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HeliosR - Crossed Change ~Waltz of Reminiscence~ - Chapter 16

Translation of chapter 16 of the event ‘Crossed Change ~Waltz of Reminiscence~’ from ‘Helios Rising Heroes’.

Will: Are you sure…?

Faith: I mean, you’ll fumble and be down in the dumps if we let the prom be for what it is, no? Can’t say that would be a success.

Faith: Neither do I want to mess it up again…

Will: Faith-kun…

Will: Thank you. The fact that you’re lending your support is most reassuring.

Faith: Still, you said you wanted to reach out but, not much we can do if we have no idea how the students are feeling about it, no?

Will: Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, however…

Will: We just so happen to have the right person who can look into it.

Faith: …Aha, that’s your angle♪ Nice one

-

Billy: Ta-da! The informant New Million takes pride in, no one other than Billy Wise☆

Billy: We thank you for opting to use our services! As requested, we investigated what the Academy’s students truly think!

Will: You’re amazing, Billy-kun. Even though we had abruptly requested your help.

Faith: Can we trust the source of your information? It is your job so I’m not worried, but still.

Billy: No problem! I went on the social media they use to squeeze the details out right from the center, it’s how I got my hands on it! Internet’s first place to go regarding what people really think~

Will: That you went that far… thank you, Billy-kun! I will definitely pay you back for this!

Billy: Hey, hey! Too formal, Willson-shi! My aid’s free of charge this time around♪

Faith: Billy’s not asking for compensation….? Hiding some ulterior motives, are you now?

Billy: You’re my bestie, so don’t be a worstie!

Billy: Well, I admit I kinda do. It’s not as if I have no say in this.

Billy: You see, during the previous prom ordeal I leaked to Willson about how “DJ’s gonna be sent off to summer school”

Faith: Ah, that’s what it’s about. I’m afraid you working free of charge won’t be enough to repent, though.

Billy: Eeeeh!?

Will: Ahaha, now now…

Will: Then, may we hear the results? Question Locker-san♪

Billy: Woaw! Even Willson-shi found out my secret identity…

Billy: OK! Then, informant Billy Wise will be representing the Question Locker~☆

Billy: Now, I’ve sent messages to you two, so please take a gander at this file containing all the detailed data!

Billy: For the most part, students are saying things like “I suck at dancing, it’s embarrassing”, “Don’t wanna be treated as if I don’t fit in”, “I don’t have the confidence to wear such a cool costume” and whatnot~

Billy: And a lot of “I can’t ask anyone out to dance, they’ll probably think I’m too lame for that” and further.

Faith: Everyone’s focused on what others are saying about them.

Billy: Yep yep. Fear not since there are also a lot of positive comments about how they’d definitely join.

Billy: For example, this! “Planned on skipping but, if the heroes are organizing it and even getting costumes for us, then I definitely wanna go”♪

Billy: And comments like “I look forward to the seasonal LOMs, since I wanna be a hero wearing all kinds of costumes too” ♪

Will: Wah, that makes me happy. I shouldn’t have doubted myself about the costumes after all. 

Billy: Even kids who said they won’t come answered with “I am interested in dancing”, “I wanna try out the costumes”, “I’d like to make memories with everyone”

Will: Right…

Will: We’ve seen the gist of what they think now. Now what’s left is how to overcome our obstacle.

Faith: I can relate to how they worry about what others are thinking about them.

Billy: I do think your case is probably different than them…

Billy: Like it’s annoying when girls are squealing at you, no? Before they even made a huge fuss, yelling stuff like “Let me marry Faith-kun!”

Faith: Yeah. It was so bad I had to go out of my way to wear a mask

Will: A mask…

Billy: If you can wear masks, why not go as far as to match goggles with me? I’ll pick out the perfect pair for you~♪

Faith: No way. Goggles are like, your gimmick

Will: Goggles…

Billy: Eeh~ you think so? We would get that besties feeling way more across if we matched---

Will: That’s it!

Faith & Billy: !?

FIC RECS (Part 16) :)

Hey guys, so here it finally is. The CEO!Bucky Rec List. Sorry its taken so long for me to get this out, I really have just been feeling not so hot. So it took me a while to get it done. BUT its longer than usual to make up for they delay. Reading these made me feel a lot better, so I hope you guys like it! :)

(smuts are denoted with a ***, theres a lot of them haha)

Siren song by @jaamesbbarnes

OKAY LETS START THIS OFF WITH A BANG! This is the first Bucky CEO story I’ve ever read, and it was like an amazing Segway into this AU. So reader has a crush on her boss, he supposedly doesn’t like her back, so she joins a dating website where she meets this mysterious guy and falls in love. Crazy right? Even more so that it’s actually her boss?? This was a fantastic story filled with mutual pining, fluff, some perfectly timed angst, but most of all, some of the softest Bucky towards the end that I have ever been blessed to read. I want him to talk to me like that :( really loved this one!

All My Stars by @moonstruckbucky

Let’s go right into another amazing story. So this one is about Bucky boring FCC a new assistant, one who he basically falls in love with, and oh holy hell shes engaged. Let’s see how this turns out. So I will say it’s not finished yet, but I think what’s there is amazing enough to warrant a place on this list! Meg is a genius in how she writes the dynamic between characters. You feel for all of them no matter what, Bucky is detached and the reader is oblivious and you just want to shove them together like dolls and make them fall in love! It’s definitely a rollercoaster ride, and I’m excited to possibly see where it ends up :) 

Chocolate Truffles by @soldatjbb

OH THIS ONE IS SO SWEET! Okay so this one is about the reader wanting to give her boss Bucky Barnes chocolate on Valentine’s Day, when she sees she got some flowers. So when I say sweet I mean tooth rotting fluff holy hell I loved it. They’re both the biggest shy dorks who obviously have feeling for them and it really made my heart swell to ungodly proportions it was not okay. Bucky is the sweetest most nervous boy, and the reader isn’t much better. In a matter of like 1k words I was already immersed and invested in this possible relationship it was crazy! Amazing 

Pleasure and Business by @notimetoblog

OK wow, this one is just fantastic. So James and the reader are set to make a deal. So there’s something about this one that’s just really mysterious, like throughout the whole story you kind a know what’s going on but also you don’t, it’s a really good story and really unique when it comes to CEOs stories because the reader seems to hold the place of power as well, I also really really love the dynamic between the two characters because it’s really playful and loving and lighthearted even in this business setting, and I never really completely got what The business deal they were making was, but honestly it doesn’t even matter because the story was so good.

A very important phone call by @suz-123 ***

LOL, OK so this one. All I’ll say, is that the reader is Buckys good luck charm, and he needed it for a specific business call. This one was a trip. it was filthy, but written so well. And just the general storyline, while he’s on the phone made it exciting like not just because it was sexy but because it was just really like oh my God what’s going to happen is he going to get caught?! And man Bucky has a mouth on him, but I’m not gonna spoil it but let me just tell you, Suz has a way with endings. I genuinely didn’t expect it and That made it that much more awesome

The Man by @interestedbystanderwrites ***

Oof! This one! Now this one was amazing. So this one was about the raider going to her exes wedding, when she meets Bucky Barnes, who just so happens to own the hotel the wedding is held that. there are night leads to some down and dirty times, which is how all times like these should. This one was just really fun to read, because not only was it smut but it was also interwoven into a storyline, and at the end you’re really left wanting more. There’s a little hint of sugar daddy in there at the end, which makes it like even more interesting. Super good.

Late nights at the office by @after-avenging-hours ***

Oh I love this one! And I think I love it because it’s a really amazing mix of the storyline, and really well written smut. So this one is about Bucky being the readers boss, and there’s a deal coming up so he sends her a request to get something done by a day that causes miscommunication between them. So I really like this one because Bucky isn’t portrayed as like a jerk boss as he is and some other stories which is really refreshing, like he was genuinely sad that there was that miscommunication and she stayed after, and I think that made it all the more rewarding when they didn’t have sexy times because you actually really liked both characters. And it was well written, and you were left wanting to know what goes on with them in the future. Lovely.

Surprise visit by @imaginingbucky

okay so I really love this one. It’s super sweet, Bucky is a very busy CEO, and the reader is an extremely patient and understanding girlfriend. It was really cute, especially the end. I love stories like this where Bucky is genuinely a good guy who loves his girlfriend and understands that he’s not being the most available to her. I love seeing the moment he realized he needed to do something, and honestly just seeing healthy relationships in fics is so refreshing, and it was really well written.

Not interested by @promarvelfangirl

Ohhhhh this one is like an OG favorite of mine. So this one is about suave cocky Bucky Barnes getting everything he wants in life, until you. The reader comes in and shakes his whole world and it’s the cutest. Seeing the tension they have throughout the story is exciting, but my absolute favorite part was the fact that throughout the story you can see his love her her change from lust to love, or at least that’s how I saw it. And like you also got to know him and understand him over time. It was a great read, unique story line, loved it!

Sweet Life by @jalepenobarnes

Okay! So now we have a man awesome POC!reader story!! I love this one, I don’t know if I would qualify it as a series of oneshots but maybe that’s what it is, either way it’s great. So it’s a series of moments that showcase certain parts of the readers life and her relationship with Bucky. This is just a really sweet story, it really showcases the life of a POC In the discriminating world, especially when it comes to business, and it really opened my eyes to how I read these stories. Bucky is also super sweet, When he loves, he loves hard and with his whole self and you can really see it in this story. It’s beautiful. 

Right person wrong number by @propertyofpoeandbucky

Okay! So this one I loved. It’s about the reader moving to New York to start a new life after a breakup. She wants to be a photographer, and in that time, she received a text from a wrong number. Let the whirlwind romance begin! It’s cute, it’s funny, it’s SOFT BUCKY! It’s really just a whole package haha. Also check out her other fics: White Lace, Let the Games Begin, My Best Friends Dad, and Ringing

Tongue Tied by @soldatbarnes ***

Oh this one was spicy. So it’s about Bucky being really stressed and busy at work, and his wife coming up with a plan to help him relax. That plan is very sexual, and provides a wonderful story to read lol. But I also like the tender aspect of their relationship that you see in little snippets, you can tell they really care about each other over everything else. And I think that’s really important to see in these CEO stories because usually he’s a jerk.

Let Me Help by @asirenscalling **

So this is a story about Bucky being stressed at work, and you deciding to help him relax. Obviously that answer is sexual lol, the best way don’t we all know. This was very smutty, not much to it other than smut, but it was really well written and very entertaining haha. Also, loved the little snarky back and forth at the end, it was cute!

An Unfortunate Convenience by @bucky-smiles

Ohhhhhhh buddy, now this is a killer one. So this one is about the reader goes out to celebrate a promotion, had a wonderful one night stand, and surprise? That guy was her boss. What could go wrong? This one was so awesome. Daisy is such a great writer, and this is a prime example. There were so many twists and turns and it was actually realistic you know? Like there wasn’t a perfect story, they messed up, he messed up, and it wasn’t all sunshine’s and rainbows. The reader stood up for herself and I really admire that! 

