#it deserves as much budget and attention as every other aspect of the game

[carbkaiju]

I wanna say it The music in DD2 is such a downgrade :\

And the game has the same composer as the first. so what happened? The music all has the same melody and sounds like it's being piped in from another room underground. The equalizing is very muted, I strongly guess the reason is to make the music more streamer friendly so it's easier for people to talk over the game.

The music from the Warrens AND the Cove still shake my damn heart, it's incredible stuff! Each zone in DD1 has a unique melody and instrumentation, it goes above and beyond to build atmosphere.

I was disappointed to find the last confession boss has the same music as fighting The Heart. Really. I wanted to feel the horror of fighting this monstrosity - instead I was given trodden ground.

#darkest dungeon #the weald is like the weakest track but the ambience is solid #i care a lot about music and sound design in games #it deserves as much budget and attention as every other aspect of the game #chatwood did an amazing job with the first one how does the sequel cut corners so hard #they also reuse the warrens music but tone it down #a personal crime because the warrens SLAPS #THE PERCUSSION IN THE COVE IS SO CRAZY YALL #THE DUKE OF SOUL IS BACK THERE BANGIN ON EMPTY SHELLS AND CRAB HUSKS HOW THE FUCK DID YOU CAPTURE THAT #the shroud is yoho pirate music we've all heard before like #dont get me started on the tangle or the sprawl #im sorry if i sound like such a hater truly its the opposite #and Town in Chaos #good lord #ive never felt so determined to protect my heroes #strings as your forefront instrument is tried and true but tired #i want music and instruments that make me think HOW the HELL did they make that sound

[theirrationalzone]

My Top Ten Games of 2020

Let’s just address the giant elephant in the room from the offset: 2020 has been one giant mess of a year. Every event, every major moment this year just felt like the worst case scenario every time.

For a lot of us though, there was one saving grace: video games.

2020 has been a damn fine year for video games. From the return of certain classic franchises to some amazing new entries and experiences. Gaming really managed to thrive in a year where other entertainment mediums such as films and television struggled.

Let’s dive in and take a look at some of the games that made this year a lot more bearable:

10: Watch Dogs Legion

I’ve had a soft spot for Ubisoft’s hack ‘em up franchise for quite a while. I didn’t think the original was as disappointing as it was made out to be and I thought the second one was an underrated gem. When Legion was first announced, I liked a lot of what the game was setting out to do but I wasn’t ready to pull the trigger on getting it. I decided to give the game a chance in the end and I’m glad I did.

Legion might suffer from the same pitfalls that have plagued other Ubisoft enterprises, but the recruitment mechanic is one of the coolest systems I have seen in any game ever. The fact that you can recruit any NPC that you see on the streets of London and use their unique talents to complete your objectives is just an awesome thing in and of itself. Its depiction of London is also incredibly fun to explore and cause mayhem in. While I found the writing to be pretty subpar, the game quite buggy and the whole PS5 upgrade fiasco a farce, I still found Legion to be a fun open world experience overall.

9: Resident Evil 3

Resident Evil has been on a real hot streak as of late, hasn’t it? Ever since Capcom made a promise to its fans that the Resident Evil series would go back to what made it so popular in the first place, the series has gone from strength to strength. Last year saw the release of the RE2 Remake which was absolutely excellent in that it kept the spirit of the original while also taking a few liberties of its own. It was only a matter of time before RE3 got the same treatment and well... it did.

I’m just going to spit this out. It’s not as good as the RE2 Remake. It didn’t need to be though. I still think this is a good game that provides a satisfying and fun survival horror experience. It carries over a lot of the elements that made the RE2 Remake such an excellent game and in certain areas (especially the writing) it makes a few improvements. Plus the game looks absolutely stunning thanks to the RE Engine. It is quite short. It is missing quite a bit of content from the original game. It definitely isn’t as replayable as the RE2 Remake. I still had a blast with it though overall. If this really is a blip for the Resident Evil series, then it must be in a really good place right now.

8: Tell Me Why

Dontnod Entertainment have fast become one of my favourite developers in the industry right now. When I first played Life is Strange back in 2015, it felt like a revelation. It weaved a fantastic story with characters you genuinely cared for and took you to a place you never wanted to leave. I’ve enjoyed all of their other ventures since then such as the underrated (if quite janky) Vampyr and Life is Strange 2.

Tell Me Why is another venture that fits the Dontnod MO: A grounded emotional story with slight supernatural elements, a degree of player choice and a setting that makes your jaw drop. The major difference here is the game’s attempt to portray a transgender character. That’s nothing new in and of itself. It’s more the fact that it attempts to accurately portray a transgender male character which is a bit of a rarity in all forms of media. Transgender portrayals (from what I’ve seen) tend to focus on male to female rather than female to male.

I’m in no position to comment on whether the portrayal is accurate or not, but I got the impression that Dontnod really went out of their way to get this right. Their FAQ explains that they worked with GLAAD and the voice actor to get it as right as they could. That alone deserves huge praise, but I also loved the Ronan Twins’ story as they dealt with their harsh past and the uncertain future. The game was a delight from beginning to end and it just looks absolutely gorgeous to boot. Dontnod have done it again.

7: Bugsnax

One of the early delights of the last generation was a little ditty known as Octodad: Dadliest Catch. It was a fun little physics based affair which cast you as a octopus masquerading as a human. The game had a terrific sense of humour and it was just bloody fun to play. Young Horses (the developer of the game) kinda went dark after that. They only really resurfaced to release two bonus levels for that game and then they just disappeared again. Now we know why that was the case...

Bugsnax retains some of the qualities that made Octodad such as a memorable game. A great sense of humour and a unique gameplay hook. You play as a reporter sent to the mysterious Snaktooth Island to interview an explorer called Elizabert Megafig who has discovered these unusual creatures known as Bugsnax. After crash landing onto the island, you discover that Elizabert and her significant other have gone missing. It’s up to you to find out what happened while also documenting and capturing Bugsnax for yourself. Capturing the Bugsnax is a big part of what makes this game such a delight to play. As you unlock more tools to play around with, you can come up with different strategies and methods to capture these weird snack based creatures. It’s pretty awesome. Throw in a lovable set of characters to interact with and a beautiful environment to explore, and you’ve got one of the most lovable games released this year.

6: Mafia: Definitive Edition

The last few years haven’t been too kind to the Mafia franchise in my eyes. I really wanted to like Mafia III when it came out back in 2016. It was a sequel I waited years for and it did have some good qualities such as an excellent story that dealt with some pretty heavy topics, solid gameplay mechanics and an amazing licensed soundtrack. Unfortunately the game had one of the most tedious and boring gameplay loops I think I’ve ever seen in an open world game. It just got so dull after the first couple of hours.

This year saw the announcement of the Mafia Trilogy which was to be a celebration of the entire franchise with a remake of the first game, a remaster of the second and a re-release of the third. Half of this was botched with the remaster of II being poorly put together and the re-release of III receiving a broken patch. Things were looking grim for the remake...

As you can see by it being in this list, we were proven wrong. Mafia: DE is a fantastic remake that pays good lip service to the original while also expanding on certain elements. The story which follows the rise and fall of cab driver turned wiseguy Tommy Angelo is more fleshed out with new sequences and character moments that weren’t in the original. Gameplay still retains the solid shooting and cover mechanics of Mafia III and the driving feels absolutely excellent especially when you put it in simulation mode. Lost Heaven is just gorgeous to behold as well with its bustling neighbourhoods and beautiful countryside. I hope this is the beginning of a redemption arc for Hangar 13 and the Mafia franchise. There is a lot of promise to build upon from here.

5: Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise

Anyone who knows me personally or has followed me on social media for a while knows that I’m a big fan of Deadly Premonition. The 2010 cult survival horror hit pretty much encapsulates why I love video games with its lovable hero, an eccentric cast of characters and surprisingly solid mechanics considering the budget it was made for. It was definitely more than the sum of its parts.

When I found out that a sequel was being made exclusively for the Nintendo Switch, my jaw hit the floor pretty hard. I thought any hopes for a sequel were dashed when SWERY left Access Games (the original dev), and yet here we are. A Blessing in Disguise is a brilliant sequel to the zany original. It captures everything that I loved about the original game to a T while also improving in certain aspects. The story is more ambitious this time with it being both prequel and sequel. A lot of the gameplay elements have been improved. The combat benefits from better aiming controls and an upgrade system for both York and his weapon. Getting from A to B is less wonky (and more fun) thanks to the addition of a skateboard rather than a car.

While I do still think the original is better due to the more creative side quests, the more challenging difficulty and the fact that it functions better from a technical perspective, I’m still a big fan of DP2 and it deserves your attention. Here’s hoping that it makes its way to other platforms in the future.

4: Ghost of Tsushima

This last generation has been good for Sony and its Worldwide Studios. In the last five years, they’ve managed to produce hit after hit after hit. A definite far cry from the first year of the PS4 where they produced some dire exclusives. Infamous Second Son was one of these. Sucker Punch’s first effort on the console was very pretty and a good technical showpiece for the console, but as a game, it was boring and dull. I couldn’t even muster the strength to finish it. The standalone expansion First Light was a huge improvement in my eyes. It cut out a lot of the fluff from Second Son. I knew then that Sucker Punch would eventually give us something amazing. They certainly did in the end...

Ghost of Tsushima is honestly one of the best exclusives that Sony has ever produced. Giving us a brutal tale in the vein of a Kurosawa flick where samurai Jin Sakai is forced to betray his code in order to drive out the Mongol force that has enslaved his homeland; we have a story that is genuinely gripping from beginning to end with an incredibly powerful final duel to boot. The combat is incredibly fun with a brilliant combat system that is easy to pick up but challenging to master. Duels especially show the combat system at its finest. Upgrading your abilities genuinely makes you feel incredibly powerful as you begin to decimate enemies left, right and center. Stealth is solid giving you plenty of tools at your disposal and certainly changes up the gameplay a fair bit. Did I mention that Tsushima Island is one of the most aesthetically pleasing locales in any game to date? Well I’m saying it now. It is one of the most beautiful locales in any game to date.

I’m very excited to see where this new IP goes in the future because this first entry is just incredible. A must buy if you own or plan on owning a PlayStation 4 or 5 in the near future.

3: Astro’s Playroom

Memorable pack-in exclusives are a bit of a rarity nowadays. The last one that sticks in my mind is Wii Sports, and that was a long time ago.

Astro’s Playroom serves as the pack-in title for the PlayStation 5 as it is pre-installed on all units. It’s also my favourite exclusive for the console so far. The main reason for this is that Astro’s Playroom evolves past being just a tech demo for the console and its fancy new controller. It actually is a fun little platformer in its own right. It offers something different with every level. In one level you can transform into a giant ball and attempt to navigate some pretty tight platforms, and in the next, you take control of a rocket ship and navigate through corridors while also avoiding bombs. There is great variety here and to be fair, it shows off the potential of the new DualSense controller fantastically.

Plus the game is just one giant love letter to the PlayStation brand and the games that made it what it is today. You’ll see references to obscure PlayStation paraphernalia such as the Multitap and UMD discs, and also games like Final Fantasy VII and Silent Hill. The final boss of the game in particular is one giant callback to something you might remember if you got a PlayStation 1 back in the day. I won’t say any more, but it made me yelp in joy when I saw it. If you plan on getting a PlayStation 5 in the future, make this the first game you play. You won’t regret it.

2: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2

Activision have been on a roll in the last few years with the revitalisation of some of their classic franchises. Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon for example have enjoyed newfound success thanks to the excellent N Sane Trilogy and Reignited Trilogy. When it was revealed earlier this year that Vicarious Visions and Beenox would be resurrecting the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater franchise with a remake of Pro Skater 1 and 2, my heart skipped a good few beats.

The Pro Skater franchise means a lot to me personally as I have very fond memories of putting hours into 1 and 2 when I was a kid. Going through the Career mode with each skater, learning the gaps and getting used to doing manuals when they were introduced in 2, it’s all ingrained into me. I’m happy to say that this is probably the best remake I have ever played. It perfectly captures what made those first two entries so special. Each level is beautifully recreated with a ton of new details that serve to enhance these levels. The soundtrack includes all of your old favourites like Goldfinger’s Superman and Rage Against the Machine’s Guerilla Radio along with some fantastic new tracks like Less Than Jake’s Bomb Drop.

The gameplay definitely taps more into Pro Skater 3 and 4 territory with Reverts and Flatland tricks included. These tricks don’t feel out of place and the game does give you the option to play it legacy style if you want. It feels magnificent overall though. The physics are pitch perfect. Creating lines and large combos is still as addicting and rewarding as ever. Online leaderboards certainly tempt you to reach for the stars if you’ve got the ability. Career mode isn’t particularly long, but the pretty robust Create-a-Park editor and solid multiplayer suite should keep you coming back for more. I’ve already put dozens of hours into this and I have no intention of stopping anytime soon.

If my number 1 entry on this list didn’t exist, this would be my Game of the Year. As it stands though, this is a very close second.

1: Doom Eternal

How do you follow up one of the best first person shooters in recent memory? Basically turn everything up to eleven and then some. Doom (2016) was such an eye opener when it launched. It gave everything we could have ever wanted from a new Doom game: a whole planet full of demons to kill and some big guns to help them back to where they belong. It was awesome and an easy choice for my GOTY back in 2016.

I anticipated Doom Eternal with bated breath. The excitement was building but the nerves were building with it. How could it live up to the previous one? What if it makes the same mistakes as Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus? Thankfully my worries were unfounded as soon as I loaded up the game and was thrown straight into the fold with a Combat Shotgun and some entry level demons to destroy with it.

Doom Eternal is the FPS genre at its absolute finest. The levels are much bigger with more secrets to find and loads of demons to kill. Said demons are much more plentiful in their ranks and they move faster too. Fortunately enough, you have a huge arsenal to deal death to these demonic denizens from the depths of Hell such as the starter Combat Shotgun, the Plasma Rifle, the Ballista and even a giant sword known as the Crucible. Enemies now have weak points to exploit as well which can turn the tide of battle and it rewards accuracy. Before you know it, you’ll be entangled in a ballet of bullets, beams, blood and guts (HUGE guts mind you.) This game makes you feel like a hero at the end of every fight. It’s so satisfying.

Toss in a soundtrack that will get your blood pumping and your goosebumps raising along with environments that will make your TV or monitor look like a window to a scorched earth, and you have my Game of the Year for 2020. Well deserved for sure. I really need to get on that DLC.

To those of you who actually took the time to read all that, you have my heartfelt thanks. I really appreciate you reading this and I hope my choices made sense.

To those of you who just glanced at each entry and skimmed through the text, I don’t blame you for doing that. I still appreciate you taking a look anyway.

All that’s left for me to say is that I hope each and every one of you has a safe holiday season and I hope that the New Year will be better for all of us.

I’ll see you all in 2021. Stay safe and well, folks.

#goty 2020 #ps5 #ps4 #switch

[kpoptimeout]

Top 10 Most Underrated K-pop Songs of 2019 (Idol Edition)

2019 has come and gone before we knew it.  

Continuing with the K-Pop Timeout Tradition (see 2018 Ver) of listing the Top 10 Most Underrated K-Pop Songs because all the other sites are just bothered with the Top 10 that pretty much everyone will have heard of/have fan wars over, below are our top 10 picks of songs that did not rank high but deserves your attention!

Like last year we have a separate post for Top 10 underrated non-idol tracks. Unlike usual years where there is a separate post made for Top 10 underrated K-Drama OSTs, this year there is instead posts for the Top 20 most underrated K-Pop songs of the decade.

Some of the artists have escaped the list in recent years to stardom (like NU’EST, N.FLYING, and OH MY GIRL), so hopefully, it happens again!

This is in alphabetic order NOT in the order of awesomeness because all of them are awesome. Also, all MVs are linked in the song titles because Tumblr won’t let me share that many videos in one post.

1TEAM “Vibe”

After braving through the shitshows of Mnet’s BOYS24 and YG’s MIXNINE, these talented boys finally debut as 1TEAM under Liveworks Entertainment (the label for the solo promotions of SHINHWA’s Hyesung and Minwoo). This debut song of 1TEAM highlights some of the key strengths of the group - their extremely laid-back retro sound and also addictive hooks. With K-Pop boy bands going for increasingly dramatic and over the top complex sounds due to the popularity of hype bops among overseas fans, it is a breath of fresh air to see 1TEAM deliver such a chill and amazing song and it is unfortunate they have yet to receive more attention both in South Korea and overseas. They continue this sound in their comeback “ROLLING ROLLING” and went more mature and sexy while still simple and retro in “MAKE THIS”, showing that they will continue to develop this unique sound. If you like the relaxing summer sound of WINNER, you would also love 1TEAM’s “Vibe”! 

