Adidas Wilson's Blog, page 53
November 27, 2017
100,000 told to evacuate as Bali volcano spews huge ash cloud
A large eruption of Bali’s restless Mount Agung volcano could be imminent, Indonesian officials have said as they called for 100,000 people to leave the area.
So far, 40,000 people have been moved away from the volcano and tens of thousands of travelers have been stranded due to airport closures.
Mount Agung has been spewing volcanic ash with increasing intensity since last Tuesday. After confirmation that the volcano was shifting into the magmatic phase, authorities raised the warning level to the maximum of 4 on Monday morning.
Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) has strongly urged people to immediately leave the designated exclusion zone, which has been extended to an 8-10km radius of the volcano.
“We ask people in the danger zone to evacuate immediately because there’s a potential for a bigger eruption,” said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the agency.
He said up to 40,000 people had been evacuated from the area and a further 60,000 also needed to move. The governor of Bali said later that 150,000 could be called on to leave.
“Not all residents have evacuated yet. There are those [who have not left] because their farm animals haven’t been evacuated yet. There are those who feel they are safe,” Sutopo said.
He said security personnel were trying to persuade people to leave voluntarily but that some could be evacuated by force.
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How To Start an Online Dropshipping Business
The number of ecommerce stores being launched daily is large and while a number of these stores operate with a traditional inventory system, there is also online stores which operate as dropshipping businesses. So, what exactly is a dropshipping business and how does one get one off the ground?
DROPSHIPPING 101
Dropshipping is an ecommerce concept where you launch an online store where you sell products directly from suppliers. You do not build an inventory as with traditional retail and instead, your customers make a purchase that is then passed on to your supplier who ships the product directly to your customer without you handling the products at any point in time. The way you make money is that you charge more than what the supplier charges for the product. The difference between the two prices is your margin (we will talk about it more later).
An example of this would be that you find a supplier who sells men’s classic Oxford shoes on Aliexpress for $29.99. In your store, you will sell that same pair for, let’s say $59.99. When your customer makes a purchase, you make a purchase with your supplier who then sends the product to your customer. On this one purchase, you make $30. The question that you are inevitably asking at this moment is why would anyone purchase from your store and not directly from the supplier?
There are a few answers. For one, many suppliers do not sell directly to individual customers and only deal with sellers such as yourself. Furthermore, the majority of people are unaware of such suppliers and they do not wish to risk getting subpar quality (through smart practice, you will be able to guarantee quality). Finally, you will be doing marketing that will lead people directly to your store, without even considering a supplier.
Look at it from a different angle. You could probably get a pound of oranges much cheaper from a farmer in California, but you still buy them from your local grocery shop, don’t you?
Start with a Product (Niche)
You could theoretically open a dropshipping store without choosing the products you will be selling or the niche you will be covering, but it would be somewhat tricky. For example, how would you name this store whose products you are still in the dark about?
There are numerous ways in which you can go about choosing the products to sell. Perhaps you are into fashion and you think you know what people would like to wear. Maybe you know what people are buying online in your country. Perhaps you will discover that you can get a certain type of products at affordable prices and sell for much more in your country, increasing your margins.
Set up a Store (Quickly)
You are not racing against the clock, but there is a reason why you will want to set up your store quickly and without wasting too much time. The reason is that spending weeks on setting up a store will not guarantee sales. What you need is a decent-looking store that will be operational in matter of days (depending on how much time you have). You will be looking at the major platforms and their preset themes for your store – something simple and in tune with what you will be selling. Do not waste time on logo, extensive branding, blog, etc. You will be starting with a skeleton-store – just the basics.
You will want to set up payment options, usually PayPal and major credit cards. You will also want to offer free shipping which you will then cover from your margin (unless you can find suppliers with free shipping). Depending on the platform you will be using, you will also most likely need software which will allow you to automate a great deal of the work. For example, when people make a purchase in your store, this software will automatically order the product from your supplier, taking care of the payment and customer’s details entry.
Find Suppliers
One of the crucial steps in launching your dropshipping business will be finding the suppliers. There will be a few boxes that you will want your suppliers to check before you start doing business with them.
Before we go on to the boxes that need ticking, we should point out that you will mostly be looking to China for your suppliers. More precisely, AliExpress. AliExpress is the Chinese version of Amazon and eBay and it is popular in the dropshipping circles for one simple reason – you can find products at very affordable prices there. Of course, there are other ways and places to find suppliers, but the chances are you will be working with China and suppliers from there.
Now, onto the boxes.
For one, you will be looking for suppliers whose track record is spotless. This means great ratings and actual reviews from customers. You will also be looking at the individual products’ comments sections, more precisely the images. You will want to make sure that the images of actual products supplied by the customers show the same products that are featured in product images.