I’m so in love with you by @supersoldierslover

The description is right! This is so damn fluffy I cant handle it! So it’s about the reader and Bucky spending quality time together after he’s been super busy at work. It’s so freaking cute, all of the flashbacks, the way you can see that they truly genuinely care about eachother. Like, it’s one of my favorite things to see a relationship consisting of two people who love eachother. Nothin Better than reading about love. And Bucky, god Bucky is the sweetest in this! And let me say, I will also love Bucky Barnes forever. 

***Added later to the rec list

Home for the Holidays by @buckybarnesbeans

Stereotypical by @avasparks

Dangerous Dalliance by @justreadingfics

Business and pleasure by @snowyseba

City love by @chrevastan

A meeting in buckys office by @tetralea

Jr Executive by @buckybarnesappreciationsociety

Let Me Love You by @thewritersoldier

The arrangement by @buckbarnesjames

Executive Floor by @ackeviddlestan

Weekend at Buckys @marvel-media

Okay! Thank you guys soooo much for reading this. i’m sorry its late, but I had fun doing it :) I hope you guys like it! I have a couple more to read so check back for those being added 💖

Magnolia

I don’t know much about Magnolia or Paul Thomas Anderson, but I do know that it takes someone paying me to get me to watch a 3-hr+ drama that doesn’t star Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, and a really big boat. This is one of my mom’s favorite movies which is why she requested it for me to review. It’s packed with a balls-to-the-wall star-studded cast (Tom Cruise! Julianne Moore! Phillip Seymour Hoffman! John C. Reilly! William H. Macy! Felicity Huffman!) and I’m genuinely excited to see how they all fit together. Cause they have to all fit together in some coherent way, right? Well...

Do you remember in Sorry to Bother You when the Equisapiens came out and things just took like...a real turn? That’s kind of what this was like. Whereas StBY pushed a thought to its most extreme, but logical, conclusion, what Paul Thomas Anderson has done here feels like a magician doing a lot of impressive illusions - sawing a lady in half, making a motorcycle disappear, pulling smaller things out of bigger things - and then for his final trick, walking onstage amidst a grand plume of smoke, dropping his pants, taking a gigantic shit, and then saying, “You’ve been a great audience, thanks a lot and goodnight!” It’s not like you can say the experience was BAD. Everything up to the finale was a really great time! But when you’re left on a note that is that bafflingly odd, it kinda colors the way you’ll remember the whole thing.

Magnolia is the story of one long day in the life of 12 people living in Los Angeles who are all connected via an extensive web from acquaintances to married couples to parents and children to paid caregivers and beyond. It’s a day that has the same kind of ups and downs as any other day until it, well, turns into something else entirely. I’m not sure how else to explain it, but if you want to know more, spoilers will be spoiled below.

Some thoughts:

Patton Oswalt cameo! I am a massive fan and thought I knew his whole filmography and OMG how did I not know that he was in this!!

Ok, in spite of my skepticism this entire opening sequence about coincidence had me hooked IMMEDIATELY. Like, this is some damn good storytelling, if this were a novel, I would not be able to put it down - that pull, that’s what it feels like.

Am I the only person whose encyclopedic memory of character actors/roles gets distracted when they see someone from something that is wildly disparate compared to the role you’re currently watching? For example, I had to pause the movie and confirm via IMDB that I did just see Professor Sprout from HP scream “Shut the fuck up!” at her husband while brandishing a shotgun.

Would people really recognize a grown ass man from being a successful child game show contestant? I’ll tell you the answer, no they wouldn’t, because no one realizes that Peter Billingsley (aka Ralphie from A Christmas Story) is the head of the elf production line in Elf.

I knew this was a stacked cast, but holy SHIT this is a stacked cast. If I had $1 for every fantastic character actor I recognize in this, I would have at least $37, and these are people in the film who have maybe 2-3 lines each. It’s a deep bench is what I’m saying.

This makes me miss Phillip Seymour Hoffman so, so very much.

Watching PSH care for and be so compassionate and gentle with his hospice patient, Earl (Jason Robards),makes my heart ache terribly. All of the people who have been unable to perform this kindness, this type of compassionate care for their closest loved ones as they lie dying in isolation of Covid...it’s overwhelming.

OMG I’m counting 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Very Good Dogs in the old man’s house!

I know Scientology is evil and he’s undeniably a complicated and morally grey person. I know all that. But goddamn I just love watching Tom Cruise COMMIT. Particularly when he commits to just absolute fucking sleazebag slimeballs. And boy oh boy is Frank Mackey an absolute fucking sleazebag slimeball.

Related - I know Frank looks like Tom Cruise, so he could get people to sleep with him no matter what, but I honestly feel like as a human being, this flesh suit is WAY more attractive balding and fat in Tropic Thunder than he is in this shiny brown shirt/leather vest/long hair combo.

I’m getting an uncomfortable vibe about these black characters being written by an artsy white dude, because I don’t know any young black kids who want to hang around with cops and offer up information about who committed a murder in their building. In fact, the way all of the black characters are treated in this film - as liars, criminals, the disingenuous “main stream media,” and thieves - feels rooted in some racist ass bullshit. We see a lot of nuance in our white characters, but even in a film that has, shockingly, more than one key black role, we don’t get that spectrum or nuance.

There is nothing I would love more than to learn that Frank Mackey is 1) gay 2) impotent or 3) both. He’s so disgustingly over-the-top misogynistic, it honestly feels like it should all be a complete act.

I confess I am on the edge of my seat trying to figure out how all these narrative threads tie together. It’s compelling as hell, even though half the time I don’t know why these people are having these long, meandering conversations. The pacing feels so deliberate, like a puzzle coming together. There’s real craftsmanship in how every scene is plotted to feel connected rather than manic or disjointed.

This pharmacist is being unprofessional as hell. Judgy McJudgerson, mind your fucking business, Julianne Moore’s father is dying! [ETA: ope, that’s embarrassing, Earl is actually her husband.]

NO THE DOG IS EATING THE PILLS OH NO VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THE DOG.

I think I knew this, but this soundtrack is fantastic. All Aimee Mann and Supertramp, and Jon Brion’s score is this thrumming, anxious thing full of strings that underscore all these nervous conversations, and then it shifts into these low, mournful horns when things start to take a turn and everyone is reaching their lowest points.

I love this interviewer (April Grace) who is taking Frank (Tom Cruise) to task. I think it’s particularly noteworthy that she is a black woman, because the kind of misogyny Frank peddles is rooted in white supremacy.

Stanley (Jeremy Blackman) is breaking my goddamn heart here. I think he and Phil (PSH) are my favorite characters.

Jim (John C Reilly) is the perfect example of how even a cop with the best intentions, with absolute kindness and love is in heart, is abusing his power and sexually harassing a woman he encountered in the line of duty, who is eager to appease him because she doesn’t want to be charged with a crime. This movie reads a LOT differently than it did in 1999.

I normally really love Julianne Moore, but she is a screeching mess in this. I can’t stop staring at her mouth and all the contortions it makes as she delivers every line in hysterics. She’s one of the few weak spots for me here.

Listening to Frank go on his whole diatribe about what society does to little boys to break them and victimize them HAS to be the source of where Keith Raniere got at least half of his NXIVM bullshit. Like, some of these points are word-for-word.

Also if Frank makes as much money as he seems to, there’s no way he would drive a shitty Saturn sedan.

It feels like the common thread of this movie is everyone is terrible and cheats on their spouses, and you should come clean when you get cancer so you can die peacefully. Weird moral, but ok.

If Jim is a cop, how does he not see that this woman he’s interested in (Melora Walters) is coked out of her mind?

Y’know for being a quiz kid, Donnie (William H. Macy) sure is kinda stupid.

I confess I’m not taking many notes throughout this because I’m just kind of sitting breathlessly still watching all these conversations unfold because I am on the edge of my fucking seat to find out how all this is gonna come together.

Secret MVP of this movie is the mom from A Christmas Story (Melinda Dillon) who is giving the performance of her goddamn life as Jimmy Gator’s wife.

Did I Cry? On the surface it appears ridiculous, but when Tom Cruise is having his breakdown at his dying father’s bedside, I admit, that really got me. If you’ve ever been faced with that kind of hysterical, I-can’t-believe-this-is-happening, it feels like the whole world is ending kind of shock and hurt and anger, that’s what the crying looks like.

Are those......frogs?? That landed on Jim’s car? It’s raining fucking frogs???? OK for those of you sensitive to frog harm, this movie is going to take a real hard left turn for you, because I swear that came out of NOWHERE.

Um.

What.

Pray tell.

The fuck.

The climax of this movie - is when literal frogs rain from the sky.

And we finally got resolution about the dog, and the dog DID die, and I’m pissed about it. It’s offscreen but still.

I'm sorry - I know I’m fixating. But how is it possible that I knew about all the characters performing a sing-along to Aimee Mann’s (excellent) song “Wise Up” but I did NOT know that the climax of the film involves literally thousands of frogs falling to their death from the sky? How is that something that escapes entry into the cultural zeitgeist? I’m with it, you guys. I have been Very Online for over a decade, and before that, I read a lot of Entertainment Weekly, and like it just seems that this is something that pop culture really should have told me.

I think the funniest moment of this movie might be the credits in which I discovered that not only is Luis Guzman playing a man named Luis, he’s actually playing himself. I don’t know why, but I can’t stop laughing about it. That was a 189-minute setup to one dumb punchline.

I think I loved this movie but I don’t quite know. The frog thing really threw me. What I’m taking away from it is that even when it doesn’t feel like it or seem like it, we are all connected to each other, always, in ways we can’t see or know. As Wife astutely pointed out, it’s reminiscent of the pandemic - we’re all in the same storm, but we each have our own boats and our own experiences within that storm. And it’s kind of nice to remember that right now, that connection still exists even when it feels so far away. Just not if you’re a frog I guess, cause they really got the short end of the stick here.

If you liked this review, please consider reblogging or subscribing to my Patreon! For as low as $1, you can access bonus content and movie reviews, or even request that I review any movie of your choice.

Online Marketing RFP Template With Sample Questions

It doesn’t matter if this is your first online marketing request for proposal (RFP) or your 50th — digital marketing RFPs can be complicated, time-consuming, and — depending on your company’s status — a bit precarious, too.

On top of that, improving your understanding of online marketing while looking for online firms to help bring your company to the next level is just as complicated and costly. That’s part of the reason why we’ve put together both a guide to online marketing RFPs and a digital marketing RFP template, the latter of which is available for free download.

Download Now: Free Online Marketing RFP Template

If you are vetting online marketing agencies and need an RFP template that can be customized to your needs, simply enter your email and we will instantly send you the template.

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What Is an Online Marketing RFP Exactly?

While an RFP is simply an outline of criteria that a company gives to firms to respond to, an online marketing RFP is tailored to — you guessed it — online marketing.

