#very high likelihood they’ll have some show here next year i Need to see them again they were soo fucking good

[fagdykebassboy]

i need to see destroy boys again soooooo badddddd

[wesimpforxiao]

Say My Name and I’ll Be There: 5.4

Darkness.

What a strange feeling it is to have your senses deprived and stolen from you.  Were you still alive, or were you also nothing in this realm of nothingness? Look at you, unable to form a coherent thought or a cry for help.  Look at how you've fallen.

You've fallen too deep this time.  Was Xiao even looking for you?  Did they manage to kill Childe?  Was Aether defeated?  Did the Fatui get what they needed from you, and discard your body in the snow?  All these fears floated alongside you in this sea of darkness, but you could not discern the answers.

Just how much time passed since you were dragged into that portal?

But as soon as you found yourself in this wretched place of nothing, something began to manifest.  A single voice found you, then two.  Soon enough they were blaringly loud and obnoxious.  But eternal sleep sounded nice.  Maybe this darkness wasn't all bad.  A peaceful end to your unpeaceful demise.

"Why is she still sleeping?"  Childe sounded a bit agitated and overprotective as he glared at Signora.  "We require her to be in good health."

"Relax, Childe," Signora lent him a faint smile.  "Do you not know that archons and adepti can hear pleas for help?  This will keep the guardian you spoke of off our trail.  Later we'll use it as bait to capture him."

"It wasn't necessary to hit her so hard," he muttered.  He could still see caked blood at your hairline.

"Now that we're back, I'll inform the Tsaritsa of our achievement.  Make sure she doesn't try anything stupid."  Signora left the cell and retreated upstairs.

Childe watched her leave and returned his gaze to you.  His fingers lightly traced your jaw.  "I warned you that things would get ugly, ojou-chan.  You should have considered an early surrender."

............................................

"I can't hear her," Xiao paced the city gates while Aether and Paimon tried to reassure him.  The worry that exuded the otherwise composed yaksha was enough to put them even more on edge.  If only he had been faster, if he had pushed off the ledge harder, you wouldn't be in the Fatui's hands now.  A part of him tore himself to shreds for his lack of agility in the spur of the moment, but he quickly silenced it.  Reducing himself to a failure would only hinder his ability to rescue you when the time came.

"We know where they're headed! They'll be in Snezhnaya without a doubt!" Paimon attempted to bring optimism to her friends.

"It won't be that easy to infiltrate their base," Aether groaned.  "We won't even know where she's being held, or if she's even there in the first place."  This comment only seemed to agitate the yaksha further.

Aether was right, and Xiao hated it.  As much as he wanted to barge into Snezhnaya the second you disappeared, acting on emotion and rage wouldn't do you any good.  The likelihood that they were using you as bait was too high.  He needed to formulate a plan, just like every other battle he's participated in.  "Quiet," Xiao ordered the two of them to shut up in a disturbingly low voice.  "I need silence."

"S-Sorry!"

The yaksha disappeared without another word, and reappeared before Zhongli in Liyue.  He was just leaving the funeral parlor after a long day.  "We have a problem," Xiao growled.

......................................

"Mmph," you slowly regained consciousness sometime the next day.  "M-my head..."  Your blurry vision slowly focused on the ground in front of you.  The amount of scum on the tile made your stomach riot, and your gaze shifted to your wrists which were chained to the ground.  "So...dizzy."

The sound of metal clinking made you look up.  A Fatui agent was unlocking your cell door, and Childe entered.  "Good, you're awake.  Someone very important wishes to meet you."  He nodded to his subordinate, who then unchained your hands from the floor and rechained them behind your back.  Childe grabbed you by your injured arm and pulled you to your feet.

"Ngh!"  The sudden rise of pain in your shoulder made him chuckle.

"That wasn't even me going all-out, ojou-chan," he spoke in a quiet voice as he guided you down a dim narrow hallway.  "That injury is nothing compared to the ones you'll soon receive."

"Shut up," you groaned, not particularly caring if it'd earn you torture later.  The two of you soon came upon a set of doors, and Childe guided you through them.

The room was grand and remarkably...dim.  The air was stale and seemed to freeze in here.  Over ten Fatui agents and skirmishers, the top of their ranks, stood on either side of the path that led to an underwhelming throne.  The blue glow that shone through the windows illuminated you much like an interrogation light.  Childe pushed you onto your knees once you reached the empty seat at the far end of the room; he spared no expense at agitating your injury, a sadistic smile spreading across his lips every time he heard your stifled groans.

A figure moved from the shadows and took its seat on the throne.  The shadows from its headboard obscured the person before you, but you didn't need to know what the person looked like to give you an answer.

"Bow," the friendly mask of Childe finally broke completely, and he forced you to the ground with a foot to your back.  "It's customary to show your respect before Her Majesty."

"Urk," your face smooshed against the cold tile.  You appreciated that it was much cleaner than your cell floor.  It was a weird thing to focus on given the circumstances, but if you were going to live in that disgusting cell the rest of your life, might as well appreciate what you have now, right?

"Rise," a powerful voice boomed through the room, and Childe yanked you back to your knees.

You're really milking this, aren't you?  You glared at the harbinger when your shoulder ached from his harshness, but his hardened expression was focused on his queen.  That's when you noticed Signora to the left, who was accompanied by two other powerful-looking individuals.  Harbingers.

I can't call Xiao here, you realized with disappointment.  Even with his years of experience, he couldn't face four harbingers and an archon alone.  If you were to call him, he'd be here instantly and without the aid of Aether or anyone else.  It would serve as a trap.  Knowing this, your shoulders dropped with the weight of an overwhelming sense of helplessness.

You were alone.

"Do you know what this is?" The figure leaned forward enough so that her gloved hand was exposed to the light, along with an object you recognized to be your vision. The panicked look you gave your empty belt loop seemed to satisfy her question.  "I hadn't realized I had gifted a vision to someone very valuable to our cause," she mused, turning the vision over in her hand.  "You see, we archons bestow visions subconsciously.  If I had known you were my target, it wouldn't have been gifted to you.  I give you my thanks for your cooperation, but you will not be needing this."  She crushed it in her hands, and let the shattered pieces clatter to the ground with the faint clinking of glass and metal.

"Wait, no!"  You threw yourself forward, but Childe's grip prevented you from moving. That was my only chance! My...only...!  Tears dribbled down your cheeks, and Childe watched you with an empty gaze.  If there was some slim possibility of getting out of here, that was it.  You stared brokenly at the pieces sitting on the floor.

"If you prove your loyalty to my cause, dearest one, perhaps you'll earn it back," the voice echoed through the chamber.  "But until then, that will pose a problem.  We don't want you to leave prematurely, do we? You had only just arrived."

"P-please," you cried.  "Please don't do this."  Childe brought you to your feet and began to escort you out of the room.  "Please!  No! NO!"  His escort was more like dragging your flailing body as you tried to kick at him.  "Noooo!"

Your screams of protest no longer echoed in the chamber once the doors shut behind you.  A few Fatui held looks of uncertainty or even fear behind their masks, but remained silent.  The room was quiet until Signora spoke.  "Who will be in charge of her?"

The Tsaritsa's lifeless eyes floated to the harbinger that stood to Signora's right.  "Il Dottore."

The white-haired man grinned manically with only half of his smile visible from beneath his mask.  "What an excellent casting, Your Majesty.  You will not be let down with the results of my research."

.......................................

Childe chained your wrists to the floor once he returned you to the cell.  He brought a stool into the room and sat on it, intent on watching you until he was called to do otherwise.  You didn't meet his eyes.  "I gave you a way out," Childe spoke as he watched various expressions pass across your face while you thought of your options of escape.  "To avoid the torment that's to come.  You have no idea what you're in for."

"Shut up."

"If you follow instructions, I'm sure you'll earn a few luxuries."

"Like a clean cell?" You rolled your eyes.  "Why would you do something like this? I don't get it."

"I owe my loyalty to--"

"No!" Your shout cut him off.  "Cut the crap, Tartaglia.  Why?" Your eyes glowed enough to illuminate the cell, then faded again.  Your determination to remain strong continued to shine in your pupils, though.  "If what you told me in Dragonspine was true, if you actually were interested in me, you wouldn't be doing this.  I don't give a damn about your rehearsed 'loyalty' line, I'm sick of hearing it.  So why?"

Childe searched your eyes for his own answer.  

"You lied to us, said that you just wanted to join us on an adventure for awhile," you continued, eyes moist with the beginning of tears.  "You ate with us. You laughed with us.  You sparred with us.  Did all of that mean nothing to you? We trusted you!"

"Sweet, naïve ojou-chan.  Trust is for children. This should've been expected."  He stood up and grabbed the brim of the stool.  He walked towards the cell door.

"Do you even care about family?"  The question stopped him in his tracks, but he didn't face you.  "You've talked about your siblings before.  Do you really expect me to believe you have family values if you disregarded mine?"

"Watch your words, comrade."  A dangerous voice left his lips, but it didn't faze you.

"How would you feel if I had been the one to meddle in your family's affairs?  To kill them?  Do they know how many sins you've committed against innocent people?  Do you tell them? Have you told Teucer, or do you continue to wear the same stupid façade of a respectable, perfect older brother?  I'd love to see the look on his face when he finds out you're nothing but a monster and a fraud."

Your head slammed into the wall behind you, and Childe's face was suddenly inches away from yours.  His hand pressed against your neck enough to deprive you of air, but it eased slightly as he continued to look at you.  "Let me get one thing straight.  I didn't kill your grandmother," his voice was quiet, with slight guilt, and at the same time full of rage.

"T-then why did you force her to sign the house away?" You gasped for air when he finally let go of your neck.

"She signed it of her own accord," he rose to his feet.

"But why?"

"She refused to give information for free, so we offered her a considerable amount of money and to buy her house so she could move wherever she'd like," Childe grinned slightly when you gave him a look of skepticism.  "In the end, she didn't have any useful information on you.  But I was more than willing to oblige her, since I respect family."  

He replaced his seat back in the middle of the cell and silently watched you once again.  You didn't really know how to respond to his words about Granny, so you just glared at the muck on the floor.

Coming up:  First contact, a plot of rescue and...a rare sight of a yaksha.

[asagimeta]

How Arrow’s Ending May Impact Crisis On Infinite Earths

Today the announcement came that Arrow is officially ending next season- and with a shortened season at that, meaning that the show will officially end right after Crisis On Infinite Earths

Both of these things say alot, and could give us some pretty huge clues about what's coming next year, for Crisis, Arrow, and the Arrowverse at large

Here's what we know so far about what the Arrowverse will look like next fall, and about Crisis:

-All Arrowverse shows + Black Lightening have been renewed

-Batwoman has officially received a pilot order, though it's unclear if she'll go to series

-Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl are the only shows so far to be confirmed for Crisis, however, Legends Of Tommorrow has not been ruled out

-Black Lightening has been kept out of the Arrowverse so far but has made consistant nods to it, this is important to consider for what we know about Crisis

-Berlanti promised that Crisis would "take some big swings", and said it was "highly likely" that a charector would die

-Arrow is ending this year, and with a shortened season order, will be ending shortly after Crisis airs

-All three of the confirmed Crisis shows have made storylines regarding a bitter future, wherein the namesake of each show (Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl) are no longer around

-All three of the confirmed Crisis shows currently have someone from the future in the main timeline (Mia of Arrow, Nora of The Flash, and Brainy of Supergirl)

-At the end of Elseworlds, Oliver made a deal with the Anti-Monitor, the details of wich are currently undisclosed, in order to save the lives of Barry and Kara

-In the comics, Barry and Kara both die during Crisis

-The point of Crisis was to merge the many universes that DC had built, as it was becoming too difficult for them to keep having a million continuities running at once, Crisis merged all Earths into one Earth temporarily, before starting to splinter off again, and eventually being split back into a basic 52 (... wich also didn't last but I'm ending it there)

-The Flash and Supergirl have both proven that foretold futures can, in fact, change (via the amount of time into the future that Barry is supposed to dissappear in The Flash, and the entire incident regarding Pestilence in Supergirl)

-Superman and Lois are currently living on Argon to raise their first-born child, Clark said they planned to be away for "a few years", so it may be unlikely that we see him during Crisis

With all of that out of the way, I'm going to split the rest of this into three parts:

I. What Arrow's Ending Means For Crisis

II. What Crisis Means For Arrow's Ending

III. What All Of This Means For Oliver Queen

I. What Arrow's Ending Means For Crisis

It's important to note that Arrow was not cancelled, it's ending- meaning that the writers likely had some involvement in this decision long before it was announced

The writers, in fact, commented to say that they made the decision "based on what's best for Arrow", so I'm willing to bet that they've known the end is near for a long time, either because of the CW hinting at it, or because they've felt the stories are going that way- and considering Arrow's substantial ratings, I tend to believe the latter

I wouldn't be surprised if they've been planning to end the show since they started planning Elseworlds, maybe even since they started season seven with the flash-forwards, meaning that whatever their plans for Crisis are, they've known for some time that it'll coincide with the end of Arrow

Crisis is known for being a historic time in DC history, many people define DC's universe as pre and post Crisis.... just as many will probably define the Arrowverse as pre and post Arrow

By ending the show, Arrow has opened it's self up to be THE prime target in Crisis in a way that on-going shows like Supergirl and The Flash simply can't, because Arrow's charectors can be permenantly changed, or even killed, in Crisis without there having to be concern about what this will mean for the future of the show, wile some things will naturally be off limits for Crisis due to the continuation of the flagship shows (IE: you probably can't kill Supergirl and then have four more seasons of a show called Supergirl, if you make a giant change to Barry Allen's charector design, like, say, cutting off his hand, that's a decision that The Flash as a show will have to live with for quite some time, etc- ofcourse, providing these decisions aren't retconned) but with Arrow no longer having that worry, I would suspect the biggest blows to hit Arrow charectors, as they'll have the least overall long-term consequences

Arrow ending will also provide a big reason for Crisis to exist at all, from a logistics standpoint- namely: Dimension travel

Right now, the only shows in the Arrowverse that share an Earth are Arrow and The Flash- and possibly Batwoman, if she's ordered to series

Supergirl has it's own Earth, Legends Of Tommorrow are kind of constantly in limbo so they hover above this problem, and Black Lightening isn't even part of the Arrowverse at all

The reason this is important is because of how popular crossovers are becoming with the Arrowverse, not only is it now a yearly event to gather everyone together, but they also like to do mini-crossovers at times (such as Arrow VS Flash and the musical episode Supergirl and The Flash shared) but these crossovers are hard enough to do from a real life standpoint of scheduling conflicts, writing them into the stories is an even bigger problem... particularly if you have to include a reason for heros to put down what they're doing and go to a different dimension

Merging the shows into one universe would solve alot of logistical problems, make it easier to have crossovers (especially miniature ones), ensure that there's a wider expanse of charectors from each series involved (again, if they all share a universe, it's easier to explain why people are dropping what they're doing to help in a crisis, it's not a matter of "someone has to stay on our earth wile I do The Thing") and potentially continue to create larger overarching universal storylines

Plus, it'd be fun to have the official clearance to involve Black Lightening, Salim Akil may not have wanted to in the past, but Greg Berlanti also said a couple of years ago that he didn't want to add any more superhero shows to the slate after Supergirl.... now we have Black Lightening and Batwoman, and honestly, the CW may have offered Akil quite a nice financial benefit to merging his show with the Arrowverse, this would, after all, give his charectors space on other shows and thus bring in more cashflow to him as a result

However, much like the X-Men being merged into the MCU, all merges have to come with a price....

And that price could be Arrow

Crisis was notorious for not only merging universes, but also DESTROYING universes, or destroying PARTS of universes....

The main universe will likely still be Arrow's, given that this is the same earth that The Flash and possibly Batwoman take place on, it'd make the most sense, wich also means that if a merge takes place, the place most likely to be the sacrificial lamb* is going to have to be from this Earth, as Supergirl and Black Lightening would both have the majority of their Earths destroyed to merge into Earth 1, it would be too much (from both a story standpoint and a filming standpoint) to destroy National City or Freeland, and you can't start Batwoman with Gotham being destroyed- especially as one of the main mysteries of Batwoman is supposed to be what turned Gotham into a trash pile in the first place, that means that the sacrifice will have to be either Central City or Star City.....

Star City is the obvious choice as it'll no longer be needed- literally, The Flash will still have to film and will need Central City as a location, as a set, as their home, but with Arrow ending, no one will need the Star City location anymore

Now this doesn't mean everyone in Star City will die, they'll just have to be relocated as the city is more or less sucked into the vortex that merges the Earths, as Crisis will involve Arrow and the main companions involved, I think it's safe to say that most of the charectors will get out alive

*(I say that there needs to be a sacrificial lamb because of stakes, you can't threaten high stakes that only apply to NPCs- that is, you can't have a massive war without there being casualties that you actually know and not just random extras that play dead bodies very well, this is the geographical equivolant of that)

With Star City gone, this could actually provide a great chance to allow some of Arrow's charectors to pop up as guest stars on other shows, Roy Harper could join Legends for a wile, Felicity could pop up in Central City for an episode here or there, that sort of thing

Now remember what I said earlier about the Arrow charectors being having the most likelihood of taking those "big swings" Berlanti mentioned? Well, it's time to get to The Big Gun....

I think Arrow ending might seal the fate of Oliver Queen, and his death in Crisis On Infinite Earths

Let's remember that deal he made in Elseworlds to save Barry and Kara, now that deal- whatever it was- may have only applied to that one specific incident wherein they ran/flew around the world in opposite directions.... but it also may have been his saving them from the death that Crisis is meant to deal them, after all it would be pretty hard to have Supergirl without... you know... Supergirl, and I have a hard time believing that The Flash, as a show, will really be ok with flash-forwarding twenty years in the future forever- the make up on current charectors alone would be exhaustive, not to mention figuring out things like political and technological changes, deaths and births, and everything else it involves, so unless The Flash from 20 years in the future plans to turn back time at some point and retcon that timejump, it just.... wouldn't work- though I do wonder, if Kara and Barry are spared, what this will mean for Nora and Barry, given they're both from a future that would now no longer exist

In addition, Mia has said that she grew up without Oliver, what could have kept him away from her for so long other than death?

