#which also means that some of them get a brand new load of issues woo

[chisatowo]

Ok *looks at band swap ras* time to finally figure out what your fucking deal is

[djseaward]

my zero waste progress (& DIY oat milk recipe!)

you'd have to be living under a rock to not have heard the term "zero waste" thrown around. next to "adaptogen", i am predicting it's one of those buzzwords of the last year. and why not? even though it sounds like a phase and trendy, i am whole-heartedly on-board with zero waste becoming a thing that we just all do without thinking! zero waste doesn't have to mean that you absolutely create no waste at all, but an overall catchphrase for people trying to make steps to cut down on waste in order to live as zero waste as they possibly can in that time of their life.

making substitutes and compromises for the good of humanity and the planet. i'm all in for that. it also goes hand in hand with a thifty, frugal and minimalist lifestyle.

so i wanted to share some "zero waste" or more ecological changes i've made over the past year and some goals of mine for next year. maybe it’ll give you some ideas or hopefully inspire you a little to try something out! 

i feel proud that 2018 was the year that we've really hunkered down and got more serious about zero waste and the switch to a more ecological, sustainable household.

pre-2018 there have been some really ecological switches we've already made. we started composting within the first two years or so that we moved to budejovice, and lucky for us, our landlords have a compost heap that they kindly let us put our bio into, which in turn fuels our building's garden! pretty neat. since we started doing this, we only have to take out the (small sized bin) trash about once every three weeks! hooray! that may sound strange, but there’s nothing stinky in there since we have a separate compost container which is emptied once every couple of days (choose something with a lid that closes completely!).

of course we've been recycling (no brainer), always bring shopping bags with us when we go (always on foot) to the supermarket and throw almost no plastic away.

we also had been using old holey socks as a dusting rag and plastic produce bags as "saran wrap". we've never bought saran (plastic, cling) wrap here before.

since the beginning, we've bought compostable dog poo bags for ferdie. (tip: it's better to dispose of these in bio bins vs. trash bins where they'll decompose slower because the trash isn't allowed to aerate like the compost is)

i'm very passionate about purchasing only recycled toilet paper as entire areas are deforested just to make new, fluffy toilet paper. #knowbetterdobetter

we bring our own containers, cups and utensils when we travel or go on day trips. i’ve found that glass jars make excellent “tupperware” containers as well as impromptu wine glasses for a picnic. if i were in the market for a new travel tumbler, i’d definitely spring for a stojo collapsible tumbler! that’s always my problem that i bring my tumbler and then it takes up space for most of the trip, unused.

alex is very adamant about unplugging nearly every appliance when not in use. with how expensive electricity is in europe, it helps a lot not to having a computer sucking it up! it's also much better for your battery appliances to unplug from the wall as soon as they are finished charging, so you're also taking better care of your things.

here are some recent changes we've made just over the past year.

-- eliminating use of aerosols. i personally decided i wouldn't buy any more, but the problem for a long time had been: where the heck can you find non-aerosol shaving cream? i found my answer in d'fluff shaving cream in a tub from LUSH. it smells like their rockstar soap and although it doesn't foam, i'm down with this change!

-- we switched to bamboo toothbrushes, which i had to order by mail because previously, there were no local shops that sold them! i have since found a couple so i think we're good to go now. before, i ordered from the bam and boo, which sent them so quickly even with a special, personalized note in czech which i thought was so sweet as they came from portugal.

-- choosing bar soap vs. liquid soap which has to be sold in packaging.

-- eliminating purchasing anything with palm oil or high fructose corn syrup (or glucose-fructose syrup, as it's known here). for years i believed in the myth that HFCS was banned in europe, but you can still find it in everything!

-- the switch from typical supermarket laundry soap and dishwasher tabs to an eco-label laundry soap (made from soap nuts) which is highly concentrated and therefore more ecological and more earth-friendly dishwasher tabs. both of these switches are more expensive than what we used to buy, so i totally understand going more eco-friendly isn't for everyone and all budgets. however, if you wouldn't notice an extra few dollars here and there, why not make this simple switch? i like the czech brand of laundry soap tierra verde out of brno. (why is everything cool is out of brno these days?)

-- switching from disposable feminine products to a medical-grade silicone menstrual cup has been a complete.game.changer. it's one of those things you kick yourself for not getting much much earlier. did you know a tampon applicator takes 500 years to break down? i went with first greener and am really pleased  that i did. as a menstruating human, this seems like one of the single biggest improvements you can make to take steps towards zero waste. cost was an barrier for me with this and not being able to shell out for one for awhile, but the company i purchased from often runs deals for only $10 (that includes international shipping). i’m pleased some companies are making menstrual products more accessible to women of all income levels.

-- right at the end of the year, i finally found reusable produce bags that were a reasonable price. hoorah!

-- we have nearly stopped buying paper towels, using regular old towels or other cloths instead.

-- purchasing our vegetables in the warmer months from a local CSA (community supported agriculture) vegetable box program cuts down both on plastic wrapping, supports local south bohemian farms and is just a fun, healthy way to make sure we eat loads of season veggies. it also challenges me to stop being lazy and cook or make something with them before anything goes bad. (for my local budejovice friends: you can order a vegetable box starting usually around june from u dobraka)

-- alex says he's most proud of our household's switch to alternative milks vs. dairy milk. this helps loads with water consumption, is far more ecological, and much more animal-friendly.  (alternative milk recipe at the end of this post - woo!)

changes i would like to make in 2019

-- one of my challenges is zero waste hair products. most drugstore products are aerosol or just the typical tube. i think i will end up purchasing from LUSH's hair line as not only have i already raved about their products but i so appreciate their commitment to reusable packaging, as well as their vocal stance against animal cruelty.

-- do better with food waste. i have already eliminated a lot of issues i’ve had with food waste over the past year and meal planning helps SO MUCH with not only reducing waste, but also saving some crowns. i’ve made some great strides in the past year, i’d like to do even better in 2019 getting my food waste down to 0%. laziness can be a big (bigbig) factor here, and that’s a tough one to overcome! i will also try making or buying less products that i don’t finish.

-- i'd like to remember to start taking what few glass empties i have back to a supermarket to get a refund. this is extremely common practice in germany, but not quite as common here, and we normally just go to the normal glass recycle bin. it would be nice to start getting a few crowns back here and there vs. nothing!

-- i'd love to invest in a set of cloth linen napkins i'm actually proud to use! will look to a thrift shop or bazaar before checking a store.

-- collectively, one of our main focuses as a household is a reduction in goods which use plastic, single-use, throw-away packaging, such as musli, for example. buying musli or any cereal here in the czech republic is such a headache -- it is either expensive or contains palm oil, for the most part. there is one brand i like, but i find i am eating it over and over and get so tired of it. any of you out there DIY your musli or cereal? please share your wisdom!

easy DIY recipe: oat milk

one of my big goals is to DIY even more. i already do quite a fair bit of DIY in terms of household products and foods, sauces that i can't buy in the czech republic, but i'd like to DIY more with products i already buy to avoid excess packaging and saving money. in the first few days of the year, i've already decided i will no longer buy oat milk at the store (40kc or $1.70 per liter) and instead, make it. it is startlingly easy to do, takes only 10 minutes of active time and can be a huge money saver! this recipe also happens to be zero waste as you can use the remnants.

you'll need...

-- a blender -- cheesecloth (or similar) -- large pitcher -- 1 cup of oats (your choice) -- 1 liter (approx. 4 cups) of water -- 1-2 TB honey or maple syrup -- 1 liter glass bottle

1) soak your oats in plenty of water for at least an hour.

2) rinse your oats and plop them in the blender with the 4 cups of water and your optional tablespoon of honey or maple syrup*.

3) blend blend blend!

4) place the cheesecloth securely over the pitcher (a rubber band helps). pour the oat milk mixture from the blender onto the cheesecloth so it strains, with the milk passing into the pitcher. wring out the cheesecloth to make sure you've got all excess liquid.

5) pour the strained oat milk from the pitcher into a 1+ liter glass bottle which will be your "milk bottle" and pop in the fridge.

6) shake vigorously before each use. consume within 2-3 days.

7) scrape off the oat bits from inside the cheesecloth and store in the fridge - you can easily tuck them into your morning oats when you make your next pot of oatmeal or porridge!

use this oat milk anywhere you would typically use milk: in your cereal, coffee, oatmeal (double down!), wherever.

* 1 TB of sweetness is just enough to give it a similar sweetness as dairy milk has, 2 TB if you like it a teensy bit sweeter - even this does not taste “sweet”, so to speak. experiment.

finally, i feel like i need to give a biiiiig shout out to polly - former expat/travel blogger turned absolute zero waste maven at green indy blog and inspires me every day with thought-provoking topics i hadn’t even realized or considered she has loads of information on her blog, instagram and even runs e-courses helping people cut back on waste and save money.

i do want to state here that i am simply learning and am a student at this whole zero waste thing. i’m not an expert by any means and am not perfect. zero waste isn’t zero. this post is simply keeping track of my progress and hopefully a way to hold myself accountable for my goals. although i don’t think we all should be one of those people who can fit their trash in a jar or anything, there is a lot of work we can do. you don’t have to have a lot of money to “join the movement”. it’s not about going out and purchasing fancy bamboo utensils or whatever. it’s just about using what you already have, being creative and resourceful, and when something you have stops working or breaks, upgrade it (funding allowing) to a more ecological version.

how do you feel about the zero waste movement? i'd love if you shared a big win from the past year and maybe also something you want to improve upon as well! here's to a greener new year. 

ps, you might like how i travel on a teacher’s budget or thoughts on living without stuff.

[smashbuddies]

They Came From Outer Space: Pt. 10

“I still don’t really like you leaving without your collar…”

Daniel let out a deep sigh as he smoothed the lapel of his blazer and scanned over his reflection. “Well, it can’t be helped. You said it would take another day or so for it to get fixed. And I’ve been fine so far, there’s really nothing to worry about.”

Their claws shuffled together nervously, which he caught from the corner of his eye. Quietly, they mumbled, “You look unclaimed.”

“You and I both know that I’m not.”

“But you look it!”

Clearly he wasn’t going to get anywhere like this. So he took a deep breath, hands splayed out in the air so he could shake off some of this frustrated energy. They were coming from a good place. And look, he didn’t have nearly as much experience with others of their… Kind as they did. So maybe there could be a compromise.

Turning toward them, he flipped his hair back and said, “Alright. If you want me to look claimed, then do it the human way.”

They blinked owlishly, one claw frozen right up by their hair. “Huh?”

“Claim me the human way,” he repeated, arms crossed and hip cocked out. “Give me a lovebite.”

That stunned look didn’t leave their face. In fact, they only tilted their head and looked even more lost, almost like a puppy. It was cute, but he didn’t have time for this.

“Right here.” With a lone finger, he drew out a line where his collar once rested, goosebumps rising up in his skin from the almost too-strange feeling. “Just use your mouth and suck. It’ll leave a mark that’ll last for a good while, and everyone here on Earth will know I’m taken.”

Their eyebrows furrowed together, and they eyed up his neck, a small frown on their face. “Are you sure you want me doing that? I mean…”

For a second, his attention was drawn to their teeth almost glinting dangerously, the sharp, jagged points making his heart skip. He swallowed thickly and recalled all the little nips they’d given him in the past, right above his collar. Quick little stings that felt nice, but also made some deep, paranoid part of his brain go wild.

But really, as if Snail would ever hurt him, even accidentally. Well, besides the many instances of sore ass they gave him. That was different. And it only further proved how wrapped around his little finger they were.

“You won’t be using your teeth,” he finally said in a watered-down version of his “you dumbass” tone.  “At least, not that much. Really, it’s mostly just sucking. Do you want me to show you?”

That was supposed to be sarcastic. Condescending. Part of his Daniel Nadiva Brand Sass™. A loaded question that they’d either scoff or pout at because as if they’d need to be shown how to do something so simple.

But no. They nodded, eyes wide as they stared him down almost expectantly.

His face grew warm. “Really? You know the only way is to just do it, right?”

Another nod. Oh boy.

The heat in his face didn’t cool down as he stepped in close. With a quick kiss to their lips- mostly to cool his own nerves- he said, “Alright, head back, or else this’ll be awkward.”

Their face grew a darker shade of purple, but they obeyed and watched him carefully. He grabbed their chin just to ensure they wouldn’t get in the way and pressed his lips to their skin. High, it had to be high. For no particular reason. No, he wasn’t afraid that maybe someone out there would try to woo his Snail. Not at all.

...Okay, even he knew that was a huge lie.

He started with a gentle kiss, which earned a nice little hum. Then he got to the main event. It was an unfamiliar experience- not necessarily new, but it had been a long while since he’d done this at all. As usual, he preferred receiving.

Oh well. He was charitable enough to give where it counted.

Snail’s soft noises and hums fueled him, and he was happy that they seemed to at least be enjoying themself a little. As the cherry on top, they put a hand to the back of his head, fingers curling through and grabbing his hair. Oh, how nice.

When he pulled back, he let a scowl cross his face. The mark he left was noticeable enough, despite being abysmally small. “Well,” he muttered almost bitterly, “it’s been a while, but you get the-”

Suddenly, he found himself almost pushed against the wall, Snail’s free hand now on his hip, body pressed against him. His breath hitched when he noticed the hunger in their eyes- which were glued to his throat. It was like a switch flipped, their possessive nature taking over with a flash of large, sharp teeth.

