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joi, 15 mai 2014

Announcing the MozCon 2014 Community Speakers

Posted: 14 May 2014 05:12 PM PDT

Get ready to give some high fives, because I have some great news to share today: The four community speakers for MozCon 2014, July 14-16th in Seattle!

First, I want to thank everyone who tossed in their hat. It's an incredibly brave thing to do, so pat yourselves on the back. We had 146 submissions this year—about 10 more than last year—during the week and a half that they were open. There were tons of amazing ideas, incredibly thoughtful sharing, and all around excitement. The selection committee all agreed that 2014's pitches were the best yet. Though, of course, that makes the decision the hardest one.

Our four Community Speakers for 2014

In the order that they'll be presenting at MozCon:

Mark Traphagen

Google+ Game of Thrones: Claiming Your Kingdom for Brand Dominance
Be the ruler of your vertical by claiming uncharted ground in Google+ to dragon-power your brand's Google influence.

Mark Traphagen is Senior Director of Online Marketing for Stone Temple Consulting and a sought-after speaker and writer on Google+ marketing and Google Authorship. He runs the largest Google Authorship community on the web, and offline, he competes in story slams, but never, ever slams a good story.

Stephanie Beadell

Bad Data, Bad Decisions: The Art of Asking Better Questions
Stephanie Beadell will discuss the power of surveys and how if you're not asking the right questions, you risk making decisions on the wrong answers.

Stephanie Beadell is Director of Content Marketing at BuzzStream and was formerly head of Digital PR at SEER Interactive. She holds a Master of Science degree in Market Research from Boston University.

Zeph Snapp

More than Words: Localizing Your International Content
Zeph takes you beyond the technical implications of international SEO, showing you real life examples of how to leverage your existing content in other languages.

Zeph Snapp is the CEO of Altura Interactive.

Justin Briggs

Talking Back to Conversational Search
Looking at how conversational search and the knowledge graph are changing how users search and engage with content, Justin will talk about implementing entities at an enterprise scale.

Justin Briggs is the Sr. Manager of Organic Marketing at Getty Images, a leading stock photography company based in Seattle. Justin has over 10 years of web experience, including seven years working in SEO and social media.

Honorable mentions go out to both Gianluca Fiorelli and Greg Gifford.

Get ready to cheer these four on, and make sure that you've bought your ticket to MozCon 2014, as they're going quickly and will sell out.

I get asked quite a bit about how the community speaker selection committee process works, so I thought I'd shed some light on it for those who are curious. This year, there were a total of nine committee members. That's a lot of people vetting your submissions. And you may notice that it's the same number as a more famous fellowship:

The fellowship of the ring
You can make your guesses as to who correlates to whom on Moz's staff.

The committee for MozCon 2014 consisted of:

Cyrus Shepard, Senior Manager, Content Team
Danielle Launders, Marketing Assistant
Erica McGillivray, Senior Community Manager (that's me!)
Jen Lopez, Director of Community
Keri Morgret, Community Manager
Matthew Brown, Senior VP - Special Projects
Megan Singley, Social Community Manager
Rand Fishkin, Founder
Trevor Klein, Content Strategist

I'm typically the one that does a first sweep through all the entires. I try to do a "blind" sweep through them to stay as unbiased as possible by not looking at names and emails, only reading the content pitch itself. We use a grade scale, A through F, and make notes on entries. (Sorry, person who submitted pretending to be Matt Cutts, you received the F. We did get a laugh, though.) From there, Cyrus, Danie, Jen, Keri, Megan, and Trevor jump in and they add their own grades and notes. Yes, sometimes we disagree! But most of the time, we're all pretty close in what we think.

One hopeful sent his pitch in letter format with a koala bear. Someone's following my Pinterest account.

