? there’s washing my head on my list for this evening - nothing more  How many days have you been wearing those clothes? gimme a break!

Can you move your nose? yasss

Have you ever done a craft that you found on Pinterest? sew teddy and a cat from socks for example but I’m not fond of DIY in general Are you content with mystery, or do you wish you knew everything? knowledge is power

What’s one thing that makes your stomach hurt? what doesn’t?... Ever had a living nightmare? my life is a nightmare

Do you think successful people always come with a pack of haters? successful or not - haters are everywhere Do you wish you could be a world traveler? travelling ain’t my hobby Do you wish you could live in another city for a year? Ełk If you had kids, would you take them to Disney World? if I had money and they wanted to go and it wasn’t that far away from home and they were angels and they were old enough... Have you ever stood in line to get a Disney character’s autograph? wouldn’t bother, pics are better How long does it usually take your hair to dry?  so short yet dry slowly Is your Pinterest page cluttered? it’s neat Did you used to name your Barbies? of course Is your life boring? ppl say it is but for me it’s not enough boring if you know what I mean Do you usually feel better around people or alone? alone Is there a broken relationship in your life that you want to fix? tried to fix friendships but it didn’t work out  Do you ever think about Heaven? yup Are you ready for Heaven yet? I will go to hell but I don’t mind dying now if it’s a quick death as I prefer to be gone that an ill burden to myself and others Are you afraid of where you’re going to go? I don’t deserve heaven, I think it would be unfair for me to go wherever, I have love-hate relationship with God Do you feel better now than you did last night? noooo Does your body have any problems with it? my body is 99,99% a problem, it’s made of problems like jigsaw puzzle game Have you taken any huge risks lately? my life is 24/7 at risk - does that count?... Silence or songs? depends  Do you ignore rude people or do you call them out? try to ignore them if possible What color socks do you have on? purple stripes, looks a bit like asexual flag - this realization :o Are you under a blanket right now? am not

How much was your prom dress? What’s the most you’d spend?: I wouldn’t buy anything expensive, dress from a second hand under 30 PLN Are most of your friends single or taken?: my friends were basically always single When you’re taking a survey that has a “Which of your friends is… the nicest? The prettiest? The smartest? Etc.” do you skip over it?: as I have no friends anymore to be honest What salon do you go to for getting your hair done?: I cut them on my own or ask mom for help Do you believe in luck?: I’m unlucky Would you marry someone of a different religion?: that would be hard  Would you convert for them?: nope Worst part about your job?: I don’t have a job and the worst part about it is lack of money and regular UP visits Ever took something out of the lost and found that wasn’t yours?: they tempt me I took some lost/trashed stuff from the street tho Do you delete friends from Facebook if they never talk to you?: that’s me! Do you know anyone who smokes cigars?: my uncle did Ugliest fashion trend at the moment?: according to this - shorts suit, cut outs, sheer/transparent, raffia not a fan of most of vests blue isn’t my fav color but it’s a seasonal thing but shirts shouldn’t be such a huge part of summer in my opinion Do you like glittery nail polishes?: why not

Are you wearing a pink shirt? it’s white with black letters

If you had a baby, would you want to have it at home or in a hospital? hospital I believe

Have you ever had a bad experience with anti-depressants? If so, what? don’t even let me begin this subject...

What makes your room unique? trinkets

Does your past bother you? consequences of it

Do you take risks or play it safe? play it safe and yet...

Are you afraid of running into a certain person in public? more than one person, more than one reason

Do you live in the USA? Poland

Who do you want to meet in Heaven? from those who already died? my brother

Is it raining? slightly

Is your life stressful and exhausting? to me it is too stressful and exhausting 

What is your favorite time of the day? when I sleep, if I sleep that is 

Have you ever known anyone that’s gone missing? nope Do you put your foundation on with a sponge or your hand? I don’t use foundation, yuk Do you have to pee often? ppl told me that I pee often Do you live near a pet store? they closed pet store in my town

Who was the last person other than family to tell you that they love you? my gf How many people have you kissed in the last month? 1 Do you know anyone who writes really well? my gf writes well Does it bug you when people spell color “colour”? not spell but write, it sounds good in British accent but looks horrible on paper

What is the best fanfic you have ever read (lmao) only fanfic I remember reading was that one E.W. and K.K. sent me about Draco and Harry (yaoi)

If you could direct your own TV show/movie, what would it be like? it would be based on my book

One thing you’ve always wished you could do / be good at? be healthy

Post a picture of the weirdest/funniest text conversation you’ve ever had! can’t choose only one, also, sadly,  I don’t have screenies of some of them 

Is there a stranger you would like to meet again? for example - I’d like to see all those ppl that I thought have amazing fashion sense and ask them if I can take photos then I would make a blog about it

Does your school take sports too seriously? all schools do, that’s unfair What does the sound you currently hear remind you of? it’s quiet

Did you eat out anywhere today? nah Where is your purse? my purses are in various places around my room

[criticscornertw]

Lights! Camera! Action!

Hello my fellow Thespians,

My, from this view, the Stage spreads out before me. I would say this is just about directly house center, right where the sound should be the best. Of course, I know because a certain thespian used to spend the majority of his rehearsal time here, giving everyone directions, and suggestions and writing in the books he used to keep under the very seat I’m— They’re actually still here! After all these years, no one sat here and dusted off the original copies?

Well, I was going to talk about the one time a chandelier fell and almost killed half the Stage, Director included, but it seems that fate has something else in store! Find a comfy spot, because I’ve the sense this will be a long one.

What I have in my arms are a trio of guidebooks written by our late Director, with the third and final installation serving as his memoir. Lights, Camera!, and Action needn’t be read in order— in fact, these were written concurrently— which allows any aspiring Director, Writer, or Technician pick up a book in the series without being bogged down by needed context.

Lights is probably the most technical of the three, detailing Director’s process in translating Narrator’s script and vision to a visual medium on the stage, going in length on what techniques can be used to produce a certain mood. I did find the section on how to apply gobos and lighting gels to achieve the various locales of “The Lizard of Awe” while still keeping an adaptable and minimalist set quite interesting, though much of the jargon throughout the section and book were intimidating. I feel technicians will have want of a shorthand to build off of, but I sadly know I am unqualified to give it a thorough review.

Camera! continues this trend, though shifting the focus to the script, and deciding which parts of it are the most important to emphasize for the particular vision in mind. For example, Camera! explains the need for a sturdy, multi-tiered set to dance on for the smash hit “Dancing in the Downpour,” so that the Choreographer can go to town on staging while not needing to worry too much about dancers slipping off a platform. Ah! I remember seeing that show like it was yesterday. Rain must have been proud of their handiwork, and the lighting only accentuated the splashes of water as the dancers moved— Ah! But I digress. The dancing was the focus of the show, and what can be expressed through dance. Director sought to create that by making sure the set and effects highlighted that aspect as much as possible, without being overbearing, and of course, ruining the floors of the stage!

Action! is perhaps my favorite of the trio. I, admittedly, never had a fondness for Director— his meticulousness often left himself and the rest of the cast on edge (with good reason, a certain someone breathing down your neck for every production is probably not good for the nerves), but this book, as do the previous editions in the series, shows the level of care behind all of the annoying and frustrating quirks that would come up as the rehearsal process came down to the wire. What particularly struck me was a quote in the chapter titled, “Exits and Curtain Call,”

It is easy to forget that a thespian’s bow may be their last, whether they are on or offstage. Take time to emphasize those in the wings, those in the rafters, and finally, yourself. I wonder which production will be my last, but as long as I exit with as much purpose as I entered, I wouldn’t regret a thing.

If I remember correctly, the Director published these shortly before he took his final bow. It brings a certain level of poignancy to the books I wasn’t originally expecting from him...

Overall, I feel Thespians from multiple walks of life could benefit from reading Lights, Camera!, and Action!. While I only covered a few examples of what the three books have in store, I think the extra tips and anecdotes from someone devoted to the craft turn the books from a droll guide into something a little more.

New editions of Lights, Camera! and Action! are all available Center Stage for purchase of ~500 Shards.

Now, I must be on my way, my legs need a bit of a stretch, perhaps time to get a better vantage point as well...

~The Critic

[kaiju-z]

Today’s summary is of a One-Shot DM’d by the lovely @langstymclangstface​. Go visit their page and give them some love, for they are a talented writer and we had a hellaciously fun time playing this one shot together!

Seon Adventures Episode 20.5:  “Crumbling Wax”, a Seon Adventures Halloween One-Shot

(Aka Nelatha’s Coochie Quest. The sequel title no one asked for :eyesemoji:)

It has been. A short while since our heroes have been in the city of Crystalgate, Capitol of the country of Aetorumia.

A costume festival is being held, bright and shining lights illuminating the night time sky above the wandering citizens as they pass by booths and tables of contents, finding entertainment for themselves and their loved ones.

Each and every one has made it their goal to wear a costume as ostentatious as the next, a sort of challenge between each other to see who can be the most in the spirit of the event.

High spirits are in the air, in spite of a problem that has arisen for everyone. Or most of everyone. A sickness has hit a substantial part of the populace and thus, people are using this evening as a gateaway from the bad vibes of their relatives being down for the count.

Some call it the end of the world, but they’re honestly being overdramatic dramatic.

Amongst the walkers of this town, there are four of the five members of the party “The Cultbusters”. Sadly, Belli is at home (I headcanon that Mournimar left Morgan with her, as we didn’t get a description of Morgan’s costume. So the good direwolf is there to be her comfort animal, along with familiar, Orion.) and she is siiiiiick. And thus, she is locked off at home, as are all that have been hit by this flu.

The rest of the party are lucky.

And the rest of the party are dressed up to their heart’s content!

Amelia wears the proud costume of a sea corsair. A daring, romanticized fersion of a pirate, with Archie as her fat little shoulder griffin, a pair of wings strapped to the chunky, hunky kitty’s back, a little beak on his face. He’s living his best life and loves his catmom.

Walking beside her, Nelatha Shadowspire’s joined the group yet again. Accompanying her lady friend Genasi, she is wearing a sexed up version of a Cleric’s uniform. Particularly, that of a Honos cleric. (She is basically a fantasy sexy nurse) And she is confident as hell in that outfit. She makes it work and she knows it.

Flanking them is Mournimar, who, while initially planning some other attire, has opted for the costume of a favored character of his from a classical play. He wears the rags of the infamous drug dealer, tomb raider, bard and poet, the Graverobber. And he is blue screening real bad on account of not being used to such festivities. With Belli on the sick bed, he is but inchest away from touching shoulders with his fellow tiefling.

He, of double disguises. Who, along with the elf baby have dressed up as the characters of Fangface and Fangpuss respectively. They are goofy outfits, but Luctan is having a ball with it, enjoying the cartoonishness of it all and the hilarity that he, someone already in disguise, is wearing a third skin now. And the baby is baby. He don’t care none.

Last, but far, far from least, Malak walks with his new traveling companions, wearing a skeleton costume. A onesie, his face painted up to appear skullish.

Together the five, plus the baby and cat, walk amongst the people as streamers fly overhead. People dance and play and drink to their heart’s content. In a various level of dress.

What catches their attention is that amongst the chaos there’s a man selling candles. A sign upon his booth states the title “The Candle Man”, as their noses are attracted by multitude of scents from these particular ones.

The closer they walk, the musical tunes of The Living Tombstone’s “Spooky Scary Skeletons” hail in repetition, much to the frustration and disguist of Nel, who’s bardic pride feels poked at with the ridicilousness of that tune.

Along the way to the Candle Man’s booth, Malak’s eye stops at a nice old fashioned game of bobbing for apples. His curiosity overtaking him, the human man gives it a go and dunks his head in the water, trying to be as dexterous as he can with his chompers.

He tries his best. Swinging his head left, right, center. Up and down, trying his damnedest to nab one of the apples. But alas, he fails at the task. From the outside perspective, someone has to walk on over to him and pull him out and back, as the Death Cleric looked like he was drowning.

Trying to give it a go himself, Mournimar enters the “battlefield” of fruit and preps to dive headfirst (as you do). Malak is the ever helpful man he is and places a hand on Mournimar’s shoulder for encouragement, casting Guidance on him.

Through a combination of the ranger’s skill in handling items and the Cleric’s holy magic, the tiefling nabs an apple. But not just your regular Granny Smith’s apple! This one is of a golden color.

“Congratulations, you won the grand prise!”

He is the victor of the game and earns himself a bag of candies from the vendor, a kind lady speaking in her best Applecore accent.

“Excellent!” exclaims Mournimar and offers the bag around. But be it because of a distate in sweets or a lack of hunger, he is left to feast on the candies himself. All the more for himself!

As they continue on, they pass by a number of establishments. From new age bars, to meat houses.  Bakeries and the like, all theming their foods after the holiday that has been bestowed upon the masses, with skulls and pumpkins and bats and all sorts of crawlies.

Luctan asks around about the sickness. Most people suggest it’s a cold time of year, so it’s normal. There are a couple of people out of town, panicking a bit regarding a pandemic. Performers say they’ve lost a hood half of their act, because of this. Lost their voices and shit.

Mourni’s type of Orc walking around, basically looks him up and down, shakes his head and says they tried, but shit didn’t work

A fire genasi performs a juggling act with flaming knives nearby. Luctan, being the boy, who loves his pointy things that he is, goes for a closer watch of the show. The Genasi man waves at Luctan, between throws and tosses and twirls and spins of the burning blades.

Impressed with the performance, Luctan gives a gold piece and a bunch more Fire Genasi come out, juggling. Despite that they are very excited to perform for him and stuff, they haven’t said a single thing. To Luctan, it appears that they are just very dedicated to their craft. And he appreciates that.

(He loves a man, who can handle a blade. Somewhere Ficus has himbs a sneeze, probably.)

Nel is not amused. Why? Aside from the juggling, her resting witch face is earned from seeing Amelia approach a pet store, where they have cats dressed in little costumes.

And you can pet said cats.

Set up as advertisements and stuff. You can buy treats themed for each cat.

She picks up the quiet mewing of kittens from the back of the room, where people pay to have kittens crawl and paw over them.

While Malak enjoys a variety of Pumpkin Spice Lattés (And there are so MANY Pumpkin Spice Lattés) Amelia goes to the cats. There’s a nice lady holding two fat cats. And she gets to pet some cats. Lennard and Harry. They were married and had a ceremony last week and the kittens are in the back.

Amelia is tearing up. This is the best day of her life.

Good work is being done for these cats. She is warned about a certain cat boi who jumps on people and demands cuddles.  Amelia seems to be prepared for this. Heavy is the ribcage that must contain so much love for felines.

Out of nowhere  areally fat Scottish fold jumps and descends on her, which causes Nel to scream a loud screm.

In response,  The cat looks at Nel and bleps.

This is the happiest day in Amelia’s life.

Cats are available for adoption.

With the cat on her head and the two in her arms, as well as Archie on her shoulders, she is virtually in cat heavan. If this is a dream, don’t let her wake up.

All the while, Malak gets free gingerbread with every latté. (Nel feels like the world’ll collapse around her over all the coffee.)

Eventually, with cats in tow, the party find themselves at the Candle Man’s store.

One very bored teenager fiddling with a candle. He looks like he can’t be bothered. As they get closer to inspect them, each one looks like a person. They seem to be made expertly, made in order of famous people, but they don’t recognize any of them.

Except for one.

Luctan vaguely recognizes one of the figures as the dancer!Zitra! But something seems off about it, like it was done in a hurry. Almost like someone wasn’t used to this, as opposed to the expert.

The young one explains that  the candlemaker’s sick, so the kid had to rush ‘em.  Luctan buys one of the Lady Zitra and an unknown dude.  Then hands the young salesperson a pamphlet and encouraging words. He believes that they can do better!

Curious, Malak wants a candle made of him. But gets the strange explanation that a personal hairstrand is required for the wick. And backs off immediatelly.

Luctan and Mournimar have no idea what this is about. To Nel there seems to be more than he’s letting on. Sinister vibe coming off of him.

She’s noticed he hasn’t’blinked once since they met him, but a few minutes prior.

He’s very cagey about what his general job is, as opposed to the summer job.

It’s mostly, you know, ehm, bar keeping and cleaning.

At the Busty Wench. The one in town.

Nel doesn’t remember a franchise opening here.

On these revelations, the shadyness of the character, if Malak hadn’t changed his mind before, he most certainly had now.

Malak casts Zone of Truth.

The moment he casts the spell, something odd happens. No. Something horrid happens. The ground begins to melt.

All around them? Everyone starts melting as blobs of flesh and clothes and then they realize they’re surrounded by wax, which starts to pull and move towards the stand, which is slowly changing form until they start in front of a vague humanoid figure twice of Mournimar’s height.

Yeah...

The sign is very litteral.

Much to Amelia’s horror, all cats, but Archie, begin to melt. Gordon and Harry and the one on her head crumble and fuse and melt off and down to the ground below. Even the cats were fake.

The wax man has a big as smile. Whatever he is. the party had never heard of it before.

As he says that, he rises into the air and drops down and suddenly everything is melting into wax, white and overpowering scent of burning candle and the floor is disappearing beneath everyone’s feet.

BOGUS!”, to say the least.

Thinking fast,  Nel uses Polymorph and changes into a giant eagle and grabs Amelia and Archie to move them to safety. Once in the air, she looks out into the horizon and in a perfect circle? She sees that the city is surrounded by a desert. And slowly-an-and- and melting?!

Malak is noticing that the fire jugglers, who but moments prior were catching and throwing burning blades, were now sleeping and drowning in wax.

He tries to save them, but isn’t strong enough to do a thng about all this.

From what the lot of the ‘busters can gather, apparently the sick people are the real ones. And they are sinking.

Wasting no further time, the rest of the party start climbing.

Arriving at the top, they see that the area they started from? There’s this vast and expanding black hole, going outwards. Up top, Luctan has a vague feeling that something isnt’real here, but there’s so much magic surrounding him, he cant’pinpoint what the illusion is.

All the while Mournimar strategizes with the polymorphed Nelatha.

Malak takes a notice that the hair sticking out of the wax candles is still there and he realizes that the figurines at the stall are left completely in tact.

Luck realizes that some of the people he tried pulling out had wax figurines.

The ones he was shown were selected so he wouldn’t recognize them. It is by mere chance that they had met the Lady herself. And thus, he acts upon a gut feeling.  He removes the hairstring and the figurine cracks, before beginning a climb down to the candle booth. To repeat that on a grander level. And Mournimar follows, in spite of Luctan’s protests.

Nel is tasked with carrying the others away.

(And here we have a bit of a 2-3 minute break, because Cat’s mic was off for a good while. Because her kitten, the Little Man/Little Bastard as she calls him had turned it off. It was the funniest thing ever.)

