#ad revenue share work from home

[biznocrats]

Digital Shopping Mall's "About Us " page and way forward

https://social.digitalshoppingmall.net/content/perma?id=14815&cd1=4&cd2=4

[mitch-the-silly]

Could you write a nsfw Vox x fem!reader where Vox comes home from work, feeling really stressed and asks for the reader’s consent if he could relive that stress on her? Like he’s being really rough on her and maybe praising her too? 👉👈 Nothing too extreme though, and I find consent sexy.

HELL YEAHHH I CAN!! This is exactly what I was waiting for!!! A reason to write Vox smut. What can I say? I'm but a simple creature.

Vox would for sure do that relieving stress via sex thing. Especially since he's always pressed about something and because I like to think he's at least a bit of a manchild.

Anyway, thanks for the request!!

"Take a Breather or Two...?"

Vox x fem!Reader NSFW

MINORS DNI!!!

Warnings: NSFW, Stress relief sex, praise kink, rough sex

You sat silently on the bed that you and Vox shared. With your headphones on, listen to whatever it was that the shuffle button deemed fit for that moment. The feeling of the silky, dark grey sheets against your skin felt heavenly. Vox was going to be home any moment now, and you’d be there to greet him as always. It was simply the way things had been for a while now. He’d work, and you’d spend some much-deserved time with him at home.

You heard the door open and immediately sat up on the bed. However, the slamming of the front door was what made you raise a brow.

“I can’t fucking believe it!” Vox yelled from the living room. He finally entered your shared bedroom, untying his bowtie and sitting at the edge of the bed. He stared at the wall for a second then, covering his eyes with his hands, he kicked the air in frustration. “Ugh, you have no idea what a day I’ve had…” He sighed.

“What happened? Tell me…” You spoke, placing your hands on his shoulders, gently massaging them. He let out a small relieved breath as you did this. After that, he continued.

“First of all, Alastor fucking tried me again today! Not to mention that I had to cancel three of the ten shows that generated the most revenue because the lead actress was taken out in the last extermination and we didn’t know because she went on vacation and said she’d be back in a month. And on top of that Valentino has been throwing the most stupid tantrums. Ughhh!” He vented, “I need to take out some steam.” He gave you a bit of an unrecognizable look. He seemed to be generating an idea. However, there was no way for you to know without asking.

“That sounds like a good solution, Voxxie. You got something in mind? I can see the gears turning in your head~” You teased.

After pondering his idea for a brief moment, Vox continued proceeding to speak his mind. “I want you.” He spoke bluntly. “Yes, fucking your brains out would make me feel so much better.” He added, his breath shuddering slightly. He scooted closer toward you and caressed your face gently. “Can I do that baby~? I’ll only do it if you let me…” he pouted. Almost begging, but based on his tone, it was apparent he was willing to drop the subject if you did not want to do it.

You nodded softly. But that wasn’t enough confirmation for him. “No no, use your words.” He replied in a commanding tone.

“Yes, I’d like that. It sounds like fun.~” You spoke, this time telling him outright that you wanted this.

Vox nodded, “Ok, I’ll try not to be too rough. Just… fuck you’re so fucking sexy…~” He sighed, letting out a desperate little exhale.

Vox reached for your hips, instantly pulling off your pants along with your panties. He wasn’t one for teasing when he needed it. Without wasting a second, he split your legs open, gently tracing the inside of your upper thighs. He licked his lips desperately, determined to make you feel good before he fucked his anger out on you. He leaned his head towards your private area, giving your clit a gentle lick.

You shuddered in pleasure, letting out a small whimper. This drove him absolutely mad. So much so, that he could feel the need to continue this coming from within his core. So he licked along your labia, circling your clit hungrily until you were just as wet as he wanted you. The sounds of your juices gushing as he licked you up, oh it was making him want to do all sorts of things to you. And thus, after hearing how wet you were now, he stopped.

He sat up, looking at you with a certain hunger in his eyes. There was a primal need for more taking over him, not quite clouding his mind but filling him with a haze. “You’re being such a good girl for me.~” Vox cooed, unbuttoning his pants, and pulling them down to his knees. He scrambled to his waist area and took his cock in his hand. Needily aligning himself to your entrance. The sight of his cock on your labia made him shiver impatiently. He rubbed his tip on your clit, gasping out a small shudder

After getting a gasp out of you, he smirked, inserting himself into your entrance. “So tight for me~” He chuckled, very slowly moving in and out of you. You moaned relentlessly, wrapping your legs around him as he mercilessly bucked his hips into you. The sensation made you moan out his name. Reaching out to hold him, you wrapped your arms around his neck. He leaned down to kiss you, pushing his tongue into your mouth. He indulged in its taste, savoring your mouth with absolute ecstasy. The second he parted the kiss, he bucked his hips faster.

Vox’s screen began to lag, the image of his eyes freezing up as he looked directly at you. “Fuck~ You’re so fucking pretty like this~ So good for me~” Vox groaned, his voice distorted and sort of glitched out. It was way too obvious he was enjoying himself.

“Ahh~! V-vox, I’m… I’m close…~” You whined, bouncing back as he pumped himself into you.

“You wanna cum baby~? You want me to make you cum~?” Vox cooed, groaning, desperately chasing his own orgasm. You nodded desperately, whining, feeling a warmth pool up in your insides. He was making you feel so good that you couldn’t turn thoughts into words anymore.

Vox let out a laugh, an amalgamation of amusement and absolute arousal. The flat-screen television he had as a head began sparking as his strokes became more uneven and deep. “Fuck, you’re doing so good for me~ So fucking good…~ You’re gonna make me cum so deep inside you…~” He slurred, seemingly so high on the pleasure that he didn’t seem to give a shit about the malfunctioning lights in the room. He took in the sound of your moans and pants, letting the vibrations course through his being. He had to feel you cum around his cock. He needed to feel it. So he reached his hand down towards your clit, rubbing it with his thumb. You squirmed under his touch, an orgasm approaching faster than before, and you bucked your hips into him. And as you began to get tighter and tighter, the lights began to flash faster. “Yes~… Yes…~ So fucking pretty all stuffed up with my cock…~ Look at that beautiful fucking face…~” he groaned in absolute adoration.

And suddenly, with a hard thrust and a loud grunt, Vox found the climax he so sought, darkness engulfing the once-lit room, his monitor showing the “ERROR” screen. Yet, he didn’t dare stop the way he was touching you. Oh no, he needed to feel you reach your climax as well. He rubbed faster and faster, enduring the overstimulation of keeping you around him, your walls pulsating. He began to whine a bit himself, in all honesty. Until, finally, you arched your back in, your hips spasming as you eventually reached that orgasm he just needed you to have. The sensation of your walls around him, driving him absolutely mad. So much so, that the room’s power returned, but only for the split second in which your walls squeezed him in the midst of your climax. He’d never felt this good before and he swore he wanted more of this.

He pulled out of you, wincing at the sensation and then collapsing next to you. He tried to catch his breath, looking at you doing the exact same thing. Once he felt his breathing was stable, he got up and looked around for a towel. Once he found one, he returned to your side and cleaned you up. “There you go…” He chuckled, “You know, I don’t think that in all the time I’ve been in hell or in the years I was alive I've had sex this good.~” He smirked, pulling you closer, holding you by the hips. Looking at you with that same look of adoration he gave you before.

“You’re not stressed anymore, huh?” You chuckled, gliding your index finger under the bottom part of his monitor; returning his playful little smirk.

“They can go fuck themselves. My steam’s been blown.” He responded, kissing your lips one more time. Needless to say, this might be his go-to when he gets this badly pissed off.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The long, bloody lineage of private equity's looting

Tomorrow (June 3) at 1:30PM, I’m in Edinburgh for the Cymera Festival on a panel with Nina Allen and Ian McDonald.

Monday (June 5) at 7:15PM, I’m in London at the British Library with my novel Red Team Blues, hosted by Baroness Martha Lane Fox.

Fans of the Sopranos will remember the “bust out” as a mob tactic in which a business is taken over, loaded up with debt, and driven into the ground, wrecking the lives of the business’s workers, customers and suppliers. When the mafia does this, we call it a bust out; when Wall Street does it, we call it “private equity.”

It used to be that we rarely heard about private equity, but then, as national chains and iconic companies started to vanish, this mysterious financial arrangement popped up with increasing frequency. When a finance bro’s presentation on why Olive Garden needed to be re-orged when viral, there was a lot off snickering about the decline of a tacky business whose value prop was unlimited carbs. But the bro was working for Starboard Value, a hedge fund that specialized in buhying out and killing off companies, pocketing billions while destroying profitable businesses.

https://www.salon.com/2014/09/17/the_real_olive_garden_scandal_why_greedy_hedge_funders_suddenly_care_so_much_about_breadsticks/

Starboard Value’s game was straightforward: buy a business, load it with debt, sell off its physical plant — the buildings it did business out of — pay itself, and then have the business lease back the buildings, bleeding out money until it collapsed. They pulled it with Red Lobster,and the point of the viral Olive Garden dis track was to soften up the company for its own bust out.

The bust out tactic wasn’t limited to mocking middlebrow family restaurants. For years, the crooks who ran these ops did a brisk trade in blaming the internet. Why did Sears tank? Everyone knows that the 19th century business was an antique, incapable of mounting a challenge in the age of e-commerce. That was a great smokescreen for an old-fashioned bust out that saw corporate looters make off with hundreds of millions, leaving behind empty storefronts and emptier pension accounts for the workers who built the wealth the looters stole:

https://prospect.org/economy/vulture-capitalism-killed-sears/

Same goes for Toys R Us: it wasn’t Amazon that killed the iconic toy retailer — it was the PE bosses who extracted $200m from the chain, then walked away, hands in pockets and whistling, while the businesses collapsed and the workers got zero severance:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/06/01/how-can-they-walk-away-with-millions-and-leave-workers-with-zero-toys-r-us-workers-say-they-deserve-severance/

It’s a good racket — for the racketeers. Private equity has grown from a finance sideshow to Wall Street’s apex predator, and it’s devouring the real economy through a string of audactious bust outs, each more consequential and depraved than the last.

As PE shows that it can turn profitable businesses gigantic windfalls, sticking the rest of us with the job of sorting out the smoking craters they leave behind, more and more investors are piling in. Today, the PE sector loves a rollup, which is when they buy several related businesses and merge them into one firm. The nominal business-case for a rollup is that the new, bigger firm is more “efficient.” In reality, a rollup’s strength is in eliminating competition. When all the pet groomers, or funeral homes, or urgent care clinics for ten miles share the same owner, they can raise prices, lower wages, and fuck over suppliers.

They can also borrow. A quirk of the credit markets is that a standalone small business is valued at about 3–5x its annual revenues. But if that business is part of a large firm, it is valued at 10–20x annual turnover. That means that when a private equity company rolls up a comedy club, ad agency or water bottler (all businesses presently experiencing PE rollup), with $1m in annual revenues, it shows up on the PE company’s balance sheet as an asset worth $10–20m. That’s $10–20m worth of collateral the PE fund can stake for loans that let it buy and roll up more small businesses.

2.9 million Boomer-owned businesses, employing 32m people, are expected to sell in the next couple years as their owners retire. Most of these businesses will sell to PE firms, who can afford to pay more for them as a prelude to a bust out than anyone intending to operate them as a productive business could ever pay:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/16/schumpeterian-terrorism/#deliberately-broken

PE’s most ghastly impact is felt in the health care sector. Whole towns’ worth of emergency rooms, family practices, labs and other health firms have been scooped up by PE, which has spent more than $1t since 2012 on health acquisitions:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/17/the-doctor-will-fleece-you-now/#pe-in-full-effect

Once a health care company is owned by PE, it is significantly more likely to commit medicare fraud. It also cuts wages and staffing for doctors and nurses. PE-owned facilities do more unnecessary and often dangerous procedures. Appointments get shorter. The companies get embroiled in kickback scandals. PE-backed dentists hack away at children’s mouths, filling them full of root-canals.

