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artificialqueens · 4 years

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The Electra Complex, 1 (Crygi, Jankie, JaidaxNicky) - Scarlet Bloo

A/N: This is my first multi-chapter fic! This first chapter is mostly Gigi-centric, however that will change in future chapters. Big thanks to Hy-Jinkx for beta reading this, it wouldn’t flow as well without you.

Trigger Warning: There are some mentions of underage drinking in this chapter, which I know isn’t always seen to be a big issue, but I just wanted to be on the safe side.

Summary: Gigi Goode has been shipped away to Missouri, where she meets at group full of big personalities and a lot of emotions. This follows 7 girls as they navigate new love, old feelings and past demons.

Wherever Gigi Goode went, a series of admirers would follow; at least, that’s how it always used to be back in LA. You could’ve taken one look at her and come to the conclusion that she was living the dream. She was the cheer captain, her grades were consistently higher than the average student and she had the perfect all-American boyfriend. She was on track to becoming valedictorian and prom queen, had she only stayed on at Arcasio High. Her shoulder length blonde locks were always carefully styled and sculpted, and she wouldn’t be seen without her long, pastel acrylics and coordinating outfits. If you weren’t in Gigi’s small circle of friends, then you idolised them. And if you were? Well, then you’d be vying for Gigi’s position as top dog. Los Angeles Gigi was a trope from a 2000s movie personified, and while she wasn’t particularly happy with her life, the validation from her peers satisfied her. She was worried she wouldn’t be able to say the same about this new Springfield Gigi. She hated change, it just didn’t sit right with her.

The last drastic change in her life occurred when her dad finally left the picture for good, around 8 months before she was shipped away to live with her cousin, Nicky. Gigi had a rocky relationship with her father from the moment she was old enough to recognise him, and to recognise patterns. He’d be in and out, showering Gigi and her mother with gifts on every return, but with each departure, he would rob Gigi of something possibly more important than Louboutins or countless bottles of Chanel No.5, the scent that had become her signature; he had robbed her of the ability to express her feelings.

He taught her to keep emotions bottled up and to repress natural feelings, instead nursing wounds with piles of money. Contrary to her relationship with her father, Gigi and her mother were always extremely close, but Gigi knew she’d ruined that. Why else would her mom decide she’d be better suited living with her Aunt and cousin in Springfield of all places?

“Gigi, mon amour!” Nicky exclaimed, running up to her with open arms. The cousins exchanged kisses on either cheek. Nicky pulling Gigi into an embrace. She knew things had been rough, and despite both girls’ tough exterior, they’d always had a special bond. Gigi could remember countless Christmases and Thanksgivings when they were small and spent curled up in a blanket fort watching Barbie movies - Nicky loved The Nutcracker while Gigi first discovered her fixation for tailored jackets while watching Barbie and the Three Musketeers. Nicky’s small house was very sophisticated, decorated and furnished almost entirely in black and white, with interesting marble sculptures bordering the hallway. The two girls walked upstairs to the bedroom they’d be sharing whilst Gigi was in Missouri.

“So, Gigi,” Nicky started with a sigh. Gigi looked down at her feet, cracking her knuckles to keep her focus off of Nicky and her next words.

“What did you actually… do?” Nicky paused, trying to correctly word what she would say next without sounding overly blunt. She was prone to being slightly too forward, partially due to a slight language barrier (French being her first language), but mostly because it was just the way her mind worked. A simple to-the-point question should logically provide her with a simple to-the-point answer - and Nicky liked it when things went like that.

“If it’s okay,” the L.A native began in a slightly sour tone, completely ignoring Nicky’s words, “I’d like to have a rest before dinner.”

Nicky was aware of the obvious avoidance, but she decided to let her cousin be for the meantime; her mother hadn’t told her what had happened with Gigi to make her move in with them, but she knew it must’ve been pretty serious. Gigi and her mom, Nicky’s aunt, had a bond she almost envied - she couldn’t think of any reason why she’d willingly send her away. The girl pouted slightly, pondering the severity of the situation for a few moments more, before leaving Gigi to rest and going downstairs to help her mom with food preparation.

Gigi walked into the bar, legs out, flaunting her doll-like figure. She was dressed in a tiny baby pink tennis skirt, and matching crop top. Her mom had shouted at her for “dressing like a pinup,” as she had called it, but Gigi just shrugged it off. She didn’t care what her mom had to say at that moment. She knew she was probably being unfair, that her mom cared about her and only wanted the best, but she needed to blame someone else for everything that went down so she could live with herself. Gigi cocked her head to the side, trying to snatch the attention of the first man to catch her eye. A gruff looking man, probably in his early 50s, his American tan glaringly obvious in the dim lighting, smiled at the 16 year old, biting his bottom lip ever so slightly. She gave him bambi eyes, giggling slightly as she walked towards him. She was nervous, of course she was, but the adrenaline and alcohol pumping through her system aided her greatly in feigning confidence.

“Hey, Candy bear.” he smirked at her, putting his hand on her cheek, “what can I do for you?”

Gigi wanted to shudder, but she managed to maintain her composure, and instead cooed, “I wanna be adored.”

The man slowly nodded, forcefully stealing a kiss from the girl, who submitted, kissing him back. As soon as he pulled away, she ran off, walking as confidently as she could out of the bar. She took a stick of bubblegum out of her bra, hoping it’s minty flavour would remove the lingering smell of liquor from her lips, as she rushed home before her mother awoke.

“Geege?” Nicky stood in front of her cousin, worry evident in her eyes. Gigi had zoned out. She snapped back into real life, “yeah Nics?” She looked towards the vanity where Nicky was seated, adjusting her hair in the large, illuminated mirror. Nicky’s room was barely big enough to fit both girls’ beds, so it was slightly cramped, but it was still very minimalist, very Nicky.

“I was just saying,” Nicky continued, “I should add you to the group chat of my friends and I - it’ll help you meet people before school starts.”

Gigi smiled, she was grateful that Nicky was being so welcoming, despite having to give up her room.

“Go on then, what harm could it do?”

TheNickyDoll added TheGigiGoode

JanJanJan: Ahhh hi !! I’m Jan, nice to meet you!!!!

JaidaEHall: Jan, chile, calm down you’re gonna scare her off

JackieCox: Hi, I’m Jackie.

And yeah, Janny, Jaida’s right, calm down baby.

TheGigiGoode: Hey, everyone <3

Thanks for letting me join, you guys are the first people I’ve spoken to here other than my family!

HeidiNCloset: Heyy

JanJanJan: I’m sorry y’all I’m just excited !!

Gigi was relieved to find that she hit it off quite well with Nicky’s friends, whose personalities seemed to be so big she could get a good sense of what they were each like through the screen. Jan was very enthusiastic, Gigi noted immediately. She and Heidi both seemed super sweet, but in different ways - Heidi definitely seemed to crack a lot more jokes. Jan bombarded Gigi with questions about L.A, before Jackie pretty much ordered her to get some sleep. Jackie and Jaida were definitely the two most level headed of the group, Jaida seeming to lead group discussions and Jackie undertaking a more protective role. However, when looking through the list of group members, she noticed one more account that hadn’t interacted in the group chat yet. She was about to ask Nicky who Crystal Methyd was, but when she turned to Nicky’s side of the bedroom she found her fast asleep, in a silk set of pyjamas with her hair in rollers. Gigi knew the only way to get answers now was to stalk her instagram. Luckily, she wasn’t private, so Gigi spent the next 30 minutes looking through her feed. Crystal had curly red hair, and dressed very…. eccentrically, Gigi thought. As if by magic, Gigi then got a notification that made her almost jump out of her skin.

CrystalMethyd: Hey everyone! What have I missed? You know how out of the loop I get when I’m painting.

Gigi waited for a couple of seconds before forming a reply, praying one of the other girls would initiate a conversation she could then jump in on. She wanted to talk to this girl, but she didn’t want to do it alone, not when she knew close to nothing about her. Gigi sighed, she’d have to just go for it and respond to the message. That’s how you get anywhere in life, she knew that.

TheGigiGoode: Hey, idk if Nicky told you, but I’m her cousin. She added me to the chat so I could meet you all before school starts up.

CrystalMethyd: She did!

I’m Crystal, but you know that from my account of course.

Gigi and Crystal spoke for a while longer, their conversations jumping from favourite food (Gigi liked pasta, Crystal liked pizza, and they were both still obsessed with fruit snacks), to movies Crystal cried over (Marlie and Me. Toy Story, The Notebook, and the list goes on) and ones they both hated. At around 3am, Crystal made the decision to move the conversation to private dms, to avoid spamming her friends as they slept. This new, more intimate setting, and the early hour, seemed to pull feelings on feelings out of the two girls as they began to open up more with each other. If an outsider was to read the messages, they’d never have guessed Gigi hadn’t been aware of Crystal’s existence until just hours earlier. Gigi felt a strange yearning to open up to this girl, who seemed to be so clear about how she felt, but a part of her mind wouldn’t let her even type the words out. Guilt passed through her gut as Crystal explained her worries about her future, how she wanted to be an artist, but her parents weren’t sure whether she’d be able to make a long lasting, stable career out of it. Gigi wished she had half the vulnerability the girl possessed. It sure would make this whole making friends thing a whole lot easier. The light peaking through Nicky’s pitch black blinds startled Gigi, so she said her goodnights to Crystal, who wished her “Sweet dreams, Miss Goode.”

#rpdr fanfiction #gigi goode #crystal methyd #jan sport #jackie cox #jaida essence hall #nicky doll #heidi n closet #crygi #jankie #jaida x nicky #high school au #lesbian au #the electra complex #scarlet bloo #submission #s12

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tae-kun · 5 years

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If the Main Reason why you log onto Tumblr is for Porn, then you don’t understand what made Tumblr special in the first place

Tumblr is not a Porn Site

It was never intended to be, so for the people that are saying stuff like “Tumblr never supported our sex work anyway” you’re 100% correct. Being allowed to post Pornography isn’t the same as being a source for it. Over the years Tumblr has been ran rampant with porn to the point that content creators that did other stuff that didn’t relate to porn slowly started to go to other platforms; Since their work was being overshadowed by the sheer volume of porn and they struggled to get any attention on their work.

You people are acting like Tumblr is attacking sex workers as if this was their main and only place to earn money for their work.

There are porn sites that are made to promote AND support sex workers. Hell PornHub will pay people for their sextapes and has multiple systems in place for them to make money off Ad revenue alongside having a tip system, content protection and other stuff

Anyone that was serious about their sex work would have been using sites like this instead of relying on Tumblr as a main source of revenue or promotion.

Tumblr is a trash place to try to promote anything! Constant spamming of bots and tags, No reliable Notification system or way for your followers to see you’re new posts out of the sea of reblogs. So to act like these new changes are going to serious kill anyone that is in the sex work is flat out outrageous.

Hell a majority of the popular porn that was on here wasn’t even from amateurs making videos on here. People were taking porn from porn sites and making blogs centered around it and would constantly flood their blogs with this content which would then, overshadow any amateur worker on here that made their own work; since they had no to even compete with the constant bombardment of daily new stuff that these blogs were taking and using.

People would steal other peoples videos and get popular of it without even crediting the original creator and would even go as far as to SELL these videos and make more money of it than the actual people in the damn video.

So Tumblr was never an ideal place for sex work to begin with, so throw that excuse out. Most people only used Tumblr to promote their private snapchat or onlyfans account which you can still do in a regular selfie or post. There are thousands of people on Instagram making hundreds and thousands of dollars doing the same thing and they don’t have one titty out on their page. Just tight clothing and skimpy outfits.

If you’re really upset that you can’t watch porn on here after Dec 17

At first it was funny seeing people joke about the porn being gone. But some of y’all are really upset and mad that you need to actually go to a porn sites to watch porn???

Some of y’all don’t even post nudes or create anything that could be considered sexual and y’all saying “ima delete my blog since tumblr is trying to silence me”

(Side Note: Just because your post got flagged doesn’t mean it will be deleted. They already said stuff like this would happen as they added in this new system. So mistakes like these are bound to happen and will most likely be fixed in a week or so and have no negative affect on your blog. Y’all really acting like Tumblr is out to silence your love for cats and landscapes 🙄)

Like i said before there are plenty of sites to watch porn on and if your favorite sex worker is serious about their job then you will see them on there. Which only makes things easier for both of you. But lets be honest, most of y’all just like the idea of seeing porn without having to actually look for it, like it’s some nasty secret. On Tumblr you couldn’t escape porn even if you searched things that were unrelated to it. Tumblr gave you guys the perfect cover up for it and you guys went overboard with it and here we are. People are so quick to compare this issue to other Tumblr problems but there was never a issue as big as people with dick profile pics dming you no matter who you were (kids or adults) and sending you nude pics; then Porn Bots popped up under everyone’s post no matter if you had the safety lock on or not.

You guys made hundreds of post saying how much you hate porn blogs getting tens of thousands of notes in agreement about it, You guys would put “no porn blogs allowed” in your description box or something similar in meaning.

And now when Tumblr puts a system in place to directly remove it, you guys try to back pedal and claim that it will kill sex workers, freedom of speech and sexuality based off opinions, assumptions and things that aren’t even in the policy change.

Some of y’all honestly suggested “Just add a age verification system” as a way to fix the porn issue.... That shit ain’t never worked since 2002! I got so use to lying on those things that i sometimes forget that i’m grown and that i don’t need to put “01/11/1975″

The only people that this severely hurts are

1a) People that steal porn from other sites to use on their blog to get followers, to then try sell promo slots

1b) People that are stealing other sex workers content and illegally selling them

2) Child Porn Blogs

THAT’S IT

And Honestly is that really a bad thing? Getting rid of people that were stealing other peoples stuff and making money off it and pedophiles.

