DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A young Saudi woman sparked a sensation online over the weekend by posting a video of herself in a miniskirt and crop top walking around in public, with some Saudis calling for her arrest and others rushing to her defense.
State-linked news websites reported on Monday that officials in the deeply conservative Muslim country are looking into taking possible action against the woman, who violated the kingdom’s rules of dress. Women in Saudi Arabia must wear long, loose robes known as abayas in public. Most also cover their hair and face with a black veil, though exceptions are made for visiting dignitaries.
The video, first shared on Snapchat, shows her walking around an empty historic fort in Ushaiager, a village north of the capital, Riyadh, in the desert region of Najd, where many of Saudi Arabia’s most conservative tribes and families are from.
CBS News has not confirmed the authenticity of the following video clip — which has been posted on Twitter — but it appears to show the woman in a miniskirt and black crop top as many have described:
Competing Twitter hashtags emerged, with one demanding the woman’s arrest and another asserting that freedom of dress should not be a crime.
Ibrahim al-Munayif, a Saudi writer with more than 41,000 followers on Twitter, wrote on his official account that allowing people to disobey the law leads to chaos.
« Just like we call on people to respect the laws of countries they travel to, people must also respect the laws of this country, » he wrote.
Others defended her by posting images from President Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia in May, in which first lady Melania Trump and his daughter Ivanka, though modestly dressed in higher necklines and longer sleeves, shunned wearing a head cover or the abaya.
Ivanka Trump’s blonde tresses and attire sparked a Twitter hashtag during Mr. Trump’s visit, with Saudi males commenting on her looks and referring to Mr. Trump as Abu Ivanka, meaning Ivanka’s father.
U.S. first lady Melania Trump poses for a photo with Saudi women on a visit to an all-women’s business services center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sun., May 21, 2017.
One Twitter user, whose post was shared more than 1,700 times, superimposed an image of Ivanka’s face on the young Saudi woman’s body, writing: « Enough already, the situation has been solved. » Others wrote that had the woman been a foreigner, people would be talking about her beauty, but because she is Saudi, they are calling for arrest.
The Saudi Okaz news website reported that officials in Ushaiager called on the region’s governor and police to take actions against the woman in response to the video, without elaborating further. Saudi news website Sabq reported that the kingdom’s morality police had corresponded with other agencies to investigate further after the video was brought to their attention.
Social media is wildly popular in Saudi Arabia as a space to vent frustrations and gauge public opinion.
With more than half of the population of Saudi Arabia under 25-years-old, the country’s 30-year-old heir to the throne, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has pushed for greater openings for entertainment in part to appease the country’s youth, but strict gender segregation rules and other restrictions on women’s movement remain in place.
15 outrageous facts about Saudi Arabia
From its treatment of women to its justice system, Saudi Arabia is a far cry from the U.S.
House Republicans unveiled a 2018 budget plan Tuesday that would pave the way for ambitious tax reform legislation — but only alongside a package of politically sensitive spending cuts that threaten to derail the tax rewrite before it begins.
GOP infighting over spending, health care and other matters continues to cast doubt on whether the budget blueprint can survive a House vote. Failing to pass a budget could complicate leaders’ plans to move on to their next governing priority as hopes of a health-care overhaul appeared to collapse late Monday in the Senate.
The House Budget Committee blueprint, which is set for a Thursday committee vote, sets out special procedures that could ultimately allow Republicans to pass legislation over the objections of Senate Democrats who can normally block bills they oppose. GOP leaders in the House, as well as top Trump administration officials, hope to use those procedures — known as reconciliation — to pass a tax overhaul later this year.
The instructions in the draft budget, however, go well beyond tax policy and set the stage for a potential $203 billion rollback of financial industry regulations, federal employee benefits, welfare spending and more. Those are policy areas where Republicans have, in many cases, already passed legislation in the House but have seen Democrats block action in the Senate.
House Budget Committee Chairman Diane Black (R-Tenn.) said the spending proposal is “not just a vision for our country, but a plan for action.”
“In past years, our proposals had little chance of becoming a reality because we faced a Democratic White House,” she said in a statement Tuesday. “But now with a Republican Congress and a Republican administration, now is the time to put forward a governing document with real solutions to address our biggest challenges.”
Like the spending blueprint released this year by President Trump, the House plan envisions major cuts to federal spending over the coming decade, bringing the budget into balance by relying on accelerated economic growth to boost revenue. Under the House plan, defense spending would steadily increase over 10 years while nondefense discretionary spending would decline to $424 billion — 23 percent below the $554 billion the federal government is spending in that category this year.
Unlike Trump’s budget, the House proposal cuts into Medicare and Social Security — entitlement programs that the president has pledged to preserve. The House plan also makes a less-rosy economic growth assumption of 2.6 percent versus the 3 percent eyed by the Trump administration. Both, however, exceed the 1.9 percent figure used by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office in its most recent economic estimates.
The House blueprint won a strong endorsement from White House budget director Mick Mulvaney, who served on the House Budget Committee before joining the Trump administration.
“It is a bold effort that follows the leadership of President Trump in Making America Great Again,” he said in a statement. “Critically, this budget lays a pathway for Congress to pass, and President Trump to sign pro-growth tax reform into law.”
But under congressional budget rules, a tax bill drafted to comply with the House budget proposal would have to include much more than tax provisions.
The Ways and Means Committee, which is drafting the tax bill, would be instructed to find $52 billion in deficit savings over the coming decade. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and the panel’s chairman, Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Tex.), have said they intend to pursue a deficit-neutral reform bill, meaning the savings would have to be found in other programs under the committee’s jurisdiction — such as Medicare, disability aid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and unemployment compensation.
The Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which has explored cuts to the federal workforce and to federal employee benefits, would be required to find $32 billion in deficit savings.
The Financial Services Committee would be ordered to produce $14 billion in savings — a figure that could allow Republicans to repeal large parts of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. The Congressional Budget Office found earlier this year that the Financial Choice Act, a Dodd-Frank repeal bill passed by the House last month, would produce about $24 billion in deficit reduction over the next 10 years.
And the Judiciary Committee would be responsible for $45 billion in deficit reduction, which is roughly the amount of savings produced under the Protecting Access to Care Act, a medical malpractice reform bill that also passed the House last month.
Both bills have little support among Democrats and would likely be blocked in the Senate under typical procedure. Reconciliation rules could allow Republicans to avoid that barrier.
The more profound barrier could be Republican divisions over the budget proposal itself. The effort to write a budget has been stalled for months as defense hawks, deficit watchdogs and appropriators have sparred over where to set spending levels. And while there appears to be a working accord on the House Budget Committee, it remains unclear whether the blueprint can survive a floor vote.
Members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus have been pushing for more aggressive long-term spending cuts in reconciliation. The group’s leader, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), told reporters last week that the numbers in the draft budget could not pass the House, calling the proposed $203 billion in mandatory spending cuts over the coming decade a relative pittance in a federal budget that already approaches $4 trillion in yearly spending.
Conservatives are also pushing House GOP leaders for more specificity on the tax reform bill — in particular, an assurance that a proposal to tax imported goods known as border adjustment will not be included.
Moderates, meanwhile, are staging a revolt of their own. Twenty members of the centrist Tuesday Group signed a letter last month objecting to even $200 billion in mandatory spending cuts, arguing they are “not practical” and would “make enacting tax reform even more difficult than it already will be.”
They are also pushing for budget talks with Democrats, who maintain significant leverage in federal spending: Republicans are proposing to exceed defense spending caps enacted under the 2011 Budget Control Act each year until the measure expires in 2021. Adjusting those caps will require a bipartisan agreement to pass the Senate.
Senate Republicans have yet to draw up a budget blueprint of their own.
House Republican leaders have whistled past questions about the practicality of the spending levels they are proposing and instead have made the case to rank-and-file House members that passing the budget resolution — because of the reconciliation instructions — represents the only way to ensure a successful tax bill.
“We can move forward with an optimistic vision for the future, and this budget is the first step in that process,” Black said. “This is the moment to get real results for the American people. The time for talking is over, now is the time for action.”
Two more Senate Republicans have declared their opposition to the latest plan to overhaul the nation’s health-care system, potentially ending a months-long effort to make good on a GOP promise that has defined the party for nearly a decade and been a top priority for President Trump.
Sens. Mike Lee (Utah) and Jerry Moran (Kan.) issued statements declaring that they would not vote for the revamped measure. The sudden breaks by Lee, a staunch conservative, and Moran, an ally of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), rocked the GOP leadership and effectively closed what already had been an increasingly narrow path to passage for the bill.
They joined Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.) and Susan Collins (Maine), who also oppose it. With just 52 seats, Republicans can afford to lose only two votes to pass their proposed rewrite of the Affordable Care Act. All 46 Democrats and two independents are expected to vote against it.
In a pair of tweets Tuesday morning, Trump decried the defections, called for letting the Affordable Care Act “fail” and vowed to keep pushing for a GOP plan.
“We were let down by all of the Democrats and a few Republicans. Most Republicans were loyal, terrific worked really hard. We will return!” he wrote in the first tweet.
He followed that with: “As I have always said, let ObamaCare fail and then come together and do a great healthcare plan. Stay tuned!”
Republicans, who have made rallying cries against President Barack Obama’s 2010 health-care law a pillar of the party’s identity, may be forced to grapple with the law’s shift from a perennial GOP target to an accepted, even popular, provider of services and funding in many states, which could make further repeal revivals difficult.
Meanwhile, Trump and other Republicans will confront a Republican base that, despite fervent support for the president, still seeks a smaller federal government and fewer regulations.
All of these forces remained vexing factors Monday as senators bailed on the bill. And no evident solution was offered by the White House — which has been limited in its sale of the GOP plan — or from McConnell, for how to bring together a party in which moderates and conservatives are still deeply divided over the scope of federal health-care funding and regulations.
McConnell did announce late Monday that he plans to push for a vote in the coming days anyway, but with a catch: senators would be voting to start debate on the unpopular House-passed bill. McConnell has promised to amend the bill to a pure repeal, but with no guarantee that such an amendment would pass.
“In addition to not repealing all of the Obamacare taxes, it doesn’t go far enough in lowering premiums for middle class families; nor does it create enough free space from the most costly Obamacare regulations,” Lee said in a statement.
Moran said the bill “fails to repeal the Affordable Care Act or address healthcare’s rising costs.”
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) at the Capitol in May. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)
The two senators timed the release of their statements and made clear that modest tinkering around the edges of the legislation drafted by McConnell would not be enough to meet their demands.
They joined a pair of GOP colleagues in calling for a complete redrawing of the legislation that would take many months, short-circuiting McConnell’s wish to end the debate this month.
The news threw the effort to pass the legislation into turmoil, with additional Republicans weighing in on Twitter about a flawed process that must take a new direction. Trump tweeted that “Republicans should just REPEAL failing ObamaCare now work on a new Healthcare Plan.”
Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) called for a “new approach” while Rep. Mark Meadows (N.C.) tweeted, “Time for full repeal.” White House aides, meanwhile, said they still plan to press ahead.
The setbacks appear to have left McConnell and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) with few good options. Conservatives have suggested moving a bill that would simply repeal the Affordable Care Act and set up a timeline of several years to figure out how to replace it, a politically risky move that also might lack support to pass.
Another move, which McConnell threatened recently, would be to work with Democrats to prop up the insurance exchange markets that have been imploding in some states — which probably would win passage but would infuriate the conservative base that has been calling for the end of the Affordable Care Act.
“Regretfully, it is now apparent that the effort to repeal and immediately replace the failure of Obamacare will not be successful,” McConnell said in a statement released late Monday. He revealed plans to move forward with a vote in the coming days anyway, in some ways daring his Republican opponents to begin debate and open the legislation up to amendments.
