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Iran and the United States will hold talks Saturday in Oman, their third round of negotiations over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program. The talks follow a first round held in Muscat, Oman, where the two sides spoke face to face. They then met again in Rome last weekend before this scheduled meeting again in Muscat. The President has imposed new sanctions on Iran as part of his “maximum pressure” campaign targeting the country. He has repeatedly suggested military action against Iran remained a possibility, while emphasizing he still believed a new deal could be reached by writing a letter to Iran’s 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to jump start these talks. Khamenei has warned Iran would respond to any attack with an attack of its own. Here’s what to know about the letter, Iran’s nuclear program and the tensions that have stalked relations between Tehran and Washington since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Why did The President write the letter? The President dispatched the letter to Khamenei on March 5, then gave a television interview the next day in which he acknowledged sending it. He said: “I’ve written them a letter saying, ‘I hope you’re going to negotiate because if we have to go in militarily, it’s going to be a terrible thing.’” Since returning to the White House, the president has been pushing for talks while ratcheting up sanctions and suggesting a military strike by Israel or the U.S. could target Iranian nuclear sites. A previous letter from The President during his first term drew an angry retort from the supreme leader. But The President’s letters to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in his first term led to face-to-face meetings, though no deals to limit Pyongyang’s atomic bombs and a missile program capable of reaching the continental U.S. How did the first round go? Oman, a sultanate on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, hosted the first round of talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. The two men met face to face after indirect talks and immediately agreed to this second round in Rome. Witkoff later made a television appearance in which he suggested 3.67% enrichment for Iran could be something the countries could agree on. But that’s exactly the terms set by the 2015 nuclear deal struck under U.S. President Barack Obama, from which The President unilaterally withdrew America. Witkoff hours later issued a statement underlining something: “A deal with Iran will only be completed if it is a The President deal.” Araghchi and Iranian officials have latched onto Witkoff’s comments in recent days as a sign that America was sending it mixed signals about the negotiations. Yet the Rome talks ended up with the two sides agreeing to starting expert-level talks this Saturday. Analysts described that as a positive sign, though much likely remains to be agreed before reaching a tentative deal. Why does Iran’s nuclear program worry the West? Iran has insisted for decades that its nuclear program is peaceful. However, its officials increasingly threaten to pursue a nuclear weapon. Iran now enriches uranium to near weapons-grade levels of 60%, the only country in the world without a nuclear weapons program to do so. Under the original 2015 nuclear deal, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium up to 3.67% purity and to maintain a uranium stockpile of 300 kilograms (661 pounds). The last report by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Iran’s program put its stockpile at 8,294.4 kilograms (18,286 pounds) as it enriches a fraction of it to 60% purity. U.S. intelligence agencies assess that Iran has yet to begin a weapons program, but has “undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so.” Ali Larijani, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, has warned in a televised interview that his country has the capability to build nuclear weapons, but it is not pursuing it and has no problem with the International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspections. However, he said if the U.S. or Israel were to attack Iran over the issue, the country would have no choice but to move toward nuclear weapon development. “If you make a mistake regarding Iran’s nuclear issue, you will force Iran to take that path, because it must defend itself,” he said. Why are relations so bad between Iran and the U.S.? Iran was once one of the U.S.’s top allies in the Mideast under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who purchased American military weapons and allowed CIA technicians to run secret listening posts monitoring the neighboring Soviet Union. The CIA had fomented a 1953 coup that cemented the shah’s rule. But in January 1979, the shah, fatally ill with cancer, fled Iran as mass demonstrations swelled against his rule. The Islamic Revolution followed, led by Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and created Iran’s theocratic government. Later that year, university students overran the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, seeking the shah’s extradition and sparking the 444-day hostage crisis that saw diplomatic relations between Iran and the U.S. severed. The Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s saw the U.S. back Saddam Hussein. The “Tanker War” during that conflict saw the U.S. launch a one-day assault that crippled Iran at sea, while the U.S. later shot down an Iranian commercial airliner that the American military said it mistook for a warplane. Iran and the U.S. have see-sawed between enmity and grudging diplomacy in the years since, with relations peaking when Tehran made the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. But The President unilaterally withdrew America from the accord in 2018, sparking tensions in the Mideast that persist today. ___ The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. —Jon Gambrell, Associated Press Associated Press writer Amir Vahdat contributed to this report. View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. As long as we have employers, we’ll also have managers who issue nonsensical or inefficient edicts — even when their employees point out a smarter way to go. Sometimes that’s because they’re more focused on control or appearances than on actual results. Sometimes it’s because they’re out of touch with the day-to-day realities of the work. And sometimes they’re just bad managers. Today at Slate, I wrote about how some irritated employees have learned to respond to these policies with “malicious compliance”: scrupulously doing exactly what they’re being told to do, but in a way that exposes the absurdity of the request. You can read it here. View the full article

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) has announced that applications are now open for the Agricultural Growth, Research, and Innovation (AGRI) Value-Added Grant Program. The initiative aims to boost the state’s agricultural and renewable energy sectors by supporting value-added businesses with targeted equipment investments. Through the AGRI Value-Added Grant, eligible applicants — including individuals, farmers, businesses, agricultural cooperatives, nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, local governments, and tribal governments — can apply for funding to enhance the production capacity, market diversification, and market access of value-added agricultural products. For this program, “value-added” is defined as the addition of value to an agricultural product through processing. The MDA expects to award a combined $2 million in funding through the AGRI Value-Added and AGRI Meat, Poultry, Egg, and Milk (MPEM) Grants. Funding priorities for this round include projects that increase food safety and expand hemp fiber production capacity. Grant recipients are required to meet specific cash match requirements. Applicants must provide 50% of the first $50,000 of project costs to qualify for up to $25,000 in reimbursement. For expenses beyond the first $50,000, recipients must cover 75% of the additional costs, with the state reimbursing 25%, up to a maximum grant award of $150,000. For example, a project costing $400,000 would be eligible for $112,500 in total grant reimbursement. Applicants would receive $25,000 for the first $50,000 of expenses and $87,500 for the remaining $350,000, requiring them to contribute $287,500 of their own funds. Applications for the AGRI Value-Added Grant are due by 4 p.m. Central Time on Thursday, August 7, 2025. Interested parties are encouraged to carefully review the Value-Added Request for Proposals – Spring document for full eligibility and requirement details. Applications must be submitted online through the designated MDA portal, and new users will need to create an account before applying. The AGRI Program is a key component of Minnesota’s strategy to advance its agricultural economy, offering resources to help businesses grow while promoting innovation and sustainability in the industry. Image: Canva This article, "Minnesota Department of Agriculture Opens Applications for AGRI Value-Added and MPEM Grant Programs" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Audit requires innovation. By Alan Anderson, CPA Transforming Audit for the Future Go PRO for members-only access to more Alan Anderson. View the full article

Audit requires innovation. By Alan Anderson, CPA Transforming Audit for the Future Go PRO for members-only access to more Alan Anderson. View the full article

By CPA Trendlines Research Individual tax returns often turn up a need for eldercare for a client or a client’s relatives. MORE Listicles here Exclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today. Often younger family members … Continued Go PRO for members-only access to more CPA Trendlines Research. View the full article

By CPA Trendlines Research Individual tax returns often turn up a need for eldercare for a client or a client’s relatives. MORE Listicles here Exclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today. Often younger family members … Continued Go PRO for members-only access to more CPA Trendlines Research. View the full article

For the past five years, Google's Emoji Kitchen has offered a way for users to make unique emojis from existing icons. The feature lets you take two emojis and combine them into one to make emojis that are familiar yet new. You can take the saluting emoji and combine it with the robot emoji to make a saluting robot, or the alien emoji and the "shh" emoji to make an alien telling you to be quiet. You can't necessarily mix each and every emoji that you see in your emoji keyboard, though—first, Google has to make those combinations possible. Every now and then, Google will include new combinations within software updates, even if they don't advertise each one. The more often you use emojis with Gboard, the more combinations you're bound to discover. But now, you no longer need to experiment with Emoji Kitchen in order to discover new combinations. In fact, Google will do the combining for you: All you have to do is scroll. Browse Emoji Kitchen combinations on PixelAs reported by 9to5Google, Google is rolling out an update to the emoji keyboard on Pixel devices. Once the update hits your Pixel, you'll now see a short row of emoji combinations along the top of the emoji keyboard, with an arrow at the end of the row. Tap the arrow, and you'll open up a full grid of emoji combinations, which you can scroll through for a long time. If you somehow reach the bottom without finding an emoji you like, you can return to the top of the grid and pull down to refresh the browser. Credit: Jake Peterson/Lifehacker When you do find a combination you like, tap on it. The emoji keyboard will reveal a pop up, showing you which two emojis were used to make this new one. If you want to use it, just tap Send. Credit: Jake Peterson/Lifehacker While the Emoji Kitchen is available on all devices using Gboard, the new Emoji Kitchen browser is exclusive to Pixel devices. Other devices will still need to create Emoji Kitchen icons by hand. Alternatively, you can use the "Randomize" option in the Emoji Kitchen tool built into Google: just search Emoji Kitchen in the web browser, then click Get cooking. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Youth culture moves fast. New slang is created and abandoned in days, whole communities organize around a blurry photograph, jokes become memes, memes become rituals, and everything might is abandoned before you even notice it exists. It's like to trying to study a snowflake: Once you can look at it, it's already melted. So it is this week, as I take a look a new lexicon of brain-rot slang (that might not really be slang), a meme format based on threatening to eat your Uber driver, and the performative disappointment of youth. Plus, as a reminder that we still still share something, a video about humanity's never-ending fascination with digging holes. What do "Kevin," "gurt," and "IKIAB" mean? I cover slang a lot in this column and keep a running glossary of Gen Z and Gen A words, but I'm not sure what to make of "Kevin," "gurt," "IKIAB," and countless other slang terms born in the past couple of weeks. To many young people, anything bad can be described as Kevin, and the word gurt means something like "smart but dangerous" and IKIAB is an acronym for "Imma keep it a buck," which means "I'm telling the truth." But maybe they don't mean anything. All these new words are part of the quickly evolving world of brain-rot memes, and they straddle a line between self-aware parody of slang and actual slang. IKIAB was coined a few weeks ago by TikTok user @xznthos, who declared it was new slang that everyone would now use. Gurt was invented and defined a few days later, and Kevin a few days after that. This led to making up slang words becoming a meme format in brain-rot videos, with all kinds of people declaring that all kinds of words now mean all kinds of things. But do they? Is slang really slang just because someone says it is and a lot of people see the video? Taking it a step further, a writer at Daily Dot asked Google Search’s generative AI Overview to define nonsense phrases like “banana slurp” and “cyclops vibing," and it answered that banana slurp "could potentially be a misinterpretation of ‘that’s bananas’ or ‘she/he went bananas,’ which both mean something is crazy, wild, or extremely agitated," and that cyclops vibing "essentially suggests that a person is enjoying themselves and in a good place, even if they are depicted with a somewhat intimidating or unusual image like a cyclops.” So you don't even need a person to have ever used a word or phrase for it to have a definition (at least to a computer), so when is a word slang and when is it nonsense? That's the kind of question only a total stork smoother would ask. What is the "I'm so hungry I could eat..." trend?The "I'm so hungry I could eat..." trend is way easier to understand than brain-rot slang. It's a form of prank video where you secretly record someone's reaction to you saying, "I'm so hungry I could eat X," with X being whatever is likely to get the biggest reaction. It started with videos of parents saying "I'm so hungry I could eat a kid" to their kids, which is adorable: Then dog owners started threatening to eat their dogs: Then things started getting stranger, like this video where someone threatens to eat their Uber driver. But the height of the trend is saying you're so hungry they could eat a random, specific person from their victim's past. Like an old classmate who might have been dangerous: or their first boyfriend: or their coke dealer from the 90s. What is the Hiccup Cult?If your child has just joined The Hiccup Cult, don't worry. It's not a cult like The People's Temple; it's just a random TikTok thing with no real meaning. A few weeks ago, TikToker @annesstinkysock posted a video where they pointed out that the character Hiccup from How to Train Your Dragon is kind of funny-looking, and that she'd changed her profile picture to an image of Hiccup. That's it. That's the whole origin story. For some reason no one can explain, this video was spat out to millions of TikTok users, thousands (maybe hundreds of thousands) of whom changed their own profile pictures to Hiccup. Many of them started following each other, and a cult was born. To join, you just have to change your profile picture to Hiccup and you're in. TikTok cults aren't new. There have been a ton of them revolving around a picture of a hamster, or Dragon Ball character Goku, or minions. It's the kind of thing that will be forgotten quickly, but maybe it provides some sense of belonging for the 12 seconds it exists. "Rejection cakes" take over the internetIt's the time of year when high school seniors are crossing their fingers and receiving their acceptance or rejection emails from the colleges they applied to. As you'd probably expect, social media is filled with videos of over-achievers crying happy tears because they were accepted at Harvard, Boston College, or all four of the Ivy League schools they applied to. As you'd probably expect, it's getting ridiculous. Just check out how elaborate this video is for getting into UT Austin: Good for her and all, but I mean, it's UT Austin? Anyway, I'm more interested in the people who won't be choosing between Yale and Dartmouth this fall. The trend for the rest of us, the also-rans and the almost-made-its, this year is rejection cakes. Videos like this one: and this one: are providing a much-needed counter-narrative to all the terrible success some people experience. I think there's something more valuable in performative displays of resilience than displays of pride, because we can't all get into Stanford, but we can all eat cake. Anyway, If you'd like to look at young people who have had their hopes dashed early instead of having them dashed when they graduate from their dream college there's a bunch of videos here. Viral video of the week: A Video About Digging A Hole A lot of youth culture these days lives up to the "brain-rot" name, but there's always a yin to the yang, like this week's viral video, "A Video About Digging a Hole." This video will not rot anyone's brain. In it, YouTuber Jacob Geller goes deep into the subject of holes. People, particularly younger people, have always been fascinated with holes, and Geller's video examines the cultural and symbolic power of the simple hole in the ground, finding connections between Louis Sachar's classic young adult novel Holes, Minecraft's constant digging and tunneling, 2025's unexpected blockbuster video game A Game About Digging a Hole, and way more hole-based media. This video is worth the watch just for the section on The Kola Superdeep Borehole—the deepest hole humans have ever dug. View the full article

