#and once I get my subscription back I’ll post it in regular format

[luderailing]

For the drawing prompt:

Matthew and Tolys celebrating Christmas 🎄^^

I have a drawing for you I promise I do

and it would be better. this is what I get for not posting it last week

or even saving it

why

#I hope that they are festive enough to make up for it #my deepest apologies anon #not tagging this as my art because I am ashamed #and once I get my subscription back I’ll post it in regular format

[hydrus]

Version 324

windows

zip

exe

os x

app

tar.gz

linux

tar.gz

source

tar.gz

I had a great week. The downloader overhaul is almost done.

pixiv

Just as Pixiv recently moved their art pages to a new phone-friendly, dynamically drawn format, they are now moving their regular artist gallery results to the same system. If your username isn't switched over yet, it likely will be in the coming week.

The change breaks our old html parser, so I have written a new downloader and json api parser. The way their internal api works is unusual and over-complicated, so I had to write a couple of small new tools to get it to work. However, it does seem to work again.

All of your subscriptions and downloaders will try to switch over to the new downloader automatically, but some might not handle it quite right, in which case you will have to go into edit subscriptions and update their gallery manually. You'll get a popup on updating to remind you of this, and if any don't line up right automatically, the subs will notify you when they next run. The api gives all content--illustrations, manga, ugoira, everything--so there unfortunately isn't a simple way to refine to just one content type as we previously could. But it does neatly deliver everything in just one request, so artist searching is now incredibly faster.

Let me know if pixiv gives any more trouble. Now we can parse their json, we might be able to reintroduce the arbitrary tag search, which broke some time ago due to the same move to javascript galleries.

twitter

In a similar theme, given our fully developed parser and pipeline, I have now wangled a twitter username search! It should be added to your downloader list on update. It is a bit hacky and may be ultimately fragile if they change something their end, but it otherwise works great. It discounts retweets and fetches 19/20 tweets per gallery 'page' fetch. You should be able to set up subscriptions and everything, although I generally recommend you go at it slowly until we know this new parser works well. BTW: I think twitter only 'browses' 3200 tweets in the past, anyway. Note that tweets with no images will be 'ignored', so any typical twitter search will end up with a lot of 'Ig' results--this is normal. Also, if the account ever retweets more than 20 times in a row, the search will stop there, due to how the clientside pipeline works (it'll think that page is empty).

Again, let me know how this works for you. This is some fun new stuff for hydrus, and I am interested to see where it does well and badly.

misc

In order to be less annoying, the 'do you want to run idle jobs?' on shutdown dialog will now only ask at most once per day! You can edit the time unit under options->maintenance and processing.

Under options->connection, you can now change max total network jobs globally and per domain. The defaults are 15 and 3. I don't recommend you increase them unless you know what you are doing, but if you want a slower/more cautious client, please do set them lower.

The new advanced downloader ui has a bunch of quality of life improvements, mostly related to the handling of example parseable data.

full list

downloaders:

after adding some small new parser tools, wrote a new pixiv downloader that should work with their new dynamic gallery's api. it fetches all an artist's work in one page. some existing pixiv download components will be renamed and detached from your existing subs and downloaders. your existing subs may switch over to the correct pixiv downloader automatically, or you may need to manually set them (you'll get a popup to remind you).

wrote a twitter username lookup downloader. it should skip retweets. it is a bit hacky, so it may collapse if they change something small with their internal javascript api. it fetches 19-20 tweets per 'page', so if the account has 20 rts in a row, it'll likely stop searching there. also, afaik, twitter browsing only works back 3200 tweets or so. I recommend proceeding slowly.

added a simple gelbooru 0.1.11 file page parser to the defaults. it won't link to anything by default, but it is there if you want to put together some booru.org stuff

you can now set your default/favourite download source under options->downloading

.

misc:

the 'do idle work on shutdown' system will now only ask/run once per x time units (including if you say no to the ask dialog). x is one day by default, but can be set in 'maintenance and processing'

added 'max jobs' and 'max jobs per domain' to options->connection. defaults remain 15 and 3

the colour selection buttons across the program now have a right-click menu to import/export #FF0000 hex codes from/to the clipboard

tag namespace colours and namespace rendering options are moved from 'colours' and 'tags' options pages to 'tag summaries', which is renamed to 'tag presentation'

the Lain import dropper now supports pngs with single gugs, url classes, or parsers--not just fully packaged downloaders

fixed an issue where trying to remove a selection of files from the duplicate system (through the advanced duplicates menu) would only apply to the first pair of files

improved some error reporting related to too-long filenames on import

improved error handling for the folder-scanning stage in import folders--now, when it runs into an error, it will preserve its details better, notify the user better, and safely auto-pause the import folder

png export auto-filenames will now be sanitized of \, /, :, *-type OS-path-invalid characters as appropriate as the dialog loads

the 'loading subs' popup message should appear more reliably (after 1s delay) if the first subs are big and loading slow

fixed the 'fullscreen switch' hover window button for the duplicate filter

deleted some old hydrus session management code and db table

some other things that I lost track of. I think it was mostly some little dialog fixes :/

.

advanced downloader stuff:

the test panel on pageparser edit panels now has a 'post pre-parsing conversion' notebook page that shows the given example data after the pre-parsing conversion has occurred, including error information if it failed. it has a summary size/guessed type description and copy and refresh buttons.

the 'raw data' copy/fetch/paste buttons and description are moved down to the raw data page

the pageparser now passes up this post-conversion example data to sub-objects, so they now start with the correctly converted example data

the subsidiarypageparser edit panel now also has a notebook page, also with brief description and copy/refresh buttons, that summarises the raw separated data

the subsidiary page parser now passes up the first post to its sub-objects, so they now start with a single post's example data

content parsers can now sort the strings their formulae get back. you can sort strict lexicographic or the new human-friendly sort that does numbers properly, and of course you can go ascending or descending--if you can get the ids of what you want but they are in the wrong order, you can now easily fix it!

some json dict parsing code now iterates through dict keys lexicographically ascending by default. unfortunately, due to how the python json parser I use works, there isn't a way to process dict items in the original order

the json parsing formula now uses a string match when searching for dictionary keys, so you can now match multiple keys here (as in the pixiv illusts|manga fix). existing dictionary key look-ups will be converted to 'fixed' string matches

the json parsing formula can now get the content type 'dictionary keys', which will fetch all the text keys in the dictionary/Object, if the api designer happens to have put useful data in there, wew

formulae now remove newlines from their parsed texts before they are sent to the StringMatch! so, if you are grabbing some multi-line html and want to test for 'Posted: ' somewhere in that mess, it is now easy.

next week

After slaughtering my downloader overhaul megajob of redundant and completed issues (bringing my total todo from 1568 down to 1471!), I only have 15 jobs left to go. It is mostly some quality of life stuff and refreshing some out of date help. I should be able to clear most of them out next week, and the last few can be folded into normal work.

So I am now planning the login manager. After talking with several users over the past few weeks, I think it will be fundamentally very simple, supporting any basic user/pass web form, and will relegate complicated situations to some kind of improved browser cookies.txt import workflow. I suspect it will take 3-4 weeks to hash out, and then I will be taking four weeks to update to python 3, and then I am a free agent again. So, absent any big problems, please expect the 'next big thing to work on poll' to go up around the end of October, and for me to get going on that next big thing at the end of November. I don't want to finalise what goes on the poll yet, but I'll open up a full discussion as the login manager finishes.

#release

[reverseskydives]

The Top Customer Engagement Strategies That Generate Sky High Revenue

In order to run a successful business, you’ll need to do more than just acquire customers.

One of the best ways to have a successful customer retention strategy is by creating customer engagement.

That goes for all companies across every industry.

Whether you have a brick and mortar location in a small town or have a global ecommerce distribution network, the customer is the lifeline of your business.

While it may not seem like an issue or concern right now, failing to keep your customers engaged could be detrimental to your business.

Fortunately, it appears as though you’ve recognized the importance of customer engagement and that’s what brought you here.

You’ve come to the right place.

I’ll show you my proven strategies to help you improve your customer engagement strategy.

Following these techniques will show the customer how much you care about them.

When customers don’t think you care, they’ll stop using your services and find another company to treat them better.

Part of successful engagement and retention involves going above and beyond to connect with your customers.

Big retail companies are even spending upward of $1 million on artificial intelligence technology to improve their customer engagement strategy.

It’s the top expected benefit from such a big investment.

I’m not expecting you to do this, but I wanted to show you how much stress big brands are putting towards improving their company.

My strategies are much more cost efficient and will yield a high return on your investment.

They don’t require too much time or effort either.

You can implement these tactics to your marketing plan right away too.

Here’s what you can do to get started.

Create interactive emails

How much time have you spent in the last few months making sure that your email marketing strategy is performing at a high level?

I see this mistake far too often when I’m consulting with various businesses.

They send the same boring weekly newsletters and promotions.

While your customers definitely want to hear from you, the constant repetition won’t keep them engaged.

That’s a problem.

You can spice up your email campaigns by incorporating interactive emails to your messages.

One way you can accomplish this is by getting your email to mimic the look and design of your website.

Include different menus that give the subscriber a reason to actively click to find out more information.

Accordion menus work well too.

It allows you to pack more information into a small space.

When a customer sees something that they like, they can click to expand the accordion.

This also improves the chances that your subscribers will see more of your content because it eliminates the need for scrolling.

Adding GIFs and videos to your messages can help increase engagement as well.

It’s much more exciting than just reading a plain email.

If you have a retail or ecommerce business, you should include live shopping carts in your messages too.

This is a great strategy to improve your shopping cart abandonment rates.

When a customer doesn’t finish the checkout process, send a follow-up email with the shopping cart embedded in the message.

That way the consumer can complete the transaction without having to go back to your website.

It’s quick and efficient for everyone, which will help generate more revenue for your company.

Use Facebook Live on a regular basis

Facebook Live is one of my favorite trends of the year.

It’s the perfect resource for businesses to engage with their customers.

More than half of marketing experts agree that video content yields the highest return on investment.

Why?

First of all, it’s so easy.

Second, if you’re using Facebook Live to promote video content, it won’t cost you anything except for your time.

Treat your live stream as if it were a television show.

Don’t just come on randomly whenever you feel like it.

Set a scheduled time once or twice each week to go live.

This will help you build a loyal audience, which will impact your conversions and revenue.

One of the best parts of going live on Facebook is the ability to interact with the viewers in real time.

As you broadcast, users have the option to comment on your stream.

These comments could be directed towards you or even other people who are watching the stream.

Make sure that you respond those comments.

Acknowledge those users.

“That’s a good point, John Smith. I’ll keep that in mind.”

It’s simple.

That recognition will help make the viewers feel special.

It encourages them to keep watching each week and it inspires others to comment as well, knowing that they could also get mentioned.

Facebook live videos are native, which means they are embedded on a page or feed as opposed to an external link.

Native formats increase the share rate of your content compared to other channels.

Don’t do a quick stream.

Longer live videos increase your chances of getting a larger audience.

Facebook allows you to go live for up to four consecutive hours.

You don’t have to stream for the full four hours, but I’d recommend doing at least two or three hours.

Not sure what to talk about during this time?

Don’t worry about it.

Just be yourself.

Obviously, you want to keep things professional, but this stream will give your customers a chance to see the human side of you.

Recognizing that there’s a real person behind the brand name will help them establish a closer connection with you.

This can ultimately increase customer loyalty.

Here’s something else you’ll want to keep in mind.

85% of videos on Facebook get viewed with the sound turned off.

So use lots of visuals in your stream.

You can also add captions to your video so the viewers can read what you’re saying.

Take a look at some of the top Facebook video statistics from 2016.

All of these numbers reiterate what I’ve been saying.

So add this strategy to your marketing campaign to improve the relationship between you and your customers.

Run a contest or sweepstakes

Promotions are a great way to get the attention of your customer base.

Everyone wants something for free, so give the people what they want.

First, you’ve got to understand the difference between a contest and a sweepstakes.

A contest means that the customers need to put forth some sort of effort to win.

There’s a judgment involved in selecting the winner based on skill.

A sweepstakes means that the winner is completely random.

Personally, I recommend running a contest as opposed to a sweepstakes because it gets the customer more involved and genuinely interested in your brand.