The way tumblr was set up allowed blogs like these to thrive without any risk, outside of getting their blog deleted (just to make a new one) and it only continued the flood of porn which became the breeding grounds for Porn Bots

Tumblr is suppose to be a place to freely express all forms of art, ideas, and conversations. But because of the nonstop flood of porn, most people only know it for Porn and Emo kids. Which brings me back to my original statement

This isn’t a Porn Site

Porn became so over flooded on here that you didn’t even need to search to find it. All you had todo is take off the safe lock and search anything, even a city. There would be hundreds of porn pics and videos in every slot. And before you say “well just keep the safety lock on”

Any content that had cursing, fighting or even slight nudity got put behind there. So unless you were just on here for kpop, aesthetics and Steven Universe you weren’t really seeing anything different with that lock on.

( Another Side Note: For you people trying to compare the porn flood to white supremacy blogs need to stop it. All the time i’ve been on here i have never NEEEVVVEEER accidentally came across any pro white supremacy post or blog unless it was someone exposing them and their stupidity which would then cause them to delete their blog. If you are constantly seeing anything Pro Nazi, Pro White Supremacy, Pro homophobia or anything similar that supports bigotry; then you are actively searching for it and follow these people. These blogs don’t even make up 5% of the content seen on here with or without the lock. So trying to say that Tumblr supports these blogs since they’re still around is Mr. Fantastic level of reaching. These blogs have never been a serious issue to the point that Nazi Bots were created saying “Hate jews and blacks clck here for more ;)”. So stop this weak comparison.)

I created a Tumblr and made it one of my main platforms to create content on because of the communities and people i found on here.

I found Great stories and Dope artist on here. I found people being able to fully express themselves and find an audience for them that helped share their work through a simple reblog. But if you’ve been noticing or have been on here long enough, most content creators don’t use Tumblr as their main platform to create or promote their content anymore. And why would they?

People barely activate their notifications for blog updates, It’s hella hard to find an audience through the constant reblogging of already popular stuff From Vine and Twitter, people rarely go outside of tumblr to support peoples stores or websites. Hell most artist on here that become popular on here that get continued support are the ones that have made or continue to make some kind of pornography of real or fictional characters. It’s hella rare to find any artist that hasn’t made any porn, that is equally popular or supported like the ones that have; which just goes back to people thinking Tumblr is for porn.

Tumblr isn’t even against the idea of expressing yourself or art through nudity as their post and policy change explicitly explained. And people’s content that’s getting flagged that doesn’t go against that policy is a problem THAT THEY SAID WOULD HAPPEN as they get everything in order with their new system

All of these long post that people are writing about it that and they themselves forgot to do some basic reading on the topic.

Tumblr Staff- “Certain types of artistic, educational, newsworthy, or political content featuring nudity are fine. Don’t upload any content, including images, videos, GIFs, or illustrations, that depicts sex acts.

This isn’t an attack on people’s ability to speak out or embrace themselves. They are directly trying to remove Porn which they won’t be able to fully do, even Instagram and Twitter can’t do that; no public site with millions of people can. But they’re at least trying to get rid of the constant overflow of it.

It’s so sad to see hundreds and thousands of you saying “i only used Tumblr for porn” because that just shows how derailed this site has become and why Tumblr had to make these extreme decisions especially after being removed from app stores because of the child pornography.

If you’re going to leave because you can’t make porn on here: I can see why you would do that but there is no reason to. You can still use your blog to promote your stuff and make teases of your work that can be found or bought else where. Tumblr was never a reliable place for sex work and i highly recommend using Sites that will actually protect your work and put some money in your pockets while doing it

If you’re leaving because you can’t watch porn on here: You probably weren’t supporting anyone really and only made the influx of porn worse, making it harder for other content users to be seen. If you were supporting actual sex workers on here then continue to do so, I’m sure anyone serious would have more than just tumblr as their main platform.

For those that got popular and made money off other people sex work: So long and farewell

For the Child Porn Blogs: Hope you get mental help or burn. Either or is fine with me

For the people that may get upset by this: Correct me, Prove me wrong, Let’s have a whole serious discussion about this and hear each others side with no fighting or disrespect :D

For all of Us: Lets actually support and help the people that really make Tumblr the gem that it is. Lets make this platform be known for creative people and unique ideas; and communities that actually comfort and understand us. Let’s actually make this platform something that’s known for more than just Porn and Emo Kids.

Regardless i hope that everyone can calm down and act like there’s more here than just porn..

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biofunmy · 4 years

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Venmo Users Are Being Bombarded With Requests From Strangers After Making Public Transactions

tech

Spammers are targeting Venmo users who show up in the app’s public feed and flooding them with dozens of payment requests.

Nicole Nguyen BuzzFeed News Reporter

Posted on December 12, 2019, at 7:01 p.m. ET

On the night of Dec. 9, New York–based movie producer Michael Liu was on his phone, playing Venmo ping-pong with a friend. He bought a photography book earlier that day and had it signed by the author. He gave it to his friend, who is a fan. “I insisted it was a Christmas gift,” Liu told BuzzFeed News. “She sent a Venmo for $85 to me; I sent it back. She tried again, and I sent it back again.” Immediately after the last transaction, Liu’s phone was bombarded with dozens of requests from strangers, both for money and to connect on the app.

The payment request spammers were seemingly targeting users who had made public transactions in the hopes that some of the requests would be granted.

While declining them, he was careful not to tap the “pay” button. “I imagine if [the request] is successful on accident, they can make some good money,” Liu said.

One account that spammed Liu goes by the name “morgan wise.” Its avatar is a screenshot from musician Maggie Lindemann’s Snapchat, and the profile showed no friends or public payments are associated with it. Other profile pictures from the spammers, Liu said, appeared to be taken from Instagram models

Courtesy of John Papa, Michael Liu, Conner Grant

Immediately after making public transactions, Venmo users were spammed with dozens of payment and friend requests from strangers.

BuzzFeed News spoke to three people who’ve recently experienced the same deluge of Venmo requests, ranging from $1 to $100, primarily from accounts whose pictures were of women. All of them had one thing in common: The notifications immediately followed a public transaction on Venmo.

Conner Grant of Boston was in a work meeting when the requests started flying in. “I was a little nervous my account was compromised,” Grant told BuzzFeed News.

But his account wasn’t hacked. A friend had just completed Grant’s Venmo request after a night of drinks, which seemingly prompted the flood of alerts. Grant reached out to Venmo, and in an email dated Dec. 5, a support agent named Alex B. wrote, “Thank [sic] for making us aware of this activity. Recently Venmo was featured in a viral video that encouraged users to connect with other users on the public feed.” Instructions to decline the requests and change the privacy setting for future payments were included below.

A spokesperson for the company declined to comment on the “viral video,” or specify what the video was or where it was shared. In a statement, they said, “Venmo’s user agreement expressly prohibits harassment. We treat this matter seriously and will review and take action on accounts that are found to break these policies.” A number of other Venmo users have complained about the same issue on Twitter.

Another Venmo user, Orlando-based John Papa, signed up for the service in October to pay a pet trainer who only accepts payments through the app. Since then, Papa’s received over 30 requests from people he doesn’t know. He didn’t realize that all his Venmo transactions were set to public. “I assumed it would be private or friends only. That would be my suggestion for them. Default to private,” he said.

Transactions set to public, unbeknownst to many users, are broadcast to everyone on Venmo in a public feed. Many privacy researchers say the feed is problematic. My colleague Katie Notopolous has called for Venmo to get rid of it. The app doesn’t reveal the number of public payments, but it does show the payment’s description and who paid whom, with links to each user’s profile.

Venmo offers its users three options for transaction visibility: public, friends only, and private. The setting is set to public when you sign up. Users need to go into the app’s privacy settings to set their default to private, under which payments are only visible to the sender and recipient.

Making payments private is a good way to mitigate spam. Here’s how to do it: In the app, tap the menu icon in the upper-left corner, then Settings. Select Privacy, and under “Default Privacy Setting,” choose Private. While you’re there, tap on Past Transactions below, and then select Change All to Private to retroactively make all payments private.

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babygirlgalitzine · 7 years

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acting

Honestly I have no clue where this came from but I’ve been writing it for a while and Fake Dating is my favourite AU of all time so it does fit with day 7.

They don’t know how they ended up here. Honestly. But somehow, a simple comment in a televised interview had made social media blow up within seconds, “Aaron and Robert” trending almost instantly worldwide. Next days’ magazines and newspapers had headlines consisting of “Sugden and Dingle- the hottest new couple?”

Robert sighed as he flicked through his phone. “Spam…definite no to that interview. HE SAID WHAT?!” He frantically clicked a link on an email he had just received from his representative, explaining that Aaron Dingle had mentioned him in his latest interview and people were bombarding her with questions concerning Britain’s hottest new couple.

“Aaron Dingle Confirms New Romance?” the headline had read, with a botched Photoshop edit of two relatively new press released photos of Aaron and Robert. “In a recent interview, actor Aaron Dingle may or may not have confirmed he is in a relationship with rival actor, Robert Sugden. Speaking in his interview, Dingle, 26, joked about the rivalry between the pair, stating ‘No, there’s no bad blood there at all. Rob’s a great lad and we get on quite well. He’s a good looking lad, no wonder he gets all the girls screaming over him, I feel like that when I see him too.’ This comes after last month’s revelation from Mr Dingle that he is, in fact, gay. With Mr Sugden already out as bisexual, could this be their confirmation that they are a couple?”

Robert rolled his eyes before responding to Cindy, his representative, to deny all rumours that he and Aaron are an item, seething at the thought of it. He had been asked questions about Aaron throughout his career, the both of them starting their career at roughly the same time, in rival shows and only ever seeing each other at award shows.

People had quickly become attracted to the thought of them being together, fan accounts set up for the pair of them, coining the name ‘Robron’: something the press had picked up on after Aaron’s interview. They both knew how people felt about them but even when they both got questioned on it in interviews, they quashed rumours straight away.

When Aaron came out as gay, rumours became strife again, the public and press all just assuming that he must be in a serious relationship for him to come out at this stage in his career, having just released his second film which was the most anticipated film of the year. They both understood how difficult it is to come out in the industry they’re in, Robert having come out as bisexual just over five years ago, after he was pictured falling out of a nightclub with a random man and kissing in the middle of the street.

Aaron’s phone buzzed on the arm of the chair he was sat in. A Twitter notification. Mentioned by @Robert_Sugden: @AaronDingle so when were you planning on telling me you fancied me?

Aaron snorted in response, shaking his head in utter disbelief. He knew exactly why Robert was doing this publicly. He wanted a reaction from everyone. Aaron decided to reply back, tweeting Always fancied ya sweetcheeks. Text me anyway.

He wasn’t sure why he asked Robert to text him, but they had each other’s numbers from right back in the start of their career. They’d probably exchanged a few texts between them, mainly just about certain roles they were playing throughout the years they’d known each other.

He chuckled at the replies growing in the hundreds by the second, suddenly nervous at the prospect of Robert actually texting him. He decided to go off the Twitter app and focused on the script he was flicking through originally, before his phone buzzed five minutes later, the name Robert Sugden lighting up the screen. Hi, it’s Robert was the text. Aaron responded with Yeah I know, idiot. I’ve got your number.

Robert rolled his eyes at Aaron’s response. If he knew one thing about him, it was that Aaron was known for being sarcastic at times. They exchanged more texts, mainly just talking about the interview and the scripts both of them were flicking through. They talked for hours, never short of anything to say and it never become awkward. Robert had moved from his lounge to his bed in the time they were talking, not mentioning to Aaron, but Robert knew he’d moved because at one point he has spent quite a few words wrong before apologising saying Sorry, I just moved.

He didn’t know when exactly, but Robert must have fallen asleep in the early hours of the morning because he was led with his pillow upright and his phone next to his head, the battery almost dead. He plugged it in to charge before looking at his texts, not remembering the last thing he and Aaron said. I guess you’ve fallen asleep? Night was the last text from Aaron after he hadn’t responded to a question sent just thirteen minutes before at 03:07. Robert quickly answered the question and admitted that he did fall asleep before he collapsed his heavy head on the white pillow, sighing at the events of the day before.

Aaron woke up to his phone buzzing on his bedside table. His eyes flicked over to the clock and saw that it was almost midday. He picked up his phone, fully expecting it to be a missed call from his agent who needed Aaron to confirm whether or not he was interested in his recent script. Instead, it was a text from Robert. Aaron groaned before responding with morning and pulled his quilt away from his body and leaving the bed. He’d been up until the early hours of the morning texting Robert, the two of them catching up like they were a couple of school friends who hadn’t seen each other for years. At one point, Robert had stopped responding and because it was quite late, or rather, early, Aaron decided that he must have fallen asleep. Aaron tried to sleep after that, he really did. But he tossed and turned for almost an hour, being too hot sometimes and then too cold. He couldn’t sleep with his elasticated bottom of his trackies halfway up his leg and no matter how many times he shoved it back down with his big toe, they always seemed to ride back up. It resulted in him sleeping in only his boxers, one leg under the quilt with the other one out, pillows shoved to his face and the mattress cover bunched up in the middle of the bed.

“I’m just saying, we need to hurry up with confirming this role. Robert! If you take this role, they need to cast the love interest straight away and they’ve got a rough idea on who they want, but they aren’t budging until you do.” Michael, Robert’s agent ranted as they both walked through the offices.

Robert stopped in his tracks and turned to face Michael, “Who are they casting?” He asked.

Michael looked down at the papers in his hand, red suddenly covering his face. “We-well nothing’s been confirmed yet but it’s looking likely to be Aaron. Aaron Dingle.”

That shut Robert up. He grabbed the papers out of his agent’s hands and pinched the ballpoint pen that was balancing in between Michael’s right ear and the side of his head. Robert quickly skimmed the terms and conditions of the contract before scrawling R. Sugden.

He was now signed up to do the film. With Aaron.

