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koolades-world · 3 months

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fluff alphabet w/ Lucifer

couldn't find one single template people seemed to be using, so I mashed a few up that I liked! will use this template for everyone else too :)

A = Admiration (what do they absolutely adore about you?)

he loves your passion and drive to be the best person you can be for you, and not for anybody else

B = Bonding (what's your favorite mutual bonding activity?)

the two of you love small coffee break together in the middle of the day, as well as the more occasional mutual preening of his wings

C = Cuddling (how do they like to cuddle?)

usually, you cuddle in bed after a long day of work. he likes to spoon, where he is pretty much always the big spoon, but usually he likes to face you so the two of you can talk about your day together

D = Dates (what does their ideal date with you look like?)

fancy dinner date! he loves to see you all dressed up and treat you to the nicest things money can buy. he loves to see the way your entire face lights up at all the delicious food and romantic atmosphere <3

E = Emotions (how do they express emotion around you?)

he's much more open to and around you than with others, since he doesn't feel the need to hide anything or act like he usually does. while it's not freely, he's much more relaxed and hesitates less to tell you things

F = Family (do they want one? If they do, when?)

he's thought about this idea a little, and the idea of being a father is something kind of familiar to him. it's not something he'd want to rush and if everything works out, he wouldn't mind

G = Gifts (how do they feel about gift giving? What are their habits when it comes to this?)

he loves to give you gifts! he often feels guilty that he might not be spending enough time with you, so everything little thing that he thinks you'd like, he gets and always gives it to you himself. they're always wrapped up with the same wrapping paper or concealed with the same tissue paper so you always think of him when you see it

H = Holding Hands (when/how do they like to hold hands?)

he's not too big on holding hands in public, but in the safety of his room, especially when his gloves aren't on, he loves to hold your hand

I = Injury (how would they act if you got hurt?)

he would put on a tough act and almost scold you while patching you up, but he would secretly be very worried and thankful you were alright. if it's something more serious, he would personally check up on your daily and bring you things such as flowers and books to keep you busy while you heal

J = Jokes (do they like to joke around with or prank you? how?)

jokes with him aren't what you think of when you think of jokes. sometimes your stationary items will disappear and if you didn't know him well enough, you wouldn't know he was behind it thanks to the small small on his face

K = Kisses (how do they like to kiss you?)

he's quite the gentleman, so he gives you lots of hand kisses, and kisses on the lips. he doesn't like to rush things and really makes you feel as if the two of you are the only two people in the world

L = Love Confession (how'd they confess to you? how'd you get together?)

he wants to believe he had it planned out, but both of you know that wasn't the case. he had had a little too much demonus to drink at one of diavolo's parties, so you were the one to drag him to one of his spare rooms, which is when it slipped out. the conversation the next morning was awkward but very sweet

M = Memory (favorite memory together?)

his favorite memory by far is the first time you decided to break the ice and bring him his dinner up to his room while he was working. once he'd heard you hadn't eaten either, he had you get your dinner too, and you enjoyed eating in the garden together

your favorite memory was the first time you saw him smile. after that, you made it your goal to make him smile as often as possible, which led to many more wonderful memories together

N = Nightmare (what is their worst fear?)

something happening to you and his brothers because of a mistake he made, or because he couldn't work hard enough to keep you all safe. be by his side and let him know that you appreciate all he does and that you'll always be by his side

O = Obvious (how obvious do they make it that they like you?)

he shows some favoritism, like giving you less chores and letting you get away with dipping into his snack stash, but if you weren't paying close attention, you would never notice the way his eyes linger on you or the way he briefly smiles whenever your name is mentioned

P = Pet Names (what do they like to call you?)

he prefers simple, classic pet names, such as dear, darling, or love since he thinks they're to the point and still lets you know how much he loves you <3

Q = Quality Time (how do they like to spend time with you?)

while sometimes the only time he has to spend with just you is when the two of you are closing your days together, he always makes sure you have at least one date a week, usually on a friday or saturday evening

R = Romance (how romantic are they?)

he's very suave and everything with him feels so perfect. he's very romantic and plans everything down to the detail. he refuses to give you anything but the best

S = Secrets (how open are they with you?)

he's afraid if he lets you in on his past and secrets, you might not like him anymore. it usually take a while of him sitting on it and you reassuring him for him to speak about them

T = Time (how long did it take you to get together?)

not until closer to the end of your first trip to the devildom, after all the events had come to a close and you'd truly settled in, as much as you could with belphie in the house

U = Unique (what makes them unique?)

the way he carries himself is unlike anyone else. you love how refined he acts in public and how soft he goes behind closed doors

V = Vaunt (what are they proud of? do they like to show you off?)

he's very proud of how much you've grown since day one in the devildom, and he's not afraid to talk you up to those who don't know you (which are few and far between).

W = Warrior (how do they feel about you fighting? would they fight for you, beside you, etc?)

he's nervous about you being in any dangerous situation, but he knows you're more than capable since you've learned and grown so much since you've arrived in the devildom. he would trade places with you in a heartbeat to keep you safe

X = X-Ray (how well are they able to read you?)

sometimes he knows what you need before you need it. it's a little scary. when you ask, he just says it's because he's a demon but you're sure it's because of how caring he is

Y = Yes (how would they propose to you?)

like how you got together, he would want it to be perfect, but it slipped out beforehand by accident. you'd brough him his dinner while he was working and somehow he let it slip. not how he wanted it to go, but still heartwarming

Z = Zzz (how do they act when they're sleepy? what's it like sharing a bed with them?)

he becomes such a clingy demon when tired! he loves to hold you close and you basically have to drag him after you since he won't let go haha

#obey me #obey me!#obey me x reader #obey me lucifer #omswd #om! lucifer x reader #fluff alphabet #obey me shall we date #obey me! shall we date #omswd lucifer

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mostlysignssomeportents · 3 months

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How America's oligarchs lull us with the be-your-own-boss fairy tale

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/16/narrative-capitalism/#sell-job

Capitalism is a vibes-based system. Sure, we all know about Keynes's "Animal Spirits" that see "bulls" and "bears" vying to set the market's future, but beyond that, there's just a hell of a lot of narrative.

