Medieval Castle Layout: A Typical Castle Layout, Explaining Different Areas and Buildings
Month: March 2016
So I just came across a Tumblr post where someone was attempting to call out Relatively Internet Famous Person (won’t say who, if only because this happens to multiple people) for being “scammy” because they were selling their work for significantly higher than the cost of the individual components.
people.
people.
that is LITERALLY how business is MEANT to WORK
jfc
If you sell something exactly at materials cost, you’re losing money because you’re not including the cost of your time, overhead, marketing, postage, etc etc. Even if you do take those costs into consideration in your pricing, you won’t be able to earn enough to reinvest into your business, which means that unless you get the rest of your money elsewhere (e.g. loans, equity from someone else, mysterious benefactor, etc) you’re not going to be able to grow or improve your business, e.g. by using higher-quality but more expensive materials or getting more training.
People tend to assume that Price = Cost + Some Arbitrary Markup, as though that’s the only good way to price something. But there’s also a thing called Willingness to Pay, which is basically the highest amount your customers are willing to pay for your product. There isn’t just one number, it’s a curve, and you’d want to hit the price in the middle of the curve because that gives you the most profits overall – too high and you don’t get enough customers, too low and you don’t earn enough. Look up demand curves for more info.
Anyway. WTP is why you often see things with a high markup – because customers are willing to pay a lot more for a product that costs relatively little to make. You find that out through research: learning what similar products are priced, how much your ideal customers earn, how much they tend to spend on similar things, etc etc. There’s a lot of techniques. And what you’ll find is that while there are going to be tons of people that want something for free/below cost/cheap, there will still be quite a few people that’ll pay you quite a bit more than what it cost you – and it could actually benefit you to target those people.
Think about it. Suppose you make art, and the sort of people who buy the kind of art you make are willing to pay around $50 for a piece of your caliber (and honestly, a lot of y’all out there make work that could be priced a hell of a lot more). The art costs you $15 to make all up. You could sell it at $15 but that doesn’t help you in the long run. You could sell it at $50, then you get maximum value out of that customer and that’s still fine. Hell, you could even sell it at $30, you make 2x profit and the customer feels like they got a hell of a deal.
Could this be exploitative? Sure, it has been for some things. But that’s why you research! You learn what your costs are. You find out what similar things are priced. You find out what your ideal customers earn and what they’re willing to pay for something like yours. You find ways to either bring costs low enough so you can compete, or find a way to differentiate yourself so you can justify a higher price (not just “I’m better!”). You think about your future goals with your income – do you want to take more classes so you can make better things? Do you want to be able to afford a holiday? Do you want fancier material? Do you want to spend time in another city so you can be more inspired? Do you want to exhibit at a local convention? And then you price accordingly.
Maybe your customers are generally underpaid students who genuinely cannot afford anything more than $10. That’s cool – if it doesn’t cost you more than $10 to make something then you’ll still be doing ok. Maybe you have a significant number of people who’d pay you $50, and concentrating on them by charging, say, $45 would earn you way more money than charging $10 even though charging $10 got you more customers. Maybe you believe that having your product or service be accessible even to the lowest incomes is your highest priority, and that’s totally fine too! Just make sure you’re resourced enough to be able to take care of yourself and keep going. It’s up to you and what you research.
There’s nothing wrong per se with a relatively high markup. It all depends on your market, your strategy, your costs, your goals. If your market can afford to, if your market wants to throw money at you, why not let them? You could put that money to such good use and your customers will still feel like they got great value. You don’t have to stick to pricing at cost – dare to ask for more, if that feels good to you. You and only you can decide what your trade-offs are.
