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The #1 Question about Social Media

December 12, 2019 By Carol Stephen 4 Comments

You probably already know the answer to this question. People always always ALWAYS ask about ROI (Return on Investment) with social media. And of course, ROI isn’t the point of social media, at least not in the traditional dollars-and-cents way. There are other things you can measure, though, that may help prove the value of social media. If you want to know more, read on.

The ROI of Social Media

It’s difficult in most cases to attribute social media to return on investment. You can measure things like downloads, reach, and engagement. But sales, which most brands really want, don’t always come directly or immediately. Conversations are important, and can begin with social media. And sometimes people need to be exposed to an idea seven or ten times before making a buying decision. If you’d like to read more about Return on Investment, you might like Why Friendships Are Absolutely the Best ROI of Social Media.

It’s Possible to Track Social Media

Larger brands (and some smaller ones, too) track their social media posts using Urchin Tracking Modules (UTM) tracking. You may have seen these long codes while traveling around the internet. Sprout Social has more information about UTM Tracking here: UTM Tracking and URL Shortening for Social Media Managers. You may want to track click through rates (CTRs) or reach, or any number of other metrics. But again, most business owners want sales. Some metrics can help, especially if your business has an easily definable sales path. Often, I hear people say they don’t know where they heard about a business.

Who’s Listening?

Brand awareness is at the top of most social media marketers’ lists of what’s important. But who’s listening when you post about your brand? That depends upon who you are, when you post, and a few other things. Not everyone who wants to find you will find you. But certainly there are ways to help people find you more easily. You might like Ready to Be Found? These days, it’s your attention that is what’s critical. Brands of all sizes want you to pay attention to them.

If a Tree Falls in the Forest…

And if you post on social media and no one sees it, is it worthwhile to post at all? That depends. Of course, the little bots that roam around on Google will see your posts. Even if nobody comments on your post, being optimistic is helpful. Surely someone will eventually see what you’ve written eventually, right?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: ROI of social media, tracking social media, UTM Tracking

Is Clickbait Really Such a Terrible Thing?

December 5, 2019 By Carol Stephen Leave a Comment

By now, we’ve all heard of clickbait; of course, Wikipedia has a great definition. “Click-bait headlines add an element of dishonesty, using enticements that do not accurately reflect the content being delivered.” In other words, you click on something hoping to find out what was really going on with Area 51, but instead find a bunch of pop-up ads for embarrassing products. Then you curse at yourself for having fallen for the bait. And if you’d like to learn about making headlines, you might like to read: What Happens When You Write 25 Headlines Before Choosing One?

But Why is Clickbait so Bad?

At this time of the year (December), there is clickbait everywhere. There are the Black Friday ads (still), Cyber Monday ads, the pre-Christmas sale ads promising fantastic gifts that make the man or woman of your dreams swoon, and so on. The negative part is that something is promised but not delivered. In the olden days, this was often called bait and switch. You click on something but something very different is delivered. Often, clickbaity headlines start with something like “You won’t believe your eyes when you see it!” And of course, there’s nothing you haven’t already seen before. Maybe a million times before. And yet we still get fooled. And by we, I count myself among the many who are fooled.

Money-Making Schemes or Promising Tons of Followers

Sometimes a clickbait headline will promise that you’ll learn something nobody else knows about, and that something can make you a ton of money. On social media, it would be akin to an account promising you many followers if you’ll only share an article or retweet something. Nothing ever happens as a result of your sharing that article, however. You’d think we’d learn but we still get tricked all the time.

Betteridge’s Law of Headlines

Betteridge’s law states that “Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no“. Hence the question of whether Clickbait is really such a terrible thing would be a no. But it really is a yes! Why? It wastes our time, and we give our attention where we didn’t intend to. I’d argue that after a few of these we lose confidence in our own ability to judge what is true, and what isn’t. And what’s worse is it makes you lose faith in humanity. After being tricked by a clickbait-y headline, you may have to go and watch several videos of puppies.

What’s the Answer?