After that, it gets easier to narrow it down to 20 or so pitches. Both Trevor and I also make special notes on ones that we might want to grab for blog posts or Mozinars if they aren't selected as speakers. When down to 20 or so, Rand and Matthew join in and give their thoughts on the top ones. We also start more extensively reviewing to see what kinds of presentations people have given in the past, if there are slide decks or video of them on stage, and what sort of other content they're putting out there, like blog posts.

Once it gets down to less than 10, the choice gets harder. Typically there are one or two people that everyone is completely on board with. Then we discuss more about what we've seen from the rest and how the topic would fit into what's already being offered at MozCon. Usually, there aren't any "cons" to these fabulous folks, just lots of "pros."

I reach out to the selected four first, to let them know and confirm that they're still interested and able to attend MozCon. Then I have the somewhat sad job of telling the rest of the potentials that they weren't selected. But it's very important to inform everyone so no one is left wondering whatever happened to that time they pitched. (I know how frustrating never hearing back can be from the other side of a pitch.) Then I write this post.

Hope that added some transparency to our process!

A big thank you to all of you who submitted this year and congratulations to our four speakers for MozCon 2014! We can't wait to see you all there.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

"I Want Us to Be First"

Featured

"I Want Us to Be First"

We can't waste any more time when it comes to rebuilding our roads and bridges. Yesterday, at the Tappan Zee Bridge in Tarrytown, New York, the President explained why:

One study recently found that over time, we've fallen to 19th place when it comes to the quality of our infrastructure -- 19th place. I don't know about you, but I don't like America being 19th. I don't like America being second. I want us to be first when it comes to infrastructure around the world, because businesses are going to come where there's good infrastructure to move businesses, move people, move services.

Learn more about the state of our infrastructure -- and what's at stake if we don't fix it.

President Barack Obama delivers remarks on infrastructure near the Tappan Zee Bridge, at the Washington Irving Boat Club in Tarrytown, New York, May 14, 2014. Construction on the new Tappan Zee bridge can be seen adjacent to the current bridge. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

4 ways to change your content calendar from drab to fab

Posted: 15 May 2014 12:00 AM PDT

Do a quick search on Google for the phrase content calendar and you'll see plenty of results offering you a template to use free of charge. In fact, one of the top results displayed is the Econsultancy website, which advertises "Eight free content calendar templates to help plan your output". You will also be spoiled for choice by the number of image results, giving you an insight into what a content calendar actually looks like.

You might be thinking, "yay – web freebies!", but simply accepting these templates and tools at face value could actually hamper your progress in the long term. Make no mistake, these resources can be incredibly helpful if you are just starting to get into content creation and marketing, but try to look further than this if you are ready to take your activities to the next level.

To help you achieve this, I’ve got a handful of suggestions that you may find helpful in the quest to change your content calendar from drab to fab…

1. Ignore the normal

Pick up any annual wall calendar in a shop and you will see bank holidays, customs and celebrations listed – sometimes even ones that don't apply to us living here in the UK. In my opinion, these should all be added to your content calendar as standard, although they should certainly not be the only items included.

Ultimately, you need to consider what your competitors will be shaping news pieces and features around, and there is a fairly good chance that they will use all of the typical celebrations for easy PR angles: Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Christmas, and so on. If your brand personality allows, consider using quirkier diary events such as the lunar calendar, or even TV programme scheduling.

2. Use data and conduct research

As a marketer, you will be used to analysing data for various projects, but how often do you use it to shape your content? OK, so you may have conducted a few questionnaires on Survey Monkey before, but have you tried to utilise other available data sources? The first port of call is going to be your analytics package; look at what people are searching for, as you might identify some great long tail phrases and questions that will help you to create guides, tools and blog posts.

There is also a search function on statistics.gov.uk that will let you see releases that are due to be published in the coming days and weeks. A quick search shows me some interesting topics such as weekly fuel prices, population projections, and a national diet and nutrition survey. Get these dates added to your content calendar so you can be quick off the mark to utilise the data as soon as it’s released.

