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miercuri, 27 noiembrie 2013

The First-Ever White House Student Film Festival

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The First-Ever White House Student Film Festival

We're launching our first-ever White House Student Film Festival -- and we're inviting K-12 students from around the country to create and submit one- to three-minute short web videos. Finalists could have their videos screened at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, and posted on the White House website. It might just be cooler than having your homework up on the fridge.

The topic: Highlighting the importance of technology in the classroom -- and imagining how technology will change the educational experience for kids in the future.

Find out how you or someone you know can apply.

Content Marketing in 2014 – What Should You Be Doing?

Posted: 27 Nov 2013 01:14 AM PST

Content Marketing was one of the big buzz words of 2013, but as the year draws to close what should we be looking out for in 2014 and how can we make sure our content strategies stay fresh and relevant?

Here are my predictions on what's going to be important during the coming year and some tips on how to make sure your content remains useful both for your readers and for your clients.

Relevance
The most important feature of any piece of content is that it's relevant. However, relevant can mean a number of things. A piece of content might be relevant in terms of:
• Timing
• Answering a reader's question
• Providing necessary information

As you can see, relevant content covers a variety of content types, so let's take a closer look.

Timing
Since Google started providing "News" search, timing has been a great way to drive traffic to your site. Also, as every SEO knows, fresh, regularly published content encourages Google to index your site more frequently and can help to improve your rankings. So news-based content is a clear win-win – right?

Not necessarily – there are a few problems with news-based content that need to be taken into consideration. Firstly, you have to get it out fast. In order for your news-based content to do well you have to get it published as quickly as possible, before everyone else has written their piece on it. If you don't, your piece will get lost in the barrage of other articles on the same subject. Also, the market quickly reaches saturation point with these kinds of articles, meaning no-one will be interested in reading your hard work.

Secondly, you have to have something interesting and original to say. There's no point quickly sending out a news-based article if it's going to be the same as every other piece written. You need to make sure your post stands out and says something different. A unique viewpoint on a news-based article can be hard to find but if you can manage it, you should be able to produce something really special and successful.

Thirdly, all of these requirements mean you need a considerable amount of resource in order to pull off a successful news piece. Don't underestimate the importance of having the proper resource for this kind of work – you need someone who can be completely dedicated to researching whatever incident has just occurred, gathering all the necessary information, formulating an original concept, writing the piece, and publishing it. If you can't allow for this, then you're unlikely to produce a high quality, successful piece of content.

So, if you can incorporate these elements into your news articles then you're sure to be onto something great. Just be careful not to waste time producing something that will simply vanish into the depths of the internet, never to be read by anyone.

Answering a reader's question
Although the Hummingbird update appears to have had quite a subtle effect so far, it is a very important indicator in terms of where Google plans to move search. For those of you who missed it, the Hummingbird update has shown Google's clear move to search that is based on answering specific question asked by users. The shift is away from explicit keyword usage towards a more nuanced understanding of what information it is that the user is searching for. As a result, content that directly answers questions that users are asking is likely to start doing better and better over the coming year.

In order to utilise this change in emphasis, content producers need to really start focusing on what it is that their readers need. What are they searching for? What are they interested in? What do they want to understand? If you can figure out the answers to these questions then you should be able to create a wonderful hub of content, full of user-friendly articles. Even better, Google should start to direct users to your content, as it will be answering the very questions they are asking. Plus, if you're actually managing to produce helpful, informative answers, then your users are likely to share them, meaning even more exposure and traffic to your site. This works for both on-site and off-site content, so keep it at the top of your list when producing content.

Providing necessary information
How many times have you visited a website, been interested, but then realised a crucial piece of information you needed before making a purchase or calling up to discuss the offered services was missing? It's a frustrating issue for users, and one I see occurring time and again when I work through websites. What many of us forget when working on our own or clients' websites is that a user can only access the information we provide. So if we miss something important, no matter how minor it may seem to us, the user has no way of finding it out. As a result, they are likely to go elsewhere in order to find a service that provides them with the information.

