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carnivorousyandeere · 11 months

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Student Council Intros

Short descriptions of their positions, personalities, interests, and relations to one another. I will elaborate more on their specific yandere tendencies in another post soon~! requests about them are also okay <3

President: Hailey (she/her)

Eldest of the triplets

Undergraduate

Double Major in Math and Business

Queen bee, popular, pretty, ambitious, ruthless. Dedicated follower of the clean-girl aesthetic; bloodless, antiseptic, minimal, devoid of any evidence of actually living. Competitive, cutthroat.

Totally having the time of her life in college and her sorority!! (Maybe…?)

Probably destined to climb a corporate ladder somewhere.

Short; light green eyes; shoulder-length blonde hair (dyed)

Likes: being heard, being in charge. Being the center of attention, admiration, and jealousy. Tennis, running, smoothies, scrunchies, being just mean enough to watch people squirm but not mean enough to get called out on it

Dislikes: being challenged (well… depends on context), being away from her sisters (literal sisters not the sorority sisters), anything super messy or woodsy/outdoorsy

Vice President: Kaylee (she/they)

Youngest of the triplets

Undergraduate

Law Major

Minor in Latin

Devil’s advocate, casual, incisive, irreverent, witty. Competitive, though not as much as Hailey. Argumentative, blunt, analytical, but also committed to the bit.

Kinda hates college but wasn’t sure what else to do after high school.

Short; light green eyes; dark brown hair in a pixie cut (not dyed)

Likes: debating, arguing, true crime, reading the wackiest court transcripts she can get her hands on, chess, drama and theatre

Dislikes: math, science, being compared to her sisters, the law enforcement system and most of the judicial system too tbh (corrupt from the start and ineffective)

Advisor: Emerson (they/them)

Kendra’s older sibling

Graduate student and T.A.

Studying architecture

Typically calm, easy-going, and thoughtful, although busy places can overwhelm them. Generally asocial, but kind, and cares deeply about the people close to them. Punctual, organized, artistic.

Heavily burnt-out from school, but their deep love of architecture as a subject keeps them going.

Tall; dark brown/black eyes; hair in thick, long, jet-black dreads.

Likes: sketching, watercolor, prismacolor markers, learning about architecture, reorganizing their collection of markers

Dislikes: being a T.A., loud environments, most strong smells, bright lights, inconsiderate and closed-minded people

Treasurer: Rayleigh (she/her)

Middle triplet

Kendra and Jace’s friend

Undergraduate

Double-Major in Biology and Geology

The rare shy extrovert (?). Talks your ear off when you get to know her. Passionate and excitable, tends to be literal-minded. Comes across as very anxious and high-tension if you don’t know her well.

Wasn’t too sure about college at first, but she’s really starting to open up some and enjoy herself more.

Short; light green eyes; long light brown hair with highlights and stuff (dyed), but also her dark brown roots showing

Likes: her friends! :D, archaeology, fossils and “living fossils,” SHARKS, anything outdoorsy, anime, documentaries

Dislikes: being the center of attention, alternately having to compete with her sisters for scraps of attention, debating, writing papers for humanities classes 😣

Secretary: Kendra (she/her)

Emerson’s younger sister

Rayleigh and Jace’s friend

Fashion Design Major

Another shy extrovert? Emotional, excitable, creative, always up to try something new, once you get to know her. Otherwise comes across as very quiet, deep-in-thought, serious, or maybe a little spacey?

Loves college overall even though the professors in her major can be real assholes.

Short; dark brown/black eyes; keeps her jet-black natural hair in an afro sometimes, and pulls it back and up into a puff a lot too. Has a collection of pretty, colorful hair bands for this reason.

Likes: anime, cosplay, writing, daydreaming, blue jean material as a medium for her art, heels (not comfortable but she wants to feel taller 😭)

Dislikes: anything super outdoorsy, math classes (“I already know all the math I need for my patterns! 😫”), a lot of the required classes tbh (“Booooring.”)

Honorary Member: Jace (he/they)

Rayleigh and Kendra’s friend

Undergraduate Researcher

Biology Major

Shy, reticent, cautious. Just wants to keep his head down, but their friends keep dragging them into stuff like the student council… for better or worse. Analytical, meticulous, curious.

Hates college, but is determined to graduate anyway.

Short; dark brown/black eyes; short, black, shoulder-length hair.

Likes: camping, hiking, rowing, campfire food, stargazing, ALGAE (their research topic)

Dislikes: most people, his voice (started T somewhat recently and is embarrassed by the voice cracks 🥺💕)

#student council ocs #oc Hailey #oc Kaylee #oc Emerson #oc Rayleigh #oc Kendra #oc Jace #my thoughts #yandere #yandere oc #yandere imagines #yandere scenarios #yandere x darling #yandere x reader #yandere x you #yandere cw #decided to just go with rhyming names for the triplets after all lmao 😭

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bookcoversalt · 4 years

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A+ youtube video! I feel like this is a dumb question, but what other sources, exercises, etc would you suggest for a writer wanting to get better at, like, everything you do in that video? I feel like I'm just not intelligent when it comes to writing and reading. I slap down whatever seems fun and I'm sure it makes for a bland story full of stupid plot holes and everything you talked about, so how does one get better at dissecting this stuff and...writing/reading intelligently?

Thank you so much!! There’s a tendency to consider analytical people just “smart”, as if the observations they make come naturally to them. But that super isn’t true: being thoughtful and critical about media, like drawing or writing or playing a sport or learning an instrument, is a skill that you pick up by absorbing reference, learning the language of the art form, and then practicing replicating it through your own perspective.

ABSORBING REFERENCE

My two biggest critical inspirations are Lindsay Ellis, a video essayist who covers film and culture, and Film Crit Hulk, a screenwriter and movie critic, and I’ve been consuming their work since I was 15. (I’m 25 now! that’s a wholeass decade.) I've picked up many, may other sources along the way: other video essayists, pop culture commentators, TV critics, spirited roasts of 50 shades of gray, actual “writing craft” books and blog articles, long goodreads reviews of books I thought I had a pretty good grasp of the flaws on, funny booktube reviews, even “anti” posts. I read “how the last season of game of thrones went the fuck off the rails” articles til my eyes bled, not because I cared about game of thrones, but because there was so much good, insightful reporting being done on How And Why A Story Fell Apart.

LEARNING THE LANGUAGE

Not all of this is good or useful. There’s a lot of bad faith or shallow criticism out there. The cinemasins clickbaity style of nitpicking “plot holes” or penalizing a work for the mere presence of tropes without regard for broader artistic intent and cultural context is particularly insidious and should die. The people who think twilight is stupid because it has sparkly vampires are missing the point. A LOT of people critique YA in particular from a place of bitterness or bias or misplaced expectations (and so did I, to some degree, for a long time. I’ve worked really hard to grow out of that, I hope). But the point is to seek out content in this vein-- not what I consumed necessarily (I would not wish that many GOT thinkpieces on anyone), but stuff that interests you. The more of this you mindfully consume and the more perspectives you collect and compare, the more context you’ll have for what’s being discussed and the more you'll naturally start to form your own opinions on it. You will learn, slowly, by osmosis, to pull what strikes a chord with you from the noise.

REPLICATING IT THROUGH YOUR OWN PERSPECTIVE

The cool and fun part is that to some extent, your brain will start doing this on its own. You’ll read a book and you'll just notice more. You’ll call plot twists faster, or be more cognizant of the pacing, or connect dots you might not have otherwise connected. You’ll see the logistic scaffolding in your own work more clearly and you’ll be more aware of choices you’re making subconsciously. You’ll recognize thematic hypocrisy or worldbuilding inconsistencies and have the language to name them.

And you’ll also have the tools to explore your less clear-cut, more emotional reactions to art. And this is the most important but “hardest” part of this: sitting with vague feelings and unformed thoughts trying to suss out what’s at the heart of them and why, using your hard-won critical “training” and your contextual knowledge.

I like to frame them as questions:

Why did the end of [book] feel disjointed? Why didn’t I connect with the main character in [book]? What really resonated with me about the plot of [book]? Why does [character] appeal to me more than [other character]? Why does [book]’s use of [theme] make me uncomfortable?

Sometimes it comes down to just preference or subjective taste, and that’s fine and good to know. But more often than not, you’re reacting to something concrete that can be identified:

The ending of HOUSE OF SALT AND SORROWS feels disjointed because it comes out of nowhere and has nothing to do with our heroine’s efforts in the larger story. I didn’t connect with the main character in HEARTLESS because within the context of the worldbuilding, her choices didn’t make sense. What really resonated with me about the plot of UPROOTED is its thematic coherency. The Darkling appeals to me more than Mal because the villain romance power fantasy aspect of the series is better fleshed out and ultimately more rewarding to read than the love story of two flawed teenagers. ACOWAR’s use of trauma and recovery makes me uncomfortable because it ceases to be a sincere element of anyone’s arc or characterization and becomes yet another tool to make Rhys look like the best and coolest and wokest fae boyfriend.

Pulled from an old Captain Awkward article, this is something I have in a sticky note on my desktop as sort of a criticism guide:

One of the things we try to do is to push past “I liked it”/”I didn’t like it” as reactions to work. What is it? What is it trying to be? Is it good at being that thing? Was that a good thing to try to be in the first place? Did the artist have a specific agenda? How did it play with audiences at the time? Does it play the same way now? What stereotypes does it reinforce/undermine?

Even if it’s only for your own personal growth rather than intended for an audience, I recommend putting burgeoning critical thoughts or questions you’re trying to “work through” down in writing somewhere: goodreads reviews! tweets! blog posts! spamming your group chat! Even just a private word document. The synthesis of thoughts into written content forces you to identify and choose a specific articulation of your idea(s). If it’s in a pubic or semipublic forum, you’ll also be able to see which of your ideas resonate with other people, and that can (isn’t always, but CAN) be useful information as far as having an external barometer for when you’re onto something.

And then..... you do that a bunch of times in different ways for many years, with a lot of different books and movies and games and whatever else. Like any other skill, you will get better the more you do it. (Again: I have been doing this for ten years now, and it still took me three months to write that video script. Forming nuanced, informed opinions and then articulating them coherently is hard.)

As kind of a footnote tip, seek out peers who have the same goals and feelings, and try to connect with them! Lots of my current internet friends found me back when I was posting on my personal blog about problems i had with THE SELECTION or RED QUEEN and we bonded over having similar opinions and being in similar places in our writing/ reading/ careers. These people now beta read my scripts and posts and help me brainstorm or refine ideas. I strongly believe that creatives (and critics) do their best work and grow the most within a network of support and feedback.

But also, in regards to creative writing in particular, i want to be clear that having fun is the most important thing. I absolutely think creators need analytical skills to improve their craft, but without the enjoyment of doing the thing at the core of it, there is no craft at all. If you have to choose between the "smart” thing and the fun thing, choose the fun thing. Tbh, if you’re worried your work is bland, analysis probably isn’t the solution-- figuring out how to have more fun is the solution. And letting yourself lean into the stuff that’s wild and awesome and so incredibly you that it sets you on fire to write is a skill of its own :)

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thesimperiuscurse · 4 years

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FINE. All of them for EVA. Jerk

NO U. aight i’m gonna answer these for the start of chapter 6, two weeks from the end of chapter 5.

zinc white; how are you really feeling today? no one-word answers please!

ready to kick ass, make the most of her work day, determined for upcoming regionals and exams. nothing is yet to trouble her.

cadmium yellow; when you think of the word “happy” what’s the first thing that comes to mind?

the faces of her family. they are what she loves most in the world.

lemon; what’s your comfort food?

in winter, her mom makes rich and creamy soups with veggies from the garden. pair that with soft buns fresh from the oven, and it’s guaranteed to comfort eva on the coldest and dreariest days.

hansa yellow; what’s your guilty pleasure song?

classic justin timberlake songs, like cry me a river.

yellow ochre; name an artist/band whom you just discovered & can’t get enough of!

just yesterday i found a new one for eva, an electronic artist named kloud. there’s one song in particular, humans, the lyrics and intense beat of which she’s super vibing with.

naples yellow; where do you feel most at home?

the family villa in malibu. cherry and gabriel made sure to raise their children in a happy, secure, peaceful home. no repeat of their own turbulent and traumatic childhoods.

raw sienna; with whom do you feel most at home?

again, her family.

golden ochre; describe the relationship you have with your closest friend.

eva doesn’t have a best friend. all the people she’s really close to are members of her family. she’s always been far too ballet-focused to maintain deep relationships with anyone outside of her family. however, she’s now growing very comfortable with sasha, piper, misha, and mako. they’re all quite bantery with each other.

golden deep; what’s your favorite season?

summer. always.

cadmium orange; what do you like to do on your days off?

her day off is sunday. currently — she wakes up at 8:30, has a slow breakfast with piper in the cafe, checks in with the academy physiotherapist at 11:00, and the rest of the day is loosely scheduled for gym, procrastinating maths homework, kickboxing, visiting family, playing her guitar, or watching netflix.

orange lake; do you have anyone you can turn to when you’re sad?

she has a super strong support system in all her family members, but her mom in particular. cherry is always checking up by call whether her daughter is happy and healthy.

titans; do you prefer slow mornings or relaxing evenings?

slow mornings. eva can’t wake up before eight, and if she’s forced to, she’ll get cranky. she wakes up when the sun does.

