#source: i sell clothes online a lot lol

[spurgie-cousin]

I think Jill is trying to do what people on TikTok do which is but stuff from temu and sell it on their TikTok live for way more than what they paid for.

Yea I think she's trying to do what a lot of people on social media do with thrifted clothes specifically, which is charge a premium on used clothing because she's "curated" the selection. The only problem is, to be successful at the online boutique thrifting biz you really have to have a finger on the pulse of whatever your target demographic thinks is stylish, and Jill doesn't.

The unfortunate truth for the Rodrigues ladies is that even though modest evangelical/trad/conservative fashion is usually a pace behind normal trends, Jill and her girls are like 5 paces behind, and for the most part they don't have a good enough eye for thrifting to be charging anything but like, 50 cents to a dollar above the actual value (if that).

The modest online boutique market is saturated to hell, you really have to stand out as far as having your own vibe or at the very least being exactly on trend for modest girlies (see Bates Sisters Boutique). If this is a preview of what the Rods have to offer, I'm not optimistic about their success.

[maxgicalgirl]

I don’t know if this is a new thing in fandom or just a Twitter thing or what, but I do not understand how people are so invested in specific sexual dynamics for your ship that you can’t even engage in the ship in non-sexual means if the fanart/fanfiction is made by someone who prefers the opposite sexual dynamic.

My assumption is that the person thinks it affects the dynamic of the ship even outside of sex ? Like if they ship Character A/Character B where Character A is the “top” then that character acts more “masculine” or “dominant” while Character B acts more “feminine” or “submissive.” And then if you prefer the reverse, then the characters roles in the relationship are reversed.

I’m not sure if this is an asexual thing for me, but for me even if I prefer a certain dynamic when I’m reading smut for example, engaging with the people who prefer the opposite dynamic outside of that sexual context does not change the way the characters act for me ???? Like if you read/watch/play/listen to the source text the characters come from, the characters’ personality are there in the text canonically ? That’s what they’re like ? Their personality doesn’t change if you’re picturing them in the bedroom ? And isn’t it kind of regressive to think that one character has to be the “man” and one character has to be the “woman” regardless of whether the two characters have the same gender ?

Like I saw someone on Twitter selling dolls but they said they only wanted Character A/Character B shippers to buy the dolls and not Character B/Character A shippers because they preferred a certain dynamic. The dolls are clothed and look exactly like they do in the source material. Unless I am going around changing the dolls to be naked and posing them in a certain way and then posting pictures of them online, you would never know which dynamic between the characters I prefer. What is the point then of limiting who can get the dolls when we all like the same characters and just engage with them differently in a personal sense ?

And even if the artist or writer is writing smut or drawing sexual art that depicts the dynamic I don’t necessarily prefer, I don’t make a big deal about it and it doesn’t bother me or ruin my day. If I’m feeling generous at the time I may still read/look at it, and if I’m really not feeling it that day, I’ll click away. Literally this applies to like 10% of the engagement I do that is sexual in nature, and I’d be missing out on so much content if I really let someone’s smut preferences affect the way I view a drawing or smth.

Genuinely I don’t understand it. I don’t remember fandoms being like that in the 2010s, but then again, I spent a lot of my time on Tumblr and have only recently started to look at stuff on Twitter because of fanartists migrating for more traction and the like.

It’s weird growing up and seeing fandom as a method of engagement change before my eyes lol

[brilium]

➳❥│K I N K T O B E R 2 0 2 3 ♡

Yooooo, this is the first time ever that I participate on this since I started writing, I’m so exciteddd! ♡ I really want to complete it but if I don’t I’ll make sure to post them later:)

My main fandoms rn are Jujutsu Kaisen and Attack on Titan, I thought about adding Chainsawman but I need to re-read it all the manga for accuracy 😩

♡ D I S C L A I M E R ‼️‼️

⤷This is obviously about to contain mature content, minors do not interact or you'll be blocked:) This goes also for ageless blogs so put it on your blog pls.

⤷If you don't like this kind of stuff, just ignore it and keep scrolling or block me ♡

⤷SatoSugu and Eren are my soft pookies, so there might be more of them in the list, sorry. I need to write about them a lot to live 😩

♡ M A S T E R L I ST ♡

❥DAY 1. Filming! with Suguru Geto

╰┈➤Summary. Starting to sell content online is giving you a good source of money and, maybe, meeting with one of your mutuals might bring a good content for your account.

❥DAY 2. Voyeurism! with Mikasa Ackerman

╰┈➤Summary. Your organized roommate hates your messy ways to live but, a little mistake with the closet door might lead her to break those walls on her.

❥DAY 3. Camgirl! with Eren Jaeger

╰┈➤Summary. Eren got you a tulip necklace on your birthday, one that you never take off, not even during your livestreams on a secret site at night. And Eren could recognize that necklace anywhere.

❥DAY 4. Car Sex! with Toji Fushiguro

╰┈➤ Ok, I'll be honest, I wrote it but I didn't liked it JKDDJKH. So I'll post it when I've finished the list lol

❥DAY 5. Clothes on! with Jean Kristein

╰┈➤Summary. You're a pain in the ass for Jean, and for you? He's a nuisance before meeting up with Eren for a hook up. Fortunately, the two best students of Dr. Smith are smart (or horny) enough to find a middle point where they can do more than fighting.

❥DAY 6. Cheating! with Satoru Gojo

╰┈➤Summary.Your boyfriend, hated by all your friends, turns you down again on a dinner that you planned for weeks and Satoru shows up at a bar to wash away all your worries like he always does.

❥DAY 7. Size Kink! with Reiner Braun

╰┈➤Summary. Attending to the gym is tiring. And in the morning shift? Worse. But the fat crush on your coach makes it lighter for you. One day, you decide to take the risk to finally make a move with him.

❥DAY 8. Phone Sex! with Eren Jaeger

╰┈➤Summary. A boundarie of not having sex with your hot ex-fuckboy boyfriend for a whole month is eating you from the inside and you decide that it's time to tempt him with a good night selfie.

❥DAY 9. Aphrodisiac! with Nanami Kento

╰┈➤Summary. Nanami has been dealing with a lot of stress at the office lately, and you decided to buy him a naturalist tea that it supposed to help with the stress relief. It seems to help with stress in a very particular way...

❥DAY 10. Deep Throat! with Toji Fushiguro

╰┈➤Summary. Megumi got in a fight for the third time in the month, and his father had to attend with Megumi's teacher to talk about his behavior. Toji finds her hot and annoying. Maybe there's one way to fix his annoyance by hearing her yell.

❥DAY 11. Thigh Riding! with Erwin Smith

❥DAY 12. Caught Sex! with Suguru Geto

╰┈➤Summary. One of Suguru's co-workers keeps trying to flirt with him even though she knows that he's dating you and you sneak out on the changing rooms to show her how to strike back properly.

❥DAY 13. Toys! with Armin Arlet

❥DAY 14. Witch! Reader (Medieval AU) with Eren Jaeger

╰┈➤Summary. You’ve been calmly living in the heart of the forest since people started to believe in stupid rumors of witches. When you cross paths with a hurt man hunting, you give him a hand and turns your small wooden house into a hotter place.

❥DAY 15. Morning Sex! with Porco Galliard

╰┈➤Summary. Marcel brought his not anymore little brother to the beach vacation, you thirsty in the morning might lead you to let your morning desires lead you.

❥DAY 16. Public Sex! with Satoru Gojo

╰┈➤Summary. Satoru Gojo has an arranged marriage since before his birth, and today is the day to impress each other’s family before the wedding preparations start but you both don’t seem so excited for it so you find the way to go with it through the thin paper walls.

❥DAY 17. Breeding Kink! with Nanami Kento

❥DAY 18. Shower Sex! with Levi Ackerman

❥DAY 19. Roleplay! with Suguru Geto

❥DAY 20. Girls Night! with Shoko Ieri and Utahime Iori

❥DAY 21. Succubus! with Armin Arlert

╰┈➤Summary. Eren is being a headache talking about having weird dreams and sleep paralysis, Armin always ignores his blabbering, but when he wakes up in the middle of the night with a weight on his lap, he starts to questionate himself.

❥DAY 22. Hate Sex! with Sukuna’s True Form

❥DAY 23. Costumes! with Eren Jaeger

❥DAY 24. Gloryhole! with Toji Fushiguro

❥DAY 25. Make Up Sex! with Satoru Gojo

❥DAY 26. Face Sitting! with Porco Galliard

❥DAY 27. Overstimulation! with Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto

❥DAY 28. Office Sex! with Nanami Kento

❥DAY 29. Somnophilia! with Jean Kristein

❥DAY 30. Gangbang! with Eren Jaeger, Jean Kristen and Connie Springer

Divider by: benkeibear

[trutimeline]

idislikecispeople, The Most Infamous Dyscourse Blogger: Part 1.0, Rumors

idislikecispeople, also known as many names throughout her time on Tumblr (such as Adele, Kat, Mami, Samantha and Sayaka), was a former Tumblr blogger who became infamous for coining the term "tucute", among many other controversial things she has posted on her blogs. This was supposed to be one, very long masterpost about her, but Tumblr's post editor is a bitch and won't let me do that.

In this post, I'll be debunking or confirming rumors commonly spread about idislikecispeople. The rest of my posts about her will each be dedicated to a specific controversial belief she held or situations she got into. For simplicity's sake, I'll be referring to idislikecispeople as Kat for the rest of this post and future ones.

Rumors

Kat Coined the Terms "Truscum" and "Tucute"

Verdict: Partially True

Kat coined the term tucute, but she did not coin the terms truscum or transmedicalist.

Here's a screenshot of Kat's original definition of a tucute:

Transcript:

What is Tucute?

What does tucute mean?

Tucute is basically just the opposite of truscum, it’s a term and community for trans, nonbinary, and/or non-cis individuals created to separate anti-truscum from truscum and to serve as a safe place from truscum and from cis people, where they believe that being trans requires dysphoria, we do not,where they think that being trans is a medical condition, we do not,and where they deny numerous gender identities on the basis that it “discredits the trans community” we do not.

What are the prerequisites to be a part of the tucute community?

You have to be trans, nonbinary, and/or non-cis in general

You have to accept all pronouns and gender identities

You haveto believe that dysphoria is not necessary to be trans

You have to dislike truscum

You cannot side with truscum or believe in their ideology

You cannot misgender anyone no matter how mad they make you

You cannot be an ableist whatsoever

Did you invent the tucute community? Why?

I indeed did coin the tucute term and community and anyone who says otherwise are creeps who are trying to steal it from me and redefine it for their own nefarious doings. I started this community so anti-truscum could separate themselves from truscum and cis people who are a part of the truscum community, it serves as a safe space from both truscum and cis people.