Another important feature to look for is ePacket shipping. It is a relatively fast (usually well under a month) and affordable shipping method that was designed specifically for products from China that are sold online. This service also provides shipment tracking which means your customers can check their order at any time. In short, ePacket shipping is a feature to look for in a supplier.
Finally, there is the matter of the price. Namely, in order for your dropshipping business to be profitable, you will want to make at least as much as you pay the supplier. This means that your margin should never be bellow 50%. In other words, your supplier will have to provide prices that you will be able to add to and still be able to sell the product.
One thing you should be aware of is that you will be selling either generic products in your store, or brands that are mostly unknown in the west, as this is what your suppliers will be selling. You should be extra careful that you do not sell knock-off products of popular brands because this can get you in all kinds of legal troubles.
Marketing
The biggest mistake you can make with your dropshipping business is thinking that simply setting up a store is enough. Like we mentioned, there is no shortage of online stores out there and you have to make sure that people visit your store. In other words, you need to do marketing.
For people who have just opened their first dropshipping store, marketing should revolve around one thing and one thing only – making sales. You are not building a brand or establishing yourself on the market. This comes later. You are trying to make a sale. Two sales. Three sales. Fifty sales in one month. Then a hundred sales the next.
While you will be able to do a few things free (still requiring time) such as doing a bit of content marketing and SEO, you will rely on paid ads in the early days. More precisely, you will be using Facebook, Google and Instagram ads.
Choosing the channel will depend on what you are selling and you will have to be extra careful about choosing the right channel. Namely, your budget will most likely not allow you to go broad and, instead, you will want to focus on just one channel.
Facebook, for example, is a very interesting ad option due to its relatively low ad prices and the ability to target very specific segments of the market. Instagram is also popular for certain niches, such as clothing and cosmetics. Google ads are usually out of reach for new dropshipping businesses due to established competition, but you should still look into it.
It is important to start conservatively with your ads in the beginning. Only spend the money you have and always make sure you are not spending more than you earn with your store. For example, if you make a sale that nets you revenue of $20, you can spend $20 on Facebook ads the following day. If these ads bring you a single new customer, you broke even. If you make two sales, you are already making money and marketing is paying for itself
As you make more sales, you can gradually increase your marketing spend. Conversely, if you are not seeing any results, maybe you need to change something or switch the channel.
The bottom line is that the majority of your work will revolve around marketing your store and increasing your conversion rates. After all, most of your other work will be automated.
A Few Parting Words
Now that we have gone over the basics of starting a dropshipping business, there are a few more things that you should keep in mind. For one, you should look into what laws, taxes and regulations you should be aware in your country. You will probably have to register your company and start paying taxes before long. However, it would probably be a good idea to give your store a trial run before you start doing all that. Also, you might talk to a lawyer or an accountant before you do anything.
You might also want to check out local dropshipping communities, as there will probably already be people who are doing it. Such communities are a great place to get free advice and suggestions on how to take your business to another level.
Finally, never stop learning. There is much more to dropshipping than what you have read here. This free guide to drop shipping from Shopify is a great place to start, for example. Also, you should try and hone your marketing skills, as they will enable you to get more traffic and revenue. Once your business is stable, you can also start thinking about the marketing long game, i.e. branding, serious content marketing and branching out with your products.
Read more at https://www.business2community.com/brandviews/upwork/start-online-dropshipping-business-01955899#23KoiYYjewMvRhQR.99
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YouTube Begins Purging “Non-Family Friendly” Content As Advertisers React
In a statement on its official blog, Johanna Wright, VP of Product Management at YouTube, said the company has noticed “a growing trend around content on YouTube that attempts to pass as family-friendly, but is clearly not. While some of these videos may be suitable for adults, others are completely unacceptable, so we are working to remove them from YouTube.”
Wright’s note claimed the service had terminated over 50 channels and removed “thousands of videos” in the last week. It also has implemented age restrictions on certain content, making it available only to those over age 18. It will also apply machine-learning technology to seek out potentially objectionable content for faster human review.
Executives at YouTube are not the only ones noticing the questionable content. Several major advertisers have pulled advertising on YouTube after learning of their ads running on pages favored by pedophiles and other unsavory characters, some of whom left hundreds of comments on videos of scantily-clad children.
Among the reported drop-outs: candy company Mars, which makes M&Ms and Snickers; Mondelez (Oreos, Cadbury); and Diageo (Guinness, Smirnoff vodka, and Johnnie Walker scotch. An investigation by the UK news service The Times is believed to have sparked the advertiser uproar, but online forums have been discussing the issue of questionable content on YouTube for some time.
