PlayHaven Grabs Google Admob?s Mobile Cowboy Yim As COO

PlayHaven, the gaming service provider that helps studios monetize their players better, just grabbed Google Admob’s Charles Yim as COO. He’ll oversee the company’s international expansion, developer relations and business development. He had a similar role at Google where he managed the ad network’s key relationships with the biggest game developers like Rovio. He joined AdMob on the business development team before the company was acquired for $750 million by Google in 2010. (“Mobile cowboy” is a nickname he got at SXSW a few years ago for wearing cowboy hats and boots all the time.) PlayHaven is a company that’s had nine lives, I mean, pivots. It started as a gamer’s social network that transitioned into making communities for mobile games. Now it focuses on maximizing lifetime revenue from players for developers. It launched a product last year, that implemented an HTML5 layer inside games so developers could automatically swap in and out promotions based on a player’s history or demographics. A “whale” that spends a lot would be shown different adverts than a player who advances in a game without spending anything. That helped the company rack up 4,000 developers on its platform, close an $8 million round of funding in November and grow to about 60 employees. Yim had advised the company through this evolution. “I’ve known the CEO Andy Yang personally and watched the development of the company,” said Yim. “They’ve identified product-market fit, they’re ready to scale and I’ve to come help them out.” PlayHaven’s business has two prongs — an in-app advertising network that reaches about 100 million monthly uniques and a platform of revenue maximization tools. Those tools segment out users based on their spending habits, and help developers understand which ads or promotions to show them. “If you look at the tools in this industry today, it reflects the maturity of this ecosystem,” he said. “We no longer just slapping ads on top of games without much thought about what’s the best point in the game to show an ad, who are the appropriate users to show an ad to or not show an ad to.” They face dozens of competitors that overlap slightly (though not totally) with their mission. Big service providers like Flurry and Tapjoy help developers acquire users, but they’re not necessarily primarily focused on maximizing engagement or retention. Chartboost is another competitor that recently raised $19 million from Sequoia

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/hj0Cr-yjgRA/

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Samsung expects Music Hub to reach competitors' devices, more countries

Samsung's Music Hub has only had a comparatively small reach to date, delivering tunes to seven countries (six with scan-and-match) and just a handful of devices. Senior VP of Media Services TJ Kang expects the audio service to broaden its horizons -- he tells The Next Web that Samsung wants to widen access to rivals' gear as well. There's no convenient timetable to put on the calendar, but the expansion is a significant move for a service that's frequently seen as more of a brand-specific checklist feature than a full competitor with the likes of Google Music or iTunes. Plans for Samsung's own devices are more definite, Kang says. Music Hub is coming to more countries in 2013, as long as licensing deals work out, and further device support (including the non-mobile variety) will depend on flagship hardware releases scattered throughout the year. No matter where Media Hub heads next, it's safe to presume that it will be more than just a nice bonus in the near future.

Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Portable Audio/Video, Mobile, Samsung

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Source: The Next Web

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/27/samsung-music-hub-to-reach-other-companies-devices-more-countries/

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Education of Business Online from NCSU How Is Email Marketing ...

By admin | Published January 27, 2013

Email marketing is a promotional tool used for online marketing of the business. According to research and study, researchers have found that it has become one of the most popular and easy to use marketing tool. Above all, its use is cost effective and can get easily fit into the budget of a marketer. Let?s see how it is an affordable means to reach out a customer.

Many marketers indulge in aggressive and robust marketing or advertising of their products and services. They strive hard to promote their companies through all sorts of media. Main media are print, broadcast as well as Internet. Prior to Internet, print and broadcast were broadly used by the entrepreneurs striving to compete with and outshine each other. The print form includes newspaper, pamphlets, brochures, magazines or journals. This consumes massive amount of money and a lot of time and other resources of a marketer. If you are advertising your product through radio or airing the same on a television channel, it requires manpower to create a promotional ad, time as well as money.

The net result of promotions through print and broadcast media is that it is uncertain whether you have reached your target customer. Your target audience may not have turned on the radio, watching the television channel or read the newspaper the day your advertisement was being aired or printed. When Internet marketing came into existence the marketers started turning to the World Wide Web for promotion. One of the major factors for turning to this medium was that the marketers found it inexpensive.

Email marketing is one such promotional tactics used by the advertisers to advertise their products or services. The essence is that one can create an ad or a newsletter, fetch for a potential customer and reach out to him. It has an assurance that a customer has received the mail. Avoid using promotional words as they can trap you in the snare of Spam. Create informative content that your reader would like to read. A marketer simply needs an opt-in list and an Internet connection in the marketing campaign. In this way, you can reach out your customers cost-effectively and easily.

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Source: http://www.graspncsu.com/2013/01/how-is-email-marketing-cost-effective/

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Two years since uprising, Egypt braces for more protests

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt marks the second anniversary of the uprising that swept Hosni Mubarak from power with little to celebrate. Deeply divided and facing an economic crisis, the nation is bracing for more protests, but this time against a freely elected leader.

President Mohamed Mursi's opponents plan to march to Tahrir Square on Friday to vent anger at the new Islamist leader and his Muslim Brotherhood backers, whom they accuse of betraying the goals of the January 25 revolution that galvanised Egyptians in a display of national unity that has not been seen since.

"We don't see it as a celebration. This will be a new revolutionary wave that will show the Brotherhood that they are not alone - that there are other forces that can stand against them," said Ahmed Maher, founder of the April 6 - a group that helped ignite the uprising by using social media to organise.

The Brotherhood has said it will not send its supporters to Tahrir Square on Friday - a decision that at least limits the scope for more of the unrest that has compounded Egypt's economic troubles.

Instead, with its eye on forthcoming parliamentary polls, the electorially savvy Brotherhood is marking the anniversary with a campaign to help the poor. With allies, it promises to send volunteers to renovate 2,000 schools, plant trees, deliver medical aid and open "charity markets" selling affordable food.

"The importance of the anniversary is to lift the spirits of the Egyptian people: more hope and more work," said Ahmed Aref, a Muslim Brotherhood spokesman who was in Tahrir Square for the entire 18-day uprising against Mubarak.

Inspired by Tunisia's uprising against President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, Egypt's revolution helped set off more revolts in Libya and Syria. It brought political freedom that allowed the dramatic rise to power of the Brotherhood, an Islamist group that was outlawed under decades of army-backed autocracy.

Two years on, Egypt is struggling with a deep economic crisis caused by political turbulence which has continued unabated since the election of a new president.

The sense of common purpose that united Egyptians against Mubarak has given way to conflict. Secularists and liberals accuse the Muslim Brotherhood of seeking to dominate the country. The Islamists say their opponents are not respecting the rules of the democratic game.