I’m cis, can I be tucute if I believe in your movement and want to help?

No, you can’t be tucute if you’re cis, you can only be a tucute ally, and you need to be sure to never speak for or over a trans person.

I see a lot of tucuties being just as harmful as truscum, what will you do about it?

There isn’t much I can do to them other than ask them to stop aligning with the tucute community, and of course, that doesn’t mean they will. Also be noted that truscum and cis people will pretend to be tucute just to tarnish the name of the tucute community, so tread lightly, you might be talking to a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Spread the word, use the tag #tucute and join the army today!

[A digital drawing of Sayaka Miki from Puella Magi Madoka Magica in her magical girl form, with a banner underneath her reading "Tucute 4 U!"]

(source) (source)

Kat Was a Cisgender Woman Who Lied About Being a Transgender Woman

Verdict: False

This rumor primarily comes from a post on Kat's oldest known Tumblr blog, chromaghost, where she claims that she wasn't MTF and only tagged a selfie as such because she thought that transgender people were "cool".

Transcript:

Anonymous asked: are you a mtf? i seen it tagged on one of your photos.

No lol. I wanted to post it to the tag because transgender people are cool :3

(source) (source) (source)

However, Kat addressed this post and made it clear she very much was a transgender woman multiple times on her later blogs. This claim can also be confirmed with nude photos Kat posted online, which I don't feel comfortable spreading, so you'll just have to trust me on that one. I also don't feel comfortable directly encouraging you to go and dig up those nudes, as most of her nude photos were either taken when she was a minor, spread without her consent and/or were uploaded because people pressured her into posting nudes to "prove" she was a transgender woman.

Transcript:

Anonymous asked: you bound with ace bandage in one of your selfies. i don't know what to think about you anymore. according to some people you're a 27 year old cis woman scamming us, but you say you're a 22 year old trans woman. i want to trust you but i don't know if i can. i'm sorry.

Rest assured I’m not 27 years old lol. What you’re referring to is a less than graceful ~art piece~ we did (”Playing a Boy” or something) on deviantART when we were 16/17 (?) and really ill-informed. I ask you to not take that as how I stand currently – as I have learned so much more since, and I have a penis and I was designated male at birth because of it (feel free to purchase a passcode to our nsfw blog to see for yourself). At the time we were developing breast tissue but still had to appear as a ‘boy.’ Don’t bind with Ace bandages, kids, it can damage your rib cage, something we didn’t know at the time.

(source) (source)

Transcript:

[A picture of two prescriptions, estradiol and spironolactone, both prescribed to Adele Sheffield.]

grandtran still gonna think I photoshopped it or what

(source)

Transcript:

Anonymous asked: In other words, you aren't gonna cough up the pics because you know you can't fake that shit because you're actually cis. Cool. BTW why do you keep changing your story about the blog, and if the blog was run by you when you were in denial about being trans because of self hate, why were the pics tagged mtf and you were constantly saying trans people were cool?

Yeah I’m not gonna do something for y’all and get nothing in return except more doubt from you, you see how one sided that kind of request is? Also its technically considered sexual harassment, just because its on the internet, you’re a coward (whats your username btw?), and you think I’m cis and you want me to prove time and time again to you that I’m dmab doesn’t justify sexually soliciting someone when they’re not comfortable in being solicited – for free no less.

At first I genuinely had no memory of that blog, it was only active for all of 2 months and for some reason I moved onto a new email and new tumblr, and I haven’t the foggiest why. As for the whole “me claiming to not be ~mtf~” I don’t have any memories from that time, I can only assume it was a lot of dysphoria fueled self-hatred and wanting to be seen/pass as a cis girl lesbian.

If you’re really gonna solicit nudes from a trans woman (a second time) as they do sex work to try and stay on their feet without offering anything in return just so your transmisogynistic ass can get off to trying to tell me my dick is fake isn’t classy at all. I perish the thought of what you’re parents would think of this behavior from you. But yeah, feel free to send some money to my paypal so I can get the gender markers on my records changed because that’s gonna cost a lot apparently, and I’ll definitely send you the dick pics you want. :)

(source) (source) (source)

Transcript:

[A picture of a a hospital bracelet on Kat's wrist. The patient's name is Adele Sheffield and her sex is labeled as "M".]

(source)

Kat Lied About Having Diabetes To Get Money From Tumblr Users

Verdict: False

This doesn't need much commentary from me, just view the screenshots below.

Transcript:

To the people who keep harping on me buying a $15 video game for my mental health 7 MONTHS ago “with my donation money,” well, here you go, some proof, links and screenshots provided

So for everyone spreading misinformation about me spending $15 on a video game for my mental health, here’s a full list of reasons why there is no way, shape, or form I spent my paypal money on it:

Yes, I spent $15 of my own money after selling one of my possessions, not denying it:

[A screenshot of a Tumblr post by Kat where she shows off a copy of Fall Out: New Vegas, marked with a price of $14.99. The date of the post is marked as July 21, 2014 at 06:28.39 PM.]

Be sure to look at the date, July 21st, 2014 6:28 PM. Now lets look at my first donation post asking for help:

[A screenshot of a Tumblr post by Kat where she asks for donations to be able to afford insulin because she has no insurance. The date of the post is marked as July 20, 2014 at 08:14.00 PM.]

Hmm, one day before the purchase of said game, July 20th 2014 at 8:14 PM. Now, I’ve never heard of a video game store — much less a non-chain video game store accepting payment for video games in the form of virtual Amazon gift cards, have you? Oh, but you’re gonna say, “well you bought the game with your paypal donations anyway!” Well, here’s exhibit C:

[Another screenshot of a separate post made by Kat where she is also asking for donations to be able to afford insulin. The date of the post is marked as July 23, 2014 at 12:27.46 PM.]

Again, looking at the date of this posting which is the original donations post, you can see it was posted on July 23rd, 2014 at 12:27 PM, a full 2 days after I had bought the game. Now, if there’s no way for me to use Amazon gift cards for a real life video game store, then how can I go back in time a minimum of 2 full days to give past me $15 to buy said game, hm? This isn’t even accounting for the fact that I didn’t even have my own bank account associated with it until over a week later, and it surely doesn’t account for the fact that it takes up to 5 days to transfer from paypal to your bank account. All the dates are linked to the original unedited posts so you can see for yourself, and for added measure my first deposit was on August 14th, 2014:

[A screenshot of a deposit made by Kat. The date is marked as 08/14/14.]

Oh but yeah, anti-sjs, truscum, and the like took damniwishidthoughtofabettername’s postthey used to gaslight us with misinformation and you all bought it. Tell me how I could misuse donations that I could not use outside of Amazon and money I didn’t even start receiving until a full two days later, let alone the fact that there’s no way I could have transferred said money and used it two days prior as of the date of the paypal donations post.

I hope some of y’all could reblog this and get the word out, I’m sick and tired of people buying into that misinformation that person did solely to gaslight me as a means to try and disrupt my donations drive.

(source) (source) (source) (source) (source) (source) (source)

Transcript:

[A selfie of Kat holding up a vial of Novolin to the camera.]

Hey anon, I don’t feel comfy giving you my receipts (because doxxing is a thing) but here you go, a selfie with my most recent insulin purchase. 👽

(source) (source) (source) (source) (source) (source) (source)

Transcript:

Anonymous asked: Getting desperate for money again I see. How is your fake diabetes lately. I bet your blood sugar is like 800 this time and you're still able to be alive somehow.

You got me, I’m ~totally faking~

[A selfie of Kat. In the background several items used by diabetics are seen such as insulin syringes, glucose tablets, a blood sugar tester and test strips.]

[A picture that gives us a closer look at the background of the previous selfie.]

[A selfie of Kat holding up two vials, one of Lantus and the other of Humalog.]

Gee, must be one dedicated faker, right? To have hundreds of dollars of insulin equipment and insulin itself. Hmmm… Insulin syringes, glucose tablets, a blood sugar tester and test strips.. oh and insulin, hmmmm….

Oh and because you didn’t learn from last time you don’t die instantly when your blood sugar goes over 600 lol, something anyone who studies endocrinology can tell you, and I would know, being a diabetic, having to be hospitalized numerous times for ketoacidosis where the blood sugar has been too high for too long. Things you clearly do not know and you’re just jumping on the disableist bandwagon. I have an idea of who you are anyway, just doing this for future reference.

(source)

[pretty-pink-seaslug]

My agent age + personality hcs nobody asked for—

Agent 3: 14 in splatoon1, 18 in splatoon2! If she has nothing to do she’s a god damn slacker— she skips school like 3 days a week and whenever there’s a test she didn’t study for she skips that day as well, constantly says she’ll take the F. Unexpectedly (or expectedly?) a total geek, likes a shit ton of video games and mangas, always looking for lore— lol me Actually really friendly and caring! Has babysat and will do it again, it was actually a main source of income for her before she got an off the books job— babysits 4 whether 4 likes it or not— Only lets 4 skip school when she’s skipping school too (literally the only reason she’s letting her skip school too is because if 3 gets caught she’ll get put back in school too)

Agent 4: 15, acts like she’s 6 years old— hugs all around lol she’s all over anyone and everyone if they allow it, her and Callie are best friends and everytime they meet they share a bear hug! Likes going to the arcade and geeking out about the in-universe versions of Beyblade and Pokemon with Agent 3 at either of their apartments, fun fact actually they live in the same complex

Agent 8: 24, sassy. Doesn’t mean she isn’t friendly tho (: I won’t say strictly but she’s definitely an independent worker, if someone tried to work with her and she doesn’t know them well she kinda doesn’t know how to react so she lets them do the entire job themself— (not me self inserting a bit 🥴) She studied inkling language for like 5 years before she fell into the Metro so she’s p fuckin set on that, also she’s a damn shopaholic— do not open her closet, you will feel poor. She has so many pairs of shoes and so many dresses and so many hats— Jesus that’s a lot of fucking clothes. Also she sleeps with an E-Liter under her bed and a super modded octoshot under her pillow, she’s unusually prepared for break ins 😳 ✨prettiest bitch in the room.✨ Also babysits 4, but only when she’s not busy— She has 2 jobs, selling weapon mods online and occasionally grizzco! Will give 4 and 3 the stern sassy disappointed mom look if she catches either of them skipping school, causing them to go into hiding when skipping school—

(Damn I fr made Agent 8’s the longest am I obsessed or sumn wtf—) I hope you liked them! Don’t be afraid to lmk what you think in the notes as long as you’re not mean about it— and remember, these are my hcs and I’m not telling you to follow them ✨

[aprillikesthings]

STRESS DUMP TIME

because aaaaaugh!!

I have spent so much money on masks trying to get something that actually works and I can tolerate and it's extremely frustrating. I did just buy this weird-ass brace thing but I dunno if it'll get here before I leave.