A digital marketing RFP will help you achieve your business goals. With an RFP, you’ll be able to offer a clear-cut proposal that prospective agencies can visualize and understand better, which is helpful for both parties. It’ll also allow you to discuss what you’re looking for within your company internally, so you can skip the “multiple revisions” stage that comes with weak RFPs.

Relying on the RFP process will also make sure the firms have a written set of criteria so they can come back with solutions that fit the selection criteria you’re looking for.

A digital marketing RFP is perfect for those looking for an outside entity — specifically a digital marketing agency — to help you bring your company to the next level through social media, Google Analytics, or other technological solutions.

Why Use an Online Marketing RFP Template?

Searching for a digital agency that aligns with your aspirations and values can be a tricky process. In fact, the online marketing RFP writing process itself is challenging.

It can be extremely time-consuming. Unless you have hours and hours of free time, it can be challenging to carve out time during the day to work on an online marketing RFP.

Sometimes, as an RFP writer, it can be hard to know precisely what you desire from a firm. A digital marketing RFP template will lay that out for you nicely so you can pinpoint exactly what you want from the agency.

Finally, writing a digital marketing RFP is risky. Imagine spending hours and hours writing what seems to be the perfect proposal only for it to go nowhere.

We’re no strangers to online marketing RFPs — we’ve seen some truly impressive proposals and a handful of laughable RFPs. But our digital marketing RFP template makes it easier for both parties: Not only will it be easier to write and organize, but that’ll make it easy for the company to review it as well.

Digital marketing RFPs don’t have to be an enigma. Our template should guide you through every part of the process. We’ll also share some helpful tips and tricks that might make the process even easier for you.

What’s Usually Included in an Online Marketing RFP

The beautiful thing about digital marketing RFPs is that they can be very versatile, depending on the company or person writing them.

Although your RFP can be whatever you envision, we’re going to cover some common areas that online marketing RFPs usually include. That being said, not all of these topics will apply to you, and even if they do, you might choose to omit some aspects — that’s all to be expected.

Your company

One of the best places to start is who you are. Unless your company already has a robust digital presence, chances are, the firms you contact won’t be familiar with your company, and that’s OK.

Here, you’ll want to share information about your company’s background, where it is now, where you’re looking to go, and any core values and missions that you’d like to include. How many employees do you have? Is there more than one location?

This might also be an appropriate place to briefly explain why you’re interested in digital marketing. You can also end with a concise summary of what you’re looking for in an agency partner. For example, you might want agencies that have years of experience in a particular area.

Your current digital presence

You’ll want to be as honest and accurate as possible in this section. Here, you’ll be describing your current digital presence and what that looks like.

I’d suggest detailing the current online marketing strategies your company uses, including what’s working, what isn’t, and what you wish could work better.

Within this sphere, you can also discuss any and all marketing challenges that come to mind when you think of your digital presence. For example, maybe you’re struggling with low retention rates, or perhaps the in-house content you have isn’t up to par for your audience.

Even if it’s painful to recall your shortcomings and what’s not working for you, this will be the best way for potential firms to know how to develop a personalized marketing strategy for you and your business. Everyone faces marketing program challenges, and you shouldn’t be ashamed of them.

Who your competitors are

Identifying at least three competitors (and their websites) will help potential firms see who you’re up against. Agencies can then know what you’re doing well compared to companies that might already be doing it better.

You might also consider sharing any of the competitors’ social media accounts and advertising campaigns that impress you, so the potential agencies can tailor their solution to hitting some of those marketing goals.

Your target audience

When you think of your ideal customer, what do they look like? In other words, who’s your target audience? When thinking of your target audience, you’ll want to include both demographic and even psychographic information to provide firms with a visual to the audience you’re attracting.

It would be worthwhile to create a few personas to show these agencies and help them better visualize the customer.

Your overall goal

This is an excellent place to introduce your specific goals concisely. I wouldn’t advise writing a lengthy goal that’s bogged down with many details, since we’ll get into the meat of your digital marketing RFP later. Pick one to three outcomes that you’d like the online marketing firm to do for you.

Your business goals

Your business goals will probably be similar to your overall goal, but we’ll dive a little deeper into this section. What do you want your future online marketing strategy to do, exactly? What would be a successful marketing strategy in your eyes?

Make sure they’re both realistic and achievable. For example, maybe you just want to increase your revenue for the next fiscal year. That’s an entirely reasonable business goal.

In this section (or in a new section), you can include the scope of the work you need, even if it’s an estimate. For example, what are your specific needs per digital channel? To make it easier, you can also include a list of deliverables that you have in mind.

Your objectives

In order to achieve your business goals, you’ve got to have objectives — written plans that will help you get to the next level. This will help visualize the project overview, too.

Although you might already know what your objectives are, you should be very granular on the exact scope of work based on what marketing services you want or think you need:

Improved search engine optimization (SEO) for your website

Effective PPC campaign

A social media strategy or campaign

An email marketing strategy

Your time frame

Some companies don’t have a specific timeline, but if you do, include it here. How soon do you want to see results? This section will also help you avoid firms that don’t have the bandwidth to finish this project based on your provided time frame.

Your budget

This section is essential. How much are you willing to pay these agencies to assist with a successful digital marketing strategy? This section, in particular, will help you steer clear of agencies that aren’t willing to meet you in the middle.

Even if you don’t have a budget, you should still include a range so the firm will have some idea of what the costs will be.

Selection timeline and requirements

To better help you stick to a rigid timeline, outline some critical dates that will affect your selection process. For example, you could include:

When the proposals are due

A timeline of the question and answer period

When you’ll select an agency

What date the project will start

On the first day, you’ll send out the digital marketing RFP, and a few days later, you might choose to cut off anyone who doesn’t RSVP. You’ll probably schedule a few calls with viable firms for about a week and answer any questions they might have. A week after that, it might be time for the firms to submit their proposals. Although this is an example, the actual timeline is entirely up to you.

In this section, you can also detail how you’ll choose an agency partner. Will you use a scoring system? What selection criteria will you include?

Standard Master Services Agreement

Your company’s legal team might suggest you use a standard Master Services Agreement, also called an MSA. If this is the case, a potential firm or agency might also include their own terms and conditions.

What you expect in return

What information would you like from potential firms? If you clearly state what sort of information you expect, the likely agencies can better cater to providing it. You might prefer to know the history of the agency, examples of case studies, what qualifications and experience it has, account management process, and pricing, among other pieces of intel.

Contact and questions

You should provide a point of contact for agencies to reach out to, whether it’s your public relations director or another trusted key stakeholder. You should include their:

Full legal name

Job title

Mailing address

Email and phone number

That way, you can direct any specific questions that might come up during the proposal period to one single contact to make it easier.

Why It’s Important to Nail Your RFP

So, you’ve got an idea of how to write an online marketing RFP — but why is it so important to get it right?

A proposal is essentially your one change to vet firms before you listen to their pitch. It’ll help you steer clear of firms that won’t be a good fit and, in turn, will prevent you from wasting time. That’s why it’s so critical to be as detailed as possible when you’re creating a digital marketing RFP.

Final Thoughts

An online marketing RFP is what you make it. There’s lots of room to be creative and have fun with it during the RFP process. Staying positive is key, as this proposal is going to be what effectively drives your digital marketing strategy and what determines which agency you might partner with within the next few weeks.

That’s where our digital marketing RFP template comes in. It’ll provide you with a meaningful way to organize your proposal so as to make it clear to both parties. With this template, the digital marketing possibilities are virtually endless. Take the first step to getting your company up to par with the rest of the digital ecosystem.

Download Now: Free Online Marketing RFP Template

If you are vetting online marketing agencies and need an RFP template that can be customized to your needs, simply enter your email and we will instantly send you the template.

Download Now

If you are human, leave this field blank.

The post Online Marketing RFP Template With Sample Questions appeared first on HigherVisibility.

from The SEO Advantages https://www.highervisibility.com/blog/online-marketing-rfp/

Online Marketing RFP Template With Sample Questions

It doesn’t matter if this is your first online marketing request for proposal (RFP) or your 50th — digital marketing RFPs can be complicated, time-consuming, and — depending on your company’s status — a bit precarious, too.

On top of that, improving your understanding of online marketing while looking for online firms to help bring your company to the next level is just as complicated and costly. That’s part of the reason why we’ve put together both a guide to online marketing RFPs and a digital marketing RFP template, the latter of which is available for free download.

Download Now: Free Online Marketing RFP Template

If you are vetting online marketing agencies and need an RFP template that can be customized to your needs, simply enter your email and we will instantly send you the template.

Download Now

If you are human, leave this field blank.

What Is an Online Marketing RFP Exactly?

While an RFP is simply an outline of criteria that a company gives to firms to respond to, an online marketing RFP is tailored to — you guessed it — online marketing.

A digital marketing RFP will help you achieve your business goals. With an RFP, you’ll be able to offer a clear-cut proposal that prospective agencies can visualize and understand better, which is helpful for both parties. It’ll also allow you to discuss what you’re looking for within your company internally, so you can skip the “multiple revisions” stage that comes with weak RFPs.

Relying on the RFP process will also make sure the firms have a written set of criteria so they can come back with solutions that fit the selection criteria you’re looking for.

A digital marketing RFP is perfect for those looking for an outside entity — specifically a digital marketing agency — to help you bring your company to the next level through social media, Google Analytics, or other technological solutions.

Why Use an Online Marketing RFP Template?

Searching for a digital agency that aligns with your aspirations and values can be a tricky process. In fact, the online marketing RFP writing process itself is challenging.

It can be extremely time-consuming. Unless you have hours and hours of free time, it can be challenging to carve out time during the day to work on an online marketing RFP.

Sometimes, as an RFP writer, it can be hard to know precisely what you desire from a firm. A digital marketing RFP template will lay that out for you nicely so you can pinpoint exactly what you want from the agency.

Finally, writing a digital marketing RFP is risky. Imagine spending hours and hours writing what seems to be the perfect proposal only for it to go nowhere.

We’re no strangers to online marketing RFPs — we’ve seen some truly impressive proposals and a handful of laughable RFPs. But our digital marketing RFP template makes it easier for both parties: Not only will it be easier to write and organize, but that’ll make it easy for the company to review it as well.

Digital marketing RFPs don’t have to be an enigma. Our template should guide you through every part of the process. We’ll also share some helpful tips and tricks that might make the process even easier for you.

What’s Usually Included in an Online Marketing RFP

The beautiful thing about digital marketing RFPs is that they can be very versatile, depending on the company or person writing them.

Although your RFP can be whatever you envision, we’re going to cover some common areas that online marketing RFPs usually include. That being said, not all of these topics will apply to you, and even if they do, you might choose to omit some aspects — that’s all to be expected.

Your company

One of the best places to start is who you are. Unless your company already has a robust digital presence, chances are, the firms you contact won’t be familiar with your company, and that’s OK.

