Hasta La Creative!

Quando você pensa que não há mais lugar no mundo em que seja possível haver NFTs, eles conseguem surpreender. Dessa vez, eles chegaram ao ramo alimentício. Nova York vai receber o primeiro restaurante de NFT do mundo no próximo ano! Mas como isso é possível? O empreendimento, chamado Flyfish Club, é uma criação do VCR Group, …

Leia Nova York ganha o primeiro restaurante de NFT do mundo na íntegra no B9.

The massive deal unites two of the biggest forces in video games. 

As the ad industry continues to grapple with how to amend the talent pipeline and retain diverse employees, the 4A’s Foundation believes that real progress will come when disconnected, one-off initiatives become collaborative long-term projects. This is the inspiration behind the foundation’s latest fellowship, which was created to elevate those who, according to 4A’s program…

Messenger Kids is Meta’s messaging application for children. It doesn’t require kids to have Facebook accounts, and it allows parents to control who their kids can talk to. Before a child can use Messenger Kids, a parent or guardian will need to create an account for them within the Messenger Kids app. Our guide will…

A fim de diminuir o desperdício de alimentos, o estado de Nova York introduziu uma nova lei que já entrou em vigor no início de 2022, e determina que qualquer empresa que gere 2 toneladas ou mais de alimentos não utilizados por semana deve doar alimentos ou compostar. Com isso, cascas de batata, cebolas e …

Leia Nova York implementa lei de reciclagem de alimentos para combater efeitos climáticos na íntegra no B9.

Last week Netflix released the third and final season of Ricky Gervais’ After Life, a dark comedy that has been renowned for its nuanced portrayal of grief. To promote the series, Netflix created a lasting and tangible reminder of the show’s message of hope. After Life follows journalist Tony, played by Gervais, who is grieving…

Journaling has become increasingly popular in recent years, as people turn to it for its therapeutic and creative potential. It’s almost like writing in your diary as a young teen or adult, but sometimes with more structure, more chaos, and about various subjects too.

There’s no single, correct way to journal. That depends entirely on you, your preferences, and your intentions for the journal, which could range from using your journal to organize your thoughts or as a manuscript for your next creative endeavor.

No matter how you decide to use it, however, there are some undeniable benefits of journaling on the regular, and here’s why you should consider starting this habit:

It’s a form of excellent stress relief for you

There’s nothing quite like unloading all your stress and worries onto a sheet of paper and using that pent-up energy and frustration to weave out sentences and words with your pen. It’s amazing how expressing yourself, and your emotions can feel like such a relief, and writing in your journal has the power to do that for you! You’re free to express your deepest emotions, your wildest thoughts, and truly free your mind from everything that’s weighing it down. You get to rid yourself of the stressors and distractions and pour them onto the pen and paper.

Don’t undermine the importance of stress relief, especially via journaling, because it’s been proven to benefit those who regularly participate in this activity. A 2011 study highlighted the benefits of journaling for mental health and stress management, finding a positive correlation between them.

You get to untangle and organize your thoughts

Let’s be honest: sitting with your thoughts is painful, awkward, confusing, and overwhelming.

Sometimes our thoughts are far too loud, confusing, and mixed up, and it’s impossible to make sense of them. You might not be able to communicate them to people around you either. Journaling gives you a space to organize your thoughts by writing things out.

Is something upsetting you, but you’re not sure what or why? Journaling could reveal triggers and patterns and some insight into this.

Other times, journaling just helps you move past the emotional high and intensity that you may be feeling so that you’re able to see things fall into place. Another study from 2005 shows the physical and mental health benefits of journaling, and how as a practice, it’s incredible for dealing with anxiety and racing thoughts.

Use paper and ink to draw, write, spill out whatever is on your mind, and soon enough, some iota of truth will dawn on you.

It helps you reflect and think about the positives

Apart from dealing with your stressors and triggers and processing all your heightened emotions, journaling also helps you focus on the positives. You’ll find that there are several ways to start journaling for positivity, practicing gratitude, and expressing yourself. The more consistent you are with practicing gratitude via journaling, the more likely you are to begin reflecting on the upsides of your day, the good things that happen, and develop a happier, more positive outlook on life.

You can use the same journal consistently or create a specific gratitude journal that tracks positive incidents, emotions, and prompts that make you feel good.