Maybe some social responsibility. At least on social media platforms, I’d prefer knowing I’m not going to come across millions of spammy articles. I wrote about this previously: Is Social Responsibility Part of Social Media? With the advent of artificial intelligence, shouldn’t finding fake news be a little easier? I’d think so.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: clickbait, clickbait headlines

How to Use Smart Failure and Learn Faster

November 28, 2019 By Carol Stephen 2 Comments

Recently, I watched a TED Talk from Eddie Obeng on YouTube. Eddie talks about Smart Failure, and how everything we know is wrong. I have days like that, but little did I realize everything I knew was wrong. All our assumptions are based on the past, which has already changed, says Eddie Obeng.

Someone Has Changed the Rules

Our world doesn’t work the same way we think it does. It has changed. Our entire existence is based on a world that no longer exists, and all the rules have changed. Do you believe this? I sure do. This one idea changes how we react to everything. He goes on to say that size and scale are no longer the same. If you’re sitting at your little desk under the stairs (reminds me of Harry Potter!), you’re now connected to the internet. By the way, if you get that reference to being under the stairs, you might like this article: Quick and Easy Guide to Your Harry Potter Social Media Type.

Global is the New Scale

Every time you tweet, one-third of your followers are in different countries, says Eddie Obeng. That seems true, although I’m sure I tweet to people who, like me, speak English. How about you? Do you have a lot of diversity in the people you talk to? You can use Tweepsmap to discover where your followers are (on Twitter, anyway). It’s very cool that you can sit at your desktop, or use your phone, to connect to people all over the world. And being connected to people from all over can make you stop and rethink your assumptions.

Smart Failure and Yoga

My yoga instructor at Ease Mountain Yoga talks about falling up. It’s an excellent example of changing the way we think through a physical challenge. We all try to fall up as we do our tree poses. We still fall over, but it feels different. There is lots of giggling, which doesn’t happen as much as when we fall down, for one thing. A small reframing of how we do something can sometimes create a big change in our so-called failure.

Creativity and Innovation

In the old-world model, you tried to do something new, and you failed, and got canned. In the new world model, you fail and are rewarded for it. Not always, but often. This is one way companies, especially startups, are trying to drive innovation. Where do you fall on the spectrum? You might like this article: What Happens When You Focus on Failure and Creativity?

The Idea That Inspired This Blog Post

The blog post you’re reading is based on this TED Talk from Eddie Obeng. Find him on WorldAfterMidnight. You can also listen to his TED Talk. It’s just 12 minutes long, and so worth it. Your little gray cells will thank you.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: failure, learn faster, smart failure

How to Become a Better Blogger: Quick and Easy Ways

November 21, 2019 By Carol Stephen 9 Comments

Maybe you’ve thought that you want to become a better blogger. You’ve considered blogging, or maybe you’re an occasional blogger. Either way, there are always ways to improve (and I’m no exception). Every day, someone will say something that resonates. Take those tiny lessons from the things that resonate with you, put them into action, and you (or I) will improve for sure.

Read Other Bloggers

There are so many great blogs out there. Here are some of my favorites.

Bridget Willard’s blog: Bridget is the one who encouraged me to blog. Besides that, though, she’s always learning and growing. And she’s a terrific person, too.
Randy Clark’s blog. Randy Clark writes a lot, and is the author of How to Stay Ahead of Your Business Blog Forever (highly recommended!). He’s written three other books that I know of.
Mitch Mitchell has been blogging and vlogging for years. He’s entertaining and educational. In fact, Mitch writes about blogging, too!
Patricia Phillips of The Aspen Stand, a kind and generous friend.

Listen to Podcasts

You may also get ideas when you listen to podcasts. Even if the podcasts you listen to aren’t strictly business oriented, you’ll get ideas when you listen. Right now, I’m enjoying Hardcore History, which is a deep dive into the history of World Wars I and II. Dan Carlin is a damn good talker, as one review of his long-form podcasts mentioned. Each episode is hours long, which you think you can’t listen to, but his passion and storytelling make for fascinating listening.

Write Every Day

If you like to write with other people, you might join a movement, such as NaNoWriteMo, where writers encourage other writers during the month of November. You might also give yourself a deadline, or a specific number of words to write each day, or a dedicated time to write. For me, I work in 15-minute increments, because anyone can do something for 15 minutes, right? Usually that 15 minutes turns into 30 or 45 minutes because the hardest part of writing is just getting started. The important thing is not to wait for inspiration, because you might be waiting forever. You might also like How-to secrets to blogging for your success.