Writing for The American Prospect, Adam M Lowenstein reviews two books that tell the histories of the stories that are used to sell American capitalism to the American people – the stories that turn workers into "temporarily embarrassed millionaires":

https://prospect.org/culture/books/2024-02-16-stories-corporations-tell-williams-waterhouse-review/

The first of these books is Taming the Octopus: The Long Battle for the Soul of the Corporation, by Kyle Edward Williams, a kind of pre-history of "woke capitalism":

https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393867237

Taming is a history of the low-water marks for Big Business's reputation in America, and how each was overcome through PR campaigns that declared a turning point in which business leaders would pursue the common good, even at the expense of their shareholders' interests.

The story starts in the 1950s, when DuPont and other massive firms had gained a well-deserved reputation as rapacious profit-generation machines that "alienated workers and pushed around small businessmen, investors, and consumers." This prompted DuPont's PR chief, Harold Brayman, to write a memo called "The Attack on Bigness," where he set out a plan to sell America on a new cuddly image for corporate giants.

For Brayman, the problem was that corporate execs were too shy about telling their social inferiors about all the good that businesses did for them: "The businessman is normally reluctant to talk out loud. He frequently shuns the spotlight and is content with plugging his wares, not himself."

This was the starting gun for a charm offensive by American big business that included IBM president Thomas Watson Jr ("I think there is a world market for about five computers") going on a speaking tour organized by McKinsey & Co, where he told audiences that his company's billion dollar annual profits had convinced it to assume "responsibilities for the broader public welfare."

This set the template for a nationwide mania of "business statesmanship" that Fortune celebrated with an editorial announcing "a great transformation, of which the world as a whole is as yet unaware" that put the "profit motive…on its last leg."

Fortune then spent the next seventy years recycling this announcement, every time the tide went out on business's popularity. In 2019, Fortune platformed IBM president Ginni Rometty for an announcement that the company was orienting its priorities to the public good: "It’s a question of whether society trusts you or not. We need society to accept what it is that we do."

The occasion for Rometty's quote was a special package on the Trump tax-cuts, a trillion-dollar gift to American big business, which lobbyists for the Business Roundtable celebrated with an announcement that American capitalism would now serve "stakeholders" (not just shareholders). Fortune celebrated this "change" as "fundamental and profound."

Fast forward five years and corporate leaders are still telling stories, this time about "stakeholder capitalism" and "ESG" – the dread "woke capitalism" that has right-wing swivel-eyed loons running around, hair afire, declaring the end of capitalism.

For Williams and Lowenstein (and me), all this ESG, DEI, and responsible capitalism is just window dressing, a distraction to keep the pitchforks and torches in people's closets, and to keep the guillotines in their packaging. The right-wing is doing a mirror-world version of liberals who freak out when OpenAI claims to have built a machine that will pauperize every worker – assuming that a PR pitch is the gospel truth, and then repeating it in criticism. Criti-hype, in other words:

https://sts-news.medium.com/youre-doing-it-wrong-notes-on-criticism-and-technology-hype-18b08b4307e5

Think of ESG: the right is freaking out that ESG is harming shareholders by leaving hydrocarbons in the ground to appease climate-addled greenies. The reality is that ESG is barely disguised greenwashing, and it's fully compatible with burning every critter that died in the Mesozoic, Cenozoic, and lo, even the Paleozoic:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/03/15/sanctions-financing/#profiteers

The reason this tactic is so successful is that Americans have also been sold another narrative: that American problems are solved by American individuals as entrepreneurs and businesspeople, not as polities or as members of a union (let alone the working class!).

This is the subject of the second book Lowenstein reviews, One Day I’ll Work for Myself: The Dream and Delusion That Conquered America, by Benjamin Waterhouse:

https://wwnorton.com/books/one-day-ill-work-for-myself/

A keystone of American narrative capitalism is the idea that the USA is a nation of small businesspeople, Jeffersonian yeoman farmsteaders of the US economy. But even a cursory examination shows that the country is ruled – economically and politically – by very large firms.

Uber sells itself as a way to be your own boss ("No shifts. No boss. No limits.") – even though it's a system where the app is your boss, and thanks to that layer of misdirection, Uber gets to be the worst conceivable boss, while its workers have no recourse in labor law:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/12/algorithmic-wage-discrimination/#fishers-of-men

In labor fights, Uber represents itself as the champion of innumerable "small businesspeople" who drive its unlicensed taxis. In consumer protection fights, Amazon claims to be fighting for "small businesspeople" who sell on its platform. In privacy fights, Facebook claims to represent "small businesspeople" who buy its surveillance advertising.

But large firms are actively hostile to small firms, seeing them as small-fry to be rooked or destroyed (recall that when Amazon targeted small publishers for bankruptcy-level discounts, they called the program "The Gazelle Project" and Bezos told his executives to tackle these firms "the way a cheetah pursues a sickly gazelle").

Decades of this tale have produced "a profound shift from a shared belief that individuals might come together to solve problems, into a collective faith in individual effort." America's long love-affair with rugged individualism was weaponized in the 1970s by corporations seeking to shed their regulatory obligation to workers, customers, and the environment.

As with Big Tech today, the big business lobby held up mom-and-pop businesses as the true beneficiaries of deregulation, even as they knifed these firms. A telling anecdote comes from someone who worked for the Chamber of Commerce's magazine Nation's Business: when this editor pointed out that many of the magazine's subscribers were small businesspeople and asked if they could start including articles relevant to mom-and-pops, the editor in chief said, "Over my dead body."

The neoliberal era has been an unbroken string of platitudes celebrating the small business and policies that annihilate their chances against large firms. Ronald Reagan's dewy-eyed hymns to American entrepreneurship sounded nice, but what matters is that he attempted to abolish the Small Business Administration and refused to address the 20,000 attendee "White House Conference on Small Business."

In the years since, American has sacrificed its small businesses while pulling out all the stops – bailouts and tax cuts and elite bankruptcy – to keep its largest firms growing. New regulations like Dodd-Frank were neutered in the name of saving mom-and-pop shops, even though the provisions that were cut already exempted small businesses.