Fuck.

“Sir… Are you okay?”

Daniel’s neck throbbed as he typed away on his computer. Emails, emails, emails, so many emails. Fucking bullshit, he hated this. “Yes, Sam. I’m fine.”

“...Are you sure about that?”

“I’m sorry, do you know about my physical condition better than I do?” he asked with a scowl. “Are you a doctor? Was that something you left out on your resume? Please, enlighten me on why I wouldn’t be okay.”

She rolled her eyes and placed a small stack of papers on his desk. “It looks like you got attacked by a swarm of very particular leeches, sir. Giant leeches, at that.”

His face grew hot and he tried, in vain, to pull his collar up over his marks. “Not leeches. Just a very… Very possessive alien. Snail got antsy about me going out again, so I told them about lovebites. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to work today, I’m sure.”

The corner of her lip quirked up for a split-second. “I see.”

He slowly took her in, one eyebrow raised up as he noted something rather interesting. Smoothly, he turned his gaze back to his email, pressed send, and said, “Ms. Samantha Morrison, I don’t believe you have much room to laugh. Perhaps you’d do well to, ahem, touch up your foundation. It’s rubbing off.”

She let out a gasp and her hand immediately went to the crook of her neck. Oh, he hit the nail right on the head. And it was so sweet for all the shit she’d given him. But of course, he couldn’t be too hard on her.

Daniel got to his feet and sauntered over to her, grinning wildly as he continued, “I think now’s a good time for my break. Tell her to be more careful while I’m out.”

Her red face betrayed the impassive look she gave him. “Sir, kindly shove it up your ass.”

“Oh, please, if I wasn’t taken, I’d love to.”

“I’m not surprised.”

He crinkled his nose at her in mock offense, to which she returned with a satisfied smirk. On that note, he took off, ready for a much needed tea break. And perhaps he’d make a note to tell Snail “not so rough” next time.

But that was an issue for Future Daniel. For now, he was ready to enjoy the sunshine, the city sounds, the eyes following his every move. The simple pleasures always made him smile.

After walking a block or so, though, he began to feel… Uneasy. In a somewhat familiar way. He looked over his shoulder, hoping his resting pissy face would deter any creepers trying to follow him. But, to his shock, there was no one there. No one that seemed to be suspicious, at least. Just people going about their business or small clusters of friends laughing as they walked.

Best not to worry about it, then.

Still, he picked up his pace, and took about three or so steps before something wrapped around his waist and pulled him into the alleyway he’d just passed by. Slammed against the wall, stars invaded his vision while rough metal clamped around his neck. His hands immediately went up to wrench it off, but a strong grip grabbed him by the wrists and pinned them above his head.

Once he finally registered who the hell was assaulting him, his blood ran cold.

An alien. Clearly the same kind as Snail- the eyes, the markings, the wriggling tentacles in the air. But instead of purple, this asshole was a sea of reds and oranges. And that predatory grin was almost heart-stopping- full of too-sharp teeth that Daniel actually had to reel back from.

“What a pretty pet,” a deep voice cooed as a single claw traced the curve of Daniel’s jaw. “An Eleven, all mine!”

Hell no!

“Excuse me,” he snapped, practically snarling as he pulled against the hold on him. “But I already have a fucking owner- get this damn collar off me!”

The alien blinked, all excitement replaced by a bored look of disbelief, which even spread to the slowing down of their tentacles. “Is that right? Then what’s your owner’s name, little pet?”

“Snail.”

Eyebrows furrowed, the alien muttered something and brought out a strange device. A snarled word slipped through Daniel’s brain- this stupid fucking language, he’d need to learn it one day- and a holographic image of Snail with some strange text popped up. Then that photo was replaced by one of him, with his name in clear English underneath. After taking it in, he narrowed his eyes.

…Was he sleeping?

Never mind, there were more important things to worry about. Like the fact that the alien had dismissed the image and now had a hand on his hip, claws digging into his skin deeper than Snail had ever done. He bit down on his lip from the pain, and fuck, there was no way the asshole didn’t draw blood and poke holes into his slacks.

“Well, little pet,” the alien said, almost taunting with its low, slow drawl. “Your owner must be stupid for letting you out with no collar.”

“It broke,” he muttered darkly, a sneer on his face. “They’re getting it fixed, and it’s supposed to be done soon.”

“Really? How interesting.” That tone made him feel sick. The alien brought a hand up to poke at the metal resting heavily on his neck. “Well, they sure won’t be able to get their collar on you now, will they? As if they’d even want you knowing that you’ve been claimed by someone else. Claimed and used.”

The swarm of tentacles hovering around drew in closer, and Daniel’s eyes went wide. The surge of panic for his safety mixed with the fear that maybe Snail would hate him after this. They’d told him so, after all, and now by their culture’s standards, he’d been stolen away. He’d been a bad pet, a bad boyfriend, and now he wasn’t theirs.

No!

Every last one of his lovebites ached a reminder. He belonged to Snail by his standards. Their pet, their boyfriend, and nothing would change that. Their ownership ran deeper than anything a metal piece of junk could erase.

Swiftly, he brought his knee up to the source of the tentacles. A loud, rattling roar echoed through the alleyway, and the firm grip on his hands released. In the small window he had, he slipped away from the alien and made it past the threshold, surrounded by light and people and safety.

Daniel turned back to snarl some vicious threat, but was pinned in place by the terrifying glare aimed right at him.

“You better hope your old owner will protect you,” the alien growled, all tentacles gone and hands in place over where he attacked. “Because I don’t like unruly pets.”

On that note, the alien scampered away, disappearing around a corner on the other side of the alley.

Shit. He didn’t have much time. Mind abuzz with too many thoughts, he pulled his phone out and called Sam, legs carrying him back to the studio as fast as he could go.

“Sir?”

“Cancel today’s episode,” he rushed out, words spilling forward without much to reign them in. His free hand reached up to the collar on his neck and tugged, hoping in vain to pull it off. “Something came up, alien bullshit, bad alien bullshit. Tell everyone I got food poisoning or something, I don’t care, whatever it takes, just please, make this happen.”

“Of course, sir, of course. Be safe, and good luck with your alien bullshit.”

“I’ll try. And thank you.”

Daniel’s brain was so frazzled that he sooner tried to kick down his own damn door than unlock it. Foot aching terribly- a wonderful match to go with all his throbbing injuries- he threaded both hands in his hair and pulled just hard enough to get his mind to quiet down, then slapped the touchpad of the stupid, bullshit, piece of garbage alien technology that kept him locked out. After just a second, the little indicator flashed green, and he could finally go in.

“Snail!”

Tears welled up in his eyes, but they appeared in just a second flat, hands cupping his face, soft whispers filling his head with a pleasant lightness. Their lips pressed against his, and he let himself be swept away by the comfort.

Until a low rumble filled the air.

Snail pulled back, teeth now bared, eyes glued to the collar on his neck. Their hands went down to grip at it, and Daniel’s heart jolted with panic. Their growling only grew louder as their claws tried to dig into the metal fruitlessly.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered out, unable to meet their eyes. “Some other alien found me and, fuck, I said I was owned, gave your name and everything, but-”

“Are you hurt?”

Daniel blinked, every rushing thought and worst-case scenario crashing into an indecipherable mess. “What?”

Their face was softer. Just the slightest bit of possessive edge remained, but their concern shone through. Slowly, almost sweetly, they repeated, “Are you hurt? Did that bastard do anything to you?”

As soon as he opened his mouth to answer, a touch to his hip made him wince. They immediately reeled back, and looked down at the small smear of blood on their hand. Whatever anger remained drained out, and they went pale. But he didn’t have long to try and decipher that look on their face before they pulled him into a tight hug, one clawed hand in his hair.

“I’m okay,” he tried to assure them, but his shaking voice probably didn’t help much. He rested his head on their shoulder and took a deep breath. “That’s all the asshole did. I was able to book it before...”

A sharp intake of breath. “You… Managed to get away? On your own?”

“Yeah?” He pulled back to give them a curious look that slowly turned into a wry smile. “I know your kind’s weakest spot. Wasn’t that hard to get to with a well-timed knee.”

They stared at him for a moment while the gears visibly turned in their head. Then their eyes widened a fraction before narrowing into a pained wince. Even Daniel felt a little empathetic pang just from thinking about it too hard.

“I did what I had to do,” he said with a grimace. “As if I’d let someone else get their grubby tentacles on or in me.”

That made them purr, the soft vibrations tickling his neck as they nuzzled into him. Daniel let out a breathy laugh. All the weight and fear was gone now, and he could finally enjoy just being in their arms. For the moment, at least.

Once the warm, fuzzy feelings reached their peak, he sobered up a little and said, “The alien was pretty pissed at me. I'm pretty sure we'll be getting a visit soon.”

Snail sighed. “Yeah...”

Daniel frowned to himself and wrapped his arms tightly around them. A thought plagued him: if Snail had to deal with the other alien, it would no doubt be violent. That seemed fitting from what little he knew. Brutal fights to the death over signs of status- the most prominent point of their culture. And it matched with how aggressive they were. Eager to kill for him.

And no doubt willing to die.

He couldn't bear it, wouldn't be able to live with himself knowing he did that to them. They were- fuck, what a revelation to have right now- the love of his life. And they couldn't be the only one doing the protecting.

Was it even worth the risk to have them fight? He was an Eleven. A pet, a valuable pet at that. He wouldn't be killed. Hurt, punished, no doubt tormented in ways that even trying to think of made him nauseous. But not killed. And neither would Snail, if he gave in.

“You can go,” he said quietly, and he felt the hand against his head tense. “So you don't get hurt. I'll be okay, I promise.”

That familiar rumble sprang back up and sent vibrations through him. “No.”

“Snail-”

“No!”

His head was pulled back and their lips smashed against his at the first opportunity. The kiss dominated him, every ounce of fight away, replaced by a desperate need for the comfort they were roughly providing. Soft whimpers bubbled up in his throat, punctuated by a gasp when he could finally breathe again.

“You’re mine,” they panted out, eyes flickering down for a second. Then they put a hand to their neck, the dark blotch Daniel left on them just barely visible between their fingers. “And I’m yours. No one can change that. I’ll crush anyone who tries.”

A little brutish. But that declaration of love- yes, it was love, he could feel it in every word- made him swoon nonetheless.

[atakportal]

Polytechnic | Powerful Education, Courses & Events

New Post has been published on https://click.atak.co/polytechnic-powerful-education-courses-events/

Polytechnic | Powerful Education, Courses & Events

Polytechnic is an responsive, education and student focused WordPress Theme. It’s beautiful, clean, and professional. We built this theme specifically for educational institutions and include easy to use live customizes and drag & drop builders. It’s capable of handling a ton – including a new faculty member role, extended user profiles and pages, customizable “white label” login, courses, catalogs, faculty grid, store, blogs, filterable post grid, and almost anything that you can think up! We pride ourselves on how well this theme works out of the box, so if you run into any issues, please don’t hesitate to let us know at our dedicated support forum. Check out our feature list below!

Latest Update: March, 2018 Version 1.3.7 Now Available With new updates and feature requests!

See update log below for full details

The Idea Behind This Theme

We believe that school is hard enough as it is, and wanted to build something awesome that helps schools, faculty members, and students. Something that would enhance the school experience for students, increase engagement and retention, decrease confusion, and that focused on the details of how this could work for that majority of educational institutions out there.

With all of that in mind, we built Polytechnic

Teachers can add/update their own courses and provide students with up to date information regarding homework, study guides, notes, and a tentative schedule based on a specific course section. Students can get course specific information if they missed class, check to see what time the pre-game rally is on Friday, get course catalog information online, and purchase required reading materials with a click of a button. And admins can oversee it all, monitor the flow of information, and have the ability to add, edit, assign, and delete course information and users.

The Best of the Features

Polytechnic comes with tons of features and the ability to support loads of different plugins that’ll make it just right for your project… here’s an overview of what’s included:

The New Faculty Role & Extended User Profiles

Polytechnic comes fully integrated with a new user role specifically built for educational institutions. We’re calling this new WordPress user/role “Faculty”. This Faculty role provides faculty members with the ability to add, edit, and update their own courses and course information. This role is similar to the “Author” role native to WordPress, with a few added tools and abilities to provide your faculty members with the right amount of rights. This role also allows users assigned to this role to edit their own personal information (ie. bio, photo, contact info, etc.).

Custom User Login

Because your faculty should feel proud to login to your schools site! Customize the login for your users to match your school with easy to use options. Go ahead, check it out. Choose or upload your login logo, position the login form location, add a background image, set a color fallback, and add custom html!

Courses & Catalogs

Adding a new course is easy, and can be assigned to any user. If that user has been assigned the role of Faculty, they will have their own login and dedicated WordPress dashboard. This dashboard will only include the necessary information for this user role (ie. courses). Next, this user can navigate to Courses to see all of the courses currently assigned to them. They can open any one of these to begin updating/editing the course information and course content (ie. homework, study guides, etc.)

Mega Menu

We’ve included a drag and drop mega menu to provide a compelling way of displaying menu items and additional content on your site. Now you can choose to use a flyout menu or mega menu for each parent item.

