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Scammers love to impersonate government and law enforcement officials, from the FBI to the U.S. Marshals Service to Medicare and other health insurance programs. There's a good reason for this: Most Americans use government services at some point, and many may be apt to trust, or at least engage with, someone claiming to be from a well-known agency. Plus, the threat of losing benefits or being targeted by legal action is especially compelling when it comes from a government representative, and victims may be more likely to comply with scammers' demands. It's no surprise, then, that schemes currently making the rounds involve Social Security and Veterans Affairs benefits, according to warnings from the Social Security Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Social Security account suspension scamSocial Security numbers are often part of identity theft, so it would be alarming to receive a notice that yours has been involved in criminal activity. Scammers are counting on this when impersonating the SSA's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and trying to trick you into actually giving up your SSN and other sensitive information. Here's how the scheme works: Fraudsters are sending emails with the subject line "Alert: Social Security Account Issues Detected" and including attachments on letterhead that looks like it comes from the OIG. The notice contains official-seeming information, such as a reference number and case ID, and states that your SSN will be suspended within 24 hours due to fraudulent activity on your account. The letter also says that criminal charges have been filed and even includes the statutes that have supposedly been violated. Recipients are instructed to call the number listed to "respond to these allegations," but the person on the other end is a scammer impersonating an SSA employee. They will try to exploit your fear and confusion to collect personal and financial information from you. VA benefits overpayment scamScammers are also contacting veterans and military family members who receive VA benefits, claiming that said benefits have been overpaid and pressuring targets to pay back the money owed. According to the VA's advisory, fraudsters are using fake VA letterhead and logos on notices sent by mail and email as well as spoofing real VA phone numbers. They are trying to convince beneficiaries to make payments immediately using methods like wire transfers, cryptocurrency, prepaid debit cards, and gift cards, and they may also request sensitive information your VA login or bank account credentials. While VA benefits could legitimately be overpaid, the VA won't contact you and demand money—especially via bitcoin and other unrecoverable methods. Nor should you ever have to pay an upfront fee for assistance with managing VA debts and claims (the VA does this for free). If you do actually owe money, you will be able to find more information on repayment through your official VA.gov account. Always verify through official VA channels, such as VA.gov and the VA’s Debt Management Center (800-827-0648). Never rely solely on unsolicited communication, and never give out your password, SSN, or financial information. Government agencies don't send threatening notices via email (or by any other means), so if you receive a scary letter out of the blue, don't act without investigating. Always contact the agency via the information found on its website—don't call or text any number provided in these notices. View the full article

Initial release of data had been postponed because of federal government shutdownView the full article

When you’re looking to improve customer loyalty, selecting the right vendor can make a significant difference. Clavaa offers quick setup and cashback rewards, whereas FiveStars focuses on automated customer engagement. TapMango’s customizable app and marketing tools are impressive, and Square provides seamless POS integration. If you’re an online retailer, Smile.io is user-friendly. Each vendor has unique features that can boost your business. Let’s explore these options further to find the best fit for your needs. Key Takeaways Clavaa Loyalty Program offers automatic rewards and cashback, enhancing customer engagement with minimal setup time for businesses. FiveStars Loyalty Platform provides a cloud-based solution with automated customer engagement and detailed insights on behavior and campaign performance. TapMango features a custom-branded app with flexible points systems and extensive marketing tools to drive customer retention. Square Loyalty integrates with POS systems, simplifying customer enrollment and rewards tracking through SMS updates for better engagement. Loyalzoo modernizes loyalty programs for small and medium businesses with smartphone-based tracking and customizable rewards tailored to customer behaviors. Clavaa Loyalty Program The Clavaa Loyalty Program is an innovative solution designed particularly for local retail businesses, offering a digital wallet that provides automatic rewards and cashback incentives. As a loyalty platform provider, Clavaa enables you to reward your customers with a 3% cashback, increasing to 5% for VIP tier members, all without payment-processing fees. The setup process is quick, taking only five minutes, and integrates seamlessly with your existing Point of Sale (PoS) systems, requiring minimal staff training. Clavaa tracks customer visit frequency and spending patterns, offering valuable insights into behavior. Furthermore, it encourages community building by providing personalized demos, helping you tailor your loyalty strategies effectively. This makes Clavaa a top choice among loyalty program vendors for local businesses. FiveStars Loyalty Platform Building on the capabilities of programs like Clavaa, the FiveStars Loyalty Platform offers a cloud-based solution intended to boost customer retention through effective engagement strategies. This platform merges loyalty with marketing, providing vital tools for businesses. Here are some key features: AutoPilot: An automated customer engagement system that sends timely promotions. Multi-channel rewards tracking: Use phone numbers, mobile apps, and payment systems for versatile customer engagement. Data insights: Gain detailed information on customer behavior and campaign performance for data-driven decisions. Automated messaging: Send promotions via text, email, and push notifications to improve customer retention. TapMango Loyalty Features TapMango offers a robust suite of loyalty features created to improve customer engagement and retention for businesses of all sizes. You can benefit from a custom-branded loyalty app for both iOS and Android, upgrading customer interactions through a personalized platform. With a flexible points system, customers earn points for purchases, reviews, and referrals, promoting engagement at multiple levels. The online ordering capabilities track rewards automatically, streamlining the redemption process. Moreover, TapMango includes a marketing suite with tools for SMS, email, and push notifications, ensuring effective communication for promotions. These extensive features are designed to boost customer retention and drive repeat purchases, providing a seamless experience overall. Feature Description Benefit Custom-branded App Personalized app for iOS and Android Upgrades customer engagement Flexible Points Earn points through purchases and referrals Incentivizes multiple interactions Online Ordering Built-in capabilities for tracking rewards Simplifies redemption process Marketing Suite Tools for SMS, email, and push notifications Effective communication Customer Retention Extensive features for loyalty programs Drives repeat purchases Square Loyalty Square Loyalty offers a streamlined approach to customer engagement that integrates effortlessly with existing point-of-sale (PoS) systems. With this program, you can enroll customers using just their phone numbers, eliminating the need for apps or physical cards. Here are some key features: Automatic Tracking: Loyalty rewards are tracked automatically, providing customers with SMS updates for improved engagement. One-Tap Redemption: Customers can redeem rewards easily at checkout, simplifying the process for staff and shoppers alike. Real-Time Analytics: Businesses can access real-time data to monitor the loyalty program’s impact on customer behavior. Focus on Retention: Square Loyalty aims to convert occasional customers into regulars, which can lead to increased repeat purchases. Smile.io Smile.io offers advanced loyalty program features that can greatly boost customer engagement for your online retail business. Its seamless integration with popular e-commerce platforms means you won’t need technical expertise to set up or manage your program effectively. Plus, the user-friendly dashboard allows you to track performance and optimize your strategies with ease, ensuring you get the most out of your loyalty initiatives. Advanced Loyalty Program Features When you’re looking to improve customer loyalty through effective programs, comprehending advanced features can make a significant difference in your strategy. Smile.io offers several key elements to boost your loyalty programs: Freemium Model: Start with a no-cost option, allowing you to utilize advanced features without upfront investment. Pre-built Campaigns: Access over 20 campaigns designed to simplify implementation, so you don’t need technical expertise. Customization Options: Tailor your loyalty program with branding and flexible rewards that resonate with your customer base. Engagement Features: Utilize referral incentives and tiered rewards to encourage repeat purchases and deepen customer relationships. These features can streamline your efforts and ultimately drive customer loyalty effectively. Seamless E-commerce Integration Integrating a loyalty program into your e-commerce platform can greatly improve customer retention and engagement. Smile.io is particularly designed for online retailers, offering seamless integration with major platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce. You can easily implement a points-based loyalty system, referral programs, and VIP tiers without needing extensive technical expertise. With over 20 pre-built campaigns, you can quickly launch promotions that drive customer retention and increase sales. Moreover, Smile.io provides robust analytics and reporting tools, allowing you to gain insights into customer behavior and optimize your loyalty strategies effectively. This user-friendly approach guarantees that managing your loyalty programs is straightforward, helping you focus on enhancing the overall customer experience. User-Friendly Dashboard Experience A user-friendly dashboard experience is crucial for businesses looking to manage their loyalty programs effectively. With Smile.io, you can leverage an intuitive interface that simplifies program management. Here are four key features that improve your experience: Seamless Integration: Easily connects with major e-commerce systems, making it accessible for all business sizes. Customizable Programs: Create and tailor loyalty options like points, referrals, and VIP tiers with minimal setup. Advanced Analytics: Gain insights into customer engagement through detailed reporting, allowing for strategic adjustments. Flexible Pricing: Start with basic features through a freemium model, and scale as your customer base grows. These features guarantee you can effectively implement and manage your loyalty strategies without extensive technical knowledge. Kangaroo Rewards Kangaroo Rewards stands out as an expansive loyalty platform designed particularly for small and medium businesses, offering features that improve customer engagement and retention. It provides custom-branded mobile apps, enhancing the overall customer experience. With automated marketing tools, you can effectively drive customer engagement and analyze the success of your loyalty initiatives through thorough analytics. The platform supports points accumulation, referral incentives, and tiered rewards, encouraging repeat purchases and nurturing customer loyalty. Its user-friendly interface simplifies loyalty program management, making it accessible even for those without extensive technical expertise. Loyalzoo Loyalzoo transforms customer loyalty programs by modernizing the traditional punch card system with a user-friendly, smartphone-based approach. This platform is particularly beneficial for small and medium businesses, offering an all-in-one loyalty solution without the need for physical cards. Key features include: Phone Number Identification: Automatically track visits and purchases, allowing customers to earn points effortlessly. Customizable Rewards: Tailor rewards based on points or visits, aligning with customer behaviors. Marketing Capabilities: Run monthly promotions and engage customers through targeted communications. Comprehensive Analytics: Measure program effectiveness easily with detailed insights. With these features, Loyalzoo improves the customer experience and simplifies loyalty management, making it a practical choice for your business. Frequently Asked Questions What Is the Most Successful Loyalty Program in the World? The most successful loyalty program in the world is Starbucks Rewards, with over 34.6 million active members as of Q1 2025. Members earn “Stars” for their purchases, which can be redeemed for various rewards. Furthermore, they enjoy personalized perks, including free refills and special birthday rewards. This program effectively encourages repeat business and improves customer engagement through a structured rewards system that directly ties benefits to spending habits and customer loyalty. What Are the 3 R’s of Customer Loyalty? The 3 R’s of customer loyalty are Recognition, Reward, and Relationship. Recognition involves identifying loyal customers and making them feel valued through personalized communication. Reward systems, like points or exclusive discounts, incentivize repeat purchases, enhancing retention. Finally, nurturing a strong Relationship through consistent engagement and customized interactions transforms casual shoppers into brand advocates, greatly increasing customer lifetime value. Together, these elements create a foundation for lasting loyalty and increased brand advocacy. What Type of Loyalty Program Might You Use in Your Business? You might consider implementing a tiered loyalty program, where customers earn rewards based on their spending levels. This encourages higher purchases as customers aspire to reach the next tier for better benefits. On the other hand, a points-based program could work well, allowing customers to accumulate points for discounts or rewards. Cashback programs likewise provide straightforward incentives by offering a percentage back on purchases, which can effectively promote repeat business and improve customer loyalty. What Brand Has the Highest Brand Loyalty? Amazon currently holds the highest brand loyalty, with over 200 million global members in its Prime program. This program offers exclusive benefits like fast shipping and access to various entertainment services, which greatly improve customer retention. Other brands, such as Starbucks and Sephora, likewise show strong loyalty through their rewards programs, but none match Amazon’s scale. Comprehending these examples can help you design effective strategies to encourage brand loyalty in your own business. Conclusion Choosing the right loyalty program vendor is essential for enhancing customer engagement and retention in your business. Each option, from Clavaa’s cashback rewards to TapMango’s customizable app, offers distinct advantages customized to different needs. Square’s seamless POS integration simplifies tracking, whereas Smile.io serves online retailers effectively. Evaluate your specific requirements and customer base, and consider how each vendor can align with your business goals to create a successful loyalty strategy that drives repeat transactions and nurtures customer loyalty. Image via Google Gemini This article, "Top 7 Loyalty Program Vendors to Consider for Your Business" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