As they part ways, Amelia casts Levitate on Luctan. Yell heah!

As Luck flies, he remembers he left Belli asleep in the Shadowspire Manor, which from his perspective, begins to melt. Cursing under his breath, he takes the figurines with a box and removes the hairs on the way to Belli’s as Mournimar sprints after him.

As they move, Mourni notices Luctan’s in tiefling form. And has a tail?!

The levitation drops eventually and Luctan falls on the ground. As he turns around, he sees he’s been chased by a fellow tiefling, but it’s not someone he recognizes.

Nel turns in her normal form forcibly as they travel and they are surrounded by strangers. Making her 3 point landing, Amelia notices a bird turning into a humanoid form and sadly doesn’t recognize Nel.

Everyone’s... surrounded by strangers.

A figure about Amelia’s height rises from the wax and says “Hello there, don’t be frightened. You’ve been saved.”

Luck see this form as well, but it’s smaller and childlike and feels an eerie sense of calm.

Mournimar, unfortunately, fails on a wisdom save and “ knows everything’ll be alright”.

As he realizes this, his features starts melting off, until Mourni is gone, replaced with a lump of wax.

Seeing all this madness happening around him, Malak casts Protection of Good and Evil and protects himself.

Luck feels Danger as he sees that someone start melting, which causes him to have... the freaks out. It’s this reason why he probably only too late notices he has his tail back?!

Feeling threatened by this wax fhild,  Luctan casts Sacred Flame, which burns a hole through the child’s chest. Not falling for whatever niceties the child propheces, the red tiefling burst into a dash towards Belli’s location.

Mournimar is ordered to attack Luctan. And he does so, chasing after him, unsheathing the swords from his hips and attacking.  All the while this big lump of wax follows along as the floor seems to start to swallow him.

Luctan gets attacked and the seering pain feels like fire. Looking at the wound inflicted by the possessed Mournimar, he realizes he’s made of wax. Out of anxiety and rage and frustration and pain, he goes on to react with a Hellish Punishment at his attacker and melts Mournimar?!

(BEGONE, TIEF!)

Malak makes an attack, casting Litch Slap on the monstrous child. He hadn’t prepared any combat spells, but at the very least he had this.

Chunks fly and hit Amelia and Nel and reveal wax underneath.

Nel bounces. Not recognizing anyone, she has no reason to be here.

The thing goes after Malak.

Amelia bounces as well.

She takes two steps, before  a hand reaches out from the ground and grabs her, squeezing and burning.

With a strength, unmatched and one powerful crushing motion, Amelia’s head pops off. And she poofs out of existence.

Malak attacks with his axe and that has no effect. As Nel runs, tendrils are grabbing at her feet. “Nope-nope-nope-nope-nope.”

One successful tendril  grabs and pulls her down.

Nel feels herself being pulled down into the wax and it pours down into the ground. She suffocates and no longer is within this realm of existence.

The tendrils go after Luctan, shifting into vicious spikes, but melt behind him, due to him perpetually casting Prestidigitation, applying sparks in the viscinity aorund him.

.He carries on like this, until the sensation of emptyness under him catches his attention.

And he starts falling.

And falling.

And. While still dressed in the Fangface costume, he tries to concentrate on hsi wings. Figuring he could create them at this point, he does so. Wax versions of his wings shape from his shoulderblades. And for a short moment, he manages to fly up.

Until the wings break apart.

And he starts falling yet again.

As spikes portrude from around him and impale him, taking him out as well.

And then there’s Malak.

“ I’m the last survivor, you guys.”

The kid begins to clap with a wicked smile and congratulates him.

Then we all open our eyes. Peppery Pete stands over us as we wake up.

Basically. What it comes down to, as we catch our bearings and get up, is that Pete explains Belli hired Pete to drug us with some strange drug.

It was whack.

The party are not amused. Nel is confused.

They just stand there. Being menacing.

Malak takes a knee and rests a hand on Pete’s shoulder.

“Look, mistakes happen.”

“ But if you ever do this to us or anyone again, I will personally sever your soul from your body.”

Pete is. To say the least. Terrified from the death glare.

And Amelia basically realizes that Pete is bullshitting them and Belli had nothing to do with this. It was meant to be a team building exercise.

“Yeah, but why am I here, though?!” - Nel’s still confused.

FIN!

Previous episode / Next episode

[thegroovethief]

#TGTfeature 008: Lea Luna [Magik Muzik; Dim Mak; Raid Recordings: Denver, Colorado, USA] Fresh off my interview with world champion turntablist DJ Shiftee, #TGTfeature 008 is with the skilled Lea Luna, who kills it on the decks whether bass, house, or beyond! She took the time out for a chat just before headlining a hometown show at The Black Box. This and forthcoming #TGTfeature articles will highlight dedicated musical talents by featuring their recent work as well as an in-depth interview. Known for her passion and dedication to dance music as well as the art of DJing, Lea Luna is also a chart-topping singer and a respected music journalist. She kindly shared her thoughts on bass music, repping Denver, dealing with online trolls, and more. A bit about Lea Luna: - With nearly 20 years behind the decks, she’s played numerous noteworthy clubs: NYC's Limelight, LA's Avalon, and Denver's own Beta - Frequently called on for vocal collaborations, she’s recently worked with the likes of Sydney Blu, Manufactured Superstars, and Quivver - Also known for her production work, she regularly releases her own music, including “Rock Show” out via RAID Recordings

TGT: You’re leading an excellent lineup of bass talent at The Black Box, all representing Denver. What styles will you be bringing for this set, and how do you determine ‘tough bass’ in 2018? LL: I’m definitely planning on keeping it bass-driven, much like my last Black Box set was. Bass house, maybe a few breaks, maybe a few trap drops to break it up. I’ve always said this as my overarching quote: “Genres don’t define artists, artists define genres.” I pretty much live by that ideology. I’ve been DJing for nearly two decades now and have seen many music fads come and go (fidget, for instance, was one such fad genre in the bass category I used to like that died). Everything all stems from two main influence points- the first influence is the roots of the underground— the old history behind the emergence of the new sound. People like classic vocal hooks in newer remixes if they were a part of the scene back in the day, and bass house wouldn’t be where it is now without the original house music and garage innovators. The second influence is technology. Bass music sounded way different before the VST (virtual instrument) plugin Serum was invented because producers had different tools. I remember when the VST called Massive first came out and dubstep as a genre resulted. Electronic music is largely affected by these nerds who make virtual instruments and how artists interpret that technology as tools for creative flow. While everyone as listeners are pulling apart which bass music artists are making new genres, most real artists are at home dorking around with compression ratios and wave tables trying to invent an actual noise. So it’s hard for me as an artist to talk about bass music as an evolving fad because I sit here with the tools all day looking at the other perspective of what’s really evolving. TGT: Denver is certainly a unique place! How would you describe the realities and complexities of the scene here as a local artist with a global following? Any advice for up-and-coming DJs/producers on navigating our “island?” LL: I could not be more proud of Denver, and even electronic music as a scene in general. This city used to only offer these (beloved) secret warehouse-type hideout parties with a bunch of obscure DJs, vinyl collectors, and underground ravers interested in coming, and now every large venue in the city is wall-to-wall packed with dance music fans on any given night. There’s a lot to be accredited to the increase in our culture, but also a lot that has been bastardized. What I will say to the new kids is if you’re out here letting a controller do all the work for you onstage, playing the top 40 dance chart releases in order so you can be popular, you are sh*tting all over my craft and culture. It’s not a popularity contest and the DJ booth is not a bottle service area. The best way to become a DJ is to care about actually DJing. Be authentic, know your roots, respect your predecessors, respect women, respect other subgenres, and don’t spend your life savings on social media likes. Inspire people, ask for help, collaborate, offer something OF yourself before asking about something FOR yourself. Create. Learn. Be humble (but please stop humble-bragging). Start a crew. Give a damn, you know? We’ve all had our bouts with fame and drama as artists, but if you’re not creative at all and you’re not keeping it real, you shouldn’t be doing this.

TGT: There’s a lot of debate about whether certain strains of electronic music have reached full saturation, or have become so derived they’ve practically lost relevance. What are your thoughts on the current electronic dance scene, particularly within house music, and what’s your approach to keep your own productions sounding fresh? LL: People of the underground like to worry I’m too commercial, people of the commercial world like to worry I’m too underground. Some people want to hear music everyone understands, some people act rude when something becomes popular because they want to be viewed as purists. Like I said before, know your roots, know the trends, give a damn, create something original, and keep it moving. That’s the motto. If I claimed to be a purist 10 years ago and stuck to it, I’d be in hot water right now trying to play washed up music that pales in comparison to new mastering and technology on those fresh new funktion-ones (the incredible speakers they have at Black Box). If you stay current in your arena and true to your roots, genre and saturation thereof can be left to the listeners to decide. Ain’t nobody got time for that in my world. Artists. Define. Genres. I play what I think is ahead of the curve, and what I think is classic, all in one set. There’s no genre about it, but I will say that my tempo lately in clubs is 122-128, with an occasional drop to 100 just to grab people’s attention. All things house, garage, and breaks fall into that first category, and trap/twerk drops (second category) make life fun.

TGT: You’ve recently posted about receiving online threats from a random stranger. This is, sadly, nothing new for female public figures. How can readers (particularly men) succeed in eradicating this all-too-common misogyny within our music community? And offline, what should promoters and venues be doing to keep their dance-floors safe? LL: As for keeping clubs safe - I truly believe in strength in numbers. I have a strong, supportive, loving crew of friends and fans, as well as professionals and security guards. I take threats very seriously and file reports and blacklists when they happen to protect myself and other women. I have very strong security measures held at all of my shows, including this one. But in the big picture, the biggest thing that is going to make any club a safe environment is a positive example of the members of any audience at any show ACTING RIGHT TOWARDS WOMEN. If you see someone put something in someone's drink, report them. If you see someone abusing a woman either verbally or physically any way whatsoever, DO SOMETHING. Inaction is still an action. I come with a large group of friends that I deeply trust to every event and there is no way in hell someone is going to act in public like they do on the internet towards me or any woman in my presence and get away with it. One time someone lifted my skirt up and hit me on the ass at a show and although they were "only joking," they were being held by the neck of their shirt over the patio rail and reprimanded by my friends a split second later until security came and got them. These types of people will always be outnumbered and will never get away with what they think they can. They try it on the internet because they can troll and hide. [As for online threats:] Here’s the deal. People are jealous. It happens to both sexes, but primarily females because sexual iconography or lack thereof triggers people who writhe in unnecessary hatred from the comfort of their hate-hobbit computer den. Being attractive does not make me stupid or talentless. There is no such thing as “using” your looks. I look this way. That’s a fact, maybe a hobby, not a tactic. I also write music consistently and contribute a lot to this scene. Do all girl DJs do that? Likely not, but many do. The problem lies in the prejudice, pegging all women as having a backhanded agenda or a lack of intelligence or avoiding authenticity. This claim emerges from the hearts of people whose mothers didn’t hug them, whose girlfriends cheated on them, whatever. Hurt people hurt people. Do I care what these specific people think? No. I care if I screw up publicly and true fans lose interest in me. I care about staying true to myself and my brand, and I care about doing what I say I’m going to do for my shows, my opening DJs, the promoters who believe in me, my agent and manager, my crew, my friends, and my fans. Anyone who is so clearly coming from a place of jealous bigotry who tries to threaten me, embarrass me, or thwart my success always fails. Because they aren’t battling me, they’re battling something very dark and unhappy inside themselves. TGT: And, to end on a lighter topic – what’s your favorite spot in town for a post-gig meal? LL: Post gig? I’m always exhausted around then, but definitely just as junk food hungry as anyone at 2am leaving a bar. I rarely go out after bar hours to eat though. I’m more likely to hit a grocery store for a pizza to pop in the oven at home or if I’m feeling extra self-loathing I’ll get cheesy popcorn and pop tarts from a gas station [laughs].

[rabbitwrite]

ANTE MERIDIEM: the game

✩ “Ante Meridiem” is a fanfic series for nct in game format. For more information, refer to the “Title Screen” (introductory / master post).

cast ≫ reader (gender neutral), nct

genre ≫ suspense, horror, angst

word count ≫ 1.7k

warnings ≫ none

LOCATION: OUTSIDE YOUR HOUSE

THE TIME IS: AM, 12:15

…

What will you do?

> RETURN TO TITLE SCREEN

> REPLAY PREVIOUS

> EXIT GAME

≫ START GAME

Nakamoto Yuta was just an acquaintance of yours. The type of business you two had with each other was not very applicable to the classification of friendship. He was your go-to man for all the dangerous, paranormal activities you had been partaking in for so long, and if anyone could help you and Mark with the predicament you faced, it was him.

The Paranormalist had his own shop in town, just off the outskirts of the market. It wasn’t too far to get their on foot, a little under thirty minutes, but it was not particularly the safest hour to be out and about and you out of all people were most aware of the malevolent forces that prowled within shadows. At this particular time, you could not afford to communicate with them or allow yourself to fall prey.

So your first destination was a neighbouring household, the home that belonged to the Lee family. You were familiar with their son, Jeno, though you didn’t know him like Donghyuck did. The connection you had with him was enough to give you his permission to borrow his bike though, but that was whenever Donghyuck was unable to give you a ride. It wouldn’t hurt to give it a try now, you thought.

You rushed to the doorstep of the Lee household, ringing their doorbell only once. There seemed to be someone home, judging from the visibly dim lighting in the living room, and you knew that Jeno in particular was quite the night owl.

When the door opened, you were greeted with a vaguely familiar eye smile belonging to the boy you sought out. “Hey Y/N. Nice to see you again,” Jeno smiled softly. You caught sight of a few other boys in his living room, also friends of Donghyuck, but their attention was fixated upon the flat screen tv. “I was wondering how you’ve been lately. Are you okay?”

You mirrored his gracious expression, but decided it was best to get to the point. It’s not like you were capable of answering his question anyways. “I need to borrow your bike, if that’s alright.”

“O-of course,” he nodded, though judging by the way his eyes widened Jeno did not expect to hear your request. “But where are you off to at this hour?”

“I have to go visit The Cauldron,” you answered with hesitation. Jeno was displeased by hearing the name of Yuta’s shop, though you fully expected him to be. The way his lips pressed together in a tight line nipped at your conscience.

“I don’t think that’s the best idea. Are you sure?” Jeno folded his arms across his chest, resting his body against the door frame.

“I have to,” you replied sadly. “For Donghyuck.”

Jeno’s eyes lit up at the mention of his name. “I see… well, I guess I can’t stop you.” after running his slender fingers through the locks of his bleached hair, he gestured towards the side. “My bike is against the wall, just before the backyard. Play things safe, Y/N.”

You brought up the best smile of gratitude you could muster. “Right. Thank you, Jeno!”

He gave a small nod in return, cautiously shutting the door as you made a run for it. You kept to the walk way, careful not to step on the Lee family’s neatly trimmed grass.

As promised, the simple piece of transportation lay idle against the exterior of the house. You removed the bicycle from its resting position, eagerly hopping onto the seat as your feet fixated upon the pedals. Once you had definite control, you exerted pressure against the pedals while steering yourself towards the direction of town.

《 CHECKPOINT 》

What will you do?

> RETURN TO TITLE SCREEN

> RESTART

> SAVE & QUIT

≫ SAVE & CONTINUE

…

NOW SAVING…

LOCATION: “THE CAULDRON”

THE TIME IS: AM, 12:32

The Cauldron was a whimsically dark establishment, despite it being easily missed by the typical onlookers eyes.

Its name was not explicitly depicted in English and was instead indicated by its Latin translation, Despumat Aeni, scrawled upon the walls with black paint. Though Yuta’s shop did the carved in image of a cauldron upon the wooden door, right above the skeletal door knocker, and that was just enough assurance for you to confirm it was the correct destination.

Propping Jeno’s bike up on its own to park it, you settled your mode of transportation in an area where you could keep a watchful eye even from within the store. The windows were tinted glass, a gradient of various colors but translucent enough for one to identify the amount of dangling ornaments hanging from the inside.

Identical gargoyle statues stood on opposite sides of the entrance, glaring at you with menacing eyes of jade. Your attention was placed upon another eye, the one with a far more welcoming design just above the doorknob that served as a keyhole.

“Yuta?” you called for the storeowner upon entering the premises. At first there was no response, so you cautiously proceeded inwards. Your attention hopped from object to object; there was practically an infinite amount of items to choose from. Every bit of furniture with a solid surface adorned their own collection of trinkets to their very edges. There were even potion-like substances contained in vials and flasks threatening to fall off a particularly packed shelf. Unsettling dolls sat upon towering stacks of booksー grimoires, Yuta called them. “Mortal hands like yours” weren’t “worthy” of touching them, apparently.

“What caught your eye?” a chilling voice from behind murmured close to your ear, taking you by surprise.

Stepping forward while whirling around to see who had spoken, you were greeted by the very man you had been seeking. Yuta had practically materialized out of thin air, but you weren’t about to question it.

The so called Paranormalist was either a very convincing fraud or a brilliantly mad expert of dark arts.

“Everything,” you replied, deciding to be as respectful you could manage. “You have a lot of interesting things to look at.”

Ever so slightly, Yuta tilted his head to the side. The corners of his lips twitched upwards, curving into a light smirk. “But it’s not what you’re looking for, is it dear Amicus?” the nickname he called you in place of your real name he had probably forgotten sent a shiver down your spine. Apparently it was Latin for friend, but you struggled to deem Yuta as so.

“No, I actually came here to ask you for a new game to play.” Walking forwards, you were drawn to an unkempt desk covered with all sorts of cards missing from their piles and stray papers. Yuta followed suit, chuckling lightly as he slipped his hands into the pockets of his black trousers.

“All alone? You’ve always played with your partners in crime, I can’t help but wonder why they’re absent.”

You frowned at his straightforward curiosity, responding flatly, “They’re not able to make themselves present… at the moment.”

“I see,” the Paranormalist nodded slowly, though his curiosity seemed to satisfied by the mundane answer. “Well games played in solitude are just as enjoyable, perhaps even more. Your only problem is that it becomes more dangerous…” Yuta’s eyes fixated on you, waiting to see how you’d react.

“I’m willing to take the risks.”

Yuta grinned widely. “Now that’s the spirit!” he placed his hands on his hips, shifting his weight over to one leg as he posed rather mischievously. “What kind of game did you have in mind?”

“I need a game that will let me contact the dead,” you declared bluntly. “One that isn’t restricted to yes-or-no questions or other simple things. I need to have a full out conversation with them, more than one if possible.”

