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Time magazine has named the “Architects of AI” as its 2025 Person of the Year, a decision that has sparked significant backlash from gamblers who lost out on semantics. The companies behind AI tools and infrastructure aren’t “AI” in the literal sense, so prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket ruled that anyone betting on “AI” doesn’t win. As author Parker Molloy pointed out on Bluesky, gamblers on the site are not pleased. “Someone please explain to me how this is not a trick?” one user complained after betting on billionaire Elon Musk on Kalshi. “Person of the year is a singular title…” “ThE aRcHiTeCtS oF AI,” another user wrote. “Fuck you pay me.” Others remained insistent that the platform owes them a payout. “This pretty clearly should’ve resolved to yes,” one user wrote. “If you bought AI, reach out to Kalshi support because ‘AI’ is literally on the cover and in the title ‘Architects of AI.’” On Kalshi, anyone who bet on any of the “Architects of AI”—including Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, Dario Amodei, Mark Zuckerberg, Lisa Su, and Demis Hassabis—still won the bet. Those who bet their products, however, did not. People who bet on this on Kalshi are not pleased. Lol — Parker Molloy (@parkermolloy.com) 2025-12-11T16:19:54.852Z Polymarket explained the decision in a note. “This market is about the person/thing named as TIME’s Person of the Year for 2025, not what is depicted on the cover. Per the rules, “If the Person of the Year is ‘Donald The President and the MAGA movement,’ this would qualify to resolve this market to ‘The President.’ However if the Person of the Year is ‘The MAGA movement,’ this would not qualify to resolve this market to ‘The President’ regardless of whether The President is depicted on the cover,” it said. “Accordingly, a Time cover which lists ‘Architects of AI’ as the person of the year will not qualify for ‘AI’ even if the letters ‘AI’ are depicted on the cover, as AI itself is not specifically named.” People spent more than $19 million betting on the Time Person of the Year on Kalshi and more than $55 million betting on the Time Person of the Year on Polymarket. “I can’t believe an unregulated gambling market let people bet frivolously and then took all their money,” one Bluesky user mused. View the full article

President Donald The President was sued on Friday by preservationists asking a federal court to halt his White House ballroom project until it goes through multiple independent reviews and wins approval from Congress. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is asking the U.S. District Court to block The President’s White House ballroom project, which already has involved razing the East Wing, until it goes through comprehensive design reviews, environmental assessments, public comments, and congressional debate and ratification. The National Trust, a privately funded organization, argues that The President, by fast-tracking the project, has committed multiple violations of the Administrative Procedures Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, while also exceeding his constitutional authority by not seeking congressional approval for a project of such scale. “No president is legally allowed to tear down portions of the White House without any review whatsoever—not President The President, not President Biden, and not anyone else,” the lawsuit states. “And no president is legally allowed to construct a ballroom on public property without giving the public the opportunity to weigh in.” No more work should be done, the Trust argues, until administration officials “complete the required reviews—reviews that should have taken place before the Defendants demolished the East Wing, and before they began construction of the Ballroom—and secure the necessary approvals.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not immediately respond to Associated Press questions about the lawsuit and the project, including whether the president had any intention of consulting Congress. The President has emphasized since announcing his plans that he’s doing it with private funding, including his own money. But that would not necessarily change how federal laws and procedures apply to what is still a U.S. government project. The President, a Republican, already has bypassed the federal government’s usual building practices and historical reviews with the East Wing demolition. He recently added another architectural firm for a ballroom that itself would be nearly twice the size of the White House before the East Wing’s demolition. The President has said a ballroom is overdue for the White House, previously complaining that events were held outside under a tent because the East Room and the State Dining Room could not accommodate bigger crowds. The President, among other complaints, said guests get their feet wet if it rains during such events. The White House is expected to submit plans for The President’s new ballroom to a federal planning commission before the year ends, about three months after construction began. Will Scharf, who was named by The President as chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission, said at the panel’s monthly meeting last week that he was told by colleagues at the White House that the long-awaited plans would be filed in December. “Once plans are submitted, that’s really when the role of this commission, and its professional staff, will begin,” said Scharf, who also is one of the Republican president’s top White House aides. He said the review process would happen at a “normal and deliberative pace.” —By Bill Barrow, Associated Press View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. We travel for a wide variety of reasons—vacations, business, family obligations—and in a variety of different ways, but there’s one constant: The actual traveling can be hectic, stressful, and expensive. Considering Americans took nearly 2 billion trips in 2025 alone, that stress can be pretty epic. From planning to de-boarding, travel can be a challenge—that is, unless you know and utilize these hacks. There are a lot of travel hacks out there in the wild, many of them dubious, but when a hack actually works to lower your costs, increase your comfort, or simply solve an irritating problem, it’s kind of magical. Here are the essential travel hacks everyone should be implementing, whether you’re traveling for pleasure, business, or any other reason. Get a vacuum-seal travel backpackYou may have been instructed at some point to roll your clothes to make your packing more efficient. It’s not that this doesn’t work—rolling clothes tightly can improve your packing and unpacking experience. But there’s an even better way: Vacuum-sealing. You can use vacuum-sealed storage bags to compress your clothes, allowing you to fit more into your bag (or to travel much lighter with a single carry-on), but there’s a downside: The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) may require you to uncompress your clothes for a special check as you pass through security, which can wreak havoc on your packing. A better choice is a carry-on backpack with an included pump, like this. If you are flagged for a special inspection, you can quickly re-compress everything and be on your way. Travel during off-peak timesIf your main goal for travel is to see exotic places, have new experiences, or even see old friends, traveling off-peak is a powerful hack. Off-peak simply means going places when most tourists aren’t there. Most people travel for pleasure during the warmer months, for example, so deciding you’re going on a European tour in February nets you cheaper flights, cheaper hotel rooms, and less crowded everything. Start using packing cubesRaise your hand if this has ever happened to you: You realize you need something from a piece of luggage you spent six hours carefully organizing, compressing, and zipping closed. You dig through everything to find what you need, and then re-packing that bag is a sweaty, stressful fail. That’s where packing cubes come in. Packing cubes don’t necessarily shrink your clothes and other possessions, but they make the whole experience of packing, unpacking, and actually finding stuff while you’re traveling much easier. They turn your chaotic piles of clothing and supplies into geometric cubes that can be organized individually and removed and replaced in your luggage easily. Because you’re dealing with uniform cubes, popping stuff in and out of your suitcase won’t result in a nervous breakdown, either. Stash clothing in carry-on pillowsIt’s truly a time to be alive: You can now purchase so-called “basic” economy airline seats that don’t allow a carry-on. And carry-on fees and restrictions are increasing as well. If you’re attempting to travel with just one small bag, you may find it a struggle—and that’s where the pillow hack comes into play. The basic idea is simple: Grab a neck pillow or pillowcase, remove the stuffing, and jam in some extra clothes instead. The pillow can still be used as a pillow (your clothes act as the cushion), but you get to smuggle extra stuff on the plane. It does work, though it works best with the neck pillow option—bringing an enormous pillowcase filled with jeans and T-shirts is going to be less successful fooling unamused flight crews. Mount your phone horizontallyEntertaining yourself on long flights can be a challenge, especially if your whole survival plan involved sleeping for ten hours and you can’t seem to get comfortable. If your plane doesn’t offer convenient screens (I’m very fond of the “tiny screen up in the air four rows ahead of me” arrangement, myself), or the entertainment choices available aren’t appealing, you can always load up a device with movies, shows, and games. If you find yourself stuck with just your phone for a screen, you can improv a phone holder from the barf bag typically supplied in the pocket of the seat in front of you, as demonstrated here. By clipping the bag between your phone and its case, then clipping the top of the bag under the fold-down tray, you can mount your phone horizontally at the right height for watching content. This could be a real sanity-saver (assuming you don't need to use that bag for, well, other purposes). Pay for everyday expenses with a travel credit cardYou’re spending money practically every day anyway—but by putting all those expenses on a credit card that awards you miles or points toward travel (and then paying that card off in full every month) you’re essentially getting free travel coupons. You’re going to buy groceries anyway, so why not get a hundred miles every time you do? Many travel credit cards offer large sign-up bonuses of anywhere from 20,000 to 100,000 points (or more) once you spend a certain amount on the account, so by paying your everyday bills for a few months using the card you can fund an entire trip for free. Reverse-image-search your Airbnb before you bookBooking a place to stay on your trip can be a hassle, and you have to wonder if you’re getting the best deal. An Airbnb might look ideal but put a big dent in your budget—but it may be listed elsewhere, and possibly for less money. You can find out using Google’s “reverse image lookup.” Pick a photo from the Airbnb listing, search for the image on Google, and other rental platforms will probably show up—or a link to a hotel’s direct web page. If nothing else, the image search might identify the apartment building or hotel depicted, which can give you a leg up on the pricing. There are also tools like HiChee that will compare listings across several platforms for you, but where’s the fun in that? Use a pants hanger to clip your curtains closedYou drag yourself, exhausted, into a hotel room at night and don’t notice that the curtains on the windows are hanging loose. You collapse into bed, and then you’re awakened at 6 a.m. by a vengeful sun, shining through the gaps in those curtains. This hack is so simple, but it can make a big difference in your sleep quality: Take a pants hanger from your hotel closet (the ones with the metal clips) and clip your room’s curtain shut. When the morning sunlight tries to infiltrate your room and wake you up first thing in the morning, the clips will keep it out. Store one shoe in the hotel safeIf you use the safe supplied in your hotel room to store some valuables or your essential travel documents, the worst thing you can do is forget them when you check out. A quick hack to ensure that doesn’t happen is to put something you can’t possibly forget in there as well. Some folks suggest a shoe, figuring that when you’re getting dressed for the next leg of your journey, you’ll definitely notice if one shoe is missing. But this will work with anything, as long as you choose something you can’t possibly leave without. Download offline maps before you leaveWe once lived in a world where finding your way around a new area meant paper maps and confusing directions from friends that referenced a lot of fast food restaurants as landmarks. These days, we have access to military-grade GPS systems, and a pleasant computer voice will tell us to turn right in one hundred feet. That’s amazing when you’re traveling in an unfamiliar place—until you lose your internet connection. A great hack is to download offline maps of your destinations before you leave on your trip. You can do this with Google Maps or using an app like HERE WeGo. This requires some planning, as you have to download the maps while you have a signal, but once you have them downloaded you can use them more or less as you normally would, getting directions and seeing distances clearly. Take a moment to do this before every trip, and you’ll never be lost again. View the full article

It’s “where are you now?” month at Ask a Manager, and all December I’m running updates from people who had their letters here answered in the past. Here are four updates from past letter-writers. 1. My office has a wall of shame with the names of people who are late or out sick We had a Very Ballsy coworker bring it up in a staff meeting, demanding to know whether they preferred we infect all the people, children, and families we worked with every day in order to avoid being shamed for our own illness. (Yes, this was a preschool/daycare.) She also pointedly asked why *management* who called out sick or were otherwise not present were not included on the list. They did the very performative “oh, we had no idea you felt that way, that’s not how we meant it AT ALL” and then got rid of the list. But I did overhear them grumbling in the office later that “it worked, though.” They wanted staff to be mad at each other for being over our child:teacher ratios, instead of complaining to management. I’ve since changed careers, and while I’m still hourly, nobody shames me for taking a sick day anymore. 2. I can only rate one person on my team “exceptional” no matter how well they do I took your advice to heart and started changing how I spoke about the ratings. My team doesn’t love the idea of forced ranking, but understands why there’s some limits. Handling the discussions at the start of the ratings period helped with the introduction, since it wasn’t tied to any negative feedback, and all in all it went well. In the meantime, my manager retired, and my team was assigned to a different supervisor, Lainey, with direction to grow our focus. My team is super excited because Lainey is setting up a lot of opportunities that are interesting to them and may even lead to promotions down the road. The excitement definitely helps drive motivation within the team. Finally, as I started writing this update, word came down that our ratings system was being adjusted and the new system will have a wider range of ratings, so there’s a good deal more nuance I can apply to my scoring. I’m still frustrated that I can’t formally reward all of the passion and expertise that my seasoned crew brings to their work, but I’m happy that I was able to navigate them to a new understanding without destroying the trust we’ve built together over the years. Thank you for the assist in how to give my team the transparency they deserve. 3. I feel guilty about getting my coworker’s job after they were let go (#4 at the link) I have a teeny tiny update to my question about getting taking a coworkers job after they were let go. After getting into the meat of their job and realizing how backed up they were, I uh, I get it now. 4. I don’t want to collect students’ dues anymore (#5 at the link) A big thank you to Alison and all of the commenters for all of the advice. Looking back to when I wrote in, there was a lot of other stuff/drama that was feeding into my problem. All of the faculty in my department have very big feelings, and my supervisor and department were not on good terms with one another. My problem became another part of that. After a lot of back and forth between several offices, our business office was able to find a solution that theoretically will work. I say theoretically because we’ll try it out for the first time next semester. But, I’m optimistic it will work and I won’t have to handle any cash besides my own. I’m calling this a win. This experience has also shown me how much I let myself get mired down in office drama. I’m working on trying to pull back from all of that right now. I also think it’s time to start looking for new opportunities. Thanks again for Alison and everyone’s help! The post updates: the wall of shame, the performance review restrictions, and more appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