3. Get contributors

Even if you are an incredibly bright individual (which I'm sure you are), a team effort can often be your best bet when it comes to thinking up ideas. Don't be afraid to get a group of people together with pens and paper and challenge each other to come up with some fresh thoughts. Chances are you will come away with much more diverse and developed content ideas than if you’d worked alone.

For offices where free time is a rare commodity, you could use a company intranet to the same effect; this way people can contribute whenever they get a spare moment. Alternatives to this include having a single document that is open to multiple authors, or even a physical noticeboard where people can pin up ideas or jot something down on a post it note. You might also want to share your calendar with other marketing teams or agencies so all parties can work towards a common goal.

4. Update it regularly

Lastly, let's talk about your calendar and how often you update it. If you've created a content schedule in the past and then quickly neglected it, you aren't alone. You need to get into the habit of using it, as well as improving it, to really benefit from it. Your calendar shouldn’t stagnate, as there are always new points to add, whether you want to cover them days or even months down the line.

Not only that but you will need to jump in and out of your calendar to actually develop tangible content based on the ideas and special events you have listed. After the fact, it's a good idea to denote what type of content you created with each topic or listing; this will allow you to find opportunities in the future, for example, if you think a video could support a blog post you wrote.

Now it’s your turn to contribute! I’d love to hear about the content calendars you have used past and present, and what you believe are the most important areas to focus on. Have you added any quirky entries to your calendar that you’d like to share? Please leave me a comment so we can get the conversation started.

Image credit: Bellezza87 on Pixabay

The post 4 ways to change your content calendar from drab to fab appeared first on White.net.

Seth's Blog : Good advice...

Good advice...

is priceless. Not what you want to hear, but what you need to hear. Not imaginary, but practical. Not based on fear, but on possibility. Not designed to make you feel better, designed to make you better.

Seek it out and embrace the true friends that care enough to risk sharing it.

I'm not sure what takes more guts—giving it or getting it.

• Email to a friend •

miercuri, 14 mai 2014

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Reverses Course, Now in Support of Massive Tax Hikes and Non-Reforms; Approval Rating Plunges
Coming Major Slowdown in Germany - How to Play It
Housing Starts in China Plunge 25%; Did China's Property Bubble Finally Burst?

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Reverses Course, Now in Support of Massive Tax Hikes and Non-Reforms; Approval Rating Plunges

Posted: 14 May 2014 08:29 PM PDT

Those who thought Mayor Rahm Emanuel would bring change to the city of Chicago thought wrong. As with president Obama, people in Chicago believed in change, but all they got was promises, lies, and the status quo.

Thus it should be no surprise that Rahm Emanuel's Reelection Bid Is Not Looking So Hot Right Now.

Conducted on Wednesday by McKeon & Associates for the Chicago Sun-Times' Early & Often page, the survey found that only 29 percent of Chicago voters would support Emanuel if the mayoral election were held today. The results also showed that only one in five Chicago voters believe Emanuel is doing a better job than his predecessor, former Mayor Richard M. Daley.

"Right now, Rahm is not connecting," McKeon said, according to the Sun-Times report. "If he doesn't do that, he's gonna lose."

Back in February 2011, Emanuel easily ousted five rivals with 55 percent of the vote, avoiding a runoff by earning the simple majority. By August 2013, a Crain/Ipsos poll showed Emanuel's approval rating had dipped to a point where only two percent of Chicagoans strongly supported his job performance.

Backtracking on Tax Hikes and Reforms

Ted Dabrowski at the Illinois Policy Institute has some interesting facts on Emanuel's flip-flop on taxes and pension reform. Via email, Dabrowski writes ...

In 2012, Mayor Rahm Emanuel traveled to Springfield to call for Chicago pension reforms. Testifying at the Statehouse is a rare move for a Chicago mayor.

Emanuel's proposal included raising the retirement age for city workers and freezing cost-of-living adjustments for retirees. He also wanted 401(k)-style retirement plans for new employees, which would have provided more retirement options for city workers.

