NEW YORK (AP) ? The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and The Israel Museum have jointly purchased a 15th century Torah.
Sotheby's announced Monday that the two institutions have acquired the Mishneh (MIHSH'-nah) Torah from the Michael and Judy Steinhardt Judaica Collection. It was about to be put up for auction in New York City.
It's the second of a two-volume illuminated manuscript. The first is housed in the Vatican.
The Torah had a pre-auction estimate of $4.5 million to $6 million.
Sotheby's declined to say how much the two museums paid. But it was more than the $2.9 million paid for a Hebrew Bible in 1989 at Sotheby's, which set an auction record for Judaica.
The remainder of the Steinhardt collection is being held as scheduled on Monday.
GREELEY, Colo. (AP) ? Two billboards in which images of Native Americans are used to make a gun rights argument are causing a stir with some Colorado residents who say the image is offensive and insensitive.
The billboards in this northern Colorado city show three men dressed in traditional Native American attire and the words "Turn in your arms. The government will take care of you."
Matt Wells, an account executive with Lamar Advertising in Denver, said Monday that a group of local residents purchased the space.
"They have asked to remain anonymous," he said.
He also refused to disclose the cost but said the billboards are only appearing in the Greeley area. Wells said he has not received any complaints so far.
"I think it's a little bit extreme, of course, but I think people are really worried about their gun rights and what liberties are going to be taken away," Wells told the Greeley Tribune (http://tinyurl.com/cdtkgj2).
Greeley resident Kerri Salazar, who is of Native American descent, said she was livid when she learned about it. She said she doesn't have a problem with the gun rights message, but she's offended the Native American people were singled out, apparently without their consent.
"I think we all get that (Second Amendment) message. What I don't understand is how an organization can post something like that and not think about the ripple effect that it's gonna have through the community," she said.
Irene Vernon, a Colorado State University professor and chairwoman of the ethnic studies department, said the message on the billboard is taking a narrow view of a much more complicated history of the Native American plight. She said it's not as if Native Americans just gave up their guns and wound up on reservations.
"It wasn't just about our guns," said Vernon, a Native American.
Greeley resident Maureen Brucker, who has worked with Native American organizations and who frequents the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota as an honorary family member, said she thinks the billboards are making light of atrocities the federal government committed against Native Americans.
She said the billboard brings to her mind one of the most horrendous examples of that, the Wounded Knee Massacre on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1890. Historical accounts say the 7th Cavalry had detained a band of Native Americans and asked them to give up their weapons. Troops began firing after a shot rang out. Death toll estimates of Native American men, women and children range from 150 to 300.
Brucker said she thinks those who put up the billboards should come forward to discuss their viewpoints.
"I thought it was pretty cowardly that someone would put something like that up and spend the money for a billboard but didn't have the courage to put their name on it," she said.
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Information from: Greeley Daily Tribune, http://greeleytribune.com
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? For four straight games, the San Antonio Spurs showed off all the teamwork and tenacity that the Los Angeles Lakers lacked all season long.
And when the Lakers' tumultuous season finally collapsed Sunday night, the smooth Spurs rolled right past them to the second round.
Tony Parker scored 23 points, and San Antonio completed its first-round sweep of the injury-plagued Lakers with a 103-82 victory in Game 4.
Tim Duncan had 11 points and six rebounds for the second-seeded Spurs, who will face the winner of Denver's series with Golden State in the second round. They'll get plenty of rest after flattening the Lakers, who staggered through back-to-back blowout losses at home without three regular starters in their first opening-round exit since 2007.
"Obviously, it wasn't a fair fight," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "When you're a competitor, you want to compete on an even basis, and the Lakers weren't able to do that. ... Even though it wasn't a fair fight, we still want to win the series, and I'm glad we did. Our focus was great."
San Antonio never trailed in the clincher, leading by 25 points in one more businesslike effort against the seventh-seeded Lakers, who provided their usual drama right down to their last gasp.
In his final game before unrestricted free agency, Dwight Howard scored seven points before getting ejected early in the third quarter for arguing. Pau Gasol had 16 points for the Lakers, who were swept from the postseason for the second time in three years despite a late courtside appearance by Kobe Bryant on crutches.
"It was just a weird feeling," Parker said. "Obviously, I am happy we won, but it was just weird. They were missing a lot of guys, so we're just happy to go to the next round."
Howard said the season was "like a nightmare. It's like a bad dream, and we just couldn't wake up from it. That's what it felt like."
The Los Angeles Lakers gave away thousands of white towels to their fans Sunday, and they acquired an unfortunate symbolism: In the final game of a season that began with championship aspirations, the Lakers couldn't keep up without injured starters Bryant, Steve Nash and Metta World Peace. They had just nine available players in uniform for the final minutes.
"I'm proud of them, because they fought," Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said. "It was kind of a year that was all upside-down, but I appreciate the effort to get us into the playoffs. We just didn't have it."