Mursi's bid to fast-track a controversial, Islamist-tinged constitution in December fuelled days of protests that helped send the Egyptian pound to record lows against the U.S. dollar. Analysts fear Friday could bring more yet more trouble.

"I foresee very big protests, and some civil unrest," said Elijah Zarwan of the European Council on Foreign Relations. "Two years on, a real sense of disenchantment has settled on Egypt.

"There is a fairly widespread sense that the country is slipping, socially, economically and in terms of governance. Politically, the divisions have become so fierce that it's hard to imagine the various parties and factions coming to an agreement, even on the things they agree on."

CONSTITUTION "NOT WORTHY" OF REVOLUTION

Despite winning approval in a popular referendum, the new constitution remains one of the main grievances of the array of leftist and liberal parties calling for Friday's protests.

"Nothing will undermine our hopes, but this constitution is not worthy of the revolution," Maher of April 6 told Reuters.

Its critics say the constitution offers inadequate protection for human rights, gives the president too many privileges and fails to curb the power of the military establishment.

Mursi's supporters say the criticism is unfair, enacting the constitution quickly was crucial to restoring stability, and the opposition is making the situation worse by perpetuating unrest. The referendum, they say, settled the issue democratically, and protests are just another chance to stir up trouble.

Both sides trade blame for economic hardship as the falling currency drives up the cost of imported food on which the mostly desert nation depends. The opposition says government economic mismanagement is at fault, while the government blames the climate of instability fomented by its opponents.

Other sources of friction abound. Activists are impatient for justice for the victims of political violence perpetrated over the last two years. Little has been done to reform brutal Mubarak-era security agencies. A spate of transport disasters on roads and railways neglected for years is feeding discontent.

The political polarisation is making it harder for the Mursi administration to address the economic problems. In December, he postponed reforms needed to address a gaping budget deficit and secure a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.

With its foreign currency reserves critically low, the finances of the Arab world's most populous nation have been propped up by the tiny but rich Gulf emirate of Qatar, which has supplied some $5 billion in grants and loans.

The Brotherhood acknowledges that many of the revolution's goals have yet to be realised. Yet the group sees major achievements including the new constitution and the election of the country's first civilian head of state.

Marking the anniversary with a big charity campaign is a classic Brotherhood tactic, demonstrating the populist impulses and organisational muscle that have swept the Islamists to five straight election victories since Mubarak fell - two for parliament, one for president and two referendums.

"The people are interested in their daily bread. Citizens want to feel the change brought by the Egyptian revolution. This requires the opposition to translate what they are calling for into real policy programmes," said Ahmed Subei, a spokesman for the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/two-years-since-uprising-egypt-braces-more-protests-124541637.html

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Israel's Netanyahu seeks strong finish in election

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made an election-eve appeal on Monday to wavering supporters to "come home", showing concern over a forecast far-right surge that would keep him in power but weaken him politically.

In the last stretch of a largely lackluster campaign that could produce the most hardline government in Israel's history, Netanyahu has watched high-tech millionaire Naftali Bennett's far-right Jewish Home party chip away at his right-wing Likud's opinion poll lead.

At a final campaign appearance in Jerusalem, Netanyahu voiced confidence his traditional backers would not abandon him, and repeated his stump pledges to keep Israel safe and build Jewish settlements over international opposition.

He has said preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons would remain his priority. During the campaign, parties have avoided discussing the sensitive question of whether and when to use military force against Iran, which denies seeking atomic arms.

"I have no doubt that many, many people will decide at the last minute to come home to Likud-Yisrael Beitenu," said Netanyahu, who polls predict will still win Tuesday's parliamentary election, albeit by a narrower margin than first forecast.

"I have a good feeling. And at the last minute, I appeal to each and every citizen going to the ballot box: 'Decide for whom you are going to vote - for a divided and weak Israel or for a united and strong Israel and a large governing party?'."

The final opinion polls, on Friday, showed Netanyahu's right-wing Likud, running on a joint list of candidates with former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, still set to win.

But the surveys indicated his support had dipped to its lowest point so far and forecast that a potential right-wing and religious bloc of parties led by Likud-Yisrael Beitenu would have a slim parliamentary majority of 63 out of 120 seats.

If the polls are correct - and they have been famously inaccurate in several past elections - Likud and Yisrael Beitenu would capture 10 seats fewer than they took in the previous national ballot in 2009.

A relatively weak showing would make Netanyahu, who has pledged during the campaign to pursue settlement building in the occupied West Bank, more susceptible to the demands of potential coalition partners, including Bennett, and religious parties.

And with peace talks with the Palestinians frozen since 2010 over the settlement issue, there would be little incentive for Netanyahu to pursue any new initiatives as head of a staunchly right-wing government, although he would likely come under pressure to do so if he enlists centrist partners.

Bennett, a charismatic former settler leader, advocates annexing parts of the West Bank, territory Israel captured along with East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights, in the 1967 war, a position to the right of Netanyahu's.

Jewish Home has been the surprise start-up party of the election, forecast to win some 14 seats in a third-place finish.

Second place, according to the polls, will go to the center-left Labour Party led by Shelly Yachimovich, a former journalist who has focused on economic and social issues in the campaign and has ruled out joining a Netanyahu-led government.

Although support for center-left parties has edged higher, their leaders failed to present a united front or persuade many Israelis, alarmed by turmoil in neighbouring Arab states, they are ready to take charge of the country.

SURPRISE SURGE

Bennett's surge has been the talking point of the election, but for voters who have cast ballots for Netanyahu in the past, the Jewish Home leader has a familiar pedigree.

Both are former army commandos and speak American-accented English: Netanyahu went to high school and college in the United States, Bennett's parents immigrated from San Francisco. And each has put settlement expansion at the core of his campaign.

Bennett has made no secret of his desire to join a Netanyahu-led coalition, to the point of plastering the country with campaign ads featuring photos of both leaders.

While Netanyahu still advocates creation of a "demilitarised" Palestinian state, an alliance with Jewish Home would steer his government further to right, potentially putting further strain on his relations with U.S. President Barack Obama and deepening Israel's international isolation.

Netanyahu has campaigned largely on security issues, shrugging off as misplaced international opposition to settlement building that most countries view as illegal and which he sees as a Jewish right based on the Bible and history.

A splintered center-left bloc, whose parties hope to win a majority but may also join a Netanyahu-led government, has had trouble finding a joint message in opposition.

Yachimovich, whose Labour party is forecast to win about 18 seats, has focused on high living costs and economic woes, hoping to translate mass social protests from two years ago into an election victory.

Tzipi Livni, a former foreign minister and negotiator with the Palestinians, has promised to work for a regional peace deal. Her Hatnuah party is expected to win fewer than 10 seats.

In the final hours of the campaign, Netanyahu also took new aim at pocketbook issues, after being rocked by figures last week that showed Israel's budget deficit last year was, at 4.2 percent of gross domestic product, double the original estimate.