Emanuel cautioned that without these reforms, "Chicago's economy and the quality of life will falter."

Two years later, that Rahm Emanuel and those reform proposals are gone.

Now, Emanuel's recently released pension "fix" for the city's municipal workers and laborers has almost no elements of reform. Instead, it relies heavily on property-tax hikes and increased worker contributions to keep the collapsing systems from going bankrupt.

The plan calls for a five-year, $750 million property tax increase on Chicagoans.

But what Emanuel and supporters of the plan don't tell you is how much more in property tax increases they'll call for to bail out the city's other pension funds. Both the city and Chicago Public Schools face $1 billion operating shortfalls, and neither seems willing to take on spending reforms.

The teachers' pension fund alone is roughly the same size as the municipal and laborers' pension funds combined. If the politicians stick with their same fix, Chicago taxpayers could expect another tax hike similar to the one already proposed.

Police and firefighter pensions, the worst funded of the lot, might need half as much.

Don't forget about the park district and transit pension funds.

Is this the Rahm/Madigan plan? Both politicians roll out their fixes and tax hikes in doses so that no one can figure out how much it will all cost.

City workers aren't spared, either. They, too, are being asked to put more money into a system that is collapsing. Under Emanuel's plan, laborers and municipal workers will contribute 30% more toward their pensions once the increase is phased in.

The problem with the Rahm/Madigan plan is that it does nothing to solve the actual crisis. They just use more tax hikes and employee contributions to prop up a failed defined-benefit system run by the same politicians who bankrupted it in the first place.

Sadly, many in the press and the political elite think the city can get away with another round of fake reforms. They refuse to see that politicians are just throwing more good money after bad plans.

The bottom line is politicians control pensions, and they've run them into the ground. It's time to take that control away and put it where it belongs – with the workers.

We have a new reform plan for Chicago that picks up where the 2012 Rahm Emanuel left off. It gives workers control over their own retirements, and makes the tough choices necessary to bring about real retirement security for city workers.

It also does what Emanuel's current plan doesn't do. It aims to end the city's crisis and to preserve Chicago's status as a world-class city.

Ted Dabrowski

Radical Change Needed

I am not a huge cheering fan of the Illinois Policy Institute's proposal, but it does have a couple of things going for it:

It is a pragmatic proposal
It has a better chance of passing than the radical approach I think is necessary

The operative word in the above bullet point list is "better". Don't take that to mean good.

In all likelihood, Chicago will keep hiking taxes, people will flee, the tax base will shrink, another recession will hit, and the next liar will come along with promises of reform and not deliver.

Failure to Deliver Not Surprising

That Emanuel failed to deliver is hardly surprising. Promises of reform are nearly always lies.

Sadly, Emanuel was actually the better of the two choices in the last election. My fear is the choices in the next election will be even worse.

Unless and until someone is willing and able to actually stand up to Chicago unions, more of the same kind of lies and backtracking is in store. Ultimately, Chicago's financial mess blows up in bankruptcy court, just as happened in Detroit.

Certainly the city of Chicago looks better than Detroit and has far better services, pay, and demographics. Chicago is a beautiful, vibrant-appearing city. Yet, outward appearances are deceiving. beneath the surface things are not so pretty. Chicago is on the verge of bankruptcy unless there is serious pension and work-rule reform now, not four elections from now.

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

Coming Major Slowdown in Germany - How to Play It

Posted: 14 May 2014 11:49 AM PDT

A huge slowdown in Germany is on the way, yet few see it. Steen Jakobsen, chief economist at Saxo bank writes via email ...

Back from major trip to Brazil, Uruguay, US and Spain.