Today, millions of Americans are treading water in a fetid stew of LLC-poisoning, rise-and-grind, multi-level-marketing, dropshipping and gig-work, convinced that the only way to get a better life is to pull themselves up by their bootstraps:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/10/declaration-of-interdependence/

Narrative does a lot of work here. The American economy runs on bubbles, another form of narrative capitalism. Take AI, a subject I sincerely wish I could stop hearing about, not least because I'm certain that 99% of that thinking is being wasted on whatever residue remains after the bubble pops:

https://locusmag.com/2023/12/commentary-cory-doctorow-what-kind-of-bubble-is-ai/

AI isn't going to do your job, but its narrative may convince your boss to fire you and replace you with a bot that can't do your job. Like what happened when Air Canada hired a chatbot to answer customer inquiries and it started making shit up about bereavement discounts that the company later claimed it didn't have to honor:

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/air-canada-s-chatbot-gave-a-b-c-man-the-wrong-information-now-the-airline-has-to-pay-for-the-mistake-1.6769454

This story's been all over the news for the past couple of days, but so far as I've seen, no one has pointed out the seemingly obvious inference that this chatbot probably ripped off lots of people. The victim here was extraordinarily persistent, chasing a refund for 10 weeks and then going to the regulator. This guy is a six-sigma self-advocate – which implies a whole bell-curve's worth of comparatively normal people who just ate the shit-sandwich Air Canada fed them.

The reason AI is a winning proposition for Air Canada isn't that it can do a customer service rep's job – it can't. But the AI is a layer of indirection – like the app that is the true boss of Uber drivers – that lets Air Canada demoralize the customers it steals from into walking away from their losses.

Nevertheless, the narrative that AI Will Change Everything Forever is powerful – more powerful than AI itself, that's for sure. Take this Bloomberg headline: "Nearly all wealth gained by world's rich this year comes from AI":

https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/nearly-all-wealth-gained-by-world-s-rich-this-year-comes-from-ai-124021600006_1.html

Dig in and you find even more narrative. The single largest beneficiary of AI stock gains last year was Mark Zuckerberg ($161B!). Zuck is American Narrative Capitalism's greatest practitioner: the guy who made billions peddling a series of lies, from "pivot to video" to "metaverse," leaping from one lie to the next just ahead of the mass stock-selloffs that wiped out lesser predators.

The Narrative Capitalism Cinematic Universe has a lot of side-plots like AI and entrepreneurship and woke capitalism, but its main narrative arc was articulated, ad nauseum, by Margaret Thatcher: "There is no alternative." This is the most important part of the story, the part that says it literally can't be otherwise. The only way to organize society is through markets, and the only way to organize markets is to leave them alone, no matter how much suffering they cause.

This is a baffling story, because it's so easily disproved. Zuck says the only way to have friends is to let him surveil you from asshole to appetite, even though he once ran Facebook as the privacy-forward alternative to MySpace, and promised never to spy on you:

https://lawcat.berkeley.edu/record/1128876

Likewise, the business leaders – and their chorus of dutiful Renfields – who insist that monopoly is the natural and inevitable outcome of any market economy just handwave away the decades during which anti-monopoly enforcement actually kept most businesses from getting too big to fail and too big to jail.

I'm no champion of market efficiency – especially not as the best and final arbiter of social and economic questions – but when I hear my comrades repeating the Thatcherite claims that all forms of capitalism necessarily degrade into monopolistic quagmires, that there is no alternative, it sounds like more criti-hype.

This is a frequent point of departure during discussions of enshittification: some people dismiss the whole idea of enshittification as "just capitalism." But we had decades of digital services that either didn't degrade, or, when they did, were replaced by superior competitors with a minimum of switching costs for users who migrated from the decaying incumbent to greener pastures.

The reality is that while there are problems with all forms of capitalism, there are different kinds of capitalist problems, and some forms of capitalism are less harmful to working people and more capable of enacting and enforcing sound policy than others.

Enshittification is what happens when the constraints on the worst impulses of companies and their investors and managers are removed. When a company doesn't have competitors, when it can capture its regulators to trample our rights with impunity, when it can enlist those regulators to shut down would-be competitors who might free us from its "walled garden," and when it can fire any worker who refuses to enact harm upon the users they serve, then that company will enshittify:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/30/go-nuts-meine-kerle/#ich-bin-ein-bratapfel

A company can be made to treat you well, even if it is run by a wicked person who sees you as a mark to be fleeced – that mustache twirler just has to be constrained – by competition, regulation, self-help and labor. He may still hate you and wish you harm, but he won't be able to act on it.

As MLK said:

It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, religion and education will have to do that, but it can restrain him from lynching me. And I think that's pretty important also. And so that while legislation may not change the hearts of men, it does change the habits of men. And we see this every day.

#pluralistic #narrative capitalism #oligarchy #temporarily embarrassed millionaires #late-stage capitalism #enshittification #disenshittification #vocational awe #fobazi ettarh #ai #bubbles #bubblenomics #rise and grind #Benjamin C. Waterhouse #One Day I’ll Work for Myself #Kyle Edward Williams #Taming the Octopus #woke capitalism #llcs with mfas

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ourincrediblejourney · 6 months

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2011-08-31:

Mailchimp Acquires TinyLetter We’ve acquired TinyLetter. For those of you who don’t know, TinyLetter is a beautifully simple email newsletter app created by Philip Kaplan and launched late last year. We’re pretty excited about this. Sure, we think TinyLetter fills a gap in the MailChimp offering and all that, but more importantly, we think it has the potential to fill a significant gap we’ve seen growing in the social conversation. … We’re trying really hard not to make things disruptive for existing TinyLetter users.

2017-12-11:

MailChimp to Phase Out Its Popular TinyLetter Email Service But now TinyLetter's days as a standalone entity are numbered, [Mailchimp Co-founder and CEO Ben] Chestnut told me in October. When I met with him in Atlanta and mentioned my newsletter plans, Chestnut advised me to stick to a basic MailChimp template instead of a TinyLetter, to avoid any potential headaches when MailChimp swallows up TinyLetter.

2018-01-05:

MailChimp’s CEO clarifies: TinyLetter won’t shut down this year "We have no plans to make changes to TinyLetter in 2018. And we’ll let you know what to expect before we make any changes in the future. In the long term, we do intend to integrate TinyLetter into MailChimp. Doing this will better enable us to support the product and its users. But we’re taking it slow because we want to get it right."

