While some might think the blogging phase is over and done with, you’ll be surprised to know that creating a profitable blog today is much easier than you think. The way blog posts are consumed today is significantly different compared to how people consumed blog post a decade ago. In order to achieve results, bloggers must adapt to trends and create new and unique content.

Years ago, blogs were simply seen as text-and-image webpages.

But today, with the rise of social media and influencer marketing, content has completely shifted. Of course, there’s the age-old advice from “expert” bloggers like, “stay consistent,” “create good content,” and “write about your passions, hopes, and dreams, etc.”

With this advice, it would take you years to create a profitable blog. And while it may be true to a certain extent, there’s still some key elements you need to consider like, more specifically, start developing your content like a startup rather than a hobby.

Creating a blog is one thing, but monetizing your blog is another. Ignore the naysayers that claim blogging is dead. With the right steps, you can still launch a profitable blog in 2021…

Here’s how:

1. Kick Your Content Up A Notch (Or Two)

Creating engaging content for your blog is more than just writing about your hobbies or interests. You want to captivate you reader’s attention, and generally, the best way to do that is by telling them something they don’t already know.

Too many bloggers make the same mistake of writing, “Do this!” or “Do that!”-type blogs posts. But that’s not what your reader wants to hear. If they’re just looking for facts, they can go to Google and get their answer in less than a second.

Jithendar Dharmapuri, founder of TechLurn, creates captivating content on stories ranging from artificial intelligence to science and technology. In a recent phone conversation with Dharmapuri, he tells us what makes an engaging piece of content.

“The trick is to combine both expertise and opinion. For example, my passion is blogging — I love creating written content. But my profession is an IT engineer. Now you may ask, ‘How could those two things possibly have anything in common?’ Well, that’s the beauty of blogging; you can combine the two to write engaging content that caters to your audience.”

When writing a blog, the best thing to do it be precise and to the point. Your reader is there to learn about something new or something they identify with. Voicing our opinion can help draw them in, and showcasing your expertise on the subject shows the reader you know what you’re talking about. This will keep them engaged and leave them wanting more.

2. In Addition To Your Blog, Dominate One More Medium (And Only One)

It’s no longer 2005. People don’t just ‘hang out’ or linger on blogs. These days, people visit your blog, scroll to the bottom, and look for any social media links. The trick is to use the social media platform that perfectly complements your content.

If you take photos or write about photography, check out Instagram. If you love video content, go with YouTube. If you like engaging in real-time conversations, Twitter might serve more to your liking.

Whatever you choose, make sure it relates to your niche.

And there’s no need to go crazy and create four different social media accounts — one channel will suffice. This will give you the opportunity to dedicate all your time and attention to a single outlet rather than switching between multiple different ones.

While its still important to grow your blog, growing your audience on social media is just as important in this day and age. Today, social media has become a full-time job. The term “influencer” doesn’t just mean someone who takes pretty pictures and posts them — although some believe this to be true.

Influencers make regular posts on their preferred social media platforms while capturing and creating content that caters to those platforms. Since influencers have a big say on what’s “in” and what’s “out,” brands often use influencers to promote their company and buy their products.

Regardless of which outlet they choose, the most successful bloggers put a lot of effort into their social media posts. By applying yourself wholeheartedly to your blog and your social media following, you can expect to see considerable growth.

3. Above All Else, Give Your Email List Plenty Of Attention

As the old saying goes, “The money is in the list.”

When you first open social media, swarms of ads come flying at you. Whether it’s the “discover” page or your own personal feed featuring “recommended” ads, the chances of someone tapping or clicking on your profile are quite low…

In most cases, they’ll just keep scrolling.

Instead, take your advertising to email. While there’s misconceptions that email subscriptions are out of date, the most successful companies beg to differ. Using an email list allows you to deliver a one-on-one message with your readers.

It's the best way to connect customers to your blog. In fact, you are six-times more likely to get a higher click-rate from emails than tweets. It’s also a more efficient way to bring in new customers.

Email marketing serves as one the primary ways to drive traffic to your blog and communicate with your audience. This helps establish trust between you and potential readers, and as a result, grow your blog into a profitable side hustle.

Making Financial Advicers Better And More Successful And The State Of The (Nerd’s Eye View) Blog

Executive Summary

2020 was an incredibly disruptive year for nearly everyone. From the health toll of the pandemic itself to the economic impact of social distancing, the business disruption of work-from-home to the personal disruption of schooling-from-home, last year was a year of change for nearly everyone, whether they wanted it or not. And while the financial services industry escaped relatively unscathed with a sharp V-shaped recovery – particularly in contrast to the damaging impact of the 2008-2009 financial crisis and the recession that followed – financial advisors were not exempt from the forces of change that rolled through. A shift we felt particularly acutely at Kitces.Com, with the total shut-down of in-person conferences (to which we previously had traveled on a weekly basis throughout the year!), paired with an explosion of virtual webinar events and a newfound hunger amongst the advisor community for (quality) online education.

In fact, as we look to the “State of the Blog” in 2021, the ironic reality is that last year was one of record growth for Kitces.Com, with our Nerd’s Eye View blog readership marking new highs, our Members Section experiencing more-than-100% growth (as we added more new members last year than we did in the first 10 years, cumulatively!), and the Kitces team that keeps it all running behind-the-scenes more than doubling as well (to a total of 15 now, including yours truly!).

Yet even as Kitces.Com had the good fortune to be able to grow rapidly amidst a challenging year, it has also helped us crystalize that, like any business that envisions being a ‘Small Giant’ (which Bo Burlingham defines as companies that try to be the Greatest instead of just being the Biggest), it’s impossible to serve everyone. Instead, we have to maintain a clear focus on who it is that we serve best, and focus our services and resources for them.

And so I’m excited to announce an update to our Mission at Kitces.Com, which is now about “Making Financial Advicers Better, And More Successful”.