You get to introspect and learn more about yourself

As you write, express, and emote, you also introspect. Introspection is very important when you’re working on yourself because it gives you a glimpse into the real, authentic, unfiltered you. This version of yourself may not have a chance to show up when you’re navigating through the world or performing various roles, whether it’s that of a spouse, parent, child, boss, employee, student, etc.

Through regular writing and self-reflective journaling, you have the opportunity to learn more about who you are and what you want, especially when nobody is looking. This may sound almost sinister like you’re faking a persona before the rest of the world–but that’s not true.

It’s more about watching how you grow from the things you learn and understand about yourself, the changes that emerge, and have written proof of your thoughts and reactions to different situations.

Journaling is great for setting and achieving goals

Suppose you have personal and professional goals that you want to achieve, but you’re not sure where to begin. Journaling is one of the best ways to hold yourself accountable, track your progress, and keep your goals in mind. It’s also perfect for mapping out how your goals evolve and change as you grow too.

Whether that goal is to lose weight, get a promotion, or secure a new job, setting reminders, goals, and waiting to achieve those goals will make a powerful reminder of what you’re striving toward. On days you’re ready to throw in the towel and call it quits, these reminders, although seemingly insignificant, will be what draw you out of the darkness.

Nobody needs to hear, read, or see what’s inside

The best part about all of this is that nobody at all needs to know what’s inside your journal. Nobody needs to see those rants or ugly thoughts and feelings that rear their head. Nobody has to see you struggle to communicate your desires or read that rough draft of your next big break. It’s private, it’s safe, and it’s completely judgment-free.

Journaling is a great exercise for writers, creatives, and just about anyone with a working mind. You can stick to pen and paper or start a digital journal. You can set the intention for your journal in any way you please too.

Treat your journal like your most prized possession–because it will be soon enough!

This guest post was written by Reid Champagne, a top American humorist with an affinity for funny travel, romance, and story writing. On his blog, he shares glimpses of his life, with parts of wisdom, reflection, and humor. He talks about travel, relationships, cooking, and, more importantly, eating, day trips, lifestyle, and more. He’s also just released a book, An American Walkabout, which can be purchased via Amazon.

Marketing not safe for work (NSFW) brands can get a little messy.

You have a great product, but it is not getting the attention or respect that other brands get. You’re left pulling your hair out and wondering how to market your products effectively.

In my time marketing controversial brands, I’ve learned how to do it–and how not to do it –so that brands get the maximum amount of exposure with a minimum amount of BS.

Know Your Target Audience–and Don’t Be Afraid to Go Deep

Before you begin marketing, it’s advisable to know who you’re marketing to. This is where customer personas and avatars come into play. A customer persona is a semi-fictional character/s that describes your ideal customers.

Personas may seem like a drag to create, but believe me, they’ll help you create content that engages with the right people at the right time.

Start by creating a general overview of your ideal customer. Put together details about their location, age, gender, job, income, spending habits, and where they hang out.

By building personas and knowing your target audience, you can structure your content and get it out on channels where your customers hang out.

Create a BIG Personality–and Stick With It

Every brand has a personality. But, not every company knows how to harness the power of their own, making sure that it’s tailored specifically for them and is on point with what they’re promoting.

Personality is using emotion to get your message across. For example, if you had a human salesperson, what would they be like? Witty? Sassy? Unashamed of who they are? Write down the traits you believe in and use these to build your online brand personality.

A few key pointers to think about when creating a brand personality are:

• Know your brand inside out. Have a clear set of brand values and let them shine through.
• Figure out what you want your target audience to feel when they see or hear about your company and market accordingly. Use your brand personality to engage emotionally.
• Think outside of the box – think BIG. Be larger than life. Be bolder than bold. Be playful. Generate excitement and push limits.Whatever it is that makes people take notice, do more of it!

Don’t be afraid to let your own personality traits become part of your brand traits. If you’re loud, sassy and quick-witted, let that shine through your brand. Openness and authenticity are also great brand traits for NSFW brands to have.

Lean into Humor

Using humor is a way to break the ice. Humans love to laugh, and if it’s about an awkward topic, it can lighten the moment. In addition, it makes people think more positively about a brand.

Humor also makes a brand more relatable, especially if it embraces a topic that people may find embarrassing to talk openly about.

But there are a few things to remember…

Humor is often subjective. What one person finds funny can easily offend somebody else. So for comedy to work effectively, you need to know your target audience.

