Highly Recommended Web Marketing Company In Santa Barbara: Search Engine Pros
We are writing to express our gratitude today for our web marketing company, Search Engine Pros, a local Santa Barbara marketing firm specializing in Google adwords, search engine optimization and social media marketing that has delivered significant shifts in profitability for Yost Appliance, Inc. We are pleased announce our success in working with Taylor Reaume, and his team of internet marketing experts. The price is right, and the results have been fantastic.
Search Engine Pros has a strong track record of supporting local Santa Barbara businesses with online marketing goals, and we are happy to recommend their cost-effective local marketing plans.
Behind all the hype about SEO and social media marketing, there is a hard truth: it’s labor intensive work! To keep up with it, you need help. Instead of giving you a to-do list, Search Engine Pros roll up their sleeves and help you execute on the strategy. Search Engine Pros web marketing services will build your internet presence and increase your brand awareness. Most business owners are unknowingly spending too much money on marketing, or spending money in the wrong way with a disconnected web strategy.
Founder Taylor Reaume and his Santa Barbara marketing experts will help you grow your businesses on Google and the search engines. See TaylorReaume.com
Ask Taylor for help with internet marketing statistics, Google search marketing, paid search engine marketing, organic seo, ethical seo services, web design, social media strategy, adwords strategy, link building strategy, ppc bid mangement and more.
Visit their office located at The Hangar, 201 W. Montecito St. Santa Barbara, CA 93101.
If you need help attracting more traffic to your web site and building your internet presence, fill out their form at http://TheSearchEnginePros.com to receive a free web site analysis and rank report. Subscribe to Founder Taylor Reaume’s internet marketing column on Noozhawk for web marketing tips. Call 800-605-4988 and book a consultation with Search Engine Pros, your full service web marketing team.
6 Ways To Improve Your Web Site
- Know Your Keywords: This is a crucial factor in search marketing Research your top ten keywords and provide title tags that include these words. This one step alone will capture the attention of the search engine “robots,” and could propel your site up the search engine rankings.
- Update Your Content: Nothing kills rankings faster than stale, outdated content. Your SEO marketing strategy must include a constant stream of educational, topical, relevant information.
- Use Great Photos: The old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” is especially applicable with online marketing. Website visitors decide in seconds whether a site is worth perusing. Grab their attention and tell your story with dynamic photos, and they won’t be inclined to leave.
- Build Inbound Links: Word-of-mouth and referrals are still two powerful means of attracting prospects. One sure way to build “authority” is to have other sites link to yours. Part of your marketing plan should include promoting non-competitive businesses on your site, and reaching out to them to reciprocate. It builds awareness for both companies, and helps each reach a new audience.
- Offer Something: You never want to have someone visit your site and leave without making some type of connection. Your website should include a way to engage prospects and build that relationship. This could include an informational newsletter, a download of a “Top 10” regarding something that is pertinent to your business, a white paper, or some type of free sample or demonstration.
- Make it Mobile: More and more consumers are using smartphones and mobile devices to search online. Top web design practices demand websites that are functional across all digital devices.
Your website is a strategic part of your online marketing plan. Spend some time this summer making sure yours is working hard, or contact Search Engine Pros and ask about our web marketing services.
Taylor Reaume
About Search Engine Pros: Search Engine Pros is a marketing group that provides full-service online marketing consulting, social media consulting, web programming, internet web marketing services, custom WordPress themes, and SEO services. Visit the website at http://www.thesearchenginepros.com to learn more about “How to Wine and Dine the Google Spider.” “Like” the Facebook page for regular insights on web marketing and SEO, WordPress CMS tips, and SEO tools. Call 800-605-4988 to request a complimentary copy of 101 Ways to Drive Traffic.
