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My(23f) best friend(27m) found my fiancé (26m) on Grindr. Am I crazy to try and get through this?

2024.05.14 13:55 ThrowRA_manicbestie My(23f) best friend(27m) found my fiancé (26m) on Grindr. Am I crazy to try and get through this?

It’s exactly as the title says. I’ve been with my fiancé for 4 going on 5 years, our relationship has been amazing up to this point. We were talking about marriage, buying a house, kids….
I’ll try to keep on track. 2 months ago my friend asked me if my fiancé is bi also (I am bi) and I said no. He proceeded to show me a grindr post with my fiancé on it, his picture that I recognize from years ago when we first started dating. I immediately tried to confirm. This is when I found out the important fact that you have to pay to tap on any profile u want for grindr (this will be relevant later) I paid my friend so we could see his profile. My heart sank. I felt sick. And I made an attempt on my Life immediately after but was saved by nearby railway officers. I couldn’t deal with the pain. when I finally did come home (we live together) he was surprised to see me because I was supposed to be at work (I work 2 jobs, 1 full time in the day and a part time at night a few times a week) when I came in, he was in the game. Everything looked so normal, it didn’t look like he was being nefarious or anything and I think that hurt me more. Just knowing he could have been doing this the whole time right next to me and I would never know, it hurt.
I confronted him by giving back my ring. I told him he broke the promise it stood for and to keep it. He tried to put it back on me and asked what’s wrong. I just cried. I thought I would be mad when I saw him, but I saw the years we spent together in his eyes. I asked him if he was hiding anything from me. I told him I wouldn’t be mad if he can admit it. I wanted him to be more hurt but he defended himself saying he doesn’t know what I’m talking about. I dropped the bomb that I saw his Grindr account. He said he’s not gay or bi or even questioning and that it must be someone else. I didn’t believe him. I told him I knew about him having the account for a long time. I just needed the truth. This is where I take a brief moment to explain that I’ve seen emails and AppStore notifications about Grindr. Stuff like “even if you delete the app it will not stop your subscription “ and I saw he had texts with a man where he said that he (my fiancé) was trying to come through and fuck him. This was the second year of us dating that I found this. I said I saw the notification about Grindr but nothing about the texts. Back then he said it was spam. We lived together already. I left it alone, there wasn’t any other proof of it and I did not know that you had to pay for it back then(yeah I know that the part about the subscription in the notification should’ve tipped me off but I was going through a lot back then) Back to the present, he refused to admit it. I threatened him and he stayed adamant. I asked him if he would tell me if he was gay and he said ofc. That he wouldn’t tell his very religious parents but would tell at least me. He’s been cheated on by a woman being with a woman. I didn’t think he would do that. So I let it go. For then. Then I found femboy porn in his searches. My friend that found this out is becoming trans. I felt sick knowing that my best friend was a better match for him than me. Our sex life is up and down. It’s amazing when it happens but it doesn’t happen often. I’ve gone 8 months without sex at one time during our relationship. 1 time every month to 2 months is our constant average. I was told by other people that while that isn’t normal for our age group, it happens. Since then, I haven’t worn my ring. I’m not cold to him, I still love him with all my heart. I’m still affectionate, but it hurts to sleep next to him. I hate that I have to second guess him. I want this to work but it feels like I’m beating a dead horse. I have no family. I have very few friends and I am the friend out of all my friend groups that has gotten their shit together the most. We have a place together. His family loves me. I know all his friends. I feel like my life is in shambles… Why bring this up today? Because I got STI tests for both of us shortly after this came out (he agreed hesitantly bc he said if I’m clean he’s clean) and it turns out I have stage 1 kidney failure. I may leave this earth and have no one by my side til the end. I’m scared. I’m not going to get treatment, it’s my decision and I don’t want to be on a ton of meds the rest of my life. Is our relationship salvageable? We’ve had so many great times and he has helped me grow as a person so much. Same for me to him. I love that we bring out the best in eachother. But now what… Sorry if I rambled. I would appreciate any advice
submitted by ThrowRA_manicbestie to relationship_advice [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 13:23 digital_wiz How We Scaled a Hair Extension Brand using Facebook Ads and SEO to give $80,000 ROI in 6 Months (Detailed Breakdown)

Hello Redditors,
This is an incredible success story of how we helped a client achieve incredible results in just four months, generating an $80,000 return on investment (ROI) with a combination of SEO and Facebook Ads. We have completed many successful projects and there's a certain satisfaction in seeing our strategies translate to such tangible growth. I have tried to keep this post extremely detailed so that it can be beneficial for experienced marketers and newcomers alike.
The Client: Hair Extension E-commerce Brand
Revenue Split Between SEO and Fb ads: 3:2
Average Order Value: $350
Total Revenue(6 months): $140,000
Expenses(6 months): Product Cost + Delivery cost + Team + Agency Fees + Ads Cost+ Website Optimization + Packaging: $60000
Basic Company Background:
The brand was being run by a Mother-Daughter duo for the past 3 months. They had a shopify website with average structure and were struggling with facebook ads themselves. Although they made few physical sales due to friends and relatives but were unable to utilize the digital potential of their business as such. After trying facebook ads for some time they wanted a reliable digital marketing team to work with and they were recommended to us by one of our other customers who has a service based business. Initially we connected majorly for facebook ads but after the initial discussion when were doing research from our side, we found that there is huge potential in SEO for this niche so we suggested that we should prepare a proper website on wordpress and focus on both SEO and Ads parallelly as, although Ads will give an initial boost to the business but SEO will bring some stability and help in building a sustainable business.
Facebook Ads Campaign Structure:
Ads Creatives and Brand Positioning:
It's important to note that after deep research we could find that a major share our hair extensions customers are females aged between 21-45 so we did not actively position our brand as solving problems of low hair volume, but instead we focused on how the products ads style, gives a much better look and you can try new hairstyles and hair colors daily. Also since almost all the demographics in this age group are working, we tested a professional look angle as well which gave us decent results. In ad creatives as well as on the website we made the daughter as the face of the product as we want to slowly grow her instagram as well which can add another organic and sustainable stream of revenue. She shoots before and after transition videos, general product application videos and other videos for ads according to the target audience and brand positioning strategy we discussed earlier. Instead of making long videos focused on product details a lot, we made short but captivating videos which can appeal to the young audience’s fashion sense.
Key Takeaways from FB Ads:
Mostly Meta Ads or Any other marketing tactic is just a traffic source but conversion will basically happen by how well you are able to communicate your product to the audience through your website. Its is necessary to have a smooth user journey, attractive offers, crisp information and right brand positioning on the website.
It is extremely important to make data driven decisions and track customer journeys meticulously. Always rely on your own tracking or google analytics to avoid the potential unreliability of Facebook Ads Manager.
Seo Strategy
If you don’t already know this, SEO is all about how effectively you can strategize your content and technical efforts keeping a bigger picture in mind. After our initial keyword research we could find that the average Kd of the important keywords was low when it comes to commercial keywords which were directly related to the business.
It's important to note that since the website was being built after our onboarding only so it was easy for us to structure the website according to the SEO strategy that we prepared.
At every stage we had meetings with the developer to ensure that there are no technical issues that will hinder the SEO growth and future and also we structured the website to be SEO friendly. We built separate pages for all the product categories and after through keyword research we added content to those pages so that the pages itself can rank for commercial keywords.
After the website was ready we audited it for technical issues(Like mobile friendliness, H1 tags, canonical tags, etc) we started focusing on the content. We wanted to establish our website as a trusted authority in the hair extensions and hair care industry in general.
Since the website was completely new, initially we created blogs(2-3 times per week) around informational keywords with low KD purely for increasing our website authority and bringing the initial traffic on the website. We have seen that usually people start stressing about approaching big websites for guest postings since the first day itself but if your keyword research and content is solid, that is not required in the beginning. Initially we focused on profile creations, image submissions, pdf submissions, internal linking in the content, web 2.0 backlinks etc and this was more than enough for us to rank for low difficulty keywords and increase our DA to a decent level so that our category pages can rank for low difficulty keywords.
Here I would like to include a tip, many times people are worried that what if the backlink that they have created doesn't get indexed. In the initial phase we work really hard when it comes to what we call as maturing our backlinks as this is the major factor for ranking on low difficulty keywords. So basically what we do is, we make backlinks of our web 2.0 backlinks itself which helps the primary backlink in getting indexed which ultimately helps with our website DA.
Also many people have been asking us in our previous posts how we structure our blog since I talk a lot about content quality, see it's not as hard and it doesn't involve a lot of research at least in the initial phase when you just have to rank on low difficulty keywords. In this phase usually what we do is study the top 5 ranking blogs on the particular keyword and make sure that we include more content and more subheadings then them. Also we try to find opportunities to include tables or charts wherever possible, we include good quality images(original if possible) and at this stage internal linking is very very important so we focus on that as well. In later stages although the basic strategy for framing the blogs remains same, overall content strategy varies a lot from business to business and requires a lot of strategizing depending on the brand positioning goals.
So after we were able to rank for low difficulty informational keywords and our Website DA reached a decent level due to our backlinking efforts, we started writing content around the fashion advice and common problems which people face related to hair in general. But as discussed earlier, we wanted to keep our brand positioning fashion centric, so even while writing about common problems we applied a positive and solution centric approach. We strategically placed internal links to our product pages in the content and tested popups with offers as well. Apart from this, we started guest posting as well at this stage. For finding websites for guest posting we used SEMrush’s backlink gap analysis tool and created a segregated list of blogs that we can reach out to based on their content quality and DA. By this time the store started generating decent revenue from ads and SEO so the client was completely onboard with reaching out to blogs for guest posting. Guest posting and overall strategic SEO application started generating a good amount of traffic for us and in 3-4 months the revenue generated due to SEO surpassed our Ads revenue as well.
Advantages of Combining SEO and Paid Ads
While Facebook Ads played a crucial role in launching the brand and driving initial traffic, SEO has emerged as the primary driver of sustainable growth. This approach allowed us to:
SEO efforts are always ongoing but we are really satisfied with the base that we have built and we are really looking forward to working with keywords with higher KD and generating more revenue with SEO In the upcoming months. Although we will keep running ads in future as well mostly for awareness purposes but the major revenue will be generated from our SEO efforts. Apart from this, as we mentioned earlier, we are looking to actively start the Social Media efforts as well from the next month itself. We will be looking to target Instagram and Tiktok in the initial phase and we believe in 2-3 months social media will contribute towards 25% of our revenue which will grow rapidly.
Thankyou For Reading!
submitted by digital_wiz to SideProject [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 13:07 Soninetz ThirstySprout Pricing: Unveiling Value & Model

ThirstySprout Pricing: Unveiling Value & Model
Are you tired of searching high and low for the best pricing options for ThirstySprout? Dive into this comprehensive guide to unlock the secrets of ThirstySprout pricing, sourcing, and product. Get ready to discover cost-effective solutions that will elevate your business without breaking the bank efficiently. Say goodbye to endless browsing and hello to simplified pricing strategies tailored just for you.
Useful Links:
  1. Thirstysprout LifeTime Deal
  2. Thirstysprout Free Trial

Key Takeaways

  • Understand ThirstySprout's Value: Prioritize understanding the unique value proposition of ThirstySprout to make informed decisions about your hiring needs.
  • Fast and Effective Hiring: Utilize ThirstySprout's services for quick and efficient hiring processes, saving time and resources for your business.
  • Explore Flexible Pricing Options: Take advantage of the flexible pricing options offered by ThirstySprout to tailor hiring solutions that fit your budget and requirements.
  • Consider Unique Hiring Solutions: Embrace ThirstySprout's innovative hiring solutions to access a diverse pool of candidates and find the best fit for your organization.
  • Choose ThirstySprout for Quality Service: Opt for ThirstySprout for their commitment to providing high-quality service, personalized assistance, and reliable hiring outcomes.
  • Make Informed Decisions: When selecting a hiring platform, remember the benefits of ThirstySprout's value, speed, flexibility, uniqueness, and quality service.

Understanding ThirstySprout's Value

Hiring Solutions

ThirstySprout offers comprehensive hiring solutions that cater to a wide range of recruitment needs. Whether a company is looking for full-time employees, part-time staff, or freelancers, ThirstySprout's platform provides the tools and resources to streamline the hiring process efficiently.
The platform's user-friendly interface allows businesses to post job listings easily and reach a large pool of qualified candidates. ThirstySprout's advanced matching algorithms help connect employers with the most suitable candidates based on their skills, experience, and preferences.
https://preview.redd.it/2pt3nduvjd0d1.png?width=988&format=png&auto=webp&s=ddc56ff3e2d3f80ea19bccb3616085227c084614
Don't settle for mediocre talent. Experience the power of AI-driven hiring with ThirstySprout. Sign up now for your free trial! 💼

Candidate Screening Process

ThirstySprout's candidate screening process is powered by advanced algorithms that analyze resumes, cover letters, and other relevant information to identify top talent quickly. This automated screening process saves time for recruiters and ensures that only the most qualified candidates are presented for further consideration.
By leveraging technology to streamline the initial screening stages, ThirstySprout enables businesses to focus their efforts on interviewing and evaluating the best candidates for the job. This approach increases efficiency and improves the overall quality of hires made through the platform.

Flexible Staffing Options

ThirstySprout empowers businesses with flexible staffing options to meet specific talent requirements. Whether a company needs temporary workers for a short-term project or long-term contractors for ongoing support, ThirstySprout provides access to a diverse pool of skilled professionals.
Companies can adjust their staffing levels based on fluctuating workloads or seasonal demands without being tied down by traditional employment contracts. This flexibility allows businesses to scale their workforce up or down as needed, ensuring they have the right talent in place at all times.

Fast and Effective Hiring

Quick Pairing

ThirstySprout revolutionizes hiring by swiftly connecting clients with top development talent. The platform's efficient algorithms match businesses with skilled developers in a short period, ensuring prompt project commencement.
ThirstySprout's focus on efficient development resources allows companies to source high-quality candidates without the usual delays. By leveraging cutting-edge technology, the platform significantly reduces the time spent on recruitment, enabling businesses to meet project deadlines effectively.

Streamlined Process

ThirstySprout's commitment to successful waiting minimizes the traditional challenges of hiring. Through rigorous verification processes, the platform ensures that only the most qualified developers are presented to clients for consideration. This stringent vetting process guarantees that businesses receive top-tier talent promptly.
  • Efficient algorithms for quick pairing
  • Reduced recruitment time for urgent needs
  • Rigorous verification process for high-quality candidates
Useful Links:
  1. Thirstysprout LifeTime Deal
  2. Thirstysprout Free Trial

Flexible Pricing Options

Direct Hire

ThirstySprout offers a wide array of pricing options to cater to diverse business needs. For companies seeking long-term staffing solutions, the Direct Hire model provides a cost-effective way to onboard full-time employees.

Contract/Contingent

Businesses looking for flexible staffing arrangements can opt for ThirstySprout's Contract/Contingent services. This model allows companies to scale their workforce up or down based on project requirements, ensuring optimal resource utilization.

Offshore Staffing

ThirstySprout's Offshore Staffing services enable businesses to tap into a global talent pool, accessing skilled professionals from around the world. This model offers cost savings while maintaining high-quality deliverables.

Fractional Recruiter

By hiring a fractional recruiter through ThirstySprout, companies can benefit from expert recruitment services on a part-time basis. This option is ideal for businesses that require top-tier talent acquisition expertise without the commitment of a full-time hire.

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)

ThirstySprout's RPO services allow businesses to outsource their entire recruitment process to a dedicated team of experts. This approach streamlines the hiring process, improves efficiency, and ensures access to great talent across different industries.

Unique Hiring Solutions

AI Sourcing Engine

ThirstySprout revolutionizes hiring with its Global AI Sourcing Engine, connecting companies with top technical talent worldwide. This cutting-edge technology streamlines the recruitment process, ensuring access to the right development talent efficiently.
The platform's AI algorithms analyze vast talent pools to match companies with the most suitable candidates for their projects. By leveraging this advanced system, businesses can swiftly assemble skilled technical teams for their urgent feature development needs.

Upskilling Initiatives

ThirstySprout goes beyond traditional hiring by offering upskilling initiatives to enhance the expertise of existing teams. Through tailored learning opportunities such as courses and workshops, employees can refine their technical skill sets and stay ahead in the fast-paced world of software development.
The platform's focus on continuous learning not only benefits individual professionals but also strengthens entire companies by fostering a culture of innovation and growth. By investing in upskilling, organizations can boost productivity, drive creativity, and tackle complex projects with confidence.

Why Choose ThirstySprout

Testimonials

Clients praise ThirstySprout for its efficient hiring processes and top-tier talent pool. They highlight the company's commitment to finding the perfect match for their needs.

Trustworthiness

ThirstySprout stands out for its trustworthiness, ensuring that businesses receive reliable and skilled professionals. Clients appreciate the company's dedication to quality and integrity.

Collaboration Ease

Clients value ThirstySprout's ease of collaboration, making the process smooth and hassle-free. The platform fosters open communication, leading to successful partnerships.

Quality Resources

ThirstySprout excels in connecting businesses with quality resources, enabling them to access top-notch talent for their projects. Clients rely on the platform for exceptional results.

Swift Developer Placement

With a focus on meeting clients' feature development needs, ThirstySprout has a track record of placing seasoned developers quickly. This agility ensures timely project delivery and client satisfaction.

Final Remarks

In a nutshell, ThirstySprout offers unbeatable value with its fast, effective, and flexible hiring solutions. By choosing ThirstySprout, you gain access to unique hiring strategies that can revolutionize your recruitment process. The platform's innovative approach ensures that you find the right candidates quickly and efficiently, saving you time and resources while enhancing your team with top-tier talent.
Ready to elevate your hiring game? Take the plunge with ThirstySprout today and experience a new era of recruitment success. Your dream team is just a click away!
Elevate your hiring game with ThirstySprout's cutting-edge AI solutions. Take advantage of our free trial offer now! 🌟

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes ThirstySprout's pricing options unique?

ThirstySprout offers tailored pricing solutions to fit your hiring needs, ensuring cost-effectiveness and flexibility. With transparent pricing models and no hidden fees, you can choose a plan that aligns perfectly with your budget and requirements.

How does ThirstySprout ensure fast and effective hiring?

ThirstySprout streamlines the hiring process by leveraging cutting-edge technology and a vast network of top-tier candidates. Our efficient platform allows you to connect with qualified talent swiftly, reducing time-to-hire and ensuring you find the perfect match for your team.

What value does ThirstySprout bring to businesses?

ThirstySprout provides unparalleled value by offering innovative hiring solutions that save time and resources. With access to a diverse pool of skilled professionals, businesses can enhance their teams' capabilities, drive growth, and achieve their goals efficiently.

Why should I choose ThirstySprout over other recruitment platforms?

ThirstySprout stands out for its commitment to delivering exceptional results through personalized service and advanced technology. By choosing us, you gain access to a dedicated team of experts who prioritize your success, making the hiring process seamless and rewarding.

Can ThirstySprout cater to specific hiring needs?

Yes, ThirstySprout specializes in providing customized hiring solutions tailored to meet your unique requirements. Whether you need temporary staff, full-time employees, or specialized talent for project-based work, we have the expertise and resources to support your diverse hiring needs effectively.
Useful Links:
  1. Thirstysprout LifeTime Deal
  2. Thirstysprout Free Trial
submitted by Soninetz to NutraVestaProVen [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 13:04 digital_wiz How We Scaled a Hair Extension Brand using Facebook Ads and SEO to give $80,000 ROI in 6 Months (Detailed Breakdown)

Hello Redditors,
This is an incredible success story of how we helped a client achieve incredible results in just four months, generating an $80,000 return on investment (ROI) with a combination of SEO and Facebook Ads. We have completed many successful projects and there's a certain satisfaction in seeing our strategies translate to such tangible growth. I have tried to keep this post extremely detailed so that it can be beneficial for experienced marketers and newcomers alike.
The Client: Hair Extension E-commerce Brand
Revenue Split Between SEO and Fb ads: 3:2
Average Order Value: $350
Facebook Ads Spend(For 6 Months): $10,000
Total Revenue(6 months): $140,000
Other Expenses(6 months): Product Cost + Delivery cost + Team + Agency Fees + Website Optimization + Packaging: $50000
Basic Company Background:
The brand was being run by a Mother-Daughter duo for the past 3 months. They had a shopify website with average structure and were struggling with facebook ads themselves. Although they made few physical sales due to friends and relatives but were unable to utilize the digital potential of their business as such. After trying facebook ads for some time they wanted a reliable digital marketing team to work with and they were recommended to us by one of our other customers who has a service based business. Initially we connected majorly for facebook ads but after the initial discussion when were doing research from our side, we found that there is huge potential in SEO for this niche so we suggested that we should prepare a proper website on wordpress and focus on both SEO and Ads parallelly as, although Ads will give an initial boost to the business but SEO will bring some stability and help in building a sustainable business.
Facebook Ads Campaign Structure:
Ads Creatives and Brand Positioning:
It's important to note that after deep research we could find that a major share our hair extensions customers are females aged between 21-45 so we did not actively position our brand as solving problems of low hair volume, but instead we focused on how the products ads style, gives a much better look and you can try new hairstyles and hair colors daily. Also since almost all the demographics in this age group are working, we tested a professional look angle as well which gave us decent results. In ad creatives as well as on the website we made the daughter as the face of the product as we want to slowly grow her instagram as well which can add another organic and sustainable stream of revenue. She shoots before and after transition videos, general product application videos and other videos for ads according to the target audience and brand positioning strategy we discussed earlier. Instead of making long videos focused on product details a lot, we made short but captivating videos which can appeal to the young audience’s fashion sense.
Key Takeaways from FB Ads:
Mostly Meta Ads or Any other marketing tactic is just a traffic source but conversion will basically happen by how well you are able to communicate your product to the audience through your website. Its is necessary to have a smooth user journey, attractive offers, crisp information and right brand positioning on the website.
It is extremely important to make data driven decisions and track customer journeys meticulously. Always rely on your own tracking or google analytics to avoid the potential unreliability of Facebook Ads Manager.
Seo Strategy
If you don’t already know this, SEO is all about how effectively you can strategize your content and technical efforts keeping a bigger picture in mind. After our initial keyword research we could find that the average Kd of the important keywords was low when it comes to commercial keywords which were directly related to the business.
It's important to note that since the website was being built after our onboarding only so it was easy for us to structure the website according to the SEO strategy that we prepared.
At every stage we had meetings with the developer to ensure that there are no technical issues that will hinder the SEO growth and future and also we structured the website to be SEO friendly. We built separate pages for all the product categories and after through keyword research we added content to those pages so that the pages itself can rank for commercial keywords.
After the website was ready we audited it for technical issues(Like mobile friendliness, H1 tags, canonical tags, etc) we started focusing on the content. We wanted to establish our website as a trusted authority in the hair extensions and hair care industry in general.
Since the website was completely new, initially we created blogs(2-3 times per week) around informational keywords with low KD purely for increasing our website authority and bringing the initial traffic on the website. We have seen that usually people start stressing about approaching big websites for guest postings since the first day itself but if your keyword research and content is solid, that is not required in the beginning. Initially we focused on profile creations, image submissions, pdf submissions, internal linking in the content, web 2.0 backlinks etc and this was more than enough for us to rank for low difficulty keywords and increase our DA to a decent level so that our category pages can rank for low difficulty keywords.
Here I would like to include a tip, many times people are worried that what if the backlink that they have created doesn't get indexed. In the initial phase we work really hard when it comes to what we call as maturing our backlinks as this is the major factor for ranking on low difficulty keywords. So basically what we do is, we make backlinks of our web 2.0 backlinks itself which helps the primary backlink in getting indexed which ultimately helps with our website DA.
Also many people have been asking us in our previous posts how we structure our blog since I talk a lot about content quality, see it's not as hard and it doesn't involve a lot of research at least in the initial phase when you just have to rank on low difficulty keywords. In this phase usually what we do is study the top 5 ranking blogs on the particular keyword and make sure that we include more content and more subheadings then them. Also we try to find opportunities to include tables or charts wherever possible, we include good quality images(original if possible) and at this stage internal linking is very very important so we focus on that as well. In later stages although the basic strategy for framing the blogs remains same, overall content strategy varies a lot from business to business and requires a lot of strategizing depending on the brand positioning goals.
So after we were able to rank for low difficulty informational keywords and our Website DA reached a decent level due to our backlinking efforts, we started writing content around the fashion advice and common problems which people face related to hair in general. But as discussed earlier, we wanted to keep our brand positioning fashion centric, so even while writing about common problems we applied a positive and solution centric approach. We strategically placed internal links to our product pages in the content and tested popups with offers as well. Apart from this, we started guest posting as well at this stage. For finding websites for guest posting we used SEMrush’s backlink gap analysis tool and created a segregated list of blogs that we can reach out to based on their content quality and DA. By this time the store started generating decent revenue from ads and SEO so the client was completely onboard with reaching out to blogs for guest posting. Guest posting and overall strategic SEO application started generating a good amount of traffic for us and in 3-4 months the revenue generated due to SEO surpassed our Ads revenue as well.
Advantages of Combining SEO and Paid Ads
While Facebook Ads played a crucial role in launching the brand and driving initial traffic, SEO has emerged as the primary driver of sustainable growth. This approach allowed us to:
SEO efforts are always ongoing but we are really satisfied with the base that we have built and we are really looking forward to working with keywords with higher KD and generating more revenue with SEO In the upcoming months. Although we will keep running ads in future as well mostly for awareness purposes but the major revenue will be generated from our SEO efforts. Apart from this, as we mentioned earlier, we are looking to actively start the Social Media efforts as well from the next month itself. We will be looking to target Instagram and Tiktok in the initial phase and we believe in 2-3 months social media will contribute towards 25% of our revenue which will grow rapidly.
Thankyou For Reading!
submitted by digital_wiz to SEO_Digital_Marketing [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 13:01 digital_wiz How We Scaled a Hair Extension Brand using Facebook Ads and SEO to give $80,000 ROI in 6 Months (Detailed Breakdown)