So could Crisis kill off Oliver Queen and destroy Star City in a merge of all of the Arrowverse shows together? Let's move on

II. What Crisis Means For Arrow's Ending

Arrow will end shortly after Crisis occurs, so it's almost rediculous to think that Crisis could go by without a major impact to the Arrow charectors

It's important to note that Oliver Queen is not the only Arrow, if Oliver DOES die, Arrow could end with the birth of the new Arrow, whoever is taking up his mantle, perhaps Mia, or even a new charector that we haven't met yet who will ultimately study under Oliver next season

If Star City is destroyed, that could also offer the opportunity for the new Arrow to join another team on and off, New Arrow might decide to join Legends- who always has a revolving door of cast members- or could take up residency in Central City to learn with Barry, or maybe even pop up in Gotham here or Freeland there, Supergirl is the one show that sticks out as not being able to fit with the tone of Arrow as easily, but that doesn't mean a crossover here will never happen

A new Arrow could be a semi-permenant cast member somewhere, but more likely they'll just pop on occassion as a fun guest appearance

Ofcourse this also means that the end of Arrow it's self could be extremely bitter sweet, depending on how many episodes are left after Crisis, we might see a very bleak end, with Oliver's funeral and everyone trying to pick up after such a heavy loss......

But this assumes Arrow will end AFTER Crisis at all

It's entirely possible that the CW bumps up Arrow's premiere by a couple of weeks so that the official end of Arrow is BEFORE Crisis, giving the chance for a legitimately happy series ending (possibly with the birth of Oliver and Felicity's new baby and a sense of finality there, to give real closure to the fans) only to come back a week or two later with Crisis and have sort of an "after credits" version of what happens, giving Arrow fans the opportunity to let themselves have a happy ending and AVOID the heartbreak of Crisis if they so choose

After all, unless you're a fan of multiple shows in the Arrowverse, there's no reason for Arrow fans to have to watch Crisis if Arrow is already over, and even if you are a fan of the other shows, the crossovers rarely have a lasting effect on the shows themselves, Elseworlds was a big deal but you didn't have to see it to still follow Supergirl, and even if a big change happened to the universe at large, like the universes merging, that's really not something that impacts the individual shows so much that they're impossible to follow otherwise

Choosing your ending may be the Arrow writers' gift to fans- stick with the finale' and live happily ever after, or go on and watch Crisis and live with with a possibly bittersweet ending

Ofcourse, that brings me to my next point....

Even if Oliver dies, that doesn't mean he's gone.....

III. What All Of This Means For Oliver Queen

The first superhero death retcon was, fittingly, Superman, with the fittingly named storyline "Death Of Superman", ever since, no matter how dead a superhero may seem, it will almost never stick for real

As evidenced by the constant sureness that Avengers: Endgame will bring back everyone that was dusted by Thanos, the website iswolverinestilldead.com, and hell, the fact that the DCEU killed and ressurected Superman in the course of what, three or four years?

The big question (besides the obvious) that was asked once Crisis was announced is "What will happen in 2020? How can they possibly top Crisis On Infinite Earths?", it's a good question, but if Oliver dies then it WILL have an answer.....

The Revival Of Oliver Queen

Oliver can't die and come back five minutes later, it would remove stakes from the storyline (remember from earlier about Star City?) it would make all of this feel pointless, the loss of Crisis- the weight of Oliver's deal, HAS to be felt, he HAS to stay dead........ for a little wile

Staying dead for a year would certainly be a very heavy weight for the audience to carry, but the possibility of Oliver's ressurection being the crossover event of 2020 could possibly draw even more veiwers than Crisis, because then Arrow fans, who have been suffering for a full year without Arrow in any capacity, will get not only Arrow, but Oliver himself

The crossover will still have the man who started it all, wich is, honestly, needed to make the crossovers continue to have the same excitement that they've had so far, and it would be fitting to make the first crossover post-Arrow ... well, ABOUT Arrow, as Arrow is what started all of this, Oliver is what started all of this

The revival storyline could lead to a new tone for the crossovers too- mystery rather than action (not to say there won't be action, there will certainly be plenty of big fight scenes once the mystery is solved) but one thing I've noticed is that the crossovers are slowly adding mystery more and more into their plots, and 2020's stretches across four or five nights rather than just three- wich will be possible with the addition of Batwoman and Black Lightening- the first two or three episodes could be almost entirely based on solving the mystery

You can't have a bigger fight-event than Crisis for DC, but there are other ways to one-up an event, and not TRYING to one-up the action might be the key to doing that, by focusing more on the story versus the action

With Oliver back, we could see him again booping in and out of other shows, appearing in crossovers every year again, and having some sensation of Arrow not really being *gone*, but with him being dead for atleast a year, the stakes of Crisis will definitely be felt too

In conclusion, I feel more certain than ever that Oliver Queen will die in Crisis..... but that won't be the end of him

He will be back, someday

[easyobsession]

A Vow

SQUEE!! I feel like I’ve been working on this for DECADES when in reality it’s only been a few weeks, but IT’S FINALLY DONE! So here you are! I proudly present my latest creation, inspired by all the time shit happens and WWE likes to pretend Seth and Roman have never met and wouldn’t run out to defend each other.

Enjoy.

It’s all because of a promise.

A stupid promise, actually. A goddamn piece of shit horse crap fucking dumb promise.

It happened the week after Elimination Chamber. Roman had waited until Raw ended and they’d both signed autographs and taken selfies with the fans; after they’d gotten something to eat, showered, and settled in to bed at the hotel, taking a few minutes to simply come down from the day’s craziness and enjoy being in each other’s arms.

“I need you to do something for me,”

Much to Seth’s disappointment, he could tell whatever was about to be discussed wasn’t at all sexual, which was perplexing because aside from something dirty Seth truly couldn’t imagine what his lover would need to talk about. He could tell it was important though, from the way Roman had pulled back enough from their embrace to look him in the eye.

Seth let out a slow breath, frowning a bit as he finally responded.

“Okay…”

“I know things are starting to pick up for both of us at work,” Roman began, “Especially after tonight, our paths for Mania are becoming clearer.”

Seth nodded. Ever since he’d won the Elimination Chamber Roman had been getting ready for his match against Brock Lesnar, calling the other man out for not being around and arguing with Paul Heyman while Seth was heading into a feud for the Intercontinental Championship with Finn Balor and the Miz. Of course a small part of him wished he was the one going for the Universal title, but he was also beyond proud of his man for winning a title shot at Wrestlemania. Plus, this way they could both leave the Grandest Stage of Them All as champions (and maybe indulge in a longtime fantasy of fucking with nothing but the belts on).

“There’s gonna be a lot of shit starting,” the Samoan continued, “You know as well as I do Lesnar isn’t gonna let that title go without a dog fight, and I wanna take as much pleasure as I can ripping it from his hands-” he let out a small laugh as his boyfriend surged forward, kissing him deeply.

“I like when you talk like that,” Seth murmured against his lips, clearly not the least bit sorry for interrupting, “It’s sexy as hell,”

“You’re sexy as hell,” Roman returned, dropping another quick kiss before pulling back and blurting, “You can’t help.”

“What?” Instantly Seth’s arms fell from their position around his shoulders while his face filled with confusion and a bit of hurt, “What the hell does that mean?”

“You can’t come out and back me up,” Roman elaborated, reaching for the other man’s hands as he tried to explain, “Look, we both know this thing is gonna get ugly- it already is. This is something that started over three years ago and never really got proper closure. Don’t,” he put a finger to Seth’s mouth as it began to open, already aware of what he was about to say and having no desire to go over it again. They’d had many discussions both in private and with Ambrose since Seth’s cash in at Mania 31, and the event and Seth’s betrayal in its entirety was a thing of the past. Hell, Roman and Dean had even admitted that, personal issues aside, the move was pretty fucking epic.

“You know what I mean. It’s only gonna get worse from here. You know how tired I am of having a champion that’s never around- I’m gonna do everything I can to make the rest of the locker room and the fans see it that way too.”

Seth nodded, still unsure of why this meant he needed to apparently not get involved. He was completely on board with everything Roman said. Shit, so was a good percentage of the locker room. Even if some of their coworkers weren’t Roman’s biggest fans and hadn’t wanted him to win the Elimination Chamber, they were ready for a champion that actually showed up on a regular basis.

“And you know I’m with you all the way,” Seth promised.

“I know, baby. And you know that means the world to me,” Roman pecked the smaller man’s nose before continuing, “But this has to be something I do on my own.”

“…alright,” Rollins let out a small sigh but relented with a nod. It made sense that Roman wanted to do this without help and Seth fully believed he could and would, so while it sucked it wasn’t too ridiculous to suggest. Plus, since Dean’s injury nearly two and a half months ago the reboot of The Shield had been placed on hold and he and Roman were doing the singles thing anyway. “I won’t come out for the match,”

Roman frowned. The other man wasn’t getting his meaning and it broke his heart to actually say it out loud.

“Seth, you can’t come out at all,” he corrected, “No promos, no matches, nothing. And you can’t come defend me if anything goes south. Even if I’m getting my ass handed to me.”

“Wait a minute, you’re saying if Lesnar gets the upper hand and starts beating the shit out of you, I can’t come out?” Seth demanded, pulling away to glare at the other man, “What if he has back-up, Roman? Or Heyman makes some sort of deal and he’s got people backstage? They’re both so far up Vince’s ass you know he’ll give them whatever they ask for. What, I’m just supposed to stay back and watch you get hurt? That’s bullshit.”

“I have to do this my way. This is a two-man game, Seth. Him and me- that’s it. Nobody else can be involved.”

Seth cocked an eyebrow, “What about Heyman?” he questioned, causing Roman to shake his head.

“Heyman might be an asset at times, but at the end of the day there’s only two people in the ring,” he replied, “When Lesnar gets taken out, it has to be by my hands alone.”

“So what, this is all for your pride?” Seth scoffed, unable to believe what he was hearing, “Roman, come on!”

“It’s more than just my pride, Seth! It’s my dignity, my livelihood; it’s everything I’ve ever stood for!” Roman exclaimed, “It’s about a rivalry that’s gone on for years and finally proving once and for all who’s top dog around here. This is for me, it’s for you, it’s for Dean, our families, the fans, and everyone in that locker room!” his volume lowered significantly, eyes pleading for the man before him to understand, “This is about what’s right and proving that title still has value and holding it stands for something bigger than just one person. This is what we do, Seth. We fight because it’s what we love and because it means something,” he reached forward, grateful when his boyfriend didn’t yank his hands away again, “I have to do this.”

Seth grimaced down at the bed sheets. “If Dean were here-” he began, only for Roman to cut him off.

“Nothing would change,” he interrupted calmly, “I plan on telling him the same thing when I talk to him next. Whether he comes by to visit or gets cleared early, nobody else can get involved. Not you, Dean, the twins, anybody,” Roman let out a small breath. “I know this is gonna be brutal,” he promised, “Lesnar wants to break Punk’s streak and putting an end to that isn’t gonna come without a little pain. But I’m ready.” He leaned forward, letting their foreheads rest together.

“I have to do this,” he whispered, “It’s time.”

The entire situation blows, basically. Especially because Seth knows he can’t fault him for a word he said and what’s more, if the roles were reversed, Roman would respect his wishes and stay back. Hell, he already did when Seth had been fighting with Finn Balor for the very same belt years prior.

“I fucking hate you, Roman Reigns,” he pouts, finally allowing their eyes to meet again and making the other man laugh.

“I know,” he promises fondly, “But you love me too.”

“Yeah,” Seth leans forward to meet him for another kiss, “I really do.”

…

As expected, the promise sucks.

At first it seems like maybe fulfilling Roman’s wishes won’t be too difficult since Brock is never around. There’s much less of a chance for something to go south when it’s just back and forth with Heyman on the mic. Seth does get heated after Vince suspends Roman from Raw the following week, but he holds his tongue when the Samoan assures him it’ll be fine.

“They’re not used to someone calling them out,” Roman says patiently while packing up his belongings in the locker room. “It’s understandable. Not acceptable, but understandable. They’ll figure it out, even if I have to force the point,” He leans forward to peck Seth’s lips twice. “I’ll meet you back at the hotel. See if I can get us an upgrade to something with a Jacuzzi tub to celebrate you kicking Finn’s ass.”

…

But when US Marshalls appear the week after and put Roman in handcuffs, Seth isn’t so comfortable anymore. And when Brock comes out and attacks him with his hands bound, things get ugly backstage as well.

“HE CAN’T USE HIS FUCKING HANDS!” Seth shouts, unable to understand why no one else is as upset as he is about the situation. “And they’ve got some second-rate security guards and a few refs out there? What the hell, man?!” His heart nearly breaks in two as the man he loves is put on a stretcher, a bit of comfort coming at the sight of the Beast Incarnate seemingly having his fill of unnecessary torture only to be ripped away when Lesnar apparently reconsiders and heads back towards the ring.

“Seth, try to calm down-” Sasha gives him a look of sympathy as she and a few others block the locker room door. While loving him with all his heart, Roman knew the likelihood of Seth losing his cool was high and had taken precaution and spread word to a handful of their friends in advance.

“He’s on a goddamn stretcher, dude! This isn’t okay!” the Architect exclaims, searching for some way to release his fury at the situation, “Let me out!”

Apollo frowns, “Sorry man, Roman made us promise,”

“Fuck promises! There was nothing about stretchers in the stupid promise!” Letting out another swear, Seth throws a kick against the locker’s wooden paneling. “He needs help!”

“Honey, he has to do this himself,” Nia says gently, quickly echoed by Matt Hardy.

“She speaks the truth! It is a quest indeed the Large Canine himself must complete without the aid of even his most beloved,” Matt places his hands together, tone full of serenity as he speaks with complete confidence, “Though fear not, he who seeks the Title of Intercontinents! I have foreseen this journey’s end and can guarantee that after the necessary trials and tribulations have been conquered your suitor will indeed emerge triumphant!”

For a moment the room is silent, everyone turning to stare at the self-proclaimed Woken Warrior until finally Seth snaps out of it and questions, “Who the hell even let you in here?”

(It’s once Roman is being wheeled out to the awaiting ambulance and demands Seth stay for the rest of the show that he manages to calm down a bit simply because the other man is able to speak. The only reason he doesn’t ignore the instructions and head to the hospital anyway is because Mike Kanellis agrees to go in his place and keep him updated and Roman threatens to ban Seth from his bedside.)

…

“I should never have agreed to this,” It’s the following week that Seth is once again watching chaos unfold on the locker room’s tiny television screen.

“You know as well as I do if you go out there he’d never forgive you,” Dean Ambrose’s voice barks from the cell phone speaker, “Once he makes up his mind there’s no changing it. He’s a hard head like you.”

Seth doesn’t even bother arguing. It’s a trait all three of them have in common and they know it. “Yeah well, his head is giving me an ulcer,”

“He can handle it, Uce. Look, he’s holding his own, see? Totally fine,” Rollins can almost hear his best friend grimace a minute later when Roman goes flying through the stairs. “Shit that looked painful,”

“You’re really a big help, man. I can’t say it enough,” he comments dryly.

“Suck it up, Princess. He’s taking a couple bumps, not being permanently confined to a wheelchair. Get him some ice and maybe a shot of whiskey for yourself and quit the crying.”

Seth sits forward in his folding chair and stares at the monitor intensely, his left leg bouncing with nerves, “Get up, Roman. Come on, sit up,” he murmurs, letting out a sigh of relief when the other man slowly begins to rise.

“See! What I tell ya?”

“Dean, shut the fuck up.”

…

There almost isn’t even time to panic at Wrestlemania simply because everything happens so fast.

After an endless (epic) week in New Orleans, Sunday is spent doing last minute press and getting ready until show time.

Fresh off his triple threat victory, when the finale comes Seth is beaming from ear to ear as he watches the love of his life walk out to thousands of screaming fans. It’s obvious the Big Dog isn’t super over at the moment, but to Seth it doesn’t matter if he gets the crowd reaction of Daniel Bryan or Tommaso Ciampa. Love him or hate him, Roman Reigns owns this yard and everyone watching live in Louisiana and around the world through the WWE Network is about to see why.

It isn’t easy to watch. Roman kicks ass obviously, but after the third F5 Seth can tell the battle is wearing on him. Which is expected, of course, however throughout the entire match he can’t shake the feeling that something is off. Roman is on fire as usual, but there’s something in the air Seth can’t quite describe that has him shifting the Intercontinental title over his shoulder uneasily as he watches among countless other Superstars just past gorilla position backstage.

“Fuck,” the word slips out of his mouth without warning when red begins to seep at the Samoan’s hairline, and he can’t even bring himself to care that countless higher ups are milling around to hear his profanity. It’s clear from the hushed murmur of his peers he isn’t the only one starting to get anxious.

“That’s… a lot of blood,” Bayley points out nervously, Natalya nodding in agreement from her place nearby.

“Was that spot planned?” she asks, glancing to Jimmy and Jey Uso, who both shrug, and then Seth for an answer. But the Architect can only shake his head. Everyone knows Roman isn’t the type to go for gore or special effects; he’s been raised to always showcase talent over anything else. Besides, Seth knows that every attempt to contact Brock to map out the match had gone unanswered by the self-proclaimed mayor of Suplex City.

“…he’s not moving,” Renee breaks the silence after a few more minutes when Lesnar lands another F5, this time through the announce table. Even Dean, who can be seen connected via FaceTime on the phone in her hand, is looking a bit paler than usual.

Xavior Woods shakes his head. “He’s good, he’s just taking a second to regroup,” the gamer attempts to reassure the room as well as himself, staring on.

“Yeah,” The twins force themselves to nod, backing up the sentiment, “He’s got this,”

…

To everyone’s shock, Seth doesn’t try to rush out when the ref finally counts to three. Instead he remains silent, feet slowly moving until his back hits a concrete wall, the gleaming white belt slipping as he stares ahead with a blank face.

He didn’t expect this. He was prepared for a lot of things to happen tonight, but never did the possibility even cross his mind that Roman would lose.

He wants to throw up. He wants to scream and cry and throw a fit like a child whose mother refuses to buy them candy in the grocery store. Not because he’s upset with Roman for losing, but because of the situation as a whole.

This shouldn’t have happened. It wasn’t supposed to happen. Lesnar was supposed to drop the title and go back to the UFC- that was what everyone heard. That was the plan. So something had to have changed. Except Roman would have told him if that had happened, there was no doubt in Seth’s mind. So what the hell happened out there?

The crowd of Superstars has spread out by the time the performers are arriving backstage, a handful giving Brock polite applause when he appears. The reigning champion barely spares anyone a look, shaking hands with Vince and a few other big wigs before making his way through the parted crowd, Heyman at his heels like that of an obedient Golden Retriever.  

It takes a little longer for Roman to arrive, a towel in one hand soaked with blood and a look of pure defeat clear on his face. His gaze is locked on the floor, unable and unwilling to look anyone in the eye until Samoa Joe of all people slowly begins to applaud. One by one the rest of the roster joins in, as well as a large part of the crew, meeting his eyes as they shower him with respect.

Roman sucks in a breath, doing his best to hold back the tears already building. While Vince only offers a solemn nod of the head, Hunter steps forward and pulls the other man into a hug, quickly murmuring words no one else can hear before releasing him with a pat on the back and push towards his peers.