In other words, when you're producing on-site content, make sure you cover every possible query your users may have in detail. This could be anything from product dimensions, to what hours your phone lines are open, to what your delivery times are, to what your returns/refunds policy is – the list is endless. The job of your on-site content is to persuade people to buy your products/services, so making sure they have all the information they could possibly need to make that decision is vital. This also ties in with ensuring that your content answers people's questions – so keep that concept in mind here.

Measuring Success

The next big issue is measuring your content's success. Over the past year people have been heavily focused on social media and people's engagement with content through these channels. However, as many of us have learnt, engagement does not necessarily equal conversions. Of course, increasing brand awareness is important, and getting your name out there matters. However, in order to determine whether your content is being successful you need to start measuring conversions.

Demonstrating successful conversions is vital to a content team. Companies like to see people engaging with and talking about their brand but, at the end of the day, money and conversion are what matter. And the only way a business will see any return on their investment in content, is if your content pushes people onto their website and then through to conversions.

As such, the time of measuring retweets and Facebook likes is likely to draw to a close, as brands will start looking to traffic numbers and click-through rates to justify their expenditure on content. As content writers we will need to ensure that our content is absolutely on-point if we're going to convince the powers that be to keep spending money on our services – another reason why relevancy is going to be even more important!
Personalisation
Sitting alongside both relevancy and encouraging conversion is the concept of personalisation. Google has explicitly stated that search is going to become more and more personalised over the next few years. As such, we are going to have to ensure that our content is ever more personalised to our users than ever before in order to prevent it from falling by the wayside and remaining unread and unloved.

As such, understanding our audience is going to become more important than ever. Vague personas simply won't cut it anymore. We're going to have to sit down and do some much more thorough analyse of the kinds of customers our sites bring in, how they get there, where they enter and where they drop off. Without an in-depth understanding of our users and their mind-sets content marketers are doomed to repeat old mistakes and the websites they work for will suffer as a result.

Thorough auditing of your website – specifically main landing pages and pages with high bounce rates or exit figures – will be essential to this process. Figure out where your users are coming from and then come up with ways to both increase the number of them coming from these sources as well as ways to create more entry points like this. Similarly, determine which pages are successful at retaining users and which cause them to drop off. Learn from what you already have that works, and adapt the poorly-performing pages so that they are more closely aligned with those that do well.

It sounds simple, but so many people seem to be unable to learn from the mistakes they are presented with on a daily basis. To assist you with improving the quality of your website, you can even consider conducting a survey – asking users what they like and don't like about your website, in order to help you to tailor it even more to their likings.
So there you have it – those are my three big predictions for the upcoming year. If you want your content to be successful you'll need to ensure it's relevant, personalised, and can be measured. Of course, there's a host of other factors that need to be combined to create an effective content marketing strategy, but I'd say that these three factors will be the most important during 2014.

What do you think? Do you have any other ideas about what's going to be big over the next year? Let me know in the comments section!

The post Content Marketing in 2014 – What Should You Be Doing? appeared first on White Noise.

Seth's Blog : Resting smiley face

Resting smiley face

When no one is looking and you're not trying, what shows on your face?

We have a default setting, an arrangement of muscles that gives our mouth and eyes a look. Some have, as a friend of mine says, "resting bitchy face." People rely so much on reading faces that even though you might not intend it, people are making an assumption about your mood and your approachability.

Interesting question: What's the 'resting face' of your brand, your business, your website? In the ordinary course of business, when no one is really focused on trying, what do your emails, signage and word choices telegraph about you?

Over time, many businesses devolve into an efficient yet foreboding default. It takes effort to move uphill, to put a smile into your voice and your typical interactions.

What could be worth more effort than that, though?

• Email to a friend •

marți, 26 noiembrie 2013

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Reader Reflections on Socialism Theory vs. Practice
Record Number of French Corporate Bankruptcies; Socialist Theory vs. Practice; What Went Wrong?
Jobs vs. Employment Analysis Suggests Huge Obamacare Impact (And Way Less Job Growth than Anyone Thinks)

Reader Reflections on Socialism Theory vs. Practice

Posted: 26 Nov 2013 07:50 PM PST

In response to Record Number of French Corporate Bankruptcies; Socialist Theory vs. Practice; What Went Wrong? I received a number of noteworthy comments via email and as direct comment to my blog.

