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marți, 19 noiembrie 2013

What would President Truman say about this Congress?

Hello, all --

A group of extreme Republicans in Congress have opposed the President's legislative agenda at every turn. That's no secret.

But the 113th Congress' obstruction is reaching new levels.

Right now, our lawmakers are in a position to take action on multiple national measures that would help our economy and millions of Americans. That's not an exaggeration: They could vote tomorrow. And they should.

We've put together a short list: Things the 113th Congress could vote on right now. Spread the word and pass this on.

Consider this for a second. If our current Congress simply scheduled a vote on pressing national issues, we could:

Fix our broken immigration system. This past June, the Senate passed a bill to ensure everyone plays by the same rules and we grow our economy. Multiple reports confirm that there are enough votes in the House to get it done. And still: No vote.

End workplace discrimination for millions of LGBT Americans once and for all. This isn't difficult: Nobody should be discriminated against because of who they are or who they love. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act would make it illegal to fire someone based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, and it passed the Senate earlier this year. Once again, no vote in the House.

Confirm a leader of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The housing market is coming back, but we can do more to help responsible homeowners. Congressman Mel Watt, the President's nominee, was endorsed by Senators on both sides of the aisle. And yet, at a critical time for the housing industry, when we’re working to implement the rules that will prevent another "too big to fail," Senate Republicans used the filibuster to block his nomination.

Confirm three well-qualified judges to fill long-standing vacancies on the federal D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Cornelia Pillard, Robert Wilkins and Patricia Millett were all selected by the President as nominees for this critical court. Once again, one by one, Senate Republicans blocked each nomination.

And that's just to name a few.

In the 1940s, President Harry Truman notoriously dubbed the 80th Congress the "Do-Nothing Congress." And yet, even they managed to enact 906 laws, including the Marshall Plan, and the piece of legislation that created the Department of Defense and the National Security Council. It’s time for the current Congress to match up a little more favorably.

Remember: They can still allow these incredibly important measures to come to a vote.

It’s time for this obstruction to come to an end, and for Republicans in Congress to start doing their jobs:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/share/the-113th-could-vote-right-now

David

David Simas
Deputy Senior Advisor
The White House
@Simas44

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Why Bad Linkbait Needs to Die: How Linkable Assets Deliver 10x More Value

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 03:04 PM PST

Posted by Cyrus-Shepard

I hate bad linkbait, and it floods my inbox. Bad linkbait wastes our time, money, and our audience's attention.

On the other hand, I love creating linkable assets. I also love searching the web for linkable assets and sharing them with others. Before we go any further, let's define what we mean by linkbait, bad linkbait and linkable assets.

Linkbait: Website feature, usually content, meant to attract links for the purposes of SEO.

Bad Linkbait: Content that attracts links without adding additional value. One of the hallmark characteristics of bad linkbait is that it often rehashes the work of others, without creating anything new.

Linkable Assets: Content or features characterized by a high degree of practical utility or emotional engagement. Linkable assets often attract links over time due the high value they offer.

The SEO problem with bad linkbait

Bad linkbait is not only less effective, but it often has very real SEO consequences down the line in terms of types of links earned and the relevance of the content. In extreme examples, we've seen instances of poorly executed linkbait leading to Penguin-style Google penalties.

While there is no single type of bad linkbait, the following characteristics are often defining hallmarks:

Temporary spike in linking followed by a quick drop-off
Meant to be scalable and easy
Off-topic or marginally relevant content
Visitors not likely to return
Rehashed "Top 10" Lists
Infographics without the "info"
Controversy for the sake of controversy
Commercial anchor text controlled by creator

The reason bad linkbait sucks so much energy is that you get almost no return on investment for the effort you put into it.

An example seen all the time is an infographic that is only marginally related to the subject matter of the website, such as those that Rand discussed in last week's Whiteboard Friday. Imagine a plumbing company that makes an infographic called "10 Most Horrific Water Deaths Ever."