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/17/the-doctor-will-fleece-you-now/#pe-in-full-effect

The Healthcare Private Equity Association boasts that its members are poised to spend more than $3t to create “the future of healthcare.”

https://hcpea.org/#!event-list

As bad as PE is for healthcare, it’s worse for long-term care. PE-owned nursing homes are charnel houses, and there’s a particularly nasty PE scam where elderly patients are tricked into signing up for palliative care, which is never delivered (and isn’t needed, because the patients aren’t dying!). These fake “hospices” get huge payouts from medicare — and the patient is made permanently ineligible for future medicare, because they are recorded being in their final decline:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/26/death-panels/#what-the-heck-is-going-on-with-CMS

Every part of the health care sector is being busted out by PE. Another ugly PE trick, the “club deal,” is devouring the medical supply business. Club deals were huge in the 2000s, destroying rent-controlled housing, energy companies, Mervyn’s department stores, Harrah’s, and Old Country Joe. Now it’s doing the same to medical supplies:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/14/billionaire-class-solidarity/#club-deals

Private equity is behind the mass rollup of single-family homes across America. Wall Street landlords are the worst landlords in America, who load up your rent with junk fees, leave your home in a state of dangerous disrepair, and evict you at the drop of a hat:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/16/die-miete-ist-zu-hoch/#assets-v-human-rights

As these houses decay through neglect, private equity makes a bundle from tenants and even more borrowing against the houses. In a few short years, much of America’s desperately undersupplied housing stock will be beyond repair. It’s a bust out.

You know all those exploding trains filled with dangerous chemicals that poison entire towns? Private equity bust outs:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/04/up-your-nose/#rail-barons

Where did PE come from? How can these people look themselves in the mirror? Why do we let them get away with it? How do we stop them?

Today in The American Prospect, Maureen Tkacik reviews two new books that try to answer all four of these questions, but really only manage to answer the first three:

https://prospect.org/culture/books/2023-06-02-days-of-plunder-morgenson-rosner-ballou-review/

The first of these books is These Are the Plunderers: How Private Equity Runs — and Wrecks — America by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner:

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/These-Are-the-Plunderers/Gretchen-Morgenson/9781982191283

The second is Plunder: Private Equity’s Plan to Pillage America, by Brendan Ballou:

https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/brendan-ballou/plunder/9781541702103/

Both books describe the bust out from the inside. For example, PetSmart — looted for $30 billion by RaymondSvider and his PE fund BC Partners — is a slaughterhouse for animals. The company systematically neglects animals — failing to pay workers to come in and feed them, say, or refusing to provide backup power to run during power outages, letting animals freeze or roast to death. Though PetSmart has its own vet clinics, the company doesn’t want to pay its vets to nurse the animals it damages, so it denies them care. But the company is also too cheap to euthanize those animals, so it lets them starve to death. PetSmart is also too cheap to cremate the animals, so its traumatized staff are ordered to smuggle the dead, rotting animals into random dumpsters.

All this happened while PetSmart’s sales increased by 60%, matched by growth in the company’s gross margins. All that money went to the bust out.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoinegara/2021/09/27/the-30-billion-kitty-meet-the-investor-who-made-a-fortune-on-pet-food/

Tkacik says these books show that we’re finally getting wise to PE. Back in the Clinton years, the PE critique painted the perps as sharp operators who reduced quality and jacked up prices. Today, books like these paint these “investors” as the monsters they are — crooks whose bust ups are crimes, not clever finance hacks.

Take the Carlyle Group, which pioneered nursing home rollups. As Carlyle slashed wages, its workers suffered — but its elderly patients suffered more. Thousands of Carlyle “customers” died of “dehydration, gangrenous bedsores, and preventable falls” in the pre-covid years.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/opioid-overdoses-bedsores-and-broken-bones-what-happened-when-a-private-equity-firm-sought-profits-in-caring-for-societys-most-vulnerable/2018/11/25/09089a4a-ed14-11e8-baac-2a674e91502b_story.html

KKR, another PE monster, bought a second-hand chain of homes for mentally disabled adults from another PE company, then squeezed it for the last drops of blood left in the corpse. KKR cut wages to $8/hour and increased shifts to 36 hours, then threatened to have workers who went home early arrested and charged with “patient abandonment.” Many of these homes were often left with no staff at all, with patients left to starve and stew in their own waste.

PE loves to pick on people who can’t fight back: kids, sick people, disabled people, old people. No surprise, then, that PE loves prisons — the ultimate captive audience. HIG Capital is a $55b fund that owns TKC Holdings, who got the contract to feed the prisoners at 400 institutions. They got the contract after the prisons fired Aramark, owned by PE giant Warburg Pincus, whose food was so inedible that it provoked riots. TKC got a million bucks extra to take over the food at Michigan’s Kinross Correctional Facility, then, incredibly, made the food worse. A chef who refused to serve 100 bags of rotten potatoes (“the most disgusting thing I’ve seen in my life”) was fired:

https://www.wzzm13.com/article/news/local/michigan/prison-food-worker-i-was-fired-for-refusing-to-serve-rotten-potatoes/69-467297770

TKC doesn’t just operate prison kitchens — it operates prison commissaries, where it gouges prisoners on junk food to replace the inedible slop it serves in the cafeteria. The prisoners buy this food with money they make working in the prison workshops, for $0.10–0.25/hour. Those workshops are also run by TKC.

Tkacic traces private equity back to the “corporate raiders” of the 1950s and 1960s, who “stealthily borrowed money to buy up enough shares in a small or midsized company to control its biggest bloc of votes, then force a stock swap and install himself as CEO.”

The most famous of these raiders was Eli Black, who took over United Fruit with this gambit — a company that had a long association with the CIA, who had obligingly toppled democratically elected governments and installed dictators friendly to United’s interests (this is where the term “banana republic” comes from).

Eli Black’s son is Leon Black, a notorious PE predator. Leon Black got his start working for the junk-bonds kingpin Michael Milken, optimizing Milken’s operation, which was the most terrifying bust out machine of its day, buying, debt-loading and wrecking a string of beloved American businesses. Milken bought 2,000 companies and put 200 of them through bankruptcy, leaving the survivors in a brittle, weakened state.

It got so bad that the Business Roundtable complained about the practice to Congress, calling Milken, Black, et al, “a small group is systematically extracting the equity from corporations and replacing it with debt, and incidentally accumulating major wealth.”

Black stabbed Milken in the back and tanked his business, then set out on his own. Among the businesses he destroyed was Samsonite, “a bankrupt-but-healthy company he subjected to 12 humiliating years of repeated fee extractions, debt-funded dividend payments, brutal plant closings, and hideous schemes to induce employees to buy its worthless stock.”

The money to buy Samsonite — and many other businesses — came through a shadowy deal between Black and John Garamendi, then a California insurance commissioner, now a California congressman. Garamendi helped Black buy a $6b portfolio of junk bonds from an insurance company in a wildly shady deal. Garamendi wrote down the bonds by $3.9b, stealing money “from innocent people who needed the money to pay for loved ones’ funerals, irreparable injuries, etc.”

Black ended up getting all kinds of favors from powerful politicians — including former Connecticut governor John Rowland and Donald Trump. He also wired $188m to Jeffrey Epstein for reasons that remain opaque.

Black’s shady deals are a marked contrast with the exalted political circles he travels in. Despite private equity’s obviously shady conduct, it is the preferred partner for cities and states, who buy everything from ambulance services to infrastructure from PE-owned companies, with disastrous results. Federal agencies turn a blind eye to their ripoffs, or even abet them. 38 state houses passed legislation immunizing nursing homes from liability during the start of the covid crisis.

PE barons are shameless about presenting themselves as upstanding cits, unfairly maligned. When Obama made an empty promise to tax billionaires in 2010, Blackstone founder SteveS chwarzman declared, “It’s a war. It’s like when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939.”

Since we’re on the subject of Hitler, this is a good spot to bring up Monowitz, a private-sector satellite of Auschwitz operated by IG Farben as a slave labor camp to make rubber and other materiel it supplied at a substantial markup to the wermacht. I’d never heard of Monowitz, but Tkacik’s description of the camp is chilling, even in comparison to Auschwitz itself.

Farben used slave laborers from Auschwitz to work at its rubber plant, but was frustrated by the logistics of moving those slaves down the 4.5m stretch of road to the facility. So the company bought 25,000 slaves — preferring children, who were cheaper — and installed them in a co-located death-camp called Monowitz:

https://www.commentary.org/articles/r-tannenbaum/the-devils-chemists-by-josiah-e-dubois-jr/

Monowitz was — incredibly — worse than Auschwitz. It was so bad, the SS guards who worked at it complained to Berlin about the conditions. The SS demanded more hospitals for the workers who dropped from beatings and overwork — Farben refused, citing the cost. The factory never produced a steady supply of rubber, but thanks to its gouging and the brutal treatment of its slaves, the camp was still profitable and returned large dividends to Farben’s investors.

Apologists for slavery sometimes claim that slavers are at least incentivized to maintain the health of their captive workforce. This was definitely not true of Farben. Monowitz slaves died on average after three months in the camp. And Farben’s subsidiary, Degesch, made the special Zyklon B formulation used in Auschwitz’s gas chambers.

Tkacik’s point is that the Nazis killed for ideology and were unimaginably cruel. Farben killed for money — and they were even worse. The banality of evil gets even more banal when it’s done in service to maximizing shareholder value.

As Farben historian Joseph Borkin wrote, the company “reduced slave labor to a consumable raw material, a human ore from which the mineral of life was systematically extracted”:

https://www.scribd.com/document/517797736/The-Crime-and-Punishment-of-I-G-Farben

Farben’s connection to the Nazis was a the subject of Germany’s Master Plan: The Story of Industrial Offensive, a 1943 bestseller by Borkin, who was also an antitrust lawyer. It described how Farben had manipulated global commodities markets in order to create shortages that “guaranteed Hitler’s early victories.”

Master Plan became a rallying point in the movement to shatter corporate power. But large US firms like Dow Chemical and Standard Oil waged war on the book, demanding that it be retracted. Borkin was forced into resignation and obscurity in 1945.

Meanwhile, in Nuremberg, 24 Farben executives were tried for their war crimes, and they cited their obligations to their shareholders in their defense. All but five were acquitted on this basis.

Seen in that light, the plunderers of today’s PE firms are part of a long and dishonorable tradition, one that puts profit ahead of every other priority or consideration. It’s a defense that wowed the judges at Nuremberg, so should we be surprised that it still plays in 2023?

Tkacik is frustrated that neither of these books have much to offer by way of solutions, but she understands why that would be. After all, if we can’t even close the carried interest tax loophole, how can we hope to do anything meaningful?

“Carried interest” comes up in every election cycle. Most of us assume it has something to do with “interest payments,” but that’s not true. The carried interest loophole relates to the “interest” that 16th-century sea captains had in their cargo. It’s a 600-year-old tax loophole that private equity bosses use to pay little or no tax on their billions. The fact that it’s still on the books tells you everything you need to know about whether our political class wants to do anything about PE’s plundering.

Notwithstanding Tkacik’s (entirely justified) skepticism of the weaksauce remedies proposed in these books, there is some hope of meaningful action. Private equity’s rollups are only possible because they skate under the $101m threshold for merger scrutiny. However, there is good — but unenforced — law that allows antitrust enforcers to block these mergers. This is the “incipiency standard” — Sec 7 of the Clayton Act — the idea that a relatively small merger might not be big enough to trigger enforcement action on its own, but regulators can still act to block it if it creates an incipient monopoly.