He announced he would appoint Moshe Kahlon, who as his widely popular communications minister brought down the price of mobile telephone services, to oversee state land allocation - with the aim of lowering housing prices.

Polling stations open at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) on Tuesday and close at 10 p.m.. Immediately after voting ends, Israeli media release exit polls, with official results due the next morning and party leaders already beginning informal coalition talks.

No one party has ever won a parliamentary majority in Israel, and its president traditionally asks the leader of the biggest bloc to try to form a governing coalition, a process likely to stretch into next month.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/israels-netanyahu-seeks-strong-finish-election-poll-dip-122342560.html

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Practical Advice To Help You Meet Your Personal Development Goals

Deciding to make an effort towards self improvement can leave you feeling great and in control. You can begin by learning ways to maintain your motivational level for the personal development work that you are taking on. Read on for some such ideas to help you on your way.

Respect your body?s boundaries in pursuit of any goal you might have. Doing your best is essential, but you also need to know what your best is and not go past it. Making sure you stay healthy is important when you are trying to reach your goals. Neglecting the physical requirements of your body will actually work against your self improvement efforts.

TIP! Hang out with people who are similar to you. This helps strengthen your resolve, reinforces positive thinking and keeps you away from toxic people that harm your dreams and goals.

Talking to a counselor or a religious leader can help you relieve stress. These individuals are trained to listen to your problems and are highly skilled. They are there to help you analyze and sort through issues and feelings that occur on your personal journey to enlightenment. Discussing your life problems with a counselor or other professional can be very beneficial.

Establish your priorities, and then focus on them wholeheartedly. If you direct your energy towards what is most important and stop focusing on the other negative aspects of your existence, you will lead a happier and more peaceful life.

Becoming more selfless is a huge step towards your self improvement. If you direct your energy outward to make others? lives better, while temporarily putting your own needs second, you can greatly improve your character. When making sacrifices that help others without hurting your well-being, you can become that kind person that you wanted to be.

TIP! Your physical well-being and mental health are connected. Eat right, avoiding high fat foods and sugar, and get plenty of exercise.

Change should be a conscious choice, and is in fact a result of it. Unless you understand and accept the fact that it will require change, personal growth will be almost impossible for you to achieve.

By taking care of your physical health, you will be helping every area of personal development. Getting enough sleep, having a healthy diet, and exercising regularly are simple activities that keep energy high, and it gives you a better chance at being successful with your self improvement. Although this is simple advice, it is perhaps one of the hardest things that we can master.

Self discipline is the most important aspect in being able to work towards achieving your goals when it comes to personal development. Learn to exercise self control over the desires of your body. Win the battle over bodily cravings including gluttony, greediness, drink, drugs and sex. Controlling these desires will prevent negative impacts on your body and spirit.

TIP! Strive to increase the time you spend working as much as possible in order to accomplish more. Some say there is a trick that involves taking frequent breaks throughout the work day.

Write a pep talk for yourself. List all your great attributes on an index card. Keep the card in your purse or wallet, and pull it out every time you feel depressed and defeated or have a negative thought about yourself. Take it a step further and record yourself reading your list. The reason to watch the video or read the postcard as often as possible is to remind yourself of how wonderful you think you are.

Living a healthy lifestyle is a critical part of your personal development. It takes motivation to maintain a healthy lifestyle, both through diet and exercise. When you put your health first, you are going to feel better in all areas of your life.

TIP! It is said that you have two ears and one mouth, because you should listen more than you speak. This truth applies even more to those who are making a concentrated effort to develop themselves on a personal level.

No matter the number of tips you use, you can become more energized towards your personal envelopment path. Having a wealth of information and knowledge backing you up there is no way you can fail if you just put forth a good amount of effort.

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Source: http://www.empowernetwork.com/formlmpros/blog/practical-advice-to-help-you-meet-your-personal-development-goals-2/

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Annual Small Business Summit Tuesday - The Sampson Independent

by Lauren Williams
Staff Writer The Sampson Independent

For those who own their own small business or are thinking of starting one, the third annual Sampson County Small Business Summit will be the place to be Tuesday, Jan. 22 from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. at the Sampson County Agri-Exposition Center.

?It?s a free event and we encourage everyone to come out to ensure that they know about all the local, state, and federal resources available,? says Janna Bass, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce.

Numerous agencies and organizations will have booths set up at the event.

?The vendors provide various services to small businesses. They?re wide-ranging and there?s little overlap,? says John Swope, executive director of the Sampson County Economic Development Commission. ?We?ve got a good group of vendors, and we?ve added to it this year. We?ve been able to attract the NC Institute for Minority Economic Development and the Center for Empowerment and Economic Development.?

Other vendors set to be at the event are the city of Clinton, the NC Rural Center, the town of Roseboro Revolving Loan Program, and the NC Military Business Center, to name a few.

Swope adds that eight of the vendors offer financial assistance to small businesses. ?They provide loans, some for a few hundred dollars and others for up to millions of dollars.?

In addition to the vendors, there will also be a business financing forum from 5 p.m. - 6 p.m. ?Eight of the organizations will give brief descriptions of their programs and then people will be able to ask questions,? explains Swope. ?It?ll be sort of like a roundtable discussion.?

There are also two break-out sessions on the agenda. One will focus on the ?Most Common Mistakes that Undermine Small Business? and the other will be a presentation about the ?NC Live Business Database Website.?

Based on past success, Swope assures citizens that attending the summit will be worth it. ?We had the first small business summit back in January of 2011, and we took a survey after it to get a feel for what people thought. We were pleased that 96 percent of those surveyed would recommend others going to future summits. They obviously thought there was value in the event.?

?We?ve also had people go to the summit and then contact us later for additional assistance so there?s been follow up,? Swope adds. ?It?s proven to be really helpful in the past.?

?We?re very excited about this year?s summit and want people to come out because it?s a great event full of good information, especially for businesses that are having difficulties or are looking for opportunities to grow,? shares Swope.

Organizing partners for the summit are Clinton-Sampson Chamber of Commerce, Small Business Center at Sampson Community College, Sampson County Economic Development Commission, and NC Lawyers for Entrepreneurs Assistance Program (NC LEAP).

Lauren Williams can be reached at 910-592-8137, ext. 123 or via email at lwilliams@civitasmedia.com.

Source: http://clintonnc.com/bookmark/21454604

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Sahara hostage death toll will rise, Algeria warns

After the death of Western workers in an attack on a gas plant in the Sahara, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta vows to hunt down the militants responsible. NBC News' Annabel Roberts reports.

By Alastair Jamieson, NBC News

The death toll in the bloody Algeria hostage siege is likely to rise, Algeria warned on Sunday as governments struggled to confirm reports 23 Western workers ? including some Americans - had been killed.

