Internet Marketers – Your Audience is in CRISIS

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Internet Marketers – Your Audience is in CRISIS

If you market to Internet marketers, you might consider the following: 60-80% of your prospects are currently going through or have just gone through a major life change.

Maybe they were downsized, fired or retired. Maybe something at their job changed and now they want out. Maybe they’re going through a divorce or mid-life crisis. Maybe they have money problems or the opposite – They’ve come into money and want to invest it into an online business.

People who are suddenly looking for ways to make money online have experienced a major shift in their life. They’re probably unhappy with the way things are. They’re looking for guidance on how to make a change. Many of them want money FAST – as in yesterday. They want solutions now. They want to push a button and have it done for them. And if that’s not possible, they want to be told EXACTLY what to do to make it happen.

You can use this information to better communicate with your prospects, to let them know you know what they’re going through, and to show them that it can indeed be done.

And you CAN offer them “push button” solutions, too. The legitimate kind. As an example; “We’ll set up your WordPress site, create your first product in 3 different formats, build your squeeze page, write your autoresponder series and so forth, all for “x” amount of money.” That is truly a push button solution, because they push the “buy now” button and you do everything for them.

Of course, it will be too expensive for many, so you can also offer a downgrade, like this: “Too expensive? Then we can teach you how to do it yourself.” By offering two dramatically different price points, you can appeal to both the people who can afford the real push button method, and those who will have to invest their own work to make it happen. In fact, by wording your offer this way you will often get more sales. Your second option will look so low in price compared to the first option, they will find it difficult to say no.

Another great way to market to new Internet Marketers is to offer micro-continuity products that anyone can afford. For example, instead of charging $100 for your product, charge $9.99 a month. Then give them the option of receiving the entire course now for $89 more. Most will opt for the monthly charge, and a percentage will go for the $89 option because they don’t want to wait.

Once they’ve signed up as members, market other affordable products to them inside your members’ area. Plus, make an offer of a big ticket coaching program where you work with people personally.

You might use the Pareto principle when marketing to the Internet Marketing Community. 20% of your prospects are knowledgeable and perhaps even making money online. The other 80% are new, don’t know a great deal and haven’t yet made their first Dollar, Euro, Pound, Yen, Franc or Rand.

Which brings up my last point – unless you specifically target one geographical area, your market is GLOBAL. Yet the needs are very much the same. People who lose their job in China or Switzerland or Brazil or The United States all have the same concerns and fears – “How do I pay the bills and provide for my family now? What if I can’t? What if I fail to land on my feet?”

It’s scary for them, and what they want most of all is someone to take them by the hand, alleviate their fear and show them the way out of the dark and into the light.

The need for money is universal. Your target market is in distress, and they’re desperately hoping you can provide the very real and legitimate guidance that will see them through their financial crisis. Do so, and you will never want for business or income yourself.

22/07/17 (8th time) (matinee)

First thing’s first, guess who finally got to go to a muck up matinee AND the evening show… This bitch right here :))) so I’m basically using this one as a way to note the muck up stuff that was in the matinee (and anything specific to the matinee), and every other proper rambley note (like what I usually make) will be in the evening version.

Since it was cast change day I assume that everyone who should’ve been performing was in both shows (although unfortunately Sarah McNicholas was off sick for both shows but I’m pretty sure the understudy that was on for both shows as Nessa was Rosa O’Reilly, and there were obviously covers for Rosa and various other tracks but anyway).

- I just want to start by saying that the ensemble was on point for this entire show (mostly act 1 stuff but it was still good stuff), you could really tell that they all really click whenever they’re performing together and I love that; like during a lot of the majorly ensemble heavy acting scenes there were just ensemble members standing about on the set instead of the lit areas of stage just half assing everything and I thought it was hilarious. Some of them were even onstage just not participating and watching instead (during the Ozdust dance bit) and I thought that was hilarious too

- After DoS and Elphaba says “what are you all staring at?” everyone onstage pointed at her instead of just staring and it was so in sync it was kind of crazy

- In the middle of TWAI, just after the 1st verse/chorus, there was only one ensemble member who came onstage where there’s usually about 5 ensemble members

- Riffmeister Willemijn Verkaik in the house! If you haven’t heard her matinee performance of TWAI you really need to (see here). It’s a killer version with a couple of riffs on lines that I’ve personally never heard riffed before (although she has done a variation of the riff in the last 6 months); I was beaming so much, like she was basically riffing the last minute of it but the stand out line was ‘and so it will be for the rest of my life and I want nothing else ‘til I die’ she was on fucking fire for the last minute of the song ugh (god I want to live in that version of that line forever, I think that might be what heaven sounds like)

- (Bonus fact that she didn’t even pull out that many TWAI riffs for the evening show, and the ones she DID pull out certainly weren’t That Riff™)

- There was a noticeably long pause at the end of TWAI and I’m not entirely sure why because the audience went crazy but not THAT crazy…

- The ensemble member who plays Avaric came out in his (or someone else’s) understudy Fiyero outfit and it was the greatest thing; there was quite a bit of laughter from down the front of the theatre

- When Boq chases Galinda at the top of DTL, Idriss came out with a bouquet of flowers (I think it was another set of the ones Fiyero gives to Elphaba before she heads off to the Emerald City) and gave them to Suzie before he started his lines and I just thought it was super cute

- During the transition bit between DTL and the Ozdust Ballroom scene in the part where the girls find The Hat™ there were two extra ensemble members just standing there cuddling each other and looking really smiley and overhyped about the idea of being nasty and giving it to Elphaba; they didn’t speak but you really felt their presence in the ‘posse’ during that little scene

- This isn’t really a muck up thing but I never noticed the ensemble choreography with the books in the background before… Kinda makes me feel like a bad person but I guess I’ve just been too distracted by the Fiyero pants in that scene, AND the only reason I did notice was because of the ensemble members standing around on the set who looked a bit unsure of when to pull out their books and start. (I checked whatever videos I could find of DTL on youtube and there’s book choreography oops)

- Elphaba’s dance was funny (but with Willemijn it always is)

- Suzie’s ‘toss toss’ is still one of my favs and Willemijn’s response is still a fav too (I’ll reiterate this about the evening show but I just needed to express it here too)

- Mark Curry was the only principal cast member who was really into the muck up the whole way through but his more notable ones were that when The Wizard first appears from behind the Oz Head he was wearing a bright green wig and then he held the ‘am’ in SM for what felt like forever before finishing the song (I was kind of surprised by his breath control tbh)

- There wasn’t really much muck up stuff in act 2, I know Mark did something in the cyclone scene but I didn’t catch it because I was too busy looking around watching all the techie elements (because I enjoy them and I never really pay attention to scenes with just The Wizard or Madame Morrible anyway)

- People weren’t laughing at the stuff that wasn’t funny for this show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- I also got into the auditorium early enough to see the safety curtain rising which was kinda weird (but also cool to see)

That’s all I’ve really got specifically for this show. I can’t actually believe I managed to ramble THAT much for each point good lord (if I managed to ramble this much just about muck up points, I’m apologise in advance for whatever I write for the evening show!)

MC Doing the Peeling Glue Skin Prank on the Bros (Lucifer, Mammon, and Leviathan)

Hoorayyy my first post! I don’t know if any of you have seen the tiktok where they rub glue to look like their skin is peeling off but it’s both funny and horrifying. Also, this got a lot longer and fluffier/sappier than what I thought, but I’m not complaining. This will be done in headcannon format, and I think I’m going to split it up into 2 parts (Lucifer, Mammon, and Levi in the first part and the rest in the second) and I hope you enjoy! Also slight spoiler for lesson 16 (but it’s a blink and you miss it kind of thing in Mammon’s). Reader is gender neutral.

The Build Up:

Ever since you came back to the Devildom after the exchange program, things have been great! It was obvious that you were missing the demon lords, and even more obvious that they were missing you too. Things weren’t different, not at all. But the one day that you were bored out of your mind and they all had different things to handle, you turned to the one thing that could cure your boredom: the Devildom’s version of TikTok. Oh how the boys will forever regret showing you that app, as it had let to their current downfall... 

Lucifer

So unfortunately this man is ALWAYS busy

It doesn’t matter what time of day or night it is, he’s always filling out paperwork. Whether it’s for Diavolo, credit card bills that Mammon racked up, Asmo’s impromptu fashion trips, Beel’s black hole of a stomach, etc.

And he doesn’t like to be disturbed at all unless it’s an emergency

So when you burst into his office out of nowhere, he was slightly irritated (but not that angry, since it was you and your presence was hardly a nuisance)

But that quickly changed whenever he heard you moaning his name in pain and looked up to see what looked like your flesh flaking off by the second

His eyes widen and he is instantly panicking. He’s trying to keep it on the inside but you start to “panic” which makes him shoot out of his seat

Instantly is by your side, trying to delicately hold you and also trying to figure out what the hell is going on

“MC! Are you in pain? What happened? Did someone put a curse on you?!”

Now, you weren’t putting on a Oscar worthy performance but you think you were selling it pretty good. And everything was working out until he grabbed your arm and inspected it closer that he realized he got played

First, he realized that your flesh wasn’t falling in chunks on the ground. Then, he realized that these flakes were awfully thin, and that parts of your arm felt sticky

He fully realized that he got pranked when he peeled off your “skin” off your neck and you giggled, then covered your mouth to realized that your cover was blown

Needless to say, he was not a happy demon

And you basically just signed your death warrant

Before you could even think about running, he grabbed you again and “asked” that you have a seat

Cue another long Lucifer lecture, with him explaining how this wasn’t a funny prank (even for human standards) and that you need to understand how serious this is

Which is his way of saying that he cares about you and was actually panicked and scared. You knew his pride made it hard for him to openly express himself. And while he is getting better slowly but surely, it’s still hard for him to do so. Which made you feel guilty, so you did genuinely apologized

“You’re right, Lucifer, I’m sorry. This wasn’t my greatest idea, as you can see. I didn’t realize how severely this affected you, and it wasn’t right for me to take advantage of that. I know how hard it is to express how you feel because of your pride, but I know how much you care for me even without saying it. It shows in how hard you work, and how you still manage to be there for everyone despite how stress you are. I shouldn’t be adding on to that stress, and I really am sorry for that. You really are a good person, Lucifer, and even though you can be very strict- wait! Let me finish,- you mean well because you care for us. And you don’t get enough credit for that. So, thank you for all that you do. I love you, truly and deeply.”

Despite being a little skeptical in the beginning (he thought you were trying to get out of a punishment, ha! Good luck with that) and ending with a flustered look that he tried to cover with his hand (which was obviously too late to do, you already saw), he did appreciate and accepted the apology.

“I love you too, MC. Truly and deeply.”

So that was your cue to get your hug (and maybe a little kiss) and he pushed you away! You were offended for a second, but you saw the disgusted look on your face and forgot that you were covered in dried glue. Oh yeahhhh...ew

So while you were back in his good graces, you still got punished. A 15 page essay on why doing horrific pranks like that on your loved ones is harmful and no HellTok for your remaining stay?! You know you deserve some type of consequence but geez, overkill much?!

But, he did hint to you that you could make him feel better by spending the night with him in bed

After you take a much needed shower of course

Mammon

As much as this tsundere tried to say he was “too busy” for you, we all know that’s a lie

Granted when you went to go bother him, he was busy

Busy with planning out new scams counting out whatever Grimm he had left, what items to sell and for what price: “maybe I could sell Levi’s golden Ruri-Chan vendor ring thing for some Grimm? He’ll flip but if I just “borrow” it for a little bit, he won’t know what hit ‘im!”

Seeing how focused he was, it was your time to shine

“M-Mamooon! Help me! Something’s w-wrong!”

That immediately got his attention

His head shot up and he rushed to you, panic clearing showing on his face and in his movements

“MC! What’s going on?! WHAT IS THIS!”

When you could physically see him shaking, sweating and on the brink of tears, you knew that it was time to stop while you were ahead

“Mammon wait-“

“We need to go to Lucifer NOW.”

And when he went to pick you up gently, and saw with his own two eyes the flakes slowly fall to the ground, was when hell broke loose

You have never heard him scream so loud before, and you were pretty sure everyone both in and out the house heard him

He lifted you up and you were pretty sure he was in his demon form when you both ran and/or flew (you couldn’t tell, that’s how fast you were moving) to Lucifer’s

Sometimes it was so easy to forget that you lived with actual demons, 7 of the strongest to be exact

When you both reached your destination (ie. barged into Lucifer’s room unprovoked) he was not pleased, but Mammon did not care.

You were one of (if not) the most important person in his life and he would be damned if anything happened to you again. He was your first man, your protector! And he was not going to fail. Not again. He would and will protect you with his life. At any costs

When you saw how serious he was , you tried to wiggle out of his arms, but all he did was just tighten up and say, “MC, quit squirmin’! I don’t want you to make this worse.”

“No, Mammon wait-“

“We’re going to fix this. I’m going to fix this and I’m not lettin’ anything happen to you again. Now stop moving! Lucifer, somethin’s wrong with MC! Look at how their skin is-“

“ITS A PRANK!”

It’s just a prank bro

“Wh-what?”

“I’ve been trying to tell you, I’m sorry!”

While you were explaining the whole process (with Lucifer staring on in building irritation), you were still in his arms

You already felt like a terrible being, but the guilt was steady skyrocketing when you were looking at his face

He looked like a kicked puppy left in the rain with a broken paw

You just kept apologizing over and over, until you heard a certain someone clear their throat.

“If you two are done interrupting me, I would like to get back to work. MC, stay behind, it seems like we need to have a little chat about your so called prank.”

Mammon put you down and walked out the room, head hanging and eyes covered.

You knew you screwed up big time. Forget about the incoming lecture, you felt absolutely terrible about pranking Mammon. Especially after hearing the “again” comment.

Once you finally got released (ie. punished), you all had dinner, which Mammon skipped out on

Geez, this was not suppose to happen and you needed to make it up to him ASAP

So here you were, standing outside his door (after you cleaned up) with two Hell Fire noodle cups, knocking timidly

“Hey, Mammon? Is it okay if I come in?”

Silence

“You weren’t down for dinner and I know that you’re hungry, so I brought us-you some noodles.”

Again, silence

You sighed, you knew you messed up big time and you were going to fix it, no matter what. 

“I’m sorry, Mammon. I’m so sorry. What started out as a joke turned into something serious, and it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have did that. Hurting you was never my intention, I care about you too much to do that. When I heard you say that you weren’t going to let anything happen to me again, I knew that I messed up. I know that you will always protect me, and I don’t have any doubt that you won’t. You’re my first man, remember? I know that you’ll always have my back, and I hope you know that I’ll always have yours too. You’re not just the Avatar of Greed to me Mammon, you’re my first guy that I’ll love forever. I won’t ever mess with you like this again, and if you don’t want to talk now that’s fine too, just know that I’ll always love and care for you, okay?”

Ughh and now you were crying!

You sighed. You understood if he didn’t want to talk to you. I mean, he thought you were dying again. It’s easy to forget the events that happened with Belphie, since everyone is communicating and acting like a real family, but you can see now that it left a deep emotional wound in Mammon. He believed that it was his fault that you weren’t saved, and he still carried the burden all this time.

You put the cup down outside the door and started to head back to your room. You would give him as much time as he needed. You just hate that you made him feel this way, that you rose those feelings out of him. And you hated yourself for it.

You barely stepped a foot away from the door when he saw it swing out and a big blob tackle-hugged you

Here was Mammon, sniffling and tearing up, hugging you

“*sniff* You stupid human.”

When he pulled away, you saw the tears in his eyes, which he tried to rub away before you could notice (sidenote: you already noticed)

“Ya-Ya really love me?”

“Of course, Mammon! How could I not? You stayed by my side through thick and thin, through everything. You protected me, and I will forever be grateful for that. I wouldn’t be here without you. You’re not a selfish scum bag like everyone tries to make you out to be, Mammon, and I won’t let you believe that you are. You are my first man, the man that has constantly looked out for me, that has supported and cared for me, and most of all that has never failed to show how much love you have to give. I love you Mammon, always.”

Cue the blushing and cheeky grin

“Now come on the Great Mammon, our noodles are getting cold.”

It felt great to see that smile back on his face

And it felt even better to hear him say, “I love ya too, MC”

Leviathan

Levi was in his room, nothing new

He told you he had some sort of campaign that he absolutely could not afford to miss. Which he said about the other campaigns too but whatever

So when you knocked into his room, and he didn’t ask for the secret phrase, you knew he was in too deep to even pay attention to his surroundings

And the door was UNLOCKED

So you went in, ready to give him the scare of the decade, and-

He turned around in his gaming chair, raging and in his demon form

“UGH! How was that normie of a demon able to kill me with that move?! He has to be cheating! How is it that I’m one of the best players in the entire Devildom and I’m one of the first dead?! It’s not fair! It’s not fair, it’s not fair IT’S NOT FAI- huh? MC, why are you covered in *squints* dried up glue?”

You were honestly shook

Because 1: the third strongest brother was obviously furious and in his demon form which is not a good combination (your mind flashing back to the TSL quiz and whew was that not the best memory) and 2: how the hell was he able to know that this was glue?!

Okay, you weren’t scared of Levi, not at all! But you, just like everyone else, knew how serious he took his gaming

And you all knew how he could be when he was raging about it too

Not saying that he would ever harm or attack you, oh no. What happened at the beginning was just a...fluke! Yeah, just a little hiccup in your now longstanding relationship

But you were still just a tad bit hesitant to be caught in the crossfire of his rage

Really everyone was (except maybe Beel, but even he had his moments)

“LOL you look like one of the rotten magical zombie students from the anime “OMG I’m Just A Magical Girl in Training and Somehow I Turned the Whole School Into Zombies and Have to Fall in Love with a Demon to Reverse It!””

Okay, this was not the reaction you were looking for

“What the- but how-?

Then you remembered

Levi is a renowned cosplayer, the best in the game. It was obvious he knew what the dried up glue looked like considering how much he’s worked with it

You were of course disappointed, but oh well, you could always scheme to get him another way

And then it happened. Another devious idea popped into your head

“So you said I looked like a rotten zombie student huh?”

“Rotten magical zombie student . LOL don’t tell me that you don’t think you do- W-what are you doing MC?”

“Ughhh I’m a rotten magical school girl, and I’m not just hungry for brains, I’m hungry for love.”

“L-love?”

“Gughhh that’s right and only kisses can satiate my hunger. Demon kisses.”

Oh boy 

The way that you turned red so quick was always a surprising sight for you to see

“M-MC WAIT-”

“I want my kisses, Levi!”, you said it in your best zombie/monster voice

Cue his famous “WOOAHHHH”

“MC WAIT- YOU’RE COVERED IN GROSS DRIED GLUE OMG” 

The campaign was quickly forgotten when you tackled him to the ground, glue and all

Then you remembered how sensitive he was with physical contact, and tried to get up

“Oh Levi, I’m sorry! I forgot you don’t li-”

Something was still holding you against him

Specifically, that something was his tail

His tail was currently wrapped around your waist, holding you tightly against the red-faced otaku

“Levi, you okay?”

“Y-y-yeah, I’m okay.” he said it in the tiniest voice you have ever heard.

“Do you want me to get-”

“NO! I-I mean yes! I mean no! N-no I don’t want you to get up. I’m okay.”

Today was just surprising you left and right huh?

But you weren’t complaining now

“But now we’re covered in nasty, peely glue. And what about your campaign?”

