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what-do-1000-swords-look-like · 1 year

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This might be a hot take but I've gotta get this off my chest:

I have seen so many times in the past two years the point being made by a particular section of the fandom that Sam was the hero of SPN, the "Luke Skywalker" of the series as Kripke himself stated, and that the finale ending made sense for not only Sam getting to live but also for Dean's ending. And in the very same breath, it's mentioned that the show was always about the brothers, no one else, that's what Kripke always wanted, etc., but this argument is always made from a very pro-Sam slanted/skewed anti-ship (and sometimes anti-Dean) point of view without taking into consideration of just how much the story of SPN evolved even before Kripke left the show.

Like say what you will about Sam being the hero of the story, and I'm not going to disagree with you about that being Kripke's original intention because you're right. Sam was the main protagonist; that's clear from the outset of the series. The whole first season is everything being told from Sam's POV. It's evident in every single episode in how each case has resolution thanks to Sam. He is made to be the hero. The whole arc of season 1 is about Sam being dragged back into this world due to his desire for revenge for what happened to Jessica which turns into something more aka Sam is naturally a hunter and he wants to help people/help his family->Dean. It's even Sam in the season finale that chooses a different way compared to John's quest for revenge by choosing Dean/his family over his revenge.

So, yes, you're right when you say in the beginning of the series that Sam was the hero/main protagonist. Absolutely. But what is not being mentioned/realized is that somewhere along the way, during Kripke's era, Dean's own story within the series became just as integral to the main story like Sam's as did their relationship as brothers. Kripke developed the story to include both. They both become essential to the main overhead arc of the entire show. The whole reason John and Mary even got together (through Heaven's intervention as per SPN canon) was to bring about both Sam and Dean's existence. Dean becomes the complement to Sam's role. We find out that Sam is the chosen vessel for Lucifer, and then we find out Dean is the chosen vessel for Michael, which leads to the showdown between Heaven and Hell essentially through the two. Both have a decision to make; both are tapped on the shoulders by both sides (i.e. Cas/Ruby); both are essential to the main plot while having their own separate arcs/journeys. Dean is no longer a side character or even the "Han Solo". His story is developed and we not only see his own hero's journey that he has to go on (when physically separate from Sam for example; going into the future though this is still intertwined with Sam's journey itself; going back in time, etc.) but his own desires, thought processes, relationships (outside of Sam), are also brought into the forefront for his story. Can this happen with side characters? Sure. But that's not what happens here because Kripke not only develops/beefs up Dean's story but also interweaves it with Sam's very carefully, to the point that the show doesn't work without both characters. Hence, Sam is no longer the sole main protagonist.

Which is why, for example, Dean is the one to kill the YED even though Sam had been determined to make YED pay for what happened to Jessica. And Kripke masterfully balances the main plot between the two as the show develops, so much so that we get payoff for Sam's journey (which leads up to Swan Song but I'll get to that in a moment), by fulfilling big plot points such as his killing Lillith and setting Lucifer free. He even still gets the hero's end by choosing to sacrifice himself to save Dean and the world in 5x22. Kripke beautifully takes Sam's original journey and tweaks it in such a way that while Sam had his dad's training and a similar quest for vengeance, he made a different decision and he did that while having much more on his shoulders (literally the weight of the world) than John ever did. And we still get payoff for what was initially set up way back in season 1. We get a close out to the Jessica story line, to Sam's powers story line, all of it, before Kripke dipped out.

And in the same fashion, we also got a closeout to Dean's story line. If he would ever get out of hunting, would he allow Sam to go into that dark night alone, would he be the same as John -- all of it.

So the ending to 5x22 absolutely makes sense. And we get: Dean surviving and going to live a "normal" life & Sam making the sacrifice (as the hero the series started out with) while also somehow surviving & making his way back to his brother. That's Kripke's ending. Now to be fair, Sam making his way back to Dean more likely had to do with them setting up the next season, but ultimately he wasn't dead after throwing himself and Michael into the pit.

Then in the later seasons, which some fans like to exclude or dismiss (but it's still part of Sam and Dean's official story), their stories were still integral to the main story but they had also evolved to include other characters (such as Cas, Jody, Donna, etc) and they had developed over the next ten years. So when looking at the series as a whole, Dean and Sam's endings in the series finale do not make sense. Kripke already got his ending in 5x22 and the show moved past that, and quickly set out to dismantle it in 6x01. This theme continued and the idea of free will became the center stage even more than it had in the first five seasons. By the time the last season rolled around, Dean and Sam had different desires, their stories had not only been completely intertwined to make both of them the main protagonists but both the heroes, and how their ends/hunting boots were hung up in the end would both matter.

So if you watched all of the seasons, 15x20 doesn't make sense. Because Dean and Sam wanted very different things by that point, they had both built relationships with other characters (Cas and Jack were the biggest ones but those two were not the only ones), and their story had effectively changed.

And if you didn't watch any of the later seasons (or you dismiss it), 15x20 still doesn't make sense because this wasn't the ending Kripke had for the seasons 1-5 Sam and Dean. If anything, it felt like it could have been 1x02 instead of the Wendigo episode, ending Dean and Sam's story in two short episodes with nothing in between.

That does not make sense.

Imagine we were discussing the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. We all know how that ended (I'm talking TV only, not the comics). Buffy saved the world, she survived (finally!), and she was free from Sunnydale. Now imagine she had been killed off. Not only would it feel redundant but it wouldn't feel like a true ending for the story told over the past 7 seasons. What would have been the point of her being resurrected in season 6 then? What would have been the point of her relationship with Spike, Dawn, and the others? Could Joss Whedon have made it into another hero's sacrifice (instead of Spike doing the heroic/redeeming sacrifice), that she got Dawn, Willow, Xander, and the other Slayers ready to defend the world that she would die saving? Sure. But again, when you compare that ending to her story, it doesn't really make sense. There is no payoff, for the viewers or for the character of Buffy. She had earned that ending, the freedom from the Hellmouth and from the burden of being alone as the only Slayer (aka Chosen One). Which is why we get that great shot in the end:

Willow: "Yeah, the First is scrunched so...what do you think we should do, Buffy?"

Faith: "Yeah, you're not the one and only Chosen anymore. Just got to live like a person. How's that feel?"

Dawn: "Yeah, Buffy, what are we going to do now?"

The hero, who had already made the hero's sacrifice more than once, finally earned the ending that she wanted: freedom and the ability to choose to live her life for herself. The burden of being The Slayer had been removed and spread out to others (effectively building a network, hold that thought for a minute), she was no longer alone, she had defeated the Big Bad (which was effectively the Hellmouth since it kept creating/calling to these other Big Bads she faced over the years as well as the monsters she started out fighting), she might have more to face in the future, but it's up to her now what she wants to do. She is given the choice aka free will and that's what she earned after everything she had gone through during the duration of the show.

That's an ending.

This isn't:

Death wasn't supposed to be their ending. While some might be able to turn to you and say 'but they end up in Heaven together, they're at peace', that doesn't make it a payoff ending, for the viewers (early seasons only or all seasons) or for the characters of Sam and Dean. That's not effective storytelling. Neither ending was heroic or earned.

Dean dying, while again wouldn't make sense given the story, could have been painted as heroic if it happened during the battle with Chuck for example. Their final battle with the ultimate Big Bad. Even though they both died heroically quite a few times before this, it could have been done and while ultimately disappointing, it could have been the hero's end for Dean (just like Sam's end in 5x22 was the hero's end for him). This death wasn't heroic; instead it was from vampire stunt guy #4 who apparently juiced before that scene getting an upper hand on the hero and impaling him on a piece of sharp rebar. During a milk run hunt. Now imagine if that were Sam. Ask these people who think that by the end of the series that Sam was the only hero, ask them if that happened to Sam instead, would they still be praising the finale? Or imagine that was Buffy. That she survived like she does, the Hellmouth in Sunnydale was finally gone, only to be killed by a random forgettable vampire who she had faced off with in the first season and got away, only to suddenly return and take the hero out, thus negating the payoff/earned ending she and the viewers got. Doesn't make sense, right?

Now imagine if say Dawn was killed off in a similar way (though tbf Dawn's role was not the same as Dean's in the story) or during the battle, and we see Buffy living her life through the years, getting out of slaying, having a family which consists of a daughter she names Dawn, wearing her own Party City wig and looking at a picture of Dawn all teary-eyed, dying in her sleep as an old lady, and then reuniting with her in Heaven. It doesn't work. Not only because Dawn had a very different role in the show when it came to the main story but also because it DOESN'T WORK. What kind of hero's end is that? What payoff is that? Is it great that Sam gets to choose to get out of hunting and have a family? Sure. But that's not where his story was headed, in later seasons, or even during Kripke's era.