Reader Jay commented ...

The first thing all you capitalism bashers need to understand is that capitalism is not what we have in this country. We have crony capitalism/socialism/fascism at work right now. We have never had real capitalism.

Jay replied to the ridiculous comment by "ClimbingSand " The rich have socialism, the poor have dog eat dog Capitalism.

Acting Man Commented ...

Via email, Pater Tenebrarum at the Acting Man Blog hit the nail precisely on the head. Here is his comment:

I would point out that socialism works neither in practice nor in theory. It is already the theory that is wrong, as the concept must fail due to the calculation problem. Economic calculation is literally impossible under socialism, and so no rational socialistic economy is possible. If the whole world were to adopt socialism, we would soon live from hand to mouth, as the division of labor would completely collapse within a few short years.

Thanks Pater!

I take this opportunity to point out that his blog is still having "technical difficulties", related to his current host. Pater is looking for an new host site, and hopefully his blog will be back up, and running soon.

Pater has taught me a lot over the years. He is the person who introduced me to Austrian economics.

I highly recommend bookmarking his site. It will be back up soon.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Record Number of French Corporate Bankruptcies; Socialist Theory vs. Practice; What Went Wrong?

Posted: 26 Nov 2013 12:16 PM PST

The number of French business bankruptcies hit a record in the third quarter of 2013 and the yearly total is on a pace that will come close to the total reached in the dark days of the great financial collapse in 2009.

Via translation here are a few articles from Le Monde.

Corporate Liquidations Reaching New Heights in France

The newspaper L'Autre Journal has filed for bankruptcy.

Michel Butel, the former boss of the newspaper does not admit defeat so far, and promises new adventures. But under another name ...

In the last twelve months, 43,981 companies were liquidated after having filed for bankruptcy, according to the records of the credit insurer Coface. This is a record number of third quarter bankruptcies.

Mory Ducros, Largest Bankruptcy in France for a Year

With 5,200 jobs at stake, the bankruptcy of transport company Mory Ducros is in social terms the heaviest recorded bankruptcy this year. The previous failure of this magnitude was Neo Security, the second largest French security firm, which was declared insolvent in April 2012. At the time, it employed him as more than 5,000 people.

Some 62,500 company s should file for bankruptcy this year, almost as much as during the dark year of 2009, according to credit insurer Coface. The number of bankruptcies may be slightly lower in 2014.

Ayrault Wants to "Save as Many Transport Jobs" as Possible

Transport company Mory Ducros, which employs 5,200 people in France, announced during a special Works Council (EWC) on Friday its request for receivership with the Commercial Court of Pontoise and the appointment of a temporary administrator.

Unions of the company are very pessimistic. "It is feared between 2,000 and 3,000 job cuts," said Fabian Tosolini, national secretary of the Federation of Transport of the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT). This is one of the biggest bankruptcy filings since the start of François Hollande term, and one of the largest ever happened to France since the collapse of Moulinex in 2001.

Following the bankruptcy announcement, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault commented "We are looking for all solutions, site by site, with the social partners, of course. Where we can find the buyers, everything will be done to save the maximum number of jobs. This is a very difficult job."

Arnaud Montebourg, the Minister of Industrial Renewal, is "mobilized" on this issue. Potential buyers have expressed interest but no proposal has been expressed.

Frédéric Cuvillier, Minister of State Transport added "Everything will be studied: first how to consolidate the rescue at least 2,000 jobs, and then look at how we can ensure the recovery or offer jobs to those who are victims of this plan." The Minister announced that he wanted "to meet as soon as possible" with management and the unions.

The prime minister, the minister of industrial renewal, and the minister of state transport are all mobilized. How comforting.

Understanding Montebourg

To understand Montebourg, take a look at some "Made in France" images.

Montebourg "advertises Made in France" while holding Moulinex blenders and wearing classical "marinière" shirts.
He is literally the object of tons of sarcastic comments and gags.

When telecom operator Free was awarded the fourth mobile license in France and launched its very low cost service, Montebourg said that Free had done more for purchasing power of French people than all the actions of then president Nicolas Sarkozy.