A day after the desert crisis was ended by Algerian troops, 25 bodies were discovered inside the gas pumping facility that was stormed by Islamist militants on Wednesday, according to reports cited by Reuters and the Associated Press.

Confusion still surrounds the deadly incident, which has renewed global fears about the likelihood of terror attacks and the safety of Westerners around the world.

It has also left other governments, including Britain, with a frustrating wait for further information out of the west African country.

Algeria?s government said Saturday that 23 hostages and 32 militants were killed during ?rescue? assaults launched by its own forces, with 107 foreign hostages and 685 Algerian hostages freed.

However, Minister of Communication Mohamed Said this would rise when final numbers were issued in the coming hours, Reuters reported.

"I am afraid unfortunately to say that the death toll will go up," Said was quoted as saying by the official APS news agency.

The U.S. government confirmed Friday that one of the dead hostages was Frederick Buttaccio from Texas.

The exact number of other Americans involved, and their fate, remains unclear.

President Barack Obama said on Saturday the United States was seeking from Algerian authorities a fuller understanding of what took place, but said "the blame for this tragedy rests with the terrorists who carried it out".

Britain on Sunday confirmed three of its citizens, and one British resident, had been killed in the Algerian military operation.

Prime Minister David Cameron echoed Obama?s comments, saying responsibility for the deaths ?lies squarely with the terrorists who launched the attack,? regardless of questions about the Algerian government's response.

The hostage-taking illustrated the global threat of terrorism which ?requires a global response,? Cameron said Sunday.

One Briton had already was confirmed killed when the gunmen seized the hostages before dawn on Wednesday at the plant, run by Norway's Statoil along with Britain's BP and Algeria's state oil company.

The AP reported that "numerous" bodies were found at the pumping facility by Algerian de-mining squads searching for explosives, according to an Algerian government spokesman.

Statoil said five of its workers, all Norwegian nationals, were still missing. Japanese workers are also unaccounted for, Reuters said.

Related content:

?1 American killed, 2 escape in Algeria hostage crisis, US officials say; militants seek to trade 2 others for blind sheik

Details emerge in militant takeover, rescue operation at Algeria gas field

?

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/20/16610122-sahara-hostage-death-toll-will-rise-algeria-warns?lite

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All Dreamliner flights, including San Jose service, grounded after emergency landing in Japan

Nippon Airways' new and celebrated Boeing 787 Dreamliner made four trips in and out of Mineta San Jose International Airport since Friday before a Japan emergency landing sparked by battery problems caused enough concern for air authorities there to temporarily ground all flights on Wednesday.

The grounding was being done voluntarily by the airlines operating out of Japan, but that country's transport ministry says it's categorizing the problem as a "serious incident" that could have led to an accident, according to the Associated Press.

Mineta spokeswoman Rosemary Barnes said there have been no problems on any of the San Jose flights, and added that all but one of them have departed on time

ANA's new 787 Dreamliner touched down at San Jose Mineta International Airport on Friday. (Gary Reyes/The Mercury News)

and usually arrived early.

Upon hearing about the cancellation of an expected All Nippon Airways arrival at 10:10 a.m. Wednesday, Barnes said "it just means that the aircraft will not arrive and those with incoming and outgoing flights will be inconvenienced."

"But as we all know, an airline's first priority is safety -- that's the focus," she said.

According to wire reports, ANA grounded the flights after one of its 17 Dreamliners made an emergency landing in western Japan after pilots were alerted to battery problems Wednesday morning, local time. Further details on the troubles were not available Tuesday evening, but a Japanese television station reported passengers used emergency slides to exit the aircraft after the

flight from Tokyo to Ube landed at the Takamatsu airport. ANA officials said 129 passengers and eight crew members were evacuated.

An Osaka airport authority spokesman told Reuters that smoke appeared in the cockpit of the plane.

Later on Wednesday, a Japan Airlines spokesman told the Associated Press that it would also cancel Dreamliner flights until the cause of the problem is analyzed, and then Japan's transport ministry announced that all 787 jets would be grounded for safety checks.

Dreamliners have had other troubles recently, including a Jan. 7 electrical fire on a Japan Airlines 787 in Boston and a fuel leak later last week that delayed a flight from Boston to Tokyo. The cutting-edge aircraft -- made from carbon-composite materials that make it lighter and more fuel efficient than other passenger planes -- also had incidents of a brake computer glitch and cracked cockpit window.

Hours before the inaugural flight of the 787 out of San Jose, the Federal Aviation Administration announced that it would perform a safety review of the aircraft.

On Tuesday evening, the FAA said it is looking into the latest malfunction.

"The FAA is monitoring a preliminary report of an incident in Japan earlier today involving a Boeing 787," read the statement. "The incident will be included in the comprehensive review the FAA began last week of the 787 critical systems, including design, manufacture and assembly."

The ANA inaugural flight to Tokyo left San Jose last Friday amid much fanfare, and city leaders hope the international flights will ring in a new era for the recently upgraded airport. It was the first direct flight from San Jose to Asia since American Airlines halted service to Tokyo seven years ago.

The airport face-lift left it with a $1.5 billion debt, and ANA's announcement in August to begin serving Mineta was lauded as harbinger for more international service -- other potential carriers to Asia and Europe have indicated to airport officials that they are watching to see how ANA does.

San Jose officials estimate that ANA's service will generate $78 million in business for the region and 61 jobs in San Jose in its first year.

Contact Eric Kurhi at 408-920-5852. Follow him at Twitter.com/erickurhi.

Source: http://www.willitsnews.com/ci_22379733/all-nippon-airways-grounds-all-dreamliner-flights-after?source=rss_viewed

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Weekend link dump for January 13 (Offthekuff)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/276727917?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Darren Sanefski tapped for international board - The Meek School of ...

The Society of News Design Foundation has added Darren Sanefski to its board, tasking him with the role of education director.

Sanefski is an assistant professor of multiple platform journalism at the Meek School of Journalism and New Media at The University of Mississippi. He has an extensive news design and marketing background.

He received his master of arts (interactive design) from the State University of New York at Oswego and a bachelor of fine arts (visual communication) from Syracuse University. He was on the faculty at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University from 2005 until 2012. Sanefski worked for The Post-Standard newspaper in Syracuse, NY. Most recently, he was the paper?s sports design editor and designed interactive sports graphics for its sister website, Syracuse.com.

Other officers include: president, Rob Schneider of the Dallas Morning News; vice president, David Kordalski of The Cleveland Plain Dealer; and?secretary-treasurer, Lee Steele of Hearst Connecticut Newspapers.

At Ole Miss, Sanefski teaches design and principles of design courses and frequently works with students individually in the Student Media Center.

