Saturday, December 15, 2012

Friday Small Business Roundup: Beyond Social Media ... - Web.com

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How Can You Motivate Last-Minute Holiday Shoppers to Buy? There?s still time?read Rieva Lesonsky?s post to get the strategies that work.

Should Your Small Business Ditch Facebook for Pinterest? You might be tempted after reading Monika Jansen?s rundown of what consumers are doing on both social media sites.

Do you get busy with business, only to neglect marketing? Read 5 Steps to Keep Your Sales Funnel Full, by Monika Jansen, and learn how to maintain a steady stream of customers.

You don?t have to have an ecommerce business to benefit from online marketing. Read Rieva Lesonsky?s post How Local Search Can Boost Your Business to find out why.

What are you doing right?and wrong?online?? Rieva Lesonsky?s The Online Marketing Habits of Highly Successful Small Businesses will tell you.

Want to go beyond Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn? Check out Monika Jansen?s post 5 Services That Let You Build a Private Social Network to explore custom options for social media.

Are you missing out on a valuable tax break? Read Karen Axelton?s post Time Is Running Out to Claim This Small Business Tax Credit.

After being up and down for so long, Small Business Optimism Takes a Nosedive Post-Election. Read Maria Valdez Haubrich?s post to learn why.

Source: http://www.web.com/blog/search-engine-optimization/friday-small-business-roundup-16/

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Elementary school massacre: 26 dead, including 18 kids

An elementary school student recalls the terrifying moments following sounds of shots fired at her Connecticut elementary school, saying "teachers told us to go in the corner so we all huddled."

By Miguel Llanos and Tracy Connor, NBC News

Updated at 1:30 p.m. ET:?A young man clad in black and carrying two handguns shot up an elementary school in a small Connecticut town on Friday, leaving 18 small children and eight adults dead in one the nation?s worst school massacres, law enforcement officials said.

The gunman, described as a 20-year-old man from Connecticut, was later found dead, a federal law enforcement official told NBC News. A second person was in custody for a possible connection to the shooting, NBC?s Pete Williams reported.

Students ? mostly under age 10 -- described the terror that gripped Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown when the rampage began around 9:30 a.m., sparking a massive police response that included SWAT officers going room to room to search for victims.

The Hartford Courant, citing unnamed sources, said many of the victims were in a kindergarten classroom.

"I was in the gym and I heard a loud, like seven loud booms, and the gym teachers told us to go in the corner, so we all huddled," one student told NBC Connecticut.?"And I kept hearing these booming noises. And we all ? started crying.

"All the gym teachers told us to go into the office where no one could find us," she added. "So then a police officer came in and told us to run outside. So we did and we came in the firehouse and waited for our parents."

Dozens of emergency vehicles from across Fairfield County raced to the 600-student school, along with panicked parents hoping to be reunited with their children.

?It was horrendous,'' Brenda Lebinski, mother of a third-grader, said at the scene.``Everyone was in hysterics -- parents, students. There were kids coming out of the school bloodied. I don't know if they were shot, but they were bloodied,'' she said, according to Reuters.

Shannon Hicks / The Newtown Bee.

Children are led from Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Friday after a reported shooting there.

One parent picking up his young son said the shooting was ?the most terrifying moment a parent can imagine.??He described the anguish of waiting to find out if his son was a victim and then running to his child.

?It was the greatest relief in my existence,? the father said. ?I?m just happy that my kid?s OK.?

Bracing for a large influx of wounded, Danbury Hospital went on lockdown and cleared four trauma rooms. It received only three patients, including a teacher shot in the foot, the Associated Press reported.

The motive for the shooting was unknown, and the gunman?s name was not released.

Two 9mm handguns were recovered from the scene, an official told WNBC's Jonathan Dienst. The Associated Press said one of the guns was a.223-caliber rifle.

The FBI was on the scene, assisting with the investigation.

President Obama was told of the shooting at 10:30 a.m.

"I think it's important on a day like today to view this as I know the president, as a father does, and I as a father and others who are parents certainly do, which is to feel enormous sympathy for families that are affected,? White House press secretary Jay Carney said.

BreakingNews.com's coverage of the incident
Swarming police response in mall shooting highlights 'paradigm shift'?

The death toll is the highest from a school shooting in U.S. history since a gunman killed 32 people at Virginia Tech in 2007. At Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, two teens killed 13 people and wounded 24 in 1999.

Parent Stephen Delgiadice, whose 8-year-old daughter was not hurt, said he never could have imagined such carnage in the small bedroom community ? where the police force has only three detectives.

"It's alarming, especially in Newtown, Connecticut, which we always thought was the safest place in America," he told The Associated Press.

NBC's Pete Williams and WNBC's Jonathan Dienst contributed to this report.