If they enter a sweepstakes, all they do is enter and forget about it.

I would recommend running your contest through social media platforms.

When analyzing the top benefits of social media marketing, we can see that the list applies directly to our discussion about customer engagement.

Developing loyal fans will help increase your revenue.

Running your contests on social media will also increase exposure for your brand.

One suggestion could be a photo contest on Instagram.

I like this technique because it’s so easy.

Plus, it encourages user-generated content.

Tell your customers to post a photo that relates to your business.

The user who has the most likes on their picture will win the contest.

Now your brand is all over social media exposed to people who may not have known about you before.

So in addition to improving engagement with your existing customers, you have the opportunity to acquire new customers at no cost.

It’s two birds with one stone.

Here’s an example of a contest that Infiniti ran on social media.

Using a hashtag to enter the contest can also help increase the chances of your promotion going viral.

Contestants know that their photo will be compared to other customers, so they’ll have a chance to check out all of the other entries as well.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when you’re running a contest.

Make sure the rules are clearly posted

Set a deadline

The prize needs to be relevant to your brand

Allow mobile users to participate

Your hashtag should be creative and unique

Make sure the contest is shareable on social platforms

Announce when you’ve selected a winner

Since contests are so easy and inexpensive to run, I recommend doing this frequently.

Just because the contest is over, it doesn’t mean you can’t start another one up right away.

In fact, running these promotions often will give your customers a reason to keep entering and keep them actively engaged with your brand.

Post on your Instagram story

Take advantage of everything that Instagram has to offer.

Don’t just post to your profile.

Add photos and videos to your story as well.

Similar to Snapchat, anything on your Instagram story lasts for 24 hours.

So be active and add to it every day.

These are my top suggestions for what you should put on your story.

Promotional information and discounts

Social proof

Content from your website

Behind the scenes clips of your company workspace

New product launches

Introduce your staff

All of these will keep your followers engaged with your profile.

If you want to run an enhanced version of Instagram story, you can go live on this platform as well.

We already discussed the importance of this strategy when we talked about Facebook Live.

I recommend using Instagram live story for something different than your Facebook strategy.

With Facebook, you should host a weekly stream.

But with Instagram, you should go live when you’re at an event or doing something cool.

This will create an authentic interaction with your viewers.

As a result, they will stay engaged with your profile and brand.

Write a double opt-in landing page

Here’s a strategy that’s often overlooked.

To increase customer engagement, you need to acquire customers who want to be engaged in the first place.

Here’s what I mean.

If your customers can create a profile or join your subscription list with just one click, you may get some people who aren’t genuinely interested.

Making customers take an extra step to join a list will increase engagement.

The best way to do this is with a double opt-in landing.

So when a customer subscribes to your email list from your website, make them confirm their subscription with a welcome email.

It will help you filter out people who don’t want to be engaged.

Double opt-in emails will also improve your open rates.

While you may end up with fewer subscribers if you implement this strategy, you’ll get more active subscribers.

This will make it much easier for you to apply the other engagement tactics that we discussed.

Conclusion

Improving your customer engagement strategy will positively impact your revenue.

Not sure where to start?

Follow the tips that we outlined.

Start by developing interactive emails.

It’s easy. Just continue to email your current subscriber list but include videos, GIFs, live shopping carts, and menus to increase engagement with each campaign.

Schedule a time each week to go live on Facebook.

Interact with the viewers who comment on the stream.

This is a perfect opportunity for you to connect with your customers in real time.

Run a contest or sweepstakes that encourages UGC.

Contests will give the customers a reason to interact and engage with your brand.

Take advantage of the Instagram story feature as well.

Another way to make it easier to engage with your customers is by filtering the most viable candidates to your subscription list.

Create a double opt-in landing to ensure that your customers are interested and actually want you to keep engaging with them.

What type of content will you include on your Instagram story to increase engagement with your current customer base?

from Social Media Marketing http://ift.tt/2A7HY6t via Social Media Marketing

#Social Media Marketing

[supercoolgamesstuff-blog]

Google Stadia Reviewed – Against The Stream

New Post has been published on https://www.coolgamingzone.com/google-stadia-reviewed-against-the-stream/

Google Stadia Reviewed – Against The Stream

Introduction

By the mid-2000s, Blu-ray felt like the future of media. Blu-ray video looked incredible and offered cleaner picture and sound quality than previous media formats. “Surely,” we thought, “the technology that comes after Blu-ray will look even more impressive!” But then something strange happened; as streaming services like Netflix took off, more and more of us ditched physical media in favor of the cloud. Streaming didn’t offer the same level of fidelity as Blu-ray – or sometimes even DVD – but it was good enough. More importantly, it was convenient. The desire to watch anything anywhere outpaced our desire for image quality.

Now it’s 2019, streaming services have come a long way, and tech goliath Google thinks it has figured out how to Netflix the gaming industry. The tech is surprisingly functional, but its ability to upturn the industry will depend largely on its ability to implement its grand blueprint. Sadly, Stadia’s current design is missing several important pillars.

Gaming on Stadia

Gaming on Stadia

Stadia’s concept still sounds a bit like science fiction: Earlier this year, Google sold a vision of players using wi-fi-enable controllers to communicate with a hive of supercomputers in the cloud, which would allow users to stream the most advanced gaming software to decade-old laptops and mobile phones. Google’s system worked well at trade shows, but those were highly controlled environments. How does the service work now that we’ve been able to test it in the wild? Surprisingly well … if you have a stable internet connection.

On the whole, Stadia performs better than I expected. The high-speed internet at the Game Informer offices regularly gets download/upload speeds of 280 Mbps, so I rarely noticed even a hiccup while playing games at work. Mortal Kombat 11 on a stable Stadia connection booted up in seconds and feels about as responsive as its console counterparts. I had no problem dialing in combos and Fatalities even though my inputs had to travel through miles of infrastructure to bounce off Google servers.

Unfortunately, the experience quickly degrades as your internet speeds dial down. At a nearby coffee shop, where I recorded download speeds of 38 Mbps, I noticed a few frame skips every couple minutes. At home, where my speeds regularly drop to 20 Mbps, I experienced some visual artifacting and a regular picture stutter. With these slower internet speeds, I didn’t feel competitive in Destiny 2’s PvP modes, but I was able to complete a strike without a problem. Everyone’s tolerance for this kind of experience will vary, but my frustration over the occasional hiccup was mitigated by the revelation that I could play Destiny 2 in public on my phone (see the controller sidebar for more).

Stadia’s service only dropped out completely on me once due to a poor signal, but an instance of my game was saved and I had five minutes to hop back online and pick up where I’d left off. I wish Google would extend that grace period and allow users to create their own save states (a feature called State Share, which is still in the works), but I never lost any progress in a game, and my experience was stable enough across the board that I didn’t live in fear of being unable to access my games.

Google’s service isn’t a one-size-fits-all streaming solution, and you should carefully measure your internet speeds before committing to the platform. Many will find Stadia’s occasional stutters unbearable, while others will feel that it’s good enough. Personally, I can’t imagine trading any of my game consoles for a Stadia stream anytime soon.

  What about that controller?

An online-only streaming service seems like a bold new direction for the gaming industry, but Google isn’t interested in reinventing the controller. The Stadia controller smartly hews close to modern controller design. The pad itself has a nice weight and feels a lot like the PS4 controller thanks to its ergonomic shell and symmetrical analog sticks. The buttons produce a satisfying click and feel sturdy, and I got about seven hours of use from a single charge. Of course, Google has its equivalent of the start, options, and home buttons. However, Google added a screen capture and virtual assistant button to the mix, and this creates a jumble of buttons near the center of the controller. I constantly hit the screen-capture button when I meant to pause a game, which was frustrating.

At launch, the controller also doesn’t work wirelessly with any device other than the Chromecast. This means that in order to play on a laptop or phone you have to connect your device to a controller using a USB C cord, which I found cumbersome. In fact, I was actually a little embarrassed to pull out my tangle of gadgets to play games at Starbucks.

I also wasn’t able to connect the Stadia controller to wi-fi that featured a web browser login, meaning you probably won’t be able to use Google’s controllers wirelessly in locations like hotels that -require a secondary login screen. The Stadia controller might be a nice piece of physical hardware, but these tech issues need to get ironed out as soon as possible.

Under Construction

Under Construction  

Google’s streaming tech might be ready for prime time, but its service certainly isn’t. Many of the more exciting features either aren’t available for launch or won’t roll out until 2020. For starters, Google’s Pixel smartphones are the only phones that Stadia users will be able to use for streaming at launch. Achievements also won’t be viewable at this time, but Google says that Stadia is recording your progress, so once the feature is enabled, users will receive credit for everything they’ve done since then.

The Google Assistant is another exciting feature that is being kicked down the road. During the Stadia reveal event, Google said that with the tap of a button users could speak into their Stadia controller and pull up YouTube walkthroughs or other helpful advice for any game they played. This feature is absent at launch. Google says that the Google Assistant will be available soon, but even then, the Assistant will only be available from the Stadia home screen and only allow users to launch games or turn on their TV.

Stadia’s incomplete feature list is so long it’s a little embarrassing. What about Stream Connect, which is Google’s way of supporting multiplayer by allowing Stadia users to create local couch co-op experiences via split-screen? Coming later this year. What about Family Sharing, which lets you share games with other users in your family? Sometime soon. What about Crowd Play, which lets streamers play games with their viewers? Hopefully, sometime next year. What about streaming over cellular networks? I’ll let you take a guess. If Stadia had all these features, it might feel like the next big leap in gaming, but as it is, the platform is just a basic streaming platform that offers less than a home console. 

In the end, Stadia’s biggest problem is likely its lack of software. Stadia doesn’t have many dedicated experiences that will drive longtime gamers to the platform. The system’s launch lineup features some great games, such as Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and Red Dead Redemption 2, but those are all more than a year old and there isn’t a single triple-A exclusive on the horizon. This is a big problem for Google. If the company hopes to attract more people to the service, it needs to provide a reason to be on Stadia. In other words: It needs more games.

A look at Google’s data center that allows Stadia to run

Launch Lineup

Google Stadia Launch Lineup:

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey  

Attack on Titan: Final Battle 2

Destiny 2: The Collection (available in Stadia Pro)

Farming Simulator 2019

Final Fantasy XV

Football Manager 2020

Grid 2019

Gylt

Just Dance 2020

Kine

Metro Exodus  

Mortal Kombat 11

NBA 2K20

Rage 2

Rise of the Tomb Raider

Red Dead Redemption 2

Samurai Shodown (available in Stadia Pro)

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Thumper

Tomb Raider 2013

Trials Rising

Wolfenstein: Youngblood

Reportedly Releasing Before The End Of 2019:

Borderlands 3

Darksiders Genesis

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2

Ghost Recon: Breakpoint

The Bottom Line

The Bottom Line: 6 out of 10

Stadia seems tailored for a different crowd – the kind of game-curious individual who only pays attention to the occasional blockbuster release and isn’t willing to throw down a few hundred dollars on a dedicated piece of gaming hardware. Next year, when Google launches the free version of the Stadia service, the platform might find that audience. On the other hand, Stadia’s service isn’t currently valuable enough to justify the $129.99 early adopters price tag. Anyone devoted enough to follow industry trends probably cares enough about this hobby to spend the extra money on a console that provides a lag-free experience.

Still, I want something like Stadia to succeed. Purchasing a game and immediately booting it up without concern for downloads or updates is liberating, and when you have a stable internet connection, streaming games off the cloud feels like magic. Oddly enough, Stadia filled me with excitement for a game-streaming future, but it left me with less confidence that Stadia would be the platform to usher us forward.

Editorial Note: This review was conducted in a pre-release environment. We may revisit this review as we play more games after launch and as Google releases console updates.

Understanding Pricing

On day one, consumers can purchase the Stadia Premiere Edition for $129, which includes three free months of Stadia Pro, a Google Chromecast Ultra, and a Stadia Controller. Stadia Pro is Google’s subscription service, which costs $9.99 a month and gives players access to the highest quality streams (4K/60 fps/HDR/5.1 sound) as well as exclusive discounts on game purchases (TBA). Early next year, everyone will be able to stream games through Stadia at no cost, however, the streaming quality will be throttled to 1080p/60fps with stereo sound. No matter how you approach the service, games still need to be purchased à la carte.

