10 CLEVER LAST MINUTE HALLOWEEN COSTUMES
For my first ever blog post I’m going to keep it simple and by simple I mean a lot of pictures with few words. In honor of Halloween I’ve compiled a list, picture list that is, of the top 10 easiest/most clever last minute costumes. Enjoy!
10. A little face paint + a deep v-neck and you’re French Kiss…
9. For all you powerful women out there, grab a blue button down and a red headband. You can do it!
8. Put on a little yellow face paint, a fake mustache, and some glasses and Hey-Diddly-Ho, you’re Ned Flanders.
7. Or trade the yellow paint for a cardboard sign Goshhhh…
6. If you have access to ceiling tiles, find some electrical tape and learn how to spell debt.
5. This next costume is great if you’re looking to steal beer all night without getting in trouble. After all you’re just staying in character!
4. For all you gingers out there looking for a last minute costume on a budget, this one’s for you!
3. You know that red flannel t-shirt you like to wear every other day of the year? Why should today be any different?
2. I can always appreciate a great nerd costume and this one is by far the easiest.
1. And the easiest and most clever costume for all you last minute party goers…
Well I feel pretty good about this first ever blog post. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!
Picture Sources:
http://sarcasticcharm.com/17-halloween-costumes-that-are-actually-clever
http://sarcasticcharm.com/25-best-homemade-halloween-costumes-ever-totally-awesome
https://www.businessinsider.com/tech-halloween-costumes-2013-10#simple-nerdy-oh-so-funny-2
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/best-halloween-costumes-o_n_4170143
GOOGLE GLASS AT SMC DALLAS
I’ve always been a bit of a gadget girl. I love tech toys. So when Google Glass came out, I read the articles, watched the videos, and “liked” (a bit enviously) the picture a college friend posted on Facebook showing a Google Glass box. I hoped I would somehow get the chance to play with Google Glass. Then last night it happened!
I went to a Social Media Club of Dallas meeting, and there was not one but two guys walking around wearing Google Glass. Within a couple minutes and some awkward please notice me staring moments, one of the guys walked over to the group I was with. I tried really hard to wait an appropriate amount of time and have enough polite conversation before asking with what I hoped was innocent curiosity but probably came out as slightly over-eager, “Aren’t you wearing Google Glass?”
This guy must be used to this or could sense my determination and intense desire to get my hands on his Google Glass because a minute later this was happening:
Glass was surprisingly difficult to use, I’m hoping it was due to all of the noise in the Angelika lobby, but then again, I’m not sure…
It doesn’t seem like my experience was that unique.
That video pretty much sums up my success rate using Glass. I tried to navigate to my house, but since I don’t have an android phone to connect, that was unsuccessful. I couldn’t look up anything due to Glass’ inability to understand my commands. I did, however, inadvertently share a picture to G+.
And the “coolest” thing I tried to do with Glass?
Yes, that’s a selfie of me trying to take a picture of me taking a picture of me. An attempted selfie of a selfie.
Have you tried Google Glass? What did you think? What’s the coolest thing you’ve done with Glass?
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Thanks again to the incredibly accommodating @chrisgoulet for the use of his Google Glass and @andyodom7 and @theedcelmer for indulging my need to document every second of my Google Glass experience.
FEBRUARY-MARCH MONTHLY SUMMARY
SEO Updates
Experts in the search marketing world have been watching the last major manual Panda Refresh the past three days. This was the 25th and final announced and published update to Panda, Google’s anti-web spam algorithm. Google has stated that “Panda is becoming more of a ‘rolling’ update.” Google Distinguished Engineer, Matt Cutts, is quoted at SMX saying:
Rather than having some huge change that happens on a given day. You are more likely in the future to see Panda deployed gradually as we rebuild the index. So you are less likely to see these large scale sorts of changes.
This is encouraging to us at Globe Runner, we are monitoring all of our clients’ sites and have not been hit by the major Panda updates and with only small tweaks coming in the future, we are confident that we can keep doing what we are doing to rank well. Google is recognizing our clients’ quality sites.