Hello Redditors,
This is an incredible success story of how we helped a client achieve incredible results in just four months, generating an $80,000 return on investment (ROI) with a combination of SEO and Facebook Ads. We have completed many successful projects and there's a certain satisfaction in seeing our strategies translate to such tangible growth. I have tried to keep this post extremely detailed so that it can be beneficial for experienced marketers and newcomers alike.
The Client: Hair Extension E-commerce Brand
Revenue Split Between SEO and Fb ads: 3:2
Average Order Value: $350
Total Revenue(6 months): $140,000
Expenses(6 months): Product Cost + Delivery cost + Team + Agency Fees + Ads Cost + Website Optimization + Packaging: $60000
Basic Company Background:
The brand was being run by a Mother-Daughter duo for the past 3 months. They had a shopify website with average structure and were struggling with facebook ads themselves. Although they made few physical sales due to friends and relatives but were unable to utilize the digital potential of their business as such. After trying facebook ads for some time they wanted a reliable digital marketing team to work with and they were recommended to us by one of our other customers who has a service based business. Initially we connected majorly for facebook ads but after the initial discussion when were doing research from our side, we found that there is huge potential in SEO for this niche so we suggested that we should prepare a proper website on wordpress and focus on both SEO and Ads parallelly as, although Ads will give an initial boost to the business but SEO will bring some stability and help in building a sustainable business.
Facebook Ads Campaign Structure:
Ads Creatives and Brand Positioning:
It's important to note that after deep research we could find that a major share our hair extensions customers are females aged between 21-45 so we did not actively position our brand as solving problems of low hair volume, but instead we focused on how the products ads style, gives a much better look and you can try new hairstyles and hair colors daily. Also since almost all the demographics in this age group are working, we tested a professional look angle as well which gave us decent results. In ad creatives as well as on the website we made the daughter as the face of the product as we want to slowly grow her instagram as well which can add another organic and sustainable stream of revenue. She shoots before and after transition videos, general product application videos and other videos for ads according to the target audience and brand positioning strategy we discussed earlier. Instead of making long videos focused on product details a lot, we made short but captivating videos which can appeal to the young audience’s fashion sense.
Key Takeaways from FB Ads:
Mostly Meta Ads or Any other marketing tactic is just a traffic source but conversion will basically happen by how well you are able to communicate your product to the audience through your website. Its is necessary to have a smooth user journey, attractive offers, crisp information and right brand positioning on the website.
It is extremely important to make data driven decisions and track customer journeys meticulously. Always rely on your own tracking or google analytics to avoid the potential unreliability of Facebook Ads Manager.
Seo Strategy
If you don’t already know this, SEO is all about how effectively you can strategize your content and technical efforts keeping a bigger picture in mind. After our initial keyword research we could find that the average Kd of the important keywords was low when it comes to commercial keywords which were directly related to the business.
It's important to note that since the website was being built after our onboarding only so it was easy for us to structure the website according to the SEO strategy that we prepared.
At every stage we had meetings with the developer to ensure that there are no technical issues that will hinder the SEO growth and future and also we structured the website to be SEO friendly. We built separate pages for all the product categories and after through keyword research we added content to those pages so that the pages itself can rank for commercial keywords.
After the website was ready we audited it for technical issues(Like mobile friendliness, H1 tags, canonical tags, etc) we started focusing on the content. We wanted to establish our website as a trusted authority in the hair extensions and hair care industry in general.
Since the website was completely new, initially we created blogs(2-3 times per week) around informational keywords with low KD purely for increasing our website authority and bringing the initial traffic on the website. We have seen that usually people start stressing about approaching big websites for guest postings since the first day itself but if your keyword research and content is solid, that is not required in the beginning. Initially we focused on profile creations, image submissions, pdf submissions, internal linking in the content, web 2.0 backlinks etc and this was more than enough for us to rank for low difficulty keywords and increase our DA to a decent level so that our category pages can rank for low difficulty keywords.
Here I would like to include a tip, many times people are worried that what if the backlink that they have created doesn't get indexed. In the initial phase we work really hard when it comes to what we call as maturing our backlinks as this is the major factor for ranking on low difficulty keywords. So basically what we do is, we make backlinks of our web 2.0 backlinks itself which helps the primary backlink in getting indexed which ultimately helps with our website DA.
Also many people have been asking us in our previous posts how we structure our blog since I talk a lot about content quality, see it's not as hard and it doesn't involve a lot of research at least in the initial phase when you just have to rank on low difficulty keywords. In this phase usually what we do is study the top 5 ranking blogs on the particular keyword and make sure that we include more content and more subheadings then them. Also we try to find opportunities to include tables or charts wherever possible, we include good quality images(original if possible) and at this stage internal linking is very very important so we focus on that as well. In later stages although the basic strategy for framing the blogs remains same, overall content strategy varies a lot from business to business and requires a lot of strategizing depending on the brand positioning goals.
So after we were able to rank for low difficulty informational keywords and our Website DA reached a decent level due to our backlinking efforts, we started writing content around the fashion advice and common problems which people face related to hair in general. But as discussed earlier, we wanted to keep our brand positioning fashion centric, so even while writing about common problems we applied a positive and solution centric approach. We strategically placed internal links to our product pages in the content and tested popups with offers as well. Apart from this, we started guest posting as well at this stage. For finding websites for guest posting we used SEMrush’s backlink gap analysis tool and created a segregated list of blogs that we can reach out to based on their content quality and DA. By this time the store started generating decent revenue from ads and SEO so the client was completely onboard with reaching out to blogs for guest posting. Guest posting and overall strategic SEO application started generating a good amount of traffic for us and in 3-4 months the revenue generated due to SEO surpassed our Ads revenue as well.
Advantages of Combining SEO and Paid Ads
While Facebook Ads played a crucial role in launching the brand and driving initial traffic, SEO has emerged as the primary driver of sustainable growth. This approach allowed us to:
SEO efforts are always ongoing but we are really satisfied with the base that we have built and we are really looking forward to working with keywords with higher KD and generating more revenue with SEO In the upcoming months. Although we will keep running ads in future as well mostly for awareness purposes but the major revenue will be generated from our SEO efforts. Apart from this, as we mentioned earlier, we are looking to actively start the Social Media efforts as well from the next month itself. We will be looking to target Instagram and Tiktok in the initial phase and we believe in 2-3 months social media will contribute towards 25% of our revenue which will grow rapidly.
Thankyou For Reading!
submitted by digital_wiz to DigitalMarketing [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 13:00 digital_wiz How We Scaled a Hair Extension Brand using Facebook Ads and SEO to give $80,000 ROI in 6 Months (Detailed Breakdown)

Hello Redditors,
This is an incredible success story of how we helped a client achieve incredible results in just four months, generating an $80,000 return on investment (ROI) with a combination of SEO and Facebook Ads. We have completed many successful projects and there's a certain satisfaction in seeing our strategies translate to such tangible growth. I have tried to keep this post extremely detailed so that it can be beneficial for experienced marketers and newcomers alike.
The Client: Hair Extension E-commerce Brand
Revenue Split Between SEO and Fb ads: 3:2
Average Order Value: $350
Facebook Ads Spend(For 6 Months): $10,000
Total Revenue(6 months): $140,000
Other Expenses(6 months): Product Cost + Delivery cost + Team + Agency Fees + Website Optimization + Packaging: $50000
Basic Company Background:
The brand was being run by a Mother-Daughter duo for the past 3 months. They had a shopify website with average structure and were struggling with facebook ads themselves. Although they made few physical sales due to friends and relatives but were unable to utilize the digital potential of their business as such. After trying facebook ads for some time they wanted a reliable digital marketing team to work with and they were recommended to us by one of our other customers who has a service based business. Initially we connected majorly for facebook ads but after the initial discussion when were doing research from our side, we found that there is huge potential in SEO for this niche so we suggested that we should prepare a proper website on wordpress and focus on both SEO and Ads parallelly as, although Ads will give an initial boost to the business but SEO will bring some stability and help in building a sustainable business.
Facebook Ads Campaign Structure:
Ads Creatives and Brand Positioning:
It's important to note that after deep research we could find that a major share our hair extensions customers are females aged between 21-45 so we did not actively position our brand as solving problems of low hair volume, but instead we focused on how the products ads style, gives a much better look and you can try new hairstyles and hair colors daily. Also since almost all the demographics in this age group are working, we tested a professional look angle as well which gave us decent results. In ad creatives as well as on the website we made the daughter as the face of the product as we want to slowly grow her instagram as well which can add another organic and sustainable stream of revenue. She shoots before and after transition videos, general product application videos and other videos for ads according to the target audience and brand positioning strategy we discussed earlier. Instead of making long videos focused on product details a lot, we made short but captivating videos which can appeal to the young audience’s fashion sense.
Key Takeaways from FB Ads:
Mostly Meta Ads or Any other marketing tactic is just a traffic source but conversion will basically happen by how well you are able to communicate your product to the audience through your website. Its is necessary to have a smooth user journey, attractive offers, crisp information and right brand positioning on the website.
It is extremely important to make data driven decisions and track customer journeys meticulously. Always rely on your own tracking or google analytics to avoid the potential unreliability of Facebook Ads Manager.
Seo Strategy
If you don’t already know this, SEO is all about how effectively you can strategize your content and technical efforts keeping a bigger picture in mind. After our initial keyword research we could find that the average Kd of the important keywords was low when it comes to commercial keywords which were directly related to the business.
It's important to note that since the website was being built after our onboarding only so it was easy for us to structure the website according to the SEO strategy that we prepared.
At every stage we had meetings with the developer to ensure that there are no technical issues that will hinder the SEO growth and future and also we structured the website to be SEO friendly. We built separate pages for all the product categories and after through keyword research we added content to those pages so that the pages itself can rank for commercial keywords.
After the website was ready we audited it for technical issues(Like mobile friendliness, H1 tags, canonical tags, etc) we started focusing on the content. We wanted to establish our website as a trusted authority in the hair extensions and hair care industry in general.
Since the website was completely new, initially we created blogs(2-3 times per week) around informational keywords with low KD purely for increasing our website authority and bringing the initial traffic on the website. We have seen that usually people start stressing about approaching big websites for guest postings since the first day itself but if your keyword research and content is solid, that is not required in the beginning. Initially we focused on profile creations, image submissions, pdf submissions, internal linking in the content, web 2.0 backlinks etc and this was more than enough for us to rank for low difficulty keywords and increase our DA to a decent level so that our category pages can rank for low difficulty keywords.
Here I would like to include a tip, many times people are worried that what if the backlink that they have created doesn't get indexed. In the initial phase we work really hard when it comes to what we call as maturing our backlinks as this is the major factor for ranking on low difficulty keywords. So basically what we do is, we make backlinks of our web 2.0 backlinks itself which helps the primary backlink in getting indexed which ultimately helps with our website DA.
Also many people have been asking us in our previous posts how we structure our blog since I talk a lot about content quality, see it's not as hard and it doesn't involve a lot of research at least in the initial phase when you just have to rank on low difficulty keywords. In this phase usually what we do is study the top 5 ranking blogs on the particular keyword and make sure that we include more content and more subheadings then them. Also we try to find opportunities to include tables or charts wherever possible, we include good quality images(original if possible) and at this stage internal linking is very very important so we focus on that as well. In later stages although the basic strategy for framing the blogs remains same, overall content strategy varies a lot from business to business and requires a lot of strategizing depending on the brand positioning goals.
So after we were able to rank for low difficulty informational keywords and our Website DA reached a decent level due to our backlinking efforts, we started writing content around the fashion advice and common problems which people face related to hair in general. But as discussed earlier, we wanted to keep our brand positioning fashion centric, so even while writing about common problems we applied a positive and solution centric approach. We strategically placed internal links to our product pages in the content and tested popups with offers as well. Apart from this, we started guest posting as well at this stage. For finding websites for guest posting we used SEMrush’s backlink gap analysis tool and created a segregated list of blogs that we can reach out to based on their content quality and DA. By this time the store started generating decent revenue from ads and SEO so the client was completely onboard with reaching out to blogs for guest posting. Guest posting and overall strategic SEO application started generating a good amount of traffic for us and in 3-4 months the revenue generated due to SEO surpassed our Ads revenue as well.
Advantages of Combining SEO and Paid Ads
While Facebook Ads played a crucial role in launching the brand and driving initial traffic, SEO has emerged as the primary driver of sustainable growth. This approach allowed us to:
SEO efforts are always ongoing but we are really satisfied with the base that we have built and we are really looking forward to working with keywords with higher KD and generating more revenue with SEO In the upcoming months. Although we will keep running ads in future as well mostly for awareness purposes but the major revenue will be generated from our SEO efforts. Apart from this, as we mentioned earlier, we are looking to actively start the Social Media efforts as well from the next month itself. We will be looking to target Instagram and Tiktok in the initial phase and we believe in 2-3 months social media will contribute towards 25% of our revenue which will grow rapidly.
Thankyou For Reading!
submitted by digital_wiz to ecommercemarketing [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 12:40 EquivalentFinance106 [REVIEW] BV Jodie in Black and BV Pouch in pink from Leo, Jing Factory

*DISCLAIMER* I AM A NEWBIE
Imagine me as a newbie astronaut, stepping into the world of reps for the very first time. I’m untrained, like a fresh recruit, and everything is new and exciting, like exploring an alien planet. This is my first reps purchase; my maiden voyage into the galaxy of fashion. I’m over the moon with my purchase! It’s like finding a hidden treasure in the vast cosmos. But hey, I’m still learning to navigate this starry expanse, so please be gentle with me, like the soft glow of the moon in the night sky.

Disclosure - No incentives were offered, but Leo did ask if I could pen down a review if I was satisfied. And guess what? I’m super satisfied!

Seller - Leo. I discovered him after diving deep into the sea of reviews, he was also on a trusted sellers list. I contacted a bunch of sellers, comparing prices, shipping, factories, you name it. I read review after review, like a detective on a mission. But honestly, I am super happy I took the leap of faith
Contact Info - WhatsApp :+86 19120637469 and WeChat: LEO_7868

Price – 173 usd for the Mini Jodie, 154 usd for the pouch

Shipping - 50 USD (This cost covers the shipping of 2 bags without boxes, but with dustbags, all very carefully packed). The parcel arrived at my location via DHL

Timeline -
April 24th - I reached out to Leo, on Whatsapp. “Hello, do you have these two bags?” I asked. He responded with the price, and like Indiana Jones, I took the leap of faith mentioned above and sent the funds for my order through PP Friends & Family.
April 25th - PSP pictures received. I gave the GL to the Jodie, but the color of the pouch was not the right one. Fear not, Leo contacted the factory and returned on April 27th with the right pouch. I gave the GL to the pouch too.
April 27th - Leo,sends me a picture of the box.
May 7th - The tracking number arrived, like a secret code in a spy movie. Leo reassured me he would choose a safe route for my package to avoid any customs shenanigans, like a skilled navigator avoiding stormy seas. The journey of my package began, setting sail from Germany.
May 13th - The items arrived, like long-awaited gifts on Christmas morning. To be honest, I hoped that my package would arrive earlier, but we had holidays where I live due to Orthodox Easter. Everything moves at a snail’s pace during holidays over here, like a sloth on a lazy Sunday!

Pictures
· [Factory photos]: I don’t have them, I never browsed his album for these; I Was on a mission to buy these two)
· [PSPs]( https://imgur.com/a/QXt82lC )
· [Your Photos]( https://imgur.com/a/r5VFvE4 )

Quality - These bags are hitting a high note with a 9,5/10! They’re like a symphony in leather, every stitch hitting the right beat, no off-key notes here. The leather is woven to perfection, just like the intricate lattice on the top of a freshly baked apple pie. But please bear in mind; my eye is not trained, as already stated! :-D The zipper on the Jodie? It’s smoother than a jazz solo. Logos are stamped with the precision of a master craftsman, like a sculptor chiseling a masterpiece. The leather on both? It’s as soft and deep as a soulful ballad. Delicious and SOFT! There’s a tiny hint of fufu, but hey, it’s like a catchy chorus that fades out (no points deducted for this, it’s it’s like a temporary tattoo, it’ll go away).
Accuracy – Since love is the scale, I give them both a solid 5. They’re like well-trained show horses. These are bags born and bred in captivity and they’re mirror images of the authentics, measurements matching the Bottega website like a well-tailored suit.
Rep Satisfaction Rating - 10/10, I’m so smitten I’d probably get another color in both these bags, like a kid in a candy store.
Seller Satisfaction Rating - 10/10. This was my first rodeo with any seller, and all of you made it feel like a magic carpet ride. Leo was a saint, handling my questions and my customs phobia like a seasoned therapist. The service was as prompt as a waiter in a five-star restaurant, and the prices were a steal. I even got a Bottega keychain as a gift, just because, which was the cherry on top of a perfect sundae.
CPR [Cost Performance Ratio] - It’s looking like a perfect 10/10. I didn’t have to rob a bank for two bags that are going to be my go-to party pals.
The Wrap Up -
I’ll be strutting these bags around town without a second thought, like a rockstar on a world tour. 🎸
submitted by EquivalentFinance106 to RepladiesDesigner [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 12:03 sharkfromdesert Unity developer for project MVP.

We are looking for an experienced senior level Unity developer to setup basic Unity analytics in an existing game (MVP stage). This is one time project for now and with fixed budget. Budget: 50K-150K (We are still finalizing requirement for MVP) Job Responsibilities:
  1. Configure Unity Analytics in the game.
  2. Help finalizing requirement with client to have a fixed scope.
  3. Customize event tracking to capture key gameplay interactions and in-game events.
  4. Customize Unity Analytics dashboard to display relevant metrics and reports.
This position is for someone with 3 years+ experience in Unity development. but also encourage associate level developers to apply with relevant experience. DM for more info or send your resume at career@simnyx.com.
submitted by sharkfromdesert to technepal [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 12:00 Ok-Drawer-4933 Revolutionize Your Sleep Routine with an Online Sleep Consultant: Proven Strategies Inside

Sleepless nights, tossing and turning, waking up groggy—sound familiar? If you're struggling with sleep, you're not alone. In today's fast-paced world, quality rest can feel like a luxury. But what if I told you there's a solution at your fingertips? Enter online sleep consulting—a revolutionary approach to tackling sleep troubles from the comfort of your own home.

Introduction to Sleep Troubles

Understanding the Importance of Quality Sleep
Sleep isn't just about closing your eyes and resting; it's a vital process that rejuvenates both your body and mind. From boosting immunity to enhancing cognitive function, the benefits of a good night's sleep are endless.
Common Sleep Issues Faced Today
However, with the rise of screens, stress, and busy schedules, achieving that elusive eight hours can seem impossible. Insomnia, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome—these are just a few of the sleep disorders plaguing millions worldwide.

The Rise of Online Sleep Consulting

Explaining the Concept of Online Sleep Consulting
So, what exactly is online sleep consulting? Think of it as having a personal sleep coach available at the click of a button. Through virtual consultations, sleep experts assess your sleep habits, identify underlying issues, and design personalized plans to help you reclaim your ZZZs.
Benefits of Seeking Help Online
The beauty of online consulting lies in its accessibility. No need to commute to appointments or rearrange your schedule; you can access professional guidance from anywhere with an internet connection. Plus, with a growing number of certified sleep consultants offering their services online, finding the right fit has never been easier.

Meet Your Online Sleep Consultant

Qualifications and Expertise
But who are these sleep consultants, and what qualifies them to guide your slumber? Rest assured, they're not just self-proclaimed "sleep gurus." Many hold advanced degrees in fields like psychology, sleep medicine, or counseling, and undergo rigorous training to become certified sleep coaches.
How They Can Help You
From analyzing your sleep patterns to providing practical strategies, online sleep consultants are your partners in the quest for better sleep. Whether you're struggling with erratic sleep schedules or battling chronic insomnia, they're equipped with the knowledge and tools to address your unique needs.

Understanding Your Sleep Patterns

Importance of Understanding Sleep Cycles
One key aspect of online sleep consulting is gaining insight into your sleep architecture. By deciphering your sleep stages and rhythms, consultants can pinpoint areas for improvement and tailor interventions accordingly.
Tools and Techniques Used by Consultants
So, how do they do it? Through a combination of sleep diaries, questionnaires, and cutting-edge technology, consultants gather data on your sleep habits and preferences. Armed with this information, they devise customized strategies to optimize your sleep quality.

Customized Sleep Plans

Tailoring Strategies to Your Unique Needs
There's no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to sleep. That's why online Sleep consultant online take a personalized approach to crafting your sleep plan. Whether you're a night owl or an early bird, they'll work with your natural rhythms to develop strategies that stick.
Personalized Recommendations for Better Sleep
From setting a consistent bedtime to creating a calming pre-sleep routine, your sleep plan will be tailored to address your specific challenges and goals. Whether you're aiming for more restful nights or seeking relief from sleep disorders, your consultant will be by your side every step of the way.

Addressing Sleep Disorders

Identifying and Managing Sleep Disorders
For those battling more serious sleep issues like insomnia or sleep apnea, online consulting offers a lifeline. Consultants are trained to recognize the signs of sleep disorders and can provide guidance on managing symptoms, accessing treatment, and improving overall sleep hygiene.
Strategies for Coping with Insomnia, Sleep Apnea, etc.
Whether it's cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) or lifestyle modifications for sleep apnea, consultants are well-versed in evidence-based interventions to tackle a range of sleep disorders. With their support, you can take proactive steps towards better sleep and better health.

Creating a Sleep-Friendly Environment

Tips for Optimizing Your Bedroom for Sleep
Your bedroom should be a sanctuary for sleep, free from distractions and conducive to relaxation. From blackout curtains to white noise machines, consultants can offer recommendations for creating a sleep-friendly environment that promotes restorative rest.
Using Technology to Enhance Sleep Quality
In the digital age, technology isn't just part of the problem—it can also be part of the solution. Consultants can introduce you to apps, wearables, and other gadgets designed to track your sleep, monitor your progress, and even lull you to sleep with soothing sounds or guided meditations.

Developing Healthy Sleep Habits

Importance of Consistent Bedtime Routine
Just like Pavlov's dogs salivated at the sound of a bell, your body responds to cues that it's time to sleep. Establishing a consistent bedtime routine signals to your brain that it's time to wind down, making it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep throughout the night.
Tips for Relaxation and Stress Reduction Before Bed
In today's hyper-connected world, unwinding before bed can be easier said than done. That's where relaxation techniques like deep breathing, meditation, or gentle stretching come in handy. By calming your mind and body, you can ease into sleep more effortlessly.

Diet and Exercise for Better Sleep

Impact of Diet and Exercise on Sleep Quality
You are what you eat—and how you move. Diet and exercise play a crucial role in regulating your sleep-wake cycle and promoting restful slumber. From limiting caffeine and heavy meals before bed to incorporating regular physical activity into your routine, small changes can yield big improvements in your sleep quality.
Recommendations for Improving Sleep Through Lifestyle Changes
Consultants don't just focus on what happens between the sheets—they're interested in your entire lifestyle. By addressing factors like diet, exercise, stress, and screen time, they can help you create habits that support healthy sleep and overall well-being.

Tracking Progress and Adjustments

Using Apps and Devices to Monitor Sleep Patterns
In the age of smartphones and smartwatches, tracking your sleep has never been easier. Consultants may recommend apps or wearable devices that monitor your sleep patterns, providing valuable insights into your nightly habits and trends.
How Consultants Modify Plans Based on Progress
But it's not just about collecting data—it's about using it to drive meaningful change. Consultants will regularly review your progress and adjust your sleep plan as needed, ensuring that you stay on track towards your sleep goals.

