#volume 2 is officially out of stock in the online store too so like. i think this is the only way to purchase one rn lakjsdf

[shinesurge]

OH hey denver folks: Mutiny is officially the second comic shop on the planet to carry Kidd Commander books (next to Danny the Comic Shop), I met Jim and The Professor at the show this weekend and they were really into the comic! If you're in the area and want to help support me and a local shop (and also help make me look like a good investment lmaooo) maybe stop in and grab a book! I already got paid for these so don't feel bad about not going through my shop, this would save you shipping costs AND make me look like a good investment to the store. I didn't have a lot of stock so there aren't very many, I think they have volumes 1 and 2 and three copies each of the specials, so if they run out somehow or just haven't put them out yet or something going to the counter and asking about them would probably also help my reputation a little bit hehe

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, late June - early July 2019

Welcome to my latest summary of recent news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & ecommerce! This covers articles I came across from June 21 to July 13, although some may be older than that.

I may not be able to do the next update until early August, given the upcoming Etsy search changes and my schedule, but I will continue to tweet big news, & may do a short post or two here. 

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES

On July 9, Etsy announced it would be giving “priority placement” in US searches to items that have no additional shipping cost starting July 30th. Obviously we don’t know how this will really work until we see it in action, but the outcry has been predictable. I summarize the facts in my blog post here. There is also an admin Q&A thread, a survey, and plenty of news coverage:

Etsy's Free Shipping Push Sounds Like a Marketing Gimmick (Motley Fool, through Yahoo)

Etsy faces backlash over attempt to push free shipping (Engadget) “And while a large business can take advantage of economies of scale to lower the shipping cost, that's not usually true for an individual crafter who may only sell a modest number of items.”

Etsy sellers aren’t happy with the platform pushing them to offer free shipping (The Verge) “Implementing flat shipping fees in prices can pose a challenge to international sellers who ship worldwide. Cambridge-based artist Katie Fuller, whose run her Etsy shop since 2015, says including the cost of shipping in her products would put her at a disadvantage. “If I [raise my prices], then I’ll be making my prices uncompetitive for customers elsewhere. Most of my customers are in the UK; it wouldn’t make sense for me to do it so it sounds like I can wave goodbye to my American sales.” 

Etsy Will Start Pushing Sellers To Include Free Shipping (Fortune)

Why Is Free Shipping So Important to Etsy? (Inc.) “... 75 percent of consumers today now expect their delivery to be free even when orders are less than $50 according to a survey published by the National Retail Federation earlier this year. That number has increased from 68 percent last year.”  

As marketplaces compete with Amazon on shipping, sellers are shouldering the burden (Digiday UK) “Like Etsy will soon do, eBay said it does prioritize items that ship for free in its search results and offers sellers pricing tools to help them better figure out how to factor in shipping costs.”

Etsy Stock Is Getting a Lift as It Jumps on the Free-Shipping Bandwagon (Barron’s) “Etsy stock rose 4.3% to $66.78 Tuesday afternoon as the S&P 500 was about flat. ... Roughly 70% of items sold on Etsy in the U.S. weren’t available for free domestic shipping in the first quarter, according to Etsy; it wants that number closer to zero.”

Remember, Etsy started boosting items that ship free to Canada in Canadian searches in January, but they never announced it, or gave us tips, or tools, etc.  We won’t know if the US version will work exactly the same way as the Canadian until the former is released; a short test in the US in late May-early June generally took the first three rows of search for free shipping items, even if they weren’t all that relevant. 

ETSY NEWS

Just in case you didn’t receive an email, Etsy is making changes to their policies. They include the fact that all new listings will be set to auto renew as of July 25 (but you can change them to manual), and info about their advertising tools. Keep an eye on the latter - I think they might be releasing something new soon.

Etsy will be releasing upgrades to the sales tool in August, including the ability to offer sales in specific countries only. Hidden in that post is also a promise to increase international advertising & promotion: “We’ll also continue to invest in the success of our international markets. In the coming months, you’ll see increased marketing efforts across many channels, all aimed at bringing more buyers from your country to Etsy.” (I suspect this is related to the free shipping announcement which came a few days later; they want to reassure non-US sellers that they won’t lose too many sales.)

Etsy released new attributes and sub-categories again, including in Accessories, and Bags & Purses. 

Shops in vacation mode are now showing up in search, as of July 10. The number of shops found in a shop search nearly doubled, to over 2.8 million, but only about half of them have active listings. No word on whether or not this is a permanent change; for many years, shops with no active listings have not been searchable on Etsy. 

Etsy is working on personalizing search by using image recognition identifying 42 different styles, and the engineers involved are presenting a paper [pdf] on this topic at a technical conference. They are about to start testing this, so expect to see more personalized results soon. I need to do a short post on this topic alone, but right now I need do some more research before that will be possible. I found this interesting, though: “Since sellers don’t reliably convey a product’s style in their descriptions, scanning text alone produced results that were “okay but not great,” says Fisher.” Quit being unreliable describers, folks! 😁

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES

A common question: how long does it take to get to page 1 of Google search? Answer: it depends, plus it might not even be worthwhile if the search doesn’t convert. The article explains why. 

How to fix the 5 biggest SEO mistakes website owners make.

Writing a title for Google search is very important, and many people do it wrong. Here’s how to do it correctly. 

Long-tail keywords: definition, why & how. And even more on why you definitely should aim for very low-volume keywords. (I do a lot of this.)

Somewhat advanced content: how Google's neural matching works, and how to optimize for it. “Based on the information Google has given us about neural matching over the past nine months, it appears to be most active when users have a problem they don’t know how to describe... To capture these opportunities, you need to know what problems your target audiences are facing. You also need to pinpoint what information is going to solve their problem, help them accomplish tasks and make decisions.”

Link building doesn’t require a lot of technical skill, but it does involve marketing skill. Or some public relations (PR) skill. [video & transcript] Remember, some types of links are definitely better than others. (If you don’t know what link building is, read this.)

Advanced content for people who code their own sites: Google says you won’t be able to use “noindex” in robots.txt as of September. (Bing never recognized it.)

How to game Google to make negative results disappear. I don’t expect anyone here will be paying for these services, but it is useful to see what you are up against when you are trying to get your own website to rank. More of us may also be up against AI-generated spam in Google rankings sooner rather than later. Someone is always trying to game Google. 

Was there a Google algorithm update around June 19th? Maybe. The big update at the beginning of June hit the Daily Mail hard, and the so-called “diversity update” apparently didn’t change much.

CONTENT MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails)

The best time to post on social media depends on the platform, your target market, and what you are posting.

Sell health products? Beware of the changes to Facebook’s algorithm, which are designed to limit views on fake health claims. 

Facebook outage gave insight into how their machine learning process describes your photos. “... a lot of internet users don’t realize the amount of information that is now routinely extracted from photographs”. 

Facebook will be reformatting their Business Page layout, & removing some sections, so make sure you check this out & move any content you want to keep by August 1. 

What works best on Instagram has been changing; here’s what you need to keep up with. Brand engagement rates on the platform have been dropping this year, likely due to the increased competition. Get some of that traffic back with 8 SEO tips for Instagram. 

Want people to watch more of your YouTube videos? (Pro tip - that’s part of the search algorithm, so you should.) Here’s 3 things you can do to get people to stick around longer. 

LinkedIn has some good marketing tools, including ad tools & analytics. They’ve also recently changed their algorithm to show you more things you might be interested in, as opposed to just the things that go viral site-wide, among other changes. 

Twitter ends tweet geotagging, supposedly due to low use. 

A judge in Hawaii ruled that repinning a photo on Pinterest can infringe copyright. 

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

Retailers are spending less on YouTube ads overall, possibly due to the US struggles for brick & mortar stores, as other sectors are actually spending a bit more than the previous year.

Amazon’s share of the online ad market is expected to increase to 8% by 2023, compared to 3% now.

STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING

For tracking activity on your Facebook page, set up Facebook Analytics & Facebook Attribution.

Advanced content: new coding tools in the Google Search Console. 

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS

Amazon’s Prime Day is actually 2 days this year - July 15 & 16. Apparently it is now the official start of back to school shopping for many people.

Beware of Alexa if you care about privacy & data retention: Amazon admits that Alexa data is kept “indefinitely”. “...for Alexa requests that involve a transaction, like ordering a pizza or hailing a rideshare, Amazon and the skill's developers can keep a record of that transaction. That means that there's a record of nearly every purchase you make on Amazon's Alexa, which can be considered personal information.” (Google Home is not necessarily better - they are letting subcontractors listen to your random conversations, not just your instructions to the device. “According to the whistleblower, the recordings presented to them are meant to be carefully annotated, with notes included about the speakers presumed identity and age.”)

Walmart’s ecommerce division may lose as much as $1 billion this year. Their brick & mortar business is still doing fine, however. 

You can now “try on” Gucci sneakers through its app. Expect to see more of this happening fairly quickly, which is something that people who sell clothing, accessories & jewellery should be watching closely. 

A. C. Moore is launching a new handmade marketplace, which you can sync to your Etsy & Zibbet listings. So it looks like that was their reason for investing in Zibbet a few years back. It’s not yet clear that they’ve put the work in to make this successful, but we’ll have to wait to see how it looks once it is launched, and how much they advertise it. 

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

Dark patterns: how websites manipulate people into buying things they weren’t shopping for. [NY Times article - paywall after your limit of free monthly articles.] “... researchers developed software that automatically scanned more than 10,000 sites and found that more than 1,200 of them used techniques that the authors identified as dark patterns” including outright lies. 

Call-to-action phrases [infographic] that can help your pages convert. These work on web pages, emails, social media etc. My favourites are in the “lower-risk” section; I don’t think enough articles focus on this aspect of conversions. 

Wedding gift buying may be changing as traditional wedding registries drop in popularity. Apparently lots of people want cash to pay for their own expenses & trips now. 

MISCELLANEOUS (including humour)

Great list of marketing definitions you will find helpful if you do much industry reading & research. (Pretty sure I posted this before, but it has been updated.)

Chrome is becoming more & more like spyware; the author suggests using other browsers. 

The Wayback Machine now compares current web pages to their previous versions. “One of the best uses of this feature I can think of is to track changes in privacy policies.”

How not to design a payment app: make it easy for anyone to change the password. 

[tumblunni]

Hhhh bunni legs pain accomplishment day

I HAVE FINISHED THE SHOPPING OF HELL

Tfw u only get paid 4 days before christmas and have to rush everything aaaa

It was bad enough today so i'm so glad i got it done before it got even more busy!

Misc boring essentials i bought for myself: new phone charger cos broken, new trousers cos i spilt hair bleach on my only two pairs, new shoes cos my left shoe literally snapped in half down the middle like wtf even happened there, cheap pink hair dye from a discount store cos i wanna try different colours but in a thrifty way

Now for EXCITING CHRISTMAS PRESENT TIME!!!!

First off SO MANY pc and xbox 360 games from Every Charity Shop In Cardiff, St Mellons, Rumney and Llanrumney. My sis has been trying to find some games to play but was like 'dont worry about it i can just wait til the charity shop gets something good'. So i thought i'd get some stocking stuffers via all the charity shops on my side of town. By our powers combined we will blitz the entire vale of glamorgan's discount gaming scene!!! I found SO MANY good stuff for £1/£2/£3 like holy shit i love when charity shops dont know the proper price for shit XD

speaking of which i also found a WEBCAM for £2! If its that cheap it probanly isnt great but itd still be fun to play around with! :D and the same store also had an old vintage G1 My Little Pony coffee mug in excellent condition. Oh god the nostalgia! My support worker gave me a lift to llanrumney so i had to awkwardly explain why i had an armful of weird 80s mugs and big teary eyes!

Speaking of vintage, i found this new vintage toys and games shop in cardiff called Galactic Attic! The name hooked me in and then they actually DID have pokemon inside! As well as all sorts of stuff ranging from 40s to 90s, wow! There was even a lil pile of old 90s gaming magazines in the corner, covered up by a bunch of boxes. I'm glad i noticed them! I got the announcemt issues for pokemon diamond pearl and platinum in a weird old pokemon fan magazine that i loved as a kid. Im kinda sad that nowadays we just have one official magazine fpr each console and not the wild madness of amateaur journalists failing horribly to get news from japan. Shame they didnt have Beckett Pokemon cos that one was infamous fot drawing its own terrible interpretations of pokemon sprites to avoid copyright. And speaking of terrible, they even had bootleg pokemon!! I talked to the cashier and he was like "you know those are fake right" and i was like "yeah its so nostalgic thats why i want em" and he was like "lol yeah they actually sell pretty well so i'm not mad my supplier ripped me off". It was a pretty good and awesomely terrible fake at the same time? There was this exact replica of some japanese display stand for the product and then the actual pokeball toys looked perfect BUT the mini pokemon inside were.. Really not. I am so damn happy with the surprise inside my one, surprise inside has never been more accurate! I can't take a picture now cos my phone is charging but REGICHEETO. Just..just imagine that, and whatever you're imagining it is probably worse. I love it so fuckin much. Also less hilariously there were some bootleg mini pika plushies with actually (as far as i can tell) their own unique design? They have cute lil winter scarves and an art style that reminds me of the Magical Pokemon Adventure manga. A really cute and good bootleg that i would have loved to see as a real product! The only way you can even tell its a bootleg is because there's no marking on the tail. I dunno, maybe if i still have some brown fabric in the cupboard i could fix it? Or maybe its unique tail makes it even more special! I mean there's Cosplay Pikachu with its double tail marking so maybe this is her cousin Accessory Pikachu with no markings? He just likes wearing scarfs and hats and stuff. OMG HE'S THE POKEMON GO EVENT PIKACHU!!!!!!

Along the miscness of finding a few things for myself, i also found: cute lil pokemon pencilcase, kingdom hearts blind bag, cheap copy of Fruits Basket volume 1 cos the new remake is coming out soon and i wanna Get Hype! The KH blind bag was really weird cos i didnt know they now have an entirely different set as well as the keychains i bought before. Its kind of a shame the art style doesnt match cos vexen is only in the keychains, alas! But i do really love these ones! Theyre apparantly made by funko pop but dont have the art style AT ALL, they just look like really accurate versions of the characters in mini form. Its kinda like the 'distance animation' style in steven universe? (Incidentally they also do SU ones but they missed the opportunitu to actually use the distance style, lol) I got a Sora in his kh2 outfit and i'm decently happy with that, its not one i really wanted but its not a bad one either. But i think now i've tried the fun of surprise once i'll just buy the actual ones i want off ebay later. They have roxas in his organization outfit! With a happy smile!!!

Oh oh and then EVEN MORE XBOX GAMES OF THE WILD THRIFT STORE VOID! i managed to find the whole fable series, two assassins creeds, saints row, gta, some misc shooter games and racers that she wanted but i dont know much about, mass effect 2 and ff13. I think maybe one or two others cos i cant fully remember right now. Theyre all in separate bags strewn across the room and my shoulders feel like death so i'll sort through them later.

Aaaand i wrote up like 14 paragraphs more but tumblr didnt save my draft fpr some fuckin reason and now im way too tired to do it again

Briefer summary:

* had a huge horrible panic attack getting stuck in a skyscraper shopping centre clothes place full of screaming and every perfume smell and WHY DO I HAVE TO NAVIGATE THIS HELL MAZE TO FIND THE ESCALATOR and seriously i was my most primal animalistic self and i went full fight or flight on this bitch

* had a lovely time visiting Cool Shop Grandma and rambled the story of how i met her and how we became friends but hhh too tired to rewrite. But anyway today i gave her a christmas pikachu plush as thanks for everything and cos her shop is moving on to its next location soon. She got really teary and gave me a big hug! She's gonna be at a comic con in march so i hope i'm able to go to that and see her again.

* went on a wild goose chase looking for harry potter merchandise and eventually found a gold plated replica of the movie prop version of the time turner and HELL YES my sis will love it!

* rambled about several market stalls that were cool but i can make a separate post about that in the morning when i find their contact details to advertise them

* got a plushie delibird and decided to take selfies with it everywhere to try and fight my social anxiety somehow. We went to a neat lil restaurant and had cheesy fries and a coke float!

* asked for a refund on an item for the first time ever and im proud of myself

* went off on a mystery bus trip to buy a preowned 3ds and pokemon games from a lady in an online preowned stuff facebook group and it didnt go horribly and i am glad! She was really nice and i witnessed A Good And Smart Parenting Moment and man it healed my heart and i wish i'd been raised that way. Again i'll probably ramble about the details later when im less tired, it really touched my heart seriously! And now i have MANY GIFTS FOR SIS!

* in total i was out present shopping from 9am to 8pm and i clicked my shoulder out of its socket for a split second from.all the heavy bags. Now im in a lot of aches and i need a sleeps

The End

[foxvilla320]

Best Macbook Model

Best Macbook Model Reddit

Best Macbook Air Model

Best Macbook Models

Best Macbook Model Reddit

In loving memory of the mid-2015 15-inch Retina Macbook Pro: 5/19/2015 - 7/12/2018

May 06, 2019. Jul 02, 2020.

Seedbox Pros:. You can then transfer the files to your computer via https.Seedboxes are paid services and quite expensive (typically 3-5x the cost of a VPN). Safest torrent. Seedbox: if price is no objectIf you are a high-volume torrenter and need to meet seeding quotas, you might consider a seedbox.Seedboxes are basically a torrent client installed on a remote VPS that runs 24/7. You control it from a web interface and it downloads/seeds your files from the server.

Today, Apple announced a big update to its Macbook Pro line of computers. The company really souped-up the specs of the latest Macbook Pro model, the one that debuted in 2016 with the controversial butterfly keyboard, 4 sole USB-C ports, and Touch Bar in place of the function keys.

Best Macbook Air Model

As Apple updated its website with the newest additions to the Macbook Pro family, something just as noteworthy came to light. Apple removed the mid-2015 15-inch Retina Macbook Pro model from its online store, officially killing off what some consider to be the best laptop ever made.

Wait.. Did Apple just announce they discontinued the 2015 15' MacBook? It's the best version they've made. I would pay money to put 32 gigs of ram in it..

— Nemoy Rau (@NRaush) July 12, 2018

My 2015 baseline MacBook Pro has honestly been killing it, definitely think the '15 models are the best on the market right now (I wouldn't work with the 16-17 dongle models..) Exporting 1080p 60fps video, hours of photoshop maintaining 80% battery etc.

— Andrew Falchook (@falchook) November 26, 2017

ΜTorrent® (uTorrent) Web torrent client for Windows - uTorrent is a browser based torrent client. Torrex Lite - Torrent Downloader is a special app that allows users to download various types of torrents onto their laptop, PC, tablet or Smartphone. Users simply need to install the app and visit their favourite torrent website to receive the films, music, audio books and other types of content quickly and easily. Ttorrent lite download. The official µTorrent® (uTorrent) torrent client for Windows, Mac, Android and Linux- uTorrent is the #1 BitTorrent download client on desktops worldwide.

Best Macbook Models

On the wrong side of things, the 15’’ 2015 MacBook Pro ( @marcoarment ‘s favourite) isn’t available anymore.

— Alessandro (@alsoknownasale) July 12, 2018

In November of last year, Marco Arment, the co-founder of Tumblr and developer behind popular apps like Instapaper and Overcast, wrote a post that spread like wildfire, expressing how many Macbook Pro users felt when Apple announced the new Touch Bar model with its 2016 Macbook Pro refresh. Arment argued that the entire 2012-2015 Retina Macbook Pro model was the best laptop Apple ever created, with the mid-2015 one being its peak. The sentiments shared in his post about the 15-inch Retina Macbook Pro model – titled “The best laptop ever made” – were echoedacrossthe web.

Before Steve Jobs passed away in 2011, he was involved in the design of the Retina Macbook Pro line of Apple computers that came out 8 months later in June of 2012. This model was continuously updated and upgraded with the latest specs until May 2015 with the mid-2015 model. This Macbook Pro model was heralded for its sleek design, light weight, fast processing power, its array of ports ranging from HDMI to two Thunderbolt ports, and MagSafe power adapter among other things. Even what the Retina Macbook Pro was missing, an internal CD/DVD Superdrive for example, was a well-timed move in response to where the industry was in terms of the lifecycle of that specific technology.

Even with last year’s 2017 Touch Bar Macbook Pro roll out replacing the original 2016 Touch Bar model, Apple kept the mid-2015 15-inch Retina Macbook Pro in stock to satiate those who believed it to be the last great Macbook Pro model. Up until yesterday, you could purchase a brand new mid-2015 15-inch Macbook Pro, with fully maxed out specs (note that in the past year Apple removed the option to add a dedicated AMD Radeon R9 M370X GPU to the mid-2015 Macbook Pro), for just a little more than the low-end base model of the 2017 Touch Bars.

