Ezoic released the Ad Revenue Index v2.0 as a part of Customer Week; which began on October 23. The new index boasts a new series of reports that headline the Index additions, called the Niche Trends Index.

Ezoic Launches Ad Revenue Index 2.0: Exposing Global Display Ad Rates By Niche

A flexible workspace provider is set to launch its first operation on Tyneside after signing up for the majority of remaining space at Newcastle’s Portland House.

Wizu workspace firm to launch first offices in Newcastle city centre

Growing North East dental group Queensway has been acquired by national healthcare company Dentex in an undisclosed deal.

North East dental group Queensway snapped up in key investment deal by Dentex

The firm was one of 200 to be selected from thousands of applicants for this year's TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200 event

Wootzano takes North East tech to San Francisco for world leading start-up show

Founder and chief executive Sarat Pediredla has called the ambition 'audacious' but says it will help attract top talent

Hedgehog Lab sets out goal to become £50m business amid raft of senior hires

A US tech firm is moving its UK headquarters into modern offices in Newcastle city centre. Technology provider Ezoic UK Ltd – the UK arm of California group Ezoic – has become the latest name to announce it is relocating operations to Portland House ...

US tech firm Ezoic moves head office into Newcastle city centre

The UK headquarters of Ezoic UK Ltd will be based at Portland House from next month after the firm signed a 12-year lease on over 8,000 sq ft of space within the first floor of the eco-friendly workplace. Ezoic develops AI technology for digital publishers ...

Newcastle offices welcome new tenant following multi-million-pound investment

The UK headquarters of Ezoic UK Ltd will be based at Portland House from next month after the firm signed a 12-year lease on more than 8,000 sq.ft of space within the first floor. Ezoic develops AI technology for digital publishers that aimed at improving ...