“We are shocked and appalled to see that our adverts have appeared alongside such exploitative and inappropriate content,” said a statement from the headquarters of McLean, Virginia-based Mars to USA Today. “We have stringent guidelines and processes in place and are working with Google and our media buying agencies to understand what went wrong. Until we have confidence that appropriate safeguards are in place, we will not advertise on YouTube and Google.”
Not every channel purged is sexual in nature. Toy Freaks, a channel with more than 8.5 million subscribers, was dropped because it reportedly posted content intended to gross-out children. Dozens of other channels appealing to kids have gone dark, which some observers estimate may account for upwards of 20 billion combined views.
The YouTube blog post by Wright promised five steps, including tougher application of community guidelines set by the video service and faster response to complaints; removing ads from inappropriate videos targeting families; blocking inappropriate comments on videos featuring minors; providing more guidance to content creators; and partnering with so-called “experts” while “doubling the number of Trusted Flaggers we partner with in this area.”
Source:
YouTube Begins Purging “Non-Family Friendly” Content As Advertisers React
Elon Musk’s Tweet Gives Creepy Insight Into Future Of Humanoid Robots
Elon Musk’s predictions about robots is the stuff of nightmares.
Twitter user Alex Medina captioned a promotional video of Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot doing front flips and jumps in an obstacle course with the panicked caption: “We dead.” Musk responded to Medina by essentially telling him to buckle in for a lot more terrifying features to these humanoid robot advancements.
“This is nothing. In a few years, that bot will move so fast you’ll need a strobe light to see it. Sweet dreams…,” Musk wrote.
This is nothing. In a few years, that bot will move so fast you’ll need a strobe light to see it. Sweet dreams… https://t.co/0MYNixQXMw
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 26, 2017
Uh…
The Atlas robot is marketed as the “world’s most dynamic humanoid,” but even that impressive advancement might soon be eclipsed by artificial intelligence. The Tesla CEO followed up his creepy comment with a warning about the future of leaving such technology unchecked.
“Got to regulate AI/robotics like we do food, drugs, aircraft & cars,” Musk tweeted.
“Public risks require public oversight. Getting rid of the FAA [wouldn’t] make flying safer. They’re there for good reason.”
So Musk is basically backing up every horror movie theory about artificial intelligence and robots ever. And this isn’t the first time the tech mogul has warned about these types of advancements. Musk said in September that artificial intelligence will probably be the spark that ignites a world war.
“China, Russia, soon all countries w strong computer science,” Musk wrote on Twitter in September. “Competition for AI superiority at national level most likely cause of WW3 imo.”
Well, hopefully Will Smith can protect humanity in the upcoming robot apocalypse.
Source:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/elon-musk-artificial-intelligence_us_5a1b3e02e4b0cee6c0508746
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November 23, 2017
November 22, 2017
November 21, 2017
U.S. charges Iranian hacker for stealing unaired episodes of hit HBO shows
While it didn’t dampen enthusiasm for everyone’s favorite dragon-oriented political drama, HBO certainly wasn’t happy when the major twists from the seventh season of its hottest show popped up online before they aired.
According to a newly released indictment, an Iranian man named Behzad Mesri faces charges for the hack. The document notes Mesri, who also goes by the alias “Skote Vahshat,” has worked for the Iranian military on hacks targeting Israel and that he belongs to an Iran-based hacking collective known as the Turk Black Hat. Mesri can’t be arrested now, but if he moved between countries that could become an option.
The indictment alleges that Mesri began his efforts to hack HBO in May 2017, feeling out the network for a way onto its networks. It goes on to describe how between May and July of this year, Mesri hacked into the accounts of multiple HBO employees, using that access to steal files, including episodes of “Barry,” “Ballers,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Room 104” and “The Deuce,” as well as scripts from Game of Thrones and confidential HBO financial documents.
The case is being pursued by the Southern District of New York’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit, with Assistant United States Attorneys Timothy T. Howard, Richard Cooper and Jonathan Cohen leading the prosecution.
“American ingenuity and creativity is to be cultivated and celebrated — not hacked, stolen, and held for ransom,” Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said of the case.
“For hackers who test our resolve in protecting our intellectual property — even those hiding behind keyboards in countries far away — eventually, winter will come.”
Source:
US charges Iranian hacker for stealing unaired episodes of hit HBO shows
YouTube is back on Amazon’s Echo Show
YouTube has returned to the Amazon Echo Show nearly two months after a Google and Amazon dispute saw the internet search giant pull support for its popular video service from Amazon’s hardware, according to a report from VoiceBot.ai.
