Internet Secrets

Video Streaming And The Imagination Consumer

There was a time when Groucho Marx said, “I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.” Everyone laughed at the comment because television didn’t seem very applicable to the way people lived their lives – it was not portable and did not seem practical. At the time it was believed that television stole the imaginations of people because on the small screens in the corners of rooms across America no one had to listen to the radio and wonder what the world was like that was being described in the ‘theater of the mind’. Well, times have changed and the growth of video is huge while the statement made by Groucho Marx is laughed at because television has indeed changed the way we view our world. MTV took the notion of finding meaning in a song to an unusual place where the association you might have with a song was no longer based on a set of personal experiences tied to the song, but rather the video released in support of the single. Ann Landers once said, “Television has proved that people will look at anything rather than each other.” Together a generation lamented the passing of imagination as a new generation seemed ill equipped to understand the lamentation song. This new generation not only approved of the entertainment value of video they began demanding the video be portable. From home video to DVD players in vehicles and then to portable devices with on demand video streaming the former lamentation has been inculcated into the very fabric of portable life in the 21st century.

Paddy Chayevsky may have understood this shift when these words were penned, “[Television is] the menace that everyone loves to hate but can’t seem to live without.” Just try managing a trip with the family renting a motel room that does not have a TV. This would be thought of as the ultimate punishment. For this generation on demand video streaming has made its way to computers and portable devices. They can get caught up on sports highlights, news stories the latest real life videos from YouTube or similar video streaming site, visitors can watch music videos and receive video messages from friends and family fully streamed to they downloadable device for viewing whenever they want to watch. In 1929 the New York Times reported, “TV will never be a serious competitor for radio because people must sit and keep their eyes glued on a screen; the average American family hasn’t time for it.” This sentiment is proof that we can never really adequately explain the power of certain dynamics that fluctuate from one generation to the next. What we believe is either impossible or impractical today may be the next big thing for a new generation. Video streaming is a growing phenomenon that seems to be the logical extension of television for an on demand and highly mobile world. Video streaming is taking us places and in the words of Bill Gates, “Where do you want to go today?”

Tis’ The Season To Avoid Litigation: Making Sure Your Office Christmas Party Is Safe

According to recent statistics, a third of companies aren’t planning on hosting the traditional office Christmas Party this year, amidst concerns about legal action due to drunken antics and so forth. While I can safely say there are many more office safety risks during a party than the rest of the year (most offices just aren’t built for that level of snacks, alcohol and cheesy music), with a little thinking ahead the office Christmas party can become the celebrated institution it once was – without the dark cloud of litigation hanging overhead.

It’s important to keep the office health and safety precautions in the background however – no one likes the idea of constant red tape when they’re trying to unwind.

Already over half of managers recently surveyed felt the celebratory atmosphere felt very ‘forced’. Here are 5 workplace health and safety steps you can take to minimise the risk of a litigious post party hangover. 1) Take it out of the office The easiest way of avoiding the legal minefield of workplace health and safety laws is to take it out of the office! As I mentioned earlier, the typical office with its computers, water cooler and cubicles is just not built for the antics and tomfoolery of the stereotypical office Christmas party. Booking a restaurant or a hotel may seem like an unnecessary expense in the short term, but the different environment will help people unwind and enjoy themselves, and your precious photocopier will not be damaged by the exhibitionist office clown! 2) Leave off the Mistletoe This one is less ‘health and safety’ and more to do with employment law, but one of the biggest concerns for legal action is the fear of sexual harassment in the workplace. And while the Mistletoe is a firm favourite, in some cases it really can be asking for trouble. By taking it off the list of decorations, you will limit your responsibility if someone does feel harassed or intimidated – remember that if you are funding the party, then the party will still come under the office rules, including those pertaining to sexual harassment.

As a warning about office conduct in general, a worker from Merill Lynch was paid a Ј1,000,000 out of court settlement over comments about her sex life and breasts at the office Christmas party, so keep an eye out for inappropriate conduct. 3) Look out for hazards Here’s a bizarre statistic for you: in 2002, 1,000 people were injured by falling Christmas trees. It just goes to show that hazards are everywhere, especially with the alcohol free flowing. If you can’t budget to have the office elsewhere, make sure you’re not creating trouble where there were no occupational health and safety hazards before. Typical Christmas office safety pitfalls can be easily avoided: Don’t allow people to stand on office chairs or desks to put up decorations and don’t allow fire hazards like Christmas lights to be hung on computers or air vents. Also, ensure that all the usual emergency information is not obscured by crass decorations – even if it means there’s no room for that last life-size reindeer model – the office health and safety laws must come first! 4) Watch out for the alcohol It’s unsurprising that many managers are terrified at the workplace health and safety inspector’s nightmare: combining alcohol with expensive office equipment. Fortunately, there are steps you can take towards limiting the potential for damage and aiding office safety. It’s a well known fact that alcohol is most potent on an empty stomach, so put on some catering. Salty snacks are less recommended because they create a thirst which can be counter-intuitive for the alcohol-wary manager. A good way of being able to control the alcohol a little more is by making your own punch – the alcohol content is then up to you, and the fruit juice in them will cause the alcohol to be absorbed into the bloodstream that little bit slower. 5) Put on transportation Booking some taxis or providing rooms for party goers to sleep may sound like an unnecessary expense at the end of the night, but the cost is far less than the risk they would cause to themselves by drink driving, or the damage to the company if they sue due to an accident as they stagger back to their homes. And the extra cost involved is all in the spirit of Christmas, and will ensure that for just one day, you aren’t compared to Ebenezer Scrooge! One final word of advice: According to a recent survey, Bing Crosby’s White Christmas and The Pogues’ Fairytale of New York are our favourite Christmas songs, while Cliff Richard’s Mistletoe and Wine, and Wham’s Last Christmas are best avoided if you want to keep the moaning to a minimum! Some would call a Christmas over indulgence in Cliff a far more concerning breach of health and safety laws, than a little alcohol abuse!