“Oh,” the tone of Yuta’s voice was different now, somber and understanding, perhaps with a smudge of sympathy. He retreated from your side, making his way towards another counter with less flair in his step than he originally started out with.

Once his back was turned towards you, he spoke up again, “Why not give them a call?”

You narrowed your eyes at the absurd suggestion. How were you supposed to call a dead person? You asked him just that.

Yuta’s hands now rested on an antique telephone you had not seen before. He then proceeded to lift it up from the table it resided on, revealing a thin little manual beneath it coated with a visible layer of dust. “We live in an age of technology Amicus, everyone yearns to stay connected one way or another. So do those who dwell on the other side!”

He handed you the manual, printed and stapled paper that looked to be recently crafted, and smiled once more. “It’s been about a year since I’ve had anyone play this game, but it’s one of my favorites.”

In the front of the manual was a black-and-white image of a telephone, similar to the one that had been covering it. Vocatio Ludum was boldly printed at the top, though its translation was right below in a smaller font. “The Calling Game?”

“Yes. If your ritual is successful, you should get exactly what you want. All you need to do is make sure you follow all of the instructions provided, I can’t stress that enough,” Yuta explained. His eyebrows were furrowed and there was hardly a trace of his previous grin, you couldn’t help but go wide eyed at his seriousness. “And make sure you’re talking to the right being!”

“Oh, I’ll know,” you nodded in understanding, folding up the manual before tucking it into your pocket. “I’ll do my best to make it work. It has to.”

For a moment you and Yuta had made direct eye contact, but you were quick to break away for the sake of returning to the entrance. “Thank you, Yuta,” you looked over your shoulder to offer the Paranormalist some gratitude.

He smiled but uttered no verbal farewell, settling for a small wave as you walked out the door. Once every bell ceased their chime, however, he disposed of the gracious expression plastered on his face. Then, after laying eyes on the telephone once more, Yuta let out a low chuckle of cruel mirth.

《 END OF PART 2 》

What will you do?

> RETURN TO TITLE SCREEN

> REPLAY

≫ SAVE & CONTINUE

> SAVE & QUIT

...

SAVING GAME

...

CLICK TO CONTINUE

[foodsandstuff]

Nihon e Hitori Dake no Trip Journal (Part 1)

Hello there! First of all, I’d like to thank you for stopping by on this article. I wrote it in order for solo-travelers-wannabe to be acknowledged on how it’s not as difficult to travel alone/independent from travel agencies like, literally on your own hands. I tried my best to share what I have experienced and am willing to receive suggestions for myself as well.

So, enjoy the brief travel prep. journal and see if it can give you useful tips(?) Leave a comment of what you think about it afterwards <3

1.      START! How did it got planned out?

I’ve always planned on going abroad in a near time when I have a holiday off-campus activities because you know, the holidays in Indonesian campuses can reach up two to three months time, but only at the end of a semester, then no more. My mom, who recently joined in backpacking tours to Russia and  the US suggested me to join in one of it since the fee isn’t that high and the travel itinerary is pretty well-planned by the touring agency, but you can feel the backpacking vibe still. I almost go with them, but I never dig more information about them, so I didn’t. (Oh yeah and if you’re interested in my mom’s backpacking group, you can ask me for further info J)

Since my holiday duration lasts differently with the other members of the family, almost no one can accompany me to go on the trip. Then, my family suggested at the time, ‘why not go by yourself? The tours and itinerary can be planned before the departure and maybe if you would, make your own itinerary!’ Hearing them mentioning the idea, I would loooove to do that if I earned their permission first, and hopefully they offer the permission first. I tell them if it’s going to happen then It’ll only take me a week longand that’s that. I don’t want it to be too short or too long for now since it will be a Solo Trip, I would go again there later hopefully in the near future with more parties. And economically, I got many promos at the time, I get the price cuts through browsing at Traveloka app, it was super helpful in making my trip came true (no, this is not an endorsement, I’m just pure grateful). Thank you fam, I love you so much for the support. Now that it’s real, I have to prepare all that’s needed to survive going there and back.

2.      Things to prepare : Itinerary

Before going to any kinds of step in any kind of trip, I do recommend to decide on these basic points :

-          what is the purpose of the trip?

-          who are you going with, big groups, small groups, couples, or alone? This part can help you decide the numbers of place to be reached within a day.

-          what interests you (hobbies, etc.)

-          what are the types of activities you want to do in the city/country you’re visiting

-          is the activity/ies you wanted to do available and possible to do in the destination place?

-          where and when you are going to do those activities

-          how many places do you intend to go in one day (normally two to three places is advised so that you can enjoy each place in enough time, but more is not out of the question)

-          how many days do you plan to achieve the whole schedule? (so you can decide the spread of the places you want to visit and the activities you would like to do there evenly per day)

As for me, the order of the points can be jumbled and done however you like. Just whichever comes to mind first. And then the rest can be completed by seeing which part still needs completion, since I am after all not that systematic of a person when it comes to completing listed things like these.

Firstly for itineraries, you can make it just as crude as Day/Date, Places that will be visited, Places to stay. For Visa applications, you’ll also need to attach your itinerary – which will be dicussed in the other chapter – so if it is asked to mention where you will visit and stay on a day, do make it as detailed as possible to convince the Embassy officers.

If you want to make it more detailed, you can add on which hour you want to do things, etc. but the crude one is enough for me and you can always add and remove while on the way, improvisation plan should always be there somewhere :)

3.      Where to go, what to do? Do tons of quick research!

Like I’ve stated in the chapter before, there are points that you have to think about. After knowing how many people are going and the purpose of the trip (especially if it’s holiday), try asking people that joined in the trip on what they would like to do or where they would like to go. As for solo trips like what I did a while back, I asked my family members and friends for place recommendations and did an inclusion and exclusion according to how I feel about the recommended places and activity. I asked myself through searching destinations and activities on the web. I looked through people’s blogs, videos on Japan, pinterest recommendations(pinterest have some of the best, unique, cutest recommendations so if you woud like to have a taste of new stuffs…), travel and touring agencies websites, anything to give me more insight about the places and activities I’m about to do in Japan.

Since I decided on visiting three cities – Tokyo, Kyoto and Hiroshima – I looked into the aspects of the places that I should know like the cities tourism sites, ongoing or upcoming public cultural festivals, the culture a little, the culinary must-try, the famous souvenirs from the town or prefecture, and many more so that I can explore it wholefully. While and after you’ve done the research, don’t forget to note it down on a separate notebook (a laptop might do as well but a notebook is more preferable for me). Put any kind of information regarding your travel plan in that one notebook so you don’t have to look through too much into it. I’m using a rather pocket-sized notebook so it’s easy to bring anywhere and later can be taken to the journe, I can re-read it too while on the plane. Sadly for me, I forgot to bring this notebook to my journey and so I get kinda lost. This give me a lot of lessons to keep your important guides as close as possible to your reach.

I’m interested in Japanese culture, important cultural and tourism sites that are internationally known, crafts store, cheap but high quality goods (because I’m trying to get maximum quality but with minimum fee so yeah), Japanese language, their good habbit regarding time, and their entertainment genre. So I searched a lot about temples, must-visit districts, foods to try, clothes to wear, etc. At the time, it was summer so there are many fireworks and dance festivals going on throughout the country. One of it caught my attention which was the Sumida River Fireworks Festival. It was held on the 29th of July 2017 near Asakusa, a traditional district in Tokyo which is famous for the big temple gate that has a giant red lantern in the middle of it. The shrine itself, Sensoji is an iconic one in the district. I’ve always been drawned to the Shibuya crossing even though I’ve done it before, so I decided to add that in my itinerary again. Harajuku is a must-visit and since I haven’t visit it, I really should. Roppongi, Ginza and other districts that I haven’t manage to visit, maybe on the next trip with one or two more parties joining in.

For Kyoto and Hiroshima, I asked and searched not too deep on it. I guess later on I should have done a deeper research on every place I would like to visit. There will never be too much research, so the more research, the more you know, and definitely the better.

 4.      Things to prepare : Accomodation, Transportation and Activity Tickets Booking

Now that you know what to do, where and when to go, how long to do the activities and who you’re going to do it with, it’s time to bring it one step closer to happening! So actually, one of the reasons this trip is possible is because there is this low-priced promo tickets for the airplane, and it’s still cheap enough even for a round trip! I found it on Traveloka (I’m not endorsing it, it just happens to be this app), so I decided to take it before the promo runs out. For the tickets I get the chance to fly with All Nippon Airways, it is a direct flight to Narita Airport, the round trip costs about 4.8 million IDR. (FYI, I try looking it up again on December and I still find the promo! Even though it’s now 2M IDR higher in price, but still an awesome offer!)

I first bought the tickets via the travel app on my phone because when you want to go out of the country, you’ll have to hand over some files and documents to make a Visa, I’ll talk about it after this one. After I got the plane tickets, I make a crude itineraries on where I’d like to go, and how many days for each cities I want to spend. I seek and use many people’s itineraries online for references of my own so thanks again internet.

From then, I search the hotels which are nearby to the places and activities on my itinerary. I first look up for the quality I wanted for the hotel or the place to stay. I really need a place that provide wifi connection everytime so I prioritize that, and I suppose I would recommend this quality to anyone going abroad, just so you can keep in touch with your family and friends through it. I also looked for a place with female area if possible so that I have a bit more privacy and freedom haha. I didn’t really think about having breakfast at the hotel so it didn’t matter too much.

After I decided on the qualities and facilities that I wanted, I sort the place recommendations by their price. I seek the lowest price, but I also checked the hotel’s ratings. If it’s not good then I won’t agree on staying there either. My choice should at least have a 3.5 to 4 out of 5 stars ratings from the previous customers, for the sake of safety and comfort. The price range for hotels really varies, I stayed at three different places. Two of them are capsule hotels in Tokyo, and the other one is a guesthouse in Kyoto. They’re all about 250.000 to 300.000 IDR per night (pretty cheap for a hotel in Japan’s big cities, am I right?). I mean per usual, a hotel room in Japan costs starting from 1 million IDR and above. Capsule hotels are totally an exception, though I only recommend it if you’re on a solo trip, with a sibling(s) or a trip with friends of your age.

Japan , as we know it, use mostly trains to go everywhere. Buses and taxis are also available but they tend to be more expensive. Local trains like subway and metro lines all the way to Shinkansen, the infamous bullet train from one city, even one prefecture to another is possible in only a short amount of time. There is this special pass my older brother told me called the JR Pass which allows non-Japanese to buy a pass where they can use it to ride as many local trains, shinkansen, and some ferry rides in Japan that has the company’s logo (JR stands for Japan Railways) with a very reasonable price. It comes in three choices in general based on how many days do you want to use the pass. It is available for 1, 2 or 3 weeks of stay in Japan. I chose the 1 week pass, and including the shipping fees, it is about 250 USD (about 3.4 million IDR).

When first purchasing it, it seems expensive. But when I looked at the price of a one-way trip shinkansen, it costs almost half of it (1.6 million IDR) and to think that I’ll be using shinkansen probably more than twice to be able to explore the places I’ve decided, I feel at an advantage. It should at least be orderred one week before you are going on the trip to be safe. Just so you can make sure it arrives at your place and you can prepare all sorts of things beforehand. So what you’ll receive after ordering is an envelope with guide maps, shinkansen schedules, and a quick guide about Japan plus a voucher which needs to be exchanged later at the airport or train stations office that has the JR logo. I recommend to order the JR Pass after you’ve got your Visa issued, so it will totally be used. It can be refunded as long as it hasn’t been activated if I wasn’t wrong. But if you lose it, there’s not much you can do for it is your own loss.

Other things I would like to recommend for booking online when traveling to Japan is kimono/yukata and pocket wifi rental. If you’re going to experience a day wearing yukata or kimono to just walk in it or enjoy a seasonal festival, you should totally book one to wear! There’s this place that is recommended by a famous Instagram user from Indonesia, the store is called Kyoto Kimono Rental Wargo. The price is reasonably cheap and the variety of accessories and other facilities including photobook etc. is available. The service is quick and easy, I personally like it. But when it’s festival season, it can be pretty crowded so book with strategy on those dates haha. Japan is indeed technologic, futuristic and all, but getting free wifi is still pretty hard when you’re traveling to natural places. Therefore, I recommend you to book online a pocket wifi, it is to be used for your phone AND you laptop if you’re bringing any. If not, you can just buy a simcard, the price is cheaper when bought/rented online compared to when you’re about to buy or rent one in the airport. Too bad on this trip I didn’t rent myself a pocket wifi nor a simcard and so the only connection I get to contact the people in motherland is through wifis in the hotel I’m staying at and cafes I visit.

Some tourism activities tickets should be booked weeks or even months before you go on the trip. Places like Ghibli Museum, Fujiko F. Fujio Museum, and nowadays themed museums like those two needed to be booked from far before. It is pretty hard to get the ticket because the system is first come first serve and I’m competing with people from all around the globe so yeap. You can ask our acquaintance in Japan to buy it for you though if you want, the chance to get the ticket will be higher.

By the way, my father offered me to use his credit card to ease up the payments so I did use it. But since it is my dad’s I am very very careful not to use up too much and asked his permission everytime I wanted to do a transaction just in case he didn’t allow me at certain times. Thank goodness it went smoothly. I do recommend you to use credit card or transfer methods because cashed amount for this is rather big so it eases the process so much. But if not it is okay too.

5.      Want to get in to our country? Get your Visa issued!

Because I am visiting the country Japan, it requires me to make a Visa to get in there. There are many kinds of Visas depending on the purpose and length of the trip that suits your necessity, you can check the Embassy of Japan’s website http://www.id.emb-japan.go.jp/visa.html for complete information on it and which one you should get. Because my stay is a short trip for holiday purpose, I chose the Single Visa for one time trip funded by self. For the process, you have to first collect the documents required to the Embassy of Japan office at your region, and then you’ll have to wait about 5 days for it to be issued, and then you go back to the embassy to take the Visa, pay for it (yes, you pay for the visa if it has been successfully issued so no worries!) and voila! You shall now pass!

As I said before, you can check the Embassy’s website for the requirements to be completely sure but I’m going to copy paste it here so you won’t have to go back and forth to check. So first step in making a Visa by yourself :

a.      Prepare the legal documents!

I get the list from the web and it’s in Bahasa so have a look.

Dokumen-dokumen yang perlu dilengkapi dalam mengajukan permohonan visa

1.    Paspor. -> Good news for you who have an e-Passport, it’s stated that you won’t have to make a Visa and can just have the e-Passport on its own to travel to Japan!

2.    Formulir permohonan visa. [download (PDF)] dan Pas foto terbaru (ukuran 4,5 X 4,5 cm, diambil 6 bulan terakhir dan tanpa latar, bukan hasil editing, dan jelas/tidak buram)

3.    Foto kopi KTP (Surat Keterangan Domisili)

4.    Fotokopi Kartu Mahasiswa atau Surat Keterangan Belajar (hanya bila masih mahasiswa)

5.    Bukti pemesanan tiket (dokumen yang dapat membuktikan tanggal masuk-keluar Jepang)

-> this could be just a booking code if it’s from a travel app, you don’t have to do the payments before your Visa come out. But as if it’s for me, I’ve done the payments beforehand and so I attached the e-ticket instead. And it’s fine too!

6.    Jadwal Perjalanan [ download (DOC)] (semua kegiatan sejak masuk hingga keluar Jepang)

-> this is where you pour in your efforts in research and data collecting. Mention the day and date you enter Japan until the day you depart back to your country, mention also the places (could be district, specific tourism sites, etc.) you’re visiting per day, and state where you are staying per day.

7.    Dokumen yang membuktikan hubungan keluarga antara pemohon dengan pengundang. -> for solo travelers like me at the time, this is a rather optional document so no need is okay. I think this is essential if you are about to stay for quite a long time with your close family (wife, husband, parents, siblings,etc.)

8.    Fotokopi dokumen yang bisa menunjukkan hubungan dengan pemohon, seperti kartu keluarga, akta lahir, dlsb. (Bila pemohon lebih dari satu)

9.    Surat undangan. [ download (PDF) ]

10.  Dokumen yang berkenaan dengan biaya perjalanan:

a.     Bila pihak Pemohon yang bertanggung jawab atas biaya * Fotokopi bukti keuangan, seperti rekening Koran atau buku tabungan 3 bulan terakhir (bila penanggung jawab biaya bukan pemohon - seperti ayah/ibu, maka harus melampirkan dokumen yang dapat membuktikan hubungan dengan penanggung jawab biaya).

b.    Bila pihak Pengundang yang bertanggung jawab atas biaya.

*  

Surat  Jaminan [ download (PDF) ]

*  

Dokumen  yang berkenaan dengan pengundang seperti tercantum di bawah ini (salah satu  saja)      - Surat Keterangan Pembayaran Pajak (nouzei shomeisho) yang  mencantumkan besar penghasilan.      - Surat Pemberitahuan Tahunan (SPT)/(kakutei shinkokusho hikae)      - Surat Keterangan Penghasilan (shotoku shomeisho)      - Surat Referensi Bank      - Fotokopi buku tabungan 3 bulan terakhir      - Surat Keterangan Bekerja yang mencantumkan lama bekerja dan  besar penghasilan

*  

Surat  Keterangan Domisili Pengundang (juminhyo). Bila Pengundang adalah WN  Asing yang berdomisili di Jepang, maka Surat Keterangan Pencatatan Domisili (Alien's  Registration Card/ Certificate).

Perhatian:

*

Dokumen harus disusun sesuai urutan No. 2 - 10 sebelum  diserahkan di loket.

*  

Bagi  yang termasuk dalam kategori berikut, maka Pemohon maupun anggota keluarga  (suami/istri dan anak) tidak perlu melampirkan bukti keuangan (tercantum pada  nomor 10). (Bila diperlukan, dokumen tambahan akan diminta untuk melengkapi  atau membuktikan hal tersebut).

o    Pemohon  adalah karyawan perusahaan yang terdaftar di Bursa Saham Indonesia.

o    Pemohon  adalah karyawan BUMN.

o    Pemohon  adalah karyawan dari perusahaan yang menjalin kerja sama dengan perusahaan di  Jepang.

o    Pemohon  adalah karyawan dari perusahaan joint venture Indonesia - Jepang, atau  anak perusahaan Jepang, atau cabang dari perusahaan Jepang.

o    Pemohon  adalah karyawan dari instansi pemerintah.

o    Pemohon  adalah budayawan/ seniman yang sudah go-international; atlit yang  sudah diakui ; dekan, profesor, asisten profesor dari universitas; pimpinan  museum, atau lembaga penelitian pemerintah maupun swasta.