What Is a Project Proposal? A project proposal is a formal project management document used to present a proposed initiative in a clear, structured way before work begins. It defines what the project is, what it aims to achieve and the high-level requirements needed to move forward. Rather than detailing execution, a project proposal establishes a shared planning framework that allows organizations and external stakeholders to review, discuss and refine an idea early. Because proposals are written for sponsors, clients or decision-makers, they must be tailored to their priorities and concerns. Understanding the audience is critical to presenting information at the right level of detail. We’ve created a free project proposal template for Word to help structure documents, so you don’t have to remember the process each time. /wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Project-Proposal-Template.png Get your free Project Proposal Template Use this free Project Proposal Template to manage your projects better. Get the template What Is the Purpose of a Project Proposal? A project proposal explains why a project should exist and provides the information decision-makers need to approve, fund or prioritize it. It justifies a business need or opportunity, communicates expected value and benefits, and helps secure executive or client buy-in. By clearly defining scope, goals, deliverables, success criteria and assumptions, it aligns stakeholders around a shared understanding of what will be delivered. A proposal also estimates costs, resources and timelines, allowing organizations to compare alternatives, evaluate feasibility and reduce risk before committing resources. In competitive contexts, it supports bids, funding requests and contract awards. Internally, it formalizes ideas into actionable plans, serves as a reference for decisions and governance, and enables prioritization by showing how the project fits strategic objectives. Most project management teams use a project proposal for the following purposes: Justifying a business need or strategic opportunity Establishing stakeholder expectations and project success criteria early Serving as a reference for project-related decisions Supporting internal prioritization and portfolio decisions Communicating expected value and business benefits ProjectManager is an award-winning project management software equipped with advanced project planning, scheduling and monitoring features to turn any project proposal into a successful project in any industry. Create a project timeline, estimate costs, track project budgets, allocate resources and much more with powerful Gantt charts, real-time project dashboards and reports. Get started for free today. /wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Construction-Gantt-light-mode-task-info-general-CTA-BUTTON-1.jpg When to Use a Project Proposal A project proposal is most useful at key decision points, before time, money or project resources are committed. It provides structure when an idea needs evaluation, approval or alignment, helping stakeholders understand what’s being proposed, why it matters and what’s required to move forward. Whether you’re introducing a new initiative, responding to a request or reassessing a change, a project proposal creates clarity and supports informed decision-making. Most project management teams write a project proposal when: Requesting project approval Seeking project financing or budget allocation Responding to a client or stakeholder request Proposing a new initiative or idea Competing for a contract or bid Evaluating multiple project options Defining work before project initiation Clarifying scope, cost or risk Aligning cross-functional teams Committing significant resources Requiring formal re-approval after changes Documenting assumptions before execution Types of Project Proposals In terms of types of project proposals, you can have one that’s formally solicited, informally solicited or a combination. There can also be renewal and supplemental proposals. Here’s a brief description of each of them. Solicited project proposal: This is sent as a response to a request for proposal (RFP). Here, you’ll need to adhere to the RFP guidelines of the project owner. Unsolicited project proposal: You can send project proposals without having received a request for a proposal. This can happen in open bids for construction projects, where a project owner receives unsolicited project proposals from many contractors. Informal project proposal: This type of project proposal is created when a client asks for an informal proposal without an RFP. Renewal project proposal: You can use a renewal project proposal when you’re reaching out to past customers. The advantage is that you can highlight past positive results and future benefits. Continuation project proposal: A continuation project proposal is sent to investors and stakeholders to communicate project progress. Supplemental project proposal: This proposal is sent to investors to ask for additional resources during the project execution phase. Related: 12 Free Proposal Templates Project Proposal Template All the elements in the above project proposal outline are present in our template. This free project proposal template for Word will provide you with everything you need to write an excellent project proposal. It will help you with the executive summary, project process, deliverables, costs—even terms and conditions. Download your free template today. /wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Project-Proposal-Screenshot.jpgFree download Project Proposal Outline There are several key operational and strategic questions to consider, including: Executive summary: This is the elevator pitch that outlines the project being proposed and why it makes business sense. While it also touches on the information that’ll follow in the project proposal, the executive summary should be brief and to the point. Project background: This is another short part of the proposal, usually only one page, which explains the problem you’ll solve or the opportunity you’re taking advantage of with the proposed project. Also, the project background should provide a short history of the business to put the company in context to the project and why it’s a good fit. Project vision & success criteria: State the goal of the project and how it aligns with the goals of the company. Be specific. Also, note the metrics used to measure the success of the project. Potential risks and mitigation strategies: There are always risks. Detail them here and what strategies you’ll employ to mitigate any negative impact as well as take advantage of any positive risk. Project scope & deliverables: Define the project scope, which is all the work that has to be done and how it will be done. Also, detail the various deliverables that the project will have. Project approach: Define the approach you’ll use for the contract. There are several different types of contracts used in construction, for example, such as lump sum, cost plus, time and materials, etc. This is also a good place to describe the delivery method you’ll use. Expected benefits: Outline the benefits that will come from the successful completion of the project. Project resource requirements: List the resources, such as labor, materials, equipment, etc., that you’ll need to execute the project if approved. Project costs & budget: Detail all the costs, including resources, that’ll be required to complete the project and set up a budget to show how those costs will be spent over the course of the project. Project timeline: Lay out the project timeline, which shows the project from start to finish, including the duration of each phase and the tasks within it, milestones, etc. Stakeholders & roles: Identify key stakeholders, sponsors and decision-makers involved in the project, along with their roles, responsibilities and level of authority throughout the project lifecycle. Assumptions, exclusions & constraints: Document the assumptions the proposal is based on as well as any known constraints, such as budget limits, regulatory requirements, resource availability or fixed deadlines. It’s also important to define exclusions, activities or deliverables that will not be done. Project governance: Explain how the project will be governed, including review checkpoints, approval authorities and escalation paths for major decisions or changes. Change management approach: Describe how changes to the project scope, schedule or budget will be evaluated, approved and communicated once the project is underway. Communication plan: Define how project updates will be shared, how often reporting will occur and which stakeholders will receive which types of information. Quality management approach: Outline how quality will be planned, monitored and controlled to ensure deliverables meet defined standards and expectations. Legal, compliance & procurement considerations: Address contractual, regulatory or procurement requirements that must be met before and during project execution. Turn your project proposal into a successful project with ProjectManager. It’s powerful project management features allow you to keep your projects on schedule and under budget while keeping stakeholders informed with real-time project dashboards and reports. /wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Construction-Gantt-light-mode-task-info-general-CTA-BUTTON-1.jpg How to Write a Project Proposal To make the best proposal possible, you’ll want to be thorough and hit on all the points we’ve listed above. Here’s a step-by-step guide to writing a persuasive priority proposal. 1. Write an Executive Summary The executive summary provides a quick overview of the main elements of your project proposal, such as your project background, project objectives and project deliverables, among other things. The goal is to capture the attention of your audience and get them excited about the project you’re proposing. It’s essentially the “elevator pitch” for the project life cycle. It should be short and to the point. The executive summary should be descriptive and paint a picture of what project success looks like for the client. Most importantly, it should motivate the project client; after all, the goal is getting them to sign on the dotted line to get the project moving! 2. Provide a Project Background The project background is a one-page section of your project proposal that explains the problem that your project will solve. You should explain when this issue started, its current state and how your project will be the ideal solution. Historic data: The history section outlines previously successful projects and those that could have run more smoothly. By doing so, this section establishes precedents and how the next project can be more effective using information from previous projects. Solution: The solution section addresses how your project will solve the client’s problem. Accordingly, this section includes any project management techniques, skills and procedures your team will use to work efficiently. 3. Establish a Project Vision & Success Criteria You’ll need to define your project vision. This is best done with a vision statement, which acts as the north star for your project. It’s not specific as much as it’s a way to describe the impact your company plans to make with the project. It’s also important to set up success criteria to show that the project is in fact doing what it’s proposed to do. Three obvious project success criteria are the triple constraint of cost, scope and time. But you’ll need to set up a way to measure these metrics and respond to them if they’re not meeting your plan. 4. Identify Potential Risks and Mitigation Strategies To reduce the impact of risk in your project, you need to identify what those risks might be and develop a plan to mitigate them. List all the risks, prioritize them, describe what you’ll do to mitigate or take advantage of them and who on the team is responsible for keeping an eye out for them and resolving them. 5. Define Your Project Scope and Project Deliverables The project scope refers to all the work that’ll be executed. It defines the work items, work packages and deliverables that’ll be delivered during the execution phase of your project life cycle. It’s important to use a work breakdown structure (WBS) to define your tasks and subtasks and prioritize them. 6. Set SMART Goals for Your Project Proposal The best mindset when developing goals and objectives for your project proposal is to use the SMART system: Specific – Make sure your goals and objectives are clear, concise and specific to the task at hand. Measurable – Ensure your goals and objectives are measurable so it’s obvious to see when things are on track and going well, and conversely, when things are off track and issues need to be addressed. Measurable goals make it easy to develop the milestones you’ll use to track the progress of the project and identify a reasonable date for completion and/or closure. Attainable – It’s important every project has a “reach” goal. Hitting this goal would mean an outstanding project that extends above and beyond expectations. However, it’s important that the project’s core goal is attainable, so morale stays high and the job gets done with time and resources to spare. Relevant – Make sure all of your goals are directly relevant to the project and address the scope within which you’re working. Time-Based – Timelines and specific dates should be at the core of all goals and objectives. This helps keep the project on track and ensures all project team members can manage the work plan that’s ahead of them. 7. Explain What’s Your Project Approach Your project approach defines the project management methodology, tools and governance for your project. In simple terms, it allows project managers to explain to stakeholders how the project will be planned, executed and controlled successfully. 8. Outline The Expected Benefits of Your Project Proposal If you want to convince internal stakeholders and external investors, you’ll need to show them the financial benefits that your project could bring to their organization. You can use cost-benefit analysis and projected financial statements to demonstrate why your project is profitable. 9. Identify Project Resource Requirements Project resources are critical for the execution of your project. The project proposal briefly describes what resources are needed and how they’ll be used. Later, during the planning phase, you’ll need to create a resource management plan that’ll be an important element of your project plan. Project requirements are the items, materials and resources needed for the project. This section should cover both internal and external needs. 10. Estimate Project Costs and Project Budget All the resources that you’ll need for your project have a price tag. That’s why you need to estimate those costs and create a project budget. The project budget needs to cover all your project expenses, and as a project manager, you’ll need to make sure that you adhere to the budget. 11. Define a Project Timeline Once you’ve defined your project scope, you’ll need to estimate the duration of each task to create a project timeline. Later during the project planning phase, you’ll need to create a schedule baseline, which estimates the total length of your project. Once the project starts, you’ll compare your actual project schedule to the schedule baseline to monitor progress. Project Proposal Example The best way to understand what a project proposal should look like is to take a look at a project proposal example. Here’s a project proposal for a construction project that integrates some of the elements of the project proposal outline we’ve described above. 1. Executive Summary This proposal outlines a small commercial tenant improvement to refresh a 1,200 square foot neighborhood café. The project upgrades finishes, counters, lighting and signage to improve customer experience and operational flow while minimizing downtime. The investment supports revenue growth, brand consistency and code compliance within a short construction window timeline. 2. Project Background The café operates in a mixed-use retail corridor and has outgrown its current layout. Aging finishes, inefficient service flow and limited seating constrain sales during peak hours. This project modernizes the space, improves circulation and aligns the location with the company’s updated brand standards and local building requirements and permits. 3. Project Vision and Success Criteria The vision is to deliver a refreshed café that enhances customer comfort, supports faster service and reflects the brand’s identity. Success is measured through schedule adherence, budget tracking, quality outcomes and operational readiness, ensuring the space opens on time, meets code requirements and achieves targeted performance metrics after completion launch. Goal Objective Target Outcome Improve customer experience Upgrade finishes and seating layout Higher dwell time and satisfaction Increase service efficiency Optimize counter and queue flow Reduced order wait times Open on schedule Complete construction in six weeks On-time café reopening 4. Potential Risks and Mitigation Strategies Project Risk Mitigation Strategy Risk Owner Estimated Cost Permit approval delays Submit permits early and maintain follow-ups Project Manager €1,500 Material delivery delays Pre-order long-lead items and identify alternates Procurement Lead €2,000 Unexpected site conditions Include contingency and conduct early inspections Site Supervisor €3,000 5. Project Scope & Deliverables Scope Area Description Deliverable Interior demolition Remove existing flooring, fixtures and counters Cleared and prepared interior space Interior finishes Install new flooring, paint and wall finishes Completed finished interior Service counter upgrade Install new millwork and equipment layout Operational service counter 6. Project Resource Requirements Resource Type Description Estimated Quantity Labor Carpenters, electricians and painters 6 workers Materials Flooring, paint, millwork materials 1,200 sq ft Equipment Hand tools, lifts and safety equipment As required 7. Project Costs & Budget Cost Category Description Estimated Cost Labor Construction and installation work €22,000 Materials Finishes, fixtures and millwork €15,000 Permits & fees Municipal permits and inspections €3,000 8. Project Timeline Project Phase Duration Milestone Planning & permits 2 weeks Permits approved Construction 4 weeks Physical work completed Final inspection & handover 1 week Café ready for reopening 9. Assumptions, Exclusions & Constraints Category Description Impact Assumption Existing utilities are in good condition No major rework expected Exclusion Kitchen equipment replacement Handled under separate project Constraint Fixed reopening deadline Limited schedule flexibility Project Proposal vs. Project Charter A project proposal is a detailed project document that’s used to convince the project sponsor that the project being proposed is worth the time, money and effort to deliver it. This is done by showing how the project will address a business problem or opportunity. It also outlines the work that will be done and how it will be done. A project charter can seem like the same thing as a project proposal as it also defines the project in a document. It identifies the project objectives, scope, goals, stakeholders and team. But it’s done after the project has been agreed upon by all stakeholders and the project has been accepted. The project charter authorizes the project and documents its requirements to meet stakeholders’ needs. /wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Project-Charter-Screenshot-450x350.jpgFree download Project Proposal vs. Business Case A business case is used to explain why the proposed project is justified. It shows that the project is worth the investment of time and money. It’s more commonly used in larger companies in the decision-making process when prioritizing one project over another. The business case answers the questions: what is the project, why should it be taken up, who will be involved and how much will it cost? It’s therefore related to a project proposal, but the project proposal comes before the business case and is usually part of the larger proposal. /wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Business-case-template-word-projectmanager-450x473.jpgFree download Project Proposal vs. Project Plan Again, the project proposal and the project plan in this case are very similar documents. It’s understandable that there would be some confusion between these two project terms. They both show how the project will be run and what the results will be. However, they’re not the same. The project proposal is a document that aims to get a project approved and funded. It’s used to convince stakeholders of the viability of the project and their investment. The project plan, on the other hand, is made during the planning phase of the project, once it’s been approved. It’s a detailed outline of how the project will be implemented, including schedule, budget, resources and more. /wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Project-Plan-Screenshot-450x389.jpgFree download In addition to these elements, it’s advisable to use a cover letter, which is a one-page document that helps you introduce your project proposal and grab the attention of potential clients and stakeholders. Project Proposal Tips Whatever project proposal you’re working on, there are a few tips that apply as best practices for all. While above we suggested a project proposal template that would have a table of contents, meaning it would be many pages long, the best-case scenario is keeping the proposal to one or two pages max. Remember, you’re trying to win over stakeholders, not bore them. Speaking of project stakeholders, do the research. You want to address the right ones. There’s no point in doing all the work necessary to write a great proposal only to have it directed to the wrong target audience. Whoever is going to read it, though, should be able to comprehend the proposal. Keep the language simple and direct. When it comes to writing, get a professional. Even a business document like a project proposal, business case or executive summary will suffer if it’s poorly constructed or has typos. If you don’t want to hire a professional business writer, make sure you get someone on your project team to copy, edit and proof the document. The more eyes on it, the less likely mistakes will make it to the final edition. You can also use an AI writing tool to help you proofread the project proposal and ensure the text is clear and concise. While you want to keep the proposal short and sweet, it helps to sweeten the pot by adding customer testimonials to the attachments. Nothing sells a project plan better than a customer base looking for your product or service. ProjectManager & Project Proposals ProjectManager allows you to plan proposals within our software. You can update tasks for the project proposal to signify where things stand and what’s left to be done. The columns allow you to organize your proposal by section, creating a work breakdown structure (WBS) of sorts. When building a project proposal, it’s vital to remember your target audience. Your audience includes those who are excited about the project, and see completion as a gain for their organization. Conversely, others in your audience will see the project as a pain and something to which they aren’t looking forward. To keep both parties satisfied, it’s essential to keep language factual and concise. Our online kanban boards help you think through that language and collaborate on it effectively with other team members, if necessary. Each card shows the percentage completed so everyone in the project management team is aware of the work done and what’s left to be done. /wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Kanban_Manufacturing_Wide_Zoom-150_Moving-task-to-new-status.jpg As you can see from the kanban board above, work has begun on tasks such as product documentation and design. Tasks regarding stakeholder feedback, ideation, market research and more have been completed, and there’s a good start on the engineering drawings, 3D rendering, supply chain sourcing and translation services. A PDF is then attached to the card, and everyone added to the task receives an email notifying them of the change. This same process can be used throughout the life-cycle of the project to keep the team updated, collaborating, and producing a first-class project proposal. In addition to kanban boards, you can also use other project management tools such as Gantt charts, project dashboards, task lists and project calendars to plan, schedule and track your projects. Related Project Planning Content Project Documentation: 15 Essential Project Documents How to Create a Project Execution Plan (PEP) How to Write a Scope of Work Project Scope Statement: How to Write One With Examples ¿Qué es una Propuesta de Proyecto? (Con Ejemplo) Comment rédiger une proposition de projet Wie man einen Projektvorschlag schreibt Project proposals are just the first step in the project planning process. Once your project is approved, you’ll have to solidify the plan, allocate and manage resources, monitor the project, and finally hand in your deliverables. This process requires a flexible, dynamic and robust project management software package. ProjectManager is online project management software that helps all your team members collaborate and manage this process in real-time. Try our award-winning software with this free 30-day trial. The post How to Write a Project Proposal (Examples & Template Included) appeared first on ProjectManager. View the full article