2023-11-29:

Since then, our business priorities have evolved, and we've been laser focused on building tools to serve marketers and help small businesses grow. The TinyLetter community's needs have changed too, with some customers moving to Mailchimp to scale and monetize their newsletters, and some moving to alternative services that cater specifically to writers. With all of that in mind, we've made the decision to close TinyLetter and focus on our core Mailchimp product. On February 29, 2024, we will officially sunset the product and you'll no longer be able to access your TinyLetter account or letter archive. You'll still be able to log in and access your account until February 29. We know you worked hard to build your audience, so we strongly encourage you to log in before February 29 to export your subscriber list.

#tinyletter #Mailchimp

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sonqgmi-sims · 3 months

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Part 2 out of my Custom Neighborhood series! You can find my video here! You can view my Neighborhood Templates video here!

Guidelines I follow as well as any helpful links to some name generators will be under the cut! ♥

Starting a new Neighborhood can be tough! Where do you even start? Well, this written guide and video above is here to help you get started!

STEP 1: Creating/Choosing a Template - If you want to start from COMPLETELY SCRATCH, open up SimCity 4 and create your own map! - If that's too difficult or you just don't want to (like me!), you can download maps off ModTheSims or use the ones already provided in-game for you! :)

STEP 2: Naming Your Neighborhood/Lots - Take inspiration from real life! - Generators also help A TONNN! Below I linked the ones I like most! Feel free to mix and match them to come up with more unique combinations!

Fantasy Name Generators (Town Names) Mithril And Mages - City Names Sims 2 Name Generator

STEP 3: Lot Planning - Personally, I like to keep Community Lots/Apartments near the center of the map, and Residential homes around the sides/edges - Decide if you want just Small, Medium and/or Large lots in your neighborhood! - Place them around the map to figure out a layout until you are satisfied!

STEP 4: Choosing Your Community Lots - Main Hood Essentials: Cemetery, Restaurant, Park, Clothing Store, Grocery Store - University Essentials: Library, Town Hall, Lounge, Gym - Shopping District Essentials: Everything you can imagine! I also like to leave space for Sims to own their own businesses! I tend to use Shopping Districts as Secondary-Main Neighborhoods! - Downtown Essentials: Bowling Alley, Bar, Restaurant, Cemetery - Vacation Essentials: Hotels, Parks, Landmarks After I have the essentials, I fill in the gaps with whatever I want! Like I added a Car Dealership in my main neighborhood as well as a Cosmetic Surgery clinic! I also added a Train Station in my University!

The Mithril and Mages link above is great to come up with names and business ideas too!

STEP 5: Decorating Your 'Hood - I do this overtime! I don't think there's ever been a time where I've stopped decorating! Start by placing some trees or the flower decorations around the empty lots you placed!

STEP 6: Neighborhood/Lot Descriptions - Personally the hardest thing about Custom Neighborhoods! The good thing though is these can be left blank and nobody would know! - My best advice is to wait until most of the 'hood is built up, and then come with some descriptions! - Photoshopping the pictures like EA/Maxis will create beautiful pictures for the Neighborhood Stories album! (This is another post for another time)

STEP 7: The Families - Can't have a complete neighborhood without Sims and Families! - Use the Random Aspect Generator to come up with various Personalities for your Sims! - If you forgot to use a Clean Template (No Townies), I found a mod that will change up their names! - Take inspiration from TV Shows or the other Sims games! I always tend to recreate the Broke Family's storyline and Malcolm Landgraab's storyline with 2 families in my neighborhoods! (I like having a Rich and a Poor family lmao)

Creating new neighborhoods is always so much fun! I hope some of these guidelines help you get inspired!

xoxox

#the sims 2 #sims 2 #ts2 #custom neighborhood #sims 2 custom neighborhood #sims 2 custom hood #worlds #mine #mods #sims 2 mods #sims youtuber #tutorials

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boujeeceo · 2 years

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Corporate Barbie Files- Begin

When I was kid I didn't know what an executive was but I wanted to be one so bad. Now that I know I've decided to aim a bit higher- Chief Financial Officer day job and small business tycoon. ✨🧿

Please do your own research, I'm no expert and I don't want to lead anyone down a weird path

Planning (business plans)

You can get an LLC for less than 200$, 500$ MAX. What makes LLC's expensive are the licenses, fees you pay when registered, and the state you register.

Sole priorerships (depending on your state) don't need to be registered but you forgo the protections that come from having a government recognized business.

Any small business template online is a great resource.

Plan it out for 3 years minimum but think of this business plan as a living document. As you operate your business it will have to change.

Business research!

You need to do your own research on each business you want to start if you want to succeed.

Topics/questions to research

Researching competitors (Strengths & Weaknesses/marketing strategy/Pricing/products and product features)

Market share

Strengths and weaknesses

Your window of opportunity to enter the market

The importance of your target market to your competitors

Any barriers that may hinder you as you enter the market

Indirect or secondary competitors who may impact your success

Customers

Who are your customers and why are they interested in buying your product or service?

What characteristics, interests, desires, pain points and needs do they share?

Where do they live?

How old are they?

What is their education level?

What is their income range?

Which types of websites do they frequently visit?

Where do they currently buy similar products?

Which languages do they speak?

What industry do they work in?

License needed

Growth projection

Assessing the legal aspects of your industry

Can you reach your target audience? If you're selling inline skates, are you opening in an area with a population of the right age and disposable income?

Is the market saturated?

Your Brand

Questions you wanna ask

Here are a few methods you can use to do direct research:

Surveys

Questionnaires

Focus groups

In-depth interviews

Ask potential customers

Questions you wanna ask and answers

Demand: Is there a desire for your product or service?

Market size: How many people would be interested in your offering?

Economic indicators: What is the income range and employment rate?

Location: Where do your customers live and where can your business reach?

Market saturation: How many similar options are already available to consumers?

Pricing: What do potential customers pay for these alternatives?

Best ways to reach customers

Suppliers, quotes and budget

Sources of funding, uses of funding

Prep

Finding funding, type in your demographic 'black woman/LGBT black woman, ect' and your state + small business funding. Apply for everything. Find space for inventory. Think up promotional material- Vistaprint is amazing for just cheapy slapping your brand on something that others want (candy, notebooks, pens, cute tote bags).

