#see this is the danger of running a photography blog and requiring that your photos are posted chronologically

[all-hail-the-buescher-27]

okay I'm awful at actually like... blogging on this, the blogging site, so here are some photos from a hike I went on with @all-hail-the-conn-8d and @all-hail-the-kazoo yesterday! we found an absolutely massive dead oak that we'd somehow missed on multiple previous hikes, got an update on beaver activities (they're really good at this whole dam-making thing), and reached the northern edge of the park in a season other than winter! also got a chance to drive Audrey (the 1962 Sprite that somehow hasn't really been mentioned here) on the backroads to the park after finally getting the newly-rebuilt handbrake greased up.

[babyconnectingworld]

5 things to consider before getting a family dog

Codi Lynn of Creative Wife and Joyful Worker wants families to know that getting a dog isn't exactly as easy as it looks in the movies. Here are five things to think about before deciding if it's the right fit for your family. Getting a puppy for Christmas isn’t just something you see in your favourite movies. For our family, it became a reality this year when we surprised our kids with the sweetest little Golden Labrador. Leading up to Christmas, my sister-in-law asked us what our kids wanted. While we could’ve mentioned that our oldest is into Fortnite or that our youngest is really obsessed with Disney princesses, we knew that this year we wanted to focus on gifting experiences instead. That’s when she asked the question that started it all: What about a puppy? My husband, the kids and I had talked about adding a dog into our family for a while but had never followed through with the idea. We needed a little nudge, and this was it. After many text messages back-and-forth with my sister-in-law and a FaceTime chat with the puppy owners to “meet” her, we found the one—the cutest Golden Lab-Dalmatian mix whose eyes captured my heart. So, we got her and decided to keep her a surprise from the kids until just before Christmas. Fast-forward to the surprise reveal on Christmas Eve. We just couldn’t wait any longer. At this point, my sister-in-law had been watching her for a couple days at her house, which is where our holiday get-together would be. When we got there that night, we had the puppy hiding as we asked the kids to sit outside on the porch stairs. A few moments later, my sister-in-law came out from the side of the house and placed our new Golden Lab—topped with a big red bow on her collar—right down in front of them. Their eyes went wide and you could tell that they couldn’t believe it was actually happening. (And thankfully, we had set up a camera to capture their expressions). We decided to ask our oldest, Ezra, what he wanted to name our new puppy. He sat there for a minute, mentioned one name that didn’t seem to click and then a few minutes later said, “What about the name Lucy?” We could hardly believe he suggested it—just days before, my sister-in-law had said to my husband and I, “I feel like she’s a Lucy, but let Ezra choose the name.” Since that day, our family has learned a lot about what it means to be dog owners and the responsibilities it brings. One of the most rewarding aspects of having a puppy as well as young children is seeing them bond and grow alongside each other. Our kids each have their unique personalities, and this has been so helpful in meeting the needs of our puppy. Whether it’s snuggling up beside Lucy to read a book, running around outside or working to teach her different tricks, each of my kids brings something valuable to the table. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t hesitant about adding a dog to the family. After hearing so many stories about other families who got a dog and then realized it wasn’t a great fit for their family or lifestyle, I was worried that would be the case for us as well. But it’s been such a delight having Lucy in our home the last few months. If your family is thinking about getting a dog, but you’re feeling a little hesitant like I was, here’s what you should consider before making the decision:

1. Does a dog (and more specifically, the breed of dog you’re interested in) fit with your family’s lifestyle?

This might seem obvious, but I feel like this is the most common mistake people make. Evaluate your lifestyle by considering things such as how much time you spend at home each day, how much you travel, if the breed of dog is compatible with children, or if anyone in your family has allergies. It’s so important to not only make sure that you are ready to take on the responsibility of having a dog, but also make sure that the breed of dog you’re interested in matches your current lifestyle. There is a lot to consider when it comes to choosing a dog breed. You will want to consider their energy levels, compatibility with children and typical lifespan, to name a few.

Photo: Julie Christine Photography

2. Your children’s ages

A lot of people will say to their kids “we’ll get a dog when you are older and more responsible.” Let’s give our kids a little more credit, shall we? They are beyond responsible, whether they are ages 2, 5, or 10. Waiting for the right age isn’t a make-or-break, but you may need to be more present in guiding them with their responsibilities the younger they are. In our case, getting a dog when our kids are young has been one of the best decisions. It means they’ll get to grow a bond with our dog from a young age and we get to watch them grow together. We have seen our puppy be there for both comfort and play for all of our kids, who vary in age.

3. Adopting, fostering or getting a puppy

Puppies are cute, but depending on your family’s lifestyle, you might want to consider adopting or fostering a dog instead. You may not feel like you want to put in the effort and patience that it takes to raise a puppy—potty-training and going through the chewing phase can be overwhelming for some. It might feel like a better fit to adopt or foster a dog from a local shelter. All options are great, but just take the time to consider which is best for you and your family.

4. Connect with a local vet and consider your finances

Raising a family already comes with a handful of expenses, so adding another member to the family isn’t going to be cheap. Read articles and connect with your local vet to get an idea of how much a dog will cost you. When getting a puppy, you may be required to cover the cost of vaccinations right from the start. Ask your vet about the costs and best treatment options for things like fleas and parasites. You can also visit ParasitePolice.ca to learn more about these dangerous pests and others that you’ll need to protect against. By looking at the immediate costs of getting a dog and assessing what may be coming up in the future, you will better understand if adding a pooch to your clan is financially manageable.

Photo: Julie Christine Photography

5. Be prepared to grow your family by one

Getting a dog is like adding another member to your family. Dogs take a lot of time, patience, kindness, love and nurturing. They may not need as much attention as your children, but they still need a lot. Consider this: Would you be ready to have another kid right now? Thinking about it in this light will help you figure out if a dog is a good fit. For a while, my husband and I were considering having one more kid, but since our puppy joined our family, the spot of “just one more” has officially been filled. She’s bonding with our children and they are learning how to care for her while building a lifelong companionship. Disclosure: This content was created in partnership with Parasite Police and Today’s Parent. While compensation was provided, all opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily indicative of the opinions of Parasite Police or Today’s Parent. Read more: 3 things I wish I knew before getting a family dog 3 questions to ask yourself before getting a family dog

By Codi Lynn Warmerdam, Creative Wife and Joyful Worker Codi Lynn is mama to three kids and works from home sharing motherhood moments through her blog, Creative Wife and Joyful Worker. You can find her sharing about their daily life, travels and style all while encouraging mamas that we are all in this together. Find out more about her through Instagram on @creativewifeandjoyfulworker Read the full article

[rhysoca]

Exercise: Point of sale display

What, Why, When, How, Where and Who?

What are you being asked to do?

I’m being asked to create a highly visible point of sale display for a local green grocer, consisting of two A1 landscape panels - one relating to fruit and one to vegetables. The display will be located above the fruit and vegetables. (what and where)

The panels can use photography or illustrations or a combination of the two and can use a section of a piece of fruit or vegetable, a piece of fruit or vegetable or a group of different pieces of fruit or vegetables (how)

The panels must be visible from a distance to shoppers and passers by outside the shop and so must be visible through the shop window. The objective is to attract their attention and encourage them to enter the shop to buy groceries. (where)

The shop is located in a precinct that includes a baker, a newsagent, an independent shoe shop and is close to a well-respected primary school (where). This means that those passing buy might be (who):

the general public (who are likely to be open to messages about healthy eating and the dangers of smoking, drinking, excessive sugar, obesity and lack of fitness)

school children on their way to school (who might have pocket money to spend on snacks, who will have been subjected to educational messages about health from the teachers at their well-respected secondary school)

parents taking their children to school (who will have the same concerns about health and the general public, but felt more acutely because they have small children and will have been party to some of the same educational messages about healthy eating presented to their children)

teachers and school staff (The same concerns about health as the other groups)

people who’ve been to the baker’s (and are looking for a sandwich filling or a healthy accompaniment to baked goods)

people visiting the newsagent for a paper who might be looking for a snack.

How will the client judge a successful outcome to the brief?

The client wants the signs to attract more shoppers and boost trade (why), so if the signs help to  achieve this, they will be deemed successful.

What are the keywords?

fruit, vegetables, point of sale, display, visible, attract, boost, trade, passers-by, school, baker, newsagent, independent shoe shop

Additional questions

who currently uses your shop?

are there any audiences who currently use the shop less than others, that you would particularly like to attract?

does the signage need to include anything other than the images and the message? (ie a logo?)

what kinds of fruit and vegetables do you sell?

how much do you charge for your fruit and vegetables?

Initial thoughts

My first thought is that the imagery and text on the two panels shouldn’t be subtle or nuanced - especially in terms of its imagery - and that the text should be large and easily understandable, because the words need to read easily from a distance away.  This limits the number of words and, by extension, the nature of the message, since detailed and complex messages need more words. A greater number of words would need to be smaller to fit on the panels and so wouldn’t be visible from outside the shop. So, the brief requires simple, bold lettering and a simple bold message that can be read and understood from afar. 

In terms of the nature of the message, there are some pointers towards the kinds of messages that might appeal to be found in the list of potential users:

For example, if there are school children and their parents around, one might target a message to this particular audience by using fun, perhaps cartoonish, visuals that might appeal to children and their families. This might be fruit and vegetables presented as friendly characters, conveying a sense of fun and vibrancy. A sample message might be spoken by a piece of broccoli wearing sunglasses, saying the words, “cool kids eat their greens!” or a surfing banana shouting, “go bananas - eat fruit!”

Affluent younger parents, the kind that might take their children to a well-regarded school, and perhaps those who use an independent shoe shop, might be interested in fruit and vegetables as ingredients for smoothies.

Another approach might be to focus in on a  particular piece of fruit or veg and say something specific about the benefits inherent in that particular type of food; perhaps an updated version of ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away.’

