API: Administration Rules Hamper Energy ... - LNG World News

API Director of Upstream Erik Milito and API Director of Regulatory and Scientific Affairs Howard Feldman told reporters yesterday morning that the administration?s policies on improving regulations and encouraging domestic oil and natural gas development continue to hamper energy production and job creation and threaten to leave the nation with a less secure energy future.

Erik Milito: ?We have seen numerous examples of regulatory decisions that simply move in the wrong direction and that contribute to uncertainty and inefficiency. These include the administration?s status quo five-year plan for offshore development, its decisions to withdraw and delay the issuance of leases for federal onshore lands, its decision to redo its commercial oil shale regulations, its policies on ?Wild Lands? and categorical exclusions, its delayed action on seismic activity in the Atlantic, and, of course, its failure to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. Smart and cost-effective regulatory programs can help drive the country forward by boosting jobs, generating much-needed revenue, and enhancing energy security. This is the approach we need for our onshore and offshore federal leasing programs.?

Howard Feldman: ?This is a global industry. Domestic refineries compete in a global marketplace. Now is not the time to impose still more requirements unless the need is indisputable. Yet that is exactly what the administration seems bent on doing. A slew of new rules, applicable only to U.S. refineries but not their competitors overseas, threaten to put some U.S. refiners out of business, diminish U.S. fuel manufacturing capacity, and increase our reliance on imported fuels. Addressing our environmental challenges is not discretionary. We get that. But with so great a burden already being shouldered, America?s refineries don?t need excessively costly regulations that do not account for progress already made, regulations without a sound science-based justification, or regulations for the sake of regulations. Our industry supports 9.2 million jobs. With the right policies, it can preserve those and create many more. The administration needs to take its ideological blinders off and not squander this opportunity.?

LNG World News Staff, September 26, 2012

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Source: http://www.lngworldnews.com/api-administration-rules-hamper-energy-development-usa/

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Rocker / Hunter Ted Nugent Gives AmmoLand An Inside Look At ...

?TED NUGENT?S GUN COUNTRY? PREMIERING 10/10 AT 10PM

?Nobody has more absolute fun with guns than my family. Like millions of American families, these utilitarian tools and works of art serve us well in all manner of good, clean, legal, safe fun, recreation and competition. Our American Dream is measured in ballistics.? ?Ted Nugent

Ted Nugent?s Gun Country

Discovery Channel

USA --(Ammoland.com)- With more than 40 million albums sold, Ted Nugent is a rock and roll legend ? but music is just one of his passions. He?s also a strong and vocal advocate for guns, hunting and all things America.

In Discovery Channel?s all-new one-hour special TED NUGENT?S GUN COUNTRY, premiering October 10th at 10PM E/P, viewers will get an inside look at American gun culture through the eyes of staunch second amendment defender Ted Nugent.

Meet Nugent?s family and visit his sprawling Spirit Wild ranch just outside Waco, Texas, home to many species of big game that freely roam the meadows and pastures. An avid hunter and conservationist at heart, Ted has his eye on the herd of scimitar-horned oryx that have bred far faster than he anticipated. Knowing the land can?t support the boomingpopulation, he plans to thin out the herd ? and that sends him on a mission. He needs the right firearm and right ammo to get the job done. For that, it?s a trip to top-grade firearms maker LaRue Tactical.

Nugent gets his hands on their new OBR PrediTAR .308 rifle and gets a lesson on the finer points of the weapon from renowned military sniper trainer Todd Hodnet. Ted?s highpoint of the day: a 1,000 yard target that, when he hits it, causes a massive explosion that even he didn?t expect.

On hunt day, Ted and his son Rocco set out at dawn to track their elusive prey and put his new weapon to use. Hours pass without any sign of the crafty antelope. But the father-son duo comes up with a plan and eventually their patience pays off. A firm believer that no animal goes to waste, Ted prepares a festive meal at the ranch that includes guests from Wounded Warriors ? his way of giving back to those who fought on behalf of the country he loves so much.

TED NUGENT?S GUN COUNTRY was produced for Discovery Channel by MorningStar Entertainment, where Gary Tarpinian and Paninee Theeranutawat are ExecutiveProducers, Christian Robinson is Co-Executive Producer and Mark Therrien isSupervising Producer.

About Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is dedicated to creating the highest quality non-fiction content that informs and entertains its consumers about the world in all its wonder, diversity and amazement. The network, which is distributed to 100.8 million U.S. homes, can be seen in 210 countries and territories, offering a signature mix of compelling, high-end production values and vivid cinematography across genres including, science and technology, exploration, adventure, history and in-depth, behind-the-scenes glimpses at the people, places and organizations that shape and share our world. For more information, please visit www.discovery.com.

Source: http://www.ammoland.com/2012/09/26/ted-nugents-gun-country/

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Electronic Arts Buys Online Gaming Development Studio ESN

Electronic Arts continues to beef up its cloud-based gaming offerings. Today it was announced that it is buying ESN, developers of the Planet web-based games framework, for an undisclosed sum. The two companies had already been working together, namely on Battlelog, an online social-web component for EA?s Battlefield 3. The news was announced on ESN?s blog.

?We couldn?t be more excited about this opportunity and the team is looking forward to focus all of its energy on DICE [EA's existing Swedish studio], Battlelog and the Battlefield series,? the company?s founders write.

In addition to the Planet framework for web applications, ESN has two other products for games developers looking to publish content on the web: Beaconpush and Sonar. The first of these, Beaconpush, is a push service for developers creating real-time web apps using HTML5 WebSockets and Comet. Sonar, meanwhile, is a?cloud-based hosted service, available via an API, that developers can use to integrate voice communication into their online games.

Taken together, this could be a sign that not only is EA looking to continue to beef up its own portfolio in the areas of online and mobile web-based gaming ? but it could also continue operating the platforms to bring in more third-partly publishers under the EA umbrella. We are reaching out to EA for a comment on how ESN will fit in with its strategy. The company has already confirmed the acquisition to TechCrunch on the phone ? although it has yet to issue a formal release.

In the blog post announcing the deal, ESN also notes that it is on the lookout to hire more developers.

The fact that EA already had Dice in Sweden probably means that the two will consolidate, but still remain in Sweden. We are reaching out to ask more questions, as well as to see if we can get more clarity on the financial terms of the deal.

Electronic Arts, which started as a games publisher for consoles, has over the last few years been trying to reposition itself to be closer to where its audience is moving: into online social and casual gaming and mobile. In that, it has had some run-ins with other companies also trying to keep strong positions in those spaces. It is currently suing Zynga, alleging that the social games maker?s The Ville is a ripoff of its Sims Social Facebook game.

Buying studios like ESN are a large part of how it hopes to continue beefing up its digital, online gaming business. In the last quarter, Q1 FY2013, EA noted that GAAP net revenues for its digital business were $342 million, compared to $592 million for net publishing packaged goods revenues.

The move to rethink its games as ?services? rather than packaged goods has also meant some restructuring, as CEO John Riccitiello pointed out in its quarterly earnings call in May. Just yesterday it was announced that it was closing the Dublin office of PopCap, making nearly 100 employees redundant, as part of a bigger re-org and downsizing of the Seattle-based studio, which EA bought in July 2011 for $750 million, with a potential earnout taking that to $1.3 billion.