The news spread quickly that Robert was tipped to do the film. Of course, this meant that rumour mill had started spinning because it was also in the public domain that Aaron had been interested in the same film for the past couple of weeks.

Aaron turned through the channels on his TV screen just moments after confirming his role in a new film. He wasn’t really focused on what was going on, he just continued pressing the ‘next channel’ button as he stared absent mindedly at the colours flicking. “Could rumoured couple Robert Sugden and Aaron Dingle be on their way to becoming work colleagues at last?” The news presenter asked, looking directly down the camera. That caught Aaron’s attention. “It has come to light just moments ago that both Dingle and Sugden have signed their contracts for what’s rumoured to become the biggest blockbuster of the decade. We sat down with the director just weeks ago when speculation was strife about the love interests in this new movie and he told us that the love interest is definitely going to be a same sex couple. With this fact, and the news that both Aaron Dingle and Robert Sugden have agreed to a contract, could they be that same sex couple?”

Aaron stared at the screen, long after the report had ended. He was in a state of shock. Him and Robert had never worked together, they’d never really been together alone, only ever seeing each other at award shows and after parties. He texted his agent and asked if it was true that he and Robert were going to be working alongside each other. Not even five minutes he got a response, confirming that they were, indeed, going to be filming as each other’s love interest.

So I suppose we’re working together. Aaron had texted Robert later that night. Seems like it was the response he received. Somehow, half an hour later, Robert was sat in his car, driving following the instructions on his satnav. They had the brilliant idea of spending some time together, away from any colleagues or press, so Robert had offered to drive to Aaron’s house, right there and then. He pulled into the driveway and quickly got out, turning to face where he had just come from, checking to see if anyone had followed him. He couldn’t risk being seen going into Aaron’s house, not with all the rumours flying about.

He rang the doorbell and heard a voice from inside shout “It’s open!” Aaron.

Robert chuckled under his breath and stepped into Aaron’s house.

The first thing Robert noticed was how homely it was. He had family photos on the wall leading up the stairs, and a very distinct smell of cinnamon and orange. He noticed that he had a cabinet in his lounge, and upon it, various statues he had won over his career. Robert looked around, spotting a pair of old trainers placed sloppily next to the door. Looking up, he saw Aaron stood holding an Xbox control.

“Hey.” Robert said first, nodding at him.

Aaron looked at him, biting his lip before asking, “Wanna play? I’ll go and get us some beers, you choose the game.”

Robert took the control and sat down in front of the TV, stealing a glance at Aaron as he walked away. He was dressed in comfortable clothes, a pair of light wash joggers and navy hoodie. Robert suddenly felt over dressed in his shirt and jeans.

“Thanks.” Robert said as Aaron held out a can of lager for him.

They spent over an hour chatting to each other about anything and everything, arguing over FIFA because Aaron was convinced that Robert used a cheat on him, but really Aaron just wasn’t that great. At one point, Robert had got wound up because Aaron deliberately got one of his players sent off so he ended up nudging Aaron, Aaron then overdramatically fell to his side. They acted as though this wasn’t the first time they spent quality time with each other. It just felt natural.

Somehow, they’d ended up putting on a boxset and ordering in a Chinese, and before long they’d got to the end of the boxset in the early hours of the morning. Robert could feel his eyes drooping as he stood up to drive back home, but Aaron must have seen how tired he was,

“Stay over, I’ve got a spare bed you can use.” Aaron said, packing the empty beer cans in a bag.

Robert looked at him and yawned. Aaron continued, “You’re shattered! And I’m definitely not having your death on my conscience if you fall asleep at the wheel. Just stay over in the spare room and you can leave tomorrow.”

Robert finally agreed and Aaron showed him where the bedroom was.

The next morning, Robert woke up to the strong smell of bacon and coffee coming from downstairs. He padded across the hallway and down the stairs, trying to remember the layout of Aaron’s house. Walking into the kitchen, he saw Aaron leaning against the worktop, a mug of steaming coffee in his hands while he fried some bacon. Robert sat down on one of the seats, pulling his shirt down a little to cover his boxers.

“Some of that for me?” Robert teased, his head nodding towards the frying pan.

Aaron gulped his coffee and nodded. “Yeah, ‘was gonna bring it up to you but I didn’t know if you liked tea or coffee.

“Tea please. 2 sugars and milk.”

Aaron nodded and flicked the kettle on, before pulling out another mug and some milk from the fridge. Robert watched as Aaron moved around, shirtless and only in a pair of football shorts. He looked good, great even. He was muscular, worked out a lot evidently. His shoulders were broad, and his arms looked almost comforting. “Ta.” Robert said, his throat dry as Aaron passed him his now made tea. “Mm, I should probably get going soon, I’ve got a meeting.”

Aaron nodded, before pulling the toast out of the toaster and putting the bacon on it. “Yeah, just stay for this and then you can go. Don’t want you driving on an empty stomach, do we?”

Dirty Stop-Out Sugden: Robert Sugden pictured leaving Aaron Dingle’s home. They’d been spotted. The paparazzi had photos of Robert walking into Aaron’s home the evening before and then again in the late morning, his hair dishevelled and in a top of Aaron’s. “Actor Robert Sugden was pictured going into, and then leaving, rumoured boyfriend Aaron Dingle’s home. He entered the property just after 7pm on Friday night and left just before 11am on Saturday morning. News also came out on Friday that both Dingle and Sugden will be co-stars in an upcoming film for the first time.”

Robert rolled his eyes as he saw the news pop up in his Twitter mentions constantly. He was waiting outside the meeting room, now changed into a suit to seem more presentable. “Nice to see you wearing your own clothes and not your boyfriends.” Cindy had commented as she opened the door for Robert to enter.

“Oh not you as well! I was in the spare bedroom!” Robert exasperated, clearly annoyed with all the new rumours.

Cindy chuckled as she sat down next to him, “Yeah but I know you Robert. And I also know that Aaron is definitely your type. You should go for it!”

Robert snorts and begins to look at the sheets of paper that were laid out in front of him on the table before his phone buzzed in his pocket. Have fun at your meeting, boyfriend😉 “I hate him, I actually hate him” Robert thought as he smirked at the message on his lockscreen.

Think we should just tell people now, boyfriend😉 Robert responded when the rest of the people came in to discuss the already signed contract, talking about when filming would start and what to tell the press in any interviews. Half an hour later and Robert was fully informed and ready to drive home. Before he left the building, he checked his phone again and it was full of notifications from his emails and Twitter. “Aaron, you bastard.” He muttered under his breath as he opened Twitter to see a post from Aaron. @AaronDingle: would love to finally announce that me and @Robert_Sugden are official. We wanted to keep it a secret but now its all out

Robert played along and retweeted it, sending Aaron a heart emoji.

The tweets blew up straight away, retweets and likes going up in their hundreds every second. New outlets rushed to get their stories out first. Both Robert and Aaron got multiple calls and emails, all of them from their agents, wanting them to talk to them first before speaking to any press.

Robert found a photo he took the night before, the two of them sat eating a Chinese whilst playing FIFA. Aaron had his hoodie up, covering his fluffy hair, a huge smile on his face, showing off his chow mein. Robert was in the front of the photo, laughing at Aaron’s reaction to it being taken. He posted it to Twitter, tagging Aaron in it before driving home.

By the time Robert had gone home, his and Aaron’s tweets had reached half a million retweets, and their names were trending worldwide with links to hundreds of news articles all claiming they’ve spoken to them. Aaron rang him. “Maybe we shouldn’t have done this?” Aaron almost questioned.

Robert unlocked his front door and chucked his script on the table, alongside his keys. “No, maybe not. But it is fun.”

Aaron sighed down the phone before admitting that it was. “Anyway, you can come around to mine if you want? I’ve got the script to look at and we should probably read through it properly because we start filming in two weeks.” Robert gushed out, toeing off his shoes and undoing the top buttons of his shirt.

“Yeah, alright then.” Aaron said before the two of them put the phone down.

Robert rushed upstairs, pulling out some joggers of his own and the top of Aaron’s he borrowed. He downloaded a few films onto his TV and put two copies of the script on to his coffee table and waited for Aaron whilst scrolling through his phone.

Twenty minutes later, there was a knock at Robert’s door. He walked to it, opened it up and moved to the side so Aaron could walk in. “I’ve brought some beers.” Aaron announced, holding a pack up.

“Oh, nice one! I completely forgot about that to be honest.” Robert admitted as he let Aaron walk deeper into his house.

“Is this the script?” Aaron shouted from the room he just walked into. Robert followed him and put his phone in his pocket.

Robert nodded, “Yeah, I picked up two so you can have this one until you get your own.”

Aaron picked it up and flicked through the pages. He only got a sample script before signing the contract so he didn’t get to see his role completely. Part way through looking his eyebrows shot up and Robert chuckled at his reaction. “So we are love interests then?” Aaron asked.

Robert nodded, “Seems that way. Probably makes sense for us to be dating then, ey?”

Aaron sat down, laughing. “Oh c’mon!” He sighed. “It’s a bit of fun. Nobody’s gonna get hurt.”

Opening a beer, Robert sunk further into his sofa. “S’pose not.” He shrugged. “Still can’t believe we’ve done it though. When people find out we’re going to be hated.”

Aaron opened his own beer now, script balanced on his knees. “They won’t find out! Just carry this on for a bit and then we can eventually say we broke up.” He said as he continued to look at the script. “Oh and we have to kiss. Well that’s gonna make people cry.”

Robert laughed as he looked at his own script.

By the time Aaron left Robert’s house, they had gone through some of their parts together and managed to watch the first Harry Potter. Aaron also decided that they should post another photo of the two of them, so Robert took a photo on Aaron’s phone, where Aaron was slung over Robert’s shoulder, kissing his cheek while Robert smiled at the camera.

“Rob, you’re needed on set.” Aaron said has he walked into his own dressing room, not even shocked to find Robert sat in a chair, with his legs up on the table. It had been three months since Aaron had announced to the world that he and Robert were together and now they were working on their first joint film. The public were none the wiser that they weren’t actually together, both of them getting closer as time went by so people saw them in the streets together.

“Yup, I know. I’ll go now.” Robert said, groaning as he stood up.

Aaron sniggered. “Old man.”

Robert’s head whipped around straight away and he pointed his finger at Aaron, “Shut it, you, or I’ll take back what I’ve left on your desk.” He walked out of the room, softly shutting the door and Aaron could hear his heavy footsteps walking up the corridor.

Aaron rolled his eyes and sat where Robert was just moments before. He picked up his phone that was put on his desk, groaning in annoyance about his smashed screen that he hasn’t found time to fix yet. Next to his phone was a closed box of Malteasers, a pack that was definitely not there when he left the room a few hours prior. That must have been what Robert was talking about, Aaron thought as he opened them up. Except, underneath the box was a piece of lined paper that looked as though it had been ripped out of a notebook. It had been folded up, hiding the message that read: Aaron, meet me at The Dorchester, 6pm tonight -Robert x

He grabbed his phone, checking the time. 3pm. He had three hours to find a suit and get to the hotel. Quickly pocketing his phone and grabbing his script, he made his way out of the room and down the corridor, ready to sign out and drive home. Robert’s just lucky that Aaron had finished for the day, otherwise he’d be getting stood up.

It took him just over twenty minutes to get home, his brain ticking on all the suits he could possibly wear. In the end, he decided to go for a tight fitted black suit with a bright white shirt. He jumped into the shower and then stood in front of his bathroom mirror with the towel wrapped around his waist and did his hair. As he was applying a bit of gel to his hair, he heard his phone chime from his bedroom. He ran in, his hand clenched around the towel making sure that it didn’t fall down. He took his phone out of charge, smiling as he saw the text from Robert.

Hey, just checking in to see if we’re on for tonight? don’t want to get stood up x

Like he’d turn him down.

Yeah, i’m getting ready now x Aaron responded before he went back into the bathroom and finished his hair.

By the time he had got dressed, he hadn’t noticed his phone going off again with a text from Robert.

Show me what you’re wearing tonight x

Aaron didn’t know exactly when they both started signing their texts off with kisses, but he knew it had been going on for a while by the looks of his messages as he scrolled up.

You’ll see x Aaron texted back before getting into his car and driving.

Aaron pulled up his car to see Robert leant against his own car, his leg bent at the knee and his foot balanced on the wheel. “Hey.” Aaron shouted out as he locked his car.

Robert straightened up as soon as he heard Aaron’s voice, putting his phone in his pocket and stroking his lapels. He looked up at Aaron as he neared and his eyes scanned his body. Wow. “You look…amazing.” Robert told Aaron, his eyes trailing back up his body to look into his eyes.

Aaron blushed and returned the compliment before they walked in to the restaurant part of the hotel.

“Ah, Mr Sugden, Mr Dingle!” The maitre d’ enthused as they walked through the door. “So delighted you chose to come here for your meal! As discussed on the phone, Mr Sugden, we will place you towards the back of the restaurant in a secluded spot.”

Robert nodded and thanked him, shocking Aaron by grabbing hold of his hand and entwining their fingers together, pulling slightly to get Aaron to move. People looked up from their tables to see the two men walking to their own table.

“See anything you fancy?” Aaron asked as he peeped over his menu.

Robert pulled his own menu down, looking at Aaron. “You?” He cheekily replied.

Aaron’s cheeks visibly pinkened before Robert spoke again, “Actually, the lobster sounds nice.”

Aaron nodded and looked back at his menu before finding the sea bass and pointing it out to Robert, waiting for him to look up at him. “Rob,” Aaron whispered. “This looks good. Can I get it?”

Robert looked up at his date and said “Yeah, get whatever you want, it’s all on me.”

“You don’t have to do that, I can pay myself, y’know?” Aaron stated.

“Yeah,” Robert started, “I know. But I was the one who asked you here so I want to be the one to spoil you. So choose whatever you want and I’ll buy it.”