Benefits of Online vs. In-Person Consulting

Convenience and Accessibility of Online Services
Gone are the days of waiting weeks for an appointment or trekking across town to see a specialist. With online consulting, help is just a click away. Whether you're a busy parent, a frequent traveler, or simply prefer the comfort of your own home, online services offer unparalleled convenience and flexibility.
Effectiveness Compared to Traditional Methods
But don't let the lack of face-to-face interaction fool you—online consulting is just as effective as in-person sessions, if not more so. Research has shown that virtual interventions can produce significant improvements in sleep quality, making them a viable alternative for those unable to access traditional services.

Success Stories: Real-Life Examples

Testimonials from Clients Who Improved Their Sleep
Still skeptical? Hear it straight from the source. Countless individuals have transformed their sleep and their lives with the help of online sleep consulting. From chronic insomniacs to weary shift workers, the proof is in the pudding—better sleep is within reach.
Case Studies Highlighting Positive Outcomes
Take, for example, Sarah, a busy executive struggling to juggle work, family, and sleep. After just a few weeks of working with an online sleep consultant, she's sleeping soundly through the night, waking up refreshed, and tackling her days with newfound energy and focus.

Cost and Accessibility

Affordability of Online Sleep Consulting
You might be wondering, "How much does it cost?" Surprisingly, online sleep consulting is more affordable than you might think. With a range of pricing options to fit every budget, there's no reason to put a price on your health and well-being.
Availability of Services Worldwide
And the best part? Online sleep consulting isn't limited by geography. Whether you're in New York or New Zealand, you can access top-tier sleep expertise without ever leaving your home. The world is your oyster—and a good night's sleep is just a click away.

Getting Started: Tips for Finding the Right Consultant

Factors to Consider When Choosing an Online Sleep Consultant
Ready to take the plunge? Before diving in, consider factors like credentials, experience, and specialization. Look for consultants who are certified by reputable organizations and have a track record of success in addressing your specific sleep concerns.
Questions to Ask Before Committing
Still unsure? Don't hesitate to ask questions. A good consultant will be happy to provide information about their approach, methodology, and success rate. After all, your sleep is too important to leave to chance.

Conclusion

Sleep shouldn't be a luxury reserved for the lucky few—it's a fundamental human need that impacts every aspect of our lives. With the rise of online sleep consulting, help is more accessible than ever before. Whether you're struggling with insomnia, sleep apnea, or simply can't seem to switch off at night, there's a solution out there waiting for you. So why wait? Take the first step towards better sleep today and revolutionize your sleep routine for good.

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

  1. Is online sleep consulting covered by insurance?
  1. How long does it take to see results from online sleep consulting?
  1. Can online sleep consulting help with children's sleep issues?
  1. Are online sleep consultants qualified to diagnose sleep disorders?
  1. What if I'm not tech-savvy? Can I still benefit from online sleep consulting?
Inside
Sleepless nights, tossing and turning, waking up groggy—sound familiar? If you're struggling with sleep, you're not alone. In today's fast-paced world, quality rest can feel like a luxury. But what if I told you there's a solution at your fingertips? Enter online sleep consulting—a revolutionary approach to tackling sleep troubles from the comfort of your own home.

Introduction to Sleep Troubles

Understanding the Importance of Quality Sleep
Sleep isn't just about closing your eyes and resting; it's a vital process that rejuvenates both your body and mind. From boosting immunity to enhancing cognitive function, the benefits of a good night's sleep are endless.
Common Sleep Issues Faced Today
However, with the rise of screens, stress, and busy schedules, achieving that elusive eight hours can seem impossible. Insomnia, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome—these are just a few of the sleep disorders plaguing millions worldwide.

The Rise of Online Sleep Consulting

Explaining the Concept of Online Sleep Consulting
So, what exactly is online sleep consulting? Think of it as having a personal sleep coach available at the click of a button. Through virtual consultations, sleep experts assess your sleep habits, identify underlying issues, and design personalized plans to help you reclaim your ZZZs.
Benefits of Seeking Help Online
The beauty of online consulting lies in its accessibility. No need to commute to appointments or rearrange your schedule; you can access professional guidance from anywhere with an internet connection. Plus, with a growing number of certified sleep consultants offering their services online, finding the right fit has never been easier.

Meet Your Online Sleep Consultant

Qualifications and Expertise
But who are these sleep consultants, and what qualifies them to guide your slumber? Rest assured, they're not just self-proclaimed "sleep gurus." Many hold advanced degrees in fields like psychology, sleep medicine, or counseling, and undergo rigorous training to become certified sleep coaches.
How They Can Help You
From analyzing your sleep patterns to providing practical strategies, online sleep consultants are your partners in the quest for better sleep. Whether you're struggling with erratic sleep schedules or battling chronic insomnia, they're equipped with the knowledge and tools to address your unique needs.

Understanding Your Sleep Patterns

Importance of Understanding Sleep Cycles
One key aspect of online sleep consulting is gaining insight into your sleep architecture. By deciphering your sleep stages and rhythms, consultants can pinpoint areas for improvement and tailor interventions accordingly.
Tools and Techniques Used by Consultants
So, how do they do it? Through a combination of sleep diaries, questionnaires, and cutting-edge technology, consultants gather data on your sleep habits and preferences. Armed with this information, they devise customized strategies to optimize your sleep quality.

Customized Sleep Plans

Tailoring Strategies to Your Unique Needs
There's no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to sleep. That's why online Sleep consultant online take a personalized approach to crafting your sleep plan. Whether you're a night owl or an early bird, they'll work with your natural rhythms to develop strategies that stick.
Personalized Recommendations for Better Sleep
From setting a consistent bedtime to creating a calming pre-sleep routine, your sleep plan will be tailored to address your specific challenges and goals. Whether you're aiming for more restful nights or seeking relief from sleep disorders, your consultant will be by your side every step of the way.

Addressing Sleep Disorders

Identifying and Managing Sleep Disorders
For those battling more serious sleep issues like insomnia or sleep apnea, online consulting offers a lifeline. Consultants are trained to recognize the signs of sleep disorders and can provide guidance on managing symptoms, accessing treatment, and improving overall sleep hygiene.
Strategies for Coping with Insomnia, Sleep Apnea, etc.
Whether it's cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) or lifestyle modifications for sleep apnea, consultants are well-versed in evidence-based interventions to tackle a range of sleep disorders. With their support, you can take proactive steps towards better sleep and better health.

Creating a Sleep-Friendly Environment

Tips for Optimizing Your Bedroom for Sleep
Your bedroom should be a sanctuary for sleep, free from distractions and conducive to relaxation. From blackout curtains to white noise machines, consultants can offer recommendations for creating a sleep-friendly environment that promotes restorative rest.
Using Technology to Enhance Sleep Quality
In the digital age, technology isn't just part of the problem—it can also be part of the solution. Consultants can introduce you to apps, wearables, and other gadgets designed to track your sleep, monitor your progress, and even lull you to sleep with soothing sounds or guided meditations.

Developing Healthy Sleep Habits

Importance of Consistent Bedtime Routine
Just like Pavlov's dogs salivated at the sound of a bell, your body responds to cues that it's time to sleep. Establishing a consistent bedtime routine signals to your brain that it's time to wind down, making it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep throughout the night.
Tips for Relaxation and Stress Reduction Before Bed
In today's hyper-connected world, unwinding before bed can be easier said than done. That's where relaxation techniques like deep breathing, meditation, or gentle stretching come in handy. By calming your mind and body, you can ease into sleep more effortlessly.

Diet and Exercise for Better Sleep

Impact of Diet and Exercise on Sleep Quality
You are what you eat—and how you move. Diet and exercise play a crucial role in regulating your sleep-wake cycle and promoting restful slumber. From limiting caffeine and heavy meals before bed to incorporating regular physical activity into your routine, small changes can yield big improvements in your sleep quality.
Recommendations for Improving Sleep Through Lifestyle Changes
Consultants don't just focus on what happens between the sheets—they're interested in your entire lifestyle. By addressing factors like diet, exercise, stress, and screen time, they can help you create habits that support healthy sleep and overall well-being.

Tracking Progress and Adjustments

Using Apps and Devices to Monitor Sleep Patterns
In the age of smartphones and smartwatches, tracking your sleep has never been easier. Consultants may recommend apps or wearable devices that monitor your sleep patterns, providing valuable insights into your nightly habits and trends.
How Consultants Modify Plans Based on Progress
But it's not just about collecting data—it's about using it to drive meaningful change. Consultants will regularly review your progress and adjust your sleep plan as needed, ensuring that you stay on track towards your sleep goals.

Benefits of Online vs. In-Person Consulting

Convenience and Accessibility of Online Services
Gone are the days of waiting weeks for an appointment or trekking across town to see a specialist. With online consulting, help is just a click away. Whether you're a busy parent, a frequent traveler, or simply prefer the comfort of your own home, online services offer unparalleled convenience and flexibility.
Effectiveness Compared to Traditional Methods
But don't let the lack of face-to-face interaction fool you—online consulting is just as effective as in-person sessions, if not more so. Research has shown that virtual interventions can produce significant improvements in sleep quality, making them a viable alternative for those unable to access traditional services.

Success Stories: Real-Life Examples

Testimonials from Clients Who Improved Their Sleep
Still skeptical? Hear it straight from the source. Countless individuals have transformed their sleep and their lives with the help of online sleep consulting. From chronic insomniacs to weary shift workers, the proof is in the pudding—better sleep is within reach.
Case Studies Highlighting Positive Outcomes
Take, for example, Sarah, a busy executive struggling to juggle work, family, and sleep. After just a few weeks of working with an online sleep consultant, she's sleeping soundly through the night, waking up refreshed, and tackling her days with newfound energy and focus.

Cost and Accessibility

Affordability of Online Sleep Consulting
You might be wondering, "How much does it cost?" Surprisingly, online sleep consulting is more affordable than you might think. With a range of pricing options to fit every budget, there's no reason to put a price on your health and well-being.
Availability of Services Worldwide
And the best part? Online sleep consulting isn't limited by geography. Whether you're in New York or New Zealand, you can access top-tier sleep expertise without ever leaving your home. The world is your oyster—and a good night's sleep is just a click away.

Getting Started: Tips for Finding the Right Consultant

Factors to Consider When Choosing an Online Sleep Consultant
Ready to take the plunge? Before diving in, consider factors like credentials, experience, and specialization. Look for consultants who are certified by reputable organizations and have a track record of success in addressing your specific sleep concerns.
Questions to Ask Before Committing
Still unsure? Don't hesitate to ask questions. A good consultant will be happy to provide information about their approach, methodology, and success rate. After all, your sleep is too important to leave to chance.

Conclusion

Sleep shouldn't be a luxury reserved for the lucky few—it's a fundamental human need that impacts every aspect of our lives. With the rise of online sleep consulting, help is more accessible than ever before. Whether you're struggling with insomnia, sleep apnea, or simply can't seem to switch off at night, there's a solution out there waiting for you. So why wait? Take the first step towards better sleep today and revolutionize your sleep routine for good.

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

  1. Is online sleep consulting covered by insurance?
  1. How long does it take to see results from online sleep consulting?
  1. Can online sleep consulting help with children's sleep issues?
  1. Are online sleep consultants qualified to diagnose sleep disorders?
  1. What if I'm not tech-savvy? Can I still benefit from online sleep consulting?
submitted by Ok-Drawer-4933 to u/Ok-Drawer-4933 [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 11:56 DharmaBaller Polarization and Tribalism

I think to me what's most disheartening about this Quagmire of a situation is that most people are just aligning with their historical patterns of political/religious/racial/national identities and biases.
Which is not surprising because I just basically described the entire history of the human race and how we generally lean one way or another when it comes to conflicts and beliefs.
I think you know true impartiality is pretty much impossible and that's probably a whole super long discussion about how we even arrive at truth and reality and what pushes us in different directions.
I just it really makes you very depressed and forelorned at times just to see most people reacting as you would expect.
Like most of my social media friend circles are Lefty anarchist types and they pretty much are like fully on board free Palestine movements and busting out the watermelon emojis and all the all these kinds of things which to me is like the the 2024 version of the BLM black/blank profile support solidarity thing.
Of course now that you read that last paragraph you probably already thinking oh this guy is already revealing his cards of where he stands.
Basically my position is leaning pro Israel pro peace pro equilibrium pro stability in the region. This is a departure from my long held leanings of free Palestine because of all of my radical backgrounds and volunteering for things like food not bombs and all this sorts of things in Portland.
I basically am leaning this way and open to shifting of course at any time given new information and new insights, but the two main sticking points for me are what follows:
1.) Wary of the regressive left element within the free Palestine movement that is and on par for the course given the conflict. What worries me is the toxic othering prejudice and often scary anti-Semitic rhetoric coming out because of this. The narrative of the support for the "brown Arab oppressed people versus the white facing European ancestry colonizer Jewish people Israelis". It's alarming.
2.) Wary of extremist radical Islam jihadist intifada sentiments messaging and direct calls to eradicate and harm a people group and a nation. This last point I think doesn't get enough airtime in some circles and this is nothing new and has been a concern of mine for many years, and is often maybe overlooked or people are afraid to bring it up even because it looks like it's bigoted or racist or whatever. But to me it seems like this is why we are in this position most assuredly. You swap out Hamas with some other Hardline Fringe religious group and I don't think you get the same results. There is something uniquely dangerous about a religious Fringe element that promotes martyrdom and jihadism. Ain't nobody ever had issues with Buddhist extremists on this level. Or even Christian extremists on this kind of level, although there have been pockets of hate and othering of course from almost every group of people/ideology in our sordid human history.
Like even I've been trying to track just in the comment sections of let's say various kinds of YouTube videos from all different perspectives and I keep coming back to this weird unsettling feeling when I see a lot of pro Islamic things and from accounts that seem like they come from an Arab origin. Like I just don't know if you can reach common cause and common ground with that sort of extremist ideology, it seems pretty baked in on a deep level. And that's the the real issue in many ways because religious fundamentalism just breathes a kind of lack of discourse and lack of understanding because you can just refer to your book and what all the people around you are saying and shut down your critical thinking skills.
I think a case example of someone like Salman Rushdie.
Dude wrote a book in the late '80s and he got a fatwa set against him...(Which speaking of that it was hilariously satirized in Curb, I'm surprised Larry David also doesn't have a Target on his back at this point).
Then apparently the state sponsored assassins were called off in the late 90s and Rushdie return to some kind of normalcy and interacting with the world.
But then last year he was stabbed on stage at a talk in Chataqua New York, and was almost killed. He actually lost his eye as a result. And the use of his hand.
And as you can imagine the guy who stabbed him wasn't just a random crazy person.. he had Islamic background. He's a Shi'ite Muslim from New Jersey, just 24 years old. Gen Z generation of extremist.
Put another way.. what is the percentage or total number of folks that have a Islamic Arab Middle eastern background that are actually pro Israel?
And then along the same lines how many folks with a Jewish background or connections are actually pro Palestine?
Cuz to me one is not like the other in this regard, and my hypothesis is that the Muslim Arab tribalist group would skew predominantly one way that I think we all can assume is for the free Palestine movement.
Whereas I think the Jewish Community has definitely some elements within it that is more peaceful negotiation and not so caught up in their religiously motivated perspective. This could be because you know maybe a lot of the Jewish Community is leaning more secular or they come from Western countries and all this sort of thing but like I just I don't think people are realizing the fundamentalists difference here in the factions.
I guess my question is how many people have switched historical sides over this conflict right now in the spring of 2024?
Is there something from either side that made you go oh man I need to reevaluate my whole position on this and lean one way or the other?
Or even when I think what is probably more profound and supportive of the general conflict would be to be also aimed at a third way out above The fray if that's even possible. because a third way out often makes me feel like I just need to stay out all together and let people that have a much better idea of what's going on engage.
That last part is really key I think because all these folks are throwing in their positions when they may only have an understanding of like 5% of this thousands of year old conflict. The more I dig into it and ask questions and talk to people the more I feel even more lost and it seems like an unwinnable and unknowable thing.
🙏🕊️🙏
submitted by DharmaBaller to IsraelPalestine [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 10:28 softtechhubus How To Protect Your SEO Progress During a Website Redesign

How To Protect Your SEO Progress During a Website Redesign
https://preview.redd.it/5rggnvj9rc0d1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=99f979ea23c4ee1130aa6f5567008a11fd4e1d10

How To Protect Your SEO Progress During a Website Redesign

I. Introduction

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a critical aspect of any successful online business or website. It helps to increase visibility, drive organic traffic, and improve overall online presence. However, when it comes to a website redesign, there is a risk of losing hard-earned SEO progress if the process is not handled properly. A website redesign can involve changing the structure, content, and technical components, which can negatively impact your search engine rankings and organic traffic if not managed carefully.
To protect your SEO progress during a website redesign, it's essential to follow a strategic approach that involves preparation, implementation, and monitoring. This article will guide you through the key steps to ensure that your website maintains its search engine visibility and continues to attract valuable organic traffic after the redesign.

Preparation

A. Conduct a thorough SEO audit

Before embarking on a website redesign, it's crucial to understand the current SEO performance of your existing website. Conducting a comprehensive SEO audit will help you identify the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement. Here are some key steps to take:
  1. Analyze your website's performance: Use tools like Google Search Console and Semrush to analyze your website's performance metrics, such as rankings, organic traffic, and keyword visibility.
  2. Identify high-performing content: Determine which pages, blog posts, or other content assets are driving the most organic traffic and generating the highest rankings. These will be your priority to preserve and optimize during the redesign.
  3. Assess backlink profile: Evaluate the quality and quantity of backlinks pointing to your website. Backlinks are a crucial factor in search engine rankings, and it's essential to maintain or improve your backlink profile during the redesign.
  4. Analyze technical SEO aspects: Assess your website's technical SEO components, such as site speed, mobile-friendliness, structured data implementation, and crawlability. Identify areas that need improvement to enhance the overall user experience and search engine visibility.

B. Plan your redesign with SEO in mind

Once you have a clear understanding of your website's current SEO performance, it's time to plan your redesign strategy with SEO as a top priority. Here are some key steps to take:
  1. Define your SEO goals: Determine what you want to achieve with the website redesign in terms of SEO. This could include improving rankings for specific keywords, increasing organic traffic, or enhancing the user experience to boost engagement and conversions.
  2. Identify areas for improvement: Based on the SEO audit, pinpoint the areas that need improvement, such as site architecture, content optimization, mobile responsiveness, or technical SEO factors.
  3. Develop a clear strategy: Create a detailed plan outlining how you will maintain and enhance your SEO performance during and after the redesign. This should include strategies for content migration, URL structure optimization, redirects, and other critical SEO elements.

C. Back up your website

Before proceeding with the redesign, it's essential to create a complete backup of your existing website. This backup should include all website data, content, images, databases, and any other relevant files. Having a backup will serve as a safety net in case any issues arise during the redesign process, allowing you to revert to the previous version if necessary.
Backing up your website is a crucial step that should not be overlooked. It provides peace of mind and ensures that your valuable data and content are secure throughout the redesign process.

Implementation

A. Work on a staging environment

When implementing the website redesign, it's recommended to work on a staging environment or a development server separate from your live website. This approach allows you to test and troubleshoot any potential issues without affecting your live website's performance or user experience.
Working on a staging environment provides several benefits:
  1. Testing and debugging: You can thoroughly test the redesigned website, including its functionality, design, and SEO elements, without impacting your live site.
  2. Collaboration and feedback: If you're working with a team or agency, the staging environment allows for collaboration and feedback before pushing the changes live.
  3. Minimize downtime and disruptions: By testing and resolving issues on the staging site, you can minimize downtime and disruptions for your live website's visitors during the redesign process.
Once you're satisfied with the redesigned website on the staging environment and have addressed any potential SEO concerns, you can proceed with launching it on your live domain.

B. Match the structures of the old and new websites

One of the most critical aspects of protecting your SEO progress during a website redesign is maintaining the existing URL structure as much as possible. Changing URLs can lead to broken links, lost link equity, and potential ranking declines if not handled correctly.
To mitigate these risks, try to match the URL structure of your new website with the old one. If any URL changes are unavoidable, implement proper 301 redirects to ensure that search engines and users are seamlessly redirected to the new URLs.
Implementing 301 redirects is crucial for preserving your existing link equity and preventing any potential ranking drops due to broken links or lost pages. Search engines will recognize the redirects and transfer the authority from the old URLs to the new ones.

C. Optimize your content for target keywords

During the redesign process, it's essential to ensure that your content remains optimized for your target keywords. Search engines rely heavily on content relevance and quality when determining rankings, and neglecting content optimization can negatively impact your SEO performance.
Here are some key steps to take:
  1. Keyword research: Conduct thorough keyword research to identify the most relevant and valuable keywords for your business or website.
  2. Content optimization: Optimize your content for the target keywords by incorporating them naturally into your title tags, meta descriptions, headings, and body copy.
  3. Structure and organization: Ensure that your content is well-structured and organized, using clear headings and subheadings to improve readability and semantic relevance.
  4. Quality and value: Focus on creating high-quality, valuable content that provides real value to your target audience. Search engines prioritize content that meets user needs and delivers a positive user experience.
By optimizing your content for the right keywords and maintaining high-quality standards, you can ensure that your redesigned website continues to rank well and attract relevant organic traffic.

D. Improve website speed and mobile-friendliness

In today's digital landscape, website speed and mobile-friendliness are crucial factors that impact both user experience and search engine rankings. During a website redesign, it's an excellent opportunity to address these aspects and optimize your site for better performance.
  1. Website speed optimization: Optimize your website's code, images, and other assets to improve loading speed. Techniques such as minification, compression, and leveraging browser caching can significantly enhance website performance.
  2. Mobile-friendly design: Ensure that your redesigned website is fully responsive and optimized for mobile devices. With the increasing number of users accessing the internet via mobile devices, having a mobile-friendly website is essential for providing a seamless user experience and maintaining search engine visibility.
By improving website speed and mobile-friendliness, you not only enhance the overall user experience but also align with search engine best practices, which can positively impact your rankings and organic traffic.

E. Submit your new website to search engines

Once the redesign is complete and you're satisfied with the new website's performance, it's time to submit it to search engines like Google, Bing, and others. This step helps search engines discover and index your new website more quickly, ensuring that your pages are properly crawled and ranked.
Here are some steps to follow:
  1. Submit your sitemap: Create an updated XML sitemap for your new website and submit it to search engines through their respective webmaster tools or search console platforms.
  2. Request indexing: Use the tools provided by search engines to request indexing or re-indexing of your new website's pages.
  3. Monitor indexing progress: Keep an eye on your website's indexing progress through the search engine tools and address any issues or errors that may arise.
By proactively submitting your new website to search engines and monitoring the indexing process, you can ensure that your redesigned site is properly indexed and visible to users searching for relevant keywords and content.

Monitoring and Maintenance

A. Monitor your SEO performance

After launching your redesigned website, it's crucial to monitor its SEO performance closely. Regular monitoring will help you identify any potential issues or declines in rankings, traffic, or other key metrics, allowing you to take corrective action promptly.
Here are some key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor:
  1. Keyword rankings: Track your rankings for your target keywords using tools like Google Search Console, Semrush, or Ahrefs.
  2. Organic traffic: Monitor your website's organic traffic levels through tools like Google Analytics to ensure that your redesign hasn't negatively impacted your visibility and user engagement.
  3. Backlink profile: Keep an eye on your backlink profile to identify any lost or gained backlinks during the redesign process. Backlinks are a crucial ranking factor, and significant changes can impact your SEO performance.
continue from where you left off
Claude-3-Sonnet
Poe

B. Maintain and improve your backlink profile

Backlinks are a crucial factor in search engine rankings, as they represent the authority and credibility of your website in the eyes of search engines. During a website redesign, it's essential to maintain and improve your backlink profile to protect and potentially enhance your SEO progress.
  1. Monitor your backlinks: Use backlink analysis tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, or Moz to monitor your existing backlinks. Keep track of any lost or gained backlinks during the redesign process.
  2. Disavow spammy or low-quality links: If you identify any spammy or low-quality backlinks pointing to your website, disavow them using the appropriate tools provided by search engines. This will help prevent potential penalties and ensure that your backlink profile remains clean and authoritative.
  3. Acquire new, high-quality backlinks: Implement strategies to acquire new, high-quality backlinks from reputable and relevant sources. This can include guest blogging, creating linkable assets (e.g., infographics, guides, tools), or reaching out to industry influencers and bloggers for potential collaboration opportunities.
  4. Internal linking optimization: Ensure that your internal linking structure is optimized on the redesigned website. Proper internal linking can help distribute link equity across your pages, improve crawlability, and provide users with a better experience by guiding them to relevant content.
By maintaining and improving your backlink profile, you can protect and potentially enhance your website's authority and credibility in the eyes of search engines, contributing to better rankings and organic traffic.