LIVE VIDEO ? Connecticut state police hold a news conference in Newtown to comment on the investigation of a shooting at an elementary school.

More content from NBCNews.com:

Follow US news from NBCNews.com on?Twitter?and?Facebook

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/14/15907407-elementary-school-massacre-26-dead-including-18-kids-in-connecticut?lite

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Friday, December 14, 2012

The Ugly Duckling House | DIY Home Improvement Blog ...

Want to know something? ?Getting stuff done feels goooooood. ?The dining room?walls look like crapola at the moment. ?You know what they don't look like, though? ?Wallpaper. All of that is gonzo. ?There are a few bits still clinging to a few corners, but I'm hoping by Sunday's end, I have my first skim coat up.

This month has already been one of my most productive months of the year in terms of tackling things. ?Or rather, half-tackling them. ?I've still got to work on this whole multi-project problem of mine. ?But I've decided to rename the month "DIYcember" since I'm focusing more on home projects than holiday ones.

I'm also well on my way to the long-term garage organization project thanks to building a new workbench and adding new storage (both the tall cabinet and lawn care caddy).


I'm also sleeping better thanks to new, cushy bedding. ?And the room just feels more cozy now that it has a ridiculous amount of pillows to cover the bed. ?Which are of course promptly thrown off as soon as I climb in. ?Charlie has been ousted from her normal spot and is still getting used to it, but dirty dogs and white bedding simply don't mix. ?Sorry girl - you're going to have to enjoy that hole you ate from your bed for a little while longer.
And thanks to the new bathroom, I can now brush my teeth, shower and pee in the same room. ?Which seems wrong if you're writing a sentence about it, but that's what happens in normal bathrooms. ?And I'm totally in love with walking up my staircase to see that shower curtain. ?There's a calm that washes over me, like "I've finally finished something!" ?But then I realize that the only reason I can see the shower curtain in the bathroom is because I still haven't put the door back on its hinges, and I feel silly.
So, I guess what's going on this weekend will be:
  • finish the bathroom trim so I can put the door back up
  • skim coat the dining room walls
  • draw boxes all over the lower half of the dining room walls for the wainscoting
  • finish the workbench (need to purchase the top and attach it to the base)
  • finish Christmas shopping for the family
  • possibly bake my favorite Christmas cookies (special request on my Facebook page has asked that I share the recipe; while I've never had a blog post about food ever, I may make an exception for these)

What are you looking to tackle this weekend? ?Be sure to follow me along on Instagram under the hashtag #DIYcember for updates and sneak peeks!

Psst: ?For a brief period yesterday morning, Home Depot's website had a glitch where everything ordered received an automatic $101 discount - including things that were under $101, making some orders completely free of charge. ?I heard on the radio this morning that for those that were lucky enough to experience this, they are honoring the transactions. ?I think stuff like that is awesome and worth sharing. ?And now I really wish I'd gone online shopping for a few tools on my morning coffee break!

Sarah

Source: http://www.uglyducklinghouse.com/2012/12/diycember-on-instagram.html

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Extending Einstein's ideas: New kind of quantum entanglement demonstrated

Dec. 14, 2012 ? Physicists at the University of Calgary and at the Institute for Quantum Computing in Waterloo have published new research in Nature Physics which builds on the original ideas of Einstein and adds a new ingredient: a third entangled particle.

Quantum entanglement is one of the central principles of quantum physics, which is the science of sub-atomic particles. Multiple particles, such as photons, are connected with each other even when they are very far apart and what happens to one particle can have an effect on the other one at the same moment, even though these effects can not be used to send information faster than light.

The new form of three-particle entanglement demonstrated in this experiment, which is based on the position and momentum properties of photons, may prove to be a valuable part of future communications networks that operate on the rules of quantum mechanics, and could lead to new fundamental tests of quantum theory that deepen our understanding of the world around us.

"This work opens up a rich area of exploration that combines fundamental questions in quantum mechanics and quantum technologies," says Christoph Simon, paper co-author and researcher at the University of Calgary.

This research extends the theories of Einstein, seventy-seven years later. In 1935, Albert Einstein, Boris Podolsky, and Nathan Rosen, commonly referred to as EPR, published a thought experiment designed to show that quantum mechanics, by itself, is not sufficient to describe reality.

Using two entangled particles EPR tried to demonstrate that there must be some hidden parameters that quantum mechanics does not account for. Later John Bell and others showed that the kind of hidden parameters EPR had in mind are incompatible with our observations. The mystery at the heart of quantum mechanics thus remains intact. But the entanglement first proposed by EPR is now a valuable resource in emerging quantum technologies like quantum computing, quantum cryptography, and quantum precision measurements.