Democrats quickly jumped at the opportunity to declare the effort dead.
“This second failure of Trumpcare is proof positive that the core of this bill is unworkable,” said Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.). “Rather than repeating the same failed, partisan process yet again, Republicans should start from scratch and work with Democrats on a bill that lowers premiums, provides long-term stability to the markets and improves our health-care system.”
Republican leaders had returned to the Capitol on Monday still pledging to press ahead with plans to pass a far-reaching overhaul, but the day had begun with uncertainty as the health of Sen. John McCain put the future of the flagging effort deeper in doubt.
In a speech on the Senate floor, McConnell said that he had spoken with McCain (R) on Monday morning and that “he’ll be back with us soon.” The Arizonan is recovering from surgery to remove a blood clot above his left eye that involved opening his skull.
McConnell had delayed action on the health-care bill until McCain’s return in hopes that he could be persuaded to vote yes. That hope faded after Lee’s and Moran’s announcements, however, with McCain issuing a statement from Arizona calling for a fresh, bipartisan start.
“One of the major problems with Obamacare was that it was written on a strict party-line basis and driven through Congress without a single Republican vote,” McCain said. “As this law continues to crumble in Arizona and states across the country, we must not repeat the original mistakes that led to Obamacare’s failure.”
In addition, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) hinted Monday that he might vote against advancing the measure to floor debate — departing from his posture last week.
McCain, 80, is awaiting results of tissue pathology reports “pending within the next several days,” the hospital treating him said in a statement over the weekend. He will be away from the Senate for at least the rest of the week. A McCain spokeswoman had no further update on his condition Monday.
Graham, perhaps McCain’s closest friend in the Senate, spoke to him by phone as he was walking to the Senate chamber for a vote Monday evening. The two had an animated conversation, and Graham said McCain was “dying to get back.”
“They were doing a routine checkup and they found the spot and it looks like everything is going to be A-okay,” Graham said. He said McCain’s doctors “don’t want him to fly for a week, adding, “I think he would walk back if they would let him.”
The cause of McCain’s blood clot remained unclear Monday. The most common causes of clots in the head, especially for older people, are falls, car crashes and other incidents that cause traumas, even minor ones, said Elliott Haut, a trauma surgeon at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. By one estimate, 1.7 million people suffer traumatic head injuries each year, with motor vehicle accidents the leading cause and blood clots that affect the brain a common effect.
Traumas can cause blood to leak out of small vessels in two locations in the head: between the brain and a tough, fibrous layer known as the dura, causing “subdural hematomas,” and between the dura and the skull, causing “epidural hematomas.”
“People die of these every day,” Haut said in an interview, emphasizing that he could not speak about McCain’s health, because he had no details of the case.
Another possibility is that the clot is related to McCain’s history of melanoma, a dangerous form of skin cancer that can spread to other organs, including the brain, and form new tumors. Haut said that is much less likely but not impossible. Diagnosis of a clot in the head requires a CT scan, and it often follows symptoms such as headaches or blurred or changed vision, he said.
Senate Republicans have been under self-imposed pressure to complete their work on health care. As they have struggled to show progress, McConnell has said he would keep the chamber in session through the first two weeks of August, postponing the start of the summer recess period to leave time to work on other matters.
Key Republican senators — and the GOP governors they turn to for guidance — have raised concerns about how the bill would affect the most vulnerable people in their states. Private lobbying by the White House and Senate GOP leaders has not mollified them.
Johnson said Monday that last week he was “strongly in favor” of taking a procedural vote allowing the bill to advance to floor debate. But he said he was unhappy with recent comments by McConnell that the bill’s deepest Medicaid cuts are far into the future and are unlikely to take effect anyway.
Johnson said he read the comments in The Washington Post and confirmed them with other senators. He said he planned to talk to McConnell about it Tuesday at the weekly GOP policy lunch. In a statement late Monday, McConnell responded: “I prefer to speak for myself, and my view is that the Medicaid per capita cap with a responsible growth rate that is sustainable for taxpayers is the most important long-term reform in the bill. That is why it has been in each draft we have released.”
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a Democrat, threatened Monday to sue the federal government if the health-care bill becomes law. The measure “isn’t simply unconscionable and unjust. It’s unconstitutional,” he wrote on Twitter.
The Schumer letter also asks that GOP leaders not move ahead with the bill until the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office releases a complete score on it. The CBO had been expected to release its findings as soon as Monday, but that did not happen. A GOP aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter candidly, said a release later this week was possible but not certain.
The CBO has been projecting what the bill would do to insurance coverage levels, premium costs and the federal budget deficit. Having an unfavorable report in the public domain for an extended period of time with an uncertain date for a vote would fuel critics’ argument against the bill, making it harder for McConnell to round up votes for it.
A CBO report on an earlier version of the legislation projected that it would result in 22 million fewer Americans with insurance by 2026 than under current law. It predicted that the measure would reduce the budget deficit by $321 billion over the same period. On average, premiums would first rise, then fall under the measure, the CBO projected.
Neither a McConnell spokesman nor the CBO said when the new report would be released or why it was not released Monday.
White House officials have been seeking to cast doubt on the findings from the CBO and other independent analyses of the bill. But some key Republicans responded with skepticism.
Over the weekend, influential Republican governors said they were not sold, even after talking privately with the officials during the National Governors Association’s summer meeting.
Several key GOP senators have voiced concerns about the measure’s long-term federal spending cuts to Medicaid. Others have said the bill would not go far enough in overhauling the Affordable Care Act. The opposing pressures have left McConnell in a tough position in which he has struggled to find a solution.
In the meantime, Senate Republican leaders plan to focus on trying to confirm more Trump administration nominees and some less far-reaching legislative goals. As they do, they will be watching for updates on McCain’s condition.
“Following a routine annual physical,” the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix said Saturday, McCain “underwent a procedure to remove a blood clot from above his left eye on Friday, July 14.” The hospital added that “surgeons successfully removed the 5-cm blood clot during a minimally invasive craniotomy with an eyebrow incision.”
Acute subdural hematomas can be fatal half the time and even more often in older people. They can also cause strokes. Unlike clots in the legs and lungs, they must be treated through surgery, rather than blood thinners, Haut said.
In 2009, actress Natasha Richardson died of the effects of an epidural hematoma after declining medical attention following a fall while skiing.
It is not known whether McCain takes blood thinners, but those can make it more likely that blood will escape from vessels after a trauma, Haut said.
Evan Wyloge in Phoenix and Paul Kane, Robert Costa, Kelsey Snell, Abby Phillip and William Branigin in Washington contributed to this report.
This column is authored by Laura Lewis, Business Head, Streamhash.com
There is a huge deluge of video content on social media platforms and popular video hosting services such as YouTube. The upbeat news is that many digital marketers have realized the importance of live video strategy that can grant opportune times. However, there still remains a good chunk of content marketers who focus solely on lengthy blog posts and not on videos. And when it comes to the reasons why certain adamant content marketers seldom focus on live video strategy, even the pundits don’t venture a guess. It is in this backdrop I would like to elucidate the importance of live video strategy. I shall also describe why you should own a live streaming software turnkey. And yes, this article also throws insights on video marketing strategy which you can use in social media as well.
Videos Take Your Product Sales to the Highest Gear
The trigger in most cases is a landing page which cajoles audiences to buy your products or opt for your service. Landing pages with videos are known to increase your conversions by as high as 80%. One of my prospective clients owns 7 websites, each pertaining to a different category. He ensures that landing pages are deployed with videos. All the initiatives have helped him gain high paying customers.
It is a known fact that infographic content is easy to comprehend. Video content is the easiest to understand.
To understand the importance of live video strategy, we recently conducted a survey by soliciting responses of ten thousand respondents.
To not get encumbered and subsequently disillusioned by the trends, we resorted to the following sampling methods:
Snowball Sampling
Simple Random Sampling
Cluster Sampling
Systematic Sampling
Multistage Sampling
Stratified Sampling
My team of Business Intelligence Executives and Market Research Analysts overhauled the surveys and came up with the following brownie insights:
Brands that showcase poor quality videos are bound to nurture negative perceptions in the minds of audiences. Nearly 63.5% of the respondents agreed to this proposition.
Videos incorporated in landing pages boost conversions by more than 80%. This fact was stated in the earlier paragraph.
Not so long ago, I advised my clients to embed videos in emails. Well, the suggestion was a consequence of more than 10 years of experience in digital marketing. I wasn’t surprised when my clients asserted that videos increased click-through-rate by 300 percent.
Many businesses fail to track brand association. We informed our respondents of cross sectional surveyto keep an eye on brand association. It was a pleasant surprise when the survey report threw an absolute stunner: Videos increase brand association by 150%
I would like to make yet another astute observation–More than 80% of audiences prefer watching a live product demonstration rather than going through volumes and volumes of text.
Videos Yield Great ROI
Let me disclose this with incredible honesty: Video production is one of the toughest jobs. You should take care of quality. To deftly avoid low latency snags, it is important to have high bandwidth. Moreover, professional HD camera should be with a very good live streaming software. The good news is that video production entails one-time investment. Barring bandwidth costs, recurring costs are nil.
Thanks to many online video editing tools which are available at affordable rates, businesses can edit videos with effortless ease. Coming to the survey, 75% of the respondents opined that live video strategy yields great ROI. Quantification of ROI gains is beyond the scope of this article.
Ballyhoo is nothing, Trust is everything
Videos galvanize trust which in-turn fosters long term relationships. The very foundation of conversion funnel in sales hinges on trust. Elite audiences who trust your venture will advocate for your products. Let me bring this fact to your notice- Elite audiences often spearhead social media campaigns which ignite emotions of all and sundry. Hence, never ever think of diluting your brand by creating poor quality videos.
The bottom line is that if you simply engage in extravagant fuss without focusing on building trust, your venture will not find resonance with your prospective clients. The fact that 65% of respondents asserted that videos infuse confidence in their minds is absolutely incorruptible.
Video is Indispensable in this Social Media World
McKinsey’s Social Media Marketing Industry report states that more than 60% of social marketers used videos in 2015. In 2016, the number rose to 73%. Social Media pundits predict that this figure is bound to touch 90% by the end of 2017. The fact that social networking sites have made it easier for content marketers to focus on videos is an upbeat news. For instance, Facebook has launched 360 degree view. Also, there is a popular video centric app for teenagers called Life Stage. It was developed to combat the ever growing popularity of Snapchat among teenagers. Facebook’s Livevideo feature is known to many. Twitter’s take on live video streaming is Periscope. Instagram’s 60-seconds video feature lends a fillip to the fraternity of content marketers. Instagram’s Stories is yet another popular video feature which requires a special mention.
And the undisputed video social networking giant YouTube has been the apple’s eye of the entire entertainment industry. People love sharing informative and insightful content. Most importantly, people like sharing emotional and entertaining content and social media platforms are known to facilitate sharing. Remember, if the number of shares is high, traffic to your website will be high.
Live Videos can help you tap Mobile users
Mobile consumption is increasing at a phenomenal rate. With the number of smartphone users increasing by leaps and bounds, the size of your live video audiences is bound to get bigger and bigger. According to a report released by the world’s most popular search engine company Google, smartphone users are twice as likely as TV viewers to develop personal rapport with brands. And yes, smartphone users are 1.4 times as likely as desktop viewers to develop personal connection with brands. Brands and businesses should comprehensively capitalize this fact.
Live Videos Engage Even the Laziest Audience
The best thing about lazy audiences is that there is no best thing. Live streaming videos are capable of engaging lazy audiences. Don’t take me wrong- the average customer is lazy. He doesn’t have enough patience to go through lengthy product descriptions and voluminous modules. This is where live videos can come extremely handy.