Going back to the network thing I mentioned with Buffy, Sam had done that. Not only were there strong hints of leader!Sam near the end of the series, but he had effectively built a network of hunters for a time until Alt!Michael killed them all. But he and Dean still had a network going through Jody, Donna, Claire, even Jack until he turned God!Jack. Wayward Sisters might not have taken off when it first aired but the point was made: a hunter network still existed. And these characters, this network, even though not shown in the finale, still survived no matter what happened with Sam and Dean in the end. Why is this important? Because not only does it extend the hunting universe, but it also removes the burden from the heroes' shoulders. So they could have gotten out of hunting if they wanted to, just like Buffy could have laid down her axe (or stake). The heroes had earned it.

So for Dean to die on a random hunt and for those few to say that it was being foreshadowed this whole time with Dean's quotes (from before season 15 btw) and a proper ending to his story...they really don't know what show they were watching or how storytelling works in general. Because when they say that, they negate Dean's whole arc of season 15 (while also negating his whole series arc). Dean was angry in the beginning of the season because he thought not only had his free will been taken from him, but also because he thought he hadn't had any free will this whole time. There's a reason why he says what he says to Cas in 15x02. There's a reason why he was so gung ho on letting Jack sacrifice himself, and only once once Sam and Chuck say what they say in 15x17 does Dean make a different choice: his family (and the world) vs his own desire (his idea of free will, not fully realizing that he's actually utilizing it by making that choice). It's only when he chooses not to kill Chuck in 15x19 that he is completely self-aware and that he is using his free will to make a choice. A choice that affects how the Big Bad is ended/defeated. "That's not who I am."

He was given the hero's choice and he made it. And his decision was the right one that had payoff from not only the events in 15x17 and 15x18 but for his overall story. That's why what Cas says to him in 15x18 about who he is as a character was so important. It set Dean up to not only have self-realization but to also act upon it. Think about how many times over the years Sam and other characters have told Dean this about himself but he never really believed it. Why? Because he hadn't reached that part of his journey yet. Because he hadn't reached the end of it yet. So it makes perfect sense how 15x17, 15x18, and 15x19 play out. This is the appropriate ending battle for not only Dean but Sam as well:

youtube

This was the hero's sacrifice they made. They could have been killed from Chuck beating on them as he did. He could have chosen to snap his fingers at any point. They made the sacrifice in order to get Jack the time and energy he needed to power up to overpower Chuck. And they never stayed down no matter the pain, no matter the potential of their deaths at Chuck's hand. They refused to give it up. This is why Sam helps Dean back up and why they're laughing/smiling. Because they know that no matter what happens to them, Jack/the world is going to win. "Why are you smiling?" "Because...you lose." And their sacrifice not only hands victory over to the new generation aka Jack but also instates the new God who replaces Chuck aka The Big Bad of the entire series. EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS SCREAMS HERO.

So it's not only payoff for Jack's story (as well as Chuck's) but also for Sam and Dean's. And both brothers were the heroes. Which is why Sam tells Chuck that he loses and Dean tells him that they won. Why both of them tell Chuck about their plan that they formed together (and Jack doesn't say a word). Which is why Chuck says he's going to die at both of their hands, both Sam and Dean look at each other, and then Dean makes the choice not to kill Chuck. "See, that's not who I am. That's not who we are." Because they both were the heroes and main protagonists of the series. Something that Kripe had set up long before 5x22.

"What kind of an ending is this?" One the heroes had earned. Chuck as the Big Bad wanted violence and death, an ending he would be entertained by. And even for an ending he hadn't imagined for himself (where he loses), he still expected a grisly death at the hands of the heroes. Had either Winchester done that, then Chuck would have gotten what he wanted and it wouldn't be the heroes' end that they had earned.

This was the ending that Sam and Dean earned:

The choice to continue on if they wanted or to get out of hunting for good. To go see Jody, Donna, and the girls, or go get Cas out of The Empty, or go on milk run hunts for a while, or even to go to a freaking baseball game (screw you, John!); the point is it was their choice. That's what they had earned by the end of the series.

The ending that Chuck earned was not only the worst he could imagine but it was punishment for everything he had done. Both brothers say as much:

Sam: "I think it's the ending where you're just like us. And like all the other humans you forgot about."

Dean: "It's the ending where you grow old, you get sick, and you just die."

Sam: "And no one cares. And no one remembers you. You're just forgotten."

This was not the heroes' ending or the ending both characters had earned/deserved:

This was:

youtube

For the ones who insist that Dean's sacrifice was the right ending for his story and that he got a new Heaven as a reward are incorrect. Heaven wasn't what Dean wanted, not before he got what he earned.

For the one who insist that Sam's ending was right for his story and that he got to have a family and choose to get out of hunting as a reward are incorrect. Sam wanted Dean to be a part of that life (however it looked) and he had no desire to get out of hunting by the time the series came to an end.

15x20 is not the right ending for either Winchester.

And for those who say that Dean hadn't become one of the heroes in the series or that the finale was right because Sam was the sole main protagonist by the end (or even Kripke's ending in 5x22) clearly weren't paying attention. Not only did Sam not get the heroes' end or the end he wanted and earned, but neither did Dean who had been developed into the other main protagonist of the series, by the series creator himself before he left the show.

Bonus:

15x20 was not their real finale and here's how you know:

Next shot (after cutting to black):

Nothing after it.

SPN:

Next shot (after fading to black):

And then:

(while still in costume, the two leads thanking the fans and then the crew/bridge drone shot complete with show music)

Compare this to how 15x19 ended as well. We get the montage, the drive off shot, and then the scene from 1x01 of Sam shutting the trunk of the Impala as Dean watches. Then cuts to black.

That's their finale.

#dean winchester #i'm not tagging the other guy because...ya know #both deserved the ending they had earned #with both being given the choice of what they wanted to do #that finale was shit #don't let “industry experts” on this site tell you different #it's storytelling 101 #spn #spnposts #anti spn finale #anti 15x20 #that episode was pure garbage #no disrespect to the cast and crew who worked hard #but that was shit writing #it negated 15 years of storytelling #even kripke's own story for both brothers

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jaythelay · 4 months

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I honest to god saw a video that said this year was the best year for gaming, and said this year had the highest meta critic scores of all time-

And I laughed and laughed as he made no points for but against what he was trying to say, back to baaaack.

Imagine thinking metacritic review scores represents public perception. Imagine thinking the horrendous state of game reviewership and corporatization, all the memes about IGN, none of that EVER happened.

Just sad man. We live in an era where kids are becoming adults, and their unfortunate only childhood with gaming was the cruelest period known as the 360 era. And they were too young to notice all the negative changes, all the worsening products, nickel and diming, all the fundamental flaws-

And now? Their only experience with "bad" games is the fucking Gollum game. Gone are the days of Horse Armor where people had standards and saw EXACTLYZ WHERE THAT WOULD TAKE US, gone are the days where DLC was violently hated for being the once free update it really was, gone are the days where you Bought and Owned a fucking game, top to bottom, no extra purchases, no updates that steal your game and replace it with a worse/different one.

The modern horrendous, disgusting, anti-consumer state of gaming is now default for ever. And I don't even know who I can be mad at anymore, but for sure, your dumbfuckass coming on and bringing up review scores like an entire YEAR wasn't dedicated to discussing the entire state of gaming journalism and how reviews are bought and paid for to keep the site running via ads from the same game companies.

I feel like a bitter old man, telling kids they can have better if they just care about themselves enough to not let companies shanghai them with flashing lights and Addiction Experts meant to give them mental and financial damages long-term permanently. That was never a problem in the PS2 era, it was never a problem for 2 decades, until Microsoft came in with the awful Xbox 360.

Genuinely depressing. I'm not mad at that kid for being ignorant, and wanting to defend their hobby, I just want them to play good games and know what a real artistic experience can be and bro, I'm sorry, but no triple a game has provided that in at least 2 decades. Not a single one. If you think you did, trust me, there's an indie title out there that will completely child-ify that previous experience. I also guarantee, the triple a game stole it from the indie title, as the industry has shown in the past, it's not above robbing the small person for even an extra dollar.