End of deliveries by Denmark’s mail service bodes ill for the epistolary formView the full article

The holiday season means time with family and new memories, but it can also mean lots of spending—sometimes too much. From gifts to travel plans to grocery shopping, costs can pile up and become overwhelming, especially in a difficult economic environment. Holiday shopping can bring joy, but it’s important to stick to a budget and avoid going into debt, said shopping expert Trae Bodge. “I’m really emphasizing that shoppers look for ways to save as much as possible this season. So we don’t bring that debt into the next year,” Bodge added. Here are some expert recommendations to make the most out of your budget this holiday season: Plan your gift list and shop around Planning your gifts as far in advance as possible can be a great way to save money, since it gives you more time to compare and shop around, said Kiersti Torok, a social media content creator known on Instagram and TikTok as Torok Coupon Hunter. Torok plans her shopping months in advance. She buys the chocolate and candy for her children’s Christmas stockings right after Halloween, when they’re on sale. And it’s not too early to think about next year — her Christmas decorations are always bought on clearance, especially after Christmas. “If you wait until two, maybe three, days after Christmas. Things will start to hit 75% off. And that’s when I shop for my kid’s birthdays, because they’re in July,” Torok said. Compare prices When you’re looking to buy a gift, Bodge recommends comparing prices with other stores, looking for coupons, and signing up for emails from your favorite stores. That way, you can buy the item when it’s at its lowest price. “I’m always looking for maybe a coupon code, so I can save a certain percentage off. Or I can earn cash back or get a free shipping offer. I really believe in those tools and use them every single time I shop,” Bodge said. To find deals more easily, Bodge recommends installing browser extensions on your computer. Some of her favorites are PayPal Honey and Rakuten. Lately, Bodge has also noticed the increasing use of artificial intelligence to both find holiday gift ideas and sales. However, AI search engines are not very good at finding up-to-date deals, she said. Bodge recommends that you search for deals on the store’s website or on sites like RetailMeNot. If you can’t find an item on sale, find a coupon, or wait to see if you can find it cheaper somewhere else. Save on groceries by using coupons If you’re the host of your family’s holiday celebration, you might be rushing between going to the grocery store, cooking a large meal and decorating your house. But, it’s best if you don’t let the holiday rush distract you from saving on groceries. Coupons are a great way to reduce costs so you can keep your meals on budget, and possibly use that money for other expenses. Most grocery stores offer coupons, either in paper form, on their website, or in their apps. Couponing can be time-consuming, but the tradeoff can be saving hundreds of dollars on groceries, according to Torok. If you’re trying couponing for the first time, she recommends taking small steps. “If you’re looking to save money and you never couponed before, my biggest advice is to pick your favorite store you’re most comfortable with and download their app,” Torok said. Once you feel comfortable using coupons with your preferred store, Torok recommends that you start comparing prices with other stores near you. This way you can shop for the best deals and save money. If you’re looking to maximize your savings, she also recommends taking advantage of websites that give you cash back on your grocery shopping. Examples include Top Cash Back and Ibotta. Buy in bulk and stock up on groceries When preparing for your big holiday meal, a useful tactic to save is to buy in bulk and then freeze it for when you need it, recommended Alli Powell, grocery shopping expert. “Anything that you can stock up on and freeze at a (lower) price point, then take it out of the freezer to use later, it’ll be such a benefit. This is something I try to do year-round,” said Powell, who hosts Grocery Getting Girl, a blog and Instagram page dedicated to budget-friendly grocery shopping. Large grocery stores typically offer sales around Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s, and this can be a perfect opportunity to buy in bulk and put it away for another time, Powell said. Be careful with store credit cards and buy now, pay later deals Proceed with caution when it comes to acquiring store credits cards or making purchases using buy now, pay later. If you’re shopping in person this holiday season, you’ll likely be offered a store credit card at checkout, often paired with a large discount on your current purchase. Bodge recommends that you only get a store credit card if you know you can pay it off in full each month and have good credit card habits. “If there’s a retailer that you shop with regularly and you are responsible with your credit cards, opening a credit card can be very beneficial,” Bodge said. If you decide to acquire a store credit card, it’s important that you know how much interest will be charged. Store credit cards, like traditional credit cards, affect your credit score. Similarly, making purchases using buy now, pay later is only recommended when you are sure you can afford to make all the payments on time. Buy now, pay later loans were not previously reported to the three major credit reporting bureaus, but consumers will soon see the them impact their FICO credit scores. When it comes to travel, flexibility pays A common mistake when making travel plans is to not allow yourself much flexibility on your flights, said Kyle Potter, editor of Thrifty Traveler, a travel and flight deal website. To save money on your travel, first book the flights and then the rest of the accommodations, that way you can allow yourself to be as flexible as possible with the dates of your flights. “Start with the flights first, because that gives you the freedom to shift your travel dates by even just a day. Especially over the holidays,” Potter said. Potter recommends that you track prices and set alarms for flights on Google Flights. ___ The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism. —Adriana Morga, Associated Press View the full article

