tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68910463088520412952024-03-13T21:23:33.124+00:00SEO IrelandPrimaryPosition.com is Irelands top-ranked SEO and search engine optimisation consultancy. This is our blog.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06142914827010036758noreply@blogger.comBlogger115125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891046308852041295.post-80534106475949122682013-10-18T18:28:00.002+01:002013-10-18T18:28:25.652+01:00Google starts to show (not provided) in organic resultsYes - you heard correctly, a trial new version of Google, code-named Google Ninja, is going to start sharing organic results as "(not provided)." Already infamous amongst website owners, this latest move does little to help the growing unrest and anger directed towards the search engine, which is one of the biggest in the world.<br />
<br />
A source at the company, a Google Search Quality Engineer, who couldn't be named for privacy reasons, had this to say:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Google take privacy very seriously. After our very successful hiding of organic keywords, people reached out to tell us how important this is to their daily lives. Now, they don't need to be embarrassed about using Google to search for drugs, weapons and ideas for criminal mayhem. As such, all organic results will be shown as "(not provided)" and the links will be disabled. Naturally, Paid-ads will still show, as people are paying for that, so it would be kind of wrong not to" -- (Not Provided)</blockquote>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DfncLt8T0P8/UmFvIfOJ-CI/AAAAAAAAAoo/qS-6cymyuJ4/s1600/not+provided.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DfncLt8T0P8/UmFvIfOJ-CI/AAAAAAAAAoo/qS-6cymyuJ4/s1600/not+provided.png" /></a></div>
Web store owners up and down the country are said to be left pulling their hair out in frustration with the search giant, rumoured to be smaller than Yahoo! in its search marketing share according to DomScore, the website that rates and scores Dominatrix Dungeon owners according to popularity and domination ability.<br />
<br />
Google Chairman, Chris Muller-Lite said that the company were just trialling the idea and that (not provided) would only make up a tiny share of the organic search results and most people wouldn't even notice.<br />
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It really is a bit of a complete joke!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06142914827010036758noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891046308852041295.post-82725301340220218472013-09-18T21:02:00.001+01:002013-09-18T21:02:27.202+01:00Funny thought about earned links and Negative SEO<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kmuvsGR1qmw/UjoGfEZhHsI/AAAAAAAAAoU/SWmFXUKGgXM/s1600/Great+Content.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kmuvsGR1qmw/UjoGfEZhHsI/AAAAAAAAAoU/SWmFXUKGgXM/s1600/Great+Content.png" /></a></div>
<br />
The pain of looking through your own back links to see who is linking to you, the angst of wondering what Google thinks and what to do about them. Webmasters were right to worry about Negative SEO - its true and Google is already warning and penalising sites because it can't really determine "natural" and "unnatural" links.<br />
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Earned links are the most spurious, because they come from the lowest value. I'll write about them in more detail later on. This is a funnier thought from Skype:<br />
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I was talking to one of my colleagues and I was lamenting the earned links we have from seemingly low quality blogs (i.e. lower than ours, the vast sum of the web is build in a authority pyramid shape with high sites at the top built on bases of lower ranking sites). This isn't their fault. Nor is it ours.<br />
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But here's the summary of out thinking:<br />
<br />
*A Brief history of SEO*<br />
<br />
2003-20012 Helping people build quality, helpful links like "visit my finance blog here"<br />
2013: Helping people delete helpful links and replace them with just click here<nofollow> and disavowing all the free links you got for writing great content</nofollow><br />
<br />
*The New Rule* Write good content but not _great_ content - otherwise people will link to you and you'll have to disavow them all !<br />
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#fun #seo #negativeseo #google<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06142914827010036758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891046308852041295.post-67546306836894593982013-06-06T10:04:00.001+01:002013-06-06T10:04:33.386+01:00seoMoz reinvent themselves into twitter marketing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fdwnLiEBEtE/UbBQUeRZ-RI/AAAAAAAAAoA/wJ7HsXvF3j4/s1600/SEOmoz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fdwnLiEBEtE/UbBQUeRZ-RI/AAAAAAAAAoA/wJ7HsXvF3j4/s320/SEOmoz.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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SeoMoz has been a clever little company since it's founding. Their tool and USP was their ability to spy on and record other people's links. It's all rather counter productive if you ask me<br />
<br />
Well, for a link-obsessive product (let's face it, the other SEO stuff is fudge and guesswork) - link obsession doesn't work anymore. Copying links that anyone can get is, as you've probably guessed, just not worth it. Getting higher value links is and while you can find them, you may not have the real life relationship to get them created.<br />
<br />
<b>What now for seoMoz?</b><br />
Well, they're a clever little lot and rather than argue with link building, it seems that they found a way to cater to the masses of bad SEO's and give them what they wanted. As people copied links, more links had to be found and the whole ponzi scheme got off to a great start....<br />
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But now, the main tool in seoMoz's kit, the Link Explorer, is somewhat past it's sell-by-date, so they recently acquired FollowerTwonk, which according to it's website provides Twitter Analytics. Now this could be quite useful<br />
<br />
<b>Social Media is the future for.....Moz (?) !</b><br />
The erstwhile CEO may often be lampooned for his "Great content" quips but it turns out that not only could this be the saving grace for (seo)Moz but there are more Social Media consultants than there are SEO's - so this should be a fantastic page turner.<br />
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We'd like to wish all of the crew over at the new Moz all the best! Watch this spotAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06142914827010036758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891046308852041295.post-68333485496160732702013-04-10T19:28:00.001+01:002013-04-10T19:28:07.302+01:00SEO is about putting content into context. Content is a vital component of online marketing - that's the point of online marketing - to drive visitors to content! But there's a growing myth that content = marketing and we want to balance that with some new thinking.<br />
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How does Google look at content - really, its from the users point of view. You might be writing for the user but you don't get to decide if you're the right content to read at that time. That's why users like Google and, unless you have your own channel, that's the game you have to play!<br />
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<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="356" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" mozallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/18560274" style="border-width: 1px 1px 0; border: 1px solid #CCC; margin-bottom: 5px;" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="427"> </iframe> <br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 5px;">
<strong> <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/PrimaryPosition/seo-context-in-online-marketing" target="_blank" title="Seo context in online marketing">Seo context in online marketing</a> </strong> from <strong><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/PrimaryPosition" target="_blank">PrimaryPosition.com</a></strong> </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06142914827010036758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891046308852041295.post-21725744874101036422013-02-27T12:33:00.003+00:002013-02-27T12:33:53.479+00:00Visitor Stats for Top US Sites<br />
Do you know how many users are on ..... ?<br />
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We're constantly bombarded with the total number of visitors for the top ten platforms, and some are better known than others. But we think that opinions are always a poor substitute for facts...<br />
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So, thanks to the people at Experian, these are the biggest websites in the US by weekly visits up to last Friday, the 23rd of February 2013..<br />