In July, the company said that Q1 FY GAAP net revenues were $4.1 billion. EA expects to have lower GAAP net revenue in the current quarter, of between $3.90 to $4.05 billion.

Source: http://bit1.us/2012/09/26/electronic-arts-buys-online-gaming-development-studio-esn/

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Senate Finance Committee Quizzes ... - The Chronicle of Philanthropy

The Senate Finance Committee has asked Quadriga Art, a direct-marketing firm, to provide financial records about its ties to the Disabled Veterans National Foundation, a charity the committee is investigating because it has spent little money on services that directly help veterans.

Most of the money the veterans? group has raised from an extensive direct-mail operation has gone to pay bills at Quadriga and its subsidiary Brickmill Marketing Services. It owes? about $17-million to the two companies, a Quadriga spokeswoman said last month.

The finance committee?s letter asks Mark Schulhof, Quadriga Art?s chief executive, to provide details about business dealings among Quadriga, its related entities, and the veterans? charity from 2008 to 2011. It requests information about the goods and services the companies have offered, their cost, the revenue they have earned, and the money they have collected?and are still owed?by the charity.

CNN, which has broadcast numerous stories about charities affiliated with Quadriga, reported on Monday that California and New York regulators are also investigating the company.

A source close to the New York investigation confirmed that the attorney general?s office had sent subpoenas asking Quadriga about its business practices. A spokesman for the California attorney general?s office declined to comment on the report.

?Based on the recent media coverage, it is not surprising that we have received some inquiries from regulators,? Quadriga Art said in a statement. ?This is a regulated industry. We have received many inquiries over the past several decades, and we always cooperate with inquiries from industry regulators. We have always been found to have abided by all federal and state rules and regulations and have never been fined.?

Quadriga and Brickmill argue that a heavy investment was needed to get the veterans? charity off the ground and that it has helped the charity accumulate 2 million donors.? The veterans group also defended its spending?in a formal response to the finance committee, noting that it started in 2007, just before the recession hit, but that ?our supporter file is growing, and we expect the deficit to start being reduced.?

In a new video that Quadriga has distributed to clients, Mr. Schulhof says his company has not made any profit from DVNF?s business but believes it will make money in the long run.

?This is not making millions off the back of veterans,? he says. ?What this is is helping charities do good, helping charities build direct-mail files. Direct-mail files help charities sustain long-term survivability.?

CNN?s latest report highlights Quadriga Art?s direct-mail campaign for St. Bonaventure Indian Mission and School, in Thoreau, N.M., an effort that left the school in debt.

Dig deeper: See The Chronicle?s article?about Quadriga?s ties to the veterans? charity.

Send an e-mail to Suzanne Perry.

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Source: http://philanthropy.com/blogs/government-and-politics/senate-finance-committee-quizzes-fundraising-company-about-veterans-charity/30932

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Stocks lower at midday as European shares tumble

By The Associated Press

NEW YORK --?Stocks are lower at midday as unrest simmers in Europe.?

Just before noon on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average is off 27 points at 13,430. the Standard & Poor's 500 index is down eight at 1,434. And the Nasdaq composite index is down 29 at 3,089.?

European stocks are having their worst day in months as unrest threatens to boil over in Greece, where deep budget cuts have eroded people's living standards, and in Spain.?

In the U.S., the median price of new homes sold in August rose by a record amount, while sales of new homes dipped slightly.

Stronger data on the U.S. housing market have helped insulate stocks in recent weeks from fears about the global economy. Stocks' other main source of support, the Federal Reserve's program to boost the economy by pumping money in, lost some luster Tuesday after a key Fed official expressed skepticism about the plan.?

"There was some optimism coming into the market, and that's usually when you're most vulnerable to sell-offs when there are negative headlines" like the Fed official's comments, unrest in Europe and weaker data about the U.S. economy, said Todd Salamone, director of research at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Indexes had risen to levels they hadn't beat for months or years, Salamone said, creating "an almost perfect storm in terms of the vulnerability to short-term impacts.'

The dip in home sales hurt homebuilder stocks. PulteGroup Inc. fell 5.5 percent, KB Home 5.4 percent and Beazer Homes USA Inc. 4.7 percent.

European stocks were having their worst day in months as unrest threatened to boil over in Greece, where deep budget cuts have eroded people's living standards, and Spain, where citizens are resisting a likely bailout from international lenders. Earlier, Asian stocks closed lower.

The euro fell sharply against the dollar, and the price of oil dropped below $90 per barrel for the first time since early August.

Rising demand for lower-risk investments fed strong bids for U.S. Treasury debt. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.63 percent from 1.67 percent late Tuesday. A bond's yield falls as its price increases.

The moves come a day after the worst sell-off for the S&P 500 in three months. Charles Plosser, president of the Fed's Philadelphia branch, told an audience Tuesday that the Fed's effort to support the economy would likely fall short of its goals.

Stocks had rallied this summer before and after the Fed announced the plan to buy $40 billion in mortgage bonds each month until the economy strengthens. As doubts about it sink in, stocks are falling back to where they were when the deal was announced.

Below, Katie Stockton of MKM Partners provides discusses buying opportunities in the markets on CNBC.

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? 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://marketday.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/26/14112407-stocks-lower-at-midday-as-european-shares-tumble?lite

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Futurity.org ? Genes reveal four breast cancer subtypes

WASHINGTON U. ? ST. LOUIS / UNC-CHAPEL HILL (US) ? One of the most deadly subtypes of breast cancer is genetically more similar to ovarian tumors than to other breast cancers, report researchers.

The most comprehensive analysis yet of breast cancer, published online September 23 in Nature, suggests that most basal-like breast tumors and ovarian tumors have similar genetic origins and potentially could be treated with the same drugs, says the study?s co-leader Matthew J. Ellis, chair in medical oncology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Basal-like tumors account for about 10 percent of all breast cancers and disproportionately affect younger women and those who are African-American.

The new research is part of The Cancer Genome Atlas project, which brings together leading genetic sequencing centers, including The Genome Institute at Washington University, to identify and catalog mutations involved in many common cancers. The effort is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

?With this study, we?re one giant step closer to understanding the genetic origins of the four major subtypes of breast cancer,? says Ellis, who treats breast cancer patients at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University.

?Now, we can investigate which drugs work best for patients based on the genetic profiles of their tumors. For basal-like breast tumors, it?s clear they are genetically more similar to ovarian tumors than to other breast cancers. Whether they can be treated the same way is an intriguing possibility that needs to be explored.?

New framework

Currently, for example, basal-like breast tumors often are treated like many other breast cancers, using anthracycline-based chemotherapy. But another of Ellis?s studies recently showed that women with basal-like tumors don?t benefit from these drugs, which also have severe side effects.

At the very least, he says, the new data indicates that clinical trials should be designed to avoid the use of these drugs in basal-like tumors.