What’s a “Financial Advicer” you may be asking? Simply put, a financial advicer is someone who is actually in the business of financial advice itself, and whose compensation (whatever the form) is for that advice. Which matters, because it means that when you’re a Financial Advicer, the product isn’t the product. The advice itself, and the advicer delivering it, are the “product” that the client is purchasing. Accordingly, Financial Advicers recognize that it’s essential to continue learning and developing their own knowledge, as a means of reinvesting into and upgrading and increasing the value potential of the advice that they can deliver to their clients. And that’s who Kitces.Com aims to serve.

In the coming years, our mission of “Making Financial Advicers Better, and More Successful” will come across four domains: Education for Financial Advicers in the form of the Nerd’s Eye View blog daily content; Resources to help Financial Advicers find (the right) solutions from our Master Conference List to our new CFP Scholarships List and our popular AdvisorTech Map; Research in the form of original studies on what Financial Advicers really do in delivering advice and being successful; and Training to develop the skills that Financial Advicers need to succeed, as embodied by the recent launch of our (first of many to come) Kitces Courses on “How To Review A Tax Return To Find Planning Opportunities”.

2020 was a challenging year for most, and there was no exception at Kitces.Com as our value proposition and business model, too, had to adapt to the pandemic and its impact. Yet in the end, just as the industry was itself already in the midst of a shift from sales to advice, the pandemic has in so many ways simply caused the ‘future’ to arrive more quickly than most anticipated. Which means the 2020s are increasingly shaping up to be the decade of the financial advicer, and fortunately we’ve been able to emerge from the pandemic stronger and in a better position than ever to serve the financial advicer community. I couldn’t be more excited about what’s ahead for the business of financial advice and serving all of you, our Financial Advicer readers, in the years to come!

Author: Michael Kitces

Team Kitces

Michael Kitces is Head of Planning Strategy at Buckingham Wealth Partners, a turnkey wealth management services provider supporting thousands of independent financial advisors.

In addition, he is a co-founder of the XY Planning Network, AdvicePay, fpPathfinder, and New Planner Recruiting, the former Practitioner Editor of the Journal of Financial Planning, the host of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, and the publisher of the popular financial planning industry blog Nerd’s Eye View through his website Kitces.Com, dedicated to advancing knowledge in financial planning. In 2010, Michael was recognized with one of the FPA’s “Heart of Financial Planning” awards for his dedication and work in advancing the profession.

Looking Back On 2020 And The Ongoing Evolution Of Kitces.Com

When Kitces.Com first launched back in the spring of 2008, it was little more than a ‘digital storefront’ for a new e-newsletter offering called “The Kitces Report”.

At the time, I was the Director of Financial Planning at an independent RIA, Pinnacle Advisory Group, and as I researched and analyzed complex financial planning situations for our own clients, it felt like a ‘waste’ to do so much work for just that one client, and not share it more broadly with other advisors.

So I took the financial planning knowledge I gleaned from my client work in the advisory business and published it as a paid e-newsletter, where for $149/year, I would dive deep into one planning issue or strategy every month. I then began to travel to industry conferences and present that educational newsletter material in-person as well

In 2010, our original paid speaking-plus-newsletter offering expanded further to include the launch of the Nerd’s Eye View blog as a free resource to the advisor community, so I could share what I was seeing and learning about practice management, industry trends, and advisor technology as well (while The Kitces Report remained focused on the more ‘technical’ aspects of financial planning).

Over the decade that followed, the Nerd’s Eye View blog and the Kitces.Com platform grew rapidly, from dozens to hundreds to thousands and now more than 10,000 readers every day. While my travel for industry speaking events grew from 20 to 40 to 70+ events per year. All with a focus on advancing knowledge in financial planning.

Yet throughout that growth, the Kitces platform itself remained, by design, a ‘solo’ practice, built around my own personal journey of learning, and sharing that learning with the rest of the advisor community. And it was driven by just myself and a virtual assistant who helped keep me organized behind the scenes.

But in 2018, as we celebrated our 10-year anniversary of Kitces.Com, I made a conscious change to our strategy, as I realized we could do even more with the Kitces platform for the advisor community if it wasn’t limited to just myself. And so we began to change and grow, from a “solo” business, to what Bo Burlingham calls the vision of a “Small Giant” – a company that doesn’t necessarily seek to be Big, but is focused on being Great at what they do, and having a real impact on the community it serves.

And so in the years that followed, we began to invest into the growth of the Kitces team, from 3 in 2018, to 4 in 2019, 7 in 2020, and now 15 in 2021 with the addition of our latest team member, Managing Editor Sydney Squires.

And by reinvesting into the Kitces platform, we have been able to do far more for the advisor community, with both an expanding reach of the Nerd’s Eye View blog, and through our growing Members Section, from the expansion of our CE offering to include the CIMA and CPWA designations from IWI, CPE credits for CPAs, CE for Enrolled Agents, and most recently the addition of CE credits for the American College designations (e.G., CLU, ChFC, and RICP CE credits). As well as the rollout of our popular CFP Ethics CE program.

In addition, the growing Kitces team has made it possible for us to further expand our Members Section Events to include our Kitces Office Hours series with curated guest experts, our monthly webinar series, and our ‘breaking news’ webinar events on topics from communicating with clients during the coronavirus market volatility last March to our recent webinars on the Biden Tax Plan and the coronavirus stimulus legislation in December.

Notably, the core focus of the Nerd’s Eye View blog – to educate the advisor community – has not changed, and our blog content remains (and will remain!) as free as it ever has. Our growing Members Section is for those who want to see the content instead of read it (i.E., in the form of a webinar instead of a written article), for those who want access to the Kitces team and our curated experts (in the form of our Office Hours sessions), to use the images from our Nerd’s Eye View blog in our Kitces Graphics library, and to earn a wide range of CE credits for what they’re already reading.

Still, though, as the industry moves inexorably away from a focus on products towards a focus on financial planning advice, placing ever-increasing pressure on financial advisors to deepen their own expertise to demonstrate their value to clients, the demand for advanced advisor education has continued to grow, driving growth to Kitces.Com and our Members Section as well.

