Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

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• Greece Flunks Troika Report, Financial Reforms at Standstill; 5th Payment on Hold? Expect IMF "Nose Job"
• Ron Paul on Debt Ceiling: Boehner Will Cave
• German Finance Minister Seeks 7-Year Greek Extension in Clash with Trichet; Fitch Says Proposal Constitutes a Default; Spain the "Big Kahuna"
• Ceridian-UCLA PCI Fuel Index Shows Recovery Stalled

Greece Flunks Troika Report, Financial Reforms at Standstill; 5th Payment on Hold? Expect IMF "Nose Job" Posted: 08 Jun 2011 09:51 PM PDT On May 28 Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou went into a temper tantrum over an article in Der Spiegel that stated Greece missed its financial targets. Papaconstantinou noted the report was not even out yet adding, "I have every reason to believe they will end positively for our country and that we will receive the fifth tranche." He may be correct about the tranche, however, the report is now out and Greece flunked. Financial Reforms at Standstill The Irish Times reports Troika insists reforms in Greece at a standstill GREEK EFFORTS to stabilise public finances and push through reforms have ground to a halt in the last quarter, according to officials from the IMF, the ECB and the European Commission. The latest so-called "Troika" report, seen by The Irish Times yesterday, made a grim impression when presented to German MPs in Berlin yesterday evening. At a crunch parliamentary party meeting, members of the ruling Christian Democrats (CDU) and Free Democrats (FDP) heard that Greece will require fresh aid from euro zone members because of the "prohibitive" cost of the alternative: returning to financial markets. "The financing strategy needs to be revised," said the report's authors. "Given the remoteness of Greece returning to the funding markets in 2012, the adjustment programme is now underfinanced. The next disbursement cannot take place before this underfunding is resolved." "After a strong start in the summer of 2010, reform implementation came to a standstill in recent quarters," said the report. Citing "clear political risks" in implementing the EU-IMF reform programme, the authors warned that "a reinvigoration is necessary to prevent the fiscal deficit getting entrenched at unsustainable levels". At macro level, the troika said the Greek recession is "somewhat deeper and longer than initially projected" – with 4.5 per cent economic shrinkage last year and a further 3.8 per cent contraction forecast this year – but that "the quarters of deepest contraction may have already been passed". Additional Details from Athens News Athens News reports Troika report on Greece unveiled "Tax collection continues to underperform compared to plans, even after the downward revision agreed in previous reviews. Although part if this underperformance results from the severity of the recession and liquidity constraints faced by taxpayers, the several measures to fight tax evasion implemented by the government have not been fully effective yet." "The previous review mission (February 2011) identified that, without additional measures, the fiscal target for 2011 would be missed by at least three quarters of a percentage point of GDP. In the meantime, the gap between fiscal projections and the deficit ceiling has widened substantially. If no action was taken, the government deficit in 2011 would remain close to the 2010 level, above 10 percent of GDP." Next Trance In Question? Please consider Next aid payment not a done deal Troika says 5th payment to Greece may have to wait; recession proves deeper, longer than expected The European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund mission to Greece said in a report on Wednesday that the next disbursement of Greek aid could not take place until it corrected the underfinancing in its adjustment program. "The financing strategy needs to be revised. Given the remoteness of Greece returning to funding markets in 2012, the adjustment program is now underfinanced," it said. "The next disbursement cannot take place before this underfinancing is resolved." The fifth bailout payment was due to be made in June. News of a possible hitch in the next disbursement of aid to Greece came as Germany's finance minister said private creditors must share the burden of more financial help for Athens in any deal to prevent the country from defaulting on its debts. In a letter sent to Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the ECB, the IMF's acting managing director John Lipsky and other top finance officials, Wolfgang Schaeuble proposed a bond swap that would extend debt repayments by seven years, giving Athens more time to reform its economy and overcome the debt crisis. Such a move has previously been strongly opposed by the ECB on the grounds it could spread turmoil through the continent's financial system, while rating agencies have warned it could be considered a default. Expect IMF Nose Job The report was so bad it is hard to say what the key point is, but near-term this is arguably the key quote: "Given the remoteness of Greece returning to the funding markets in 2012, the adjustment programme is now underfinanced. The next disbursement cannot take place before this underfunding is resolved." However, the market does not seem to be reacting to those statements. That means the IMF and EU will hold their noses and pony up, most likely with still more ridiculously optimistic targets about what Greece can achieve in the next two years. Summation of Troika Report Badness Greek reforms at a standstill Recession deeper than expected at -4.5% Clear political risks Reinvigoration is necessary to prevent the fiscal deficit getting entrenched at unsustainable levels Financing strategy needs to be revised Tax collection continues to underperform compared to plans, even after the downward revision agreed in previous reviews Gap between fiscal projections and the deficit ceiling has widened substantially If no action is taken, the government deficit in 2011 would remain above 10 percent of GDP There is additional bad news elsewhere. Greek industrial production fell 11 percent year-on-year Greek unemployment is 16.2 per cent, the highest in the euro-zone after Spain The IMF and EU want more austerity measures and higher taxes Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou bought Greece a week's time but now looks more than a bit foolish. Der Spiegel has been vindicated. Greece flunked. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

