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Articles by Brandon Olson
Playing HALO in 2025
The Halo video game franchise holds a special place in my heart. From playing Halo: Combat Evolved on the original XBOX to late night four person split screen sessions with my friends in Halo 4, I’ve always enjoyed playing Halo. Press enter or click to view image in full size Recently, I came back to the franchise after a decade-long hiatus to play Halo Infinite with my brother and few close friends. Here is what I’ve learned.
Five More Paintball Films to Watch NOW!
This is the second part of my short series showcasing my favorite paintball films of all time. With the incredible response to sharing five films last week, I’m going to showcase five more. I am in the process of ranking my top 20 films for a later article, so to be clear this list is not a top five, but rather another pick five from the films I’ve watched recently. Feel free to send me your film lists! You can include them in ranking order or just a pick-5/10 format.
Paintball on ESPN?
What I thought of the Major League Paintball 3V3 World Championship on ESPN. Press enter or click to view image in full size Major League Paintball hosted the 3V3 World Championship at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports on August 1st. The event featured teams Edmonton Impact, San Diego Dynasty, Red Legion, and PaintballFIT. Superstar Tyler Harmon lead Edmonton Impact to victory in the final match agains San Diego Dynasty. The Good: Firstly, there was tons of action. The games were high paced and aggressive.
Optic Legacy Week & Nostalgic Fun
Optic Gaming has been producing a live show every night this week celebrating their whole organization and it’s rich history. From legendary PRO Call of Duty players, to current Call of Duty and Halo PRO players, this week has featured some of Optic’s biggest personalities of all time. Working in collaboration with Cash App, Optic Gaming has appealed to it’s fanbase from multiple games over the last decade.
5 Paintball Films to Watch NOW!
Paintball films have played an important role in telling the stories of teams since the early days of tournament paintball. I grew up being told by the older guys at the field what films I had to watch if I wanted to understand the sport. This often involved borrowing VHS tapes or huddling around a portable DVD player between games at the local field. I have attached a short list of five must-watch films in 2025.
UFC Makes Crazy Move to Paramount
Earlier today, Dana White and the UFC announced that Paramount Plus would be the new home of the UFC. This move effectively ENDS the Pay-Per-View model that MMA fans have been used to. “This historic deal with Paramount and CBS is incredible for UFC fans and our athletes. For the first time ever, fans in the US will have access to all UFC content without a Pay-Per-View model, making it more affordable and accessible to view the greatest fights on a massive platform.
Battlefield 6: A Return To Form?
Since Battlefield 6 was announced by the developers, fans of the franchise have been both excited for another entry in the series but also apprehensive to support another Battlefield title at launch. Due to the bumpy launch periods surrounding a few of the previous titles such as Battlefield 4 and Battlefield 2042, players have anxiety about preordering or buying the new title at launch.
Veterans like me face struggles after service. What saved me
By , Op-ed contributor I took many different paths in my life that eventually became my book. Remaining steadfast on the straight and narrow became difficult. With my senses dulled and intuition inundated with static, my active thinking deferred. I often wondered in my adolescent years, “Who am I, where do I go?” At 18, I did not believe my life would ever involve a college degree.
On Memorial Day, Honor Our Fallen Heroes — and Support Their Families - The Stream
This Memorial Day, let’s remember our fallen heroes and their families. This breathes life into the sacrifices they’ve made to safeguard our freedom. Many of the United States’ military warriors paid the ultimate price in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and the War on Terror — and thus, their families have paid as well. It is only because of fallen soldiers’ perseverance in wartime that we have freedom in peacetime. We must use it well. Never forget at what cost it was purchased.
Memorial Day: Honor our fallen heroes by supporting their families
By , Op-ed contributor This Memorial Day, let’s remember our heroes, and let’s not forget their families. Honoring the fallen men and women of our armed forces breathes life into the sacrifices they willingly made to safeguard our freedom. From World War II to Korea, then Vietnam, Desert Storm, and the war on terrorism, United States’ warriors paid the ultimate price. Their families paid as well. Sacrificing our time and resources is one of the best ways to demonstrate love to our family.
Email Marketing Essentials for Creators
You’ve got tons of people coming to your blog to grab a recipe, learn how to make faux board and batten, or find the best food to eat on their vacation to Venice. Way to go! This is great because: They’re consuming your content, and You’re earning ad income from their visits (if you’re a Mediavine publisher) But do you know who they are? Wouldn’t it be great if you could keep bringing those visitors back, over and over again, and direct them to the exact content they want to consume?