Source link

#Features

[theradioghost]

Audio Drama Podcast Recs

EDIT: well jesus this thing is getting old! If you’re looking for podcast recommendations I would recommend checking some of the newer posts I’ve made. I’ve expanded my subscription list from about 30 to over 150 in the years since I posted this, & at at this point it’s a pretty inadequate rec list.

Because I’ve gotten a few questions over time about podcast recs, both from people who are curious about audio drama, and fellow denizens of Podcast Hell™ who need something new, I wanted to put together this list so I could go a bit more into detail about why I love and recommend each of these amazing audio dramas.

Rather than trying to rank them, I tried to organize this list roughly based on popularity, at least based on my dash! More well-known shows are listed first, and then my faves that I don’t see getting nearly the love that they deserve. Especially with the volume of new innovative audio drama being created, there’s some really good stuff out there not getting nearly enough attention. Which is not to say that, if you’re a new podcast fan, you have to start with the most popular – but those shows are more likely to have an active fandom. (Of course, there are a ton of great podcasts out there, and plenty (both popular and obscure) that I don’t listen to yet.)

I also have a podcast rec tag and a very long list of audio dramas, if you want to go hunting for something beyond these recommendations here. Additionally, if you want more details or content warnings about any of these shows, feel free to message me on or off anon and I’ll do my best to answer! This post really focuses on the positives of each show and who I think might enjoy them.

WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE – Community radio from a friendly desert community where the sun is hot, the moon is beautiful, the dog park is forbidden, the mayoral candidates aren’t human, the weather is a mystery, and mysterious lights pass overhead while we all pretend to sleep.

If you know anything about audio drama podcasts, there’s like a 99.99% chance you know about Night Vale already. If not, just go listen. It’s weird and amazing and beautiful and helped to make a lot of this possible. Or if 100+ episodes plus live shows is overwhelming, don’t (but come back to it someday. It is magical).

For people who like: surrealism, humor, ‘radio show’ format, somewhat less emphasis on plot, diversity, indie music, experimental storytelling, a large back catalog of episodes, a fandom considered large by regular standards and not just podcast standards.

ALICE ISN’T DEAD – As she travels across America, a trucker tells the story of her search for the missing wife she had presumed dead, of the mysterious danger stalking her down freeways and backroads, and of the much bigger – and more terrifying – mystery she is uncovering.

The first and most popular of Night Vale Presents’ other podcasts. Gothic Americana soft horror lesbians! The writing, atmosphere, and orchestration are all superb, as is Jasika Nicole’s monologue performance. I personally recommend car/transit listening. (Also, you can get the whole soundtrack for free, and you should definitely do that.)

For people who like: surrealism, horror, Americana, female leads, lesbians, atmosphere, introspection, mystery, great music, something to drive to.

WOLF 359 – Doug Eiffel doesn’t want to do his job, Hera is a friendly but faulty AI, Dr. Hilbert is probably a mad scientist, Commander Minkowski wishes she wasn’t in charge of these idiots, and together, the four of them make up the entire crew of the USS Hephaestus space station. It’s not a picnic at the best of times: they’re isolated in a constantly malfunctioning tin can, orbiting a red dwarf star eight light years from Earth, and working for a shady corporation with coworkers they can’t stand. Then Eiffel starts to receive inexplicable transmissions from deep space – and everything gets so, so much worse.

It’s a hilarious office sitcom! It’s a character-driven deep-space sci-fi thriller! It’s a tragic, thematically powerful story about personhood, communication, and isolation! It’s all of those things, often within three lines of one another and frequently all at once! Wolf 359 is probably a masterpiece and now, heading into its fourth and final season, it continues to surprise and impress me every single time. Alan Rodi’s music is evocative and superb and the cast and writing are top-notch. One of the best. Listen to it.

For people who like: excellent character-driven writing, great music, well-written women, a gender-balanced ensemble cast, intimate sci-fi, hilarious and often referential humor, scary corporate overlords, cerebus syndrome.

THE PENUMBRA PODCAST – In Hyperion City, metropolis of a far-future Mars, a private eye named Juno Steel is pulled into life-threatening criminal conspiracies, and tangles with an even more dangerous, nameless thief – who could be his worst enemy or the love of his life. Within the Second Citadel, human civilization is protected by knights who venture out into the jungles to fight the monsters that threaten them – but some knights are discovering monsters who seem just a bit different. On the Painted Plains, a train-robbing bandit steals away a schoolteacher – and her heart. All of these and more are stories waiting to be heard behind the doors of the Penumbra, the grandest hotel this side of Nowhere. And absolutely none of them are straight.

Fabulously written genre-bending “queer AF” anthology show. The best is the Juno Steel series, about a bisexual, nonbinary sci-fi PI, which remains eminently and hilariously quotable even as it wrenches your heart out with genre-deconstructive depictions of mental illness and one of the most believable and emotional romances I’ve seen in ages . The Second Citadel fantasy series is also starting to come into its own in the second season and the standalone stories from the first season are a pretty damn good listen (LISTEN TO THE GAY WESTERN. DO IT.) I love this show, I love everyone from this show, I love everyone associated with this show, and I love Mick Mercury.

For people who like: playing with genre tropes, OTR, noir fiction, diversity, romantic chemistry, a variety of stories, suspense, heartache.

THE BRIGHT SESSIONS – Dr. Joan Bright isn’t an ordinary therapist, but her patients aren’t ordinary patients. Sam’s panic attacks bring on bouts of involuntary time travel; Caleb has it hard enough negotiating teenage emotions without also experiencing the feelings of everyone around him; Chloe can’t escape hearing other people’s thoughts; and the less said about Damien, the better. But Dr. Bright, too, is more than she first appears.

It’s a hard-hitting and poignant show about mental illness and people recovering from deep traumas, and also it is about superpowers. As the concept implies, the show is highly character-driven, and it develops an ensemble cast incredibly well. These guys are friends with the Wolf 359 crew and apparently have taken lessons from one another in how to ramp up a plot from “fun” to “oh god why,” but let’s be honest: that’s what we’re here for. Also, unjustifiably sweet gay teen romance, really cute friendships between ladies, at least one cat.

For people who like: highly character-focused narrative, superpowers, moral questions, ensemble casts, cool female leads, shady government activities, great acting.

ARS PARADOXICA – One minute, Dr. Sally Grissom is conducting cutting-edge physics research in her lab in early-21st-century Texas. A single mistake later, she’s on the deck of the U.S.S. Eldridge, in Philadelphia, 1943, smack dab in the middle of a classified WWII weapons experiment. She’s accidentally put time travel into the hands of the US government just as the nuclear era kicks off. And she can’t ever go back.

I assume everyone has heard of ars P because I assume that everyone knows Mischa Stanton. (They work on what must be like 50% of all podcasts that exist at this point, including The Bright Sessions.) Everything they do is pretty much a must-listen, but especially ars p, the “sad time show” to Wolf 359’s “sad space show.” The writing sticks out to me for its sense of consequence; it’s a major theme of the show that everything that happens will have serious and cumulative effects. Deservedly award-winning sound design. As a bonus, it crossed over with The Bright Sessions; if you like one, you might like the other.

For people who like: sci-fi, period settings, cold war thrillers, cool female leads, time travel with rules, complex and grey moralities, science lesbians, diverse ensemble casts.

EOS 10 – Dr. Ryan Dalias has enough to deal with just as the new head surgeon on a massive space station (alien aphrodisiacs, space anti-vaxxers, mind-controlling plants…) But as if that weren’t enough, his boss is an alcoholic misanthrope who has received an unwelcome ultimatum about his drinking; the nurse may or may not be inclined to bite people; there’s a deposed alien prince in the examination room who won’t put his pants back on; and an intergalactic terrorist who wants his name cleared is hiding in the cargo bay. And those are the people on his side.

I have my issues with EOS 10, not least of which is that it is still mired in a two-year hiatus (though Season Three is finally going into production soon? FINGERS CROSSED). I usually forget those issues when I listen because it’s still a frankly hilarious space comedy and the entire main plot is kicked off because of a potentially deadly boner. Think of it as the strange offspring of DS9 and Scrubs. Come for wild space shenanigans, stay for surprisingly heartfelt storylines about addiction (and even wilder space shenanigans). If W359 sounds cool but maybe a little heavy for you (or if the first season was your favorite), EOS 10 might be more up your alley.

For people who like: Star Trek, comedy, space scifi adventures, alien characters, gay space pirate cowboys, waiting.

THE THRILLING ADVENTURE HOUR – “America’s favorite new time podcast in the style of old time radio.”

An anthology show like The Penumbra which takes a comedic approach to its old time radio inspiration instead (and it is very OTR inspired – not just playing with the same genres). Has a lot of segments, not all of which are created equal; two are standouts. Sparks Nevada: Marshall on Mars (which has a continuous plot) follows a deadpan robot-fighting lawman, the Martian tracker who provides him with somewhat vitriolic companionship, and their various allies across the sci-fi-comedy-western landscape of Space Future Mars. Beyond Belief (which is episodic) stars alcoholic socialites Frank and Sadie Doyle, who may be world-renowned paranormal experts, but who mostly just combat supernatural evils so they can get back to their two greatest loves: booze and one another. It was recorded live, often featuring celebrity guest stars (most notably and frequently Nathan Fillion), and recently ended its many-year run.

For people who like: OTR, forties/fifties culture, really REALLY cute couple chemistry (Beyond Belief), humor, much more lighthearted content, a large back catalog, great music, corpsing.

GREATER BOSTON – Leon Stamatis’s perfectly organized life abruptly ends one day at the top of the first hill of a roller coaster – and that’s where the real story begins. His death will start a domino effect of change rippling through a Boston where activists agitate for subway lines to form their own city, shadowy executives watch over offices where magazine editors predict the future, and Google Calendars are updated from beyond the grave.

Guys, I am never gonna shut up about this show. At this point it’s probably my favorite podcast. Experimental fiction, a sort of regional-gothic-slice-of-life, with a plot that builds into the story of an interconnecting community of people, all of them growing and learning and changing and interacting, even the dead ones. And it plays more brilliantly and hilariously and beautifully and poignantly with format and writing and character than you’d think possible. I sometimes see it compared to WTNV (the “weird town” angle), but I think it’s likely to appeal to fans of The Bright Sessions: its characters may be dealing with incredibly strange situations, but the focus (and the appeal) is the development of those characters and their relationships with one another. Alternately, just literally everyone should listen. It’s that good.

For people who like: ensemble casts, experimental fiction, awesome women, strong character development, lesbians, playing with format, characters named Extinction Event, political intrigue, great music, Boston.

WOODEN OVERCOATS – Siblings Rudyard and Antigone Funn, along with their assistant Georgie, run a funeral home on the tiny Channel island of Piffling. It’s the only one, which is how they remain in business even though Rudyard is a punctuality-obsessed misanthrope and Antigone hasn’t left the morgue in daylight for 17 years. Then the world’s most perfect man, Eric Chapman, opens another funeral parlor directly across the street.

A British sitcom about rival funeral directors in a small town, with all of the dry, witty black humor that implies. "British” does always feel like the best adjective to convey the distinct sense of humor here. Also, it has amazingly high production values. Like, it just sounds really, really good. Also, it’s narrated by a talking mouse. The third season was just announced, so now is a really great time to catch up.

For people who like: black comedy, British comedies, rivalries of both business and sibling kinds, mysterious backstories, just a whole lot of dead people jokes, a more episodic structure.

THE BRIDGE – Once, you could drive all the way across the Atlantic in luxury and style, using the Transcontinental Bridge. Now, the Bridge is virtually abandoned. The employees of its Watchtowers are the only people left to tell its stories: stories about ghosts, about curses and illusions, about vanished and abandoned people and places, about the monsters whose places these were before the Bridge, and the strange and dangerous people who came there to find them.

IMHO, possibly the highlight of the writng for The Bridge is that they can create atmosphere like nobody’s business, and the show has a gorgeous soundtrack to boot. The characters are charming, the plot is intriguing, and the world they are building is like absolutely nothing else. Like Archive 81 below, it might appeal to those who’d enjoy Lovecraft if he didn’t suck so much in every possible way, although it’s much softer on the scary factor.