Ron Paul on Debt Ceiling: Boehner Will Cave Posted: 08 Jun 2011 11:51 AM PDT Please consider this interesting interview by Bloomberg columnist Al Hunt with Ron Paul on the debt ceiling, big government, and military spending. Link if inline video does not play: Ron Paul Interview on Debt Ceiling Select Interview Highlights Al Hunt: Do you think Congress will pass an Extension. Ron Paul: I do. This will go up until the last minute, then they will raise the debt ceiling. Al Hunt: Your speaker John Boehner says he will absolutely insist on a dollar of spending reduction for every dollar the debt ceiling goes up. Do you take that seriously? Ron Paul: I don't take that seriously. President Reagan wanted 2 dollars of cuts. The deficit exploded. Do you think the American people will believe that we are going to cut in the future? The only budget that counts is this year. 10-year programs are pie-in-the-sky talking. This year our obligations are 5 trillion dollars. Al Hunt: The idea of a spending cap that takes place in 10 years does not appeal to you? Ron Paul: A 10-year spending cap is too little, too late. No one is going to believe it. All governments when they get this far into debt, default. They don't default by not paying the bills. We will always pay the bills. The default comes from the devaluation of the currency. Al Hunt: On Libya, Afghanistan, it looks like most are taking the John McCain line. Ron Paul: Politically they are making a big mistake. I have been arguing to bring the troops home. I did not want them to go in the first place. The people now know we cannot pay for this. A lot of conservatives are coming to that direction. I've said over the years that I will win this argument because we will run out of money. That is how all great nations and empires end. They cannot afford it any longer, and that is what is happening right now. I have proposals that are different. As much as I am opposed to all spending, if you want to cut purposely in deliberate fashion, then have priorities. My priorities is cut all all foreign welfare and foreign militarism, and corporate welfare before you go after child healthcare. That sells. You don't have to just address health-care for poor people, rather than looking at atrocious spending overseas. Al Hunt: You would bring home troops from Afghanistan, Libya, Pakistan? Ron Paul: Res, I believe in strong national defense and that hurts our defense. I would bring them all home. We have no reason to be there. The soldiers we have in Korea went there when I was in high school. How long are we going to stay there? Al Hunt: Do you see any other candidate [for president] who is talking about a full audit of the Federal reserve? Ron Paul: No way. But they won't laugh as much as they did last time. They won't laugh any longer. Just think of the difference no on the attitudes of the people on the Federal reserve. Al Hunt: Is the Federal Reserve in retreat? Ron Paul: (laughing) Have you ever anticipated over the years, Bernanke would be holding press conferences defending his position? He can't defend it because it is a failed policy. You can't print money to get yourself out of trouble. Grade school kids know this. We will win when the system comes unglued. Bernanke's Self-Serving Lies The Ron Paul interview was recorded June 3. Bernanke poured on the lies yesterday in his US Economic Outlook. Bernanke tried to absolve the Fed of all guilt. Please see Bernanke's Self-Serving Bold-Faced Lies for details. In regards to spending in general and military spending in particular, Ron Paul is correct. This is "how all great nations and empires end". A similar sounding statement attributed to Margaret Thatcher goes like this: "The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money to spend." The statement is true whether or not Thatcher ever said so explicitly. Republicans need to stop US militarism and focus on the US economy. In regards to the debt ceiling, unfortunately I too think Boehner will cave. Please see my video discussion on Yahoo Finance regarding the debt ceiling and the bond market: Debt Ceiling Discussion on Daily Ticker with Mish, Aaron Task, Henry Blodget: Will the Bond Market Eventually Force Congressional Hands? Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

