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15 Best Free and Low-Cost Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses

Low-cost marketing strategies are always a priority for small businesses. You need to get more customers and grow your reach, but you don’t have a big marketing budget to work with. We get it, marketing can seem like a daunting and expensive task to new and small business owners.

The good news is that marketing doesn’t have to require a big budget. There are plenty of low-budget marketing ideas out there that can help you reach a lot of customers without flattening your bank account. In fact, there are plenty of effective marketing strategies that are completely free!

If you’re after fast, free, or low-budget marketing ideas, then try out some of these highly effective strategies.

1. Start a Newsletter
2. Focus on SEO Content Marketing
3. Focus on Your Existing Customers
4. Engage With Social Media
5. Consider Guerilla Marketing
6. Publish Quality Content
7. Optimize Your Google My Business Listing
8. Focus on Generating Referrals
9. Create Strategic Partnerships With Other Businesses
10. Get Started With Video Marketing
11. Host Online Events
12. Run a Giveaway
13. Become Active in Your Local Community
14. Use All of Your Marketing Real Estate
15. Find online Communities to Connect With Your Customers

1. Start a Newsletter

Email marketing remains one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies for any kind of business. It’s the perfect way to keep your audience engaged to retain existing customers. You can also use email marketing to convert new leads into customers without requiring a major marketing budget.

Email is always one of the best low-budget marketing ideas because the ROI can be excellent. It’s also one of the most reliable marketing strategies to get a solid return from your efforts.

With the right email marketing tool, this can be easy and affordable. You can send a newsletter out to thousands of interested leads, and quickly drive up your traffic or push some new sales. As long as you are able to create strong email marketing content, then you should see excellent results with this very low-budget marketing strategy.

Here are some best practices to remember when putting together your email marketing strategy:

  • Always focus on sending out useful, interesting, and informative content to your audience. You have to give them something of value in order to get an action from them in return. This could be a link to a helpful piece of blog content, or a discount code for your new product. Every newsletter that you send should encourage the recipient to take a step.
  • Focus on your email subject line. In today’s world, we get bombarded by marketing emails every day. Your subject line is what will make your newsletter stand out and attract the click.
  • A/B test your emails to find out which offers and elements your audience is most interested in.
  • Consider setting up a series of automated emails to new subscribers. These emails can slowly nurture new leads with interesting content that helps to build trust and establish a relationship. This can be done until the leads are ready to become customers.
  • Attract new email subscribers by offering a special piece of content, an entry into a giveaway, or a discount coupon for signing up.

When looking at using email for low-budget marketing, it’s always a good idea to consider an email tool that allows you to set up automated marketing. This lets you automatically handle important marketing efforts at a large scale. If you don’t have a big marketing team or much time to put into your marketing, then this will be incredibly useful.

Email newsletter

2. Focus on SEO Content Marketing

If you’re looking for low-budget marketing ideas that offer an excellent return, then you have to consider content marketing and SEO. This can be a free marketing strategy for your business, and it can help you achieve loads more traffic in return.

If you’re offering high-quality, relevant content for the right search query, then you could claim the top results on Google. The best part of this is that SEO doesn’t have to cost you anything, so small businesses can compete with big companies.

Of course, getting SEO content marketing right will require some time and effort. You will need to write informative, helpful blog posts, and optimize your website pages. The SEO strategy that you choose should depend on your small business.

If you’re a local business, then you’ll want to focus on local SEO. This includes things like:

  • Optimizing your Google My Business profile
  • Having different landing pages for specific services, locations, and keywords
  • Targeting local keywords across your website
  • Get listed on local online directories
  • Publish blog posts that are relevant to your local areas

If you sell an international product or service, then you won’t be interested in local SEO tactics. Instead, you’ll want to get as much traffic as possible for relevant search terms. For this kind of SEO, you should:

  • Focus on publishing helpful, insightful, and interesting blog content. These blog articles should be optimized for the right keywords.
  • Try to get as many backlinks to your content as possible
  • Offer an excellent user experience on your website

When it comes to low-budget marketing ideas, SEO done right will probably offer the best ROI. If you have a good blog post that ranks for a search term that your target audience is using, then you’ll be able to attract thousands of new visitors to your website. This won’t cost you anything, and it can be effective for years to come.