Example from image research:

The immediate problem I can see with this approach is that there’s too much information here to fit on an A1 panel which will be seen from a distance.

Another potential approach might be to isolate a particular kind of food that’s popular with most people - perhaps curry - and then create a message relating to the use of fruit and vegetables to improve that kind of dish:

Curry Night - Why not make your own?

However, this kind of message - or any targeted specifically at a particular audience group - runs the risk of not being attractive to other groups of potential customers. For example, a 65 year old retiree who has visited the newsagent to buy a newspaper and a tin of tobacco, is unlikely to be compelled into the green grocer’s because of a sign depicting a group of cartoon fruit and vegetables. Similarly, if an advert is entirely given over to one kind of fruit or vegetable, then this is likely to alienate anyone who doesn’t like to eat that particular item.

It seems to me that, in terms of the kind of message,  a common factor should be found that represents the concerns of all age groups and is relevant to as wide a variety of backgrounds and interests as possible. By logical extension, this means that that the signage should present a general view of lots of different fruits (on one panel) and vegetables (on the other).

Example from image research:

In the C21st century, the benefits of healthy eating and authenticity in food production are drummed into everyone through government campaigns, NHS messaging, cookery programmes, celebrity lifestyle blogs and social media platforms such as instagram. The younger generations are increasingly concerned with health and vitality, and this is also likely to appeal to those who are older and are likely to be more at risk of diseases associated with an unhealthy lifestyle.

Examples from visual research:

Examples of simple health focused messages might be:

Fruit + Veg x Exercise = Health

Eat a rainbow everyday!

Taste living colour!

Nature’s Multi-Vitamins

Stay Healthy - Eat this! (downward pointing arrow)

Treat your body!

In order to convey the health giving vitality of fresh fruit and vegetables, appropriate imagery needs to be used: imagery that can convey bright colours, accurate detail, light and shade to people who aren’t in the shop. For this reason, the obvious form to use is photography, since photographs are more likely to convey these details well than illustrations. The message needs to be clear and legible , so, in my opinion, artistic images or graphic renderings of fruit and vegetables  aren’t as appropriate for this task as photographs..

During my research using Pinterest, I’ve found lots of images of delicious looking, expertly photographed collections of fruit and veg, many of these from providers of licensable images. Stock photographs that can be licensed from providers such as Shutterstock and Adobe may well be the best kinds of image to use for his task, in which - in terms of the pictorial elements - quality and clarity of image is of paramount importance.

One of the questions suggested by the brief for the designer to consider is “Does this look edible? Would I like to eat it?” 

I’ve carried out some further research using Pinterest and added some illustrations of fruit to my collection of photographs. Regardless of the level of skill employed in creating the illustrations, the photographs appear more vibrant, more immediate and more inviting.

I would rather eat this:

...than this...

...or this...

I’ve mocked up some ideas based on this thinking - but also playing around with some ideas using some stock photos i’ve found - and my example messages:

Fruit + Veg x Exercise = Health

Eat a rainbow everyday!

Taste living colour!

Nature’s Multi-Vitamins

Stay Healthy - Eat this! (downward pointing arrow)

Treat your body!

Although I initially thought that the posters should show multiple fruits and vegetables to have as broad an appeal as possible, when I started playing around with some of the stock imagery that I found, I found that a different, minimalist aesthetic might have a high impact, visually. So I came up with a few different ideas based on this thinking.

I did also want to try out my initial idea which is to show multiple fruits and vegetables, in a kind of cornucopia arrangement, with a clear centralised message. This does require some kind of white inlay because without this, the text wouldn’t be visible  enough.

I tried altering the font style to see what effect this has on legibility. 

Contrary to my expectation, the relatively refined serif is actually clearer than the block font in the lower examples.

While I don’t mind the ‘cornucopia’ mockups, they don’ immediately grab the attention, partly because the fruit and vegetables are used as a background - and some fade into the background . They also look similar to displays that I’ve seen in supermarkets and greengrocers and so lack originality.

I’m more and more drawn to the clean minimalist aesthetic of the signs that show one or two fruits or vegetables in close up and link this with some kind of humorous tagline:

Finished designs

pdf file

pdf file

[jackrgaines]

Importance of Websites for Restaurants

The post Importance of Websites for Restaurants appeared first on HostGator Blog.

When you’re tired of cooking yourself and ready to get food that’s been prepared by somebody else, what’s your first move? You turn to the internet. 

Whether that’s to head to the website of a restaurant you know you like, or to do some searches to find a new one to try, most people start the process of getting a meal from a restaurant online.

That was often true before COVID-19, but today pulling up a restaurant website to peruse the menu, check for takeout and delivery options, and place orders is an even bigger part of the typical process of “eating out.” 

If you don’t have a website for your restaurant, trust that many of your potential customers will end up looking for an eatery that does. 

10 Reasons Websites for Restaurants Are Important

A website is a restaurant’s main home online. It’s the place customers that already know you will check first when they want information about you. And it’s the main way new customers looking for options when they’re hungry will learn about you. 

Having a restaurant website provides a number of undeniable benefits. 

1. A website shows legitimacy.

For any type of business, many consumers see a website as a clear sign the business is established and trustworthy. Not having one can make you seem amateur or sketchy by contrast. A restaurant website that looks professional and provides accurate information demonstrates to potential customers that you’re running a reputable business. 

And when it comes to food—where the stakes of eating bad food are high (food poisoning is no joke)—showing your audience you take running your restaurant seriously is important. 

2. A website makes your restaurant easier to find.

When someone wakes up hungry and types “breakfast taco near me” into their phone or laptop, they’re only going to see results that have an online presence. 

While a website isn’t technically required to show up in a Google search—a Google business listing is enough—having a website still plays a big role in how easily customers are able to find you online.

In deciding which businesses and websites should show up on page one in a search, your website authority is one of the things Google’s algorithms take into account. If you don’t have a website for your restaurant at all, you don’t have a way to build authority, which means you’ll show up less often in relevant searches. And the times you do show up, when people see there’s no website link in your Google listing, they may skip to an option that does have a site that makes it easy for them to learn more about the business and food they serve. 

And since people who like your food don’t have anything to link to when recommending you, you’ll miss out on online promotional opportunities. 

Say a local food blogger loves your breakfast tacos. If they’re able to link back to your website in a review, it both increases your website authority and gives their readers an easy way to check out your restaurant. Without that link, readers don’t have a clear, authoritative place to learn about your restaurant and are less likely to follow through and give you a try. 

3. People can browse your menu.

Before committing to a specific restaurant, people want to know what they’re getting in for. What specific food options do you bring to the table? When your menu is right there online, you make it easy for potential customers to review their options and decide what looks good. 

Making your menu available online is useful for everyone, but becomes especially important for any potential customers that have food allergies or are picky eaters. For example, someone who can’t eat gluten needs to know before they show up to your restaurant whether there’s anything on the menu they can actually eat. 

If your menu isn’t available for them to look over in advance, you risk having to deal with unhappy customers that show up hungry and can’t eat (or don’t want) anything you have to offer. And you increase the likelihood that people you could feed don’t show up at all, because they can’t confirm your restaurant has anything they’d want. 

Pro tip: Whatever format you load your menu in, make sure it works well on mobile! A lot of people make decisions about where to eat while on the go. They want to see what’s nearby when they’re hungry on their way home from work or finishing up errands. For these customers, being able to see what their menu options are on their phones can be a deciding factor in their decision about whether to order with you, or go with another area restaurant.

4. You can load mouth-watering images of your food.

Food appeals to more of our senses than just taste. While you can’t use your website to get people’s taste buds watering via the yummy smells of your cooking, you can show them how delectable your dishes look. Take advantage of the visual medium of websites to show off your tastiest looking entrees and appetizers. 

Food that sounds good can become downright irresistible once people can get a glimpse of how it looks. Plus original images of your food are a good way to make a website experience stronger. They make the brand experience people get from your website more memorable, and give you more places to optimize your website for search engines.

5. Online ordering is now expected.

Now that most of your consumer base is sheltering in place, the main way people are frequenting restaurants is through online orders. If you don’t have a website, you aren’t giving housebound customers a way to order from you. 

The best way to keep up business for the course of the pandemic is to make sure people have easy options to place takeout and delivery orders through your website.

Getting that set up now means that you can reap the benefits of the additional income stream online ordering provides once the danger passes. Creating your own system of taking online orders through a website can also save you from a dependency on third-party delivery services that often take too much off the top for restaurants to make any profit—especially if you start to employ your own delivery drivers. 

A restaurant website is the first step toward providing the convenience of online ordering—something people require now, and will continue to appreciate when the option of dining at a restaurant becomes safe again. 

6. You decide how your brand is portrayed.

You don’t have to have a website for your restaurant to have an online presence. Your restaurant can be listed on Yelp and Google without ever launching your own website. So it may be tempting to just stick with those easy options—customers can find you there, and you can save the time and cost it takes to build a website, right?

The problem is that you don’t have control over how you show up on those spaces. You’re limited in what information you can include. You’re not able to put forth the version of your brand you want people to encounter.

When you create your own restaurant website, the space belongs entirely to you. You choose the color scheme so it matches your overall branding. You talk about your restaurant in the terms you know matter most to your customers. And you can load the best photos of the food your customers love. Your website is where you can put your best online face forward for the world, and make the case to customers for why they should choose you.

7. You give people a heads up about your restaurant hours.

Have you ever made the trip to a restaurant you were looking forward to, only to find it closed? You were probably already hungry and had to figure out an alternative option in a rush—not a fun experience. With COVID-19 wreaking havoc on any regularity that once existed in restaurant schedules, the risk of this experience has increased. 

You don’t want to disappoint customers that are already stressed out. A website is the best way to keep up-to-date information about your hours and what types of service you’re offering all in a central location. 

If dine-in service isn’t available and customers need to put in an order online for pickup, you want to provide clear instructions where they know to look. If you’ll be open on a different schedule than usual, you want to give them a head’s up before they get their hopes up for a lunch they can’t have. 