The end result was that, despite the disruptive challenges of the coronavirus pandemic over the past year, our Kitces.Com Members Section grew by more than 100%. Leaving us better positioned to do even more for the financial advisor community in 2021 and the years to come!

From Financial Advisors To Financial Advicers

Notwithstanding the tremendous growth of Kitces.Com over the past year, I recognize that what we produce – long-form, deep-dive, advanced educational content for financial advisors – is not for everyone. Few will want to read every article – which is fine, that’s why we email it with a clear subject line and a full-length executive summary to understand if it’s worthwhile for you to invest the time – but some just won’t want to read Kitces-style content at all.

In part, that’s simply because some people don’t like to read long-form articles as a means of education (though we have tried to resolve this in part by also offering some of our content in an audio format as a podcast or via webinar instead). In part, it’s because some financial advisors have reached a point in their career and their business where they no longer feel the need to keep reinvesting so much time into their professional development, and are satisfied with their current business and clientele. And in part, it’s also because the “financial advisor” title is so ubiquitous that, for a large segment of the advisor community, their value isn’t actually based on their financial advice (business card title notwithstanding) and their own knowledge, but by the financial products they sell. And as a result, they are not rewarded for investing in their own advisor education to upside their advice; they invest in their product and sales training instead.

In essence, then, we’ve recognized that Kitces.Com is not actually a platform for “financial advisors”, per se, but a platform for Financial Advicers.

So what does it mean to be a Financial Advicer?

At its core, being a financial advicer means being someone who is in the business of financial advice (not financial products), and the compensation they receive is remuneration for that advice (not a reward from product manufacturers or distributors for implementing the products they wanted to have sold). In other words, the Financial Advicer may help to implement solutions, but their value itself is product-agnostic.

Not to say that implementation of financial advice isn’t important. Ultimately, what makes financial advice most valuable is when it’s advice that “sticks”, resulting in real-world behavior change that leads to better outcomes.

But just as there’s a difference between a doctor that prescribes medication, the pharmacist that fills the prescription (but doesn’t do the prescribing), and the drug company that manufactures the drug for sale, there’s a difference between a Financial Advicer hired by their clients to prescribe recommendations, and those employed by product companies to sell and implement the company’s products (or fill the orders that consumers come to purchase).

In the context of the current state of financial advisors, this definition of Financial Advicer recognizes that there are financial advisors at broker-dealers and insurance companies who may be compensated primarily via commissions for the products they implement, but who, in the end, really are in the business of advice and could easily choose to charge fees for that advice (but by virtue of how their advisory business operates and who they serve, happen to be compensated by product implementation instead). Similarly, this definition of Financial Advicer also recognizes that there are AUM-based advisors who are paid a percentage of the assets they manage, but their value is the holistic financial advice they provide (and the AUM model just happens to be a convenient way to be paid for it from their clients who have available assets to manage). Yet at the same time, there are also many “financial advisors” – within broker-dealers and RIAs – who in the end simply sell certain products for commissions or implement portfolios for a fee, and may help their clients benefit from the value of those solutions, but the value is in the solution itself, not the advice.

Because when you’re a Financial Advicer, the product isn’t the product. The advice itself, and the Financial Advicer delivering it, are the “product” that the client is purchasing.

Which is why Financial Advicers operate as fiduciaries (i.E., by having an affiliation to a Registered Investment Adviser, which is literally legally required to be in the business of financial advice). So that the Financial Advicer is legally accountable to their clients for the quality of the advice they provide.

In addition, this is why Financial Advicers have not only a substantive continuing education requirement – as all bona fide professions – to continuously improve their advice, but an outright business incentive to continue to invest in themselves and their education to better their business and their value proposition to clients!

And it’s that need for the professional development of Financial Advicers that Kitces.Com aims to serve.

THE FINANCIAL ADVICER MANIFESTO

A Financial Advicer is one who:

1) Is in the business of financial advice, and the compensation they receive is for that advice. [Be Advice-Centric]

2) Creates value through their advice, not the sale of any particular product. [Be Product-Agnostic]

3) Is legally accountable to their clients for the quality of the advice they give. [Be a Fiduciary]

4) Only provides advice in areas where they’re knowledgeable. [Be Competent]

5) Reinvests into the ongoing development of their own professional knowledge. [Be Continuously Learning]

6) Avoids undue personal financial pressure that could undermine their objectivity. [Be Financially Sound]

7) Balances service to clients and the operation of a financially viable advice business. [Be Sustainable]

(Michael’s Note: As we put forth the concept of Financial Advicers, we’re still trying to find the right words to precisely describe it! So whether you agree with this definition, or think we need to modify it and explain it better, please share your thoughts in the comments at the end about whether you think we got it right, or need to refine this definition further!)

Though in the end, Kitces.Com is not just focused on serving those who are already Financial Advicers. We also aim to support those on the journey to becoming Financial Advicers, and those transitioning from being “financial advisors” (in all its various forms) to being Financial Advicers. Simply put, we aim to be part of making the transition from sales to advice happen.

Which is why we not only provide upfront and continuing education for Financial Advicers (from this Nerd’s Eye View blog to our Members Section), but also have the Financial Advisor Success podcast to share those journeys on the path of becoming a successful Financial Advicer. It’s also why we’ve also developed an array of business solutions for Financial Advicers.

And it’s why we don’t make ‘easy’ CE quizzes on Kitces.Com. Because ultimately, we believe that giving financial advice is a sacred duty to clients. Simply put, if one client’s lifetime of financial diligence can be ruined in one hour of bad financial advice, it’s important enough to have to take the time and get it right on a quiz!

As Kitces.Com continues its transition from a platform of “me” (Michael Kitces) sharing my own personal learning journey to one of a team that serves to advance the business of financial advice itself, we are formally updating the mission of Kitces.Com:

“Kitces.Com: Making Financial Advicers Better, and More Successful”

In this context, “better” means being better at the delivery of financial advice itself. From having the knowledge it takes to know what the right advice is to deliver, to the skills it takes to deliver that advice well (and get clients to actually implement it!).