FTSE 100 company tells hundreds of workers to stay at home and admits it has no idea when operations will recoverView the full article

If you’re looking to manage a project and facilitate better collaboration with your teams, chances are you’ve heard of and are thinking of trying Microsoft Project and Microsoft Planner. To help with that decision, we’ve set up a comparison with Microsoft Project vs. Microsoft Planner. May the best app win. The stats when comparing Microsoft Project vs. Microsoft Planner tell us that the former is a robust project management tool and the latter is more of a stripped-down version. MS Project integrates with MS products such as Office and has financial management tools and Gantt charts. However, it doesn’t have a mobile app and is expensive and complicated to use. Microsoft Planner also integrates with MS products and has kanban boards and other project views. It’s bundled in the business edition of Microsoft 365 and is good for single projects. However, it’s weak on integrations with competitor apps and is feature-light compared to Microsoft Projects. In the battle of Microsoft Project vs. Microsoft Planner, the winner is an outsider: ProjectManager. This cloud-based tool can deliver the pros of both apps without the cons. It’s a great collaborative platform, with multiple project views, resource management and more, all delivered with real-time data. ProjectManager’s Gantt chart does more than either, linking all four task dependencies, filtering for the critical path and setting baselines to track project variance. They also have a mobile app, which Microsoft Project doesn’t, and you can seamlessly import and export Microsoft Project files. Get started with ProjectManager today for free. /wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Construction-Gantt-Costs-Resources-CTA-BUTTON-2.jpgLearn more Microsoft Planner vs. Project: Why Should You Choose MS Project? We’re getting ahead of ourselves. There are reasons to prefer ProjectManager in a Microsoft Project vs. Microsoft Planner battle, but let’s provide some context first. To start, we’ll take a closer look at Microsoft Project, which is the big project management software in the room and deserves a fair shake. /wp-content/uploads/2023/05/microsoft.png What Is Microsoft Project? Microsoft Project is a project management software that has a suite of tools that are used by project managers to work more efficiently when managing projects and portfolios. It’s used in industries such as construction, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, government, retail, financial services and health care. Microsoft Project Pricing Planner Plan 1: $10.00 user/month, billed annually Planner and Project Plan 3: $30.00 user/month, billed annually Planner and Project Plan 5: $55.00 user/month, billed annually Project Standard 2024: $679.99, one-time license purchase Project Professional 2024: $1129.99, one-time license purchase Microsoft Project Reviews G2 review: 4 / 5 Capterra review: 4.4 / 5 Highlighted Positive User Reviews “The most helpful aspect of Microsoft Project & Portfolio Management (PPM) is its comprehensive project management capabilities, enabling organizations to efficiently plan, track, and manage projects from start to finish.” Tushar K – From Capterra “I really like the tie-in with every other Microsoft product we use in the office. It’s been very easy to collaborate with the other people on my team and keep everyone on track.” Jeb B – From Capterra “Most project managers across industries understand reports/project plans generated from MS Project, whether or not they have used the software before.” Alex N – From G2 Highlighted Negative User Reviews “The UI may look a bit complex to new users and the learning curve is steep as well. Also it is pricey if you are a small business.” Aviral G – from Capterra “There is a learning curve—especially for new users. It’s not as intuitive as some newer project management tools, and setting up complex projects can take some time.” Alicia B – From Capterra “The software is sophisticated and tough to master, with a steep learning curve, in my opinion. Others have pointed out restrictions in customizing possibilities and integration with other products.” Aamir A – from G2 What Is Microsoft Project Used For? Microsoft Project is used to help set realistic goals for project teams. It does this by creating project schedules, distributing resources and managing budgets. Microsoft Project users can create projects, track tasks, generate reports to monitor progress and manage resources and costs. /wp-content/uploads/2023/06/microsoft-project-gantt-chart.webp Who Uses MS Project? As we’ve noted above, Microsoft Project is used across several industries. Anyone who’s tasked with delivering a project will find this software useful. Some companies that have used or are using Microsoft Project include Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin and Harris Corporation, all in the aerospace and defense sector. Deutsche Bahn, which is in the rail, bus, commuter and taxi sectors and many others. Notably, MS Project isn’t the choice of Mac users as it doesn’t work on Apple computers. Microsoft Project Key Features Microsoft Project has many use cases and it tends to be used by businesses that are managing one or many larger, more complex projects. Here are some key features that help with enterprise project management: Project and portfolio management tools such as Gantt charts Task and resource management tools such as roadmaps and resource allocation Collaboration and reporting tools that integrate with other MS products Related: Microsoft Project Online: Pros, Cons and Best Alternatives Microsoft Planner vs. Project: How Is Microsoft Project Better Than Planner? Now that we have the stats down, it’s time for Microsoft Project vs. Microsoft Planner to get in the ring and see who comes out on top. When the bell rings, it looks as if Microsoft Project has a big advantage over Microsoft Planner. It’s more comprehensive and built to manage more complex projects with more complex tools that use time-phased scheduling for medium to large-sized teams. Microsoft Project creates more detailed project outlines and comprehensive project planning, with task structuring and timeline. It also consolidates project scheduling, resource allocation and budget management. Microsoft Planner vs. Project: How Is Microsoft Project Worse Than Planner? Microsoft Project is on the ropes when it comes to ease of use. Planner is far easier to use and is a superior tool for team planning when working with less complicated projects. It has fewer features, but that makes it more user-friendly, especially if you’re working on a project that doesn’t need those advanced features. Therefore, Microsoft Planner is going to be the choice for small teams and agile projects that prefer a lightweight and user-friendly tool that’s more focused on task management exclusively. Related: Best Microsoft Project Alternatives Microsoft Planner vs. Project: Why Should You Choose MS Planner? In the bout of Microsoft Project vs. Microsoft Planner, Microsoft Project has come out strong and looks dominant. It’s more powerful, has more features and is the preferred project management software for very established companies that run big projects. But Microsoft Planner isn’t down for the count. There are many reasons why Microsoft Planner is the champion in this bout. But don’t take our word for it. Let’s look at what makes Microsoft Planner so good. /wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Microsoft-Planner-logo.webp What Is Microsoft Planner? Microsoft Planner is a lightweight, mobile and cloud-based tool that’s included with some subscriptions to Office 365. Unlike Microsoft Project, Microsoft Planner can be used as a personal task management app. In fact, its main focus is task management, which is an integral part of project management and is an ideal tool for simple projects being managed by smaller teams. It’s a collaboration tool that can create plans and assign tasks. Microsoft Planner Pricing Microsoft 365 Business Basic: $6.00 user/month, billed annually Microsoft 365 Business Standard: $12.50 user/month, billed annually Microsoft 365 Business Premium: $22.00 user/month, billed annually Microsoft 365 Apps for business: $8.25 user/month, billed annually Microsoft Planner Reviews G2 review: 4.2 / 5 Capterra review: 4.3 / 5 Highlighted Positive User Reviews “Overall I really enjoy it. It is not as robust as Project of course, but for day to day projects and task assignment it is perfect.” Karen L – From Capterra “Overall this is an easy to use project planning tool with good integration with other Microsoft products including Microsoft To Do and email.” Kate M – From Capterra “Microsoft Planner makes task organization a breeze and effortless. The ability to create tasks, assign them to members, set deadlines and prioritize them all in one platform is a boon.” Naif H – From G2 Highlighted Negative User Reviews “Microsoft Planner serves as a rudimentary tool for project management, best suited for simple tasks. It falls short in providing the necessary tools for managing larger or more complex projects.” Michael D – From Capterra “Really more of a planning or task management tool than a full project management tool, as it does not include time or risk management nor does it have a dashboard to view multiple projects at the same time.” Samuel S – From Capterra “It doesn’t allow you to tag people in a comment, multiple coworkers have missed the updates on different tasks.” Deisy S – from G2 What Is Microsoft Planner Used For? Microsoft Planner is an app that helps teams create plans, assign tasks, chat about those tasks and track progress on their work. It’s used to give project team members better tools to manage their tasks, facilitate teamwork and give managers visibility into that work. It’s used by teams to collaborate on a visual interface that helps them organize their work and enables each team member to manage their tasks while fostering collaboration with the whole team. It’s used for lightweight projects. While it sounds like a project management tool, it’s more of a task management app that helps with projects through work management and team collaboration. Along these lines, it shows the tasks that are behind schedule, prioritizes tasks and shows how many tasks each team member has to complete and if they’re over-allocated. Therefore, it’s used for simple task management and can help with project management through time management. /wp-content/uploads/2022/05/microsoft-planner-screenshot.png Who Uses Microsoft Planner? Microsoft Planner is part of the suite of Microsoft tools for project managers and their teams. Therefore, one group of users are certainly project management professionals who want to add to their project management software by incorporating an app that helps them with task management and collaboration. It’s meant to be used by a group, however, because of the lightweight quality of the app, it’s also popular with the general public who wants help with managing their personal work. For example, it could be used by a family that wants to coordinate tasks among its members or if someone is planning a small event. Microsoft Planner Key Features There are many features that Microsoft Planner has to help project managers and their teams with task management and collaboration. Here are the main features: Visual status chart Kanban-style boards To-do lists Preview pictures to quickly identify tasks Calendar that can be used to schedule events Meeting notes that are great for collaboration Microsoft 365 integration as well as the full Office suite of products as well as Microsoft SharePoint for documents Related: How to Make a Gantt Chart with Microsoft Planner Data Microsoft Planner vs. Project: How Is Microsoft Planner Better Than Project? Microsoft Planner is better than Microsoft Project if you’re looking for a simpler, easier-to-use tool. It has kanban boards that can be quickly created, which has content-rich task cards and is more appropriate for ad-hoc teams. It excels at team collaboration and is simple to use, unlike Microsoft Project. Planner is preferred by smaller teams working on less complicated projects. Microsoft Planner vs. Project: How Is Microsoft Planner Worse Than Project? Microsoft Project is the preferred tool for larger teams who are working on longer, more complicated projects. Planner doesn’t offer a grid or timeline view. You can’t link dependent tasks, which can cause delays, and there’s no roadmap for managing multiple projects, such as programs and portfolios. Microsoft Planner also lacks advanced project management features, such as baselines, critical path, resource and risk management. Fortunately, there are a number of Planner alternatives, besides just Microsoft Project, to choose from for managing your work. Microsoft Planner vs. Project: Pricing Comparison Finally, let’s look at the bottom line: cost. More often than not, the price of subscribing to the app is going to be the determining factor in one’s decision-making. There are several plans offered by Microsoft 365, which features MS Planner. They are listed below. Microsoft 365 Business Basic: $6 user/month with an annual commitment Microsoft 365 Business Standard: $12.50 user/month with an annual commitment Microsoft 365 Business Premium: $22 user/month with an annual commitment Microsoft 365 Apps for Business: $8.25 user/month with an annual commitment What does it cost to use Microsoft Project? Below are the three tiers of subscription. Project Plan 1: $10 user/month Project Plan 3: $30 user/month Business Plan: $55 user/month ProjectManager Is Better Than Microsoft Project and Planner If you’re thinking that it’d be great to have one software product that combined the advanced project management features of Microsoft Project with the more agile task management and collaborative tools of Microsoft Planner, good news: there is. ProjectManager is award-winning project management software that’s flexible enough for teams of any size who are working on projects big or small. Our software has features for portfolio management, risk management and is also a collaboration tool that makes it easy for teams working anywhere to work better together. You’ll find all the project management tools available on both Microsoft Project and Microsoft Planner, but they’re more accessible, less expensive and easier to use. Plus, we have a mobile app for Android and iOS so you can take the tool anywhere. Work With Better Resource Management Features Microsoft Planner has no resource management features and Microsoft Project has some, but it isn’t available for Mac users and is complicated and expensive for everyone else. Our resource management tools allow you to set the availability of your team, including vacation, PTO and global holidays, which makes it easier to assign tasks. Our color-coded workload chart allows you to see who is overallocated and then lets you reallocate resources right from that chart to quickly balance the workload so everyone is working at capacity. You can manage human and nonhuman resources on our Gantt chart, which by the way links all four task dependencies, filters for the critical path and can set a baseline to track project variance in real time. We also have secure timesheets to streamline payroll and manage labor costs. /wp-content/uploads/2023/10/tab-workload-1.jpg Track Progress With Real-Time Project Tracking and Reporting Once you’ve set a baseline for your project plan on the Gantt chart, you can monitor your progress and performance across our tool. You can get a high-level overview of the project with our real-time dashboard or portfolio dashboard, both of which automatically collect live project data and display it on easy-to-read graphs and charts. There you can see everything from time to tasks, costs to workload and more. Unlike Microsoft Planner and Project, there’s no complicated and lengthy setup required. It’s ready when you are. If you want more detail, use our customizable reporting features. You can quickly generate status and portfolio reports as well as reports on variance, timesheets, workload and more. Each report can be filtered to show only the data you want to see and then shared across multiple formats to keep stakeholders informed. /wp-content/uploads/2023/11/tab-dashboards.png In addition to these robust project management features, ProjecManager allows users to easily import Microsoft Project Plan files (MPP files), Excel files and CSV files so they can seamlessly switch from Microsoft Planner and Microsoft Project. Related Microsoft Content If you’re still not convinced that ProjectManager puts both Microsoft Planner and Microsoft Project to shame, then look over these related pieces that we’ve published on everything from Microsoft Project alternatives to Microsoft Project for Mac. These are just a few of the weekly blogs, tutorial videos and free templates you’ll find on our website, an online hub for everything related to project management and the industries that use it. Microsoft Lists vs. Planner: In-Depth Software Comparison ProjectManager vs Microsoft Project: Full Breakdown Best Microsoft Project Alternatives Best Microsoft Planner Alternatives Microsoft Project Viewer – How to View & Edit MPP Files Online MPP File Extension: What Is It & How to Open It Microsoft Project for Mac: How to Run MS Project Files on Your Mac How to Use Microsoft Project ProjectManager is online project and portfolio management software that connects teams whether they’re in the office, out in the field or anywhere in between. They can share files, comment at the task level and stay updated with email and in-app notifications. Join teams at Avis, Nestle and Siemens who use our software to deliver successful projects. Get started with ProjectManager today for free. The post Microsoft Planner vs. Project: In-Depth Software Comparison appeared first on ProjectManager. View the full article