Source: http://meek.olemiss.edu/2013/01/08/darren-sanefski-tapped-for-international-board/

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December 26, 2012 Education

Economies of the world will turn into knowledge economies. With the basics of the world are changing with the evolution of technologies, it is important for a person to specialize in a particular area to find gainful employment.

This type of specialization is taught by vocational schools. In the fields of health, technology, art and business of professional training is offered in general. The classification of these subjects will still be conducted in other courses.

Vocational education has gained increased revival of enthusiasm in the world of today?s demand for skilled workers for the company. Vocational training in the details is extremely diverse theme and title of the analysis of a wide range of references and sources includes several specific questions about education, vocational training and career. You will find many online sources that can help you with detailed information about the training in education. Due to the desperate need that rises on a large scale among corporate houses of skilled workers in the world today believe that the people business schools, rebuild its stable foundation.

Faculty of vocational schools is very experienced. They provide practical knowledge to their students. As a result, students are able to have a real life experience and industry practice. Students are also provided with training.

There are several professional development projects around the world. In fact, every state has vocational schools, where villagers can earn degrees and become part of a dedicated workforce. The majority of these training institutions. Work according to the rules and regulations of the State Department of Education The Ministry of Education of the State or Central Government granted recognition training institute.

AVLC is a center of learning, different types of training, such as vocational training, job training, training, English IELTS and so provides.

Source: http://nationalmilitarychildeducationcenter.net/education/vocational-education.html

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Taylor Swift Father Issues Warning to Harry Styles

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/01/taylor-swift-father-issues-warning-to-harry-styles/

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French actor Depardieu meets Putin, picks up Russian passport

MOSCOW (Reuters) - French film star Gerard Depardieu met Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea town of Sochi and obtained his Russian passport, the Kremlin said on Sunday, after he left his homeland to avoid a new tax rate for millionaires.

Putin signed a decree on Thursday granting Russian citizenship to Depardieu, who objected to French Socialist president Francois Hollande's plan to impose the 75 percent tax rate. His decision to quit France had prompted accusations of national betrayal.

The Russian president and Depardieu were shown on state-run Channel One shaking hands and hugging each other early on Sunday during what the Kremlin said was a private visit by the actor to Russia.

"A brief meeting between the president and Depardieu took place," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "On the occasion of his visit to Russia, he was handed a Russian passport."

Peskov did not say whether Putin personally gave Depardieu the passport or if he picked it up through standard procedures. He said the actor also told Putin about his career plans.

Depardieu, star of the movies "Cyrano de Bergerac" and "Green Card", is a popular figure in Russia, where he has appeared in many advertising campaigns, including for ketchup. He also worked there in 2011 on a film about the eccentric Russian monk Grigory Rasputin.

Putin asked Depardieu whether he was pleased with his work in the movie, TV footage of their meeting showed, with the French actor saying he had already sent Putin some excerpts from it.

Depardieu bought a house in Belgium last year to avoid the French income tax increase. French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault called Depardieu's decision to seek Belgian residency "pathetic" and unpatriotic, prompting an angry response from the actor.

Putin said last month that Depardieu would be welcome in Russia, which has a flat income tax rate of 13 percent, compared to the 75 percent on income over 1 million euros ($1.30 million) that Hollande wants to levy in France.

He offered Depardieu a Russian passport, saying he had a close, special relationship with France and had developed warm ties with the actor, even though they had rarely met.

Some of Putin's critics said the passport move was a stunt and pointed out that the president announced last month a campaign to prevent rich Russians keeping their money offshore.

($1 = 0.7666 euros)

(Reporting By Alexei Anishchuk; Editing by Pravin Char)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/french-actor-depardieu-meets-putin-picks-russian-passport-092241133.html

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Why Your Company Needs A Business Telephone System - TechSling

When you choose the right telephone system for your company, you are able to maximize external and internal communications. Keeping in touch with clients, customers, suppliers and other parties is a surefire way to ensure that your business runs smoothly and earns better. Back then, only big-ticket corporations could afford them because of their prohibitive price tags. However, the demand for sophisticated telephone systems trickled down to small and medium companies because of their features and benefits. Nowadays, more and more phone systems providers that are more affordable and profitable are available on the market for smaller companies, given their success rate.

One of the benefits of phone systems is that now, small and medium companies are more competitive, and equip them to compete with the big corporations. With several business phone system providers available, like RingCentral, Google Voice, etc,you can now make informed decisions and choose the right service provider for your company?s needs, in terms of the features and the budget you are willing to spend on it. Most service providers offer such features as virtual PBX, Internet faxing, toll free numbers and more.

The majority of telephone system providers offer Virtual PBX (private branch exchange) in their catalog of services. ?This is where a telephony system is downloaded from the Internet, and managed by a telecommunications company. Virtual PBX is a cost-effective way for small and medium businesses to maintain communication between everyone in the workplace, from employees, customers and colleagues by directing calls to a specific person or department and eliminates the occurrence of misdirected or missed calls.

Another system necessity is having a toll-free number. This significantly cuts down business expenditures by charging the person being called. This way encourages more people to call your company since it is free on their end, and gives them the impression that your company is accessible and boosts the amount of business calls made. Having a toll-free number also eliminates the need to connect to a remote office, which in turn eliminates expenditure for infrastructure, extra man power, etc.

Internet faxing is also a benefit of installing a phone system in your workplace. Unlike traditional fax machines, you only need a working phone line and an Internet connection. With Internet faxing, you can cut the cost for long-distance phone calls, eliminate mishaps like paper jamming and running out of printer ink, as well as other problems connected with an ordinary fax machine. If you?re sending an Internet fax, your phone service provider will translate it into the right format and send your message via the Internet to the intended recipient. You also have the benefit of storing your messages on your computer, should the need arise for you to review them again.

Lastly, having a phone system in your office lets you take your work on the go. Lots of devices, such as your smartphone or tablet, allow you to access your system so you always stay on top of your work, giving you a competitive edge against bigger companies.

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Source: http://www.techsling.com/2013/01/why-your-company-needs-a-business-telephone-system/

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Bonobos will share with strangers before acquaintances

Jan. 2, 2013 ? You're standing in line somewhere and you decide to open a pack of gum. Do you share a piece with the coworker standing to one side of you, or with the stranger on the other?

Most humans would choose the person they know first, if they shared at all.

But bonobos, those notoriously frisky, ardently social great apes of the Congo, prefer to share with a stranger before sharing with an animal they know. In fact, a bonobo will invite a stranger to share a snack while leaving an acquaintance watching helplessly from behind a barrier.

"It seems kind of crazy to us, but bonobos prefer to share with strangers," said Brian Hare, a professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University. "They're trying to extend their social network." And they apparently value that more than maintaining the friendships they already have.