Conclusion

Protecting your SEO progress during a website redesign is crucial to ensure that your online presence and visibility remain intact. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can navigate the redesign process while minimizing the risk of losing valuable SEO progress.
To summarize, the key steps to protect your SEO progress during a website redesign include:
  1. Conducting a thorough SEO audit to understand your current performance and identify areas for improvement.
  2. Planning your redesign strategy with SEO as a top priority, including setting goals, identifying areas for improvement, and developing a clear plan.
  3. Creating a complete backup of your website data as a safety net.
  4. Working on a staging environment to test and troubleshoot potential issues before launching the redesigned site.
  5. Maintaining the existing URL structure and implementing proper redirects for any necessary URL changes.
  6. Optimizing your content for target keywords and ensuring high quality and relevance.
  7. Improving website speed and mobile-friendliness to enhance user experience and align with search engine best practices.
  8. Submitting your new website to search engines for efficient indexing and visibility.
  9. Monitoring your SEO performance after the redesign and addressing any issues promptly.
  10. Maintaining and improving your backlink profile to protect and enhance your website's authority and credibility.
By following these steps, you can navigate the website redesign process with confidence, minimizing the risk of losing hard-earned SEO progress and ensuring a smooth transition for both users and search engines.
Remember, the world of SEO is constantly evolving, and it's essential to stay up-to-date with the latest best practices and guidelines. Regularly consult authoritative sources, attend industry events, and seek advice from experienced SEO professionals to ensure that your website remains competitive and visible in the ever-changing digital landscape.

How To Protect Your SEO Progress During a Website Redesign

I. Introduction

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a critical aspect of any successful online business or website. It helps to increase visibility, drive organic traffic, and improve overall online presence. However, when it comes to a website redesign, there is a risk of losing hard-earned SEO progress if the process is not handled properly. A website redesign can involve changing the structure, content, and technical components, which can negatively impact your search engine rankings and organic traffic if not managed carefully.
To protect your SEO progress during a website redesign, it's essential to follow a strategic approach that involves preparation, implementation, and monitoring. This article will guide you through the key steps to ensure that your website maintains its search engine visibility and continues to attract valuable organic traffic after the redesign.

Preparation

A. Conduct a thorough SEO audit

Before embarking on a website redesign, it's crucial to understand the current SEO performance of your existing website. Conducting a comprehensive SEO audit will help you identify the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement. Here are some key steps to take:
  1. Analyze your website's performance: Use tools like Google Search Console and Semrush to analyze your website's performance metrics, such as rankings, organic traffic, and keyword visibility.
  2. Identify high-performing content: Determine which pages, blog posts, or other content assets are driving the most organic traffic and generating the highest rankings. These will be your priority to preserve and optimize during the redesign.
  3. Assess backlink profile: Evaluate the quality and quantity of backlinks pointing to your website. Backlinks are a crucial factor in search engine rankings, and it's essential to maintain or improve your backlink profile during the redesign.
  4. Analyze technical SEO aspects: Assess your website's technical SEO components, such as site speed, mobile-friendliness, structured data implementation, and crawlability. Identify areas that need improvement to enhance the overall user experience and search engine visibility.

B. Plan your redesign with SEO in mind

Once you have a clear understanding of your website's current SEO performance, it's time to plan your redesign strategy with SEO as a top priority. Here are some key steps to take:
  1. Define your SEO goals: Determine what you want to achieve with the website redesign in terms of SEO. This could include improving rankings for specific keywords, increasing organic traffic, or enhancing the user experience to boost engagement and conversions.
  2. Identify areas for improvement: Based on the SEO audit, pinpoint the areas that need improvement, such as site architecture, content optimization, mobile responsiveness, or technical SEO factors.
  3. Develop a clear strategy: Create a detailed plan outlining how you will maintain and enhance your SEO performance during and after the redesign. This should include strategies for content migration, URL structure optimization, redirects, and other critical SEO elements.

C. Back up your website

Before proceeding with the redesign, it's essential to create a complete backup of your existing website. This backup should include all website data, content, images, databases, and any other relevant files. Having a backup will serve as a safety net in case any issues arise during the redesign process, allowing you to revert to the previous version if necessary.
Backing up your website is a crucial step that should not be overlooked. It provides peace of mind and ensures that your valuable data and content are secure throughout the redesign process.

Implementation

A. Work on a staging environment

When implementing the website redesign, it's recommended to work on a staging environment or a development server separate from your live website. This approach allows you to test and troubleshoot any potential issues without affecting your live website's performance or user experience.
Working on a staging environment provides several benefits:
  1. Testing and debugging: You can thoroughly test the redesigned website, including its functionality, design, and SEO elements, without impacting your live site.
  2. Collaboration and feedback: If you're working with a team or agency, the staging environment allows for collaboration and feedback before pushing the changes live.
  3. Minimize downtime and disruptions: By testing and resolving issues on the staging site, you can minimize downtime and disruptions for your live website's visitors during the redesign process.
Once you're satisfied with the redesigned website on the staging environment and have addressed any potential SEO concerns, you can proceed with launching it on your live domain.

B. Match the structures of the old and new websites

One of the most critical aspects of protecting your SEO progress during a website redesign is maintaining the existing URL structure as much as possible. Changing URLs can lead to broken links, lost link equity, and potential ranking declines if not handled correctly.
To mitigate these risks, try to match the URL structure of your new website with the old one. If any URL changes are unavoidable, implement proper 301 redirects to ensure that search engines and users are seamlessly redirected to the new URLs.
Implementing 301 redirects is crucial for preserving your existing link equity and preventing any potential ranking drops due to broken links or lost pages. Search engines will recognize the redirects and transfer the authority from the old URLs to the new ones.

C. Optimize your content for target keywords

During the redesign process, it's essential to ensure that your content remains optimized for your target keywords. Search engines rely heavily on content relevance and quality when determining rankings, and neglecting content optimization can negatively impact your SEO performance.
Here are some key steps to take:
  1. Keyword research: Conduct thorough keyword research to identify the most relevant and valuable keywords for your business or website.
  2. Content optimization: Optimize your content for the target keywords by incorporating them naturally into your title tags, meta descriptions, headings, and body copy.
  3. Structure and organization: Ensure that your content is well-structured and organized, using clear headings and subheadings to improve readability and semantic relevance.
  4. Quality and value: Focus on creating high-quality, valuable content that provides real value to your target audience. Search engines prioritize content that meets user needs and delivers a positive user experience.
By optimizing your content for the right keywords and maintaining high-quality standards, you can ensure that your redesigned website continues to rank well and attract relevant organic traffic.

D. Improve website speed and mobile-friendliness

In today's digital landscape, website speed and mobile-friendliness are crucial factors that impact both user experience and search engine rankings. During a website redesign, it's an excellent opportunity to address these aspects and optimize your site for better performance.
  1. Website speed optimization: Optimize your website's code, images, and other assets to improve loading speed. Techniques such as minification, compression, and leveraging browser caching can significantly enhance website performance.
  2. Mobile-friendly design: Ensure that your redesigned website is fully responsive and optimized for mobile devices. With the increasing number of users accessing the internet via mobile devices, having a mobile-friendly website is essential for providing a seamless user experience and maintaining search engine visibility.
By improving website speed and mobile-friendliness, you not only enhance the overall user experience but also align with search engine best practices, which can positively impact your rankings and organic traffic.

E. Submit your new website to search engines

Once the redesign is complete and you're satisfied with the new website's performance, it's time to submit it to search engines like Google, Bing, and others. This step helps search engines discover and index your new website more quickly, ensuring that your pages are properly crawled and ranked.
Here are some steps to follow:
  1. Submit your sitemap: Create an updated XML sitemap for your new website and submit it to search engines through their respective webmaster tools or search console platforms.
  2. Request indexing: Use the tools provided by search engines to request indexing or re-indexing of your new website's pages.
  3. Monitor indexing progress: Keep an eye on your website's indexing progress through the search engine tools and address any issues or errors that may arise.
By proactively submitting your new website to search engines and monitoring the indexing process, you can ensure that your redesigned site is properly indexed and visible to users searching for relevant keywords and content.

Monitoring and Maintenance

A. Monitor your SEO performance

After launching your redesigned website, it's crucial to monitor its SEO performance closely. Regular monitoring will help you identify any potential issues or declines in rankings, traffic, or other key metrics, allowing you to take corrective action promptly.
Here are some key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor:
  1. Keyword rankings: Track your rankings for your target keywords using tools like Google Search Console, Semrush, or Ahrefs.
  2. Organic traffic: Monitor your website's organic traffic levels through tools like Google Analytics to ensure that your redesign hasn't negatively impacted your visibility and user engagement.
  3. Backlink profile: Keep an eye on your backlink profile to identify any lost or gained backlinks during the redesign process. Backlinks are a crucial ranking factor, and significant changes can impact your SEO performance.
continue from where you left off
Claude-3-Sonnet
Poe

B. Maintain and improve your backlink profile

Backlinks are a crucial factor in search engine rankings, as they represent the authority and credibility of your website in the eyes of search engines. During a website redesign, it's essential to maintain and improve your backlink profile to protect and potentially enhance your SEO progress.
  1. Monitor your backlinks: Use backlink analysis tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, or Moz to monitor your existing backlinks. Keep track of any lost or gained backlinks during the redesign process.
  2. Disavow spammy or low-quality links: If you identify any spammy or low-quality backlinks pointing to your website, disavow them using the appropriate tools provided by search engines. This will help prevent potential penalties and ensure that your backlink profile remains clean and authoritative.
  3. Acquire new, high-quality backlinks: Implement strategies to acquire new, high-quality backlinks from reputable and relevant sources. This can include guest blogging, creating linkable assets (e.g., infographics, guides, tools), or reaching out to industry influencers and bloggers for potential collaboration opportunities.
  4. Internal linking optimization: Ensure that your internal linking structure is optimized on the redesigned website. Proper internal linking can help distribute link equity across your pages, improve crawlability, and provide users with a better experience by guiding them to relevant content.
By maintaining and improving your backlink profile, you can protect and potentially enhance your website's authority and credibility in the eyes of search engines, contributing to better rankings and organic traffic.

Conclusion

Protecting your SEO progress during a website redesign is crucial to ensure that your online presence and visibility remain intact. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can navigate the redesign process while minimizing the risk of losing valuable SEO progress.
To summarize, the key steps to protect your SEO progress during a website redesign include:
  1. Conducting a thorough SEO audit to understand your current performance and identify areas for improvement.
  2. Planning your redesign strategy with SEO as a top priority, including setting goals, identifying areas for improvement, and developing a clear plan.
  3. Creating a complete backup of your website data as a safety net.
  4. Working on a staging environment to test and troubleshoot potential issues before launching the redesigned site.
  5. Maintaining the existing URL structure and implementing proper redirects for any necessary URL changes.
  6. Optimizing your content for target keywords and ensuring high quality and relevance.
  7. Improving website speed and mobile-friendliness to enhance user experience and align with search engine best practices.
  8. Submitting your new website to search engines for efficient indexing and visibility.
  9. Monitoring your SEO performance after the redesign and addressing any issues promptly.
  10. Maintaining and improving your backlink profile to protect and enhance your website's authority and credibility.
By following these steps, you can navigate the website redesign process with confidence, minimizing the risk of losing hard-earned SEO progress and ensuring a smooth transition for both users and search engines.
Remember, the world of SEO is constantly evolving, and it's essential to stay up-to-date with the latest best practices and guidelines. Regularly consult authoritative sources, attend industry events, and seek advice from experienced SEO professionals to ensure that your website remains competitive and visible in the ever-changing digital landscape.
Recommended Course: Learn how to use SEO and WordPress to attract free traffic from Google in this free online course.
Recommended Read: Ranksnap AI Deluxe: This Smart A.I Software Powered By “F.A.R” SEO Tech Will Replicate and Automate The Work Of THOUSANDS Of SEO Marketers Working For You 24/7/365 For Unlimited Organic Traffic
Affiliate Disclaimer: Some of the links in this article may be affiliate links, which means that if you make a purchase through these links, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products or services that I have personally used and genuinely believe will add value to my readers. Your support through these affiliate links helps to keep this website running and allows me to continue providing valuable content. Thank you for your support!
submitted by softtechhubus to u/softtechhubus [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 05:44 courtingdisaster Presenting the evidence: 17 May 2024

Presenting the evidence: 17 May 2024
Come one, come all, we're clooowning again! 🤡
Thanks to u/1DMod for posting the Jimmy Fallon video that led to me to start to connect the dots that other creators have noticed. Long story short, we're clowning for Stockholm N1 (maybe even night ✌️ as well), buckle up clowns!

✌️

First things first, May 17 is ✌️ fortnights after the release of TTPD on April 19. We know that Taylor is still throwing up peace signs which seems unnecessary if it only ever meant that there was a second part of TTPD. I think it's an indication that we haven't completely cracked that egg yet.
This photo was necessary for the post, ok

National/International Day Of

While these days aren't necessarily solid proof of anything, Taylor did release TTPD on Poetry & The Creative Mind Day and also released the ME! music video (ME! Out now!) on Lesbian Visibility Day so I think it's definitely worth investigating.
After publishing this post I was reading through the comments in this thread about easter eggs and was reminded by u/-periwinkle that some people predicted the Toe breakup date based on something Taylor mentioned in her NYU speech ("Part of growing up and moving into new chapters of your life is about catch and release"). 11 months later, the Toe breakup news came out on, you guessed it, National Catch and Release Day. More on the NYU speech later.
First, let's have a look at the holidays for May 17 that could be relevant:
  • Endangered Species Day - Does anyone remember the ✌️ trips to the zoo while in Sydney...? We also have the big cat imagery on her new 1989 outfit to consider. If you haven't read this incredible post by u/Funny-Barnacle1291, I'd urge you to stop clowning with me (just for a moment) and go and read it. Taylor's TikTok bio still reads, "this is pretty much just a cat account" which could be a surface level meaning of her posting videos of her cats, but we know miss Feline Enthusiast herself loves a layered meaning. She also compared herself to feeling, "a lot like being a tiger in a wildlife enclosure" in the Lover diaries she released (pictured below).
TNT at Sydney Zoo Paris N4 TikTok bio Lover diaries comparing herself to a tiger Sydney Zoo
  • National Pizza Party Day - I know I am personally still haunted by her Stephen Colbert interview on 13 April 2021. The interview starts with Colbert talking about Taylor's Versions and also talking about how he believes the song "Hey Stephen" is about him. What surprise song did we get on guitar Paris N3..? Important to note that this interview also talks about him "waiting tables on the lunch shift at Scoozi, an Italian restaurant in the River North area of Chicago, that, by the way, serves a really incredible slice of pizza." Taylor also goes on to say that the song is actually about Stephen King and Taylor then says "The Dark Tower series changed my life, plus The Shining, The Stand and don't even get me started on his short stories... Absolutely luminescent." This interview is obviously very strange and likely filled with easter eggs. We know that her mention of the River North area of Chicago was also the location of one of the TTPD murals that went up ahead of its release.
  • I've just seen this tweet which has beautifully tied in the new Red shirt that was premiered Paris N1 ("This is not Taylor's Version") with a quote from the Stephen Colbert interview, "This isn't about you, it's about pizza... See?" We can clearly see the mood board is about Stephen however she keeps only talking about the pizza. It feels like a Cassandra moment where we (Gaylors but Stephen in the interview) are recoginising all the Stephen pictures and the general public (Swifties) are only focused on the pizza because that's what Taylor is showing them (the public narrative featuring Travis Kelce). There was also this excellent post connecting the new Red shirt to a painting by René Magritte's titled, "The Treachery of Images". We then get "Treacherous" as a surprise song on Paris N4.
  • u/naked_blanket pointed out that there is a scene in the Lavender Haze music video "where a bunch of people are gathered around a pizza box."
  • I can't remember where I saw it now but I was reminded of the below photo of Taylor and Keleigh Teller. Keleigh posted this to her Instagram on 30 May 2023 along with 8 emojis. The importance of the 8s will be explained further down the post under the Stockholm heading but for now, pizza.
No... This is pizza
https://preview.redd.it/4ikx6teucd0d1.jpg?width=443&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6aec634e52a1083cccbcaefcb78227f2fe8db793
ME! Out soon 😉
  • National Graduation Tassel Day - Taylor was awarded with an honorary doctorate at NYU in 2022. We know that her speech at this event was filled with “Midnights” easter eggs including lyrics to “Labyrinth” and “You're On Your Own, Kid”. I wonder what other easter eggs are hidden in this speech...? Here's a link to the video and you can also read the full transcript here. I'm not going to do any further digging into this one right now, just presenting it as evidence but please feel free to note anything of importance in the comments. I do want to note here though that I recently saw a video where Taylor was leaving TTPD easter eggs while doing promo for Red TV (maybe an ATW10MV short film interview?) so I don't think it's out of the question that this speech contains TTPD (and beyond) easter eggs. I'll link the video if I can find it again.
Dr Taylor Alison Swift
These chemicals hit me like whiiiiite wiiiiine

Direct 17/5 easter eggs

  • Tokyo N3 - One of the surprise songs during Tokyo N3 was "The Outside". This excellent video by Kristen (underthepink7 - go follow her, she's amazing) goes into some additional easter eggs that I'm not going to go into here but definitely worth a watch (which also connects to "Down Bad"). What I do want to talk about though is what Taylor said when she introduced the song. Here's a video of the performance including her speech beforehand where she says, "this song is 175 years old." At the time most people thought that it was an egg for number of days leading us to 2 August 2024. It could still be referring to this however I'm starting to believe it's related to the date.
  • Date format - Before we go any further, it's important to note that the date format in Europe (where the Eras Tour currently is) goes DD/MM/YY. This is why I think the 175 could be a date as that equates to May 17 in Europe.
  • Tokyo N4 - On 10 February 2024, the surprise songs in Tokyo were "Come In With The Rain" (track 17) and "You're On Your Own, Kid" (track 5), another 175 and in this case it's specifically 17/5.
  • Anti-Hero music video - There's been some really interesting analysis that I've seen on Twitter where the timestamps in Taylor's recent music videos appear to be lining up with the date of things happening in real life. Underthepink7 and Kiturakk on Twitter have pointed out some interesting connections to the numbers 175 in the "Anti-Hero", "Bejeweled" and "Willow" music videos. I'll admit this could be considered a bit of a stretch but what if I told you none of it was accidental...
Is Taylor using timestamps in her self-directed music videos to refer to dates in real life?

Important days in history

These could be nothing, could be something, still worth noting:
Important events in history that may be important to Taylor

Important events in the TSCU on this day

  • "Bad Blood" music video premiered at the Billboard Awards
  • Entertainment Weekly where Taylor is on the cover with a rainbow pin and gravestone that says "I tried" is published
  • City of Lover concert (i.e. Taylor's Lover concert performed in Paris) airs on ABC for the first time
I think we're about to recreate her sparkling summer

Stockholm

  • 88th show - Taylor made a point to let everyone know that Paris N4 was the 87th show of the tour. Yes, 87 is Travis' number, but what if it was also to let everyone know that Stockholm will feature both her 88th and 89th shows? Obviously 89 is an important number to her as it's the year she was born, however last year we saw Taylor embracing double dates (5/5 Speak Now TV announcement, 7/7 Speak Now TV release - there's probably others, that's all I remember off the top of my head) so I don't think it's a stretch to say that the 88th show would hold significance to her. I saw this thread on Twitter yesterday regarding "portal dates" and while obviously this is referring to dates, I can see "portal shows" being potentially noteworthy. Following on from this, Kristen has highlighted some Taylor Nation tweets that include the words "17" or "May" with one of those tweets being posted on 8/8 (while quoting "Betty" of all songs...) which Kristen notes is the karmic number representing resurrection and regeneration (tweets pictured below).
  • I was reading through the comments in the Jimmy Fallon video thread and u/cookiechipchocolate reminded me that one of Kanye's albums is titled "808s & Heartbreak". Could be a sly reference to her 88th show however I'll admit this is a bit more of a stretch connection that I've made.
  • In the same thread, I saw this comment from u/taytopancakes noting that the day after is "said to be the most magical/lucky day of the year" which just so happens to also be Taylor's 89th show of the Eras Tour. I'd say the stars are certainly starting to align!
  • Following on from the Keleigh Teller pizza photo on 30 May 2023 that has 8 emojis that I shared above, the other big thing Keleigh contributed to the TSCU in 2023 is her quote of, "you're my Elizabeth Taylor" in the video she shared where she gave Taylor that opal and blue topaz ring for her 34th birthday. This quote always stuck out to me. I know that Elizabeth Taylor had many husbands so I looked it up and, you guessed it, she had 8 husbands (7 different men). It's also interesting to note that the first thing that comes up when you google "opal signficance" is "the opal has long been considered a lucky and protective talisman" which connects back to the TTPD announcement post that Taylor tweeted on 5 February 2024.
  • u/slugs_instead and u/chickadee323 also pointed out that we have been seeing a lot of infinity symbols lately; we've seen the infinity symbols everywhere from The Man wall, jewelry Taylor wears, the Karma music video and most recently in the stage visuals for "Down Bad". An infinity symbol turned on its side looks like an 8. I believe the infinity symbol represents Taylor's cycle of death and rebirth, "I rise up from the dead, I do it all the time" and "I'm getting tired even for a phoenix, always risin' from the ashes". What better way to signify the two sides of Taylor than two infinity symbols side-by-side, i.e. 88. Important thing I want to note - I just went and watched the footage of the "Down Bad" infinity symbol that I linked above and it stops just before completing - she's still on the journey, the cycle is not yet complete.
Deep portal, time travel
https://preview.redd.it/a28zn1akid0d1.jpg?width=1237&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e2b4751ac3530892d8a17d3c5ca1bbea8a1f5ee9
  • Beyoncé - The Renaissance World Tour kicked off on 10 May 2023 in Stockholm at the very same stadium that Taylor is performing in next weekend. To me it would make sense to start a tour named Renaissance in Italy, where the Renaissance originated not in Sweden... We've seen Taylor and Beyoncé supporting each other a lot in the last year and Beyoncé's producer recently said, "let's just say she's on the approach of shocking the world." We know she's on her own three-act journey at the moment (complete with queer-flagging in her shows and her own Biyoncé rumours) so I don't think this quote is directly related to Cowboy Carter but potentially regarding the culmination of her arc. Is it possible that her arc lines up with Taylor's creating a supernova that will change the industry forever?
Taylor & Bey supporting each other at their respective film premieres, a literal pride flag on the Renaissance Tour (it's actually just Chiefs colours, phew!)
  • Taylor recorded songs in Stockholm - Kristen notes that many of Taylor's important singles were recorded in Stockholm including "I Knew You Were Trouble", "Shake It Off", "Blank Space", "Bad Blood", "Ready For It" and "New Romantics". Perhaps this city holds a special place in her heart?
  • One Direction - paging u/1DMod to go into more detail here however noting that One Direction has a song called "Stockholm Syndrome" and the lyrics are very interesting indeed ("I used the light to guide me home"). Checkout this recent post by u/1DMod regarding the possible Larry connections to TTPD.
  • Friends Arena - The stadium in Stockholm is called the Friends Arena. Taylor had a Friends pin on her jacket on the Entertainment Weekly cover. Was this stadium always supposed to play an important role? Kristen also notes that the opening ceremony took place on 27 October 2012 (obviously 27 October is the day that 1989 was released, both times) and Elton John played there on 13 December 2010 (who had his own journey down the yellow brick road and people refused to see his queerness for years even though he was in screaming colour).

New Romantics

Kristen, who I have referenced in nearly every part in this post (again, she's amazing, go follow her), has a mass coming-out theory that she has dubbed the New Romantics. I highly recommend checking out her content on Twitter and TikTok and she's also recently launched a podcast that you can read more about here for more information on this theory. Essentially the theory is that a large number of artists in the entertainment industry are queer and are working together as a "safety in numbers" type approach to coming out of the closet and potentially changing the industry in a monumental way.
Let's have a look at some players that are relevant to either May 17 or Stockholm (or both in one person's case!):
  • Zayn - This is the person who is relevant to both May 17 and Stockholm! Obviously he was part of One Direction who I spoke about above as having a song titled "Stockholm Syndrome". Did you know his new album "The Closet" "The Room Under The Stairs" is being released this Friday, May 17? Again, I'll leave this to u/1DMod to add any additional relevant information as this is not my area of expertise but from what I understand, all members have their own queer rumours.
  • Billie Eilish - Recently out as a girl kisser, Billie Eilish is also releasing an album on this day titled "Hit Me Hard and Soft" featuring a song called "Lunch" that would leave even the most homophobic Swiftie unable to defend her queerness if released by Taylor.
  • Madison Beer - Madison is out as bi. Her tour, The Spinnin Tour, began 24 February 2024 in Stockholm (a different venue though).