The Superstars keep it brief, offering a few words of encouragement or a clap on the shoulder as he passes. Everyone knows what it’s like to come off of a huge match on the opposite side of victory, so the rest of the talent quickly disperses to finish their own tasks and give Roman his space.

It’s Seth that meets him at the end of the line, of course, finally having snapped out of his revere when Roman reaches him. Rather than speak he simply turns to the concerned ref nearby and holds up a hand, silently asking for five minutes before having the wound examined at medical. Receiving a quick nod in response, he follows Roman to their shared locker room and twists the lock behind him, dropping the title onto his bag before letting out a breath as his back hits the door.

For a moment there’s nothing but heavy silence, a small groan slipping from Roman’s lips as he lowers himself to a plush sofa in the corner the only audible sound.

Naturally, because he’s Seth Rollins and it’s what he does, Seth speaks first.

“I love you,” he announces, taking no offense when he receives  zero response from the other man’s bowed head, “There’s a lot more I want to say, and we both know I will eventually, but right now I’m just gonna say that I love you and I’m here and that’s never gonna change.”

A few beats pass before Roman opens his eyes, face rising as Seth crosses the room and crouches down in front of him. Rollins holds back a sob when their gazes connect. The other man’s face is the picture of a broken human being. A few tears have escaped and roll down his cheeks, devastation and frustration and humiliation just a few of the emotions radiating from his person.

“I didn’t know,” Roman’s voice is garbled, thick with physical and emotional exhaustion when he finally speaks, “They changed their mind and nobody told me. He was coming down the ramp when the ref pulled me aside.” He shakes his head, almost as if he himself can’t believe the situation. “I didn’t know,”

And because he isn’t sure what else can be done in this type of scenario, Seth just pulls him into his arms and lets him cry.

…

As much as he wants to believe the worst is over, Seth knows once Mania ends things aren’t going to ease up any time soon. The Greatest Royal Rumble is announced to be taking place in Saudi Arabia in just three weeks time, including a Wrestlemania rematch for the Universal Championship inside of a cell.

By now Roman is over his sad phase. He isn’t the type to feel sorry for himself anyway, but he has moments of weakness from time to time like anyone else because he’s human. Once those are over though, it’s back to protecting his yard and being the warrior everyone knows him to be.

And of course, now more fired up than ever, he’s also hellbent on Seth still staying out of it. Luckily Brock doesn’t show up (shocker) until the Raw before the Rumble, and even then somehow things manage not to get out of hand. So it isn’t as difficult.

Then they go to Saudi Arabia.

Don’t get him wrong, Seth totally loves the UAE. The cities are beautiful, the culture is incredible, and the people and the fans they meet are the best.

But some complete and total horse shit goes down at the Greatest Royal Rumble.

It’s not confusing. There’s not a debate. The rules announced before the match clearly state the first contestant’s feet to hit the floor is the winner.

Roman’s feet hit the floor first.

No ifs, ands, or buts about it. It’s on freaking film.

But of course, by sheer coincidence and one of the only recorded times in history, the ref makes the wrong call.

Naturally, Seth is livid. He manages to remain in the back, but the locker room is rather impressed with the extensive vocabulary of curse words he throws out. Titus O’Neal even quietly reminds him they are indeed in a foreign country as guests and trying to make a good impression not just as a company but as individuals, so he does lower his volume slightly, but his peers still wear masks of surprise at his vast collection of swears.

Roman doesn’t even know how to react. He’s so exhausted at this point, between the physicality of the match and the mental fatigue, not to mention their bodies are all thrown off by the time difference, all they can do when they return to the hotel is exchange a few tender kisses and pass out in bed.

…

The following day on Raw, when they make the announcement that they won’t be reversing the call, everyone expects an encore of the previous evening’s tirade but Seth can’t even muster up the energy. Like Roman, he’s tired. He’s very, very tired. Hell, by now he’s barely surprised.

He does get pissed off when Bobby Lashley and Braun Strowman of all people get to run out and help defend Roman, and that they get to tag with him against Owens, Zayn, and Jinder. Because yeah, Seth gets that he’s doing his thing with Miz and Finn and the IC title and it’s epic, but he hasn’t completely forgotten Roman exists. Like seriously, Braun Strowman? Didn’t Roman try to run him over with an ambulance a while back?

But of course Braun didn’t make a promise to stay in the back and the man adores any excuse to beat the shit out of someone, so when management calls for him to head out and assist the Big Dog he doesn’t have to think twice.

Damn semantics.

…

It’s clear by now Brock won’t be dropping the belt any time soon, no matter what happens. Not until he beats and seemingly erases Punk’s record from the history books, outcome of the matches be damned. Management won’t allow any other result as a possibility. It’s crap and it’s unfair, not just to Roman but to the entire locker room and the fans, but they can’t change anything. So really, they might as well not waste time crying about it.

All they can do is show up every day and do their best to put on an amazing show for the fans time and time again and have as much fun as possible in the process. That’s why they got into this business in the first place: because they love what they do. Not because of notoriety or fame or ugly red belts, but because it makes people happy, makes them feel alive, and because it’s so much fun every single time.

Every night they lay in bed, almost unable to tell whose limbs belong to whom in the tangled mess under hotel sheets, bodies pressed tight up against one another, they make sure to remember that.

When the time is right, Roman will get his turn with the Universal championship; whether that’s next week, next month, or ten years from now, it’ll happen. And it’ll be the ride of a lifetime and Seth will be the first one out to the ring to celebrate.

Until then, at the end of the day, they have each other.

And as it happens, compared to that, the glory of a title is practically insignificant.

fin.

[michaelandy101-blog]

The Evolution of Content Marketing: How It's Changed and Where It's Going in the Next Decade

New Post has been published on http://tiptopreview.com/the-evolution-of-content-marketing-how-its-changed-and-where-its-going-in-the-next-decade/

The Evolution of Content Marketing: How It's Changed and Where It's Going in the Next Decade

A sound content marketing strategy is one of the better ways a business can help shape its brand identity, garner interest from prospects, and retain an engaged audience. It lets you establish authority in your space, project legitimacy, and build trust between you and who you’re trying to reach.

As you can assume, it’s well worth understanding. But that’s easier said than done. Content marketing isn’t static. The landscape of the practice is constantly changing. It doesn’t look the same now as it did ten years ago, and in ten years it won’t look the same as it does now.

It’s a difficult topic to pin down — one with a fascinating past and an exciting future. Out of both genuine interest and forward-thinking practicality, it’s important to understand both where it’s been and where it’s going.

Here, we’ll get some perspective on both. We’re going to take a look at how content marketing has evolved in the past decade, and how it’s going to evolve in the next one.

How Content Marketing Evolved in the Past Decade

Google changed the game.

In 2011, Google conducted its landmark Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT) study. It found that 88% of shoppers use what’s known as a Zero Moment of Truth — a discovery and awareness stage in a buying cycle where a consumer researches a product before buying it. Google’s research also indicated that word of mouth was a definitive factor in swaying that moment.

The study provides a unique point of reference in the context of content marketing’s evolution. It captures the essence of how and why businesses needed to focus on content marketing at the beginning of the 2010s.

It was tacit evidence that companies’ stories were being told online — well beyond the control of their marketing departments — and it was in their best interest to help shape those conversations.

The ZMOT study highlighted the need for sound Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Ranking for relevant keywords on search engines became all but essential to bolstering a company’s online presence and holding up during consumers’ Zero Moments of Truth.

But that study wasn’t the only bombshell Google dropped in the early 2010s. Around the time the study came out, Google’s search ranking algorithm changed to discourage “keyword stuffing” — the practice of repetitively loading a webpage with specific keywords to try to sway search engine rankings.

The change represented what is still a continuous effort by Google to provide users with positive, helpful online experiences. And it did just that. The shift that set the stage for businesses to focus on producing more high-quality, meaningful content.

Social media rose.

But content marketing’s evolution wasn’t exclusively linked to search engines. Social media’s meteoric rise to prominence — one of the most disruptive trends in human history — also had a profound impact on the practice. As these platforms developed into mainstays of everyday life, they presented new challenges for content marketers.

As social media evolved, it popularized a different kind of content consumption than search engines. The difference boiled down to a matter of “pointed versus passive.”

Consumers use search engines to find content more pointedly. Generally speaking, when you use a search engine, you’re looking for a specific answer or a specific subject. Social media allowed users to consume content more passively on their preferred platforms. The content you see on your Facebook feed is finding its way to you — not the other way around.

That trend incentivized the creation of more shareable, attention-grabbing content that could easily be spread across social media channels.

Image Source

Video made a push.

Video also emerged as one of the prevailing content marketing mediums as the decade progressed, particularly among younger consumers. By 2017, over 50% of consumers wanted to see videos from brands they supported — more than any other kind of content.

Image Source

Video is inherently engaging. Generally speaking, it’s easier to follow than blog posts, email newsletters, or ebooks. Gradually, audiences took to it more and more as the decade progressed. By the end of the 2010s, platforms like YouTube were central to the landscape of content marketing.

Obviously, content marketing underwent several shifts in the 2010s, but as I said at the beginning of this article, the practice isn’t — and will never be — static. There are still plenty of changes to come.

How Content Marketing Will Evolve in the Next Decade

Video content will continue to rule.

As I just mentioned, video was emerging as one of the most — if not the most — important mediums for content marketing at the end of this past decade. There’s no indication that that trend is stopping anytime soon.

As of 2020, 85% of businesses use video as a marketing tool — up 24% from 2016. And 92% of marketers who use it consider it an important part of their marketing strategy. It’s already a staple in several companies’ content marketing operations, and research indicates that base is going to expand.

According to a survey by Wyzowl, 59% of marketers who weren’t using video in 2019 expected to be using it throughout 2020.

  Image Source

All told, it looks like the exploration and expansion of video as the preeminent medium for content marketing is going to continue. The priority for marketers is going to be a matter of standing out.

That could mean emphasizing the quality of the content you produce — ensuring it’s enriching, well-crafted, and relevant to viewers. You could also try looking to emerging platforms like TikTok.

No matter how individual producers and companies manage to innovate when it comes to video marketing, the medium is going to be a mainstay in the evolution of content marketing going forward.

Adjusting for mobile will be essential and present new opportunities.

According to Statista, global mobile data traffic in 2022 will be seven times larger than it was in 2017. Mobile device usage is increasing astronomically, and it’s in every content marketer’s best interest to keep pace with that trend.

In 2019, 61% of Google searches took place on a mobile device, and that trend is showing no signs of slowing down. Having a website optimized for mobile devices will be central to successful SEO efforts. And a lot of the content you create will need to fit that bill as well.

Blogs should be easily navigable on smartphones. Readily accessible video content that your audience can watch on mobile devices will be a big help as well. Prospects and customers will need to be able to get as much out of your mobile resources as your desktop ones.

This shift towards mobile will also present new opportunities through emerging kinds of media. More novel mobile technology — like virtual and augmented reality — will have a very real place in the future of content marketing.

As people continue to rely more on their mobile devices, content marketers will have to as well.

Successful content will be more empathetic, purposeful, and customer-first.

Google’s ranking algorithm aims to prioritize the content that will mean the most to searchers. Ideally, by Google’s standards, the first ranking search result for any keyword is the one that best addresses whatever users are searching for. And in all likelihood, they’ll keep tinkering with their process in pursuit of that interest.

While there’s no telling exactly how the algorithm might change going forward, one fact remains — marketers need to focus on high-quality content that will register with consumers. That means understanding your audience and putting considerable effort into how to reach them best.

As HubSpot Senior Content Strategist Amanda Zantal-Wiener puts it, “Where I’m starting to see content turning a corner is in the area of empathy. In the years to come, marketers are going to start creating more content that’s truly created in the mindset of putting themselves in the shoes of others — be it their customers, prospects, partners, or someone else within their audiences. They’ll ask questions like, ‘What does my audience need from me right now? What can I create that’s truly going to help them?’ That’s going to become a requirement for marketers when they begin brainstorming content.”

Research, outreach, and community engagement will become even more important in the context of content creation. Content marketing is trending towards audience enrichment as opposed to product promotion. If this shifting tide holds true, content marketing will continue to become more targeted, purposeful, and customer-centric as the practice evolves.

If there’s anything to take away from understanding the previous and upcoming evolutions of content marketing it’s this — don’t get too comfortable. New trends and challenges are always emerging, and it will always be in your best interest to stay abreast of them.

And above all else, focus on consistently creating high-quality content that your audience will always be able to get something out of.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in May 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Source link

[responsivesites]

New Post has been published on Website Design Naples Florida Webmaster

New Post has been published on https://vinbo.com/my-15-all-time-best-seo-tips-that-get-results/

My 15 All-Time BEST SEO Tips (That Get Results)

All the tips I'm going to share with you are insanely actionable, I'm brian dean, the founder of backlinko, and in this article i'm going to reveal my favorite keyword, research strategy. What I learned from analyzing, 1 million google search results and a new SEO technique.

  That's crushing it right now stay tuned before I reveal tip number one. A quick word of warning: the tips I'm about to share with you aren't the here today gone tomorrow: strategies that stopped working after a few months. In fact, I've used some of these techniques since way back in 2012 and they still work great. Why? Because my SEO tips give Google what it wants so, whether you're reading this today or three years from now, you can use the techniques from this article to get higher rankings and more traffic.

So without further ado, let's dive right in with tip number one, which is to use short URLs. When I first started with SEO, I'd use the first URL that popped into my head and that led to long ugly, URLs like this today. I make sure to only use short URLs. Why? Because all things being equal short URLs rank better than long URLs. In fact, I recently analyzed 1 million google search results and we discovered that short URLs ranked best in Google.

Let's move on to tip number 2, which is to use Amazon for keyword ideas. Did you know that you can use Amazon for keyword research? Well, you can here's how first find a popular book in your niche on Amazon next check out the books table of contents? Each chapter is a potential topic or keyword idea. Finally, pop the chapter titles into your favorite keyword, research tool to see if they get searched for in Google.

Now it's time for a third tip, which is to optimize your title tag for CTR. I probably don't need to tell you that you should include your target keyword in your title tag, but what you might not know is that you also want to optimize your title tag for click-through rate. Why two reasons? First, when you improve your CTR, you get more traffic without needing higher rankings. For example, let's say that you rank number four for your target keyword.

If you double your CTR, you double your traffic. Second, Google recently stated that they use CTR as a ranking signal, and this makes sense, if you think about it, if people click on your result, it sends a clear message to Google that this page is a great result for this keyword and they'll. Give you a ranking, boost bottom line optimize your title tag not just for keywords, but for CTR too I'll.

Show you exactly how to boost your click-through rate later in this article, but for now, let's dive in to tip number four, which is to publish content. That's at least one thousand eight hundred and ninety words remember that ranking factor study that I mentioned earlier well. One of the most interesting findings was that longer content tended to rank better than short content. In fact, we found that the average first page result in Google contained 1890 words.

Yes, this goes against the idea that people online have short attention spans, but the data proves this clearly isn't true, because the fact is this: when you create a high value resource, people will want to read it even if it's really long. For example, I've opposed to my blog called ecommerce SEO the definitive guide. This post is over 5,000 words and it ranks in the top three of Google for my target keyword, ecommerce SEO bottom line.

If you have a page that you really want to rank, make sure it contains at least one thousand eight hundred ninety words of awesome content, let's dive right into tip number five use title tag, modifiers believe it or not, but most of your search engine traffic comes From very long, very specific searches, for example, someone's searching for a new pair of slippers might search for something like this, as you might expect.

Insanely long keywords like this aren't going to show up in any keyword research tool if they don't show up in a tool. How can you possibly optimizer on them? It's easy, just add modifiers to your title tag. Some of my favorite title tag. Modifiers are the current year best review free shipping and checklist. So you want to make your title tags looks something like this with a title tag like this you'll rank for your target keyword, fluffy slippers and dozens of longtail keywords.

Yes, my fluffy slipper just came in the mail with that, it's time for tip number six use keyword, rich URLs. This is a simple one. Whenever you create a URL for one of your pages, make sure it contains your target keyword. For example, here's a page at backlinko optimized around the keyword SEO tools. As you can see, the URL is short, which is the tip I showed you earlier, and you can also see that the URL contains my target keyword.

It's that simple, let's jump into tip number 7, which is to use numbers in your title tag to boost CTR. Remember a few minutes ago when I said that Google uses your site's click-through rate as a ranking factor if lots of people click on your result, it sends a clear message to Google that this page is a great result for this keyword and they'll. Give you a rankings boost. The question is: how do you improve your CTR? One of the easiest ways to get more clicks on your result is to add a number to your title tag.

According to a recent industry study titles with numbers get 36 % more clicks than titles without a number. That's why I make sure to use the number in almost every single one of my titles. Moving right along here, we're already on to tip number 8 use two-step email outreach. I probably don't need to tell you that to rank in Google today, you need to build backlinks, but not just any backlinks whitehat backlinks from authority sites in your industry.

The question is: how do you do it? In my experience? Nothing beats old-fashioned, email, outreach. That said, there's a right and wrong way to do. Email outreach. You see. Most people send out hundreds of spam emails begging for links. In fact, that's what I did back in the day. It didn't work back then, and it definitely doesn't work today. Instead, I recommend two-step email outreach. Let me explain how two-step email outreach works with the real life example.

    A backlinko reader named Mike Bernardo was promoting an infographic for one of his clients at first Mike would ask for a link in his initial outreach email, but it wasn't working so he decided to try a two step approach so in Mike's, first email. Instead of asking for a link right off the bat he asked, if the blogger, a journalist would like to see his infographic when they said yes, he followed up with a link pitch and the two-step approach led to 40 % more responses than straight up asking for A link speaking of link building it's time for tip number 9 broken link building broken link building is one of my favorite white hat link building strategies.

Here's how it works first, find a site that you want to get a link from next find a broken link on that site. The easiest way to find broken links is to use the excellent check. My links, Chrome extension, when you find a broken link, look for a piece of content on your site. That would make a good replacement for the dead link. If you don't have something that would make a good replacement feel free to create one finally email, the site owner to let them know about their broken link and when they get back to you pitch your link as a replacement.

That's all there is to it all right. Next up, we have SEO tip number 10, choose keywords with strong commercial intent. Here's a mistake. I see a lot of people make and it's a mistake. I made a lot back in the day. What's the mistake? Choosing keywords that have zero commercial intent, so what does commercial intent mean exactly commercial intent? Is the likelihood that someone's searching for a giving keyword will buy from you? For example, someone searching for premium.

Yoga courses has a much higher commercial intent than someone searching for free yoga articles. Wait. I have to pay for this, I'm not here. Fortunately, you can easily size up a keywords: commercial intent using the Google Keyword planner, the higher the estimated bid that higher the commercial intent bottom line. Yes, a keyword, search volume and competition are important, but before we decide on a keyword, make sure it has at least some commercial intent.