Sticky Header

We’ve built a sticky header right into the theme and gave it it’s own options panel. Setup is easy and will extend the usability of your site for your users. Add your own custom logo, menu, and customize away with our theme options.

Tophat Dropdown

This section is triggered with the (top left) tophat tagline trigger and reveals a new section of widgets. These widgets are easliy managed in Appearance > Widgets and we’ve even included a custom options panel to customize this section further.

Page Templates

We’ve built some powerful templates for you to use. These templates are customizable and can be used as many times as you like and include: Post Grid, Blog, Course Catalog, and Faculty Grid (yes, it actually filters users). Each of these templates offer custom options to help building with these templates a breeze. Oh, and did we mention that you can also use Visual Composer on any of these pages to add even more content. The combinations are endless.

Sensei Learning Management Support

Sensei is a Learning Management System that makes teaching coursework easier than it’s ever been, all within WordPress. With the Sensei plugin you can create courses, write lessons, and add quizzes. Set lesson and course pre-requisites, allow user registration and even charge for your course content if you want. Simply put, we’ve included “out of the box” support for the “Sensei” plugin by Woo Themes for extended features and functionality for schools that want to take their courses and lessons to the next level. This plugin is not included with the theme, and users who want to utilize these extended features will need to purchase a license through Woo Themes. This plugin is not associated with the Polytechnic Courses provided with the theme.

WooCommerce Ready

Yep. WooCommerce is enabled on this theme, which means you can use it to sell stuff like shirts, gift cards, or anything else you can dream up. This theme isn’t focused on custom shop design, but WooCommerce does a TON of amazing stuff out of the box and this theme will work seamlessly with it.

Built on the Mythology Engine

Mythology Engine has been developed with the sole purpose of creating an efficient method of publishing themes with a streamlined development process… Key features include white-label options panels, “in-dashboard” documentation, and a no-nonsense approach to content management & theme options.

Visual Composer 4

Create your own custom layouts using over 30 different content modules ranging from image-sliders to text blocks to videos and maps. Visual Composer is the most popular visual editor available to WordPress and it’s bundled in the theme. Updates are be included for free with each theme-version update.

Visual Composer Extension (Polytechnic Exclusive): Custom Hover Images

User interaction has many benefits. One is that it can create focus and increase audience retention. Use Visual Composer to add these exclusive custom hover modules to your content. Don’t forget to add links and calls to action with these Custom Hover Modules to increase internal traffic and interactions. Choose a custom image, background color, add custom content, and select a start height and end height for the modules on that page.

Visual Composer Parallax Rows

We’ve extended this plugin to handle parallax backgrounds for full-width rows. This makes it even easier to add in your content and break it up visually with this custom feature.

Live Front-End Customizer: Unlimited Colors and 1,000’s of Fonts

Customize your theme’s typography easily with instant Live-Previews as you select your options and see how your site looks with any font, color, or size before you hit “Publish”. Integrated with color pickers and the Google Fonts library, so you’ll have 1,000s of fonts to choose from. If Google Fonts aren’t enough, we integrate seamlessly with Typekit, Fonts.com, and other popular services.

Revolution Slider 4

The most popular & easy to use “mega slider” plugin to ever exist!!! OK, that’s hyperbole, but it’s honestly pretty great and we’re thrilled to announce that we are now including Revolution Slider 4. This latest version includes: brand new admin interface, more options, more conveniences, custom caption animation builder, full slider import/export, and much more! You can also include Revolution Slider as your ad space slider, pre-content slider, sidebar slider and within individual posts/pages. Sweet!

Contact Forms

We are fully including Contact Form 7 to provide users with a quick and easy way to build and manage contact forms. It can manage multiple contact forms, plus you can customize the form and the mail contents flexibly with simple markup. The form supports Ajax-powered submitting, CAPTCHA, Akismet spam filtering and so on.

Ajax Live Search

Try typing in the search-bar (in the sidebar or on the “tophat”). The Live Search feature allows users to instantly skim your site for relevant material without every loading another page.

HTML5 Fueled SEO

We re-wrote our entire theme-base from scratch to include the latest, most relevant HTML elements and tags to allow for the best possible search engine results.

Multi-Language Support

The entire theme has been fully internationalized and prepped for your language translation. Just follow the usual translation process and the theme will do the rest.

Custom CSS & Script Injection

Got something custom that you want to drop in? Simple. Just drop them into our theme control panel and the theme will do the rest of the work for you.

Built with Ordinary People in Mind

Our goal is to deliver a theme that anyone can use & customize, without any need for 24/7 customer support or long-winded documentation manuals. We recommend uploading the theme demo if you want a head start, but the theme has truly been designed to be answer any of your questions as you use it, so don’t fret if you don’t know how to code.

Helpful Support

If you need some more information on something included with the theme, we’ve put together a dedicated information site for this theme. If you still need some help or have a question, feel free to ask us at our dedicated support forum. Just make sure to include your endgoal to help us understand how we can help.

Built with Developers in Mind, too!

Our code is clean, organized, and well commented. Everything has it’s rightful place in this theme, and making advanced customizations to templates, stylesheets, and functions has never been easier.

Beyond Responsive

We were one of the first theme crews to dabble in ‘responsive design’ way back in the day, so we know a thing or two about how to do this properly. Fluid grids are used at larger breakpoints, and fixed widths are used on smaller devices to ensure ideal spacing. The type size shifts on smaller devices to be larger and easier to read, and images and other media are sandboxed to prevent anything from breaking the layout.

REM Typography & Layouts

The problem with Pixels are, they absolutely do-not-scale in Internet Explorer. Furthermore, with the onset of Responsive Web Design, having fonts that scale (in relation to the screen width) has become paramount. Percentages (%) and EM’s are better, but they’re tricky and compound. Still not an answer. A real solution? Use the REM. (Source – Greg Rickaby)

JetPack Share, Comments, Carousel, and Extra Widgets

Nearly all of JetPack should work well with this theme (the Tiled Galleries are the only exception since those aren’t responsive); if you want to start using the next level of WordPress functionality, you’ll get it here.

The Theme Control Panels

This theme has been built on the Mythology Engine, a foundation theme from MDNW that has the primary goal of creating the fastest site launch process possible. It does this in a few ways:

Back-End Theme Options, Re-envisioned

Functionality meets organization. We’ve re-done all skinning options from our primary theme control panel in order to create a swift, responsive, uncluttered way to manage the key aspects of the theme. This is what the admin panel looks like:

In addition to the Theme Options panel (which manages the global theme options), this theme also integrates Page & Post options that allow you to override any global rules for that one page or post. These panels will show up on any Page or Post editor, underneath the basic content editor. In the event that they do not appear, make sure that you have enabled them from the top-right “Screen Options” panel. These panels will allow you to override theme-level options on individual pages and posts. To take this even further, we added custom options that show up depending on the page template used. This includes page template specific options for theBlog Page & Post Grid (Portfolio) page templates. These panels will show up on any page with the Blog Page template or Post Grid template selected. Front End Theme Skinning with Live-Preview Eliminate the guesswork from customizing the theme. Built on the WP Theme Customizer API with some special tricks blended in, you can change just about every typographic or color across the entire theme; there’s no need to reload the page on the front-end though; the Theme Customizer will show you an instant preview of what your changes look like right there on the same screen. Here’s what the panel looks like:

The full library of Google Fonts is included in the Theme Customizer (and yes, live-preview works on the font-faces too). Just open up the customize panel and start playing!