Managing your social media can be challenging, but using an editorial calendar can simplify the process considerably. With five free templates available, like HootSuite’s customizable Google Sheet and HubSpot’s strategic planning spreadsheet, you can organize your posting schedules effectively. Social Media Examiner likewise offers a detailed calendar, whereas ClickUp improves your workflow with project management features. Jotform provides templates for various platforms, ensuring you stay consistent. Discover which template fits your needs best. Key Takeaways HootSuite’s customizable Google Sheet format helps organize posting schedules across major platforms for consistent engagement. HubSpot’s single spreadsheet simplifies posting strategies with dedicated sections for daily posts and monthly campaigns. Social Media Examiner’s detailed day-by-day planning template is designed for high content volumes and easy integration. ClickUp offers a project management tool for content planning, allowing categorization by platform and status for workflow efficiency. Jotform provides templates for various platforms and includes a Monthly Planning Calendar for year-round campaign scheduling. HootSuite’s Social Media Content Calendar When you want to improve your social media strategy, HootSuite’s Social Media Content Calendar can be a valuable tool. This free editorial calendar is offered in a customizable Google Sheet format, supporting major platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok. You can easily organize your posting schedules, ensuring consistent engagement across all accounts. The calendar features an evergreen content library tab, which helps you maintain a steady flow of relevant content, eliminating the stress of last-minute planning. With quick download options available, you can implement this free social media editorial calendar template into your strategy almost immediately. By streamlining your content planning process, HootSuite empowers you to focus on creating high-quality posts instead of scrambling for ideas. HubSpot’s Social Media Content Calendar HubSpot’s Social Media Content Calendar serves as an efficient tool for managing your social media strategy across various platforms. This single spreadsheet streamlines your entire posting strategy, featuring dedicated sections for daily posts and monthly campaigns. You can customize the template to fit your specific content planning needs, ensuring organized scheduling. With tabs for each social platform, it’s easy to manage content customized to different audiences. Plus, you can download the calendar template for immediate use, providing a quick start to optimizing your social media management efforts. Here’s a quick overview: Feature Description Customizable Adapt to your content planning needs. Multiple Platforms Manage posts for different social channels. Tabs for Each Platform Easy navigation for customized content. Quick Download Start using it immediately. Consistent Presence Maintain a structured online engagement. Social Media Examiner’s Social Media Calendar Template Social Media Examiner’s Social Media Calendar Template is an invaluable resource for teams managing high volumes of content across various platforms. This Google Sheets format offers a detailed day-by-day view, making it straightforward for effective planning. Designed for ease of use, it allows teams to organize their posting schedules efficiently. You can download the template for immediate implementation, which helps you seamlessly integrate it into your workflow. It includes dedicated sections for different social media platforms, enabling clear organization of content. With its user-friendly design, the template streamlines the content planning process, considerably reducing the chances of last-minute scrambles. By utilizing this tool, you can improve your content strategy and enhance overall productivity. ClickUp’s Social Media Content Calendar ClickUp’s Social Media Content Calendar serves as an influential project management tool customized for users looking to streamline their content planning and organization. This versatile calendar allows you to plan and categorize content by platform and status, greatly enhancing your workflow efficiency. With a library of templates at your disposal, you can easily prioritize posts according to your marketing goals and streamline the content creation process. Moreover, ClickUp enables you to store ideas for future posts, allowing for improved planning and organization of upcoming content strategies. The platform also facilitates collaboration among team members, ensuring seamless communication and task assignments during the content creation process. Plus, a free plan is available, making it accessible for smaller teams or individuals. Jotform’s Social Media Calendar For those looking to improve their social media strategy, Jotform’s Social Media Calendar offers a robust solution with templates that cater to various platforms, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. This versatile tool features a Monthly Planning Calendar for scheduling campaigns throughout the year, ensuring thorough content management. Moreover, it includes a Content Repository to track created content, allowing for easy reuse and preventing duplication. You can likewise benefit from a direct upload template for HubSpot, which automates the post scheduling process. Plus, the user guide offers social insights from marketing expert Samantha Meller, helping you optimize your strategy. Feature Description Benefit Monthly Planning Calendar Schedule campaigns throughout the year Thorough content management Content Repository Track and reuse created content Prevents content duplication HubSpot Upload Template Automate post scheduling Increases efficiency Frequently Asked Questions How Do I Customize a Social Media Calendar Template? To customize a social media calendar template, start by selecting a format that suits your needs, such as Google Sheets or Excel. Next, input your key dates and events, then add columns for each platform you’ll use. Include specific content ideas, posting times, and any relevant hashtags. Adjust colors and fonts for better visibility, ensuring it aligns with your branding. Regularly update the calendar to reflect changes in strategy or content focus. Can I Use These Templates for Multiple Social Media Platforms? Yes, you can definitely use these templates for multiple social media platforms. Most templates are designed to be flexible, allowing you to adapt content for different channels like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. You’ll want to tweak the format and messaging to suit each platform’s audience and character limits. Are These Templates Compatible With Mobile Devices? Yes, these templates are typically compatible with mobile devices, allowing you to access and edit them on the go. Most modern templates are designed to be responsive, meaning they adjust to various screen sizes, including smartphones and tablets. You can easily view your calendar and make necessary updates without needing a desktop computer. Just guarantee you’re using compatible apps or software that support the template format for a seamless experience on your mobile device. Do I Need Design Skills to Use These Templates? You don’t need design skills to use these templates effectively. They’re created to be user-friendly, allowing you to customize layouts and content easily. Most templates come with pre-set designs, so you can simply input your information without needing advanced design knowledge. Furthermore, many platforms offer tutorials or guides to help you navigate the features. This makes it accessible for anyone looking to improve their social media presence without extensive graphic design experience. How Often Should I Update My Editorial Calendar? You should update your editorial calendar regularly to stay relevant and organized. Aim for at least once a month, but consider weekly updates if your content or audience needs change frequently. Review performance metrics, audience engagement, and industry trends during these updates. This will help you refine your strategy and guarantee your content aligns with your goals. Staying proactive with your calendar can improve your effectiveness in reaching your target audience. Conclusion Utilizing free social media editorial calendar templates can greatly improve your content management strategy. Tools like HootSuite, HubSpot, Social Media Examiner, ClickUp, and Jotform each offer unique features customized to different needs. By implementing these templates, you can streamline your posting schedule, boost engagement, and maintain consistency across platforms. Adopting an organized approach not just reduces planning stress but likewise allows you to focus on creating quality content that resonates with your audience. Image via Google Gemini This article, "5 Free Social Media Editorial Calendar Templates You Need" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Managing your social media can be challenging, but using an editorial calendar can simplify the process considerably. With five free templates available, like HootSuite’s customizable Google Sheet and HubSpot’s strategic planning spreadsheet, you can organize your posting schedules effectively. Social Media Examiner likewise offers a detailed calendar, whereas ClickUp improves your workflow with project management features. Jotform provides templates for various platforms, ensuring you stay consistent. Discover which template fits your needs best. Key Takeaways HootSuite’s customizable Google Sheet format helps organize posting schedules across major platforms for consistent engagement. HubSpot’s single spreadsheet simplifies posting strategies with dedicated sections for daily posts and monthly campaigns. Social Media Examiner’s detailed day-by-day planning template is designed for high content volumes and easy integration. ClickUp offers a project management tool for content planning, allowing categorization by platform and status for workflow efficiency. Jotform provides templates for various platforms and includes a Monthly Planning Calendar for year-round campaign scheduling. HootSuite’s Social Media Content Calendar When you want to improve your social media strategy, HootSuite’s Social Media Content Calendar can be a valuable tool. This free editorial calendar is offered in a customizable Google Sheet format, supporting major platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok. You can easily organize your posting schedules, ensuring consistent engagement across all accounts. The calendar features an evergreen content library tab, which helps you maintain a steady flow of relevant content, eliminating the stress of last-minute planning. With quick download options available, you can implement this free social media editorial calendar template into your strategy almost immediately. By streamlining your content planning process, HootSuite empowers you to focus on creating high-quality posts instead of scrambling for ideas. HubSpot’s Social Media Content Calendar HubSpot’s Social Media Content Calendar serves as an efficient tool for managing your social media strategy across various platforms. This single spreadsheet streamlines your entire posting strategy, featuring dedicated sections for daily posts and monthly campaigns. You can customize the template to fit your specific content planning needs, ensuring organized scheduling. With tabs for each social platform, it’s easy to manage content customized to different audiences. Plus, you can download the calendar template for immediate use, providing a quick start to optimizing your social media management efforts. Here’s a quick overview: Feature Description Customizable Adapt to your content planning needs. Multiple Platforms Manage posts for different social channels. Tabs for Each Platform Easy navigation for customized content. Quick Download Start using it immediately. Consistent Presence Maintain a structured online engagement. Social Media Examiner’s Social Media Calendar Template Social Media Examiner’s Social Media Calendar Template is an invaluable resource for teams managing high volumes of content across various platforms. This Google Sheets format offers a detailed day-by-day view, making it straightforward for effective planning. Designed for ease of use, it allows teams to organize their posting schedules efficiently. You can download the template for immediate implementation, which helps you seamlessly integrate it into your workflow. It includes dedicated sections for different social media platforms, enabling clear organization of content. With its user-friendly design, the template streamlines the content planning process, considerably reducing the chances of last-minute scrambles. By utilizing this tool, you can improve your content strategy and enhance overall productivity. ClickUp’s Social Media Content Calendar ClickUp’s Social Media Content Calendar serves as an influential project management tool customized for users looking to streamline their content planning and organization. This versatile calendar allows you to plan and categorize content by platform and status, greatly enhancing your workflow efficiency. With a library of templates at your disposal, you can easily prioritize posts according to your marketing goals and streamline the content creation process. Moreover, ClickUp enables you to store ideas for future posts, allowing for improved planning and organization of upcoming content strategies. The platform also facilitates collaboration among team members, ensuring seamless communication and task assignments during the content creation process. Plus, a free plan is available, making it accessible for smaller teams or individuals. Jotform’s Social Media Calendar For those looking to improve their social media strategy, Jotform’s Social Media Calendar offers a robust solution with templates that cater to various platforms, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. This versatile tool features a Monthly Planning Calendar for scheduling campaigns throughout the year, ensuring thorough content management. Moreover, it includes a Content Repository to track created content, allowing for easy reuse and preventing duplication. You can likewise benefit from a direct upload template for HubSpot, which automates the post scheduling process. Plus, the user guide offers social insights from marketing expert Samantha Meller, helping you optimize your strategy. Feature Description Benefit Monthly Planning Calendar Schedule campaigns throughout the year Thorough content management Content Repository Track and reuse created content Prevents content duplication HubSpot Upload Template Automate post scheduling Increases efficiency Frequently Asked Questions How Do I Customize a Social Media Calendar Template? To customize a social media calendar template, start by selecting a format that suits your needs, such as Google Sheets or Excel. Next, input your key dates and events, then add columns for each platform you’ll use. Include specific content ideas, posting times, and any relevant hashtags. Adjust colors and fonts for better visibility, ensuring it aligns with your branding. Regularly update the calendar to reflect changes in strategy or content focus. Can I Use These Templates for Multiple Social Media Platforms? Yes, you can definitely use these templates for multiple social media platforms. Most templates are designed to be flexible, allowing you to adapt content for different channels like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. You’ll want to tweak the format and messaging to suit each platform’s audience and character limits. Are These Templates Compatible With Mobile Devices? Yes, these templates are typically compatible with mobile devices, allowing you to access and edit them on the go. Most modern templates are designed to be responsive, meaning they adjust to various screen sizes, including smartphones and tablets. You can easily view your calendar and make necessary updates without needing a desktop computer. Just guarantee you’re using compatible apps or software that support the template format for a seamless experience on your mobile device. Do I Need Design Skills to Use These Templates? You don’t need design skills to use these templates effectively. They’re created to be user-friendly, allowing you to customize layouts and content easily. Most templates come with pre-set designs, so you can simply input your information without needing advanced design knowledge. Furthermore, many platforms offer tutorials or guides to help you navigate the features. This makes it accessible for anyone looking to improve their social media presence without extensive graphic design experience. How Often Should I Update My Editorial Calendar? You should update your editorial calendar regularly to stay relevant and organized. Aim for at least once a month, but consider weekly updates if your content or audience needs change frequently. Review performance metrics, audience engagement, and industry trends during these updates. This will help you refine your strategy and guarantee your content aligns with your goals. Staying proactive with your calendar can improve your effectiveness in reaching your target audience. Conclusion Utilizing free social media editorial calendar templates can greatly improve your content management strategy. Tools like HootSuite, HubSpot, Social Media Examiner, ClickUp, and Jotform each offer unique features customized to different needs. By implementing these templates, you can streamline your posting schedule, boost engagement, and maintain consistency across platforms. Adopting an organized approach not just reduces planning stress but likewise allows you to focus on creating quality content that resonates with your audience. Image via Google Gemini This article, "5 Free Social Media Editorial Calendar Templates You Need" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. More than 37 million Americans moved last year—and while that’s actually a historic low, one thing that hasn’t changed is the levels of hair-tearing stress the experience can inspire. Everything about moving, from packing to hiring movers to switching utilities, comes with a little spice of stress and anxiety. Even the most competent and careful planning can leave you with an ulcer and an incipient nervous breakdown as you try to pack your entire life into a truck and transport it to another location. There are lots of little ways to reduce that stress and make moving a little easier. These hacks can help anyone, no matter how far you’re moving or what your housing situation might be, because they each reduce the friction a tiny bit without much effort. Whether the big day is tomorrow or next month, take a moment and employ a few of these moving hacks to make the day a little less nightmarish. Get free boxesBuying moving boxes can be pricey—U-Haul sells kits that range from about $150 to $460, depending on the size of your household, for example. That’s not a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, but after paying for everything else associated with a new home, saving a few hundred bucks is a worthy hack. Luckily, there are several ways to get your mitts on some free boxes, from companies like U-Haul that connect its customers to platforms like Freecycle where people often post used boxes for free pickup. And there’s always the old standby of contacting local grocery stores and the like to see if you can dumpster dive for some old boxes. If you start collecting boxes early enough, you can save yourself stress and money. Size your boxesWhen collecting or buying moving boxes, most of us just grab what’s available and wind up with a Tetris-like assortment of sizes and shapes. If at all possible, make all of your moving boxes the same size. This will make packing them into a truck or van a lot easier and more efficient, and make stacking them onto a handtruck or cart a lot faster and more stable. There will be obvious exceptions to this rule of thumb—garment boxes, television boxes, etc.—but the more you can make your boxes uniform, the faster things will go. Stretch wrapMoving stuff like desks or dressers often means playing whack-a-mole with drawers and doors that keep popping open, or having to make multiple trips because nothing fits together snugly. The answer is stretch wrap. You’ve seen professional movers use this stuff, but you can easily buy your own. And you should—it makes combining oddly-shaped things into one unit easy, it can be used to ensure drawers and doors stay closed, and protects your stuff from incidental damage caused by your enthusiastic but careless friends who are just in it for the free pizza. Vacuum bagsSometimes moving can feel positively Kafka-esque in its suffering. For example: You put in some effort to score a bunch of boxes only to discover that each box fits approximately one fluffy sweater. Sure, that’s an easy carry, but now you have to go find 100 more boxes—or start thrusting your clothes into garbage bags. Or, get yourself some vacuum storage bags. The same physics that allows you to store an entire winter wardrobe in the space under your bed will make your move a lot more efficient, shrinking down those bulky items to a more manageable size. Once shrunk, you can then roll or fold the bags to fit efficiently into boxes. Bonus: The plastic bags will also protect your clothes during the move, ensuring they don’t arrive stained, dusty, or torn. Rubber band doorsIt’s a ritual of moving: Propping the door. You’re up and down, in and out, and the front door keeps swinging shut and latching, forcing you to constantly fish out your keys or fobs to open it up. There’s an easy hack for this, though: Take some (relatively large) rubber bands (you might need more than one), loop them over both knobs, and lay it against the latch so it’s pushed in. Now the door won’t latch, so you can just push or pull it open as needed. Have a "go bag"Sometimes, when packing up stuff for a move, you can fall into a bit of a trance and become a packing machine, just madly shoving everything into boxes and bags. And then you arrive at your new home and you can’t brush your teeth, find the bandages, or find utensils to eat your victory Doordash. A great hack is to set up a “go bag” with all the essentials you might need. Treat it like staying one night in a hotel and bring everything you need to be comfortable, like hygiene products, toilet paper, basic utensils, and cleaning products. Throw in anything you might need: dry socks, fresh underwear, pet food, baby supplies, a first aid kit. This way, when you’re exhausted from the move, you won’t have to search through a pile of boxes looking for your toothbrush. Hangers and trash bagsTransporting your finery safely can be challenging, especially if you’re moving yourself. Wardrobe boxes can help protect your clothes during the move, but they’re also bulky and cost money, and you have to take the time to drag your clothes out of the closet and transfer them to the box. There’s a hackier way: Separate your clothes into groups, then slide a trash bag up from the bottom to envelope the whole group of clothes and secure the plastic ties around the tops of the hangers. In a few minutes your whole closet is wrapped up and ready to go. You can combine this with a wardrobe box if you have one, but if not, your clothes are protected and your closet is instantly organized and ready to be emptied out. Keep track of the contents of your boxes Moving houses can descend into chaos so quickly we often make our future selves miserable. What starts off as a relatively organized effort becomes a mad dash to cram stuff into boxes and finish the project, which means future you is stuck with a load of boxes filled with random stuff, and there will always be at least one treasured item that just seems to have dropped through a portal into another dimension. You can prevent this with a simple hack: Mark each box with a number and take a photo of the contents of every box before you tape it shut and stuff it into the van. Sure, you could be more meticulous and have a spreadsheet, color-coded system of stickers, or other more robust way of tracking each box’s contents, but the photo method blends well with the barely-held-together chaos of many house moves. Later, when you’re searching for something, a quick scan of your photos will tell you precisely which box you put it inside. Take pics of wire hookupsIt’s amazing how wires proliferate as if they’re an alien species infiltrating our world. Everything seems neat and tidy in your house, and then comes moving day and you realize that each television, desktop computer, and device has at least one—and sometimes several—cords associated with it. Keeping them all straight when moving to a new place can be a real pain. While cords like HDMI cables are usually interchangeable between devices, that won’t be the case if your laptop uses a USB-C-to-HDMI cable, and sometimes your cables are ideally sized—a short HDMI cable between a Roku and your TV, for example, won’t hang down and be an eyesore. To ensure you put everything back the way it should be without tearing your hair out, take photos of the back of your devices before you disassemble them for transport. Being able to see exactly where every cord goes and how it was set up will save you a lot of time and trouble on the back end of your move. Clean while you packCleaning is a huge part of moving. If you’re renting, it’s a vital aspect of your plan to get your security deposit back. If you’ve sold a place, it’s just the right thing to do (and might even be stipulated in your sale contract). A simple but powerful hack: Don’t wait until you’ve moved everything out to clean. While it might seem like a completely empty house would be ideal for cleaning, it’s also kind of overwhelming. An empty room is just as easy to clean, and tackling each space as you clear it out instead of leaving it all to the end will make cleaning seem like less of a chore. Plus, alternating between packing and cleaning will actually make both go a little more smoothly, because at least there will be some variation. View the full article