Content marketing blog

3. Focus on Your Existing Customers

Making a sale to a new customer is far more expensive than making a sale to an existing customer. One of the best low-budget marketing ideas is to simply put more focus on the customers you already have.

This could look different for different businesses. If you run an eCommerce store, you should focus on upselling to existing customers. You could do this by showing recommended products to customers based on what’s in their cart.

Any small business can use email marketing to maintain relationships with their existing customers. For example, you could make a list of customers who bought a specific product and then send them a special offer for similar products. Or if your customers bought a summer item, send them a message in winter advertising your new seasonal products.

You could even send personal messages to your best customers or set up some kind of a loyalty program. These are already people who trust your business, so it will take a lot less to get more sales from them than trying to find new customers.

coupon code

4. Engage With Social Media

As a small business owner, you already know that you have to be on social media. Social media is a free way to reach a big audience and promote your business. As long as you focus on the right channels, post good content, and engage with your audience, then you’ll be able to use social media for powerful, free marketing.

Building a social media community allows you to express your brand’s personality, find new customers, and keep them engaged and interested in your business.

Of course, there is paid advertising on social media if you want to reach a much bigger audience. However, we’re focusing on low-cost marketing. Here are some ways that you can use social media to achieve effective free marketing strategies:

  • Drive more traffic to your website by promoting your blog content on social media.
  • Repurpose some of your long-form content into quick, easily digestible content bites. This can include things like Instagram reels or TokTok videos.
  • Use social media as a way to engage with your audience and connect with your customers. Ask questions, respond to comments, and welcome feedback. This will help you to build an engaged audience that trusts your brand more.
  • Post consistent, interesting content that relates to your target audience.
  • Encourage user-generated content, and share any tags or mentions of your brand on social media.
  • Use relevant hashtags to broaden your reach.

5. Consider Guerilla Marketing

Guerilla marketing is all about grabbing a lot of attention without using a big budget. Creativity is more important than budget, where the focus is on smart strategies that can be easily implemented.

This could include things like chalk graffiti on a sidewalk that promotes your business or plastering stickers with your social media handles around the city. Viral videos and publicity stunts are forms of this. The idea is to think outside the box and see how you can grab a lot of attention without having to spend a lot of money

guerilla marketing

6. Publish Quality Content

It doesn’t cost your business anything to write an insightful blog post. Successful online marketing relies on great content. This is what will help you attract a bigger audience, build trust, and inspire new customers to make a purchase.

Quality content should be original, thoughtful, and interesting. It should answer your audience’s questions, educate, and show that you’re an expert. Popular types of content including how-to guides, data insights, top 10 lists, best practices, or ultimate guides to specific topics. Use your expertise as a small business owner, and write blog posts that speak to your niche.

Great content will engage your audience, improve your SEO, and get you more free traffic.

Blog content

7. Optimize Your Google My Business Listing

If you’re focused on local marketing, then you will need to market your business with a Google My Business listing. This is entirely free, easy to set up, and very necessary for being more visible in local search results.

When you set up your Google My Business account, try to include as much relevant information as possible. For starters, you will need to include your:

  • Business address
  • Service areas
  • Business website
  • Phone number
  • Email address
  • Up-to-date photos
  • Operating hours
  • A short description of your business

Then you can optimize your GMB listing further by adding the right categories and attributes for your business. You can choose up to 10 categories, and there are various different attributes that you can choose under these categories. This could include things like “wheelchair friendly”.

Having a strong Google My Business listing will help you to appear at the top of relevant local search results. This means more traffic to your website, or through your business doors.

Google My Business

8. Focus on Generating Referrals

Word of mouth marketing is incredibly powerful. If you just focus on marketing your business yourself, you might find it hard to increase your reach. However, if you can get a lot of referrals, then you’ll be able to get your business out to a much bigger audience.