Successful means… whatever “success” means to the Financial Advicer. It may be building a bigger advice business. Or deliberately building a smaller, more focused one. It may be finding your first job on the advicer career path or advancing your advicer career as an employee within an advisory firm. It may be getting ready to retire from and wind down your advicer business or making the transition to gear up and start your own financial advicer practice.

At Kitces.Com, we aim to achieve our mission of Making Financial Advicers Better and More Successful with a focus in four key areas: Education, Resources, Research, and Training.

Education is what we provide through the Nerd’s Eye View blog, making knowledge on both the business of advice and the delivery of (technically accurate) advice directly accessible to the Financial Advicer community.

Resources are informational and reference materials made available to the financial advicer community to help them navigate the landscape of solutions and next steps, from our Master Conferences list, to our new CFP Scholarships list, to our popular AdvisorTech Map of technology solutions.

Research embodies the original research studies we’re now conducting on what real Financial Advicers actually do, from the real-world financial planning process that advicers engage in, how financial advicers market and grow their advice businesses, and what determines the well-being of financial advicers themselves.

And Training is represented by our new Kitces Courses launch, focused not on financial planning knowledge – which is available directly through the Nerd’s Eye View blog – but on being able to practice and build towards mastery of the skills that Financial Advicers need to actually be successful (such as how to review a client’s actual tax return to glean insights and find financial planning opportunities!)

Research, Resources, Education, and Training, for the community of Financial Advicers, all in pursuit of Helping Financial Advicers to be Better and More Successful.

So whether you already are a Financial Advicer, or are looking to someday become or evolve into one, I hope you’ll continue to find Kitces.Com helpful to you in your own journey. Or if you’re so inspired, join our Kitces team to help make it happen!

Why Nintendo’s Switch Continues To See So Much Success

The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community.The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

It’s now official: the Nintendo Switch has overtaken 3DS lifetime sales to become the 5th bestselling Nintendo console of all time. With no signs of slowing down Nintendo’s handheld-home console hybrid is only bested by the Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, DS and Wii console families. It’s probably not going to be too long before we see the Switch overtake the Game Boy Advance too.

When a console is performing so well, there’s rightly focus on why the platform has managed to find so much success. How did Nintendo get it all so right?

There are many reasons for the Nintendo Switch’s success. Firstly, fantastic first-party games that directly drive console sales. The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey took Nintendo’s biggest franchises in an exciting new direction, making them ‘can’t miss’ exclusives. Meanwhile, Nintendo benefitted from a clever and eye-catching design that finally crossed the handheld / console divide and hadn’t been seen in mainstream design before. And of course there’s also its attractive price point when compared to competitors.

What really makes the Switch stand out however is its continued strong third party support. With franchises like Bioshock and XCOM sitting in the same content library as Mario and Zelda, investing in the Switch ecosystem no longer means missing out on some of the biggest IPs in the world. Creating a Switch version just makes sense, thanks to a large and engaged install base.

Add to this the fantastic contribution of indie developers who now focus on developing for Switch almost as much as they do for PC. For many, the Switch console is the best way into playing exciting new indie games, that make the Switch’s catalogue even richer. For many people, it’s all about the games. No wonder then that amazing first-party games, plus thousands of indie games, plus great third party games that were previously unlikely to be found on a Nintendo console, has done the trick.

We see so many great third party games on the system thanks to Nintendo’s approach to working with third parties and their desire to make the Switch a welcome home to studios of all shapes and sizes. They have also been more relaxed with the use of their characters in spinoff games. Mario x Rabbids and Zelda x Necrodancer fell outside the usual formula for Nintendo but have turned out to be very successful indeed. Experimentation and collaboration are paying off.

At Virtuos, we became experts at using Nintendo’s toolkits to make games look and run great on their hardware, whether that’s in TV or handheld mode. The Switch platform presents interesting challenges due to the limitations of the technology, but we view these challenges as big opportunities, that can open the door to new games, or genres, that were not able to make the jump from console to handheld before.

Our teams have worked hard to provide the best adaptations for the Switch, but they have also been supported at every step by Nintendo and its tools, which encourage greater development. We love this approach, as it chimes with our purpose to make great games even better by bringing them to even more players.

We’re very excited about new projects on the horizon for this summer and beyond. There’s plenty more to come from the Switch for years to come.

The excellent TCL 8-Series was be the first TV to use mini-LED technology. Sarah Tew/CNET

The latest new TV tech is called mini-LED. It first launched last year with TCL's 8-Series and is now available on the more affordable 6-series, starting at just $650 for the 55-inch size. With the promise of better contrast, mini-LED has the potential to offer improved picture quality compared to "standard" LCD-based TVs , at a cheaper price than OLED TVs. That's pretty much what our own David Katzmaier found when he reviewed the the 8-Series, saying "The TCL 8-Series has the best picture quality of any non-OLED TV I've tested this year."

An illustration of what a mini LED backlight could look like.

Read more: TCL launches 2020 6-Series Roku TVs with mini-LED, QLED, local dimming

While TCL is first TV maker out of the gate with a mini-LED TV, it probably won't be the last. Mini-LED's advantage, aside from a snazzy new name, is that it's actually affordable. It's an evolutionary technology, not a revolutionary one, and draws on existing LCD TV technology.

Here's how it works, and why it's so cool.

Mini-LED is not MicroLED

Before we get started, know that mini-LED and MicroLED are not the same thing. MicroLED is a cool future tech that's reserved for rich people today, while mini-LED is currently available and in TVs as low as $650 for the 55-inch 6-Series. 

MicroLED displays, like Sony's Crystal LED and Samsung's The Wall, use millions of LEDs, one for each pixel. Essentially, you're looking directly at the LEDs which are creating the picture. And while each individual MicroLED is tiny, the modular nature of MicroLED means it can get truly gigantic.