Quick Links

Standard Troubleshooting Steps

Support Policy | Articles | File a Support Request

How to UPDATE The Theme | How to UPDATE Premium Plugins

Change Log

/* ========== - UPDATE LOG : Polytechnic - ==========*/ Version 1.3.6 08/12/17 - UPDATED: Plugin - WPBakery Visual Composer 5.2 - UPDATED: Plugin - Revolution Slider 5.4.5.1 - UPDATED: element-sticky-header.php, element-secondary-navigation.php, and theme-register-menus.php - REMOVED: Mythology_Walker class - ADDED: Author sidebar styles updated. - UPDATED: theme-4-plugins.css styles for The Events Calendar update. Version 1.3.5 03/12/17 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 5.1 - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.4.1 - Fixed: SSL for GoogleFonts Version 1.3.4 01/14/17 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 5.0.1 - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.3.1.5 - UPDATED: Polytechnic Courses 2.0 - REMOVED: Mythology_Walker for QTranslateX Support - UPDATED: Author.php for translation of <p></p> string - UPDATED: .pot file - UPDATED: Style for sticky header menu items (with children) Version 1.3.3 09/08/2016 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.12.1 - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.2.6 - UPDATED: Ajaxy Search Form registered via included zip - UPDATED: Translation - Tophat Account/WooCommerce Links - Post in loop (the_content(Read More...)) - Template-Course-Catalog.php - _x to __ - Author Sidebar now includes 's - UPDATED: WooCommerce Support - FIXED: Page Layout options - UPDATED: Course Catalog template - ADDED: Sensei support - UPDATED: Polytechnic Courses 1.9 - ADDED: Sensei support - UPDATED: ot-meta-boxes - ADDED: Sensei support - UPDATED: Documentation 0.7 Version 1.3.2 07/12/2016 - UPDATED: Template Blog - UPDATED: Now uses WP_Query - ADDED: Conditional for pagination when is_front_page() - FIXED: Pagination when assigned to Static Front Page (Settings > Reading) - ADDED: RTL Support - ADDED: RTL Stylesheet - ADDED: Option to turn on RTL Stylesheet - UPDATED: hAtom microformats - NOTES: - CHECK/TEST: https://search.google.com/structured-data/testing-tool - CHECK/TEST HELP: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/guides/prototype - RESEARCH: Aggregate from articles and user feedback (Thanks @Tim) - UPDATED: hAtom microformat for author across the theme - UPDATED: vcard & fn - UPDATED: hAtom microformat for date across the theme - ADDED: Additional recommended markup to meet standards for microformats - ADDED: To post, post loop, default page, faculty page, post grid page, blog page, etc.) - UPDATED: Now supports new Responsive Menu plugin (v.3.0) - ADDED: Base styles to support the new markup/styles added by the plugin - ADDED: Starter skin for the menu (included in WP Polytechnic/Resources/Demo-Data/Demo-Menu-Skin.json). This allows users to use their panel to customize this further. - NOTE: This has become a "Freemium" plugin, which allows you to extend it by purchasing a "Pro" license. This is not necessary unless you want access to some of their more advanced functions. Again, this is not necessary. - Further, with so many pre-existing users, I felt it appropriate to support this update v. moving away from it. I am still considering other options, but this is a necessary step to maintain existing sites that using this functionality. - UPDATED: Modified styles for notifications on the backend, red to gray (red is a bit misleading). - UPDATED: Hover Image Module, module-content font-weight for @media-queries fallback updated - UPDATED: Child Theme - v.2.0 - ADDED: Support for Main/Large hover-image replacement with video (4:3) in hover-grid - UPDATED: Support for Dynamic To Top - ADDED: Option/Toggle to manage theme styles (Appearance > Theme Options > Sticky Header Options > Use Theme Styles for Dynamic To Top) - NOTES: Toggling the option off will remove theme styles for this element, and the Appearance > To Top panel will take precedent. Default is on, and will pull styles from the theme.Reason - This is for users who want to modify this element further using the native/included options. These option are limited, though, which is why the theme has custom styles for this. - UPDATED: Documentation to v.0.6 - UPDATED: Responsive Menu steps for importing the Responsive-Menu-Skin - UPDATED: Responsive Menu notes for setting up and customizing - UPDATED: Dynamic To Top section with notes on new option - UPDATED: Faculty Grid Template & Options - ADDED: All users of all roles selection option (Manual User Selection v. Manual Faculty User Selection) - ADDED: Query and output for new option key/value set - ADDED: Toogle ON/Off to turn user email into a mailto link - UPDATED: Theme Options > Faculty Options - UPDATED: Sectioned into tabs - ADDED: Toogle ON/Off to turn user email into a mailto link for Author page - ADDED: Toogle ON/Off to turn user email into a mailto link for Sidebar instances - UPDATED: the_time() has been updated to the_modified_date() - UPDATED: Styles for WooCommerce page title Version 1.3.1 06/08/2016 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.12 - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.2.5.3 - ADDED: Image Hover - Tablet(Portrait) options for start & end height - FIXED: Image Hover - Tablet(Portrait) display Version 1.3.0 05/24/2016 - UPDATED: Responsive Menu icon - UPDATED: Conditional that checks if title is set to off - now includes search results in conditional to maintain consistency - FIXED: Responsive Menu "Open State" for browsers not opening on first/second click (ie. Chrome, Edge, etc.) - UPDATED: Packaged version of VC in Resources folder Version 1.2.9 04/28/2016 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.11.2.1 - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.2.5 Version 1.2.8 04/14/2016 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.11.2 - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.2.4.1 Version 1.2.7 04/05/2016 - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.2.4 - FIXED: Grayscale header image - FIXED: Hover Image module custom start/stop hover height options (Thanks @tcward) - FIXED: Footer 1 column senario (removed added padding) Version 1.2.6 03/21/2016 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.11.1 - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.2.3.5 - FIXED: Faculty Grid page template manual user selection (user link/image) (Thanks @NirmalRaman) - FIXED: Theme Options - Skin Builder: - FIXED: Primary & Secondary Color Z-Index (Thanks @Boukjee) - FIXED: Sub Menu Highlight Border (Thanks @benjaminbis) FEATURE REQUEST(S) - ADDED: Title attribute for Social Links. Gives tooltip on hover (Thanks @chaddng) - ADDED: Theme Options > Post Options > Show the Featured Image (Thanks @advanceitmn) - ADDED: Hover Image > Alt Tag (Thanks #netterm) Version 1.2.5 03/1/2015 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.10 - UPDATED: Pageable Content module styles - UPDATED: Styles - UPDATED: Tophat Elements for Safari (Thanks @Naomi) - UPDATED: List styles for Essential Grid Plugin - UPDATED: List styles for Shortcodes Ultimate Plugin - ADDED: ADMIN STYLES FOR OPTIONTREE TABS - FEATURE REQUEST(S): - ADDED: Faculty Grid page template now includes an option to build manually (with user selection) - ADDED: Faculty Grid page template still supports filter by course category - ADDED: Image Link option for Hover Image module - ADDED: Course Featured Image Options On/Off - ADDED: Course Featured Image Custom Width - ADDED: Course Featured Image Custom Height - ADDED: Course Description On/Off - ADDED: Course Listing - Link Number On/Off - ADDED: Course Listing - Link Name On/Off - ADDED: Course Listing - Link User On/Off - ADDED: Visual Composer Quick Styles Controls (Theme Options > Skin Builder) - ADDED: VC Tab BG Color - ADDED: VC Tab:Hover BG Color - ADDED: VC Tab:Active BG Color - ADDED: VC Tab Panel BG Color - ADDED: VC Tab Panel Border Color - ADDED: Course Output Panel - ADDED: Change Course "Course Name"? - ADDED: Change Course "Course Number"? - ADDED: Change Course "Course ID"? - ADDED: Change Course "Course Time"? - ADDED: Change Course "Instructor"? - ADDED: Change Course "Room Number"? - ADDED: Change Course "Course Days"? - ADDED: Change Course "Prerequisite(s)"? - ADDED: Change Course "Component(s)"? - ADDED: Change Course "Credit(s)"? - ADDED: Change Course "Location"? - ADDED: Change Course "Notes"? - UPDATED: Author Course listings - UPDATED: Course Catalog page template - UPDATED: Single Course instance - UPDATED: Polytechnic Courses plugin v.1.7 Version 1.2.4 01/11/2015 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.9.1 - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.1.6 - UPDATED: VC 4.9.1 Support - Course styles - UPDATED: Removed vc_set_as_theme - UPDATED: Theme Documentation v.0.5 - UPDATED: Easy Theme & Plugin Upgrades plugin removed from Recommended Plugin list - ADDED: Credits and Prerequisites to Course-Catalog & List & Search Version 1.2.3 12/18/2015 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.9 - ADDED: VC 4.9 support - wpb_map() to vc_map() - Hover Image module and hover-grid styles - Custom parallax bg + content - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.1.5 - ADDED: Rev_Slider 5.1.5 support - first-child + cover-header styles updated - FIXED: Ken Burns Affect for Revolution Slider - UPDATED: Theme Styles for new version(s) of The Events Calendar plugin - Tophat Dropdown area widget usage - Content widget usage - Two column list template - UPDATED: Primary & Sticky Menu Z-Index - UPDATED: Demo-Content.xml for users with media issues - reflects new vc builds/modules - ADDED: New "Revolution Slider Home Page" demo_slider.zip - UPDATED: Marketing - 80x80.png - Theme Preview Version 1.2.2 12/01/2015 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.8.1 - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.1.4 - UDPATED: Buy VC nag removed (not needed) - FIXED: Faculty Contact Form option - UPDATED: Styles-Polytechnic plugin to version 1.4 Version 1.2.1 11/02/2015 - FIXED: Undefined function cascade for menu doc.helper plugin check Version 1.2.0 11/01/2015 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.8.0.1 - UPDATED: Separator styles for consistency - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.1 - UPDATED: Width for single events in month view updated - FIXED: Sticky Header menu option - FIXED: Revolution Slider v. Mega Menu dropdown z-index - FIXED: "Search Courses" for translation(s) - UPDATED: Descriptions for option sets - UPDATED: languages pot file - UPDATED: Mythology Core 1.1.8 - UPDATED: Load Text Domain function updated to check both original and standard locations - UPDATED: Doc Helper for setting menus updated Version 1.1.9 10/18/2015 - UPDATED: Demo-Content.xml - Uses latest VC module versions - UPDATED: Styles for new VC markup - FIXED: Menu dropdown v. hover-image z-index - UPDATED: Styles-Polytechnic plugin to version 1.3 - UPDATED: Polytechnic-Courses plugin to version 1.6 Version 1.1.8 10/08/2015 - FIXED - XSS Vulnerabilities: - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.7.4 - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.0.9 Version 1.1.7 09/22/15 - UPDATED: Tophat Dropdown Trigger and Pre Footer Blurb options now allow for HTML content. Note, these are now using htmlspecialchars() and htmlspecialchars_decode() to neutralize HTML. - UPDATED: Sub Footer Left and Sub Footer Right text areas updated with the htmlspecialchars() and htmlspecialchars_decode() to neutralize HTML. - UPDATED: Rev_Slider header overlap z-index support (structure 181, plugins 42 & 944) - UPDATED: New VC Tab styles for courses - UPDATED: The Events Calendar Pro widget(s) styles Version 1.1.6 09/20/15 - FIXED: Conditional using is_plugin_active fixed Version 1.1.5 09/18/2015 - UPDATED: Mythology Core 1.1.7 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.7.1.1 - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 5.0.8.5 - UPDATED: All included plugins are now "Recommended" and not "Required". This opens the theme up to users who want additional control. - Note: you can still access all included plugins via Appearance > Install Plugins panel and the standard Plugins panel. - UPDATED: Documenation file to v.0.4 - ADDED: New Doc.Helper files (These will serve to assist in the admin area) - ADDED: Responsive menu doc helpers for updated/new assignment - UPDATED: Responsive menu styles - FIXED: Custom social icon options, fixes the loop so you can generate as many custom icons as you like (element-getsocial.php) - FIXED: Archive.php pagination and query - FIXED: Capitalization for localization - UPDATED: Mobile table(s) bottom margin and native scroll - ADDED: Mobile div "Touch to Scroll Content Below" added for is_handheld for table description (author.php and template-course-catalog.php) - UPDATED: Support for Visual Composer FrontEnd Editor - module controls (new and old tab controls) - UPDATED: Styles for The Events Calendar & The Events Calendar Pro - UPDATED: Styles for Section-Super-Header - UPDATED: Tab styles for new VC markup - UPDATED: Tour styles for new VC markup - UPDATED: Accordion styles for new VC markup Version 1.1.4 08/01/2015 - UPDATED: Theme helperclass jquery 'parallax-vertical' updated - UPDATED: Better support for VC parallax - UPDATED: Visual Composer Admin Helper Functions for Backend Editor - Adjusts linkage and styles Version 1.1.3 07/23/2015 - UPDATED: Mythology Core 1.1.6 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.6.2 - UPDATED: Support for Visual Composer FrontEnd Editor - module controls - ADDED: Visual Composer Admin Helper Functions - Backend Editor - NOTES: These functions are focused on helping users get a better visual of their row background image/color(s) in the page editor. This was added to help/fix when the text within a row is the same color as default bg (ie. white on white). We found this to be super helpful, so we wanted to roll it out to you guys. - ADDED: GET BG-COLOR FROM ROW CONTROLS - ADD BG-COLOR TO THE ROW - ADDED: GET BG-IMAGE FROM ROW CONTROLS - ADD BG-IMAGE TO THE ROW - ADDED: Custom Hover Image module icon - backend recognition, and VC map - ADDED: Ordering options added to Course Catalog template - ADDED: Order_By - Can now order by Course ID, Course Number, Course Name, Author, Course Room Number, Course Days, and Course Time - ADDED: Order - Can now order by ASC and DESC for all included order_by parameter values - FIXED: Social > Skype option updated from esc_url to esc_attr to fix the href strip - UPDATED: Demo-Content.XML reflects the text color updates (span) used in latest VC version. Only Courses affected Version 1.1.2 06/30/2015 - UPDATED: Mythology Core 1.1.5 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.5.3 - UPDATED: Mega menu sub-menu children styles for parent hover state (ot-user-styles.php) - UPDATED: Author.php course list post_per_page to "-1" (aka all) - ADDED: Now Supporting Custom Layouts for Courses - ADDED: Course > Course Layout Options - image radio buttons (this will override the fallback set in Theme Options > Layout Options for each page, if set) - ADDED: This added feature also adds support for the Custom Sidebars plugin for Courses - FIXED: Appearance > Theme Options > "Show the Post Meta?"" option fixed (content-single.php 149) - ADDED: Fallback for VC Separators on Mobile (media-queries.css 269) Version 1.1.1 06/15/2015 - UPDATED: PrettyPhoto js script to 3.1.6 - prettyPhoto XSS fix - UPDATED: Mythology Core 1.1.4 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.5.2 - UPDATED: Faculty-Grid template name v. email columns - UPDATED: Custom user profile photo enqueue (functions folder 51-52) - UPDATED: new conditionals set in mythology-key.jS and register-scripts.php for isotope - UPDATED: Layout variables text-domain updated to mythology (theme-layout-variables.php) - UPDATED: Plugin support - get_custom_field conditioned (mythology-core-functions.php) - ADDED: Feature Request - Contact Form option for Author pages (Beta) - ADDED: Feature Request - Translation Support (Beta) - ADDED: Feature Request - WPML Translation Support! (Beta) We are working closely with WPML to officially support their plugin - wpml-config.xml (Beta) - ADDED: Translation support for Theme Options panel (ot-theme-options.php) - ADDED: Translation support for Page, Page Template, and Post options (ot-meta-boxes.php) - ADDED: Translation support for theme-files (directory > languages, polytechnic.pot, and (Beta) es_ES.po and es_ES.mo translation files) - UPDATED: Polytechnic Courses plugin to v.1.5 - ADDED: Feature Request - Translation Support! (Beta) - ADDED: Translation support for plugin files (directory > languages, polytechnic-courses.pot, and (Beta) polytechnic-courses-es_ES.po and polytechnic-courses-es_ES.mo translation files) - ADDED: Feature Request - WPML Translation Support! (Beta) We are working closely with WPML to officially support their plugin - wpml-config.xml (Beta) - ADDED: Comments support - NOTES: Beta additions are supported, but we want to be clear that these might include some additional steps or limitations at this time. If you have any questions or issues, please provide any feedback at our dedicated support forum: https://themeisland.ticksy.com/ Version 1.1.0 05/15/2015 - FIXED: Markup and fallback styles for Tophat Search option Version 1.0.9 05/12/2015 - FIXED - Theme Options > Skin Builder - Tophat BG option - FIXED: polytechnic-styles plugin - Tophat Section expanded and patched - ADDED: polytechnic-styles plugin - Tophat Dropdown Section now included - UPDAETD: Demo-Content.xml - UPDATED: Optiontree-loader.php updated - UPDATED: OptionTree import panel(s) - candy-admin-simple.css - UPDATED: Event widget .duration adjustment - UPDATED: Mythology Core 1.1.3 - UPDATED: WPBakery Visual Composer 4.5.1 - UPDATED: Revolution Slider 4.6.93 - UPDATED: OptionTree 2.5.5 Version 1.0.8 04/28/2015 - ADDED: Pagination for Course Catalog page template (template-course-catalog.php and mythology-functions.php) - ADDED: Fallback menu list item styles for sticky menu - ADDED: Feature Request - Tophat Login Links option (On/Off) - even when WooCommerce is active - ADDED: Feature Request - Tophat Search option (On/Off) - uses ajaxy if active - ADDED: Feature Request - Tophat Custom Text/HTML option - UPDATED: Resouces > Widgets.wie - UPDATED: Resouces > Demo-Content.xml - UPDATED: Hover-grid cross browser support - vc_extend css lines 16-32 added - UPDATED: Styles for rpwe menu widgets updated to use widget image sizes - UPDATED: Recommended plugin source(s) updated to use "latest-stable" - UPDATED: Small style tweeks to maintain consistency - FIXED - XSS Vulnerability: - UPDATED: Mythology Core 1.1.2: - WPBakery Visual Composer 4.5 - Revolution Slider 4.6.9 - OptionTree 2.5.4 - TGM-Plugin-Activation 2.4.1 - Plugin-loader.php sources updated from http to https - Plugin-loader.php sources updated to use "latest-stable" Version 1.0.7 03/11/2015 - UPDATED: Polytechnic-courses plugin updated to 1.1 - ADDED: Polytechnic-courses plugin text domain declaration - FIXED: Padding for featured image when Meta section is off - FIXED: Content-fullwidth template (used in Blog template and Single) - FIXED: Post Options > Show Post Footer, when off now turn all sub-options off - ADDED: Post Options > Post Comments On/Off - ADDED: New scrolling table function for overflow content on mobile devices for course catalog page template (http://polytechnic.themeisland.net/colleges-schools/course-catalog/) - FIXED: Remove hardcoded link in plugins.css - FIXED: Sub-footer on/off toggle - UPDATED: Conditionals added/updated for Footer Options (show_footer) Version 1.0.6 02/26/2015 - UPDATED: OptionTree Loader - this fixes the ot-meta-boxes.php error WPML users were seeing - UPDATED: OptionTree 2.5.0 - UPDATED: NiceScroll 3.6.0 - UPDATED: Polytechnic-courses plugin updated to 1.1 - UPDATED: Table data titles internationalized in polytechnic-courses plugin - UPDATED: Styles-polytechnic plugin updated - UPDATED: Events Calendar styles for mobile devices - FIXED: Appearance > Customize > Header Menu Options - FIXED: Scrolling on touch devices - FIXED: Breadcrumbs for custom page tempaltes - FIXED: List styles for Sensei Quizes - ADDED: Base list styles for bbPress - FIXED: Dropdown menu v. 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[junker-town]

Which NFL team will be the next to relocate?