8. You can share safety procedures.

Your location, your menu, and your food photography are all contributing factors in deciding whether to choose your restaurant. But in the age of COVID-19, another big thing consumers are looking for is information on how you’re working to keep customers and employees safe. 

A restaurant website gives you a chance to communicate to your audience that you’re taking concerns about the virus seriously, and that you’re thoughtfully implementing procedures to reduce risk as much as possible. As the restaurant owner, it also gives you a place to clearly outline any rules you expect customers to follow to keep others safe, such as wearing a mask or staying in their car for pickups and letting you bring orders to them. 

Even if people love your food, if they’re scared you’re not taking proper precautions to keep them safe, they won’t have anything to do with your business. And if conscious consumers feel like you’re needlessly putting employees at risk, you’ll lose their business for the long term as well. Show people you care and are doing your due diligence to get this right. 

9. You can add income streams.

A restaurant site will mostly exist to promote your food, but you don’t have to stop there. Any restaurant website with ecommerce functionality can be used to sell other items as well. You can promote gift cards on your website, and sell branded merchandise like t-shirts, mugs, and stickers. 

You could even sell kits of everything a customer needs to make some of the items on your menu themselves. In some locales, cocktail kits have been a popular option (but you have to make sure that’s a legal option in your city before you go that route). That can be a good way to give people a taste of the experience they’d get dining in, even when it’s not an option.

10.  You can enable and highlight customer reviews.

A lot of restaurants like to claim they offer the best pizza, tacos, or BBQ in their city, but most customers can see right through those claims—unless they’re backed up by customer reviews. If you allow customer reviews on your website and person after person talks up how delicious your pasta dishes or enchiladas are, every website visitor will see and pay attention. 

Positive reviews are powerful. For restaurants, they’re one of the best tools you have to prove to people that you’re worth trying out. The first step to getting good reviews is making amazing cuisine. Presumably, you’ve already got that part down. The next step is making it as easy as possible for customers to share what they think about your food on your beautiful website, or on other popular review sites like Google and Yelp.

Once you’ve gotten raves from happy customers, you can highlight their words on your website where any new customers interested in giving you a try can see them. Hearing how much your other customers love your cuisine will help anyone on the fence go ahead and make that order. 

Build Your Restaurant Website Today

In the best of times, running a restaurant successfully is hard. We’re clearly not in the best of times, and probably won’t be for a while. One of the most important things you can do right now to stay afloat is make sure you have an intuitive, useful, attractive restaurant website. 

If restaurant website design sounds intimidating, don’t let it be. Building a website today is easier than it’s ever been. You can use an intuitive website builder that comes with pre-designed templates and offers drag-and-drop functionality that anyone can figure out. Yes, even you as a restaurant owner can master website design with our easy to use templates. You can get a basic website up in a matter of hours, and make your food more accessible to customers in the process. 

Find the post on the HostGator Blog

from HostGator Blog https://www.hostgator.com/blog/importance-websites-restaurants/

[paulakaymason]

I was not at all planning on blogging about Kiteboarding when this day started.  In fact, I had never even heard of it.  Most days when I head off on one of my adventures, I have a goal in mind.  

I’m usually looking for a particular bird, a certain type of landscape, or I’ve heard about a cool trail that I just want to hike.  On this particular day, I was headed off to one of the many parks on Lake Lewisville.

As always, I had my camera with me, thinking I would hopefully see some birds, probably ducks, since I’d be near the lake.  Stewart Creek Park, located on the edge of Lake Lewisville, was described as having some really nice shoreline trails which I was interested in seeing and hiking.  And along the way, I was sure I’d get some good pictures of birds.

I was pleased when I finally got there.  Not only was it a beautiful day, but the place looked like lots of fun.  I arrived at the gate, paid my $10.00 entrance fee, got my map of the park, and I was on my way.

I was totally impressed with them when they were just Kiteboarding on the surface of the water. Once I saw them catch some major air, I knew I had to stop and watch for a while.

First stop…the trails running along side the edge of the lake.  What a beautiful view.  As I walked along with my camera, it didn’t take long to realize this was not going to be a very successful birding day, so thank goodness for the views.

I’m always happy with a new and interesting place to hike, and as I was heading back towards my car along the trail, I noticed some really cool kites off in the distance. I decided to head down to that end of the park to see what was going on.

There were about 5 or 6 of these giant kites, but they were so far off in the distance, that I couldn’t see who was flying them.  Once I made it down to the dock near the kites, I realized I had found something almost as good as birds to photograph.

I had stumbled upon a group of about 5-6 guys who were Kiteboarding. Yep…that’s exactly what I said…Kiteboarding.  I didn’t even know that was a thing.  

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I was instantly fascinated, so I found myself a nice vantage point on the floating dock, and I sat down to watch.  About an hour and a half after I first sat down, I packed up my gear to head home.  Had I really just spent more than an hour there?  Time had flown by.  

Watching these guys was mesmerizing, and just as I thought I would pack up and head home, they would do another cool trick that I just had to see again and again.  They were “skateboarding” across the lake.  How cool is that?

If you’ve never heard of kiteboarding before, the best way I can describe it to you, is that it is a cross between snowboarding, skateboarding and parasailing.  

Well…I’ve never been parasailing or snowboarding, but I was quite a good skateboarder back in the day…  And because of that, I just have a feeling that I would be a pretty good Kiteboarder!  We’ll get into that later…

According to Wikipedia, Kiteboarding (or Kite Surfing) is an action sport combining aspects of wakeboarding, snowboarding, windsurfing, surfing, paragliding, skateboarding and sailing into one extreme sport. A kiteboarder harnesses the power of the wind with a large controllable power kite to be propelled across the water, land, or snow.

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Sounds like fun, right?  Well, if you’re interested, you need to be prepared to spend some money!  I looked up what you needed to try this sport, and the list of equipment is quite extensive.  

Just a few of the things you need include a kite ($1,000 for entry level), a board ($400-1,000 and up), bars ($350 and up), harnesses ($300 and up), and some boots and straps (ranging from $500 and up).  

In addition to these things, there are pages and pages of accessories!  And of course, you know that I’d be needing some of the accessories like board handles, fins, traction pads, and more…

So will I consider trying this?  I’m not sure.  It looks like a lot of fun.  I feel like I’d be up to the challenge, but any sport that requires an impact vest gives me some pause…  And heights when you catch some air!  Not my favorite.  I also read on the Kiteboarding Website, that it is very important to take some lessons before beginning.  

All I’d have to do to take some Kiteboarding lessons from my friends over at the Kiteboarding Website, is drive down to Corpus Christi for a few days, and then I’d be good to go.  Here is what they have to say about lessons at Kiteboarding.com…

Get a Lesson – We’ll say it again: Get a Lesson!! This is the essential step. Kiteboarding is a blast, but it can be dangerous. Your risk of being injured or injuring someone else goes up ten-fold without proper instruction and knowledge of how to control a kite this size and full understanding of operating its safety systems effectively.

Look for lessons through a professional and established shop with PASA (Professional Air Sports Association) certified instruction. This should guarantee that you’re getting all necessary information on safety, set-up, flying, control, and (again) safety.

Yes, learning about this sport is all about safety. Getting a professional lesson will assure you that this area is fully covered, and it also ensures the equipment you’re using is well-kept, checked, and up-to-date.

Impressive video, right?  In my mind, I’m still 29, invincible, and can totally do this.  But unfortunately, my body is saying something else…  And after reading about the lessons, I’m not convinced this is gonna be added to my bucket list.  Not yet, anyway.

Maybe I could just travel to some of the places in the video above and take pictures of these guys doing their thing.  Sounds like a good compromise to me.  Be the photographer for this sport, not the athlete!  Almost as good…

After learning that most kiteboarders wear a piece of equipment called an Impact Vest and the instructors say “it can be dangerous,” I’m not sure I’ll make it a part of my next adventure.  As much as I’d love to have an excuse to go to Corpus Christi, I think I’d better start looking for another reason to go…

Maybe I’ll go on a birding adventure in Corpus Christi one of these days, and just plan to drop in to see the instructors from the Kiteboarding Website for one of their 3-Hour Beginner Kiteboarding Lessons.  Hmmm….  I’ll have to think about that.

The video above was one I took using my cell phone.  I didn’t video much, because I prefer pictures.  But I thought you might enjoy seeing just how close I was to this exciting sport.

For now, I think I’ll continue my normal, boring hiking and birding adventures around here, and just have memories of my day watching kiteboarding out on Lake Lewisville!  

I’ll always have the photos & videos, and who knows…maybe one day, someone will get a photo or video of me kiteboarding.  But probably not.  You can see more of my photos on my photography website, paulamasonphotography.com!   Until next time…

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  KiteBoarding...Am I Brave Enough? I was not at all planning on blogging about Kiteboarding when this day started.  In fact, I had never even heard of it.  

[patrickjones-blog]

In the pre-digital era, a photographer was largely limited by the number of frames on a roll of film — 36 in most cases. Those who took a lot of pictures were good at judging how a given photo would turn out before clicking the button. Often, they would take 3-4 shots of the same subject at varying shutter speeds in the hope that one of those attempts would yield a winner. More serious photographers were usually armed with multiple rolls of film. It was not uncommon to see professional photographers with bandolier holders for their film rolls while on long trips or remote location runs. Fast forward to today and the scene looks a bit different

This kind of measured approach is no longer the norm in photography. A few die-hard film enthusiasts and purists are still attached to the film format, but the average person has moved entirely to digital. In fact, there’s a whole generation now that has never seen or used a film camera. And that has created a different kind of problem for us now. With digital cameras, people can take photos – lots and lots of them. In 2013, 660 billion digital images were produced worldwide, according to some estimates. This figure had grown to 1.2 trillion by 2017. Phones, tablets, digital cameras, laptops and more are used daily to produce more images and contribute to this exponential growth of digital photos. The aggregate number of digital photos stored across various media is now estimated to be over 4.7 trillion. Given this frenzied pace of photo taking, it doesn’t take long for the average person to max out their personal computer disk space, making digital photo storage a hugely in-demand commodity. Digital photo clutter is emerging as one of the biggest technological problems of our times. In our individual lives, it’s hard to recognize the scale of the problem unless we step back and look at where and how our photos are stored. If they are distributed across devices and disk drives in a jumbled assortment of single image files and haphazardly named folders, then we know that we have created a monster that will keep growing unless we do something about it.