"It is exciting, after all this time, to be able to finally create, control, and entangle, quantum particles in this new way. Using these new states of light it may be possible to interact with and entangle distant quantum computer memories based on exotic atomic gases, " says Thomas Jennewein, whose group at the University of Waterloo carried out the experiment.

The next step for the researchers is to try to combine the position and momentum entanglement between their three photons with more traditional types of entanglement based on angular momentum. This will allow the creation of hybrid quantum systems that combine multiple unique properties of light at the same time.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Calgary, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. L. K. Shalm, D. R. Hamel, Z. Yan, C. Simon, K. J. Resch, T. Jennewein. Three-photon energy?time entanglement. Nature Physics, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/nphys2492

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/rCWIB-PpS6c/121214191522.htm

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Small Business Marketing Tip ? Are You Planning Your Marketing ...

Small Business Marketing Tip ? Are You Planning Your Marketing?

Notice that my title is NOT Write A Marketing Plan For Your Business. This is not wrong but in my experience with entrepreneurs they don?t do it. It may feel too formal, too big a task, too frightening for them or they just don?t ?have? (translate this to ?make?) the time. I believe that your business and therefore your marketing is changeable. Watch the results you get from each kind of marketing activity. (Don?t just do it once and expect it to work and grow your business.)

This is not about having a PLAN (noun) but about PLANNING (verb). Inherent in the word plan is that you only do it once. In reality you keep doing it. Definitions for planning include: to formulate a scheme or program for the accomplishment, enactment, or attainment of; or to have as a specific aim, purpose or intention; or to make plans.

So what are you doing and how do you do marketing planning? Here are some of the things you can do.

1.

Where are you going? Write down your goals for the next year and the next five years.

2. Know where you?re going and with whom. Describe your ?ideal client? in detail. Who do you want to work with?

3. What marketing are you doing now? List the marketing activities you?re doing to achieve this. Make a detailed list of what you?re doing, when (the dates and how often), how many clients you get from this and how much each spends with you.

4. What marketing works at getting you clients? Do more of this.

5. What marketing doesn?t work at getting you clients? Stop doing this or if you?re only doing it once, do it more. An example: it took going to the same networking group each month about 8 times to get clients there. Now that they know me, they use my services.

Start again from #1 and do it again.

Review the results of all of your marketing every six months and at the end of every ?corporate? year.

Marketing is meant to change with ?the times? and what your clients want. Get their attention and be the person/ business that everyone has heard about, is talked about and shared (like a good movie is) ? AND buys from. Be known and keep reviewing the marketing that works.

Do you want more marketing ideas? Sign up on my website at http://www.smallbizbuilder.com for my free monthly newsletter and get it AND my ebook called ?70 Ways to Build Your Business for Under 0.?

Source: http://www.freethinkbham.com/58/small-business-marketing-tip-are-you-planning-your-marketing

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Embattled Rice bows out; Kerry new frontrunner

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Susan Rice, the embattled U.N. ambassador, abruptly withdrew from consideration to be the next secretary of state on Thursday after a bitter, weekslong standoff with Republican senators who declared they would fight to defeat her nomination.

The reluctant announcement makes Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry the likely choice to be the nation's next top diplomat when Hillary Rodham Clinton departs soon. Rice withdrew when it became clear her political troubles were not going away, and support inside the White House for her potential nomination had been waning in recent days, administration officials said.

In another major part of the upcoming Cabinet shake-up for President Barack Obama's second term, former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska now is seen as the front-runner to be defense secretary, with official word expected as soon as next week.

For the newly re-elected president, Rice's withdrawal was a sharp political setback and a sign of the difficulties Obama faces in a time of divided and divisive government. Already, he had been privately weighing whether picking Rice would cost him political capital he would need on later votes.

When Rice ended the embarrassment by stepping aside, Obama used the occasion to criticize Republicans who were adamantly opposed to her possible nomination.

"While I deeply regret the unfair and misleading attacks on Susan Rice in recent weeks, her decision demonstrates the strength of her character," he said.

"I am saddened we have reached this point," Rice said.

Obama made clear she would remain in his inner circle, saying he was grateful she would stay as "our ambassador at the United Nations and a key member of my Cabinet and national security team." Rice, too, said in her letter she would be staying.

Clinton, in a brief statement, said that Rice had "been an indispensable partner over the past four years" and that she was confident "that she will continue to represent the United States with strength and skill."

Rice had become the face of the bungled administration account of what happened in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012, when four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya, were killed in what is now known to have been a terrorist attack.

Obama had defiantly declared he would chose her for secretary of state regardless of the political criticism, if he wanted, but such a choice could have gotten his second term off to a turbulent start with Capitol Hill.