Here, you’ll want to share information about your company’s background, where it is now, where you’re looking to go, and any core values and missions that you’d like to include. How many employees do you have? Is there more than one location?

This might also be an appropriate place to briefly explain why you’re interested in digital marketing. You can also end with a concise summary of what you’re looking for in an agency partner. For example, you might want agencies that have years of experience in a particular area.

Your current digital presence

You’ll want to be as honest and accurate as possible in this section. Here, you’ll be describing your current digital presence and what that looks like.

I’d suggest detailing the current online marketing strategies your company uses, including what’s working, what isn’t, and what you wish could work better.

Within this sphere, you can also discuss any and all marketing challenges that come to mind when you think of your digital presence. For example, maybe you’re struggling with low retention rates, or perhaps the in-house content you have isn’t up to par for your audience.

Even if it’s painful to recall your shortcomings and what’s not working for you, this will be the best way for potential firms to know how to develop a personalized marketing strategy for you and your business. Everyone faces marketing program challenges, and you shouldn’t be ashamed of them.

Who your competitors are

Identifying at least three competitors (and their websites) will help potential firms see who you’re up against. Agencies can then know what you’re doing well compared to companies that might already be doing it better.

You might also consider sharing any of the competitors’ social media accounts and advertising campaigns that impress you, so the potential agencies can tailor their solution to hitting some of those marketing goals.

Your target audience

When you think of your ideal customer, what do they look like? In other words, who’s your target audience? When thinking of your target audience, you’ll want to include both demographic and even psychographic information to provide firms with a visual to the audience you’re attracting.

It would be worthwhile to create a few personas to show these agencies and help them better visualize the customer.

Your overall goal

This is an excellent place to introduce your specific goals concisely. I wouldn’t advise writing a lengthy goal that’s bogged down with many details, since we’ll get into the meat of your digital marketing RFP later. Pick one to three outcomes that you’d like the online marketing firm to do for you.

Your business goals

Your business goals will probably be similar to your overall goal, but we’ll dive a little deeper into this section. What do you want your future online marketing strategy to do, exactly? What would be a successful marketing strategy in your eyes?

Make sure they’re both realistic and achievable. For example, maybe you just want to increase your revenue for the next fiscal year. That’s an entirely reasonable business goal.

In this section (or in a new section), you can include the scope of the work you need, even if it’s an estimate. For example, what are your specific needs per digital channel? To make it easier, you can also include a list of deliverables that you have in mind.

Your objectives

In order to achieve your business goals, you’ve got to have objectives — written plans that will help you get to the next level. This will help visualize the project overview, too.

Although you might already know what your objectives are, you should be very granular on the exact scope of work based on what marketing services you want or think you need:

Improved search engine optimization (SEO) for your website

Effective PPC campaign

A social media strategy or campaign

An email marketing strategy

Your time frame

Some companies don’t have a specific timeline, but if you do, include it here. How soon do you want to see results? This section will also help you avoid firms that don’t have the bandwidth to finish this project based on your provided time frame.

Your budget

This section is essential. How much are you willing to pay these agencies to assist with a successful digital marketing strategy? This section, in particular, will help you steer clear of agencies that aren’t willing to meet you in the middle.

Even if you don’t have a budget, you should still include a range so the firm will have some idea of what the costs will be.

Selection timeline and requirements

To better help you stick to a rigid timeline, outline some critical dates that will affect your selection process. For example, you could include:

When the proposals are due

A timeline of the question and answer period

When you’ll select an agency

What date the project will start

On the first day, you’ll send out the digital marketing RFP, and a few days later, you might choose to cut off anyone who doesn’t RSVP. You’ll probably schedule a few calls with viable firms for about a week and answer any questions they might have. A week after that, it might be time for the firms to submit their proposals. Although this is an example, the actual timeline is entirely up to you.

In this section, you can also detail how you’ll choose an agency partner. Will you use a scoring system? What selection criteria will you include?

Standard Master Services Agreement

Your company’s legal team might suggest you use a standard Master Services Agreement, also called an MSA. If this is the case, a potential firm or agency might also include their own terms and conditions.

What you expect in return

What information would you like from potential firms? If you clearly state what sort of information you expect, the likely agencies can better cater to providing it. You might prefer to know the history of the agency, examples of case studies, what qualifications and experience it has, account management process, and pricing, among other pieces of intel.

Contact and questions

You should provide a point of contact for agencies to reach out to, whether it’s your public relations director or another trusted key stakeholder. You should include their:

Full legal name

Job title

Mailing address

Email and phone number

That way, you can direct any specific questions that might come up during the proposal period to one single contact to make it easier.

Why It’s Important to Nail Your RFP

So, you’ve got an idea of how to write an online marketing RFP — but why is it so important to get it right?

A proposal is essentially your one change to vet firms before you listen to their pitch. It’ll help you steer clear of firms that won’t be a good fit and, in turn, will prevent you from wasting time. That’s why it’s so critical to be as detailed as possible when you’re creating a digital marketing RFP.

Final Thoughts

An online marketing RFP is what you make it. There’s lots of room to be creative and have fun with it during the RFP process. Staying positive is key, as this proposal is going to be what effectively drives your digital marketing strategy and what determines which agency you might partner with within the next few weeks.

That’s where our digital marketing RFP template comes in. It’ll provide you with a meaningful way to organize your proposal so as to make it clear to both parties. With this template, the digital marketing possibilities are virtually endless. Take the first step to getting your company up to par with the rest of the digital ecosystem.

Download Now: Free Online Marketing RFP Template

If you are vetting online marketing agencies and need an RFP template that can be customized to your needs, simply enter your email and we will instantly send you the template.

Download Now

If you are human, leave this field blank.

Online Marketing RFP Template With Sample Questions was originally posted by Video And Blog Marketing

Hey - Pat from StarterStory.com here with another interview.Today's interview is with Joris de Ruiter of ConvertCalculator, a brand that sells calculator form builder.Some stats:Product: Calculator form builder.Revenue/mo: $5,000Started: January 2017Location: RotterdamFounders: 1Employees: 1Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?Hi all! My name is Joris de Ruiter and I’m the founder of ConvertCalculator, a SaaS business that helps small businesses automate their sales processes and grow their business.I started coding the project in September 2017 and launched the MVP in one week. One week later, I onboarded my first paying customer.Since then 3500 businesses signed up which resulted in over 1 million calculator page views. Right now, the business makes $5000,- in monthly recurring revenue with 150 customers.imageWhat's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?I started my first business together with my roommate when I was at university; a creative agency. We started out doing social media and online marketing campaigns. We pivoted to web design when we were one year in. We mostly build simple marketing websites for small businesses, also doing SEO and online marketing.Besides client projects, I started over 10 projects to get out of the “money for hour” trap. All of them failed.After building websites for a couple of years, I realized my talent lay mostly in coding more complex web applications. I quit the agency to do web development contract work, all alongside my search for that one project which would take off.In September 2017 a client approached me and asked if I could build a “calculator” for their website. I thought about all those times entrepreneurs approached me wanting a “price quote calculator” for their website. In nine out of ten cases it was just too expensive to build.So instead of quoting my client, I suggested they pay $30,- per month for it. They said yes. This was my first validation for the product.I just listened to Tyler Tringas’ podcast on Indiehackers, which suggested to check Upwork for the demand of a potential product. I did that by searching for “price quote calculator”, and yes, I found several requests for developers to build custom price quote calculators. This was the second validation for the product.This was enough for me to get an MVP out. I created it in one week, launched my marketing website and showed the calculator to my client. They loved it, but the project was put on hold, so no paying customer yet. You can imagine that this really bummed me out.I decided to promote ConvertCalculator on Quora and Help forums for website builders.imageAn example of a Quora comment. Check it out here.One week later I got my first user ready to start paying. The problem was I didn’t offer a way to upgrade yet. I remember I was at the airport and getting a third email from that customer “complaining” that he couldn’t checkout yet.I was going on a surf trip and didn’t want to keep him waiting, so I started coding in the plane, pushing the update out when I arrived in Portugal. When I came back from my first surf, I got my first payment confirmation email from Stripe.That was the validation I needed to keep going!Take us through the process of building the product.So I got my first paying customer in the door, followed by a second one a couple of days later, but the product was still very early-stage.I knew I needed months of coding to get to real product-market fit. I learned from previous projects that the worst thing you can do is develop behind closed doors, so I started improving the product incrementally, with a lot of input from customers. In fact, I scheduled 2-3 calls a week to get more and more insights on my customer's real challenges.Two of my core values are freedom and independence, so you can imagine I am really big on bootstrapping. This meant that 2018 was a hectic year; building and growing ConvertCalculator and doing contract work to pay the bills.End of 2018 I was on $2500,- MRR, and I decided to go full-time; hoping I had enough runway (with my limited savings). That proved to be successful and I haven’t looked back ever since.Until today I do everything myself, development, design, marketing, and customer support. The only help I got (big help I must say) was from a startup advisor. He helped me prioritize, make better decisions and focus more on the customer. He is now a dear friend, and we created a side-project together called ContactBubble; a floating contact form for your website.Describe the process of launching the business.There is not a lot to say about my product launch. I don’t really believe in those “great moments that change everything”. In my view, it’s all about showing up every single day, making progress in small steps.I didn’t really have a smart launching strategy, I just pushed my website and app to production and started talking about it online. I initially didn’t launch on websites like ProductHunt or HackerNews. I never felt my product was good enough. I did get a lot of customers via Google, product forums, Quora. A year into it I decided to launch on ProductHunt and HackerNews. My product performed reasonably well there, but I didn’t get a lot of actual customers via these channels.When I “launched” I just picked a price that felt right and went with it. I had three plans (Hobby: €9, Pro: €20, and Premium: €60), but I hadn’t had time to build actual Premium features, so you can scratch the last one.Over time the product became more valuable, so I decided to increase pricing. That’s the best thing I could have done! Not only did revenue increase, but conversion rates did go up as well. My advice to anybody is to “raise your prices”.Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?The single most important thing related to growth to date is SEO.In my opinion, It’s the only truly sustainable way of growing a SaaS business that you can control directly. Another one is word-of-mouth, but that’s something you earn with creating a solid product and doing good customer service.imageMy main strategy for SEO was creating landing pages for every single use case of the product, such as lead generation, quote building, and order forms. This way I could focus every page on a small set of keywords, that all flow to the homepage, which is optimized for, the more general, term calculator form.Although this strategy worked, I realize I need to focus more on creating blog posts to cover niche subjects and provide my customers with valuable information on how to run their business online. Another opportunity is link building, on which I didn’t focus at all.I haven’t explored a lot of other growth areas yet (besides launching on ProductHunt and Hackernews). The reason being that I do customer support myself and I want to remain sane and grow calmly.Actually, The second part of 2019 will be the perfect time to explore other growth channels, especially advertising and content marketing. So exciting times ahead.How are you doing today and what does the future look like?I can’t complain! ConvertCalculator is profitable and growing at a steady (but small) pace. The down-the-line conversion rate is 1.1% (from visitor to paying customer), which is ok and the customer lifetime value averages around $700,-. I would say that I’m ready for the next phase: growing the business.I have two goals for 2019. The first one is growing too $ 8000,- MRR. As I mentioned earlier I can achieve this by experimenting with other growth channels and spending more time on marketing in general.The second goal is to phase myself out of the day-to-day operations, meaning that I can spend all my time on product development and strategy. To make that possible, I will need to (1) improve documentation and UX and (2) hire customer support and marketing specialist.I have a long-term goal as well, although not directly related to ConvertCalculator; I want to live a more balanced life. That means that I want to spend 3-4 hours a day on work, and leave enough time to spend on things and people that bring me true happiness.Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?Yes definitely! I’m a person with a lot of imagination and I’m always thinking and dreaming about big and crazy things. This is great for creativity, but you can imagine I have had real difficulty with productivity / sitting down and getting things done.Starting a business means you’ve got to carry your own weight. This pressure kept me in work mode and learned me to stay grounded. From the success of ConvertCalculator in particular, I learned that grit is the number one derivative for success.What platform/tools do you use for your business?For customer support, I used to use a chat app, but I didn’t like to be in “support mode” all the time, so I created my own tool called ContactBubble, making it easy for people to reach us and easy for me to answer questions. Because customer requests are just sent to email, I need a good email client/customer support platform to follow up. I use Front and I love it!For hosting, I use Heroku and MongoDB Cloud. The dev stack is based on MeteorJS, with React and TailwindCSS (love this!).For email marketing, I’m using MailterLite, but I’m going to try out EmailOctopus. I haven't found any good (and reasonably priced) tool for email automation, so this is all hard-coded in the platform.For productivity I use Trello.What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?The IndieHackers podcast helped me a lot! I remember countless times when I was in my car to go surfing and listening to another podcast and thinking: Yes I need to do this!Regarding books, I got a lot of guidance from Essentialism; this especially helped me to not do things, in order to focus on more essential things. I also get a lot of inspiration from reading books about eastern philosophy, especially Zen.Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?The absolute number one is “do fewer things”. Focus on the truly essential stuff, and do this right. Don’t put all that other stuff on a todo list either, maybe write it down somewhere if that helps, but I don’t do that either.Another important lesson I learned is that “done is better than perfect”. So let go of your inner perfectionist and get the work of the door.The last one, and I think that’s the major reason why all my other projects failed, is ** to talk to customers**. You don’t have to do everything (or anything) they say, but you will learn a ton. I scheduled 2-3 calls per week for a full year now, and I still get valuable insights from customers sometimes.Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?I’m about to fill the first position, so no. I want to be careful with hiring; I want to hire when it really hurts.Where can we go to learn more?You can learn more about ConvertCalculator via our website. If you are interested in ContactBubble, you can find it here.You can find more about me and the other projects I’m doing, you can go to Stay Bold.If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!Liked this text interview? Check out the full interview with photos, tools, books, and other data.For more interviews, check out r/starter_story - I post new stories there daily.Interested in sharing your own story? Send me a PM