The "Sell America" trade that gripped markets this month has left a potentially lasting dent in investors' willingness to hold the US government's longest-maturity debt, a mainstay of its deficit-financing toolkit. View the full article

Many articles detail the top-level costs of SEO. While the fee you will pay an SEO consultant or agency is part of the cost to do SEO, getting results also requires a contribution in time and effort from the business. This article will look beyond the surface at the full spectrum of costs associated with doing SEO well, enabling you to approach 2025 well-prepared for SEO success. SEO costs: The basics If you are just looking for a straightforward overview of SEO costs, several studies have answered the question. Exact costs vary depending on factors such as business size, goals, industry, geographical location, and the overall complexity of the project, but as an average in 2025, we have: Hourly rates between $75 and $100. Project-based fees from $2,501 to $5,000. Monthly retainers ranging from $500 to $1,500. Local SEO ranges from $250 upwards, depending on competition and total locations. While some of these figures may seem high, most businesses are small, and their SEO costs are much lower. In the U.S., small businesses typically spend $500 or less per month on SEO, while in the UK, the average monthly spend is around £500. The problem with generic SEO costs Unfortunately, there is a problem with this pricing model as it relates to SEO. Improving your SEO is a more involved and complicated process than buying traffic. Generic, top-level figures assume that SEO is an entirely hands-off process. You pay a consultant or agency $$$ per month, and they wave their magic SEO wand and shout “Optimizara” and – Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo! – you appear magically at the top of the search rankings. Unsurprisingly, that is not how things work in the real world, and effective SEO requires a synergy between the business and the SEO consultant. In 2025, SEO is hyper-competitive. Competition comes from search ads, AI Overviews, brands, and more aggressive and advanced competitors. SEO for 2025 should focus on improving visibility across these SERP features. Succeeding in this landscape requires sage SEO guidance, a strong SEO strategy, a clear SEO plan, and lots of hard work! You have to aim at what Google is aiming at. Fortunately, Google’s philosophy for SEO is articulated by E-E-A-T. The content Google wants to surface is based on experience and expertise from trusted authority figures in your industry. Your SEO is unlikely to be that authority in your business, so rather than someone who does it all for you, your SEO should be a guide who analyzes the current SEO situation and provides you with a map to better results. Your SEO should be a kind of SEO Obi-Wan Kenobi – a wise sage who will tutor you in the ways of the SEO force and guide you forward. Instead of viewing SEO as a one-time service you pay for and complete, it’s better to think of it within the framework of the 3Ms model: manpower, money, and minutes. Manpower is the time you provide. Money is how you pay for guidance and advice. Minutes is how long it will take to get results (a key SEO consideration). This will allow you to develop a more holistic and comprehensive idea of how much SEO will cost to develop results. Is SEO the right choice for now? On that note, you must consider whether SEO is the right fit for your immediate needs. SEO is powerful, but it often takes time, so if you need new business today, you may need to have an SEO or PPC conversation first. The key here is to consider your goals, often using a system like SEO SMART goals. Then, determine if SEO’s realities align with your overall marketing requirements. If you decide to integrate SEO into your broader marketing approach, be mindful of tracking your progress with KPIs. Dig deeper: When your business doesn’t need SEO The SEO outsourcing trap One final word of warning. SEO is not the same as PPC. Google wants to show the best sites at the top of the search engine. You can’t just pay to play with SEO. This thinking can cause you to fall into an SEO outsourcing trap. This is where you constantly seek the agency that knows the secret to SEO and will be able to succeed where many others have failed before them. Remember, no agency has a special relationship with Google, and there is no secret trick to get to the top of Google (for long, at least). Strategize. Plan. Do the work. The real costs of SEO Let’s dig a little deeper and look at how to understand the true costs of doing SEO well. SEO is not as simple as Google Ads. It is not a direct pay-to-win model or as straightforward as paying an agency and getting guaranteed results. Investing in organic search requires: Analysis. Insight. Strategy. Expert guidance. Tactical support. Technical updates. Creative effort. It works best when the SEO and the business work closely together, where the SEO often plays the role of researcher, strategist, and project manager to pull everything together. If I haven’t scared you off yet – and if you really want to improve your SEO, which you really should – then you must go into this with your eyes open and expect it to be difficult. You will need to sacrifice time and money on the altar of SEO success, but if your sacrifice is worthy, there will be a pile of gold at the end. Remember, the smartest SEO happens at the intersection of your business knowledge and the agency’s SEO expertise. Working together, you can achieve results far beyond what either could accomplish alone. At its heart, this is multi-format content marketing and SEO integrated and working together. Caveats aside, let’s break this down into a more comprehensive set of SEO costs: 1. SEO outsourcing costs Your first SEO cost is for professional advice from a credible, experienced expert. As detailed above, this will cost you anywhere from $100 per hour upwards, depending on competition, complexity, and scope. Be mindful that there are many types of SEO companies, all of which offer a range of services from analysis and strategy to technical SEO and content creation. As such, educate yourself on your situation and likely requirements. Be prepared to do an initial piece of work to: Understand your marketplace. Assess your current SEO situation. Develop a plan with clear timelines. Before you dive in, it’s crucial to become an educated buyer and understand the difference between SEO goals, strategy, and planning. With a solid plan in place, you can then determine who will handle what responsibilities on both the client and agency sides. The plan is crucial – don’t skip this step. Although it may seem like extra work, planning saves time and money while improving results. Choose wisely and plan effectively. This step determines whether you succeed or face slow, gradual, painful failure. 2. SEO internal resources costs As a business, there are many ways you can inform and assist the agency in developing your SEO, including: The marketing big picture: The agency needs to understand the overall marketing strategy and approach and where SEO fits into that bigger picture. Defining goals and objectives: Goals and objectives must be clear for the overall marketing and SEO within that larger framework. Content creation and approval: The agency may help, but often, this will depend upon specific industry knowledge that the business may need to provide. In many cases, the content may need to come from authentic individuals within the company to hit those E-E-A-T targets. Website support: Not all agencies provide website support, and many websites are complicated and require developer support to optimize the website design and SEO fully. Your website remains crucial and must be carefully planned to maximize SEO success. Reporting and feedback: SEO is often judged on several KPIs, but it can be helpful to close the loop here and reconcile conversions to actual leads and sales. This will help the agency understand the real-world impact rather than just the metrics and improve results. Training: Where the business will perform some of the more day-to-day SEO tasks, time may be assigned for training sessions. Day-to-day SEO tasks: Where the business is undertaking website updates or content creation, there are some SEO tasks here (all of which should be covered in the SEO training). Regular communication and meetings: SEO is an iterative process, and healthy engagement on the client side only helps ensure that opportunities are grasped and the SEO stays oriented toward the goal. Regular catch-ups, reviews, and communication help ensure hurdles are overcome and progress is consistent. This all takes time, but will improve results and keep you on track. The specifics here will always vary depending on the business and that all-important SEO plan. The key takeaway is that the best results will come when the business and agency work together toward agreed goals. Dig deeper: Where should you spend your SEO budget? 3. The cost of not doing SEO Not doing SEO also carries costs and impacts on the business. Reduced visibility: If your customers search, not being organically visible will lead to less visibility and fewer visitors. Reduced local or brand awareness: If customers can’t find you, this impacts direct business, referrals and recommendations. Credibility: There is a trust associated with organic rankings, and if you rely solely on ads or other means, then this will impact credibility and conversions. Impact on other channels: Should a prospect find you from other marketing, they may still search for you unless you consider how your business is presented in search results. Then, you could lose business for all the wrong reasons. Losing out to competitors: Each job you don’t win is what your competitors do. By not having a solid organic presence, you are slowly losing ground that will be harder to reclaim. Higher advertising costs: Organic, when well-established, tend to have higher engagement and lower costs for generating leads and sales than other channels. This pushes you to rely on more expensive channels and again seeds a competitive advantage to your competitors who are winning more work at lower costs. Ultimately, if your customers use search engines and you don’t do SEO, you are almost certainly losing out and handing opportunities to your competitors. 4. The cost of doing SEO badly There is the old saying that if you think it is expensive to use an expert, wait until you see how expensive it is to do the job cheaply with an amateur. That is SEO in a nutshell. There are SEO experts on Fiverr. There is always someone who will do the job for less. Many low-rent SEO tools and companies will make wondrous promises but deliver very little. The SEO AI tools are the latest addition of big promises and offer to pump out content daily to boost your SEO, but they will do little to help and could cost you dearly. Doing SEO badly will, at best, cost you time and money. Worse still, in the helpful content world, doing SEO badly could hurt your site’s ability to rank in the future. The key is to use a credible, experienced expert and to put a plan together. Don’t scrimp on SEO today; it is too expensive in the long run! 5. Costs for SEO software and tools Another SEO cost is the many tools available that aim to help you rank. These tools range from around $50 to $100 monthly for a single site. These tools certainly have their uses from a monitoring perspective, and they can also provide suggestions regarding tasks that may improve your SEO. The main problem with these tools is that they have to make recommendations, many of which will do nothing to improve your SEO whilst eating up a lot of your time. John Mueller addressed the output of SEO tools in a recent Reddit SEO thread. “Any SEO tool will spit out 10s or 100s of ‘recommendations,’ most of those are going to be irrelevant to your site’s visibility in search. Finding the items that make sense to work on takes to experience.” That is our experience, and whilst SEO tools can be helpful, they require an experienced eye to separate the wheat from the chaff. My take on whether you should use SEO tools is that it depends on your experience. If you are a novice SEO trying to use the tool to steer your efforts, you will likely eat up many hours, days and weeks following the advice of a tool that will do nothing to help your SEO. The real cost of SEO tools for most novice users is simply the lost time (which is the most precious resource of all). 6. Time to results An important note with SEO vs. other paid tactics is that it can take a while to benefit from improved visibility and traffic. Over time, you can often reduce SEO spend while seeing results stabilize and keep improving, but be prepared for the long game and don’t give up before you capture the hill! In the early stages, SEO often involves marketing spend aimed at progress toward a goal, but with little immediate tangible business result, so keep this in mind. Dig deeper: What percentage of your budget should go toward SEO? Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. Business email address Sign me up! Processing... See terms. SEO planning and accurate SEO costs The key to getting accurate SEO costs is to work on an SEO plan. The specifics here will vary, but at a high level, you will need to determine your: Situation: Where are you now? Objectives: Where do you want to get to? Strategy: What is the overarching strategy? Why should Google rank you? Tactics: What are the specifics of your approach? Action plan: Who will do what and when? Measurements: How will you measure progress and results? Once you understand all of the financial costs and internal resources and how long it will take to start seeing actual traffic, you can decide how to proceed. There is a wonderful little book called “The Art of War” by the military strategist Sun Tzu, written around 500 BCE. Much can be mined from this book for business and marketing strategy, and the following statement seems particularly apt for SEO: “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” A lot of SEO is tactics without strategy, citations, links, blog posts, etc. This never goes anywhere. Strategy is only useful if it is acted on through tactics. You need a well-researched and documented plan to understand the costs and timescales. Remember, professionals have plans; with modern SEO, this is the difference between success and failure. How much should you spend on SEO? This is a trickier question and depends on your business and situation. Small businesses should generally spend between 7% and 12% of their gross revenue on marketing. How much of that should be spent on SEO depends on: Your current rankings. How vital SEO is as a channel for customer acquisition. And myriad other factors. If you believe that 50% of customers will search and find you, investing 50% of your marketing budget on organic search and SEO may make sense. Or you could spend 25% on paid search and 25% on organic (depending on your short vs. long-term goals). It is impossible to answer this question without considering your current situation, so I recommend enlisting the help of an expert to help you develop a plan and move forward. The real cost of SEO My aim here is to give you a broader overview of everything required to do SEO well in 2025 and beyond. If you approach this thinking that you can get everything you need by spending just $500 a month, you will never compete with businesses that also invest their time and effort into building a long-term plan and vision for SEO. Even for smaller businesses and local firms, where the agency can handle most of the work, you will achieve far better results by collaborating closely on content. The win happens at the intersection of the business’s customer knowledge and the SEO’s knowledge of search. If you’ve read this far, take solace in the fact that most won’t – and likewise, most won’t put in the requisite effort to get real results. Most companies will either do the job badly or not at all. By being one of the few willing to put in the work to do it properly, you are already well ahead of the pack. Find an expert to guide you, work diligently to build a plan, and aim squarely at being the best — and letting the world know about it. This approach will embed SEO into your business in a way competitors can neither easily copy nor compete with. Good luck! Dig deeper: How to create and manage an SEO budget View the full article