Technology provider signs at Portland House

Ezoic

ezoic

Starting a newsletter businesses is the hot business model right now, and justifiably so. But many people on X have been questioning whether we are in a newsletter bubble: I think it’s about to go 10x due to AI. In this story, I explain how to leverage AI tools to make operating newsletters far easier, and why this trend will displace agencies. But first, let me explain why I think newsletters will become the gateway online business model drug, taking over from the SEO blogs and content sites we currently see on all the big marketplaces such as Flippa and Empire Flippers. The Rise of Newsletter Businesses The cost of starting a newsletter is $0, with platforms like beehiiv that make it simple to launch, monetize and scale. And by building and nurturing a newsletter audience that engages with your content, and trusts your picks and expertise, you're able to unlock sponsorship revenue at far higher CPMs (cost per 1000 opens to advertisers) than you can make with websites. Website advertising platforms such as Ezoic can generate a strong $10-$20 earnings per thousand views, but newsletters typically command a $50 CPM in the business niche, with investing being higher, and AI a bit lower. https://hackernoon.com/the-35-best-ai-newsletters-on-beehiiv?embedable=true So with a 50K email list, and a 50% open rate, an email send with just one ad unit (you should have multiple) will earn you $2,500. And you can also monetize in so many other ways: Subscription fees
Paid recommendations
Sponsored editions
Own products
Community access
Lead generation
Affiliate marketing As you own your list, the newsletter business model is much more defensible than building niche sites that are dependent on SEO traffic, something I used to do and wrote about back in 2018 (when Hackernoon was on Medium) with Want To Hack Wealth? Flip Websites Not Cryptos. And you can sell these media assets for currently $2-5 per subscriber plus a multiple of revenue on the newsletter marketplace Duuce. https://hackernoon.com/i-built-and-sold-a-newsletter-for-5-figures-heres-how?embedable=true The key part missing right now, which takes up the majority of the time operating newsletter businesses, is the sourcing and writing of news stories. Fortunately there are now AI solutions to help with this burden, and we’ll start with the usual suspects, before moving to new dedicated newsletter software. AI Optimization Just like AI has been revolutionizing content sites, it’s now hitting newsletter businesses. And I’ve been using it to help with my own newsletters such as Digital Asset Investor, and within my newsletter agency Letter Operators. We’ve sifted through 100s of applications for writers, given test stories to the best ones, and quickly realized that AI summarizes and generates output better than 90% of them. And obviously with no grammatical errors. We now take the AI output and give it to human editors who add a layer of opinion that all newsletters need to compete in an increasingly AI dominated world. Although I’m sure a forthcoming ChatGPT 5 would be able to give such thoughts! This AI content + human editing model was first created by Content at Scale, the AI platform that enables website owners to output SEO-optimized content, who coined the term Artificial Intelligence Optimization (AIO). They even teach people how to make money in this new role as an AIO editor, or AIO agency owner where you can boost your agency profit margins from a decent 40% to over 70%. The AIO Process for Newsletters So what does this AI optimization look like and how can you implement within your own newsletter business? We’ll start with the usual chat suspects, and then move to a new dedicated newsletter tool. First up, you need your sources, where you will find stories from in your niche. Sure you can create a spreadsheet listing all the top blogs and news sites in your niche, but it’s far easier to pull the RSS into a tool that aggregates them and makes it easier to check. Or you can simply ask the AI chat bots, although as Chat GPT can’t search the web out of the box (you need access to the browsing plugin), you’ll need to use Bing Chat and Google’s Bard for this. With Bing Chat, you simply ask what the top stories have been over the last week and it gives you the results plus web links: Bard isn’t as good or simple as you need to click on ‘Double-check response’ to get the sources and then hover over the coloured parts: The output is better formatted for a newsletter, however, with short summaries. Even though shorter stories will result in higher click through rates which helps email deliverability and also enables your sponsorships to get more clicks, most operators will likely want longer-form stories, 150+ words. As such, select a particular source and ask the AI for the wordcount you want. I picked a recent top story on Hackernoon then asked each chat tool to summarise the URL. ChatGPT can’t do this out of the box, even with paying for GPT-4 so that’s a instant fail: You have to copy and paste the content in, and no-one has time or the desire for that. Fortunately Bard can summarize URLs, and outputted in 130 words to my 150 word request: You can also use a ‘TLDR’ prompt, this is the output from Bing which generated a 107 word summary: AI Newsletter Software If you want a tool that will automate the above sourcing and summarizing for you you need to check out Neural News. First up, its content discovery engine creates a newsfeed for you based on your niche or keyword, here is one about startups: You then simply select which are the most relevant stories for the AI to summarize, and on the next screen select a tone (I went for ‘engaging’) and desired word count: It then generates a newsletter with stories that have a title, email and view source link, and you copy as rich text directly into your newsletter platform, such as beehiiv in my case. When it’s in your beehiiv account you can use their artificial intelligence built for newsletter operators where the smart editor will simplify, shorten or extend the output, or change the tone. There’s also a bunch of other features, such as AI image tools where you can generate images such as the featured image for the web post, from directly inside the editor (just like you can here at Hackernoon): The Death of Agencies Whatever you feel about this AI powered newsletter reality, there is no stopping it, the only thing to do is embrace it. It’s going to kill most $5K/m newsletter agencies, so I thought I’d be the one to disrupt myself. I now use the above tools (and others) to offer a produtized service at Letter Operators to deliver 6 stories a week uploaded into newsletter operators’ beehiiv account, ready for them to put their own spin on it. These stories are AI + human sourced and then AI summarized + human edited. I’d much rather own a business with 500 customers paying $500/m than 50 clients paying $5K/m, especially one that involves complexity due to human labor. This anti-agency is anti-fragile in comparison, and is an asset that’s much easier to sell and will achieve a higher multiple. In the niche website space, we’ve already seen the fall of a large content writing agency with 100+ writers due to the disruption of AI: https://twitter.com/Charles_SEO/status/1677010332475174912?embedable=true One of the owners stated that: The steep rise in AI content resulted in an incredibly quick decline in revenue. Being such a large business with lots of staff and high overheads, we were unable to cut costs quickly enough. I don’t want to be this guy. Conclusion Platforms like beehiiv, which I run my Digital Asset Investor newsletter, make launching and running a newsletter business simple. And newsletter businesses are the simplest model I know, yet can be monetized in every way possible. The AI tools above (and future ones being created) will enable so many more people to launch, operate and make money from newsletters, without the weekly grind of having to find and summarize news stories. Instead, creators will be freed up to focus on crafting opinion pieces and their own products. Ultimately, this will indeed cause peak newsletter, where there will be so many more publishers competing for sponsorship dollars. The bubble or top will certainly be in then. However, I’m bullish that media buyers will start directing a much greater percentage of their budgets into newsletters with engaged subscribers, vs just giving it to the big platforms targeting cold traffic. And finally, to not be displaced by AI, you need to incorporate it into your business, whether you’re the end-user, or an [agency provider](https://Letter Operators). Starting a newsletter businesses is the hot business model right now, and justifiably so. But many people on X have been questioning whether we are in a newsletter bubble: people on X I think it’s about to go 10x due to AI. I think it’s about to go 10x due to AI. In this story, I explain how to leverage AI tools to make operating newsletters far easier, and why this trend will displace agencies. operating newsletters But first, let me explain why I think newsletters will become the gateway online business model drug, taking over from the SEO blogs and content sites we currently see on all the big marketplaces such as Flippa and Empire Flippers . Flippa Empire Flippers The Rise of Newsletter Businesses The Rise of Newsletter Businesses The cost of starting a newsletter is $0, with platforms like beehiiv that make it simple to