People not hooked on fish could get omega-3 through fortified milk

Public release date: 30-Nov-2012
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Contact: John Pastor
jdpastor@vt.edu
540-231-5646
Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech food scientists reveal way to add fish oil to milk without destroying flavor

Not everyone has a taste for fish, even though it is a natural source of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

And while a growing number of omega-3 enriched foods may net health benefits for people who resist the lure of salmon or sashimi, milk remains the product that has gotten away in what has become a billion-dollar health industry.

But now, food science researchers at Virginia Tech may have reeled milk into the omega-3 delivery system, showing it is possible to incorporate fish oil into milk and dairy-based beverages in amounts sufficient to promote heart health, without destroying the product's taste or limiting its lifespan.

Even better, the milk passes the sniff test. Twenty-five volunteers evaluated one-ounce cups of standard 2 percent milk alongside samples of skim milk containing 78 parts butter oil to 22 parts fish oil in institutionally approved study conditions.

"We couldn't find any aroma differences," said Susan E. Duncan, a professor of food science and technology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. "We were concerned the fish oil would undergo a chemical process called oxidation, which would shorten the milk's shelf life, or the milk would acquire a cardboard or paint flavor by reacting with the fish oil. It appears we have a product that is stable, with no chemical taste or smell issues."

The study, featured in the November issue of the Journal of Dairy Science, tested four different ratios of butter oil to fish oil in the production of pasteurized, fatty acid-fortified beverages.

The aroma-free formulation delivered 432 milligrams of heart-healthy fatty acids per cup, close to the 500 milligram daily target for healthy people suggested by a broad range of health studies. The U.S. Department of Agriculture suggests daily consumption of 250 milligrams per day in healthy adults.

Research has shown omega-3 fatty acids are helpful for preventing coronary disease, reducing inflammation, assisting infant brain development, and maintaining brain function.

Meanwhile, the American Heart Association recommends eating two servings of fatty fish per week, citing research that has shown omega-3 fatty acids decrease the risk of potentially fatal heart arrhythmias, decrease triglyceride levels, slow growth of atherosclerotic plaque, and slightly lower blood pressure.

But fish hasn't caught on with everyone, making room for new foods and beverages fortified with omega-3s in an expanding marketplace. Sales are expected to reach more than $3 billion in 2016, according to marketing analysts.

"I think the dairy industry can look at our study and determine whether it is plausible to modify its products," Duncan said. "I would like to help people who love milk, yogurt, and dairy, which have intrinsic nutritional value, address an additional need in their diets, especially if they don't like to eat fish or can't afford it. One of these dairy servings a day apparently is enough to sustain enough continuous omega-3 to benefit heart health."

If such a product catches on with consumers, Duncan said the next step for researchers is to follow groups of volunteers in an epidemiological study of whether the food improves health outcomes.

"Milk was first fortified with Vitamin D as a way to fight rickets - a disease that leads to soft or weak bones," said Kerry E. Kaylegian, a dairy foods research and extension associate with Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, who was not involved in the research. "It was a good approach to address a dietary deficiency disease, because so many people drink milk, which is already loaded with nutrients. This study describes fortification of milk with omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA. We can't say lack of those compounds definitively causes cardiac disease, but there is evidence that they protect us and contribute to heart and brain health. Milk would be a good delivery vehicle for those nutrients."

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 30-Nov-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: John Pastor
jdpastor@vt.edu
540-231-5646
Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech food scientists reveal way to add fish oil to milk without destroying flavor

Not everyone has a taste for fish, even though it is a natural source of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

And while a growing number of omega-3 enriched foods may net health benefits for people who resist the lure of salmon or sashimi, milk remains the product that has gotten away in what has become a billion-dollar health industry.

But now, food science researchers at Virginia Tech may have reeled milk into the omega-3 delivery system, showing it is possible to incorporate fish oil into milk and dairy-based beverages in amounts sufficient to promote heart health, without destroying the product's taste or limiting its lifespan.

Even better, the milk passes the sniff test. Twenty-five volunteers evaluated one-ounce cups of standard 2 percent milk alongside samples of skim milk containing 78 parts butter oil to 22 parts fish oil in institutionally approved study conditions.

"We couldn't find any aroma differences," said Susan E. Duncan, a professor of food science and technology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. "We were concerned the fish oil would undergo a chemical process called oxidation, which would shorten the milk's shelf life, or the milk would acquire a cardboard or paint flavor by reacting with the fish oil. It appears we have a product that is stable, with no chemical taste or smell issues."

The study, featured in the November issue of the Journal of Dairy Science, tested four different ratios of butter oil to fish oil in the production of pasteurized, fatty acid-fortified beverages.

The aroma-free formulation delivered 432 milligrams of heart-healthy fatty acids per cup, close to the 500 milligram daily target for healthy people suggested by a broad range of health studies. The U.S. Department of Agriculture suggests daily consumption of 250 milligrams per day in healthy adults.

Research has shown omega-3 fatty acids are helpful for preventing coronary disease, reducing inflammation, assisting infant brain development, and maintaining brain function.

Meanwhile, the American Heart Association recommends eating two servings of fatty fish per week, citing research that has shown omega-3 fatty acids decrease the risk of potentially fatal heart arrhythmias, decrease triglyceride levels, slow growth of atherosclerotic plaque, and slightly lower blood pressure.

But fish hasn't caught on with everyone, making room for new foods and beverages fortified with omega-3s in an expanding marketplace. Sales are expected to reach more than $3 billion in 2016, according to marketing analysts.

"I think the dairy industry can look at our study and determine whether it is plausible to modify its products," Duncan said. "I would like to help people who love milk, yogurt, and dairy, which have intrinsic nutritional value, address an additional need in their diets, especially if they don't like to eat fish or can't afford it. One of these dairy servings a day apparently is enough to sustain enough continuous omega-3 to benefit heart health."

If such a product catches on with consumers, Duncan said the next step for researchers is to follow groups of volunteers in an epidemiological study of whether the food improves health outcomes.

"Milk was first fortified with Vitamin D as a way to fight rickets - a disease that leads to soft or weak bones," said Kerry E. Kaylegian, a dairy foods research and extension associate with Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, who was not involved in the research. "It was a good approach to address a dietary deficiency disease, because so many people drink milk, which is already loaded with nutrients. This study describes fortification of milk with omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA. We can't say lack of those compounds definitively causes cardiac disease, but there is evidence that they protect us and contribute to heart and brain health. Milk would be a good delivery vehicle for those nutrients."

