#taking another crack at socializing and it's actually evolved into a real conversation (for better and worse)

[that-it-gay]

sometimes i think i don't have anxiety and then i Do Something and suddenly my hands and legs are off on their own journey

[silentfangirlwritings]

01. indigo elevators

exes cross paths at a gathering and share an elevator ride.

pairing: unnamed - (zion kuwonu & reader)

word count: 3.6k

~~~

blue and white fairy lights lined the hallway from the elevator to the main room. he’d seen photos of his friends apartment before but in person, he couldn’t help but marvel. he could imagine her scooting a step ladder up and down the hallway in an attempt to do it all alone. it was a funny thought, though her short frame and fiery independence made a lot of his thoughts about her funny.

it was only supposed to be a chill night with a mixture of her high school and university friends to celebrate her half birthday, a tradition that was once confusing was now the norm. he hadn’t wished her a 'happy birthday' since they’d first met and he’d never met someone to be so happy and okay with it.  

the main area was filtered with the same white and blue lights as her hallway. they illuminated her white furniture and created the illusion that they were floating. the smoke that hung above encouraged his mind in that direction as did the quiet sounds of sabrina claudio.  

he joined the crowd after placing his gift on her kitchen counter and was handed a blunt while his friend introduced him to those he didn’t know. he greeted everyone with his stunning smile and took a hit after saying his name. conversation picked up straight where it left off and he half listened as he scanned over those who were crowded around him. he knew most from high school, all were familiar, kind faces and he guessed he was the last to arrive.

how he wished that was true.

she came in silently, not announcing her presence in the room till she was kissing the friend they were all there to celebrate. people were excited to see her, like him, they hadn’t seen her since high school. but he just sat and stared at her, his gaze hidden by his blond curtains.  

all the warmth in his body had suddenly disappeared and he was numb to touch and the laughter that ran around. he’d been warned she’d been invited just as he had but it’d been so long since they were in the same city, let alone country, at the same time, he guessed she wouldn’t show up. last he’d seen she was in europe, sipping on a glass of red wine.

truthfully, he’d hoped she’d be there. he was the only one she hadn’t had contact with since high school came to an end. he knew she was talking to everyone else, sharing tales of her time abroad with them, but never had she reached out to him. he didn’t want to quiz her on why, he knew why, but he just wanted to know if she was good. if she was happy.  

all his stalking on social media couldn’t have prepared him for the woman that was sat across from him. she’d changed over the years and had evolved into the woman she’d spend her days reading about. her wardrobe had gone from someone who wanted to be hidden, to someone who didn’t mind attention.  

from her instagram he knew she was no stranger to showing off the parts of her that were once only known to him. the curves of her body had matured as had her face. he’d always joked she’d look like a baby till she had one of her own and it seemed he’d been very wrong while she’d been spot on. the girl he’d once known inside and out had morphed into someone he knew nothing about and only when his vision clouded did he move to tear his gaze away from her.

the night went on with talk of their past and dancing. it was easy to compare it to old times. the only difference was that they didn’t have to keep it a secret from their parents.  

she’d yet to acknowledge his presence, somehow never once turning in his direction no matter where he moved. from the kitchen, he watched her dance on their friend they were celebrating. he’d always loved the control she had over her hips and he could see she still had it. if anything, her control had only gotten better. why that made him mad, he was unsure.

“maybe you should talk to her instead of just staring at her?”

his friend, the only one who knew everything that had happened between them, joined him in the kitchen.  he grabbed a handful of chips from the bowl he was hovering over and followed his gaze to her.  

“don’t have anything to say.”

or was it that he had too much to say?

he had no trust in himself. would he actually be able to say anything if he got a moment alone with her? or would he just stand there staring at her, his mouth dry like the desert?

he didn’t want to think what it would be like if it went the opposite way. word vomit wasn’t pretty on him and if he were to spill his guts to her, he wasn’t sure he’d ever forgive himself.  

either way, he’d just end up embarrassing himself which was why he decided it was best he avoided her for the night. he could stare from afar, admire the beautiful woman she’d become but he couldn’t get too close.  

2:47 am rolled around rather quickly and he was getting ready to leave. things had settled and he wished his friend a happy half birthday one last time, hugging her tight as if he wasn’t going to see her again. she whispered words of love and appreciation, thanking him for being consistent in her life, even when things got hard. he left her with a kiss on the head and a promise to be safe, saying one last time that he loved her.  

the elevator dinged as it opened and he pulled his jacket on over his hoodie as he stepped inside. he pushed the ground floor with his elbow, still not trusting the cleanliness of the buttons despite his friend’s promises.  

the indigo haze of the mirrored walls was just as relaxing as those in her apartment.  he leant his body against the back wall and let his head fall back with his eyes closed.  he’d made it through, he realized with a sigh of relief. the doors were closing and if he was lucky, he wouldn’t have to face her again.  he didn’t want to feel the way he felt when he looked at her again. he’d made it.

“fuck.”

one swear word and the reopening of the doors brought him back to the real world. his luck had never been that good, why would he trust it to be when she was so close? he should have known better.

her gaze avoided his as she stepped into the elevator. she positioned herself on the opposite wall, leaning against it as she began to put her jacket on. he watched her and studied her side profile. her perfume surrounded him as the doors closed. she smelled sweet. notes of vanilla relaxing his tensed shoulders like her hands used to.

he hadn’t felt her touch in many moons but being stuck in a small space with her for 24 floors had him craving it. why did their friend have to live so high up? and was the elevator moving exceptionally slow? he failed every attempt to look away from her. she looked far too pretty in the odd lighting and her head tilted towards the wall left her neck vulnerable. he wanted to kiss her, to taste her, to see what else had changed over the years. could she still take him to cloud 9 with a single touch?

“do you ever think about me?”

he spoke before he could stop himself, his voice coming out strained and weak. they’d just passed the 20th floor.  

she turned to face him, leaning back against the wall, much like he was. for the first time since they were 17, their eyes met. she still reminded him of honey and her eyelashes were still dark and long, framing her eyes in the most perfect way. 

she didn’t speak as she stared up at him. he could see she was tired and he guessed that she hadn’t been back in the country long. the sadness in her eyes came through in a flash and once he’d noticed it, his eyes mirrored it.

“i still think about you. all the time.”

she forced a smile, her lips tight but nothing reached her eyes.

“i seen you’ve been overseas too. living like you always talked about.”

he rubbed the back of his neck when he spoke, his eyes following her arms as they crossed over her chest. he was talking now, even if he was the only one to speak. there were things he’d spent years wishing he’d said to her and he knew he wasn’t going to get an opportunity this perfect again. so, he cleared his throat and made sure to keep eye contact. clear head, open heart, can’t go wrong.

“i know things ended weirdly between us but i just wanna say that i’m sorry, for real, no bullshit. what i did was immature and wrong and i don’t think like that any more. i really am sorry.”

he paused, hoping she’d say something. but still she stood with her eyebrows raised, her lips softened in a thoughtless pout though he knew she had her tongue between her teeth. she always did when she was listening, thinking about what to say next. too many times he’d caught her off guard with his lips on hers and found how she was.

“i’ve been missin’ you a lot, even more being back home and i was- i was wondering if you wanted to catch up sometime.”

his voice cracked, he wasn’t expecting it to but it did. she drew in a deep breath, her chest rising and falling slowly. he was beginning to feel the heat of her gaze, thoughts that he hadn’t said the right thing echoed throughout his mind.

some years ago, he would’ve known how she’d react. they were close friends long before they were intimate with one another. he could guess the next sentence out of her mouth before she even thought it and she was the same for him. joined at the hip, teachers and parents would always say. one night, he’d overheard his mom tell his dad that they seemed to be two people who were always destined to find one another as there was no way they hadn’t known each other in a previous life.

he’d believed those words, even after he made the mistake that tore them apart. he always knew one day he’d find his way back to her and he’d thought that she’d accept his apology and wish to rekindle what they had spent years building.

his life was just a little bit less without her. it didn’t take a grown man to realize that. he’d known it from the first day the truth had been brought to light. in many ways, he felt like he was merely wandering through life till their paths crossed again. he wanted to give her space, everyone said it would be best.  

he needed that space too. his 'sorry' meant something this time, unlike the last. she’d heard the paper in his voice, the sour feeling that he was only saying it because that was what you did when you hurt someone not because he was actually sorry. he hoped she heard the sorrow in his words. felt the importance of them, that he really meant them. not a day had passed by without regret of what he did. surely, she could hear it. she knew him so well.

“well.”

she began, her voice quiet and unfamiliar. she wasn’t warm as she used to be. her voice was still sweet but icy with an edge that spun his head. but then she laughed and everything truly felt wrong.

“after all these years.”

she shook her head and laughed again, looking down at her shoes before turning back to him. he rocked his body weight back and forth between his feet, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable under her gaze. her voice wasn’t what it had always been or at least not how he remembered it. he was facing the deafening thought that he’d forgotten how she sounded after only a few years apart.

“i told myself i wasn’t gonna talk to you, fuck.”

she cut herself off with a shake of her head, clearly thinking out loud. she checked what level they were at, not even bothering to hide her gaze from him. he looked too. floor 17, how was time moving so slow?

she looked back at him again, their eyes meeting and she leant back against the wall. she unfolded her arms from across her chest to shift her hair from her left shoulder to her right. a heavy sigh fell from her lips when she turned back to him. with a single nod of her head, he knew she was ready to speak again.

“a year ago i would’ve been in tears to see you again. even a couple months ago i would’ve been a mess to come face to face with you. but i’m not crying, not yet anyway.”

she glanced again at the light above the door that told them what level they were on. they still had a long way to go and she wanted it to go faster. she didn’t like being this close to him again.  

“i want you to know that i forgave you long ago, even though i knew you didn’t mean it. dwelling on something like that doesn’t make someone better, it just makes them bitter. i forgave you then, and i forgive you now.”

he nodded his head to her, his breathing uneven as he broke out in a sad smile. his vision was beginning to blur and his bottom lip jutted out slightly. he was so happy to realise again that he did know her still, that some things didn’t change. but at the same time, his chest was tight and his knees felt weak at the thought of what was to come next. he wasn’t so sure he was going to cope with it.

“but i can’t welcome you back into my life. i can’t speak with you or look at you without feeling sick. i don’t know you anymore caleb and i don’t feel the need to either.”  

but he did. he needed to. what was she up to now? did she have someone to love? was she happy?

did she miss him?  

“we were-we”

he stuttered over his words, unable to stop himself from stepping closer to her. his chest was swelling and his eyes were burning but he was determined to speak.

“we were so good together. we were meant to walk this earth together.”

she dragged her thumb over his cheekbone, ridding him of the silver droplets he’d let fall. her smile was sympathetic and encouraged a choked sob to escape his heart.

“we were.”

she agreed with a short nod of her head. he could feel it coming again and it took everything in him to not reach out and hold her, to embrace her.

“were is the keyword in all you’re saying. we were but we’re not anymore.”

it was her that brought him closer. her left hand fell to his waist and ushered his body forward.  his forehead fell to meet hers, just as he’d done many times before and her soft hand held the back of his neck.

“we could be again, i know we could. you loved me once, you can again.”

he hated how he sounded, hated that he was crying but he would only for her. with the lasso of hestia wrapped tightly around him, he couldn’t stop himself.  he wanted her, needed her. he missed her in a way that hadn’t been so obvious til he’d laid eyes on her again. he wasn’t even sure he’d ever actually stopped loving her.

“i don’t think i can love you again.”

she spoke clearly, but quietly. each word stabbing directly into his heart.

i. don’t. think. i. can. love. you. again.

his arms wrapped around her and his head fell to her shoulder. she let him cry and rubbed soft circles into the much taller man’s back. he’d never felt smaller. his pleas fell on deaf ears and he knew without her saying anything that if he were ever to see her again he’d be lucky. he held her tight, if it were to be the last time, he wanted to know he held her like she was his world.  

“look at me”

she gently brought his head back up to hers and made sure she had his full attention. his sobs weren’t so violent anymore, he was trying to stop himself and she let him breathe for a moment.

floor 7, she saw out of the corner of her eye and knew what she needed to do.  

she tilted her chin up and all too slowly, their lips met.

it was like a breath of fresh air, being wrapped up in her, connected in the purest sense. he’d always loved her lips, so perfectly sculpted to fit his. she evened his breathing with each passing moment and gifted him with something he hadn’t felt in years. he’d been searching for it, but deep in his heart he knew he would only ever feel it with her.

she parted their lips and almost pushed him off of her to stop his head from leaning against hers. it was something they would always do after they kissed. it presented the perfect opportunity to kiss again and again. as love drunk teenagers, they could never seem to get enough. they were the oxygen the other needed to survive and one kiss was never enough to get through the day.

“why did you-”

“tell me, did you feel something?”

he nodded his head, and she looked away from him. he noticed the look of panic on her face almost instantly. everyone had always said she was the best at hiding how she felt, but he never understood that. sure, her tells were small but anyone who knew her should’ve been able to see them instantly. or was it just another sign to say they were always meant to be?

“well, i didn’t.”

her voice was slightly raised and stern, cold again.

“kissing you used to feel like the universe lived inside me. like i was safe. now, it just feels… nice.”

she smiled sadly up at him again and he nodded his head, unsure of what else to say.  

“maybe it just felt nice too.”

he was lying, he knew it too. but for her, he’d pretend, what if it helped him?

“i know we were always kind of told that we were supposed to be together, that we were destined for one another. but the more i’ve thought about it, i don’t think we were ever supposed to do more than teach each other something. i don’t think you’re the person i’m meant to walk this earth with. i almost know it.”

he just nodded his head again and watched her glance turn to the light that told them what floor they were on. he turned to look too, knowing if he looked at her any longer, he’d end up crying again.  

floor 2. thank the gods above, they were almost there.

“do you want a tissue?”

she was fishing one out of her pocket before he could answer. he took it with a mumble of thanks and moved so they were both facing the door.

the ding of the elevator doors opening felt other worldly and oddly full circle. he’d asked her out in an elevator, he came to realise as he watched the doors open. they’d already kissed a few times but he wanted to take her on a proper date, which at the time was chinese food and a movie at the cinema.  

“wait.”

he said suddenly as she went to leave, his hand grabbing her wrist to stall her movements.

“one last kiss”

he said when she turned back to look at him with concern.

“just one more.”

she nodded her head and stepped back to him. gently, he cupped her face in his large hand, just as he had a million times before and caressed her bottom lip with his thumb. she held his wrists in her hands and their lips met in a burning sensation.

why one last time? he wanted to feel her one last time. he needed to check again to make sure he wasn’t kidding himself, that he actually felt something. he had hope for closure, that he’d finally stop looking at her as the one who got away.

alas, more butterflies awoke inside him, and he burned everywhere she touched. he was in the same place he’d always run off to with her and when she separated from him, he knew it was wrong to go there.

“take care.”

with a wave, she exited the elevator and began her journey in the opposite direction of him. she was gone so quickly while he took his time to gather himself to leave.

in the moonlight, her tears glowed on her cheeks. she needed to get away from him before he could say something else. she was so close to folding. lying through her teeth to him was the hardest thing she’d ever have to do. walking away from him again was the hardest thing she’d ever have to do.

for the first time in the longest time, she’d felt something she craved deep within her. through the cracks of her heart, flower buds began to sprout. she’d mended as much of her heart as she could, but only his love could fill the cracks he’d left behind. he’d planted his seed and with love and kindness, they’d surely blossom and invite the universe back inside her.

but that would only be if she let him back and for now she had no plans to do so.  

[alj4890]

Delicate

(Olivia Nevarkis x Ethan Ramsey) in a Choices The Royal Romance/Open Heart Crossover crack series.

Song Inspiration: Delicate

A/N This series will focus more on the relationships Olivia has with both friends and potential love interests. Since I was never a med student, I won’t try to write too many medical situations, LOL. The reason Olivia goes to Boston is more of a McGuffin of sorts. I needed a reason to have her truly see what it is she wants in her life. 

Masterlist

Prologue

The bar was not as crowded as Olivia expected. Pausing in the doorway to allow her eyes to adjust to the low light, she searched the few lingering patrons for the one who had invited her.

Nothing had surprised her more than receiving the invitation.

Well, maybe not more than another invitation she had once received.

And yet...this was different. So completely different.

Stepping up to the bar, she took a steadying breath, irritated that she had allowed herself to hope that this might be the right time to have her old dream again.

Was it so foolish to want to be married and have a family? Everyone else was expected to. Why not her? She would need an heir for Lythikos after all.

Maybe she could be the Nevarkis that actually had children because she wants to be a mother. Not for Cordonia. Not for the duchy. Just, have someone all her own. Someone who she could love without worry of it not being reciprocated.

"What can I get for you?" The bartender asked.

She blinked and refocused.

"I'll have a whiskey sour."

Grimacing at ordering something tied to too many memories, she quickly spoke up.

"Wait! I'll have a glass of Merlot."

"I thought you might be a red wine person."

Olivia turned around and tilted her head back.

Ethan smiled at her. "I was hoping you would take me up on meeting here."

"You said there was something important we needed to discuss." She steeled herself for disappointment. "You haven't changed your mind about the research hospital, have you?"

Ethan set his glass down. "Another scotch, please, Reggie."

"You got it." Reggie handed Olivia her wine glass while reaching for the bottle Ethan preferred.

"Top shelf." She muttered, recognizing the label.

"Pretentious, isn't it?" Ethan teased.

A ghost of a smile appeared on her lips. "Surprisingly, it isn't. It shows you have taste."

Ethan took his glass back and told Reggie to put both their drinks on his tab.

"Let's find somewhere to sit."

Olivia followed him out the backdoor to a lighted patio.

They were completely alone.

"There usually isn't anyone out here on a Wednesday night." Ethan explained.

They sat down near a fire pit and waited for the other to bring up what was needed to be discussed.

Olivia silently studied Ethan in the glow of the firelight. His features appeared harsh with the shadows. His eyes seemed to glow when they briefly cut her way.

He cradled his glass between his hands while staring at its contents.

Never one for putting off the inevitable, Olivia shifted in her chair. "What is it?"

His blue eyes raised to hers. "It isn't anything to do with the hospital."

She relaxed somewhat. "Good. I was worried you weren't coming to Cordonia."

"It does involve that." He admitted.

"I don't understand."

"Liv, I am attracted to you." Ethan responded.

She stilled. "Attracted? In what way?"

"In every way."

"Is this your roundabout way of telling me you want me but will do nothing about it?" Olivia's eyes narrowed. "Because I have had those conversations in the past."

"I intend to act on it." Ethan set his glass down.

"You intend to..." Her eyes widened. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that given my history and from what you have shared of yours," he ran a hand through his hair, "I think I should be up front about it." He reached for one of her hands. "I'm not going to take a chance and sit on the sidelines just to watch some bolder man steal you away."

Olivia's lips parted.

Ethan wants me. He admitted it. To me.

"Since I plan on starting out as I intend to go, all with blunt honesty so there is no misunderstanding," he rubbed his thumb across her knuckles, "I would like to take you to dinner tomorrow night." His eyes held hers. "I'm asking you out on a date."

He's nothing like Drake, she thought.

"I," Olivia licked her dry lips, trying to calm her excited thoughts so that she could answer. She couldn't recall when a man had ever asked her for a date.

This would be her first real date.

"I would love to." She felt her lips curving at Ethan's smile flahsing. "What time should I expect you?"

"Seven." He stood up and tugged her out of her seat.

One hand settled on her cheek while the other still held her hand.

His eyes drifted across her face, taking in the delicate features that made one surprised at the immense strength they hid at first glance.

Olivia waited with baited breath at whether or not he would kiss her.

She closed her eyes as his lips pressed an achingly tender kiss to her cheek.

"Let's get you home." Ethan murmured. He couldn't help the smile that seemed determined to remain on his face. "I can't wait for tomorrow night."

"Neither can I." She smiled back, thankful no one was around to see her like this.

After bidding her a goodnight at her door with another sweet kiss to her cheek, Olivia quickly changed and got into bed.

Once she had thought through how tomorrow night might go, her mind decided to dredge up the past.

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

The Royal Palace, Cordonia, six months ago...

"...and then I plan to have Morgana and Merlin..."

Olivia tuned out Penelope's conversation. The effort to keep a pretended interest wasn't worth it. She began to scan the crowd for anything more interesting.

She had begun to tire of the endless round of balls and dinners. If it wasn't for her affection for Liam and Riley, she would have made up an excuse that she was needed in Lythikos.

Well, that, and a certain someone was swaying her into staying in the capital.

"Olivia?"

"Hmm?"

Kiara and Penelope both had expectant expressions on their faces.

"What do you think?" Penelope asked again.

"Oh, that is..." She took a gulp of her drink, "that is...something to think about."

"It really is!" Penelope exclaimed. "I've spent weeks trying to decide on..."

Olivia zoned out again.

Feeling the hairs raise on the back of her neck, she turned toward the source.

Her green eyes clashed with a pair of hooded brown.

A barely perceptible tilt of Drake's head had her excusing herself from the people she wasn't listening to.

Winding her way toward the the doors that opened to the back courtyard, she silently thanked her past unfriendly self for helping her avoid being called into more conversations.

Within a minute or two, she was outside breathing in the balmy sea breeze of the capital.

Another few minutes went by before a familiar hand encircled her waist, guiding her deeper into the shadows.

Without a word spoken, Drake pressed his lips to hers.

Normally, she would participate, taking pleasure from pushing him into a wild frenzy of clothes being ripped off.

But tonight...she wasn't sure this was what she wanted.

Olivia wanted more. Not more of the same. Something different. Something evolving. Passion intertwined with more heartfelt emotions. Or something that caused a new kind of passion.

She hated this uncertainty that had plagued her recently. The sneaking around she and Drake had been doing for close to a year was beginning to annoy her.

Olivia had started to yearn for what her friends had.

Liam and Riley were happily married with plans to begin their family.

Hana and Rashad had announced their engagement.

 Amanda had spent the last few years dividing her life with living in both Hollywood and Cordonia with her husband.

Even Maxwell had begun a serious relationship recently with a New York artist.

Olivia felt like she was the only one not moving forward. Shouldn't she have something other than an annulled marriage to show for her years of social seasons?

Shouldn't Drake make a stand? Demand that they take their relationship to a more personal level rather than remaining illicit lovers?

Hadn't she overheard Riley saying that Drake wanted a simple life with a family of his own?

Couldn't he have that with me?

She placed her hands on his chest and pushed him away.

"What's wrong?" Drake whispered.

"I want--nothing really--I was hoping..." She trailed off, suddenly feeling very self conscious about what she was about to do.

"Hoping for what?" He asked.

"Hoping you would tell me what this is?" Olivia replied. She gestured between them. "Is this going anywhere?"

He grinned as he placed a heated kiss to her neck. "It could go to my room."

She jerked away. "I don't mean that."

His eyes narrowed at her tone. "Then what do you mean?"

"Us!" She snapped. "Are we doing this to move into something more," she hesitated, irritated at herself for even doing so, "permanent?"

"Permanent?" He repeated. "I thought we were letting off some steam." He rubbed the back of his neck as he took a step away from her.

That simple action spoke volumes to Olivia.

He won't look me in the eye much less remain near. I'm nothing to him but a distraction, one he wants to keep hidden.

"This," her lip curled in disgust, "thing we have is over."

Drake tried to stop her when she shoved past him. "Come on Liv." He grasped her upper arm. "Are you seriously wanting us to date? How would that even work? You barely act like you can stand my presence. Who would believe we--"

She wrenched her arm free. Trying to avoid having to reveal how much his rejection hurt, she muttered to forget what she had said.

"I don't want anything from you." She replied in an emotionless tone.

"Liv," he tried to cajole her back into his embrace. "You know we work better in secret. Putting a label on what we have is only going to cause problems."

"We don't have anything worth mentioning." Without bothering to see his reaction to that, she walked away without a second glance.

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

It had taken a couple more times of ignoring Drake's subtle hints to meet somewhere before he finally caught on that it was truly over.

One night he caught her alone in the palace library.

"We need to talk."

She simply turned a page in a medical journal she had been reading.

"Olivia!" He snapped.

Her eyes flickered up to his.

He stared at her, willing her silently to speak. Hoping she would explain why she decided to upend something good between them.

She gestured toward a chair across from her.