People also trust their friends and connections more than they will trust businesses they don’t know. So if you’re able to generate a lot of referrals, you should have a better chance of getting more potential customers.

A referral contest is a great way to boost brand awareness without spending much money. You can run a contest where you reward bonus entries with each referral. The only real cost to this is the prize that you’re giving away, and you can end up generating loads more brand awareness and traffic to your website. This is a really cost-effective marketing strategy that can deliver great results.

Referral code

9. Create Strategic Partnerships With Other Businesses

You can always team up with another business that compliments yours for a marketing partnership. This allows you to double your marketing efforts without any additional cost.

You will need to choose a business that isn’t a direct competitor but still shares a similar audience to you. Then you run a campaign together that you each promote to your audiences. You will be able to get your brand out to a whole new audience.

There are all kinds of different ways that you could execute this. You could run a contest together, collaborate on a webinar, podcast, event, or more. This is an excellent low-cost marketing idea for small businesses because it allows you to make use of the knowledge, tools, and customer base of another established business.

10. Get Started With Video Marketing

As long as you’ve got a smartphone, you can start creating viral videos at no cost. Video is one of the most engaging marketing tactics, and it’s becoming more accessible for small business owners to do. Yes, hiring a professional videography team can be expensive, but with platforms like TikTok and YouTube, this isn’t a necessity.

Video marketing can be applied to any kind of business in any industry. Your aim should be to create videos that are helpful and relevant to your audience, and that you offer them some kind of value. This could include:

  • Instructional videos
  • Product demos
  • Unboxing videos
  • Videos that introduce your business or team
  • Behind-the-scenes videos of your business
  • Interviews with industry experts
  • Customer testimonials

You can publish your videos on social media, promote them in your newsletter, add them to your website pages, or even use them in ads. It’s always a good idea to end your videos with a clear CTA to direct the viewers to take a specific action.

11. Host Online Events

Hosting events can be a major marketing expense. However, you can easily host online events without spending any money. Webinars and live streams are great online marketing tactics to engage and grow your audience.

You can run regular webinars where you interview industry leaders or talk about specific pain points that your customers face. This is an excellent way to get some high-quality content out there because you can record the events and release them as videos.

Regular webinars can help position your company as an industry expert. This helps to build trust, and attract more potential customers. This is also a great way to develop strategic partnerships and co-promotions with other businesses. It doesnt have to cost anything and can help you reach a much bigger audience.

12. Run a Giveaway

We realize that a successful giveaway needs to have a good prize, so this isn’t a completely free marketing strategy. However, a giveaway can be an effective low-cost marketing strategy compared to the return that you can get from it.

You’ll need to give away a prize that will attract potential customers. This could be your best-selling product or service. Everyone who enters your giveaway will be interested in your business, which gives you a great opportunity to market to them later on.

With the right giveaway tool like Wishpond, you can run all kinds of different contests, and add all of your entrants to your mailing list. Your contest will boost your brand awareness and generate more leads for your business.

Follow this guide to learn how to run an online giveaway step-by-step.

Online giveaway

13. Become Active in Your Local Community

If you’re a local business, then one of the best marketing tactics is to just develop a strong presence in your community. Network with your community, attend local events, join local social media groups, and engage with your community. This doesn’t have to cost you anything, and it can help your brand to build up an excellent reputation.

If you want to dedicate some marketing budget to your community, then consider some kind of a local sponsorship or donation. This will help you win over your community, and generate some great exposure for your business.

14. Use All of Your Marketing Real Estate

This isn’t necessarily a marketing strategy, it’s more of a best practice that many businesses don’t get right. Make sure that every marketing channel you have gives your business maximum exposure.

This could be your social media channels, your physical store, or even your car. For example, use every space you have on your social media account to link to your website and increase your traffic. You can use your about me section, cover photo, profile picture, and more.