shakhnazaryan red; are you currently binge-watching anything?

not binging, but she’s slowly working through sex education on netflix.

red ochre; are you more right-brained (creative) or left-brained (analytical)?

right-brained. she can’t analyse for shit, unless she’s working something out using empathy and emotional intelligence. like misha, in that sense.

burnt sienna; is there a painting that brings you peace when you look at it?

she’s not one to enjoy the silent purity of art galleries. she prefers to explore nature and breathe in the ever-changing beauty of the earth. the sight of the sea always brings her peace.

english red; what animal do you relate to most?

probably a dumb but very cute and energetic dog.

vermilion; what’s your favorite accent?

scottish? she finds limmy’s show hilarious.

cadmium red; do you have a “type” when it comes to a significant other?

for summer boyfriends: hot surfer boys, tall and athletic, that have a big smile and laugh, laidback yet adventurous, sunkissed with messy sea-salted hair. in other words, mako ain’t it. for a significant other: she hasn’t thought about it. a serious romantic relationship is not in her interest for now.

scarlet; describe your current crush/es.

no crushes. or at least, she hasn’t realised she has one yet. hehe.

ruby; what does your ideal first date look like?

eva doesn’t actually go on proper dates. she can’t be bothered with awkward conversations and formalities. she might grab an icecream with a guy, surf and play sports, or go to a bonfire beach party together.

carmine; what does your ideal second date look like?

hook up with him, i guess.

madder lake red; would you ever kiss someone (or accept a kiss) on a first date?

if it isn’t clear by now, eva gives absolutely zero fucks about traditions or ‘rules’ around dating. her relationships are in friend-with-benefits territory, and she goes straight for what she wants.

rose; what’s something really positive going on in your life right now?

the family puppy, senor papperino. her siblings send her a million pictures of him as he grows up. a bittersweet joy.

quinacridone rose; what’s something you’re really looking forward to?

her cousin amaya is getting married to amir next year, a spring wedding in the sonoran desert. eva’s helping her with the planning and dress design, which lilith is to create.

violet rose; what does your dream house look like?

a simple beach house, warm with natural light, that sits gently in nature. small, because her time spent inside is minimal. she really isn’t impressed with flashy luxuries.

violet; is there any place in particular you’d like to settle down?

a place right by the beach. she loves malibu and would want to stay close to her family.

blue lake; what would you like to do/accomplish before you settle down?

honestly, ‘settling down’ is something she’s barely thought about. she’s going to dance professionally as long as she can, maybe become a teacher like darcy, and explore her other passions, like surfing and environmental conservation. the traditional concept of marrying then having children is one that she feels may happen to her naturally, rather than she HAS to settle down at a specific point in her life. it’s just not on her priority list.

cobalt blue spectral; what is the most beautiful place you have ever been to?

the most beautiful place in the world in eva’s mind is the garden at her family home, which blooms with dandelion clocks in summer, full of fruit trees, and is right by her favourite beach. her happiest childhood memories lie there.

ultramarine; when was the last time you were in a good mood? do you know/remember what sparked it?

at the moment, eva’s always in a good mood, because she’s in a place where she’s working at her greatest passion everyday. she’s friends with mako now, so the only person that could really put her in a bad mood is vicky.

blue; what’s the most recent dream you remember?

she can’t remember any of her dreams.

bright blue; what does your dream family look like? any kids or pets? how many of each?

since eva doesn’t really care about getting married, that hasn’t crossed her mind. she already has a broad, loving, ‘dream’ family, and her siblings are bound to have kids, so she doesn’t feel any pressure. she would be perfectly happy spending time with her nieces/nephews instead. a cute dog is a definite, though, probably another golden retriever.

blue cobalt; do you like your name? would you give yourself a different name if you could?

evangeline’s named after one of the strongest women in her life. she’s proud to have inherited the name, and hopes to live up to it.

prussian azure; what’s your favorite scent?

grapefruit, sea salt.

azure blue; what’s your favorite type of tea, if any?

she’s a coffee person, but in summer, her mom likes to brew iced tea with fruits and herbs from the garden, which eva loves.

turquoise blue; if you could start a garden, what would you plant?

lots of citrus trees. plants that can grow wild and thrive on their own.

cerulean blue; if you were guaranteed to have a viewership, would you start a youtube vlog?

i can picture eva vlogging, but in reality she’s too busy dancing for that shit. she prefers to live her life off screen, grounded in her reality.

glauconite; describe your body without using any negative adjectives.

“jacked as fuck”

yellow green; picture yourself walking in a field. what do you see & hear in this scenario?

a field of tiny wildflowers on the dry coastal hills of malibu. the sun is burning bright, the sea is crashing against the beaches below, the wind is pulling wild at her hair.

green light; are you in a comfortable place in life? if not, what do you think might make it better?

eva’s always striving to be more than just comfortable. her ambition means she’s already achieved an impressive amount in life, and she’s happy with how she’s moving along, but she’s forever shooting for the stars.

green; name three countries you want to visit; do you have any actual plans in place to visit any of them?

she can’t afford to travel at the moment but hawaii, spain, greece.

emerald green; do you speak any languages besides english? are there any additional languages you want to learn?

a tiny bit of spanish, korean, and german from gabriel, but nowhere near fluently. she would like to improve her skills in those languages if she has the time.

oxide of chromium; what’s your favorite book?

eva isn’t bookish. she just can’t sit still long enough. when she was a kid, she did love the magic slipper series, written by one of the prima ballerinas she idolises.

olive green; are you currently reading anything? how do you like it so far?

her calculus textbook. she wants to set it on fire.

mars brown; what’s a movie that always puts a smile on your face/makes you laugh?

she likes cheesy 90s era movies. she’s the man always makes her laugh.

burnt umber; what’s something you plan to do before the day is over to take care of yourself?

an ice bath and self massage for her legs, if pointe work is particularly intense, treat any new blisters or bleeding on her feet. typical ballet things.

umber; have you drank enough water today?

eva is always mindful to drink eight cups of water per day.

voronezhskaya black; what or who is your go-to outlet for when you need to vent?

amaya. she listens coolly, and provides helpful commentary. a few weeks ago, eva vented to her about mako and how much of an ‘arrogant ass’ her partner is. after she finished letting off steam, amaya asked her what the exact reasons for disliking him were, which helped eva realise her own stubbornness, haha.

sepia; name five things that always make you happy.

perfect surf waves, a hug from her parents, adding a new piece of jewellery to her minimal gold collection, warm sunny weather, camping with her siblings.

indigo; what’s the best/sweetest compliment you have ever received?

she’s received a lot of ‘you’re pretty’ type compliments from guys over the years, but what makes her happiest is compliments about her dancing, particularly from professionals.

payne’s gray; describe your aesthetic?

summer beach chick, relaxed shades of sea blue and white froth, minimalist, with a rough edge.

black; post a selfie because you are so beautiful!

nah i’m too lazy to open the game at the moment. anyway, eva doesn’t really take selfies by herself, since she’s not that active on social media.

#wow this took ages #thanks jade #evangelinekingston #genfour #characterask

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mizumelona · 4 years

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hi! may i please get a matchup? 3rd years, any school preferred! i’m a 5'3" bi girl. I’d say I’m curious, open-minded, analytical & talkative (I can talk for hours if not stopped hh). i enjoy learning new things (so long as I’m not being graded on it bc Oh Boy do I procrastinate!) I try my best to be a good friend, & to prioritise compassion & patience. I’d like to think I’m creative (I love to write!) but, i tend to overthink & catastrophise bc ANXIETY. I can also be a bit sensitive (1/2)✨

i’m also prone to feeling down, but I’m working on it! i’m trying my hardest to be optimistic. my sense of humour is pretty “adaptable,” but it errs on the side of absurd (i can be a bit of a goblin sometimes). v affectionate w loved ones! my interests are varied, but if I had to pick a few it’d be anthropology, history and mythology/folklore. other than writing, i enjoy reading (when I can commit to a book). friendship is v important to me, & i have a lot of love to give. thank you sm! (2/2)✨

Hi! Thanks for being patient! Yo Anthro is super cool. Also I did a double take when I read the goblin thing because there’s a running joke among my friends that I’m secretly a gremlin. We must be on the same wavelength.

So I think you’d be really cute with…

…Suga!!!

Affection to the max. Gives you as much love (if not more) than you give.

You’re that cheesy couple that makes everyone around you cringe, but you two don’t really care.

He lets you rest on his lap while you read a book

He low key loves pinching your cheeks

Calls you to put you to sleep, but you end up talking for hours until you accidentally fall asleep with the call still running.

That one couple that takes 10 million years to say good bye. Ya’ll are perpetually late because of it.

He’s the king of cheering you up.

Always there to wrap you into a hug and talk to you when you’re feeling anxious.

Omg imagine taking him out on dates as a form of procrastination. For example, that one time you took him to the movies to avoid working on a paper. In the middle of the movie:

Him: *whispers* Wait! Isn’t your paper due tomorrow??!

You: *stuffs a handful of popcorn in his mouth*

He was low key skeptical of your intentions when asking him on dates for like a month after that happened

Him: *pouting* Are you sure you’re not just dating me as an excuse to procrastinate on your homework?

You: *tip toes to give him a kiss* Is that what you think?

Him: *blushing* …

You: 🥺🥺🥺

Him: …no *pulls you back*

💕💕💕

#haikyuu matchups #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu headcanons #haikyuu x reader #sugawara

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inthestars011 · 4 years

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Thought on sag rising w/ Leo sun, moon, merc all in 8H, mars in Libra (10H) & cancer Venus (8H)? Thank yew 🤍😊

omg I love ur placements I-🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

you’re probably so fun to be aroundddd

anyways lol

sag rising- love them. I have two best friends that are sag risings and they’re just so fun. Some are shy at first but either way have a very warm, fun and commanding presence whether quiet or not. Super honest, not shy of inserting their opinion honestly and probably stubborn when it comes to their opinion. but very optimistic and adventurous, they really liven up a party with their stories or with their humour. every sag rising has something about them that just burns bright. Again some are quiet and some are not but you all have a confident air about you which is super attractive to people. You may be overly optimistic or naive so I’d watch out for that but also your optimism is what people love about you so don’t shrink and cover That to fit in.

Leo sun in 8th- with the sag rising.... definitely a firey individual! Passionate to the say the least. Though you have a sunny disposition, you do want others to be curious about you therefore you have an air of mystery surrounding you with the 8th house, you never fully reveal what’s underneath. In fact with so many planets in your 8th house you’re probably quite scorpionic no matter how firey you are as well, meaning you are very intense and mysterious and you are likely fascinated by death and the taboo. this comes out in a firey passionate way with all your Leo placements but though burning the flame is still rather hidden and dark. You probably are a person that’s quite interested in the mysteries of life and death. You feel you have lived as many different people perhaps dying and being reborn almost every morning. Also many people with this placement have theatric deaths or are well known after they have already passed. You’re naturally like a glinting flame in the darkness, you are seductive and warm, intense and powerful. You are much more private than a normal Leo sun, yes you are exuberant and dramatic but you keep much of your intensness underneath your veil.

Leo moon /8th house- Leo moon is again, expressing and feeling your emotions in a very dramatic way. You yearn for others to have deep feelings as well and probably find yourself in intense connections which is confirmed as your Venus is also in the 8th. May be insecure when it comes to sexual intimacy ? Though maybe the Leo counteracts that with its confidence. Always wants something more and something deeper, which can be the result of a lot of endings in relationships and a lot of emotional chaos. Fascinated by the forbidden and by secrets. Intense feelings but can fade just as fast as easy as they come. Any feelings are dramatized with your moon in Leo so be careful because people may be put off by you when you get in extremely jealous and possesive moods. Your emotions may be destructive both to yourself and others and you don’t really keep them to yourself regarding your Leo moon. This placement can be one of many emotional vampires but you have the free will and choice to not be that person and I hope you choose to use your emotional understanding for good. Where your moon is placed is generally where you’re most comfortable to which is interesting because you are most comfortable exploring the uncomfortable the dark and taboo topics. This placement reminds me of the lyric from one of evanescence’s songs “here in the darkness I know myself, can’t break free, until I let it go”

Leo mercury in 8th house- again you speak communicate and learn in a Leo way. You’re probably a great story teller, you probably are very creative, everything you say is probably in a rather dramatic tone. Your voice may be loud but even if it is not it commands attention and you’re a natural performer. Also probably seen as really funny to most people. Your mind and communication is not ever half hearted or shallow. You are very analytical and think extremely deeply. Probably really good at spotting liars or fake people. Be careful!! If harshley aspected your words and thoughts have immense power and can actually manifest too easily. Also be careful about being too revengeful and just trust in karma. Though you speak openly and with vigor; one may not be aware you keep many secrets. You only will fall for someone you can have deep conversations with you don’t fuck with chit chat. May engage in distrust or detective like behaviour and you can be too paranoid about simplistic things and drive yourself crazy. You are fascinated about the psychology behind what people do and spiritual shit too. You probably love dark humour and are probably very sarcastic, but still in a way that is appreciated by masses as that Leo mercury makes u popular.