After Duncan led the Spurs' blowout in Game 3, Parker took the lead in the clincher, scoring 15 points in the first half while exploiting the Lakers' hastily assembled backcourt. Los Angeles' top four guards are out with injuries, including backups Steve Blake and Jodie Meeks, and Parker was merciless against third-stringers.
"What I was pleased about our team was that we kept our focus every night," Popovich said. "We played hard, followed the game plan and were very active and energetic every night, and sometimes that's hard to do when your opponent is wounded."
Kawhi Leonard and DeJuan Blair added 13 points apiece in the Spurs' balanced scoring effort. San Antonio trailed for fewer than five combined minutes in the four-game series, grinding out points and defensive stops with the steady professionalism of Popovich's best teams.
"This is a good start for us," Duncan said. "We like the pace we're at right now. We like the rhythm we're at right now, and how healthy we are right now. Hopefully it can stay that way."
After an unimpressive game featuring just two field goal attempts in 20 minutes, Howard was tossed with 9:51 left in the third quarter for his second technical foul. The All-Star center, furious with the Spurs' unpunished physical play, yelled a few parting words at the court after walking past general manager Mitch Kupchak in the tunnel to the locker room.
"I hate it for him," D'Antoni said, lamenting the lack of foul calls against players guarding Howard. "He gets banged up so much in there that I'm sure he didn't mean to (get ejected), but he takes a pounding, and after a while, I guess his nerves were shot."
Moments later, Bryant got the solemn Staples Center crowd on its feet when he hobbled out of the tunnel to a seat behind the Lakers' bench, making his first appearance at courtside since tearing his Achilles tendon 16 days ago. Bryant, who might not be healthy by the start of next season, repeatedly yelled instructions and encouragement at the Lakers' young backcourt, Andrew Goudelock and Darius Morris, and fill-in starter Earl Clark.
The 16-time NBA champion Lakers had high hopes for this season after landing Howard and Nash to play alongside Bryant and Gasol, but their hopes disappeared in an avalanche of injuries, losing streaks and turmoil.
There's almost no turbulence around the Spurs, who seamlessly replaced injured starting center Tiago Splitter in Game 4 with Australian rookie Aron Baynes, who had six points and played decent defense in his first NBA start.
The Spurs had control of this series from the start: They posted two methodical victories at home before sending the Lakers to their biggest home playoff defeat in their long franchise history in Game 3, 120-89. The clincher was more of the same, with the Lakers unable to mount enough teamwork to challenge the smooth Spurs.
The Spurs have swept three of their last four playoff series, winning every game in the first two rounds last season before losing in six games to Oklahoma City in the Western Conference finals. San Antonio is in the second round of the postseason for the fourth time in six seasons since their last championship in 2007.
NOTES: Gasol got a standing ovation when he left the game with 3:08 to play. The two-time NBA champion has one year left on his contract with the Lakers, but could be a trade chip in the Lakers' rebuild. ... Splitter has a sprained ankle and is out indefinitely, although his teammates think he can return during the second round. F Boris Diaw practiced with contact this weekend in his comeback from a back injury. ... The Lakers faced an 0-3 series deficit for the eighth time in franchise history ? and for the eighth time, they were swept. ... Jack Nicholson and Lil Wayne watched at courtside, but both left early in the fourth quarter.
An Italian policeman is carried away by paramedics after two policemen were wounded in a shooting outside the Italian prime minister's offices as the country's new ministers were being sworn in on Sunday.
By Reuters
ROME ? Two police officers were shot and wounded outside the Italian prime minister's office on Sunday as Enrico Letta's new government was being sworn in around a mile away at the president's palace, RAI state television reported.
One of the officers was shot in the neck and was in a serious condition, a police official said.
One man, described as unemployed and in his 40s, was arrested at the scene of the shooting, a witness said, and it was initially unclear whether the attack was linked to the launch of the new government.
Newly installed Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said the attack appeared to be an isolated incident.
"An initial examination of the incident suggests that this can be considered as an isolated act," Alfano told reporters, adding that further checks were being carried out.
He said there was no cause for concern about the overall security situation in Italy but added that protective measures had been stepped up at potential targets.
Letta, 46, the moderate deputy head of the Democratic Party (PD), on Saturday ended two months of political stalemate since February's inconclusive election when he brought together former political rivals in a broad coalition government.
Letta's ministers stepped forward one by one to swear allegiance to the republic before President Giorgio Napolitano, who personally picked Letta as prime minister and had a central role in the choice of his cabinet team.
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The harmonies they strike in this reality-inspired charmer are sweetly sublime.
You could drive an Abrams tank through the film's plot holes, but you'll likely be too busy enjoying yourself to bother.
"The Sapphires" feels like a movie you've already seen, but it's nonetheless thoroughly enjoyable, like a pop song that's no less infectious when you know every word.