But when Montebourg became Minister he started a very aggressive campaign against Free and its pricing, accusing them of destroying French jobs.

The above Montebourg clip courtesy of reader "AC" who lives in France (see Made in France: Montebourg Ridiculed in Text and Pictures; France Goes After "Red Bull" Energy Drinks to Finance Social Security).

Hopefully "AC" will not be arrested for "insulting the president". That's not precisely a joke. (See Founder of French Website "Hollande Resignation" Arrested, Car Impounded for "Insulting the President")

More on Montebourg

If you are interested in other absurdities by the Minister of Industrial Renewal, simply search my blog for Arnaud Montebourg.

What Went Wrong?

The answer to this question should be obvious: The socialist policies of president Francois Hollande went deeply wrong.

In particular, I would like to point out my June 8, 2012 post Hollande About to Wreck France With Economically Insane Proposal: "Make Layoffs So Expensive For Companies That It's Not Worth It".

Hollande's layoff clampdown solution according to Labour Minister Michel Sapin is to "make layoffs so expensive for companies that it's not worth it." ....

To which I commented: Ongoing, if it's difficult to fire people, companies will not hire them in the first place.

Couple that preposterous idea with a set of tax hikes so huge that even the socialists complained:

See Hollande's Tax Everything Plan Blows Sky High With Riots by Farmers

Socialist Theory vs. Practice

In theory, Hollande proposed "Make Layoffs So Expensive For Companies That It's Not Worth It". In practice, his policies harmed many companies so badly they could not possibly stay in business!

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Jobs vs. Employment Analysis Suggests Huge Obamacare Impact (And Way Less Job Growth than Anyone Thinks)

Posted: 26 Nov 2013 03:12 AM PST

Every month (on average), for about a year, there has been a startling discrepancy between employment as measured by the household survey and jobs as reported by the establishment survey.

I believe the discrepancy is yet another Obamacare artifact.

Jobs vs. Employment Discussion

Before diving into the details, it is important to understand limits on data, and how the BLS measures jobs in the establishment survey vs. employment in the household survey.

Establishment Survey: If you work one hour that counts as a job. There is no difference between one hour and 50 hours.
Establishment Survey: If you work multiple jobs you are counted twice. The BLS does not weed out duplicate social security numbers.

Household Survey: If you work one hour or 80 you are employed.
Household Survey: If you work a total of 35 hours you are considered a full time employee. If you work 25 hours at one job and 10 hours at another, you are a fulltime employee.

Recall that the definition of fulltime under Obamacare is 30 hours, but fulltime to the BLS is 35 hours.

Next, consider what happens under Obamacare if someone working 34 hours is cut back to 25 hours, then picks up another parttime job.

Obamacare Effect

Prior to Obamacare
34 hours worked = 1 parttime job household survey
34 hours worked = 1 job establishment survey

Enter obamacare
Person cut back to 25 hours and takes a second job for 10 hours
Here is the new math

25 + 10 = 1 fulltime job on the household survey.
25 + 10 = 2 jobs on the establishment survey.

In my example, the household survey totals up all the hours and says, voilla! (35 hours = full time). So a few extra hours that people pick up working 2 part time jobs now throws someone into full time status – thus no surge in part-time employment, but there is a surge in jobs.

I am quite sure this is what is happening, but I cannot prove it.

Household Survey Normalized

The BLS has a chart (shown below) that normalizes the household survey to the establishment survey, but that just transfers establishment survey double-counting to the household survey!

I contacted the BLS and asked if they could please weed out duplicate social security numbers. They can't because they do not capture social security numbers.

This is not a fault of the BLS. They wish they had more data but they don't.

Does Any Available Data Lend Credence to My Theory?

Yes, and overwhelmingly so. An unusual discrepancy between the household and establishment surveys is the key to the puzzle.

Household survey: http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CE16OV
Establishment Survey: http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/PAYEMS

Numbers are in thousands.