Begin by purging

Fortunately, there’s a way to rein in the beast and get your photos into an accessible and organized library of memories. Most experts agree that the very first step in the process is to apply some quality filters and start purging our collection of photos that are not worth saving. This is sometimes difficult since we start attaching emotional importance to photos when they are from the past, however recent or distant this past may be. Still it’s an important part of this whole process and something that cannot be outsourced. Assessing the keepsake value of a photo is a task that we ourselves are best equipped to do.

However, culling based on quality is pretty simple when it comes to photos. Start with anything out of focus or blurry. If you have multiple shots, get rid of the ones that don’t have a clear image and presentation. Just by doing this alone, you will reduce some of the clutter without a lot of effort. And since you most likely have multiple copies of most images, you’re not really in danger of erasing any important memories.

Now it’s time to sort them

Once you have the less-than-stellar images out of the way, you can focus your energies on the ones that remain. You have a couple of choices automatically available to you when it comes to sorting your images. The most obvious one involves the time date stamp on your photos.

If you are working on Windows, for example, you can create multiple folders for specific years and then house all of these in a master folder. You can then move your digital images into this larger folder and sort them based on the time date stamp on them. From here, it will be easy for you to move sets of photos into the appropriate year folder. The time date stamp is not always an accurate indicator of a photo’s vintage but it works in most cases.

There are, of course, other ways to sort your images – based on occasion, place, people and more – but chronology makes for a good starting point. And it’s easier then to find a specific photo that you want to incorporate in an album, a collage or any other keepsake. Make sure you back up this newly organized library to some form of external storage as well.

Develop habits to contain the clutter

On an ongoing basis, apply your quality filters to any new photos you take in order to keep your digital piles from getting out of hand again. This doesn’t mean that you need to stop yourself from taking photos; just that you need to develop a daily or weekly habit of going through and pruning the photo library on your camera device.

While you should continue to transfer your images to your computer and back them up regularly, an online photo management tool is another must-have for digital images. Google Photos works well for this purpose, providing secure cloud storage for your memories as well as options for cataloging and editing your images in new and interesting ways. You can upload photos from your phone to Google Photos after you’ve done a round of purging. Alternatively, the auto-upload feature works well if you feel that you may not remember to do this manually on a regular basis..

Clearly, thanks to the technology and tools now available to us, conquering digital clutter is not as daunting a task as we may initially think.

This brings us to one more aspect of our image archives that most of us are afraid to wade into. Our physical photo piles. Since print photos require hours of manual sorting and handling, we often box them up and put off doing anything with them. But the case for digitizing old photos is very strong. Once digitized, you can add them to the master library on your computer as well as to your online backup to more easily view, curate and share them. As photojournalist and memory evangelist Kevin Gilbert said in a 2014 TED talk: ‘A picture is worthless if you can’t find it.’ We need to make it easy to find photos that have meaning for us. This begins with taking control of our digital archives and eliminating clutter. But it also means rescuing memories from boxes in dark basements and placing them where we can easily retrieve them.

The post What You Need to Do to Conquer Photo Clutter appeared first on ScanCafe.

via ScanCafe

[harryjackson442]

Post-production is an important process in photography because it helps you reconcile the differences between the image captured by your camera and what your eyes saw. The goal is to make the photo look authentic and natural as possible even as you tweak a few things that may have gone wrong during the shooting. However, it should be emphasized that editing will never turn a mediocre photo into a masterpiece and should therefore not be seen as a way of fixing production errors.

Another thing we need to point out is that editing can be very subjective because everyone has his own style (which evolves over time). However, irrespective of your style, there are photo editing mistakes that you need to avoid if you want your photos to look natural, realistic and professional.

We discuss some of these mistakes and how to avoid them below.

1. Cropping Poorly

There is no doubt that cropping is one of the most important post-production procedures. The crop tool gives you the power to tell a story with your photo. It, therefore, follows that you shouldn’t start cropping before you know the story you want to tell and how you want to tell it. Cropping important details can alter the story while unnecessary elements may draw attention to the wrong things.

Effective cropping starts in–camera (with your lens) while taking the shot.  Ideally, cropping should help you get rid of undesired elements and create a more polished and balanced look. Unfortunately, sometimes we crop poorly and the results can be catastrophic.

Always take your client’s interest into account.  Turns out, your client’s artistic orientation and vision may not always be in line with yours. And sometimes the client needs something specific that only hearing from them can reveal.  It is always advisable to know how the photo is going to be displayed before you set out to crop.

When it comes to portrait cropping, the position of the eye is very important.  The eyes should be the default landing point. Use “the rule of thirds” to place eyes as the center of focus and also to ensure well-balanced and interesting photos.  Remember that you don’t have to be rigid with your cropping. Experimentation is encouraged. Your subject can be far off to one side or even slightly off frame depending on the impression you want to create, but avoid placing the subject at the center as much as possible. It’s just plain boring and counter-intuitive!

Eyes not properly positioned

Eye well positioned on the top third of the frame

 2. Over-reliance on Actions and Presets

Photoshop actions (called presets in Lightroom) help us quickly achieve amazing results when editing without having to manually apply each process; and comes with many other advantages including a quicker workflow, fun and interesting editing, and ability to create consistent images with the same effect, among others. However, it is important to understand how actions work and where they are most useful.  Over-reliance on actions is not encouraged because they are not an end in themselves but an addition to the editing process. Again, for purposes of learning, try to apply processes manually or better still create your own actions.

3. Overusing textures

Textures can be very appealing and fun to work with especially if you are editing portraits and gaming images because there is a lot to work with, in most editing applications. However, moderation is key when dealing with textures and effects because you always run the danger of ending up with an image that doesn’t look authentic.

This is an example of over-used textures. There is just too much going on here.

 4. Creating fake bokehs

We all love bokehs because of the impact it creates on the photo. If and when done well, the separation between the subject and background allows your photo to pop in an awe-inspiring manner and affords the two elements perfect harmony. A bokeh is beautiful when it’s as natural as it can get. However, many photographers fail to get a good bokeh with the shot and try to create one artificially by blurring out the background. The outcome is a blurred looking photo or a plastic background that ruins the fidelity of the photo. Again, trying to create a background with a perfect fade in into your object may be a bit complicated in editing. The more you try to achieve this, the more your photo will look unnatural or over edited.  The best remedy is to get a crisp background when taking the photo.

A good bokeh! Perfect harmony between subject and background.

5. Selective Colouring

Selective colouring is the inevitable deathblow to your photo and a gross sin that you shouldn’t commit.  The fact that something looks different doesn’t mean it’s appealing. The selective colouring fad faded away when people finally got tired of it and decided it belongs to the past. If you choose to go black and white go that route and get the best out of it. If you go for colour, say bye to B&W and have fun with colour. This way, you save your photos from the awkward, out of place look. And please note that selective colouring is a very unprofessional way of drawing attention to your subject. People will notice that it came as an afterthought and you won’t like the tacky look either.

Notice how the subject looks out of place in the photos below.

6. Mishandling Curves

Knowing your curves is an important accomplishment in photo editing, but understanding how curves work requires a lot of practice and patience and that’s why many photographers misapply or shy away from them. A good understanding of curves will help you create colours, shadows and contrast without blurring colours and overlapping shadows. Sean McCormark from the Digital Photography School shares insights on how to use curves in Photoshop in this blog https://digital-photography-school.com/understand-curves-tool-photoshop/

7. Failing to create a focal point

Creating a focal point is critical because you draw attention to the subject of your photo. You don’t want to end up with a photo that has an excellent composition and expression but is lacking in focus. A strong focal point can be achieved while taking the photo by playing with background and foreground placement, creating shallow depth of field or by highlighting your object using lighting.  If you don’t get this right as you take the shot, you can use the vignetting effect tool or a radial brush to brighten the focal point in Lightroom. The local adjustment brush can also be used to increase clarity on your object which will give a similar effect.

This is a  photo with no focus. There is no particular subject for the eyes to land on.

8. Trying to be trendy

Trends come and go, but you want your images to stand the test of time. Again, some trends may appeal to some people but not all. When editing your photos, don’t get trapped into “this trendy business”. However, if you feel strongly compelled to go that route, develop two versions; the trendy one (for your pleasure) and one with a more classic touch.

9. Failing to zoom out and in

Zooming out and in after a few fixes here and there helps you keep track of changes in your image so that you know whether you’re on course or veered off from the image you wanted to achieve.  This is very important when working on eyes, or specific parts of the body. You need to zoom out to see the whole eye to get a glimpse of what’s happening. It is much easier to see the changes if you view the whole image.

10. Perfect Skin

When smoothing skin features, there is always the temptation to get a perfect skin tone. Work side by side with the original to help you know when you are getting off the mark as the skin will start looking unnatural and quite different from the original photo.

  The skin and eyes look over edited and unnatural in this photo.

11. Turning muddy colours into black and white photos

Turning muddy colours (greys, browns, and other desaturated colours) into black and white will not help you enhance detail. You will most probably end up with a funny greyish photo.

12. One fell swoop editing

If you are not racing against time, it is always advisable to take a break from the images, probably days or even a week. When you come back, you’ll realize that there are many tweaks that you want to make because of the new ideas that a break affords you. As much as possible, avoid editing your photos in one sitting.