AI video generators are rapidly improving and becoming more widely available, with Google's Veo 2 now built into the Gemini app for anyone paying for a Google One AI Premium plan. Like OpenAI's Sora, Runway, Adobe's Firefly, and others, Veo 2 enables you to create a professional-looking video from nothing more than a text prompt. With Veo 2 now available to paying users, it seems like a good opportunity to test these different AI video generators against each other, and compare their strengths and weaknesses—and to assess where we're at with AI video in general. We keep being told that these tools will transform movie-making, or at least fill the internet with AI slop, but are they actually practically useful? Microsoft seems to think so, having used it in a recent ad. However, only parts of the clip were AI-made—shots with quick cuts and limited motion, where hallucinations are less likely to happen or be noticed. For the purposes of this guide I'm going to take a look at Google Veo 2 and put it up against Sora, Runway, and Firefly. Other video generators are available, but these are four of the most prominent: They all cost money to access (starting from $20 a month), so you'll need to sign up for a month at least to play around with them. Bouncing balls If you're as old as I am, you'll remember an incredible ad Sony made to promote its new 1080p Bravia televisions in 2005 (above). More than 100,000 bouncy balls were dropped on the steep streets of San Francisco while the cameras rolled, and it was a compelling watch (the behind-the-scenes story is pretty fun, too). This is a real challenge for AI, involving a lot of physics and movement. The prompt I used was: "Thousands of individual, brightly colored balls bouncing down a steep, sunny street in San Francisco, in slow-motion. The camera moves carefully down the street as the balls bounce downwards, passing trees and parked cars." The Google Veo 2 attempt isn't bad. There's some weird physics going on here, but it looks reasonably natural, and could work as a short clip if you're not looking too closely. The background elements are well-rendered, and the instructions in my original prompt were followed pretty closely. Sora seems confused about the scene it's supposed to be rendering. There are colored balls for sure, but they move as a confusing mush, and defy gravity. The pace of the video is OK, even if it's going in the opposite direction to the one I requested, and the background parts of the video look fine on the whole. Runway gets the vibes pretty close, if you compare it to the original Sony clip, but again, there are several problems: The balls aren't at all consistent, the movement isn't what I asked for, and it looks as though there's an alien watching from a window in the top right corner. The street does look pretty cool though. Firefly is probably the worst of the bunch, here. Most of the balls are stationary, and those that are moving aren't very well-rendered. The street looks OK but it's nothing special—there's definitely a retro video game feel to it. As with the Sora clip, the camera is taking me up the street when I really wanted to go down. "Jurassic Park" scene If AI is going to replace the actual people who make movies, then it needs to be able to create scenes as powerful as the "welcome to Jurassic Park" one in Spielberg's 1993 movie: the moment where Richard Attenborough as John Hammond reveals the dinosaurs to his visitors for the first time (above). I was curious to see what AI would make of the scene. The prompt was: "At the top of a hill, two paleontologists slowly stagger along through the grass. As they do so the camera pulls back for a wider shot, revealing a wide clearing and a lake below. There are dinosaurs slowly walking through the lake and the trees." The clip from Google Veo 2 looks pretty good. The camera isn't really moving in the way I described, and the paleontologists aren't really staggering (and they're not on a hill either), but the scenery looks good and the dinosaurs look OK. It's rather generic overall, but it's a decent effort. Sora goes a little bit crazy with this prompt. The camera movements are jerky and don't follow the instructions I made, and the dinosaurs look like weird shape-shifting creatures. The best I can say about this effort is that all the elements I described are included, and the surrounding scenery is reasonably well done. As for Runway, it's probably the closest to what I wanted when it comes to the camera movements and the overall feel of the scene. The lake and the dinosaurs look realistic enough, but it's by no means a perfect rendering—where does the red-shirted paleontologist disappear to? It's another poor effort from Firefly. I'm not sure it knows what paleontologists are, and the dinosaurs are very small. The lake and the surrounding forest are done to an OK standard, though, even if there's a noticeable AI sheen to everything in the frame. The camera movements have been translated well here. "The Living Daylights" scene One more: the memorable Bond and Kara border-crossing scene in The Living Daylights, where they scoot down a snowy mountain on a cello case (above). I don't need to hire Timothy Dalton or Maryam d'Abo, learn how to operate a camera, or travel to Austria, because AI can make the whole scene for me. The prompt for this one was: "A man and a woman in winter clothing are sliding down a snow-covered road on a cello case. There is a barrier on the road, and as they reach it, both characters duck under it." Google Veo 2 manages this pretty well, everything considered—the scene looks mostly realistic and fun, and that does look a bit like a cello case. We do have to ignore the two people going through the road barrier as if it isn't there, but at least there is a barrier there (something the other AI models couldn't grasp). Over to Sora, and again, it's not terrible. OK, that's not really a cello case, and surely the two people would be facing forward, but the snowy road and the surrounding trees look good—it's an immersive scene. Where's my road barrier, Sora? I want to see these people ducking under it. As for Runway, whatever videos it was trained on, they sure weren't videos of people riding cello cases down mountains. The people are blending into each other, elements in the shot are shifting shape, and it just looks weird. The snowy scenery and the actual live snow effect do look good, though. Who knows what Adobe Firefly is thinking here. The physics in this one make absolutely no sense, the characters aren't consistent, and there's no road barrier to duck under. It's actually unsettling to watch. We do get a snowy road, a cello case, and two people in the clip, however. There's no clear winnerI think the Veo 2 videos impressed me most overall, though Runway seems good for realism more often than not. Across the board we have a lot of problems with physics, realism, and prompt interpretation. These are all clearly AI videos, with numerous weird quirks and inconsistencies. Now, I wasn't expecting these AI generators to get anywhere near the quality of professional ads or movies: It's just not possible to recreate those scenes with only a text prompt and a few minutes of time and effort. I'm not trying to take a cheap shot at these tools, which are obviously very clever, but rather point out some of the fundamental issues with AI video. These balls aren't bouncing. Credit: Adobe Firefly/Lifehacker With more careful work and expertise, I could probably get something that looked a lot better, and clearly these video generators are going to improve over time. Who knows what they'll be able to produce in five or 10 years? If you check out the showcased videos on these platforms, you can see that great results are possible. Personally, though, I'm not convinced these AI tools will ever fully replace traditional film work, no matter how well they're trained. To get something like the Sony ad in AI, you'd have to write reams and reams of incredibly detailed prompts, and even then you might not get what you wanted. Would AI think up the frog jumping out of the drain? Results are quick and easy, sure, but you're offloading most of the creative decisions to AI. These videos feel computer-generated. One of these people is about to disappear. Credit: Runway/Lifehacker AI doesn't really know how a ball bounces, or what a dinosaur looks like, or which way people should face as they slide down a snowy road on a cello case. It approximates and calculates based on all the videos it's previously seen, and those shortcomings show up a lot more in video than they do with images or text. You'll notice most AI videos, including the examples above, don't include elements that come in and out of shot, because the AI is likely to forget what they look like if they're not visible. And I haven't even had space here to cover the copyright issues or the energy cost to the planet. No doubt we'll see an increasing number of AI-made ads and shorts as time goes on and the technology improves, but it's worth going back to the famous warning in Jurassic Park: Being so preoccupied with whether we can do it, we don't stop to think about whether we should. Disclosure: Lifehacker’s parent company, Ziff Davis, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems. View the full article

Pivotal incentives, like cost segregation studies and energy credits, can revolutionize accounting firm service models. The Concierge CPA With Jackie Meyer For CPA Trendlines Go PRO for members-only access to more Jackie Meyer. View the full article

Pivotal incentives, like cost segregation studies and energy credits, can revolutionize accounting firm service models. The Concierge CPA With Jackie Meyer For CPA Trendlines Go PRO for members-only access to more Jackie Meyer. View the full article