When you’re looking to improve customer loyalty, selecting the right vendor can make a significant difference. Clavaa offers quick setup and cashback rewards, whereas FiveStars focuses on automated customer engagement. TapMango’s customizable app and marketing tools are impressive, and Square provides seamless POS integration. If you’re an online retailer, Smile.io is user-friendly. Each vendor has unique features that can boost your business. Let’s explore these options further to find the best fit for your needs. Key Takeaways Clavaa Loyalty Program offers automatic rewards and cashback, enhancing customer engagement with minimal setup time for businesses. FiveStars Loyalty Platform provides a cloud-based solution with automated customer engagement and detailed insights on behavior and campaign performance. TapMango features a custom-branded app with flexible points systems and extensive marketing tools to drive customer retention. Square Loyalty integrates with POS systems, simplifying customer enrollment and rewards tracking through SMS updates for better engagement. Loyalzoo modernizes loyalty programs for small and medium businesses with smartphone-based tracking and customizable rewards tailored to customer behaviors. Clavaa Loyalty Program The Clavaa Loyalty Program is an innovative solution designed particularly for local retail businesses, offering a digital wallet that provides automatic rewards and cashback incentives. As a loyalty platform provider, Clavaa enables you to reward your customers with a 3% cashback, increasing to 5% for VIP tier members, all without payment-processing fees. The setup process is quick, taking only five minutes, and integrates seamlessly with your existing Point of Sale (PoS) systems, requiring minimal staff training. Clavaa tracks customer visit frequency and spending patterns, offering valuable insights into behavior. Furthermore, it encourages community building by providing personalized demos, helping you tailor your loyalty strategies effectively. This makes Clavaa a top choice among loyalty program vendors for local businesses. FiveStars Loyalty Platform Building on the capabilities of programs like Clavaa, the FiveStars Loyalty Platform offers a cloud-based solution intended to boost customer retention through effective engagement strategies. This platform merges loyalty with marketing, providing vital tools for businesses. Here are some key features: AutoPilot: An automated customer engagement system that sends timely promotions. Multi-channel rewards tracking: Use phone numbers, mobile apps, and payment systems for versatile customer engagement. Data insights: Gain detailed information on customer behavior and campaign performance for data-driven decisions. Automated messaging: Send promotions via text, email, and push notifications to improve customer retention. TapMango Loyalty Features TapMango offers a robust suite of loyalty features created to improve customer engagement and retention for businesses of all sizes. You can benefit from a custom-branded loyalty app for both iOS and Android, upgrading customer interactions through a personalized platform. With a flexible points system, customers earn points for purchases, reviews, and referrals, promoting engagement at multiple levels. The online ordering capabilities track rewards automatically, streamlining the redemption process. Moreover, TapMango includes a marketing suite with tools for SMS, email, and push notifications, ensuring effective communication for promotions. These extensive features are designed to boost customer retention and drive repeat purchases, providing a seamless experience overall. Feature Description Benefit Custom-branded App Personalized app for iOS and Android Upgrades customer engagement Flexible Points Earn points through purchases and referrals Incentivizes multiple interactions Online Ordering Built-in capabilities for tracking rewards Simplifies redemption process Marketing Suite Tools for SMS, email, and push notifications Effective communication Customer Retention Extensive features for loyalty programs Drives repeat purchases Square Loyalty Square Loyalty offers a streamlined approach to customer engagement that integrates effortlessly with existing point-of-sale (PoS) systems. With this program, you can enroll customers using just their phone numbers, eliminating the need for apps or physical cards. Here are some key features: Automatic Tracking: Loyalty rewards are tracked automatically, providing customers with SMS updates for improved engagement. One-Tap Redemption: Customers can redeem rewards easily at checkout, simplifying the process for staff and shoppers alike. Real-Time Analytics: Businesses can access real-time data to monitor the loyalty program’s impact on customer behavior. Focus on Retention: Square Loyalty aims to convert occasional customers into regulars, which can lead to increased repeat purchases. Smile.io Smile.io offers advanced loyalty program features that can greatly boost customer engagement for your online retail business. Its seamless integration with popular e-commerce platforms means you won’t need technical expertise to set up or manage your program effectively. Plus, the user-friendly dashboard allows you to track performance and optimize your strategies with ease, ensuring you get the most out of your loyalty initiatives. Advanced Loyalty Program Features When you’re looking to improve customer loyalty through effective programs, comprehending advanced features can make a significant difference in your strategy. Smile.io offers several key elements to boost your loyalty programs: Freemium Model: Start with a no-cost option, allowing you to utilize advanced features without upfront investment. Pre-built Campaigns: Access over 20 campaigns designed to simplify implementation, so you don’t need technical expertise. Customization Options: Tailor your loyalty program with branding and flexible rewards that resonate with your customer base. Engagement Features: Utilize referral incentives and tiered rewards to encourage repeat purchases and deepen customer relationships. These features can streamline your efforts and ultimately drive customer loyalty effectively. Seamless E-commerce Integration Integrating a loyalty program into your e-commerce platform can greatly improve customer retention and engagement. Smile.io is particularly designed for online retailers, offering seamless integration with major platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce. You can easily implement a points-based loyalty system, referral programs, and VIP tiers without needing extensive technical expertise. With over 20 pre-built campaigns, you can quickly launch promotions that drive customer retention and increase sales. Moreover, Smile.io provides robust analytics and reporting tools, allowing you to gain insights into customer behavior and optimize your loyalty strategies effectively. This user-friendly approach guarantees that managing your loyalty programs is straightforward, helping you focus on enhancing the overall customer experience. User-Friendly Dashboard Experience A user-friendly dashboard experience is crucial for businesses looking to manage their loyalty programs effectively. With Smile.io, you can leverage an intuitive interface that simplifies program management. Here are four key features that improve your experience: Seamless Integration: Easily connects with major e-commerce systems, making it accessible for all business sizes. Customizable Programs: Create and tailor loyalty options like points, referrals, and VIP tiers with minimal setup. Advanced Analytics: Gain insights into customer engagement through detailed reporting, allowing for strategic adjustments. Flexible Pricing: Start with basic features through a freemium model, and scale as your customer base grows. These features guarantee you can effectively implement and manage your loyalty strategies without extensive technical knowledge. Kangaroo Rewards Kangaroo Rewards stands out as an expansive loyalty platform designed particularly for small and medium businesses, offering features that improve customer engagement and retention. It provides custom-branded mobile apps, enhancing the overall customer experience. With automated marketing tools, you can effectively drive customer engagement and analyze the success of your loyalty initiatives through thorough analytics. The platform supports points accumulation, referral incentives, and tiered rewards, encouraging repeat purchases and nurturing customer loyalty. Its user-friendly interface simplifies loyalty program management, making it accessible even for those without extensive technical expertise. Loyalzoo Loyalzoo transforms customer loyalty programs by modernizing the traditional punch card system with a user-friendly, smartphone-based approach. This platform is particularly beneficial for small and medium businesses, offering an all-in-one loyalty solution without the need for physical cards. Key features include: Phone Number Identification: Automatically track visits and purchases, allowing customers to earn points effortlessly. Customizable Rewards: Tailor rewards based on points or visits, aligning with customer behaviors. Marketing Capabilities: Run monthly promotions and engage customers through targeted communications. Comprehensive Analytics: Measure program effectiveness easily with detailed insights. With these features, Loyalzoo improves the customer experience and simplifies loyalty management, making it a practical choice for your business. Frequently Asked Questions What Is the Most Successful Loyalty Program in the World? The most successful loyalty program in the world is Starbucks Rewards, with over 34.6 million active members as of Q1 2025. Members earn “Stars” for their purchases, which can be redeemed for various rewards. Furthermore, they enjoy personalized perks, including free refills and special birthday rewards. This program effectively encourages repeat business and improves customer engagement through a structured rewards system that directly ties benefits to spending habits and customer loyalty. What Are the 3 R’s of Customer Loyalty? The 3 R’s of customer loyalty are Recognition, Reward, and Relationship. Recognition involves identifying loyal customers and making them feel valued through personalized communication. Reward systems, like points or exclusive discounts, incentivize repeat purchases, enhancing retention. Finally, nurturing a strong Relationship through consistent engagement and customized interactions transforms casual shoppers into brand advocates, greatly increasing customer lifetime value. Together, these elements create a foundation for lasting loyalty and increased brand advocacy. What Type of Loyalty Program Might You Use in Your Business? You might consider implementing a tiered loyalty program, where customers earn rewards based on their spending levels. This encourages higher purchases as customers aspire to reach the next tier for better benefits. On the other hand, a points-based program could work well, allowing customers to accumulate points for discounts or rewards. Cashback programs likewise provide straightforward incentives by offering a percentage back on purchases, which can effectively promote repeat business and improve customer loyalty. What Brand Has the Highest Brand Loyalty? Amazon currently holds the highest brand loyalty, with over 200 million global members in its Prime program. This program offers exclusive benefits like fast shipping and access to various entertainment services, which greatly improve customer retention. Other brands, such as Starbucks and Sephora, likewise show strong loyalty through their rewards programs, but none match Amazon’s scale. Comprehending these examples can help you design effective strategies to encourage brand loyalty in your own business. Conclusion Choosing the right loyalty program vendor is essential for enhancing customer engagement and retention in your business. Each option, from Clavaa’s cashback rewards to TapMango’s customizable app, offers distinct advantages customized to different needs. Square’s seamless POS integration simplifies tracking, whereas Smile.io serves online retailers effectively. Evaluate your specific requirements and customer base, and consider how each vendor can align with your business goals to create a successful loyalty strategy that drives repeat transactions and nurtures customer loyalty. Image via Google Gemini This article, "Top 7 Loyalty Program Vendors to Consider for Your Business" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. As part of Amazon’s Black Friday deals, the Beats Studio Pro headphones have dropped to $149.95—down from their usual $349.95, and the lowest price they've hit so far, according to price trackers. At that price, you're getting a premium-looking pair of noise-canceling headphones with a few standout features, especially for Apple users. The build is solid, the fit is comfortable, and the overall feel leans high-end. Beats Studio Pro $149.95 at Amazon $349.95 Save $200.00 Get Deal Get Deal $149.95 at Amazon $349.95 Save $200.00 Audio-wise, the Studio Pro delivers the familiar Beats punch, with boosted bass and bright highs. Purists might find it less balanced, but if you like a little extra punch in your playlists, it works. You can get better audio quality by plugging in the USB-C cable, which unlocks hi-res listening and three preset EQ modes that offer some tailoring depending on what you’re listening to. Unfortunately, you can’t access those EQ options in Bluetooth mode, and there’s no custom EQ, either. Android users also get shortchanged, with only SBC and AAC codec support, so they miss out on AptX and LDAC for high-quality wireless audio. Noise cancellation is where the Studio Pro feels more average. It handles low-end noise fairly well but struggles with higher frequencies and busy environments. There’s also a faint hiss when ANC is on, notes this PCMag review. On the bright side, battery life holds up well—you can expect around 24 hours with noise cancellation on or up to 40 hours without it. Overall, the Studio Pro won’t outperform the best from Sony or Bose in terms of active noise canceling, and it’s not built for audio customization. But, for casual listeners who prioritize comfort, battery life, and seamless Apple integration, this Black Friday deal makes it easier to justify. Our Best Editor-Vetted Early Black Friday Deals Right Now Apple AirPods Pro 3 Noise Cancelling Heart Rate Wireless Earbuds — $219.99 (List Price $249.00) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $274.00 (List Price $349.00) Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023) — $69.99 (List Price $139.99) Sony WH-1000XM5 — $248.00 (List Price $399.99) Blink Outdoor 4 1080p Wireless Security Camera (5-Pack) — $159.99 (List Price $399.99) Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Plus — $24.99 (List Price $49.99) NEW Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones — $298.00 (List Price $429.00) Shark AI Ultra Matrix Clean Mapping Voice Control Robot Vacuum with XL Self-Empty Base — $249.99 (List Price $599.00) Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 42mm, S/M Black Sport Band) — $349.00 (List Price $399.00) WD 6TB My Passport USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive — $134.99 (List Price $179.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