Drake felt a slight uneasiness at how casual she was behaving. The Olivia he knew was passionate in everything. Even her calmness held hints of restrained energy thrumming within her body.

This...this was new.

"I'm planning on proposing we build a research hospital in Cordonia, preferably close or in Lythikos." She announced.

"You're--what--that isn't what I wanted to talk about." He stuttered.

She chose to ignore that. "We need something to help combat the overflowing in the capital's hospital." She rested her chin on her fist as she stared off in the distance. "I know Lythikos’s weather isn't ideal for most, but the valley below Cordonia's Alps has more seasonal temperatures."

He blinked. "Liv, I think we should talk about our--"

"I talked to Liam about it. He suggested I propose it to the council tomorrow." She refocused on him. "I already have a few doctors in mind to run it."

Drake's brow furrowed. He didn't understand why she wouldn't hear him out.

Swallowing uncomfortably, he nodded toward her journal. "Who're the doctors?"

"There have been numerous articles written about the diagnostic team at Edenbrook Hospital in Boston." She pushed the journal towards him, pointing out a picture of a group of doctors. "And it just so happens that the hospital is going under due to budget cuts."

She lifted her eyes to truly look at Drake. He seemed to handle her decision to not discuss anything personal with him well...which was just what she wanted.

Especially since he doesn't want me except as an easy, occasional hookup.

She was determined to move on. If she couldn't do so with her hope for a family of her own, then she would in repairing her reputation. The name Nevarkis would stand for something honorable again.

This hospital would be her new passion project. A place where people could go when they had no answer to the illnesses they suffered with. A legacy she could proudly leave for the children she hoped one day to have.

A way to use her years of study to benefit her country.

All those classes in trauma care would finally pay off.

"I can't see anyone voting against this." Drake said. His eyes met Olivia's.

Unable to breach the wall she had erected between them, he reached for her hand.

She pulled it out of reach.

His head dropped. "Why won't you let us talk about this?"

"Because we said all that could be said." She replied with a shrug. "You don't want what I do."

"I could try." He muttered.

"Try?!" She hissed. "If a person has to try, then they don't want it." She snatched up the journal and got up. "If the council agrees tomorrow, then I am going to go to Boston to persuade Dr. Ramsey and Dr. Banerji."

"How long will you be gone?" Drake asked.

"As long as it takes." She averted her eyes. 

“Were you going to tell me you were leaving or were you just going to disappear?” He tried to reach for her hand. “Liv, what about us?”

She pulled it away again before he could touch her.

"Time apart will show you that your initial response to my," she grimaced, "prodding was right. There is no us."

"Liv, you're wr--" he shut his mouth when she turned on her heel and left the room.

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

A few weeks later...

"I'm sending Rashad with you." Liam explained. "Amanda is already in America with Thomas and has agreed to meet you both in Boston for the initial meeting with Dr. Banerji."

"No one else?" Olivia asked, hoping that he wouldn't add anyone from the Council with to go along too.

"No. Rashad has a meeting at Sloan Industries next week and has agreed to stop for a few days in Boston to help gather the financial aspect for us. Amanda will come and go as often as you need her." Liam smiled warmly at her. "But since this is your project, I think you should be there for as long as you need to."

She bowed her head in thanks. For once, she would have a chance to turn everyone's attention away from her aunt's and parents' traitorous actions and prove that a Nevarkis could do some good in this world.

Her dream to have a research hospital with some of the greatest minds in medicine working towards saving people had been one that had sparked to life the moment she decided to finish her degree in nursing.

Finding out that Dr. Banerji had a history of sorts with Cordonia helped ease the way for her and the others to present their offer.

He and whoever else they could entice would be given not only a chance to build a hospital from the ground up, but to also run it as they saw fit. With Cordonia’s generous coffers supplying the funding, its people and those in the surrounding countries would benefit greatly.

And she would finally have something new and honorable to be known for.

"When do you plan on leaving?" Liam asked.

"Within the next few days." She gathered her notes and slipped them back into her briefcase. "I've asked Hana to look after Lythikos for me."

Liam's eyebrows lifted. "You did?"

"I've come to see that she has a spine of steel hidden under that pink ruffled dress." A smirk settled on her lips. "A person has to have one to deal with the people of my duchy."

He chuckled, nodding in agreement. "True. There's no one else I would trust more to step into your shoes while you’re away."

"If that's everything, I will retrieve Hana and head home to finish packing." She rose from her seat, a softer smile forming as she held her hand out. "I won't let you and Riley down."

Liam pulled her into a hug. "You never do."

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

Edenbrook Hospital, Boston...

“You wanted to see me.” Ethan paused in the doorway.

Naveen looked up from the initial proposal he had been sent. “Yes. Shut the door and sit down.”

Ethan quirked an eyebrow but did as requested.

“As you are aware, all of our attempts to save Edenbrook have failed.” Naveen began. “There is a lot of uncertainty about everyone’s future.”

“If you think I know the answer to our problem, you’re wrong.” Ethan clasped his hands loosely and leaned forward. “I’m fresh out of ideas.”

“What would you say to forming our own hospital?”

A wry grin formed on Ethan’s lips. “You have about one hundred and fifty million saved up that I don’t know about?”

Naveen chuckled. “No. But I was given an offer.”

“What are you talking about?” Ethan sat up. 

“Shortly after graduating medical school, I was offered a fellowship of sorts in Cordonia.” He handed the letter to Ethan. “And it seems that my reputation along with yours has caught their attention.”

Ethan scanned the proposal. “They’re sending a representative?”

“Yes.” Naveen folded his arms on his desk. “They’re serious. I’ve already received a personal phone call from the king of Cordonia.” He smiled. “From what I was told, you and I would help them create a research hospital.”

“Us?” Ethan narrowed his eyes. “Sounds too good to be true.”

“That’s why we must question those they send to talk to us.” Naveen glanced down at the proposal. “But from what I have gathered, we would be choosing everything. Our staff. Layout of the building. The latest equipment.”

“Definitely too good to be true.” Ethan reclined back in his chair. “Even if we did say yes, you’re talking about us moving to a different country. Permanently, it sounds like.” His brow furrowed. “What would we be doing while it is under construction?”

“I guess we will find out tomorrow.” Naveen’s optimism couldn’t be diminished. Our meeting with them will be at noon.” He motioned for Ethan to leave. “Get some rest. I’ll expect you to find out what they are really asking of us.”

“I suppose there are worst things to sit through during lunch.” Ethan paused at the door. “Would you really want to move somewhere new and start over?”

Naveen slowly nodded. “After nearly dying last year, I already feel like I was given a new lease on life.” He met Ethan’s steady gaze. “Why not go to a beautiful country to begin it?”

"You know, Naveen? I don't think I would mind a fresh start either." The younger doctor smiled at his mentor. "Don't worry. I'll ask the hard questions for you."

"Good. Oh and Ethan?"

"Yes?"

"This stays between us until we find out what this proposal entails." Naveen put the letter in his briefcase. "I don't want to get anyone's hopes up."

Ethan nodded. "See you tomorrow."

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

Later that evening, Ethan thought about the years he had spent in Boston. The heartaches he had suffered. The patients he had lost. The work that sometimes seemed to be in vain as he battled against the mysteries of medicine.

He gazed out of his window at the city.

Could I leave? See what else is out there? Perhaps find...

He stopped himself from that last thought. The last thing he needed was a complication like love.

His mind turned toward a certain medical intern who he could have possibly had something special.

But his keeping her at arm's length had ended up pushing her into the arms of a certain surgeon.

Bryce had not hesitated in making Casey his.

They are perfect together, Ethan thought. Which clearly shows I made the right decision.

Still, it does make one a bit envious.

He stood up and stretched. Tired from his long day and now these thoughts, he went to bed.

"There's nothing I can do about any of it." He muttered in the darkness. "Tomorrow might point me toward the direction I should take my life."

Ethan couldn't help but wonder if he had caught Naveen's optimistic outlook. The only thing he did know was that he had a nervous type of anticipation thrumming through his body. It had a hopeful tinge to it as he thought about the luncheon tomorrow.

It was that same feeling he had once had when he first became an intern at Edenbrook.

[pokecommunitycenter]

Hi Dash !! It’s Time to Meet a Member of the RPC !!

Ditto would like to introduce... Dun Duuuuuun !! 

It’s Jason ♡ !! Though some of you may know them as @haematophiliac​ !!

Established in Spooky October of 2018, they’ve been around the RPC for a good long while as a Team Rocket Scientist OC, but here’s a looksee at some things you may have not known !! Ditto hopes you enjoy getting to know the writer just as much as Ditto did !!

♡ Interview... START !!

Ditto would like you to introduce yourself a little bit. The url you go by, maybe how you picked it. Was it a joke at first that you just stuck with, does it have significant meaning?

The username is what people would call a lover of blood. I started Jax in … 2018? Octoberish and he had the common username including Rocket in it and I decided to pick a theme more fitting to him. Eventually I settled with the current one as it fits him as a blood obsessor to put it bluntly. I mean he likes blood, works around a lot of it and all that so it just… Well, stuck!

Was there something about Team Rocket in general that drew you in? Over other ‘evil’ organizations, Rocket is considered the OG & probably largest. But, over Plasma/Galactic, what made you choose Rocket?

I’ve always been a Rocket fan. I started in the Pokemon fandom (can you call it a fandom back then) in 1998 when I was only eight by watching the anime. You could say that Rocket started my love for bad guys actually! I used to adore Jessie and James so much. They were just so fun, funny and adorable. Maybe I had a crush on one… Ahem! But yes, as a kid I fell for the trio (I didn’t forget loveable Meowth there!) and ever since then I’ve been a fan. I love all the bad guys mind you but Rocket holds a special place in my heart. Just always been like that.

A bonus question !! Did any characters from the original Anime / Franchise…  help you develop Jax at all?

A good question but Jax actually was inspired by a character I role played in a completely different fandom. I mean you cannot compare them - Jax is a human with so many faults and the other character is… Well, a plain old monster. But when I first made Jax I put little bits of the old character into him, such as formal speaking and love for blood. He started pretty much as a clean slate. I evolved him over the first few weeks.

Do you think that, because you play a character that is not a ‘good guy’ or as you put it, a monster, that people that may not know you well find you hard to approach?

Indeed so. Though I only speak of experience in the past here! When I played my full out monster in another fandom, people would tell others they were actually scared of me on an OOC level. Needless to say I’ve spoken to many people who were scared and helped them realise that it is just a muse I play. When it comes to Tumblr I find the fandom much more open and less afraid? Though I don’t know for certain because people could be afraid for all I know and I just don’t know. I hope I’m approachable enough anyway!

So then !! To help the part community that may not know you well, or might be a little hesitant because you play a blood loving bad guy, what are some things that you may have in common with everyone? Do you have a favorite pokemon? Or a region that just was WACK & you loved it so much? What’s on that most repeated playlist you got? Or maybe a few movies that you really love?

I read every blog’s rules and I’ve noticed that a lot of people are socially anxious. Which to be fair… I am too! I get nervous around people I don’t know and aahhhh, well, I’m in the exact same boat. We all start as strangers and all it takes is one foot forward to break that ice but, like others, I do find that first step very intimidating. I’m just your average nerd to be fair haha. As for my favourite Pokemon? Sneasel! I fell in love with that little critter after watching the Celebi movie when it came out. Favourite region would be Hoenn. I just have fond memories of it I guess as a Ruby fan. It was the first game my battery ran out of energy on. My music is too horrific for anybody’s ears if that’s what you mean hah. And movies? … … Digimon the movie (1+2+3 in Japan and just the first (all three combined) in UK and presumably other places too).

As someone who feels that weird wiggle when trying to step out of your comfort zone to make friends. Do you have any advice for people that want to get to know you better? Or, reaching out to people in general?

When reaching out to me - or anybody else - I find the best approach can be a simple hello. It instantly shatters that ice between two people. Like… Many of us are afraid to simply say hello. But if you manage to break that first bit it’s amazing! If you don’t there is always another day. Conversation can escalate from a mere hello. Or even reply to an open post if serious or funny! That first step is the hardest indeed but things get easier after that first hurdle. The worst someone can do is walk away and then perhaps it just wasn’t meant to be. Everybody has friends in the end and making more is great.

That said. We all know how the Poke RPC has its ups, & its downs. Sometimes both happen in one day. LOL. There is always room for growth though, & Ditto believes that everyone can work together to make that happen. Is there anything you would like to see change in the community?

Everything in life will come with ups and downs, it’s just how things go. We can all work through things however. If something bad happens there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel. As a community it is great we can all work on whatever needs addressing. I understand some people rather turn a blind eye depending upon the situation. We all should work on what makes us comfortable. Nonetheless, if I could change one thing I’d change anon hate. Argh. That’s one thing that gets under my skin. We, as a community, should be open to criticism and praise alike and nobody should need to harass another person anonymously. If someone has a disagreement then they should tell the person. Only that way can they work on the issue. But then again there is needless anon hate without true purpose behind it and that makes me sad. But nobody is perfect and sometimes people will rear their ugly side. Yet when anon hate has popped up it has been utterly overwhelming to see everybody support each other with kindness!

Ditto wonders, do you think anon hate may… slow down, or go away, if it was ignored instead of responded to when received? Most times, the people that feel the need to do hurtful things to others is for response. The attention received whether it is good or bad.

I think it’s highly dependent upon the situation. As someone who has received hate in the past (not on Tumblr mind you) I found that even ignoring people doesn’t work. Yet every case is different. Some do it for response, some do it to just get under someone’s skin. We can’t tell which however. If, say, it is needless hate then to ignore it would be the best option, even reporting it to Tumblr’s staff. But if in the situation something needs defending like a misconception then it could be a good idea to clear the air. Keyword could though. I’ve learned that people will get ideas into their mind and battle for it rather than accepting what is truth. In those cases a good air clearing is good and then to ignore any further.... Jabbing could be best. But if people feel the need to respond they should have the freedom to, as well as the freedom to ignore it.

Is there anything you’d like to pass on to those in the RPC that receive anon hate? Maybe a word of advice, or just something supportive to remember if it ever happens?

Well, as long as someone isn’t breaking any rules, doing something bad OOC or whatever- Actually I was going to say they should keep going and doing their thing. And yet I feel the need to mention that all people make mistakes in their lives. Anon hate is a bad way to go. The person on the receiving end of a message is a person too. They have feelings and thoughts and a life also. If you ever receive anon hate then just remember that there’s someone sending it and perhaps they don’t realize their mistake. That isn’t to say it’s justified. Just that people do indeed forget there are real people involved. … I think I word things bad! I mean… Anon hate is wrong, end of. But it is so easy to forget that real people are sat to read it. If you ever get anon hate then it is best to ignore it. That spark could evolve into a full blown fire and make you worse off. Hm, I forgot my train of thought but in the end we all need less hate and to just enjoy ourselves. People tend to send hate from bad experiences with the person or disagreements if right or wrong on either side but words are just words on a screen. They can say all they want to you but you are you. You are a person who deserves a life and love and no mere text on a monitor - Or phone screen! - can ever truly harm you.

Ditto thinks you did a fine job. We all take time to find words in our own ways, & no one has the perfect ones all the time. So please do not worry about wording things. It takes some practice sometimes, when you’re put on the spot !! 

Ditto would like to wrap up with something uplifting & super positive. After your time here in the Poke RPC, what are some of your favorite memories? Things that make you stick around, or just enjoy seeing go on? Give Ditto a little insight ( & the RPC too ) on what makes you happy to be here.

I have a vast array of good memories. Mainly ones of that first move of saying hello to someone or just that first interaction. Then again you’re asking someone with a bad memory! I truly just enjoy seeing people having a good time, enjoying their time here. When people are comfortable enough to do crack threads, that’s something that makes me smile. For instance the RPC could have been super strict and look down upon anything not considered serious and yet there everybody is just having fun! I enjoy watching people get along all in all. When new relations are formed, plots explored, the crack-like threads that ensue. Dash commentary is always a favourite. It shows someone isn’t afraid to get involved. I like it when people aren’t afraid. As I said, we’re all humans with lives and just watching people have fun makes me smile, even if I’m not involved. And of course, being involved in things makes me happy too, to just be included :D

A big Thank You !! to Jason for allowing Ditto to take some of their time for this interview. 

Ditto hopes everyone has a good Monday !! 

See you next week for the next Community Interview. ♡

[shawnsorangeglasses]

Better Conversations - Part 6

2.4k words

sorry about the wait. that’s my bad.

Synopsis: Another assistant AU, you’ve known Shawn since the beginning but you don’t really become friends until a label party in New York. Then he offers you a job as his assistant.

(Y/N)’s continues the struggle to maintain boundaries between her and Shawn. Then she breaks one of her own unsaid rules later that night.

here’s my masterlist so y’all can start at part one if you’re new. 

“Is there bathroom nearby?”

Shawn whispers this in (Y/N)’s ear about two minutes before he’s about to go on. She looks at him like he was crazy. He just went ten minutes ago.

“You go on in two,” she yells over the sounds of his fans cheering above the rafters. Shawn pleads with his eyes. “You have to pee right this second?”

“N-No, but what if I have to later?”

(Y/N) takes him by the arm, guiding him to the end of the hall. “Go down here and make a left, you’ll be back in the main hall. There’s one on the right.”

Shawn takes his guitar and drops it into her arms before bolting down the hall, shouting thank you over and over again. (Y/N) is practically frozen, holding something so valuable before Geoff graciously takes the instrument off her hands. Sometimes she feel he trusts her too much. Andrew soon enters through the way Shawn just left.

“Another pee break,” he chuckles.

“Like a racehorse,” (Y/N) sighs. “He better hurry up. He’s gonna be rolling onto the stage.”

“Well if it’s any consolation, you’re doing a great job.”

“Ah, thanks.” Andrew doesn’t know it, but that means almost everything coming from him. She’s noticed in the past few weeks how he takes care of Shawn and how he wants everything to be perfect and true to his vision. They practically share the same dream. He pats her on the shoulder.

“I’ll see you up there,” he nods to ceiling, “Stage left.”

(Y/N) nods and watches him disappear around the corner too. She kicks the wires on the ground with her feet. Shawn might trip on them later if he’s running back this way. Thoughts like this run through her head all the time now. Every action was curated around his existence, not that it was ever hard to care about him. It’s actually one of the few things that make sense.

Geoff taps her on the shoulder. “Would you mind doing the honors,” he hands her the first guitar of the night. (Y/N) nods and carefully takes hold of the neck.

She leans against one of the open beams of the tunnel, waiting for that rockstar to grace her sight again. He now had thirty-eight seconds before showtime. Then, as if he can hear her, Shawn comes barreling down the hall again, jittery as ever. She urges him to run faster with a frantic wave. Some of those jitters infect her own nerves, making her just as anxious and excited to watch him kill it tonight.

He skids to stop and bends a little, allowing (Y/N) to drape his guitar strap on his shoulder.

“Are you ready now,” she asks while adjusting the mic equipment in his back pocket.

“I’m so nervous,” he says. His whole body is vibrating.

“I kno-”

“Feel my heartbeat.” Shawn takes her hand, practically crushing it against his sternum. Sure enough, there’s a quick drumming underneath his skin.

(Y/N) smiles at him. “I know. Me too, but you got this. Always do.”

She fixes his collar, making it just as presentable as the rest of him. Her eye is now trained to catch everything he misses. The introduction is starting and all the cheers evolve into a thunderous roar that shake the ground. But Shawn’s still looking at her like she’s in the front row of the audience.

“Hey,” she waves a hand in his face. His eyelids flutter, and he’s brought back from wherever he went just now. “Hurry up and get to the stairs!” (Y/N) gives him a gentle shove in the right direction. Shawn goes to stand on the little taped down X on the only lit spot down there in the dark. Before he can look at her one more time, she's already disappeared.

A stage manager guides (Y/N) through the maze of underground halls, all the way up to concealed part of stage left. Brian and Andrew greet her as Shawn emerges from the underground.

The music starts, opening the show with Lost In Japan. The steady bass from the sound system sets the pace for her heartbeat, and the nerves evaporate like clockwork. She prays Shawn feels just as euphoric. The second she sees him, hopping around, strumming, belting into the mic, she's sure that he is.

…

Everybody's riding their own little post-concert high in the green room when the show closes. Shawn's sprawled out on the couch, a sweaty and nearly passed out mass and coming down from the adrenaline himself.

(Y/N) snags a couple of water bottles from the catering table, which had gone to disarray after the crew and team had gone through each platter. She plops down on the couch next to him, gingerly placing the bottle in his open palm. He rolls his head over, briefly opening his eyes to see her face, blurry through his eyelashes.

“Thank you,” he mouths. Already trying to rest his voice. He links his pinky finger with hers on the couch cushions, a way of holding hands in front of everyone. His breathing, once labored, is now coming back to normal. (Y/N) relaxes on the opposite end of the couch, maintaining contact and trying to not look so obvious. The unsolicited blush on her cheeks and neck told a different story though.

Brian of course was the only one to really take note of the interaction. Everybody else was preoccupied with their own conversations when (Y/N) locks eyes with him for a moment. He slightly raises a drink to her, she shakes her head at him. The juice box in his hand only added to the comedy of it all. This was just his way of saying something without saying anything.

But it can't happen.

Shawn comes to in this moment, ready to recap the show. The band gathers in a loose, sloppy circle on the muddy colored carpet. All their talk quickly warms the room, and (Y/N) gets up to step out. Now was a good time to check her phone for any texts from her sister.

“Where're you going?”

(Y/N) looks down at Shawn. He’d pulled out of the conversation the minute her pinky finger left his alone on the couch cushion.

“I’m just going to check my phone,” she says. “Aren’t I off duty?”

“I’ll come with,” he says, pushing himself off the sofa. “I was just about to check Twitter.”

He follows her out to the linoleum lined hall. (Y/N) props the door open, just in case anyone feels like getting suspicious. She leans her back on one cement wall, and Shawn mirrors. The low hum of the AC unit running through the stadium gives a subtle ambiance to the otherwise silent corridor. (Y/N) checks her messages. Nothing from her sister or mother. Everything from Cez and Andrew about flight details and two printable tickets, just like he said he would this morning. She makes a mental note to ask the hotel’s front desk for help on this tonight.

Another message drops down. From Jason. (Y/N)’s jaw sets.

[enjoying tour?]

She swipes the notification away without opening it.

Shawn softly snorts through his nose as he scrolls. The heat radiating from his body makes him a walking furnace. Without really thinking about it, he leans into (Y/N)’s shoulder, sliding his back down the wall so his head could be closer to hers.

“How did we do?” he pants. His damp curls cling to his forehead and temples. A hot blush was all over his body. His cheeks, his shoulders, his lips, all red.

(Y/N) shakes her mind away from the text. Shawn was more deserving of her attention. “Fantastic, as always. You don’t need me to tell you that.”

“It’s nice to hear it from you anyway.” Shawn holds up his phone to show her the endless scroll of tweets about the show. The fandom is collectively losing their minds in real time. “Everyone seems to agree,” he says.

“You may have killed a few of them.”

“I hope not. I need these guys.”

The pure love in his eyes as he looks through all the feedback is all it takes to make (Y/N)’s jaw relax again. Like a human zen garden. She reopens her phone, finds Jason’s contact, blocks hims, then deletes it. She wouldn’t need it anymore. Problem solved.

“Who was that?”

Shawn’s curious had gaze settled on her phone, understandably, since Jason’s number was under the name “DO NOT RESPOND.”

“No one. Just Jason’s dumb ass.”

“Did he say something?” Shawn eyebrows furrow.

“I don’t think so,” she lies. “What’s next for tonight? Going back to the hotel?”

Shawn pushes himself off the wall. “Actually, me and the guys are going to get dinner at this restaurant Andrew found earlier. I forget the name.”

“Is there anything you need me to do before I head back?”

Shawn scratches the side of his head, ruffling the hair there. “Well I was actually thinking you could maybe come with us this time.”

“Oh, Shawn-”

“C’mon, please? You always say no.”

(Y/N) sighs heavily. “Why do you need me there?”

“I don’t. I just want you there.”

(Y/N) rolls her eyes. The whole notion is laughable. Fans have already started shipping her and Shawn together on every social platform. Those who strongly disagree are slowly coming through the cracks, calling her everything from unprofessional to “not his type.” As if they actually know his type. She doesn’t even know his type or if he has one at all. (Y/N) understands their concern. It just sucks being on the receiving end.

“I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to, but it would be nice. I’ll even pay you for the extra hours.”