"The Sapphires" sparkles with sass and Motown soul.
Sapphires is hardly a cinematic diamond mine. But this Commitments-style mashup of music and melodrama manages to entertain without demanding too much of its audience.
A surefire crowdpleaser with all the ingredients for the type of little-movie-that-could sleeper success that Harvey Weinstein has nurtured in years and award seasons past.
You've seen this story before, but never pulled off with so much joie de vivre.
They can put a song across just like the Dreamgirls. What's not to like?
Exuberant but fairly formulaic.
Doesn't always mix its anti-prejudice message and its feel-good nostalgia with complete smoothness. But despite some ragged edges it provides a reasonably good time.
Director Wayne Blair -- another veteran of the stage show -- finds his footing during the film's many musical numbers.
Despite the prosaic plot and reserved approach taken by Blair, Briggs, and Thompson, it's tough to get cynical about such a warmhearted picture that strives to tell so uplifting a story.
A movie with enough melody and camaraderie to cover up its lack of originality.
Draining most of the blood, sweat and tears from a true story, this music-minded movie capably covers a song we've heard a hundred times before.
"Sapphires," which was inspired by a true story, is propelled by a strong sense of music's power to connect people and change lives.
Fires on all cylinders when it drops all pretense and allows its talented cast to simply belt out a series of pure, unfiltered slices of ear candy.
A rousing soundtrack helps to compensate for some of the historical embellishments in this Australian crowd-pleaser.
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One of the hacks at Disrupt NY's Hackathon this year employed hardware startup Leap Motion's new 3D gesture controller, which unfortunately just ran into a delay. Leap Motion's issues aside, this project, the combined effort of Chao Huang, Cedrich Pinson and Jorge Martinez, brings a Facebook Home-style experience to the desktop.
PRAGUE (AP) ? A powerful explosion has damaged a building in the center of the Czech capital, Prague, injuring up to 40 people. Authorities say they believe some people are buried in the rubble.
Police spokesman Tomas Hulan says it is not certain what caused the blast in Divadelni Street, but it was likely a natural gas explosion
The street was covered with rubble and has been sealed off by police who have also evacuated people from nearby buildings and closed a wide area around the explosion site.
Zdenek Schwarz, head of the rescue service in Prague, says up to 40 people have been injured.
Windows in buildings located hundreds of meters from the blast were shattered, including some in the nearby National Theater.
AAA??Apr. 27, 2013?11:58 PM ET PHOTOS: Politics, press and stars mix at dinner By The Associated Press??By The Associated Press
First lady Michelle Obama and late-night television host and comedian Conan O'Brien gesture to his tie at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
First lady Michelle Obama and late-night television host and comedian Conan O'Brien gesture to his tie at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Late-night television host Conan O'Brien, from left, first lady Michelle Obama, Michael Clemente, Executive Vice President of Fox News, and President Barack Obama attend the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Director Steven Spielberg uses his smart phone during the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Christi Parsons, White House correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and Tribune newspaper chain, from left, Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, Michael Scherer, White House correspondent for TIME, late-night television host Conan O'Brien and first lady Michelle Obama attend the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
President Barack Obama speaks at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
There were Republicans mixing with Democrats, journalists talking to Hollywood celebrities who play reporters or politicians and, of course, President Barack Obama. The president and headliner Conan O'Brien traded barbs about each other and many of those attending the annual star-studded White House Correspondents' Association dinner. Here are some images from the evening's festivities:
President Barack Obama speaks at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
President Barack Obama speaks at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Michael Douglas poses for a photo during the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
President Barack Obama talks with Michael Clemente, Executive Vice President of Fox News, the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
President Barack Obama looks to the podium during the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
First lady Michelle Obama, right, and late-night television host Conan O'Brien attend the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama joked Saturday that the years are catching up to him and he's not "the strapping young Muslim socialist" he used to be.
Obama poked fun at himself as well as some of his political adversaries during the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner attended by politicians, members of the media and Hollywood celebrities.
Entering to the rap track "All I Do Is Win" by DJ Khaled, Obama joked about how re-election would allow him to unleash a radical agenda. But then he showed a picture of himself golfing on a mock magazine cover of "Senior Leisure."
"I'm not the strapping young Muslim Socialist that I used to be," the president remarked, and then recounted his recent 2-for-22 basketball shooting performance at the White House Easter Egg hunt.
But Obama's most dramatic shift for the next four years appeared to be aesthetic. He presented a montage of shots featuring him with bangs similar to those sometimes sported by his wife.
"So we borrowed one of Michelle's tricks," Obama said. "I thought this looked pretty good, but no bounce."
Obama closed by noting the nation's recent tragedies in Massachusetts and Texas, praising Americans of all stripes from first responders to local journalists for serving the public good.
Saturday night's banquet not far from the White House attracted the usual assortment of stars from Hollywood and beyond. Actors Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Claire Danes, who play government characters on series, were among the attendees, as was Korean entertainer Psy. Several Cabinet members, governors and members of Congress were present.
