miercuri, 19 martie 2014

Damn Cool Pics

Damn Cool Pics


Girls of the Seoul Auto Salon

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 07:22 PM PDT

The Seoul Auto Salon has very hot showgirls.























Tank Graveyard in Kuwait

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 05:02 PM PDT

Tank graveyard in Kuwait is a relic of the 1st Gulf War, the militaries of the various allies brought all the machinery to a central place after the fighting was finished.
















How To Help Your Pet Live Longer [Infographic]

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 03:46 PM PDT

We all love our pets and want them to live a long and happy life. This infographic will help educate you on learning to care for your pet as they age.


Click on Image to Enlarge.

An infographic by Nutronics Labs

Photos: Army Veterans Receive the Medal of Honor

 
Here's what's going on at the White House today.
 
 
 


  Featured

Photos: Army Veterans Receive the Medal of Honor

Yesterday, President Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to 24 Army veterans in recognition of their valor during major combat operations in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

Take a look at the pictures from yesterday's ceremony, and find out more about the honorees.

President Obama awards the Medal of Honor to 24 Army veterans.

 
 

  Top Stories

President Obama's Bracket for the 2014 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament

For the sixth straight year, President Obama sat down to fill out his brackets for the NCAA basketball tournaments. On the men's side, the President has Louisville, Michigan State, Florida, and Arizona headed to the Final Four.

READ MORE

Participate in the First Lady's China Trip from Anywhere

This week, First Lady Michelle Obama will travel to China for an official visit -- and she's inviting young people across America to join her. During her trip, Mrs. Obama will meet with students to discuss the power and importance of education, both in her own life and in the lives of young people in both countries. She'll also visit historical and cultural sites, from the Great Wall to the Terra Cotta Warriors, and will be sharing it all with you!

READ MORE

Climate Data Initiative Launches with Strong Public and Private Sector Commitments

Today, delivering on a commitment in the President's Climate Action Plan, we are launching the Climate Data Initiative, an ambitious new effort bringing together extensive open government data and design competitions with commitments from the private and philanthropic sectors to develop data-driven planning and resilience tools for local communities.

READ MORE


 
 
  Today's Schedule

All times are Eastern Time (ET)

3:45 AM: The Vice President and President Dalia Grybauskaitė hold a restricted bilateral meeting

4:00 AM: The Vice President and President Grybauskaitė will hold an expanded bilateral meeting

5:00 AM: The Vice President meets with President Andris Bērziņš of Latvia

6:00 AM: The Vice President will attend a working lunch with President Grybauskaitė and President Bērziņš

7:15 AM: The Vice President, President Grybauskaitė, and President Bērziņš will deliver statements to the press

9:45 AM: The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing

1:00 PM: Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney

2:25 PM: The President hosts a screening of the film Cesar Chavez at the White House

3:05 PM: The President is interviewed by local news anchors participating in "Live from the White House"

 
 

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12 days: One thing we all can do

 
There are just 12 days left to get covered.

Hi everyone,

At the end of the day, most folks aren't going to sign up for health insurance simply because Barack or I say that it's a good idea.

They're going to get covered because their friends and family members reach out to them and tell them: "I care. And I want to make sure you're looking out for yourself. So get signed up."

So with just 12 days to go until the deadline for getting health insurance in 2014, I'd like you to do something right now:

Think of someone you know who doesn't currently have health insurance. Maybe it's a friend or a coworker who you know has been meaning to sign up, but just hasn't gotten around to it yet. Maybe it's a family member who still hasn't taken a look at the options in the health insurance marketplace. Maybe it's you.

And I'd like you to please hit "forward" on this email.

That's how you can remind them that they've only got 12 days left to get covered in 2014. It's how you can let them know that you're paying attention, and that you want to make sure they follow through.

That's what this all really comes down to: Looking out for one another, and being accountable to one another.

Send that personal message right now by passing this email along to someone you know who needs to see it.

Tell them to visit HealthCare.gov, and to get themselves enrolled for health coverage. Tell them you care.

That's the only way this works, and it truly could not be more important.

Thank you for all that you're doing -- for yourself, and for the people you love.