His burning hand wraps around her cold one. It’s enough to melt her insides. (Y/N) stays in her hesitance. Cez did say they were practically family on the road. She has no reason to feel on the outside. And yet...

“It’s really better if I go back to the hotel. I still have to plan the flight. Start packing my suitcase, your suitcase. Assistant stuff.”

Shawn’s face fell as did his hold on her. “Right. I get it.”

“I would love to Shawn really, I-”

“No, it’s okay. I understand.” He means it, but he can’t mask that disappointment in his eyes.

(Y/N) goes back into the green room to get her bag from the couch. Shawn’s smiling when she returns to hallway. “I’ll see you later tonight. I doubt I’ll be asleep when you get back.”

“Yeah I know,” he says, pulling her in for a quick hug. “Busy bee.”

One last lock of the eyes, and she’s down the hall in search of the exit. She doesn’t dare look back.

…

It’s late by the time (Y/N) wraps up planning the next week on her laptop. She lays back on the bed sheets, stretching her spine back to normal. There’s something to be said about having a job you can do in a bathrobe and underwear. Every piece of Shawn that was spread out in his room was packed away where it can’t be left behind at checkout the following morning. Tomorrow was a sightseeing day. Her room is still a mess, but she decides it’s a do-it-in-the-morning task.

A beep followed by a click on the other side of her door, and Shawn’s back. A perky voice that sounds nothing like him speaks excitedly about something too hard to make out through the walls. (Y/N) snatches her headphones from her backpack, knowing what’s about to happen next.

It used to bother her until she realized she has no right to be mad at him. He didn't owe her anything but the odd heads up, and hardly that. She tries to not let her imagination run too wild and puts on a Netflix movie. Something stupid and loud.

An hour later, she’s emotionally invested in a terribly written character and horror plot when Shawn’s pokes his head in, surprised to see her sitting in the shadows. The dark leaves him as a silhouette but the “just fucked” look still translates in his messy curls. (Y/N) pulls her robe close and pushes the headphones down to her neck. “Yes?”

“S-Sorry, I knocked and you didn’t answer.”

She sets her laptop aside. “Headphones.”

Shawn stays in the doorway. “You, uh, okay?”

“I didn’t hear anything, if that’s what you’re wondering,” she says with a smirk. “They’re noise-cancelling.”

Shawn’s about to apologize again but she cuts him off.

“Don’t be sorry, Mendes. You’re an adult, you can do whatever you want. I’m your assistant, not your priest.” He lets himself laugh, despite the awkward. “Was she cute?”

Shawn glares at her. (Y/N) bites her lip.

“You just had seeex,” she sings a little too loud.

“Shh!” Shawn closes the door behind him. “She’s still here.”

(Y/N) covers her mouth. “A sleepover! You really put her to sleep, huh?”

“Shut up.” He kneels at the edge of her bed, right at her fuzzy socks. Now that he's up close, (Y/N) can see— and smell— just how much fun he had. “I didn’t think you’d be in here but now I can ask what we’re doing tomorrow.”

“I found some places within walking distance of the hotel. Figured out that if we take this route, it won’t wear us out as much so we’ll be able to see more. I already sent the details to everybody's phones but nothing's in stone. And please make sure you wear walking shoes and not those damn boots-”

“You’re coming with us?” Shawn inches up the bed, elbows now to her thigh.

“Yeah,” she says matter-of-factly. “I won't have anything else to do.”

“Okay,” he says, smiling wide. He almost looked like a kid again. It almost catches her off guard. The hairs on his chest remind her of just how few layers of clothes currently separate them.

“Well I guess you want to get some sleep-”

“D'you wanna watch the rest of this shitty horror movie with me?”

Shawn pauses for a moment, then carefully climbs into the bed with her. (Y/N) disconnects her headphones and turns the volume down so they can play it aloud. She. sets up the laptop at the foot of the bed, so they can watch the movie on their stomachs. Dramatic and ill-timed jump scares resume on the screen. And although she's not entirely sure, (Y/N) can sometimes feel Shawn looking over at her. This time around, she falls asleep first.

taglist:

@spider-mendes @sebsdreamboat @innositer 

[thelearningcat]

You know what’s a movie that should be redone in this new feminist movement year: Mona Lisa Smile

There’s a lot of problematic elements to this film, but there’s also a whole bunch of potential. I love 1950s feminist films. What could possibly be more empowering then a woman being empowered in a time when women were vastly being pushed back into the home (at least in the States, though I think it is true elsewhere).

Here’s some aspects I would love to highlight in my 2019 Mona Lisa Smile.

Female artists, both in the film and taught in Katherine’s class. In the 2003 movie, we never see any of the women actually making art in any way. Nor do we see her feature female artists. In a film supposedly about female empowerment, there are very few women doing any kind of real work that shows they aren’t just housewives. There are women in the administration and we get what some of the female professors teach. However, even Katherine, we know she does “research” but we never know what she does research on. As someone in academia, I can say, there’s no way it would never come up what she specialized in, even if all she had is a Masters. I want some female artists. I don’t know many but I know Georgia O’Keeffe was probably already painting by then, and in a conversation about modern art at an all girl’s school, it feels like a missed opportunity for the writers to really get some lesser known female artists of the time’s name out  through Katherine’s teaching. 

Women choosing to not be in a relationships. We have a lot of women finding out their men lied and choosing, but that’s not really a choice. Katherine isn’t even really a chosen single woman. Instead, we have women trying to be in relationships and them failing, and somehow we are supposed to believe they can be happy without a man. You cannot convince me that there are not some happy single ladies as professors. It would have been one of the few professions available to higher income women that might pay decently. 

Some happy lesbians. We have one lesbian, who nicely supported the kill your gay trope by killing one off screen prior to the start of the film and the other getting fired early to get her off screen for the rest of the film. I had a split moment in the beginning where I expected two of the female students to turn out to be lesbians, but that was quickly squashed.

More historical discussions. We get a brief discussion of war veterans and contraception, but there is so many rich discussions that could have really played into this movie’s female empowerment. If the point is to show this feminist professors breaking the mold in this conservative school, then really developing all the ways she subverts the ideas of womanhood other than through her dating habits (and lack of marriage) would have really have enriched the character development. Sure, I like the notion that it seemed like the administration was nitpicking stuff to be offended by, but I was left with female characters who felt out of history in a historical context.

Better female characters. All the characters felt just a baby step outside of a stereotype. We have the goody good who did everything right only to have it thrown in her face(Betty), we have the insecure woman falling in love(Constance), the traditional woman who had the intelligence to go far in a career but chose family instead(Joan), and the “whore” who slept around with older, sometimes married men(Giselle). Honestly, the second to last (Joan- intelligent woman who chose family) really highlights the shortcomings of the overall characters in this film. If you’re going to have a movie about female characters in the 50s running up against a feminist, then play with that. None of the women actually chose a career, so while Joan could have really pushed up against the idea that all feminists have to be career women, it instead felt like they were instead supporting the very ideals that their movie appeared to be trying (and failing) to subvert.  Here’s the characters I would have liked to see developed.

Katherine: the feminist professor, who was the epitome of what would become 70s feminism. Free-love woman who wasn’t looking for one man to satisfy her. Make her bisexual for some lbtq representation (absolutely no student-teacher relations though!). Not only is she not super into monogamy, but have her really encouraging women to get jobs, push off having children, and learn about orgasm. Encouraging women that they can be tough and men can (and should) be kind. Maybe this would be too far ahead of her time for a 50s movie, but I think really leaning into this idea that the conservatives at this school would be scandalized by her would be really great. I don’t know enough about 50s feminism, so I would even take her being tamer than 70s free-love. But I think she really has to be a progressive feminist to have the narrative really work well.

Betty: A smart woman who believed she always just wanted a husband and family, because she’d never been given another option. She is a great person for a stay-at-home wife gone career woman arch. You don’t need to have the husband have an affair. Instead, just show that she’s unhappy with the wifely tasks. Show her loving to learn or have a passion for a specific subject. We could really dig our teeth into a woman who just never realized what cage she’d been placed in. It’s how many of us feel when we begin reading about socialization of little girls anyway. How many of us became feminist when we realized that our tendency to say “I’m sorry” before a question in class came from gendered socialization lessons of our childhood? I want to see that woman evolve. I want to watch her deal with the cognitive dissonance, and that’s why she’s such a dick in class to Katherine. I want to see her begin to see the cracks in the facade she convinced herself of as she was encouraged by this professor she hated to see the other options she had. 

Joan: Honestly other than giving her a husband who didn’t come off as a prick, I like her arch. This intelligent woman who thought about law school but decided to instead stay and be a wife, I love it because that’s what feminism is all about- women being able to choose. However, the whole movie we get this dick of a husband who says things that imply he wouldn’t be supportive and even if we give some credit that they were trying to stay true to what men would say then, it just left a bad taste in my mouth. Even when Joan proclaimed it was her choice, I didn’t have enough grounding to believe that she wasn’t pressured indirectly into it by her husband. He didn’t have to be progressive or feminine, but something further to show that he was entirely devoted to her happiness and would have in fact supported her would have made her arch more palatable.

Giselle: Oh boy, this is just such a problematic character. She’s repeatedly been told she’s a whore, but we are never given a reason that she is friends with Betty, because while we see her being supportive, we see Betty just constantly shitting on her (and Constance for that matter). I think a free-love student isn’t a bad idea for the contexts, but that idea that she would be friends with these other female characters is just hard to stomach. You need to give me a reason to believe they would all be friends, which given the contrasting character Katherine could be, I think they all need to relatively start in the same place of conservative traditionalism. I think instead of just having the “whore” character, Giselle would be better off as a lgbtq representative. Maybe everyone thinks she’s a whore because she sneaks around a lot and no one knows where to (turns out she’s sneaking around with a female professor or student). Maybe she’s dates a lot and sleeps with one man before the end of the movie, but she declares that she’s gay or asexual after the encounter. Her friends could still make comments about her tendency with men, without it being so unlikely that they’d remain friends with her. Her progressive teacher introduces them to the lgbtq world, and that makes her start questioning herself. I’m all fine with a woman who likes sex as a character, but she just doesn’t fit with the group of friends and it shows. 

Constance: Oh boy. Her arch is so boring. It makes no sense in the context of the overall plot. It felt especially jarring considering her character’s only development seemed to be this boy she liked. Here’s the thing, there was something to her character that was tossed aside for this romance that could have made for a good feminist narrative: her confidence. Betty constantly puts her down about this boy she likes, and that’s shitty, but honestly, it is clear that her character is very insecure. She believes every time Betty says something that a guy couldn’t possibly like her. That right there could be really well developed into an arch that spoke to women in the audience. Develop the fact she’s an insecure woman who feels more secure when a guy likes her (and is easily convinced he doesn’t). Have Katherine teach a whole lesson about the male gaze in art. Have Katherine shows pictures of woman throughout the ages who were considered beautiful and discuss how beauty changes (and thus what is good art also changes). Have there be a real resolve to the interactions between Betty and Constance that are such toxic interactions. Betty needs to learn that what she says is harmful and Constance needs to learn that other people don’t define her self worth. This doesn’t even touch on all the other characters who need a ton of tweaking/overhalls to make this movie better. 

This movie has so many nuggets of potential but end up with a female empowerment movie where at best only one woman is really empowered, the rest are right where they were at the start of the film, or worse off. 

[mandibierly]

31 Genre Show Producers on the Heart of Their Series

Over the last month, executive producers of more than 30 current genre shows have taken part in Yahoo TV’s “Why Genre Shows Matter” survey, either via email or by phone. We’ve learned which genre show was the first to resonate with them, which genre show they believe deserved more Emmy love, which current genre show they think is tackling an issue well, and, if they were a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, what moment, episode, or arc best explains why in honor of the show’s 20th anniversary.

Our final question to them: What is the issue you’re proudest of tackling, or most invested in, on your own show? Read on for their answers.

Related: Yahoo TV’s Complete “Why Genre Shows Matter” Coverage

Brian Minchin (BBC America’s ‘Doctor Who’)

The Doctor sees horrors in the universe and faces them with kindness and understanding. (While reserving the right to blow things up if required). That standpoint goes into everything, and is hugely valuable. I love that children watch a hero do that. (Credit: BBC America)

Source: Yahoo TV

J. Michael Straczynski (Netflix’s ‘Sense 8’)

We designed Sense8 to say that regardless of where we are born, what our ethnic background, gender or sexuality might be, we are more alike than we are different, that what unites us is stronger than what divides us, and that the common coin of our shared humanity trumps the forces that would set us at each others’ throats. At a time when we are being tribalized and factionalized and marginalized as never before, we felt that was an important message to convey, and it’s only become more relevant and vital in the last year or so. (Credit: Netflix)

Source: Yahoo TV

Eric Kripke (NBC’s ‘Timeless’)

I’m really proud of how Timeless shines a light on some of the lesser known stories in history, often involving the heroic contributions of women and minorities. I’m proud of how we’ve established ourselves as a warm, multi-ethnic, inclusive view of history. Because one, it’s the truth, and two, America’s history should be for everyone. (Credit: Sergei Bachlakov/NBC)

Source: Yahoo TV

Albert Kim (Fox’s ‘Sleepy Hollow’)

This season on Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod Crane has gone head-to-head with a villain who believes that America has failed as a social and political experiment and that tyranny is how the country needs to move into the future. Which means Crane has been forced to defend the ideals of the country he helped establish over two centuries ago. It’s a situation that’;s allowed us to explore the question: What makes America America? Through that lens, we’ve looked at the stories of real historical figures like Benjamin Banneker, a Revolutionary War-era African American surveyor and engineer who knew that when Thomas Jefferson wrote the phrase, “All men are created equal,” it sadly didn’t apply to everyone. Now, more than ever, seems to be a good time to be bringing up issues like this, even in a fictional context. (Credit: Tina Rowden/Fox)

Source: Yahoo TV

Robert Singer (The CW’s ‘Supernatural’)

I think as the show has matured, we’ve become very conscious of the idea that world is not black and white, and that the shades of gray in this life are not easy to deal with, but it is important to try. Sam and Dean have certainly, over time, found their moral center, and because of this they try very hard not to see the world in just black or white. This season, with The British Men of Letters, who do view the world in black and white, has given our leads moral challenges which for the most part they have been up to handling. When they haven’t been up to the task, the lessons learned from these episodes have been profound. I think the best genre shows try to do this, and while good lessons learned are very valuable, it also makes for better storytelling. (Credit: Dean Buscher/The CW)

Source: Yahoo TV

Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis (ABC’s ‘Once Upon a Time’)

There’s a saying on our show that we keep coming back to: “Evil isn’t born, it’s made.” Once Upon a Time is at its core a show about hope and optimism. We like to believe that the world is filled with good and when evil does rear its head it’s because circumstance conspired to create it. And if circumstance can create evil, then those same circumstances can be defeated, and the best of humanity can win out in the end. (Credit: Jack Rowand/ABC)

Source: Yahoo TV

Cheo Hodari Coker (Netflix’s ‘Luke Cage’)

I love the fact that we have two black male characters that you’ve never seen before. You’ve never seen a burly 240-lb. black man that can throw stuff that’s also a bookworm, and you’ve never seen a musician that’s a gangster. And the fact that you have a gangster that is really just a frustrated musician is interesting. And what Simone Missick did with Misty Knight or what Alfre [Woodard] did incredibly with Black Mariah, I mean, it’s just next level… All Blaxploitation is, is the opportunity for an African-American cast or lead actor or actress to do the same things that a white action hero gets to do… The reason that Shaft has a dominant theme song is because James Bond has a dominant theme song… I wanted the show to not be embarrassed by the Blaxploitation roots, but embrace it. Then at the same time, open up the camera, so to speak — widen the aperture — to include other genres. I mean, honestly, what Luke Cage; it’s a hip-hop Western. And you have Luke Cage as the sheriff of Harlem. He’s basically Shane. He’s Shane or he’s any number of reluctant heroes as played by Clint Eastwood. (Credit: Netflix) Read our full conversation with Coker.

Source: Yahoo TV

Joe Henderson (Fox’s ‘Lucifer’)

In the second episode of the show, we established that our lead male character is bisexual, which I think is pretty rare on network TV. We worried the studio and network might push against it, but instead, they championed it. And when I mentioned it to Tom (Ellis, Lucifer himself) he just shrugged. “Well of course he is.” When it aired, the only reaction was positive. I’m proud that what we thought might be pushing boundaries/creating controversy was instead welcomed as normal. Because of course it is. (Credit: Jack Rowand/FOX)

Source: Yahoo TV

Jeff Davis (MTV’s ‘Teen Wolf’)

The idea of inclusion on Teen Wolf has always been something for which we strive. We’ve heard from fans that how being gay is treated so nonchalantly in the world of Teen Wolf has been something they’ve loved most about the show. (Credit: MTV)

Source: Yahoo TV

Ken Woodruff (Fox’s ‘Gotham’)

The story I’m proudest of is from this season (Season 3). We were able to take a popular character from the canon of DC Comics, Penguin, and tell a personal, real, heartbreaking love story between him and another male character, Edward Nygma. (Credit: Jeff Neumann/FOX)

Source: Yahoo TV

Melissa Rosenberg (Netflix’s ‘Jessica Jones’)

In the comic books, Jessica wasn’t actually raped — she was an imprisoned voyeur to it, and we just wanted to make it a more personal experience and more realistic. We really were just telling the story of this character and never said, “Okay, we’re going to tackle the issue of rape or domestic violence or any issue like that.” We’re just going to tell her story and be responsible about it and be honest with the character. And so when it aired, there were initially all these think pieces on how it addressed rape and domestic violence. And then we were like, “Yes, that’s exactly what we intended to do!” Obviously we were dealing with an issue, but we never approached it that way. The minute you step on a soapbox is the minute people stop listening to you. (Credit: Netflix) Read our full conversation with Rosenberg and The Magicians showrunner Sera Gamble.

Source: Yahoo TV

Sera Gamble (Syfy’s ‘The Magicians’)

We felt that sexual assault was really the core of the Magicians story. The reveal that the Big Bad [The Beast] evolved into a monster as a defense mechanism to protect himself because he was being sexually abused as a young boy struck my partner, John McNamara, and me as a really amazing use of fantasy, and it felt psychologically real. It was non-negotiable for us. We really wanted to tell that story. It kind of became the guiding mechanism for the whole show; just the idea that fantasy is used to explore darkness and the human psyche and the various evils that we do to one another and to human beings. When we got to [where] Julia is assaulted by a trickster god, it’s a very graphic rape scene. What was important to us was to be honest and unflinching about it. We didn’t want to find any trapdoors that we could go through that made it less personal for the audience. So for example, we could have made the creature that assaulted her look less human and we chose not to. We wanted him to feel as human and present in the room as possible. Most important for us, when we filmed that scene, was to stay in Julia’s point of view, to make sure we were telling her story, and that she never became the object of the story. She was always the subject of the story. (Photo by: Carole Segal/Syfy) Read our full conversation with Gamble and Jessica Jones showrunner Melisssa Rosenberg.

Source: Yahoo TV

Bruce Miller (Hulu’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’)

I’m proudest of the way the show deals with institutionalized sexism and misogyny. The show takes place in an alternative present where women are commodified and strictly oppressed under threat of violence. In a world like this it’s easy to get lost in categories, i.e. victims, collaborators, oppressors, but I’m proud of how our show tries to humanize everyone in Atwood’s Gilead. (Credit: Take Five/Hulu)

Source: Yahoo TV

Michelle Lovretta (Syfy’s ‘Killjoys’)

Consent and agency are important themes in most of my work, and are also just a natural fit when dealing with science fiction, especially as a woman. In Killjoys, a lot of our long arcs are about systems trampling on the rights of individuals… and then we sit back, crack a beer, and have fun watching how our smartass underdogs win out. (Credit: Ian Watson/Syfy/Killjoys II Productions Limited)

Source: Yahoo TV

Ronald D. Moore (Starz’s ‘Outlander’)

I’m proud of the way we depict our heroine as a smart, strong woman who is able to adapt to living in the past without losing her sense of self. She’s not a damsel in distress and she’s often the one to come to the rescue of the man she loves. (Credit: Starz)

Source: Yahoo TV

Emily Andras (Syfy’s ‘Wynonna Earp’)

I’m very proud of the female representation on Wynonna Earp — has there ever been a western with more women running around firing guns and kicking ass? — and I like to think we handled the LGBT storyline delicately with grace and good spirit. (Credit: Michelle Faye/Syfy/Wynonna Earp Productions)

Source: Yahoo TV

Marco Ramirez (Netflix’s ‘Daredevil’)

From the beginning, Daredevil has been concerned with characters who uncover truth, whether through vigilante activity or journalistic integrity. The Ben Urich story, which then became Karen Page’s story, is something that seems to take on a new and different meaning every year. Season 1, it was about taking down Wilson Fisk. Season 2, it became about uncovering the truth behind the murder of Frank Castle’s family. Maybe it’s The X-Files still in my DNA, but “the truth is out there” is a hell of a dramatic motor in TV. (Credit: Barry Wetcher)

Source: Yahoo TV

Terry Matalas (’12 Monkeys’)

12 Monkeys is pretty morally gray, through and through — which gives us great latitude to explore things like blind faith in any kind of doctrine.  We delve into how one can be driven to do terrible things: Fear. Love. Faith. (Credit: Ben Mark Holzberg/Syfy)

Source: Yahoo TV

Mark Fergus (Syfy’s ‘The Expanse’)

You’ve got these middle-aged guys who have lived badly, or if they had convictions they lost them, they tripped and fell in life and they’re trying to find a way back to the light… That’s the story we gravitate to because I feel like we have something to say about that. It’s Children of Men, it’s Tony Stark, it’s Rick from Casablanca, it’s The Verdict. [In Season 2’s “Home”] Miller felt like his whole life had been the fabric leading him up to this moment, so the fact that he was a f–kup his whole life actually helped him in the moment where he needed to redeem himself. That final scene with Julie, that was the reason we wanted to make this show. That was the whole heart of it. It’s not only the heart of the book, I think it’s the heart of the whole show. (Credit: Syfy) Read our full conversation with Fergus.

Source: Yahoo TV

Bryan Fuller and Michael Green (Starz’s ‘American Gods’)

Fuller: We’re very proud of the coming-to-America stories. We told them because we were very moved by them as reminders of how we all got here. And when we made them, we thought everyone would be moved by them too and were very surprised to find out by the time it airs — especially after November — those immigration stories have become far more political than we would have ever expected. If people are moved by them, so much the better. If people are challenged by them, that’s there too, and not a bad thing at all. (Credit: Starz) Read our full conversation with Fuller and Green.

Source: Yahoo TV

Ryan Condal and Carlton Cuse (USA’s ‘Colony’)

Condal: We’re proudest of the human drama in Colony. The genre, the science-fiction, is just a backdrop that applies the correct pressures (i.e., an alien occupation of Los Angeles) to explore the themes in which we are most interested. This season, there are two particular issues that are addressed that really interested us. In episode 2.04 (“Panopticon”), we dramatize the very real and growing technological surveillance state as it applies to the world of Colony and, in particular, the Bowman family. What happens to a society when it lives in constant fear of being watched? Can anyone trust anyone? The answers are dark and approaching the nihilistic, which is why we were so drawn to it. The other issue is the true nature of resistance. When we think of the word “resistance,” in a science-fiction context, it tends to conjure images of the Rebel Alliance in Star Wars and Sarah Connor in The Terminator. But real resistance is ugly. It’s politically motivated, it’s brutally violent, it is uncompromising, and it is often utterly futile. This is a big theme this season, particularly in the second half, and I think the audience will be surprised about what Colony has to say about the issue. (Credit: Isabella Vosmikova/USA Network)

Source: Yahoo TV

David Greenwalt and Jim Kouf (NBC’s ‘Grimm’)

Greenwalt: Grimm attempts to offer an explanation for monstrous behavior and the inexplicable nature of evil. Kouf: The environmental issue in episode 9 of this season, as the environment is an issue that’s important to me, and the senility issue in episode 10 of this season, as it is an issue we all have to deal with. (Credit: Allyson Riggs/NBC)

Source: Yahoo TV

David Eick (Freeform’s ‘Beyond’)

Beyond is interested in how a nuclear family holds together despite extraordinary events, and how growing up and becoming an adult is sort of like learning to be a superhero. (Credit: Katie Yu/Freeform)

Source: Yahoo TV

Julie Plec (The CW’s ‘The Originals’)

It’s all about family, for better or for worse, through the good and the bad. It’s about the bonds of blood. And as children of dysfunction and abuse and tyranny, it’s about how these kids grew up to be both the worst parts of that and the best parts of themselves in spite of it all. (Credit: Annette Brown/The CW)

Source: Yahoo TV

Damon Lindelof (HBO’s ‘The Leftovers’)

I feel most proud of the way our show addresses grief… how surprising and upsetting and nonsensical coping mechanisms can be, whether that mechanism is joining a cult or hiring prostitutes to shoot you in the chest. There is no more profoundly complex human emotion than the one associated with losing someone you love and The Leftovers is a constant examination of that idea. (Credit: HBO)

Source: Yahoo TV

Julie Plec (The CW’s ‘The Vampire Diaries’)

I think that we said a lot that this is a show about love and loss. And those are two extremely universal things that everybody on this planet goes through at one point in their lives. They, with luck, fall deeply in love at least once. Unfortunately, over the course of a lifetime, they experience loss more times than anyone could hope. It’s very difficult for people to express themselves emotionally to deal with those emotions. In the phases of managing and moving on from grief, it’s a very complicated journey. A show that tackles issues of loss and grief, like what we do, is just another tool out there in the universe to let you sit and have a good cry, or to see something about your own experience in this fiction. (Photo: Bob Mahoney/The CW) Read our full conversation with Plec.