He looked at the screen, and then back at you

“It’s okay. It’s not worth it like I thought it was. It’s just a bunch of normies who either button mash or spam the same attack over and over. And I already got majority of the rewards anyway. Besides, now that another normie has me covered in icky cheap glue, I need to get it off.”

Whoops

“Sorry about that, Levi. I was just trying to prank you but looks like that failed. I could do your laundry for you since it was my bad. Is that okay?”

“O-or you could m-make it up to me by having by binge watching some anime? If you want, even though I’m a nasty, icky, worthless ot-”

“Levi. Look at me.”

You gently grabbed and held his face in your hands

“You’re not worthless or nasty okay? And I love to spend time with you. We can definitely have an anime marathon. I’ll always be by your side, I wouldn’t be your Henry if I wasn’t.”

“R-really?”, the way his eyes light up every time you praise or show him love will never get old

“Of course. But I do have to say that you are icky.”

“WHAT”

“But we both are. I mean I did kinda cover you in the flaky glue, and it’s starting to feel a little gross to be honest.”

“O-oh yeah. I-it’s your fault normie!”

“Yeah, yeah I know.”, you laughed. 

Atleast you somewhat pranked him

“So let’s get cleaned up, and I can bring some more snacks when I’m done. You wanna do the pillow fort like usual?”

“O-of course, normie!”

“Alright. I’ll see you in a few then!”, and you began walking out the room

He watched your trailing form, and honestly he didn’t want you to leave yet. That was apparent when his tail wrapped itself around you. I mean, how embarrassing was that?! But he couldn’t help it.

Levi cares about you immensely. You’re his best friend, his Henry! He didn’t know what you saw in someone like him, I mean damn, he was the Avatar of Envy! What’s attractive about someone being jealous 24/7?

He wasn’t outgoing like Asmo or Mammon, didn’t have the confidence like Lucifer or Satan, and he wasn’t good at building bonds like the twins (or at least like Beel)

What a human like you saw in him was still mind boggling, and he thought you were just tolerating him, just being nice. But, he saw how genuine you were as time went on. He saw you as someone special to him, you were his favorite real living person, his best friend, and honestly he wanted you to become more-

“Oh, Levi, one more thing.”

You quickly ran up to him and kissed him on the cheek

“I finally got my demon kiss, ughhh. My hunger has been satisfied!”

And ran right back out 

He blushed 100x more now, and he realized that maybe he wasn’t ready to take it to the next step just yet, but he was willing to be patient and work towards it

He was willing to make the effort because you’re worth it

Like Old Times

Pairing: (Lifeguard)Bela Dimitrescu x (SurferFem)Reader

Summary: Your lifeguard girlfriend talks you into entering a surfing tournament that’s being held at your local beach. However, Bela meets a familiar face that comes to compete.

Warnings: Cheating, Couple Argument, Breakup, Depression

A/n: So I didn't expect this to become a series l. I thought it was gonna be a one-shot. But enjoy! Also, I couldn’t choose between these two songs. So you readers may pick either “Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride” - Lilo and Stitch or “You get what you Give” - New Radicals to listen to when Y/n and Jeane hit the Sunsetting Tides after the first day of the Surfing Tournament!

-----------------------------------------------

You sit down with your knees huddled against your upper body. Even though you were the one who emerged victorious in the first round of the Surf Tournament, your girlfriend decided to comfort her ex as she felt bad for him despite being proud of you. She also believed him when he told her that he had become better and that he wanted to make up for lost time with her. You reluctantly let her go as you didn't want her to see you becoming jealous.

"My question is Y/n/n," Jeane sits next to you, "How you let her go off with her ex.."

"I didn't want her to see how jealous I was getting," you sigh, "I just- don’t want to talk about it... So, shouldn't your boyfriend be here to root you on?"

"Actually," Jeane's voice trails off, pulling out her phone

She holds the phone in your face and you squeal of excitement. However, she shushes you before you even raised your voice.

"Since when did this happen?!" You ask, trying to keep your voice down low

"Right before I went off to the competition the other night," she smiles

"That ring is so pretty though," You compliment the engagement ring, "Definitely you."

Jeane chuckles and gives you a hug.

“I need a favor Y/n,” Jeane says

You pull away to look at her, “What’s the favor?”

“I need you to be my Maid of Honor,” She requests

Your mouth hangs agape, “W-what?”

“Be my maid of honor,” She begins smiling

You smile as you jump into her arms, engulfing her into a hug.

“Shouldn’t you be asking your sister?” You ask her

“I did,” Jeane answers you, “She isn’t able to come back home before the wedding day. That is why I’m asking you.”

“I will be more than happy to be your maid of honor,” You smile before engulfing each other in a hug

“I also need you to walk me down the isle,” She asks once more

You knew that she barely had family that was still around. Or even ones who were; she didn’t choose any of them. She asks you. Her best friend and basically little sister that she never had. 

“Oh I’m more than happy to do that too,” You smile

“By the way,” Jeane adds, “Your girlfriend is invited as your guest.”

From afar, Bela watches you embrace your best friend; unbeknownst to her of the conversation you just had.

"Do you know what'll make you feel better?" Jeane asks you, still embracing you

"What?" You ask

"Getting our asses back in the water," she says, pulling away to look at you, "Tides are still high and its the end of the day."

"Are you just saying that to make me feel better or are you just saying that because you really want to go surfing with me again?" You ask her, suspiciously but smiling at her

"...Yes" She smiles, cracking into a laugh

You couldn't help but crack a laugh as well. You stand up, and help Jeane up off the chair. The both of you head over to the lifeguard post to grab your respective surfboards. However you make the mistake of looking up and seeing Bela smiling with her ex. She looks down at you and she smiles and waves. However, you subtlety scoff at her and turn to walk next to Jeane, heading towards the ocean. However, your reactive changed Bela's expression to cheerfulness, to confusion and slight sadness.

“Hey you paying attention?” Billy asks

Bela shakes off her staring a you and sighs, but tries to pull it off but smile, “Yeah sorry.”

“So, as I was saying-” Billy continues to drift on

Bela just drifts her head to you and Jeane; jealous and upset you didn’t offer her to surf with you instead. 

When you and Jennie pass she very shallow shore, the both of you lie on your stomachs and begin paddling towards a deeper part of the ocean.

"Lets see how much you remember in surfing rookie," Jeane jokes

"No please," You joke back, "Age before beauty grandma!"

“Oh it’s on!” Jeane laughs, acting all competitive

Jeane had some surfing competing and some wins in her books. Whereas you, you had watched her from the shoreline, hoping to be like her one day. However, Jennie had moved across the country for her new job after graduating college. 

“Go ahead of me!” You smile

“Like old times?” Jeane asks you

“Like old times,” You repeat her question but in an answer format

Like twins, the both of you face parallel along the wave and begin standing onto your surfboards. You watch as Jennie begins surfing ahead of you. As the wave began getting slightly smaller the further you were slightly behind Jeane, you crouch down on your board and look over to the rising water of the wave. Slowly, you reached your hand out and let it skid across the rising water like a flat stone skipping across the water. 

“Oh how I’ve missed surfing with you Y/n!” Jeane smiles

You pull ahead in front of Jeane and you smile as you turn around to see her with a surprised face. You jokingly shrug her off and continue surfing. You tilt slightly to your right and do the exact same maneuver you had done earlier in the day to catch Holmes off guard. 

“You show off!” Jeane sighs and shakes her head, breaking into a laugh

“Oh the things I’ve learned while you have been away my gal!” You smile as you land in front of her

You watch Jeane swoop down below and cut in front of you. You try and do the same but her speed continued to increase. However, the wave began breaking, making you swing right out of the wave before it caved.

“Jeane!” You called out to her

You sigh in relief when you see her on the other side of the wave. 

“Yo! Y/n Let’s try and ride on top of the next one!” Jennie yells to you, exiting the wave tunnel

You follow suit, maneuvering right out of the wave right before it crashed on the shallow shoreline. You manage to catch up with Jennie before paddling off to the next incoming wave.

“Bels? Bels are you even listening?” her ex asks

Bela’s POV

As her ex drifts onto his story, Bela turns her head and watches you have the time of your life with Jennie. 

“Oh sorry,” She sighs

“You okay?” He asks, placing his hands on her upper arms

She steps away form him, he immediately puts his hands back down on his sides. 

“Sorry,” He says, looking into another direction

“I’m gonna go,” She says

She immediately power walks away from him and into your direction but stopping at the shoreline. 

“And he just fell as soon as he stood up?” You ask, trying to contain your laughter, “My goodness your stories never get old. Hey that diner is still around do you want to go there after? Catch up outside of surfing?”

Y/n’s POV

You and Jeane begin emerging from the ocean and continue laughing with her story of how she tried getting her then boyfriend (Now fiancée) to go surfing with her.

“I’d like to!” Jennie says before looking over to the approaching Bela, “Hey! Ms. I snatched the hottest surfer on the beach! You want to join us for dinner? Did Y/n ever take you to the diner? They may have greasy ass food but their fries never disappoint!”

“Actually...” Bela sighs, “I’m going to call it a day...”

“Yeah yeah I’m fine,” She sighs, stepping back from your gentle touch, “I’m just tired...”

“Hey, you okay Kaipo?” You ask, walking up to her and gently placing your hand on her arm

[Kaipo (KIE-Poh) means “Darling” in Hawaiian]

“Do you want me to drive you home?” You ask her, trying to comfort her in the best way possible

“Oh no- I wouldn’t want to interrupt your quality time with Jennie... I’ll... I’ll just ask my ex if he can take me... See you tomorrow Draga Mea,” She says, trudging off to the lifeguard post

“Did she just say her ex?” You ask Jennie, “I kind of zoned out when I was looking at her...

“Listen, if you trust Bela, just let her be,” Jennie says, placing her hand on your shoulder to keep you from going to Bela

“I do trust her it’s just... She looked so happy when she began talking with her ex...” You sigh, “And-and...”

“You feel threatened,” Jennie concludes

You nod.

“Like I said, if you really trust her, let her go,” She says, “Let’s get out of here.”

You and Jennie head over to the local diner that overlooked the ocean. Even though you were happy that Jennie was back. Even if it was for the competition, you’d be seeing her again for her wedding. 

“Have you figured out where you were going to have the wedding?” You ask, sipping your glass of water

“Here, on the beach,” She smiles

“Classic,” You smile

Your smile drops when you hear your phone vibrate on the table. However, as soon as you pick it up and turn it on; it wasn’t from Bela. 

“Dude, call her and check on her if you need to,” Jeane suggests

“You sure?” You ask, looking for reassurance in Jeanes expression. 

“Go you little lovebird,” She teases you

You smile and mouth ‘thanks’ before heading to the entrance of the diner, unlocking your phone and pressing Bela’s speed dial number. You pace around the parking lot, listening to the phone ring. 

“Come on Bels... Pick up... Pick up...” You mumble to yourself

You growl when it goes to voicemail. You call her several more times before finally giving up.

“Bela babe it’s me... I want to just make sure you’re okay...” You say before hanging up your phone

Jeane looks up when she hears the bell on the door rings. But her expression drops when you slump into your seat.

“Let me guess- she didn’t pick up?” Jeane sighs

You nod, “I don’t get it... She always picks up...”

“Listen kid,” Jeane starts, “Why don’t you go check on her after this? If you’re so worried.”

You nod but try to put on a smile for Jeane. However, Jeane knew you better. She was able to tell when you’re faking it.

“I’ll cover the bill Y/n,” Jeane blurts out, making you look up

“Are-are you sure?” You ask

She smiles and nods while gesturing you to the door, “Go get her.”

You vowed that you’d pay back Jeane for making her pay for you. Thus, you drive home however, some of the lights were off. You unlock the front door to your house and place your backpack next to the entry hall.

“Bela?” You call to the house

No response... You decide to check in your room.

“Bela?” You call again, opening the door

Your heart sinks when you realize the bed was how it was before you had left for the beach that morning. You rush back out to your car; half-assing the lock on your door just before you rushed back into your car and began making your way to Bela’s place.

I need to tell her what Jeane and I were talking about...

You arrive to Bela’s apartment a little further into town and you look up; Bela’s apartment balcony was visible to the front part of the building. 

Her light’s on...

You immediately but calmly make your way up to Bela’s apartment. You and her had spare keys to each others’ places so you take out the one key that wasn’t attached to your jumble mess you call your wallet, car keys and house keys and unlock the door. You try to make your steps quiet just in case Bela was passed out on her bed. You reach for the doorknob and slowly turn the nob and slowly open the creaky door.

“B-Bela?....” your breathe hitches in your throat

She opens her eyes but they immediately widen as she sees your figure in the doorway. She shoves a more muscular arm away from her however it coils back around her body. 

“Y-Y/n!” Bela tries to hide the biggest mistake she’s ever made, “It’s-it’s not what it looks like!”

But it was exactly what it looked like. You couldn’t move your legs as she tries to throw on her clothing.

“Baby,” A male voice wakes up

You immediately recognize the male face...

Billy Holmes... How the fuck did I guess?...

Finally gaining thoughts in your legs you turn your heel just as Bela was getting her shorts on. Regardless if you hear your name being called repeatedly and the footsteps behind you, you don’t turn back.

“Y/n Wait!” Bela manages to catch up with you before you got in your truck

“What Bela?!” You ask her, pissed off, “After me telling you that ‘You’re my Ohana’ you go any do this?!”

“I thought-I thought you were going to leave me for Jeane,” Bela confesses, “I saw the way you two were hugging earlier...”

“That? That? Jeane is getting married Bela!” You scream, not giving a shit who was listening

Bela just stands there, dumbfounded.

“She asked me to be her maid of honor and to walk her down the isle,” You begin explaining, “Because her sister isn’t able to be home on time for her wedding and majority of her family isn’t around anymore! She sees me as her little sister that she’s never had because she was the little sister! Jeane told me that you were invited as my guest... I was going to ask you after dinner with her but.... You can forget it. While you’re at it, forget about us.”

You plop the spare key she had given you back into her hands and you finally get into your car. You immediately beeline your car back to your house. Trying to keep your crying from coming out. You put Jeane’s speed dial in and your the ringing immediately pick up.

“My place,” You state, trying to hide the fact you were beginning to cry, “I’ll send you directions when I stop..”

“Are-are you crying Y/n?” Jeane asks

“I’ll explain later,” You choke on your sob

You hang up your phone and manage to park in the nearest lot. You stop your car and turn up your radio. You shove your face into your hands and begin sobbing, You let out a pained scream as you put your head onto your steering wheel. Remembering that you told Jeane that you’d text her your address, you had done just that and continued your way home with puffy eyes

You managed to make your way back to your place, but there was another car in your driveway; one you didn’t recognize.

“Jeane?” You pull up next to the car

“Y/n! Oh thank god!” Jeane sighs in relief

The both of you get out of your respective cars however, you fall onto your knees. 

“Hey, Hey Y/n,” Jeane comes running in front of you, “Talk to me...”

You couldn’t even stop crying at that point...

Chapter 4

Dust Volume 7, Number 1

Phicus

Another year, another volume of Dust, which means we’ve been collecting these brief, pithy reviews for seven years now.  This time around, we sample the usual cornucopia of genres, from ambient death metal to Iranian punk to noisy skree to shoegaze-y lookalikes to polyglot global dj grooves, with the usual stops in free jazz and improvisatory environments. Contributors include Jonathan Shaw, Bill Meyer, Ian Mathers, Jennifer Kelly, Bryon Hayes and Andrew Forell.  

Aberration — S/T (Sentient Ruin Laboratories)

Aberration by Aberration

Not sure what “ambient dark death metal” is, but recently formed band Aberration claims to play it. The “ambient” bit may be a nod to the drone that sometimes resonates deep in the mix of the three songs on this 10” EP. Other than that, Aberration’s music sounds pretty typical of the death metal created by bands on the primitive, murky end of the genre’s sonic continuum. Some of the musicians are in other, more established projects: John Hancock plays guitar and provides vocals in the widely admired death doom outfit Void Rot, Dylan Haseltine plays bass and sings for the blackened death metal (mostly black metal, it seems to me) band the Suffering Hour. Those bands have much more specific musical identities, and their intense records express the players’ clarity of vision. Perhaps Aberration wants to live up to its name, presenting something unprecedented, an unpleasant mutation — and hence, perhaps, the decision to release the vinyl version of the EP on an unusual format. That’s sort of fun. The music is not. But that’s nothing new in death metal, and to be honest, these songs don’t warrant the announcement of a new sub-subgenre. They are just fine, if you like your death metal atavistic, cavernous and claustrophobic. But an aberration? Nope. Maybe a weeping pustule. In death metal, isn’t that enough?

Jonathan Shaw

 Steve Baczkowski / Bill Nace — Success (Notice)

Success by Steve Baczkowski/Bill Nace

Dallas is synonymous with a sort of excess that begs to be perceived as success. Old TV shows, memories of oil, nation-splitting politics, you name it; it’s bigger, badder and gaudier in Dallas. A tape of a free improv show that was recorded at a Dallas bookstore might not fit your preconceptions of longhorn accomplishment, but go ahead and tell that to Steve Baczkowski and Bill Nace. If they answer at all, they might let you gently know that it’s your problem, and then pop in the tape. This 42-minute-long recording will hook you by the belt, take off into the stratosphere, drag you through an asteroid belt, and deposit your cindered remains by the bar (yes, The Wild Detectives serves liquor as well as literature) before the tape reverses. That still leaves plenty of time savor the duo’s mastery of transition, from stout-sounded duel to fading filigree framing the sounds of the cash register opening and closing. Yeah, that’s the sound of Success.

Bill Meyer

 Aidan Baker — There/Not There (Consouling Sounds)

There / Not There by Aidan Baker

Unsurprisingly, 2020 doesn’t seem to have slowed Aidan Baker (Nadja, WERL, Caudal, Hypnodrone Ensemble, and many more) much at all. Of the many records released under his own name, the recent There/Not There stands out for being a surprisingly accessible entry to his personal metal/drone/ambient/shoegaze melting pot, even given the opening 20-minute title track. “There/Not There” marries some whispery shoegaze songwriting with a beautifully monomaniacal repeating drone. Over the course of the track, it does slowly transition until we get to a crescendo as intense as any Baker’s done, but even more so than normal the unwary might get lured in by the low key, blissful opening and the frog-boiling slowness with which the tension is ratcheted up. One of the other two tracks is really just a way to section off the real noise-squall coda of “There/Not There” but then “Paris (Lost)” offers a more concise, quieter storm version of the same framework. Like a lot of Baker’s work, it sneaks up on you, but when it hits it hits hard. 

Ian Mathers

Ballrogg — Rolling Ball (Clean Feed)

Rolling Ball by Ballrogg

The Scandinavian combo Ballrogg changes direction once again on Rolling Ball. Founders Klaus Ellerhusen Holm (clarinets) and Roger Arntzen (bass), who are both Norwegian, started out reinvestigating the folksy jazz vibe of Jimmy Giuffre, then sought out a new home on the range by adding slide guitarist Ivar Grydeland. Now, incoming Swedish guitarist David Stackenäs and his rack of pedals have redirected the trio into a technology-enhanced future. Not the sci-fi imaginings of Sun Ra, but a future more like 2019 might look if you stepped straight into it from 1959; in some ways quite familiar, but in others, different enough to be disorienting. The Giuffre-esque and country elements are still there, but when punctuated by minimalist-influenced compositional flourishes and illuminated by the diffuse, digital flicker of Stackenäs’ effects, it suddenly becomes clear that those Viking cowboys didn’t put a key in the ignition before they drove out towards the horizon.