In a letter to Obama, Rice said she was convinced the confirmation process would be "lengthy, disruptive and costly." The letter was part of a media rollout aimed at upholding her reputation. It included an NBC News interview in which she said her withdrawal "was the best thing for our country."

"Those of you who know me know that I'm a fighter, but not at the cost of what's right for our country," she tweeted later.

Rice may end up close to Obama's side in another way, as his national security adviser should Tom Donilon move on to another position, though that is not expected imminently. The security adviser position would not require Senate confirmation.

Rice would have faced strong opposition from Senate Republicans who challenged her much-maligned televised comments about the cause of the deadly raid on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Her efforts to satisfy Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Kelly Ayotte and Susan Collins in unusual, private sessions on Capitol Hill fell short. The Republicans emerged from the meetings still expressing doubts about her qualifications.

"The position of secretary of state should never be politicized," Rice said. "As someone who grew up in an era of comparative bipartisanship and as a sitting U.S national security official who has served in two U.S. administrations, I am saddened that we have reached this point."

Attention now shifts to Kerry, who came close to winning the presidency in 2004 and has been seen as desiring the State job. In a statement, he made no mention of his own candidacy but praised Rice, who was an adviser to him in his presidential bid. Kerry was an early backer of Obama and was under consideration to become his first secretary of state. Obama has dispatched Kerry to foreign hot spots on his behalf. Kerry played the role of Republican Mitt Romney during Obama's presidential debate preparations this year.

The longtime senator would be almost certain to be easily confirmed by his colleagues on Capitol Hill.

If Obama taps Kerry for State, the president will create a potential problem for Democrats by opening a Senate seat ? one that recently defeated Republican Sen. Scott Brown is eyeing. Brown had been elected as Massachusetts' other senator in January 2010 after Democrat Ted Kennedy died, stunning the political world as he took the seat held by Kennedy for decades. Brown lost that seat in the November election.

House Democratic women had cast the criticism of Rice as sexist and racist ? she is African-American ? and some expressed disappointment with the news.

"If judged fairly based solely on her qualifications for the job, she would've made an extraordinary secretary of state," said Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Rice did not have a strong relationship with members of the Senate. Graham, who is the top Republican on the Appropriations subcommittee that handles foreign aid and the State Department, said he barely knew her.

In a brief statement, a spokesman for McCain said the senator "thanks Ambassador Rice for her service to the country and wishes her well. He will continue to seek all the facts surrounding the attack on our consulate in Benghazi."

Rice's decision comes ahead of the anticipated release next week of a report by an Accountability Review Board into the attack on the Benghazi mission. The report ordered by Clinton, focuses on the run-up to and the actual attack and is not expected to mention Rice's role in its aftermath.

Clinton is to testify about the report before Congress next Thursday.

At issue is the explanation Rice offered in a series of talk show appearances five days after the attack in Libya.

Rice has conceded in private meetings with lawmakers that her initial account ? that a spontaneous demonstration over an anti-Muslim video produced in the U.S. triggered the attack ? was wrong, but she has insisted she was not trying to mislead the American people. Information for her account was provided by intelligence officials.

She reasserted that position in an opinion piece published late Thursday on The Washington Post's website, adding, "In recent weeks, new lines of attack have been raised to malign my character and my career. Even before I was nominated for any new position, a steady drip of manufactured charges painted a wholly false picture of me. This has interfered increasingly with my work on behalf of the United States at the United Nations and with America's agenda."

Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska, is a Vietnam veteran, served two terms in the Senate and was a senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee. Obama and Hagel became close while they served in the Senate and traveled overseas together. Hagel has been critical of his party since leaving the Senate in 2008, saying the GOP had moved too far right.

___

Associated Press writers Donna Cassata, Ken Thomas, Matthew Lee and Matthew Daly contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/embattled-rice-bows-kerry-frontrunner-062723980.html

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Thursday, December 13, 2012

People People AB's Transparent Speaker goes live on Kickstarter, we clearly go hands-on

Chances are you've likely seen the Transparent Speaker by Stockholm's People People AB. The small startup of Nokia defectors has been making heavy use of guerilla marketing to gain exposure for its see-thru noiseybox since as far back as last year's CES. All in all, it's worked -- most recently, the speaker got a cameo in Will.i.am and Britney Spears' "Scream and Shout" music video. Despite all the exposure, however, you'd be hard pressed to find one if you'd been interested in spending your hard-earned coin on the rig. Today that's set to change, as the people at People People have taken to Kickstarter in hopes of raising $120,000 to make the system a production reality. You'll find more details by joining us past the break.