The executive order described state legislation on artificial intelligence as a cumbersome patchwork, and pledged to develop a national framework. View the full article

Kyiv and European allies seek to strengthen their hand as Washington-led peace talks reach critical phaseView the full article

The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the FHA-insured loan caps for low- and high-cost areas, which are set based on conforming loan limits. View the full article

A New Hampshire municipal issue stretches the bounds of what state borrowing is forView the full article

This week, a new fashion boutique quietly opened in SoHo. Much like its neighbors, H&M and American Eagle, the new shop features racks of affordably priced, trendy apparel. You’d be forgiven for thinking it was another fast fashion label, but it’s not: it’s Target. Target has retrofitted its existing SoHo store as a “design-forward concept store,” with a focus on fashion and beauty. The store’s entrance, which features a long hallway drenched in the brand’s iconic red, is full of racks with sparkly skirts and faux-fur jackets for holiday parties. Target has dubbed this area “The Drop” and will feature new, seasonal merchandise that is updated every six to eight weeks. The brand says it will refresh the area with wellness-focused products for New Year’s resolutions in January, and giftable items for Valentine’s Day in February. The store offers a glimpse into what Target might be cooking up in its efforts to engineer a much-needed turnaround. This past year was calamitous for Target, capping off several years of decline. It began with a boycott, led by Black consumers, who felt that the retailer had let them down by purporting to support diversity in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, then dropping most of its diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts when The President was elected. Last month, it reported a drop in quarterly sales, after four years of flat revenue. In the company’s earnings call, incoming CEO Michael Fiddelke (who is set to replace Brian Cornell in February) declined to say when Target’s sales were likely to turn positive again. (We reached out to Target for commentary, but it did not make a spokesperson available by the time of publication.) As I’ve written before, Target’s struggles don’t stem from a single problem. Stores have become disorganized, checkout lines are long. Groceries are an important way to get customers into stores, but they make up less than a quarter of Target’s overall business (as compared to 60% of Walmart’s). And more broadly, Target’s customer base of well-heeled, urban consumers no longer think of it as “Tar-zhay,” the place to buy elevated, well-designed products at an affordable price. Fiddelke has the difficult task of getting Target out of this position. In August, when he was appointed as the next CEO, he articulated three strategies for cleaning up the mess: improving the in-store experience, incorporating technology to improve efficiency, and turning Target back into a destination for style and design. The new concept store in New York appears to be one effort toward reminding Target that it was once the go-to big box store for a trendy outfit. The power of design It makes sense that Fiddelke is looking to design to help steer Target out of this rough patch. After all, design is arguably what enabled Target to become one of the country’s top big box retailers in the early 2000s. But the world has changed over the last two decades, and it’s unclear whether the strategy will allow Target to stand out now. Target first came up with the idea of democratizing great design in 1999, when it launched a multiyear partnership with the architect Michael Graves on a collection of elevated home goods at affordable prices. The sales of the first line weren’t spectacular, but Target was committed to the concept, and over time, sales took off, elevating the retailer’s image. Over the next two decades, Target collaborated with the top fashion designers of the era, from Proenza Schouler to Anna Sui to Missoni. This coincided with a period of steady growth in the 2000s and early 2010s, and led to a loyal customer base. But Target no longer corners the market on democratic design. Many other retailers have taken a page from Target’s successful playbook of partnering with designers. High-low designer collabs are now a fixture of fast fashion brands like H&M, Zara, and Uniqlo. And now, Target’s biggest competitor—Walmart—is stepping up its game, when it comes to fashion. In 2021, Walmart hired the designer Brandon Maxwell to redesign two of its in-house fashion lines and has been popping up at New York Fashion Week for the last three years to signal that it wants to be a contender in the fashion landscape. An economic uphill battle The bigger problem is that in our current economic climate—when Americans are feeling the pinch of inflation, a slowdown in hiring, and the looming threat of a stock market crash—many consumers are pulling back on discretionary spending. And design-forward products, like clothes and home goods, are nonessentials. Part of the reason that Walmart’s business is booming is that it specializes in selling groceries at the lowest possible prices, which is appealing to Americans of all socioeconomic backgrounds. In its most recent financial results, Walmart says it has been gaining market share with families that make more than $100,000 a year. It’s likely that some of these customers are coming from Target, which has historically attracted a wealthier customer than Walmart. If Target wants to lean back into design, it can’t just do what it has done in the past. There are many other fashion brands—including many in Soho—that are very good at churning out the latest affordable styles. Target needs to innovate and offer something fresher and distinct from the rest of the marketplace. It will be hard for Target to compete on price, since Walmart’s scale allows it to get lower prices from suppliers. But there are other ways to stand out. Target could focus on the quality and durability of its products, which would be appealing to consumers looking to maximize their purchases. It could partner with global designers that offer a different point of view. It could focus on the sustainability of its design. It just can’t rehash as 20-year-old strategy in the hopes that it’ll work again today. View the full article

Whether you're an academically inclined student looking for study hacks, or a more creative person who's just looking to work smarter instead of harder, there are lots of little ways to make getting through school a little easier. Even as students deal with increased competition and rising costs, you can make life just a little bit easier with each of these hacks. Make the most of student discountsEveryone knows about student discounts on laptops, streaming platforms, and some productivity services. However, there are plenty of other great deals for students that aren't as widely known. For instance, you can get a Setapp subscription for 50% off as a student, which gives you a year of access to over 200 Mac apps. You can also get some great deals such as scoring a free year of Google's Gemini Pro if you're a U.S. college student (the offer expires on January 31, 2026). If your college provides you with a .edu email address, that's an easy way to score student discounts with practically every digital service. Some institutions let you keep that email address even after you graduate, as long as you keep the account active. You can also keep your student ID after graduation to get a few more discounts. Although it's not always considered ethical to get student discounts when you're working, this method could help you tide over a difficult time financially, as rent and bills tend to hit a lot harder when you're working on a low wage at the start of your career. 3D printing is sometimes better than buyingI've visited a few universities that have 3D printers their students can use for free (my editor went to one). If that's the case with your college, then you can use it to save yourself a bit of money by 3D printing objects you'd otherwise end up buying. These can include desk lamps, phone stands, small desk organizers, and much more. If you're mechanically savvy, you can even print small car parts that are expensive or hard to find. Even if your university doesn't have a 3D printer, it's not too hard to find stores or websites where you can upload a design and get the finished product shipped to you. Quite often, 3D printing is a lot cheaper than buying new or even used items. You can check out the FunctionalPrints community and Makerworld for great 3D printing ideas, and often, downloadable design models. This means that you can take the design to a 3D printer near you and get it printed easily. Consider writing your notes by hand Credit: Joel Cunningham I had a rough time studying in high school, as I got distracted immersing myself in novels, video games, and the internet. When I started college, I noticed that my focus time was lower when I was using computers to study. So, I switched to writing notes by hand ,and it was like a switch flipped in my brain. When I read those notes ahead of exams, I was able to recall the parts of the class I wrote them down in, which noticeably improved my scores. I took the GMAT exam a few years ago and I got a pretty decent score all thanks to handwriting all of my notes, and solving all math problems by hand. I'm not a gifted math student, and in spite of that, I did pretty well in the math exam, only because I avoided using my iPad or Mac for studies. Of course, I used those devices to read textbooks, but I did all my note-taking and problem solving by hand. While I prefer old-school methods like pen and paper to handwrite notes, you can also use modern technology to your advantage here. An iPad with an Apple Pencil, or something like the reMarkable tablet, can make a great study tool. The reMarkable uses an e-ink screen that mimics real paper, which makes it feel far more like an actual notebook than using an iPad. Use meditation apps to reduce anxietyWhile exercise is my number 1 recommendation to anyone who's looking to relieve anxiety, it's not always possible to make time for workouts during busy periods as a student. If you're in this boat, I highly recommend using a free meditation app to reduce anxiety and focus better on studies. During my GMAT prep, I was confronting multiple demons at once. I was quite scared of math, tests, and had a crippling fear of failure. I had a 40-minute train ride back from work and I used it to do a 20-minute guided meditation on Headspace's free tier. Doing this for a few weeks helped me calm down immensely. On the day of the test, I remember being completely unfazed by the difficult questions, and I was able to follow all the exam strategies my tutor had suggested. My score was a lot higher than what I was expecting, and most of it was down to getting my anxiety out of the way. You can use any free meditation app to get started. Remember that you don't need to sit under a tree in the forest to meditate. You can start wherever you are. Try a few different study methodsI must admit that I really didn't know about any study methods when I went to university, and I just did whatever helped me remember things. Working at Lifehacker has been an eye-opening experience in many ways, and one of those is learning that you can actually use more than one method to grasp difficult subjects. My colleague Lindsey Ellefson has written at length about the best study methods, and you should definitely give it a read to see if a different study method can help you. I'm now a big fan of the Feynman method, which says that once you've finished studying a topic, you should explain it to someone who knows nothing about it. If you're able to do this and answer follow-up questions the person has, then it means you know the subject pretty well. If not, it's time to study again. I generally don't encourage using AI too much to study, but you can tell ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini that you're using the Feynman method to study a concept, and explain what you've learned. These tools will help you identify what you've explained correctly and ask decent follow-up questions to help you deepen your understanding of the subject. Try flashcard apps for faster learning Credit: Brainscape Pretty much every student has used flashcards to study in school, but it's not easy to keep making flashcards for every subject when you have way too much to study. This is when it's a good idea to outsource the work to flashcard study apps. These are great tools to commit things to memory, and particularly useful when you're trying to learn a new language, memorize chess openings, or if you're studying for exams. You can try Brainscape if you want pre-made flashcards, which eliminates the effort of generating the cards, too. It's great both for students prepping for a specific exam and for adults learning different skills. The variety of pre-made cards is vast, and you probably won't ever have to make any cards on the app. The free tier lets you use text, and the paid version lets you access audio, images, removes limits on studying, and many more useful features. It costs $20/month, $96/year, or $200 for a lifetime membership. Don't forget the Pomodoro techniqueAt times, the simplest advice is the best. I only learned about the Pomodoro technique after I started working, and I still wish I'd known about it during my student days. The concept is simple: Follow a schedule where you study or work on a project for 25 minutes and then take a five-minute break. Rinse and repeat until your large task is done. The work and break time intervals should be changed based on what works best for you. If you like the idea of using a dedicated app to follow this technique, you should consider FocusPomo, which has a solid 4.5/5 score in Lifehacker's review. The biggest downside of this app is that you still have to check your phone to use it, and if that's a no-go for you, then you can try alternatives such as following this 3-hour Pomodoro study video or using a Pomodoro app that works in your desktop browser, such as My Study Life. Block distractions to focus better Credit: Lindsey Ellefson You should definitely use a distraction blocker app to stop doomscrolling and focus on what you need to do. Be it studying, journaling, meditation, or any other hobby you're fond of, using distraction blocking tools can help you focus at a time when every major internet company is out to get your attention. You can try tools such as Cold Turkey or StayFocusd, both of which let you block distracting websites for free. Similarly, Steppin is a great distraction blocking tool for your smartphone. Befriend the power napWhen you're focused on studies, don't neglect the importance of a healthy sleep cycle. Ideally, you want to use the wind down feature on your phone to remind you that it's time to stop using all apps and get to bed. On iPhones and Android phones, you can also quickly switch to grayscale mode at bedtime, which is another way to trick your brain into getting off the screen. I find that I sleep better when all my gadgets aren't right next to my bed. But more than that, I highly recommend taking a power nap when you're tired. Sometimes, I get home from a long day and I feel too tired to do much. If I'm able to take a 30-minute nap, I often wake up refreshed and feeling a lot better. Adding a little bit of rest to your day can make a big difference to your ability to get things done, so you should consider adding power naps to your day. In case you find it hard to relax and sleep, I've had good results with progressive muscle relaxation. It's a simple technique that requires you to tense and relax various muscles in your body, which in turn helps you relax enough to go to sleep. The Insight Timer app has a great guided relaxation exercise by Shinzen Young, which I've used more often than I can count. Consider a change in locationOnce again, this may sound like simple advice, but it's incredibly effective. Whenever I've found it hard to study or complete assignments at home, it's always helped to go sit at a library or a cafe to get work done. A lot depends on how good the public libraries are in your locality, but even if that's not an option for you, try to see if you can go to a friend's place or anywhere other than your usual place for assignments. Sometimes, a change in environment can help you get work done faster. If that doesn't help break a pattern of procrastination, then you can consider gamifying the process. You can use Stickk as a motivational tool to stick to your goals. The app makes you commit to donating money or posting on social media if you don't meet your goals, which is one way to put something real on the line as a penalty for not honoring your commitment. There are plenty of tools to help you stay on track with your commitments to hobbies or academics, so there's bound to be one that works for you. View the full article