If you own a brick-and-mortar location, then maximize your window space and any space that offers marketing possibilities. Brand your car, print T-shirts, get creative. If you’ve already got the space available, then use it as much as you can. This will help you to get maximum value from each marketing dollar spent.

Branded car

15. Find Online Communities to Connect With Your Customers

Your customers are all online, and it doesn’t have to cost you anything to find and engage with them. Platforms like Quora or Reddit are full of communities of people with very specific interests. You can find interests that match your target audience and offer them helpful content. This can send a lot of interested traffic to your website, and result in more customers.

If you can find relevant Facebook groups and online communities that match your customers’ interests, then use these places to post your interesting content. You won’t have to pay for ads that target specific interests, instead, you’ll have your communities readily available.

It’s possible to market your company by barely spending a dollar. Whether this is online or offline, your company has loads of low-budget marketing opportunities available.

If you’re worried about how you’ll be able to reach more customers with a tiny budget, then try out the strategies listed above. These are some of the most reliable ways to help small businesses grow.

Related Content

Written by Tom

Tom is a marketing content writer at Wishpond, focused on the latest marketing and tech trends. Also a keen sourdough baker and dog person.


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Wednesday, May 31, 2017

May 31st

I took a nap today and I had a nice dream. That never happens. If my dreams aren't bad, they're usually weird to the point where they're confusing and not necessarily enjoyable, but I have a genuinely nice little dream! It involved Pokémon and it was adorable.

As weird as my sleep schedule sometimes gets, I feel like my eating schedule is actually weirder now. No idea why. But I do need to eat dinner soon!

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

May 30th

It was brought to my attention today that May is over. For the first time in awhile, it actually feels like it's been a whole month. I swear, months keep flying by and I'm like yo, wasn't it February like two days ago? But May felt long!

I need food and YouTube.

Monday, May 29, 2017

May 29th

The zoo was amazing! It was also super exhausting. I slept when I got home and I'm still damn tired. But it was tons and tons of fun and I met so many animal friends!

Sunday, May 28, 2017

May 28th

Well it didn't rain at all today. It was supposed to storm a lot. I don't understand this state in which I live.

Tomorrow I'm hoping for a zoo day and also movie night!

Saturday, May 27, 2017

May 27th

Elle L'aime Édition d’Été by Lolita Lempicka
Notes: Lemon leaf, orange, myrrh, jasmine, ylang-ylang, amber

Lolita Lempicka has done incredibly well with the flankers for Elle L'aime. They all maintain a beautiful undertone of deep resins and amber, but every variation of the scent is unique - and good. This is probably best suited for spring or summer, as citrus is its main component. It's bright, sunny, and fresh. There is a slightly green element from the lemon leaves and the whole composition is grounded in a rich base, just like its sister scents. I would highly, highly recommend this to anyone who wants a deeper experience from a citrus scent. Also, longevity and sillage are average. You won't clear a room with this, but you will get compliments!

Friday, May 26, 2017

May 26th

My overnight shift really did a number on my sleep schedule and I had kind of a rough day because of it. I really wanted to get out and do stuff today because the weather was so damn nice but I couldn't sleep at all last night. I think I fell asleep around 9 AM today. So I was frustrated with myself, and mad, and sad, and all kinds of fun stuff like that. I also just realized I forgot to put gas in my car, so I have to leave extra early for work tomorrow. So here's hoping I can sleep well and wake up feeling good.

Thursday, May 25, 2017

May 25th

Well, work was quite the affair. We worked for almost nine hours. When I say I want a 9-5 job, I don't mean 9pm-5am...or 6am. I would've gone straight to bed when I got home except that in the last half hour of my shift, several thick metal fixture bars cascaded down from a shelf above me and hit me in the head. I'm okay, but I sure have a bruise or two. It was very startling. So I iced my head for a bit - and for the last bit of work, since obviously my manager wasn't going to leave me without some first aid assistance - and then I was able to sleep. What a night! What a day!

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

May 24th

All right guys, tonight is my overnight shift. I have no idea what to expect, to be honest. Hopefully it goes by really quickly, or we get done early, or both! Both is good! But for now I'm gonna rest with Cas.