October Employment and Jobs vs. October in Prior Years

Category	Oct-08	Oct-09	Oct-10	Oct-11	Oct-12	Oct-13
Employed Household	144,802	138,421	139,097	140,314	143,328	143,568
Jobs Establishment	135,905	129,614	130,156	132,094	134,225	136,554

Year-Over-Year Gains or Losses vs. Prior Years

Category	Oct-09	Oct-10	Oct-11	Oct-12	Oct-13
Yoy Change Household	(6,381)	676	1,217	3,014	240
Yoy Change establishment	(6,291)	542	1,938	2,131	2,329
Monthly Average Household	-532	56	101	251	20
Monthly Average Establishment	-524	45	162	178	194

Fore the year ending October 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012, the household survey and the establishment survey were very well aligned.

However, something happened between October 2012 and October 2013. In the last year, the household survey says employment rose by 20,000 a month while jobs rose by 194,000 per month!

Let's drill down by month and take a look.

Month-over-Month Gains or losses vs. Prior Month

Month	Household	Establishment	M/M Change HH	M/M Change Establishment
Sep-12	142974	134065
Oct-12	143328	134225	354	160
Nov-12	143277	134472	-51	247
Dec-12	143305	134691	28	219
Jan-13	143322	134839	17	148
Feb-13	143492	135171	170	332
Mar-13	143286	135313	-206	142
Apr-13	143579	135512	293	199
May-13	143898	135688	319	176
Jun-13	144058	135860	160	172
Jul-13	144285	135949	227	89
Aug-13	144170	136187	-115	238
Sep-13	144303	136350	133	163
Oct-13	143568	136554	-735	204

Because of the government shutdown, some will object (and rightfully so) about October. So let's throw that month away.

12-Month Results Excluding October 2013

Month	Household	Establishment
Oct 2012-September 2013	1329	2489
12 Month Avg Excluding October 2013	111	207

Even after eliminating the government shutdown effect, the difference between the two surveys is still huge.

From October 2012 through September 2013, the household survey suggests employment rose by an average of 111,000 per month. The establishment survey suggests 207,000 jobs per month on average.

Which is correct?

Actually because of what they measure, both might be. Thus my blog subtitle "And Way Less Job Growth than Anyone Thinks" is not technically accurate.

Practically speaking however, job growth has been nowhere near as good as it looks. People picking up a second parttime job following cutbacks in hours does not do a thing for the economy except perhaps waste gasoline.

However, in spite of strong evidence, this is still a theory. To prove it, we need to weed out duplicate social security numbers. The BLS can't, but ADP can. I contacted them twice but to no avail.

I would like ADP to crunch the data and determine how many duplicate social security numbers show up vs. the same months in prior years. If I am wrong it won't be the first time. But let's have a look at the numbers and see what they say.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Sexual Disney Moments

Posted: 26 Nov 2013 01:02 PM PST

Uncomfortable moments.

Roller Skater Michelle Steilen [Video]

Posted: 26 Nov 2013 12:16 PM PST

Michelle Steilen, aka, Estro Jen, and owner of Moxi Roller Skates and Moxi Shop proves once and for all that roller skating still reigns supreme as she takes to the streets of LA to remind us all how it's done by a chick who's not afraid to skin a knee or two.

Pretty sure our favorite part is the kids chanting "Let's go, Michelle, let's go!" at the end.

Funny Prom Photos

Posted: 26 Nov 2013 11:57 AM PST

Funny and creative prom photos.

How to Die Young

Posted: 26 Nov 2013 07:58 AM PST

All this can decrease your life expectancy.

WiFi is the New Cigarette [Infographic]

Posted: 26 Nov 2013 07:31 AM PST

Last year, more than 60 percent of homes in the U.S. had WiFi access. Are we addicted to our internet connection? Check out the infographic below presented by Iconic Displays to learn about how WiFi affects our mind and body.

Click on Image to Enlarge.

Infographic by Iconic Displays

miercuri, 27 noiembrie 2013

The First-Ever White House Student Film Festival

Content Marketing in 2014 – What Should You Be Doing?

Content Marketing in 2014 – What Should You Be Doing?

Seth's Blog : Resting smiley face

Resting smiley face

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marți, 26 noiembrie 2013

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

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Damn Cool Pics

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miercuri, 27 noiembrie 2013

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marți, 26 noiembrie 2013

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Arhivă blog

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