European and Asian shares mostly gained on Tuesday after U.S. stocks rallied on hopes the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates soon. The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1%. Germany’s DAX edged 0.1% lower to 23,216.76 and the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.1% to 7,965.77. Britain’s FTSE 100 likewise gained 0.1%, to 9,542.55. In Asian trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 picked up 0.1% to 48,659.52 as a plunge in technology giant SoftBank’s shares weighed on the market. It fell 10.3% on concerns that returns from its heavy investments in OpenAI may be threatened by the next generation Gemini artificial intelligence model that Google launched last week. In South Korea, the Kospi gained 0.3% to 3,857.78. Taiwan’s Taiex jumped 1.5%. Chinese markets also advanced. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng climbed 0.7% to 25,894.55, while the Shanghai Composite index jumped 0.9% to 3,870.02. E-commerce giant Alibaba, which was due to report its earnings late Tuesday, gained 2.1% in Hong Kong. Australia’s S&P/ASX rebounded to edge 0.1% higher, closing at 8,537.00. U.S. markets will be closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday. A day later, it’s on to the rush of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The U.S. stock market rallied on Monday, at the start of a week with shortened trading because of the Thanksgiving holiday. The S&P 500 climbed 1.5% in one of its best days since the summer. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 2.7%. Stocks got a lift from rising hopes that the Fed will cut its main interest rate again at its next meeting in December, a move that could boost the economy and investment prices. The market also benefited from strength for stocks caught up in the artificial-intelligence frenzy. Alphabet, which has been getting praise for its Gemini AI model, rallied 6.3% and was one of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500. Nvidia rose 2.1%. Monday’s gains followed sharp swings in recent weeks, not just day to day but also hour to hour, caused by uncertainty about what the Fed will do with interest rates and whether too much money is pouring into AI and creating a bubble. All the worries are creating the biggest test for investors since an April sell-off, when President Donald The President shocked the world with his “Liberation Day” tariffs. Despite all the recent fear, the S&P 500 remains within 2.7% of its record set last month. Several tests for the market lie ahead this week. One of the biggest will arrive Tuesday when the U.S. government will deliver data on inflation at the wholesale level in September. Economists expect it to show a 2.6% rise in prices from a year earlier, the same as in August. A higher-than-expected reading could deter the Fed from cutting its main interest rate in December for a third time this year, because lower rates can worsen inflation. Some Fed officials have already argued against a December cut in part because inflation has stubbornly remained above their 2% target. Traders are nevertheless betting on a nearly 85% probability that the Fed will cut rates next month, up from 71% on Friday and from less than a coin flip’s chance seen a week ago, according to data from CME Group. In other dealings early Tuesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 47 cents to $58.37 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, shed 49 cents to $62.23 per barrel. The dollar fell to 156.30 Japanese yen from 156.91 yen. The euro rose to $1.1534 from $1.1521. Bitcoin rose 1.6% to $86,836. It was near $125,000 last month. —Elaine Kurtenbach, AP Business Writer View the full article

