Posts tagged Their
Google Grew Their Own Earth Day Logo
Apr 22nd
Google has a special Earth Day logo that flips through the various cycles of the growth of flowers and plants over time. In fact, A Google Doodler named Jen planted and grew the logo, taking pictures over time, which made up today’s Earth Day logo for Google. Here is a video of the logo in…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
View full post on Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
4 Ways to Get SEO Clients Past Their Content Marketing Writer’s Block – Search Engine Journal
Apr 17th
|
4 Ways to Get SEO Clients Past Their Content Marketing Writer's Block
Search Engine Journal The number one content marketing problem plaguing many of my clients (and I'm sure other SEO professionals can commiserate) is that they say they don't know what to write. They are constantly struggling to come up with topics for their blog which means … |
View full post on SEO – Google News
Top Rated SEO Company in Atlanta Launches Their New Site – WebWire (press release)
Apr 17th
|
Top Rated SEO Company in Atlanta Launches Their New Site
WebWire (press release) A new site founded for those who are interested in the SEO world or simply to those who need help when it comes to ranking their site. Atlanta, Georgia – (April 17th, 2012) –– A new site named www.libeltyseo.com has been launched by owner and SEO … |
View full post on SEO – Google News
4 Ways to Get SEO Clients Past Their Content Marketing Writer’s Block
Apr 17th
The number one content marketing problem plaguing many of my clients (and I’m sure other SEO professionals can commiserate) is that they say they don’t know what to write. They are constantly struggling to come up with topics for their blog which means content isn’t getting produced on a regular basis. As a result, the [...]
Follow SEJ on Twitter @sejournal
View full post on Search Engine Journal
St. Louis Startups Strut Their Stuff
Apr 5th
Two events this week in St. Louis show how vibrant the startup ecosystem has become there. On Wednesday, a group of 13 companies presented to 50 investors, looking to raise an aggregate of $16 million in capital. The companies were all part of Capital Innovators, an accelerator venture fund that has been operating since last fall. Capital Innovators put on the event, called Demo Day, at the cherished Pageant Theater, which normally is a concert venue. Each presenter had small demo booths where investors could ask questions about the venture and see the software in operation. This was the first such event, and it was more of a coming out party for the ventures that were funded by the firm.
The second event was the annual Invest Midwest conference on Thursday. Here more than 40 companies presented to about 50 investors. Tech ventures, some of whom were presenters at the earlier Demo Day, joined ventures in green energy and the life sciences. This is the 13th year the conference has been in business, which alternates each year between Kansas City and St. Louis. Both events drew small and large investors from all over the country. It was nice to see so many people in town to look at the new offerings.
Sponsor
Capital Innovators announced that it is now accepting applications for its third class of ventures. Those who are accepted will receive an investment of $50,000 in return for some equity in their companies and intensive mentoring at its downtown offices, as we wrote about last year here. Applications are due by June 15th.
At both events, the pitches covered several common themes:
- Hyperlocal business focus. What makes these ventures interesting to me is how focused they are on their particular audiences of either potential users or customers. Lockerdome.com focuses on bringing together sports-addicted fans and amateur players to share their content. Bonfyre.com is aimed at college kids to geo-locate what they are doing on or near campus. BusyEvent.com manages what sessions conferences-goers want to attend and records their vendor-booth encounters. DiningCircle.com is aimed at handling real-time Web-enabled restaurant reservations. Aisle411.com takes this to a new level: They have a way to locate a particular product in a store’s shelves. To be successful, a venture needs this laser focus.
- It is all about the Web. Most of the firms had some critical component that had something to do with using Web protocols or the cloud. Dining Circle runs in the cloud rather than the dedicated PCs that OpenTable.com provides to their restaurant customers. JBara.com complements and extends traditional CRM software such as Salesforce to improve customer retention and satisfaction. Adjudica.com sells its group-medical-cost monitoring tool as a Web-based service to large health plan operators.
- I have a platform to sell you. Now that everything is in the cloud, many ventures are looking toward building their own Something as a Service to leverage their expertise and get third parties to adopt their frameworks. YoJoe.com is the premier site for people who collect GI Joe action figures and, as a result, is looking to build a platform to support other collectable management websites. Norse-Corp.com developed a fraud-detection system using distributed Internet-monitoring tools, and now is looking to sell this to credit card payment networks for their antifraud programs. Gremln.com built a social media monitoring program that it is extending into compliance management for financial services and health care providers.
- Mobile is where the action is. No surprise there. TangibleHaptics.com is trying to improve the touch screen world by providing actual feedback as you slide your fingers across the screen. EyeVerify.com can biometrically ID who is holding your cell phone from the blood vessel pattern of your eye.