#gaming industry #ya really gotta give up on everyone and everything to be involved anymore #having standards only sucks when nobody else has them #but having integrity and self-respect means believing in what you've experienced and seen throughout time to maintain those standards #and at the end of the day #I never moved my goal post #it's been the exact same since I was 14 #DLC is bad because expansion packs are simply superior and worth both the creative effort and cost for consumer #microtransactions are proof DLC is bad for the industry by splitting the problem into an even bigger pile of problems #Addiction Experts being hired is proof Microtransactions are bad for the consumer because they're literally designed to give you mental and #financial problems #Season Passes and Pre-Orders are bad for everyone literally everyone but the CEO and investors because You Are Paying For A Promise That #Isn't Even Fucking Made #it also incentivises not taking time on your work and instead rushing because now you have to shit out a product #and every company is terrible because they always always always screw someone over without any reason every single fucking time #I have not moved my goal posts #The entire community and industry at large just never set a standard #never cared about anything #but will vehemently defend this bullshit they themselves show to the world they only superficially care about

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toprankdigitalnz · 4 months

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What Are the Perks of Hiring an SEO Agency in Hamilton?

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madhukumarc · 7 months

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Is Quora Worth It?

Yes! Quora is definitely worth it, and let me tell you why.

First of all, for those who might not be familiar with Quora, it is a popular question-and-answer [Q&A] platform where users can ask questions and get answers from experts, industry professionals, and regular users alike.

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Image Source – Meltwater’s Digital 2023 April Global Statshot Report

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#quora #quora answers

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river-taxbird · 7 months

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Which computers can and can't run Linux? I've always heard of it but I haven't ever found the right person to ask what it is and what it allows you to do.

Wow, my first ask! Thanks! Let's try this.

To answer your question, any x86 computer can run Linux. This probably means any computer you own, specifically anything with an Intel or AMD CPU, which is pretty much all computers except some tablets, and Macs made after 2018 or so. (Yes, I know versions of Linux exist for ARM computers, you can probably find them if you need them, we are not having that conversation.) Any Windows desktop or laptop you have should be able to handle it.

As for what you can do with Linux, it basically just lets you use a computer with a different operating system than Windows or Mac. Since it is open source, it is very common for professionals to use it for custom made or embedded applications, like I have a friend who works on a company that makes robot tractors who use machine learning to recognize and pick weeds, while leaving crops intact. For whatever reason, it's easier to do what they do on Linux. So much of the world runs on it, even if you don't see it every day. (Unless you have an android phone, which is based on Linux)

The main issue with trying Linux as a beginner is it is highly fragmentary, as there are many organizations that adapt it to different needs. Different versions are called Distributions or Distros.

As for what distros to use, I have heard Ubuntu and Mint are good for beginners, and are the only ones I have really played with it. There are also specialized versions of Linux like Kali, which comes with hacking tools, if you want to learn hacking (Be sure to only use it legally if you try it!). There are also specialized versions for servers and other business applications. There are even specialized versions for gaming, like on the steam deck. Any version you are interested in should have instructions on how to install it on their site, but be sure to set up a dual boot if you don't want to destroy your install of Windows/MacOS. You can do this either by adding a second SSD, or partitioning your current one. If you just want to experiment though, you should use virtualization, more details on that later.

I have to warn you though, if you are planning to install Linux and be able to do the exact same things you are currently doing on your PC with no friction or frustration, you might be disappointment, as demonstrated by Linus Tech Tips!

I am personally not really a Linux user myself. It is great for programmers and for industrial applications, but personally I find the third party software support isn't really good enough for anything I want to do, that I can't do more easily on Windows or Mac, like creative or financial software. This is why I didn't mention Linux in my Mac post (much to the annoyance of a few snarky commenters), as I wouldn't encourage a non technical person to "Just try linux" if they are using their computer for the web and basic productivity. Anyone who wants to install Linux on an old mac has already done so and doesn't need me to tell them to do it. I don't really code so Linux isn't really for me, but I'd definitely encourage you to try it if you are curious. Each distro tends to have its own small suite of specialized software but a lot of Linux users code their own stuff.

That's my two cents as a non expert. If you want to try it there are loads of youtubers that can walk you through it. Even if you don't end up daily driving it, I'd recommend installing it to try it. If you want to experiment with it without risking partitioning your SSD, I'd recommend trying a virtual machine, where you can install it on a virtual emulated computer without risking your hardware. Here is a video that discusses how to do this, and it also shows off Kali Linux and how to install it, so if you want to know more this would be a good jumping off point. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX75Z-4MEoM

#linux #ubuntu #kali #linux for beginners #virtualisation #it #computers #computer science

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huntertips · 1 year

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Headhunting: how to poach talent

People say it is not ethical to poach specialists, and they compare hiring to poaching. When the best specialist leaves you for a competitor, you resent both the company and the employee, because you invested time and money in him or her. But when you start to hunt, you think it's normal.

With employee hiring, you don't spend money on advertising, because you know exactly who you need. But the process itself requires effort and the ability to apply strong arguments to convince a key specialist from a successful company to come to yours.

The terms that the top candidate can put forward will require additional expenses on salary, social package, etc. That's why hiring such a specialist is expensive. But it is worth it, because a valuable specialist will give much more after the implementation of non-standard ideas that will lead to the growth of business and the entry into the leading positions in the market.

No matter how you feel about headhunting specialists, it is a way of hiring, and it must be reckoned with. HR experts call our time the era of headhunting. The war for talent will only intensify in the coming years because of the growing shortage of talent and demographic gaps.

How to recruit employees from other companies

You're looking for a rare and valuable professional. A search on job sites has yielded no results. Such employees are not looking for a job, on the contrary, jobs are looking for them. You know where such a piece is available and start scouting. Headhunters' targets are managers with good business experience, marketing directors, top managers, financial analysts, narrow specialists, etc.

Direct search technology is different from IT Recruitment Services. Professionals are usually in plain sight, everyone knows them. And a good headhunter has them in his database. You offer a job to a candidate you came across on a forum, and you tell him/her the terms of a job offer to come to you. In response he usually puts forward his own conditions. It is good if they coincide or you can agree on additional conditions.

Bounty hunting technology requires adherence to a number of principles:

preparation and precision in action;

guaranteeing the quality of the work done;

preservation of the client's reputation;

full confidentiality.

From this we can deduce the qualities of a good headhunter:

Will always find a way to contact a candidate with the right experience and skills;

Will not ask about the salary of the candidate, all information has already been collected before the meeting, maintaining full confidentiality;

is an outgoing person with a good speech, presenting himself professionally;

always in touch and ready to answer any question.

How to protect your employees from hunt

Every employer understands that a valuable employee could be called out by a competitor at any time, and takes steps to make sure that doesn't happen. But not everyone does, for a variety of reasons:

The company is not the strongest in the market;

unknown brand;

uninteresting work, no new projects;

no career progression;

the salary is at the level of the average market, but not higher;

no time to work on the corporate culture.

This leads to the departure of those on whom you placed most of your bets and hurts the business, which is unable to compete with the giants of the industry. The departure of even one specialist can be detrimental to a small team.

How to part ways with employees who have been scammed

Any professional has the right to choose where they work and take advantage of opportunities that can make a difference in their lives. No one has ever been able to hold on by force. The last word always goes to the employee, not the company. It is possible to part as enemies. But is it worth it?

If you can't offer a counteroffer, or can't secure a job that another company is calling for, let the employee go with a light heart and don't hold a grudge. After all, be proud that you raised him or her and let him or her out into the big time. It is quite possible that you will have to meet again, and you will be useful to each other. In any case, the parting should be warm.

#jobopportunity #job #employees #career #work #employment

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lastsonlost · 4 years

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Oh my God Elon said something we don't agree with. God I hope Apple and Starbucks disagrees with you too.

Owning a Tesla, the luxurious electric car, is a major liberal status symbol. It signals nothing more than good taste — the perfect balance of wealth with care for fossil fuels. But the man behind the brand is crafting a very different persona online that may now prove to be a challenge for his fans.

Elon Musk, the bombastic head of Tesla and SpaceX, exhorted his 34 million Twitter followers on Sunday to “take the red pill.” The comment was quickly embraced by his followers, including Ivanka Trump, President Trump’s elder daughter, who announced that she had taken the pill already.

The exchange referred to a scene from “The Matrix,” the 1999 science fiction action film. But the meaning of “red pill,” and the idea of taking it, have since percolated in online forums and become a deeply political metaphor. And with Mr. Musk and Ms. Trump, the phrase is now lodged more fully into the mainstream.