Cancer Venus in the 8th- cancer Venus is super caring you are probably the type to mother your partner. But often you may want to be mothered as well as they also loved to feel cared for. They just want a romance that feels comfortable and you are the type to even want to start a family with the person you love. It takes time for you to be vulnerable but you do feel love very deeply and are beautifully soft. May be moody and jealous in love and I doubt you’d ever make the first move when it comes to an actual commitment and not just casual flirting lol. You are shy though very willing to fall in love but will not take abandonment lightly. Sex is not just sex. It’s so meaningful to you, not only because your Venus is in cancer and that almost always means you’re the commitment type but your Venus is in The 8th house which is a house of meaning and transcendence and deep spiritual bonds. Sex is something god like. You want a love that is deep, a love that allows you both to become one and Blend into one another. Cancer and 8th house Venus are both jealous so it’s likely you can slip into very jealous and possesive behaviours when it comes to love. Beware of that. You may even be obsessive when it comes to love or the person you love if aspected that way. You have a natural charm because you are mysterious. People always want to know more about you, you pull them in. May like to depict death and strong emotions or fears into your art if you do art. You are probably very attracted to those who’ve had a dark past, have some kind of perceived “brokenness” to them or are forbidden to love. With cancer in Venus yes you want a comfortable love, but to you, comfort is extreme emotional intensity and that may not be others definition of comfort.

Libra mars- may put up with people being mean to you and are overly polite and fair even when you really shouldn’t be. Often can be fake and cunning when people have driven you to a breaking point because you’d never straight up communicate your anger. Sexually, wants someone who is kind to you and is fair to you. Also extremely indecisive under pressure which may annoy others. but you’re very charming nonetheless and friendly. All this is channeled towards your career. So you are rather friendly and charming in career, getting what you want in sometimes a manipulative way. You are very balanced and know how to balance your work with your life. And your general reputation is that you’re kinda indecisive and perhaps a little airheady (though ur smarter than u appear) and you’re charming gorgeous and friendly

Libra mars in 10th-

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k-llama-llama · 6 years

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PD Reacts...to Tori

eStray Kids AU: 10th member

Tori x Stray Kids

Producer Reacts to Stray Kids videos...or just the Tori bits ;) UPDATED WITH I AM YOU

A/N: This is totally inspired by my favourite KPOP reaction channel. I’ve linked it HERE and you all need to check it out if you don’t know what I’m talking about. Their reactions are informed, and not over exaggerated. And the Stray Kids series shows an analytical approach to their growth as a group.

Requests are OPEN : Submit them! I need them!

MASTERLIST

Hellevator

“Wait...was that a girl? I thought this was a boy group.”

“Yeah...that’s definitely a girl. Is she featuring or is she in the group?”

“Oh...well whoever she is, she can sing.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought this was a survival show. A boy group survival show, right? I didn’t realize there was a girl in the group. Do I need to watch it now?

“She looks like she might be one of the younger members, but she’s good. I kind of want to watch the show now, just to figure out what the heck is going on with this group.

Grr (Beware)

“This song is already super violent. Wait...where’s Tori? I learned her name and she’s not here?”

“Oh, there she is. Man, she is so good at not standing out.”

“I really like her voice...right here. There’s a bit of a grittiness to it, whereas I feel like she was much softer in Hellevator.”

“I haven’t watched the show, but it seems obvious that she’s improved a lot. It’s still an interesting choice, because I feel like once you notice that there’s a girl in the group, that’s all you can notice. But, I mean, she’s pulling it off.”

Young Wings

“Why does this feel like the song where they’re starting to find their own style? Is that Tori? She looks great! and not in a creepy way, she just looks amazing.”

“In the same way that I don’t love how much the blond guy stands out, Tori’s voice is unique and distinctive, but it still fits with the flow of the group. I do feel like she has some more room to grow, but someone told me that she was originally brought onto the show as a dancer, so her vocals aren’t supposed to be the focus.”

“Is it weird that I wish this song had more Tori in it? It felt like some of the guys just weren’t feeling it as much as she was.”

District 9

“I feel like Tori is always the backup dancer during the other guys’ parts. If they only have two people behind them, she’s going to be one of them.”

“Can we talk about that chorus though? They all jumped in perfect harmony. And I don’t know a lot about dance, but I know that girl groups usually avoid jumps like that. But I couldn’t find any problem with Tori’s execution of that.”

“I love the duality of Tori and this guy...I think his name is Changbin. He’s got a very gritty style of rap, and she’s countering it beautifully with some smoother vocals.”

“I don’t think I have any complaints. That was a solid debut, and every member did what they were supposed to do. Tori, especially, pulled off a concept that is typically very masculine.”

Grow Up

“Tori has this ability to make her voice flow with anyone’s. I mentioned in District 9 how well she paired with the rappers, but I really love how it flows with Chan’s here.”

“There’s something very satisfying about the fact that Tori is able to stand out the way that an artist should stand out in a group, but she doesn't stick out like an outlier. That was my main concern with this group, and they’ve done a great job of showing how seamlessly she fits into Stray Kids.”

“Tori doesn’t have a lot of lines here, but she still has a presence throughout the song. Her voice is the backing vocal for a huge chunk of this, and I love it. Besides that, I feel like she must have a great presence in the choreography. I’d be interested in seeing a live performance of this.”

Mirror

“Something I find really interesting about this song is that all of the boys, particularly Chan and Woojin, go for a high note, whereas Tori stays very one note. Normally that wouldn’t work, but in this song it almost seems refreshing.”

“I really love the choreo here (Tori’s part). It makes it seem like she’s controlling all of them. It slows down from a very forceful hip hop style to an almost...contemporary style. The contrast is really beautiful.”

My Pace

“Did Tori just rap? Is Tori actually rapping oh my god!”

“I love how for the first chorus they’ve paired Han and Chan, and for the second chorus they pair Woojin and Tori. Woojin and Tori both come across as more classically powerful vocalists, and the difference helps the chorus not seem repetitive.”

“Is that Tori? Is she getting on a motorcycle? Side note, the lighting here is gorgeous but Tori looks amazing!”

“I know I mostly talk about music and video, but I loved the wardrobe here. Particularly with Tori. With their first album, it was almost like they were afraid to show that she was a girl, but now they have her in feminine clothes that still fit the SKZ vibe. It really shows growth.”

Voices

“Oh my gosh the choreo during Tori’s part is beautiful. Did she choreograph this? Because this is some of the best Stray Kids choreography I’ve seen. It doesn’t lose any power despite slowing down significantly.”

“Was that the first time we’ve ever hear Tori go for a high note? I mean, she killed it, but I’m not used to them reaching with her range like that.”

“I know I’ve said this before, but whenever they have Tori and Changbin together, the contrast in their styles is so magnetic. Both in their presence, and the actual sound of their voices.”

“I think I’m a fan.”

M.I.A.

“Oh I really like this.”

“Where’s Tori?”

“Tori had two lines through that entire song.”

“I feel like, while this is a great song, it’s a mistake doing a performance video when one of your most recognizable members isn’t really participating. And, I liked how it wasn’t a dance performance video, but that just make sit more obvious that Tori isn’t getting lines.”

“Usually they’re good with line distribution, why doesn’t she have any lines?”

“I know that Han is my favourite, but I feel very unsettled with how little of Tori there was in this video.”

“She looks great. They all do. But she’s just kind of...sitting there. How did the director not find a more creative and subtle way to do this?”

I am YOU

“They have Woojin and Tori in the first chorus! That’s insane. And I love this shot with Tori’s face reflected on top of this other guy’s face, I’m not sure of his name.”

“This choreo during Jisung’s part is so robotic and I love it. Notice how they have Tori standing right up at the front...she’s a dancer right? Because she’s killing this.”

“Oh I like this little build up to the chorus that she’s getting too. Her vocals are very smooth. I feel like I say that every time but they really used that well in this song.”

“Holy crap and she’s taking the second chorus too? This is so many more lines than she usually gets, but it really fits the song. She isn’t straining for any notes, she’s just kind of dancing over them, which sounds really amazing, actually.”

“Oh this circular shot is beautiful - is that Tori? Remind me to talk about that later.”

“Okay I need to say this before I forget. Normally I don’t comment on the styling of their wardrobe, and overall I think Stray Kids has a pretty neutral wardrobe, but I love what they’ve done with Tori here during this circular shot.”

“Like, I said something similar in an earlier video, but they do a good job of matching the concept, while still having her look feminine. And this shot is amazing for her. She looks so good, and a lot more confident I’d say.”

“Which I guess makes sense. Clearly they’ve seen that she’s grown if they’re giving her this many lines.”

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sordidfood · 5 years

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SortedFood Psychoanalysis

I am by no means a psychiatrist or a psychoanalyst or an student of either, however this thought tripped into my head a few weeks back and I can’t seem to shake it.

After watching so many SortedFood videos, I wanted to delve into the personalities of the Sorted guys, particularly where they are most confident in themselves, where they are most insecure, and what the other guys do to help with that insecurity (because that’s what friends do)

Ben

Ben’s Confidence- His analytical nature. Ben has an intense love of learning and was a star pupil in school. He is incredibly left-brained and uses that to his full advantage, dissecting any topic he has interest in until he has a complete (or semi-complete) understanding of it. Ben could have been a mathematical engineer or a rocket scientist or a medical researcher and would have been at the top of his field. But Ben instead chose a path he had a lot of passion in, culinary arts, and put all that investigative curiosity into discovering all he could about not just cooking, but the science behind it, what advancements could be made in the future of food and how to make better food through understanding it, inside and out.

Ben’s Insecurity- He’s not cool, or at least he doesn’t think that he’s cool. Ben is great at so many of the things he tries, but being on trend with fashion or memes or slang terms is just not one of those. Hell, even his own innuendo seems to fly right past him. He doesn’t have a knack for it, and for a guy who has a knack for SO MUCH, it’s probably disheartening. Obviously, Ben is called a “Super Geek” a lot and in the videos he leans into that title, using it as an avenue to really show off his in-depth knowledge of the topic. However, I suspect that that “lean-in” is his way of pretending that he doesn’t care when he really does.

How do the guys help him- Despite all the stitching up over him being a Super Geek, the boys continually show their admiration for Ben and his knowledge, remarking that something he made or did was really cool or interesting. They make Ben feel like the coolest guy in their circle of friends all the time.

Mike

Mike’s confidence- Mike’s confidence lies in his loyalty. There was a comment made in a couple videos and in one of the podcasts that Mike may be perpetually late to things, but he will ALWAYS show up. Mike wants to be there for his friends and will do so in whatever way possible. He’s generous with his time and his words of affection. Mike is happy to make a fool of himself for the sake of other’s happiness or comfort. As long as he’s brightened someone’s day, Mike is up for anything.

Mike’s insecurity- Oh, where to begin? Mike has a lot of insecurities and the amount of self-deprecation in the videos makes this plainly evident. No one has to drag Mike down, because he’s already pulled himself down and pointed out every flaw in his personality, his mind, his body, etc. whether real or imagined. Mike is the type of guy to see his own quirks and tics in other people and hates them. Rather than taking it out on those around him, though, he internalizes it and tries to make it a joke at his own expense.

How do the guys help him- Mike seems like the kind of guy who doesn’t take compliments well, but he does react well to teasing. Mike knows that if someone can take the mick out if him and make him laugh (and he can do so in return), they care about him. It’s never wholly serious insults, just lighthearted roasting that shows that someone is paying attention to him, knows him, and likes him for who he is, flaws and all.

Jamie

Jamie’s confidence- Jamie is a pretty confident guy in general. He plays it up in a false-macho way for laughs, but deep down he’s just generally comfortable in himself in a really low-key way. Jamie has BDE and fight me if you disagree. I think if I were to zero in on one aspect of his confidence, though, it’s his ability and willingness to learn. While Jamie may not have the technical mind like Ben, he’s a smart guy and when he doesn’t know something, he’s humble enough to really try and learn. Look at how he’s grown as a cook over the last decade. To see the “Gut Health” challenge video and watch the way he really held his own against a professional chef like James is truly heartwarming.

Jamie’s insecurity- He wants to be taken seriously. Jamie has expressed in the podcasts how he has trouble with balancing the idea of being a marketing professional while also having to explain to sponsors and advertisers that he wasn’t able to respond to that email because he was dancing around like Sia. In spite of his happy-go-lucky persona in the videos, Jamie does take his role in Sorted seriously and wants what’s best for the organization and its persona and he fears that people won’t take Sorted (and by extension, him) seriously if they find videos of him dressed as a cheese grater or Minnie Mouse. These are all internal fears, of course; sponsors and advertisers want Sorted because of who they are.

How do the guys help him- They put faith in him. Jamie is a one-man show when it comes to negotiating with the sponsors and advertisers that they work with and that is not an easy thing to do. He’s spoken about having to come up with partnerships that don’t come off as cheesy and can lend credibility to Sorted as well as the sponsor (The “Visit US” series is an excellent example of well-blended partnership that is still authentic while executing its goal). Jamie has an incredibly stressful, time-sensitive role in Sorted and the fact that he handles it so well speaks a lot for his ability and the other guys’ trust in him.

Barry

Barry’s confidence- Barry is always on trend and he takes pride in that. I’m not just talking about fashion sense either (although he is definitely the most fashionable of all the guys), but also about his sense of where trends are heading. Barry understands food trends, trends within media and music, and the best ways to shape Sorted so that it doesn’t get left behind. There was a comment made in one of the podcasts that Barry has this innate ability to not only come up with ideas but also make other people as excited about them as he is. There’s a reason Sorted has lasted for so long, and a lot of it is Barry’s knowledge of media zeitgeist.