Continue reading People People AB's Transparent Speaker goes live on Kickstarter, we clearly go hands-on

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Comments

Source: People People AB (Kickstarter)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/13/people-people-ab-transparent-speaker-kickstarter/

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Source: http://self-development-information.com/2012/12/04/recreation-and-sports-activities-boxing-report-category-click/

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How Can I Safely Travel with My DSLR Camera and Photography Gear?

How Can I Safely Travel with My DSLR Camera and Photography Gear?Dear Lifehacker,
My DSLR isn't huge, but it's still pretty bulky. When you add in a few lenses, a flash, and a variety of other peripherals, I end up with a lot of fragile items that take up quite a bit of space. This makes travel difficult, and I'm worried about breaking something. How can I travel with my photography gear safely?

Sincerely,
Stuffed Suitcase

Dear SS,
You'll never find a completely hassle-free way to pack your photography gear. Even if you're able to pack it all in a comfortable bag, that bag will likely be pretty large and unpleasant to carry. Basically, you have to accept that there will always be a downside to bringing a high-end camera and its peripherals. That said, there are several things you can do to minimize these annoyances. First, let's talk about some general rules and then take a look at a few safe ways to pack your stuff.


The Rules

How Can I Safely Travel with My DSLR Camera and Photography Gear?When packing your photography gear, you really only need to follow six rules. We'll get into the details of how to pack safely later on, but if you remember these six things you'll be in pretty good shape:

  1. Use sufficient padding for all fragile items (e.g. the camera body, lenses, filters, etc.).
  2. Don't pack your photo gear in a checked bag if at all possible. (If your bag ends up getting checked beyond your control, make sure everything is insured for loss and damage.)
  3. Disassemble everything. In other words, don't leave a lens attached to your camera.
  4. Pack lens wipes and cleaning supplies. You never know what may happen on your trip and being prepared with wipes and a brush takes up very little space in your bag.
  5. Don't overpack. You might think you need every single bit of gear you own, but you'll hate lugging it all around. Pack one or two versatile zoom lenses instead of six primes. Basically, take as little as you need to get the job done.
  6. Don't forget your charger, but do forget too many extra batteries. TSA regulations limit the amount of lithium you can take on a plane, and your camera's batteries likely take a lot of lithium. For DSLRs, this usually maxes out at around two batteries. While you'll probably get on the plane with more, seeing as the TSA doesn't really enforce their own guidelines too often, it's not worth the risk of having to throw out an expensive item. Just bring a charger. Two batteries should be more than enough for one day and you can charge them at night.

As far as packing goes, you don't need to remember much else. That said, read on for some detailed suggestions on keeping your gear safe.

Secure Your Gear in a Camera-Friendly Bag

How Can I Safely Travel with My DSLR Camera and Photography Gear?Buying a travel bag for your photography gear makes traveling a heck of a lot easier than any other option. These bags come as suitcases, backpacks, and messenger bags of all sizes. LowePro has long made a reliable set of bags. Personally, I like Tenba as I've found them more versatile because they offer a better layout of storage space with the right material for even unpleasant circumstances (e.g. rain and mud). Regardless of what you choose, most photography-centric bags offer sufficient padding and integrated storage for your camera gear so that it'll stay safe and travel neatly with your other belongings.

Of course, if you buy a photo-friendly suitcase you won't want to lug it around during your trip. If you get a smaller bag, you're adding additional luggage you may not be able to fit as a carry-on. This is where things get frustrating even if you have the proper gear. If you run into this problem, or fear you will, read on for a solution.

Secure Your Gear with Any Bag by Using a Padded Camera Sleeve

How Can I Safely Travel with My DSLR Camera and Photography Gear?Many photography bags, such as the Tenba Messenger, come with removable sleeves that organize your camera and lenses. You want removable sleeves because you can pack them in any bag and keep your gear safe, so make sure you purchase a bag that has one if you foresee the need to move your gear around. UNDFIND makes bags designed for swapping out various storage compartments and even the front flap. This way you can take what you want in the bag when you're traveling and swap it with other stuff that you packed in a suitcase (or another bag) easily. When you get a bag with removable parts, you provide yourself with a modular system that allows you to adapt to various needs.

Create Makeshift Padding Out of Your Clothing

Camera bags and sleeves cost money, and you may not want to spend it. You can't travel around with a camera without protecting it, however, unless you want to take a large risk. If you only intend to take your camera body and a lens or two, you can create sufficient padding with clothes you'll likely have in your suitcase already. Just wrap your camera body and lenses separately in several shirts (or other soft apparel, like a non-abrasive sweater) and pack the items in the middle of the bag. So long as you take one lens with your camera, you won't really need a bag to carry it all around when you actually arrive at your destination.

Ultimately, your main concern should be keeping your gear safe when you're not in full control of it. If you take enough care to ensure it won't break on a bumpy ride?whether that's in the air or on the ground?your gear will travel with you safely.