Seen here in a massive 219-inch size Samsung calls The Wall, MicroLED isn't affordable enough for the mass market yet. Sarah Tew/CNET

Mini-LEDs are found inside normal-size TVs -- TCL is currently selling versions from 55- to 75-inches -- but the LEDs themselves are much larger than MicroLEDs. Just like the standard LEDs found in current TVs, they're used to power the backlight of the television. A liquid crystal layer, the LCD itself, modulates that light to create the image. MicroLED  isn't LCD at all, it's a whole new TV technology that also happens to use LEDs.

Here's how the two stack up against one another as well as standard LED, QLED and OLED.

Bright lights, big TV, better local dimming

To understand mini-LED, you need to understand standard LED, at least as far as your TV is concerned. Inside all modern LCD TVs (i.e. every TV that's not an OLED), there anywhere between a few, to a few hundred light emitting diodes. These tiny devices emit light when you give them electricity and are being used everywhere in the modern world, from the flashlight on your phone to the taillights on your car. They range in size -- commonly they're around 1 millimeter, but can be smaller than 0.2 millimeter.

In some TVs the LEDs are on the edges, pointing inward. On others, the LEDs are behind the screen, pointing toward you. For improved image quality, particularly to appreciate high dynamic range (HDR), you need local dimming. This is where the TV dims the LEDs behind dark sections of the image to create a better contrast ratio between the bright parts of the image and the dark. For more on this, check out LED local dimming explained.

Ideally, you'd be able to dim each pixel enough to create a visually impressive contrast ratio. This is, for example, how OLED works. With LCD, though, it's much harder to do. The liquid crystal panel that creates the image only blocks the light created by the backlight. Not all the light can be blocked, so the image is grayer and has less "punch" than with OLED. 

Local dimming improves this issue, but it's not 1:1. There isn't one LED for each of the 8 million-plus pixels in a 4K TV. Instead there are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of pixels for every LED (or more accurately, groups of LEDs called "zones"). There's a limit to how many LEDs you can squeeze onto the back panel of a TV before energy drain, heat production and cost become severely limiting factors. Enter the mini-LED.

On the left, the image as you'd see it on a TV with full-array local dimming. On the right, an exaggerated illustration of the backlight array as you'd see it if you could remove the LCD layer. Arranged across the back of the TV, each LED covers a large-ish section of the screen (i.e. creating the light for many thousands of pixels). Pinpoint, or per-pixel lighting is impossible. 

illuminated by another exaggerated illustration, this time of a mini LED TV array backlight (right). Note how much more you can make out compared to the standard-size LEDs in the first image above. With far more LEDs, the backlight has a greater "resolution," so there can be finer distinctions between light and dark. The ideal, like OLED and micro LED, would be per-pixel illumination, but mini LED is a step closer to that without the cost of the other two technologies. Geoffrey Morrison/CNET Going big with little LEDs

Although there's no accepted threshold, LEDs smaller than 0.2-millimeter tend to be called mini-LEDs. They're often 0.1-millimeter or less. Not too small though: At around 0.01-millimeter, they're called MicroLEDs.

Generally speaking, when you make an LED smaller, it becomes dimmer. There's less material to create the light. You can offset this a bit by giving them more electricity ("driving" them harder), but there's a limit here, too, constrained by energy consumption, heat, longevity and practicality. No one is going to hook their TV up to a high-amp, home appliance-style outlet. 

As LED technology improves, they get more efficient. New tech, new manufacturing methods and other factors mean that the same amount of light is created using less energy, or more light using the same energy. New tech also allows for smaller LEDs.

TCL's comparison of LED backlight types using the 8-Series with mini-LED as the "Best" example. TCL

TCL's 8-Series mini-LED has over 25,000 mini-LEDs arrayed across the back of the TV. These are grouped into around 1,000 zones. Both of these numbers are significantly higher than what you'd find in a traditional LED TV. The 75-inch Vizio Quantum X for example, has 485 local dimming zones. No TV maker aside from TCL officially lists the number of LEDs in its TVs, but it's safe to assume none have as many as 25,000 (yet).

Meanwhile, the new 6-Series is much less impressive at 1,000 mini-LEDs and 240 zones -- more than many models at its price but clearly not at the same level as the 8-Series.

If you were to take the LCD layer of the TV off, the mini-LEDs would create an image that would look like a low-resolution black-and-white internet video version of the show you were watching (see the pairs of image comparisons above). By being able to dim parts of the screen far more precisely, the overall apparent contrast ratio goes up. It's still not quite as good as being able to dim each pixel individually (like OLED and MicroLED), but it's far closer to that ideal than even the most elaborate full-array LED LCDs now. Check out the video below for TCL's own demo of the 8-Series in action.

Having more zones is a big factor here, as it means improving two other aspects of the image. The most obvious is reducing the "blooming" typical of many local-dimming LCDs. Blooming is created because the local-dimming backlight is too coarse, creating light behind a part of the image that should be dark. 

Imagine a streetlight on an otherwise dark road. A local-dimming TV doesn't have the resolution in its backlight to only light up the pixels behind the street light, so it has to light up some of the surrounding night as well. Many LCDs TVs have gotten pretty good at this, but not as good as something that can dim each pixel. With mini-LED, you might not be able to light up individual stars in a night scene, but the moon probably won't have a halo.

Because there's less of a chance of blooming, the LEDs can be driven harder without fear of artifacts. So there can be a greater on-screen contrast ratio in a wider variety of scenes. The bright parts of the image can be truly bright, the dark parts of the image can be at or near totally dark.

The dark night returns

Deep blacks and bright whites are the Holy Grail (Grails?) of TV image production. Add in the color possible with quantum dots and you've got a the makings of a fantastic-looking television. With LG still the only company able to make OLED work affordably in TV sizes, other manufacturers need ways to create competing technology. LCD is still the only cost-effective alternative, and while it has come a long way, it's an aging technology. Mini-LED is the latest band-aid keeping it in the game.