Theories as to what exactly is coming

Karma is REAL
  • Coming Out - I personally don't believe she would come out during a show in Stockholm, however it's worth at least noting as a possibility. It would mean that she was "out" before Pride Month 😉 She did just sing "Begin Again" as a surprise song in Paris N4 - is she beginning again as her authentic self at the very next show?
  • Music Video - I know we thought we were getting a second music video for TTPD a fortnight after the album was released, however maybe that's what all this easter egging is for. I personally think it's something much bigger than that however will be very excited to dissect another music video! u/allie_lacey noted in this comment that Florence has recently said that she has "just got done filming with Taylor". A Florida!!! music video is something that a lot of us have been clowning for recently but I'd love to point to this comment by u/-periwinkle in particular as I think they've made a really good point about the mirrorball jellyfish which makes me think we will get a music video for this song at some point.
  • Book - The creator of the video that u/1DMod initially posted believes that Taylor is announcing a book on 17 May 2024 with it to be released on 21 October 2024. I'm not going to go into this theory in detail however if you are interested in finding out more about what they have to say, here are a couple of videos of theirs (video 1, video 2, video 3).
Is this another easter egg that she laid 3 years ago?

In Summation

Something is happening in Stockholm. I don't know why exactly but it is THE ONE to watch.
I think it would be interesting to revisit the NYU speech, Karma music video, Stephen King, photos from the Uno parties and the Lover era in general for further hints as to what's coming. I think the key is going to be working together due to a comment that Questlove (yes, the one who throws the Uno parties) left on one of Kristen's videos. Here's a link to the video, the top comment is his.
Regardless, I'll be there talking smack in the megathread on Friday and keeping an eye out for any new "Chiefs" colours. See you there, clowns!
Who's clowning with me?! 🤡🤡🤡
Edit: I'll be making some additions to this post as people have been making incredible connections already, thank you! These will be noted as a new bulletpoint to try and keep it transparent as to what has been added. As I'm researching I'm also making new connections of my own that I will also add as separate bulletpoints.
submitted by courtingdisaster to GaylorSwift [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 05:22 Brokless Seeking Feedback on Improving Our New Ecommerce Website's Product Listings!

Hey everyone,
I work for a new ecommerce website, and we're in the process of building a user-friendly platform. As we're still in the early stages and haven't had any transactions yet, we're especially keen on gathering feedback to ensure we're on the right track.
Right now, we're focusing on improving our product listings – from categorization to image quality and advertisements.
Before I present any suggestions to my supervisor for the upcoming meeting with the higher-ups, I wanted to reach out to this community for some valuable feedback. Here are a few areas we're looking to improve:
  1. Categorization: Are our product categories and subcategories intuitive and easy to navigate? Do you ever find it difficult to locate specific items?
  2. Image Quality: What are your thoughts on the quality of our product images? Are they clear, high-resolution, and do they adequately showcase the product?
  3. Advertisement Feedback: How do you feel about the ads that appear on our website? Are they relevant to your interests, or do they feel intrusive?
  4. Additional Concerns: Apart from the watermark and zooming feature, are there any other issues or suggestions you have regarding our product listings?
Your feedback is incredibly valuable to us, as it helps us tailor our website to better meet your needs and preferences. Please feel free to be as detailed as possible in your responses – every insight counts!
Thank you all in advance for taking the time to help us improve. Your input means the world to us!
Website Link: www.ayshei.com
Note: Our website is currently only available in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) region.
submitted by Brokless to ecommerce [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 01:21 House_of_Lij Lij's Drag Race Recasted: CVSTW EP3 "The Weather Ball" Lip-Sync

The "Weather Ball" Challenge results are in!
DURING THE EPISODE...
Monét X Change has won the "Read Off A Weather Teleprompter While Indoor Skydiving" Mini Challenge!

── ࣪˖ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ˖ 🇨🇦 ࣪˖ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ˖──

ON THE MAINSTAGE...
Monét X Change is declared safe and exits the stage, leaving the tops and bottoms of the week to hear their critiques...
Adore Delano receives negative critiques from the judges. Brooke says her package this week was underwhelmingly pedestrian, a reversion back to her season 2 fashion antics. She was incredibly sexy in her lingerie look, loving the all-black ensemble, yet every other queen that went after she stepped it up, so she looked weak in comparison. Her silver fox look was undeniably an older version of a Chola. While they loved incorporating her upbringing's fashion onto the mainstage, they wish she elevated the look to be much more. On top of all this, her design look could be more impressive, feeling like the tulle is a coverup for messy hot glue and a lack of shape. She got into her head this week, and they need her to pull herself out because she's been doing fantastic.
Angeria Paris VanMichaels receives positive critiques from the judges. The entire panel is shocked by how her package turned out, saying she used that winner's budget. First of all, her lingerie look was so incredibly sexy that they couldn't even clock that it wasn't her body; something about it was so Beyonce-esque; with this silver lingerie with this honey blonde wig and robotic parts, she looked so well put together. Her second runway was even more impressive, turning out this elevated church lady look dressed for the snow in her gorgeous white furs. When she let down that pageant bun to show her flowing gray hair, they knew she was locked in for the win. Her design look leaves the largest stamp on her; with her creation, this pantsuit meets pageant gown, fully complete for someone of her caliber with such stunning detail.
Elektra Shock receives negative critiques from the judges. Brad says that regarding her package, they felt her runways were the least cohesive, and when looking at them side to side, they clashed against one another. Her first look was right, but she was supposed to show her body, and they felt her look was too conservative. They know she has excellent padding, so she needs to push herself to the max because this fell short of what they know she's capable of. Her second look was much better, loving the way that she exited out of her igloo coat and came out as this sexy wolf MILF, but they do think she could've pushed that artic wolf concept a bit further since they felt she didn't fully commit to it. Her design runway, though, is their biggest problem. It's a pretty gown, but that's it. Besides some accessorizing, this is a step down from their knowledge of her skills.
Eva Le Queen receives negative critiques from the judges. Traci says they know she has some fantastic looks in here and that her package this week was more of a mixed bag, but her design look truly brought her down. Looking at her lingerie, she had a gorgeous body, and she stepped out looking like a fairy, especially with her long tuft of fabric and fairy wings flowing in the wind. She fully committed to the concept, even having fairy dust flow from her hair. Her second look was another fantastic entry into the package, coming out with this skinned polar bear look only to wear the bear fur as her outfit in this Cruella-inspired garment was a creative take on the category. The only problem was her design look, which seemed like a rush and afterthought, though it was the most critical part of the challenge.
Plastique Tiara receives positive critiques from the judges. Brooke says that she knows that Plastique wasn't playing around when she said she would give fashion, but this is on an entirely new level. First, they couldn't even clock that she was a drag queen on her first runway. No padding, just her sexy lingerie and Victoria's Secret angel wings. They were gagged by how she looked like she came right off the runway and served them cisgender realness. Her second look was even better, seeing as how she showed up in this icicle-inspired garment and melted herself on the mainstage into this sexy Elsa look; she had them gagged the most on the runway with that look. Then, her design runway was the most impressive one they've seen tonight. She turned out a cultural garment from unconventional materials. She's by far one of the best designers here.
Shannel receives positive critiques from the judges. The judges give her the moment she's finally been waiting for, telling her she's gorgeous as she begins to tear up on the runway, taking a shallow breath. They say that her first look was breathtaking because she embraced her body as an older queen, having the wind make her dress fly off in a reveal was so Marilyn Monroe-esque, turning out this gorgeous Old Hollywood to New Hollywood slut look. Overall, they were impressed by her thoughts during the presentation. Her second look was incredible in this Snow Queen-inspired garment, ripping the fairytale straight to this real-life drag. Her design look is her best, churning out this structural business garment that's just so well made.
Angeria Paris VanMichaels, Plastique Tiara, Condragulations! You are the Top Two All Stars of the week!
Adore Delano, Elektra Shock...I'm sorry, My Dears, but you are both up for elimination...

── ࣪˖ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ˖ 🇨🇦 ࣪˖ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ˖──

DURING UNTUCKED...

── ࣪˖ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ˖ 🇨🇦 ࣪˖ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ˖──

AFTER DELIBERATION...
Angeria Paris VanMichaels and Plastique Tiara make their lipstick choices and walk back to the stage, where the other Queens are waiting for them...
TOP2: Angeria Paris VanMichaels / Plastique Tiara
HIGH: Shannel
SAFE: Monét X Change
LOW: Eva Le Queen
BTM2: Adore Delano / Elektra Shock
The Top Two Queens will Lip-Sync for their Legacy to "Nobody's Supposed To Be Here (Hex Hector Dance Mix)" by Deborah Cox. This is your chance to impress me, win the challenge prize, and gain the power to give one of the Bottom Queens the chop. Good Luck, and Don't Fuck It Up!
POLL / Track Record
submitted by House_of_Lij to RPDRfantasyseason [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 01:18 Tatlin- 4 hours in - thoughts on Apple Vision Pro

Sorry… this is a bit if a stream of conciouness. (and probably too positive but…)
There are 2 devices in my lifetime where I had the need to “insta-buy”… meaning that using it meant I “got it” straight away and can see a future different to today. The first was a Tesla Model 3… the second Apple Vision Pro.
This surely is a view into the future. It is AR + VR disrupted in a way only Apple has the patience to execute … late-ish but in a way that shows they absolutely have a long term and deep commitment to a brand new platform… and get it. They have built a platform on which from day one everything you need to be able to do seems to be available. This really shows the real benefit of the core apple platforms and walled garden working to bring a V1 experience second to none in the VAR world.
I am simply amazed at how the UI just works, is responsive, and thought through as a platform. The iOS roots are there and it just works as you might expect. iPad apps and vision apps are great (for V1), the eye tracking and interaction model, again for a first go is just effortless.
The way it can be used without EVER taking it off - from the first use - shows that the Apple teams have deeply understood a use case for a brand new platform that within 10 years could be the natural way of using technology.
When these actually become apple glasses and get smaller the iPhone will be replaced… it might take 10 years but the vision and building blocks are all here.
I have worn these solidly now for 6 hours and was comfortable throughout.
Amazing that from now we have the Office Suite essentially native, so many existing apps available for iOS / iPadOS available and working is phenomenal. I remember the first days of the watch, the iPad and the Phone… this is actually pretty complete.
I just love the iris authentication … just seamless for me and I have 1-Password installed which works as advertised.
It is also amazing that in a text editor like Notes you can basically look at a letter click your fingers, and the text cursor appears there. Long hold of the fingers allows you to move the cursor around, a double click selects a word. A triple click gets you the iOS text selection options. None of this is perfect yet, but it is amazing to see and you can see the possibilities.
Can I also say that the personal Spatial Audio is my absolutely favourite, genius, and undersold feature…. no headphones required and great sound.
All in all just brilliant for a V1 product and it is so nice to see so many of the Apple technologies that have been released in recent years find their way into this product.
Now… back to the future.
For international users:
Don’t be afraid of buying in the US and taking it back home. I am from Australia and was very worried about the narrative from Apple on the risks. Basically you can setup and configure everything without a US Apple Store account. You do not need a US AppleID to get going.
It will be functional and useable and only the apps that rely on region-locked services will not work … AppStore, Music, TV. This might seem like a killer but so much actually works including iCloud syncing and files etc that are based around your own account.
In a month or so (June 10 likely) it will be released in more markets and it will start working with your local AppleID.
If you can get a US AppleID then you can actually use Apple services which then work and remember your settings and playlists from your home territory… including Disney+, Apple Store, Apple Music etc.
I got a US AppleID by CHANGING THE REGION of one of my old less-used AppleIDs. This involved getting a US SMS service based on SlySMS which is the critical step. Every other avenue based on creating a new AppleID seemed to get blocked at one stage or another.
submitted by Tatlin- to VisionPro [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 00:12 Bowazon_ Season 4 Heartseeker Victimise Rogue Guide by Bowa

Season 4 Heartseeker Victimise Rogue Guide by Bowa

Season 4 Heartseeker Planner Links

Note: This guide and the build links above may be updated from time to time. Look out for these updates in the original guide document here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pVRhEVZa0qPrg_03Tq_k98eMrmD7s8DK4kELn_Pfhi4/edit?usp=sharing

How it works

Heartseeker is one of the Rogue’s ranged basic attacks that has a reliable chance of hitting its targets.
Although Heartseeker is reliable in that respect, its damage potential was very limited throughout Diablo 4 history due to its lower base damage compared to core skills and combo points and because it had no way of delivering imbuement effects, inflicting area of effect (AoE) damage or taking advantage of the huge damage bonus from precision.
While basic skills still can’t be imbued and precision doesn’t work with basic skills, Heartseeker’s main obstacles have been solved:
  • Basic skill’s lack of damage has been solved by using Moonrise and Adaptability aspects (on a 2-hander and amulet) which together boost basic attack damage by 5.6x as well as providing attack speed and movement speed benefits
  • Victimise will be a very strong key passive going into season 4. Not only will Victimise provide a decent damage boost for Heartseeker that can’t otherwise benefit from Precision, Victimise makes the Heartseeker build viable by giving the build AoE damage
  • As of season 4, you can now get Heartseeker ranks from your pants slot (up to +8)
Victimise is a key passive that works off lucky hit, which basic attacks like Heartseeker - together with Primary Heart Seeker which allows Heartseeker to ricochet and hit twice - can proc very often because of its 50% lucky hit chance and because of Heartseeker’s fast attack speed.
Also, because Heartseeker tracks targets, this can be used safely and reliably to deal damage to enemies from afar. As enemies then agro towards you from a distance and converge closer and closer together as they approach you, this allows your AoE explosions to deal more damage the more tightly packed enemies become.
Pros
  • Good consistent damage that doesn’t need an elaborate attack rotation to do reliable damage
  • Easy to play by spamming a single attack without worrying about conditional damage combinations and energy usage
  • Safely fight from a distance, taking the heat off you and reduces the chances of long drawn out fights from needing to dodge around
  • No resource issues so no need to build around energy sustainability in your build, saving skill points, aspect slots, affix slots on gear and less reliant on Inner Sight
Cons
  • Crowd control effects (CC) are not the easiest to apply with attacks since Heartseeker only hits 1 or 2 targets per cast
  • Damage takes a little time to ramp up - Heartseeker, Moonrise, Exploit Weakness, Chip all have buffs or debuffs that ramp up based on how many times you hit targets. This takes about 3-4 seconds for all damage bonuses to be fully online
  • Not a build that you can start levelling with from a brand new character until you collect the key ingredients
  • Despite having AoE in the build, builds like Penetrating shot and Scoundrel’s Kiss Rapid fire are still unmet when it comes to AoE potential
Victimise Double Dipping
Victimise has interactions with your original attacks that result in your damage output being affected by double dipping. This means that certain buffs and debuffs boost your damage twice, usually in 2 different stages of your full damage calculation.
Victimise bases its damage based on a percentage of damage that your Heartseeker hits do. For example, if Heartseeker does 10,000 damage and Victimise does 300% of your original (Heartseeker) damage, then Victimise explosions will do 30,000 damage.
If then your Heartseeker damage is increased by buffs and debuffs that result in Heartseeker doing more damage against its targets, then this will increase the base damage of Victimise. For example, if the Control glyph + Exploit Weakness debuffs increase Heartseeker’s damage by 50%, then Heartseeker will now do 15,000 damage, and Victimise is expected to do 45,000 damage (because Victimise does 300% of your Heartseeker damage).
However in this case, when Heartseeker results in a Victimise explosion and hits the same targets that are affected by the Control glyph + Exploit Weakness debuffs, then Victimise itself also gains the benefits from these debuffs, and its final damage will increase from 45,000 damage to 67,500 damage, or in other words 30,000 x 1.5 x 1.5 = 67,500 damage.
Known interactions that double dip with Victimise:
  • Caltrops - as long as the target is standing in Caltrops while hit with Heartseeker and Victimise
  • Exploit - as long as the target is health or injured when hit with Heartseeker and Victimise
  • Subverting Poison Trap - as long as the target is standing in Poison Trap, but not applicable to us since we don’t deal poison damage
  • Control glyph - as long as the target is CC’ed when hit with Heartseeker and Victimise
  • Pride glyph - as long as the target is health when hit with Heartseeker and Victimise
  • Chip glyph - as long as the target is hit 10 times with physical attacks prior to when hit with Heartseeker and Victimise for maximum effect
  • Canny glyph - as long as the target is hit 10 times with non-physical attacks prior to when hit, but not applicable to us since we don’t deal non-physical damage
  • Deadly Ambush - as long as the target is standing in any of our traps (Caltrops) while hit with Heartseeker and Victimise
  • Exploit Weakness - as long as the target is hit 25 times while vulnerable prior to when hit with Heartseeker and Victimise for maximum effect
Credits to Ava on Sanctuary Diablo 4 Discord server for testing this out.
To put things into perspective, while playing in the PTR, I noticed my Barrage hits that were doing 1.1 million damage were procing Victimise explosions that were doing almost 12 million damage.
With Heartseeker, our damage per hit with Heartseeker and Victimise explosions will do much more damage, and Victimise explosions will occur more often.
https://preview.redd.it/bjskc65ro90d1.png?width=756&format=png&auto=webp&s=5d30f050350d11604ee1a341efc7aee86d75a4ab

The Build

Skills
  • Heartseeker - The main “core” skill for this build. Get Primary Heartseeker for ricochet Heartseeker arrows that deal 75% of the original damage. These arrows can loop back around and hit the same target twice, as long as it doesn’t hit a wall or obstacle
  • Dash - For general mobility and disengagement. Get Enhanced Dash for 15% critical strike damage for bosses or tightly packed enemies
  • Shadow Step - For general mobility and a CC break. Get Enhanced Shadow Step for 8% critical strike chance mainly for bosses, and Disciplined Shadow Step to help refresh Shadow Step’s cooldown. Alternatively you can get Methodical Shadow Step for better stagger application, but using Shadow Step in this way risks being caught in CC and potentially dying
  • Concealment - For general mobility, disengagement, and a CC break. Get Subverting Concealment for applying vulnerable while in the levelling stages
  • Smoke Grenade - For disabling groups by dazing them, disabling suppressor barriers and for activating both Cheap Shot, Control and Concussive Strikes. Get Enhanced Smoke Grenade for an extra 25% damage bonus versus groups of enemies (this doesn’t work on bosses). Get Countering Smoke Grenade for quickly refreshing Smoke Grenade’s cooldown vs groups of enemies (this doesn’t work on bosses). Alternatively, get Subverting Smoke Grenade to increase the stagger effectiveness of Smoke Grenade on bosses
  • Caltrops - Apply slow in an area. Get Enhanced Caltrops for up to 45% extra damage bonus (depending on how long enemies stay in Caltrops), and get Disciplined Caltrops for 10% critical strike chance vs enemies standing in Caltrops
Specialisation
Inner Sight, purely for the 25% critical strike chance bonus once every few moments.
Passive Effects
  • Weapon Mastery - If using a bow, gives you more damage vs vulnerable enemies, if using a crossbow, gives 15% critical strike damage
  • Exploit - Increases damage to healthy and injured enemies. This passive also double dips with Victimise
  • Malice - Increases damage to vulnerable enemies. What’s less commonly known is Malice also increases the base damage of Victimise
  • Frigid Finesse - Increases damage to chilled and frozen enemies. This build freezes enemies and staggers bosses so this passive is quite powerful
  • Sturdy - Reduces damage taken from close enemies
  • Siphoning Strikes - Healing when you critically strike close enemies. Although we can fight at a distance, we can still fight up close and get some healing while doing so
  • Stutter Step - Increases movement speed temporarily while we critically strike. Useful during fights for mobility
  • Trick Attacks - Knocks down enemies for a short period when you critical strike them while they are dazed
  • Concussive - When you knock down an enemy, gain up to 12% critical strike chance. This should work during the first few seconds of a boss getting staggered also (but to be confirmed)
  • Agile - Increases your dodge chance after using a cooldown (in this case: Dash, Shadow Step, Concealment, Smoke Grenade, Caltrops)
  • Haste - Increases movement speed. This passive does improve attack speed when below 50% energy, but this never happens
  • Trap Mastery - Gain 12% critical strike chance when your Death Trap activates (for the High-end Pit variant only)
  • Dark Shroud - Reduces damage taken from enemies. Although this is an active skill, we gain Dark Shroud shadows passively through Umbrous aspect, making this a more passive effect
What we don’t pick up
  • Impetus - Doesn't work with basic skills. Given that we attack very fast, this passive won’t be useful anyway
  • Imbuements - Basic skills aren't imbueable
  • Precision Imbuement - Basic skills aren't imbueable
  • Shadow Crash - This build doesn’t deal shadow damage
  • Consuming Shadows - This build doesn’t deal shadow damage or need energy recovery
  • Deadly Venom - This build doesn’t deal poisoning damage
  • Debilitating Toxins - This build doesn’t poison enemies
  • Alchemical Advantage - This build doesn’t poison enemies
  • Chilling Weight - This build doesn’t chill enemies, only (instantly) freezes enemies
  • Innervation - This build doesn’t consume energy so not needed
  • Second Wind - This build doesn’t consume energy so no benefit
  • Alchemist's Fortune - This build does not used any non-physical attacks
  • Rugged - We have high mobility with this build and we can heal our way through damage over time effects that stick on us
  • Reactive Defense - We have Shadow Step to quickly get us out of CC effects
  • Mending Obscurities - We can use potions while in concealment
  • Aftermath - This build doesn’t consume energy so not needed
  • Shadow Clone - Not only is Shadow Clone severely undertuned to do very little damage (after accounting for all of your aspects and paragon), Shadow Clone doesn’t proc Victimise which is there most of our damage comes from
Aspects
  • Moonrise - Increases attack speed, increases movement speed and significantly increases damage when 5 stacks of Moonrise are accumulated. Use in your 2-hander weapon for higher damage bonus
  • Adaptability - Significantly increases damage when at or above 50% energy. Because we’re always at 100% energy, this is an unconditional damage bonus for Heartseeker. Use in your amulet slot
  • Crowded Sage - Increases dodge chance and heals you whenever you dodge. Use in one of your defensive slots. Alternatively, use Assimilation aspect for Fortify accumulation instead of the healing effect
  • Umbrous - Gain Dark Shroud shadows when you critically strike enemies with Heartseeker. Use in one of your defensive slots
  • Edgemaster's - Increase damage by up to 20% based on your available energy levels. Because we’re always at 100% energy, this is an unconditional damage bonus. Use in one of your offensive slots
  • Elements - Increases damage to a set of 3 damage types for 7 seconds at a time. This is basically a 30% damage increase that is active for 7 seconds, inactive for 7 seconds, etc. Use in one of your offensive slots
  • Retribution - Increase damage against stunned or knocked-down enemies (and staggered bosses). Use in one of your offensive slots
  • Rapid - Increases attack speed for Heartseeker. Use in one of your offensive slots
  • Frostbitten - Increases critical strike damage against frozen or stunned enemies and when hitting enemies with smoke grenades, instantly freezes them. Use in either your boots or chest slots
  • Concussive Strikes - Dazes enemies and increases damage against dazed enemies. Use in either your boots or chest slots
  • Inner Calm - Increased damage, with the bonus tripled after standing still for 3 seconds. Useful against staggered bosses or when feeling safe against dazed groups. Use in one of your offensive slots
Note: We are not using any unique items for this build. Paingorger’s Gauntlets seem like a very good unique item to use for this build, but unfortunately its final damage output from testing by other people has been underwhelming. To be tested once season 4 launches however.
Paragon
  • Exploit Weakness - Ramps up your damage against enemies (per target) the more that you hit them while they are vulnerable. Double dips with Victimise
  • Cheap Shot - Increase your damage while there are 1 or more enemies nearby that are CC’ed, up to a 25% damage bonus for 5 or more enemies
  • Deadly Ambush - Increase your damage against enemies that are affected by your traps (Caltrops in this case). Double dips with Victimise
  • Control glyph on starter board - Increases your damage against CC’ed enemies. The glyph core bonus double dips with Victimise
  • Chip glyph on Cheap Shot - Ramps up your damage against enemies (per target) the more that you hit them with any of your (physical) attacks. The glyph core bonus double dips with Victimise
  • Pride glyph on Leyrana's Instinct - Increases your physical damage against healthy enemies. Using this glyph on Leyrana’s Instinct also allows us to max out our resistances. Double dips with Victimise
  • Exploit glyph on Deadly Ambush - Increases your vulnerable damage (important for Victimise) and makes enemies hit by your attacks vulnerable (once every 20 seconds). Deadly Ambush board is used for Exploit for the high number of strength nodes around the glyph
  • Combat glyph on Exploit Weakness - Increases your critical strike damage. Exploit Weakness board is used for Combat for the high number of intelligence nodes around the glyph
  • Ranger glyph on Tricks of the Trade - Reduces your damage taken while you are holding onto a bow or crossbow (ie, after casting Heartseeker)
  • Diminish glyph on No Witnesses - This glyph is used just to boost the surrounding rare +life node. We don’t care about the glyph core bonus for now as it's awfully niche (from physical attacks from vulnerable enemies)
Note: We should end up with 7 paragon boards in total.