Blackmail Yourself

Awhile back, there was a guy who suggested blackmailing yourself by giving yourself a deadline. He mentioned giving someone else some money which would go to an unsavory cause if you failed. Now that’s one way to do it, especially if you prefer the stick approach over the carrot approach. Me, I’d rather have a carrot than a stick any day. If anyone else can remember his name, I’d be interested.

Your Seat in the Seat of the Chair

Putting your seat in the seat of the chair is the number one tip for getting better as a writer. Whatever slogan helps you get there (“Just Do it!” comes to mind) is the one to use. Tenacity and diligence are the two things that will help you improve your writing the most. Unless you have a secret, that is. Do you have a secret for improving your writing?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: blogging, favorite blogs, writing

Is Social Responsibility Part of Social Media?

November 14, 2019 By Carol Stephen 4 Comments

Recently, there have been many op-ed pieces about social responsibility. Facebook allows political ads from practically anyone. Twitter has said that they won’t post political ads. And Pinterest points people to the CDC and WHO when they search for anti-vaxxer content. Who’s right? And what is a social media platform’s responsibility? By the way, you might like this article: Why Pinterest Isn’t Social Media and Why it is.

The First Amendment

People are very concerned about the First Amendment. And I agree that we remove people’s right to free speech. After all, free speech is what makes this country strong. And shouldn’t everyone have a right to voice their opinion? But what about when people are unduly influenced because those with fake news have more money and political sway than others? Is there some way to level the playing field so those who are loudest don’t have too much sway?

Political Ads

Is it part of a reader’s responsibility to sort out lies in political ads? Facebook now says that it’s not their responsibility. And yet…we clearly know that the last election was influenced by Facebook ads. Read this New York Times opinion piece: Should Facebook Allow False Political Ads? The author believes the problem is that most people don’t read. In fact, studies show that many Americans don’t read past the 8th grade level, and that we’re in a literacy crisis. Being on social media, I’d tend to agree. Read the comments on any article or Facebook post, and you’ll see mangled sentences and bad grammar.

Anti-Science Ideas

Are we all allowed to go around saying things that are nonsense? If I want to say that water is purple and the sky is green, how do people know what’s true and how to check? After all, some people seem to believe anything that’s on the internet. Just check out all the scams going around. As I write this, there’s one scam saying that Costco is giving away $75 coupons for free. Not everyone will go to Snopes.com and check it out.

How Much Responsibility is Enough?

Scammers and hackers are getting more sophisticated. And more and more of our personal data is being given away for free. Shouldn’t social media platforms have at least some responsibility to point out what is true and what is fake? Maybe a warning of some sort that the source material has not been vetted.

What Do You Think?

Should there be a free-for-all in terms of what people can and can’t say on the Internet, even if others get hurt by their words? Leave me a comment! And thank you.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: fake news, first amendment, political ads, social responsibility

Quick And Easy Guide to Your Harry Potter Social Media Type

November 7, 2019 By Carol Stephen 4 Comments

According to the Harry Potter – Hogwarts wikipedia, there are four houses, each with a specific set of values. The sorting hat selects a house for each student, with each of the four houses being named after a specific person: Gryffindors, Slytherins, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs. How do these house types translate to your social media type? Read on.

Photo by byzantiumbooks

Gryffindor

This type values courage, bravery, nerve, and chivalry. This social media personality prefers vlogging to blogging, and likes to do live video. Whenever there’s a chance to shine, the Gryffindor personality is right there. Think about Harry Potter in the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. He travels to Godric’s Hollow without any real plan, and is attacked by a giant snake and nearly killed.

Photo by byzantiumbooks

Slytherin

The Slytherin type values ambition, cunning, leadership, and resourcefulness. Many startups, especially in the early stages, are filled with Slytherins. Slytherins may want to use the dark web, a part of the internet not indexed by search engines. Slytherins may rely on “vanity metrics” more than the other social media types. They may buy followers, which can lead to all kinds of trouble. Here’s what happens when you buy followers. Hint: Just don’t do it!