For people who like: atmosphere, storytelling, great character dynamics, sea monsters, spookiness, really fun ladies, ghost stories, mysteries, the bottomless depths and siren’s call of the ocean.

THE STRANGE CASE OF STARSHIP IRIS and UNDER PRESSURE – Starship Iris is the story of Violet Liu, a biologist forced by circumstance to join up with a ragtag crew of spacefarers to determine whether the explosion which killed every other person onboard her spaceship was really an accident. Under Pressure presents the notes of Jamie McMillan-Barrie, a researcher whose literary background did not prepare her to negotiate the kind of office drama that takes place on a research station at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

Both of these are part of Procyon Podcasting Network, which also has more upcoming shows which I am beyond thrilled about; both are also incredibly diverse, both in-universe and behind the scenes. Both are charming and very, very gay as well as racially diverse; I’m particularly fond of Starship Iris, but everything that comes out of Procyon is more than worth a listen. They’ve started pretty recently and have only a few episodes each.

For people who like: space scifi, found family tropes, workplace drama, human/genderless alien romance, space lesbians, diversity, cool female leads.

THE ORBITING HUMAN CIRCUS (OF THE AIR) – The dreamy, accident-prone janitor of the Eiffel Tower does his best to get himself a place in the fantastical, impossible radio variety show being broadcast from the tower every night. Will he ever be successful? Will the show survive his attempts? And just where do the mysterious and magical acts come from?

Considering it’s a Night Vale Presents podcast and stars an A-list of my favorite underappreciated creatives I was kind of shocked at how little discussion I see. OHC is so charming and dreamlike and heartwarming; it’s like recapturing the feeling of a particularly magical bedtime story. It features Mandy Patinkin singing Cheap Trick and you need that in your life. Also, it has a platypus in it.

For people who like: OTR, John Cameron Mitchell/The Music Tapes/Neutral Milk Hotel, a gentler weirdness than other NVP podcasts, Paris, charm, experimental storytelling.

WITHIN THE WIRES – You are a patient at the Institute. You have been instructed to listen to this series of relaxation tapes to aid in your treatment. You must trust my voice. You must trust only my voice.

NVP’s other highly underappreciated show. WTW manages to tell a narrative in a format (self-help relaxation tapes) I would have never thought possible, and though it’s difficult to say much about what makes it so good without spoiling the effect of that excellence, it’s a great choice if you’re weird-fiction-inclined. Like Alice Isn’t Dead, it also features lesbians. (It may not be good for anyone who has trouble with unreality, disturbing second-person commands, or depictions of institutionalization.)

For people who like: experimental storytelling, WLW love stories, surrealism, dystopic fiction, suspense.

INKWYRM – Mella Sonder was hired to work with a recalcitrant AI, not to be personal assistant to Annie Inkwyrm, head of outer space’s premiere fashion magazine – and the two of them will probably be fighting about that, along with all of the other disasters they get tangled up in, until the star they’re orbiting explodes. Or until they fall in love.

My money’s on the latter (fingers crossed please make it happen), but this show just finished a really fun first season and I absolutely cannot wait for more of it. I’m a sucker for dysfunctional coworker comedy, and an even bigger sucker for girls falling in love; this offers both and is excellent, and is just incredibly done for an amateur podcast. The peeps making it are inspiring and badass and really, really talented.

For people who like: The Devil Wears Prada, scifi, diversity, vitriolic romantic tension, cool female leads, alien characters, wlw romance, incompetently homicidal AIs.

THE BEEF AND DAIRY NETWORK – The number one podcast for those involved – or just interested! – in the production of beef animals and dairy herds.

Honestly almost impossible to describe. What really gets me is the hilarity of how it somehow perfectly imitates the public radio/industry podcast style, delivering you important updates from the world of cattle products, except not from a world anything like ours. Endless beefy fun times with the occasional sharp right turn into body horror and potent unreality played for comedy. This and Alice Isn’t Dead are my dad’s favorite podcasts, which probably says something about him.

For people who like: Wooden Overcoats (it’s by the same folks!), weirdness, humor, much less of a focus on narrative, ‘radio show’ format, satire, rich beef sausages.

ARCHIVE 81 – Dan Powell is missing. He was hired, so he thought, for a simple job cataloguing an archive of tapes for the New York state government: a series of interviews that a woman named Melody Pendras conducted with the tenants of an odd apartment building. Then the story on the tapes becomes impossibly strange and terrifying, and so does Dan’s life.

Another one where I’m not sure whether everyone knows about it and just isn’t talking, but they should be. It’s probably a sign of how fantastic A81 is that it’s one of my favorites even though I ordinarily can’t stand horror. This post really extolls its virtues in a better way than I can. This show has some of the most incredible sound design I’ve heard yet, so if visceral body horror conveyed solely through the audio medium isn’t for you, then neither is Archive 81. On the other hand, if you like extradimensional lesbian apotheosis and the nickname “Boombox Fuckboy,” listen to this. On top of that, the acting is superb. (The creators, Dead Signals, also did an apocalyptic scifi survival-horror miniseries thing called The Deep Vault, which is similarly beyond well-made.)

For people who like: horror, weirdness, found footage format, great music, absolutely stellar atmospheric and action sound design, excellent and realistic acting, The King in Yellow, a ‘Lovecraftian’ feel not based on hatred of anyone who isn’t straight/white.

JIM ROBBIE AND THE WANDERERS – Three trouble-seeking wandering musicians (one brash and upbeat, one an argumentative engineer, and one a grumpy robot brought to life from a radio and assorted cutlery) wander a post-apocalyptic America populated by strange towns and fantasy beings, some friendly, others dangerous.

This is another show that really charmed me right out of the box. Not to mention that it’s a take on “post-apocalyptic” that I’d never seen before – why have grim ruins or cannibalistic societies when you can have giant friendly genderless bees, an NYC inhabited by partying undead, towns full of squid-people, and desert-dwelling leprechauns? It’s much more of a fantasy take on the genre and the characters are incredibly sweet. I was also really impressed by the quality bump it’s undergone over its run so far.

For people who like: fantasy, more lighthearted narratives, fun and creative concepts, a villain called “The Fig-Wasp King,” great music, friendship, cool female leads, diversity.

THE HIDDEN ALMANAC – A thrice-weekly, four-minute show hosted by the plague doctor Reverend Mord, offering historical anecdotes from another world, the feast days of unlikely saints, and useful gardening advice. 

Tired of that one analogy from every news article of the 2013 Night Vale boom (“like Stephen King/H.P. Lovecraft wrote A Prairie Home Companion”), writer/artist Ursula Vernon decided to take a crack at recreating Garrison Keillor’s other show, The Writer’s Almanac, in a similar fashion. Compared to WTNV, it comes off as less ‘weird’ and more fantastical, and is on the light side continuity-wise, though both the historical events and the frame show have arcs. In the past couple of years there have been a lot more story arcs, many lasting months, and a lot more appearances from guest character Pastor Drom and other characters. I find it incredibly charming and relaxing.

For people who like: fantasy weirdness, the actual Writer’s Almanac, WTNV, gardening, vitriolic friendships, worldbuilding, short runtimes, less of a focus on plot, large back catalogs, worldbuilding, crows.

#my posts #podcast recs #podcast recommendations #hey! here's that thing ive been doing #also before u ask about taz: im only to pttm and will probably add it once ive caught up #bobbie recommends things

[imissmymarcjacobs]

Ritual Vitamins Comprehensive Review

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Why I Was So Hesitant to Give Ritual Vitamins a Try

Honestly, my main issue with Ritual (versus other brands of supplements/vitamins/multivitamins) was undoubtedly the price. $30 USD for just one month of something that really only “works” invisibly is just not a really “fun” kind of purchase, if we’re being real here haha. I’d much rather spend that money each month on some nice skincare or makeup products that I can actually see working when I use them. However, I finally got serious about actually purchasing a Ritual Multivitamin subscription when 1. my doctor said I was anemic (likely because of my vegetarian diet that I’ve been following for the past few years) and that I should start taking an iron supplement, and 2. I found a Ritual promo code shared by someone I follow on Instagram for $15 off your first month. So, since an iron supplement was actually medically necessary for me (the regular Ritual multivitamins contain Iron as one of the ingredients, plus several more good things which I will talk more about later), and since $15 for a month’s worth of pills isn’t too much worse (I think) than what I’d pay for a decent iron supplement or multivitamin from a drugstore or something, I decided it finally made sense to at least give Ritual a try!!!

The Price

Is it Justified Solely by the Ritual’s Cute Packaging & Overall Brand Aesthetic? Or Actual Solid Reasoning Based on Quality and/or Performance?

Now let’s take a quick look at Amazon to see what some of their women’s multivitamin options are and what range of prices we’re dealing with there. Below is a pretty standard, seemingly decent (4.5 out of 5 stars with almost 300 total ratings) women’s multivitamin I found on Amazon. So, in comparison, yes, you can find a standard women’s multivitamin on Amazon (and likely at your local drugstores, as well) for a much more affordable price than what you would pay if you opted for a Ritual subscription, since the Amazon one (the one below that I’m using as an example) is about one-third of the price of the Ritual vitamins, and it comes with double the amount of product compared to the Ritual vitamins. (They both come with 60 pills, but you’re supposed to consume two Ritual vitamins daily whereas you’re only directed to take one pill daily when using the supplement pictured/linked below).

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***Note for the rest of this post: From this point forward (in this post only, obvs), when I talk about the Ritual Multivitamins, I will be referring to the Ritual Essential for Women Multivitamin 18+ (Not the other two current options - Multivitamin 50+, Prenatal Multivitamin) unless otherwise stated. This is only because the two options I’m not really talking about in this post aren’t really relevant to me, personally, right now, and I don’t know much about the needs of the average 50+ person or the average pregnant or soon-to-be pregnant person, so I’m choosing not to speak on those things that I really don’t know much about, at least at this point of my life! However, if you have any specific questions that this post doesn’t answer and you think the 50+ Multivitamin or the Prenatal Multivitamin might be better-suited to your needs, please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments and I’ll do my best to share everything I do know! Thank you for understanding!!! 😇😇😇😇

So, is a subscription to Ritual Multivitamins actually worth it?

“Is it worth giving a try? Is it worth my money at the full monthly price? Is it worth it if I have a discount/promo code?” I’ll do my best to answer all of these questions in the paragraphs below (to the best of my ability, of course!)

Features/Perks of Ritual Multivitamins

‘No-Nausea Capsule Design’ - I absolutely love the fact that Ritual vitamins are specifically made/formulated/designed to be anti-nausea. I’m someone who struggles a LOT (I really mean a lotttttt!!!) with seemingly chronic stomach issues. I’ve been to a million doctors appointments about my stomach issues, but none have been able to figure out a cause or cure for me - yet! I try to remain hopeful but that doesn’t change the fact that this is something I’ve been struggling with for years. That said, a lot of foods, drinks, and medication (anything, really, that goes down my throat and into my stomach) upset my extremely sensitive and picky stomach, making me nauseous fairly frequently. Basically, this is just a long-winded way of saying that I’m already super happy with this claim by itself, because I haven’t noticed… honestly I don’t think I’ve noticed ANY other brand of vitamins/supplements that are specifically supposed to be anti-nausea. And I think it’s really great that Ritual actually thought about this as a concern for many people and made this anti-nausea multivitamin a reality!

‘Vegan Certified’ - Having been a vegetarian for the past 4 years, and a vegan the year before that, I can safely say that, in at least one area of my life, I intentionally go out of my way to avoid most animal products - and since almost 100% of those intentions are because of ethical reasons (factory farming = BAD, SCARY, HORRIBLE, TERRIFYING, DISGUSTING, AHFSDILJLFSD don’t get me started lol but look it up - not anything made by PETA tho tbh - and you’ll find a bunch of stuff that you’ll wish you never had to find out but you still should educate yourself because it’s what’s actually going on in soooo many places “behind the scenes” and it’s NOT okay!!!!), I’m loving the fact that Ritual vitamins are completely vegan! It can sometimes be difficult to find certain types of supplements or vitamins that are actually 100% vegan, especially gummies (don’t forget that gelatin is an animal product and therefore not vegetarian and therefore I try my best to avoid these), so this fact/feature is actually one of the big reasons I’d be alright with paying a higher price - in my head, I’m justifying it to myself by thinking, “It’s okay, the extra money isn’t going towards cute, fancy packaging that’ll end up just being thrown in the trash, but it’s also - at least somewhat - going towards the sourcing of all-vegan ingredients, which aren’t as common and likely harder or just plain ol’ more expensive to get for the company.