In the next 10 years, there are four teams that could hear relocation talks heat up.

Let’s establish one thing right away: No NFL team is loading up the moving trucks any time soon.

The dust has settled on a flurry of relocation chatter in the last five years or so, and now the Rams, Chargers, and Raiders all have (or will soon have) new homes. With those situations resolved, there are now no immediate stadium crises to fix.

The cities of San Diego, Oakland, and St. Louis probably won’t get replacement teams — not in the near future, at least — and there isn’t any huge prospective city lying in wait like Los Angeles was for two decades.

Eventually that’ll change. Stadiums will get old and leases will inch closer to expiration. The NFL is already prepping for that with “stadium credits” — essentially allotted money for constructions and renovations — reportedly a key issue in early collective bargaining agreement negotiations.

And at some point, when stadiums are in need of a replacement, a new city will emerge as a prime candidate to woo an NFL team. Hell, even Hartford, Conn. stepped up as a possibility back when the Los Angeles Rams decided to leave Southern California in the 1990s.

So which NFL team is the likeliest to pack up and leave next? I have a few guesses.

Buffalo Bills

Franchise relocations always happen because of stadium issues, and the Bills are at the top of the list of teams in need of a new place to play. New Era Field, previously known as Rich Stadium and Ralph Wilson Stadium, opened in 1973.

Only five teams — the Rams, Bears, Packers, Raiders, and Chiefs — are currently playing in older venues. The Rams and Raiders are scheduled to leave those stadiums behind after the 2019 season, while the other three have had significant renovation investments.

New Era Field had a $130 million renovation in 2012, but that pales in comparison to the funds that went into the stadiums in Chicago ($632 million in 2001-03), Kansas City ($375 million in 2007–10), and Green Bay ($295 million in 2001-03 and $312 million in 2011-15 ).

For the Bills to stay at their current home, they’d need that kind of cash infusion. The likelier solution is a new stadium altogether.

“I think the answer is probably a scaled-down version of some of these palaces that are being built around the country,” Bills owner Terry Pegula told reporters during the NFL owners’ meeting in March, via The Buffalo News. “The thing [Rams owner] Stan [Kroenke] is building in LA is amazing, Jerry Jones’ facility in Dallas. So we need to do something that’s Buffalo style.”

That’s about as perfect of an answer as Bills fans could possibly hope to hear. Pegula sounds like an owner committed to staying in Buffalo, and he seems realistic about making it happen without lavish demands. It’s part of the reason he was awarded the franchise in the first place after the death of former Bills owner Ralph Wilson.

“Ralph would have been pleased with the sale of the team to the Terry Pegula family, who has been so committed to Buffalo and the Western New York region,” then-controlling owner Mary Wilson said in 2014.

It’s all a genuinely good sign for Buffalo, but the little red siren came later in Pegula’s chat with reporters in March.

Asked if he would be willing to foot the bill for a new stadium, Terry Pegula said, “I don’t know.”

There’s the rub. Despite Erie County already setting aside $500,000 to begin saving for the cost of a new stadium, that’ll be a drop in the well.

The still-under-construction stadium in Los Angeles is approaching a $5 billion price tag. Even though the Bills won’t need nearly that much, the last NFL stadium to cost less than $1 billion to build was the Colts’ Lucas Oil Stadium, and that opened back in 2008.

So if the city of Buffalo balks at the idea of pledging a large amount of taxpayer money for a new stadium, it’s very plausible that another city would step in with an offer of its own. Most recently, Las Vegas offered a record $750 million in taxpayer money to the Raiders when the city of Oakland was hesitant to foot the bill for a new stadium. Toronto, give its ties and proximity to Buffalo, could be one possibility.

Until the Bills figure out where they will play and who will pay for it, a long-term future in Buffalo isn’t a sure thing.

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars were once the poster child for poor fan support. In 2009, seven of eight home games were blacked out on local TV because they couldn’t sell enough tickets. Things have changed since, however. Tarps that covered upper deck seats have since been removed, and the Jaguars are now in the middle of the pack in attendance numbers.

The drum beat to relocate the team has quieted in the last decade, too.

Best of all for Jacksonville is that Shad Khan has invested in North Florida since becoming the team owner in 2011. He’s put state-of-the-art scoreboards, swimming pools, and an amphitheater, among other renovations, at TIAA Bank Field.

The bad news is that the stadium could use more upgrades. New Era Field in Buffalo is the only other NFL stadium currently in use that hasn’t been built or undergone at least $300 million in major renovations since 1995. It’s not quite a pressing need for the Jaguars, but it’ll continue to bubble up as they get closer to the 2029 expiration date on their lease with the city of Jacksonville.

You also can’t bring up the possibility of a Jaguars relocation without mentioning London. They currently play one game per year in the United Kingdom, which has boosted attendance in Jacksonville and marketed the Jaguars’ brand internationally.

That makes the the Jaguars an obvious favorite when the NFL talks up London as a candidate for an NFL team full-time. Still, a London franchise looks like a logistical nightmare, and the Jaguars insist it’s not their end goal.

“I know it frustrates Shad,” team president Mark Lamping said in 2018, via ESPN. “You don’t do the type of stuff of that’s he’s doing, you don’t invest the type of money that he’s investing, if you’re planning to leave.”

Like Pegula’s comments about Buffalo, Khan’s giving Jaguars fans positive vibes. There’s a similar issue brewing, though.

The Jaguars are nearing the point when they’ll ask for a lot of money from the city of Jacksonville and the expiring lease will give the team leverage. If the NFL and London are serious about a European franchise — or if a U.S. city comes with shiny new stadium plan — the pressure will be on Jacksonville to fight (and pay huge money) to keep the Jaguars.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Just about every reason the Jaguars could eventually relocate also applies to the Buccaneers.

The Jaguars’ TIAA Bank Field opened in 1995 and the Buccaneers’ Raymond James Stadium opened just a few years later in 1998. Tampa Bay recently poured about $160 million into renovations while Jacksonville paid around $180 million. The Buccaneers’ lease in Tampa Bay expires in 2028; the Jaguars’ lease expires in 2030.

Most of those factors would seem to paint the Buccaneers as the more likely of the two teams to move — especially considering Tampa Bay has been in the bottom five in NFL attendance in each of the last three years.

The Jaguars’ annual game in London and their push to market outside of Jacksonville may edge them a little higher on the list. But the Buccaneers have ties to England too.

The Glazer family owns both the Buccaneers and Manchester United of the English Premier League. Although they don’t have a yearly game overseas, more games outside of Tampa Bay are exactly what the Bucs attempted to secure while negotiating renovations of Raymond James Stadium. Via USA Today:

The Tampa Sports Authority (TSA), the county-funded agency in charge of the stadium, ultimately rejected the team’s demand for a second regular-season game abroad, conceding a number of preseason games instead.

Currently, the Bucs can play one regular season home game each year away from Raymond James Stadium, but starting in 2018, they will be able to play one regular season home game as well as one preseason home game away from Tampa. They can also play both preseason home games in 2016 and 2017 elsewhere if they choose.

It doesn’t necessarily mean the Buccaneers are angling to get out of Central Florida. They’ll just be asking for money from taxpayers as the end of their lease approaches like the other teams on this list. That can always go south.

Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals just celebrated their 50th birthday and they’ve been in Cincinnati since day one. They spent about three decades in Riverfront Stadium and moved into Paul Brown Stadium when it was built in 2000. It’s still the only NFL stadium to ever win an AIA Honor Award recognizing exemplary architecture and has managed to be a top facility despite minimal renovations.

The problem is the Bengals don’t do well in attendance. They’ve ranked near the bottom of the league in attendance for five straight seasons and only outdrew the Chargers in ticket sales in 2018. But the franchise’s recent good faith negotiation with the city of Cincinnati bodes well for its long-term outlook in the area.

Cincinnati wanted to rework its lease with the Bengals to build a concert venue on one of the stadium parking lots. After initial pushback, the team conceded. In the revised lease, the Bengals agreed to set a $42.3 million cap on contributions from the city for repairs and enhancements to Paul Brown Stadium through 2026. It eased up the costs of one of the most team-friendly leases in the NFL.

Now the city is trying to prep the stadium for the possibility of hosting FIFA World Cup games in 2026.

While the lease for the Bengals is expiring relatively soon, all indications are that they have a strong relationship with the city of Cincinnati. More renovations for Paul Brown Stadium could be on their agenda soon, but the Bengals walking out after the expiration of their lease looks, for now, like a long shot.

[brianobrienny]

What Is A Blog Writing Service? (And Why Your Business Needs One)

Whether you own a small business or manage marketing for a large corporation, you probably spend a great portion of your budget on pricey marketing activities, including your website and related IT.

But if you’re leaving your website as a static entity, like a television set always tuned to the same channel, you’re making a grave mistake.

By adding a blog and, better yet, hiring a blog writing service, you’ll get better ROI than any other marketing activity. Read on to learn why.

Quick Takeaways:

The more frequently you blog, the more visitors, leads and conversions you get. Study after study has proved this.

High quality content helps you build up brand authority and gain visibility in search rankings.

When you outsource blog content creation, you don’t have to worry about frequency, meeting timelines, niche expertise, or ROI.

Having a blog is essential to wooing today’s information-hungry customers. But most businesses don’t have the time, expertise, or budget to hire an in-house writing team.

A blog writing service can turn your subject matter expertise into expertly written content.

The Case for Having a Blog

First, let’s just get one important matter out of the way: You have a blog, right? If the answer is no, you’re not alone. Some new businesses get too caught up in their day-to-day basic functions to start one. Others think blogging isn’t for them – it’s the purview of foodies, mommies, and health gurus. But nothing could be further from the truth.

If you’re shelling out big bucks for advertising, consulting, data analytics, and email nurture campaigns, plus the aforementioned website, the cost of running a blog is negligible by comparison. It’s the lowest hanging fruit on the tree, and you should be grabbing it as often as possible.

Think about these apples, ripe for plucking:

Content marketing gives you three times the number of leads compared to paid search ads for every dollar you spend.

You can boost your website traffic by up to 2,000 percent with high-quality blog content.

When you blog, you’ll get 97% more links to your website than sites that don’t.

Blogging is 13 times more likely to yield a positive ROI than numerous other marketing activities, according to data from HubSpot.

Companies who publish consistent blogs show 6x the revenue from traffic and leads attributed to their website.

B2B companies will generate 88 percent more leads, while their B2C cousins will generate 67 percent more leads through publishing blog posts consistently. That’s a lot of leads to leave on the table if you’re not blogging. Further, the leads you generate will cost 62% less than ones you generate through advertising, cold calls, brochures, or other outbound marketing methods.

Isn’t that enough reason for any company to jump on to the blogging train? Imagine what could happen if you missed out and your competitors get –

67 percent cost reduction!

88 percent increase in leads!

97 percent more links to their website!

You’d have a heart attack, wouldn’t you?

I thought so. Bottom line, you need a blog to stay ahead of your competitors.

Converting More Customers

With a blog, you can engage directly with consumers better and more cheaply than with advertising. And, a blog gives you more control and focus over that dialogue than social media, for example. You get multiple opportunities and stages to convert readers to customers and to make existing customers repeat ones.

Think about your current marketing activities. They probably entail chasing customers in some way, such as by trying to get them to open emails or hoping they see your carefully placed (and expensive!) online ads. But, with a blog, consumers come to you. If they like what you post, they’ll come back, so you’ve just created a source of repeat traffic to your website and turned it into a dynamic and personalized face for your company.

Much of your blog content can easily be evergreen, at least for several years, which means once you’ve done the work, it keeps working for you. You can update popular posts with new data as needed with a minimum of extra time.

Why is your content so compelling? Because it’s not poorly disguised advertising or pushy sales material. Instead, the bulk of your posts should be value-added content for readers, such as:

Tips, how-tos, and tutorials for things that stymie most people but at which your business excels

Aggregated industry information and studies that save readers time by not having to hunt it down

Interviews with thought leaders or guest posters, including round tables

Questions and exercises to generate positive change

White papers and case studies

Videos and infographics

Samples from upcoming long-form content, such as books

Another good use for your blog is to solicit feedback on your products or services. You may uncover and then be able to answer common objections during the selling process in ways you cannot elsewhere. Additionally, you can offer solutions to common customer service issues.

You can also utilize your blog to introduce new products and services or to announce events, although you want to sprinkle these posts in with the value-added material to avoid sounding too salesy.