*  

Bila  aplikan ingin mengajukan permohonan visa untuk kunjungan berkali-kali (Multiple  Visa), maka harus melampirkan surat penjelasan alasan keperluan kunjungan  berkali-kali ke Jepang atau surat penjelasan dari pihak Pengundang.

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Untuk  visa kunjungan berkali-kali, harap melihat persyaratan visa untuk kunjungan berkali-kali.

Source : Website of Embassy of Japan, Indonesia.

 b.      Fill in your itinerary

Phew, so that was pretty much all the serious papers you need to collect and hand over later. Now, to the itinerary! There is a formal format for the itinerary given from the embassy’s website (or the Embassy Office if you have the time to visit before, but nah you can just print it yourself) that you have to fill in and hand over along with the important papers. You have to fill in (again) the day/date from the beginning of your arrival in Japan until your date of departure back to your motherland. After you put all the timeline in place, it is time to mention the places you will visit per day. and if you’re visiting several cities, be sure to mention the city as the bigger point, and the places in the city as smaller points and so on. After that, you will need to fill in where you are going to stay per night of the days you visit. It will be better if you mention the name (if it’s a hotel/motel) of the place you’re staying in plus the complete address of it so that you and the embassy officer is sure how you are going to get by in the country later. I’ll show you my itinerary – this one’s an edited version though -  it has been adjusted to the trips I’ve been through when I’m there so yeah, have a look for personal reference purposes.

c.       Go to the Embassy of Japan’s office in your region

After you get your files all prepared, pack it all inside a clear plastic file holder (or any file holder to just hold everything neatly to be honest lol), make sure it has been put in order according to the web’s policy and head to your region’s Embassy of Japan’s office.

The closest one to me is in Jakarta just next to Plaza Indonesia. You may check the closest one in your region through the visa web as well so go check it out. The office hours are not that long so be sure to arrive on time. There will be a queue inside but the office handles it so nicely and so you won’t have to wait too long to hand over your files. After you get in the embassy’s office, you will have to put an ID card to the security box, and then you went through two security bag check, and then you’re on your way to taking a number and wait for it to be called by the embassy officer. When your number is called, you go to a booth that called your number, hand in the files, and get a slip that proves that you have handed in your requirements to make a Visa. You will not have you passport with you for a whole week so no going out of the country until your Visa is attached to your passport.

d.      The art of waiting for Visa

Your visa will be ready in a week so take that precious week time to do some more research and enjoy the wait. Make your trip more meaningful.

e.      The reveal : Pass or No Pass?

Good news! It’s actually not a full week of wait, ideally it’s five days and so head back to the embasy office at specific hours mentioned in the web (because the time where you hand over the files and the time you can take your visa is at different schedules so pay close attention!) and go through all that security bag checks and queues. You got your number called, hand over the slip given last week (don’t forget to bring it!) and voilla! YOU ARE GOING TO JAPAN BBY!

 6.      Visa check! Now onto efficient packing!

Soon after I get my visa issued by the embassy, I got to start packing for the things I should bring there in order to survive and enjoy the trip J First that comes to my mind is the season and weather I’m about to experience there, is it cold, is it hot, is it humid, is it dry, and so on. In my case, I went on a summer, but the weather forecast on the web said it sometimes rains a little. Overall the weather is sunny, cloudy, or drizzling and the temperature is around room temperature or a little bit above so I prefer to bring light clothing and colourful ones because… it’s summer and I want me to look brightin the photos I take there later. I am going for seven days including twelve hours of total flight back and forth, so I bring a jacket with me in case it gets too cold on board. Bring your toiletries such as soap, shampoo, toothbrush and paste, hair brush, deodorant, perfume, and makeup, because you want to be clean and pretty throughout your trip, am I right? I bring travel-sized toiletries and makeup so it’s light and comfortable to bring anywhere.

I wear a hijab daily, so I got to match the ones I bring with the clothes I’ve prepared just so it didn’t disturb anyone’s sight lol. Oh! It’s summer (I’ve said it several time now huh) so don’t forget to bring your cute summer/garden hat and pretty shades, I’m bringing my pink-round shades to protect my eyes from the summer sun. The weather forecast said it’ll rain throughout two or three days out of the seven days of my visit so I’m bringing my umbrella, a portable one. I also bring a spare shoe in case the one I am wearing is soaked in rain, etc. For undies and PJs I bring the comfy, light ones because I’m carrying the whole shebang everywhere and by myself too, no one’s helping me on the trip so, not anything too heavy.

I wish I had a good enough camera to bring with me but sadly I haven’t had any. So the only gadget I bring is my phone. And because it needs power to recharge, I brought along the charging device, and the universal electric plug to adjust to the ones available in Japan because it is different from the ones in Indonesia.

Now that we know what we’re about to take with us, we need to pack them neatly so it’s easy to bring, easy to take out, and easy to tidy up! I first put my things by genre. For example, I put my clothes per outfit from top to toe, inside to outside per day and in order. And then the electronics, I put them in one small bag and later be put in a bigger bag. I put my toiletries in one small bag and my makeup in another pouch or so. I bring some important papers and cards such as my passport, cash, debit and ID card in a long wallet where they all could fit together. As for some extra stuffs (shades, books, notebook, pianica (yes I bring a pianica with me to Japan lol), umbrella, spare shoes, etc.) I put them straight in my backpack. For this trip, I bring two main bags : one big backpack and a small suitcase.

 What’s in my backpack?

-          Wallet

-          Makeup pouch

-          Notebook

-          Small reading books

-          Phone

-          Electronics

-          Jacket

-          Smaller empty backpack

-          Shades

-          Umbrella

-          Snacks

What’s in my suitcase?

-          Clothes (packed per outfit per day)

-          Toiletries bag

-          Spare shoes

-          Pianica

That’s pretty much what I bring. So, next in line please?

7.      Money, money, money

The time has come when we finally talk about money. SO! When traveling outside the motherland, we will most likely use different currency to buy stuffs (except if you’re from Europe and traveling to other European countries where they use the same currency as your own country) and for that the first thing I do is to count how much money will I need to spend for the activities I will do in Japan, there are : food, hotel fees (paid through credit card in my case, thank goodness), tourism site tickets, transportation fee, souvenir money, and emergency money (it is important to estimate how much emergency money you’ll need, well in case of worst case emergency such as missed flight, etc.).

After you got the math done, get the cash and go to the nearby money changer. Tips here, you exchange your money for food, tourism tickets and transport fees directly into Japanese yen so that they are ready to use once you get there. Then, exchange the emergency money into three currencies ; Japanese yen, US dollar, and your own currency (mine is IDR). Why should be in three currencies? Because you might need extra cash on the way and sometimes, US dollar worth more in the destination country, well most of the time. And if you don’t use it, you can exchange it later for future trips when it is not to Japan. The rupiah is there just so when you arrive back in Indonesia, you can do transactions and not be confused because all you have on you is Japanese yen lol. The ratio between each currencies is up to you, however you need them, but it is recommended to do the dividing-currencies thing.

- to be continued on Part 2, look forward to it! :) -

[ohgoddard]

Hollyhead Heroes: Welcome to Hollyhead.Chapter 3.

Flintlock Brimstone, or Flint for short, has always been well-off. He grew up in an affluent family in the big city, but found himself more often than not alone and by himself than in the company of others. But he would cloud and muddle those thoughts with his work, which he thrust himself onto the minute his father brought him as his apprentice to his blacksmith. Never before had Flint had the ability to create. He would work with his father full time, creating weapons of fine craft them selling their wears on the open market. Such a fine quality they were, to be one the most popular stalls in the city. Flint found himself soon learning the intricacies of mercantile business, the basics of slashing a sword from his father, and spending his sacred sundays with his beloved mother who would teach him another vast well of creation and wonders. Magic. With his position, his knowledge, Flint was poised to take the city by storm, if not becoming the boss of sales than maybe the king himself. But sadly, it was at this point that life finally stopped giving unto Flint.

His Parents passed quietly in their sleep one fateful night, and with their last breaths did Flint's easy life end. A meager pile of coin and a swift heel kick out of his childhood home is where he ended up , but did not leave him heartbroken. With the last of the money he had to his name he bought a mule, a cart, and loaded up his weapons. He would travel , sell , create, and prove to the world that the Brimstone forge had the best to offer. To do what would make his Father proud.

Proud.

Proud was not what Flint was feeling at the moment.

Barely standing and covered in wolf innards, Flint was having a tough day. His cart, which he had a great emotion towards being one of the two things he owned, had been greatly broken and snapped at the axle. He himself had been thrashed a bit by what he saw as huge fanged monsters. Then finally, a Dwarf had encased himself in a giant and turned a once ferocious creature into a purée. All over him. And in that moment, Flint was not feeling proud.

"Well I think we can still get the Pelt off that other one," the dwarf ,now exited from the suit, spoke towards the still pumped up and huge Great Strength, "if you didn't already have something in mind for it, that is."

"Why," Great strength spoke as he dug his hand inside the dead wolf's jaw as he tore a fang out,"You can have the whole thing!" He thrust the wolf at the dwarf and the dwarf barely caught it before falling on his ass.

"You're a grand gentleman!" a muffled voice could be heard on the other side of the wolf.

Great Strength was about to respond when he turned and noticed the demon man, Flint, just kinda standing there.

"Friend Flint, why do you stand so solemn? We have bested the beasts that felled your transport!"

"Well, oh man of infinite wisdom and strength, I find myself in a position where I have no way of fixing my cart nor do I find myself in a position to clean myself of the Wolf that has been opened up on me like a packed can of fish."

"Ah well those are merely surface level problems! We can solve them right here!"

He turns around to call forth the people he brought with him.

"Passengers, before we can depart we must help our compatriot here!"

Two voices shouted from the trees in reply,

"Why?"

"Uhh, yeah why?"

"Because if you do not, Mr.Midias and Ms. Odette, you can walk the rest of the trail."

Two sets of boots hit the floor and the elf and cloaked man shuffled towards the broken cart alike teenagers being told to wake up in the morning. "And Alduin,you're a handy man, right?"

As Great Strength turned to ask this question he saw the dwarf covered in wolf blood and holding an untanned skin in his right hand. "Why but of course, they do not call me Aldiun, son of sphere for nothing!" Great Strength scratches his head. " Is that not your name?" "Why but of course it is!" The dwarf walks over the carriage he arrived in, opened the door and chucked the skin in. Great Strength ,witnessing this, sheds a tear of loss of what he had lost in that one action. About 15 gold of cleaning.

"And, where's that other one? The dragonborn? I never did Learn is nam-"

"Im rrrigggghtttt here!" speaking as he slid into the eyesight of Great Strength.

"I do apologize for my behaviour in the previous encounter we did just have, I have been known to lose what you may call 'cool' in situations where I can see myself having a great deal of fun."

Great Strength looked down at the Dragonborn, clad in simple clothes, a tattered hood, and a lute strapped alongside his back in confusion. This had not been the same Dragonborn he had seen int he fight, so joyfully jumping onto backs of beasts, laughing manically and stabbing them. "Ah, well, uh, be sure to keep a level head in battle. I was wondering if you coul-"

"Wondrous! If you need my assistance I will be in the carriage."

"Well actually can you-"

But it was futile. He was already gone.

And Great Strength was suddenly very tired.

"Well, uhh, lets go help our travel buddy!"

He turns around once more to see the other people heading back to the cart already.

"Why do you walk away? Does Flint not still need assistance?"

"Why," Odette says," Didn't you see? Alduin just uh straight up fixed it with uh snap!"

Alduin walks from behind the , now fixed, cart and looks pleased with his work.

"Always works to have a bit of magic in your arsenal," the dwarf said while eyeing the axle before heading back with the others.

"Well then, since we are all now in order I do think we should get back to our Journeys!"

With everyone now loaded onto their respective carts, the travels begin once more. Great Strength having a bit more trouble keeping awake while driving, as he exerts a lot of energy to go, as he calls it, "big mode." Having returned to his normal size, his eyes lids droop a little more than usual. He tries his best to focus on the ride.

Which includes the usual ramblings of Flint to himself about his plans and Great Strength asking once more where that smell is coming from.

"For Gods sake, If I look back there and-"

He stopped, not for what he saw, but for what hit his nose.

Adorned across over his carriage floors and walls and seats were Guts of animals and the miscellaneous effects of the outdoors. He also saw a wolf pelt hanging from the corners of his carriage, with a dwarf hastily tanning the skin with a knife.

He turns, sees Great Strength, and waves.

Great Strength closes the window and silently cries.

Time passes and it approaches the early afternoon. Off the winding mountain roads there lies a small collection of buildings that some would call a town, and it was here that Flint and Great Strength drive their devices.

"By the divines I hope someone here will clean the war crime in my carriage."

A small quaint town is the town of Hollyhead. However, that does not mean is neglected nor is it lazy. It is surprisingly clean, well clean as one could be up here, and many are hustling and bustling around. Bakers carrying trays, small children and men alike carrying boxes. People stand on ladders and hang ornaments and decorations of the winter variety. In the midst of preparing for something large and involving the entire town, it is encompassing all.

Great Strength opens the window once more, giving time for the initial smell shock to leave before looking and speaking into it. "We have arrived at a town, Hollyhead I believe if my maps are correct. We will be staying here for a small bit before going on the road again. Please leave my carriage as least messily as possible."

A small laugh is heard from Odette and the dragonborn as they leave the carriage. Great Strength is not pleased. As the passengers leave he opens the doors and almost fall to the ground at what he witnesses. A stain in the shape of the elf is imprinted on the seat. There is animal Gris hanging and attached to every inch of the the interior, and there is a burn stain somehow. As well as the ever pleasant smell. He starts asking around for a cleaner.

Flint arrives and parks farther away from the carriage of people he had found himself saddled with for a long time. His immediate thought is to find a place to sell his wares, and as there is (or what appears to him) a festival of sorts going on Flint thinks he may have stumbled on to something lucky. " A blank canvas" he thinks to himself. That is until he sees a blacksmith-looking building in the distance. "Hopefully". The curiosity gets the better of him and walks towards the building. Accompanying him , rather unexpectedly, is Alduin. "Why hello there...Flint is it?" he thrusts out his hand "Alduin ,son of Sphere". Flint looks at his hand like a dog owner might look at their pets recent rodent catch. He takes it and shakes it, but in a gamble to avoid future contact with the dwarf, attempts to burn his hand.

Alduin only grins.

"I've spent many a year near a forge, your fire aint nothing." Alduin squeezes his hand tight, smiling. Flint's hand is a tad bit hurt. "But I am glad to find someone who thinks they can get one up on me! Are you going to the forge in town? I wish to see their wares!"

Flint nurses his hand, and nods. "Yeah , i'm going to see how much im going to run the place out of business with my gear."

"How arrogant of you! You make Alduin laugh!" and he does so.

Flint just kinda leaves him, but Alduin soon follows and they enter the store. A sign above reading "Glove and Gauntlet". Inside it is a cozy little reception room, many tools hanging along the walls, weapons in showcases and on tables. An open door in the back, where voices can be heard. Flint, inspecting the tools, sees that they're of fairly good quality. He smirks. This will be a cakewalk, selling in this town. Alduin clears his throat and the voices stop, soon replaced with a pitter-pattering of feet. Then the appearance of two young boys, twins, their heads barely clearing the counter top. They soon pull a stool or two and sit , not a bit taller than the counter.

"Howdy! Im Clink!" "And I'm Clank!" .They spoke in almost unison, Clank allowing his brother to finish first before saying his name."What can we help you with today! And please pay no mind to the hanging tools!" "They are of our older work and do not reflect our current quality!". Flint was caught off-guard about that. Older work? They could be no older than 12. And where are their parents?

Alduin, however, took very little time in doing what he usually does. He thrust his hand out. "Alduin, son of sphere!" Both kids grab his hand at the same time, shaking different parts of it. "Clink!" "Clank!" . "Do you sell reagents ?" We sure do!" And as their transaction carried out, Flint was still thinking. Older work? Does this mean their current ones are better? He couldn't imagine by much, and their older stuff wasn't all that good anyways. As soon as Alduin was done, he quickly placed himself at the counter.

"Hi, I need to ask something."

"Ask Away!" " We probably know the answer!"

Flint, a bit taken aback by the arrogance, continued on.

"What do you mean when you say your newer work is better?"

"Why, our style and skill has increased that we can build" " And improve anything!"

"Improve anything? Alright ill bite."

Flint, from his holster takes out a dagger and a few coin and slides it across the counter-top.

"That dagger is of my own making, so it might be tough for you to impro-"

"Itll be right out" and they disappeared.

Flint just kind of stayed there, frozen mid-brag. So quick they left. And Flint was renown as a fairly good blacksmith with a craft that is fine and near perfect. He started shaking his head, that children would be able to improve on his work in such short time is impossi-

"Done!" The two children appear before him, Alduin having left to a tavern he saw.

Infront of him is a dagger in its sheath. "Since we already got your payment, we'll leave you with your purchase. Thank you for coming!" And like that they left.

Flint reaches across the counter to retrieve his dagger, chuckling to himself. Atleast maybe the few gold he gave the children will pay for their meals or something. He starts taking the dagger out the sheath . Maybe the gold will get them lessons in blacksmiths haha-

The laughter in his mind stops as , when he looks down at the dagger in his hand, he sees near perfect smith skill. No noticable grain, an edge so sharp it cuts holes in air, fairly balanced.

And better than him.

Clink and Clank were far in the back of their workshop, so they did not hear the screams of anguish and sadness that soon filled their reception.

Great Strength , along with Midias who decided to come along with him in his search for someone to clean his carriage because he was in the market for a new weapon, was refilled with joy after seeing the town working as one to get ready for something they all enjoyed. After asking around, Great Strength got the name of someone called Stonric. He was told he would do odd jobs, and if this job wasn't odd, Great Strength didn't know what odd was. He approaches the building he was told where he'd be, and well it was a very modest one. He parks and ties up his horse Butterscotch outside. He walks in and sees a rather worn old man in back.

Great Strength clears his throat and the old man moves his head up to address the group.

"What do ya want." Before Midias can even bring his question to mouth, Great Strength rather rudely intercepts. "Do you clean carts?" he asked in a very serious voice. " Well, I can." A bag containing money is thrown onto the table, the old man looks insides and smiles. And with that, Great Strength leaves to go to the tavern. The old man looks up from his bag of dough and asks Midias the same question ." What do ya want?". Midias sighs and holds up a broken stick.

"After a recent fight, my quarterstaff broke, do you have any for sale?"

"Why yes we do! Of many woods and quality, I have a wide variety of -"

"Just give me the most mid-range one."