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

May 23rd

So tomorrow night I'm doing an overnight shift. It's been awhile since I've done something like that. We basically need to rearrange a bunch of stuff at work and we can't really do it while we're open or so of us are going in at 9 PM and working until who knows when to get it all done. I pray it doesn't take too terribly long.

I was hoping to do a fragrance review today but I've got a bad headache and I don't really have the chutzpah to write out a good review anyway. Sorry about that. Soon though!

Monday, May 22, 2017

May 22nd

I am so sleepy tonight! Work was slow, then I was kinda bummed out afterwards, so it's just one of those nights. Perfume review tomorrow though!

Sunday, May 21, 2017

May 21st

It is so damn humid here. I feel physically moist and slightly sticky. The weather in this state is so all over the place, it never ceases to baffle me. I still feel like we really only had like two months of winter, barely.

And I still want to go to the zoo but it won't stop raining!

Saturday, May 20, 2017

May 20th

Long work day? Time for fast food. Heck yeah. And if the weather is nice tomorrow I'm gonna go to the zoo. I'm living life here people.

Friday, May 19, 2017

May 19th

Today was an unexpectedly rainy day, so I ended up relaxing instead of going out! Seriously, it was pouring so hard I couldn't even go get my mail. Now I've just got a few more YouTube videos to catch up on, and that's my evening settled. I might sample a new fragrance tonight, who knows.

Thursday, May 18, 2017

May 18th

It was supposed to be crazy rainy today so I didn't make any plans...and then it only rained for like an hour and I didn't get much done. My bad. I caught some new Pokémon in Pokémon Go though, so I'm pretty pleased with myself.

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

May 17th

Time for two fragrance reviews! One designer and one niche scent today. Enjoy!

DKNY Delicious Delights Fruity Rooty
Notes: Sorbet, blueberry, blackberry, apple, violet, vanilla, lily

I wish I got more violet from this. On me it is primarily tart berries and fruits, which isn't a bad thing. It does of course also have the sweetness from the sorbet and vanilla, but more me it's mostly a fruity affair. However, I'm not a big fan of this one. It was just a bit much. Fruity scents are kind of hit-or-miss for me, and this one was a miss.

L'Artisan Parfumeur 60 Mirabilis (Natura Fabularis collection)
Notes: Musk, woods, ambroxan, olibanum

I bought the Natura Fabularis sample set from LuckyScent, hoping to find something I love. Can you blame me? The bottles are so unbelievably gorgeous! Anyway, in the vial this is a brilliant, almost neon light blue juice. I have never associated that color with musky, woodsy scents so when I first tested it, I got on Fragrantica immediately to make sure I didn't have a mislabeled sample. It's true, though- despite its sky-blue vibrancy, this is a woody, sweet musk. It's not a complicated scent by any means, but if you want a straightforward musk, this may be the answer. Its sweetness is reminiscent of Musc Nomade to me. It's not a love for me, but musk lovers may want to hop on this one!

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

May 16th

Good evening friends! Work was slow today and it was 90°F outside and where did this summer come from? My apartment parking lot is getting re-asphalted tomorrow so I gotta wake up hella early to move my car. I wanna sleep in though. Like...really badly. I wanna be the coziest. But not too warm!

Monday, May 15, 2017

May 15th

Just casually watching a bunch of BBC3 and other British documentaries. Typical Monday night over here. My teeth are feeling a bit less sensitive today, which is really good. No idea why they hurt so much in the first place, though.
Tomorrow is just work and chores as far as I know. Fascinating week, innit?

Sunday, May 14, 2017

May 14th

Happy Mother's Day! My mom came to visit and we bought some hosta for her garden and then we got Italian street food. It was a fun day! And she gave Cas some good snuggles. ...and then I took a really long nap. Am I gonna be up for awhile? You betcha.