I had a dumbass argument online today with someone about the local homelessness problems. I ended up quoting A Christmas Carol, because he basically suggested we bring back debtor's prison/workhouses. You can punish people for being homeless or you can solve homelessness but those are mutually exclusive, dude. People like you are literally why we'll never solve homelessness in the USA--god forbid we just help people, even if we don't like them.

This is so damn minor, but the number of people who post to r/abrathatfits *insisting* that the calculator is wrong because they have small boobs, there's no way they're an F cup! is just starting to wear on me. Y'all. Try reading literally any random handful of posts on the subreddit. Or the beginner's guide. Or looking at the links in the sidebar to collections of what sizes look like.

I sent the text asking people for their share of the rent money and neither of them have sent it yet, which means I had to transfer money from savings to cover it for now. One of them is worrying me because she usually pays immediately and didn't even reply to my text. :/ (She's not actually in the house--and if/when she moves back in? Another source of stress!)

The rent went up and also as of next month we're paying for water/sewage and I have no clue how much that'll be, especially since it's not by household, it's literally the entire complex's bill split evenly? which doesn't make any fucking sense?

Oh and I keep forgetting to buy renter's insurance, which we're supposed to have--I'll do that this weekend.

THE HOUSE IS A FUCKING DISASTER I manage to get one spot clean and it's back to "covered in crap" within two days. Also the house is basically full of empty seltzer cans because there kept being one reason or another that Daci couldn't drive them to the return. Now that the weather is reasonable and they're feeling better I'm going to have to tell them "take them away within a week or I'm going to leave them out by the bins" again.

I can't clean my own room because at this point there literally isn't enough space in my closet/drawers for the amount of clothing I own. I want to sell some items but the process of getting started on that is Extremely Intimidating.

I just feel like I'm bleeding a lot of money just before flying out and it's hard not to panic. I mean, I still have a savings cushion. I'm not going to, like, miss rent next month. But aaugh.

(I keep thinking: jfc I could probably sell a few Gunne Sax dresses I've never worn and pay for like, a third of my trip, lol.)

I hope I don't test positive on the way out. I hope I don't get Covid in Iceland. I hope I have a good time in Iceland. I hope I don't fuck up or forget anything. I hope that when something inevitably does go wrong I roll with it instead of losing my shit. I hope that if/when I get frustrated/sad/upset/lonely and cry about it that I'm alone (or talking to Daci).

Okay. I think that's everything.

TIME FOR SOME GOOD THINGS:

my fandom friend who was in the path of the worst of Hurricane Ida made it through fine, and her parents are fine, and her apartment is fine; and she expects her power to come back on soon (she's right next to the substation, apparently) and she already has cell service again. Whew.

I am able to afford to finally go to Iceland, after all these years. ;_; Most of my plans and reservations are already made. Their average daily covid case count is lower than ours.

Sugary Carnival (as in, the dress) arrives next month.

Daci is The Best (and just came upstairs with a weed vape. tasty.)

Pan and Saer: also The Best

I like my job and my coworkers (most of the time), and I am making more per hour than I have in my entire life

My health is pretty good, all things considered

The worst of summer is finally over!!! (now if only it would rain...)

[christinexx]

Week 8: Blog Post Due 10/14

1. How does female depictions in technology reflect gender norms?

     Right now, the most popular depictions of women in technology are those created by men. Huge technology-based corporations reinforce these stereotypes by using a women’s voice as virtual assistants built within the device. Examples of this includes Siri, created by Apple or Cortana, developed by Microsoft. This labels women as overly friendly, nice, and submissive (O’Riordan, 2006) . It even sets expectations to what a women should sound like and how they should act. Once again, male-dominated corporations use gender stereotypes to their advantage without knowing the harmful effects it will have on women.

2.  Compare print-only era of white supremacy and with the digital era in the Western world. How has the transition from one to the other transformed the world?

     In the print-only age, white supremacy was straightforward. Both men and women took part of it. With the advancements into the digital age, expression of white supremacy has further complexed itself. Just like in the print-only age, people can publish articles like they would a newspaper to the public. In addition to that, usernames can be used to express such ideals as part of your identity online as well as more opportunities to participate and interact with people think the same way (Daniels, 2009). The digital age and the Internet is a double-edged sword as much as we think it’s great.

3.  Why does Haraway claim that  “ ‘being’ female” does not exist?

     Haraway means that gender doesn’t exist because it was constructed by society and I agree. In 2016, I volunteered in a daycare center at my local church where a little boy was playing with the princess dolls there. When his mom came back, she told him that he should be playing with the cars because dolls were for girls. A man can do whatever a woman can do and vice versa. It is our society that sets invisible boundaries as to how we should act, think, and feel. 

 4.  How has the marketing world found a new way of advertising products using gender through digital media?

     Nowadays, companies use avatars or fictional characters to advertise and sell their products. Instead of using a representative spokesperson, they hire a team of artists to create visually charming characters that are designed to pull in possible consumers. This engages the consumer because of how real a character may look while maintaining “perfect” features. For example, Ananova is an online newscaster created in the 2000s and was often referred to as a “cyberbabe” because of all her feminine features (Haraway, 1991). We can also see this in a lot of mainstream games like League of Legends (LoL) where a lot of the female characters are thin, big-breasted, and wear over-exposing, tight clothing. It’s also worth mentioning that a lot of the girls in the game are light-skinned. These characters are created to be idealistic gender norms targeting men at the expense of ruining gender norms even further, specifically women, for profit.

Sources:

Daniels, J. (2009). Gender, White Supremacy, and the Internet. Cyber Racism: White Supremacy Online and the New Attack on Civil Rights (pp. 61-86). Rowman & Littlefield.

Haraway, D. (1991). A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century. Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature (pp. 149-181). Routledge.

O’Riordan, K. (2006). Gender, Technology, and Visual Cyberculture. Critical Cyberculture Studies (pp. 243-252). New York University Press.

[purplesurveys]

1123

survey by zqrwrgnani

What do you typically have for breakfast? I skip breakfast Monday to Friday. On weekends either of my parents will usually make fried rice served with 3–4 of the following: eggs, hotdogs, corned beef, dried fish, ham, longganisa, and luncheon meat.

Where do you purchase most of your clothes? There’s a tiangge at the local mall where they will change up the collection of clothes being sold every couple of weeks. They have trendy choices at really low prices so that’s where I liked getting clothes back when I went out more.

Do you have any opinions on Anna Delvey? Literally have never heard of her. Should I know who this is...?

What are you currently streaming? I have an episode of (surprise!) 2D1N turned on, but it’s paused.

What do you typically order when you go for coffee? Iced caramel macchiato. I actually switched it up today and went for a basic iced mocha, though. Just wanted to try something new, I guess.

Anything you’re looking out for at the thrift? No, and I don’t usually make trips to thrift stores either.

Who are your favorite YouTubers? Louise Pentland is a recent favorite. There’s also Good Mythical Morning, Grace Helbig, and The Try Guys. I also like a ton of BuzzFeed people but I don’t think they count as YouTubers. I like a good number of local vloggers as well but they’re no one you would recognize.

Describe your skincare routine. I just splash some water onto my face first thing in the morning, every day.

What’s your typical morning routine look like? Work has conditioned me to automatically wake up at 6:30, and by then I have the choice to either go back to sleep or try to properly wake up by watching YouTube videos. Either way, I have to be up by 8 so I can start working. And like I said, I briefly wash my face, then I immediately head to my laptop. That’s it, really; it’s super uneventful and I'm sorry I can’t make it any more interesting lol.

Are you still playing Animal Crossing? I never bought the game, actually. I asked Nina if I should buy it and she said it probably won’t be suitable for me since the game requires a lot of creativity, which as y’all know by now I lack entirely hahaha. I have my eyes set on other games.

How has the pandemic specifically affected you? It kept me from having a memorable final year in university, and it kept me from having a graduation ceremony. We also had to sell one of our cars, which I really loved driving when we still had it, so that bummed me out. I believe the pandemic had also been a slight factor in the crumbling of my former relationship as well.

Where’s your favorite place to go for brunch? I never go out for brunch.

What’s on your nightstand? Right now there is a bunch of books on it and a paper envelope from work.

What do you think about before falling asleep? Anything except my already pending deliverables work for the following day.

What is your main source of anxiety? Continued from the previous evening. I don’t know if there’s a main catalyst...a lot of things have the ability to make me feel anxious.

Any bands or artists you’ve recently discovered? I’m going further down the K-pop rabbit hole as I know it, lmao. It’s starting, you guys. This week I discovered GOT7; I’ve only heard one song so far but I’m extremely hooked. Ravi’s also very talented and has catchy songs.

What are your goals for today? Have a great rest of the evening and enjoy the start of my weekend.

What kind of games do you play on your phone? I haven’t been playing a lot of games on it, actually. I mainly use it to keep track of my Viber notifications (because my laptop sometimes won’t, and I end up replying to some work threads late) and to watch on Viu. But the last game I downloaded was a logo quiz game for old times’ sake.

Are there any packages you’re waiting to come in through the mail? Nah, haven’t ordered anything recently. I think I’m over my online shopping phase hahaha. I was just really excited about it when I got my first couple of paychecks, but now that the initial thrill has passed, I mainly look forward to spending on food – exactly like how I predicted it would be for me.

Describe your favorite t-shirt? I’d neverrrrr throw out my CM Punk Best in the World shirt for the world, no matter how more tattered and stained it gets. It’s one of my prized possessions and it reminds me of a really happy and carefree time in my life.

Do you have a specific aesthetic? I don’t know if I fit into a certain one; I certainly don’t consciously try to. You’d have to ask my friends if I do have a specific kind.

Skinny jeans or mom jeans? Mom jeans, a thousand times over. I dread wearing skinny jeans.

What’s your favorite 90s cartoon? The Wild Thornberrys.

Describe the moment you realized you were falling in love with someone. I felt scared more than anything else. I’ve never felt such a heavy sensation before, so I didn’t know what was going on. I also felt the need to be around them as much as I can, as I was starting to love and enjoy their presence, and be the one to attend to their needs.

Have you tried the feta and tomato recipe? No but sounds delicious.

What’s your favorite sparkling water brand/flavor? I don’t drink that. Sounds nasty.

What’s your favorite makeup brand/brands? Don’t wear makeup, either.

What’s your all time favorite movie? Two for the Road.

What are some female names you would name a baby? Olivia, Mia, and Amelia are some of my favorites.

What about male? Erm, probably names like Mason, Elliott, Matteo, Liam...I don’t want a son, so I don’t think about boy names too often lmao.

Do you have any subscription boxes? No. I’ve always wanted to subscribe to one with a quirky concept, like a Korean-themed one, or international snacks or condiments, or curated alcoholic drinks, etc. but at the end I feel it’s a luxury I could do without.

