Direct Response Marketing and The Marketing FunnelDirect Response Marketing

Every network marketer is continually looking to build networks within networks and direct response marketing is process for building them. This principle is logically sound because people are more productive working with people who share similar passions.

Whether those efforts are based on a new product release or a completely new business venture they’re reflected in a marketing funnel of any size and at any level.

At the top of our marketing funnel we’re looking for people who are interested in the online business world. That’s a broad niche but a niche nonetheless because everyone we find on the internet isn’t interested in doing business there.

Direct Response Marketing and Niche Marketing

Permission based marketing is accomplished when people choose to be courted as a lead or prospect. Direct response marketing begins before an individual first decides to be courted and continues until they sever the relationship.

The broadest niche is usually filled from responses to online content or ads at which point they become leads. Network marketing depends upon a steady flow of these leads even though many of them never buy or join your business.

The next response either through phone or email will determine if a lead becomes part of a smaller network or not. This process is the same if your lead list is 100 or 10,000 and continues as long as you have something new to offer (which in well developed funnels can be endless).

New Offers – Direct Response Marketing to your Existing Network

In the same way you would build a smaller network from a larger network, you would present new offers to appropriate networks. Sales and business building should always follow the response back to an offer and be directed to just those who welcome that courtship.

A gentleman used to ask permission from a lady’s parents and then the lady herself prior to courting her. Even if he’s the prince protocol must be maintained.

The quickest way to dissolve a network is to pitch them endlessly about every little thing you or some affiliate has available. Always asking permission at every stage of the marketing funnel engages the decision making process of your prospects; true leaders are also decision makers.

Teaching and Training – Direct Response Marketing and Leadership

Here’s another principle related to network marketing. Every network marketer leads a team of leaders.

Leadership is always a high priority for teaching and training. Everyone in the network knows how they arrived there and what is required of them provided they were engaged in the direct response marketing process.

Knowing why the process is important also helps preserve the integrity of the network. Learning how direct response marking works is far easier when you were a willing participant in that process, and easier to teach others as well.

Comments and questions are always encouraged. Thanks in advance for sharing.

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People You Don’t Know Are Beyond Your Control and Influence…

Expanding Your Influence

The people closest to you are those that are most easily influenced by you but it’s hard to imagine having any influence on people you don’t know.

There is a very common teaching that utilizes a simple diagram sometimes with circles to demonstrate the limitations of personal control, and influence. Specifically to illustrate that there are forces around us over which we have no control or influence.

I’ve seen this lesson in the context of spiritual, emotional, educational and professional environments but typically the focus is narrow and based upon the objective at hand. For the most part that area drawn to emphasize the people, situations and circumstances that we face over which we have no control or influence, is only used to help direct attention to what we can control and influence.

Setting The Stage

The purpose of this narrative is to examine that outer area, the one which the instructor warns us against trying to exercise control over. However, before we can go there we need to revisit what we can control and what we can influence.

Here’s the short list of what we can control:
1.    Our thoughts and words
2.    Our reactions
3.    Our attitudes
4.    Our decisions

This is the short list of what we can influence:
1.    People who look to us for direction (typically children)
2.    People who look to us for instruction (peers and subordinates)
3.    People who look to us for inspiration (remember this one!)
4.    Our personal comfort or sense of fulfillment

What Lies Beyond

The most common examples you face of that grey area over which you’re helpless to exercise your control or influence are (1) unforeseen circumstances and (2) people you don’t know.

From a practical application we are taught not to submit our emotions (something we control) to the outcome of unfortunate circumstances. Successful people look forward to these obstacles because they’ve already learned that personal growth is always accelerated by that which challenges us.

From an entrepreneurial perspective we become fascinated by the second example; people we don’t know. All business growth is hinged upon moving people from that area beyond our influence to where we can start the process of building a relationship.

Unraveling The Mysterious Patterns Around Us

True innovation continuously looks beyond what it presently reaches with a passion to touch more. In the example of Facebook, what struck the creator as a potential billion dollar business still hasn’t finished exploding.
Sometimes studying the patterns at work around us inspires an ad that will attract a small amount of interest. Sometimes new business ventures are simply overwhelmed by a seemingly innocuous phrase that goes viral.