launch, monetize and scale. beehiiv beehiiv And by building and nurturing a newsletter audience that engages with your content, and trusts your picks and expertise, you're able to unlock sponsorship revenue at far higher CPMs (cost per 1000 opens to advertisers) than you can make with websites. Website advertising platforms such as Ezoic can generate a strong $10-$20 earnings per thousand views , but newsletters typically command a $50 CPM in the business niche, with investing being higher, and AI a bit lower. earnings per thousand views https://hackernoon.com/the-35-best-ai-newsletters-on-beehiiv?embedable=true https://hackernoon.com/the-35-best-ai-newsletters-on-beehiiv?embedable=true So with a 50K email list, and a 50% open rate, an email send with just one ad unit (you should have multiple) will earn you $2,500. And you can also monetize in so many other ways: Subscription fees Paid recommendations Sponsored editions Own products Community access Lead generation Affiliate marketing Subscription fees Paid recommendations Sponsored editions Own products Community access Lead generation Affiliate marketing As you own your list, the newsletter business model is much more defensible than building niche sites that are dependent on SEO traffic, something I used to do and wrote about back in 2018 (when Hackernoon was on Medium) with Want To Hack Wealth? Flip Websites Not Cryptos . Want To Hack Wealth? Flip Websites Not Cryptos Want To Hack Wealth? Flip Websites Not Cryptos And you can sell these media assets for currently $2-5 per subscriber plus a multiple of revenue on the newsletter marketplace Duuce . And you can sell these media assets media assets Duuce Duuce https://hackernoon.com/i-built-and-sold-a-newsletter-for-5-figures-heres-how?embedable=true https://hackernoon.com/i-built-and-sold-a-newsletter-for-5-figures-heres-how?embedable=true The key part missing right now, which takes up the majority of the time operating newsletter businesses, is the sourcing and writing of news stories. The key part missing right now, which takes up the majority of the time operating newsletter businesses, is the sourcing and writing of news stories. Fortunately there are now AI solutions to help with this burden, and we’ll start with the usual suspects, before moving to new dedicated newsletter software. AI Optimization AI Optimization Just like AI has been revolutionizing content sites, it’s now hitting newsletter businesses. And I’ve been using it to help with my own newsletters such as Digital Asset Investor , and within my newsletter agency Letter Operators. We’ve sifted through 100s of applications for writers, given test stories to the best ones, and quickly realized that AI summarizes and generates output better than 90% of them . And obviously with no grammatical errors. Digital Asset Investor Digital Asset Investor my newsletter agency quickly realized that AI summarizes and generates output better than 90% of them We now take the AI output and give it to human editors who add a layer of opinion that all newsletters need to compete in an increasingly AI dominated world. Although I’m sure a forthcoming ChatGPT 5 would be able to give such thoughts! This AI content + human editing model was first created by Content at Scale , the AI platform that enables website owners to output SEO-optimized content, who coined the term Artificial Intelligence Optimization (AIO). Content at Scale Content at Scale Artificial Intelligence Optimization Artificial Intelligence Optimization They even teach people how to make money in this new role as an AIO editor , or AIO agency owner where you can boost your agency profit margins from a decent 40% to over 70%. AIO editor AIO editor AIO agency owner AIO agency owner The AIO Process for Newsletters The AIO Process for Newsletters So what does this AI optimization look like and how can you implement within your own newsletter business? We’ll start with the usual chat suspects, and then move to a new dedicated newsletter tool. First up, you need your sources, where you will find stories from in your niche. Sure you can create a spreadsheet listing all the top blogs and news sites in your niche, but it’s far easier to pull the RSS into a tool that aggregates them and makes it easier to check. Or you can simply ask the AI chat bots, although as Chat GPT can’t search the web out of the box (you need access to the browsing plugin ), you’ll need to use Bing Chat and Google’s Bard for this. browsing plugin browsing plugin Bing Chat Bing Chat Bard Bard With Bing Chat, you simply ask what the top stories have been over the last week and it gives you the results plus web links: Bard isn’t as good or simple as you need to click on ‘Double-check response’ to get the sources and then hover over the coloured parts: The output is better formatted for a newsletter, however, with short summaries. Even though shorter stories will result in higher click through rates which helps email deliverability and also enables your sponsorships to get more clicks, most operators will likely want longer-form stories, 150+ words. As such, select a particular source and ask the AI for the wordcount you want. I picked a recent top story on Hackernoon then asked each chat tool to summarise the URL. recent top story on Hackernoon recent top story on Hackernoon ChatGPT can’t do this out of the box, even with paying for GPT-4 so that’s a instant fail: You have to copy and paste the content in, and no-one has time or the desire for that. Fortunately Bard can summarize URLs, and outputted in 130 words to my 150 word request: You can also use a ‘TLDR’ prompt, this is the output from Bing which generated a 107 word summary: AI Newsletter Software If you want a tool that will automate the above sourcing and summarizing for you you need to check out Neural News . Neural News Neural News First up, its content discovery engine creates a newsfeed for you based on your niche or keyword, here is one about startups: You then simply select which are the most relevant stories for the AI to summarize, and on the next screen select a tone (I went for ‘engaging’) and desired word count: It then generates a newsletter with stories that have a title, email and view source link, and you copy as rich text directly into your newsletter platform, such as beehiiv in my case. beehiiv When it’s in your beehiiv account you can use their artificial intelligence built for newsletter operators where the smart editor will simplify, shorten or extend the output, or change the tone. artificial intelligence built for newsletter operators artificial intelligence built for newsletter operators There’s also a bunch of other features, such as AI image tools where you can generate images such as the featured image for the web post, from directly inside the editor (just like you can here at Hackernoon): The Death of Agencies The Death of Agencies Whatever you feel about this AI powered newsletter reality, there is no stopping it, the only thing to do is embrace it. It’s going to kill most $5K/m newsletter agencies, so I thought I’d be the one to disrupt myself. I now use the above tools (and others) to offer a produtized service at Letter Operators to deliver 6 stories a week uploaded into newsletter operators’ beehiiv account, ready for them to put their own spin on it. Letter Operators These stories are AI + human sourced and then AI summarized + human edited. I’d much rather own a business with 500 customers paying $500/m than 50 clients paying $5K/m, especially one that involves complexity due to human labor. This anti-agency is anti-fragile in comparison, and is an asset that’s much easier to sell and will achieve a higher multiple. In the niche website space, we’ve already seen the fall of a large content writing agency with 100+ writers due to the disruption of AI: https://twitter.com/Charles_SEO/status/1677010332475174912?embedable=true https://twitter.com/Charles_SEO/status/1677010332475174912?embedable=true One of the owners stated that: The steep rise in AI content resulted in an incredibly quick decline in revenue. Being such a large business with lots of staff and high overheads, we were unable to cut costs quickly enough. The steep rise in AI content resulted in an incredibly quick decline in revenue. Being such a large business with lots of staff and high overheads, we were unable to cut costs quickly enough. I don’t want to be this guy. Conclusion Conclusion Platforms like beehiiv , which I run my Digital Asset Investor newsletter, make launching and running a newsletter business simple. beehiiv And newsletter businesses are the simplest model I know, yet can be monetized in every way possible. The AI tools above (and future ones being created) will enable so many more people to launch, operate and make money from newsletters, without the weekly grind of having to find and summarize news stories. Instead, creators will be freed up to focus on crafting opinion pieces and their own products. Ultimately, this will indeed cause peak newsletter, where there will be so many more publishers competing for sponsorship dollars. The bubble or top will certainly be in then. However, I’m bullish that media buyers will start directing a much greater percentage of their budgets into newsletters with engaged subscribers, vs just giving it to the big platforms targeting cold traffic. And finally, to not be displaced by AI, you need to incorporate it into your business, whether you’re the end-user, or an [agency provider](https://Letter Operators).