Barry’s insecurity- Barry fears being boring. His biggest concern is that someone will see him and think he’s boring, uninteresting, or basic. There are a lot of jokes made about Barry “don’t put me in a box” Taylor, but it’s because in Barry’s mind, being categorized means doing what people expect of you and doing what’s expected is just boring. This is also the reason why in every battle, Barry bends the rules. He sees what the others are doing and zigs rather than zags. Barry never wants people to guess his next move because that would mean he’s predictable and predictable equals boring.

How do the guys help him- While they do make jokes about Barry going for these weird ingredients or recipes in battles, no one stifles Barry. They let him color outside the lines, they listen to his ideas and they don’t shut him down. Barry is allowed to live outside his box and let his creativity flow.

James

James’ confidence- James’ confidence lies in his method. He knows his shit and he KNOWS that he knows his shit. James was taught early on that every action in the kitchen matters and that’s why the method matters. There’s a blog post where James talks about his distaste for shortcuts in the kitchen, how the time and effort that goes into a dish that is supposed to take a lot of time creates a better end product all around. James loves the explicit nature of recipe writing and that why he appreciates Sorted so much. James is very deliberate in all he does and he doesn’t take it for granted.

James’ insecurity- While James has been with Sorted since the beginning, he doesn’t have the personal history like the other guys. This makes him feel like an outsider at times. It’s part of the reason why, after being the development chef on the initial cookbook, James volunteered to take on the role of Social Media Manager; he just wanted to stay a part of Sorted. James has said that Sorted is his dream job and and he clearly has a deep love for it. Part of him feels that, if not for the serendipity of being in the same course as Ben, he might never have had that chance at all.

How do the guys help him- They include him and make him feel as much a part of the group as if they had met him at 11-years-old, as well. James’ role has grown exponentially over the years from occasionally showing up on camera to being a featured member of the group along with the others. Mike has said that he’s James’ biggest fan. Barry admitted that the best meal he ever ate was prepared by James. They make James feel integral to everything SortedFood is because, really, he is.

As I said, I have no real expertise on this field, this is just from observations. I wrote it mostly just to get my thoughts down. Agree? Disagree? let me know.

#sortedfood #Sorted meta #discourse #sorted fandom #This is really just written for fun please don't think of it as a true scientific thing

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love-at-first-klance · 6 years

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Some Hogwarts Shit

Voltron Modern Hogwarts au! Featuring the Power of Friendship, lots of Quidditch, the squad teasing the crap outta each other and being super supportive, some adventure shit, mutual pining, and lots of emotions.

A Collab With @thesirenserenity, with amazing art (click here!) by @kimchee2222

More Hogwarts shit coming soon!

Some notable headcannons:

Lance - Gryffindor because of his passionate, playful, and idealistic personality, how courageous he is when it comes to protecting people, and how he throws himself into anything he does.

Comes from an ancient line of wizards that died out. Family lived as muggles in Cuba for forever and are a bunch of squibbs currently. When he was 11 his mom took him on a trip to visit her Bisabuela at her manor in England. While cleaning up in one of the rooms, he came across a dangerous magical heirloom that reacted with his dormant magic. An awkward conversation with Bisabuela, who had been the last witch in the line, he finds out he’s a wizard. He gets his letter for Hogwarts the next day and his mom flys back to Cuba without him. Lance is thrown into a whole new world!

Lance starts the rivalry with Keith because Keith- being awkward and uncomfortable around strangers- snapped at him on the platform of the train. On top of that Keith is a natural at magic and flying and Shiro’s little brother so Lance feels like he has a lot to prove.

Lance working his ass off to catch up with all his amazingly talented friends who have known about magic all their lives, but not realizing how fast he has learned everything and how gifted he is.

Constantly has to explain Muggle things and expressions to Keith, Shiro, and Allura, who don’t spend much time in the Muggle world. Bonds with the Holt siblings and Hunk who, whilst being purebloods, have always had a fascination with technology and Muggle culture. Cue Matt and Lance watching anime together and the whole group making their own memes.

Has an adorable cat named Blue!

Best classes: Divination and Potions!

A Chaser on the Quidditch team.

Keith - Gryffindor because of his complete recklessness, stubborn and blunt nature, and unshakeable courage.

Adopted by the Shiroganes at age 8, and loves his new family! Wants to find his mother, who was a witch and supposedly died during childbirth. His muggle father didn’t believe that and continued to search for her. He ran himself ragged and into an early grave, leaving poor halfblood Keith abandoned in a muggle orphanage while experiencing his first bursts of unstable magic.

Roommates with Lance! They are the only Gryffindor boys in their year, and thus have a room alone together... The whole squad is surprised they haven’t torn each other to shreds because of their rivalry.

Keith actually feels bad about snapping at Lance when they first met but he couldn’t find a good chance (or the right words) to apologize and then Lance started their ‘rivalry’ and Keith ends up thinking Lance doesn’t like him.

Lance: “Of course we’re friends you dimwit! I’m definitely your friend.”

Keith: *internally dying because that’s the first time someone besides Pidge has explicitly said they were friends* Oh… Cool.

The best Seeker Hogwarts has ever seen!!

Best Classes: Defense Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration

Has an adorably shy cat named Red (Lance: “You copied my naming idea!!” Keith: “I named her before we met, idiot. How could I copy you?”) who likes to ride around on Keith’s shoulder. Red takes a while to loosen up to her cat-roommate Blue, but then they are the best of friends!

Hunk - Hufflepuff! The Puff-est of Puffs! Extremely hard-working, genuine, and loyal to his friends! Open-minded, fair, and accepting.

Grew up in a Pureblood family who is super down to earth and loves muggle shit. They live in the same Wizarding neighborhood as the Holts and Shiroganes and He was best friends with Pidge even before Hogwarts!

Took poor lost Lance under his wing on the train day one and the rest was history!

Will absolutely destroy you if you hurt any of his friends.

Disapproves of Lance’s “adventures” to the kitchen, but loves the house elves and they let him bake at all hours of the night.

Not in Quidditch, but loves to watch and root for his friends and a specific Hufflepuff Keeper ;)

(Shay. It’s Shay. and spoilers, they are the cutest couple ever!!!)

Hunk knows that two certain Gryffindors in their friend group are hopelessly in love with each other before they know themselves. This does not surprise him. (It does frustrate him)

Pidge - Slytherin!!! Ambitious af, driven, self-reliant (“NO HUNK I CAN REACH THE BOOK MYSELF”), ruthless, adaptable, and uses their intelligence to achieve their goals.

Family of purebloods who lives in the same neighborhood as Hunk and Shiroganes. BFFs with Hunk for their mutual obsession with muggle shit, and BFFs with Keith because Shiro brought him along whenever he hung out with Matt so they became friends out of a common interest of pulling pranks on their brothers.

A year younger than the Lance-Hunk-Keith crew, but dove right into their friend group (literally. They have a tendency to jump on top of people).

Rides around on everyone’s back, especially Keith (“Awww, Keith. Don’t be jealous, you know you’re my favorite noble steed.” “I am not a noble steed, fuck you.” “Oh, you’re right, you would be the assassin’s steed!”)

Comes out as Non-Binary their fourth year. The whole squad is super supportive, but some of the traditionalists in Slytherin get a little rude about it until a certain someone steps in (hmmmm… wonder who that could be ;)

PIDGE HAS AN OWL NAMED ROVER FIGHT ME

“What’s up Gryffindorks.”

Gets Hunk a mug that says “I don’t give a Hufflefuck” and Hunk is so torn because of the swear, but loves that his BFF got him a mug.

Shiro - Seriously was a hat stall, but wanted to be in Ravenclaw with his BFF Matt (and the super pretty, intimidating daughter of the Headmaster). He fits pretty well because of his introspective nature and wise, analytical, and steady mind.

From a Pureblood family that adopted Keith.

Best friends with Matt since FOREVER

An amazing wizard and hard worker in all his classes. Many say that he is one of the best wizards on campus.

Him, Matt, and Allura are all a year older than Hunk, Lance, and Keith.

Fantastic Quidditch player, because he and Matt have been playing together since they got their first brooms at the young age of six. Both are Chasers, a terrifying team, and part of the reason why the Ravenclaw team has been dominating at Quidditch recently.

Is everyone’s big brother and chides them to take care of themselves. And yells at Pidge for their language.

Has a frog named Slav who is ALWAYS croaking and annoys the shit outta him. Most common threat “I will turn you into a tea cozy” any time the frog croaks at an inopportune time (which is very often)

Allura - Ravenclaw AF for her no nonsense diplomatic mind and creative soul. She is so smart and aces all her classes, but gets distracted from her homework because she is so naturally curious and inquisitive. She is independent, talented beyond her years, and loves to learn.

Alfor is the Headmaster of Hogwarts, and so she knows ALL the secrets of the castle!

Sometimes spends a few weeks of the summer with her Uncle Coran, who is the Charms Professor and head of the Ravenclaw House, but has an apartment in Diagon Alley.

A Beater and the other reason why the Ravenclaw team has been dominating at Quidditch. She becomes the Quidditch captain in her fifth year, but was really running the team since she joined her third year.

Still has all the mice ALL THE MICE (“No, they are not rats”)

Matt - Ravenclaw for his brilliant mind and indefatigable wit. He often plays devil’s advocate in discussions because he is a cynic. Quotes shakespeare and memes simultaneously.

Roomates and bffs with Shiro!

Ships Shiro and Allura so hard, and wins a very specific bet as to how they will finally get together (FINALLY).

110% Started the “Space Dad” nickname for Shiro with the help of Lance.

Is Pidge’s biggest supporter and will destroy anyone who hurts them, which is very out of character from his normally chill demeanor (“In this house we love and respect Pidge.”)

Coran- Charms professor and head of Ravenclaw house. Everyone’s favorite teacher but no one can really say why. (“He just… I dunno… He’s fun?”)

Will invite you to his office for cookies and tea and you will like it

You will also tell him everything that’s bothering you and he will give you the one bit of advice you needed to hear and then you will leave feeling a lot better

You will then realize he didn’t ask you a single question about why you were upset you just kind of… blabbed at him.

Sure he’s the charms professor but he knows tons of things about tons of subjects. You could ask him about any type of magic and and could tell you about it. (Or at least tell you where to look to learn more)

Very interested in Muggle things but very bad at understanding them.

Took charge of Lance during his first year at Hogwarts and now it’s not uncommon for Lance to just spend his downtime hanging out in Coran’s office talking.

“I don’t have a favorite student. That would be very unprofessional.”

He does

It’s Lance

Much to Allura’s frustration (“Allura, you can’t be my favorite, that would be nepotism.”)

Lotor

Has been punched in the face

It was Keith

Keith: “10/10 would punch in the face again.”

Lance: “Do not!”

#voltron hogwarts au #hogwarts au #vld fanfic #klance #klance fanfic #Some Hogwarts Shit #Lance #keith #hunk #Pidge #Shiro #Allura #vld matt #Coran #thesirenserenity #kimchee2222 #my collab #Aus #vld some hogwarts shit

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andreacaskey · 3 years

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Breaking down President Biden’s data-driven social media strategy

Just days before the 2020 Presidential election, we reported that Joe Biden was outperforming Donald Trump on social media by certain key metrics. Despite the penetrating volume of Trump’s Twitter feed, Biden was earning more interactions per tweet, and far more interactions per user.

Not only was Biden winning on Twitter, but his campaign was making an impact on YouTube and even on Twitch. And, of course, he won the election. But this wasn’t a social media campaign based on flair and instinct: it was tightly driven by social analytics. No-one can better explain how that worked in practice than Sarah Galvez, Director of Social Media and Audience Development at Biden for President.

Sarah J. Galvez

“I started out like many millennials as a consumer of the internet and social media,” Galvez told us. “I think I started my Twitter account in a computer lab while I was in high school. I became obsessed with YouTube in particular, and in college started creating content for YouTube for the admissions and communications office — directing, writing and producing — and learned a lot about how to use social media for a specific purpose and goal, which was helping people to understand what it was like to attend an all-women’s college in Massachusetts.”

Dropping everything for Hillary Clinton

Moving to Los Angeles, she started working at Maker Studio, a Disney subsidiary, focused on working with YouTube creators. She helped creators understand back-end analytics, and optimize content based on those analytics. “When Hillary Clinton decided to run for President, I dropped everything to go and work as a field organizer in Iowa or Ohio.” Then she decided to cold-call the campaign, and managed to convince them that it was imperative to have someone focused on audience growth, particularly in the video space.

Read about how engagement trumps headlines.

She was invited to join what turned out to be the first ever audience development team on a political campaign. Since then, she’s cycled back and forth between politics and the private sector, where her clients have included Bloomberg Philanthropies, Planned Parenthood, Hardpin Media, and Harmony Labs. “I’ve also worked at a couple of super-pacs, including the largest Democratic super-pac in the country, Priorities USA Action.”

Re-vamping Biden’s social strategy

She joined the Biden campaign to help it pivot from the primaries to the general election. “I came in, re-vamped the team and the strategy, pulled in a bunch of people from outside of politics — places like Paramount Pictures and ABC, to make a strong team of strategists who were doing organic social content every day.”