The formula should look like this:
1.    Well defined need or solution our business can satisfy
2.    Who needs it most and where are they looking for it?
3.    Who would love to discover it seemingly by accident and…
4.    Where would they feel most comfortable doing so?

What Social Media Has Provided

Beyond the continuous blather of everything your friends did today, the voices in social media offer true insight to exactly what matters to people. The expansion of your social network exposes you to patterns that you may not have been exposed to normally.

In order to accomplish the same type of research by any other means is suddenly impractical both for the expense and time involved. Social media takes you directly into the heartbeat and emotional state of just about any experience you can imagine.

It becomes the passion of the social media manager to get in and get out after acquiring the answers they needed from a trustworthy and reliable source. Quietly unlocking the patterns allows you to reach into that mass of society, the people you don’t know and build a bridge into the online business world over which you do have influence.

The people you don’t know are vital to your business and while you can’t know and have a close personal relationship with everyone of them, you should develop a professional relationship with all of them. If you find this information helpful please share it with your friends and leave us your thoughts.

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Why Customer Service Associates Ask If You Need More Help

“Is there anything else I can help you with?” (Literally means: “I have much more to offer and you matter to me.”)

That sentence is one of the cornerstones for customer service because a person may not need more help but they’re emotionally charged by another person’s willingness to serve them further. Developing a predisposition to ask if you can do more helps shape your attitude and motivation.

This concept is easy to demonstrate one on one, person to person. As printed or electronic media in the online business world this exchange is more difficult to accomplish.

Direct response marketing should begin with a clear uncomplicated offer to help. Every subsequent step in the marketing funnel should reiterate that same sentiment, “I’m still here and I want to help.”

Too Much Information

I don’t find it ‘Easy’ standing in front of a rack of merchandise with a dozen items that all have slight variations and different prices. Whether someone explains each item and the differences, or I just read the packaging, the process takes time and effort.

It’s much easier to find the electronics department because that sign is hung high from the ceiling and only contains one word. I start walking in that direction immediately.

The easiest part is finding the store. Even though the store contains more information than the department, or the rack of merchandise, the only important thing to know is where it is and when it opens.

Making The Details Comfortable

Your business probably offers many select products or specific services and marketing becomes a matter of presenting them so they’re easy to understand. Organization is a matter of practicality.

Unbridled creativity in the online business world can complicate the process instead of simplifying it. If you make someone uncomfortable and then ask to help them you can usually guarantee a, ‘No, thank you.’

A person may be interested in the details or ready to buy. In both cases we want the buy button already present, a click away and available with every page of detail.

The Process Begins

The decision to buy is either yes or no. The offer for more help follows both paths and the marketing funnel anticipates both responses.

Think of the new customer as already having entered the sales funnel. They are the VIP from that day forward and have access to everything you offer.

The other person is a potential customer who has entered your marketing funnel. They are also a VIP from that time forward and receive the same level of customer service offered to someone who already purchased from you; both of these VIP’s are going to need more help eventually.

If you want help with your sales funnel or marketing funnel we offer consulting to help you understand and develop your online funnel to offer the best possible customer service. We also continue to offer free online home business training in the form of articles and videos. Your comments are always welcome and we appreciate it when you share us with your friends. If there is every anything else we can help you with, please don’t hesitate to ask.

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Do Self Centered Thoughts Prevent Growth?

The unfortunate result of a self centered mindset is that it cuts us off from the flow of social nourishment necessary for emotional and physical health. Fortunately the opposite is also true. Soul, body and spirit are strongest when our focus is on meeting the needs of others ahead of our own. Selfless behavior leads to an abundance of wealth, health and wisdom.

When truth is universal it can be found in various cultures, literature, religions and even within our families. Even without psychological definitions or formal training a mother knows how to encourage her child to share because harmony in relationships depends upon it.

There is no character trait inherent to us all which is so abhorrent when seen in others as pride. Unless we’re willing to acknowledge that this condition can ensnare us, the very thing we loathe to see in others will deceive and infect our minds. A lifestyle immersed in selfish pursuit is unsatisfying and antisocial.