Let's move on to tip number 11, which is the controversial one delete underperforming pages a while back a webmaster trends. Analyst at Google said something very interesting: don't create low quality and no value add pages. We think that it's a waste of resources. The other thing is that you just won't get quality traffic. If you don't get quality traffic, then why are you burning resources on it? In other words, having lots of excess pages on your site is bad for SEO, and that's why I recommend deleting pages on your site that don't bring in any traffic in fact proven calm recently deleted 10,000 pages from their site, and it's one of the main reasons That their organic traffic improved by 88 % in six weeks bottom line delete low quality pages from your site, you're, not getting any traffic anyway, so you have nothing to lose by deleting them.

In fact, in my experience, deleting these pages can help your remaining pages rank better in Google. Now it's time for our first article SEO tip optimize your articles around article keywords, as you probably notice, YouTube dominates Google's first page for so many different keywords. In fact, 45 % of all Google search results contain a YouTube article, but that also means that 55 % of Google's results don't contain a article.

Why is this important? Well, if you're trying to rank your articles in Google, you need to make sure that there are already article results for that keyword. Otherwise, your article is super unlikely to ranking Google so before deciding on a keyword for your article search for that keyword in Google. If you see a YouTube article on the first page great, you just found a article keyword. But if you search for your keyword and don't see a youtube result, then you might want to choose a different keyword to optimize your article around speaking of keywords.

Let's dive into tip number 13 use reddit for keyword. Research reddit is one of my favorite places to find untapped keywords that my competition doesn't know about. Where else can you find a site where people discuss literally every topic on to the Sun? I mean reddit has an entire section of their site, dedicated to otters, otters seriously. So how can you use reddit for keyword, research? Let me walk you through an example.

Let's say that you run a site that sells paleo diet, meal replacement bars. You do a search for Paleo diet in reddit, then check out any subreddits or threads that cover that topic. When you see a topic covered again and again, you have a keyword that you should look into that keyword into your favorite keyword, research tool to see how many people search for that term in Google, rinse and repeat until you have handfuls of Awesome keywords.

Okay, it's time for our second to last tip tip 14 link out to Authority websites want to see something interesting. An SEO agency in the UK recently ran an SEO experiment. They created 10 brand new websites, all optimized around the same made-up keyword file and dosing file. In Dokic violen dosuk, how do you even pronounce that, anyway, the 10 websites were all set up exactly the same way except five of them had one major difference.

They contained outbound links to Authority, websites and sure enough. The five sites with outbound links, ranked above the sites that didn't have any bottom line, link out to Authority websites in every piece of content that you publish, okay, here's our last tip tip number 15 hack Wikipedia for keyword. Research, just like reddit Wikipedia, is a keyword. Research goldmine, here's the exact process that I use to find amazing keywords on Wikipedia step, 1 type in a topic or keyword into Wikipedia.

For example, if your site publishes content about coffee, you'd want to type coffee into Wikipedia search step. Number two is to look at all their articles on Wikipedia that the Wikipedia article links to the anchor text of these links can be great keyword or topic ideas. Finally, for step number three look at the table of contents for that article. These can also reveal amazing keyword ideas that would be hard to find otherwise did you learn some cool new stuff in this article then make sure to subscribe to my youtube blog right now.

[thesportssoundoff]

The original article is behind a paywalll (which I find funny I guess) so the MMAJunkie spin will have to do. The basic gist is that as TV negotiations are underway for the UFC, they're off on their mark of 450 million dollars in TV revenue with Fox being the only one to make an offer (although Meltzer has claimed that NBC Sports made an offer already).

There are two distinct routes to take to this news, one optimistic and one pessimistic:

Optimistic

-Without another offer, the UFC has already upped its TV deal. Their first deal with Fox started at 100 mil and the rumored offered is 200 mil from Fox. That's not 450 million BUT it shows that they're going to earn more regardless. If the deal starts at 200 and ends around 260 mil or so (the current deal goes up around 10 mil per year) then I can't imagine them being too heartbroken about it.

-The fact they haven't jumped at Fox's offer suggests that they're not desperate and will be patient over the long haul.

-NO negotiations start and end at the same place. The UFC wants 450 mil, Fox says 200 mil.  They could decide to meet somewhere close to the middle to satisfy everyone involved. If the UFC gets, say, 250 million from Fox and then 100 mil from Amazon/Hulu/whomever then it's probably the most optimal route to take.

-There is interest seemingly---just not 450 mil worth. Networks don't talk if they're not interested and we know that Turner and NBC Sports along with Fox have interest. The same goes for Amazon digitally. As such, it may just be a matter of finding out what is the proper price point as it pertains to worth for all of the UFC product on TV. It's worth noting there's plenty of time given the Fox deal doesn't expire until late 2018. By then, Fox may be a bit more desperate, NBCSports may want  in MMA far greater than we realize or Turner will have this AT&T deal cleared up and then they'll want the UFC programming. It takes one bidder to make an offer for things to percolate and maybe that'll take time.

-As much as people will shout "DEBT!" from the ceilings, WME-IMG has structured the UFC that it makes money regardless. ZUFFA had insane amounts of debt when theyr an the UFC and so debt is just one of those deals. The fact of the matter is worst case scenario an IPO happens and your impact as a view goes unchanged. Don't get snookered into a debate about the death of the UFC or what have you.

-If this becomes a debate about the quality of MMA on free TV and the UFC has to put on more high profile fights to get the big $$$ then we all win.

Pessimistic:

-The UFC believing 450 million dollars could be had is showing a level of delusion by which text cannot convey.

-You gotta makeup that scratch somewhere. If the UFC misses big on a TV deal relative to what they HOPE to make then you gotta figure it's going to hurt fans far worse than originally anticipated. If it's true that the average Mighty Mouse event clears 2 million in profit as Dave Meltzer has previously stated then you almost HAVE to assume you're getting more PPVs to cover the back end. Fight Pass subscription prices could go up etc etc etc. The UFC is already very nickel and dime-y and it could get a lot worse.

-Bellator ratings are down, WSOF was told to go pound sand by NBCSports and the UFC is going to be struggling to get their perceived worth on the open market. It IS totally reasonable to be concerned about MMA's future as an attraction on TV.

-The likelihood this becomes a digital only service increases the longer this plays out. The growth of this sport cannot rely entirely on digital media in my estimation. I don't know what Oath is and won't pretend to know but if I have to pay for it to see UFC content then it's just another added expense on top of added expenses; a paywall ontop of a paywall plus the Fight Pass paywall. Throw in the fact that the future of the internet is quite literally up in the air and you've got plenty to be concerned about in that regard.

-I believe it's more conjecture than fact but if the WWE product being available soon is the reason the UFC offer might struggle then that says all you need to know as to its value as a sport.

-If TV networks really feel like they're getting the leftover UFC product then it speaks to how they view the fighters not named Conor McGregor.

There are far too many unknowns right now to truly understand what it is we're getting here. This is going to be a long drawn out public battle for cash and interest. Don't get worked into a shoot on every article about rights fees and money because this is going to feature a ton of public posturing and lies from all parties. We don't even know WHAT is being offered as a package. The average UFC schedule I believe is 12-14 PPVs with 12-14 Fight Nights plus 4 Fight Pass shows or so. Is that what's up for discussion now? Will the UFC chase exclusivity again to make Fox the HOME of the UFC? Or are they going to try and snooker a digital partner to go along for the ride with Fox? The BEST case scenario IMO is a TV deal where you get more premier events, less PPVs and a digital partner pals along to become the Fight Pass replacement and get those additional events. A network takes over production so the UFC product, often relying too much on familiar, gets a new look to it. The worst case scenario is the UFC chases a bushel of cash from some network with no interest in MMA but interest in the UFC brand. The UFC, dare I say, sells out and you're watching events on the Hallmark Network or whatever Ion TV became. Then you have more events behind a paywall so you're paying for Amazon Prime plus Fight Pass PLUS traditional PPVs.

I guess what I'm aiming at here is "Nobody panic, nobody overreact but everybody keep an eye on this."

[not-poignant]

CANCER UPDATE:

I am actually sick with a cold at the moment. *thumbs up* This is the virus that never ends. It seemed like I was starting to turn a corner, and then it was like 'haha no, here's the sequel!' I'm unimpressed. Just imagine me staring into the camera like I'm in The Office.

A quick summary for those new to the game: I have the SDHD gene fault, also known as Hereditary PGL PCC, which is a hereditary genetic neuroendocrine cancer disease (the most inheritable genetic cancer disease in the world along with the other SDH~ faults). For me, it causes tumours called paragangliomas to grow primarily in the head/neck. I think of them as koalas clinging to my nerves and arteries.

I have a 50% chance of metastasis at any point, and this disease is incurable. I grew a very rare form of tumour called a carotid body paraganglioma at 18 that was removed. Now, at 35, I have three paragangliomas - a glomus vagale para (the rarest type, at a 1 in 5 million occurrence rate) called Thelma, a carotid body para called Louise and a glomus tympanicum or glomus jugulare para called Caramello that's currently too small to be seen on MRI, but has been spotted on the PET scan. I am very good at growing these paragangliomas and my ENT surgeon called me a ‘tumour machine’ and I call myself a ‘tumour incubation factory.’ Managing my case are: an Endocrinologist, a Radiation Oncologist, an ENT Surgeon, a Vascular Surgeon and a Neurosurgeon. (Or as I like to call them, a boy band).

(The rest under a Read More cuz there’s a lot).

It's been an interesting few days. Despite making noises about cancelling and rescheduling (Monday - Radiation Oncologist, Tuesday - ENT Surgeon, Wednesday - Neurosurgeon), I did manage to keep all of my appointments. So here's the deal:

I'm leaning towards choosing stereotactic radiosurgery (Cyberknife specifically) as the first and major line of treatment. This does not shrink the tumours, it doesn't make the tumours disappear, all it does - if it works - is make the tumours stop growing. Random fact for you, only 40,000~ people in the world have had Cyberknife radiosurgery! The only Cyberknife machine in Australia is here in Perth. It's similar but not quite the same as Gamma Knife radiosurgery.

The risks/side effects for low dose radiation to the head and neck, while still significant, are still way lower than what Dr. S helpfully called a surgery with 'high high morbidity.' The most promising risk is that there's less than a 1% chance of damage to the cranial nerves 9-12, and that any damage is likely to be temporary anyway. Dr. H (Radiation Oncologist) has seen about 20-30 patients with paragangliomas over a significant breadth of his career (more than any of my surgeons), and so he could report with some confidence on the kinds of side effects I could expect.

Obviously, the main side effect to radiation therapy is of course the chances of developing another form of cancer. I'm not one of those people who goes 'it's evil, it's poison.' I'm one of those people who goes: 'look, this is how sick I am, this is my best option, let's be realistic here.' Dr. H was very honest about this, and he said the biggest risk for me is thyroid cancer, because the carotid body paraganglioma is very near the thyroid. He even asked if I could get the carotid body para removed via surgery (I cannot for reasons relating to the internal carotid artery).

Even developing thyroid cancer is still a way lower quality of life risk than having the surgery, honestly. Especially since it's one of the more treatable forms of cancer, and I'll be under intense imaging surveillance for the rest of my life. They'll know, lol. To be honest, just having the genetic form of this disease and having recurring paragangliomas puts me at 50% risk of metastasis at any point of my life - the risk of radiosurgery giving me another form of cancer is actually WAY LOWER than just my...disease giving it to me randomly, for fun.

I've talked with a few other patients who have glomus vagale paragangliomas in particular, and all of them have recommended Gamma Knife or Cyberknife radiosurgery over 'lets open your whole head up' surgery. Those who've had the surgery, sometimes regretted getting it so soon, or talk about how many options there are now, citing such post-surgery affects like - total and irreversible loss of voice, stroke, suffocating/choking and vomiting every day, inabilities to swallow, and in one person, total baroreceptor failure (i.e. dangerous, life-threatening blood pressure spikes, followed by fainting from dangerously low blood pressure, many times a week - this is often highly unmanageable).

It does mean sort of readjusting how I'm thinking about these tumours. Instead of something to be evicted as soon as possible, I need to mentally wrap my head around the fact that I will likely have these tumours forever. These koalas are on the road with me now, and just permanent parasites that live off my blood, my resources, and generally don't do very much. Spiritually, I've been contemplating how well so much of nature tends to deal with parasites, or if not 'well' - it certainly tries to deal with them, and sometimes not through the process of elimination, so much as just...adjusting. Trees with their galls, still flowering year after year, and whole ecosystems that make it work. If anything, this situation makes me realise that the ecosystem of my body is much closer to those in nature that I respect, more than I've sometimes realised in the past.

We're in no rush to do radiosurgery. Right now, I have no major symptoms from the tumours, and both radiosurgery and surgery present side effects that are significant. So why do either? While it's much 'lesser' for me to be dealing with swollen ear canals, or likely losing my sense of taste for a couple of months etc. that's still...something I'm not dealing with right now and therefore, don't have to. Dr. H said it was all about the right timing, and that's what this journey is about now - the right timing for treatment/s.

Imaging in MRIs now show that the glomus vagale paraganglioma is currently not growing (YAY), and the carotid body paraganglioma has grown about a millimetre in a 6 month period. But Dr. H, the Radiation Oncologist, wants to wait to establish a definitive growth pattern before treatment. Basically, when we can start seeing signs of definitive growth, we'll treat them.

They won't get treated at the same time. In all likelihood I'll have one bout of Cyberknife/radiation for the carotid body first, possibly as soon as next year depending on how fast it's growing, and then I'll have another bout of Cyberknife/radiation for the glomus vagale when it starts growing or I start showing symptoms.

The third tumour - called Caramello - is likely a glomus tympanicum or glomus jugulare, is too small to be seen on MRI and we're leaving that alone for now. The most common side effect for that one is tinnitus and deafness.

I see Dr. W - my Endocrinologist - to confirm all of this in September. And then I will do nothing until 2018, where I'll get some more imaging done to look at growth rates (unless of course I start showing characteristic symptoms of the tumours, but so far, so good.)

Dr. S reminded me yesterday - after looking through my art journal and all of us, with the student doctor, having a good chat - I can always get the surgery in the future. I have options. There's a certain measure of stress that comes with living with tumours that can metastasise at any point, for the rest of my life. There's a certain measure of anxiety that comes from knowing I could grow more, knowing that I'm not someone 'rushing to get rid of cancer' so much as just...working on a chess board to stop it from ruining my quality of life, which is what matters most, of course.

Now, we wait for the tumours to make their next move, and then we parry and riposte - in hopefully a few years, and on it will go, until they win. Sometimes I think of it as 'death in slow motion.' But aren't we all dying in slow motion? So that's neither here nor there.

I've never been great at strategy, but I have some of the best doctors in the country on my side, helping me out, and I have a lot of faith in their care and their knowledge. More than anything, I also really respect how much faith they have in me and my knowledge. They all respect my own research, my thoughts, and Dr. Neurosurgeon today even said I came across as very philosophical. I expressed confusion at that, and he pointed out that most other patients in a similar situation would probably not seem as calm or cheerful.

But clearly he just hasn't caught me on a bad day. ;)

In the meantime, this is the last official cancer update for a few months I expect, unless Dr. W disagrees with my choice to privilege radiosurgery over surgery (he won't - given he pointed me in that direction in the first place). Hope you're all doing great, and as always, feel free to ask any questions since I can never explain everything properly in these (huge) posts anyway.

[clarencenicholsonata]

9 Steps to Run a Winning Instagram Contest

With over 500 million Instagram accounts worldwide active every day, the platform has a lot of untapped potentials: especially when it comes to running contests.

Creating a worthwhile Instagram contest can help you to grow your business online with more engagement, followers, and yes, sales.

60% of Instagram users seek out and discover new products on Instagram, and research shows that more than half of all adults in the U.S. enter at least one contest or sweepstakes every year.

With Instagram contests becoming increasingly common, you have an audience both familiar with, and interested in, your Instagram contest, available to you for free.

At the same time, the last thing you want is to end up with an Instagram contest that leaves you with no results or little impact on your brand. So in this post, I'll be showing you, step-by-step, how to run a winning Instagram contest.

Step 1: Create Your Instagram Campaign Goals

Most brands make the mistake of running their Instagram contest without thinking ahead, only to see their contest fall flat on its face. Later they'll complain that Instagram contest doesn't work.

Fact check: An Instagram contest is a powerful tool, but only if you have a plan of action.

First things first, you'll need to decide your what your Instagram contest campaign will be. What do you want this contest to accomplish?

Here are some Instagram Contest Goals you can choose from:

Increase your followers on Instagram

Increase sales and online purchases

Drive traffic to your website or landing page

Promote new or current products and services

You can choose more than one goal for your Instagram contest, and the goals you choose can guide you in designing the best entry method for your contest.

Step 2: Choose Your Instagram Contest Entry Method

It seems like a small detail, but it will be crucial to the success of your campaign. Your contest entry method should complement your Instagram contest goal. For example, if you want to drive more traffic to your website, you can ask people to click the link in your bio to enter. From there, you'll be able to convert your Instagram traffic into website traffic.

That's what the World Photography Organisation did for their Photography Contest.

There are numerous ways to design an Instagram contest (however, once you choose, it wouldn't be wise to change it once your Instagram contest kicks off: this can cause frustration and anger among contestants. As with marriage, once you say I do to an entry method, it's ‘til the end of the contest do you part.)

The Five Most Popular Instagram Contest Entry Methods

1. Like-to-Win or Comment-to-Win As the name suggests, in this method, contestants have to comment or like your Instagram contest post to enter for a chance to win. As a social media platform, Instagram has the highest engagement rate of all platforms. That's because their algorithm values engagement above all. The more engaged people are with your content, the more likely it is to appear at the prized top of your followers’ feed, or rank for search via any of the hashtags in your Instagram contest post. Essentially, this method helps to promote your contest without running ads.

Comment-to-Win Example: Mickey Trescott Book Giveaway

2. Follow To Win To increase your Instagram followers, you can ask users to follow your Instagram account for a chance to win.

This entry method usually works 50/50. One on hand, you can grab viewers who might genuinely like your brand; on the other, you'll be attracting others who just want to enter your contest and then leave. At the end of it all, you will be able to retain a significant increase of followers who will keep following your account in the long run.

Follow To Win Example: USANA Health Sciences, Inc.

3. Tag-A-Friend To Win contests Ask a user to tag their friends in your Instagram contest post to be automatically entered to win. This helps to post engagement for your Instagram contest, which is always a good thing, and in a very simple way, this method also works as a basic referral system.

The more friends users tag, the more brand visibility you get, and the better your chances for an increase in followers and potential customers.

Tag-A-Friend Example: Tono & Co.