Photo by byzantiumbooks

Ravenclaw

Ravenclaw values intelligence, creativity, learning, and wit. Some of your best friends may have these same values (I’m a Ravenclaw, by the way). These are the ones who might spend hours in the library. While you might think that Hermione is a Ravenclaw, she values courage even more than intelligence. Ravenclaws believe that the pen is mightier than the sword. And very often, it is. They like to do research, and are the artists and writers of the social media world.

Photo by byzantiumbooks

Hufflepuff

Hufflepuffs values hard work, patience, justice, and loyalty. Among the Harry Potter personality types, Hufflepuffs don’t get the credit they deserve. They’re the ones quietly working away, while others may get the credit. They make good content providers and researchers. According to Harry Potter Wiki on Hufflepuff, Hufflepuffs are the most inclusive of all the types. They’re not as competitive as the other types and are modest about their achievements. Every team needs a few Hufflepuffs to succeed. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that without Hufflepuffs to do the work, nothing would get done.

What’s Your Harry Potter Social Media Type?

There are numerous tests you can take to discover your type. But if you’re a big Harry Potter fan, you probably already know which type you are. Which one are you?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Gryffindor, Harry Potter, Harry Potter Social Media, Hogwarts, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin

How to Use Gratitude to Empower Your Social Media Campaign

October 31, 2019 By Carol Stephen 4 Comments

Photo by MR photography.

Thanksgiving is undoubtedly my favorite holiday. Being surrounded by friends and family, eating and drinking and giving thanks. Who can argue with turkey and gravy and friendship? Nobody, that’s who! How does gratitude tie in with your social media campaign? Read on to see!

Gratitude Marketing

Gratitude marketing can boost your customers, followers, and just plain feels good. Every time you thank someone for sharing something of yours, buying your product, or simply being supportive, that’s gratitude. Done regularly, gratitude marketing attracts other like-minded people. There have even been studies done about the effectiveness of gratitude marketing. See Duct Tape Marketing’s The Power of Gratitude in Marketing, for instance. And I like the idea of a hand-written card or note. Hardly anyone sends hand-written notes anymore.

Social Media and Gratitude

As part of your social media campaign, I highly recommend thanking people for sharing, for retweets, and for following you and your pages. After all, they have a choice not to. You probably have die-hard fans who like what you do no matter what. These are the people you need to thank regularly. And beyond thanking them, how about giving them a little or a big gift every once in a while? By the way, you might like How to Develop and Unlock a Tremendous Gratitude Muscle, by moi. You could start with ten things you’re grateful for in your business, and take it from there.

Be Grateful During the Tough Times

This month has been a little tough. It’s important, in my opinion, to be grateful even during hard times. We haven’t had power or WiFi for a few days during October, so working is harder. I’m writing these words from a friend’s house, and it’s easy to fall into the habit of feeling sorry for myself or feeling angry. But I’m grateful that we still have a gas stove for cooking, a good heater, and a car to go shopping. And although it’s inconvenient, I’m hopeful that we can figure something out going into the future. And if you want more reasons to be grateful, check out 31 Benefits of Gratitude: The Ultimate Guide. There are some surprising reasons, including that people will like you more if you’re grateful.

Choose to Believe that People Are Good

Most friends, family, and coworkers have been extremely kind during this tough time of no power and no WiFi, and very understanding. People have offered places to work, and said not to worry about their social media. And for that I’m very grateful. Of course, there are people who will take advantage of a bad situation, but they seem to be in the minority. The main reason I choose to believe people are good is that believing the opposite can make you crazy. That is, you might be paranoid thinking that bad people are out to get you or steal from you. Looking over your shoulder all the time is no way to live.

Gratitude Strategy

Do you have a gratitude strategy? There are many reasons you need one. And they’re all outlined in this post: Gratitude Strategy: How to Develop One and Why You Need One. So since tomorrow is November, how about starting or restarting a gratitude practice?