Starting Newsletter Businesses Will 10x Due to AI

নিউজলেটার ব্যবসা AI এর কারণে প্রায় 10 গুণ বেড়েছে

Newsletter-Unternehmen verzehnfachen sich dank KI

Las empresas de boletines están a punto de multiplicarse por 10 gracias a la IA

Les entreprises newsletter sont sur le point de multiplier par 10 grâce à l'IA

एआई के कारण न्यूज़लेटर व्यवसाय लगभग 10 गुना हो गया है

AI によりニュースレター ビジネスは約 10 倍に

뉴스레터 비즈니스는 AI로 인해 약 10배 증가합니다

As empresas do boletim informativo estão prestes a crescer 10 vezes devido à IA

Бизнес по рассылке новостей вырастет в 10 раз благодаря ИИ

Yapay Zeka Nedeniyle Haber Bülteni İşletmeleri Neredeyse 10 Kat Artıyor

Bản tin Doanh nghiệp sắp tăng gấp 10 lần nhờ AI

AI 助力时事通讯业务增长 10 倍

Over the past year, I've been growing my side project blog about Cars and Trucks, but over the last 3-6 months it's only really started to take off to the tune of $5,300 in Oct '21. 95% of this is profit from passive advertising revenue. The biggest reason for the huge growth from ~$1k/mo to over $5k in Oct was mainly due to a couple different things: I switched my advertising network from Ezoic to Mediavine. Finally being able to use my own SEO niche content creation software. While I would STRONGLY encourage anyone not in an advertising network to join one immediately, if you are in Ezoic, I would even more strongly encourage you to try and meet the requirements and apply to Mediavine. I saw my ad revenue 2.5x almost immediately. Now to the good part. Over the last 3 months, I've consistently published 4-5 articles a day, of 500-3,000 words each using software I've developed myself. It's allowed me to learn, create, and publish 100x faster, with 10x better quality, without ANY writing (outside of deleting and organizing), and without ANY knowledge of the topics or SEO target keywords. WTF? I know, I know. Too good to be true, right? If you want to cut to the chase and see it for yourself; then go to my site below, watch the video, and sign up for my private beta. I'd love to work with everyone here to help in any way I can! https://ousia.ai If you're still curious, check out the FAQs to go a bit deeper. My site is barebones and this is one of the few times I've written about my software. FAQs Q: How does the software work? : Over the course of my career (I'm actually an ex-Amazon, ex-Disney,  ex-Hearst Magazines SEO) I've scaled "content machines" to 10,000+ articles in 12 months spending hundreds of thousands of company dollars on scaling SEO content for a wide variety of companies. A I've consistently used a strategy to research and create good quality content at scale called "stacking". Basically, it's a strategy to analyze the top X articles and sources for a given topic and "stack" (or aggregate) them together in order to create one larger, in-depth single article by combining all their important info, facts, and answers together. The main benefit of this technique is to create the best piece of content on a single page by covering as many DIFFERENT questions and answers to any given keyword topic. From an SEO and Google algorithm standpoint, this achieves a type of content quality that is mathematically or objectively better than any single existing source article since it combines the unique answers from them all. My software performs this "answer curation" over thousands of sources automatically. It's been a huge help in creating long-form, mastery-level content on very niche topics with ZERO knowledge. Surprisingly, it's best used for ultra-niche topics (which are usually the most esoteric). Not only does the software curate and present hundreds of questions and answers for any niche keyword, it also features a finely-tuned model that automatically rewrites them, that passes plagiarism checkers, for automatic use in your final article. The entire process end-to-end to write a full article takes minutes, with zero writing, with only 5-10 clicks. Q: How do I use the software? : I'm offering for the first time an open beta for anyone that wants to test it out. You can also see the video at my site. One of the main benefits is that it automatically trains itself on whatever sources are uploaded to it. So whatever industry or niche topic you're in it can be used with a high level of precision. If you want to check it out and see it in action, I've created a demo at my site A https://ousia.ai Q: Is there a way to sign up and use it for yourself? : Of course! I've created an open beta at my site . Go to the site, sign up, and I will reach out personally to get you on-boarded. I'll even throw in some free SEO advice ;) A https://ousia.ai CASE STUDY DETAILS First, the site I've been building and referencing in this post is https://www.car-engineer.com If you're curious about which content I've built using my software; then it’s easy to find since every post I've built over the last 2-3 months I've done ONLY using the software. Like I said above, my workflow is just deleting, rewording Headings, Subheadings, organizing answers/paragraphs, adding an image and a Youtube video (which you can do in the software). Example Keyword Rankings (as of Nov 5 '21) (Here is a to a Google sheet with more examples including a lot more tire keywords that I've been doing most recently) link Est. Organic Traffic (SEMrush) Est. Organic Traffic (AHREFs) Ad Revenue Earnings from Mediavine (last 3 months ending Oct '21) There is another affiliate revenue from , but ad revenue is the majority. Tirerack.com