3YE “OOMM (Out Of My Mind)”

After not getting much attention as Apple.B under GH Entertainment, 3 of the original Apple.B members Yuji, Yurim, and Haeun re-debuted as 3YE. And this was the right re-debut to make as the girls went from generic cutesy to edgy and hard in the most unexpected way. “OOM (Out of My Mind)”, their first comeback track, is definitely a powerful bop but what makes it stand out from other hyped-up party tracks is the structure of the song. The first verses were typical powerful girl group song sounding (a mixture of RnB vocals and rap), but things change up quickly at the bridge. The song suddenly becomes very melodic and sounding like something you would expect from a quirky girl group track. Then the song changes again, creating a dark and breathy build-up reminiscent to Billie Eilish’s “bad guy” and “all the good girls go to hell”. Only then do we get the beat drop you would expect from a lit girl group track and the adventurous path to get there makes the drop all the more enjoyable. Also, all three girls’ have amazing stage presence to carry the powerful choreo. If you love powerful girl groups like BLACKPINK and EVERGLOW, you should really check out 3YE’s latest song!

A.C.E “UNDER COVER”

After stints on KBS’ “The Unit” and YG’s “MIXNINE”, the boys of A.C.E have definitely increased significantly in their international fan base and have the makings of a small but dedicated Korean fan base. However, these boys really deserve a lot more attention, especially with “UNDER COVER” being one of the best and also most underrated tracks of 2019 K-Pop. After attempts with artsy edm music in their debut era and later a cuter sound in “Take Me Higher”, the boys and the label seem to have finally found their sound. It is dramatic, it is powerful, it has a strong rock influence combined with hip-hop and RnB. Honestly, this is what I would expect TVXQ to sound like if they debuted in the late 2010s (cries thinking about OT5 early days and their rock influence tracks). This song also clearly highlights the strength of every member - Byeongkwan’s playful rap and diva-like stage presence, Wow’s more relaxed rap and sexy charms, Chan’s boyish appeal and perfect complementation of other members’ sounds, Jun’s attractive vocal colour and Donghun’s emotive voice and wide vocal range. If you love the dramatic and powerful boy band tracks like the bops of B.A.P, it is time to stream “UNDER COVER”!

fromis_9 “FUN!”

After the amazing comeback with “Love Bomb” last year, I really did not know how fromis_9 can top that but they really did with “FUN!” They continue to go for the really quirky, really weird and playful cute girl group sound they perfected in “Love Bomb” to bring an amazing and refreshing summer track. “FUN!” has a ridiculously catchy hook and like other fromis_9 songs have beautiful bridge parts to also showcase the members’ amazing vocal abilities and harmonies often hidden under their hype and wild choruses. Also, the music video is a delight, with the girls’ parodying various CFs. The album for this song peaked at #2 on Gaon Charts but somehow this amazing title track did not rank at all on Gaon and only peaked at #94 on the K-Pop Hot 100 of Billboard. If you love the addictive, fun and weird side of girl groups like Red Velvet and Oh My Girl, you would really enjoy fromis_9′s “FUN!”

GWSN “Pinky Star (RUN)”

After a unique debut and a string of consistent bops, it is unclear why most K-Pop fans are still sleeping on GWSN. “Pinky Star (RUN)” is an amazing song, showcasing GWSN’s indie video game-like sound which is heavily electronic and 8-bit like yet has all the K-Pop high notes and dance breaks you would also expect. This perfect blend of the girls’ unique sound and a seasoned K-Pop style production makes the song all the more amazing and it all the more infuriating they are still quite a nugu group in South Korea. The MV is also beautifully shot, with amazing sets and smart use of the aspect ratios. If you love to see the artsy pop vibes of BOL4 and IU married with the quirky girl group sounds of Oh My Girl, you would love GWSN’s “Pinky Star (RUN)”!

JBJ95 “Awake”

After PRODUCE 101 Season 2 and the success of JBJ, JBJ members Sanggyun and Kenta continue as duo JBJ95 and continue delivering quality music. One of their best songs and one of the best of K-Pop this year is arguably “Awake”. The song excels in having this bright and dreamy texture to it, which blends perfectly with the concept of the song and the Bauhaus-styled MV set pieces. Those listening to the song which literally feel woken up by the upbeat chorus which incorporates some dancehall beats into this electro-pop song. While JBJ95 are without a doubt doing quite well out of the post-PRODUCE 101 groups with variety show appearances and web drama roles, this song did not win any awards albeit its superb quality. If you are a fan of SHINee’s more fun and dream-like tracks like “Why So Serious?” and “View”, you would love this song!

KNK “Sunset”

Last year was extremely annoying when IN2IT’s “Snapshot” and SF9’s “Now or Never” flew under the radar of most K-Pop fans and the Korean public in general for their sexy supermodel runway sounds. Apparently, people have still not learned their lesson this year with the spectacular release by KNK in the form of “Sunset”. These talented men are back again with one of the best concepts ever - the song is just a 90s house bop that serves expensive runway model realness. The chorus of simply just Seoham saying “Sunset, for-for y'all” again and again in his deep voice is definitely one of the highlights of the song along with the classy and mature choreography. The MV of this absolute bop is also an example of how low-budget MVs can look expensive if there’s good camera work, creative lighting and smart editing choices. So if you liked IN2IT’s “Snapshot” and SF9’s “Now or Never” last year, and love yourself some good mature and sensual choreo like Taemin’s, “Sunset” is the song for you!

ONF “Why”

At this point, ONF is just one of the best-kept secrets in K-Pop. All the members already showcased their immense talent on YG’s “MIXNINE” but somehow South Korea still does not seem to know they exist. And it is infuriating that after a masterpiece like “Why”, they are still swimming in absolute nugu-dom. This song sounds ridiculously dramatic, with beautiful high notes and sentimental harmonica/synth instrumentals in the chorus. One of the highlights of the song is Wyatt’s deep-voiced speed rapping which was layered with multiple effects so that it sounded like it was being received through a device from afar and also serves to make it so much more grungier. Basically, the song sounds like it could be the OST for a high-budget Netflix dystopian sci-fi series and the MV shot in Moscow actually gave us some very expensive looking CGI and effects. It is difficult for me to find a song to compare “Why” to but if you love yourself a dramatic boyband track, you should really check it out!

SAAY “ZGZG”

This song just hits hard in a very unique way. Following her departure from EvoL (a highly underrated girl group), Kwon Sohee/SAAY has mainly worked as a producer and songwriter, penning bops for SM Entertainment and often working with Super Junior M’s Henry Lau. As a solo artist, she shows that she has a lot to show in “ZGZG”, which honestly would not be such a great song if not carried by her off-the-charts amount of charisma. The chorus is just her swag-filled mumbling of the word(s?) “ZGZG” and it works because of her attitude. She also belts high notes and delivers smoking hot bars when she raps in the song too. If you are a fan of confident female solos like Hyuna, Sunmi, and Chungha, I now urge you to check out this amazing song by SAAY!

UP10TION “Your Gravity”

UP10TION is an extremely talented group but have failed to make a mark in the K-Pop industry due to years of TOP Media’s mismanagement. One of the biggest mismanagement moves, in my opinion, was giving UP10TION good but extremely generic K-Pop title tracks. There was never a song that screamed: “this is an UP10TION-only track.” I can go on forever about TOP Media’s poor management of all its groups but now is the time to focus on what a brilliant song “Your Gravity” is - UP10TION has finally found a unique sound and they really owned this song, making it arguably one of the best and most underrated songs of the year. The song plays on an addictive synth hook and good use of diverse beats. The whole song just sounded super fresh yet not cutesy but high energy at the same time - a rare example of balancing freshness and coolness. The MV is also filmed very well, with shots from very interesting angles and great use of a few set pieces in a variety of ways. The closest comparisons I can make would probably be WANNA ONE’s “Energetic” era. If you love a powerful and feel-good track, UP10TION’s “Your Gravity” is the song for you!

Special Mentions of Underrated Debuts:

There were many strong debuts this year and I would like to mention 2 underrated rookie groups to look out for in 2020!

Male - 1TEAM “Make This”

I have already discussed 1TEAM’s greatness and music style above, but the reason I also chose them as the most underrated male group debut is because out of all the underrated male idol debuts this year, 1TEAM is the only one that have already showed us their consistency and duality. “MAKE THIS” continues 1TEAM’s retro sound and aesthetic - the song sounds like how people in the 80s think future sexy music would be like and also how people right now thought 80s sexy music remade might sound like. So even though 1TEAM went from soft and cute in their first two title tracks to mature in this latest comeback, they still stayed true to their retro sound. The MV is also delight due to the very “2001: A Space Odyssey” inspired looking set pieces.

Female - BVNDIT “Dumb”

MND Entertainment’s newest girl group and basically Chungha’s younger sisters, BVNDIT may have been overlooked as they debuted in the same year as JYP’s ITZY, HINAPIA which features PRISTIN members, and a string of post-PRODUCE 48 girl groups like EVERGLOW, CHERRY BULLET and ROCKET PUNCH. However, BVNDIT has a lot to offer and has likely one of the most standout sounds and looks. The girls all have confidence and stage presence unlike any rookie girl group and this really shined in their songs following the safer pop song debut with “Hocus Pocus.” The south-east Asian and Latin American influences in the drums used in their songs like “Dramatic” and “Dumb” also gives them an opportunity to attempt more powerful and mature choreography than some of the rookies, giving them an additional edge. With the company now starting to use a “Chungha-like budget” in their production as seen in the “Dumb” MV, I believe we can expect a lot from BVNDIT in 2019.

Which idol songs do you think were underrated this year? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below and let the song sharing begin!!!

#kpop #k-pop #kpop 2019 #k-pop 2019 #kpop underrated #k-pop underrated #1team #1team vibe #1team make this #3ye #3ye oomm #3ye out of my mind #a.c.e #a.c.e under cover #fromis_9 #fromis_9 fun! #gwsn #gwsn pinky star #jbj95 #jbj95 awake #knk #knk sunset #onf #onf why #saay #saay zgzg #up10tion #up10tion your gravity #bvndit #bvndit dumb

[jaimetheexplorer]

That Emmy shit-storm on the horizon

While I’m overjoyed with the Emmy nominations for acting, directing (for Nutter and Sapo, not the other one), Ramin and Nina (because they all deserved it), we now have to brace ourselves for the gaslighting over the writing, and all the fandom drama that comes with it (like we haven’t suffered enough this year as it is). And I’m already exhausted, so here’s my take on it.

Whether you like it or not, actors have to be professional. I think it’s ridiculous of fans to expect actors to go to official events or give official interviews for nominations and say “yeah, the writing was shit and we never should have been nominated for this season”. I am not famous nor work in the entertainment industry but, sadly, that’s what “professionalism” is considered to be, even in my line of work: if anything happens in the university/department that might attract media attention, we get emails saying not to talk to the press unless we are “briefed” on how to handle it and cleared to go. And as much as I might be fed up with several aspects of my job or working for my boss, if I knew I was giving a public interview about it, I’d be incredibly uncomfortable saying that out loud, while having no problem ranting about it in private every. single. day. It sucks, that you have to be (to varying degrees) dishonest in order to be considered professional, but that’s where we are at. And, look, maybe some of them even genuinely believe the writing to be great. While it’s disappointing to hear that coming from the mouth of someone you admire, - and I personally lose respect for anyone who tries to genuinely defend this season as well written (because it defies any logic or intellect) - they are free to express that opinion, just as we are free to criticise them, lose interest in them, mute them, unfollow them and so on.

However, whether you like it or not, people can be critical of anyone involved in production and people who are hell bent on defending these statements should understand that dismissing criticism the way they’re doing (i.e. “people are just upset it’s over/they didn’t get what they wanted”) doesn’t win cast and crew any favours, if anything, it’s just going to alienate everyone even more than the plot already has. This behaviour is the equivalent of a student given a fail by all the examiners but being awarded a degree nonetheless, and dismissing the fails as “wrong” because obviously you cannot get a degree if you fail, so those who gave the student a fail didn’t know what they were talking about. While many who criticised the show have provided lengthy and thorough analyses and explanations as to why they feel that way, nobody who’s defended it has provided anywhere near the level of detail to justify their opinion. At most, it amounts to “take my word for it, D&D really cared about the story” or “it wouldn’t be this popular if the writing were bad”. To use the student analogy again, it’s like the examiners providing pages of pages of feedback to justify their grades, while the student goes “nah! in my opinion I worked hard and I deserve the degree, so I’ll take it anyway!”. This is as close to gaslighting as it comes, and nobody likes to be gaslighted.

It’s also hypocritical. When audiences praise a show and make it big, you never hear anyone involved in production saying that it’s blown out of proportion, or silly, or they’re just being emotional and irrational. However, the moment the audience turns against the show, suddenly they are being irrational and are just upset because the did not get what they wanted/expected (and, no, that is not necessarily a dirty word - if a work of fiction is built upon setting certain expectations, especially in terms of quality of the writing), and can’t really recognise good writing. So if we can’t recognise good writing, what does that say of the hype when the show was considered “good” by the majority? You can’t have your cake and eat it too. 

While taking it out on the actors for the writing, or escalating things to death threats and personal insults isn’t civil, it’s also silly to ask fans, who are, for the most part, average people, with average jobs, who sometimes find their only escape and pleasure in fiction (and who had to pay HBO subscriptions for years to watch this show), to feel sorry for two millionaires, who were in the extremely privileged position of working on the biggest show on tv (and who, unlike the average worker, won’t get fired or won’t see their money taken away from them, no matter how poorly they perform), for being criticised when they blatantly rushed and half-assed their job because they were bored. They “worked hard”? Well, so what? Plenty of people “work hard” in the world and aren’t shielded from criticism just because they do, if the final product isn’t up to standards. People aren’t “being mean” to D&D (or the actors defending them) because they want to be mean. They are being mean because they feel toyed with, conned, and their intelligence insulted when they’re being told that all the stuff they paid attention to and that the show built its entire reputation on actually didn’t mean shit in the end. It’s like asking someone who hired a construction company to build them a house and waited 8 years for it to be finished not to be pissed off when the roof ends up being built out of straw and has holes in it. 

Furthermore, Game of Thrones did not become big because of D&D’s genius: they didn’t invent it. They took GRRM’s work and adapted it to the screen, which makes the job much much much easier than creating something from scratch. On top of that, most of the praise the show has received was over the first 3-4 seasons of the show, when the show was still, by and large, more or less sticking to the books. The ratings kept growing not because the writing was so amazing in later seasons, but because, in the era of binge-watching, more and more people catch on later onto those first seasons and want to see how it ends. It’s TV 101: ratings in later seasons are a result of the quality of the previous seasons, because people cannot know in advance what they’re going to be watching. It’s the reason early seasons of any shows have lower ratings, despite often being better quality, while rating decline after the quality has already begun to decline. 

They also lucked out not only in having wonderful source material ready for them to use, but in having an HBO budget and flexibility to do whatever they wanted, an amazing casting director who picked an incredibly talented cast, and in being surrounded by talented writers, directors, composers and so on. They suffer from the exact same kind of misplaced egomania Chris Carter suffered from on The X-Files, where he thinks he’s some kind of genius for making what, at the time, was the biggest show on TV. In that case, at least Chris Carter can be praised for having created the characters and that world, but the situation is very similar. He’s a mediocre writer who lucked out by having all the pieces fall into place around him (actors, writers, directors), and his total failure at doing anything else afterwards (other than running TXF further into the ground with his revivals) is where D&D will likely be in a few years.

The reason all this “damage control” is making things even worse than they already were is because it gives the impression that that the bottom line in this is that the audience’s reaction to a work of fiction only counts as far as it’s positive and makes the production big and rich, and when it’s negative it has to be dissected for “wrongs” and dismissed as irrational or exaggerated, while showrunners are owed praise no matter what they do, by being boosted (and made rich) by feverish hype, but shielded by equally feverish criticism.