###

---

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?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-11/vt-pnh113012.php

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Samsung Galaxy S III mini review: a small Galaxy with few stars

Samsung made a bold move when it announced the Galaxy S III mini. Here was an Android phone with the potential to take the iPhone 5 head-on. While the original Galaxy S III is clearly the flagship, its 4.8-inch display means it's literally too much for some people to handle. By matching Apple's screen size inch for inch, it could have been pitched as a device aimed at winning over some iOS fence-sitters. However, when you look at the specifications: a dual-core 1GHz processor, WVGA (800 x 480) display and a 5-megapixel camera, it's clear that Samsung had other ideas, opting to fish for a more mid-range customer instead.

Fast forward to the present, and it's no longer a matter of intellectual debate as to what the mini is all about: the phone is here, and on sale in much of Europe for £299 / €379. So hubris, brand appeal and pundit talk aside, is this the real-deal Galaxy S III, just for smaller hands? Or is it a budget phone simply wearing its elder sibling's tuxedo to the ball? We spent some time getting to know the phone in an attempt to find out.

Gallery: Samsung Galaxy S III Mini review

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy S III mini review: a small Galaxy with few stars

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung

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Video: SAC Capital Held Call With Employees

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'We had the best crop in years': Residents feel pinch after FDA shutters plant

PORTALES, N.M. (AP) ? Farmers in a revered peanut-growing region along the New Mexico-Texas border should be celebrating one of the best harvests in recent memory.

Instead, millions of pounds of their prized sweet Valencia peanuts sit in barns at a peanut butter plant shuttered for two months amid a salmonella outbreak that sickened 41 people in 20 states.

Farmers are worried about getting paid for their peanuts, nearly a third the plant's 150 workers have been laid off, and residents wonder what toll an increasingly contentious showdown between the nation's largest organic peanut butter plant and federal regulators could ultimately have on the region's economy.

The tension boiled over when the Food and Drug Administration on Monday said it was suspending Sunland Inc.'s registration to operate because of repeated safety violations, meaning the plant will remain indefinitely shut down as the company appeals the decision. The company had planned to reopen some its operations this week after voluntarily recalling hundreds of products and closing its processing and peanut butter plants in late September and early October.

Many in this flat, dusty and solidly Republican farm town of about 20,000 denounce the FDA's tactics as unfair and unnecessarily heavy-handed ? and become defensive about the shutdown of the largest private employer in town.

"We had the best crop in years, and then these (expletives) came in and started this," said resident and local telecomm worker Boyd Evans.

For the first time ever, the FDA is using authority granted under a 2011 food safety law signed by President Barack Obama that allows the agency to shut food operations without a court hearing.

The FDA said inspectors found samples of salmonella in 28 different locations in the plant, in 13 nut butter samples and in one sample of raw peanuts. Inspectors found improper handling of the products, unclean equipment and uncovered trailers of peanuts outside the facility that were exposed to rain and birds. Inspectors also said employees did not have access to hand-washing sinks, and dirty hands had direct contact with ready-to-package peanuts.

The FDA has inspected the plant at least four times over the past five years, each time finding violations. Michael Taylor, the FDA's deputy commissioner for foods, said the agency's inspections after the outbreak found even worse problems than what had been seen there before.

The salmonella outbreak was traced to Trader Joe's peanut butter produced at the plant. Sunland produces products for a number of national grocery and retail chains, and New Mexico Peanut Growers Association President Wayne Baker says the industry generates about $60 million in the region each year.

Valencias are a variety of peanuts that come almost exclusively from eastern New Mexico. Because of their sweet flavor, they are favored for organic and natural peanut butter products because they require few additives.

The peanut is celebrated every year at the town's annual Peanut Valley Festival, and most residents have stories related to peanuts, whether growing up on a peanut farm, helping to haul them to harvest or knowing peanut workers or farmers.

"Peanuts is, like, everything here," said local shopkeeper Brittany Mignard.

The plant's retail store remains open, although its shelves are bare of its own products. The few items remaining include peanut brittle made in Lubbock, Texas. The shelves are stocked with jelly, but no peanut butter.

Baker, who is also a Sunland board member, said the company had never been notified of any past violations. And the company has vehemently denied FDA allegations that it knowingly shipped any potentially tainted products.

Plant officials said they were blindsided by the FDA's suspension on Monday. Just hours before it was announced, the plant had announced plans to start shelling the bumper crop on Tuesday. Plant officials said they had notified the FDA last week of their plans to reopen the processing operations while waiting for approval to resume making peanut butter.

"The FDA is overreaching its power and putting out information that isn't true," Baker said. "We don't understand what is going on. We don't think we are guilty."

FDA officials wouldn't comment on his allegations, saying it was an ongoing investigation.

Food safety expert and Cornell University professor Bob Gravani said given the number of salmonella outbreaks in recent years, he believes the FDA is being heavily scrutinized about why they are not using their rules more frequently or more aggressively.

Putting aside the "he-said, she-said" between the FDA and the company, he said, "I would say suspension is warranted in this case."

This is not the first major outbreak since the FDA gained authority to pull a facility's registration in the 2011 food safety law. An outbreak of listeria in cantaloupe in 2011 is linked to at least 30 deaths and investigators found similar conditions at Jensen Farms in Colorado. Unlike Sunland, however, Jensen Farms did not attempt to restart operations after the recall and FDA investigation. The company later filed for bankruptcy.

Baker said officials have been trying for the past two months to cooperate with the FDA to get the plant reopened.

"That hasn't worked," he said. "But we are not going to give up. We are going to fight this. We have got no choice."

He said officials have begun calling the state's senators and congressman and talking with other agricultural groups about getting help in Washington with an appeal of the FDA action. No hearing has yet been scheduled.

Coburn said about 30 percent of the plant's workers were laid off Monday.

Although peanuts can be stored for a while, Coburn and Baker acknowledged that time is of the essence for getting to work on what Coburn said were "many, many millions" of pounds harvested from this year's crop.

Farmers, Baker acknowledged, are worried about getting paid. But he said Sunland has committed to paying them for their crops.