I Built An SEO Content Software And Made $5k in a month: A Case-Study

THE BEGINNINGS OF THE MIND AND LANGUAGE

After spending 3 months in China finding the right manufacturer, Michael Joly is now growing his consumer mental wellness hardware product at an impressive pace. Davis Baer : What’s your background, and what are you working on? : I’ve been a sound and consciousness researcher since 1990 and was fortunate to have had opportunities to develop professional analog audio products and systems for most of my career. Michael Joly I also had a stint as a business development research director in the radio sponsorship advertising business so I’m comfortable in both technical and business development realms. I’m now the founder and CEO of Hear Now Systems, Inc. Along with Alene Sibley (a gifted intuitive coach and the person who knows our product, and can speak for it better than anyone) I co-developed our first consumer hardware product in the mental wellness space. It’s called . Tone Therapy System, a 3-minute mindfulness meditation aid. We like to say “It’s Yoga for Your Mind ®”. N.O.W . Tone Therapy System launched on Amazon in January 2018 and offers stress and anxiety relief to a broad range of people while helping them remember their essential, joyous self so they can transcend their perceived life situation challenges. is being used, to great effect, by individuals, couples and groups of yoga and meditation practitioners. N.O.W N.O.W. As a result of efficacy and its quick and easy use we achieved #1 “Most Wished For” status in our Amazon category (sound therapy) in July and have garnered 80% 5 star reviews. N.O.W.’s uses our proprietary New Origin Waveform ( .) technology (non-linguistic, aural neuromodulation signaling) to help users shift their focus from problematic thinking to non-judgmental awareness and acceptance of the “is-ness” of the present moment. N.O.W. N.O.W . does this without use of dualistic, symbolic language (different than all voice-guided meditation apps) and is not closed-form like guided meditation apps, mp3s or CDs. It is self contained, does not require a phone or computer and it can be used alone, with another person or with a group. N.O.W creates content individualized to each listener in a 3 minute session, in real time, and provides a unique moment-to-moment, and session-to-session tone experience to each individual, couple or group who uses it. Always different, every time. Just like every present moment we experience in life. N.O.W. Since launching in January we have achieved compound monthly revenue growth of 38% to 55%. We achieved profitability 5 months after launch. We’re currently running a number of growth hack experiments to test the hypothesis that we can use predictable and affordable (high ROI / low customer acquisition cost) growth levers to sustain 25% CMGR of revenue. Fingers crossed. Don solving a painting problem with N.O.W. What motivated you to get started with your company? We were motivated to start Hear Now Systems, Inc. and develop because many people are experiencing unprecedented levels of stress, anxiety and disconnect in their lives. N.O.W. Whether the causes are internal (their own attitudes about challenges facing them), or external (financial, geo-political …) people are hurting and we wanted to help them alleviate their suffering. I have been exploring the intersection of sound and consciousness since 1990 (doing art gallery installations, developing ambient programing for radio, conducting laboratory research and delving deeply into the classic literature of Perennial Philosophy). Only in the past couple of years have technologies matured to the point where I could take my research findings and embed them in an affordable, effective and profitable consumer mental wellness product. We validated the idea of Tone Therapy System by hacking together a prototype based on portable CD players. We demonstrated this functional mockup of to attendees at a wellness weekend fair in Saratoga Springs, NY in late April 2017. Saratoga Springs has a long history (dating to indigenous people’s time) as a healing center with many miraculous healings attributed to its mineral springs. So it was a very auspicious market research setting for us. N.O.W. N.O.W. Based on the resounding “ signals we received that weekend we made a leap of faith and embarked on the hardware development project that became known as Tone Therapy System. Go for it!” N.O.W. Production Version, N.O.W. Tone Therapy System — “It’s Yoga for Your Mind ®” It was fortunate I had a steady income from another business (I’m now exiting from). This allowed me to start Hear Now Systems, Inc. with my own seed money and not actively seek outside investment (though investors keep dangling carrots in front of me that I continue to decline). What went into building the initial product? In order to bring an audio hardware product to market at a price the consumer market would accept I decided to manufacture in China. I’ve been traveling regularly to China to sell (first) and buy (later) since 1988 (I took a gap year in 1989 because of the Tiananmen Square event). Success with Chinese manufacturing comes down to strong relationships based on trust, mutual respect and shared ROI. I undertook a 3 month process to find, vet and land the right manufacturer. This took scores of emails, dozens of sample evaluations and two separate trips to China to interview manufacturers. I settled on an amazing company — female founded and led with verified, excellent working conditions (the owner takes the entire 50-person company on an all expense paid seaside vacation once a year, the factory is clean and modern and her workers are well paid). I’ve found more than a manufacturer. I’ve found new colleagues, new friends and a true partner in that this company has provided me with very liberal payment terms, in effect, becoming a manufacturing financier of sorts. N.O.W. Manufacturing Executive Team My manufacturer worked from my design concepts and over a 3 month period did the software and hardware engineering reduction to practice. They produced several engineering prototype revisions, then two rounds of pre-production samples. We went into production about 6 months after I got the “G_o!_” signals from potential customers at the wellness fair in Saratoga. Hardware is hard, and slower than software development. But we did a lot of customer inquiry and made several design iterations based on customer feedback before finalizing the design of We felt confident it would achieve traction with customers. Besides, we believed we were the right team, at the right time, to do this project and could not turn our backs on shepherding into the world. We simply to do this. We’re getting ready to start our third production run in several weeks. N.O.W. N.O.W. had While all this was going on I was also working full time at the boutique studio microphone design / modification company I started 12 years ago (OktavaMod). I’ve been working two full time jobs for the past year and half and am looking forward to having just one — Hear Now Systems, Inc. shortly. The funding came from my own seed investment of $120K. This allowed us to do the prototyping, versioning, first production run, shipment to US, limited marketing AND, importantly … to hire our first and only employee to date — Ruane Sibley, a woman with incredible love of people, who is doing one really important thing that does not scale — she talks to as many prospects as possible and follows up all sales to make sure we have built, and continue to build, something that A LOT of people really want. We brought out a successful consumer audio product in part because I’m standing on the shoulders of legends from the pro audio world whom I worked for earlier in my career. It would not be possible to do what we’ve done in a relatively short period of time had there not been decades of connections and experience in place. How have you attracted users and grown your company? We launched Tone Therapy System by leveraging my microphone business email database and by doing a few wellness event shows. Accessing an email database of 16K people who know and respect me — because they’ve purchased from me in the past, was central to our launch success. N.O.W. The key to getting more users is to delight each user to such an extent that they tell their friends and family about Tone Therapy System. We’ve seen strong word of mouth referrals — often one purchaser being directly responsible for 5 or 6 more sales. N.O.W. And as I alluded above, we have some high ROI, affordable customer acquisition cost growth hacks underway. Can’t say more about these right now (gotta hold a few cards close, right?) other than to say from June — September the ROI on these growth hacks has been over 800%. What’s your business model, and how have you grown your revenue? Our business model is direct-to-consumer sales via our site, and sales to consumers via the online retailers Amazon and UncommonGoods. Other channels (brick and mortar retail, corporate wellness programs) are being explored. I’m relentlessly focused on affordable and sustainable customer acquisition with those costs kept well in line relative to our COGS and operating expenses. We’ve achieved early product market fit. Customers have accepted Tone Therapy System at its offered price. They go on to tell their family and friends of its benefits and have left 80% 5 star reviews. N.O.W. A recent review from Amazon Based on early performance data and identified growth levers that appear to be sustainable, we expect revenue to be approximately $2.7M at the end of our second full year of operation with a healthy profit margin. What are your goals for the future? Hear Now Systems, Inc. exists to make the world a happier, more joyous and more productive place. We’re starting with . Tone Therapy System. But I have in mind a line of brand extensions across mobile, wearable and architectural segments that would be capable of driving growth to $50M ARR within 5 years. N.O.W In order to make this happen I’m working with a personal development coach. I also was accepted into the newly-launched Transformational Tech Academy as part of their inaugural class. TTA includes personal development training as well as more traditional startup advice. We’re currently successfully bootstrapping. I’m not actively seeking investment, though I’m always happy to talk to investors who are truly aligned with our values and mission and who see that our unique team and unique way of making business decisions based on core values is the right way to bring to the world. N.O.W. What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced and obstacles you’ve overcome? If you had to start over, what would you do differently? Biggest challenge — overcoming self-limiting ideas about what is possible, and accepting and transcending my “shadow identity” with its egoic expression. Biggest opportunity — to remain present, centered and non-reactive as the “10,000 things” come at me and taunt me to be reactive. If I had to start over … I would have had personal development coaching from age 18 on. Have you found anything particularly helpful or advantageous? I’ve found it’s important not to limit my reading to business and startup ideas. I would not be here, in the happy and healthy state I find myself, had it not been for the knowledge and teachings brought to the world by Eckhart Tolle (“The Power of NOW”), Lau Tzu’s “The Tao Te Ching” (Stephen Mitchell translation), the “Meditations” of Marcus Aurelius, “The Over Soul” by R.W. Emerson and the channeled teaching known as “A Course In Miracles”. What’s your advice for entrepreneurs who are just starting out? There are no truer words than Joseph Campbells’s . Remember, you build what you are. Who are you? Who do you want to be? What will you build that will remain true to who you are becoming? “follow your bliss” Where can we go to learn more? N.O.W. is a ground-breaking product destined to change the world. Trust me on this — it did not come into the world to be bound by the laws of the world it came to change. You can check out Tone Therapy System at Amazon: N.O.W. https://www.amazon.com/W-Tone-Therapy-System-Meditation/dp/B072KHM8JS We have lots of info, a blog, a video, and a full online demo at our site: https://www.nowbysolu.com/ And I love to answer questions about , solu (our consumer brand), Hear Now Systems, Inc. and sound and consciousness. Ask away, thanks for reading and please do consider joining the journey. N.O.W. This interview is brought to you by , a tool to schedule and automatically repeat your posts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Google My Business OneUp