German Finance Minister Seeks 7-Year Greek Extension in Clash with Trichet; Fitch Says Proposal Constitutes a Default; Spain the "Big Kahuna" Posted: 08 Jun 2011 08:38 AM PDT ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet is without a doubt having another hissy-fit today as Germany Seeks Extending Greek Maturities German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said bondholders must contribute a "substantial" share of a second aid package for Greece, proposing a swap that credit-rating companies may term a default. Schaeuble told European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet and fellow euro finance ministers in a June 6 letter that maturities on Greek bonds should be extended seven years to give the debt-wracked nation time to overhaul its economy. The German position clashes with the stance of European Commission officials and the ECB, which oppose anything beyond a voluntary rollover of debt as they struggle to avert the euro area's first sovereign default. A swap offering investors terms that are "worse" than those of existing securities would constitute a coercive or distressed exchange, and be considered a default, Fitch Ratings said this week. "Either Schaeuble softens his calls or the ECB makes further concessions," said Christopher Rieger, head of fixed- income strategy at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. With a return to capital markets in 2012 "more than unrealistic," Greece needs more aid to avert "the real risk of the first unorderly default within the euro zone," Schaeuble wrote. While the size of the package can't be assessed until the so-called troika of officials from the International Monetary Fund, ECB and European Commission give a progress report on Greece, it is likely to be "substantial" and must "involve a fair burden sharing between taxpayers and private investors," Schaeuble said. How Long Can Papandreou Last? Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou's socialist party holds 156 seats in the 300-seat Parliament. How long can that last? Irish and Portuguese prime ministers went down in flames over bailout proposals, and the Spanish prime minister bowed out of the next election. It's just a matter of time before Papandreou bites the dust as well. Please consider Papandreou Faces Growing Backlash as Last EU Bailout Premier George Papandreou is the last man standing among the euro-area leaders who needed a handout after Jose Socrates's defeat in Portuguese elections yesterday. For Papandreou and the investors and taxpayers who will share the cost of a beefed-up bailout for Greece, questions are increasing about whether he will complete a term that runs until 2013 and enact the budget reductions and asset sales that his benefactors demand. The Greek premier, who has won assurances that international lenders will make the next payment of last year's 110 billion-euro ($161 billion) rescue, will aim to quell growing dissent this week within his Socialist party -- known as Pasok -- over deeper austerity measures as voters' patience wears thin and public protests mount. "The coming week may well test the seams of Pasok in parliament and could prove a challenge too much for Papandreou," said Jens Bastian, a visiting economist at St. Antony's College, Oxford University in England. "It is a make or break situation for his leadership of the party and the government." "Even if he gets the medium-term economic plan through parliament, the political turmoil is likely to continue as a second bailout will also require a parliamentary vote," said Wolfango Piccoli, a London-based analyst at the Eurasia Group, which monitors political risk. Piccoli said he expected Papandreou to clinch a vote on the fiscal plan as "a no-vote would be suicidal for both Greece and the ruling party." Demonstrations modeled on the Spanish "Idignants" protests have drawn crowds to the central Syntagma Square in Athens each night since May 25. Shouting "thieves, thieves" at the Parliament building and banging pots and pans, protesters have set up camp in the square and hold "popular assemblies" every evening. One group is collecting signatures for an anti- government referendum. At least 50,000 people gathered last night, the police estimated, the largest turnout to date. That compares with the 1,500 people who responded to a call by the country's two biggest unions to rally on June 4. The "Big Kahuna" All this fuss over Greece is amusing given Spain and Italy are the "Big Kahunas". I expect the market at any time to lose confidence in Spain. For the time being, yields are consolidating at the upper end of the range as show in the following chart of Spanish 10-year government bond yields. If you really want to watch a hissy-fit from Trichet, just wait until Spain blows. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