Most people aren’t born savvy travelers. It’s something that only comes with on-the-road experience. Travel savviness is a process born of missed buses, foolish behavior, cultural unawareness, and countless tiny errors. Then, one day, you begin to seamlessly move through airports and integrate yourself into new cultures like a fish to water. In the beginning, you’ll make a lot of travel mistakes.But I want to help speed up the process and help you avoid my mistakes (and I often make a lot of them), so I put together this giant list of my best travel tips that cover everything under the sun to help you reach your full travel ninja potential. I’ve learned these tips over almost twenty years of being a nomad. These tips for traveling will have you saving money, sleeping better, getting off the beaten path more, meeting locals, and just being a better traveler. So, without further ado, here are the best 61 travel tips in the world: 1. Always pack a towel. It’s the key to successful galactic hitchhiking — and plain common sense. You never know when you will need it, whether it’s at the beach, on a picnic, or just to dry off after a shower. While many hostels offer towels, you never know if they will or not, and carrying a small towel won’t add that much weight to your bag. Make sure it’s a lightweight, quick-drying towel since regular towels are too bulky and heavy (and they take a long time to dry). Dry Fox travel towels are my favorite (use the code “nomadicmatt” for 15% off your purchase)! 2. Use a small backpack/suitcase. By purchasing a small backpack (I like something around 35–45 liters), you will be forced to pack light and avoid carrying too much stuff. Humans have a natural tendency to want to fill space. Even if you pack light initially but have lots of extra room in your bag, you’ll end up going, “Well, I guess I can take more” and fill that space.” You’ll regret it later as you’ll be carrying around a bunch of stuff you don’t need as well as more weight on your shoulders. This article has more tips on finding the best travel backpack for your needs. The same rule applies to suitcases. Don’t take a huge suitcase because they are a pain in the butt to lug around, especially if you’re traveling long term (short term, not so much). I like Level 8 suitcases. They are durable, quite spacious, nicely designed, and well-priced (luggage can be pretty damn expensive). Plus, they have a TSA lock built into the zipper. You can click here to learn more and buy one. I also recommend packing cubes, which are essential if you’re going to be living out of a backpack for a few weeks (or months), or you just want to keep your suitcase better organized. They come in a variety of sizes, allowing you to store items big and small. They’re great for making it easy to find everything in your backpack or suitcase. 3. Pack light. Write down a list of essentials, cut it in half, and then only pack that! Plus, since you bought a small backpack like I said above, you won’t have much room for extra stuff anyways! Take half the clothes you think you will need…you won’t need as much as you think. It’s OK to wear the same t-shirt a few days in a row. I love Unbound Merino, as their travel clothing can be worn daily for weeks without getting smelly. They are super light and they look stylish too. I really love the material, they’re comfortable, they hardly ever need a wash, and they last forever! (I wrote a review of the company here.) But bring extra socks! You’ll lose a bunch to laundry gremlins, wear and tear, and hiking so packing extra will come in handy. Take a few more than you need. Trust me on this. For a complete list of what I pack, click here to read my post. 4. Stay in hostels. They are cheap, organize events, you’ll meet a lot of people, and they are just tons of fun! Plus, hostel bars sell cheap beer. Hostelworld is the best hostel-accommodation site out there, with the largest inventory, best search interface, and highest availability. I use it for all my hostel bookings. Here’s my list of all my favorite hostels around the world broken down by city. If you’re planning on backpacking Europe, it’s worth getting HostelPass, a card that gives you up to 20% off hostels throughout Europe. It’s a great way to save money, and they’re constantly adding new hostels too. I’ve always wanted something like this and so I’m glad it finally exists. Use code NOMADICMATT for 25% off. 5. Take an extra bank card and credit card with you Disasters happen and things get stolen or compromised. I once had a card duplicated and a freeze put on it. I couldn’t use it for the rest of my trip. I was very happy I had a backup. You don’t want to be stuck somewhere new without access to your funds. This happened to a friend once and they had to borrow money from me for weeks while they waited for their new card to arrive. Here are some helpful articles on banking: How to Avoid Banking Fees While Traveling 20+ Ways to Cut Your Expenses and Have Money for Travel How to Pick the Best Travel Credit Card 6. Make sure to use no-fee bank and credit cards. Don’t give banks your hard-earned money. Keep that for yourself and spend it on your travels. Get a credit card and debit card that doesn’t charge a foreign transaction fee or an ATM fee. Over the course of a long trip, the few dollars they take every time will really add up! This article will tell you how to do that. 7. Don’t always fly direct. When booking flights, sometimes it is cheaper to fly to airports close to your final destination, and then take a train, bus, or budget airline to your final destination. To use this method, find out how much it is to go directly to your destination. Then, look at prices to nearby airports. If the difference is more than $150 USD, I look to see how much it is to get from the second airport to my primary destination. My favorite flight search engine is Skyscanner. This is my go-to website for finding cheap flights. It searches a lot of different airlines, including many of the budget carriers that larger sites miss. 8. Travel by yourself at least once. Solo travel teaches independence and confidence. It’s a cliché, but it’s true. Traveling solo taught me how to fend for myself, talk to people, and handle unfamiliar situations with ease. It can take some getting used to if you’ve never done it before but do it at least once. Make yourself uncomfortable and surprise yourself. You’ll learn valuable life skills when you push yourself! Here are some helpful articles on solo travel: Why I Travel Alone The Joy of Solo Travel Travel: The Ultimate Personal Development Tool How to Overcome Being Alone 9. Always visit the local tourism information center. This is probably one of the most underused travel tips in the world. Tourism information centers know about everything going on in town. They can point you to free activities, special events happening during your stay, and everything in between. They even offer discounts on attractions and transportation. It is their job to help you experience the destination better. They are staffed by locals who can tell you all the ins and outs of their city and where to eat or drink that aren’t filled with tourists. Plus, they often offer city tourism cards that can get you into multiple attractions for one set price, saving you a lot of money if you are going to do a lot of sightseeing. 10. Take free walking tours. Besides being free, these tours will give you a good orientation and background of the city you are visiting. I love, love, love taking walking tours when I travel. You pass the time, you get to pepper the guide with questions, and you get to learn so much about where you are. And, in the last few years, they have exploded in popularity and now most cities around the world have one! This page here lists all my favorite walking tour companies, broken down by city. If you’re looking for paid tours, Walks is one of my favorite paid walking tour companies, offering in-depth history and cultural tours in cities around the world (especially Europe). Its small-group tours also tend to offer exclusive behind-the-scenes access you can’t get elsewhere. For fellow foodies, Devour Food Tours has all kinds of amazing food tours around Europe. You can also use Get Your Guide to find plenty of unique day tours. 11. Don’t be afraid to use a map. Looking like a tourist isn’t as bad as getting really lost and ending up in the wrong neighborhood. Don’t be afraid to use a map or ask for directions and look like a tourist. After all, you are one! 12. But don’t be afraid to get purposefully lost. Wandering aimlessly through a new city is a good way to get to know it, get off the beaten path, and away from the tourists. You might be surprised by the hidden gems you find. I like to wander around and try to find my way without using Google Maps. Travel is the art of discovery and you never know what cool little spot you’ll come across. 13. Ask hostel staff for information — even when you aren’t staying there. Hostel staff deal with budget travelers all day, every day. They know exactly where to go for cheap meals and attractions. They also tend to be locals so they know the city very well. Ask them for all sorts of information. Even if you aren’t staying in one, just pop in and ask for help. They’ll usually give it. 14. Sign up for flight deals. When it comes to travel, your flight(s) will likely be your biggest expense. Save money by signing up for flight deal websites. You’ll get epic flight deals straight to your inbox, saving you time and money. Also be sure to sign up for airline newsletters, since that is where they will announce their sales first. The best websites for finding travel deals are: Going.com – The BEST for upcoming US flight deals. The Flight Deal – Great for global flight deals. Holiday Pirates – The best for European flight deals. Secret Flying – A great site for flight deals from around the world. 15. When you go out, take only what you need. Limit the amount of cash and bank cards you carry with you when you go out, so if something does happen, you can easily recover. Never take more than one credit card or ATM card with you. My rule for cash is to limit what I carry to $50 USD. 16. Always carry a lock. Carry a small combination lock with you when you travel. They come in handy, especially when you stay in dorms. Most hostels use lockers, so budget travelers need to provide their own travel lock to keep stuff secured. While you can usually rent or buy them at hostels, it’s much cheaper just to buy one before you go. (Just don’t use one with keys because if you lose the keys, you’re screwed!) 17. Make extra copies of your passport and important documents. Don’t forget to email a copy to yourself too. You never know when you might need to have some sort of documentation with you and might not want to carry your original. Additionally, if your passport gets stolen, having a copy will come in handy for your police report. 18. Learn basic phrases in the native language of your destination. The locals will appreciate it and it will make your interactions easier. You don’t need to master the language but learning a few things like “Hello,” “Goodbye,” “Thank you!”, “Where’s the bathroom?” will go a long way to endearing yourself with the locals. They’ll like that you tried. Here are some tips on how to learn a language. 19. Don’t be ashamed to walk into a Starbucks or McDonald’s. Sometimes familiarity is comforting and both places have free wifi and public restrooms you can use. (Just don’t eat the food at McDonald’s! That shit is gross and unhealthy for you! You can get it back home!). Libraries and most modern coffee shops also have free Wi-Fi too. 20. Always get behind business travelers when in security lines. They move fast since they are usually in a rush and travel light. They know the drill. Line up behind them as much as possible. You’ll speed through the line! 21. Never get behind families in airport security. They take forever. It’s not their fault. They just have a lot of stuff because of the kids. Try to avoid getting in lines with lots of kids. It’s going to take a while. 22. When you check in to the hotel, don’t be afraid to ask for an upgrade. They have a lot of flexibility when it comes to assigning upgrades at check-in. It never hurts to ask. Oftentimes they can accommodate you if the hotel isn’t full. Just be super nice! Note: If you stay in hotels frequently (or want to), it might be worth it to get a hotel credit card. You can earn points on your everyday spending at home and convert those points into free stays. The best cards come with status, making upgrades more likely too! 23. Lunchtime is the best time to visit historical sites. Lunch time is one of the best times to visit historical sites. You’ll have fewer crowds getting in your way as big tour buses, groups, and most travelers head to lunch. It’s always best to visit an attraction super early, late, or when people eat. You’ll have even the most popular places to yourself! 24. Never eat in a touristy area or near a tourist attraction. I don’t eat within five blocks of a major tourist attraction or area. I simply walk in any direction and search for a place to eat when I hit five blocks. There’s an invisible line at this area: tourists don’t go past it. All of a sudden you notice that the crowds are gone, and that’s when you want to start looking. Sure, you might find a good meal in a tourist area, but you’ll find a better, cheaper meal outside it. Go where the menus aren’t in multiple languages. Go to those little tiny hole in the wall places that you are unsure about. The meal might not knock your socks off each time but it will be a memorable and more local experience. Use websites like Yelp or Google Maps to find some delicious and popular restaurants around you. 25. Locals don’t eat out every night and neither should you. Go grocery shopping. You can learn a lot about locals’ diets by seeing the type of food they buy. Plus, it will save you a lot of money. You won’t regret it. Cook your food, save money, and surprise yourself! 26. Eat at expensive restaurants during lunch. Most expensive restaurants offer lunch specials featuring the same food they would serve for dinner but for a fraction of the cost! That’s the best time to eat out when you travel. I share more tips on how to eat cheaply around the world here. 27. Pack a headlamp. This is a handy tool for both backpackers and anyone looking to do any hiking or camping. If you’re going to be staying in a hostel, having a headlamp is helpful when you need to check in or out but don’t want to disturb your fellow travelers by turning on the lights. They’re also helpful in emergencies. 28. Carry a basic first-aid kit. Accidents happen, so be prepared. I always take band-aids, antibacterial cream, and ointments for minor cuts and scrapes. You never know when you’re going to need it and you can’t always get it when you travel. You can either assemble a first aid kit yourself (here are some tips for doing so), or purchase a pre-made kit online. 29. Don’t believe the cheap flight myths. Don’t drive yourself too crazy trying to get the absolute cheapest fare. There are a lot of myths online about how to find cheap flights, but there is no magic bullet or one secret ninja trick. It’s not cheaper to book on a particular day of the week or if you search in an incognito window. To learn how to actually find a cheap flight, check out these two posts I wrote: 5 Steps to Booking a Cheap Flight Online How to Always Find a Cheap Flight My favorite company for finding cheap flights is Skyscanner. I start all my searches there. 30. Use technology to meet locals. These websites will help you get an insider’s perspective on your destination by connecting you with locals in the places you visit. The sharing economy has changed the way people travel allowing you to meet locals, get off the tourist travel, and save mega money! It’s a triple win — and I use these resources all the time when I travel. Here’s an article on how to use the sharing economy (and what websites to use) when you travel. 31. Be open to strangers. Not everyone bites. Say hi to people on the road. Turn strangers into friends. Remember they are just like you! They want to live a happy, full life and have hopes and dreams too! You never know. You just might make some lifelong friends. 32. But keep your guard up. Some people do bite, so keep a healthy level of suspicion. You don’t want to fall for any travel scams or get yourself into uncomfortable situations. Be open but cautious. Here is a list of travel scams to avoid. 33. Avoid taxis. They are always a budget buster. Never, ever take a taxi unless you absolutely have too! 34. Take a reusable water bottle through airport security and fill it up at your gate. Single-use plastics are common in a lot of countries around the world. They’re also polluting our oceans and destroying the environment. Drink from the tap when you can — you’ll save money and help the environment. If you’re going somewhere where you can’t drink the water, be sure to get a water bottle with a filter. I love Lifestraw. 35. Take pictures of your luggage and clothes. If your bag gets lost, this will help identify it more easily and speed up the process of having your travel insurance reimburse you. 36. Carry emergency cash. Because emergencies happen, like that time in Romania when I couldn’t find an ATM and needed money for the bus to the hostel. I usually try to keep around $200 USD in emergency cash in case something happens! 37. Get vaccinated. Because falling prey to an illness in a foreign country is not fun — and many countries require you to get vaccinated in order to visit them. So regardless of your opinion on the subject, you just might have to. Here is an article on how to stay healthy on the road. 38. Learn to haggle. Haggling is a fun, playful way of not getting charged the foreigner price. It’s the art of negotiating and one that will help you throughout all of life, not just at the market. Just don’t argue over pennies — it’s not worth it! 39. Use points and miles for free travel. You can go a lot further in the world when you don’t have to pay for it. Learn how to collect points and miles through your everyday spending so you can get free flights, accommodation, train tickets, and other forms of travel. It’s what all expert travelers do to lower their travel costs and something you should do too! Here are some articles to help you get started with using points and miles: Points and Miles 101: A Beginner’s Guide How I Earn 1 Million Frequent Flier Miles Every Year The Best Travel Credit Cards 40. Eat street food! If you skip the street food, you miss out on culture. Don’t be scared. If you’re nervous, look for places where kids are eating. If it’s safe for them, it’s safe for you. 41. Get travel insurance. Travel insurance is the most important thing to get that you never want to use. If something goes wrong, you don’t want to be out thousands of dollars in bills. Travel insurance will be there if you get robbed, flights get canceled, you get sick or injured, or have to be sent home. It’s comprehensive and, for just a few dollars a day, one of the best investments you can get for a trip. You may think you’re superman/woman but so did my friend who broke her arm, didn’t have insurance, and had to pay thousands out of pocket. Insurance was there when I had to replace my camera and when I popped an eardrum scuba diving! Get it! Here are some tips on how to find the best travel insurance. My favorite companies are: SafetyWing – A budget-friendly choice for travelers who need basic coverage. They are affordable, have great customer service, and make it easy to make a claim. If you’re on a tight budget, go with SafetyWing! Insure My Trip – The best insurance for those over 70 years old. Medjet – This is a membership program that provides emergency evacuation coverage should you get into a dire situation while traveling and be hospitalized. Medjet is meant to supplement your regular travel insurance. 42. Be patient. Things will work out in the end. No need to rush. You’ll get to where you are going in due time. Travel is about the journey, not the destination. 43. Be respectful. Locals are willing to help you out, but there’s probably a language barrier, so keep your cool when something doesn’t go your way. If you don’t, you’ll end up just looking like an asshole tourist. 44. Don’t over plan your trip. Let your days unfold naturally. Schedule two or three things and let the day fill in the rest on its own. It’s less stressful, and letting the day just take you is one of the best ways to travel. Here’s my advice on how not to over plan your travels! 45. Be frugal — but not cheap. Don’t be penny wise but pound-foolish. Look for deals and don’t waste money, but don’t miss out on great experiences or walk 10 miles to save a couple of dollars. Time is money. Spend them both wisely. 46. Take earplugs. Anyone who has ever stayed in a hostel knows that earplugs are a necessity. Snorers are everywhere and you need your sleep. Even if you’re not going to be in a hostel, they’re still helpful for sleeping well if your accommodation is located on a busy street, or for sleeping in buses, overnight trains, and other types of transportation. A good night’s sleep is priceless — be prepared! These earplugs are reusable and work much better than the cheap foam ones, blocking out any distracting noises. 47. Remember that you’re not alone even if you’re traveling solo. Traveling alone never means you’re really alone. Wherever you go, there is a network of travelers who will be your friends, give you advice or tips, and help you out. They will guide you, point you in the right direction, and be your mentors. You aren’t out there on your own. You’ll make lots of friends and tons of memories. If you’re not sure about traveling on your own for the first time, you can always join a group tour, such as those we offer at The Nomadic Network. I’ve designed all the itineraries myself to ensure they cover the highlights, get you off the tourist trail, and connect you with friends and locals. 48. Take photos of and with people. When you do make those new friends on the road, take photos. Lots of photos. Years from now, you’ll want to look back on those nights you can’t remember and the people who made them memorable. 49. Pre-book your tickets to attractions, activities, and excursions online. If you’re planning to do any activities or excursions on your trip, book them online. Companies usually offer a discounted price when compared to buying in person. Not only that but you’ll be able to pay with a credit card, giving you some extra protection as well as more travel points! Many major attractions also allow you to reserve your spot and skip the line. Always look online to see if this is an option. This will help you avoid wasting time in multi-hour lines and go right in. I’ve seen people wait hours for the Paris Catacombs, Louvre, London Churchill War Rooms, churches, temples, historic fortresses, and more. Pre-book the day before, skip the line, get to see more during your day! Get Your Guide is my favorite place to book activities in advance. It’s a huge online marketplace for tours and excursions, with tons of options in cities all around the world, including skip-the-line attraction tickets, cooking classes, walking tours, and more! 50. Avoid TripAdvisor. TripAdvisor is fine when you need opening hours or an address, but when it comes to reviews I ignore it completely. People always leave a negative review when something bad happens but rarely leave a positive review when something good happens so the reviews tend to be skewed. On top of that, it’s very easy to create fake reviews and make a place seem better than it is. Many hotels and restaurants hire firms to artificially inflate their reviews on the platform. Additionally, TripAdvisor has been known to take down reviews that are overly negative as well as reviews on sexual assault. Use TripAdvisor with caution. Or better yet, don’t use it at all. 51. Finally, wear sunscreen. For as the Baz Luhrmann song “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)” goes: If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists Whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable Than my own meandering experience. ***There you have it! My top travel tips! Follow them and you’ll be the best traveler you can be in no time flat! How to Travel the World on $75 a DayMy New York Times best-selling book to travel will teach you how to master the art of travel so that you’ll get off save money, always find deals, and have a deeper travel experience. It’s your A to Z planning guide that the BBC called the “bible for budget travelers.” Click here to learn more and start reading it today! Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks Book Your Flight Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner. It’s my favorite search engine because it searches websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is being left unturned. Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel with Hostelworld. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as it consistently returns the cheapest rates for guesthouses and hotels. Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are: SafetyWing (best for budget travelers) World Nomads (best for mid-range travelers) InsureMyTrip (for those 70 and over) Medjet (for additional evacuation coverage) Want to Travel for Free? Travel credit cards allow you to earn points that can be redeemed for free flights and accommodation — all without any extra spending. Check out my guide to picking the right card and my current favorites to get started and see the latest best deals. Need a Rental Car? Discover Cars is a budget-friendly international car rental website. No matter where you’re headed, they’ll be able to find the best — and cheapest — rental for your trip! Need Help Finding Activities for Your Trip? Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace where you can find cool walking tours, fun excursions, skip-the-line tickets, private guides, and more. Ready to Book Your Trip? Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel. I list all the ones I use when I travel. They are the best in class and you can’t go wrong using them on your trip. The post My Best 51 Travel Tips to Make You the World’s Savviest Traveler appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site. View the full article