‘Gluten and Allergen Free’ - I don’t have any real food allergies (I suspect that I might be slightly lactose-intolerant, but it’s definitely nothing severe and I don’t think that even counts as an allergy haha), but I do really appreciate the fact that Ritual took this feature into consideration and was able to implement it without sacrificing the quality of the vitamins or anything like that. Just because it doesn’t necessarily apply to or affect me, personally, doesn’t mean I don’t wholeheartedly appreciate the intentions behind this and what it means for others who do struggle with these issues.

‘Non-GMO’ - To be blatantly honest with you, I actually don’t really know much about GMOs and wasn’t really taught much about them while I was in school at all - and if they did even mention it in school, you can bet your ass I don’t remember even a lil bit of it lol… 😬😭 So, for that reason only, I’m not going to really comment on this particular feature, but I still wanted to mention it in case you’re someone who does know a lot about this topic and is either strongly ‘pro-’ or ‘anti-’ GMO!

‘No Colorants or Synthetic Fillers’ - The fact that Ritual doesn’t use colorants or artificial fillers in their multivitamins is one of the other main reasons why I can better understand and justify (to myself and my wallet, lol) the higher cost of Ritual Vitamins compared to other brands who add random colorants and weird synthetic fillers all over the place while formulating the product, without regard to how this may affect the efficacy and/or absorption of the vitamins even when taken as directed. Since Ritual’s formula is backed by so much science and isn’t formulated with simply price in mind (“What can we do to make this formula as cheap for us - the company - to actually make, without making the product so absolutely terrible and ineffective that our customers won’t want to keep buying it?” - I feel like SOOOO many brands and companies ARE like this, without considering the quality of their product or the consumer’s needs/preferences at ALL, and it’s so refreshing to see a company like Ritual Vitamins doing pretty much the exact opposite and actually taking into account scientific research studies + their accompanying results, the preferences and needs of the consumer, and the quality, branding, and high standards of everything from their products they sell, to the quality + design of both their physical product packaging as well as their digital website and newsletter emails.), I feel so much more confident in the product I’m purchasing and have less guilt and remorse as a consumer (like I might experience if I were to purchase from a ‘cheap,’ almost ‘fast-fashion’ type of brand or company.

Delivered monthly - Ritual is, in fact, a subscription-only program/service - aka, you’ll either like that if you tend to enjoy subscriptions and paying a lil bit of money on a regular, ongoing basis; or, you’ll hate this fact if you’ve had bad experiences with subscription plans in the past - i.e. not being able to easily/conveniently cancel your plan, getting charged each month despite being told your subscription had been canceled, or if you just prefer paying a larger amount all at once rather than making smaller payments continuously over time. This one is all about preference! I, for one, typically prefer most things to not be in subscription-only format, but if the claim (below - #4 in this list) that Ritual offers ‘free, easy cancellation’ is true, then I wouldn’t necessarily be mad at the fact that it’s subscription only.

Free shipping, always - I do enjoy the fact that the Ritual website offers free shipping (even if you need to/choose to take a break from your subscription for a lil bit and then come back, and even if you need to/choose to rush your package!). Honestly, I don’t think there’s ANYONE who truly doesn’t like seeing the words ‘FREE SHIPPING’ on a product you’re thinking about ordering, so I think this point is definitely a perk for mostttt people!

Control your delivery date - Love this perk/feature of Ritual’s service as well! I also am a user (and LOVER!) of Curology, which is also subscription based, and I didn’t think I would even use this type of perk at all, but since I knew Curology offered it, I’ve actually used it a couple of times to order my next “monthly” product early (I was a lil over-eager and was applying wayyy too much product each night at first and ran out of my bottle that was supposed to last 2 months in like, a lil less than one month lollll 😂😋). I don’t know how likely it is that I’ll end up finishing my monthly bottle of pills too early like that, cause that doesn’t sound like a healthy use of the vitamins lol, but it’s still a nice perk that’s good to have juuuuust in case you find yourself wanting to needing to get your Ritual package on a different day than what was automatically scheduled for you!

Free, easy cancellation - As stated earlier (#1 in this list), the MOST irritating, frustrating thing about subscriptions of any kind is when there’s no easy or convenient way to cancel. Is there a button on your website that I can simply click on and once I confirm that I actually do need to cancel my subscription plan, it’s done? Simple as that? That’s what I prefer and that’s what I feel like should be the 'norm’ for subscription-based companies/brands/plans, but unfortunately that’s not the case. I haven’t needed to cancel my Ritual subscription yet, obviously, but I’m hopeful that this claim is actually true and not an exaggeration or even a lil white lie.

30-day guarantee - Ritual claims that it will give you a full refund (‘It’s on us.’) if you end up giving the product a try and ultimately being dissatisfied with it or just disliking it for whatever reason. Of course this is a great perk, since it (likely/hopefully) means that they really stand behind their product, service, and brand - they’re basically betting on the fact that you’ll fall in love with it after trying it, since if you do decide to utilize the 30-day guarantee, they obviously end up losing money. So, since they’re still in business and seem to be thriving, I have to assume that there’s at least a majority of people liking being a Ritual customer as opposed to those who were dissatisfied enough to seek out a refund. I might not be the best, or even average lol, at math, but betting on the fact that each customer will end up loving your product is a great way to build trust with your customers - even I feel like I put more trust into the company after reading this perk (and all the others!), so it’s great that they keep the customer in mind.

Build better habits - Ritual offers an Apple Watch app that you can use to help you stay on track with your daily Ritual Multivitamins, as well as to learn new tips and things provided by Ritual - all through their app for the Apple Watch!

Ritual is Created ‘For and By Women’

So, the CEO/Founder of Ritual is a woman, which makes me so happy and even more eager & willing to support the brand, but wait, there’s more! If you scroll down past the blurb from Katerina Schneider, you’ll get a glimpse at some of the rest of the Ritual team (and their credentials). After taking just a quick glance at the people shown on that page, I noticed two awesome things: 1. There’s at least one woman, if not more, in every single one of the career sections featured there. I am a huge supporter, of course, of women’s rights and the issue of equal pay, representation, etc., and knowing that Ritual has a number of women on their team is definitely a step in the right direction and something all brands need to learn from, honestly!

This post is getting… rather long haha so I think I’ll stop here and just make a ‘Part 2’ in addition to this post at a later date. Until then, I hope this provided you with some helpful and/or interesting information about Ritual, vitamins, multivitamins, and different features and/or perks that Ritual offers. I haven’t yet shared my complete final thoughts yet, because I think it would just make more sense to do so at the very end of Part 2, since I’ve decided to split this long post.

If you have any questions, whether they have anything to do with Ritual or not, please aaaalways feel free!!!!!!!!!!!! to contact me!!!!!!!!! either using the contact form linked in the navigation bar on this site, or by commenting using the comment form under this post, or by emailing me directly! All of these methods end up landing right in my email inbox in a few minutes, usually, so none of the methods are any faster or slower than the others. If you liked and/or appreciated this review, this website, or anything else I make/produce/share, pleaseeee please please let me know (again, using either of the methods listed above - your choice/preference!).

P.S. When Ritual Vitamins Comprehensive Review, Part 2 is eventually written, posted, and published for the whole internet to see, I will go ahead and link it here at the bottom of Part 1 of this lil Ritual “series.” 🥰

#Ritual Vitamins #Ritual #vitamins #multivitamins #for women #review #supplements

[johnmuffus]

ShopyEmpires Review

ShopyEmpires Review

With eCommerce flourishing this year, many people are searching for the knowledge necessary to start their own online store. Be it a regular eCommerce or dropshipping, there are countless entrepreneurs venturing into solutions like Shopify, WooCommerce, etc.

Of course, with so many people looking for answers, there are also many eCommerce “solutions” to satisfy that need. However, not all of them are good, and not all solutions are really interested in solving something.

Is ShopyEmpires on of those platforms just looking to grab your money? Let’s find out.

What is it?

ShopyEmpires is an online, expert-driven agency dedicated to create dropshipping stores for its clients. It lets entrepreneurs receive and host their dropshipping store from scratch.

You can leave the entire process of building the store to this agency so that you can just focus on growing it. If you want to do things yourself, they offer a host of different customizable templates to make things easier.

They belong to Shopify’s Development Community. It’s a nice title to give them legitimacy as well.

They offer 3 different packages, basically covering building your store, redesigning an already-existing one, and the premium one. We’ll cover them in-detail in a bit.

After you choose one, you’ll be assigned a project manager to guide you through all the steps: design, train, and release. Besides, they also offer different online courses like marketing training with Facebook, Instagram, and Google Ads.

Do note that these courses aren’t free; you’ll have to pay almost $299, so keep that in mind if you’re considering ShopyEmpires to train yourself. They also have an entire page showing screenshots and reviews from successful clients, but it’s up to you if you trust this.

Target audience

ShopyEmpires aims towards people wanting to start an eCommerce without the knowledge of how to do so. They offer to take care of all the technical processes and build your store. Therefore, it’s also good for people who want to save time and get started quicker.

However, people who are already running an eCommerce store can benefit from ShopyEmpires as well. If you have a working dropshipping business but aren’t getting many conversions, you can have them optimize your store by identifying niches, working on your branding, etc.

Basically, ShopyEmpires is for people who want to start their eCommerce right away without learning how to set up their store and similar issues.

Who’s the author?

Zak Elson and Gary Martin are the founders of ShopyEmpires; they created it back in 2016, and it’s based in New York, USA.

Their website doesn’t really offer much information regarding the people behind ShopyEmpires, but they’ve gathered a team of eCommerce experts to work on the agency and support clients.

While they do seem to be experts, it’s worrying how you can’t find anything about these members. The “About Us” page mentions no one, neither members nor heads of the company. I’ve even gone to Google to find out more about them, but I found nothing; the same goes for their Facebook and Instagram pages. They really don’t like showing their faces.

What do you get with ShopyEmpires?

Now, we’ll go through the 3 different packages offered by ShopyEmpires.

Organize and redesign your store

The most affordable package sits at $199, and it aims towards people with an eCommerce store up and running but struggling to find success or increase its sales. It’s also good for people needing their stores to be easier to run but know little about add-ons and plugins they can add to it.

The package offers to implement premium themes, creating your brand logo (or improving an already-existing one), and the mobile version for your store to be responsive on all devices.

You also get the options to add reviews to your website so that customers can leave comments on your products, complete with images. You can add newsletters as well; it’s good for building your mailing list to develop your email marketing approach and keep your clients updated on your products, discounts, and new releases.

I’ll give them an extra point because they added that on the most basic plan.

Of course, it includes the standard optimization package: SEO, compression, and size/quality optimization to make your site faster to browse. There’s the live chat functionality as well, but you already know it’s not the best.

Build your store from zero

People without a store and the knowledge necessary to decide what niche they’re going to pick can get this package for an additional $50. You’ll receive help analyzing and searching a profitable niche for your store.

Once you’ve chosen the niche that best suits your objectives, you get assistance to dial down which products you want from it.

Adding your products work through third-party apps to make things easier for you. Each app has its own price as well, and that will be an added cost to your expenses, so don’t forget about that.

Finally, you get recommendations on which premium themes go best with the niche you chose.

Of course, all the features and services from the previous plan are included in here.

Premium subscription

This is the most expensive package, sitting at $497. It’s designed for people with absolutely zero knowledge and experience in eCommerce and dropshipping but who want to create their first online store and start selling right away.

You receive a “personalized” marketing plan. It offers “done-for-you” strategies for Facebook Ads, but there’s no way to tell if you’re the only one receiving the plan or if they just recycle the same plans for all their students.