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(http://www.experian.com/hitwise/online-trends.html)<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B6mowS70S5M/US39GaXTJ_I/AAAAAAAAAnc/PBkMCQbeV0U/s1600/visits+US.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B6mowS70S5M/US39GaXTJ_I/AAAAAAAAAnc/PBkMCQbeV0U/s1600/visits+US.png" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06142914827010036758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891046308852041295.post-30102249338279634752013-01-27T00:53:00.005+00:002013-01-27T00:53:38.436+00:00How to manage Page Admins in Google+It seems a little more complex than it needs to be but at least its probably not something you need to do every day. Here's a quick step-by-step guide to setting up admins for a Google+ page.<br />
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<b>Step 1</b><br />
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<v:stroke endarrow="open"/>
</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><span style="height: 61px; margin-left: 173px; margin-top: 19px; mso-ignore: vglayout; position: absolute; width: 104px; z-index: 251659264;"></span><!--[endif]-->Go to
your new page and “Switch to” the page<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1x8fiQar9rk/UQR5dBecRUI/AAAAAAAAAnE/RkPxFRYyjtY/s1600/Google++Admin+Page+Select.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1x8fiQar9rk/UQR5dBecRUI/AAAAAAAAAnE/RkPxFRYyjtY/s1600/Google++Admin+Page+Select.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1x8fiQar9rk/UQR5dBecRUI/AAAAAAAAAnE/RkPxFRYyjtY/s1600/Google++Admin+Page+Select.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>Step 2</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Click on the home Icon and then select "Settings" from the gear icon</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-50nF8Qv0HlE/UQR5dP-9OEI/AAAAAAAAAnA/6TW2qiTJ6ww/s1600/Google%252B+Admin+Page+Select+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-50nF8Qv0HlE/UQR5dP-9OEI/AAAAAAAAAnA/6TW2qiTJ6ww/s1600/Google%252B+Admin+Page+Select+2.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>Step 3</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Select the "Managers" slider switch</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-28SSoyuZAf0/UQR5czEkSuI/AAAAAAAAAm8/R_OAbRXuiWk/s1600/Google%252B+Admin+Page+Select+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-28SSoyuZAf0/UQR5czEkSuI/AAAAAAAAAm8/R_OAbRXuiWk/s1600/Google%252B+Admin+Page+Select+3.png" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06142914827010036758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891046308852041295.post-47332074583308919062013-01-17T18:10:00.004+00:002013-01-17T18:10:54.157+00:00Opinion: twitter and Google+, some thoughtsIf you've been following me, you'll notice I'm finding more and more to play with on Google+. I didn't like Google+ at the start because it seemed much more deeper-dive than twitter and I love twitters ADHD style.<br />
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In 2008 (I know, I was late to the party), I joined twitter and also started blogging. Everyone told me, as if it was written on the wall, that twitter was nonsense, a fad and would never work. In 2012, I think its fair to say, twitter went mainstream. 200 million+ users. Every news and major corporation had embraced it. Twitter was even used in revolutions and wars.<br />
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Millions on twitter tell me that they know Google+ won't work. Its failed. Its a waste ground. Millions of them have never been - but they know, matter-of-factly, unquestionably know that Google+ doesn't work, won't work and could it just go away. Without a doubt.<br />
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That's Google+'s ace card. Twitter was better, IMHO, to small business in 2008 and 2009 because it was mostly early-mid stage adopters. You could talk to big company CxO's, scientists, and journalists. Thought leaders and provokers. Disruptor's. Everyone who had a place in real life and especially those who didn't - were welcomed with open arms in a sort of start-up type liberal, open minded disruptor.<br />
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But now its main stream and that's gone. But Google+ has this in spades. Don't come to Google+ to look for twitter - keep Hello! magazine over in twitter by all means please :)<br />
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I know very few people good at predicting the future of technology. Like a handful. And they aren't the masses that laughed at twitter and then 3 years later found themselves opening an account on it. No, people are afraid of having to have two accounts. And if twitter is Hello! magazine and Google+ is twitter from 2009 - I'm pretty happy with that.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06142914827010036758noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891046308852041295.post-47281161606398460782013-01-15T22:10:00.002+00:002013-01-15T22:10:09.355+00:00Facebook and the $100 billion loan to small businesses<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Facebook have just launched their Graph Search system. According to Mark Zuckerberg, this is the 'Third Pillar' in the Facebook Graph Platform. It will be based on 'Likes' and it will return results and this is different from Google, which is based on 'Links,' according to transcripts based on live blogging during the launch at their HQ today.<br />
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<b>Dissecting the obvious straight line thinking </b><br />
There will be lots and lots of straight line comparisons. Because they mentioned Search, there will be lots of immediate comparisons to Web Search and Search engines. Specifically Google and Bing! (yawn). This will range from "not yet competitive" to "massive challenger to Google" to "at last, SocialSearch is here and SEO is dead."<br />
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<b>Stepping away from the hype</b><br />
Essentially, searching for things within your own network isn't true. LinkedIn do a great job. Twitter do a reasonable job. All three do awful jobs of searching across their databases. I'm not being unfair - most search functions are pretty basic. Google makes a very, very complicated tough job look easy. And what Facebook announced is a search based on their network, content and structure. This isn't web search.<br />
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<b>No need for crystal balls</b><br />
You can already measure how big Facebook Web Search is: Bing is directly connected to the search bar. Both Facebook search and Bing search are so truly awful that, despite Facebook's 1 billion users, Bing has less than 10% of the global search market, which we estimate to be about 3 billion people. That's according to search impressions. Actual traffic volume would suggest Bing is less than 3%.<br />
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<b>Facebook fixed a bug or Facebook created a problem</b><br />
Having a working search system that extends over and above keyword matching is one thing. But there's a problem. Facebook made a big loss for many years. Some nice guys in some stylish suits who live in some expensive offices gave them some cash. Lots of it. And then Facebook paid them back by withdrawing a huge loan that they took out from Wall street on behalf of Small, Medium and Large businesses everywhere. They took a bet that they could connect you with a billion people and it would simplify your advertising costs by putting all of your spend in one place...<br />
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<b>Social Graph Search is based on Connections</b><br />
Ah, clever Facebook - because they're not connecting you with 1,000 million people at all. Because that would be stupid. Instead the only people who can find you are the people already connected to you. That means you'll have to continue paying for likes. And now you be sure that that got even more expensive.<br />
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<b>Hello Spam</b><br />
Facebook are doing a terrible job at handling spam. We get messages like this monthly and Facebook doesn't delete the likes or the accounts that sell them. This is why we think Google has been so slow to build in Social Signals. That and what's the point of connecting to content you're already connected to?<br />
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There isn't any. Google is about finding new content. 18% of searches performed every day are brand new. Never before used. Here's an example: "Prince Harry Naked in Las Vegas" - before 2012, I bet you this was never ever searched for before.<br />
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Spam, keyword stuffing, fake likes, fake pages, duplicate pages will be on the up<br />
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Facebook promised free marketing and the bailiff is here to collect. That's a big loan and somebody has to pay up. Forgive me for being cynical, but I just am. Meanwhile, seoMoz are still in the quest for "Great Content." Well, anything that's emotional - because obviously that equates to great.<br />