- Despite Groupon, other coupon alternatives are still being proposed. Aisle411 has the ability to deliver coupons to consumers shopping in stores, and BonFyre offers coupons based on its audience’s movements. These smarter maps tied to particular locations combine the best aspects of geolocation and the immediate needs of the shopper.
My pick for oddest product pitched at Invest Midwest: a high-tech toothbrush from Tifinity Oral Care with bristles made out of titanium that duplicate the flossing process and a built-in microprocessor to tell you when it needs replacing.
When it comes to deciding on a location for a business, McKelvey had some incisive things to say. “Who cares about the taxes that are levied on you when you are rich? It isn’t that big of a deal for a small company. It is more important to figure out if you can get the stuff done that you need to get done wherever you are located. We will shop the tax rate when we are moving 10,000 people into an area. For most business owners, that is so far down the list it is irrelevant.”
He also noted that “St Louis has made some really good strides towards supporting entrepreneurship, and things are picking up here.” He mentioned that the higher quality of life, and the attraction of good schools in many St. Louis areas, was another reason for starting up his engineering team there. However, “Our biggest surprise was that we couldn’t scale the Square team here in St. Louis.”
But attracting huge amounts of venture capital to the Midwest isn’t easy: “The superrich VCs just don’t want to get on a plane and don’t want to physically travel anywhere.” However, for lesser amounts, “money flows pretty fluidly anywhere now.”
Do check out some of the companies mentioned if you are interested in their products and services. Many of them are already in business, and have lots of customers and activity.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
View full post on ReadWriteWeb
How Parents Can Help Their Preteens Navigate the Social Web
Apr 4th
Every day the Internet is becoming a more ingrained part of preteens’ lives, especially preteens who haven’t yet hit Facebook’s 13-years-old age requirement. How can parents get an idea of what their kids are doing online while still engendering an environment of love and trust? Much of this relies on parents being open with kids about types of acceptable online behaviors, but it’s also important for parents to teach kids the general rules for online safety.
It isn’t fair for parents to monitor every move that their child makes – how will this child become their own person, know when to ask for help, and understand how to handle tricky social situations if a parent is keeping track of them 24/7? In an Internet world, constant surveillance is easy. Yet it’s within the gray areas that both children and parents can learn the most – about themselves, and navigating their digital lives.
Sponsor
The Internet is a world of its own, one that can be used for good, positive learning experiences, or one that becomes a space for wasting energy, time and money. It is what you make of it. When it comes to actual monitoring tools, why not start the conversation from a place of trust?
“Parents really need to build a relationship with their kids around their online activities, just like you would if your child were playing soccer or going to a school dance,” says Julia French, an American parent who also works with online monitoring service Secure.me. “As parents, involvement is key.”
SafeKids.com offers a handy list of 10 kids rules for online safety, specifically aimed at preteens. They focus on building trust between parents and kids. Some of the key concepts for kids include telling a parent if they come across information that makes them feel uncomfortable, not giving out personal information, not agreeing to meet with someone they’ve met online, not sending images, setting up rules with parents about going online, and being a good online citizen. Nearly all of the rules laid out on the SafeKids list depend on children talking with their parents, and vice versa.
Outside of the communication element, services such as Secure.me and SafetyWeb.com can help parents keep an eye on potentially harmful content that a child might come across, especially on social networks.
“Secure.me monitors not just for potentially dangerous or sexual content, but also tracks posts for possible aggressive or cyber-bullying content and content posted by apps,” says Secure.me Founder Christian Sigl. “The solution focuses on both physical and computer security, helping parents protect their children against Facebook-borne spam, identity theft and viruses. “
But the preteen group, ages 13 and under, does not actually have to think about Facebook. The world’s largest social network requires that people be 13 years of age or older to sign up. According to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a “child” means an individual under the age of 13. COPPA details what a website operator must include in its privacy policy, how to seek verifiable consent from a parent or guardian, and responsibilities to protect the privacy of children specifically on marketing aimed at preteens. This law puts the brakes on collecting personal information from kids ages 13 and under. The real world begins on Facebook at age 13. Until then, there are a few Internet training wheels.
Facebook Training Wheels: Everloop
For preteens, practicing social networking on Everloop.com is one way to go about helping your child become familiar with the online social networking space. Everloop started in February 2011 as a way to empower girls, but quickly realized that it needed to expand beyond the one gender.
“Kids under 13 have multiple interests,” says Everloop CMO Sandy Barger, who came from Disney. “It’s a very fragmented world for them, and the biggest concern is kids’ safety. They don’t want to be bullied. We have been able to create a safe environment, to see what kids are interested in.”