#business#i am sure someone is going to yell CAPITALISM at me#which would be fair#but i wonder how many people are being taken advantage of#or struggling to get by#because they’re worried about doing something that seems capitalistic#as though that has to be a terrible thing#so many struggling artists on tumblr who could stand to charge more#and ok that means quite a few people will be less able to afford your art#so you decide what the trade-off is#more affordable art for more people or more expensive work that supports you financially?#or you could find a happy medium that both helps take care of you and is affordable by your customers#RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH
I love when people in a CAPITALIST society yell CAPITALISM to get out of paying already disadvantaged people what they’re worth
TBH, I almost feel like our economy has gotten to the point of obscuring how even business works.
The scale was pleased today, which is stupid because I spent the last week in bed instead of exercising. Still, another 5lbs down. If I lose 5 more, I get a milestone reward… new fitbit!
edit: I need to remind myself that my weight loss efforts only show up TWO WEEKS after the fact. So the recent exercise, the wraps, making sure I eat, etc, ARE doing their jobs. I just gotta keep it up and be patient!
ok but imagine:
Chat Noir beginning to suspect his Lady’s identity through frequent visits to Marinette’s balcony
She gives him delicious baked goods, blankets when he accidentally ends up sleeping over, an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on, and eventually (she swears she’s only doing it to shut him up) gentle fingers to scratch at the spot behind his ears that makes him slump into a pile of blissful goo.
And by observing her, her infectious smile, the freckles lightly dusting the bridge of her nose, the midnight hair framing those impossibly familiar blue eyes…Chat’s resolve crumbles.
She’s too much like her, like his Lady, for it to be anyone else. Her voice – so clear and confident, her bravery when standing up to Chloe’s bullying, her sharp wit that only seems to come out when he’s facing her behind the guise of an alley cat…
Not to mention he catches a glimpse of a small red thing flitting around her head every now and then, and with his enhanced hearing, can hear it talking to her.
Marinette’s a miraculous holder, and Adrien’s in love.
But he’s not sure if she feels the same way…on either side of the mask. And it scares him. Ladybug simply rolls her eyes at Chat’s advances, and Adrien seems to make Marinette rather uncomfortable.
He’s lost his mother, his father’s never there for him, and he can’t lose his best friend and first love, too.
So he dials back on visits to his princess, not only to protect himself from rejection but also so that he can’t kiss her like he desperately wants to; he stops kissing Ladybug’s hand in greeting, and keeps his distance.
His friendship with her is one of the most precious things life’s ever given him, and he refuses to let his love for her get in the way of ruining it.
Till a particularly rainy day arrives, and Adrien finds himself unable to stop the tide pulling him ever closer to her.
Chloe’s talking about Chat Noir, and he snaps out of his mid-afternoon daze.
“I personally don’t see why Ladybug needs him. She’s quite capable of saving the city without him. All he does is get in her way,” she remarks absently, inspecting her perfect manicure, Sabrina nodding in agreement.
Something in Adrien deflates, and he pretends he hadn’t heard that.
“He doesn’t deserve to be called a hero, remember that time he completely destroyed my room-”
“Don’t you dare say that about him.”
Everyone listening looks over in shock, and Marinette’s standing with Alya in the doorway, brows furrowed in a way that makes her the spitting image of Ladybug facing an akuma.
Adrien’s heart is beating so fast he wonders whether it’s going to stop any minute. He can’t look away or pretend he isn’t listening anymore.
Chloe smirks and opens her mouth to retort, but his Lady cuts her off once again.
“He’s loyal to Ladybug, and he’s unbelievably kind. He’s devoted to saving Paris just as much as she is, and without him on her side, she wouldn’t be here today!”
If Adrien’s blush could get any redder, it’d be worse than Nathanael’s hair right about now.
“He’s just as important and heroic as she is, and he deserves every good thing in the world. So don’t talk crap about people you barely know, or about people who do a heck of a lot more for the world than you do!”
Chloe’s stunned at the girl’s ferocious defense of the black cat, but she sneers even though she’s cornered. “It sounds like you have a bit of a crush on him, Marinette. Careful, wouldn’t want a dirty street cat like him to hear. He’s nobody’s hero. He hasn’t even been seen in some time.”