To measure this willingness to share, Hare and graduate student Jingzhi Tan ran a series of experiments with bonobos living in the Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. The experiments involved piles of food and enclosures that the test subjects were able to unlock and open. Tan and Hare describe their work in a paper in the Jan. 2, 2013 edition of PLOS ONE.

In the first series of experiments, a pile of food was placed in a central enclosure flanked by two enclosures, each of them holding another animal. The test subject had the knowledge and ability to open a door to either of the other chambers, or both. On one side was a bonobo they knew from their group (not necessarily a friend or family member) and in the other was a bonobo they had never really met, but had only seen at a distance.

Upon entering the chamber with the food, the test subjects could easily just sit down and consume it all themselves, or they could let in one or both of the other animals to share.

Nine of the 14 animals who went through this test released the stranger first. Two preferred their groupmates. Three showed no particular preference in repeated trials. The third animal was often let in on the treat as well, but more often it was the stranger, not the test subject, who opened the door for them.

Tan said that by letting the third animal into the enclosure, the stranger voluntarily outnumbered himself or herself with two bonobos who knew each other, which a chimpanzee would never do. In 51 trials of the experiment, there was never any aggression shown, although there was quite a bit of typical bonobo genital rubbing between the strangers.

To isolate how much motivation the animals receive from social interaction, the researchers ran a second set of experiments in which the subject animal wouldn't receive any social contact with another animal. In the first of these experiments, the subjects couldn't get any food for themselves regardless of whether they chose to open the door to allow the other animal to get some food. Nine out of ten animals shared with the stranger at least once.

In the final experiment without social contact, the subject animal was given access to the food in such a way that opening the door to share with the other animal would cost them some food. But they still wouldn't have any social contact as a reward. In this instance, the animals chose not to share. "If they're not going to see a social benefit, they won't share," Hare said.

This second test is similar to something called the dictator game in which humans are given the chance to share cash with a stranger, Hare said. Most people will share anonymously, but they share even more when they aren't anonymous. Bonobos won't share at all in the anonymous condition if it costs them food.

"They care about others," Hare said, but only in a sort of selfish way. "They'll share when it's a low-cost/low-benefit kind of situation. But when it's a no-benefit situation, they won't share. That's different from a human playing the dictator game. You really have to care about others to give anonymously."

The findings, which Hare calls "one of the crazier things we've found" in more than a decade of bonobo research, form yet another distinction between bonobos and chimpanzees, our two closest relatives. "Chimps can't do these tests, they'd be all over each other."

The work was funded by the National Science Foundation and the European Research Council.

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

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Tan J, Hare B. Bonobos Share with Strangers. PLOS ONE, 2013; 8 (1): e51922 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0051922

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/2bif2nwe0DY/130102173312.htm

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U.S. "kicks can" towards "fiscal abyss": Xinhua

BEIJING (Reuters) - The last-minute U.S. deal over tax increases has fixed one problem, but the world's largest economy must get to grips with a budget deficit that threatens not a "fiscal cliff" but a "fiscal abyss", China's Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday.

The state news agency said in a commentary, issued in English on its website, that while the United States was clearly the dominant economic power, it "simply cannot live on borrowed prosperity forever", and its politicians seemed reluctant to tackle its total debt of about $16 trillion.

"In a democracy like the United States, tax increases and spending cuts, the exact dose of medicine needed to cure its chronic debt disease, have long proved hugely unpopular among voters," Xinhua said.

"So the politicians have chosen to kick the can down the road again and again. But as we all know, the can will never disappear. Sometime and somewhere, you might trip over it and fall hard on the ground, or in the U.S. case, into an abyss you can never come out of."

China has a strong interest in a healthy U.S. economy. It sits on the world's biggest pile of foreign exchange reserves, worth $3.3 trillion, and as much as 70 percent of the holdings are invested in U.S. dollar assets, including U.S. Treasuries, according to analysts.

The United States is also a major export market for China.

Global stock markets rose on Wednesday on relief that the U.S. had passed measures to avert the huge tax increases and spending cuts that would have pushed the economy into recession.

However, Xinhua also took aim at U.S. politicians, saying that if they came so close to falling off a cliff, "they are far less likely to reach a deal to help their country climb out of an abyss".

In separate commentaries Xinhua published on Tuesday on the fiscal cliff debate, it called on the United States to live up to its global economic responsibilities and also blamed its poorly functioning political system for the mess.

Such commentaries are not policy statements as such, but can be read as a reflection of Chinese government thinking.

Wednesday's commentary can be found at:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/indepth/2013-01/02/c_132076545.htm

(Reporting by Jonathan Standing; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-kicks-towards-fiscal-abyss-xinhua-085614675--business.html

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Governor plans to sue NCAA over Penn St. sanctions

FILE - In this Nov. 10, 2011 file photo, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett makes remarks during a news conference after a Penn State Board of Trustees meeting in State College, Pa. Corbett said Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013 he plans to sue the NCAA in federal court over sanctions imposed against Penn State in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 10, 2011 file photo, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett makes remarks during a news conference after a Penn State Board of Trustees meeting in State College, Pa. Corbett said Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013 he plans to sue the NCAA in federal court over sanctions imposed against Penn State in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) ? Gov. Tom Corbett scheduled a news conference for Wednesday to announce the filing of a federal lawsuit against the NCAA over stiff sanctions imposed against Penn State in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.

The news conference announcing the filing in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg was set to be held at the university's State College campus.

A person associated with the university and knowledgeable about the matter told The Associated Press that it is an antitrust action. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the lawsuit hasn't been filed.

The university agreed in July to the sanctions, which included a $60 million fine that would be used nationally to finance child abuse prevention grants. The sanctions also included a four-year bowl game ban for the university's marquee football program, reduced football scholarships and the forfeiture of 112 wins but didn't include a suspension of the football program, the so-called death penalty.

In announcing the news conference, Corbett, a Republican, did not indicate whether his office coordinated its legal strategy with state Attorney General-elect Kathleen Kane, who is scheduled to be sworn in Jan. 15.

Kane, a Democrat, ran on a vow to investigate why it took state prosecutors nearly three years to charge Sandusky, an assistant under legendary football coach Joe Paterno. Corbett was the attorney general when that office took over the case in early 2009 and until he became governor in January 2011.

State and congressional lawmakers from Pennsylvania have objected to using the Penn State fine to finance activities in other states. Penn State has already made the first $12 million payment, and an NCAA task force is deciding how it should be spent.

The NCAA, which declined to comment Tuesday on the planned lawsuit, has said at least a quarter of the money would be spent in Pennsylvania.

Republican U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent called that an "unacceptable and unsatisfactory" response by the NCAA to a request from the state's U.S. House delegation that the whole $60 million be distributed to causes within the state.

Last week, state Sen. Jake Corman, a Republican whose district includes Penn State's main campus, said he plans to seek court action barring any of the first $12 million from being released to groups outside the state.