Saturday, May 13, 2017

May 13th

Unexplained dental pain! It persists! Why is this happening? I conquer my fear of going to the dentist. I get a goddamn root canal. And now my mouth is hurting again, more of my teeth than before the root canal! So I'll be making a phone call tomorrow. Sigh.

Friday, May 12, 2017

May 12th

I'm a little concerned because the left side of my mouth is very tender and sensitive. That's the side where I had my root canal done, and it was all right up until today, but now my upper teeth are having bad sensitivity to cold for some reason. Even drinking water is painful, and one or two teeth on the bottom are sensitive too. I don't know if this is normal, but if it's still going on throughout the weekend then I'll have to give my dentist a call. Because I totally want to go back to the dentist again so soon!

Thursday, May 11, 2017

May 11th

Tomorrow: Shower, laundry, being an adult. If the weather is nice, though, maybe I'll go for a walk!

It's going to be weird working closing shifts the next two Saturdays. I usually open or work midday. And not on Saturdays.

I have the floofiest cat ever and I love him.

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

May 10th

Happy Wednesday! I didn't end up doing a whole lot today, but that's all right. It was relaxing! And now I'm a bit sleepy, although there's a new documentary about cats out on YouTube Red so...I might have to watch that before bed.

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

May 9th

I did it! It was uncomfortable and it smelled bad (what the hell kind of chemicals do they use? Chlorine?) but I did it! I feel so much better now, even though my mouth is sore, and I feel like I can conquer the dentist the next time I go, too.

Also that image is from Neopets.

Monday, May 8, 2017

May 8th

Work was really good today! It went by quickly, and people were nice, all that good stuff.

And tomorrow I get a root canal. So wish me luck.

Sunday, May 7, 2017

May 7th

Today's fragrance review: Hummingbird by Zoologist Perfumes

Hummingbird by Zoologist Perfumes
Honey, lilac, cherry, honeysuckle, pear, whipped cream, apple, lily of the valley, plum, apple

This perfume has more notes in it than I know what to do with! I recently ordered a set of samples from Zoologist because I've heard really intriguing reviews about their scents, and Hummingbird was the first one I decided to try. My goodness, this is a sweet perfume. Not in a gourmand way, but more in the sense of sweet fruits, freshly picked, and sweet flowers. The first sniff of this is cacophonous and my nose had no idea what to make of it. It quickly turned into apples, pears, and cherries, along with honeysuckle and lilac. Everything smelled so fresh and juicy, like it was straight out of nature. A lot of people seem to get a honey note from this, but I didn't get honey specifically, but rather its traits; the fragrance became smoother, richer, etc. As time passed, it also became a bit greener. I never got any of the woody or resinous notes from this, and let me tell you, this lasts long enough to get a lot of notes. One spray and you're good for the day, two sprays and everyone in the room will ask what you're wearing. It's not a bad scent, but I personally found it to be too strong. I know a lot of other Zoologist scents are equally strong if not more, but if this is your first one, just be aware that you don't need too much. The first 30-60 minutes of this were lovely, but like I said, it's just too much for me. Still, anyone looking for a fruity-floral that doesn't smell like every other one on the market should absolutely try this.

Saturday, May 6, 2017

May 6th

I talk to Cas so much. I just exclaim things to him. Sometimes it's his name, or variations thereupon. Sometimes I say hello. Sometimes I ask how he's doing, or what he's doing. I looked up at him over my laptop a few minutes ago and shouted, "Mister Choosy with the pink nose!" and smiled. I am such a crazy cat lady. But his nose is just so pink right now. It's adorable.

A brief evolution of Cas' current nickname:
Kitty - Chitty - Chizzy - Cheesy - Choosy

Cheese Man, Cheese Doodle, Chess Man, Chess Piece, Chaztamere, Chazley, Chip Tunes, Chip Stain, Chidley, Capstamere, Chizzen, Capsaicin, Zizzy

Small Man, Loaf Man, Tiny Man, Orange Man, Derby Cat, Mister ____ (insert any other nickname here)

Friday, May 5, 2017

May 5th

Well, I'm coping with having only half a tooth fairly well. I didn't make the mistake of drinking cold lemonade today. I could really go for a cold beverage though. Three days until root canal day!