4. Use The Hashtag To Win Ask contestants to use your brand's hashtag or your contest hashtag to enter to win your Instagram contest. This is mainly when requesting user-generated content (UGC) from your followers. This can be done in two ways:

You can ask them to repost your contest image on their own social media platforms, or you can ask to enter a photo contest and upload their picture with your hashtag to automatically enter your contest to win.

Use The Hashtag To Win Example: France.fr Hashtag Contest

5. Click The Link In The Bio To Enter If you're looking for a way to get more subscribers to your email list, this should be your method of choice. Direct viewers to click the link in the bio to go on your website or a landing page. Once there, they can submit their email and other details to enter your Instagram contest.

If you consider using your website, it can also drive traffic to your online store. Once a user has finished entering, they'll most likely browse your website to see what you have to offer.

Link in Bio Instagram Example: Mehron x Mimi Choi MakeUp Contest

Want more leads with a social media landing page?

Book a free call to learn how our team of contest experts can help you create high converting landing page today.

Step 3: Choose An Amazing Contest Prize

Now that you've decided your Instagram contest entry method, it's time to choose the prize.

It's important to pick a prize that's associated with your brand or brand's lifestyle so that you attract the right audience to your Instagram contest and page. Granted, you can't always avoid people who are entering just for the sake of entering, but your prize should appeal to the people you want to convert to loyal followers and customers.

For example, Lifestyle blogger and photographer Iacomini Andrea and beard grooming company Copenhagen Grooming joined forces for a Beard Kit giveaway.

Both Iacomini and Copenhagen Grooming share a similar target audience - men interested in lifestyle products - so naturally, their collaboration worked. They offered their male followers a product of interest, whether they had a beard or wanted a kit to get started, the prize was worthwhile.

In today’s market, an Amazon gift card isn't going to cut it. Here are some killer Instagram contest prizes you can offer:

*New or Best Selling Products *Discounts *Shopping Sprees *Product Bundles *Free Tickets to an Event *Brand Ambassador Title *V.I.P or Early Access to Products/Services

Step 4: Select An Eye-Catching Contest Image or Video

Instagram is a visually-driven platform, and your Instagram contest image can make or break your Instagram contest.

It isn’t easy to stand out. About 38% of Instagram users check Instagram multiple times a day and 95 million photos and videos are shared on Instagram per day.

With so much visual content on Instagram, you have to ensure that your Instagram contest image or video stops them from scrolling past (your caption can do some of the heavy lifting, but we'll talk about that later).

Boring images get scrolled over without a second look. To stop your followers in their tracks, show them the prize that’s up for grabs, in a way that brings out your brand’s appeal.

Like here, with this Beach Waver and Just Nay Product Launch Giveaway

The look and feel still matches their brand aesthetic, but it shows off their new coconut hair shampoo and conditioner in a fun and simple way.

If you're unable to get professional photography at the last minute, you can try Luke Ayres DIY Product Photo Project.

Step 5: Write the Perfect Instagram Contest Caption

In addition to adding a visually pleasing image to your Instagram contest, you'll need a show-stopping caption.

Giveaway captions don't get the luxury of being short. To avoid confusing followers, you have to be detailed with your entry guidelines, prize details and beginning and end date, not to mention following Instagram guidelines.

The first line of your caption should capture your reader's attention and let them know what's going on...you’re running an Instagram contest.

Take Liquid Culture, liquor blogger, Monica who hosted a giveaway with Collective Arts Distilling & Brewing for a ticket Collective Arts famous Liquid Arts Fest. Take a look at the first line of the post.

For more on creating eye-catching captions and content for your Instagram contest take a look at these 15 Awesome Examples of Instagram Posts that Drive Sales.

Next, for your Instagram contest caption are your contest guidelines. Always use clear instructions like which Instagram post to Like, how many friends to tag, and what and where to comment.

Doing all of this may seem a bit tedious, but it increases engagement and reduces the likelihood of user errors, which might cause trouble down the road.

Pro Tip: Add popular contest hashtags and Instagram's Geo-Tag location to your post. This increases your Instagram contest post chances of discovery for people looking at content specific to your hashtag or in your location. You can also use this guide to learn How Use Instagram Geotags & Hashtags to Grow Your Following.

Step 6: Follow Instagram Contest Guidelines

No matter how big or small your Instagram contest is, it's vital to abide by the Official Instagram Contest Rules.

Instagram advises all it’s users to run contests or giveaways legally so be sure to do your homework offline: read up on any laws that might apply to your area.

Where Instagram is concerned, the first thing thing is to officially include the rules and terms of eligibility, like:

Use the Correct Terms

Choose a Goal for Your Instagram Giveaway

Include the Brand Hosting the Instagram Giveaway

Write Clear Guidelines on How to Enter

Include the Start and End Date of the Giveaway

State That Instagram Is Not Associated with Your Instagram Giveaway

Include participation restrictions

Decide How to Announce the Winner

State How the Prize Will Be Delivered

Instagram Guideline Example: Fashionably Late

Not sure how to add any of these?

Don't worry, here's The Complete Instagram Giveaway Rules Guide (With Examples).

Step 7: Promote Your Instagram Contest

When you promote your Instagram contest from start to finish, it helps to drive a snowball effect of contest entries, each getting you closer to the results you want.

Here's why.

Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms, but it has one of the shortest content lifespans.

On Instagram, content lasts between 21-24 hours. Once that 24-hour window passes, so does your opportunity to reach viewers. Without promotions, your contest can be lost or forgotten in a sea of content for viewers who didn't instantly see your post or keep up with your content.

No Brainer Ways to Promote Your Instagram Contest

1. Pre-promotion: Promote Your Instagram Contest Before It Starts Just like a warm-up routine before a workout, you want to start flexing those contest muscles before the real work begins. When you let you let your followers know ahead of time that you'll be doing a giveaway, you'll help to build anticipation. You can also view the level of engagement with your pre-promotion post to get a glimpse of how many people are looking forward to entering.

Instagram Contest Example: Cape Shark Co

2. Instagram ads: Use Ads To Expand Your Instagram Content Reach Use ads to place your giveaway squarely in front of potential contestants. Since Instagram Ads are twice as effective as Facebook ads, you'll have a better chance at successfully driving traffic to your Instagram contest.

Not convinced? When the stylish furniture company Made.com ran their Instagram ads, they saw a 69% in higher returns on ad spend compared to the previous sale.

Instagram Ad Example:The Aaptiv App

3. Instagram Stories: Constantly Promote Your Instagram Contest Over 500 Million accounts use Instagram Stories every day, including business. Once you upload an image or video to your Instagram story, it disappears after 24 hours. Unlike a post in your Instagram feed, you can upload your Instagram contest post as often as you like without annoying your followers.

If you decide to promote your Instagram contest in your stories, you can use Instagram story ads as well, ensure that the post design matches the required dimensions

Instagram Contest Example: Maille US

Because Instagram users scroll quickly through their feeds, your ad should immediately communicate to users what they get for swiping up. That means you should be direct and straightforward in both your headline and copy.

Need help mastering Instagram stories? Take a look at these Amazing Instagram Stories Examples (With Tips & Tricks to Copy)

Pro Tip: Use a hashtag in your Instagram story. It has the same effect as if it was in your Instagram feed, allowing users searching the hashtag to discover your story.

4. Instagram Contest Reminders: Don't Let Them Forget You Earlier we spoke about how short an Instagram post’s shelf life is, so it's important to publish a contest reminder approaching your end date to keep your Instagram contest fresh in the minds of your followers.

Instagram Contest Example: Nana+Livy Handmade Bath Treats & Old Tea Canada For their Father's Day contest, they added the line "Don't forget to enter the Odd Tea's and Nana+Livy's Father's Day Giveaway!" Straight to the point, and letting viewers know that the contest is coming to an end.

5. Cross Promotion: Promote Your Instagram Contest on All Channels Make sure fans know about your contest even if they’re not yet following you on Instagram. Promote your contest on all your other social channels to maximize the number of entries. This is also a great way to ensure that people who already follow you on other social channels know about your Instagram account so they can follow you on Instagram.

Step 8: Choose Your Instagram Contest Winner

Now that your contest is over, it's time to pick your winner.

Based on the entry method you selected, you should know how you'll select your winner. There are Six Brilliant Ways to Pick An Instagram Contest Winner you can choose from for your own contest.

After you pick your winner, the most exciting part: telling them! You can do this via email, Instagram direct messaging, post the winner on your page or all of the above, it's actually one of the 5 Best Ways to Announce & Notify Contest Winners.

It's better to do them all, so you've covered your bases with reaching out to the winner about their newly won prize.

Instagram Contest Example: I Love New York

Step 9: After Your Instagram Contest Ends

You've made it to the finish line, and you’ve more followers, great engagement, and even some steady traffic on your website plus some great brand awareness.

So now we’re done, right?

Nope.

Remember having a lot of followers doesn't mean having a lot of sales, it means you have people who love your brand on Instagram, potential customers. Now it’s time to turn all your new followers into loyal customers.

Three Things To Do After Your Instagram Contest Ends

1. Send a Follow-up Email or Post Send your contestants a follow-up email with a big “Thank You” for entering your contest; let them know that they aren't just a number on your Instagram page, but you value them. Keep them up to date for the next one and even give a small discount to show your appreciation.

2. Promote Your Products Now that you've gotten some new eyes on your brand, it's time to start pushing your products with content marketing.

This is the most straightforward (and most common) method of marketing on Instagram. Don't just post images of your product, show it off with UGC (User-generated content), lifestyle shots and creative shots.

Have a balance between selling and engaging, you can't have one without the other or you'll lose sales.

Instagram Content Example: Manduka

3. Engage With Your Followers You didn't just get new followers - you added to your brand’s Instagram community. Don't just leave them hanging or they'll get bored and unfollow or forget about you, both results in losing potential sales for your business.

Instead, take the time to engage with them, answer questions, ask questions, or show them that you listen to what they have to say about your products (the good and the bad).

Instagram Engagement Example: Glossier

Summary

It takes a bit of work to have a successful Instagram contest, but as with anything, the more you do it, the easier it gets.

Here are 9 Steps to Run a Winning Instagram Contest:

Create Your Instagram Campaign Goals

Choose Your Instagram Contest Entry Method

Choose An Amazing Contest Prize

Select An Eye Catching Contest Image or Video

Write the Perfect Instagram Contest Caption

Follow Instagram Contest Guidelines

Promote Your Instagram Contest

Choose Your Instagram Contest Winner

Stay Engaged After Your Instagram Contest Ends

Need help with your Instagram contest?

Book a free call to learn how our team of marketing experts can help you create a high converting Instagram contest today.

Related Articles

5 Instagram Contest Strategies with Examples

47 Tips for Running an Instagram Photo Contest

Hashtag contests that engage fans and followers

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8230801 https://ift.tt/2xeFNxp via IFTTT

[asagimeta]

So wile I stare listlessly at my unfinished Teen Wolf meta, I want to take a moment to really thank the YOI dub for the hotel scene being done the way it was, because it addressed the thing I WANTED to be addressed- FINALLY

See, I don't speak Japanese so I don't know how the RAWs are, but the sub never really fit right with me in their fight, it felt very, very incomplete, very much like they had danced around the topic and the dub doesn't allow for that

All this time I had been hoping for this misunderstanding between Yuri and Viktor to be addressed- the misunderstanding that Yuri thinks Viktor's feelings are on a time limit and Viktor doesn't know that he feels that way

And we, as an audience, KNOWING Viktor and Yuri as charectors, know that this is a misunderstanding that's been brewing between them because we know Yuri and he's referenced several times that he feels like his relationship with Viktor is conditional and we know Viktor and we know that he doesn't pick up on those things because he's admitted several times that he isn't great at picking up on social cues and isn't good with people, where one of us might have noticed shades of this problem in the way Yuri speaks and acts, Viktor does not because he doesn't do well with people, but even when this topic SHOULD have the air time it deserves it kind of gets... glossed over? It's like two trains heading towards eachother and when you finally think "Ah here it comes the crash we need to get to the bottom of this broken railroad" ... they veer riiiiiiight past eachother without making contact, that's how the sub treats it

Viktor, in the sub, still calls Yuri selfish but we don't get as much of a feeling of why Viktor is saying that to him, and Yuri nods more towards retiring in order to give Viktor his chance back on the ice/feeling that their relationship is ending because he's retiring but he doesn't say any of that explicitly like he does in the dub and so the fight feels very unresolved the next morning in a way that doesn't end up feeling resolved later when Viktor and Yuri decide to compete together like it should

The dub corrects that wile keeping almost exactly to the same dialogue, changing only a few key words and moments

Viktor expands on Yuri being selfish by explicitly SAYING he doesn't want to return to the ice without Yuri/that he finds it unbelievable that Yuri thinks he would WANT to return to the ice without Yuri, and Yuri expands on his feeling that Viktor's relationship with him is conditional by flat out saying that he knew their relationship would only last until the Grand Prix and urging Viktor to go back to the ice now that he's retiring, just BARELY short of saying "Now that I'm not holding you back" (wich is how he feels) and he doesn't need to say that much explicitly- nor should he, that isn't IC-

Now when they both decide later on to keep skating and Viktor confirms to Yuri that he'll continue to coach him it feels MUCH more like a real resolution to the problem instead of skating (ha) past the problem and reaching a shakey resolution anyway, ofcourse, there IS still the potential for this conflict to return in season two, in fact, I'd say that it'll have to, no matter how many seasons we get Viktor and Yuri are both older and WILL have to retire some time, and unlike sports such as basketball wich don't have as much of a well defined season, they can only compete in competitions through one stretch of the year (at their level and with their goals) so YOI will have to be like Free! in that each season tacks one more year onto the show... and onto Yuri and Viktor's ages, Viktor, being the oldest one in the group, is already pushing his luck by going back on the ice at 28, and this is mentioned many times, especially by Chris who trails behind him by just a couple of years and often mentions that his age will limit how much longer he can perform, Yuri, at age 24 (possibly 25 by next season depending on when his birthday is) doesn't have much longer either and since he was already HEAVILY considering retirement over the last year I very highly doubt he'll find it necessary to go on once Viktor retires, I'm sure they'll bow out together, why would Yuri push himself another year or two after Viktor retires when he'd already be approaching retirement age (26-27 depending on when Vikki pushes the red button) and he already had made peace with retiring years ago? TLDR, no matter how many seasons we get, the likelihood is EXTREMELY high that we'll see them both come to the decision to retire from competitive skating and move on to something else (be it coaching, teaching children in Hasetsu, or performance skating, wich doesn't have the same age limits that competitions do and doesn't have the same strain either, they could perform as a pair in alot of, if not most, events too) and THAT'S where the conflict comes back in

Because there's still an elephant in the room that hasn't been properly addressed:

Yuri still thinks Viktor's relationship with him is conditional on his career

He's seen that not winning gold isn't a deal breaker wich is a step in the right direction but the fact is that they've kept the coach/student relationship- wich I PERSONALLY had hoped they would have grown out of at the end of the season but I understand why they didn't all the same- and that gives Yuri's anxiety the excuse it needs to keep telling Yuri "When you don't need him to coach you anymore, he's going to leave"

You have to think of Yuri's Anxiety as it's own entity, as a voice that wispers- or screams- nasty things in his ear because that's EXACTLY what anxiety is and EXACTLY what anxiety does, so if Viktor had ended their coach/student relationship and said "We're going to compete together and I expect our relationship to continue the way it is", or if he had said "I really do feel like retiring, I don't want to continue on the ice, I've found happiness with you and I'm very content to watch you shine from the sidelines and I want to stay and continue to support you even though I'm not coaching you anymore", then Yuri's Anxiety would have had to look for something else to bother Yuri about, but because Viktor is STILL his coach and that remains unchanged it gives his anxiety the excuse to keep reminding Yuri that their relationship is conditional

So going into next season, we have Yuri still believing that Viktor is only going to be with him as long as they're coach/student, or possibly if he wins gold that they'll get married? I'm not sure if Yuri honestly believes that or if he thinks Viktor was kidding but I'd like to believe that he believes him, but either way it circles back to "Viktor's affection is conditional", wich we see PROVEN by Viktor saying "I won't kiss silver, I'll only kiss gold", and it was playfull and teasing and Yuri understood it that way but late at night when Yuri is obsessing over Viktor leaving him THAT is going to be at the forefront of his mind and that's where Viktor's lack of understanding of how anxiety works really, really comes back to bite him

And going into next season, we have Viktor still being oblivious to the fact that Yuri feels this way, as far as Viktor understands, Yuri's issues from the hotel room were more about skating than their personal relationship (as Yuri still didn't clarify what "this" meant when he said "Let's end this" and knowing Viktor he probably thinks "this" = skating) Viktor's upset was directed at Yuri, his inspiration, saying he wants to retire after only giving Viktor this spark of inspiration for one season- and worse pouring salt in the wound by saying "I'm not going to skate anymore but you TOTALLY should", wich feels a little like a copout in some ways, Viktor //VERY// much sees this as a partnership with he and Yuri, it feels like his partner has finally revved his engine enough that he COULD return to the ice and just before he steps out there his partner suddenly says "Oh you're on your own I'm gonna stay here", wich is extremely upsetting to him as Yuri is his ONLY reason for returning to skating, adding on top of that that Yuri clearly has misread him all this time about his intentions and his feelings and that, as Viktor himself states many times, his feelings as a coach often differ from his feelings as a competitor*, the obvious slap of miscommunication is probably very frustrating and he's wondering what he did or said wrong that didn't get his point across to Yuri all this time, completely unaware of the deeper issues present because Viktor is not good with people

*Viktor takes pride in Yuri as a coach, from a coach-only perspective he probably feels insulted that he put SO. MUCH. into Yuri and Yuri wants to quit after only giving him one season to work with him, outside of his other feelings, this alone is probably enough to make him upset, Viktor is a very sensitive person when it comes to coaching and tends to take things very personally (IE: the "Let's shatter him" scene and his repeated efforts to more or less bribe Yuri towards gold and shame him in behaviors that detract him from gold, wich is a really big problem but it's one that's toned down the more he gets to know Yuri, and I'm hoping it'll continue to tone down the more he sees how that doesn't *help* and in fact makes things worse)

So we're going into next season (ha, I've had to say that three times now) the same way we went into season one and the same way we ended season one: Viktor is Yuri's coach, Viktor understands that their relationship outside of coaching is... well, their relationship outside of coaching, he probably feels very secure that no matter what happens with skating they're going to- eventually, if not soon- get married and have a happy life together and probably have some kids and have a happy family life, but Yuri is going into it still believing that he can only have Viktor based on contengincies, only as long as Viktor is coaching him and he can only keep Viktor if he wins gold- Viktor is a prize to be won (much like the playboy in his Eros routine) Viktor is no different than a gold medal: He's tied COMPLETELY into skating and will only stay with Yuri if Yuri wins him

Unlike Viktor who is capable of compartimentalizing their relationship into what IS skating and what ISN'T skating, to Yuri, it's all the same thing, Viktor's affections are rewards for him doing well, and the only way he's going to keep Viktor past his "limit" is if he wins gold and proves himself to Viktor- proves himself WORTHY of Viktor, and it's SUCH a toxic mindset but it's also SO realistic to anxiety because that's exactly how anxiety works

So what this means is that one way or another, this conversation is going to come up again, except next time it's going to have to be clearer (although hopefully less heart-breaking) and Viktor is going to have to understand what Yuri means when he says that he only gets Viktor for an alotted period of time, and when Viktor DOES make that realization- either by Yuri flat out saying it or him finally being able to read Yuri well enough to pick up on words unsaid- he's going to be so utterly devestated that we might get him crying again, though this time out of anger at himself rather than anger at Yuri, because he'll take it as his fault for not understanding that this is what Yuri thought all this time (and it isn't his fault any more than it is Yuri's, it's anxiety's fault but people who don't have a mental illness, or don't have anxiety specifically, have a VERY hard time reasoning with just how MUCH the disease affects someone and it takes years and years to get even a basic grasp on it) and hopefully Viktor will be able to correct it VERY clearly and shut down Yuri's feelings that his love is contengant on their relationship on the ice- Yuri will likely always have the feeling that Viktor's love is only available if he deserves it, to some degree, because that's how anxiety is, but hopefully Viktor can clear up this specific aspect

So where's my point in all of this? Because it was supposed to be a VERY short post praising the dub but oops

My point is, I'm so glad that the dub set this up better than the sub did, I'm so relieved that there feels like a more accurate portrayal of the problem so that the resolution feels more justified, a few words can make a BIG difference, and this dub is some major proof of that

[thefaeriereview]

Tour: Road to Delano

https://ift.tt/39REffp

Welcome to the blog tour for historical fiction, The Road to Delano by John DeSimone!