As far as band-aids go, however, this is a pretty good one. The 8-Series looked really good, and is probably still a good deal before they run out of stock. The new 6-Series will be even cheaper, and will likely look great too, though we'll know more once we test one. That should happen soon. Hopefully more companies will announce mini-LED models, perhaps in January at the now online-only CES 2021.

Got a question for Geoff? First, check out all the other articles he's written on topics like why you shouldn't buy expensive HDMI cables, TV resolutions explained, how HDR works and more.

Google and Facebook should pay to use ABC and SBS content as well as news produced by commercial media, public interest journalism advocates have told the competition watchdog.

The funds collected from the digital platforms should be used to to set up an independent public interest journalism fund rather than be funnelled back into the public broadcasters, the Public Interest Journalism Initiative said in a final submission.

The media industry has been hit hard by Covid-19: 29 newspapers and TV stations have closed down and a further 97 newspapers have ceased to produce print editions, PIJI said.

Related: Google can afford a slice of its billions to help sustain journalism, Labor says

The consultation period for the draft mandatory code under which Google will be forced to pay Australian media companies for news appearing on Google closed on Friday.

Google has taken the fight against the legislation down to the wire, bombarding Australian users with a yellow hazard warning that states: “The way Aussies search every day on Google is at risk from new government regulation”, and repeating the message on YouTube’s social media accounts.

Public interest journalism advocates want Google and Facebook to pay when it uses ABC and SBS content, but say the fee shouldn’t be funnelled back into the public broadcasters.

But the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has called the campaign misinformation and will draft the legislation now the final submissions are in.

In a joint submission the Public Interest Journalism Initiative and the Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas called on the ACCC to amend the code to include the ABC and SBS, but use the revenue to fund public interest journalism.

The chair of PIJI, Allan Fels, a former chair of the ACCC, said there was a danger in excluding the ABC and SBS. “There is a real chance that digital platforms will adopt far more of their content than from news organisations whose content they have to fund,” Fels said.

The Australia Institute’s Centre for Responsible Technology has also thrown its weight behind the idea.

The draft mandatory news code does not require the digital platforms to share revenue with the public broadcasters because they are funded by the taxpayer.

In March, ACCC chair Rod Sims said any revenue that came to the ABC as a result of the new code “would be applied to the delivery of ABC charter objectives” but after he delivered the code the ABC and SBS were excluded and he said that was the government’s choice.

“Clearly, digital platforms derive direct and indirect value from the volume of news content generated by public broadcasters, particularly as the ABC and SBS are the most trusted news sources in Australia,” the PIJI submission says.

“If Google and Facebook pay for content from News Corp and Nine, but not from the public broadcasters, then in effect the Australian taxpayers are arguably subsidising the digital platforms.”

The Centre for Responsible Technology agreed there were dangers in allowing Facebook and Google to use taxpayer-funded journalism without a fee. The platforms “may be incentivised to prefer their content to content for which they have to pay”, the centre said in its submission.

The director of the centre, Peter Lewis, said it was a critical moment that will define our relationship with the global technology platforms.

Related: Why is Google taking aim at the Australian government with saturation advertising?

“It is difficult to imagine an issue more pertinent in this digital age than the decline of media revenues and the overwhelming power of Google and Facebook,” Lewis said.

“We know that Google and Facebook have become the dominant advertising platforms. We also know the impact this has had on media outlets – with more than 5,000 jobs disappeared in the past decade.”

Fels also called for more clarity about how the revenue will be calculated and for more attention to be paid to how the smaller players will not be disadvantaged compared with News Corp and Nine Entertainment.

“Our proposal is aimed at overcoming the concern that small innovators in public interest journalism could otherwise come out badly under the final offer arbitration process,” professor Fels said.

“Final offer arbitration has much to offer but it is extremely important that the bargaining power of all parties big and small is equally protected and this is one way of doing that.”

Google Images launches 'Licensable' badge, making it easier for users to identify creators and license images

In collaboration with Shutterstock, Google has announced the launch of licensable images on Google Images. This feature entered beta testing earlier this year and is now fully launched and integrated into Google Images, hopefully benefiting photographers. With the new 'Licensable' badge on Google Image search results, viewers can immediately identify which images can be licensed for varying uses and better understand the usage rights of individual images.

Shutterstock worked closely with Google to ensure the licensable images feature works effectively. Of the new features, Shutterstock's VP of Content Operations, Paul Brennan, says:

'Google Images' new features help both image creators and image consumers by bringing visibility to how creators' content can be licensed properly. We are pleased to have worked closely with Google on this feature, by advocating for protections that result in fair compensation for our global community of over 1 million contributors. In developing this feature, Google has clearly demonstrated its commitment to supporting the content creation ecosystem.'

When an image has specified license information on a website, the image can be displayed with the Licensable badge on image thumbnails in Google Images. This badge indicates to viewers that license information is available for the image and then provides a link directly to the license in the image viewer. From here, someone can learn how the image can be licensed and used.

For Google to be able to discover and index images on a website, the images must be accessible without an account or by logging in. You must also follow Google's Webmaster Guidelines and Google Images Best Practices. In addition to these existing steps, the new Licensable badge requires structured data or IPTC photo metadata to follow Google's new guidelines. You can learn more about these requirements here.

With the introduction of the Licensable badge, search results in Google Images can now be filtered to only display images that include licensing. Further, the dropdown Usage Rights filter has been streamlined, such that it now includes only options for 'All', 'Creative Commons licenses' and 'Commercial & other licenses'.

It has long been far too easy for people to search for images on Google and use them without a license or permissions. Today's changes to Google Images will hopefully reduce image misuse. At the very least, assuming a photographer has taken the steps to ensure their images are properly badged and filtered on Google Images, it will now be much easier for Google Images users to view creator information and licensing requirements.

Google launches Kids Space initiative on Lenovo tablets

Corrections & Clarifications: Updates the story to clarify that parents can opt-out of ads during the setup of the Lenovo tablet and that Google says the marketing content will include ads for family-friendly apps.

Google announced a new kids initiative with videos, books and apps on upcoming Lenovo tablets.