– See more at: http://www.thesearchenginepros.com/summer-improve-website-performance.html#sthash.p06u4TQF.dpuf
ERIC EDSON’S STORY EXPO 2015 TAKE AWAYS
If you have been following my blog or social media updates, you know there is nothing that I enjoy more than sharing my knowledge about scriptwriting with others. That is why I was once again honored to be one of the 100+ world-renowned speakers at this year’s Story Expo, which took place September 11-13 in Los Angeles. The Expo brings together top speakers, writers, vendors and communicators in one forum to give screenplay writers the technical tools and motivation they need to excel at their chosen profession.
For those involved in any facet of writing a movie script, Story Expo is the one conference you must attend. It attracts professional writers from film studios, TV networks, production companies, universities, school districts and writers’ guilds, and grows yearly in popularity, prestige and importance. Attendance this year grew by 33% over 2014, which was already up 28% over 2013’s figures. Writers from over thirty U.S. states and eighteen countries attended, including The Netherlands, England, France, Russia, Germany, Canada, Brazil, Italy, South Africa, Ecuador, Nigeria, and Singapore. In fact, there was an entire class from the Writer’s Guild of South Africa, paid for by the South African government!
Derek Christopher, founder and chief driving force behind the Story Expo, has been the go-to guy for the top consultants in the screenwriting industry for over a decade. By organizing major events, seminars, and speaking engagements, Derek hopes to open the exciting world of screenplay writing to many more people.
As always, I had a great time speaking about creating great characters, character growth and how to build plots. It was great to get feedback from people who attended the presentations, to answer their questions about writing a screenplay, and to know that people came away with a better understanding of story structure and character growth. In case you did not attend, here are some of my impressions and takeaways from the great people I met and saw at this year’s event:
- Michael Hauge: Spoke on anatomy of a screenplay, love stories and character arc, and Hollywood secrets. Michael is a story and script consultant, author and lecturer who likes to work with writers and filmmakers on their screenplays, novels, movies and television projects. He has coached writers, producers, celebrities and directors on star-studded projects, and worked with every major studio and network. I truly enjoyed hearing his insights about how to sharpen story and development skills and employ advanced principles of structure, character arc and theme to skillfully communicate a story’s strengths and weaknesses.
- Steven Kaplan: Spoke on the hidden tools of comedy and the romantic comedy. For almost 15 years, Steve has been the industry’s most sought-after expert on comedy. In addition to having taught at NYU, UCLA, Yale and other top universities, he created the HBO Workspace, the HBO New Writers Program and was co-founder and Artistic Director of Manhattan Punch Line Theatre. He regularly serves as a consultant and script doctor to such prestigious companies as HBO, Paramount, DreamWorks, Disney, Touchstone and others.
- Jen Grisanti: Spoke on how to write a TV pilot that sells and TV staffing and development. Jen is an acclaimed story/career consultant and writing instructor for Writers on the Verge at NBC, a former 12-year studio executive, a blogger for The Huffington Post and author of the books, Story Line: Finding Gold In Your Life Story, TV Writing Tool Kit: How To Write a Script That Sells and Change Your Story, Change Your Life: A Path To Your Success.
- Kathie Fong Yoneda: Spoke on pitching fantasy and mythic stories and the art of networking. With over 25 years of industry experience, Kathie has worked for such prestigious studios as Paramount, Columbia, MGM, Universal, 20th Century Fox, and Disney, specializing in story analysis and development of live action and animated projects. Her career includes executive positions with Walt Disney TV Animation where she has evaluated more than 18,000 submissions.
- Pamela Jaye Smith: Spoke on alpha babes, the female hero, and making a memoir mythic. Pamela is a mythologist, writer, international consultant/speaker, and award-winning producer/director with over 35 years in the media industry. She helps enhance stories with the timeless and universal power of mythic themes, archetypes, and symbols.
On the vendor side, Alejandro Seri was there as the Corporate Marketing Director for Final Draft, a professional screenwriting software. Alejandro is an award-winning, bilingual screenwriter, director and instructor at the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program. While a nineteen year old UCLA college student and screenplay writer he approached studio executive David Garcia with the idea of starting an alternative film school. With the help of ten additional students, they formed Cyberpix Film School in downtown Los Angeles.