Skills you may need: Negotiation, Manipulation, Marketing, Social media handling, Emotional intelligence, Personal emotional control, Leadership and delegation, Networking, Memorization (names, position and places you met this people), Self discipline, Conversation, Communication.

Just do it

If I wanted until I felt 100% ready I wouldn't have two functional businesses at the moment.

Low risk low reward business ideas

These may not make you rich unless you market to high heaven or get lucky. But they are a great passive income opportunity/place to start.

Vending machine

ATM

Selling books on Amazon/Audible/Printing on demand services

Selling on a ready made sale site- Shopify/Amazon/Esty

Direct sales

High traffic blog for ads

Affiliate marketing blog/social media

Mid-Tier business ideas

Can be scaled up to make 7 figures but after taxes and fees will probably make a steady 6 figures yearly. (Please note that 6 figures can be any where from 100k to 999k. I've noticed a tendency to see 6 figures as only 100k.)

Cafes

Small bar

Small restaurant

Ice-cream truck

Food truck

Website with subscriptions

A clothing line

Makeup or skincare (especially if it has mostly black women in mind- think Black Girl Sunscreen or Fenty Beauty)

Natural hair wigs (as in 3b-4c pattern, its not super common and the ones that are aren't very good nor last very long)

Small hair and nails salon

Haircare product line

Do your own research please, these are just the most common and least expensive I've found entrepreneurs start. They may not work with your skills/personal brand/time constraints/experience ect.

Advice

Have a vanity business!!! A business that matters because you like it so much. One where the success is not based off just money but personal satisfaction. This will keep you from getting bored, too frustrated or purely money driven. Of course a business is money driven but at some point you look up from your work and get distressed from dissatisfaction from being stuck working for money instead of pleasure.

You should be interested in each business you make/engage with a least a little bit.

Break down how much you need to make per day and per week to get to your goal amount. This has helped me mentally, I no longer freak out about the big picture when I'm focused on the main goal of the day/week.

Have a reading list in these 5 categories: Emotional intelligence, Your field of study (finance, tech, medical, beauty), Manipulation/Negotiation, Beauty/Dating/Self-esteem, and Money.

Don't try to build up more than 2 businesses at a time if you're doing it alone. You will drive yourself insane and burn out quickly.

If you do direct sales on the streets make sure you have an incentive for people to actually stop and look at what you have to offer. Something free pretty with your logo or information and matches your brand image. It can be hand made!

Mistakes I made

I relied on one business too much when my goal isn't to scale it too big

I didn't have a workable marketing campaign. People are tired of ads. I'm tired of ads, I had to get creative or rather make the ads less invasive.

I relied too much on online sales. There is way too much competition- I now make 90% of my money from in person sales, there's a 'rush' factor because the pop up shop won't be there tomorrow, and I can make a human connection before I make a sale.

I put too much money into some businesses and not enough into others. Now I have a budget of 200$-500$ for each new business unless I'm buying large equipment that I will own (vending machines, massive printers, ect).

I didn't have enough different types of products. I need variety but I shouldn't panic and make too much or else I'll lose money and have too much inventory.

My mentor had told me to make decisions quarterly (every 3 months) rather than weekly/monthly. This has helped her build her real estate business.

My journey

My motto when it comes to dealing with my businesses is Slow Progress Is Still Progress.

I’ve always wanted to be a higher up in a company- an “executive woman”- I would eat up all the songs and tv shows made for kids about business (Biz kids, Schoolhouse rock mostly). I started my journey with my vanity business because I tired of waiting to get published by a major publishing house. Why not be a major publishing house? As I've come into my own I've realized I want more- more money, more experience, better titles, more power ECT.

My method is to work smarter and never harder: I create a company, place 100% of my attention on it and create systems that make the work I have to do minimal. 1-2hrs of work per day max. Borderline passive income. Then I move on to creating another business when I’m comfortable leaving the previous ones without my direct attention for a while. Being a CEO is all about creating sustainable systems that are efficient, reliable and profitable.

I have 2 functional businesses at the moment, they have been planned out for 2.5 years (I started them at the beginning of the year). I have two more I’m working on both in the ‘finding a reliable vendor’ stage. Once I’m past this part I’ll be ready to launch. I don’t advertise online, I work with the areas I’m in and the small businesses around me. It’s easier and more effective than to interrupt other people’s days by doing online ads. No one likes them and a lot of people will straight up avoid your brand out of spite. I’m in the middle of a rebrand and expansion so that eventually I can reach my goal of making 5k a day from my small business empire.

My journey is a work in progress.

#corporate barbie files #corporate barbie #corporate baddie #motivation #inspo #start a business #business advice

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taroumarou · 1 year

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//NSFW

NSFW Character QnA : Volks

Disclaimer: Volks is not an OC!! I just liked the template.

Volks is extremely versatile in bed. He’d describe himself as a dom-leaning vers. Don’t let his tough exterior fool you—although he may seem dominant at first, it’s not a challenge to overstimulate Volks and bring him into subspace, lucky you!

On: When he sees you wearing his dress shirt or borrowing his clothes. Holy shit, it makes him feel things. Also feels motivated when you two spoon, small or big, he doesn’t care. It’s the trust aspect that really gets him heated. Off: Don’t…call him daddy. Absolutely will not call you that either. He loves power dynamics and will do anything else but indulge in daddy kinks.

Despite being antisocial, he has quite the experience. Volks knows what he’s doing and is capable of controlling his stamina. He can go for as long you want him to, baby ;)

His ears. Bite them, lick them, nibble on them, kiss them, and they’ll turn a pretty pink hue.

If you strut around the house wearing nothing but his dress shirt, he’ll immediately pounce on you. Immediately. Otherwise, wrap your arms around his waist and whisper into his ear sweet nothings or the most dirtiest remarks humanely possible, your choice.

Has a lot of pent up stress from his tight schedule as a model. He often prefers to masturbate in the shower to reduce cleanup time and the chance of being caught.

Favorite positions: Bow, Glass, and Guard.

Volks’ first time wasn’t as special as he had wanted. He lost it at a house party in his late teens. It’s something that he really regrets.

It’s really specific, but ideally a sauna. He enjoys the sticky, moist feeling.