Bill Meyer

 Bipolar — S-T (Slovenly)

BIPOLAR "Bipolar" EP by Bipolar

For a band named Bipolar, with a single called “Depression,” this EP sure is a lot of fun. Two of the band’s mainstays are apparently Iranian emigres, now seeking the more permissive environs of Brooklyn. (The only hint of that exotic origin is in “Sad Clown,” where there might be an imam exhorting the faithful, but who knows? I don’t speak Farsi.) One of them sometimes plays keyboard with the Spits, and in fact, the Spits are a pretty good reference point for these hard, fast, bratty songs. “Virus” pummels a relentless pogo beat, the one-two of the drums rocketing ever faster, the shouted all-hands chorus in tumbling sync. “Fist Fight” is even more exhilarating, with its blaring, roiling guitar blast and adrenaline-raising refrain, “It’s a fist fight. It’s a fist fight.” There’s nothing profound here, but it’s a good time.

Jennifer Kelly  

 Bosq — Y Su Descarga Internacional (Bacalao)

Y Su Descarga Internacional by bosq

Bosq, a globally omnivorous DJ formerly based in Boston (real name Benjamin Woods), recently moved to Colombia, perhaps to get closer to his source material. The Colombian influence is certainly strong on Y Su Descarga Internacional, which opens with a scorching “Rumbero,” featuring the Afro-Colombian star Nidia Góngora. Dorkas, another singer from Colombia, follows immediately with “Mi Arizal,” an intricately textured dance track which erupts with fiery bursts of Latin brass. Justo Valdez, whose Son Palenque did much to define the Cartagena sound in the 1960s and 1970s, drops by for two of the album’s best tracks: a rollicking “Mambue” and the hand-drummed, bass-thumping hand-clapping “Onombitamba.” And yet the album doesn’t just document the singers and artists of Bosq’s new home. Kaleta, a Benin-based Afro-beat artist who has worked with Fela Kuti and Eqypt 80, takes the lead on funk psych “Omo Iya” and the stirring, horn squalling “Wake Up.” Bosq knows how to pick collaborators, and there’s not a dud track on the disc, but wouldn’t almost anyone sound like a genius in company like this?

Jennifer Kelly

Deuce Avenue — Death of Natural Light (Crash Symbols)

Death of Natural Light by Deuce Avenue

If you are a lurker of the cassette underground, you may remember a West Virginian outfit called Social Junk appearing in the mid-aughts. This duo offered up crackling melodic scree, blown out murky fuzz and semi-coherent mouth sounds like an industrialized version of The Dead C or a new wave outfit newly recovered post-coma. Noah Anthony, the male half of Social Junk, has since moved on to releasing solo material under both the Profligate and Deuce Avenue monikers. The latter is the more recent project and is quite minimal compared to his other work. With Death of Natural Light, there are no cold wave rhythms and vocals à la Profligate. What’s left is a dank, steamy vapor. Contrails of filter-swept hiss slowly develop into a more enigmatic and darkened tonal palette. The ominousness continues to thread its way into the second half of the cassette, fittingly entitled “Blood Turns Black”. Loops of nocturnal jump scare fodder coalesce into rhythms that provide skeletal forms to foil the menace of the more oblique textures. Those who enjoy their horror in slow motion will latch onto these sounds like a facehugger to… …well, a person’s face.  

Bryon Hayes   

 Fleeting Joys — Despondent Transponder (Only Forever)

Despondent Transponder by Fleeting Joys

Let’s start with the obvious. Despondent Transponder sounds a lot like MBV’s Loveless, with wild sirening guitar tones, waves of noise-y feedback, thunderous drumming and sweet, fragile lyrics engulfed in the swirl. “Go and Come Back” has the same fluttering guitar melody as the great “To Here Knows When,” while “Satellite” blusters with the dopplering, dissonance-addled grandeur as “I Only Said.” Fleeting Joys — that was Rorika Loring singing and playing bass and John Loring on guitar and vox — never made any secret of their love of MBV. Despondent Transponder was an homage right from the start. The album was the debut for this Sacramento-based twosome, released originally in 2006, then as now on Loring’s own Only Forever label. And yet, while no one will ever top Loveless, from an ear-bleeding psych-noise daydream perspective, this one has its own particular beauties. “Magnificent Oblivion” surrounds a lullaby-pure melody with a reeling, caterwauling mesh of inchoate sound; guitar notes stream off in bending contrails as Rorika murmurs sweetly into the mic. “Patron Saint” lurches to motion on a Frankenstein bass riff, but softens the brutality with calming washes of vocal hypnotism. It’s all super beautiful and, anyway, even after the reunion, there aren’t nearly enough MBV albums. Plenty of room for a band that sounds so similar.

Jennifer Kelly

 Get Smart! — Oh Yeah No (Capitol Punishment)

Push play: driving staccato guitars, rubbery bass lines, lockstep drums, declamatory vocals and it’s the mid-1980s all over again. Lawrence, Kansas trio Get Smart! — Marcus Koch (guitar, vocals) Lisa Wertman Crowe (bass, vocals) and Frank Loose (drums, vocals) — have that timeless mixture of English post-punk and American indie down. Then see that 33 years after it was recorded Oh Yeah No finally sees the light of day on the back of the band’s reformation. Time and the cycle of musical fashions are fickle beasts and in this case the wheels turn in Get Smart!’s favor. They sound both of their time and thoroughly in tune with the steady flow of recent guitar bands mining this lode of choppy, melodic indie. The Embarrassment, Big Dipper, Pylon and other regional heroes are being rediscovered and reassessed and, here’s the thing, Get Smart! are really good at what they do and this six-track EP is both a testament and, hopefully, a taste of what the future may hold.  

Andrew Forell  

 Rich Halley / Matthew Shipp / Michael Bisio / Newman Taylor Baker — The Shape Of Things (Pine Eagle Records)

The Shape of Things by Rich Halley

If the bolt strikes twice, it’s probably not lightning. The Shape Of Things is the second successful meeting between Rich Halley, a tenor saxophonist based in the Pacific Northwest, and the current members of the Matthew Shipp Trio. The album is, like its predecessor Terra Incognita, a congress of strengths. Shipp’s trio follows the pianist easily into one of his classic roles, that of supplying sonic foundation and harmonic framing for an extroverted saxophonist. Halley fights right into the spaces that they create, rippling easily over the trio’s turbulent surfaces. He works within the broader jazz tradition, sounding equally at home patiently sketching a lyrical line and blowing raw, acidic cries. This ensemble plays achieves a state of centered abandon which feels wilder than Halley’s recordings with West Coast musicians, but fits right into the spectrum that contains Shipp’s work with the David S. Ware Quartet and Ivo Perelman.

Bill Meyer

 A Hutchie — Potion Shop (Cosmic Resonance)

Potion Shop by A Hutchie

Hamilton, Ontario-based producer Aaron Hutchinson has his fingers in many pies. He nimbly dispenses free jazz, hip hop, outré pop and even more enigmatic forms of song. Potion Shop is his debut LP, although he is a long-time fixture in the Steeltown music scene. This immersion in a small, tight-knit domain has led to many fruitful collaborations. Hutchinson features many of his compatriots in these recordings, in which his music snakes alongside their vocal stylings. Mutant 21st century soul singlehandedly played by Hutchinson is a foil for the slam poetry of Benita Whyte and Ian Keteku, the latter of which the producer warps with a vocoder. Sarah Good’s vocals morph into those of a ghostly chanteuse among smeared strings, while the soulful Blankie swims beneath narcotic R&B beats. When imbibing these intoxicating concoctions, you will be immersed in a warmth of familiarity tempered with the unsettling yet exciting sense of the uncanny. Like absinthe, the disquiet is illusory while the intimacy is authentic.

Bryon Hayes  

 Imha Tarikat — Sternenberster (Prophecy Productions)

STERNENBERSTER by IMHA TARIKAT

Imha Tarikat’s principal member Ruhsuz Cellât (stage name of Kerem Yilmaz) breaks with black metal orthodoxy by musically engaging his family’s Muslim heritage. That’s a provocative move in an artform dominated by glib nihilism, rampant anti-religious sentiment and (somehow sometimes all at the same time) ardent claims of Satanist faith. And that distinction at the symbolic level likely doesn’t come near the intensities of being of Turkish descent, living and recording in Germany, in a scene that flirts (and at its extreme margins actively identifies) with fascism. Beyond those ideological and social dimensions is the music. Imha Tarikat demonstrates facility with tremolo riffs and song forms that twist and snake even as they hammer and pummel. But Cellât’s unusual vocal style cuts against convention’s grain, and it’s immediately apparent as album opener “Ekstase ohne Ende” commences. There’s a lot of grunting and hollering, but rather than contorting his voice, shrieking and croaking in mode of most black metal vocalists, Cellât goes for more straightforward intensity. He often shouts, and the lyrics frequently come in bunches, explosive and punctuated bursts of verbiage, but he makes no attempt to distort the lyrics or his voice. I wish my grasp of German were even halfway close to fluent, in order to report on the lyrics’ thematic content with some coherence — because Cellât clearly wants the words to be heard.

Jonathan Shaw

Jon Irabagon / Mike Pride / Mick Barr / Ava Mendoza — Don’t Hear Nothin’ But The Blues Vol 3 Anatomical Snuffbox (Irrabagast Records)

I Don't Hear Nothin' but the Blues Volume 3: Anatomical Snuffbox by Jon Irabagon

Never mind the blues; if you don’t exercise caution, when you’re done playing this loud-at-any-volume recording, you won’t hear nothin’. The latest installment in tenor saxophonist John Irabagon’s series of one-track, meta-blues recordings starts out with a spray of sound as bracing as Saharan sandstorm, but quickly solidifies into a veritable wall of sound. At the outset, Irabagon and drummer Mike Pride engage in a high-speed dance of charge and countercharge which, if heard without accompaniment, would sit comfortably on the same shelf as your Mars Williams and Mats Gustafsson records. But when you put guitarists Mick Barr and Ava Mendoza on the same stage and tell them both to start shredding, the effect is somewhat akin to putting the pyrotechnic specialists in charge of the circus. Subtlety, dynamics and even the oxygen you breath all disappear as everything catches fire. If any of the participants here have effectively bent your ear, you ought to listen all the way through once. By the time it’s done, you’ll know in your heart whether you ever need to hear it again.

Bill Meyer    

 John Kolodij — First Fire / At Dawn (Astral Editions)

First Fire • At Dawn by John Kolodij

Where there’s fire, there’s often smoke, and while this tape claims alignment with Hephaestus’ element, it’s more likely to evoke thick clouds. As the capstans turn, the murk of “At Fire” accumulates gradually, filling the room with an increasingly dense atmosphere. By the time you notice flashes of flame, it’s too late. “At Dawn” brings to mind a lesser conflagration — maybe the embers of the previous night’s campfire. John Kolodij (who has, until recently, recorded mainly under the name High Aura’d) pushes his heavily processed guitar sound into the background, where it lurks with a bit of birdsong, and leads with an unamplified banjo and acoustic guitar. Fiddler Anna RG (of Anna & Elizabeth) further bolsters the melody while some sparse percussion played by Sarah Hennies heightens the sense of moment. Once more, a mass of disembodied sound rises up as the piece progresses, but this time the effect is the opposite; instead of getting lost in sound, the listener finds a moment of peace and light.

Bill Meyer

 Lytton / Nies / Scott / Wissel — Do They Do Those In Red? (Sound Anatomy)

Do they do those in Red? by Paul Lytton, Joker Nies, Richard Scott, Georg Wissel

“Do they do those in red?” The title may speak to the particular peculiarities of this combo, which is formed from several pre-existing duos, Joker Nies is credited with “electrosapiens,” which seem to be self-constructed electronic instruments, and George Wissel applies various items to his saxophone to modify its sound. Georg Wissel’s synthesizers come with some assembly required, and it would appear that Paul Lytton, best known for playing drum kits and massive percussion assemblages, confines himself in this setting to the stuff he can fit on a tabletop. What, you think your saxophone is prettier because it doesn’t have anything red jammed into a valve?  

Moving on to the music, while the sound sources are heavily electronic, the interactive style is rooted in good old-fashioned free improvisation. Lytton’s barrage sounds remarkably similar to what he achieves playing with a full drum kit, and Wissel’s lines may be more fractured, but his alto sound has some of the tonal heft and agility that John Butcher exercises on the tenor. The electronicians’ bristling activity brings to mind a debate between opposite sides of the electrical components aisle at the hardware store, but it’s a lucid one, thoughtfully expressed on both sides.

Bill Meyer  

Ikue Mori Satoko Fujii + Natsuki Tamura — Prickly Pear Cactus (Libra)

Prickly Pear Cactus by Ikue Mori, Satoko Fujii, Natsuki Tamura

Pianist Satoko Fujii and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura spent February 2020 touring Europe with their combo Kaze, which they’d augmented with the electronic musician, Ikue Mori. As lockdown wore on, they kept the connection going via Zoom chats between their abodes in Kobe and New York. After Fujii shared her experiences of trying to mic and stream her piano online, Mori suggested that she send some recordings. Mori edited what showed up and added her sounds; Tamura contributed additional elements to nearly half the tracks. Some of them are balanced to sound like live recordings, with Mori’s neon squelches and high-res, bell-like tones gathering and dispelling like real-time reactions. Others feel more overtly constructed, with the piano situated within a maelstrom of sounds like a view of a TV set turned on in a room with a party going on.  

Bill Meyer

 Phicus — Solid (Astral Spirits)

Solid by Phicus

Phicus is the Barcelona-based assemblage of Ferran Fages (electric guitar), Àlex Reviriego (double bass) and Vasco Trilla (drums). The line-up looks like a power trio, and if you heard them two seconds at a time, you might think that they were. Reviriego and Trilla each play in ways that convey a sense of motion, and Fages’ bent notes and serrated harmonics are just the sort of sounds to cap off a display of guitar heroics. But if you note that each track is named for an element or chemical compound, and that the album is called Solid, you might get a clearer idea of their concerns. This music is all about essential relationships, and its makers are more interested in making things coexist in productive ways than they are in re-enacting rituals borrowed from jazz, fusion or free improvisation. That means that even the sharpest sounds don’t hook you, nor do the fleetest charges carry you away. Phicus isn’t interested in settling for the familiar. But if you’re ready to observe that thing that looks like a duck making sounds that ducks never make, you’ll find plenty to ponder on Solid.

Bill Meyer

 Quietus — Volume Five (Ever/Never)

Volume Five by Quietus

Quietus songs unfurl like cream in coffee, spiraling curlicues of light into dark liquid drones amid clanking blocks of percussion. The songs expand in organic ways, picking up purpose in the steady pound of rhythm, strutting even, in a loose-limbed rock-soul-psych way you might recognize from Brian Jonestown Massacre’s “Anemone” or Grinderman’s “I Don’t Need You to Set Me Free,” but quieter, much quieter, and seething with submerged ideas. The words are mumbled, croaked, submerged in surface hum, but when pushed up towards the surface, arresting. “This life can be sunlit hills turned all to their angry sides,” murmurs Quietus proprietor Geoffrey Bankowski in the relatively concise “Reflex of Purpose,” which sprawls anyway, notwithstanding its 2:36 minute duration. The music’s better, though, when it’s allowed to find its slow way forward, unconforming to any pre-existing ideas of how long a pop song should be. I like the closer “Posthemmorrhagic,” the best, as guitars both tortured and prayerful intertwine, and Bankowski breathes slow, moaning poetry into a close mic, and the song revolves in three-time like the last dancer on the floor, not just tonight but forever.

Jennifer Kelly

Ritual Extra — In Luthero (Dinzu Artefacts)

In Luthero by Ritual Extra

In Luthero was performed inside an empty water cistern, and the ensuing reverberations act as microscopic versions of the grander ebb and flow within which French-Finnish trio Ritual Extra operate.  Percussionist Julien Chamla’s cymbal scrapes and tom hits form a backdrop of bomb blasts and shrieking, missives from some war-torn locale long since vacated by the populace.  Steel structures seem to groan and collapse as they are rattled by percussive ordnance. This bleak setting is given a sense of color by Lauri Hyvärinen’s acoustic guitar.  A stew of string scrapes diverges into discrete plucks, which morph into strums.  The metronomic chords are enriched as they bounce around the walls of the cistern, folding in on themselves through echo, becoming a mechanical mantra.  Tuukka Haapakorpi’s voice rises from the ashes, soaring polysyllabically yet wordlessly.  As In Luthero begins to take shape, these vocalizations are almost inhuman: whispers and gurgles that come on in waves.  Later, more anthropoid utterances take shape, yet fall just shy of coalescing into a discernable language.  Across 24 minutes, Ritual Extra musically narrate the pre-history of humankind, the primordial essence from which everything good — and bad — about us originated. 

Bryon Hayes  

 Subjective Pitch Matching Band — Twenty-One Subjectivities in Six Parts (Remote Works)  

Twenty-One Subjectivities in Six Parts by Subjective Pitch Matching Band

Chris Brian Taylor has trod a serpentine path on the journey that culminated in the creation of his first large ensemble electroacoustic composition. His roots are in punk and rave — he still DJs house and techno — but he recently shifted his gaze toward improvised electronics. Rather than stifling his ambition, COVID-19 and the ensuing lockdown encouraged him to think big: he would cast a wide net and compose a piece of music for as many people as he could get to participate. He reached out to friends, relatives, and internet acquaintances to assemble his orchestra, and borrowed the melody and chords from Pet Shop Boys’ “Being Boring” to act as the foundation of the work. Twenty people responded from a variety of musical disciplines, and all agreed to participate remotely. The composer gave each player audio cues to work with and encouraged the performers to respond subjectively. They could either stay true to the pitches provided, harmonize against them, or play ornamentally. Taylor collected the resulting tracks and structured the resulting thirty-minute piece of music based on what the respondents provided. Dense yet graceful, the composition unfolds like a slow-motion blaze. Flames of sonority form a sinuous body from which sparks of discrete sound leap heavenward. There is nary a moment of silence, as Taylor weaves a plethora of long tones together to form an undulating core over which stabs of piano, guitar and percussion materialize momentarily. Naivete didn’t keep Chris Brian Taylor from aiming as high as he could with this piece, and we are the benefactors of this ambition, rewarded with a rich and complex sonic brew to enjoy.

Bryon Hayes  

 TV Priest — Uppers (Sub Pop)

Uppers by TV Priest

TV Priest works the same corrosive, hyper-verbal furrow as Idles or, in a looser sense, the Sleaford Mods, spatter chanting harsh, literate strings of gutter poetry over a clanking post-punk cadence. The vocalist Charlie Drinkwater snarls and sputters charismatically over the clatter, a brutalist commentator on life and pop culture. The band is sharp and minimalist, drums (Ed Kelland) to the front, guitar (Alex Sprogis) stabbing hard at stripped raw riffs , bass (Nic Bueth) rumbling like mute rage in the back of the bar. And yet, though anger is a primary flavor, these songs surge with triumph as in the wall-shaking cadences of “Press Gang,” the blistering sarcasm of “The Big Curve.” This is a relatively new band, their first and only tour cut short at one gig by the lockdown, but the songs are tight as hell on record and likely to pin you to the back wall live. “Bad news, like buses, comes in twos,” intones Drinkwater on theclearly autobiographical “Journal of a Plague Year” against an irregular post-everything clangor, loose and disdainful and hardly arsed to entertain us; it’s as fitting an anthem as any for our lost 2020. But when band gets moving, as on the chugging, corroscating “Decoration,” it’s unstoppable, a monstrous thing bursting “through to the next round.” Sure, I’ll have another.