Live Video Marketing is Affordable
Contrary to the popular opinions, video marketing is just getting cheaper and a lot more affordable. With platforms and video production tools galore, it all boils down to choosing the right live streaming software to muster audiences to your venture.
Video Marketing Strategies for Social Media
Here is a brief on video marketing strategies for social media:
Leverage YouTube
What’s the world’s biggest video search engine? It’s a no-brainer. Create all the possible following types of videos and leverage YouTube to the fullest:
Tutorial videos
Product demo videos
Webinars
Instructional videos
Event Videos
Real Time videos
Interview videos
Entertainment videos
For your audiences to subscribe to your YouTube channel, you should provide gripping content. Also, it is imperative to update channel feed on a regular basis. Needless to say, you will be at a great disadvantage if you fail to share your videos to popular social networking platforms
Video Ads
Video ads are of two types:
Demand Generation
Demand Fulfillment
Facebook Ads come under the broad umbrella of demand generation ads. On the other hand, Google search engine ads come under the broad umbrella of demand fulfillment ads. If your unique product or value offering creates demand, you should resort to Facebook Ads. If there is already demand for your existing products or services and if you intend to gain further traction, you should resort to Google search engine ads. Facebook posts that include a video have an exceptional track record of 100% more engagement.
Capitalize on User-Generated Content
In the world of social media and digital marketing, perception is reality.It is therefore important to know what your customers think of your brand / venture. Conduct Facebook polls and Twitter campaigns. Ask them to create testimonial videos. Put the best testimonial videos on your website’s landing page. If you are a packaging or a drop shipping company, ask your viewers to send unboxing videos. This tactic also works for electronic companies like Sony, Samsung etc. It is a memorable experience to know what goes in a customer’s mind when he / she is unboxing a packaged electronic good.
Become and Aficionado of Instagram and Snap Chat
Instagram and Snap Chat are the most brand-friendly social platforms. To keep rocking, you should create a short 10 seconds video to promote flash sales. At the end of the videos, do not forget to embed a small link that directs viewers to your website.
Reasons to Own a Popular Live Streaming Software
Before buying a live streaming software, take cognizance of the following factors:
Monetization
Live streaming software scripts are aesthetically designed to support multiple monetization options such as:
Subscriptions
Ads
Pay per View
Sponsorships
Low Latency
Choose that live streaming software which uses Kurento based media streaming. This type of media streaming minimizes latency.
User Engagement Analytics
The built-in user engagement module is like no other. Not only does it provide insights on which videos performed well and which did not, it throws insights on behavioral patterns of users.
Chat and Comment
Want to chat with your darling audiences? Chat box makes your task simple and easy. The ‘Comments’ feature resembles Periscope’s Comments feature in many ways. This feature has been incorporated to increase the Google ranking of this website.
Social Login
Social login buttons enable users to login through their respective Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. Sharing videos has never been this easy before.
Senators started returning to the Capitol on Monday with the Republican agenda in a state of flux after GOP leaders scrapped their plans to vote on a sweeping health-care overhaul this week.
At the center of the uncertainty is Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who is recovering at home from surgery to remove a blood clot above his left eye that involved opening his skull.
Without McCain in the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) lacks the votes he needs to proceed with a bill to revamp major parts of the Affordable Care Act. So he has put it off until after McCain returns.
But when that would happen was not clear Monday afternoon. McCain, 80, is awaiting the results of tissue pathology reports “pending within the next several days,” the hospital treating him said in a statement over the weekend. A McCain spokeswoman had no further update on his condition Monday.
The most common causes of blood clots in the head, especially for older people, are falls, car crashes and other events that cause traumas, even minor ones, said Elliott Haut, a trauma surgeon at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. By one estimate, 1.7 million people suffer traumatic head injuries each year, with motor vehicle accidents the leading cause and blood clots that affect the brain a common effect.
Traumas can cause blood to leak out of small vessels between the brain and a tough, fibrous layer known as the dura, causing “subdural hematomas” and others between the dura and the skull, known as “epidural hematomas.”
“People die of these every day,” Haut said in an interview, emphasizing that he could not speak about McCain’s health because he had no details of the case. Blood clots as small as a half-centimeter are worrisome, he said. Epidural hematomas are less often fatal.
Another possibility is that the clot is related to McCain’s history of melanoma, a dangerous form of skin cancer that can spread to other organs, including the brain, and form new tumors. Haut said that is much less likely but not impossible. Diagnosis of a clot requires a CT scan, which can follow symptoms such as blurred vision, headaches or a change in vision, he said.
Democrats are pressuring Republicans to use the delay in the Senate to hold public hearings on the controversial GOP health-care bill. All 48 members of the Democratic caucus — along with two Republicans — oppose the legislation.
“This will allow members to hear unfiltered and unbiased analysis of how the bill will affect their states and the health and financial security of the constituents they represent, including the impact of Medicaid cuts to vulnerable populations like children, people with disabilities, and people with pre-existing conditions,” wrote Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and two other leading Democratic senators in a letter to McConnell and a pair of GOP committee chairmen.
The letter also asks that GOP leaders not move ahead with the bill until the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office releases a “complete score” on it. The CBO had been expected to release its findings as soon as Monday. But a GOP aide said that would not happen. The aide, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said a release later this week was possible but not certain.
The CBO has been projecting what the bill would do to insurance coverage levels, premium costs and the federal budget deficit. Having an unfavorable report in the public domain for an extended period of time with an uncertain date for a vote would fuel critics’ argument against the bill, probably making it harder for McConnell to round up votes for it.
A CBO report on an earlier version of the legislation projected it would result in 22 million fewer Americans with insurance by 2026 compared with under current law. It predicted that measure would reduce the budget deficit by $321 billion over the same period. On average, premiums would first rise, then fall under the measure, the CBO projected.
A McConnell spokesman and the CBO did not immediately respond to requests for comment on when the report was expected and why it would not be released Monday.
White House officials have been seeking to cast doubt on the findings from CBO and other independent analyses of the bill. But some key Republicans have responded to their pitch with skepticism.
Over the weekend, influential Republican governors said they were not sold even after talking privately with the officials during the National Governors Association summer meeting.
In an interview broadcast Sunday on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Tex.) said the Senate would vote on health-care “as soon as we have a full contingent of senators.”
But when that will happen depends on the severity of McCain’s condition. Until that is known, Senate Republican leaders plan to focus on trying to confirm more Trump administration nominees and some less sweeping legislative goals.
“Following a routine annual physical,” the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix said Saturday, McCain “underwent a procedure to remove a blood clot from above his left eye on Friday, July 14.” The hospital added that “surgeons successfully removed the 5-cm blood clot during a minimally invasive craniotomy with an eyebrow incision. Tissue pathology reports are pending within the next several days.”
Acute subdural hematomas can be fatal half the time and even more often in older people. They can also cause strokes. Unlike clots in the legs and lungs, they must be treated through surgery, rather than blood thinners, Haut said.
In 2009, actress Natasha Richardson died of the effects of an epidural hematoma after declining medical attention following a fall while skiing.
It’s not known whether McCain takes blood thinners, but those can make it more likely that blood will escape from vessels after a trauma, Haut said.
Without McCain in the Senate, McConnell can count on at most 49 votes to move ahead on the health-care bill. Along with all of the Democrats, Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) oppose it. Spokespeople for the two Republicans confirmed they still intend to vote against bringing the bill to the Senate floor.
If Republicans can round up 50 votes, Vice President Pence can break a tie in their favor.
Beyond Collins and Paul, other Republican senators have expressed reservations about the bill — including McCain. It’s far from clear that McConnell will be able to convince enough Republicans to vote for it.
Several key GOP senators have voiced concerns about the measure’s long-term federal spending cuts to Medicaid. Others have worried the bill does not go far enough in going after the ACA. The opposing pressures have left McConnell in a tough position in which he has struggled to find a solution.
Donald Trump walks across the South Lawn last night after arriving back at the White House on Marine One from a weekend at his golf club in New Jersey. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)
With Joanie Greve and Breanne Deppisch
THE BIG IDEA: President Trump is not Teflon, and the conventional wisdom that “nothing matters” is wrong.
A fresh Washington Post/ABC News poll underscores the softness of Trump’s support as he prepares to mark six months in the White House on Thursday.
It also highlights a growing intensity gap. Support for the president is more tepid, but opposition is increasingly inflamed.
The president’s overall approval rating has slipped to 36 percent from 42 percent in April. For context, George W. Bush and Barack Obama both held 59 percent approval ratings in Post/ABC polls conducted around their six-month anniversaries.
Media coverage often focuses on how rank-and-file Republicans, as well as elected officials, continue to stand behind Trump. While true, a close examination of the results suggests that no more than 1 in 4 Americans believe passionately in him or his presidency at this juncture.
Trump’s disapproval rating has risen to 58 percent in the national survey, which was conducted last Monday through Thursday. Overall, 48 percent disapprove strongly of how he’s doing. But while 36 percent approve of Trump overall, only 25 percent approve strongly.
Consider the partisan breakdown: 82 percent of self-identified Republicans approve of how Trump is doing, including 62 percent who approve strongly. Meanwhile, 85 percent of Democrats disapprove of Trump, but a larger 75 percent disapprove strongly.
Where Trump really differs from Obama is that his approval leans more heavily on strong backers. Obama’s average “strong” approval was 28 percent during his presidency, not much different than Trump today. But Obama averaged 21 percent “somewhat” approval, 10 points higher than Trump.
Across the battery of questions in the survey, Trump’s hardcore base of support appears to be about a quarter of the public, give or take:
24 percent say that, since taking office, Trump has “acted in a way that’s fitting and proper for a president of the United States.” Seventy percent say Trump has acted in a way that is “unpresidential.”
24 percent approve of Trump’s use of Twitter. Just 13 percent strongly approve. Two-thirds disapprove of the president’s use of social media, and 53 percent strongly disapprove.
Compared with previous presidents, 23 percent think “Trump is doing a better job than most.” While 17 percent say he’s doing a “much better” job, 38 percent think he’s doing “much worse.”
3 in 10 believe Trump is “a positive role model for young people.” For perspective, 18 percent said the same of Bill Clinton in a Post/ABC poll conducted the week after the salacious Starr Report was released in 1998.
27 percent think “America’s leadership in the world has gotten stronger” under Trump.
26 percent believe it was appropriate for Trump’s son, Donald Jr., to meet last summer with a Russian lawyer who said she had damaging information about Hillary Clinton. (This includes just less than half of Republicans.)
Despite all evidence to the contrary, just over 3 in 10 Americans still do not think the Russian government tried to influence the outcome of last fall’s U.S. presidential election.
While 34 percent trust Trump to negotiate on America’s behalf with other world leaders, only 19 percent trust him “a great deal.” The other 15 percent trust him just “a good amount.” Two-thirds of the country does not trust Trump at all in negotiations, which is remarkable when you think back to how heavily he emphasized his negotiating skills during the campaign.
On health care, 24 percent favor the Republican plan over Obamacare. Seventeen percent “strongly” favor the GOP plan, which was not explained in detail.
Would you say that the more you hear about Trump, the more you like him? Or the more you hear about Trump, the less you like him? Asked that question, roughly 3 in 10 adults said more. Nearly 6 in 10 said less.
The poll, based on a sample of more than 1,000 adults, has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
— Responding on Twitter, Trump said his 36 percent approval rating – which he rounded up to 40 percent – “is not bad at this time.” But he also attacked the Post-ABC poll as “just about the most inaccurate poll around election time!” In fact, The Post and ABC’s final poll was well within the sampling error and correctly showed Clinton ahead in the national popular vote.