?This study has now provided a near complete framework for the genetic causes of breast cancer, which will significantly impact clinical medicine in the coming years as these genetic markers are evaluated as possible markers of therapeutic responsiveness,? says study co-leader Charles M. Perou, professor of molecular oncology?of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and member of the?UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.

As part of the new research, a nationwide consortium of researchers analyzed tumors from 825 women with breast cancer. The scientists used six different technologies to examine subsets of the tumors for defects in DNA, RNA (a close chemical cousin of DNA) and proteins. Nearly 350 tumors were analyzed using all six technologies.

?By tying together those different data sets, we can build a story around the biology of each breast cancer subtype that is dictated by the genome, interpreted by the RNA and played out by the proteins at work inside each tumor,? says co-author Elaine Mardis, PhD, co-director of The Genome Institute.

?These data can serve as a backdrop for other questions about how particular mutations affect survival or response to certain drugs.?

Four subtypes

The study confirmed the existence of four main subtypes of breast cancer: Luminal A, luminal B, HER2, and basal-like. The latter includes most triple-negative breast tumors, so-named because they lack receptors for the hormones estrogen, progesterone, or human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2). These tumors often are aggressive and do not respond to therapies that target hormone receptors or to standard chemotherapies.

Across the four subtypes, mutations in only three genes?TP53, PIK3CA, and GATA3?occurred in more than 10 percent of patients? tumors. But, the scientists found unique genetic and molecular signatures within each of the subtypes. Their findings add to the growing body of evidence suggesting that tumors should be cataloged and treated based on the genes that are disrupted rather than the location in the body.

In general, compared to the other subtypes, basal-like and HER2 tumors had the highest mutation rates but the shortest list of significantly mutated genes. These genes are thought to be major drivers of cancer progression.

For example, 80 percent of basal-like tumors had mutations in the TP53 gene, which have been linked to poor outcomes. About 20 percent of the tumors also had inherited mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes, which are known to increase the risk of breast and ovarian cancer.

?This suggests that it only takes a few hits to key genes that drive cancer growth,? Mardis explains.

New targets for treatment

A high frequency of TP53 mutations also occurs in ovarian cancer, the researchers note. Overall, the genetic profiles of basal-like and ovarian tumors were strikingly similar, with widespread genomic instability and mutations occurring at similar frequencies and in similar genes.

Finding new drug targets for basal-like breast tumors is critical, and the research suggests that patients with mutations in the BRCA genes may benefit from PARP inhibitors or platinum-based chemotherapy, which are already used to treat ovarian cancer.

By comparison, luminal cancers (which include estrogen receptor-positive and progesterone-receptor positive tumors) had the lowest mutation frequencies and longer lists of significantly mutated genes. This suggests defects in multiple genetic pathways can lead to the development of luminal breast cancers.

Most patients with luminal A cancer have good outcomes, and the most common mutation in that subtype occurred in PIK3CA, which was present in 45 percent of tumors. TP53 mutations only occurred in 12 percent.

Some patients with luminal B tumors do well but many experience recurrence years after treatment. Interestingly, the most common mutations in these tumors occurred in TP53 (linked to poor outcomes) and PIK3CA (linked to good outcomes), which may explain the disparate results seen in patients with this subtype.

?Now, we?re much closer to understanding the true origins of the different types of breast cancer,? Ellis says.

?With this information, physicians and scientists can look at their own samples to correlate patients? tumor profiles with treatment response and overall outcomes. That?s the challenge for the future?translating a patient?s genetic profile into new treatment strategies.?

Additional investigators contributed to the findings from UNC Chapel Hill, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Texas, Indiana University, Duke University, Stanford University, University of Pittsburgh, and University of Chicago, among other institutions.

The work was supported by the National Institutes of Health as well as the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the US Department of Defense through the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Sources: Washington University in St. Louis & UNC-Chapel Hill

Source: http://www.futurity.org/health-medicine/genes-reveal-four-breast-cancer-subtypes/

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The Importance of A/B Testing - Business 2 Community

A/B testing stands for ?Always Be Testing,? right? It should! Once you start testing various elements of your marketing campaigns ? from PPC text ads to landing pages to email subject lines ? you realize ?best practices? are only a rough guideline. You? never know what?s going to work with your audience until you test it.

When I hear about an A/B test with surprising results, it always makes me want to run out and test everything. So I asked 24 marketing experts to answer one question:

What is the most surprising or exciting result you?ve ever achieved in an A/B test?

You can read their answers below. I hope you find these tests as fun and inspiring as I do! Here are the players:

1. Aaron Levy
2. AJ Kohn
3. Brad Geddes
4. Brad Shorr
5. Chris Kostecki
6. Crystal O?Neill
7. Francis Shovlin
8. Greg Meyers
9. Jeff Allen
10. Joe Kerschbaum
11. John Doherty
12. John Lee
13. Ken Lyons
14. Larry Kim
15. Matthew Umbro
16. Megan Leap
17. Michelle Morgan
18. Oli Gardner
19. Perry Marshall
20. Ryan Healy
21. Sean Quadlin
22. Shawn Livengood
23. Todd Mintz
24. Tom Demers

Read on to discover what you should be testing and the kinds of crazy results you can expect to see when you do?.

Aaron Levy

Many of the best test results that I?ve run in my digital marketing career have come from testing things that don?t necessarily fit into best practices. The most exciting result I saw from an A/B test came from simply moving the form on a landing page from the standard right side, to the center of the LP.

(Before on the left, after on the right. Images/colors removed to protect client.)

The existing landing page was already pretty tightly optimized and had a conversion rate of about 11%. By making a simple change and moving the form to the center, we were able to increase conversion rate by nearly 50% to just a hair under 16%. Not bad for going against the grain!

Aaron Levy has been in digital marketing since 2007, spending his days (& many nights) as a PPC account manager at SEER Interactive, a Philadelphia-based Search agency. He moonlights as a wannabe brewer/cyclist/hockey star and tweets about all.

AJ Kohn

What?s the most surprising result I achieved using A/B testing? Back in 2007 I tested URL initial capitalization in AdWords ads and?achieved a?53% lift in click-through rate.

The test was simple. I created two exact ads except for the URL. In one, I used the standard www.sitename.com while the other used initial capitalization and looked like www.SiteName.com. I repeated this test numerous times and always saw a positive lift.

Sadly, Google eliminated this type of URL display. However, at the time, it reconfirmed that small changes could have a profound impact and got me interested in how users ?looked? at search results.

AJ Kohn?is Owner of?Blind Five Year Old, a San Francisco Internet Marketing firm specializing in search. An experienced marketing executive with a successful track record spanning 20 years, AJ combines a deep understanding of search marketing with a passion for product strategy and iterative product development, fusing design and user experience with quantitative analysis. Follow him on Twitter at @ajkohn.

Brad Geddes

I was working with a client who had a terrible landing page. It wasn?t well designed and you had to click on a button to go to a terrible form page to convert. I begged them to create a new page and at least put a clean form on the landing page. They came back with a page that still wasn?t pretty and had their terrible form just embedded on the page.

The new version increased the website?s profit 76%.

That?s when my perfectionist brain realized: You don?t have to be perfect. To achieve greater results, all you need to do is better than you?currently?are.