#got negativity #emmy nominations

[twyt-podcast-blog]

❝tea with yours truly❞

—grab your cups and let me serve you some hot pipping tea.

today’s episode: the mgas.

unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know what time it is. it’s been five seasons now. it’s the freaking mgas. mnet global auditions that never feel global but who cares? am i late to start talking about it? no. why did i decide to wait? because, i’m over it. i’m over survival shows. i’m over having a heartbreak and being an emotional wreck when my faves are eliminated. that’s why i decided to wait and to stalk. lol. i binged watched freaking four episodes of it. even then, i did not miss the entire season. i was a bit impatient. everyone’s talking about it. everyone’s balls and ovaries are bursting left and right. my bad, if you thought that this podcast is suited for work, you’re listening to the wrong podcast.

before anything, i just want to say that i’ve caught myself listening to luxe’s every night. it was really a good song. y’know, royal, trc, sphere, kt and...nova...are going to recruit new trainees for their companies, but what about the groups that they already have? see, royal’s luxe haven’t been around since march. their main rivals are still fresh in the memory. i’m talking about trc’s k.arma and kt’s eclipse. eclipse even got a summer comeback. the best time to come back honestly with all the festivals. sphere’s convex came back in april. that’s not too long ago. then, you have nova ( /sighs;) i guess that nova is in need of trainees so that they can one day debut something. anything. didn’t i ever tell you guys that, as a little child, was obsessed with jewelry. i didn’t have their talent though.

anyways without further ado, here’s my opinion, as if anyone really cares about it honestly, about the first four episodes of the mgas. i got my notes. it’s all opinions. my opinions. yes, i’ll be biased; however, i expect y’all to bother to check the episodes and performances to make your own opinions and faves.

oh, i almost forgot, today’s drink is starbucks’s matcha frappucino. it’s summer. we drink our tea cold, but doesn’t mean that what we are spitting isn’t pippin’ hot.

episode one started with a nice little shot of the places where the auditions were taking place. cute. there’s a lot of hopefuls. then, we get to see the ceos that we love so much ( /chuckles;) then, they do some lowkey scripted chitchat. you know “oh, it’s a new season again” “i know right.” “i can’t wait to meet the contestants and sign trainees who will probably never get the chance to debut” lol. speaking of contestants, there are 100 people. let me tell you who caught my attention. first, there’s this one named kim seungmin? seunghun? legit, he was imitating animals. like, top pick of the episode. yes, i’m weird like that. to be honest, the entire episode, the ceos were savage. but, i don’t blame them, because sweeties it’s freaking season 5 so you’re supposed to bring it. period. you’ve seen the show at least once, you should know. lot’s singing, dancing, rapping. y’know. it’s what you expect. by the way, an ex-member of convex freaking showed up. i was shook. like, i remember that there were redemption stories since mga season 1. but, it was usually former contestants given a second chance or trainees. a freaking ex-member. it’s freaking romeo under a new alias? i mean you guys know the rumors...but he left allegedly for personal reasons. i have the highest of expectations on him. like, i feel for his fans from back when the season two of the mgas happened. the rollercoaster ride of emotions. i feel for y’all. i’m not gonna lie to y’all. the first episode...i mean...i’m binge watching so i didn’t really take the time to really find my top picks.

let’s move on to the next episode.

episode two: the way episode two started was weird. i mean i can’t be the only who watch that little moment involving...let check my notebook for the names..ah yes, choi yena, wang jackson and son hyejoo. it’s been five seasons... doesn’t the mgas have the budget for seats for all the contestants? as for the skinship moment, y’all know that the fans are out there being like “i ship hyena or yejoo”. anyways. moving on. episode two is, in a nutshell, more singing. more dancing, more rapping. it’s also leads to the first round of eliminations. as i mentioned before, i’m not here for the heartbreak. i know that through binge-watching, i’m not getting emotionally attached to nobody. i’ll cry moving forwards from episode four and onwards. rappers who come up and perform their own stuff. i support you. i kinda expect rappers to be able to pen and to have the courage to take the stage with their own work. does that discredit the other rappers? no, i just happen to love the creative rappers and we all know tiger jk love them too. over the years, the rappers with creative genius had more chances to land in trc. it’s just how it is. so, yeah, choi yoona caught my attention. the whistling rapper, na jaemin too. i like him. recycle boy, hwang minhyun seems to have left an impression because they replayed his clip. oh, and, see, the girl hyejoo who had a moment in the beginning of the episode had another highlight moment. she switched from dancer to rapper and promoted a self-made song. should i make her a top pick? i mean she fits what i like. maybe, if she’s still around in episode four. i’m just gonna say one thing...that guy...park jinyoung. yes. biased? maybe. i mean give me a man with a guitar and that voice. mhm. so, at the end of the episode, they go through the elimination. they also reveal the top three for each category. who am i not surprised for? freakin’ minho.

up to this point, the people i got my eyes on are still alive. there are two episodes left tho. like i said, i didn’t dive into everything. i’m playing catch up. on top of that, i had to have my eyes on my picks. anyways.

i’m taking this moment to take refresher but also talk about our sponsor. so, we are sponsored by this lovely game reminiscent of that one otome mobile game that destroyed our sleeping patterns. if i love you is nice f2p game where you decide to use a dating app. you will be texting, chatting, going on dates and receiving phone calls from waifu or husbando. the upside is that you don’t have to set alarms and to miss on work or school. now back to the mgas.

episode three: so, isn’t just me or interviews are meh. i mean maybe it’s because i just want to reach episode four as quickly as possible so that i can get into the social media aspect, but, some of these interviews...chile. y’all sound so cocky and cocky isn't cute. i could also blame the editing, because it’s mnet. you can’t expect a snake to be nice. it’s the duo performances. man, it’s a staple since the first mgas. i am watching and i’m loving every single second that i am given. the groups overall are really strong. i already brought up names and they didn’t disappoint me. i’m not going to go to deeply on episode three, because episode four is right down in the corner. i kam already seeing myself getting attached, but i can’t deal with a double heartbreak back to back. i need to calm down. i am betting after watching this top 3 that minho is simply gonna ride smoothly. he was in the top in season 2. he bet it’s gonna be the same for season 3. like, everything he did was great. it’s like everything he touches turns to gold. also, two of my picks were eliminated. i’m talking about jinyoung and yoona. see, i should have waited until i reach episode four before i freaking choose the people i’m rooting for. anyways.

all this binge-watching without a chance to really watch highlights on naver as led to the last episode to have aired.

episode four: my children, we made it. all caught up. it’s essentially the second round of the duo performances. they were nice. i want to say that i feel genuinely bad for the contestant lee nakyung. so, first, the ceos commented on how she had been throwing away her jacket every performances. i got to admit that you can’t use the same trick over and over and over again. then, they said that she had better chemistry with minho? that was sad. the way it was edited it pretty much gave the vibe that nakyung is nothing without minho. he was the partner. i feel like everyone who will partner with minho, who’s a vet, might get similar backlash that minho is their saving grace. the girl’s talented. mnet, i know that the comment was about her lack of chemistry with her new partner, but your editing really sucked. sorry, i had a lot of feelings about this above all. anyways, like the hopefuls are very good this season. like, i see no holes. at the end of the day. it is still a competition. then, my friends, they panned on two empty seats. so they brought back the people who were eliminated, bitch. my eliminated faves were separated, but, y’know what, i’m okay. also, i’m sorry that wang jackson was not on list, but then, he did that with park jinyoung. they did that. also, i didn’t give ryujin or sia the attention they deserved. i had to go back and watch their performance to understand why they were top three. ladies, yes. yes. YES. i hope i conveyed my opinion well. minho, again, top three. no surprise there. so, back to the returning kings. they are my picks. y’all know that i’m jinyoung biased at the moment. i got other people on my radar. i’m sad that hyejoo was eliminated. was rooting for her. nakyung, i’m gonna shield her and protect her from harm. i will fight. now, i can finally get into it. maybe some of you were expecting your names to be shouted out. moving forward with episode five, i will be able to really go in-depth with the performances and the people. i also get to check their social media and to see what kind of people they are. 

#[ ooc: hwasa’s twit chorus plays. it's a nod to the show's acronym: twyt ] #.twytpod #rkmga5

[holmesoverture]

Eileen’s Official Nigel Bruce Defense Post

Weeks after first mentioning the possibility of writing this post in my Sink or Ship entry for the Rathbone/Bruce films, allow me to welcome you to my official and way the heck too long Nigel Bruce Defense Post.

I don’t think I need to convince anyone that the reputation of Bruce’s Watson has suffered in the years since he played Sherlock Holmes’ faithful Boswell.  Virtually every time someone wants to praise a Watson, they feel the need to disparage Bruce to do it (“This Watson is great because he’s not a bumbler unlike some people I could mention, ahem, ahem”). James Mason only agreed to play Watson in Murder by Decree if they didn’t write him as an idiot. Edward Hardwicke was more polite about it, but he seems to have felt similarly about Bruce’s Watson’s capabilities.  More recently, of course, Kate Beeton did her famous “Stupid Watson” comic, launching a nickname that seems to have caught on with some people around the interwebs.

And, in fairness, not all of the ire directed at Nigel Bruce is unwarranted. The Rathbone films do have a tendency to go way overboard with the comedy relief, and not even the fact that it was made for World War II audiences who were probably in desperate need of a laugh makes me feel better about it.  This aspect of the movies hasn’t aged well.  I admit that willingly.

But it’s important to note that the comedy relief really is just one aspect of Bruce’s Watson.  For some reason, it’s the only aspect that people seem to remember when really he’s surprisingly multifaceted.  To reduce Nigel Bruce’s interpretation of Watson to a demeaning nickname is unfair in the extreme, and since no one else seems to be willing to waste their time in refuting these gross overgeneralizations, I will heroically step in to fill this void that no one wanted filled.

And if you decide you still don’t like Bruce’s Watson after reading this post, that’s fine.  My goal in writing this is not to push people into liking something that’s not to their tastes.  All I want is to point out some inconsistencies in the Bumbling Oaf trope and maybe make you think about how you feel and why.  (I also want to vent a little—it is the internet, after all.)

Open your minds and join me on this journey, mis amigos.  It’s kind of long, but hopefully my witty insights and that one goofy picture of Batman I included will make it worth it.

Let’s start at the start: 1939’s The Hound of the Baskervilles.  As I’m sure most of you are aware, this story hardly features Holmes at all.  Watson is the one who heads out to Baskerville Hall alone to investigate, which requires him to be at least somewhat decent at investigative work, and he certainly is that.  It’s only when Holmes shows up that he becomes the comedy relief.  Later that year, in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Holmes again sends Watson to investigate alone, and while I wouldn’t say it goes well, it doesn’t go noticeably worse than in any other version.  Plus, a couple of the major humorous moments feature Watson on the winning side of the joke for once.

That’s about all the time I’ll spend on Bruce’s first two outings as Dr. Watson, since they are noticeably different from the B movies which followed.  (The most striking changes, for those who haven’t seen them, are that the stories now take place in the 1940s rather than the Victorian era and also they now have the budget of an office Christmas party.)  It’s here that the quality of the movies starts to waver, and I believe they are what most people are referring to when they complain about Nigel Bruce.  The comedy relief bits are really ramped up here, but just because Watson became more of a punching bag doesn’t mean he necessarily became less intelligent or less interesting.

Before we continue, there’s one point Hardwicke made in that interview I linked to above that I’d like to address.  He basically said that Watson’s training as a doctor means that he couldn’t be stupid.

First of all, Ben Carson.  Second, the entire point of this post is to demonstrate that Watson wasn’t as stupid as everyone thinks, and we’ll get to that in just a second. Third, these movies do remember that Watson is a doctor and give him a few opportunities to show off his medical chops.  In Terror By Night, Watson’s the one who announces the victim died of heart failure.  It’s also him who notices a small pinprick in the dead guy’s neck that suggests said heart failure was induced.  Granted, he didn’t mention the mark right away because he dismissed it as insignificant, but given that Holmes also had a look at the body and didn’t notice the mark at all, I think Watson deserves some props here.

Now I’m not even going to try to defend the rest of Terror By Night because it’s pretty much the epitome of everything people dislike about Bruce’s Watson.  But it does go to show that, even when the Baker Street Dozen was at its silliest, Watson still had his moments.

If we want a really solid example of Watson being competent, however, we must go elsewhere.  Let’s start with The Secret Weapon.  It starts out as one would expect, with Watson being charged with guarding a scientist recently escaped from mainland Europe, only to fall asleep and allow the guy to wander off (YOU HAD ONE JOB).  But later on, the film adapts bits of The Dancing Men, and when Holmes and Watson first encounter the code, it’s Watson who explains its significance to the lady whose missing boyfriend wrote it. He even sits down to decode it, but it’s been slightly altered since their last encounter with it, so it comes out wrong.

Naturally it’s Watson who makes this error while Holmes discovers what the alteration was.  So now Watson looks like a knucklehead even though, again, he apparently learned the Dancing Men code so well that he could use it at a moment’s notice despite not seeing it for years.

But wait, what’s this?  There’s another coded message, this one even more fiendishly difficult than the first?  What to do now?  Holmes and Watson spend the next few hours poring over the code, trying every combination and trick they can think of in their attempts to decode the message.  Oh wait, did I say Holmes and Watson?  I meant Watson by himself while Holmes sulks and makes rude comments.

Not bad for a bumbling oaf.

In the end, it’s an off-hand remark from Watson that flicks on the lightbulb over Holmes’ head, enabling Holmes to swoop in and steal the limelight from poor Watson.  Our detective makes his brilliant game-changing deduction thanks to his conductor of light, who’s been doing the thankless drudge work this whole time.  (This kind of happens a lot, actually—twice in Dressed to Kill alone, a casual remark from Watson enables Holmes to save the day.)

The real problem here isn’t that Watson is stupid; it’s the way the scene is framed.  The movie is so busy focusing on Holmes’ deductions and accomplishments that Watson’s contributions mostly go unacknowledged.  It’s clear from the fact that Watson was deeply involved in the decoding process that he’s perfectly intelligent and that Holmes trusts him to help with even the more difficult aspects of crime-solving.

Something similar occurs in The Woman in Green, which features Moriarty hypnotizing people into committing suicide for reasons that escape me at the moment.  (This isn’t the high point of the Rathbone/Bruce collaborations okay)  Again we have a comedy relief bit, with Watson being hypnotized into taking his shoes off or some nonsense immediately after declaring that hypnotism is BS. It’s the kind of thing you’d see on a ‘60s sitcom.

The movie ends with Watson arriving almost too late to save Holmes from Moriarty because he got stopped by a police officer for speeding.  Yes, haha, silly Watson, can’t do anything right and almost ruined everything.  But let’s reframe this scene for a second. Think about it from Watson’s perspective.  He’s given a task to do by Holmes, who is going to be in mortal danger the entire time. He’s terrified for his friend and knows that his life is in his hands.  Of course he’s going to break every damn speed law in the country to try to protect him.  Just imagine how he felt when he got pulled over, when he had to waste all that time trying to explain the situation to the officer, knowing that every second spent arguing could mean Holmes’ life.

If this were a scene in one of the newer, edgier Sherlock Holmes adaptations, we probably would get to see it from Watson’s perspective, and depending on the version, I’m betting Watson would have just floored it when the police sirens started going.  And even if Watson did stop, he very well might have lost patience halfway through the proceedings and punched out the cop to get to Holmes.

And by “he,” I mean Panin specifically.

Obviously, Bruce’s version could not do that because of the pearl-clutching moral censors.  Or rather, he couldn’t do that on-screen.  It’s never stated how Watson’s interaction with the police ended.  How do we know he didn’t punch the guy?  Because if you think Nigel Bruce’s Watson wasn’t willing and able to kick some ass, allow me to direct your attention to The Spider Woman, in which Holmes fakes his death, then comes back disguised as a postman and makes disparaging remarks about that fakey detective Sherlock Holmes, because Holmes is a dick like that.  Bruce, being one of the more patient Watsons, tolerates it for a while before knocking Mailman Holmes right into a chair.

Again, this scene is played for laughs, but from Watson’s perspective, it’s about as unfunny as you can get.  The man was unable to stop the death of his closest and dearest friend.  He’s just had a hard day of packing up Holmes’ things for a museum, then some asshole postman shows up and starts insulting his recently deceased best friend for no reason.  It’s little surprise that he snapped.  So yeah, Bruce’s Watson was 100% down with decking people when placed under sufficient emotional strain, which he may well have been in The Woman in Green.

I think I’ve gotten away from my point here, but it basically boils down to the fact that Watson was not an idiot at the end of The Woman in Green; the way the scene is framed just makes him look like one.

There are also times when Bruce’s Watson doesn’t seem to do much of anything, which may be misconstrued as stupidity.  Let’s look at Dressed to Kill.  Now towards the end, Watson does get A Scandal in Bohemia-ed pretty bad, but that comes right after Holmes walks right into the bad guy’s trap like a knucklehead, so they’re roughly even on that front.  The only real difference is that Holmes solves his problem on his own, while Watson needs Holmes to figure out the solution to his dilemma for him.