Shares in Alphabet Inc (Nasdaq: GOOG), the company better known as Google, are rising again in premarket trading today. The stock is currently up by more than 4% following yesterday’s rise of 6.2%. If those gains hold, Google could be set to become the world’s next company with a $4 trillion market cap today. Here’s what you need to know. Why are GOOG shares rising? Shares in Alphabet have had a stellar run as of late. Yesterday, they rose more than 6.2%. Over the past five days, they have been up more than 11.5%. Over the past month, they have jumped more than 22%. And over the past six months, they have been up more than 87%. And that’s before today’s further 4% gain in premarket trading. So why is Alphabet’s share price jumping recently, particularly over the past week? There’s one big reason: artificial intelligence. But the company’s boost from AI is the result of two different factors. The first: Last week, Google released Gemini 3, its proprietary AI chatbot and LLM. Industry watchers and consumers have widely praised the model for its speed, performance, and capabilities, which, in many tests, have outperformed OpenAI’s ChatGPT-5. Gemini 3’s capabilities and Google’s decision to quickly integrate it into Search helped spur the stock higher last week. But that isn’t the only AI boost Google that has gotten recently. On Monday, the Information reported that Facebook owner Meta is considering using Google’s AI chips in its data centers in 2027—a deal that could be worth billions to Google. Google’s AI chips are the company’s tensor processing units (TPUs). Google’s TPUs have been around for nearly eight years now, but, as CNBC noted, the company has recently begun designing them to handle AI tasks with efficiency in mind. Meta is one of the largest buyers of components that go into AI infrastructure, and Nvidia is the leading provider in supplying AI chips. If Meta is considering opting for Google’s TPUs over Nvidia’s AI chips, it suggests the company has confidence that Google’s chips are more than suitable for powering its data centers. If that’s the case, Google could be set to become a serious competitor to Nvidia in the AI hardware race. Indeed, Google investors seem to be celebrating that this morning. Fast Company reached out to Google and Meta for comment. Google could become the next $4 trillion company As of yesterday’s market close, Alphabet had a market cap of roughly $3.84 trillion, making it the third-most valuable company after Nvidia and Apple, both of which are currently valued at more than $4 trillion. But already in premarket trading this morning, GOOG shares have risen by more than 4%. The company’s share price needs to rise by just under 5% over yesterday’s close to reach a market cap of $4 trillion. If it does that, Google would become just the fourth company to ever reach that milestone, following Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple. (Microsoft’s valuation has currently sunk back below $4 trillion). Given that Google’s stock price is already up around 4% in premarket this morning, it’s possible, but not guaranteed, that the search giant could cross the $4 trillion market cap before markets close today. Google is the best-performing Magnificent 7 stock of the year so far Google hasn’t had just a great run as of late. When you look back at the company’s stock price performance since 2025 began and compare it to the other companies in the Magnificent 7, Google is far and away the best-performing stock in the group so far this year. As of yesterday’s closing price of $318.47 per share, GOOG shares were up over 87% since the year began. Here’s how that compares to the other Magnificent 7 stocks: Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG): up 87.79% year to date (YTD) NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA): up 35.94% YTD Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq: MSFT): up 12.46% YTD Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL): up 10.18% YTD Meta Platforms, Inc. (Nasdaq: META): up 4.70% YTD Tesla, Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA): up 3.45% YTD Amazon.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN): up 3.14% YTD Investors will be keenly watching where Google’s stock price goes from here. It’s impossible to predict which direction that will be, but as of this writing, GOOG is so far the clear winner as far as stock price gains go among the Magnificent 7 in 2025. View the full article

Ahrefs' Patrick Stox joins Shelley Walsh to talk about the shifting search journey, the limits of LLM attribution, and the importance of brand consistency. The post Google Isn’t Going Anywhere: Ahrefs Ambassador On LLM Inclusion & Why Relationships Still Win appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