They also provide assistance contacting Instagram Influencers to help market your products, some courses for advertising on Facebook and Instagram, and help selecting sources and adding the products to your store.

As with the previous package, you also receive all the services provided in the two other packages.

There’s also a plug-in you can use to import reviews from products. However, not everyone uses since it comes at an extra price as well. Importing reviews is done with other apps that come for an extra price, but you can find free trials.

Finally, there’s a newsletter integration plug-in, but that’s offered in all the plans.

ShopyEmpires More Info

The website does show a lot of work put in; it looks great, and all interfaces and links that take you to the different sections of the site are easy to use. The language is also simple to read and skips all the fluff. You don’t get any ads thrown to your face or screaming at you to buy something, and the same goes for intrusive reviews and screenshots from satisfied customers.

However, not everything is perfect. ShopyEmpires still has flaws, and one is the pricing on their services. They’re one of the more expensive options in the market, and the premium plan costs twice as much as a good eCommerce course for you to build your store by yourself.

Even the cheapest plan is priced at $199, which is still higher than what its competitors ask.

Another flaw was the already-mentioned abandoned cart recovery, which is completely absent. eCommerce businesses shouldn’t really skip this function since it goes a long way in increasing your sales. You can use it to remind customers about carts they forgot.

Finally, ShopyEmpires doesn’t really let you list a lot of variety for your products. If you want to sell items that you can offer in many formats, then this service won’t help you a lot.

Final Verdict

ShopyEmpires isn’t a bad service by any means, and I’m sure people can find success by hiring them. However, their prices are just too high to make them a worthwhile purchase over its competitors.

It’s as simple as that: they’re asking for more than their competitors for the same product.

It gets worse when you notice the missing features, which would have (at least) justified their asking price. I’m not just talking about the abandoned cart recovery; they’re also missing custom fields and file uploading. Besides, the Facebook and Instagram training should be included in the other packages.

Again, the live chat can just die on you when you need it the most, and it feels like writing an email and waiting for a response. Their training and mentor calls should also be included in the price.

Finally, you really want to have a grasp on your business. Having the best store built for you won’t do much if you don’t really know anything about the business model or how to manage it yourself.

Best Alternative

Because of that, I always recommend you just learn the business by yourself and make your venture your own. In this sense, eCom Elites is the best alternative.

You can get it for $197 or $297 depending on the plan you need, and it’ll give you all the knowledge and training necessary to build your store and grow your business.

I hope you found this review useful and if you have any questions, please comment down below. I’ll be more than happy to assist you.

Once again, thanks for reading my ShopyEmpires Review and I wish you the best of luck.

The post ShopyEmpires Review appeared first on Only Genuine Reviews.

source https://www.onlygenuinereviews.com/shopyempires-review/ source https://onlygenuinereviews.tumblr.com/post/190170369202

[filipeteimuraz]

Create a Waterfall of Downloads for Your Ebook

Writing your first ebook is exciting. But once it’s finally written, you’ve got to find a way to get it in the hands of your audience.

After all that hard work, long nights, and endless research, it would be a shame if your book went unread.

Those of you who have recently written an ebook, are in the process of writing one, or planning to write one in the near future need to start thinking about your distribution methods.

You could be the best writer on the planet, but if you don’t know how to market yourself, nobody will know about you and your writing.

That’s how you need to approach your ebook distribution strategy. Think like a marketer. Not everyone with great writing skills is a marketing expert.

If you need some guidance on getting tons of downloads for your newest ebook, you’re in luck.

I’ll walk you through everything you need to know to create a waterfall of downloads. Here’s how you do it.

Start taking pre-orders

Don’t wait until you’re done writing the ebook to promote it. Taking pre-orders in the early stages is a great way to build hype for your ebook and brand.

If people know they can get the ebook in advance, it may seem even more appealing.

Lysa TerKeurst used this strategy to promote her ebook, Uninvited:

This approach is great because it gives people a reason to pre-order the book. Anyone who pre-ordered this copy was able to download the first five chapters right away.

They’re also promoting some limited gifts, which were undisclosed. Both of these promotions can pique the interest of potential readers.

Getting to download chapters in advance gives people a feeling of exclusivity. They have something that not everyone has access too.

Plus, if they enjoy the first chapters, they could even start promoting the book themselves.

Come up with other ways to give people an incentive to pre-order your ebook before it gets released. If you’re charging for downloads, you can offer a discounted rate for anyone who pre-orders it.

Even if people don’t order it in advance, putting it out there creates a buzz around your ebook before its release, exposing it to your potential readers.

Record an audio version

Not everyone prefers reading ebooks. Recording an audio version can make your book more appealing to a wider audience.

According to the Pew Research Center, print books are still more popular than ebooks and audio books:

Ebooks are more popular than audio books, but as you can see from the data, there are still people who prefer listening to audio books.

But how does releasing an audio book increase downloads for your ebook?

Pair the two together. Say your ebook download comes with a free audio version as well. Pitch this any way you want.

Or you could charge for the audio book and offer the ebook as a free download.

If you continue to release different formats of your ebook, it will appeal to a wider audience and increase the number of downloads you can get.

Create blog posts out of each chapter

If you have an active blog, you need to take advantage of that channel as a marketing resource.

You’ve already got an audience familiar with your voice and visiting your website to read your blog. Those are the people you need to target first.

It’ll be much easier to get downloads from your blog audience than from people who don’t know who you are and have never heard of you before.

Rather than just blogging about your ebook once or twice, you can generate lots of blog content by writing a post about each chapter. There are many benefits to this marketing strategy.

First of all, it gives you a way to add fresh content to your website. This is great for SEO purposes and improving your Google ranking, which can drive traffic to your website.

But blogging is also great because it gives you an excuse to promote your new content on your other marketing channels.

For the past four years, bloggers have been using social media as the primary method of driving traffic to their posts:

Each time you blog about a new chapter, you have an excuse to post on your social media accounts.

Another reason why you should employ this strategy is because these posts will be super easy for you to write. You’ve already done all the heavy lifting with your ebook.

These blogs will be summaries of the chapters, which you already know like the back of your hand. It won’t take you lots of time and effort to write this content.

If you can keep your readers engaged with these blog posts, you’ll get ebook downloads. Just make sure you don’t give it all away in the blog. Otherwise, your readers won’t have a reason to download the ebook.

Tease your audience just enough to keep them interested, but make them download the ebook to get all the information.

Place a download link all over your website

Obviously, you need to promote your ebook on your website. But don’t restrict that promotion to just one landing page.

Put the download link all over your website. Just make sure it is not overwhelming or doesn’t appear as spam. Websites with simple designs have higher conversion rates.

For example, put a CTA button on your home page, side bar, and slider menu. If someone navigates to another page on your website, have a pop-up window appear with a download link.

Doing this will make it obvious that your ebook is available for download.

Right now, marketing experts are not properly utilizing CTA buttons:

Fewer than half of websites have a CTA button that can be spotted in less than three seconds. That’s far too long. More than 70% of businesses don’t have their CTAs on the interior pages of their websites.

Don’t make this mistake.

You should also start A/B testing your CTA button’s placement, size, wording, and color. These tests will help you improve your site’s efficiency so you can get maximum exposure.

Try to get downloads from your email subscribers

As I said earlier when discussing blogging, you need to try to get as many downloads as possible from people already familiar with your brand.

Targeting your email subscribers is perfect for this. These people are interested enough in your brand and voice to sign up to hear from you on a regular basis.

It’s much easier to target your existing audience than trying to find readers elsewhere. Check out how Help Scout uses this technique in their email newsletter:

It’s direct and straight to the point. They aren’t trying to promote anything else except for this new ebook.

The message ends with a clear call-to-action button that’s serves as a link for their subscribers to download the ebook.

Those of you charging people for an ebook download can try to entice your email subscribers to buy it by offering them a discounted rate.

Publish infographics with research from your ebook

People love visuals.

Infographics are great because they help drive more traffic to your website. Here’s why.

If you start publishing high quality infographics, other websites will use your visuals to improve their own content. As a result, you’ll get a referral link.

This will increase the chances of your book getting exposed to a wider audience.

You can even add a logo or some other identifying mark to all your infographics with the title of your book. The headline of each infographic could include the title of the chapter you were referencing.

If you have never made an infographic before, don’t be intimidated. It’s quite easy.

There are plenty of free online tools and resources available that let you create customized infographics. Check out Canva to start.

Don’t turn down guest-posting opportunities

Remember I said earlier that blogging on your own website can benefit downloads? Well, you can also get more ebook downloads by writing guest posts.

Guest posts expose your ebook to a new audience. People who read other blogs may not be familiar with your brand and voice. But you can get their attention with your guest post.

Just like with infographics, you’ll be able to get referral links for your guest posts. You can even have these referrals go straight to the download link.

I see way too many people turn down guest-posting opportunities. In fact, more than 40% of bloggers don’t write guest posts at all.

This is a complete missed opportunity. Anytime someone offers you a guest post, you should jump on it. Just make sure their website has the same core values as your brand.

You don’t want to be associated with anyone who is not in line with your morals. If nobody is offering you guest-posting opportunities, find them on your own.

Websites will be thrilled to offer guest-posting because they get to publish new content without having to do any of the work. This is a win-win scenario for everyone.

Read sections on a live video broadcast

Live videos made the list of my top marketing trends to look for in 2018. This is a great opportunity for you to reach and engage with your audience on social media platforms.

Start with platforms such as:

Facebook Live

YouTube Live

Instagram Live.

Use whichever platform has the largest social media following. If you’ve got lots of followers on all of these networks, that’s great. Host live video broadcasts on all of them.

Just make sure your live stream isn’t boring. You’d want to read some passages to give people an idea of what they can expect from your book, but that’s not all you should do.

Marketing experts say live video is a great way to deepen your engagement with your followers:

Answer questions in real time about your writing process, research, and inspiration for writing the ebook.

You could even give away some copies to people watching the live stream.

Leverage social media platforms

You want to make sure you exhaust all your marketing distribution channels to promote your ebook. I’ve already discussed your website, blog, and email subscription list.

In addition to using social media to broadcast live videos, you’ll also want to take advantage of the other features on these platforms.

Post pictures and videos to get the word out to your followers.

Encourage shares on Facebook and retweets on Twitter. Add a download link to your Instagram bio.

Think about all the followers you have on these platforms. Target them before the release. Promote the release date hard. Even after the book is written, keep up your social media marketing strategy to get more downloads.

You can try to work with social media influencers on these platforms as well.

Promote your personal brand

Why should anyone read your ebook?

You need to start promoting your personal brand. Position yourself as an expert on the subject.

If you have a degree in a specific field or any personal success stories relevant to the content of your book, let people know about that.

Answer these questions to help you define your personal brand:

What makes you qualified to write an ebook?

If you brand yourself properly, it will add credibility to your book. As a result, more people will be interested in hearing what you have to say.

This will lead to more downloads.

Conclusion

Writing an ebook isn’t enough to get downloads.

You need to take proper steps to make sure people download your ebook.

Start taking pre-orders to build hype and gain exposure before the book is released. Record an audio version to make the book more appealing to people who prefer listening to books.

Blog about it. Use each chapter of your ebook as an inspiration for a blog post. You can even take advantage of guest-posting opportunities.

Create infographics to drive more traffic to your website. Make sure your site has a clear CTA on every page with a download link.

Target people who already know who you are. Use social media as a distribution channel, and stream live videos to create an authentic interaction with your audience.

Always promote your personal brand so people know you’re an expert on the topic and qualified to write this book.

If you follow these tips, you won’t have a problem getting tons of downloads for your latest ebook.

http://www.quicksprout.com/create-a-waterfall-of-downloads-for-your-e-book/ Read more here - http://review-and-bonuss.blogspot.com/2019/03/create-waterfall-of-downloads-for-your.html

[dyernews]

Money at 30: Quickbooks TurboTax Self-Employed Tax Bundle Review

Well, I did it. For the second year in a row, I successfully completed my own tax return. After trying Credit Karma Tax last year, this time around I decided to upgrade my Quickbooks Self-Employed subscription to the Tax Bundle, entitling me to one free federal and state filing with TurboTax.

So how was my TurboTax experience? Let’s take a look at the Quickbooks Self-Employed Tax Bundle with TurboTax and whether or not it’s worth the price.