Rewiring Our Minds

Unless we condition ourselves and consciously attach emotional significance to giving as the highest social order, we’ll continue to behave according to our natural inclinations. I don’t know who came up with the slogan, ‘Look out for number one’ but it wasn’t really necessary to train our minds to think this way; self centered thoughts are natural.

We naturally want, need, desire and seek to acquire but must be taught to provide, sacrifice and subjugate ourselves. There is no secret to learning how to be selfless and the reward is equal to the action; love.

Love can be defined as self sacrifice. We can deceive ourselves into thinking that the emotional reward for true selfless love is also self serving. In reality, even if the motivation isn’t pure, the action still produces the same positive effect.

Getting Out Of Your Own Way

Everything that is stopped, halted or hindered by a self centered mindset is instantly released when we change our minds. The conscious decision not to feed the greed allows us to put someone else in our place.

Transferring your energy toward meeting the needs of someone else can be called the personal growth fast track. That growth can be accelerated even more by learning to give just as generously to someone else, what you’d give to yourself.

Using positive and negative motivation at the same time for the same purpose brings a balance to our perspective. Trying to ignore our natural way of thinking, which is to put ourselves first, robs us of the keen insight that we usually have much more to give than we’re willing to admit.

Letting It Go

Some call it, ‘Paying forward’ because they expect something in return. Letting go of our expectation of reward allows us to reap the greatest outcome. Holding onto those expectations isn’t really letting it all go, it’s self centered.

As I mentioned before you may not have the right attitude or motivation but until you’ve made the decision to be giving, you won’t appreciate that attitude or understand the motivation. By practice your acts of giving will slowly bring clarity and if your mind is made up to continue being selfless, eventually your attitude toward others will change.

People everywhere are looking for a kind stranger, a compassionate person, a gracious gesture but they aren’t found by searching. Love is attracted to love and a self centered mindset prevents love from being expressed and received.

The Company That Cares Isn’t Self Centered

Why is it hard to find people who are completely satisfied with the company they work for? Why are broken relationships in real life and on TV depicted as both comedy and tragedy where everyone seems to want to get their way yet no one wins?

Leaders that start with a selfless worldview form those companies that people love to work for. The employees can’t do enough for the owners or the customers. The atmosphere is contagious and so is the behavior.

Customers and clients immediately sense the difference when an organization is infused with generosity and warmth. They can’t get enough, or say enough about how it makes them feel. The truly satisfied customers always come back.

Having A Bigger Vision

From childhood ‘self’ is only focused on immediate gratification. We may recognize how immature that type of behavior is, but changing it requires seeing more than the present view.

It’s amazing how easy it is to change your mindset when you get emotionally charged by a very clear vision. Growth for an individual, a family or a community requires both passion and vision.

A self centered mindset doesn’t see any potential other than what it can grasp. Even if that mindset leads to abundance it never finds pleasure because it always wants to grasp for more. Greatness in human development and achievement are the result of a mindset that clearly sees a grand vision and leads to passionate pursuit.

If you’re searching for an opportunity to work with some of the most successful, selfless people you’ve ever met while working at home this is your chance. If you’re surrounded by self centered people this is your opportunity to connect with a different crowd.

 

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The subconscious mind knows that your goal has a limited potential for success so it naturally works toward self preservation by lowering your expectations. By calling your goals ‘promises to yourself’ you can enlist the aid of your subconscious mind to fight along side the battle until success is achieved.

Playing the Percentages

Our mind picks up on the number of goals we see missed in sporting events or games not to mention those we set for ourselves. Loftier goals have lower percentages of success while easier and less risky targets yield better results with less significant outcomes.

There’s a very clear psychological reason why ‘goals’ are met at lower ratios closer to 60 to 70 percent of the time. Our subconscious mind reacts to that term anticipating the potential for failure 30 to 40 percent of the time. Our conscious mind is competing with a proven presupposition.

A promise, on the other hand, has the support of our subconscious mind with the opposite affect. Subconsciously and consciously we’re aware of how emotionally pressing it is to fulfill our promises; synergistic thoughts, actions and purpose.