Source: Yahoo TV

Nick Antosca (Syfy’s ‘Channel Zero’)

Loss and the experience of coping with it, in Channel Zero: Candle Cove. We’re a horror show, and loss is the most universal real world horror. (Credit: Allen Fraser/Syfy)

Source: Yahoo TV

Dana Gould (IFC’s ‘Stan Against Evil’)

Stan Against Evil is largely about moving on after loss. We start Season 1 at the funeral of our lead character’s wife, and by the end of the season, he has only started to come to terms with it. I went through a divorce a couple years ago, and didn’t realize until midway through filming that I had been writing about myself. (Credit: Kim Simms/IFC)

Source: Yahoo TV

Dan Harmon (Adult Swim’s ‘Rick and Morty’)

I am proud that our show addresses what I consider the root of all our issues: it’s better to have felt an unfeeling universe than never to have felt at all. (Credit: Cartoon Network)

Source: Yahoo TV

Drew Goddard (NBC’s ‘The Good Place’)

I believe The Good Place is the first show to explore sexual relations between an anthropomorphized afterlife information delivery system and a gentleman from Jacksonville, but it’s possible St. Elsewhere got there first. (Credit: Vivian Zink/NBC)

Source: Yahoo TV

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’)

We spend a lot of time pondering the complexities of incestuous relations. Talk about a sticky situation! (Credit: HBO)

Source: Yahoo TV

[jeannejcooper76]

35 eCommerce Growth Hacks

Hi, and welcome to the March 2019 blog post here on AidanBooth.com!

This month I’m sharing 35 eCommerce Growth Hacks, and content comes courtesy of Online Marketing Classroom (OMC), the membership program Steve and I run (which Steve started way back in 2008).

OMC is built around six core pillars:

In addition to updating our members with new content and strategies every month, we also provide exclusive access to custom in-house tools, special discounts, and are involved every day in the OMC community.

We’re incredibly proud of what OMC has become over the past 11 years. To find out more, go here: https://onlinemarketingclassroom.com

Now, on to this month’s content!

The content today is aimed at helping eCommerce stores perform better. We’ve got 35 different tactics for you to consider, and implementing even just a few of them could result in huge gains for your business, or be the difference between success and failure.

The tactics below add to one another, and the synergy helps your business scale in a way not possible with just a single marketing method. This is about taking an asset you already have and turning it into something much more valuable (and profitable).

With that in mind, let’s jump right in…

1. Encourage User Generated Content

86% of millennials report User Generated Content indicates brand quality. Before making a purchase, 68% of users age 18 – 24 take the social media presence of the brand into consideration. ComScore reports the ROI as very high, with brand engagement rising by 28% when user-generated content is combined with brand marketing.

User Generated Content is as it sounds; any sort of content that’s created by users (customers/fans/etc). This may be photos, videos, blog posts, social media posts and so on. The important thing is that it’s created about the brand by someone other than the brand. It’s a 3rd party endorsement.

How to get it?

The best way is by incentivizing customers with some type of reward, such as cash, gift cards, products or simply exposure on your Brand’s website, fan page or in the newsletter.

Run a contest where customers post pictures of themselves using the product to their social media pages with a specific hashtag you specify. Winners can be drawn randomly or chosen by other users.

Sometimes you don’t even have to offer an incentive, you can just ask. Yoga brand Lululemon ran a campaign with hashtag #thesweatlife, asking customers to post pictures of themselves “getting their sweat on”. 7,000 photos were collected in only a couple of months, and the page they created at #sweatlife got 40,000+ visits.

2. Launch Stores on Multiple Platforms (eBay & Facebook)

Once your primary eCommerce store is up and running, you can expand fairly easily by using your existing images and product copy to set up shop on other marketplace platforms such as eBay and Facebook. As of this writing there are 168 million active buyers on eBay and Facebook marketplace is used by 800 million people monthly.

Selling on these platforms doesn’t require you to send inventory to their warehouse. You only need to put a few additional logistics in place to handle fulfillment, making this a fast method to bring massive revenue growth.

These plugins and resources will help:

Shopify eBay Plugin

Woocommerce eBay Plugin

BigCommerce eBay Plugin

Shopify Facebook – Accepting applications for integration HERE

BigCommerce Facebook Marketplace plugin

3. Tap Into The Massive Reddit Community

Reddit users are notorious for hating marketers… which is actually good news.

Every so often a business owner “cracks the code” to gaining trust in the Reddit community and is rewarded with the “blue ocean” that exists there (very little to no competition, but lots of opportunity).

Reddit is the 7th highest trafficked site on the internet. There are 234 million unique users, and it gets 8 billion page views a month. This is a community that rewards you with intense loyalty and lots of sales when you tap into it properly.

The key is to take the time and effort to establish yourself as a trusted community member first. You gain “karma points” on your profile as you contribute value and get upvotes. With enough upvotes, and some emotional intelligence, you can then make useful recommendations that get people over to your website.

That does not mean you suddenly switch from helpful community member into hype-filled marketer. Reddit users hate clickbait and anything that sounds scammy. To get results, be completely genuine and recommend products in the same way you would as if speaking to a personal friend in real life.

4. Incentivize Shoppers with Rewards Programs

Credit card companies have known for quite some time the power of rewards to get cardholders spending as much as possible. Other industries are starting to see the benefits of incorporating this as well, and several apps have been created to execute this on eCommerce shopping platforms.

Shoppers will often buy just to get a reward, and this works to your favor not just on initial purchases but for gaining repeat business as well. People don’t want to “lose” points they’ve already earned, so when conflicted between two similar stores, they’ll usually choose the one they have points at already.

As for incentives, the tried and true “punch card” method where each purchase brings them closer to the reward is just as effective as ever.

Another option is to offer cash rewards (ie $10 cash back for every $100 spent) or points good toward store credit or gift cards.

There are many apps on the marketplace that make it easy to set up Rewards programs for customers.

Below are the highest rated apps for:

Shopify

BigCommerce

5. Automate Social Posting

Why is it that some businesses get huge traction and sales from social media and others don’t, even when they’re in the same industry?

A survey conducted with social media users found that consistency is a major component of what causes a person to follow a brand or not. Frequency is also important. The more often you’re in front of your target demographic, the more memorable and trusted your brand is.

The problem is it takes time to come up with content and post it every day. It’s difficult to maintain when you have so many other daily tasks.

That’s why it’s best to batch your social media content creation and get it all set up in advance so that it’s automatically posting on a regular schedule.

Social media automation tools such as Buffer and Hootsuite are useful to schedule all the content in advance.

6. Customize Website for International Shoppers

If you’re able to ship internationally, your conversions will get a major boost from having a version of your website specifically for users of that country.

This is obviously even more important if they speak a different language. Rather than using a browser extension to translate the site and trying to figure out if the item they want really does ship to their location, users immediately feel confident they can purchase from you.

You can use a translation service like Gengo for the text on your website, or post a translation job on Upwork.

Then implement a tool on your website that detects users’ location and automatically displays the correct version:

For Shopify: https://apps.shopify.com/geolocation-redirect

For BigCommerce: https://geotargetly.com/geo-redirect

You’ll want to display prices in the local currency as well, which can be done with an app:

Shopify & BigCommerce Multi-Currency

7. Grow Profits Over Time From Continuous Split Testing

An A/B test, also called a split test, is showing 50% of your website visitors one version of a webpage and the other 50% an alternate version where something has been changed, then measuring to see which has a higher conversion rate.

The aim of an A/B test is to bring you more revenue from the same amount of traffic, by increasing the conversion rate of your product pages, checkout process and other assets in the sales funnel. Doing this can open opportunities to acquire customers you previously weren’t able to because the cost was prohibitive. Or, it can simply increase your profit margin.

Although you will build your website with the goal of optimizing it for a high conversion rate off the bat, there are some things you can’t be sure are producing the highest conversion rate possible until you test it. For some businesses, they’re surprised at the winning variable in a split test because all the “experts” told them a different format was better.

Not only that, but the online world is constantly evolving. What worked well a few years (or even a few months) ago may be a conversion-killer now. If you’re continually testing, you’ll gain the edge over competitors who aren’t willing to invest the time.

You’ll get the most benefit from split testing:

The offer

Headline text

The call-to-action

Buttons – the shape, color, size

Images

Videos

Testimonials

Bullets and other body copy

Other social proof elements such as certificates, security badges, partner logos, etc.

The navigation options – sometimes having no or few navigational elements increases conversion by keeping people focused on the offer, other times sales go up when visitors have easy access to review other pages on the website before purchasing.

The checkout process – many sales are lost during checkout, so it’s wise to put a lot of focus on optimizing here.

8. Create a Personality For Your Company

Although it’s always been true that consumers connect better with people than faceless corporations, it’s more important today than ever before. Whether or not a company seems genuine and authentic was recently found to be one of the major decision factors when purchasing.

This doesn’t necessarily mean your brand has to have an actual person as a brand representative for customers to connect with. That is one option, but it can be as simple as just making sure your brand itself has a personality.

Brand personality is expressed through the language you use in headlines, body copy, emails and social media content. It’s also expressed through colors, images, logos and so on.

For this reason, having a deep understanding of who your demographic is pays off in a big way. When a customer can relate to the personality traits they feel a brand has, it creates emotional connection and rapport.

9. Welcome Controversial Topics to Generate Discussion

Controversy brings a lot of attention, and attention brings a lot of sales.

There are risks to taking a stand on controversial topics of course, but if you know your audience well and are willing to lose a small percentage of followers, with the added benefit of higher loyalty from those remaining, then it can be well worth it.

Understanding your audience is crucial if you’re going to attempt this. You obviously wouldn’t build a following of animal lovers and then announce support of hunting. However, you can take a stand on important issues within the community, such as being against a particular pet behavior training method, bringing attention as well as loyalty from those with a similar view.

You can also tap into trending controversial topics using a playful method that’s not necessarily polarizing.

As long as you are brave enough, you can attract attention just by being a bit cheeky. Such as, in the middle of a heated political campaign, posting that both candidates would be in a better mood if they had used your company’s travel pillow on their flight. It may be cheesy, and you’ll likely get some snarky responses, but you won’t be complaining about the high open rates, shares, comments and sales that result.

10. Remind Shoppers of Wishlist Items via Email

Shoppers have a tendency to add items to their wishlist and then completely forget about them. Since keeping in touch with customers and subscribers often is important for top of mind awareness anyway, you have the dual benefit of having a reason to follow up that simultaneously is a sales oriented email.

If you use Shopify, there’s an app that automatically sends follow-up emails reminding shoppers of Wishlist items:

https://apps.shopify.com/wishlist-followup

11. Proactively Collect Product Reviews

Customers rarely leave product reviews on their own without a reminder. The exception is when they’re unhappy! That means you need to be proactive about gathering positive reviews, as they have a significant effect on sales. BrightLocal found that 85% of shoppers trust internet reviews as they would a personal recommendation.

To gather reviews, the most effective methods are by:

Including a product insert in the package that asks customers to leave a review, and include the URL where they can post it.

Sending an email reminder. Yotpo is a good app for automating this. A few weeks after a purchase, Yotpo automatically sends an email to customers asking them to rate/review. It even allows customers to write the review in an email response, which it then posts to the correct product listing.

Yotpo for Shopify: https://apps.shopify.com/yotpo-social-reviews Yotpo for BigCommerce: https://www.bigcommerce.com/apps/yotpo-social-reviews

Consider the timing of your review reminders as far as how long it takes to process and deliver the product, and how much time the customer needs in order to use it and see results. You don’t want to ask someone for a review before they’ve even received or used the product.

12. Guest Post for Exposure

Guest posting is known as a popular method for gathering links that help your website rank in the search engines. However, if you connect with popular bloggers in your niche who have high engagement from their followers, you’ll see immediate traffic and sales from your guest posts.

Guestpost.com is a good place to connect with influencers. It helps you find websites in your niche that accept guest posts, keep track of where you’ve submitted posts, and includes email templates for cold  outreach to websites you’d like to be published on. It also provides tools for analyzing the stats of a website so you aren’t wasting time creating content for sites with low readership.

13. Use Live Chat to Close Sales

When a shopper can’t find an immediate answer to their questions, they often become frustrated and with alternative websites being only a few clicks away, it’s easy to lose potential customers to a competitor who has what they need.

79% of customers prefer live chat support over other channels because it’s the fastest option.

Adding live chat to your website makes shoppers feel like they’re in a ‘real’ store, able to get their questions answered by shop assistants.

You don’t have to be chained to your website 24/7 to implement this though. You can either set specific chat support hours, and/or use an app that allows you to answer questions from your cell phone.

SumoMe shared a live chat trick for gathering more leads while you’re away from the chat. They included an auto-response when not available to answer questions that said:

They found it was a highly effective way to collect email addresses compare to the default of asking the person to submit their inquiry into the chat box along with email address that you’ll respond to during normal support hours. Just the slight change in words significantly improved the number of leads collected.

We’ve analyzed the live chat options available to find those that integrate well with popular eCommerce platforms and are highly rated specifically by eCommerce store owners.

LiveChat provides great value for eCommerce entrepreneurs. They have a ticketing system, goal tracking, and thorough analytics. They integrate with the most popular shopping platforms, including Shopify and BigCommerce.

Tidio is another option, and has recently added several convenient features for Shopify stores such as automatically checking the status of an order, product availability and delivery locations. The satisfaction rate from Shopify users is higher than for BigCommerce, as these features are currently only available for Shopify stores.

Chatra is a good choice if you’re on a budget, as they have a free plan for solo entrepreneurs. The paid version allows for multiple support agents. It integrates with Slack, Google Analytics, and you can reply to support requests with the mobile app available on Android and iOS.

14. Wow Customers With Handwritten Thank You Cards

Sending personalized, handwritten thank you cards to customers is a huge satisfaction and loyalty booster that gets customers not only returning to buy again, but giving you free advertising by spreading the word to friends and family.

Donors Choose, a non-profit collecting donations for public school classroom projects, tried this method and were able to get 38% of donors returning to give a second donation. The donation amount also increased by an average of $41, resulting in an extra $3 million in donations per year.

Luckily you don’t need to write these cards yourself. You can use a service called Thankbot, which automates the writing and sending of (handwritten) cards for you.

15. Recapture Shoppers With Exit Intent Popups

It’s a fact in the online business world that most visitors to your website will leave without making a purchase. Since traffic can be expensive to obtain, you want to do everything possible to get the sale or at least contact info before losing the visitor.

The top priority location to focus on is checkout abandonment. These are not just random browsers you’re losing; they’re buyers. Adding an exit intent pop here with a discount coupon and satisfaction guarantee reminder is fast and easy to put in place, and will immediately start recouping sales for you.

An exit intent popup is triggered when the visitor takes an action that indicates they may close the page, such as rapid mouse movement toward the browser search bar or exit. This isn’t the same as the old school popups that appear ‘after’ a visitor closes the page.

The popular exit-intent popup software options on the market today are:

Bounce Breaker (created by Steve and I)

SumoMe

Bounce Exchange

Gleam

16. Personalize Homepage For a Conversion Boost

Amazon does a great job of personalizing the homepage; they’re a perfect example to model.

Your sales will definitely go up by using personalization that displays items similar to what someone has purchased or viewed previously. Reminding viewers of products they looked at previously but haven’t bought yet will get a certain percentage of visitors finalizing that purchase.

With the tools available today, you don’t need advanced coding skills to do this. You can use Evergage or Bunting to get it done without being tech savvy.

17. Make Use of FOMO to get Shoppers Buying Immediately

The fear of missing out on something is a strong psychological drive that repeatedly has been proven to get people to take an action rather than procrastinate.

The easiest method to create this in your marketing is by using scarcity in your sales funnel and other marketing creatives.

This can be done by displaying remaining inventory (“only 3 left”), executing a deadline where customers no longer get a discount or bonus after the timer runs out, and using social proof apps to show shoppers that other people are looking at the item and they may lose it if others buy it before they do.

Inventory Remaining Shopify app: https://apps.shopify.com/pressure-cooker

Countdown timer Shopify: https://apps.shopify.com/powr-countdown-timer

Countdown timer & low stock alert Bigcommerce: https://www.bigcommerce.com/apps/countdown-cart/

Social proof urgency app for Shopify: https://apps.shopify.com/social-proof-urgency

18. Fix Browser Bugs & Incompatibilities

You could be losing many sales simply because your website either doesn’t display the formatting correctly on certain browsers, or has browser bugs.

One way to quickly spot issues is by going to your Google Analytics report at Audience > Technology > Browser & OS report.

Then, look for browsers that are converting at a lower rate than the others. You may see that IE 10 is converting 3% higher than IE 11, and Firefox 63 is converting higher than Firefox 60.

You can then use a tools such as BrowserStack, CrossBrowserTesting or Browserling to view your website in different browsers and see what the problem is.

Prioritize which to fix first based on the amount of missed revenue (usually highest traffic). Assume that the underperforming version would convert the same as the other and use that to estimate. This can also help you see if it’s worth paying a developer to fix the issue (it may take a few months to recoup the investment).

19. Optimize Input Fields on Checkout For Easy Ordering

Shopping is fun… until it’s time to fill out several lengthy forms. The longer a checkout process is, and the more fields a shopper has to enter, the higher likelihood they’ll abandon.

Make checkout quick and easy by minimizing the amount of information required to complete the order.

Also make use of autofill on forms where it’s allowed such as name, email, address, phone number and other fields that don’t pose any security or privacy threat.

20. Make Returns Easy

As much as people love shopping online, the inconvenience of paying return shipping or restocking fees if the product doesn’t meet expectations or isn’t the right fit is a bit nerve wracking. This fear can prevent purchases.

Do whatever you can to at least pay return shipping; it’s good business. If you can avoid restocking fees, that is best as well.

More than 50% of store shoppers will read the return policy before making a purchase, so be sure it’s easily accessible on all pages, as well as understandable and concise.

21. Satisfy Shoppers “Want it Now” Mentality With Fast Shipping

“Retailers should never underestimate the ‘want it now’ mentality. If customers know that they will receive goods quickly when they order, they’ll keep coming back.” Graham Charlton – Clickz Global

We’ve grown accustomed to getting whatever we want, and getting it fast. Slow shipping will deter customers nowadays. The faster you can get the customer their item, the easier you’ll win them over. It may eat into your margins a bit, but it will pay off.

This is possible even if you’re doing dropshipping. You can now find US suppliers on AliExpress, using a new search filter available:

22. Use Shipping Boxes to Promote Your Brand

There are numerous opportunities for your brand to be seen between the time it’s packaged and the time the customer opens it. For instance, sitting on the ground outside the recipient’s house, dorm room, or apartment. Posted on social media because customer’s pets are playing in the empty box. On top of the counter at FedEx waiting for pickup.

With a clever logo, tagline and website URL, this is an excellent free marketing technique that can bring in new customers.

23. Write a Solution-Focused SEO Title to Maximize Traffic

When someone types an inquiry into a search engine, they’re looking for a solution to something. Perhaps they’re just looking for a suit, but that suit is a solution to something they need. Their “problem” is they need to look dressed up for a particular occasion. By turning your headlines into solutions, you’ll get  searchers clicking over to your website instead of competitors:

24. Prove Popularity with Social Proof Apps

Let’s face it… when you see a crowd of people looking at something the natural urge is to look too.

When one restaurant is packed and the other empty, you assume the packed restaurant must be the best and go there.

On the internet you can showcase how popular your website and products are via social proof apps that simulate this experience by popping up a message to website visitors when another visitor subscribes or purchases a product.

Social proof apps such as https://useproof.com/ provide an average conversion lift of 10% and can be set up in 15 minutes or less.

25. Find and Fix Duplicate Content

Duplicate content is extremely common on eCommerce sites, mostly caused by:

Search Filter Combinations

Product Descriptions

Title Tags

You can utilize the free version of Screaming Frog software to identify duplicate content issues on your website.

26. Prevent Chargebacks

Chargebacks are very expensive and can be costing your business a lot of money. Not only do you lose the amount of the original purchase, but you have to pay a fee on top of that.

Most chargebacks happen either because customers don’t recognize the charge on their card, or because their card was stolen and used fraudulently.

Here’s how to combat these issues:

Make sure the name that appears on your customer’s bank statement matches the name of your brand/store. The more irrelevant the name appearing on their statement is to what your store sells, the more likely you’ll get a chargeback.

If you do any recurring billing, remind customers ‘before’ their recurring payment is charged. Remind them what name will appear on their bank statement as well.

Remind customers what name will appear on their bank statement on the order form, ‘and’ in the product receipt.

Provide exceptional customer service always, and solve unhappy customers problems quickly and thoroughly (make sure they’re happy before closing the ticket).

Learn how to spot fraud and review it immediately. If you get a fraud alert because an order came in with a different shipping address or name than the billing information, follow up on it and call the customer to verify if you have any suspicions about it.

27. Have a Professional Customer Support Desk in Place

Nothing makes customers more nervous than a “support system” consisting of a free email address with no ticket # or auto-reply confirming receipt of support inquiries. These little things can really make customers apprehensive and hurt your business.

It’s great to be a startup, but you want your customers to feel comfortable and happy with their shopping experience so you can grow. There are free and low-cost options available such as FreshDesk (Steve and I use this) that help you look professional even when on a budget.

28. Use Multiple Suppliers

Imagine one of your products is extremely popular and bringing you sales every day… then your supplier runs out of stock and you can’t sell anymore!

It’s good to have a backup supplier to keep the sales coming in and avoid stock-outs. Your profit margin may be a bit smaller as you won’t benefit from quantity discounts, but a sale at a lower profit is better than no sale at all (and better than causing frustration to customers who want the item and can’t get it).

It also makes sure YOU stay in business even if your supplier doesn’t.

29. Get in Front of Trends to Catch Big Sales Waves

Trendy products spike in sales quickly and die just as fast… if you aren’t in early, you miss out on the big money. However, doing the work to find the next hot product requires a lot of time and boring manual tasks.

Rather than spending hours researching and trying to figure out the next hot product on your own, you can use a tool like Trendosaur or Terrapeak to quickly spot what’s about to become popular, allowing you to get in before everyone else.

30. Easily Expand Product Line via Dropshipping

Having a vast product selection makes your company appear larger and provides you opportunity to gain additional sales via cross-selling and upselling.

eCommerce giant Amazon implemented dropshipping in 2011, and the dropshipped products made up 34% of sold merchandise that year.

Since sourcing your own product takes quite a bit of time, upfront capital and risk, you can add a selection of new products using the dropshipping method. Once one or more of those start selling a lot, you can then work to manufacture it on your own with the security of knowing in advance that it will sell.

31. Create Limited-Edition Bundles

Introduce true scarcity into your store to create an immediate surge of sales, tapping into FOMO and helping keep the reputation of your brand high by proving that limited really means limited.

Consumers are aware that urgency and advertisements of limited quantities are not always true. By adding limited-edition bundles that actually sell out and disappear, it keeps the rest of your scarcity and urgency elements (that may be on a recurring/resetting timer) effective.