Under a worst-case scenario, he said, Sunland could sell the peanuts to other producers.

___

Associated Press reporter Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.

___

Follow Jeri Clausing on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/jericlausing

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/peanut-butter-plant-closure-angers-mexico-town-211629739.html

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Preparation for the Great Critical Incident: First Aid Emergency ...

By J.W. Caesar

Hosea 4: 6 (KJV) My people perish from a lack of knowledge.

Knowledge is power for survival when it comes to overcoming disasters. It is vital to get educated on how to survive in the event of a myriad disaster scenerios. Many people die or get injured because they did not adequately plan, prepare or mitigate for unseen emergencies. In order to win the war on disasters; American citizens must take disaster preparation seriously and strengthen themselves mentally, spiritually, and physically to overcome the challenges in the future.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency states on their website that there are actions that should be taken before, during, and after an event that are unique to each hazard. Each person or group should identify the hazards that have happened or could happen in their area and plan for the unique actions for each hazard. They further note that mitigation can be defined as actions to reduce loss of life and property by decreasing the impact of disasters.? What this means is??taking action now??before the next disaster?to reduce human and financial consequences later (analyzing risk, reducing risk, insuring against risk).? Effective mitigation requires that we all understand local risks, address the hard choices, and invest in long-term community well-being. Without these actions, people jeopardize their safety, financial security, and self-reliance and quality of life.

Building an emergency kit with first aid equipment and taking medical classes are best practices in mitigation that can assist in reducing risk and loss to families and the community.? It is important to analyze what type of hazards would affect the community during a disaster, as well the decision to shelter in place or evacuate to a safe location.? By following this risk analysis process, it would help clarify what type and size of container or bag to place first aid items inside, the quantity, what too and what not to pack, where to pack it, the environment, hazard scenario and number of people it can provide care too. Your first aid kit or emergency supplies should be designed around an all hazards approach that insures against the risk of not being able to treat or prevent hazards from overtaking you and your group. These hazards can cause temporary or permanent damage to the critical infrastructure of this nation. Therefore everyone should be a stakeholder in public safety and security of this nation. As a result, many are designing their first aid kits around temporary disaster events where there is a short recovery period, while others are preparing their kits for a total collapse of the system where medical resources will be hard to find.

Caution: for medical legal and health safety reasons-Disaster Preparers should think about:

1. Preparing physically, mentally, and spiritually now to adapt to changes caused by impact of disasters and?continuity of civil and infastructure recovery.
2. Familiarizing with their local, state and federal laws on the boundaries of giving care to humans, pets and livestock.
3. Getting prior training on how to use the items in the first aid kit.
4. Working as a trained and covenant group, not loner.
5. Trying to get written certification or medical authority to perform certain procedures.
6. Not going beyond their scope of practice or their medical certifications.
7. Abiding by the local laws of what is allowed in your first aid or medical kit.
8. (Personal, Force, Asset?Protection)Avoiding making themselves a target for thieves, murderers, drug addicts that use false emergency scenes or requests for help.

A first aid kit can be purchased at many stores, disaster preparedness organizations and online merchants. Medical supplies can also be purchased individually to build your own kit.? Some have also combined the two as one mitigation measure. Others have crafted their own replacement first aid products by improvising. They use tampons for bleeding, card board for splints, and other homemade items, or pet supplies for their kit?s inventory. The real issue is finding the right items and kit skin for your needs. There are many questionable claims to first kits such as the number of people that it can actually treat in an emergency, the quality, sterility and durability of items, the protective covering of the container or bag and excessive prices for minimal supplies. This is why it is vital to do a risk analysis and make appropriate mitigation decisions for your own needs from an all hazards approach.

?Non exhaustive Example of items for Emergency First aid Survival Kit:

Airway Control Kit

_____ Pocket Mask kit

_____ Breathing Barrier with gloves kit

Diagnostic Instruments/Tools

_____ First aid booklet _____Trauma/Bandage scissors _____Protective Face masks

_____12 hour Cyalume Lightsticks _____Candles_____Straws

_____ Scissors, fine point_____ Splinter Forceps _____Nail clippers ____Tweezers

_____ Disposable Penlight or flashlight _____Head Lamp _____ Flashlight

_____Permanent Markers_____Pen _____Pencil_____Writing Paper Tablet _____

_____ Disposable Gloves_____ Splints_____Trash bags ______Ziploc bags

_____Duct Tape_____Clear tape____Painter?s tape____Scotch tape

_____Lockman tool_____Knife_____Razor_____ Box Cutter

_____Cable ties______Rope______String_____Plastic Wrap______Foil

______Belts______Straps____Batteries____Heavy protective gloves

Circulation/Bleeding Control Shock Kit

_____ Triangular Bandages(Cravats)______Rubber Latex gloves_______ Eye protection

______Military Field Dressing bandages______Abdominal bandages___Burn Kit

______ Large Absorbent pad dressings _____ Elastic Bandages

______Gauze Roll Bandages______ Adhesive Bandages

______ Tourniquets______ Gauze Pads, 4?x4?______ Gauze Pads, 2?x2?

______ Bandage tape_____ Disposable Rescue Blanket for shock

Sickcall /First Aid items

____Band Aids____Salt____Pepper____Sugar____Ammonia Inhalents

____Tongue depressors____Tempa-dots Thermometers____Eyewash kit____Eye drops

_____Eye pads_____KY-Jelly ____ Aspirin____Tylenol____Cough drops

_____Cold Med.Tablets_____Nasal spray_____Immodium Tablets ____Anaphalaxis kit

____Anti-biotic Ointment______Antifungal cream______Iodine wipes._____Betadine wipes.

_____Alcohol wipes._____Cleaning wipes. ______Anti-bacterial Soap solution

Alcohol Bottle. ____Hydrogen Peroxide Bottle. _____Hand cleaning solution Bottle.

_____Ice Pack______Heat Packs____Moleskin cover bandage

Medical Supplies and their Skins

Medical supplies for a first aid kit can be put inside of a various items that are all weather resistant, waterproof, durable, floatable, not previously had any toxic or corrosive materials stored inside of it, and clearly marked as a first aid or medical kit. Ziploc bags and plastic trash bags can give extra all weather protection and longetivity of items. The kit should also be easy to carry with straps or handles, have reasonable space or compartments for medical items, and easy to open or secure during an emergency. The size and type of first aid emergency kit may be based on varied factors such as the personal needs of the individual, group, or community, different hazards, ?medical training, number of sick and injured, terrain, response time, life cycle of disaster, use with vehicles, walking distance, evacuation, and weather.