Founder Interviews: Michael Joly of Hear Now Systems

Many IT professionals will already be familiar with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the non-regulatory federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce. Its reputation extends beyond its stated mission--to promote innovation and industrial competitiveness through measurement science, standards, and technology-- and NIST also ends up being a source for security advancement and recommendations for new policies. NIST develops both Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) as well as guidance documents through its . Special Publications (SP) 800-series For the government and private companies alike, NIST guidelines often become the foundation for best cybersecurity practices. As many system administrators have found, NIST is excellent at providing tips about what practices to leave behind. Though they don't always provide solutions, there is data-driven research and conclusions that indicate the best directions in which to head. As we kick-off 2021, we can reflect back on highlights from the NIST publications and how they impact cybersecurity conversations. Among these are standards that address common employee behavior and place more responsibility on organizations' internal password security policies. Previous NIST recommendations related to passwords have changed in many categories. The highlights include: 1. Eliminating the Requirement for Characters Used in Passwords It was previously thought that users should make passwords using a combination of characters like upper and lowercase letters, numeric digits, and special characters like punctuation led to impermeable passwords. Research has, in fact, shown the opposite to be true. Forcing lots of symbolic variation made passwords harder to remember, and instead increased root password reuse, which exacerbated the problem. In short, such requirements mean that users often just add a capital or special character to predictable places in a previously used password, which hackers are then able to guess just as easily. Now, NIST recommends eliminating the requirement for character variation. 2. Allowing Copy/Pasting Passwords Copying and pasting passwords into a login form used to be seen as an easy way for hackers to steal data and credentials because they were saved to the clipboard function. NIST determined the risk outweighed the benefits. In reality, having the ability to copy/paste complex, unique passwords into the field encourages the use of password manager applications. These allow users to store their strong passwords, including ones generated randomly that are particularly difficult to remember, and then paste them into the field when appropriate. 3. Getting Rid of Periodic Password Resets It was a commonly held belief until recently that asking users to change their passwords on an arbitrary but regular basis, like every three months, would help eradicate weak passwords. However, the data showed that users a) just make small predictable changes to passwords instead of creating unique ones, and b) have a difficult time remembering constantly changing passwords. The issues with user memory and frequent resets can also lead to more IT help desk requests, which take up time and money. Periodic password resets also don't make logical sense considering how data breaches work. A user's credentials could be stolen at any time. Perhaps they fall victim to a phishing attack months before a reset is mandated, and the threat actor has plenty of time to compromise the system to maintain access without a single user's credentials. Instead, there needs to be a system that alerts users to the fact that their credentials have been compromised as soon as possible, in addition to triggering other mitigation actions like account lockouts and threat scanning. 4. Screening Passwords Against Blacklists This recommendation makes a great deal of sense in light of the other suggested changes to password policy. NIST guidelines state that organizations should be screening passwords against lists of commonly used or compromised passwords. Through screening at the point of password creation, users can avoid selecting exposed passwords that will introduce new security risks. Additionally, organizations should constantly monitor existing passwords for exposure, since a password that is safe today can be compromised tomorrow. NIST explains that the blacklist should include both commonly used passwords (like 'password1!)  and compromised passwords, such as credentials that have already been leaked. Ideally, the blacklist should also be kept up to date. These guidelines, especially regarding the last point, may require a change in mindset, especially from the corporate perspective. The NIST standards reveal that previous approaches only led to simple formulas to determine if a password was 'safe.' Depending on the state of cybersecurity at a given organization, the new requirements might involve writing new password policies, utilizing password managers, and keeping an up-to-date blacklist. What Now? As we welcome the new year, the online corporate world can move forward in a productive and secure way by adhering to the NIST password guidelines above. However, while NIST is a valuable source of recommendations for companies and IT professionals alike, they do not provide implementation recommendations. This means that some companies are left not knowing where to turn, or how to achieve their security goals - including the objective of complying with NIST standards themselves. Many businesses opt to work with companies that specialize in helping them achieve NIST guidelines, develop and maintain a superior password to screen against, and adapt password policies within Microsoft . Active Directory By adapting quickly, and building up new defensive strategies, your company can avoid , breaches, and the loss of time and money involved in trying to recover data. Account Takeovers