Industry Authority and Search Rankings

Having a popular blog can quickly promote you to a position of industry authority, a desirable spot to be in. You’ll find it easier to network with others in your field, and you’ll develop a reputation as the one to turn to for expert advice.

With influence often comes that sweet number-one search ranking that companies covet. When potential customers search for terms related to your business, your name will appear at the top, increasing traffic to your website, where you can get people interested in your product or service and eventually sell them on it.

What are the best ways to reach that plum top spot?

Always post high-quality, original content. Don’t “stuff” (overuse) keywords and use a post length that favors your topic and your audience, rather than what you’ve heard you must use.

Include keywords in your blog post URLs.

Do your SEO homework and make sure your keywords are what people are using in common online searches. Include a meta description for each post.

Make your website easy to navigate and designed for the user. It must be fast loading and responsive to all types of computers and devices.

Use available tools, such as Buzzsumo or Google Trends, to help with your search engine optimization research.

Promote your content well with connections and industry influencers.

Consider paid promotion to boost your ranking. Sometimes organic promotion doesn’t cut it at first.

Why You Should Hire a Blog Writing Service

“But,” you say, “I’m busy just running my business. I don’t have any time to write a blog. Besides, I practically got through English Composition 101 by the skin of my teeth. I’m an engineer/doctor/web developer/financial services professional, not a writer.”

So, if you’re convinced now that you should have a blog, or if you already have one but it’s been getting lackluster attention, how do you make it work?

For most businesses, especially those on the smaller side, the answer is to outsource blog writing. There are many benefits to hiring a blogging service and almost no disadvantages, and we’ll discuss how to overcome those later in this article.

Leveraging ROI

First, from a strictly financial point of view, outsourcing your blog nearly always lets you leverage that ROI in your marketing plan. Many companies are not sufficiently staffed to add blog writing to their list of duties. If you think about your own employees, they’re likely already up to their limit with their current job descriptions. Do you really want to add more to that? Significantly more?

Blog writing, when it’s done well, isn’t simply an hour tossed off here or there; it involves careful planning and integrating your blog posts into a comprehensive 12-month campaign within your overall marketing scheme. You need to develop a marketing calendar around goals and timelines and then spend manpower on content ideation before a single word is penned.

You need to schedule posts often enough to see a return on your blogging investment, which means posting at least several times per week to accumulate a regular following. New studies point to frequency as a key way to get desired ROI:

The more often you blog, the more traffic you get.

With 11 or more posts per month, you’ll see a considerable increase in website traffic, whether you are a B2B or B2C business.

The more posts you accumulate on your blog, the more traffic you’ll get, which in turn means more leads.

To accomplish this in-house usually requires hiring a full-time writer, which means not only paying a competitive salary but perks as well. And, there is a time investment in the interviewing and onboarding process, too.

You can get around all of this by outsourcing your blog writing and save tens of thousands in your marketing budget in the process. Blog writing businesses typically charge anywhere from several hundred dollars to several thousand per post, depending on the time and complexity involved. You can settle on a per-word fee, flat fee, or article cap much of the time (versus paying hourly), which means even if the writer takes several days to compose a post, you can stay on budget for the project.

It’s worth noting that cheaper blog writing fees aren’t always better. While you don’t have to break the bank outsourcing your blog, which would defeat its entire purpose, you often get what you pay for. Better services hire more in-demand, experienced writers and vet their people carefully. In turn, they charge more to their clients, but it’s often worth it in the end.

Professional Writing Skills and Scalability

One of the best advantages of working with outsourced blog writers is the professional writing skills they bring to the table. While many business owners and CMOs fancy themselves good writers, writing a blog isn’t the same as writing ad copy, venture capital proposals, or even sales nurture emails.

Blog writing today follows certain standard formats that make content easily consumed by readers, such as headings for scannability and bullet lists for easy summaries. There are stylistic conventions and other elements that most executives don’t employ on a regular basis. Professional blog writers know how to use all these tactics to make your posts attract and keep readers, as well as how to generate discussion in the comments section.

Blog services also come with proofreading and editing, so your copy is free of errors and is presented in a well-organized fashion. If you’ve ever read a blog that looked horribly unprofessional, you’ll understand how valuable this polishing is. It will also be run through a plagiarism algorithm. Reputable blog services don’t have writers that copy other work, but it is possible to accidentally include phrases that mimic others’ posts, which can mess with your SEO.

With a professional service, you also get assistance with SEO research and developing content topics. This can be a boon when it comes to getting more eyes on your website. Need matching social media posts, images, or infographics along with your blog content? Many agencies can provide that as well.

Do you have multiple businesses under one corporate umbrella, which entails maintaining many websites? This is no problem for a professional blog service because they’ll have multiple writers available to handle large volumes of content. You can scale larger as your business grows, too, and your blogging service will grow with you. Likewise, you can handle multiple tiers of the buying process and dedicate posts to different sales stages, just as you would with email nurturing.

The Best Writers for Your Business

Professional writers are all good, but how do you know they’d be able to passionately create content that’s just right for your business? Here are some things to look for when selecting the right blog writers for your needs:

A reputable agency or service that can provide examples of work and/or names of clients they have worked with, preferably similar to your business

Experienced, well-vetted writers who can commit to at least a year or two of work with you, so you don’t have to retrain new bloggers every few months

Bloggers with experience in your niche – the more specialized your area, the more expertise the writers should have

Ability to turn around content on a reasonable schedule that works for you

In-house editing and project management, if your needs are complex or your volume is high

A price that nets you solid talent while still allowing you to maintain high ROI

Excellent communication so you can work as a team

In turn, your business should be able to reciprocate in places where it makes sense to do so. Your people should be equally accessible for questions and clarification. While you want timely responses to your messages, you need to understand most writing services are juggling multiple clients like you. The more you can schedule in advance, the easier it will be for your bloggers to accommodate your needs. Create reasonable turnaround schedules and leave time for edits, especially early on in the process.

Most CEOs and CMOs spend enormous segments of time trying to get the best return on investment from their marketing activities, when the highest ROI solution is literally at their fingertips. Outsourcing your blog and blogging frequently have virtually no downsides and are proven to increase profitability considerably. It can take a bit of time and energy to get the ball rolling, but once you set up a system with a blogging service, you’ll never want to go back to writing your own content again.

What Can A Blogging Service Do for Your Business?

Content marketing – of which blogs are a huge component – is one of the most effective lead generation strategies in the marketing world. An agency that writes your blogs for you will combine their industry knowledge with keen research abilities to create regular blog posts that leverage the blog writers’ abilities to communicate with your audience, and propose solutions that can help your customers solve the problems that keep them up at night.

Build Industry Authority and Customer Visibility

And you are good at what you do. Only problem – not enough of the right people know just how good you are. Blogging helps you showcase that expertise without spending a moment of your time.

Having a blog writing service builds your authority in your industry in the minds of people who might not even have heard of your company before you launch your blog. When you couple that exposure with your social media reach by posting links to each post on your social media pages, it’s sheer marketing magic.

Furthermore, with every blog post you publish, your visibility on your target customers’ searches rises. A blog writing service will know how to leverage the right keywords and metadata to get both search engines’ and your target audience’s attention.

Create Newsletter and Other Gated Content

Your blog writing team can also create extra content that you can send to your email newsletter subscriber list. These articles can take a deeper dive into material that you covered in your blog posts or provide insight into topics you haven’t yet covered in your blog posts.

As a vital component of your content marketing strategy, your email newsletter can serve as the next step along the customer journey for those people interested enough in your blog content to subscribe. Providing expertly written, highly informative information in every newsletter will spark even more interest in your company, positioning you as a thought leader in your industry.

An email newsletter works equally well for B2C companies as well as B2B businesses. Statistics show that email marketing yields a whopping 4,400 percent ROI, yielding $44 for every dollar spent.

In addition, you can expand these newsletter articles into new content, such as white papers and e-books, that delve even deeper into the subject matter for those considering a purchase. Here’s an example from Zillow:

Craft Account-Based Marketing Messages

For B2B companies, you can even repurpose your blog post into personalized content in one of today’s hottest marketing strategies – account-based marketing. With a blog writing service, you’ll have a team of writers who know your company and its work – and can craft content tailored to each decision-maker’s interest.

For example, you could send a manufacturing company’s head engineer an article about how your new widget can shave hours off the manufacturing process, while the chief financial officer would appreciate an infographic about how much money the company would save by putting your widget to work in the process. Their developer, though, would love an article about the way you put Agile methodology to use as your team created the device.

When B2B companies align their blog writing service with their sales team to leverage the power of account-based marketing, they’re likely to boost their ROI. Forty-two percent of all companies that do so experienced significantly higher ROI, while 42 percent of the companies experienced somewhat higher ROI.

Turn Your Expertise into Compelling Content

You and your teams have a ton of expertise in your field. A blog writing service can work closely with your teams to turn raw facts into compelling copy.

Let’s say that you’re a pharmaceutical company, and you’ve come up with a new cure for an emerging disease. Your blog writing team can work with your researchers to turn their latest study into easily understandable content that busy physicians and nurses can scan quickly.

Your blog writing service can take testimonials from physicians that have tried your new drug successfully and craft blog posts that patients can understand. With more information, patients can be more informed when they have conversations with their own physicians.

For startups, whose lean budget doesn’t leave much room for marketing, let alone a dedicated content writing team, having a blog writing service at their disposal can be a game-changer.

Repurpose Existing Content

Just like your other assets, your blog content can do double duty when you repurpose it in other formats. Use your blogging team to transform blog posts to how-to video scripts, to create catchy product and service descriptions for Instagram and Pinterest, and to rephrase the content as compelling personal stories on Medium. Take a video and turn it into a LinkedIn article that showcases your thought leadership.

A blog writing service has experienced content writers that can adapt your existing content into practically any written form you want. They can even rewrite past content to make it more search-engine friendly. That way, you can reach even more people who need your expertise.

Finally, when you hire a blog writing service, you won’t have the added expense of an in-house writing team, nor will you need to spend your time recruiting and onboarding each team member. With an outsourced blog writing subscription service, you’ll have a team of writers that someone whose expertise is content creation has recruited, tested, onboarded, and proven through project after project.

Overcoming Obstacles When Outsourcing Blog Writing

Naturally, there are a few downsides to using a blog writing service, but they’re fairly easy to overcome. These may be your own concerns, or they may come from colleagues or leadership from whom you need buy-in to continue.

Giving Up Control

For some CEOs or CMOS, hiring a professional blogger feels like ceding control over their blog. Yes, it’s true you don’t get to decide on every word of every post. But, the benefits you get, as outlined above, certainly outweigh any negatives.

Further, using a blog service frees up executives and managers to do jobs where they are probably already overloaded with work. They can travel, take meetings, and tend to other business while still knowing they’ll hit their blogging goals and calendar milestones. Leaders who feel the need to have greater control over their company blog may struggle with delegating in general and can use the blog as a way to play with that.

Using a pro blogger comes with built-in safeguards. As well as in-house editing, you, as the client, can ask for revisions, too. Ideally, you want to meet with your blogger first, so they are on board with your overall vision for the blog and changes after the first draft will be minimal. If you have ideas, an outline, or even a rough first draft in your own words, a professional blogging service can accommodate them and flesh out the material for you.

Diversity… or Continuity

Another common hesitation about using a blogging service comes from wondering if the blog will sound diverse enough. This is easily remedied by asking for several different writers to work on your team and rotating the work among them.

Similarly, if you have multiple blogs on various topics, you can request writers who bring their own personal expertise to those respective subjects. Many seasoned bloggers started out in other careers before turning to writing, and you’ll find writers with impressive CVs in finance, law, healthcare, technology, real estate, and many other areas.

Some businesses find a hybrid model works for them. They have their own employees write a few posts here and there, while paid outside bloggers do the rest.

But what if, conversely, you want your blog to have continuity of voice and vibe? Simple – either ask to have one writer work on your blog consistently or put together a detailed style guide with a few examples, so multiple writers adhere to the same framework, rules, and tone. Professional bloggers, just like authors who write fiction dialogue, know how to make a blog post sound like it’s emanating from a particular voice for brand recognition.

The hybrid system just mentioned also works for creating a unifying voice for your blog. You can always outsource your content and have your in-house staff edit it or smooth it out to give it your unique brand feel.

  If you are ready to get more traffic to your site with quality content that’s consistently published, check out our Content Builder Service. Set up a quick consultation, and I’ll send you a free PDF version of my books. Get started today and generate more traffic and leads for your business.

The post What Is A Blog Writing Service? (And Why Your Business Needs One) appeared first on Marketing Insider Group.

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Best WordPress Retail Themes TopNotch Themes | Templified

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Best WordPress Retail Themes TopNotch Themes

We’ve put together another winning WordPress theme collection with some of the better eCommerce themes that we haven’t already placed into our main collection.  For other WordPress eCommerce themes, I think they’re a really nice assortment of premium quality themes with great support and more.

Storefy

  With a wonderful WooCommerce web theme like Storefy, you can generate a website to promote clothes, sneakers or any other type of product. There are numerous features that will assist you present your merchandise in a trendy way, such as menus, galleries along with a number of layouts to select from that give your web site a wonderful look. The assistance offered with this WP theme is unequaled, so you can feel confident that if you run into issues you’ll get assistance when you need it.  Storefy has everything you could want for building a successful online business.