Aaron smirked, folded the menu and placed it onto the table. He crossed his arms and stared at Robert, who’s eyes were still scanning the menu. “I can feel you watching me.” Robert said without even looking up.

“Yeah well maybe I fancy you too.” Aaron flirted.

Robert really did look gorgeous. He had left his hair flat as he knew that Aaron liked the softness of it and he was wearing a navy suit with a slightly paler blue shirt. His skin was pale, showing off his darkest freckles and if Aaron looked closely enough, he could see the lightest ones scattered across the bridge of his nose and cheeks.

“So is this you flirting with me for the fun of it, or do you genuinely fancy me?” Robert asked, clearly interested in the answer. He put the menu down onto the table, copying Aaron’s position and looking directly into his eyes.

Aaron shrugged before laughing, his eyes lighting up. “No, I genuinely like you Robert. Shocking, innit?”

Robert reached over and put his hand on Aaron’s, stroking his knuckles softly. “I like you too.”

The rest of the meal ran smoothly, the food being exceptional, but they expected that with the restaurant having three Michelin stars. Robert didn’t want to let go of Aaron’s hand, even though he had to for them to be able to eat. Instead, Aaron took the initiative to link their legs together under the table, so throughout the meal, Aaron foot run up and down Robert’s calf, their other legs with their ankles linked together. Robert appreciated the touch, it made him feel like Aaron wasn’t ashamed to be with Robert.

Aaron leaned against his car, waiting for Robert to finish signing an autograph for the waiter, something that Aaron had already done whilst Robert was in the bathroom. When Robert came out, he walked straight over to Aaron and held onto his waist. “Good date?” Robert asked.

Aaron looked down between the pair of them, their stomachs practically touching as Robert ran his hands up and down Aaron’s sides. “Yeah. It was the best.” Aaron confirmed.

He doesn’t think he’d ever seen Robert smile so bright. His cheeks must have ached at the reaction, his grin all teeth and his eyes crinkling at the side. “So, as I did so well at our first date, can I steal a kiss from you?” Robert asked cheekily.

“Oh, I dunno.” Aaron flirted as he pushed his back further into the car, his arms coming up to hold on to Robert’s lapels.

Robert leaned in and brushed his nose against Aaron’s cheek, delicately kissing it as he moved to his lips. Robert’s own were parted, ready to kiss Aaron finally. Their breath mingled in the air as neither of them really moved closer to the other, until Robert couldn’t wait any longer and his lips wrapped around Aaron’s bottom lip, sucking on to it slightly as his hands flew up to Aaron’s neck, his fingers threading through the short hairs at the back of his head. Aaron groaned almost silently as Robert moved his lips, pushing the kiss deeper, Aaron almost breaking his back against the car. After a few more moments, Robert pulled away from the kiss, keeping his hands at Aaron’s neck, still threading through the hairs and pecked his lips once more before detaching himself completely.

“Wow.” Was all Aaron could say as his left hand came up and touched his now sore lips.

“Wow indeed.” Robert smirked as he kissed Aaron’s forehead and winked before announcing that he was going home.

When Robert did eventually get home, his phone buzzed on the dashboard of his car. He knew it was Aaron straight away so he smiled as he picked it up.

Thanks for tonight, really. Was amazing, best date i’ve ever been on xx

His head fell back onto the head rest and he smirked at the car roof before replying with You’re welcome babe, we’ll have to have another date soon xx

“And Robert, if you put your hand on his waist...yeah that’s it! Perfect!” The director yelled as he positioned Aaron and Robert for their characters on screen kiss.

They’d been working relentlessly for four hours, running over scenes that needed to be re-filmed and ones that they hadn’t yet filmed. It was tiring and the lights were starting to give Aaron a headache. After this shift, they only had two more days left on set and then it was press interviews for a few weeks, so both Robert and Aaron had been struggling to keep spirits up in a tightly packed schedule.

It had been less than a week since their date. Less than a week since their first kiss- and now their second one would be in character, in front of several cameras. Aaron- or rather- his character, smiled as he leaned forward, getting closer to Robert’s face. Their lips met and it was soft and tender, juxtaposed with Aaron’s wiry beard and Robert’s cracked lips. It wasn’t anything electric, nothing like their first kiss. It was pure, heart-warming even.

“That’s a wrap!” The director shouted. “Thanks boys, that was perfect! Only two more days to go, we’re almost there now.”

Robert smirked at Aaron, his hands still on his waist, warming Aaron’s skin up. He rubbed his hand up and down slightly, trying to not put anyone’s attention on them. “Come to my dressing room?” Robert asked softly before pulling his hand away.

Aaron nodded, not bothering to risk talking. He knew he was falling for Robert and the more time he spent with him, the more he felt like he wanted their relationship to be real. Every photo they had taken and uploaded, every video recorded of them messing around was all real on Aaron’s part. He didn’t want to share it with the world; he wanted to keep Robert to himself.

When they got to Robert’s dressing room, Robert walked in first, Aaron trailing behind him. Robert grabbed hold of Aaron’s wrist, pulling him rather harshly into the door and shutting it behind him, Aaron’s back now pressed against it. Robert smirked and his head went straight to Aaron’s neck, his mouth latching onto the skin and kissing. He mumbled against it, “I’ve wanted to do this for so long.”

Aaron leant his neck to the other side, exposing more of his skin and Robert chuckled as his kissed and nipped at his neck. Aaron could feel Robert’s breath through his nose, tickling him but also raising goosebumps. He grabbed onto Robert’s hips, pushing Robert into him until their bodies were fully touching, and Aaron’s hands moved down to rest on his arse. Robert moved his head up, breathing heavily now and pushed his lips onto Aaron’s, the younger man eliciting a loud moan. He started to roll his hips against Robert, this time Robert was the one moaning as Aaron grew more confident. Robert grounded his hips into Aaron’s, both of them moving at the same time and kissing more deeply. Aaron could feel something pool in the bottom of his stomach and he was ready to let go completely when there was a knock at the door.

“Mr Sugden, can we quickly run through the interview schedule with you?” The voice asked.

Robert pulled back from Aaron, his head tilting back in disbelief. He looked at Aaron and apologised before pecking his lips and opening the door.

“Oh, hello Mr Dingle. Well if the both of you are together I guess we can kill two birds with one stone and tell you at the same time.” The girl continued but Aaron was distracted by Robert rubbing his back in circular motions.

Robert nodded at the woman at certain point of her talking and Aaron hoped that meant he was following what she was saying because he had no clue. Robert carried on rubbing Aaron’s back, getting further down his spine and finished with his hand in his back pocket, lightly tapping and squeezing Aaron’s arse. The girl must have known something was up because Robert’s hair was all over the place and Aaron’ face was still bright red and that didn’t seem to be changing anytime soon.

“Yeah, we’ve got it! Thanks Kelly.” Robert announced and opened the door to let her out. Once he knew she was gone, he faced Aaron and began to kiss him again, smiling into the kiss.

Aaron sat next to Robert, their bodies pressed together on the sofa. It was their sixth interview of the day and thankfully the last. This was always the most boring part of releasing movies, tediously answering the same or similar questions in every interview, trying to think of new and original answers but struggling after the first three times. Robert swore that if he got asked what superpower he’d have one more time he’d retire early. Aaron could see Robert getting progressively fed up as the day went on and he tried to keep him entertained by throwing sweets at him and making ridiculous Snapchat videos of the two of them.

As it is, the final interview was probably the best one of the whole day, the interviewer asking genuinely interesting questions about the difficulties of filming and if they’d ever want to go into directing themselves.

“I don’t think we could do an interview without asking about your relationship. So, how did the two of you get together?” The interviewer interrogated.

Aaron took the lead with this question, “Well I mentioned Robert in an interview and we basically started texting each other and chilling at each other’s houses, having mini dates in the comfort of our own home and now we’re here”

Robert slung his arm around Aaron’s shoulders and pulled him into his neck, Aaron playfully rolling his eyes.

“You look so in love.” The interviewer commented and without thinking, Robert responded.

“Yeah, well I love him, don’t I?”

Aaron’s eyes went wide and his mouth parted. “Wait what?” He practically shouted.

Robert fiddled with his fingers, nervous straight away. Aaron recognised that face and attempted to resurrect his comment by saying, “Sorry, that was the first time he’s said it. But..” He nudged his nose into Robert’s cheek, “I love you too.”

“Awww.” The interviewer crooned.

Aaron slammed the car door as he sat in the drivers seat. He had driven him and Robert to the final interview because it wasn’t that far away from his house and they had had a break before it. He banged the wheel and shouted “Fuck!”

Robert tapped on the window before opened the door and sunk down into the passenger seat. “I know it was stupid for me to say that then and I really am sorry. Please just forgive me because I’m an idiot and you know it!” His voice cracked, clearly almost in tears. “I shouldn’t have said it in an interview.”

Aaron turned his body around to look at Robert, whose cheeks now had tears falling down them. He lifted his hands up and held onto Robert’s face, his thumbs stroking the tears away. “Hey, it’s fine. I just wasn’t expecting it.” He soothed.

“We aren’t even together, I should’ve asked you to be my boyfriend first.” Robert ranted, his voice shaky from his tears.

Aaron furrowed his eyebrows, confusion flooding across his face. “You were being serious? You actually love me?” He questioned.

Robert sniffed and nodded. “Yeah. Now I’m guessing you don’t?”

“No! I mean, yeah! Yes Robert, I bloody love you! I thought you were just saying it because of where we were!” Aaron rambled, his eyes circulating Robert’s face, trying to decipher how he was feeling.

They were silent for a few moments, staring at each other before Robert grabbed Aaron’s cheeks and kissed him harshly. The kiss heated up quickly, passion rising between the two of them at their confessions. Robert somehow managed to straddle Aaron’s lap, the steering wheel digging uncomfortably into his back but he didn’t seem to care. “I love you too.” He whispered as he pulled back from the kiss, their foreheads touching. Aaron tilted his head up, trying to reach Robert’s lips once more, not wanting to part from him at all. It was Aaron who deepened the kiss this time, his tongue licking into Robert’s mouth before Robert leaned back just that little bit too much and landed on the steering wheel, letting the car horn go off. Aaron laughed into Robert’s mouth, unable to believe the fact that Robert was sat on his lap, snogging each other like horny teenagers at a party.

Robert refused to move from Aaron’s lap, sitting down properly and locking his hands together at the back of Aaron’s neck. “So, will you be my boyfriend? Officially.” Robert asked, tilting his head.

Aaron moved his hands so they were placed on Robert’s arse. “Hmm, yes!” He confirmed. He tapped Robert’s bum once and said, “Now shift, I’ll drive you home.”

Second date tonight!! You better look good x Robert texted his boyfriend the morning of the film premiere. They had decided that this would be their second date, and as neither had stayed over at the others house since they became official a week ago, they decided that Robert would pick Aaron up and they’d drive there and back together, Robert maybe staying the night.

I’ll look like shit compared to you though, everyone fancies you x Aaron responded and Robert rolled his eyes. It had been an ongoing joke that everyone fancies Robert because he’s bisexual, something that doesn’t bother Aaron at all, despite recent news articles.

A few hours later, Robert got into his car and drove to Aaron’s house, beeping his horn to let Aaron know he was there. His had parked so he was facing away from the house, so he couldn’t see Aaron locking the door and walking to the passenger seat. Neither of them knew what the other was wearing for the premiere, their suits had been picked out and tailor made for their body, tightly fitted in all the right places.

Aaron sat down in the car, chucking his wallet on the dashboard before leaning over and kissing Robert. “You look amazing.” Robert said, looking at him properly before leaning in again. He really was lucky to have Aaron.

Smiling at Robert, Aaron returned the compliments and rested his hand on Robert’s thigh as he drove off to Leicester Square. “So, are you staying over tonight?” Aaron asked, his thumb stroking the outside of Robert’s thigh.

Keeping his eyes on the road, Robert nodded, “Yeah, bags in the back. Doubt I’ll be needing any clothes though.” He flirted.

Aaron scoffed, “Oh shut up!” and looked out of the window, his hold on Robert’s leg not faltering once.

“Robert! Robert!” “Aaron! Aaron, look this way!” The lights were blinding, the camera’s flashing at what seemed a million miles an hour.

They both hated red carpet events, the screams of paparazzi’s trying to get the best photos for their articles, the interviewers pushing each other just to get the first interview, not even to mention the repeated questions and comments again.

Robert wrapped his arm around Aaron, both of them smiling in the photos. Robert muttered under his breath at one point for Aaron to look behind the cameras, at a woman stood in the crowd wearing a wedding dress, thus creating the best photo of the night, Aaron’s grin as he laughs and Robert looked at the man whose body had crumpled half its size as he laughed, Robert smiling widely too.

When it was time to walk to the interviewers, Robert and Aaron decided to split up, trying to get through as many interviews as quickly as possible with their co-stars. Unsurprisingly, many of the questions asked was about their relationship. Aaron had finished his portion of interviews before Robert, who had now joined the director and was talking about whether Robert himself would like to go into directing. He walked over to where they were being interviewed, indicating to the woman holding the microphone that he was going to scare Robert. He jumped out at him a few moments later, grabbing on to Robert’s waist to stop him from jumping and knocking anyone out. “Don’t! Do that, Aaron. You know I get scared easily you idiot.” Robert chastised Aaron before pulling him under his arm and kissing his cheek. “Just spoke about you.” Robert whispered against his skin.

“Oh yeah?” Aaron asked curiously.

“Yeah, talking about how much I love you.”

“Love you too.” Aaron replied, kissing him again before the three of them concluded the interview and walking into the theatre.

“It genuinely looked amazing though, like I wasn’t expecting the fight scenes to be like that at all.” Aaron rambled on as he opened his front door for him and Robert.