Thank You

If I haven’t said it lately, thank you to all the readers of my blog! Especially those who’ve stuck with me through thick and thin. You are very much appreciated.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: business and gratitude, gratitude, gratitude strategy, Social Media, social media and gratitude

Behind the Scenes of the Great Pumpkin’s Social Media Campaign

October 24, 2019 By Carol Stephen 4 Comments

Few people consider the feelings of the Great Pumpkin. Think about it: alone for weeks in a cold, dark field, with his closest neighbor competing for the same air, food, and water. Eventually, to be weighed and possibly turned into a Jack-O-Lantern (best case scenario) or thrown at someone’s house by angry teenagers (worst case scenario). The Great Pumpkin needs a new strategy for his social media! And I’m calling him him because that’s what Linus of Peanuts fame calls him.

Which Platforms?

First of all, where should the Great Pumpkin be on social media? As a pumpkin afficionado, I’d say EVERYWHERE! Because who doesn’t like pumpkins? Communists, that’s who! Even LinkedIn, that most serious of social media platforms, needs a little pumpkin. However, if we had to choose just one platform, maybe one of the visual ones. He’d do well on Pinterest, as well as Instagram. And of course, YouTube. Linus would certainly provide the soundtrack, since Linus is the Great Pumpkin’s biggest fan. By the way, you might like: Ten Simple Ways to Choose the Best Social Media Platform.

What’s His Audience Like?

Kids of all ages love pumpkins. Everyone from kids through great-great grandpas. That’s pretty much everyone, except maybe your one friend who pretends it’s not Halloween and hides behind a locked door with the lights out and the garbage can pushed up against the front door. Even porcupines and big cats love pumpkins! Just do a search on YouTube, and you’ll see it’s true. You need to know who you’re writing for so you can change your wording if you need to. Here’s an article about audience and social media that you might like.

Who’s His Competition?

Can anyone compete with the Great Pumpkin? No! So let’s skip this question. Well, maybe the Tim Burton film the Nightmare Before Christmas. Although the Great Pumpkin seems more innocent.

Photo by kromom

What Message Should He Convey?

The Great Pumpkin needs to be, well, great! He should never whine about being cold or having a candle that goes out, or anything like that. He should always look forward to the holidays. His ambition to be the best pumpkin on the block, city, and county should be highlighted. He should encourage photo ops, too. Definitely.

Photo by makelessnoise

Lifestyle of the Great Pumpkin’s Followers

What other posts could you promote if you were the Great Pumpkin’s community manager? They’re probably a fun-loving, outgoing group. We imagine lots of frolicing would be involved. Do you love the Great Pumpkin? If so, leave me a comment!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Great Pumpkin, Halloween, social media campaign

People Are Looking for You Online. Ready to be Found?

October 17, 2019 By Carol Stephen 4 Comments

Photo by darkday.

Everyone knows you should be blogging and paying attention to the little bots that roam around on Google. Consistency is important in blogging. As in, blogging more often will get you more attention, and blogging on a regular schedule helps. A lot. But what do you do if someone finds you?

So Who Is Looking for You?

And how many people are looking for you? That depends on your business, of course. For instance, if you’re a realtor, there are many many realtors in California. That’s going to be a harder sell than if you’re selling, say, hamburgers. Certain businesses have an easier time. Where I live, in the Santa Cruz Mountains, people with services do really well. Plumbers, electricians, and handy people have plenty of work. You can always set up a Google alert for yourself or your business if you’re wondering whether someone has mentioned you online.

Social Media Helps You Get Found

Social media doesn’t usually help with sales. It helps with brand recognition. So if people have seen you a few times on social media, they’re more likely to do business with you, so long as you do an outstanding job at your business. Social media can help your business even before the business officially gets started. Often, people will start their social media campaigns before the business has opened its doors. You can do the same thing! Want to know what else social media does? Here’s what social media marketing does in a nutshell.

Why Do You Want to Be Found?

That is, what do you want people to do once they’ve found you? Do you want to have coffee with them? Do you want them to download a report? Or do you want them to interact with you in some way? Decide what you want from people, and tell them. Nicely, of course. Good manners, especially online, always helps.

Here are 31 Call-to-Action examples you can’t help but click on, from Hubspot.

Having a Positive Mindset

It’s not fairy dust, I promise. People really are looking for you. And you can do a lot to help them find you. Having a positive mindset is the most important thing. Believe that people are looking for you. It’s not that the belief itself will help them find you, but the belief will help you act in a way to be found. Does that make any sense? And by the way, you might like this post about having a gratitude strategy.