The Google Kids Space, aimed at children  under 9, will have "kid-friendly" apps, videos and books on two new tablets arriving  in September, the search giant revealed on Monday. And yes, there will be ads. While Google declined to state what companies will be advertising on the platform, the company did say there would be "E-rated app or banner ads." 

Google describes the Kids Space initiative as a place for parents to manage screen time and have access to "teacher-approved" apps and popular children’s books free of charge, along with curated videos from YouTube Kids, an app for children too young to watch grown-up YouTube.

Google requires a minimum age of 13 to get a Google account and to watch YouTube, where ironically, eight of the top 10 most-watched U.S. channels are aimed at toddlers and tweens, according to TubeFilter.

Forget $1,000 smartphones:Here's three great ones for under $400 from Apple, Google and Samsung

The company has come under fire in the past for how it interacts with children, paying the Federal Trade Commission a $170 million fine for "illegally" collecting personal information from kids.

Back in 2015, a coalition of consumer and child advocacy groups asked the FTC to investigate Google's YouTube Kids app, calling it deceptive marketing aimed at children under five.

"It's just one, long, uninterrupted ad," Jeff Chester of Center for Digital Democracy told USA TODAY at the time. "It turns back the clock 30 years in terms of the role that advertising plays in kids programming."

In an interview, Google product director Mindy Brooks said unlike traditional Google, which makes its money by serving up personalized ads to users, "There is no interest-based advertising for children" on Kids Space.

Brooks wouldn't be specific on what type of ads they will see, besides saying "They should all be kid-friendly ads," that adhere to Google's guidelines.

Google is offering the ability for parents to opt-out of ads during the setup, or later by going to the Settings and making the selection.

In a statement, Google said it protects kids' privacy "by applying data minimization principles throughout the design process and not serving personalized advertising to children using Kids Space and giving parents control. For example, we collect information about a child’s activity in our services to do things like help improve app recommendations."

The content kids will see on the tablets will be curated, Brooks says, and selected with a team of experts. Examples include videos from PBS Kids, Nickelodeon, Sesame Street and Barbie and educational books and apps.

The two tablets from Lenovo will start at $129 and be available in the coming weeks. Google says it will expand the program to other Android tablet makers as well.

Instagram has now become a go-to social networking website for all kinds of business. It has emerged as a trendy tool for managing different marketing activities. Established businesses like Nike, Durex, etc. are making the best use of the platform. 

The use of Instagram marketing is not restricted to only these multinationals and huge companies. Small businesses are now finding their spaces in these huge networks. They are making the best use of Instagram to increase the reach and promote their business online.

Listed below are some of the useful Instagram marketing tips for small businesses:

Instagram Stories

Instagram has this popular feature of putting up stories that stay for 24-hours on the company's Instagram page. Stories will keep your audience hooked to your page. This way, you will be able to easily promote your business and its offerings. These stories have great potential and are also trending on the internet. 

Use this feature as a tool to give your consumers small insights into your business daily. 

Keep a track on the comments

Comments usually give you insights on what your consumers want. These comments also help you in understanding where you are going wrong or what you could have done better. Monitoring and reading the comments is critical. 

Also, the business must make sure that it addresses all the comments on a particular post. This builds a positive image of the business in the eyes of the existing and potential consumers. 

Monitor the performance

After posting a video or a visual, it is important to keep track of what’s working for you. Tracking audience engagement is a critical step while you are using Instagram to run a campaign or market your products.

A small business can effectively make use of Instagram reporting tools to track the performance of your posts. These figures will give you an insight into what your customers are liking and what strategy is not working for you. This gives you a window of improvement, and also you can now drive your strategies in the direction the consumer wants.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing has become a go-to strategy for all kinds of businesses irrespective of how big or small the business is. Several local influencers are dominating the market. These influencers have a huge follower base which a small company can leverage on in exchange for a little money. Brands can get in touch with these influencers and ask them for a video or a static post on their Instagram pages. You can also connect with an influencer to launch an Instagram contest to increase your engagement with your target audience.

Use hashtags

Hashtags are the lifeblood of Instagram. With the use of proper and relevant hashtags, a small business can make the best use of Instagram. Make sure not to use random hashtags. 

A business must use proper hashtags to reach its audience. Also, these businesses can post content related to the trending hashtags on Instagram. Also, using broad hashtags always works. 

Take the video route

Videos are the new Gospels of marketing. Make sure to post more video content on the Instagram page. A small business can easily create videos using video editing software like InVideo. This software is easy to use and is less time-consuming. These videos can also be made on a phone or a laptop. 

With the help of videos, you will be able to connect well with your audience. 

Instagram Ads

Ads are significant when it comes to video generation. However, platforms like Facebook and YouTube are quite expensive in terms of the ad cost involved. Therefore, Instagram becomes a more accessible tool for these small businesses to run ads and promote their products. 

Small businesses can create custom images that can be used in bumper ads or static ads. Instagram also gives you a channel to enhance the aesthetic appeal of these ads.

Repost and Regram

Small businesses support each other. Therefore, it is very important to build a cohesive atmosphere for all small businesses to conduct operations.  A small business can grow its network by reposting relevant content posted by other pages operated by different companies. 

This strategy can give your page the required momentum. You can use different applications to repost. Alternatively, you can also share public posts by different companies on Instagram stories. This has become a really popular way to network with other small and large businesses.

Reach out or target your competitor's followers

People who are following your competitors fall under the category of your direct consumers. These people share a common interest. Therefore, it becomes important for you to target these consumers and build an engagement with these people. 

You can make a list of your direct competitors and study their Instagram pages. You can easily check what your competitors are doing to market their product and how do these pages engage with their competitors. Try with following those people and using similar hashtags. This will increase the visibility of your posts and your Instagram page. 

Organize an Instagram contest

Instagram has been successfully using different contests for product promotions. Small businesses can launch small competitions and giveaways to create a buzz among their followers. Different kinds of the Instagram contest can be organized to increase engagement with your target audience. Some of these contests would include small quizzes, treasure hunts, selfie competitions, etc.