He was definitely a nerd when it came to the final products of films, mind-blown by the production and directing. It was quite endearing for Robert really, he loved to see Aaron excited by something they do as their job. But right now, he wanted Aaron upstairs, in his bed.

Robert kissed Aaron deeply, trying to get him to stop speaking but he didn’t stop instantly, still trying to finish his sentence with Robert’s lips on his. “C’mon, upstairs.” Robert muttered, grasping hold of Aaron hand and dragging him to the stairs.

They continued to kiss as they struggled to make it up the stairs. Robert was leading, mouth on Aaron, his hand pulling at Aaron’s tie as he walked backwards. When they had eventually made it into the bedroom, Aaron quickly unwrapped Robert’s tie and unbuttoned his shirt before ripping it off, the blazer still attached somehow. He kissed down Robert’s neck, pushing him towards the bed before the two of them became tangled in the quilt, moving about undressing each other completely. Robert left open kisses all over Aaron’s body, starting at his neck, going down his chest spending more time than necessary sucking and biting at his sensitive nipples before ending up at his thighs, biting a little bit harder, making Aaron moan in a way that Robert would probably never forget.

Twelve hours later they had woken up, time now way past midday and the sun beaming in through the open curtains. Aaron’s body was curled around Robert’s, their heads facing each other and Robert’s hand subconsciously stroking Aaron’s hair. Robert woke up first, his eyes opening slowly so he wouldn’t be blinded straightaway. He couldn’t move from Aaron’s hold once he had fully woken up, so he just laid there, a little bit too hot under the cover and Aaron’s overheated body. Aaron woke up around ten minutes later to Robert kissing his forehead.

“Morning.” Aaron grumbled out, morning voice making him sound like a teenager going through the change.

He rolled over and shoved his face into the pillow and groaned before stretching his body and yawning.

“Morning.” Robert whispered back, kissing Aaron softly. “Can we just stay here all day?”

Aaron smirked and nodded, “Yeah, but I’m starving and I need a piss.”

Robert’s face crunched up in mock disgust, but soon smoothed out when Aaron leaned forward and kissed him before shoving the covers off him and walking off to the bathroom. Stark naked. Robert wolf whistled at Aaron and started laughing when Aaron’s response was sticking his finger in the air.

Waiting for Aaron to return, Robert picked his phone up and put it on charge, flicking through his emails congratulating him on the premiere of the film, and links to more scripts. By the time Aaron had come back, Robert managed to send off one email and was now looking through another about the annual award show. He had been invited to it after being nominated for the award that Aaron beat him to, Best Actor. After looking at the other nominees, he noticed that Aaron wasn’t up for it, but that wasn’t surprising considering he had a year out from TV to focus on films.

“I’m up for best actor.” Robert announced as Aaron sat on his bed, holding out some toast while a piece was already stuck between his teeth.

His eyes shot open, “Wait really? Oh my god, that’s amazing! I’m so proud of ya!” Aaron rambled.

Robert was still a little bit in shock, he hadn’t been expecting it at all. “Will you come with me?” He asked, “T-to the award show?”

Aaron nodded, “Yeah, course.”

Two months later and Aaron and Robert were donning some suits again. It was the night of the award show and Robert was nervous, having made the shortlist and was now up against only 3 people. This would be the biggest award in his career so far and he had no clue what he would do if he won it. He genuinely hadn’t let the thought cross his mind until that morning when Aaron asked him if he had sorted a speech out over breakfast.

“What, no! I won’t even win, I can’t think of anything to say!” Robert ranted.

Aaron moved closer to him and held his arms out to put his hands on either side of Robert’s face. “Hey, I believe in you. You deserve to win this, you’re amazing and you need to start believing that.”

After Aaron wasn’t nominated this time around, they decided that they’d go together and for the first time, Aaron would sit with Robert, surrounded by the cast of his show, rather than Aaron sitting with the cast from his show. They sat together, Aaron on the left of Robert, their hands holding while they drank the first pint of the night.

Robert’s award was the last to be announced, the main award that everyone wanted to take home.

“And the winner of the Best Actor 2017 is...ROBERT SUGDEN!”

The cheers around him erupted and Robert was in shock. This couldn’t be happening. No. Aaron stood up first, cheering and clapping and Robert stood up instinctively, gasping for air and putting his hands to his mouth in shock. Aaron pulled his hands away and kissed him, completely unaware of the cameras that had turned up in front of Robert, waiting for him to start walking up to the stage.

“Wow, erm. Thanks, I guess! I genuinely didn’t have a speech prepared for this because I didn’t think I’d win looking at the other nominees. This morning, my boyfriend kinda screwed it into my head that I should probably think about making one, but I was still convinced I’d lose.” Robert announced, hand wrapped around the statuette. “This is the second time I’ve been nominated for this exact award, and, well we all know how it went two years ago, don’t we Mr Dingle?” The audience laughed at his joke as the camera focused on Aaron for a moment, who was smiling wildly at his boyfriend on stage. “Anyway, I just want to say thanks to everyone at the show for giving me the opportunity to do what I love every day; it’s such a blessing to be working with you. Thanks to everybody who voted for me as well, and a special thanks to my other half, whose sitting over there,” He said as he pointed Aaron out, “you astound me every day that I’m lucky enough to spend with you by my side, you’ve helped me so much and you continue to believe in me in everything I do. I love you.”

“LOVE YOU TOO.” Aaron shouted back, making everyone around him laugh.

Four years had passed since Robert won Best Actor. It was now 2021 and Aaron and Robert had moved in together. They bought a new house, and decorated it showing both their personalities. Aaron took Robert out for a meal three years ago, in their favourite restaurant. Robert hadn’t noticed at first, but Aaron had booked the entire place out for them. Still, Robert thought nothing of it because they hadn’t seen each other for a while and sometimes Aaron liked to do romantic things like that. The only time it clicked that Aaron was proposing was when he was on one knee, holding the ring out to him. Of course, he said yes and they wed eight months later.

Their favourite memory from their relationship however, was the little baby girl now led in between them in their bed, a white dummy in her mouth and a pale pink baby-grow on her. She yawned around her dummy and the boys watched as it fell to the side of her head. Robert picked it and held it in his own mouth, both of them watching as she stuck her little tongue out. Three days before, their lives changed when their surrogate went into labour, ringing them with the good news. Annie was born six hours later, dark brown hair already curly and bright blue eyes. Robert would never forget seeing her in his husband’s arms for the first time, his daughter wrapping his entire hand around his finger. She still does that now and Robert loves it, he loves seeing his little fingers spreading out, and her even smaller fingernails. She was perfect, and they were content.

#robrondays #robroninlove #robron #day 7: favourite au #FINISHED

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stripedigital · 4 years

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Effective Email Marketing That Actually Leads to Conversions

What is effective email marketing?

Despite the prevalence of newer digital marketing methods, effective email marketing remains one of the most effective ways to reach your target audience and generate conversions. 94% of Internet users use email, while only 61% use social media.

In addition, a larger portion of your audience is more likely to see your message via email. It is quite literally the modern mailbox, which is why making emails feel more personal is critical to your effective email marketing campaign’s success.

Email marketing provides small business owners the opportunity to build lasting relationships with both potential and existing customers. Effective email marketing transforms potential customers into new customers and existing customers into loyal, repeat customers.

Now that you understand the importance of email marketing, we will provide you with the key components you need to create an effective email marketing campaign.

Know Your Strategy

A common strategy in email marketing is A/B testing, which means that each aspect of your marketing strategy can and should be tested for open and conversion rates. No two email marketing campaigns are identical, so it is imperative to test what works for your brand and your audience.

Promotional emails vs. transactional emails

As far as e-commerce goes, there are two types of emails your audience can expect to receive: promotional and transactional. As the name entails, promotional emails push a product, service, event, or piece of content. You want to make sure the content you push is valuable to the recipient because that helps build the foundation for a long-lasting relationship between brand and customer.

On the other hand, transactional emails serve more utility and are directed towards specific people who have conducted a transaction or otherwise interacted with your company. These emails are the result of actions prompted by your customers. For e-commerce, these would include purchase receipts, shipping/tracking notifications, and welcome emails from users signing up to receive them.

Because these emails are directly relevant to the recipient, they aren’t subconsciously marked as spam and have nearly double the open rate when compared with visibly promotional emails. Transactional emails still give you the opportunity to promote your brand, and they can sometimes be even more effective than promotional emails.

Although they serve subtly different purposes, each type of email is an opportunity to develop a lasting relationship with the recipient. Subsequently, from the recipient’s point of view, it is another experience with your brand.

Content

What should I put in the subject line?

At the forefront of your campaign, and the first thing your audience sees, is the subject line of an email. The subject line is one of the most crucial aspects to an email, yet it can be the most mishandled element of effective email marketing.

A subject line needs to be eye-catching and appealing, without setting off the human spam filter. In practice, the subject line is highly dependent on your audience and the intention of the email.

For example, it has been shown that using the recipient’s name in the subject line of promotional emails actually leads to a lower open rate. While using their name in a transactional email is pretty standard, to give the atmosphere of personalization.

A strong subject line needs to be the right length. Try to keep it under 50 characters, and be as specific as possible. The subject line needs to communicate significance and relevance to the recipient, to separate your email from the rest. Some ideas to test out include subject lines that convey urgency, curiosity, or best of all, a special offer to the recipient, such as the examples below.

Personalization

What is email list segmentation?

Segmentation is one of the best practices to personalize your emails. Think of email list segmentation as taking a fine-toothed comb through your entire mailing list and dividing them into prioritized sub-groups.

Effective segmentation can be accomplished with a little bit of knowledge and minor data mining. This results in better targeting and valuable content relevant to each individual recipient, which ultimately leads to higher conversion rates for your company.

For e-commerce, one of the primary methods of email segmentation is simply dividing your email list into potential customers and existing customers. Just by simply dividing a list into these two groups, you can already imagine endless possibilities for different types of “personalized” emails.

The types of email segmentation you can implement with your own business varies greatly. It ultimately depends on the data you have on your customers and how you’d like to apply it to your effective email marketing campaign.

How do I make my emails feel more personal?

As stated earlier, email list segmentation plays an important role in the success of your email marketing campaign. An effective strategy for email segmentation is to make your emails even more personal by creating buyer personas and directing emails accordingly. For example, you could segment your list into four groups, including: potential customers, new/first-time customers, loyal/repeat customers, and inactive customers. A few other ways to segment your emails include: your customers’ geography, age, gender, and even their behavior when browsing your website. An email that is specific and relevant to the individual recipient will feel much more personal than a mass email with simply their name on it.

Frequency

How often should I send out emails for my business?

How often you should send emails is a game of balance. Of course you don’t want to send so few emails that your audience forgets about you, but you also don’t want to send so many that people stop reading them. You have to tread the fine line between being assertive and being marked as spam.

As we all know from experience, no one wants to spend their free time filtering their inbox, deleting emails every day – especially if the emails don’t bear any importance or call to action. Oftentimes, an infrequent email is seen as more valuable in the eyes of the customer.

This pertains mostly with promotional emails, since transactional emails are triggered by an action of the user. Clearly, your customers do not want to be bombarded with countless emails saying they left something in their cart (transactional), but one or even two reminders is healthy.

As far as promotional emails go, you don’t want to oversell your brand. Too many emails from the same business is the leading reason for high unsubscribe rates. You worked hard for that email list, and the last thing you want is to lose potential customers from being too pushy.

So what frequency for sending emails is appropriate? This goes back to A/B testing with your specific audience. Start conservatively, and practice email segmentation to generate the best results. An increase in frequency of promotional emails might get one group to buy more, but might also get another group to block you out, resulting in a higher unsubscribe rate.

On average, 20% of marketers send one email a month, and 40% of marketers send emails two to three times a month. Finding the sweet spot for your business is crucial to maintaining your effective email marketing campaign.

When crafting your emails, keep in mind the statistic that it takes near seven times for a product to be put in front of someone before they realistically consider buying it. This should be a healthy seven times, and at minimum, you should at least be sending one email a month to stay relevant in your customers’ mind. Consider creating an email marketing calendar to help you stay organized.

When is the best time to send out emails that will lead to sales?

Even time of the day is a significant element in the success of an effective email marketing campaign. It is one of those components rooted in human psychology, and the optimal time to send emails to your audience can be discovered through A/B testing.

A psychology people adopt when timing their emails is to get it into your customer’s inbox when the volume is low. This means early mornings and late nights tend to have better response rates. People are not working and more likely to engage with their personal email at these times. This can also be extended to reaching out to people on weekends.

Again, this is speculative psychology, and with all components, do what works best for your business. Test out sending your emails early morning vs. late evening, weekday vs. weekend, and then compile the analytics to find your sweet spot.

Design

What does an appealing email design look like?

In design and in emails, less is more. Every element of your email needs to have purpose and provide value to your customer. You also need to keep in mind that more than half of all emails are read on a mobile device, so be sure to make your email appealing for all audiences and mobile-optimized.

Impactful, large, and appealing visuals play a primary role in email design.

Take a look at some of these emails we found that have fantastic design elements:

To see more examples of great email design, visit the email marketing portion of our blog, and check out this article.

Calls to Action

What are some necessities to include in my emails?

When developing an effective email marketing campaign, there are a few standard elements you should always include. The first, and most important element, is making your brand/logo front and center. This is what you are ultimately trying to push, and it should always link back to your website. Potential customers do not want to take the time to open and view your email, only to find that they must dig to find your website.

The usage of icons and links also applies to your social media accounts. Make sure to implement easily clickable and highly visible buttons that link to each of your business’s social media accounts, typically located at the bottom of the email.

A vital element of your email to present with ease is your call to action. Examples of great call to actions are: “Join Now,” “Activate Free Trial,” or “Shop This Look.” The sole purpose of your email is to generate a response to that call to action. This means that it needs to be very visible; the highlight of your email. Be sensible when deciding on the placement.