Trump waves to the crowd during the U.S. Women’s Open golf tournament at his golf course in New Jersey. (Kelvin Kuo/USA Today Sports)
— What Americans love and hate about Trump: A job approval rating can be an unsatisfyingly vague barometer. What exactly are people thinking when they say they approve or disapprove of the way a president is handling his job? Our new poll included an open-ended question asking Americans what they have either liked or disliked most about his presidency so far.
The most common answer for why people think Trump is doing a good job was “strong leadership,” a variation of which was offered by 11 percent. “Speaking his mind” and “not being politically correct” was a close second, at 9 percent. “In total, 30 percent of Trump approvers mentioned his overall leadership or personality traits when asked what they approve of most. But a somewhat larger group of Trump approvers, 40 percent, mentioned a policy-related reason for approving of Trump’s performance,” pollster Scott Clement explains. “Some 7 percent said foreign affairs, while 6 percent apiece cited the economy, creating jobs (and) preventing illegal immigration … Slightly fewer mentioned fighting terrorism (or) his efforts on health care legislation.”
Americans who disapprove of Trump focused heavily on the president’s personal and character traits. “Topping the list of non-policy criticisms is the way Trump talks and acts (13 percent), laments about him not being informed or knowledgeable (12 percent), while another 12 percent mentioned concerns about lies, false statements or general dishonesty,” Scott writes in a story that just published. “Among disapprovers who named issues as their biggest criticism, the most common were immigration (8 percent) and health care (7 percent), the travel ban at 3 percent and others at 2 percent or less. Altogether, 46 percent of Trump disapprovers criticized something about his personality, honesty or style, while 25 percent mentioned a policy-related concern.”
The country may seem hopelessly divided, butthepeople who strongly approve and disapprove of Trump have something in common: When asked what they love or hate most about the president, 12 percent of strong approvers and 14 percent of strong disapprovers volunteered “everything.”
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING:
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meets with the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, at the Sea Palace in Doha, Qatar, last week. (Alexander W. Riedel/State Department via AP)
— U.S. intelligence officials believe the United Arab Emirates orchestrated the hacking of the Qatari government’s news and social media sites to post incendiary quotes attributed to the country’s ruler that were then used as a justification to blockade Qatar. Karen DeYoung and Ellen Nakashima report: “The hacks and posting took place on May 24, shortly after President Trump completed a lengthy counterterrorism meeting with Persian Gulf leaders in neighboring Saudi Arabia and declared them unified. Citing the emir’s reported comments, the Saudis, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt immediately banned all Qatari media. They then broke relations with Qatar and declared a trade and diplomatic boycott. … In a statement released in Washington by its ambassador, Yousef al-Otaiba, the UAE said the Post article was ‘false.’ … The conflict has also exposed sharp differences between Trump — who has clearly taken the Saudi and UAE side in a series of tweets and statements — and (Rex) Tillerson, who has urged compromise and spent most of last week in shuttle diplomacy among the regional capitals that has been unsuccessful so far…
« Officials became aware last week that newly analyzed information gathered by U.S. intelligence agencies confirmed that on May 23, senior members of the UAE government discussed the plan and its implementation. The officials said it remains unclear whether the UAE carried out the hacks itself or contracted to have them done. The false reports said that the emir, among other things, had called Iran an ‘Islamic power’ and praised Hamas. »
GET SMART FAST:
Iran sentenced a Chinese-American student accused of espionage to 10 years in prison. The harsh punishment of the Princeton graduate student is certain to raise tensions between Iran and the Trump administration. (Erin Cunningham and Carol Morello)
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray was formally accused by an Oregon child-welfare investigator of having sexually abused his foster son in the 1980s. At the time, Murray was a paralegal who had worked as a counselor to troubled children, including the child he is accused of abusing. (Seattle Times)
Elon Musk called artificial intelligence a “fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization.” The Tesla chief executive suggested at the National Governors Association meeting that states need to begin regulating AI. (Cleve R. Wootson Jr.)
The team of Afghan girls blocked from coming to a robotics competition in the United States because of Trump’s travel ban got a last-minute reprieve when the State Department intervened. They were greeted with deafening applause at the D.C. competition. (Moriah Balingit)
Roger Federer and Garbine Muguruza won Wimbledon. It was a record eighth title for Federer and the first for Muguruza. (Chuck Culpepper and AP)
NPR avoided a strike.The organization reached a tentative three-year deal with the union representing its employees on Saturday night. (Politico)
New research suggests that the stress of poverty and racism raises the risk of dementia among African Americans. Scientists found risk factors that disproportionately apply to African Americans, including poor living conditions and stressful life events like the death of a sibling, have severe consequences for brain health. (Fredrick Kunkle)
A group of Pennsylvania nuns started an outdoor chapel at the site of a planned pipeline construction. The move sets the nuns up for a legal fight against the energy company building the pipeline. (Julie Zauzmer)
British doctors removed 27 contact lenses from one patient’s eye. The patient had worn monthly lenses for about 35 years and — surprisingly — hadn’t complained of eye irritation, other than that connected to her planned cataracts surgery. She — not surprisingly — reported increased comfort after the dozens of lenses were removed. (NPR)
WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS TO TALK ABOUT THIS WEEK:
— “President Trump, whose company outsources the manufacturing of many of its products to overseas factories, is unveiling ‘Made in America’ week at the White House to promote products made in the United States,” Philip Rucker reports. “In keeping with the ‘America First’ theme of Trump’s inauguration, the administration will highlight U.S. manufacturing in the coming week, the latest of its theme weeks orchestrated by aides to bring discipline to the White House and focus Trump’s schedule and message on a set of policies. … Trump’s advisers also hope that by highlighting U.S. manufacturing they can underscore the need to overhaul the nation’s tax code, including substantially reducing the corporate tax rate.”
Peter Navarro. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz/The Orange County Register)
— Front and center will be Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro, who has dragged the president even more to the right on trade issues.Nancy Cook and Andrew Restuccia with one Politico’s top stories: “Navarro has earned a reputation for stalking the halls of the West Wing at night and on the weekends to find a moment to slip into the Oval Office to privately discuss trade with the president, according to one White House official and a close adviser to the administration. It’s his way of maintaining influence through proximity. His clout, dating back to the campaign, has informed the president’s thinking on everything from NAFTA to new lumber tariffs to potential trade restrictions on steel and aluminum … He has since pulled the president so far right on trade that more moderate aides worry his proposals could launch a global trade war if Trump takes them too seriously.”
ANOTHER BUMP IN ROAD TO A HEALTH-CARE VOTE:
— With no votes to spare, Mitch McConnell postponed plans late Saturday night for a key vote on his health-care bill after John McCain announced that he will be at home in Arizona this week recovering from surgery to remove a blood clot from above his left eye.
— The delay caused by McCain’s absence may be longer than initial reports implied. “A statement released by Mr. McCain’s office on Saturday had suggested that he would be in Arizona recovering for just this week, but neurosurgeons interviewed said the typical recovery period could be longer,” the New York Times’ Denise Grady and Robert Pear report.
— Despite the hurdles, McConnell’s second-in-command vowed that there would be a vote. The New York Times’ Robert Pear reports: “‘I believe as soon as we have a full contingent of senators, that we’ll have that vote,’ the No. 2 Senate Republican, John Cornyn of Texas, said on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ … The timing of the Senate vote is crucial … Moreover, the Senate schedule will soon be packed with other legislation … In addition, Republicans are eager to cut taxes and simplify the tax code … Mr. Cornyn acknowledged that ‘there’s uncertainty about what the final outcome will be.’ Asked what would happen if the bill did not pass, he said: ‘I assume we’ll keep trying. But at some point, if Democrats won’t participate in the process, then we’re going to have to come up with a different plan.’”
— The delay, combined with continuing complaints about McConnell’s bill from its Republicans opponents, further imperiled the legislation’s prospects. Elise Viebeck reports: “A vocal conservative opponent of the measure, Sen. Rand Paul, predicted the delay would strengthen critics’ position by giving them more time to mobilize against the bill … The bill’s dramatic cuts to the Medicaid program are a significant concern for [Republican] governors such as [Nevada’s Brian] Sandoval as well as moderate senators such as Susan Collins (R-Maine) … ‘This bill imposes fundamental, sweeping changes in the Medicaid program, and those include very deep cuts that would affect some of the most vulnerable people in our society, including disabled children and poor seniors,’ Collins said … Collins estimated Sunday that there are eight to 10 Republican senators with ‘serious concerns’ about the bill. ‘At the end of the day, I don’t know whether it will pass,’ she said.”
— Administration officials attempted to convince Nevada’s Gov. Sandoval to support the Senate bill during the National Governors Association meeting over the weekend, but their efforts failed. Sean Sullivan and Dan Balz report from Providence, R.I.: “More than any other Republican in the country right now, the centrist governor of Nevada could hold the power to sink or salvage the health-care bill … The Trump administration mounted a full-court effort here … recognizing the resistance not only by Sandoval but other Republican governors who are potentially influential with their state’s senators. Despite a heavy public and private effort, however, the administration appeared to have changed no minds — and may even have hardened some of the opposition … Some Democratic colleagues who know Sandoval well are deeply skeptical that he will support the Senate bill.” Why this matters: Nevada GOP Sen. Dean Heller, who is up for reelection next year, appeared with Sandoval when announcing his opposition to the Senate’s original draft. Heller’s vote seems directly tied to Sandoval’s position, and, if Heller votes no, that will probably be enough to sink the entire bill.
— Amy Goldstein has a great story this morning on Nevada’s rural counties, where health care has been revolutionized by the Medicaid expansion: “The stakes in this land of dusty winds and scarce jobs attest to the special vulnerability of rural communities to the health-care politics of Washington. The toehold that insurance has gained, even here in strong Trump country, suggests why [Heller] became an early, overt critic of what his Republican Party leaders want to do. It also explains why even sustained pressure from the White House has not altered Gov. Brian Sandoval’s opposition to the Senate’s bill.”
— Police are investigating a break-in at Heller’s Las Vegas office on Saturday, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.
— Revenge watch, Jeff Flake edition. Politico’s Alex Isenstadt reports: “The White House has met with at least three actual or prospective primary challengers to Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake in recent weeks, a reflection of Donald Trump’s strained relations with the senator and the latest sign of the president’s willingness to play hardball with lawmakers who cross him — even Republican incumbents … The bad blood between Trump and Flake dates back to the 2016 presidential race, when Flake was frequently critical of the president … An administration-backed primary challenge to Flake would also further inflame tensions with [McConnell], who over the last several weeks has had several run-ins with the White House over political planning.
— If McConnell passes a bill through the Senate, count on it becoming law, Paul Kane reports: “At least that’s the assessment of two key House negotiators, one from the conservative and one from the moderate flank.‘I have no doubt in my mind that if it passes the Senate — in something close to what it’s like now — that it will pass the House,’ said Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.), a moderate who negotiated portions of the bill that passed the House in early May. His conservative counterpart, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), called the latest Senate version ‘a step in the right direction’ and suggested it would ‘have to be a big move’ away from the current draft to sink the bill in the House. Either way, he said, conservatives will not object if House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) takes the Senate bill and places it on the House floor in a take-it-or-leave-it moment.”
— As Republican senators weigh whether to risk their political careers on McConnell’s revised proposal, the unpopularity of the bill is crystal clear. Philip Bump writes: “In the new Washington Post-ABC News poll released Sunday, we decided to ask the question directly: Which do you prefer, Obamacare or the Republican replacement plan? By a 2-to-1 margin — 50 percent to 24 percent — Americans said they preferred Obamacare. There’s a split by party, as you might expect, with Democrats broadly favoring the existing law and Republicans the latter. But that split wasn’t even, with 77 percent of Democrats favoring the legislation passed in 2010 by their party and only 59 percent of Republicans favoring their party’s solution. Independents in this case came down on the side of the Democrats, with 49 percent favoring the existing law vs. 20 percent backing the GOP alternative.”