Unfortunately, with the launch of the 2018 Macbook pro model, you can no longer purchase a brand new 2015 15-inch Retina Macbook Pro from Apple. If you really want “the best laptop ever,” you’ll have to try your luck with used or refurbished models on eBay.

For those who hate the newest – and now only – Macbook Pro line, thanks to its lack of ports, annoying and flawed butterfly keyboard, and gimmicky Touch Bar; this discontinuation of the 2015 model is Apple’s way of saying too bad, this is just the way things are now.

UPDATE: July 12, 2018, 2:56 p.m. EDT: Apple appears to have moved the 2015 Macbook Pro to the Apple store clearance page. This may be your last chance to snag a brand new one, so get them while they last!

[soto-translates]

Zero-Sum Sept 2017 article: post anime info

I snagged the scans from @seiten-taisei, thank you! In lieu of a chapter, we got info about the Blu-ray and DVDs, comments from the cast, and news about more goods.

My translations are below the images, with my notes in [square brackets].  Anything in (parenthesis) or 【fancy brackets】is part of the text.

TV anime “Saiyuki Reload Blast” Blu-ray & DVD on sale in high demand!

Although the in-demand TV anime “Saiyuki Reload Blast” has ended, many developments await; including sale of the Blu-ray and goods, and the opening of events!  Check the official site for the latest information!!

Saiyuki Series 20 year anniversary Saiyuki Reload Blast

Volume 3 on sale 10/25 (Wed)!!

◆ DATA: Volume 3 Sale Date: 10/25/2017 (Wed) / Included Episodes: ep.7 - ep.9 / Price: Blu-ray ¥11,000+tax, DVD ¥10,000+tax Pre-order Extras: ① 2-sided sleeve illustration by Minekura Sensei　② Jacket with anime illustration　③ Acrylic key ring featuring illustration by Minekura Sensei　④ Set of 2 original can badges (with images from the sleeve case)　⑤ Drama CD　⑥ Priority application ticket for event (premier afternoon performance 2/4/2018 (Sun) ) Sales agency: Frontier Works corporation / Distributor: Kadokawa corporation

◎ Special acrylic key rings featuring illustration by Minekura Sensei!! ◎ Volume 3 comes with these!!

©Minekura Kazuya ・Ichijinsha / Saiyuki Reload Blast Project

◆ DATA: Regular Extras ① Special booklet (40p total)　② Original post card　③ Video extra (only vol.2 & vol.3) ※ Video extra contents: vol.2 = clean opening, vol.3 = clean ending

◆ DATA: Volume 1 Sale Date: Already on sale in high demand!! Included Episodes: ep.1 - ep.3 Price: Blu-ray ¥11,000+tax, DVD ¥10,000+tax Sales Agency: Frontier Works corporation Distributor: Kadokawa corporation

◆ DATA: Volume 2 Sale Date: Already on sale in high demand!! Included Episodes: ep.4 - ep.6 Price: Blu-ray ¥11,000+tax, DVD ¥10,000+tax Sales Agency: Frontier Works corporation Distributor: Kadokawa corporation

◆ DATA: Volume 4 Sale Date: 11/29/2017 (Wed) Included Episodes: ep.10 - ep.12 Price: Blu-ray ¥11,000+tax, DVD ¥10,000+tax Sales Agency: Frontier Works corporation Distributor: Kadokawa corporation

◇ Participating shops for extras ※ Please see official website for contents of extras 【MinekuraKazuya.net】【Animate】【Amazon.co.jp】【Bunkyoudou, Animega (※ excludes some shops)】【Tsutaya (online / Sumiya Fuji Chuuou / Sumiya Mishima / Sumiya Kannami / Umeda Douyama / Tsutaya Ebisubashi / Shibuya Tsutaya / Aeon Mall Hinode】【Neo・Wing】【Getchu.com (Getchu Shop)】【Seven Net Shopping】【Ami Ami】【Kyara-ani.com】【Ichijinsha Online Shop】

◇ Animate early reservation campaign Campaign Period: Vol.4 ... Open - 10/9 (begins Mon) Eligible Shops: All Animate stores (includes online shop) Reservation Extras: Reproduction image of pre-airing countdown by Minekura Kazuya Sensei     Vol.1 = Genjo Sanzo, vol.2 = Son Goku, vol.3 = Sha Gojyo, vol.4 = Cho Hakkai ※ During campaign period, customers who place reservations (totaling over ¥1,000) will receive a special receipt. ※ Campaigns for vol.1, vol.2, and vol.3 are closed. ※ Extras will be given at time of purchase. ※ Supplies are limited. ※ Please see participating shops for more details.

◆ Holding a TV anime “Saiyuki Reload Blast” special event!! ◆

◆ DATA: 【Shot 1】 Date: 12/17/2017 (Sun) Performance Times: Afternoon performance - doors open 1:45pm / performance begins 2:30pm     Night performance - doors open 5:45pm / performance begins 6:30pm Performers: Seki Toshihiko, Hoshi Souichirou, Hirata Hiroaki, Ishida Akira (planned) Place: Bellesalle Shinjuku Grand Ticket Price: ¥6,800 (includes tax) all seats reserved ◎ Blu-ray & DVD vol.1 comes with priority application ticket for “Afternoon Performance”, vol.2 for “Evening Performance”.

◆ DATA: 【Shot 2】 Date: 2/4/2018 (Sun) Performers: Seki Toshihiko, Hoshi Souichirou, Hirata Hiroaki, Ishida Akira, Katsuki Masako, Konishi Katsuyuki (planned) Place: Kantou Kinkou (planned) Ticket Price: ¥7,800 (includes tax) ◎ Blu-ray & DVD vol.3 comes with priority application ticket for “Afternoon Performance”, vol.4 for “Evening Performance”.

※ Details of the event will be posted at the official anime web site.　※ Performers may change without notice.

©Minekura Kazuya ・Ichijinsha / Saiyuki Reload Blast Project

Presenting screen caps from episodes 9 - 12!!

�� Cast Comment ◆

Now that the final episode has been recorded, we receive comments from Genjo Sanzo’s voice Seki Toshihiko-san, Son Goku’s voice Hoshi Souichirou-san, Sha Gojyo’s voice Hirata Hiroaki-san, and Cho Hakkai’s voice Ishida Akira-san.

< Questions > ① Please tell us your impressions having finished recording the final episode. ② Looking back through all the episodes, is there a scene or a line that made a lasting impression on you? ③ Please give us a highlight from the final episode, and leave a message for the fans who support the TV anime “Saiyuki Reload Blast”.

◎ Seki Toshihiko-san, voice of Genjo Sanzo ① They were in a big pinch heading into the final episode!  The Sanzo Ikkou never retreat, even face to face with Nataku’s overwhelming abilities.  As expected, I feel like everyone’s zeal for acting has gone up.  The final episode definitely has a unique feel to it. ② Episode 8 “Kekkai” [Barrier].  Sanzo and Kougaiji’s head-on confrontation.  It would be easy with all four of the Ikkou, but could Sanzo stop Kougaiji on his own!?  That was exciting.  The line that made a lasting impression on me was “You plan on killing me while Goku and the others aren’t here, and getting your hands on two scriptures.  It’s a huge chance to kill two birds with one stone.  You sure are lucky, aren’t you Prince.” ③ I think you’ll see some scenes in the second half that weren’t in the original manga, put there in order to give an end to the story for the TV anime.  And we’re the same as you!  We’re wondering about the remaining mysteries as well.  I really hope you’ll watch over their journey until the very end.  Please support them!

◎ Hoshi Souichirou-san, voice of Son Goku ① I was seriously like “It’s already over!?”  It was the first TV anime adaptation in a while, so it was super sad when it ended.  But it was a very fulfilling and satisfying recording session.  I look forward to the day we get to do the continuation of this. ② Saiyuki is definitely a treasure trove of famous scenes and lines.  There’s everything from casual lines to cool one-liners so I can’t choose, but, for example, Goku’s answer to Tenjin in episode 3... or the scene where Kanzeon Bosatsu scolds Goku at the end of the Gaiden arc...  There’s lots of parts I like. ③ What’s going to happen to the “Saiyuki” journey...?  What path will the Sanzo Ikkou choose...?  Please look forward to the last of this TV series.  And look out for Saiyuki from now on too!

◎ Hirata Hiroaki-san, voice of Sha Gojyo ① It was over in a flash.  Even though there were 12 episodes in all, it felt far shorter than that.  It felt like we ran through it in an instant, so I’d have liked to do more. ② Sharak Sanzo entered in the second half, so it was really heart-pounding and fun.  As expected, out of all the series, the story of the Gaiden arc left a huge impression. ③ As for a highlight, I’d like it if the people who watch could feel it for themselves.  Since the second half of recording coincided with the start of the TV anime’s airing, we were able to record while taking into consideration the fans’ response; it felt like we were making it with all the fans.  Please watch to the very end.

◎ Ishida Akira-san, voice of Cho Hakkai ① It felt like the Sharak Sanzo arc finished in an instant.  Amid all of that we got to see important movements by the Kougaiji side and Heaven side, so I think there was important content. ② That would be the shocking remark caused by Taruchie’s foresight.  Overturning fate with brute force may be the Sanzo Ikkou’s way, but it’s uncertain how things will develop in the future. ③ I suppose the confrontation with Nataku is the highlight.  The Sanzo Ikkou will continue West no matter what happens, so I pray for another opportunity for us to see them in an anime.

TV anime official web site ▶︎ http://www.saiyuki-rb.jp/ TV anime official Twitter ▶︎ @saiyuki_rb

STAFF Original work: Minekura Kazuya, serialized in “Gekkan Comic Zero-Sum” (Ichijinsha) Director: Nakano Hideaki / Series Composition: Konuta Kenji / Character Design: Satou Youko / Sub Character Design: Kobayashi Toshimitsu / General Animation Directors: Kobayashi Toshimitsu, Satou Youko / Prop Design: Sugimura Tomokazu / Action Animation Director: Saiki Yasuhiro / Art Director: Mayuzumi Masaki / Color Setting: Yamagami Aiko / Director of Photography: Asakawa Shigeki / Editing: Kimura Kashiko / Music: Katou Tatsuya / Music Producer: Kawashima Mai / Music Production: Lantis / Sound Production: Jinnan Studio / Sound Director: Takakuwa Hajime / Animation Production: Platinum Vision

CAST Genjo Sanzo & Konzen Douji: Seki Toshihiko / Son Goku & Goku: Hoshi Souichirou / Sha Gojyo & General Kenren: Hirata Hiroaki / Cho Hakkai & Field Marshal Tenpou: Ishida Akira / Prince Nataku: Kouda Kaho / Kougaiji: Kusao Takeshi / Dokugakuji: Yamanoi Jin / Kanzeon Bosatsu: Igarashi Rei / Taruchie: Saito Chiwa / Saitaisai: Suwabe Junichi

◆ Original sound track on sale now!! ◆

◆ DATA: TV anime “Saiyuki Reload Blast” original sound track Sale Date: Already on sale in high demand / Price: ¥3,300+tax / Music: Katou Tatsuya Sales Agency: Lantis corporation / Distributor: Bandai Visual corporation Details: 2 CD set (background + TV size OP/ED themes) Jacket: Original anime illustration

◆ Anime version drama CD on sale now!! ◆

◆DATA: TV anime “Saiyuki Reload Blast” drama CD Sale Date: Vol.1 = already on sale in high demand / vol.2 = 11/29/2017 (Wed) Price: ¥2,000+tax / Stock Number: MFCZ-1084 through MFCZ-1086 Sales Agency: Frontier Works corporation / Distributor: Kadokawa corporation

◆ “Saiyui Series” booth display at AGF 2017!! ◆

“Saiyuki Series” booth will be on display at the “Animate Girls Festival 2017 (AGF 2017)” happening 11/3 (Fri) and 11/4 (Sat) in Ikebukuro, Tokyo!

◎ “Saiyuki Reload Blast” can badge collection shot 2 Price: 1 for ¥500 (event price)     1 box (8 pieces) for ¥4,000 (event price) Lineup: Genjo Sanzo, Son Goku, Sha Gojyo, Cho Hakkai     (2 types per character, total 8 types) Size: Approximately 57 mm x 57 mm Details: Blind choice / 1 box of 8     (※ Box may not contain all variations)

◎ “Saiyuki Reload Blast” Sanzo Ikkou bromide collection (also includes some shots from the warehouse!) In addition to the above, numerous goods using illustrations from the manga and anime are set to be released!  Check the official “Saiyuki Reload Blast” TV anime website for goods details!!

◆ DATA: AGF 2017 “Saiyuki Series” booth Period of Operation: 11/3/2017 (Fri) - 11/4 (Sat) Main Site: Ikebukuro Sunshine City    ※ Please see special website for details about entrance tickets, etc. Booth Number: Y-31 (【Yellow Area】Cultural building 2nd floor, hall D) Animate Girls Festival 2017 (AGF 2017) special website: https://www.animate.co.jp/ex/agf/

The latest information on the 20 year project is on the official “Saiyuki Series 20 year project” website!! http://www.ichijinsha.co/jp/special/saiyuki20th/

© Minekura Kazuya・Ichijinsha / Saiyuki Reload Blast Project

Information on the Saiyuki Reload Blast 2018 calendar

Now Printing Front cover features original illustration by Minekura Sensei!!

“Saiyuki Reload Blast” 2018 calendar ◆ Approximately 61 cm x 42 cm (A2 size) ◆7 sheets Price: ¥1,600+tax Set to go on sale in November!! The special extra with mail order from Movic is an original illustration sheet by Minekura Sensei! See the image after it arrives ♪

How to order via mail order: Access the website via the following URL or barcode, then enter the required information.

[QR code] ◀︎ Access here from your smart phone   ※ Customer is responsible for telephone charges etc.   ※ Those who cannot read the barcode, please access via the following URL.   ※ Not compatible with feature phones. Access from your PC ▶︎ http://www.movic.jp/shop/g/g00299-00200-00031/

○ Personal information obtained from customers will not be used without permission of the customer. Details on the above are here! . . . Movic HP ▶︎ http://www.movic.jp/

● Please see the website for payment methods. ● Price is item price (tax) + packing fee (¥300 per shipment) + various service charges (COD ¥250 / NP pay later ¥220) = total cost ● Unopened items may be returned within one week of delivery.  In this case, the customer is responsible for postage. ● There are a vast number of deliveries at the end and beginning of the year, so delivery around those times may be delayed. ● Supplies are limited.  We apologize if we sell out. ● Please only order via Internet (PC or smartphone).  (No post cards, phone calls, cash registered mail, stamps, or money order, etc.)

Mail order contact information Movic “Saiyuki Calancer” mail order TEL ... 03-5995-7204 Business hours ... 10:00am - 5:00pm (excluding Sat, Sun, holidays, 12/30-1/8) Email ... shopinfo@movic.jp

[michaelandy101-blog]

Mapping Local Essentials: Being the Business that Grows, Sells, or Markets the Beans

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Mapping Local Essentials: Being the Business that Grows, Sells, or Markets the Beans

Image credit: Kenneth Leung, Michael Coghlan

“Dried beans saw a more than 230% increase in demand and rice sales spiked by 166% in that same time.” – ABC

How should a business operate now? Where is there work to be done? Economists are making stark predictions about the future of small businesses in the US, but at the same time, I live in a town without a courier service established enough to meet the mushrooming demand for home delivery.

Frankly, it’s devastating reading headlines forecasting the permanent closure of 7.5 million American SMBs, but while absorbing these, I also spent six weeks shaking the Internet for bathroom tissue before locating some 1,400 miles away.

Point being: Where there’s need, fulfilment can be a public good, and where there’s upheaval, any possibility is worth considering. Necessities are emerging in bold relief on the map of each town and city. Demand must be met by determined small entrepreneurs to keep society functional.

If you have a strong desire to actively support communities in new ways, by either retooling your existing business or even launching a new one, the doors of opportunity are open:

Tools and exercises can help you assess local demand, with the goal of building a stable business based on serving the public exactly what it needs most. What I see emerging is a marketplace that’s essentials first, luxuries second. With a consumer public struggling to get its basic needs met, you want to own the business that grows, sells, or markets the dried beans if you can determine they’ll continue to be a must-have in all times and seasons. Let’s think this through together today.

Map local essentials

One of the hard lessons so many of us have learned from the past few months is that our local communities are neither prepared for disasters nor sufficiently self-sufficient to meet all basic needs. Where is the wheat field, flour mill, yeast manufacturer “near me” so that I can bake enough bread to keep my household going instead of staring at “out of stock” messaging on the websites of remote major brands? If you’re considering becoming part of the local solution to this widespread problem, I’d like you to try this simple city planning exercise with me.

Take out a pen and paper, or open a design program if you prefer, and map out the essential needs of your community. Your community could be your city, or could be a larger geographic area such as a county. Include everything you can think of that human society requires, from water and food, to skills of all kinds, with an emphasis on long-term sustainability. Your map may look very similar to mine, or it could have substantial differences:

Once you’ve created your own map, answer these five questions:

1) Based on what I currently know, where in my community are the worst, ongoing local resource deficits? For example, in my community, we make too much alcohol for the residents to drink and don’t grow enough food for them to eat.

2) From what the present emergency is teaching me, which local resources have proven both essential and hard to access during a disaster? For example, there is only minimal manufacture of necessities in my town and a tax base that hasn’t been geared towards safety from wildfire.

3) Where would my existing skills and passions fit most easily into this map today? My skills, for example, would enable me to teach almost any business in town how to market themselves.

4) What new skills and assets would I need if I want to adjust my current offerings or move to a completely different role in my community? Let’s say I wanted to be an organic farmer instead of a local SEO — how could I transition?

5) If large-scale government planning fails to ensure that all members of my community have what they need to support life, what are my options for cooperating with neighbors at a local level to ensure my city or county is more self-sustaining? For example, my city has a Buy Local association I might tap into for large-scale, organized planning.

From this exercise, I want you to be able to tell yourself and others a compelling story about what your place on the map lacks and what it requires to become more self-reliant, as well as begin to gauge where you might personally fit in contributing to solutions.

Assess local demand

Now it’s time to research specific demand. How do you know what’s most needed at a local level? Try these tools and exercises and take notes on your findings.

1. Center your own experience and see if it’s trending

More than anything else, it’s your powers of local observation that will tell you most about business opportunities. Businesses exist to solve problems, and right now, the problem we’re confronting is local self-sufficiency during times of emergency as well as in better days.

Here’s an example of a problem. My household eats legumes at least twice a day in some form. We’ve always been able to get dried beans, lentils, and peas in bulk from the grocery store. However, with the public health emergency, stores ran out of stock and we had to order boxed products from an international brand headquartered far away. I can check to see if the problem I’ve noticed locally is part of a larger phenomenon by looking at Google Trends:

Sure enough, this tool is reporting a spike in demand for dried beans across the US in mid-March. Of course, this isn’t a reason to run out and start a new business, but the data can engender good questions like:

Have I identified an anomalous spike in demand or a permanent need?

Is there explicit value for customers if this demand could be supplied locally instead of via distribution/online channels?

Are there already local companies fulfilling this demand? If I got into this line of business, who would my local competitors be and how well are they marketing themselves?

Pay special attention to any insider information you have as a local. For example, I happen to know that in my region, there is just one local grower of dried beans and they aren’t large enough to make the community food-secure. They specialize in organic, heirloom varieties and, every year, their small crop rapidly sells out.

What do you know about supply and demand in your community, from lived experience?

2. See if your need is mentioned in Google’s Rising Retail Categories

Google’s brand new Rising Retail Categories tool doesn’t specifically mention my dried bean example, but it’s another interesting vehicle for watching demand trends.

For example, here’s data capturing a 50% increase in US demand for tortillas and wraps:

Unfortunately, Google’s tool can’t zoom in to a local level, and you can’t query the tool, but it’s great for brainstorming business concepts based on trending queries. Right now, for example, anything to do with home and garden improvement and growing food is off the charts.

Seeing the larger picture, this could simply be a predictable seasonal trend with summer coming up, but I can again pair this with my insider knowledge. Every plant nursery and home improvement store in my area is sold out of multiple products — from tomato cages, to grow bags, to compost. At least for the present, I believe we are witnessing substantial growth in the desire to enhance life at home and to have access to fresh food. Take note of anything you’ve wanted that’s been sold out or available in only limited quantities.

3. Crosscheck demand via keyword research tools

If you’re not a Moz customer, making use of a free trial to check out Keyword Explorer will give you a ton of data about national supply and demand. And don’t overlook the beta of Local Market Analytics, which shows you local keyword volumes. Add in a few local cities you’d ideally like to serve and the website address of your own business or that of a potential competitor, even if you’re not yet open for business.

Free keyword research tools like Answer the Public or the Google Adwords Keyword Planner can also help you assess large-scale demand.