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Dandelion

  Dandelion is a Powerful Premium WordPress wedding Theme and it’s ready to help spread the good news about your upcoming nuptials. Dandelion theme provides all the amazing, important functionality you will need to present your products, work and yourself in an elegant and professional style. The Dandelion theme is highly flexible, so changing the color scheme is super simple and for the most parts you won’t need an image editor. The theme is best suited for any business, portfolio, photography and personal sites.

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Seneca

  Seneca is a perfect theme for those of you who are looking for a way to simple, easily manage products, blog posts, videos, personnel and other content directly in WordPress’ built in admin panel. Seneca is a very solid theme for nearly any purpose and it’s all due to the fact that the design doesn’t get in the way of your content. It’s a well crafted blank slate that lets you make your content take center stage, giving it a force and style that is really hard to ignore.

Seneca is a fabulous looking minimalist style WordPress theme that is responsive in design, so no matter the type of computer your users get the website with, it will look amazing. From small screen to large, the site responsively adapts itself to any resolution.  That’s handy and since you know it looks great, there’s going to be no guessing whether you are delivering an excellent user experience, it will be ensured.  With WooCommerce and Seneca, you can sell both digital and tangible products online.  Yep, that’s right, it’s the year of the digital-entrepreneur, and Seneca is here to help.  You have the familiarity of WordPress and the flexibility of WooCommerce to power a full-featured, powerful business in one place.  And the price is right too, since WooCommerce is completely free of charge.  Your website doesn’t have to utilize eCommerce though, Seneca is powerful and fully functional as a blog or portfolio site too.

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Woow

  Wow indeed.  He, plenty of people are into starting up a website of their own and a great WordPress theme is an amazing way to help grease the wheels to get that party started.  Want to sell some amazing items online?  Yeah, this theme has what you need.  You’ll want a thee that fits the style, the feel and fit of your company and Woow is a perfect fit for a lot of different companies.  Woow is a modern, cool, frantic and sweet theme that is ideal for many differing sites and you will absolutely kill it if you choose this as your theme.  Hey, Woow, what does that mean.  WooCommerce ready?  You better believe it!  It’s not just about Woo Commerce themes though, it’s about amazing design, tons of features, fashion, electronic items, jewelry, travel, portfolios (portfolioa?), video, pictures…you name it.  There’s no niche that won’t fork with this theme, called Woow, a delightful portfolio WordPress theme.

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MagFolio

  WooCommerce eCommerce themes provide a first-class place to show people all types of products on your website.  It doesn’t matter what what type products you are selling, WooCommerce is a cool plug in to generate money right away!  If you need yourself a new WooCommerce eCommerce theme, this one here could possibly be a great option.  It is really straightforward to start up a brand new eCommerce store and it’s very, very cheap too.  It’s obvious that your website’s customers will really love their time on your web page, and it’s got a lot to with the fact that this powerful and lovely theme has unrivaled  support and it’s well designed.  That’s a WordPress eCommerce theme you can count on.  Keep reading for another fantastic WordPress eCommerce theme.

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Foxy

  The WooCommerce plugin helps make Foxy a feature rich and rather lovely eCommerce store template, to go along with it’s pretty blog and filterable portfolio capabilities.  Foxy is the right blend of incredible style, clean lines, great code, tasty waves and bold features.  Foxy is an excellent, clear, and classy portfolio theme that changes to every screen quality. This is certainly the most impressive Elegant Themes. Set full screen back-ground illustrations or photos to successfully give every portfolio, blog post, or webpage it’s own unique persona. Simply turn a collection of pictures in to a slideshow. Instantly rearrange facets of the design with an internal features panel. Choose and post the site logo graphic. Each theme which you purchase offers life time support.  Elegant themes really puts a lot of time and effort into everything they offer and it is pretty easy to see that this one is no exception.  Take a look at their products.

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Hugo

  Hugo is a theme that will help transform your WordPress based webpage into a gorgeous, professional grade eCommerce store using this powerful, flexible WooCommerce theme for WordPress.  Hugo features a ground breaking graphic design that is certain to help elevate your business’ profile to previously unseen levels.  CSSIgniter made sure that this WordPress theme dovetails perfectly with the absolute best and most popular eCommerce plugin for WordPress, which is of course WooCommerce.  Create a webpage that looks precisely as you want it to look using a handy set of custom content widgets and you’ll never have to touch a line of code if you don’t want to.  There are several well designed color schemes and if you feel like it, you can even create your own palette and assign different color schemes to each individual page.  Pretty cool.  Custom widgets give you incredible functionality while customized content widgets, social network widgets help connect Flickr, Twitter and more!  CSSIgniter’s WordPress themes can make it easier to rank higher in search engines like Bing, Yahoo and even Google, thanks to incredible SEO optimization!

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Javier

  Say hey to Javier.  Hi Javier.  This stunning WooCommerce enabled WordPress design is a fantastic way for you to start an online business, even if maybe you’re not a specialist in programming, simply because it may be conveniently adjusted to suit your needs. This striking design looks incredible on each and every kind of computer since it’s designed to be responsive. If you’re creating an online business, buyers are obviously vital and making it possible for them to read your web site at any place anytime is a must.

WooCommerce guarantees all the options you need to establish a business quickly and effectively and this amazing, well designed and contemporary eCommerce WordPress theme is the initial step on a path to creating your own company. Whether you’re selling athletic shoes, apparel, jewelry, downloadable goods like movies, video tutorials, songs or software program, this theme is an ideal option because it is so adaptive.

With an incredible WooCommerce template you may create a site to market clothes, sneakers or anything else out there. There are plenty of options that will help market your services in style, such as galleries, menus and a wide variety of designs to pick from that give your website an amazing style. The support offered with this WooCommerce theme is unmatched, so that you can feel confident when you come across difficulties you’ll get guidance if you need it.

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Seneca

  Seneca is a WordPress theme perfect for those who use their site to sell different types of products from tangible goods to digital merchandise. It is an excellent theme to manage blog posts, personnel, and videos and is e-commerce enabled for easier online transactions. The electronic commerce feature could also be disabled, allowing stand-alone bloggers to also experience the other wonderful features Seneca has to offer.

This theme is easily customizable, offering a selection of backgrounds, header and menu options, logos, custom widgets, and favicons. It has a responsive design allowing the audience to view the blog in different devices without compromising the site’s quality and content. It’s slideshow feature lets the user select images to highlight in the site, and the unlimited galleries allows the site handler to add as much galleries as they want using different layouts.

Seneca offers one-click updates, making it easier for the users to install the theme’s latest version. It is coded with HTML5 Markup for a more convenient blogging experience, and is mobile responsive. It is also accessibility ready and translation ready, to cater to the site’s different types of viewers. For a better glimpse of the features Seneca has to offer, click on the live demo.

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Zero

  Tesla Themes has another great offering called Zero.  This is a WordPress theme with WooCommerce, excellent for every sort of store, and perfectly coded for great consistency and swift page-load times to always keep the major search engines satisfied. The Zero trial was built to be a web application retail store, still there’s virtually no restrictions to which kind of merchandise you will market utilizing this WordPress theme, from presents to computer system equipment, sporting items, megaphones and any other types of web site where you desire a feature-rich eCommerce alternative at an inexpensive price.  If you need a WooCommerce theme, Zero may be a real winner.

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Precise

This theme will provide a beautiful setup for all those seeking to sell items online. The theme isn’t difficult to customize, and even provides integration solutions with an array of well-known (and cost-free) e-commerce plugins, this includes Carty and others. Likewise, due to the elastic design of the WordPress theme, including way more attributes is rather quick. If you happen to be all set to take your internet business on the net, then begin immediately using this type of significant theme!  Okay, now for more incredible WordPress eCommerce themes.

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Floris

  This gorgeous WooCommerce compatible theme is Floris.  Floris is an excellent way to start up an online business, even if you don’t happen to be an expert in coding, due to the fact it can be readily changed to accommodate your needs. This glossy design looks extraordinary on each and every device since it’s coded to be responsive. When you happen to be creating an internet business, shoppers are obviously crucial and permitting them to access your site at any place anytime is extremely important.

WooCommerce delivers all of the resources that you need to establish a venture quickly and well and this wonderful, well-designed and slick eCommerce theme is the starting point on a road to creating your online business. If you’re advertising sneakers, garments, gadgets, downloadable items like movies, video clips, songs or applications, this WordPress theme is an excellent option since it’s so adaptable.

With an excellent WooCommerce web template like Floris here, you may generate a site to promote clothing, shoes or boots or any-thing else. There are as many options as there are online businesses.  There are so many functions that will help you market your merchandise with a lot of style, like menus, galleries along with a wide variety of layouts to select from that offer your website an original appearance. The support offered with this WordPress theme is unequaled, so that you can feel assured that if you come across issues you will get assistance should you need it.

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Saturday

  Alright, now for another amazing WordPress eCommerce theme.  This theme is a tasteful solution for everyone seeking to sell goods and services using the WordPress platform. The design isn’t difficult to set up, and offers integration possibilities with many of the most common (and free of charge) ecommerce plugins, this includes WooCommerce and many, many others. Additionally, owing to the multipurpose design of the layout, adding extra abilities is exceedingly simple and easy. For anyone who is all set to take your company on the net, then get moving now utilizing this brilliant theme!  All eCommerce WordPress themes should be this cool.

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FlatSome

  Clean, stripped down and ready to roll.  That describes flatsome.  The WooCommerce plugin provide a neat site to show people all types of products on your site.  It doesn’t matter what what kind of products you are trying to sell, WooCommerce is a awesome plug-in to make money right out of the box!  If you’d like to have a brand new WooCommerce sales theme, this theme might just be the best fit.  It is very simplistic to get set up with a new eCommerce store and it’s not expensive.  Okay, now for more incredible WordPress eCommerce themes.  You can be certain your potential customers will love their shopping on your eCommerce store, and it’s got a lot to with the fact that this cool theme has wicked-good  support and it’s well designed.  Set up shop at the top of Four Seasons!  For more flat WordPress themes, check this collection out.

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Boutique

  Okay, now for more of the best WordPress eCommerce themes.  The free and powerful WooCommerce plugin give you a boss way to sell all types of products on your website.  It doesn’t matter what what type products you would like to sell, WooCommerce is a plug in to sell your products with no worries, mate!  If you need a powerful and cool WooCommerce eCommerce template, this one could be the right one for you.  It is totally quick to get set up with a new online shop and it’s very reasonably priced.  You can be sure that your potential customers will value their time on your store, for the reason that this cool theme has wicked-good  support and it’s very well coded and designed.  When you think of eCommerce WordPress themes, think of Boutique.

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Lotus Flower

  Woo Commerce themes give you a terrific platform to show folks products online and this ecommerce masterpiece, called Lotus Flower, is a pleasing and attractive new theme  with fantastic support.  No matter what what sort services you want to sell, WooCommerce is a robust plug-in to git ‘er done super quickly!  If you’d love to get a brand new WooCommerce eCommerce template, this theme maybe a great fit for you.  This one is stunningly easy to get set up with a brand new eCommerce store and it’s very, very cheap too.  Rest assured, your valued customers will truly enjoy their time on your site, and that’s because this eCommerce theme has out of sight  support and it’s perfectly designed.  We’ve got more of the best WordPress eCommerce themes to come, so keep on reading.

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Monaco

  Looking for a fantastic retro inspired eCommerce theme?  How about Monaco?  Monaco is a completely stunning WordPress e-Commerce template which is painstakingly constructed with the highest care and attention to detail, in an effort to develop a very good WordPress template.  Monaco enables online businesses and websmasters of utterly all background or skill level to rapidly and without hassle produce the finest, least complicated, most well-designed and smooth old-fashioned or retro design webpages of utterly any purpose or type. Doesn’t matter what industry you’re in, Monaco is fantastic.  To get this done, Monaco has been presented an impressive number of methods, functions, plugins and assets that can make site constructing and website styling and construction without delay.  Monaco is an extraordinarily efficient, extensive and enthusiastic, responsive theme with a solid, grand and detailed, classy and seriously lavish, super articulate and truly user and web developer friendly, methodically made and aesthetically accomplished responsive WordPress retro multiconcept, versatile theme.

From the incorporated Visual Composer drag-n-drop web page maker to the polished Revolution Slider premium quality plugin, and natural, substantial out of the box WooCommerce integration, Monaco is a very full-featured conventional or retro designed WordPress theme, with single as well as multipage designs, stylish Parallax sections for engaging your audience as well as the smoothest design with the most substantial documentation you can use to completely get the most from Monaco at the very start.

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Handy

  If online sales are your goal, the Handy WordPress theme provides everything necessary to make your shop a success, except for the products themselves. The e-commerce industry grows every year as more people buy products and services from the comfort of their own home or from mobile devices and smartphones while they are on the go. Handy offers fully responsive styling so every information block, product picture and shopping cart page shows up clearly no matter how large or small is the screen shoppers use. With the premium features and other options, your e-commerce shop will be attention-grabbing, totally secure and profitable.