And despite coming at a somber time, nearly two weeks after the deadly Boston Marathon bombing and 10 days after a devastating fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas, the president and political allies and rivals alike took the opportunity to enjoy some humor. Late-night talk-show host Conan O'Brien headlined the event.
Some of Obama's jokes came at his Republican rivals' expense. He asked that the GOP's minority outreach begin with him as a "trial run" and said he'd take his recent charm offensive with Republicans on the road, including events with conservatives such as Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Michele Bachmann.
"In fact, I'm taking my charm offensive on the road -- a Texas barbeque with Ted Cruz, a Kentucky bluegrass concert with Rand Paul, and a book-burning with Michele Bachmann," Obama joked.
Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson would have had better success getting Obama out of office if he simply offered the president $100 million to drop out of last year's race, Obama quipped.
And on the 2016 election, the president noted in self-referential irony that potential Republican candidate Sen. Marco Rubio wasn't qualified because he hasn't even served a full term in the Senate. Obama served less than four years of his six-year Senate term before he was elected president in 2008.
"I mean, the guy has not even finished a single term in the Senate and he thinks he's ready to be President," Obama joked.
The gala also was an opportunity for six journalists, including Associated Press White House Correspondent Julie Pace, to be honored for their coverage of the presidency and national issues.
The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza won the Aldo Beckman Award, which recognizes excellence in the coverage of the presidency.
Pace won the Merriman Smith Award for a print journalist for coverage on deadline.
ABC's Terry Moran was the winner of the broadcast Merriman Smith Award for deadline reporting.
Reporters Jim Morris, Chris Hamby and Ronnie Greene of the Center for Public Integrity won the Edgar A. Poe Award for coverage of issues of national significance.
PITTSBURGH (AP) ? The Pittsburgh Steelers insist they don't draft based on need.
Funny, doesn't look like it.
The Steelers took major steps toward replacing departed stars Rashard Mendenhall and Mike Wallace on Friday, taking Michigan State running back Le'Veon Bell in the second round of the NFL draft then grabbing Oregon State wide receiver Markus Wheaton in the third.
Pittsburgh hopes the beefy Bell can stop the revolving door in the backfield the team endured last season as Mendenhall, Isaac Redman and Jonathan Dwyer all struggled with injuries and inconsistency.
Offensive coordinator Todd Haley believes Bell's versatility and durability could give the Steelers the kind of bruising running back the club has lacked since Jerome Bettis retired after the 2005 season.
"He's a three-down back with very good hands," Haley said of Bell. "He catches the ball very well out of the backfield. He's a young kid who doesn't have a lot of tread (off) the tire."
Something the Steelers need to boost a running game that has struggled to find consistency the last few seasons. Pittsburgh finished 26th in the league in rushing yards in 2012 as Mendenhall, Dwyer, Redman and rookie Chris Rainey all spent time working themselves into and out of coach Mike Tomlin's doghouse.
Mendenhall headed to Arizona via free agency last month after five turbulent years. Redman and Dwyer signed their restricted free agent tenders for what amounts to a one-season audition to stick around. Now they'll be joined by the precocious Bell, who needed just three seasons to become one of the best backs ever at Michigan State.
Bell ran for 3,346 career yards and 33 touchdowns with the Spartans and caught 78 passes for 531 yards and a score. He rolled up 1,793 yards in 2012, the second-highest single-season total in Michigan State history while being named to the All-Big Ten first team.
Though the 6-foot-1 Bell played at 245 pounds in college, he has already dropped 15 pounds to add some quickness. The Steelers also hope it will make him more durable. Steeler running backs Redman and Dwyer ? both listed between 230 and 235 ? had significant issues last season but Bell is taller than both players.
"I'm going to come in and compete with the other backs and the other backs are going to compete with me," Bell said. "They're going to try and make me better and I'm going to make them better at the same time. That's all going to make the team better."
An improved running game would take some of the pressure off Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. The Steelers best stretch in 2012 came during a four-game winning streak at midseason that included three consecutive 100-yard games, two by Dwyer and one by Redman. They took turns getting hurt or benched over the second half of the season and failed to really seize control of the position after Mendenhall aggravated a knee injury. Bell already caught the attention of new teammate Jarvis Jones. Pittsburgh's first-round pick faced Bell while playing linebacker for Georgia in the 2012 Outback Bowl. Bell ran for two touchdowns, including one that tied the game at 27 and sent it to overtime.
"He's a big boy," Jones said.
The Steelers think Bell can be more than that. So does Bell.
"A lot of people look at me like, 'He's just a short yardage back,'" Bell said. "But I don't look at myself like that. I can get to the outside and beat you with speed. I can catch the ball out of the backfield. I can pass protect ... There's a lot of things that I can do to bring value to the Steelers and that's what I plan on doing."