What did you purchase the last time you bought groceries? The last time I got groceries was for work, and for that instance I got several of the following: coffee packs, soju, various canned goods, spaghetti set, Nutella, and toiletries.

What fictional creature would you like as a pet? Wouldn’t keep him as a pet but I feel like Maximus from Tangled would be such a fun dude to be around.

Describe your favorite piece of jewelry. I don’t have one. I love borrwing my mom’s Tiffany’s jewelry, though.

Have any local businesses closed that you’re sad about? So fucking many of them, especially the ones I frequented back in college. I went back to Katip last week and the place felt like a damn ghost town.

How do you feel about the BLM movement? I support it, of course. And I feel infuriated by those who try to counter by saying aLl LiVeS mAtTeR or worse, bLuE lIvEs MaTtEr.

What’s the worst advice you’ve ever taken? I don’t think I ever took an advice I knew was bad or would be useless or irrelevant to me. But this reminds me of my mom’s favorite piece of advice for every bad situation, which is to pray lmao.

How do you feel about your neighbors? I feel like I answer this a lot on this surveys, but I don’t think anything of them. We mostly keep to our own business.

What kind of dwelling do you live in? A house.

Have you been watching this season of The Bachelor? I’ve never tried watching it and have no desire to.

What’s typically kept in your purse/wallet? Paper bills, receipts I have the tendency to stuff and keep there even though I’ll never have to use them again, my Paramore ticket, TIN ID, copies of 1x1 and 2x2 photos of myself just in case I have to whip one out, driver’s license, my debit cards, and my vape.

How do you feel about TikTok? I gravitate towards the tutorials and unique prompts (like people showing their parents of different nationalities, the then-vs-now of their pets, etc) more so than the dance-y/meme-y ones. I’ve never felt the need to get the actual app, though. I get my TikTok fix on Facebook, which makes me feel old saying so LOL

What’s the hardest thing you’ve done/been through? Dealing through a breakup was surprisingly harder and more excruciating than deaths I’ve had to go through.

Did you/do you still have a Neopets account? I never had an account but I did have a Neopets game on my flip phone.

What do you look like on a day where you don’t leave the house? Haggard.

Do you have any opinions on Amberlynn Reid? Have literally never heard of that name.

Any current trends you dislike? Most streetwear.

[pinkysfaultorbrainsfault]

animaniacs - season 1 episode 38 - spellbound

episode summary: inexplicably stuck in camelot times, brain tries to get the ingredience for a magic spell that allows the caster to take over the world. this episode has no relation to the other camelot episode and i don't... know why.

the rundown: we begin our episode with the assertion that this is England in 1194. at this point in history, everyone from fire emblem 16 has grown up and is gay married, but we're not focusing on them right now. we're going to camelot and asking about their round table.

lol.

anyway after we see this creepy spider do whatever he's doing, we meet... merlin, i guess.

my dude??? he looks different. did you go on queer eye, merlin? whatever. he technically doesn't say he's merlin, so... maybe he's the other guy? the older guy? who's like merlin's dad?

this fucker. is he in the original king arthur? idk man i only watch cartoons. anyway he is casting a spell and it is very important. important enough to require components from yoko ono, apparently. like she hasn't suffered on this show enough.

but who do we have here?

"mouse" as my flatmate elegantly put it when he walked past the tv room to get a water. but even better than mouse??? mouse in SHORTS. MOUSE IN SHORTS MOUSE IN SHORTS??? MOUSE IN SHORTS. MOUSE IN SHORTS LOOK AT HIS LITTLE LEGYS MOUSE IN SHORTS MOUSE IN. SHORTS MOUSE IN SHORTS. MOUSE IN SHORTS.

YES.

pinky is not wearing shorts, which is incredibly disappointing. he's wearing some sort of sleeveless shirt dress tunic thing in an awful colour that someone like kanye west or justin bieber probably sells on their merch store for like a thousand dollars. he got the yeezy fit, damn. despite the designer status of his clothes, his bedroom eyes still do not convince me.

"i wish i was a windowsill so i could be--! ah. um."

"an imbecile?"

"ah! haha good rhyme, brain!" the bop of the century. kanye west sells the "windowsill" remix in vinyl on his online store for an additional fifty dollars.

after naming a few more celebrities ("I win, you win, edwin newman") the cauldron explodes in a puff of green smoke! and we get!

a pie. “lo!” he cries. “i’ve made a nice pie.”

hm. pinky is impressed. brain is uh. i think he mentally checked out? whatever he's doing i cannot stop fucking laughing at it. i actually had to put this post on pause for longer than anticipated because brain’s stupid face got to me. i’m so sorry. i started writing this at like 11pm gmt on the 11th and it just didn’t get to y’all in time because of brain’s stupid fucking face.

i’m sorry. brain is less impressed and declares it a “waste of magic”, and that he “would never squander such mystical powers over mere pastry.”

“poit. but what if you were eating dinner and you forgot dessert?”

“maybe then.”

but there is trouble afoot! Old Man Merlin has realised that king arthur will want some of his pie, and decides he’d better eat it in the dungeon so that doesn’t happen.

brain takes this opportunity to look through Old Man Merlin’s big book of spells. he “will use merlin’s magic to take control of the world” and then we get another nice closeup of his funny little face.

i don’t know why animaniacs was so keen on doing this? does it happen this much in the reboot? it feels like every episode we stare brain down to assert dominance.

“oh, no, no. where will you find a magic spell for that?”

“in the table of contents, pinky.”

“oh, well, very good.”

(the table of contents also contains a spell to “win at blackjack”, next to the taking over the world spell. brain considers this, for a moment, and then decides now is probably not the time.)

so good thing they have all the components for the magic spell, eh? including the Half Eaten Gingerbread Cookie That’s Been Left On The Counter All Night.

hmm.

oh, wait, no they don’t. turns out they’re fresh out of red dragon toenails, so brain’s solution to this problem is just to... go and get more, which is obviously a thing people do. they have to cross the enchanted forest to do that. it has witches and stuff. pinky rightfully points out that that is a lot of danger to overcome, and brain gets his stealing-the-minivan vibes back and nicks Old Man Merlin’s magic wand. he only knows one spell, but that won’t stop him.

the first obstacle they have to cross is the gingerbread house owned by... witch hazel from looney tunes. she’s a lot less annoying here than in bugs bunny lost in time, and informs brain that she is “waiting for pudgy german children.” instead of taking her suggestion to “get outta here”, brain magics her ass.

charlie sheen, ben vereen, shrink to the size of a lima bean.

they do get their ass handed to them by aforementioned pudgy german children, but then the german children decide that the mice have syphillis and yeet them in the general direction of slappy squirrel, who is here now.

she starts an argument with the goodfeathers, who are also here now, and brain takes it as their cue to leave.

but never mind all that! good thing there’s a handy bridge over this stream!

unfortunately, the bridge likes to spawn Giant Purple Hands That Kidnap Goats, so brain concludes they should cross said bridge using Stealth. unfortunately pinky drops the wand on the source of the Giant Purple Hands, and it is... relatively unhappy.

so brain pulls out the old “ charlie sheen, ben vereen, shrink to the size of a lima bean” again.

i did definitely think the troll was going to kick him in the crotch. i was very much sure of this, actually. instead it yeets him into rita and runt and fucks off.

“for goodness sake boxy” i hear you cry, “aren’t they at the dragon yet! this review has lasted a good twenty years of scrolling down my dashboard!” and i hear you, and you’re right, but the first thing you need to understand is; pinky has spent this whole episode singing. that little guitar he has? he has spent the whole episode replicating windowsill. “we’re in the woods so dark and stinky, to conquer the world, go brain and--” and then he forgets his name and brain has to remind him that it’s pinky. or remind him of his own name, or suggest like, steam to rhyme with stream. that is the running gag of this episode, and it is very important, at this stage, that you know that. pinky has not, as of yet, stopped singing and playing the lute.

so even though they make it to the dragon pretty mucn unscathed (aside from brain getting sat on by a giant, but i won’t go into that unless y’all specifically want details) pinky just has to have his little song in order to keep the dragon asleep.

and then brain yells at him for forgetting the word “sandman”, which breaks the toenail off completely,

and also wakes up the dragon, which can’t be good. it’s not happy! it was growing its’ nails out for paris fashion week.

brain tries his best to rectify this situation.

“charlie sheen, ben vereen--!”

charlie sheen and ben vereen are dead. i’m sorry to have to tell you. they shrunk down so much they got stuck in the quantum zone from antman and the wasp. someone should probably do something about that.

anyway the mice decide to hightail it back to Old Man Merlin’s.

conclusion: 

spoilies: they do make it back in one piece. i won’t detail the whole chase scene because it’s just a bunch of running, because the post is long enough already, and also because tumblr has eaten it three fucking times and i could basically type all this in my sleep now. the things i do for y’all. donate to the wavemaiden.

so pinky shoves all the ingredients into the pot, while brain finds The Take Over The World Spell. the dragon is harassing them this whole time, which feels unfair.

“listen carefully, pinky. i need to recite this spell exactly, and once i start i cannot stop. so i need you to be extra quiet, okay?”

“sure thing, brain.”

this lasts for approximately five minutes.

“brain’s the boss! he’ll rule with ease!”

“mystical powers, your might unfurled, grant that i become--”

“he’s the one! the big, erm. banana?”

“cheese!” yells brain, who has given up entirely by this point. “it rhymes with ease! big! cheese!”

hm.

“are you alright, brain?”

“i feel. odd.”

this is an interesting development.

so brain is cheese now! cool. i guess they have to wait for merlin to get back from Pie Heaven and turn him back, somehow? with his spare wand or whatever. this is definitely pinky’s fault, because brain did ask him to stay quiet for a bit surprisingly nicely (in brain terms) and he... did not. and now brain is a cheese.

on the other hand, this would probably work again if they tried it again, once merlin goes back to pick up some more toenails.

brain: 2 pinky: 3 outside influence: 5

“can i get you anything, brain? some medicine? a cracker?”

“were i not a large cheese, i would make you pay for that remark.”