Brad Geddes is the founder of Certified Knowledge, a PPC training and toolset platform. He is the author of Advanced Google AdWords, and an official Google AdWords Seminar Leader. You can follow @bgTheory on Twitter to stay up to date with industry news.

Brad Shorr

For PPC ads, we never cease to be amazed by how slight changes in emphasis can produce enormous improvement in click-throughs. Here?s a case in point from last week. We were testing these calls to action:

A. Get $10 off the first purchase. Book online now!

B. Get an additional $10 off. Book online now.

The CTR doubled with option ? B. (Just for the record, my money was on A.)

Brad Shorr is Director of Content & Social Media for Straight North, a full service Internet marketing agency based in Chicago. He writes frequently about SEO, copywriting, and content marketing. Follow him on Twitter: @bradshorr.?

Chris Kosteki

The most surprising insight I?ve gained from a test, was when I tested 2 landing pages. The control presented the product and add to cart options versus a page that positioned the product, but was one click away from the actual product. Despite the extra step and more language to get through, it substantially out-performed the more direct path. It had a stronger conversion rate (+18% with 95% stat significance reached) and a higher AOV. It helped us recognize where we were engaging traffic within the buying process and as a result we were able to use the findings to better position other products prior to the sale.

Chris Kostecki has been working in Search since 2006, and in marketing since 1997. He created a?PPC product for small businesses to supplement a Yellow Page directory product, and worked as a?PPC?manager in an agency serving eCommerce clients before his current role as in-house Search Analyst at ?Keurig Inc., the manufacturer of the revolutionary?single cup coffee maker, part of the?Green Mountain Coffee?family. Follow Chris?on Twitter to keep up with the latest trends in Search Marketing especially every Tuesday from 12-1 p.m. EST during?#PPCChat. All views he expresses are his own and do not necessarily?represent the views of any entities he is associated with.?

Crystal O?Neill

One of the most surprising results I?ve seen in A/B testing was in ad testing. We had a client featured on Good Morning America (?GMA?), so naturally we wanted to leverage the credibility and press from a show like GMA. We decided to first A/B test an ad in our Branded Campaigns with a tagline touting ?Featured on Good Morning America? vs. our regular ad with an ?Official Site? tagline. Ads with the GMA tagline won by a landslide for CTR and Conversion Rate. This isn?t the surprising part ? we expected these results given the credibility and recognition of GMA.

Based on this initial A/B test, we rolled similar A/B ad tests out to our Non-Branded campaigns. In nearly all tests the ?Featured on GMA? ads won again. Again, not too terribly surprising.

Here is the surprising part. The GMA segment aired nearly 3 years ago now, and after rounds and rounds and rounds (you get the point) of A/B testing, ad variations that contain ?Featured on GMA? continue to be top performing ads. Here?s an example of recent ad results:

Moral of this A/B test story is don?t underestimate the value or longevity of great press!

Crystal (Anderson) O?Neill is the PPC Division Lead at?SEER Interactive, a Philadelphia-based Digital Agency. She began her PPC career in early 2006 and has managed international PPC accounts across multiple platform and industries, with monthly budgets from four to six figures. You can follow her on Twitter at?@CrystalA.

Francis Shovlin

One of the more surprising results I?ve ever achieved through A/B testing was being able to lift conversions by simply testing a new call-to-action button. For this client, we did not have the resources to create and test all new pages. We decided to try splitting traffic between two different button designs.

We ran the test for just over seven weeks, and in the end, were able to increase our form conversion rates by 11%.

My advice: never count out testing the smallest elements. You can easily increase your conversions and revenue even with limited resources.

Francis Shovlin has been in search for almost 5 years, with the last 2 as a PPC Account Manager with the? SEER Interactive team. The self-proclaimed ?master of 70 characters? also enjoys good beer and music. You can follow his random thoughts on life and the paid search industry on Twitter: @fmshovlin.

Greg Meyers

I have seen many interesting results from A/B testing over the years including a few that would contradict many of the obvious optimization techniques that have traditionally worked wonders. However, there was one instance where ?excessive content? won over ?usability & conversion focus.? I approached one of my PPC marketing clients about creating a new landing page that would encompass a ?hybrid model? consisting of the most important aspects of the product they were selling. It was a surprisingly hard-sell to the client who told me that even though he understood the strategy, his audience would rather read dozens of pages, than having it all in an compact, easy to read, above the fold, monetization-friendly format.

End Result: The new landing page had a higher bounce rate and lower conversions as compared to the existing one. This experience has taught me one lesson. Keep testing and listen to your clients!!!!

Greg Meyers is the founder of Afterclicks Interactive and the author of SemGeek.com.

Jeff Allen

As a big fan of mobile PPC, and co-presenter of an upcoming Hanapin/WordStream webinar on mobile, the most surprising results from an A/B test was that a desktop version of a landing page drastically outperformed the mobile-specific landing page in a month-long test. The desktop version converted traffic into leads at about 15% while the mobile specific page came in at around 11%. It just goes to prove that you have to test everything and that extends to implementing best practices.

Jeff Allen has worked in Internet marketing since May of 2000. He has led the development of a proprietary email marketing platform, managed over 12 million leads, been part of two mergers, and his work has led to the multi-million dollar sale of an agency. He now works at Hanapin Marketing as the Account Director and is the leading contributor to their blog, PPCHero.com.

Joe Kerschbaum

Over time I?ve learned that testing is filled with surprises. You can create a hypothesis based on years of experience and hundreds of successful tests, but outcomes are impossible to predict ? especially when people (website visitors) are involved. We were working with an e-commerce client who developed a new landing page. This new page was gorgeous and we were 100% sure it would increase conversion rates exponentially. However, the old page won the test. This old page had bad graphics, confusing layout, small and poorly written copy ? and these are just a few shortcomings of the page.

Our initial inclination was to just switch over to the new page. This is how confident we were in the new page. We were glad that we didn?t because we wouldn?t have such a great (and frustrating) learning experience.

Joseph Kerschbaum is Vice President and Managing Partner for search and social advertising agency Clix Marketing. Joseph is a regular speaker at search and advertising conferences such as SES and SMX. His writing on the SEM industry appears in his regular Search Engine Watch column, and in his columns in Website Magazine and Visibility Magazine. Joseph is co-author of the Wiley/Sybex book, ?Pay-Per-Click SEM: One Hour a Day.?

John Doherty

The most surprising results I ever got from an A/B test was while testing the conversion funnel on a site. We had the thought that allowing users to click out of the funnel was causing a lot of dropoff, so we wanted to see if removing the navigation would help people convert.

What happened, actually, was that users felt trapped and our bounce rate shot through the roof! So actually, by allowing people to have the freedom to navigate away from the funnel, we had a higher conversion rate than when we constrained them! Counter-intuitive, right?

John Doherty is the office lead and senior SEO consultant at? Distilled New York City. With a background in technical writing and web development, he loves all things technical and geeky, but is also a writer and enjoys blogging on different industry sites such as Distilled, SEOmoz, and his own SEO site. In his spare time he rides his bicycle around Brooklyn, rock climbs, takes photos, and is constantly in search of new microbrews. Find him on Twitter at @dohertyjf.