Follow Up, Follow Up, Follow Up

The gold really is in the follow up, especially if you have a service that’s costly. People take a long while to decide whether something is right for them. The more the service or item costs, the longer it takes. People don’t normally buy a car in five minutes–they like to do research.

Do You Want to Be Found?

If you’d like some help getting found, I can help! Leave me a comment, and I’ll get back to you! And thank you.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: blogging, getting found online

This Is What Happens When You Manage Your Time

October 10, 2019 By Carol Stephen Leave a Comment

Whether or not you manage your time the Internet is filled with rabbit holes ready to grab you by the ankles and not let go. You may end up going down one and not emerging for the entire day. This can happen to the best of us. You’re on Pinterest, looking at shoes, and suddenly it’s 5:00! How did that happen? There are lots of shoes and shiny objects on Pinterest, and it happens. So how do you manage your time and what happens if you do? Here are some ideas.

Smarter, Not Harder

We’ve heard about working smarter not harder, but how many of us do the opposite? Here it is the end of the day, and you’re working on something that should’ve been done in the morning. Ugh. For me sometimes the important items (like blog writing) get pushed to the end of the day when I’m most tired. It’s hard to think creatively when you’re exhausted! In his article on Inc., Work Smarter, Not Harder: 10 Ways to Be More Effective at Work, John Rampton says to “keep your to-to-lists lean and mean by only focusing on your 3 to 5 most urgent, important, and challenging tasks for the day, aka your Most Important Task (MIT).” And if you do at least one of them in the morning, it’s much more likely to get done.

Photo by NathalieSt

Read Articles about Time Management

There are so many places now to find articles and podcasts about time management. Inc. Magazine has a list of 10 podcasts that will help boost your productivity. Also, you may find a few ideas to help you with time management here:

Work in Batches

Do group all your similar tasks together to make it easier. For instance, I first check email in the morning, then do my Twitter. Next comes Facebook.

Outsource, Outsource, Outsource

I say this a lot, but if you’re not good at something, or don’t like doing it, it’s unlikely to get done! Outsourcing will give you energy to focus on your most important tasks.

Photo by brunkfordbraun

Plan the Night Before

The times I’m most productive are when I can write out my entire schedule the night before. This really helps if it’s a busy or stressful time. Even five minutes spent planning your day can be helpful. When you write things down, you might think of more things you need to do! And then you get to check them off your to-do list (it’s exciting!).

Find Nirvana

Maybe not literally. But you’re most likely to be happier and less stressed if you can manage your time. Do you have a particular system you like? Tell me about it! And thank you.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: manage your time, time management

The ROI of Social Media

It’s Possible to Track Social Media

Who’s Listening?

If a Tree Falls in the Forest…

But Why is Clickbait so Bad?

Money-Making Schemes or Promising Tons of Followers

Betteridge’s Law of Headlines

What’s the Answer?

Someone Has Changed the Rules

Global is the New Scale

Smart Failure and Yoga

Creativity and Innovation

The Idea That Inspired This Blog Post

Read Other Bloggers

Listen to Podcasts

Write Every Day

Blackmail Yourself

Your Seat in the Seat of the Chair

The First Amendment

Political Ads

Anti-Science Ideas

How Much Responsibility is Enough?

What Do You Think?

Gryffindor

Slytherin

Ravenclaw

Hufflepuff

What’s Your Harry Potter Social Media Type?

Gratitude Marketing

Social Media and Gratitude

Be Grateful During the Tough Times

Choose to Believe that People Are Good

Gratitude Strategy

Thank You

Which Platforms?

What’s His Audience Like?

Who’s His Competition?

What Message Should He Convey?

Lifestyle of the Great Pumpkin’s Followers

So Who Is Looking for You?

Social Media Helps You Get Found

Why Do You Want to Be Found?

Having a Positive Mindset

Follow Up, Follow Up, Follow Up

Do You Want to Be Found?

Smarter, Not Harder

Read Articles about Time Management

Work in Batches

Outsource, Outsource, Outsource

Plan the Night Before

Find Nirvana

Follow Carol!

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