You’ve probably heard the saying: Fast, cheap, or good – pick two. The concept goes something like this: If you want something fast and cheap, don’t expect it to be good. If you want it good and fast, it’s going to cost more. And if you want it good and affordable, well, you’ll need to give it time. It’s a simple way to explain how tradeoffs work in projects. In SEO, these tradeoffs are especially important to understand because you’re often creating problems that will cost more to fix later. This article looks at variations of this project management concept and how it applies to SEO. Then I’ll explain why a quality-first approach leads to better, more sustainable results in the long run. Understanding the fast-cheap-good concept The fast-cheap-good concept is a modern variation of a classic project management approach that shows the trade-offs involved in getting work done. This project management approach is often visualized as a triangle. The three sides are typically: Time: How fast the work can be delivered. Cost: How much the work will cost. Quality: How good or thorough the work is. The common interpretation is that you can prioritize two but the third will be constrained. The tradeoffs go something like this: High quality + fast delivery = higher price. High quality + low price = slower delivery. Fast delivery + low price = lower quality. It’s worth noting that the original model introduced by Dr. Martin Barnes did not claim you could “pick two” and sacrifice the third. Barnes described time, cost, and quality as interdependent. If you constrain one, the others are impacted. Later interpretations produced various new iterations of the triangle. Nevertheless, in theory, using this framework helps set realistic expectations in project outcomes. What time, cost, and quality mean to SEO How does time, cost, and quality impact outcomes in SEO? Time For many, being able to move faster than the competition is often a differentiating factor in success. However, most know that SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. In some cases, it can be six months up to a year to see real movement. For more competitive sectors, it can take years to achieve No. 1 rankings for highly competitive, revenue-generating queries. Only 2% of pages reach the Top 10 within a year, while about 73% of top-ranking pages are more than three years old, per an Ahrefs study. As for No. 1 rankings, the average page in Google is five years old. However, the research shows that if the page were going to rank for a “higher search volume term,” it was more likely to do so within the first month. So, how much you decide to invest in SEO can impact how quickly you want to compete. If you’re in a competitive niche or aiming for faster results, you’ll likely need to invest in more resources upfront. However, if you can be more nimble than your competition, then you have the potential to beat them in the search results even without a bigger budget. Being nimble means: The ability to forecast potential changes in search and act on them sooner. The ability to make decisions faster than your competition. The ability to implement SEO recommendations faster than the competitors. Cost I don’t know any true SEO experts who charge bargain-basement rates. The reality of high-quality work is that it takes skill, and paying for that skill comes at a price. It can be alluring to buy inexpensive SEO that seems to check all the boxes. But what you’re actually buying is an illusion. And when everything falls apart, not only do you lose the initial costs of buying cheap SEO services, but you also have to pay for recovery. Add that to the fact that you’ll lose revenue while your visibility drops. In the end, you’ll end up paying more for it later. Dig deeper: Don’t kill your SEO budget, shift it Quality When we talk about quality SEO, we’re talking about: The caliber of strategy behind the SEO program. The degree of expertise with which the program is executed. The aptitude of the project managers to run an efficient program. The level of SEO knowledge powering the SEO team. The quality of the content that is central to a helpful website. The precise implementation of technical SEO. There is probably more, but you get the point. Quality is essential to the success of SEO because it operates in a highly competitive environment. If you aren’t properly vetting the team that you’re hiring, you may ultimately be unhappy with the services you receive. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. See terms. What the specific tradeoffs look like in SEO projects Here’s how the project tradeoffs can play out in real-world SEO scenarios: Fast + cheap = risky, low-quality SEO This is perhaps the most dangerous path. When SEO is sold as both fast and affordable, it usually means: Automated, low-effort tactics. Practices that may produce short-term gains but can trigger long-term search engine penalties. No strategy, just surface-level optimization. Fast + good = a bigger investment If you want expert-level SEO done quickly, it’s likely going to cost more. This is because: High-quality SEO requires skilled strategists, developers, and content creators. Speed means ultra-focused resources, so no waiting in line behind other client projects or spreading the work out over a long timeline. Quick wins still need to be rooted in a sustainable strategy that ultimately takes time. Cheap + good = slow and steady If you’re working with a limited budget but still want high-quality SEO, it may be possible with the right engagement. However, you’ll need to expect slower progress: You’ll see incremental improvements. Results will build up over time, creating a compounding effect. This route is ideal for businesses that want long-term, sustainable growth and are willing to wait for it. Dig deeper: Why SEO often fails before it even begins Rethinking project constraints for SEO Critics have argued that the classic project constraints I’ve been discussing here in this article oversimplify how projects actually function. And this may be especially true for creative and technical work like SEO. The question is, do we really have to just pick two? I propose something different. We should make quality the non-negotiable starting point. In SEO, where quality determines the ranking potential and long-term visibility in search results, it makes more sense to treat quality as the foundation upon which time, cost, and scope depend (and adjust). A quality-first strategy helps SEO programs run faster and more cost-efficiently because there’s less waste and less rework. With quality at the forefront: Content builds true authority. Websites are more trusted by users and search engines. Organic traffic grows steadily and sustainably. You spend less time undoing poor-quality work. The bottom line is that quality SEO is the only approach that pays off over time without costing you everything later. Quality first, then everything else follows Traditional project constraints show up in every SEO initiative. The fastest path to SEO results, though, is through quality, consistent work by people who know what they’re doing. So if you’re weighing your options, don’t think about which element of the SEO program you have to sacrifice. Instead, ask how you can protect quality, and everything else will fall into place. View the full article

Since you're already carrying your phone with you everywhere like a digital appendage, you might as well use it for journaling. It's always at hand, can capture photos, videos, and voice notes as well as text, and is able to log locations, trips and more. Its new AI tools can even draft a few entries automatically for you. What's more, your phone probably now comes with a journal app preinstalled: Apple's Journal app launched in 2023, and a brand new Journal app from Google, initially exclusive to the Pixel 10, is now available on the Pixel 8 and Pixel 9 too (apparently because these phones also have Gemini Nano on board). Plus, a wide selection of third-party options is available on the Android and iOS app stores. In recent days, in an attempt to determine whether or not journaling on my phone might be for me, I've tested out both the Apple and Google offerings, as well as some of the best third-party alternatives. Here's what I found, and which apps I'd recommend if you want to log your thoughts and feelings on your phone. The built-in optionsJournal by AppleLet's start with Journal by Apple, launched in December 2023. It's fair to say there haven't been a ton of updates released for the app since then, but all of the essentials are covered: Your journal entries can combine text, photos, videos, audio, locations, and sketches, and you can even set up multiple journals for different purposes. I do like the way this app makes suggestions for journaling, particularly in terms of recent locations and photos—it means it's easier to get started or to jump back in after a while. There are also a good number of options for what you can attach to your journal entries, and I can see myself using the mood slider a lot. Journaling with Apple. Credit: Lifehacker Journal by GoogleAs for the Journal app that Google recently launched for Android, it is limited to those with a phone from the Pixel 8, Pixel 9, and Pixel 10 series. It's also pretty bare bones: I was able to log text, photos, videos, and places, as well as fitness data collected through Health Connect, but there's nothing here for audio or moods. In addition, the interface is rather plain—much more spartan than the Apple equivalent. You do get a neat overview of all your posts, but it's not particularly inspiring, and you can't configure multiple journals. In addition, the AI-powered prompts for what to write about remain exclusive to Pixel 10 handsets, so you have to do without these on the Pixel 8 and Pixel 9. Google's Journal app sticks to the basics. Credit: Lifehacker Neither of these are bad apps; each will do the job of getting down your thoughts in a digital format, with some useful extras attached. The biggest benefits are they're both well integrated into their respective operating systems, and you don't need new accounts to use them. Apple's journal app is certainly better than Google's at the moment, though it's had a two-year head start. If you just want something quick and simple that's made by the company that made your phone (and that may well come preinstalled on your phone), then they're fine. However, these two journal apps remain rather bare bones compared to the other options, as well as keeping you locked in on either Android or iOS. That's why, if you're serious about your journaling, I think it's worth exploring a third-party app installed. The best third-party journal appsDay One Day One was one of the first mobile journals to appear. Credit: Lifehacker Outside of Google and Apple, Day One (Android and iOS) has long been one of the best journaling apps around—and you can take it with you if you ever jump between the Apple and Google platforms. It's been around since 2011 and is stacked with features, including multiple view types, prompts, tags, summaries, recaps, and a gorgeous design that looks great on every device. Your entries can include all the usual features, plus weather details, playlists, health data, social media posts, and more. You get a lot for free, but there is also a premium plan available for $50 a year. It gives you support for unlimited images, videos, and audio, plus extras like the ability to create journal entries over email. 5 Minute Journal 5 Minute Journal focuses on positivity. Credit: Lifehacker As someone just dipping a toe into the world of journaling, 5 Minute Journal (Android and iOS) appeals right from the name. The idea is you don't have to spend too long jotting down your thoughts and ideas each day, and the app is geared towards getting you to record the more positive aspects of your life, boosting mindfulness and well-being. I like the writing prompts and journaling reminders this app provides to keep you motivated, as well as the really simple way you can log your mood as you go. It's also a beautifully designed and organized app—a completely different aesthetic experience than a more utilitarian option like Google Journal. However, some features (including unlimited photos and videos) requires a premium subscription, which starts at $5 a month. Rosebud Journal Rosebud comes with a few AI prompt extras. Credit: Lifehacker One more recommendation from my own experience: Rosebud (Android and iOS). It's branded as "AI-powered" but thankfully you don't have to worry too much about that, and it does a really nice job of summarizing and tracking your thoughts over time, as well as encouraging you to jot stuff down in the here and now. The app does quite a bit of hand-holding and prompting, but that's perfect if you're just getting started or struggling to journal each day, and you can always just jot down standard journal entries with text and images if you prefer. As you might have guessed given the other options on my list, there is a pro-level subscription for $13 a month that gives you a lot more insights in terms of past entries, trends, and emotional patterns and triggers, if an AI's summary of your life is interesting to you. The best journal app is the one you useOne of the benefits of there being so many journal apps out there is that there really is something for everyone, so there's no harm in testing out Google and Apple's offerings first—they are, after all, completely free. But for journaling apps that really invest in user design and features, there are much better options out there. Now I just need to pick the one I'm going to stick with, because in the end, the best journal app is the one that you use consistently. View the full article

OpenAI announced shopping research within ChatGPT, "a new experience in ChatGPT that does the research for you to help you find the right products," as OpenAI put it. This is clearly OpenAI's response to Google's AI Mode and Gemini 3 shopping experiences.View the full article