Today was mostly spent reading. I got caught up in Akame ga Kill! and I started The Handmaiden's Tale last night, so I'll read more of that this evening. It's a little slow in terms of pacing, but I'm enjoying it nonetheless.

I was also able to score an insane deal on some perfume, so I'll have some Prada Candy Kiss headed my way shortly. I need to get a larger bottle of the original Prada Candy too, since I only have the rollerball.

Thursday, May 4, 2017

May 4th

So, root canal is going to be on Tuesday it seems. Gives me a few days to relax before getting all freaked out again, but it also means eating is quite difficult. I can't stop running my tongue over my tooth. It's like when you get your braces off, except there's a hole instead of a smooth surface. Oh, and naturally I had horrible dental-themed nightmares last night. Let's hope for something better tonight, shall we?

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

May 3rd

Well, I went to the dentist. And the universe thought I did such a good job that it decided to take my tooth that's been bothering me and have it break while I was at the dentist, causing me to need a root canal...tomorrow. It hurts. This is more than I was expecting.

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

May 2nd

I don't even remember blogging yesterday. I probably said something about being tired. I was literally half-asleep as I was writing it. (More like 75% asleep...) I have to get up early tomorrow for a doctor's appointment, and then if my mind and body wills it, I also have a dentist appointment to go to in the afternoon. I am filled with so much panic and dread, it's ridiculous.

I've been making my way through the Akame ga Kill! manga though, and I'm really enjoying it. I flew through the anime so fast that there are some things I'd forgotten, so this is really nice. I'll definitely have to rewatch the anime soon. It's weird though- the entire manga isn't out in English yet, even though the anime is finished and as far as I know, the Japanese manga has all been released. The next one comes out in July, and it's not even the last one. I don't know how frequently these get released, but I don't have time to wait for all the English translations to come out before I rewatch the show. (I think people have said that the show deviates from the books slightly as things progress, but I've gotten through five books so far and everything is essentially the same.) I'll be interested to keep reading the books as they come out!

Monday, May 1, 2017

May 1st

Happy May, everyone! I've gotta adult extra hard this week and I don't wanna. I can do it though!

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text: BHV at City Mall have a really great deal on the Nespresso Essenza machine. The usual price is around LL350,000 but yesterday they started selling them for $160 which is a great price. It would make a great Christmas gift but they only had 4 left last night and I picked up 2 so if you want one HURRY.


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Tuesday , November 23 2021
Bruce Willis reprises his role as the reluctant law enforcement hero John McClane for the fourth time in Live Free or Die Hard.

Movie Review: Live Free or Die Hard

This two hour and 10 minute film delivers the action and excitement while boosting this action film series and its famous hero who’s at the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s rare to see a film series take a step down in their ratings (the previous three were rated R), but the change doesn’t really affect how this Die Hard installment still delivers the goods amid a national technology attack on July 4th weekend. The film’s entertaining tone is nearly perfect and the stunts are amazingly realistic as special effects blend seamlessly into the non-stop action.

Bruce Willis (like Jack Nicholson) has the rare luxury of being loved by audiences even after several misfires (e.g. Perfect Stranger) because of his wider acting range. Filmmakers capture the same “analog” versus “digital” theme recently seen in Ocean’s 13 as McClane uses mostly weapons hardware (and then some), leaving the computer software work to other characters. Willis plays this reluctant hero well and turns McClane comically maniacal when the constant barrage of attacks begins. "All you have to do is go pick up a kid from Jersey and drive him down to DC, how hard can it be?!" he says.

That kid is Matt Farrell, played by Justin Long (Dodgeball, Galaxy Quest and those funny PC/Mac television commercials) who makes a great impression and bridges the generation gap for audiences and the computer gap for McClane. The sidekick cliché might have hurt the film, but his humor and computer expertise help as he dives into a new world of insane heroism. This high-tech wiz, an important player in this disaster, has an obvious dependence on McClane when things get rough. “Why are you so calm? Have you done that kinda stuff before?” he says to McClane.