32. Automate Tedious Time-Consuming Tasks

You can save dozens (even hundreds) of hours per month on repetitive tedious tasks by using apps such as Dropified, which allow you to:

Import products from AliExpress and other suppliers (1-Click Import Products to your Shopify, Commerce HQ or WooCommerce store. Directly import from sites AliExpress, AliBaba, eBay, Walmart, Costco, Wish, Etsy, SammyDress and many others.)

Easily create dynamic product descriptions

Edit images within the app

Quickly find suppliers who have e-packet shipping available

Automatically orders all bundled products together at the same time

Gives you access to a list of US product vendors. (For dropshippers selling in the US this helps you get products to your customers faster. The list includes 10,000 products that ship from the US.)

This particular app is unfortunately not available for BigCommerce, however there is a similar service that works on WooCommerce called ShopMaster.

33. Capture Lost Sales With Back in Stock Notifications

Very little annoys customers more than an item being out of stock… and they’ll usually just leave and order it elsewhere.

Luckily you can help combat stock-outs with the multiple suppliers tip offered earlier. However for those cases when you still can’t do anything about it, there is one thing you can do to potentially recapture the sale later. You can send an email to the person as soon as it’s back in stock again.

There’s an app called “Back In Stock”, which collects emails and sends automatic emails with an order button as soon as the item is restocked.

For Shopify: https://apps.shopify.com/back-in-stock

For BigCommerce: https://www.bigcommerce.com/apps/instocknotify/

34. Push Notification + Abandoned Cart

The ultimate abandoned cart recovery tool is the push notification. It’s best to get acceptance for push notifications earlier in the shopping process by offering a coupon or other incentive to turn it on. Then, if they abandon their cart later, you can trigger the notification to appear directly on the desktop or mobile device.

35. Track Everything

Track more than you think you’ll need, because what you measure you can improve. Make improvements everywhere you can and watch your business grow exponentially.

It also helps keep your motivation up. If you can’t see what’s improving, you may have a false sense of not progressing – when you actually are improving. Keep in mind this doesn’t mean you need to monitor all stats every day (or even every week). It’ll feel good to look back after several months though, and see all the areas that have grown.

35 eCommerce Growth Hacks shared from AidanBooth.com

35 eCommerce Growth Hacks shared from Aileen Batts Blog

[aileenmbatts]

35 eCommerce Growth Hacks

Hi, and welcome to the March 2019 blog post here on AidanBooth.com!

This month I’m sharing 35 eCommerce Growth Hacks, and content comes courtesy of Online Marketing Classroom (OMC), the membership program Steve and I run (which Steve started way back in 2008).

OMC is built around six core pillars:

In addition to updating our members with new content and strategies every month, we also provide exclusive access to custom in-house tools, special discounts, and are involved every day in the OMC community.

We’re incredibly proud of what OMC has become over the past 11 years. To find out more, go here: https://onlinemarketingclassroom.com

Now, on to this month’s content!

The content today is aimed at helping eCommerce stores perform better. We’ve got 35 different tactics for you to consider, and implementing even just a few of them could result in huge gains for your business, or be the difference between success and failure.

The tactics below add to one another, and the synergy helps your business scale in a way not possible with just a single marketing method. This is about taking an asset you already have and turning it into something much more valuable (and profitable).

With that in mind, let’s jump right in…

1. Encourage User Generated Content

86% of millennials report User Generated Content indicates brand quality. Before making a purchase, 68% of users age 18 – 24 take the social media presence of the brand into consideration. ComScore reports the ROI as very high, with brand engagement rising by 28% when user-generated content is combined with brand marketing.

User Generated Content is as it sounds; any sort of content that’s created by users (customers/fans/etc). This may be photos, videos, blog posts, social media posts and so on. The important thing is that it’s created about the brand by someone other than the brand. It’s a 3rd party endorsement.

How to get it?

The best way is by incentivizing customers with some type of reward, such as cash, gift cards, products or simply exposure on your Brand’s website, fan page or in the newsletter.

Run a contest where customers post pictures of themselves using the product to their social media pages with a specific hashtag you specify. Winners can be drawn randomly or chosen by other users.

Sometimes you don’t even have to offer an incentive, you can just ask. Yoga brand Lululemon ran a campaign with hashtag #thesweatlife, asking customers to post pictures of themselves “getting their sweat on”. 7,000 photos were collected in only a couple of months, and the page they created at #sweatlife got 40,000+ visits.

2. Launch Stores on Multiple Platforms (eBay & Facebook)

Once your primary eCommerce store is up and running, you can expand fairly easily by using your existing images and product copy to set up shop on other marketplace platforms such as eBay and Facebook. As of this writing there are 168 million active buyers on eBay and Facebook marketplace is used by 800 million people monthly.

Selling on these platforms doesn’t require you to send inventory to their warehouse. You only need to put a few additional logistics in place to handle fulfillment, making this a fast method to bring massive revenue growth.

These plugins and resources will help:

Shopify eBay Plugin

Woocommerce eBay Plugin

BigCommerce eBay Plugin

Shopify Facebook – Accepting applications for integration HERE

BigCommerce Facebook Marketplace plugin

3. Tap Into The Massive Reddit Community

Reddit users are notorious for hating marketers… which is actually good news.

Every so often a business owner “cracks the code” to gaining trust in the Reddit community and is rewarded with the “blue ocean” that exists there (very little to no competition, but lots of opportunity).

Reddit is the 7th highest trafficked site on the internet. There are 234 million unique users, and it gets 8 billion page views a month. This is a community that rewards you with intense loyalty and lots of sales when you tap into it properly.

The key is to take the time and effort to establish yourself as a trusted community member first. You gain “karma points” on your profile as you contribute value and get upvotes. With enough upvotes, and some emotional intelligence, you can then make useful recommendations that get people over to your website.

That does not mean you suddenly switch from helpful community member into hype-filled marketer. Reddit users hate clickbait and anything that sounds scammy. To get results, be completely genuine and recommend products in the same way you would as if speaking to a personal friend in real life.

4. Incentivize Shoppers with Rewards Programs

Credit card companies have known for quite some time the power of rewards to get cardholders spending as much as possible. Other industries are starting to see the benefits of incorporating this as well, and several apps have been created to execute this on eCommerce shopping platforms.

Shoppers will often buy just to get a reward, and this works to your favor not just on initial purchases but for gaining repeat business as well. People don’t want to “lose” points they’ve already earned, so when conflicted between two similar stores, they’ll usually choose the one they have points at already.

As for incentives, the tried and true “punch card” method where each purchase brings them closer to the reward is just as effective as ever.

Another option is to offer cash rewards (ie $10 cash back for every $100 spent) or points good toward store credit or gift cards.

There are many apps on the marketplace that make it easy to set up Rewards programs for customers.

Below are the highest rated apps for:

Shopify

BigCommerce

5. Automate Social Posting

Why is it that some businesses get huge traction and sales from social media and others don’t, even when they’re in the same industry?

A survey conducted with social media users found that consistency is a major component of what causes a person to follow a brand or not. Frequency is also important. The more often you’re in front of your target demographic, the more memorable and trusted your brand is.

The problem is it takes time to come up with content and post it every day. It’s difficult to maintain when you have so many other daily tasks.

That’s why it’s best to batch your social media content creation and get it all set up in advance so that it’s automatically posting on a regular schedule.

Social media automation tools such as Buffer and Hootsuite are useful to schedule all the content in advance.

6. Customize Website for International Shoppers

If you’re able to ship internationally, your conversions will get a major boost from having a version of your website specifically for users of that country.

This is obviously even more important if they speak a different language. Rather than using a browser extension to translate the site and trying to figure out if the item they want really does ship to their location, users immediately feel confident they can purchase from you.

You can use a translation service like Gengo for the text on your website, or post a translation job on Upwork.

Then implement a tool on your website that detects users’ location and automatically displays the correct version:

For Shopify: https://apps.shopify.com/geolocation-redirect

For BigCommerce: https://geotargetly.com/geo-redirect

You’ll want to display prices in the local currency as well, which can be done with an app:

Shopify & BigCommerce Multi-Currency

7. Grow Profits Over Time From Continuous Split Testing

An A/B test, also called a split test, is showing 50% of your website visitors one version of a webpage and the other 50% an alternate version where something has been changed, then measuring to see which has a higher conversion rate.

The aim of an A/B test is to bring you more revenue from the same amount of traffic, by increasing the conversion rate of your product pages, checkout process and other assets in the sales funnel. Doing this can open opportunities to acquire customers you previously weren’t able to because the cost was prohibitive. Or, it can simply increase your profit margin.

Although you will build your website with the goal of optimizing it for a high conversion rate off the bat, there are some things you can’t be sure are producing the highest conversion rate possible until you test it. For some businesses, they’re surprised at the winning variable in a split test because all the “experts” told them a different format was better.

Not only that, but the online world is constantly evolving. What worked well a few years (or even a few months) ago may be a conversion-killer now. If you’re continually testing, you’ll gain the edge over competitors who aren’t willing to invest the time.

You’ll get the most benefit from split testing:

The offer

Headline text

The call-to-action

Buttons – the shape, color, size

Images

Videos

Testimonials

Bullets and other body copy

Other social proof elements such as certificates, security badges, partner logos, etc.

The navigation options – sometimes having no or few navigational elements increases conversion by keeping people focused on the offer, other times sales go up when visitors have easy access to review other pages on the website before purchasing.

The checkout process – many sales are lost during checkout, so it’s wise to put a lot of focus on optimizing here.

8. Create a Personality For Your Company

Although it’s always been true that consumers connect better with people than faceless corporations, it’s more important today than ever before. Whether or not a company seems genuine and authentic was recently found to be one of the major decision factors when purchasing.

This doesn’t necessarily mean your brand has to have an actual person as a brand representative for customers to connect with. That is one option, but it can be as simple as just making sure your brand itself has a personality.

Brand personality is expressed through the language you use in headlines, body copy, emails and social media content. It’s also expressed through colors, images, logos and so on.

For this reason, having a deep understanding of who your demographic is pays off in a big way. When a customer can relate to the personality traits they feel a brand has, it creates emotional connection and rapport.

9. Welcome Controversial Topics to Generate Discussion

Controversy brings a lot of attention, and attention brings a lot of sales.

There are risks to taking a stand on controversial topics of course, but if you know your audience well and are willing to lose a small percentage of followers, with the added benefit of higher loyalty from those remaining, then it can be well worth it.

Understanding your audience is crucial if you’re going to attempt this. You obviously wouldn’t build a following of animal lovers and then announce support of hunting. However, you can take a stand on important issues within the community, such as being against a particular pet behavior training method, bringing attention as well as loyalty from those with a similar view.

You can also tap into trending controversial topics using a playful method that’s not necessarily polarizing.

As long as you are brave enough, you can attract attention just by being a bit cheeky. Such as, in the middle of a heated political campaign, posting that both candidates would be in a better mood if they had used your company’s travel pillow on their flight. It may be cheesy, and you’ll likely get some snarky responses, but you won’t be complaining about the high open rates, shares, comments and sales that result.

10. Remind Shoppers of Wishlist Items via Email

Shoppers have a tendency to add items to their wishlist and then completely forget about them. Since keeping in touch with customers and subscribers often is important for top of mind awareness anyway, you have the dual benefit of having a reason to follow up that simultaneously is a sales oriented email.

If you use Shopify, there’s an app that automatically sends follow-up emails reminding shoppers of Wishlist items:

https://apps.shopify.com/wishlist-followup

11. Proactively Collect Product Reviews

Customers rarely leave product reviews on their own without a reminder. The exception is when they’re unhappy! That means you need to be proactive about gathering positive reviews, as they have a significant effect on sales. BrightLocal found that 85% of shoppers trust internet reviews as they would a personal recommendation.

To gather reviews, the most effective methods are by:

Including a product insert in the package that asks customers to leave a review, and include the URL where they can post it.

Sending an email reminder. Yotpo is a good app for automating this. A few weeks after a purchase, Yotpo automatically sends an email to customers asking them to rate/review. It even allows customers to write the review in an email response, which it then posts to the correct product listing.

Yotpo for Shopify: https://apps.shopify.com/yotpo-social-reviews Yotpo for BigCommerce: https://www.bigcommerce.com/apps/yotpo-social-reviews

Consider the timing of your review reminders as far as how long it takes to process and deliver the product, and how much time the customer needs in order to use it and see results. You don’t want to ask someone for a review before they’ve even received or used the product.

12. Guest Post for Exposure

Guest posting is known as a popular method for gathering links that help your website rank in the search engines. However, if you connect with popular bloggers in your niche who have high engagement from their followers, you’ll see immediate traffic and sales from your guest posts.

Guestpost.com is a good place to connect with influencers. It helps you find websites in your niche that accept guest posts, keep track of where you’ve submitted posts, and includes email templates for cold  outreach to websites you’d like to be published on. It also provides tools for analyzing the stats of a website so you aren’t wasting time creating content for sites with low readership.

13. Use Live Chat to Close Sales

When a shopper can’t find an immediate answer to their questions, they often become frustrated and with alternative websites being only a few clicks away, it’s easy to lose potential customers to a competitor who has what they need.

79% of customers prefer live chat support over other channels because it’s the fastest option.

Adding live chat to your website makes shoppers feel like they’re in a ‘real’ store, able to get their questions answered by shop assistants.

You don’t have to be chained to your website 24/7 to implement this though. You can either set specific chat support hours, and/or use an app that allows you to answer questions from your cell phone.

SumoMe shared a live chat trick for gathering more leads while you’re away from the chat. They included an auto-response when not available to answer questions that said:

They found it was a highly effective way to collect email addresses compare to the default of asking the person to submit their inquiry into the chat box along with email address that you’ll respond to during normal support hours. Just the slight change in words significantly improved the number of leads collected.

We’ve analyzed the live chat options available to find those that integrate well with popular eCommerce platforms and are highly rated specifically by eCommerce store owners.

LiveChat provides great value for eCommerce entrepreneurs. They have a ticketing system, goal tracking, and thorough analytics. They integrate with the most popular shopping platforms, including Shopify and BigCommerce.

Tidio is another option, and has recently added several convenient features for Shopify stores such as automatically checking the status of an order, product availability and delivery locations. The satisfaction rate from Shopify users is higher than for BigCommerce, as these features are currently only available for Shopify stores.

Chatra is a good choice if you’re on a budget, as they have a free plan for solo entrepreneurs. The paid version allows for multiple support agents. It integrates with Slack, Google Analytics, and you can reply to support requests with the mobile app available on Android and iOS.

14. Wow Customers With Handwritten Thank You Cards

Sending personalized, handwritten thank you cards to customers is a huge satisfaction and loyalty booster that gets customers not only returning to buy again, but giving you free advertising by spreading the word to friends and family.

Donors Choose, a non-profit collecting donations for public school classroom projects, tried this method and were able to get 38% of donors returning to give a second donation. The donation amount also increased by an average of $41, resulting in an extra $3 million in donations per year.

Luckily you don’t need to write these cards yourself. You can use a service called Thankbot, which automates the writing and sending of (handwritten) cards for you.

15. Recapture Shoppers With Exit Intent Popups

It’s a fact in the online business world that most visitors to your website will leave without making a purchase. Since traffic can be expensive to obtain, you want to do everything possible to get the sale or at least contact info before losing the visitor.

The top priority location to focus on is checkout abandonment. These are not just random browsers you’re losing; they’re buyers. Adding an exit intent pop here with a discount coupon and satisfaction guarantee reminder is fast and easy to put in place, and will immediately start recouping sales for you.

An exit intent popup is triggered when the visitor takes an action that indicates they may close the page, such as rapid mouse movement toward the browser search bar or exit. This isn’t the same as the old school popups that appear ‘after’ a visitor closes the page.

The popular exit-intent popup software options on the market today are:

Bounce Breaker (created by Steve and I)

SumoMe

Bounce Exchange

Gleam

16. Personalize Homepage For a Conversion Boost

Amazon does a great job of personalizing the homepage; they’re a perfect example to model.

Your sales will definitely go up by using personalization that displays items similar to what someone has purchased or viewed previously. Reminding viewers of products they looked at previously but haven’t bought yet will get a certain percentage of visitors finalizing that purchase.

With the tools available today, you don’t need advanced coding skills to do this. You can use Evergage or Bunting to get it done without being tech savvy.

17. Make Use of FOMO to get Shoppers Buying Immediately

The fear of missing out on something is a strong psychological drive that repeatedly has been proven to get people to take an action rather than procrastinate.

The easiest method to create this in your marketing is by using scarcity in your sales funnel and other marketing creatives.

This can be done by displaying remaining inventory (“only 3 left”), executing a deadline where customers no longer get a discount or bonus after the timer runs out, and using social proof apps to show shoppers that other people are looking at the item and they may lose it if others buy it before they do.

Inventory Remaining Shopify app: https://apps.shopify.com/pressure-cooker

Countdown timer Shopify: https://apps.shopify.com/powr-countdown-timer

Countdown timer & low stock alert Bigcommerce: https://www.bigcommerce.com/apps/countdown-cart/

Social proof urgency app for Shopify: https://apps.shopify.com/social-proof-urgency

18. Fix Browser Bugs & Incompatibilities

You could be losing many sales simply because your website either doesn’t display the formatting correctly on certain browsers, or has browser bugs.

One way to quickly spot issues is by going to your Google Analytics report at Audience > Technology > Browser & OS report.

Then, look for browsers that are converting at a lower rate than the others. You may see that IE 10 is converting 3% higher than IE 11, and Firefox 63 is converting higher than Firefox 60.

You can then use a tools such as BrowserStack, CrossBrowserTesting or Browserling to view your website in different browsers and see what the problem is.

Prioritize which to fix first based on the amount of missed revenue (usually highest traffic). Assume that the underperforming version would convert the same as the other and use that to estimate. This can also help you see if it’s worth paying a developer to fix the issue (it may take a few months to recoup the investment).

19. Optimize Input Fields on Checkout For Easy Ordering

Shopping is fun… until it’s time to fill out several lengthy forms. The longer a checkout process is, and the more fields a shopper has to enter, the higher likelihood they’ll abandon.

Make checkout quick and easy by minimizing the amount of information required to complete the order.

Also make use of autofill on forms where it’s allowed such as name, email, address, phone number and other fields that don’t pose any security or privacy threat.

20. Make Returns Easy

As much as people love shopping online, the inconvenience of paying return shipping or restocking fees if the product doesn’t meet expectations or isn’t the right fit is a bit nerve wracking. This fear can prevent purchases.

Do whatever you can to at least pay return shipping; it’s good business. If you can avoid restocking fees, that is best as well.

More than 50% of store shoppers will read the return policy before making a purchase, so be sure it’s easily accessible on all pages, as well as understandable and concise.

21. Satisfy Shoppers “Want it Now” Mentality With Fast Shipping

“Retailers should never underestimate the ‘want it now’ mentality. If customers know that they will receive goods quickly when they order, they’ll keep coming back.” Graham Charlton – Clickz Global

We’ve grown accustomed to getting whatever we want, and getting it fast. Slow shipping will deter customers nowadays. The faster you can get the customer their item, the easier you’ll win them over. It may eat into your margins a bit, but it will pay off.

This is possible even if you’re doing dropshipping. You can now find US suppliers on AliExpress, using a new search filter available:

22. Use Shipping Boxes to Promote Your Brand

There are numerous opportunities for your brand to be seen between the time it’s packaged and the time the customer opens it. For instance, sitting on the ground outside the recipient’s house, dorm room, or apartment. Posted on social media because customer’s pets are playing in the empty box. On top of the counter at FedEx waiting for pickup.

With a clever logo, tagline and website URL, this is an excellent free marketing technique that can bring in new customers.

23. Write a Solution-Focused SEO Title to Maximize Traffic

When someone types an inquiry into a search engine, they’re looking for a solution to something. Perhaps they’re just looking for a suit, but that suit is a solution to something they need. Their “problem” is they need to look dressed up for a particular occasion. By turning your headlines into solutions, you’ll get  searchers clicking over to your website instead of competitors:

24. Prove Popularity with Social Proof Apps

Let’s face it… when you see a crowd of people looking at something the natural urge is to look too.

When one restaurant is packed and the other empty, you assume the packed restaurant must be the best and go there.

On the internet you can showcase how popular your website and products are via social proof apps that simulate this experience by popping up a message to website visitors when another visitor subscribes or purchases a product.

Social proof apps such as https://useproof.com/ provide an average conversion lift of 10% and can be set up in 15 minutes or less.

25. Find and Fix Duplicate Content

Duplicate content is extremely common on eCommerce sites, mostly caused by:

Search Filter Combinations

Product Descriptions

Title Tags

You can utilize the free version of Screaming Frog software to identify duplicate content issues on your website.

26. Prevent Chargebacks

Chargebacks are very expensive and can be costing your business a lot of money. Not only do you lose the amount of the original purchase, but you have to pay a fee on top of that.

Most chargebacks happen either because customers don’t recognize the charge on their card, or because their card was stolen and used fraudulently.

Here’s how to combat these issues:

Make sure the name that appears on your customer’s bank statement matches the name of your brand/store. The more irrelevant the name appearing on their statement is to what your store sells, the more likely you’ll get a chargeback.

If you do any recurring billing, remind customers ‘before’ their recurring payment is charged. Remind them what name will appear on their bank statement as well.

Remind customers what name will appear on their bank statement on the order form, ‘and’ in the product receipt.

Provide exceptional customer service always, and solve unhappy customers problems quickly and thoroughly (make sure they’re happy before closing the ticket).

Learn how to spot fraud and review it immediately. If you get a fraud alert because an order came in with a different shipping address or name than the billing information, follow up on it and call the customer to verify if you have any suspicions about it.

27. Have a Professional Customer Support Desk in Place

Nothing makes customers more nervous than a “support system” consisting of a free email address with no ticket # or auto-reply confirming receipt of support inquiries. These little things can really make customers apprehensive and hurt your business.

It’s great to be a startup, but you want your customers to feel comfortable and happy with their shopping experience so you can grow. There are free and low-cost options available such as FreshDesk (Steve and I use this) that help you look professional even when on a budget.

28. Use Multiple Suppliers

Imagine one of your products is extremely popular and bringing you sales every day… then your supplier runs out of stock and you can’t sell anymore!

It’s good to have a backup supplier to keep the sales coming in and avoid stock-outs. Your profit margin may be a bit smaller as you won’t benefit from quantity discounts, but a sale at a lower profit is better than no sale at all (and better than causing frustration to customers who want the item and can’t get it).

It also makes sure YOU stay in business even if your supplier doesn’t.

29. Get in Front of Trends to Catch Big Sales Waves

Trendy products spike in sales quickly and die just as fast… if you aren’t in early, you miss out on the big money. However, doing the work to find the next hot product requires a lot of time and boring manual tasks.

Rather than spending hours researching and trying to figure out the next hot product on your own, you can use a tool like Trendosaur or Terrapeak to quickly spot what’s about to become popular, allowing you to get in before everyone else.

30. Easily Expand Product Line via Dropshipping

Having a vast product selection makes your company appear larger and provides you opportunity to gain additional sales via cross-selling and upselling.

eCommerce giant Amazon implemented dropshipping in 2011, and the dropshipped products made up 34% of sold merchandise that year.

Since sourcing your own product takes quite a bit of time, upfront capital and risk, you can add a selection of new products using the dropshipping method. Once one or more of those start selling a lot, you can then work to manufacture it on your own with the security of knowing in advance that it will sell.

31. Create Limited-Edition Bundles

Introduce true scarcity into your store to create an immediate surge of sales, tapping into FOMO and helping keep the reputation of your brand high by proving that limited really means limited.

Consumers are aware that urgency and advertisements of limited quantities are not always true. By adding limited-edition bundles that actually sell out and disappear, it keeps the rest of your scarcity and urgency elements (that may be on a recurring/resetting timer) effective.

32. Automate Tedious Time-Consuming Tasks

You can save dozens (even hundreds) of hours per month on repetitive tedious tasks by using apps such as Dropified, which allow you to:

Import products from AliExpress and other suppliers (1-Click Import Products to your Shopify, Commerce HQ or WooCommerce store. Directly import from sites AliExpress, AliBaba, eBay, Walmart, Costco, Wish, Etsy, SammyDress and many others.)

Easily create dynamic product descriptions

Edit images within the app

Quickly find suppliers who have e-packet shipping available

Automatically orders all bundled products together at the same time

Gives you access to a list of US product vendors. (For dropshippers selling in the US this helps you get products to your customers faster. The list includes 10,000 products that ship from the US.)