Jennifer Kelly

Voice Imitator — Plaza (12XU)

Plaza by Voice Imitator

Voice Imitator, from Melbourne, Australia, rips a hard punk vortex through its songs, ratcheting up the drums to battering ram violence, blistering the guitar sound and scrawling wild metallic vocals over it all, with nods to noisy post-hardcore bands like the Jesus Lizard and McClusky. “A Small Cauliflower” takes things down to a seething, menacing whisper, Mark Groves, the singer, presiding over an uneasy mesh of tamped down dissonance and hustle. “Adult Performer” is faster and more limber, all clicking urgency and sudden bursts of detuned, surging squall. All four members—that’s Per Bystrom, Justin Fuller, Groves and Leon O’Regan—have been in a ton of other bands, and the sounds they make here have the rupturing precision of well-honed violence. If you like Protomartyr but wish it was lots louder and more corrosive, here you go.

Jennifer Kelly

 Sam Weinberg / Henry Fraser / Weasel Walter — Grist (Ugexplode)

Grist by Sam Weinberg / Henry Fraser / Weasel Walter

Ornette Coleman once called a record In All Languages; these guys ought call one Any And All Possibilities. Saxophonist Sam Weinberg, bassist Henry Fraser and drummer (this time, anyway) Weasel Walter are scrupulous student of improvisation in all its guises, and they’re ready and able to use what they know. You could call it free jazz, for they certainly know how that stuff works, but they’re under no obligation to swing; that’d be a limit, you see. This music bursts, darts, expands and contracts in a sequence of second by second negotiations of shape and velocity.

Bill Meyer  

 Chris Weisman — Closer Tuning (Self-Released)

Closer Tuning by Chris Weisman

Chris Weisman is a Brattleboro, VT songwriter, in the general orbit (not a member but seems to know a bunch of them) of the late, great Feathers and one-time member of Kyle Thomas’ other outfit, the fuzz pop band Happy Birthday. A shunner of all sorts of limelight, he is nonetheless very productive. Closer Tuning is one of five albums he home recorded and released in 2020. You might expect a certain lo-fi folksiness and there is, indeed, a dream-y, soft focus rusticity to the tangled acoustic guitar jangle, the blunt down home-i-ness lyrics. And yet, there’s a good deal more than that in Closer Tuning. The chords progress softly, gently but in unexpected ways, a reminder of Weisman’s jazz guitar training, and the sound is warm and enveloping and every so slightly off-kilter, as if filtered through someone else’s memory. Cuts like “Petit Revolution,” with its close shroud of harmonies, its eerie, antic guitar cadence, feel like Beach Boys psychedelia left out in the garden to sprout, or more to the point, like Wendy Eisenberg’s brainy, left-of-center pop puzzles. “My Talent” is hedged in with blooming bent notes and scrambling string scratches, but its center is radiant, weird, astral folk along the lines of Alexander Tucker. “Hey,” says Weisman, in its slow dreaming chorus, “I gave my talent away.” Lucky us.

 A.A. Williams — Forever Blue (Bella Union)

There’s a dim and shadowy corner where heavy music, orchestral music and post-rock all meet, and A.A. Williams’ music resides there as naturally as anyone else’s. That’s what you might expect when you get a professional cellist who fell hard for metal as a teenager and then started writing songs after finding a guitar on the street. After an EP her first LP is the kind of assured, consistently strong debut that balances calmly measured beauty with the kind of crushing peaks that give that sometimes hoary quiet/loud dynamic a good name. At its best, like the opening “All I Asked For (Was to End it All)” and “Dirt” (featuring vocals from Wild Beasts’ Tom Fleming), Forever Blue is as gothically ravishing as you could hope for, and by the time it ends with spectral lament “I’m Fine” it might tempt even those not traditionally inclined that way to don the ceremonial black eyeliner.  

Ian Mathers

Hello!

This is a series that was inspired by some stressed-filled Zoom calls that I’ve been having with some underclassmen for both my extracurricular organizations and peer mentoring programs. If you’re still reading this, chances are, you’re either going back to college soon or starting college for the first time in the year that is 2020. While we all are probably focusing on the safety of ourselves and our loved ones (as we arguably should), many incoming freshmen I’ve been talking to are also stressed about college things: emailing professors, study tips, how to balance virtual classes. So, in case you feel like reading a series of tips written by a 4th year undergrad who at least pretends to know what she’s doing, click below to read the second entry. Click here for the first. 

Tip #2: Zoomin’, or Keeping a Life/Work Balance During Online or Hybrid Courses

When trying to figure out the order in which to post these tips, I was struck with the realization that I start school in a little over a week. So, if anyone is in this same boat, I figured it would be important to talk about class registration tips when there’s still time for you do something about it. This post is a long one, but here’s hoping you can find some advice in it. 

So something to clarify right off the bat: when everything started moving to a virtual format, everybody and their mother on the Internet starting coming forward with tips on how to work from home. And while that’s kind of what’s happening here, I take issue with two things: working from home is not the same as working from home during a global crisis, and working from home is not the same as virtual college. So I’ll try to get as specific as I can, but also try to throw in some tips that might work better for you than they do for me.  

Part One: Registering for Classes

Okay so this part you might have already done, but it’s good to keep in mind. While the recommended hours at every university is different, in my experience the average recommendation is 15 credits hours per semester. It’s important to note though that this is only an average: if you plan on taking courses in the summer, graduating early/later than 4 years, or taking on multiple majors, all of these things affect the credit hours you should be taking.

The unpleasant reality of registering for courses is there’s really no way to know how a specific class will be. There’s always RateMyProfessor.com or other tools, but who’s to say that professors will be like they normally are if they’re trying to figure out how to teach online/hybrid classes? Also, it’s a good thought to keep in mind that typically only two kinds of people leave public reviews of a professor/course: those who really loved the class, and those who really hated the class. So read and figure out what exactly they’re saying, not just how they feel about the course. And just know yourself - if someone from a humanities background says a statistics class is too hard, but you're great with numbers, that’s not always the best advice to heed. Listen to your gut instinct, both when registering and during drop/add week. 

My advice for registering for classes right now? Whatever your instinct is, go a little less if you’re able. The reason I say this is because studying in 2020 can be...a lot, in the same way doing anything in 2020 is. I was only registered for 12 credit hours last semester, and even that became difficult to manage toward the end (moving back home suddenly, people you know getting sick, trying to protect high risk loved ones/yourself, all of which can and probably will happen again this semester). I would just say to go in overestimating how much time you need for yourself vs classes - there will be other semesters, and it’s better to take less classes now and not burn out or struggle mentally (or even just academically) in your first semester of college. Please just be kind to yourself. 

Part Two: Zoom, or the True Necessary Evil 

Maybe you used Zoom all throughout your last months of high school; maybe your university is using Microsoft Teams or something to that effect. Either way, here is what I’ve found to be helpful during my unforeseen five month foray into Zoom, seemingly with no end in sight.

1. Zoom is a tool. Yes, I kind of hate Zoom, and you may also come to hate Zoom if you don’t already, but there are benefits. You can send in written questions or raise your hand through Zoom if your professor allows that feature, both of which are very helpful in trying to show engagement while also trying to respect any kind of Zoom decorum. This post is going to be long enough, and my next post will have more to do with extracurriculars and virtual opportunities, but if you ever need to host a Zoom and want to just use all of its features, I’m more than happy to answer DMs. I’ve had to sit through so many Zoom tutorials for Student Involvement, and if I can spare anyone from that, I would love to. 

2. Balance what you keep digitally versus what’s on paper. Okay, so this is definitely, definitely up to personal preference, but speaking from experience, I just don’t view online or hybrid classes as the opportunity to go fully digital if you’ve never been fully digital before. For me, I always take handwritten notes, mainly because when it comes to remembering things, I either have more of an auditory memory, or I can remember the way that I wrote something when I was taking notes. Considering online classes usually decrease the auditory memory aspect a lot, when things moved virtual I made a point to keep taking handwritten notes. However, something that I’ve found particularly appealing is using Google Calendar (or iCal, Outlook, whatever it is you prefer) to an excess. When scheduling Zoom calls, I always save the Zoom link in the description of the event on my Google Calendar. Trust me, this is a lot better than trying to go through your email to find the link that professor sent. So I would advice to think about your learning preferences and figure out a way to still play to your strengths, even if it might technically be a little less convenient. 

3. Schedule screen breaks. This is so important for so many reasons. While I’ve invested in some blue light glasses because I am slowly losing my vision after years of reading books by flashlight or AO3 fics on my phone until late at night, I still get fatigued being on a screen for so long. Because it’s not just school that’s on the screen; it’s your clubs, your social interactions, maybe your job. I would recommend scheduling screen breaks that coincide with some sort of physical activity (I don’t necessarily mean an intensive physical activity, although if you want to feel free; I more am referring to getting up out of your chair and walking around your room or apartment. Or going outside. Ride your bike. Do some yoga. Eat some food. Etc.), but if you’re feeling particularly busy or overwhelmed, taking notes from a physical book works just as well. Even if you feel okay at the moment, scheduling breaks and following that schedule can save you from screen fatigue hitting all at once - it will take a lot longer to get over a headache between your eyes/your eye twitching or your neck and/or shoulder locking up than just allowing simple short breaks throughout your day. 

4. Schedule time between Zooms. This may sound like the same thing as taking screen breaks, but what I’ve found is that Zoom is a lot more draining that in person classes. I used to schedule Zoom calls back to back like I would classes (again, personal preference, but I was always the person who would take all of their classes from 9:30-3:30 on Tuesday/Thursday, and no classes on Monday/Wednesday/Friday), but found out pretty quickly that I was wrecked after two or more Zoom calls in a row. Honestly, now I won’t schedule any two Zoom calls within a half an hour of each other - between calls, I like to walk around, grab a snack, stretch, close my eyes and try and suppress the social anxiety that seems to accompany every Zoom class or meeting I’ve ever had. (Tangent: I’m thoroughly convinced southerners were not meant to operate Zoom calls. No one knows how to hang up the dang call without being rude because we were taught to have 30 minute conversations in a doorway on our way out.) Maybe there are people who can go on Zoom calls for three hours or so (and I’ve done that with friends, whether just working on group projects or hanging out), but my personal recommendation would be just to space it out more than normal if you’re able. 

5. Create an ideal weekly schedule. This is not “your most productive week ever,” or “this is the rigid schedule you will follow for eternity with no deviations.” One of my most difficult adjustments in college was the changing schedules; maybe you were planning on finishing an important paper on Thursday night, only for your group project to decide to meet that night instead. And that will happen, even with virtual meetings (maybe especially with virtual meetings, as people definitely tend to overestimate your availability when it’s digital). What I’ve found that helps is to create an ideal weekly schedule, both in general and a more specific one at the start of the week, because that means that when things get shuffled around, you actually reschedule that thing that you wanted to do, whether it’s homework, yoga, or just...being alone for a bit. It allows you to still feel like you’re prioritizing your time and activities, even when your schedule changes with little to no warning. 

Part Three: Some Final Thoughts

If you can invest in a second monitor, now might really be the time to do it. If you’d prefer, I used a laptop riser for most of college before this all happened (yay nerve damage in my neck!) and an external keyboard and mouse. I would just compare models and figure out what works best financially if that’s something you want to do. 

Ultimately, if this doesn’t come across in every tip I post, please just be patient with yourself this semester. This is a weird time, and I know that starting your first semester you might be 100% committed to starting off strong or making a great first impression. And that’s awesome, but sometimes that just might not be realistic. Look at last week’s post on contacting your professor, and reach out early just to introduce yourself. Establishing a relationship early on is always good, but especially considering that this semester really might have moments where you need some extra time or grace from them. Can’t focus? Can’t find motivation? That’s understandable; we’re in a global crisis right now. Just listen to yourself and always put your health and the health of your loved ones before school. I hope that these tips can at least help you navigate your first year with a little less trepidation. 

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So that’s it for this entry! As always, if you have specific questions, please don’t  hesitate to ask. Again, I am a student at an SEC university in the United States, so I’m not claiming to be an expert in all things, but I have TA'ed multiple freshman seminars, and will be making this series for the freshmen that I know starting at my school this year anyways, so putting them on this blog is no big deal. Next post (which will hopefully be up sooner than this one was) will specifically be on extracurriculars and virtual opportunities, so if you have specific questions on that as well, I’m all ears. 

COURSECUBE Reviews | Scam Or Does It Really Works?

What Is Called CourseCube?

The worldwide eLearning market is projected to be worth $398 billion by 2026 and it’s NO secret that courses are the hottest thing going! Now is the perfect time to get in and profit from this kind of explosive growth!

(Buy now) Get your hands on CourseCube from its official website at some exclusive rates

In order to do that, you obviously need things that you can sell… and Danny & his team have got you MORE than covered with 50 plus DFY courses in 25 skill niches you can start with right now! This is the world’s easiest tool to create your own incredible e-learning website with the potential to earn billions of dollars within minutes

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You don’t need to just stick to a particular niche. Here’s your chance to become the Jack of all trades and Master them too!

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CourseCube is an all-in-one solution for creating online education marketplaces like Udemy, Skillshare, Coursera, etc.

This platform is packed with lots of awesome features like online courses, live classes, quizzes, and an advanced certification plugin based on real business needs so you can start your online education business right now.

You Are A Few Clicks Away From Launching Your Own E-Learning Empire

· Build your own fully designed & hosted E-learning website within minutes…simply pick a domain name to begin

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· Pick from 50 hot-selling courses across the top 25 trending niches

· Host live courses by instructors, add advanced quizzes & distribute certificates to maximize engagement

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CourseCube can be purchased at discounted prices from the official store

CourseCube is a cutting-edge software that creates Udemy like sites packed with ready-to-sell HD im training videos, dfy sales funnels & support desk in just 7 minutes… no course creation, no hosting, no monthly or yearly fee.

It’s a cloud-based software with tons of ground-breaking features that requires no training creation, no technical hassles and any recurring cost. Its’ bigger & better… comes with 40+ im training video courses to sell as your own.

So don’t hesitate to check he next parts of this Course Cube Review as I’ll show you how powerful it is!

CourseCube Review – Key Features & Benefits

For more information about this product, click the button below: ⇒ QUICK-START

CourseCube’s interface is incredibly easy yet brilliantly advanced, you can get started within minutes, you don’t need any prior experience or skill!

Inside this package, it takes longer to think of a name for the domain than it does to create your own E-learning website using CourseCube.

⇒ FULLY LOADED CONTENT

You will no longer need to wait for even a moment before you publish your site. Simply select the niche of your choice from the top 25 niches once you login. Pick from a range of 50 hot-selling courses and hit publish instantly, each course has multiple video modules for you.

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This all-in-one platform not only creates and hosts your website but also makes it a money magnet. It takes care of the selling, payment collection, and maintenance.

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CourseCube gives you the chance to engage with your audience like no other platform, it supports advanced quizzes and the distribution of certificates.

You will be able to add live courses using the seamless integration with popular video conferencing platforms like Google Meet, Zoom & Jitsi.

⇒ REWARD SCHEME

This feature helps you to increase customer satisfaction or increase your commissions using gamification badges that are designed for various metrics like sales, registration days, courses, purchases, ratings, etc.

With each milestone a user reaches, you can reward them with personalized badges, you can also charge users for these badges and make additional profits.

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Use advertising as an effective means to multiply your profits inside this CourseCube. You are able to insert ads pre-roll, mid-roll, or post-roll and charge advertisers accordingly. Rent out your web banner space for the top dollar too!

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Don’t invest a single penny in promoting your platform, this CourseCube generates blog content daily to help you rank higher on search engines.

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CourseCube has been designed to make beginners and experts profit alike! So you don’t need any experience or special skill-set to begin. Everything is ready for you, all you need to do is count your profits!

CourseCube can be purchased at discounted prices from the official store

Who Should Use It?

From what I have experienced, CourseCube is the perfect choice for anyone, whether you are a beginner or an experienced person, you will still need it because of the much more outstanding features compared to other products.

This product is designed for:

♥ Business Owners

♥ E-com Store Owners…

♥ Product Creators

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How Much Does It Cost?

Please Check The Funnel & Each Upgrade Details Below:

CourseCube can be purchased at discounted prices from the official store

♥ Front End: CourseCube ($17)

♥ OTO1: Coursecube Pro ($37)

With this CourseCube Unlimited Edition you get…

· 25+ DFY HD Video Courses To Start Selling Immediately

They are serious about giving you every single thing you need to capitalize on this booming eLearning industry and make the most out of it. That’s why this Pro upgrade pack includes 25+ Fully Done-For-You HD video courses in sizzling HOT niches that will help you make more sales which means more revenue for you.

It’s no secret that videos are one of the best formats for teaching and learning almost anything. This is an entire library of video courses PRE-loaded in your CourseCube platform, so you can start selling them immediately. Not just 25 videos, but 25 entire courses containing many video lessons!

· Build UNLIMITED Course Academies

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Just imagine if ONE Academy makes you $100 a week, with 100 Academies you could MULTIPLY that by 100…. Turning a decent $100 a week income into a mind-blowing $10,000 a week.

Sure, you may want to start with just one academy, but why limit your future potential? Who knows what ideas you may have in the future and how many niches you may want to pursue?

There is no limit on what you create and generate with the CourseCube – Pro Upgrade.

· Upload UNLIMITED Courses

Remember… having more courses means more students, more sales and more profits. This PRO upgrade pack gives you the power to create unlimited courses with unlimited lessons for any audience, in any niche, for each of your academies without any hassle or extra cost.

With the ability to create unlimited courses in unlimited niches, you can cover the things that people want to learn about in a changing world, and continue to add new courses as trends develop.

· Get Unlimited Sub-Domains

With the PRO upgrade version, you aren’t limited to a small number of academies and subdomains. You will get unlimited personal sub-domains for your unlimited academy sites.

Choose a new sub-domain for every academy site you create, for every niche, for all your students. It will instantly build your authority and credibility and also give you a better exposure in search engines

· Attract Unlimited Students

And many More Incredible Features..

♥ OTO 2: Done For You ($97)

They’re giving 43 Action Takers the Opportunity To Do All The Work For You Setting Up Your Course Platform. With the “done for you” upgrade, you won’t have to do a single thing yourself. They will do literally everything for you.

Here’s What You’ll Get…

· CourseCube E-learning Platform Account Setup: There’s no need for you to stress out over properly setting up your CourseCube account, as they’ll do it for you with this upgrade…

· 6X Faster Results: They will dedicate 6x more server resources towards the users of this upgrade.

· Special Profit Boosting Tweaks Added To Your Account: They’ll add on simple yet powerful tweaks that are proven to boost your profits & sales even more…

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· AND for anyone who upgrades to “done for you” today: They will EVEN give you special one-on-one skype support throughout the whole Done For You access and for as long as you use CourseCube

♥ OTO 3: Agency License ($67)

With this, you’ll be able to start offering people access to CourseCube under your branding. It’ll look like you worked hard and invested thousands, when all you did was invest in CourseCube Agency. They’ll never know

You’ll get access to CourseCube account license keys you can revoke, sell, and create new accounts with. Do whatever you please with them. To reward those who take action, they are offering the customers of CourseCube the chance to upgrade to the agency version for a massive discount…

After this limited time discount expires, the price will rise to $297. If you wait any longer, you could end up paying more for the same thing. Remember… CourseCube Agency pays for itself.