The SEO company convinced them that the keyword "water" is related to plumbing, and this will help them to rank if they can get the infographic distributed widely enough. Maybe it will, but not nearly as much as if they created something truly new that was actually related to their core business.
The links they earn spike when they are actively pouring money and effort into sharing, but stop almost immediately after that.
The plumbing website has no other content about "horrific water deaths," so the topic is only marginally related.
The links all have the same anchor text due to the widget used to embed the infographic. Google's Penguin algorithm picks this up and penalizes them for "water" related keywords.
After 2 weeks, traffic trickles to almost nothing. The SEO company moves onto the next infographic.

Is there an easy solution? Take the same amount of time and money spent to create 2-3 pieces of mediocre linkbait, and spend that energy creating a truly remarkable linkable asset.

How linkable assets deliver 10x the value

The great thing about linkable assets is that, when successful, they take on a life of their own and the SEO benefit can grow to 10 or even 100 times what was originally anticipated.

Good linkable assets earn repeat visits and traffic over time. Links aren't pushed but earned in unexpected places with natural and topically relevant anchor text. Plus, when you publish valuable content actually related to your core subject matter, you help establish yourself as an authority on that topic, and more likely to appear in search results for topically relevant queries.

Because good linkable assets often earn a greater variety of links spread over time through value instead of aggressive link promotion, they are less likely to ever earn a Google penalty.

Examples of linkable assets include this worldwide guide to etiquette, this online salary calculator or even Moz's Google Algorithm Change History.

Questions used to help identify linkable assets:

Does it create something new?
Does it make something easier?
Is it likely to be used again and again?
Does it reveal new insight or knowledge?
Does it create something beautiful?
Does it evoke a strong emotional response?
Does it provide practical value?

Can linkable assets also be linkbait?

The most successful linkable assets possess the better qualities of fine linkbait. In fact, for SEO benefit, it's essential that your linkable asset invoke a strong emotional response or be perceived as having high practical value.

This is the "sweet spot" in the middle that combines the best marketing value of linkbait with the added value of linkable assets.

Linkable assets: exemplary examples

Visual assets

Rand mentioned a good number in his recent Whiteboard Friday Why Visual Assets > Infographics, so I wanted to list a few more that offer high practical value and succeed in earning natural, highly-topical links.

Can an infographic act as a linkable asset? Yes, when it meets the requirements defined above.

This excellent Radiation Dose Chart infographic created by xkcd not only inspires awe but has been linked to thousands of times due to people wanting to share its practical utility.

Which Local Review Sites Should You Try to Get Review On? by LocalVisibilitySystem.org displays a ton of knowledge in a succinct and successful format.

Moz's Web Developers SEO Cheat Sheet provides a visual asset we're quite proud of.

For pure visual appeal, this Cheetah infographic by Jacob Neal is one of my all-time favorites. It stretches the boundaries of visual design and I found myself reading every word as a result.

Tools

ShareTally â€" Similar in function to SharedCount, ShareTally gives you a free and quick overview of important social metrics for any URL. This is one you bookmark.

Creative assets

Robby Leonardi's Interactive Game Resume feels like playing a game and has led Robby to win multiple design awards.

Data sharing

Everyone has data if you look hard enough. Done at scale, the results can be truly outstanding.

The (not provided) Global Report aggregates data from over 5000 websites to display near real-time reporting of Google's (not provided) keywords worldwide.

Studies

One of our favorite email providers, MailChimp, recently studied email subject line open rates. This graphic explores the effect of including a subject's first and last name across various industries.

Moz's own Search Engine Ranking Factors is consistently one of the most popular studies we publish.

Videos

Look no further than Wistia's learning center for best practices on producing videos for your business. Check out this one they made on advanced video SEO with they guys from Distilled.

Endless possibilities for linkable assets

You can turn any unique knowledge into a linkable asset without shooting a video or adding fancy graphics. Think of folks like Seth Godin or Patrick McKenzie who regularly share their valuable thoughts with the world.

The key is to deliver the content in both a valuable and emotionally engaging way. If you are a talented writer, this is probably your best avenue. If not, then thinking outside the blog post box may be required.

What are your favorite examples of examplary linkable assets? Let us know in the comments below.

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!