If you have a physical store, think about whether you can make customer visits a fun experience. Humor can often encourage them in and break down those awkward barriers. If they are curious, they may be more inclined to visit as a ‘joke.’ Once they are in store, make them feel comfortable about being there, and any return visits will be easier for them.

Some excellent ways to include humor in your marketing include:

• Poke fun at yourself
• Create shareable content like memes or infographics with funny content. This is a great booster for word-of-mouth marketing. People love to share a funny joke on social media, even if it’s about an NSFW topic.
• Create a humorous marketing video that showcases your brand personality
• Surprise people with unexpected products, like a cost-effective freebie (a small branded item) for all new customers who sign up before a specific deadline

Don’t Be Afraid to Piss People Off (Because You’re Definitely Going To)

A controversial brand isn’t for everyone. So it’s inevitable that you’ll have your lovers and your haters. Of course, it’s the same with all brands, but NSFW businesses often face more active criticism.

You’ll always face bias and traditionalist, conservative views. And that’s to be expected (but that’s a them problem, not a you problem).

Get your marketing right, and you’ll attract your ideal customers while also repelling those that aren’t suitable for the brand. But be prepared that your content won’t be for everyone and plan when criticism peaks.

It’s best to bear in mind the following pointers:

• Be sensitive to the feelings of others, but don’t be a pushover.
• Use your discretion when deciding what type of content to use for your brand.
• Include a warning before showing content that may not be suitable for work, like “NSFW” or “Parental Advisory.”

The best way to know how your audience will respond is to test it out. Be smart and think about what you want to gain from your marketing efforts. If a possible drop in brand reputation is at stake, always play safe and err on the side of caution.

Test, Test, and Test Again

Like with any business, it’s essential to test your marketing efforts using all the data you have to hand.

Using social media, you can tap into insights to determine how many people are engaging with your brand by liking and sharing your content.

Look for new channels where your audience may hang out. For example, OnlyFans is becoming a channel popular with NSFW brands. Tumblr, on the other hand, has banned certain content on their channel. But always read the channel’s guidelines carefully to prevent any bans.

The difficulty with social media for risque brands is that the platform can close your account at any time. So bear in mind advertising guidelines and always be building a strong email list.

When evaluating your marketing, think about:

• How are customers reacting to each piece of content? Focus more on the types of successful content and try to figure out why some content nosedives.
• How are your competitors reacting? Have they changed their marketing tactics?
• How many new customers are you gaining? How many are you losing?
• Does your marketing cover the buyers’ journey, from the curious to the experienced?

Testing may seem time-consuming, but if you want your marketing to succeed, you need to know what works and what doesn’t.

You CAN Successfully Market Your NSFW Brand

Marketing a controversial brand is a tricky job. You have to be prepared to look at things a little differently to promote your products.

Be daring and be bold, and your marketing will soon pick up momentum and your exposure will increase.

This guest article was written by Frances Tang, founder/Captain Awkward/CEO of Awkward Essentials, a company that makes products that address the unspoken parts of hygiene. She is also the inventor of the dripstick — an after sex cleanup sponge. Frances Tang never intended to build a company around a post-sex cleanup tool, but the Awkward Essentials founder saw a need — and an opportunity — for an entrepreneur willing to go there. Now, Frances is leading a revolution for female founders, showing that fearlessness is a founder’s most important value.

It’s easy to see the total visitors count for your website. You open analytics, and it’s all there. But, what you can’t see is what happens after someone visits your website. Have no idea what we are talking about? The bounce-off rate.

If the visitor can’t understand what your business does, how to navigate through your UI, and how to find what they came looking for, chances are the bounce-off rate will be high.
Visitors will leave as soon as they come. This is not good from a business perspective. Thus, having a mind-blowing, easy-to-understand web design is essential.

For that, you’ll need to hire a professional website design company. There are various web design agencies in the market, like New York web design, among thousands of others. Choosing a web design firm from some of the best web design companies can become difficult.

But worry not. To help you out with web designing and choosing a web designing company, we have discussed seven useful tips and tricks.

Begin With a Rough Idea

You must have a basic idea in mind of what your website should look like. When collaborating with a web design agency, sketch out a rough layout of the website.
Mapping out the customer journey is vital to creating a seamless, flowing website design. Step in the visitor’s shoes and envision how they will navigate through the website, which pages they will view the most, and how they are going to engage with the content.