4. Ask, listen, repeat

To further explore whether there is desire for your offering in your community, test the waters by asking strategic questions in multiple places and of multiple people, including these:

Nextdoor

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Local fora (Craigslist, community hubs, local newspapers, etc.)

Industry fora (agricultural, manufacturing, retail, etc.)

Buy Local associations

Chambers of Commerce and other business associations

Local government bodies and officials

A formal focus group

Friends and family

Local reporters and bloggers

Successful local business owners

What you ask will vary depending on your business idea. In my dried bean hypothesis, I might want to poll feelings of frustration about local food shortages and gauge interest in improving local food security, as well as discover if people would pay for direct-to-consumer (DTC) delivery of my crop on a regular basis. I’d be researching agricultural programs, grants, loans, and other forms of assistance to help me start farming myself, or to form a collective of farmers willing to devote acreage to a bean crop, or to supply stores and restaurants, or to market my product.

I’d want to gather as much information as possible from as many people as feasible to help determine whether a business idea is viable or not. Whether I want to become a grower/manufacturer, resell the output of an organized effort, or launch a marketing campaign, the fundamental requirement is that I’ve discovered my offering is definitely in demand.

5. Look Back

In 1960, 95% of the clothing Americans purchased was made in the US. In the 21st century, that figure has fallen to just 2%. A couple of generations ago, 60% of us lived in rural areas near farms, but today, only 20% of us do.

As we weather the pandemic, my mind keeps turning to a drive-through dairy my family visited weekly in my childhood. It was convenient for my mother to steer the station wagon under a portico and have the dairy’s staff fill up the trunk with milk, yogurt, cheese, and a half-a-dozen frozen push-up pops for the kids. If consolidation and economies of scale hadn’t made that independent dairy obsolete, their curbside service would be doing record business in 2020. Walmart wants to do this with robots — I’d prefer to make sure my neighbors have living wage jobs and my town has a tax base.

In these days of “buy online, pickup in store” (BOPIS) and same-day delivery, I recommend befriending your city’s library or historic society to gain access to business records depicting the state of local 20th century commerce. See how your community was sustained by the farmer, the tailor, the baker, the vegetable wagon, the milkman, the diaper truck, the cobbler who repaired non-throwaway shoes, the town-supported hospital and doctor who made house calls, and the independent grocer. What you find in the archives could shine a light on creating modern sustainability if trying times and local desire converge in a demand for change.

Once you’ve done as much research as you can into the demand, it’s time to consider how you would promote your offering.

Market like Ma Perkins

When unemployment peaked at 24.9% and thousands of banks closed in the 1930s, who was still operational? It was Ma Perkins, “mother of the air”, progenitor of content-based marketing and soap operas, and radio star who offered homespun advice to her fictional town while selling Oxydol to the listening public. Realizing that people would still need soap even in hard times, Proctor & Gamble swam against the austerity tide, doubling down on their marketing investments by launching the “Oxydol’s Own Ma Perkins” radio show, making the brand one of the most famous Great Depression- era success stories.

This historic example of tying an essential offering to dedicated communication feels just about right for our current time. Scanning headlines like “Some small businesses are flourishing in the COVID-19 pandemic”, I’m hearing crackling echoes of Ma Perkins in the storytelling ventures of Cleancult’s orange zest cleansers and Tushy’s bidets. There’s precedent behind SEOs telling clients not to pause their marketing right now if they can afford it. Being a visible, reliable resource in this moment isn’t just good for brands — it’s a relief and help for customers.

For your local business idea, there will be a tandem marketing task ahead of you:

Tell a story of and to your local customers and tie it into your offering.

Tell such a persuasive story of the need for local resource security that you needn’t go it alone. Help the local business community reimagine itself as a city planning task force with the goal of increased self-sufficiency.

Marketing needs to be baked into your business concept — not treated as an afterthought. To broadcast your storytelling to the public in modern times, local radio can still be a great tool, but you will also likely need to master:

Moz has many free guides and a vast library of expert articles to help you gather skills you need, and I hope they’ll help you on your business ideation journey as you consider the role promotion will play in getting the word out about what you can do for your community.

Circling back to our tale of dried beans, if you can tell your customers’ stories, tell a good story about yourself like heirloom bean grower Rancho Gordo, inspire others to talk about you as in this local industry news piece on Baer’s Best beans, you are on the way to a win.

If you learn how to cumulatively build press and awareness around your brand, your business idea could wind up a local household name by demonstrably improving life where you live.

Within the realm of possibility

“Could the reduction in air pollution be good news for fighting climate change? (University of Toronto researcher Marc) Cadotte says a small blip like the one we’re experiencing will have minimal impact on the long-term challenge of climate change. But if the pandemic continues and emergency measures remain, some countries may end up unintentionally meeting emissions targets set through the Kyoto Protocol and Paris agreement.” — Phys.org: Air quality improves by up to 40% in cities that took action on COVID-19

Theater buffs are currently arguing about whether Shakespeare may have written some of his masterworks while quarantining from plague. What’s at stake in such debates is the scope of human creativity in the face of adversity. My own community in California has already been so hard-hit by the wildfires of climate change that COVID-19 has the odd feeling of being “just another disaster”. It has made the reduction in car travel feel trivial to my friends and family, given the benefits of a massive reduction in emissions.

Is it unsound to consider reenvisioning your business or opening a new one in a reality where upheaval has become a dogged companion and stability has become a prize beyond compare? Scientists warn we can only expect more of the same until we seize the full measure of problem-solving and make our own masterwork a sustainable planet.

Against that backdrop, let’s have the courage to say it’s within the realm of possibility for you to grow beans, or build an alliance of farmers to sell them, or market that alliance to your county. Or do whatever work strikes you as most powerfully contributive.

Let’s say it’s not beyond things dreamt of in your philosophy that a tri-county alliance could provide water, food, clothing, housing, home goods, education, professional services, safety net, civic life, and culture to all regional residents. And perhaps your region makes a blueprint for others, and progress is slowly redefined not by short-sighted market wins but, rather, permanent gains in the human happiness index.

In an essentials-first economy, let’s say that people, and their capacity for solving problems have, in fact, become essential.

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[moneywisealpha]

Top 10 Active Ways to Make Money With Cryptocurrency

Scam Alert!

Now, this is critically important! Many scams are in the cryptocurrency industry! A great site to use to check if a cryptocurrency-related website might potentially be a scam is http://www.badbitcoin.org/, which has already vetted many websites, but it is not foolproof!

Due to always new investment opportunities popping up in the cryptocurrency industry, many sites might not prove to be valid, and you don’t want to fall prey as one of the initial victims! Therefore, you should always use your sound judgment! If the promised returns seem too good to be true — it probably is!

Diversifying Your Portfolio Is A Good Practice

A good practice is to diversify your portfolio — don’t put all your eggs in one basket! Practice an incremental approach, one step at a time, as you learn more and become aware of potential scams, you can invest more money. Always start with a tiny investment first! Please don’t get pressured by the hype and follow the herd because of the fear of missing out (FOMO) — go at your own pace!

Active Ways To Make Money With Cryptocurrency Requires Time And Energy

Active methods require you to devote your time and energy towards generating income with cryptocurrency, similar to a typical job or a business that you manage yourself. The good news is that there are many exciting ways to make active income with cryptocurrency. Using all my research, practical experience and the occasional run-in with scams, here are the top 10 active ways to make income with cryptocurrencies that I discovered:

1) Buy and Keep (HODL)

2) Trading

3) Cryptocurrency Payment Gateway

4) Invest in Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs)

5) Invest in Security Token Offerings (STOs)

6) Cryptocurrency Education

7) Cryptocurrency News & Trends Subscriptions

8) Forming an Inner Circle

9) Bounty / Rewards Programs

10) Gaming

Active Method 1: Buy and Keep (HODL)

Figure 1: HODLing Cryptocurrency

The simplest, though not necessarily, the most lucrative strategy is to buy and hold your favorite cryptocurrencies, also known as HODL (“hold on for dear life”) in the community. HODLing is a long-term investing strategy that requires proper fundamental analysis. The topic of fundamental analysis is a huge one, but some basics to look out for are:

1) Company Analysis: Management has a history of success, right products, well-financed, good marketing, etc.

2) Industry Analysis: Not too much competition; government regulations are open; environmental factors are favorable, etc.

3) Economic Conditions: Are we in a bear or bull market? Are there any unforeseen economic conditions that can affect the product or service?

4) Future Profit Outlook: Will the products or services be in demand in the future? How large is the total addressable market? In what time frame might the product or service become obsolete?

After doing your fundamental analysis for a particular cryptocurrency-related product or service, and choosing your top picks, an excellent strategy to use is dollar-cost averaging. For example, if you get paid once or twice a month, you can allocate a small portion of your earnings to invest in your favorite cryptocurrency endeavor. In a few months after doing some more fundamental analysis, you might choose to rebalance your portfolio in favor of another cryptocurrency project, as well.

Tip: Coinmarketcap.com does some fundamental analysis for you already that is accessible if you view the rating tab for a particular cryptocurrency. Another good site to use is coinpaprika.com.

Recommendations:

If you are a long-term investor, you might also want to consider storing your crypto assets in high yielding mobile wallets as a form of savings. Using the Celsius App, long-term investors can get an annual interest rate of up to 10% with some stable coins such as USD, PAX, DAI, TUSD, GUSD, and others.

Active Method 2: Trading

Figure 2: Trading View

If you are technically minded and like to look at visual charts, you might also consider becoming a cryptocurrency trader. Figure 2 shows a popular trading platform used by many cryptocurrency traders known as Trading View. Cryptocurrency exchanges are open 24 hours 7 days a week so you can perform trades anytime, unlike traditional markets such as equities. Many types of traders require different levels of both involvement and risks. Here are some of the different types of traders:

1) Trend Traders: follow the trend to buy low and then sell high

2) Swing Traders: take advantage of market volatility

3) Margin Traders: bet prices will fall so short the market instead of going long

4) Futures Traders: They hedge against volatility with fixed asking & selling prices

5) Options Traders: bet it’s going to be a buyers’ or sellers’ market

6) Day Traders: open and close multiple positions within 24 hours

Tip: Good YouTube channels to use to learn about cryptocurrency trading are Data Dash and Ready Set Crypto. They offer many free videos to learn about using technical analysis for trading.

Tip: For a listing of top cryptocurrency exchanges by volume visit https://coinmarketcap.com/rankings/exchanges/

Recommendations:

Here are some cryptocurrency exchanges that I recommend:

1) Binance: The largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world! Now supports margin trading!

2) Coinbase: This is a prevalent cryptocurrency exchange, especially in the US, that supports fiat to crypto conversions.

3) KuCoin: This exchange allows you to invest in new coins and coins you won’t find on the larger exchanges!

4) LocalBitcoins: This exchange has a vast number of ways to buy Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies that are sometimes even discounted from the market rate!

Active Method 3: Cryptocurrency Payment Gateway

Many retailers and online sellers now accept cryptocurrencies for payments. You can set up a cryptocurrency payment gateway yourself in your retail or online store. The model is similar to how PayPal, Mastercard, and Visa are accepted. Sellers make money with transaction fees and some margin in price. Some retailers also maintain cryptocurrency-based ATMs. You can buy real estate, cars, gold, and many other items with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Figure 3: Some subway franchises accept Bitcoin.

Figure 4: Some retail outlets also maintain cryptocurrency ATMs.

Tip: For buying gold and silver with cryptocurrencies, I recommend goldsilver.com.

Active Method 4: Invest in Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs)

Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs) were invented to build more trust with investors after many shady Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) failed. I worked on a few ICO projects as a consultant, and I can say that the vast majority of them, >95%, turned out to be scams or just had wrong business models or tokenomics. ICOs did, however, open up suitable investments to small investors. Traditionally, only affluent investors were able to partake in top tier investments. For example, say you wanted to buy some Apple or Amazon stock, this would cost you thousands of dollars to buy one share. Using ICOs allowed small-time investors to invest even a few dollars into top tier investments. IEOs differ from ICOs because they occur on an officially trusted exchange itself, so the investment offer is better vetted. Again proper fundamental analysis aids when deciding to invest in an IEO.

Tip: Binance Launchpad is a good example of a platform used by IEOs.

Active Method 5: Invest in Security Token Offerings (STOs)

Security Token Offerings (STOs) are the most regulated cryptocurrency token offerings. The security is backed by actual collateral: assets, equity, commodities, land, real estate, etc. Therefore, STOs are subjected, protected, and regulated by some national-based authority. However, due to the different definitions of securities and varying classification of cryptocurrencies as a financial asset class concerning each country, the definition of what exactly constitutes a “Security Token” is still debatable.

Tip: For a listing of upcoming STOs, visit https://tokenmarket.net/security-token-calendar/.

Active Method 6: Cryptocurrency Education

Figure 5: Many online and offline courses now offered about cryptocurrency.

Many websites now offer cryptocurrency education for a fee. There are courses on Udemy.com and Lynda.com on investing and trading cryptocurrencies. Once you gain knowledge and experience, you can teach people about cryptocurrencies yourself by using books, e-books, webinars, seminars, etc. However, there are still many free ways to learn about cryptocurrencies, especially on YouTube.

Tip: I recommend the YouTube channels, Data Dash and Ready Set Crypto for free learning and the AMTV Bitcoin academy, a paid service.

Active Method 7: Cryptocurrency News & Trends Subscriptions

Figure 6: Trends in the cryptocurrency industry are popular subscriptions.

Professional crypto traders and investors are interested in the latest news & trends to make informed decisions. Many online venues offer up to date news and trends, usually for a monthly based subscription. In return, you get daily or weekly newsletters and membership to some online community with live training and chat available. If you like to do market research, like social media and are a talented technical writer, then this might be a sufficient income option for you.

Tip: For subscription-based services, I recommend Ready Set Crypto and The Dollar Vigilante.

Active Method 8: Forming an Inner Circle / Joining a Signals Group

Figure 7: Buy the rumor and sell the news.

Another good strategy that you can employ is to form an inner circle or join a signals group. You can join a private WeChat, WhatsApp, Telegram Group, etc. Some of these groups are free, and some require payment. Usually, in these types of groups, you get what you pay for in terms of price. In joining these types of groups, your goal is to hear rumors before the rest of the retail traders do. In this way, you can buy the rumor when the prices are still very low and then sell the news when the prices are at a peak. You can start your private chat group with your most informed and connected contacts that can give you buy and sell signals.

Tip: A strategy that I like to use is following different channels on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Telegram on investments and topics that I’m most interested in learning. I then view the posts that generate the most buzz.

Active Method 9: Bounty / Rewards Programs

Figure 8: Coinbase Earn allows you to earn crypto while watching educational videos.

You can also earn crypto by performing specific tasks. For example, you might write a positive review, create a cool logo, answer trivia questions, etc. You might also be able to receive free crypto by participating in token airdrop campaigns.

Tip: My favorite cryptocurrency reward program now is on Coinbase Earn. You watch videos on various cryptocurrency projects, answer questions, and then receive free coins in return.

Recommendations:

The Brave browser lets you effortlessly earn cryptocurrency just by surfing the net and joining reward programs too!

Crowd Holding, which is currently in Beta as of this writing, is an open innovation platform empowering anyone to earn rewards, and entrepreneurs to get insights from key stakeholders, employees, and consumers.

PublishOx is a great way to get paid in crypto for reading and writing blog articles!

Active Method 10: Playing Games!

Figure 9: Minecraft was one of the first games to use BTC as an in-game currency.

Last but certainly not least, you can earn cryptocurrency by playing games! Now here is a real story; I once met a guy who became a Bitcoin millionaire by playing Minecraft. The story goes is that he was playing the game a lot during his college days and accumulated a lot of Bitcoin as the in-game currency. Then he got a serious girlfriend, so he didn’t play the game for a long time. Many years later, he logged in and found out that he still had all those Bitcoins, but they were worth tremendously much more, so he was now a Bitcoin millionaire!

There are many games now that use cryptocurrency as the in-game currency. For example, in Ether Quest, you compete with other players for Ethereum. As of this writing, on the Apple store, good games for earning crypto are Alien Run, Storm Play, Free Bitcoin, Bitcoin Aliens, and Blockchain.

Tip: Have your little cousins or kids use your game account to earn you crypto! It’s the best of both worlds; they are kept busy and enjoy while you make some crypto on the side!

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[isearchgoood]

Mapping Local Essentials: Being the Business that Grows, Sells, or Markets the Beans

Posted by MiriamEllis

Image credit: Kenneth Leung, Michael Coghlan

“Dried beans saw a more than 230% increase in demand and rice sales spiked by 166% in that same time.” - ABC

How should a business operate now? Where is there work to be done? Economists are making stark predictions about the future of small businesses in the US, but at the same time, I live in a town without a courier service established enough to meet the mushrooming demand for home delivery.

Frankly, it’s devastating reading headlines forecasting the permanent closure of 7.5 million American SMBs, but while absorbing these, I also spent six weeks shaking the Internet for bathroom tissue before locating some 1,400 miles away.

Point being: Where there’s need, fulfilment can be a public good, and where there’s upheaval, any possibility is worth considering. Necessities are emerging in bold relief on the map of each town and city. Demand must be met by determined small entrepreneurs to keep society functional.

If you have a strong desire to actively support communities in new ways, by either retooling your existing business or even launching a new one, the doors of opportunity are open:

Tools and exercises can help you assess local demand, with the goal of building a stable business based on serving the public exactly what it needs most. What I see emerging is a marketplace that’s essentials first, luxuries second. With a consumer public struggling to get its basic needs met, you want to own the business that grows, sells, or markets the dried beans if you can determine they’ll continue to be a must-have in all times and seasons. Let’s think this through together today.

Map local essentials

One of the hard lessons so many of us have learned from the past few months is that our local communities are neither prepared for disasters nor sufficiently self-sufficient to meet all basic needs. Where is the wheat field, flour mill, yeast manufacturer “near me” so that I can bake enough bread to keep my household going instead of staring at “out of stock” messaging on the websites of remote major brands? If you’re considering becoming part of the local solution to this widespread problem, I’d like you to try this simple city planning exercise with me.

Take out a pen and paper, or open a design program if you prefer, and map out the essential needs of your community. Your community could be your city, or could be a larger geographic area such as a county. Include everything you can think of that human society requires, from water and food, to skills of all kinds, with an emphasis on long-term sustainability. Your map may look very similar to mine, or it could have substantial differences:

Once you’ve created your own map, answer these five questions:

1) Based on what I currently know, where in my community are the worst, ongoing local resource deficits? For example, in my community, we make too much alcohol for the residents to drink and don’t grow enough food for them to eat.

2) From what the present emergency is teaching me, which local resources have proven both essential and hard to access during a disaster? For example, there is only minimal manufacture of necessities in my town and a tax base that hasn’t been geared towards safety from wildfire.

3) Where would my existing skills and passions fit most easily into this map today? My skills, for example, would enable me to teach almost any business in town how to market themselves.

4) What new skills and assets would I need if I want to adjust my current offerings or move to a completely different role in my community? Let’s say I wanted to be an organic farmer instead of a local SEO — how could I transition?

5) If large-scale government planning fails to ensure that all members of my community have what they need to support life, what are my options for cooperating with neighbors at a local level to ensure my city or county is more self-sustaining? For example, my city has a Buy Local association I might tap into for large-scale, organized planning.

From this exercise, I want you to be able to tell yourself and others a compelling story about what your place on the map lacks and what it requires to become more self-reliant, as well as begin to gauge where you might personally fit in contributing to solutions.

Assess local demand

Now it’s time to research specific demand. How do you know what’s most needed at a local level? Try these tools and exercises and take notes on your findings.

1. Center your own experience and see if it’s trending

More than anything else, it’s your powers of local observation that will tell you most about business opportunities. Businesses exist to solve problems, and right now, the problem we’re confronting is local self-sufficiency during times of emergency as well as in better days.

Here’s an example of a problem. My household eats legumes at least twice a day in some form. We’ve always been able to get dried beans, lentils, and peas in bulk from the grocery store. However, with the public health emergency, stores ran out of stock and we had to order boxed products from an international brand headquartered far away. I can check to see if the problem I’ve noticed locally is part of a larger phenomenon by looking at Google Trends:

Sure enough, this tool is reporting a spike in demand for dried beans across the US in mid-March. Of course, this isn’t a reason to run out and start a new business, but the data can engender good questions like:

Have I identified an anomalous spike in demand or a permanent need?

Is there explicit value for customers if this demand could be supplied locally instead of via distribution/online channels?

Are there already local companies fulfilling this demand? If I got into this line of business, who would my local competitors be and how well are they marketing themselves?

Pay special attention to any insider information you have as a local. For example, I happen to know that in my region, there is just one local grower of dried beans and they aren’t large enough to make the community food-secure. They specialize in organic, heirloom varieties and, every year, their small crop rapidly sells out.

What do you know about supply and demand in your community, from lived experience?