Caught masturbating: A few times, thankfully only by you. May or may not have been on purpose in an attempt to seduce you. Caught having sex: Zero times, and plans to keep it that way. Volks’ quick instincts prevent him from being caught, even during the throes of passion. Hates exposing his vulnerability to other people unsolicited.

On a scale of 1-10, Volks is a either a 3 or 7, no in between. When he’s in his usual mood(you know what I mean), he won’t let you hear anything else but tiny grunts and occasionally a small groan. However, if he’s in his feelings that day, Volks doesn’t care to suppress his noises. Just shut him up with a kiss, and you’ll be fine.

Volks doesn’t own anything wild, just a fleshlight, a magic wand vibrator, and a dildo. It’s up to you whether you want them to be used on him or yourself.

He doesn’t mind giving or receiving, it really depends on the motivation behind it. Volks just goes with the flow.

Volks’ ideal is at least twice a week, but his busy schedule often reduces it to zero. After flying back from an international shoot, he’ll be sleep-deprived, touch-starved, and extremely horny. Please take care of him well.

His biggest sexual desire stems from the closeness and the emotional aspect of it all. He never really clicked with his past partners until he met you. Volks only allows himself to be vulnerable around you and you only.

Rough and passionate. Do your worst, he won’t break.

Six inches long and 5 inches around. Pretty girthy and slightly above average.

Volks masturbates the most when he’s away from you. He misses you so, so much. Thinks about you kissing and marking his nape or playing with his chest. Will send you the most deprived texts ever.

I headcanon all of the Blush Blush boys to be bisexual or at least bi-curious.

Loves when you stroke him while whispering the most vile things known to humanity into his ears. Or when you ride him into oblivion while tugging on his hair. Will never admit it but he has a slight breeding kink…hmm

HATES exhibitionism so public places are off the list. Sex either happens inside a closed, private space or else it’s a no go.

Loves being kissed on his ears and jawline.

Happened before he met you. It was when he discovered his strong aversion towards the daddy kink. His partner unconsciously called him daddy and although he was really uncomfortable and highly turned off he kept pushing on out of pure politeness.

Once you both went at it for eight rounds, with him receiving. He tends to last longer when bottoming. Afterwards, Volks’ lower half was numb the next morning, and his hips were sore for a week.

Volks desire for sex is quite moderate on average, depending on the situation. He longs for it more when he’s traveling abroad without you there by his side.

Nope, Volks is pretty gorgeous, and he knows it. He’s more insecure about his personality rather than anything.

He aims for two rounds on average. Some days he’s more sluggish due to work and will pass out after a single round.

Volks can be awkward, but he’s gone through enough to know what he’s doing during sex. He’s really confident in his sexual ability and can keep a serious attitude throughout, no matter how giggly you are. Will smirk and chuckle here and there, but that’s about it.

The manimal incident unlocked some hidden kinks he never thought he’d be interested in. He fantasizes about being collared and called puppy-related pet names(good boy, dumb pup, puppy, pet, etc.) but will never bring up pet play unless you introduce it first. Put a muzzle on him, if you dare, but don’t expect him to not bite back.

#blush blush #blush blush game #bb game #blush blush volks #volks blush blush #bb volks #headcanons #NOT an OC I just liked the template

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yumistr · 6 months

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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝓙𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐄'𝐒 𝓖𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐂 𝓒𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐒

⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀! REBLOGS ARE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED !

୨୧ ‧₊˚⠀i have been trying to find the right motivation and just overall meaning of making graphics , and while yes i do enjoy making them , i don’t like them just sitting in my camera roll to rot away. so , to start off small , i plan on selling prints i’ve made as A4 sized posters ( 8.3" x 11.7" ).

୨୧ ‧₊˚⠀also a quick disclaimer !! i will not be taking commissions until i’ve sold at least five prints from the examples i’ve provided. no , not five per example , just five in total. because , as i’ve said above , i don’t want these rotting in my phone , so of course i won’t want to make more and add to the clutter before putting the ones i’ve already made to use.

⠀

✿ 。 ׄ ׅ 𝟶𝟶 ׄ 𓈒

౨ৎ⠀◞⠀PRICES

✶⠀i’m a maximalistic designer , so it’ll be on a rare occasion that i take minimalistic comms , but bare with me as i try.

⠀⠀⠀•⠀soft ( your choice of mini or max ) — $6

⠀⠀⠀•⠀brutalism ( your choice of mini or max ) — $8

⠀⠀⠀•⠀video game ( your choice of mini or max ) — $10

✶⠀at max , im charging $10 (duh) , but tips are definitely appreciated and encouraged :3 !!

✶⠀i will also include freebies of your choose in the packaging , so when you send a comm also send your favorite idol , celebrity , or fictional character ( max up to 3 ) !!

✶⠀how i will take payments will be through zelle or cashapp ! & i will ask you to pay half of the payment before hand / when you order , and the rest of it once i’ve sent you the final draft before i go and print everything !

✶⠀sadly for right now i am only shipping within the US since that’s where i live and due to this merely being just a small side “hustle” of mine before i actually message a manufacture for my actual business.

౨ৎ⠀◞⠀EXAMPLES

✶⠀( specifically for these three ) sizes may vary depending on the poster dimensions , but if you would like yours to be the exact 210 x 297 / 8.3" x 11.7" then just let me know , no extra charge , of course :3 !!

✶⠀if you would like me to use any of the provided examples as templates for other preferred people ( ex ; instead of JT & cindy ➞ megan thee stallion OR instead of ada wong ➞ leon kennedy ) , just let me know and i’d totally be down to do that.

౨ৎ⠀◞⠀RULES

✶⠀please refer to my etiquette page before sending a commission !! all rules , do not interacts , and byf from that list most definitely still apply to my commissions whether or not this is writing / anime related. i still have a moral code at the end of the day , money doesn’t change that.

✶⠀i will only take orders on saturday / sundays since monday - tuesday im off work , meaning i can use those 48-72 hours to properly configure your print , then ship it out. though , this may change since i’m in the midst of trying to find a new job !!

✶⠀to properly order a print , send me an inbox without anon of your favorite tv series , and i will send you a dm once i’ve received your message to further discuss your commission !!