John Lee

There is a client of ours who has engaged with one of the more reputable landing page optimization agencies over the past few years. For one of the projects, the landing page that needed updating was really quite bad. We?re talking outdated, poor calls-to-action and a real mess. The optimization agency came back with a beautiful landing page that hit all the right notes in terms of conversion-oriented design. We pit the two pages against each other in an A/B test. Awful page vs. Perfect page. David vs. Goliath. Which page won the A/B test? The awful, outdated mess of a landing page. A few months later we tried the test again with the same results.

The moral of the story? Everyone?s gut instinct in this situation was to simply push all of our ads over to the new landing page without testing. Glad we didn?t! While we never exactly understood why the undesirable landing page was a winner, it opened my eyes to the fact that you ALWAYS have to test ? just to be sure.

John Lee is the Director of Client Services for Clix Marketing, an SEM agency, and is a frequent blogger and speaker on all things PPC, display and social media advertising.

Ken Lyons

One of the most?surprisingly successful yet head-smackingly simple results I?ve ever seen with testing happened a few years ago where we took the same exact?offer/CTA that lived at the end of the sales copy on an SEO landing page?and?repeated it again above the fold, just below the intro paragraph. The test yielded more than a 400% increase in conversion rates. The logic behind the?experiment?was that we?d immediately interrupt?a user?s flow as they read the landing page copy?which was long given the page was structured as an organic traffic asset?and give them the option of converting sooner vs later. Before making the change, I had no idea it would be as successful as it was since it went against what I thought I believed about creating a quality organic landing page experience.?Interrupting flow, even before making a solid case for benefits and the USP, and repeating offers seemed somewhat counter-intuitive and?heavy-handed at the time. But then, that?s why we test, right? We were able to replicate the results on other pages on the site as well, which only reinforced the practice. Moral of the story: if users are ready to convert, don?t make them wait b/c you may lose them. Instead, try giving them more than one option to convert on a page.

Ken Lyons, Co-Founder of?MeasuredSEM, is an SEO marketer,?blog strategist?and?link-based content marketing consultant?with an eight-year track record of driving qualified leads and traffic to websites. He is also a stalwart for?Imperial IPAs,?Delpro probiotics,?Camcode identification tags?and?preventing harmful injection attacks.

Larry Kim

Oooh. My favorite A/B tests. Where to begin. There are too many to just pick one, so I?m going to have to share 3! (Can I share 3?) These are all examples of the kinds of A/B tests were you say, huh?! what?-that-can?t-be-right,-run-the-test-longer!! ? that kind of A/B test. OK here they are in no particular order:

1. EXTRA STRENGTH SEO CONTENT A/B TEST: Being an SEO-type, I often try to jam-in a lot of stuff useful information into our web pages. Why say in 1 sentence, what you could say in 3 paragraphs, right! Like take a look at my free AdWords Grader application, and scroll down the page ? you?ll see there?s a ton of content beneath the sign-up form. Now, some marketers here at WordStream, who have a really keen eye for design aesthetics, user experience, etc. found my content strategy to be flat-out bizarre-looking. So, we tested removing all the extraneous FAQ content that appears below the fold, to see how that impacted sign-up conversion rates. The variant that contained the 2000-word FAQ below the fold won. We were ABSOLUTELY FLOORED.
2. EXTRA SECURE LOGIN: Speaking of the AdWords Grader, the way that tool works is you just log into your AdWords account and we analyze the performance of your AdWords account and provide you with a helpful report card that shows areas of strength, as well as areas where you can improve. We recently upgraded the account login mechanism to leverage a newly released OAUTH extra-super-secure AdWords account authentication mechanism, thinking that we would grade more AdWords accounts. But the A/B test fell flat. The new super-secure OAUTH-based AdWords authentication did pretty poorly (possibly because it added steps to the sign-up process) so, we ended up reverting back to the regular secure AdWords login.
3. PRODUCT TRIAL LENGTH: My company sells PPC management software. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial. We got some complaints that 7 days wasn?t long enough to test it out. So we extended the trials to different time lengths, like 14 days, 30 days, etc. We measured prospect connect rates ? the percentage of qualified customer prospects our sales organization is able to book a demo with ? and we found that the connect rates actually fell. So, we reverted back to the 7-day trial model. Maybe they found the longer trial overwhelming?

Please keep in mind that I?m not saying that you should adopt any of the above findings for your business. What worked for us is most likely not the same as what works for your organization. The key here is to be open minded and let the data tell you what to do, as opposed to listening to some self-proclaimed faux-guru ?(or in some cases, even your customer prospects) who says something has to be done a certain way!

Larry Kim is the Founder and CTO of WordStream, Inc., provider of the 20 Minute PPC Work Week and PPC Advisor, an award-winning PPC management platform. You can follow him on Google+ and Twitter.

Matthew Umbro

We created a remarketing campaign targeting lost sales (those who abandoned the shopping cart).?We designed two different sets of ads that were primarily the same.? Everything including the font, offer, and imagery we?re all identical.?The only difference was the color of the ?Shop Now? button.?One set of ads used a gray button while the other set used bright green.?We rotated the ads evenly for two weeks and were very excited by the results.?The set of ads with the green button converted at three times the rate of the ads with the grey button.?Additionally, the green button ad click-thru-rates were considerably better than those of the gray button ads.?The green allowed the ads to stand out much more, thus allowing more lost sales to see our great offer.?The notion of standing out on the Display Network was absolutely confirmed in this test.

Matthew Umbro is the Director of Paid Search at Exclusive Concepts.? He has been in the PPC industry?since 2007, working with over 100 clients across multiple industries to attain profitable ROIs and improved lead generation.?Matthew is also the founder of PPC Chat, a weekly Twitter chat where industry specialists discuss, analyze and debate various PPC topics using the hashtag #ppcchat.

Megan Leap

Challenge Conventional Marketing Wisdom?

One of the most surprising A/B test results I?ve seen is when a landing page with benefit-driven copy lost to a landing page with product-focused copy. In the tests I?ve run, benefits almost always outperform features. And as we all know, a benefit-focused message is a critical element of successful marketing. Yet, in this one campaign, visitors actually wanted to know the features of the product we were selling. So depending on your target audience, the stream of traffic, the message of your ad, your product etc., it might actually make sense for you to focus on features instead of benefits. But you won?t know that until you test. (In case you?re wondering, our next test was features vs. combined benefits/features, and the new test won. A/B testing FTW!)

Megan Leap heads up marketing and content for the Online Marketing Institute, the most trusted source for digital marketing education and training. She is a recognized expert in social media and content marketing, and her work has been featured in The New York Times, Entrepreneur Magazine, SmartBrief, and more. Previously, she was Online Marketing Manager at MarketingProfs, where she led their social media and conversion optimization initiatives, and Ion Interactive, where she built their social media presence from the ground up. She?s also consulted with leading brands on social media strategy and campaign management. Follow her on Twitter @meganleap

Michelle Morgan

My most surprising test did not originate from a highly creative strategy. It came mostly out of frustration and stubbornness. A change in marketing laws for one of my lead gen clients made it illegal for us to use the word ?Apply? in ad copy because the customers weren?t technically applying at that stage. After struggling for a month or so to find a synonym for ?Apply? that performed nearly as well, and wanting to sneakily work ?Apply? back in, I decided to make up a word. ?PreApply? was born. And yes, I used that capitalization. Amazingly enough, CTR and conversion rate increased by 27% and 11% respectively, and CPA decreased by 8%. I?m not sure whether customers felt they were taking a smaller first step, or if there was some other appealing factor, but it worked. In the end, a change in advertisement law actually led to increased performance and a happy client.