Google announced that it will be reinstating the suspended hotels in Hotel Center and removing the Suspended Hotels" tab in the "Properties" page of your Hotel Center account.View the full article

Google is now showing the "What to know" section within web search, not just AI Mode, within the product summary bar on the right side. This shows up when you click on a product.View the full article

Dutch historian Rutger Bregman hits out at corporation after US president threatens to sue over ‘Panorama’ documentaryView the full article

Can you imagine you manage hundreds of clients in your Google Ads Manager Accounts (MCC) gets hijacked. Or your Google Account and your ad campaigns gets hijacked due to an MCC hijack? Well, this stuff happens and it can be incredibly scary and painful.View the full article

Google is testing removing the "more" results button for Local Service Ads within the web search results. Instead, you are given the option to expand the results to 8 in total but not click through to see more LSA listings.View the full article

Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov suggests Moscow would walk away from proposal that differs substantially from Alaska talksView the full article

Move comes after brands change recipes to avoid levyView the full article

After entrepreneur Brynn Putnam sold her smart fitness company, Mirror, to Lululemon for $500 million in 2020, she was looking for her next big idea. It was the middle of the pandemic, and Putnam was living with five kids ranging in age from 2 to 21. She says she often found herself dreaming of an activity that would get her whole family to sit down and connect with each other. Brynn Putnam “When we played games, we were either playing board games like Candyland, so that the littlest ones could participate, or we would try to play video games, but the teenagers who’ve logged a lot of hours on sort of modern controllers would always smoke us,” Putnam says. “There was a missing product: one that could give you the tactile feel of physical pieces and the face-to-face interaction of sitting around a shared experience, but with the interactivity of video games.” Enter Board, Putnam’s newest venture. Board is a 24-inch game console that looks a bit like a gigantic iPad. Its function, though, is unlike pretty much any other device on the market: Board combines the setup and feel of a traditional board game with the digital screen of a video game, allowing players to use physical pieces on top of an interactive screen. The console comes with 12 exclusive games and can accommodate up to 10 players in a team setting. It debuted on October 28 for a holiday price of $499, though its standard cost is $699. While the Board team wouldn’t share sales data, they did note that the product already surpassed initial forecasts. To make Board’s premise work, Putnam’s team designed its own custom hardware and software that can identify different kinds of touch, withstand rough play and spills, and react in real time to players’ movements. For Putnam, Board represents an entirely new way to use tech; rather than isolating its users, Board is built to provide a social experience. How Board built a brand-new kind of game Creating Board started with one major hurdle, says Ryan Measel, the company’s chief technology officer: Most touchscreens are only built to recognize 10 fingers—and they’re certainly not designed to recognize objects. Board needed to identify not only an unlimited number of fingers, but also the console’s 49 unique game pieces. Measel explains that, with commercial platforms like Android and iOS, there’s a programming layer that limits how many touch points—like taps and swipes—a developer can build into an application. With Board, Measel’s team built a custom driver that gave them full access to the console’s sensor array, opening up essentially endless possibilities for different interactions with the screen. Specifically, the Board screen is able to determine what’s touching it (and how) through an embedded AI model that’s been trained on the system’s sensory outputs. It knows, for instance, how to distinguish between a hand accidentally brushing the board, a finger tapping the screen, and an arm passing over the board. It can also tell the difference between all 49 of the console’s game pieces using conductive traces, or unique patterns made out of a conductive material, that are etched onto the bottom of every piece. Alongside the Board’s unique ability to distinguish touch, Putnam says, a top concern was the console’s durability—especially given that some of its games are designed to be enjoyed by players as young as six. The device comes with a spill-resistant gasket around the display and a tight internal structure to keep it safe from liquids and bumps. “My littlest one is 2, so she tends to use everything as a weapon,” Putnam says. “We have some great photos and videos from the testing process at the factory of the Board being submerged underwater, dropped from very high heights, and scratched multiple times.” How Board works When users receive their Board, the device comes with 12 games made specifically for the console, as well as unique pieces tailored to each game. Seth Sivak, Board’s chief creative officer and former CEO of the game studio Proletariat, led game development. He says the console’s portfolio of games was carefully crafted specifically to offer something for all different kinds of players. The options run the gamut from 60-second-long arcade-inspired games to an escape room-themed experience that can take up to 90 minutes to complete. Even within the games themselves, players of different ages and skill levels can find roles appropriate to them—like in the chef-inspired game Chop Chop, where the kind of utensil game piece chosen by each participant determines their role in the kitchen. “The 2 year old can be the sponge and feel a lot of joy cleaning the kitchen, but it’s very simple and intuitive for them to do,” Putnam says. “The grown-up can be in charge of managing the order tickets as they come in and strategizing about how to navigate the changing kitchen layout, recipes, and tickets. I think that’s really hard to do—there’s not a ton of experiences that really make sure everyone has a seat at the table.” Right now, Sivak and his team are working to build out Board’s IP into additional games. At the same time, Putnam says the company is working on making its software development kit available to external developers in order to bring existing games into the Board universe. Board is combining the old-school nostalgia of game night with all the advantages of digital gaming—and it might just be a hit for everyone in the family. “I think for a lot of parents, myself included, you don’t want to pretend like technology doesn’t exist, because technology makes things better—Board does the rule maintenance for you, it does the score keeping, it does all these things,” Putnam says. “But you don’t want technology to remove social interaction. It’s important that the screen brings people together. It doesn’t replace your friends or your family, it doesn’t replace your teacher, but it helps make those experiences more rich.” View the full article

In his new book Ding Dong: How Ring Went from Shark Tank Reject to Everyone’s Front Door, Ring founder Jamie Siminoff pulls back the curtain on the chaotic, often absurd reality of building one of the most recognizable consumer tech brands of the last decade. The following excerpt captures one of the book’s most pivotal moments: the high-stakes, borderline-reckless gamble to secure the name “Ring.com,” a decision that nearly emptied the company’s bank account, tested the patience of his investors, and set the stage for a brand that would soon reshape home security. eBay.com. Half.com. Cars.com. Shop.com. Toys.com. And yes, Nest.com. So many great four-letter domain names. And I wanted one: Ring.com. The owner of the URL was willing to part with it … for 2 million bucks. That represented a massive chunk of the money my VCs were about to give me. Neither they, nor a couple of my seasoned tech friends who had experience with overpriced domain names, thought it was a great use of my new capital. Nor did the fellow who ran the mezcal company on the other side of the wall of our Santa Monica office. “You’re going out of business! Your doorbell doesn’t work! It’s just a name!” he yelled at me in the parking lot as I walked to my car one evening. On one hand, I wanted to yell back that he didn’t know what he was talking about; on the other, I wondered if he was right and I was making a huge mistake. I also wondered where his anger at me was coming from, but realized he’d probably heard some of my own raging through the walls. “You’re going to spend all that money on a stupid name?!” he barked. Another doubter wondered, “Jamie, does it really have to be four letters? What’s so special about four letters?” Yes, it had to be Ring. When I’d come up with my voice message-to-email transcription service, I first called it Simulscribe, and it stagnated. When I changed the name to PhoneTag.com, we got a burst of interest. Names matter. I had once thought they shouldn’t—all that mattered was having a quality product with an easy-to-understand benefit, a great customer experience, and a fair price. Turns out, the name matters. I would not make that mistake again with the doorbell. Soon enough, there would be lots of video-doorbell competitors whose products might be almost as good as ours when we launched F5. So the way to separate ourselves from the competition was brand. A mission as big as reducing crime in neighborhoods deserved a brand. That brand deserved a great name. For some totally unfathomable and fortunate reason, this URL owner showed zero curiosity about the individual or company that was trying to buy his name. In our exchanges, it seemed almost as if he was unfamiliar with the internet, which was particularly weird for someone who harvested domain names. I got the sense that for some time he had overplayed his hand, consistently valuing the URL higher than the market did. Which happens. Maybe he had tried to sell it during the dot-com boom for $10 million and it was worth only five then. Or maybe I was the one being played, and he knew exactly how much a perfect four-letter domain name could fetch, certainly way more than I’d paid to own SlowDownAsshole.com ($15). My friend Diego Berdakin—a brilliant entrepreneur, USC professor, and the single smartest person I know—urged me, explicitly, to not pay a cent more than $100k for Ring.com. I explicitly did not tell him the owner’s starting price. First, I got the owner to knock the price down from $2 million to $1 million, but that was still an insane amount of up-front cash for a struggling startup to just light on fire, a full third of what I was getting from True Ventures. I had to figure a way to own the name without bankrupting our company…would the owner be interested in equity instead of cash? No. Wow. Clearly he hadn’t read about Google’s recent multibillion-dollar acquisition of Nest. I made one last offer for slightly under $1 million. Nope. One mill. We set a closing date. I forgot one thing, though. I didn’t have the money. The morning of the closing, I called the owner. “Listen, I’m in the parking lot of my company and I’m so embarrassed. The bad news is my board won’t let me buy the name, full price today, for what I previously offered you.” It was not a lie. I had a board. The only detail I left out was that the board was just me. “Wow,” said the owner. “That’s a dirty thing your board did.” “Tell me about it. Worse than dirty. Disgusting.” “I’m very upset.” “I hear you, brother. Me, too.” I went on a bit. I doubled down about what a bunch of assholes my board were being. “But the good news is I’m authorized to deposit one hundred seventy-five thousand dollars in your account, today”—I had $187,000 in the bank; the VC investments had not yet closed—“and the additional eight hundred twenty-five thousand paid in installments over two years, for a total of one million dollars.” He lost his shit. He unleashed a string of four-letter words very different from Ring and eBay and Half. Effing this, mother-effing that. The connection dropped. He’d hung up. Damn, I thought. Had I overplayed my hand? Fifteen minutes later, I got an email from him. Wire the money. He included his bank information. He never asked who was on the board. Never asked what we did. I hope I would have, in his shoes. Maybe when you’re offered a million bucks overall, with $175k coming that day, you just want to get it over with as quickly as possible. I called my friend Adam d’Augelli—the young VC at True who had been my biggest champion—to boast what a great deal I had cut, that I’d essentially just saved us so much money. He wasn’t quite ready for high-fives; their investment was about to close, and already a significant chunk of it was gone because I had a jones for a great four-letter domain name. Adam was fully Team Siminoff but, as I’d done with others, I was not making it easy for him. Ring.com. What a great sound. As sweet as the three-toned jingle the doorbell made. View the full article