But aside from that and a couple of minor silly incidents, all Watson really does is act as a sounding board for Holmes. Some people may interpret this as his being useless, but this is what Holmes used to want in a partner.  Quoth Sherlock Holmes in The Blanched Soldier, “A confederate who foresees your conclusions and course of action is always dangerous, but one to whom each development comes as a perpetual surprise, and to whom the future is always a closed book, is indeed an ideal helpmate.”

This line demonstrates two things: one, wow, Holmes, gush some more why don’t you.  Two, however the characters have evolved in recent years, the original Holmes didn’t want someone like Liu, who ends up becoming proficient enough to start her own detective agency.  He wanted someone more like Bruce, who didn’t have nearly the same capacity for deductive reasoning but who had the curiosity and inquisitiveness to make, according to Canon Holmes, “an ideal helpmate.”

There are plenty of the original stories in which Watson does little more than narrate—in The Beryl Coronet, for example, I’m pretty sure that the only thing Watson really does is point out their future client in the street.  I think we’ve gotten so used to Watson being an action hero or a detective in his (or her) own right that we forget his original primary role was as the storyteller.  (That is literally where the nickname Boswell comes from.)  Being most definitively a sidekick doesn’t make Nigel Bruce useless or stupid; it means he’s fulfilling the role originally set out for his character.

The comedy relief business is, of course, largely an invention of the Rathbone/Bruce films.  But honestly, I think the problem with Bruce’s Watson isn’t so much him as it is the filmmakers’ obsession with building up Holmes to be inhumanly perfect.  The Spider Woman has a perfect example of this: there’s one scene that adapts that bit from The Devil’s Foot where Holmes and Watson are almost killed by poisonous gas and Watson has to save them both.  Here, however, it’s Holmes who does the rescuing, because of course he does.  Can’t have Watson grabbing any glory, now can we?

In fact, basically everyone who isn’t Holmes—and arguably Moriarty, though he sure did fall hard for the Brer Rabbit routine in The Secret Weapon, to say nothing of his ignoble demise in The Woman in Green—is depicted as a little lacking in the brain department. Lestrade and company are dim enough that Watson frequently calls them out for being boneheads.  Holmes’ clients almost inevitably doubt Holmes’ abilities despite his great reputation, and Watson just loves rubbing their noses in how smart Holmes really is.

(That’s another thing people seem to dislike about Nigel Bruce for some reason.  I’ve heard complaints about how he’s a suck-up who mindlessly admires Holmes despite how rude Holmes is to him.  Again, this is an oversimplification.  I already covered this in Sink or Ship, so I won’t belabor the point here, but I view Watson’s admiring comments less like sucking up and more like pride in his friend and his work.  Not only that, Watson doesn’t always passively accept impoliteness.  He flat out tells Holmes to stop being cranky in The Secret Weapon, and he gets quite huffy when he thinks Holmes is trying to make a fool of him in Terror by Night.  Plus, Bruce is not even the only Watson to have stars in his eyes every time he looks at Holmes—Burke in particular puts up with quite a lot [see The Solitary Cyclist for a great example], and he starts looking murdery whenever someone fails to recognize his brilliant detective buddy.)

It’s fashionable nowadays to make Watson almost as smart as Holmes, which only amplifies the perceived stupidity of Nigel Bruce’s Watson.  But in the original stories, Watson isn’t a deducing genius.  That’s the whole point.  He is basically the reader stand-in, the average Joe thrust into Holmes’ world and continually dazzled by it (and him).  Now if you prefer the more current trends, that’s one thing.  But to condemn Bruce for not magically predicting and following said trends is about as fair as criticizing Adam West’s Batman for not being serious enough, completely ignoring the fact that at the time Batman was less “I Am The Night” and more “Robin got temporary amnesia and super-strength from a bolt of lightning and now wants to fight Batman because a white guy pretending to be a native told him to.”

Would I lie to you about a thing like that?

And it’s not as though Bruce is the only Watson who bungles things.  During Solomin’s tenure as the good doctor, he got whacked in the head when trying to sleuth on his own, got his dirty footprints all over Charles Augustus Milverton’s house (which Holmes then forced him to clean up), and completely and hilariously failed to disguise himself as a priest.  That’s saying nothing of the first half of the pilot, where Watson assumes Holmes is a criminal mastermind and conducts his own wildly misguided, eminently goofy investigation that culminates in Holmes knocking him out during a boxing match.  And yet no one ever accuses Solomin of being a bumbler (not that they should).  I’m not sure why people are willing to excuse him and not Bruce.  Is it because Solomin is young and cute?

Maybe it’s because his dumbassery led to the infamous Cuddling in the Carriage scene.

Or maybe everyone’s problem is not just Bruce himself, but the fact that his performance had such a major influence on Watsons everywhere for literal decades.  In the 1950s Sherlock Holmes TV show, Marion-Crawford’s Watson clearly borrows a lot from Bruce in terms of turning the comedy relief aspect up to eleven.  (I would argue Marion-Crawford is actually worse in this regard.)  Dr. Dawson in The Great Mouse Detective physically resembles Bruce, as does Ric Spiegal in those Wishbone episodes, even though both of them were supposed to be adapting books and shouldn’t have had anything to do with the Rathbone/Bruce films.  I guess some folks got resentful that Bruce Watson was overshadowing Canon Watson?

But it’s important to remember here that Nigel Bruce was one of the first film Watsons with any discernible personality traits.  If you’ve seen any of the Sherlock Holmes silent films, you know what I mean.  If not, you haven’t heard of any of their Watsons for good reason.

To start with, Watson doesn’t even appear in 1900’s Sherlock Holmes Baffled (which is only a minute long) or in 1912’s The Copper Beeches (which is so ridiculous that I may have to give it its own post).  Then came Hubert Willis in the Eille Norwood series of early ‘20s shorts.  They’re rather hyper-focused on the casework here, so no one gets any characterization (at least not in the two I’ve seen). And Roland Young in 1922’s Sherlock Holmes was onscreen for maybe 10 minutes and did almost nothing.  I didn’t even remember he was in the dang movie until I recently rewatched it for Sink or Ship.

This is his only conversation with Holmes in like the whole movie.  So much for being intimate companions.

And I’m sure there are other examples.  So even if you don’t necessarily like what Bruce did (and/or was told to do) with the character, he some deserves respect for effort and originality. I also think it’s a little unfair that people keep dinging him for not being A+ perfect at doing something no one else (with the possible exception of Ian Fleming in the Wontner films) had ever tried before, i.e. making Screen Watson interesting. Dude didn’t become The Watson for no reason, after all.

To conclude this post, we can return to my Batman analogy.  I feel like modern public attitude towards Nigel Bruce is comparable to how some people get all upset about Adam West because that’s not the real Batman!  The real Batman is grim and gritty and for ADULTS, not some Batusi-dancing weirdo! No joke: the first time I went to a comic book shop, the guy who worked there said that Adam West—my first Batman, the guy who got me into superheroes and therefore the main reason I was in that shop in the first place—wasn’t a real Batman.

Needless to say, I have little use for snobbery in any fandom.  So I am going to say now about Nigel Bruce what I should have said then about Adam West: if you don’t like the goofy version, don’t watch the goofy version.  There are literally hundreds of versions of this character out there; not every single one is going to cater to your tastes, nor should they.  This fact should not detract from your enjoyment of the versions you do like, and it doesn’t make the versions you dislike less legit.  The old has at least as much basis in canon as the new, and even if it’s parts of canon you’d rather ignore, other people feel differently, so don’t be a jerkweed about it.

But before you make up your mind about Nigel Bruce, maybe take a sec and give him another chance.  “Stupid Watson” is a reductive label that focuses only on the worst the Rathbone films had to offer and does not give due credit to a genuinely groundbreaking character with more depth than I’ve ever seen anyone acknowledge.  Do some of the movies portray him better than others?  Sure, but you can say that of every episodic Sherlock Holmes adaptation.  For the most part, it’s not nearly as bad as people seem to think.  And even when it is that bad, it’s still a combination of canon compliance and original character development that was entirely unique at the time and that deserves to be looked upon with, if nothing else, gratitude for paving the way for interesting Watsons everywhere.

#rathbone holmes #media analysis #omg it's finally done #i admit maybe nostalgia is coloring my thinking a little #but dangit i love nigel bruce i will defend him forever

[gothrapxxx]

Your Beats Are Uninteresting as well as Below's Why Your beats may have the most crazy drum pattern the globe has ever heard, however it's boring after 15 seconds. Is it the audio typefaces? Is it the lack of adjustments in the chord progression and also arrangement? There are a great deal of factors your beats are burning out that you can deal with quickly and also take your game to the next level ... Not a day passes where I do not listen to some non-hip-hop listener claim something stupid like, "Pay attention to this crap. I can make this beat! There's absolutely nothing to it. I should certainly be a millionaire." If you dig into the on-line beat making community for even ten mins you'll realize that a lot of these haters in fact try to come to be manufacturers, together with various other aiming musicians that are followers of the category. Not a lot of them are millionaires or are landing their beats on significant tag records, as well as it's except an absence of attempting. They are shopping their beats almost everywhere in hopes that a person will hear their unassailable ability and "placed them on." The problem is that most of these people simply aren't talented. Their beats downright draw. The exact same factor that made you believe you might replicate and copycat the greats is the same reason you can't. You do not have the ear. You do not discover the nuances. You haven't researched a lick of music theory. And also believe me, everyone can listen to that you're using (a bootleg duplicate of) Fruity Loops. Allow me place it to you candidly: Your Beats Are All Out Boring (Yet We Can Repair That). Remember back when you initially started and also thought "Guy, the pro's beats are so simple. I can do that in a heartbeat." And also you've been pumping out easy beats considering that, since you misinterpreted their easy orchestration for a basic setup. They are doing things with 3 audios that you could not perform with 15, which's why they are selling exclusives for $100,000 a pop as well as you're leasing your tracks off of Soundclick for $1.00 per download. update your game at journal note. Here's just how we're going to fix your trouble throughout this short article, by discussing:. Audio Font styles. Music Concept. Combining & Learning. Orchestration. Plan. Add all of these with each other and also you have an equation that will certainly take you up a level, regardless of where you're currently at. As you check out along, really consider you're very own scenario and think of how to use these tips. They aren't really optional if you want to make significant scrape, so focus. Sound Font styles. Probably, you resemble me when I started. You're young as well as ballin' on a budget plan. And also as all of us know, attempting to buy a piece of software application and afterwards updating the sound font styles can cost a limb. That's why a lot of people are still shaking the exact same versions of Fruity Loops and Cool Edit Pro 2 from the mid-90's that was drifting around. But I'm going to inform you now, that's not going to cut it. Your choices are to either discover just how to use a synthesizer or plugin to create the noises you want (you'll be really limited), or you'll require to start buying as well as collecting sound font styles and examples. If you can play the tricks in any way, any old keyboard is mosting likely to have a midi input/output on it that you can regulate your noises from. This means you might conserve loan as well as score an outboard sound financial institution from one of the killer key-boards around. Have a look at the Yamaha Concept (pictured above), Korg Triton, or Roland Fantom, every one of which were big victors back in my day. Sound Font Styles as well as Test CD's. Every piece of common software program is conveniently differentiated by it's default audio font styles. They are never ever good until you struck the Reasoning Pro or Pro Equipment level. This means you're going to have to purchase some additionals. Depending upon your style, you can get real-deal samples of online instruments, or you can get classic packs like the 808 set, etc. The choices are virtually limitless. My pointer is not to obtain a load. Figure out your design and also go from there, based upon the customers your focusing on. Tightening your emphasis to South, West, East, MidWest, or Dubstep, equally as instances, can considerably increase your opportunity of success. But it likewise keeps you from having 100,000 sound typefaces you can not perhaps arrange through and select from. Get a core collection of sounds you can come to be acquainted with and also go from there. Music Concept. Often individuals break the mold. You have guys like Mr. Sche in Memphis banging out heating systems all the time while sequencing on Fruity Loops as well as still utilizing some default appears, touchdown beats for individuals like 8 Sphere and also Al Kapone. You know why his beats still bang? Because he understands music theory. If anything is mosting likely to set you apart, it's this. Yes, it sucks at first. You'll essentially need to bust out a text publication or read online and also treat it like school. You'll have to examine as well as do homework. However it's an investment right into your organisation so obtain it done. songs concept for beat manufacturers. The important things lacking in every amateur beat manufacturer's tracks is a lack of chord adjustments and song areas. Discuss boring. Changing secrets inadvertently (and half the moment not also having a trick), having tools not balance each other, over-producing in an effort to offset various other lacking areas, and lots of other troubles can all be resolved with a primary understanding of music theory. I'm talking Music Theory 101 levels (terrific book there) that can up your video game in just a week with some quick examining. Read the other Ledger Note write-up I just connected to and you'll observe a prompt change in the quality of your instrumentals. Combining & Learning. Mixing and also mastering are items you'll want to leave to the experts eventually, but recognizing the least amount regarding it can help improve the chances of your beats getting got by artists. Blending. Amateur beats normally sound like a muddy, slurred mess because of the total lack of any blending. They'll have kick drums and also bass lines bleeding right into each other, and also various other instruments clashing right into disaster. The tiniest bit of blending with EQ's, compression, and some panning can repair the majority of these problems, relocating your tracks from insane cacophony to a polished shiny turd. But if you're track is in fact great, some mixing can reveal its real possibility as a work of art. It's not tough and also we've currently put together some blending ideas for you here. Don't neglect this component, its a true make-it-or-break-it aspect, due to the fact that impressions count the most. Mastering. One more concern is understanding. Folks will certainly put a mastering plugin with some default setup on their master out and stop, and after that be confused when somebody hears the track and comments on all the clipping as well as distortion. Don't also attempt to understand your tracks. Simply add compression where required on specific noises as well as enjoy the needles to see if you're peaking anywhere. If you are, simply secure every one of the tracks with each other as well as transform them down with each other to preserve your blending equilibrium. Orchestration. These following two parts, orchestration and also setup, are technically parts of music concept but deserve their very own attention in this article. Both can finish your beat making skills to the following level if done right. orchestration. When you consider the word orchestration, consider a literal orchestra as well as the genius waving his stick around. He's informing particular individuals to play their instruments at specific times based on their seating placement (blending as well as panning). He informs certain ones to stop while others begin, as well as when he actually wishes to blow your mind, he'll bring them all right into the mix simultaneously, but they appear terrific with each other since they are making use of harmony and also off-setting each other's rhythms. You need to be doing the exact same thing with your beats. Your goal is to try and make use of the whole variety of human hearing, from the bass frequencies as much as the sparkly highs. To pull this off, you require to be familiar with the major frequency series of different tools as well as audios. You have actually listened to adequate music to understand exactly how to do this without having the specific Hertz regularities memorized. Use your ears! Primarily, this suggests that you do not want 5 instruments all wrecking along in the bass range. Have a bass, a kick drum a little bit higher in frequency, a snare greater, then human vocals, and after that a number of others a bit higher and also panned around supporting the lead melody. The distinction in top quality and also satisfaction is very obvious once acknowledged. Beginning with a proper selection in instrumentation makes the remainder of your task much easier. Syncopation. We are speaking about rap or R&B generally here, I'm thinking. That means there's a huge emphasis on the drums as well as the pattern in which they thump out their rhythm. The most uninteresting thing you can do is make use of all down defeats. It's the top factor your beats are boring. When you examine songs concept, you'll find out about something you can currently feel, which is solid beats and weak beats. In common time, which is four over 4 or four beats per step, you'll with ease count the vanquish like ... ONE, two, THREE, 4, ONE, two, 3, 4 ... You'll observe, and I have actually laid it out visually above, that the 1 beat is the toughest, followed by the 3 beat. 2 and also four are heard as weak beats. Yet if you move into 8th notes as well as 16th notes, two and also 4 are really felt even stronger. Syncopation can be taken having your drums appealed the weak beats instead of the strong. This makes the audience really feel the weak beats while anticipating the strong, which creates a feeling of driving onward with the track (also known as not being uninteresting). To obtain a sense of this, lay out a loophole where you drop the kick on the 1st beat and after that hit the entrapment on the 2 and also 4 beats. Currently return in, extend your view to 8th or 16th notes, and actively go down kicks anywhere yet the solid beats (1, 2, 3, as well as 4). Currently you're producing hip-hop rather than thumping club-techno, hefty steel, or 80's rock. Sparse or Full. Notice as you listen to different tracks that they generally comply with one of two paths: they are either really sporadic in their instrumentation or they are really full sounding. Something like "Drop It Like It's Warm" by Pharell was thin, where as something like Dr. Dre's "Kush" is very full. Make this decision from the start so that you don't have orchestration concerns. Notification exactly how Dre's option of tool audios don't clash with each other, as a result of them each having actually an assigned frequency variety that don't butt heads. A lot more instances of complete beats were Kanye's very early Midwest style beats. If you choose to go thin, you have to maintain points fascinating by using special audios. Pharell chose to make use of ridiculous mouth sounds mixed with synths to an unusual association. But it functioned. Another technique is to keep your beat and also rhythm the very same, yet change instruments, such as switching out entrapments throughout the carolers or changing kicks midway via a verse. The major trick to making full or sparse beats work involves the complying with area on plan. Setup. By the time you consider setup, you've selected your instrumentation already. So the concern comes to be not which tools to use, yet when to utilize them. You can not simply begin smashing them all at the exact same time or you'll simply have a mess. If they all play, in unison, the same lead melody the vocalist is singing, after that you do not have a song. You require to select what function each tool offers, such as harmonizing the lead tune, sustaining it's rhythm, or generating the hype just in the chorus, etc . Songs is as much concerning space and emptiness as it is loading that space. The ears as well as mind need a chance to "take a breath" as well as refine what it's hearing. That's why much less is extra a lot of the times, and songs that attain a volume are doing it with reverbs and hold-ups extra so than added instruments. Over-flooding a person's senses won't get their interest, it'll just have them transform your tune off, similar to we always mute the TELEVISION throughout loud commercials. Personalized Fills up. Two of the funnest parts of making beats is creating custom fills for completions of sections and after you obtain the vocals back from the rapper or vocalist. In relation to custom loads pre-vocals, proceed as well as loophole your song out with regular rhythms that are foreseeable as well as recurring. This provides the user something to lock into so they can concentrate on the vocals and also verses. With experience you run the risk of being dull for being remarkable, however fortunately it opens up a chance to develop much more intriguing "ear candy" with fills. personalized drum fills. Now that you have your fundamental format expanded with duplicating rhythms that your audience will become acquainted with, you can pick particular minutes in the song (generally transitional minutes) to accentuate with custom loads. The traditional minute is when you're vacating completion of a verse and also right into the chorus. You can decrease in a wonderful entrapment fill that liven up the ears of the listener. It obtains them paying closer attention again as well as signals them that something will take place (in this instance, moving right into the chorus). Now you have passion and experience with each other while keeping shifts from being disconcerting, sudden, and distressing. When you get vocals back, an enjoyable trick is to listen along for any type of unique words, parts of the lyrical message, or off-setting rhythmic parts. You can aid these parts radiate much more by creating custom drum fills beneath them as well as also bringing in (or securing) other instruments to draw more focus to it. Do not exaggerate it or it'll lose it's power and also distress the experience you have actually developed. Dynamic Breathing. Remember earlier when I claimed you have to let a track breathe? Along with tune areas transforming feeling and also tunes switching around, you require to also differ the level of intensity throughout a track. By being a bit creative, you can attain this in lots of different methods. Among my faves is to drop into half-time or dual time drums. It's hardly ever seen in hip-hop but you can even change tempo or time signatures. One of the most helpful for this sort of songs is dropping out and also bringing back different instruments. It can be as easy as quiting high-hats for a section, leaving the bass for an action, or quiting the snare. By going down instruments out, you can preserve familiarity, and afterwards when you reintroduce it the stamina of the initial impact makes it seem new and enhanced. You'll have managed to breathe some fresh air right into a track all by tricking the brain of the audience right into playing catch-up and after that forgeting an instrument. You can do this with any kind of tool during any type of section of the song, yet choose carefully and don't just go willy-nilly erasing portions of tracks. Final thought. Right here's what I suggest. Pick any type of instrumental of yours. Possibly your preferred one, or your weakest one. After that reread this article and also use among the suggestions over to it. Then an additional. Function your method through all of them as well as ultimately make an additional full-bounce of the track, then forget about it. Wait a week and then pay attention to the original variation a few times. Ultimately, pay attention to your brand-new and also boosted version as well as prepare yourself to be blown away at the advancements you'll have made. When you feel you've internalized these new concepts, you'll start applying them to every one of your brand-new beats as well as suddenly discover that you're being gotten in touch with by a growing number of new clients. Your track record will certainly begin climbing up, however do not quit here. This is just a starting factor for every one of the methods you can discover. Keep studying more songs theory and applying your brand-new expertise. If you aren't researching, your competition will be, as well as it's a no amount video game. Either your beats obtain put on the album, or another person's does. Get to function as well as maintain grinding!