We’ve all been there: the windowless conference room, the stale coffee, the flip charts, the obligatory icebreaker, followed by hours of sticky notes and talk of disruption that feels, ironically, deeply uninspired. This is the traditional corporate offsite: a manufactured attempt at connection and creativity staged inside four beige walls. But here’s the truth that most leaders won’t say out loud: If your strategy session could’ve been an email, your offsite isn’t working. In a world demanding fresh thinking, deep alignment, and courageous reinvention, we don’t need more sticky notes; we need more perspective, pause, and place. It’s time to rethink the offsite. It is not a retreat from work, but a return to what makes work matter. The traditional offsite is designed for control: a fixed agenda, predictable outputs, and highly curated team-building exercises. But innovation is inherently unpredictable. Creativity doesn’t follow a schedule, and a breakthrough doesn’t happen when people feel boxed in—literally or figuratively. A recent Steelcase study found that only 13% of employees strongly agree that their workplace helps them be creative. Imagine taking that same creative tension and relocating it to a stuffy hotel ballroom with bad lighting and bad air quality. It’s not just uninspiring, it’s counterproductive. The Power of Perspective, Pause, and Place If you want to unlock real innovation, you need to get out of the room—literally. I have taken executive teams hiking in the mountains, walking through sculpture parks, sketching beside rivers, and sharing stories under open skies. What happens in those moments isn’t just memorable; it’s transformative. Creativity doesn’t thrive in confinement; it thrives in movement, reflection, and meaningful environments. Here’s what shifts when you leave the room: Perspective expands: On a recent mountain trail, one of my clients looked out over the valley and said, “I finally see my business differently.” Nature helps leaders zoom out, see patterns, and reconnect to what really matters. Dialogue deepens: Walking side-by-side fosters vulnerability in a way boardroom chairs never will. One CFO told me after a trail walk, “That’s the first time I have really talked to my team, not just with them.” Energy resets: Changing physical environments resets our mental state. The body moves, the mind loosens, and new insights begin to emerge, often without even trying. Ask yourself: What would happen if your team had space to think, not just speak? To feel instead of just perform? Nature, Narrative, and Nonlinear Thinking Before you overhaul your next offsite, pause and consider what actually fuels creativity and connection in teams. It’s not tighter agendas or better breakout sessions. It’s the deeper human elements that corporate playbooks often overlook. It’s the environments that stir the senses, stories that build shared meaning, and a space that honors the messy, magical process of emergence. At the heart of powerful offsites are three essential elements most corporate agendas ignore: Nature. Nature doesn’t just reduce stress—it rewires our thinking. A Stanford study found that even a 90-minute walk in nature can reduce rumination and improve problem-solving. But beyond the science, nature reminds us: Not everything must be engineered. Some things must be experienced. What might your team discover if they swapped Wi-Fi for tree lines? Narrative. The best breakthroughs don’t start with strategy decks; they start with stories. When leaders share pivotal life moments or team origin stories, new insights emerge. The strategy becomes personal, and the mission gets real. Instead of starting with goals, ask each person to share a moment that shaped how they lead. Watch what opens up. Nonlinear Thinking. Great ideas don’t arrive on demand. They bubble up in white space (or maybe it should be called green space). That’s why I build in unstructured time during offsites, not as filler, but as fertile ground. One leader told me their breakthrough idea came during a quiet solo hour by the water. Innovation needs space to breathe. A New Offsite Design Philosophy Forget the PowerPoint marathons. The new offsite design should be immersive instead of performative, meaningful instead of efficient, and designed for discovery, not just alignment. Whether you are hiking a coastal trail or sitting around a campfire, the goal isn’t to force productivity. It’s to create the conditions where insight naturally emerges. I call this strategic restoration, a practice of slowing down, stepping back, and reconnecting with what matters most. You don’t need to summit a mountain. Just start here: Change the Environment. Ditch the hotel ballroom and book a retreat center near water, a creative space, or even a local museum. One client who held their offsite in a botanical garden said, “We got more creative in two hours than we usually do in two days.” Design for Emotion, Not Just Execution. Begin with personal storytelling. Build in moments of awe—sunrise meditations, guided journaling, even shared silence. What’s the emotional tone we want this offsite to create, and why does it matter? Include Movement and Mindfulness. Use walking meetings, breathing practices, or a simple quiet space. Movement regulates the nervous system, and stillness amplifies clarity. If you are feeling bold, schedule “unplugged” windows with no devices, just presence. Trust Emergence. Don’t overfill the schedule. Leave space for what you can’t plan. That’s where breakthroughs hide. In a world addicted to speed, the leaders who pause are the ones who leap forward. In a culture obsessed with performance, the companies that reconnect with purpose are the ones that endure. So no, your next innovation breakthrough probably won’t come from a hotel ballroom with cold sandwiches and tired team-building games. It might come from a hike or a story told around a fire. Because when you design for renewal, reflection, and reconnection, strategy becomes more than a plan. It becomes a shared vision that feels alive. View the full article

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today...View the full article

Months after enabling Deep Research in its expensive $200 ChatGPT Pro plan, OpenAI is now rolling out the feature to all users. Anyone can now access a lightweight version of Deep Research for free. This new version of Deep Research sits somewhere between a regular ChatGPT search and a ChatGPT Pro-style in-depth report. These searches usually take around five to ten minutes, and give you a report that's about a page or two long. In my experience, its reports are practical, to-the-point, and well-researched. How the new "lightweight" ChatGPT Deep Research worksDeep Research is different from a regular ChatGPT search. Here, ChatGPT will use all of its resources, like its reasoning model, its thinking capabilities, its online search integration, and bring it all together to generate a detailed response. Deep Research will first ask you some clarifying questions about your prompt, and then start its work. A single Deep Research query can take anywhere between 5–30 minutes, depending on how complex of a question you're asking. The full-version of the Deep Research tool can perform complex and detailed research for you on complicated science, and math problems. These queries usually take around 30 minutes, and then generated in-depth, multipage reports. The new lightweight version is more casual than that. You can use it to research a share that you want to invest in, products that you want to buy, or to understand a new topic. The results take about five to ten minutes, and the reports are shorter and to the point. But they'll still be heavily sourced, so you can check the links to confirm that ChatGPT isn't hallucinating. But despite technically being available to everyone, access to ChatGPT Deep Research is quite limited, and it's based on the plan that you're using. Free plan: You'll get five lightweight Deep Research queries per month. Plus and Team plans: The $20 per month plan gives you ten queries a month with the full-fledged Deep Research tool and an additional 15 using the lightweight version. Pro: The $200 per month plan comes with 125 full Deep Research queries per month, and an additional 125 using the lightweight version. All limits reset every 30 days, and the count starts the day you start using the Deep Research feature. How to use Deep Research in ChatGPTAfter opening the ChatGPT website, click the Deep Research button and enter your prompt. The more details that you can provide, the better off you'll be. To add more context, you can attach images, documents, or spreadsheets. Credit: Khamosh Pathak After you enter your prompt, ChatGPT will come back to you with clarifying questions. These questions are not compulsory to answer, but they will help specify your report. If you want a more general report, you can just say something like "I don't know, do your best", and ChatGPT will get started with what it thinks is the best way to go forward. Credit: Khamosh Pathak When the research starts, you'll see a progress bar in the chat itself. You are free to leave the chat and come back later, as this will take time. In my testing using the lightweight free version, queries still took between four to eight minutes, even for simple questions. You can click the progress bar to reveal a sidebar. This is where you'll see the steps that ChatGPT is going through to answer your query. Depending on your question, ChatGPT might look at scholarly articles, PDFs, websites, and then use its thinking model when all the information is collated. Credit: Khamosh Pathak Once the report is ready, you'll see it in its own specialized box. You can click the Share button to see a Preview window. Here, you can click on Share Link to generate a link to the report. Though, unlike Google Gemini, you can't export the report as a PDF (or other format). Credit: Khamosh Pathak How ChatGPT Deep Research can help youI ran a couple of tests with the Deep Research tool on the free plan, and I came away impressed. ChatGPT's reports are concise and direct. By comparison, Google Gemini's reports feel unnecessarily verbose. ChatGPT is also better at highlighting links right in the text, something that Gemini hides behind a menu. I asked ChatGPT to create a beginners guide to learning Handpan, and it did a good job of compiling YouTube videos, handpan sellers, and exercises, all on one page. Next, I asked it to research market sentiment for a specific share, and it included everything from recent earnings, to expert opinions, to share price targets. Credit: Khamosh Pathak I then used it for something that I standard Googling couldn't help me with, which was to find a part number for a spare wheel screw hook for my Volkswagen Polo. Not wanting to open the owner's manual or go to the dealership, I asked ChatGPT for help instead. First, I used the regular Search feature, and it just wouldn't give me a usable answer. The Deep Research feature, though, found the part number in a couple of minutes. But it couldn't find a website based in India (where I'm located) that sells this part (it did find many sellers in the US and Europe, though). To compare, I ran the query in Gemini. Gemini generated a really long report, most of which wasn't really useful. I had to scroll all the way to the bottom to find the spare part number. This being Google, though, it gave me a link to an Indian site that sells the part. Nice. Overall, I found that ChatGPT's Deep Research tool is comparable to the likes of Gemini and Perplexity, and goes beyond them when it comes to direct-language and sourcing. That said, the content is still generated using a Large Language Model, which has a tendency to hallucinate and make things up. It would be best to check the report's sources to confirm that what ChatGPT has generated is correct. View the full article