So Tesla owners are having to grapple with a car that carries a few new connotations.

“Honestly, Musk is becoming a liability and the Tesla board needs to seriously consider ousting him,” wrote Markos Moulitsas, author of “The Resistance Handbook: 45 Ways to Fight Trump.” “And I say that as a proud owner of a Tesla and a SpaceX fanatic who truly appreciates what he’s built.”

So what is the red pill?

[ I hope your fuckings Tesla explodes. You don't have to be in its but you should be forced to walk everywhere.]

In “The Matrix,” the movie’s hero, Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, is given the option to take a pill that lets him see the truth.

The world he thinks is real turns out to be an entertaining lie; his body is actually trapped in a farm where people are being used as human batteries. Taking the blue pill would let him return to living in the ignorant but blissful lie, while taking the red pill would launch him into an arduous journey through a brutal but fulfilling reality.

The idea of taking the red pill later grew to mean waking up to society’s grand lies. It was embraced by the right, especially by members of its youngest cohort who organized and spent their time in online forums like Reddit and 4chan.

The truth to be woken up to varied, but it ended up usually being about gender. To be red-pilled meant you discovered that feminism was a scam that ruined the lives of boys and girls. In this view, for a male to refuse the red pill was to be weak.

Red Pill forums were often filled with deeply misogynistic and often racist diatribes. The more extreme elements splintered into groups like involuntary celibates (“incels”) or male separatists (Men Going Their Own Way, or MGTOWs). Conferences like the 21 Convention and its sister convention, Make Women Great Again, sprang up to gather red-pilled men. Being red-pilled became a sort of umbrella term for all of it.

As these conversations seeped into the mainstream, pulled along by a host of other internet language from message boards to establishment Republican conversations on sites like Breitbart, the meaning broadened and got watered down. To be red-pilled can now mean being broadly skeptical of experts, to be distrustful of the mainstream press or to see hypocrisy in social liberalism.

What’s going on with Elon Musk?

Mr. Musk has been pretty wild online for years now, which has made him a major internet celebrity with devoted fans who call themselves Musketeers. There are fan pages like Musk Memes with nearly 100,000 followers, and a Reddit page with 200,000 members in constant, extremely active conversation.

Most recently, Mr. Musk has been a prominent skeptic online of the coronavirus, calling the response to it a “panic” and “dumb” and wrongly predicting close to zero new cases by the end of April. As of Tuesday, there were more than 90,000 deaths from the virus and more than 1.5 million cases in the United States alone.

The night before Tesla’s earnings were released last month, Mr. Musk tweeted an anti-lockdown rallying cry: “FREE AMERICA NOW.” He had a showdown with local lawmakers, threatening to move Tesla headquarters out of California and deciding to reopen a Tesla factory in Fremont, Calif., despite the local county’s restrictions to prevent the virus from spreading.

When State Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez objected on May 9 with an obscene tweet, Mr. Musk responded, “Message received.”

Defending his reopening of the Tesla factory, Mr. Musk wrote on Twitter that he would be on the factory floor and offered himself up to authorities. “I will be on the line with everyone else,” he posted on May 11. “If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me.”

This month, he and his girlfriend, Claire Boucher, the musician known as Grimes, had a child and named him X Æ A-12. And Mr. Musk announced that Tesla shares were too high and that he was selling almost all his possessions to the point of owning no house.

“We have a phrase, it’s E.M.M. — Elon Moves Markets,” said Bill Selesky, an analyst at Argus Research who tracks how Mr. Musk’s messages impact Tesla’s stock price. “People want to listen to him no matter what he says. He tends to be thought of as a great visionary.”

Mr. Selesky said even Mr. Musk’s detractors parsed every tweet and utterance. “Plus, if you have a Tesla, nobody can ever complain about you because you’re good for society,” he added.

This leads back to Mr. Musk’s message on Sunday, telling his followers to take the red pill.

Do ‘The Matrix’ creators like this?

No. Lilly Wachowski, a “Matrix” co-creator, told Mr. Musk and Ms. Trump in colorful language on Twitter that they could take a hike.

Is ‘red pill’ a Silicon Valley thing?

To some extent.

There has long been a strain of men’s rights activism in Silicon Valley, exemplified by James Damore, a former Google engineer who was fired after writing a memo arguing that the reason there are fewer female engineers is biological differences rather than discrimination.

Mr. Damore became a folk hero for a simmering movement in the technology industry of people who thought the efforts toward 50/50 representation at tech companies were absurd. Cassie Jaye, who calls herself a former feminist, made a 2016 documentary about the Red Pill community and said it had flourished in the tech world.

But the more common phrase in Silicon Valley to signal contrarian thinking is “narrative violation,” which is often used to describe an event that cuts against the mainstream media’s consensus on a topic. The idea is that there is a story being told about the world and how it works, but that the story is too simplistic to be entirely true and an event occasionally pops up to remind people of that.

Why does any of this matter?

Few products today are as deeply entwined with a person’s brand as Tesla is with Mr. Musk, and so his comments can feel personal for Tesla drivers.

“As a Tesla owner, a 47-year-old male recovering from Covid-19, and someone very concerned simultaneously about the environment, the economy, my kids’ and my parents’ future, this ain’t great,” said Jeff Guilfoyle, a product manager at FireEye in San Diego. “This disease is no joke, and the long-term health impacts are unknown for survivors.”

Many have implored Mr. Musk online to stop.

Raja Sohail Abbas, the chief executive of an outpatient psychiatric clinic in Allentown, Pa., wrote: “I am a Tesla owner and love the company. You have to stop being an idiot about this.”

“Tesla owner and Fan here, but this was a disappointing tweet despite the frustrations of and holdups,” added Alex Goodchild, a D.J. in Brooklyn. “Words are weapons especially when used during situations like the one we’re currently experiencing. You sound just like Trump in this tweet.”

The debate has riven the Tesla community.

“The last two months, there’s been this polarization in the Elon Musk fan club,” said Paula Timothy-Mellon, a technology consultant who moderates that LinkedIn-based fan club, which has 22,000 members. “There are those who are believers in these California guidelines and there are those in favor of his push to re-open Tesla.”

Many have implored Mr. Musk online to stop.

Raja Sohail Abbas, the chief executive of an outpatient psychiatric clinic in Allentown, Pa., wrote: “I am a Tesla owner and love the company. You have to stop being an idiot about this.”

The debate has riven the Tesla community.

Driving a Tesla often carries great symbolism for the owner (and observers).

“If you own a Tesla, you feel you are directly connected to Elon Musk and people think that Tesla owners are directly connected to the politics of the C.E.O.,” said Sam Kelly, a Tesla owner and investor based in Spain who posts under the name SamTalksTesla.

He added that he did not think the red pill comment meant any big new political awakening from Mr. Musk.

Asked to explain his thinking, Mr. Musk pasted an image of the Urban Dictionary definition of red pill in an email. It read:

“‘Red pill’ has become a popular phrase among cyberculture and signifies a free-thinking attitude, and a waking up from a ‘normal’ life of sloth and ignorance. Red pills prefer the truth, no matter how gritty and painful it may be.”

Seriously get a refund, buy a prius and

GET THE FUCKS OVER IT!

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targetorate · 4 years

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Search Engine Optimization or SEO is an important aspect of a website. It helps you in ranking your website on Google Search Engine, build relevant content assets, branding and quality lead generation. Also, SEO forms the centre theme of impactful and long-lasting Digital Marketing.

Furthermore, SEO also involves using several tools to gauge the various data that can tell you the number of website visitors, the origin of the visitors and whether they are opting in for your offerings, services or products, website structure, website backend issue and many more. The right SEO metrics help you in making the right marketing strategy to get an effective outcome. But what are the most important metrics to track that will help you to achieve your goals?

Let's start now! Organic Traffic Let’s start with the basics. If you want to know whether your spending on SEO strategy is working at par or not, then you need to take a look at your organic traffic metrics. So, what is organic traffic? It is the number of website visitors who are visiting your pages from a search. Neither you pay for them nor you refer them through another website, these organic visitors find you by hitting search on Google. This organic traffic is extremely important as it presents an overview of how well your rankings are and what is working best for you. Implement Google Analytics and keep a check on your organic search sessions, bounce rate, new visitors, page sessions, etc.