13. Messing around with HDR effects

HDR images can be quite stunning when expertly done. However, applying HDR professionally requires time and effort and many photographers are just not fit for purpose. If you are not sure of your HDR skills, you will do your photography a lot of justice if you leave HDR alone as you sharpen your skills for later. You can learn more about  HDR in the YouTube video below.

14. Jumping onto editing program before you know it well

Sounds basic but photographers have this habit of jumping onto new editing programs even before they understand it well. Take your time to know the program well so that you are able to use all the important features properly and be in a position to fix issues that may arise without complicating the problem. Editing becomes difficult, boring and time wasting if you don’t understand your tools well. This mistake opens doors to many other mistakes and frustrations. The key is to ensure that you continue learning new features. We sometimes have this weakness of sticking with one feature once we know it well and not challenging ourselves to learn new ones. Explore, and learn continuously but don’t start using a feature before you’ve mastered it properly.

15. Sparkling eyes and bright teeth

Eyes can be very tricky to deal with. While we want sparkling eyes, excessively bright eyes will make your subject look like an alien.  If you end up with sclera (the white of the eye) that is completely white, something must be seriously wrong because the sclera is not a true white. Don’t push it too far. On the other hand, the brighter the teeth the less unnatural it will look. The secret is to find a good balance that gives the desired effect without coming off as a fake or exaggerated.

These eyes look sharp but still fairly authentic. Beyond this point the look may be exaggerated. A perfectly white sclera robs the eye of its authenticity.

16. Editing the original file

Those who have been here know what it means to discover that you have edited the original but you have no backup. How do you go back to fix mistakes when the edits are irreversible? Keeping the original means you have a chance to start a fresh should something go wrong.

17. Sharpening to correct focus

Sharpening will not correct focus for you unless you are perfect in this skill. Instead, it will mess up your photo. Chances are high that you will not get the balance right leading to artefacts, halos and other unwanted noise. The remedy is to get the right camera settings to render the correct focus as you take the photo.

18. Removing natural spots from the face and body

Things like wrinkles and birthmarks are not necessarily bad. In fact, they make the photo look more authentic. Sometimes clients request to have them removed, but as a professional, you should advise them accordingly. This can also be an area of conflict whereby the photographer deletes believing the client will like it but instead the client gets offended that the photographer removed it. For some people, birthmarks mean a lot and for the elderly wrinkles may be associated with longevity, personality and wisdom. It is better to ask but even better not to touch them. But things may be a bit different for models because they must look gorgeous in a photo, though not to the extent that the look is plastic or alien-like.

19. Not Shooting in Raw

Shooting in Raw gives you more latitude in post-production.  You get a lot of detail to work with which means you can do many edits before you start losing important detail and quality. You also get more control over your exposure. On the other hand, JPEG compression artefact can introduce mosquito noise, blockiness, and colour degradation. It may also interest you to know that most presets are created to work in the Raw format.

  20. Post production to fix shooting mistakes

It should be clear right from the onset that post production is not the magic wand for fixing shooting problems. Even pros with sophisticated editing programs will find it difficult to turn poorly taken photos into masterpieces. Taking poor photos and hoping to edit them out is one of the most serious crimes in photography that can cause you editing nightmares. Beginner photographers are guilty of this gross sin because they often don’t put in enough effort to come up with the best photo, but trust you me, even seasoned photographers are culpable here. If you have a lot of shooting mistakes to address in post, it goes without saying that you’ll mess up the operation.  Learn how to take the best photo and that way you will improve your photography skills too. Post-production will just be complimentary minor tweaks to improve the photo.

21. Failure to compare before and after situation

Frequently check before and after situation just to be sure that you are in touch with the changes happening to your image especially when you are starting to lose important detail or the image is beginning to look unnatural. A good trick is to apply too much of any adjustment and reduce gradually as you find the optimum spot just before editing starts distracting the eyes from the subject.

22. Trying to replace the background

Sometimes you get a nice photo where everything is perfect but the background is the only problem. Occasionally, you will just need light and shadows to dim the background and draw attention to your photo. In some cases, lights and shadows will not suffice and the process of background removal may become a bit technical even for pros. The best remedy for this problem is to have the ideal background in mind when shooting. Unlike during the days of film, digital photography gives us room for experimentation, trying out different settings until you get what works. Take multiple photos in different locations and choose the one with the best background.

23. Losing detail and quality

Getting enough detail in a photo usually takes a lot of effort and often involves shooting in RAW.  When you start losing detail in post-production, this should be a clear warning that you have pushed those sliders a bit too far. The biggest culprit here is exposure adjustments. If you brighten too much, you lose highlights detail, if you add too much black the shadow detail is lost. If you push the contrast too much, the subtleties disappear. While editing, keep checking your histogram and don’t clip your highlights or shadows. In Lightroom, pressing “J” will show clipped highlights in red and clipped shadows in blue.

Apart from detail, you can also lose the overall quality of your image. For instance, cranking up your exposure can add noise into the file. And reducing this noise can be detrimental to the image. Just get the right exposure in your camera. Be sure to learn how the exposure triangle works.

24. Colour Banding

When trying to bring back detail in the sky, you may end up with wobbly bands of colour instead of a perfectly balanced gradient. This is called banding. The moment it starts creeping in, know that the editing is a bit too much.  It may not be easily noticeable when editing, so remember to zoom out and view the full image to notice even the smallest glimpse of banding or change in fidelity.

Notice colour banding in the horizon. Banding is more noticeable when you view the full image.

25. When people notice the editing before the image

If the first thing people say when they see your photo is that post processing is good, then there is a problem because editing work should not be easily noticeable. This is called distraction, the edit taking focus away from the image because post production effects are more prominent than the subject.

Conclusion

The more you edit your photos the better they get, but just up to a certain level above which you will start getting negative results. When it comes to photo editing, less is actually more and the surest way of ensuring fewer edits is by taking the best possible shots.  We sometimes want to push photo editing applications to the limits to get the best out of them but results that come out of these endeavours can be very un-natural or even bizarre.  To get authentic realistic results that can stand the test of time, it’s important to avoid pushing things too much.  Moderation is key! Know your editing application well, and ensure that you get the best shot from your camera because there are some things even professional editors can’t correct once they go wrong.

  25 Photo Editing Mistakes to Avoid Post-production is an important process in photography because it helps you reconcile the differences between the image captured by your camera and what your eyes saw.

[ecomsolver]

10 Innovative Tricks to Boost Success with Shopify

E- Commerce is the new commerce arena. e- Commerce is the outcome of powerful online tools and fast internet connectivity. According to recent statistics, worldwide e-commerce sales are expected to grow to $4 trillion by 2020. Organizations can expand their market to national and international level markets with minimum capital investment using e- Commerce. It gives the great opportunity to e-commerce businesses, but at the same time, online sales possess some unique challenges that traditional businesses don’t. In today’s era of competitive online business, you need to really commit to building a strong online presence by a great website. You need to be responsive to the requirements of your business and your customers. To make your business successful you need dedication to customer experience, your operational efficiencies, your market strategies and the team of people you build.  Choose wisely the e- Commerce platform to power your business and ready it for long-term growth and scalability. In the last few years, e- Commerce space has developed by such bounds that countless tools have been provided to online retailers for a smooth running process. As the user experience plays a key role in any online business. Shopify is the most popular among e- Commerce platforms. Since the foundation of Shopify in 2004, the increasingly sophisticated software has been designed keeping online retailers in mind. The users of Shopify in e-commerce businesses are increasing because it is a tremendous tool to strengthen their products’ reach.

Here are 10 innovative tricks to boost your success using Shopify –

Pre launch preparation:-

Secure your audience before you launch:-

Jump start your outreach:-

The Value of Optimization:-

Support multi-platform usability:-

Assure powerful security:-

Create mindful navigation:-

Analytics/Performance testing:-

Content marketing:-

Product reviews:-

A beautiful site design, the right products and stunning product photography are not all you needed to make increase your sales. It is one of the greatest e-commerce myths. If you’re launching your store to a tribe who are interested in what you are doing in the first place then you need to prove the exceptions. However, the majority of stores are not launching to the right people. Before you launch your eCommerce store or take it to the next level, then you need to take action to prepare a strong impression.

Every store owner wishes a maximum number of people to expose his/her brand’s site on a launch day. As much as you have been anxiously awaiting your site’s launch similarly your potential audience also has been waiting. Well, don’t assume it. The basic idea is: secure the audience and then launch your store. You might have seen companies have been using “coming soon��� pages that ask for an email address. But it’s not the full story, that’s part of it. Be assure to know where to find them and how to get them talking about your business.

Above we have mentioned about “coming soon” pages used by companies. Use “coming pages” on site and ask for visitor’s email address. You can also start collecting email addresses and building your media list before your site’s launch. Marketing plays a vital role in the long-term success of any site. You may also consider a referral marketing program to build buzz or more traditional forms of advertising. In short, you need to install “coming soon” banner on your site.

You want your site to be as immaculate as possible before you launch. Optimization has been widely adopted as an online marketing strategy because of its effectiveness. Site optimization focuses on creating informative and keyword relevant title tags and Meta descriptions which are shown in result pages. The click-through rate is increased by optimized tags and descriptions, hence it increases qualified web traffic. By performing optimization in your site, visitors will have a better understanding of what your business is about and why they should buy from you.

With the surge in mobile users, the eCommerce site owners are also rushing towards mobile site. It is essential that your site be optimized for all screen size ranging from mobile and tablets. The goal behind is visitor should have optimal experience no matter how and on which platform they access your site. You site layout and features should streamlined to all screen sizes and platforms. Smartphones and tablets are the future devices. User is more likely to stay on a site which is supported in all platforms. Faster webpages will attract more traffic to your site.