What is the Quickbooks Self-Employed Tax Bundle and Is It Worth It?

Quickbooks Self-Employed Tax Bundle features Before I get into actually using TurboTax to file this year, I should back up and explain why I choose that option. For the past couple of years, I’ve been using Quickbooks Self-Employed (QBSE) to help me keep track of my business expenses and estimate my quarterly tax payments. Having enjoyed my experience with that software so far, a few months ago, I figured it was time I tried out the Tax Bundle that not only enables you to pay your quarterly taxes through the Quickbooks Self-Employed site but also includes a federal and state filing for your annual tax return. Of course this option also comes with all of the same Quickbooks Self-Employed features, including mileage tracking, transaction categorization, federal quarterly tax estimates, and more.

Quarterly tax payments I’ll admit that, before I really read up on what the Tax Bundle was, I kind of thought it was a ripoff. That’s because I mistakenly believed that the only benefit was that you could make estimated tax payments through Quickbooks. While that is convenient, it’s really not much of an upgrade considering you can make payments through Direct Pay or EFTPS. In fact, to activate payments in QBSE, you’ll need to set up an EFTPS account. Like I said, this is certainly a nice element of the Tax Bundle… but make no mistake that the TurboTax filing credit is the real perk.

Comparing the costs The Quickbooks Self-Employed Tax Bundle comes at a cost of $7 more than the standard Quickbooks Self-Employed membership. That brings the regular cost up to $17 a month, although you can also try it for $12 a month using this link. Consider this $7 a month cost, a year’s worth of this upgrade comes out to $84.

Meanwhile, filing a federal return with TurboTax Self-Employed costs $120 and adding a state return is $44.99. Thus the Tax Bundle can be a great deal. That said, a deal is only a deal if the product for sale is quality — so how was my TurboTax experience?

My Experience with TurboTax Self-Employed

Getting set up Off the bat, one of the aspects of using TurboTax I was really excited about was the ability to import data from Quickbooks. This was actually a feature I was looking for when back when my father was doing my taxes, which led me to discover it was reserved for Tax Bundle customers. Needless to say finally having access to such simplicity was exciting but there are some things to note about it.

When transferring your data over, it warns that you’ll only be able to do so once. In other words, you may want to double check that you’re up to date on all of your transactions in QBSE and that everything is labeled properly. However, if you do find an error, you can manually correct it in TurboTax. Me being me, I did find a few errors and adjustments I needed to make after transferring my Quickbooks data to TurboTax but correcting them was simple.

Another cool feature — and one I didn’t know about ahead of time — was the ability to upload my 2017 tax return to TurboTax as a jumping off point for this year’s return. To do this all I needed to do was upload a PDF. Similar functionality was also employed elsewhere to make filling out forms a cinch.

Walking through your return As someone who’s only completed their own tax return once before, I’m definitely still a novice. Thankfully I felt like TurboTax did a good job of walking me through each step and explaining it in a way I could understand. It also breaks your return down into different elements, such as income, deductions, health care, etc. This allowed me to focus on one aspect of my taxes at a time instead of skipping around.

At the same time, one minor issue I had with TurboTax was that fixing a small error would often mean going through several prompts instead of being able to go directly to the relevant input. I believe I had a similar complaint about Credit Karma Tax, so I guess this is just standard operating procedure. Nevertheless it did get on my nerves at times.

TurboTax support When I was completing my return I did run into one issue that I thought would prevent me from filing. Long story short, my 1095-A from for healthcare had some zeros on it but TurboTax wouldn’t allow these rows to be all zeros. Eventually I tried leaving these parts of the form blank instead but still got an error when I was attempting to finish up my filing.

After a few tries, I finally decided to try support. Within a couple of minutes, I received a call on my phone and was able to explain what the issue was. Up until this point, it all seemed pretty standard but what happened next was actually kind of cool. The technician asked me to hit a combination of keys on my computer, which then provided me a code I could read to them. Once I did this, I could see the tech on my screen and they were able to highlight things on the screen. As luck would have it, I somehow added a second version of the form that was giving me problems and deleting that fixed things up. While I still had support on the line, they also made sure I didn’t have any other errors — only to find another. Thankfully this was another two-click fix and I was on my way.

$0 spent I have to say that, the entire time I was working on my return in TurboTax, I was worried that I would end up getting a bill when I finally made it to the filing prompt. Yet this never happened as my total was always displayed as $0. They did provide a couple of opportunities to upgrade — in which case your total wouldn’t be $0 — but, if you stick with the basics, both your federal and state returns are included.

Final Thoughts on TurboTax and the Quickbooks Self-Employed Tax Bundle

Last year, I noted that I was pretty pleased with my Credit Karma Tax experience. While my stance hasn’t changed on that, I have to say that I felt more confident about my return while using TurboTax. Perhaps the extra year of experience under my belt but I suspect that the formatting and explanations on TurboTax are superior. It also doesn’t hurt that importing my data from Quickbooks Self-Employed reduced some room for error.

To that point, I think the Quickbooks Self-Employed Tax Bundle is a good deal. Essentially you’re getting up to $165 in TurboTax product for about half price. It may not be as good as free but it is a reasonably priced option to be sure.

Given my experience filing my 2018 tax returns with TurboTax, I foresee myself sticking with the Quickbooks Self-Employed Tax Bundle throughout 2019 as well. From the ability to import my QBSE data to the tech support that help solve my problem in no time, I have to say that I feel good about my decision to switch. Plus, for the record, I only ended up owing $45 on our federal return so I suppose Quickbooks’ estimates for my quarterly payments were pretty darn close as well. For all of those reasons, I think the service and the Tax Bundle are certainly worth the investment.

The post Money at 30: Quickbooks TurboTax Self-Employed Tax Bundle Review appeared first on Dyer News.

[elizabethjournals]

No matter what stage of life you’re in, budgeting is something that is essential but sometimes daunting. If you ask me, I put off my budgeting for far too long. However, now that I budget regularly it has been such a positive addition to my life and has reduced my stress immensely. It is extremely helpful to have tools that you can utilize to help you track your finances and spending, especially if you are saving for something in particular or trying to pay off debt.

Different tools will work for different people, and it is important to find one that is easy to use which you know will last over time and not just for a season. Once budgeting becomes a regular part of your life, you’ll never look back! Here we will compile some of the best budgeting tools that can be utilized by anyone, no matter how experienced or inexperienced they are when it comes to budgeting.

  [mailerlite_form form_id=31]

  Tool One: Budgeting Applications

Most of us spend a lot of time on our phone anyway, so why not download an app that can help us budget and keep our finances straight. There are many different budget apps on the market; it is just a matter of which is best for you. My personal favorite app for budgeting is HomeBudget. However Mint and Clarity are also top favorites in the app store. I’ll explain a little bit about each and why they might work for you!

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  HomeBudget

HomeBudget works for my husband and I as we link our bank accounts to the app as well as to both of our accounts. We are able to create a shared budget and then simply add in each expense into categories we’ve already created such as “gas” or “groceries.” There is a free version of this app, but we pay for the upgraded one to get all of the features. My personal favorite aspect is that you can roll over budget money to the following month, which helps me aspire to save for big purchases. It’s fun to watch your money grow as you start to spend on things you budget for rather than just impulse buys.

    Mint.com

Mint refers to itself as the “free money manager and financial tracker app.” The makers behind TurboTax are responsible for this app, so you know that it will be effective and user-friendly. Mint allows you to track your bills and add in where you spent money and how much you are able to save. Mint is also linked to your bank accounts and allows you to keep track of their balances. Lastly, it allows you to see your net worth, which is a unique feature to help you see where you are with your finances.

  Clarity Money

Clarity follows a similar model to many budget apps in the sense that it allows you to track and manage your expenses and begin to save. The app also has a very useful feature that allows you to see your monthly subscriptions you may have forgotten about (hello, Netflix!) and cancel them if you realize you are not using them. There may be some subscriptions you’ve forgotten about, and Clarity helps you see this. You can also view your credit score on the app and find credit card offers that are based on your spending habits tracked in the app.

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  Tool Two: Excel Sheets

For those that are computer savvy, this is a free way to track your finances and budget from your computer. There are many templates available online (I personally looked at Pinterest and found tons for FREE!) that you can download and modify to fit your spending habits. Depending on where you are in life, your budget will be different from year to year. Excel will allow you to change these sections and dollar amounts as well as create charts to track your spending habits over time.

    Tool Three: Paper Budget Planners

Some people prefer to keep their budget planning “old-school” with the old pen and paper method. There are so many various printable templates online which you can print out and keep it on the fridge, in your planner, or create a Budget Binder with all your bills compiled in one tidy place. Paper budget planners can also be used if you have kids that have an allowance and want to teach them to budget in an easy and effective way.

  [mailerlite_form form_id=27]

  Tool Four: Bullet Journaling

As you probably know if you are a regular reader of Jihi Elephant, bullet journaling is the organization method of choice! Check out the free resources in the Resource Library and get some ideas on how to incorporate finances and budgeting into your bullet journal. A “bills” page will allow you to keep track of bills you need to pay, and you can easily check them off as it is completed. Talk about easy – this method allows you to have your budgeting all in one place with your other organization of to-do lists, goals, and anything else you include in your “bujo”!

  Remember, it’s never too late to start where you are. Happy budgeting!

  This post was written in collaboration with Caroline Pitarque Johnson of Line Writing Co. Collaborative writing means that while I have contributed to this post and edited its content and formatting, I am not its original author. Want to guest post for Jihi Elephant? Learn more here. 

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  Budgeting Tools for Those Who Are Scared of Budgeting No matter what stage of life you’re in, budgeting is something that is essential but sometimes daunting.

#budget #budgeting #bullet journal #Bullet Journaling #finance #Finances #financial #money #retirement #retirement fund #saving

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I own or am a companion in 6 REAL businesses ...

3 more organisations remain in the works.

Listen, at the core I am an entrepreneur. Not an "net marketer." At the very least not in terms the market uses. I'm not into offering web snake-oil or miracles or lotto game tickets.

However, most "marketers" have actually just been workers. They have never ever begun a company and also absolutely have actually never ever constructed one. Yet, they are doing everything possible to offer "how you can make money on the net.".

That's why I want to help you build a real, strong, lucrative online service - anchored in real life, time-tested principles as well as techniques.

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Now you must be assuming, "How much is a subscription to VidViral going to cost me?".

Between the 100 "Products In the Rough" as well as VIP access to the Training Center, the overall worth of VidViral comes to over $164,000! This is REAL buck cost not the FILLED WITH AIR numbers you see around the web. I've also seen "duplicate" websites declaring a value of $30K plus a month. Bull. It costs them $3K and also their website is twice the cost of VidViral.

The Products In the Rough alone would cost you between $1000 and $2000 to generate, which does not count the expense of having a specialist sales letter created for each and every item. [Bear in mind, when you trigger your Membership you'll likewise receive a sales letter with each new Product In the Rough.] So offered the expenses (as well as the moment) needed to begin your own online particular niche company, we think you'll agree that VidViral is a swipe.

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YOU pay a ghostwriter $800 (or even more) as well as have them write ONE publication for you.

YOU do all the research study ... YOU write the salesletter ... and after that YOU start marketing it in the hopes of making your refund.

YOU do every one of this with no step-by-step training or service techniques or added resources.

YOU go sign up with a minimum of a six various other subscription websites to put together comparable value minus the individual training.

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ALTERNATIVE # 2:.

Come to be a member of VidViral and also obtain 100, already-researched, finished particular niche products that you could market as-is or adapt as you please each and every month.

After one year, you will have spent A PORTION of just what you would have attached CHOICE # 1, plus you'll have 100 unique items to show for your financial investment rather than just one.

Plus you obtain ALL the items currently in the site, so it's like getting over 100 items for less compared to the rate of 1!

Plus all the additional material, training and also instructions!

Oh yeah, and because the products are already researched and created FOR YOU, you can spend all your time doing the enjoyable stuff - marketing your items and also generating income!

When you sign up with VidViral you immediately obtain accessibility to over one-hundred-thousand-dollars in items as well as training.