In preparation for the never-ending information flow of Facebook, Everloop has created a similar environment yet with safety guards in place for parents to potentially intervene and open up discussions with their kids based on IRL conversations.
In October of last year, Everloop launched EverText, a way for kids to directly text status updates to the network. Parents had the opportunity to moderate how many texts per month their kid is able to send. A moderation filter alerts parents to words, phrases and other content that could be deemed dangerous.
“If you think about kids today, they’re all digital natives. They don’t know any better, and the majority of parents that are raising under-13 kids are digital natives themselves,” Everloop’s COO Tobin Trevarthen told ReadWriteWeb. “As we evolve into social space, we saw an easy opportunity to educate a younger generation of digital natives.”
Everloop also recently launched Facebook-like apps specifically for users of the site. Miniclip, integrated into Everloop’s Game Channel, makes it possible for kids to play games like “Run Run Hamster” and “Monkey Kick Off.” Everloop has also partnered with Mattel and National Geographic, launching two games closely associated with brands: Monster High and Animal Jam. The mixing of brands and games prepares kids for a world that’s quite similar in that respect.
If you would rather closely analyze your child’s online activity, try out the service SafetyWeb.com. We don’t necessarily recommend it, as we are more interested in building good relationships between parent and child, but it could be useful if you’re concerned that there is something negative going on with your child’s online reputation and privacy.
“It’s key to make your child understand that you’re supervising them and use solutions to monitor his or her activities for no other reason than protecting your child,” says Secure.me’s Sigl. “Never monitor your child’s activities secretly as this could harm the family’s bond of trust. Social networking should be a topic discussed frequently and openly within the family. As a parent, encourage your child to talk to you and listen to your kid to learn about the risk he or she faces.”
Teaching Kids to Be Responsible on Social Networks: BeSeen
Carnegie Mellon University’s app BeSeen uses the template of a fictional social network to help kids learn how to interact positively and safely, and how to stand up for their peers. It offers kids various challenging situations, too, game-ifying the experience, and making it OK to report any questionable situations. It also suggests that even though kids can access information on social networks anytime from their phones, they shouldn’t. And it also helps kids learn what types of photos they should and shouldn’t upload. To win, players must “protect their online reputation, treat others with respect, watch for signs of trouble and defend their peers.”
In short, this game app teaches players that their online profile should reflect them at their best. But should it? That’s another conversation that we hope will happen offline.
And even though Facebook has rules that do not let preteens under 13 have accounts, there are plenty who join anyway. It’s imperative for parents to teach their preteens about Facebook.
Lead image courtesy of Shutterstock.
View full post on ReadWriteWeb
NorthStarSEO.com Sees Explosive Growth in Requests for Their Free SEO Analysis … – SBWire (press release)
Mar 22nd
|
NorthStarSEO.com Sees Explosive Growth in Requests for Their Free SEO Analysis …
SBWire (press release) Minneapolis, MN — (SBWIRE) — 03/22/2012 — NorthStarSEO.com was launched in January of this year and one of the unique services they are offering is a free SEO analysis report for small businesses. Co-founded by internet marketing professionals … |
View full post on SEO – Google News
Can Social Media Pros Have Their Cake and Eat it Too?
Mar 22nd
For those of us immersed in social media, we often watch on in amazement when someone says SM is just a fad. Do they know something the rest of us do not? Social media essentially comes at no cost to companies, be they just beginning a business venture or veterans of the business world. So [...]
Follow SEJ on Twitter @sejournal
View full post on Search Engine Journal
Get Inside Their Heads – A Strategic Framework For Super-Effective SEO! – SEOmoz (blog)
Mar 20th
 SEOmoz (blog) |
Get Inside Their Heads – A Strategic Framework For Super-Effective SEO!
SEOmoz (blog) You spend hundreds, or even thousands of dollars on SEO. Your page finally ranks on top at Google – but your traffic isn't that much higher. Worse, when you analyze your visitors' behavior using a stats package like Google Analytics, you discover that … |
View full post on SEO – Google News
Omaha SEO Company Net Success Announces the Launch of Their Pay-Per … – DigitalJournal.com (press release)
Mar 19th
|
Omaha SEO Company Net Success Announces the Launch of Their Pay-Per …
DigitalJournal.com (press release) So say's Larry Dozier, the manager of Net Success, an Omaha SEO company which has recently shifted over to using a pay per performance pricing model for their seo clients. Many small business owners are hesitant to hire an SEO firm simply because of … |
View full post on SEO – Google News