✶⠀i will / am willing to make prints of anyone and everyone that doesn’t fit my dni criteria. ( no’s ; chris brown , jay park , lana del ray. — yes’ ; megan thee stallion , choi san , laufey )

✶⠀when you receive your order in the mail , i will kindly ask you to send photo evidence of you getting the package and for your consent so i can make a post with the photo. if not that’s also fine , don’t worry. i just want to keep track of them through here since i am selling them through my tumblr.

౨ৎ⠀◞⠀ORDERING

✶⠀once i’ve officially dmed you about your order , i will send you a sort of form to fill out for your order. which, it will include me asking you info about your order , but more importantly i would appreciate it if you sent me an aesthetics board of some sort that would visibly give me somewhat an idea of what you want your print to look like.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⤷ like this !

✶⠀in short , it should include a few pics of references / inspo pics you’d like me to either use or incorporate ( i won’t completely plagiarize them obvi , but i will keep them in mind when editing ) , and also the face claim / person the print is about ( ex ; ricky ) , then finally if you want one include a psd that i can color drop from to use as a filter over your print.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ : 𝟶𝟶 ꞌꞋ ۪ ׄ ﹏

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

' . : ⟣ all in all , i’d truly appreciate it if you did commission me. it would mean the world , honestly. it’s been my dream to not only make prints that i know people would hang in their room, but also be able to do those cute kpop trading freebie things. it’s stupid yeah, but so damn cute ugh i love it smsm.

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bluesnadbluets · 5 months

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Is notion a good fit for the 2024 you?

Let’s find out, shall we?

Click here to try notion for free!

Do you love curating your Pinterest feed (and social media feeds in general)? Do you have at least 30 different boards on Pinterest? Yes? We have a winner. Notion could be your hub of info dumping. From learning how to crochet to learning how to code, you can meticulously organize your resources and yes, you guessed it, level up your game by even tracking your progress. If that isn't the incentive to ace at your new hobby, I don't know what is!

Does the last 9 of your Instagram grid stick to an aesthetic or tell a story? Ding, ding, ding! Its child’s play to make your notion workspace aesthetic! Don't like to see your data tabulated? Then let’s just swap it for a sticky note view in a single click. Wanna see all your tabulated data on a calendar? Again, just one click!

Do you like to obsessively track and plan your life and constantly feel the need to have more trackers in your analogue planner? I’ve got you! There’s nothing more malleable and low maintenance than a notion workspace! With a just few tutorials and free templates, you are good to go! PS: I still use my analogue journal, so yeah, I wont ever coax you into abandoning your favorite pen and journal!

Are you overwhelmed with the amount tracking it requires to run a business, big or small? Be it a one man show in a garage or a 100 heads in a chaotic office floor, having your ducks in a row is a challenge. And notion is built just for that. It can serve a 12 year old and a 40 year old in peak efficiency without skipping a beat! And if you don't know how to harness this magic? There are notion wizards out there who will build custom workspaces for you! And of course, you may find the right fit if you scroll through the notion template gallery, or Gumroad, or even Etsy!

You wanna live out your dream Star Trek Life? A life of automations and AI powered organisation? YESSS!!! This is where you boldly go! Just try out my free templates, try out notion if you haven't already and stay tuned for star trek themed notion templates!

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compassionately · 1 year

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hihi, i love ur page and u seem lovely, i just wanted to say a few things about your template/commissions..

neocities is all about creativity and passion; it seems that using or posting templates for neocities is kind of defeating the point of it. i keep seeing your templates pop up on neocities and it makes me think that people just don't want to learn how to code and make their site from scratch, and be creative, and it makes me a little sad... because the nice thing about neocities was everyone had something unique!

I am aware it's for starters and that it's for beginners, but i also believe that if you truly enjoy and understand neocities, you will make something yourself no matter how small !! , and build your way up from there. watching someone progress forward is a nice sight..

i can't blame you that the layout got popular, however, i think that you could've advertised it for a different web hoster instead of neocities.. :( it makes me think a little that nowadays users will choose to use a template rather than just wait and code something and make their site when they're ready..and there r tons of resources out there, i just don't get the point of templates nor commissions. neocities really isnt the site for that (′д｀ )

im not coming at you with mean intentions. i love ur blog and u seem very sweet and kind.. i just really needed to say this..

I've actually received an ask like this before, hopefully I can respond to this in a meaningful way! I do appreciate your kindness. Thank you for saying I'm sweet and kind!

This became very long, so TL;DR... I make templates for the people that need them for any reason, cause I believe everyone should have their own web space if they want one, and I don't believe in gatekeeping coding or personal websites. Sorry but that's just not me... Coding is for everyone, and should be made into something that everyone can do.

If you don't agree and it bothers you, that's fine, but I don't plan to stop helping people to comply to those that are against it... As long as people tell me they find my resources helpful, I will keep making them. I do this because I love it

The long version is below

Firstly, I don't believe there is a "purpose" or something Neocities is particularly for, other than building personal sites. I don't think there is a right or wrong way to "do" Neocities. First and foremost Neocities is a space to make your own thing, whatever it may be, and people have already been demonstrating for years that websites comes in MANY different ways

A lot of people need a place to start, it's not as easy as just learning it just like that, cause I remember when I first started it was very frustrating! I wanted to quit many times. And I had to use bases for awhile. I used bases for my first couple of Tumblr themes. If there weren't bases available to me, I probably never would've continued. If I couldn't even figure out how to make images round, I doubt I would've been able to start from scratch so early on, and I probably would've quit

People need a space where they can learn at their own pace, and throwing them into something like that with not much guidance will have mixed results. Some people will stick with it and become exceptionally skilled, but many won't, and they deserve just as much guidance and support!

And there are just people who don't have the time for building a site from scratch... A lot of people are too busy or many other reasons that prevent consistent dedication to a website, and I think they deserve to have a website if they want one for any reason, even if they don't have all the time that someone might need in order to build it all the way up... Many people who do use bases will eventually make their own things, anyhow. I started with bases, and I make nearly everything myself now. I have noticed my friends use my bases and then make their own thing. But everyone needs somewhere to start. And then again, even if they never do decide to work on things from the ground up later on, that doesn't mean they shouldn't be able to have a website!