Ceridian-UCLA PCI Fuel Index Shows Recovery Stalled Posted: 08 Jun 2011 12:02 AM PDT The UCLA Anderson School of Management reports the Pulse of Commerce Index Falls 0.9 percent in May. The Ceridian-UCLA Pulse of Commerce Index™ (PCI), issued today by the UCLA Anderson School of Management and Ceridian Corporation fell 0.9 percent on a seasonally and workday adjusted basis in May, after falling 0.5 percent in April. The index has now declined in four of the first five months of 2011, and in eight of the past twelve months. It is clear that the economy is idling, and growth remains a struggle. The index is based on real-time fuel consumption data for over the road trucking and serves as an indicator of the current state and possible future direction of the U.S. economy. By tracking the volume and location of diesel fuel being purchased, the index closely monitors the over the road movement of produce, raw materials, goods-in-process and finished goods to U.S. factories, retailers and consumers. Year-over-Year Growth of PCI Annotations in red by Mish Click on chart for sharper image. On a year over year basis, the PCI was flat in May. This was disappointing in that it ended a string of seventeen straight months of year over year improvement in the index. One glimmer of good news is that May of last year was the strongest month of 2010, and this month's result nearly cleared that hurdle. Nevertheless, the PCI showed no growth, and this is another indication that the economy is stuck in neutral. Stuck in the Mud At first glance, May 2010 appears to be a particularly difficult comparison. However, it only looks that was because May of 2009 was particularly pathetic. Note that May of 2010 did not fully recover the declines from a year earlier. On that basis, should the index stall here, stuck in the mud seems more like the sad state of affairs than does stuck in neutral. Here is another way of looking at things. Industrial Production vs. Ceridian PCI Annotations in red by Mish Click on chart for sharper image. Neither Industrial Production nor the Ceridian PCI fully recovered from the recession even though the "recovery" is now 26 months in the making. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

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Damn Cool Pics

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• 10 Ways to Make Insects Delicious
• Surfing Dog Championship 2011
• The Psychology of Hoarders (Infographic)

10 Ways to Make Insects Delicious Posted: 08 Jun 2011 05:43 PM PDT Human insect-eating is common in cultures in parts of the world, such as North, Central and South America; and Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand. Over 1,000 insects are known to be eaten in 80% of the world's nations. However, in some societies insect-eating is uncommon or even taboo. Whether you prefer them baked, salted or served over rice, there's more than one way to eat a bug. Covered In Chocolate Over Rice In Soup Baked Into A Cookie On Top Of Your Favorite Pizza In A Lollipop In A Taco On A Stick Lightly Battered Over Mixed Greens

Surfing Dog Championship 2011 Posted: 08 Jun 2011 05:27 PM PDT Dogs compete during the during the Loews Coronado Bay resort surf dog competition. The 6th Annual event was held in Imperial Beach, near San Diego, California.