[lauren-nabors]

day ??? of quarantine

today is easter sunday, april 12th. 

we’ve been quarantined for 26 days. our restaurant’s dining room’s have been closed for 25 days. tensions are high, emotions are flowing, people are feeling all the feels. everyone except me, that is...

i have felt nothing this entire month. i haven’t cried once. i haven’t been all that angry. sure, i’ve been tired and i haven’t slept well and i’ve been bored and frustrated that there isn’t more to do. i was disappointed when our foster care class was canceled. but honestly, i haven’t felt much emotion at all. my anxiety hasn’t skyrocketed. i don’t feel scared. i am not paranoid of the virus or of getting sick (i’ve never been a germaphone anyway so i don’t feel panicky in the way that other people do). i told clif the other day, i keep waiting to cry or to just lose it on someone. i know those emotions are there somewhere under the surface...surely? i don’t know what’s going on. i guess because i feel anxiety all the time in normal life and i always feel like i’m waiting for something bad to happen or for “the other shoe to drop” so to say -- and this is the bad thing, at least for now. so it’s here and maybe it’s not so bad after all for me at least (that feels like a horrible thing to say because it is bad for so many people and so many have lost their lives or their loved ones and in cities like nyc it’s horrendous beyond belief) i’m also a pretty adaptable person so maybe it’s more that this feels like something i can adapt to for the time being and so my role in this is to be that person that keeps moving... and when it’s all over perhaps i’ll crash and burn?

as for other, non-mental-health-related things, since i last posted things changed in our world even more. everything is different as we know it. all non-essential businesses are closed (gyms, spas, clothing stores, etc) and restaurants can still only do carry-out and curbside. our team has continued to adapt well, i am proud of how we’ve handled things. we cut our hours from 7am to 6pm, and then about two weeks ago we cut them even further back to 3pm. it just didn’t make sense to stay open and run the labor clock out when we were so slow. for the most part our customers have been supportive and understanding. we’ve had the occasional angry customer that said “well google says you’re open until 8pm” and it’s like, ‘well sure but this is also a pandemic and everyone is closing early so maybe stop trusting google so much and just expect that things might be different.’ 

church has been online for us since i last posted. we’ve been doing Redeemer west side live streams, which honestly has been encouraging for my soul to sing old hymns with Tom Jennings and hear our friend Kate from our old community group lead the prayers of the people and to see David Bisgrove’s face each week and have him lead us in the Lord’s Prayer. there’s so much we miss about Redeemer so this is both a source of comfort to us but also creating a longing and an ache that will have consequences for us when this is all over...

we’ve seen very few friends in person but we’ve facetimed with so many that we wouldn’t have ordinarily. brendon & theresa, my college girls, jen & matt a lot, my mom and dad almost everyday. it’s funny but i think i miss my mom more than anything, this is the longest i’ve not seen her since we moved back to this area after nyc. the other night we played a game online with Boyd and Sarah while on Zoom with them. it was lots of fun. Zoom is a thing now... it’s not that important. 

of course our president has handled this poorly. he is the absolute worst person you want leading your country in a time like this. he isn’t a leader at all, he’s a petty child who wants all the credit for things he should’ve done anyway. instead of leading, he takes to twitter or tv every chance he can get to say “look what i did! look what i did!” Dr. Fauci, head of infectious diseases for the CDC is leading our country through this. Gov. Andrew Cuomo of NYC has also had a profound impact not just on his state but on our country through his leadership. the situation in the city is so much worse and scarier and more real than it is here. maybe my feelings would be different (emotion-wise) if we still lived in nyc. obviously because of the denseness, the death count is so much higher there. they are building pop-up tent hospitals in central park, and facing real challenges of how to bury all the bodies of those who have passed away from the virus. KFed is a nurse at Mt. Sinai and it’s crazy seeing her photos of her in her protective gear. Brendon told us that no one is taking the subways in the city. he needed some things from his office so he walked from their apartment on 158th to his work in the 20′s. it took him all day. but he didn’t want to risk any contamination and Theresa is now high-risk because she’s pregnant (what the what?!?!?! omg so exciting! praise the Lord!) 

people are wearing masks everywhere. there are lines outside of grocery stores because they can only have a certain amount of people in the building at one time. our unemployment count in our country is higher than it’s ever been, higher than during the great depression. the economic fall-out from this will last for years to come. the senate did finally pass a 2T stimulus package called the CARES act. it has some provisions for small businesses to get money that could be forgivable if used on certain things. we applied and got accepted for both restaurants -- we will get money to spend mostly on payroll and some other overhead expenses in 8 weeks once the money is funded. they are also sending a check to every american who made under $130K last year -- so we’re supposedly getting a check sometime for $2400 ($1200 per person and $500 per kid for those families who qualify). hopefully we’ll get some of our staff back to work and extended our hours back to 6, since we won’t have to be as worried about our labor costs being high. 

i guess that’s about all i can think to update for now. as for what clif and i have been up to, well... we’ve taken a “cocktail walk” almost everyday. around 4pm we’ve made cocktails and taken them with us as we walk Lenny around the park and say hello to those of our neighbors who are outside, too. the weather has been great so we’ve been very lucky in that regard. we’ve done some yard work and clif has been doing some drawing and lots of bread baking. we’re trying to eat at home 5 nights/week and eat out the other 2. to spread the local love around, we’ve enjoyed Progress burgers, Farmer’s Gastropub, Everyday Thai, Craft Sushi and I think tonight we’ll get either Bambino’s or Los Cabos. i haven’t been doing too much because i’m not a “hobby” person so I don’t do well with stuff like this where you have to stay inside and pass the time. i’ve been reading a lot, that’s about it. here are some photos from the past few weeks: 

feeding healthcare workers in partnership with local organizations has been a highlight for us! this is Cox Hospital staff here. 

we’ve been selling both bread and flour like crazy. there has been a flour shortage in grocery stores so we’ve sold probably more flour in the last 3 weeks than in the 20 year history of neighbor’s mill. 

hot cross buns for easter -- didn’t do hardly what we would’ve normally for a holiday weekend baking-wise but we still had to do these gorgeous buns and some festive cookies and cupcakes. 

we were on the front page of the Newsleader as a “small business adapting during the time of COVID” -- we had some blowback from the photo of our bakers shaping dough without gloves on, but all ended well as we took the time to educate and had positive responses from most of our customers 

our bread at Price Cutter -- i feel like the poor stock workers were like “screw up, it’s gonna be gone in three hours anyway, let’s just leave it on the dolly” 

boredom leads clif to many funny and creative things, though not always useful -- here he made a concrete cup mold 

my dad on KY3 for a story about local support of restaurants in Harrison 

a quarantine meal when food was low -- let’s see what’s in the fridge! 

said game we played with Boyd and Sarah where we had to draw different prompts -- i am a terrible drawer! 

afternoon rose and popcorn while Lenny plays and wanders -- we began sitting on the front porch just so we could see anyone walking by on the street and have the chance to chat and be social from a distance 

not much has changed with the animals 

chalk art outside Cox South main entrance 

lol...”i thought you said CLAMdemic” card from Donita 

sign we purchased to put in front of our restaurant -- strange times 

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, early February 2020

Welcome to my latest summary of recent ecommerce news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & Etsy! This covers articles I came across since the late January report, although some may be older than that. Report is a bit short because I was sick this last week; don’t worry, I used hand sanitizer before typing this up, so you are all safe 🤒

I am currently looking into setting up a new ecommerce business forum where we can discuss this sort of news, as well as any day-to-day issues we face. I need some good suggestions for a cheap or free forum space that has some editing tools, is fairly intuitive for inexperienced members, and is accessible. If you have any suggestions, please reply to this post, email me on my website, or send me a tweet. (I will put out a survey once we narrow this down to some good candidates, but if you have any other comments on what you want from such a forum, please include those too!)

As always, if you see any stories I might be interested in, please let me know!

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

Searchmetrics says Etsy did quite well [podcast & text] in the Google January Core Update, while both Amazon and Walmart lost a little bit. “Who won January? I’m going to say Etsy. Etsy has really done a tremendous job [with Google visibility] over the last two years. Sure, they’ve been on the winning side of the algorithm update, but consistently, being in that a position, from my experience, isn’t by chance.” Here’s more analysis listing the US winners and losers, including by subject category (sadly, not shopping sites). Marie Haynes says that the update likely targeted sites that aren’t properly disclosing affiliate links, as well as some pet health sites. 

Since a quarter of Americans have a disability, your website, your products & your marketing should be more accessible. Lots of good ideas in here! 

ETSY NEWS 

TOU alert: Etsy has banned the sale of spent bullet casings (often used as craft supplies). It’s not clear why. There is a thread from a seller whose listings were pulled here.

The 2020 wedding trends blog post is one of those pieces that is useful to sellers & buyers alike, and is also good for Etsy because it attracts outside articles and links. Some trend & keyword info of interest: ”there has been a 171% increase in searches on Etsy for bridesman items and a 72% increase in searches for best woman items”... “searches for ‘70s invitations increase 18% and searches for disco ball items increase 18%” ...”24% increase in searches for bridal jackets and a 4% increase in searches for women’s pantsuits” …”searches for reused, recycled, or reclaimed wedding items increasing 7%” in the last six months (compared to the same time the previous year).

Etsy released its annual diversity & inclusion report on January 29, getting some media coverage along the way, for example here, here and here.

Reverb hired David Mandelbrot as their new CEO; he most recently ran Indiegogo. (Etsy bought Reverb last year.)

The 4th quarter 2019 results will be out Feb. 26. I am currently planning on doing my usual summary thread in the forum. 

Decent overview of product photography for beginners, with some pointers on what Etsy wants you to do with photos. For example, “The recommended size for listing images is 2000px for the shortest side of the image, and a resolution of 72PPI.”

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES 

So you know what Etsy tags are, but you get confused when people talk about tags for search engines? Read this beginners guide to SEO meta tags. (not needed for Etsy shops, but it is terminology used by some website builder sites, as well as coders of course.)

Data provider Jumpshot will be closing due to the controversies over the revelation that their parent company Avast (the anti-virus software) provided user activity to Jumpshot while perhaps not always fully disclosing this to the users. This will affect some SEO tools that relied on these click stats to generate estimates for traffic & search term use, Hitwise & Moz among them.  “In all likelihood, Avast took the action to protect its core business, as multiple articles, including from Consumer Reports, called out the company for its data collection practices, while some called for the uninstallation of the Avast software. This is probably as much PR damage control as it is driven by any principled position.”

Forbes appears to have been hit by some Google search issue, but it happened later than the Core Update, so no one is sure what is going on.They were previously penalized for selling links, but that was years ago.   

John Mueller listed all of the big Google search news from January in this almost 9 minute video. Click to see the detailed info under the video, because they helpfully summarized the important topics by timestamp, and linked to text resources as well. (Some of it is technical/coding relating; you have been warned!)

There may be another big Google ranking update happening right now (Feb. 9), as tracked by Search Engine Roundtable. Check that site over the next few days for any updates. 

CONTENT MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails) 

The time you send your marketing emails matters, although it’s going to vary more than this article lets on. Keep track of your own stats. 

Debunking some myths about Instagram, including the importance of your follower count. “...your follower count isn’t the most important metric on Instagram. Your engagement rate is. Your engagement rate (which is found by calculating the number of engagements you receive divided by EITHER the number of people who saw it OR your total followers, depending on who you ask) is crucial.”