Figure out the number of web pages you’ll need, the content that’ll be needed, and other elements that will go in the webpages.

Remember, a good website begins with design. Coding comes later.

Choose a Stunning Color Scheme

Once you have the content figured out, you need to focus on the color scheme. Even if you create the perfect content for the website, visitors will bounce off if you choose an unpleasant color scheme.

Thus, make sure that you choose colors that make the visitors happy and enhance the user experience. Here are some tips that can help you decide the color scheme.

– Be educated about color psychology basics
– Have an understanding of color theory
– Mix and match colors, and most importantly;
– Keep it simple

Get custom web designing to have your website color scheme stand out from others.

Pay Attention to the Mobile Version

Nowadays, having a mobile site is more important than a desktop site. About fifty percent of the traffic comes from mobile devices. And this number is only going to increase in the future.

Thus, make sure that you have a mobile version of the website. The visitors should have the same experience as the desktop version when visiting the mobile site.

According to Google, about sixty-one percent of users are unlikely to return after a bad mobile site experience. So make sure that every element is responsive, bug-free, and the website doesn’t lag.

Avoid Cluttering

Certain elements are going to decrease the website value. It will distract the user and detract the message you are trying to convey. Humans have an attention span of only eight seconds. So make sure that you convey your message loud and clear without confusing them.

– Some tips to avoid cluttering on the website are:
– Remove unnecessary animations and images
– Delete long content
– Don’t include carousels
– Avoid using unpleasant colors

In a nutshell, ask the website design company to keep the website short, simple, and easy on the eyes.

Stay Away From Carousels

As mentioned above, one way to declutter your website is to avoid carousels. Carousels are a staple in almost every website you visit. However, there are caveats with using them. As a business owner, they might prove counterproductive.

For instance, visitors might only see the first slide. They might miss out on the messages conveyed in the next slides. There are various studies that conclude the same.

Rather, use a hero image displayed on the full page, or you can stack multiple images vertically that can even increase user engagement.

Write a Detailed, Keyword-focused Headline

The headline of the landing page is the most important as it conveys your business’ services and products. Thus, make sure that the page headline cohesively conveys the page’s purpose.

Use a detailed, keyword-focused headline that not only can convey the intended message but also can help you with SEO. Instead of writing a vague, fancy, fluff-filled headline, write a keyword-focused headline that delivers a crystal clear message.

Avoid Stock Photos, Use Real Photos Instead

Your website isn’t the right place to use stock photos. Having stock photos on your website can reduce its credibility. This, in turn, will reduce the visitors’ trust. And you might lose out on potential customers.

So use real, original photos on your website. Hire a photographer to get high-quality employee and product photos on your website. You will end up paying almost the same for a photoshoot as for high-quality stock images. But you will definitely see an increase in the click and purchase rates.

Even if you want to use stock photos, make sure that they are natural-looking and high-quality and don’t seem fake.

Keep a Short Sign-up Form

Nobody likes to fill a long sign-up form. In fact, having one can ruin the user experience and make the visitor jump to other sites. So, keep the sign-up form short and simple.

Ask the visitor to only fill in basic details like their name, contact number, and email id. You rarely need more information than this. Your sales and marketing team can easily connect with the visitor with this basic information. Refrain from asking for any other detail.

Strategically put CTAs

The ultimate aim of the website is to encourage the visitor to click on the call-to-action buttons. So, strategically place CTAs throughout the website. But make sure to have your CTAs spaced out.

Visitors don’t immediately click on them. So, provide useful, relevant information first and then place a CTA button at the end. Also, remember to use attractive, engaging visual cues that can guide visitors to the CTA buttons.

Add Testimonials

Accentuating on the above point of making your website look genuine, add testimonials from your clients to increase trust among new visitors. Customer testimonials can help generate sixty-two percent more revenue from each customer every visit. So, make sure that you have testimonials included in your website design. You can use text and video testimonials based on your requirements and other website UI elements.

Key Takeaways

We hope that this blog helps you in creating a responsive, user-friendly, and aesthetically-pleasing website. While the website design tasks may seem intimidating, they certainly are not. And hiring a website design company can further simplify the process. You just need to sit back and relax!

So what tips are you incorporating in your website design? We can’t wait to see what you create!

Ad Age Amp members share tips and strategies to meet the singular challenges of building and retaining a talented workforce during the Great Resignation.