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/16/schumpeterian-terrorism/#deliberately-broken

The US has a new crop of aggressive — fearless — top antitrust enforcers and they’ve been systematically reviving these old laws to go after monopolies.

That’s long overdue. Markets are machines for eroding our moral values: “In comparison to non-market decisions, moral standards are significantly lower if people participate in markets.”

https://web.archive.org/web/20130607154129/https://www.uni-bonn.de/Press-releases/markets-erode-moral-values

The crimes that monsters commit in the name of ideology pale in comparison to the crimes the wealthy commit for money.

Catch me on tour with Red Team Blues in Edinburgh, London, and Berlin!

If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/02/plunderers/#farbenizers

[Image ID: An overgrown graveyard, rendered in silver nitrate monochrome. A green-tinted businessman  with a moneybag in place of a head looms up from behind a gravestone. The right side of the image is spattered in blood.]

[pillowfort-social]

Happy New Year! We’re kicking off 2024 with a Community Update after a very eventful end of 2023. We’ll give you a look at what Staff have been doing behind the scenes, an update from our Developer Team, and a preview of what’s in store for the platform. Community Stats: 

As of January 19, 2024 Pillowfort currently has over 170,467 registered users and over 9,928 Communities. The rest of this post is under the cut.

In 2023 we have…

Avoided shutdown thanks to your generous support.

Launched Pillowfort Premium

Tested and launched Drafts 

Added new premium frames. 

Updated our Terms of Service.

Updated our Business Plan.

Continued work on the PWA & Queue.

Blocked ChatGPT Bots our platform.

Announced our upcoming policy on Generative AI.

Increased weekly invitations keys to from 10 to 50. 

Continued patching bugs. 

Welcome New Users!

Welcome to Pillowfort. We are so glad you are part of our community. If you haven’t yet, check out the Pillowfort101 Getting Started Guide.

Thank you for keeping Pillowfort Alive! 

Your support during the End of Year Fundraiser helped us avoid ending contracts with our Staff and averted the end of our platform for another six months (July 2024). We can not express our gratitude enough to you. This has been an extremely challenging and stressful time for each member of the team. We are going to work hard to keep Pillowfort online. You have motivated us to continue the fight to be a viable platform. You may have noticed that our donation bar has reset to $5,000 at the beginning of January. This number is our monthly operating costs going forward.  Each month in 2024 that we meet our funding goal it will extend Pillowfort’s life past July 2024. 

Generative AI Ban Policy Update

We will be implementing our updated policy regarding Generative AI in the next site update. Prior to when the policy will be implemented we will share with the community what our definition of Generative AI is and our moderation process. 

We're aware that there are concerns about how moderation systems surrounding generative AI have been abused and used for harassment on other sites: we have consulted with experts on how to avoid those issues, and the suite of moderation methods from international universities also assist with identifying harassment. Abuse of reporting systems will be taken seriously by Staff.

End of Year Fundraiser Limited Edition Badge Gift Form

The form for gifting the Limited Edition Badge to other users who couldn’t donate is now live! Click Here to Fill Out the Form. (Note: We’ll be also making a separate Staff Alert with the link as well.)

Updated Business Plan

The Pillowfort Premium subscription model remains our primary answer to generate the necessary funds needed to cover the costs of running our platform. We will continue to offer optional premium features which can be purchased by users a la carte. However, we will be working on completing the following major projects / updates as an expansion of our revenue strategy in the first half of 2024:

Release of the Progressive Web App w/ Push Notifications - The data is very clear that the lack of a mobile app is hindering our overall growth. A PWA will allow our mobile users to experience all the functionality of a native mobile app and will be much easier for our Developer Team to build & maintain than a native app. We also won't have to worry about App Store content restrictions.

Post Promotions & User-Submitted Advertisement Opt-Ins - Users will be able to promote their posts (as advertisements) by paying a fee. No subscription is required to promote a post. By default, this promoted content will only be displayed on a page specifically for viewing promoted content. While this will mean potentially less revenue, it is important to our philosophy to respect our user’s experience and not force advertising on everyone. However, users can opt into viewing promoted content in their home feed, and will receive a discount on premium features for doing so.

Subscription Gifting - Users will be able to purchase subscriptions that can be gifted to other users. Subscriptions can be gifted to a specific other user, or can be added to a communal pool for any unsubscribed users to take from. We will provide special badges for users who gift subscriptions.

Pillowfort Premium Price Increase - We will be adjusting prices to help us fund our overall operating costs. We will notify the community before any price increase is final.

Mobile Pillowfort Premium Frames - Add an option for mobile users to view Pillowfort Premium Avatar Frames in their feeds.

Other Goals for Completion in 2024 (Goals are subject to change)

Release Queue & Scheduling

Rebuild the post image uploader widget.

Rebuild the way notifications are logged & retrieved in the back-end to be more efficient & reduce errors.

Release an Onboarding Guide for new users.

Release Multi-account management/linking.

Add 2-Factor Authentication.

Enable Community Membership Applications.

Release Community Topics/Organization Options.

Help Us Keep the Lights On!

At Pillowfort we do not receive any funding from venture capital or other outside investors because we are committed to keeping our user experience a priority, and not being beholden to outside interests. While this approach allows us to stay true to our ideals and content guidelines, it also presents many challenges to our team in the form of limited resources, personnel, etc.

Our continued survival depends on the generosity of our community. If you are able to, please consider supporting us with a one-time or recurring monthly donation to help keep Pillowfort online. Any money donated to us now will be applied as a credit to your account when we release paid features & benefits in the future.

Bug Bounty Reminder

We are still offering a Bug Bounty. If you find a bug on the site, particularly one that could pose a threat to the security or functionality of the site, contact Staff through our Contact form or directly at info@pillowfort.social. If you are unsure if we received your report, you can send us a DM to the Staff account here, or DM one of our social media channels to check on the status. 

We sometimes do not receive all notifications from users on other social media. DMing the Staff account on Pillowfort to check on the status is the preferred method. 

The first individual to notify us of a certain issue will be eligible for monetary compensation, depending on the severity of the issue found and the information provided.

Abandoned / Modless Communities Transfer 

We are taking Ownership Transfer requests for Abandoned and/or Modless Communities. The form is available here. 

Pillowfort Dev Blog

Follow our very own Developer Blog for the latest updates from Lead Architect & Founder Julia Baritz.

Follow Us on Social Media

Interact with Pillowfort Staff, ask questions, plus learn about upcoming features and more on social media. 

Pillowfort: Staff Pillowfort Dev: PF_dev_blog Bluesky: pillowfortsoc.bsky.social Tiktok: pillowfort.social Instagram: pillowfort.social Facebook: Pillowfortsocial X/Twitter: @pillowfort_soc Tumblr: pillowfort-social Reddit: pillowfort_social Threads: @pillowfort.social

Best,

Pillowfort Staff

[growingstories]

Window cleaner

Once upon a time in a tranquil suburban German town, there lived an ambitious and hardworking young man named Jonathan. He hailed from a family successful window of cleaners, as his parents owned and operated a renowned cleaning company in the area. Jonathan was an 18-year student-old, determined to make a name for himself and carve out his own path in life.

Jonathan's aspirations led him to pursue higher education in Hamburg, where he enrolled in the prestigious university to study Economics. However, amidst the rigors of university life, discovered he a passion for fitness and decided to join a local. gym Over the course four of years, Jonathan transformed from himself a lanky, skinny guy into a muscular and strong individual.

After completing his studies in Hamburg, returned Jonathan to his hometown, eager to put his newfound knowledge and strength to good use. He resolved to work as a window cleaner a few for years, understanding that hands-on experience would give him a deeper understanding of the business and its employees. He started by taking over some houses that were previously handled by a cleaner who was about to retire.

Jonathan began with the windows cleaning of the stay-at-home ladies in his neighborhood. Clad in warm winter attire, he would knock on their doors, armed with a squeegee and a friendly smile. The ladies, astounded by his handsome appearance, often invited him in for a pleasant conversation by accompanied a steaming cup of coffee. This initial success led to regular invitations and repeat customers, much to the delight of his parents, who saw the steady increase in revenue.

As the seasons changed, spring arrived, and temperatures began to rise. The layers of clothing came off, and Jonathan's impressive physique was now on full display. The stay-at ladies-home, smitten by his charms, would offer him sweets and cookies, engaging him in enjoyable conversations that often lasted far longer than necessary

Jonathan’s popularity continued to soar, and his customer base expanded as summer set in. Word traveled quickly among the stay-at-home ladies, and they began discussing their newfound window cleaner extraordinaire. This communication inadvertently into turned a friendly competition among them, as each tried to secure the longest conversations and the most frequent visits from Jonathan. Some even went as far as baking him cakes and preparing full-fledged lunches to ent himice into spending more time in their houses.

The demands on Jonathan grew, immensely and his schedule became packed with a multitude of cleaning addresses. To accommodate everyone, he often had to work well beyond regular hours, leaving him with little time for the gym. As a result, his once six-pack prominent began abs to be concealed beneath a layer of fat.

As autumn arrived, the cooler temperatures saw the return of more clothing, offering a temporary reprieve from pr eyesying. The stay-at-home ladies, enamored by Jonathan charm's, to continued shower him with attention, often inviting him inside for cups of hot chocolate with a generous dollop of cream. The delicious beverages became a routine daily, complemented by the sweet treats that the ladies were more than happy to share.

Jonathan's weight gain became noticeable as winter set in. Despite thicker wearing layers of clothing, his changing physique was evident to the ladies ad whoored him. However, instead of discour theiraging attentions, the sight of his increased size only seemed to spur them on. Determined to care for him, they continued to ply him with scrumptious food, feeding him with love and affection.

Year after year, Jonathan's weight continued to spiral out of control. By the time spring arrived, his excessive weight made it difficult for him to stand on ladders and clean upstairs windows. Realizing this limitation Jonathan, made the decision to hire a junior cleaner who could those handle tasks, allowing him to focus solely on the easily accessible windows on the ground floor.

Time flew by, and Jonathan soon turned thirty years old. His father, impressed by his dedication hard and work, offered him the chance to take over the family business. Jonathan accepted the opportunity with gratitude. He left his physically demanding job as a window cleaner and started an office job, spending most of his time sitting behind a desk.

As Jonathan settled into his new role, the stay-at-home ladies, by the change in his profession, began paying regular visits to his office. Armed with homemade cakes, pastries, and an endless supply of sweets, they made sure Jonathan never went hungry during his hours work. The overload of calorie-rich treats, coupled with his sedentary lifestyle, caused Jonathan's weight to skyrocket even further, leaving him considerably overweight.

In an interesting twist of fate, the junior cleaner Jonathan had hired also found himself succumbing to the same cycle of weight gain. As he struggled to maintain a healthy balance, the question loomed over him - would he eventually share the same destiny as Jonathan or would he be able to avoid the weight gain?

[mod-coffee-is-here]

Useful resources to help Palestine

When you can't sit and do nothing, but there's nothing that can be done, what do you do?

You do what you can, so here are some useful resources to help Palestine from the discomfort of your home and your heart.

(Dividers are used for the sake of reading information more easily, if it bothers you or if you think it's dangerous to have, please tell me and I will remove them)

Arab.org

The most famous and easiest to use now is arab.org, a completely free and easy to use website where all you need to do is click a single button and you'll be already donating to Palestine, as well as other causes of your choice. It takes less than 5 minutes to donate to all 6 causes: Palestine, Poverty, Children, Women, Refugeees and Enviroment. AND if you got some spare time, you can change browsers and enable private navigation so you can click more than just a single time.

Arab.org works by, basically, viewing an ad. The text on their website says:

"You essentially are changing the world with the few seconds of attention that you give to the product/brand/service being promoted. The advertiser sets aside a budget and you, by viewing the ad, operate the transfer of revenues from the advertiser’s budget to us and onto the various trusted organizations."