If you use the app Social Captain for Instagram, be aware that your Instagram password was publicly available in the source code. 

Facebook’s algorithm has a lot of different factors controlling who sees your posts, including actually having conversations with others, and including “quality, original videos.”

Facebook’s revenue was up 25% in the 4th quarter of 2019, to $21.1 billion, but they expect the privacy controversies to cut into growth this year.

Pinterest is testing an augmented reality tool called “Try On” that allows users to see what they will look like with specific lipstick colours. 

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS) 

Google Shopping Ads will soon be shown in Gmail accounts, YouTube and the Discover feed, starting March 4th. Note that “Retailers have been steadily shifty more of their search budgets from text to Shopping ads.”

A comparison of Google Ads vs. Facebook Ads, with plenty of tips. According to them, if you are seriously considering one, you should probably do both. “When we talk about Facebook, we’re also talking about Instagram, What’sApp, and Facebook Messenger. Google also includes YouTube, the second-most trafficked site in the world (behind Google itself).”

Google’s revenue was up 17% in the 4th quarter in 2019, almost all of it from advertising. YouTube makes more on ads than Amazon does. 

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS 

eBay released its 4th quarter results for 2019 on January 28, with revenue down 2% and gross merchandise value down 5%. Amazon’s sales were up 21% for the 4th quarter. 

BigCommerce now allows customers to check out in over 100 currencies, integrated with several different payment processors. 

Wondering what a good conversion rate would be for different ecommerce pages? Here’s a brief overview of the known stats, with some tips on improving.. (Note that any action can be counted as a conversion, including signing up for an email list, so this isn’t just about purchases.)

BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE 

Are you marketing to Generation Z, or think you should be? Here are 52 facts (with the citations); some highlights: Gen Z has more members than millennials do, and “As of 2020, Gen Z makes up more than 40% of U.S. consumers.” and finally “When shopping online or in stores, 65% of Gen Z prefers to see as few items as possible out of stock” (that last one explains a feedback I received, I think LOL Kind of hard on Etsy when you might have a listing with multiple choices & you only have the one left.)

A study of Cyber Week email open & click rates shows that it might be better not to mention the holidays or discounts. 

This article warns consumers of the tricks ecommerce sites use to nudge people to buy more, including some clear examples of deception. “A study by Princeton University and the University of Chicago singled out online clothing seller Fashion Nova, which tells customers that items in their cart “are in high demand.” The problem? The message appears for any item that’s added to the cart. Fashion Nova’s cart also tells shoppers that their items are being “reserved” for 10 minutes. But nothing happens to the items after the 10 minutes are up.”

MISCELLANEOUS 

YouTube wants Clearview AI’s face recognition program to stop scraping its videos for content, and to delete anything it has already collected. (Twitter did the same last month.)

[madamehearthwitch]

hey there! based on the thing about tailored clothes and then you said how you make your own clothes?? how do you make your own clothes?? im one of those people who cant sew well but nothing fits me right and it makes me feel just awful about myself. making my own clothes seems like i really cool idea that could help me not feel so horrible about my body image!! but i dont know how to do it in the slightest :(

Heya hun!

Sewing my own clothes most definitely has helped with body image issues. There are a lot of nice extras that you can use for sewing clothing but my essentials are:

Sewing machine (technically this isn’t actually essential, you CAN sew by hand, but I do not have the patience!)

fabric scissors (they really make a difference when cutting out the pattern, and well cut pieces are the key to making something nice!)

pins or clips (I tend to prefer clips to pins. Less chance of stabbing, and they don’t poke holes in your fabric)

seam ripper (sad but necessary, lol)

soft tape measure (accurate measurements are KEY)

(source)

Now let’s talk about fabric :D

(after the break cuz gawds apparently I can talk about sewing for a LONG time)

Also, Anon, this is a long post, because I was trying to be thorough, but I’m hoping it doesn’t come across as overwhelming. If you like, you can message me and I would love to walk you through making an item of clothing or two!

Sewing is a skill that takes practice. I wasn’t great when I started, but I kept going, taking it slow. I’ve learned a LOT in the 20+ years I’ve been making clothes and costumes. And I’m always happy to share that knowledge with anyone!

You may hear that sewing with knits (stretchy fabric) is soooo much harder than with woven (non-stretchy). But in my opinion it’s a lot easier to get a garment that fits well and is comfortable with a knit fabric. It stretches and is a loooot more forgiving than woven. I really like cotton lycra (also called cotton spandex. Spandex and lycra are the same thing). Other favorites are rayon spandex, or hemp knits.

I do not sew with polyester blends whenever possible. (sometimes maybe 15-20% max, if I really MUST have the fabric). Polyester is a completely artificial fabric fiber and it doesn’t breathe. Ever worn something that trapped all the heat on your body? That’s polyester. There’s a clothing company in the US that is known for these crazy leggings they sell, and they’re all polyester and I cannot understand how people wear them and don’t get swamp ass, lol. 

Anyway… fabric that breathes and stretches is my favorite.

I like shopping for fabric online, fabric.com is a particular favorite because you can search by fabric content and stretch.

Stretch is how much a fabric can extend beyond what it is resting. So a 2 inch section that stretches to 3 inches has 50% stretch.

A bit on patterns

Choosing a pattern is the next important part. Personally, I don’t like what we call the Big Four. McCall’s, Simplicity, Vogue and Butterick. I find the designs outdated and the fits less than stellar. What I really love are the indie designers that you find online. You have to print the patterns out and assemble them (really not that hard), or get the patterns printed at a copy shop in the large A0 sizes.

The looks are more modern, they carry a much nicer range of sizes, and often draft for a more updated shape than the Big Four do. The instructions are often a lot more thorough and include way more photos than traditional patterns.

A couple of my favorites:

Hallå

Jalie

New Horizons Designs

Patterns for Pirates

Patterns and fabric go hand in hand. A pattern will tell you what kind of fabric works well for it. And for knit patterns, will let you know what % stretch is needed. If a pattern needs a fabric to stretch 50%, for example, it won’t fit if you use fabric with less stretch.

Measuring Yourself

http://www.dummies.com/health/how-to-get-your-body-measurements/

This is where I find a lot of people falter when they get into making their own clothes. It can sometimes be tough, especially if someone is struggling with their body or with ED to see those numbers. But it’s a step you CANNOT skip if you’re going to make nice clothes. 

The number on the tape measure is not who you are, it’s just a number.

You can’t use your store size to pick what size pattern to use, because stores will often use vanity sizing. Aka, over the years what used to be, say, a size 10, is now an 8, becomes a 6, etc. Many people will find that their size with indie designers is larger than their store size and this throws them off.

Again, it’s just a number! A few pattern companies have started using colors to denote sizes, which I think is pretty cool. But you still need those accurate measurements to get started.

Getting Started

Once you’ve got your fabric cut out and you’re ready to sew my biggest suggestion is to go slowly! Read through the entire pattern first, it’ll help you understand why you need to do something that might seem odd to begin with.

Use lots of clips to hold the fabric in place.

Remember that it does take practice and you 100000% will get better with time!

[aminah-hime]

So I’m a bit bored today, so I decided to answer 45 questions for lolitas! I got these from Livejournal, so if anyone knows the original source, feel free to tell me!