The one thing which to me is being ignored by the market is the coming slow-down in Germany. The market can of course go up in times of weaker growth, but my big "thing" is that no one believes Germany economically is slowing despite very negative macro changes in the last twelve months:

The China rebalancing will cost Germany export volume.
Germany has the most expensive energy policy in Europe – a drive away from atomic power dependency to a less obvious dependency on Russian gas.
The Ukraine crisis impacts Germany. According to the Federation of German Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services (BGA) about 6.200 German companies are doing business in Russia.
The coming Chinese devaluation of the Yuan will significantly lift Chinese import prices.

I had to write a monthly OP-ED for Swiss Financial newspaper and as I sat down to verify my long held opinion that Germany would slow-down in Q4 I was surprised to find Germany already seeing relative dramatic slow-down signs:

Germany and China Interlinked

click on any chart for sharper image

Citigroup Surprise Index – Europe

[Mish note: An explanation of the Surprise Index follows the email from Steen]

German 10 Y Bund & Citigroup's Surprise Index

German Manufacturing Exports YOY & GDP Chain GDP YOY

Conclusion/Strategy

I have constantly argued for this slow-down being logic based on Germany's Asia dependency on export volume growth but with poor policy responses from Germany on energy and a neglected understanding of the Russian exposure the market is in for very negative surprise on growth as we leave 2014. More than 6.200 German companies are involved in Russia – The Economist claims more than 300.000 jobs depends on Russia export. Russia is Germany's 11th biggest export market & its 7th biggest import market. Germany now imports more than 70% of its energy and which more than 25% comes from Russia. Merkel has created a risky energy policy which makes her impotent in international dealings.

Europe and Germany must soon own up to the fact that we are energy deficient. We run major short position in energy. That should be the main topic for the next EU Council Minister meetings, but instead they are going to celebrate the crisis is finally over…. The King is dead – long live the King.

I have been long core European bonds since Q4 last year – that position combined with short EUR and AUDUSD remains the only three trades I have on, and also the only three trades I have done in the last three months. Our rule of stock market lagging real economy by three month would indicate that DAX is getting very close to "full price". I have presently no positions in stocks, but I am looking for way to short either naked or against Nikkei over next week. We need a catalyst to upset the status quo.

Safe travels,

Steen

Surprise Index Notes

Citigroup's surprise index measures weighted historical standard deviations of positive and negative surprises (actual economic releases vs. median Bloomberg survey expectations).

The surprise index for Europe has been trending lower since mid-January. It went negative in mid-March and has been there ever since.

Wine Country Conference Notes

Steen spoke at Wine Country Conference II. Germany and China were part of his presentation. Videos will be out within a week or so.

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

Housing Starts in China Plunge 25%; Did China's Property Bubble Finally Burst?

Posted: 14 May 2014 09:11 AM PDT

Reports of the pending collapse of China property bubble have circulated for years, including some on this blog. To date, each slowdown was soon followed by another boom to still higher prices. Here we are again, in another slowdown.

China Housing Starts

Market Cools, Sales Volume Dries Up

The New York Times reports China's Sizzling Real Estate Market Cools

After almost two decades of nearly unceasing increases in real estate prices and construction across China, one of the world's longest-running bull markets finally seems to be stalling, with broad consequences for the country's economy and possibly its politics.

Prices are falling for both new and old apartments. The volume of deals is drying up. And developers are pulling back, furloughing workers and delaying new projects. In the latest sign, housing starts plummeted 25 percent in April from a year ago, the Chinese government announced on Tuesday.

"You can't predict how the bursting of a Chinese real estate bubble plays out because it plays out in very small steps," said Joel H. Rothstein, a partner in the Beijing office of the Paul Hastings law firm who specializes in Asian real estate.

China's real estate market correction — some economists are even calling it the popping of a bubble — is partly the result of a deliberate decision by the country's leaders in Beijing.

Economic data released on Tuesday also included a deceleration in industrial production, with growth in steel and cement output slowing to a crawl. Retail sales also grew more slowly than expected in April, and the furniture market stalled as fewer families moved into new homes.