You’re getting access to CourseCube license keys you can revoke, sell, and create new accounts with all under your own branding. All it takes is the sale of a few accounts, and BAM, you’ve paid for your investment. And there’s no risk, because…

They Take Care Of All The Support. You don’t have to do anything, just collect your 100% profit and find a way to spend it. This is amazing for you if you do not have a product you sell online and EVERY ONLINE MARKETER WANTS for their business.

♥ OTO 4: Traffic Club ($67)

· They’ll Do The Setup For You

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♥ OTO 5: CourseCube Whitelabel ($297)

This opportunity Its for the biggest action takers ONLY Because what I’m offering you is a complete White label license to

So you’ll get your own version of the CourseCube E-Learning software, but with your own name, your own branding, AND your own domain.

You’ll be able to create accounts, sell the software to others, giveaway accounts, and even launch your own rebranded version of the software on JvZoo, WarriorPlus or anywhere you want.

Not only that, they will even HOST the software for you. They will update it for you, They will handle all the support and they will even buy you a domain and set everything up for you too!

All you’ll need to do is choose the name you want for your new software and they will take care of the rest.

They will even design an all new logo for you, and help you out with setting up your sales pages and videos for your new rebranded software.

Conclusion

That’s all what I want to share with you about CourseCube. I hope that my review can give you a helping hand in deciding what is best for you.

Article Writing Basics | How to Become an Article Writer

You would probably hear twelve different stories if you talked to a dozen professional web content writers on exactly how they obtained started.

That's due to the fact that the path to ending up being an article writer is a little like a choose-your-own-adventure tale. The best direction for you will undoubtedly rely on your objectives, experience, and also areas of experience.

Are you desire the freedom of freelance or the regular paycheck of Employment?

Are you a technical mind excellent at details, a promotional artist, or somebody who eloquently distills complex ideas?

On what subjects are you a professional?

Do you have a portfolio of article writing, or are you going back to square one?

The function of this article writing is to provide a map of feasible courses and sources to becoming a paid article writer. You can determine where you fit. When you understand where you're going . it's much easier to outline a training course to arrive.

Freelance or Employment

The option in between freelance and also Employment can be "a little of both." You don't need to make a set choice - take chances as they come! Both working freelances as well as finding a job require prospecting for a job—success in digging needs concentrated initiative. To find out how to start with an advantage and then select the one that suits you best and go for it.

Advantages of Freelance

- You can start prior to you quit your present job.

- You're building your very own service company.

- Variety of Work.

- Over time, your prices can expand to be substantial.

- In some situations, you have a lot more control over tone, format, and web content.

- You select your sectors as well as specialties.

- You can function from house or anywhere.

- You can choose your hrs.

Drawbacks of Freelance

- It takes years or months to develop.

- Inconsistent revenue.

- Constant prospecting and networking for brand-new tasks.

- You may benefit very reduced rates for some time.

- Freelance web sites have fierce competition.

- You have to inspire yourself.

Advantages of Employment

- Steady income.

- Benefits.

- External responsibility.

- Consistent Work.

- Become a specialist because of the organization.

Negative aspects of Employment

- Unless used by a firm with numerous clients, restricted material variety.

- You might have less choice on the format, web content, and voice.

- You function on their schedule.

A freelance company is a small organization. Flexibility includes responsibility. For some, it's even more than worth it. Others choose the framework and assistance of consistent Employment. If you're ready to join the job economic climate, provide yourself the financial breathing area to ramp up slowly without enduring.

How to Start Writing with No Portfolio as well as No Experience

To apply for tasks and also freelance tasks need work samples. You require to comprehend internet formatting as well as, at the very least, the essentials of SEO.

However, if you have no work examples prepared, there are several ways to develop a profile. The spend for these initial steps is little to nothing, yet you'll gain experience as well as take the initially important actions to come to be a content writer.

To develop a profile, you can:

1. Write for a content mill or company that approves novices.

2. Write and send articles for a magazine in online publications.

3. Submit visitor blog posts in your locations of experience.

4. Deal material to family and friends to release on their organization internet sites.

5. Take control of a few of the writing duties for your existing company.

6. Before you register for any content writing possibility online, study that firm. There are many genuine opportunities for every skill and experience degree, yet there are also scams.

2 crucial points as you get going:

1. Do not pay to get Work! Legitimate work opportunities do not bill subscription costs.

2. In article writing as in professional life, if it appears too good to be true, it probably is.

Creating your portfolio can obtain familiar with different markets, topics, and layouts if you're brand-new to writing. Some will be more satisfying as well as all-natural for you. Keep going if you do not like the very first thing you try. There's even more around.

Every Industry Needs Content Writers

What rate of interest you? What experience do you have? Are you sure you want to discover?

Article writers are needed for every market, from video games to healthcare to finance. As the web expands, so does the value of constant, initial, quality content because it functions, mostly! Content advertising produces 3 times as many leads as traditional marketing.

The demand for proficient web content authors maintains growing. Regardless of what passions you, somebody requires your experience.

Expand Your Article Writing with a Focused Niche

As you contribute to your profile of the job, you can prospect for brand-new tasks and clients. Bellow's where the benefits of a particular niche entered into focus.

It's simpler to win a job when you've obtained appropriate examples to show them. Writing brand-new examples for each application or bid gets old quick! On several of the popular freelance websites like Upwork or Guru, companies can get lots of bids in minutes on their article writing jobs. As a consultant, the far better you match a company's target requirements, the much easier you attract attention from the crowd.

You might be experienced enough to study and write on any subject. But the less you know about a subject, the more time you have to finish a task. As you create expertise in a specific niche, you lowered your writing time as well as deliver equal or far better high-quality Work. When you freelance for a living, much less time per job indicates more money per hr.

Naturally, you can have numerous niches! You don't need to limit on your own to just one and also can include extra later.

Exactly how Do I Know It's a Good Niche?

Your writing will undoubtedly flow much better as well as feel less like Work if you delight in the subject. You'll likewise be extra appropriate to insights that engage and hook your audience. If you enjoy the issue, it's a good niche.

One exemption to the follow your heart policy right here if you like the style, however, are colorblind, maybe select another interest for your very first focus. You'll have a hard time fitting into tech but radiate in advertising and marketing if you believe you want to write tech write-ups; however, your all-natural voice is charming as well as flowery. It's better to play to your natural stamina.

The very best niche is a sought-after topic you take pleasure in that additionally aligns with your all-natural toughness.

Where to search Work as an Article Writer

As soon as once more, your course towards paid article writing presents choices. Which is the ideal suitable for you?

You can apply your abilities as an article writer in any one of your favorite markets. Avenues to discover the operate in your areas of passion consist of:

- Job listings for material writers.

- Sites where freelancers bid on tasks like Freelancer or Scripted.

- Work via internet building contractors, digital advertising business, or web content companies.

- Find sites you want to create for and also pitch the owners.

- Join a start-up company in your location of rate of interest.

- Advertise your solutions in your area or online.

- Network with your Chamber of Commerce or various other business networking groups.

- Network through Facebook as well as LinkedIn.

Begin with a couple of methods of prospecting for a job. With a stable initiative, you'll locate the routes that help you.

The even more individuals that know your solutions are readily available, the far better. The lower line to consistent Work is to obtain in front of as many prospective employers as feasible!

Source

Resources for Content Writers

Enhance as well as fine-tune your blog writing with free online devices. Several grammar checkers provide a complimentary variation of their editor. They catch the tone and also arrangement problems missed by Word.

The Hemingway Editor helps with readability by identifying facility and also hard-to-read sentences. It tells you the quality degree of your writing, highlights passive voice, and also supplies less complicated word alternatives.

To increase the allure of your headings, the Advanced Marketing Institute developed a complimentary headline analyzer.

Thesaurus.com assists keep the Word selection intriguing if you locate yourself repeating words.

The Rich World of Article Writing

Whether you desire to function as an article writer for your present employer or to construct your name in the journalism globe, there is a demand for your voice as well as ability what's important to keep writing and continue finding out.

At first, the roadway might be rough. Also, if you have an idea of that, you are as a writer and even a clear image of where you finest fit, there will certainly be difficulties. It occurs to all writers.

Or, you may have no concept what interests you or what format deals with your all-natural strengths as a writer. Keep calm! You will remain to find out as you go. The roadway will end up being smoother when your Work is released, and tasks begin to load your e-mail.

It is a smooth component of the target market's experience when writing is done well. Article authors shape how content exists and can affect just how individuals assume. Even when an article is writing someone else's vision, your skill makes it worth analysis.

The web has plenty of people sharing them on the internet success tales. Hopefully, reading this is one tiny action in yours.

Incoming college students.. listen up!

I have been asked about some tips or advice for incoming college students, both traditional and non-traditional, so here it is.. enjoy!

So I am what you call a non-traditional student I did not go to college right out of high school it took a couple years for me to realize that it was important for me to pursue a higher education beyond my high school diploma. My very first freshman semester I took two classes, one of these was a developmental math course ( I ABSOLUTELY LOATH MATH!) and of course I dropped out of college soon after, honestly I don't even think I did like a full month of classes I just stopped showing up. I wasn’t motivated and all I really wanted to do was hang out with my friends and do hood rat shit (LOL)  Fast forward 4 years after that, when I AGAIN decide to get my act together, it took that mixed with having some personal experiences to kind of get my head straight in regards to my future endeavors and what I want to do with myself. When I say that it's hard to do college by yourself, y’all... it is so hard, it doesn’t help that I'm an introvert who doesn’t like to ask for help from tutors because I feel like I am burdening them and I’m worried that I will embarrass myself with dumb questions.  Neither of my parents graduated high school so that was no help with homework or studying and at the time I was going to a Community College and so the atmosphere is not quite like a four-year University. Everybody just kind of stays to themselves so it is not like it is easy to mingle make new friends, there is not a lot of on campus activities and stuff like that so that also made it difficult. But also I did not know how to study, honestly I'm not going to lie to you guys, I'm currently working on my third college degree and I still don't know how to study and sometimes that really kind of like puts things into perspective about our educational system in regards to the way that they teach towards a specific curriculum. I think that teaching students how to study is extremely important. The way that I get through my college classes is a lot of crying, and I am not being sarcastic, that is exactly what happens. I do a lot of crying, there is a lot of frustration, there is a lot of screaming at myself, there is a lot of self-bullying and personal demons that I battle with. I do not feel like I learn like everybody else, I cannot just read something or watch a video and retain information. Everything must be repetitive; I must read it over and over and over, I must highlight things and make up little phrases in order to remember topics like the Krebs cycle. So, it is repetitive, and it slows me down, it is frustrating, and the experience overall is overwhelming. Especially recently with covid a lot of my classes have been online which essentially translates to teach yourself a brand-new topic, good luck, and may the force be with you kind of thing. For people like me who deal with what my boyfriend calls “impostor syndrome” it really rattles any self confidence that I built throughout my college career and it makes me feel like the achievements that I've done so far aren't valid and that I don't deserve the degrees that I have and that maybe it was a mistake . With these things being said I just want to spread some positivity and some good vibes in regards to anybody who is a freshman going into college, a current college student, or a non-traditional student such as myself who feels like they might be too old to go back to school. Everybody is dealing with their own struggles and college is not easy, if it were everybody would have a college degree. Some tips from myself would be not to be afraid to ask questions, if you're like me, I have really bad anxiety and I don't feel like I can bring myself to ask a question during lecture in front of the class so I'll either email the professor afterwards or I will speak to the professor one-on-one during office hours or I'll try to grab her as soon as class is over before she leaves an ask her a question. The reason why I say this is because college moves very fast and the professors honestly it seems like they're not going to put any extra effort into helping you understand a topic if you don't express your confusion or if you don't understand the topic. At the end of the day you're paying for your college education and you need to create self-confidence and remind yourself that you're worthy and that your questions do deserve to be answered no matter how ridiculous they sound in your head no matter if you think that it will sound dumb. I cannot stress enough the importance of getting your questions answered. My second piece of advice is to utilize any type of group study offered, like I said before, I have really bad anxiety and it's hard for me to just walk up to a stranger and ask to be a study buddy. What I've noticed though is that a few students will get together or it will just be one student and they will start a group chat through either GroupMe or through text message or you know through canvas which is the educational platform that my University uses, and it really helps because you still have access to study guides, notes, or if you miss a day you can reach out and ask what you missed. As well as review and go over important topics and information posted. A lot of the times you don't even have to be face to face with these people, all of it is through text messaging or email. Another really good piece of advice is learn how to use OneNote and Google Docs and learn how to use it in a group format so that multiple people can work on one document together in real time so you can watch somebody else edit a midterm review while you're also adding to a midterm review it.will.save.your.life! Just spend a couple minutes, get on YouTube watch a quick tutorial nothing crazy just a quick rundown, y’all, I am telling you it will do wonders. Next piece of advice will have to be not to compare yourself to other students. My first semester of college at a four-year University I went all out on the school supplies, I bought so many journals, I bought so many sticky notes and planners and different colored pens and sharpies and highlighters. I had index cards, I had binders, I had sectional post-its, basically if office depot sold it I had it in my backpack.  I quickly learned that I did not need half of that crap, but when you're excited about going to your first year of college you want to be prepared and if you're like me I watched other people’s YouTube videos about their experiences and things that worked for them and so I tried to pick and choose what I thought would work for me. Long story short it did not  help and I think that really played a big part in my self-loathing in a sense because I would see all these other students super organized with beautiful handwriting, multi colored notes and just over the top every day, never faltering, just like the perfect student it seemed. It's okay not to be super organized, it's okay not to have the perfect notes, it's okay if all of your notes from all of your classes are in one notebook, if it works for you, it works for you.  No matter what that may be, just keep in mind that this is your college journey no one else’s. Finally, I will emphasize to invest money in a good backpack. Like do not take the backpack from high school with you, I did that, and it was a disaster honestly. It is like my dad used to say growing up, “you get what you pay for.” You are going to be carrying a lot of stuff, probably a tablet, a laptop, textbooks, journals, binders, you name it and you need support for your shoulders, for you back and for your neck. I say this from experience, my college campus is one of the largest public universities in the state of Texas, it takes me 20 minutes to get from my car to the campus, once on campus, I have another eight minute walk to get to my first class. So, it is detrimental to me and my physical health to have a good backpack with support that holds everything and equally distributes the weight correctly. I know this sounds crazy but that is probably the one thing besides getting a good laptop that I would invest a lot of money in. Lastly, I will leave you with this, college is a scary experience for many people and right now we're in very uncertain times which only adds to the stress, but I want you to know that there are resources out there for you and other students and faculty who are more than willing to work with you and accommodate accordingly. Please do not be afraid to reach out to anybody for any type of assistance whether it be academic, mental or physical help, we are all in this together. Be kind to one another and stay curious. -SLR

I love your headcanon posts! what are some of your headcanons (backstory and personality) for the rest of La Squadra?

Oh boy, these got kinda long. I hope you enjoy my dumb rambling about La Squadra (also my bias towards Melone and Sorbet+Gelato is showing I’m so sorry) I added the songs I used for inspiration on Sorbet and Gelato’s stands so that’s something lmao

Also also I’m still trying to figure out formatting on tumblr I’m so sorry.

Also also also I have so many dumb headcanons for the inner bureaucratic workings of Passione and what each ‘position’ in the gang entails and how Passione became a dominant force in Italy and oops I’ve slipped them in here a bit my b.

Fromaggio

-        He got his start smuggling. Drugs, weapons, people, Little Feet made that a breeze.

-        The thought of being an assassin never crossed his mind, because it seemed like a lot of work. More so than smuggling which was basically just getting stuff from point a to point b without getting caught.

-        Fromaggio was a confident dude, laid back and easy going with an agreeable personality that most people enjoyed.

-        He’s not exactly details oriented though, and that’s what came to bite him in the ass.

-        He was working with one of the few groups not affiliated with Passione and it was only a matter of time before the operation was busted.

-        Fromaggio never really asked many questions about his jobs, nor did he care very much who or what he was smuggling. He met with a man in Malta seeking entrance into Naples and was willing to pay handsomely. So of course, Fromaggio agreed.

-        If he’d been paying more attention, he would have recognized that man as Prosciutto.

-        Fromaggio brought the assassin right into their main warehouse and it was game over from there.

-        Prosciutto took interest in Fromaggio’s stand and decided against killing the man, instead bringing him to Risotto to see what the Capo thought about his abilities.

-        When offered a choice between dying with the rest of his old associates or joining Passione, the choice was obvious.

-        He really, really enjoys gambling. Prosciutto supplements his income with Fromaggio’s gambling habit.

-        Fromaggio gets along well with all of La Squadra. He’s always been an agreeable dude and he’s willing to give just about anything a shot once. So he’s at least passingly knowledgeable about the interests and hobbies of other members.

-        Fromaggio, Prosciutto, Pesci, Ghiaccio, and Melone make up the main ‘kill squad’ of La Squadra where Illuso, Sorbet, and Gelato handle clean up and intel gathering.

 Illuso

-        Illuso does very little killing himself. For the most part, he deals with disposing of evidence. The mirror world is great for that.

-        Because of this he has the lowest kill count out of all of them.

-        He is Sicilian like Risotto, and they converse in Siciliano when it’s just the two of them. Neither of them is particularly chatty though.

-        Ghiaccio and Pesci didn’t know he was a member of the squad for weeks because he rarely ever leaves the mirror. He doesn’t even have a room in their hideout, he just sleeps in the room of whoever forgets to cover their mirror.

-        Most of the time its Pesci’s room because he feels bad

-        I hc him at about 27

-        He joined La Squadra after Ghiaccio and was more or less ‘gifted’ by Polpo because of his quiet demeanor.

Ghiaccio

-        He’s baby (24)

-        His first kill was at age 18 when he was working in a chop shop and beat someone to death with a wrench.

-        Melone was the one to bring him into La Squadra, his bike was getting some work done in the shop and he was there to see Ghiaccio snap.

-        Risotto wasn’t keen on letting someone so young join La Squadra and initially turned Ghiaccio away. Which pissed the boy off enough for him to seek out Polpo, demand a trial, and come back with White Album.

-        He had never skated in his life, but White Album gave him the instinctive ability to do so.

-        He can only skate while wearing White Album. Without it, he actually had to learn.

-        He reflexes and balance also improved greatly after gaining White Album

-        He’s the only one not ‘trained’ by Prosciutto, instead Risotto took over his ‘training’. The Capo wanted to personally make sure he was equipped to handle the life that comes with La Squadra.

-        Risotto and Ghiaccio are quite close. Risotto was initially intrigued by White Album and Ghiaccio liked Risotto the most because he was the only person who was careful with his words.

-        He’s got a keen eye for detail and an eidetic memory. He enjoys taking apart electronics and seeing how they work (and how he can improve them)

-        Ghiaccio enjoys working with cars, but doesn’t like all the oil and grease.

Melone

-        I hc his age at 28

-        He was always too inquisitive for his own good, and very curious as a child. Most people found him annoying

-        Melone has absolutely zero respect for personal space. If he likes you, he will hang off you without a second thought.

-        And if someone retaliates jokes on you he think’s its hot.