How to create content that will get you loads of links

Did you know that there is a way that you can actually create content that will help generate plenty of relevant and valuable one way links pointed at your site? In the same way that articles can be written with the objective of getting as many readers as possible to click through the links in the resource box at the bottom of an article, you can also specifically write content with links in mind. The accumulation of links has been made a lot easier by the rise of blogs in recent times which tends to make linking and creation of links very easy. How Useful Is Your Article To Other Sites? When one is looking for links, the focus changes from your prospective clients out there to fellow bloggers in more or less the same line of business. This means that you have to be familiar with blogs that are closely related to the topic or subject area of your own blog. What kind of content would they be interested in referring their visitors to at the moment? These are the sort questions you will need to ask yourself and answer accurately before you can even begin working on a strategy to get related high-traffic sites to link to your content. Select A Hot Topical Issue Yet another direction to take is to select hot topical issues to write about. Especially where it is directly related to or deeply affecting the industry or topic you usually cover. Actually the idea here is that the more passionate people are about the issue, the better. Then you have to be careful to write about it in a different and refreshing way.

If for example you can look at the whole raging debate in new light, the better. Whatever you do, just remember that you cannot afford to bore you potential audience. This brings us to the next point. Controversy Sells, Controversy Will Get You Links For centuries offline newspapers have known this great secret to high sales. Controversy never fails to sell newspapers. In the same way that it sells really big on the newsstands, controversy can also get you plenty of links. There are numerous examples on the net to prove this. For instance controversial pictures have had the effect of getting thousands of links pointing at them literally overnight. Admittedly, getting a controversial photo to post at your site or a controversial topic to write about is far from being an easy task. However the huge advantage you will have from this day on is that you will know exactly what you are looking for and therefore it will be a lot easier to find it when you always keep in mind what you are looking for. Whatever you are doing, which ever site you are visiting always keep the thought at the back of your mind that you are looking for something controversial to help you win links. If you do this for any length of time, then chances are pretty high that sooner or later you will get an idea. Get Into The Conversation It is really all about creativity and the powerful ideas that you can generate with the sole objective of coming up with the sort of content that can help you accumulate many precious links to your site within a relatively short period of time. However your idea creation needs to be controlled so that you concentrate on your particular niche and other closely related niches that compliment yours. To be able to so this successfully, you will need to get into the conversation going on in your niche. At any given time they will be a certain discussion through comments left in blogs and discussion groups about some issue related to the industry in general.

By monitoring the comments on the major blogs and also discussion groups and forums, you will be able to even participate in this conversation. This is important since it will give you the added confidence of writing your content. Participating in these conversations also plays another very important role. And that is, it will enable you to test your ideas before you turn them into content. Conclusion When you create content with links in mind, it dramatically increases your chances of accumulating them. More so when you use the tips supplied in this article.

Pop-up Windows: Are They an Effective or Annoying Internet Marketing Tactic?

In the not too distant past, pop-up windows were all the rage for marketing on the internet.

Every time we opened a web page, we were bombarded with various offers of goods or services. It had gotten to the point where surfing the internet was like playing a video game—Kill the Pop-ups or Die Trying. When the ads popped-up, we had to try and close them out before another one popped up. It seemed we spent more time shutting down pop-ups then we did actually surfing. That is precisely why we have seen a decline in the use of pop-up windows on the internet today. Surfers simply disregard the pop-ups and usually just close the window without even bothering to read the ad. Too many pop-up ads can also cause the user to leave your site. You have valuable information to offer, but nobody will see it. Their time is valuable and they are not about to waste it closing out numerous pop-up ads. Despite these setbacks, studies have shown that pop-up windows remain an effective method of internet marketing. Is there a way that pop-up windows can be less annoying, yet still be an effective marketing tool? Yes! Consider placing the pop-up where it can be seen upon exiting your site instead of entering. This allows the surfer to obtain the information they came for without being hassled by frequent advertisements and offers. The surfer leaves your site with a positive attitude and is more likely to respond to the pop advertisement. This type of ad is known as the pop-under window. Here is how the pop-under works. When the surfer comes to your site, the ad is opened up discretely behind your web page. The person visiting your site obtains the information they came for. Upon exiting, they will see the ad. Now, they are more likely to respond because you have taken care of their needs first. Since the surfer is satisfied that he has achieved his objective, he is now open to other ideas; namely responding to your pop-under advertisement. Let’s talk about some ways that you can make your pop-windows, whether pop-ups or pop-unders, more effective. Here are 6 ways to effective pop-windows: First and most important, the pop-window should be easy to “escape” from.

If the surfer has a hard time closing it out, she will likely become frustrated and leave your site altogether. Either use a button that allows the surfer to close the window or be sure that the “x” is easily visible. Another method of effectiveness is to use a script that utilizes cookies. Cookies will prevent pop windows from overloading the surfer, since they allow you to make a decision regarding the frequency of the pop-windows you use. Thirdly, never use more than one pop-window per page. Four, when choosing the design of the pop-window, you can increase the effectiveness by creating a large headline that addresses benefits to the customer. Also consider using incentives and lastly, do not expect the customer to read a lengthy advertisement. Keep your message simple yet powerful and your pop-windows are sure to generate profits for your site and happy repeat customers.