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<b>Is anything free anymore?</b><br />
Every website in the world is indexed, catalogued and returned fair and square in Google. Businesses are listed by location, for free via Google Places (Google Local). Google+ is also free. So is YouTube. Go there - its free. Also, if you do decide to go for advertising - the conversion rates are epic.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06142914827010036758noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891046308852041295.post-55270897018506704652013-01-13T11:46:00.001+00:002013-01-13T11:46:15.376+00:00Google+ in 2012 [Video]Entertaining Google+ video capturing the many milestones and events that happened on the layer in 2012 - from live hangouts with musicians to the Space Station. 2012 was just the beginning :)<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/QgR6Y5nrTdQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Interested in Google+ ? Join our <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/105277221298437142729" target="_blank">Online Marketing</a> Community and visit our <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/103277786011879213713/103277786011879213713/posts" target="_blank">Primary Position</a> Google+ pageAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06142914827010036758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891046308852041295.post-27469054572451231412013-01-05T13:10:00.001+00:002013-01-05T13:10:12.112+00:00Is Google becoming too arrogant?<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely"</i></span><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dalberg-Acton,_1st_Baron_Acton" target="_blank">John Dalberg-Acton</a></blockquote>
This quote, which is a great observation, continues to prove itself. It's 2013 and we're still plagued with dictatorships and Mad Men struggling to stay in control, justified only by their ego and self value. 2012 was a bad year for a few - especially of the strangest and oldest. But they still stand. Sometimes we forget about them. Like Robert Mugabe, who continues to wreak havoc on the people who sought to liberate, not unlike Castro. But sometimes we just fail to recognise them.<br />
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Google is a tech company that I'm very familiar with. I'm often accused of being a Google fan boi. But I'm a fan of technology, not technology companies. Microsoft, Dell, Intel and Yahoo came before, not necessarily in that order but close. I've also worked for most of them in some shape or another.<br />
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Google is just the newest crush. But it's waning thin. They used to stand for the best. They had a dream. They delivered. They challenged. And now, seemingly without a challenger worthy in their own eyes, they've become a bit of an abuser of power.<br />
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I Googled "Google." And then I had to Google Pre-eminent. You couldn't make it up. I just grabbed the first result, as it was rather fitting.<br />
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<b>Good Content</b><br />
This is a dangerous PR stunt for Google to play. They've shifted the dislike for PageRank to the spammy SEO companies that tried to sell and buy their way into organic rankings. To say that it ranks site purely on content is a big PR gamble. Google cannot judge content and it has no intention because its context that determines the value of content. Not grammar. Or Style. Mostly, it's User Generated Content. Typically rushed, often breaking multiple Rules. Think Fora (forums?), Buy and Sell sites, Trip Advisor. That kind of thing. That's what Google means by "Good Content." Not Stephen King. Sorry PR and Copywriter people. Google and users just don't care.<br />
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Google still loves Meta data and even expanded it what it processes. It still cares about Server and folder/file architecture. Canons. PageRank. Penguin wasn't about good content - it was about going after people who use keyword stuffing and buy/sell links. That has nothing to do with content.<br />
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<b>Taking on the world</b></div>
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The EU and FTC handed them a tiny slap on the wrist recently with their back track of an anti-trust investigation. Actually, it was a peck on the cheek. In fact, if you were a senior VP or other executive, you'd be forgiven if you thought it was actually a ringing endorsement of everything they do. Except that the <a href="http://www.independent.ie/business/technology/ec-to-continue-pursuit-of-google-despite-end-to-us-probe-3342357.html" target="_blank">EU seem to be a little more determined</a> - given Europe's history of favouring protectionism.<br />
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Google still play the scrappy start-up. They're challenging everybody. Video. Search. Online Marketing (via acquisitions and investments). Car makers. Sat Nav. Mobile phone OS. Mobile phone handset makers. Office productivity. Hosted E-Mail. Laptops. OS.<br />
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They're taking on giants like Apple, Microsoft, Nokia....etc. If it can connect to the Internet, Google wants a large slice of it. 80% or so should be fine.<br />
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<b>Wake up Call</b><br />
The problem is, that most of their products are just too basic. Not basic just from a clean, uncluttered point of view. But basic. Worse than Ryanair or no-frills - a just "Doesn't work" basic. In the last month, updates to the Search product have seen Google Local and Google maps fail to work for searches in Europe.<br />
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Their Google Apps - so basic that you can rely on it when you have carrier pigeons to carry your TCP protocol - is now a "premium" product. I'm sorry - but Google Apps isn't worth paying for. I might use 50% of Microsoft Word features and Google might have 50% of the functions we use 50% of the time but its starting to take its own drugs if it believes that its a premium service.<br />
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Analytics is a dinosaur product that doesn't work properly. Its unreliable and its rubbish. Google hind behind "its a free product" as an excuse for doing something properly. You only have two alternatives - accept the unsupported failure product or fork out €50k a month for the premium version. For small businesses.<br />
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SiteProNews seem to be wondering the same thing, <a href="http://www.sitepronews.com/2012/12/13/is-google-becoming-a-tyrant/" target="_blank">Is Google Becoming a Tyrant</a>?<br />
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I'm sorry Google, but you're going to have to go back to the drawing board. To be a world leader, you <b>ALWAYS </b>have to deliver the best, not just the first time.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06142914827010036758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891046308852041295.post-64333899653787515052013-01-02T00:46:00.001+00:002013-01-02T00:49:46.130+00:00New! Internet Marketing Ireland Community on Google+<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mFZfVs6lWKc/UOOBpdwvrBI/AAAAAAAAAkw/Dom1czrc2BM/s1600/google-plus-icon.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mFZfVs6lWKc/UOOBpdwvrBI/AAAAAAAAAkw/Dom1czrc2BM/s400/google-plus-icon.png" width="600" /></a></div>
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Are you working in <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/105277221298437142729" target="_blank">Internet Marketing in Ireland</a> or have an interest in it? Then you'll love our new Google+ group, which is also a great introduction to how Google+ is evolving and growing rapidly, with over 235 million active users.<br />
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Many marketers are reluctant to set up on Google+ as they seem to have an ever growing time demand from existing and other must-have platforms. But Google+ is growing faster than twitter, facebook and pinterest. It also doesn't require the same amount of time or intensity of use. The iphone and Android apps are also brilliantly fast and sleek.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a237y3sT8WA/UOODD-WT_tI/AAAAAAAAAlA/knKGd2_yFKE/s1600/Google-Plus-Social.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="108" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a237y3sT8WA/UOODD-WT_tI/AAAAAAAAAlA/knKGd2_yFKE/s200/Google-Plus-Social.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