Modern SEO teams aren’t just optimizing for rankings in traditional search anymore. They’re also optimizing for visibility in AI-powered search and answer engines. And that shift is showing up in job listings. I recently came across this position: This isn’t an outlier. Dozens of companies are now posting similar roles, and the shift runs deeper than new job titles. I reviewed 100+ general SEO job postings. 96% mentioned AI somewhere in the description. AI is creating entirely new positions, but it’s also changing what existing roles require. Why? Because AI search works differently from traditional Google ranking. It extracts passages, synthesizes information, and presents instant answers from multiple sources. This shift opens up new visibility opportunities beyond ranking in traditional search engines. SEO teams that expand their skills now can ensure their brands are visible in AI search. In this guide, you’ll learn: Why traditional SEO skills are no longer enough to cover what AI search requires Which AI-era skills your SEO team needs How to evolve your existing team (without adding unnecessary new roles) Want a faster way to apply what you’re about to learn? Download the AI SEO Team Building Assistant. Upload it to your preferred AI platform (like ChatGPT or Gemini). Type “START” and follow the conversation. Once complete, you’ll get a custom one-page plan, a checklist, and more, showing exactly how to evolve your SEO team for AI-first search. The Skills Gap Between Traditional and AI SEO The current SEO skill set still matters. Keyword analysis. Technical optimization. Link building. None of that goes away. But AI search adds a new layer your team needs to master. Here’s what I mean: Traditional SEO gets your pages ranking in top search positions. AI SEO gets your brand visible in AI-generated answers — through brand mentions, citations, or both. You’re expanding what SEO covers. Not replacing it. Let me break down what’s changed and what it means for your team. What’s Changed Search behavior itself has evolved a lot over recent years. A growing number of people don’t just “Google” anymore. They discover, compare, and decide across multiple platforms. (And this has been the case since long before ChatGPT came along.) Someone might start on TikTok, check Reddit reviews, search on Google, and ask ChatGPT for a summary before taking action. And they might revisit these platforms at various stages of the journey. That journey looks less like a straight line and more like a network. Here are five other changes reshaping how search works today: Whole-web signals: AI pulls from your website and everywhere else your brand appears online. Your entire digital footprint influences your AI visibility. Entity recognition: AI understands your brand as a concept it can connect to products, industries, and related topics, not just keywords to match (learn more in our guide to entity SEO) Passage-level retrieval: AI extracts specific sections from your content to use in its answers, not entire pages. This means it needs to be clear what each section of your content is about. Conversational search behavior: AI search queries tend to be longer and more specific. People describe problems in detail rather than typing short keywords, which means the AI often cites highly specific content rather than generic guides. Zero-click reality: Users can now get complete answers without visiting websites. Traffic from search is no longer guaranteed, even with strong visibility. What This Means for Your Team These changes don’t require you to rebuild your team from scratch. But they do require expanding what your team focuses on: Your content team still writes. But now they also need to structure content so AI can easily understand it and extract sections for its answers. Your technical SEO team still optimizes site architecture. But priorities shift toward AI crawlability, performance, and schema implementation. Your strategist still tracks performance. But now they also need to measure citations and brand mentions across AI platforms. Most of these skills build on what your team already knows. Again, they’re extensions, not replacements. 4-12 months is a typical timeline to get your team comfortable with AI SEO fundamentals. You’ll need some combination of internal training, external guidance, and selective hiring — depending on your current gaps. I’ll talk more about this later. First, let’s break down the specific skills your AI SEO team needs. Essential AI SEO Skills Your Team Needs Not everyone needs to be an AI SEO expert in all areas. One person (typically a lead or strategist) needs strategic understanding. They understand how AI search works and can adapt when platforms change. The rest of your team needs execution capability. They can follow guidelines and apply best practices. It’s helpful if they show interest in understanding AI SEO, but it’s not required. Here are the key skills that bridge traditional SEO and AI search. Understanding AI Retrieval AI platforms find and reference content differently from Google’s traditional ranking systems. Some platforms, like Perplexity, search the web in real-time. Others, like ChatGPT, can search the web or pull from their training data. And AI Overviews use Google’s existing index and Gemini’s training data. To optimize for and appear in these places, your team needs to understand how these systems select what to cite and mention. When someone asks a question, these platforms look for content that directly answers the query. They prioritize sources that are clearly structured and contextually relevant. Note: AI systems also use a process called query fan-out. This involves expanding one user prompt into multiple related sub-queries behind the scenes. That means your content can surface even if it doesn’t match the original question exactly. If it covers a related angle or entity that the AI connects to the topic, it can be cited or mentioned. Learn more about this in Semrush’s guide to query fan-out optimization. Who Can Own It? Your SEO lead or strategist typically owns this skill. They already understand search intent and ranking logic — the same foundations that AI retrieval builds on. In smaller teams, a content strategist can also take this on with a shallow learning curve. Typically, they’ll spend 2-3 hours monthly testing how your brand appears across AI platforms. Document patterns in what gets cited. And adjust content strategy based on what’s working. Writing for AI Extraction AI search tools don’t respond to user queries with entire articles. Instead, the AI pulls specific passages that answer those queries. If a passage requires a lot of surrounding context to make sense, AI may be less likely to understand its relevance and therefore be less likely to use it. This means each section of your content needs to still make sense even when taken out of the context of the rest of the article. Each section should answer a specific question on its own, without relying on references to other parts of the article. This is generally just good writing practice. If you find yourself making too many unique points in one section, it’s probably best to split it into subsections. But clarity here is also key. For example, avoid: “As we mentioned earlier, this approach works well…” Instead, write: “Structuring content into self-contained passages helps AI extract and cite your information more effectively.” Here’s another example of effective writing for AI extraction: The second version makes sense whether someone reads your full article or sees just that paragraph in an AI response. This doesn’t mean every sentence needs a complete context. It means key passages should stand alone. Who Can Own It? Your content or editorial team can handle this. SEO provides the framework and guidelines. Writers implement it in their daily work. For example, editorial reviews the article structure before publishing, ensuring each section has a clear, standalone takeaway. Sometimes that means breaking a 500-word section into three shorter subsections with specific headers. By the way: As a content marketer myself, I don’t think this shift is dramatic. Most great content teams already write clearly and structure information logically. This just prioritizes ensuring key passages work independently. Building AI-Readable Structure AI needs clear signals to understand your site’s structure and how content relates to other pages on your site. Things like schema markup, internal linking, and clear site hierarchy provide those signals. For example, schema markup makes your data more structured by defining what your content represents. This can make it easier for AI systems to interpret and cite your content accurately. While the full impact is still unclear, structured data makes your content easier to parse, which is helpful for search engines anyway. And since Gemini can lean on Google’s search infrastructure, it’s not all that unreasonable to expect that schema could at least indirectly affect your visibility in places like AI Overviews and AI Mode, now or in the future. Similarly, internal linking shows how topics connect. And a clear site hierarchy indicates which pages are most important. Think of it as creating a map. Instead of making AI infer relationships, you’re explicitly defining them. Beyond your site: Entity databases Once you have the basics down, consider registering your brand and products in databases like Wikipedia, Wikidata, or Crunchbase. These knowledge bases help AI systems understand entity relationships and how your brand fits into broader industry contexts. This bridges on-site structure (like schema markup) with off-site presence. You’re helping AI systems recognize your brand across the web, not just on your site. You don’t need this starting out. But it’s worth exploring once your core AI SEO structure is in place. Who Can Own It? Your technical SEO can take ownership of this skill. They already handle the fundamentals like implementing schema markup, managing site architecture, and optimizing internal linking structures. The approach doesn’t change much. They’re just applying the same technical skills with AI systems in mind. Tracking AI Performance Traditional SEO metrics (like rankings, organic traffic, and click-through rates) still matter. But they don’t say anything about your brand’s AI search visibility. You need different metrics now, including: Platform breakdown: Where you’re showing up (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, etc.) Citation frequency: How often your content gets cited as a source in AI responses Mention rate: How often your brand appears in AI-generated answers or recommendations Mention sentiment: Whether those mentions are positive, neutral, or negative These numbers indicate whether your AI SEO strategy is working. Semrush’s AI Visibility Toolkit can help you track these key AI search metrics. Without specialized tools, you’ll need to manually search key queries across platforms and track when your brand appears. Who Can Own It? Your SEO analyst or whoever handles performance reporting can own this. They’re already tracking traditional metrics. AI performance metrics become an addition to that dashboard. If using AI visibility tools, they’ll monitor your visibility score and citation trends monthly. Without specialized tools, they’ll need to manually search key queries across platforms, document when and how your brand appears, and track changes over time. Further reading: 5 LLM Visibility Tools to Track Your Brand in AI Search Optimizing Off-Site Signals AI tools go beyond just looking at your website and pull from everywhere your brand is mentioned online. Including: G2 reviews comparing tools Reddit threads discussing your product Forum conversations about your industry News articles mentioning your company If those mentions are sparse or outdated, AI has less information to pull from when someone searches for your brand specifically or asks about your product category. This is where AI search extends beyond your domain. Who Can Own It? No single person can own this entirely. PR, community management, and customer success each control different pieces of the puzzle. Someone from SEO can take the coordination role, ensuring these teams understand how their work affects AI visibility. In practice, this often means your SEO lead or director works cross-functionally to align off-site efforts with AI discoverability goals. For example, they work with customer success to encourage reviews on platforms like G2 or Trustpilot. They also monitor where your brand gets mentioned across forums, social platforms, and community discussions. Further reading: Search Everywhere Optimization Guide (+ Free Checklist) Platform-Specific Optimization Different AI platforms retrieve and display information in their own ways. For example: Perplexity searches the web in real-time and shows numbered citations ChatGPT can search the web or pull from its training data Google’s AI Overviews draw from Google’s search index and Gemini’s training data What gets you cited on one platform won’t automatically work on another because each platform follows patterns in what it mentions and cites. For instance, I searched “which is the best camera phone of 2025” across three platforms. ChatGPT cited multiple YouTube videos, a Reddit thread, Tom’s Guide, Yahoo, and Tech Advisor. Google’s AI Mode cited one YouTube video along with a bunch of other websites — no Tom’s Guide, Yahoo, or Tech Advisor. Claude cited Quora and Android Authority twice. No Reddit threads, YouTube, or Tom’s Guide. Same query, completely different sources and mentions. Your team needs to understand these differences when optimizing for AI visibility. You don’t need separate strategies for each platform. But knowing how different platforms prioritize sources helps you structure your entire approach, from content to technical implementation to off-site presence. Who Can Own It? Your SEO lead or strategist can typically own this. They can track how your brand appears across platforms and identify what’s working where. They’ll spot gaps in coverage on LLMs that matter to the brand. For example, strong presence in ChatGPT but weak in Perplexity. Then they work with content, technical, and other teams to adjust the overall strategy. Query Intent Mapping People search differently in AI platforms than they do in Google. Traditional Google: “best CRM software” ChatGPT: “I need a CRM for a 50-person sales team, budget around $10K annually, must integrate with Salesforce” The queries are longer. More conversational. More specific. I checked my own most recent 100 prompts to ChatGPT. They averaged 13 words each. Compare that to traditional Google searches, which typically run 3-4 words. Understanding these prompt patterns helps you create content that answers the actual questions people ask AI. You need to think beyond traditional keywords. What detailed questions are the people in your audience asking? What context are they providing? What outcome do they want? Who Can Own It? Whoever leads keyword research or content planning can take this on, usually your SEO strategist or content planner. This builds directly on existing keyword research skills. You’re expanding from “what keywords do people use?” to “what problems are people trying to solve?” (Which you should have been doing all along, but now with a stronger focus.) This person will analyze how people search in AI platforms and document the longer, conversational queries they use. Then they’ll build content briefs that address those specific questions and scenarios. The Build, Buy, or Borrow Decision: Getting AI SEO Skills on Your Team You know which skills your team needs. Now comes the practical question: how do you actually get them? You have three options: Build internally Hire new talent Bring in outside expertise Here’s a snapshot of the pros and cons of all three: Most teams end up doing some combination of all three. The key is knowing which approach works best for specific skills. Let’s look at each one in detail. 1. When to Build (Develop Internally) Upskilling your current team is almost always the smartest first move. They already know your brand, your workflows, and your audience. That context shortens the learning curve dramatically. Focus on developing skills that evolve naturally from what your team already does. For example: Train writers to structure content for AI extraction Help your SEO lead understand AI retrieval patterns and how citations work Encourage your analyst to track AI visibility metrics alongside rankings These are logical extensions of existing expertise. Not entirely new disciplines. Now, training doesn’t have to mean building a full internal curriculum. Start small. For example: Run short internal workshops to explain how AI search retrieves and cites content Review recent AI-generated answers for your top keywords and note which competitors get mentioned Compare their cited passages to yours, and update one or two articles using those patterns To make internal training effective, use this quick checklist: Upskilling may not be the fastest route to output. It can take a few months before you see real traction. But it is the most sustainable. Once your team starts applying AI-first thinking, you’ll see compounding returns with every new SEO campaign. Best For Startups and mid-sized teams that already have strong SEO foundations but a limited budget for new hires. Watch Out For Don’t overload your team with theoretical “AI SEO” training. Focus primarily on skills that directly connect to visibility outcomes, like structure, clarity, and retrievability. Also watch for skill concentration. If one person (like your SEO lead) ends up owning 3+ new AI skills, that’s a bottleneck. Consider hiring or borrowing expertise to spread the load. 2. When to Buy (Hire New Talent) When you need expertise faster than you can build it internally, it’s time to hire. Bringing in new talent makes sense when the skill is both specialized and strategic. Something that gives your brand a long-term edge, not just a short-term fix. For example: Hiring a data or visibility analyst who understands how to measure citations and brand mentions across AI platforms Bringing in a technical SEO who can model entities and implement structured data at scale Adding an AI content strategist who can guide how your content aligns with AI retrieval patterns These hires extend the capabilities of your existing SEO team. They don’t replace it. The key to finding the right people? Clarity before you post the job. Decide what outcome you’re hiring for. Do you need faster technical execution, deeper analytics, or dedicated AI visibility leadership? Before you start recruiting, here’s a quick checklist to work through: With clear hiring criteria, you’ll know which expertise to prioritize and what title makes sense for your organization. Best For Mid-sized and enterprise teams that have budget flexibility and want to move faster than internal training allows. Watch Out For Don’t over-index on shiny new “AI SEO” titles. Few people have that exact label yet. Instead, look for specialists in areas like data, structured content, and retrieval systems. These are people who can bridge SEO and AI. 3. When to Borrow (Outsource or Consult) Not every skill is worth building or hiring for. Some are highly specialized. Others you only need for a short period. That’s where borrowing expertise makes sense — through consultants, freelancers, or agencies. Outsourcing works best when you need to move fast on projects that require niche expertise. For example: Hiring a consultant to set up AI visibility tracking before your analyst takes over Partnering with a content firm to scale passage optimization across hundreds of pages Bringing in a Reddit marketing expert to boost your brand’s presence in relevant subreddits This approach gives you access to deep expertise without expanding headcount. You can bring in specialists to handle complex projects, fill capability gaps, or run pilot programs that would slow your internal team down. Sometimes that means a one-off engagement. Other times, it’s a recurring partnership that supports your strategy long-term. The goal isn’t to offload responsibility. It’s to fill gaps your team can’t cover yet and to get critical work done without slowing down larger projects. When evaluating potential partners, here’s a quick checklist to follow: Best For Teams that need quick access to specialized expertise or extra hands for complex, time-bound projects. Watch Out For Don’t treat outsourcing as a default fix. If a skill becomes core to your strategy, consider bringing it in-house. But for niche or technical projects, keeping trusted external support can be more practical. Choose partners who understand your brand voice. AI-first SEO still needs human context. Further reading: SEO Consultants Guide: When to Hire and What to Expect The Hybrid Reality In practice, it’s rare that a team is fully built, bought, or borrowed. You’ll probably use all three, often at the same time. How much you lean on each one depends on factors like: Your current team’s strengths and bandwidth Budget flexibility for hiring or contracting The urgency of upcoming SEO goals How quickly AI search is evolving in your industry Leadership’s appetite for experimentation In my experience, many teams land somewhere near a 70-20-10 split. Which is roughly 70% built internally, 20% borrowed through outside experts, and 10% bought as new hires. The exact ratio matters less than how deliberately you manage it. Here’s how to keep that balance right: Prioritize by impact: Build skills that sustain long-term visibility. Borrow when you need speed or experimentation. Buy only when a role becomes essential to your strategy. Keep ownership internal: Even if outside partners execute the work, ensure someone on your team owns the outcome and applies the learnings. Plan for rotation: As new AI SEO trends emerge, your mix will likely shift. What starts as a borrowed skill may become core within six months. Audit regularly: Review your mix every quarter to see which skills rely too heavily on outside help. If a borrowed skill becomes recurring, start building it internally. Follow this quick team review checklist to keep stock of your built, bought, and borrowed setup. The key is flexibility and adaptability. As priorities shift, don’t hesitate to rebalance how your team works. That might mean promoting someone internally to take ownership of AI visibility, bringing in a freelancer to handle off-site optimization, or hiring a new analyst to deepen your data capability. Adjust your structure based on what delivers the most impact, not what’s written on the org chart. Your AI SEO Adoption Roadmap You don’t need a massive reorg to evolve your SEO team for AI search. You need a plan that helps your team build capability, test what works, and scale what proves effective. This roadmap gives you that plan. It breaks down: What to focus on in each phase How to build momentum What progress should look like along the way By the end, your team will know how to apply AI SEO principles consistently. Note: This timeline is a starting point, not a rule. Startups with smaller teams might compress this into 6 months. Enterprises coordinating across departments might need 15-18 months. The timeline matters less than starting now and making steady progress. Phase 1: Foundation Start by taking stock of where your team stands. Before diving into new tactics, align everyone around what AI SEO means for your brand and how your current approach fits into it. This stage sets direction and gives your team the confidence to move with purpose. Here’s what to focus on in the first three months: Assess current capabilities: Review your team’s strengths across content, technical, and analytical areas. Identify which AI-era skills exist internally and which ones you’ll need to hire for or outsource. Establish your visibility baseline: Search your most important topics in tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. Track if (and how) your brand shows up. Pick 2-3 priorities to act on: Choose the areas with the clearest opportunity to improve. That might mean tightening content clarity, mapping entities, or aligning off-site mentions. Run a small pilot: Select a few representative pages and update them based on what you’ve learned. Then recheck whether those updates help your brand appear more often in AI answers. Document key learnings: Capture what worked and what didn’t in a short internal memo. This becomes the foundation for next quarter’s priorities. Goal: Build clarity, alignment, and a shared understanding of how AI search changes what your team prioritizes. By the end of this phase, your team should understand what makes content discoverable in AI search, have a documented baseline to track progress, and have at least one small win that proves the approach works. Phase 2: Acceleration Once you’ve built your baseline, it’s time to turn insights into action. The second phase focuses on building capability and momentum. This involves scaling what worked in your pilot, closing skill gaps, and introducing systems that help your team move faster together. Here’s what to focus on over the next few months: Strengthen capability: Run short training sessions to deepen AI SEO understanding across functions. If a skill gap exists, bring in a freelancer, consultant, or new hire to fill it quickly. Encourage cross-functional collaboration: Bring content, SEO, analytics, product, and brand together under one shared visibility goal. Clarify ownership so responsibilities don’t overlap. Expand your pilot: Apply what worked from Phase 1 to more pages or campaigns Build repeatable workflows: Turn early learnings into working systems. Standardize how technical, analytical, and content tasks are executed for AI-driven discovery. Each function should know what “AI-ready” means in its area. Use shared dashboards: Track AI visibility metrics in one place and review them as a team so everyone sees how their work contributes to results Run monthly reviews: Check how well your team is adapting to new systems and responsibilities. Identify where people need support, additional training, or outsourced help. Goal: Build capability, consistency, and accountability across your team’s AI SEO initiatives. By the end of this phase, your team should operate with clear workflows and defined ownership across technical, analytical, and content areas. You should also have unified dashboards that let all stakeholders track progress and collaborate without duplicated work. Phase 3: Scale This final phase turns AI-first thinking into how your team operates by default. The goal now is to make the new skills, workflows, and decision habits permanent. This way, your AI SEO capability grows without needing constant resets. Here’s what to focus on in the next six months: Integrate what works: Expand the proven approaches from earlier pilots across your full SEO and content programs. Keep the frameworks that consistently improve visibility; drop the ones that don’t. Solidify roles and ownership: Define who leads AI-related strategy, measurement, and experimentation. Clarify responsibilities so the team stays agile even as you scale. Strengthen internal training: Turn what your team learned into short onboarding sessions, playbooks, or process docs. This keeps new hires aligned and prevents knowledge loss. Plan for selective specialization: As your AI SEO programs mature, assign ownership where consistent work is required. That could mean promoting a team member to lead AI visibility reporting, assigning an SEO specialist to oversee off-site signals, or partnering long-term with a proven external expert. Create leadership visibility: Share quarterly reports on AI-driven results and learnings with senior stakeholders. This keeps support (and budgets) growing with your progress. Goal: Make AI-first execution routine and scalable across your team. By the end of this phase, your team should operate with defined roles and responsibilities. You should have internal systems for training, reporting, and process consistency. Leadership should have visibility into AI performance outcomes so the team treats AI SEO as an integrated function, not an experiment. Measuring AI SEO Team Success You can measure your AI SEO team’s success by tracking how often your brand appears in AI-powered answers. Here are important AI SEO metrics to track: Citation frequency: How often AI platforms cite your content as a source Brand mention rate: How often your brand appears in AI responses Platform coverage: Which AI platforms reference you (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, etc.) Sentiment: Whether those mentions align with your brand positioning Semrush’s AI Visibility Toolkit makes tracking these metrics simple. It shows your AI Visibility Score and how many times your brand is mentioned across different AI platforms. It also shows which prompts your brand appears for, revealing which topics your team’s content strategy is successfully targeting. In your Brand Performance report, you can compare your brand’s visibility against multiple competitors. The report includes insights like your Share of Voice (percentage of mentions compared to competitors) and sentiment analysis. This tells you whether AI platforms present your brand positively or negatively. For larger organizations, Semrush offers Enterprise AIO, with team collaboration features and advanced analytics. Specifically, your AI Visibility Score is a good overall indicator of your AI SEO team’s performance. If it has improved over 3-12 months, it means your team is executing well. The skills are translating into real visibility. If results aren’t showing after two quarters, revisit your priorities. You might be focusing on the wrong skills first or need to adjust your build/buy/borrow mix. Pro tip: When you start building your team’s AI SEO skills, benchmark your brand’s AI Visibility Score alongside five competitors. After 3-12 months, compare growth rates, not just final scores. Your score might increase from 30 to 40 (+10 points). But if competitors jumped from 40 to 60 (+20 points), not only are they more visible — they’re also outpacing you. Track relative growth to understand your true competitive position. Get a Custom AI SEO Team Plan in 20-30 Minutes AI SEO is built on traditional SEO. But there are more layers to it. Your SEO team needs updated systems and upgraded skills so your brand gets mentioned (and your website cited) in AI search results. We created the free AI SEO Team Building Assistant to turn everything you just read into a custom action plan for your team. Download the file, upload it into your AI platform of choice (Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini), and follow the conversation. This is an interactive session that adapts to your specific team, budget, and constraints. It’s not just a cookie-cutter report after a basic prompt. It takes around 20 minutes to work through (but you should take your time with it). At the end, you’ll walk away with a complete implementation plan. Here’s an example of the output, starting with the one-page plan: You’ll also get a “Skills Ownership Map” showing which team member owns which skill. And which skills to build, borrow, or buy. Plus a Phased Roadmap, KPI Tracking Framework, Leadership Brief, and 30-day checklist. Everything is tailored to the specific inputs you provide in the interactive conversation. Here are some tips for getting the most out of this assistant: Block 30 uninterrupted minutes so you can really engage with the conversation Have your current team structure in mind Be specific in your answers (vague input = generic output) Be honest about constraints (like budget, time, and capabilities) Download the AI SEO Team Building Assistant and start building your AI-ready team. The post How to Build an AI-Ready SEO Team: A Complete Guide appeared first on Backlinko. View the full article