#Innovation #Makes #Money, #Innovation #Increases #Sales, #Create #Innovative #New #Products #photooftheday #adultmodel #ballet #brunettebabes #contour #girls #instabeauty #modeling #swag #vegas

Only five% of refreshing merchandise that are released once-a-yearly are truly creative. Picture that for a second, ninety five% of all new product releases are essentially knock offs of an industry chief. Yet another way to state it, the festival defeat them to the marketplace and now they’re striving to get a piece of an innovative market by duplicateing the competition’s new innovation. An illustration of here’s the just lately launched Android, 4G sensible call. Here is a ideal example of what I’m detailing. Apple’s competition observed that Apple designed an innovative smart phone; Apple’s competition saw that Apple pioneered this marketplace; and developed a market for the iPhone. So now the organic chain of get-togethers is to knock off the leader’s sizzling product, by opposite engineering it as quickly as they may possibly get their arms on one.

Innovation is the very best security towards a economic downturn. I can prove this by making use of a positive kitchen area wares manufacturer that was able to preserve their $one hundred million in annual product sales by including SKUs, new product. This kitchen wares firm was able to maintain that sales level throughout this recession by introducing new innovative products. Although other organizations have been shedding their sales by fifty% in twenty07 and stopped growing new products; this company preserved that $100 million in sales. The sales of every new product were practically nothing to compose property about. This problem was settled by changing stock degrees. In my impression this was genius.

I percentaged this product strategy with a sales govt in the glass production industry and manufactured the remark that this strategy was genius. His comeback was that if this strategy was so genius why does not Mc Donald’s boost their menu? Perhaps he failed to understand that Mc Donald’s was doing precisely that, extending their menu. Throughout this recession Mc Donald’s went after the Starbucks market by providing their high end coffees and do not neglect that healthful demographic that they are dating now.

As an OEM Venture Boss, Product Developer and Salesman for above 20 many years my clientele and I might very easily say, “We incorporate six – calendar year to love the income margins and amortize the tooling before the product is knocked-off and we must minimize our benefit to maintain the sum. As you’ve got considered with the iPhone, the reply is to have a model 2 ready in the wings to release. Recently Apple is liberating their “4G” version of the iPhone; what does this do? It retains the anxiety on the competition to consistently engage in capture up with the industry leader. So what takes place after the competition introduces their version of a competitor’s innovation? Margins go down, volume goes down, and your innovative product turns into yet another commodity soutdated by price.

So one would have to request on their own why are there so couple of innovative product launches when it is innovation that will give your sales pressure the reward needed to contend in an ever increasing aggressive international marketplace. The basic answer is no vision; fret of failure; not realizing the dynamics of innovation; advertising vs. knocking-off; and suiting costs are just a few of the motives a company continues to be distinct of developing new innovative products and desire to be copy cats. I use to perform for an man or woman whose philosophy was to let the competition do the research and then copy what they did after the head aches were labored out.

So how are innovative products developed? The answer is really simple; analyze your marketplace and establish what it is that your clients want and or need in your product. OK, is this less complicated explained than completed? It all relies upon how you consider, if your Sales Group is hearing your clients and whether or not your manage team is chance damaging and not prepared to take a chance. What are the dangers anxious? If done proper the risk is very constrained. The risk is minimal since there’s a structure to stick to and when done right you get your customer’s purchase in even though the product is currently being developed. The flipside to this strategy is to knock-off your competition’s innovative product.

As a Project Manager / Account Manager for one of the most significant OEM speaker manufactures in the entire world, Foster Electric. Foster makes Apple’s ear buds, and manufacturers products for Sony, Yamaha, Pioneer, Clarion, Kenwood just to name a few. I experienced clients this sort of as Radio Shack, Fender Musical Equipment, and Wal-Mart. A single’s quick thought is what can be innovative in the world of speaker manufacturing? The speaker industry has been an integral part of the consumer digitals industry. Carry you ever been in a video theatre when the audio went out? Or have you ever viewed a DVD without having 5.1 Dolby virtual audio? The results are wonderful; it really is the audio that give the movie the dynamic truly feel of home theatre.

Innovation is deviating from the norm and generating anything that other folks will chortle at or willing to action out on a limb and take the conceptual soar to design something apart from what is actually in the market. As a Project Manager / Account Manager / Product Designer for an OEM speaker company one of my OEM accounts was Targus World-wide. If you’re not acquainted with Targus they are the kinds who make travel components for notebook personal computers. I designed the 1st micro-subwoofer, (Sort of like jumbo shrimp). Targus wished a transportable multi-media technique that they could encourage for the touring salesperson to take on the street and make Strength Stage shows. The design and the execution was a accomplishment. The travel speakers were examined using a mini travel DVD participant and the “Leading Gun” DVD as the test. The sound breakup could be read changeover from speaker to speaker and the deep bass seems had a definite dynamic to the audio element from the laptop.

I’ve been doing work on an innovative product for the very last 5 years for the iPod market. As a speaker manufacturer I have requested myself what is the most popular audio selling product in the marketplace and how can some other share in its success? With this said one calls for to have an understanding of speakers, recording, the iPod and the problems with the iPod. What comes to head temporarily is 1. The ear buds are unhealthy to ears; 2. The sound sounds tiny; and a few. There’s missing material when CDs are made. The lost content happens when the recording is made during the compression phase of the recording. The missing content circuit is the venture name for a very innovative iPod or iPhone accent. This product hasn’t made it to market. The cosmetic of it is that it is an old idea, sixties – seventies with right now’s engineering. We arrived up with two variations, a high end and a cheap version. Does it work, of course!

“An old idea, nevertheless with new technology”, now which is what innovation is all about. King Solomon, of the Bible, said that there nothing new under the sunlight. That being said confirms my assertion: “An old idea, but with new technology” is a real method for innovation. Presently’s computer chips alongside with the development of DSP, Electronic Sign Processing makes it possible for us to produce products that are entirely brief to our creativity.

Innovative products warrant increased profit margins; innovative products make your company a player in the marketplace rather of a “Me As well”; and being the innovator places your company in the driver seat with product development. Some of the best technological developments were simply sophisticated because it took a present disease and made it far better. Whether or not that better is more rapidly, smaller sized, distant, blended attributes, and so on is simply an old idea made to function better.

The ipod is nothing a lot in excess of a walkman of the 19eight0s.

The iphone took that ipod and incorporated a cell phone to it.

A automatic capsule is nothing more than an 8 1/2×11 piece of tablet paper that is tied to a computer.

The flat monitor tv is no more than an extension of the televisions of the nineteen fifties.

The home theatre industry peaked in the early 2000s with the arrival of low-cost flat screen televisions and 5.1 Dolby sound programs. Now the 5.1 speaker systems are constructed into the flat monitors with psychoacoustics processor that reproduce the identical results of the Dolby Digital 5.1 Encompass Seem.

Specified improvements were unable to develop till other industries had developed. The Photovoltaic Market place is a perfect example of such a case. The Photovoltaic Industry, better acknowledged for the solar panels seen on roofs to heat drinking water, is an example of an industry that couldn’t advance until certain other technologies had advanced first. Advancements in Nanotechnology were essential to develop the electric powered producing movie that is revealed on the glass. The printing technology and the software of the Nanotechnology film on glass did not develop until the turn of the century. This innovative technology, although being utilised, has not completely matured is on dangle until extra developments are made in making the conversion of the solar calories more successful.

The advancement of incorporated circuitry and the further advancement to reduce the general size of the electronics. This miniaturization of electronics was advanced with the wave solder device and the automobile-insertion machine. Even though individuals two improvements were meant to reduce labor. The auto-insertion machine permitted for the precision and set up of very very small area fixed integrated circuits, (electronic substances), on printed circuit boards.

The question is which team do you want to be a part of; the 5% of truly innovative new product launches with increasing sales or the 95% of new product launches that are knock-offs whose prices are established to match the competition and sell by price instead of selling the price and features.