You use and interact with Google+ from everywhere and anywhere, without having to go to your profiles: Google Mail, Search, on-page on websites. Its integrating into all of Google's platforms and its really making the rest look a little clunky, which should have a positive impact for all users as the different networks compete and improve their offerings to compete and stay ahead.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06142914827010036758noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891046308852041295.post-58468767802564577212012-11-30T15:52:00.001+00:002012-11-30T15:52:33.260+00:00Prospecting for Customers Online - how Internet Marketing works in Ireland<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="356" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" scrolling="no" src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/15428663" style="border-width: 1px 1px 0; border: 1px solid #CCC; margin-bottom: 5px;" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="427"> </iframe> <br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 5px;">
<strong> <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/PrimaryPosition/internet-and-online-marketing-seo-ireland" target="_blank" title="Internet and Online Marketing | SEO Ireland">Internet and Online Marketing | SEO Ireland</a> </strong> from <strong><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/PrimaryPosition" target="_blank">PrimaryPosition.com</a></strong> </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06142914827010036758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891046308852041295.post-89968677240267462862012-11-26T20:46:00.002+00:002012-11-26T20:46:37.358+00:00Understanding SEO: How Google searches and indexes data.Lovely Infographic which explains what happens when you search Google and some of the statistics behind the amazing feats of engineering they've cobbled together to give split-second search results from a 100,000,000 GB database.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZE0TafW4QXs/ULPTX79HhaI/AAAAAAAAAkY/ZqyVcrzPIl0/s1600/Google-search-infographic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZE0TafW4QXs/ULPTX79HhaI/AAAAAAAAAkY/ZqyVcrzPIl0/s640/Google-search-infographic.jpg" width="494" /></a></div>
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Most of Google's search results are based on Indices. Each Index is a list of keywords, locations and pages that they relate to. When you search using a keyword (keyword is plural in search lingo - and a keyword can be one or more keywords, also known as a keyphrase), Google returns the results of an index or the results of pages in the indices your phrases matches.<br />
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So in essence, the index is pre-built. Google just applies rank order and geo-location to filter the results. So in most cases, if you're searching from Ireland, pages from the same country are given higher priority. Results priority are given in the order that suits the query, not necessarily the site or page with the highest PageRank.<br />
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To assemble this index, Google stores all of the relevant data with the keyword and web address. This is what makes it tick so fast. It doesn't really have to search, most of the computational mathematics have already been performed.<br />
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When Google processes each page, it determines what keywords on each page are strong or relevant enough. It also looks to see how popular it is and then gives it a score. It also decides which countries that its relevant to. <br />
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Google also has to then do the same keyword matching with its AdWords database as well as its Google Local (Zagat/Places) database. It also pulls relevent data from its news feed (especially for QDF) and from YouTube and Images. This data is then compiled into the search results you see.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06142914827010036758noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891046308852041295.post-45668941941243868462012-11-26T12:34:00.000+00:002012-11-26T12:34:18.149+00:00Cyber Monday<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber_Monday">Cyber Monday</a> is a marketing term to describe a day of discounted ecommerce trading, and comes after Thanksgiving Thursday and "Black Friday." <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(shopping)" target="_blank">Black Friday</a> is one of the biggest consumer discount retail days in the US and is similar to post-Christmas Boxing day sales in the UK and St Stephens Day sales in Ireland. Coined in 2005 as a way to convince people to spend online, <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23cybermonday&src=typd" target="_blank">#CyberMonday</a> is due to see a $1 billion splurge online.<br />
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Essentially, its a marketing gimmick - not unlike creating Valentines Day or De Beers' famous "A Diamond if forever campaign" - which created a market for diamonds that didn't previously exist!<br />
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This figure though is massively overshadowed by the recent news that Taobao, the online Chinese retailing behemoth, closed <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2012/11/13/chinese-online-mall-taobao-reports-3b-yes-billion-in-sales-in-one-day-infographic-in-chinese/" target="_blank">$3 billion in sales in one day</a>!<br />
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If you haven't taken advantage of it - its probably too late. A quick Google search reveals that hundreds of online marketers already have a head start, which included securing EMD for cybermonday2012.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06142914827010036758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891046308852041295.post-58333480917970938362012-11-22T20:46:00.001+00:002012-11-22T20:47:52.916+00:00Hello Blogger - its an end to 2012 but not to Blogger!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I set up this blogger blog in 2008 and I've been an avid blogger ever since. As we saw the greatest expansion and growth in 2012, we decided to move the blog to our WordPress version on Primary Position, to consolidate our traffic and web infrastructure in one place.<br />
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This was a mistake. A big, big, big mistake.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oIHWRFZE14Q/UK6I5skPA_I/AAAAAAAAAjo/cANcz4GPpYs/s1600/email-rss-blogger.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oIHWRFZE14Q/UK6I5skPA_I/AAAAAAAAAjo/cANcz4GPpYs/s200/email-rss-blogger.png" width="200" /></a>This is the complexity of the times we live in. The right decision isn't always the best one. The correct decision can also be wrong. Blogger is free - much in the way are WordPress.com hosted sites. And with that, comes the inability to move away properly. You can ditch it. But you can't move it easily.<br />
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I picked Blogger, not because its free, but because its fast. And I found myself in a catch-22. First off, I'm a big fan of multiple domain name strategies and I always have. I have more domains than almost anyone I know, bar <a href="http://twitter.com/mneylon" target="_blank">Michele Neylon</a> for example, and a few other serious domainers. I also have a number of websites. They act as backup plans, reputation managers and displacement ranking sites.<br />
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But backup mostly. You see, most companies have just one domain - and that's dangerous. What happens if your hosting goes down (for multiple reasons, which I'm not going into) or you accidentally ban yourself from Google (for example, by blocking your site in Robots.txt) or if you "steal" your own content.<br />
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When we wanted to move from here to there because we wanted to be on WordPress. There were lots of reasons, and they were good ones, and here are some:<br />
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<li>Better control of the theme</li>
<li>Its our content on our domain</li>
<li>It gets harder and harder to leave here</li>
<li>More control over hosting, technical configuration</li>
<li>We'd be all grown up and 'using' a 'proper' blog cms</li>
<li>Traffic and SEO effect to our own domain would work harmoniously</li>
<li>Except it didn't</li>
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I take full responsibility for the decisions and the support I got from our team was unanimous. It was the right decision and we all had a role to play.</div>
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Why I didn't want to move:</div>
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<li>The SEO authority in this blogger was legendary. We could rank for anything in seconds</li>
<li>This is where we started, where people knew us</li>
<li>Do you know how long it takes to build that many links and to build that much Kudos?</li>
<li>Blogger gets better and better all the time</li>
<li>I'm a Google Fanboi (but I own an iPhone and I still love Dell!)</li>
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So here's what we did</div>
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<li>We found a 'hack' to sort-of '301' this blog to our blog</li>
<li>We found a way to import all of the content to our own</li>
<li>We even got all of the comments and user data! Yay!</li>
<li>It was epic</li>