[maryhare96]

6 Pieces of Marketing Advice You Can Actually Use

With 2018 in full swing, marketers should be thinking about way to level-up their strategies. And as much as we wish it would, money (and a marketer’s budget) doesn’t grow on trees.

You probably don’t have the budget for cash-consuming items like augmented reality or time-consuming brand boosters like Instagram stories. Plus, as social networks become increasingly segmented, it’s tough to know where and when to engage your precise target audience and how to monetize every social network. And even if you do know, the sheer volume of work may be overwhelming.

Fortunately, there are plenty of straightforward (and, frankly, less expensive) tactics to increase website traffic and engage prospective customers. These dependable strategies have the potential to generate real, tangible outcomes for marketers. Here are six social media marketing pointers from some of the industry’s leading practitioners on how to make these trends work for you, no matter what your budget may be.

1. The Line Between Social Media Content and Social Ads Is Blurring

With Facebook and Instagram using the same targeting engines and technologies (more or less), your content now has a super high-horsepower amplification engine behind it. Think about building ad campaigns that have direct targeting, retargeting, the ability to target audiences you’ve built, and the ability to target audiences that look like the audiences you’ve built. Test and track them all.

Yes, your content might be a series of editorial style videos. But now they can be distributed with this advanced targeting and specifically served to people that view a high percentage of similar content, and to other people that have the same demographic, interest, and behavioral qualities. This is social content with targeting power like we’ve never seen before.

“Remember that ‘social’ implies you’re giving something useful to the audience,” explained Jason Falls, noted digital marketing speaker and author. “Ad targeting to get people to give you something is fine. But leveraging it to show people how much you can give to them goes a long way in building trust and brand affinity.”

2. Social Ads Are on Steroids

The ability to target people based on multiple data points—including demographics, interests, and behaviors—coupled with the ability to utilize existing audiences and lookalike audiences has created social ad capabilities, audience growth, content virality, website traffic, and event attendance. And sales are endless.

Chad Richards, veteran social media marketer and Senior Social Media Manager at Firebelly Marketing, a social media marketing agency, explained,

“People divulge a lot of personal information on social media, so these networks know a lot about us: our characteristics, our interests, and behaviors. Because of this, it’s never been easier to reach exactly the right people with your products and services. And with Facebook’s Pixel, Twitter’s Universal Website Tag, LinkedIn’s Insight Tag, and Snapchat’s Snap Pixel—all provided pieces of code you place on your website—tracking sales and other conversion events from your social ad efforts is clear and straightforward.”

3. Micro-Influencers Get the Respect They Deserve

Influencer marketing is gaining acceptance from marketers at medium-sized—and even small—brands. Emphasis will shift (as it should) to influencers with small, yet highly engaged followings, and toward those connected to other influencers. More importantly, brands that get it understand that influencer marketing is about relationships and not transactions. It’s about creating win- win relationships that benefit the brand and the influencer.

These micro-influencers have audience reach that big influencers can only dream of. While they may lack celebrity, they have an underdog commitment and fight to prove their value to their audience. They live and die to prove this value, which is ultimately in the best interest of a strategic marketer. A successful partnership with an influencer is worth its weight in platinum.

“Customers love authenticity. It’s what enabled RedBull, Dove’s ‘real beauty’ and Pantene’s ‘Shine’ campaigns 10 to 12 years ago, and what Tory Burch seems to be at with Anni Kravi or The Beauty Chef today,” says Christopher Samuel, global corporate preparedness and engagement lead at Monsanto.

“I recommend brands take the long view. Invite and immerse micro-influencers in authentic real-world brand experiences. Existing fans may choose to become advocates. New ones may create their own real-world content/stories, and the ROI on engagement and conversion will be significant. While in influencer marketing, more is more (micro- plus celebrity influencers), the key to success is a commitment to authenticity, transparency, and long-term equity-building.”

Influencer marketing's emphasis will shift to influencers with small, highly engaged followings. Click To Tweet 4. Social Intelligence Is Easy to Access

With companies like Nuvi and Brandwatch churning out valuable data and beautiful visual reports, any brand can arm itself with the most cutting-edge information about its customers, prospects, its industry, and the conversation. Business development, and marketing in general, needs to focus on what we know about our client or customer. Therefore, understanding the social content that is popular (by brand, competitor, or the industry in general) is critical.

Paying attention to where content and amplification is happening, and which influencers are involved, and which types of content are being amplified—these are all invaluable aspects of understanding what is happening in the social sphere. The opportunity lies in how we extend that knowledge into real actionable insights to inform strategy and tactics.

“Social listening takes real-time conversations and opinions from the internet to the boardroom”, says Will McInnes, CMO, Brandwatch. “Marketers use these insights to beef up their content and influencer marketing practices, and the entire company can gain better insight into what their consumers are looking for everyday. Social data doesn’t just equip marketers with the information necessary to make better business decisions—it allows entire companies to better understand the world they navigate.”

5. Content Intelligence Is Making Life Easier

Yes, we all know we live in a content marketing world. Thanks, HubSpot, for the mass proliferation of this. However, we also know the 80/20 principle applies to content with the most or least levels of engagement. Smart companies like Ceralytics help clients analyze reams of data across awareness, engagement, and conversion, as well as benchmark it against competitors—all while identifying content gaps and missed opportunities with associated keyword difficulties. Say goodbye to overpriced content marketing strategy agencies and hello to smart content that really kicks your competition’s butt.

“The days of ‘if you write it, they will come’ are over,” says Brandon Andersen, veteran marketer and founder of Ceralytics, a content intelligence platform and service. “Succeeding in content marketing now takes a deep understanding of what topics resonate with your audience through the buying cycle. Without these insights, content marketers will continue to shoot in the dark and ultimately fail.”

6. Conversion Matters

Brands will start paying more attention to converting at scale as opposed to the current preoccupation with traffic acquisition. Instead of obsessively chasing more traffic, focus on converting and engaging the traffic you’re already getting.

Whether it’s a conversion on a landing page into a lead or sale, this is the best place to start. From there, you can move across the rest of the site to optimize for email sign-ups, whitepaper downloads, or problem-solving. The crux here is to remove obstacles or friction that prevent visitors from converting. It could be the amount of text. It could be a messaging mismatch between the ad (or general expectations) and the text on the page. Or maybe it’s the image, a lack of trust symbols, or the layout of the page. An improvement of one percentage point in conversion can be a significant game-changer.

“Conversion rate optimization needs to be viewed from your visitor’s perspective. You need to create compelling online experiences for every stage of the online customer journey. The biggest mistake that you can make is to be a greedy marketer and only focus on the bottom of the sales funnel,” said Tim Ash, the CEO of SiteTuners and chairperson of the Digital Growth Unleashed conference.

If your company is a leader and is traditionally first in the space, go ahead and chase the edgy opportunity (and if you’ve got extra time and budget). Otherwise, take the smart and practical approach. Pursue a solid mix of these six opportunities to get the maximum bang for your time and investment.

http://ift.tt/2oBcxNq

#6 Pieces of Marketing Advice You Can Actually Use

[conniecogeie]

6 Pieces of Marketing Advice You Can Actually Use

With 2018 in full swing, marketers should be thinking about way to level-up their strategies. And as much as we wish it would, money (and a marketer’s budget) doesn’t grow on trees.

You probably don’t have the budget for cash-consuming items like augmented reality or time-consuming brand boosters like Instagram stories. Plus, as social networks become increasingly segmented, it’s tough to know where and when to engage your precise target audience and how to monetize every social network. And even if you do know, the sheer volume of work may be overwhelming.

Fortunately, there are plenty of straightforward (and, frankly, less expensive) tactics to increase website traffic and engage prospective customers. These dependable strategies have the potential to generate real, tangible outcomes for marketers. Here are six social media marketing pointers from some of the industry’s leading practitioners on how to make these trends work for you, no matter what your budget may be.

1. The Line Between Social Media Content and Social Ads Is Blurring

With Facebook and Instagram using the same targeting engines and technologies (more or less), your content now has a super high-horsepower amplification engine behind it. Think about building ad campaigns that have direct targeting, retargeting, the ability to target audiences you’ve built, and the ability to target audiences that look like the audiences you’ve built. Test and track them all.

Yes, your content might be a series of editorial style videos. But now they can be distributed with this advanced targeting and specifically served to people that view a high percentage of similar content, and to other people that have the same demographic, interest, and behavioral qualities. This is social content with targeting power like we’ve never seen before.

“Remember that ‘social’ implies you’re giving something useful to the audience,” explained Jason Falls, noted digital marketing speaker and author. “Ad targeting to get people to give you something is fine. But leveraging it to show people how much you can give to them goes a long way in building trust and brand affinity.”

2. Social Ads Are on Steroids

The ability to target people based on multiple data points—including demographics, interests, and behaviors—coupled with the ability to utilize existing audiences and lookalike audiences has created social ad capabilities, audience growth, content virality, website traffic, and event attendance. And sales are endless.

Chad Richards, veteran social media marketer and Senior Social Media Manager at Firebelly Marketing, a social media marketing agency, explained,

“People divulge a lot of personal information on social media, so these networks know a lot about us: our characteristics, our interests, and behaviors. Because of this, it’s never been easier to reach exactly the right people with your products and services. And with Facebook’s Pixel, Twitter’s Universal Website Tag, LinkedIn’s Insight Tag, and Snapchat’s Snap Pixel—all provided pieces of code you place on your website—tracking sales and other conversion events from your social ad efforts is clear and straightforward.”

3. Micro-Influencers Get the Respect They Deserve

Influencer marketing is gaining acceptance from marketers at medium-sized—and even small—brands. Emphasis will shift (as it should) to influencers with small, yet highly engaged followings, and toward those connected to other influencers. More importantly, brands that get it understand that influencer marketing is about relationships and not transactions. It’s about creating win- win relationships that benefit the brand and the influencer.

These micro-influencers have audience reach that big influencers can only dream of. While they may lack celebrity, they have an underdog commitment and fight to prove their value to their audience. They live and die to prove this value, which is ultimately in the best interest of a strategic marketer. A successful partnership with an influencer is worth its weight in platinum.

“Customers love authenticity. It’s what enabled RedBull, Dove’s ‘real beauty’ and Pantene’s ‘Shine’ campaigns 10 to 12 years ago, and what Tory Burch seems to be at with Anni Kravi or The Beauty Chef today,” says Christopher Samuel, global corporate preparedness and engagement lead at Monsanto.

“I recommend brands take the long view. Invite and immerse micro-influencers in authentic real-world brand experiences. Existing fans may choose to become advocates. New ones may create their own real-world content/stories, and the ROI on engagement and conversion will be significant. While in influencer marketing, more is more (micro- plus celebrity influencers), the key to success is a commitment to authenticity, transparency, and long-term equity-building.”

Influencer marketing's emphasis will shift to influencers with small, highly engaged followings. Click To Tweet 4. Social Intelligence Is Easy to Access

With companies like Nuvi and Brandwatch churning out valuable data and beautiful visual reports, any brand can arm itself with the most cutting-edge information about its customers, prospects, its industry, and the conversation. Business development, and marketing in general, needs to focus on what we know about our client or customer. Therefore, understanding the social content that is popular (by brand, competitor, or the industry in general) is critical.

Paying attention to where content and amplification is happening, and which influencers are involved, and which types of content are being amplified—these are all invaluable aspects of understanding what is happening in the social sphere. The opportunity lies in how we extend that knowledge into real actionable insights to inform strategy and tactics.

“Social listening takes real-time conversations and opinions from the internet to the boardroom”, says Will McInnes, CMO, Brandwatch. “Marketers use these insights to beef up their content and influencer marketing practices, and the entire company can gain better insight into what their consumers are looking for everyday. Social data doesn’t just equip marketers with the information necessary to make better business decisions—it allows entire companies to better understand the world they navigate.”