-        It is possible to make him angry, but he won’t let it show out of spite. You really gotta be angling for it if you want to piss him off, and if you’ve put in that much effort into getting a rise out of him he’s not going to give you the satisfaction.

-        His mom was like Giorno’s, a party girl who resented her children for holding her back

-        He has an older half sister who took care of him when he was younger. They were extremely close.

-        From her he learned to paint nails, braid hair, and they both really enjoyed looking at horoscopes and other astrology/pseudoscience things.

-        She was 10 years older than Melone, and when she married Melone went to live with her (he was about 12 at the time) and he never really got along with his brother in law.

-        Her husband was in Passione, a low ranking Soldato but an ambitious one. She was aware of her husband’s occupation but decided the risk was worth the reward (and the financial stability)

-        Her eventual pregnancy led to Melone’s fascination with pregnancy and childrearing.

-        She died due to complications with a late term miscarriage when he was 16

-        After this Melone and his brother in law stuck together. Melone joined Passione, receiving his stand from Polpo’s Arrow.

-        The pair of them had a pretty good scheme going on but eventually his brother in law bit off more than he could chew, and Risotto was called in to clean up the mess.

-        Babyface proved to be a challenge, and instead of eliminating Melone as he was working with the target Risotto decided to offer him a choice.

-        Self-preservation won out and in a show of loyalty Melone had Babyface kill his former brother in law. At best, he tolerated the man because his sister loved him and after she died he was a good meal ticket so when his life was on the line it didn’t take much prodding for Melone to turn on him.

-        It took a while for Risotto to trust him because of how easily Melone’s loyalties shifted but once that trust was earned Melone never gave Risotto a reason to regret it even if his impulsive decisions (such as dragging Ghiaccio into Passione) caused him some trouble occasionally.

Pesci

-        Pesci is actually, genuinely, a sweet guy. He’s respectful of his superiors, polite (if not a bit awkward) to strangers, will offer help if he sees someone struggling with a heavy bag or something on a high grocery shelf, the whole nine yards.

-        He has a habit of second guessing himself and apologizing often but is quick to offer reassurance to people if he sees they’re having a bad day.

-        He also has a hair trigger temper and killed a man by snapping his neck with his bare hands.

-        That’s what landed him in jail.

-        Its like flipping a switch with this guy.

-        Risotto personally bailed Pesci out of jail and brought him into his team because of his brute strength. It was novel, to see someone so capable without a stand.

-        He received his stand from Polpo’s arrow.

-        Pesci is the newest member of La Squadra, but not the youngest (that honor goes to Ghiaccio) and I personally hc him at 25

-        His ‘training’ mostly consists of shadowing Prosciutto and observing how he does things. There is a lot to be learned from watching another stand user work, even if their stands are vastly different.

-        He lacks real strategy, which is another reason he was teamed up with Prosciutto (who winds up ‘training’ most of the new recruits anyway)

-        He’ll be considered a full fledged assassin once he completes his first job on his own (with Illuso or Fromaggio tailing him to observe, depending on the abundance of mirrors)

Sorbet and Gelato

-        Of the two, Sorbet is the most talkative. He’s got a pretty good sense of humor, and a natural charisma about him that puts people at ease if they don’t already know him

-        Gelato and Prosciutto are both card sharks and they keep their skills sharp by practicing on each other.

-        While no one would call any of them selfless, they would lay down their lives for each other without hesitation.

-        They have so many words unique to their relationship that people listening in would assume they’re talking in code half the time.

-        Sorbet and Gelato are the oldest members of La Squadra. Sorbet was 36 when he died, and Gelato was 41

-        Sorbet got his start in Passione, Gelato was part of a ‘merger’ so to speak.

-        The previous syndicate Gelato was a part of was assimilated by Passione after Diavolo returned to Italy. He was familiar with Pericolo as they had been part of the same group.

-        Sorbet and Gelato both have stands, although they were both born stand users.

-        Gelato’s stand is called Mack the Knife and it allows him to eat anything regardless of size (and his stomach acid has a ph value of 1.3). On top of this, it also gives him sharp and study teeth. If for some reason something he eats breaks a tooth he has more in reserve, like a shark.

-        Sorbet’s stand is called Fortunate Son and essentially it hides the user and anyone they touch in plain sight. They’re not invisible, but you must be consciously looking for Sorbet in order to find him when Fortunate Son is active.

-        They joined La Squadra before it was ‘La Squadra’ Risotto (being green himself at the time) wanted more experienced people on his team but had little to no luck recruiting people until these two.

-        They’re well known in the gang for their unorthodox (putting it gently) methods of doing things and kept most people from approaching them.

-        Primarily they ‘interview’ people for information on Squadra targets, but those interviews always turn deadly.

-        While they enjoy killing more than anyone else in La Squadra, they don’t typically get kill jobs because they’re just good at interrogating people. They make do with that just fine though. Neither of them enjoys leaving loose ends.

-        Before Illuso joined, Gelato oversaw clean up and disposal.

9 Highest Paying Freelance Jobs In 2020

Today I will tell the highest paying freelance jobs in the world.

Do you want to earn some extra money by doing any past time business online?

Making money through a business nowadays has become very challenging than it was in the 20th century.

So, in this situation, many entrepreneurs are hiring freelancers in order to help them out.

And because of this reason, why freelancing has become the second main source of income. It has become one of the quickest ways to make money online.

Freelancing is a place where clients can hire you to work on different jobs for a small period of time instead of hiring you as a permanent employer.

Many freelancers are earning a good amount of money through freelancing.

Basically, a freelancer makes money depending upon the number of hours he is investing. Freelancers are paid per hour depending upon the work they are doing.

There are some freelancing websites where you can work as a freelancer such as Upwork, Fiverr, and many more.

There are over 70 million freelancers all over the world but over 50% of them are not making a sufficient amount of money.

The reason is that they might not be having any particular skill or they don’t work seriously.

In this article, I’ll walk you through with some of the best paying freelance jobs you can do in 2020.

9 Highest Paying Freelance Jobs

So, below you’ll see a list of 9 highest paying freelance jobs which you can choose according to your skills and passion.

1. Content Writing

Content writing is one of the highest paying freelancing jobs of all time and it is growing rapidly day by day. As you all know content is the king therefore freelance writing is the best business for those who have the capability to create high-quality content.

There is a huge demand for content writers in any field whether you write a blog, book, newsletter, sponsored post, magazine or any other article.

So, in order to become a content writer, all you need to do is to polish your writing skills, improve your grammar and learn to write high-quality content.

There are different types of freelance writing such as content writing, SEO writing, copywriting, B2B writing, etc. which are in demand.

According to a money perspective, you can charge between $50-$500 per hour depending upon the length of your content, skills, and experience you have and also the site at which you are working as a freelancer.

It is a good source to make money for those who know how to play around the words.

Average monthly income – $5000

2. Graphic Design

Graphic design is another most popular skill which will be in huge demand in the upcoming years. Many digital marketing companies, bloggers, newspaper and magazine publishers want to create beautiful graphics in a short period of time. So, in this case, they hire a freelance graphic designer.

There are various free software companies providing these services where you can easily start making designs on platforms like Canva, Piktochart, Inkscape, and many more.

So, even if you are not a graphic designer you’ll still be able to create beautiful graphics and make a bunch of money

Make sure that when you are a beginner, you must offer a little amount of money because you won’t be having any rating and reviews on it.

Setting at a low price will really help you to attract more clients; more offers, and thus you’ll to make a living from freelancing.

You can charge up to $50-$100 per hour depending upon your skills and experience in it.

3. Social Media Manager

Every business owner wants to interact with their potential customers to promote their products and services online but due to lack of time, they need to hire a social media manager.

As a social media manager, your job is to help business owners to promote their products and services on social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and a lot more.

In simple words, the job of a freelance social media manager is to manage social media partnerships with other brands, execute and analyze the campaigns, promote products by sharing it on social media in order to increase the number of sales, leads and brand awareness.

The best part is that you don’t need any expertise skill as long as you are good at building good relationships with people.

If you are a newbie, you will able to make around $20-$40 per hour.

But on average, a social media manager makes around $100-$150 per hour.

You can use Hootsuite tool that will help you to manage social media in a short period of time.

Average monthly salary – $4000-$6000

4. Web and Software Developer

Software and mobile app developers are the highest paying freelancing jobs.

There are many big organizations and associations looking for the best developers to handle the backend process for their website.

You need to have good technical skills in order to make money as a web developer freelancer.

If you are good at any programming language such as c++, Java, Python, HTML, etc. then you can easily charge up to $200 per hour.

You can learn these languages through various online educational platforms such as Codecademy, Codewars, Coursera, etc.

Toptal is the best freelancing website for those who are professional and experienced web developers. Toptal hires only 3% of talented people and most of them are expert programmers. Once you got selected in Toptal, you will easily make up to $250 per hour.

5. Translator

It is another one of the best freelancing jobs. Translating jobs are the ones where people have the ability to translate audios, documents into various languages.

You need to have a comprehensive and deep understanding of any language; you have to be able to show that you use that language almost at a native level.

Many companies hire freelance translators to work for them as they want to connect with people from other countries where they may require written translations.

It is one of the high paying jobs for freelancers.

On average, a translator can make up to $20-$25 per hour. An experienced freelance translator can also make more than $100 per hour.

If you want to make more money as a translator, you should learn at least 1-2 languages that are in demand such as Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, etc.

You can learn these languages from online websites like FluentU, Rype, Babbel, etc.

6. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Specialist

Every website needs traffic to grow business and make money online. A freelance SEO specialist helps companies, bloggers to rank their websites higher on various search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. which are the major source to generate traffic.

It is one of the best freelancing jobs in the world.

The job of a freelance SEO specialist is to work on both on-page and off-page SEO.

On-page SEO involves technical work such as setting up HTML codes, meta tags, meta descriptions, reducing on-page time, etc.

Off-page SEO is the work that is done behind the website such as building backlinks, getting traffic, etc.

To work as an SEO specialist, you need to have analytical skills, mathematical skills, and also some basic knowledge of HTML. This will help to gain more visitors to your client’s website.

On average, you can earn up to $50-$60 per hour as a freelance SEO specialist.

You can start learning SEO for free on websites like SEO 101, Moz, Webmaster World, etc. There are also some YouTube channels that are providing complete free tutorials to learn SEO.

It is one of the best freelance jobs from home.

7. Virtual Assistant

A virtual assistant is someone who helps to manage the everyday task of an online business. It is similar to a personal assistant or secretary.

Many company owners hire a virtual assistant because they don’t have enough time to handle work on emails, social media, blogs, podcasts, etc.

Almost every business needs a virtual assistant, therefore, it will always be in huge demand.

It is one of the best freelancing jobs to start your career as a freelancer where you don’t require any strong skills to make money. Also, it is a high-paying job.

On average, a freelance virtual assistant can make up to $20-$30 per hour.

To become a virtual assistant, you need to have a basic knowledge of computer and communication skills.

You can offer various services as a virtual assistant such as Pinterest manager, Facebook ads manager, YouTube editing and management, etc.

8. Copywriter

It is a way of convincing someone to take action by writing words. It is in the form of advertising or promoting a product or services that make people buy instantly.

Copywriters basically motivate people to take some type of action on it.

Copywriters are different from content writers. They don’t have to write articles, blogs, newsletters, ebooks, etc. instead they need to text on emails, catalogs, billboards, etc.

Many business owners and publishing companies hire freelance copywriters to work with them.

An average freelance copywriter can charge up to $40-$50 per hour. An experienced freelance copywriter can also reach up to $250 per hour.

To make a plethora of money as a copywriter, you need to work on your writing skills, listening skills, and research skills.

Before working as a copywriter you must be having some knowledge of sales and marketing otherwise it will get hard for you to grow your career as a freelance copywriter.

9. Transcriptionist

Transcription is the process of converting speech into text format. A transcriptionist is basically a typist who needs to listen to the recordings or audio and type what they have heard into a document.

You need to type the text as accurately as possible.

Transcription is a freelance job which you can do while sitting at your home and make money online.

A transcriptionist can earn up to $0.40-$0.80 per audio minute transcribed.

It usually takes 1 hour of transcription time for 15-minute long audio.

The pay is low as compared to other jobs because you don’t require any tough skill to work as a freelance transcriptionist; you just need a headphone, a computer with an internet connection and good listening skills.

The most common mistakes that a transcriptionist makes during transcription are spelling and grammatical mistakes. So, make sure you work on this.

Conclusion

So, in this article, we have discussed 9 highest paying freelance jobs that you can try working at home.

You can easily make an account on the best freelancing websites and start making money online as a freelancer.

Although you will find it difficult to attract clients at the beginning of your freelancing career but with time, you will be able to find and work with clients that may convert into your customers.

Make sure you work consistently and build relationships with the clients. There are many people who are making a ton of money from freelancing by just working for a few hours a day.

Freelancing has now become a full-time job for most of them and if you have these types of skills, you must look after it.

I will upload more articles related to this, and in the meantime if you find something good in our article, you can share your opinions with us in the comment section.

Also, tell which of the technique you find best in our article.

How to Make Your Podcast SEO Friendly

Podcasting.

You’ve heard about it before and I bet you’ve even listened to a handful of podcasts. But you probably haven’t created one yet.

Just think of it this way…

There are over 1 billion blogs and roughly 7 billion people in this world. That’s 1 blog for every 7 people…

On the other hand, there are roughly 700,000 podcasts. That means there is only 1 podcast for every 10,000 people or so.

Podcasting is 1,428 times less competitive than blogging.

So, should you waste your time on podcasting?

Well, let me ask you this… do you want a new way to get more organic traffic from Google?

I’m guessing you said yes. But before I teach you how to do that, let me first break down some podcasting stats for you, in case you aren’t convinced yet.

Is podcasting even worth it?

From a marketing and monetization standpoint, podcasting isn’t too bad.

I have a podcast called Marketing School that I do with my buddy Eric Siu. We haven’t done much to market it and over time it’s grown naturally.

Here are the stats for the last month.

We got 1,083,219 downloads or “listens” last month. To give you an idea of what that is worth, Dream Host paid us $60,000 for an ad spot…

They’ve also been paying us for a while, technically we have a 1-year contract worth $720,000.

Now on top of the ad money, Eric and I both have gotten clients from our podcast. It’s tough to say how much revenue we’ve made from the podcast outside of advertising, but it is easy to say somewhere in the 7-figure range.

Keep in mind, when I make money through ads or generate revenue for my ad agency, there are costs so by no means does that revenue mean profit.

Sadly, my expenses are really high, but I’ll save that for a different post.

But here is the cool thing: Eric and I only spend 3 hours a month to record podcast episodes for the entire month. So, the financial return for how much time we are spending is high.

And if that doesn’t convince you that you need to get into podcasting, here are some other stats that may:

32% of Americans listen to a podcast at least once a month.

54% of listeners think about buying products advertised in podcasts.

Businesses spent $497 million on podcast ads in 2018 (probably much larger now).

51% of monthly active podcast listeners have an annual household income of at least $75,000.

If you haven’t created a podcast, this guide will teach you how. And this one will teach you how to get your first 10,000 downloads.

Alright, and now for the interesting part…

How to get more SEO traffic through podcasting

Back in 2019, Google saw how podcasts were growing at a rapid pace and they didn’t want to miss out.

They wanted people to continually use Google, even when it came to learning information that is given over audio format. So they decided to make a change to their search engine and algorithm and started to index podcasts and rank them.

And depending on what you search for and the more specific you get, you’ll even notice that Google is pulling out details from specific episodes. This clearly shows that they are able to transcribe the audio automatically.

This shouldn’t be too much of a shocker as they’ve already had this technology for years. They use it on YouTube to figure out what a video is really about.

But here is the thing, just recording a podcast and putting it out there isn’t going to get you a ton of search traffic.

So how do you get more SEO traffic to your podcast?

It starts with topics

Podcasting is a lot like blogging.

If you create a blog post on any random topic that no one cares to read about, then you aren’t going to generate much traffic… whether it is from social or search.

The same goes for podcasting. If you have an episode on a random topic that no one cares to listen to, then you won’t get many downloads (or listens) and very little SEO traffic as well.

Just look at the stats for a few of our episodes.

Look at the screenshot above, you’ll see some do better than others.

For example, the episode on “7 Secrets to Selling High Ticket Items” didn’t do as well as “The 7 Best Marketing Conferences 2020” or even “How to Drive More Paid Signups In Your Funnel.”

You won’t always be able to produce a hit for every podcast you release, but there is a simple strategy you can use to increase your success rate.

First, go to Ubersuggest and type in a keyword or phrase related to what your podcast is about.

Once you type in your keyword or phrase, hit search.

You’ll land on a screen that looks something like this:

Then in the left-hand navigation, click on the “Content Ideas” option.

From there, you’ll see a list of popular topics on the subject you are researching.

This report breaks down popular blog posts based on social shares, SEO traffic, and backlinks.

Typically, if a blog post has all 3, that means people like the topic. Even if it has only 2 out of the 3, it shows that people are interested in the topic.

What we’ve found is that if a topic has done well as a blog post, it usually does well as a podcast episode.

See with the web, there are so many blogs, most topics have been beaten to death. But with podcasting, it is the opposite. Because there are very few podcasts, most topics haven’t been covered.

And if you take those beaten-to-death blog topics and turn them into podcast episodes, it is considered new, fresh content that people want to hear. And they tend to do really well.

Now you have to dive into keywords

Hopefully, you are still on the content ideas report and you’ve found some ideas to go after.

If not, just scroll down to the bottom of the Content Ideas report and keep clicking next… even if only a few numbers show, don’t worry, there are millions of results and as you go to the next page, more pages will show up.

Once you find a topic, I want you to click the “Keywords” button under the “Estimated Visits” column.

This will give you more specific keywords to mention and so you can go even more in-depth during your podcast episode.

Remember that Google is able to decipher your audio and knows what topics and keywords you are covering.

So, when you mention a keyword within your podcast, your podcast episode is more likely to rank for that keyword or phrase.

But there are a few things I’ve learned through this whole process:

You don’t have to keyword stuff – you don’t have to mention a keyword 100 times or anything crazy if you want to rank well organically. Mention it whenever it is natural.

Episodes titles that contain popular keywords tend to do better – do your keyword research and include the right keywords within your title (I’ll show you how in a bit).

Episode titles that contain questions do well – eventually, you’ll also see these episodes perform even better because when people ask questions in the future on smart assistants like Alexa and Google Home, you’ll eventually start to see them pull from podcasts.

So how do you find the right keywords and questions to incorporate into your podcasts?

Head back to Ubersuggest and type in a keyword or phrase related to a podcast episode you want to create. This should be a bit easier now because you’ve already leveraged the Content Ideas report to come up with popular topics that people want to hear about.

Regarding that post of "my friend told me dw is mad about the large female audience" whether that's true or not, what option do you think would be best for DW to take in this position? making another reboot where the messages and writing this audience hated so much can finally be fixed? so they can relaunch their merch and target it more towards women? Or maybe making this reboot more appealing to men and succed with their "boy toys" and "boy property"? (1/4)

Though i just see this last one failing miserably, they already tried it once and it didn’t work. I might be young (and correct me if i’m wrong) but fandom culture seems pretty female dominated to me? Like even people outside of the binary gender (a minority group in the current society) seem to overtake the few men who engaged in the fandoms I’ve been before. (2/4) 

It might be cause I only get into cartoon fandoms and that doesn’t appeal to adult men as much as it does to adult women, it might be cause of the misogynistic “ew! a crazy fangirl” view, probably fandoms are safe places for oppressed groups or they simply have different interests than mine. (¾)

I’m sure there’re more factors at play but whatever it is, DW is just wasting their time trying to appeal to a small part of their audience when they already had this large group (which is pretty diverse in gender and orientation) and they could win us back if they try. This shouldn’t be looked as a disappointment but more like an opportunity (um wtf DW??) But how do you think they should take that step? (srry for the rant, got some strong feelings about this) 

First, can I interest you in a cookie? Maybe get your mind off me writing an entire marketing plan for DreamWorks? 