According to Centaline, one of China's largest real estate brokerage firms, transactions over the May 1 holiday weekend fell by half in Beijing and Shanghai from a year ago. The weekend is traditionally one of the two biggest real estate buying times of the year, along with a weeklong national holiday at the start of October.

A national survey released in March by the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in Chengdu, China, found that households across the country had 66 percent of their assets in their homes, a figure that rises to 84 percent in Beijing. The comparable figure for the United States, where stocks and bonds are more popular, is 41 percent.

Financial Vulnerabilities in China

In its May Financial Stability Report, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand warns about financial vulnerabilities in China.

There is a risk of a disorderly correction to the lending and property boom in China, resulting in a sharp slowing in Chinese growth. The unregulated shadow banking sector has played a strong role in the recent credit boom, with the share of credit growth financed by the sector rising from 11 percent in 2006 to 32 percent in 2013. Much of this credit has been lent to the increasingly indebted local government sector, to fund property development and infrastructure investments. Moreover, the flow of funding to the shadow banking sector may not adequately reflect the risks involved: some shadow banking products are distributed by banks, potentially creating a perception that they are implicitly guaranteed.

Did China's Property Bubble Finally Burst?

In the Financial Times opinion section, writer George Magnus says This time China's property bubble really could burst.

In the past few years, predictions that the sector was about to implode at any moment have not been borne out – but now is the time for the world to pay attention. Property activity indicators have been trending lower since mid-2013, and the downturn in the sector now threatens to turn into a bust. At best, China is entering a deflationary phase at a time of global fragility.

The greater risk to China lies in the pervasive consequences of any property bust. Property investment has grown to account for about 13 per cent of gross domestic product, roughly double the US share at the height of the bubble in 2007. Add related sectors, such as steel, cement and other construction materials, and the figure is closer to 16 per cent.

As the property slowdown has kicked in, housing starts, completions and sales have turned markedly lower, especially outside the principal cities. Inventories of unsold homes in Beijing are reported to have risen from seven to 12 months' supply in the year to April. But when it comes to homes under construction and total sales, the bulk is in "tier two" cities, where the overhang of unsold homes has risen to about 15 months; and in tier three and four cities, where it is about 24 months.

The anti-corruption crackdown, often targeting individuals who have built up ostentatious property wealth, has poured cold water over the market, in which, according to a recent investment bank report, the richest 1 per cent of households is estimated to own about a third of residential property. Elsewhere, the tightening of credit terms, including funding costs for property developers, especially in the shadow banking sector, is taking its toll. Rates of return on commercial property and infrastructure, and cash flows for developers and local government, have been deteriorating.

The crunch in the property market, and for the economy, will come when land and property prices fall more broadly across the country. Official data still show that property prices in 70 cities were 8 per cent higher in March than a year ago – but prices have actually fallen since the end of 2013.

If this is the real deal, and I believe it is, China is going to slow much more than consensus opinion suggests. Imports and exports to and from all countries that deal with China will slow, and China's demand for copper, steel and other commodities will slow as well.

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

joi, 15 mai 2014

Announcing the MozCon 2014 Community Speakers

Announcing the MozCon 2014 Community Speakers

Our four Community Speakers for 2014

Mark Traphagen

Stephanie Beadell

Zeph Snapp

Justin Briggs

"I Want Us to Be First"

4 ways to change your content calendar from drab to fab

4 ways to change your content calendar from drab to fab

1. Ignore the normal

2. Use data and conduct research

3. Get contributors

4. Update it regularly

Seth's Blog : Good advice...

Good advice...

More Recent Articles

miercuri, 14 mai 2014

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Pagini

Persoane interesate

Arhivă blog

joi, 15 mai 2014

Our four Community Speakers for 2014

Mark Traphagen

Stephanie Beadell

Zeph Snapp

Justin Briggs

1. Ignore the normal

2. Use data and conduct research

3. Get contributors

4. Update it regularly

miercuri, 14 mai 2014

Pagini

Persoane interesate

Arhivă blog

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