— But the bill’s unpopularity likely won’t stop Republicans. John Holmes, a former top staffer to McConnell, put it this way to the Post’s Aaron Blake: “A poll on a complex legislative issue three weeks after it is unveiled has next to no ability to pick up the lasting sentiment. Conversely, over the course of seven years, Republicans have promised to repeal and replace Obamacare and won multiple elections in large part due to that specific promise. A failure to address a conviction among the base of the Republican Party, seven years in the making, is infinitely more damaging than the ramifications of a three-week snapshot that starts well underwater because of partisan polarization.”
THERE IS A BEAR IN THE WOODS:
— As new revelations continue to surface about Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with the Russians, the president’s lawyer Jay Sekulow offered bizarre new defenses on the Sunday shows. “Well, I wonder why the Secret Service, if this was nefarious, why the Secret Service allowed these people in,” he said on ABC’s « This Week.” Sekulow also put the responsibility for the initial incomplete response regarding last summer’s meeting squarely on the shoulders of the president’s son, Greg Jaffe reports. The president’s lawyer disputed press reports that Trump signed off on the inaccurate statement that was initially given to the New York Times. He also said that there was nothing illegal about taking the meeting with the Russians.
Sekulow wouldn’t rule out that Trump might pardon his son or former associates like Paul Manafort if they’re found guilty of crimes: “He can pardon individuals, of course. That’s because the founders of our country put that in the United States Constitution: the power to pardon. But I have not had those conversations, so I couldn’t speculate on that.”
— The Secret Service pushed back on Sekulow’s odd statement about its failure to vet the Russian lawyer with whom Trump Jr. met, thinking he was going to get dirt on Hillary Clinton. FromReuters: “In an emailed response to questions about Sekulow’s comments, Secret Service spokesman Mason Brayman said the younger Trump was not under Secret Service protection at the time of the meeting, which included Trump’s son and two senior campaign officials. ‘Donald Trump, Jr. was not a protectee of the USSS in June, 2016. Thus we would not have screened anyone he was meeting with at that time,’ the statement said.”
— A new lawyer has joined the White House to take charge of the burgeoning Russia probes. Carol D. Leonnig reports: “Ty Cobb, a former prosecutor and defense lawyer at Hogan Lovells, will seek to play the role of crisis manager and disciplinarian in a White House that has struggled to deal with continuing questions about the federal and congressional probes that have dominated the early months of Trump’s presidency.”
— “President Trump’s campaign committee made a payment to the law firm of an attorney representing Donald Trump Jr. last month, nearly two weeks before it was announced that the same attorney would be representing the president’s son in Russia-related probes,”Mark Berman and Matea Gold report. “The committee reported in the filing to the Federal Election Commission that it paid $50,000 to the law firm of attorney Alan Futerfas on June 27 … The filing also revealed that the campaign committee paid the Trump Corporation — a company being run by Trump Jr. and his brother Eric — more than $89,000 on June 30 for ‘legal consulting.’ … It is permissible under federal law for Trump’s reelection committee to pay for legal expenses related to the Russia inquiries, as along as the costs resulted from campaign activity … The huge legal outlays by Trump’s campaign committee came as it has been repeatedly tapping Trump’s small donor base for contributions.”
— More details are emerging about the attendees of the June 2016 meeting. The Atlantic’s Julie Ioffe writes: “Natalia Veselnitskaya has a tendency to appear from out of nowhere and become the center of attention. Before a now-infamous meeting with Donald Trump Jr. at Trump Tower last summer … Veselnitskaya was a relatively unknown figure, even in Moscow. When her name did find its way into the international news, it was because of her spirited defense of some of Russia’s least defensible actions … Veselnitskaya, 42, once served as a prosecutor in the Moscow region … Few people in Moscow had heard of Veselnitskaya until she burst onto the pages of The New York Times this week. Those who had, though, spoke of her fearsome reputation.”
— “Rinat Akhmetshin, the Russian-American lobbyist who met with Donald Trump Jr. at Trump Tower in June 2016, had one consistent message for the journalists who met him over the years at the luxury hotels where he stayed in Moscow, London and Paris, or at his home on a leafy street in Washington: Never use email to convey information that needed to be kept secret,” the New York Times’ Andrew Higgins and Andrew E. Kramer report. “While not, he insisted, an expert in the technical aspects of hacking nor, a spy, Mr. Akhmetshin talked openly about how he had worked with a counterintelligence unit while serving with the Red Army after its 1979 invasion of Afghanistan and how easy it was to find tech-savvy professionals ready and able to plunder just about any email account.”
— Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intel Committee, said yesterday he « sure as heck » would like to hear from every attendee of the meeting. Politico’s Zachary Warmbrodt reports: “‘I would like to hear from all of these individuals,’ he said. ‘Whether we will be able to get the Russian nationals to come over and testify is an open question.’ Asked whether the security clearance of Jared Kushner, who also attended the meeting, should be suspended, Warner said he is trying to give ‘all these people the benefit of the doubt’ until the committee interviews them. ‘But it’s very bothersome to me that Jared Kushner has forgotten not once, not twice, but three times to put down this information,’ he said.”
— Ultimately, the question of whether Kushner gets to keep his security clearance may rest with Trump. Politico’s Austin Wright and Josh Dawsey report: “Kushner’s actions — including initially failing to disclose meetings with Russian officials — would be more than enough to cost most federal employees their security clearances, according to people familiar with the security-clearance process … But Kushner isn’t your average federal government employee … The security clearance process is ultimately rooted in executive authority, not law, meaning the president himself is the ultimate arbiter. It is extremely rare for a president to wade into such an issue, experts said, but Trump does have the power, if he wanted to, to demand that Kushner keep his clearance.”
— Alexa Corse reports for the Wall Street Journal on the hundreds of thousands of attempts to hack individual states’ voting systems during last year’s election: “On Election Day alone, there were nearly 150,000 attempts to penetrate the state’s voter-registration system, according to a postelection report by the South Carolina State Election Commission … In harder-fought Illinois … hackers were hitting the State Board of Elections ‘5 times per second, 24 hours per day’ from late June until Aug. 12, 2016, when the attacks ceased for unknown reasons … Hackers ultimately accessed approximately 90,000 voter records, the State Board of Elections said … South Carolina’s and Illinois’s cases aren’t unique, as many states faced virtual threats. There is evidence that 21 states were potentially targeted by hackers.”
— Trump still blames Attorney General Jeff Sessions, at least in part, for his Russia woes. Axios’s Jonathan Swan reports: “Sessions’ administration allies were hoping President Trump could, as he himself might say, see his way clear to letting it go. But that’s not happening. Trump’s initial fury about Sessions’ recusal from the Russia probe has turned to a simmering resentment that may have permanently poisoned their relationship, according to sources close to both of them. … In Trump’s mind, Sessions bowed to political pressure and gave an opening to his enemies (Democrats and the media) … This tension hasn’t had any visible impact on Sessions’ agenda at the Justice Department, where he has taken a sledgehammer to Obama’s legacy … Also, it was never true — and it remains untrue — that Trump ever wanted to get rid of Sessions. He appreciates his value, even if it’ll never quite be the same again.”
— Ousted FBI Director Jim Comey is writing a book about his career — including his time in the Trump administration. The New York Times’s Alexandra Alter reports: “The book is expected to go to auction this coming week, and all the major publishing houses have expressed keen interest … The book will not be a conventional tell-all memoir, but an exploration of the principles that have guided Mr. Comey through some of the most challenging moments of his legal career. Among those are his investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server during a contentious election, and his recent entanglement with the president over the F.B.I.’s inquiry into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.”
Donald Trump met British Prime Minister Theresa May on July 8.
THE NEW WORLD ORDER:
— During a conversation with British Prime Minister Theresa May, Trump reportedly said that he would not make his state visit to the United Kingdom until he was guaranteed better coverage and a more positive reception. The Sun’s David Wooding reports: “A transcript of the chat, seen by senior diplomats, reveals his touchiness. Mr. Trump says: ‘I haven’t had great coverage out there lately, Theresa.’ She replies awkwardly: ‘Well, you know what the British press are like.’ He replies: ‘I still want to come, but I’m in no rush … So, if you can fix it for me, it would make things a lot easier … When I know I’m going to get a better reception, I’ll come and not before.’”
— Trump’s comment to the first lady of France that she was “in such great shape” raised many eyebrows, including those of Australia’s foreign minister. Avi Selk reports: “‘You’re in such good shape, such good physical shape, beautiful,’ the [Australian Broadcasting Corporation] host told Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, quoting Trump. ‘Would you be flattered or offended?’ This was arguably a politically sensitive question, what with alliance and all. But the foreign minister didn’t hesitate. ‘I’d be taken aback,’ Bishop said. And then this zinger: ‘I wonder if she could say the same of him?’”
SOCIAL MEDIA SPEED READ:
Trump tweeted a lot over the weekend, and reprised his attacks on Hillary Clinton to defend Don Jr.’s behavior:
HillaryClinton can illegally get the questions to the Debate delete 33,000 emails but my son Don is being scorned by the Fake News Media?
His son wasn’t the only subject of the president’s tweets. Trump tweeted eight times since Friday about the Women’s U.S. Open, an event being held at one of his golf courses:
Thank you to all of the supporters, who far out-numbered the protesters, yesterday at the Women’s U.S. Open. Very cool!
The author of « Wild » noted the irony in the postponement:
Paul Ryan criticized Senate Democrats for obstruction of Trump’s appointments:
From a writer at Vox:
This, from the chief strategist on Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign, about Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow’s claim that the Secret Service (which wasn’t actually protecting Trump Jr. at the time) should have vetted the people at Don Jr.’s meeting:
A note on the Trump campaign paying Don Jr.’s legal fees:
N.B. If Trump campaign can pay for Donald Jr.’s legal fees, it means the meeting was campaign related.
— The New Yorker, “How Trump Is Transforming Rural America,” by Peter Hessler: “The region is a Republican stronghold in a state that is starkly divided. Clinton won the Colorado popular vote by a modest margin, but Trump took nearly twice as many counties. The difference came from Denver and Boulder, two populous and liberal enclaves on the Front Range, the eastern side of the Rockies—the Colorado equivalents of New York and California. ‘Donald Trump lost those two counties by two hundred and seventy-three thousand votes, and he won the rest of the state by a hundred and forty thousand votes,’ Steve House, the former chair of the state Republican Party, told me. ‘That means that most of Colorado, in my mind, is a conservative state.’”
— The Atlantic, “What The ‘Crack Baby’ Panic Reveals About The Opioid Epidemic,” by Vann R. Newkirk II: “‘Crack baby’ brings to mind hopeless, damaged children with birth defects and intellectual disabilities who would inevitably grow into criminals. It connotes inner-city blackness, and also brings to mind careless, unthinking black mothers who’d knowingly exposed their children to the ravages of cocaine. Although the science that gave the world the term was based on a weak proto-study of only 23 children and has been thoroughly debunked since, the panic about ‘crack babies’ stuck. The term made brutes out of people of color who were living through wave after waves of what were then the deadliest drug epidemics in history … Today’s opioid epidemic presents a mostly-white face to the world, and the larger ‘epidemic of despair’ tends to target communities in vaunted ‘Middle America,’ as opposed to inner-city Baltimore and Detroit. And with that changing face comes better results.”