It was important, Galvez said, to bring in people who were fresh to the campaign to supplement political operatives who had been through the 2016 cycle, and then the long grind of Trump’s first term. “It allowed us to bring in new ideas, and innovative and creative thinking.” She also broke down responsibilities for social platforms into component parts: for example, treating Instagram stories separately from Instagram.

“The woman we brought in to help us with our video and live strategy was a huge fan of Twitch,” said Galvez, “and started thinking about new and interesting ways to do it — new ways which didn’t always include putting a candidate on there who is a 77-year-old man who wouldn’t authentically be on Twitch.”

Gen Z and millenials, she said, can sniff out inauthentic content very quickly. What’s more, in some cases the platform algorithms are set to surface content which is raw and unpolished.

Biden meets Twitch

“As a result, we had to be conscious that everyone knew who Joe Biden was, and that he probably wouldn’t be scrolling through Twitch on an everyday basis. But you know what Joe Biden really loves? He has always been a huge proponent of Amtrak and infrastructure. There’s a whole community who just watch train streams — cameras on the back of a train, aesthetic and low key.”

Biden was set to undertake a train tour between Ohio and Pennsylvania . The team put a camera on the back of his train, with a soundtrack of lo-fi hip hop music, and streamed it on Twitch: authentic Joe Biden, optimized for the platform. “It’s about mixing the two worlds in a way that makes sense, rather than just trying to force something on the audience.”

In addition, a partnerships team, headed by Christian Tom of Group Nine Media, focused on digital influencers, while a completely separate surrogates team worked with high-level celebrity influences and elected officials.

Driven by the data

We asked Galvez what success metrics she was using to optimize these various initiatives. “The KPI depended on what the actual piece of content was. If it’s a fund-raising tweet, we’re going to optimize to getting donations through the door. But on an everyday basis, we were very focused on shareable content in particular; we knew that if people were sharing it, we were getting that megaphone and amplification, whether it be a re-tweet or a share on Instagram. A campaign is a very hectic environment, and there’s not a lot of time to stop and do a full analytics pull.” For quick daily snapshots of performance, Galvez leaned heavily on Measure Studio.

Galvez had known Measure’s co-founder and COO Thomas Kramer since her days at Maker Studio. “I knew he had a platform which could help us out.” The team was under constant pressure to report on how specific pieces of content were performing, and Galvez didn’t have time to spend an hour or two assembling data.

We asked Kramer about the evolution of Measure Studio. “I started in digital ten years ago, managing paid media campaigns on YouTube, and from there went to Maker Studio where I focused on organic growth for some of the top YouTubers, and then later for those Disney brands which were struggling on YouTube while they were succeeding on other platforms.”

Knowing a content strategy is working

This led to an interest in the challenges growth strategists like Galvez have in working with data. Disparate data across multiple platforms is burdensome to track, and Kramer came across digital publishers, brand marketers, and performance-based marketers like Galvez, who were looking for data solutions that existing social media management platforms were not providing.

“There are a lot of solutions out there for really two things,” said Kramer. “One is social media management in general — your Sprouts and Hootsuites, hyper-focused on how to make publishing and workflow around publishing easy — and the second is social listening tools like Tubular Labs.” These are great tools, said Kramer, but are limited in the information they provide on social content performance.

“A lot of people are focused on whether they did better or worse than a competitor, but a healthier way to look at the growth game, in my opinion, is how do I do a little better than I did last time.” That’s the philosophical underpinning for Measure Studio, said Kramer.

One thing Measure Studio doesn’t do is attempt to combine the metrics from different platforms to provide, for instance, overall engagement scores. “That’s just smoke and mirrors,” said Kramer. “Each of these platforms is unique in the way people consume. The content is unique. The affinities between different content types — like hip hop music on the back of a train — is unique. We focused on bench-marking performance uniquely per format and per platform.” It’s more important to know how to make a successful Instagram story than know how a piece of content performed in aggregate, across platforms.

A large part of Biden’s win

To manage scheduling of content, Galvez’s team used a project management tool, Monday.com. “Particularly towards the end of the campaign, we had days when we were publishing once or twice every hour around the clock,” Galvez said.

“One of the final things I’ll say,” she continued, “is that in 2016 there were a lot of conversations about the tools used on both sides to win it or lose it. For us, what it came down to was not talking about big, fancy tools, but really good content strategists given the exact tools needed to understand what was performing well and what wasn’t.” This time around, the winning combination was: “Good tech, good smart people, a really sound message, and message discipline. This propelled us to great growth and engagement online during the election season, and was a large part of the reason Joe Biden won the Presidency.”

This story first appeared on MarTech Today.

The post Breaking down President Biden’s data-driven social media strategy appeared first on Search Engine Land.

Breaking down President Biden’s data-driven social media strategy published first on https://likesandfollowersclub.weebly.com/

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baliemarabica · 4 years

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Dropshipping success stories From Zero to $1M in 8 Months | Awesome Dropshipping Success Stories

During my years of doing dropshipping I’ve met countless people who wanted to make money online and build a lifestyle business where they can travel the world and work from their laptop. Of all of those people, I can count only a handful who really made it a reality. These people are self starters who actively search for other sources of income or who have turned selling on eBay into their main revenue source. But what about becoming a millionaire from ecommerce or making $30,000 a month? I know it sounds far fetched but in this post I will introduce you to three exceptional individuals who are the embodiment of dropshipping success stories.

Top Dropshipper #1: Irwin Dominguez

From zero to $1M+ in less than 12 months

Meet Irwin Dominguez from San Diego who within 8 months made $1,000,000 in profit as a dropshipper.

What drove Irwin to e-commerce entrepreneurship as a dropshipper ?

Dominguez happen to have a very good friend who was bringing in large amounts of cash on a monthly basis as a dropshipper. Irwin had no clue how to start dropshipping but he figured he would give it a try since he felt he had more to gain than to lose. He started by doing three simple things:

He learned about e-commerce using Google

He opened a Shopify account

He started using Oberlo which is a platform which helps you import dropshipped products into your ecommerce store and ship them directly to your customer

What was Irwin doing before dropshipping and how did he make his first sale ?

Before becoming a dropshipping success story, Dominguez was a local marketing consultant helping small businesses increase online traffic. The skills he acquired through this job no doubt helped him succeed in his new online venture.

He made his first sale using Facebook ads which he says ate into most of his profit but was well worth the investment in order to jumpstart his business. He swears by advertising on Facebook and says he owes most of his success to this form of marketing though he stresses that business owners must learn over time how to balance the cost of Facebook ads with profit margins.

Let’s talk numbers – what is Dominguez’s revenue per day

On his best day of e-commerce, Irwin pulled in a cool $30,000 and on average pulls in $10,000 a day though he says he is trying to increase these numbers. He talks about finding a niche product but that at some point you have tapped most of your target market so you need to find new products in the same niche (learn how we found the perfect niche) or move on to a different niche entirely.

What recommendations can you give to aspiring dropshippers ?

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Pro tip # 1: Before dealing in large quantities, validate your product idea by making a few sales before jumping in head first.

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Pro tip # 2: Be prepared when the floodgates open! Once you find a product that is super popular, make sure you have a mechanism in place to deal with the demand.

Top Dropshipper # 2: Kate

$32,000+ monthly revenue from her dropshipping business

Kate is not making millions like some other dropshippers but I decided to write about her since I think her business story and strategy contain great actionable insights for dropshippers across the board.

Who is kate and what is her background ?

Kate works for Aliexpress’s e-commerce department creating and testing promotion strategy for dropshipping stores. But kate knew nothing about dropshiping just three years ago when she started working for Aliexpress – before that she worked as a journalist and as a saleswoman at an offline gift store.

From “Account Suspension” to “eBay awards”, we’re sharing everything from our journey to $100k in monthly sales.

We’re learning a lot and so will you.

And don’t worry, we hate spam too! You can unsubscribe at anytime.

What type of ecommerce store did Kate create ?

Kate decided to create a dropshipping store using anime (roughly: Japanese comics) theme based on research she did which told her that there was a lot of interest in this niche. Her logic says that many dropshippers can make money by pooling different items from a variety of dropshippers based on a common theme and thus create a dedicated shopping base.

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Pro tip: Kate stresses that her idea was perfectly legal as anime creators do not aim to profit from merchandise as opposed to Disney for example who absolutely does aim to profit from paraphernalia – make sure your themed drop shipping store is not legally infringing on anyone’s copyrights.

What is your strategy for finding successful products to dropship ?

Offer a large variety – Kate says that even when she got to 100 products in her store’s inventory it wasn’t enough to quench fan’s thirst.

New products – You constantly need to add new products, kate says. Don’t just look at ‘Best Sellers’ on Aliexpress or eBay, also look at the ‘new arrivals’ and you will often find your next top selling products.

Duplicate and modify – Constantly check which products are selling best and which are not. Try and get rid of the items which are unpopular and import more items similar to the successful ones in order to generate more sales.

How do you learn about your target audience?

Google Analytics – Kate uses google analytics to find out crucial information about her customer base such as age, gender and country. Since she now knows that most of her customers are young men from developing countries she tries to keep prices low in order to move more merchandise.

Targeted Facebook advertising campaigns – Kate says Facebook is also an integral platform both for advertising and data collection. Facebook and google complete and complement each other.

Tell us some more about how you promote your dropshipping store on the internet ?

Instagram – The store’s Instagram account currently has 1,851,910 impressions, 81,000, 8,272 posts and has an ever growing fan base.

Kate used a variety of simple methods to achieve these astounding results including:

Writing an appealing bio

Analyzing the most popular hashtags

Experimenting with different post formats

Using Instagram Ads

2. Facebook – On Facebook the store is also very popular with 34,000+ followers – the main tactic is providing high quality content and attracting buyers and visitors vis-a-vis Facebook ads.

Content Marketing –

This includes writing original content or rewriting original content which is related to the product and publishing this on the store blog and on Facebook. This is a great way to engage people and get them interested in your product in an indirect way.

Google Shopping –

This is a semi – automated option and generates 300 sales on average per month. When someone searches for something related to the product, in this case anime, a picture of some products and prices appear in the google search.

How successful is your dropshipping business ?

The numbers talk for themselves – as of October 2017 Kate’s dropshipping business had 922 orders and $32,000:

Note the conversion rate which is 1.31%, this is a standard conversion rate for eCommerce sales so there’s a lot of opportunity to improve here, as you’ve probably read already, we increased our eBay conversion rate by 220% by optimizing our eBay listings.

Top Dropshipper # 3: Aloysius Chay and Galvin Bay

$60,000 a day within a year of starting their dropshipping store

How did these guys get started in dropshipping and what were they doing before ?

Before becoming successful dropshipping entrepreneurs, these guys were professional poker players in the Vegas like city of Macau. Like so many others, they had heard of friends who were making big bucks and wanted in on the action.

What challenges did these guys face ?

Towards the beginning they really struggled to find the correct product and the correct market. They failed at the beginning, trying to sell 20-30 different items. “Creativity and perseverance are key to success”, they both say.

They started selling Jewellery in June 2016 but did not end up even breaking even but they did learn many things such as the need to target specific audiences by country.

Chay and Galvin don’t really have a niche – they sell products that seem to be in demand or try selling products that are new on the market (you may remember the post we wrote about what to sell on eBay, these guys are implementing some of the best practices)

How did they promote and develop their business ?

These guys swear by Facebook ads and say that this was hands down the best marketing tool at their disposal. They say that it is super user friendly and any information or skills they lacked were easily enough found in online tutorials.

The pair also recommends networking and sitting down with friends and family who are involved in e-commerce in order to exchange and improve ideas (you’re welcome to read some of our eBay selling advice and how to boost eBay sales to get ideas for your eBay business).

What do you love about running a successful dropshipping company ?

Chay and Galvin love the most obvious and envious things – the income and the freedom. Now that they are totally independent they have a large source of income and they get to decide when they work and when they don’t. For most people in the workforce this sounds nothing short of a magical dream.

What is your highest sales record and what advice do you have for new entrepreneurs ?

Their record is 5 figures in one day and they hope to make it to six figures.

As far as advice for new entrepreneurs – always add new products (learn more about finding the best things to sell on eBay)! This will keep your business fresh and customers coming back. They say that the risks of adding new products pay off in the long run.

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My pro tip: This is a valuable advice for any online seller, it’s very important to understand that as a business owner you must be on your toes all the time, ready to make bug changes in order to grow your business. I always say that a business who’s not growing is essentially slowly dying and finding new products is a lifeline to business growth.

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”, Thomas Edison once famously said. All in all there are many dropshipping success stories but also people who have failed. Failure lays the foundations for success and we can learn from both experiences. I hope this post gave you some insights into how to better start or run your dropshipping business – I would love to hear your stories and experiences with dropshipping below.

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#Melanesia #Wantok #e-Commerce #South Pacific

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mrdanielblack · 5 years

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The agent and the Robot

The panel discussion at Inman Connect that featured Sarah Bell was about how AI is changing real estate for consumers. It centered on whether robots will replace real estate agents. Sarah has the view that the real estate agent will remain central and very important in the transaction. She explains today as she talks to Sherrie Storor.

Topic – Will agents become redundant?