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But Google doesn't really provide a way to move. You can stay, leave, abandon. But you cannot 'move'</div>
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Google does a lot of good stuff...and a lot of bad, dumb stuff that is the product of becoming the enormous giant that it is. Bureaucratic. Stuff like how it polices (or doesn't) AdWords and Brand name infringements, libel and flouts laws on Advertising and Trademark protections. Fair play to Australian courts for dragging Google to task. Fair play to Google for rolling out some of these worldwide.</div>
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Yes, Google gave a free tool. And Google believes, that it can provide limited support, warranty etc as a result. Except there's no pay-for option. And that's kind of sucky. Because what happened next is exactly why I evangelise to people to move away from free services ASAP.</div>
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My reason for hosting on here wasn't because it was free. I couldn't care less. I spend 1000's on hosting, because I'm in the business. In fact, just 5 years ago, my total online hosting and domain ownership bill was in excess of €900 per month. We have a technical team of two engineers who spend all day every day managing sites we work on. The cost is frightfully negligible.</div>
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One of the things Google does, which is great in principle, is that it remembers. It remembers pages you put up and take down and it remembers them for a very, very long time. Months. Years even.</div>
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Many websites get taken down for a multitude of reasons. Missed billing. Wrong billing. Hacks. Forgetful webmasters. Malware. Try ticking the wrong box in your CMS (try the Privacy Option in WordPress if you're bored and hate getting free traffic from Google - it'll soon dry up)(actually please dont!). So Google doesn't drop pages automatically. In fact, getting it to do so ranges from tedious to downright annoying.</div>
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Well, moving our content AND using our 301 was a disaster and cause a multitude of problems that made it look like PrimaryPosition.com had copied (and it had) from Blogger - large scale. And that caused massive issues. Even though we set everything here to draft, there's no real way to move. There's canon settings and everything but ultimately, if Google thinks you're bad, you're done for until you fix it. And no, there's no helpline or support....!</div>
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So, if you're hosting here or WordPress.com, then stay or go. But if you're going to go, go soon :)</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06142914827010036758noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891046308852041295.post-4916267890203316602012-11-07T20:01:00.003+00:002012-11-07T20:01:41.832+00:00Google Now - available on iPhone and better than Apple's Siri!<br />
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<b>Google Now</b></div>
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Google Now is a new type of everyday computer aid for those that struggle to disconnect from the web. It will tell you when to leave your house for your appointment and if you are going to meet traffic along the way. It will even give you a route to avoid traffic if necessary. Google Now is always one step ahead of you to make sure you don’t trip up.</div>
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<b>At a new restaurant and can't decide what to eat?</b></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Google Now is like having a personnel assistant round the clock in your pocket. One of its great features is that if you’re in a restaurant and Google has access to their menu, Google Now will help you choose what you want from preselected preferences. What makes it even better is as you wait for your meal to be cooked Google Now can keep you updated about your favourite sports teams in real time. I can imagine those functions being pretty handy when lost in Japan as the super bowl starts!</span></div>
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Google Now decides which is the most important or most relevant with regards to you location, the time or what your friends are up to. For example if you are in the subway Google Now will realise this and select the public transport card to appear first this way you will know what train is next and how long it will be. This new feature which was only released on the 29<sup>Th</sup> of October has made it into another great technology that makes living so much easier.</div>
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Google Now has 3 different genres to select your cards from Manage your day, Stay connected and Be a local anywhere. Under each genre there are different cards you can choose from:</div>
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Manage your day:</div>
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1.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Next appointment</div>
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2.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Weather</div>
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3.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Traffic</div>
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4.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span>flights</div>
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5.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Hotels</div>
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6.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Restaurant reservations</div>
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7.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Events</div>
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8.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Packages</div>
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Stay connected</div>
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1.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Sports</div>
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2.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Movie Listings</div>
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3.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Concerts</div>
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4.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Stocks</div>
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5.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Public alerts</div>
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6.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Developing story and breaking news</div>
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Be a local anywhere with data on</div>
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1.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Public transit</div>
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2.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Places</div>
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3.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Nearby Attraction</div>
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4.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Nearby photo spots</div>
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5.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Translation</div>
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6.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Currency</div>
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7.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Time at home</div>
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With all these different cards to choose from you can almost guarantee that you will never be late, miss a train or go hungry. Like all the other Google products I presume the older it gets the more it will become integrated with other Google products and into our own lives. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06142914827010036758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891046308852041295.post-79912873457412288322012-03-30T13:43:00.004+01:002012-11-07T15:55:04.922+00:00Somebody that I used to know: Gotye's YouTube hit by the numbersGotye is having a bit of a good time right now showing the value of virality and the power of producing really great content. It's created all kinds of value for him and I'm delighted for him, if a little jealous.<br />
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What his success cements in place is youtubes place as the number 2 search and discovery tool on the internet. Yes, it is a video platform, but a lot of content from slides to songs are being converted for the purpose.<br />
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Lets have a look at the current state of Australian (Belgian born) artist Gotye's massive viral hit. Here it is if you missed it.<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8UVNT4wvIGY" width="560"></iframe><br />