Those interested in writing screenplays come back to this event year after year. In fact 96% of this year’s attendees said they will recommend Story Expo 2016 to a friend or associate. Plan now to attend Story Expo 2016, which will be held September 9-11, 2016 at the Westin LAX Hotel in Los Angeles. Take control of your stories by learning the craft, determining in which medium your stories are best told, studying the business of storytelling, identifying and using the tools and resources available to you, understanding how to package and pitch your ideas and scripts, and using social media and other techniques to start and maintain a successful writing career. You can also pitch your scripts and stories to top production companies, agents and managers in the Story Expo Pitching Room and network with peers from around the world.
Keep writing!
Eric Edson
About The Story Solution: Eric Edson’s The Story Solution provides screenwriting tips for those interested in writing screenplays. Acclaimed by many as one of the best screenwriting books, Edson outlines 23 actions used in screenplay writing to create three dimensional heroes. Visit the website at http://www.TheStorySolution.com to listen to audio clips about creating characters.“Like” the Facebook page to receive tips on scriptwriting. Call 818-677-3192 for more information about writing a movie script.
The Power of Social Media in Education
Ever since its inception, the Internet has become an intricate part of life where persons depend on its access for daily activities such as shopping, social networking, education, banking, home security and other related activities. Among these, social networking, which seems to be the major attraction of the Internet, can be seen as a blessing and curse. Notably in education, social networking is seen as a positive indicator of advancement in education and its practices. However, we cannot deny the negative influences that can accompany it, which seems be a distracter for many students today.
Students frequently familiarize themselves with computers as they navigate these social networks. They gain valuable skills on an instrument that has become indispensable in the world they reside as students and the one, which they will enter upon completion of their studies. Also, it encourages networking with a variety of people, which can be viewed as a necessary skill in the business environment. This is also the case for teachers and administrators. With the existence of social blogs, Twitter and Facebook, teachers are able to share and record through various mediums, methods of instruction as well as teaching theories and practices in real-time. Furthermore, many are able to expand on techniques for learning and also interact with students on a consistent basis outside of the classroom.
On the contrary, the rise in social media and advancements in other interactive communicative technologies have produced negative impacts in and outside of the classroom. While social media can be seen as a positive tool for education, this tool has the potential to hinder student performance, social growth, and communication skills. Similarly, it can affect a teacher’s overall efficiency in several ways. To what do we owe a decline in academic performance as a result of its impact? What are the social ramifications of social media? What factors are directly responsible for the inability to educate students effectively? How are teachers affected by social media both in and out of the classroom?
For most, access to the Internet for educational purposes would be seen as a great resource for information; however, for students, the Internet poses many problematic factors in academic performance. In general, children who spend more time online find it harder to concentrate resulting in shorter attention spans. Students who rely solely on social media for information rather than researching other resources are likely to experience difficulty focusing on learning and information retention. It significantly affects study habits as students are attempting to multitask and end up becoming easily distracted because they are too busy tweeting and/or posting messages to Facebook in lieu of completing assignments.
Advancements in and excessive access to technology are direct factors on how social media has affected the student in and out of the classroom. Today, students spend most of their time on these networks via mobile devices. Some schools prohibit the use of these devices however; many of them sneak them into school. They use these devices to record videos; take photos of themselves and others, search the Internet, tweet and log on to Facebook, thus making it difficult to concentrate during instruction time. These activities also seek to inhibit effective instruction. In addition to this many of these activities have led to many problems in the school and community for example, fights, harassment, law suits etc. Excessive, unproductive time spent on social networks can therefore be very unhealthy, thus having a negative effect on teens and children. We can then argue that teaching/learning, is in direct competition with Social Media, when they should be partners in educating students.