... Also templates have been a thing waaay before Neocities was made. Like, back in Geocities days, and on random websites in entirely different languages from way back too, so it's like everywhere. I've seen Japanese websites hosted on platforms you've never heard of offering tons of free templates! It's nothing new tbh, and there are also many free instant generators that build websites from the ground up, I'm not sure why it's much of an issue when I take time to build something myself that can be shared among everyone !

Thanks for reading! Hope none of this sounds rude, and hopefully it's clear and worded in a way that makes sense lol

#inquiry

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graphics-cafe · 1 year

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blinkies.cafe template releases are changing!

We are changing the way we add new blinkie templates to blinkies.cafe!!

We have opened up blinkie template submissions!! Fill out this form to submit a blank template you’ve made.

We are changing our blinkie template release schedule. Going forwards, new templates will be released in themed Blinkie Packs (~9-18 templates each). We will announce the theme of the next Blinkie Pack several weeks in advance on Tumblr and in our Discord Server, and submissions fitting the theme will be prioritized!

This means that planning and creating blinkie templates will become a community effort, with lots of opportunities to have your templates featured on blinkies.cafe. So we’ve made a blinkies.cafe Discord Server for people to chat about blinkies! Feel free to join, especially if you’re interested in submitting templates. The Discord server is the main platform where we’ll be communicating with submitters re: their templates & future Blinkie Packs.

We’ll be announcing the theme of the first Blinkie Pack soon! Looking forward to working with you :3

(keep reading for personal rambles)

I started blinkies.cafe on October 15, 2021. There aren’t a lot of other blinkie generators on the Web, and I wanted to fill that gap by making a new one with more modern features & design. blinkies.cafe was a very small, experimental, and personal project. I made it my goal to add at least one template per week, because:

I wanted to build up a decent library of templates. Since I was the only one working on the project, weekly templates kept me progressing steadily towards that goal. I didn’t have much contact with old-web communities on Tumblr & Neocities and I wasn’t aware of anyone else that actively created blinkies.

I enjoyed the balance between the more-technical coding and less-technical gif editing. Often I found I didn’t have the energy for a coding session, but I did have energy to make a blinkie or two.

Now, more than a year later, blinkies.cafe is in a very different situation.

Lots of people are making really cool custom blinkies on Tumblr.

Many blinkie creators are interested in having me publish their blinkies as customizable templates on blinkies.cafe. Usually they are more skilled artists than I am, and they produce higher-quality blinkies at a faster rate than me.

Thanks to these creators – @transbro, @proxyrse, @pawpr1nc3 – we have 236 (!!!) customizable templates in our collection as of Dec 18 2022.

Basically, the project has matured a lot. We have a pretty hefty library of templates, and I spend more time processing submissions from other creators than making my own, so I no longer feel like I have to commit to weekly template releases to keep the project going.

Also, my personal & professional life is changing a lot – I have a career that excites me, relationships I care about, and I’m finally starting to catch up on a huge backlog of Adult Stuff I had been neglecting. This all translates to a very busy schedule, and the specific requirement to publish new blinkies each week has often conflicted with my other personal responsibilities.

I think the new release schedule with larger, less-frequent Blinkie Packs will be really good.

It’ll be fun to collaborate on larger packs of themed templates as a community!

I’ll be able to plan the releases to correspond with relevant dates.

I’ll have more freedom to plan & work on adding templates in a way that suits my personal schedule.

So I’m really looking forward to it!!! Thanks for reading this far <3

~ Amy

#blinkies #blinkies.cafe #blinkies.cafe news

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aiquantumz · 12 days

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The impact of cheap hosting on your website

Introduction of cheap hosting

The world of the internet is a waste in this world; the website is extremely important for businesses and individuals alike. A website has many elements, one of which is web hosting. It is the service that permits your website to be approachable on the internet. Most beginners choose cheap web hosting because it is within their budget for their work.

Key Features of Cheap Web Hosting Plans

Key features help you maintain your budget and are important for website management. Some key features are given below:

Shared Hosting: Shared hosting is mostly used in cheap hosting plans because it is helpful for beginners. It is cost-effective, which is the reason beginners mostly use it.

Storage space: Cheap hosting supplies sufficient reserve space for databases, website files, and images.

Customer support: Customer support is generally accessible live chat, via ticketing systems, and email, although support quality and response times may change

Due to these features, cheap web hosting is helpful for your website. It is very beneficial to maintain your website without losing money.

Exploring Shared Hosting: Cost-Effective Website Hosting

Cost-effective website hosting necessitates striking a balance between features and affordability. The cheapest choice is shared hosting, in which you can share your website server resources with others. Cloud hosting is also a low-cost option where your website is hosted on a network of virtual servers, offering flexibility and scalability. It is very beneficial for your business and website. Google Cloud Platform or Amazon Web Services can be cost-effective for your website or business. Hosting plans are important for the future growth of your website. You can make strategies with hosting plans for your websites. Beginners mostly use shared hosting because it is cost-effective.

Advantages of Cheap Hosting

There are many advantages of cheap hosting. One of the most important advantages of cheap hosting is that it is inexpensive. It is budget-friendly for beginners. Cheap hosting has many features that are very important for your website. The basic feature is very important for your work. It provides a scalability option that allows you to make a plane of your website. Cheap hosting is perfect for small businesses.

Affordable Hosting for Personal Websites and Blogs

Personal hosting usually has basic features such as made-to-order templates, website builders, and a CMS like WordPress. Affordable hosting offers free email accounts or domain registration and enhances the value of their hosting plans. One of the best advantages of affordable hosting for personal websites and blogs is availability.

Affordable E-commerce Hosting Solutions

Affordable e-commerce hosting solutions have small businesses searching for low-cost options for running online stores. These features are very important for an e-commerce website at a nominal price. With this hosting, you can create an online store on the e-commerce platform to earn money. In e-commerce hosting, a security feature is also present that protects your e-commerce website and your e-commerce account.

Scalability: Planning for Future Growth on a Budget

Scalability is essential for planning future growth. In this process, you can do much useful planning about your website. You can utilize cloud services in the process of decreasing or increasing your resources as needed. You should check your website reviews, and website performance regularly, and you should adjust your hosting plan perfectly based on scalability.

#marketing #artificial intelligence #digital art #ecommerce

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