5. Content Intelligence Is Making Life Easier

Yes, we all know we live in a content marketing world. Thanks, HubSpot, for the mass proliferation of this. However, we also know the 80/20 principle applies to content with the most or least levels of engagement. Smart companies like Ceralytics help clients analyze reams of data across awareness, engagement, and conversion, as well as benchmark it against competitors—all while identifying content gaps and missed opportunities with associated keyword difficulties. Say goodbye to overpriced content marketing strategy agencies and hello to smart content that really kicks your competition’s butt.

“The days of ‘if you write it, they will come’ are over,” says Brandon Andersen, veteran marketer and founder of Ceralytics, a content intelligence platform and service. “Succeeding in content marketing now takes a deep understanding of what topics resonate with your audience through the buying cycle. Without these insights, content marketers will continue to shoot in the dark and ultimately fail.”

6. Conversion Matters

Brands will start paying more attention to converting at scale as opposed to the current preoccupation with traffic acquisition. Instead of obsessively chasing more traffic, focus on converting and engaging the traffic you’re already getting.

Whether it’s a conversion on a landing page into a lead or sale, this is the best place to start. From there, you can move across the rest of the site to optimize for email sign-ups, whitepaper downloads, or problem-solving. The crux here is to remove obstacles or friction that prevent visitors from converting. It could be the amount of text. It could be a messaging mismatch between the ad (or general expectations) and the text on the page. Or maybe it’s the image, a lack of trust symbols, or the layout of the page. An improvement of one percentage point in conversion can be a significant game-changer.

“Conversion rate optimization needs to be viewed from your visitor’s perspective. You need to create compelling online experiences for every stage of the online customer journey. The biggest mistake that you can make is to be a greedy marketer and only focus on the bottom of the sales funnel,” said Tim Ash, the CEO of SiteTuners and chairperson of the Digital Growth Unleashed conference.

If your company is a leader and is traditionally first in the space, go ahead and chase the edgy opportunity (and if you’ve got extra time and budget). Otherwise, take the smart and practical approach. Pursue a solid mix of these six opportunities to get the maximum bang for your time and investment.

http://ift.tt/2oBcxNq

#6 Pieces of Marketing Advice You Can Actually Use

[rodneyevesuarywk]

6 Pieces of Marketing Advice You Can Actually Use

With 2018 in full swing, marketers should be thinking about way to level-up their strategies. And as much as we wish it would, money (and a marketer’s budget) doesn’t grow on trees.

You probably don’t have the budget for cash-consuming items like augmented reality or time-consuming brand boosters like Instagram stories. Plus, as social networks become increasingly segmented, it’s tough to know where and when to engage your precise target audience and how to monetize every social network. And even if you do know, the sheer volume of work may be overwhelming.

Fortunately, there are plenty of straightforward (and, frankly, less expensive) tactics to increase website traffic and engage prospective customers. These dependable strategies have the potential to generate real, tangible outcomes for marketers. Here are six social media marketing pointers from some of the industry’s leading practitioners on how to make these trends work for you, no matter what your budget may be.

1. The Line Between Social Media Content and Social Ads Is Blurring

With Facebook and Instagram using the same targeting engines and technologies (more or less), your content now has a super high-horsepower amplification engine behind it. Think about building ad campaigns that have direct targeting, retargeting, the ability to target audiences you’ve built, and the ability to target audiences that look like the audiences you’ve built. Test and track them all.

Yes, your content might be a series of editorial style videos. But now they can be distributed with this advanced targeting and specifically served to people that view a high percentage of similar content, and to other people that have the same demographic, interest, and behavioral qualities. This is social content with targeting power like we’ve never seen before.

“Remember that ‘social’ implies you’re giving something useful to the audience,” explained Jason Falls, noted digital marketing speaker and author. “Ad targeting to get people to give you something is fine. But leveraging it to show people how much you can give to them goes a long way in building trust and brand affinity.”

2. Social Ads Are on Steroids

The ability to target people based on multiple data points—including demographics, interests, and behaviors—coupled with the ability to utilize existing audiences and lookalike audiences has created social ad capabilities, audience growth, content virality, website traffic, and event attendance. And sales are endless.

Chad Richards, veteran social media marketer and Senior Social Media Manager at Firebelly Marketing, a social media marketing agency, explained,

“People divulge a lot of personal information on social media, so these networks know a lot about us: our characteristics, our interests, and behaviors. Because of this, it’s never been easier to reach exactly the right people with your products and services. And with Facebook’s Pixel, Twitter’s Universal Website Tag, LinkedIn’s Insight Tag, and Snapchat’s Snap Pixel—all provided pieces of code you place on your website—tracking sales and other conversion events from your social ad efforts is clear and straightforward.”

3. Micro-Influencers Get the Respect They Deserve

Influencer marketing is gaining acceptance from marketers at medium-sized—and even small—brands. Emphasis will shift (as it should) to influencers with small, yet highly engaged followings, and toward those connected to other influencers. More importantly, brands that get it understand that influencer marketing is about relationships and not transactions. It’s about creating win- win relationships that benefit the brand and the influencer.

These micro-influencers have audience reach that big influencers can only dream of. While they may lack celebrity, they have an underdog commitment and fight to prove their value to their audience. They live and die to prove this value, which is ultimately in the best interest of a strategic marketer. A successful partnership with an influencer is worth its weight in platinum.

“Customers love authenticity. It’s what enabled RedBull, Dove’s ‘real beauty’ and Pantene’s ‘Shine’ campaigns 10 to 12 years ago, and what Tory Burch seems to be at with Anni Kravi or The Beauty Chef today,” says Christopher Samuel, global corporate preparedness and engagement lead at Monsanto.

“I recommend brands take the long view. Invite and immerse micro-influencers in authentic real-world brand experiences. Existing fans may choose to become advocates. New ones may create their own real-world content/stories, and the ROI on engagement and conversion will be significant. While in influencer marketing, more is more (micro- plus celebrity influencers), the key to success is a commitment to authenticity, transparency, and long-term equity-building.”

Influencer marketing's emphasis will shift to influencers with small, highly engaged followings. Click To Tweet 4. Social Intelligence Is Easy to Access

With companies like Nuvi and Brandwatch churning out valuable data and beautiful visual reports, any brand can arm itself with the most cutting-edge information about its customers, prospects, its industry, and the conversation. Business development, and marketing in general, needs to focus on what we know about our client or customer. Therefore, understanding the social content that is popular (by brand, competitor, or the industry in general) is critical.

Paying attention to where content and amplification is happening, and which influencers are involved, and which types of content are being amplified—these are all invaluable aspects of understanding what is happening in the social sphere. The opportunity lies in how we extend that knowledge into real actionable insights to inform strategy and tactics.

“Social listening takes real-time conversations and opinions from the internet to the boardroom”, says Will McInnes, CMO, Brandwatch. “Marketers use these insights to beef up their content and influencer marketing practices, and the entire company can gain better insight into what their consumers are looking for everyday. Social data doesn’t just equip marketers with the information necessary to make better business decisions—it allows entire companies to better understand the world they navigate.”

5. Content Intelligence Is Making Life Easier

Yes, we all know we live in a content marketing world. Thanks, HubSpot, for the mass proliferation of this. However, we also know the 80/20 principle applies to content with the most or least levels of engagement. Smart companies like Ceralytics help clients analyze reams of data across awareness, engagement, and conversion, as well as benchmark it against competitors—all while identifying content gaps and missed opportunities with associated keyword difficulties. Say goodbye to overpriced content marketing strategy agencies and hello to smart content that really kicks your competition’s butt.

“The days of ‘if you write it, they will come’ are over,” says Brandon Andersen, veteran marketer and founder of Ceralytics, a content intelligence platform and service. “Succeeding in content marketing now takes a deep understanding of what topics resonate with your audience through the buying cycle. Without these insights, content marketers will continue to shoot in the dark and ultimately fail.”

6. Conversion Matters

Brands will start paying more attention to converting at scale as opposed to the current preoccupation with traffic acquisition. Instead of obsessively chasing more traffic, focus on converting and engaging the traffic you’re already getting.

Whether it’s a conversion on a landing page into a lead or sale, this is the best place to start. From there, you can move across the rest of the site to optimize for email sign-ups, whitepaper downloads, or problem-solving. The crux here is to remove obstacles or friction that prevent visitors from converting. It could be the amount of text. It could be a messaging mismatch between the ad (or general expectations) and the text on the page. Or maybe it’s the image, a lack of trust symbols, or the layout of the page. An improvement of one percentage point in conversion can be a significant game-changer.

“Conversion rate optimization needs to be viewed from your visitor’s perspective. You need to create compelling online experiences for every stage of the online customer journey. The biggest mistake that you can make is to be a greedy marketer and only focus on the bottom of the sales funnel,” said Tim Ash, the CEO of SiteTuners and chairperson of the Digital Growth Unleashed conference.

If your company is a leader and is traditionally first in the space, go ahead and chase the edgy opportunity (and if you’ve got extra time and budget). Otherwise, take the smart and practical approach. Pursue a solid mix of these six opportunities to get the maximum bang for your time and investment.

http://ift.tt/2oBcxNq

#6 Pieces of Marketing Advice You Can Actually Use

[kraussoutene]

6 Pieces of Marketing Advice You Can Actually Use

With 2018 in full swing, marketers should be thinking about way to level-up their strategies. And as much as we wish it would, money (and a marketer’s budget) doesn’t grow on trees.

You probably don’t have the budget for cash-consuming items like augmented reality or time-consuming brand boosters like Instagram stories. Plus, as social networks become increasingly segmented, it’s tough to know where and when to engage your precise target audience and how to monetize every social network. And even if you do know, the sheer volume of work may be overwhelming.

Fortunately, there are plenty of straightforward (and, frankly, less expensive) tactics to increase website traffic and engage prospective customers. These dependable strategies have the potential to generate real, tangible outcomes for marketers. Here are six social media marketing pointers from some of the industry’s leading practitioners on how to make these trends work for you, no matter what your budget may be.

1. The Line Between Social Media Content and Social Ads Is Blurring

With Facebook and Instagram using the same targeting engines and technologies (more or less), your content now has a super high-horsepower amplification engine behind it. Think about building ad campaigns that have direct targeting, retargeting, the ability to target audiences you’ve built, and the ability to target audiences that look like the audiences you’ve built. Test and track them all.

Yes, your content might be a series of editorial style videos. But now they can be distributed with this advanced targeting and specifically served to people that view a high percentage of similar content, and to other people that have the same demographic, interest, and behavioral qualities. This is social content with targeting power like we’ve never seen before.

“Remember that ‘social’ implies you’re giving something useful to the audience,” explained Jason Falls, noted digital marketing speaker and author. “Ad targeting to get people to give you something is fine. But leveraging it to show people how much you can give to them goes a long way in building trust and brand affinity.”

2. Social Ads Are on Steroids

The ability to target people based on multiple data points—including demographics, interests, and behaviors—coupled with the ability to utilize existing audiences and lookalike audiences has created social ad capabilities, audience growth, content virality, website traffic, and event attendance. And sales are endless.

Chad Richards, veteran social media marketer and Senior Social Media Manager at Firebelly Marketing, a social media marketing agency, explained,

“People divulge a lot of personal information on social media, so these networks know a lot about us: our characteristics, our interests, and behaviors. Because of this, it’s never been easier to reach exactly the right people with your products and services. And with Facebook’s Pixel, Twitter’s Universal Website Tag, LinkedIn’s Insight Tag, and Snapchat’s Snap Pixel—all provided pieces of code you place on your website—tracking sales and other conversion events from your social ad efforts is clear and straightforward.”

3. Micro-Influencers Get the Respect They Deserve

Influencer marketing is gaining acceptance from marketers at medium-sized—and even small—brands. Emphasis will shift (as it should) to influencers with small, yet highly engaged followings, and toward those connected to other influencers. More importantly, brands that get it understand that influencer marketing is about relationships and not transactions. It’s about creating win- win relationships that benefit the brand and the influencer.

These micro-influencers have audience reach that big influencers can only dream of. While they may lack celebrity, they have an underdog commitment and fight to prove their value to their audience. They live and die to prove this value, which is ultimately in the best interest of a strategic marketer. A successful partnership with an influencer is worth its weight in platinum.

“Customers love authenticity. It’s what enabled RedBull, Dove’s ‘real beauty’ and Pantene’s ‘Shine’ campaigns 10 to 12 years ago, and what Tory Burch seems to be at with Anni Kravi or The Beauty Chef today,” says Christopher Samuel, global corporate preparedness and engagement lead at Monsanto.

“I recommend brands take the long view. Invite and immerse micro-influencers in authentic real-world brand experiences. Existing fans may choose to become advocates. New ones may create their own real-world content/stories, and the ROI on engagement and conversion will be significant. While in influencer marketing, more is more (micro- plus celebrity influencers), the key to success is a commitment to authenticity, transparency, and long-term equity-building.”

Influencer marketing's emphasis will shift to influencers with small, highly engaged followings. Click To Tweet 4. Social Intelligence Is Easy to Access

With companies like Nuvi and Brandwatch churning out valuable data and beautiful visual reports, any brand can arm itself with the most cutting-edge information about its customers, prospects, its industry, and the conversation. Business development, and marketing in general, needs to focus on what we know about our client or customer. Therefore, understanding the social content that is popular (by brand, competitor, or the industry in general) is critical.

Paying attention to where content and amplification is happening, and which influencers are involved, and which types of content are being amplified—these are all invaluable aspects of understanding what is happening in the social sphere. The opportunity lies in how we extend that knowledge into real actionable insights to inform strategy and tactics.

“Social listening takes real-time conversations and opinions from the internet to the boardroom”, says Will McInnes, CMO, Brandwatch. “Marketers use these insights to beef up their content and influencer marketing practices, and the entire company can gain better insight into what their consumers are looking for everyday. Social data doesn’t just equip marketers with the information necessary to make better business decisions—it allows entire companies to better understand the world they navigate.”

5. Content Intelligence Is Making Life Easier

Yes, we all know we live in a content marketing world. Thanks, HubSpot, for the mass proliferation of this. However, we also know the 80/20 principle applies to content with the most or least levels of engagement. Smart companies like Ceralytics help clients analyze reams of data across awareness, engagement, and conversion, as well as benchmark it against competitors—all while identifying content gaps and missed opportunities with associated keyword difficulties. Say goodbye to overpriced content marketing strategy agencies and hello to smart content that really kicks your competition’s butt.

“The days of ‘if you write it, they will come’ are over,” says Brandon Andersen, veteran marketer and founder of Ceralytics, a content intelligence platform and service. “Succeeding in content marketing now takes a deep understanding of what topics resonate with your audience through the buying cycle. Without these insights, content marketers will continue to shoot in the dark and ultimately fail.”

6. Conversion Matters

Brands will start paying more attention to converting at scale as opposed to the current preoccupation with traffic acquisition. Instead of obsessively chasing more traffic, focus on converting and engaging the traffic you’re already getting.

Whether it’s a conversion on a landing page into a lead or sale, this is the best place to start. From there, you can move across the rest of the site to optimize for email sign-ups, whitepaper downloads, or problem-solving. The crux here is to remove obstacles or friction that prevent visitors from converting. It could be the amount of text. It could be a messaging mismatch between the ad (or general expectations) and the text on the page. Or maybe it’s the image, a lack of trust symbols, or the layout of the page. An improvement of one percentage point in conversion can be a significant game-changer.

“Conversion rate optimization needs to be viewed from your visitor’s perspective. You need to create compelling online experiences for every stage of the online customer journey. The biggest mistake that you can make is to be a greedy marketer and only focus on the bottom of the sales funnel,” said Tim Ash, the CEO of SiteTuners and chairperson of the Digital Growth Unleashed conference.

If your company is a leader and is traditionally first in the space, go ahead and chase the edgy opportunity (and if you’ve got extra time and budget). Otherwise, take the smart and practical approach. Pursue a solid mix of these six opportunities to get the maximum bang for your time and investment.

http://ift.tt/2oBcxNq

#6 Pieces of Marketing Advice You Can Actually Use

[mercedessharonwo1]

6 Pieces of Marketing Advice You Can Actually Use

With 2018 in full swing, marketers should be thinking about way to level-up their strategies. And as much as we wish it would, money (and a marketer’s budget) doesn’t grow on trees.

You probably don’t have the budget for cash-consuming items like augmented reality or time-consuming brand boosters like Instagram stories. Plus, as social networks become increasingly segmented, it’s tough to know where and when to engage your precise target audience and how to monetize every social network. And even if you do know, the sheer volume of work may be overwhelming.