The Road to Delano

Publication Date: March 10, 2020

Genre: Historical Fiction/ Coming of Age

Publisher: Rare Bird Books

Jack Duncan is a high school senior whose dream is to play baseball in college and beyond―as far away from Delano as possible. He longs to escape the political turmoil surrounding the labor struggles of the striking fieldworkers that infests his small ag town. Ever since his father, a grape grower, died under suspicious circumstances ten years earlier, he’s had to be the sole emotional support of his mother, who has kept secrets from him about his father’s involvement in the ongoing labor strife. With their property on the verge of a tax sale, Jack drives an old combine into town to sell it so he and his mother don’t become homeless. On the road, an old friend of his father’s shows up and hands him the police report indicating Jack’s father was murdered. Jack is compelled to dig deep to discover the entire truth, which throws him into the heart of the corruption endemic in the Central Valley. Everything he has dreamed of is at stake if he can’t control his impulse for revenge. While Jack’s girlfriend, the intelligent and articulate Ella, warns him not to so anything to jeopardize their plans of moving to L.A., after graduation, Jack turns to his best friend, Adrian, a star player on the team, to help to save his mother’s land. When Jack’s efforts to rescue a stolen piece of farm equipment leaves Adrian―the son of a boycotting fieldworker who works closely with Cesar Chavez―in a catastrophic situation, Jack must bail his friend out of his dilemma before it ruins his future prospects. Jack uses his wits, his acumen at card playing, and his boldness to raise the money to spring his friend, who has been transformed by his jail experience. The Road to Delano is the path Jack, Ella, and Adrian must take to find their strength, their duty, their destiny.

“This whole story is an absolute triumph!” ―Thehauntedfae Book Blog

“The Road to Delano is a compelling story that will leave readers thinking about its surprise ending long after the final confrontation comes to a head.” ―California Bookwatch

“Five Stars. Outstanding writing, fast-paced. A must-read for people who love history AND baseball.” ―ReedsyDiscovery

“I really enjoyed this story. It’s more than a little Steinbeck, in a very good way…” —Leigh Anne, Book Sirens

Add to Goodreads

Ash Wednesday

Monday at lunch, Jack and Ella settled on the grassy school quad. The morning haze, a gray dullness, hung over them. Ella in a long skirt and T-shirt printed with her favorite saying played her guitar. Jack ate slowly, as Ella gently strummed a Joan Baez song. She let the last chord vibrate in the air. “You look far away today, Jack.” “Just thinking.” “Worried about the big game?” She strummed a C chord. “Not really. I’m ready for those guys.” As crucial as the Arvin game was to his chances for a scholarship, his head spun with Herm, the sheriff, and lost combine. He needed to set all that aside. But how? “You’re worried about losing that combine, aren’t you?” He shrugged and glanced off into the haze. Herm’s beat-up face filled him with too many questions, ones he would rather not ask. “What do you think happened to it?” Jack did his best to suppress a frown. He spent the next twenty minutes explaining how Sheriff Grant found Herm Gordon face down in the mud and how their combine had gone missing. Short of stealing someone else’s machine and selling it to pay the taxes, he didn’t have too many ideas about what he could do to save his mom’s place. “Jack, you have to protest. Write to the newspaper. Make noise until the sheriff finds your combine. Someone knew you needed that money to save your property.” Ella’s sense of urgency hovered over her, an impending sense of doom that required her to stand up and shout to drive it away. She had been this way since he first met her, always ready to protest. Vietnam had taken up most of her attention. But it was their trip to Berkeley a couple of years ago that had set her on fire, and had almost got Jack arrested in front of Sproul Hall. Two years ago, their sophomore debate team had joined the junior and senior team on a field trip to UC Berkeley to observe a statewide competition. They left Delano before dawn and talked for the entire four-hour bus ride. That was something he had never done with any girl. They sat across from each other, an aisle between them. Her darting green eyes held his interest. Life shot out of them, beautiful and intelligent in the same instant. They debated the war in Vietnam, who killed JFK, the likelihood of a gunman on the grassy knoll, the Selma march, the Freedom Riders, Malcolm X, the Black Panthers—she had an opinion on everything. Mostly, she made sense. The girl’s intensity at times unsettled him, but it mostly intrigued him. During the debate competition in a Berkeley auditorium, shortly after the lunch break, Ella leaned into him in the dark. “Meet me outside on the steps in a few minutes.” Without waiting for an answer, she rose and disappeared. Jack stewed in his seat, trying to figure out what she was up to. He wouldn’t miss much if he left. Besides, her sense of adventure piqued him. A few minutes later, he found her outside the glass doors on the steps. In the breeze, her brown hair, straight and long, riffled across her mischievous smile. “There’s an FSM rally on the other side of the campus. Go with me. We’ll be back in plenty of time.” “A what?” he asked. “You know, the Free Speech Movement. Please, go with me,” she pleaded with her green eyes. “Mario Savio is going to speak.” From the way she threw out his name, he was someone Jack should know. He had never heard of the Free Speech Movement, or Savio, whoever he was. Jack glanced back to the doors. “They’ll be in there for hours.” She took his hand. He marveled at her warm grasp. He liked it. They made their way through a maze of buildings. She must have had this all planned out. She led him directly to a large plaza packed with students milling about. Some sat, most stood talking and smoking, and clouds of strange smelling smoke wafted over the crowd. A line of cops stood on the fringes of the crowd. They fidgeted with their batons. The two of them were so far back, they could hardly make out what the speaker was saying. Ella pushed her way toward the front, and Jack held on. Had she done this before? She stopped when they were about twenty feet from the speaker, who read a list of students who were being expelled. People were booing. A new speaker came to the microphone, a tall wiry-haired student in a white shirt and sheepskin-lined jacket. Electricity seemed to shoot right out of his hair. The crowd around Jack murmured, likely wondering what this guy was going to say. Ella squeezed his hand tighter. He didn’t dare let go of her, afraid they’d get separated in the jostling crowd. The crowd hushed when the man with the electric hair started to speak. He had a machine-gun delivery. His message burst from him with so much energy the entire crowd leaned in for more. His lips moved like waves, every word coated with fire. I ask you to consider if this university is a firm…we’re the raw materials. And we don’t mean to be made into any product…to be bought by anyone. We’re human beings! The crowd applauded, and Ella loosed her hand to clap and shout. There’s a time the operation of the machine becomes so odious… you can’t take part. You’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears…upon the levers… and you’ve got to make it stop.…Unless you’re free, the machine won’t be prevented from working. The crowd broke into more applause. Kids were yelling their agreement. Jack wasn’t clear what machine the guy was talking about, or what freedom he didn’t have, and what gears needed to be stopped. Then the speaker introduced Joan Baez, and the crowd went crazy with chatter and clapping. She started singing a Bob Dylan song, and a hush fell over everyone. How many times can a man turn his head And pretend that he doesn’t see? The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind… Ella hopped up and down on the balls of her feet. Baez started up another song, “We shall overcome…,” and everyone joined in, the crowd swayed with the words. Something great, something powerful was about to break open here. He took Ella’s hand, and she gave him a complicit smile. She held him tight as if she feared she would float away in the euphoria of the moment. When the song ended, she pulsed forward. Jack dared not let her go as they slipped between applauding students who hovered around the famous singer. Ella ascended right up to the great Joan Baez, her long black hair draped over her shoulders, her guitar slung over her neck. Ella tried to talk calmly, but she only stammered. “Did you want an autograph, honey?” Ella had a confused look as if the question she wanted to ask had slipped away. “Do you go to school here?” Ella shook her head. “Delano High School.” “Look,” Baez pointed over Ella’s shoulder. “You guys got to get out of here. There’s going to be trouble.” At the far end of the crowd, cops were forcing students to move. Cop cars with lights flashing swarmed into the quad forcing students toward them. Panicked voices, screams, and shouting rose in the quad. Police vans rolled into the quad, lights flashing, the short squawks of their sirens stirred up the crowd.

Available on Amazon

Giveaway: For your chance to win a hardcover edition of The Road to Delano, click the link below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

About the Author John DeSimone is a novelist, memoirist, and editor. He’s co-authored bestselling The Broken Circle: A memoir of escaping Afghanistan, and others. He taught writing as an adjunct professor at Biola University and has worked as a freelance editor and writer for nearly twenty years. His current release, a historical novel, The Road to Delano, is a coming of age novel set during the Delano grape strike led by Cesar Chavez. BookSirens said, “It’s more than a little Steinbeck, in a good way….” He lives in Claremont, Ca, and can be found on Goodreads and at www.johndesimone.com 

Blog Tour Organized By: R&R Book Tours

via Blogger https://ift.tt/30rqKQF

[unifiedsocialblog]

How to Get Instagram Likes: 13 Tips that Actually Work

Want to be ‘liked’ by a billion people on their mobile devices (mostly)?

What a self-esteem booster that would be.

Of course, only the greatest ad ever known to man-or-woman-kind could do that.

But, that’s how big Instagram has gotten, with 85.5 million of those 1B users in the U.S. Only Facebook is bigger. Being #2 ain’t so bad, eh? Yet, Instagram is numero uno in growth per quarter, at 5%.

Watch out FB, Instagram is coming.

Instagram is the photo-and-video-sharing network behemoth for consumers and brands. With users sharing 95 million photos and videos per day.

And for your biz?

eMarketer estimates Instagram ad revenues will balloon to $10.87 billion by 2019. A 37.7% increase since 2017. Snapchat is for slightly more mature markets, using broadband and high-end mobile devices, mostly for millennials. Instagram however, is attracting even younger people in mobile-centric, emerging markets. Most users are between 18-29 years old.

With this humongous community, how are you going to get after it?

To get your brand in front of new fans?

Read on… we’ll show you how. Let’s get straight to it.

Oh wait, silly me… forgot one thing first…

What are Instagram likes?

“And why does it matter?”

Good questions.

Like with the other platforms, just click an icon to ‘like’ what you see and hear. Though unlike the others, you don’t have to be a follower.

‘Likes’ matter because they’re often the first contact between your business and a new follower. This makes it easy for anyone to appreciate your post.

On Instagram, the ‘like’ icon takes the form of a heart.

More likes = more cred for your brand.

Think of it as a long-term, stay-top-of-mind, marketing strategy.

Onward to the tips, for reals this time.

Bonus: Download a free checklist that reveals the exact steps an adventure photographer used to grow from 0 to 110,000 followers on Instagram with no budget and no expensive gear.

13 real ways to get more Instagram likes

1. Share high-quality photos and videos

Of course, great content requires thought and planning. That is if you want people to actually click that heart. Three tips to help:

Show your face. Or someone else’s. To increase your odds by 38%.

Know your colors. Primarily blue pictures get 24% more ‘likes’ than red ones. Single versus multi-colored also increases ‘likes’ likelihood by 17%.

Choose your filters. Thoughtfully. Filters that increase contrast, correct exposure, with a warmer tone get the best results. Just ask Yahoo and Georgia Tech. Use Instagram’s editing tools over their pre-programmed filters.

Keep things unique and varied, too. Instagram has tools for this. Here’s just 3 of them:

Boomerang to create video loops, frontwards and backwards

Focus to blur the background while keeping the face in focus

Superzoom to automatically zoom in while playing a dramatic sound

Here are some more tips on how to edit Instagram photos for maximum likeability.

2. Use hashtags wisely

Otherwise, you’ll make users angry. And Instagram, too.

You did your best to create great content, right? Keep up the pace with hashtags. These help others find you, even non-followers.

Finding you is the first step to liking you.

Best practices for appropriate hashtagging include:

Use relevant tags. Otherwise users will select the ‘Don’t show for this hashtag’ option.

Place them just right. Say, 2 or 3 of your most important tags in the photo caption.

Need more than a few? Fine, Instagram allows 30 per post. But post them as a comment, more out of the way than your main hashtags. Find out how to do this in our Instagram Hacks post.

Vary them up. Don’t use the same list for every post.

Which hashtags should you use?

Not the ones everyone else is using. Sure, #like4like is popular. But it’s pretty obvious to your followers that you’re fishing for ‘likes’ rather than connecting with like-minded peeps. Bots love these, too. Your stats will be meaningless, just like those tags.

Lebron James got in on the act with a vintage photo using #tbt (short for #throwbackthursday). That netted him 265,000 likes. Nice one, King James. Swish again.

View this post on Instagram

Wanna be one of the first to Congratulate you on this accomplishment/achievement tonight that you’ll reach! Only a handful has reach/seen it too and while I know it’s never been a goal of yours from the beginning try(please try) to take a moment for yourself on how you’ve done it! The House you’re about to be apart of has only 6 seats in it(as of now) but 1 more will be added and you should be very proud and honored to be invited inside. There’s so many people to thank who has help this even become possible(so thank them all) and when u finally get your moment(alone) to yourself smile, look up to the higher skies and say THANK YOU! So with that said, Congrats again Young King ????????! 1 Love! #striveforgreatness???? #thekidfromakron????

A post shared by LeBron James (@kingjames) on Jan 23, 2018 at 7:29am PST

One could write an entire article, just about hashtags. And we did.

3. Tag relevant users

Why tag someone? To encourage them to engage with your post and share it with their followers.

Or to credit them, if they took the picture/video.

Tag other Instagram users featured in your photos with an @-mention in your caption. Or, use Instagram’s tagging functionality. Either way, they’ll receive a notification.

4. Write darn-good captions

I was gonna say ‘damn-good’, but thought not to.

Anyway…

A nice visual plus text is like peanut-butter and chocolate. Readers will go ‘ahhhh’ (and tap the heart).

Write your captions with some TLC.

Tell your story, using words and pictures. Unlike Twitter, there’s no character limit. Make it long, or not. You get to decide. But make it count.

Some ideas:

Ask a question. It can make the reader lean in, with interest. Sounds less promotional, too.

Let your hair down. A little humor never hurt nobody. That ‘suit and tie’ approach… sucks. Especially for this crowd.

Show some love. Got followers praising you? Cool. Mention them in your caption.

That ‘less is more’ thing. True that. Sometimes a minimalist caption will highlight a striking image. Also, it can be a stylistic way to impress followers. One-liners, quotes, song lyrics… you’ve got options.

Short on caption ideas for your photos or videos? Get inspired.

5. Tag your location

Tagging your location puts your business on the map.

And, makes it dead simple for people to discover your photos and videos.

Plus, users view posts more that are tagged with a location.

Here’s how simple it is:

Tap ‘Add Location’

Search for your location

Select it and post the photo or video

This becomes a clickable field for the user. Clicking on the location shows all photos and videos for that place. Your brand is now associated with this location, like a shop, hotel, or head office. Or, make it more general, for a city or town.

We good? Moving right along…

6. Get on the Explore tab

Also known as the Explore page.

What is it?

Curated topics and personalized content you will adore. At least that’s what Instagram believes, based on your previous actions and engagement patterns. Wired calls it, “the most honest place on the internet.” Ah, how nice. Click on the magnifying glass to see for yourself.

Why use it?

For your brand to become more recognized. Placing high on the Explore tab can get you new followers and a steady flow of traffic.

How to get on it

It’s not completely known, but most likely, Instagram uses these criteria to place content in the Explore tab:

Content similar to what users engaged with

Content with high engagement

Content from accounts similar to accounts the user already follows

How to improve your chances

Know your audience. Like: your target customer, their interests, and who they follow. Create a persona to target your content.

Listen closely. Tailor your content based on how your audience is engaging with theirs.

Use hashtags. We talked about this above. Don’t skip it.

That’s the abbreviated version. Learn more in our post on how to get on the Explore page.

7. Post consistently

Why?

People will know what to expect. This keeps followers engaged with a consistent, versus overwhelming, flow in their feeds.

Establishes authority and credibility. You’ll be considered a thought leader in your industry.

Your brand will be recognized. By consistently sharing content with your target audience. 93% of organizations depend on this.

Engage with your audience. Which makes them come back for more. Loyal customers generate more revenue. Cheaper than acquiring new ones.

Generate leads. Give people useful, interesting content, they’ll knock on your e-door to learn more.

8. Post at the right time, too

Which is 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. Monday to Friday.

That’s what we do. Because our audience scrolls through Instagram during their lunch hour. Since we’re B2B, our strategy is weekday focused.

Instagram moved away from the reverse-chronological feed, but timing still matters. They explain on their blog, posts are ordered based on:

Likelihood of their interest in your content

One’s relationship with your brand

Timeliness of posts (an emphasis for us)

Timing is everything. What’s yours?

Find out by:

Knowing your audience

Testing different times

Measure what works, what doesn’t. Do more of what does.

9. Run a “like-to-win” contest

Say I offered you a free flight to your next holiday destination. You only needed to post a cool photo of yourself on vacation.

Would you do it?

Of course.

That’s the seductive play of an Instagram contest.

There’s a few types of these contests. We like the like-to-win one best.

It’s simple to do. Just ask users to like an Instagram photo of your brand, so they can win a prize. It’s a great way to connect with your audience and get people excited about your brand.

Set goals and metrics to see how it’s working.