Social News
Pinterest has finally announced an analytics tool! The analytics will show verified website owners the information they have been waiting for since Pinterest began: the number of people who have pinned items from the site, the items/images that are the most popular to pinners, how many people have visited your site from Pinterest, and even the most popular repins. For businesses looking to quantify the value or traffic coming from Pinterest to their site, the process just became much easier. At Globe Runner, we are encouraging our clients to contact us if they have questions about their Pinterest strategy or would like to begin using Pinterest.
Google+
There were also a few updates to Google+ this month. The three main updates are a new local reviews tab, an easier interface to update your information, and a new aspect ratio for cover images. The new aspect ratio is enormous. Photos can now be 2120 x 1192 pixels, this means your cover photo can now cover the entire screen “above the fold” of the Google+ page.
Globe Runner Internal Update
Our CEO Eric McGehearty was featured February 28 in the Upstart Business Journal for an article he authored on why young entrepreneurs are “too dumb to fail.” The article tells Eric’s story from artist to entrepreneur two times over before the age of 30. Read the full article.
Just for Fun
If you have ever wondered how Google Search works and did not want to engage in a long and involved technical conversation with an algorithm engineer, Google has released a website entitled How Search Works. The site is interactive and allows you to follow a search query through the process to the results. Google’s Inside Search blog describes the content as including:
- An interactive, graphical explanation of Google Search
- A view into major search algorithms and features
- A 43-page document explaining how we evaluate our results
- A live slideshow of spam as we remove it
- Graphs illustrating the spam problem and how we fight it
- A list of policies that explain when we’ll remove content
Resources
https://www.seroundtable.com/google-panda-update-rolling-16495.html
http://www.webpronews.com/google-panda-update-is-rolling-out-report-2013-03/
JANUARY-FEBRUARY MONTHLY SUMMARY
Globe Runner SEO Updates
Meet the newest member of the Globe Runner team, Claire Elizabeth McGehearty! She joined the team in Lewisville, Texas on February 15, 2013. She is by far the smallest member at only 7lbs 9oz and 21 inches long. She and her three big brothers keep founders Eric and Heather very busy!
PPC Update
This month Google announced Enhanced PPC Campaigns. These campaigns will be “smarter” and multi-device friendly. A single campaign will now support different locations and devices, thus replacing the old system of creating duplicate campaigns for each location and device for which you want your ad to run. Within an Enhanced PPC campaign, you will be able to customize your ads and bids based on the time, device, and location of the customer. Enhanced campaigns will also offer advanced reporting that will allow comparisons between different types of conversions; for example, app downloads vs. phone calls lasting longer than 60secs. All of these changes are geared towards reducing the number of campaigns and the complexity of your Adwords account.
Google plans to roll out the Enhanced campaigns slowly by first giving advertisers the option to switch some of the campaigns to the Enhanced version to test out the new system. At Globe Runner, we are excited for this change and have already switched a couple of accounts to play with the new system and prepare for every account to be Enhanced. By the middle of this year, Google plans to upgrade every account.
Social News
The most famous adverting day of the year, the Super Bowl was this month. This year’s Super Bowl ads sold for $3.8 million per 30 sec spot. However, the now infamous 34 minute blackout opened up a unique opportunity for real time marketing. The brands that were able to react quickly to the black out with relevant and creative content have been praised by the social media industry. Social media is the ideal real-time marketing platform.
By far, the most praised real time marketing and social media “win” during the Super Bowl blackout was Oreo’s tweet, “You can still dunk in the dark.” This tweet was a win because it highlighted a current event in a non-disparaging way and tied it into the brand’s message in a creative way.
A great social media strategy incorporates current events that can be easily tied to a brand’s message in a way that makes sense and provides a positive feeling about the brand. The brand’s message should not be lost in the “noise” of the surrounding issue. Only a few brands have done this well, and Oreo is the most recent example.
Just for Fun
The high price tag of a Super Bowl ad spot had those of us in the digital space talking about how much further that $4 million would go if used on internet marketing. A few examples of this are an 8 day homepage ad on YouTube (which is one of the top five most visited pages on the web), 200 pieces of Buzzfeed-sponsored content (which is a personal favorite and highly shared site for those of us Globe Runner), and a spot on Twitter’s Promoted Trending Topic every day for a month! For more on what $4 million can buy online, see https://digiday.com/marketing/what-a-4-mil-superbowl-ad-could-buy-in-digital/.