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Posted in July of last year there are now over 133 million views on the original official video.<br />
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Amazing! What a story, right? Only half the story really though.<br />
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Here's what else is happening form a quick glance at youtube and only counting videos that got over 500,000 views the song has spread around by another 117 million views via other users. Those extra views include covers, lyrics versions, parodies and live performances.<br />
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<b>Here's the breakdown (Original song posted in July last year)</b><br />
133 million views<br />
117 million secondary views of the song<br />
630 thousand likes on youtube<br />
170 thousand comments on youtube<br />
7 million likes on Facebook<br />
185 thousand shares on Twitter<br />
7 thousand Google +1's<br />
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Just using our very basic counting method that pushes Gotye's total viral spread to over <b>250 million</b> on youtube. That is a vast reach and it cements youtube as top of the pops in a range of categories.<br />
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It's the second biggest search engine in the world after Google.<br />
It's the winner in content sharing and virality across the entire social spectrum.<br />
It's the winner in content discovery.<br />
It had over <b>2 billion</b> searches per day <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/17/technology/17youtube.html?th&emc=th">2 years ago</a><br />
Arguably the biggest music search engine with the music from the second largest video property VEVO syndicated into it's platform too.<br />
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<b>Why is it the winner? </b><br />
Not only is it the second largest search engine on it's own. It also integrates seamlessly with <a href="http://blogs.forrester.com/interactive_marketing/2009/01/the-easiest-way.html">Googles universal search</a> operating since 2009 so videos often end up on page one. In the social sphere it is almost unique in it's ability to not only use it's own network to spread content virally but also every other social network as well and drive that traffic back to itself or control the content viewing experience and the measurement thereof.<br />
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Seriously though, 133 Million views on a single video since last July is impressive right? But what if I told you that I could show you a story almost as impressive and immediately related.<br />
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Remember that 117 Million extra views for the song? What if I were to tell you that over <b>81 Million</b> of them were for a cover version posted in January this year. What if I told you that over <b>3.5 Million of them were for a parody, not of the original song, but of the cover version</b> and that the cover had triggered a series of parody versions that are all well into the hundreds of thousands in views and still growing? Interesting right.<br />
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<b>Here's the breakdown (Remember this is a cover version posted in january)</b><br />
81 million views<br />
5 million secondary views of the song<br />
760 thousand likes on youtube<br />
135 thousand comments on youtube<br />
4 million likes on Facebook<br />
247 thousand shares on Twitter<br />
12 thousand Google +1's<br />
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<b>Some interesting take aways here </b><br />
100 thousand more people actively liked the WOTE version on youtube.<br />
100 thousand more people shared it on twitter.<br />
5 thousand more people +1'd it. Almost twice as many.<br />
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<br />
It's clear to see from a distribution and reach perspective that this cover version of the original song added value to the original. It also added value for Walk Off The Earth but then value from content isn't a zero sum game.<br />
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It's also important to remember that none of this would be possible without youtube. Where's your content? Is it good enough to compete for your audience in this global market?<br />
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I do love Gotye's version but I actually prefer the WOTE cover version so I'm posting it here.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/d9NF2edxy-M" width="560"></iframe><br />
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Oh and before I forget Here's that parody. Enjoy :)<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IwPHy17Iu6E" width="560"></iframe>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891046308852041295.post-9632577321550225242012-03-15T13:03:00.001+00:002012-11-07T15:58:11.073+00:00Bees with Guns (and Electric Fences)<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222;"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My post about <a href="http://primaryposition.blogspot.com/2012/03/just-shoot-bear.html">shooting bears a few days ago</a> has seen a pretty big response. And a few emails asking me to explain myself. So here goes..</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222;"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b></span>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><b>Bees</b><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bees aren’t sexy and they aren’t big and powerful. A bee contributes. A bee is by default part of a community. A bee works hard to build supply and defend that community for his own sake and for the sake of others. </span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><b><br />Bears</b><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: #ffffcc;">bear</span> is a solitary predator who looks out for himself and only has interactions with others when he wants something. Bears are only interested in what something can do for them. They are not interested in contributing or in building.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The contrast between these two is the most stark when you consider that honey is one of the things bears like most. They love it but they produce none of the honey they consume.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What if we rename ‘honey’ as ‘value’.</span><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Bees work hard in a community to build up all the value and a place to store it. Bears don’t contribute and they don’t build value. They not only take the value built up but have absolutely no problem in destroying the place that holds the value either.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I doubt that bees, if they were asked, are terribly enamored of bears.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><b>Think about the market</b><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A lot of traditional marketers and many business people are bears. Bears don’t understand contribution. Bears don’t understand concepts like giving value first, customer service and caring about things outside yourself.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Both these models work by the way. Bears and bees both survive well and will continue to. It’s worth remembering though, that bears can only continue to do this because the bees can't stop them and they can't warn the next hive.</span></span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222;">
<b><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With the interconnectedness of communities these days, does the same apply to your brand or business? Is being a bear sustainable for brands?</span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b>
<b><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the bad old days no one could stop the message, no-one could warn the next community or group to build an electric fence, now they can and do. Information about who you are as a digital citizen is available to everyone. As many big brands brands and companies are discovering, stealing one group's honey can lead to fences being built for you all over the digital landscape.</span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course being a big bear meant something once. It meant you didn't have to care what people thought. But when the bees have guns and electric fences, however tiny, it all starts to add up.</span></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reputation and it’s affect on the bottom line have become so important that no one is big enough to steal someone's value and get away with it any more?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Don't be a bear, bees are much harder to shoot...</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Bonus Update: </b>If you don't want to shoot the bear you could always take the advice of Dwight Schrute. :)</span></span><br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891046308852041295.post-7970655228797256012012-03-10T13:22:00.002+00:002012-11-07T15:58:18.118+00:00SEO in Dubai<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hsl4B0ZrtGs/T1yflpBdmiI/AAAAAAAAAiU/DS31zMfjsR4/s1600/Dubai+Internet+City.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="196" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hsl4B0ZrtGs/T1yflpBdmiI/AAAAAAAAAiU/DS31zMfjsR4/s320/Dubai+Internet+City.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dubai Internet City - UAE</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I'm over in Dubai in the UAE doing bits and pieces and also enjoying the amazing city landscapes, architecture and gorgeous food - and since the start of planning my trip, I can't stop thinking about how Dubai is marketing itself online.<br />