First Lady Michelle Obama

Visit WhiteHouse.gov
 

When Building Communities Isn't the Best Way to Build Links

When Building Communities Isn't the Best Way to Build Links


When Building Communities Isn't the Best Way to Build Links

Posted: 18 Mar 2014 04:15 PM PDT

Posted by John-Henry

I entered SEO as a link builder. In 2010, my job was easy and my toolset mainly consisted of article marketing software, directory submissions, comment posting and link networks. Fast forward four years >> I now solely create visually engaging content in an effort to scale link building. I didn't make this career shift because "link building is no longer effective;" quite the opposite: I changed focus from manual to scalable link building because I now work in more competitive industries and my clients generally need 100+ links per asset to move the needleâ€"content helps me meet that demand to acquire large amounts of new linking root domains at once.

Over the past two years I've become obsessed with content (and Reddit, unfortunately). I've started to keep the companies that are producing the best and most successful digital content on my radar. Two companies that have recently started to stick out are Movoto and Airbnb. Both are scaling link acquisition via content, but they are going about it in entirely different ways. Airbnb is growing its own grassroots community, while Movoto is actively targeting existing and passionate online communities with its content marketing.

Before we dive in, both companies are growing rapidly in terms of organic search according to SEMrush:

Airbnb

AirBnB SEMrush

Movoto

Both of these companies are starting to do exceptionally well in the SERPs, primarily due to either growing (Airbnb) or targeting (Movoto) an audience.

Perception, product, and content

Airbnb and Movoto are both trying to rank for extremely competitive terms, however their content marketing strategies couldn't be further from each other, and that fact hinges mainly on two aspects of these businesses' models:

  1. The length of the customer purchase journey
  2. The probability of repeat purchases
First, let's think about both of these sites' customer purchase journeys and their customer lifetime value (LTV). Airbnb is selling rentals, which someone could need multiple times a year. Movoto is selling homes. The price point and level of commitment required from the customer are wildly different. More importantly, people generally only look for a new home during or after a major life event, like marriage, death, having a baby, or getting a new job. On the other hand, you could decide to take a random weekend ski trip at 4:15 p.m. on a Friday and book an Airbnb almost instantly. If Airbnb customers really enjoy their Airbnb experience, there's a good chance that they will rent another Airbnb and continue to add to the company's bottom line. However, no matter how awesome a time someone has buying a home, there's a very small chance that they will decide to repeat the experience anytime soon.

Movoto and Airbnb's business models differ in the sense that Airbnb is incrementally extracting value out of customers over a long period of time, while Movoto is most likely getting 100% of the customer's LTV at the first purchase.

For Airbnb, creating their own community is a pragmatic marketing strategy for keeping users engaged. I theorize that's why most of Airbnb's content is either about their business, their community of users and hosts, or about their product.

Where Airbnb is winning in content

  • Really unique homes: Some of the listings on Airbnb are naturally link worthy, like this igloo or this treehouse. As Airbnb grows, and more interesting and unusual listings pop up, these interesting listings will continue to scale Airbnb's link acquisition.

"The Airbnb Neighborhoods were created to help guests visiting a certain city finding the right place to stay. Where hotels tend to be concentrated in one part of town, Airbnb's are more spread out. We have found that the Neighborhoods are not only helping our guests to find the right place which matches their interest, but also help the cities to see guests traveling to parts of those cities which usually are overlooked by tourists. This has had a profound economic impact on local businesses, and their Neighborhoods.
The Neighborhood pages have been created with the typical guests & hosts in mind first. Delivering a best in class user experience, both from a content standpoint, as well as making it easy to navigate, has proven to be successful for Airbnb. This is where I would like to point out that content does not only include the written text, but the story is told in the form of images, which were specially taken for this project with the storyline in mind. This gives every page a unique peek into the characteristics of the Neighborhood, which makes these so useful for people planning to visit that city, as well of the locals exploring their own city."

  • Product/community blog: Airbnb has a bit of a leg up here in terms of link acquisition. Because they are a prominent company disrupting an established industry, pretty much anything they do is newsworthy. However, when you take a look at their blog, it's not so much a place for them to market themselves as it is a forum to address critical issues, consumer concerns, and changes with the product. It's racked up a lot of links over time (1900+ linking root domains), but it's racked up way more hearts and mindsâ€"and most likely converted a fair amount of users into first time renters by alleviating their pain points while researching the product.