Key Takeaways Rewarding Business Opportunity: Starting a laundry business meets a consistent community need, driven by busy lifestyles and the ongoing demand for clean clothing. Business Models: Entrepreneurs can choose between self-service laundromats, requiring minimal staff, and full-service laundry options, catering to clients with a comprehensive washing and drying experience. Startup Costs: Low initial investment makes it accessible for budding entrepreneurs, allowing flexibility in financing options through loans or crowdfunding. Essential Equipment: Selecting the right washing machines, dryers, and folding stations is crucial for operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. Effective Marketing: Building a strong online presence and engaging in local advertising can significantly enhance customer acquisition and brand visibility. Anticipate Challenges: Be prepared for industry challenges, such as rising costs, labor shortages, and maintenance needs, to ensure long-term success in the laundry business. Starting a laundry business can be a rewarding venture that meets a vital need in your community. With busy lifestyles and the constant demand for clean clothes, there’s never been a better time to dive into this industry. Whether you’re considering a self-service laundromat or a full-service laundry, the opportunities are plentiful. You don’t need extensive experience to get started, just a solid plan and a passion for service. This guide will walk you through the essential steps to launch your laundry business, from market research to choosing the right equipment. Get ready to turn your entrepreneurial dreams into reality and create a thriving business that keeps your customers coming back for more. Benefits Of Starting A Laundry Business Starting a laundry business offers numerous advantages for entrepreneurs seeking to tap into a stable market. Understanding these benefits can motivate you to embark on this rewarding venture. Flexible Working Hours Flexible working hours allow you to tailor your schedule to fit personal commitments. You can choose to operate during peak times, accommodating busy customers, or establish hours that suit your lifestyle. This flexibility enhances work-life balance, making it easier for you to maintain other responsibilities or pursue additional interests. Low Startup Costs Low startup costs present an appealing entry point for aspiring business owners. Initial investments often include essential equipment, such as washers, dryers, and detergents. Depending on your business model, you can start as a small operation with minimal financing or explore funding options like crowdfunding or small business loans. A well-crafted business plan can further strengthen your position when seeking funding. With careful budgeting and market research, you establish a foundation for potential growth without overwhelming financial burdens. Types Of Laundry Businesses Understanding the different types of laundry businesses is essential for entrepreneurs exploring how to start a business in this industry. Each model comes with unique operational structures and opportunities for profitability. Self-Service Laundromats Self-service laundromats allow customers to wash and dry their laundry independently. These facilities require minimal staff, focusing primarily on maintenance and customer support. High-efficiency washers and dryers enhance performance while conserving water and energy. Typical features include vending machines for detergent and coin or card-operated payment systems, streamlining the user experience. Selecting the right location is critical for success. Aim for high-traffic areas, such as near apartment complexes, shopping centers, or universities. Consider local competition and accessibility to your target audience when conducting market research, as these factors significantly impact customer acquisition and revenue. Establishing a solid business plan that incorporates costs, such as equipment and leasing, lays the groundwork for a sustainable venture. Full-Service Laundry Full-service laundry businesses cater to customers by handling every aspect of the cleaning process. These services usually include washing, drying, folding, and often ironing garments. Employing skilled staff enhances customer satisfaction, making it crucial to focus on hiring and training. Full-service models may target specific niches, like high-end garments or commercial clients, which can influence your branding and marketing strategies. Leveraging digital marketing, including SEO and social media, strengthens your reach to potential customers. Establishing partnerships with local businesses can be advantageous, creating a steady stream of clients while enhancing your reputation. Setting the right legal structure for your full-service operation—whether an LLC, sole proprietorship, or corporation—ensures compliance with local regulations. Obtaining the necessary permits and licenses is a vital step in your startup journey. Focusing on customer service and quality can differentiate your business from competitors, fostering customer loyalty and repeat business. Exploring funding options, such as small business loans or crowdfunding, expands your ability to scale operations quickly. By understanding these core types of laundry businesses, you will cultivate a clear picture of your entrepreneurial path. Essential Equipment For Your Laundry Business Starting your laundry business requires the right equipment to serve your customers efficiently. Focusing on essential machinery boosts operational capacity and customer satisfaction. Washing Machines Commercial washing machines serve as the backbone of your laundry operation. Options range from compact 5kg machines to large 120kg units. Selecting the right type of washing machine is crucial. You can opt for: Top-loaders: Economical and user-friendly, they often consume more water. Front-loaders: More energy and water-efficient, though typically more expensive. High-Efficiency (HE) top-loaders: Use less water and energy, appealing to environmentally conscious customers. Assess your customer volume and tailor the number and capacity of machines accordingly. Investing in high-quality washing machines creates a reliable service, aiding customer retention and high satisfaction rates. Dryers Dryers complement washing machines, essential for fast and effective garment drying. Tumble dryers are the most common choice among laundry businesses due to their efficiency. You should consider: Stackable dryers: Ideal for space management while maximizing output. Commercial-grade dryers: Offer durability and quicker drying times. Choosing the right dryer type enhances your service’s competitiveness and accommodates high customer flow, impacting overall profitability. Folding Stations Folding stations streamline your workflow and improve the customer experience. You can implement: Dedicated folding tables: Ensure sufficient space for folding clothes efficiently. Signage: Provide clear instructions for customers to maintain organization and cleanliness. Incorporating these stations into your business layout aids in efficient closing operations, enhancing customer service. Investing in quality folding stations supports a smoother experience, promoting positive customer attitudes toward your brand. With these essential pieces of equipment, you can effectively set up your laundry business, ensuring operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. Marketing Strategies For Your Laundry Business Effective marketing strategies are crucial for your laundry business’s success. Implementing targeted tactics can improve customer acquisition and enhance brand visibility. Building An Online Presence Establish a strong online presence to connect with your target audience. Create a user-friendly website showcasing your services, pricing, and contact information. Optimize your site for search engines using SEO techniques to improve visibility. Utilize social media platforms to engage potential customers through compelling content and promotions. Consider email marketing campaigns to keep clients informed about new offers and loyalty programs. Investing in a digital marketing strategy enhances your online reach, attracting more customers. Local Advertising Leverage local advertising to promote your laundry business within your community. Utilize flyers, posters, and local newspapers to reach nearby residents. Participate in community events to network and increase brand awareness. Partner with local businesses for referral programs that incentivize shared customers. Offering discounts or free trials can encourage first-time visitors to try your services. Focus on building relationships within the community to foster loyalty and repeat business. Challenges In The Laundry Industry Understanding the challenges in the laundry industry helps you prepare for potential obstacles as you start a business. Key aspects include rising costs, environmental regulations, labor shortages, competition, and maintenance of equipment. Rising Costs Rising costs significantly impact laundry businesses. Labor expenses, energy bills, and supply prices all increase, affecting profitability. Staying competitive while ensuring high standards of cleanliness requires careful management of these expenses. Environmental Regulations Environmental regulations shape your laundry business operations. Compliance with laws concerning water consumption and wastewater management proves essential. Navigating these regulations can consume time and resources, but non-compliance can lead to fines and reputational damage. Labor Shortages Labor shortages present a challenge, especially in areas with low unemployment rates. Finding skilled workers costs more while impacting service consistency. Investing in training programs enhances your team’s skills and improves service quality. Competition Competition within the laundry industry is fierce. Numerous established businesses can make customer acquisition difficult. Conducting thorough market research helps you identify your target audience and refine your business model to stand out. Differentiating your services through exceptional customer care and effective branding strengthens your position. Maintenance Of Equipment Maintenance of equipment ensures efficiency in your laundry operations. Regular servicing of washers and dryers prevents costly breakdowns, which can disrupt business. Implementing a maintenance schedule allows you to manage expenses and extend equipment lifespan, contributing to improved profit margins. Conclusion Starting a laundry business can be a fulfilling and profitable journey. With the right planning and dedication you can tap into a steady demand for laundry services. Whether you choose a self-service model or a full-service operation your focus on quality and customer satisfaction will set you apart. Embrace flexibility in your schedule and take advantage of low startup costs. Remember that thorough market research and a solid business plan are your keys to success. As you navigate challenges like rising costs and competition keep your passion for service at the forefront. Now’s the time to turn your vision into reality and create a laundry business that meets the needs of your community. Frequently Asked Questions What are the key benefits of starting a laundry business? Starting a laundry business offers benefits such as flexible working hours, enabling a better work-life balance. The startup costs are relatively low, allowing entrepreneurs to begin with minimal financing. There’s also a consistent demand for laundry services, making it a stable and rewarding venture. Do I need extensive experience to start a laundry business? No, you don’t need extensive experience. While having knowledge of the industry helps, a solid business plan and a passion for service are more important. The article provides guidance on the steps to launch successfully. What types of laundry businesses can I start? There are various types of laundry businesses, including self-service laundromats and full-service operations. Self-service laundromats focus on customer independence, while full-service businesses handle all aspects of laundry care for customers, emphasizing satisfaction. How do I choose the right equipment for my laundry business? Selecting the right equipment is crucial. You should consider customer needs when choosing washers and dryers. Additionally, incorporating folding stations improves workflow and enhances the customer experience, making it easier for staff and clients alike. What marketing strategies are effective for a laundry business? Effective marketing strategies include establishing a strong online presence through a user-friendly website and social media. Utilizing SEO techniques, email marketing, and local advertising like flyers and community events can help attract and retain customers. What challenges can I face when starting a laundry business? Common challenges include rising costs, environmental regulations, and labor shortages. Regular equipment maintenance is essential for efficiency, and understanding local competition is crucial for differentiating your services and attracting customers. How can I finance my laundry business startup? You can start with minimal financing or explore funding options like small business loans and grants. A well-crafted business plan can help you secure the necessary funds, demonstrating your vision and potential profitability to investors or lenders. Image Via Envato This article, "Essential Guide to Start a Laundry Business and Achieve Success" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Key Takeaways Rewarding Business Opportunity: Starting a laundry business meets a consistent community need, driven by busy lifestyles and the ongoing demand for clean clothing. Business Models: Entrepreneurs can choose between self-service laundromats, requiring minimal staff, and full-service laundry options, catering to clients with a comprehensive washing and drying experience. Startup Costs: Low initial investment makes it accessible for budding entrepreneurs, allowing flexibility in financing options through loans or crowdfunding. Essential Equipment: Selecting the right washing machines, dryers, and folding stations is crucial for operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. Effective Marketing: Building a strong online presence and engaging in local advertising can significantly enhance customer acquisition and brand visibility. Anticipate Challenges: Be prepared for industry challenges, such as rising costs, labor shortages, and maintenance needs, to ensure long-term success in the laundry business. Starting a laundry business can be a rewarding venture that meets a vital need in your community. With busy lifestyles and the constant demand for clean clothes, there’s never been a better time to dive into this industry. Whether you’re considering a self-service laundromat or a full-service laundry, the opportunities are plentiful. You don’t need extensive experience to get started, just a solid plan and a passion for service. This guide will walk you through the essential steps to launch your laundry business, from market research to choosing the right equipment. Get ready to turn your entrepreneurial dreams into reality and create a thriving business that keeps your customers coming back for more. Benefits Of Starting A Laundry Business Starting a laundry business offers numerous advantages for entrepreneurs seeking to tap into a stable market. Understanding these benefits can motivate you to embark on this rewarding venture. Flexible Working Hours Flexible working hours allow you to tailor your schedule to fit personal commitments. You can choose to operate during peak times, accommodating busy customers, or establish hours that suit your lifestyle. This flexibility enhances work-life balance, making it easier for you to maintain other responsibilities or pursue additional interests. Low Startup Costs Low startup costs present an appealing entry point for aspiring business owners. Initial investments often include essential equipment, such as washers, dryers, and detergents. Depending on your business model, you can start as a small operation with minimal financing or explore funding options like crowdfunding or small business loans. A well-crafted business plan can further strengthen your position when seeking funding. With careful budgeting and market research, you establish a foundation for potential growth without overwhelming financial burdens. Types Of Laundry Businesses Understanding the different types of laundry businesses is essential for entrepreneurs exploring how to start a business in this industry. Each model comes with unique operational structures and opportunities for profitability. Self-Service Laundromats Self-service laundromats allow customers to wash and dry their laundry independently. These facilities require minimal staff, focusing primarily on maintenance and customer support. High-efficiency washers and dryers enhance performance while conserving water and energy. Typical features include vending machines for detergent and coin or card-operated payment systems, streamlining the user experience. Selecting the right location is critical for success. Aim for high-traffic areas, such as near apartment complexes, shopping centers, or universities. Consider local competition and accessibility to your target audience when conducting market research, as these factors significantly impact customer acquisition and revenue. Establishing a solid business plan that incorporates costs, such as equipment and leasing, lays the groundwork for a sustainable venture. Full-Service Laundry Full-service laundry businesses cater to customers by handling every aspect of the cleaning process. These services usually include washing, drying, folding, and often ironing garments. Employing skilled staff enhances customer satisfaction, making it crucial to focus on hiring and training. Full-service models may target specific niches, like high-end garments or commercial clients, which can influence your branding and marketing strategies. Leveraging digital marketing, including SEO and social media, strengthens your reach to potential customers. Establishing partnerships with local businesses can be advantageous, creating a steady stream of clients while enhancing your reputation. Setting the right legal structure for your full-service operation—whether an LLC, sole proprietorship, or corporation—ensures compliance with local regulations. Obtaining the necessary permits and licenses is a vital step in your startup journey. Focusing on customer service and quality can differentiate your business from competitors, fostering customer loyalty and repeat business. Exploring funding options, such as small business loans or crowdfunding, expands your ability to scale operations quickly. By understanding these core types of laundry businesses, you will cultivate a clear picture of your entrepreneurial path. Essential Equipment For Your Laundry Business Starting your laundry business requires the right equipment to serve your customers efficiently. Focusing on essential machinery boosts operational capacity and customer satisfaction. Washing Machines Commercial washing machines serve as the backbone of your laundry operation. Options range from compact 5kg machines to large 120kg units. Selecting the right type of washing machine is crucial. You can opt for: Top-loaders: Economical and user-friendly, they often consume more water. Front-loaders: More energy and water-efficient, though typically more expensive. High-Efficiency (HE) top-loaders: Use less water and energy, appealing to environmentally conscious customers. Assess your customer volume and tailor the number and capacity of machines accordingly. Investing in high-quality washing machines creates a reliable service, aiding customer retention and high satisfaction rates. Dryers Dryers complement washing machines, essential for fast and effective garment drying. Tumble dryers are the most common choice among laundry businesses due to their efficiency. You should consider: Stackable dryers: Ideal for space management while maximizing output. Commercial-grade dryers: Offer durability and quicker drying times. Choosing the right dryer type enhances your service’s competitiveness and accommodates high customer flow, impacting overall profitability. Folding Stations Folding stations streamline your workflow and improve the customer experience. You can implement: Dedicated folding tables: Ensure sufficient space for folding clothes efficiently. Signage: Provide clear instructions for customers to maintain organization and cleanliness. Incorporating these stations into your business layout aids in efficient closing operations, enhancing customer service. Investing in quality folding stations supports a smoother experience, promoting positive customer attitudes toward your brand. With these essential pieces of equipment, you can effectively set up your laundry business, ensuring operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. Marketing Strategies For Your Laundry Business Effective marketing strategies are crucial for your laundry business’s success. Implementing targeted tactics can improve customer acquisition and enhance brand visibility. Building An Online Presence Establish a strong online presence to connect with your target audience. Create a user-friendly website showcasing your services, pricing, and contact information. Optimize your site for search engines using SEO techniques to improve visibility. Utilize social media platforms to engage potential customers through compelling content and promotions. Consider email marketing campaigns to keep clients informed about new offers and loyalty programs. Investing in a digital marketing strategy enhances your online reach, attracting more customers. Local Advertising Leverage local advertising to promote your laundry business within your community. Utilize flyers, posters, and local newspapers to reach nearby residents. Participate in community events to network and increase brand awareness. Partner with local businesses for referral programs that incentivize shared customers. Offering discounts or free trials can encourage first-time visitors to try your services. Focus on building relationships within the community to foster loyalty and repeat business. Challenges In The Laundry Industry Understanding the challenges in the laundry industry helps you prepare for potential obstacles as you start a business. Key aspects include rising costs, environmental regulations, labor shortages, competition, and maintenance of equipment. Rising Costs Rising costs significantly impact laundry businesses. Labor expenses, energy bills, and supply prices all increase, affecting profitability. Staying competitive while ensuring high standards of cleanliness requires careful management of these expenses. Environmental Regulations Environmental regulations shape your laundry business operations. Compliance with laws concerning water consumption and wastewater management proves essential. Navigating these regulations can consume time and resources, but non-compliance can lead to fines and reputational damage. Labor Shortages Labor shortages present a challenge, especially in areas with low unemployment rates. Finding skilled workers costs more while impacting service consistency. Investing in training programs enhances your team’s skills and improves service quality. Competition Competition within the laundry industry is fierce. Numerous established businesses can make customer acquisition difficult. Conducting thorough market research helps you identify your target audience and refine your business model to stand out. Differentiating your services through exceptional customer care and effective branding strengthens your position. Maintenance Of Equipment Maintenance of equipment ensures efficiency in your laundry operations. Regular servicing of washers and dryers prevents costly breakdowns, which can disrupt business. Implementing a maintenance schedule allows you to manage expenses and extend equipment lifespan, contributing to improved profit margins. Conclusion Starting a laundry business can be a fulfilling and profitable journey. With the right planning and dedication you can tap into a steady demand for laundry services. Whether you choose a self-service model or a full-service operation your focus on quality and customer satisfaction will set you apart. Embrace flexibility in your schedule and take advantage of low startup costs. Remember that thorough market research and a solid business plan are your keys to success. As you navigate challenges like rising costs and competition keep your passion for service at the forefront. Now’s the time to turn your vision into reality and create a laundry business that meets the needs of your community. Frequently Asked Questions What are the key benefits of starting a laundry business? Starting a laundry business offers benefits such as flexible working hours, enabling a better work-life balance. The startup costs are relatively low, allowing entrepreneurs to begin with minimal financing. There’s also a consistent demand for laundry services, making it a stable and rewarding venture. Do I need extensive experience to start a laundry business? No, you don’t need extensive experience. While having knowledge of the industry helps, a solid business plan and a passion for service are more important. The article provides guidance on the steps to launch successfully. What types of laundry businesses can I start? There are various types of laundry businesses, including self-service laundromats and full-service operations. Self-service laundromats focus on customer independence, while full-service businesses handle all aspects of laundry care for customers, emphasizing satisfaction. How do I choose the right equipment for my laundry business? Selecting the right equipment is crucial. You should consider customer needs when choosing washers and dryers. Additionally, incorporating folding stations improves workflow and enhances the customer experience, making it easier for staff and clients alike. What marketing strategies are effective for a laundry business? Effective marketing strategies include establishing a strong online presence through a user-friendly website and social media. Utilizing SEO techniques, email marketing, and local advertising like flyers and community events can help attract and retain customers. What challenges can I face when starting a laundry business? Common challenges include rising costs, environmental regulations, and labor shortages. Regular equipment maintenance is essential for efficiency, and understanding local competition is crucial for differentiating your services and attracting customers. How can I finance my laundry business startup? You can start with minimal financing or explore funding options like small business loans and grants. A well-crafted business plan can help you secure the necessary funds, demonstrating your vision and potential profitability to investors or lenders. Image Via Envato This article, "Essential Guide to Start a Laundry Business and Achieve Success" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you're tied into the Apple ecosystem and looking to upgrade your mouse or streamline your desk setup, Woot is offering a refurbished Apple Magic Mouse 2 for $49.99 for the next twelve days—or until it sells out. That’s a decent cut from its current $79.95 listing on Amazon. It's worth mentioning upfront that this is a refurbished unit, which means it might show minor signs of previous use, but it’s been inspected and approved to work properly. Woot throws in a 90-day limited warranty, and free shipping is available if you’re an Amazon Prime member (otherwise, it’ll add $6 to the bill). Also, Woot only ships to the 48 contiguous U.S. states. Apple Magic Mouse 2 $49.99 at Woot $79.95 Save $29.96 Get Deal Get Deal $49.99 at Woot $79.95 Save $29.96 The low-friction strips on the bottom of the Magic Mouse 2 help it move smoothly across surfaces, and its optical sensor is quick to pick up on movement. You can also easily tweak the tracking speed and sensitivity of the mouse through your Mac’s settings (it automatically pairs with any Mac via Bluetooth). Swiping between browser pages, switching full-screen apps, and pulling up Mission Control are all baked into its multitouch surface, and everything feels natural once you get the hang of it. That said, the low profile of this mouse might not be for everyone—if you prefer a mouse with a more sculpted, ergonomic shape for long work sessions, it could feel uncomfortable. Also, the charging port is awkwardly placed on the bottom, meaning you can’t use it while it’s plugged in. But if you’re someone who charges devices overnight anyway, it’s manageable. View the full article