Before we go into “boys property” - we need to note that brands don’t focus one target market.

When I headed four brands, each brand had primary, secondary, and even tertiary markets. For our main brand, we had six target segments, three primary. Did we care about the others? Yeah, but we didn’t highlight them half as much in marketing campaigns or collateral. 

That means that most likely, Voltron wasn’t a “boys” franchise, so much as one of the target markets DreamWorks wanted to hit were boys, ages 7 to 15. Their secondary market was probably older males who had seen the original series, and either a secondary or tertiary market was older female viewers who also watched DotU.

I need to note - I used to wear Voltron shirts all the time. When I wore VLD shirts, I heard from girls, generally 18-30. Almost all had a favorite character and knew the next season drop date.

When I wore DotU shirts, I heard from guys. When I asked the men, “Hey, do you like the new show?” every single one told me they’d never heard of it.

Now, fandom, as a whole, DreamWorks probably doesn’t care about. No, really. Fandom can make their fanart, celebrate the story, whatever floats their boat; DreamWorks doesn’t care. 

What DreamWorks cares about is sales. (They don’t even care about viewership if they’re distributing through Netflix because Netflix releases no numbers. All DW cares about is that Netflix orders more episodes.)

So are the toys selling? No. Then that’s not working. Are the shirts selling? Yeah? Oh, maybe we need to focus there. Who is buying the shirts?

But it’s actually hard to say for sure what’s working when all we know for sure is what’s not working. We can assume by the sudden increase in T-shirt stock on Hot Topic, especially those in women sizes, that these shirts are selling. We can also assume from Amazon having every single shirt in every single style - men, women, and children - that those shirts are selling. 

I can also tell you from my sister and mom’s holiday shopping experience that Hot Topic says they cannot keep VLD merchandise on the shelf. I’m not sure if that’s factual or just the ramblings of an overzealous seller. 

My point is - from the data we can see, we can assume that women are the majority viewership and it’s women with disposal income, 18-40, or so.

(I also want to note, I actually like the cut of a men’s shirts better.)

However, we don’t know that Voltron isn’t engaging with young male viewers, just that young male viewers seemingly aren’t buying merchandise. And as someone with at least seven different toys from VLD - I can tell you women are. 

So what does that mean for DreamWorks? 

There are a few factors that will determine what DreamWorks will do or has decided to do going forward. Most likely, they are going to want a variety of series, each one with a focused set of primary markets. So whether any new Voltron series will want to hit the “boys market” depends on if any other show in DreamWorks’ hopper is set to hit the boys’ market. I’m sure currently 3Below and potentially Fast & Furious are the supposed to hit those markets, so if they’re looking to making money on toy sales - well, F&F probably has the most potential. 

However, as @nomadicism can tell you in more detail, the toy market is effectively broken, and Voltron did suffer from distribution issues. (The videos from last year’s Toy Fair confirm this.) So I would need to see DreamWorks’ toy sales to know for sure if that’s even something worth pursuing. 

Ignoring that for just a moment - recent thought leadership in marketing is looking at agile delivery methods and strategies. Therefore, if DreamWorks stumbled upon a lucrative target market with disposal income, then yes - they should want to milk that and they should have the infrastructure to switch target markets and merchandise - not on a dime but in an acceptable time frame. And they have.  

However, as @sol1056 wrote earlier this week - it really depend on the person - or demographic - making the decisions, which will say whether marketing and merchandising will want to focus on women as a target market, despite or because of their monetary value. 

After all, Young Justice had a large female fanbase. That was the reason Cartoon Network cancelled the show, and from what I’ve seen from the Season 3 thus far, the EPs focused hard on trying to gain that male market they originally didn’t lure the first two seasons. In doing so, they lost me, at least, as a viewer. 

Going forward - what should DreamWorks do?

Young Justice just started streaming this month, so it’s hard to say if this darker turn will affect the story going forward. It’s hard to say if the darker start can’t be changed by a fulfilling ending to the season. What I can say is - Greg Weisman said earlier this week that the show hasn’t been greenlit for a fourth season. (It’s also on DCU, which no doubt has a smaller viewership than Netflix.)

While women dominate the fandom, the question remains - are they buying? If women really are shilling out dough for VLD merchandise (*looks at her Shiro shirts*), then DreamWorks execs should take notice and decide, “This is where we should throw our lot with any sequel.”

I can’t go much into details without getting too personal, but CEOs are beginning to create strategy from social media, thanks to Millennials. (That’s not to say that letters or calls to DreamWorks aren’t weighed more heavily because they are.)  Millennials want a personalized online experience. They want to engage with media on their own terms, an experience crafted toward their preferences, and they live with a mini-computer in their hands. They live on social media, though that, too, is dominated by women. 

But CEOs see social media posts as not having a filter, and though I have serious misgivings about taking social medias as the only source of research, I’m sure DreamWorks is doing or has done professional market research. They know what products are selling, whose buying them, and what these people want to see, in order to encourage them buy more. 

It’s telling that the only shirts ever produced for VLD, especially their newest ones - 

- all have the paladins and their symbols, after supposedly the lore was discarded after Season 2. 

Ignoring that the lore might be coming back - Marketing has created only a handful of new shirts post-Season 2 with a different paladin line-up - the majority of which were Monster & Mana designs and one shirt with Allura in the split screen. 

NOTHING AGAINST ALLURA. I just mean that seemingly, either merchandising doesn’t think post-Season 2 formations won’t sell or they tested in some way and know they won’t sell. Or they aren’t even willing to try, seeing the fandom backlash from later seasons. 

But if shirts are selling - and they appear to be, by the number of styles - are those numbers or projected numbers enough to forgo a “boys’ market” and focus all efforts on a primary target market of women? 

Considering DreamWorks already made the decision to make Hyperphase Voltron a con exclusive and go from selling less than twenty shirts on HT to more than 100 items, to go from selling few shirts on Amazon to uploading new ones in April and October 2018, and January 2019 - I think the question isn’t if DW should focus on women. 

That’s why I question the anon who said that DreamWorks is contemplating what to do with their series - since DreamWorks seems to have completed market research, selected a new primary target market, and made drastic changes to merchandising in order to reach that target market - women. 

Now, DreamWorks just need to focus on expanding that market, and how do they do that?

With new content that speaks to that market, or y’know, a fix-it sequel.  

[AO3 LINK] [EF LINK]

NOTE: HAPPY NANOWRIMO! Sorry if my updates are more sporadic right now; I'm trying to focus on writing this month. That includes (minor spoiler) another Persona fic! I promise in December I will try to resume a more regular posting schedule. 

Also: if you're enjoying this fic or any of my others, and you have disposable income, you can drop a few dollars in my tip jar! Every little bit helps! Anyway, happy reading!

CHAPTER NINE

                                                   ~ x The Priestess x ~

Things settled down until Monday afternoon. Mostly, I hung out with my friends and tried to focus on my studies. And everything had been fine. There were other girls around the school I kept glancing at, trying to figure out my feelings, and I didn't feel any "lesbian stirrings" - if that's even a thing. Just looked like regular people. So I started to convince myself that it had been a fluke, and I only felt those urges because Miss Kawakami had been so sensual with me in the hotel room. Everything was going to be fine.

Then I saw her in the hallway again and it shot all of my hopes to hell.

"Good afternoon, Niijima-san," she said with a smile as she waved. And I felt my knees go weak, my heart speed up in my chest. She was completely back to her usual self: longsleeve yellow scoopneck, denim skirt, sensible white low-heels, fluffy brown hair. Armload of books and lesson plans. Tired-but-cheerful expression.

Just Miss Kawakami, being Miss Kawakami… but she still made me want to do things I had never done before. And wouldn't know how. Experiment with her.

"Niijima-san?"

"G-good morning," I managed to stutter.

"It's not morning," she chuckled. But she peered at my face for a moment. "You… should request me again."

"Huh?!" But when she held a finger to her lips, I quickly said, "Right. Sorry."

"You should. Because it looks like… you need to talk. But not here." Her eyes flicked from side to side, indicating the throng of students surrounding us.

"Of course. I'm sorry, I really… yes. I'll ask you about that homework later."

Her gorgeous mocha eyes did roll toward the ceiling at my poor attempt at covering, but at least she was still smiling. I wished she would always smile…

"Of course. Friday."

"Friday?"

"Or Saturday. I'll let you know if another time works equally well."

"OH!" She was trying to tell me her schedule. "Y-yes, I'll hand it in by then, if I don't have any questions sooner. Thank you."

When I bowed slightly, she patted my shoulder. "Good, good, Run along to class." Then she walked away…

And I did something I have never, ever done. For anybody, no matter who they were, or how attractive I might have found them - though I almost never notice that kind of thing. I turned to watch her leave. Not because I liked her and missed her, or because she was a decent role model. Those things were also true… but for some reason, I wanted to see her calves moving below the hem of that skirt.

The bell for class rang and I was still standing there, staring at the spot where her calves had last been. At least that finally prompted me to move again.

                                                  ~ o ~

The rest of the week turned out to be my own personal Hell. Every time I saw Miss Kawakami, she looked better and better, and my thoughts were less pure. Maybe it was because I had never thought about anyone in this way that I fell so headlong into lust. Or maybe she was just exactly my type and I didn't know it before Hotel Juliet revealed all.

Dreams of her cleavage in that maid outfit when she crawled across the floor toward me, her stockings recently discarded, filled my nights. Or of her shapely thighs disappearing up her frilly French Victorian dress. Worse - disappearing up the hem of her robe as she writhed under my touch, panting my name with her eyes closed…

Recalling that also gave me another new experience: trying to focus in class while being aroused. I'm not kidding when I say that not once in my entire academic career had that been a stumbling block for me. Now, my thighs twitched, my face flushed, until a neighbouring student asked if I was feeling under the weather. That only made my blush worse.

When Thursday rolled around, I was at the end of my rope. I had basically called Ann in complete distress about six times in three days. She was great at talking me down, but had no real advice to give - which was okay. It would be kind of an insane convenience if she somehow knew exactly what to do about developing a lesbian crush on a teacher, wouldn't it?

"Look," she sighed into the phone as she did her nails, and I slowly tried to finish formatting a report. "She said you can request her tomorrow night, right? So just… don't worry about it until then. Forget about her totally. Like, since you can't do anything."

"That doesn't work. Believe me, I try."

"God, you're so cute. I know, I know - not helping."

"It isn't cute that I'm so smitten with a woman out of my reach that I can't eat, or sleep, or study. Those are basically the only things I do, Ann."

A little laugh floated over the phone lines. "Yeah. I mean, until you started hanging out with us, I'd believe it. Except maybe kissing Principal Kobayakawa's-"

"Don't even finish that sentence," I warned her, and she laughed more.

"Fiiiiine. And I'm gonna offer again; I know you don't wanna reveal her secret. But if you need me there, to mediate or whatever, like, call me. Swear I won't show up without you asking, but all you gotta do is call."

"And you'll be here. I know, and thank you. But this is something I should be able to do on my own."

"Why? You've got friends; use 'em."

I had been about to protest and tell her I didn't want to 'use' my friends… when I realised that I could. Not Ann; she was already being enough help as it was. But there was someone else I should be going to about this matter.

"Thanks, Ann," I said suddenly, sitting up and closing my textbook. "I think I have an idea. I'll call you back when I have put it into practice."

"Huh? O-oh, okay, bye. Good luck!"

"Thank you. I'm gonna need it."

                                                  ~ o ~

Cafe Leblanc was basically closing up by the time I got there. Futaba Sakura was lingering at the counter, and the proprietor, Sojiro Sakura, was wiping down the counter. Ren was doing the dishes; sometimes the old man roped him into that, considering he was letting him stay in the attic rent-free.

"Hey," I greeted Futaba first. Not that I could see much of a reaction. Her huge glasses and orange hair covered most of her face and head, as if they were a protective shield from the rest of the world. Which was likely true; she's the biggest introvert I've ever known.

"Guten abend."

"Huh?"

"German." Pushing up her glasses, she peered up at me with those oddly mauve-tinted eyes. "You are here to see Ren."

"How do you know that?"

"Keep glancing at him. Not exactly rocket science - though rocket science is actually fairly simple and straightforward. Just gotta know the formulas."

Chuckling softly as I slid onto a stool at the bar, I said, "Uhhh, I'm going to have to take your word for it, I guess. But you're correct."

"He'll be free in a few minutes," her adoptive father said as he tossed the rag under the counter, then perched a cigarette just above his goatee. As he flicked the lighter, he said, "Can I get you anything, Niijima-san?"

"Oh, no thank you," I said with a slight bow. The cigarette smoke bothered me, but I would never dream of mentioning that. "You're already closing up; it would be rude."

"Nonsense. I've got some leftover curry ingredients in the fridge; you kids could go upstairs while I whip some up."

"You do not wanna miss his recipe," Futaba confided as she typed on her phone at lightspeed. The screen was flashing so fast I couldn't even keep up with what she was doing. "Mom's recipe. Their recipe."

"Huh?"

"Don't worry about it," her surrogate father chuckled good-naturedly as he puffed, turning back toward the kitchen. "Amamiya-kun. Take five and see your friend; I'm going to make you something."

"And I'll help," Futaba volunteered with a smile, pocketing her phone.

Ren nodded at him, barely glancing at me before drying off his hands and abandoning the dishes for now. Then he nodded toward the stairs and we went up together. Futaba made no move to abandon her place at Sojiro's side - proving that she really did accurately guess I wanted to talk to Ren alone. What a little genius.

Once upstairs in his cozy little loft, I dropped onto the old couch and wasted no time telling him everything. Ren eventually sank down beside me, expression slightly pained but mostly resigned. As if he knew this day would come, but couldn't be sure which friend - or maybe stranger - would approach him about it.

"So I know you've been having her run errands," I wrapped up with. "But she insisted that you aren't hurting her, and she isn't hurting you. I guess… I feel like I believe you, but I need to hear it. What is the nature of the relationship with Miss Kawakami?"

Guess I really do sound like you sometimes, Sae.

"We don't have one," he answered after a pause to mull over his words. "She's my homeroom teacher."

"And the maid stuff? You really do request her just to… what, give her free money?"

Another pause. "She does jobs for me. Makes curry, cleans up, does laundry. I pay her for the work. But I request her more often because I understand she needs the money; it's the only official way I can help her without…"

"Without?" I prompted.

"Without it being charity."

"Ohhh…" My eyes turned sad as I looked down at the floor. "Miss Kawakami wouldn't accept any handouts, probably. That makes sense." He nodded. "You're sure you've never… a 'health massage' or-"

"No."

"Would you want to?" At that, he looked a little uncomfortable. "Ren?"

"Maybe. But not that way; not because I paid her. It would feel like forcing her into it. And though Miss Kawakami is beautiful, I don't have strong feelings like that for her."

"All of that's very fair," I sighed, staring down at my plain black shoes. "That's how I felt, too; the 'forcing her' part, I mean." He made no reply, so I looked up at him. "You don't even care about… that part of this. That I might be attracted to her, even though I'm a girl." He shook his head. "Why not?"

His shoulders rose and fell. "That's your business."

"So simple for you," I chuckled softly, eyes sad. "But I feel like… a freak. A circus freak for seeing a woman old enough to be my mother in the hallway - well, almost old enough - and wanting to do things with her I've never even dreamed about before."

Ren's only response was to sit back a little, folding his arms and crossing one leg so the ankle rested on his knee. I watched him for a moment, squinting at his passive, thoughtful expression.

"What? What is it?"

"I may have somewhere you should visit. Come with me."

"Now? But it's so late - and we'll miss Sojiro's curry."

His smile was small and coy. "Very well. Curry and then come with me. It's important."

That word could not be ignored. He didn't just think this was a good idea, he thought it was "important"? And Ren was a fairly serious guy; he didn't just spout off things like that for no reason. I trusted him. Therefore, I nodded.

"Curry, and then I'll go with you. It's a promise." And we shook on it, like we were making a business deal.

                                                  ~ o ~

Once our bellies were full of delicious curry, my taste buds still singing at the spices and mingling flavours, I hopped the train with him up to Shinjuku. That was a surprise; I didn't even know Ren knew anyone up that way, or ever went there. Maybe I didn't know him as well as I thought, but I opted to put my faith in him for the time being.

Within minutes, we were walking into a bar called "Crossroads". The place was pretty empty, except for a young woman with a pink fanny pack slumped over at the bar, and an older woman with an ornate kimono behind it cleaning glasses.

"You spend way too much time here, young man," she said - and my eyebrows shot up. That was a pretty deep voice. Was she… a he? A cross-dresser?

"Lala-san, this is my friend, Makoto Niijima. Makoto, this is Lala Escargot."

I bowed slightly, trying to hide my surprise from before. "It's a p-pleasure to meet you, Lala. Escargot… is French, right?"

"Sure, honey," she chuckled with a big grin. "French is so fancy. Why do you think I picked it?"

"Picked…?" I swallowed hard, then moved to sit at the bar in front of her. "Forgive me for asking something very forward. But are you… transgender, or a drag queen? I don't want to assume."

While Ren looked a little surprised, Lala grinned. "Just a queen, girl. When I ain't on the clock, this all comes off and I'm a regular run-of-the-mill man. Well… maybe not run-of-the-mill."

"No, I am sure you're very unique." Luckily, 'she' seemed to take that as a compliment. "Should I keep using female pronouns while you're Lala, then?"

"Yes, please." A little bow to show her gratitude, and I bowed back. "What brings ya taggin' along with this no-good louse?" Then she chuckled and hid her face behind an elegant white fan. "Just kidding, Amamiya-chan. You know me."

"Of course," he laughed with an easy smile. Not at all flustered or annoyed by her teasing.

"Well… I actually don't know." After a few seconds to consider, I just blurted out, "I think I might be gay."

"Oh yeah? Good for you, honey!"

"Thanks?" I laughed self-consciously. "But I have a feeling Ren thought it might be a good idea to talk to you about it. And maybe he's right; I really don't know what I'm doing, or feeling, or thinking, and… this isn't exactly my first contact with, um, 'the community', but none of my friends are gay. So I'm a little unsure of where to turn."

Her smirk was playful. "That you know of. I mean, just saying, Ren does hang out with a drag queen an awful lot for a straight boy."

"I work here, Lala," he sighed with a roll of his eyes. But she only laughed in response.

"But why here? Hmmmmm? So many after-school jobs, and here you are in Shinjuku. Just saying…"

Interrupting her further teasing, I asked, "So what do I do? How do I know? Especially because I have a crush on a teacher, not another student, so it's…"

"Ooooh, damn," she intonated, heavily-shaded eyes widening. "That is a pickle, sister. How old are ya?"

"Huh? Oh… eighteen."

"Awww, you're almost outta there. Just hang on and then ask her out when you're in college."