Stats/Gear Priorities

Summary
  • Vulnerable damage - stacked as high as possible for higher additive damage and for scaling Victimise’s base damage. Aim for 900+% vulnerable damage from gear and paragon
  • Other additive damage bonuses - to further increase your overall damage output. Get 650+% of this from Marksman critical strike damage tempers and other smaller ones from gear and paragon
  • Attack speed - to cast Heartseeker quicker. Aim for 85+% from gear and 30% from Rapid aspect
  • Chance to cast Heartseeker twice - scales up your damage output as you’re casting more Heartseekers per attack. Aim for 95+% from 2 tempers on weapons
  • Heartseeker - is used as the main skill for delivering damage and Victimise procs. Aim for 11+ ranks in total between your native skill points and your pants
  • Lucky hit chance - to proc Victimise and other effects (CC, Umbrous, vulnerable) more often. Aim for 50+% from gear. You can use an elixir to boost this up further
  • Critical strike chance - to increase how often you critically strike and gain a damage bonus from Weapon Mastery, Frostbitten, Deadly Ambush and your critical strike damage additive and core bonuses. Aim for 80+% from intelligence, gear and paragon, including Marksman critical strike chance bonuses
  • Dexterity - to increase your baseline damage and increase your dodge chance. Aim for 1500+ from gear and paragon
  • Life - is needed for survival. Aim for 40,000+ in total
  • Dark Shroud - is needed for your main source of heavy damage reduction. Aim for 12+ ranks in total between your native skill points and your chest piece
  • Dodge - reduces the chance of direct attacks damaging you, which also protects your Dark Shroud shadow stacks. Aim for 50-70% from dexterity, gear and the Agile passive
  • Armour cap - 9,230 for 85% damage reduction from physical attacks
  • Resistances - 70% to all resistances
  • Crowd control effects - to disable enemies and build up stagger on bosses. Get 4-5 affixes that apply CC effects on enemies, including Concussive Strikes. After that, get crowd control duration
  • Movement speed - to improve mobility in combat and general mobility. Get 70+% from gear and skills, including from Moonrise
Item Pieces
  • Weapons - for vulnerable damage, attack speed, dexterity. Tempering: marksman critical strike damage, chance to cast Heartseeker twice (on your 2-hander + one of your swords), caltrops duration (on one of your swords)
    • Vulnerable damage - High priority stat to help stack Victimise damage
    • Attack speed - Enough to get 100% attack speed from weapons alone
    • Chance to cast twice - To ensure 100% chance to cast Heartseeker twice per cast to multiply effective damage output by 2
    • Caltrops - Caltrops duration is preferred over Caltrops size since the extra duration will work at the highest damage bonus benefit and will extend the benefit before needing to move (break our Inner Calm bonus) to reapply Caltrops
    • Marksman critical strike damage - Some extra additive damage
  • Rings - for vulnerable damage, life, lucky hit chance (on one of your rings), lucky hit chance to apply vulnerable (on one of your rings). Tempering: marksman critical strike damage, agility cooldown reduction
    • Vulnerable damage - High priority stat to help stack Victimise damage
    • Life - Needed for survival
    • Lucky hit chance to apply vulnerable - An important stat that helps apply and maintain vulnerable on enemies
    • Lucky hit chance - Stacking lucky hit chance is important to increase Victimise proc rate and for applying CC more often
    • Agility skill cooldown reduction - This helps mobility by increasing the uptime on mobility skills that get you from point A to B faster
    • Marksman critical strike damage - Some extra additive damage
  • Amulet - for Exploit, Malice, Frigid Finesse. If you can’t get a 3x passive amulet, you can also aim for lucky hit chance. Tempering: marksman critical strike chance, dodge chance
    • Exploit - Important for the double dip effect for Victimise
    • Malice - Important for increasing damage versus vulnerable enemies and increasing the base damage of Victimise
    • Frigid Finesse - Increases the damage of enemies frozen by attacks and for increasing damage during boss stagger window
    • Marksman critical strike chance - Helps the build reach very high levels of critical strike chance
    • Dodge chance - Needed for survival
  • Helm - for life, armour, lucky hit chance. Tempering: dodge chance, lucky hit chance to X (see below “CC effects”)
    • Life - Needed for survival
    • Lucky hit chance - Stacking lucky hit chance is important to increase Victimise proc rate and for applying CC more often
    • Armour - 2 armour rolls across all gear is needed to reach the armour cap. Juggernaut’s can be used instead, but having 2 armour rolls frees up an aspect slot
    • Dodge chance - Needed for survival
    • Lucky hit chance to X - Needed for applying CC effects against enemies
  • Chest - for Dark Shroud ranks (important), life, armour. Tempering: single resistance (see below “Resistances”), lucky hit chance to X (see below “CC effects”)
    • Dark Shroud ranks - Important for survival, going from 11 ranks to 15 ranks of Dark Shroud is a 25% effective damage reduction bonus
    • Life - Needed for survival
    • Armour - 2 armour rolls across all gear is needed to reach the armour cap. Juggernaut’s can be used instead, but having 2 armour rolls frees up an aspect slot
    • Single resistance - Needed to complete capping resistances across all elements
    • Lucky hit chance to X - Needed for applying CC effects against enemies
  • Gloves - for vulnerable damage, critical strike chance, lucky hit chance. Tempering: marksman critical strike chance, lucky hit chance to X (see below “CC effects”)
    • Vulnerable damage - High priority stat to help stack Victimise damage
    • Critical strike chance - Improves overall damage output and Umrbous aspect proc rate
    • Lucky hit chance - Stacking lucky hit chance is important to increase Victimise proc rate and for applying CC more often
    • Marksman critical strike damage - Some extra additive damage
    • Lucky hit chance to X - Needed for applying CC effects against enemies
  • Pants - for Heartseeker ranks (important), life, dodge chance. Tempering: dodge chance, lucky hit chance to X (see below “CC effects”)
    • Heartseeker ranks - Important for stacking Heartseeker damage
    • Life - Needed for survival
    • Dodge chance - Needed for survival (stacked twice from item stats and tempering affix)
    • Lucky hit chance to X - Needed for applying CC effects against enemies
  • Boots - for movement speed, dexterity, life. Tempering: movement speed, crowd control duration (see below “CC effects”)
    • Movement speed - Important for general mobility and to speed up gameplay and avoidability of dangerous attacks (stacked twice from item stats and tempering affix)
    • Dexterity - For adding in extra damage and dodge chance
    • Life - Needed for survival
    • Crowd control duration - Linearly scale up the amount of stagger that can be delivered on the boss
CC effects
We want to have as many CC applying effects from our tempering mods as possible across Boots, Pants, Gloves, Chest and Head gear pieces. The possible CC applying effects available from tempering are:
  • Lucky Hit: Up to a +[21.0 - 30.0]% Chance to Slow for 2 Seconds
  • Lucky Hit: Up to a +[13.5 - 22.5]% Chance to Immobilize for 2 Seconds
  • Lucky Hit: Up to a +[13.0 - 17.5]% Chance to Stun for 2 Seconds
  • Lucky Hit: Up to a +[13.0 - 17.5]% Chance to Freeze for 2 Seconds
  • Lucky Hit: Up to a +[13.0 - 17.5]% Chance to Daze for 2 Seconds
Some guiding principles on how I’ve chosen which effects we want to have across Boots, Pants, Gloves, Chest and Head gear pieces are written below:
  • We want to have one of each type of effect across our gear set to diversify our stagger application. It’s important to have this diversification because applying the same type of stagger effect twice or more times in quick succession reduces the effectiveness of that type of stagger effect (for how long is not currently known)
  • In our build, we already have daze from Smoke Grenade and Concussive Strikes, and we already have slow from Caltrops, so we will need to pick up:
    • 1x Freezing effect
    • 1x Stun effect
    • 1x Immobilise effect
  • 4th CC effect: You can either pick up another 1x Freezing effect to freeze enemies more often and trigger Frigid Finesse and Frostbitten bonuses more often, or pick up 1x Slow effect for better stagger diversification and damage reduction from slowed enemies from the Cheap Shot board
  • We also pick up 1x crowd control duration rather than getting a 5th CC effect on our last piece to help boost the effectiveness of each of the following and to reduce the chance of diminishing stagger effect (by applying too many individual CC effects):
    • All tempering lucky hit chance to CC effects
    • Concussive strikes
    • Smoke Grenade
  • We should end up with 4x lucky hit CC effects and 1x crowd control duration across Boots, Pants, Gloves, Chest and Head gear pieces
  • The above needs more testing, but that’s the current idea
Read more information about how stagger works here https://discord.com/channels/989899054815281243/1239196457488355328/1239196457488355328
Bow vs Crossbow
As a basic principle, bows shoot 22% faster and crossbows deal 22% more damage. However, some nuanced stuff should be noted:
  • Crossbows come with vulnerable damage, which boosts your Victimise base damage. However, this damage increase from vulnerable damage in the scheme of things is not major. This damage increase is pretty much unconditional however
  • Bows have extra damage to distant enemies, which can be nice sometimes but it can be hard to keep your distance from enemies at times especially if you’re trying to optimise damage your output with Dash and Caltrops, which require you to get close
  • Bows shoot faster and can apply CC effects quicker this way. This in theory staggers bosses quicker. However, bows have been found to not quite shoot 22% faster than crossbows in some circumstances, and applying CC effects quickly have some diminishing returns even if true.
  • Furthermore, you can apply stagger on bosses using cooldowns such as Shadow Step and Smoke Grenade which aren’t affected by how much faster you can shoot with a bow
  • Crossbows also gain us a higher Weapon Mastery passive bonus than what bows can do, though only by 3% at rank 3 of Weapon Mastery. Although Weapon Mastery with a bow increases your damage to vulnerable enemies, it does not contribute to your Victimise base damage in the same way that the Malice passive does
  • Bows look cooler because of transmogs and because you’re shooting faster
While for this build there is no clear winner between using a bow or crossbow, it will ultimately be decided for you based on what you find or trade for out in the field and how lucky you get with your tempering rolls.
Swords vs Daggers
We use Heartseeker for our “core” attacks, so we will only rely on our swords or daggers for their damage bonuses.
Swords come with extra critical strike damage and daggers come with extra damage versus close enemies. Given that we will have a high amount of critical strike chance with this build and we may be fighting from afar quite often, going with swords is more ideal for this build.
Survivability
For survivability, there are a few things that will help us here.
  • Dark Shroud with Umbrous aspect - Dark Shroud with up to 15 ranks gives up to 68% damage reduction when 5 shadows are active. Umbrous aspect allows you to gain shadows when you hit enemies with Heartseeker. Since you lose shadows every time you take direct damage, being able to get them back quickly is important
  • Dodge - Dodge allows you to avoid taking damage from hits altogether. Apart from the obvious benefit of avoiding damage, not taking damage also helps preserve your Dark Shroud shadows. Beware however that dodge doesn’t reduce the damage you take when you do take damage, and dodge doesn’t avoid certain ground effects or damage from damage over time sources, so don’t rely on dodge too much. Somewhere between 50% to 70% dodge should be enough without stretching you too much
  • Life - The more life you have, the more punishment you can take. Try and aim for around 40,000 life or a little bit more to ensure you can take most hits without dying
  • Damage reduction - Pick up damage reduction where you can. The following paragon nodes should be secured to help you survive:
    • Damage reduction from vulnerable enemies on Exploit Weakness
    • Damage reduction from elite enemies on Cheap Shot
    • Damage reduction from trapped enemies on Deadly Ambush
    • Ranger glyph
    • Damage reduction from slowed enemies on Cheap Shot if you have 1x Slow effect from tempering. Note that this form of damage reduction is less important since it doesn’t work on bosses
  • Resistances - Resistances can be maxed out without any gear rolling resistance affixes by
    • Tempering Fire, Lightning, Poison or Shadow resistance on the Chest piece
    • Getting the Leyrana’s board with a maxed out Pride glyph
    • Getting the cold resistance cluster of nodes from on Exploit Weakness (30 out of 35% worth)
    • Making sure that your rings natively roll cold resistance on them on their inherent affix. If you can only get 1 ideal ring with cold resistance on it, then pick up the remaining 5% cold resistance node on Exploit Weakness as well to top up your cold resistance
  • Crowded Sage vs Assimilation - Both aspects have 8% extra dodge on them. Crowded Sage will be better against lots of smaller attacks, where as Assimilation will be better for less frequent but harder hitting attacks, so take your pick
  • More defensive - If necessary, swap Elements aspect for Might aspect or Assimilation/Crowded Sage aspect (requires some aspect shuffling) to further improve survivability. You can also gain the full glyph bonus on No Witnesses by swapping to Diminish (damage reduction) and adding more surrounding strength nodes

Levelling

At the start of your levelling journey, you should follow any other levelling guide out there that uses Rapid Fire, Barrage or Penetrating Shot and use combo points. Once you reach the key passives at the bottom of your skill tree, you should use Precision for the foreseeable future.
There are a few key ingredients that you should get before switching over to using Heartseeker and Victimise:
Heartseeker:
  • Mid to high roll Moonrise aspect, ready to put on your ranged weapon slot
  • Mid to high roll Adaptability aspect, ready to put on an amulet slot
  • Rapid aspect, ready to put on any offensive slot
  • Victimise (see below) since Precision doesn’t work with Heartseeker
  • Ideal: Ranks to Heartseeker on pants, chance to cast Heartseeker twice, etc
Victimise:
  • Either Accursed Touch aspect or Lucky hit chance to make targets vulnerable on one of your rings. Note that you will drop Accursed Touch long term but it can be handy to use while levelling
  • Exploit glyph
  • Some lucky hit chance affixes (20+). Gloves are the best spot to get this early
  • High amount of vulnerable damage bonuses (200+)
  • Ideal: At least 2 double dipping interactions from your paragon

High-end Pit

In high-end Pit content, even trash enemies will take a little while to kill. This will force you to use your Caltrops, Smoke Grenade and other tools more often to maintain an efficient clear speed. With this in mind, see the notes below on the changes to make from the standard build.
  • Swap Concealment for Death Trap + Prime Death Trap, Death Trap will be used to tightly group enemies together and to activate Trap Mastery
  • Swap Stutter Step for Trap Mastery, since we will not be speed farming but trying to maximise damage output when we activate Death Trap
  • Swap Inner Sight for Preparation, while we can’t lower Death Trap’s cooldown with Preparation, we will use it to lower other cooldowns with Death Trap. Given that Inner Sight will likely perform badly in higher levels of Pit, this swap becomes sensible
  • Swap Agility cooldown reduction for Trap cooldown reduction to help maximise the uptime for Death Trap
  • Swap Combat glyph for Ambush glyph, Combat glyph makes sense in a more agile build, but we will become more heavily reliant on Caltrops and Death Trap for damage output, so Ambush will give us a small damage boost over Combat
  • If necessary, swap Elements aspect for Hectic aspect (requires some aspect shuffling) to further improve the cooldown refresh for Death Trap

Boss Attack Rotation

  • Spam Heartseeker to ramp up all of your damage modifiers - Heartseeker, Moonrise, Exploit Weakness, Chip - and to apply constant CC effects on the boss until they are close to being staggered. Save your Smoke Grenade for now
  • Once staggered, quickly Shadow Step them, throw down Caltrops and Dash through them
  • Spam Heartseeker into them while standing still
  • Once the boss comes out of stagger, throw your Smoke Grenade then spam Heartseeker to apply constant CC effects on the boss until they are close to being staggered again
  • Once staggered, quickly Shadow Step them, throw down Caltrops and Dash through them
  • Spam Heartseeker into them while standing still
  • Repeat this process until the boss is dead
Situational Skill Usage
  • Use Dash or Concealment to disengage when you feel in danger. Remember to not disengage for too long otherwise you will lose your ramp up damage modifiers - Heartseeker, Moonrise, Exploit Weakness, Chip
  • Use Shadow Step when you get CC’ed, making sure that it’s safe to do so first
  • Use Caltrops but sparingly (at the start of stagger window) since Caltrops takes time to cast when you want to be shooting with Heartseeker instead to apply CC and keep damage modifiers online. This will also help ensure that you have Caltrops ready during the stagger window
  • Use Death Trap to refresh cooldowns, preferably on the boss to also activate Trap Mastery and brief moments of Deadly Ambush, Ambush, etc
  • Use Smoke Grenade when it comes off cooldown but avoid using it during the stagger window
submitted by Bowazon_ to D4Rogue [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 00:00 PorcelainDalmatian Whistling Past The Graveyard

Most of you have probably seen the truly disastrous New York Times/Sienna swing state polls that came out this morning, that paint a dire picture for the ostriches in the Biden campaign. I understand dismissing polls from outlets like Rasmussen, because their entire polling operation is just a guy named Gary sitting behind a folding table in the lobby of the Rec Center at The Villages. But are we going to dismiss The New York Times? Are they part of the “vast right wing conspiracy” now too? What about NBC, Washington Post, NPR, CBS et al? And virtually all of the polls are wrong? Biden’s approval numbers? The “wrong track” numbers? Biden’s confidence numbers? The economic poll numbers? Everything is wrong? Really? Now who’s on “Earth II?”
And then there are the numbers themselves. A traditional (+/- 3%) MOE means a 6-point swing. NYT has Trump at +13 in Nevada. Assuming that poll is off by a whopping 50%, he’s still beating the swing. That’s disastrous. 10 points in Georgia? Horrible. 7 points in both Michigan and Arizona? All outside the swing. Polling among traditionally Democrat voting groups are even less encouraging. Recent polling indicates 30% of Black men are considering voting for Trump. Suppose that survey is off by 50%, it still means 15% - which is disastrous for Biden. Don’t even get me started on the youth vote. Many people forget that not too long ago, the big prizes of Ohio (18 electoral votes) and Florida (29 electoral votes) were up for grabs. With those two states now firmly in the Red column, the Democrats have a very narrow gauntlet to run.
For some reason, whether it’s rose-colored optimism or just plain denial, we’re all supposed to act as if everything is fine. From Simon Rosenberg to Geoff Garin to Molly Jong Fast (who I’m now calling Pauline Kael, Jr) we’re told not to worry. But you know things are bad when you watch turd-polishing Democrat operatives on cable news say things like:
“Well, Anderson, when you look at exurban, lactose-intolerant, Latvian-American independents with three fingers, aged 37-39, Biden is +2 compared to 2020…….”
My spleen is going to implode if I hear one more Democrat pundit say, “Don’t worry, polls this far out fluctuate wildly.” Yes, in a typical year they do. But this is no typical year. For the first time since 1892, two former presidents are running against each other, and that changes everything. Why pundits and campaign managers can’t seem to understand this is simply beyond me. Unless your comparisons are to the 1892 race, I don’t want to hear them. In a typical election year, polls move drastically in the last 6 months because the electorate is getting to know the challenger for the first time. That’s simply not the case this year.
Both these men are completely known quantities. There’s nothing left to discover. Both have run against each other before. Both have done the job of President before - very recently. Opinions are largely set. That’s why we’ve seen almost no movement in polls from 12 months out to 6 months out. Everything is baked. Trump killed one million Americans by ignoring COVID, staged a literal bloody coup attempt, was convicted of rape, defamation and a lifetime of financial fraud totaling almost half a billion dollars, and the needle didn’t move. If you think getting convicted of “falsifying business records” is going to move that needle, then I’ve got some oceanfront condos in Nebraska to sell you. He’s not going to jail. Short of him killing Kristi Noem’s other dog live on the Times Square Jumbo-Tron, Trump’s numbers are fixed. Biden fares no better. Is he going to get younger over the next 6 months? Are we going to have sudden deflation that wipes out 3 years of price increases? Is the Fed going to cut rates by 5 points? Are the Israelis and Palestinians going to start holding hands and singing Kumbaya? In 6 months? There are no October Surprises coming, folks - so don’t count on one.
That’s why we need to take these polls extremely seriously - NOW. No more dismissing them. No more waiting around hoping they’ll change. No more, “Just wait until “______” months out. No more whistling past the graveyard. Our task is different this cycle. It’s not about persuading open minds, it’s about changing voters’ closed minds, which is a far more difficult and lengthy task. Here are a few ideas for starting that process now:
  1. LEAN HARD ON THE CONCEPT OF FREEDOM: Across the political spectrum most Americans share one core value: We like to be left alone. We don’t like busybodies (especially the government) telling us what we can and can’t do. We like our freedom. The GOP has already become the party of extremist, authoritarian busybodies, and their future plans are truly dystopian. We need to hang the entire party’s authoritarian impulses around Trump’s neck like an albatross. Book bans, IVF bans, abortion bans, protest bands, porn bans, voter suppression - these are not popular with the vast majority of Americans. We need to start portraying the GOP as the Handmaid’s Tale/SNL Church Lady/Nurse Ratchet figures that they are. (And it’s not hyperbole when it’s already happening in Red states coast to coast. We have plenty of ammo). The hallmark message of this campaign needs to be “Creepy Republicans (mostly men) are obsessed with your bedroom and your bathroom.” Do you want Ted Cruz in your OB/GYN’s exam room with you and your doctor? Because that’s where we’re headed if you elect Trump/Republicans. Educate the hell out of Americans on Project 2025 and its Evangelical-based Puritanism. That’s a long, tough task that needs to begin NOW, not in October.
  2. EDUCATE PEOPLE ON BIDEN’S ACHIEVEMENTS: This shouldn’t have to be our job, but sadly Biden has been sitting in an ivory tower for 3+ years, refusing to use the world’s biggest bully pulpit to tout his own achievements. Add in a mainstream media that completely ignores him and it’s even worse. It might be too late. Read this truly stunning article from The Hill: 34% of Americans know NOTHING about the American Rescue Plan. 44% know NOTHING about the CHIPS Act. 24% know NOTHING about the Inflation Reduction Act. The infrastructure law fares no better, at 30% ignorance. 25% of the country thinks Biden is responsible for ending Roe V. Wade! Maybe educating them will pull a few percentage points our way, but it’s an uphill climb at this late date.
  3. PROMOTE THE HELL OUT OF RFK, JR: I’ve been beating this drum for months now, and thankfully some Democrat operatives are starting to come around. RFK, Jr is one of the greatest gifts the Democrats have ever received, and they need to starting acting like it. Unlike Biden and Trump, he is the one candidate in this race that Americans are getting to know for the first time. And once they do, he pulls almost exclusively Trump voters. Kennedy has virtually no appeal to Democrats, once they get to know him and his policies. So educate them! Promote him! He is doing almost exclusively MAGA press, picking up almost exclusively MAGA endorsements, and taking almost exclusively MAGA positions. If you don’t believe me, please sign up for his emails. They are virtually indistinguishable from Trump’s messaging. Go to one of his events - you’ll find almost entirely former Trump supporters. As people have gotten to know RFK, Jr. his polling as gone from pulling mostly Biden supporters, to mostly even, to pulling mostly Trump supporters. His brand of wacky, anti-vax conspiracy theorism is perfectly poised to keep 3rd-party-curious voters from returning to Trump. Trump and his MAGA surrogates have been stepping up their attacks on RFK Jr lately, because even they know it in their bones. The Democrats need to promote RFK, by using social media to micro-target the anti-vax, conspiracy theorist, tinfoil-hat crowd that would traditionally go back to Trump. It’s a golden opportunity, and they’re blowing it.
  4. STOP ACTNG LIKE IT’S 1982: Biden and his surrogates seem stuck in a time warp. They’re operating a campaign from a bygone era: Wait until the last few months, run some local TV ads with American flags and amber waves of grain, send out some junk mailers, pick up a union boss endorsement or two, get the local paper (if it even exists anymore) to endorse you, smile a lot, and kiss some babies. Meanwhile the GOP knows it’s in a fight for a knife in the mud. Trump is doing rallies - where are Biden’s? Trump and his minions are savaging Biden on a minute-by-minute basis - where are Biden and his surrogates? Don’t wait to go for the jugular - do it now. And keep that shiv in Trump’s neck for the next 6 months. Don’t worry about looking “Presidential” - worry about looking strong. Get creative and provocative with your dystopian ads. Scare people. Don’t worry about naysayers complaining that you’re exaggerating, because you’re not. Leverage social media - hard. Live in 2024. Embrace it. In other words - stop bringing a casserole to a knife fight.
None of these ideas may ultimately work, but we need to start the fight, and start it now.
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2024.05.13 23:29 Then_Marionberry_259 MAY 13, 2024 AOT.TO ASCOT REPORTS FIRST QUARTER 2024 RESULTS