WooCommerce shopping plug-in handles everything from product photo display to detailed descriptions, shopping cart inclusion, secure checkout and customer account creation and assistance. However, this trusted system will not lead to your success if your website does not attract and instill trust in shoppers and other site visitors. The Handy WP theme can give an international boost to your online business with full WPML translation capabilities too. Even with no coding knowledge, all these changes and more can be completed without trouble. For those who need it, full documentation and customer service are available.

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Suprema

  Suprema is one of the finest WordPress eCommerce solutions to come along in quite some time, with tons of incredible features that allow you to create and manage any sort of product line you can imagine, from digitally downloadable products to clothing, shoes to electronics, iPhone accessories to cosmetics and anything else you can imagine.  Suprema is well designed with an intuitive back-end that allows for quick changes and tweaks to any setting in the entire theme, from fonts and colors to layout and features.  Visual Composer is included, this plugin allows you to set up a unique UX that is exactly as you want it to be, with content placed where you want it.  You don’t need to be a graphic designer to make this theme look great, since it comes complete with many different pre-built designs too.  Get started building your business instead of learning to code.  This responsive theme loads fast, so SEO will be no problem with Suprema and the fast load times really help you to rank.  One click demo data import makes it a breeze to get started, extensive documentation helps you if you run into any problems along the way and the support is incredible if you do happen to run into problems you can’t solve on your own.  All in all, Suprema is a wonderful choice if you need to start an online eCommerce business. Demo Demo Get Hosting

The Fox

  The Fox is a cleverly styled, vivid and bright, exceedingly well-structured and straightforwardly navigable, modern and funky, charming and irresistible, impressive and special, technologically flawless and graphically spot-on, fashionable and modern responsive WordPress blog and magazine theme a powerfully generated as well as thoroughly customizable theme that is thoughtfully authored with the uttermost attention and awareness level, to deliver a smooth theme with a painless web site developing process and amazing, pliable outcomes each and every time.

The Fox is perfect for trade magazines, publishers and everybody presenting a lot of graphic content to a diverse web followers, as it has been decked out with numerous wonderful variations and aesthetic Masonry pattern compositions, not to mention left or right sidebar alternatives, 4 footer sidebars, a handsome looking highlighted Region to flaunt the most up to date or best subject matter and a Featured Sticky post, that you can use to greet visitors and give an explanation of what precisely you are all about. Around 100 various options are built into the WordPress Live Customizer, so that you can make each component of your web blog feel and look thoroughly the way you wish, with simplified toggling interaction for virtually all variables available. Also you can turn a switch and have a gorgeous news magazine website.

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Blaszok

  This theme will provide a sophisticated solution for those looking to offer products and services by using WordPress. The theme is simple to configure, and offers you integration methods with many of the most popular (and cost-free) ecommerce plugins, this includes WooCommerce and a ton more. Additionally, as a result of the functional design of the WordPress theme, including even more characteristics is definitely simple. For anyone who is wanting to take your organisation on the web, then get started right away with this particular excellent theme!  Alright, now for more incredible WordPress eCommerce themes.

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Shop Theme

  Stay tuned for more incredible WordPress eCommerce themes.  This theme provides an elegant solution for all those looking to try to sell goods by using WordPress. The theme is not difficult to to get started with, and also offers you integration opportunities with many of the most well-liked (and 100 percent free) ecommerce plugins, including eShop and a ton more. At the same time, thanks to the flexible design of the WP theme, adding a lot more features is pretty easy. For everybody who is wanting to get your website on line, then begin now with this particular exceptional theme!

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[madstars-festival]

BOLAJI ALAUSA ON THE RESURGENCE OF CREATIVITY IN AFRICA

At AD STARS 2018, Bolaji Alausa is giving a talk called ‘Culture, Creativity and the African Continent’.

Bolaji is Executive Creative Director of Noah’s Ark Communications Limited. We spoke to him about why markets like Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa are producing work that’s infused with local insights yet resonates with global audiences.  

The synopsis for your AD STARS session says: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. What do you mean?

Well, that quote is actually from a renowned management expert, Peter Drucker. What he meant then was: whatever corporate strategy a company was going to adopt, it had to be in sync with its corporate culture, or else, it was bound to fail.  The statement is so powerful that it is also contextually true in advertising.

There are loads of campaigns that have had global success in Europe and North America but have failed in Africa. This is because they didn't understand the cultural leaning in Africa. The Omo/Persil ‘Dirt is Good’ campaign was a hit globally, but failed in most African markets because, Dirt is Good, but Malaria is worse. Dirt is good, but we still struggle with infectious diseases such as cholera and polio.

Why is the African continent seeing a resurgence of creativity in markets like Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa?

I think the message has become clearer over the years: the need to tell African stories better has seen a huge resurgence in creative work in these markets.

The West has better production values, they have the technological higher ground, and have done a lot to blur the lines between creativity, innovation and tech. There are a lot of good African narratives yet to be told, and that is what I think most agencies in these African markets are trying to do.

While Kenya, South Africa, and Egypt have made giant strides over the past few years, Nigeria is also beginning to catch up and gradually becoming even more globally relevant.

Is there a secret to making culturally relevant and resonant work?

There are no secrets. Just a few pointers. Like all good campaigns, you need to get the insight right. The planners need to dig deep and find nuggets that can inspire good work.

For culturally relevant work, however, these insights must be true and trans-generational. It must cut through the different generations, because, that is what makes it truly cultural. Something that connects with millennials but is lost on Gen Xers may not classify as culturally relevant. Culture is passed from one generation to another so if work is to classify as culturally relevant, then it must tick generational boxes.

Also, creatives must realize that the work must be less about their lives, and more about the lives of other real people. And there is also the issue of getting external help if required. Agencies should not shy away from reaching out to people in academia, monarchs, historians, or anyone that can help refine the thinking for a campaign.

What do you think is needed to close the gap between Africa’s advertising industry and the West?

Well, the gap is gradually closing. For the first time, my boss, Lanre Adisa, the Chief Creative Officer of Noah’s Ark became the first juror at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity from the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). That was quite symbolic for the advertising industry in SSA as it showed that we were doing something right, and it was being recognized globally.

Having said that, I think we need to strike the balance between telling great African stories and using local insights, which still connect with a larger global audience. It is difficult, but possible. Also, production values need to go up significantly. I hate to say this, but sometimes case films from Europe or North America are better done than some ads from Sub-Saharan Africa, which leads to my next point. Creating the work is one thing, and properly telling a story about the work is another thing.

Also, agencies need to play a better role in getting clients to appreciate good work. Very few marketers are pop culture savvy, and most still prefer safe, rational work over bold communication campaigns. Marketers must raise their game, and by extension, their expectations from their agencies.

Why did you choose a career in advertising?

I studied fine art and majored in painting, before then I wrote and drew comic books, later on I studied digital media. But I have always been a pop culture junkie – advertising was the only avenue that allowed me to aggregate it all.

What is Nigeria’s advertising industry like?

The first Nigerian agency opened shop in 1928. Expatriates dominated the scene until an indigenization law in the 70s led to Nigerian ownership. The 90s saw a rush for international affiliations with Lowe, Grey, Saatchi & Saatchi, etc. Creative directors were brought in from foreign countries. Now, there have been cases where some of these candidates excelled organizationally and creatively in terms of helping the shops woo multinational clients and, along the way, soak in local acclaim. But those cases are few and far between.  The craving for affiliations in Nigeria isn’t as big as it used to be anymore, but a few strong alliances still exist here and there.

What’s been happening more recently?

In the mid to late 2000s we have seen a resurgence of creative entrepreneurs who took it upon themselves to make a mark globally. Digital is disrupting, as it has globally, and we’ve seen budget shifts in that direction over the past few years.

It is still a TV-led market, as penetration is as high as 70%. The biggest spenders are the telecommunications companies, the breweries, the financial institutions and the FMCG brands.  

How does Nigeria inspire you creatively?

I believe insights are everywhere. We just look for them, and find ways to let them inspire us within the context of the briefs we get. On the daily commute, some hilarious act might just pop up, and become useful in the brainstorming session the next day. Memes and epic clapbacks are also common here, and they form a way of gauging the pulse of the netizens and how best to speak to them.  

What is the campaign you are proudest of helping to create?

That would be the Airtel 10x campaign. 

The telecommunication space had recently experienced a saturation of promotions skewed at luring subscribers to switch network providers or spend more to get a lot more on the network.

So how do we connect subscribers with our promotion in a quarter where consumers have offers larger than ours, and still keep brand love for new and existing subscribers without losing the essence of the festive season?

Naturally people with more airtime talk longer, like our mothers when they get hold of abundant credit and want to show their gratitude. That insight was then tied to the fact that African mothers love to pray for their wards. These insights became the TV spot, ‘Prayer Warrior (Amin)’, which just won the Grand Cristal at the African Cristal Festival in Morocco catapulting Noah’s Ark to the Agency of the Year position. But what was most exciting for us was the reception of the campaign. Nigerians were for once happy that a local truth was being used to reach out to them.

[sheilalmartinia]

Five most interesting search marketing news stories of the week

Welcome to our weekly round-up of all the latest news and research from the world of search marketing and beyond.

And a happy 2017 to all of our Search Engine Watch readers! This week, we’ve got a health-conscious New Year’s update from Bing, a new AI-powered search engine which is transforming scientific research, and a look at why the fake information epidemic could be damaging to local search.

A new AI powered search engine is changing how neuroscientists do research

Google’s work in the realm of artificial intelligence and machine learning has succeeded in making web search more intuitive, effective and useful than it’s ever been before. But until now, the same couldn’t be said of scientific research.

That’s all changing with the development of a new, free search engine, Semantic Scholar. Adam Stetzer wrote for Search Engine Watch this week about how the AI-powered search engine is changing the way that neuroscientists do research, using data mining and natural language processing to truly understand the links between research – and what this means for similar search options like Google Scholar.

How Instagram became a powerhouse for social commerce

2016 was a busy year for Instagram, with more users, more brands, and a host of new improvements and features all joining the platform. In November, Instagram tested out a new shopping feature in a bid to woo ecommerce brands and give users a way to shop more visually.

This week, on Search Engine Watch’s sister site ClickZ, Tereza Litsa spoke to Olapic’s Paul Sabria about the steps that Instagram has taken to turn itself into a social commerce powerhouse, and what we can expect from the platform in 2017.

Bing rolls out health-conscious search updates in time for New Year’s resolutions

Bing has rolled out a health-focused update to its search platform just in time for everyone to turn over a leaf in the New Year.

In late November, we saw that Bing had launched a carousel of shopping flyers to promote deals in time for Black Friday. Now whenever you search for “workouts” or “exercises” on Bing, it will deliver a carousel of images which link to a wide variety of exercise options.

Users who search for information on yoga and pilates will also be rewarded with a carousel, and occasionally a how-to video on a specific pose at the top of search. Meanwhile, the Bing app has new updates aimed at making the food search experience “even richer”, including information on calorie counts and low-fat recipes.

Image: Bing blogs

Bing’s new updates are obviously aimed at providing more intuitive, quick answers to users’ search queries in the same way that Google already does with Quick Answers and featured snippets. While they might be on a smaller scale, the tie-in with different times of year such as Black Friday and New Year is a fun way to introduce these features and draw users’ attention to them through the things they are most likely to be searching for.

How the fake information epidemic will hurt local search in 2017

Headlines about the online fake news epidemic have been everywhere since the US Election, particularly if you follow news about publishing or social media. But Wesley Young, Vice President of Public Affairs for the Local Search Association, believes that this problem is set to get worse in 2017 – and that it will be damaging to local search in particular.

In a column for Search Engine Land, Young laid out how the issue of fake news and information can hurt marketers, along with eight ways that false information is currently being used which marketers should be aware of.

“As consumers search for information to help make purchase decisions, uncertainty about the veracity of the information they receive impacts the effectiveness of local search marketing. Online advertising already faces challenges gaining consumer trust, and the proliferation of fake content will only hurt it more. Worse, you may be spending money on advertising that no one ever sees, be competing in an unfair market, suffer from hits to your reputation or pay more than you should for marketing products or services.

Being aware of how false information is being used will help marketers avoid problems and identify when they may be affected, saving them from both headaches and wasted dollars.”

Google clarifies details of its mobile interstitials penalty

As part of Google’s ongoing efforts to improve the experience of browsing the mobile web, a penalty for sites which use annoying mobile interstitials – pop-ups which appear while a website is loading and cover the entire page – is due to take effect next week, beginning on 10th January.

The question of what kind of interstitials, exactly, will incur penalties has been the subject of considerable discussion amongst the SEO community. This week, Google provided some further clarification on the issue in the form of a tweet from Webmaster Trends Analyst John Wu.

He was responding to a query from Kristine Schachinger, technical SEO expert and founder of digital marketing agency The Vetters, about whether the penalty will only affect interstitials which appear when users are navigating from the search results page to a mobile site, or whether it will include interstitials which appear when navigating between pages of the same website.

@schachin @methode yes

— John ☆.o(≧▽≦)o.☆ (@JohnMu) January 4, 2017

Schachinger further enquired as to whether the penalty would affect interstitials which appear between an AMP page and a regular site page, to which Mu replied,

“I haven’t seen an interstitial there, but that would be seen the same as site-page -> site-page.”

from Search Engine Watch https://searchenginewatch.com/2017/01/06/five-most-interesting-search-marketing-news-stories-of-the-week-9/