Fortunately, there are plenty of straightforward (and, frankly, less expensive) tactics to increase website traffic and engage prospective customers. These dependable strategies have the potential to generate real, tangible outcomes for marketers. Here are six social media marketing pointers from some of the industry’s leading practitioners on how to make these trends work for you, no matter what your budget may be.

1. The Line Between Social Media Content and Social Ads Is Blurring

With Facebook and Instagram using the same targeting engines and technologies (more or less), your content now has a super high-horsepower amplification engine behind it. Think about building ad campaigns that have direct targeting, retargeting, the ability to target audiences you’ve built, and the ability to target audiences that look like the audiences you’ve built. Test and track them all.

Yes, your content might be a series of editorial style videos. But now they can be distributed with this advanced targeting and specifically served to people that view a high percentage of similar content, and to other people that have the same demographic, interest, and behavioral qualities. This is social content with targeting power like we’ve never seen before.

“Remember that ‘social’ implies you’re giving something useful to the audience,” explained Jason Falls, noted digital marketing speaker and author. “Ad targeting to get people to give you something is fine. But leveraging it to show people how much you can give to them goes a long way in building trust and brand affinity.”

2. Social Ads Are on Steroids

The ability to target people based on multiple data points—including demographics, interests, and behaviors—coupled with the ability to utilize existing audiences and lookalike audiences has created social ad capabilities, audience growth, content virality, website traffic, and event attendance. And sales are endless.

Chad Richards, veteran social media marketer and Senior Social Media Manager at Firebelly Marketing, a social media marketing agency, explained,

“People divulge a lot of personal information on social media, so these networks know a lot about us: our characteristics, our interests, and behaviors. Because of this, it’s never been easier to reach exactly the right people with your products and services. And with Facebook’s Pixel, Twitter’s Universal Website Tag, LinkedIn’s Insight Tag, and Snapchat’s Snap Pixel—all provided pieces of code you place on your website—tracking sales and other conversion events from your social ad efforts is clear and straightforward.”

3. Micro-Influencers Get the Respect They Deserve

Influencer marketing is gaining acceptance from marketers at medium-sized—and even small—brands. Emphasis will shift (as it should) to influencers with small, yet highly engaged followings, and toward those connected to other influencers. More importantly, brands that get it understand that influencer marketing is about relationships and not transactions. It’s about creating win- win relationships that benefit the brand and the influencer.

These micro-influencers have audience reach that big influencers can only dream of. While they may lack celebrity, they have an underdog commitment and fight to prove their value to their audience. They live and die to prove this value, which is ultimately in the best interest of a strategic marketer. A successful partnership with an influencer is worth its weight in platinum.

“Customers love authenticity. It’s what enabled RedBull, Dove’s ‘real beauty’ and Pantene’s ‘Shine’ campaigns 10 to 12 years ago, and what Tory Burch seems to be at with Anni Kravi or The Beauty Chef today,” says Christopher Samuel, global corporate preparedness and engagement lead at Monsanto.

“I recommend brands take the long view. Invite and immerse micro-influencers in authentic real-world brand experiences. Existing fans may choose to become advocates. New ones may create their own real-world content/stories, and the ROI on engagement and conversion will be significant. While in influencer marketing, more is more (micro- plus celebrity influencers), the key to success is a commitment to authenticity, transparency, and long-term equity-building.”

Influencer marketing's emphasis will shift to influencers with small, highly engaged followings. Click To Tweet 4. Social Intelligence Is Easy to Access

With companies like Nuvi and Brandwatch churning out valuable data and beautiful visual reports, any brand can arm itself with the most cutting-edge information about its customers, prospects, its industry, and the conversation. Business development, and marketing in general, needs to focus on what we know about our client or customer. Therefore, understanding the social content that is popular (by brand, competitor, or the industry in general) is critical.

Paying attention to where content and amplification is happening, and which influencers are involved, and which types of content are being amplified—these are all invaluable aspects of understanding what is happening in the social sphere. The opportunity lies in how we extend that knowledge into real actionable insights to inform strategy and tactics.

“Social listening takes real-time conversations and opinions from the internet to the boardroom”, says Will McInnes, CMO, Brandwatch. “Marketers use these insights to beef up their content and influencer marketing practices, and the entire company can gain better insight into what their consumers are looking for everyday. Social data doesn’t just equip marketers with the information necessary to make better business decisions—it allows entire companies to better understand the world they navigate.”

5. Content Intelligence Is Making Life Easier

Yes, we all know we live in a content marketing world. Thanks, HubSpot, for the mass proliferation of this. However, we also know the 80/20 principle applies to content with the most or least levels of engagement. Smart companies like Ceralytics help clients analyze reams of data across awareness, engagement, and conversion, as well as benchmark it against competitors—all while identifying content gaps and missed opportunities with associated keyword difficulties. Say goodbye to overpriced content marketing strategy agencies and hello to smart content that really kicks your competition’s butt.

“The days of ‘if you write it, they will come’ are over,” says Brandon Andersen, veteran marketer and founder of Ceralytics, a content intelligence platform and service. “Succeeding in content marketing now takes a deep understanding of what topics resonate with your audience through the buying cycle. Without these insights, content marketers will continue to shoot in the dark and ultimately fail.”

6. Conversion Matters

Brands will start paying more attention to converting at scale as opposed to the current preoccupation with traffic acquisition. Instead of obsessively chasing more traffic, focus on converting and engaging the traffic you’re already getting.

Whether it’s a conversion on a landing page into a lead or sale, this is the best place to start. From there, you can move across the rest of the site to optimize for email sign-ups, whitepaper downloads, or problem-solving. The crux here is to remove obstacles or friction that prevent visitors from converting. It could be the amount of text. It could be a messaging mismatch between the ad (or general expectations) and the text on the page. Or maybe it’s the image, a lack of trust symbols, or the layout of the page. An improvement of one percentage point in conversion can be a significant game-changer.

“Conversion rate optimization needs to be viewed from your visitor’s perspective. You need to create compelling online experiences for every stage of the online customer journey. The biggest mistake that you can make is to be a greedy marketer and only focus on the bottom of the sales funnel,” said Tim Ash, the CEO of SiteTuners and chairperson of the Digital Growth Unleashed conference.

If your company is a leader and is traditionally first in the space, go ahead and chase the edgy opportunity (and if you’ve got extra time and budget). Otherwise, take the smart and practical approach. Pursue a solid mix of these six opportunities to get the maximum bang for your time and investment.

http://ift.tt/2oBcxNq

#6 Pieces of Marketing Advice You Can Actually Use

[christinesumpmg1]

6 Pieces of Marketing Advice You Can Actually Use

With 2018 in full swing, marketers should be thinking about way to level-up their strategies. And as much as we wish it would, money (and a marketer’s budget) doesn’t grow on trees.

You probably don’t have the budget for cash-consuming items like augmented reality or time-consuming brand boosters like Instagram stories. Plus, as social networks become increasingly segmented, it’s tough to know where and when to engage your precise target audience and how to monetize every social network. And even if you do know, the sheer volume of work may be overwhelming.

Fortunately, there are plenty of straightforward (and, frankly, less expensive) tactics to increase website traffic and engage prospective customers. These dependable strategies have the potential to generate real, tangible outcomes for marketers. Here are six social media marketing pointers from some of the industry’s leading practitioners on how to make these trends work for you, no matter what your budget may be.

1. The Line Between Social Media Content and Social Ads Is Blurring

With Facebook and Instagram using the same targeting engines and technologies (more or less), your content now has a super high-horsepower amplification engine behind it. Think about building ad campaigns that have direct targeting, retargeting, the ability to target audiences you’ve built, and the ability to target audiences that look like the audiences you’ve built. Test and track them all.

Yes, your content might be a series of editorial style videos. But now they can be distributed with this advanced targeting and specifically served to people that view a high percentage of similar content, and to other people that have the same demographic, interest, and behavioral qualities. This is social content with targeting power like we’ve never seen before.

“Remember that ‘social’ implies you’re giving something useful to the audience,” explained Jason Falls, noted digital marketing speaker and author. “Ad targeting to get people to give you something is fine. But leveraging it to show people how much you can give to them goes a long way in building trust and brand affinity.”

2. Social Ads Are on Steroids

The ability to target people based on multiple data points—including demographics, interests, and behaviors—coupled with the ability to utilize existing audiences and lookalike audiences has created social ad capabilities, audience growth, content virality, website traffic, and event attendance. And sales are endless.

Chad Richards, veteran social media marketer and Senior Social Media Manager at Firebelly Marketing, a social media marketing agency, explained,

“People divulge a lot of personal information on social media, so these networks know a lot about us: our characteristics, our interests, and behaviors. Because of this, it’s never been easier to reach exactly the right people with your products and services. And with Facebook’s Pixel, Twitter’s Universal Website Tag, LinkedIn’s Insight Tag, and Snapchat’s Snap Pixel—all provided pieces of code you place on your website—tracking sales and other conversion events from your social ad efforts is clear and straightforward.”

3. Micro-Influencers Get the Respect They Deserve

Influencer marketing is gaining acceptance from marketers at medium-sized—and even small—brands. Emphasis will shift (as it should) to influencers with small, yet highly engaged followings, and toward those connected to other influencers. More importantly, brands that get it understand that influencer marketing is about relationships and not transactions. It’s about creating win- win relationships that benefit the brand and the influencer.

These micro-influencers have audience reach that big influencers can only dream of. While they may lack celebrity, they have an underdog commitment and fight to prove their value to their audience. They live and die to prove this value, which is ultimately in the best interest of a strategic marketer. A successful partnership with an influencer is worth its weight in platinum.

“Customers love authenticity. It’s what enabled RedBull, Dove’s ‘real beauty’ and Pantene’s ‘Shine’ campaigns 10 to 12 years ago, and what Tory Burch seems to be at with Anni Kravi or The Beauty Chef today,” says Christopher Samuel, global corporate preparedness and engagement lead at Monsanto.

“I recommend brands take the long view. Invite and immerse micro-influencers in authentic real-world brand experiences. Existing fans may choose to become advocates. New ones may create their own real-world content/stories, and the ROI on engagement and conversion will be significant. While in influencer marketing, more is more (micro- plus celebrity influencers), the key to success is a commitment to authenticity, transparency, and long-term equity-building.”

Influencer marketing's emphasis will shift to influencers with small, highly engaged followings. Click To Tweet 4. Social Intelligence Is Easy to Access

With companies like Nuvi and Brandwatch churning out valuable data and beautiful visual reports, any brand can arm itself with the most cutting-edge information about its customers, prospects, its industry, and the conversation. Business development, and marketing in general, needs to focus on what we know about our client or customer. Therefore, understanding the social content that is popular (by brand, competitor, or the industry in general) is critical.

Paying attention to where content and amplification is happening, and which influencers are involved, and which types of content are being amplified—these are all invaluable aspects of understanding what is happening in the social sphere. The opportunity lies in how we extend that knowledge into real actionable insights to inform strategy and tactics.

“Social listening takes real-time conversations and opinions from the internet to the boardroom”, says Will McInnes, CMO, Brandwatch. “Marketers use these insights to beef up their content and influencer marketing practices, and the entire company can gain better insight into what their consumers are looking for everyday. Social data doesn’t just equip marketers with the information necessary to make better business decisions—it allows entire companies to better understand the world they navigate.”

5. Content Intelligence Is Making Life Easier

Yes, we all know we live in a content marketing world. Thanks, HubSpot, for the mass proliferation of this. However, we also know the 80/20 principle applies to content with the most or least levels of engagement. Smart companies like Ceralytics help clients analyze reams of data across awareness, engagement, and conversion, as well as benchmark it against competitors—all while identifying content gaps and missed opportunities with associated keyword difficulties. Say goodbye to overpriced content marketing strategy agencies and hello to smart content that really kicks your competition’s butt.

“The days of ‘if you write it, they will come’ are over,” says Brandon Andersen, veteran marketer and founder of Ceralytics, a content intelligence platform and service. “Succeeding in content marketing now takes a deep understanding of what topics resonate with your audience through the buying cycle. Without these insights, content marketers will continue to shoot in the dark and ultimately fail.”

6. Conversion Matters

Brands will start paying more attention to converting at scale as opposed to the current preoccupation with traffic acquisition. Instead of obsessively chasing more traffic, focus on converting and engaging the traffic you’re already getting.

Whether it’s a conversion on a landing page into a lead or sale, this is the best place to start. From there, you can move across the rest of the site to optimize for email sign-ups, whitepaper downloads, or problem-solving. The crux here is to remove obstacles or friction that prevent visitors from converting. It could be the amount of text. It could be a messaging mismatch between the ad (or general expectations) and the text on the page. Or maybe it’s the image, a lack of trust symbols, or the layout of the page. An improvement of one percentage point in conversion can be a significant game-changer.

“Conversion rate optimization needs to be viewed from your visitor’s perspective. You need to create compelling online experiences for every stage of the online customer journey. The biggest mistake that you can make is to be a greedy marketer and only focus on the bottom of the sales funnel,” said Tim Ash, the CEO of SiteTuners and chairperson of the Digital Growth Unleashed conference.

If your company is a leader and is traditionally first in the space, go ahead and chase the edgy opportunity (and if you’ve got extra time and budget). Otherwise, take the smart and practical approach. Pursue a solid mix of these six opportunities to get the maximum bang for your time and investment.

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#6 Pieces of Marketing Advice You Can Actually Use

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Hobby Advice And Tips Straight From The Benefits

Lots of people are trying to find new and exciting hobbies each day, however have run out of ideas. If this sounds like afterwards you these article is right the alley. Within it you are going to read many sound advice in regards to what hobbies are great to pursue at home. Please read on and obtain enlightened about hobbies!

Don’t limit your hobbies as to what you’ve explored before. Sometimes you should push yourself in new directions, and hobbies are great for doing that. The truth is, try something out that you just will have never considered before. You may be astonished at how enjoyable a whole new hobby may be.

In case you have spent lots of time focusing on a counted cross-stitch project for your residence, be sure you think beyond the finished product. All needlepoint deserves to become admired by everyone so allow cash in your finances for framing. An expertly done framing job could make a huge difference if you would like hang your piece high on the wall.

An exciting and potentially rewarding hobby to have is poker. Poker is fun because you can listen to it with your friends, and win a variety of money simultaneously. You may also lose a little bit of money, so you’ll desire to practice a great deal and really know your stuff.

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Prior to deciding to turn your hobby right into a business, perform math. Estimate exactly how much you need as start-up capital, working capital along with the amount you will need to carry on at first till the business takes off. This will provide you with an excellent budget and you may be secure financially prior to starting.

Can you use scissors with your hobby? If so, it is 4916 W Irlo Bronson Memorial Hwy essential to clean your scissors regularly. Glue, lint and also other things need to be wiped off each and every time. Occasionally, wash the blades with warm, soap and water. Dry them thoroughly before storing. Work with a nail polish remover should they be really sticky.

A great hobby to grab is usually to start writing. Writing is fun mainly because it allows you to be truly creative. It is possible to develop your own personal compelling story with characters that you just created. You can also do it just about anywhere including in your house, the park, or about the train.

Consider starting a blog about whatever your own personal passion is. Talking about a thing that draws your attention during your leisure time is the best way to have fun with this a lot more. You can also use it to connect to fellow enthusiasts who share your passions, both internet and possibly in the real world too.

If you are stuck finding a new hobby, consider planting a vegetable garden. Not only will you learn about the foods you eat, but you can even spend less harvesting ingredients for your salad and meals. Ensure that should this be your option for a hobby that you’re dedicated!

Photo editing is a good hobby to find out. It could take serious amounts of master the software program, but when you need to do, the sky may be the limits. Go ahead and take pimple off from Junior’s head in the family portrait in a few clicks or make some money by altering other people’s pictures.

Do you need a hobby to fill your time and effort and want to get fit? Swimming could possibly be a possibility that you should consider. It may cost just a little on a monthly basis to spend membership fees for that pool, however, many people see great joy in swimming laps on a daily basis. The benefits are wonderful and so is the Florida chance of getting a fun hobby that you simply enjoy.

Search online to locate hobby groups. There may be very few people around your neighborhood you could show to, but there will definitely be a huge amount of people who have similar hobbies online. There are other than likely forums available you could join. It’s a wonderful way to learn new aspects of your hobby and make new friendships during this process.

A fun hobby to get 34746 is playing board games. Board games remain alive and going strong even in this digital age. So long as you have people to play with, you could have your really awesome time by playing a [phone] board game. There are several kinds too.

Only do hobbies you enjoy. It might be very easy to get talked into something by someone close to you, only to realize that you will don’t take advantage of the hobby whatsoever. https://www.diveshopkissimmee.com/scuba-diving-orlando In such a circumstance to you personally, locate a kind method to bow out. Every day life is too short to enjoy hours doing something you don’t really love.