2. See if your need is mentioned in Google’s Rising Retail Categories

Google’s brand new Rising Retail Categories tool doesn’t specifically mention my dried bean example, but it’s another interesting vehicle for watching demand trends.

For example, here’s data capturing a 50% increase in US demand for tortillas and wraps:

Unfortunately, Google’s tool can’t zoom in to a local level, and you can’t query the tool, but it’s great for brainstorming business concepts based on trending queries. Right now, for example, anything to do with home and garden improvement and growing food is off the charts.

Seeing the larger picture, this could simply be a predictable seasonal trend with summer coming up, but I can again pair this with my insider knowledge. Every plant nursery and home improvement store in my area is sold out of multiple products — from tomato cages, to grow bags, to compost. At least for the present, I believe we are witnessing substantial growth in the desire to enhance life at home and to have access to fresh food. Take note of anything you’ve wanted that’s been sold out or available in only limited quantities.

3. Crosscheck demand via keyword research tools

If you’re not a Moz customer, making use of a free trial to check out Keyword Explorer will give you a ton of data about national supply and demand. And don’t overlook the beta of Local Market Analytics, which shows you local keyword volumes. Add in a few local cities you’d ideally like to serve and the website address of your own business or that of a potential competitor, even if you’re not yet open for business.

Free keyword research tools like Answer the Public or the Google Adwords Keyword Planner can also help you assess large-scale demand.

4. Ask, listen, repeat

To further explore whether there is desire for your offering in your community, test the waters by asking strategic questions in multiple places and of multiple people, including these:

Nextdoor

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Local fora (Craigslist, community hubs, local newspapers, etc.)

Industry fora (agricultural, manufacturing, retail, etc.)

Buy Local associations

Chambers of Commerce and other business associations

Local government bodies and officials

A formal focus group

Friends and family

Local reporters and bloggers

Successful local business owners

What you ask will vary depending on your business idea. In my dried bean hypothesis, I might want to poll feelings of frustration about local food shortages and gauge interest in improving local food security, as well as discover if people would pay for direct-to-consumer (DTC) delivery of my crop on a regular basis. I’d be researching agricultural programs, grants, loans, and other forms of assistance to help me start farming myself, or to form a collective of farmers willing to devote acreage to a bean crop, or to supply stores and restaurants, or to market my product.

I’d want to gather as much information as possible from as many people as feasible to help determine whether a business idea is viable or not. Whether I want to become a grower/manufacturer, resell the output of an organized effort, or launch a marketing campaign, the fundamental requirement is that I’ve discovered my offering is definitely in demand.

5. Look Back

In 1960, 95% of the clothing Americans purchased was made in the US. In the 21st century, that figure has fallen to just 2%. A couple of generations ago, 60% of us lived in rural areas near farms, but today, only 20% of us do.

As we weather the pandemic, my mind keeps turning to a drive-through dairy my family visited weekly in my childhood. It was convenient for my mother to steer the station wagon under a portico and have the dairy’s staff fill up the trunk with milk, yogurt, cheese, and a half-a-dozen frozen push-up pops for the kids. If consolidation and economies of scale hadn’t made that independent dairy obsolete, their curbside service would be doing record business in 2020. Walmart wants to do this with robots — I’d prefer to make sure my neighbors have living wage jobs and my town has a tax base.

In these days of “buy online, pickup in store” (BOPIS) and same-day delivery, I recommend befriending your city’s library or historic society to gain access to business records depicting the state of local 20th century commerce. See how your community was sustained by the farmer, the tailor, the baker, the vegetable wagon, the milkman, the diaper truck, the cobbler who repaired non-throwaway shoes, the town-supported hospital and doctor who made house calls, and the independent grocer. What you find in the archives could shine a light on creating modern sustainability if trying times and local desire converge in a demand for change.

Once you’ve done as much research as you can into the demand, it’s time to consider how you would promote your offering.

Market like Ma Perkins

When unemployment peaked at 24.9% and thousands of banks closed in the 1930s, who was still operational? It was Ma Perkins, “mother of the air”, progenitor of content-based marketing and soap operas, and radio star who offered homespun advice to her fictional town while selling Oxydol to the listening public. Realizing that people would still need soap even in hard times, Proctor & Gamble swam against the austerity tide, doubling down on their marketing investments by launching the “Oxydol’s Own Ma Perkins” radio show, making the brand one of the most famous Great Depression- era success stories.

This historic example of tying an essential offering to dedicated communication feels just about right for our current time. Scanning headlines like “Some small businesses are flourishing in the COVID-19 pandemic”, I’m hearing crackling echoes of Ma Perkins in the storytelling ventures of Cleancult’s orange zest cleansers and Tushy’s bidets. There’s precedent behind SEOs telling clients not to pause their marketing right now if they can afford it. Being a visible, reliable resource in this moment isn’t just good for brands — it’s a relief and help for customers.

For your local business idea, there will be a tandem marketing task ahead of you:

Tell a story of and to your local customers and tie it into your offering.

Tell such a persuasive story of the need for local resource security that you needn’t go it alone. Help the local business community reimagine itself as a city planning task force with the goal of increased self-sufficiency.

Marketing needs to be baked into your business concept — not treated as an afterthought. To broadcast your storytelling to the public in modern times, local radio can still be a great tool, but you will also likely need to master:

Local SEO

Organic SEO

Content marketing

Social media marketing

Building local business alliances

Moz has many free guides and a vast library of expert articles to help you gather skills you need, and I hope they’ll help you on your business ideation journey as you consider the role promotion will play in getting the word out about what you can do for your community.

Circling back to our tale of dried beans, if you can tell your customers’ stories, tell a good story about yourself like heirloom bean grower Rancho Gordo, inspire others to talk about you as in this local industry news piece on Baer’s Best beans, you are on the way to a win.

If you learn how to cumulatively build press and awareness around your brand, your business idea could wind up a local household name by demonstrably improving life where you live.

Within the realm of possibility

“Could the reduction in air pollution be good news for fighting climate change? (University of Toronto researcher Marc) Cadotte says a small blip like the one we're experiencing will have minimal impact on the long-term challenge of climate change. But if the pandemic continues and emergency measures remain, some countries may end up unintentionally meeting emissions targets set through the Kyoto Protocol and Paris agreement.” — Phys.org: Air quality improves by up to 40% in cities that took action on COVID-19

Theater buffs are currently arguing about whether Shakespeare may have written some of his masterworks while quarantining from plague. What’s at stake in such debates is the scope of human creativity in the face of adversity. My own community in California has already been so hard-hit by the wildfires of climate change that COVID-19 has the odd feeling of being “just another disaster”. It has made the reduction in car travel feel trivial to my friends and family, given the benefits of a massive reduction in emissions.

Is it unsound to consider reenvisioning your business or opening a new one in a reality where upheaval has become a dogged companion and stability has become a prize beyond compare? Scientists warn we can only expect more of the same until we seize the full measure of problem-solving and make our own masterwork a sustainable planet.

Against that backdrop, let’s have the courage to say it’s within the realm of possibility for you to grow beans, or build an alliance of farmers to sell them, or market that alliance to your county. Or do whatever work strikes you as most powerfully contributive.

Let’s say it’s not beyond things dreamt of in your philosophy that a tri-county alliance could provide water, food, clothing, housing, home goods, education, professional services, safety net, civic life, and culture to all regional residents. And perhaps your region makes a blueprint for others, and progress is slowly redefined not by short-sighted market wins but, rather, permanent gains in the human happiness index.

In an essentials-first economy, let’s say that people, and their capacity for solving problems have, in fact, become essential.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

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[theinjectlikes2]

Mapping Local Essentials: Being the Business that Grows, Sells, or Markets the Beans

Posted by MiriamEllis

Image credit: Kenneth Leung, Michael Coghlan

“Dried beans saw a more than 230% increase in demand and rice sales spiked by 166% in that same time.” - ABC

How should a business operate now? Where is there work to be done? Economists are making stark predictions about the future of small businesses in the US, but at the same time, I live in a town without a courier service established enough to meet the mushrooming demand for home delivery.

Frankly, it’s devastating reading headlines forecasting the permanent closure of 7.5 million American SMBs, but while absorbing these, I also spent six weeks shaking the Internet for bathroom tissue before locating some 1,400 miles away.

Point being: Where there’s need, fulfilment can be a public good, and where there’s upheaval, any possibility is worth considering. Necessities are emerging in bold relief on the map of each town and city. Demand must be met by determined small entrepreneurs to keep society functional.

If you have a strong desire to actively support communities in new ways, by either retooling your existing business or even launching a new one, the doors of opportunity are open:

Tools and exercises can help you assess local demand, with the goal of building a stable business based on serving the public exactly what it needs most. What I see emerging is a marketplace that’s essentials first, luxuries second. With a consumer public struggling to get its basic needs met, you want to own the business that grows, sells, or markets the dried beans if you can determine they’ll continue to be a must-have in all times and seasons. Let’s think this through together today.

Map local essentials

One of the hard lessons so many of us have learned from the past few months is that our local communities are neither prepared for disasters nor sufficiently self-sufficient to meet all basic needs. Where is the wheat field, flour mill, yeast manufacturer “near me” so that I can bake enough bread to keep my household going instead of staring at “out of stock” messaging on the websites of remote major brands? If you’re considering becoming part of the local solution to this widespread problem, I’d like you to try this simple city planning exercise with me.

Take out a pen and paper, or open a design program if you prefer, and map out the essential needs of your community. Your community could be your city, or could be a larger geographic area such as a county. Include everything you can think of that human society requires, from water and food, to skills of all kinds, with an emphasis on long-term sustainability. Your map may look very similar to mine, or it could have substantial differences:

Once you’ve created your own map, answer these five questions:

1) Based on what I currently know, where in my community are the worst, ongoing local resource deficits? For example, in my community, we make too much alcohol for the residents to drink and don’t grow enough food for them to eat.

2) From what the present emergency is teaching me, which local resources have proven both essential and hard to access during a disaster? For example, there is only minimal manufacture of necessities in my town and a tax base that hasn’t been geared towards safety from wildfire.

3) Where would my existing skills and passions fit most easily into this map today? My skills, for example, would enable me to teach almost any business in town how to market themselves.

4) What new skills and assets would I need if I want to adjust my current offerings or move to a completely different role in my community? Let’s say I wanted to be an organic farmer instead of a local SEO — how could I transition?

5) If large-scale government planning fails to ensure that all members of my community have what they need to support life, what are my options for cooperating with neighbors at a local level to ensure my city or county is more self-sustaining? For example, my city has a Buy Local association I might tap into for large-scale, organized planning.

From this exercise, I want you to be able to tell yourself and others a compelling story about what your place on the map lacks and what it requires to become more self-reliant, as well as begin to gauge where you might personally fit in contributing to solutions.

Assess local demand

Now it’s time to research specific demand. How do you know what’s most needed at a local level? Try these tools and exercises and take notes on your findings.

1. Center your own experience and see if it’s trending

More than anything else, it’s your powers of local observation that will tell you most about business opportunities. Businesses exist to solve problems, and right now, the problem we’re confronting is local self-sufficiency during times of emergency as well as in better days.

Here’s an example of a problem. My household eats legumes at least twice a day in some form. We’ve always been able to get dried beans, lentils, and peas in bulk from the grocery store. However, with the public health emergency, stores ran out of stock and we had to order boxed products from an international brand headquartered far away. I can check to see if the problem I’ve noticed locally is part of a larger phenomenon by looking at Google Trends:

Sure enough, this tool is reporting a spike in demand for dried beans across the US in mid-March. Of course, this isn’t a reason to run out and start a new business, but the data can engender good questions like:

Have I identified an anomalous spike in demand or a permanent need?

Is there explicit value for customers if this demand could be supplied locally instead of via distribution/online channels?

Are there already local companies fulfilling this demand? If I got into this line of business, who would my local competitors be and how well are they marketing themselves?

Pay special attention to any insider information you have as a local. For example, I happen to know that in my region, there is just one local grower of dried beans and they aren’t large enough to make the community food-secure. They specialize in organic, heirloom varieties and, every year, their small crop rapidly sells out.

What do you know about supply and demand in your community, from lived experience?

2. See if your need is mentioned in Google’s Rising Retail Categories

Google’s brand new Rising Retail Categories tool doesn’t specifically mention my dried bean example, but it’s another interesting vehicle for watching demand trends.

For example, here’s data capturing a 50% increase in US demand for tortillas and wraps:

Unfortunately, Google’s tool can’t zoom in to a local level, and you can’t query the tool, but it’s great for brainstorming business concepts based on trending queries. Right now, for example, anything to do with home and garden improvement and growing food is off the charts.

Seeing the larger picture, this could simply be a predictable seasonal trend with summer coming up, but I can again pair this with my insider knowledge. Every plant nursery and home improvement store in my area is sold out of multiple products — from tomato cages, to grow bags, to compost. At least for the present, I believe we are witnessing substantial growth in the desire to enhance life at home and to have access to fresh food. Take note of anything you’ve wanted that’s been sold out or available in only limited quantities.

3. Crosscheck demand via keyword research tools

If you’re not a Moz customer, making use of a free trial to check out Keyword Explorer will give you a ton of data about national supply and demand. And don’t overlook the beta of Local Market Analytics, which shows you local keyword volumes. Add in a few local cities you’d ideally like to serve and the website address of your own business or that of a potential competitor, even if you’re not yet open for business.

Free keyword research tools like Answer the Public or the Google Adwords Keyword Planner can also help you assess large-scale demand.

4. Ask, listen, repeat

To further explore whether there is desire for your offering in your community, test the waters by asking strategic questions in multiple places and of multiple people, including these:

Nextdoor

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Local fora (Craigslist, community hubs, local newspapers, etc.)

Industry fora (agricultural, manufacturing, retail, etc.)

Buy Local associations

Chambers of Commerce and other business associations

Local government bodies and officials

A formal focus group

Friends and family

Local reporters and bloggers

Successful local business owners

What you ask will vary depending on your business idea. In my dried bean hypothesis, I might want to poll feelings of frustration about local food shortages and gauge interest in improving local food security, as well as discover if people would pay for direct-to-consumer (DTC) delivery of my crop on a regular basis. I’d be researching agricultural programs, grants, loans, and other forms of assistance to help me start farming myself, or to form a collective of farmers willing to devote acreage to a bean crop, or to supply stores and restaurants, or to market my product.

I’d want to gather as much information as possible from as many people as feasible to help determine whether a business idea is viable or not. Whether I want to become a grower/manufacturer, resell the output of an organized effort, or launch a marketing campaign, the fundamental requirement is that I’ve discovered my offering is definitely in demand.

5. Look Back

In 1960, 95% of the clothing Americans purchased was made in the US. In the 21st century, that figure has fallen to just 2%. A couple of generations ago, 60% of us lived in rural areas near farms, but today, only 20% of us do.

As we weather the pandemic, my mind keeps turning to a drive-through dairy my family visited weekly in my childhood. It was convenient for my mother to steer the station wagon under a portico and have the dairy’s staff fill up the trunk with milk, yogurt, cheese, and a half-a-dozen frozen push-up pops for the kids. If consolidation and economies of scale hadn’t made that independent dairy obsolete, their curbside service would be doing record business in 2020. Walmart wants to do this with robots — I’d prefer to make sure my neighbors have living wage jobs and my town has a tax base.

In these days of “buy online, pickup in store” (BOPIS) and same-day delivery, I recommend befriending your city’s library or historic society to gain access to business records depicting the state of local 20th century commerce. See how your community was sustained by the farmer, the tailor, the baker, the vegetable wagon, the milkman, the diaper truck, the cobbler who repaired non-throwaway shoes, the town-supported hospital and doctor who made house calls, and the independent grocer. What you find in the archives could shine a light on creating modern sustainability if trying times and local desire converge in a demand for change.

Once you’ve done as much research as you can into the demand, it’s time to consider how you would promote your offering.

Market like Ma Perkins

When unemployment peaked at 24.9% and thousands of banks closed in the 1930s, who was still operational? It was Ma Perkins, “mother of the air”, progenitor of content-based marketing and soap operas, and radio star who offered homespun advice to her fictional town while selling Oxydol to the listening public. Realizing that people would still need soap even in hard times, Proctor & Gamble swam against the austerity tide, doubling down on their marketing investments by launching the “Oxydol’s Own Ma Perkins” radio show, making the brand one of the most famous Great Depression- era success stories.

This historic example of tying an essential offering to dedicated communication feels just about right for our current time. Scanning headlines like “Some small businesses are flourishing in the COVID-19 pandemic”, I’m hearing crackling echoes of Ma Perkins in the storytelling ventures of Cleancult’s orange zest cleansers and Tushy’s bidets. There’s precedent behind SEOs telling clients not to pause their marketing right now if they can afford it. Being a visible, reliable resource in this moment isn’t just good for brands — it’s a relief and help for customers.

For your local business idea, there will be a tandem marketing task ahead of you:

Tell a story of and to your local customers and tie it into your offering.

Tell such a persuasive story of the need for local resource security that you needn’t go it alone. Help the local business community reimagine itself as a city planning task force with the goal of increased self-sufficiency.

Marketing needs to be baked into your business concept — not treated as an afterthought. To broadcast your storytelling to the public in modern times, local radio can still be a great tool, but you will also likely need to master:

Local SEO

Organic SEO

Content marketing

Social media marketing

Building local business alliances

Moz has many free guides and a vast library of expert articles to help you gather skills you need, and I hope they’ll help you on your business ideation journey as you consider the role promotion will play in getting the word out about what you can do for your community.

Circling back to our tale of dried beans, if you can tell your customers’ stories, tell a good story about yourself like heirloom bean grower Rancho Gordo, inspire others to talk about you as in this local industry news piece on Baer’s Best beans, you are on the way to a win.

If you learn how to cumulatively build press and awareness around your brand, your business idea could wind up a local household name by demonstrably improving life where you live.

Within the realm of possibility

“Could the reduction in air pollution be good news for fighting climate change? (University of Toronto researcher Marc) Cadotte says a small blip like the one we're experiencing will have minimal impact on the long-term challenge of climate change. But if the pandemic continues and emergency measures remain, some countries may end up unintentionally meeting emissions targets set through the Kyoto Protocol and Paris agreement.” — Phys.org: Air quality improves by up to 40% in cities that took action on COVID-19

Theater buffs are currently arguing about whether Shakespeare may have written some of his masterworks while quarantining from plague. What’s at stake in such debates is the scope of human creativity in the face of adversity. My own community in California has already been so hard-hit by the wildfires of climate change that COVID-19 has the odd feeling of being “just another disaster”. It has made the reduction in car travel feel trivial to my friends and family, given the benefits of a massive reduction in emissions.

Is it unsound to consider reenvisioning your business or opening a new one in a reality where upheaval has become a dogged companion and stability has become a prize beyond compare? Scientists warn we can only expect more of the same until we seize the full measure of problem-solving and make our own masterwork a sustainable planet.

Against that backdrop, let’s have the courage to say it’s within the realm of possibility for you to grow beans, or build an alliance of farmers to sell them, or market that alliance to your county. Or do whatever work strikes you as most powerfully contributive.

Let’s say it’s not beyond things dreamt of in your philosophy that a tri-county alliance could provide water, food, clothing, housing, home goods, education, professional services, safety net, civic life, and culture to all regional residents. And perhaps your region makes a blueprint for others, and progress is slowly redefined not by short-sighted market wins but, rather, permanent gains in the human happiness index.

In an essentials-first economy, let’s say that people, and their capacity for solving problems have, in fact, become essential.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

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[whitelabelseoreseller]

Mapping Local Essentials: Being the Business that Grows, Sells, or Markets the Beans

Posted by MiriamEllis

Image credit: Kenneth Leung, Michael Coghlan

“Dried beans saw a more than 230% increase in demand and rice sales spiked by 166% in that same time.” - ABC

How should a business operate now? Where is there work to be done? Economists are making stark predictions about the future of small businesses in the US, but at the same time, I live in a town without a courier service established enough to meet the mushrooming demand for home delivery.

Frankly, it’s devastating reading headlines forecasting the permanent closure of 7.5 million American SMBs, but while absorbing these, I also spent six weeks shaking the Internet for bathroom tissue before locating some 1,400 miles away.

Point being: Where there’s need, fulfilment can be a public good, and where there’s upheaval, any possibility is worth considering. Necessities are emerging in bold relief on the map of each town and city. Demand must be met by determined small entrepreneurs to keep society functional.

If you have a strong desire to actively support communities in new ways, by either retooling your existing business or even launching a new one, the doors of opportunity are open:

Tools and exercises can help you assess local demand, with the goal of building a stable business based on serving the public exactly what it needs most. What I see emerging is a marketplace that’s essentials first, luxuries second. With a consumer public struggling to get its basic needs met, you want to own the business that grows, sells, or markets the dried beans if you can determine they’ll continue to be a must-have in all times and seasons. Let’s think this through together today.