Mentor – Sarah Bell

Transcript:

Sherrie: This time in the show we’re talking to Sarah Bell, and Sarah Bell is the co-founder and the chief operating officer, and CMO of Air. She’s most well known for a beautiful product called RITA, so Sarah thank you so much for joining us today.

Sarah: Thanks for having me.

Sherrie: You have just been on the stage at Inman and been invited to speak, which is a massive, massive coup. So congratulations.

Sarah: Thank you.

Sherrie: But tell us a little bit about what you shared on stage today? There were some massive takeaways that I know the audience loved.

Sarah: So the panel was about how AI is changing real estate for consumers. It kind of begged this debate about whether robots will replace real estate agents, especially when we’re talking about the customer interface. I kind of have the view that the real estate agent will remain central and very important in the transaction. I think one of the points that we talked about yesterday was this thinking that a job has to be done by either a robot or a human. It’s kind of flawed thinking about this technology, because as human beings we already work in teams. We work in teams with creative people, with people who are great at financial intelligence, or business intelligence. Machine intelligence I think will become just an essential member of the team. It’s not always a question of whether or not it’s a robot or an agent, I think that a much better question is how can we connect human beings to computers so that collectively they can be more intelligent together.

Sherrie: Yeah, well I must admit I heard something yesterday saying that personalization is AI plus human, which I thought was really cool, which is I know exactly what you’re all about. I think on that point most people really know you as RITA’s mum, right? But you actually had a background before you became RITA’s mum. So tell us a little bit about your journey and what your background is?

Sarah: Yeah, so I had a strange kind of trajectory in and out of real estate. My first job at uni was doing quantitative statistics and research for my professors at uni. So some of the stuff that RITA does I actually used to do with a pencil and a bit of very, very basic software. But the worlds moved on and so did I. After uni I was recruited into the Commonwealth Ombudsman as I worked as an investigator for a while. Then I met this tall bloke who happened to be in real estate, and pretty quickly after we met we made a decision to purchase his family real estate agency, and I spent the next sort of decade in the business. Made a point of learning every job, and went on to study business and really kind of take apart real estate and use those analytical skills to find ways to put it back together in a machine that would work better.

Sherrie: Well I think this is really important actually, because the fact that you actually have been so heavily involved in real estate is what actually really gives you the power behind it, and why I think RITA is so special. Tell us a little bit about RITA and what she’s really all about. Her personality, and what makes her think and tick?

Sarah: Yeah sure, well RITA, it’s an acronym, and I’ll clear that up right now. RITA stands for real estate intelligent transaction assistant.

Sherrie: RITA’s way more fun.

Sarah: RITA’s faster. She’s not designed to replace the agent, she’s not designed to kind of be disruptive, she’s designed to be supportive technology. I think that we’re at a place in real estate where agents really demand that of technology. So what RITA does is the identity problem that we’ve found is that real estate agents have all of this data that they don’t know what to do with. You take data that’s sitting in the CRM and it’s kind of all of this latent opportunity, the CRM is really a warehouse of opportunity.

Sherrie: Well it’s all collection and no engagement.

Sarah: That’s right, and you know a lot of the analysis that we’ve done, a lot of the research that we’ve done shows that agents just aren’t making that human to human engagement. So what RITA’s really famous for is taking all of that latent opportunity and then mashing it against some other data, so data from the marketplace and giving those contacts and those relationships some context, and some purpose. Then suggesting to agents who would be the best people to contact each and every day in order to convert data into opportunity.

Sherrie: So does it work? Like you must have some great case studies.

Sarah: Yeah we do, and we’ve been really grateful and lucky that clients that came onboard early have allowed us to really partner with them and refine what we’re doing. Part of RITA being born and growing up has been her learning, and we do that through feedback. So RITA’s essentially getting smarter and better all the time, but some of the algorithm or some of the math has outputs that put conversion from data to appraisal, anywhere from 20 to 35%.

Sherrie: Yeah, well I think what’s really interesting is that most agents have been hearing about AI for a little while now, and to I think most of the industry it’s super scary, because it’s just like this amazing thing which is gonna kind of take over and they don’t really know how to implement it. So can you kind of just run us through like I guess how RITA comes in as AI and how it essentially helps the business, how it’s kind of different to a lot of other bots?

Sarah: Yeah sure, well there’s kind of two ways of looking at AI. So you can look at it like a tool, and I think when you have things like chat bots that you use, or you react with, or you ask questions of and they return answers it feels like software that you use. Then there’s also this other camp, which RITA kind of sits in, where she’s not so much a tool but a colleague. So unlike a chat bot where your kind of gonna dial in and ask for answers, RITA’s more of a proactive suggestion engine. So we’ve created her and engineered her to feel like the dream assistant.

Sherrie: The dream assistant.

Sarah: The dream assistant, and it’s funny-

Sherrie: There is such a thing?

Sarah: There is such a thing, it comes in technology form because you don’t have to manage her, there’s no burden to actually having that staff. There’s no emotional overhead, there’s no … Certainly the cost overhead is much lower, and she’s infinitely scalable. If you get really busy you don’t need two RITA’s, she can just expand and amplify what she does. But in terms of how you work with RITA, you don’t have to train her. Out of the box she analyses the CRM and understands, she reads every single note in the CRM, so understands the context of every single relationship in your business-

Sherrie: That’s pretty sexy notion really isn’t it?

Sarah: Right, so straight out of the box you’re gonna have this fully cognized and fully trained employee that you don’t really have to spend any time getting up to speed. Then the next thing that’s really cool about that, the way I explain this to people is, remember back in the day, and I don’t want to give away my age too much, but back in the day-

Sherrie: You’re super young babe.

Sarah: … when the CRM was a list of cards in a Rolodex. That system in its simplicity kind of worked because you just pulled out the first 20 cards, made 20 phone calls, put them at the back. As that cycled through you’d sort of talk to everyone, but then what happened with software is that we took that visibility away, and we had to then manually search, and create call lists, and do that data search-

Sherrie: We had more.

Sarah: Yeah, and we had much more, so we did that data search and planning ourselves. But I try and explain RITA in her most simple way is this magical assistant that comes in every night, reads every single card in the Rolodex, looks through everything that’s happened in your marketplace and picks the best people for you to call. Then leaves them for you to call in exactly the best order. So she might suggest 20 opportunities for you to connect with, and if you’ve only got four, if you call the first four they’re going to be the best four. If you’ve only got time to call four. So the whole things prioritised-

Sherrie: So that’s great, yeah.

Sarah: … and optimised, and understanding that agents have this resourcing challenge where they need to meet fluctuating demand in the marketplace. It’s very difficult for a human being when you’re the supply, when you’re the product. So she’s really capable of adapting and understanding how agents work, and she’s supportive, she’s not demanding. She doesn’t kind of punish agents for being human.

Sherrie: I guess that’s where the heart to heart connection sort of comes in, the fact that you still pick up the phone but you’re actually just really making sure that you’ve got this super hyper kind of time efficient, kind of what would you say? Ability to be able to contact the best leads.

Sarah: Absolutely, and I think it’s also about identifying a purpose for a phone call. So if you take like a traditional trail, if you like through the CMA, there’s no natural anthropological conversation that happens on day 18. Right? And again on day 24, that’s awkward to call someone and say, well its day 18 and my computer says I should call you-

Sherrie: Call you, yeah it’s very artificial.

Sarah: Yeah, so RITA’s also as well as suggesting who you should call with, she’s suggesting reasons that you might connect with them. So an example of that is she might notice that 15 Smith Streets come on the market, and if as an agent you know the property owners of number 8 and number 12. She’s gonna suggest that you get in contact with your property owners to let them know about the new event that’s happening in their street, it’s a brand messaging about being a market expert. It’s a very current position for a real estate agent to take. The context of the conversation that you have with property owners should change, and should be hyper relevant based on what’s happening in their direct location. So she’s really trying to support the agent to be that local expert without them having to constantly monitor, and constantly do all that mental labour to be in that position and defend it.

Sherrie: Yeah, well I absolutely love that you explained that, ’cause I think for a lot of people its kind of, we all know that AI is absolutely spectacular, and it’s all gonna change our lives, but we don’t know how. So thank you so much for going through that. Look we don’t have a lot of time but I just wanted to run through some quick rapid fire questions. So tell me Sarah, structure or chaos?

Sarah: You got to have both. If you’ve got too much structure things are rigid and you can’t innovate. But if you have too much chaos no one knows what’s happening and there’s no normal.

Sherrie: Your favourite time wasting app?

Sarah: I would say Facebook, but I would debate whether or not that’s time facing.

Sherrie: pple or Windows?

Sarah: Apple.

Sherrie: Apple, love it. Tech gadget that totally changed your world?

Sarah: The iPhone, we’re heading in a direction where the smart phones gonna have more computing power than the human race, it’s not gonna change.

Sherrie: What was the tech gadget that did it?

Sarah: i Watch.

Sherrie: i Watch, yeah okay it’s very cool. .

Sherrie: Well look Sarah thank you so much for joining us today, congratulations, we loved listening to you on stage, it was really wonderful to see an Aussie. To you, we really appreciate you being part of our show today.

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pauldeckerus · 5 years

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7 Things Pablo Picasso Can Teach Us About Photography

As I am always looking to improve my photography by learning, part of the process is seeking inspiration from others who create. I don’t, however, confine myself to just learning from other photographers. I cast my net for ideas wide, and look to artists, writers, musicians — whoever it is that will inspire me with new ways of seeing and fresh ideas.

I’ve been spending a lot of time in Spain lately, close to Pablo Picasso’s birthplace. After visiting museums to see his work, and reading more about his creations, I found myself pondering over some of the ideas he talked about in relation to creating art.

Some of his ideas are fantastically inspiring and I’d like to share them with you today – and show you how they can help develop your photography.

Let’s get started because, as Picasso said: “Inspiration does exist, but it must find you working.”

#1. “The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web.” –Pablo Picasso

Wherever you are, you are absorbing the energy and emotions from everything around you. If you are in the right mental state, of being open and receptive, it can help generate wonderful ideas.

Being peaceful and quiet — really looking at things, not necessarily in a super-focused way, but just allowing your attention to drift — is very helpful for your creativity.

In fact, I encourage everyone to do as much of this type of ‘open awareness’ as it generates ideas for your creativity.

I read on the SIYLI website about open awareness in relation to meditation (which I think also applies to photography). Open Awareness “is your ability to maintain your presence of mind while allowing different stimuli to pass through your awareness – and it’s incredibly useful…When you cultivate open awareness, you open the doors to tremendous insight.”

This helps pull us away from our usual barrage of thoughts (and things to do) and allows us to connect to the world around us, and draw ideas from it.

I also like this from Picasso: “A piece of space-dust falls on your head once every day… With every breath, we inhale a bit of the story of our universe, our planet’s past and future, the smells and stories of the world around us, even the seeds of life.”

So go find the stories!

#2. “If only we could pull out our brain and use only our eyes.” –Pablo Picasso

The mind is a busy place. It always seems to have a lot to sort out, think about and organize. But the busy mind is the worst state to be in when you are taking photos.

Learning to see is about learning to ignore that busy, analytical mind and become present, learning to observe the world around you. It’s getting in touch with the present moment.

I would also add: use your heart, your guts, to guide you. This is where our instinct lives. It’s where we get our ideas about photography without consciously knowing.

Intuition is that knowingness, in a way where you are led by ideas and interests, and not by your logical, analytical mind.

It also connects with what Picasso said: “My hand tells me what I’m thinking.”

Your eyes, your instinct, can lead you in your photography. (Your busy mind will mostly lead you astray.)

#3. “If I paint a wild horse, you might not see the horse… but surely you will see the wildness!” –Pablo Picasso

We often think, especially as photographers, that we are photographing what we see. Of course, we must ‘see’. I talk about it endlessly because the ability to see and notice things in your environment is the number one thing most people are missing in their photography.

But we are also photographing something that has generated a feeling in us. Something that has probed and provoked our interest.

We see, we feel, and then we create. And what you end up creating can be anything! It can look like anything, feel like anything — the photograph, your art, is yours to make your very own.

#4. “To know what you’re going to draw, you have to begin drawing.” –Pablo Picasso

This is the same for any creative medium. If you don’t know where to start, don’t worry. Just begin, and that’s often when ideas start to flow.

If I am busy with work and family life, it can sometimes take me a while to really get into the creative flow when I am out shooting.

Instead of waiting, though, for inspiration, as Picasso said at the beginning of this article, I just get going, and wait for the ideas to find me when I am in the perfect place to do something about them with my camera in hand!

#5. “The more technique you have the less you have to worry about it. The more technique there is the less there is.” –Pablo Picasso

This quote sums up so much for me about why learning technique makes things easier when we are out creating.

When you know your kit, you aren’t interrupted when you are in the creative flow. Instead of battling with your camera, you can get totally absorbed in that beautiful location, that interesting subject, or that absorbing light and create some incredible images.

You become so at ease with your tools that your creativity just takes over.

Even if you don’t feel like you’re particularly technical or confident with technique, I have seen hundreds of people in my workshops learn that with practice and focus, you can grasp anything.

Besides…

#6. “I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” –Pablo Picasso

At the moment I like to think of not knowing how to do something as something to celebrate. It’s an opportunity to exercise my (always aging) mind; it’s an opportunity to learn and see something in a different way.

Keep yourself young and your mind agile by learning new things.