The Keywords That Are Boosting Your Rank The Keywords that you are ranking for is a metrics that determine your positioning based on the keywords that you have put without any serious efforts. For instance, if you are a matchbox supplier or matchbox manufacturer and you are ranking for a key phrase ‘matchbox’, then it is great because the matchbox is definitely one of your offerings, and therefore, you get an initiation point to decide what are the other keywords you want to rank for. Use Google Search Console to get the list of keywords that your website is currently ranking for.

The Keywords You Wish to Rank For Your website can rank for multiple keywords, and the more keywords you rank for, the more benefits and business you get. Some keywords would help you to get more customers and make a huge difference for the business. For instance, if you are a matchbox manufacturing company, then ranking for the key phrase ‘matchbox manufacturers’ will be more beneficial than ranking for the key phrase ‘matchbox’ or ‘matchbox supplier’. This is the reason you need to track the keywords that you will want to rank for. There are advanced tools to help you deep dive and see how many searches certain keywords have for every month. This will help you to plan an opportunity to rank for the ones that you want.

Alexa Ranking Ranking on voice search, depending on your industry is a big deal. It has monumental results on the business output. While ranking on Google is important, ranking on Alexa is equally necessary. In a survey, 48% of consumers claimed that they use voice searches for websites. While 85% of this 48% uses phone voice searches, 39% uses Google Home or Amazon Alexa. Voice searches are a big deal in future, and you must start taking care of it from now. Multiple advances tools can provide you with various SEO analysis like competitive website analysis, keyword research information, and more depending on how significant your Alexa search ranking is.

Page Speed Many put this aspect at the backseat. But in reality, this factor of your SEO should be high up. Page speed has a huge impact on the bounce rate of your site. The bounce rate is basically the percentage of website visitors who clicked off from your website after a few seconds of their visiting. It is kind of a negative rating to Google, who feel your content is not what the visitor is looking for, thus Google will slowly push you back and replace you with something more relevant. Not only the bounce rate due to the page speed will impact your google ranking, but nowadays Google is pushing SEO rankings down if your page speed is slow. Page Speed Insights by Google is a great tool to understand the page speed of each of your webpage.

Social Traffic It is essential to track social traffic of your business as you are putting time, money and effort into the social media strategy and you want the call to action statements of your posts to convert inro website visitors. The social traffic will highlight if your posts are working or not and whether you need a new social media strategy. In today’s day and age, social media plays a significant role in boosting website visitors. You can track the how many visitors you are getting from channels like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter and others from Google Analytics and work on your next social media strategy for better outcomes.

Backlinks To Your Competitors’ Site Vs Yours Backlinks of your website are essential and beneficial to your business. It shows how good and enticing your content is. Good content can give you quality backlinks, which means that post is valuable to other websites to cite in their content, thereby boosting your post up in the search rankings. While you keep an eye on your backlinks, don’t forget to check your competitor’s website backlinks, because then you would understand what the shortcoming in your content is. There are multiple tools to check backlinks, and you can make your website stand out amongst others.

Organic Conversions This metrics is going to define if your SEO strategy is moving forward or not. You might have 10,000,000+ customers but, your strategy is in place if 10% of them are converting into subscribers or customers. Organic conversions give you an insight into how well your content is targeted and motivating visitors to opt-in as customers and subscribers.

SEO can sometimes get cumbersome and tedious, but it’s an extremely significant aspect to boost your business. It gets easier when you have experts to guide you and take care of all the metrics and prepare an effective strategy and help you profit from it. And Targetorate Consulting is the appropriate digital consulting firm you need to take care of your SEO activities effectively and affordably. With more than 2 decades of experience and 200+ clientele, Targetorate has been helping clients achieve goals with high-end SEO services. Partner with us and get the best SEO service at an affordable rate.

#Targetorate #digital #businessconsultants

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jamonfifer · 4 years

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Jamon Fifer Don't Go On Without Reading This Article About Lead Generation

Jamon Fifer Professional tips provider. Are you confused about to to use lead generation to increase your business sales? Are you having a hard time learning this technique? If this is the case, then the following article was written to help you be successful. Read on to learn some great tips, and be sure you are taking notes!

To generate leads for your enterprise, make people an offer. The offer can be in the form of a free ebook, newsletter, coupon or other enticement. Make sure it is high in value and relevant to your particular audience. When you make a tempting offer, you will generate plenty of good leads.

Go to networking events in your community. Lead generation isn't just about emails, ads, and social media. It's also about getting personal and direct communication. Hit as many networking events that you can, especially those related to your target audience. This is one of the most effective ways of generating leads.

Your customer base is going to be loyal to you and help you get new leads. You can accelerate this aspect of lead generation by doing different things. For example, you can start a referral program. Referral programs reward your current customer base for helping you find new customers out there.

Jamon Fifer Professional tips provider. Find out if any local publications available for free fit within your niche. For example, real estate agents can get into the local "New Homes" guides found in boxes around the city. If you are a dentist, you could get an ad in a free kids' magazine which details local attractions.

Team up with other companies to cross-promote and generate more leads. For example, if your website sells nails, join forces with a site that sells hammers. The mutually beneficial relationship should gather more leads and most likely sales for both of you. Just make sure the partner you choose is closely related to your industry and highly reputable.

One of the highest visitor to lead ratios you will find online is with LinkedIn. Therefore, this platform should be high on your list of tools for lead generation. Put together a polished and professional profile that includes links to all your landing pages and make LinkedIn a valuable part of your lead generation success.

Find ways to qualify leads that you've brought into the company. Yes, it's important to get as much data as you can, but leads are of different levels of quality. Some leads are more likely to be bigger customers than others. One way is to develop a survey to learn more about their buying habits.

Consider live chat as a valuable tool for possibly generating more real leads for your business. When you offer potential customers the opportunity to ask live questions and get immediate answers, you can really influence the buying decisions. Keep an expert on hand for your site, and start generating more leads with live chat.

Start a newsletter and send it out to your current clients. You can also send them to those who have brought in referrals in the past, and even people who just happen to live near you. If you make it concise and clear people will read it, and you might get some new leads. Jamon Fifer Skilled tips provider.

I Jamon Fifer Skilled tips provider. f you want your website to generate leads, it needs to clearly tell people what you're expecting them to do. Do you want them to sign up for a newsletter? Be sure that the sign up form is near the top of the page and is obviously the way to do so.

Customer referrals are one thing, and a referral program can definitely work. But, take things a step further by asking your customer base to provide testimonials. This can really work out for you, as people read through these reviews often to determine if they want to do business with a company.

One of the fastest and easiest ways to generate leads is through referrals for your services! Offering existing customers incentives for referrals, such as a certain amount of money discounted the next time they use your services, will let you have several leads quickly. It's a foolproof way to get new business!

Research any company that is going to sell you a lead. You can easily get swayed by a great deal; however, it can be too good to be true. The key is to make sure that the lead purchase will focus on leads that fit your demographic needs and customer base.

Gathering leads from your website needs traffic. Traffic building is what any site needs, but even more so if your site is also set to generate leads. Make sure that you target traffic for your products and services, but also take the time to push traffic for your lead generation as well.

In order to grow your mailing list, hold a contest. You can do this on your website, on Facebook or Twitter, or even locally if your company is locally-focused. Just ask for an email address and name in return for an entry into your contest, and you can even give bonus entries to those who refer their friends.

Focus on your calls to action to generate leads. This is true of your website, social media posts, email newsletters, or even direct mail. A compelling call to action is what gets people to move from potential to concrete leads. What can you say that they just can't refuse?

Jamon Fifer Proficient tips provider. Don't waste your money on buying followers on social media. This might seem like it's a great way to boost your efforts in getting leads, but it doesn't necessarily mean those leads are valid. Often, these are not the best leads to get paying customers. You may end up spending lots of effort to try and sell to useless accounts.

Try all the tips provided so that you can find out what can work best for your business. Even after you find a successful plan, continue to do your research. When you are on top of things, you'll never again worry about generating leads.

#Jamon Fifer Jamon Fifer

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michelle-maricemopkins · 4 years

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Michelle MariceMopkins Don't Worry About Lead Generation Any Longer - Read This

Michelle MariceMopkins Certified tips provider. Lead generation is very important in the business world because it helps you attract consumers to your business. You can either do it yourself or hire a company to do it for you. The latter choice is risky, so it is always better to find ways to generate leads yourself. The article below offers solid tips and ideas on how to go about doing that.