Michelle Morgan is a PPC Specialist at Clix Marketing. Follow her on Twitter at @michellemsem.

Oli Gardner

One of the most fun and surprising A/B tests we ran was to offer up an ebook in exchange for either an email address or a tweet (on a 50/50 traffic split). It was a dual purpose test: by splitting it up this way, we got leads from one page and continued viral exposure on the other (the tweets send people back to the landing page where they could get the ebook and repeat the cycle).

The email version converted at 22% vs. 18% for the pay with a tweet version. While asking people via an inline survey which mechanism they?d prefer, 45% said email, leaving me slightly confused by email winning the test.

But that?s not the exciting part.

We decided to run a 3rd test, where we had a single page with the same 2 two options, so that we could see how the numbers correlated when people really had a choice. Despite the close results in both the survey and initial test, the results from the final test were shocking.

Result: In the new test 85% of people opted to give their email address.

After further analysis, we also noticed that people would tweet, and then immediately delete it from their stream. This is likely because it?s a personal a/c and they don?t want to share business related links.

Lesson learned: Never assume that even your initial test results are correct. Keep trying new hypotheses until you learn the truth.

Oli Gardner is Co-Founder & Creative Director at Unbounce, the DIY Landing Page Platform. He is an opinionated writer, primarily on the subjects of landing pages and conversion rate optimization. You should follow him on Twitter: @OliGardner.

Perry Marshall

The most surprising thing about split testing for me was finding out I could easily get 10X results by doing ?stupid? things. For example:

The only difference is reversing Line 2 and Line 3, that?s it.

One may never know the precise reason why, but my theory is, the 2nd ad puts the benefit first, before it tells you the form you receive the benefit in. That makes a lot of sense to me.

Here?s another example:

How to Write a Book, Fast
14 Days from Start to Finish
Unique, Step By Step Program
Write-A-Book-Faster.com
4.40% CTR

How to Write a Book Fast
14 Days from Start to Finish
Unique, Step By Step Program
Write-A-Book-Faster.com
4.12% CTR

Can you tell the difference between the two ads? This pair of Google ads show how even the?commas?between the words make a tangible difference to your bottom line. The difference is effectively about 8%, which in this particular example was probably about $500 per year.

This stuff matters.?Why guess when you can test?

Perry Marshall?s Chicago company, Perry S. Marshall & Associates, consults both online and brick-and-mortar companies on generating sales leads, web traffic, and maximizing advertising results. He?s one of the world?s most sought-after marketing consultants, and his work is referenced in dozens of influential marketing books. He?s published thousands of articles on sales, marketing and technology, as well as books including The Ultimate Guide to Google AdWords (Entrepreneur Press, 3nd Edition 2012), the world?s most popular book on Google advertising, and The Ultimate Guide to Facebook Advertising (Entrepreneur Press, 2011). Read our interview with Perry Marshall here.

Ryan Healy

I?d always heard that the salutation of a sales message can make a big impact on conversions, so I decided to test it for myself on one of my own sales pages. The test was very simple: one version included the salutation ?Dear Friend,? while the other version did not.

I expected a slight difference between the two versions, but I didn?t expect as big of a result as I got. The version without ?Dear Friend? converted 28.2% better than the original version that included the salutation.

Ryan Healy is a direct response copywriter. Since 2002, he has worked with scores of clients, including Alex Mandossian, Terry Dean, and Pulte Homes. He writes a popular blog about copywriting, business growth, and product creation.

Sean Quadlin

The most surprising result I?ve ever encountered in an A/B test was when I was performing conversion rate optimization.? It was also one of the least exciting results at the same time.? We created a number of different PPC-specific landing pages that had different layouts: new images, embedded video content, new headlines, different font colors, you name it.? The control won every experiment.? We?d create new and exciting content, and it would get edged out every time by a basic page that we were trying so desperately to test out of existence.? It?s a situation that can be described by any number of folksy sayings (?It it ain?t broke, don?t fix it? comes immediately to mind, but I?m sure there are others that are just as applicable).? The page is so un-exciting but reliable, like white bread.? One of these days I?ll be able to find a different winner and I?ll have to update this post, telling you all about my exciting asiago-focaccia-style landing page.

Sean Quadlin is an Account Manager at Hanapin Marketing and an author at PPCHero.com.? He currently manages a six-digit monthly spend mainly focused on lead generation for consumer-facing businesses.? You can find him on Twitter @SeanQuadlin or spending his non-business hours in the company of his beloved TiVo.

Shawn Livengood

The most surprising result I?ve ever seen on an A/B test involved a landing page test I did for a marketplace site that measured new member sign-ups as their conversion event. ?The PPC landing pages were all hand-coded, and basically served as an entrance page to the sign-up process, serving up some basic bullet points on the benefits of the service, some relevant photos, and a ?Get Started? button that linked to the sign-up page. ?We did a lot of tests on the text content and images, and nothing really moved the dial. ?Then, we made the button bigger and saw a huge lift. So then we made the button bigger still. ?Another success! ?We joked that if we kept this up, then our landing page would end up as a giant sign-up button with nothing else on the page.

The most surprising thing about this test was the effect of page layout on conversion. ?We tested a lot of different offers, wording, and layout colors with no result. ?And then we made it super-obvious what the next step was to complete the conversion. ?That?s a lesson I?ve applied to future landing page testing I?ve done. ?Always make sure your user knows what the next step is in your conversion process. ?Make it way more clear than you think it should be, and you?ll see some nice results.

Shawn Livengood is the Online Marketing Manager for BuildASign.com, and the author of the PPC blog PPC Without Pity. In his role as Online Marketing Manager, Shawn is responsible for developing the overall online marketing strategy for BuildASign.com?s multiple brands and microsites, managing its PPC, SEO, social media, email and affiliate marketing channels, as well maintaining and improving all web analytics platforms.

Todd Mintz

In a particular PPC account, I had one campaign focused on targeting hundreds of brands in the merchant?s vertical (for a site where the conversion metric was a lead generation signup).

The ad headline said something along the lines of:

50% Off Widgets.

I wasn?t allowed to use the brand names anywhere in the ad text.

The yield on the campaign was so low that it was almost totally off my radar.

We decided to test using brand names in the headline.

Because there were so many brands in the campaign, I though the quickest way to test proof of concept was to change the headline for the many hundreds of ad groups to:

50% Off {KeyWord:Brand}.

At the time, the budget for this campaign was basically uncapped so long as I met certain CPA Metrics.