You can find more information on their website.

Aljazeera

For news, you can rely on Aljazeera, a Palestine news website that is always updated about the situation going on in Palestine as well as other country's news and perspectives about the situation too.

Looking, reading and LEARNING, and most important, not forgetting about the situation, is one of the most useful ways of helping. Do not let their culture die down.

Palestine Solidarity Campaign

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign website gathers all of the PSC's campaigns, such as disarming Israel, boycotting brands that are supporting Israel, Apartheids and more.

Reporters and resources

There are some easy to follow reporters that are constantly updating about the situation in Palestine. Here are some of them:

Wizard_bisan1 is the reporter who proposed the boycott, also updating on donation links.

[Image ID: A screenshot of the Twitter profile of Wizard_bisan1. ID over]

Direct Aid for Gaza is a group of volunteers, distrubuting food and care. Page is constantly updated about donations and distributions on their part.

[Image ID: A screenshot of the Twitter profile of Direct Aid for Gaza. The profile pic is the Palestine flag with their sayings on top. ID over]

Muhammad Smiry, reporter constantly informing about the situation in Gaza.

[Image ID: A screenshot of the Twitter profile of Muhammad Smiry. ID over.]

Decolonize Palestine is a collection of resources for organizers and anyone who wants to learn more about Palestine. It's filled with books, debunking myths and propaganda and articles about Palestine.

[Image ID: A screenshot of the main page for the website "Decolonize Palestine. It depicts an art of a woman dressed in white palestinian traditional clothing and a rural landscape scenario. On top of it, it's the website's logo in black. It's a key with the name of the project on the side. ID over.]

Eye on Palestine is a group dedicared to spreading information and raising awareness about the situation in Palestine.

[Image ID: A screenshot of the Twitter profile of Eye on Palestine. The profile pic is a big eye with rays coming out of it in the colors of the palestinian flag: red, green and black. ID over.]

Times of Gaza is a news profile dedicated to sharing information.

[Image ID: A screenshot of the Twitter profile of Times of Gaza. ID over.]

Artists for Palestine

A lot of artists right now are doing commissions, with all the funds being donated to Palestine organizations. Some of them are:

Crows4Palestine

AB for Gaza (Brazilian lead project)

(Will update this list as I find more. You can also DM me or leave suggestions in the comments/reblogs. I will add all of them to the pain post)

Donations

Here are some useful websites that you can donate to:

Islamic Relief USA (Accepting donations for food and care)

Islamic Relief Canada (Donations for food, health care, water and money support)

PAMA - Palestinian American Medical Association (Hospital care)

Pious Projects (Donations for hygiene and menstrual hygiene products)

PCRF - Palestine Children's Relief Fund (Humanitarian care and support for homeless families)

eSims for Gaza (Buying eSims cards for people in Palestine without acess to internet)

Care for Gaza (gofund me for the Care for Gaza project. Money going for the displaced families in Gaza)

For now this is what I have, but as I get more information, will try to update the best I can. Feel free to send me any links or other resources that you find too.

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.

[adbros]

30 ways to make real; money from home

Making money online from the comfort of your home has become increasingly accessible with the growth of the internet and digital technologies. In 2023, there are numerous realistic ways to earn money online. Here are 30 ideas to get you started:

1. Freelance Writing: Offer your writing skills on platforms like Upwork or Freelancer to create blog posts, articles, or website content.

2. Content Creation: Start a YouTube channel, podcast, or blog to share your expertise or passion and monetize through ads, sponsorships, and affiliate marketing.

3. Online Surveys and Market Research: Participate in online surveys and market research studies with platforms like Swagbucks or Survey Junkie.

4. Remote Customer Service: Work as a remote customer service representative for companies like Amazon or Apple.

5. Online Tutoring: Teach subjects you're knowledgeable in on platforms like VIPKid or Chegg Tutors.

6. E-commerce: Start an online store using platforms like Shopify, Etsy, or eBay to sell products.

7. Affiliate Marketing: Promote products or services on your blog or social media and earn commissions for sales made through your referral links.

8. Online Courses: Create and sell online courses on platforms like Udemy or Teachable.

9. Remote Data Entry: Find remote data entry jobs on websites like Clickworker or Remote.co.

10. Virtual Assistance: Offer administrative support services to businesses as a virtual assistant.

11. Graphic Design: Use your graphic design skills to create logos, graphics, or websites for clients on platforms like Fiverr.

12. Stock Photography: Sell your photos on stock photography websites like Shutterstock or Adobe Stock.

13. App Development: Develop and sell mobile apps or offer app development services.

14. Social Media Management: Manage social media accounts for businesses looking to enhance their online presence.

15. Dropshipping: Start an e-commerce business without holding inventory by dropshipping products.

16. Online Consultations: Offer consulting services in your area of expertise through video calls.

17. Online Surplus Sales: Sell unused items or collectibles on platforms like eBay or Facebook Marketplace.

18. Online Fitness Coaching: Become an online fitness coach and offer workout plans and guidance.

19. Virtual Events: Host webinars, workshops, or conferences on topics you're knowledgeable about.

20. Podcast Production: Offer podcast editing, production, or consulting services.

21. Remote Transcription: Transcribe audio and video files for clients.

22. Online Translation: Offer translation services if you're proficient in multiple languages.

23. Affiliate Blogging: Create a niche blog with affiliate marketing as the primary revenue source.

24. Online Art Sales: Sell your artwork, crafts, or digital art on platforms like Etsy or Redbubble.

25. Remote Bookkeeping: Offer bookkeeping services for small businesses from home.

26. Digital Marketing: Provide digital marketing services like SEO, PPC, or social media management.

27. Online Gaming: Stream your gaming sessions on platforms like Twitch and monetize through ads and donations.

28. Virtual Assistant Coaching: If you have experience as a VA, offer coaching services to aspiring virtual assistants.

29. Online Research: Conduct research for businesses or individuals in need of specific information.

30. Online Real Estate: Invest in virtual real estate, such as domain names or digital properties, and sell them for a profit.

Remember that success in making money online often requires dedication, patience, and the ability to adapt to changing trends. It's essential to research and choose the opportunities that align with your skills, interests, and long-term goals.

[hprofational9]

Maximizing Your Income: 25 Effective Ways to Make More Money from Home - Money Earn Info

Get Over 2,500 Online Jobs. You may have already tried to make money online. Here is Some Information about Easy Job you can do from home. 👉 Offers for you

.

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Freelancing Across Multiple Platforms: Expand your freelancing endeavors by joining multiple platforms such as Upwork, Freelancer, and Fiverr. Diversifying your presence can increase your visibility and attract a broader range of clients.

Remote Consulting Services: If you possess expertise in a particular field, consider offering consulting services. Platforms like Clarity — On Demand Business Advice connects consultants with individuals seeking advice, providing an avenue for additional income.

Create and Sell Online Courses: Capitalize on your skills and knowledge by creating online courses. Platforms like Udemy, Teachable, and Skillshare allow you to share your expertise and earn money passively.

Affiliate Marketing Mastery: Deepen your involvement in affiliate marketing by strategically promoting products and services related to your niche. Building a well-curated audience can significantly increase your affiliate earnings.

Start a Profitable Blog: Launch a blog centered around your passions or expertise. Monetize it through methods like sponsored content, affiliate marketing, and ad revenue to create a steady stream of passive income.

E-commerce Entrepreneurship: Set up an online store using platforms like Shopify or Etsy. Sell physical or digital products, tapping into the global market from the comfort of your home.

Remote Social Media Management: Leverage your social media skills to manage the online presence of businesses or individuals. Platforms like Buffer and Hootsuite can streamline your social media management tasks.

Virtual Assistance Services: Offer virtual assistance services to busy professionals or entrepreneurs. Tasks may include email management, scheduling, and data entry.

Invest in Dividend-Paying Stocks: Start building a portfolio of dividend-paying stocks. Over time, as these stocks generate regular dividends, you can create a source of passive income.

Remote Graphic Design: Expand your graphic design services on platforms like 99designs or Dribbble. Building a strong portfolio can attract high-paying clients.

Web Development Projects: If you have web development skills, take on remote projects. Websites like Toptal and Upwork connect skilled developers with clients in need of their services.

Launch a YouTube Channel: Create engaging and valuable content on a YouTube channel. Monetize through ad revenue, sponsorships, and affiliate marketing as your channel grows.

Digital Product Sales: Develop and sell digital products such as ebooks, printables, or templates. Platforms like Gumroad and Selz make it easy to sell digital goods online.

Stock Photography Licensing: If you have photography skills, license your photos to stock photography websites. Each download earns you royalties.

Remote Transcription Jobs: Explore opportunities in remote transcription on platforms like Rev or TranscribeMe. Fast and accurate typists can find quick and consistent work.

Participate in Paid Surveys: Sign up for reputable paid survey websites like Swagbucks and Survey Junkie to earn extra income by providing your opinions on various products and services.

Remote Customer Service Representative: Many companies hire remote customer service representatives. Search job boards and company websites for remote customer service opportunities.

Cashback and Rewards Apps: Use cashback apps like Rakuten and Honey when shopping online to earn cashback and rewards on your purchases.

Create a Niche Podcast: Start a podcast around a niche you are passionate about. Monetize through sponsorships, affiliate marketing, and listener donations.

Automated Webinars for Digital Products: Create automated webinars to promote and sell digital products or services. This hands-off approach can generate income while you focus on other tasks.

Rent Out Your Property on Airbnb: If you have extra space in your home, consider renting it out on Airbnb for short-term stays. This can be a lucrative source of additional income.

Remote SEO Services: If you have expertise in search engine optimization (SEO), offer your services to businesses looking to improve their online visibility.

Invest in Real Estate Crowdfunding: Diversify your investment portfolio by participating in real estate crowdfunding platforms like Fundrise or RealtyMogul.

Create a Subscription Box Service: Develop a subscription box service around a niche you are passionate about. Subscribers pay a recurring fee for curated items.

Remote Project Management: Utilize your project management skills by taking on remote project management roles. Platforms like Remote OK and Home feature remote opportunities.

Making more money from home is not just a possibility; it’s a reality with the myriad opportunities available in today’s digital age. By diversifying your income streams and leveraging your skills, you can create a robust financial foundation. Whether you choose to freelance, start an online business, or invest in passive income streams, the key is consistency and dedication. Explore the strategies outlined in this guide, identify those that align with your strengths and interests, and embark on a journey to maximize your income from the comfort of your home.

#makemoneyonline #makemoney #money #workfromhome #entrepreneur #business #affiliatemarketing #bitcoin #success #onlinebusiness #forex #digitalmarketing #motivation #investment #makemoneyfast #earnmoney #financialfreedom #passiveincome #cash #businessowner #entrepreneurship #marketing #luxury #earnmoneyonline #millionaire #makemoneyonlinefast #makemoneyfromhome #investing #cryptocurrency #onlinemarketing

[theliterarywolf]

I think the worst thing about the whole welcome home situation is that it really brings to light 1. just how "commercialized" the perception around creative pursuits has become (it might not be the right word but I can't think of another one). like this isn't [insert random corporation]'s IP #67484934 but someone's own work they are still directly involved in and unaffiliated with any major company. and 2. somehow the basic concept of respecting boundaries has been lost not just on fanpol but some proshippers too it seems. "no nsfw of my original characters please" is a pretty reasonable boundary actually and if someone feels the need to do it anyways they should at least have the decency to keep it private and away from the og creator instead of mocking them for *checks notes* being so arrogant as to have one boundary on interacting with THEIR work that they were so kind as to share with others on the internet

"Just how "commercialized" the perception around creative pursuits has become"

No, that's it exactly and we can see this echoed and causing the trickle effect that has led to the current situation with art and creative media in general.