Stonric , stopped mid-pitch, is surprised. No one ever asks for the most mediocre of any product.

He reaches under his desk and, behind all the perfect artisan carved quarterstaffs, he grabs his old walking stick.

He places it on the counter and Midias nods in approval, pays the meager amount, then leaves.

Stonric just shakes his head and walks outside to see the Cart that Great Strength brought to be cleaned.

He opens the doors and just kind of stares.

"Sweet Gods, have mercy on me."

[reputationiseverything]

The Marketer’s Guide to Gain Brand Mileage on Google Maps

email marketing list providers

Are you a local business that serves customers at a physical address?

Then you must snatch the golden opportunity to grab consumer attention with the ultimate local guide, on a mobile device including the iPhone and iPad as well as all Android device products.

⅓ of mobile searches are based on location.

Overall, local searches are growing 50% faster than overall mobile searches.

As of 2013, 70% of searchers used the “click-to-call” function directly from the search engine result pages (SERPs).

Searches including the phrase “best place to buy” with the applicable product or service keyword grew by 70% between 2015 and 2018.

“Near me” searches also rose by 500% in recent years. These include searches like “car dealerships near me” and “wedding dresses near me.”

Google also realizes that your business is ‘special.’ And, it released an algorithmic update, in July, 2014, to favor local businesses for neighborhood-focused mobile device queries.

While there are local guide Android app platforms released, in this article, I’ll particularly focus on Google Maps marketing paying attention to the mapping app in an iPhone and iPad as well as any Android device.

Google Maps actually started as a C++ program at Where 2 Technologies. After making a series of company acquisitions, Google started its desktop web mapping service in 2005. Then. in September 2008, the Google maps mobile app was launched on Android.

The application is widely used by commuters for its features like navigation, street view, public transit information, and finding local businesses.  In 2013, the app was the most used smartphone app in the world.

I’ve written about local business marketing and local SEO before. While optimizing your website for Google search results is a good start, there’s still a disparity between map and web search results. So, you might have to separately optimize your business listing in a local guide to appear higher in Google Maps results. Your site needs to link up to the mapping app via your API key.

Furthermore, you can also display your local inventory and purchase space to appear higher on the Google Maps results. Customers are also able to get real-time traffic times to reach you when you incorporate navigation app capabilities.

Let’s get started with Google Maps marketing and drive qualified local traffic to your store even with walking turn-by-turn navigation if you choose.

Ensure that your citations are accurate and optimize your business listing

The first step to making your business easier to find on Google Maps remains the same. Go to Google My Business and claim a listing for your business. This listing will appear in the search and maps results. A site responsive to a mobile device will outperform one that isn’t.

The verification process takes a few days, as Google wants to make sure you are who you say. They’ll send you a physical postcard with a PIN. When you get it, follow the link, enter the pin and get to work.

Google emphasizes that the information you provide about your business must be accurate.

Google determines your business location and presents your listings in its results based on the presence and accuracy of NAP – Name, Address, and Phone number (with local area code). On-Page SEO is the simplest marketing ingredient that you need to take care of as a business owner.

But, guess what?

Many local businesses provide incomplete and wrong information. Sadly, they don’t even put the effort to update their local guide listings.

It’s not completely the local business owners fault, though.

You need to take extra care, while providing data about your business. Give your address, right down to your street and floor number. And, it must appear EXACTLY the same way across the internet – on your website and other local directories. Even the formatting of your address should remain the same.

Your business mentions on other listings, like Yelp, are called citations. And, citation inconsistency was found as the number 1 ranking issue for local businesses. Moreover, almost all local businesses were found to have a duplicate Google+ listing (which can lead to ranking penalties).

So, I would recommend checking the business address that you provide to the local postal service. For a more thorough analysis, I recommend reading my article on how to conduct a local SEO audit.

Let’s evaluate the business listing for a salon in California. Here is what I see in Google Maps, when I search for a salon.

Now, let’s check the info provided by Saga Hair Salon (it’s the first listing with a public rating). The listing provides the salon’s address, operating hours, and contact number, along with their official website. If you scroll down the listing, you’ll also find a few photos that portray the salon well.

You should then add additional photos of your business featuring your interior, exterior, team members, and products. (You probably know this from your own experience searching local businesses, but a Synup study confirms – businesses with photos get 35% more clicks than those without, and they’re twice as likely to be considered reputable by users.) The idea is to help make your business appear friendly and accessible, so add photos that answer the question, “Why should I choose you?”

Now let’s visit their website and cross-check the info. Note that we’re not critiquing the design at this point.

When I visit their site, the same address and contact number appear near the top, in the exact same format. Plus, the information isn’t embedded inside a photo – search engine spiders can access it. So far, so good.

When I scroll to the bottom, I see the same address info, contact and business hours (as listed on Google Maps) as well as an option to go to map view and get directions. Again, a win!

It’s on their contact page that they commit the first mistake. Their phone number is listed in a different format from the other places that we’ve reviewed. And, while the graphic illustrating their location is okay, they could have embedded their Google Maps listing instead.

I went on to evaluate the salon’s other online citations, by searching for their business name in Google. Their Facebook page also provides NAP in a different format. And, their Yelp listing states that they are open 7 days a week (although they say that they are closed on Mondays on their website).

Such inconsistent info can hurt a business’ credibility. And, it can also push their listing down in Google Maps results if another optimized business gets their NAP correct across all citations.

I hope my breakdown of the Saga salon gives you perspective on how to conduct your NAP consistency check. After tweaking your listings, check your Google Maps listing once, to ensure that your address and other info is being displayed correctly, especially in a mobile device where formatting can become misaligned.

I would also recommend that you get your business verified (it takes a couple of weeks).

Finally, insert high-quality photos that portray your business in a good light. If the ambiance is important for your customers, then a good photo thumbnail can improve your CTR. And, the customers can also navigate through the additional photos you upload (by scrolling down through your listing).

For example, look at the Google Maps results, when I search for Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles. The Phoenix Inn Chinese Cuisine restaurant image immediately grabs my attention.

To further optimize your images, you can also add relevant local info about your business in the alt text and image metadata. There is a Google API key assigned to your business content program, sort of like its own Social Security number, letting Google know that all relevant data spiders find go to your business (and not the Chinese restaurant down the street).

Want a good example of how to complete your Google My Business listing?

Watch the Otis James’ success story below (he brings old-fashioned crafting to people).

Reach for the stars

Once you get the basics right, you should request that the customers that visit your store review you. In a Search Engine Land survey, 72% of consumers said that positive reviews made them trust a local business more.

Social proof matters.

The obstacle is that customers are much more likely to post their negative experiences online, rather than positive.

So, first, you need to encourage and remind your customers how easy it is to review your business on their android device, their iPhone and iPad (for those running around town with them).

Second, you’ve got to stay on top of the reviews, with designated customer service folks in place. Understand that only 23% of customers post negative reviews out of vengeance. And, 70% of the people who complain online hope to get a reply.

The Google My Business dashboard allows you to easily see all of the new reviews and to respond to them.

If you get a negative review, then don’t launch a personal attack. Be courteous and thank the customer for their feedback. As per Google guidelines, you can also flag a review as inappropriate, if it violates the Google guidelines. But, you can’t edit your negative reviews.

I’ve written in more detail about how to get more online reviews that you can read, here. Remember that a higher number of 5-star reviews alone doesn’t guarantee a higher placement.

The best way to get reviews, especially for salons and other service companies, is to ask for them when interacting with customers in person. Most customers are happy to oblige and consider it an extension of your relationship. Otherwise, you can ask for reviews via email with a link to your Google My Business page in your message. 

You can also “automate” the request by including it in your digital receipt. Payment merchants like Square, for example, allow you to customize your receipts, so you can toss your ask right in that custom field, making you automatically more likely to get reviews. You can simply say, “Love us? Give us a review!” then give a link to leave a review.

Once you have reviews, interact with them. (Because Google wants you to!) It gives Google more content to share with potential customers, which provides the algorithm with a good reason to rank your page higher in the SERPs and on Google Maps. Google offers tips for interacting with reviews here. 

The exact role of reviews in the algorithm isn’t known. The best that you could do is to check the number of reviews and ratings of the first listing in your industry/locality.

Returning to my search for Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles:

It looks like I can only enter into the top 5 results with at least 40 reviews for my business listing. And, I’ll also need to maintain a rating above 4.

While You’re At It…Optimize All Your Other Review and Social Pages Too

Other review sites, like Yelp, Facebook, Yellow Pages, and TripAdvisor, still matter. You can use the review snippet to pull in reviews from around the web to show up on your SERP listing, and for some businesses, Google links to reviews on other sites. Here’s an example from a hotel listing:

This is why you don’t necessarily have to focus exclusively on your Google My Business page when asking for reviews. Users are loyal to their favorite social media and review sites. So make it easier to leave a review by offering a Google Maps review link, but welcome reviews at other sites as well.

Paid marketing avenues: Local search ads and Google Maps Ads

Google has previously experimented with ads inside maps and pushed AdWords location extensions.

But, at the Performance Summit, Google released new forms of local search ads. The newly launched Google Maps Ads can drive real-time traffic to your physical store with turn-by-turn navigation. The mapping app allows both online and offline map capabilities with easy to zoom map view options.

They will appear with a purple ad label, above the organic search results list.  They will also show your business as a purple icon on the map. Here’s an example maps result for a search on vegan restaurants in New York.

And, where will the ads be displayed?

They will be seen in the Google Maps app, as well as the mobile, desktop and tablet sites. They’ll also appear on the location-related searches in the main searches of Google.com – but only for those users that click on the “More places” link, at the bottom of the Local-3 pack.

Note that while Benihana New York and Panera Bread have bought precious real estate and prominent visibility, their ratings aren’t impressive even in the local guide. I am not sure that I’d click on their listing, over the three organic results that have at least a rating of 4.4.

Paid advertisements alone can’t substitute for your organic marketing efforts – they can only amplify them.

You should also know that Google has currently decided to show only two ads above the organic search results. These results will be based on the past user behavior and other signals that ensure that the ad spots are filled with relevant, local guide, listings.

Next, Google plans to introduce promoted pins on Maps with a special API key. Marketers will need to use location extensions to appear in these pins. And, you can attract people into your storefront who are passing by your location.

Here’s how:

Google plans to revamp the local guide pages, expanding their features and even letting businesses add new types of content.

If you’re a retailer, you’ll be able to customize your page to show your available inventory –  you’ll need to send your inventory feed to Google. Here are the local inventory feed specifications from Google.

This will be incredibly helpful for retailers because one in four people avoid store visits when they are unsure whether a specific product is in stock or not.

Showing local inventory actually helped Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores increase their store visits by 122%. You don’t need an Android app to do this, just a highly responsive, well designed, mobile-friendly website. Mobile-friendly means it loads fast and is easy to read on all platforms: an Android device, iPhone or iPad.

Another great feature that you get with the ad is in-store promotion. It’s a space to extend discounts and promotions, entice prospects nearby and encourage visits to your store.

In the future, even small businesses can expect to even see store visits data. It would be made possible with a hardware solution (like beacons). Large brands and retailers already have access to such online-to-offline metrics. As per a case study of Nissan, UK – “6% of mobile ad clicks resulted in a store visit.” The ROI was estimated to be around 25x.

What are the performance metrics for judging the success of your ads?

For your organic marketing efforts:

In your Google My Business dashboard, you’re provided with a range of metrics gathered from your unique API key, to see how your business is doing.

You get the number of clicks on your phone number.

You also receive a breakdown of the phone calls that have occurred on various days.

You’re shown the number of clicks by people who are looking for turn-by-turn navigation to your business.

Similarly, search ads can generate 3 types of clicks and are a good way to measure the success of your campaigns.

Get location details – A good indicator of interest in your business,

Get direction – Can indicate how well your ads are driving traffic to your store,

Mobile clicks-to-call – These are precious leads and it’s up to your customer representatives to convert them.

The new Google map ads are still being rolled out to local businesses. You can expect to get access to them soon. A great feature is the offline map to help your consumers save battery juice while getting into the vicinity where they would then move to turn-by-turn navigation app features in real-time.

Conclusion

Google Maps is arguably the most useful app by Google. I would recommend that you start your marketing on Maps by optimizing your Google My Business listing and encouraging customers to review you to raise local guide results. The Google Maps Ads should be rolled out to your AdWords account soon.

One more creative way for travel businesses to use Google maps is give out travel itineraries to their audiences, through custom maps. Even other local businesses can publish local guides with custom maps and attract more prospects, because good old content marketing always works.

How have you been using Google Maps in your local business marketing efforts? Let me know in the comments.

FaceBook

[jimmyjohnsmnm]

The Marketer’s Guide to Gain Brand Mileage on Google Maps

Are you a local business that serves customers at a physical address?

Then you must snatch the golden opportunity to grab consumer attention with the ultimate local guide, on a mobile device including the iPhone and iPad as well as all Android device products.

⅓ of mobile searches are based on location.

Overall, local searches are growing 50% faster than overall mobile searches.

As of 2013, 70% of searchers used the “click-to-call” function directly from the search engine result pages (SERPs).

Searches including the phrase “best place to buy” with the applicable product or service keyword grew by 70% between 2015 and 2018.

“Near me” searches also rose by 500% in recent years. These include searches like “car dealerships near me” and “wedding dresses near me.”

Google also realizes that your business is ‘special.’ And, it released an algorithmic update, in July, 2014, to favor local businesses for neighborhood-focused mobile device queries.

While there are local guide Android app platforms released, in this article, I’ll particularly focus on Google Maps marketing paying attention to the mapping app in an iPhone and iPad as well as any Android device.

Google Maps actually started as a C++ program at Where 2 Technologies. After making a series of company acquisitions, Google started its desktop web mapping service in 2005. Then. in September 2008, the Google maps mobile app was launched on Android.

The application is widely used by commuters for its features like navigation, street view, public transit information, and finding local businesses.  In 2013, the app was the most used smartphone app in the world.

I’ve written about local business marketing and local SEO before. While optimizing your website for Google search results is a good start, there’s still a disparity between map and web search results. So, you might have to separately optimize your business listing in a local guide to appear higher in Google Maps results. Your site needs to link up to the mapping app via your API key.

Furthermore, you can also display your local inventory and purchase space to appear higher on the Google Maps results. Customers are also able to get real-time traffic times to reach you when you incorporate navigation app capabilities.

Let’s get started with Google Maps marketing and drive qualified local traffic to your store even with walking turn-by-turn navigation if you choose.

Ensure that your citations are accurate and optimize your business listing

The first step to making your business easier to find on Google Maps remains the same. Go to Google My Business and claim a listing for your business. This listing will appear in the search and maps results. A site responsive to a mobile device will outperform one that isn’t.

The verification process takes a few days, as Google wants to make sure you are who you say. They’ll send you a physical postcard with a PIN. When you get it, follow the link, enter the pin and get to work.

Google emphasizes that the information you provide about your business must be accurate.

Google determines your business location and presents your listings in its results based on the presence and accuracy of NAP – Name, Address, and Phone number (with local area code). On-Page SEO is the simplest marketing ingredient that you need to take care of as a business owner.

But, guess what?

Many local businesses provide incomplete and wrong information. Sadly, they don’t even put the effort to update their local guide listings.

It’s not completely the local business owners fault, though.

You need to take extra care, while providing data about your business. Give your address, right down to your street and floor number. And, it must appear EXACTLY the same way across the internet – on your website and other local directories. Even the formatting of your address should remain the same.

Your business mentions on other listings, like Yelp, are called citations. And, citation inconsistency was found as the number 1 ranking issue for local businesses. Moreover, almost all local businesses were found to have a duplicate Google+ listing (which can lead to ranking penalties).

So, I would recommend checking the business address that you provide to the local postal service. For a more thorough analysis, I recommend reading my article on how to conduct a local SEO audit.

Let’s evaluate the business listing for a salon in California. Here is what I see in Google Maps, when I search for a salon.

Now, let’s check the info provided by Saga Hair Salon (it’s the first listing with a public rating). The listing provides the salon’s address, operating hours, and contact number, along with their official website. If you scroll down the listing, you’ll also find a few photos that portray the salon well.

You should then add additional photos of your business featuring your interior, exterior, team members, and products. (You probably know this from your own experience searching local businesses, but a Synup study confirms – businesses with photos get 35% more clicks than those without, and they’re twice as likely to be considered reputable by users.) The idea is to help make your business appear friendly and accessible, so add photos that answer the question, “Why should I choose you?”

Now let’s visit their website and cross-check the info. Note that we’re not critiquing the design at this point.

When I visit their site, the same address and contact number appear near the top, in the exact same format. Plus, the information isn’t embedded inside a photo – search engine spiders can access it. So far, so good.

When I scroll to the bottom, I see the same address info, contact and business hours (as listed on Google Maps) as well as an option to go to map view and get directions. Again, a win!

It’s on their contact page that they commit the first mistake. Their phone number is listed in a different format from the other places that we’ve reviewed. And, while the graphic illustrating their location is okay, they could have embedded their Google Maps listing instead.

I went on to evaluate the salon’s other online citations, by searching for their business name in Google. Their Facebook page also provides NAP in a different format. And, their Yelp listing states that they are open 7 days a week (although they say that they are closed on Mondays on their website).

Such inconsistent info can hurt a business’ credibility. And, it can also push their listing down in Google Maps results if another optimized business gets their NAP correct across all citations.

I hope my breakdown of the Saga salon gives you perspective on how to conduct your NAP consistency check. After tweaking your listings, check your Google Maps listing once, to ensure that your address and other info is being displayed correctly, especially in a mobile device where formatting can become misaligned.

I would also recommend that you get your business verified (it takes a couple of weeks).

Finally, insert high-quality photos that portray your business in a good light. If the ambiance is important for your customers, then a good photo thumbnail can improve your CTR. And, the customers can also navigate through the additional photos you upload (by scrolling down through your listing).

For example, look at the Google Maps results, when I search for Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles. The Phoenix Inn Chinese Cuisine restaurant image immediately grabs my attention.

To further optimize your images, you can also add relevant local info about your business in the alt text and image metadata. There is a Google API key assigned to your business content program, sort of like its own Social Security number, letting Google know that all relevant data spiders find go to your business (and not the Chinese restaurant down the street).

Want a good example of how to complete your Google My Business listing?

Watch the Otis James’ success story below (he brings old-fashioned crafting to people).

Reach for the stars

Once you get the basics right, you should request that the customers that visit your store review you. In a Search Engine Land survey, 72% of consumers said that positive reviews made them trust a local business more.

Social proof matters.

The obstacle is that customers are much more likely to post their negative experiences online, rather than positive.