Examples:

• Military Unfolding zippered Aid Bag M-3 & M-17
• Military Chest with handles
• Military Aid Station chest containers
• Military hard plastic or metal containers
• Nylon, Leather or Canvas Back Packs
• Luggage with wheels and handle
• Purse or designer bag
• Lunch box
• Square or rectangle storage containers
• Tupperware containers
• Plastic Ice Cream or used Food Containers
• Hunting vests
• Belt Pouches

A well-stocked and well maintained list of items in the first aid kit should be kept up to date at all times by rotating and replacing items.? A best practice for maintaining the mitigation investment of life saving equipment is doing inventory and preventative maintenance checks before and after using the kit. It can take place on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly cycle. ?The outside and inside of the emergency kit should be inspected for damage such as cracks, tears or holes. Mitigations measures such as health safety inspections for spoilage and expiration dates of items are important also.? However, some questions have been raised about keeping items regardless of expiration dates because of future scarcity of items during extreme disaster periods. These questions should be addressed by medical authorities who are expert in disasters and laws of the land. ?In any case, some items can lose their shelf life, sterility, durability, and may become toxic because of the hot storage temperatures. Another temperature issue is freezing. ?Solutions can freeze causing the containers to crack and break causing contamination of other items or damaging the first aid container.

The kit should work as expected: treat injuries and save life when you need it and cause no harm when it is not needed. It is vital to verify that the items consisting within the kit still function as expected, including the batteries in the medical equipment. The first aid kit should be stored in a place that is of the right temperature for medical supplies, in a safe location, away from pests, where no damage can occur, can be accessible to adults, but not to children or pets that can be poisoned and injured.

In summary, disasters can happen at anytime and anyplace. The consequences of not preparing for them may be immeasurable. To minimize this risk, it is vital to mitigate these impacts by building an emergency first aid kit based on analyzing, reducing, and insuring against future risks. It would be wise to assemble an emergency first aid kit that is adaptable and maintainable for your needs, take first aid classes, get familiarized with medical ? legal laws, learn how to take protective measures in emergency situations, and establish mutual-aid and covenant partnerships well in advance of an emergency situation. All of these steps help reduce the impact of hazards associated with future events and improve the chances of winning the war over disasters.? Americans, must remember that everyone is a stakeholder in public safety, God given freedoms, continuity of civil government,?and protecting the critical infastructure and key resources of this nation.

References:

1. KJV
2. ?http://www.fema.gov/what-mitigation

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WKSU News: Indictments of more suspected casino cheats in Ohio

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9:00
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The Takeaway is a national morning news program that invites listeners to be part of the American conversation. Hosts John Hockenberry and Celeste Headlee, along with partners The New York Times, BBC World Service, WNYC, Public Radio International and WGBH Boston, deliver news and analysis and help you prepare for the day ahead.

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On Point unites distinct and provocative voices with passionate discussion as it confronts the stories that are at the center of what is important in the world today.

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Here! Now! Imperative: not to be avoided: necessary. In a typical week, the show will cover not only all the big news stories, but also the stories behind the stories, or some of the less crucial but equally intriguing things happening in the world.

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"Q" is Canada's liveliest arts, culture and entertainment magazine. It's a smart and surprising tour through personalities and cultural issues that matter. Host Jian Ghomeshi covers pop culture and high arts with forays into the most provocative and compelling cultural trends. "Q" presents big names, big ideas and those paving the way in the cultural community.

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Killer Banner Ads and Landing Pages: 3 Tips for Asian Startups

After 15 years of working for someone else Mikaal Abdulla finally got smart and started his own company. He is the co-founder and CEO of 8 Securities. This is part of an occasional series on marketing tips and strategies for startups.

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If you are building a consumer internet business, you have probably spent 90 percent of your time on product development, building a team, chasing funding, and defending your decision not to get a ?real job? to your mother. If you are lucky, then you spent the other 10 percent getting some sleep. The one area of execution that I typically see Asian startups least equipped to tackle is advertising.

Probably best to ignore Bad Advice Kitty.

As I have written before, there is a dangerous and false notion that products sell themselves. They don?t. Your product will not go viral and anyone that bets the success of their startup on tweets is a fool (and will eventually have to admit to their mother that she was correct). Advertising is to be taken seriously and you need to provision for both investment and time to learn how to acquire and retain customers online. There is no question that startups in Asia have an engineering bias ? and that?s a good thing. But we are far behind our counterparts in Berlin, London, New York, and Silicon Valley when it comes to the quality of our UX (user experience) and marketing execution. Today I will focus on paid banner advertising, which is also known as display advertising. (I will cover search engine marketing, retargeting, email marketing, mobile advertising, social, public relations and UX in future posts on TechInAsia).

Online eyeballs

I spent over a decade spending an average of US$20 million a year in advertising for my previous employer (now current competitor). That marketing investment was almost entirely online and distributed into 15 different geographies across Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Having benefited from that responsibility at a young age I learned a thing or two about online consumer behavior, building a brand online, and of course the ins and outs of digital advertising on a global scale. I also learned that fucking up once in a while was normal, and success in achieving marketing ROI (return on investment) is done through the systematic process of spend, track, learn, adjust, and then scaling the investment when you see returns. Even today, I accept that 70 percent of my teams individual advertising campaigns will either fail or break-even, but it is our job to ensure that the 30 percent that work get the majority of the investment and can scale up fast. It?s not dissimilar to the portfolio theory of a venture capitalist. They know most of their investments will fail but their ability to rapidly identify and ramp up investment in the winners is the name of the game. Treat your marketing tactics and campaigns the same way. Without some level of risk there will be no reward.

When I launched my startup into the very traditional bricks and mortar consumer financial services industry in Hong Kong, I had a theory that it could be built and operate entirely online. I had faith that consumers had evolved faster than the businesses serving them. I saw a disconnect between consumers demands and the stale business models that faced them. This was simply the opportunity. 8 Securities is new company going head to head with huge competitors such as HSBC and Bank of China. If we want to win in the long-term, we have to acquire new customers at scale, add value to their lives and strive every day to make them happy. In 2012 we will have spent approximately US$500,000 in advertising and 100 percent of that is online. Here are some lessons learned and recommendations that that I hope are useful for you.