Security is key factor that gains the trust of a visitor. It is important to ensure the security of customer data. If visitor can’t trust that their payment information is safe on your site, then they will simply move to your competitor’s site. Ultimately you are losing your business. So use secure payment gateways that are in compliance with PCI DSS standards. They are reliable and keep customer’s data safe and protected. Also display your site’s SSL certificate as well as the logo for any third-party security companies. These help in preventing dangerous results of data leaking.

Performance and security are important aspects of your site’s optimization. But you also require an easy navigation through your inventory for easy user experience. If user does not find a way to products or services then he will not waste time in switching to your competitor’s site. A clear menu system is must for easy guidance to your product or service page. Don’t forget to mention any product that you offer in navigation. For better user experience Include detailed product descriptions and original photos. So it can help users get a better sense of what you have to offer.

Having a store online is not enough. You need to have clear structure to measure performance of your site. Here performance includes website traffic, sales activities and performance. If you are looking for good analytics tool for tracking site performance then Google analytics should be the best tool. It will show site’s performance at all stages.   If you are eCommerce developer then your site report will show site’ transaction, revenue and many other eCommerce related metrics. Analytics is designed to ensure a compatible experience for users throughout all aspects of your business. It is essential that your site’ analytics deliver the figures that you need on every facets of your site’s performance.

Marketing and advertising ways are liable to engage your customers with your brand. Content marketing is the powerful way to promote your business and keep it running strong for long time after it has been launched. Content marketing strategy includes blogging, infographics and interviews. Blog is the most popular way to keep engage your visitors. Articles related to your business signify your knowledge and addition of outbound links continues your brand promotion and traffic. Infographic is renowned to share visual information. It is shared o social media to drive traffic on your site.

Reviews are incredibly essential for the success of your eCommerce business today. Having useful real-world accounts with reviews on your site is an invaluable selling tool that will keep your customer’s trust on your site. To increase product review count entice your customers to put a review on your site whenever they purchase product from you. When they put product review send them follow-up email with a discount code. Or else develop a community culture across your site that by making review they are helping other customers. You should also have solid support system to assist customers who provide a negative product review.

Using Shopify as platform for your eCommerce site make it one of the most respected and extensive resource out there. Shopify is one of the popular way to super charge your eCommerce site, scale-up potential profits and expand your reach. So start implementing the above tips and tricks across your site, you will see growth in your traffic and sales.  If you are planning to hire shopify developer for your online store then you landed at the right place. Ecomsolver is the renowned for its top-notch Shopify solution that reflects your objectives in defined timeline. Contact us and discuss your Shopify project.

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Why to choose Shopify for your ecommerce store?

[nurializ]

Rialto Beach / Hole in the Wall

There are different reasons that attracted us to go to this unique beach, and I would had never imagined to spend some days in a place as beautiful and special as it is Rialto Beach, located in the Olympic Peninsula, in the state of Washington. It was early summer when we started our trip to the West Coast and Rialto Beach was one of our main destinations, and even when the weather wasn’t our greatest ally, we still managed to make the most of our time in this amazing place. Rialto was without hesitation one of the most beautiful locations of our roadtrip; the massive driftwood trees and rock formations along the shoreline, the peacefulness of the whole area and the variety of wildlife that you can encounter, together with the instant connection to Nature that you feel as soon as you arrive to this unique place make this beach a magical place to lose yourself into. A perfect night with wine enjoying the sound of the ocean and a perfect sunrise exploring the beach and the rock formations at low tide are two of the most precious memories I keep from this trip. We could see star fish, sea urchins, sea otters and other beautiful animals and we explored every single rock formation that was uncovered at low tide.

The truth is that whether you are looking for some adventures, a new place to explore or some peace and solitude, Rialto is the place to go. However, part of its uniqueness comes from the fact that it is not a very popular beach, and for this reason there are some things that you would need to know before you go.

1. BACKCOUNTRY PERMIT.

If you are planning to camp overnight, you will need to pick up a Wilderness Camping Permit at the Wilderness Information Center during business hours, in Port Angeles, or you can make a reservation prior to your trip via email or U.S Mail. Even when Rialto Beach is not a super popular destination, they only give a certain number of camping permits per day, so I highly suggest to plan your visit with that in mind. If you decide to make a reservation for the permit, it must be received before 8 AM two weeks before the trip. The price of the permit is 8 USD per person per night. Once you start your hike, you should carry your permit with you in a visible place so that rangers can see you have registered for camping without bothering you.

Camping is allowed once you pass Ellen Creek. You will notice that there are established campgrounds that you might want to use to reduce the impact on this area. Campfires are allowed as long as they are made out of driftwood. We thought the more secluded campsites were on the other side of the Hole In The Wall but there are also fewer spots than on the Rialto Beach side. If you plan on hiking the beach North past the campsites, be aware that high tide comes quickly and completely covers the beach up to a steep cliffside. Be sure to check a map and tide charts or stay on the Pacific NW Trail which runs along the beach.

2. OCEAN TIDE INFORMATION.

When you pick up your Wilderness Permit, the ranger will give you a tidal information sheet that will show you what the tide is going to do during different hours. This information is vital if you plan to camp past the Hole in the Wall rock formation, as you can only cross through it at low tide. If you happen to get there when the tide is too high to cross the hole, there is a small path that you can hike that will take you to the other side of the rock. However, this is not an easy hike, as it is a very steep hill that you will have to hike carrying your backpack and camping gear. If there has been rain recently, the path will be very muddy and slippery, which will make the hike even more difficult. I highly suggest using the tide chart before starting the hike to plan your route accordingly. 

Low tide is truly an incredible experience near the Hole In The Wall rock formation. If you use the tidal chart to hit the lowest tides then you can explore a few hundred feet of rocky shore that is normally covered in 5-10 feet of water at high tide. The treat is tide pools full of starfish, sea urchins, hermit crabs, mussels and snails and if you’re lucky you will see sea otters hunting the pools for food like we did!

3. BEAR CANISTER.

One of the requirements for camping at Rialto beach is that you MUST carry a bear box with you. You can either buy one or rent it at the Wilderness Information Center, but they can’t guarantee you that they will have enough canisters to rent, so we brought our own. This is probably one of the most important things I learned during this trip: how to camp in bear zones.

Here are some safety tips:

When you arrive to your campsite, secure all your food, garbage and scented items that can attracts animals.

Once you finish eating, wash your dishes immediately. I know it’s very tempting to finish eating and just hanging out, but the smell will attract any animals in the area and you can find yourself in a very unpleasant situation. Wash dishes at least 200 feet from your campsite so the smell does not attract any unwelcomed wildlife to your tent.

Place toothbrush in the bear canister. It might sound a little too much, but some animals are very sensitive to food smell, and it’s better to be safe.

Don’t leave any food, garbage or scented item inside of your tent. Whether you are inside of the tent or not, keep all the food correctly stored outside and far from your tent. If you are carrying food in your backpack, make sure it is placed on plastic bags so it doesn’t leave any smell traces.

Although it is not very common to see bears down on the beach and we didn’t encounter any, they do wander looking for food. Bear canisters are not only for bears, but also for other wildlife like racoons, which are quite active in that area. Even when a racoon is not as dangerous as a bear, they are fairly aggressive in the area and will easily get into your tent or bag if they smell food inside.

4. GET READY FOR THE HIKE.

You park your vehicle at the parking lot located in the trailhead of Rialto, there are two separate parking lots for day-use vs camping, and from there you start the hike down the Beach. It is a fairly easy one mile hike to Hole In The Wall rock formation, but the weather conditions can turn an easy hike into a difficult experience. I would say that one of the most important things to do is to look at the weather and the tide, and plan your hike accordingly to both of them.

Whether you are planning to camp or just going on a hike, here are some important things you should remember before you start your excursion:

Water. Carry plenty of water for the hike and for your stay at Rialto (a gallon per day per person should cover both drinking and cooking). Take a water filter with you to filter natural water in case you run out of clean water. Remember that drinking water directly from streams can be very dangerous, as animals make use of those streams too. The bacteria in the stream near the camping area is resistant to sanitation drops and it is not recommended to be drank from.

Snacks. Even when it is not a long hike, you never know how long it is going to take you. The beautiful rock formations and massive drift wood logs can take a longer time to explore than expected. Carry some snacks with you in case you need energy to continue your hike.

Appropriate shoes. It sounds kind of obvious, but we don’t always choose the correct shoes for every hike. When hiking in Rialto you will likely get your feet wet, since you have to cross a creek before getting to Hole in the Wall. That’s why wearing hiking sandals for this type of hike might be a good idea. You can also use any hiking shoes that can get wet, but remember that the sand can cause blisters on your feet if it gets inside of your shoes.

Hiking sticks. Whether you are an experienced hiker or a beginner, they will likely make your life easier, especially if you are carrying camping gear with you.

Don’t litter. One of the things we always try when we are out in nature, is to practice leaving no trace and to leave as few traces of human activity as possible. For this reason, it is important not to leave any kind of garbage out there. Carry plastic bags to storage all your garbage and throw it on a safe place once you leave the beach.

This blog post should be all you need to know to camp or simply hike on this beautiful beach. So I really encourage you to get out there and enjoy this magical place. One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learnt after this trip is the importance of respecting and protecting nature, and for this reason, I animate every person who read this post and is planning to go to Rialto to try to keep this place as beautiful as you found it.

*Remember that all this information is based in our experience. You should visit the Wilderness Information Center and they will provide you with all the information needed to camp at Rialto.