So, first, you need to encourage and remind your customers how easy it is to review your business on their android device, their iPhone and iPad (for those running around town with them).

Second, you’ve got to stay on top of the reviews, with designated customer service folks in place. Understand that only 23% of customers post negative reviews out of vengeance. And, 70% of the people who complain online hope to get a reply.

The Google My Business dashboard allows you to easily see all of the new reviews and to respond to them.

If you get a negative review, then don’t launch a personal attack. Be courteous and thank the customer for their feedback. As per Google guidelines, you can also flag a review as inappropriate, if it violates the Google guidelines. But, you can’t edit your negative reviews.

I’ve written in more detail about how to get more online reviews that you can read, here. Remember that a higher number of 5-star reviews alone doesn’t guarantee a higher placement.

The best way to get reviews, especially for salons and other service companies, is to ask for them when interacting with customers in person. Most customers are happy to oblige and consider it an extension of your relationship. Otherwise, you can ask for reviews via email with a link to your Google My Business page in your message. 

You can also “automate” the request by including it in your digital receipt. Payment merchants like Square, for example, allow you to customize your receipts, so you can toss your ask right in that custom field, making you automatically more likely to get reviews. You can simply say, “Love us? Give us a review!” then give a link to leave a review.

Once you have reviews, interact with them. (Because Google wants you to!) It gives Google more content to share with potential customers, which provides the algorithm with a good reason to rank your page higher in the SERPs and on Google Maps. Google offers tips for interacting with reviews here. 

The exact role of reviews in the algorithm isn’t known. The best that you could do is to check the number of reviews and ratings of the first listing in your industry/locality.

Returning to my search for Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles:

It looks like I can only enter into the top 5 results with at least 40 reviews for my business listing. And, I’ll also need to maintain a rating above 4.

While You’re At It…Optimize All Your Other Review and Social Pages Too

Other review sites, like Yelp, Facebook, Yellow Pages, and TripAdvisor, still matter. You can use the review snippet to pull in reviews from around the web to show up on your SERP listing, and for some businesses, Google links to reviews on other sites. Here’s an example from a hotel listing:

This is why you don’t necessarily have to focus exclusively on your Google My Business page when asking for reviews. Users are loyal to their favorite social media and review sites. So make it easier to leave a review by offering a Google Maps review link, but welcome reviews at other sites as well.

Paid marketing avenues: Local search ads and Google Maps Ads

Google has previously experimented with ads inside maps and pushed AdWords location extensions.

But, at the Performance Summit, Google released new forms of local search ads. The newly launched Google Maps Ads can drive real-time traffic to your physical store with turn-by-turn navigation. The mapping app allows both online and offline map capabilities with easy to zoom map view options.

They will appear with a purple ad label, above the organic search results list.  They will also show your business as a purple icon on the map. Here’s an example maps result for a search on vegan restaurants in New York.

And, where will the ads be displayed?

They will be seen in the Google Maps app, as well as the mobile, desktop and tablet sites. They’ll also appear on the location-related searches in the main searches of Google.com – but only for those users that click on the “More places” link, at the bottom of the Local-3 pack.

Note that while Benihana New York and Panera Bread have bought precious real estate and prominent visibility, their ratings aren’t impressive even in the local guide. I am not sure that I’d click on their listing, over the three organic results that have at least a rating of 4.4.

Paid advertisements alone can’t substitute for your organic marketing efforts – they can only amplify them.

You should also know that Google has currently decided to show only two ads above the organic search results. These results will be based on the past user behavior and other signals that ensure that the ad spots are filled with relevant, local guide, listings.

Next, Google plans to introduce promoted pins on Maps with a special API key. Marketers will need to use location extensions to appear in these pins. And, you can attract people into your storefront who are passing by your location.

Here’s how:

Google plans to revamp the local guide pages, expanding their features and even letting businesses add new types of content.

If you’re a retailer, you’ll be able to customize your page to show your available inventory –  you’ll need to send your inventory feed to Google. Here are the local inventory feed specifications from Google.

This will be incredibly helpful for retailers because one in four people avoid store visits when they are unsure whether a specific product is in stock or not.

Showing local inventory actually helped Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores increase their store visits by 122%. You don’t need an Android app to do this, just a highly responsive, well designed, mobile-friendly website. Mobile-friendly means it loads fast and is easy to read on all platforms: an Android device, iPhone or iPad.

Another great feature that you get with the ad is in-store promotion. It’s a space to extend discounts and promotions, entice prospects nearby and encourage visits to your store.

In the future, even small businesses can expect to even see store visits data. It would be made possible with a hardware solution (like beacons). Large brands and retailers already have access to such online-to-offline metrics. As per a case study of Nissan, UK – “6% of mobile ad clicks resulted in a store visit.” The ROI was estimated to be around 25x.

What are the performance metrics for judging the success of your ads?

For your organic marketing efforts:

In your Google My Business dashboard, you’re provided with a range of metrics gathered from your unique API key, to see how your business is doing.

You get the number of clicks on your phone number.

You also receive a breakdown of the phone calls that have occurred on various days.

You’re shown the number of clicks by people who are looking for turn-by-turn navigation to your business.

Similarly, search ads can generate 3 types of clicks and are a good way to measure the success of your campaigns.

Get location details – A good indicator of interest in your business,

Get direction – Can indicate how well your ads are driving traffic to your store,

Mobile clicks-to-call – These are precious leads and it’s up to your customer representatives to convert them.

The new Google map ads are still being rolled out to local businesses. You can expect to get access to them soon. A great feature is the offline map to help your consumers save battery juice while getting into the vicinity where they would then move to turn-by-turn navigation app features in real-time.

Conclusion

Google Maps is arguably the most useful app by Google. I would recommend that you start your marketing on Maps by optimizing your Google My Business listing and encouraging customers to review you to raise local guide results. The Google Maps Ads should be rolled out to your AdWords account soon.

One more creative way for travel businesses to use Google maps is give out travel itineraries to their audiences, through custom maps. Even other local businesses can publish local guides with custom maps and attract more prospects, because good old content marketing always works.

How have you been using Google Maps in your local business marketing efforts? Let me know in the comments.

The post The Marketer’s Guide to Gain Brand Mileage on Google Maps appeared first on Neil Patel.

Original content source: https://ift.tt/3hfASAS via https://neilpatel.com The post, The Marketer’s Guide to Gain Brand Mileage on Google Maps, has been shared from https://ift.tt/3k0zVhS via https://ift.tt/2r0Go64

[jjpocketbook]

The Marketer’s Guide to Gain Brand Mileage on Google Maps

Are you a local business that serves customers at a physical address?

Then you must snatch the golden opportunity to grab consumer attention with the ultimate local guide, on a mobile device including the iPhone and iPad as well as all Android device products.

⅓ of mobile searches are based on location.

Overall, local searches are growing 50% faster than overall mobile searches.

As of 2013, 70% of searchers used the “click-to-call” function directly from the search engine result pages (SERPs).

Searches including the phrase “best place to buy” with the applicable product or service keyword grew by 70% between 2015 and 2018.

“Near me” searches also rose by 500% in recent years. These include searches like “car dealerships near me” and “wedding dresses near me.”

Google also realizes that your business is ‘special.’ And, it released an algorithmic update, in July, 2014, to favor local businesses for neighborhood-focused mobile device queries.

While there are local guide Android app platforms released, in this article, I’ll particularly focus on Google Maps marketing paying attention to the mapping app in an iPhone and iPad as well as any Android device.

Google Maps actually started as a C++ program at Where 2 Technologies. After making a series of company acquisitions, Google started its desktop web mapping service in 2005. Then. in September 2008, the Google maps mobile app was launched on Android.

The application is widely used by commuters for its features like navigation, street view, public transit information, and finding local businesses.  In 2013, the app was the most used smartphone app in the world.

I’ve written about local business marketing and local SEO before. While optimizing your website for Google search results is a good start, there’s still a disparity between map and web search results. So, you might have to separately optimize your business listing in a local guide to appear higher in Google Maps results. Your site needs to link up to the mapping app via your API key.

Furthermore, you can also display your local inventory and purchase space to appear higher on the Google Maps results. Customers are also able to get real-time traffic times to reach you when you incorporate navigation app capabilities.

Let’s get started with Google Maps marketing and drive qualified local traffic to your store even with walking turn-by-turn navigation if you choose.

Ensure that your citations are accurate and optimize your business listing

The first step to making your business easier to find on Google Maps remains the same. Go to Google My Business and claim a listing for your business. This listing will appear in the search and maps results. A site responsive to a mobile device will outperform one that isn’t.

The verification process takes a few days, as Google wants to make sure you are who you say. They’ll send you a physical postcard with a PIN. When you get it, follow the link, enter the pin and get to work.

Google emphasizes that the information you provide about your business must be accurate.

Google determines your business location and presents your listings in its results based on the presence and accuracy of NAP – Name, Address, and Phone number (with local area code). On-Page SEO is the simplest marketing ingredient that you need to take care of as a business owner.

But, guess what?

Many local businesses provide incomplete and wrong information. Sadly, they don’t even put the effort to update their local guide listings.

It’s not completely the local business owners fault, though.

You need to take extra care, while providing data about your business. Give your address, right down to your street and floor number. And, it must appear EXACTLY the same way across the internet – on your website and other local directories. Even the formatting of your address should remain the same.

Your business mentions on other listings, like Yelp, are called citations. And, citation inconsistency was found as the number 1 ranking issue for local businesses. Moreover, almost all local businesses were found to have a duplicate Google+ listing (which can lead to ranking penalties).

So, I would recommend checking the business address that you provide to the local postal service. For a more thorough analysis, I recommend reading my article on how to conduct a local SEO audit.

Let’s evaluate the business listing for a salon in California. Here is what I see in Google Maps, when I search for a salon.

Now, let’s check the info provided by Saga Hair Salon (it’s the first listing with a public rating). The listing provides the salon’s address, operating hours, and contact number, along with their official website. If you scroll down the listing, you’ll also find a few photos that portray the salon well.

You should then add additional photos of your business featuring your interior, exterior, team members, and products. (You probably know this from your own experience searching local businesses, but a Synup study confirms – businesses with photos get 35% more clicks than those without, and they’re twice as likely to be considered reputable by users.) The idea is to help make your business appear friendly and accessible, so add photos that answer the question, “Why should I choose you?”

Now let’s visit their website and cross-check the info. Note that we’re not critiquing the design at this point.

When I visit their site, the same address and contact number appear near the top, in the exact same format. Plus, the information isn’t embedded inside a photo – search engine spiders can access it. So far, so good.

When I scroll to the bottom, I see the same address info, contact and business hours (as listed on Google Maps) as well as an option to go to map view and get directions. Again, a win!

It’s on their contact page that they commit the first mistake. Their phone number is listed in a different format from the other places that we’ve reviewed. And, while the graphic illustrating their location is okay, they could have embedded their Google Maps listing instead.

I went on to evaluate the salon’s other online citations, by searching for their business name in Google. Their Facebook page also provides NAP in a different format. And, their Yelp listing states that they are open 7 days a week (although they say that they are closed on Mondays on their website).

Such inconsistent info can hurt a business’ credibility. And, it can also push their listing down in Google Maps results if another optimized business gets their NAP correct across all citations.

I hope my breakdown of the Saga salon gives you perspective on how to conduct your NAP consistency check. After tweaking your listings, check your Google Maps listing once, to ensure that your address and other info is being displayed correctly, especially in a mobile device where formatting can become misaligned.

I would also recommend that you get your business verified (it takes a couple of weeks).

Finally, insert high-quality photos that portray your business in a good light. If the ambiance is important for your customers, then a good photo thumbnail can improve your CTR. And, the customers can also navigate through the additional photos you upload (by scrolling down through your listing).

For example, look at the Google Maps results, when I search for Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles. The Phoenix Inn Chinese Cuisine restaurant image immediately grabs my attention.

To further optimize your images, you can also add relevant local info about your business in the alt text and image metadata. There is a Google API key assigned to your business content program, sort of like its own Social Security number, letting Google know that all relevant data spiders find go to your business (and not the Chinese restaurant down the street).

Want a good example of how to complete your Google My Business listing?

Watch the Otis James’ success story below (he brings old-fashioned crafting to people).

Reach for the stars

Once you get the basics right, you should request that the customers that visit your store review you. In a Search Engine Land survey, 72% of consumers said that positive reviews made them trust a local business more.

Social proof matters.

The obstacle is that customers are much more likely to post their negative experiences online, rather than positive.

So, first, you need to encourage and remind your customers how easy it is to review your business on their android device, their iPhone and iPad (for those running around town with them).

Second, you’ve got to stay on top of the reviews, with designated customer service folks in place. Understand that only 23% of customers post negative reviews out of vengeance. And, 70% of the people who complain online hope to get a reply.

The Google My Business dashboard allows you to easily see all of the new reviews and to respond to them.

If you get a negative review, then don’t launch a personal attack. Be courteous and thank the customer for their feedback. As per Google guidelines, you can also flag a review as inappropriate, if it violates the Google guidelines. But, you can’t edit your negative reviews.

I’ve written in more detail about how to get more online reviews that you can read, here. Remember that a higher number of 5-star reviews alone doesn’t guarantee a higher placement.

The best way to get reviews, especially for salons and other service companies, is to ask for them when interacting with customers in person. Most customers are happy to oblige and consider it an extension of your relationship. Otherwise, you can ask for reviews via email with a link to your Google My Business page in your message. 

You can also “automate” the request by including it in your digital receipt. Payment merchants like Square, for example, allow you to customize your receipts, so you can toss your ask right in that custom field, making you automatically more likely to get reviews. You can simply say, “Love us? Give us a review!” then give a link to leave a review.

Once you have reviews, interact with them. (Because Google wants you to!) It gives Google more content to share with potential customers, which provides the algorithm with a good reason to rank your page higher in the SERPs and on Google Maps. Google offers tips for interacting with reviews here. 

The exact role of reviews in the algorithm isn’t known. The best that you could do is to check the number of reviews and ratings of the first listing in your industry/locality.

Returning to my search for Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles:

It looks like I can only enter into the top 5 results with at least 40 reviews for my business listing. And, I’ll also need to maintain a rating above 4.

While You’re At It…Optimize All Your Other Review and Social Pages Too

Other review sites, like Yelp, Facebook, Yellow Pages, and TripAdvisor, still matter. You can use the review snippet to pull in reviews from around the web to show up on your SERP listing, and for some businesses, Google links to reviews on other sites. Here’s an example from a hotel listing:

This is why you don’t necessarily have to focus exclusively on your Google My Business page when asking for reviews. Users are loyal to their favorite social media and review sites. So make it easier to leave a review by offering a Google Maps review link, but welcome reviews at other sites as well.

Paid marketing avenues: Local search ads and Google Maps Ads

Google has previously experimented with ads inside maps and pushed AdWords location extensions.

But, at the Performance Summit, Google released new forms of local search ads. The newly launched Google Maps Ads can drive real-time traffic to your physical store with turn-by-turn navigation. The mapping app allows both online and offline map capabilities with easy to zoom map view options.

They will appear with a purple ad label, above the organic search results list.  They will also show your business as a purple icon on the map. Here’s an example maps result for a search on vegan restaurants in New York.

And, where will the ads be displayed?

They will be seen in the Google Maps app, as well as the mobile, desktop and tablet sites. They’ll also appear on the location-related searches in the main searches of Google.com – but only for those users that click on the “More places” link, at the bottom of the Local-3 pack.

Note that while Benihana New York and Panera Bread have bought precious real estate and prominent visibility, their ratings aren’t impressive even in the local guide. I am not sure that I’d click on their listing, over the three organic results that have at least a rating of 4.4.

Paid advertisements alone can’t substitute for your organic marketing efforts – they can only amplify them.

You should also know that Google has currently decided to show only two ads above the organic search results. These results will be based on the past user behavior and other signals that ensure that the ad spots are filled with relevant, local guide, listings.

Next, Google plans to introduce promoted pins on Maps with a special API key. Marketers will need to use location extensions to appear in these pins. And, you can attract people into your storefront who are passing by your location.

Here’s how:

Google plans to revamp the local guide pages, expanding their features and even letting businesses add new types of content.

If you’re a retailer, you’ll be able to customize your page to show your available inventory –  you’ll need to send your inventory feed to Google. Here are the local inventory feed specifications from Google.

This will be incredibly helpful for retailers because one in four people avoid store visits when they are unsure whether a specific product is in stock or not.

Showing local inventory actually helped Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores increase their store visits by 122%. You don’t need an Android app to do this, just a highly responsive, well designed, mobile-friendly website. Mobile-friendly means it loads fast and is easy to read on all platforms: an Android device, iPhone or iPad.

Another great feature that you get with the ad is in-store promotion. It’s a space to extend discounts and promotions, entice prospects nearby and encourage visits to your store.

In the future, even small businesses can expect to even see store visits data. It would be made possible with a hardware solution (like beacons). Large brands and retailers already have access to such online-to-offline metrics. As per a case study of Nissan, UK – “6% of mobile ad clicks resulted in a store visit.” The ROI was estimated to be around 25x.

What are the performance metrics for judging the success of your ads?

For your organic marketing efforts:

In your Google My Business dashboard, you’re provided with a range of metrics gathered from your unique API key, to see how your business is doing.

You get the number of clicks on your phone number.

You also receive a breakdown of the phone calls that have occurred on various days.

You’re shown the number of clicks by people who are looking for turn-by-turn navigation to your business.

Similarly, search ads can generate 3 types of clicks and are a good way to measure the success of your campaigns.

Get location details – A good indicator of interest in your business,

Get direction – Can indicate how well your ads are driving traffic to your store,

Mobile clicks-to-call – These are precious leads and it’s up to your customer representatives to convert them.

The new Google map ads are still being rolled out to local businesses. You can expect to get access to them soon. A great feature is the offline map to help your consumers save battery juice while getting into the vicinity where they would then move to turn-by-turn navigation app features in real-time.

Conclusion

Google Maps is arguably the most useful app by Google. I would recommend that you start your marketing on Maps by optimizing your Google My Business listing and encouraging customers to review you to raise local guide results. The Google Maps Ads should be rolled out to your AdWords account soon.

One more creative way for travel businesses to use Google maps is give out travel itineraries to their audiences, through custom maps. Even other local businesses can publish local guides with custom maps and attract more prospects, because good old content marketing always works.

How have you been using Google Maps in your local business marketing efforts? Let me know in the comments.

The post The Marketer’s Guide to Gain Brand Mileage on Google Maps appeared first on Neil Patel.