Love,
Lifehacker

Images by Maridav (Shutterstock) and Leo Blanchette (Shutterstock). Product photos by Tenba.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/jpNIqxBFaqE/how-can-i-safely-travel-with-my-dslr-camera-and-photography-gear

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The End of Mom & Pop Real Estate Investing

James - There are some gurus peddling fear right now over hedge funds coming in and buying up everything there is to buy. "Mom and pop" investors aren't going anywhere no matter what they tell you, and you don't need to spend $20, $50, $100, or $1000 a month on some guru's course to learn that.

Do a search on the forums and the BiggerPockets Blog for "hedge funds" and you'll find plenty of great discussion and fantastic articles that will prove to be helpful to you on the topic.

Otherwise, your post tackles two different topics -- hedge funds pushing out investors and the fiscal cliff. I think you'll get a better response to break these into two topics.

Small_bp-squareJoshua Dorkin, BiggerPockets
E-Mail: webmaster@biggerpockets.com
Telephone: 877-831-4704
Website: http://www.biggerpockets.com
Your real estate investing home online!

Source: http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/56/topics/79991-the-end-of-mom-and-pop-real-estate-investing

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Wednesday, December 12, 2012

How A Hyperlocal Approach Can Overhaul Your SEO Strategy ...

HOW A HYPERLOCAL APPROACH CAN OVERHAUL YOUR SEO STRATEGY

Small business owners used to consider search engine optimization a luxury. After all, even a basic website with a phone number and an e-mail address would get enough attention to generate new business. Paying for organic search engine results really only paid off for companies that relied on lead generation for big ticket sales, especially attorneys, banks, and professional development services.

Then, everything got local.

Google bought Zagat so it could weld that company?s respected business ratings into their Google Places service. Microsoft?s Bing search engine now plugs reviews from Yelp and Facebook into its results. As Americans replace the phone book with the search bar, businesses that haven?t focused on a local search engine optimization strategy could find themselves spending extra money on keyword ads while still losing out to scrappy competitors. Targeting the communities of your key audience makes your site even more appealing to prospects?and to search engines.

Search Engines Get Local

Over the past few years, search engines have responded to user demands by automatically applying more localized filters to their results. Web surfers who build detailed search profiles tend to get search engine results pages tuned to their location and their projected intent. That?s why, if I?m in New York City searching for ?Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza,? I?ll get recipe suggestions instead of directions to Lou Malnati?s.

If you don?t use local SEO targeting techniques on your website already, search engines have probably already made their best guess about where you operate. For example, if you?ve tried to extend a nationwide presence by using a toll-free number and a post office box, you?ll fall farther down the list on localized SERPs. According to Google?s quality guidelines, ?P.O. boxes are not considered accurate physical locations.?

On the other hand, a local area code in your phone number and a set of directions to your physical address teaches search engines to bump you higher than many of your competitors. Claiming your company?s physical location on Google, Bing, Yelp, and Yahoo! assures you of stronger results, especially if you serve customers face-to-face.

The Long Tail Loves Hyperlocal Keywords

Hyperlocal strategies tend to favor businesses who already operate in crowded keyword marketplaces, like real estate, insurance, and legal services. Instead of projecting a global presence, today?s best SEO targeting techniques encourage companies to ?deep dive? into their neighborhoods.

In addition to the tongue-in-cheek definition of the phrase ?Philadelphia lawyer,? searchers who use that phrase get served listings from attorneys all over the city. A ?Rittenhouse Square lawyer? and a ?Strawberry Mansion lawyer? mean two very different things to residents of those neighborhoods. Prospects identify more closely with businesses who have established themselves as part of their communities.

Companies just now investing in SEO strategy can pick up some quick wins by homing in on hyperlocal content. Instead of spending big bucks fighting for paid search results placements, some rare keyword combinations can put your business at the top of your prospect?s organic search results.

The Spiders Have Learned How to Read

Early SEO techniques focused on keyword placement and repetition, resulting in some ridiculous attempts to game the system with endless lists of longtail keywords. That frustrated users, and the search engines have heard their pleas. Google and Bing have both supercharged their search results with help from users? own social networks.

Search users can tell pretty quickly if they?re not finding the results they?re looking for. Either they click the back button or search the same phrase again in a short amount of time. If you make the same search as a member of your social network, Google and Bing will weight your SERPs using the knowledge they gained when your friends looked for similar information in the past.

That drives veteran SEO experts crazy. No amount of ?black hat? coding or keyword strategy can trump the knowledge that your prospect?s friend thought your site sucked. Instead of writing content for spiders, you?re writing for people. And the bots that still handle basic search engine crawling can tell the difference between a thoughtful piece of prose and a cynical list of linkbait phrases.