The use of social networks has also significantly decreased the use of proper grammar and syntax in writing. Students have found it difficult to differentiate between the proper use of language as a result of abbreviated writing and shortened forms of word formulation. Many slang terms have become common in written class assignments. These terms IDK (I don’t know), SMH (shaking my head), BTW (by the way), YW (you’re welcome), TNX (thanks), IMO/IMHO (in my opinion/in my humble opinion) just to name a few, have crept up in students writing so much so that they are unable to understand the differences between the right and wrong way of spelling correctly. Teachers see the decline in proper writing in capitalization, punctuation, and subject-verb agreements, to name a few. Students are so immersed in poor grammar usage while online that they rely heavily on computer devices to autocorrect their mistakes resulting in the decline of their command over the use of English language. Subsequently creating a conflict in grammar usage.
Another key point not to be overlooked is the effect of social media on face-to-face communication. Clearly, if students spend more time on social networks then we can agree that they spend less time socializing in person. Lack of face-to-face interpersonal interactions can be directly linked to lack of social skills and etiquette. We learn important behaviors and emotional cues from close personal contact that cannot be learned online. As a result some students never learn to read body signals and other nonverbal cues, like tone and inflection. Social networking sites should not be seen as a replacement for personal contact but a valuable addition that can create a well rounded socially adjusted individual.
Today many students have become less social with one another preferring to interact online and live a virtual world based on false personas made easily accessible by social networking sites. This of course can have a lasting effect on the family unit, where effective face-to-face communication is essential in maintaining healthy relationships. Can we then cast some of the blame of today’s social ills and break down in family structure on social media? Often times, we go to restaurants, or other public spaces and everyone is busy on a device, thus very little face- to- face communication is going on. The question is how can we create a balance? How do we compete with this valuable tool we call the Internet whilst still maintaining healthy relationships?
Social media/networking affects both students and teachers alike. For instance, cyber-bullying can be seen as the leading negative proponent of social media. Many times violence in schools has started via a social networking site. Teachers are also affected by cyber-bullying. The perpetrators are sometimes students and/or parents. This abuse can be very damaging for a teacher as it decreases overall efficiency and confidence in the classroom. Teachers experience climbing levels of emotion stemming from being sad to becoming angry over online harassment. The experience can be humiliating and embarrassing. Defamation of character is quite common in the cyber world and continues to affect both teachers and students alike.
Social Media obviously affects all of us in some way or the other whether positively or negatively. Technology will continue to evolve, therefore; it is imperative that parents, teacher’s administrators and students all join hands together in encouraging positive, productive, effective, safe and responsible use of this valuable tool. The long-term effects of misuse can be very dangerous to progress in education and social development.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8557487
How To Choose The Best Digital Marketing Agency For Your Business?
Often do we read news of fraud, scam and reports of some digital marketing agencies that add no value to their clients’ businesses. In a world where companies spend millions of dollars every year on digital marketing campaigns, the need to distinct good agencies from bad cannot be stressed enough.
Combining various internet marketing tactics with other forms of media and strategies, digital marketing has become one of the most effective methods of lead-generation, branding and procuring bigger customer-base. Broadly speaking, it can be subdivided into internet marketing, mobile marketing and offline marketing.
The importance of having a digital marketing agency for any type of business is obvious. It is the nature of any firm to focus its whole attention to the industry that it is in and subsequently to the primary objectives that form the company. This necessitates delegating other works like digital marketing to external agencies.
For example, a company that manufactures clothes will devote most of its workforce to manufacturing and selling clothes alone. The business of that company is clothes, not marketing or advertising; and even if it does its own marketing campaigns, there’s a better chance that a marketing agency, whose sole business is creating marketing campaigns, is going to do the job far better than the company’s marketing department.
And in a world where most consumers are now equipped with mobile phones, TV, internet and other electronic media, the need to digitize one’s marketing campaigns need not be mentioned. Because there’s a simple truth above all else: digital marketing works. It is cheaper than traditional strategies and visibly more effective.
So how does one find the right digital marketing agency to work with?