Original content source: https://neilpatel.com/blog/the-marketers-guide-to-gain-brand-mileage-on-google-maps/ via https://neilpatel.com

The original post, The Marketer’s Guide to Gain Brand Mileage on Google Maps, has been shared from https://imtrainingparadise.wordpress.com/2020/09/09/the-marketers-guide-to-gain-brand-mileage-on-google-maps/ via https://imtrainingparadise.wordpress.com

[marketingcomcaio]

The Marketer’s Guide to Gain Brand Mileage on Google Maps

Are you a local business that serves customers at a physical address?

Then you must snatch the golden opportunity to grab consumer attention with the ultimate local guide, on a mobile device including the iPhone and iPad as well as all Android device products.

⅓ of mobile searches are based on location.

Overall, local searches are growing 50% faster than overall mobile searches.

As of 2013, 70% of searchers used the “click-to-call” function directly from the search engine result pages (SERPs).

Searches including the phrase “best place to buy” with the applicable product or service keyword grew by 70% between 2015 and 2018.

“Near me” searches also rose by 500% in recent years. These include searches like “car dealerships near me” and “wedding dresses near me.”

Google also realizes that your business is ‘special.’ And, it released an algorithmic update, in July, 2014, to favor local businesses for neighborhood-focused mobile device queries.

While there are local guide Android app platforms released, in this article, I’ll particularly focus on Google Maps marketing paying attention to the mapping app in an iPhone and iPad as well as any Android device.

Google Maps actually started as a C++ program at Where 2 Technologies. After making a series of company acquisitions, Google started its desktop web mapping service in 2005. Then. in September 2008, the Google maps mobile app was launched on Android.

The application is widely used by commuters for its features like navigation, street view, public transit information, and finding local businesses.  In 2013, the app was the most used smartphone app in the world.

I’ve written about local business marketing and local SEO before. While optimizing your website for Google search results is a good start, there’s still a disparity between map and web search results. So, you might have to separately optimize your business listing in a local guide to appear higher in Google Maps results. Your site needs to link up to the mapping app via your API key.

Furthermore, you can also display your local inventory and purchase space to appear higher on the Google Maps results. Customers are also able to get real-time traffic times to reach you when you incorporate navigation app capabilities.

Let’s get started with Google Maps marketing and drive qualified local traffic to your store even with walking turn-by-turn navigation if you choose.

Ensure that your citations are accurate and optimize your business listing

The first step to making your business easier to find on Google Maps remains the same. Go to Google My Business and claim a listing for your business. This listing will appear in the search and maps results. A site responsive to a mobile device will outperform one that isn’t.

The verification process takes a few days, as Google wants to make sure you are who you say. They’ll send you a physical postcard with a PIN. When you get it, follow the link, enter the pin and get to work.

Google emphasizes that the information you provide about your business must be accurate.

Google determines your business location and presents your listings in its results based on the presence and accuracy of NAP – Name, Address, and Phone number (with local area code). On-Page SEO is the simplest marketing ingredient that you need to take care of as a business owner.

But, guess what?

Many local businesses provide incomplete and wrong information. Sadly, they don’t even put the effort to update their local guide listings.

It’s not completely the local business owners fault, though.

You need to take extra care, while providing data about your business. Give your address, right down to your street and floor number. And, it must appear EXACTLY the same way across the internet – on your website and other local directories. Even the formatting of your address should remain the same.

Your business mentions on other listings, like Yelp, are called citations. And, citation inconsistency was found as the number 1 ranking issue for local businesses. Moreover, almost all local businesses were found to have a duplicate Google+ listing (which can lead to ranking penalties).

So, I would recommend checking the business address that you provide to the local postal service. For a more thorough analysis, I recommend reading my article on how to conduct a local SEO audit.

Let’s evaluate the business listing for a salon in California. Here is what I see in Google Maps, when I search for a salon.

Now, let’s check the info provided by Saga Hair Salon (it’s the first listing with a public rating). The listing provides the salon’s address, operating hours, and contact number, along with their official website. If you scroll down the listing, you’ll also find a few photos that portray the salon well.

You should then add additional photos of your business featuring your interior, exterior, team members, and products. (You probably know this from your own experience searching local businesses, but a Synup study confirms – businesses with photos get 35% more clicks than those without, and they’re twice as likely to be considered reputable by users.) The idea is to help make your business appear friendly and accessible, so add photos that answer the question, “Why should I choose you?”

Now let’s visit their website and cross-check the info. Note that we’re not critiquing the design at this point.

When I visit their site, the same address and contact number appear near the top, in the exact same format. Plus, the information isn’t embedded inside a photo – search engine spiders can access it. So far, so good.

When I scroll to the bottom, I see the same address info, contact and business hours (as listed on Google Maps) as well as an option to go to map view and get directions. Again, a win!

It’s on their contact page that they commit the first mistake. Their phone number is listed in a different format from the other places that we’ve reviewed. And, while the graphic illustrating their location is okay, they could have embedded their Google Maps listing instead.

I went on to evaluate the salon’s other online citations, by searching for their business name in Google. Their Facebook page also provides NAP in a different format. And, their Yelp listing states that they are open 7 days a week (although they say that they are closed on Mondays on their website).

Such inconsistent info can hurt a business’ credibility. And, it can also push their listing down in Google Maps results if another optimized business gets their NAP correct across all citations.

I hope my breakdown of the Saga salon gives you perspective on how to conduct your NAP consistency check. After tweaking your listings, check your Google Maps listing once, to ensure that your address and other info is being displayed correctly, especially in a mobile device where formatting can become misaligned.

I would also recommend that you get your business verified (it takes a couple of weeks).

Finally, insert high-quality photos that portray your business in a good light. If the ambiance is important for your customers, then a good photo thumbnail can improve your CTR. And, the customers can also navigate through the additional photos you upload (by scrolling down through your listing).

For example, look at the Google Maps results, when I search for Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles. The Phoenix Inn Chinese Cuisine restaurant image immediately grabs my attention.

To further optimize your images, you can also add relevant local info about your business in the alt text and image metadata. There is a Google API key assigned to your business content program, sort of like its own Social Security number, letting Google know that all relevant data spiders find go to your business (and not the Chinese restaurant down the street).

Want a good example of how to complete your Google My Business listing?

Watch the Otis James’ success story below (he brings old-fashioned crafting to people).

Reach for the stars

Once you get the basics right, you should request that the customers that visit your store review you. In a Search Engine Land survey, 72% of consumers said that positive reviews made them trust a local business more.

Social proof matters.

The obstacle is that customers are much more likely to post their negative experiences online, rather than positive.

So, first, you need to encourage and remind your customers how easy it is to review your business on their android device, their iPhone and iPad (for those running around town with them).

Second, you’ve got to stay on top of the reviews, with designated customer service folks in place. Understand that only 23% of customers post negative reviews out of vengeance. And, 70% of the people who complain online hope to get a reply.

The Google My Business dashboard allows you to easily see all of the new reviews and to respond to them.

If you get a negative review, then don’t launch a personal attack. Be courteous and thank the customer for their feedback. As per Google guidelines, you can also flag a review as inappropriate, if it violates the Google guidelines. But, you can’t edit your negative reviews.

I’ve written in more detail about how to get more online reviews that you can read, here. Remember that a higher number of 5-star reviews alone doesn’t guarantee a higher placement.

The best way to get reviews, especially for salons and other service companies, is to ask for them when interacting with customers in person. Most customers are happy to oblige and consider it an extension of your relationship. Otherwise, you can ask for reviews via email with a link to your Google My Business page in your message. 

You can also “automate” the request by including it in your digital receipt. Payment merchants like Square, for example, allow you to customize your receipts, so you can toss your ask right in that custom field, making you automatically more likely to get reviews. You can simply say, “Love us? Give us a review!” then give a link to leave a review.

Once you have reviews, interact with them. (Because Google wants you to!) It gives Google more content to share with potential customers, which provides the algorithm with a good reason to rank your page higher in the SERPs and on Google Maps. Google offers tips for interacting with reviews here. 

The exact role of reviews in the algorithm isn’t known. The best that you could do is to check the number of reviews and ratings of the first listing in your industry/locality.

Returning to my search for Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles:

It looks like I can only enter into the top 5 results with at least 40 reviews for my business listing. And, I’ll also need to maintain a rating above 4.

While You’re At It…Optimize All Your Other Review and Social Pages Too

Other review sites, like Yelp, Facebook, Yellow Pages, and TripAdvisor, still matter. You can use the review snippet to pull in reviews from around the web to show up on your SERP listing, and for some businesses, Google links to reviews on other sites. Here’s an example from a hotel listing:

This is why you don’t necessarily have to focus exclusively on your Google My Business page when asking for reviews. Users are loyal to their favorite social media and review sites. So make it easier to leave a review by offering a Google Maps review link, but welcome reviews at other sites as well.

Paid marketing avenues: Local search ads and Google Maps Ads

Google has previously experimented with ads inside maps and pushed AdWords location extensions.

But, at the Performance Summit, Google released new forms of local search ads. The newly launched Google Maps Ads can drive real-time traffic to your physical store with turn-by-turn navigation. The mapping app allows both online and offline map capabilities with easy to zoom map view options.

They will appear with a purple ad label, above the organic search results list.  They will also show your business as a purple icon on the map. Here’s an example maps result for a search on vegan restaurants in New York.

And, where will the ads be displayed?

They will be seen in the Google Maps app, as well as the mobile, desktop and tablet sites. They’ll also appear on the location-related searches in the main searches of Google.com – but only for those users that click on the “More places” link, at the bottom of the Local-3 pack.

Note that while Benihana New York and Panera Bread have bought precious real estate and prominent visibility, their ratings aren’t impressive even in the local guide. I am not sure that I’d click on their listing, over the three organic results that have at least a rating of 4.4.

Paid advertisements alone can’t substitute for your organic marketing efforts – they can only amplify them.

You should also know that Google has currently decided to show only two ads above the organic search results. These results will be based on the past user behavior and other signals that ensure that the ad spots are filled with relevant, local guide, listings.

Next, Google plans to introduce promoted pins on Maps with a special API key. Marketers will need to use location extensions to appear in these pins. And, you can attract people into your storefront who are passing by your location.

Here’s how:

Google plans to revamp the local guide pages, expanding their features and even letting businesses add new types of content.

If you’re a retailer, you’ll be able to customize your page to show your available inventory –  you’ll need to send your inventory feed to Google. Here are the local inventory feed specifications from Google.

This will be incredibly helpful for retailers because one in four people avoid store visits when they are unsure whether a specific product is in stock or not.

Showing local inventory actually helped Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores increase their store visits by 122%. You don’t need an Android app to do this, just a highly responsive, well designed, mobile-friendly website. Mobile-friendly means it loads fast and is easy to read on all platforms: an Android device, iPhone or iPad.

Another great feature that you get with the ad is in-store promotion. It’s a space to extend discounts and promotions, entice prospects nearby and encourage visits to your store.

In the future, even small businesses can expect to even see store visits data. It would be made possible with a hardware solution (like beacons). Large brands and retailers already have access to such online-to-offline metrics. As per a case study of Nissan, UK – “6% of mobile ad clicks resulted in a store visit.” The ROI was estimated to be around 25x.

What are the performance metrics for judging the success of your ads?

For your organic marketing efforts:

In your Google My Business dashboard, you’re provided with a range of metrics gathered from your unique API key, to see how your business is doing.

You get the number of clicks on your phone number.

You also receive a breakdown of the phone calls that have occurred on various days.

You’re shown the number of clicks by people who are looking for turn-by-turn navigation to your business.

Similarly, search ads can generate 3 types of clicks and are a good way to measure the success of your campaigns.

Get location details – A good indicator of interest in your business,

Get direction – Can indicate how well your ads are driving traffic to your store,

Mobile clicks-to-call – These are precious leads and it’s up to your customer representatives to convert them.

The new Google map ads are still being rolled out to local businesses. You can expect to get access to them soon. A great feature is the offline map to help your consumers save battery juice while getting into the vicinity where they would then move to turn-by-turn navigation app features in real-time.

Conclusion

Google Maps is arguably the most useful app by Google. I would recommend that you start your marketing on Maps by optimizing your Google My Business listing and encouraging customers to review you to raise local guide results. The Google Maps Ads should be rolled out to your AdWords account soon.

One more creative way for travel businesses to use Google maps is give out travel itineraries to their audiences, through custom maps. Even other local businesses can publish local guides with custom maps and attract more prospects, because good old content marketing always works.

How have you been using Google Maps in your local business marketing efforts? Let me know in the comments.

The post The Marketer’s Guide to Gain Brand Mileage on Google Maps appeared first on Neil Patel.

The Marketer’s Guide to Gain Brand Mileage on Google Maps Publicado primeiro em https://neilpatel.com

[remelitalia]

The Marketers Guide to Gain Brand Mileage on Google Maps

Are you a local business that serves customers at a physical address?

Then you must snatch the golden opportunity to grab consumer attention with the ultimate local guide, on a mobile device including the iPhone and iPad as well as all Android device products.

⅓ of mobile searches are based on location.

Overall, local searches are growing 50% faster than overall mobile searches.

As of 2013, 70% of searchers used the “click-to-call” function directly from the search engine result pages (SERPs).

Searches including the phrase “best place to buy” with the applicable product or service keyword grew by 70% between 2015 and 2018.

“Near me” searches also rose by 500% in recent years. These include searches like “car dealerships near me” and “wedding dresses near me.”

Google also realizes that your business is ‘special.’ And, it released an algorithmic update, in July, 2014, to favor local businesses for neighborhood-focused mobile device queries.

While there are local guide Android app platforms released, in this article, I’ll particularly focus on Google Maps marketing paying attention to the mapping app in an iPhone and iPad as well as any Android device.

Google Maps actually started as a C++ program at Where 2 Technologies. After making a series of company acquisitions, Google started its desktop web mapping service in 2005. Then. in September 2008, the Google maps mobile app was launched on Android.

The application is widely used by commuters for its features like navigation, street view, public transit information, and finding local businesses.  In 2013, the app was the most used smartphone app in the world.

I’ve written about local business marketing and local SEO before. While optimizing your website for Google search results is a good start, there’s still a disparity between map and web search results. So, you might have to separately optimize your business listing in a local guide to appear higher in Google Maps results. Your site needs to link up to the mapping app via your API key.

Furthermore, you can also display your local inventory and purchase space to appear higher on the Google Maps results. Customers are also able to get real-time traffic times to reach you when you incorporate navigation app capabilities.

Let’s get started with Google Maps marketing and drive qualified local traffic to your store even with walking turn-by-turn navigation if you choose.

Ensure that your citations are accurate and optimize your business listing

The first step to making your business easier to find on Google Maps remains the same. Go to Google My Business and claim a listing for your business. This listing will appear in the search and maps results. A site responsive to a mobile device will outperform one that isn’t.

The verification process takes a few days, as Google wants to make sure you are who you say. They’ll send you a physical postcard with a PIN. When you get it, follow the link, enter the pin and get to work.

Google emphasizes that the information you provide about your business must be accurate.

Google determines your business location and presents your listings in its results based on the presence and accuracy of NAP – Name, Address, and Phone number (with local area code). On-Page SEO is the simplest marketing ingredient that you need to take care of as a business owner.

But, guess what?

Many local businesses provide incomplete and wrong information. Sadly, they don’t even put the effort to update their local guide listings.

It’s not completely the local business owners fault, though.

You need to take extra care, while providing data about your business. Give your address, right down to your street and floor number. And, it must appear EXACTLY the same way across the internet – on your website and other local directories. Even the formatting of your address should remain the same.

Your business mentions on other listings, like Yelp, are called citations. And, citation inconsistency was found as the number 1 ranking issue for local businesses. Moreover, almost all local businesses were found to have a duplicate Google+ listing (which can lead to ranking penalties).

So, I would recommend checking the business address that you provide to the local postal service. For a more thorough analysis, I recommend reading my article on how to conduct a local SEO audit.

Let’s evaluate the business listing for a salon in California. Here is what I see in Google Maps, when I search for a salon.

Now, let’s check the info provided by Saga Hair Salon (it’s the first listing with a public rating). The listing provides the salon’s address, operating hours, and contact number, along with their official website. If you scroll down the listing, you’ll also find a few photos that portray the salon well.

You should then add additional photos of your business featuring your interior, exterior, team members, and products. (You probably know this from your own experience searching local businesses, but a Synup study confirms – businesses with photos get 35% more clicks than those without, and they’re twice as likely to be considered reputable by users.) The idea is to help make your business appear friendly and accessible, so add photos that answer the question, “Why should I choose you?”

Now let’s visit their website and cross-check the info. Note that we’re not critiquing the design at this point.

When I visit their site, the same address and contact number appear near the top, in the exact same format. Plus, the information isn’t embedded inside a photo – search engine spiders can access it. So far, so good.

When I scroll to the bottom, I see the same address info, contact and business hours (as listed on Google Maps) as well as an option to go to map view and get directions. Again, a win!

It’s on their contact page that they commit the first mistake. Their phone number is listed in a different format from the other places that we’ve reviewed. And, while the graphic illustrating their location is okay, they could have embedded their Google Maps listing instead.

I went on to evaluate the salon’s other online citations, by searching for their business name in Google. Their Facebook page also provides NAP in a different format. And, their Yelp listing states that they are open 7 days a week (although they say that they are closed on Mondays on their website).

Such inconsistent info can hurt a business’ credibility. And, it can also push their listing down in Google Maps results if another optimized business gets their NAP correct across all citations.

I hope my breakdown of the Saga salon gives you perspective on how to conduct your NAP consistency check. After tweaking your listings, check your Google Maps listing once, to ensure that your address and other info is being displayed correctly, especially in a mobile device where formatting can become misaligned.

I would also recommend that you get your business verified (it takes a couple of weeks).

Finally, insert high-quality photos that portray your business in a good light. If the ambiance is important for your customers, then a good photo thumbnail can improve your CTR. And, the customers can also navigate through the additional photos you upload (by scrolling down through your listing).

For example, look at the Google Maps results, when I search for Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles. The Phoenix Inn Chinese Cuisine restaurant image immediately grabs my attention.

To further optimize your images, you can also add relevant local info about your business in the alt text and image metadata. There is a Google API key assigned to your business content program, sort of like its own Social Security number, letting Google know that all relevant data spiders find go to your business (and not the Chinese restaurant down the street).

Want a good example of how to complete your Google My Business listing?

Watch the Otis James’ success story below (he brings old-fashioned crafting to people).

Reach for the stars

Once you get the basics right, you should request that the customers that visit your store review you. In a Search Engine Land survey, 72% of consumers said that positive reviews made them trust a local business more.

Social proof matters.

The obstacle is that customers are much more likely to post their negative experiences online, rather than positive.