Marinette fixes her with a glare, but her voice softens. “He’s my hero,” she says simply. “And I’m willing to bet there are many others who’d say the same. He’s my hero, he’s Ladybug’s hero, and he’s…he’s someone I miss very much right now.” Her voice seems to break then, and she turns on her heel to walk out the door, leaving Chloe and the others gaping after her.
Adrien is utterly floored. Completely, irreversibly floored, and he can’t muster any coherent thought except to find Marinette as soon as possible.
His head is buzzing. Marinette…Ladybug, she’s missed him. Missed him while he tried to give her space and keep his distance, when all she’d wanted was for him to be right next to her.
She’d sounded so passionate and sincere when she defended him that perhaps, perhaps she might love him, too.
It’s still raining when evening arrives, and she finds her drenched kitty shivering on her balcony, after such a long time.
It’s still raining when he presses his lips to hers right then and there, and she lets him kiss her the way he’s wanted to for so, so long. She’s warm and sweet and strong against him, and they melt into each other.
It’s still raining when they reluctantly break apart, Marinette pressed up against him, drenched from head to toe just like he is, chests heaving and cheeks flushing.
His miraculous beeps a warning-Plagg hates the rain- and he moves away to hide his face as he detransforms. What if he, Adrien, isn’t enough?
She cups his cheeks and meets his gaze. “Minou, I’ll love you no matter who you are underneath that mask. Please, please don’t go away again,” she implores, as if she’d read his thoughts.
He doesn’t deny her, knows that he can’t ever deny her anything, and he breathes out a promise.
“I won’t, my lady. Never again.”
My new problem is that Fishsticks is at 68,232 words now of the 75,000 I need… but it’s… no where near done.
This book is going to need a lot of trimming. They won’t read anything past 75k in this summer’s WIFYR workshops. 😐
*plays ukulele*
Poll: Utah would vote for a Democrat for president over Trump | KSL.com
I told Aaron that I was going to just start playing my ukulele whenever anyone says something stupid to me, and he said that I would be a master right quick.
my fav linguistic trend is how younger ppl use “like” to signify paraphrasing and how older ppl dont get it. i’ll say something along the lines of “he was like, ‘fuck off!’” and any older person in the vicinity will be like “did he really say that??” no i was paraphrasing, hence the use of “like” instead of “said.” try to keep up, sandra
@anyahatesbunnies kidnapped me today to get me out of my apartment for a while. We went to an occult shop and to Hobby Lobby and it was great.
“Wait what?” some readers ask, skeptical and confused. “An occult shop?”
To which I reply, “Yes, of course. It was helpful for research and I enjoy speaking to the staff there. They’re always full of positive energy. Plus I picked up a neato pack of Pirate tarot cards!”
“You do tarot???” The confusion continues to mount, along with mixed concern. “But Gab, I thought you were good/innocent/etc!”
“Those aren’t mutually exclusive,” I explain, and offer a sort of sad smile. Because the bad rap that exploring other cultures and ideas and philosophies is really upsetting. “I have three tarot decks now, but I don’t really know how to use any of them. Still, they’re pretty, and very interesting.”
Besides, they were having a special on readings- $10 for 10 minutes -and I spoke to a very nice gentleman about animal totems and spirit guides. It was a great conversation. He guessed two of the three animals that I dream about most often, as well as one that I have always had an affinity for but haven’t talked about. Then he said that he could definitely see (assuming that I work out my own spiritual journey) me on the other side of the table in a couple of years, doing energy and spiritual healing work.
This is not the first time that this has been said to me by a reader. Cori said that I should quit my job and become a psychic, but I think I’ll stick to story-telling.
At Hobby Lobby, I bought pipe cleaners that will be perfect for re-tailing some of my Calico Critters. I almost bought a fake book with an Ace of Spades motif for my Shinichi to stand on, but instead I settled for a charm in the shape of an owl/key.