Along with the return of YouTube, Amazon is also expanding video services on the Echo Show as well, with the company launching support forVimeo and Dailymotion. In a statement to The Verge, an Amazon spokesperson commented that “We’re excited to offer customers the capability to watch even more video content from sources such as Vimeo, YouTube, and Dailymotion on Echo Show. More video sources will be added over time.”
According to Google, Amazon’s original implementation of YouTube on the Echo Show “violates our terms of service, creating a broken user experience.” It seems that Amazon and Google have been able to reconcile that problem, with a new version of YouTube that has a dramatically changed interface that much more closely resembles the desktop version of the site than Amazon’s own Echo-style integration. VoiceBot.ai has posted a video of the updated UI, which is embedded below, but if you’ve ever used YouTube on a computer or tablet, you’ve more or less already know what it’s like.
That updated version of YouTube on the Echo Show also means that features like subscriptions, next video recommendations, and autoplay — which my colleague Dieter Bohn pointed out as missing features in Amazon’s original app that Google might view as important for future growth — are now back in play on the Echo Show. But they come at the cost of the far more user-friendly and voice control-optimized software that Amazon had originally designed.
Based on a tweet from The Verge editor Dan Seifert, it seems that the new YouTube integration only halfheartedly supports voice controls at all, with the device managing to play audio of a video through voice commands, but not actually display the footage on-screen without manual intervention. Once you have video playing, the Echo Show still does support full-screen YouTube video through a separate “Alexa, zoom in” command.
THIS IS INSANITY pic.twitter.com/dYbi5w7pdD
— dan seifert of the house verge, first of his name (@dcseifert) November 21, 2017
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How To Make Money Off Your Instagram Account
YouTubers with 7 million or more subscribers can earn up to $300,000 to partner with brands. Though it may not be viable for regular folks to gain this level of notoriety, even with just 100,000 followers, an Instagram user could earn $5,000 for a post made in partnership with a brand.
If you’re a regular Instagram user, there are ways for you to monetize your account. Here are a few tips to get started:
Grow Your Following
If you want to make money through Instagram, you need to make sure that brands would want to partner with you. This means you need to start by growing your following.
Users with more than 100,000 followers have a good chance of finding brands that would partner with them. But even if you have just a few thousand followers, you could still work with brands that need micro-influencers. Use these tips to grow your following on the platform:
• Create high-quality content that would appeal to people in your niche. Make sure all images are vivid and relevant to the products you wish to promote, whether it’s beauty products, fitness products or clothing.
• Use relevant hashtags so people can easily discover your content and possibly even follow you. Tools like Hashtagify.me can help you discover popular hashtags to use in your posts.
• Ask relevant accounts for a shout-out. You can conduct a hashtag search to find popular Instagram accounts that share content from different users in your niche. Go through their content and contact them to share your post if you notice that they regularly do shout-outs. For instance, @global.travelz is an Instagram account with more than 180,000 followers. If you look through their posts, you’ll see that they’re mostly user-curated photos related to travel. Instagram users who wish to grow their following and build a name in the travel niche could ask them to share their content.
You can even observe top influencers and see what they’re doing to engage their audience, from choosing an aesthetic to posting at consistent times.
Understand How Much You Should Charge
Once you’re able to gain several thousand followers for your Instagram account, you need to understand how much you’re worth to brands. This helps you avoid overcharging or undercharging your clients.
Some influencers may overestimate their worth and charge several thousand dollars when they’re worth only a few hundred. Others may underestimate their worth and only charge a few hundred dollars when they could charge more than $1,000 for each sponsored post.
The Webfluential Influence Estimator is a useful tool to gain a better idea of how much your posts are really worth. The tool will calculate the number of followers and quality of engagement to see how much you should be charging per post. Keep in mind their free tool only calculates Twitter value. You will need to register as a Webfluential influencer to find out the worth of your Instagram posts.
Find Brands To Partner With
After this, you can start looking for brands that will pay you for your Instagram posts. If you have millions of followers, you’ll already have brands approaching you for partnerships, so you probably don’t need to read on. But for emerging influencers, you’ll have to do the grunt work and look for brands to partner with on your own.
The good news is that there are several influencer networks and influencer marketing platforms that accept micro-influencers. If you’re a part of this network, the company will put you in touch with brands that are in need of relevant influencers. Here are a few good networks and platforms you can sign up for:
• Buzzweb: If you have more than 5,000 followers, you could join Buzzweb and monetize your Instagram influence. You can use the platform to calculate your potential monthly earnings based on the size of your following. And you can apply to be a part of as many campaigns as you wish. After your post is approved, you get paid within 24 hours.