Sandusky, 68, was convicted in June on charges he sexually abused 10 boys, some on Penn State's campus. He's serving a 30- to 60-year state prison term.

Eight young men testified against him, describing a range of abuse they said went from grooming and manipulation to fondling, oral sex and anal rape when they were boys.

Sandusky did not testify at his trial but has maintained his innocence, acknowledging he showered with boys but insisting he never molested them.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-02-Penn%20State-Abuse-Lawsuit/id-bab21c760f4544148fbb35807092da44

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Pakistan releases 8 Afghan Taliban prisoners

ISLAMABAD (AP) ? Pakistan released eight members of the Afghan Taliban from prison on Monday, including the former justice minister under the Taliban, in a bid to boost the peace process in neighboring Afghanistan, the government said.

Pakistan is seen as a lynchpin in efforts to bring about peace in Afghanistan as foreign troops plan to depart the country in 2014. Kabul has been pressing its neighbor to release more prisoners who they hope would bring the Taliban to the negotiating table before the U.S. troops go home.

The Pakistanis appear to have an interest in promoting peace across the border, as a resumption of the civil war there could bring harsh consequences on its side as well.

"We have released some more Taliban prisoners today as our help in the peace process in Afghanistan," Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Moazzam Khan said.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said eight detainees were released, including Nooruddin Turabi, the justice minister under the Taliban.

Mohammad Azeem, a former guard of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, was also among those released, according to a Taliban official. He spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters about the sensitive subject.

It was not clear what role the eight released prisoners might play in bringing Taliban leaders to the negotiating table or what links they have to the group's current leadership.

Pakistan has longstanding ties to the Taliban and its support is key to any future reconciliation, just as its opposition would likely block any progress. For example, Pakistan could facilitate travel for Taliban leaders ? many who are believed to reside in or travel to Pakistan frequently ? to third countries for peace talks.

Last month, Pakistan released 18 prisoners at the request of the Afghan High Peace Council, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said in its statement. In early December it promised to release more members of the group.

Both developments were seen as signs that Pakistan, long accused of backing militants, was supporting a new push to bring peace to a country with which it shares a long border and tumultuous history. The Afghan and U.S. governments accuse Islamabad of backing insurgents ? an allegation Pakistan denies ? and say many militant leaders are hiding in the country.

So far the militant group's former deputy leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, has not been released, although Afghanistan has been pressuring Pakistan to set him free.

The Afghan peace process has made little headway since it began several years ago, hobbled by distrust among the major players, including the United States.

Part of the reason Pakistan is seen to be actively helping the process is that government and military officials are worried that if American troops leave without a plan in place, Afghanistan could deteriorate into another round of vicious infighting. After the Soviets pulled out in 1989, many of the militants who had helped best that superpower then turned on each other in what played out as a vicious war across the country.

A repeat of that scenario could have horrific consequences for Pakistan, such as a flood of Afghan refugees across its borders and increased fighting in Pakistan's tribal areas, where the military is already trying to suppress a stubborn insurgency.

Pakistani intelligence officials said Monday that they found the bodies of nine militants dumped in the North Waziristan tribal region.

The men were shot several times in the head and chest, said three Pakistani intelligence officials. Their bodies were found Monday off a road in Pir Kili village. The officials said the dead men were linked to the Pakistani Taliban, a militant group affiliated with the Taliban in Afghanistan but focused on fighting the Pakistani government.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to reporters.

North Waziristan is a hub of militant activity near the Afghan border.

The militants' bodies were found one day after 21 tribal police personnel who had been abducted were found dead in another tribal region.

___

Associated Press writers Kathy Gannon and Rebecca Santana in Islamabad and Rasool Dawar in Peshawar contributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pakistan-releases-8-afghan-taliban-prisoners-175714407.html

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10 Reasons Why Public Relations is a 'Must-do' for SEO in 2013 ...

Many people today recognize that search engine optimization (SEO) and public relations (PR) have much to offer each other.

The latest Google changes have put a real emphasis on high quality, unique content that is linked to by quality sites. And this is where real public relations ? as opposed to crappy news release distribution ? can play such a crucial role.

There are real opportunities for great business. What follows are 10 reasons why SEOs should really get to grips with PR in 2013, based on my conversations with the?people who are making the two work together.

1. The PR Industry is Definitely ?Getting it?

Most of us who have been in link building for a while have in the past experienced a certain degree of frostiness from the PR industry. But that is clearly changing and people are breaking out of silos.

Mike Cherenson is a former Chair and CEO of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and is EVP of Success Communications Group. He sees the importance of SEO and link building.

?Authentic and relevant link building, aimed at driving engagement, informing publics and building mutually beneficial relationships should be a part of every public relations and SEO effort," Cherenson said.

But not only should link building be a part of every public relations effort, public relations also has much to offer SEO.

?Public relations professionals are skilled storytellers and content generators and should be a part of every SEO effort," he said. "The future of SEO is not in the technology, it?s in the ability to tell stories that readers and Google will find interesting? and that?s public relations.?

And Cherenson understands the value of linking.

?Links need to provide value to the reader," he said. "Media will be more likely to link to content that is compelling and provides information that goes beyond the original reporting.?

Another PR professional is Ken Deutsch, EVP of JPA, a healthcare communications firm and a seasoned specialist in public affairs.

His company takes SEO and link building very seriously. But that?s still not the case throughout the industry.

?Many PR people stop at getting media coverage and think their job is done. They get a placement in the New York Times but they don?t follow up to make sure a link is put in. So they?re not taking advantage of the SEO side of the story.?

And while many media outlets provide links, there are some that don?t link out as a matter of policy.

That influences the targets he goes after, ?because they don?t put links in, it?s not worth putting as much energy into getting placement there.?

2. There is a Tremendous Synergy Between SEO and PR

Putting it simply, SEO enhances a press release. Use popular keywords and the press release, never mind any stories it generates will continue to bring search engine traffic. And the editorial links the press release generates bring direct click-throughs and lead to higher rankings.

Public relations enhances SEO by focusing on what?s newsworthy, crafting a great story, finding editorial opportunities, getting coverage and building relationships with reporters and editors. And of course, they got the negotiation skills to ask for a link without really asking for a link.

?PR helps SEO directly by increasing branded traffic," said?Lindsey Kirchoff,?a Media and Speaker Relations specialist at HubSpot.com. "We always see a bump in branded traffic after a big campaign! Indirectly, PR helps SEO generate inbound links from quality sources that not only gets first-touch exposure to new audiences, but credibility in the eyes of search engines.

?SEO grounds PR with hard, measurable data. PR has always been notoriously difficult to pin down, but SEO adds hard numbers to the equation. I also think that SEO allows PR to be less isolated from the rest of the team ? sometimes PR can feel like an island. SEO helps PR connect their work to the rest of the company's business goals.