Drawing my knees together and folding my hands on the bartop, I whispered, "That's what Ann said. You make it sound so simple. I don't even know if what I'm feeling is real, or-"

"It's real."

Stunned by the firmness in her voice, I asked, "How can you be so sure?"

"If you're worried enough about it to follow your friend to some dive bar in Shinjuku, you're feeling real things, baby," she pressed with a sympathetic sigh. "Maybe you get a few years further along in life, and it turns out you ain't a lesbian, or maybe you are. But right now, for you, in this moment, you wanna be with a woman. Don't second-guess yourself or waste a lot of time thinking you're 'crazy'. Take Ohya there."

With a start, the other woman shot upright, eyes unfocused and sunglasses askew. "Huh? Wh-wha…? I'll pay my tab next week…"

"Poor thing was in love with this old colleague of hers," Lala went on as Ohya slumped back downward, clearly not even listening. "Completely oblivious until it was too late; she's still in denial about it. Now Kaya's out of her life and she ain't got nobody. Think she still likes men, but when's the last time I saw her on a serious date with any of 'em?"

My eyes widened. "Oh. She's a lesbian, too?"

"Bisexual," Lala corrected. "Probably, anyway."

"Right, right; like you said, she still dates men." I watched her snore for a few seconds, then cleared my throat. "I guess… it's different, meeting a woman who likes women in person. Not that I doubted their existence."

The drag queen shrugged as she poured me a tonic with lemon; something light and non-alcoholic, but still being courteous. "We get a lot of people like you wandering in. Girls or boys who ain't sure what they want outta life, or outta relationships. Some of these places around Shinjuku will really turn your brain upside-down if you let 'em, but… most of us just wanna help family."

"Family?" After a second of flashbacks to dead parents and my stubborn sister, I got it. "Right. That's me; I'm 'family' now. But what if I try dating a woman and decide I like men? Isn't that… wrong, somehow?"

"What's wrong with experimenting and figuring out what you like?"

"Well, when you put it that way… I feel stupid," I ended up saying, and she chuckled.

"Don't, honey. Nothin' stupid about not knowing where you wanna end up in life. Just take your time, figure it out. Come back here if you got questions; maybe Ichiko'll be sober enough to answer 'em next time."

"Hey, I'm not that drunk," the woman muttered without lifting her head or opening her eyes. "Sober enough to see Ren-kun brought another cutie with him. You're the drunk one, Lala-chan… not me."

Another cutie? Did she mean me?!

"You're the horizontal one," Lala mocked back, and Ohya did smile slightly. But she still didn't get up.

And now I found myself really looking at her. If I'm being brutally honest, I don't know why I had such a strong image in my mind that a woman who likes women would be some kind of freak. Probably had something to do with societal brainwashing. But here was this Ichiko, very normal other than the fact that she was drunk. Bobbed black hair, blue jeans and sneakers. Very pretty in the same way Miss Kawakami was pretty: a little older but taking good care of herself, other than the drinking which probably had the same amount of detrimental effect on her as the lack of sleep did on my teacher.

"Maybe," I breathed quietly to myself before taking a sip of the tonic water. It was actually pretty refreshing.

"What's that, honey?"

"Nothing, nevermind. Just thinking to myself."

"Questioning?"

For some reason, she was smirking at me again. I had the feeling her comment meant more to her than it did to me, but I decided not to ask about it. "Anyway, your friend looks like she's not getting up anytime soon, so maybe I should go. Thanks for this, Lala - and you, too, Ren. Helped me a lot more than I can be sure of just yet, I'm sure."

Ren nodded with a small smile as he took his place behind the bar. Lala came over to stand next to him. "Ohhhh, you're up for a shift, huh? Good, good. And let me know if you ever change your mind about me dressing you up."

Feeling second-hand embarrassment for Ren felt like reason enough to quickly and quietly take my leave. Besides, now I had an awful lot to think about.

                                                  To Be Continued…

Expense of Hair Transplantation and also Whatever Else You Required To Know

Before taking into consideration a hair transplantation, the following thoughts ought to be kept in mind: Transplants are not a remedy for a person suffering pattern baldness, no issue the sex. A transplant will not counteract the result of loss of hair in areas that are hairless or that have been bald for fairly some time. If there is little hair on the head before the transplant, without the addition of drug to grow back hair, the hair transplant size might stay the same and also not be stimulated to grow any type of even more. Just how Much Does A Hair Transplantation Cost? Several clinics are reticent to state specifically how a lot a hair "BEARD TRANSPLANT " will cost - due in part to the individuality of each persons hair loss requirements. Altogether, it is not affordable especially as some clients call for a 2nd session to accomplish a thicker quantity of hair. The expense will certainly differ greatly relying on the following variables: 1. Doctor - Who is doing the surgery as well as their degree of experience. 2. The groups' experience that supports the head physician. 3. Location - Where you get the procedure done, i.e. medical tourism now caters for clients travelling to nations with a lower cost base for hair loss treatments consisting of hair transplantation, grafts, FUE therapies etc. 4. The approach of hair transplantation picked-. ( I) Strip method (on standard) - the graft cost is in between $3-6 per strip. or. ( II) Follicular System Removal (FUE) (typically)- as this is a longer process, it is even more time taking in for the medical professional. The prices are generally double the strip approach. The rate might range $5 - 12 per graft. A graft is a follicular device and also is exactly how the hair shows up in its natural type. You might have a specific graft that has 1, 2, 3 or 4 haired devices. Each one is the exact same expense. In terms of an overall cost, think of your hand curled up to the size of a fist and place your clenched fist over the spot where there is a bald spot. That area is roughly 1500 grafts. Usually clients will certainly desire double the amount, or have a 2nd session to attain higher thickness. A price quote for the treatment cost can vary in between 3000 as well as 6000 grafts depending on the desire of the client for thicker hair thickness. Multiply that by the number of grafts needed. There will be some clients who want a second session to guarantee they have maximum insurance coverage. The variety is broad and only when you have had an assessment will you recognize a ballpark number for your demands. Therefor expect a typical price to be between $3000 to $30,000. 5. Anesthetic - Often this may not be consisted of in the general hair transplantation cost. Be certain to ask if it is included. 6. Article Surgical Treatment Assistance - After the hair transplant surgical procedure, there might be a demand for 1 -2 adhere to up sessions to determine how the graft is taking to the scalp. Ask your cosmetic surgeon if post-consultations are consisted of. 7. Time off job - it is typical for individuals to take time off job to minimize the likelihood of infections by decreasing public call. This is another cost (loss of incomes duration) to be included in your plan. Should you choose this procedure because of a job mishap, or something took place beyond your control which led to hair loss, you might want to speak with your medical insurance firm or company regarding economic support for the associated expenditures. 8. A follow-up graft - for many individuals, they are delighted to invest in hair transplants to get a complete set of hair back on their head. However sadly, it is not always so simple as a one stop cost. Proof has actually shown that the younger an individual is when they get a transplant, the greater propensity there is for their hair to befall faster. This schedules partly to benefactor skin websites not being genetically immune to loss of hair. As sad maybe, the optimal candidates for hair transplantation are generally middle aged males with moderate loss of hair. Wellness Considerations. A complete medical assessment needs to be executed by a physician before having a hair transplant. This might also include seeking your physician's professional viewpoint on the treatment and how it is to be carried out with factor to consider to the drug included during and also after the procedure. Treatment ought to be required to consider the kind of anesthetic made use of during the treatment if a person is currently on medication. It is essential for the medical professional and anesthetist to be aware how the surgical procedure medicine will respond with any type of medication the patient is currently taking. Pain-relief medication have to also be taken into consideration in this equation as will the person's case history. The even more modern transplants these days entail the following:. First a hair consultation accompanies a certified as well as reliable doctor. This consists of an evaluation of an individual's hair development pattern, rate and level of loss of hair, previous family members history/genetics of hair loss. Within this assessment, the medical professional will assess any type of previous treatments for تقنية الاقتطاف loss of hair or past surgeries and also their outcome. As soon as the procedure is set it is merely booking in for the procedure when a consultation is available and preparing for pause job. The actual hair transplantation treatment has a tendency to adhere to the adhering to format:.

a. Hair is shortened on the scalp websites selected to be the 'contributor' locations (where hair has been chosen to be gotten rid of). b. Hair hair follicles from the back and also side of the scalp are removed. These follicles usually have higher capacity to hold as well as maintain hair. An anesthetic is used during this procedure as it is an uneasy procedure. c. The eliminated hair follicles are inserted (or implanted) right into locations on the scalp where hairless spots are obvious. They are primarily inserted simply above the forehead and top of the scalp or crown. d. Treatment is taken throughout step (c) to put the hair follicle right into areas of the scalp where blood flow is great and also the hair follicle is most likely to be stimulated to grow the hair strand. e. After the operation, adverse effects such as bruising, تقنية السفير swelling, discomfort and also general throbbing might result. This might be taken care of by a pain-relieving therapy strategy. Sometimes the hair transplantation location will certainly be hidden by bandages which will certainly require to be eliminated within a short amount of time post the procedure. f. The medical professional will certainly warn against exercise, exhausting task or any kind of task which will certainly boost high blood pressure or friction to the scalp. Due to an inability after surgical treatment to get involved in any physical exertion activities, this will certainly likewise include little exercises such as grocery store buying and also taking animals for walks. Ensure you have every little thing needed such as food, pet care and also the assistance needed to help you in your everyday activities. Arrange for a person to assist you whilst you are in your recuperation duration if you obey yourself. Alternatives to A Hair Transplantation. Other Hair transplantation alternatives consist of:. a. 'Scalp Decrease Surgical Procedure' - this entails a local anesthetic followed by a strip of bald skin being cut from the scalp. The scalp is after that gathered across the eliminated part and stitched to link the space on the scalp. b. 'Flap Surgery' - this entails a considerable hair transplantation wherein a huge amount of skin cells from the scalp is keyed over an amount of time to grow cells. Once the cells have expanded, a large part of a bald area of the scalp is gotten rid of, to be changed by the hair that has actually been topped to expand. Typically as a result of the complexity of this procedure, a hospital remain for several days might be called for. The transplant itself might take a number of hrs (3-7 hrs) and also generally, clients return for several therapies to cover the scalp. A pain-relief treatment strategy is supplied at the end of the process as the areas where hair follicles have actually been eliminated and afterwards placed is rather tender as well as will take some time to heal. It is very important to note that there can be challenges throughout the process, which can consist of:. Infection - as the skins surface has actually been cut off as well as revealed to the open air, it is very important to minimize the threat of germs entering into the open wounds. Anti-biotics are generally prescribed to minimize the probability of infection. Sensitive reaction to the procedure or medication. Bleeding as well as Scaring - Blood loss is generally had by a cleaning at the end of the treatment and also decreased through mindful therapy of the scalp. There can be marking as an outcome of the skin being perforated. The doctor will suggest a therapy and also care strategy to decrease scarring. Nerve damages - where an individual may no more feel any type of level of sensitivity or over-sensitivity to the scalp site included in the treatment. What To Consider Before Having A Hair transplantation? It is extremely essential to validate the credentials and certificate of your potential physician who might carry out the treatment. There are several dishonest characters that have actually set up hair clinics to do this type of surgical procedure at a reduced cost. It is very important that you do your research to confirm the potential hair transplantation medical professional has done, with success, this operation several times ahead of time. Endorsements - do not simply accept the written word of previous individuals or the excellent word of the medical professional. Ask to see and also talk with people who have been with the very same procedure with the same medical professional previously. This serves two purposes. One is that you will certainly have the ability to see for on your own the hair transplantation success. Secondly, you can ask the private any kind of inquiries that you might have associated to the procedure and post-operation assistance. Not all hair transplantation succeed, and also this might not be understood till 9 months after the procedure. Hair just may start to grow after 9 months as it spends some time to get utilize to its brand-new atmosphere and during this time around, the cell or tissues might pass away. It is necessary to keep in mind that this procedure does not assure hair growth success and hair transplanted hair might befall after a number of months. Yet, the bright side is that there are lots of people walking with thick complete hair, the outcome of a hair transplantation that looks like 100% all-natural hair development. Location - Where you get the procedure done, i.e. clinical tourism now caters for individuals taking a trip to countries with a lower price base for hair loss treatments including hair transplants, grafts, FUE therapies and so on 4. The approach of hair transplant chosen-. Anesthetic - In some cases this may not be included in the general hair transplant expense. Post Surgical Treatment Support - After the hair transplant surgical treatment, there may be a requirement for 1 -2 follow up sessions to establish exactly how the graft is taking to the scalp. This includes a testimonial of an individual's hair growth pattern, rate as well as level of hair loss, previous family history/genetics of hair loss.

Best ways to monetise your blog traffic

There are several ways you can monetise your blog traffic. The fact is there are too many confusing articles out there which makes it very difficult for small publishers and site owners to understand. This means that new bloggers have a lot of information on their hands but can't make use of it. In this post, we decided to evaluate the best ways you can monetise your traffic as a small publisher and make the best out of it. How to promote your blog content Promoting your blog is an important task. You can't do otherwise: for getting good results you must work on different fronts. But at first, you have to remember to always show what you're good at. You just need to follow some essential steps: To publish quality contents constantly: your audience has to be interested in what you're talking about.To moderate spam with serenity: Its always better to remove all spammy comments and content linking to your blog in order to get better rankings in search engines as well as inproved use experience. To get more and more visibility.

How to increase your blog traffic There are several ways you can increase your blog traffic before thinking on how to monetise your blog traffic. Most of them require hard work and constituency which lead to actual results of organic traffic.

As you might have heard or known, organic traffic is one of the most important traffic as it very targeted. getting organic traffic require not just writing quality blog content but also optimising your content according search engine requirements. That's where search engine optimisation pratices come in. If you are interested in boosting your organic traffic, here is a great post that teaches you all you need to know about Blog SEO. Read full post: Blog SEO Tips that can boost your traffic Other ways to boost your blog traffic include social media marketing. Using platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram and Tailwind will increase your traffic dramatically. However, all the above mentioned social media platforms have a lot in common except for TailWind. The different thing you can't find in these other social media platforms is the TRIBE feature you can get in Tailwind. Tailwind tribe is a powerful tool that allows you to join niche related Tribes and share your content and also share others content to increase your visibility. There are so many special features you can find in the platforms which will definitely have a positive impact on your blogging traffic. My advice for you is to try and it out and see how effective it is for your blog traffic.

How to improve your blog Search engine optimisateion (SEO) So let's jump into... You may also like:Niche Blogging will make you a smart blogger

monetise your blog traffic with Ads

There are several Ad types you can use to monetise your blog traffic, however, the most used and the most profitable ways are the pay-per-click also known as PPC and CPM which is paid by 1000 impressions. CPM or CPA. These types of Ads are straight forward unlike other Ad types, publishers are paid based on the number of clicks or impressions their traffic is able to generate. Using all forms of Ads on your website to monetise your traffic will generally increase your income especially when done the right way. The right way here means, putting Ads in strategic places in your blog pages and at strategic positions.

Pay per click Ads

The pay-per-click campaign is one of the most widely used types of advertising on blogs or websites. With this system, you get paid any time someone clicks on an ad. For example: if someone visits your website and clicks on an ad that is displayed on your webpage, you earn money. The amount you receive varies based on several factors but can vary from a few cents to several dollars per click or a thousand inpressions or views. In most systems, the amount you earn is determined by how much the advertising company is paying for space. You may also like:Blogger Seo Tips That Can Boost Your Traffic If you are already wondering which system to use to make money with Pay-per-click or CPM advertising, AdsTargets offers you all the Ad formats you need to increase your revenue as a blogger.

To register as a publisher at AdsTargets and start making money, please register here: AdsTargets.com/publisher/registration

Make money blogging Another publisher's ad network is Google AdSense, It's a very popular advertising service offered by Google. Thanks to it, you can start earning money by placing automatic advertisements on your blog. There is no activation fee and you will be paid for every view or click made on the ads by site visitors. 

Cost per thousand impressions (CPM)

Another great way to monetise your blog traffic using display Ads is to do it using CPM Ads. Some online marketing companies offer pay-per-impression platforms. With this system, you are paid every time the advertisement is displayed on your site.  If someone visits your website and sees the ad, you earn, even if the ad is not clicked. Most of the time, the amount collected is counted for every thousand impressions of the ad.  If you then display ads on multiple pages, or use multiple banners, this figure increases accordingly. That's how they earn news sites, have you ever thought about it?

To monetise with affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is a very simple concept: There are many affiliate programs out there that allows publishers to make money by promoting their affilliate links or banners within their webpagees and earn a commision ones their visitors puchase through those affiliate links. You may also like:Blogging Checklist for New Bloggers Many companies allow anyone who wants to sign up for their affiliate programs where you can get an affiliate link for each product on the portal. These links can be published on your blog or on your social profiles and, if someone clicks and buys something, you are paid 10% commission on the amount paid by the user. Earning with affiliate marketing means earning money by promoting the products of others. The important thing is to choose products in line with your niche and quality, and those ones your audience needs.

Asking for a donations

Many bloggers ask their readers for a donation to keep the blog alive. It is very easy to insert them directly on your site, to allow the aficionados to contribute to the quality content you are publishing. When you are doing a great job, your blog readers will feel the need to buy you some coffee. That won't just happen if you don's ask for it. Don't be shy, ask your readers to buy you a cup of coffee and they will especially if they value your content.

monetise your blog traffic as an influencer

Here is when influencer marketing comes in. It take time though but once you are this point, you can do wonders. So what are talking about here... Let me break it down for you. Once you are able to have a lot of traffic and possibly become a famous blogger in your niche, you have the ability to control a large audience as many of your readers will become your follows on social media platforms. Using social media could be a great way to monetise your blog traffic, we are talking about Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and others. You can actually charge businesses to advertise their product and services. Businesses are making it big these days by selling through influencer marketing. Once you reach fame with your blog, you can convince your users to follow you on Instagram to increase your notoriety and your followers so that you can then contact companies related to your business that need to advertise their products, acting as influencers. You may also like:How to Start a Blog and Make Money Blogging However, As I mentioned, you need to work hard for you to get famous before venturing into influencer marketing.

Create products and services

These days you don't actually need to be a genius or a programmer to create APPs, Plugins or other web applications, you can actually hire a programmer to create anything you want for a token.

Cheap online advertising What you need to do is to figure out a good product or service that solve problems for digital marketers. Once you are able to figure out what you want, you can start messaging freelancers on Fiverr.com and freelancer.com explaining your idea. You may also like: How to determine advertising cost on your Blog Once you are done creating your product or service, you can Add that to your blog and start marketing it. The best way you can market it is to create explanatory videos and write a tone of blogs about it. This way of monetise your blog traffic has significant impact on your income and general online growth as a blogger.

Once people start noticing your product, you will start selling and making money especially when it solve problems for businesses. Again, if you know how to program or have some programming skills, you can create free WordPress plugins. In this case, obviously, your income will be indirect, but I can guarantee you that, once your plugin is approved and appears in the WordPress.org directory, you will get excellent links and lots of traffic that will allow you to improve (so much) the positioning of your blog, and consequently to increase the earnings of your blog.

Conclusions

Were some valuable advice for bloggers if you are looking for ways to monetise your blog traffic The first step is to not think about monetizing. You, who are reading this article, you are starting badly if that one is your first goal, because it will come by itself, over the years. Invest today to see results in 2-3 years. And to "invest" I mean just thinking about creating quality content. You need value creation at the center of your strategy. Always. Read the full article