Corps of Engineers measures slightly thinner ice on Lake Pepin this year - Post Bulletin
Army Corps of Engineers survey technician Brandon Olson, left, drills a hole through the ice on Lake Pepin as survey technician Jacob Zanon watches during an ice measurement survey near Florence Township Beach on Friday, Feb.Dryden / Post Bulletin FRONTENAC — The ice is slightly thinner than average on Lake Pepin this year, but not by much." The Corps will conduct ice measurements on Lake Pepin weekly or biweekly — depending on the weather — until the ice has receded enough to allow barges to...
16 Proven Sign Up Form Ideas to Grow Your Email List
Learn how to create a sign up form that stands out and helps you build an audience of engaged subscribers. By Brandon Olson May 6, 2020 Your sign up form is the first step to gaining new email subscribers, and it can make or break a visitor’s decision to receive your emails. So it’s important that the copy and design of your form is effective and can produce real results. But often, it’s challenging to know what to write on your form and how to design it for conversion.
Build Landing Pages in Minutes without Coding Skills or a Designer
Just drag and drop to create unlimited, custom landing pages with the ALL-NEW AWeber Landing Page Builder. By Chris Vasquez March 9, 2020 Building your website can take countless hours and cost thousands of dollars. And when you need to add new pages to your site, you’ll be stuck working with a clunky website editor. Or, you’ll be forced to hire a professional designer to do it for you. Not anymore.
How to Create Trustworthy Content That People Want to Read
This underused tactic will transform how people view your business. By Kelly Forst February 26, 2020 Businesses battle to appear on page 1 of Google search results. Their goal: Get consumers to visit their website and buy. But, according to a study by Forbes and Yext, only half of consumers believe brands give accurate information in search results.
AWeber's Live Video Show Is about to Launch — and It's Unlike Anything You've Ever Seen - Email Marketing Tips
Get marketing advice from the most successful marketing minds in the world. By Liz Willits January 16, 2020 At AWeber, our mission is to help small businesses succeed with powerfully-simple marketing tools and the support you need to use them. That’s why we regularly host free summits and webinars about marketing. It’s why we write a blog focused on email marketing, and we send our weekly newsletter FWD: Thinking. And it’s also why we offer 24/7 customer solutions.
Technically, Nebraska can still win the Big Ten West. Here are six ways that can happen
...THE FLOOD ADVISORY CONTINUES FOR THE FOLLOWING RIVER... MISSOURI RIVER NEAR BLAIR AFFECTING HARRISON...POTTAWATTAMIE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES. MISSOURI RIVER AT OMAHA AFFECTING POTTAWATTAMIE...DOUGLAS AND SARPY COUNTIES. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... DO NOT DRIVE CARS THROUGH AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR VEHICLE TO PASS SAFELY.
Are Plain-Text Emails More Likely to Reach the Inbox?
Has a marketing “expert” told you plain-text emails hit the inbox more often than HTML emails? Or that plain-text emails have a 100% deliverability rate? If so, they’re lying or misinformed. In this post, I’ll debunk the common myth that plain-text emails reach the inbox more than HTML emails. Plain-text emails are NOT more likely to reach the inbox. I interviewed email marketing and anti-spam expert Laura Atkins to get her take on this myth.
How One Blogger Gained 120,139 Email Subscribers
Do you know what the key to a successful blog is? A loyal community of readers. No, not those one-off readers who visit your website, read a blog post and disappear. I mean, sure it’s great to attract as many readers as possible, but it’s a waste of an opportunity if you don’t know whether they’ll return — and you’re not enticing them to comeback.
Your Holiday GIF Guide: Festive GIFs to Spice Up Your Holiday Emails
Your Holiday GIF Guide: Festive GIFs to Spice Up Your Holiday Emails Congratulations! Santa told us that you landed on the nice list this year — not the naughty email spammers list. So here’s AWeber’s gift to you: 11 animated GIFs for your holiday email marketing campaign. The AWeber design elves whipped up these festive options, shown below. Place them in a Black Friday or Cyber Monday email, a holiday newsletter, or a New Year’s sale message to your subscribers.