— New York Magazine, “How ‘Neoliberalism’ Became the Left’s Favorite Insult of Liberals,” by Jonathan Chait: “The neoliberalism of the 1980s and 1990s has faded into memory, as its adherents failed to settle on a coherent set of principles other than a general posture of counterintuitive skepticism … [But the term] has returned to American political discourse with a vengeance. Then, as now, it is an attempt to win an argument with an epithet. Only this time, it is neoliberal that is the term of abuse. And the term neoliberal doesn’t mean a faction of liberals. It now refers to liberals generally, and it is applied by their left-wing critics. The word is now ubiquitous, popping up in almost any socialist polemic against the Democratic Party or the center-left. Obama’s presidency? It was ‘the last gasp of neoliberalism.’ Why did Hillary Clinton lose? It was her neoliberalism. Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz? Neoliberals both.”
— Los Angeles Times, “Darrell Issa was Obama’s toughest critic. Here’s why he’s suddenly sounding like a moderate,” by Sarah D. Wire: “As chairman of the committee charged with overseeing the executive branch, Issa was once known as President Obama’s toughest critic. Now the richest man in Congress has found himself with protesters at his door, no committee to lead, and a tough race expected in 2018. It has forced the nine-term congressman to walk a shaky line, reassuring his conservative base that he’s not moderating his positions while showing the growing number of independents and Democrats in his district that he’s not as partisan as people think.”
DAYBOOK:
Trump will have lunch with the vice president followed by a meeting with the secretary of state. He will also have his “Made in America » product showcase later in the afternoon.
Pence will attend the lunch and the showcase, after which he will have a meeting with the president of Serbia. He is scheduled to give a speech at the Christians United for Israel summit in the evening.
NEWS YOU CAN USE IF YOU LIVE IN D.C.:
— Temperatures remain stagnant in D.C. today, but the humidity will rise sharply. The Capital Weather Gang forecasts: “Peak afternoon temperatures are very close to where they were over the weekend: in the upper 80s to near 90. But today feels several degrees hotter as humidity surges back into the region (dew points rise to around 70). Skies are partly sunny, but a few storms bubbling up in our western areas late in the day could jog eastward into the metro (20 to 30 percent chance).”
— Hundreds of protesters who completed a 17-mile march from the NRA’s Northern Virginia headquarters to the Justice Department Saturday morning were met by counter-protesters. Rachel Chason reports: “Men sported National Rifle Association hats and signs declaring ‘free speech is under attack’ and ‘no jihad against our freedoms.’ They said the protesters — who had completed [the match] to denounce a controversial recruitment video — didn’t respect free speech if it challenged their views.”
VIDEOS OF THE DAY:
Stephen Colbert weeded through Rob Goldstone’s Facebook page and offered Cliffnotes for the latest book on Steve Bannon:
Former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton participated in a talk on leadership:
The French president and Israeli prime minister remembered those lost in the Holocaust:
At least nine people died in a flash flood in Arizona:
A program in Italy offers CPR training and swimming classes to migrants traumatized by their crossing:
Flamingoes flocked to their new habitat at D.C.’s National Zoo:
Here’s a recap for the first six seasons of « Game of Thrones, » in case you got lost during last night’s debut:
– WWE’s latest Top 10 video above looks at creative cheaters. Eddie Guerrero throwing a chair at Mr. Kennedy, causing the referee to think Kennedy had used it to award the match to Guerrero, topped the list. Also featured are The Rock using taped remarks from Mankind to win their « I Quit » match, Kurt Angle using his brother to defeat The Undertaker and the Bella Twins using « twin magic. »
– WWE announced today that it has selected Lagardère Sports as its international sponsorship sales agency. From their press release:
As part of the new relationship, the global sports marketing agency will leverage its sponsorship expertise and worldwide sales network to develop the partnership portfolio for the global media and entertainment company in all international regions, except China. As part of this, Lagardère Sports will provide WWE with global sponsorship support and analysis, a custom international sponsorship sales approach and lead on the ground sales efforts.
Lagardère Sports is a full-service sports marketing agency with more than 50 years’ experience and a robust network with offices in more than 70 cities and 1,600 employees globally. The agency is one of the leading marketers of sports rights and has relationships with more than 60,000 rights-holders, brands, hospitality clients and broadcasters globally. Lagardère Sports also has relationships with more than 100 European football clubs, three FIFA associations, and several major U.S. professional sports leagues.
– Paige and Alberto El Patron made their first public appearance following their domestic dispute at the Orlando airport last week. PWInsider posted the video above of the couple at a soccer game on Sunday:
Eric Robinson and Charles Maynard contributed to this article. Follow Raj Giri on Twitter at @RajGiri_303. Got a news tip or correction? Send it to us by clicking here.
Snap wants to make it easier for advertisers to go vertical.
Starting today, advertisers of all sizes will be able to create full screen video ads in less than two minutes using just a web browser, thanks to a slick new creative tool called Snapchat Publisher.
The tool comes on the heels of a particularly brutal week for Snapchat’s parent Snap, with its stock sliding and several banks cutting their price targets on its stock. The company faces intense pressure to grow its ad business as a newly-public company, with both investors and advertisers being worried about slowing user growth as Instagram ramps up its efforts to crush Snapchat.
Snapchat made it possible for brands of all stripes to buy ads via a self-serve buying option called Ad Manager just last month. Now, with Snap Publisher marketers have a new set of tools that they can use to quickly craft Snapchat-oriented ads.
Here’s how it works: Brands can open the Snap Publisher tool and click on the “Create a Snap” option. They can then choose their desired template, and easily upload their own photos, videos and logos to the templates, before saving and publishing their ads to Snapchat’s Ad Manager.
Brands — particularly small businesses — haven’t had it easy when it comes to advertising on Snapchat so far. Until now, they were forced to spend considerable time and resources to reformat and convert their existing assets into Snapchat’s vertical video format.
The Publisher tool theoretically levels the playing field, allowing brands to quickly and efficiently create Snap ads by importing their existing brand assets and trimming their horizontal videos for the vertical format. One feature, for example, even uses computer vision to detect when a video switches scenes, and allows brands to automatically cut videos along these scene changes or select just one scene for the ad.
Snapchat isn’t the first only digital media player to provide ad creation tools geared toward ad agencies and brands. Snap’s rival Facebook, for example, has the tools Ads Manager, Power Editor and Creative Hub.
But in Snapchat’s case, marketers can both build and buy ads in a single web-based interface.
« The user interface and user experience is fairly intuitive, and it was pretty easy to get ads up and running, » Adrienne Gaines, head of marketing at Function of Beauty, an up-and-coming beauty brand that participated in a beta test for the new tool, told Business Insider. « Snap Publisher removes the barriers to entry and makes it easy for smaller brands to advertise on the platform. »
Gaines added that the brand had pushed Snapchat aside as a part of its marketing mix until now, because it had a limited marketing budget and not a ton of video creative. But the tool allowed Function of Beauty to test out ads just by animating and enhancing its existing product images.
The brand targeted a female millennial audience using these ads, testing them out over a period of two days. The ads drove viewers to its website for a quiz, and the brand was able to pay 50% less than what it pays for ads on its other social media channels, said Gaines.
According to Gaines, Function of Beauty’s beta-test was successful. But she wondered what might happen to ad pricing on Snapchat as more marketers come on board.
Since 1985, Joel Riplie has opened 45 video game stores. Calling each Video Game Exchange, he approaches them like a reality show — he finds a location, fixes it up, stocks it with games, gets the business running smoothly and then, when the right offer comes along, he sells it.
« Any time somebody calls in, we go to the warehouse and dig out an inventory and we open another store, » he says, initially taking my call in the back of his shop, away from customers, because he thinks I might want to buy it.
The strategy has worked well for Riplie, allowing him to live across the U.S. and kickstart dozens of small businesses. He keeps a warehouse with enough stock to open 10 stores « tomorrow » if the situation presents itself, he says.
But in recent years he’s seen less demand from those looking to buy him out. He’s been in one of his current locations for more than seven years. The calls have become less frequent.
It’s an old story at this point — internet sales and large corporations have made it harder for small stores to compete, and the game industry adds its own challenges. In 2017, even mainstream retail chain GameStop has been struggling to keep up as more and more players buy games online.
Trade N Games in Fenton, Mo.Jonathan Castillo
Riplie, who eventually plans to double down on online sales as an exit plan, gives his retail business five to 10 years. « I’m not sure that I think it’s gonna be around in 10 or 20 years, » he says. « I really don’t. »
Jason Brassard, owner of Trade N Games in Fenton, Mo., gives the same five-to-10-year timeframe. « I don’t think this industry, in retail, is left in 10 years, » he says. « … No, not in the least bit. I mean, there will be some collectibles, but paying two employees who work full time and paying a few thousand in rent, nah. No way. Not a chance. »
To break down why some feel this way, we recently dug into the specific costs of running an independent game store in the U.S., and talked to more than 15 store owners and managers about the process. From telling stories of Amazon selling games for less than wholesale distributors, to opening their books and showing the costs of everything from insurance to paper towels, they paint a picture of an industry doing its best to keep its head above water.
Some disagree with the five-to-10-year predictions and say they expect to be around for the long haul, pointing to loyal customers and a recent upswing in retro collectors, but most agree it’s a tough business with ever-growing challenges in making the math work.
Photo tour
Photographer Jonathan Castillo recently drove from California to New Hampshire, taking photos of small game stores along the way. You can see his work scattered throughout this story.
4JAYS Video Games in Antioch, Calif.
Jonathan Castillo
World 8 in Los Angeles, Calif.
Jonathan Castillo
Cap’n Games in Sparks, Nev.
Jonathan Castillo
Video Game Exchange in St. George, Utah
Jonathan Castillo
People Play Games in Chicago, Ill.
Jonathan Castillo
Trade N Games in Fenton, Mo.
Jonathan Castillo
Stateline Video Games in Feeding Hills, Mass.
Jonathan Castillo
Digital Press in Clifton, N.J.
Jonathan Castillo
Infinity Gaming in Hickory, N.C.
Jonathan Castillo
Game On: Retroware Video Games Toys in Muscle Shoals, Ala.
Jonathan Castillo
1N Video Games in Santa Rosa, Calif.
Jonathan Castillo
Game Dude in North Hollywood, Calif.
Jonathan Castillo
Gamers Anonymous in Albuquerque, N.M.
Jonathan Castillo
The Gaming Zone in Tempe, Ariz.
Jonathan Castillo
Core Gaming in Salem, N.H.
Jonathan Castillo
Complete in Box in Ephrata, Pa.
Jonathan Castillo
Wholesale costs
One of the first lessons many store owners learn is that they aren’t part of the game industry. They exist on its fringes, and it will humor them, but game publishers hold the cards. If small stores want to play, they play by publishers’ rules.
Case in point: new game sales.
In the late ’80s, a store owner could buy an NES game for around $25 wholesale from a distributor and sell it for, in some cases, $50. Accounting for inflation, today that would mean a profit of just under $50 per sale.
In our research of wholesale rates available to small stores in 2017, the lowest price we found — for a new game that retails at $60 — was $49. The highest was $59, and most fell between $50 and $55. So in a hypothetical utopia, a store could make $11 per sale. Yet there are hurdles that prevent them from making even that much.
In most cases, they pay more per copy — of the stores we spoke to, only one has gotten a $49 rate in recent years, and that came with buying a few hundred copies at a time, which many stores can’t handle. Stores also have to factor in shipping costs (or gas if they use a local distributor), taxes and credit card processing fees, on top of rent, payroll and the general costs of running a business.
Excluding broader store costs, many locations end up making $5 or $6 per sale, and that’s if they sell every copy they bring in. From there, things get more complicated when game publishers decide to lower the game’s official sale price before a store sells through the stock it bought at the original rate.