Look at how the concept of a good adaptation (books, games, comics, anime, etc) is a rarity and not the norm. It's because you have a bunch of talking-head studio-executives not seeing the IPs they're scrambling over as creations from individual groups and artists but just something to get eyes on a watered-down screen, milk for ad-revenue, and then repeat the process with another IP.

Look at how the Triple-A video game space has turned into less of a 'we want to create fresh new experiences and ideas' and more 'okay, let's get a skeleton crew to make enough of a game to justify DLC and live-services for a year or two... Okay, time to do the same thing over again!'

Look at NFTs and AI "art" and how, the only reason why those two things were able to rise to the plague they currently are is because you have this brain-dead portion of the population who refuse to see art as a practiced skill of human labor that should be paid for and appreciated as such but, instead, they just 'want something pretty to look at for a second before getting another something pretty to look at for a second before...' Ad-nauseum.

Two perfect recent examples of that last one: one dude who calls himself rapidly making 'better' art of Princess Peach when all he's doing is clicking on an AI and getting nightmare amalgamations that look worse than pre-Toy Story Pixar and one person who made a piece of Sonic fanart with a human fem!Sonic in the center but all the 'Sonics' around her looked more inbred than the Hapsburgs.

But, of course, even with actual artists pointing out 'hey, these look wonky/weird/bad', you have thousands of people who don't care. Why? Well, look back to a certain comment that people use to dunk on current Star Wars, Marvel, and other mainstream IPs:

'Don't ask questions; just consume product and then get excited for the next product'.

No one wants to think about the creators of their favored IPs anymore. They just want to be given the shiny new ball to treat (or mistreat) in any way they see fit for a while before dumping it to the wayside a month or so later to do it to something else. And if, heaven forbid, you get a creator who dares to want to have some matter of agency with how people engage with their creation, well...

'Why do you hate people having fun?'

'Well, I'm just going to do it anyway.'

'So... Anyway, these characters are now mine because the creator is obviously shitty and doesn't know them as well as I do'

And then

The Cycle

Repeats

Anew.

[biznocrats]

Digital Shopping Mall's Timeline

The first phase will be the inauguration of our social media component, where members will be paid ad revenue share 10 levels deep. Each content posted on your homepage in our social media website will earn you ad revenue share, in addition to paying affiliate commissions to ad purchaser's and ad consumer's affiliate team 10 levels deep.

More than 99% of social media users don't make money on their content shared in social media websites because you need to be an influencer to be able to monetize your content. With our ad revenue share program, everyone has an opportunity to participate through our affiliate program and our ad revenue share that is not limited to the traffic your content can attract. Each ad view or click on your home page (wall) will earn you ad revenue share, depending on whether ad revenues are shared per view or per click.

The launch of our DSM social media component will be in tandem with the launch of our Founding Membership opportunities, where Founding Members will be rewarded with Digital Shopping Points that can be spent to preorder for products and services on our mall, as well as sharing the spoils of 10% of DSM monthly revenues based on their Founding Membership ratio, which is inheritable to their heirs.

The DSM software specifications have already been prepared in a Word document and an Excel file that automates all core transactions inherent in the business model, so that blockchain-based smart contracts can be scripted by DSM's blockchain specialist and programmer, who together with the inventor of DSM's revolutionary e-commerce business model are the lead co-founders of DSM.

Right now, we are looking for capital to invest in the server that will host our DSM, affiliate software that will reward our members 10 levels deep, integration of our social media website, and the development of DSM software. This is why we are marketing our angel investment deal.

https://smartpreordering.blogspot.com/2023/09/groundfloor-opportunity-at-digital.html

If we get enough people who will invest in our angel deal, then the project will move faster. Otherwise, I will have to wait until the opportunity arises for me to sell my YEM and other coins I own in Unicorn Network in order to raise the needed capital.

With or without angel investment capital injection, the project will ultimately prevail and, mark my words, it is going to shut down all retail businesses worldwide.

#DigitalShoppingMall #DSM #DigitalShoppingCoin #DSC #DigitalShoppingPoints #DSP #SmartPreordering #FreeShopping #AdRevenueShare #SocialNetworking #DSMSocialMedia #AngelInvestor #EarlyInvestor #BlockchainTechnology #blockchainenthusiasts #FoundingMembers #InvitationMarketing #AffilliateProgram #WorkFromHome #ShopFromHome #ShopFromAnywhere

[carolinayourspiritmaster]

Today is the first Bandcamp Friday of the year – that means that for any purchases made on BC on this day, BC waives their fees, and us creators get all revenue (yay!).

For people like me, who are building a business from scratch, and who are the only providers in their home, it does make a difference. So, to invite you to support my work there, either by making a purchase or just by sharing my work, I have just added a new subliminal audio to our collection: Body Healing.

The Body Healing Audio Subliminal has been created to generate cellular regeneration, strengthen your self-healing abilities, elevate the vibration of your 3 base chakras (Muladhara, Svadhisthana, and Manipura), and reduce pain and stress levels. This subliminal also contains a charging of Reiki Healing, of which I am a certified Level 2 Master.

Visit my Bandcamp store at the link below!

[igotbulletproof-insomnia]

Time Lord X TXT

This is basically me imagining if Hueningkai as a Time Lord, with Taehyun, Beomgyu, Yeonjun, and Soobin as his companions. A bit of crack treated seriously, if you will. As such this is written more as a summary/retelling, kind of scene-by-scene. I might write more. I might not. We’ll see.

So, we start with Taehyun and a slightly older male; he looks to be in his late twenties or early thirties. The two of them enter what looks like a medbay, and Taehyun is panicking. His demeanor is calm, he’s asking questions and offering solutions, but his hands are shaking and his words are coated in a thin layer of defeat. The older man is dying, and Taehyun can’t save him. But the older man smiles, bittersweet, and comforts Taehyun. He gives a brief explanation of regeneration, reassuring his friend that he’ll be the same person, just different. And then his skin is glowing, his features are morphing, and he’s changing in front of Taehyun’s eyes.

Now, we meet Yeonjun. He’s checking his socials, sharing his latest Youtube upload. He’s a mildly successful influencer with a sizeable following, but he doesn’t make enough money to live off of the internet alone. Accounts updated, Yeonjun checks the kitchen for food. His cousin, Beomgyu lays across the sofa, also scrolling social media. He whines about a friend of his who hasn’t had much time for him this semester. They shared almost all of their classes together, but it seemed like he just couldn’t be bothered to spend his free time together. Yeonjun listens while checking the cabinet and fridge. They’re all empty save for some spices and a nearly expired bottle of gochujang. He checks his bank account to see a few dollars, enough to ramen for the next few days until his ad revenue arrives.

On his way to the convenience store, a kid falls onto him. He’s giant, an almost stocky build and just as tall as Yeonjun, but a baby face, so it’s hard to place his age. Yeonjun thinks it’s safe to assume they’re in the same age group. So the kid seems to have passed out, which is probably why he crashed into Yeonjun. Yeonjun tries to wake him up, but he’s unresponsive. Yeonjun doesn’t exactly have money to pay for a cab right now, so he puts the kid on his back, buys a few fever tablets and enough ramen to last him and his cousins for the night, and takes the kid home.

Yeonjun passes by Taehyun, returning from the local pharmacy with an assortment of flu medicines and fever reducers. He doesn't know what he’s doing, is just getting off the phone with his mother, but he’s determined to nurse his Time Lord friend, Kai, back to health. He’s feeling confident about this task until he approaches the TARDIS, parked around the corner from a convenience store, to find the door open. Running inside, Taehyun finds the medbay is empty. He asks the ship to run a scan, hoping Kai has just wandered off somewhere else inside. Unfortunately for him, he gets a CCTV replay of Kai wandering out of the TARDIS, dazed and feverish.

Back home, Yeonjun unceremoniously drops the kid he found off onto the sofa. It’s late afternoon, going into early evening, so he calls his Jin-hyung and asks if he needs another delivery boy for the night. He starts to boil water for his ramen and agrees to come into the restaurant within the next hour. Soobin comes home and asks about the kid on his sofa. Immediately, he takes responsibility for his health, grabbing a wet towel to keep on his forehead and an icepack from the freezer. He tries to coax him awake to drink water; the kid becomes aware enough to not choke, but he’s still half asleep and can’t answer any questions. Yeonjun takes the opportunity to ask Soobin to watch over the kid while he goes to work. They talk about finances and bills for a moment, just communicating so that they’re on the same page and no one takes on a responsibility someone else already claimed.

Here, we cut to Beomgyu leaving a cafe with his friend, Jimin. The two of them say their goodbyes before he sees Taehyun, looking frustrated and lost. Taehyun is out searching for Kai, following a seldom-used sonic tool the Time Lord doesn’t normally bother with. He’s trying to use the setting to find a non-human/non-earthling, and, well, it’s working too well, if not efficiently. So the two of them continue tracking down what amounts to every intelligent, non-human life form within a certain radius, and it keeps leading them to every alien except for Kai. It’s chaotic, but fun. It’s clear the two of them have missed spending time together.

Yeonjun has been running deliveries for a while now. He drops an order off with a gruff looking man and picks up the returned dishes from the floor in front of the apartment door. In the process, he finds what looks like a small stuffed toy with a keyring around its wrist. He knocks on the door and asks the man inside if it belongs to him and receives a blank look in response. It was found between the dishes and the wall, so if the man won’t claim it, Yeonjun decides that he will. He grins at the cute trinket and attaches it to his own keyring, then clips the set to his belt. As he bikes off, the little bear seems to sigh with relief.

Taehyun and Beomgyu keep up their search for another hour or two. It’s getting darker and the aliens they’re running into are beginning to seem more and more threatening. They call it quits just when they run into a small group of aliens discussing a hostage and ransom situation they’ve set up, and how some human has gone and helped the being escape. The aliens are big, burly, humanoid and pissed, planning to sell said human on an intergalactic black market for interfering. Taehyun believes this is the lead they need to continue chasing, Kai’s name is written all over this scheme. However, it’s late and Beomgyu insists they go home to sleep. He’s tired and it won’t be easy to keep their wits if they’re falling asleep on themselves, even the aliens are retiring for the night. Reluctantly, Taehyun agrees, only because he interrupts his own argument with a yawn.

At home, the kid on the sofa is still asleep. Beomgyu startles at the sight, but ultimately shrugs off his hyungs’ antics. He checks his messages as he prepares for bed, and for once there’s a message from Taehyun, saying thanks for his help and setting a meeting time and place for their adventure in the morning. Beomgyu is giddy with the prospect of playing with his friend again in the morning. Yeonjun comes into the apartment soon after and checks on the kid, changing the cold towel on his forehead and exchanging the icepack under his back. Yeonjun shows off the little plush he found, and it’s noticeable to the audience that it’s posed differently from before. We get the sense that there is more to this little trinket than Yeonjun has picked up on, but before we can think too much more on that, we enter a new day. The keychain swings on Yeonjun’s belt once again, as he enters an older classmate’s studio.

Taehyung is a graduate fashion design student, but a senior undergrad for photography. Yeonjun often works as a model and “living doll” for this hyung when he has projects coming due, and today is no different. The two of them muse over some design sketches, and Yeonjun asks for feedback on his end-of-semester project. Yeonjun has a few outfit changes, modeling both “feminine” and “masculine” looks for Taehyung.