Tip #1: It all starts with your value proposition

As a consumer internet startup, your paramount objective is to solve a problem for your customers. In doing so, you need to crystallize what differentiates you and precisely how that benefits your customer. Only once you have done this can you begin to think about your message to the market.

Defining your value proposition is no easy task. After nine months in the market we are still refining ours as we are constantly learning from our customers and striving to meet their needs. What we thought might be a benefit often has no resonance with customers, and only by listening do you really understand their pain point and the solution. Your value proposition and your brand have a symbiotic relationship in that one can not live without the other. Your brand is your promise to the customer. Your brand equity is what is left after you subtract your brand?s value proposition with that of your competitors. Marketing can not be effective until you are very clear on how you will position your value proposition in the market and and ultimately in the mind of your customers.

Many of the ?marketing professionals? across Asia maintain a false belief that brands can not be built exclusively online. Furthermore, many media planners are still very traditional in their thinking and will advise you that ?offline? marketing is a necessity to build brand strength and trust (they also earn more from traditional media). Leave the ?offline? advertising to your competitors that are dinosaurs and focus your marketing efforts online where your customers eat, sleep, and breath. With the exception of any public relations you are able to generate in the press or TV, I would ignore the offline channel all together. Marketing in print advertising, outdoor, and on TV is a luxury and certainly not a necessity for a company born on the internet.

Tip #2: Banner advertising and the economics of lead acquisition

The first online banner in history belonged to US telecoms company AT&T. It was hosted on a website called Hotwired and got an astounding 78 percent click-thru rate. The average click-thru rate today is 0.07 percent ? and falling fast. Online banner advertising is tough but if you crack the code it will give you a tremendous competitive advantage and a much lower acquisition cost per account than more traditional competitors.

The main advantage of banner advertising is that you can scale it at a rate not always available through paid search. There are three main variables you must optimize when running online banner advertising. First, you need to negotiate a viable CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions) if you are not running a pay per click campaign. Theoretically, an ?impression? is defined as each page load where your ad is displayed in front of a real set of human eyeballs. That said, a vast majority of your purchased impressions will not be seen as we have trained ourselves to ignore advertising as we browse content. This is among one of the biggest factors why we have seen click-thru rates plummet.

Many online properties where you will want to advertise still operate on a CPM basis and that includes Yahoo. For the sake of this example, let?s assume you negotiate a CPM of $5 on a site that generates quality traffic that you would like to target. If you invest $5,000 then you are purchasing one million impressions for your ad.

Second, the quality of your advertisement is critical. The most common mistakes are banners that try to convey too much information, don?t have a clear call to action, or don?t visually stand out from the background. We usually find that we have to change our messages and creative two or three times before we get it right. In terms of media, your creative can span simple flash all the way to expandable video ads. We have run a number of video based campaigns on Yahoo and LinkedIn (one of the first in Asia to do so) and saw a CTR (click-thru rate) of over one percent. Most of the videos we ran would drive interaction from over 50,000 unique visitors, but that of course is all a function of our investment level.

The benefit with video is that it?s a more effective medium to grab attention, to tell a story, and build your brand identity, but it comes at a greater cost both in terms of production and the media buy. For the purpose of this example, lets assume we run a standard three rotation flash banner. Let?s assume we beat the average and can achieve a CTR of 0.10 percent. If you invest $5,000, you have purchased one million impressions. If 0.10 percent click on your ad then you will have generated 1,000 unique visitors to your landing page (also known as the campaign page).

Finally, you need a great landing page on which your sole goal is to convert the visitor who clicks on your advertisement into a qualified lead or user. Don?t make the mistake of sending your leads to your home page as you need to isolate their experience to the objective at hand. The conversion rate of visitor to qualified lead really depends on your specific business and the information you are capturing. That said, you should aim for a minimum of 15 percent of your visitors to convert.

The fundamental elements of a great landing page are:

1. Your call to action and design elements must be consistent between the landing page and the ad that was clicked. If the experience is not seamless and logical then your visitor is lost.

2. Have a very clear headline and body copy. You must tell your visitor what it is and what you want them to do. If you are not promising to solve a problem for them then they have no reason to stay and will bounce off.

3. Don?t over-engineer your online form to capture lead information. Make it as simple and clear as possible. If you don?t need their mobile phone and home address then don?t ask for it. Keep it to a minimum and ideally just just ask for name and email, or use social log ins. Don?t forget to clearly highlight your privacy policy if you expect their trust. A simple ?We promise we won?t share your email? will often suffice.

Plus, here are ?101 Landing Page Optimisation Tips? from one of the brightest minds in the business ? so there are already no excuses for getting it wrong.

In summary, we have invested $5,000 in our example to generate 1,000 visitors to our landing page with a minimum goal of converting 15 percent, or 150, of those visitors into qualified leads or users. This results in a cost per user of $33. Do you expect the lifetime value of your users to be greater than $33? If so, the investment makes sense. Know your ROI and constantly optimize your lead funnel as there is always room for improvement.

Tip #3: Tracking and optimizing your advertising investment

Anyone that knows me would be right to say I am crazy about analytics and data. I have invested a great deal of time testing hundreds of tools to measure the entire life cycle of our customers from the point of advertisement to engaged customer. We currently track the specific advertising source that a customer clicked on and bind it to the customer?s activity so we can assess in real-time the revenues ultimately generated by the specific ad, the channel, and the campaign.

There are no endorsements here, but I wanted to lift the hood for startups so you can see what marketing systems we run. We use MediaMind for our ad serving platform. From this platform we host and deploy our banner ads across different websites and geographies. On a daily basis we track CTR, conversion, and revenue metrics on the specific ads and campaigns we are running. We are constantly optimizing our media mix based on this data.

To track interaction on our landing page and website we use Google Analytics. This provides invaluable insight in terms of how visitors are engaging and navigating our store front. Tools such as CrazyEgg provide a deeper real-time heat map so you can optimize the layout of your page.