What We Tell Ourselves

If you accept the premise that we think and act in accordance with our self-belief, you’ll also agree that we’re influenced by what we tell ourselves.

Positive reinforcement isn’t just a game it’s the process of improving our self-belief or building our self confidence.

When we don’t achieve a particular goal we set for ourselves, that experience speaks to our subconscious minds even if we never utter a word. The emotional impact of failing to accomplish the goal we set imprints that reality in how we view ourselves.

What We Believe

By calling it a goal our conscious mind has to work overtime convincing our subconscious self that this is one of those times when we can succeed.

By calling it a promise success is instantly anticipated. Our subconscious mind begins to work hard to keep us motivated because it believes we’ll succeed.

Instead of trying to convince yourself that you believe you can obtain your objective, your inner resolve is activating supporting memories to assist in accomplishing your task.

Powerful Words

We invest a great deal of emotion and mental energy in those things we purposely set out to accomplish. The words that are anchored in memory have a great deal of influence upon our thoughts and actions.

There is nothing inherently wrong with the word goal but whether you’re into sports or not you understand that not every shot goes in; time is wasted thinking otherwise.

Since the reason for setting your sights on acquiring that which you desire is for the purpose of obtaining it, you should give yourself every advantage possible. Calling your goal a promise ensures your heart, soul and all of your mind will be working together for success.

Is your goal for this year to obtain financial freedom? Are you willing to promise yourself that you’ll have it? Contact me today if you dream of an abundant lifestyle marked by personal freedom and I’ll help you reach your goals.

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If It’s Broken…

Home business owners love to make videos. How many of them have considered providing testimonies in the form of unsolicited video to support other home business owners?

For the most part entrepreneurs who learn how to build their own websites are resourceful enough to face any challenge. I read a lot about html, css and java-script but still run into challenging situations where I need to solicit help.

Today I came to a conclusion after wrestling with a problem for many days and part of that conclusion includes soliciting help from other home business owners.

… Fix It!

Entrepreneurs like engineers don’t care if something works they just feel compelled to make things work better.

If you have a content oriented website, landing page, squeeze page or lead capture page as opposed to a simple page with a straight forward offer, unsolicited testimonies from other home business owners personally saying how great the lifestyle is carry weight.

For all of the same reasons why social proof is a valuable asset, being able to offer unsolicited evidence that isn’t pushing a particular product or  service, isn’t making outrageous income claims or guaranteeing success, helps people see more of the home business community.

What’s In It For Me?

Fame, fortune and recognition may not result in what you make available, but it’s a known fact that the measure by which you give is the exact measure you can expect to receive in return.

This thought process began because I saw something that I recognized immediately as having great potential; great potential that I had no access to.

When I’m done I hope to see generic unsolicited videos changing hands across different businesses, tribes and troops.

The Disclaimer…

Not that you need to make a disclaimer if people are just giving their opinion of why home business is so great but you’ll need to have the actual video files on your web site’s server.

Why? With very few exceptions embedded video code always has a link back to the source and if that’s not bad enough they sometimes go away leaving a hole in your site.

That is not a good thing if you’re working toward lead generation or setting up an interview. You definitely don’t want anything as obvious as a video giving people the capability of clicking away from your site.

Questions I love… send them my way… share this with your friends, followers and associates.

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Since establishing a home web business is both economical and practical, it is attracting thousands of people each day from all over the world into a web of confusion. The practice of hard selling affiliate companies to people with no business education can be misleading if not downright deceiving. Thankfully aspiring entrepreneurs can still find valuable leaders who teach that the business owner is the business and the affiliate is just something they offer.

You Call This Easy?

For people with technical backgrounds certain aspects of the home web business are easier than most people in the crowd find them.

Yet it’s easy to be absorbed in all the wizardry of online business automation and forget the foundation that all business is built upon:
1.    Providing an actual solution that people are currently looking for (development)
2.    Connecting your solution to those people looking for it (marketing)
3.    Leveraging that connection to generate momentum (customer support/service)
4.    And the most important thing…

The Missing Ingredient…

Unless a spider uses that sticky substance its web won’t hold together nor will anything get stuck inside. I know… gross.