All photos are taken by Ben Ford Photography. Follow his work on Instagram ( @mr._ford ) Facebook (Ben Ford Photography) or his website : BenFordPhotography.com

RIALTO BEACH / HOLE IN THE WALL

Hay diferentes razones que nos atrajeron hasta esta playa tan única, y la verdad es que nunca hubiese imaginado pasar unos días en una playa tan bonita y especial como es Rialto Beach, situada en la Península Olímpica, en el estado de Washington. Era principios de verano cuando empezamos nuestro viaje por la Costa Oeste de Estados Unidos y Rialto era uno de nuestros principales destinos, e incluso cuando el tiempo no fue nuestro mejor aliado, conseguimos aprovechar al máximo nuestro tiempo en este lugar. Rialto Beach era sin duda uno de los sitios más bonitos y especiales de nuestro viaje; las impresionantes formaciones de madera arrastradas por la marea y las formaciones rocosas a lo largo de la orilla, la paz de toda la zona y la variedad de vida salvaje que puedes encontrar junto con la instantánea conexión con la naturaleza que sientes cuando llegas a este lugar tan único, hacen de esta playa un lugar mágico en el que perderte. Una perfecta noche con una botella de vino disfrutando del sonido del mar y un perfecto amanecer explorando las formaciones de rocas con la marea baja son dos de los mejores recuerdos que me llevo de este viaje.

La verdad es que estés buscando aventuras, un nuevo sitio que explorar o algo de paz y tranquilidad, Rialto es el sitio al que ir. Sin embargo, parte de su encanto viene de que no es un sitio muy conocido, y por esta razón hay algunas cosas que debéis saber antes de ir.

1. PERMISO PARA ACAMPAR

Si estáis planeando acampar y pasar la noche allí, deberéis recoger un permiso llamado “Wilderness Camping Permit” en el centro de información (Wilderness Information Center) en Port Angeles. Este permiso se puede reservar vía email o por correo, si vives en Estados Unidos. A pesar de que Rialto no es un lugar extremadamente popular, solo dan un número determinado de permisos al día, por lo que si vuestras fechas no son flexibles lo mejor es que reservéis el permiso antes de vuestro viaje. Si decidís hacer una reserva del permiso, esta debe recibida antes de las 8 de la mañana y quince días antes del viaje. El precio del permiso es de 8 dólares por persona por noche. Una vez que empecéis la excursión, debéis llevar el permiso con vosotros en todo momento, preferiblemente en un sitio visible. La mejor opción es colgarlo de vuestra mochila para que los guardabosques puedan verlo.

Se permite acampar una vez pasado Ellen Creek. Veréis que hay varios campings establecidos que podéis utilizar para reducir el impacto sobre la zona. Se permiten hacer fuegos siempre y cuando se hagan con la madera arrastrada por la marea. Nosotros decidimos acampar pasado Hole in the Wall ya que los campings están más apartados y hay más privacidad, pero tamién hay menos número que en la zona de Rialto Beach. Si estáis planeando subir la playa hacia el norte pasados los campings, tened en cuenta que la marea sube muy rápido y cubre toda la playa hasta un acantilado muy inclinado. Por eso os aconsejo mirar el chart que os den en el centro de información o que os quedéis en el “Pacific NW Trail”.

2. INFORMACIÓN DE LA MAREA

Cuando recogéis el permiso, el guardabosques os dará una hoja con toda la información sobre la marea para que sepáis como va a estar durante las diferentes horas. Esta información es de vital importancia, especialmente si estáis planeando acampar pasada la formación rocosa de Hole in the Wall, ya que solo se puede cruzar cuando la marea está baja. Si llegáis allí cuando la marea está demasiado alta para cruzar, podéis coger un pequeño camino en la montaña que os permitirá cruzar al otro lado de la roca. Sin embargo, no es un camino fácil ya que está muy inclinado y tendréis que hacerlo llevando vuestra mochila y las cosas para acampar. Si hay mucha humedad o la tierra está mojada por lluvias, el camino estará muy embarrado y será muy resbaladizo, lo que hará hacer el camino todavía más difícil. Por ello os recomiendo encarecidamente que miréis las horas de marea antes de empezar vuestra excursión y planeéis llegar con tiempo suficiente para cruzar en marea baja.

Estar en la zona de Hole in the Wall cuando la marea está baja es realmente una experiencia increíble. Si utilizáis la hoja informativa sobre las mareas, cuando esté en el nivel más bajo posible, os podéis adentrar en el mar y andar por lo que normalmente está cubierto de agua entre uno y dos metros. Podréis explorar las formaciones rocosas y ver las pequeñas piscinas naturales que se forman entre ellas. Allí podéis ver estrellas de mar, erizos marinos, cangrejos, caracoles y, si tenéis suerte, podréis hasta ver nutrias marinas jugando alrededor como nosotros.

3. CAJA PARA OSOS

Uno de los requisitos para acampar en Rialto Beach es que se debe llevar una caja para osos. Podéis o comprarla por vuestra cuenta o alquilarla en el centro de información, pero no pueden garantizaros que vayan a tener cajas disponibles, por lo que es mejor llevarla vosotros para estar seguros. Una de las cosas más importantes que he aprendido durante este viaje es cómo acampar en zonas de osos.

Aquí os dejo algunas medidas de seguridad:

Cuando lleguéis al sitio donde vais a acampar, asegurad toda vuestra comida, basura, y todo aquello que esté perfumado y pueda atraer animales.

Cuando terminéis de comer, lavad los platos inmediatamente. Sé que es muy tentador terminar de comer y hacer otras cosas, pero el olor puede atraer a cualquier animal que esté alrededor y puedes verte en el medio de una situación muy desagradable. Se recomienda lavar los platos por lo menos a 60 metros de la zona de acampada para evitar que el olor atraiga a osos u otros animales peligrosos.

Poned los cepillos de dientes dentro de la caja. Puede sonar un poco exagerado pero el olfato de estos animales es muy sensible, por lo que es mejor estar seguros.

No dejéis ningún tipo de comida, basura u objetos perfumados dentro de vuestra tienda. Aunque estéis dentro de la tienda, colocad todo lo que tenga olor dentro de la caja y la caja en un lugar alejado de la tienda.

Si lleváis comida en vuestra mochila, aseguraos de colocarla en bolsas de plástico para que así no deje ningún rastro de olor.

A pesar de que no es muy común ver osos en la playa y nosotros no encontramos ninguno, puede que en ocasiones decidan ir a buscar comida y bajar hasta los campings. Las cajas de osos no son solo para osos sino también para otros animales salvajes como los mapaches, los cuáles son bastante activos en esa zona. Incluso cuando un mapache no es tan peligroso como un oso, pueden fácilmente meterse en tu mochila o en tu tienda si huelen comida dentro. Y, a pesar de que es bastante raro, puede que lleguen a morderte si se sienten amenazados.

4. PREPÁRATE PARA LA EXCURSIÓN.

Dejaréis los vehículos aparcados en el aparcamiento situado a la entrada del camino. Allí encontraréis dos parkings: uno para utilizar durante el día y el otro para aquellos que vayan a acampar, y desde allí bajaréis hacia la playa. Es una excursión relativamente fácil hasta Hole in the Wall, pero el clima puede transformar un camino fácil en una experiencia difícil. Por ello os aconsejaría mirar tanto el tiempo como la actividad de la marea y planear vuestra excursión o estancia en base a ello.

Ya estéis planeando acampar o simplemente pasar el día, aquí os dejo algunas cosas que debéis tener en cuenta antes de empezar vuestra excursión:

Agua. Llevad agua de sobra para el camino y para vuestra estancia (cuatro litros de agua por día deberá bastar para beber y cocinar). Llevad con vosotros un filtro de agua en caso de que os quedéis sin agua limpia. Recordad que beber directamente de los ríos o riachuelos es muy peligroso, ya que los animales hacen uso de ese agua también. La bacteria que se encuentra en el riachuelo que está cerca de Rialto es resistente al cloro y a las gotas de saneamiento, por lo que no se recomienda beberla.

Tentempiés. Aunque no es un camino muy largo, nunca sabes el tiempo que vas a tardar. Puede que te lleve más tiempo del que esperas explorar las grandes formaciones rocosas y de madera que arrastra la marea. Por ello, es mejor llevar algo para picar en caso de que necesites energía para continuar andando.

Calzado apropiado. Sé que suena obvio, pero la realidad es que no siempre elegimos el mejor calzado para hacer senderismo. Cuando planeas llegar hasta Rialto es probable que tengas que andar por el agua en algunos momentos, por lo que llevar sandalias de senderismo siempre es buena idea. También podéis llevar botas o zapatos cerrados, pero recordad que si entra arena junto con el agua en el zapato puede hacer heridas que pueden ser muy desagradables.

Bastones de senderismo. Ya seas un senderista con mucha experiencia o un principiante, los bastones probablemente te harán la vida más fácil, sobre todo si llevas contigo todo el equipamiento para acampar.

No ensuciéis. Algo que siempre hacemos cuando estamos en la naturaleza es intentar no dejar rastro e intentar dejar tan pocas señales de actividad humana como sea posible. Por esta razón, es importante no dejar nada de basura alrededor y guardar todos los desperdicios en una bolsa que podamos tirar en un sitio seguro cuando volvamos de la playa.

En este post deberíais encontrar todo lo que necesitáis saber para acampar o simplemente visitar esta playa tan especial. Así que de verdad que os animo a que vayáis, conozcáis y disfrutéis de este increíble lugar y de todo lo que tiene que ofrecer.

Una de las cosas más importante que he aprendido durante este viaje ha sido la importancia de respetar y proteger la naturaleza, y por esta razón animo a cada persona que lea este blog y esté planeando ir a Rialto que intente mantener este lugar tan bonito y único como lo encontró.

*Recordad que la información que encontráis en este blog está basada en mi experiencia y no es información oficial. Para cualquier duda, dirigíos al centro de información, donde os explicarán todo lo que necesitéis.

Todas las fotos pertenecen a Ben Ford Photography. Podéis seguir su trabajo en Instagram ( @mr._ford ) Facebook (Ben Ford Photography) o su página web : BenFordPhotography.com

[davidsilvercloud]

David Silvercloud, 27 Oct., 2017.