Building Community Backlinks

Diving deeper into your community can land you into a compelling, new backlinking strategy, as well. Previous versions of search engine algorithms ranked your site based on the number of other sites linking to it. Google added complexity when it introduced PageRank, presumably weighting your site?s inbound links based on the authority of the sites doing the linking.

A Stanford bias toward academic research bled into early Google and Yahoo! search results, emphasizing content hosted on servers with ?.edu? domains. Student newspapers and university publications experienced a veritable gold rush, as SEO experts and PR agencies fell over each other to earn backlinks from ?high authority? websites.

Under today?s hyperlocal SEO algorithms, linking from an ?.edu? doesn?t mean very much without the right context. A Seattle university student?s blog linking to the site of a Dallas coffee shop won?t do much to improve latte sales in the West End. In fact, too many college backlinks can make search engines suspicious of foul play. This month?s news included reports of SEO strategists so desperate to remove outdated backlinks that they?re issuing DCMA takedown requests against college-hosted websites.

Instead, today?s best organic search engine optimization techniques require you to meet your neighbors. That Dallas coffee shop will improve its search rankings when it posts blog items about the pizza shop that moved in on the corner, or about the travel agent who works up the street. A block or a neighborhood with local businesses that link to each other create a rising tide that lifts all their boats. (That?s especially good news for the travel agent, who specializes in cruises.)

Harnessing the Power of Reviews

Executing a localized SEO strategy doesn?t always mean devoting yourself to blogging about your neighborhood. The best testimonials about your business have always come from your customers. Today, your customers are writing about you online, whether you know it or not. Embracing those conversations and inviting them onto your site can help your business maintain its commitment to serving existing customers while discovering new ones.

Google, Bing, Yelp, Angie?s List, Facebook, and a host of competitors allow business owners to claim and manage ?locations? on their listings services. Despite some companies? attempts to lace review sites with paid praise, most web surfers can see through ?astroturfing.? Managers and owners who take the time to resolve complaints in public can earn repeat business by building trust online. In return, they can reap the benefits of comments, tweets, and blog posts attesting to the quality of their business?all of which factor into the latest search engine rankings.

Categories: contentmarketing | Permalink

Source: http://www.name.com/blog/contentmarketing/2012/12/how-a-hyperlocal-approach-can-overhaul-your-seo-strategy/

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'Cliff' movement? Obama, Boehner trade proposals

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio leaves his office and walks to the House floor to deliver remarks about negotiations with President Obama on the fiscal cliff, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio leaves his office and walks to the House floor to deliver remarks about negotiations with President Obama on the fiscal cliff, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012, following a Democratic strategy session. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Chart shows percentage of households earning $200,000 or more per year by state

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio walks to the House floor to deliver remarks about negotiations with President Barack Obama on the fiscal cliff, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Boehner said President Barack Obama is slow-walking talks to avoid the fiscal cliff, and hasn't outlined spending cuts he's willing to support as part of a compromise. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

President Barack Obama speaks to workers about the economy during a visit to Daimler Detroit Diesel in Redford, Mich., Monday, Dec. 10, 2012. The scene playing out on Capitol Hill is a familiar one as lawmakers with competing ideologies wage an 11th-hour battle to avert a predictable crisis. This one comes just a year after an equally divided Washington nearly let the country default on its loan obligations, a debt-ceiling debate that contributed to the electorate's deep lack of faith in their elected leaders and a drop in the nation?s credit rating. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

(AP) ? In a test of divided government, President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner sought an elusive compromise Tuesday to prevent economy-damaging tax increases on the middle class at year's end, conferring by phone after a secretive exchange of proposals.

Details were sparse and evidence of significant progress scarcer still, although officials said the president had offered to reduce his initial demand for $1.6 trillion in higher tax revenue over a decade to $1.4 trillion.

There was no indication he was relenting on his insistence ? strongly opposed by most Republicans ? that tax rates rise at upper incomes.

Boehner sounded unimpressed in remarks on the House floor at midday.

"The longer the White House slow-walks this process, the closer our economy gets to the fiscal cliff," he said, declaring that Obama had yet to identify specific cuts to government benefit programs that as part of an agreement that also would raise federal tax revenue.

The Ohio Republican made his comments well before he and the president talked by phone about attempts to avert a "fiscal cliff," across-the-board tax increases and cuts in defense and domestic programs that economists say could send the economy into recession.

In rebuttal, the White House swiftly detailed numerous proposals Obama has made to cut spending, including recommendations to cull $340 billion from Medicare over a decade and an additional $250 billion from other government benefit programs.

The House Democratic leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, challenged Boehner to allow a vote on the president's proposal to extend most expiring tax cuts while letting them lapse at higher incomes.