As with all elements discussed, always test to find out what works best for your business. The main idea is to create a smooth user experience, where the recipient has all the tools needed to accomplish what you want them to do, and with ease.

Analyze

How do I analyze the performance of my email campaigns?

Of course, the most important part of an effective email marketing campaign is its results. Regardless of which email software you are using, whether it be MailChimp, Constant Contact, or Active Campaign, you have all the tools you need at your disposal.

You are able to track and analyze your specific efforts, translating into clicks and conversions, and make decisions for future emails based off these results. Just like how you can track user behavior on a website, you can compile similar analytics from your effective email marketing campaign as well.

One of the frontline analytics, that is arguably the most important, is the open rate. When performing your A/B testing, this is the first analytic you should measure. The next most important piece of data should be the click rate, and building upon that, how many clicks lead to a conversion. The final metric you should focus on is your unsubscribe rate, and think of ways to lower it by using some of the ideas mentioned above.

What does an effective email look like when it’s complete?

This blog contains some of our favorite examples of what an appealing, effective email looks like! Learn more about the details of great emails with examples of how to improve your own email marketing campaign!

Hopefully after reading this, you have a good idea and aesthetic in mind to construct your own effective email marketing campaign. Remember: the best type of goal is a well defined goal, so make sure that all efforts to optimize your emails’ conversions are thoroughly tested. Don’t apply too many changes at once, or you’ll never be able to keep track of what is working and what isn’t.

If you’re ready to launch an effective email marketing campaign for your business, but need a little assistance, we can help! We are experts at crafting the perfect email marketing campaign for each client and their specific needs, so we’ll take the work off your hands!

The post Effective Email Marketing That Actually Leads to Conversions appeared first on Digital Marketing Blog.

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edwardpotts · 4 years

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4 Best Practices for Creating Captivating, Cross-Channel App Marketing Campaigns

It’s Thursday night, you’ve just sank into the couch after a long week and you’re binge watching your favorite show. Inevitably, you fall asleep in the middle of an episode and wake up a few hours later. In your daze you shut off the TV and crawl to bed like a proper adult.

You wake up in the morning and go about your business, then as your work day is wrapping up you get a push message from your streaming app reminding you to resume watching your show where you left off. You’re pumped, you’ve got a long train ride home and ready to just check out and watch a few episodes during your commute. And yea, you’ll probably keep watching once you get home too (yes it’s Friday and you’re not going out, and no, you’re not ashamed).

You may not have even thought twice, but that is a prime example of cross-channel marketing. You watched your show on your TV through your streaming service, be it Netflix, Hulu or even your local cable provider. Then you’re sent a reminder on the app about the show, at a time you’re likely to be ready to watch again. This kind of experience is what makes you feel like a brand really gets you, and it brings you right back in. This is the kind of customer engagement that marketers should strive for, and it’s easier to achieve than you might think.

That’s why in this article, we’re laying out best practices and share examples to inspire you to implement cross-channel app promotion.

A Definitive Explanation of Cross-Channel App Marketing

“Huh? Cross-channel app promotion? That sounds too complicated.”

If this sentiment is running through your head, don’t worry – the concept of cross-channel app marketing is just starting to gain more traction, but it’s not as complex as some might think. In today’s interconnected, mobile driven world, cross-channel app marketing is poised to take off and become a more common way for brands to engage with their customers, so let’s break down what it means.

Cross-channel app marketing is built upon Profiles, which provide organizations with the ability to collect, manage, and share customer data from all marketing channels. And because people are spending more and more time using apps, Profiles help better inform your engagement strategy.

It’s about delivering personalized experiences as people move from your store to your website, and from your website to your app. In short, it’s about bringing a people-centered approach to your customer engagement.

4 Best Practices for Cross-Channel App Marketing Campaigns

1. Identify your mobile objectives and choose appropriate attributes to target

Despite your eagerness to get started right away, take a moment to re-evaluate your marketing objectives and figure out how your app fits into your larger business strategy.

Ask Yourself:

What are your app’s top goals in relation to other platforms?

What kind of conversions do you want it to drive?

How do people engage with your brand outside your app versus inside your app?

Profiles also open the door for all sorts of new information (that you’re tracking outside the app) to be funneled into your engagement efforts. But don’t pump in everything just for the sake of having more data at your disposal. Isolate the attributes that will be most appropriate to target within your app. For example, information on the gender of your users can lead to better push and in-app messages while hair color probably won’t.

Below, we’ve listed some more profile attributes you can target on. Keep in mind, the importance of these attributes will vary depending on the type of app you have. The main thing is: don’t be a creep and don’t use attributes that are inapplicable to what your app does.

Location

Age group

Birthdate

Social media sentiment

Last login

Purchase date

Family unit

Income bracket

Job role

Interests

Subscription history

Favorites

Customer acquisition cost

Comments received

Store credit

Here is a hypothetical example of how the Profiles field: Income Bracket, is relevant for an app like Zillow, but creepy for an app like PEOPLE Magazine. Zillow can use data from the income-bracket field because it directly correlates with what their app is trying to do (showcase applicable residential listings). On the other hand, income is not a good attribute to target on for PEOPLE Magazine because it doesn’t tie well with their app’s offering and comes off as unnerving.

2. Start collecting in-app profile information

Profiles are a way for you to consolidate your customer data from other channels and use it in your app marketing. But you can also capture profile information within your app. How? Simple, ask your users to sign up! Then, as people continually engage with your app, you can ask them for additional information (like requesting users to enter in their loyalty card number or to disclose some interests).

Look at how CBS’ app collects profile data (such as social media accounts, email, and gender) right from the get-go. And as I engage more and more with this app, CBS can ask me what my favorite shows or entertainment genres are. It’s like getting to know someone – start with their name and then slowly get more personal.

3. Be relevant, timely, and concise

You’ve probably heard this one before, but it’s nonetheless important enough to mention again. Stop sending everyone with the same, generic marketing messages. Now that you have more profile data on who your users are, you have an increased responsibility to craft your messages so they are personalized, punctual, and to the point.

For example, let’s say I just visited an H&M store and purchased a jacket. A good push and in-app message would incorporate this information and show me other complementary items to buy a few days later:

4. Maintain a healthy balance between all your marketing channels (be inbound and don’t spam!)

“Boy do I hope I get blasted with lots of advertising today.” Said no one ever. No matter how much you like a brand; nobody wants to be constantly bombarded with marketing.

How awkward would it be to send someone a push notification that says, “We miss you!” when this person just bought something from your brick-and-mortar store yesterday. You’d come off as too clingy and lose major brownie points with this customer.

Smart brands need to balance their app marketing with their marketing on other channels so they don’t overwhelm customers. Aim for quality, not quantity. Be persistent, but not annoying.

Here’s an example of a well-executed cross-channel app marketing strategy. If Amazon keeps track of when customers open their emails, they can send this information (Profiles field: Recent Email Opened) to their app analytics and marketing vendor. Then, they could schedule a related push message to go out a few days after to nicely tie together their email and app marketing.

Hello Apps. Meet People.

The short story with cross-channel app marketing is that it allows you to see your app users as people – real people with wonderfully colorful lives. And this vivid insight can help you connect more deeply with your customers because you’ll better understand what they want, why they want it and what keeps them coming back.

4 Best Practices for Creating Captivating, Cross-Channel App Marketing Campaigns published first on https://spyadvice.tumblr.com/

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beauknowsblogging-blog · 5 years

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Mashup Top 5

1. Blockchain Identity (uPort)

-This is crucial I think moving forward in the digital age because it incorporates blockchain security and auto updating systems to identity storage online. In a world where it is increasingly easy to tap into a system and take all the data from it, blockchain requires the verification of that entry before entering the system, and therefore can better secure the data inside if it isn’t allowed per the required appropriate use. I think this is revolutionarily secure and before long all our personal information (digital identities, passports, e-residency, birth certificates, wedding certificates, IDs, online account logins, etc.) will all be stored safely online via blockchain technology :)

2. Blockchain Finance (Bitcoin)

-Bitcoin was a phenomenon, but the hype isn’t over or done yet. While Bitcoin may need to now share its market share with other cryptocurrencies, I think it can be said for something that digital currency is hard to steal, reducing corruption, because the system is overly secure before it can be activated or allowed to be altered from within. I think the future of money or legal tender will eventually become digital, and we are seeing banks slowly make these changes for security already. There would be no such ability to ‘reverse’ transactions besides replacing them or performing them in the opposite direction, but obviously the original transactions themselves will be far more monitored and secure in the first place, avoiding risky outside exposure (or at least for now).

3. Blockchain Healthcare (Medicalchain)

-Similar to identity, but not. Our health records are constantly changing as we age and grow and develop. So should our ability to transfer and report/update/communicate keep them updated and safe. In this instant, lots of health and employer companies include their patients and employees healthcare coverage and insurance claims/statuses/lab test results on apps and portals. Thus, the need for blockchain technology here is obviously evident. If that private information leaked then other companies would have free data to solicit and market and bombard us with spam and notifications that would be undesired no matter how pertinent. Like identity theft being an issue, so are the things that make us individuals and private matters. In this regard, we must try to avoid scandal and ethics (HIPAA) violations and what better way to secure that data than blockchain.

4. Blockchain Smart Property (Midasium)

-I just purchased a segway scooter, and I love it. But with even a smartphone app that only lets my phone be the ‘key’ in the keyless ignition or turning on/ accessibility to operate it, it cannot stop somebody from simply lifting up the 30 pound frame and stealing it. I think digital codes and accessibility apps for security are a wonderful idea, but they will only be like the original jailbroken iphones, still stolen and able to be resold for something on the black market whether or not they have full capability. They might be able to operate still, but I think the only defence against this is for all devices we own to essentially have a user name and before changing owners, will require the current user to deactivate and allow the system a different owner. Otherwise I don’t see how this technology, while convenient, can truly be effective as we’d like it to be.

5. Blockchain Business (SKUchain)

-This section is a little hazy because business is a constantly new transaction. Somebody trades somebody else something for something. Now, business and commerce will always exist, but I think blockchain serves a two-fold purpose in the business world. First, business records. Similar to the identity security using blockchain, why wouldn’t businesses secure their historical data accurately and better via blockchain technology than old paper copies and locked files that could still be hacked or stolen and eventually released? Additionally, EFFICIENCY. Not only for record, but to limit the inefficiencies of the business like fraudulent transactions and loss. Blockchain technology can securely record and update inventories after transactions and minimize the entry of unwanted or unverified hackers/thieves/etc. I think this would greatly allow businesses to be even more successful than ever.

#top 5

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yourlittlestarlight-blog · 6 years

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Marketing Strategies and Tactics for Your Online Business

As a reliably new person myself when it comes to online marketing, I truly understand the importance of acquiring useful and applicable knowledge on the subject. Even more so, I understand how critical it is to not only learn these marketing strategies but also learn strategies that are either free or low cost . When starting any business, you obviously are going to have, or should have an advertising budget. If you are new to business alike, this might not be the case, and that is perfectly okay and justifiable. The whole reason you got into online business was not to spend money but to make money correct? How can you spend money on advertising if you do not have any to begin with? Trust me, I completely understand because I have been in your shoes before.

Therefore, I will cut right to the chase. I am going to share with you a few low-cost and or free strategies and techniques you can begin using today to market your online business. However, before I do, let me make it very clear that this will require some work on your part. You see, many people get into online businesses with the preconceived notification that it is provided to be easy and require no effort. Well, I guess that depends on what your definition of the word easy is. In my professional opinion, it is easy work, but it still is work.

I will not sugar coat it for you, you will most definitely need to put in time and effort. How much effort? That just depends on you. I know this sounds mundane and cliche ', but the following could not be more true, "what you get out of your business is in direct relation to what you put into it." Be aware, that although free marketing strategies can be quite effective, they do typically take longer to produce results than paid strategies do. So please be patient and prepared for periods of unproductivity. Keep that in mind when going over the following list. The list is in no particular order and using these strategies does not guarantee you any success. Everyone's particular results will vary.

The first and most simple way to advertise your business is through Facebook and other social media. You might say, "well I've tried selling to all of my friends and family before and it did not work." Create another account. Slowly build a new friends list and begin to join groups that have to do with your particular niche. Think outside of the box. Look for like- minded people. Also, creating a Facebook fan page can be very lucrative once you learn how to monetize the page. Be prepared to update your page daily. You must provide value to your followers otherwise people will lose interest.

Create a YouTube account and begin to use this tool by frequently posting videos. Be sure not to overload your viewers though. It must be a fine balance of information and entertainment without saturating your page with videos. Only you can determine through trial and error what amount of videos create the kind of return you are looking for. Always be genuine, and again be sure to bring value to your viewers. For example, you can create " how to " tutorials for them by using http://www.screen-o-matic.com . Just as YouTube can be a great marketing tool, it can also be a valuable resource for you in your education on online marketing. There are literally tons of useful videos and information about online marketing tips, techniques, and strategies.

Educate yourself on SEO and the importance of key word research. An excellent tool to use is the Google Ad words Keyword Tool at https://adwords.google.com . You must be logged in to your Google account to access this, or simply Google " keyword tool ." This is a free tool, however you must first learn the intricacies of key word search and all that it hosts before you can make the most of this tool.

Blogging (informational or discussion site composed of "posts" or entries) is another strategy that can be very effective, but rest assured it will take much time and effort, especially if you've never done it before. Again, you can utilize YouTube to find training on creating an effective and eye-catching Blog. Simply type in "WordPress" into the YouTube search bar and you will find a myriad of information regarding how to create a WordPress website, blog, and or splash page. Another great option is to join an affiliate program which offers a free blogging platform with their system. Using this option you can learn and get paid as you go so to speak. When done correctly, blogging can be one of your most effective strategies to grow your business.