So, first, you need to encourage and remind your customers how easy it is to review your business on their android device, their iPhone and iPad (for those running around town with them).

Second, you’ve got to stay on top of the reviews, with designated customer service folks in place. Understand that only 23% of customers post negative reviews out of vengeance. And, 70% of the people who complain online hope to get a reply.

The Google My Business dashboard allows you to easily see all of the new reviews and to respond to them.

If you get a negative review, then don’t launch a personal attack. Be courteous and thank the customer for their feedback. As per Google guidelines, you can also flag a review as inappropriate, if it violates the Google guidelines. But, you can’t edit your negative reviews.

I’ve written in more detail about how to get more online reviews that you can read, here. Remember that a higher number of 5-star reviews alone doesn’t guarantee a higher placement.

The best way to get reviews, especially for salons and other service companies, is to ask for them when interacting with customers in person. Most customers are happy to oblige and consider it an extension of your relationship. Otherwise, you can ask for reviews via email with a link to your Google My Business page in your message. 

You can also “automate” the request by including it in your digital receipt. Payment merchants like Square, for example, allow you to customize your receipts, so you can toss your ask right in that custom field, making you automatically more likely to get reviews. You can simply say, “Love us? Give us a review!” then give a link to leave a review.

Once you have reviews, interact with them. (Because Google wants you to!) It gives Google more content to share with potential customers, which provides the algorithm with a good reason to rank your page higher in the SERPs and on Google Maps. Google offers tips for interacting with reviews here. 

The exact role of reviews in the algorithm isn’t known. The best that you could do is to check the number of reviews and ratings of the first listing in your industry/locality.

Returning to my search for Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles:

It looks like I can only enter into the top 5 results with at least 40 reviews for my business listing. And, I’ll also need to maintain a rating above 4.

While You’re At It…Optimize All Your Other Review and Social Pages Too

Other review sites, like Yelp, Facebook, Yellow Pages, and TripAdvisor, still matter. You can use the review snippet to pull in reviews from around the web to show up on your SERP listing, and for some businesses, Google links to reviews on other sites. Here’s an example from a hotel listing:

This is why you don’t necessarily have to focus exclusively on your Google My Business page when asking for reviews. Users are loyal to their favorite social media and review sites. So make it easier to leave a review by offering a Google Maps review link, but welcome reviews at other sites as well.

Paid marketing avenues: Local search ads and Google Maps Ads

Google has previously experimented with ads inside maps and pushed AdWords location extensions.

But, at the Performance Summit, Google released new forms of local search ads. The newly launched Google Maps Ads can drive real-time traffic to your physical store with turn-by-turn navigation. The mapping app allows both online and offline map capabilities with easy to zoom map view options.

They will appear with a purple ad label, above the organic search results list.  They will also show your business as a purple icon on the map. Here’s an example maps result for a search on vegan restaurants in New York.

And, where will the ads be displayed?

They will be seen in the Google Maps app, as well as the mobile, desktop and tablet sites. They’ll also appear on the location-related searches in the main searches of Google.com – but only for those users that click on the “More places” link, at the bottom of the Local-3 pack.

Note that while Benihana New York and Panera Bread have bought precious real estate and prominent visibility, their ratings aren’t impressive even in the local guide. I am not sure that I’d click on their listing, over the three organic results that have at least a rating of 4.4.

Paid advertisements alone can’t substitute for your organic marketing efforts – they can only amplify them.

You should also know that Google has currently decided to show only two ads above the organic search results. These results will be based on the past user behavior and other signals that ensure that the ad spots are filled with relevant, local guide, listings.

Next, Google plans to introduce promoted pins on Maps with a special API key. Marketers will need to use location extensions to appear in these pins. And, you can attract people into your storefront who are passing by your location.

Here’s how:

Google plans to revamp the local guide pages, expanding their features and even letting businesses add new types of content.

If you’re a retailer, you’ll be able to customize your page to show your available inventory –  you’ll need to send your inventory feed to Google. Here are the local inventory feed specifications from Google.

This will be incredibly helpful for retailers because one in four people avoid store visits when they are unsure whether a specific product is in stock or not.

Showing local inventory actually helped Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores increase their store visits by 122%. You don’t need an Android app to do this, just a highly responsive, well designed, mobile-friendly website. Mobile-friendly means it loads fast and is easy to read on all platforms: an Android device, iPhone or iPad.

Another great feature that you get with the ad is in-store promotion. It’s a space to extend discounts and promotions, entice prospects nearby and encourage visits to your store.

In the future, even small businesses can expect to even see store visits data. It would be made possible with a hardware solution (like beacons). Large brands and retailers already have access to such online-to-offline metrics. As per a case study of Nissan, UK – “6% of mobile ad clicks resulted in a store visit.” The ROI was estimated to be around 25x.

What are the performance metrics for judging the success of your ads?

For your organic marketing efforts:

In your Google My Business dashboard, you’re provided with a range of metrics gathered from your unique API key, to see how your business is doing.

You get the number of clicks on your phone number.

You also receive a breakdown of the phone calls that have occurred on various days.

You’re shown the number of clicks by people who are looking for turn-by-turn navigation to your business.

Similarly, search ads can generate 3 types of clicks and are a good way to measure the success of your campaigns.

Get location details – A good indicator of interest in your business,

Get direction – Can indicate how well your ads are driving traffic to your store,

Mobile clicks-to-call – These are precious leads and it’s up to your customer representatives to convert them.

The new Google map ads are still being rolled out to local businesses. You can expect to get access to them soon. A great feature is the offline map to help your consumers save battery juice while getting into the vicinity where they would then move to turn-by-turn navigation app features in real-time.

Conclusion

Google Maps is arguably the most useful app by Google. I would recommend that you start your marketing on Maps by optimizing your Google My Business listing and encouraging customers to review you to raise local guide results. The Google Maps Ads should be rolled out to your AdWords account soon.

One more creative way for travel businesses to use Google maps is give out travel itineraries to their audiences, through custom maps. Even other local businesses can publish local guides with custom maps and attract more prospects, because good old content marketing always works.

How have you been using Google Maps in your local business marketing efforts? Let me know in the comments.

The post The Marketer’s Guide to Gain Brand Mileage on Google Maps appeared first on Neil Patel.

Original content source: https://neilpatel.com/blog/the-marketers-guide-to-gain-brand-mileage-on-google-maps/ via https://neilpatel.com

See the original post, The Marketers Guide to Gain Brand Mileage on Google Maps that is shared from https://imtrainingparadise.weebly.com/home/the-marketers-guide-to-gain-brand-mileage-on-google-maps via https://imtrainingparadise.weebly.com/home

[reviewandbonuss]

The Marketer’s Guide to Gain Brand Mileage on Google Maps

Are you a local business that serves customers at a physical address?

Then you must snatch the golden opportunity to grab consumer attention with the ultimate local guide, on a mobile device including the iPhone and iPad as well as all Android device products.

⅓ of mobile searches are based on location.

Overall, local searches are growing 50% faster than overall mobile searches.

As of 2013, 70% of searchers used the “click-to-call” function directly from the search engine result pages (SERPs).

Searches including the phrase “best place to buy” with the applicable product or service keyword grew by 70% between 2015 and 2018.

“Near me” searches also rose by 500% in recent years. These include searches like “car dealerships near me” and “wedding dresses near me.”

Google also realizes that your business is ‘special.’ And, it released an algorithmic update, in July, 2014, to favor local businesses for neighborhood-focused mobile device queries.

While there are local guide Android app platforms released, in this article, I’ll particularly focus on Google Maps marketing paying attention to the mapping app in an iPhone and iPad as well as any Android device.

Google Maps actually started as a C++ program at Where 2 Technologies. After making a series of company acquisitions, Google started its desktop web mapping service in 2005. Then. in September 2008, the Google maps mobile app was launched on Android.

The application is widely used by commuters for its features like navigation, street view, public transit information, and finding local businesses.  In 2013, the app was the most used smartphone app in the world.

I’ve written about local business marketing and local SEO before. While optimizing your website for Google search results is a good start, there’s still a disparity between map and web search results. So, you might have to separately optimize your business listing in a local guide to appear higher in Google Maps results. Your site needs to link up to the mapping app via your API key.

Furthermore, you can also display your local inventory and purchase space to appear higher on the Google Maps results. Customers are also able to get real-time traffic times to reach you when you incorporate navigation app capabilities.

Let’s get started with Google Maps marketing and drive qualified local traffic to your store even with walking turn-by-turn navigation if you choose.

Ensure that your citations are accurate and optimize your business listing

The first step to making your business easier to find on Google Maps remains the same. Go to Google My Business and claim a listing for your business. This listing will appear in the search and maps results. A site responsive to a mobile device will outperform one that isn’t.

The verification process takes a few days, as Google wants to make sure you are who you say. They’ll send you a physical postcard with a PIN. When you get it, follow the link, enter the pin and get to work.

Google emphasizes that the information you provide about your business must be accurate.

Google determines your business location and presents your listings in its results based on the presence and accuracy of NAP – Name, Address, and Phone number (with local area code). On-Page SEO is the simplest marketing ingredient that you need to take care of as a business owner.

But, guess what?

Many local businesses provide incomplete and wrong information. Sadly, they don’t even put the effort to update their local guide listings.

It’s not completely the local business owners fault, though.

You need to take extra care, while providing data about your business. Give your address, right down to your street and floor number. And, it must appear EXACTLY the same way across the internet – on your website and other local directories. Even the formatting of your address should remain the same.

Your business mentions on other listings, like Yelp, are called citations. And, citation inconsistency was found as the number 1 ranking issue for local businesses. Moreover, almost all local businesses were found to have a duplicate Google+ listing (which can lead to ranking penalties).

So, I would recommend checking the business address that you provide to the local postal service. For a more thorough analysis, I recommend reading my article on how to conduct a local SEO audit.

Let’s evaluate the business listing for a salon in California. Here is what I see in Google Maps, when I search for a salon.

Now, let’s check the info provided by Saga Hair Salon (it’s the first listing with a public rating). The listing provides the salon’s address, operating hours, and contact number, along with their official website. If you scroll down the listing, you’ll also find a few photos that portray the salon well.

You should then add additional photos of your business featuring your interior, exterior, team members, and products. (You probably know this from your own experience searching local businesses, but a Synup study confirms – businesses with photos get 35% more clicks than those without, and they’re twice as likely to be considered reputable by users.) The idea is to help make your business appear friendly and accessible, so add photos that answer the question, “Why should I choose you?”

Now let’s visit their website and cross-check the info. Note that we’re not critiquing the design at this point.

When I visit their site, the same address and contact number appear near the top, in the exact same format. Plus, the information isn’t embedded inside a photo – search engine spiders can access it. So far, so good.

When I scroll to the bottom, I see the same address info, contact and business hours (as listed on Google Maps) as well as an option to go to map view and get directions. Again, a win!

It’s on their contact page that they commit the first mistake. Their phone number is listed in a different format from the other places that we’ve reviewed. And, while the graphic illustrating their location is okay, they could have embedded their Google Maps listing instead.

I went on to evaluate the salon’s other online citations, by searching for their business name in Google. Their Facebook page also provides NAP in a different format. And, their Yelp listing states that they are open 7 days a week (although they say that they are closed on Mondays on their website).

Such inconsistent info can hurt a business’ credibility. And, it can also push their listing down in Google Maps results if another optimized business gets their NAP correct across all citations.

I hope my breakdown of the Saga salon gives you perspective on how to conduct your NAP consistency check. After tweaking your listings, check your Google Maps listing once, to ensure that your address and other info is being displayed correctly, especially in a mobile device where formatting can become misaligned.

I would also recommend that you get your business verified (it takes a couple of weeks).

Finally, insert high-quality photos that portray your business in a good light. If the ambiance is important for your customers, then a good photo thumbnail can improve your CTR. And, the customers can also navigate through the additional photos you upload (by scrolling down through your listing).

For example, look at the Google Maps results, when I search for Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles. The Phoenix Inn Chinese Cuisine restaurant image immediately grabs my attention.

To further optimize your images, you can also add relevant local info about your business in the alt text and image metadata. There is a Google API key assigned to your business content program, sort of like its own Social Security number, letting Google know that all relevant data spiders find go to your business (and not the Chinese restaurant down the street).

Want a good example of how to complete your Google My Business listing?

Watch the Otis James’ success story below (he brings old-fashioned crafting to people).

Reach for the stars

Once you get the basics right, you should request that the customers that visit your store review you. In a Search Engine Land survey, 72% of consumers said that positive reviews made them trust a local business more.

Social proof matters.

The obstacle is that customers are much more likely to post their negative experiences online, rather than positive.

So, first, you need to encourage and remind your customers how easy it is to review your business on their android device, their iPhone and iPad (for those running around town with them).

Second, you’ve got to stay on top of the reviews, with designated customer service folks in place. Understand that only 23% of customers post negative reviews out of vengeance. And, 70% of the people who complain online hope to get a reply.

The Google My Business dashboard allows you to easily see all of the new reviews and to respond to them.

If you get a negative review, then don’t launch a personal attack. Be courteous and thank the customer for their feedback. As per Google guidelines, you can also flag a review as inappropriate, if it violates the Google guidelines. But, you can’t edit your negative reviews.

I’ve written in more detail about how to get more online reviews that you can read, here. Remember that a higher number of 5-star reviews alone doesn’t guarantee a higher placement.

The best way to get reviews, especially for salons and other service companies, is to ask for them when interacting with customers in person. Most customers are happy to oblige and consider it an extension of your relationship. Otherwise, you can ask for reviews via email with a link to your Google My Business page in your message. 

You can also “automate” the request by including it in your digital receipt. Payment merchants like Square, for example, allow you to customize your receipts, so you can toss your ask right in that custom field, making you automatically more likely to get reviews. You can simply say, “Love us? Give us a review!” then give a link to leave a review.

Once you have reviews, interact with them. (Because Google wants you to!) It gives Google more content to share with potential customers, which provides the algorithm with a good reason to rank your page higher in the SERPs and on Google Maps. Google offers tips for interacting with reviews here. 

The exact role of reviews in the algorithm isn’t known. The best that you could do is to check the number of reviews and ratings of the first listing in your industry/locality.

Returning to my search for Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles:

It looks like I can only enter into the top 5 results with at least 40 reviews for my business listing. And, I’ll also need to maintain a rating above 4.

While You’re At It…Optimize All Your Other Review and Social Pages Too

Other review sites, like Yelp, Facebook, Yellow Pages, and TripAdvisor, still matter. You can use the review snippet to pull in reviews from around the web to show up on your SERP listing, and for some businesses, Google links to reviews on other sites. Here’s an example from a hotel listing:

This is why you don’t necessarily have to focus exclusively on your Google My Business page when asking for reviews. Users are loyal to their favorite social media and review sites. So make it easier to leave a review by offering a Google Maps review link, but welcome reviews at other sites as well.

Paid marketing avenues: Local search ads and Google Maps Ads

Google has previously experimented with ads inside maps and pushed AdWords location extensions.

But, at the Performance Summit, Google released new forms of local search ads. The newly launched Google Maps Ads can drive real-time traffic to your physical store with turn-by-turn navigation. The mapping app allows both online and offline map capabilities with easy to zoom map view options.

They will appear with a purple ad label, above the organic search results list.  They will also show your business as a purple icon on the map. Here’s an example maps result for a search on vegan restaurants in New York.

And, where will the ads be displayed?

They will be seen in the Google Maps app, as well as the mobile, desktop and tablet sites. They’ll also appear on the location-related searches in the main searches of Google.com – but only for those users that click on the “More places” link, at the bottom of the Local-3 pack.

Note that while Benihana New York and Panera Bread have bought precious real estate and prominent visibility, their ratings aren’t impressive even in the local guide. I am not sure that I’d click on their listing, over the three organic results that have at least a rating of 4.4.

Paid advertisements alone can’t substitute for your organic marketing efforts – they can only amplify them.

You should also know that Google has currently decided to show only two ads above the organic search results. These results will be based on the past user behavior and other signals that ensure that the ad spots are filled with relevant, local guide, listings.

Next, Google plans to introduce promoted pins on Maps with a special API key. Marketers will need to use location extensions to appear in these pins. And, you can attract people into your storefront who are passing by your location.

Here’s how:

Google plans to revamp the local guide pages, expanding their features and even letting businesses add new types of content.

If you’re a retailer, you’ll be able to customize your page to show your available inventory –  you’ll need to send your inventory feed to Google. Here are the local inventory feed specifications from Google.

This will be incredibly helpful for retailers because one in four people avoid store visits when they are unsure whether a specific product is in stock or not.

Showing local inventory actually helped Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores increase their store visits by 122%. You don’t need an Android app to do this, just a highly responsive, well designed, mobile-friendly website. Mobile-friendly means it loads fast and is easy to read on all platforms: an Android device, iPhone or iPad.

Another great feature that you get with the ad is in-store promotion. It’s a space to extend discounts and promotions, entice prospects nearby and encourage visits to your store.

In the future, even small businesses can expect to even see store visits data. It would be made possible with a hardware solution (like beacons). Large brands and retailers already have access to such online-to-offline metrics. As per a case study of Nissan, UK – “6% of mobile ad clicks resulted in a store visit.” The ROI was estimated to be around 25x.

What are the performance metrics for judging the success of your ads?

For your organic marketing efforts:

In your Google My Business dashboard, you’re provided with a range of metrics gathered from your unique API key, to see how your business is doing.

You get the number of clicks on your phone number.

You also receive a breakdown of the phone calls that have occurred on various days.

You’re shown the number of clicks by people who are looking for turn-by-turn navigation to your business.

Similarly, search ads can generate 3 types of clicks and are a good way to measure the success of your campaigns.

Get location details – A good indicator of interest in your business,

Get direction – Can indicate how well your ads are driving traffic to your store,

Mobile clicks-to-call – These are precious leads and it’s up to your customer representatives to convert them.

The new Google map ads are still being rolled out to local businesses. You can expect to get access to them soon. A great feature is the offline map to help your consumers save battery juice while getting into the vicinity where they would then move to turn-by-turn navigation app features in real-time.

Conclusion

Google Maps is arguably the most useful app by Google. I would recommend that you start your marketing on Maps by optimizing your Google My Business listing and encouraging customers to review you to raise local guide results. The Google Maps Ads should be rolled out to your AdWords account soon.

One more creative way for travel businesses to use Google maps is give out travel itineraries to their audiences, through custom maps. Even other local businesses can publish local guides with custom maps and attract more prospects, because good old content marketing always works.

How have you been using Google Maps in your local business marketing efforts? Let me know in the comments.

The post The Marketer’s Guide to Gain Brand Mileage on Google Maps appeared first on Neil Patel.