However, you can create a much larger impact by providing your consumers with experience. You can ask them to prepare a video and then publish the best entries on your Instagram page as posts or Instagram stories.

Instagram has now emerged as a very popular and useful tool to promote all kinds of businesses. Therefore, a small business can make the best use of the features that Instagram has to offer. Small businesses can also collaborate with businesses to increase their reach and promote their products to a broader set of audiences and also to gain mass popularity.

Why You'd Be Wise to Get In Early On Instagram Reels for Social Media Marketing

As you may have heard, Instagram recently released its newest feature, Instagram Reels, allowing users to create and edit 15-second video clips set to music. Sounds familiar, right? Many have been comparing Reels to TikTok, an app which similarly allows users to create short, entertaining videos.

Even though TikTok’s original target demo was Generation Z, it has also attracted millennials seeking advertisement opportunities. Besides, it only makes sense to use the most popular and fastest-growing social media platform to promote yourself — especially one getting through to a younger crowd.

The debut of Instagram Reels has come at a very convenient time, as the future of TikTok remains uncertain with the Trump administration’s potential ban of the app. Consequently, many TikTok stars are encouraging fans to follow them on other apps. So, why should you use Instagram Reels for your social media marketing strategy?

Reels could topple TikTok

Since its release in September 2016, TikTok has gathered more than 800 million active users worldwide. In February 2019, the app reached its first billion downloads, and eight months later, obtained half a billion more — a massive feat considering its infancy.

However, because Reels is built into Instagram, it has the potential to reach an even wider audience — and faster — than TikTok. An article on Entrepreneur points out that Reels combines all of TikTok’s best features and offers them in the same place you create your regular posts, making it more easily accessible. After all, Instagram is still technically more popular than TikTok, having reached one billion monthly active users as of 2018.

But Instagram won’t stop there. They’ve been working on expanding to an even wider audience. Instagram’s VP of Product, Vishal Shah, shared with reporters recently that, “We have not historically been very good at helping new creators find an audience. The pitch for new creators is that Reels is a way for you to get discovered. It's a way to find a global audience.”

Related: 7 Tips for Increasing Your Brand’s Instagram Followers

Instagram is already an important tool for marketers

Eighty-nine percent of marketers say Instagram is crucial to their marketing strategy. Brands with more than 100,000 followers on Instagram have grown by 163 percent in the past two years. 

Then there’s the question about engagement rates. Instagram already has an incredible global reach, so brands will inevitably see those statistics climb even higher with Reels.

In an article from 2016 on Entrepreneur, Jonathan Long stated, “Take advantage of free Instagram tools,” as his very first tip on how to grow your brand on Instagram, and the point still applies. 

Instagram has a track record of successfully following in footsteps

For anyone who has an Instagram, you should know that its popular Stories feature was also essentially mirrored after another social media app, Snapchat.

Since its release, Instagram Stories has opened up a whole new world for brands to interact with their followers. In a 2019 study from Social Insider, it was found that 51 percent of brands analyzed are currently using Stories to promote their business. Instead of trying to cram everything in a description of a few hundred words or less, Stories has enabled brands to show what makes them unique and interesting in a fun and exciting way.

If the response to Stories is any indication, Reels might be just as successful for marketers in reaching the largest audience possible.

Related: Instagram Launches Reels and Tries to Beat TikTok at Its Own Game

TikTok’s future is uncertain; Instagram will stay put

The potential ban looming over TikTok has sparked fear in many who rely on the app. Stars and influencers have been pleading with their fans to follow them on other social media platforms before it’s too late. That’s why now is the best time to get a leg up and start using Reels to spread your message.

Expanded Ecommerce on Facebook & Instagram & This Week’s Digital Marketing News [PODCAST]

Hosts Jess Budde, Greg Finn, and Christine “Shep” Zirnheld are covering all the digital marketing news of the week on this week’s episode of Marketing O’Clock.

Plus, why the new CVS ad network and Google’s heavy ad policy have us listing to Sarah McLachlan, the Deftones, and seagulls on repeat.

If you’re unable to listen on Spotify, check out our smiling faces on YouTube! You can catch full video episodes each and every week.

Instagram Checkout & Facebook Shops 

Facebook announced enhanced ecommerce experiences on Facebook and Instagram apps and that all selling fees will be waived through the end of 2020.

Facebook Shops and Instagram Checkout are both expanding to all U.S. businesses and creators.

Retailers will be able to manage both their Facebook and Instagram shops through a single online store.

Shops will integrate with Instagram Direct and Facebook Messenger so retailers can assist customers while they shop on the apps.

Finally, they announced the launch of live shoppable videos on both apps.

Google Career Certificates

Google announced professional six-month certificate programs for Data Analyst, Project Manager, and UX Designer career paths.

The new programs will help job hunters fast-track employment regardless of formal education or experience.

Google said that they will treat the certificates as the equivalent of four-year degrees in related fields in their own hiring practices.

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Is Apple going to launch a search engine?

There has been significant evidence that Apple may be planning to develop its own search engine to compete with Google.

Updates to the Applebot web crawler page and Spotlight Search seem to shed light on Apple’s future plans.

Short-format videos spotted on Google Discover

Short videos from Trell and Tangi have been spotted in a carousel format on Google Discover recently.

The new test, along with the upcoming lunch of YouTube “Shorts” are compelling reasons for brands to invest in short video content.

This week’s take of the week comes from Anna Blanken, who isn’t pulling punches when it comes to agencies being forthright with their clients (and former clients).

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Then, ICYMI, Martin McDonald, doesn’t have a lot of confidence in Apple’s new search engine.

We answer these important digital marketing questions during our lightning round segment:

Who is upset that Google Ads isn’t giving them a break on their unpaid invoices?

What is Spotify’s new “podcast topics” search?

When is TikTok launching shoppable live streams?

Where can you find new data on calls from your Google Ads?

Why do webmasters need to know what Google considers “heavy ads”

How can you identify featured snippets in Google Search Console?

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