Without ‘spices’ food is bland, without ‘passion’ life is tedious, without ‘wind’ sailing turns into rowing and without ‘you’ that home web business is just an image on a screen.

If you have the technical skills to generate killer graphics and the copywriting skills that draw people in, how sustainable is the interaction if your visitors find an affiliate but never find you?

Window Dressing

Most retail stores stock products from a variety of suppliers and those suppliers cater to as many manufacturing sources as possible. Competing stores with the same goods spend a great deal of time on window displays to entice people to come inside.

Home web business owners that use affiliate products or memberships as the front end of their business miss the point of window dressing.

Retail stores start with the window dressing to draw people inside where they can experience the rest of the store’s atmosphere, personality and character.

Integrity Breeds Sustainability

Leaders who offer real value in the form of information, training and understanding are attractive because of their personal value, not their primary business. They genuinely care about the success of people they’re introducing to internet business.

Affiliate marketing will never go away but the process by which online business opportunities are offered should be based upon a clear understanding of what home web business really involves. Independent entrepreneurs aren’t just the casing for someone else’s products and services… they are the business.

Just as MLM companies are slowly learning that new distributors need some type of education in marketing to build a business, internet entrepreneurs have to address the need for developing depth to the front end of their business.

Easier to Learn the Hard Way

Just like the fly that got caught in the web… yeah I know, gross… it’s easier to learn when you actually make the mistakes.

Building a business requires becoming a leader which requires offering something of value that identifies your uniqueness. By pouring your personality and character into the products and services you offer, people will recognize and resonate with your passion.

In the absence of that depth the internet is filling up with ‘stage 2’ spam in which prospects must ‘opt in’ before they get it.

The good news is that thousands of prospects are looking to start a home web business and they want valuable leadership.

 

Are you curious about how long it takes to build your online business world? In as little as 6 days you can create your home web business. You’ll even understand exactly what you’ve done and be prepared for what to do next. Get your copy of  “How To Create Your Online Business World In 6 Days” to learn how.

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4 Easy Steps

Everyone loves gifts and when you create download icons that quickly identify them, it’s almost like giving another gift.

I’ve wanted to do this for a long time… when I finally did it I thought, “Maybe someone else wants to do this but hasn’t taken the time to figure it out.”

This is the second tutorial I’ve done regarding using My Banner Maker. When you find online tools that are quick, easy and effective you tend to find multiple uses for them.

I’m looking forward to feedback from anyone that has other creative ways of making these download icons (or buttons) because just like there are many variations in how to make videos, there must be other ways to accomplish this task within WordPress.

  1. upload E-book to Blog
  2. copy URL to notepad
  3. create banner
  4. embed banner code

Thanks in advance for sharing.

 

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The personal value attached to the people you do business with directly affects your professional experience. Treating others with the same respect and dignity you’d expect isn’t the bench mark in business. Try treating complete strangers as though they were your closest friends and you’ll immediately become valuable to them.

Neighbor and Friend

I enjoy calling people ‘friend’ even though we’ve never met.

Sound confusing? Let me explain.

You won’t spend a long time in the working world before your professional experience reveals that some people have greater personal value to you than others.

That isn’t to say that all people aren’t valuable. Every person we ever come in contact with has the ability to teach us something, or impart some of their value to us.

However, value attached to a personal motive is purely subjective.

The skills of the master mechanic are far more valuable to the apprentice than they are to the customer. The customer reaps only a portion of that value whereas the apprentice can leverage that value toward personal growth and gain.

Who Are Those People?

When you think about the people that mean the most to you, they’ve usually added value or contributed to the overall experience of life.

Family and friends typically top our list as being the most significant people because those relationships are far more intimate. We tend to treat those that mean the most to us even better than we treat ourselves.

People who contribute to your financial success or your professional experience are easy to call friends. They have a measurable personal value to you.

Answering a Need

I’ve spent the greater part of my life working with and solving problems for people all over the world and treating each one as though they were a close friend.

Some of them I’ve met, others have sent personal notes but most of them probably never thought any more about our relationship other than, “He’s just doing his job.”

The attitude that people are just part of your job rather than friends affects both your professional experience and the personal value attached to yourself.