Seth's Blog : The three toxic stooges of the project apocalypse

The three toxic stooges of the project apocalypse

Why do ambitious projects often fail to meet our expectations? (Unambitious projects fail because they have low expectations). Why do software and other project teams so often get frustrated and stuck?

OVERPROMISING: During the magical early stages of the project, we envision not just perfect execution, but limitless features. At this stage, every project needs a truth teller (not a no-sayer, because they are easy to find and worthless, but a truth teller, someone who has been through it before and knows the difficulties that lie ahead).

"Everything takes more time than you thought, everything costs more money than you thought, and almost everything turns out not quite as cool as you expected." Merlin Mann

UNDERSHARING: As the project gets built, our instinct is to hide. Hide our roadblocks, our mistakes, our worries. As we hide, we keep the rest of the team in the dark. As the darkness settles in, it's easier than ever to keep hiding, because to unhide now is double the trouble.

LACK OF POLISH: The charette-driven, when's-the-deadline mindset might be a good way to force yourself through the resistance, but it has a huge cost--you will be judged. The market will not judge you by how much work you did, we will judge you by how it works and looks and feels. And that comes from polish, and polish cannot be rushed.

Two other thoughts on this:

1. Sometimes, all three of these stooges contribute to a piece of art. Sometimes, the audacity of being underinformed, combined with the ego strength of the final push over a deadline causes a magical thing to arrive. Bravo! But it's not dependable. If this is what you need to make art, then by all means, go for it. But be clear to each other about what's on the table.

2. The internet has made it possible to launch sloppy and polish in public. This is a form of oversharing, right? With thousands of people seeing each iteration, you can't hide what it looks like and you can't hide from the feedback. Here's what you need to understand about this: the launch isn't the end, it's the beginning. Back when I made books and software on floppies, you could say, "it's done." If you polish in public, that's never your option. It's not done. Have you planned for that?

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luni, 18 noiembrie 2013

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Oregon Obamacare Success Rate: 0 for 18,000 Applications; Musical Tribute: Just My Imagination
Emerging Market "Fragile Five" Currency Crisis Coming Up; Saxo Bank on Property and Equity Bubbles in Asia and Emerging Markets
57,730 Washington State Obamacare Sign-Ups, 51,368 of Them for Medicaid; Obamashock Theory and Practice
"Gold is an Asset the Girl Carries"

Oregon Obamacare Success Rate: 0 for 18,000 Applications; Musical Tribute: Just My Imagination

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 07:38 PM PST

If you thought Obamacare success rate in the state of Washington was bad as it gets, I suggest you take a look at Oregon.

Portland Local News reports 18,000 applications, 0 enrolled.

With all the problems facing the rollout of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, nowhere is the situation worse or more surprising than in Oregon, a progressive state that has enthusiastically embraced the federal law but has so far failed to enroll a single person in coverage through the state's insurance exchange.

Despite grand ambitions, an early start, millions of dollars from the federal government and a tech-savvy population, Oregon's online enrollment system still isn't ready more than a month after it was supposed to go live. The state has resorted to hiring or reassigning 400 people to process insurance applications by hand.

The state has received about 18,000 paper applications, at 19 pages each, and is scrambling to manually file and clear them. State officials have not been able to say when they expect the online system to launch, nor have they established a deadline to submit paper applications in order for coverage to begin Jan. 1.

Oregon does have one big success to brag about. The state has enrolled 70,000 people in Medicaid, reducing the ranks of the uninsured by more than 10 percent. The large number of Medicaid enrollments came in large part thanks to a "fast-track" enrollment process approved by the Obama administration. Using income data already on file, the state mailed a simple seven-question Medicaid enrollment form to people in the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program who qualify for health coverage under the federal health law's expansion of Medicaid.

Pressure is growing on exchange officials to fix their problems. U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, a moderate Democrat who took heat after voting for the health care law, released a sharply worded statement on Friday demanding that the exchange and its main contractor, Oracle, make it work.

"The implementation of Oregon's health insurance marketplace has been abysmal," Schrader said. "The current situation is completely unacceptable, and I expect much more from a state with a reputation for being an innovator in the field of health care."