Map local essentials

One of the hard lessons so many of us have learned from the past few months is that our local communities are neither prepared for disasters nor sufficiently self-sufficient to meet all basic needs. Where is the wheat field, flour mill, yeast manufacturer “near me” so that I can bake enough bread to keep my household going instead of staring at “out of stock” messaging on the websites of remote major brands? If you’re considering becoming part of the local solution to this widespread problem, I’d like you to try this simple city planning exercise with me.

Take out a pen and paper, or open a design program if you prefer, and map out the essential needs of your community. Your community could be your city, or could be a larger geographic area such as a county. Include everything you can think of that human society requires, from water and food, to skills of all kinds, with an emphasis on long-term sustainability. Your map may look very similar to mine, or it could have substantial differences:

Once you’ve created your own map, answer these five questions:

1) Based on what I currently know, where in my community are the worst, ongoing local resource deficits? For example, in my community, we make too much alcohol for the residents to drink and don’t grow enough food for them to eat.

2) From what the present emergency is teaching me, which local resources have proven both essential and hard to access during a disaster? For example, there is only minimal manufacture of necessities in my town and a tax base that hasn’t been geared towards safety from wildfire.

3) Where would my existing skills and passions fit most easily into this map today? My skills, for example, would enable me to teach almost any business in town how to market themselves.

4) What new skills and assets would I need if I want to adjust my current offerings or move to a completely different role in my community? Let’s say I wanted to be an organic farmer instead of a local SEO — how could I transition?

5) If large-scale government planning fails to ensure that all members of my community have what they need to support life, what are my options for cooperating with neighbors at a local level to ensure my city or county is more self-sustaining? For example, my city has a Buy Local association I might tap into for large-scale, organized planning.

From this exercise, I want you to be able to tell yourself and others a compelling story about what your place on the map lacks and what it requires to become more self-reliant, as well as begin to gauge where you might personally fit in contributing to solutions.

Assess local demand

Now it’s time to research specific demand. How do you know what’s most needed at a local level? Try these tools and exercises and take notes on your findings.

1. Center your own experience and see if it’s trending

More than anything else, it’s your powers of local observation that will tell you most about business opportunities. Businesses exist to solve problems, and right now, the problem we’re confronting is local self-sufficiency during times of emergency as well as in better days.

Here’s an example of a problem. My household eats legumes at least twice a day in some form. We’ve always been able to get dried beans, lentils, and peas in bulk from the grocery store. However, with the public health emergency, stores ran out of stock and we had to order boxed products from an international brand headquartered far away. I can check to see if the problem I’ve noticed locally is part of a larger phenomenon by looking at Google Trends:

Sure enough, this tool is reporting a spike in demand for dried beans across the US in mid-March. Of course, this isn’t a reason to run out and start a new business, but the data can engender good questions like:

Have I identified an anomalous spike in demand or a permanent need?

Is there explicit value for customers if this demand could be supplied locally instead of via distribution/online channels?

Are there already local companies fulfilling this demand? If I got into this line of business, who would my local competitors be and how well are they marketing themselves?

Pay special attention to any insider information you have as a local. For example, I happen to know that in my region, there is just one local grower of dried beans and they aren’t large enough to make the community food-secure. They specialize in organic, heirloom varieties and, every year, their small crop rapidly sells out.

What do you know about supply and demand in your community, from lived experience?

2. See if your need is mentioned in Google’s Rising Retail Categories

Google’s brand new Rising Retail Categories tool doesn’t specifically mention my dried bean example, but it’s another interesting vehicle for watching demand trends.

For example, here’s data capturing a 50% increase in US demand for tortillas and wraps:

Unfortunately, Google’s tool can’t zoom in to a local level, and you can’t query the tool, but it’s great for brainstorming business concepts based on trending queries. Right now, for example, anything to do with home and garden improvement and growing food is off the charts.

Seeing the larger picture, this could simply be a predictable seasonal trend with summer coming up, but I can again pair this with my insider knowledge. Every plant nursery and home improvement store in my area is sold out of multiple products — from tomato cages, to grow bags, to compost. At least for the present, I believe we are witnessing substantial growth in the desire to enhance life at home and to have access to fresh food. Take note of anything you’ve wanted that’s been sold out or available in only limited quantities.

3. Crosscheck demand via keyword research tools

If you’re not a Moz customer, making use of a free trial to check out Keyword Explorer will give you a ton of data about national supply and demand. And don’t overlook the beta of Local Market Analytics, which shows you local keyword volumes. Add in a few local cities you’d ideally like to serve and the website address of your own business or that of a potential competitor, even if you’re not yet open for business.

Free keyword research tools like Answer the Public or the Google Adwords Keyword Planner can also help you assess large-scale demand.

4. Ask, listen, repeat

To further explore whether there is desire for your offering in your community, test the waters by asking strategic questions in multiple places and of multiple people, including these:

Nextdoor

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Local fora (Craigslist, community hubs, local newspapers, etc.)

Industry fora (agricultural, manufacturing, retail, etc.)

Buy Local associations

Chambers of Commerce and other business associations

Local government bodies and officials

A formal focus group

Friends and family

Local reporters and bloggers

Successful local business owners

What you ask will vary depending on your business idea. In my dried bean hypothesis, I might want to poll feelings of frustration about local food shortages and gauge interest in improving local food security, as well as discover if people would pay for direct-to-consumer (DTC) delivery of my crop on a regular basis. I’d be researching agricultural programs, grants, loans, and other forms of assistance to help me start farming myself, or to form a collective of farmers willing to devote acreage to a bean crop, or to supply stores and restaurants, or to market my product.

I’d want to gather as much information as possible from as many people as feasible to help determine whether a business idea is viable or not. Whether I want to become a grower/manufacturer, resell the output of an organized effort, or launch a marketing campaign, the fundamental requirement is that I’ve discovered my offering is definitely in demand.

5. Look Back

In 1960, 95% of the clothing Americans purchased was made in the US. In the 21st century, that figure has fallen to just 2%. A couple of generations ago, 60% of us lived in rural areas near farms, but today, only 20% of us do.

As we weather the pandemic, my mind keeps turning to a drive-through dairy my family visited weekly in my childhood. It was convenient for my mother to steer the station wagon under a portico and have the dairy’s staff fill up the trunk with milk, yogurt, cheese, and a half-a-dozen frozen push-up pops for the kids. If consolidation and economies of scale hadn’t made that independent dairy obsolete, their curbside service would be doing record business in 2020. Walmart wants to do this with robots — I’d prefer to make sure my neighbors have living wage jobs and my town has a tax base.

In these days of “buy online, pickup in store” (BOPIS) and same-day delivery, I recommend befriending your city’s library or historic society to gain access to business records depicting the state of local 20th century commerce. See how your community was sustained by the farmer, the tailor, the baker, the vegetable wagon, the milkman, the diaper truck, the cobbler who repaired non-throwaway shoes, the town-supported hospital and doctor who made house calls, and the independent grocer. What you find in the archives could shine a light on creating modern sustainability if trying times and local desire converge in a demand for change.

Once you’ve done as much research as you can into the demand, it’s time to consider how you would promote your offering.

Market like Ma Perkins

When unemployment peaked at 24.9% and thousands of banks closed in the 1930s, who was still operational? It was Ma Perkins, “mother of the air”, progenitor of content-based marketing and soap operas, and radio star who offered homespun advice to her fictional town while selling Oxydol to the listening public. Realizing that people would still need soap even in hard times, Proctor & Gamble swam against the austerity tide, doubling down on their marketing investments by launching the “Oxydol’s Own Ma Perkins” radio show, making the brand one of the most famous Great Depression- era success stories.

This historic example of tying an essential offering to dedicated communication feels just about right for our current time. Scanning headlines like “Some small businesses are flourishing in the COVID-19 pandemic”, I’m hearing crackling echoes of Ma Perkins in the storytelling ventures of Cleancult’s orange zest cleansers and Tushy’s bidets. There’s precedent behind SEOs telling clients not to pause their marketing right now if they can afford it. Being a visible, reliable resource in this moment isn’t just good for brands — it’s a relief and help for customers.

For your local business idea, there will be a tandem marketing task ahead of you:

Tell a story of and to your local customers and tie it into your offering.

Tell such a persuasive story of the need for local resource security that you needn’t go it alone. Help the local business community reimagine itself as a city planning task force with the goal of increased self-sufficiency.

Marketing needs to be baked into your business concept — not treated as an afterthought. To broadcast your storytelling to the public in modern times, local radio can still be a great tool, but you will also likely need to master:

Local SEO

Organic SEO

Content marketing

Social media marketing

Building local business alliances

Moz has many free guides and a vast library of expert articles to help you gather skills you need, and I hope they’ll help you on your business ideation journey as you consider the role promotion will play in getting the word out about what you can do for your community.

Circling back to our tale of dried beans, if you can tell your customers’ stories, tell a good story about yourself like heirloom bean grower Rancho Gordo, inspire others to talk about you as in this local industry news piece on Baer’s Best beans, you are on the way to a win.

If you learn how to cumulatively build press and awareness around your brand, your business idea could wind up a local household name by demonstrably improving life where you live.

Within the realm of possibility

“Could the reduction in air pollution be good news for fighting climate change? (University of Toronto researcher Marc) Cadotte says a small blip like the one we're experiencing will have minimal impact on the long-term challenge of climate change. But if the pandemic continues and emergency measures remain, some countries may end up unintentionally meeting emissions targets set through the Kyoto Protocol and Paris agreement.” — Phys.org: Air quality improves by up to 40% in cities that took action on COVID-19

Theater buffs are currently arguing about whether Shakespeare may have written some of his masterworks while quarantining from plague. What’s at stake in such debates is the scope of human creativity in the face of adversity. My own community in California has already been so hard-hit by the wildfires of climate change that COVID-19 has the odd feeling of being “just another disaster”. It has made the reduction in car travel feel trivial to my friends and family, given the benefits of a massive reduction in emissions.

Is it unsound to consider reenvisioning your business or opening a new one in a reality where upheaval has become a dogged companion and stability has become a prize beyond compare? Scientists warn we can only expect more of the same until we seize the full measure of problem-solving and make our own masterwork a sustainable planet.

Against that backdrop, let’s have the courage to say it’s within the realm of possibility for you to grow beans, or build an alliance of farmers to sell them, or market that alliance to your county. Or do whatever work strikes you as most powerfully contributive.

Let’s say it’s not beyond things dreamt of in your philosophy that a tri-county alliance could provide water, food, clothing, housing, home goods, education, professional services, safety net, civic life, and culture to all regional residents. And perhaps your region makes a blueprint for others, and progress is slowly redefined not by short-sighted market wins but, rather, permanent gains in the human happiness index.

In an essentials-first economy, let’s say that people, and their capacity for solving problems have, in fact, become essential.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

from The Moz Blog http://tracking.feedpress.it/link/9375/13613369

[lakelandseo]

Mapping Local Essentials: Being the Business that Grows, Sells, or Markets the Beans

Posted by MiriamEllis

Image credit: Kenneth Leung, Michael Coghlan

“Dried beans saw a more than 230% increase in demand and rice sales spiked by 166% in that same time.” - ABC

How should a business operate now? Where is there work to be done? Economists are making stark predictions about the future of small businesses in the US, but at the same time, I live in a town without a courier service established enough to meet the mushrooming demand for home delivery.

Frankly, it’s devastating reading headlines forecasting the permanent closure of 7.5 million American SMBs, but while absorbing these, I also spent six weeks shaking the Internet for bathroom tissue before locating some 1,400 miles away.

Point being: Where there’s need, fulfilment can be a public good, and where there’s upheaval, any possibility is worth considering. Necessities are emerging in bold relief on the map of each town and city. Demand must be met by determined small entrepreneurs to keep society functional.

If you have a strong desire to actively support communities in new ways, by either retooling your existing business or even launching a new one, the doors of opportunity are open:

Tools and exercises can help you assess local demand, with the goal of building a stable business based on serving the public exactly what it needs most. What I see emerging is a marketplace that’s essentials first, luxuries second. With a consumer public struggling to get its basic needs met, you want to own the business that grows, sells, or markets the dried beans if you can determine they’ll continue to be a must-have in all times and seasons. Let’s think this through together today.

Map local essentials

One of the hard lessons so many of us have learned from the past few months is that our local communities are neither prepared for disasters nor sufficiently self-sufficient to meet all basic needs. Where is the wheat field, flour mill, yeast manufacturer “near me” so that I can bake enough bread to keep my household going instead of staring at “out of stock” messaging on the websites of remote major brands? If you’re considering becoming part of the local solution to this widespread problem, I’d like you to try this simple city planning exercise with me.

Take out a pen and paper, or open a design program if you prefer, and map out the essential needs of your community. Your community could be your city, or could be a larger geographic area such as a county. Include everything you can think of that human society requires, from water and food, to skills of all kinds, with an emphasis on long-term sustainability. Your map may look very similar to mine, or it could have substantial differences:

Once you’ve created your own map, answer these five questions:

1) Based on what I currently know, where in my community are the worst, ongoing local resource deficits? For example, in my community, we make too much alcohol for the residents to drink and don’t grow enough food for them to eat.

2) From what the present emergency is teaching me, which local resources have proven both essential and hard to access during a disaster? For example, there is only minimal manufacture of necessities in my town and a tax base that hasn’t been geared towards safety from wildfire.

3) Where would my existing skills and passions fit most easily into this map today? My skills, for example, would enable me to teach almost any business in town how to market themselves.

4) What new skills and assets would I need if I want to adjust my current offerings or move to a completely different role in my community? Let’s say I wanted to be an organic farmer instead of a local SEO — how could I transition?

5) If large-scale government planning fails to ensure that all members of my community have what they need to support life, what are my options for cooperating with neighbors at a local level to ensure my city or county is more self-sustaining? For example, my city has a Buy Local association I might tap into for large-scale, organized planning.

From this exercise, I want you to be able to tell yourself and others a compelling story about what your place on the map lacks and what it requires to become more self-reliant, as well as begin to gauge where you might personally fit in contributing to solutions.

Assess local demand

Now it’s time to research specific demand. How do you know what’s most needed at a local level? Try these tools and exercises and take notes on your findings.

1. Center your own experience and see if it’s trending

More than anything else, it’s your powers of local observation that will tell you most about business opportunities. Businesses exist to solve problems, and right now, the problem we’re confronting is local self-sufficiency during times of emergency as well as in better days.

Here’s an example of a problem. My household eats legumes at least twice a day in some form. We’ve always been able to get dried beans, lentils, and peas in bulk from the grocery store. However, with the public health emergency, stores ran out of stock and we had to order boxed products from an international brand headquartered far away. I can check to see if the problem I’ve noticed locally is part of a larger phenomenon by looking at Google Trends:

Sure enough, this tool is reporting a spike in demand for dried beans across the US in mid-March. Of course, this isn’t a reason to run out and start a new business, but the data can engender good questions like:

Have I identified an anomalous spike in demand or a permanent need?

Is there explicit value for customers if this demand could be supplied locally instead of via distribution/online channels?

Are there already local companies fulfilling this demand? If I got into this line of business, who would my local competitors be and how well are they marketing themselves?

Pay special attention to any insider information you have as a local. For example, I happen to know that in my region, there is just one local grower of dried beans and they aren’t large enough to make the community food-secure. They specialize in organic, heirloom varieties and, every year, their small crop rapidly sells out.

What do you know about supply and demand in your community, from lived experience?

2. See if your need is mentioned in Google’s Rising Retail Categories

Google’s brand new Rising Retail Categories tool doesn’t specifically mention my dried bean example, but it’s another interesting vehicle for watching demand trends.

For example, here’s data capturing a 50% increase in US demand for tortillas and wraps:

Unfortunately, Google’s tool can’t zoom in to a local level, and you can’t query the tool, but it’s great for brainstorming business concepts based on trending queries. Right now, for example, anything to do with home and garden improvement and growing food is off the charts.

Seeing the larger picture, this could simply be a predictable seasonal trend with summer coming up, but I can again pair this with my insider knowledge. Every plant nursery and home improvement store in my area is sold out of multiple products — from tomato cages, to grow bags, to compost. At least for the present, I believe we are witnessing substantial growth in the desire to enhance life at home and to have access to fresh food. Take note of anything you’ve wanted that’s been sold out or available in only limited quantities.

3. Crosscheck demand via keyword research tools

If you’re not a Moz customer, making use of a free trial to check out Keyword Explorer will give you a ton of data about national supply and demand. And don’t overlook the beta of Local Market Analytics, which shows you local keyword volumes. Add in a few local cities you’d ideally like to serve and the website address of your own business or that of a potential competitor, even if you’re not yet open for business.

Free keyword research tools like Answer the Public or the Google Adwords Keyword Planner can also help you assess large-scale demand.

4. Ask, listen, repeat

To further explore whether there is desire for your offering in your community, test the waters by asking strategic questions in multiple places and of multiple people, including these:

Nextdoor

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Local fora (Craigslist, community hubs, local newspapers, etc.)

Industry fora (agricultural, manufacturing, retail, etc.)

Buy Local associations

Chambers of Commerce and other business associations

Local government bodies and officials

A formal focus group

Friends and family

Local reporters and bloggers

Successful local business owners

What you ask will vary depending on your business idea. In my dried bean hypothesis, I might want to poll feelings of frustration about local food shortages and gauge interest in improving local food security, as well as discover if people would pay for direct-to-consumer (DTC) delivery of my crop on a regular basis. I’d be researching agricultural programs, grants, loans, and other forms of assistance to help me start farming myself, or to form a collective of farmers willing to devote acreage to a bean crop, or to supply stores and restaurants, or to market my product.

I’d want to gather as much information as possible from as many people as feasible to help determine whether a business idea is viable or not. Whether I want to become a grower/manufacturer, resell the output of an organized effort, or launch a marketing campaign, the fundamental requirement is that I’ve discovered my offering is definitely in demand.

5. Look Back

In 1960, 95% of the clothing Americans purchased was made in the US. In the 21st century, that figure has fallen to just 2%. A couple of generations ago, 60% of us lived in rural areas near farms, but today, only 20% of us do.

As we weather the pandemic, my mind keeps turning to a drive-through dairy my family visited weekly in my childhood. It was convenient for my mother to steer the station wagon under a portico and have the dairy’s staff fill up the trunk with milk, yogurt, cheese, and a half-a-dozen frozen push-up pops for the kids. If consolidation and economies of scale hadn’t made that independent dairy obsolete, their curbside service would be doing record business in 2020. Walmart wants to do this with robots — I’d prefer to make sure my neighbors have living wage jobs and my town has a tax base.

In these days of “buy online, pickup in store” (BOPIS) and same-day delivery, I recommend befriending your city’s library or historic society to gain access to business records depicting the state of local 20th century commerce. See how your community was sustained by the farmer, the tailor, the baker, the vegetable wagon, the milkman, the diaper truck, the cobbler who repaired non-throwaway shoes, the town-supported hospital and doctor who made house calls, and the independent grocer. What you find in the archives could shine a light on creating modern sustainability if trying times and local desire converge in a demand for change.

Once you’ve done as much research as you can into the demand, it’s time to consider how you would promote your offering.

Market like Ma Perkins

When unemployment peaked at 24.9% and thousands of banks closed in the 1930s, who was still operational? It was Ma Perkins, “mother of the air”, progenitor of content-based marketing and soap operas, and radio star who offered homespun advice to her fictional town while selling Oxydol to the listening public. Realizing that people would still need soap even in hard times, Proctor & Gamble swam against the austerity tide, doubling down on their marketing investments by launching the “Oxydol’s Own Ma Perkins” radio show, making the brand one of the most famous Great Depression- era success stories.

This historic example of tying an essential offering to dedicated communication feels just about right for our current time. Scanning headlines like “Some small businesses are flourishing in the COVID-19 pandemic”, I’m hearing crackling echoes of Ma Perkins in the storytelling ventures of Cleancult’s orange zest cleansers and Tushy’s bidets. There’s precedent behind SEOs telling clients not to pause their marketing right now if they can afford it. Being a visible, reliable resource in this moment isn’t just good for brands — it’s a relief and help for customers.

For your local business idea, there will be a tandem marketing task ahead of you:

Tell a story of and to your local customers and tie it into your offering.

Tell such a persuasive story of the need for local resource security that you needn’t go it alone. Help the local business community reimagine itself as a city planning task force with the goal of increased self-sufficiency.

Marketing needs to be baked into your business concept — not treated as an afterthought. To broadcast your storytelling to the public in modern times, local radio can still be a great tool, but you will also likely need to master:

Local SEO

Organic SEO

Content marketing

Social media marketing

Building local business alliances

Moz has many free guides and a vast library of expert articles to help you gather skills you need, and I hope they’ll help you on your business ideation journey as you consider the role promotion will play in getting the word out about what you can do for your community.