The most important tool I use when it comes to lead acquisition and conversion tracking is MixPanel. MixPanel provides event driven funnels based on your defined flow. In our case, we measure leads from the point they arrive on the landing page through each of the six steps of our online application. I can see specifically where customers may drop out of our online application and work to make the process simpler. Once we generate potential customers online, we use Salesforce to auto route the prospect to the appropriate sales person based on language, geography, and product experience. This of course increases the sales conversion rate as you are matching customer needs with the person best equipped to help them.

We use Salesforce as our end-to-end CRM system. As a transaction-driven business we measure our revenue and core business metrics in an OLAP (online analytical processing) tool called MicroStrategy. For pre-revenue startups you can very likely tackle this manually until you reach a point of scale where it makes sense to invest in automation. Rather than waste time logging into all of these systems I publish them to the entire office in real-time through a dashboard called Geckoboard. As they say, you manage what you measure.

Focus on these three core areas and you will be running very effective and performance-driven online banner campaigns in no time. Remember, be prepared to take risks and accept that failing fast and pivoting is a normal part of the marketing process.

Report an error

Source: http://www.techinasia.com/online-advertising-tips-for-startups-banner-ads/

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White House expected to seek billions in Sandy disaster aid

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House is expected in the coming days to send Congress a multi-billion dollar request to fund recovery from Superstorm Sandy, which caused an estimated $71 billion in damages in New York and New Jersey.

Congressional aides said there was no clear indication of the request's size, but some said it would likely be at least $11 billion.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief fund had access to about $7.8 billion as Sandy slammed the U.S. East Coast on October 29, causing widespread destruction in coastal New York and New Jersey.

Lawmakers and analysts also said Congress will need to shore up the heavily indebted National Flood Insurance Program in the face of $12 billion in payouts resulting from Sandy, ranked as the second-worst disaster in U.S. history.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, asked about the additional Sandy funding request, said: "Well, we can't do anything with the disaster aid package until we get something from the White House, and I'm told that will be here as early as tomorrow or the next day."

A White House official declined to provide any details about the administration's plans. "We are working closely with our partners in the states and in Congress, but it's premature to speculate on specific actions as we work to ensure the governors have the necessary support," the official said.

Lawmakers from both parties have voiced support for providing additional disaster relief in Sandy's wake, but a massive funding request from President Barack Obama could be disruptive to already tense negotiations over year-end tax hikes and automatic spending cuts.

"It's bound to be large, and we'll need to scrub it carefully to determine real needs from wishful requests, which will take a little time," a senior House Republican aide said of the funding package.

Representative Chaka Fattah, a Democratic member of the House Appropriations Committee from Pennsylvania, introduced a $12 billion emergency disaster relief bill four days after Sandy hit. No action has been taken on the measure, which is expected to be superceded by the White House request.

The White House official said that the administration has already obligated more than $1.9 billion to support Sandy response and recovery efforts. This includes $960 million in direct assistance to individuals affected by the storm.

On Monday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state will need $41.9 billion, including $32.8 billion for relief costs and damage repairs and another $9.1 billion to mitigate potential damage from future storms.

New Jersey suffered at least $29.4 billion in overall losses, Governor Chris Christie said on Friday.

Congress has routinely approved emergency supplemental appropriations to cope with unanticipated disaster relief costs, most notably for Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.

Two weeks after that storm flooded New Orleans, Congress approved $62.3 billion in disaster appropriations. It added another $29 billion by December 30 after Hurricanes Rita and Wilma hit the Gulf Coast, and another $19.3 billion for those storms by June 2006. Supplemental appropriations for Katrina costs were still being made as late as 2010.

FLOOD INSURANCE SHORE-UP

Lawmakers are expected to shore up the National Flood Insurance Program by raising its $20.8 billion borrowing authority ceiling, since it has a commitment to pay policyholders hit by Sandy.

The FEMA-run program is essentially the only U.S. flood insurer for residences.

Putting more money into the program would come months after Obama signed a law aimed at improving its finances. Congress bailed out the program after Katrina in 2005, and it is $18 billion in debt.

Senator Tim Johnson, a South Dakota Democrat and chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, will "closely monitor developments to make sure that the NFIP is able to meet its obligations and pay claims to policyholders," a committee aide said.

FEMA has estimated Sandy-related losses of $6 billion to $12 billion. [ID:nL1E8MEDIT] That is far beyond the insurance program's more than $690 million in cash and $3 billion in untapped borrowing authority.

A spokeswoman for the White House's Office of Management and Budget said that as of last week, FEMA had processed 133,461 flood claims from the storm and paid out $302 million.

(Additional reporting by Jeff Mason, editing by Stacey Joyce)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/white-house-expected-seek-billions-sandy-disaster-aid-010812711.html

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Court orders new look at health care challenge

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Supreme Court has revived a Christian college's challenge to President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul, with the acquiescence of the Obama administration.

The court on Monday ordered the federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., to consider the claim by Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., that Obama's health care law violates the school's religious freedoms.

A federal district judge rejected Liberty's claims, and the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the lawsuit was premature and never dealt with the substance of the school's arguments. The Supreme Court upheld the health care law in June.

The justices used lawsuits filed by 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Business to uphold the health care law by a 5-4 vote, then rejected all other pending appeals, including Liberty's.

The school made a new filing with the court over the summer to argue that its claims should be fully evaluated in light of the high court decision. The administration said it did not oppose Liberty's request.

Liberty is challenging both the requirement that most individuals obtain health insurance or pay a penalty, and a separate provision requiring many employers to offer health insurance to their workers.

The appeals court could ask the government and the college for new legal briefs to assess the effect of the Supreme Court ruling on Liberty's claims before rendering a decision.

Liberty's case joins dozens of other pending lawsuits over health reform, many involving the requirement that employer insurance plans cover contraception, which are working their way through the federal court system.

The case is Liberty University v. Geithner, 11-438.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/court-orders-look-health-care-challenge-143441901.html

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Garber says talks for NYC stadium at 'finish line'

By RONALD BLUM

AP Sports Writer

Associated Press Sports

updated 5:12 p.m. ET Nov. 26, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) - Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber says the league is at "the finish line" in negotiations with New York City to acquire land to build a stadium in Queens that would become home for the league's 20th team.