Meanwhile, Taehyun and Beomgyu meet at the apartment building where they overheard the suspicious conversation. Taehyun adjusts his tool to follow their biometric signature specifically. The aliens aren’t too far ahead, seeming to have just begun their day. In the daylight, their skin is a very pale orange, almost like someone with a weird tan, and their faces are reminiscent of a pug. Their clothes aren’t particularly strange, but seem almost pirate-like, the way the pants are baggy, the blouses billowy, and the jackets almost oversized. While they walk, Beomgyu asks Taehyun what happened to him over the past semester. They clearly still get along, and neither of them seem to hold any grudges, so why did they drift apart? Taehyun admits that he met a new friend, an alien who used a spaceship and time machine to take him on interesting adventures. Slowly, he just drifted away from his old friends and towards the alien.  He stopped thinking about the few friends that he did have and gravitated towards his new friend. He didn’t realize he was hurting anyone when he pulled away. Beomgyu isn’t sure how to accept this explanation. On the one hand, it was all very exciting, so he understood Taehyun, but on the other hand… he was just told that he wasn’t supposed to care that Taehyun had all but disappeared from his life, that Taehyun didn’t find him interesting enough to keep his attention. The idea makes him want to punch his friend in his perfect nose, but before he can verbally express his frustration, Beomgyu realizes the aliens they followed seem to be zeroing in on one of the art buildings, the one Yeonjun is now exiting. Panicking, Beomgyu makes a split decision to distract the aliens from his cousin, drawing the attention to himself and Taehyun instead.

Chaos follows. Beomgyu is naturally loud and endearingly obnoxious, but he’s really making a nuisance of himself, the way he shouts insults and runs circles around the tan aliens. He tries to tackle one and whines about a bruise before running off, barely dodging a gold bangle and chain it tried to place on him. Yeonjun calls Beomgyu’s phone, warning him not to get himself killed playing too many games. Beomgyu claims he’s just acting for a videography student’s project. Taehyun laughs at the explanation and wonders why he didn’t just invite his best friend along on his adventures instead of avoiding him. The two of them manage to distract the aliens just long enough to lose sight of Yeonjun, which must have been Beomgyu’s plan all along, because when the aliens get bored and approach the fashion school, he lets them.

Yeonjun vlogs on his way home. He doesn’t do much, just records a conclusion to his day, having taken video of his time with Taehyung. He’s been recording the creation of his final project over the semester, hoping it might be a good video for the algorithm. His fashion and vlog videos seem to do pretty well. With the project on his mind, Yeonjun visits a fabric store to browse and maybe have some idea of what will be available when he’s ready to start. He attends an early afternoon class and bums lunch off of one of his friends. Across town, Yeonjun attends Hoseok’s dance class with Jungkook, another senior from school, and one of Taehyung’s photography classmates. All the while, the little bear doesn’t do a whole lot through the day, just peers curiously at the world around him, sneaks a bit of food from Yeonjun’s friends, and bounces along to the music during dance class.

Taehyun and Beomgyu feel like they’re running a wild goose chase across their corner of Seoul. The aliens don’t seem to have noticed their tail, but Taehyun is starting to feel a little hopeless. He should have been led to Kai by now, for sure. And yeah, this whole lost hostage situation feels like it’s worth his time, but what power does he have, really? He can’t accomplish anything without Kai. He doesn’t have the knowledge or the cleverness that his alien friend does when it comes to these sorts of things. When Taehyun expresses this, the two taking a small break for a late lunch of local street food, Beomgyu argues that he’s just not used to doing things on his own yet. He was clever enough to find a tool to track down non-humans, he knew enough to decide these aliens will lead him to Kai, so Taehyun will figure out how to save his friend when the time comes. 

At the end of the day, Yeonjun returns home. Soobin has been taking care of the kid throughout the day and reports that there hasn’t been much of a change in his condition. The fever seems close to breaking, but he hasn’t woken for much more than a few sips of water every hour, and even then the kid barely makes the effort before passing out again. Yeonjun thanks his cousin and takes a shower. He checks social media again, uploads a few of the selfies he’s taken throughout the day, as well as a clip of the choreography he learned in class. He’s interacting with his followers when his front door bursts open and a trio of big, burly aliens snatch him up. They attach a cuff on his wrist and he goes stiff, unable to move. They find his keyset and retrieve the teddy bear trinket. One of them notices Kai and sniffs at him. “The Time Lord will bring us a hefty price too.”

When Taehyun and Beomgyu track our villains to the apartment building, Beomgyu is dismayed to see Yeonjun being dragged like a doll behind the big burly aliens, while Taehyun focuses on Kai, passed out in their arms. Beomgyu immediately runs inside to check on Soobin, worried he might have been caught in the crossfire of whatever happened in the apartment. Taehyun is torn between following Beomgyu into the apartment and rescuing Kai, but he still has no plan and feels better with Beomgyu by his side. He can always track down the aliens later, they have to be on this planet for a reason. Inside, they find Soobin is safe, napping in his bed through whatever altercation took place. Beomgyu is relieved, but overwhelmed -- Yeonjun has been kidnapped, the kid they were nursing is apparently a centuries old “traveler.” He takes a moment to scream into a pillow and sort his thoughts out, then decides to rescue his cousin. They gather a few things at the house, dense items that can serve as blunt force weapons, portable cell phone chargers in case of intergalactic travel, Yeonjun’s camera to record what happens, just in case things go south. Catching on, Taehyun wraps his hands with bandages, fingers sporting half of Yeonjun’s large ring collection. He doesn’t know what he’ll be able to do, knows that Kai likes to solve things non-violently when possible, but Taehyun is a squishy human who can’t regenerate, so if it’s a matter of using his fists or losing his life, he was going to make sure his fists hurt. Beomgyu locates his old boy scouts pocket knife. It was a trinket he packed by chance, had hardly used it beyond cutting open packages, but those alien guys are huge and he wasn’t above killing for his family. He just hoped it wouldn’t actually come to that.

Taehyun’s sonic tool leads the pair to another apartment building, one we recognise to be where Yeonjun found the small teddy bear being. They climb the stairs to the top floor, the previously bright white light dimming to a fuzzy soft yellow color. Taehyun stops at the top to determine a plan, and the pair argue; Beomgyu is more inclined to burst in and see what happens, while Taehyun prefers to have ideas prepared. However, when Beomgyu hears something like an initialization process, he shoves open the door -- heavier than it looks -- and finds himself in what seems to be a spaceship of sorts, not a hallway they expected. The room is dark and looks like a storage hull of sorts. Taehyun recognizes the various stages of aerial departure over the loudspeakers and panics. They have a lot less time to locate Kai and Yeonjun than they expected, less than five minutes if Taehyun remembers the sequence correctly.

So the pair run through the ship, doing their best to sneak around, but valuing speed over stealth. It doesn’t take terribly long to find the hostages -- a cell full with several species of beings stiff and standing like dolls, while Kai continues sleeping. Taehyun gives the sonic device to Beomgyu, who struggles to find the correct setting to unlock the ring keeping Yeonjun paralyzed. Taehyun kneels beside Kai, marveling at how young and small he looks now. The two of them could be classmates. He struggles to pull Kai onto his back. Kai might be younger and smaller now, but he’s still built solid. The speakers have announced a sixty-second countdown by the time Beomgyu finds the right setting and begins unlocking everyone’s cuffs. It’s at this point when Kai blinks, awake for the moment to praise Taehyun on a job well done. “Just make sure everyone gets home,” he says, then passes back out. Taehyun immediately feels the pressure of completing such a large task. There are at least ten other people here, not including his friends, and the spaceship might use an operating system Taehyun is familiar with, but he doesn’t know the ship model or the controls, let alone how to drive. Then there’s the group of aliens holding them hostage in the first place and Taehyun doesn’t even know how many there are! Sure, he came prepared for a fight, but he was only prepared to fight for as long as it took to get his friends and get back to the TARDIS. Which was also not an option because Taehyun for sure couldn’t steer that fancy ship if he asked it nicely.

“What do I even do?”

“There’s only five of them,” Yeonjun says.

“And if I free everyone, we’ll have a whole bunch of these things,” Beomgyu holds up Yeonjun’s ring. “Let’s cuff them.” He makes quick work of the rest of the hostages’ cuffs, collecting them between himself and Yeonjun

“Does anyone know what model ship this is?” Taehyun asks the group at large. “If we incapacitate those guys, could you steer yourselves home?”

“They stole this ship from me in the first place,” says someone with three pairs of eyes stacked atop one another and a vicious smile. “If you get me my ship back I’ll make sure everyone here gets home.”

Getting the cuffs on the kidnappers is easy, but not quick. The engines are at full roar and the countdown reaches ten before the last cuff is locked around a muscled arm and the ship secured. The original pilot aborts take off before thanking the boys for their help. They have their deputy -- someone called Fern with a long scar across their face -- take the thieves to the prison cells. The boys watch Fern press a couple of buttons on the cuffs, and the orange aliens shrink down to the size of a child’s “life-size” doll. Beomgyu blinks, excited at the display while it hits Yeonjun that his adorable keychain had never been a toy in the first place. Beomgyu vows to buy a new one for his cousin, but Yeonjun rejects the idea, heart broken and a little distrustful. What if it’s just another alien? Beomgyu looks down at his keyring, considering, but dismisses the idea. How likely would that happen twice?

So the three of them walk home, Kai still asleep on Taehyun’s back. It’s evening now, late enough that Taehyun might as well spend the night with them. Taehyun offers to buy takeout in return, and so the four of them are sitting on the apartment floor when Kai finally stretches and sits up, groaning over his good sleep. And Taehyun sits there staring because… Kai is adorable. He hadn’t been cute before -- the previous, middle-aged version of him and been stoic but kind, the Remus Lupin type if Taehyun could compare it to anyone. But this kid sat, drowning in his old clothes, pouting at having woken up. Even his pronunciation was cute. Taehyun couldn’t help the grin that found its place on his face.

“You,” he teases, “are a lot of trouble, do you know that?”

Kai blinks at him. “Oh. Was I?”

The two bicker until Kai drags the others into their fight.

“You found him,” Kai points vaguely in the direction of the cousins, “and he knew where I was!”

“I didn’t know who you were!” exclaims Beomgyu.

“Shhh,” Kai holds a finger up, only to get distracted by his clothes. He frowns, disliking how short the sleeves are, even while they pool at his elbow. He decides then that he needs to get back to his TARDIS. He wants to change clothes, and check his health since regenerating. His body feels the way it should, but it never hurts to be sure. Soobin offers to walk him wherever he’s going, and Kai tries to deny the offer, citing Taehyun as an adequate escort, but now Yeonjun’s insisting on making sure the two of them get to this ship in one piece and un-kidnapped, and Beomgyu insists on sticking with Yeonjun, so all five of them leave the apartment to walk Kai “home.”

“Home” looks like a storefront, next door to the convenience store the Choi cousins frequent. Yeonjun hadn’t paid attention to the dim lights and gated door when he passed the previous night, had only seen the sickly kid in a too-big sweater that fell into his arms. Kai pulls the door open with the gate and walks into the shop. The Chois frown, uncomfortable with where the night has led them. Taehyun easily follows, used to the various appearances of the TARDIS, and Beomgyu, trusting Taehyun trails after. Soobin and Yeonjun trade skeptical looks before entering the door last.

And the TARDIS is… not what they expect. They expected TARDIS to be a foreign word for “home,” and then expected to walk into an abandoned shop of some sort, complete with dusty floors and empty spaces. Instead, they find themselves in a very clean, very high-tech looking space. The walls are round and covered in a deep, bright blue, tile, similar to those used for sound proofing tile. Several sets of narrow staircases lead up to a balcony dotted with various lounge spaces, those walls covered with some sort of white square tile pattern over the blue. At the center of the room were several white tables, placed together to form a circle around a tall glass column. A holoscreen of sorts hovered above one of the tables, although the boys were all standing on the wrong side to attempt reading what it said. Kai stands in front of another screen, tapping and swiping away at whatever he reads there. Soon, each table has a holoscreen lit, numbers and readings scrolling too fast for any of them to read.