1. Please tell us your Hand Name (name that’s used ONLY in internet.) and hometown. PinkyMaggie! I’ve rarely had the experience of someone calling me by Maggie since my real name is in my description ^^” And my hometown is Miami! 2. About how long is your history as a Lolita? Two years and a half! Oh how time has passed! :O 3. What first motivated you to do Lolita fashion? I really liked the overly cute style of it which was something I never saw before! It’s also my first step into fashion! 4. After knowing Lolita fashion, have you had any time-gap or resistance till you actually started to be Lolita? Definitely! I discovered lolita when I was 13, but only started wearing it when I was 15. 5. Please define your Lolita style as much as possible. (eg. gothic Lolita, sweet Lolita, white Lolita…. Etc). I wear sweet lolita, from OTT all the way to casual! I prefer Angelic Pretty and mainly prints from 2010 and earlier. 6. About how many Lolita friends do you have? I have a few lolita acquaintances, but no one who I’d call a friend yet ^^” 7. What is the best thing about doing Lolita? It gives me a way to express myself in ways I could never imagine! While lolita is seen as a fashion with “little variety” because of its rules, there is still a ton of creative ways to wear it!  8. Conversely, what's the worst thing? I think the drama and hate that’s in the community is what brings the fashion down. I’ve seen people who want to start wearing it get turned off due to sites like cgl and Behind the Bows. 9. Which Lolita Brands do you like? Angelic Pretty!!!! That’s an easy answer! ^o^ But I also like Metamorphose and Moi meme Moitie as well. 10. What was the first Lolita item that you’ve owned? While Bodyline’s Bunny Cinderella skirt was the first lolita piece I ordered, the Squirrel Party JSK in pink was my actual first lolita piece I owned in person. 11. What is the “must have!” Lolita item? Petticoats!! A good one at that! It’s really looked over, but it’s vital to lolita! 12. Do you wear drawers? An odd way of saying bloomers, but I don’t. I just wear plain short shorts under my dresses ^^ 13. Do you have any favourite Japanese music? Ohhh gosh is there a lot ^^” Malice Mizer is the band that originally got me into lolita, but I also love Lareine and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu! 14. Where do you particularly visit as Lolita? Now I don’t really go out much both in lolita and in general, so I’d say to meets and conventions. 15. About how many times per week do you dress as Lolita? I rarely do, but I’d say once a week when I’m in the mood. 16. Please tell us about one embarrassing episode from the time when you were just beginning Lolita. Well the first time I wore lolita, I decided to do a bittersweet coord with Squirrel Party for Halloween. It ended up with me wearing a black Walmart blouse underneath with really cheap black accessories. And I didn’t have a petticoat! I went to school wearing it, and the kids there kept asking if I was trying to become Japanese. 17. What's hairstyle and color that you think Lolita would suite the most? I don’t have a preference with color as long as it isn’t neon, but I love pigtails! Specially the ones Maki tends to wear. 18. Have you ever thought of stopping Lolita? The reason? I don’t think I have, but I really hope I don’t! 19. Please tell us your heart's bible as a Lolita. (anything like a book, magazine, CD, idol...) Gothic & Lolita Bible! Mainly those from around 2006-2008. They feel so nostalgic to me despite not being from that time period. 20. Do you own a doll? Tell us your feelings about her intensely! I used to own Blythe and Pullip dolls, but I sold all of them ;-; I hope I can get the AP collabs with Pullip and Blythe dolls again. 21. What kind of make-up do you wear when you wear Lolita clothes? Pink eyeshadow with black eyeliner and false lashes, pink blush, and pink lip gloss. I’ve just started wearing make-up, so it isn’t much ^^” 22. Have you ever secretly changed clothes in a train station bathroom on Lolita day-out? Nope! 23. Are you composed when doing Lolita all by yourself? I’ve gone out in lolita all by myself and I would say so. I just pretend that I’m the only person there. 24. How much do you spend in your Lolita clothes& accessory monthly? I’d say around $200? I like to sell a lot of my stuff as well, so it’s a constant flow of money. 25. What is the most expensive Lolita thing you've bought so far? How much was it? My first release Sugary Carnival JSK and headbow in lavender all together, including shipping and SS fees, came to $250, so pretty much retail price. 26. So far about how much has the expense been for Lolita goods? I’m going to say $2,000...which really sounds like a lot for being in lolita for less than two years and being a student. I certainly know that a big chunk of that money came from my internship last summer. 27. Lolita outfit really costs money. How do you raise money to cover the cost of Lolita? Like I said before, I sell a lot of my stuff in exchange for newer lolita purchases. My old doll collection was worth around $300-$400, and I put all the money towards lolita. I had a summer internship last year where I earn quite a bit of money in a month (around $1,500). Thankfully, I’m doing the internship again this summer, so I’ll have even more money! :D 28. Have you ever bought from an online store? If so, please tell us its good and bad points and some advice for the future. If not, please tell us why not. Yep! All my lolita is from online shops! The good thing is is that you can find pretty great deals for cheap brand. The downside is that I haven’t experienced walking into a lolita shop in person. 29. Even if you sort of want to keep it a secret, please clandestinely tell us about a private manufacturer that is the best. I literally do not understand this question, so....NEXT! 30. Is there a brand and/or an item that you think, "I could never get it! But I unreasonably want it!"? AP’s Carnival in sax! I highly doubt I’d ever be able to get it because it’s so rare and expensive ;-; But then again, I have found some pretty rare lolita pieces for a cheap price. 31. What do you think about people who only do Lolita at music-lives or cosplay? You can really see the date of this question lol. I’ll assume this will be for lolitas that only wear it to conventions, and I don’t have a problem with it. Some people just don’t have the opportunity to wear it out. 32. From what age to what age is it acceptable to do Lolita? Do you think that there's a state in which someone must graduate from Lolita? (you can answer as ‘never graduate’) You can start lolita at any age! I started fairly young, and there are lolitas who are younger than me! There are also lolitas who are pretty old as well. If the person feels like the time is right to quit, it’s ultmately their own choice. 33. Is there a Lolita fashion or behavior that you think "I don't want Lolitas to do this!" about? Never talk behind someone’s back while pretending to be their friend...*cough* most embarrassing behavior *cough* 34. Is there something you think "Lolita has to be this way!" about? Uhh not really. I mean the only thing I can think of is the rules. Every fashion has its own rules, even if they can be bent. You wouldn’t wear jeans and call it lolita, but you get away with not wearing a blouse. 35. While doing Lolita, has something changed from earlier than you did Lolita? I think the amount of Bodyline and offbrand has drastically increased. Now that I know how to find secondhand AP, I’ve been wearing it a lot more lately. 36. Do you go to school/work as Lolita? My school has a uniform policy, but I wear it whenever I can! 37. Do you wear Lolita clothes as casual wear? Sadly, no ;~; 38. Do you have a boyfriend (or husband)? Do you understand each other? Nope! I’m a single potato~ 39. What do the people around you think of your doing Lolita? Do they accept it? Yeah for the most part they accept it. My friends think of it as cosplay, though, no matter what I say ^^” 40. What Lolita has impressed you the most up until now? Ohh boy....Takulu, Maki, Kaya, Lunie-chan, Princess-Peachie, Lovelylor, Shelbycloud, Mintyfrills, and a TON more! 41. Have you ever made your own Lolita clothing or/and accessories? If so, what was the best item that you’ve made? I’ve made my own accessories! The best thing I have made was a cute, pastel bracelet with a mint star charm ^-^ 42. If you have an ideal Lolita outfit or coordination, please tell us. I like have 2-3 color combinations in a coord (like pink, sax, and lavender). I really like cardigans and a poffy petticoat. Really cute, fluffy pigtails with a headbow + hair combs is also nice. Matching accessories, socks, and shoes obviously!   43. Is there a motif that you think “this is a symbol of Lolita”? The classic bell/a-line shaped dress. Petticoats have always been a defining factor to lolita for me. 44. Would you want to dress your children as Lolita? I’m going to be honest and say that I would love to! Only if you choose to, though. 45. What's your image of the ideal Lolita? Someone who truly enjoys their clothing and are happy inside and out!

[xdazzlex]

MINIMALISM

I must share this with someone, so here it comes ;)

I come from a family of hoarders for whom their belongings become a burden, so I decided to follow a different path. As my tumblr shows, I generally love vintage/glamour clothes, eat meat (went vegan for over three years and never again lol xD) and collect dollfie/bjds. I love rococo, baroque and art nouveau interior design etc. I love Diesel engines for the safety they offer.

I'm nowhere near super minimalist, eco friendly etc. I do think that global warming is a conspiracy theory, or if anything, the cars and clothes and food we consume is not to blame... it’s the huge factories which produce too many of those, the ad people who persuade us to buy it all and the people who make sure it breaks down soon enough for us to come back and buy another (home appliances, cars or even the shitty clothing... Add to it all the food that goes to waste... And yet they persuade e.g. people who live in four-seasoned parts of the world to e.g. go vegan, have few clothes and so on. It’s STOOPID and trying to tackle the problem without really bothering with its source

STILL... I decided to go down on things. Not thinking eco or anything... I care for the environment only in a way that I don’t litter it if I don’t have to, I segregate rubbish, don’t use too much water and never throw out food (really, I never do it unless for some reason I have to, but it happens once in a couple months).

What is super important to me though is that I use everything I won and no things I own fill the space without being of any use for me.

As I mentioned, I come from a family (talking aunts etc too... it runs in the family!) of hoarders. Really... ton’s of clothes, items... Often bought second hand, hand-me-downs etc. I also learnt to value things people give me for free, attach sentimental values to them etc. But this had to stop.

For the past two years I’ve been trying to clean my things regularily. E.g. four times a year. I began to think I only have the MOST important things. Things changed when I recently had to move out and will move out again in like 3 months.

I thought I only had  a couple of items, the “most necessary ones” and yet I ended up owning sooo much it couldn’t fit into my car in one take (and that didn’t include any furniture!!) As soon as I moved into my new place, I started to reorganise and declutter again. I threw a lot of things, some I gave away. I thought I was free...

Recently my car broke deadly. I was super devastated, because I loved her. As much as I love my dolls. I cried for two days straight and mourned like it was a loved person, because I was really attached to her.

Anyway... I love driving and can’t live without a car (also for my health reasons). I plan to buy another within a year and sell the remainings of mine to someone who e.g. has a suitable engine and a trustworthy mechanic. Thing I miss.

Meanwhile, I went through my things and photographed a few dolly items, clothes etc. and put them online for sale. One doll’s already gone. A few other items have some bidding going on too :) The clothes I own seem valueless for me, so I am ready just to give them away in case no one answers any of my ads.

And right now I took a little break, but I spent the morning on washing my clothes so as to have all of them in one place and be ready to segregate.

It’s funny because while looking at some of them I remember those are the things I gave a “second chance” already the last time I was going through them. So I have less doubt about letting them go.

Besides, the winter’s over and I also could see how many things I just didn’t use. Some I even forgot I owned even though I went through them only like 3 months ago!

What is more, it happened a few times that I ended up looking like a hobo, because “sparing my pretty clothes”, having too many to manage when in a morning rush, I put on some worn out ones, with holes in them etc. It felt horrible... I have SO MANY super pretty clothes and yet still end up looking like a hobo. Why?!

I threw out one jumper and three pairs of tights immediately...

Also, I try to avoid one trap of throwing out or keeping basing on the money spent. I mean... Even though something was cheap, it’s not a reason to be more willing to throw it out. And just because something is “labelled” or I spent more money on it... what’s the use of keeping it if I don’t ever wear it? Money’s gone anyway, the best thing I can do it get rid of with with or without taking any money for it. Free space and free mind is priceless :)

I try to keep things in corresponding shades. Mostly black, bust also claret- and dark-blue-coloured item ;) I tend to be more careful and consider how I feel in given clothes. E.g. Even if it’s nice and pretty... but I never felt good.. I give it away. Won’t be missing it, because there are plenty of other items that are much comfier.

Finally, I decided that clothes are that expensive... I know what I like and those are just basic items, so if anything... I’m okay with throwing out an old jumper that needs shaving and reparation, because I just went out and bought another on the post-winter sale... for an even lower price! ;)

[eulablue-blog]

5 Amazing Ways to Profitably Pivot your Business

Dynamism is one of the most potent weapons in the armory of any business. Flexibility and the capacity to adapt will save you bucket loads of disaster, helping you more conveniently navigate your way to the winning system.

The volatility or spontaneity of the corporate world ensures that every business has to perpetually evolve to maintain their relevance and retain their market share – or better still reach for fresh heights. Simply put, stay rigid at your own risk.

If your sales are drastically dropping, it could be more than you being unlucky. It could be more than your customers being in a bad mood. Take an introspective step back and analyze things. Something may be wrong in the process; the system may have lost its fertility – necessitating a pivot.   

Pivoting your business in terms of moving to a fresh strategy can largely transform results – even more dramatically than how a hug from your crush can change a bad mood.

Of course, just any CEO can pull that u-turn and pivot his system. The bigger question is how you successfully pivot for profits.

In this insight, we are going to explore some cool fresh ways to pivot for profits. 

Tell me, don't you like it fresh?

Make sure you are leveraging data

The most successful pivots are less instinctive and more data informed. You just can't wake up in the morning and FEEL like overhauling your system. Sorry, it doesn't work that way, buddy.

Before you embark on any pivot, ensure you extensively dig into data. This data must not necessarily be internal. You can dig through data from external sources extracted from your rivals and the market trend.

That said, internal data are incredibly valuable sources to know when and how to pivot your business. You could focus on information like your traffic, profit margins, and even your sales. 

We also recommend that you integrate customer surveys in building out projections. This, along with customer input data and historical data are valuable recipes for fathoming your best pivot direction.  

Want a sweet example? We will give you one!

The famed Yelp didn't outrightly start as a full-stack business review website. They had a more humble beginning as a platform that requested friends to make direct recommendations.  

But one day, the guys at Yelp decided to dig deeper into their data. 

Guess what they saw. 

They discovered that people were enjoying writing business reviews. Boom! There Yelp reinvented itself and was born as now you know it. 

Make the best of the assets and resources already in your closet

For many businesses, you don't necessarily need to start from scratch when pivoting. For those that already have resources and assets, you could simply repurpose them.