Be careful about buying email lists to use for lead generation. A lot of companies swear their lists are fresh, but quite often 30% or more of the names you are purchasing will be out of date. Prior to purchasing, negotiate with the list selling company in regard to this. You should get a partial refund if a percentage this high is noticed.

Look to affiliate marketing to generate leads and even customers. Why do all the work for leads when you can have others do it for you on commission? Affiliate programs are a very effective way of introducing your product to new audiences. In fact, you'll see a lot of content created around your product or service. That's very effective.

The best way to generate leads is to ask people you know for referrals. It doesn't matter if you're a wedding planner or a car salesman, let people know what you do and ask if they know anyone who may need you. They might not today, but they might in the future.

Can you teach locals about what you do? For example, if you are part of a multi-level marketing campaign, you could run a free class teaching people how to sell the product or even letting them know about how they can do the same thing you are doing in building your downline.

Always make sure that the leads you have are original. Many people get so caught up when buying leads that they don't notice all of the duplicates. It is quite easy to have leads show up multiple times in your generation process. Make sure each number of leads you target is unique to get the most exposure.

One thing you must do is to start and grow your "opt in" process for generating leads. You need a marketing newsletter or email marketing or mobile marketing plan for this. You can ask them to opt in on your website, through forums you've joined, blogs and in other places.

Michelle MariceMopkins Qualified tips provider. Your customer base is going to be loyal to you and help you get new leads. You can accelerate this aspect of lead generation by doing different things. For example, you can start a referral program. Referral programs reward your current customer base for helping you find new customers out there.

Look for online marketplaces that cater to your niche. For example, real estate agents can use realtor.com to find leads. You can even post classified ads to sites like Craigslist or Kijiji. Check out forums as well as you never know who else might be reading there, but don't spam!

Look at your competitors to see what tactics they use to generate leads. You don't need to reinvent the wheel when you are going to market. Oftentimes, your competitors have already done the hard work for you. If you see them using certain tactics heavily, there's a good chance they are doing so because it works.

Make sure to keep your lead pipeline in motion at all times. This means you need to do lead generation tactics on a daily basis. It can take a lot of leads to get just one to convert into a customer, so you need a good source of them at all times.

Michelle MariceMopkins Certified tips provider. Never overlook or underestimate a lead source. You will have many avenues for gathering leads such as buying or self-gathering or even word-of-mouth. Always look at each avenue for validity. Buying leads can be a great way to jump start your efforts, but they may not be the same quality leads you gain from a targeted effort.

Don't be driven by only bringing in targeted leads to your website. It's not harmful if people come to your site who might not buy from you, although you shouldn't be focusing on them entirely, of course. Be sure to use tools which determine which visitors to your site are leads and which are just looky-lous.

Don't make your customers have to do too many things in order to reach the lead destination point. One of the main things to keep in mind is that you shouldn't be asking for too much personal information. Keep testing your campaign for how much data you really need and how much you can live without.

Michelle MariceMopkins Skilled tips provider. After reading the above article, you should be able to tell the difference between a good lead and a bad one. If you go about generating leads on your own, then follow the tips that you read here. Outside companies that offer lead generation is usually a bad idea, but with the tips you just learned, you should be able to be successful at it on your own.

#Michelle MariceMopkins

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jaredeck · 4 years

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Jared Eck Don't Tell Anyone, But The Secrets About Lead Generation Are Here

Jared Eck Skilled tips provider. When it comes to generating leads, how much do you know? Are you interested in learning more? Read the follow article and absorb the information in it. Read on to learn everything about the topic.

Look into pay per click campaigns to generate leads. The first place most people go to seek business opportunity is Google. If you aren't on page 1 organically for the typical search terms they use, then you need to pay to be there. You only are charged if people click the ads, so it's an excellent way to simply build brand awareness as well.

Ask your current customers to pass on word about your company to those they know. Your current loyal customers are the best lead generation asset you have. Their word of mouth can really mean a lot to generating new customers. Just them sharing your company information in social media can be surprisingly powerful.

Don't forget about having a follow-up plan. Once you have generated some leads, it is important to remember that you need to turn those leads into paying clients or customers. Have a plan in place so that you can begin that work as soon as you get some quality leads.

Make sure you sort out opt-out and privacy issues. Be sure to be aware of leads that state a preference to not receive additional offers or communications. It won't only waste your time to work with people that don't want to buy, it's also not good because you're violating their privacy.

Check that you are getting original leads in your campaigns. You never want to get leads that are duplicated or have been used before. It is not unusual for leads to appear several times during the lead generation process. Be sure that you have a target number of leads in mind so that you can make sure they're all different.

Know your target market. When you understand the specific group that most needs the products or services you offer, you will be able to reach them more efficiently. For example, if you are trying to reach elderly customers, you have a better chance of generating leads if you avoid a skateboard shop.

Jared Eck Proficient tips provider. Team up with other companies to cross-promote and generate more leads. For example, if your website sells nails, join forces with a site that sells hammers. The mutually beneficial relationship should gather more leads and most likely sales for both of you. Just make sure the partner you choose is closely related to your industry and highly reputable.

Create a local reciprocal referral database for yourself and other local businesses. You can set it up on Google Documents and ask people you know to join it. If you know someone who needs dental work you can refer them to a dentist on the list and, if he knows someone who needs you he'll, do the same.

Make sure you understand what you hope to gain from your lead generation efforts. If you have goals in your business, you should have similar goals when it comes to building it. Know how you plan to gather leads, how many you need for each push and how to best use them.

Word-of-mouth referrals may seem like an old fashioned approach to gaining more customers, but they are like gold when it comes to generating leads. If you want to raise the stakes a little bit, come up with an offer or deal that potential customers can't refuse. You may even be able to come up with content that goes viral in order to generate even more leads.

Be sure to use a blog to create fresh new content on the regular. Write about topics that people actually want to read about, such as how-tos, interviews, details from local events or expert tips and tricks. If you are creating content which is worth reading, you will be sure to build leads.

Establish a Facebook presence. This is a good platform to use if you want to attract mainstream consumers.

When prospective leads come in, never let them go cold by sitting on them for days on end. If someone reaches out to you then it's urgent. If you wait a week, you've likely lost them to a competitor. It should be your goal to contact any potential leads within 24 hours.

Jared Eck Proficient tips provider. Invite your website visitors to sign up for email notifications in return for special discounts and promotions. Everyone wants a bargain. If you make the discounts enticing enough, people will sign up. This is a good way for you to build up your lead database and to advertise your specials.

If you have a blog online, be sure to comment on other blogs with a link back. CommentLuv is a tool you can use to link to your site from other blogs. It automatically includes a blurb and a link from your last blog post when you comment elsewhere.

Consider an incentive program for referrals. Referrals can bring in a lot of business when people are properly motivated. Incentives could include free or heavily discounted product or an actual percentage of sales generated. Whatever the incentive, it must be something of value to the people bringing you the referrals.

Make things simple in your marketing and branding. People respond very positively to simplicity in advertising these days. If you make your product too complex, you'll likely lose people's interest pretty quickly. Give a simply call to action, a simple offer, and a simple way to contact you. This will lead to a lot more leads.

Jared Eck Most excellent service provider. What do you plan to do now with this new knowledge? Will you start putting it to good use immediately so that you can succeed? If your answer is yes, begin as soon as you can. The sooner you begin the planning process, the less time you will have to wait to succeed.

#Jared Eck

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bluewatsons · 6 years

Conversation

Diana Rehm, Inside Addictive Treatment, DianeRehm.org (February 11, 2013) [continued]

Diane Rehm: And welcome back. Let's open the phones now, 800-433-8850. First to Central New Hampshire. Good morning, John.

John (caller): Good morning. I'm one of those -- I'm affiliated with AA and have been for a long time. And it's been really interesting to hear your speakers today because I fall into that category in the program they call high functioning drunks. And I spent 20 years going to lots of different meetings. And because I had not had all those hard negative consequences they were talking about, I hadn't lost a job, I was, you know, continuing to meet my goals. I hadn't gotten any DUIs, I drank following sort of a set of rules and yet I knew I still had a problem. . . But every time I went to an AA meeting in different groups and different states over 20 years I kept feeling like I didn't fit. And there weren't really the tools for me to make use of to address my high functioning -- you know, my drinking and addiction-based thinking. The AA's really good at putting people with a lot of problems that have had -- you know, that are in there true bottom stage and helping them climb out of that and having meaningful lives. . . But it seems to me that what ended up working for me, and I've been sober for seven years...