Choosing the right agency can be a daunting task especially because there are new companies springing up almost everyday. And because the variety of services offered by these companies is not the same. Let’s take a look at the various elements that will help you choose the best digital agency for your business:
Services Offered
The first thing you should always consider when looking for digital marketing agencies to work with is the nature and variety of services they offer. A good agency should offer as many services as possible under one roof. This will save you the trouble of finding another company for a specific service as you can easily delegate all your digital marketing needs to that company.
A full serviced agency typically offers:
– Web design and development
– Search engine optimization and marketing
– Mobile marketing
– Email marketing
– Social media marketing
– Online advertisement
– Online reputation management
Portfolio And Testimonials
A good digital marketing agency will always have a portfolio that consists of clients with visible levels of success. You can easily access this portfolio from their website. A portfolio page that lists a good number of clientele is more trustworthy than one that displays only a few.
Testimonials are another criterion to help in choosing a digital agency for your business. Good agencies will have feedback and testimonials from previous customers. The more testimonials, the better.
Online Presence And Reputation
It’s only natural for a company that deals in digital marketing to have a visible online presence. Does it have a Facebook page and if so, how many Likes does it have on the page? What is its Twitter following like? Social media presence and activity is a good measure of a company’s repute.
A quick Google search using the company’s name as the search term will reveal a great deal of information about the company, including reviews and feedback on review sites, if any. A search query that returns very little result may not be the best company to have your marketing work delegated to.
Support
Any good company should have excellent support. Try contacting the digital marketing agency that you’re currently researching on from their website or via their Live chat application, if they have one. How long does it take for them to respond? Call them up and talk to them. Find out how knowledgeable their support team is. This is a company that you’re going to give a lot of money to, it’s important to know before-hand if they are worth investing in and that if you ever run into problems, they are there for you.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7492834
What Is the Difference Between Multimedia and Animation?
So what exactly is the difference between Multimedia and Animation?
The word multimedia is, in itself, explanatory. It refers to the practice of using multiple forms of media, which may or may not include animation, simultaneously, within a given product or project. Multimedia products will often combine text, still images, video, film, animation and sound within one package.
Multimedia products are often interactive in nature and can only generally be created on, and accessed by, a computing device.
Multimedia now encompasses a vast array of products, projects and services. Familiar examples are the Computer Based Training courses (CBT”s) used in education or the typical instructional CD-ROMs so often favored by the learner driver.
The CV of an artist for example, containing, a headshot, biography and a portfolio of work, which is then burned to, and delivered on CD-rom, would also be considered multimedia in nature and multimedia is very often used in the corporate setting in the form of presentations.
Even the video gaming enthusiast is not immune to the onslaught of the multimedia revolution as he or she battles within the evermore complex multi-player gaming arena known as MMORPGs.
One of the most important features of the multimedia product or service is that it is more often than not, interactive in nature. The learner driver training CD mentioned previously would be a prime example as it would require the user to engage with the content throughout.
This type of educational platform also serves as a classic example of the non-linear forms of multimedia which requires interaction and input from the user over the control and delivery of the content. Multimedia in its linear form – a simple example being Cinema – offers little or no scope for such interaction or control.
The use of the term multimedia has changed over the years and it was only during the 90’s that it acquired its current meaning. Multimedia can be live or pre-recorded and with the advent of computer tablets, smart phones, advanced gaming platforms and the like, multimedia is now an all pervasive force.
Animation on the other hand is a ‘specific cinematic medium’ which often utilizes hundreds, sometimes thousands of still images. These images are combined in sequence over a specific time period (cinematically speaking) usually 24, 25, or 30 frames per second. When these images, which will all vary slightly from one another, are recorded and replayed in rapid succession, they create the illusion of movement.
Animations can be 2D or 3D. Can be hand drawn or computer generated. Involve clay models, puppets, shadows or cut-outs. Some animation may involve all these elements and more. Good cinematic examples of 3D animations are Toy Story, Shrek, The Incredibles and The Croods.