The 3-Step Formula for Generating Email Leads from Speaking Gigs
When you present to a live audience either on stage or on camera, you have an opportunity to change the way they think, feel, and act. But what happens when the camera stops rolling or after you walk off stage is even more important. How do you continue to engage your audience and drive them to action? The answer: email marketing. With email marketing, you can continue to build upon the relationship you formed during your speech and create a stronger connection with your audience.
The 3-Step Formula for Generating Email Leads from Speaking Gigs
When you present to a live audience either on stage or on camera, you have an opportunity to change the way they think, feel, and act. But what happens when the camera stops rolling or after you walk off stage is even more important. How do you continue to engage your audience and drive them to action? With email marketing, you can continue to build upon the relationship you formed during your speech and create a stronger connection with your audience.
How to Get Free Media Attention for Your Small Business
Imagine your business featured on live television or radio — for free! It’s just a pipe dream, right? It doesn’t have to be, according to media expert Paula Rizzo. The media is searching for people just like you to share their stories with the masses. You just need to know how to tell it. During my recent interview with AWeber customer Paula Rizzo, a business owner and Emmy-award winning television producer for nearly 20 years, I learned the ins and outs of landing free media spots.
12 Exceptional Newsletters That Will Change Your Approach to Email Forever
The best email newsletters provide value and captivate subscribers week after week. That’s how smart email marketers get their audience to open, click, and share their newsletter again and again. But how do you consistently produce and deliver an engaging newsletter? A little inspiration from the most successful email newsletters can help! The AWeber team is constantly scouring the internet for the top email newsletters on the planet.
Is Gmail Sabotaging Your Email Marketing?
It’s easy to fear the worst when Gmail makes updates to the way subscribers receive and interact with your messages. (Remember the “dreaded” Promotions tab?! The horror!😱 ) So, when Gmail recently announced that they’re rolling out new changes — like the option for people to “snooze” emails and the ability for their interface to “suggest unsubscribes” — marketers everywhere started flipping out. Alarms were sounded. Panic buttons were pushed.
6 Myths about the GDPR and Email Marketing Debunked
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) goes into effect on May 25, 2018. Thousands of sources have published their “expert” advice about the law and how it applies to email marketing over the past several months. But here’s the thing: Much of their advice is wrong or misleading — and it’s causing a lot of misunderstanding, confusion and fear among small businesses and entrepreneurs around the globe. So, we decided to set the record straight.
The Beginner’s Guide to Making Money with Email Marketing
When it comes to making money online, the most powerful tool in your arsenal isn’t social media or SEO or paid search ads . . . Email marketing has the highest conversion rates of any marketing channel. In fact, sixty-six percent of online consumers made a purchase after receiving an email marketing message — which is more than social and direct mail, according to the Data & Marketing Association.
8 Tips for Creating an Email Newsletter Your Subscribers Will Love
Running a successful business involves more than just promoting and selling a product. For your company to thrive, you must establish relationships with customers that continue after the sale. Email newsletters can help you connect with your customers. To be effective, newsletters must be carefully crafted and offer something of value to your customers.
How to Create a Winning CTA on Your Sign Up Form
You’ve poured your heart into creating the perfect incentive to attract subscribers and build your email list. Now the only thing between you and greatness is your sign up form. While there are several key components that go into creating an effective sign up form, one of the most critical is that little button that screams, “Click me!” I’m talking about your call to action (CTA) button. It’s the last step that stands in the way of having a thriving email audience.
How to Use Facebook Insights to Create More Engaging Emails
Writing consistent, unique emails for your subscribers can be hard, and it’s often a struggle many email marketers face. (Don’t worry, it happens to the best of us!) While there’s no shortage of places to look for ideas on what to write, we often overlook one of the best sources available to us: Facebook.
How to Monitor Multiple Social Media Metrics in a Single Dashboard
Do you manage multiple social media profiles for your business? Looking for an easier way to keep an eye on key social media metrics? Setting up a customized dashboard lets you monitor and report on the performance of your social media platforms in one convenient place. In this article, you'll discover how to set up a dashboard to track key social media metrics for your business. #1: Choose a Dashboard Tool There are a number of dashboard tools available.
How to Generate Leads With Social Media Quizzes
Do you want to generate more leads? Have you considered using social media quizzes to connect with prospects? Quizzes are a great way to engage your audience, gather feedback and build your email list. In this article you’ll discover how to create social media quizzes that generate leads. Discover how to generate leads with social media quizzes. Listen to this article: Where to subscribe: Apple Podcast | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS #1: Establish a Goal A successful quiz needs a clear objective.
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