The post Innovation Makes Money, Innovation Increases Sales, Create Innovative New Products appeared first on Beautiful Women.

source http://topbeautifulwomen.com/innovation-makes-money-innovation-increases-sales-create-innovative-new-products/

Making Changes For Yourself

To Begin.

Let's start with this, who gets to decide what is right or wrong?  Too many times people allow others like other people, society or even media sources to dictate what is right or wrong for them, but they shouldn't.  Who gets to decide what is right or wrong??  YOU DO!!  When I say that you need to do it for the right reasons, I mean the reasons that matter to you and not to anybody else!  You need to be important in your life!

How many times have any of us tried to do something for someone else because we felt obligated or pressured into it?  I think we all can admit to that.  My guess is most of us have tried to lose weight, get fit, changed our hair or clothing style to please our partners or performed an act of service out of duty rather than desire.  How’d that work out for you?  

I’m here to say that you don’t have to do any of those things.... unless you want to! 

No one can tell us we need to change our appearance, go to grad school or accept a job except ourselves.  When we say to ourselves we want to do one of those things, we need to mean it and actually want to make those changes.  Otherwise, we’re just adding unnecessary stress to our already stressful lives, for nothing. 

When we want to make changes, we need to ask ourselves some questions: 

1) Why is it important to do it??

2) To whom is it important??

3) Is it absolutely necessary??

4) Who can help us do it if needed??

But why would we do that?

There has to be a reason for what you want to accomplish, and this reason must come from your very own desire.  If you really don’t want to do something and it’s not an absolute necessity for your life, then don’t do it.  Yes, I did just say that, and I'll repeat it – don’t do it!  If you don’t have a strong enough desire, then all of your energy you put towards this goal will fill you with resentment, make you tired and bring negativity into your life. 

Maybe there is another thing you can do that will bring about the same or similar result, or perhaps even a result that's completely opposite but that still fulfills the same purpose for you.  For example, let’s say someone close to you has been nagging you to go back to school to finish a degree that was already started years ago, so you can get a better job and quit complaining about the one you have.  You do feel like you should finish that degree in whatever you started years ago because you already have a ton of credits completed and can get done a lot quicker and cheaper than starting over.  But wait!!  You’ve discovered over the years, a passion for something else and you want to study that instead.  Maybe only a fraction of your credits will count towards this degree, and it will cost more money and time, but doesn’t that far outweigh the internal discord you’ll experience if you make yourself finish the already started degree?  By choosing to study your newfound passion, the act of completing an education becomes important to you and not just the person nagging you.  Sometimes selecting the less easy path is hard but overall, the choice needs to be what you want and can make you happy.

Asking for Help

When you have an authentic desire to do something, most likely you will need some help along the way.  Some people have no problem asking for what they need or want, while many others do.  This is something that may become less uncomfortable the more you do it though.  I used to never ask for help and would research answers online for hours about something that I knew other people would know immediately and be happy to tell me.  Seems crazy right?  People do that all the time because it's hard to ask for help, it seems.  I’m here to tell you though… Ask for help!!    

When you do ask for help, make your request very specific.  Don’t get all frazzled with whatever you are doing and yell something non-specific at someone like, “You never help me.  I can’t get my work done.  My work is piling up, and I haven’t had a lunch in over a week!”   This was what I would say, at times.  All they hear though is you freaking out with probably no idea how to help.  I had to change and stop and think about what exactly I needed that was causing my frustration.  By calmly saying, “I’m really struggling to get my work done and I need to eat.  Would you be willing to help me with (whatever it is you need) because I would really appreciate it,” I was able to get the help I needed because most people want to help others.  It’s pretty likely they will say yes and do it.  If they don’t, then you go to Plan B and ask for help another way or from someone else, but the point is YOU are in charge of getting the help you need to do the things that are important to you and will save yourself a lot of harmful stress by doing so.

Self-Belief = capacity for producing a desired result or effect.

Okay, so now you’ve got your why and you’ve learned to ask for help but sometimes self-doubt creeps in and you become your own worst enemy.  How do you help yourself believe you can do it? 

First - Keep moving along, going through the motions, doing what needs to be done (what you’ve chosen to do) because the feeling will usually pass or you’ll have a small victory that reminds you that you can do it because you can.  Power through and take breaks along the way.  Realize that it is ok for things to take time and not be perfect from the start.  Second - Build a support team.  This may include people like a mentor, a coach, your partner, your best friend, your mom…anyone who knows you and your strengths and weaknesses.  Pick people who acknowledge your fears, validate your feelings, and who know you well enough to remind you of other experiences where you were great.  The key to using your support team is that you may have to ask (yes – ask!) for reassurance along the way.  More likely than not, they’ll be cheerleading you along the way without any prompting. 

Remember

You need to do things for the right reasons, which are reasons determined by you!  You need a why for what you are doing. Otherwise, it’s going to be a real drag.  You probably will need to ask for help, and if you aren’t used to asking for help, you’ll need to practice until it becomes comfortable. Finally, you need to push through hard times and build a support team who will be there with you. 

We are always here to help you!! 

Making Changes For The Right Reasons

To Begin.

Let's start with this, who gets to decide what is right or wrong?  Too many times people allow others like other people, society or even media sources to dictate what is right or wrong for them, but they shouldn't.  Who gets to decide what is right or wrong??  YOU DO!!  When I say that you need to do it for the right reasons, I mean the reasons that matter to you and not to anybody else!  You need to be important in your life!

How many times have any of us tried to do something for someone else because we felt obligated or pressured into it?  I think we all can admit to that.  My guess is most of us have tried to lose weight, get fit, changed our hair or clothing style to please our partners or performed an act of service out of duty rather than desire.  How’d that work out for you?  

I’m here to say that you don’t have to do any of those things.... unless you want to! 

No one can tell us we need to change our appearance, go to grad school or accept a job except ourselves.  When we say to ourselves we want to do one of those things, we need to mean it and actually want to make those changes.  Otherwise, we’re just adding unnecessary stress to our already stressful lives, for nothing. 

When we want to make changes, we need to ask ourselves some questions: 

1) Why is it important to do it??

2) To whom is it important??

3) Is it absolutely necessary??

4) Who can help us do it if needed??

But why would we do that?

There has to be a reason for what you want to accomplish, and this reason must come from your very own desire.  If you really don’t want to do something and it’s not an absolute necessity for your life, then don’t do it.  Yes, I did just say that, and I'll repeat it – don’t do it!  If you don’t have a strong enough desire, then all of your energy you put towards this goal will fill you with resentment, make you tired and bring negativity into your life. 

Maybe there is another thing you can do that will bring about the same or similar result, or perhaps even a result that's completely opposite but that still fulfills the same purpose for you.  For example, let’s say someone close to you has been nagging you to go back to school to finish a degree that was already started years ago, so you can get a better job and quit complaining about the one you have.  You do feel like you should finish that degree in whatever you started years ago because you already have a ton of credits completed and can get done a lot quicker and cheaper than starting over.  But wait!!  You’ve discovered over the years, a passion for something else and you want to study that instead.  Maybe only a fraction of your credits will count towards this degree, and it will cost more money and time, but doesn’t that far outweigh the internal discord you’ll experience if you make yourself finish the already started degree?  By choosing to study your newfound passion, the act of completing an education becomes important to you and not just the person nagging you.  Sometimes selecting the less easy path is hard but overall, the choice needs to be what you want and can make you happy.

Asking for Help

When you have an authentic desire to do something, most likely you will need some help along the way.  Some people have no problem asking for what they need or want, while many others do.  This is something that may become less uncomfortable the more you do it though.  I used to never ask for help and would research answers online for hours about something that I knew other people would know immediately and be happy to tell me.  Seems crazy right?  People do that all the time because it's hard to ask for help, it seems.  I’m here to tell you though… Ask for help!!    

When you do ask for help, make your request very specific.  Don’t get all frazzled with whatever you are doing and yell something non-specific at someone like, “You never help me.  I can’t get my work done.  My work is piling up, and I haven’t had a lunch in over a week!”   This was what I would say, at times.  All they hear though is you freaking out with probably no idea how to help.  I had to change and stop and think about what exactly I needed that was causing my frustration.  By calmly saying, “I’m really struggling to get my work done and I need to eat.  Would you be willing to help me with (whatever it is you need) because I would really appreciate it,” I was able to get the help I needed because most people want to help others.  It’s pretty likely they will say yes and do it.  If they don’t, then you go to Plan B and ask for help another way or from someone else, but the point is YOU are in charge of getting the help you need to do the things that are important to you and will save yourself a lot of harmful stress by doing so.

Self-Belief = capacity for producing a desired result or effect.

Okay, so now you’ve got your why and you’ve learned to ask for help but sometimes self-doubt creeps in and you become your own worst enemy.  How do you help yourself believe you can do it? 

First - Keep moving along, going through the motions, doing what needs to be done (what you’ve chosen to do) because the feeling will usually pass or you’ll have a small victory that reminds you that you can do it because you can.  Power through and take breaks along the way.  Realize that it is ok for things to take time and not be perfect from the start.  Second - Build a support team.  This may include people like a mentor, a coach, your partner, your best friend, your mom…anyone who knows you and your strengths and weaknesses.  Pick people who acknowledge your fears, validate your feelings, and who know you well enough to remind you of other experiences where you were great.  The key to using your support team is that you may have to ask (yes – ask!) for reassurance along the way.  More likely than not, they’ll be cheerleading you along the way without any prompting. 

Remember

You need to do things for the right reasons, which are reasons determined by you!  You need a why for what you are doing. Otherwise, it’s going to be a real drag.  You probably will need to ask for help, and if you aren’t used to asking for help, you’ll need to practice until it becomes comfortable. Finally, you need to push through hard times and build a support team who will be there with you. 

We are always here to help you!! 

Nerdsplaining And How To Avoid It

Nerdsplaining And How To Avoid It

There’s a scourge in marketing: Nerdsplaining. It sucks the wind out of meetings, causes eyes to roll violently back, and may cause some clients to choke on their turkey sandwich.

If I’ve ever inflicted these on you, leave a comment:

PPC: Ask me why your Adwords campaign is sucking wind, and you’ll get a ten-minute course on quality score, natural language processing, and Google’s profit motive. After the first two minutes, you’ll wish you had a sledgehammer.

SEO: I DARE YOU to ask about ranking factors. I F–KING DARE YOU. I’ll treat you to a detailed explanation about distance from perfect, the amygdala, word vectors, and why John Meuller is one of the good guys. Add a whiteboard and poof. That’s twelve hours you’ll never get back.

Canonicalization: I already wrote a three-part blog post about this. ’nuff said.

Social Media: Easy. Dunbar’s Number. It only takes about five minutes to explain, but a lifetime to forget. Which you’ll want to after I follow up with 10 minutes explaining why it no longer holds true.

Now that I’ve wasted five minutes explaining it you understand: Nerdsplaining means needlessly drilling so far down into a topic that your audience loses track of the original point. I can nerdsplain anything. It’s irritating.