For building brand awareness, measure follower count, engagement, and website traffic

For an annual sale, measure purchases, year-over-year engagement, and landing page traffic

You get the idea.

Bonus: Download a free checklist that reveals the exact steps an adventure photographer used to grow from 0 to 110,000 followers on Instagram with no budget and no expensive gear.

Get the free checklist right now!

10. Ask your followers to tag their friends

You can also encourage your followers to tag their friends in the comments. For example: “Tag someone you know who needs a vacation!” This can help expose your Instagram account to a larger network of people.

11. Comment and ‘like’ posts of others

Do this and Instagram will reward you, because they care most about engagement.

When a post receives a bunch of likes and comments, Instagram sees this as quality, engaging content that more people will want to see. So then…

Get on and scroll your feed

Like what you like

Write useful comments (not patronizing ones)

Participate in a social community that actually cares about each other’s posts. Not much more to say than that.

12. Share your Instagram posts on other channels

No need to keep things to yourself.

Increase your reach by sharing your posts on other social sites. But, alter them a bit versus just posting as is. So it works best for that platform and audience. For instance…

Address your Facebook friends differently than your LinkedIn connections

Edit your message to fit Twitter’s 280 character count limit

For Pinterest, post just the picture

Use formats wisely, too.

Multiple hashtags work well for Twitter and Instagram. But on Facebook or LinkedIn, you might not get the same results.

13. Use Instagram ads

Remember that $10.87 billion in revenue by 2019?

You want some of that, right? Just like 2 million other companies.

Here’s some ads to help you get more likes on Instagram:

Photo ads

Use these to tell your story and showcase your products using compelling images.

Parachute Home used these to promote a 60-night trial of their bedding, using a Shop Now call-to-action.

Their beautiful stuff aimed at 18-54 year-olds, for their core customer profile. The result? A 3.7 times return on spend. With a click-through rate 2 times that of ads on other platforms.

Video ads

As we now know, Instagram users are crazeeee about videos.

Videos were posted 4 times more than photos in 2017, compared to 2016.

Seems you should do the same.

OGX, a global hair care brand, created a video campaign around ‘Rock What You’ve Got”. This featured women celebrating their diverse hair textures and styles, targeted to millennial women.

This reached an impressive 61 percent of the target audience in the US. The same in Canada, UK, Germany, and Australia combined.

Video ads can be up to 60 seconds, but OGX shows a solid video doesn’t need to be long, as theirs was only 15 seconds.

Carousel ads

These let users swipe through a series of images or videos, with a call-to-action button connecting them directly to your website. Use more creative freedom to tell a longer story.

That’s what Kayla Itsines, founder of fitness empire Bikini Body Guide did.

She created and published a series of carousel ads for her workout app, Sweat: Kayla Itsines Fitness.

This showcased short fitness sequences demonstrating how users could exercise anywhere, anytime with the app. She targeted women aged 18 to 42, reaching 6.4 million people. With an incredible 21-point increase in brand awareness.

Woohoo! Gonna work on my bod right after completing this post. I’m inspired.

Sight, sound, and motion to inspire people around your brand and products.

Stories ads

These are full-screen ads appearing to users between Stories they’re already viewing from people they follow. 400 million Instagram users view Stories every day.

Choose how often people see your Stories ad. Stories expire after 24 hours, ideal for sharing limited-time offers and promotions.

Stories ads look like a regular post. The call-to-action works like a swipe-up feature, taking users directly to your website.

Good stuff for getting more Instagram likes using ads. Read even more about how to advertise on Instagram.

And that’s the story of how to get more Instagram likes

Now you know how to get more likes, which will get you more followers.

Nice.

But that’s not the only way to get more followers. Here’s 21 more ways.

A marketer’s job is never done.

And we can help…

Save time managing your Instagram presence using Hootsuite. From a single dashboard you can schedule and publish photos directly to Instagram, engage the audience, measure performance, and run all your other social media profiles. Try it free today.

Get Started

The post How to Get Instagram Likes: 13 Tips that Actually Work appeared first on Hootsuite Social Media Management.

How to Get Instagram Likes: 13 Tips that Actually Work published first on https://getfblike.tumblr.com/

[digitalmark18-blog]

Rebranding your local business? Don't start without reading these tips

New Post has been published on https://britishdigitalmarketingnews.com/rebranding-your-local-business-dont-start-without-reading-these-tips-2/

Rebranding your local business? Don't start without reading these tips

There’s a whole host of reasons you’d want to rebrand your local business:

Your product and service offering might be outgrowing your name and website.

You might have found a new location close to the center of town.

You feel a facelift might revitalize a flagging business.

Whatever your reasons, they must be good given the work it takes to rebrand. It may be the biggest and highest-risk challenge you’ve ever faced. The tone of voice, website design, color scheme, logos, directory listings and sales process may all need to change at once. It’s not an easy or quick switch.

Interest in a local business’ rebranding isn’t as strong as big brands enjoy, so you can kiss that viral piece on the evolution of your brand goodbye. Unlike Pepsi or other big brands, there is a high likelihood few will notice a logo change from a small business.

Small businesses don’t have access to a multimillion-dollar branding and communications strategy. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still make a true impact on the bottom line with a thoroughly researched and well-executed rebrand.

I’m going to go through a few key marketing points and steps to take if you’re considering or in the process of rebranding a local business. While I will be providing insights on the less technical, more strategic side of things, I have included a link that explains how to migrate your site to a new domain.

Involve your audience

Are you looking for a whole new audience or an expanded one? Either way, it’s worthwhile involving your current customers in the rebranding process, even if just in a small way.

First, survey your customers on what they already like about your brand so you can avoid losing those elements in your new branding. Learn why they came to you initially and, almost most importantly, why they stick around.

If your rebranding is already underway, show your customers some potential logos and ask them to vote on their favorite. Remember that unless you make the results public, you’re not beholden to select their logo unless you love it, too!

You can be as open and public or as secretive and private with your customer involvement as you like. The former is great if you already have a loyal customer base willing to share the news of the rebrand.  The latter is better if you are in the very early stages of rebrand consideration.

Go wide and loud with a request for customer feedback on Twitter and Facebook (perhaps with a link back to a website-hosted survey) or via a pop-up on your website using a tool like Hotjar. You can also keep it quiet with face-to-face questions in-store or a segmented email to your most loyal customers.

Whatever amount of noise you decide to make with your customer involvement, make sure you highlight how important it is for you to keep current customers satisfied and happy. They’ll appreciate having their thoughts and feelings considered and be more likely to stay on board when the new brand is launched.

Don’t change too much too fast

Unless you’re determined to completely pivot your business and reach an entirely new and different customer base, I’d recommend not changing too much about what makes your business what it is all at one time.

Smaller, more iterative adjustments to branding (a smoothing of the edges here, a lightening of the color palette there) will lessen the risk of losing your current audience’s connection to your brand. Obviously, the risk will be even less if you’ve involved them in your rebranding strategy.

When faced with a potential name change, try to keep an element of your original business name. This will give you more options down the line. Consider how Snapchat Inc. became Snap Inc. and eventually branched out into products like Spectacles.

The other reason not to change too much too fast centers around your SEO. If, with a snap of your fingers, you launch a new website, new company name, a new tone of voice and new copy, your site may lose rankings and take a while to rebound. It makes sense to slowly tweak things and avoid those negatives.

Research the landscape

Thorough preparation is critical ahead of a rebrand, and one area you’d be foolish to overlook is the competition. This is particularly true if you’re changing your business name.

There can be no worse (and no more easily avoided) frustration than learning the potential name you’ve been cherishing all this time is incredibly close to another business, or worse, a business in your industry.

Checking out the competition on Bing or Google is easy. Be sure you look at local, organic and map results.

It’s also definitely worth making sure your planned business name has all social media usernames available, and I mean all of them. You might not think you need Pinterest or Snapchat right now, but as they’re free to use, it’s better to be covered and safe than sorry.

While you are researching your social media profiles, keep in mind you’ll want to use the exact same username across all platforms for complete brand consistency. When you snag that next new loyal customer, you’ll want them to immediately find and follow your social profiles with ease.

Plan your Google My Business changes well

Whatever you do, it is not a good idea to set up a new Google My Business (GMB) listing for a rebranded company and leaving the old GMB listing intact. Having two profiles does not mean you will dominate the rankings for your local search terms and could cause duplicate listing issues.

The only exception to this would be if your rebrand changed and what you’re selling changed along with it.

For example, if you’re an Indian restaurant pivoting to Vietnamese cuisine with a new chef and a new menu, you would need to open a new listing and close the old one, as all information and customer reviews on the older listing will no longer apply.

Google wants GMB to accurately and fairly represent the experience of using or dealing with a business, so it doesn’t want to see reviews of an Indian dining experience on a Vietnamese restaurant’s GMB profile. In an ideal world, business owners would have the power to remove reviews that are no longer relevant, but this currently isn’t possible, and “flagging” reviews only reports them for offensive language.

If you only need to update your current GMB profile, the extent to which you do so will depend on how big a rebrand you’re going for, but you’ll certainly want to look at the following items to see if they will still be accurate after the change:

Business name. If you’ve changed any part of your business name, you’ll need to update this and get it verified as soon as your rebrand strategy is in progress.

Categories. Only change these if your rebrand involves introducing new services that will fundamentally alter your business category.

Address and phone number. Only necessary if your rebrand includes a move of premises.

Logo, photos and videos. Rich GMB content will need to be carefully considered after the rebrand. Do what you can to encourage people to take photos of your newly rebranded store, and be sure to upload a new company logo. Consider bringing in someone to record a 360 tour of your business to show off the new branding.

Q&As. Will the answers that you and your customers have left for enquiring minds still be accurate after the rebrand? Take a look, and if something is no longer accurate, just click the three dots next to the answer to “Report” it, and then select: “No Longer Applies” to flag it for removal.

Update all your citations

Probably the most important information on your Google My Business listing is your NAP — name, address and phone number.

Sites that carry the details of your business (also known as your “citations”) will need to be contacted and asked if they will update your information as a way to avoid negative impacts on rankings due to inconsistent NAP.

And it’s not just your search results that could suffer. Recent research shows that incorrect or inconsistent contact details or business information found online would make 80 percent of people lose trust in a business. It’s not a simple job to update all your listings, but this shows it’s definitely worth it.

You can update and clean up your citations by using an automated tool or doing it by hand. Updating manually rather than using a tool service allows you to keep complete control of your listings, even if it is a little more work. Automated tools stop working if you stop paying for them, and you’ll likely see your listings go back to how they were if you stop paying for the citation management service.

Make the most of the PR opportunity

A well-planned, creative and significant shift in branding can result in coverage in local and industry press. To increase the chances of this, you’ll need to hold events at your brick-and-mortar store and host a press launch.

This gives journalists something to photograph, and these kinds of events are far easier to feature in publications if accompanied by plenty of smiling faces. Even if you don’t have an offline store, you can still host a media release and a special promotional code to celebrate the relaunch.

Conclusion

Whether you’re tweaking a logo, adding a new partner to your law firm name or completely changing your whole business model, keep these tips in mind as you rebrand. Be sure to involve your customers, update your citations and get the press involved. You’ll enjoy a successful rebrand if you do!

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Marketing Land. Staff authors are listed here.

About The Author

Jamie Pitman is Head of Content at local SEO tool provider BrightLocal. He’s been working in Digital Marketing for nearly ten years and has specialized in SEO, content marketing and social media, managing successful marketing projects for clients and employers alike. Over this time he’s blogged his heart out, writing over 300 posts on a wide variety of digital marketing topics for various businesses and publications.

Source: https://marketingland.com/rebranding-your-local-business-dont-start-without-reading-these-tips-245217

[double-birds-blog]

Why Can’t the Cardinals Attract Top Talent?

By Adam Felder

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: the Cardinals head into the offseason with a premier super-elite talent as their number-one target. They put on a good show in chasing that talent. For a while, it looks like it might happen.

Then it doesn’t. Some other team nobody counted on ends up taking the player instead.

Max Scherzer to the Nationals. David Price to the Red Sox. Jason Heyward to the Cubs.

And now, Giancarlo Stanton to the Yankees, apparently.

The method by which the Cardinals fell short was different this time, though. In the case of the first three players, the Cardinals got outbid financially (and yes, the Cubs’ offer to Heyward with the opt-out was potentially more lucrative; nobody could’ve predicted he’d turn into a pumpkin upon arriving in Wrigley). That’s irritating enough given that the Cardinals are a team with deep pockets and also one whose relative ranking in payroll has sunk in recent seasons.

But Stanton? This is a new one. Allegedly the Cardinals were willing to take on more of his monster contract than other suitors, but Stanton took a look at St. Louis and decided “no thanks.” He did the same with San Francisco, so it’s not as if the Cardinals were uniquely scorned.

And we’ll never know why Stanton didn’t want to play in either city, but instead for the Yankees. Given his short list, “likelihood of winning sometime soon” was probably part of it. But we’ll never know what was going through his head other than a quite correct “I have a full no-trade and the Marlins want to move me; I have all the leverage here and I’d be a fool to give it up for anything short of an ideal landing spot.”

It does beg the question, however: why isn’t St. Louis an ideal landing spot?

If it were only Stanton this offseason, it wouldn’t really be a question. But Stanton spurning St. Louis for another city fits a recent pattern: premium talent doesn’t want to play for the Cardinals long-term.

That’s something fans of the team for the last two decades aren’t used to.

Ben Godar over at Viva El Birdos did a nice job outlining this, but for most of the Tony LaRussa era, premium talent would regularly ignore the bigger-market coastal teams and settle in the Gateway City for the long term—sometimes for lesser dollars, even.

Mark McGwire had his own NTC that he waived to come to St. Louis in his walk year, then promptly re-signed at below market value. Jim Edmonds didn’t have an NTC, but happily settled in St. Louis after a trade from the Angels. Scott Rolen got unfairly run out of Philadelphia and put down roots with the Cardinals. Matt Holliday left a bad situation in Oakland in 2009 and signed a long-term extension after a midseason trade.

All of these players are Hall of Fame caliber talents (okay, maybe not Holliday; the bar for left fielders is ludicrously high. Hall of Very Good, perhaps?) Godar pointed out that perhaps all of these players weren’t attracted to St. Louis so much as they were attracted to TLR. And even if you’re a Mike Matheny defender (surely you’re not reading this blog if you are, but maybe you got here by accident?), you can certainly admit that #22 is no #10.

I have a different suggestion: perhaps the players who don’t want to settle in St. Louis long term are making that decision because they’ve seen a pattern of how the Cardinals treat their players long term. It’s a pattern that stretches back into the TLR era—but not the Walt Jocketty era, which ended after the 2007 season. It’s a John Mozeliak legacy.

Edmonds? The Cardinals decided they didn’t want to play him into the sunset of his career, and in order to accommodate his desire to play, they shipped him off to San Diego. They got David Freese in the deal so it’s not as if it didn’t work out for the Cardinals, but that has nothing to do with how Edmonds was treated on his way out. Sure, the Cardinals can say they were honoring the player’s wishes by giving him a chance to play every day closer to home, but one can just as credibly point out that the Cardinals shouldn’t have signed Edmonds into his final seasons if they weren’t willing to use him.

Rolen? The Cardinals decided they didn’t want a Hall of Fame caliber talent at the hot corner for years to come and shipped him to Toronto for Troy Glaus. Glaus was actually really good for one season before his body gave out on him, but again that has nothing to do with Rolen’s treatment. (I admit I’m doing some hand-waving here; Rolen had clashed with TLR dating back at least to the 2006 season and it’s entirely possible the club decided it couldn’t keep both personalities wholly independent of Rolen’s aging curve.)

Holliday? The Cardinals decided before 2016 was over that he wouldn’t be coming back and left their star outfielder dangling. Sure, it led to perhaps the most beautiful moment of the 2016 season, when a crippled Holliday somehow one-handed a ball over the right field fence and circled the bases with tears streaming down his cheeks, but it doesn’t change the fact that the Cardinals put an aging player out to pasture rather than letting him finish his career on his terms. Holliday deserved better treatment.

In all of these cases, one can credibly argue that the Cardinals made the right decision from a talent-on-the-field standpoint: the aging curve in MLB is brutal, and by the time a player hits free agency the first time they’re usually past their prime. By the time they hit it a second time they’re a shadow of their former selves.

But one can also credibly argue that from a basic decency standpoint, the Cardinals failed. These players committed to St. Louis, in many cases at below market value. That commitment should have been matched by an equal commitment by the Cardinals to respect the player.

It’s not just those three, though. Take a look at Mike Leake, the “We Tried” consolation prize in the David Price sweepstakes. Leake got a full no-trade clause and a 5-year deal. The Cardinals got rid of him a year and a half into the deal. Again, probably the “right” move for the Cardinals in that it saved them a few million over the next couple seasons, but one that seems kind of gross. After all, the Marlins are regularly shamed for handing out NTCs like candy after their new stadium got built, only to turn around and flip players who made a commitment to Miami.

And then there’s Dexter Fowler, last offseason’s big free agent acquisition. He also got a full NTC. He’s also allegedly unhappy in St. Louis (despite his insistence to the contrary). The Cardinals are also allegedly considering moving him. Moving two NTCs in two seasons, both less than halfway into their deals is an extremely bad look and would almost certainly throw up giant caution flags for subsequent free agents.

Let’s not forget Heyward, who when signing with Chicago said something to the effect of believing the Cubs had a brighter and more stable future than the Cardinals. Demonstrably, he was right, but one also wonders if he just wasn’t willing to settle long-term with a team that’ll look at a player’s final few years with derision and scorn, looking to extract any remaining value it can via a trade.

That same sentiment was echoed by Tommy Pham last season when the Cardinals released Jhonny Peralta: a player who clearly didn’t have it anymore, but also one whose work ethic and professionalism were respected in the clubhouse.

In fairness to the Cardinals, they aren’t alone in this practice. The Boston Red Sox are rather infamous for planting stories in the media to run vilify long-term contracts and run players out of town. Anybody remember the fried chicken and beer “scandal” that dumped Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford? Or the more recent job done on Pablo Sandoval? Or the ongoing efforts to vilify David Price?

But that’s sort of the point: the Cardinals can’t compete with the Red Sox or the Yankees when it comes to media markets—they’re always going to be a lesser light. And even if they can compete in dollars thanks to their new cable contract (and as negative as I generally am about the Cardinals, it’s reassuring that ownership wasn’t going to let money become a stumbling block when it came to Stanton), that’s demonstrably not enough or we’d be celebrating Stanton’s arrival to St. Louis rather than thinking “well I guess maybe Christian Yelich would be pretty good if we look at the WAR vs. salary surplus tables.”