Plus, Picasso said: “He can who thinks he can, and he can’t who thinks he can’t. This is an inexorable, indisputable law.”

I totally, totally agree. I didn’t think I could be a world-traveling photographer, teaching photography online and selling my work internationally. That seemed impossible to me ten years ago. But now, here I am.

If I can do what I thought impossible, then so can you.

#7. “In art intentions are not sufficient and, as we say in Spanish, love must be proved by deeds and not by reasons. What one does is what counts and not what one had the intention of doing.” –Pablo Picasso

There is never a better time to do something than now. Picasso said so, so get started, OK?

Enjoy this exploration into Picasso’s ideas, and I hope that it’s a little nudge to do something cool with your photography in the week ahead.

About the author: Anthony Epes is a photographer whose work has been featured internationally; including on BBC, French Photo Magazine, Atlas Obscura and CNN. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. Epes is also a teacher – writing in-depth free articles on his website. Receive his free ebook on the two essential skills that will instantly improve your photos, and sign up to his weekly newsletter providing inspiration, ideas and pro-photo techniques. This article was also published on Cities at Dawn.

from Photography News https://petapixel.com/2018/12/28/7-things-pablo-picasso-can-teach-us-about-photography/

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shenzhenblog · 6 years

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The coming era of AI-enhanced superhumans

By Thomas Frey

Senior Futurist

The DaVinci Institute (https://www.davinciinstitute.com/)

How many times have you wished a smarter person was leaning over your shoulder whispering the right answer in your ear?

As I think about some of my own situations, a better response would have meant the difference between success and failure, whether it’s landing a job, going on a date, pitching an investment, or simply convincing a child its time to go to bed.

With the emergence of interactive voice technology, and its growing reservoir of analytical skills, one of the hottest technologies in the future will be a self-learning AI bot or agent that serves as our daily coach and advisor on life’s journey. If you can imagine a portable version of Alexa or Siri with an IQ of 200 and the conversational skills of your favorite talk show host, you’re getting a glimpse of what lies ahead.

We’re on the edge of a radical transformation where, very soon, we won’t be able to tell where the human ends and technology begins. This intermeshing of mind, body, and technology will become so seamless and invisible that we essentially “become one with the tech.”

On the surface, this sounds like George Orwell’s worst nightmare, a totally frightening proposition where our first instinct is fear, fear of the machines taking over. In the back of our minds, we have a deep fear of losing control or having something hijacking our minds and assuming control. After all, isn’t this what Hollywood has been warning us about?

Yes, there’s always a potential for things to go wrong, but adding intelligent agents to our life could have an enormously positive impact.

Smart agent scenarios

As I was thinking through the possibilities, I would like to step you through a series of scenarios, showing how this type of technology will amp up our capabilities so most of us can complete the work of 3-4 people during a typical day.

For AI to become truly useful, we need to have complete trust that it has our best interest at heart. We can accept its advice or ignore it, but the choice will be ours.

The day begins with my personal AI agent, named Finley, guiding me through every task during my daily journey.

Every morning begins with that first waking moment in the bedroom. Unless there is something urgent on my schedule, Finley will wait to wake me up when he knows I’ve had enough sleep.

Through a system of constantly probing the subconscious, Finley will adjust sleep patterns and learn to calm my mind to optimize rest. Since Finley is in constant learning mode, every adjustment used to silence the inner head drama will be quickly assessed and tweaked and re-tweaked until each night becomes a deep immersion into a perfect state of rest.

Naturally, resting my mind is only part of the answer and Finley will also have the ability to change variables in every room to compensate for new sources of anxiety and stress by altering air chemistry, adding oxygen when needed, controlling light-levels and even the spectrum of light, adjusting background music, and creating rocking motions and surface vibrations as needed.

Finley’s goal each day is to have me functioning at peak efficiency, and his approach will change, as each new day requires an entirely new operational strategy. For those new to adding their own AI agent to their life, it won’t take long for agents like Finley to get to know me better than I know myself.

Throughout the day, my conversations with Finley become a central part of who I am and how I manage each task in order of importance.

Even simple routines, like taking a shower, will have Finley adjusting the water to the perfect temperature, fine-tuning the spray to stimulate sore muscles, dispensing optimal amounts of soap, shampoo, and conditioners, and even making recommendations about those products when I’m shopping.

When it comes to getting dressed, Finley will help me select the color and style of clothing that will best mesh with the people I’m scheduled to meet and the kind of activities I have in store. Every day Finley will reassess my wardrobe, shoes, and fashion accessories. Purchasing new items will be as simple as looking through a list of Finley’s recommendations and making the selection.

Planning breakfast, as with every meal, will be as simple or as complicated as I wish to make it. Finley knows which ingredients I have on hand, knows how my body will react to each of them, and will suggest meals that can optimize my daily performance. If I prefer to dine out, he will suggest restaurants, possible delivery options, and which friends and acquaintances may be close by to join me as a way of turning it into a social experience.

Finley, the ultimate work buddy

Commuting to work will be as simple as saying, “Finley, can you find me a ride to work?” Whether it’s an Uber, driverless car, or a brother-in-law who’s not working, he will know which option will work best.

To be sure, Finley will come with a number of interface options beyond its standard voice commands. Users will be able to select from a wide range of input-output devices like watches, touch bands, and keyboards on the input side, and a variety of displays, visual overlays, skin-tinglers, and sensory alert mechanisms as output choices.

Finley will come in an assortment of shapes and forms, and most people will want to humanize his presence. Options will include switching from male to female, adding a personality package with a voice and face on a screen, or perhaps an animated head with an expression module, templated smells, sounds, or little “oh-oh” tones when he knows you’re doing something risky. But over time each agent will gravitate towards the persona of your perfect non-human partner.

As ways to enhance the standard “voice in my head,” he can shift forms and move into a standalone robot offering a more physical presence, a talking portrait on a wall, or even take the form of animatronic shoes that I wear to impress my friends. As I step onto an elevator, enter a car, or walk into a boardroom, he will automatically work with each of the available devices, pushing information to nearby displays, asking me to slip on a VR/AR headset, or mentioning nearby controllers to add to the experience.

Every work-related situation will enable me to leverage Finley differently:

In a retail setting, Finley will help facilitate payments, do inventory crosschecks, and recommend other products to boost sales.

For maintenance positions, he will know which tools I’ll need, pull up diagrams of how pieces fit together, do point-to-point measurements, and recommend which approach will be the fastest and most effective.

In an HR position, he will remind me about topics to cover with each candidate, warn me if I’m saying or doing something inappropriate, and prompt me to discuss new policies, practices, and procedures.

If I’m a computer programmer, Finley will remind me of formatting issues, propose the best possible algorithm for each situation, select readily available routines from online libraries, and even test each segment of code before I move on.

In so many ways, Finley is my sounding board, my ally, my protector, my strategy partner, and my confidant. At the same time, he’s not intended to replace my need to be around other people. Rather, part of Finley’s core programming will be to improve my social life, knowing the right time and place for every interaction, and solving a variety of concerns before they ever become a real issue.

Even people with mental health issues will have the ability to improve, as this type of AI agent will calm their emotions and help them make decisions. Once they are able to master their own daily routine, they will have the ability to develop additional skills and, in many cases, even find meaningful work.

Since with humans, every action comes with a certain amount of risk, Finley will have a way of knowing my goals for the day and steering me through the daily minefield, letting me know instantly when I’m teetering on the edge of something catastrophic.

Over time, Finley will become an expert on me, knowing when something is off, or if I’m not feeling well. As AI agents improve, they will have the ability to diagnose diseases, understand the limitations of every injury, and guide us through wellness routines that will keep us physically fit and mentally alert. In the case of illness, he will recommend treatment options, medicines, therapies, or whatever may be appropriate.As my protector, Finley is constantly evaluating every person, object, vehicle, and animal entering my space. In this capacity, he is assessing danger, knowing if something got added to my drink, studying patterns, calculating proximities, and searching for anything that can possibly go wrong.

Will AI make me lazy?

If you’re worried about an AI agent doing all the work and making us lazy, you’re not alone. It would appear that much of our daily struggle is removed and, at least on the surface, life appears too easy.

However, my sense is that these types of enhancements will set the stage for an entirely new level of engagement. We will learn to reevaluate our capabilities through the lens of an entirely new caliber individual, and our expectations will grow with every accomplishment.

Writing papers, filling out forms, creating illustrations, handling correspondence, and verbal communication will all be handled in a fraction of the time it took before. With all of the drudgery out of the way, our mind will be fed up to focus on higher order tasks such as situational analysis, devising new strategies, finding new approaches, and adding creative elements to every deliverable.

Rather than becoming lazy, a more likely outcome will be the unleashing of my true inner self, the super-me waiting to reveal itself. In just a matter of weeks, we will likely accomplish 3-4 times as much as we did before.

Final thoughts

Naturally, the scenarios I’ve described can only work if there are very well-defined privacy and security barriers in place. We will only want to work with an agent like Finley if we trust it completely.

If we can’t trust him with our credit cards, bank accounts, and health records, his overall value will only be a fraction of what he was designed for.

That said, Finley will come with his own self-diagnostic systems, managing a variety of firewalls, constantly checking for hacker crumbs, and knowing when something feels wrong.

Recent movies coming out of Hollywood have painted a very dim future for humanity, as this type of machine intelligence takes over a greater part of our future. Most often they either portray the villains as evil hackers or the technology itself.

But the reality is that we are still a long way from true artificial intelligence. Instead, we have entered into more of an augmented intelligence era. There’s a huge difference between augmenting a human and superseding them.

In my mind, we still have a wide range of opportunities to explore before we reach the danger zone, and indeed when we get close enough to peer over the edge we may very well decide the danger isn’t nearly as unmanageable as we imagined it to be.

Note:

The article is originally published on innovation news by Thomas Frey

About the Author: Thomas Frey

Thomas Frey is a senior futurist and founder of The DaVinci Institute, a nonprofit think tank in Westminster. He is a well-known speaker on a variety of unique and thought-provoking topics and editor of The Futurist Magazine and blogger for FuturistSpeaker.com.

The coming era of AI-enhanced superhumans was originally published on Shenzhen Blog

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filipeteimuraz · 6 years

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How to Create an About Us Page That Generates Leads

You need to put lots of thought and effort into every page of your website. But your About Us page is arguably the most important.

Why?

Anyone who is reading your About Us page is interested in learning more about your company. If you write this page properly, it can be used as an effective lead generation tool.

Put yourself in the mindset of a website visitor who is reading this page.

They’ve already stumbled upon your website, so they have a general idea of who you are and what you do. However, they may not be ready to become a customer yet.

This is the perfect opportunity for you to convince them. I see many About Us pages on a daily basis that are boring and don’t provide any value to a website.

It’s as though some companies write their About Us pages as fast as possible because they think it’s just a requirement to be fulfilled.

You put much effort into scaling lead generation through blogging, which you have to update on a regular basis. But your About Us page will be much easier since you don’t have to update it as frequently.

If you do it right the first time, your About Us page will help you get more conversions.

I’ll explain everything you need to know to create an About Us page that generates leads and drives more sales. Here’s what you need to do.

Start with a strong headline

Don’t waste space and be repetitive. The website visitor has already clicked on the About Us section of your homepage, so you don’t need to use that as a headline as well.

Instead, use a headline that enhances your perceived value.

Check out this About Us page from SAXX:

I love this headline because it speaks to the potential customer. SAXX is a men’s underwear brand. So the headline of their About Us page reflects consumers’ wishes.

Active style. Extraordinary comfort.

This headline is intriguing to say the least. It’s also enticing enough to make the reader continue on the page. If you have a boring headline, people may not even read your content.

The same idea is behind writing a blog introduction that makes the rest of your post irresistible.

I also shares this example because SAXX uses multiple headlines on the page. As you read on, you see the second title, “How our story began.”

This makes it clear to the reader what this section is going to discuss: the founding of the company.

You will learn about it through a story rather than cold facts, which brings us to our next point.

Tell a captivating story

As I was saying, you should try to incorporate storytelling into your About Us page.

Stories keep people interested, ensuring they will read through the page.

If your content is stale, nobody will want to read it. You’ll miss out on tons of potential leads.

Not sure how to tell a story? Just be honest, and talk about how your company got started. You don’t need to go over financial details or anything like that unless it’s very entertaining.

For example, if you found a way to turn a $20 bill into a business, that could be an interesting read. But nobody wants to hear about your startup loan negotiations at the local bank.

Tell a story that focuses on your company’s mission. What was the inspiration for starting your business? Here’s an awesome example from the TOMS About Us page:

People may or may not be familiar with this organization. Their concept is pretty simple: for every pair of shoes bought on their website, they donate a pair to a child in need.

The inspiration behind TOMS came from the experience their founder, Blake Mycoskie, had when he saw poor children with no shoes. Witnessing that inspired Blake to form this company.

It’s easy to learn how the company became what it is today since it’s told as a story.

It’s heartwarming and touching and stirs a variety of other emotions in a reader.

Potential customers may be moved by this story and inspired to help these children as well by purchasing shoes from the website.

Being this transparent and open about their story on the About Us page helps TOMS generate new leads.

Use terms everyone can understand

Your About Us page should definitely be professional.

Make sure it’s checked for grammatical and spelling errors. Don’t swear or use slang.