« Video games nowadays price-drop faster than I’ve ever seen before, » says Spenser Brossman at Complete in Box in Ephrata, Pa. « There are times where we’ll order a $60 game and a week, maybe a week and a half later it’ll be down to 40 bucks. »
It makes for a gamble as stores have to guess how many copies they can sell before a game drops in price.
« I always joke to my guys that I always get it wrong, » says Brossman.
Nearly everyone we spoke to for this story praised Nintendo as a publisher that generally doesn’t drop the retail price on its games, but some point to the 2016 fall lineup as particularly tough for price drops from other publishers, calling out games like Battleborn and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare that dropped quicker than expected.
Stateline Video Games in Feeding Hills, Mass.Jonathan Castillo
« In the case of Battleborn … within a week it had dropped 10 bucks so there goes our entire profit, » says Edgar Garcia at World 8 in Los Angeles, Calif. « So we’re trying to break even, but then the reviews come out or Overwatch gets more praise and then it gets dropped another 10 bucks and now we’re losing 10 bucks every time we sell a copy. »
« Your profit margin is so slim on these games, » says Frank Bond of Stateline Video Games in Feeding Hills, Mass. « I have a whole showcase full of games we’re selling online right now, of games I probably paid $52 for and I’m selling for $15 and $12. »
These sorts of numbers are why many independent stores have long avoided new game sales, focusing on used games and other services.
Brassard at Trade N Games stopped carrying new games years ago. He says the main issue isn’t that he would lose money if he stocked them but that it would tie up capital he could put to better use elsewhere. Brassard says he used to stomach the thin margins on new games because they encouraged customers to trade in more used games in order to afford the new ones, but in the long run, it wasn’t worth it.
« We’ve done the math, » he says. « … It’d be a $25,000 investment in new releases just to keep it flowing in and out. Minimum. »
Jake Stoner at Cap’n Games in Sparks, Nev. simply has an Amazon Prime account and preorders one copy of every new game. Since Amazon offers 20 percent off preorders, he gets a lower per-unit price than distributors offer. Then he turns those around for a $5 profit on each.
« I don’t try to mislead my customers, but I’ll let them know that I’ll have one, » he says. « So if you want it, that’s great. I don’t have an issue with that. But I’ll only have one. And that works OK. But most of the time, I just refer people elsewhere. »
For some like Brossman at Complete in Box, though, it’s worth it to suck it up and play the distribution game. He points out that certain items have even worse margins than new games, noting that he pays $29.90 for a Microsoft gift card that sells for $30. If a customer buys that with a credit card, his store loses money on the sale.
« Sometimes you just kind of have to eat it, » he says. « … You just do that, just hoping, ‘Well I hope they’ll remember this. I hope that they’ll come back.' »
Street dates
For stores that carry new games, another challenge comes with sometimes having to sell lesser versions of those games. While GameStop, Amazon and others carry enough weight to strike deals with game publishers for exclusive pre-order bonuses on some games, small stores are generally stuck with vanilla copies.
As a way to give themselves an advantage, some small stores choose to sell games before their official release dates — a move that helps them sell through new stock quickly but comes with a certain amount of risk.
Similar to the tough margins, this isn’t new. Game publishers have been cracking down on stores that break street dates for decades, sifting out unreliable distributors and retailers. And distributors often have formal processes in place — some take the option away from stores by delivering games less than a day ahead of release or forcing stores to pick games up in person if they want them on the day. They also typically make stores sign contracts with large penalties if those stores get caught breaking dates.
Complete in Box has to sign a new agreement with distributor DH every fall, for instance, specially mentioning that it won’t sell Activision products early. The types of agreements vary by publisher and distributor.
« There’s been places around here that have done it on purpose, selling stuff early, » says Spenser Brossman of Compete in Box, « and Activision will go to DH and be like, ‘What’s up?’ And DH will go, ‘Well, we’re dropping them.’ And that’s huge. Because say if we were dropped … it’s like, ‘Oh man, we only have a couple more choices.’ Or we’ve got to worry about shipping them from super far away or whatever the case is. »
Jay Gelman, CEO of distributor Alliance, says he’s had to cut stores off for breaking street dates in the past, « when we were more trusting, » but he doesn’t see violations often these days.
Alliance funnels games to a wide range of customers, from independent stores to major retail chains like GameStop and Burlington Coat Factory, and helps with fulfillment orders from websites like Walmart.com and Target.com. And Gelman says that over the 14 years Alliance has been in business, he’s seen publishers (« vendors ») get much more aggressive about finding which games end up where.
At Cap’n Games in in Sparks, Nev., owner Jake Stoner bypasses wholesale distributors and buys new games from Amazon, making it impossible for him to break street dates.Jonathan Castillo
« The thing about this business which is very difficult is there’s no exclusivity, » he says. « So the same retailer could buy the same game from me and buy it from one of my competitors, and if my competitor’s not as vigilant, that retailer could break the street date while I had nothing to do with that offense. That’s where the vendors have become much better. They’ve identified that a lot more and I would say have weeded out certain distributors that were issues when it came to street dates. »
Despite that, some stores still work around the system.
When Garcia started World 8 in Los Angeles, he admits he broke street dates. In the store’s first couple years, he was buying in small quantities and didn’t have agreements in place with larger distributors, so he would often find ways of getting games without signing contracts. And when he did, he figured selling those games early would give World 8 an edge.
« The thing is, it’s not technically a law, » he says. « There’s no law saying you can’t. It’s just a contract thing. »
He says he never got in trouble, but when his store grew and signed with larger distributors, he saw they had more formal processes in place and decided it wasn’t worth the risk and hassle.
« My most hated release of every year is the 2Ks, » he says. « When NBA 2K or Madden, or any 2K really, comes out, people go nuts. And they’re willing to pay $100, and they’ll show up to the store and they’ll say, ‘Oh hey, do you have this game?’ And we’ll say, ‘No, it’ll be out next week.’ And they’ll say, ‘I know you have it. I’ll give you an extra hundred dollars,’ blah blah blah. We could do it, but there’s no loyalty there. These guys are not going to think of us when they buy a game. They’re just going to go to every store until they get it. »
Another store owner, who requested anonymity so game publishers won’t hassle him, says he regularly breaks street dates because it generates loyal customers, noting that selling a game even an hour early can make a big difference to people.
He says he’s been selling games early for years and isn’t overly worried because he doesn’t sign contracts — i.e., if he got caught, his distributor would be the one to get in trouble, not him. He simply is careful about who he sells to, makes sure not to give out dated receipts on those sales and if anyone comes around asking questions, he denies the sales happened.
Financially, he says he doesn’t see a big upside from these sales; he doesn’t charge more for them. He just thinks it’s fair because of how difficult game publishers make it for small stores to profit on new game sales otherwise.
Used games
With all the challenges tied to new game sales, the big money for small stores has long come from cutting out the middleman and selling used games. And that’s where many store owners and managers waver on the health of the business.
On a base level, the margins work much more in their favor. Many owners and managers speak proudly about giving customers more money or credit for their games than GameStop and selling games back to customers for less than GameStop, all while making larger margins than they do on new games. They say the only times that’s not the case are when GameStop offers special promotions.
The margins vary wildly depending on the store and game. At Core Gaming in Salem, N.H., Matt Hickey says they generally mark up games 75% above what they pay for them to offset a large inventory and showroom. At 4JAYS in Antioch, CA, Jody De Amaral says they typically mark a $1 game up 100% but scale down from there, getting down to 25 to 35% as the game becomes worth around $40. Some stores skew higher, and their customers often feel gouged. Others skew lower and try to make up the difference in volume.
A handful of stores also point to a « retro boom » over the past five years, noting significantly increased interest in games more than 10 years old.
At Digital Press in Clifton, N.J., Leonard Agrusti says that, over the past three years, he’s seen five rival retro game stores open within 30 minutes of him. And he’s seen a number of retro trends that the store has been able to ride from a massive uptick in NES collecting in 2015 to, « out of nowhere, » PSPs selling super fast in late 2016.
Many stores we spoke to for this story reported Nintendo games among their best sellers, noting that — on average — Nintendo’s games tend to hold their value better than those from other publishers.Jonathan Castillo
Multiple stores point out how they are ideally positioned to hop on trends like these, overstocking Pokémon games when Pokémon Go funneled customers their way and advertising alternatives to Nintendo’s NES Classic when it sold out.
The downsides list runs long, though, largely revolving around the inevitable internet competition and how players can buy and sell online with an almost unlimited audience. Since eBay took off in the late ’90s, this problem has been hanging around, and many stores say it’s gotten worse in recent years.
For 4JAYS, this means they see far fewer rare games and big deliveries from customers. In the store’s early days in the late ’90s, De Amaral says they regularly took in valuable collections, in part because they were one of the only stores nearby buying games from the public. She remembers a time a customer drove a van of Atari and Commodore computers up from Los Angeles — about a six-hour drive — just to get rid of them for a dollar a piece. Or other times, customers would invite 4JAYS staff to their houses to help clear out garages filled with games.
« We literally would just be getting in car loads full of stuff because people didn’t want it, » says De Amaral. « They didn’t know what to do with it anymore. »
Now, De Amaral says, those sorts of collections don’t fall into their laps nearly as often. And many stores point out that when customers sell games, they tend to be much pickier about checking prices online first. They aren’t hurting for options.
« If you just talk Craigslist, sure, » says Trade N Games’ Brassard, « but let’s just talk Facebook sale pages. Let’s talk Let Go. Let’s talk Flip It. Let’s talk all these other outlets … people can take payments and swipe them on their phones when they meet in a parking lot, or they can just take PayPal now verbally, and so on. It used to be they would have to go to a store if they needed cash quick, but nowadays a lot of people don’t even see cash. »
Complete in Box in Ephrata, Pa. sells mystery bags of old games for customers willing to take their chances.Jonathan Castillo
Depending on where a store is located, it may also have to deal with laws rooted in pawn shop sales that require stores to hold merchandise it buys from the public before selling it. At People Play Games in Chicago, IL and Video Game Exchange in St. George, UT, for example, they have to hold used merchandise they buy for 30 days, which ties up money.
« It’s a little bit difficult when you’re coming on to holiday seasons and you’re seeing good deals that are coming in the door, but you’re on a 30-day hold, » says Riplie at Video Game Exchange.
Still, some see the benefit of convenience of having a local store and think it overshadows many of the other issues.
« Amazon, eBay, Half.com, all those places, you want to think they would hurt you as a small business, » says Stoner at Cap’n Games. « I mean, you really want to. ‘There’s so much competition, and blah blah blah.’ But a lot of people are lazy. Or they’ve been burned so hard on eBay or Amazon that they don’t want to deal with that anymore, and so they’d rather shop local. They’d rather go pick it up and hold it in their hands today versus wait three days, get something that’s crap and then have to send it back and deal with that headache. »
And some also see the internet as an advantage, finding success in Google and Facebook marketing.
« Facebook’s been huge for us, » says De Amaral at 4JAYS. « Since we started doing Facebook, we’ve gotten a ton more business. » She says the difference is particularly notable when compared to legacy marketing ideas like newspaper ads and local flyers. « No one’s really looking at that stuff anymore, it seems. »
World 8 in Los Angeles, Calif. makes more selling merchandise than it does video games.Jonathan Castillo
To adapt with the changes in times, many small stores are also expanding more and more beyond game sales. They are focusing more on peripheral merchandise like statues and plush dolls, holding more tournaments and doing more hardware repairs. Basically, they’re using the idea of them as game stores to get people in the door, then finding related items or services to sell once customers show up.
In the case of Alhambra, Calif.-based Japan Video Games, the store has kept its name from its early days as an import game shop but generally no longer carries video games, focusing on licensed toys instead.