Synaptic's Wi-Fi 7 vision and unique value proposition for wireless IoT includes built-in 'multi-modal' AI at the edge. The post Synaptics shakes up Wi-Fi SoC market with new family of high-end Wi-Fi 7 IoT chips featuring pre-integrated AI appeared first on Wi-Fi NOW Global. View the full article

Kelly Slater is the undisputed GOAT of surfing. The 53-year-old has won 11 world titles—including being both the youngest and oldest champ ever at 20 and 39, respectively—and has competed regularly on the pro tour until just last year. He’s not even officially retired yet. Slater has also built multiple businesses, beyond his endorsement deals. One of those is apparel brand Outerknown, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. It’s been a labor of love for Slater, who along with cofounder John Moore, had a commitment from the beginning to make it as sustainable and responsible as possible. Last month, the company dropped the Apex Trunk by Kelly Slater, the first-ever performance four-way stretch board short made from 90% recycled fishing nets from Bureo. Slater says the trunks, aimed at performance surfers, represent both the future of the brand, and a culmination of its long-standing goals. “We’re definitely making a move towards some very specific, little more hardcore surf stuff,” says Slater, on the phone from his home on Hawaii’s North Shore. Outerknown has largely produced apparel for the lifestyle around surfing—shirts, denim, sweaters. But now the brand is creating a line of surf-specific gear under Slater’s name, set for 2026. Slater compares the Apex trunk design to playing the guitar. “I’ve played music for 30 years, and you can add all kinds of things to a song, but when you make a nice, good melody, you can strip it back to the basics and you have what you need,” says Slater. “And for me, that’s kind of what this trunk is.” It also represents a broader opportunity. Over the past couple of years, surfing’s traditional brand giants have been in an unprecedented state of flux and upheaval that has seen majors like Billabong, Volcom, Quiksilver, and more get stripped down and change ownership, with some getting acquired by Authentic Brands Group in 2023. That has given surfer-owned and operated companies like Outerknown, John John Florence’s Florence brand, Dane Reynolds’s Chapter 11, and Julian Wilson’s Rivvia Projects the chance to simplify and redefine what the core surf industry looks like. For Outerknown right now, it’s all about the new trunks. Wave of the future The new Apex trunk underwent more than three years of R&D, as Moore, Slater, and the brand’s designers worked closely with Bureo on the cut and materials. Slater and other brand ambassadors tested it in waves across Sri Lanka, Australia, Hawaii, and beyond. Slater says designing a surf trunk is more complicated than it seems. Sometimes people want a multitasking amphibian short, that performs the same on the beach as in the streets. “But when it comes to just going for a long surf session, I just need something that performs really simply,” says Slater. “And I don’t even mean to say it performs, it just doesn’t get in the way. We think of the type of string we’re going to use so it doesn’t untie, and make sure that the length is just right, so it doesn’t look too short. But if it’s too long, it’s caught on the knee, so there’s a little scallop on the side to give you a little bit more of a stretch to the side. Very simple things to get a streamlined product. But to do that, there’s years of thought and technology and ideas that go into this one product.” Moore says that the connection between the new Apex trunk and Outerknown’s lifestyle apparel is about looking at design from a surfing perspective. “Wherever our travels take us, surfing is one part of that, so it’s about, how do we make clothes that are built better, feel better, fit better, and do it through our surfers’ lens?” says Moore. “It just feels like we’re finally at a place where we can really focus on what matters and what works, and we know who our customers are, we know what they want, and we’re getting better at making it.” Under one roof A decade ago, Outerknown was launched with fanfare, some surfer skepticism, and a lot of challenges. Founded by Slater and Moore, the brand was also backed by luxury brand owner the Kering Group as a minority stakeholder. Slater’s goal, inspired in part by Patagonia, was to make the most responsible clothing possible—organic cotton, fair labor practices. The challenge was making that happen when the supply chain wasn’t really there, especially for the small numbers Outerknown was starting out with. That led to much higher prices, which made many surfers scoff at $300 shirts and $170 trunks. “The early days were super tough,” says Slater. But gradually, the company was able to grow its community and scale, opening eight retail locations in Malibu, California, as well as cities like New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C. There will still be scoffs at the new Apex trunk’s $168 price tag, but Slater says there are people who do care about a product’s provenance. “A lot of people don’t realize that to do things right and responsibly, to take care of your workers, and to use the good recycled textiles or organic products, all those things are infinitely more expensive,” he says. For its first decade, Outerknown could be described as a surf-adjacent brand. Mostly street clothes and apparel, designed from a surfing perspective. But starting with the new Apex trunks, the brand will now be stocking in surf shops and creating more products to make that connection more explicit. The catalyst for that was Slater’s move last year to move his three primary companies—Outerknown, Firewire Surfboards, and Slater Designs—under one parent company roof. Surf industry vet and Firewire CEO Dylan Slater (no relation) was named chief executive of the new company. He says that the brands complement each other in some obvious ways, but also plenty behind the scenes. Outerknown is primarily a U.S.-based business, while Firewire is global. “There’s some really unique ways they can support one another,” he says. “We have aspirations to make Outerknown globally accessible, and we expect that to happen in the next 6 to 12 months. The brands can also collaborate around products, and have some more exposure to their respective audiences, with surfboards in Outerknown stores and things like that.” Moore is excited to see Outerknown go directly to a more hardcore surf audience, especially amid the recent consolidation of the traditional surf brand powerhouses. “Over the years, everything became very corporate and, I would argue, kind of a sea of sameness,” he says. “I think surfing has always been at its core about individuality and finding your own flow through life or on a wave. We’re doing it our way, and with all the evolution in the marketplace, it feels like an opportunity for us to take it to the next level.” View the full article