Circling back to our tale of dried beans, if you can tell your customers’ stories, tell a good story about yourself like heirloom bean grower Rancho Gordo, inspire others to talk about you as in this local industry news piece on Baer’s Best beans, you are on the way to a win.

If you learn how to cumulatively build press and awareness around your brand, your business idea could wind up a local household name by demonstrably improving life where you live.

Within the realm of possibility

“Could the reduction in air pollution be good news for fighting climate change? (University of Toronto researcher Marc) Cadotte says a small blip like the one we're experiencing will have minimal impact on the long-term challenge of climate change. But if the pandemic continues and emergency measures remain, some countries may end up unintentionally meeting emissions targets set through the Kyoto Protocol and Paris agreement.” — Phys.org: Air quality improves by up to 40% in cities that took action on COVID-19

Theater buffs are currently arguing about whether Shakespeare may have written some of his masterworks while quarantining from plague. What’s at stake in such debates is the scope of human creativity in the face of adversity. My own community in California has already been so hard-hit by the wildfires of climate change that COVID-19 has the odd feeling of being “just another disaster”. It has made the reduction in car travel feel trivial to my friends and family, given the benefits of a massive reduction in emissions.

Is it unsound to consider reenvisioning your business or opening a new one in a reality where upheaval has become a dogged companion and stability has become a prize beyond compare? Scientists warn we can only expect more of the same until we seize the full measure of problem-solving and make our own masterwork a sustainable planet.

Against that backdrop, let’s have the courage to say it’s within the realm of possibility for you to grow beans, or build an alliance of farmers to sell them, or market that alliance to your county. Or do whatever work strikes you as most powerfully contributive.

Let’s say it’s not beyond things dreamt of in your philosophy that a tri-county alliance could provide water, food, clothing, housing, home goods, education, professional services, safety net, civic life, and culture to all regional residents. And perhaps your region makes a blueprint for others, and progress is slowly redefined not by short-sighted market wins but, rather, permanent gains in the human happiness index.

In an essentials-first economy, let’s say that people, and their capacity for solving problems have, in fact, become essential.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

[epackingvietnam]

Mapping Local Essentials: Being the Business that Grows, Sells, or Markets the Beans

Posted by MiriamEllis

Image credit: Kenneth Leung, Michael Coghlan

“Dried beans saw a more than 230% increase in demand and rice sales spiked by 166% in that same time.” - ABC

How should a business operate now? Where is there work to be done? Economists are making stark predictions about the future of small businesses in the US, but at the same time, I live in a town without a courier service established enough to meet the mushrooming demand for home delivery.

Frankly, it’s devastating reading headlines forecasting the permanent closure of 7.5 million American SMBs, but while absorbing these, I also spent six weeks shaking the Internet for bathroom tissue before locating some 1,400 miles away.

Point being: Where there’s need, fulfilment can be a public good, and where there’s upheaval, any possibility is worth considering. Necessities are emerging in bold relief on the map of each town and city. Demand must be met by determined small entrepreneurs to keep society functional.

If you have a strong desire to actively support communities in new ways, by either retooling your existing business or even launching a new one, the doors of opportunity are open:

Tools and exercises can help you assess local demand, with the goal of building a stable business based on serving the public exactly what it needs most. What I see emerging is a marketplace that’s essentials first, luxuries second. With a consumer public struggling to get its basic needs met, you want to own the business that grows, sells, or markets the dried beans if you can determine they’ll continue to be a must-have in all times and seasons. Let’s think this through together today.

Map local essentials

One of the hard lessons so many of us have learned from the past few months is that our local communities are neither prepared for disasters nor sufficiently self-sufficient to meet all basic needs. Where is the wheat field, flour mill, yeast manufacturer “near me” so that I can bake enough bread to keep my household going instead of staring at “out of stock” messaging on the websites of remote major brands? If you’re considering becoming part of the local solution to this widespread problem, I’d like you to try this simple city planning exercise with me.

Take out a pen and paper, or open a design program if you prefer, and map out the essential needs of your community. Your community could be your city, or could be a larger geographic area such as a county. Include everything you can think of that human society requires, from water and food, to skills of all kinds, with an emphasis on long-term sustainability. Your map may look very similar to mine, or it could have substantial differences:

Once you’ve created your own map, answer these five questions:

1) Based on what I currently know, where in my community are the worst, ongoing local resource deficits? For example, in my community, we make too much alcohol for the residents to drink and don’t grow enough food for them to eat.

2) From what the present emergency is teaching me, which local resources have proven both essential and hard to access during a disaster? For example, there is only minimal manufacture of necessities in my town and a tax base that hasn’t been geared towards safety from wildfire.

3) Where would my existing skills and passions fit most easily into this map today? My skills, for example, would enable me to teach almost any business in town how to market themselves.

4) What new skills and assets would I need if I want to adjust my current offerings or move to a completely different role in my community? Let’s say I wanted to be an organic farmer instead of a local SEO — how could I transition?

5) If large-scale government planning fails to ensure that all members of my community have what they need to support life, what are my options for cooperating with neighbors at a local level to ensure my city or county is more self-sustaining? For example, my city has a Buy Local association I might tap into for large-scale, organized planning.

From this exercise, I want you to be able to tell yourself and others a compelling story about what your place on the map lacks and what it requires to become more self-reliant, as well as begin to gauge where you might personally fit in contributing to solutions.

Assess local demand

Now it’s time to research specific demand. How do you know what’s most needed at a local level? Try these tools and exercises and take notes on your findings.

1. Center your own experience and see if it’s trending

More than anything else, it’s your powers of local observation that will tell you most about business opportunities. Businesses exist to solve problems, and right now, the problem we’re confronting is local self-sufficiency during times of emergency as well as in better days.

Here’s an example of a problem. My household eats legumes at least twice a day in some form. We’ve always been able to get dried beans, lentils, and peas in bulk from the grocery store. However, with the public health emergency, stores ran out of stock and we had to order boxed products from an international brand headquartered far away. I can check to see if the problem I’ve noticed locally is part of a larger phenomenon by looking at Google Trends:

Sure enough, this tool is reporting a spike in demand for dried beans across the US in mid-March. Of course, this isn’t a reason to run out and start a new business, but the data can engender good questions like:

Have I identified an anomalous spike in demand or a permanent need?

Is there explicit value for customers if this demand could be supplied locally instead of via distribution/online channels?

Are there already local companies fulfilling this demand? If I got into this line of business, who would my local competitors be and how well are they marketing themselves?

Pay special attention to any insider information you have as a local. For example, I happen to know that in my region, there is just one local grower of dried beans and they aren’t large enough to make the community food-secure. They specialize in organic, heirloom varieties and, every year, their small crop rapidly sells out.

What do you know about supply and demand in your community, from lived experience?

2. See if your need is mentioned in Google’s Rising Retail Categories

Google’s brand new Rising Retail Categories tool doesn’t specifically mention my dried bean example, but it’s another interesting vehicle for watching demand trends.

For example, here’s data capturing a 50% increase in US demand for tortillas and wraps:

Unfortunately, Google’s tool can’t zoom in to a local level, and you can’t query the tool, but it’s great for brainstorming business concepts based on trending queries. Right now, for example, anything to do with home and garden improvement and growing food is off the charts.

Seeing the larger picture, this could simply be a predictable seasonal trend with summer coming up, but I can again pair this with my insider knowledge. Every plant nursery and home improvement store in my area is sold out of multiple products — from tomato cages, to grow bags, to compost. At least for the present, I believe we are witnessing substantial growth in the desire to enhance life at home and to have access to fresh food. Take note of anything you’ve wanted that’s been sold out or available in only limited quantities.

3. Crosscheck demand via keyword research tools

If you’re not a Moz customer, making use of a free trial to check out Keyword Explorer will give you a ton of data about national supply and demand. And don’t overlook the beta of Local Market Analytics, which shows you local keyword volumes. Add in a few local cities you’d ideally like to serve and the website address of your own business or that of a potential competitor, even if you’re not yet open for business.

Free keyword research tools like Answer the Public or the Google Adwords Keyword Planner can also help you assess large-scale demand.

4. Ask, listen, repeat

To further explore whether there is desire for your offering in your community, test the waters by asking strategic questions in multiple places and of multiple people, including these:

Nextdoor

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Local fora (Craigslist, community hubs, local newspapers, etc.)

Industry fora (agricultural, manufacturing, retail, etc.)

Buy Local associations

Chambers of Commerce and other business associations

Local government bodies and officials

A formal focus group

Friends and family

Local reporters and bloggers

Successful local business owners

What you ask will vary depending on your business idea. In my dried bean hypothesis, I might want to poll feelings of frustration about local food shortages and gauge interest in improving local food security, as well as discover if people would pay for direct-to-consumer (DTC) delivery of my crop on a regular basis. I’d be researching agricultural programs, grants, loans, and other forms of assistance to help me start farming myself, or to form a collective of farmers willing to devote acreage to a bean crop, or to supply stores and restaurants, or to market my product.

I’d want to gather as much information as possible from as many people as feasible to help determine whether a business idea is viable or not. Whether I want to become a grower/manufacturer, resell the output of an organized effort, or launch a marketing campaign, the fundamental requirement is that I’ve discovered my offering is definitely in demand.

5. Look Back

In 1960, 95% of the clothing Americans purchased was made in the US. In the 21st century, that figure has fallen to just 2%. A couple of generations ago, 60% of us lived in rural areas near farms, but today, only 20% of us do.

As we weather the pandemic, my mind keeps turning to a drive-through dairy my family visited weekly in my childhood. It was convenient for my mother to steer the station wagon under a portico and have the dairy’s staff fill up the trunk with milk, yogurt, cheese, and a half-a-dozen frozen push-up pops for the kids. If consolidation and economies of scale hadn’t made that independent dairy obsolete, their curbside service would be doing record business in 2020. Walmart wants to do this with robots — I’d prefer to make sure my neighbors have living wage jobs and my town has a tax base.

In these days of “buy online, pickup in store” (BOPIS) and same-day delivery, I recommend befriending your city’s library or historic society to gain access to business records depicting the state of local 20th century commerce. See how your community was sustained by the farmer, the tailor, the baker, the vegetable wagon, the milkman, the diaper truck, the cobbler who repaired non-throwaway shoes, the town-supported hospital and doctor who made house calls, and the independent grocer. What you find in the archives could shine a light on creating modern sustainability if trying times and local desire converge in a demand for change.

Once you’ve done as much research as you can into the demand, it’s time to consider how you would promote your offering.

Market like Ma Perkins

When unemployment peaked at 24.9% and thousands of banks closed in the 1930s, who was still operational? It was Ma Perkins, “mother of the air”, progenitor of content-based marketing and soap operas, and radio star who offered homespun advice to her fictional town while selling Oxydol to the listening public. Realizing that people would still need soap even in hard times, Proctor & Gamble swam against the austerity tide, doubling down on their marketing investments by launching the “Oxydol’s Own Ma Perkins” radio show, making the brand one of the most famous Great Depression- era success stories.

This historic example of tying an essential offering to dedicated communication feels just about right for our current time. Scanning headlines like “Some small businesses are flourishing in the COVID-19 pandemic”, I’m hearing crackling echoes of Ma Perkins in the storytelling ventures of Cleancult’s orange zest cleansers and Tushy’s bidets. There’s precedent behind SEOs telling clients not to pause their marketing right now if they can afford it. Being a visible, reliable resource in this moment isn’t just good for brands — it’s a relief and help for customers.

For your local business idea, there will be a tandem marketing task ahead of you:

Tell a story of and to your local customers and tie it into your offering.

Tell such a persuasive story of the need for local resource security that you needn’t go it alone. Help the local business community reimagine itself as a city planning task force with the goal of increased self-sufficiency.

Marketing needs to be baked into your business concept — not treated as an afterthought. To broadcast your storytelling to the public in modern times, local radio can still be a great tool, but you will also likely need to master:

Local SEO

Organic SEO

Content marketing

Social media marketing

Building local business alliances

Moz has many free guides and a vast library of expert articles to help you gather skills you need, and I hope they’ll help you on your business ideation journey as you consider the role promotion will play in getting the word out about what you can do for your community.

Circling back to our tale of dried beans, if you can tell your customers’ stories, tell a good story about yourself like heirloom bean grower Rancho Gordo, inspire others to talk about you as in this local industry news piece on Baer’s Best beans, you are on the way to a win.

If you learn how to cumulatively build press and awareness around your brand, your business idea could wind up a local household name by demonstrably improving life where you live.

Within the realm of possibility

“Could the reduction in air pollution be good news for fighting climate change? (University of Toronto researcher Marc) Cadotte says a small blip like the one we're experiencing will have minimal impact on the long-term challenge of climate change. But if the pandemic continues and emergency measures remain, some countries may end up unintentionally meeting emissions targets set through the Kyoto Protocol and Paris agreement.” — Phys.org: Air quality improves by up to 40% in cities that took action on COVID-19

Theater buffs are currently arguing about whether Shakespeare may have written some of his masterworks while quarantining from plague. What’s at stake in such debates is the scope of human creativity in the face of adversity. My own community in California has already been so hard-hit by the wildfires of climate change that COVID-19 has the odd feeling of being “just another disaster”. It has made the reduction in car travel feel trivial to my friends and family, given the benefits of a massive reduction in emissions.

Is it unsound to consider reenvisioning your business or opening a new one in a reality where upheaval has become a dogged companion and stability has become a prize beyond compare? Scientists warn we can only expect more of the same until we seize the full measure of problem-solving and make our own masterwork a sustainable planet.

Against that backdrop, let’s have the courage to say it’s within the realm of possibility for you to grow beans, or build an alliance of farmers to sell them, or market that alliance to your county. Or do whatever work strikes you as most powerfully contributive.

Let’s say it’s not beyond things dreamt of in your philosophy that a tri-county alliance could provide water, food, clothing, housing, home goods, education, professional services, safety net, civic life, and culture to all regional residents. And perhaps your region makes a blueprint for others, and progress is slowly redefined not by short-sighted market wins but, rather, permanent gains in the human happiness index.

In an essentials-first economy, let’s say that people, and their capacity for solving problems have, in fact, become essential.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

#túi_giấy_epacking_việt_nam #túi_giấy_epacking #in_túi_giấy_giá_rẻ #in_túi_giấy #epackingvietnam #tuigiayepacking

[timeblues]

Mapping Local Essentials: Being the Business that Grows, Sells, or Markets the Beans

Posted by MiriamEllis

Image credit: Kenneth Leung, Michael Coghlan

“Dried beans saw a more than 230% increase in demand and rice sales spiked by 166% in that same time.” - ABC

How should a business operate now? Where is there work to be done? Economists are making stark predictions about the future of small businesses in the US, but at the same time, I live in a town without a courier service established enough to meet the mushrooming demand for home delivery.

Frankly, it’s devastating reading headlines forecasting the permanent closure of 7.5 million American SMBs, but while absorbing these, I also spent six weeks shaking the Internet for bathroom tissue before locating some 1,400 miles away.

Point being: Where there’s need, fulfilment can be a public good, and where there’s upheaval, any possibility is worth considering. Necessities are emerging in bold relief on the map of each town and city. Demand must be met by determined small entrepreneurs to keep society functional.

If you have a strong desire to actively support communities in new ways, by either retooling your existing business or even launching a new one, the doors of opportunity are open:

Tools and exercises can help you assess local demand, with the goal of building a stable business based on serving the public exactly what it needs most. What I see emerging is a marketplace that’s essentials first, luxuries second. With a consumer public struggling to get its basic needs met, you want to own the business that grows, sells, or markets the dried beans if you can determine they’ll continue to be a must-have in all times and seasons. Let’s think this through together today.

Map local essentials

One of the hard lessons so many of us have learned from the past few months is that our local communities are neither prepared for disasters nor sufficiently self-sufficient to meet all basic needs. Where is the wheat field, flour mill, yeast manufacturer “near me” so that I can bake enough bread to keep my household going instead of staring at “out of stock” messaging on the websites of remote major brands? If you’re considering becoming part of the local solution to this widespread problem, I’d like you to try this simple city planning exercise with me.

Take out a pen and paper, or open a design program if you prefer, and map out the essential needs of your community. Your community could be your city, or could be a larger geographic area such as a county. Include everything you can think of that human society requires, from water and food, to skills of all kinds, with an emphasis on long-term sustainability. Your map may look very similar to mine, or it could have substantial differences:

Once you’ve created your own map, answer these five questions:

1) Based on what I currently know, where in my community are the worst, ongoing local resource deficits? For example, in my community, we make too much alcohol for the residents to drink and don’t grow enough food for them to eat.

2) From what the present emergency is teaching me, which local resources have proven both essential and hard to access during a disaster? For example, there is only minimal manufacture of necessities in my town and a tax base that hasn’t been geared towards safety from wildfire.

3) Where would my existing skills and passions fit most easily into this map today? My skills, for example, would enable me to teach almost any business in town how to market themselves.

4) What new skills and assets would I need if I want to adjust my current offerings or move to a completely different role in my community? Let’s say I wanted to be an organic farmer instead of a local SEO — how could I transition?

5) If large-scale government planning fails to ensure that all members of my community have what they need to support life, what are my options for cooperating with neighbors at a local level to ensure my city or county is more self-sustaining? For example, my city has a Buy Local association I might tap into for large-scale, organized planning.

From this exercise, I want you to be able to tell yourself and others a compelling story about what your place on the map lacks and what it requires to become more self-reliant, as well as begin to gauge where you might personally fit in contributing to solutions.

Assess local demand

Now it’s time to research specific demand. How do you know what’s most needed at a local level? Try these tools and exercises and take notes on your findings.

1. Center your own experience and see if it’s trending

More than anything else, it’s your powers of local observation that will tell you most about business opportunities. Businesses exist to solve problems, and right now, the problem we’re confronting is local self-sufficiency during times of emergency as well as in better days.

Here’s an example of a problem. My household eats legumes at least twice a day in some form. We’ve always been able to get dried beans, lentils, and peas in bulk from the grocery store. However, with the public health emergency, stores ran out of stock and we had to order boxed products from an international brand headquartered far away. I can check to see if the problem I’ve noticed locally is part of a larger phenomenon by looking at Google Trends:

Sure enough, this tool is reporting a spike in demand for dried beans across the US in mid-March. Of course, this isn’t a reason to run out and start a new business, but the data can engender good questions like:

Have I identified an anomalous spike in demand or a permanent need?

Is there explicit value for customers if this demand could be supplied locally instead of via distribution/online channels?

Are there already local companies fulfilling this demand? If I got into this line of business, who would my local competitors be and how well are they marketing themselves?

Pay special attention to any insider information you have as a local. For example, I happen to know that in my region, there is just one local grower of dried beans and they aren’t large enough to make the community food-secure. They specialize in organic, heirloom varieties and, every year, their small crop rapidly sells out.

What do you know about supply and demand in your community, from lived experience?

2. See if your need is mentioned in Google’s Rising Retail Categories

Google’s brand new Rising Retail Categories tool doesn’t specifically mention my dried bean example, but it’s another interesting vehicle for watching demand trends.

For example, here’s data capturing a 50% increase in US demand for tortillas and wraps:

Unfortunately, Google’s tool can’t zoom in to a local level, and you can’t query the tool, but it’s great for brainstorming business concepts based on trending queries. Right now, for example, anything to do with home and garden improvement and growing food is off the charts.

Seeing the larger picture, this could simply be a predictable seasonal trend with summer coming up, but I can again pair this with my insider knowledge. Every plant nursery and home improvement store in my area is sold out of multiple products — from tomato cages, to grow bags, to compost. At least for the present, I believe we are witnessing substantial growth in the desire to enhance life at home and to have access to fresh food. Take note of anything you’ve wanted that’s been sold out or available in only limited quantities.

3. Crosscheck demand via keyword research tools

If you’re not a Moz customer, making use of a free trial to check out Keyword Explorer will give you a ton of data about national supply and demand. And don’t overlook the beta of Local Market Analytics, which shows you local keyword volumes. Add in a few local cities you’d ideally like to serve and the website address of your own business or that of a potential competitor, even if you’re not yet open for business.

Free keyword research tools like Answer the Public or the Google Adwords Keyword Planner can also help you assess large-scale demand.

4. Ask, listen, repeat

To further explore whether there is desire for your offering in your community, test the waters by asking strategic questions in multiple places and of multiple people, including these:

Nextdoor

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Local fora (Craigslist, community hubs, local newspapers, etc.)

Industry fora (agricultural, manufacturing, retail, etc.)

Buy Local associations

Chambers of Commerce and other business associations

Local government bodies and officials

A formal focus group

Friends and family

Local reporters and bloggers

Successful local business owners

What you ask will vary depending on your business idea. In my dried bean hypothesis, I might want to poll feelings of frustration about local food shortages and gauge interest in improving local food security, as well as discover if people would pay for direct-to-consumer (DTC) delivery of my crop on a regular basis. I’d be researching agricultural programs, grants, loans, and other forms of assistance to help me start farming myself, or to form a collective of farmers willing to devote acreage to a bean crop, or to supply stores and restaurants, or to market my product.