This particular app is unfortunately not available for BigCommerce, however there is a similar service that works on WooCommerce called ShopMaster.

33. Capture Lost Sales With Back in Stock Notifications

Very little annoys customers more than an item being out of stock… and they’ll usually just leave and order it elsewhere.

Luckily you can help combat stock-outs with the multiple suppliers tip offered earlier. However for those cases when you still can’t do anything about it, there is one thing you can do to potentially recapture the sale later. You can send an email to the person as soon as it’s back in stock again.

There’s an app called “Back In Stock”, which collects emails and sends automatic emails with an order button as soon as the item is restocked.

For Shopify: https://apps.shopify.com/back-in-stock

For BigCommerce: https://www.bigcommerce.com/apps/instocknotify/

34. Push Notification + Abandoned Cart

The ultimate abandoned cart recovery tool is the push notification. It’s best to get acceptance for push notifications earlier in the shopping process by offering a coupon or other incentive to turn it on. Then, if they abandon their cart later, you can trigger the notification to appear directly on the desktop or mobile device.

35. Track Everything

Track more than you think you’ll need, because what you measure you can improve. Make improvements everywhere you can and watch your business grow exponentially.

It also helps keep your motivation up. If you can’t see what’s improving, you may have a false sense of not progressing – when you actually are improving. Keep in mind this doesn’t mean you need to monitor all stats every day (or even every week). It’ll feel good to look back after several months though, and see all the areas that have grown.

35 eCommerce Growth Hacks shared from AidanBooth.com

[drewsdailydose]

6 Natural Ways to Boost Your Energy Levels

Constantly tired and fatigued? Addicted to coffee? Always craving sugary foods? Skipping workouts? Having trouble sleeping? If this sounds like you, you’re not alone! In fact, millions of people are facing these problems every single day thanks to our toxic modern environment. But just because it’s common doesn’t mean it’s normal. We’re eating the wrong foods, moving our bodies in the wrong ways, relying on stimulants, and are disconnected from nature. There’s a solution...

1. Get an Early Dose of Sunlight and Movement

The sun is more than just an eeeevil carcinogen, in fact it’s quite the opposite. Sunlight plays a vital role in regulating a healthy circadian rhythm amongst many other systemic health benefits. Your circadian rhythm is a lot more than just your internal body clock. Sure, it regulates your sleep-wake cycle and ultimately your energy fluctuations throughout the day, but that’s just one part of a complex equation. Your circadian rhythm is part of a biological system that dictates many critical physiological processes such as your core body temperature, hormonal levels, metabolism, blood pressure, and even the way your genes are expressed (epigenetics). Early sunshine directly in the retina of the eye (as well as frequently throughout the day) along with a healthy dose of exercise or movement is vitally important to maintain a normal, healthy circadian rhythm.

2. Take Control of Your Insulin and Blood Sugar Levels

The easiest way to ensure energy slumps, exhaustion, insatiable hunger, unhealthy sugar-cravings and moodiness, is to frequently spike your insulin and blood sugar levels from eating a high carb/sugar diet.
 The best way to avoid the rollercoaster of highs and lows is to follow a Low-Carb-High-Fat (LCHF) or ketogenic way of eating. This will allow you (your brain) to become an efficient fat/ketone burner. Fat is a slow burning fuel that the body can utilise at any time due its abundant availability in and on our bodies as well as in the food we eat. Spend some time paving the metabolic pathways required to burn fat efficiently by following a LCHF diet. Once you become fat-adapted you can add carbs back into your diet at optimal times when you can better tolerate large glucose loads, such as before and/or after workouts or when you’re most insulin sensitive. For the rest of the day, eat fibre, non-starchy vegetables, moderate protein and healthy fats.

3. Swap the Coffee and Sweet Treat for Something More Nourishing

Sure, coffee and a biscuit might give you a temporary energy boost but it’s almost always followed by an exponentially greater energy crash. Plus, overdoing the coffee might even lead to unwanted fat-gain! Opt for a healthier option like herbal tea and a handful of roasted nuts instead. 
Or better yet, brew your own healthy tea in the morning. Make a large pot and take it with you in a flask for the day. In winter I like to I wake up 5-10 minutes earlier and make a beautiful pot of tea. I grate some ginger and tumeric, add a crack of black pepper, cinnamon, cardamon, some looseleaf chai, and a dash of Manuka honey. I put it in a flask and drink it over the course of the day. It’s something to look forward to during desk breaks and is much better than drinking coffee and milk all day long. If you’re set on visiting the cafe during the day, another option is to swap the coffee for a caffeine-free alternative like a chai latte or turmeric and ginger latte on nut milk. Not everything has to be caffeinated!

4. Enjoy an Outdoor Exercise Snack

Not all snacks have to be edible! Its far too common for people to rely on food or coffee to boost energy levels. In the same way that people eat snacks between main meals, why not do short, sharp exercises between long periods of sitting or sedentary activity. It might be as simple as 20 squats and 20 bench dips outdoors in the direct sun without any sunscreen or sunglasses. As mentioned before, you need a healthy dose of sunlight every day. 

You’ve also probably spent most of the day staring at a screen a few inches in front of your face. Get outside, look into the distance, and soak up some nature. It’s a great way to offset all of the indoor, artificial lighting and screen-staring. Research even shows an inverse relationship between sunlight/being outdoors and myopia or near-sightedness. 



You also need UVB rays penetrating the skin to synthesise Vitamin D. Vitamin D is a pro-hormone responsible for muscle and bone health, immune system and reduced disease risk. Roll up your sleeves and ditch the sunnies. 
Remember, the key is not to burn. Everyone’s UV tolerance will be different depending on skin type, pigmentation etc, but in general 5-15 minutes should give you the Vitamin-D producing benefits, without the sunburn. 



While you’re at it…Breathe! Practice some belly breathing by using your diaphragm to draw air in through the nose and slowly out through the mouth. Get oxygen rich air into your lungs. It will relax you by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system and will even help you to digest your food.

5. Swap Social Media for a Face-to-Face Conversation with a Real Human Being

Instead of going to your phone and scrolling through social media every time you want to escape the reality of your office environment, invite a work colleague outside for a walk and a chat. Talk to an actual human being. It’s very unlikely that scrolling though instagram is going to give you energy. In fact, chances are its going to rob you of energy and may even be damaging your health and fitness, especially if you’re following accounts that make you feel bad about yourself. On that note, unfollow those accounts and create a healthy, happy IG environment for yourself!

Talk to someone. Share ideas. Have a laugh. Those are the things that will give you energy!

6. Avoid Artificial ‘Blue Light’ at Night

Darkness is just as important as sunlight when it comes to a healthy circadian rhythm, but unfortunately the modern world is constantly lit up which is causing an array of health issues. It’s of equal importance to avoid artificial blue light at night. The blue light emitted from your phone, computer screen, TV, and light bulbs tricks your brain into thinking its daytime which interferes with your circadian rhythm and ultimately your sleep-wake cycle. Dim the lights, change the globes to amber, turn your lights off altogether and light some candles, or wear blue-light blocking glasses and go about your business as usual. Give yourself the best possible chance to have 8 hours of unbroken sleep in pure darkness!

The point is, let the natural environment lead the way. Allow light into your eyes during the daytime and embrace the darkness at night. We have evolved over millions of years to function optimally within this environmental framework. The modern world hasn’t been around long enough for us to adapt to its toxic inputs. When it comes to your health, nature knows best.  

[filipeteimuraz]

Is Twitter Worth Your Time? Here’s What New 2018 Data Says About Twitter for Marketing

Misinformation is spreading like wildfire.

On Twitter, it’s no different.

Numerous spam accounts and bots plague Twitter. They share false and misleading information, which has negatively impacted user experience.

The network is now working to correct some of these problems, but only time will tell with how the network will fare.

But if new 2018 data is accurate, then the future looks dim.

Researchers at MIT recently released a comprehensive study about “the spread of true and false news online,” which examined over a decade’s worth of data.

They discovered that misinformation reached 1,500 people six times faster than valid information.

This has marketers asking the question, “How do we counteract that?”

Some are even wondering, “Is Twitter worth using?”

To effectively use Twitter and see a return on your efforts, you need to understand how to best use the network for your long-term gain.

Twitter is much different now than it was when it first debuted in 2006. It is important for marketers to understand the network’s evolution as well as its current user ecosystem.

Despite these new revelations and the current state of misinformation, I’m going to show you how to get the most out of your Twitter marketing strategy in 2018.

But before deploying your 2018 strategy, you need to understand how Twitter has changed in recent months, so you don’t make the same mistakes you’ve likely made in the past.

How understanding Twitter’s current state can strengthen your business’s marketing strategy

I’m going to guess that Twitter plays some sort of role in your marketing strategy.

A recent study asked respondents, “Which social media platforms do you use to market your business?”

Not surprisingly, Twitter emerged as one of the top platforms.

But should it be?

Lately, Twitter has had its fair share of problems.

To start, there are bots.

A Twitter bot is “a software program that sends out automated posts on Twitter.”

Often, these automated posts are tweets. Other times, the bots will automatically respond to user messages that include specific phrases.

But is this really a problem? It certainly can be.

Although some bots can be helpful for your business objectives, there has been an influx of bots permeating through Twitter’s user base.

Now, there are a lot of them.

In fact, there are an estimated 48 million bots on Twitter, accounting for 15% of Twitter’s total users.

So how many people are actually on Twitter?

Well, at the time of publication, Twitter had 336 total monthly active users.

Compared to other social media sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, Twitter isn’t leading when it comes to monthly active users.

And if 15% of these users are actually bots, then that decreases the potential number of people you can market to even further.

Bots have started to impact Twitter’s user experience negatively, too.

Bots recently came under scrutiny for playing a part in spreading misinformation in the 2016 election.

Those who create bots can also program them to share spam.

A study from the Pew Research Center found that bots shared links directing traffic to sites across a variety of industries.

They also found that “an estimated two-thirds of tweeted links to popular sites are posted by automated accounts – not human beings.”

How’s that for making your brand feel more “human?”

While Twitter is cracking down on bots, many are skeptical that this will help with the increase of misinformation plaguing the platform.

After all, bots aren’t the only reason for a poor Twitter user experience.

In the MIT study I mentioned earlier, they found that humans are more susceptible to spreading fake news than bots.

Twitter might be able to lower the influence of bots, but trying to prevent real people from spreading false information is much harder.

In another recent study, 51% of respondents felt that “the information environment will not be improved by changes designed to reduce the spread of lies and other misinformation online.”

So with the influx of bots, spread of misinformation, and stifled user growth, how should marketers approach their Twitter strategy?

Your strategy needs to evolve with the platform and take advantage of Twitter’s strengths while keeping in mind its weaknesses.

Here are five ways to tailor your Twitter strategy for results in 2018.

Use Twitter for quick, direct customer service interactions and resolutions

We’ve all been there.

You need a piece of information that you can’t find on a business’ website and don’t really want to call them.

“Oh, I’ll just tweet at them, because they’ll probably reply,” you think to yourself.

This is more common than you probably think.

Investing time and resources in your Twitter customer service strategy is important for the long-term growth of your business.

Sometimes, your customers need a bit of TLC. And this is where Twitter can shine.

In fact, 85% of Twitter users said that it’s important that businesses provide customer support on Twitter.

By being responsive on Twitter, you add a level of transparency to your business’ brand. Your business will seem more helpful and approachable.

And, Dove proves it.

In 2017, Dove focused on responding to more tweets which, in turn, resulted in an increase in positive sentiment from customers.

Dove’s net positive sentiment was 41% in the last three months of 2016, and three months later, that sentiment score rose to 43%.

That’s a lot to gain with minimal effort.

You may be wondering, “But how do you provide optimal service through Twitter?”

It’s different for each company, but there are some specific strategies to maximize your responses.

Most companies direct public inquiries to their DMs if any sensitive information needs to be transferred.

And, now since Twitter’s launch of the new Direct Message features, we’re seeing brands build a more personalized, one-on-one experiences for customers.

Like Patrón Tequila.

Patrón built the “Bot-Tender” — a chatbot “bartender” — that uses Patrón’s Direct Messages that serves up cocktail recommendations based on the consumer’s preferences.

The “Bot-Tender” resulted in 39% of click-through rate to the website and 2.6% click-through rate using the direct message card.

In some instances, it might even make sense to gather additional information about your customers to better manage the issue. This could help you:

Look up their order number to better understand the circumstances.

Let customers place an order directly like TGIFridays.

In some instances, you can even set up a chatbot to accept orders with a hashtag.

For example, Wingstop uses a bot to accept orders from people who Tweet ‘@Wingstop #Order’:

Now, that’s an example of optimal customer experience that doesn’t rely on a wing and a prayer.

Also, depending on the size of their business or the number of customer inquiries a company receives, some even have specific accounts solely focused on helping customers.

For example, LinkedIn owns both the handles @LinkedIn and @LinkedInHelp.

Both channels exist for different objectives. @LinkedIn provides general updates, company news and announcements of features, while @LinkedInHelp focuses on customer support.

Both accounts are valuable for LinkedIn’s overarching Twitter strategy.

Private messages have become a popular way to resolve issues, so the platform has included a feature that enables you to include a “Send a private message” link on a tweet.

To do so, make sure your account is accepting direct messages from anyone. Begin by accessing your Settings tab.

Click the “Privacy and Safety” tab on the left side.

Check the box to “Receive Direct Messages from Anyone.”

Find your TwitterID using TweeterID and add it to the end of this link in place of YourTwitterID:

https://twitter.com/messages/compose?recipient_id=YourTwitterID

Now, you can add that URL with your own TwitterID inserted into any tweet, and the “Send a private message” button will appear directing your customers into a private conversation.

Focus on sharing video content for higher engagement with your followers

Sharing video content on Twitter isn’t exactly new.

But over the past few years, Twitter has continuously worked to evolve how your video can be shared and the impact it can generate. (They’re even teasing a Snapchat sharing tool!)

The result? Users are eating it up.

Will you deliver?

If you don’t, it’ll be costly. The stats don’t lie; video views on Twitter have grown 220x what they were 12 months ago.

But can video cut through the clutter of misinformation on the platform?

Well compared to other forms of content, the answer is yes.

Buffer tested different post types across platforms and found a worthwhile revelation about to Twitter video reach.

Upon evaluating 200+ posts, Buffer found that Twitter video performs the best in terms of reach compared to posts with links, images, and GIFs.

And video on Twitter outperforms Facebook video reach by nearly 38%.

But how can you be sure the video is factual?

Well, there hasn’t been a full solution introduced yet, but to provide more transparency, Twitter is adding a view count to the corner of each video.

While not a major fix, it will still provide users with an understanding of how many have watched and how far it spread. This can help viewers assess the validity of the source.

But what constitutes as a view?

According to AdAge, “Twitter is holding to Media Rating Council standards […] —one view equals 2 seconds of play time with at least 50% of the video on the screen.”

There’s a lot of video content on Twitter. Here’s how to make sure what you produce will be worthwhile:

Keep it short. Twitter users are used to quick, succinct thoughts, and your videos should do the same. Research shows that 45 seconds or less is an optimal length.

Like UK retail brand, Boden. They created short 30-second video cuts to showcase their influencer’s unique story on Twitter.

We’re on a mission to reclaim what mum style REALLY means. Click here to meet the mums behind the campaign › https://t.co/OyTHPAbiet pic.twitter.com/0sGpJ1Bii4

— Boden (@Bodenclothing) October 2, 2017

Meet @AmandaOwen8, shepherdess, author, mum of nine and next in our series celebrating what mum style really means › https://t.co/yV0giuhNIK pic.twitter.com/PfoMLZP1mF

— Boden (@Bodenclothing) October 17, 2017

Use “content pillars.” Consider what message you are trying to convey and how the video fills that “bucket.” Two example of pillars would be education or inspiration.

Just look at how Airbnb uses Periscope 360 to immerse viewers in a live video house tour on Twitter.

Live on #Periscope360: a house tour of an amazing Airbnb in Kauai. Move your phone to look around. https://t.co/b47KHblfhV

— Airbnb (@Airbnb) January 7, 2017

Hook them early. Consider the first 1-4 seconds users will see as they scroll through their timeline. Make sure it pops (often through shock or awe) and lures them in.

Drift did that with their explainer videos on Twitter. They feature a team member to capture audience’s attention and making the video feel more approachable.

Meet Drift Email. Finally a tool that connects your outbound prospecting to your website. https://t.co/jIzaK3DbTP pic.twitter.com/240bygZVHz

— Drift (@Drift) October 3, 2017

And if you decide to use video content in the form of an ad, Twitter introduced Video Website Card a few months ago to help make your video ads more effective.

Twitter Video Website Card ads get results, too. They have a 2x higher click-through rate and “an average 60% increase in user retention” when compared to standard video ads.

Below is a comparison between a standard mobile ad on Twitter and one using the new video website card option. This is a standard mobile ad HP Business promoted:

You can see that the video looks like a normal post. Upon clicking the video, it opens up in full-screen with the tweet copy underneath it.

Now, look at Credit Karma’s ad using the new video card feature.

The promoted post includes a “tag” at the bottom of the video with a header and the website. And when the user clicks on the video to play full-screen, they get a new experience.

The video shifts up, and a web or landing page appears. The video will continue playing, allowing the user to interact with content on the page.

Network with influencers, leads, and potential partners to forge connections

Twitter is still a place for brands and users alike to reach influencers, celebrities, journalists, and thought-leaders directly.

But only if you can find who you are looking for.

In 2018, this has become a bit more challenging for two reasons: bots and the confusion surrounding verified accounts.

How to spot the bots

Let’s face it: your follower count is a vanity metric these days. Through the use of bots, you can add thousands of fake followers to your account.

President Trump and a countless number of other celebrities were even accused of using bots.

If actual celebrities use these bots to amplify their influence, couldn’t ordinary people as well? The answer is yes.

A study exposed what was referred to as “the Star Wars botnet, which contains more than 350k bots that are centrally controlled by the same botmaster.”

Even worse, there is a whole industry behind the buying and selling of fake followers.

So where to go from here?

Well, there is TwitterAudit, a free service that allows you to input any Twitter handle. The tool will share a quality score and whether or not they see the account as real or fake.

You should also pay close attention to the frequency of tweets on certain accounts.

The team at BuzzFeed News did an analysis of its own human editors’ Twitter data and the data of several bot-like accounts.

According to the Digital Forensics Research Lab (DFRL), tweeting 72 times a day is suspicious, and more than 144 tweets per day seems very suspicious.

The BuzzFeed News team discovered one bot was hitting 584 tweets in one day.

While their editor’s tweets looked more like this:

Twitter bots are created to influence user behavior and perception. It’s important your brand is authentic, trustworthy, and human when engaging with users on Twitter.

Verified? The rise and fall of the blue checkmark

Originally, Twitter would add a blue checkmark to verify your account as a response to numerous impersonation attempts. Here is an example:

Twitter’s help page states that the badge is there to ensure the “account of public interest is authentic.”

Simple, right?

This is still the case, but the process is more open and now under scrutiny. In 2016, they announced an application process. In 2017, they suspended verification altogether.

Verification was meant to authenticate identity & voice but it is interpreted as an endorsement or an indicator of importance. We recognize that we have created this confusion and need to resolve it. We have paused all general verifications while we work and will report back soon

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 9, 2017

With an application process, there still is much work to be done to ensure that the wrong accounts don’t get verified.

Twitter continues to monitor verified accounts, but not at a quick enough rate.

But what is incredibly important here is that the meaning of the blue checkmark is changing.

Twitter even teased that they want an open verification process, which could help combat misinformation on the platform.

If accounts — not just influencers and celebrities — were verified, you could be more confident that the information you were reading was from a person, rather than a bot.

Expand your network

Now that you’re able to evaluate the validity of your potential partners, all you need to do to find them. The best place to start is with Twitter’s Advanced Search.

To begin, start at https://twitter.com/search-advanced. You should arrive at a page that looks like this:

There are a few Advanced Search Strategies I’d like for you to consider when looking for partners or influencers. Let’s take a look at each category:

Words. Notice the difference between “all” and “any” of these words and use it to your advantage. “All” will limit the search, while “any” casts a wider net.

People. If you know who you are looking for but need to source a specific tweet from them, you can enter their account and the keyword you are looking for.

Places. This can be useful if your business is local, and you wanted to get a pulse on what people are saying about your product or industry in a specific city or community.

Dates. This helps you narrow the search if you want to perform social listening in a certain span of time. This is great for events or seasonal products/companies.

The results automatically default to Twitter’s “Top” option, but if you’re searching for a current pulse on a topic or looking to make connections, consider clicking the “Latest” or “People” option.

Share updates and business information with your audience in real-time

Twitter has always been a viable platform to share breaking news stories.

And even with the influx of misinformation, it still is. Why?

Abhinav Sharma, a Product Designer at Quora, attributes it to the following factors:

A critical mass of active users that can contribute content.

Low barrier-to-entry (you can very easily send a tweet and participate).

Retweets are streamlined and an easy way to share content.

Stories are succinct and easy-to-comprehend with the character limit.

Twitter supports popular, breaking stories with “trending topics.”

Twitter’s May 2017 update showcases the popularity of each tweet in real time, providing another transparent metric to help users evaluate the validity of the Tweet.

In other words, the replies, retweets, and likes will no longer be static; you’ll see them increasing in real time.

You can also share more (280 characters to be exact) in a single tweet than ever before.

In a recent study, Twitter discovered that 9% accounts were hitting the maximum with 140 character tweets, while only 1% were hitting the limit with 280 characters.

But should you pack all those characters into a single tweet?

Research says yes.

Social Media Today reports that longer tweets actually lead to increased levels of engagement from your followers.

Now you can tell your story, share your updates, and still provide engaging content.

And if an expanded character count wasn’t enough for you, Twitter recently released a thread feature to allow for a longer narrative and more in-depth story.

Threads are useful for events with a series of updates, a how-to with a series of steps, an interview with multiple questions, and a wide variety of other scenarios.

These new features will equip your brand to present valid and engaging information to your users in Twitter’s current ecosystem.

Conclusion

Let’s face it.

Twitter has had a rough few months.

Slowed growth. Bots. Fake news.

It seems everyone is the first to criticize the network.

As a marketer, you might be wondering, “Does it still play an integral of a role in my marketing strategy as it once did?”

Our answer: yes…but only if you know how to use it correctly and exploit the network’s key strengths.

By understanding Twitter’s strengths (and weaknesses), you can still use the network to drive long-term growth for your business.

After all, your customers are still on there. You should be too.

Twitter serves as a powerful medium to provide real-time updates and immediate customer service resolutions for your customers. They are seeking direct and transparent information, which you can easily provide on Twitter.

They type of content you share can also affect your success. Video has emerged as a leading form of content on Twitter, and consumers are eating it up.

And remember, your customers aren’t the only ones on Twitter either.

Brands are using the platform to source leads, find partners, and network with influencers like never before.

The network has evolved, too.

With the right plan in place, you can make your Twitter marketing strategy an impactful part of your business’ marketing strategy.

What tactics will you use to evolve your Twitter strategy in 2018?

About the Author: Neil Patel is the cofounder of Neil Patel Digital.

Read more here - http://review-and-bonuss.blogspot.com/2018/04/is-twitter-worth-your-time-heres-what.html

[ericsburden-blog]

Is Twitter Worth Your Time? Here’s What New 2018 Data Says About Twitter for Marketing

Misinformation is spreading like wildfire.

On Twitter, it’s no different.

Numerous spam accounts and bots plague Twitter. They share false and misleading information, which has negatively impacted user experience.

The network is now working to correct some of these problems, but only time will tell with how the network will fare.

But if new 2018 data is accurate, then the future looks dim.

Researchers at MIT recently released a comprehensive study about “the spread of true and false news online,” which examined over a decade’s worth of data.

They discovered that misinformation reached 1,500 people six times faster than valid information.

This has marketers asking the question, “How do we counteract that?”

Some are even wondering, “Is Twitter worth using?”

To effectively use Twitter and see a return on your efforts, you need to understand how to best use the network for your long-term gain.

Twitter is much different now than it was when it first debuted in 2006. It is important for marketers to understand the network’s evolution as well as its current user ecosystem.

Despite these new revelations and the current state of misinformation, I’m going to show you how to get the most out of your Twitter marketing strategy in 2018.