Finding thankful people in life is a rewarding experience but that is never the motivation behind providing solutions. The person who makes being helpful their primary focus gains an inner sense of accomplishment and the attitude that the people they’re helping are friends characterizes all of their professional experiences.

Why Do I Do What I Do?

Knowing that I can help an aspiring entrepreneur figure out how to develop an online presence, or a business owner fix a website to increase revenue isn’t ‘why’ I do it.

I do it because it fits my skill set, personality and character; it’s as natural to me as breathing.

In my mind I’m not helping a business owner over a hurdle. I’m drawing a friend closer to something intangible, or unintelligible. I’m giving them something they want or need and to the best of my ability I’m doing so in an enjoyable way.

Not What I Do but Who I Am…

The worker usually leaves their job behind at the end of the day. Business owners often set boundaries so that their work life doesn’t interfere with their personal life.

When you reach the point where what you do to support yourself or your family finds expression in other areas of life not associated with earning money… you no longer feel as though the greater part of who you are needs to be compartmentalized.

This isn’t a matter of repeating the exact functions of what you do for business, but in sharing insight, encouragement, knowledge and perspective. Although your time and talent is worth a great deal, the inner reward attached to giving yourself away becomes priceless.

How important is your working environment to you? Is where you work as vital as having a positive atmosphere among your associates? If you’re looking for a professional experience that takes personal value to a whole new level check out this network of entrepreneurs and see first hand what is possible.

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Another Satisfied Customer…

I was involved in technical writing, technical training, technical experimenting and technical support long before I ever got into internet marketing.

Techie isn’t just a description for me it’s a type of personality disorder… means I never stop.

Treating technical writing as an art form is the privilege of master marketers because they always place the relationship with prospective customers ahead of selling. Even if the entire set of directions is contained in three easy steps you can add a few pictures or graphics and make non-technical consumers more comfortable.

HUH?

I sympathize with anyone who’s ever had trouble assembling or configuring a product they’ve purchased because of the technical writing in the owners manual. As a former tech support specialist I’ve spent years interpreting tech-speak into English or just re-writing the material so that people understood the directions.

It’s not polite to bash anyone. The circumstances surrounding each and every technical writing task are unique but the burden shouldn’t be on the consumer.

Some manuals are like following a top end GPS system complete with pictures of the intersections and surrounding buildings. Other manuals read like secret code that only makes sense online after you’ve found the cipher key that cracks the code.

Step By Step

Not only is a step by step approach to technical writing helpful to everyone but a major bonus feature for marketing professionals.

Some manufacturers actually include the steps on the outside of the packaging. Who doesn’t want that? You’ve already read the directions and understood them.

However, just because you’re providing steps doesn’t mean that whoever gets to follow them will arrive at the same conclusion.

Clarity

I have 4 girls and not one of them hears the same set of directions or follows them the same way. This process:
•    Reading
•    Comprehending
•    Applying
isn’t the same because different people process information based on personality, education and experience.

When you have to design a guide or manual it must be from the perspective of the person who has to process that information.

The Artistic Approach

Unless a variety of conversations have taken place between various people who’ve all tried to use your instructions beforehand, you can expect a few conversations after you’ve published your tech manual.

On the surface it looks more practical than artistic because including feedback before finalizing the book just makes good sense.

What makes for artistic writing of otherwise boring material is how well the information takes away any potential for confusion. Good art takes time to refine; great art takes even more time.

Why It Matters

Most people won’t make a conscious note of the frustrations caused by the operating manual on their new hardware but the brand suffers.

That manual can keep tech support response time short or as in my experience busy re-writing the manual via emails so that customers can get on with their lives.

Any information that describes your product or service reflects on your brand. Since you don’t want your brand to be ambiguous, you don’t want any copy surrounding it to be confusing or frustrating; clear concise copy makes for satisfied customers.

 

Are you frustrated by the process of creating an online business or taking your business online because the technical writing you’ve found makes it sound confusing and difficult? You don’t have to deal with that frustration any longer.  Grab a copy of, “How To Create Your Online Business World In 6 Days” the guide written for people who want the technological advantage the internet offers without the technical confusion.

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