While Bell could have a shot at starting this fall, Wheaton won't have quite the same pressure. He set a school record by catching 227 passes in his career at Oregon State and added 631 yards rushing. He worked at all four receiver spots though it appears he would be a more natural fit in the slot in the NFL.
Though he averaged just 13.7 yards per catch, Wheaton can get deep. He ran a disappointing 4.45 seconds in the 40-yard-dash leading up to the draft and said he ran as fast as 4.3 in college.
Either way, that already makes him the fastest wideout on the Steelers, who have sure-handed Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders slated to start. Pittsburgh needed someone who can get behind cornerbacks and Haley is encouraged by Wheaton's consistent production.
"When you put on the tape, he's a fast player," Haley said. "He's an exciting guy to have around."
Haley cautioned against making any direct comparisons between Wheaton and Wallace, noting Wheaton may be a more well-rounded player.
"The numbers aren't huge from a yards-per-catch standpoint but he's one of the guys we thought, that when the ball is in his hands he really will be more exciting," Haley said. "That leaves the door open to do a lot of things with this guy, which kind of fits in with AB and Emmanuel."
Notes: The Steelers signed free agent running back LaRod Stephens-Howling. The former Pitt star ran for 652 yards and five touchdowns in four seasons with the Cardinals and thrived as a kick returner. He led the NFL with 1,548 kickoff return yardage in 2010.
Author: Martie McCabe | Total views: 87 Comments: 0 Word Count: 1167 Date:
Online marketing is essential for any business owner in this day and age. There are a ton of ways in which you can target new customers and drum up business. You can do a lot of these things without spending any money at all. The information here can introduce you to Website marketing, and help you build up your online business to achieve higher profits than you ever expected.
When making your website, try to make it visibly appealing with as much interesting content as possible. You need to give your customers the information they need so that they can make informed decisions about their purchases. Repeat information, fluff and unreliable information should be avoided.
To increase the quality of your internet promotion, start blogging. A blog gives you another way to communicate with your customer base. As you increase the breadth of your site, you will cause more visitors to show up.
It can be a bit overwhelming when you try and decide exactly what type of business you want to create. To start off, you need to narrow down all of your interests until you find the one you enjoy the most. Pick something that you like and know much about. Creating a tangible goal will make it much easier to market your website.
The internet is an effective free resource to help evaluate your market approach since you may not be able to afford a marketing consultant for best business blogs. Consider joining up with an online forum, groups in your hometown, or borrowing books from your local library.
One fun marketing campaign is to have a contest on your website that offers great prizes. For instance, make your site like a scavenger hunt with hidden words scattered around the page. Ask visitors to find them. Offer prizes and discounts for those that find them. When customers are involved in the site, they are more likely to feel comfortable making a purchase from you.
Don't overlook the little details. Place your site's title in the top corner of each page. Also, place a description of your site here. Visitors may get to different pages, depending on their search. If they do not know exactly what your page has to offer, they may simply leave.
The language you use on your site should be rich, creative and descriptive, especially for a niche marketing blog. People like adjectives so make sure that you use plenty of them in any item descriptions. Come up with creative turns-of-phrase, and find ways to amaze people with your writing. Engender a desire to come back to your website, just to see what you might say next.
If you are good at writing, write an article about your business and submit it to magazines that accept submissions. Make sure these articles are signed with your full name and contain information about your business. If you get published in an online magazine, include a link to your site. Ask the editors if they would accept some free products or commission on affiliate work if they will put your articles on their site.
Create a well-designed and interesting website. What your website looks like, as well as the content it contains, will have a huge bearing on your degree of success. Interesting articles and a user friendly design will go a long way in keeping visitors on your site. The design should be engaging enough to grab your audience's attention, making them want to keep looking around.
If you want your site to be successful, it should contain rich, entertaining text. You want the information on your website to appear at the front of search engines, but you also want it to be original enough that you will bring in visitors.
To get a better idea of what is most effective with your customers, test your emails. A/B testings is a great option. Develop your email campaign, then focus on changing only one thing. Choose something to compare. For example, you may want to test a couple of different subject lines or intro paragraphs in your marketing copy. You would then send both types of emails out to two different equal-sized subsets of customers, measuring the results. Whichever methods test as the most successful can become the singular method or format you keep to finish out the campaign.
Put yourself in your customers' shoes. Is your site easy to navigate through? Does it offer enjoyment to the reader? Can orders be placed on your website quickly and easily? You don't want to bring in business only to lose it because of a poorly designed website.
Your URL should be memorable, so that people come back. You will want to incorporate your brand name or your business's name into your site address, if you can. Use an URL that will be easy to remember for your customers. They will be more likely to visit your website if they can remember it.
Try to get inside the brain of your customers when creating your website. If you can provide them with the information or products they are searching for, then sooner or later your marketing efforts will have paid off and result in many sales. Ask visitors for their direct input and objective analysis of your site. Ask friends or family, or even ask for comments from those in a marketing forum. Research well and develop a site that will give people the help they need.