While it’s important to make sure your About Us page is clean and proper, you don’t want it to sound like a dissertation written by a doctor.

You want to make this page as readable as possible. If people can’t understand what you’re saying, you won’t generate new leads. This isn’t a legal document, so it shouldn’t sound like a team of lawyers wrote it.

Avoid using industry terminology.

Other business owners in your industry may know what you’re talking about, but they aren’t your customers. You need to put things in common language the average person can understand.

Read this About Us page from Apptopia:

Apptopia is in the mobile application’s industry. They help businesses acquire more customers with mobile app analytics tools.

This is something that nearly every business can benefit from, but not everyone will understand.

That’s where their About Us page shines. They acknowledge this space is a little bit complicated and people aren’t sure what to do with their mobile apps.

They mention all types of potential customers, including:

publishers

advertisers

brands

investors.

Their page explains that people use data to help them make decisions, but they aren’t sure how to get and analyze certain data.

This transparency can help their leads feel comfortable. It’s written in plain language everyone can understand. You don’t need an IT degree to decipher this page.

As a result, they’ll be able to get more leads. If their page was super technical, it wouldn’t have the same impact on potential customers.

It’s important to keep this in mind, especially if you’re in certain industries.

Add images to break up the text

I’m a big advocate of using pictures and other visuals to break up written content. If you’ve been reading my blogs for a while, you know I use pictures to aid my writing.

Apply that same concept to your About Us page.

Big blocks of text are intimidating. People aren’t on your website to spend all day reading. So write in short sentences with paragraphs that are only a few lines long.

Use pictures as well. Images can make your About Us page more appealing. It helps people scan content since the photos act as natural breaks in the page.

Here’s an example of how DeWALT uses images on their About Us page:

I think this idea is very creative. This page establishes a timeline for their company that dates all the way back to 1922.

For each company milestone, they have a quick description and an image to go along with it. This concept makes it really easy for people to scroll through and learn about the history of this business.

As you can see, the images add value to the written content as well.

Rather than just stating something about a particular milestone, they have photos to illustrate it.

It’s also really cool to see how the quality of these images changes over time.

Now, I realize that not every business has nearly 100 years of photos to use for a timeline. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t use images on your page.

If you’re describing an event, product, service, or person, add a picture to enhance the story.

Feature your best employees

All too often I see About Us pages that focus on the founder of the company. While there’s nothing wrong with talking about your personal accomplishments, it doesn’t mean you can’t showcase your employees.

The average Joe can’t always relate to a CEO. But they can connect with other workers. So including information about your employees helps humanize your company.

It shows there are real people representing your brand. Adding the names, positions, and photographs of your staff also helps add credibility to your business.

So if someone wants to reach out to your human resources department, they know exactly whom to ask for when they call.

Here’s an example of this strategy used by BuildFire:

At the bottom of their About Us page, they feature their entire staff. It shows photographs along with the names and positions.

You can even take this approach one step further and add a small biography of each member of your staff.

Make it memorable

Don’t be boring. If your About Us page doesn’t leave a lasting impression in the minds of the website visitors, it won’t help you generate leads.

Not everyone who visits this page is ready to be a customer at that moment. They need to let that information soak in before they decide to pull out their credit cards and buy something.

So you’ve got to come up with a way to leave a lasting impression. But don’t go too crazy or do anything that doesn’t reflect your company.

Check out this About Us page from Cultivated Wit:

It’s another example of showcasing employees and adding a biography, as I previously suggested.

Look back at the photos in our last example of BuildFire and compare them to the photos from Cultivated Wit. As you can see, there’s a drastic difference.

These aren’t typical or what you’d expect to find on someone’s website. While it’s a little bit out there, it’s done in good fun. Plus, Cultivated Wit is a comedy company, so it fits nicely with their brand.

Photographs like these may not work well for a company that specializes in retirement investments, but it works well in this case.

Depending on your industry and branding strategy, try to have a little bit of fun with your About Us page so it’s memorable.

End with a call to action

So a website visitor got through your entire About Us page. Now what?

You can’t expect them to navigate over to your ecommerce shop and start buying things. While that would be great, you’ll need to give them a sense of direction.

Just because it’s an About Us page doesn’t mean you shouldn’t continue to market your products, services, and brand.

Go ahead, pitch whatever you’re selling. You’ve already got the visitor primed to become a customer if they’ve made it this far. End with a call to action that seals the deal.

After explaining their background and company story, this is how the Cali Life Co. generates leads at the bottom of the About Us page:

They jump right into showcasing their top products. The Cali Life Co. even has a link to promote their Instagram page.

It’s obvious that their general marketing goals are to drive sales and increase their social media presence. So adding these two sections to their About Us page helps them accomplish those goals.

Conclusion

Generating leads can be tough.

But if you’ve got someone visiting your website, you’re already halfway there. Taking the time to write an actionable About Us page can help you scale lead generation.

Use a strong headline to capture their attention. Then tell a story that keeps the reader hooked. Just make sure you’re speaking in terms everyone can understand.

Add images.

Instead of just talking about yourself, provide some information and quick bios about your staff.

Ending with a strong CTA will help ensure your new leads get hooked.

Follow these tips, and your About Us page will start generating more business for your company.

What changes have you made to your About Us page to help you generate more leads?

https://www.quicksprout.com/2018/03/05/how-to-create-an-about-us-page-that-generates-leads/ Read more here - http://review-and-bonuss.blogspot.com/2018/03/how-to-create-about-us-page-that.html

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euro3plast-fr · 7 years

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5 practical tips for marketing a startup

Our goals are the same as they’ve always been: attract customers’ attention, stick in their memories, and provide a great service (or product) they keep coming back to.

That’s never going to change. So what’s the difference? Consumer choice. Gone are the days when we could spray-and-pray radio ads and advertorials in high-circulation outlets. Consumers are absolutely glutted with options. There’s more out there than anyone person could ever experience and it’s just as difficult – if not more so – to stand out in the all-too-familiar “crowded marketplace” as it ever was, fancy tools or not.

1. Turn off your phone and call a meeting

Meetings aren’t anybody’s favourite pastime. But you’re going be glad you arranged this one because you’re going to get your entire team together to figure out the most important step in implementing any marketing plan for a startup: “what do we want to achieve?”

Your business' success depends on every person within it. And, you’ll probably find that not only are you (mostly) on the same page, but their ideas on how to get from A to B can be dramatically different from yours – and maybe even more effective, provided everyone’s realistic about the gains to be expected and how they can be achieved. Fresh perspectives and different ethos can all make major contributions.

Argue it out. Get passionate. Pass the mic around the room, involve everyone, and freestyle yourself a chartbuster. Not only will you get valuable input, you’ll also be able to choose only the best from a broad diversity of ideas you might not have heard otherwise.

2. Budgeting: numbers aren't everything

I’ve grown companies from the ground up, over and over, and the way I do so today is vastly different than it used to be. Over the years I’ve learned that, as marketers and entrepreneurs, we can easily get so obsessed with “numbers”, that we lose track of what suits our audience. Our philosophy. Even our products.

Be hypercritical of every pound you invest in marketing initiatives. Don’t spend a cent you’re not absolutely confident in. Sure, there’s always a chance and every campaign’s a gamble on some level. But make sure you’re being realistic. Is that the right channel for your PPC campaign? Is boosting that Facebook post actually going to yield any sales? Target All The Things.

This is where data comes into play. It’s one thing to get super-creative in promotions (do this), but your marketing team needs to love data from tracking to analysis as much as they love artistry. Data should be one of the key drivers in determining how much to spend on marketing strategies – make sure your team knows how to wield it effectively.

One of the best marketing investments you'll ever make is a person or team who knows what they're doing - how to run a campaign, how to collect data and analyze, and how to optimize current and future initiatives based on what they've learned. Don't be afraid to let them push boundaries or use their imagination.

Keep sight of the whole. Always have a clear vision and remember: a campaign that nets more with a higher CPA isn’t necessarily better than a lower-cost initiative. Because hey – startup cash doesn’t just fall from the sky. Use it wisely.

3. Build a perfect lead/sales-gen platform

Whether it’s a full-blown website, a branded mobile app, or even just a social media presence, always look back to your lead-generation platform when trying to boost visibility and sales. It’s got to tick every box, especially online.

Users expect a certain level of performance and flow from both apps and sites (or any other digital platform), and if they don’t find it with yours, it’s easy for them to look elsewhere. A one-second delay in page loading or users being unable to find the Next Step immediately can have a dramatic effect on conversion rates. And solid copywriting? Cleverly-crafted copy can improve the ROI of any marketing investment you make.

UX, design, and copywriting look simple on the surface – like a painting viewed from afar. But get up close enough to see the brush strokes and you quickly realize things get a lot more complicated pretty quickly.

The bottom line here is, “optimize” is more than a digital buzzword – tiny changes in design and user experience/interface measurably affect sales. “Perfect” might be too strong a word, but it’s what you should be striving for. Always. Even if something doesn’t seem broken, looks for ways to improve it anyway – listen to your customers and keep an eye on your industry because your market, driven by consumers’ expectations, will constantly evolve.

Know your customer

Understanding who you’re actually selling to is one of the cornerstones of marketing. That’s why you hear the word “targeting” (or its variations) so frequently: targeting helps you choose the correct look, tone, and channel to showcase your product effectively.

This part’s more science than art. It’s fairly easy to layout a basic ‘customer profile’. You know who they are, generally speaking. But remember the consumer choice overload we talked about? Somewhere out there, some people are going to find a platform that more closely matches exactly what they’re looking for.

And that’s okay – you can’t please all of the people all of the time. But what you can do is focus on learning everything you can about your best people. Then you can tune all your marketing messaging – content, channels, everything – to match what they want and exceed what they expect.

Know your customer's journey

Now that you know who they are, you can get a pretty good idea of how they find you. Some channels will always outperform others, and certain customer habits are both predictable and predictably emergent.

For example, if you’re running a campaign for a B2C product, the best time to advertise probably isn’t during business hours – your customers are working. They’ll miss it. Vice versa, too: your B2B customers may see your ads because they’re working.

The same is true of the time of year: odds are surfboard sales slump in winter. Holiday decorations and Halloween costumes don’t move much in July. It’s more efficient to allocate your marketing spend to campaigns that take advantage of high-sales times of year.

Those are simple examples, and they come with a slight caveat: no matter what, don’t drop off the map entirely. Maintain a constant presence; just know when to invest and when to pull back.

Over time you’ll start to see patterns in your customers’ device usage – tailor your efforts to the devices they use most frequently for better results. That said, cross-platform marketing (AKA “people based marketing) means you can make sure you’re in front of the customer when they’re ready to buy, which isn’t always right away. Know your customer lifecycle and take advantage of it.

Use data

One word: DATA. Measure everything. Record it all. Track your best and worst-performing initiatives, the actions your prospects and customers take, and how and when they take them. Analyse and refine non-stop.

Data should fuel every marketing decision you make.

Some useful tools to measure performance across platforms:

Google Analytics

Google Alerts

TweetDeck

Hootsuite

Facebook Insights

MaximizerCRM

MailChimp (and other email marketing platforms)

4. Scale down sometimes

Even national-level businesses don’t always advertise on that big a scale. Geo-focused marketing helps them trim the fat off their campaigns for near-immediate ROI improvements.

As companies grow, so too do their marketing budgets. Almost inevitable. But taking a good look at where your revenue’s best generated – the places bringing home the most bacon – means you can focus specifically on those locations for better, more reliable returns.

It’s like this: why put up a set of expensive billboards on the freeway (passive) when you can advertise directly to potential customers who are walking by your restaurant at lunch hour (active)? Wouldn’t you sell more tickets to this weekend’s rock festival if you advertised in train stations and hotels, where inbound tourists are already wondering what to do?

It’s a big, crowded world out there – trying to capture it all is a good way to blow your budget. Instead, focus on those small, hyper-targeted locations and moments to cost-effectively win your customers one at a time.

5. Don't be scared

When something works a little, it’s easy to get comfy. To settle. But why not do something that works a lot? Why be satisfied generating 3 leads a day when, with a few small tweaks or a big step sideways, you could turn that into 30?

The market – your customer – will never stop evolving. What works a little today might not work at all tomorrow. Don’t get too stuck in your ways; you’ll fall behind competitors. Continuously shape yourself to match the market. Stay fun. Stay interesting. And do not be afraid to take risks! For now, those 3 leads will still be there tomorrow… and you just might get 27 more.

Startup marketing in a nutshell

Showcasing your brand consistently and in ways appropriate for the channels you utilize (for example, people don’t want to see advertising in social media – that’s for genuine engagement and conversation) is crucial. To find out what those channels are, and what platforms your customers use to access them, you’re going to need data.

This can all be distilled down to a few simple sentences:

The more data you’re able to collect, the better-targeted your efforts will become. The better-targeted your efforts become, the more efficiently you’ll be able to invest in them. And the more efficiently you allocate your marketing spend, the higher and more reliable ROI you can expect to enjoy.

Thanks to Ian Naylor for sharing their advice and opinions in this post. Ian Naylor is the CEO & Founder of AppInstitute. You can follow him on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn.

from Blog – Smart Insights http://www.smartinsights.com/marketing-planning/marketing-strategy/5-practical-tips-marketing-startup/

#Blog – Smart Insights

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