« There’s no way we could keep the store open selling strictly video games, » says World 8’s Garcia. « Fortunately, in the last two/three years we’ve gotten into all sorts of other stuff. … I mean, whatever we could to make up the numbers to try to break even. » He estimates that 75% of the store’s profits come from nongame items.
Multiple stores point out that one of the key upsides to selling items other than games is they work well as impulse buys, and they aren’t the sorts of things customers always know to look for online or know what they should expect to pay for them. At Complete in Box, Brossman says they regularly sell action figures and comic books at a 100% markup over the wholesale cost, though it can be harder to predict how well these will sell well compared to games.
Cap’n Games in Sparks, Nev. keeps its test and repair station organized.Jonathan Castillo
At Digital Press, a store with its deep roots in the classic game collecting community, Agrusti says they are doubling down on things customers can’t always do themselves, such as repairs.
« Doing repairs, I feel like, is much more important now than ever, » he says, noting that many older consoles are reaching the age that they are starting to break down more regularly. « Because when we started, we did the basic repairs, like repinning NESs, replacing batteries in games. Now we’re doing a bit more. There’s more things you have to do. Replacing the back of the Super Nintendo happens a lot more now. »
That extends to mods as well, he says, and he sees the demand for those continually rise.
« Almost everyone’s trying to put an HDMI in everything these days, » he says.
Hidden costs
Any time a store deals with buying games from the public, it has to consider variable factors as well — such as theft, seller scams and a wide range of customer tricks.
The majority of stores we spoke to say they run into minor issues with customers trying to sell pirated or stolen games, and that those have calmed down over the years.
« Most of the time we get pirated stuff in, it’s not on purpose, » says Alejandro Ramirez at The Gaming Zone in Tempe, Ariz. « It’s like, ‘Oh I’ve got this stack of burned games. Do you guys want it?’ And we’re like, ‘No.' »
« I know how to spot a fake Pokémon game a mile away, » says Bond at Stateline.
When customers arrive with stolen games or consoles, stores get similarly cautious because of the financial risk. Policies range by store, with some requiring fingerprints that go into a police database, but many say they regularly decline to purchase anything they even suspect could be stolen. It’s not worth the risk of the police seizing it, they say, leaving the store out whatever it paid.
« If a guy comes in and tries to sell you a PlayStation for 10, 20 bucks, you know it’s stolen, » says Garcia at World 8. « But you know, it’s a tough business so most people would just go, ‘Yeah that’s fine. Whatever.’ Because they don’t expect anyone to follow through with trying to find an old system. But it happens. »
At People Play Games in Chicago, Ill., the staff has to hold anything purchased from customers for 30 days before selling it, due to local laws.Jonathan Castillo
Then there’s an issue that many retail stores face from time to time: robberies.
Stoner at Cap’n Games recalls a recent incident where a man called the store just before closing time, asking for it to stay open so he could sell a PlayStation 4 Pro. Stoner’s wife stayed and the guy arrived, offering the console for $80 while his friend went around the rest of the store stealing things off the shelves. Stoner saw the incident on his security cameras and called the police, who ended up arresting the duo. Stoner later discovered the two had a trunk filled with guns for a gang in San Jose.
Stoner says it’s a running joke amongst his employees that he’s always listening through cameras placed around the store, even when he’s not there. There are « a lot of things in place just to cover my ass in case something bad happens, » he says.
He also points to issues competing with those selling games at flea markets. He says he’s run into a group of people that will sell their games at a local flea market, then bring whatever they can’t sell to his store to trade for bigger name titles like « my Marios, my Pokémons, my Zeldas » that they can sell the next week.
« Of course, I’ve gotten wise to it, » he says. « I ended up giving them a dime for this and a nickel for that. They still come back. [Laughs] Because if you can’t move it, you can’t move it. You just sit on it for nothing. »
Store breakdown
As with any retail business, the product is only a small part of what it costs to keep things running.
Every store’s situation is different. Some have larger square footage and therefore need to add employees, or pay more for insurance if they have enough glass on their exterior. Some pay for health insurance for their employees. Some rent warehouses or storage space off site to store extra games. Some set up booths at conventions to sell additional games.
Gamers Anonymous in in Albuquerque, N.M. takes a relatively straightforward approach. It sells new and used games and doesn’t branch out into related fields like comics or movies. It sells some merchandise, but it makes the bulk of its profits on used games.
Jonathan Sakura, owner of Gamers Anonymous in Albuquerque, N.M.Jonathan Castillo
Owner Jonathan Sakura bought the store in 2007, and says he was inspired by Japan-based chain Super Potato to turn it into something that celebrated games with rare items and marketing materials around the store.
For this story, he opened the store’s books to give Polygon a breakdown of all the money that goes into running it.
To keep Gamers Anonymous going on an average month, costs include $3,400 for payroll, $1,800 for rent, $976 for taxes, $250 for a miscellaneous bucket of minor expenses like cleaning supplies from Walmart, $200 for a point of sale system, $175 for credit card processing, $150 for electricity, $150 for insurance, $150 for internet and phone, $150 for an accountant, $100 for advertising, $100 for a FiveStars customer rewards program, $30 for gas and $6 for web hosting.
To stock the shelves, Sakura spends approximately $1,500 a month on new game and peripheral orders from distributors, and another $1,500 to buy used games from customers. That latter number varies, however, based on what customers bring in, and whether they want cash or store credit. (As part of a recent deal, a customer sold Gamers Anonymous a large collection for $15,000, throwing off the store’s monthly averages.)
Added up, that comes to $10,637 in a given month, which the store has generally been able to make back with a small buffer to keep things going, selling, on average, just under 1,000 of the store’s 4,500 games each month for approximately $12,000 in revenue. The numbers fluctuate through the year, though, slowing down in October and ramping up from November to February.
« There’s a misperception, sort of, of how a business has to make its money, » says Sakura. « You know, it’s really easy to walk up to some place and say, ‘Oh, well they just want to rip you off. They just want your money.’ Which, sure, if you’re a business, absolutely we do [want your money]. But we like to do it not through high-volume sales or high profit margins, but to establish a good relationship with our customers. …
Jason Brassard, owner of Trade N Games in Fenton, Mo.Jonathan Castillo
« We’re not making dollars hand over fist like Walmart or GameStop. We’re making enough to survive and build the store slowly, essentially. »
Trade N Games’ numbers look relatively similar, with higher payroll ($4,000), rent ($3,000) and cost of games ($6,500) to cover a larger, 2,000-square foot, space with total costs adding up to $16,530 per month.
« If we [make] $17,000 to $18,000 in sales for the month, that’s just enough, » says Brassard. « That’s just barely enough. »
The numbers are tight enough for many that regional differences like minimum wage and rent costs can make or break a store. In our research for this story, we found zero independent game stores in San Francisco where rents are high. Forty-five miles away in the suburb of Antioch, 4JAYS makes the math work by staying in a cheap area that has low foot traffic and « Drug Free Zone » signs scattered around the streets outside.
« Mainly, we decided that we wanted it to be affordable for people to buy video games, » says 4JAYS’ De Amaral. « … [We wanted to] keep our overhead low so we didn’t have to, you know, be like another GameStop or some of our competitors that are pretty high ticket on their items. »
And there’s no lower overhead than getting rid of retail space altogether, as many selling exclusively through Amazon and eBay already have.
« That’d be the future, » says Brassard. « That’d be no need to pay employees or pay rent. Just do it all out of the house and write off whatever it is — 10 or 15 percent of the house — for business and just roll with it. My rent is $59.95 a month for my website, not $3,000. »
Momentum
Ultimately, none of this matters to someone who just wants a game. Many customers have nostalgic memories of visiting local stores, but for those looking for the best deals, they’ll generally find them online. And as time goes on, more and more games will be available digitally, and retail store costs will keep going up.
The longer a store sticks around, the higher things like rent, payroll and insurance will go up. And game profits won’t always rise to match the higher expenses. A store that made a healthy profit 10 years ago, without any changes to its customers or sales, may lose money today.
So with all the challenges involved in running a small game store, why do many continue to do it?
For De Amaral at 4JAYS, it’s partially to keep the family business going. Her family has run the store for almost two decades — « 4JAYS » refers to four family members whose names all start with « J » — and it’s a place for her and her parents to spend time together.
She says the store makes enough money to pay one person’s salary, but not to support the three full-time staff they have. They make it work since two of those three are her retired parents who volunteer, and her husband brings in enough to live on through another job. « So my money’s like the fun money, » she says.
« We always joke it’s more of a hobby than it is a business, » she says. « But we like doing it. »
She plans to keep the store running for as long as her father wants to keep working, noting that both of her parents, who are in their 70s, do the bulk of the labor involved in stocking, organizing, repairing and testing inventory.
« So I’m thinking once [my dad] quits, » she says, « I don’t even know that I want to pick up what he does. »
Kevin Hicks of Game On in Muscle Shoals, Ala.
Jonathan Castillo
Spenser Brossman of Complete in Box in Ephrata, Pa.
Jonathan Castillo
Edgar Garcia of World 8 in Los Angeles, Calif.
Jonathan Castillo
Jorge Ramirez of The Gaming Zone in Tempe, Ariz.
Jonathan Castillo
Spencer Moeckel of People Play Games in Chicago, Ill.
Jonathan Castillo
Leonard Agrusti of Digital Press in Clifton, N.J.
Jonathan Castillo
For Kevin Hicks at Game On in Muscle Shoals, Ala., the store also means more to him than just the money it brings in.
Before opening the shop in 2013, he planned to partner with a friend. The two had gone to school together and started selling their own games to friends, then ramped up to running flea market sales. Everything was going well, and he says his family was « shocked » at how much money they were making.
But shortly before opening the retail store, his friend got into a car crash, went into a coma and later died. Hicks remembers buying him a copy of Earthbound as a going-home-from-the-hospital gift; he never had a chance to deliver it.
« It was really tough to try to move on without him, » Hicks says, but he keeps certain items around the store as a sort of memorial, such as a favorite Yu-Gi-Oh! card that sits behind the front counter.
« So that’s like he’s got a piece of himself at this shop. »
For Stoner at Cap’n Games, it’s about having a place to settle down.
He grew up with parents that he describes as « transient minded, » so he moved a lot and dropped out of school at 15 to work with them in the woods. He then carried that approach into his early career, regularly opening small game stores, selling them for cheap (« whatever they had, basically ») and moving somewhere else to start over.
In the ’90s, that meant he often sold stores for around $5,000.
« Then I got married, I had kids, and for some reason, my wife was like, ‘No, I don’t want to move every year,' » he says with a laugh.
Now he’s grown comfortable and says he turned down a $100,000 offer for his current business, and would need an offer over $300,000 « to even consider » selling, despite recent raised rents forcing him to relocate to a pair of nearby locations.
« I don’t plan on moving anymore, » he says.
Game On in Muscle Shoals, Ala.Jonathan Castillo
For Sakura at Gamers Anonymous, and many others we spoke to for this story, it comes down to simply enjoying selling and being around games all day.
The morning before an interview for this story, his store got broken into.
« I walked in this morning and saw my front window smashed in, » he says. « I took a bunch of pictures and was like, ‘Man, this is kind of discouraging.' »
Thinking about it for a moment, though, he says the store is worth the trouble. He reminds himself of another job he had before running Gamers Anonymous — working in a TiVo call center — and says it was hard to feel excited about going to work because he wasn’t excited about the product.
Selling games changed his outlook.
« You know, this is all I’ve wanted, » he says. « I worked in video game retail for so long before this. I know video games. I can give people honest answers, and I can help them find exactly what they want. And that’s all I love doing, just seeing people walk in and walk out with whatever it was they were looking for. »
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