Success Builds Upon Success

Notice how the article claims that Oregon has enrolled 70,000 more people in free Medicaid services. Supposedly that constitutes "success".

Recall that the state of Washington was bragging about a 5% conversion rate. For details, please see 57,730 Washington State Obamacare Sign-Ups, 51,368 of Them for Medicaid; Obamashock Theory and Practice

Well, Portand can brag about a 0% conversion rate. Take that Washington!

And like Washington, success is where you find it (100% imaginary). As noted previously ...

Obamashock! Theory and Practice

Recall that Obamacare is supposed to work by getting young adults to overpay. That was the general idea, in theory. But what if youth refuse to pay, or only sign up for free services?

More Obamashock! success is on the way (including tax hikes and insurance rate hikes to pay for the alleged success).

Just My Imagination

I offer this musical tribute to those who claim Obamacare is a success.

Link if video does not play: Just My Imagination

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

Emerging Market "Fragile Five" Currency Crisis Coming Up; Saxo Bank on Property and Equity Bubbles in Asia and Emerging Markets

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 11:55 AM PST

Saxo Bank chief economist Steen Jakobsen had some interesting comments via email today on property bubbles in India, China, and emerging markets.

Steen writes ....

We are close to big bubbles and discontinued pricing in the market (with less and less real liquidity). In 2014 there will be taken a lot of bad MACRO decisions on:

Inequality
Deflation
Bubbles
Lack of growth

Conclusions

I am just back from Asia and I had my worst fears confirmed. Here are my quick-and-dirty conclusions:

USD vs. Fragile Five (Indonesia, India, South Africa, Turkey, and Brazil) likely to be up 20% in 2014. The emerging market crisis is coming back, for real this time.
India will be under IMF supervision post their election in May, which is turning extremely nasty. (Check the opposition candidates program!)
Domino effect? 2014 could the year where "elections matters" – (EU in May, India in May, etc.)
Asia realizes that lower "quality growth is needed" - meaning 200 basis points overall lower growth in exchange for less "rentier Foreign Direct Investment models)
Asia contribution to global growth will be 100-150 bps lower, reducing global growth by 50-75 bps.
Housing is in major bubble - I did not meet a single person who did not want to increase housing investment if prices fell 10%. Housing is up 100% and they want to buy a 90% price rise!
The day Fed does tapering, the housing market is at risk for 40%-50% correction
Asia direct market remains the only segment still expanding US dollar net funding (with increased capital dependency on the FED). US dollar dependence is increasing not falling.
China's plenum real objective is overlooked: Policy uniformity - which never comes with real reforms and progress. China will not change fundamentally, but consolidate its Communist model.

The good news?

Volatility is certain to return.

Tapering is not the real risk. Look to India, Indonesia and Brazil as the canaries in the coal mine. Current account numbers cannot be easily managed. Lower growth and weaker currency is the only way to reduce short-term pressure.

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

57,730 Washington State Obamacare Sign-Ups, 51,368 of Them for Medicaid; Obamashock Theory and Practice

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 09:23 AM PST

It is quite amazing as to what state and federal officials tout as Obamacare "success" stories.

For example, in the state of Washington, of the 57,730 who have signed up, a whopping 51,368 were for "free" Medicaid services. Given that Medicaid is jointly funded by the state and federal government, this is bound to put a hole in the state budget.

Nonetheless, state officials are pleased with the result as noted by the Peninsula Daily News.

Nearly 1,400 early birds on the North Olympic Peninsula signed up for health insurance on Washington's health care exchange in October, according to data released by the state Friday.

In the first month after health care reform launched Oct. 1, a combined 1,390 in Clallam and Jefferson counties completed new insurance sign-ups through Washington Healthplanfinder.

Most of those sign-ups were for the free insurance offered for low-income individuals through Medicaid.

Statewide, 57,730 insurance sign-ups were completed. Of those, 51,368 signed up for Medicaid.

State officials predict those numbers will spike, with 72,136 applications somewhere in the process and 21,671 who have chosen a plan but still need to pay for it.

"Those numbers are growing every day," Washington Health Benefit Exchange spokesman Michael Marchand told The Associated Press.