  • One-off content marketing efforts: The Airbnb Annual Report is an amazing piece of content marketing â€" but it also speaks to how savvy Airbnb is when it comes to marketing itself. By showing the community how quickly Airbnb is growing (and how much money is out there for hosts to make) Airbnb is educating people about the company trajectory, its product and the future of the industry as a whole â€" all through beautiful, product-centric, interactive content.

The overarching theme of Airbnb's content

All of Airbnb's content keeps the brand, its product and the Airbnb community in the front of the users mind. Airbnb relies on a community in order to function, and because that community is inclusive, empathetic and charitableâ€"it's one of the most marketable aspects of the Airbnb brand. Airbnb also faces certain challengesâ€"like regulation and challenges from the hospitality industry. Because their business model is still being established, they need those hearts and minds on their side to fight for them and champion their product.

Movoto is taking a different path

Because a home purchase is so infrequent, constantly trying to grow a community through ongoing social media and brand-centric content marketing could get tiresome for readers, especially because those interacting with the brand would most likely have little motivation to purchase a home until a major life event occurs. However, Movoto still needs to scale link building, and in order to do that without building a community of their own, they must engage an audience in a way that causes them to share and tweet the content they produce.

Targeting existing audiences

Movoto creates content that appeals to pre-existing audiences. They are also great at picking their subject matterâ€"they choose topics that are popular enough to be covered in mainstream press, but also appeal to the hardcore niche fanboy sites.

Their most successful content takes some type of pop-culture reference or hot topic, applies it to real estate, and then earns press from both big news sites and mid-level authority blogs. The Harry Potter Hogwarts Property Evaluation Infographic may be the best example of this strategy in action:

It's earned links from over 140 domains including mainstream sites like Daily Mail, Fox News, and Daily Finance, and it also earned links from fan sites like Nerdophiles, Toy To The World, and Potter Talk.

Movoto is creating and marketing useful, fun and informative content that directly appeals to a particular niche audienceâ€"but it also has a larger mainstream appeal. Because Movoto executes content well in terms of information and visualsâ€"they are racking up links and quickly rising in the rankings. They've also produced a number of successful interactives, like How Many Legos Would it Take to Build your House, or alternatively How Many Tetris Blocks.

Many of Movoto's blog posts have earned over 100 linking root domains, primarily due to their ability to target an audience that will engage and share content online. Because they don't have to structure their communication around a growing community, like Airbnb, they are free to be pretty creative with their subject matter and publish things that are going to get a strong response (like 54,000 shares on Facebook for that post alone).

Community building isn't for everyone. It's best suited for communal products

As digital marketers we're quick to champion new strategies that result in increased traffic, links and social sharesâ€"but it's important to consider how our marketing efforts fit with the overall business model. After all, it's not just links and shares we're after, we are all trying to grow businesses in the most cost effective manner possible.

Community building really only makes sense for communal products. So, while it's the perfect growth strategy for a product like Airbnb, it makes no sense for a real estate site like Movoto. If you're stressing over social singles and your lack of community engagementâ€"maybe you don't have a product that the community can get behind and actively supportâ€"and there's nothing inherently wrong with that, you just need to go elsewhere for your links because that's what your business model demands.


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Seth's Blog : The rotten fish problem

 

The rotten fish problem

On the first day, all the fish at the fish stall are fresh.

Some sell, some don't.

The second day, the sold fish are replaced by newer, fresher fish. The unsold fish remains, even though it isn't so attractive.

By the third day, of course, the unsold fish is noticably unfresh, and it doesn't take much effort to avoid them.

At this point, part of the fishmonger's stock is demonstrably unappealing, bringing down the quality of the entire counter.

Pretty soon, of course, the dropoff in business means that the owner can't afford to buy the freshest fish, even to replace his sold inventory, and the end is near.

The alternative? On day two, discard the unsold fish.

Obvious, but difficult. So difficult that we rarely do it. We'd rather lower the average and see if we can get away with it instead.

       

 

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