Onetime cryptocurrency mogul Do Kwon was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in prison after a $40 billion crash revealed his crypto ecosystem to be a fraud. Victims said the 34-year-old financial technology whiz weaponized their trust to convince them that the investment — secretly propped up by cash infusions — was safe. Kwon, a Stanford graduate known by some as “the cryptocurrency king,” apologized after listening as victims — one in court and others by telephone — described the scam’s toll: wiping out nest eggs, depleting charities and wrecking lives. One told the judge in a letter that he contemplated suicide after his father lost his retirement money in the scheme. Judge Paul A. Engelmayer said at a daylong sentencing hearing in Manhattan federal court that the government’s recommendation of 12 years in prison was “unreasonably lenient” and that the defense’s request for five years was “utterly unthinkable and wildly unreasonable.” Kwon faced a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison. “Your offense caused real people to lose $40 billion in real money, not some paper loss,” Engelmayer told Kwon, who sat at the defense table in a yellow jail suit. The judge called it “a fraud on an epic, generational scale” and said Kwon had an “almost mystical hold” on investors and caused incalculable “human wreckage.” More than the combined losses in FTX and OneCoin cases Kwon pleaded guilty in August to fraud charges stemming from the collapse of Terraform Labs, the Singapore-based firm he co-founded in 2018. The loss exceeded the combined losses from FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and OneCoin co-founder Karl Sebastian Greenwood’s frauds, prosecutors said. Engelmayer estimated there may have been a million victims. Terraform Labs had touted its TerraUSD as a reliable “stablecoin” — a kind of currency typically pegged to stable assets to prevent drastic fluctuations in prices. But prosecutors say it was an illusion backed by outside cash infusions that came crumbling down after it plunged far below its $1 peg. The crash devastated investors in TerraUSD and its floating sister currency, Luna, triggering “a cascade of crises that swept through cryptocurrency markets.” Kwon tried to rebuild Terraform Labs in Singapore before fleeing to the Balkans on a false passport, prosecutors said. He’s been locked up since his March 2023 arrest in Montenegro. He was credited for 17 months he spent in jail there before being extradited to the U.S. Kwon agreed to forfeit over $19 million as part of his plea deal. His lawyers argued his conduct stemmed not from greed, but hubris and desperation. Engelmayer rejected his request to serve his sentence in his native South Korea, where he also faces prosecution and where his wife and 4-year-old daughter live. “I have spent almost every waking moment of the last few years thinking of what I could have done different and what I can do now to make things right,” Kwon told Engelmayer. Hearing from victims, he said, was “harrowing and reminded me again of the great losses that I have caused.” Victims say losses ruined their lives, harmed charities One victim, speaking by telephone, said his wife divorced him, his sons had to skip college, and he had to move back to Croatia to live with his parents after TerraUSD’s crash evaporated his family’s life savings. Another said he has to “live with the guilt” of persuading his in-laws and hundreds of nonprofit organizations to invest. Stanislav Trofimchuk said his family’s investment plummeted from $190,000 to $13,000 — “17 years of our life, gone” during what he described as “two weeks of sheer terror.” Chauncey St. John, speaking in court, said some nonprofits he worked with lost more than $2 million and a church group lost about $900,000. He and his wife are saddled with debt and his in-laws have been forced to work well past their planned retirement, he said. Nevertheless, St. John said, he forgives Kwon and “I pray to God to have mercy on his soul.” A prosecutor read excerpts from some of more than 300 letters submitted by victims, including a person identified only by initials who lost nearly $11,400 while juggling bills and trying to complete college. Kwon had made Terra seem like a safe place to stash savings, the person said. “To some that is just a number on a page, but to me it was years of effort,” the person wrote. “Watching it evaporate, literally overnight, was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life.” “What happened was not an accident. It was not a market event. It was deception,” the person added, imploring the judge to “consider the human cost of this tragedy.” Kwon created an “illusion of resilience while covering up systemic failure,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Mortazavi told Engelmayer. “This was fraud executed with arrogance, manipulation and total disregard for people.” —Michael R. Sisak, Associated Press Associated Press reporter Anthony Izaguirre contributed to this report. View the full article