She predicted it would gain "overwhelming approval," even in the GOP-controlled House.

Two weeks before the year-end holidays, time to find agreement was short, but not prohibitively so.

"I think it's going to be extremely difficult to get it done before Christmas but it could be done," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Boehner's office took the step ? unusual in secretive talks ? of announcing that Republicans "sent the White House a counteroffer that would achieve tax and entitlement reform to solve our looming debt crisis and create more American jobs."

Obama dispatched a top aide, Rob Nabors, to the Capitol for talks afterwards.

Both sides say they want a deal to prevent damage to the economy, but that stated commitment has been accompanied by a fierce battle to gain the political high ground in negotiations ? and the occasional comment that one side or the other would be willing to let the deadline pass without a deal unless it got acceptable terms.

Republicans acknowledge that Obama has an advantage in one respect, citing his re-election last month after a race in which he made higher taxes on the wealthy a centerpiece of his campaign.

At the same time, Republicans hold powerful leverage of their own, the certainty that by spring the president will be forced to ask Congress to raise the government's borrowing authority. It was just such a threat that previously allowed them to extract $1 trillion in spending cuts from the White House and Democratic lawmakers, a situation that Obama has vowed he won't let happen again.

Democrats have watched with satisfaction in recent days as Republicans struggle with Obama's demands to raise taxes, but Reid has privately told his rank and file they could soon be feeling the same distress if discussions grow serious on cuts to benefit programs.

Coincidentally, in an ABC interview, Obama did not reject a Republican call to raise the age of Medicare eligibility from 65 to 67, a proposal that many Democrats strongly oppose.

The proposal is "something that's been floated," Obama said, not mentioning that he had tacitly agreed to it in deficit-reduction talks with Boehner more than a year ago that ended in failure.

"When you look at the evidence, it's not clear that it actually saves a lot of money," he said. "But what I've said is, Let's look at every avenue, because what is true is we need to strengthen Social Security, we need to strengthen Medicare for future generations, the current path is not sustainable because we've got an aging population and health care costs are shooting up so quickly."

In his noontime remarks on the House floor, Boehner said, "Let's be honest. We're broke. The plan we offered is consistent with the president's call for a balanced approach."

"We're still waiting for the White House" to do the same," added the Ohio Republican.

GOP senators across the Capitol soon echoed his remarks.

"You have to ask the question, Is the president obsessed with raising taxes?" said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, a member of the GOP leadership.

Referring to the president's occasional outside-the-Beltway trips to build public support for his position, Thune said Obama was "doing a victory lap" after the campaign.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said GOP lawmakers are determined to overhaul benefit programs so they can "meet the demographics of the country." He recently said Republicans want to curtail annual cost-of-living benefits for Social Security and other government benefits, as well as raise the age of eligibility for Medicare from 65 to 67 beginning at some point in the future.

"The president seems to think that if all he talks about are taxes, and that's all reporters write about, somehow the rest of us will magically forget that government spending is completely out of control and that he himself has been insisting on balance," McConnell said on the Senate floor.

He highlighted several government programs as examples of what he said was wasteful spending.

"A few weeks ago, Senator (Tom) Coburn issued a study that showed taxpayers are funding Moroccan pottery classes, promoting shampoo and other beauty products for cats and dogs and a video game that allows them to relive prom night," McConnell said. "Get this: Taxpayers also just spent $325,000 on a robotic squirrel named RoboSquirrel."

The two sides had presented rival initial offers in the cliff negotiations.

Obama's plan would raise $1.6 trillion in revenue over 10 years, in part by raising tax rates on incomes over $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples. He has recommended $400 billion in spending cuts over a decade.

He also is seeking extension of the Social Security payroll tax cut due to expire on Jan. 1, a continuation in long-term unemployment benefits and steps to help hard-pressed homeowners and doctors who treat Medicare patients.

The White House summary noted that Obama last year signed legislation to cut more than $1 trillion from government programs over a decade, and was proposing $600 billion in additional savings from benefit programs.

It also noted that the health care law that Obama signed into law showed savings of $100 billion. Much or all of that funding came from Medicare, even though Obama's aides insisted during his successful campaign for re-election that he had not made any cuts in that program.

Boehner's plan, in addition to calling for $800 billion in new revenue, envisions $600 billion in savings over a decade from Medicare, Medicaid and other government health programs as well as $300 billion from other benefit programs and another $300 billion from other domestic programs.

It would trim annual increases in Social Security payments to beneficiaries, and it calls for gradually raising the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 67, beginning in a decade.

___

Associated Press writers Jim Kuhnhenn and Donna Cassata contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-12-11-Fiscal%20Cliff/id-12836b9500544d2982ee137948d774dc

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