3D animation is a very complex area with a terminology that is uniquely its own. Essentially 3D animation starts with the creation or modelling of a 3D mesh of the object or character to be created. The mesh can then be refined by the modeller before being rigged and programmed for movement. 3D animation does require some basic drawing skills at least, is very technical, and relies heavily on the use of 3D textures and lighting.
Traditional 2D animation on the other hand involved the processing of thousands of individual images copied from original paper drawings onto transparent acetates known as Cels. Each Cel was then carefully coloured and set against a painted background before being photographed one by one with the aid of a rostrum camera.
This method of film-making bought us classics such as Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs, 101 Dalmatians and the Lady and the Tramp.
Stopmotion animation is similar to the above the only difference being that a physical object such as a doll or puppet will appear to move on its own when it is manipulated bit by bit between photographed frames.
Nowadays the process of animation is much less cumbersome as much animation is created and edited on computers using vector or bitmap images with sophisticated software used for coloring and camera movement.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7677017
5 Ways Leaders Achieve Genuine Employee Engagement
Employees are still the most important resource in a company. Even today, as businesses rely more on more on automation to carry out processes and transactions, employees remain the most important resource for driving a company forward.
Genuine employee engagement is a key issue that needs to be addressed quarterly within a company’s strategic plan, because genuine engagement among employees drives productivity, increased customer satisfaction, reduced attrition, and improved profitability.
Studies have shown that disengagement is crippling many businesses all over the country. And it seems that despite the increase in services that aim to increase employee morale and engagement, many companies see a rise in employee turnover and a decrease in productivity in some key areas.
Engaging employees is never easy. The key is to engage them in a “genuine” manner that helps them stay motivated for longer periods of time.
Employee engagement programs need not be complicated and expensive to get your employees “involved in a genuine way.” Here are five simple ways leaders can achieve genuine engagement among employees:
Engage from the Top
One of the most powerful ways to get your employees involved in every aspect of your company is to get your company’s leadership rank engaged. This will show your employees that their leaders “walk their talk” and that they genuinely believe in what the company stands for. The energy that leaders demonstrate in making sure that they themselves possess the characteristics everyone else is being asked to show will trickle down to each employee. This helps them stay more focused and more likely to stay longer.
Engage right from the start
Nothing kills engagement quite like filling a new employee with tons of work from day one. That day is crucial for every new employee, as it is the day when they need to get a feel for the company they hope to work in for the next couple of months or years. Remember, first impressions last. Help new employees ease into their new job by feeding their enthusiasm with things like getting to know the people they’d be working with and assigning a mentor to assist them.
What do their jobs stand for?
People like to feel important. Help each employee determine the meaning of their work. They may not be working on solving the world’s biggest problems, but they are certainly contributing something towards the company’s success and profitability. Which is why it is crucial that your company’s value and mission must be clear to them and that they know how their respective tasks are contributing towards achieving the company’s goals.
Help them achieve success each day
After the value of the work they do has been made clear to each employee, help them achieve success each day. Each success doesn’t have to be monumental. They can be a small progress that should be pointed out to them. You may also provide the tools and resources needed for them to succeed or allow them to have enough autonomy to be able to achieve things on their own. Sometimes, being simply there for them is enough to feel that they are supported.
Be genuine
Perhaps this is the most important aspect of achieving genuine engagement among employees. People are real, and they need real connections and relationships with their leaders to foster trust that nurtures productivity and creativity. Strive to show your human side to your employees every now and then in order to build a stronger and lasting relationship with your employees.
Want to learn more about creating programs to effectively engage your employees? Contact Strategic Incentives today by calling 888-686-8116.
About Strategic Incentives: Strategic Incentives is a leading nationwide provider of employee motivation programs. The company works with HR managers to implement sales incentive programs and safety incentives to retain employees, and loyalty programs to build customer relationships. Visit the website at http://StrategicIncentives.com to download a complimentary PDF of “35 Ways to Use Incentive Programs.” “Like” the Facebook page to receive regular updates on sales incentives and promotional ideas. Call 888-686-8116 for more information on creating an in-depth performance improvement plan.
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