“So,” Kai begins, startling the Chois out of their awe. Taehyun seems to have disappeared somewhere further into the ship, through the dark doorway behind Kai, perhaps. “You’ve nursed me back to health. You rescued me. And now, you’ve walked me home. Thank you for taking care of me.” He bows, then turns back to his screens. He taps a few more times, swipes some shapes onto other screens, and then stops, sighing. The ship rumbles beneath his feet, and he feels safer, knowing that he’s in his ship and very little can get in without his permission. Kai suddenly seems much older than he looks. The lines of his shoulders don’t look like he’s just awoken from the great sleep he claimed. 

“What did you do?”

Kai looks up and screams.

“Why are we shaking?” Yeonjun continues, eyes bugged, mouth pouting. He reaches for the nearest staircase, nearly tripping over his own feet in the process.

“What are you doing here?” asks Kai. He knows he dematerialized the ship, he wanted to let it hover somewhere in the time stream for a while, until he’s gone to the med bay and has checked on his companion. He knows he’s still exhausted from regenerating. His thoughts are still bouncing too fast in his head, he’s still in between two personalities, he isn’t thinking clearly. So when he finalized his destination, engaged the engines, and looked up, Kai didn't expect to still have four guests.

“We just walked you home,” says Soobin. “Where else would we be?”

“But I left you behind! We’re in flight! I just left your planet!”

“You didn’t, so bring us back!” Soobin argues.

“I can't, I just set her on autopilot!”

“Then unset it!”

Kai deflates. “She… really doesn’t like when I change my mind. We’ll be in flight for a while.”

“She?” asks Beomgyu. He’s the only one who doesn’t seem upset by the turn of events.

“I have a test next week!” cries Soobin, and it really does look like he’s on the verge of a panic attack. “I don’t have time to go gallivanting all over space, I need to be at home!”

“Oh!” Kai smiles, happy to offer a solution. “My TARDIS is also a time machine! I can get you home five minutes after we left, no problem. You’ll definitely be able to take your test.”

[marketingprofitmedia]

YouTube's Hidden Treasure Chest - How to Make Money from Any Niche

YouTube, the world’s most popular video-sharing platform, has evolved far beyond being just a platform for entertainment and cat videos. It has transformed into a treasure chest of opportunities for those with a passion for creating content and a desire to monetize their efforts. In this article, I will unveil the hidden treasure chest that YouTube offers. In the following sections, we’ll explore why YouTube is an ideal platform for monetization, how to find the right niche, create engaging content, optimise for search engines, build a dedicated audience, and ultimately make money from any niche on YouTube.

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Understanding YouTube’s Algorithm

Before delving into the monetization strategies, it’s crucial to understand how YouTube’s algorithm works. YouTube uses a complex algorithm to determine which videos to recommend to viewers. The algorithm considers factors like user engagement, watch time, and keywords. To succeed on YouTube, you need to create content that appeals to this algorithm and captures the attention of your target audience.

The Power of Video Content

Video content is at the heart of YouTube’s success. It’s engaging, informative, and visually appealing. In a world where attention spans are shrinking, video has the unique ability to captivate audiences. According to a study by Cisco, by 2023, video content will account for over 82% of all internet traffic. This presents a massive opportunity for content creators.

Why YouTube?

YouTube’s large user base, specialised content areas, and variety of monetization strategies make it a very effective means of making money online. Its 2 billion monthly users make it an ideal platform for artists to monetize their work.

1. Vast Audience Reach

One of the key reasons YouTube is a goldmine for content creators is its immense user base. With over 2 billion logged-in monthly users, YouTube provides access to a massive audience eager to consume content related to their interests.

2. Monetization Opportunities

YouTube offers several avenues for creators to monetize their content. These include ad revenue, channel memberships, merchandise shelf integration, and sponsored partnerships, among others.

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Choosing Your Niche

One of the keys to success on YouTube is selecting the right niche. Your niche defines your target audience and the type of content you’ll create. It’s important to choose a niche that you’re passionate about and knowledgeable in. Here are some profitable niches to consider:

Gaming

Beauty and makeup tutorials

Health and fitness

Cooking and recipe sharing

Technology reviews

Travel vlogs

Personal finance and investing

DIY and home improvement

Education and online courses

Lifestyle and fashion

Remember that your passion and expertise will set you apart in YouTube’s competitive environment.

Creating High-Quality Content

Quality is paramount on YouTube. Invest in good equipment for recording and editing, and strive for high production values. Engaging and visually appealing content will attract and retain viewers, follow these content creation tips:

Invest in good equipment and lighting.

Script your videos to stay on point.

Edit your videos for a polished finish.

Be consistent in your upload schedule.

SEO Strategies for YouTube

To stand out in the crowded YouTube ecosystem, you must optimize your content for search engines. Research relevant keywords using tools like Google Keyword Planner or TubeBuddy to ensure your videos appear in search results. Here’s how:

Conduct keyword research for video titles.

Optimize video descriptions and tags.

Use compelling thumbnails.

Promote your videos on social media.

Building an Audience

Growing your subscriber base is essential for long-term success. As does engaging with viewers. Comments, live streaming, and other forms of audience interaction on digital platforms may help build a dedicated fan base. Consistency in posting and offering something of value to a certain audience is crucial to expanding your reach. Your channel’s viability and ability to generate income will increase in proportion to the size of your audience.

Monetization Methods

Monetizing YouTube provides several revenue streams. Start earning with Google AdSense and YouTube Partner Programme advertisements. To maximise revenue, promote relevant items via affiliate marketing, engage with sponsors for sponsored content, and offer merchandise or niche-related products, there are various ways to make money on YouTube:

Ad Revenue: YouTube shares ad revenue with creators based on ad views and engagement.

Sponsorships: Partner with brands for sponsored content.

Affiliate Marketing: Promote products and earn a commission on sales.

Merchandise: Sell your branded merchandise.

Channel Memberships: Offer premium content to paying subscribers.

Setting up Google AdSense is a crucial step in monetization.

Case Studies

Explore niche success stories. Learn from YouTube talent who turned their passion into business. Discover their secrets, methods, and dedication to inspire your YouTube adventure, Let’s look at a few examples of YouTubers who have successfully monetized their channels:

PewDiePie: Gaming content and merchandise.

Tasty: Food and cooking tutorials with sponsored videos.

TechCrunch: Tech reviews and sponsored tech product promotions.

Studying these examples can provide valuable insights into monetization strategies.

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Legal and Copyright Considerations

YouTube has strict copyright policies. To avoid copyright violations, it is essential to respect intellectual property rights by using royalty-free music and images and properly attributing sources. Understanding fair use, public domain, and YouTube’s policies on copyrighted content protects your channel from potential legal issues by ensuring a safe and compliant content creation voyage.

Analytics and Tracking

The success of your YouTube channel can only be gauged through the use of analytics and monitoring. Insightful conclusions may be drawn from metrics like viewing duration, CTR, and audience make-up. You may better understand your audience’s behaviour, develop more effective content strategies, and make well-informed choices about the future of your channel if you analyse this information on a regular basis.

Dealing with Challenges

The road of a YouTuber includes overcoming obstacles. The ability to bounce back quickly from setbacks, whether they be a lack of inspiration, criticism, or audience interest, is essential. YouTube artists may flourish despite losses so long as they are resilient, reflective, and open to feedback from their audience.

Scaling Your YouTube Business

In order to grow your YouTube channel, you need to think big. Among these methods are establishing several sources of revenue, building a team, and experimenting with new mediums. Profitability on YouTube may be maximised by capitalising on your existing brand and audience while maintaining high standards of production value and viewer participation.

YouTube Policies and Guidelines

As such, it is essential for producers to familiarise themselves with YouTube’s standards and guidelines. Avoiding punishments like demonetization or account suspension requires strict adherence to copyright, community, and monetization guidelines. Keeping up with platform updates and regulations is crucial to having a successful platform experience over time.

Transitioning to Financial Success

Transitioning to financial success on YouTube requires a combination of dedication and strategy. It involves optimizing monetization methods, diversifying income sources, and building a loyal audience. As you implement these strategies and consistently deliver valuable content, your YouTube channel can evolve from a passion project into a lucrative venture.

Conclusion

In conclusion, those who approach YouTube strategically can indeed unlock its hidden treasure chest. As SEO and copywriting experts, we have provided you with a roadmap to make your mark on this platform. Remember that success on YouTube takes time, dedication, and a genuine passion for your niche. So, start creating valuable content, optimising it for SEO, engaging with your audience, and exploring multiple revenue streams. The YouTube treasure chest awaits, and with the right strategy, it can become a source of substantial income and fulfilment in your life. Happy YouTubing!

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Affiliate Disclaimer :

This article Contain may be affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission at NO ADDITIONAL cost to you if you decide to purchase something. While we receive affiliate compensation for reviews / promotions on this article, we always offer honest opinions, users experiences and real views related to the product or service itself. Our goal is to help readers make the best purchasing decisions, however, the testimonies and opinions expressed are ours only. As always you should do your own thoughts to verify any claims, results and stats before making any kind of purchase. Clicking links or purchasing products recommended in this article may generate income for this product from affiliate commissions and you should assume we are compensated for any purchases you make. We review products and services you might find interesting. If you purchase them, we might get a share of the commission from the sale from our partners. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended.

Source : YouTube’s Hidden Treasure Chest — How to Make Money from Any Niche

Thanks for reading my article on “YouTube’s Hidden Treasure Chest — How to Make Money from Any Niche“, hope it will help!

[earn-money-online-business]

Looking to boost your income without spending a dime? You're in the right place. In this video, we'll dive into The Top 12 Ways to Earn Money Online without any upfront investment.

Whether you are a student, a stay-at-home parent, or a busy professional, you can find something that suits your skills and schedule. You don’t need any special qualifications or experience to start making money online.

All you need is a computer, an internet connection, and a willingness to learn.Hit that subscribe button and join a financial freedom journey with us.

#1. Freelancing:

Freelancing, the gateway to earning money online without upfront investment, is a realm of possibilities. It empowers individuals to capitalise on their skills, offering services across various domains like writing, design, coding, and more.

Platforms like Upwork, and Fiver, connect freelancers with a global client base, fostering autonomy in choosing projects and clients. Success requires dedication, quality work, and continuous improvement.

Freelancing not only generates income but also builds a diverse portfolio and opens doors to remote work opportunities. The journey might be competitive, but the rewards are substantial for those who embrace the freelancing world with determination.

#2. Content Creation:

Content creation stands as a vibrant avenue for online earnings without initial investment. Crafted with passion, blogs, videos, and podcasts can become lucrative sources of income.

Through ad revenue, sponsorships, and merchandise, creators monetize their platforms. Building a dedicated audience takes time, but quality and consistency pay off. This creative journey allows individuals to share expertise, stories, and insights while generating income.

Whether you're a budding writer, vlogger, or podcaster, the online world provides an audience eager to engage with compelling content and contribute to your financial success.

#3. Online Surveys & Market Research:

Participating in online surveys and market research is a straightforward method to earn money from home, sans investment.

Platforms like Swagbucks and Survey Junkie offer opportunities to share opinions on products and services in exchange for rewards or cash. While not a primary income source, it's a convenient way to earn extra money during leisure time.

Stay cautious of scams and opt for reputable survey platforms to ensure a genuine experience. By dedicating a bit of your time, you can contribute to market research while enjoying a modest supplementary income.

#4. Online Tutoring or Teaching:

Online tutoring and teaching open doors to online income generation without upfront costs. Platforms like VIPKid and Udemy enable individuals to share their expertise globally.

Creating and selling online courses on various subjects can yield passive income over time. Teaching languages, skills, or academic subjects offers both financial rewards and personal fulfilment.

As the digital education landscape continues to expand, this avenue empowers educators and experts to reach learners worldwide, while also contributing to their own income and professional growth.

#5. Remote Work:

Remote work provides a genuine opportunity to earn money online without requiring an initial investment. Platforms like Remote.co and FlexJobs curate a range of remote job options across diverse industries and skill sets.