When advertising a deal or product include words that make them feel like they are getting a deal. People shop online because they are tired of what their local stores have to offer. Online consumers seek unique products different from what they are used to seeing. By offering a product that is limited in quantity, it will cause customers to snap them up quickly, so that they don't lose out on something that is different or unusual.
People often do not believe everything they read in ads. For years, advertising has been misleading. This makes it very important to support every claim you make on your site as fully as possible. You can use reviews, before-and-after pictures, test reports, and testimonials. Don't claim that your product or service does something you're not able to prove. Your customers should be treated like they're smart and are informed. You should not take advantage of any person -- ever. Build a trustworthy reputation, and customers will flock to your business.
As has been revealed earlier, web marketing is an amazing way to reach out to customers and to bring attention to your business and products. The opportunities are endless and the benefits are immense. By utilizing the information in the article, you can build your customer base and bring new recognition to your company.
Martie McCabe is an internet marketer.. My articles focuses on developing strategies and tips on promoting your blog. Learn more about promoting your blog and blog names. For more articles go to my blog at http://www.empowernetwork.com/10k/best-business-blogs/
Related to: best business blogs - niche marketing blog - network marketing blog - business marketing blog - promoting your blog - online business blog
1: Article Marketing Strategy: Putting Together a "Class Schedule" For Your Article Topics
Businesses go to so much trouble when there is one sure-fire, simple, very inexpensive way to attract new clients to a business: Teach a free class. That is what article marketing is like. Your articles are just like free classes. You teach your target readers something helpful in your article. Your resource box then says, "If you enjoyed this article you can visit my website and apply what you have learned."
2: Why You Need To Build Multiple Streams of Income For Yourself
Being an entrepreneur and earning multiple streams of income is a dream that many have, but in reality it does take some initial hard work to achieve this. Earning multiple streams of income is the wave of the future, and here are some tips and advice for you when you are looking for ways in which to do this for yourself.
3: Understanding Online Business Success
Starting a home based business to earn income online takes a significant amount of time and energy upfront to get things going. Not seeing results immediately can be discouraging and cause people to give up too early. In this article, we look at the process of starting a home based business and working through the frustrations to be there when the sales come flowing in.
4: What is Cyber Marketing And Why It Is So Important For The Success Of Your Website
Cyber marketing has now become an indispensable segment of e-commerce as well as the internet and World Wide Web related topics. Cyber marketing simply refers to a technique of attracting potential customers by advertising your products or services through such means as websites, emails, and banners.
5: The Best Way To Optimise Your Website SEO For Google Panda
If you want your SEO to work you now need to concentrate on appeasing Google Panda, and to do this you need to know what Google Panda's spiders/bots will be looking for. Find out here how to search engine optimise your website for the latest Google Panda algorithm, and achieve the success you deserve.
One thing that stood out at the recent IFA Global Press Conference in Sardinia, was that connected home appliances are definitely headed our way. We've seen such things as an Android powered oven, but Siemens looks set to connect the whole kitchen in the next couple of years.
What they had to show was a prototype of a future connected lifestyle app, which will offer the facility to control all of your household appliances from your iOS device. On the face of it, it seems such a simple idea, but it's still pretty interesting to see. Within one app, you'll be able to control your washing machine, dishwasher, coffee machine, oven, pretty much the whole kitchen.
For example, their connected refrigerator will take a photograph of the main shelves and of the door every time the door closes. The contents are then viewable from within the iOS app, and it's even smart enough to help decide upon recipes based on what's in your fridge. If you're short on something for that recipe, it'll tell you what you need to pick up from the store. When you're ready to cook, it'll help you set the oven to cook for the right amount of time at the right temperature.
It also works for diagnostics and customer care too. Video calling is built in, so should one of your appliances develop a fault, you can call through to customer care from within the app. They then access your appliance remotely, determine the fault, and if possible action it from their end.
The video above gives a quick rundown, although as this is a prototype we're not looking at seeing this come to life any time soon. Siemens told us that they expect to be shipping the connected appliances within 2 years, by which time things may get yet more advanced. The kitchen may not be the most glamorous application for mobile tech, but it's a room we all use daily. It makes perfect sense that it, too, should become part of our mobile connected lifestyles.
U.S. suspects Syria used chemical weapons, wants proof
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Thursday the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad had probably used chemical weapons on a small scale in the country's civil war, but insisted that President Barack Obama needed definitive proof before he would take action. The disclosure created a quandary for Obama, who has set the use of chemical weapons as a "red line" that Assad must not cross. It triggered calls from some hawkish Washington lawmakers for a U.S. military response, which the president has resisted.