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Firstly, the properties are fantastic, and while prices for some things seem high, others are quite cheap.<br />
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You can book a 5-star hotel (apart from the resorts) with over 130 to choose from for between €50 and €100 a night (about 250-500 AED). We found that affiliate and visitor information sites (like <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.ie/">http://www.tripadvisor.ie</a>, <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.ie/">http://www.tripadvisor.ie/</a>, <a href="http://www.travelrepublic.co.uk/">http://www.travelrepublic.co.uk/</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/indik8tor" target="_blank">YouTube</a>) were by far the best sources to determine our budget for hotels. The worst were the actual hotel websites.<br />
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Our first hotel, located in Bur Dubai, was really suitable for Business travellers and was close to the airport. When contacted directly, they quoted amounts about 4-5 times higher than the hotel comparison sites for the same hotel.<br />
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So, when approached by someone who eventually found their hotel online, and could have made a direct booking with no commission they chose to instead accept 75% less via a hotel reservations site and pay a commission. This makes no business sense to me at all.<br />
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The hotels we did book were based on what we could find out about them on Trip Advisor (discounting any blatantly "I've a bee in my bonnet" negative posts), but mostly on what we saw on YouTube. Good quality information, showing guests about what they offer, what they can do and where the hotel is located costs considerably less than handing over 75% of your projected turnover from internet-based sales.<br />
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It's a remarkable lesson for business owners - when you underinvest in your website and web assets (like your website, YouTube Channel, twitter, Facebook page) - then it will have a direct and potentially fatal cost to your business.<br />
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SEO adds value to your business by bringing the end customer with the product developer. Affiliates add less value and more cost to the transactional business.<br />
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Ultimately we found the best value via a travel agency in Kerry - who gave us the best advice and value on our second hotel, which was just unbelievable.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fa_Q1P2_qQM/T1yf0HHZsfI/AAAAAAAAAic/Y_X2bbls7OQ/s1600/Dubai+Internet+City+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="118" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fa_Q1P2_qQM/T1yf0HHZsfI/AAAAAAAAAic/Y_X2bbls7OQ/s320/Dubai+Internet+City+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the Global Companies in the DIC</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06142914827010036758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891046308852041295.post-8139876140420348812012-03-08T11:43:00.002+00:002012-11-07T15:58:21.234+00:00Simple and EasyGreat ideas, great marketing and even greats music is usually (not always) simple.<br />
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Beautifully magnificently, awesomely simple.<br />
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There is a habit, in our lazy use of language, of confusing the idea of simple with the idea of easy.<br />
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Making a point in a long rambling discussion is easy. It requires knowledge but because you have an engaged (or captive) audience, it doesn't require hard work to deliver that knowledge. It might be "long" work but it's not hard, it's not difficult. Anyone can do it with enough time.<br />
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What if you don't have a captive audience? What if you don't have time? What if you need to grab them as they drive by, digitally or physically.<br />
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The message you see or hear is often simple. Trying to make it simple is the hard work.<br />
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Don't think it'll be easy, don't do long and don't do complex. Don't be lazy<br />
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Do the hard work to make things simple.<br />
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Inspired by the guys at the #imuroadshow today :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891046308852041295.post-43908638930915435362012-03-01T09:26:00.003+00:002012-11-07T15:58:24.862+00:00Just shoot the bear<div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Bee's are a community that work together to produce food in the form of honey for the next generation. Bears don't add value and just take it for themselves</div>
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If you're adding value and someone is just taking it then fire (shoot) them. </div>
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Don't let them spam your blog, advertise on your facebook, add you on Linkedin or suck up your time.<br />
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<b>Bonus Update:</b> The video below considers some other options if you choose not to shoot the bear (and have time on your hands). Enjoy. :)<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06142914827010036758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891046308852041295.post-49817675697556603162012-02-23T09:00:00.001+00:002012-11-07T15:56:53.481+00:00Grass Growers and Grass CuttersA problem that is common in modern business and particularly in marketing is applying old thinking to a new situation, product, technology or problem and not realising that in the information age consumers can get informed and inform each other.<br />
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<b>Football pitches through the ages </b><br />
Once upon a time before pitch technology improved the average amateur teams pitch would get a bit bare. The solution offered to this was always “leave it alone and let the grass grow a bit” and all would be well.<br />
The problem of course was that it never was and we perpetually had poor playing surfaces for our field sports. This is the old thinking.<br />
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Since the 90’s though the number of purpose built pitches has increased dramatically. The dissemination of knowledge about pitch care has too. So on our modern pitches we now expect good surfaces. An important thing learned along the way is that it’s not just about the grass it’s about the roots and the soil too. The more roots we have the stronger our pitch surface is, the more blades of grass we have the less likely we are to have pitch wear. So cutting grass shorter more regularly and aerating the soil is the best way to maintain a pitch.<br />
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So it bemused me no end recently to hear an older groundsman dictate on how he was leaving the pitch be and letting the grass grow to help restore the pitch. I didn't have much hope of an improvement in the quality of the playing surface. Old thinking, new era, informed customer.<br />
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<b>Dangerous thinking</b><br />
That’s the danger of applying an old way of thinking to a new situation and with this new generation of informed consumers, brand marketers especially need to be wary of the trap.<br />
Remember these 3 things always before assuming that what you learned in a marketing or business degree course is relevant to the current situation.<br />
<ol>
<li>The old wisdom, while accepted, may have been wrong even in the old world but we never had the means to test it. </li>
<li>It may not produce the effect or results you were hoping for (and perhaps it never did) </li>
<li>Do you want to run the risk of alienating a customer who is better informed than you about: </li>
<ul>
<li>The problem itself </li>
<li>How easy it is to be informed about it accurately (If I know, why don’t you?) </li>
<li>How you ought to communicate it </li>
<li>The value of what you do </li>