But before deploying your 2018 strategy, you need to understand how Twitter has changed in recent months, so you don’t make the same mistakes you’ve likely made in the past.

How understanding Twitter’s current state can strengthen your business’s marketing strategy

I’m going to guess that Twitter plays some sort of role in your marketing strategy.

A recent study asked respondents, “Which social media platforms do you use to market your business?”

Not surprisingly, Twitter emerged as one of the top platforms.

But should it be?

Lately, Twitter has had its fair share of problems.

To start, there are bots.

A Twitter bot is “a software program that sends out automated posts on Twitter.”

Often, these automated posts are tweets. Other times, the bots will automatically respond to user messages that include specific phrases.

But is this really a problem? It certainly can be.

Although some bots can be helpful for your business objectives, there has been an influx of bots permeating through Twitter’s user base.

Now, there are a lot of them.

In fact, there are an estimated 48 million bots on Twitter, accounting for 15% of Twitter’s total users.

So how many people are actually on Twitter?

Well, at the time of publication, Twitter had 336 total monthly active users.

Compared to other social media sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, Twitter isn’t leading when it comes to monthly active users.

And if 15% of these users are actually bots, then that decreases the potential number of people you can market to even further.

Bots have started to impact Twitter’s user experience negatively, too.

Bots recently came under scrutiny for playing a part in spreading misinformation in the 2016 election.

Those who create bots can also program them to share spam.

A study from the Pew Research Center found that bots shared links directing traffic to sites across a variety of industries.

They also found that “an estimated two-thirds of tweeted links to popular sites are posted by automated accounts – not human beings.”

How’s that for making your brand feel more “human?”

While Twitter is cracking down on bots, many are skeptical that this will help with the increase of misinformation plaguing the platform.

After all, bots aren’t the only reason for a poor Twitter user experience.

In the MIT study I mentioned earlier, they found that humans are more susceptible to spreading fake news than bots.

Twitter might be able to lower the influence of bots, but trying to prevent real people from spreading false information is much harder.

In another recent study, 51% of respondents felt that “the information environment will not be improved by changes designed to reduce the spread of lies and other misinformation online.”

So with the influx of bots, spread of misinformation, and stifled user growth, how should marketers approach their Twitter strategy?

Your strategy needs to evolve with the platform and take advantage of Twitter’s strengths while keeping in mind its weaknesses.

Here are five ways to tailor your Twitter strategy for results in 2018.

Use Twitter for quick, direct customer service interactions and resolutions

We’ve all been there.

You need a piece of information that you can’t find on a business’ website and don’t really want to call them.

“Oh, I’ll just tweet at them, because they’ll probably reply,” you think to yourself.

This is more common than you probably think.

Investing time and resources in your Twitter customer service strategy is important for the long-term growth of your business.

Sometimes, your customers need a bit of TLC. And this is where Twitter can shine.

In fact, 85% of Twitter users said that it’s important that businesses provide customer support on Twitter.

By being responsive on Twitter, you add a level of transparency to your business’ brand. Your business will seem more helpful and approachable.

And, Dove proves it.

In 2017, Dove focused on responding to more tweets which, in turn, resulted in an increase in positive sentiment from customers.

Dove’s net positive sentiment was 41% in the last three months of 2016, and three months later, that sentiment score rose to 43%.

That’s a lot to gain with minimal effort.

You may be wondering, “But how do you provide optimal service through Twitter?”

It’s different for each company, but there are some specific strategies to maximize your responses.

Most companies direct public inquiries to their DMs if any sensitive information needs to be transferred.

And, now since Twitter’s launch of the new Direct Message features, we’re seeing brands build a more personalized, one-on-one experiences for customers.

Like Patrón Tequila.

Patrón built the “Bot-Tender” — a chatbot “bartender” — that uses Patrón’s Direct Messages that serves up cocktail recommendations based on the consumer’s preferences.

The “Bot-Tender” resulted in 39% of click-through rate to the website and 2.6% click-through rate using the direct message card.

In some instances, it might even make sense to gather additional information about your customers to better manage the issue. This could help you:

Look up their order number to better understand the circumstances.

Let customers place an order directly like TGIFridays.

In some instances, you can even set up a chatbot to accept orders with a hashtag.

For example, Wingstop uses a bot to accept orders from people who Tweet ‘@Wingstop #Order’:

Now, that’s an example of optimal customer experience that doesn’t rely on a wing and a prayer.

Also, depending on the size of their business or the number of customer inquiries a company receives, some even have specific accounts solely focused on helping customers.

For example, LinkedIn owns both the handles @LinkedIn and @LinkedInHelp.

Both channels exist for different objectives. @LinkedIn provides general updates, company news and announcements of features, while @LinkedInHelp focuses on customer support.

Both accounts are valuable for LinkedIn’s overarching Twitter strategy.

Private messages have become a popular way to resolve issues, so the platform has included a feature that enables you to include a “Send a private message” link on a tweet.

To do so, make sure your account is accepting direct messages from anyone. Begin by accessing your Settings tab.

Click the “Privacy and Safety” tab on the left side.

Check the box to “Receive Direct Messages from Anyone.”

Find your TwitterID using TweeterID and add it to the end of this link in place of YourTwitterID:

https://twitter.com/messages/compose?recipient_id=YourTwitterID

Now, you can add that URL with your own TwitterID inserted into any tweet, and the “Send a private message” button will appear directing your customers into a private conversation.

Focus on sharing video content for higher engagement with your followers

Sharing video content on Twitter isn’t exactly new.

But over the past few years, Twitter has continuously worked to evolve how your video can be shared and the impact it can generate. (They’re even teasing a Snapchat sharing tool!)

The result? Users are eating it up.

Will you deliver?

If you don’t, it’ll be costly. The stats don’t lie; video views on Twitter have grown 220x what they were 12 months ago.

But can video cut through the clutter of misinformation on the platform?

Well compared to other forms of content, the answer is yes.

Buffer tested different post types across platforms and found a worthwhile revelation about to Twitter video reach.

Upon evaluating 200+ posts, Buffer found that Twitter video performs the best in terms of reach compared to posts with links, images, and GIFs.

And video on Twitter outperforms Facebook video reach by nearly 38%.

But how can you be sure the video is factual?

Well, there hasn’t been a full solution introduced yet, but to provide more transparency, Twitter is adding a view count to the corner of each video.

While not a major fix, it will still provide users with an understanding of how many have watched and how far it spread. This can help viewers assess the validity of the source.

But what constitutes as a view?

According to AdAge, “Twitter is holding to Media Rating Council standards […] —one view equals 2 seconds of play time with at least 50% of the video on the screen.”

There’s a lot of video content on Twitter. Here’s how to make sure what you produce will be worthwhile:

Keep it short. Twitter users are used to quick, succinct thoughts, and your videos should do the same. Research shows that 45 seconds or less is an optimal length.

Like UK retail brand, Boden. They created short 30-second video cuts to showcase their influencer’s unique story on Twitter.

We’re on a mission to reclaim what mum style REALLY means. Click here to meet the mums behind the campaign › https://t.co/OyTHPAbiet pic.twitter.com/0sGpJ1Bii4

— Boden (@Bodenclothing) October 2, 2017

Meet @AmandaOwen8, shepherdess, author, mum of nine and next in our series celebrating what mum style really means › https://t.co/yV0giuhNIK pic.twitter.com/PfoMLZP1mF

— Boden (@Bodenclothing) October 17, 2017

Use “content pillars.” Consider what message you are trying to convey and how the video fills that “bucket.” Two example of pillars would be education or inspiration.

Just look at how Airbnb uses Periscope 360 to immerse viewers in a live video house tour on Twitter.

Live on #Periscope360: a house tour of an amazing Airbnb in Kauai. Move your phone to look around. https://t.co/b47KHblfhV

— Airbnb (@Airbnb) January 7, 2017

Hook them early. Consider the first 1-4 seconds users will see as they scroll through their timeline. Make sure it pops (often through shock or awe) and lures them in.

Drift did that with their explainer videos on Twitter. They feature a team member to capture audience’s attention and making the video feel more approachable.

Meet Drift Email. Finally a tool that connects your outbound prospecting to your website. https://t.co/jIzaK3DbTP pic.twitter.com/240bygZVHz

— Drift (@Drift) October 3, 2017

And if you decide to use video content in the form of an ad, Twitter introduced Video Website Card a few months ago to help make your video ads more effective.

Twitter Video Website Card ads get results, too. They have a 2x higher click-through rate and “an average 60% increase in user retention” when compared to standard video ads.

Below is a comparison between a standard mobile ad on Twitter and one using the new video website card option. This is a standard mobile ad HP Business promoted:

You can see that the video looks like a normal post. Upon clicking the video, it opens up in full-screen with the tweet copy underneath it.

Now, look at Credit Karma’s ad using the new video card feature.

The promoted post includes a “tag” at the bottom of the video with a header and the website. And when the user clicks on the video to play full-screen, they get a new experience.

The video shifts up, and a web or landing page appears. The video will continue playing, allowing the user to interact with content on the page.

Network with influencers, leads, and potential partners to forge connections

Twitter is still a place for brands and users alike to reach influencers, celebrities, journalists, and thought-leaders directly.

But only if you can find who you are looking for.

In 2018, this has become a bit more challenging for two reasons: bots and the confusion surrounding verified accounts.

How to spot the bots

Let’s face it: your follower count is a vanity metric these days. Through the use of bots, you can add thousands of fake followers to your account.

President Trump and a countless number of other celebrities were even accused of using bots.

If actual celebrities use these bots to amplify their influence, couldn’t ordinary people as well? The answer is yes.

A study exposed what was referred to as “the Star Wars botnet, which contains more than 350k bots that are centrally controlled by the same botmaster.”

Even worse, there is a whole industry behind the buying and selling of fake followers.

So where to go from here?

Well, there is TwitterAudit, a free service that allows you to input any Twitter handle. The tool will share a quality score and whether or not they see the account as real or fake.

You should also pay close attention to the frequency of tweets on certain accounts.

The team at BuzzFeed News did an analysis of its own human editors’ Twitter data and the data of several bot-like accounts.

According to the Digital Forensics Research Lab (DFRL), tweeting 72 times a day is suspicious, and more than 144 tweets per day seems very suspicious.

The BuzzFeed News team discovered one bot was hitting 584 tweets in one day.

While their editor’s tweets looked more like this:

Twitter bots are created to influence user behavior and perception. It’s important your brand is authentic, trustworthy, and human when engaging with users on Twitter.

Verified? The rise and fall of the blue checkmark

Originally, Twitter would add a blue checkmark to verify your account as a response to numerous impersonation attempts. Here is an example:

Twitter’s help page states that the badge is there to ensure the “account of public interest is authentic.”

Simple, right?

This is still the case, but the process is more open and now under scrutiny. In 2016, they announced an application process. In 2017, they suspended verification altogether.

Verification was meant to authenticate identity & voice but it is interpreted as an endorsement or an indicator of importance. We recognize that we have created this confusion and need to resolve it. We have paused all general verifications while we work and will report back soon

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 9, 2017

With an application process, there still is much work to be done to ensure that the wrong accounts don’t get verified.

Twitter continues to monitor verified accounts, but not at a quick enough rate.

But what is incredibly important here is that the meaning of the blue checkmark is changing.

Twitter even teased that they want an open verification process, which could help combat misinformation on the platform.

If accounts — not just influencers and celebrities — were verified, you could be more confident that the information you were reading was from a person, rather than a bot.

Expand your network

Now that you’re able to evaluate the validity of your potential partners, all you need to do to find them. The best place to start is with Twitter’s Advanced Search.

To begin, start at https://twitter.com/search-advanced. You should arrive at a page that looks like this:

There are a few Advanced Search Strategies I’d like for you to consider when looking for partners or influencers. Let’s take a look at each category:

Words. Notice the difference between “all” and “any” of these words and use it to your advantage. “All” will limit the search, while “any” casts a wider net.

People. If you know who you are looking for but need to source a specific tweet from them, you can enter their account and the keyword you are looking for.

Places. This can be useful if your business is local, and you wanted to get a pulse on what people are saying about your product or industry in a specific city or community.

Dates. This helps you narrow the search if you want to perform social listening in a certain span of time. This is great for events or seasonal products/companies.

The results automatically default to Twitter’s “Top” option, but if you’re searching for a current pulse on a topic or looking to make connections, consider clicking the “Latest” or “People” option.

Share updates and business information with your audience in real-time

Twitter has always been a viable platform to share breaking news stories.

And even with the influx of misinformation, it still is. Why?

Abhinav Sharma, a Product Designer at Quora, attributes it to the following factors:

A critical mass of active users that can contribute content.

Low barrier-to-entry (you can very easily send a tweet and participate).

Retweets are streamlined and an easy way to share content.

Stories are succinct and easy-to-comprehend with the character limit.

Twitter supports popular, breaking stories with “trending topics.”

Twitter’s May 2017 update showcases the popularity of each tweet in real time, providing another transparent metric to help users evaluate the validity of the Tweet.

In other words, the replies, retweets, and likes will no longer be static; you’ll see them increasing in real time.

You can also share more (280 characters to be exact) in a single tweet than ever before.

In a recent study, Twitter discovered that 9% accounts were hitting the maximum with 140 character tweets, while only 1% were hitting the limit with 280 characters.

But should you pack all those characters into a single tweet?

Research says yes.

Social Media Today reports that longer tweets actually lead to increased levels of engagement from your followers.

Now you can tell your story, share your updates, and still provide engaging content.

And if an expanded character count wasn’t enough for you, Twitter recently released a thread feature to allow for a longer narrative and more in-depth story.

Threads are useful for events with a series of updates, a how-to with a series of steps, an interview with multiple questions, and a wide variety of other scenarios.

These new features will equip your brand to present valid and engaging information to your users in Twitter’s current ecosystem.

Conclusion

Let’s face it.

Twitter has had a rough few months.

Slowed growth. Bots. Fake news.

It seems everyone is the first to criticize the network.

As a marketer, you might be wondering, “Does it still play an integral of a role in my marketing strategy as it once did?”

Our answer: yes…but only if you know how to use it correctly and exploit the network’s key strengths.

By understanding Twitter’s strengths (and weaknesses), you can still use the network to drive long-term growth for your business.

After all, your customers are still on there. You should be too.

Twitter serves as a powerful medium to provide real-time updates and immediate customer service resolutions for your customers. They are seeking direct and transparent information, which you can easily provide on Twitter.

They type of content you share can also affect your success. Video has emerged as a leading form of content on Twitter, and consumers are eating it up.

And remember, your customers aren’t the only ones on Twitter either.

Brands are using the platform to source leads, find partners, and network with influencers like never before.

The network has evolved, too.

With the right plan in place, you can make your Twitter marketing strategy an impactful part of your business’ marketing strategy.

What tactics will you use to evolve your Twitter strategy in 2018?

About the Author: Neil Patel is the cofounder of Neil Patel Digital.

Is Twitter Worth Your Time? Here’s What New 2018 Data Says About Twitter for Marketing

[symbianosgames]

The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

[Video Game Deep Cuts is a weekly newsletter from curator/video game industry veteran Simon Carless, rounding up the best longread & standout articles & videos about games, every weekend. This week's highlights include a GDC talk on 'the aesthetics of cute', the hidden story of TOSE, & the return to car wrecking of key Burnout developers.

Another interesting week of longer-form 'things', and I've been ruminating a bit on how these videos and articles intersect in weird but neat ways with 'breaking news' or 'hottest games'. Seems like you'll get at least _some_ bleed-through - for example, this week we have Battlegrounds, Signal From Tolva & Night In The Woods again, all of which are newish or interesting releases.

But many of these pieces are evergreen & exist separately of the 'hot reactions' grind. Which is good. Exist too close to the 24-hour hype cycle, and you'll miss trends and more thoughtful takes like some of these good folks. VGDC aims to reverse that. We hope you think we do a good job.

- Simon, curator.]

-------------------

Guild Wars 2’s art style passes from father to son (Philippa Warr / RockPaperShotgun) "Recently I had the chance to talk to ArenaNet (and thus Guild Wars 2) art director Horia Dociu about his work at the studio. One of the interesting things about his promotion to the role is that he succeeds his father, Daniel."

We’ve been missing a big part of game industry’s digital revolution (Kyle Orland / Ars Technica) "Last year, the Entertainment Software Association's annual "Essential Facts" report suggested that the US game industry generated $16.5 billion in "content" sales annually (excluding hardware and accessories). In this year's report, that number had grown to a whopping $24.5 billion, a nearly 50-percent increase in a span of 12 months. No, video games didn't actually become half again as popular with Americans over the course of 2016. Instead, tracking firm NPD simply updated the way it counts the still-shadowy world of digital game sales."

Warren Spector believes games 'need to be asking bigger questions' (Alex Wawro / Gamasutra) "Gamasutra sat down with Spector at GDC last month to catch up on how the process is going, roughly a year into his full-time gig at OtherSide. It was an interesting conversation, especially if you're at all interested in where games are at these days, where they came from, and what sorts of stories they're best at telling."

A Rare Look Inside Nintendo (Otaku / Game Escape / YouTube) "This clip is an excerpt from the French documentary film "Otaku" by director Jean-Jacques Beineix from 1994. It appeared dubbed on German TV some time later, which is the version you are seeing here. It has, to my knowledge, never been released in English. The subtitles are my own. Content is the intellectual property of the original rights holders."

An Interview With One of Those Hackers Screwing With Your 'Black Ops 2' Games(Patrick Klepek / Waypoint) "He's not there to ruin your stats. He's there to sell you software that'll let you launch a DDOS attack from your Xbox 360. [SIMON'S NOTE: this is crazy - modded Xbox 360s that find other player's IP addresses and can DDOS them?! I had no idea.]"

Put a Face on It: The Aesthetics of Cute (Jenny Jiao Hsia / GDC / YouTube) "In this 2017 GDC session, Hexecutable's Jenny Jiao Hsia explains why cuteness as an aesthetic may be worth exploring for developers who want to push against current trends in game design."

Proc. Gen. and Pleasant Land | Sir You Are Being Hunted (Robert Seddon / Heterotopias) "It was a perfect rustic idyll, in its way. Perfectly lovely, nestled between the grassy fields. Perfectly quiet, as only dead places can be. Perfectly still, because a player careless enough to create a disturbance might attract the robotic hunters. Big Robot’s Sir You Are Being Hunted had, through the digital governance of its landscape generation algorithms, somehow perfected the British countryside."

How video games were made - part 3: Marketing and Business (Strafefox / YouTube) "In this final chapter we cover the business side and marketing of 8 and 16 bit games. [SIMON'S NOTE: Lots of archival footage in here & SO much work cutting it all together - and the other entries in the 'how video games were made' series look pretty good too!]"

Video Games Are Better Without Stories (Ian Bogost / The Atlantic) "A longstanding dream: Video games will evolve into interactive stories, like the ones that play out fictionally on the Star Trek Holodeck. In this hypothetical future, players could interact with computerized characters as round as those in novels or films, making choices that would influence an ever-evolving plot. [SIMON'S NOTE: lots of responses to this all over the Internet - here's a couple of good ones from the Waypoint folks.]"

'Burnout' Series Creator Talks Remaking Crash Mode for 'Danger Zone' (John Davison / Glixel) "Spend longer than a few minutes talking with fans of driving games about which series they'd love to see revived, and invariably someone will bring up Criterion's Burnout. Unlike contemporaries that were leaning harder into realism and officially-licensed cars as a response to games like Gran Turismo, the first Burnout – released by Acclaim for PlayStation 2 in 2001 – was unapologetically action-focused."

Famitsu Special Report – The Mystery of TOSE (Famitsu / One Million Power) "This is the real story behind TOSE: The game development company that’s been making games for nearly 38 years (since 1979), but hardly any gamers know. [SIMON'S NOTE: Brandon Sheffield covered TOSE for Gamasutra back in 2006, but by and large, they've been PRETTY vague about what they work on - which is fascinating.]"

How Three Kids With No Experience Beat Square And Translated Final Fantasy V Into English (Jason Schreier / Kotaku) "One day in the late 1990s, Myria walked into the Irvine High School computer room and spotted a boy playing Final Fantasy V. There were two unusual things about this. The first was that Final Fantasy V had not actually come out in the United States."

Night in the Woods is Important (HeavyEyed / YouTube) "An analysis of the recently released game - this video contains very minimal spoilers but watch at your own discretion.."

Designing the giant battle royale maps of Playerunknown's Battlegrounds (Alan Bradley / Gamasutra) "For Brendan "Playerunknown" Greene, the creator of Battlegrounds, the vision for his game world was born from extensive experience creating and manipulating environments that direct players to play his games the way he intends them to be played."

All We Have Is Words (Matthew Burns / Magical Wasteland) "Sometimes I give the impression of knowing Japanese, but I really don’t. I have no claim to it. I never made a real study of the language, I don’t know kanji and thus can’t read at all, and even in speech I can’t exchange more than pleasantries or the most rudimentary logistical information. [SIMON'S NOTE: I believe this is a subtle 'subtweet'-style article response to the recent Persona 5 translation furore? Maybe?]"

Changing the Game: What's Next for Anita Sarkeesian (Laura A. Parker / Glixel) "Anita Sarkeesian’s talk at this year’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco falls at an unfortunate time: 10am on the last day of the conference – a Friday. Most attendees – a mix of indie programmers, mainstream publishing teams and media – are still bleary eyed from the night before. And yet, at five-to-ten, the small room on the third floor of the Moscone Convention Center is standing-room only."

The quest to crack and preserve vintage Apple II software (Leigh Alexander and Iain Chambers / The Guardian Podcast) "Why has the quest to hack old Apple II software become the best hope we have of preserving a part of our cultural history? How do these floppy discs – still turning up in their box-loads – shine a light on the educational philosophies of the 80s? And do a new generation of gamers risk losing whole days of their lives by playing these compelling retro games in their browsers?"

Video Games Help Model Brain’s Neurons (Nick Wingfield / New York Times) "Since November, thousands of people have played the game, “Mozak,” which uses common tricks of the medium — points, leveling up and leader boards that publicly rank the performance of players — to crowdsource the creation of three-dimensional models of neurons."

Longtime 'Star Citizen' Backers Want Its New Referral Contest to Die in a Black Hole (Leif Johnson / Motherboard) "Developers of multiplayer video games often host referral programs encouraging existing players to recruit their friends for a boost in cash flow, and in that regard, the new referral contest from Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games isn't much out of the ordinary. The same can't be said of the reactions from the players themselves."

Localization Shenanigans in the Chinese Speaking World (Jung-Sheng Lin / GDC / YouTube) "In this 2017 GDC session, IGDShare's Jung-Sheng Lin discusses a wide variety of possible issues that can arise when undertaking Chinese localization for your game. These problems include grappling simplified vs. traditional Chinese, naming problems, UI & fonts, and China-specific policies that may relate to localization, political implications, and more."

Good Game/Tech/History Youtubers (Phoe / Medium) "[SIMON'S NOTE: this got birthed after a conversation I had with Phoe in the Video Game History Foundation Discord chat - he watches a lot of good retro/interesting YouTube, and there's a number of recommendations in here I was unaware of!]

Red Bull TV - Screenland (Red Bull TV) "Plug into the fresh stories within the world of video games and game design. The personal tales, wild new developments, and unexpected genres shed new light on what gaming means in the world now and what it could mean in the future. [SIMON'S NOTE: this is an entire _season_ of gaming documentaries, including with Frank Cifaldi (Video Game History Foundation), UK cult classic Knightmare, and lots more.]"

Tim Schafer tells the story of Amnesia Fortnight (Philippa Warr / RockPaperShotgun) "“I started feeling a little bogged down by the scope of [Brutal Legend],” says Tim Schafer, founder of Double Fine. “It was really huge and I felt like the team had been doing it for a long time and had a long way to go yet. I felt like they needed a break.” That break was Amnesia Fortnight, a two week game jam during which anyone at the developer can pitch an idea and, if it’s selected, lead a team to turn it from concept to working prototype."

The Signal From Tolva: The Best Game Ever (Matt Lees / Cool Ghosts / YouTube) "New video! Matt dives into a spooky robot world, to talk about some of the cool design aspects of The Signal From Tölva. [SIMON'S NOTE: Can't emphasize enough that Cool Ghosts has some of the best game criticism on YouTube. Please patronize them! (On Patreon, not by talking down to them.)"