Dozens rescued, hundreds missing, as Bangladesh toll tops 270
DHAKA (Reuters) - The search for survivors from Bangladesh's worst industrial accident stretched into a third day on Friday, with the death toll rising to 273 after the collapse of a building housing factories that made low-cost garments for Western brands. Almost miraculously, 41 people trapped inside the rubble of the eight-storey building were rescued alive late on Thursday, government minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak said, about 40 hours after the disaster on the outskirts of Dhaka.
Dozens feared dead in Russian psychiatric hospital fire
RAMENSKY, Russia (Reuters) - At least 36 people were feared dead after a fire raged through a psychiatric hospital north of Moscow on Friday, killing some patients in their beds and others who were trapped by barred windows. The fire broke out in the early hours and swept through a single-storey building at the hospital in woods in the village of Ramensky, officials said.
Friends of Tunisian accused in Canada plot express shock
TUNIS (Reuters) - For the friends and family of Chiheb Esseghaier, the news that the Tunisian-born student had been arrested over an alleged al Qaeda-backed plot in Canada came as a major surprise given his mission to save lives as a medical researcher. His parents insisted he was innocent, saying he sent home money to help the disadvantaged. His friends in the Tunisian capital remembered him as an ordinary student, certainly no Islamist extremist, but perhaps somewhat naive and easily led.
North Korea rejects South's call for talks on industrial zone
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea rejected on Friday a South Korean proposal for talks aimed at restarting a joint factory zone saying the South has acted in an "unpardonable" manner to jeopardize a "precious" legacy of the rivals' bid to seek peace. The North's National Defense Commission, its supreme leadership body, repeated that what it saw as the reckless behavior of the South had thrown into question the safety of the zone's operation and had forced it to stop access there.
Capriles to challenge Venezuela election in court
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles said on Thursday he will challenge President Nicolas Maduro's narrow election victory in the courts and that an audit of the vote being prepared by electoral authorities risked being "a joke." Maduro, the hand-picked successor of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez, won the April 14 vote by less than 2 percentage points. The opposition says there were thousands of irregularities in the election and that their figures show Capriles won.
The Pyongyang power couple behind dynastic dictator Kim
SEOUL (Reuters) - Kim Kyong-hui has battled alcoholism and the killing of her lover to stand alongside her nephew, North Korea's youthful leader Kim Jong-un, as a reminder that he is the true heir of the dynasty's blood-line. The 67-year-old daughter of North Korea's founder Kim Il-sung cuts a rare female figure in Pyongyang's male-dominated hierarchy and ranks as a four-star general, often sporting her trademark dark glasses at important events.
Canada train plot suspect traveled to Iran: U.S. officials
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Investigators believe one of two suspects charged in Canada with plotting to blow up a railroad track carrying passenger trains traveled to Iran within the past two years, U.S. law enforcement and national security officials said on Thursday. Chiheb Esseghaier, a Tunisian-born doctoral student, traveled to Iran on a trip that was directly relevant to the investigation of the alleged plot, the officials said.
Boston suspects discussed setting off bombs in New York: sources
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother discussed setting off bombs in New York after attacking the Boston Marathon but their plan fell apart when they became embroiled in a shootout with police, law enforcement sources said. One source said the Tsarnaev brothers' original intent when they hijacked a car and its driver in Boston last Thursday night was to drive to New York with seven bombs to set them off.
Afghan police take first, faltering steps in fight against corruption
HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghanistan's security forces are routinely accused of murder, rape and corruption on a grand scale, but a new anti-corruption police unit's sole conviction last year was a junior policeman who forged some documents, the head of the unit told Reuters. Abuses by the 152,000-strong Afghan police have pushed whole districts into the arms of the Taliban, officials say. Now international forces hope the Shafafiyat - Dari for transparency - anti-corruption unit will crack down on corrupt police.
Shoes are present with various models and colors. They are so attractive, trendy, and the most important thing that they are very indispensable as the footwear. No wonder, the shoes business is never die, especially for women. Women love to posses more than one shoes, they obviously need such cabinet as the place to put their favorite shoes. Besides, it will organize them to be order; it will also make them protected from dust or any other unexpected things.
To make the organizing of shoes interesting, we need interesting shoe cabinet design as well. As well as the shoes that are present colorfully, shoe cabinet design also can perform colorfully. The colorful shoe cabinet design will increasingly cheer up the room. And upon that, the blend between the shoe cabinet and the shoes will be the interesting color combination which won?t create prosaic situation in the room. To be remember, that you have to set or place the shoe cabinet in the proper place or spot in your house, since sometimes the view of shoes is not comfort scenery to be seen. Besides, we need to consider as well the shoes that will be put in the shoe cabinet, whether they?re new to wear or already worn.
Amazon is rectifying the long wait for a Kindle for Android update today with a version 4.0 refresh that carries with it a major UI redesign. The library view looks very different: instead of a basic grid, recently read items are presented in a rotating carousel at the top of the home screen, while the navigation panel has been expanded to provide quicker access to books, documents and periodicals. The actual reading pane remains untouched, so whether you're using a smartphone or a tablet, your e-copy of War and Peace should still look the same. To have a peek at the Kindle app makeover, Android users can go ahead and download the new version from the source.