If you create content regularly, you understand the pressure to always be “on”. To be a conveyor belt of ideas. To be writing, filming, editing, posting, and engaging. It’s a lot! And then start the cycle all over again with each new post. Being a creator can sound like a dream job from the outside, but in reality, it can be exhausting. So it’s really not surprising to me that 52% of creators admit to experiencing burnout — I’m definitely one of them. If you're reading this, I’m guessing you get it too. What weighed down my brain wasn’t even the ‘creation’ part. It was the pressure to remember every single good idea (and the constant fear of losing one) that gave me creative migraines. I’m a freelancer mom. I don’t spend most of my day in front of my laptop. My best ideas come when my brain relaxes — after I drop my kid at school, while cooking dinner, or just as my head hits the pillow. And those moments are not always convenient. I can’t just drop what I’m doing just to write. But my content is how I build my network, stay visible, and find new client work, consistency isn’t optional for me. Losing ideas feels like losing opportunities. One day, I started brain-dumping an idea into ChatGPT to help me refine it when I had a brainwave. I often used the AI tool as a sounding board for half-baked ideas like the one I was about to enter — my chats had to be a gold mine of unused content. But how did I dig that gold up? I didn’t want to waste half an hour digging through ChatGPT history just to find and document my old ideas. Instead of creating, I would be organizing. And that’s the worst kind of energy leak for a creative trying to stay consistent. I told myself, “If only ChatGPT could regularly pull out my ideas and remind me of the things I said I’d write about… that would be amazing.” So I made it do exactly that. How I automated my idea chaosInstead of scrambling for notes buried in Google Docs, Google Drive, screenshots, Slack, or my Facebook Messenger (yes, I send messages to myself), I now start the day with a clean menu of original ideas. Every morning, I wake up to an email from ChatGPT with my best ideas in it, already categorized. Each morning’s email breaks my chats into 3 neat categories: Substack Ideas LinkedIn TopicsEmail ExperimentsIt’s a simple system, but has completely changed how I approach content. And it doesn’t involve any additional tools to work, just email and ChatGPT. On busy days, those emails serve as my content calendar. On slower days, it’s a soft nudge that helps me ease into creating without overthinking. This automation helped me: Become a calm content creator. No more frantic note-hunting and, more importantly, no more grieving my lost ideas.Launch two newsletters. One was even recognized as a Top Newsletter in Southeast Asia for B2B Marketers.Keep my mornings slow and my day productive. I’m fully focused on my client work, my kid, and even the laundry.Get my joy (and energy) back for content creation.How to set this up (in just 10 minutes)You don’t need technical skills to make this work. You only need: To chat with ChatGPT regularly — about your work, ideas, projects, problems, and thoughts. The more you share, the sharper its suggestions get.ChatGPT Plus to use the Schedule feature. Check the usage limitations here.Here’s how to set it up: Go to ChatGPT Schedules (previously ChatGPT Task) and start a task.Paste this prompt (or customize it your way):”Search memory for recent work conversations. Pick out non-obvious insights and turn them into content ideas. Email me: 1. 5 outstanding Substack ideas. Just state the suggested titles. 2. 5 LinkedIn Topics with a possible hook and a post summary. 3. Trace any email experiment from your memory. Also, spot the actual experiment/thoughts/ideas I actually mentioned to you.” Here’s my actual prompt below: Make sure that you’ve switched your Task Notifications to Email too, so you get the reminders in your inbox. To check, click on your Profile pic > Settings > Notifications. Or just click here.Done. It feels a bit like I have a second brain — one that doesn’t get tired or forget good ideas when the afternoon slump hits. What brainstorming looks like nowEvery day at 10:30 a.m., an email lands in my inbox with the ideas I’d normally lose to scattered notes and chaotic systems. Just opening this email sends me into creation mode. Seeing those half-formed ideas sitting there makes me want to start drafting the post — more often than not, if the idea is good enough, I feel the urge to finish it right then and there. When I click the little green button, it brings me straight to ChatGPT, and I see something like this: From there, I get to work. While this system is incredibly helpful (if I do say so myself), seasoned content creators will know that where this system ends is where the actual work of creation begins. I pick out the best ideas from those emails, and I save them to Buffer. More often than not, I’ll start fleshing out some ideas with the Create Space or directly into the post composer. One time, I came across a post by Alen Sultanic on “Energy Economy” while taking a break from client work. It sparked some ideas, so I dropped the screenshot into ChatGPT, added my own thoughts, and went back to my tasks. The next day, I revisited it, and turned it into a long-form Substack entry. That piece became one of my best-performing issues — and sparked some of the most thoughtful discussions in the comments. On days I just can’t get into a writing mood (yes, I still have those), I use the time for lighter creative work, more ideation and content organization. Some things I do: Mark old ideas as done in ChatGPT (so the list won’t get too long)Add new ones mid-conversationEven create new content buckets, like “Lead Magnet Ideas” or “Offer Pitches”I’ve realized that the secret to consistent content creation for me is not forcing inspiration. It’s just making it easy to start creating. As Elizabeth Gilbert wrote in Big Magic: “Ideas are driven by a single impulse: to be made manifest. And the only way an idea can be made manifest in our world is through collaboration with a human partner.” If I ignore them, they’ll move on to someone else. That’s why I save mine. So when they visit, I don’t lose them forever. Let AI do the chaotic workContent creation isn’t just about creativity. It’s about capacity, too. It’s dealing with and managing the mental tabs, the deadlines, the invisible pressure to be “on” all the time. To protect our creative energy, we need systems that bring back order: A way to capture our best ideasA trigger to actually revisit themAnd a space to save and shape them into published contentSo let AI hoard these half-baked, scattered ideas so you can show up when it’s time to create. View the full article