Nerdsplaining can also mean assuming your audience doesn’t understand when they do. This version is just insulting.

But it’s so much fun. See how smart I am! Convert to The Way of Marketing! Spread the word! And it’s cute. Almost endearing. That’s what my wife says, anyway, right before she says “interesting” and changes the subject.

The Problem With Nerdsplaining

Nerdsplaining can also ruin you. It’s persuasive white noise at best, a snore-inducing, patronizing poopfest at worst.

Do the math:

One client request

Meeting time: One hour

Attention span: 5 minutes

Desired information: 5-minute conversation

Nerdsplanation: 35 minutes

Result: Client never asks a question again

You’re the smartest in the room. Your answer is pithy and valuable. And the client wants to shove you down an elevator shaft. They learned you’re an eccentric genius (if you’re lucky), or a patronizing tool (if you’re not). They did not learn the answer to their question.

When Is It OK?

There’s a time to nerdsplain. When you’re teaching an audience that wants the “advanced” course, for example. Or when someone asks. Or when someone who “knows marketing” goes off on your idea and needs to be sandblasted.

Those times are few and far between. Usually, you want to avoid it.

How To Avoid It: Get To The Point

I have no idea. I’m one of the worst nerdsplainers on the planet. If you ask me what time it is, I’m going to tell you how the watch works, why we have Daylight Savings Time (fuel conservation, from what I understand), and why time slows down when you’re on a fast train (it’s called time dilation). By the time I’m done, you’ll wish you used a sundial, or you’ll be playing Bloons Tower Defense on your phone.

While they were holding my head underwater, a few friends suggested strategies:

Consider the audience. If you’re in a room full of marketing nerds, they may want to understand the difference between inbound and outbound marketing. Most people just want to know their ROI

Observe and adjust. If people are stifling yawns so hard their eyes are watering, and they look like someone shoved a toothpick in their eardrum, you’ve gone too far. Pull up!!! Pull up!!!!

Listen. When someone nods and says “interesting” while their eyes unfocus, they’re probably not interested

Or, you can just ask/warn the audience:

“If you want, I can geek way down the rabbit hole about this…” “Stop me if I’m nerdsplaining™ (Ian Lurie 2018 not for reuse without permission)…” “If you already know, this, stop me. I don’t want to waste your time…” “Your click cost tripled because your ad stopped performing. Google cares about that. I can give the details if you want, or I can jump to how we fix it…”

Or, you can just get to the point and stay here. Which is the point. When people ask a question, they need the answer. Not all of them want the agonizing details. Understand the difference.

Also, if you catch me explaining how the watch works, say “interesting,” and I’ll move on.

http://ift.tt/2sXhYe9

Nerdsplaining And How To Avoid It

Nerdsplaining And How To Avoid It

There’s a scourge in marketing: Nerdsplaining. It sucks the wind out of meetings, causes eyes to roll violently back, and may cause some clients to choke on their turkey sandwich.

If I’ve ever inflicted these on you, leave a comment:

PPC: Ask me why your Adwords campaign is sucking wind, and you’ll get a ten-minute course on quality score, natural language processing, and Google’s profit motive. After the first two minutes, you’ll wish you had a sledgehammer.

SEO: I DARE YOU to ask about ranking factors. I F–KING DARE YOU. I’ll treat you to a detailed explanation about distance from perfect, the amygdala, word vectors, and why John Meuller is one of the good guys. Add a whiteboard and poof. That’s twelve hours you’ll never get back.

Canonicalization: I already wrote a three-part blog post about this. ’nuff said.

Social Media: Easy. Dunbar’s Number. It only takes about five minutes to explain, but a lifetime to forget. Which you’ll want to after I follow up with 10 minutes explaining why it no longer holds true.

Now that I’ve wasted five minutes explaining it you understand: Nerdsplaining means needlessly drilling so far down into a topic that your audience loses track of the original point. I can nerdsplain anything. It’s irritating.

Nerdsplaining can also mean assuming your audience doesn’t understand when they do. This version is just insulting.

But it’s so much fun. See how smart I am! Convert to The Way of Marketing! Spread the word! And it’s cute. Almost endearing. That’s what my wife says, anyway, right before she says “interesting” and changes the subject.

The Problem With Nerdsplaining

Nerdsplaining can also ruin you. It’s persuasive white noise at best, a snore-inducing, patronizing poopfest at worst.

Do the math:

One client request

Meeting time: One hour

Attention span: 5 minutes

Desired information: 5-minute conversation

Nerdsplanation: 35 minutes

Result: Client never asks a question again

You’re the smartest in the room. Your answer is pithy and valuable. And the client wants to shove you down an elevator shaft. They learned you’re an eccentric genius (if you’re lucky), or a patronizing tool (if you’re not). They did not learn the answer to their question.

When Is It OK?

There’s a time to nerdsplain. When you’re teaching an audience that wants the “advanced” course, for example. Or when someone asks. Or when someone who “knows marketing” goes off on your idea and needs to be sandblasted.

Those times are few and far between. Usually, you want to avoid it.

How To Avoid It: Get To The Point

I have no idea. I’m one of the worst nerdsplainers on the planet. If you ask me what time it is, I’m going to tell you how the watch works, why we have Daylight Savings Time (fuel conservation, from what I understand), and why time slows down when you’re on a fast train (it’s called time dilation). By the time I’m done, you’ll wish you used a sundial, or you’ll be playing Bloons Tower Defense on your phone.

While they were holding my head underwater, a few friends suggested strategies:

Consider the audience. If you’re in a room full of marketing nerds, they may want to understand the difference between inbound and outbound marketing. Most people just want to know their ROI

Observe and adjust. If people are stifling yawns so hard their eyes are watering, and they look like someone shoved a toothpick in their eardrum, you’ve gone too far. Pull up!!! Pull up!!!!

Listen. When someone nods and says “interesting” while their eyes unfocus, they’re probably not interested

Or, you can just ask/warn the audience:

“If you want, I can geek way down the rabbit hole about this…” “Stop me if I’m nerdsplaining™ (Ian Lurie 2018 not for reuse without permission)…” “If you already know, this, stop me. I don’t want to waste your time…” “Your click cost tripled because your ad stopped performing. Google cares about that. I can give the details if you want, or I can jump to how we fix it…”

Or, you can just get to the point and stay here. Which is the point. When people ask a question, they need the answer. Not all of them want the agonizing details. Understand the difference.

Also, if you catch me explaining how the watch works, say “interesting,” and I’ll move on.

http://ift.tt/2sXhYe9

Nerdsplaining And How To Avoid It

Nerdsplaining And How To Avoid It

There’s a scourge in marketing: Nerdsplaining. It sucks the wind out of meetings, causes eyes to roll violently back, and may cause some clients to choke on their turkey sandwich.

If I’ve ever inflicted these on you, leave a comment:

PPC: Ask me why your Adwords campaign is sucking wind, and you’ll get a ten-minute course on quality score, natural language processing, and Google’s profit motive. After the first two minutes, you’ll wish you had a sledgehammer.

SEO: I DARE YOU to ask about ranking factors. I F–KING DARE YOU. I’ll treat you to a detailed explanation about distance from perfect, the amygdala, word vectors, and why John Meuller is one of the good guys. Add a whiteboard and poof. That’s twelve hours you’ll never get back.

Canonicalization: I already wrote a three-part blog post about this. ’nuff said.

Social Media: Easy. Dunbar’s Number. It only takes about five minutes to explain, but a lifetime to forget. Which you’ll want to after I follow up with 10 minutes explaining why it no longer holds true.

Now that I’ve wasted five minutes explaining it you understand: Nerdsplaining means needlessly drilling so far down into a topic that your audience loses track of the original point. I can nerdsplain anything. It’s irritating.

Nerdsplaining can also mean assuming your audience doesn’t understand when they do. This version is just insulting.

But it’s so much fun. See how smart I am! Convert to The Way of Marketing! Spread the word! And it’s cute. Almost endearing. That’s what my wife says, anyway, right before she says “interesting” and changes the subject.

The Problem With Nerdsplaining

Nerdsplaining can also ruin you. It’s persuasive white noise at best, a snore-inducing, patronizing poopfest at worst.

Do the math:

One client request

Meeting time: One hour

Attention span: 5 minutes

Desired information: 5-minute conversation

Nerdsplanation: 35 minutes

Result: Client never asks a question again

You’re the smartest in the room. Your answer is pithy and valuable. And the client wants to shove you down an elevator shaft. They learned you’re an eccentric genius (if you’re lucky), or a patronizing tool (if you’re not). They did not learn the answer to their question.

When Is It OK?

There’s a time to nerdsplain. When you’re teaching an audience that wants the “advanced” course, for example. Or when someone asks. Or when someone who “knows marketing” goes off on your idea and needs to be sandblasted.

Those times are few and far between. Usually, you want to avoid it.

How To Avoid It: Get To The Point

I have no idea. I’m one of the worst nerdsplainers on the planet. If you ask me what time it is, I’m going to tell you how the watch works, why we have Daylight Savings Time (fuel conservation, from what I understand), and why time slows down when you’re on a fast train (it’s called time dilation). By the time I’m done, you’ll wish you used a sundial, or you’ll be playing Bloons Tower Defense on your phone.

While they were holding my head underwater, a few friends suggested strategies:

Consider the audience. If you’re in a room full of marketing nerds, they may want to understand the difference between inbound and outbound marketing. Most people just want to know their ROI

Observe and adjust. If people are stifling yawns so hard their eyes are watering, and they look like someone shoved a toothpick in their eardrum, you’ve gone too far. Pull up!!! Pull up!!!!

Listen. When someone nods and says “interesting” while their eyes unfocus, they’re probably not interested

Or, you can just ask/warn the audience:

“If you want, I can geek way down the rabbit hole about this…” “Stop me if I’m nerdsplaining™ (Ian Lurie 2018 not for reuse without permission)…” “If you already know, this, stop me. I don’t want to waste your time…” “Your click cost tripled because your ad stopped performing. Google cares about that. I can give the details if you want, or I can jump to how we fix it…”

Or, you can just get to the point and stay here. Which is the point. When people ask a question, they need the answer. Not all of them want the agonizing details. Understand the difference.

Also, if you catch me explaining how the watch works, say “interesting,” and I’ll move on.

http://ift.tt/2sXhYe9

Nerdsplaining And How To Avoid It

Nerdsplaining And How To Avoid It

There’s a scourge in marketing: Nerdsplaining. It sucks the wind out of meetings, causes eyes to roll violently back, and may cause some clients to choke on their turkey sandwich.

If I’ve ever inflicted these on you, leave a comment:

PPC: Ask me why your Adwords campaign is sucking wind, and you’ll get a ten-minute course on quality score, natural language processing, and Google’s profit motive. After the first two minutes, you’ll wish you had a sledgehammer.