Resources
DECEMBER MONTHLY SUMMARY
Globe Runner SEO Year in Review
Before we look ahead to the New Year, we felt it appropriate to spend a moment and review some of the successes of 2012. A banner year in many respects, some of the largest changes came internally, where three of our own were promoted to new positions, with the advancement of Cody Sharp to SEO Team Lead, Felipe Rocha to Lead Developer, and Damon Gochneaur to Director of Marketing. With strong leadership in place, Globe Runner added some core team members in Andy Odom, Account Strategist, Claire Parker, Communications Specialist, and Cameron Fergus, Web Developer.
While growing our team and client list, we were also proud to maintain a key position in the industry, with our CEO, Eric McGehearty, being re-elected to the DFWSEM Board of Directors as Vice President of Sponsorship. DFWSEM is the largest regional Search Engine Marketing professionals group in the country and helps to validate our role in both our local community as well as our professional circles
2013 SEO Trends
A study conducted at the end of 2012, has shown that SEO is increasing in recognition in importance as a part of an overall marketing strategy. This is illustrated by survey participants: 66% indicated that their marketing budgets were increased for 2013, 6 out of 10, reported that they were increasing their SEO budget for the following year, and 16% of organizations now have a dedicated Search department. Search as a marketing strategy continues to grow. At Globe Runner we are prepared for this and are staying ahead of the curve and continuing to develop our strategies to help our clients rank ahead of the competition.
Two trends that are predicted to take a major role in 2013 are link diversification and content marketing. At Globe Runner, we have always taken a diversified anchor text link strategy, believing that it was best to diversify back link profiles and have anchor text links to relevant content that our clients’ customers are searching. Globe Runner’s content marketing strategy has been focused on encouraging and assisting our clients in publishing and optimizing quality content often, keeping a company site fresh and useful for customers. We also stress the importance of publishing relevant, interesting company news as press releases.
Big Data is another important topic for 2013. More and more data is now available from search and social platforms. These platforms are no longer in their infancy and for the first time reliable data is available. The challenge will be to analyze and apply this data in data driven decision making. The statistics below illustrate just how much data is available and what the industry is describing as “Big Data.”
This data is really staggering when you think about its implications. New tools like Facebook Graph Search will help with the applications of this data.
Big Data Stats:
- 1 billion Facebook users
- 500 terabytes of data per day
- 2.7 billion “Like” actions per day
- 2.5 billion pieces of content per day
- 300 million photos per day
- 500 million Twitter users
- 400 million tweets per day
- 156 million Public Blogs
Social News
Facebook announced a new search tool on Tuesday: Facebook Graph Search. Graph Search will allow Facebook users to search for information about their friends within the platform. Searches can be done for information about people, photos, places, and interests. For example, within Graph Search, a user will be able to search for which of their friends like the show, How I Met Your Mother and are from Denton. The search results will display your friends. You will also be able to search friends of friends. The search tool will not violate Facebook privacy settings in anyway because the only information that will show up in search results is data that is normally viewable on Facebook based on users’ privacy settings.
The implications for social media strategy with the Graph Search tool are exciting. The tool is currently in beta mode, but once it is available, brands will be able to use the search data to highly target certain fans in a much more personal way. Watch the demo from Facebook.
Resources
NOVEMBER MONTHLY SUMMARY
Globe Runner SEO Updates
November has been a busy month with some internal changes including the format of our monthly and weekly reports. Do not be surprised if the reports you see in January are formatted differently than what we have previously sent out.
Continuing our season of networking events, our SEO Team Lead, Cody, went to the Dallas Digital Summit. The speakers at the Summit had a central theme around the wealth of data that is provided with digital marketing and how using this data appropriately leads to better decision making and an increased ROI. Our philosophy at Globe Runner this year has been “data driven decision making” we have seen this confirmed by our peers as a winning strategy and many of our clients have benefited from these decisions.
2013 SEO Predictions
Our CEO, Eric McGehearty, recently put together some predictions for the coming year in the online marketing space. The talk was originally given for the members of TIE. In the talk, Eric discussed likely changes in the Google algorithm, possible tech mergers and acquisitions, continued growth of mobile and upsets in the social media space. The talk also focused on opportunities for entrepreneurs to leverage online marketing to their business advantages. Here is a preview of the talk.