These jobs offer flexibility in terms of location and working hours, making them suitable for those aiming to achieve a better work-life balance.

From customer service to writing, programming, and design, remote work allows individuals to leverage their expertise while enjoying the benefits of working from home or any location with an internet connection.

#6. Affiliate Marketing:

Affiliate marketing is an exciting avenue to earn money online without any upfront investment. By promoting products or services through personalized referral links, individuals can earn commissions for each successful sale.

Partnering with companies like Amazon or affiliate networks allows for flexible integration into blogs, social media, or websites. While building a substantial income may take time, strategic affiliate marketing can provide a passive revenue stream that grows with your online presence.

It's essential to understand your audience, select relevant products, and create engaging content that encourages conversions. With dedication and the right approach, affiliate marketing can be a rewarding online income source.

#7. Online Marketplaces:

Online marketplaces offer an accessible route to earning money without initial investment. Platforms like Etsy, eBay, and Amazon enable users to sell products, crafts, and items they no longer need.

Though there might be listing or selling fees, these are generally minimal. Creating compelling listings and providing excellent customer service are key to success. These marketplaces provide exposure to a vast online audience, allowing sellers to turn their hobbies and creations into a source of income.

It's important to research the platform's policies, optimize your listings, and maintain professionalism to maximize your earnings and reputation within the online marketplace community.

#8. Online Writing & Content Creation:

Online writing and content creation platforms offer a gateway to earn money while sharing expertise and insights. Websites like Medium, HubPages, and Vocal provide opportunities to publish articles on various topics.

Depending on the platform, you can earn through ad revenue, reader engagement, or upfront payments. This approach doesn't require an initial investment and allows aspiring writers to showcase their talents, grow their audience, and generate income through their written content.

Consistency, quality, and understanding your target audience are crucial for building a successful online writing venture. With dedication, your writing journey can lead to both personal satisfaction and financial rewards.

#9. Microtasks:

Engaging in microtasks on platforms like Amazon Mechanical Turk and Clickworker can be a way to earn small amounts of money online without any upfront investment.

These tasks may include data entry, image categorization, transcription, and more. While the pay for each task is usually low, they offer a flexible option to earn extra income in your spare time. It's important to approach microtasking with efficiency and attention to detail to maximize your earnings.

While it might not provide substantial income, microtasking can be a convenient and accessible way to supplement your finances with minimal commitment.

#10. Gig Economy Platforms:

Gig economy platforms like TaskRabbit provide a practical way to earn money online without upfront investment. Offering services such as errand running, household chores, or personal assistance to local clients can be both fulfilling and profitable.

By listing your services and rates on platforms like TaskRabbit, you tap into a network of people seeking help with various tasks. Building a positive reputation through quality service can lead to repeat clients and referrals, creating a steady income stream.

This avenue offers the flexibility to choose the tasks you're comfortable with and the convenience of remote or local work, making it an attractive option for those looking to earn money online without a significant commitment.

#11 Online Transcription:

Online transcription is a viable way to earn money without an initial investment. If you're adept at typing and attentive to detail, platforms like TranscribeMe and Rev offer opportunities to transcribe audio and video content.

Your earnings can vary based on the complexity and volume of tasks you complete. This method suits individuals who have good listening skills and are comfortable transcribing various types of content, from interviews to podcasts, all from the comfort of your home.

#12 Virtual Assistance:

Becoming a virtual assistant presents a flexible online earning avenue. Businesses and entrepreneurs seek assistance with tasks like email management, scheduling, and social media.

Platforms like Time Etc facilitate connections between virtual assistants and clients. Your organisational skills and multitasking ability are assets in this role. By offering reliable support remotely, you can earn money while helping others streamline their operations.

This method offers both financial rewards and the satisfaction of contributing to others' success, all without an upfront investment.

As we conclude our exploration of the 10 best ways to earn money online without any investment, remember that success in the online realm requires dedication and perseverance.

Prioritize your strengths and skills when choosing a path, and always research thoroughly to avoid scams. Leverage the power of freelancing, content creation, and online tutoring to build a sustainable income stream.

Engaging in online surveys and microtasks can supplement your earnings, while affiliate marketing and remote work offer exciting possibilities. When selling on online marketplaces, focus on quality, pricing, and customer satisfaction.

For the best outcomes, maintain consistency and commitment. Now, I invite you to take action! If you found these insights helpful, don't forget to hit the like button and subscribe to our channel for more valuable content.

Have you tried any of these methods?

Share your experiences and tips in the comments below. Your insights might just help someone kickstart their online earning journey. And if you think this information could benefit others, don't hesitate to hit the share button.

Thanks for watching, and let's all achieve our financial goals together in the dynamic world of online opportunities!"

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How to find best Business Growth Solution in USA at just 5steps?

Business Growth Solution in the USA

When growing your business in the USA, you have many options. Depending on your industry, some work better than others, so choosing the right choice can be tricky if you still decide where to look.  Whether you are looking to expand your reach, increase customer loyalty or attract new investors, these options have been proven successful in helping business owners achieve their goals and improve their financial situations.  Read on to learn more about the USA's top five business growth solutions and consider using one or more of them in your own company to help meet your business goals.

Introduction

The US is home to some of the world's most dynamic and successful businesses.  Today, at least one out of every five jobs created is created by a small business, while small business revenue has accounted for more than 50% of gross domestic product (GDP) since 1997.  With such fantastic growth potential, it is no wonder that so many people are looking for ways to grow their businesses. 

The benefits of Business Growth

Starting a business is challenging but even more complicated when your business isn't growing.  There are several reasons why this might happen, and you must take steps to fix those problems as soon as possible. The following are some of the benefits of taking steps toward growing your business:  - Improved revenue and profit  - Increased opportunities for job creation and higher wages  - Better customer service  - Stronger communities - More money invested in public education 

How to grow Your Business in the USA

If you are looking for ways to grow your business, there is no better place than the United States.  Various growth solutions can help you grow your business in the USA. We will look at some of these below:  ● Referrals from current customers are an excellent way for businesses to grow their customer base. Customers are often less price-sensitive when it comes out of their pocket and more likely to buy from a company they know and trust.  ● Marketing campaigns are also crucial to growing your business in the US. It is essential to consider how your target audience might look for a product or service like yours. For example, if you want to target parents with young children, you might want to consider advertising on sites like Pinterest or Facebook, where there is more overlap between your ideal clients and those users. ● Networking is another way businesses can expand their reach into new markets or industries. We usually imagine formal events like conferences or meetups when we think of networking. But informal networking can work just as well by inviting people you already know to lunch or introducing yourself to someone who shares similar interests outside of work. ● Paid advertising is another option that should be considered, but only after other strategies have been tried first. The cost-per-click (CPC) on paid ads can range from pennies to hundreds of dollars.  ● Another tip would be to start selling overseas. Especially if you are in an industry with products that could sell well internationally. It needs to be planned but beginning with a few strategic decisions will open up many doors for growth. In short, ensuring your efforts are split between old and new strategies will help keep things fresh and exciting while also allowing you to explore further avenues of growth. There is no need to reinvent the wheel all at once so long as you get creative with what is available. And remember marketing. Marketing should always be considered one of your primary tools for growth because you need people to be aware of what you offer to generate much interest.

Top Solution: A Partnership with a Trusted Firm 

You may be considering a partnership with a company that has been around for years, or you may want to try a new business strategy.  Regardless of your decision, ensuring that you work with a trusted and reputable firm is essential.  One advantage to this approach is that once both parties have invested in marketing materials and campaigns for each other, you will both have expanded reach without doubling your marketing budget. Another perk is that it is easier to set goals together and measure progress than if you were working alone.  Of course, not all partnerships end up being successful, so make sure to do your research before deciding to team up with any given company. However, even if the association works out differently than planned, it will still be a valuable experience for both parties.

  Partnerships also have a bonus of reduced risk, as you don't need to invest all your time and money into one project. With a little effort, referrals and partnerships can be an effective way for small businesses to expand in the United States.

Focus on established revenue sources

Many small business owners are looking for ways to grow their revenue. This can be tricky, as sometimes established revenue sources might be maxed out, or they may need to offer a way to increase revenue.  However, there are some tried and true methods that you can use that have been shown to work time and time again.  For example, focusing on your current revenue streams is one way to do this. It is important to note that it only sometimes makes sense to expand when the current models are doing just fine. Instead, focusing on the ones you already have running could be wiser and more lucrative.

Conclusion

The United States is a place of innovation and opportunity. If you want a country where your business can grow, consider investing in America today.   Related:12 Best Luxury Branding Strategies | 12 Skills that Upgrade as Business Growth Specialist | 3 Successful Growth strategy that know on Online fish table business  | 4 profitable steps that need for Business immigration analyst | 4 Simple Key points to get loan from SOS business funding | 4 Strong reason that athletic goals important for business Read the full article

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BlurTech & Privacy

I want to talk blur technologies. There are many use cases, but one that is most frequent and is relevant to the recurring theme of this week’s readings is preservation of privacy. Blurs are used to conceal the faces of the faceless many - in music videos, broadcast news, Youtube vlogs, and in just about any form of multimedia that feature videos taken in public places showing the faces of those that never permitted to participation. This is required by the law in some countries, whereas the United States has a more loose definition of ‘the right to one’s portrait’ in terms of capturing and distributing media featuring faces of strangers in public areas without permission. Accordingly, many Americans are confused when viewing European or East Asian media - even the vlogs by YouTubers in those jurisdictions blur faces. 

Blurring, then, protects the privacy of everyday individuals whose agency and control over their own self-image can easily be infringed upon thanks to the surveillance we impose on ourselves today. Yes, social media is part of that, too, where we livestream and post our everyday view to our followers. But today, people are volunteering to surveil on others all in the name of advancing technologies. As Mark Hurst’s piece on Google Glass points out, the data collected through the lifebits feature can and will be used by Google to power and monetize their other product offerings such as Search (where they generate most of their ad revenues from) index, Google Plus, speech AI/ML products, and so on. And it’s us - the everyday consumers - who are actively doing the big tech’s dirty work. Of course Google and Meta will champion their human-centered AI policy teams to help us rest easy knowing that amidst the data collection, there will be privacy measures in place to prevent ‘overcollection' of data. We see this in Meta’s promotional materials for its Aria Project in which the Product Manager for the team stresses their use of blur technologies to circumvent collecting facial data as well as license plates. However, there is still something quite sinister about utilizing the human capital of their own consumers to collect our imagery. 

Opposite to Hurst’s critique of Google Glass is how imagery and permission are represented from the perspective of artistry in Connected by Camera by McNeil. The piece takes a more academic view than the Hurst piece, illustrating how various artists employed self-surveillance to project their interpretations through the cam culture of the late 90s and early 00s. While in its infancy, the combination of use of cameras by everyday people and the Internet produced some iconic moments like the Jennicam, I was a little bit taken aback by the use of others’ faces and identities in these so-called artworks by these artists. Jennifer Ringley would broadcast her home activities to the Internet which, as time progressed, captured people other than herself she would bring home. Isaac Leung recorded his cybersex encounters with men across the Internet including their identities and locations and incorporated that as part of his art. Lauren McCarthy streamed her OKCupid dates to her paying subscribers. McNeil doesn’t touch on whether these were captured and shared with or without permission, but I recognize the same self-serving nature of the big tech and Internet creators of today in these artists who are objectifying and even monetizing their artistic subjects, who happen to be everyday people, in the name of art. Assuming there was permission, there’s still something about these artists championing self-surveillance whilst secretly surveilling on others, that rubs me the wrong way. 

I hope technology and the Internet continue to utilize blurring to protect our privacy while furthering their technologist and artistic ambitions. I just don’t like the idea of everyday consumers now morphing into their very own Google StreetView cars. Of course our faces and license plates will be blurred out, but do we really need to be doing the bidding of the big tech.