A federal appeals court on Thursday backed a ruling that held Apple in civil contempt for brazenly defying an order designed to open its iPhone app store to other payment systems besides its own, but the decision also reopened a door for the company to collect commission from the rival options. The unanimous decision by a three-judge panel for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals mostly validated a scalding contempt order issued in April by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers for violating a key part of her September 2021 findings in a legal battle instigated by video game maker Epic Games. But the Ninth Circuit’s 54-page decision overturned one key part of Gonzalez Rogers’ civil contempt crackdown that prohibited Apple from collecting commissions when consumers make an e-commerce purchase within an iPhone app through a payment systems that operate outside of Apple’s control. The appeals judges decided the ban that would have prevented Apple from imposing fees on rival payment options was too severe and ordered Gonzalez Rogers to reopen the case to determine a fair commission rate that the Cupertino, California, company, can charge. The ruling provided some general guidelines for how Gonzalez Rogers might determine a fair commission on external payment systems, but didn’t make any suggestions about what the percentage might be. Neither Apple nor Epic immediately responded for requests for comment late Thursday. But the appeals decision agreed Apple had made a mockery of Gonzalez Rogers’ attempt to create more payment competition in the iPhone app store as part of a case that began in 2020. That’s when Epic, the maker of the Fortnite video game, filed a lawsuit alleging Apple had set up a price-gouging system within the iPhone app store that had turned into an illegal monopoly. Epic’s case targeted Apple’s iron-clad control over all its devices and software — an approach that has become known as the company’s “walled garden.” As part of the strategy, Apple required all in-app purchases on iPhones to be made through its own payment processing system while collecting commissions ranging from 15% to 30%. Those commissions have become a huge moneymaker within a services division that brings in more than $100 billion in annual revenue for Apple. Although Gonzalez Rogers rejected Epic’s assertion that the iPhone app store had turned into an illegal monopoly in her 2021 decision, she ordered Apple to allow links to alternative payment options to be displayed within apps. Apple continued to fight the alternative payment option in appeals before being rebuffed by the U.S. Supreme Court in January 2024. The company then announced it would charge commissions ranging from 12% to 27% on iPhone app purchases made on alternative payment options — rates that remained so high that few developers decided to offer other choices. That prompted Epic to allege Apple was in contempt of court, a claim Gonzalez Rogers embraced after a series of testy court hearings last year and earlier this year that led her to conclude the company’s efforts to allow alternative payment systems into the iPhone app store was little more than a “sham.” —Michael Liedtke, AP technology writer View the full article

They say no one actually uses their phones for phone calls anymore. That's not really true, though maybe the "Phone" app does get underused. Instead, many of us have turned to chat apps for our calls. FaceTime, WhatsApp, Messenger—these apps are now our go-to choices for getting in immediate touch with friends and family. (Not that I'm complaining: The call quality is usually better, anyway.) But one thing the Phone app—and traditional phone calls—have on these chat apps is voicemail. For decades, when you called someone and they didn't answer, you could "leave a message after the tone." That way, when the person saw they had a missed call, they didn't need to guess what you wanted to say. If it was important, they'd hear about it, and call you back. If it wasn't, they could choose to call back when it was convenient. Voicemail isn't dead: You can still leave these messages if you call someone the old fashioned way. But since many of us choose to use our chat apps of choice, we've largely lost this practice. It's been wholly replaced with text messages and voice notes: If they don't answer the call, you can simply text them what you wanted to talk about, or record a voice note to achieve a similar end. Some chat apps are trying to bring voicemails back, however. The first major player on my radar was FaceTime: Back in 2023, Apple made it possible to leave video and audio messages for people whenever they didn't pick up a FaceTime call. It's a small but logical feature: Sure, there are other ways to leave a message. But it just makes sense given the history of phone calls to present the option as soon as someone misses your call. How WhatsApp voicemails workNow, WhatsApp is getting in on the feature. The company first started testing missed call messages in August, before rolling out the option in full on Thursday. Now, when you try calling someone in WhatsApp and they miss it, you have the option to leave either a video or an audio message—depending on what type of call you started. Again, these are functions you could initiate already in the app itself: You could simply record a video saying what you want to say, and send it to the recipient, or record an audio note letting them know to call you back. But this built-in option isn't only convenient, it establishes voice messages as a standard for missed WhatsApp calls. Interestingly, WhatsApp says this new feature "will make voicemails a thing of the past." As it see it, it's actually keeping them alive. View the full article

Ford Motor Co. has stepped up technology in its popular F-150 pickup to combat the ever-evolving techniques car thieves have at their disposal. It is the latest cat-and-mouse move that the automaker hopes will help customers avoid the costly and frustrating process that occurs when vehicles are swiped and includes a feature that won’t allow an engine to start even if a key fob is in the pickup. Motor vehicle thefts recently have been on the decline in the U.S. after several years of increases. Still, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that more than 850,000 vehicles were stolen in the U.S. in 2024, pegging losses at $8 billion. But thefts dropped 23% during the first six months of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024, according to an analysis by the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Ford’s F-150 was in the top 10 of most stolen models. “F-150s have been the bestselling vehicle for decades, so there are a lot of them on the road,” said Christian Moran, Ford Secure general manager. “Thieves do like to go after pickup trucks. They also like to go after the contents that are often in pickup trucks. Oftentimes, there are people who have thousands of dollars worth of tools and products in the back that are valuable above and beyond what the vehicle is worth.” Ford’s Stolen Vehicle Services, which was launched with the 2024 F-150 model year, added a “Start Inhibit” feature that allows owners to disable an F-150’s engine from a smartphone by using the FordPass app. This makes it impossible for a thief to start the pickup. That was expanded in the 2025 model year to include the F-250 Super Duty pickup. Ford plans to extend it to other vehicles in the 2026 model year. The security package comes with the purchase of a pickup and is included for one year once activated. The cost after the first year is $7.99 per month. Technology matching wits with thieves F-150 owners can receive alerts to their smartphones of potential thefts that include an unauthorized person entering their pickup, whether doors are ajar and if the vehicle is moved or towed. One of the strongest features of the security package is the coordination with police agencies, Moran said. It works this way. Once an owner realizes or is notified that their pickup has been stolen, the owner is encouraged to call police and file a report. The owner then contacts a Ford call center, which confirms with police that a theft report was completed. The call center coordinates efforts with police to use “Start Inhibit” to shut down the engine and to pinpoint where the pickup stopped. “Usually, within an hour is when we try to work as hard as we can to get those vehicles,” said Officer Ibrahim Kakish, a member of the Detroit police commercial auto theft section. “The sooner we get the vehicle, the better. The vehicle is more likely to be intact.” Security measures up, thefts trending down Auto theft is lucrative as some vehicles, especially high-end and luxury models, are targeted for resale. Other stolen vehicles are used to commit crimes like carjackings and smash-and-grab robberies at jewelry, liquor and other retail stores. “We used to say most of the people stealing cars were joyriders,” said Thomas Burke, a retired New York City police detective and a current director with the Chesapeake, Virginia-based International Association of Auto Theft Investigators. “There are very few joyriders, now,” Burke added. “It’s all professional. They steal them, change the (vehicle identification) numbers and sell them.” Thieves seek out easy targets like key fobs left in vehicles. They also break into a vehicle to reprogram its computer to accept another key, Burke said. But it appears security measures are working. “In New York in 1990, we had 196,000 cars stolen in one year,” Burke said. “This year, so far, a little over 10,000 have been stolen, and that’s out of more than 3.5 million cars registered.” Motor vehicle theft in Detroit decreased from 9,260 in 2023 to 8,408 last year, according to the city’s police department. So far this year, there have been 1,837 fewer thefts than in 2024. “We’re finding out ways that they’re stealing vehicles, and we work with companies to try to get that stopped,” Kakish said. —Corey Williams, Associated Press View the full article

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has recently unveiled its Trainium3 UltraServers at AWS re:Invent, a major leap in AI technology that small businesses should keep on their radar. These new servers, powered by AWS’s revolutionary Trainium3 chip, promise to enhance the performance and efficiency of AI training and inference, offering a more accessible way for smaller organizations to leverage artificial intelligence. Trainium3 UltraServers deliver significant improvements, with claims of up to 4.4 times more compute performance, quadrupled energy efficiency, and nearly four times the memory bandwidth compared to their predecessors. This is crucial as small business owners increasingly seek ways to streamline operations and reduce costs, particularly in areas demanding heavy computational power like AI development. For small businesses, the ability to run extensive AI workloads faster translates to practical benefits. By leveraging the Trainium3’s capabilities, companies can expect reduced training and inference costs, with some reported savings reaching up to 50%. For instance, businesses such as Anthropic and Karakuri are already experiencing these cost reductions, optimizing their resources and budgets. “Trainium3 UltraServers enable faster AI development with lower operational costs,” said a spokesperson from AWS. This advantage could empower small enterprises to innovate and implement AI solutions that were previously feasible only for larger corporations with substantial budgets. The potential of these servers extends to powering larger models and serving inference at scale. Small business owners exploring applications like machine learning for customer insights or automated content generation may find these capabilities particularly beneficial. The ability to scale up to 144 Trainium3 chips allows for handling extensive workloads without the need for significant upfront investments in hardware. Furthermore, Visionary firms such as Decart have achieved remarkable outcomes with the new technology, reporting four times quicker inference for real-time generative video while cutting GPU costs in half. This opens the door for small businesses involved in creative industries to adopt AI solutions that enable dynamic video content creation and other resource-intensive tasks. Nonetheless, small business owners should also be mindful of potential challenges. Transitioning to the new infrastructure which includes integration of Trainium3 UltraServers can demand technical expertise that managers may not have readily available. Business leaders must consider the learning curve associated with adopting new technologies as well as ongoing support and operational expenses related to the implementation phase. Moreover, while AWS is known for its broad ecosystem, ensuring compatibility with existing systems is paramount. Small organizations typically operate with tighter budgets and resource constraints, making it essential to weigh the initial costs against anticipated benefits carefully. As the landscape of AI technology rapidly evolves, small businesses should stay informed and engaged with opportunities like AWS’s Trainium3 UltraServers to harness AI’s transformative power. The cost savings and operational efficiencies gained from effectively leveraging these servers can position smaller players in a competitive market. The introduction of Trainium3 UltraServers heralds a new era for businesses looking to tap into AI’s capabilities affordably and effectively. Interested businesses can explore further details about Trainium3 UltraServers and their advantages at the original announcement here. Image via Google Gemini This article, "Amazon Unveils Trainium3 UltraServers for Breakthrough AI Performance" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has recently unveiled its Trainium3 UltraServers at AWS re:Invent, a major leap in AI technology that small businesses should keep on their radar. These new servers, powered by AWS’s revolutionary Trainium3 chip, promise to enhance the performance and efficiency of AI training and inference, offering a more accessible way for smaller organizations to leverage artificial intelligence. Trainium3 UltraServers deliver significant improvements, with claims of up to 4.4 times more compute performance, quadrupled energy efficiency, and nearly four times the memory bandwidth compared to their predecessors. This is crucial as small business owners increasingly seek ways to streamline operations and reduce costs, particularly in areas demanding heavy computational power like AI development. For small businesses, the ability to run extensive AI workloads faster translates to practical benefits. By leveraging the Trainium3’s capabilities, companies can expect reduced training and inference costs, with some reported savings reaching up to 50%. For instance, businesses such as Anthropic and Karakuri are already experiencing these cost reductions, optimizing their resources and budgets. “Trainium3 UltraServers enable faster AI development with lower operational costs,” said a spokesperson from AWS. This advantage could empower small enterprises to innovate and implement AI solutions that were previously feasible only for larger corporations with substantial budgets. The potential of these servers extends to powering larger models and serving inference at scale. Small business owners exploring applications like machine learning for customer insights or automated content generation may find these capabilities particularly beneficial. The ability to scale up to 144 Trainium3 chips allows for handling extensive workloads without the need for significant upfront investments in hardware. Furthermore, Visionary firms such as Decart have achieved remarkable outcomes with the new technology, reporting four times quicker inference for real-time generative video while cutting GPU costs in half. This opens the door for small businesses involved in creative industries to adopt AI solutions that enable dynamic video content creation and other resource-intensive tasks. Nonetheless, small business owners should also be mindful of potential challenges. Transitioning to the new infrastructure which includes integration of Trainium3 UltraServers can demand technical expertise that managers may not have readily available. Business leaders must consider the learning curve associated with adopting new technologies as well as ongoing support and operational expenses related to the implementation phase. Moreover, while AWS is known for its broad ecosystem, ensuring compatibility with existing systems is paramount. Small organizations typically operate with tighter budgets and resource constraints, making it essential to weigh the initial costs against anticipated benefits carefully. As the landscape of AI technology rapidly evolves, small businesses should stay informed and engaged with opportunities like AWS’s Trainium3 UltraServers to harness AI’s transformative power. The cost savings and operational efficiencies gained from effectively leveraging these servers can position smaller players in a competitive market. The introduction of Trainium3 UltraServers heralds a new era for businesses looking to tap into AI’s capabilities affordably and effectively. Interested businesses can explore further details about Trainium3 UltraServers and their advantages at the original announcement here. Image via Google Gemini This article, "Amazon Unveils Trainium3 UltraServers for Breakthrough AI Performance" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Microsoft analyzed 37.5 million Copilot chats and found differences in how people use the assistant on mobile versus desktop. The post How People Use Copilot Depends On Device, Microsoft Says appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Kansas City Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Schmid and Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said in statements Friday that their dissents from this week's interest rate decision were spurred by inflation concerns and a lack of sufficient economic data. View the full article