Garber says after that deal is agreed to, there would have to be negotiations with the city and state as part of the approval process to build on the 10-acre site in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. The parkland used for the stadium would have to be replaced, and a deal would have to be reached with the New York Mets to use their parking lots adjacent to Citi Field.

Garber says the new team could start play for the 2016 season. He also says the New York market is the only one David Beckham doesn't have the right to buy into and the New York Red Bulls, who play in Harrison, N.J., don't have the right to block a second team in the New York area.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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MLS names Best XI ? no surprises

PST: For the first time in 10 years, the team has 3 forwards, but positions have always been a loose thing when it comes to recognizing the season?s best.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/49971716/ns/sports-soccer/

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Serenity Now: A Season of Serenity at Home (Christmas Series)

Today, I'm introducing a new Christmas series that I'll be running here at Serenity Now throughout the Christmas season. I've got Christmas projects, tips, recipes, activities, and more to share. Everything in the series is designed as a way to inspire you without overwhelming you. I want my focus on the important things this holiday season, so we're keeping things simple. Join me and some completely fabulous guest posters over the course of the next month for this year's series: A Season of Serenity at Home.

When I think of traditional Christmas, I think of spending time with my family, wrapping gifts for loved ones, sending out holiday cards, and singing Christmas carols while I decorate my home and bake goodies.

I try not to think about waiting in line at the post office, stressing out over trying to keep up with other bloggers, keeping family commitments, or the awful Christmas-tree-lights-debacle from last year that had me throw a tantrum in front of my kids that has probably scarred them for life. Words were said and things were thrown.

Yet, those mishaps have a way of becoming reality, don't they? I have, on?occasion, found myself wondering why exactly I stress out over creating the "perfect" holiday. Am I celebrating the true spirit of the season? Is my focus on my family and the One whose birth we honor on December 25th??

Sadly, I spent my fair share of holiday seasons wondering if various projects might be a hit with readers. I worried over not having enough extra money to buy new accessories to keep up with all the creations pouring into the blogosphere. I spent too much time messing around on blog posts and not enough time enjoying the season with my kids and husband.

This series is as much for me as it is for you. I love trying new crafts, recipes, and activities. But I don't love stressing out about spending extra money on expensive supplies, fitting everything on my "perfect holiday list" in, posting about it, and feeling like I just don't measure up.

Won't you join me for a season of Serenity??

Fill your home with love, and joy, and maybe a few cute Christmas crafts that won't break your budget.?I appreciate you understanding why I'm bringing in some guest posters this month. I love sharing creative ideas with you all, and I also love enjoying the holiday season without spending extra time on the laptop. I have a great line-up of posts for you: recipes, tutorials, activities, and more. You won't want to miss it!

I'll be using this post to catalog each post, so be sure to Pin or bookmark this URL to have a little library of Christmas fun!

If you enjoyed this post or found it helpful, I hope you'll click your "Pin It" button to add this post to Pinterest, or a +1 for Google+.

Source: http://www.serenitynowblog.com/2012/11/a-season-of-serenity-at-home-christmas.html

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Adorable Panda scared silly by zookeeper (video) (Americablog)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/266286404?client_source=feed&format=rss

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News Desk: Israel's Ehud Barak Announces Resignation, Quits Politics

THE DEFENSE minister Ehud Barak?s resignation comes as reports swirled he would start a center-left party after the January elections. Instead, he has declared he?s quitting politics, effective upon the elections in the New Year.

From CNN:

[...] Some Israeli political commentators had speculated ahead of the announcement that Barak was planning to quit the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a new center-left party.

But Barak told reporters that new faces in leadership roles would benefit Israel.

?I feel it is important that other people should take leading positions in Israel. Changes in the position of power are a good thing. There are many ways to contribute to the society and the country, and not necessarily through politics,? he said.

About Taylor Marsh

Veteran political analyst and author of "The Hillary Effect." Former Miss Missouri, Broadway performer, & relationship consultant at the LA Weekly, produced a one-woman show titled "Weeping for JFK," media flak extraordinaire.

Source: http://www.taylormarsh.com/blog/2012/11/israels-ehud-barak-announces-resignation-quits-politics/

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Pakistan: Government Suspends Mobile Service During Muharram to

According to The Associated Press, Pakistan's Interior Ministry announced on Friday (November 23) that the government will suspend mobile phone service virtually nationwide from 0600 hours on November 24 until 0600 hours on November 25, in order to prevent cellular-activated IEDs against?Shiite Muslims?during Muharram,?which is especially important to Shiites.

Sunni extremists often target Shiites during Muharram, frequently using cell phones. Several bombings targeting Shiites earlier this week killed over a dozen people.

COMMENT: It should be noted that 90% of all IEDs detonated in Pakistan are activated through the use of mobile phones.

Local media criticized the government's action to suspend mobile service, considering how dependent most residents are on wireless devices, particularly those who have NO other form of communication, except through a cell phone.?

The Pakistani government's extreme action to prevent cellular-activated IED detonations underlines the importance of diplomatic and commercial entities and even individuals to have a redundant form of voice communications when cellular service is interrupted either by design or during a national emergency when mobile service ceases to function.

Alternative forms of communication include regional satellite-based telephones (SAT-PHONES), UHF-VHF, single-side band, HAM radio or computer-based satellite communications.

Source: http://stayingsafeabroad.blogspot.com/2012/11/pakistan-government-suspends-mobile.html

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The Best Advice In Search Engine Optimization | Search Engine ...

The Best Advice In Search Engine Optimization

By GuestBlogger|Search Engine Optimization Articles

Website success begins with search engine optimization. If you want to outrank your competition in search engines, you need to learn all you can about search engine optimization. You must do your homework to get ahead. In the article below, you will find the most powerful strategies to get your website noticed, and also what strategies to avoid.

If you have images, you should always include a tag that describes your image. Alt tags are basically a substitute for the image. This text is used if a visitor has chosen not to allow images. By including keywords in alt tags, you can improve your search results ranking a lot.

Your content is the most important thing when you are using SEO. The content on your page to be written correctly, fresh and not too long. Never submit an article that has spelling, punctuation or general grammar mistakes. When it comes to SEO, it helps to have great content on your site.