The Gist of NIST: Password Recommendations to Remember

The CDC (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) “shopping at crowded stores just before, on or after Thanksgiving” on its list of higher-risk activities to avoid, and in its guidance issued ahead of the holiday weekend, it also directly suggested that consumers do more of their shopping online. classified Not that much encouragement has been needed. During the first 10 days of November, the traditional holiday shopping season, U.S. consumers spent — a 21% increase year-over-year. And the sales momentum is just getting bigger. According to DC360 shoppers will – that’s over double 2019’s spend over the same weekend. $21.7 billion online spend $38 billion online over 2020 Thanksgiving weekend Of course, it isn’t just retailers who are looking forward to a record weekend: threat actors are organizing their infrastructures to try and grab their share of our holiday spending, too. In a recent , we showed how phishing emails doubled in November in the run-up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. report What’s more, they are not just trying to target consumers with fake shopping-related emails and websites. They are also ramping up phishing and fraud attempts to take advantage of the shipping services that will deliver the goods we have purchased. Check Point Research (CPR) researchers are witnessing a thorough, systematic operation in which threat actors are leveraging the entire ecosystem of shopping. From special offers, through designated shopping days such as Chinese singles day, Cyber Monday, and Black Friday, all the way to the shipping and delivery process to try and trick victims into disclosing their personal details and use those details for financial theft and fraud. In this report, CPR reveals that during the month of November we have seen a dramatic spike in phishing emails that are impersonating internationally-known shipping companies such as DHL, Amazon & FedEx. Highlights Over 440% increase in shipping-related phishing emails in November compared to October. Europe tops the phishing surge, followed by North America & APAC. DHL is the company most impersonated globally in shipping-related phishing emails during November, followed by Amazon & FedEx Surge in Shipping related phishing emails globally We have observed that during November there has been a 440% increase in shipping-related phishing emails, compared to October. Emails impersonating DHL made up 56% of the total volume of shipping-related phishing emails, followed by Amazon with 37%, and FedEx with 7% of total. Regional data Numbers in Africa & South America were single-figures Europe topped the list in terms of the total number of phishing emails, and the numbers grew over four times (401%) compared to October. Seventy-seven percent of these emails in November were fake DHL mails. In the US the increase was similar (427%) comparing November to the previous month. The leading impersonated brand was Amazon with 65% of all phishing emails impersonating different Amazon shipping related notifications. APAC showed a more moderate, though significant, increase (185%) with DHL accumulating almost 65% of the total phishing emails. Where is my package? Unlike classic phishing emails that are designed to lure people into giving personal details, credit card info or bank account credentials, these emails are specifically impersonating shipping vendors with different versions of fake messages reporting a “delivery issue” or “Track your shipment” details. All are trying to lure the recipients to submitting details and stealing credentials or financial data. We believe hackers have specifically chosen this vector in November, as they know that large numbers of online shoppers are waiting for their packages to arrive and are more attentive to shipping-related emails while they may be more aware of more traditional e-commerce related fraud and phishing attempts. Examples of shipping related phishing emails Amazon impersonation email in Japan DHL Impersonation in USA Italian Impersonation Amazon Business How to Protect Against Phishing Scams – Credential theft is a common goal of cyberattacks. Many people reuse the same usernames and passwords across many different accounts, so stealing the credentials for a single account is likely to give an attacker access to a number of the user’s online accounts. Never share your account credentials and do not re-use passwords. Never share your credentials – If you receive an unsolicited password reset email, always visit the website directly (don’t click on embedded links) and change your password to something different on that site (and any other sites with the same password). By clicking on a link, you can reset the password to that account to something new. Not knowing what your password is, of course, also the problem that cybercriminals face when trying to gain access to your online accounts. By sending a fake password reset email that directs you to a lookalike phishing site, they can convince you to type in your account credentials and steal them. Always be suspicious of password reset emails – One way to do this is not to click on links in emails, and instead click on the link from the Google results page after searching for it. Verify you are using a URL from an authentic website – spelling errors in emails or websites, and unfamiliar email senders. Beware of lookalike domains – Social engineering techniques are designed to take advantage of human nature. This includes the fact that people are more likely to make mistakes when they are in a hurry and are inclined to follow the orders of people in positions of authority. Phishing attacks commonly use these techniques to convince their targets to ignore their potential suspicions about an email and click on a link or open an attachment. Always note the language in the email – Beware of misspellings or sites using a different top-level domain. For example, a .co instead of .com. Deals on these copycat sites may look just as attractive as on the real site, but this is how hackers fool consumers into giving up their data. Watch for misspellings The statistics and data used in this report present data detected by Check Point’s Threat Prevention technologies, stored and analyzed in ThreatCloud. ThreatCloud provides real-time threat intelligence derived from hundreds of millions of sensors worldwide, over networks, endpoints and mobiles. The intelligence is enriched with AI-based engines and exclusive research data from the Check Point Research – The intelligence & Research Arm of Check Point.