The Washington Health Benefit Exchange said nearly 500,000 individuals visited www.Wahealthplanfinder.org in October. Of those, more than 150,000 are fully enrolled, completed an application that is awaiting payment or started an application.

Statewide, looking at just the private insurance enrollments, 37 percent were in the 55-64 age group, nearly 20 percent were in the 45-54 age group, 19 percent came from the 35-44 age group, nearly 18 percent came from the 26-34 group, and about 5 percent came from the 18-25 group.

The numbers were spread out more evenly among Medicaid enrollments, with the biggest segments for free insurance in the younger-than-18 and 26-34 groups.

"Young adults are a critical target for us, and it is great to see that 6,000 young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 have signed up for health coverage in just the first month," Marchand said.

Most of those young adults will get free insurance through Medicaid. Only 328 in that age range signed up for private policies.

Obamashock! Theory and Practice

Recall that Obamacare is supposed to work by getting young adults to overpay. That was the general idea, in theory. But what if youth refuse to pay, or only sign up for free services?

In practice, only 328 out of 6,000 young adults in the 18-25 age group are actually paying anything. Somehow 5.47% constitutes a success. And the numbers are "growing everyday".

More Obamashock! success is on the way (including tax hikes and insurance rate hikes to pay for the alleged success).

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

"Gold is an Asset the Girl Carries"

Posted: 17 Nov 2013 11:02 PM PST

In defiance of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's effort to suppress gold demand via capital controls and import duties, India's tradition of gold buying cannot be stopped. Culture wins over political dictate.

Please consider Gold-Laden Brides in India Defying Singh as Culture Wins by Bloomberg writer Swansy Afonso.

As the sound of traditional drums, trumpets and cymbals ushers Amrita Mannil into the wedding hall, she's adorned by four finely crafted necklaces, rings, 16 bangles, a glistening belt, dangling chandelier earrings and a stone-encrusted head piece to match the silk borders of her dress. She's wearing about 800 grams (1.8 pounds) of gold.

Amid the music and the chanted prayers, a gold chain is placed around her neck as the 25-year-old advertising executive marries Vimal Mohan in a traditional Hindu ceremony attended by 500 friends and relatives in Kozhikode, about 180 kilometers (112 miles) from the city of Kochi in Kerala.

"Gold is an asset the girl carries," 28-year-old Namitha Shyam, the bride's older sister, said after last month's ceremony. "The values, status and wealth of the family is represented by the gold the girl wears as she gets married. The more gold you wear, the more pride you have in your family."

the resilience of Indian demand, and the fact the nation imports almost all the bullion it uses, poses a challenge for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, as he seeks to trim a record current-account deficit and stem the rupee's 15 percent slide this year.
Wedding Ritual

Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram responded by raising import taxes three times this year to curb consumption which represented about 20 percent of world demand in 2012.

Indians purchase gold at festivals and for marriages as part of the bridal trousseau and as gifts in the form of jewelry. Demand will be 900 to 1,000 metric tons this year, from 864.2 tons in 2012, the World Gold Council says.

'Only Gold'

Mannil's family spent more than six hours selecting the chains and necklaces Amrita wore at the wedding. An Indian bride without gold "is like rice without salt: bland," said Sheela Ramesh, her mother, while fiddling with her own Thali, or gold wedding locket.

"When you have social compulsions, there are many ways of overcoming restrictions," said Babu as he sat in his house a day before the wedding. "Irrespective of what the government does, Indians will find a way to get around this because every wedding has to have gold."

Attitudes Rule

Political desires, even with capital controls and import restrictions, cannot change trends in attitudes. And given the plunge in the rupee, the desire to hold gold is more likely to rise than not as a result of capital controls.

India Gold Premium Hits Record 21.6%

Here is a chart I posted last Thursday courtesy of Nick at Sharelynx Gold regarding the premium one has to pay to buy gold in India..

click on chart for sharper image

With India's 10% gold import duty on top of other capital controls, the price one has to pay for gold in India has reached a record spread of 21.6% vs. what one has to pay in countries where there are no such controls or import duties.

If there was little demand for gold in India, the premium would be much smaller.

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