Craigslist is one of thousands of free classified ads you can market your business on. (Google Free Classified Ads) The key to this type of advertising is to write effective ad copy and to do it consistently. A mixture of quantity and quality is going to produce the best results. Be sure to follow all guidelines each Classified Ad sets forth. You do not want to be kicked before you even get started.

Email marketing is a highly underestimated and underutilized form of advertising and growing your business. Possibly because you have to adhere to the rules and guidelines in regards to spamming. However, as long as you do what is right and not abuse this form of marketing, it can literally explode your business when done right. You can prospect, generate leads, and follow-up all through this method of advertising. Once you begin building your list of clients and or potential clients, it is critical that you take care of your subscribers by not bombarding them with offers, and on the same token giving them a consistent informative and valuable correspondence.

These are just a handful of ways you can operate and market your business online. I am sure it is now obvious that you have your work cut out for you. Again, it is not difficult work, but it is most definitely work. As long as you dedicate yourself, and have a plan of action you will see success. I like to follow the PDCA Rule when marketing. That is to plan, do, check, and adjust my advertising strategies. Always keep the ultimate goal in mind. Although online marketing is a ton of work and a huge learning process, the end result can be amazing and life changing. There are literally thousands of people making upwards of six figures online, and every single one of them at some time or another have used the strategies I've listed for you above. With that being said, lets take your new job job and have some fun with it. Go out and put this information to use and start making the kind of money you've only dreamed of in the past. Best wishes and much success to you in all of your endeavors.

Ata Rehman

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makeitwithmike · 7 years

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How To Use Pinterest’s Group Boards To Get More Exposure For Your Business

By Tehmina Zaman

In case you hadn’t noticed, Pinterest has been in the news a lot recently.

In November last year, Pinterest started courting the business community with the creation of its business-specific accounts and a dedicated business support page.

Then earlier this month, Pinterest quietly raised a cool $200 million at an astonishing $2.5 billion valuation – not bad for a company that has yet to make a profit!

Most intriguing of all though was a study published last week by research center Pew. It suggested that Pinterest has grown so quickly, it’s now on course to catch Twitter in the battle for second place behind Facebook in the US social networking market.

These events indicate that Pinterest is quickly evolving from being last year’s hot new upstart to a legitimate social network that should be part of your marketing mix.

How can you maximize your time on Pinterest?

But how can you maximize your Pinterest activities without spending a ton of time on it? Well, along with scheduling your pins, one of the most effective but underutilized strategies to get more exposure from Pinterest is by using group boards.

Now, if you’re new to Pinterest, you may only know of regular boards that only you can pin to. You may have never have heard of group boards. Or maybe you have but you don’t know how to use them or don’t think they apply to you.

I’ve been dabbling with group boards over the past few months and have seen a dramatic increase in followers since I strategically introduced them to my Pinterest marketing.

So in this post I am going to demystify group boards, explain the advantages of using them and outline a few ways you can get started straightaway with this strategy.

What Are Pinterest’s Group Boards?

A group board works like a regular Pinterest board. The only difference is that along with the board creator, other people are also allowed to pin.

Group boards go under many different names – shared boards, contributor boards, community boards and collaborative boards. Regardless the term, they are all exactly the same thing.

There is currently no directory of Pinterest group boards. In order to distinguish a group board from a regular one you need to look out for the group icon at the top of a board when you are browsing someone’s page.

This snapshot of Jeff’s Pinterest page clearly shows that the board on the left, “For The Home”, is one of Jeff’s own, whilst the two other boards have contributors.

Key Benefits of Using Group Boards

Group boards are not only a great way to organize ideas and bring people together, but they can also have real tangible benefits for your brand and business.

#1. Dramatically boost your followers

If users select to “follow all” of any contributor’s boards, then they will be added as followers to a group board you are part of. The increased exposure and visibility you get through group boards will increase your follower growth at a faster rate.

#2. Exponentially increase the number of repins

The more followers you have the more likely they (and their followers) are to see your content, repin your pins and click through to your website. This means more traffic to your site and potentially more subscribers, customers and clients.

#3. Put your pinning virtually on autopilot

Implement this strategy correctly and you could get other people creating content for.

Certainly at the start, Pinterest can be time-consuming but managed well, you could soon have a team of people perpetuating your content for you across their networks.

#4. Increase engagement and create brand ambassadors

Your customers may already be liking, commenting and sharing your content with their followers on Pinterest. But inviting them to pin to your brand’s group board will get them more engaged and involved in your online conversation.

It will also elevate them to the role of brand ambassadors, who their followers are more likely to take note of.

Let’s take a look now at some ways you can harness the power of group boards in your business.

How Can Businesses Use Group Boards?

Collaboration – are you working with other people, employees or co-workers on a specific project? Use group boards to share industry-specific tips, training materials and resources. Make the board “secret” if you want to keep the information under wraps.

Planning – are you a wedding planner, interior designer or in charge of an event that requires input from others? Invite the stakeholders to join you on a group board where you can collect and share design ideas, compare menus, color schemes, flower arrangements, room layouts, fabric samples and so on.

Promotion– thinking of running a contest, raising funding for your big idea or promoting a worthy cause? Group boards are perfect for engaging your audience, getting customers to interact with your brand as well as sharing data, statistics, success stories etc to raise awareness about your brand or a particular issue.

Networking – why not invite other pinners to pin about a common topic and expand your network at the same time? Bloggers especially can benefit from group boards by using them to connect with other bloggers and actively repinning each other’s content as part of a blogging network.

Authority – are you knowledgeable about a particular subject area? Create a themed group board and contribute regularly to build credibility and establish yourself as a thought leader to the board’s followers.

How To Create A Contributor Board

Go to the Pinterest home page and click on the Add + tab at the top of the page.

Then select the option to Create a Board.

Next choose a name for your new board, select a category and whether you want to make it a private (secret) board or a public one.

The final step is to decide who you want to add as a contributor.

How To Add Contributors

There are two ways to make someone a contributor:

You can type their email address into the Who can pin? field. Pinterest will email them an invitation and prompt them to join Pinterest if they haven’t done so already.

The easier way is to simply add the username of a pinner you would like to invite. The only condition is that you must be following them first.

As you start typing their name, Pinterest will automatically bring up all the potential matches i.e. people with those initial letters in their username.

Just select the names you want to add as contributors, click invite and then save your settings using the Create Board button.

Pinterest will send an invitation from you, the board creator, to the invitees to join your board. When they accept, they can pin on the same board with you and the group board will appear on every contributor’s page.

You can of course make any of your current boards into a group board. Just follow the steps above from How To Add Contributors.

A word of caution.

Pinterest will send you a notification each time a contributor pins to a group board. I recommend you turn off these notifications to avoid bombarding your inbox with unnecessary emails.

Just select the group board in question, click the Edit Board button and turn off the notifications tab.

Keep An Eye On Your Contributors And Group Boards

Remember that you don’t have to (and shouldn’t) accept every invitation you get to join a group board. Be selective.

Check to make sure that the board is on-brand for your business and a good fit for your audience before agreeing to join. The number of followers on a group board is another metric to take note of; the more followers a group board has, the greater the exposure you can expect for your business.

When you follow a group board, you will be able to see all of the content that is currently on that board. Any new pins that get added to this group board will also appear on your Pinterest feed, regardless of the person who is pinning the images.

There is currently no way to filter which pins you can see.

This means that you might see pins from people you are not directly following which could include inappropriate content and spam.

Make a point of regularly monitoring your feed and respond quickly if you spot something undesirable by taking one of the following actions:

How To Remove Someone From A Group Board

If you would like to remove someone you have added to a particular group board just select the group board, and click on the Remove tab next to their name.

You can also delete the board entirely if you created it by hitting the Delete Board on the far right.

How To Leave A Group Board

In the example below, you can see Jeff was added to someone else’s Marketing Infographics board and that he can leave any time.

Pinterest will prompt you by asking if you are sure you want to leave the group board, just click Leave again and you will be permanently removed from that board.

Final Words

It’s important not to go overboard with this strategy and send out blanket invitations to all your followers. Not everyone welcomes group board invitations especially persistent ones so be careful not to annoy people!

In fact, the Pinterest blog recommends that you should only send invitations to Pinterest users who have expressed an interest in your pins and to avoid sending out repeat requests.

One way of encouraging people to join your group boards is to add a line in the board description. You could state that you welcome contributors and that anyone interested in joining the board should add a comment against a pin.

So there you have it, a whirlwind tour of Pinterest’s group boards.

What do you think? Is this a strategy you’ll be trying out? Or have you already set up a few group boards? Please comment below and share how they are working out for you.

Guest Author: Tehmina is an entrepreneur, business strategist and Pinterest marketing expert. You can connect with her at EpreneurTV where she blogs about building an online business. You can also download her free ebook to learn how to master Pinterest in the shortest time possible.

Want to learn how to create great content for your social media marketing?

My book – “Blogging the Smart Way – How to Create and Market a Killer Blog with Social Media” – will show you how.

It is now available to download. I show you how to create and build a blog that rocks and grow tribes, fans and followers on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. It also includes dozens of tips to create contagious content that begs to be shared and tempts people to link to your website and blog.

I also reveal the tactics I used to grow my Twitter followers to over 139,000.

Download and read it now.

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garynsmith · 7 years

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Not Using Cold Email Templates As An Agent? Big Mistake (with Dave Lawrence from Follow Up Boss!)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/CMMg3jm7n6M

Have you mastered the art of cold emailing as an Agent yet?

A cold email is any communication you send before actually making that connection in person.

Unlike unsolicited spam, your contact has to opt-in for your emails first, like by signing up for your newsletter, downloading a free content offer from your website, or by connecting via an aggregate site like Zillow, Realtor.com, or Trulia.

Cold emailing as a real estate agent requires a balance between delivering value to your subscriber and encouraging them to reach out to discuss home buying or selling in person.

Once you have a lead, you don’t want to waste it. So let’s talk about how to set up your email templates for success.

Six Key Components of Every Successful Cold Email

Email templates make your life easier by removing the guesswork of following up at the right time.

In order for a cold email to appeal to your new leads, it must contain these six essentials:

1. A Clickworthy Subject Line

According to one study, 64% of people admit they open an email solely due to the subject line.

So grab the attention of your leads and they’ll be more likely to open your email, click through the links, and read what you have to say.

Bonus: Emails that include the first name of the recipient in their subject line have higher clickthrough rates than emails that skipped this.

2. Personalization to Create Warm, Fuzzy Vibes

Personalized messages have a 75% higher open rate than those that aren’t customized for their recipients. Personalization also improves click-through rates and conversions by over 5%.

When we share our favorite cold email templates for agents later, we’ll assume you’re going to begin each one with Hi, Hello, or Hey followed by an auto-populated name.

It’s so easy for your email client to do this automatically and it works so well.

3. Valuable Content to Keep Leads Interested

To get your leads to continue reading your emails (and eventually follow your call to action), you have to sweeten the pot with something for them.

Since half of all email users check their inbox when they’re bored, providing content they’ll find useful, valuable, and pertinent will do a lot to entertain them.

To provide valuable content to your leads that improves your open and click-through rates, you’ll need to segment your audience to determine where your lead is in the buying or selling process.

For example, depending on your type of lead, you may want to link to blog posts about what they should expect during the home-selling process, a free first-time homebuyer’s guide, daily listings in their area, etc.

4. One Single Call to Action to Direct Your Recipient

Don’t ask your intended receiver to browse hand-picked listings, follow you on Instagram, and check out your recent blog posts all in the same email. They won’t do any of them.

Give them one direct call to action (CTA) and that will be the only one they take. Conveniently, that’s exactly what you’re aiming for.

5. All Your Contact Details

This means adding your name, title, cell/work numbers, email address, agency website, links to your content, social media profiles, etc. You want potential leads to contact you however they feel most comfortable.

6. Optimization for Mobile

Stats tell us that 54% of emails are opened on a smartphone and 75% of Gmail users access their accounts from mobile devices.

Yet less than a quarter of emails are actually optimized for mobile screens.

Don’t lose out on this huge chunk of readers just because your emails aren’t formatted right. You’ll gain the competitive advantage and notice higher open and click through rates as a result.

When you include these six must-haves in your cold emails, you’ll increase the chances of hearing back from your leads.

These points also create a general skeleton to follow when creating templates to use instead of constantly writing generic, repetitive emails.

8 Email Templates Every Agent Needs in their Pocket

You know exactly what you want to say at each touch point with your leads, but now you don’t have to waste the brain power or effort to do so.

Write out your version of each of these 8 templates in advance so that you can automate the process with your email marketing provider of choice.

1. The Welcome Email

When someone signs up for your newsletter or registers for notifications about listings on your site, take the opportunity to introduce yourself and make friends.

Don’t bombard your new lead with a ton of info. Keep it short and sweet.

Introduce yourself, quickly explain why you provide something of value, and clearly state your CTA.

Example

You’re smart for signing up for notifications about new listings in the City Heights area.

That market is so hot right now and you’ll be the first to hear about properties that fit your wishlist.

Over the past X years, I’ve worked with first-time homebuyers and seasoned vets in the City Heights area to find their dream home.

To help you during this exciting time, check out this blog post about the 10 Biggest Things to Look for During an Open House (link to content).

You can reach me anytime to discuss the market and your options.

This Works because people are more likely to work with and buy from people they know and trust. Consider your welcome email your chance to show subscribers why you’re in it for them.

2. The Here’s What to Expect Email

Send your welcome email immediately after you score a new subscriber; send an email to lay out what your new contact should expect the next day.

This email should give your lead an idea of how often they’ll receive emails from you and what those emails will contain. Show your client the value of your emails and they’ll start to look forward to them.

Example

How’s everything going with your home search in the South Bank neighborhood?

Right now you’re receiving emails whenever homes matching your preferences hit the market. And then I’ll be the first to help you find out if that listing is your dream home.

Expect a weekly email about the current real estate market in your area, including links to vital content and information to aid your search.