Vary the form of your keywords to create more hits on a search engine. This includes using the long and plural forms of your keywords. Keyword stemming is a strategy that some search engines use. If you choose ?accountant? as your keyword, results for searches that include ?accounting? or ?accountants? may not include your site. Use keyword stemming as an advantage over your competition. Use longer forms of your keyword as well as the main keyword.

TIP! Promote yourself as being an expert in your niche. Being an expert in your field can prove lucrative in marketing your internet business.

Image Links

Image links are not good for search engine optimization. Image links do not link your content to the search engines effectively.

URLs should be case sensitive, so configure your server accordingly. If not, your entire website could get messy.

Focus on mastering one SEO strategy at a time. Nobody has the time to work on every single SEO technique out there, even if they do it for a living. Just pick the ones that will have the biggest impact and get them down to a science.

TIP! Use a site map so that search engines can easier index your pages. A site map, or nav bar, will allow visitors to navigate easily to any page on your site, from anywhere on your site.

You can optimize your articles for search engines by including relevant keywords within the text. Using keywords that go with your subjects will help the search engines find your site easier. In turn, your readers will find your articles more easily. Incorporate a keyword into the title, the summary, and about 4 to 5 times in the body.

Your domain name should contain a keyword related to your content. After all, you want people to find your website easily. There are many people who will be searching for specific products on the site. It is important to make it easy for them to find what they need.

You site should be easy to navigate and to read. Your site should be clear and concise so that it will rank higher. Your website should be accessible and easy for your readers to engage in and simple for search engines to recognize.

Consider adding a blog to your business or corporate website to add a personalized touch, and encourage the company?s owner or CEO to become involved by blogging. People want to hear what the owner has to say, because he or she is the main voice in the company.

TIP! To get better rankings with the search engines, populate your ?metatag? area with a variety of keywords. Even better, include misspellings of your keywords.

Informative sites generally rank higher then product-only sites. Informational content will improve the way that both search engines and site visitors perceive you.

Search Engines

Use a title tag that describes the page well so that search engines will comprehend your content. Aim for fewer than 60 characters, since many search engines stop displaying content after that point. Additionally, they give words appearing after the 60 character limit less weight.

You website needs to have a site map which contains all the main links and keywords for your website. Site maps are excellent navigational tools as well as helpful for search engine optimization. Site maps are used by search engine bots to find and rank websites.

TIP! There are many different strategies to optimize your site for search engines. Having the best possible search engine optimization is important for drawing in more traffic.

When using link directories, make sure you find sites with links that are high in quality and legitimate. Some directories are full of sites that are outdated or poorly designed. Make sure you only associate your name with other quality sites.

Blog and comment where relevant, so that you can get links for your site. Blog owners often don?t care if you link to your site, so long as your comment isn?t spam. Don?t put a link on a comment you make to a blog that does not have a good connection to your site. Additionally, when you do leave a comment, make sure that it is of value to that site. Understanding the subject will allow you to comment knowledgeably on other blogs and include your link.

Some people believe that adding keywords to the comment tags of a website will increase their visibility. Try to focus on the content of your site.

Placing keywords throughout the content of your blog or website can really improve your site?s traffic by increasing its search ranking. Don?t overdo keywords in beginning passages but incorporate them to optimize search results. As a rule, you should aim to place the keyword twice within the opening paragraph. After the first paragraph, integrate the keyword as much as possible throughout the following 200 words; the key is to find a way to use the keyword as often as you can, without it becoming noticeable or redundant.

TIP! Consider hiring a company that can do the SEO work for you, but make sure they specialize in this type of work. SEO refers to marketing your website in such a way that it receives a higher ranking in search engine results.

Keyword Density

Proper keyword density is essential to search engine optimization. Your keyword density should be kept under 20 percent, which will prevent your site from being targeted as spam.

You must ask yourself this following question; ?How can someone discover my site if he or she is looking for it?? Once you answer this question, you have to use your answer as the keywords, and scatter them all around your site. They should be included in titles and content; however, be aware that an overuse of keywords could lead to the site being labeled as spam, so strike a balance between the two.

Once you have decided on the keywords or key phrases that are most relevant to your website, use them in the title of your web page. Your title is your websites first handshake with search engines, so make it friendly and relevant. By having a more generic word in the title, searchers who aren?t aware of your company?s name will still visit your website to find what they are looking for.

TIP! Keep in mind that spiders can?t do anything with your URLs if they read like a bunch of random numbers. The reason is because these things confuse the spiders.

You need to have patience to get better SEO. You will not see an immediate increase in traffic to your website. In fact, it could take several months, especially if your website is new. It takes as much time to increase the visibility of an online business as it takes for an offline business.

This will help you raise your search rankings. See your meta data as a ?call to action? since it appears under several site hyperlinks in search results. Check to see if your content management software makes it easy for you to write a meta description on the same page you create your content on.

Putting your website in a prime place to be found is what search engine optimization is all about. The article you have just read gave you multiple tips on how to make this happen for you. Applying these simple tricks will get your website noticed in no time, so increase your traffic today!

Make sure to always have new, useful content posted regularly. Don?t just keep rehashing the same old subjects, either; if you offer content of value, then your readers will see value in your products, too.

TIP! Join as many prominent organizations as you can when you are working to optimize your search engine ranking. When you join the BBB, they will link to you online, and that will increase your rankings in local searches.

Source: http://dynamicmarketingpartners.com/2012/11/the-best-advice-in-search-engine-optimization/

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TODAY ONLY: Thanksgiving Sale Online + Doorbusters all day long at HancockFabrics.com

#1 ? ExperienceAdvertising?

• Group: Members
• Posts: 1,092
• Joined: 19-January 11

Posted Yesterday, 04:38 PM

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

PROMOTE THE THANKSGIVING DAY ONLINE SALE (TODAY ONLY) AT HANCOCKFABRICS.COM!

The THANKSGIVING DAY SALE has begun with DOORBUSTER prices all day online and savings up to 70% OFF on Glacier Fleece Prints, Kozy Flannel, Janome 134 Sewing Machines and much, much more! Post a few banners and text links on your sites today and let your viewers know that while they are waiting for the turkey to roast, there are a lot of great deals to be found online at HancockFabrics.com!

Enjoy your day!

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Source: http://forum.affiliatesummit.com/topic/4193-today-only-thanksgiving-sale-online-doorbusters-all-day-long-at-hancockfabricscom/

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