Social News
If you are one of the millions of Twitter and Instagram users then you have probably noticed that Instagram photos no longer show up in your Twitter feed and you will now have to click on the Instagram photo link to see the photos. This is just one of the ways the social sphere is becoming more and more cutthroat as each social media platform vies for dominance. It is becoming even more important now to have a social media strategy that customizes your messaging specifically for each platform.
Resources
HOW TO REALLY PROTECT YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT
Facebook has changed its policies and everything you post will be shared with everyone! Ok, not really. But there’s no doubt you noticed the panic that spread throughout Facebook earlier this week. Stock status updates were being shared by seemingly everyone in a desperate attempt to protect their control over their own posts. The problem was, it was all a hoax.
The Terms of Service document you approved of (but didn’t read) when you set you your account is what counts, not some viral status update.
What that panic illustrated, however, is how suspicious we remain about our privacy on the Internet and with social media networks like Facebook. We love the idea about sharing everything we want to share, but are terrified at the idea of that information getting out of our control. Luckily, these social networks offer many options to protect our content and provide multiple layers of control over sharing. Let’s take a look at some of these security options for some of the major social networks.
Twitter:
Twitter is pretty cut-and-dry: You can have a public Twitter account where everyone can see your tweets, or you can have a private Twitter account where only those you allow to follow you can see your tweets. That’s all, and it’s pretty easy to set up. Just log in to your Twitter profile, click on Settings and then check the box next to “Tweet Privacy” that says “Protect My Tweets.” Then, you’ll have to approve each person who follows you, and only those pre-approved people will be able to see your tweets.
LinkedIn:
LinkedIn has become a huge social network for professionals. In fact, it’s quickly replacing traditional resumes and becoming the first stop for recruiters. For that reason alone, it’s good to know who can see what on your account and what you choose to post there.
To review your account’s privacy settings, log in to LinkedIn and go to Settings. Then, at the bottom of your Settings page, you’ll see options that allow you to control who sees what on your profile and shared posts, when you update your profile, and even what people see when you view their profile.
It’s pretty robust, and simple to set up. However, keep in mind that the more locked down your profile is, the harder it will be for friends, colleagues, and potential employers to find you.
Facebook:
So, earlier this week, Facebook posts started popping up claiming immunity from some new Facebook policies that gives them control over who sees (or profits) from your content. The problem is it was a hoax. But, even though Facebook has a sketchy history of putting your privacy first, they’ve made great strides in giving you plenty of options to do so. Let’s take a look at 4 biggies.
1) Prevent people you don’t know by mutual connection from seeing what you like or commenting. One of the big complaints that the bogus Facebook status update was supposed to fix is that your content can be visible to people you don’t know by a mutual connection “Liking” or commenting on your post. But in reality, this is all controlled in your privacy settings.
When logged in to Facebook, look for the downward-pointing arrow in the upper right-hand corner. Click that, then click “Privacy Settings”.
From there, you can control how you connect with others, what get’s posted on your timeline from others (photo tagging, etc.), Apps connected to your profile, and even block people from your profile altogether.
2) Organize your friends into lists. Some of the previous settings are made even more powerful by creating lists and assigning friends to them. For example, if you have a list of old high school friends and a list of work friends, you might not share the same content with them. Or, maybe you want to keep your family from seeing those pictures from last weekend’s party. After sorting your contacts into lists, you can choose which lists will see a particular post when you add content to your wall.
3) How do others connect with you? How can they find you on Facebook? From the main Privacy Settings window, select “How You Connect.” There are a series of dropdowns that allow you to customize how people can find you (or not) on Facebook, who can send you friend requests, who can send you private messages, and who can post on your wall. These settings are very easy to set up, and very powerful.
4) Edit your Ads Privacy Settings. This one ties into the copyright concerns that were floating around a few days ago. If you’ve noticed that Facebook shows you what your friends have liked on other pages, then you’ve noticed Social Ads. If you want to make sure these things aren’t shared on your behalf by Facebook, go back to that little arrow, but this time click on Account Settings. Go to “Facebook Ads”, and you can change settings for “Ads Shown By Third Parties” and “Ads and Friends (Social Ads…)”.