You’re probably winding down from work and getting ready for a few days at home with your family. But anybody with caregiving responsibility knows that the Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks will not be relaxing. Since the United States does not have a federal policy that gives workers paid time off after giving birth, having a medical procedure, or to care for a loved one, many will cram this labor into their precious holiday time. Many of us have a colleague who will come back to work exhausted after spending time with a dying parent, having taken advantage of the time off from work to figure out hospice and funeral arrangements. Or one who will be caring for a sibling or spouse who is recovering from surgery or managing a terminal illness. And then there are parents who will spend the week taking care of infants and toddlers while daycare is closed. Many women, who bear the brunt of this caregiving, have found it impossible to balance work and taking care of loved ones. From January to August 2025, an estimated 455,000 women left the workforce, often because they had to care for children and aging parents. This isn’t just bad for those who are giving up their income; it’s bad for the U.S. economy, which is losing productive workers. Starting today, Paid Leave for All, a nonprofit fighting for the government to pass paid family and medical leave for all working people, is drawing attention to the way the lack of paid leave hurts American workers. It’s encouraging people to post out-of-office messages that reflect how they’re using their holidays to care for family members since they’re not granted any other time to do so. The organization will be displaying these real out-of-office messages in prominent places. There will be a scrolling mosaic of messages in the New York and Washington, D.C., airports throughout this week, which happens to be the busiest travel week of the year. These messages will also be posted on a billboard in Times Square. On social media, the organization is encouraging everyday people to post their out-of-office messages publicly. After the break, when Congress returns from their recess, Paid Leave for All will deliver these messages to lawmakers and argue for the importance of passing paid leave. Out-of-office messages tend to be generic and polite. Some companies even mandate what employees post. Dawn Huckelbridge, founding director of Paid Leave for All, says that in many ways, these messages obscure the real story of workers’ lives. “The messages are designed to sound like people are getting a break from work,” she says. “But in fact, there is a lot of labor going on during these periods out of the office.” With this campaign, Paid Leave for All invites everybody to post out-of-office messages that more accurately reflect what they’re doing when away from their desk. They may say things like: “Thanks for your message! I’m OOO because my mom is having surgery. But like so many Americans, I don’t have any paid leave so I will be back on Monday.” Or: “Thanks for your note! I’m OOO because my parents are getting older and I can’t manage their Rx and 500 unread emails at once. In-home care is $60K and I have limited PTO. Will get back to you ASAP!” Most workers feel like they can’t publicly share how overwhelmed they are by their caregiving responsibilities, because it might suggest that they’re not competent. But Huckelbridge hopes that by encouraging people to openly discuss these issues through their out-of-office messages, it will reveal that there is actually a systemic problem in the U.S., which is the only developed country with no national paid family and medical leave policy. “There’s a crisis in the workplace that people are not talking about,” she says. “We’ve had one of the steepest declines in women’s participation in the workplace, partly because these women are burnt out from working full-time jobs while bearing the brunt of caregiving.” After the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Huckelbridge will deliver the messages to Congress. “It is unlikely that a Republican Congress will pass these laws,” she says. “But we’re playing the long game here. And it’s encouraging to see that more and more Republicans are recognizing how valuable paid leave is for workers and the economy.” View the full article

From the moment I launched The Flourish Market — a boutique that specializes in selling clothing, accessories, and gifts that have a bigger purpose — I knew that we would need to think about our holiday promotions differently. Given that most of the 200+ brands we partner with are B Corps or fair trade companies, our margins are already tighter than the average store. I felt the biggest discount we could afford to offer holiday shoppers would be 20%, which isn’t very exciting when the big box stores and even smaller boutiques would be offering 40-60% (or more) off. I’ve always been a big believer that when you can’t compete, you get creative. So I thought about what we had to offer. I thought about what aligned with our company's mission. I thought about what would be exciting to our customers. And I came up with the idea for Grey Friday. The gist of Grey Friday is this: The week before Black Friday, we have our big promotion weekend when, instead of offering discounts, we offer 40-60% of the customer’s purchase back in free gifts. At different tiers of spending — $40, $75, $150, $250, and $500 — customers get a different gift, plus all the gifts from the lower price tiers. I had this idea mere months before my first holiday season as a shop owner, and I decided to launch it on a whim. It was a resounding success, and we’ve done it every year since then — and every year, even during COVID, we’ve grown our total revenue that weekend by 40-50%. I love inspiring business owners to zig when other people are zagging. While I’m not saying you have to do this exact promotion, I want to share why it works for our customers and us in hopes of encouraging others to think differently about holiday deals this year, or for years to come. We figured out how to create more value with lessSomething that often surprises people about Grey Friday is that it costs us the same from a business perspective as offering a 20% discount — but creates much more value for the customer. Let’s say a customer is spending $150 that weekend. If we did a 20% discount, we’d lose $30 as a business, and the customer probably wouldn’t feel like they got an especially great deal. But, if I take that same $30 and think of it as my budget for free gifts, it can go shockingly far. For instance, last year, customers who spent $150 got a free bracelet, a pair of artisan earrings, and a cozy winter shawl. Because we’re buying these gifts in bulk from our artisan partners and our purchasing timing often aligns with promotions they’re doing, we’re able to get a great price, which allows us to offer so much. The actual value of these products is higher than the $30 a customer might save with a 20% discount — if customers were buying these products off our shelves, they’d cost $80 or more. But, perhaps more importantly, the perceived value is higher. Our customers get so excited by the fact that, while they’re doing their holiday shopping, they get additional gifts for people on their list or to keep for themselves as a treat. 🛍️Looking for some Black Friday campaign ideas that go beyond discounts? Here are 4 alternative approaches businesses can take for Black Friday.We get customers before they’ve blown their holiday budgetAnother key factor in Grey Friday’s success is that we hold it on the Friday before the major holiday shopping weekend. I always thought it was weird that Small Business Saturday is the day after Black Friday. My thinking is that, if you really want people to support small businesses, you need to get in front of them before they spend all their money at the major retailers. In fact, numerous customers thank me every year for running such a great promotion early, before they’re tempted to use their purchasing power on less meaningful gifts from larger businesses. This has the side benefit of making the holiday season much more pleasant for my team. We’re still open on Black Friday and Small Business Saturday but, because we’ve already finished our major weekend, we don’t open early, and I don’t need all hands on deck. We split up work Thanksgiving week so that all of my employees get some meaningful time with their families. Of course, we get people who come into the store during Black Friday weekend and are confused by the fact that we aren’t offering a special. We never apologize, and instead use this as a moment to share what we stand for, explaining that we can’t compete with the big box stores and that we hope they look around at our artisan products and find gifts for the people on their list anyway. Plus, we can always encourage them to sign up for our email list so they’re notified about Grey Friday next year. We build a lot of excitement around it and always deliverSo, how do we promote Grey Friday to grow our sales each year? Of course, we do all the classic marketing tactics. We tease that our big promotion is coming up on social media and do a big reveal of the free gifts. We email our list first thing that Friday to let them know the doors are open, and send them a last call email on Sunday (something I missed in the early years and now drives about 20% of our sales for the weekend). And we build a lot of excitement in the store to draw in downtown foot traffic, playing holiday music and offering free drinks for shoppers. But the biggest reason our numbers grow so much year after year is that we really deliver on the customer experience. I’ve noticed two big drivers for our sales growth. The first is that existing customers spend more. If a new customer has never experienced Grey Friday, they typically spend around $75 because they almost can’t believe it’s true. Once they realize that we really aren’t messing around with the free gifts, they plan their holiday shopping around it the next year, and spend triple or quadruple what they did before. The second growth driver is new customer acquisition through word of mouth. Grey Friday is almost like the best-kept shopping secret that people love sharing with their friends and relatives. We try to keep this customer excitement going by making our gifts even better year after year. For instance, last year we created a custom product with one of our partners so that one of the gifts was something you literally couldn’t get anywhere else. We tied our promotion to our purposeUltimately, like so many things in our business, this holiday promotion was never just about growing the bottom line. Our heart behind Grey Friday is to be able to deliver a thrilling experience to our customers while sending our artisan partners a heck of a lot of work. Instead of just offering a discount and taking a financial loss as a business, we’re able to pass that money along to help other businesses succeed. Being able to place orders for hundreds or thousands of units is life-changing for many of our partners. And we always make sure to share that impact with our customers—along with the impact on our own small business—so that they can feel even more excited about the purchases they made. After sharing all these details on Grey Friday, my advice to other business owners may sound odd: When it comes to creating your best holiday promotion, don’t look around at what others are doing. Instead, think about what would be exciting to your specific customers and what you have the power to deliver this holiday season, then find the overlap. The truth is, you will get some sales if you do a standard discount for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or Small Business Saturday. However, you could be doing triple or quadruple that amount if you get creative in delivering something that creates even more value for your customers. View the full article

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