Google really cares about the web being faster. In 2010 it led a group of contributors in releasing a module for Apache web servers called PageSpeed. Today, the same group has released a version for Nginx, an alternative to Apache, which is also open source and used by massively trafficked sites like Netflix, Hulu, Pinterest, Airbnb, WordPress.com, Zynga, Zappos and GitHub. In alpha testing, content-delivery network provider, MaxCDN, reported a 1.57 second decrease in average page load times, with bounce rates dropping by 1 percent. While those seconds might not seem like a big deal, they are, especially when you have multiple visitors on your site performing multiple tasks. Think about how it feels when you use Hulu at a Starbucks; that almost 2 seconds could ease some of your frustrations in waiting for a page and video to load. The module is available for webmasters on GitHub, with open source participation coming from Google, Taobao, We-Amp and individual developers. In a post by Jeff Kaufman, who is an engineer on Google’s Make the Web Faster Team, (have to love Google’s team names), he explains how PageSpeed works: Running as a module inside Nginx, ngx_pagespeed rewrites your webpages to make them faster for your users. This includes compressing images, minifying CSS and JavaScript, extending cache lifetimes, and many other web performance best practices. All of mod_pagespeed’s optimization filters are now available to Nginx users. With Google pushing to bring faster Internet to everyone in the world, starting with a few cities in the United States, it makes sense that the company would participate in projects like this to help the rest of the web keep up. Naturally, Google is able to leverage the work of projects like this for its own sites, since speed is a huge concern of CEO Larry Page for its existing and future products.
In the newest episode of my Foundation video series, I talk with NationBuilder Founder and CEO Jim Gilliam, a two-time cancer survivor and activist. Jim discusses growing up in Silicon Valley, how he made the jump from filmmaker to tech entrepreneur, and the power of community action to turn ordinary people into leaders.
JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? A South African foundation says retired archbishop Desmond Tutu has checked into a Cape Town hospital for treatment of a persistent infection.
The Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation said the Nobel Peace Prize laureate will undergo tests to discover the cause of the infection.
The foundation says 81-year-old Tutu spent Wednesday morning in his office before going to the hospital and was in good spirits. It says the non-surgical treatment is expected to take five days.
Tutu was a vigorous campaigner against the system of white racist rule known as apartheid, which ended when democratic elections were held in 1994.
You've had a day to renew your membership, book plane tickets and beg, borrow or steal $1,600 from your neighbors. Now it's time to sit on the WWDC homepage and find out if you'll actually be able to attend Apple's annual software shindig. The tickets go on sale in just an hour, so here's a friendly heads-up that you should get a cup of coffee, charge that battery pack and practice hitting F5, just in case.
Update: We've just seen a new definition of fast. As developers havenoticed, Apple sold out of WWDC tickets in about two minutes -- and possibly sooner than that.
One of the hacks at Disrupt NY's Hackathon this year employed hardware startup Leap Motion's new 3D gesture controller, which unfortunately just ran into a delay. Leap Motion's issues aside, this project, the combined effort of Chao Huang, Cedrich Pinson and Jorge Martinez, brings a Facebook Home-style experience to the desktop.
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Google really cares about the web being faster. In 2010 it led a group of contributors in releasing a module for Apache web servers called PageSpeed. Today, the same group has released a version for Nginx, an alternative to Apache, which is also open source and used by massively trafficked sites like Netflix, Hulu, Pinterest, Airbnb, WordPress.com, Zynga, Zappos and GitHub. In alpha testing, content-delivery network provider, MaxCDN, reported a 1.57 second decrease in average page load times, with bounce rates dropping by 1 percent. While those seconds might not seem like a big deal, they are, especially when you have multiple visitors on your site performing multiple tasks. Think about how it feels when you use Hulu at a Starbucks; that almost 2 seconds could ease some of your frustrations in waiting for a page and video to load. The module is available for webmasters on GitHub, with open source participation coming from Google, Taobao, We-Amp and individual developers. In a post by Jeff Kaufman, who is an engineer on Google’s Make the Web Faster Team, (have to love Google’s team names), he explains how PageSpeed works: Running as a module inside Nginx, ngx_pagespeed rewrites your webpages to make them faster for your users. This includes compressing images, minifying CSS and JavaScript, extending cache lifetimes, and many other web performance best practices. All of mod_pagespeed’s optimization filters are now available to Nginx users. With Google pushing to bring faster Internet to everyone in the world, starting with a few cities in the United States, it makes sense that the company would participate in projects like this to help the rest of the web keep up. Naturally, Google is able to leverage the work of projects like this for its own sites, since speed is a huge concern of CEO Larry Page for its existing and future products.
In the newest episode of my 