Protect Yourself Against The 440% Increase in Shipping-Related Phishing Emails

581 Stories To Learn About Non Fiction

402 Stories To Learn About History

THE MOVEMENTS OF THE TENTACLES FROM THE CONTACT OF SOLID BODIES

A Short History of the World, by H. G. Wells, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . THE AGE OF REPTILES THE AGE OF REPTILES The abundant life of the Carboniferous period was succeeded by a vast cycle of dry and bitter ages. They are represented in the Record of the Rocks by thick deposits of sandstones and the like, in which fossils are comparatively few. The temperature of the world fluctuated widely, and there were long periods of glacial cold. Over great areas the former profusion of swamp vegetation ceased, and, overlaid by these newer deposits, it began that process of compression and mineralization that gave the world most of the coal deposits of to-day. But it is during periods of change that life undergoes its most rapid modifications, and under hardship that it learns its hardest lessons. As conditions revert towards warmth and moisture again we find a new series of animal and plant forms established, We find in the record the remains of vertebrated animals that laid eggs which, instead of hatching out tadpoles which needed to live for a time in water, carried on their development before hatching to a stage so nearly like the adult form that the young could live in air from the first moment of independent existence. Gills had been cut out altogether, and the gill slits only appeared as an embryonic phase. These new creatures without a tadpole stage were the Reptiles. Concurrently there had been a development of seed-bearing trees, which could spread their seed, independently of swamp or lakes. There were now palmlike cycads and many tropical conifers, though as yet there were no flowering plants and no grasses. There was a great number of ferns. And there was now also an increased variety of insects. There were beetles, though bees and butterflies had yet to come. But all the fundamental forms of a new real land fauna and flora had been laid down during these vast ages of severity. This new land life needed only the opportunity of favourable conditions to flourish and prevail. A FOSSIL ICHTHYOSAURUS, A MESOZOIC FISH-LIZARD Found in the Lower Lias in Somersetshire Nat. Hist. Mus. Age by age and with abundant fluctuations that mitigation came. The still incalculable movements of the earth’s crust, the changes in its orbit, the increase and diminution of the mutual inclination of orbit and pole, worked together to produce a great spell of widely diffused warm conditions. The period lasted altogether, it is now supposed, upwards of two hundred million years. It is called the Mesozoic period, to distinguish it from the altogether vaster Palæozoic and Azoic periods (together fourteen hundred millions) that preceded it, and from the Cainozoic or new life period that intervened between its close and the present time, and it is also called the Age of Reptiles because of the astonishing predominance and variety of this form of life. It came to an end some eighty million years ago. In the world to-day the genera of Reptiles are comparatively few and their distribution is very limited. They are more various, it is true, than are the few surviving members of the order of the amphibia which once in the Carboniferous period ruled the world. We still have the snakes, the turtles and tortoises (the Chelonia), the alligators and crocodiles, and the lizards. Without exception they are creatures requiring warmth all the year round; they cannot stand exposure to cold, and it is probable that all the reptilian beings of the Mesozoic suffered under the same limitation. It was a hothouse fauna, living amidst a hothouse flora. It endured no frosts. But the world had at least attained a real dry land fauna and flora as distinguished from the mud and swamp fauna and flora of the previous heyday of life upon earth. A PTERODACTYL Nat. Hist. Mus. All the sorts of reptile we know now were much more abundantly represented then, great turtles and tortoises, big crocodiles and many lizards and snakes, but in addition there was a number of series of wonderful creatures that have now vanished altogether from the earth. There was a vast variety of beings called the Dinosaurs. Vegetation was now spreading over the lower levels of the world, reeds, brakes of fern and the like; and browsing upon this abundance came a multitude of herbivorous reptiles, which increased in size as the Mesozoic period rose to its climax. Some of these beasts exceeded in size any other land animals that have ever lived; they were as large as whales. The Diplodocus Carnegii for example measured eighty-four feet from snout to tail; the Gigantosaurus was even greater; it measured a hundred feet. Living upon these monsters was a swarm of carnivorous Dinosaurs of a corresponding size. One of these, the Tyrannosaurus, is figured and described in many books as the last word in reptilian frightfulness. A BIG SWAMP-INHABITING DINOSAUR, THE DIPLODOCUS, OVER EIGHTY FEET FROM SNOUT TO TAIL-TIP Nat. Hist. Mus. While these great creatures pastured and pursued amidst the fronds and evergreens of the Mesozoic jungles, another now vanished tribe of reptiles, with a bat-like development of the fore limbs, pursued insects and one another, first leapt and parachuted and presently flew amidst the fronds and branches of the forest trees. These were the Pterodactyls. These were the first flying creatures with backbones; they mark a new achievement in the growing powers of vertebrated life. Moreover some of the reptiles were returning to the sea waters. Three groups of big swimming beings had invaded the sea from which their ancestors had come: the Mososaurs, the Plesiosaurs, and Ichthyosaurs. Some of these again approached the proportions of our present whales. The Ichthyosaurs seem to have been quite seagoing creatures, but the Plesiosaurs were a type of animal that has no cognate form to-day. The body was stout and big with paddles, adapted either for swimming or crawling through marshes, or along the bottom of shallow waters. The comparatively small head was poised on a vast snake of neck, altogether outdoing the neck of the swan. Either the Plesiosaur swam and searched for food under the water and fed as the swan will do, or it lurked under water and snatched at passing fish or beast. Such was the predominant land life throughout the Mesozoic age. It was by our human standards an advance upon anything that had preceded it. It had produced land animals greater in size, range, power and activity, more “vital” as people say, than anything the world had seen before. In the seas there had been no such advance but a great proliferation of new forms of life. An enormous variety of squid-like creatures with chambered shells, for the most part coiled, had appeared in the shallow seas, the Ammonites. They had had predecessors in the Palæozoic seas, but now was their age of glory. To-day they have left no survivors at all; their nearest relation is the pearly Nautilus, an inhabitant of tropical waters. And a new and more prolific type of fish with lighter, finer scales than the plate-like and tooth-like coverings that had hitherto prevailed, became and has since remained predominant in the seas and rivers. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. H. G. Wells (2011). A Short History of the World. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022, from https://www.gutenberg.org/files/11870/11870-h/11870-h.htm This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html .

Stories, News & Mentions about EZOIC

Ezoic’s Stories on HackerNoon

Ezoic's News & Mentions