Doesn't that sound brilliant?

Truth is customers don't typically have beef with your company. It is likelier they fell out with your product which is pretty normal. 

Indeed, this could be because your product no longer attends to their prevailing needs, doesn't fit the trend, or they simply can't afford it anymore in their current situation.

What a smart CEO would do is ask himself what his customers are desperately in need of at the moment, flip the switch masterfully like Drake, and pivot to that need or prevailing trend.

Aha, a nice example would help here!

With the coronavirus raging on, I would have to be extravagantly rich to be able to spend my hard-earned money on luxury clothing items for now.

Most significantly, where am I wearing such luxury items to with the current lockdown? You don't expect me to buy a $10k jacket and keep it indoors all through, do you?

My priority now is staying safe and surviving this pandemic. I would more readily spend on face masks and scrubs. So if you were a luxury apparel manufacturer, it serves you best to repurpose your resources and produce masks and hand gloves.   

Go digital NOW  

Believe me, the internet is more than just for exchanging cat pictures and your hottest beach shot. Businesses are increasingly going online, with the world squeezing tighter into an interconnected village.

Retail e-commerce sales are projected to hit $4.5 trillion by 2021.

Man, that is an incredible13 figures!!!

If you think you are just fine as a dedicated brick-and-mortar store, think again, pal. There is always an avenue for more growth for your business online.

People are even ordering barbing services online! What better time to digitally pivot your brand than now when the pandemic has forced many stores into physically shutting down?

If you are a retail store owner, there are lots of fantastic ecommerce platforms like Shopify ready to host your digital shop. Good news is most of these platforms give you free trials for you to ascertain how compatible they are for your business and ambition.   

If you are a real estate agent, you could digitally pivot as well and make use of Facebook Live and other emerging platforms like TikTok – especially exploiting viral vehicles like via social media challenges.

Oh, that reminds me, I have a TikTok cooking challenge to do immediately after this piece…not like I can even prepare salad, though. Lol.  

You can conquer more via collaborating

I agree, there is an inherent tendency to things on your own as a CEO. Yeah, I have been there. You want to kick everyone through the window taekwondo style (which is my favorite style by the way) and go solo. But believe me, there is a lot of pivot success you can enjoy via building strategic partnerships.   

Does your competitor have a resource you could repurpose and achieve dramatic gains? Does your competitor have an attractive customer base you think you could pivot and sell to?

If yes, sheath your ugly sword and propose joining forces together. You and your competitor may have resources that could excel better in use when combined.  

Take note that a successful partnership must be a fair win-win between both teams. If I don't have anything to gain from you, why would I agree to partner with you? Oh, unless you are a ripped Dwayne Johnson, though!

Lastly, always try and feel free to fail

If I was going to contest for the lie of the decade, what would be my entry? Er, I think saying "everything I have tried in life worked!". 

Truth is, failure is a core component of any entrepreneurial journey. If you are going to pivot for profits, not all would be successful. Nonetheless, the threat of failure doesn't mean you shouldn't try at all!

Every pivot expedition is an experiment – it can end up a blasting success or a ludicrous failure. But more importantly, focus more on the process and the insights gained across the road.

You know what? Persistence of the spice of the game.   

My business pivot failed, and so what??? I am damn trying again!

Do you even know that your beloved Twitter was once a laughable podcasting network called Odeo?

To know more, Visit: https://eulablue.com/pages/social-media-ads-managment

[a1-cloths-blog]

Filthy Genius Creator Aaron Sits Down With A1 Cloths. Talks Fashion Climate, Upbringing, Filthy Genius Brand, Future Plans!

Q: Before we get into the brand, we always like to give our audience an understanding of the Brand founder. So as we begin, who is Aaron AKA Retro is?

Im a 26 year old African-American Entrepreneur

Q: Where were you born and raised?

I was Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio

Q: To resonate with filthy genius fans, we want the people to have a more in depth understanding of you. So, what was your up bringing like? and how has it molded you into the man you are now? 

My upbringing was kind of the typical black middle class up-bringing. I was raised by a single mother who worked hard to make sure me and my sisters had what we needed. I have 5 brothers and sister but I really grew up with 2 sisters. So I stayed to myself a lot being the only boy. I used to listen to a lot of hip hop and watch a lot of bet and MTV growing up. I really started by getting rap albums from the library growing up and I would get albums by artist like Ludacris, Lil Wayne, and Young Jeezy coming up and I started to really love hip hop culture and look up to these artist. I used to walk to school everyday listening to rap music. I always been an introvert I guess you can say. I never had a lot of friends and I stay to my self a lot. I never was really trying to fit in with the crowd, I never cared what other people were doing I just always did what I personally liked.

Q: Being a Cleveland, Ohio based brand , what got you started in fashion, was is it your passion or something you grew to transition into?

Well, My first introduction to fashion was watching rap videos on TV but I never liked to ask my mom for expensive things it didn’t feel right to me. So I would just see clothes on tv and stuff I did not really have many cool clothes. It wasn’t till I was 16 years old and I got my first job at finish line that I really started to buy my own clothes. When I first started working there was around right before the time wale really made the sneaker game popular. My coworkers would make jokes to me because I used to only wear chuck taylors to work. Working there I got introduced to all the latest sneakers and I start spending all my money on shoes and When tumblr came out I was on the blogs heavy looking at all the different cool brands online and I start loving fashion really getting exposed to it on social media. Honestly I didn’t even consider myself a good dresser until I notice people would always tell me at school and people would always compliment my clothes. I started to build a reputation and I didn’t even really realize it because I stayed to my self so much I didn’t know what people was saying about me and I didn’t care. But It really started sticking with me senior year when A lot of people were saying they voted me best dressed and It was all the people who I respected what they were wearing. I wasn’t popular enough to win the actual award lol. About a year later when I was in college I was in business school but I noticed they were not teaching me how to start my own business and That’s what I really wanted to do. So I thought it was smart to start a business to gain experience. I decided to start a clothing line because people always asked me about my clothes and I was already looking at clothes online all day anyway so it made sense. I noticed it was a passion of mine because it was something I was spending a lot of time and attention on in my free time. So that’s how the brand started.

Q: Growing up in Cleveland, its a known fact that only the strong survive, we have many fashion brands come and go, what would you say separates from the others that has help you last this long?

A lot of brands have come and went some people have changed the name of their brands or started new ones or stopped all together. I think What separates me from these other brands and why I have lasted to long is because I stayed focused on the brand and if I lost focus I always found my way back a lot of people gave up on their brands. Another thing that separates my brand is me, I’m the source of the designs. People have always liked what I wear compliment my clothes and that’s why I started this brand. Luckily for me that same energy translates when I go to make my own clothes. People love the pieces I make and they want to wear them. People love my perspective on dressing and that keeps me motivated to keep going and that also keeps this brand relevant. Because of the kind of person I am, I don’t follow all the trends so my brand is able to stay unique but still cool, timeless and relevant at the same time. I can drop a shirt made in 2012 and it will sell out. A lot of brands in the world can’t say that.

Q: As we transition into the brand filthy Genius , when was your brand established?

I started this brand in 2012 and I was one of the first Cleveland clothing brands. It was at a time when being an entrepreneur was not the cool thing to do like it is now. 

Q: For the people who might be new to hearing about your brand, what is the meaning behind Filthy Genius?

A Filthy Genius is a hustler, someone who makes a way to live their life in a way that makes them happy instead of living by what everyone else says you should do. I feel like this is especially relevant today. We’re in a new age where we have a lot of people are starting business and trying to make a living off their passions as opposed to the past when the route to success was going to school and get a job. Everybody is a genius in some way everybody has a talent or something they were put on this earth to do that they can do exceptionally better than a lot of other people. When you find your genius that’s what you should be working hard to perfect that’s you gift to the world. The term Filthy is all about abundance. Everybody wants to be Filthy rich and the best way to get to be Filthy rich is by finding and perfecting your genius. It’s not easy It take hard work and dedication you have to get it out the mud then you’re “Filthy”.

Q: Since you’ve been in the fashion industry, what would you say has been your biggest revelation from your beginning, till where you are now?

One of the of the biggest revelations I had was that Fashion and Streetwear is my Genius. When I sat back and realized how many people love to wear the brand and When I noticed the fact that a huge number of music artist who don’t know me at all personally were naturally finding the brand and choosing to wear it in their music videos that was a huge revelation for me. When someone shoots a music video usually they are trying to dress there best and look as cool as possible. It’s a big blessing that people are choosing to wear this brand to look their best. Even when my brand wasn’t known. When I think back on it the first shirt I ever made was worn in a music video. That revelation has caused me to set Very High goals and realize my potential and the potential of this brand.

Q: When it comes to Filthy Genius, what is the message that your are trying to convey to the public?

With Filthy Genius I’m trying to motivate the public and assist in giving people the confidence they need to go after they’re dreams. When you wear this brand, you are labeling you’re self as a Filthy Genius. Human beings are extraordinary. Our brains are powerful beyond measure. We are capable of so much and I use this brand to help people unlock their potential.

Q: Since the establishment of Filthy Genius, what has been your biggest accomplishment that you are most proud of?

One of my favorite Artist who I respect in fashion is an artist by the name of Sauce Walka. Sauce coined the slang ‘drip’ and ‘sauce’ which everyone on the planet is using right now to refer to style. My goal was to get Sauce Walka wearing my brand I literally listen to him when I design clothes. I thought that would not happened until this brand was world famous because he really only wears the finest most expensive designer clothes. But one day I woke up and He shot a music Video wearing a vest from my brand. This was a big day for me because I wasn’t that known and I thought this would happen when I was popular. But no, he was one of the first celebrities to recognize and endorse the brand. And that was so big for me because he has some of the most influence on fashion and hip hop in our culture. Everybody steals Sauce walkas drip. Almost every artist in hip hop has been influenced by him even drake and Jay-Z so for him to wear my brand was so big to me and I will forever respect him.

Q: With the fall right around the corner, what can the fans of filthy genius be on the lookout for?

With Fall around the corner people can be on the lookout for High quality clothes that’s going to make you look good. A few pieces to make you stand out and give u attention. What you do with that attention is up to you.

Q: With the city of Cleveland on the rise, does filthy genius plan to branch out? or is your main focus to still build your following in Cleveland? 

Yes, I plane to branch out and get some steam all over the country and eventually be a worldwide brand. We are most popular in Cleveland as we are the leading local streetwear brand in this city. But we also have a Buzz in Houston and Miami right now. I want this to brand to be known all over. I want Cleveland to be proud that one of the top clothing brands in the world was birthed in this city. This city deserves that. I’m not sure if people realize this but we are one of the stylish cities in the world and I’m going make sure we get our recognition.