Timothy Olyphant (Catch and Release) plays the high tech antagonist Thomas Gabriel with some resourceful gusto, but doesn’t have that menacing presence (not even close to Alan Rickman’s Hans Gruber in the first film). Olyphant keeps a “lightweight” villain status, which matches the film’s tone and opens up some 'insult the bad guy' comedy for McClane and even Matt. The plot provides some interesting political and security issues as Gabriel attacks the U.S. government’s infrastructure; the fast-paced screenplay was written by Mark Bomback and David Marconi (Enemy of the State).

Filmmakers fill the remaining supporting cast with familiar faces, rising stars, and action genre veterans. Maggie Q (Mission Impossible 3) gets to show off her considerable martial arts prowess as Mai Lihn. Cyril Raffaelli also showcases his incredible acrobatic fighting skills as one of Gabriel’s henchman. His amazing fighting skills continue an appealing trend in the action genre – also showcased by Sebastien Foucan in Casino Royale and Tony Jaa in The Protector and Ong-Bak. Cliff Curtis (Three Kings, Collateral Damage) plays Bowman, McClane’s main government contact along with his assistant Raj, played by Sung Kang (Better Luck Tomorrow, Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift). Kevin Smith (a.k.a. Silent Bob) makes an appearance as another high-tech wiz named Warlock while Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays McClane’s daughter.

Music composer Marco Beltrami (I, Robot) enhances the fast-paced action while even borrowing a few recognizable string pieces from Michael Kamen’s score from the first film. Director Len Wiseman (Underworld) makes every shot look real as he ducks and weaves among the outstanding action sequences. None of the sequences feel staged and filmmakers pepper the plot with a few references to the original (and still best) Die Hard film.

Any possible filmmaking miscues (e.g. drivers race through a tunnel even though it says 15 mph on the gate sign) can always be explained away with a convenient “the nation is in crisis” excuse. Luckily, audiences won’t have any bumps in the road and can enjoy a smooth ride full of admirable heroes and highly reactive situations. Highly recommended and rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, language, and a brief sexual situation near the beginning of the film. Story concept was based on an article by John Carlin titled “A Farewell to Arms”.

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Looking for a chicken dinner dish that everybody will agree on? This loaded potato and chicken suits the bill! With scraps of chicken and potatoes smothered in bacon and melted cheese, it is sure to become a new favorite.

When I have dinner with a family, this is one of my go-to meals, and it is always well received. No one I’ve met who doesn’t love it!

• 470 gr.Of boneless chicken breasts, I cut them into 1-inch cubes.
• 8 medium red potatoes, I peeled and cut them into 1/2″ cubes.
• 1/3 C.Of olive oil.
• 2 Tbsp.Of garlic powder.
• 2 Tbsp.Of hot sauce, you can add more if you like it so HOT.
• 1 Tbsp.Of paprika.
• 2 tsp.Of salt.
• 1 tsp.Of black pepper.

• 2 C.Of fiesta blend cheese.
• 1 C.Of diced green onion.
• 1 C.Of crumbled bacon.

-1- I preheated the oven to 400°F. And I spray with a cooking spray the bottom of a 9.13′′ baking dish.
-2- I mixed the olive oil, with salt, black pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and hot sauce together in a big bowl.
-3- I added the chicken and cubed potatoes and stir to coat them.
-4- I scoop the potatoes and chicken into the lined baking dish carefully.
-5- I baked for 55- to 60 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes, until fried, crispy, and browned on the outside.
-6- While the potatoes are cooking, I fried the bacon, about half a pound.
-7- When completely baked, I removed the potatoes and chicken from the oven.
-8- And I placed the cheese, fried bacon, and green onion on top of the fried potatoes.
-9- After that, I placed the casserole back in the oven and cooked for another 5 minutes or until the cheese melted.
A fantastic warm and hearty weeknight meal, quick to cook and get on the table, enjoy it!!!.

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