I’d want to gather as much information as possible from as many people as feasible to help determine whether a business idea is viable or not. Whether I want to become a grower/manufacturer, resell the output of an organized effort, or launch a marketing campaign, the fundamental requirement is that I’ve discovered my offering is definitely in demand.

5. Look Back

In 1960, 95% of the clothing Americans purchased was made in the US. In the 21st century, that figure has fallen to just 2%. A couple of generations ago, 60% of us lived in rural areas near farms, but today, only 20% of us do.

As we weather the pandemic, my mind keeps turning to a drive-through dairy my family visited weekly in my childhood. It was convenient for my mother to steer the station wagon under a portico and have the dairy’s staff fill up the trunk with milk, yogurt, cheese, and a half-a-dozen frozen push-up pops for the kids. If consolidation and economies of scale hadn’t made that independent dairy obsolete, their curbside service would be doing record business in 2020. Walmart wants to do this with robots — I’d prefer to make sure my neighbors have living wage jobs and my town has a tax base.

In these days of “buy online, pickup in store” (BOPIS) and same-day delivery, I recommend befriending your city’s library or historic society to gain access to business records depicting the state of local 20th century commerce. See how your community was sustained by the farmer, the tailor, the baker, the vegetable wagon, the milkman, the diaper truck, the cobbler who repaired non-throwaway shoes, the town-supported hospital and doctor who made house calls, and the independent grocer. What you find in the archives could shine a light on creating modern sustainability if trying times and local desire converge in a demand for change.

Once you’ve done as much research as you can into the demand, it’s time to consider how you would promote your offering.

Market like Ma Perkins

When unemployment peaked at 24.9% and thousands of banks closed in the 1930s, who was still operational? It was Ma Perkins, “mother of the air”, progenitor of content-based marketing and soap operas, and radio star who offered homespun advice to her fictional town while selling Oxydol to the listening public. Realizing that people would still need soap even in hard times, Proctor & Gamble swam against the austerity tide, doubling down on their marketing investments by launching the “Oxydol’s Own Ma Perkins” radio show, making the brand one of the most famous Great Depression- era success stories.

This historic example of tying an essential offering to dedicated communication feels just about right for our current time. Scanning headlines like “Some small businesses are flourishing in the COVID-19 pandemic”, I’m hearing crackling echoes of Ma Perkins in the storytelling ventures of Cleancult’s orange zest cleansers and Tushy’s bidets. There’s precedent behind SEOs telling clients not to pause their marketing right now if they can afford it. Being a visible, reliable resource in this moment isn’t just good for brands — it’s a relief and help for customers.

For your local business idea, there will be a tandem marketing task ahead of you:

Tell a story of and to your local customers and tie it into your offering.

Tell such a persuasive story of the need for local resource security that you needn’t go it alone. Help the local business community reimagine itself as a city planning task force with the goal of increased self-sufficiency.

Marketing needs to be baked into your business concept — not treated as an afterthought. To broadcast your storytelling to the public in modern times, local radio can still be a great tool, but you will also likely need to master:

Local SEO

Organic SEO

Content marketing

Social media marketing

Building local business alliances

Moz has many free guides and a vast library of expert articles to help you gather skills you need, and I hope they’ll help you on your business ideation journey as you consider the role promotion will play in getting the word out about what you can do for your community.

Circling back to our tale of dried beans, if you can tell your customers’ stories, tell a good story about yourself like heirloom bean grower Rancho Gordo, inspire others to talk about you as in this local industry news piece on Baer’s Best beans, you are on the way to a win.

If you learn how to cumulatively build press and awareness around your brand, your business idea could wind up a local household name by demonstrably improving life where you live.

Within the realm of possibility

“Could the reduction in air pollution be good news for fighting climate change? (University of Toronto researcher Marc) Cadotte says a small blip like the one we're experiencing will have minimal impact on the long-term challenge of climate change. But if the pandemic continues and emergency measures remain, some countries may end up unintentionally meeting emissions targets set through the Kyoto Protocol and Paris agreement.” — Phys.org: Air quality improves by up to 40% in cities that took action on COVID-19

Theater buffs are currently arguing about whether Shakespeare may have written some of his masterworks while quarantining from plague. What’s at stake in such debates is the scope of human creativity in the face of adversity. My own community in California has already been so hard-hit by the wildfires of climate change that COVID-19 has the odd feeling of being “just another disaster”. It has made the reduction in car travel feel trivial to my friends and family, given the benefits of a massive reduction in emissions.

Is it unsound to consider reenvisioning your business or opening a new one in a reality where upheaval has become a dogged companion and stability has become a prize beyond compare? Scientists warn we can only expect more of the same until we seize the full measure of problem-solving and make our own masterwork a sustainable planet.

Against that backdrop, let’s have the courage to say it’s within the realm of possibility for you to grow beans, or build an alliance of farmers to sell them, or market that alliance to your county. Or do whatever work strikes you as most powerfully contributive.

Let’s say it’s not beyond things dreamt of in your philosophy that a tri-county alliance could provide water, food, clothing, housing, home goods, education, professional services, safety net, civic life, and culture to all regional residents. And perhaps your region makes a blueprint for others, and progress is slowly redefined not by short-sighted market wins but, rather, permanent gains in the human happiness index.

In an essentials-first economy, let’s say that people, and their capacity for solving problems have, in fact, become essential.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

from The Moz Blog https://ift.tt/2MG4PgJ More on https://seouk4.weebly.com/

[bfxenon]

Mapping Local Essentials: Being the Business that Grows, Sells, or Markets the Beans

Posted by MiriamEllis

Image credit: Kenneth Leung, Michael Coghlan

“Dried beans saw a more than 230% increase in demand and rice sales spiked by 166% in that same time.” - ABC

How should a business operate now? Where is there work to be done? Economists are making stark predictions about the future of small businesses in the US, but at the same time, I live in a town without a courier service established enough to meet the mushrooming demand for home delivery.

Frankly, it’s devastating reading headlines forecasting the permanent closure of 7.5 million American SMBs, but while absorbing these, I also spent six weeks shaking the Internet for bathroom tissue before locating some 1,400 miles away.

Point being: Where there’s need, fulfilment can be a public good, and where there’s upheaval, any possibility is worth considering. Necessities are emerging in bold relief on the map of each town and city. Demand must be met by determined small entrepreneurs to keep society functional.

If you have a strong desire to actively support communities in new ways, by either retooling your existing business or even launching a new one, the doors of opportunity are open:

Tools and exercises can help you assess local demand, with the goal of building a stable business based on serving the public exactly what it needs most. What I see emerging is a marketplace that’s essentials first, luxuries second. With a consumer public struggling to get its basic needs met, you want to own the business that grows, sells, or markets the dried beans if you can determine they’ll continue to be a must-have in all times and seasons. Let’s think this through together today.

Map local essentials

One of the hard lessons so many of us have learned from the past few months is that our local communities are neither prepared for disasters nor sufficiently self-sufficient to meet all basic needs. Where is the wheat field, flour mill, yeast manufacturer “near me” so that I can bake enough bread to keep my household going instead of staring at “out of stock” messaging on the websites of remote major brands? If you’re considering becoming part of the local solution to this widespread problem, I’d like you to try this simple city planning exercise with me.

Take out a pen and paper, or open a design program if you prefer, and map out the essential needs of your community. Your community could be your city, or could be a larger geographic area such as a county. Include everything you can think of that human society requires, from water and food, to skills of all kinds, with an emphasis on long-term sustainability. Your map may look very similar to mine, or it could have substantial differences:

Once you’ve created your own map, answer these five questions:

1) Based on what I currently know, where in my community are the worst, ongoing local resource deficits? For example, in my community, we make too much alcohol for the residents to drink and don’t grow enough food for them to eat.

2) From what the present emergency is teaching me, which local resources have proven both essential and hard to access during a disaster? For example, there is only minimal manufacture of necessities in my town and a tax base that hasn’t been geared towards safety from wildfire.

3) Where would my existing skills and passions fit most easily into this map today? My skills, for example, would enable me to teach almost any business in town how to market themselves.

4) What new skills and assets would I need if I want to adjust my current offerings or move to a completely different role in my community? Let’s say I wanted to be an organic farmer instead of a local SEO — how could I transition?

5) If large-scale government planning fails to ensure that all members of my community have what they need to support life, what are my options for cooperating with neighbors at a local level to ensure my city or county is more self-sustaining? For example, my city has a Buy Local association I might tap into for large-scale, organized planning.

From this exercise, I want you to be able to tell yourself and others a compelling story about what your place on the map lacks and what it requires to become more self-reliant, as well as begin to gauge where you might personally fit in contributing to solutions.

Assess local demand

Now it’s time to research specific demand. How do you know what’s most needed at a local level? Try these tools and exercises and take notes on your findings.

1. Center your own experience and see if it’s trending

More than anything else, it’s your powers of local observation that will tell you most about business opportunities. Businesses exist to solve problems, and right now, the problem we’re confronting is local self-sufficiency during times of emergency as well as in better days.

Here’s an example of a problem. My household eats legumes at least twice a day in some form. We’ve always been able to get dried beans, lentils, and peas in bulk from the grocery store. However, with the public health emergency, stores ran out of stock and we had to order boxed products from an international brand headquartered far away. I can check to see if the problem I’ve noticed locally is part of a larger phenomenon by looking at Google Trends:

Sure enough, this tool is reporting a spike in demand for dried beans across the US in mid-March. Of course, this isn’t a reason to run out and start a new business, but the data can engender good questions like:

Have I identified an anomalous spike in demand or a permanent need?

Is there explicit value for customers if this demand could be supplied locally instead of via distribution/online channels?

Are there already local companies fulfilling this demand? If I got into this line of business, who would my local competitors be and how well are they marketing themselves?

Pay special attention to any insider information you have as a local. For example, I happen to know that in my region, there is just one local grower of dried beans and they aren’t large enough to make the community food-secure. They specialize in organic, heirloom varieties and, every year, their small crop rapidly sells out.

What do you know about supply and demand in your community, from lived experience?

2. See if your need is mentioned in Google’s Rising Retail Categories

Google’s brand new Rising Retail Categories tool doesn’t specifically mention my dried bean example, but it’s another interesting vehicle for watching demand trends.

For example, here’s data capturing a 50% increase in US demand for tortillas and wraps:

Unfortunately, Google’s tool can’t zoom in to a local level, and you can’t query the tool, but it’s great for brainstorming business concepts based on trending queries. Right now, for example, anything to do with home and garden improvement and growing food is off the charts.

Seeing the larger picture, this could simply be a predictable seasonal trend with summer coming up, but I can again pair this with my insider knowledge. Every plant nursery and home improvement store in my area is sold out of multiple products — from tomato cages, to grow bags, to compost. At least for the present, I believe we are witnessing substantial growth in the desire to enhance life at home and to have access to fresh food. Take note of anything you’ve wanted that’s been sold out or available in only limited quantities.

3. Crosscheck demand via keyword research tools

If you’re not a Moz customer, making use of a free trial to check out Keyword Explorer will give you a ton of data about national supply and demand. And don’t overlook the beta of Local Market Analytics, which shows you local keyword volumes. Add in a few local cities you’d ideally like to serve and the website address of your own business or that of a potential competitor, even if you’re not yet open for business.

Free keyword research tools like Answer the Public or the Google Adwords Keyword Planner can also help you assess large-scale demand.

4. Ask, listen, repeat

To further explore whether there is desire for your offering in your community, test the waters by asking strategic questions in multiple places and of multiple people, including these:

Nextdoor

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Local fora (Craigslist, community hubs, local newspapers, etc.)

Industry fora (agricultural, manufacturing, retail, etc.)

Buy Local associations

Chambers of Commerce and other business associations

Local government bodies and officials

A formal focus group

Friends and family

Local reporters and bloggers

Successful local business owners

What you ask will vary depending on your business idea. In my dried bean hypothesis, I might want to poll feelings of frustration about local food shortages and gauge interest in improving local food security, as well as discover if people would pay for direct-to-consumer (DTC) delivery of my crop on a regular basis. I’d be researching agricultural programs, grants, loans, and other forms of assistance to help me start farming myself, or to form a collective of farmers willing to devote acreage to a bean crop, or to supply stores and restaurants, or to market my product.

I’d want to gather as much information as possible from as many people as feasible to help determine whether a business idea is viable or not. Whether I want to become a grower/manufacturer, resell the output of an organized effort, or launch a marketing campaign, the fundamental requirement is that I’ve discovered my offering is definitely in demand.

5. Look Back

In 1960, 95% of the clothing Americans purchased was made in the US. In the 21st century, that figure has fallen to just 2%. A couple of generations ago, 60% of us lived in rural areas near farms, but today, only 20% of us do.

As we weather the pandemic, my mind keeps turning to a drive-through dairy my family visited weekly in my childhood. It was convenient for my mother to steer the station wagon under a portico and have the dairy’s staff fill up the trunk with milk, yogurt, cheese, and a half-a-dozen frozen push-up pops for the kids. If consolidation and economies of scale hadn’t made that independent dairy obsolete, their curbside service would be doing record business in 2020. Walmart wants to do this with robots — I’d prefer to make sure my neighbors have living wage jobs and my town has a tax base.

In these days of “buy online, pickup in store” (BOPIS) and same-day delivery, I recommend befriending your city’s library or historic society to gain access to business records depicting the state of local 20th century commerce. See how your community was sustained by the farmer, the tailor, the baker, the vegetable wagon, the milkman, the diaper truck, the cobbler who repaired non-throwaway shoes, the town-supported hospital and doctor who made house calls, and the independent grocer. What you find in the archives could shine a light on creating modern sustainability if trying times and local desire converge in a demand for change.

Once you’ve done as much research as you can into the demand, it’s time to consider how you would promote your offering.

Market like Ma Perkins

When unemployment peaked at 24.9% and thousands of banks closed in the 1930s, who was still operational? It was Ma Perkins, “mother of the air”, progenitor of content-based marketing and soap operas, and radio star who offered homespun advice to her fictional town while selling Oxydol to the listening public. Realizing that people would still need soap even in hard times, Proctor & Gamble swam against the austerity tide, doubling down on their marketing investments by launching the “Oxydol’s Own Ma Perkins” radio show, making the brand one of the most famous Great Depression- era success stories.

This historic example of tying an essential offering to dedicated communication feels just about right for our current time. Scanning headlines like “Some small businesses are flourishing in the COVID-19 pandemic”, I’m hearing crackling echoes of Ma Perkins in the storytelling ventures of Cleancult’s orange zest cleansers and Tushy’s bidets. There’s precedent behind SEOs telling clients not to pause their marketing right now if they can afford it. Being a visible, reliable resource in this moment isn’t just good for brands — it’s a relief and help for customers.

For your local business idea, there will be a tandem marketing task ahead of you:

Tell a story of and to your local customers and tie it into your offering.

Tell such a persuasive story of the need for local resource security that you needn’t go it alone. Help the local business community reimagine itself as a city planning task force with the goal of increased self-sufficiency.

Marketing needs to be baked into your business concept — not treated as an afterthought. To broadcast your storytelling to the public in modern times, local radio can still be a great tool, but you will also likely need to master:

Local SEO

Organic SEO

Content marketing

Social media marketing

Building local business alliances

Moz has many free guides and a vast library of expert articles to help you gather skills you need, and I hope they’ll help you on your business ideation journey as you consider the role promotion will play in getting the word out about what you can do for your community.

Circling back to our tale of dried beans, if you can tell your customers’ stories, tell a good story about yourself like heirloom bean grower Rancho Gordo, inspire others to talk about you as in this local industry news piece on Baer’s Best beans, you are on the way to a win.

If you learn how to cumulatively build press and awareness around your brand, your business idea could wind up a local household name by demonstrably improving life where you live.

Within the realm of possibility

“Could the reduction in air pollution be good news for fighting climate change? (University of Toronto researcher Marc) Cadotte says a small blip like the one we're experiencing will have minimal impact on the long-term challenge of climate change. But if the pandemic continues and emergency measures remain, some countries may end up unintentionally meeting emissions targets set through the Kyoto Protocol and Paris agreement.” — Phys.org: Air quality improves by up to 40% in cities that took action on COVID-19

Theater buffs are currently arguing about whether Shakespeare may have written some of his masterworks while quarantining from plague. What’s at stake in such debates is the scope of human creativity in the face of adversity. My own community in California has already been so hard-hit by the wildfires of climate change that COVID-19 has the odd feeling of being “just another disaster”. It has made the reduction in car travel feel trivial to my friends and family, given the benefits of a massive reduction in emissions.

Is it unsound to consider reenvisioning your business or opening a new one in a reality where upheaval has become a dogged companion and stability has become a prize beyond compare? Scientists warn we can only expect more of the same until we seize the full measure of problem-solving and make our own masterwork a sustainable planet.

Against that backdrop, let’s have the courage to say it’s within the realm of possibility for you to grow beans, or build an alliance of farmers to sell them, or market that alliance to your county. Or do whatever work strikes you as most powerfully contributive.

Let’s say it’s not beyond things dreamt of in your philosophy that a tri-county alliance could provide water, food, clothing, housing, home goods, education, professional services, safety net, civic life, and culture to all regional residents. And perhaps your region makes a blueprint for others, and progress is slowly redefined not by short-sighted market wins but, rather, permanent gains in the human happiness index.

In an essentials-first economy, let’s say that people, and their capacity for solving problems have, in fact, become essential.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

[localwebmgmt]

Mapping Local Essentials: Being the Business that Grows, Sells, or Markets the Beans

Posted by MiriamEllis

Image credit: Kenneth Leung, Michael Coghlan

“Dried beans saw a more than 230% increase in demand and rice sales spiked by 166% in that same time.” - ABC

How should a business operate now? Where is there work to be done? Economists are making stark predictions about the future of small businesses in the US, but at the same time, I live in a town without a courier service established enough to meet the mushrooming demand for home delivery.

Frankly, it’s devastating reading headlines forecasting the permanent closure of 7.5 million American SMBs, but while absorbing these, I also spent six weeks shaking the Internet for bathroom tissue before locating some 1,400 miles away.

Point being: Where there’s need, fulfilment can be a public good, and where there’s upheaval, any possibility is worth considering. Necessities are emerging in bold relief on the map of each town and city. Demand must be met by determined small entrepreneurs to keep society functional.

If you have a strong desire to actively support communities in new ways, by either retooling your existing business or even launching a new one, the doors of opportunity are open:

Tools and exercises can help you assess local demand, with the goal of building a stable business based on serving the public exactly what it needs most. What I see emerging is a marketplace that’s essentials first, luxuries second. With a consumer public struggling to get its basic needs met, you want to own the business that grows, sells, or markets the dried beans if you can determine they’ll continue to be a must-have in all times and seasons. Let’s think this through together today.

Map local essentials

One of the hard lessons so many of us have learned from the past few months is that our local communities are neither prepared for disasters nor sufficiently self-sufficient to meet all basic needs. Where is the wheat field, flour mill, yeast manufacturer “near me” so that I can bake enough bread to keep my household going instead of staring at “out of stock” messaging on the websites of remote major brands? If you’re considering becoming part of the local solution to this widespread problem, I’d like you to try this simple city planning exercise with me.

Take out a pen and paper, or open a design program if you prefer, and map out the essential needs of your community. Your community could be your city, or could be a larger geographic area such as a county. Include everything you can think of that human society requires, from water and food, to skills of all kinds, with an emphasis on long-term sustainability. Your map may look very similar to mine, or it could have substantial differences:

Once you’ve created your own map, answer these five questions:

1) Based on what I currently know, where in my community are the worst, ongoing local resource deficits? For example, in my community, we make too much alcohol for the residents to drink and don’t grow enough food for them to eat.

2) From what the present emergency is teaching me, which local resources have proven both essential and hard to access during a disaster? For example, there is only minimal manufacture of necessities in my town and a tax base that hasn’t been geared towards safety from wildfire.

3) Where would my existing skills and passions fit most easily into this map today? My skills, for example, would enable me to teach almost any business in town how to market themselves.

4) What new skills and assets would I need if I want to adjust my current offerings or move to a completely different role in my community? Let’s say I wanted to be an organic farmer instead of a local SEO — how could I transition?

5) If large-scale government planning fails to ensure that all members of my community have what they need to support life, what are my options for cooperating with neighbors at a local level to ensure my city or county is more self-sustaining? For example, my city has a Buy Local association I might tap into for large-scale, organized planning.

From this exercise, I want you to be able to tell yourself and others a compelling story about what your place on the map lacks and what it requires to become more self-reliant, as well as begin to gauge where you might personally fit in contributing to solutions.