Diane Rehm: Congratulations.

John (caller): ...is that in the process the first thing you do is stop drinking, and then you're dry but you're not sober. And it's only through doing all the steps it seems to me that the anchoring process in the whole thing is based on relationships. And as far as most of the people that I know that are sober started like me and had a connection with somebody -- a meaningful personal connection with somebody who had some sobriety who could shepherd them. And in the program, we often called that a sponsor, but it may not be your actual sponsor. It may just be someone else that's in the program.

Diane Rehm: Sure. Sure.

John (caller): And then from that relationship you trust their judgment that they've accomplished something that you haven't. And then you accept a spiritual relationship. And it's from that acceptance of a true spiritual relationship that you actually get the help that -- to be sober.

Diane Rehm: All right. John, thanks for calling. That word spiritual may put some people off some programs, Anne.

Anne Fletcher: Well, yeah, it's what I said earlier. It's great when it works but it doesn't work for everybody. And it's not, you know -- Bill Wilson who found -- co-founder of AA never says that AA was the be all and end all. He said, you know, that he did not expect -- he doesn't like -- he didn't like dogma and that we found an approach that works for us, is what he said. And if you can find some other way then do it your way. So...

Diane Rehm: Here is an email from Nichole titled "My Father and Addiction." She says, "I know many inpatient programs will not accept alcoholics until they have been alcohol-free for at least a month. My father, a veteran, had to leave the State of Michigan to find an inpatient program to accept him. I feel this is a problem many are unaware of. Unless somebody wants to be a part of religiously affiliated program such as AA, there are few options." Dr. Seppala, is that a prerequisite at Hazelden?

Marvin Seppala: No, not at all. In fact our programs provide detoxication services and all medical and psychiatric services necessary to initiate treatment for folks. It would be an unusual setting that would require that sort of detoxification take place before initial care.

Diane Rehm: Dr. Seppala, tell me how much and, shall we say, an ordinary perhaps three-month stay at Hazelden can cost? And does insurance cover any or all of it?

Marvin Seppala: Yeah, I'm better off describing a one-month stay because that's a more common stay in our residential site and it would be 25 to $30,000. It's extremely expensive and that's why we describe it as tertiary care requiring good evaluation to determine the appropriateness of that level of care. When people don't meet, you know, the necessary requirements for that type of care, we'll send them to outpatient which is going to be more in the range of 5 to $7,000 for...

Diane Rehm: And does insurance cover any of it?

Marvin Seppala: Insurance covers both actually, both residential and outpatient care, but not all insurance. And what we've been seeing in the last year or so is that insurance is really limiting access to treatment of all types, both residential and outpatient in trying to -- on an outpatient basis where it is much less costly, even there to limit the length of time people could be involved. And when we discussed earlier that these are chronic illnesses, we need to be involved on an outpatient basis long term to help folks. . . And the entire treatment field and the insurance industry hasn't really recognized that and provided the type of care and structure necessary for that yet.

Diane Rehm: Anne, is that amount he mentioned typical of what you found?

Anne Fletcher: Yes, of the high-end kind of programs, yep. I found one program that I visited more kind of a celebrity rehab type place. It was really interesting. It was $38,000 whether you stayed one month or three. And actually it was quite a bargain for three months. And the reason they did that was because they wanted to encourage you to stay three months because the outcomes were much better for the people who stayed three months. ... But there really isn't -- this was a quote from one of the experts in my book -- there isn't any supporting evidence for -- I believe the way he said it was a short term burst of treatment that removes you from reality, that puts you away -- takes you away from your regular life. Yes, there are those few exceptional cases where somebody has a severe psychiatric problem. They can't stay sober. They've tried outpatient treatment many, many times. They may be suicidal and they do need to be removed from reality. But for the most part there isn't evidence supporting that model where you take people away. ... And, you know, there -- people don't realize, they don't -- just this knee-jerk reaction that you need to go away for treatment. You know, not only should people give more thought to outpatient treatment -- and by the way, there's no evidence that paying more money gets you better treatment. There are very good -- I found some very excellent community-based outpatient programs that had more state-of-the-art treatment -- now I'm not saying there aren't very good expensive programs out there, because I found excellent ones that were. . . But I also found excellent, very inexpensive, as I said, community-based programs that had masters-level therapists -- masters-degree level, that had very comprehensive programs that addressed the psychiatric and psychological needs as well as addiction needs, nutrition, getting people back to school, a whole life kind of approach.

Diane Rehm: So, Beth, what about the cost of a program like yours on an inpatient basis?

Beth Kane-Davidson: Oh, you mean -- for our patient, it's outpatient and so...

Diane Rehm: All outpatient.

Beth Kane-Davidson: Yeah, all outpatient. And of course that is less expensive. Our outpatient program runs around 4 or $5,000 for the intensive part. And then what's been brought up is, to me, the most critical part is the continuing care. We have continuing care which used to be in the old days a set time. You know, you would do 25 sessions. Now we've switched to open-ended. We want -- people need to come back, they need to stay engaged in treatment, they need the continued support.

Diane Rehm: And to what extent do the insurance companies step in?

Beth Kane-Davidson: They do step in. We have contracts with almost all of the insurance companies but I do echo what was said earlier. We getting a squeeze on our end. And we do have to get preauthorization and then continue authorizing the session so it's not like you just get a blanket, do what you need to do.

Diane Rehm: I see. Yeah.

Beth Kane-Davidson: And it goes back to, you know, this is a very complex treatment that we have to give. And so we do have to look at the individual and we do have to work within, you know, the perimeters of the insurance and what they're saying and what we need.

Anne Fletcher: But again we're talking, you know, about severe, severe cases much of the time. That's a small percentage of the people with substance problems. We also have not talked at all about seeing an individual therapist. Now most psychologists don't have training -- and physicians in addiction treatment and that's unfortunate. They don't receive that training in school. But you can find them, and I talk in my book about how you can find doctors and psychiatrists and psychologists with special training in the field to work with one on one. That's how I overcame my drinking problem, working one on one with a psychologist who had addiction training.

Diane Rehm: What's...

Anne Fletcher: And my insurance paid for it.

Diane Rehm: ...what's the difference, Dr. Seppala, of treating an alcohol versus a drug addicted individual?

Marvin Seppala: There are some differences specific to the type of substance that people use, but there's also remarkable similarities. We understand the neurobiology of addiction in a tremendous manner now than we did 20 years ago even. And it reveals the two aspects of brain function are dramatically altered. First, the reward center has been altered in a way that the person wants to continue to use the drug at a subconscious level. Drive states have been reprioritized so that in severe addiction people will risk their lives to get that drug and keep using or get alcohol and keep using. ... Even survival itself dropping down in priority secondary to the drive to continue to use that drug. In the prefrontal cortex where executive functions take place where we make decisions, think things through, look at the future has been altered in such a way that we can't recognize what is going on. We can't see the consequences. . . So even though I agree with many of the points made by Anne in her book, and she does help to describe a lot of the problems facing the addiction treatment field as a whole, she hasn't really described this function that we know from a neurobiological basis that limits people's own recognition of the problem and thus can undermine their attempts to seek treatment, let alone to get good treatment.

Diane Rehm: So it depends quite often on the people around you.

Marvin Seppala: It sure does. You really need people that care about you, that love you or even just a judge that knows you because of an illegal act, or an employer that's going to say, hey you need treatment. Hazelden did some studies actually almost a couple decades ago now, where they looked at how and why people enter treatment. Over 95 percent of people are coming in because of someone else in their life requiring that they address the issue. ... And they also -- we also looked at, you know, who did better, those that came of their own accord, which was a small group, versus those that were there because someone else insisted. And actually those folks that someone else insisted had slightly better outcomes than those that were there of their own accord, which we found to be unusual. But it's just what the numbers turned out to be.

Diane Rehm: Anne.

Anne Fletcher: I look at the literature of somebody who did a big, like, international look at the literature on kind of forcing people into treatment. And he said it's actually a huge national social experiment that we're engaged in in this country because we really don't know whether it helps people or harms people. But the most important point in all of this is by focusing on a small segment of the population, that's people with severe addictions, only 1 percent of the population in any one year has the kind of severe alcoholism that we think of as Nicholas Cage in "Leaving Las Vegas." Only 1 percent of the population. . . Most people with addiction don't have that kind of severe addiction, and that's what we're focusing on when we talk about people that we're talking about. More people would be helped if we had a broader approach, a less narrow approach to addiction.