The Psychology of Hoarders (Infographic) Posted: 08 Jun 2011 01:27 PM PDT Just about everyone has seen the various reality shows documenting people's problems with hoarding. Or maybe you just know someone who has a ton of junk laying around the house and you're worried that they're heading for an appearance on one of those shows. Either way, you've probably wondered exactly what the hell is going through the head of a person who hoards. More Infographics. Click to Enlarge. Source: psychologydegree

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SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog

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Early Launch of SERPs Analysis Tool + June Linkscape Update Posted: 08 Jun 2011 09:21 AM PDT Posted by randfish If you're anything like me, you spend several hours each month (maybe more often) preparing elaborate worksheets of ranking analyses to help uncover why a particular site/page is outranking another and what it will take to reach top rankings. Which is why the screenshot below has me pretty excited. That's the first version of the new SERPs Analysis Tool, and, even in this early form, it's a thing of beauty. There's data on nearly every point I'd put in a worksheet comparing search results (social data and more sophisticated on-page analysis is coming soon). It's exportable to CSV so I can put the data into Excel and make cool charts and graphs, and it automatically generates based on any keyword set in a matter of 10-90 minutes (might be a bit longer this week since it just launched). Here's some more views: Ever since Adam tossed out that awesome preview last month, I've been dying to play around with this. Now that it's finally here, I can almost feel the pain of manual SERPs analysis disappearing. Feel free to give it a spin and provide feedback. To get the full data, just run a keyword difficulty report and click the "run full report" button. In the next few weeks, we'll have more data, some additional UI elements and a version in the web app, but for now, feel free to save enormous amounts of time + energy with this first version. Of course, that's not all! Linkscape's index is also updated as of Monday of this week (we accidentally had a brief rollback, but the correct data's out there now) and have some new analyses of our metrics correlations, too. This is part of how we measure whether our data quality is improving - on the whole, our correlations should improve over time if our index quality (what we crawl, how we handle duplicates, canonicalization, etc) is getting better.     The short story is that there's barely any change from the prior index from May (a couple metrics fell by >0.01), but we have improved somewhat from the figures presented in the ranking factors from late March (when, for example, Page Authority was as low as 0.28) .  We've also improved the coverage of the index for URLs we found in Google's top 30 results across a large sample set of keywords from 84.27% to 85.59%. In the future, we'll continue to try reporting regularly on these numbers to stay transparent about our own data confidence and quality. Here's the stats for the latest Linkscape update: 39,407,840,728 (41.3 billion) URLs 371,306,396 (491 million) Subdomains 119,104,781 (114 million) Root Domains 397,844,228,049 (416 billion) Links Followed vs. Nofollowed 2.28% of all links found were nofollowed 56.81% of nofollowed links are internal, 43.19% are external Rel Canonical - 7.91% of all pages now employ a rel=canonical tag The average page has 60.67 links on it (down from 61.00 last index) 51.50 internal links on average 9.17 external links on average This index also features the first time we're treating the rel=canonical attribute like a 301 redirect. After several tests internally and observing the search engines' relatively liberal handling of rel=canonical, we feel this is the best behavior from a link-juice / metrics calculation perspective. You'll still see these as regular "links" in Open Site Explorer for now, but we plan to update to show rel=canonicaling pages with a special notation (like a 301) in the tool soon. Enjoy the fresh link data, the spiffy new SERPs Analysis feature and let us know if you've got feedback or suggestions. p.s. The new tool is PRO-only, but if you want to give it a spin, there's this spiffy free trial thingy we've got going :-) Do you like this post? Yes No