?Finally, SEO establishes credibility for PR for keywords. You look much more credible to a news source if you come up high for the term they are reporting on!?

3. Editorial Links Bring a Big SEO Boost

Most PR links are extreme quality links, according to Jordan Brannon, the SEO guy at Coalition Technologies. Why? "Because getting them is not a free for all ? you have to earn your media placements,? he said.

But the rewards are worth the effort.

?If you get 200 high quality editorial links, it?s worth more that 20,000 low quality links,? Brannon said.

However, most reporters work to a deadline and you have to be swift in your response to get in.

?Most editorial opportunities are time sensitive and you need to act quickly. That means you need to have the authority to reply on the client?s behalf," Brannon added. "And you have to have an email account on your client?s domain ? it?s not good saying you?re a marketing agency.?

Will Marlow was formerly a Press Secretary for two congressmen before founding a company that specializes in search engine marketing. He knows that to get those all-important editorial links, sticking to deadlines is crucial.

?You need to understand that you?re dealing with someone who has a hard deadline. It?s like a train going by in the night and there?s one open boxcar that can take you wherever you want to go," Marlow said. "But jump too early and the reporter won?t write about you: jump too late and the reporter won?t write about you. You got to get it just right.?

And it?s not unusual to miss opportunities.

?If an SEO was learning from any PR guy, they would all have stories about how they missed opportunities because someone internally didn?t get back to them or didn?t give the reporter what they need," Marlow said.??If the reporter wants to talk to the CEO and the CEO is playing golf, then you?re not going to get the story.?So you?ve got to collaborate with people within the company and make sure that the right people are available.?

4. There?s a Big Cascade Effect

Journalists will often quote, comment or enlarge upon other journalist?s work. Bloggers are also constantly citing other stories.

So if you get your story covered in one prominent media outlet, you?ll quickly see a cascade of similar stories and links spring up.

You?ll get links you never even asked for.

Miranda Miller wrote about How Google Rakes In Over $100 Million in Search Advertising Daily, based on research from Larry Kim of WordStream.

In writing that report, Kim was directly targeting the Wall Street Journal for a link ? and succeeded. The story really benefited from the cascade effect and attracted coverage and links from literally hundreds of quality media outlets.

5. You Win Bragging Rights For Your Client

Clients just love to write ?As featured in ..." on their website, whether its the Washington Post, Inc. Magazine, or whatever.

That builds consumer trust in their brand and makes it more likely they?ll buy.

And you also increase trust from other reporters. If you?ve already been quoted or covered by a respected publication, then other reporters will think you?re a safe bet to write about, too.

6. PR Skills Can be Learned ? or at Least Understood ? Easily

Kirchoff has this advice for SEOs who know little about PR:

?SEO experts should think of PR as a way to build strong referral links ? something that should be on their radar already. If you have a PR expert in the office, start by taking them out to lunch and chatting. After all, PR is all about building relationships.?

But of course, learning about public relations will help you understand the process ? but it might teach you that there?s a lot you don?t know. If that?s the case you might do better to partner with a PR resource.

7. It?s Easy to Partner With an Up and Coming PR Person

Mona Moore is an SEO who has teamed up with a small PR company, Hepner Communications, to pitch their services together.

?I think SEOs are always so focused on getting those links back to the client, we sometimes forget how important it is to nurture those long-term relationships necessary to continue working with specific media outlets,? Moore explained.??And PR reps are great at finding opportunities - but, they don't always take full advantage of those opportunities from an organic SEO standpoint.?By working together, SEOs and PR people are able to maximize exposure to a higher level than either of those entities by itself.

Joel Gross, who works with Brannon at Coalition Technologies, describes himself as the SEO tech guy.

?I know how to build and code websites so that they are search engine friendly, and I understand that in order to achieve visibility and revenue for our clients we need to build high quality links and work in tandem with traditional and social media," Gross said.??I know what needs to be done, but Jordan is able to bring in the creative aspect and wow factor that is needed in order to gain the attention and keep it focused where it needs to be. He devises how we frame the content and package it for the consumer in the most digestible and memorable way.

?The best advice I?d give to an SEO would be to get to know your client?s people, their background and story, what?s unique about the company," Gross said.??And remember, this is news and human interest so your stories don?t always have to be selling product. You can have perfectly good story and link from a story on say, ?work places that are pet friendly?!?

8. You?ll Build Media Contacts That You Can Use Time And Time Again

Contacts are essential both to PR people and to reporters.

?One mistake I made at the start was sending out too much poor stuff," Kim said. "Blasting out press releases is over-rated. What you need to do is get to know the reporters or bloggers you?re targeting.

?Read their articles every day, get a sense of what they?re interested in and only approach them with what you know they?ll be interested in,? Kim continued.??Start small and work your way up. Once you?ve built a relationship, they?ll start contacting you.?

He said he has found that PR is the fastest way to generate those backlinks on related industry websites, but you?ve got to go past distribution services and build your own contacts.

?We are diligent in keeping a database of related editors here," Kim said. "So we're sending press releases directly to the editors and not through a service. However, we also post the press releases to PRweb or PRnewswire to get the added Internet news site exposure (i.e., Yahoo News)."

Kim said those personal relationships increase the chances of coverage so much it?s "unreal."

"We now get lots of calls from editors who ask ? is there an engineer over at such and such a company that we could talk to?" Kim said.??Now, when they see our press releases, they always read them. And they?re more likely to publish them because we?ve been helpful.

If you?re an SEO who new to PR, the best place to start is by reading the editorial guidelines of the publications you?re targeting, Kim advised. Then you know what they?re looking for and can pitch accordingly. Don?t pitch something they clearly don?t want.

And don?t forget editorial calendars ? you can see months in advance what the publications are going to be covering.

9. It Strengthens and Extends Your Relationship With the Client

If you learn how to do proper public relations effectively or bring in a competent professional that you work well with, then you increase the respect your client has for your work. That can only strengthen your relationship and help ensure that they?ll stay with you.

10. It Opens up Additional Income Streams

It probably goes without saying that with the increasing interest in this area, it should offer some profitable and additional income streams to your agency.

There are tremendous publicity and quality links available through effective public relations. You?ll probably have failures to start with but if you keep at it, your skills will grow and you?ll get the benefits.

How do you cope with failures?

?I don?t believe in failures ? it?s a matter of setting your expectations," Kim said. "You can?t start out and immediately get coverage on CNN. Far better to pick a local target and learn from it. Every time you do it, you have more experience.?Say you approach 10 journalists and you get nothing but two reply and say I?m not interested because it?s not exactly what I do ? you?ll get a better idea of what will work next time.?

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Source: http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2232614/10-Reasons-Why-Public-Relations-is-a-Must-do-for-SEO-in-2013

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