Assess local demand

Now it’s time to research specific demand. How do you know what’s most needed at a local level? Try these tools and exercises and take notes on your findings.

1. Center your own experience and see if it’s trending

More than anything else, it’s your powers of local observation that will tell you most about business opportunities. Businesses exist to solve problems, and right now, the problem we’re confronting is local self-sufficiency during times of emergency as well as in better days.

Here’s an example of a problem. My household eats legumes at least twice a day in some form. We’ve always been able to get dried beans, lentils, and peas in bulk from the grocery store. However, with the public health emergency, stores ran out of stock and we had to order boxed products from an international brand headquartered far away. I can check to see if the problem I’ve noticed locally is part of a larger phenomenon by looking at Google Trends:

Sure enough, this tool is reporting a spike in demand for dried beans across the US in mid-March. Of course, this isn’t a reason to run out and start a new business, but the data can engender good questions like:

Have I identified an anomalous spike in demand or a permanent need?

Is there explicit value for customers if this demand could be supplied locally instead of via distribution/online channels?

Are there already local companies fulfilling this demand? If I got into this line of business, who would my local competitors be and how well are they marketing themselves?

Pay special attention to any insider information you have as a local. For example, I happen to know that in my region, there is just one local grower of dried beans and they aren’t large enough to make the community food-secure. They specialize in organic, heirloom varieties and, every year, their small crop rapidly sells out.

What do you know about supply and demand in your community, from lived experience?

2. See if your need is mentioned in Google’s Rising Retail Categories

Google’s brand new Rising Retail Categories tool doesn’t specifically mention my dried bean example, but it’s another interesting vehicle for watching demand trends.

For example, here’s data capturing a 50% increase in US demand for tortillas and wraps:

Unfortunately, Google’s tool can’t zoom in to a local level, and you can’t query the tool, but it’s great for brainstorming business concepts based on trending queries. Right now, for example, anything to do with home and garden improvement and growing food is off the charts.

Seeing the larger picture, this could simply be a predictable seasonal trend with summer coming up, but I can again pair this with my insider knowledge. Every plant nursery and home improvement store in my area is sold out of multiple products — from tomato cages, to grow bags, to compost. At least for the present, I believe we are witnessing substantial growth in the desire to enhance life at home and to have access to fresh food. Take note of anything you’ve wanted that’s been sold out or available in only limited quantities.

3. Crosscheck demand via keyword research tools

If you’re not a Moz customer, making use of a free trial to check out Keyword Explorer will give you a ton of data about national supply and demand. And don’t overlook the beta of Local Market Analytics, which shows you local keyword volumes. Add in a few local cities you’d ideally like to serve and the website address of your own business or that of a potential competitor, even if you’re not yet open for business.

Free keyword research tools like Answer the Public or the Google Adwords Keyword Planner can also help you assess large-scale demand.

4. Ask, listen, repeat

To further explore whether there is desire for your offering in your community, test the waters by asking strategic questions in multiple places and of multiple people, including these:

Nextdoor

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Local fora (Craigslist, community hubs, local newspapers, etc.)

Industry fora (agricultural, manufacturing, retail, etc.)

Buy Local associations

Chambers of Commerce and other business associations

Local government bodies and officials

A formal focus group

Friends and family

Local reporters and bloggers

Successful local business owners

What you ask will vary depending on your business idea. In my dried bean hypothesis, I might want to poll feelings of frustration about local food shortages and gauge interest in improving local food security, as well as discover if people would pay for direct-to-consumer (DTC) delivery of my crop on a regular basis. I’d be researching agricultural programs, grants, loans, and other forms of assistance to help me start farming myself, or to form a collective of farmers willing to devote acreage to a bean crop, or to supply stores and restaurants, or to market my product.

I’d want to gather as much information as possible from as many people as feasible to help determine whether a business idea is viable or not. Whether I want to become a grower/manufacturer, resell the output of an organized effort, or launch a marketing campaign, the fundamental requirement is that I’ve discovered my offering is definitely in demand.

5. Look Back

In 1960, 95% of the clothing Americans purchased was made in the US. In the 21st century, that figure has fallen to just 2%. A couple of generations ago, 60% of us lived in rural areas near farms, but today, only 20% of us do.

As we weather the pandemic, my mind keeps turning to a drive-through dairy my family visited weekly in my childhood. It was convenient for my mother to steer the station wagon under a portico and have the dairy’s staff fill up the trunk with milk, yogurt, cheese, and a half-a-dozen frozen push-up pops for the kids. If consolidation and economies of scale hadn’t made that independent dairy obsolete, their curbside service would be doing record business in 2020. Walmart wants to do this with robots — I’d prefer to make sure my neighbors have living wage jobs and my town has a tax base.

In these days of “buy online, pickup in store” (BOPIS) and same-day delivery, I recommend befriending your city’s library or historic society to gain access to business records depicting the state of local 20th century commerce. See how your community was sustained by the farmer, the tailor, the baker, the vegetable wagon, the milkman, the diaper truck, the cobbler who repaired non-throwaway shoes, the town-supported hospital and doctor who made house calls, and the independent grocer. What you find in the archives could shine a light on creating modern sustainability if trying times and local desire converge in a demand for change.

Once you’ve done as much research as you can into the demand, it’s time to consider how you would promote your offering.

Market like Ma Perkins

When unemployment peaked at 24.9% and thousands of banks closed in the 1930s, who was still operational? It was Ma Perkins, “mother of the air”, progenitor of content-based marketing and soap operas, and radio star who offered homespun advice to her fictional town while selling Oxydol to the listening public. Realizing that people would still need soap even in hard times, Proctor & Gamble swam against the austerity tide, doubling down on their marketing investments by launching the “Oxydol’s Own Ma Perkins” radio show, making the brand one of the most famous Great Depression- era success stories.

This historic example of tying an essential offering to dedicated communication feels just about right for our current time. Scanning headlines like “Some small businesses are flourishing in the COVID-19 pandemic”, I’m hearing crackling echoes of Ma Perkins in the storytelling ventures of Cleancult’s orange zest cleansers and Tushy’s bidets. There’s precedent behind SEOs telling clients not to pause their marketing right now if they can afford it. Being a visible, reliable resource in this moment isn’t just good for brands — it’s a relief and help for customers.

For your local business idea, there will be a tandem marketing task ahead of you:

Tell a story of and to your local customers and tie it into your offering.

Tell such a persuasive story of the need for local resource security that you needn’t go it alone. Help the local business community reimagine itself as a city planning task force with the goal of increased self-sufficiency.

Marketing needs to be baked into your business concept — not treated as an afterthought. To broadcast your storytelling to the public in modern times, local radio can still be a great tool, but you will also likely need to master:

Local SEO

Organic SEO

Content marketing

Social media marketing

Building local business alliances

Moz has many free guides and a vast library of expert articles to help you gather skills you need, and I hope they’ll help you on your business ideation journey as you consider the role promotion will play in getting the word out about what you can do for your community.

Circling back to our tale of dried beans, if you can tell your customers’ stories, tell a good story about yourself like heirloom bean grower Rancho Gordo, inspire others to talk about you as in this local industry news piece on Baer’s Best beans, you are on the way to a win.

If you learn how to cumulatively build press and awareness around your brand, your business idea could wind up a local household name by demonstrably improving life where you live.

Within the realm of possibility

“Could the reduction in air pollution be good news for fighting climate change? (University of Toronto researcher Marc) Cadotte says a small blip like the one we're experiencing will have minimal impact on the long-term challenge of climate change. But if the pandemic continues and emergency measures remain, some countries may end up unintentionally meeting emissions targets set through the Kyoto Protocol and Paris agreement.” — Phys.org: Air quality improves by up to 40% in cities that took action on COVID-19

Theater buffs are currently arguing about whether Shakespeare may have written some of his masterworks while quarantining from plague. What’s at stake in such debates is the scope of human creativity in the face of adversity. My own community in California has already been so hard-hit by the wildfires of climate change that COVID-19 has the odd feeling of being “just another disaster”. It has made the reduction in car travel feel trivial to my friends and family, given the benefits of a massive reduction in emissions.

Is it unsound to consider reenvisioning your business or opening a new one in a reality where upheaval has become a dogged companion and stability has become a prize beyond compare? Scientists warn we can only expect more of the same until we seize the full measure of problem-solving and make our own masterwork a sustainable planet.

Against that backdrop, let’s have the courage to say it’s within the realm of possibility for you to grow beans, or build an alliance of farmers to sell them, or market that alliance to your county. Or do whatever work strikes you as most powerfully contributive.

Let’s say it’s not beyond things dreamt of in your philosophy that a tri-county alliance could provide water, food, clothing, housing, home goods, education, professional services, safety net, civic life, and culture to all regional residents. And perhaps your region makes a blueprint for others, and progress is slowly redefined not by short-sighted market wins but, rather, permanent gains in the human happiness index.

In an essentials-first economy, let’s say that people, and their capacity for solving problems have, in fact, become essential.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

[nutrifami]

Mapping Local Essentials: Being the Business that Grows, Sells, or Markets the Beans

Posted by MiriamEllis

Image credit: Kenneth Leung, Michael Coghlan

“Dried beans saw a more than 230% increase in demand and rice sales spiked by 166% in that same time.” - ABC

How should a business operate now? Where is there work to be done? Economists are making stark predictions about the future of small businesses in the US, but at the same time, I live in a town without a courier service established enough to meet the mushrooming demand for home delivery.

Frankly, it’s devastating reading headlines forecasting the permanent closure of 7.5 million American SMBs, but while absorbing these, I also spent six weeks shaking the Internet for bathroom tissue before locating some 1,400 miles away.

Point being: Where there’s need, fulfilment can be a public good, and where there’s upheaval, any possibility is worth considering. Necessities are emerging in bold relief on the map of each town and city. Demand must be met by determined small entrepreneurs to keep society functional.

If you have a strong desire to actively support communities in new ways, by either retooling your existing business or even launching a new one, the doors of opportunity are open:

Tools and exercises can help you assess local demand, with the goal of building a stable business based on serving the public exactly what it needs most. What I see emerging is a marketplace that’s essentials first, luxuries second. With a consumer public struggling to get its basic needs met, you want to own the business that grows, sells, or markets the dried beans if you can determine they’ll continue to be a must-have in all times and seasons. Let’s think this through together today.

Map local essentials

One of the hard lessons so many of us have learned from the past few months is that our local communities are neither prepared for disasters nor sufficiently self-sufficient to meet all basic needs. Where is the wheat field, flour mill, yeast manufacturer “near me” so that I can bake enough bread to keep my household going instead of staring at “out of stock” messaging on the websites of remote major brands? If you’re considering becoming part of the local solution to this widespread problem, I’d like you to try this simple city planning exercise with me.

Take out a pen and paper, or open a design program if you prefer, and map out the essential needs of your community. Your community could be your city, or could be a larger geographic area such as a county. Include everything you can think of that human society requires, from water and food, to skills of all kinds, with an emphasis on long-term sustainability. Your map may look very similar to mine, or it could have substantial differences:

Once you’ve created your own map, answer these five questions:

1) Based on what I currently know, where in my community are the worst, ongoing local resource deficits? For example, in my community, we make too much alcohol for the residents to drink and don’t grow enough food for them to eat.

2) From what the present emergency is teaching me, which local resources have proven both essential and hard to access during a disaster? For example, there is only minimal manufacture of necessities in my town and a tax base that hasn’t been geared towards safety from wildfire.

3) Where would my existing skills and passions fit most easily into this map today? My skills, for example, would enable me to teach almost any business in town how to market themselves.

4) What new skills and assets would I need if I want to adjust my current offerings or move to a completely different role in my community? Let’s say I wanted to be an organic farmer instead of a local SEO — how could I transition?

5) If large-scale government planning fails to ensure that all members of my community have what they need to support life, what are my options for cooperating with neighbors at a local level to ensure my city or county is more self-sustaining? For example, my city has a Buy Local association I might tap into for large-scale, organized planning.

From this exercise, I want you to be able to tell yourself and others a compelling story about what your place on the map lacks and what it requires to become more self-reliant, as well as begin to gauge where you might personally fit in contributing to solutions.

Assess local demand

Now it’s time to research specific demand. How do you know what’s most needed at a local level? Try these tools and exercises and take notes on your findings.

1. Center your own experience and see if it’s trending

More than anything else, it’s your powers of local observation that will tell you most about business opportunities. Businesses exist to solve problems, and right now, the problem we’re confronting is local self-sufficiency during times of emergency as well as in better days.

Here’s an example of a problem. My household eats legumes at least twice a day in some form. We’ve always been able to get dried beans, lentils, and peas in bulk from the grocery store. However, with the public health emergency, stores ran out of stock and we had to order boxed products from an international brand headquartered far away. I can check to see if the problem I’ve noticed locally is part of a larger phenomenon by looking at Google Trends:

Sure enough, this tool is reporting a spike in demand for dried beans across the US in mid-March. Of course, this isn’t a reason to run out and start a new business, but the data can engender good questions like:

Have I identified an anomalous spike in demand or a permanent need?

Is there explicit value for customers if this demand could be supplied locally instead of via distribution/online channels?

Are there already local companies fulfilling this demand? If I got into this line of business, who would my local competitors be and how well are they marketing themselves?

Pay special attention to any insider information you have as a local. For example, I happen to know that in my region, there is just one local grower of dried beans and they aren’t large enough to make the community food-secure. They specialize in organic, heirloom varieties and, every year, their small crop rapidly sells out.

What do you know about supply and demand in your community, from lived experience?

2. See if your need is mentioned in Google’s Rising Retail Categories

Google’s brand new Rising Retail Categories tool doesn’t specifically mention my dried bean example, but it’s another interesting vehicle for watching demand trends.

For example, here’s data capturing a 50% increase in US demand for tortillas and wraps:

Unfortunately, Google’s tool can’t zoom in to a local level, and you can’t query the tool, but it’s great for brainstorming business concepts based on trending queries. Right now, for example, anything to do with home and garden improvement and growing food is off the charts.

Seeing the larger picture, this could simply be a predictable seasonal trend with summer coming up, but I can again pair this with my insider knowledge. Every plant nursery and home improvement store in my area is sold out of multiple products — from tomato cages, to grow bags, to compost. At least for the present, I believe we are witnessing substantial growth in the desire to enhance life at home and to have access to fresh food. Take note of anything you’ve wanted that’s been sold out or available in only limited quantities.

3. Crosscheck demand via keyword research tools

If you’re not a Moz customer, making use of a free trial to check out Keyword Explorer will give you a ton of data about national supply and demand. And don’t overlook the beta of Local Market Analytics, which shows you local keyword volumes. Add in a few local cities you’d ideally like to serve and the website address of your own business or that of a potential competitor, even if you’re not yet open for business.

Free keyword research tools like Answer the Public or the Google Adwords Keyword Planner can also help you assess large-scale demand.

4. Ask, listen, repeat

To further explore whether there is desire for your offering in your community, test the waters by asking strategic questions in multiple places and of multiple people, including these:

Nextdoor

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Local fora (Craigslist, community hubs, local newspapers, etc.)

Industry fora (agricultural, manufacturing, retail, etc.)

Buy Local associations

Chambers of Commerce and other business associations

Local government bodies and officials

A formal focus group

Friends and family

Local reporters and bloggers

Successful local business owners

What you ask will vary depending on your business idea. In my dried bean hypothesis, I might want to poll feelings of frustration about local food shortages and gauge interest in improving local food security, as well as discover if people would pay for direct-to-consumer (DTC) delivery of my crop on a regular basis. I’d be researching agricultural programs, grants, loans, and other forms of assistance to help me start farming myself, or to form a collective of farmers willing to devote acreage to a bean crop, or to supply stores and restaurants, or to market my product.

I’d want to gather as much information as possible from as many people as feasible to help determine whether a business idea is viable or not. Whether I want to become a grower/manufacturer, resell the output of an organized effort, or launch a marketing campaign, the fundamental requirement is that I’ve discovered my offering is definitely in demand.

5. Look Back

In 1960, 95% of the clothing Americans purchased was made in the US. In the 21st century, that figure has fallen to just 2%. A couple of generations ago, 60% of us lived in rural areas near farms, but today, only 20% of us do.

As we weather the pandemic, my mind keeps turning to a drive-through dairy my family visited weekly in my childhood. It was convenient for my mother to steer the station wagon under a portico and have the dairy’s staff fill up the trunk with milk, yogurt, cheese, and a half-a-dozen frozen push-up pops for the kids. If consolidation and economies of scale hadn’t made that independent dairy obsolete, their curbside service would be doing record business in 2020. Walmart wants to do this with robots — I’d prefer to make sure my neighbors have living wage jobs and my town has a tax base.

In these days of “buy online, pickup in store” (BOPIS) and same-day delivery, I recommend befriending your city’s library or historic society to gain access to business records depicting the state of local 20th century commerce. See how your community was sustained by the farmer, the tailor, the baker, the vegetable wagon, the milkman, the diaper truck, the cobbler who repaired non-throwaway shoes, the town-supported hospital and doctor who made house calls, and the independent grocer. What you find in the archives could shine a light on creating modern sustainability if trying times and local desire converge in a demand for change.

Once you’ve done as much research as you can into the demand, it’s time to consider how you would promote your offering.

Market like Ma Perkins

When unemployment peaked at 24.9% and thousands of banks closed in the 1930s, who was still operational? It was Ma Perkins, “mother of the air”, progenitor of content-based marketing and soap operas, and radio star who offered homespun advice to her fictional town while selling Oxydol to the listening public. Realizing that people would still need soap even in hard times, Proctor & Gamble swam against the austerity tide, doubling down on their marketing investments by launching the “Oxydol’s Own Ma Perkins” radio show, making the brand one of the most famous Great Depression- era success stories.

This historic example of tying an essential offering to dedicated communication feels just about right for our current time. Scanning headlines like “Some small businesses are flourishing in the COVID-19 pandemic”, I’m hearing crackling echoes of Ma Perkins in the storytelling ventures of Cleancult’s orange zest cleansers and Tushy’s bidets. There’s precedent behind SEOs telling clients not to pause their marketing right now if they can afford it. Being a visible, reliable resource in this moment isn’t just good for brands — it’s a relief and help for customers.

For your local business idea, there will be a tandem marketing task ahead of you:

Tell a story of and to your local customers and tie it into your offering.

Tell such a persuasive story of the need for local resource security that you needn’t go it alone. Help the local business community reimagine itself as a city planning task force with the goal of increased self-sufficiency.

Marketing needs to be baked into your business concept — not treated as an afterthought. To broadcast your storytelling to the public in modern times, local radio can still be a great tool, but you will also likely need to master:

Local SEO

Organic SEO

Content marketing

Social media marketing

Building local business alliances

Moz has many free guides and a vast library of expert articles to help you gather skills you need, and I hope they’ll help you on your business ideation journey as you consider the role promotion will play in getting the word out about what you can do for your community.

Circling back to our tale of dried beans, if you can tell your customers’ stories, tell a good story about yourself like heirloom bean grower Rancho Gordo, inspire others to talk about you as in this local industry news piece on Baer’s Best beans, you are on the way to a win.

If you learn how to cumulatively build press and awareness around your brand, your business idea could wind up a local household name by demonstrably improving life where you live.

Within the realm of possibility

“Could the reduction in air pollution be good news for fighting climate change? (University of Toronto researcher Marc) Cadotte says a small blip like the one we're experiencing will have minimal impact on the long-term challenge of climate change. But if the pandemic continues and emergency measures remain, some countries may end up unintentionally meeting emissions targets set through the Kyoto Protocol and Paris agreement.” — Phys.org: Air quality improves by up to 40% in cities that took action on COVID-19

Theater buffs are currently arguing about whether Shakespeare may have written some of his masterworks while quarantining from plague. What’s at stake in such debates is the scope of human creativity in the face of adversity. My own community in California has already been so hard-hit by the wildfires of climate change that COVID-19 has the odd feeling of being “just another disaster”. It has made the reduction in car travel feel trivial to my friends and family, given the benefits of a massive reduction in emissions.

Is it unsound to consider reenvisioning your business or opening a new one in a reality where upheaval has become a dogged companion and stability has become a prize beyond compare? Scientists warn we can only expect more of the same until we seize the full measure of problem-solving and make our own masterwork a sustainable planet.

Against that backdrop, let’s have the courage to say it’s within the realm of possibility for you to grow beans, or build an alliance of farmers to sell them, or market that alliance to your county. Or do whatever work strikes you as most powerfully contributive.

Let’s say it’s not beyond things dreamt of in your philosophy that a tri-county alliance could provide water, food, clothing, housing, home goods, education, professional services, safety net, civic life, and culture to all regional residents. And perhaps your region makes a blueprint for others, and progress is slowly redefined not by short-sighted market wins but, rather, permanent gains in the human happiness index.

In an essentials-first economy, let’s say that people, and their capacity for solving problems have, in fact, become essential.

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