SEO: I DARE YOU to ask about ranking factors. I F–KING DARE YOU. I’ll treat you to a detailed explanation about distance from perfect, the amygdala, word vectors, and why John Meuller is one of the good guys. Add a whiteboard and poof. That’s twelve hours you’ll never get back.

Canonicalization: I already wrote a three-part blog post about this. ’nuff said.

Social Media: Easy. Dunbar’s Number. It only takes about five minutes to explain, but a lifetime to forget. Which you’ll want to after I follow up with 10 minutes explaining why it no longer holds true.

Now that I’ve wasted five minutes explaining it you understand: Nerdsplaining means needlessly drilling so far down into a topic that your audience loses track of the original point. I can nerdsplain anything. It’s irritating.

Nerdsplaining can also mean assuming your audience doesn’t understand when they do. This version is just insulting.

But it’s so much fun. See how smart I am! Convert to The Way of Marketing! Spread the word! And it’s cute. Almost endearing. That’s what my wife says, anyway, right before she says “interesting” and changes the subject.

The Problem With Nerdsplaining

Nerdsplaining can also ruin you. It’s persuasive white noise at best, a snore-inducing, patronizing poopfest at worst.

Do the math:

One client request

Meeting time: One hour

Attention span: 5 minutes

Desired information: 5-minute conversation

Nerdsplanation: 35 minutes

Result: Client never asks a question again

You’re the smartest in the room. Your answer is pithy and valuable. And the client wants to shove you down an elevator shaft. They learned you’re an eccentric genius (if you’re lucky), or a patronizing tool (if you’re not). They did not learn the answer to their question.

When Is It OK?

There’s a time to nerdsplain. When you’re teaching an audience that wants the “advanced” course, for example. Or when someone asks. Or when someone who “knows marketing” goes off on your idea and needs to be sandblasted.

Those times are few and far between. Usually, you want to avoid it.

How To Avoid It: Get To The Point

I have no idea. I’m one of the worst nerdsplainers on the planet. If you ask me what time it is, I’m going to tell you how the watch works, why we have Daylight Savings Time (fuel conservation, from what I understand), and why time slows down when you’re on a fast train (it’s called time dilation). By the time I’m done, you’ll wish you used a sundial, or you’ll be playing Bloons Tower Defense on your phone.

While they were holding my head underwater, a few friends suggested strategies:

Consider the audience. If you’re in a room full of marketing nerds, they may want to understand the difference between inbound and outbound marketing. Most people just want to know their ROI

Observe and adjust. If people are stifling yawns so hard their eyes are watering, and they look like someone shoved a toothpick in their eardrum, you’ve gone too far. Pull up!!! Pull up!!!!

Listen. When someone nods and says “interesting” while their eyes unfocus, they’re probably not interested

Or, you can just ask/warn the audience:

“If you want, I can geek way down the rabbit hole about this…” “Stop me if I’m nerdsplaining™ (Ian Lurie 2018 not for reuse without permission)…” “If you already know, this, stop me. I don’t want to waste your time…” “Your click cost tripled because your ad stopped performing. Google cares about that. I can give the details if you want, or I can jump to how we fix it…”

Or, you can just get to the point and stay here. Which is the point. When people ask a question, they need the answer. Not all of them want the agonizing details. Understand the difference.

Also, if you catch me explaining how the watch works, say “interesting,” and I’ll move on.

http://ift.tt/2sXhYe9

Nerdsplaining And How To Avoid It

Nerdsplaining And How To Avoid It

There’s a scourge in marketing: Nerdsplaining. It sucks the wind out of meetings, causes eyes to roll violently back, and may cause some clients to choke on their turkey sandwich.

If I’ve ever inflicted these on you, leave a comment:

PPC: Ask me why your Adwords campaign is sucking wind, and you’ll get a ten-minute course on quality score, natural language processing, and Google’s profit motive. After the first two minutes, you’ll wish you had a sledgehammer.

SEO: I DARE YOU to ask about ranking factors. I F–KING DARE YOU. I’ll treat you to a detailed explanation about distance from perfect, the amygdala, word vectors, and why John Meuller is one of the good guys. Add a whiteboard and poof. That’s twelve hours you’ll never get back.

Canonicalization: I already wrote a three-part blog post about this. ’nuff said.

Social Media: Easy. Dunbar’s Number. It only takes about five minutes to explain, but a lifetime to forget. Which you’ll want to after I follow up with 10 minutes explaining why it no longer holds true.

Now that I’ve wasted five minutes explaining it you understand: Nerdsplaining means needlessly drilling so far down into a topic that your audience loses track of the original point. I can nerdsplain anything. It’s irritating.

Nerdsplaining can also mean assuming your audience doesn’t understand when they do. This version is just insulting.

But it’s so much fun. See how smart I am! Convert to The Way of Marketing! Spread the word! And it’s cute. Almost endearing. That’s what my wife says, anyway, right before she says “interesting” and changes the subject.

The Problem With Nerdsplaining

Nerdsplaining can also ruin you. It’s persuasive white noise at best, a snore-inducing, patronizing poopfest at worst.

Do the math:

One client request

Meeting time: One hour

Attention span: 5 minutes

Desired information: 5-minute conversation

Nerdsplanation: 35 minutes

Result: Client never asks a question again

You’re the smartest in the room. Your answer is pithy and valuable. And the client wants to shove you down an elevator shaft. They learned you’re an eccentric genius (if you’re lucky), or a patronizing tool (if you’re not). They did not learn the answer to their question.

When Is It OK?

There’s a time to nerdsplain. When you’re teaching an audience that wants the “advanced” course, for example. Or when someone asks. Or when someone who “knows marketing” goes off on your idea and needs to be sandblasted.

Those times are few and far between. Usually, you want to avoid it.

How To Avoid It: Get To The Point

I have no idea. I’m one of the worst nerdsplainers on the planet. If you ask me what time it is, I’m going to tell you how the watch works, why we have Daylight Savings Time (fuel conservation, from what I understand), and why time slows down when you’re on a fast train (it’s called time dilation). By the time I’m done, you’ll wish you used a sundial, or you’ll be playing Bloons Tower Defense on your phone.

While they were holding my head underwater, a few friends suggested strategies:

Consider the audience. If you’re in a room full of marketing nerds, they may want to understand the difference between inbound and outbound marketing. Most people just want to know their ROI

Observe and adjust. If people are stifling yawns so hard their eyes are watering, and they look like someone shoved a toothpick in their eardrum, you’ve gone too far. Pull up!!! Pull up!!!!

Listen. When someone nods and says “interesting” while their eyes unfocus, they’re probably not interested

Or, you can just ask/warn the audience:

“If you want, I can geek way down the rabbit hole about this…” “Stop me if I’m nerdsplaining™ (Ian Lurie 2018 not for reuse without permission)…” “If you already know, this, stop me. I don’t want to waste your time…” “Your click cost tripled because your ad stopped performing. Google cares about that. I can give the details if you want, or I can jump to how we fix it…”

Or, you can just get to the point and stay here. Which is the point. When people ask a question, they need the answer. Not all of them want the agonizing details. Understand the difference.

Also, if you catch me explaining how the watch works, say “interesting,” and I’ll move on.

http://ift.tt/2sXhYe9

Nerdsplaining And How To Avoid It

Nerdsplaining And How To Avoid It

There’s a scourge in marketing: Nerdsplaining. It sucks the wind out of meetings, causes eyes to roll violently back, and may cause some clients to choke on their turkey sandwich.

If I’ve ever inflicted these on you, leave a comment:

PPC: Ask me why your Adwords campaign is sucking wind, and you’ll get a ten-minute course on quality score, natural language processing, and Google’s profit motive. After the first two minutes, you’ll wish you had a sledgehammer.

SEO: I DARE YOU to ask about ranking factors. I F–KING DARE YOU. I’ll treat you to a detailed explanation about distance from perfect, the amygdala, word vectors, and why John Meuller is one of the good guys. Add a whiteboard and poof. That’s twelve hours you’ll never get back.

Canonicalization: I already wrote a three-part blog post about this. ’nuff said.

Social Media: Easy. Dunbar’s Number. It only takes about five minutes to explain, but a lifetime to forget. Which you’ll want to after I follow up with 10 minutes explaining why it no longer holds true.

Now that I’ve wasted five minutes explaining it you understand: Nerdsplaining means needlessly drilling so far down into a topic that your audience loses track of the original point. I can nerdsplain anything. It’s irritating.

Nerdsplaining can also mean assuming your audience doesn’t understand when they do. This version is just insulting.

But it’s so much fun. See how smart I am! Convert to The Way of Marketing! Spread the word! And it’s cute. Almost endearing. That’s what my wife says, anyway, right before she says “interesting” and changes the subject.

The Problem With Nerdsplaining

Nerdsplaining can also ruin you. It’s persuasive white noise at best, a snore-inducing, patronizing poopfest at worst.

Do the math:

One client request

Meeting time: One hour

Attention span: 5 minutes

Desired information: 5-minute conversation

Nerdsplanation: 35 minutes

Result: Client never asks a question again

You’re the smartest in the room. Your answer is pithy and valuable. And the client wants to shove you down an elevator shaft. They learned you’re an eccentric genius (if you’re lucky), or a patronizing tool (if you’re not). They did not learn the answer to their question.

When Is It OK?

There’s a time to nerdsplain. When you’re teaching an audience that wants the “advanced” course, for example. Or when someone asks. Or when someone who “knows marketing” goes off on your idea and needs to be sandblasted.

Those times are few and far between. Usually, you want to avoid it.

How To Avoid It: Get To The Point

I have no idea. I’m one of the worst nerdsplainers on the planet. If you ask me what time it is, I’m going to tell you how the watch works, why we have Daylight Savings Time (fuel conservation, from what I understand), and why time slows down when you’re on a fast train (it’s called time dilation). By the time I’m done, you’ll wish you used a sundial, or you’ll be playing Bloons Tower Defense on your phone.

While they were holding my head underwater, a few friends suggested strategies:

Consider the audience. If you’re in a room full of marketing nerds, they may want to understand the difference between inbound and outbound marketing. Most people just want to know their ROI

Observe and adjust. If people are stifling yawns so hard their eyes are watering, and they look like someone shoved a toothpick in their eardrum, you’ve gone too far. Pull up!!! Pull up!!!!

Listen. When someone nods and says “interesting” while their eyes unfocus, they’re probably not interested

Or, you can just ask/warn the audience:

“If you want, I can geek way down the rabbit hole about this…” “Stop me if I’m nerdsplaining™ (Ian Lurie 2018 not for reuse without permission)…” “If you already know, this, stop me. I don’t want to waste your time…” “Your click cost tripled because your ad stopped performing. Google cares about that. I can give the details if you want, or I can jump to how we fix it…”

Or, you can just get to the point and stay here. Which is the point. When people ask a question, they need the answer. Not all of them want the agonizing details. Understand the difference.

Also, if you catch me explaining how the watch works, say “interesting,” and I’ll move on.

http://ift.tt/2sXhYe9