My doors are always open and my cell phone’s practically glued to my hand. Don’t hesitate to reach out!

This Works because you’re specifically showing your leads the service you’re going to provide to them (for free), which keeps them on the lookout for your upcoming emails.

3. Your Content Emails

In case you haven’t noticed the pattern, delivering value to your subscribers is the number one way to gain their trust and loyalty — and every Agent knows these are both necessary for establishing a relationship and making a sale happen down the road.

If you’re not already active with blogging or social media, consider creating (or outsourcing) high-quality content for your subscribers.

Vary your content between information only you can create (like local guides) and curated content you think your mailing list would be interested in.

Example

Happy Friday!

Did you get a chance to read our most popular blogs of the week? If not, here’s your chance to catch up:

Insert blog titles and links

And in case you missed this week’s new listings in the North Ridge area, here are the 5 most viewed homes of the week:

Listing 1 (link)

Listing 2 (link), etc.

This Works because you’re establishing authority and credibility with your target audience. That means showing your subscribers that you’re the Go-To person when it comes to information about the local housing market, schools in the area, home values, etc.

Plus, including a few of the most recent listings provides your subscriber with value from opening your email even if they don’t click to read your content.

4. The Testimonial Email

So much of your business is referral-based because people value the experiences and recommendations of others they know.

What better way to prove you’re the right agent for the job than by showing your leads how happy you’ve made other people and families?

Example

I hope you’ve had a chance to browse some of the listings I sent over in my last email — houses in this area go fast!

If you haven’t already done so, here’s the link to my blog post about the best ways to position yourself as the right buyer in a hot, competitive market (link to blog).

Locals just like you were surprised to learn how quickly they needed to act to secure the home of their dreams in their ideal neighborhood. Check out a few of their stories about working together:

(Include two or three short testimonials)

You can head over to my website to read more testimonials here. (include link)

I’m not only here to help, I’m excited to get started on the most important search of your life. Let’s find your property nirvana together.

This Works because when you frame a recent home-buying story around a testimonial tied to the specific market your lead is interested in, they’ll want (and expect) you to do the same for them.

5. The Learning More About You Email

When you notice a drop in your open or click through rates, or your new subscribers are opening your emails, but not contacting you, it’s time to gather more information about what they’re truly looking for.

Example

I hope you’re finding the content I’m sending along helpful and informative for all your home buying decisions.

To make sure I totally understand what you’re looking for, I’d love to meet with you at my office, or at the new coffee shop on Elm Street, to discuss your wishlist in detail.

You can reach me by replying to this email or contacting me by phone. My number is:…

In the meantime, have you read my clients’ favorite blog posts about buying a home for the first time?:

The 10 Biggest Things to Look for in a New House

How to Become a Well-Qualified Homebuyer (and skip ahead of the pack!)

Please don’t hesitate to reach out; I look forward to hearing from you!

This Works because you’ll be gaining valuable insight about your target audience so you can create content that better connects with them. That will increase your chances of working together.

6. The Wellness Check / Haven’t-Heard-From-You-Yet Email

You won’t hear back from all your leads, and that’s okay.

Whether they were just casual browsers or decided not to take their house-hunting to the next level, they’re still interested in receiving your emails if they haven’t unsubscribed from your emails or marked them as spam yet.

Give them a poke to let them know you’re still ready to help.

Example

Have you seen any homes you want to tour lately?

There’s an open house at 123 Magnolia Street this Saturday at 1 pm I’d love to meet you at! (insert invite)

If your search preferences have changed, you can update them here so you receive properties that better fit your new search. (include link)

Reply to this email and I can change your home criteria search preferences for you or remove you from the email list and notification system if you’d prefer to meet in person and have me search for your dream home instead.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me. I’m looking forward to learning more about how I can help you find your perfect home.

This Works because you’re encouraging contact without being pushy and still providing value. Whether they take you up on this offer or not, they know you want to help.

7. The No Longer Available Lead

When a new lead comes through as the result of a listing another site hasn’t taken down yet, don’t let the lead off the hook just yet.

Example

I loved that house in the South Shores area, too, but unfortunately it’s no longer available.

If you’re still interested in the other amazing properties in the South Shores, check out these South Shores listings that are still available:

Property 1 (insert link)

Property 2 (insert link)

Property 3 (insert link)

I’d love to help you find your perfect home in the South Shores ASAP.

(insert signature)

PS: If you need a cheatsheet of the South Shores area, I’ve attached one to this email. Hope it helps!

This Works because you’re grabbing a lead that may have otherwise walked away if you didn’t present them with other options and a free guide to get them to stick around.

8. The Referral Cold Email

As an agent, 75% of your real estate business comes from referrals. Nailing the referral email for your leads is critical to nabbing their business as well.

Example

Tom Smith gave me your email address.

He may not have told you, but I helped Tom save thousands during the purchase of his first house. We found his dream home together in a tight market in less than six months!

Can I buy you a cup of coffee sometime this week? I haven’t been to the new coffee shop on Willowbranch if you’d like to discuss your home search more in person.

Give me a ring or reply to this email and we’ll meet soon!

This Works because name dropping establishes credibility and builds a bridge to a future relationship. You’re also showing off the benefits that their acquaintance received thanks to your help (and how you’ll try to do the same for them).

Start Your Cold Email Campaign Now and Upgrade Your Leads from Potential to Loyal Customers

Cold email templates guarantee you always automatically have the right words to say at the right touch point with your leads, no matter where they are in your sales funnel.

Just learn how many emails to send without annoying your readers, as 78% of people have unsubscribed because a brand was sending too many.

Ansty buyers should receive new listing emails at least every week if not every day; casual shoppers should have a monthly email from you at a minimum.

Always remember to deliver value, make your emails about your potential customers, and give them one specific call to action to follow and you’ll find success with cold email marketing as a real estate agent in no time.

About The Author

Dave Lawrence is the Head of Growth at Follow Up Boss

Want to integrate Follow Up Boss with your LeadSite? Try out Follow Up Boss two weeks FREE!

Here’s how!

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theokbrowne · 7 years

Text

Not Using Cold Email Templates As An Agent? Big Mistake (with Dave Lawrence from Follow Up Boss!)

Have you mastered the art of cold emailing as an Agent yet?

A cold email is any communication you send before actually making that connection in person.

Cold emailing as a real estate agent requires a balance between delivering value to your subscriber and encouraging them to reach out to discuss home buying or selling in person.

Once you have a lead, you don’t want to waste it. So let’s talk about how to set up your email templates for success.

Six Key Components of Every Successful Cold Email

Email templates make your life easier by removing the guesswork of following up at the right time.

In order for a cold email to appeal to your new leads, it must contain these six essentials:

1. A Clickworthy Subject Line

According to one study, 64% of people admit they open an email solely due to the subject line.

So grab the attention of your leads and they’ll be more likely to open your email, click through the links, and read what you have to say.

Bonus: Emails that include the first name of the recipient in their subject line have higher clickthrough rates than emails that skipped this.

2. Personalization to Create Warm, Fuzzy Vibes

Personalized messages have a 75% higher open rate than those that aren’t customized for their recipients. Personalization also improves click-through rates and conversions by over 5%.

When we share our favorite cold email templates for agents later, we’ll assume you’re going to begin each one with Hi, Hello, or Hey followed by an auto-populated name.

It’s so easy for your email client to do this automatically and it works so well.

3. Valuable Content to Keep Leads Interested

To get your leads to continue reading your emails (and eventually follow your call to action), you have to sweeten the pot with something for them.

Since half of all email users check their inbox when they’re bored, providing content they’ll find useful, valuable, and pertinent will do a lot to entertain them.

To provide valuable content to your leads that improves your open and click-through rates, you’ll need to segment your audience to determine where your lead is in the buying or selling process.

4. One Single Call to Action to Direct Your Recipient

Don’t ask your intended receiver to browse hand-picked listings, follow you on Instagram, and check out your recent blog posts all in the same email. They won’t do any of them.

Give them one direct call to action (CTA) and that will be the only one they take. Conveniently, that’s exactly what you’re aiming for.

5. All Your Contact Details

6. Optimization for Mobile

Stats tell us that 54% of emails are opened on a smartphone and 75% of Gmail users access their accounts from mobile devices.

Yet less than a quarter of emails are actually optimized for mobile screens.

Don’t lose out on this huge chunk of readers just because your emails aren’t formatted right. You’ll gain the competitive advantage and notice higher open and click through rates as a result.

When you include these six must-haves in your cold emails, you’ll increase the chances of hearing back from your leads.

These points also create a general skeleton to follow when creating templates to use instead of constantly writing generic, repetitive emails.

8 Email Templates Every Agent Needs in their Pocket

You know exactly what you want to say at each touch point with your leads, but now you don’t have to waste the brain power or effort to do so.

Write out your version of each of these 8 templates in advance so that you can automate the process with your email marketing provider of choice.

1. The Welcome Email

When someone signs up for your newsletter or registers for notifications about listings on your site, take the opportunity to introduce yourself and make friends.

Don’t bombard your new lead with a ton of info. Keep it short and sweet.

Introduce yourself, quickly explain why you provide something of value, and clearly state your CTA.

Example

You’re smart for signing up for notifications about new listings in the City Heights area.

That market is so hot right now and you’ll be the first to hear about properties that fit your wishlist.

Over the past X years, I’ve worked with first-time homebuyers and seasoned vets in the City Heights area to find their dream home.

To help you during this exciting time, check out this blog post about the 10 Biggest Things to Look for During an Open House (link to content).

You can reach me anytime to discuss the market and your options.

This Works because people are more likely to work with and buy from people they know and trust. Consider your welcome email your chance to show subscribers why you’re in it for them.

2. The Here’s What to Expect Email

Send your welcome email immediately after you score a new subscriber; send an email to lay out what your new contact should expect the next day.

Example

How’s everything going with your home search in the South Bank neighborhood?

Right now you’re receiving emails whenever homes matching your preferences hit the market. And then I’ll be the first to help you find out if that listing is your dream home.

Expect a weekly email about the current real estate market in your area, including links to vital content and information to aid your search.

My doors are always open and my cell phone’s practically glued to my hand. Don’t hesitate to reach out!

This Works because you’re specifically showing your leads the service you’re going to provide to them (for free), which keeps them on the lookout for your upcoming emails.

3. Your Content Emails

If you’re not already active with blogging or social media, consider creating (or outsourcing) high-quality content for your subscribers.

Vary your content between information only you can create (like local guides) and curated content you think your mailing list would be interested in.

Example

Happy Friday!

Did you get a chance to read our most popular blogs of the week? If not, here’s your chance to catch up:

Insert blog titles and links

And in case you missed this week’s new listings in the North Ridge area, here are the 5 most viewed homes of the week:

Listing 1 (link)

Listing 2 (link), etc.

Plus, including a few of the most recent listings provides your subscriber with value from opening your email even if they don’t click to read your content.

4. The Testimonial Email

So much of your business is referral-based because people value the experiences and recommendations of others they know.

What better way to prove you’re the right agent for the job than by showing your leads how happy you’ve made other people and families?

Example

I hope you’ve had a chance to browse some of the listings I sent over in my last email — houses in this area go fast!

If you haven’t already done so, here’s the link to my blog post about the best ways to position yourself as the right buyer in a hot, competitive market (link to blog).

Locals just like you were surprised to learn how quickly they needed to act to secure the home of their dreams in their ideal neighborhood. Check out a few of their stories about working together:

(Include two or three short testimonials)

You can head over to my website to read more testimonials here. (include link)

I’m not only here to help, I’m excited to get started on the most important search of your life. Let’s find your property nirvana together.

This Works because when you frame a recent home-buying story around a testimonial tied to the specific market your lead is interested in, they’ll want (and expect) you to do the same for them.

5. The Learning More About You Email

Example

I hope you’re finding the content I’m sending along helpful and informative for all your home buying decisions.

To make sure I totally understand what you’re looking for, I’d love to meet with you at my office, or at the new coffee shop on Elm Street, to discuss your wishlist in detail.

You can reach me by replying to this email or contacting me by phone. My number is:…

In the meantime, have you read my clients’ favorite blog posts about buying a home for the first time?:

The 10 Biggest Things to Look for in a New House

How to Become a Well-Qualified Homebuyer (and skip ahead of the pack!)

Please don’t hesitate to reach out; I look forward to hearing from you!

This Works because you’ll be gaining valuable insight about your target audience so you can create content that better connects with them. That will increase your chances of working together.

6. The Wellness Check / Haven’t-Heard-From-You-Yet Email

You won’t hear back from all your leads, and that’s okay.

Give them a poke to let them know you’re still ready to help.

Example

Have you seen any homes you want to tour lately?

There’s an open house at 123 Magnolia Street this Saturday at 1 pm I’d love to meet you at! (insert invite)

If your search preferences have changed, you can update them here so you receive properties that better fit your new search. (include link)

Please don’t hesitate to contact me. I’m looking forward to learning more about how I can help you find your perfect home.

This Works because you’re encouraging contact without being pushy and still providing value. Whether they take you up on this offer or not, they know you want to help.

7. The No Longer Available Lead

When a new lead comes through as the result of a listing another site hasn’t taken down yet, don’t let the lead off the hook just yet.

Example

I loved that house in the South Shores area, too, but unfortunately it’s no longer available.

If you’re still interested in the other amazing properties in the South Shores, check out these South Shores listings that are still available:

Property 1 (insert link)

Property 2 (insert link)

Property 3 (insert link)

I’d love to help you find your perfect home in the South Shores ASAP.

(insert signature)

PS: If you need a cheatsheet of the South Shores area, I’ve attached one to this email. Hope it helps!

This Works because you’re grabbing a lead that may have otherwise walked away if you didn’t present from theokbrowne digest https://www.easyagentpro.com/blog/cold-email-templates/

#theokbrowne digest

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