MAY 13, 2024 AOT.TO ASCOT REPORTS FIRST QUARTER 2024 RESULTS
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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ascot Resources Ltd. ( TSX: AOT; OTCQX: AOTVF ) (“ Ascot ” or the “ Company ”) is pleased to announce the Company’s unaudited financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2024 (“ Q1 2024 ”), and also to provide a construction update on the Company’s Premier Gold Project (“ PGP ” or the “ project ”), located on Nis
g
a’a Nation Treaty Lands in the prolific Golden Triangle of northwestern British Columbia. For details of the unaudited condensed interim consolidated financial statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three months ended March 31, 2024, please see the Company’s filings on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca).
All amounts herein are reported in $000s of Canadian dollars (“ C$ ”) unless otherwise specified.
Q1 2024 AND RECENT HIGHLIGHTS
  • On May 7, 2024, the Company announced a $5,000 non-brokered flow through private placement (the “Offering”), the proceeds of which will be used to fund the 2024 exploration program at the PGP. The Offering will consist of 6,024,096 common shares of the Company, which qualify as "flow-through shares" within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the “FT Shares”), at a price of $0.83 per FT Share. The closing of the Offering is expected to occur in one or more tranches in or around late-May to mid-June 2024, and is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, including the acceptance of the Toronto Stock Exchange.
  • Rock was introduced into the grinding circuit of the mill on March 31, 2024, and first gold-bearing ore was introduced to the mills on April 5, 2024. On April 20, 2024, first gold was poured as a part of the commissioning process. Commissioning of the processing plant at PGP is ongoing, with commercial production anticipated in Q3 2024. Two gold pours have been completed using gold recovered from the gravity circuit. Another pour from gold recovered from the carbon-in-leach (“CIL”) circuit is anticipated imminently.
  • On February 20, 2024, the Company closed its previously announced financing package for a total of US$50 million from Sprott Resource Streaming and Royalty Corp. and its affiliates (“SRSR”) and Nebari Credit Fund II, LP (“Nebari Credit Fund II”), as described in the Company’s news release dated January 22, 2024. $13,700 of the above proceeds were used to buy back two existing 5% NSR royalties on various PGP property claims on March 15, 2024.
  • On February 20, 2024, concurrently with the above-noted financing package, the Company closed its previously announced bought deal private placement financing, under which the Company issued a total of 65,343,000 common shares of the Company (the “Common Shares”) at a price of $0.44 per Common Share, for gross proceeds of $28,751.
  • At the end of Q1 2024, overall construction excluding mine development was 98% complete compared with 86% complete at the end of 2023. A few remaining commissioning activities in the mill are underway. The tailing storage facility was completed and signed off by the engineer of record at the end of March 2024.
  • The new water treatment plant began operations in February 2024. The high-density sludge plant has been successfully commissioned and water is being treated and discharged into the environment. The moving bed bio-reactor (“MBBR”) is complete and media have been loaded into the tanks.
  • As of April 30, 2024, underground development totaled approximately 2,710 metres at Big Missouri and 150 metres at Premier.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROJECT
Project financing
On February 20, 2024, the Company closed a bought deal private placement for gross proceeds of $28,751 and a financing package of US$50 million for the completion and ramp-up of PGP. The financing package consisted of a royalty restructuring and a cost overrun facility.
Construction progress key performance indicators
At the end of Q1 2024, overall construction was 98% complete, compared with 86% complete at the end of Q4 2023. With first gold having been poured on April 20, 2024 via gold recovered through the gravity circuit, the project construction is 100% complete on schedule and on the most recently provided budget of approximately C$339 million. Commissioning and ramp-up activities in the processing plant and in the mine continue towards achieving commercial production in Q3 of 2024.
Safety
The Project had no lost time injuries in Q1 2024. There was an increase in recordable injuries at the end of the quarter which in part, can be attributable to seasonal changes and the transition from construction to operations. As the Project continues its transition from construction into operations, focus has been placed on the ongoing development of standard operating procedures, in field job hazard analysis and worker training. There was a small increase in property damage reported in the quarter due in part to weather conditions and the onboarding of a significant number of new workers to the site. The re-enforcement of reporting to the operating team remains a key focus to ensure that all learnings are identified and applied to prevent re-occurrence and reflect in the future training plans. In Q2 2024, significant work will be placed to support the operational teams to begin to operate the newly constructed plant through the final stages of C4 and C5 commissioning.
Processing plant and site infrastructure
Mechanical and electrical work in the mill was substantially completed in Q1 2024 with minor associated systems and punch list items to complete. Focus has shifted to commissioning the process plant and ramp up as well as completing minor deficiencies.
Stage one of the tailings storage facility (“TSF”) raise was completed and accepted by the Engineer of Record for use. Earthworks activities in 2024 will focus on raising the spillway dam by three metres, producing material for the 2025 raise and advanced work on the Cascade Creek Diversion in preparation for the 2025 works and final completion of the diversion.
The new water treatment plant was substantially mechanically and electrically completed in Q4 2023 with some minor areas remaining. The high-density sludge circuit was commissioned in Q1 2024 and is advancing towards full ramp up. The MBBR circuit was substantially complete in Q1 2024 and will begin full commissioning as the process plant continues to deposit tailings into the TSF and feed nitrogen species into the MBBR circuit.
The site power reticulation was completed in Q1 2024. Sustaining capital works in 2024 will focus on reticulation to the Premier portal as well as the Big Missouri portal.
Mine development
Procon Mining & Tunnelling (“Procon”) a mine contractor with extensive experience in BC and the Golden Triangle continued to advance mine development at two portal areas: S1 about 9 kilometres north of the mill which accesses the Big Missouri and Silver Coin deposits, and the mill adjacent Premier Northern Light (“PNL”) portal which accesses the Premier and Northern Light orebodies. As of the end of Q1 2024, Procon had about 57 people on site, 40 of whom were miners and 10 were maintenance personnel.
At Big Missouri, Procon advanced development into several ore headings in the A zone, as well as reactivating the S1 ramp heading that goes to Silver Coin deposit. In Q1 Procon developed 936 metres at Big Missouri (258 metres in ore and 678 metres in waste, and by April 29, 2024, development advanced to 905 metres in waste and 507 metres in ore total in 2024. Including the development completed in late 2022 and late 2023, the total development to date is approximately 2,710 metres in both ore and waste. Productivities at Big Missouri have continued to improve, with availability of key equipment such as Maclean bolters being made a priority.
During Q1 2024, the geological team continued to encounter high grade material occurrences in both face sampling and probe hole drilling in multiple areas of the A zone. As previously reported, these occurrences are in or very near existing wireframes or logical extensions of wireframes. At the end of March 31, 2024, a total of approximately 30,000 tonnes of ore was mined from Big Missouri and stockpiled at Diego pit.
At PNL, Procon dealt with issues related to near surface structure and weak ground. These issues seem to have abated at the end of April, and Procon has started to make better progress as they move into the better ground conditions expected at Premier given what was seen historically. In Q1 2024 approximately 85 metres were advanced at PNL, and at the end of April this increased to approximately 150 metres as ground conditions improved.
Mining development is being advanced down into the Premier deposit for initial mining in the Prew Zone, with ore development now anticipated to begin in early Q3 2024, and initial longhole stope production following later in Q3 2024. The ramp has been strategically laid out to allow for underground drilling on the Sebakwe Zone in 2024 and will eventually connect a footwall ramp over to the 602 area at the southern end of the Premier deposit. Although progress has been slow, the quality of the resultant work with ground control and shotcrete arches has been excellent, allowing for a secure and stable ramp for the life-of-mine production to come from this area approximately 350 metres from the Premier Mill.
Recruitment
At the end of Q1 2024, total site recruitment has reached approximately 90% of the planned operational team. A key achievement was the successful recruitment for some challenging roles pertaining particularly to some of the maintenance roles, health and safety (specifically, mine rescue), and technical roles for the mine and processing area. Policies and procedures development have been ongoing throughout Q1 2024 and key documents will be rolled out in Q2 2024.
Permitting and Environmental Compliance
A Joint Permit Amendment Application (“JPAA”) was required to be re-aligned with the project completion dates and was submitted in October 2023. The JPAA underwent first round comments through February 2024 and second round comments were received in late April 2024, with our responses anticipated to be submitted in May 2024.
The air permit was received on March 25, 2024. The updated environmental permit PE-8044, including the sewage treatment facility discharge permit is anticipated to be received in late May 2024.
2024 EXPLORATION PROGRAM
Planning for the 2024 exploration program is in full swing with an anticipated start date in late June. There are several areas on the properties that will be targeted by new drilling. Near the Premier mill, several drill holes have been planned around the Prew and Sebakwe zones of the Premier deposit. The new holes will complement the existing drill pattern at Prew and test induced polarization geophysical anomalies from last year’s survey.
Additional drill holes have been planned for the Big Missouri deposit where underground development is rapidly providing access to different parts of the deposit. The new holes will be designed for resource conversion and mine plan addition at this deposit. Specific new drill targets have been identified at the Day Zone on the western edge of the deposit, where geophysical anomalies seem to outline previously untested mineralization along strike of known ore zones.
Additional exploration drill holes are targeting a large geophysical anomaly to the west of the Dilworth deposit that extends surface showings to the north onto Ascot’s PGP property. This target has a large strike extent and may require drilling over more than one exploration season.
The Company anticipates a drill program of between 15,000 and 20,000 metres distributed over the areas described above. The program will require utilization of two drill rigs into late September or early October 2024.
FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2024
The Company reported a net loss of $6,208 for Q1 2024 compared to $7,589 for Q1 2023. The lower net loss for the current period is primarily attributable to a $2,170 decrease in the loss on extinguishment of debt and a $1,196 decrease in financing costs, partially offset by increases in other expense categories.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
As at March 31, 2024, the Company had cash & cash equivalents of $47,028 and working capital deficiency of $33,030. The working capital deficiency is caused by an estimated $23,024 as the current portion of the deferred revenue only to be settled with future production from the Project and the $25,180 value of the Convertible facility, which is classified as current due to the lender’s right to exercise the conversion option at any time at a variable exercise price. Excluding these non-cash current liabilities, working capital was $15,174. In Q1 2024, the Company issued 67,807,135 common shares, 10,164,528 warrants, and granted 110,000 stock options and 28,667 Deferred Share Units. Also, 100,766 stock options expired or were forfeited, 24,427 Restricted Share Units were forfeited, and 99,039 stock options, 137,533 Deferred Share Units and 158,726 Restricted Share Units were exercised in Q1 2024.
MANAGEMENT’S OUTLOOK FOR 2024
In 2024, the Company will transition from the construction of the mine and related infrastructure to the operation of the entire site and becoming a gold producer. Despite the challenges associated with this transition, there are many opportunities for the Company to grow and create value.
The key activities and priorities for 2024 include:
  • Making health and safety a priority in the commencement of operations
  • Completing the commissioning of the process plant
  • Completing the access ramp and starting the mine production at the Premier deposit
  • Continuing to expand the mine production and development at the Big Missouri deposit
  • Shipping and selling of gold doré
  • Advancing the exploration and infill drilling program on the numerous opportunities to increase resources
  • Compliance with the environmental requirements of the site and making sure water treatment and the tailings management facility operate as designed
  • Successfully transition from a mine developer to a mine operator
Qualified Person
John Kiernan, P.Eng., Chief Operating Officer of the Company is the Company’s Qualified Person (QP) as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Ascot Resources Ltd.
“Derek C. White”
President & CEO, and Director
For further information contact:
David Stewart, P.Eng.
VP, Corporate Development & Shareholder Communications
dstewart@ascotgold.com
778-725-1060 ext. 1024
About Ascot Resources Ltd.
Ascot is a Canadian mining company focused on commissioning its 100%-owned Premier Gold Mine, which poured first gold in April 2024 and is located on Nis
g
a’a Nation Treaty Lands, in the prolific Golden Triangle of northwestern British Columbia. Concurrent with commissioning Premier towards commercial production anticipated in Q3 of 2024, the Company continues to explore its properties for additional high-grade gold mineralization. Ascot’s corporate office is in Vancouver, and its shares trade on the TSX under the ticker AOT and on the OTCQX under the ticker AOTVF. Ascot is committed to the safe and responsible operation of the Premier Gold Mine in collaboration with Nisga’a Nation and the local communities of Stewart, BC and Hyder, Alaska.
For more information about the Company, please refer to the Company’s profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca or visit the Company’s web site at www.ascotgold.com.
The TSX has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
All statements and other information contained in this press release about anticipated future events may constitute forward-looking information under Canadian securities laws (" forward-looking statements "). Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "targeted", "outlook", "on track" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could", “would” or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking statements, including statements in respect of the terms of the Offering, the closing of the Offering, the advancement and development of the PGP and the timing related thereto, the completion of the PGP mine, the production of gold and management’s outlook for the remainder of 2024 and beyond. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements, including risks associated with entering into definitive agreements for the transactions described herein; fulfilling the conditions to closing of the transactions described herein, including the receipt of TSX approvals; the business of Ascot; risks related to exploration and potential development of Ascot's projects; business and economic conditions in the mining industry generally; fluctuations in commodity prices and currency exchange rates; uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results and the geology, continuity and grade of mineral deposits; the need for cooperation of government agencies and indigenous groups in the exploration and development of Ascot’s properties and the issuance of required permits; the need to obtain additional financing to develop properties and uncertainty as to the availability and terms of future financing; the possibility of delay in exploration or development programs and uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones; uncertainty as to timely availability of permits and other governmental approvals; and other risk factors as detailed from time to time in Ascot's filings with Canadian securities regulators, available on Ascot's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca including the Annual Information Form of the Company dated March 25, 2024 in the section entitled "Risk Factors". Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions made with regard to: the estimated costs associated with construction of the Project; the timing of the anticipated start of production at the Project; the ability to maintain throughput and production levels at the PGP mill; the tax rate applicable to the Company; future commodity prices; the grade of mineral resources and mineral reserves; the ability of the Company to convert inferred mineral resources to other categories; the ability of the Company to reduce mining dilution; the ability to reduce capital costs; and exploration plans. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and opinions of management at the date the statements are made. Although Ascot believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements and/or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements since Ascot can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Ascot does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements, other than as required by applicable laws. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

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2024.05.13 23:28 AlfrescoDog The Great Wall and Wall Street: Become a Better Trader by Understanding the Perils of 🇨🇳 Chinese Companies on 🇺🇸 U.S. Exchanges

The Great Wall and Wall Street: Become a Better Trader by Understanding the Perils of 🇨🇳 Chinese Companies on 🇺🇸 U.S. Exchanges
⚠️ Attention all traders and holders of Chinese stocks: You should read this if you don’t know what a VIE is. Sure, most of you will be repelled by the great wall of text here (so many words!), but you might want to keep this post nearby.
Hello. You are aware that Wall Street’s bustling bazaar hosts a veritable Forbidden City of Chinese companies draped in ticker tape rather than silk. Today, I will provide background and data on all allowed Chinese companies listed on three of the largest U.S. stock exchanges: New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Nasdaq, and NYSE American.
I should note that a bustling troupe of 26 national securities exchanges are registered with the SEC in the United States. Most are owned by the Nasdaq, NYSE, or the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE).
Nonetheless, based on data from the World Federation of Exchanges as of August 2023, the NYSE and Nasdaq were the top two exchanges behemoths of the global financial stage, accounting for 42.4% of the total $110.2 trillion in valuation traded across 80 major global exchanges.
🖼️ I had a photo of Wall Street to add here, but I'm only allowed to include one attachment.
2022 vs. 2023
According to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, as of January 8, 2024, there were 265 Chinese companies listed on the three U.S. exchanges, with a total market capitalization of $848 billion. That valuation is down from a year prior—January 9, 2023—when a slightly lower 252 Chinese companies were tracked, but they represented a total market capitalization of $1.03 trillion.
Since January 2023, 24 Chinese companies have entered the spotlight of the three U.S. exchanges, raising $656 million in combined initial public offerings (IPOs). On the other hand, eleven Chinese companies have folded their tents and delisted.
China Securities Regulatory Commission
The American stock exchanges witnessed a springtime bloom of Chinese IPOs in the first quarter of 2023. However, this listing activity came to an abrupt halt as the clock struck March 31, 2023.
Why? The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) implemented a revised approval process for companies going public overseas.
I won’t get into the details, but China has rules to cap foreign investment and ownership in sectors deemed strategic, such as technology. In the past, those regulations have driven several Chinese firms to the legal gymnastics of a Variable Interest Entity (VIE) structure—a clever contrivance that allowed them to leapfrog domestic constraints.
However, under the revised review mechanism, every company, regardless of its corporate ownership structure, must now bow before the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to register its intent to list overseas.
🖼️ I had a photo of the CSRC building to add here, but I'm only allowed to include one attachment.
The gatekeeper
Therefore, although the CSRC touted this regulation as a necessary measure for enforcing regulatory compliance and preventing fraud (which is true), it also helps regulators act as gatekeepers poised to block any proposed listing they deem poses a risk to their national security or jeopardizes China's national interests.
This process is wide-ranging. For instance, it includes an evaluation of the company’s safeguards against disclosing what the Chinese Communist Party considers potential state secrets. But we’re not talking about top-secret black-ops projects meant to be hidden from international oversight committees. No… any company that collects personal information on more than one million users requires stern data security review mechanisms for its cross-border data flows.
For perspective, TikTok has over 150 million users in the U.S. alone and is not subject to the same scrutiny from the Western nations.
Currently, the CSRC approval process is reportedly taking upward of six months.
Audit inspections and investigations in China
You’re probably unaware of the HFCAA, so let’s start there.
The Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act of 2020 (HFCAA) is a law that requires companies publicly listed on stock exchanges in the U.S. to disclose to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) information on foreign jurisdictions that prevent the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) from conducting inspections.
That law laid down a stern ultimatum: If Chinese authorities kept obstructing the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) from inspecting audit firms in China or Hong Kong for three consecutive years, the companies audited by these entities would face a ban from the bustling arenas of the U.S. exchanges.
Basically, either China allowed the PCAOB to inspect the audit firms, or the companies had to change to another auditing firm within three years.
Then, as 2022 waned to its final days (literally, on December 29), President Joe Biden signed a Consolidated Appropriations Act, which contained a provision that will tighten the noose, shortening future timelines from three consecutive years to only two.
Once they looked under the rock
Finally allowed to conduct full investigations of audit firms in mainland China and Hong Kong after over a decade of obstruction, the PCAOB announced the findings of its first round of inspections in May 2023, identifying deficiencies in seven of eight audits conducted by the auditing firms KPMG Huazhen and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Hong Kong. Audits of Chinese Companies Are Highly Deficient, U.S. Regulator Says
On November 30, 2023, the PCAOB announced fines against three audit firms in China, totaling $7.9 million for misconduct. For perspective, that number included the second and third-largest fines ever doled out by the PCAOB.
Why were the fines so bad?
Those sneaky Chinese accountants
Imagine a gaggle of accountants in the far reaches of PwC China and Hong Kong applying for a U.S. auditing curriculum. But alas, these foreign accountants find the U.S. auditing training tests a trifle tedious, so someone came up with the answers and decided to pass them around like a secret note in a schoolroom.
From 2018 to 2020, over 1,000 of these busy bees completed their U.S. auditing online exams by copying the answers from two unauthorized apps with a fervor that would make a gossip columnist blush.
When confronted with the evidence, PwC China and PwC Hong Kong response: 🤷‍♂️
And let me remind you, this happened late last year. Both firms are expected to provide reasonable assurance that their personnel will act with integrity in connection with internal training and to report their compliance to the PCAOB within 150 days—April 2024.
🖼️ I was planning on using an AI-generated image of Chinese accountants cheating, but I'm only allowed to include one attachment.
State-owned enterprises
According to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, this graph represents the total market capitalization of Chinese companies listed in the three U.S. exchanges.
Market Capitalization of Listed Chinese Companies
The number of listed companies has stayed at around 260. However, all Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have delisted themselves from U.S. exchanges, most of them soon after the PCAOB announced it had secured complete access to Chinese auditors’ records.
Variable Interest Entities (VIEs)
Most traders—and that means you—are unaware that 166 Chinese companies currently listed on the three major U.S. exchanges use a VIE structure.
As of January 8, 2024, these companies have a market capitalization of $772 billion. For perspective, that represents 91% of the total market capitalization of all the Chinese firms listed on the three major U.S. exchanges.
What the hell is a VIE?
It is a complex corporate structure that grants shareholders contractual claims to control via an offshore shell company without transferring actual ownership in the company.
A Variable Interest Entity (VIE) is a bit like a riverboat casino’s cleverest trick, allowing a company to sell its chips on a foreign table without ever letting the players hold the cards directly.
A VIE is a structure used primarily by companies that wish to partake in the financial streams of another country (the U.S. exchanges) without breaking local laws (Chinese laws) that prevent full ownership.
Remember, Chinese companies structured themselves as VIEs to circumvent China’s restrictions—not U.S. restrictions—on foreign ownership in industries the CCP deems sensitive.
Therefore, when you hold stock in one of these Chinese companies, you’re not officially holding any actual ownership in the company. Because if you did, then that company could be breaking Chinese restrictive caps on foreign investment and ownership.
That’s why they set up a façade, or a legal entity, that controls the business on paper, but the true power and profits are funneled back to the company pulling the strings.
Granted, it’s not as shaky as asking a random stranger to hold your shares, but it is crafty, and you should be aware of the risks.
Wait. What are the risks?
You need to understand that there’s a shadow of potential risk looming. Potential. Now, don't mistake me for the town crier of doom; I'm not proclaiming that the sky is falling on these shares. Nor am I declaring that disaster is certain for Chinese stocks.
What I am pointing out, however, is the presence of a risk—a subtle beast that might just catch you off guard if you remain unaware.
And let’s face it: Most of you are completely oblivious to these issues.
There are two sides here: 🇺🇸 & 🇨🇳
🇺🇸
Since July 2021, the SEC has imposed additional disclosure requirements for Chinese companies using a VIE to sell shares in the U.S. These requirements include greater transparency about the relationship between the VIE and its Chinese operating companies.
In summary, the SEC aims to push VIEs toward the company behind them to offer more clarity on U.S. investor ownership in the Chinese operating company.
🇨🇳
On the other side, Chinese companies that list overseas using a VIE were not required to register their listings with the CSRC, as the VIE is not considered a Chinese company under China’s law. This is the reason VIEs were used in the first place.
However, as I mentioned earlier, after March 31, 2023, the CSRC established requirements for all new Chinese companies to register and receive permission before going public overseas—even those planning to use VIE structures. That’s why there was a boom of Chinese IPOs before that deadline.
Granted, on September 14, 2023, a Chinese auto insurance platform became the first company that received the elusive blessing of the CSRC to list, and it did so using a VIE arrangement, breaking the long, dry spell that had plagued Chinese IPOs when she listed on the Nasdaq four days later.
However, even though VIEs received some sort of recognition from the CSRC, the VIE corporate structures still hold dubious legal status under China’s laws. Remember, VIEs purpose is to avoid being considered a Chinese company under China’s laws.
So… do you see the potential risk here?
Umm… No, I don’t get it.
Think about it. Either country could potentially increase regulations for VIEs, but if the SEC forces them to be more transparent, the VIE would not be able to circumvent China’s restrictions. That’s one risk.
Also, at some point, China’s CSRC might question whether it’s appropriate to recognize a corporate structure that was created to circumvent its laws.
Which leads me to this: What’s keeping the CCP from deciding to start reigning in those VIEs?
The answer is simple: They’re not in a hurry to do so because if misfortune should befall, it’ll be the foreign investors who’ll see their assets deflated like a punctured balloon.
🖼️ I would've added a nice image or two by now, to balance all the text and make this more appealing, but I'm only allowed to include one attachment.
If a VIE-listed company goes private at a lower valuation, businesses fail, or there’s a valuation discrepancy, the enforceability of a VIE’s contractual arrangements is unproven in Chinese courts. With VIE-listed companies, foreign investors’ recourse in the Chinese legal system is as elusive as a catfish’s whisper.
Yeah, but that’s unlikely…
Sure. Of course, I’m not saying every Chinese stock will have these issues. But it can happen. And it has happened.
The unlucky case of Luckin Coffee
Due to the lack of compliance with international audit inspections, Chinese corporate financial statements’ reliability for valuation and investment is not assured.
Such is the case of Luckin Coffee. In a bold bid to capture Wall Street’s hearts and wallets, Luckin Coffee showed up dressed in finery, flaunting alluring figures of revenue, operations, and bustling customer traffic.
At her grand debut, the stock sashayed onto the Nasdaq at $17, swirling up a storm of interested buyers to the tune of $561 million in capital.
For a fleeting moment, Luckin shimmered like a star over the financial firmament, boasting a market capitalization that soared to a heady $12 billion, with shares peaking just over $50.
Ah, but as the adage goes, ‘Truth will out.’ And out it came—the revelation of those embroidered numbers caused the company's stock to plummet like a stone tossed from a bridge, leaving a wake of investor losses and culminating in a disgraceful delisting from Nasdaq 13 months after her debut. Luckin Coffee Drops Nasdaq Appeal; Shares to Be Delisted
🖼️ I would've added an AI-generated image of a cup of Luckin Coffee jumping from a bridge, but I'm only allowed to include one attachment.
Well… but that won’t happen to me…
Uh-huh. On April 2, 2020, after announcing that employees—including its chief operating officer—falsified 2.2 billion yuan (about $310 million) in sales throughout 2019, Luckin's shares nosedived -80%.
This is from one of you unluckin bastards: I've lost 240k on Luckin Coffee, all my life savings. Now I'm broke af.
I’m sure many of you might reckon yourselves immune to a similar debacle since you think you’re smart enough to use stops to escape any runaway losses. It's time to wake up and smell the Luckin coffee. Chinese news catalysts often strike like lightning at night, and the stops you set under the sun cannot shield you from storms that explode in the moonlight. Dumbass.
Chinese regulators can be mercurial
Even though the PCAOB is currently able to perform its oversight responsibilities, concerns remain around the possibility that Chinese regulators might backtrack, potentially clamping down once again on the PCAOB's ability to access audit firms and personnel across mainland China and Hong Kong.
If that happens, the PCAOB can quickly declare a negative determination. HOWEVER, this action would only start the countdown under the HFCAA, giving U.S.-listed Chinese companies a window of TWO years to secure services from an auditor in a compliant jurisdiction or face a trading ban. That’s it.
Of course, within that time, Chinese regulators could agree once again to allow access to the PCAOB, thus resetting the two-year countdown without significant consequences.
What lurks in the shadows
Although the risk of PCAOB non-compliance looms over these financial engagements, it is the ghost of potentially misconstrued—or, let's say, creatively presented—earnings reports coming to light that should scare you most. Or, on the flip side, present the biggest opportunity.
I believe it is possible that there are several ghosts out there—ghastly financial figures dressed up a tad too finely—lingering in the shadows, unchecked and unchallenged. If they’re found and unveiled under the harsh spotlight of scrutiny, the fallout would be immediate and severe, leaving investors scrambling.
And if that happens, it’s not about diamond-holding through the plunge since the company might opt (or be forced) to delist from the U.S. exchanges.
🖼️ I would've added an AI-generated image of an attractive young Chinese ghost woman, implying both the allure of Chinese stocks, but also the risk of getting closer. However, I'm only allowed to include one attachment.
You need to understand a crucial concept. Many traders believe that if a company messes up, plunges, and gets delisted, it means the company is basically over—dead. But that’s not the case here. A delisting does not equal death.
I mean, Luckin Coffee is still out there, alive and kicking.
16,218 stores and counting, covering 240+ cities across China.
You would think that a company like that would not be able to cheat on its balance sheet. Yeah, just like you would think PwC China would notice 1,000 accountants cheated their way through the U.S. auditing curriculum.
🖼️ I would've added an AI-generated image of a Chinese accountant dabbing like a boss for getting his cheated accounting diploma, but I'm only allowed to include one attachment.
So… is it too far-fetched to believe more ghosts might come to light, now that the PCAOB can supervise the numbers?
I mentioned a flip side since you could specialize in tracking everything the PCAOB does. If you can get a whiff about increased auditing on a certain company, you might decide to play a short position in anticipation of a potential ghost coming to light. Be warned, though, that it’s not as if they tweet out which companies they’re auditing.
If I were to do it, I would research and join whatever digital saloon young Chinese ledger-keepers convene in. Perhaps I’d stumble upon a post by SumYungGuy or another pleading for advice on how to parley with the PCAOB Laowai making a fuss over his figures. The poor lad's in a pickle, you see, since he cheated the exam and doesn’t know squat.
Methodology
For the purposes of this table, a company is considered Chinese if:
  1. It has been identified as being from the PRC (the People's Republic of China) by the relevant stock exchange;
  2. It lists a PRC address as its principal executive office in filings with the SEC; or
  3. It has a majority of operations in the PRC, including a company structured offshore but whose value is ultimately tied through a relationship in the PRC.
⚠️ Some Chinese companies that use offshore corporate entities hide or do not identify their primary Chinese corporate domicile in their listing information. This complicates tracing, making it difficult to guarantee that this list captures all Chinese companies registered offshore.
I should also point out that this list does not include companies domiciled exclusively in Hong Kong or Macau.
⚠️ Remember, this list only considers Chinese companies listed on three of the largest U.S. stock exchanges: New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Nasdaq, and NYSE American.
Oh, and btw, this isn’t a list I came up with. This info was compiled by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. It’s their methodology and list.
Since the majority is a VIE, I’ve marked the ones that are not registered as a VIE with an asterisk (*). This is determined using the most recent annual report filed with the SEC. A company is judged to have a VIE if:
  1. It explicitly describes using a VIE to conduct all or part of its business operations in China, or
  2. It describes a subsidiary in which it has no direct equity interest but relies on contractual arrangements to exercise control and receive economic benefits from its operations in China.
⚠️ For companies that have been listed for less than a year, information contained in the company’s most recently updated investment prospectus, as filed with the SEC, is used instead.
Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges
Companies are arranged by the size of their current market capitalization. All companies utilize a VIE corporate structure, except those marked with an asterisk (*).
BABA Alibaba Group Holding Limited PDD Pinduoduo Inc. NTES NetEase, Inc. JD JD.com, Inc. BIDU Baidu, Inc TCOM Trip.com International, Ltd. TME Tencent Music Entertainment Group LI Li Auto BEKE KE Holdings BGNE BeiGene * ZTO ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. YUMC Yum China Holdings Inc. EDU New Oriental Education & Technology Group, Inc. HTHT H World Group Limited * NIO NIO Inc. YMM Full Truck Alliance Co. Ltd VIPS Vipshop Holdings Limited TAL TAL Education Group LEGN Legend Biotech * MNSO Miniso * BZ Kanzhun Limited XPEV Xpeng BILI Bilibili Inc. IQ iQIYI, Inc. HCM HUTCHMED (China) Limited * ATHM Autohome Inc. QFIN Qifu Technology RLX RLX Technology LU Lufax ATAT Atour Lifestyle Holdings * WB Weibo Corporation ZLAB Zai Lab Limited * ZKH ZKH Group Ltd * YY JOYY Inc. GOTU Gaotu Techedu, Inc. MSC Studio City International Holdings Limited * GCT GigaCloud Technology Inc GDS GDS Holdings Limited ACMR ACM Research, Inc. * HOLI Hollysys Automation Technologies, Ltd. * FINV FinVolution Group JKS JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. * DQ Daqo New Energy Corp. * MOMO Hello Group Inc. CSIQ Canadian Solar Inc. * EH Ehang TUYA Tuya Inc. NOAH Noah Holdings Ltd. HUYA HUYA Inc. KC Kingsoft Cloud YALA Yalla *
These are only 51 of the 261 Chinese companies currently listed on the major U.S. exchanges to comply with rule three. I kept the market cap minimum at $750M to allow for some wiggle room.
I mentioned earlier that the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission had 265 tickers, but that was on January 8, 2024. Since then, three companies have been acquired, and the other one has voluntarily delisted.
As you can confirm, the vast majority is structured as a VIE.
I was going to include charts to illustrate how several Chinese stocks—aside from the ones with the biggest market caps—tend to display sudden rallies, followed by after-hours reversals. It is important to recognize them, whether you want to capitalize on them, or avoid them entirely. But I can't add any more attachments, so...
Besides, it's unlikely that many of you have even read this far without images.
Have a good day.
submitted by AlfrescoDog to wallstreetbets [link] [comments]