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And you better believe that they are more informed because in this new connected age the information is here at their finger tips and communication is baked in.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891046308852041295.post-70357918246078964982012-01-31T22:52:00.001+00:002012-11-07T15:57:01.219+00:00Limerick Local Heroes - Town Hall Success<div style="text-align: justify;">
Last night saw the first main event of the <a href="http://limericklocalheroes.com/" target="_blank">Limerick Local Heroes</a> event - the town hall meeting. It was, by all definitions, a complete success. Many thanks to all of the co-contributors and a big round of applause to <a href="http://www.frawley.ie/" target="_blank">Tony Frawley</a> for getting everything going, keeping it going and for standing up and introducing everyone!</div>
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It was chaired by Aonghus McAnally - who gave up so much time for us - and was a superb presenter and speaker.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YjH5hWEwP24/TyhvwQUlpPI/AAAAAAAAAiE/V_manu87vvQ/s1600/City+View.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YjH5hWEwP24/TyhvwQUlpPI/AAAAAAAAAiE/V_manu87vvQ/s320/City+View.png" width="320" /></a>It was hugely inspiring - there was so much feedback - and everyone was positive. It was everything we as a group wanted, and it was great to see that there was only a message of solidarity and support. We had no idea that so many would turn up - but we're pretty glad we planned for it. With about 160 people pre-registered, we still had no idea of how many others would turn up but we were so happy to see the Strand Hotel fill up so quickly!</div>
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Support from the Strand and Absolute Hotel has been superb. The Absolute has been "housing" the many meetings that the <a href="http://www.absolutehotel.com/Meetings-&-Events" target="_blank">event organisers</a> have held to prepare and plan over the past 3 months (and I've only been a small contributor) - and the Strand generously and similarly donated the fantastic <a href="http://www.strandhotellimerick.ie/banqueting-limerick" target="_blank">Shannon Event Suite</a>.</div>
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Fair play to everyone and all of the volunteers who got involved - anonymously and without self promotion - it's so good to see community/altruistic spirit at times like this. And to many the people who gave up 3 hours of a Monday night in January on a whim of a chance at watching something happen to make a difference.</div>
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Also - super to see so many people who have moved to Limerick become so involved. Limerick is as diverse and as friendly as it is historic and traditional.</div>
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I think we all loved the Monorail idea - who couldn't but be reminded of the classic Simpsons Episode featuring the town hall meeting to propose a monorail? Absolutely brilliant - and with all of the colleges and skilled engineers we have, a chance to revisit an idea that has become a worldwide obsession since the 1800's - cheap, easy to build transport for everyone.</div>
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Thank you to everyone!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06142914827010036758noreply@blogger.com0Clancy Strand, Farranshone, Limerick, Co. Limerick, Ireland52.665972732658133 -8.630962371826171952.656343232658131 -8.6507033718261717 52.675602232658136 -8.6112213718261721tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891046308852041295.post-40832621827697796012012-01-19T21:53:00.001+00:002012-11-07T15:57:06.318+00:00Public Town Hall Meeting for Limerick Local HeroesLimerick Local Heroes are inviting the people of Limerick to attend a townhall meeting to discuss the project and how people can get involved. The meeting will take place on Monday, the 30th of January at the Strand Hotel in Limerick. More details <a href="http://llh.eventbrite.ie/?ebtv=C">here</a>.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Tony Frawley, spokesperson for the Limerick Local Heroes Steering Group, explains </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Limerick Local Heroes was born out of a frustration amongst genuine Limerick people drawn from the arts, business, sporting & community sectors who believed their voices haven’t been heard in developing a future vision for Limerick, particularly in terms of job creation."</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The Limerick Local Heroes initiative is not for profit and the steering group behind the initiative is made up of individuals from all sections of Limerick society, business, sports, arts, community, education all of whom are giving their own time to developing an environment for job creation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Those who are interested in attending can pre-register at <a href="http://llh.eventbrite.ie/?ebtv=C">http://llh.eventbrite.ie/?ebtv=C</a> </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06142914827010036758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891046308852041295.post-12964950346689923232012-01-12T17:33:00.002+00:002012-11-07T15:57:10.312+00:00Limerick Local Heroes | Be the changeI've always thought it was important for local citizens to support their city - take pride, responsibility and get involved in whatever they can. Limerick has been an employment black spot for a very long time. In fact, it seems like it's been that way forever. But something is afoot to change it - <a href="http://limericklocalheroes.com/">Limerick Local Heroes</a><br />
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It struggled to get a University - and only when an American entrepreneur philanthropist decided to back (read: fund, pay, do it) and it struggles to get other things - like developing citizens who can believe in themselves, their city and their county. Limerick is the underdog of the underdogs. The National media pour scorn on Limerick - as if to point out that living in the overpriced, traffic choked capital isn't so bad because it could be worse - you could live in Limerick, where presumably people are shot dead just for trying to go outside to find water or charcoal.<br />
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Its a city that struggles with itself. When your own government tells you can't then you begin to believe it. The best leave. And then come back and find that the people who stayed behind now demonstrate a feeling of collective abandonment.<br />
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But those are just feelings. The thing is that Limerick is a terrific place in my opinion. And I grew up in the place that was just voted as the top destination on the planet: Cape Town.<br />
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There are fantastic things happening in Limerick. And Limerick is made up of lots of really smart, interesting, talented and lovable people and includes people from all over the world who now call it home.<br />
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So lets highlight this a bit by supporting the Limerick Local Heroes Initiative, based on the incredible success of "Can Do" recently exhibited by Dundalk on the RTE show, "Local Heroes - a town fights back".<br />
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Great to see many of the faces from Limerick Open Coffee and Bizcamp Limerick there (mainly <a href="http://www.idc.ul.ie/people/gabriela-avram">Gabriela Avram</a>, to whom this city owes a huge debt of gratitude and high praise for her tireless efforts in promoting the city, educating the city and creating so many positive events that include the very successful 3D Camp amongst many more).<br />
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The problem with blaming the government for the lack of progress in dealing with job creation and economic success is that holding them responsible for something that they know nothing about is frankly, absurd. The government needs to create the right conditions for economic activity to take place: Infrastructure, Education, Security, Enabling Trade. There are some interventions that are super necessary - enterprise ireland, the IDA, regulators. But frankly, entrepreneurs have to be the small in SME. Nobody is going to do it for us.<br />
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What makes America great, in my opinion, is Americans. They take pride and responsibility. They've believed in the unbelievable and made it happen. Now its our turn: after all, where did most Americans come from?<br />
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Some of the many success stories in Limerick include: Analog Devices, Dell, Vistakon, Cook Medical, LIT, The LIT LEAP Programme, The University of Limerick - which includes Leroy, Aughnish Alumna, Wyatt and so many more.<br />
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Follow the Local Heroes Limerick campaign on Twitter via the hashtag #limerickurmylady and on Facebook:<br />
https://www.facebook.com/#!/localheroeslimerickAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06142914827010036758noreply@blogger.com1