Overnight, this campaign generated so many conversions that I thought something broke in AdWords.? It went from nearly zero to the highest performing campaign in the account by about 4-5x.

Ultimately, I didn?t need to spend any time customizing the ad headlines?it wasn?t necessary :)

Todd Mintz, who has been with PPC Associates since March 2011, has over 10 years of experience in search marketing and has used Google AdWords since it began. He also is very visible in the SEM social media space and is a curator/contributor at MarketingLand. He was one of the founding members of SEMpdx (Portland?s Search Engine Marketing Group), is a current board member, and writes regularly on their blog.

Tom Demers

Most of the time I see larger, structural changes on a page lead to the biggest wins, so when a relatively small tweak gives a big lift in conversion I always find that really surprising and interesting, particularly when it beats a more dramatic variation.

Below are some rough wireframes of a test we ran. First we saw the initial control page that a client had set up, and we learned that in addition to the trust icons (as seen in logs, associations, etc.) below the form, there were several others that we actually thought would convey even more trust and authority. The client had a relatively new/unknown offering so we thought really loading up on trust symbols as soon as the visitor reached the page would help with conversion and wanted to integrate the additional symbols into the page.

First we created Variation A which leveraged the extra trust symbols above the fold in conjunction with the benefit statement, and removed the ?hero shot? that had been in its place (which didn?t seem to be conveying much to the visitor).

Variation A lost by a few percentage points to the existing landing page.

We still thought the additional trust icons could provide a lift if implemented properly, so we created Variation B, which kept the hero shot above the fold, and instead incorporated the new trust icons into an expanded trust section just below the form. We also reorganized the trust icons to feature the new, more weighty icons more prominently within that section.

Variation B, where we were simply incorporating a few new icons into a section of the page that already featured some, won by 367%! We were surprised by the result, but also by the degree to which a small tweak impacted conversion while a pretty substantive change to the page had not only lost, but also lost by a pretty small margin.

Tom Demers?is co-founder and managing partner at?Measured SEM search engine marketing consulting, a boutique search marketing agency offering?search engine marketing services?ranging from pay-per-click account management to search engine optimization services such as SEO site audits and?link building services?such as?guest posting services?and?content marketing. You can learn more about how?Measured SEM can help?or get in touch with Tom directly via email at tom at measuredsem.com or by?following him on Twitter.

Image via Michelle Tribe

Source: http://www.business2community.com/online-marketing/the-importance-of-ab-testing-24-marketing-experts-on-their-most-surprising-ab-test-0291141

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Romney says he won't gut teachers' power to strike

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Pit bull fatally mauls baby during police visit

By Frank Heinz, NBCDFW.com

A 3-month-old baby boy died Monday night after being mauled by?the family's pit bull.

Burleson, Texas, police say officers responded to?a 911 hang-up call at about 6:45 p.m. When they arrived, they reported a family disturbance.

?

After about an hour on the scene, officers were outside of the home talking with family members. One of those family members was holding 3-month-old Rayden Bruce, who had fallen asleep.

The child was taken inside and placed on a bed, where, apparently, the dog attacked.

A few moments?later, officers heard screams coming from inside the home followed by a man running?outside and carrying the little boy.

See original story, video on NBCDFW.com

The child?was rushed to Cook Children?s Hospital in critical condition. After arriving at the hospital,?the infant?was pronounced dead.

The dog was quarantined and euthanized by Burleson Animal Control.

NBC 5's Ben?Russell and Christina Miralla contributed to this report.

More content from NBCNews.com:

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Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/25/14095596-police-pit-bull-fatally-mauls-3-month-old-baby-in-texas?lite

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GoAuto: BMW Oz intercepts M5, M6 over oil pump: Potential oil pressure loss grounds Oz-bound BMW M5? http://t.co/d4XqGR9u

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://twitter.com/GoAuto/statuses/250040226288918528

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Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 reportedly headed to Virgin Mobile in Canada

Since being unveiled a long, long time ago, the Galaxy Ace 2 has seen its younger S III brother grab all the praising headlines -- oh, and we can say the same about its other bodacious, note-friendly sibling. Still, we have a feeling some Canadian Virgin Mobile customers would welcome one of Sammy's lesser-specced family members with open arms hands. Well, according to MobileSyrup, the Ace 2 is exactly what folks using the prepaid carrier can expect come this holiday season, making the trip across the Atlantic with a rumored contract-free price tag of somewhere between $200 to $250. To give you a quick refresh, this Gingerbread handset boasts a 3.8-inch, WVGA display, a humble dual-core, 800MHz CPU alongside 768MB of RAM, 4GB of built-in storage and a decent 1,500mAh battery. We should be hearing more detailed info in the coming weeks, but while we wait for that, you could always revise our hands-on meeting with the Ace 2.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 reportedly headed to Virgin Mobile in Canada originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 23 Sep 2012 02:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/23/samsung-galaxy-ace-2-virgin-mobile-canada/

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HBT: Rangers' Hamilton back in lineup

After missing the past five-and-a-half games with what was initially called a sinus infection and subsequent vision problems Josh Hamilton is back in the Rangers? lineup tonight against the A?s.

However, the diagnosis has changed somewhat. According to Richard Durrett of ESPN Dallas the Rangers ?say Hamilton has ocular keratitis, which is blurred vision from too much caffeine and sports drinks? and ?the cornea dries because of it.?

Well, that?s certainly a new one (and presumably unrelated to his tobacco issues from last month). Johns Hopkins? website has a whole lot more information on Hamilton?s condition if you?re interested.

Craig Gentry filled in for Hamilton, starting all five games in center field with Nelson Cruz and David Murphy in the outfield corners. Hamilton is batting third and playing center field tonight and he?ll try to reclaim the AL home run lead after Miguel Cabrera tied him over the weekend. Hamilton, who has 42 homers in 138 games compared to 42 homers in 151 games for Cabrera, also ranks second among AL hitters with 123 RBIs behind Cabrera?s league-leading 133.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/09/24/josh-hamilton-back-in-rangers-lineup-blames-caffeine-and-sports-drinks-for-vision-problems/related/

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Cancer Patient Dixon Smith Uses a Shotgun to Hold Off Home ...

Dixon Smith, 63, said he used a shotgun to keep two alleged home invaders at bay on Thursday. (Image source: WOOD-TV)

A 63-year-old man with stage 4 lymphoma used a shotgun to hold off two intruders who broke into his home.

Dixon Smith of Laketon Township, Mich. told MLive.com he confronted the two men just before noon on Thursday after he heard them talking downstairs shortly after his wife left to go shopping. He grabbed the gun and waited as they made it up to the second floor.

?They made it almost to the top stair. I came out and told them to lay down,? Smith told MLive.

He made them lie still while he dialed 911 and waited for police to arrive ? ?kind of a long five to 10 minutes, though,? he said. He said he spent the time talking to the two men and warning them not to try anything, which they didn?t. He said they were both wearing backpacks.

?I really tried to be as forceful as possible,? said Smith, whose cancer is currently in remission. ?I didn?t want them to get me into a conversation. You can?t let them get too close to where they can grab the gun.?

According to WOOD-TV, Alex Andrew Dickerson, 26, and James Leon Polk, 27, were each charged with first-degree home invasion Friday.