-------------------

[REMINDER: you can sign up to receive this newsletter every weekend at http://ift.tt/2dUXrva we crosspost to Gamasutra later on Sunday, but get it first via newsletter! Story tips and comments can be emailed to vgdeepcuts@simoncarless.com. MINI-DISCLOSURE: Simon is one of the organizers of GDC and Gamasutra, so you may sometimes see links from those entities in his picks. Or not!]

[seoprovider2110]

How to sustain your Online Startup in 2017

With the widespread use of the internet, website development simplified to drag-and-drop actions and ecommerce industry growth projected at an astounding 8.7%; the promise of online selling has lured millions to launch their ecommerce businesses. In the US alone, total revenues capped at an impressive 322,171 million USD. Despite its popularity, the ecommerce industry is always evolving. The strategies that got you this far won't be enough in 2017. Online businesses will need to match the pace if they wish to survive. This will be even trickier for startups that have only just started taking baby steps. However, amidst difficulty lies opportunity, because by merely channeling their resources in the right direction, owners of online startups can not only sustain their businesses, but can actually churn out profits. Here is a list of actionable steps that ecommerce startups can take to ensure smooth sailing through 2017: It is going to get personal: With nearly 53% (1 billion) internet users making purchases online, the ecommerce industry will be attracting big and small brands alike. Growing competition makes customers difficult to attain, easy to lose and pickier than ever before. So, what can you do to stand differentiated amidst this swarm of online businesses? Simple. Make the customer experience the best you can. Try to immerse every visitor in an empathetic, personalized and memorable shopping experience. Personalization will enable you to develop a customized experience for every interested buyer. You can do so by first gaining an in-depth understanding of the needs, wants and desires of your target audience in addition to illuminating yourself pertaining to the manner in which they are interacting with your website. Based on this information, you should tweak every step of the purchase process by simplifying it where required, improving it where necessary and gently nudging your users to make a purchase via personalized suggestions. Personalization can be attained by several means including:

Predictive recommendations

Personalized navigation

Third-party information

Subject line personalization

Database segmentation

Personalized content

Item-to-item collaborative filtering

Real-time offers

Dynamic remarketing

Predictive recommendations alone have been found to uplift order value by 40%. So, invest in a few, if not all, of these personalization techniques to establish an ongoing relationship with your buyers. User experience = conversions: The greatest challenge for ecommerce businesses is the conversion of visitors into customers. A tried and tested way to improve your conversion rate is to offer a pleasant and rewarding user experience. In order to do so, start by focusing on your web design. Nearly 38% of internet users have been reported to leave a website because they found it to be unattractive. Secondly, make sure your website does not take more than 3 seconds to load because 40% of users are known to abandon websites after this threshold. Fast loading time is also among the factors considered by Google while determining search rankings and can improve your online visibility. Thirdly, simplify the shopping experience by making products and services easy to find, web pages clean, free from clutter and streamlining the checkout process. Mobile is the new way forward: If you don't have a mobile device-compatible website, you're already losing out on precious sales. Nearly 59% of overall ecommerce traffic comes from mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. So, instead of reiterating the obvious need of going mobile, let's talk about how you should go about it. Though users of mobile devices constitute the majority of ecommerce traffic, they have surprisingly low conversion rates. In 2016, mobile browsers contributed to only 38% of overall ecommerce revenue indicating that users have apprehensions while making purchases via mobile devices. Even if they find out about your product via their phones or tablets, they are likely to switch to a desktop in order to make a purchase. This propensity to switch to a desktop is even higher in the case of high value items and can be attributed to security and privacy concerns while operating mobile devices. Therefore, when making your website mobile-compatible, be sure to invest in a winning UX so that your buyers don't hesitate while placing orders via mobile devices. Make smart use of technology: When it comes to availability of resources, there was never a better time to be in ecommerce. The market is swarming with freebies as well as paid tools that can easily automate repetitive tasks, leaving you free to focus on the more important things. However, instead of rushing off to pick a high ranking freebie option, take a moment to evaluate if they will resonate with your branding strategy. For example, for an ecommerce startup offering high-value commodities, the use of a free email marketing service like the one provided by MailChimp would significantly help in reducing costs. The reason for this is that they display their logos on client websites, which undermines the financial strength of a business. Paid solutions by Kajabi, Shopify and the like, may be costly investments, but they possess the potential to generate sufficient ROI. They do so by catering to multiple business functions simultaneously such as customer relationship management, marketing, payment processing, inventory management, back end functioning and data analytics etc. Secure your customers: A security breach is extremely detrimental when it comes to ecommerce businesses. It is, therefore, absolutely imperative that you take necessary measures to stave off cybercriminals. These measures include regular update of software and security systems on your work stations to ensure that your data stays protected from new vulnerabilities. Be sure to update everything from third-party code to WordPress plugins. You will also need to set multiple security layers such as firewalls, security features pertaining to contact forms, user passwords and search queries. Another thing to enhance security is to purge critical customer information such as CVV2 numbers, credit card information and expiration dates. You can choose to store only a small portion of such information at a distinct location in order to facilitate the processing of refunds. Securing your online platform is just one part of the overall picture, you need to communicate the same to your customers, in order to see tangible results. Therefore, boldly display your security certifications on your website and publish testimonials of satisfied customers on landing pages to reinforce your authenticity and credibility. All hail the reign of content: Yes, content shall continue to rule as king. Get cracking on a content strategy soon as it will enable you to drive traffic to your website, increase brand awareness and credibility, generate sales and provide value to your online community. Whatever you do as part of your content strategy, be sure to amalgamate SEO techniques into it. 80% of all clicks made on Google's search results occur near the top 3 organic listings. This means that if you wish for your content to have any kind of impact you need to find ways to make it to the top of organic search results. Moreover, drive sales, and leverage your brand as an influencer in your industry by making use of user-generated content. According to statistics, around 70% of consumers trust product reviews more than professionally crafted marketing content. Explode with social media: The ecommerce industry owes much of its success to social media powerhouses like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest. These platforms enable ecommerce businesses to overcome the concerns that arise from a lack of physical presence by establishing a loyal online following. These platforms not only help in driving traffic but also increase product awareness as well as marketing hype. Catapult your social media following by placing social media sharing buttons on every page of your website, including product pages and blog posts. Instead of solely focusing your financial capital on high quality imagery, try to incorporate as many GIFs, tutorial videos, product demo videos and promotional messages as you can on your website. Placing a video on landing pages leads to an 80% increase in conversion rates and this number is expected to increase in 2017. Join the chat bot revolution: One of the most exciting trends expected to soar in 2017 is the use of chat bots for real-time customer assistance. These chat bots will utilize predictive technology in order to anticipate buyer's needs and provide guidance during critical moments of the purchase process. Embellish your offering: In order to gain your customers' attention, it is important to stand differentiated from the rest. While you can't always offer a product or service that is completely distinct from your competitors, you can present your product in an utterly unique manner. Offer captivating deals, conduct contests and give discounts but whatever you do, keep it time bound, in order to raise the perceived value of your products/ services. This is due to innate human psychology which causes people to be more averse to losing an opportunity or missing out on a product as opposed to simply acquiring it. Focus on those abandoned carts: Abandoned carts are a huge point of concern for ecommerce startups, therefore it is crucial that you focus on them. Abandoned carts represent people who were willing to purchase your products but somewhere during the buyer's journey, they left. This that you need to focus on. Statistics indicate high shipping costs and unexpected charges to be two of the leading reasons of cart abandonment, which result in nearly 44% of overall abandoned carts. Therefore, make use of data to try and identify exactly why your customers are getting put off from your service, because this may be why your future customers may leave midway. Put together a winning customer service team: Customer service standards can make or break your online business. Customers are fickle, and they will probably never return, even if you falter once. According to a survey, 4.8% customers exclaim that they consistently need customer service while making an online purchase. Out of which, 31% say that they require immediate assistance and 40% say that they need support within five minutes. Therefore, expend time and energy into developing a winning customer services team that not only supports and enlightens your customers, but is capable of developing lasting relationships with them. Conduct more CRO tests: In order to retain their clientele, ecommerce businesses need to conduct regular conversion rate optimization (CRO) tests. This will help them find ways to convert more visitors into customers. Some useful CRO tests include:

Product page copy A/B test

Headline A/B test

Personalization vs. general homepage test

Simplified checkout vs. standard checkout test

Button color A/B test

2017 promises to be an exciting year for ecommerce businesses. Startups will need to buckle up and be prepared to not only adopt these trends, but also the countless more that are likely to surface during the course of the coming year. Continuous improvement is the name of the game, so no matter what you do, avoid falling into your comfort zone.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2jkVLA0

[goldieseoservices]

How to sustain your Online Startup in 2017

With the widespread use of the internet, website development simplified to drag-and-drop actions and ecommerce industry growth projected at an astounding 8.7%; the promise of online selling has lured millions to launch their ecommerce businesses. In the US alone, total revenues capped at an impressive 322,171 million USD. Despite its popularity, the ecommerce industry is always evolving. The strategies that got you this far won't be enough in 2017. Online businesses will need to match the pace if they wish to survive. This will be even trickier for startups that have only just started taking baby steps. However, amidst difficulty lies opportunity, because by merely channeling their resources in the right direction, owners of online startups can not only sustain their businesses, but can actually churn out profits. Here is a list of actionable steps that ecommerce startups can take to ensure smooth sailing through 2017: It is going to get personal: With nearly 53% (1 billion) internet users making purchases online, the ecommerce industry will be attracting big and small brands alike. Growing competition makes customers difficult to attain, easy to lose and pickier than ever before. So, what can you do to stand differentiated amidst this swarm of online businesses? Simple. Make the customer experience the best you can. Try to immerse every visitor in an empathetic, personalized and memorable shopping experience. Personalization will enable you to develop a customized experience for every interested buyer. You can do so by first gaining an in-depth understanding of the needs, wants and desires of your target audience in addition to illuminating yourself pertaining to the manner in which they are interacting with your website. Based on this information, you should tweak every step of the purchase process by simplifying it where required, improving it where necessary and gently nudging your users to make a purchase via personalized suggestions. Personalization can be attained by several means including:

Predictive recommendations

Personalized navigation

Third-party information

Subject line personalization

Database segmentation

Personalized content

Item-to-item collaborative filtering

Real-time offers

Dynamic remarketing

Predictive recommendations alone have been found to uplift order value by 40%. So, invest in a few, if not all, of these personalization techniques to establish an ongoing relationship with your buyers. User experience = conversions: The greatest challenge for ecommerce businesses is the conversion of visitors into customers. A tried and tested way to improve your conversion rate is to offer a pleasant and rewarding user experience. In order to do so, start by focusing on your web design. Nearly 38% of internet users have been reported to leave a website because they found it to be unattractive. Secondly, make sure your website does not take more than 3 seconds to load because 40% of users are known to abandon websites after this threshold. Fast loading time is also among the factors considered by Google while determining search rankings and can improve your online visibility. Thirdly, simplify the shopping experience by making products and services easy to find, web pages clean, free from clutter and streamlining the checkout process. Mobile is the new way forward: If you don't have a mobile device-compatible website, you're already losing out on precious sales. Nearly 59% of overall ecommerce traffic comes from mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. So, instead of reiterating the obvious need of going mobile, let's talk about how you should go about it. Though users of mobile devices constitute the majority of ecommerce traffic, they have surprisingly low conversion rates. In 2016, mobile browsers contributed to only 38% of overall ecommerce revenue indicating that users have apprehensions while making purchases via mobile devices. Even if they find out about your product via their phones or tablets, they are likely to switch to a desktop in order to make a purchase. This propensity to switch to a desktop is even higher in the case of high value items and can be attributed to security and privacy concerns while operating mobile devices. Therefore, when making your website mobile-compatible, be sure to invest in a winning UX so that your buyers don't hesitate while placing orders via mobile devices. Make smart use of technology: When it comes to availability of resources, there was never a better time to be in ecommerce. The market is swarming with freebies as well as paid tools that can easily automate repetitive tasks, leaving you free to focus on the more important things. However, instead of rushing off to pick a high ranking freebie option, take a moment to evaluate if they will resonate with your branding strategy. For example, for an ecommerce startup offering high-value commodities, the use of a free email marketing service like the one provided by MailChimp would significantly help in reducing costs. The reason for this is that they display their logos on client websites, which undermines the financial strength of a business. Paid solutions by Kajabi, Shopify and the like, may be costly investments, but they possess the potential to generate sufficient ROI. They do so by catering to multiple business functions simultaneously such as customer relationship management, marketing, payment processing, inventory management, back end functioning and data analytics etc. Secure your customers: A security breach is extremely detrimental when it comes to ecommerce businesses. It is, therefore, absolutely imperative that you take necessary measures to stave off cybercriminals. These measures include regular update of software and security systems on your work stations to ensure that your data stays protected from new vulnerabilities. Be sure to update everything from third-party code to WordPress plugins. You will also need to set multiple security layers such as firewalls, security features pertaining to contact forms, user passwords and search queries. Another thing to enhance security is to purge critical customer information such as CVV2 numbers, credit card information and expiration dates. You can choose to store only a small portion of such information at a distinct location in order to facilitate the processing of refunds. Securing your online platform is just one part of the overall picture, you need to communicate the same to your customers, in order to see tangible results. Therefore, boldly display your security certifications on your website and publish testimonials of satisfied customers on landing pages to reinforce your authenticity and credibility. All hail the reign of content: Yes, content shall continue to rule as king. Get cracking on a content strategy soon as it will enable you to drive traffic to your website, increase brand awareness and credibility, generate sales and provide value to your online community. Whatever you do as part of your content strategy, be sure to amalgamate SEO techniques into it. 80% of all clicks made on Google's search results occur near the top 3 organic listings. This means that if you wish for your content to have any kind of impact you need to find ways to make it to the top of organic search results. Moreover, drive sales, and leverage your brand as an influencer in your industry by making use of user-generated content. According to statistics, around 70% of consumers trust product reviews more than professionally crafted marketing content. Explode with social media: The ecommerce industry owes much of its success to social media powerhouses like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest. These platforms enable ecommerce businesses to overcome the concerns that arise from a lack of physical presence by establishing a loyal online following. These platforms not only help in driving traffic but also increase product awareness as well as marketing hype. Catapult your social media following by placing social media sharing buttons on every page of your website, including product pages and blog posts. Instead of solely focusing your financial capital on high quality imagery, try to incorporate as many GIFs, tutorial videos, product demo videos and promotional messages as you can on your website. Placing a video on landing pages leads to an 80% increase in conversion rates and this number is expected to increase in 2017. Join the chat bot revolution: One of the most exciting trends expected to soar in 2017 is the use of chat bots for real-time customer assistance. These chat bots will utilize predictive technology in order to anticipate buyer's needs and provide guidance during critical moments of the purchase process. Embellish your offering: In order to gain your customers' attention, it is important to stand differentiated from the rest. While you can't always offer a product or service that is completely distinct from your competitors, you can present your product in an utterly unique manner. Offer captivating deals, conduct contests and give discounts but whatever you do, keep it time bound, in order to raise the perceived value of your products/ services. This is due to innate human psychology which causes people to be more averse to losing an opportunity or missing out on a product as opposed to simply acquiring it. Focus on those abandoned carts: Abandoned carts are a huge point of concern for ecommerce startups, therefore it is crucial that you focus on them. Abandoned carts represent people who were willing to purchase your products but somewhere during the buyer's journey, they left. This that you need to focus on. Statistics indicate high shipping costs and unexpected charges to be two of the leading reasons of cart abandonment, which result in nearly 44% of overall abandoned carts. Therefore, make use of data to try and identify exactly why your customers are getting put off from your service, because this may be why your future customers may leave midway. Put together a winning customer service team: Customer service standards can make or break your online business. Customers are fickle, and they will probably never return, even if you falter once. According to a survey, 4.8% customers exclaim that they consistently need customer service while making an online purchase. Out of which, 31% say that they require immediate assistance and 40% say that they need support within five minutes. Therefore, expend time and energy into developing a winning customer services team that not only supports and enlightens your customers, but is capable of developing lasting relationships with them. Conduct more CRO tests: In order to retain their clientele, ecommerce businesses need to conduct regular conversion rate optimization (CRO) tests. This will help them find ways to convert more visitors into customers. Some useful CRO tests include:

Product page copy A/B test

Headline A/B test

Personalization vs. general homepage test

Simplified checkout vs. standard checkout test

Button color A/B test

2017 promises to be an exciting year for ecommerce businesses. Startups will need to buckle up and be prepared to not only adopt these trends, but also the countless more that are likely to surface during the course of the coming year. Continuous improvement is the name of the game, so no matter what you do, avoid falling into your comfort zone.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2jkVLA0

[seo78580]

How to sustain your Online Startup in 2017

With the widespread use of the internet, website development simplified to drag-and-drop actions and ecommerce industry growth projected at an astounding 8.7%; the promise of online selling has lured millions to launch their ecommerce businesses. In the US alone, total revenues capped at an impressive 322,171 million USD. Despite its popularity, the ecommerce industry is always evolving. The strategies that got you this far won't be enough in 2017. Online businesses will need to match the pace if they wish to survive. This will be even trickier for startups that have only just started taking baby steps. However, amidst difficulty lies opportunity, because by merely channeling their resources in the right direction, owners of online startups can not only sustain their businesses, but can actually churn out profits. Here is a list of actionable steps that ecommerce startups can take to ensure smooth sailing through 2017: It is going to get personal: With nearly 53% (1 billion) internet users making purchases online, the ecommerce industry will be attracting big and small brands alike. Growing competition makes customers difficult to attain, easy to lose and pickier than ever before. So, what can you do to stand differentiated amidst this swarm of online businesses? Simple. Make the customer experience the best you can. Try to immerse every visitor in an empathetic, personalized and memorable shopping experience. Personalization will enable you to develop a customized experience for every interested buyer. You can do so by first gaining an in-depth understanding of the needs, wants and desires of your target audience in addition to illuminating yourself pertaining to the manner in which they are interacting with your website. Based on this information, you should tweak every step of the purchase process by simplifying it where required, improving it where necessary and gently nudging your users to make a purchase via personalized suggestions. Personalization can be attained by several means including:

Predictive recommendations

Personalized navigation

Third-party information

Subject line personalization

Database segmentation

Personalized content

Item-to-item collaborative filtering

Real-time offers

Dynamic remarketing

Predictive recommendations alone have been found to uplift order value by 40%. So, invest in a few, if not all, of these personalization techniques to establish an ongoing relationship with your buyers. User experience = conversions: The greatest challenge for ecommerce businesses is the conversion of visitors into customers. A tried and tested way to improve your conversion rate is to offer a pleasant and rewarding user experience. In order to do so, start by focusing on your web design. Nearly 38% of internet users have been reported to leave a website because they found it to be unattractive. Secondly, make sure your website does not take more than 3 seconds to load because 40% of users are known to abandon websites after this threshold. Fast loading time is also among the factors considered by Google while determining search rankings and can improve your online visibility. Thirdly, simplify the shopping experience by making products and services easy to find, web pages clean, free from clutter and streamlining the checkout process. Mobile is the new way forward: If you don't have a mobile device-compatible website, you're already losing out on precious sales. Nearly 59% of overall ecommerce traffic comes from mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. So, instead of reiterating the obvious need of going mobile, let's talk about how you should go about it. Though users of mobile devices constitute the majority of ecommerce traffic, they have surprisingly low conversion rates. In 2016, mobile browsers contributed to only 38% of overall ecommerce revenue indicating that users have apprehensions while making purchases via mobile devices. Even if they find out about your product via their phones or tablets, they are likely to switch to a desktop in order to make a purchase. This propensity to switch to a desktop is even higher in the case of high value items and can be attributed to security and privacy concerns while operating mobile devices. Therefore, when making your website mobile-compatible, be sure to invest in a winning UX so that your buyers don't hesitate while placing orders via mobile devices. Make smart use of technology: When it comes to availability of resources, there was never a better time to be in ecommerce. The market is swarming with freebies as well as paid tools that can easily automate repetitive tasks, leaving you free to focus on the more important things. However, instead of rushing off to pick a high ranking freebie option, take a moment to evaluate if they will resonate with your branding strategy. For example, for an ecommerce startup offering high-value commodities, the use of a free email marketing service like the one provided by MailChimp would significantly help in reducing costs. The reason for this is that they display their logos on client websites, which undermines the financial strength of a business. Paid solutions by Kajabi, Shopify and the like, may be costly investments, but they possess the potential to generate sufficient ROI. They do so by catering to multiple business functions simultaneously such as customer relationship management, marketing, payment processing, inventory management, back end functioning and data analytics etc. Secure your customers: A security breach is extremely detrimental when it comes to ecommerce businesses. It is, therefore, absolutely imperative that you take necessary measures to stave off cybercriminals. These measures include regular update of software and security systems on your work stations to ensure that your data stays protected from new vulnerabilities. Be sure to update everything from third-party code to WordPress plugins. You will also need to set multiple security layers such as firewalls, security features pertaining to contact forms, user passwords and search queries. Another thing to enhance security is to purge critical customer information such as CVV2 numbers, credit card information and expiration dates. You can choose to store only a small portion of such information at a distinct location in order to facilitate the processing of refunds. Securing your online platform is just one part of the overall picture, you need to communicate the same to your customers, in order to see tangible results. Therefore, boldly display your security certifications on your website and publish testimonials of satisfied customers on landing pages to reinforce your authenticity and credibility. All hail the reign of content: Yes, content shall continue to rule as king. Get cracking on a content strategy soon as it will enable you to drive traffic to your website, increase brand awareness and credibility, generate sales and provide value to your online community. Whatever you do as part of your content strategy, be sure to amalgamate SEO techniques into it. 80% of all clicks made on Google's search results occur near the top 3 organic listings. This means that if you wish for your content to have any kind of impact you need to find ways to make it to the top of organic search results. Moreover, drive sales, and leverage your brand as an influencer in your industry by making use of user-generated content. According to statistics, around 70% of consumers trust product reviews more than professionally crafted marketing content. Explode with social media: The ecommerce industry owes much of its success to social media powerhouses like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest. These platforms enable ecommerce businesses to overcome the concerns that arise from a lack of physical presence by establishing a loyal online following. These platforms not only help in driving traffic but also increase product awareness as well as marketing hype. Catapult your social media following by placing social media sharing buttons on every page of your website, including product pages and blog posts. Instead of solely focusing your financial capital on high quality imagery, try to incorporate as many GIFs, tutorial videos, product demo videos and promotional messages as you can on your website. Placing a video on landing pages leads to an 80% increase in conversion rates and this number is expected to increase in 2017. Join the chat bot revolution: One of the most exciting trends expected to soar in 2017 is the use of chat bots for real-time customer assistance. These chat bots will utilize predictive technology in order to anticipate buyer's needs and provide guidance during critical moments of the purchase process. Embellish your offering: In order to gain your customers' attention, it is important to stand differentiated from the rest. While you can't always offer a product or service that is completely distinct from your competitors, you can present your product in an utterly unique manner. Offer captivating deals, conduct contests and give discounts but whatever you do, keep it time bound, in order to raise the perceived value of your products/ services. This is due to innate human psychology which causes people to be more averse to losing an opportunity or missing out on a product as opposed to simply acquiring it. Focus on those abandoned carts: Abandoned carts are a huge point of concern for ecommerce startups, therefore it is crucial that you focus on them. Abandoned carts represent people who were willing to purchase your products but somewhere during the buyer's journey, they left. This that you need to focus on. Statistics indicate high shipping costs and unexpected charges to be two of the leading reasons of cart abandonment, which result in nearly 44% of overall abandoned carts. Therefore, make use of data to try and identify exactly why your customers are getting put off from your service, because this may be why your future customers may leave midway. Put together a winning customer service team: Customer service standards can make or break your online business. Customers are fickle, and they will probably never return, even if you falter once. According to a survey, 4.8% customers exclaim that they consistently need customer service while making an online purchase. Out of which, 31% say that they require immediate assistance and 40% say that they need support within five minutes. Therefore, expend time and energy into developing a winning customer services team that not only supports and enlightens your customers, but is capable of developing lasting relationships with them. Conduct more CRO tests: In order to retain their clientele, ecommerce businesses need to conduct regular conversion rate optimization (CRO) tests. This will help them find ways to convert more visitors into customers. Some useful CRO tests include:

Product page copy A/B test

Headline A/B test

Personalization vs. general homepage test

Simplified checkout vs. standard checkout test

Button color A/B test

2017 promises to be an exciting year for ecommerce businesses. Startups will need to buckle up and be prepared to not only adopt these trends, but also the countless more that are likely to surface during the course of the coming year. Continuous improvement is the name of the game, so no matter what you do, avoid falling into your comfort zone.

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