8 Methods + Lots of Tools for Getting to Know Your Audience Posted: 07 Jun 2011 06:18 PM PDT Posted by Laura Lippay Music to enjoy while reading this post: We Know Something You Don't Know by DJ Format & Jurassic 5 You provide something specific: That might be a product, a service, a trustworthy source of information, a community space… And you know exactly what your audiences may be searching for to find your wares. But do you know what they really want out of you? Do you know how they really feel? Do you know what they want more of or less of in your industry? Do you know what they like or don’t like on your site or your competitor’s sites? Do you know what they think about your new product launch? If you knew this information, how could you use it to improve your products or services? In this post we’ll look at a few ways in which you can gather insightful information to help you position your brand against your competitors, laser target the specific desires of your audiences, and dive into the psyche of the people you want to attract and convert, categorized by what they want out of your industry, you, and your site. WHAT DO YOUR AUDIENCES WANT OUT OF YOUR INDUSTRY? Let’s say you’re in the online car insurance industry. You are considering what steps need to be taken to avoid search engine algo disasters and provide unique, compelling content and services that your audiences want. You’ve done your keyword research, so you know what search terms people are using, but what do they really want from your industry? Here’s some ways to find out. 1) Industry Market Research You can typically find a wealth of market research by industry from sites like the ones listed below, although oftentimes this research is not cheap. What to look for: Market demand Market trends Market entry Market issues/obstacles Statistical details for your target audiences Sources: eMarketer (paid reports + free articles) MarketResearch.com (paid reports) Forrester (paid + free reports) Hitwise (paid research + reports & webinars) Plunkett Research (paid reports) Valuation Resources (paid reports) International Business Strategies (paid reports) The Internet Time Machine (trend reporting software) Census.gov Statistical Abstract (US, Canada) 2) Social Industry Sentiment Many people think of social media as a way to connect with your industry influencers and brand advocates. But social media data is also spectacular for simply passively gathering insights. There is a wealth of information online about your industry and how people feel about it, talk about it, interact with it, etc. This information can help you take a strategic approach at entering an industry, or refine your current positioning and offerings within an industry. What to look for: Track industry terms as your topics, to find out what people are saying about the industry, what they want to see more of, what they don’t like or want to see less of, and potentially for spotting any industry trends through online conversations. Determine industry needs and sentiments in emerging markets before drawing up a product/service strategy. Source A: Expensive, detailed (and mostly deep crawl) social media monitoring tools There is still a major gap in social monitoring tools where the ones that provide the best crawl and interface for useful, actionable industry and/or brand health data can run you from $30,000/year to $30,000 month or more. For enterprise-level sites looking to harness conversations around the web, enterprise-level social monitoring solutions are the only answer (in this case, typically as an alternative or accompaniment to traditional survey-based brand health metrics). I’ve done audits on several of these solutions over the years and here are some worth looking into if you can throw the cash towards it. NetBase – Still one of (if not the) best and most useful tools for brand sentiment I’ve seen yet. Competitive sentiment, competitive liked/disliked attributes, passion index, conversation drivers, etc. Dow Jones Insight – Flexible sentiment, regional trends, large coverage on- and offline, measures not just what happened, but also what was impact? Nielsen Online – LSI-type algorithm, feeling & tone metrics, measure by language + lots more. Visible Technologies – Subtopic identification, management tools, highly drillable, sortable data + more. Radian6 – Share of conversation, demographics, location, influence, Salesforce & WebTrends integration, lots of charts. Source B: Free and cheapish (but often not very deep crawl) sentiment tools I want to have more faith in “tools for the people”, but in most cases, I’ve found search engines (see next section) to be more useful in finding good sentiment data than any of the free/cheap tools (and sometimes even the expensive tools). Try the software out and compare the insights you find with what you find in the next section using search engines to make the decision on whether it might be worth shelling out $200-$3000/mo or more towards these sentiment research tools. Social Mention (free) – Sentiment, strength, passion & reach scores around a topic + top keywords, users, hashtags and sources. HowSociable (free) - Brand visibility score in several social networks. Trackur (paid) – Sentiment and influence metrics and tracking (history). eCairn (paid) – Share of voice, mind and/or topic + additional social media tools. Alterian SM2 (paid) – Share of voice, themes, demographics, sentiment analysis, etc. Trendrr (paid) – Sentiment analysis & influencer identification, location & demographic filters. Position2 (paid) - Share of voice, share of media, demographics, sentiment