• Influence.co: Influence.co extends to more than 1,000 brands across 65+ countries. You can look for ones that you wish to partner with and directly submit an application to join their campaign. If you’re still a micro-influencer, this is much better than waiting around for a brand to approach you for a partnership.
• TRIBE: TRIBE is an excellent platform for influencers who only have a few thousand followers. The process of working with brands on the platform is fairly simple. You just need to find brands that you already use and are a fan of. You can then create a post for that brand and submit it for review. Once approved, you get paid within 48 hours.
• TapInfluence: There’s also TapInfluence, which estimates your monthly earning potential once you create your profile. You can choose the topics and subtopics you specialize in, then set your rate. The platform then matches you with brands whose needs match your characteristics.
• Fullbottle: If your content tends to get high levels of engagement, Fullbottle would be an ideal platform for you. On this platform, you don’t charge per post but, instead, get paid according to the engagement your content drives. You can bid a certain amount for every like on the Instagram post you create for a brand.
The most difficult part about monetizing your Instagram account is growing your following. But the tips provided here can help you overcome this challenge. And once you have sufficient followers, you just need to connect with the right brands to start earning through Instagram.
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19 Things The Millionaire Next Door Won’t Tell You
Although having a million bucks isn’t as impressive as it once was, it’s still nothing to sneeze at.
In fact, Reuters reports that in 2009 there are 7.8 million millionaires in the United States. That’s a lot of people and the odds are one or two of them are living near you.
Heck, one of them might even be your neighbor. In fact, the odds are very good that it is your neighbor.
But, Len, you don’t know my neighbor. That guy doesn’t look anything like a millionaire.
Well, guess what? A millionaire who is truly financially savvy won’t be easily recognizable.
1. He always spends less than he earns. In fact his mantra is, over the long run, you’re better off if you strive to be anonymously rich rather than deceptively poor.
2. He knows that patience is a virtue. The odds are you won’t become a millionaire overnight. If you’re like him, your wealth will be accumulated gradually by diligently saving your money over multiple decades.
3. When you go to his modest three-bed two-bath house, you’re going to be drinking Folgers instead of Starbucks. And if you need a lift, well, you’re going to get a ride in his ten-year-old economy sedan. And if you think that makes him cheap, ask him if he cares. (He doesn’t.)
4. He pays off his credit cards in full every month. He’s smart enough to understand that if he can’t afford to pay cash for something, then he can’t afford it.
5. He realized early on that money does not buy happiness. If you’re looking for nirvana, you need to focus on attaining financial freedom.
6. He never forgets that financial freedom is a state of mind that comes from being debt free. Best of all, it can be attained regardless of your income level.
7. He knows that getting a second job not only increases the size of your bank account quicker but it also keeps you busy – and being busy makes it difficult to spend what you already have.
8. He understands that money is like a toddler; it is incapable of managing itself. After all, you can’t expect your money to grow and mature as it should without some form of credible money management.
9. He’s a big believer in paying yourself first. Paying yourself first is an essential tenet of personal finance and a great way to build your savings and instill financial discipline.
10. Although it’s possible to get rich if you spend your life making a living doing something you don’t enjoy, he wonders why you do. Life is too short.
11. He knows that failing to plan is the same as planning to fail. He also knows that the few millionaires that reached that milestone without a plan got there only because of dumb luck. It’s not enough to simply declare that you want to be financially free.
12. When it came time to set his savings goals, he wasn’t afraid to think big. Financial success demands that you have a vision that is significantly larger than you can currently deliver upon.
13. Over time, he found out that hard work can often help make up for a lot of financial mistakes – and you will make financial mistakes.
14. He realizes that stuff happens, that’s why you’re a fool if you don’t insure yourself against risk. Remember that the potential for bankruptcy is always just around the corner and can be triggered from multiple sources: the death of the family’s key bread winner, divorce, or disability that leads to a loss of work.
15. He understands that time is an ally of the young. He was fortunate enough to begin saving in his twenties so he could take maximum advantage of the power of compounding interest on his nest egg.
16. He knows that you can’t spend what you don’t see. You should use automatic paycheck deductions to build up your retirement and other savings accounts. As your salary increases you can painlessly increase the size of those deductions.
17. Even though he has a job that he loves, he doesn’t have to work anymore because everything he owns is paid for – and has been for years.
18. He’s not impressed that you drive an over-priced luxury car and live in a McMansion that’s two sizes too big for your family of four.
19. After six months of asking, he finally quit waiting for you to return his pruning shears. He broke down and bought himself a new pair last month. There’s no hard feelings though; he can afford it.
Source:
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-act-like-a-millionaire-2013-8