From the article above you are now aware about numerous fun things to do in the home. Anyone can find interesting Kissimmee hobbies in the home how the family can enjoy doing. It doesn’t really need to be boring at home anymore when you range from the tips here to find that perfect hobby.

Source:http://kalafineart.com/take-advantage-of-the-following-helpful-hobby-advice-4916-w-irlo-bronson-memorial-hwy-407-933-5090/

from Edward Bucher Kala Fine Art, Indian contempory Art https://edwardbucherkalafineart.wordpress.com/2017/06/03/take-advantage-of-the-following-helpful-hobby-advice-4916-w-irlo-bronson-memorial-hwy-407-933-5090/

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How to Ask For a Pay Raise

If you feel like you have been doing an excellent job at work, don’t be afraid to approach your employer for a raise. Many people are afraid to ask for raises even though they know they deserve them, making excuses like, “The economy is so down right now” or “I’ll never find a good time.” If this sounds like you, then it’s time to stop getting in your own way and to start making a game plan for getting the higher salary you deserve.

Part One of Four: Gathering information 1 Make sure you have leverage. Getting a pay raise in most industries is hard to achieve unless you have some leverage. Leverage can consist of such things as getting another job offer performing above and beyond your job description consistently, effectively, and regularly. [1] If you are a “star employee,” a good company will often be able to find a bit extra to keep you satisfied. Be aware that it is a fairly standard tactic to tell you that the business is already over its annual budget, to try to deter you from asking.[2] This means that you need to know your worth as assessed against objective criteria (see below) and be persistent. If you’ve already negotiated a pay deal with your boss, it may be harder to ask for more. Your boss assumes you’re happy with the amount you’re getting and isn’t not likely to be favorably disposed to adding more financial burden to the company without good reason. Be careful about using another job offer as leverage. Your boss may call you on it; it’s important to really have such a job offer and be willing to take it if you’re rebuffed by your boss. Be ready to walk that plank!

2 Have realistic expectations. If your company is already “over budget” and suffering as a result of the recession, cut-backs, or any other reasons, you might be better off waiting until later. During a recessionary period, some companies will not be able to provide pay raises without also endangering your job. However, this doesn’t mean that you should use this as an excuse to delay asking for a raise indefinitely. 3 Know your company’s policies. Read the employee handbook (and company intranet, if you have one), or better yet, talk to someone in Human Resources. Here are some things you should figure out: Does your company require annual performance reviews to determine your salary? Do salaries advance according to a fixed schedule or rank? Who can make the decision (or ask for it to be made)? 4 Know what you’re worth - objectively. It’s easy to believe you’re worth more, especially if you feel as if you’re giving 110 percent every day, but you need to demonstrate this objectively by assessing your worth against that of others in the same industry. Many employers say they don’t give a raise until the employee does 20% more work than he did when he was initially hired. Here are some things you can take into account when you consider your worth: Your job description Your responsibilities, including any management or leadership tasks Years of experience and seniority in the company’s line of work Your level of education Your location 5 Gather some market data for similar positions. While this may be something you took into account when you first negotiated your salary, your role and responsibilities probably have changed. Look at similar levels in the industry to see what others are being paid for similar work. Determine the usual salary range for those who do what you do in your region or area. Getting market data for comparable positions can empower you by helping you be and feel more knowledgeable when you talk with your boss. You can check out comparable positions at Salary.com, GenderGapApp, or Getraised.com.[3] While these things will be helpful when you build your case, they should not be used as the principal argument for getting a pay raise; they simply inform you about your potential worth, not your boss.[4] 6 Keep abreast of the trends in your industry. Subscribe to and read at least one trade journal regularly and make it a point to discuss the future with your colleagues. You should also keep your eyes on the horizon and regularly envision the path ahead for your company and for the industry. Make it a point to consciously set aside time at the end of each month to critically examine the path ahead. The very act of anticipating needed actions will serve you well in day-to-day operations and in salary re-negotiaon: You will be leading the way into the future and enhancing the company’s ability to capitalize on the changing market.

Part Two of Four: Building a case 1 Prepare a list of your accomplishments. It is best to use accurate performance measures such as quality improvement, customer satisfaction, and, especially, growth in profits. The list will remind you of your own worth, make it concrete, and provide an objective basis for your demands. While some people believe it’s helpful to write down accomplishments to present to your boss, others believe your accomplishments should already be evident and you should only need to highlight those to remind your boss of what he already knows and reinforce that knowledge.[5] It depends on what you know about your boss’s preferences, your relationship dynamics with your boss, and your own level of comfort with reciting your accomplishments verbatim. If you choose to convince your boss verbally, memorize the list. If you choose to present a written copy to your boss for his or her reference, have somebody proofread it for you first. 2 Review your work history. Pay particular attention to projects you’ve worked on, problems you have helped solve, and how business operations and profits have improved since you started. This is about more than just doing your job well, which you’re already expected to do, but about going above and beyond the duties of your job and, ultimately, it boils down to improving the company’s bottom line. Some questions to consider when developing your case include: Did you complete or help to complete a tough project? And get positive results from it? Did you work extra hours or meet an urgent deadline? Are you continuing to demonstrate this type of commitment? Did you take initiative? In what ways? Did you go beyond the call of duty? In what ways? Did you save the company time or money? Did you improve any systems or processes? Did you empower others with your support and guidance or training? As Carolyn Kepcher says, “A rising tide lifts all boats,”[6] and a boss wants to hear that you’ve helped facilitate team members and make them stronger, more positive forces for the company. 3 Consider your future value to the company. This indicates to your boss that you see the larger picture and are positioned to help the company identify and capitalize on opportunities as they arise. You will always be one step ahead of the others in thinking about where the company is headed.[7] Be sure to identify specific long-term goals and objectives that will benefit the company in the future. Keeping an existing employee happy is also less of a hassle than conducting interviews and hiring a new one. While you don’t want to say this outright, emphasizing a positive role in your company’s evolution which helps assure the company’s future success will definitely resonate with your boss. 4 Decide what level of pay raise you’re looking for. It’s important not to appear greedy, but rather to remain realistic and reasonable. If you feel comfortable with your position, tie the salary increase to the increased revenue or profit that is tied to your past successes and expectations for the near future. If you anticipate being able to bring home a lucrative project or contract in the next few months, that may well fund your pay raise (and more). The implication that the next ten months of your year are all bottom-line profit does not have to be stated explicitly, but, if the case is made convincingly, the conclusion is inescapable. If your boss sees an easy way to justify the salary increase to superiors, you are in a strong position, indeed. The usual tactic of negotiating from a much higher point isn’t as good an idea with salary increase requests because your boss might think you’re trying to milk the company and push the boundaries. You can break the numbers down so they seem less imposing. For example, you can explain it as being an extra $40 a check rather than $2,200 for the year.[8] You can also negotiate for more than just a pay raise. Maybe you’re happy to take other things in lieu of money, such as shares in the company, a wardrobe allowance, rental assistance, or even a more prestigious title. Ask for a company car, or for a better one. If appropriate, talk about increased benefits, more conspicuous job titles, and modifications to your responsibilities, management oversight, or assignments. Be prepared to compromise and haggle. Even though you haven’t given your boss an unrealistic figure, you should expect some bargaining to go on if your boss is receptive to the request. 5 Don’t be afraid to ask. Though it can be hard to get a pay raise, it’s worse to fall into the mindset of not asking for a pay rise, ever. In particular, women are often afraid to ask for a pay raise due to a mindset that does not want to appear demanding or pushy.[9] See this as an opportunity to show that you care enough to develop a career trajectory that favors your workplace as well as yourself. Negotiation is a learned skill. If you are afraid of this aspect, take some time out to learn it and practice implementing it in a variety of contexts before approaching your boss. 6 Choose the right time. Successful requests are all about good timing. Ask yourself what you have done within a demonstrable time period that has made you more valuable to the firm or organization. It doesn’t make sense to ask for a pay raise when you’ve not yet demonstrated anything amazing for the firm – regardless of long you’ve been there. The time is right when your value to the organization is clearly high.[10] This means seizing the iron while it’s hot and asking for a pay raise off the back of excellent successes such as holding a highly successful conference, getting fantastic feedback, getting a big client signed on, producing outstanding work that outsiders have praised, etc. Don’t choose a time when the company has just posted major losses.[11] Asking for a pay rise based purely on “time done” is dangerous because it makes you appear like a timekeeper rather than someone interested in the company’s progression. Never say to your boss: “I’ve been here for a year and I deserve a pay rise.”[12] Your boss will be likely to respond, "And so what?”

Part Three of Four: Asking for a raise 1 Make an appointment to talk to your boss. Set time aside. If you just walk up and ask for a raise, you’ll seem unprepared – and come across like you don’t deserve one. You don’t have to give too much advance notice, but do seek privacy and a time you know you won’t be interrupted. For example, when you walk in to work in the morning, say: “Before you leave, I’d like to speak with you.” Remember, a face-to-face request is far harder to turn down than a letter or email. Try to avoid Monday, when there will be a million things to do, or Friday, when your boss may already have other things on his mind. 2 Present yourself well. Be confident, not arrogant, and stay positive. Speak politely and clearly to better maintain your composure. And finally, keep in mind that it probably won’t be half as bad to ask as it did to work up the nerve! When you talk to your boss, lean in a bit if you’re sitting down. This will help project confidence. Start by saying how much you enjoy your job. Being personable will help make that human connection with your boss. Follow up by discussing your achievements. This will show your boss why a pay raise matters to you. 3 Ask for the raise in specific terms and then wait for your boss’s response. Don’t just say, “I want a raise.” Tell your boss how much more money you want to make in percentage terms, such as wanting to make 10% more money. You can also talk in terms of how much you would like your yearly salary to increase. Whatever you say, be as specific as possible, so your boss sees that you’ve really thought it through. Here are the things that can happen: If it’s an outright “no,” see the next section. If it’s “I need time to think about this,” try to pinpoint a future time for reopening the discussion. If your boss agrees immediately, say something like, “Don’t say yes unless you mean it” as a means of reinforcing it in his or her mind and then proceed to “hold your boss” to it (see below). 4 Thank your boss for his or her time. This is important regardless of the answer you’ve been given.You can even go “over and above” by giving your boss more than they’re expecting from you, such as a thank-you card or lunch invitation to say thanks. Consider sending a follow up email as well even if you’ve said thank you person multiple times. 5 Hold your boss to the promise. If the answer was yes, the final hurdle may be actually receiving the raise. Back-pedaling – or even simple forgetfulness – are always possibilities. Don’t jump to conclusions if the raise does not go into effect right away. Things do go wrong: your boss might encounter resistance from the higher-ups or face budgetary problems, etc. Making your boss feel bad about reneging (for example, mentioning someone you know who asked for a pay raise only to have a boss take it back and how staff morale plummeted). This will have to be done subtly and with tact. Ask when your boss will implement the pay raise. A subtle way of doing this might be to ask if there is anything you need to sign to put it into effect. Go one step further and tell your boss: “I guess that you’ll have this arranged by the end of the month after you’ve approved the paperwork,” etc.; this puts a plan into action so that he or she doesn’t have to.

Part Four of Four: Dealing with a refusal 1 Don’t take it personally. If you allow the rejection to sour your attitude or affect your work, your boss will probably feel like (s)he made the right decision. If you develop a reputation for having a bad attitude or for not accepting feedback, then your boss will be even less likely to give you a raise. Once your boss gives his final verdict, be as gracious as possible. Don’t walk out of the room and slam the door. 2 Ask your boss what you can do differently. This demonstrates your willingness to take your boss’s opinions into account. It may be that both of you can agree on increased responsibilities and activities over a certain time period that gradually leads to a new role and a pay increase. This will also demonstrate your commitment to your job and your ability to work hard. Your boss will see you as a go-getter and you’ll be on his radar the next time raise season rolls around. If you are a star employee, keep performing excellently and ask again in a few months time. 3 Send a follow-up email saying thank you. This provides a dated, written record that you can remind your boss of in future negotiations. It will also remind your boss that you’re grateful for the conversation that you had and shows him that you have follow-through. 4 Be persistent. Your desire for a pay raise is now out in the open and your boss should be concerned about the possibility that you are looking for work elsewhere. Set a date for when you will ask again. Until that time, be sure to kick your work into high gear. Don’t slack off just because you’re disappointed that you won’t be getting a raise yet. 5 Consider looking elsewhere if the situation doesn’t change. You should never have to settle for less than you deserve. If you’re shooting higher than your company is willing to pay, maybe it’s better to apply for a different position that has a higher salary – either with your company or another one. Think this possibility through carefully; there’s no need to burn bridges just because your conversation with your boss didn’t go well. It’s better to stick with it for a little while longer to try to work for that raise. But if months have passed and you haven’t gotten the recognition you deserve in spite of your hard work, then don’t feel bad about seeing what other companies have to offer.

Look at your current job responsibilities and expectations. Ensure that you’re doing all of these fully and without reminder or having others cover your back. From there, try to identify areas that could be done more effectively with modifications, systematization or changes to procedures. Remember that managers view a pay raise as a reward for excelling not for time put in doing the minimum standard.

Follow the chain of command when asking for a pay raise. For example, if your immediate boss is a supervisor, don’t go over your boss’s head to the department manager. Instead, approach your immediate boss first and let him or her tell you the next step. Prior to asking for any raise or increase in compensation, be sure that you’ve handled any and all projects, jobs, and issues on your plate. Asking for a raise in the middle of something you’re currently working seldom works. Remember that timing matters! Improve your qualifications, if you can. You don’t have to wait around or make your case on seniority alone. Better qualifications mean that you can offer more to your employer. Take a class, get a certification or license, or take the initiative to learn new skills on your own. Then, use these achievements to demonstrate that you’re worth more than you used to be. Consider asking for more responsibilities to justify your pay raise. That will go over better than simply asking for more money, especially if your current responsibilities don’t require you to do much above the call of duty and your employer thinks that you’re adequately paid. Many companies subscribe to industry salary surveys. Ask your boss to consult that information when determining your new compensation, especially if you think your pay has lagged behind that of your peers. It will lend credence to your well-researched comparisons. Have a reasonable figure in mind (e.g., from salary surveys) and prepare to negotiate. Be nice but firm when negotiating, and don’t get emotional. (Remember, it’s business, not personal.) If your employer doesn’t grant you a satisfactory pay raise, try negotiating concessions such as performance-based bonuses, or extra paid time off, perks or benefits. Whatever you succeed at negotiating, ask for it in writing with authorizing signatures. Command a pay raise, don’t demand it. For example, you might tell your boss that you’d like to know what you can do to increase your salary or hourly wage in the near future, instead of insisting on a pay raise for your past accomplishments. It’s not a good idea to justify asking for a pay raise by simply stating, "I need the money.” It’s a much better idea to prove that you deserve a pay raise, by emphasizing your value to the company. Documenting your accomplishments is a good way to do that. For example, you might include your accomplishments in a “presentation” to show your boss, a “cheat sheet” to refer to while negotiating your pay raise, or a letter asking for an appointment to discuss it. Be specific; use quantified examples. Check your employee policy manual (or similar document) for information related to asking for a pay raise. For example, if a policy states how to go about it, then follow it to the letter. But if a policy unconditionally states that your employer will not grant an out-of-cycle pay raise, it might be a good idea to stick it out until your next review and request a better-than-usual pay raise. Asking for such a pay raise will probably go over better than trying to buck the system.

Think twice about threatening to quit if you don’t get a pay raise. It rarely works. No matter how valuable you think you are to the company, don’t make the mistake of thinking that you’re indispensable. Eager beavers willing to learn your job for less pay are almost always waiting in the wings. If you do quit later for lack of a raise, be careful what you say in your resignation letter so it doesn’t bite you down the road. Keep the discussion focused on your work, and your value. Never use personal issues, including financial shortfalls or other problems, as the reason for needing a raise. This is business and that demonstrates personal weakness, not something you want your boss to know. Talk in terms of the value of your services. Recognize that your boss has deadlines and budgets to contend with. The fact is that employers have much more experience in the field of negotiations. This is the reason why the biggest mistake an employee can make is being unprepared for the negotiation. Stay positive. Do not use this time to gripe about management, coworkers, conditions, or anything else. And do not drag other co-workers into the equation for comparison. This will seem like sour grapes even if you’re praising them. If you must raise a concern for some reason, present it politely and come equipped with remedies and suggestions at a time different from asking for a pay raise.