analysis, etc. And 195 more: http://www.salesrescueteam.com/social-media-measurement-tools/ Source C: Search Engines If you don’t have a social listening tool or you’re just not getting good info from it, use the tool we all know and love: Search! Search engines still crawl much farther and deeper than most social media tools, so you can find more information if you know how to look. Search for any variation of things like: “like” + [your brand name] “love” + [a feature you provide] “I wish” + [a feature you provide] “sucks” + [an author or blogger on your site or your competitor sites] “hate” + [your competitors’ brand names or features] Additionally, search Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo! Answers or other social networks for the same type of information. I typically find the best feedback in this manner (using search + searching social networks), although it is more time consuming than the social media monitoring tools.   WHAT DO YOUR AUDIENCES WANT OUT OF YOU? 3) Social Brand Asset Sentiment In addition to what people want out of your industry, it is important to know what people want out of you and your brand assets. Your brand assets could include your services, products, product features, executives at the company, editorial personalities, and the brand name in general. What to Look for + Sources Test brand asset topics out in the social media monitoring tools mentioned above (including search engines) to gather insights on what people around the web are saying about your brand. Each tool may provide different types of information, like: Positive and negative sentiment around brand assets and competitors Share of voice Specific likes and dislikes (deeper dig into sentiment) Campaign reach/brand visibility Localized share of voice and sentiment trends 4) Traditional Brand Sentiment These survey-based reports typically show similar types of insights as the expensive social monitoring tools, only they are derived from surveys rather than scraped from the web. What to Look for Brand health Brand sentiment Brand awareness/share of voice Brand penetration CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) Same measurements online for competitor brands Sources: Nielsen Synovate Forrester   WHAT DO YOUR AUDIENCES WANT OUT OF YOUR SITE? Lastly, you’ll want to gather insights on the site experience that your audiences are having, and how it can be streamlined and improved. Don’t forget, search engines want to see sites that people find valuable, so make sure you’re doing what you can to attract your audiences and keep them engaged, as well as prompting the sharing of your content in social spaces. 5) Solicited Site Feedback If you ask your visitors for feedback you can use that data as well. Although soliciting feedback is not as unobtrusive as just using your site analytics data to determine where there are problems, it may be useful in getting a more human response to the potential issues on your site. Consider small incentives in return for feedback, like discounts, being entered into a contest, access to survey results (when appropriate), or other types of special recognition. Sources: GetSatisfaction Kampyle UserVoice On-site feedback surveys, collections or feedback forms 6) On-Site Search Queries Looking at what people are searching for on your site, and what they are or aren’t finding, can be very useful site feedback. For sites with large databases like music or movies, site search may be the simplest way to get to the destination. See what is searched for the most to provide that content up front. For other sites, look at what people are searching for, which may be an indication of what they expect to find but can’t. Determine how your site can better meet those needs. What to Look for: What people want or expect to find on the site. What people can’t find on the site. Searches on your site that return no results. Searches on your site that end in an exit rather than a click on search results. Sources: Your own on-site search analytics platform. 7) Click-tracking & heat maps These colorful displays are probably the coolest ways of gathering site feedback. Use these tools to determine whether people are seeing your most important content and calls to action on each page. What to Look for: Are your primary calls to action getting clicks? Are they in view? Are you funneling visitors to the pages you want to? Are there links that are not getting any clicks? Is there content that isn’t getting eyeballs? What is the performance from search vs. the rest of the site? Sources: CrazyEgg ClickTale ClickDensity Omniture ClickMap Google In-Page Analytics 8) Focus Groups and User Groups Set up some objectives for a focus group to try to accomplish with your site and watch how they try to get there, what obstacles they come across along the way, how they think and feel about the experience, and more. This can be useful feedback from people who are not familiar with the site the way you and your team that are building the site are. What to Look for: How people feel towards planned new features or content Ways to improve existing features and content Whether your users want or need new features or content Whether there are features and content you can change, improve, or get rid of How people attempt to perform a task, and with what level of ease or difficulty Sources: Search for focus group companies in your area. Do research on how to conduct your own focus group. Psychster (usability) Have any additional methods or tools not listed here? Please share!  Do you like this post? Yes No

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