Smith said he and his wife know Polk and have tried to help him over the years, even taking him on a trip to Florida when he was a teenager. Smith said he believes the man became a drug addict, and he and his wife suspect him of stealing other things from the home in the past, including cash and his cancer medication.

Smith said police believe the two picked the front door lock with a credit card and that they found a chair in the woods outside used for staking out the home.

?It?s not a fun experience,? Smith told WOOD. ?You don?t really know what?s really going on and it?s not, it?s not what you might think. It?s not like the movies, you know it?s pretty serious when you?re holding a gun on somebody.?

He continued, ?You don?t know if they?re gonna pull a gun out or try to take your gun away from you or get you in a corner when you?re forced to shoot them. And I was trying to keep that from happening.?

He told the station he?d prefer the two get rehab rather than harsh jail sentences.

?Something that would straighten him out,? he said. ?But what are you going to do??

Source: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/63-year-old-cancer-patient-armed-with-a-shotgun-holds-off-home-intruders/

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Need advice about business lic?

by admin on September 22, 2012

Need advice about business license and taxes for business operating in one state but residing in another.: I?m t? http://t.co/s6Qj9gQE

Tagged as: career new, career tweets, job news, job tweets

Source: http://www.advancingwomen.com/career_news/need-advice-about-business-lic/

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CNA Program ? Guarantee For Financially Secure Future ...

Who says that obtaining a CNA class for totally free is an impractical one? It has become possible now. Nonetheless, such programs offer limited number of seats. The fund for free training programs are raised from public financial fines.

How will you get Free CNA Classes?

Possibilities for free training originate from some nursing houses, turning into recipients of the scholarships that can?t be denied, because it has been specifically aimed to enhance complete patient-care in long term health treatment set-ups. The very fact behind providing free CNA training in Mcdonough Georgia is basically for the up-gradation of experience and know-how of the nursing aides up to the level of CNA.

The common method of obtaining free CNA classes is to search for classes provided by nursing houses in your area. Most nursing houses are severely understaffed. In return, they will inquire you to work for them for at least months after becoming certified. During training, additionally, you will get smaller wage if you are getting training from nursing home. You may get job placement at the healthcare facility in which you are obtaining training. So, you are most likely to get job advantages as well. It clearly is dependent on the state you live in. You should pass background check and TB test to be qualified for the program.

It is quite essential for all candidates appearing in the placement test for reading and sentence skills taken from the college and passing it with a minimum of 80% marks. Moreover, it?s expected from all candidates to finish at least twelve college credit hrs, together with a 3.0 minimal GPA. Aside from this all candidates should possess at least 6 months prior work experience in a health care set-up. This free CNA training program encompasses thirty hrs of training covering five days, and is split into 11 breaking modules each having 3 hours time length. All aspiring CNAs have to pass certification examination to be a certified health care professional.

You should make the decision to operate for a nursing house in return for free CNA classes. Such programs prove to become advantageous as you are likely to be employed in that facility after completing your training. Along with permanent employment, you will get opportunity to enter a healthcare profession without the barrier of an extremely high cost of training.

Try to get more details on free CNA training schools from the web prior to enrolling in almost any training programs. Be sure to visit our web site if you want any kind of information concerning on-line CNA certification.

Related posts:

1. An Overview Of CNA Programs Online
2. CNA In Order To RN Online ? Nursing Training Is Now Able To Cater To Every Person
3. Have You Ever Thought About Free CNA Classes?
4. Tips To Find Free Online CNA Certification Courses In California
5. Nursing Assistant Training Courses And A Guide To A CNA Career

Source: http://doityourself-tips.net/Reference-and-Education-Tips/cna-program-guarantee-for-financially-secure-future/

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Major Mistakes People Make When Using Mobile Marketing

There is so many factors to consider when starting a mobile marketing plan that you might not know where to start. This article?s tips will turn you into a better mobile marketer.

A mobile app related to your products or industry could be helpful. Customers can easily use this to check for sales and promotions that you may be offering. It will also help make your brand more recognizable and increase traffic. You should seek professional help as you develop apps, this can help you in the long run.

Your message needs to be valuable. When you are expanding outside of your friendship circle, you need to grab their attention. If your messages are being targeted towards business owners, you might want to submit vouchers or coupons to nice eateries. However, if your intended audience is a middle-class family, you would need to send things that would be of interest to a family.

Customer bases rarely change but it is important to remember that mobile customers are much more fickle due to outside influences. If you want to remain competitive, you must make sure you are offering the most current in terms of technology.

It is important to remember that not everyone has a smart phone, so be sure your links are compatible with older phones. Depending on the age of the phone your customer is using, they may not be able to access sites that use flash player.

Paying someone to create a mobile-optimized website for your mobile marketing campaign is usually a wise investment. It can be a challenge to create an effective mobile marketing site. Outsource this to candidates who are qualified if you desire things to run smoothly.

The principal of mobile marketing and focus should not be on gaining new customers, but on retaining your existing customer base. The relationships you have already built will likely be more receptive to your mobile marketing updates than new customers. Sending mobile messages to people who are not yet customers can actually give your company a bad name with them.

On your webpage, you should put links to your business pages on social networking sites. Customers are more likely to find you on a social media site, rather than look for you on a search engine.

Be succinct and to the point. Lessening the amount of clicks you need will create the most efficient marketing system. Do note that because mobile keypads are so tiny, they can really create frustration if there is too much typing. Keep your campaign to the point.

A standalone platform for mobile devices needs to have a home base. You need to focus on your home base and the people who visit it, whether they are repeat visitors or arriving for the first time. It is unwise to build an entire enterprise solely on a mobile platform.

In your mobile marketing campaigns, make your emails mobile friendly to ensure success and effectiveness in reaching your customers. Open your messages on different mobiles to make sure they are accessible to everyone. You could also include phone numbers in your emails with a click feature to complete the call, and be sure any provided links are easily viewed on mobile phones. The easier your emails are to read from a cell phone, the more valuable people will see you.

Begin your efforts with the acquisition of phone numbers for your database. Don?t add cell phone numbers randomly into your database. That can be trouble. The reason is you must have their permission before you begin doing this. You can do this by having your customer fill out a web form, or by having him text you using a specified code that you had provided.

If your business is conducting mobile marketing, you need to be familiar with the design and functionality of as many different mobile devices as possible. This will help you in creating successful sites, messages and other mobile marketing efforts. Sample many different types of mobile devices to give yourself the best possible idea of things that your customers experience.

As you can see, techniques in mobile marketing are quite different, but the basics are the same. The main differences are application and technology. Finding the best technique for your business is all about doing your research and deciding what will fit best for you

Eric Green

Skype ID: thedigitalgangster

Related posts:

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2. Great Tips For Creating Mobile Marketing Campaigns That People Want To Share
3. How To Make Sure Your Customers Recieve The Message With Mobile Marketing
4. How To Make Money Through Mobile Marketing
5. How To Make Money Through Mobile Marketing

Source: http://thedigitalgangster.com/major-mistakes-people-make-when-using-mobile-marketing/

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