Really, the only way to make sure that your social media accounts are private and locked down is to never “Like” anything, never share anything, or delete your profile altogether. Since that probably won’t happen, using these options provided by the different social networks under their terms and conditions will do a lot more than posting some silly viral status update.
GLOBE RUNNER CAMPING TRIP
We spend a great deal of time and effort working to create and maintain a specific culture at Globe Runner SEO. We want to foster ingenuity and creative thinking, provide an environment that nurtures yet challenges and end up with a cool, fun place to work that turns out great results.
With that in mind our intrepid C.E.O., Eric McGehearty, organized our 1st annual Father-Son Camping Trip. Several members of our staff have small children and thought this might be a great Saturday night, Sunday morning adventure. We ended up with 6 families, and even crossed the gender barrier and had two ladies join the boys club festivities.
On Saturday November 21st, our fearless group of 6 braved the treacherous roads of Dallas/Ft Worth to pitch our tents on the beautiful rocky shores of Lake Grapevine at Murrell Park.
We spent the afternoon collecting firewood, fishing with no luck, hiking and topped it off with a special racketeering presentation by one of the fathers. Despite windy conditions and water surrounding us on three sides, we successfully recovered every rocket launched!
We settled in that night to a wonderful dinner of steak, chicken and scallops on skewers cooked on an open fire under a starry sky. Add in a side of grilled vegetables and some olive oil and rosemary potatoes and we couldn’t have asked for anything more. We finished the night with some s’mores for the kiddos and then retired to our tents for the evening.
We were greeted the next morning with an absolutely brilliant morning, clear skies, cool but pleasant temps and all the colors of fall we yearn for. After collecting some more firewood and taking the kid’s on a “bear” hunt, we built a nice fire and enjoyed a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and grilled vegetables . With full belly’s and our time running out, we enjoyed some last minute fishing, football and then cleaned up our campsite, making sure to pick up and dispose of all trash and take care in dousing our fire and turning the dirt with a shovel to ensure all coals were extinguished.
As a guy with very limited camping experience, none in the last 25 years, and a self-labeled suburbanite, I was apprehensive about the entire experience. I was totally and completely wrong. We had a fabulous time as my 4 year old is still talking about the experience nearly two weeks away. From food to conversation, to ambiance to location, this was a trip we’ll seek to replicate. While I live in a digital world and work for a digital company in a digital industry, our analog night was a memory that no algorithmic update can erase or devalue.
HUNGRY TO TAKE OVER THE WEB? CITYSEARCH IS!
With the launch of its YouTube Channel Hungry, Citysearch is becoming a major player in the video content space. Recognizing that the web gets more local every day, Citysearch’s new channel celebrates local culture while expanding its local influence. My sister-in-law Tolly Moseley is the Austin, TX host for Hungry: Check out her latest episode to see how Hungry offers visitors a taste of Austin:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/aLJ2t1w_MMY?rel=0
CityGrid Media, the internet conglomerate that owns CitySearch, is far more than just a website. It’s a global-scale media company and publisher that understands the importance of local content. Unlike other ad networks, CityGrid publishes massive amounts of quality content through its various sites including Citysearch, Urbanspoon, and Insider Pages. Having proven the content marketing model, Citysearch and CityGrid Media now attract local and national advertisers alike.
What can small to midsize businesses learn from the CityGrid model?
First: Invest in Quality Content
Take the time to create stories worth reading and videos worth watching. Remember, the idea behind content marketing is to produce content that becomes your advertisement, rather than purchase advertising space alongside someone else’s content. Your content needs to be good enough that people seek it out.
Second: Go Local
We all love to hear about the places we live in and travel to. If you have a local presence, make a big deal about it. If not, you can still produce content and advertisements that are targeted to the cities you serve.
Finally: Be Authentic
Find your voice as a brand, and find voices that can help you make an impact in your target cities. Local talent can make a big difference. Hungry’s local hosts, for example, all have existing fan bases that the channel can leverage and build upon.
If you’re hungry to build your business online, follow the Citigrid recipe: use authentic, local ingredients and don’t skimp on quality.
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