When you join you'll additionally obtain my proprietary PLR Earnings Solution. as well as PLR Conversion. These sources show you step by step how to take a Product in the Rough as well as do a total conversion to the factor where you could supply your personal resale civil liberties. I have actually purchase or viewed every training course on using PLRs and also none come close to this information as well as tutorials. This deserves $297 all on its own.

In all honesty, I aren't sure how we can make this anymore of a piece of cake.

I'm similar to you ...

I understand just how hard it could be to make a choice ... particularly when the deal seems "too-good-to-be-true.".

That's why I'm not asking you to make a choice today. All I'm asking you to do is claim, "Maybe." The procedure is straightforward. Simply signup for a Charter Membership at the reduced price (besides, you'll want to secure that rate must you make a decision to remain), and also if after 30 days you decide that VidViral is wrong for you, you could cancel your subscription as well as get a full, 100% reimbursement for your very first month's charges.

But I have to confess ...

I think that when you see every little thing that you're entering VidViral, you'll want to stick around for a very long time. Once you see all the "Products In the Rough" as well as "Item Profiles" and also the trainng and also know that a growing number of is coming each month, I'm pretty certain that you'll be connected.

As soon as you start excavating around the Training Center, or listen-in on your initial "Participant's Only Live Q&A," I assume you'll concur that this is rather perhaps the most effective point to happen to your online organisation since the advent of e-mail. (Ok, maybe that's a bit strong.):o-RRB-.

Again, possibly I'm absolutely wrong ...

Perhaps you'll access VidViral, take one consider it as well as claim, "I could find dozens of various other locations I prefer to invest my cash every month." (Hell, we can show you were to invest $297 a month for a whole lot much less compared to VidViral deals!).

1. Develop simply ONE item. If you just took ONE item in the harsh and offered it online. You might pay for your membership with just ONE sale a month. Just one. That product making one sale a month pays for your membership. You can have it online and also for sale in a mid-day! Maybe THIS mid-day!

2. Produce simply ONE blog site. You could utilize the material inside VidViral to load a blog site in your specific niche market. Then take the affiliate suggestion in the product profits and also position those in the blog site. Just 1 or 2 sales a month pays for your membership.

3. Develop just ONE recording. You might pick from the massive amount of content and also pick one to videotape as an audio. You easy offer it away on your site and also you have a solid push for the PDF version of the recording at the end. Listeners might promptly pay as well as review every word at their recreation.

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5. Produce just ONE associate web link. When you join you also have accessibility to the VidViral Affiliate Program. What if you just took ONE web link from the program and sent out people to one of our FREE giveaway touchdown pages? If they join, you get paid. If they do not sign up with, but decide on one of our other product - also means down the road - you still earn money! You earn persisting payment monthly on VidViral, Material Goldmine and also VidViral Inner Circle. You likewise ear HEFTY one time commissions on resources like Offline Net Profits and also Membership CSI! It's worth belonging to VidViral just for the associate possibility!!

Certainly, there is not method I could tell you what does it cost? you may make. Exactly what I could tell you is that we have actually jad participants who make over $50,000 monthly!

Locate your particular niche, develop your listing as well as release your item in simply HALF AN HOUR a day!!!

This 75 min, material loaded, webinar will certainly show you how to. The you can reverse and also do it once again. That's why it's called 360. It's an EASY to repeat system you could make use of time and time again. Just Thirty Minutes a day! Each day is specifically laid out for you. There's no uncertainty. Each action is clear as well as undeniable.

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The Top Customer Engagement Strategies That Generate Sky High Revenue

In order to run a successful business, you’ll need to do more than just acquire customers.

One of the best ways to have a successful customer retention strategy is by creating customer engagement.

That goes for all companies across every industry.

Whether you have a brick and mortar location in a small town or have a global ecommerce distribution network, the customer is the lifeline of your business.

While it may not seem like an issue or concern right now, failing to keep your customers engaged could be detrimental to your business.

Fortunately, it appears as though you’ve recognized the importance of customer engagement and that’s what brought you here.

You’ve come to the right place.

I’ll show you my proven strategies to help you improve your customer engagement strategy.

Following these techniques will show the customer how much you care about them.

When customers don’t think you care, they’ll stop using your services and find another company to treat them better.

Part of successful engagement and retention involves going above and beyond to connect with your customers.

Big retail companies are even spending upward of $1 million on artificial intelligence technology to improve their customer engagement strategy.

It’s the top expected benefit from such a big investment.

I’m not expecting you to do this, but I wanted to show you how much stress big brands are putting towards improving their company.

My strategies are much more cost efficient and will yield a high return on your investment.

They don’t require too much time or effort either.

You can implement these tactics to your marketing plan right away too.

Here’s what you can do to get started.

Create interactive emails

How much time have you spent in the last few months making sure that your email marketing strategy is performing at a high level?

I see this mistake far too often when I’m consulting with various businesses.

They send the same boring weekly newsletters and promotions.

While your customers definitely want to hear from you, the constant repetition won’t keep them engaged.

That’s a problem.

You can spice up your email campaigns by incorporating interactive emails to your messages.

One way you can accomplish this is by getting your email to mimic the look and design of your website.

Include different menus that give the subscriber a reason to actively click to find out more information.

Accordion menus work well too.

It allows you to pack more information into a small space.

When a customer sees something that they like, they can click to expand the accordion.

This also improves the chances that your subscribers will see more of your content because it eliminates the need for scrolling.

Adding GIFs and videos to your messages can help increase engagement as well.

It’s much more exciting than just reading a plain email.

If you have a retail or ecommerce business, you should include live shopping carts in your messages too.

This is a great strategy to improve your shopping cart abandonment rates.

When a customer doesn’t finish the checkout process, send a follow-up email with the shopping cart embedded in the message.

That way the consumer can complete the transaction without having to go back to your website.

It’s quick and efficient for everyone, which will help generate more revenue for your company.

Use Facebook Live on a regular basis

Facebook Live is one of my favorite trends of the year.

It’s the perfect resource for businesses to engage with their customers.

More than half of marketing experts agree that video content yields the highest return on investment.

Why?

First of all, it’s so easy.

Second, if you’re using Facebook Live to promote video content, it won’t cost you anything except for your time.

Treat your live stream as if it were a television show.

Don’t just come on randomly whenever you feel like it.

Set a scheduled time once or twice each week to go live.

This will help you build a loyal audience, which will impact your conversions and revenue.

One of the best parts of going live on Facebook is the ability to interact with the viewers in real time.

As you broadcast, users have the option to comment on your stream.

These comments could be directed towards you or even other people who are watching the stream.

Make sure that you respond those comments.

Acknowledge those users.

“That’s a good point, John Smith. I’ll keep that in mind.”

It’s simple.

That recognition will help make the viewers feel special.

It encourages them to keep watching each week and it inspires others to comment as well, knowing that they could also get mentioned.

Facebook live videos are native, which means they are embedded on a page or feed as opposed to an external link.

Native formats increase the share rate of your content compared to other channels.

Don’t do a quick stream.

Longer live videos increase your chances of getting a larger audience.

Facebook allows you to go live for up to four consecutive hours.

You don’t have to stream for the full four hours, but I’d recommend doing at least two or three hours.

Not sure what to talk about during this time?

Don’t worry about it.

Just be yourself.

Obviously, you want to keep things professional, but this stream will give your customers a chance to see the human side of you.

Recognizing that there’s a real person behind the brand name will help them establish a closer connection with you.

This can ultimately increase customer loyalty.

Here’s something else you’ll want to keep in mind.

85% of videos on Facebook get viewed with the sound turned off.

So use lots of visuals in your stream.

You can also add captions to your video so the viewers can read what you’re saying.

Take a look at some of the top Facebook video statistics from 2016.

All of these numbers reiterate what I’ve been saying.

So add this strategy to your marketing campaign to improve the relationship between you and your customers.

Run a contest or sweepstakes

Promotions are a great way to get the attention of your customer base.

Everyone wants something for free, so give the people what they want.

First, you’ve got to understand the difference between a contest and a sweepstakes.

A contest means that the customers need to put forth some sort of effort to win.

There’s a judgment involved in selecting the winner based on skill.

A sweepstakes means that the winner is completely random.

Personally, I recommend running a contest as opposed to a sweepstakes because it gets the customer more involved and genuinely interested in your brand.

If they enter a sweepstakes, all they do is enter and forget about it.

I would recommend running your contest through social media platforms.

When analyzing the top benefits of social media marketing, we can see that the list applies directly to our discussion about customer engagement.

Developing loyal fans will help increase your revenue.

Running your contests on social media will also increase exposure for your brand.

One suggestion could be a photo contest on Instagram.

I like this technique because it’s so easy.

Plus, it encourages user-generated content.

Tell your customers to post a photo that relates to your business.

The user who has the most likes on their picture will win the contest.

Now your brand is all over social media exposed to people who may not have known about you before.

So in addition to improving engagement with your existing customers, you have the opportunity to acquire new customers at no cost.

It’s two birds with one stone.

Here’s an example of a contest that Infiniti ran on social media.

Using a hashtag to enter the contest can also help increase the chances of your promotion going viral.

Contestants know that their photo will be compared to other customers, so they’ll have a chance to check out all of the other entries as well.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when you’re running a contest.

Make sure the rules are clearly posted

Set a deadline

The prize needs to be relevant to your brand

Allow mobile users to participate

Your hashtag should be creative and unique

Make sure the contest is shareable on social platforms

Announce when you’ve selected a winner

Since contests are so easy and inexpensive to run, I recommend doing this frequently.

Just because the contest is over, it doesn’t mean you can’t start another one up right away.

In fact, running these promotions often will give your customers a reason to keep entering and keep them actively engaged with your brand.

Post on your Instagram story

Take advantage of everything that Instagram has to offer.

Don’t just post to your profile.

Add photos and videos to your story as well.

Similar to Snapchat, anything on your Instagram story lasts for 24 hours.

So be active and add to it every day.

These are my top suggestions for what you should put on your story.

Promotional information and discounts

Social proof

Content from your website

Behind the scenes clips of your company workspace

New product launches

Introduce your staff

All of these will keep your followers engaged with your profile.

If you want to run an enhanced version of Instagram story, you can go live on this platform as well.

We already discussed the importance of this strategy when we talked about Facebook Live.

I recommend using Instagram live story for something different than your Facebook strategy.

With Facebook, you should host a weekly stream.

But with Instagram, you should go live when you’re at an event or doing something cool.

This will create an authentic interaction with your viewers.

As a result, they will stay engaged with your profile and brand.

Write a double opt-in landing page

Here’s a strategy that’s often overlooked.

To increase customer engagement, you need to acquire customers who want to be engaged in the first place.

Here’s what I mean.

If your customers can create a profile or join your subscription list with just one click, you may get some people who aren’t genuinely interested.

Making customers take an extra step to join a list will increase engagement.

The best way to do this is with a double opt-in landing.

So when a customer subscribes to your email list from your website, make them confirm their subscription with a welcome email.

It will help you filter out people who don’t want to be engaged.

Double opt-in emails will also improve your open rates.

While you may end up with fewer subscribers if you implement this strategy, you’ll get more active subscribers.

This will make it much easier for you to apply the other engagement tactics that we discussed.

Conclusion

Improving your customer engagement strategy will positively impact your revenue.

Not sure where to start?

Follow the tips that we outlined.

Start by developing interactive emails.

It’s easy. Just continue to email your current subscriber list but include videos, GIFs, live shopping carts, and menus to increase engagement with each campaign.

Schedule a time each week to go live on Facebook.

Interact with the viewers who comment on the stream.

This is a perfect opportunity for you to connect with your customers in real time.

Run a contest or sweepstakes that encourages UGC.

Contests will give the customers a reason to interact and engage with your brand.

Take advantage of the Instagram story feature as well.

Another way to make it easier to engage with your customers is by filtering the most viable candidates to your subscription list.

Create a double opt-in landing to ensure that your customers are interested and actually want you to keep engaging with them.

What type of content will you include on your Instagram story to increase engagement with your current customer base?

https://www.quicksprout.com/2017/11/24/the-top-customer-engagement-strategies-that-generate-sky-high-revenue/ Read more here - http://review-and-bonuss.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-top-customer-engagement-strategies.html