The Cardinals need leadership that’s willing to commit to players over the long term—even as that long-term means absorbing some bad years. Players looking to sign long-term deals presumably factor the organization’s loyalty into their calculus. And for the last ten years the Cardinals largely haven’t demonstrated that loyalty—they’ll cut bait the minute it looks like there’s better value elsewhere.

That’s not something that’s on Mike Matheny, who for all his disqualifying traits is at least loyal to his veterans: see Adam Wainwright’s 2017 season most recently. It’s a problem with the whole organization—an obsession with extracting all possible value from a player before prematurely tossing their used-up husk on the scrap pile.

It’s a practice that’s worked pretty well from a wins and losses standpoint over the last decade, and one that might be the direction MLB is heading thanks to a greater understanding of SABR-driven actuarial tables. Regardless, if that’s the case, the Cardinals are in a ton of trouble in the long term. And we should get used to players being as mercenary as possible and turning their backs on the Gateway City in the process.

Stanton wasn’t the first. He won’t be the last, either.

[euro3plast-fr]

How to sketch a campaign map that boosts marketing cohesion

Cohesive customer journeys rely on brand and growth marketers working together

Many modern-day marketing departments are now split into two distinct groups: brand marketers who are tasked with building consumer awareness and growth or channel marketers who are tasked with transforming that awareness into action. Although both parties play for the same team, they often possess different internal priorities. It is easy for silos to emerge that make collaboration an uphill battle.

There is overlap between what brand marketers and growth marketers provide. They each play pivotal roles in fueling department-wide success — but only if they work in tandem to create cohesive customer journeys.

Download FREE Resource – Understanding different types of marketing plan

When, why and how to use different types of marketing plans. It will also be useful for any manager involved in setting future marketing direction for their business or their clients

Access the Understanding different types of Marketing Plan

Cohesion matters

It is incredibly important for brand and growth marketers to be in sync and aligned with a core KPI. Otherwise, it is nearly impossible to create a consistent experience that guides consumers from awareness to conversion to life-long advocacy.

Modern-day consumers will no longer tolerate irrelevant, inconsistent marketing campaigns — and if Marketing Week's 2017 study is any indication, brands are struggling to keep up with the times.

So what does an inconsistent customer experience look like, and why does this happen so often? Here's just one example:

Brand teams rarely own the homepage, but this is where they often aim to drive consumers. Through strategic design and offers, their TV commercials and paid social ads could pique a certain demographic's interest, but when these potential consumers visit the brand's website to learn more, they'll enter a completely different environment that does not match what they previously saw. Everything looks and feels different, and the offer they were interested in is nowhere to be found. They feel frustrated, and they navigate elsewhere.

Some customers are unnecessarily lost due to a disconnected customer experience.

At the end of the day, brand marketers and growth marketers need to ensure every touchpoint along a customer's journey projects consistent messaging, benefits, offers, copy, and colors. Otherwise, the audience will quickly lose interest and seek an alternative option.

To continue the previous example, many marketers who can't change the homepage create landing pages — one for every target audience, campaign, or promotion. Oftentimes, there isn't enough traffic to gain statistically significant insights on a single landing page, and there isn't a strategy to consistently design and develop pages to capture insights across multiple pages because of team structure.

There are several ways to boost collaboration and cohesion across these two groups, but in my experience, building a campaign map can prove to be the most helpful.

Mapping your customer journey

Campaign mapping is just as it sounds: You create a visual representation of the entire campaign and map out every possible customer experience. The goal is to connect the dots across all touchpoints, show all parties how their efforts feed into the big picture, and ultimately drive customer actions to a single business goal.

A great campaign map will feature a high-level view of everything going on in a campaign. It should include every acquisition channel that is in play: TV and radio spots, paid display, paid social, and any other piece of content. Most importantly, it should also show where each channel intends to drive the customer.

If, for example, your creative team sits down to design and develop an asset, the campaign map should show where the customer is coming from and where he or she will go next. It should provide much-needed context and increase the likelihood that this asset will fit perfectly with all other assets along the buyer’s journey.

So how exactly do you go about creating a campaign map? The following four steps will point you in the right direction:

1. Identify your entry points

Think through the customer’s journey, and pinpoint where each marketing initiative drives him or her.For example, does your TV spot lead consumers to type your URL into the search bar, or will they feel compelled to Google your brand? If they Google you, which landing page will pop up first? Do the same exact exercise with your paid social placements, acquisition emails, and any other outreach you conduct. This is a key first step to crafting a great campaign map.

Be wary of which campaigns drive traffic to your homepage, as this isn't always an ideal destination for consumers. For example, people coming from a podcast will likely have already received a sales pitch from a trustworthy source (the host). They will have a strong understanding of your product and have higher intent to sign up or purchase right away. The main website needs a clear and easy path for someone who is ready to purchase to take the next step.

Someone coming from a banner ad, on the other hand, probably knows very little about your brand and the benefits you provide. But as a marketer, you know a little bit about them (demographics, for example). You also know what information they already saw in the banner ad. A landing page that continues the story would be a solid entry point for these individuals, as it allows them to gain a deeper understanding of who you are and how your product or service works.

2. Forge a path to lifetime value

Most campaign maps end after step one, but they need to go further. It is crucial to keep thinking through the rest of the flow. Ask yourself, “What are the core actions I want consumers to take after they find my brand?" and "Where do I want them to go from the landing page or homepage?"Some common options include downloading your app, signing up for a free trial, or subscribing to your newsletter. In the case of music streaming services, for example, the ideal next steps would be for someone to sign up, launch the platform, and begin listening.

It's easy to go a bit overboard during this step, but your end goal is to capture the remaining steps consumers need to take toward first-time use.

3. Identify where customers might drop off (and how to bring them back)

In a perfect marketing world, teams would be tracking engagement from each individual entry point all the way through to the point of initial product usage — or even further, if possible. But customer journeys aren't linear. Most people drop out of a cart experience. So how do you bring them back?The first place we start is with barriers. What are all the reasons why someone could have dropped off that we can address? Are people worried about the price? Or are they concerned about compatibility? Quality? Can we retarget drop-offs with content or banner ads? Can we use customer or industry testimonials to bring them back? Start with the content that might bring a potential customer back. Then, consider what information you have to target someone? Retargeted paid social display content, email, and even direct mail can be used to test what drives someone back to convert.

4. Incorporate key benchmarks and metrics

Using your map as a single place where all key benchmarks and metrics live will turn it into an essential tool for your entire marketing department. As each party pursues its priorities, it can have the other one's goals in mind.But this isn’t just about establishing benchmarks; it is also about optimizing future efforts toward what's already working. When a marketing team has limited dollars to make a certain impact, it can double down on the channels that work.

For example, if the marketing team sees that one target audience is performing better than others and needs to hit its end-of-year sales goals, it can create a campaign that is especially targeted for that segment or channel. If one particular email in a win-back series performed the highest, what was the message, content, or offer that could be applied to acquisition.

Everyone in your marketing department should be focused on the same goals: gaining new customers and growing the business. It only makes sense to create a map — a campaign map, at that — that keeps everyone connected and moving in the same direction.

Thanks to Danielle Narveson for sharing their advice and opinion in this post. Danielle is Director of Strategy at LIFT Agency, a marketing technologist who helps brands build stronger connections with their customers. Danielle has 10 years of experience as a digital and mobile strategist in five countries, working with companies such as Starbucks, NIVEA, Disney, and more. You can follow her on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn.

from Blog – Smart Insights https://www.smartinsights.com/traffic-building-strategy/campaign-planning/sketch-campaign-map-books-marketing-cohesion/

[gamebridges]

Are Games Good for Business?

By Jake Inlove

I’ve been reading Helen Routledge’s book Why Games are Good for Business the last couple of days. I really enjoyed the book, which I consider a good opening to the field of serious games. 

What Helen accomplishes well is capture the many aspects there is to using and developing serious games. Personally, probably because I study education science, my favorite part of her book was the section on how learning theories can explain why games are relevant as learning tools—which is why I will dwell on that section below.

Control as the Driver for Learning

Helen points out that what separates games from lectures, videos, and books is choice. These mediums do not put the learners in control, rather they ask the learner to follow along. 

Oppositely, what games do is put the learner in control—they generate some kind of scenario and asks the learner “So, what do you think we should do?” 

In this way, games instantly make learner active participants. This means that learners are forced to exert effort to play, which you can avoid when you hear a lecture, or watch a video, or read a book—here, no one asks you to do some thinking or acting on your own. 

However, in games, learners do not mind exerting themselves because it’s usually very motivating. Being in control and having a choice in how things proceeds are incredibly motivating in learning.

Furthermore, Sitzmann (2011) found that choice has a direct impact on learner wellbeing. This has something to do with the fact that choice creates personalized learning experiences because the learning content takes shape after us, instead of the other way around.

With choice, learners can choose to engage in the content that seems most relevant and useful to them at the moment, which also relieves some of the usual transfer problems associated with learning. 

Often step-by-step learning programs that follow a strict curriculum misses the mark when it comes to being applicable to the learners’ current situation—there’s simply too much distance between the content and when the learners are going to use it. This distance raises the possibility of the learning content never being transferred into the learners' actual practice.

Oppositely, in games learners can choose to engage in the learning content that applies to their current situation—which raises the likelihood that they’ll actually use the learning content they have learned.

In this way, control in learning can be a very fruitful thing to pursue. And so far, games have proved to be a good way to do it.     

Feedback as the Activator of Learning  

Feedback is central to how humans learn, as Helen specifies, and it’s the information we use to develop ourselves.  

“Feedback is information with which a learner can confirm, add to, overwrite, tune, restructure information in memory, whether that information is domain knowledge, meta-cognitive knowledge, beliefs about self and tasks, or cognitive tactics and strategies.” (Winne and Butler 1994)

There is feedback everywhere when we interact with the world—we do something and the world responds in some way. When we learn to walk, we get feedback from our body, the surface below us, and the physical world in general. When we learn how to talk we get feedback from our family who patiently tries to understand our unclear sentences and tell us the correct pronunciations. The feedback in these learning circumstances are immediate, concrete, and we can use it right away to improve our next try.

However, when it comes to most education, feedback is rare, far in between, and when it comes; it’s too late, unclear, and not something you can use right away next time. 

Take grades, for example:

They are usually provided long after you’re finished with the task.  

They rarely come with concrete adjustments, strategies, or clear directions to what should be done differently next time. 

It’s not process-feedback that you can use to improve your writing right away—it’s rather a final stamp that indicates your skill, with little connection to the potential growing you could do. 

This is a considerable weakness in the current approaches to education that games and simulations in high degrees make up for. Games are good at immediately giving you concrete feedback that you can use right away. 

In games, we usually always know when things are going well or not. 

However, that is rarely the case in our real lives. Think about it. When handing in papers in school, you might feel that it was good or not, but you don’t quite know—and more importantly, you don’t quite know WHY? We’re in the same situation in our business life, our business can thrive or barely survive and we can have an idea of what is going on, but it can be difficult to determine why? What’s even worse is that feedback can be experienced delayed, so even though you might be doing the right thing with your business now, you might receive feedback from what you were doing a while back. 

What games does well is illustrate these feedback loops in actable ways so you can adjust your actions immediately. This can help you develop the inner sense of good and bad that can help you give yourself feedback. 

I’ve been drawing for many years and do it professionally now. I’m self-taught. What I’ve relied on was my inner feedback mechanism telling me what looks good and bad. I can see it right away when something doesn’t look right in my drawings (and others’ drawings for that sake). How did I develop this inner feedback mechanism? Like everyone else—by comparing my efforts to what it should be; what the pros were doing. Learning to play the guitar is constantly comparing your efforts to what it should sound like. Learning to write well is constantly comparing your efforts to how it should read. It’s a matter of getting to the point where you can ‘feel’ if you’re getting it right.

Here games can help because they give you many palpable indicators that you can use until your inner feedback sense is properly developed.

What feedback does is help us understand the consequences of our choices and actions. Feedback helps us see the nuances between handling a situation this or that way. Feedback shows us the benefits and drawbacks of different approaches. 

Without feedback, it feels like we’re walking blind. Blindness is nothing but the lack of visual feedback. We need our vision to steer our bodies safely through the world. If we can’t receive visual feedback, like visually impaired people, then we strongly rely on other forms of feedback, audio feedback, for example—but feedback is still essential for our very existence. 

Helen suggests, with inspiration from Hattie and Timplerley (2007), that learners need to know three things: 

Where am I going?

How am I doing?

Where do I go next?

The first point is concerned with the goal of the (learning) activity. The second point is concerned with the process, it’s the ‘how am I doing’ minute-to-minute updates. The third point is concerned with the advancement to bigger challenges. 

Games can break down activities according to this little feedback model. The first point is often a quest, a concrete task the game asks you to do. The second is the ‘stamina’ and other indicators or ‘success-bars’ that show you how well you're currently doing. And the third is the achievements and prizes that you receive, but also the new harder quests unlocked.  

This little feedback model could look something like this in my drawing scenario:

1) The goal is to draw a good picture of a person riding a horse. 

2) Does it look like a person? Does the horse look like a horse? Is the perspective used appropriately? That and that needs to be redrawn. How would the shadows fall in the positions they are in?  

3) Are you better prepared to draw an entire polo match now?

Here, a goal is determined, criteria for success is established and the learner can constantly see how well it is going. Furthermore, the learner has a greater challenge in mind that makes use of what has just been learned. 

Pacing and Practice as the Mobilizer of Memory

Helen dwells quite a bit on the subject of memory, which is very enlightening. Her concept of pacing means spreading information out within an activity. 

Since we can only hold so much information in our memory and we can only ship ‘chunks’ of 4-7 bits of information from our ‘working memory’ to our ‘long-term memory’, it only makes sense to present information in ways that fit our memory. 

Helen argues that “Information needs to be bite-sized, meaningful, emotive and complex enough to be challenging and interesting.”Or else we risk that our educational content is forgotten. 

Data dump, as Helen calls it, is when:

 Educational content is presented without being meaningful and relevant to the learner.

The learner is offered no level of choice in the activity. 

There’s no reinforcement or repetition.

When data dump occurs, the educational content is quickly forgotten due to cognitive overload—it’s simply when educational content doesn’t provide a meaningful or lasting learning experience. 

A way to avoid data dump is to build games around the educational content because games can create a meaningful and relevant (albeit often virtual and simulated) context for learning, they can follow the learners' choices, and create meaningful reinforcement and repetition.

Furthermore, since good pacing means that we slow down, focus on a few things at a time, and repeat things, it often allows learners to practice. 

I think most people engaged with learning theories, education science, or just learning or education in general, know about the importance of practice. 

I personally, consider practicing the ‘Holy Grail of learning’ and have written a few rants about it (here and here). You get good at things by practicing, by doing the same things repeatedly. If you’re interested in the science of practice, you could check you Anders Ericsson’s book Peak, which is about deliberate practice. I just bought it myself a couple of weeks ago.

Practice connects to memory in a very simple way. By repeating the same activity, you repeat the same trail in the brain and thus the trail grows stronger. 

You can view it as a river in nature, where the more water runs through it, the more it is carved into the ground and the more permanent it becomes. The flood might just have started as rainwater running down the mountain, but as it happened repeatedly, the water began to carve tracks into the ground, until the tracks became pretty much permanent. 

So how do we get people to practice? 

Practicing can be achieved in games by presenting players with paced goals and repetitive, yet meaningful challenges. 

Rarely do we get people to practice something by giving them a lecture. 

Practice is often closely connected with enjoyment and flow, which I expand on below. 

Enjoyment and Flow as the Motivator for Practice 

To learn something, you need to give it attention, to focus on it for a while. This means you engage with it, experiment and try out different things, get feedback from it, and practice it. But how do we get people to do that? 

This is a question of motivation. This is why enjoyment and flow are very central to learning. People need a motivation to learn.

In Danish, we have a saying that goes something like this: “A naked woman will learn to spin... out of the need to.” While this might sound odd in English, the point is still valid. People will learn things that they need to learn. 

Many things we learn, we learn because we need to. Language, appropriate social behavior, and self-control are some examples of things we learn out of pure need. While we might enjoy speaking, acting appropriately, and being able to control ourselves, we learn these things because they are essential for us to be able to function. 

Learning to type on a keyboard is not something you learn because you enjoy typing, but rather something you learn out of the need to be able to communicate effectively with others in our modern world. 

Various things in running a business you learn not because you enjoy it, but because you need to learn it to make the business successful. 

So many things we learn because we need to. 

Unfortunately, many of the things we could benefit from learning, we don’t feel an urgent need to learn. Learning to understand the future economy doesn’t feel like an urgent need for many, but still, they would benefit from it. 

This is the case for much education content—it would benefit us, but we don’t feel a need. 

This is where enjoyment and flow fit into the equation. Whilst need is the motivation behind much learning, another motivator can be enjoyment and flow. 

Playing Pacman well isn’t an urgent need for anyone, but still many have learned how to do it. They learned from hours of practice because of the enjoyment and flow they derived from the activity. This is the case for soo many things. 

I’m pretty good at playing pool. I’ve learned various irrelevant and unuseful skills just to become better at that game. I’ve practiced for hours in bars with my pals. WHY? What was the motivation for it? 

Enjoyment and flow.  

Now, imagine this: instead of spending those hours practicing a game that has no use for me in the real world, what if I had practiced something that had actually helped me? My communication skills, for example, or my research skills, or my ability to build a successful business. What if I had practiced those things? 

Well, this is what we can do with games. We can create affective experiences around our education content, so the activity is actually enjoyable and is likely to bring you in flow. 

Think of most education, which is based on presentations and lectures, maybe even some discussion sessions. These things have very low emotional arousal and meaning for the individuals who are supposed to learn. They are not on an epic journey with personal goals at stake, but they could be—in a game.

I think one of the main reasons I’m good at drawing is because I find flow and enjoyment in the activity. I could have been good at building engines, but I haven’t practiced that because I can’t find any enjoyment in it. But if someone had made it emotionally arousing and meaningful to me, I’m sure I could begin to practice the necessary skills, remember relevant information and so on. 

This is what games can offer. 

They can help make education content capture your attention, emotionally arousing, and personally meaningful, so you’ll get in flow and practice relevant skills. They do this by putting you in control and providing quick feedback to your actions that tell you where you’re going, how you’re doing and what you should do next.  

That is the power of games when it comes to learning. 

Endnote

I enjoyed Helen Routledge’s book a great deal and thought her thought stream on learning theories invigorating—which might be apparent in the above. 

I think it’s important that we challenge the ruling systems of education and show how alternatives can provide better solutions in many cases. 

Helen convincingly argues that games have something to offer because of the abovementioned benefits and, all in all, her book provided me a good reading experience. I think the book is recommendable and I will mention it to people interested in games for organizations and games for education.  

That was my little review of Why Games are Good for Business. You are always welcome to email me if you have questions, objections, or just want to discuss games for organizations.

Just email me on info@gamebridges.com.