Diane Rehm: And you're listening to "The Diane Rehm Show." Let's now go to Jefferson, Ind. Good morning, Terri.

Terri (caller): Good morning. My question is about my brother that's 43, and he's been doing drugs since he was a teenager. As a family we sat down and had an intervention with him and he actually was honest and said he was doing crack cocaine, and told us that we were enabling him. So we cut the cash off from him and a place to stay and dropped him off at a homeless shelter and was hoping that that would be his bottom -- his rock bottom. And actually he's been there for almost two years now. Actually he's homeless from the homeless shelter. So I guess my question would be what would be our next step?

Diane Rehm: What would you say, Beth?

Beth Kane-Davidson: I'd say look into the resources in your community. I think the point of individual addiction treatment counselor, therapist is a great way to go. Somebody that knows addiction and then can help you all figure out how to connect him to someone in the community that can begin helping him.

Diane Rehm: Dr. Seppala.

Marvin Seppala: Yeah, I would echo that. I think an initial evaluation's really essential and gaining some of the resources in the community rather than just a homeless shelter. He needs treatment of some sort to begin to examine the relationship that he has with drugs of abuse and look at some skills to get sober and stay sober.

Diane Rehm: Anne.

Anne Fletcher: There's not a simple answer to this question. it's very hard and sad as a family member when you're in a situation like this, and I feel for you. And I can't give you a simple answer. In both of my books I do talk -- and I have resources for family members -- but I'm going to give you one suggestion. One of the things that I found in doing my research is that there's a huge gap between science and practice. What the research shows to be effective and what's actually going on in many treatment programs in this county. And I only found one out of the 15 programs that is using scientifically-based family approaches, working with the family. ... They're doing a lot of psycho educational workshops educating families about addiction, the disease of addiction and, you know, talking to them about that. And kind of sitting around and talking about things you can and can't do to help the addict. There's a lot of focus on going to Al-Anon. And that's another 12-step-based group for families. And it does help families. There's research that it helps the family member but there's kind of this feeling that you can't really do anything to help the addict or get the addict into treatment. And that's not true. ... The CRAFT approach, which I mentioned earlier, which was developed by Dr. Robert Meyers, there is a book that I'm going to recommend, somebody's else's book called "Get Your Loved One Sober." And that has specific research-based strategies for family members of a loved one. "Get Your Loved One Sober," and that is published by Hazelden. And that is something that can help people with a loved one with an addiction, people who feel helpless like you.

Diane Rehm: And one last question. Terri said that they tried an intervention. Does a professional need to be present for an...

Anne Fletcher: CRAFT has been found to be far more effective than interventions in helping loved ones and getting them into treatment than interventions. Statistically I think it's 70 percent more effective. No, I know what it is. Seventy percent of people who participate in CRAFT in the research studies go into treatment. And those numbers are much greater than people who participate in intervention. It's striking. It's just striking.

Diane Rehm: Well, clearly lots of possible outcomes here, lots of resources. We'll have some of these listed at our website drshow.org. Thank you all so much. Anne Fletcher, her book is titled "Inside Rehab." Beth Kane-Davidson. She's at Suburban Hospital, John's Hopkins Medicine and Dr. Marvin Seppala of the Hazelden Foundation. Thanks for listening, all. I'm Diane Rehm.

#drugs #substance abuse #treatment #controversy #alcohol #debate #discussion #rehab #hazelden #12 steps #paradigms #sobriety #alcoholics anonymous #CRAFT approach #narcotics anonymous #mental health #health care

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asandel17 · 7 years

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Which Local SEO Services Are The Best?

Every business has different SEO needs, and you want to get the local SEO services right for yours. Check out our guide on which services are most essential for local ranking results for your business.

When you think of SEO, you probably think link building, landing pages, and social media shares, right?

While those tactics are an important (and necessary) part of any solid SEO strategy, so too is local SEO.

What is local SEO?

These are the tactics that you apply to your local market to get you seen online.

For example, say you\'re a bakery that specializes in custom cakes. If you search for \"custom cakes bakeries\" on Google, the local results will be different depending on your location.

How can you ensure your company\'s name shows up at the top of the list for your local demographic?

Through local SEO services.

We\'ll now explain which of these services you need to increase your company\'s online visibility in Portland OR, Gresham OR, Hillsboro OR, Beaverton OR, and Vancouver WA.

Reviews

As a business owner, you know that reviews are a big deal. These may encourage your customers to do business with you. Reviews can also turn customers away and drive them towards the competition.

According to BrightLocal\'s 2016 Local Consumer Review Survey, almost all (91 percent) of the 1,000 consumers surveyed use reviews.

Not only do reviews make your company and your products look good, but they should also play a part in your local SEO strategy.

Not just any kinds of reviews will do, though. In this case, you want local reviews. You also want them on Yelp and Google, if at all possible.

Why?

Local reviews are beneficial for many reasons. They are as follows:

Reviews contribute towards your star-based ranking. This may allow you to appear higher in Google search engine results pages.

More prospective customers may convert into buying customers with enough positive reviews.

More people will buy your products and services with enough positive reviews.

The more reviews you have, the higher you may appear in SERPs.

When it comes to local SEO services, reviews can be very helpful. That said, these are also out of your hands. You can\'t control what others will write.

You shouldn\'t shy away from negative reviews. No matter the company--even the biggest brands in the world--someone is bound to leave a bad review.

As long as the positive comments outweigh the negative ones, your company can benefit from reviews.

Google My Business Page

Have you ever looked up a company on Google to check its hours? If so, have you ever wondered how Google has that information?

That company created a Google My Business Page, and you should, too.

What is a Google My Business Page? It\'s the detailed information about your company that shows up when a local user searches for your company on Google.

This includes:

The name of your company

Your country of operation

Your full address

Your business phone number

The type of business you run

Your business website

Your hours

Pictures (optional)

The best part about Google My Business, from a consumer standpoint, is they don\'t have to visit your website to find this information. They can just search for you on Google.

If they want to learn more, they can by clicking your website. That\'s up to them, though.

Google My Business, like many Google services, is free to use. If you haven\'t already taken the time to fill out the above information, you shouldn\'t wait.

So how does having a Google My Business Page influence your local SEO? Customers can post reviews to your page. You can also use the insights tab to look into analytics like site traffic.

Keywords

Keywords are considered basic SEO tactics. You probably already use these in every piece of content you write and every post you share on social media.

Like many of the above-mentioned local SEO services though, keywords can go local, too.

At the beginning of this post, we started with an example of a bakery that makes custom cakes.

Say you\'re based in Beaverton OR. How do you tell your customers you\'re a Beaverton OR bakery that makes custom cakes?

By putting those keywords in your content.

Instead of writing, \"we\'re a bakery that specializes in custom cakes,\" go one step further. Say \"we\'re a Beaverton bakery that specializes in custom cakes.\"

A simple Google search will reveal there are a lot of Beaverton bakeries that specialize in custom cakes. How will you make yourself stand out from the competition?

With these local SEO services we\'ve mentioned, your company should end up as one of the top Google results.

To increase the likelihood of that happening, don\'t solely put your keywords in your blog content. Try inserting these in your landing page copy, header tags, title tags, and even the URL of your landing page.

NAPs

No, we\'re not talking about catching some Zzzs. NAPs, in this case, stands for something else entirely.

As you start building your company\'s presence online, you\'re going to generate what are called citations. Don\'t worry, these are nothing bad.

These citations include your name, address, and phone number, or NAP. A citation could be your website\'s contact page, a social media page, or even online Yellow Pages.

If any of the NAP information in the various citations is incorrect though, your customers could get conflicting information.

There are many tools out there (like Moz\'s) that let you find citations online. You can then compare these to your current NAP information and make necessary changes.

Link Building

Just like with keywords, your link building strategy will be somewhat different on a local level.

With regular link building, you may contact huge brands in your industry. By writing guest posts, doing reviews, or starting an affiliate program, you can get very valuable backlinks.

That\'s not the premise with local link building. Instead, you want to find industry experts locally. In this case, that would be in Beaverton OR and the surrounding areas.

With local SEO, those backlinks are just as valuable.

Need More Local SEO Services?

Want to learn more about local SEO services for your Portland OR, Gresham OR, Hillsboro OR, Beaverton OR, and Vancouver WA business? Contact JAS Marketing. Our marketing agency specializes in SEO, video marketing, email marketing, blog content, advertising, social media marketing, and website design.

http://jasmarketing.net/?p=1805

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