2024.05.13 23:20 toby_nguyen AFK Journey: New Season Reviews - Mislead and Taken Out of Context

I am F2P and have cleared 8 areas (2 maps) in the new season, currently ranking in the top 40 in District 1. Here is my reviews.

Let talk about the "nerf" in Dream Realm.

Overall, they make the Dream Realm more balanced. Instead of two A characters taking over the ranking board, now S characters have more opportunities to shine. True Damage has been slightly nerfed to make it more balanced compared to other types of damage. But that's just a first look. People need to understand that you guys are underleveled; whales have a level advantage. You're already complaining about it without considering the whales' resources and levels. The 'True Damage' composition hasn't been nerfed; it's just changed to be more balanced, and that comp only shines best when you are at the same level as the whales. Before the season started, we were all at level 240. But when it starts, you aren't at the same level as the whales, then you complain about damage nerf? However, from my own testing, true damage at level 140 (This test is base on a whale account for overall same build) deals the same damage as a normal comp, with a 5-10% difference in damage. Oddie, an A character, is super strong this season due to the seasonal buff. Use him. I love these seasonal changes; if they keep going, why? Because you can use more characters and make it less boring than using the same comp for the rest of your life. These changes encourage you to switch up your comp every season.

Next is resources nerf.

Ok, I do agree with you that resources have been nerfed, but for a good reason. Bruh, we clear the game so fast they aren’t even ready for the next season and are forced to release a broken season. Most of the content isn’t even translated yet. Like they said, they will release it early. It's an AFK game; go AFK. But overall, all resources provided seem more balanced now. Most resources have been relocated elsewhere, and aren’t really missing or lost. For example, Arena coin daily and weekly have been reduced, but we have district arena which also provides good arena coin daily. (It's been relocated there; at starting rank you already get around 200 coins, which is a lot and is the amount they reduced from the arena.) And most of the top 3000 are bots, so just take time for you to climb for better rewards. This applies to other resources as well. For weapon upgrade stones, I have no comment yet; I will say wait another month or two, because they might reset it monthly. Then I think upgrading +10 on 2 characters every month is a good enough income for that. Remember, they give out blue and orange in the dream realm now. (It’s really easy to get; mostly, if you play that day, you at least get one of each.) For Diamonds, after clearing everything in 8 areas (2 maps), I got a total of 18k gems, including all kinds of rewards during that time, codes, battle pass, chests, etc. (No arena first time reward). (This review does not include many invite tickets from epic to rate-up, because I don't usually track it.) But remember one thing, all Dream Boss reward chests have been reset, meaning you get 2 tickets every time you clear a boss. So, 2 tickets x 4 stages x 5 bosses = 40 white tickets. Don't forget about the Duel mode; it's no longer in beta. You get tons of gems and 2 tickets weekly by winning 15 times. TLDR: Your progress is more balanced now. Resources are sufficient, though we may need to wait a bit longer. Remember to manage your resources instead of complaining about gold shortages due to the reset of max AFK stages. You guys play without reading. Again, I agree resources have been nerfed, but this is to balance the progress rate. Overall, I believe more ways to earn resources are coming.

I think we need to wait a bit longer to see, but from what I can tell, this season is overall okay, 3 out of 5 (due to the rushed release of the season and a lot of untranslated content, partly because everyone cleared it so quickly). It needs more time to be polished. What are your thoughts?

submitted by toby_nguyen to gachagaming [link] [comments]


2024.05.13 22:52 Sexyvette07 Is 1.5 hour non stop run time in stage 1 normal for an inverter unit?

Hi, everyone. So a few weeks back I had a 5 ton Bosch IDP Premium heat pump installed. Currently it's set for 5 tons, but once the inspections and stuff are all done, the installer will flip the dip switch and make it a 4 ton unit. My house was built in the early 90's and I've done a bunch of extra blow-in insulation. Anyway, the unit moves a lot of CFM but doesn't seem to get very cool. I have an Ecobee Premium thermostat that has a pretty comprehensive usage tracker that tracks how long it's running and in which stage down to 5 minute intervals. Over the weekend it got up to 92°F, so we finally needed cooling. I noticed it was running a long time and not blowing very cold so I checked the usage data. Apparently at one point it ran for a full hour and a half nonstop in stage 1 and it only brought the internal temperature down .7 degrees. Another time it ran in stage 2 for half an hour nonstop and only reduced the internal temperature by 1 degree. I understand how the inverter units work, btw, I know its supposed to run longer but at a lower speed, but this seems very excessive, to the point where I'm questioning if the unit is low on refrigerant or something. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but this isn't how it's supposed to be, is it? Thanks everyone.
submitted by Sexyvette07 to heatpumps [link] [comments]


2024.05.13 22:51 adventurepaul E-commerce Industry News Recap 🔥 Week of May 13th, 2024

Hi - I'm Paul and I follow the e-commerce industry closely for my Shopifreaks E-commerce Newsletter. Each week I post a summary recap of the week's top stories, which I cover in depth with sources in the full edition. Let's dive in...
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STAT OF THE WEEK: Kohl's sales have shrunk by $2.3B since 2019. During that same period of time, the company lost 1.3M customers who no longer shop with the retailer.
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BigCommerce is exploring a sale after attracting takeover interest, according to sources who chose to remain anonymous due to the confidentiality of the information. The sources said that BigCommerce asked investment bank Qatalyst Partners to solicit interest from potential buyers that include private equity firms, but that the discussions are at an early stage and no deal is certain.
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Squarespace announced that it will be going private in a $6.9B all-cash deal with private-equity firm Permira, who agreed to pay $44 per share (a roughly 30% premium). Although Squarespace never lost 90% of its share price like BigCommerce, it has experienced a tumultuous time on the market since its IPO in May 2021 — opening around $49.50 and at times trading in the low $20s. Shares rose nearly 13% to $43 in pre-market trading upon release of the news.
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ByteDance filed a lawsuit in US federal court seeking to block the new law that would force the sale or ban of the app within the country. The lawsuit challenges the law on constitutional grounds, also citing commercial, technical, and legal hurdles, as well as opposition from Beijing. Legal experts say the legal battle will play out in the courts in coming months and likely will reach the Supreme Court.
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OpenAI unveiled its newest model, GPT-4o, designed to turn ChatGPT into a digital personal assistant that can engage in real-time, spoken conversations and interact with users using text, screenshots, photos, documents, and charts. The new version of ChatGPT also has memory capabilities, which means it can learn from previous conversations. It will be available to both unpaid and premium customers alike. OpenAI also announced that it would be launching a desktop app with the GPT-4o capabilities, giving users another platform to interact with the technology outside of a web browser.
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Amazon launched in South Africa last week, marking its first marketplace in sub-Saharan Africa, and bringing its total number of marketplaces worldwide to 22. To launch the new marketplace, Amazon is offering free delivery on first orders and on subsequent orders above R500 (about $27), access to 3,000 pick-up points, status updates via WhatsApp to track orders, 30 day refunds, and 24/7 customer support. The marketplace was supposed to launch in the country in 2023, but got delayed due to changes in priorities within Amazon.
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In an unlikely partnership, Instacart is partnering with Uber Eats to expand into the restaurant delivery business. Instacart will add a new tab for restaurant delivery to its app in the coming weeks, the listings will be provided by Uber, and the food will be picked up and delivered by Uber Eats drivers. Customers will receive the same prices on both apps and Instacart will receive an affiliate commission on orders. It's a strange partnership though given that Instacart and Uber Eats actively compete on grocery delivery. Are they planning to merge? Uber says no.
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Apple's advertisement for its latest iPad Pro sparked criticism for showing an animation of musical instruments, paint cans, cameras, record players, and other symbols of creativity being crushed by a giant machine, with the output being the new iPad Pro, which the company says is the thinnest Apple product ever. In this context, “crushing” was supposed to symbolize “consolidating” and “compacting” — with the visuals meant to showcase how the new iPad Pro puts the power of all these tools into the hands of creators in one thin device. However online commenters criticized the ad as insensitive and as symbolizing a “destruction of the human experience.” The ad hit the web on Tuesday, and by Thursday, Apple issued a mea culpa and apologized for the campaign.
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Google is encouraging merchants to enable conversion annotations on their Google Shopping ads, which offer social proof that highlight a product's popularity. Conversion annotations like “best selling” or “3K shopped here recently” would provide visual cues about a product’s popularity or sales performance directly in the ad unit. Annotations like these are par for the course with e-commerce retailers including Amazon, Walmart, and Temu, which all employ similar tactics. They can provide valuable info for shoppers and also help with conversions. However they also open data privacy concerns, given that Google is not the actual retailer or marketplace selling the items, so a merchant would have to share this purchase history data from their e-commerce platform with Google — which technically most already do by giving access to GA4.
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Shein is attempting to join the National Retail Federation as it pursues regulatory approval to go public in the US. The company believes that NRF membership would boost its chances of receiving SEC approval. However so far, Shein has been rejected numerous times. An anonymous source familiar with the matter said someone with heavy influence at the NRF is strongly against the Shein's admittance. However board members who spoke to CNBC said that Shein's membership application hadn't come up in meetings, and that they aren't involved in deciding which companies are granted access.
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Amazon is leading the way with selling home goods, capturing 18.8% of consumer home furnishings spending, compared to Walmart's 7.3% market share. Notably, Amazon’s gains in the furniture category come in spite of the company’s decision to phase out two of its three furniture brands last year.
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Stanley, which is projected to do $750M in sales this year, up from $73M in 2019, after seeing its water bottles become a status symbol thanks to TikTok, is now expanding into trendier accessories. The company is launching a line of bags called the All-Day Collection which include a mini cooler, backpack cooler, and Quencher Carry-All, designed for someone to sling their Stanley over their hip.
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Jack Dorsey left the Bluesky board and deleted his account on the service he helped kickstart, claiming that Bluesky was “literally repeating all the mistakes” he made while running Twitter. Dorsey says he never intended Bluesky to be an independent company, but rather, an open source protocol that Twitter was supposed to be the first client of. He also confirmed that he is financially backing Nostr, another decentralized Twitter-like service popular among crypto enthusiasts and run by an anonymous founder.
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Amazon is deploying 50 electric trucks in California, which it claims is the largest EV fleet in the country, as part of its mission to eliminate pollution from its global operations. The trucks will be integrated into first-mile operations, moving goods from container ships at the ports to fulfillment centers, as well as middle-mile operations, transporting packages from fulfillment centers to delivery centers.
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Wix launched a new tool called AI Portfolio Creator, which allows a user to upload and organize large-scale image collections, select the type of portfolio they want, and then have the AI tool sort and generate a portfolio with clustered images, recommended titles and descriptions, and personalized layout options.
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Amazon is now requiring all dietary supplements to be verified by a third-party testing, inspection, and certification organization — which is something that not even the FDA requires. Amazon is the largest supplement retailer in the US ahead of Walmart and Target, and its new requirements are expected to put more pressure on the industry, which is being scrutinized more than ever.
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Alibaba is revamping its flagship retail website Taobao for the first time in seven years with a focus on providing a smoother search and buying process. The website overhaul comes ahead of the 618 sales event, China's second-largest annual shopping event. A few weeks ago I reported that Eddie Wu, the CEO of Alibaba Group, would now be directly overseeing its domestic e-commerce arm which includes Taobao and Tmall Group, and it sounds like he's hitting the ground running with his new responsibilities.
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Amazon is hosting its first-ever Amazon Book Sale, a new shopping event starting on May 15th that offers up to 50% off print best sellers and up to 80% off Kindle Books. The six day shopping event will exclusively run in the US, and Prime-membership is not required to take advantage of the deals.
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FTX reported that nearly all of its customers will receive the money back that they are owed, two years after the cryptocurrency exchange imploded. The company owes about $11.2B to its customers and estimates that it has between $14.5B and $16.3B to distribute to them. The caveat is that customers will receive the USD value of their holdings at the time of the exchange collapse, and not the actual crypto holdings themselves, which means that they'll miss out on all gains during the past two years during which BTC went from around $16k to now over $60k. Better than nothing though, that's for sure.
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800,000 consumers in Europe and the US were duped into sharing card details and other sensitive personal data with a network of fake online designer shops operated from China, which comprised one of the largest scams of its kind with 76,000 fake websites created. The scammers used expired domains to host its fake shops in order to help avoid detection by websites or brand owners, and more than 1M orders were processed in the past three years alone.
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Beyond Inc, which owns Bed Bath & Beyond, Overstock, and Zulily, reported that its Q1 net loss swelled to $72M from $10M a year ago, while its operating loss widened to $58M from $8M. The company's active customers grew to 6M, up 26% from nearly 5M a year ago, however, its average order value dropped to $173 from $220 a year earlier.
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TikTok will begin automatically labeling AI generated content when it is uploaded from certain platforms like DALL.E 3, Adobe Firefly, Photoshop, and Microsoft Copilot. TikTok will also start attaching Content Credentials to content, which will remain on the media when downloaded, allowing other platforms to read the metadata.
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eBay is testing an Add To Cart button in search results that opens a Quick View window, allowing buyers to skip the listing page. Technically the button should probably not be labeled “Add To Cart” since it doesn't perform that action, but rather, displays a quick view window with three buttons: Buy It Now, Add To Cart, View All Details. Sellers are worried that buyers will miss crucial details in the product description that may lead to increased returns and negative feedback.
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Amazon is planning to launch its fleet of drones in Tolleson, Arizona, but the city's extreme temperature is hampering its efforts. Drones can't operate in temperatures exceeding 104 degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature that Tolleson crosses for a full three months of the year.
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A US district judge dismissed X's lawsuit against Bright Data, a data-scraping company accused of improperly accessing X system and violating X terms and state laws when scraping and selling data. The judge basically said that if X owned the data, it could perhaps argue that it has exclusive rights to control it, but then X wouldn't be able to enjoy the safe harbor of Section 230, which allows the platform to avoid liability for third-party content. Can't have it both ways!
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Nintendo is discontinuing its X integration for the switch on June 10th, which means users will no longer be able to post screenshots or videos to the platform from their device. The drop in support also affects games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which had game-specific options to send out tweets. Microsoft Xbox dropped support for X in April 2023 and Sony Playstation dropped the service in October 2023 due to the increase in X's API access fees.
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Amazon claimed that its recordable incident rate — a metric that comprises all injuries requiring “more than basic first-aid treatment” — at its US warehouses has improved by 24% since 2019. However the National Employment Law Project challenged Amazon's injury data in a report last week, claiming that Amazon's overall injury rate in 2023 was 71% higher than that of other employers in the sector at 6.5 cases per 100 workers.
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Amazon Ads announced three new advertising formats for streaming TV including shoppable carousel ads, interactive pause ads, and interactive trivia ads. Amazon did not say when the new ad types would officially launch, but noted that it will formally present them at a presentation on May 14th.
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Meta is rolling out an expanded set of generative AI ad tools that can create full image variations with text overlays, expand images to fit across different aspect ratios, and generate alternate versions of headlines and other ad text. The features will become available globally to advertisers by the end of the year.
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Square introduced a tool called Square Kiosk to allow self-service ordering at fast food restaurants. The device is a combined software, hardware, and payment solution that allows customers to select exactly what they want with customization options, upgrades, and add-ons.
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The European Parliament announced new measures to make packaging more sustainable and reduce packaging waste in the EU, including reduction targets of 15% by 2040 — which sounds far away but is only 16 years away?! As part of the new rules, the EU will set maximum empty space ratios for e-commerce transportation, ban certain single-use plastic packaging types, and beverage distributors and take-away food will have to offer consumers the option of bringing their own container.
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Indians who pre-ordered Teslas in 2016 are giving up and seeking refunds of their deposits after Elon Musk canceled another visit to the country last month. Disillusioned Tesla enthusiasts in India say they will now buy a car from the company only if they see it in a showroom, or they'll buy a different electrical vehicle from a company that actually exists in the country.
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Target is limiting its Pride Month collection to select stores this year instead of rolling out the merchandise nationwide like it typically has for the past decade, due to backlash the retailer experienced last year. Last May customers in certain stores knocked down LGBTQ+ merchandise displays, angrily approached store employees, and posted threatening videos on social media from inside the stores.
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E-commerce spending from Jan 1 to April 30, 2024 rose 7% YoY to $331.6B, according to Adobe Analytics. One trend Adobe identified during the period is a shift of online spending to purchasing the cheapest goods across personal care, electronics, apparel, home & garden, furniture, and grocery.
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Plus 7 seed rounds, IPOs, and acquisitions of interest, including Shopify's acquisition of Peel, a tool that integrates with a merchant's tech stack including Klaviyo and Recharge and helps them analyze their sales data to improve customer retention.
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I hope you found this recap helpful. See you next week!
PAUL Editor of Shopifreaks E-Commerce Newsletter
PS: If I missed any big news this week, please share in the comments.
submitted by adventurepaul to ecommerce [link] [comments]


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