Terry David "Butch" Silvercloud, Visual Artist, Photographer, Physicist.... This is my naked life in photos.  If you are looking for me naked, then go here and sign in... http://ButchNaked.com

(https://www.flickr.com/photos/david_silvercloud)

I learned, a long time ago, that a single person can’t change the world... but I try, anyway.  My name is Butch and I’m not quite like anyone you know, nor likely have ever met.  I DON’T GIVE A FLYING F**K WHAT ANYONE THINKS, (I DO THINGS MY WAY.)  You must prove your are worthy of my company for me to take any interest in you.  I don’t wait up.  I haven’t time for things like texting... I disown anyone who texts me.  Don’t waste my f**king time... f**k off and go away.  If it’s important, phone me.  I haven’t time to waste on sites like FaceBook nor Twitter.  I consider them to be cesspools of idiocy and co-dependency.

27 October, 2017.  I've been experiencing changes in my life, lately, which I expect are related to the medications I'm taking for Arthritis, as well as my age.  I'm 73 now.  Fortunately, I'm retired and don't have to be anywhere as my sleep patterns can vary from day to day.  Presently, it's 5am.  I woke up and am wide awake.  Some days I sleep 9 hours.  Old age is not recommended.

Had a coffee and T3 then went back to bed and snoozed until 10:30am.  Sunny and cool out there.  Had a quiet day housecleaning and doing sound and mic connection tests.  Did some sit ups and light weights, took a few selfies.

We have had very unusual weather this past year.  I've lived in Vancouver for nearly 30 years and this is the driest, most sunny year I've experienced here.  I'm a scientist and am not surprised.  Climate scientists have been telling us climate change is upon us for many years.  Humans are not prepared for the changes coming our way. ===========

FIRE SAFETY

I, recently, learned of a safety tip that had never crossed my mind before.  Now that I'm aware of the idea, I have tried to put it into practice... it's simple enough.  There is a way to save many, many lives in a house fire.  KEEP YOUR BEDROOM DOOR SHUT AT NIGHT.

Large numbers of fire deaths are caused by smoke inhalation while a person is asleep... you never wake up before you get toasted.  It would also be useful to install smoke and Carbon Monoxide detectors in your bedroom and to have an evacuation plan. If you live in an apartment building, you might want to have a strong rope kept handy to escape from a balcony or window.  I'm a bit like Sheldon Cooper of Big Bang.  I have emergency water supplies, first aid supplies and a strong rope.  I also keep a garden hose in my apartment... just in case.  I live in an Earth Quake zone so I keep emergency stuff in my apartment.  It's never enough but something is always better than nothing.

You might try, also, to shut all doors when you leave your home... compartmentalize the place to prevent rapid spread of fire.  It's a simple idea that works.

One other tip... buy a FOX40 whistle at outdoor stores...

https://www.fox40world.com/

and keep it on your key chain.  You never know when a whistle will come in handy.  The whistle is cheap and loud.  Girls... the best way to escape a man is to get  close to him, then LOOK DOWN...  STAMP ON ONE OF HIS FEET... bring your foot down as HARD as you can on one of his feet (you break his foot) and run like hell... SHOUT scream a lot, too.

Kids, if you have the presence of mind when attacked by ANY ANIMAL/SHARK... HIT IT ON THE NOSE AS HARD AS YOU CAN.  ANY ANIMAL.  RUN LIKE HELL.  BEARS CAN RUN FASTER THAN YOU AND CAN CLIMB TREES.  LIE DOWN, PLAY DEAD... REMEMBER THE NOSE.  HIT THE F**KING NOSE AS HARD AS YOU CAN.... REPEATEDLY.  RUN.  MAKE A LOT OF NOISE WITH ANY ANIMAL... SCREAM AND SHOUT AT IT... BE AGGRESSIVE.  ALWAYS CARRY A WHISTLE.... FOX 40 AT ANY OUTDOOR STORE.

========  MORE STUFF ABOUT ME TO READ===== I have a video channel... http://YouTube.com/ButchNews and other channels you may find at that link.

Somebody, recently, tried to scam me on Craig's List: See video, below...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR_iuHL6HCo

===== TERRY DAVID SILVERCLOUD =======

GET TO KNOW ME...  I began http://ButchNaked.com which is at https://www.flickr.com/photos/david_silvercloud/ to store my images and make them available to other people... I take a lot of them.  I wasn't expecting so many visitors, but here you are... about 100,000 photo views a week, lately... 10 million photo views, just now.  Thank you for visiting.  TELL EVERYONE.

You are free to download and share nude photos of me.  Some of my selfies are boner shots.  I find that harder to do, now... I'm 73, but will continue to shoot boner shots when my body is in the mood.  It's become difficult for me to ask my dick to stand up, on demand, lately.  The joy of old age... I don't recommend it, but no cure has, yet, been found.  You may share boner shots of me.  Download tool is on lower right of each photo with ability to choose download file size.  There are thousands of nude selfies, of me, on this site.  Artists might find some useful for painting, or drawing.  Small computer projectors are inexpensive, these days, and work well for outlining objects, people, scenes, etc.

I don't have time to FOLLOW people I don't know, so you should not expect me to 'follow' you.  I don't know you and you must prove you are worth the effort to even bother.  I find this whole "following" thing to be some kind of social disease that is prevalent upon the planet, just now, co-dependent interaction and I don't do co-dependency.  People are so insecure and lacking in self esteem they are glued to their smart phones to maintain their self worth.  I'm a "you get what you give" kind of guy.  Whether, or not, you like me, I don't care.  I'm just trying to be a nice person who is useful to the planet.  Strangers are, mostly, interested in what's in my pants... so I show you.

I'm not into social media... I don't do FaceBook, nor Twitter.  I consider them to be cesspools of ignorance and co-dependency.  I'm a quiet, intellectual kind of guy, I talk a lot... kind of a motormouth because of my ADHD brain.  I can be obsessive compulsive, at times.  I've been working on controlling that.

My specialist knowledge is science/particle physics and relativity (time/space stuff).  I'm interested in Quantum Field Theory.  I'm an expert in the field of photography and am becoming a pretty good painter, now.  You will not understand me unless you have a PhD in psychology and, even then, you will be perplexed.  I'm not like you... get over it.  If you tell me we are all the same I will immediately dismiss you as a bone head,  brain dead, idiot.  I don't much trust humans, at all, and am very uncomfortable around the huggy kinds of people, as I find them to be among the least intelligent of all.   Don't touch me, please, I'll figure you out really, really fast.

I don't enjoy being old.  My energy levels are falling and I don't care for that one little bit.   I try to stay in shape and exercise most days.  I watch the food I eat and try to avoid too many carbohydrates.  Fat and sugars are good for you, carbohydrates can be dangerous to many... we are, genetically, carnivores with a meat, root, nut, and fruit digestive system.  Grains were not part of our diet until about 8,000 years ago.

We require very little food to survive and are not, physically, adapted to cold climates without a heavy coat of body fat.  Fortunately, we discovered fire and cooking which breaks down carbohydrates into more digestible compounds.  On the downside, heat destroys many food components.  It's tricky, but workable.  Humans have become gluttons devouring anything that moves or grows on the planet.  Humans are a virus destroying the Earth.

http://TheShapeOfGod.com  (http://The-Shape-Of-God.Tumblr.com)

I don't want invisible friends who know nothing about me.  I don't give out my phone number lest boneheads text me.  Why people assume it's OK to text me, I have no idea.  I don't text.    I have, absolutely, zero interest in chatting online.  Who has the fucking time?  I'm a busy person with things to do.  If a person can't find the time to phone and talk, I really, really, really don't want to know them... ever.  Send me an e-mail or letter, but NEVER text me.  If it's important, phone me.  I'm sick to death of mindless, unthinking humans.

I have more than a dozen e-mail addresses.  I don't own, nor have any use for, a smart phone.  I don't give out my phone number, easily.  My main address is ButchBoard@gmail.com which has extreme spam protection... I may not even get your mail if it has the least hint of spam as you must pass through two separate spam filters, first.  My personal blog is at:

http://DavidSilvercloud.com  (http://David_Silvercloud.Tumblr.com)

I don't make a lot of video, any more, but do keep a number of YouTube channels.  My main channel is http://YouTube.com/ButchNews and you may go direct at http://ButchNews.com

I have old person health issues... severe arthritis and have been on a pain management program for more than five years now... T3's and Diclofenac.  The Diclofenac slows my energy, a bit, I sleep longer and more, but the benefits outweigh the side affects.  I'm a queer man who likes much younger guys, than myself, with a brain and skinny.

I have no sexual nor social interest in women, at all.  I am not comfortable in typical "gay' environments such as gay clubs or bars.  I rarely drink, only socially at dinner, and am a heavy pot smoker.  I don't smoke cigarettes.  I try hard to be fit by frequent, usually daily, exercise of sit-ups, toe touching, and light weights.  I watch my calorie intake, attempt to avoid processed foods.  I try to eat a variety of foods.

I have no shame regarding nudity, or sex.  I am a visual artist and retired studio/commercial photographer.  I don't see so well, now, and use a Sony Nex-7 on auto everything (intelligent auto mode).  My 'normal' lens is the 16mm pancake lens and I normally use the dedicated Sony Fish Eye attachment or Wide Angle attachments for that lens.  You will have great difficulty duplicating my photos without the use of that lens combination.   I have lots of time on my hands and spend it on learning to paint, and taking photos.

http://SeriousThunder.com   (http://SeriousThunder.Tumblr.com)

I am NOT, presently, online, to save on cash flow... I live on a couple of very small retirement incomes and don't have a lot of money.   I don't post every day, but often.Check me out... while above ground I maintain several domains:

My home page...

http://ButchBoard.com

Main YouTube page...

http://ButchNews.com

Main photo cloud...

http://ButchNaked.com

Paintings:  

http://SeriousThunder.com

Physics... The Speed of Light...

http://ElectronSpeed.Tumblr.com

God... My manuscript...

http://TheShapeOfGod.com

[touristguidebuzz]

Adventure Races and Overland Travel: An Interview with Ric

There are some amazing overland adventures around the world like the Mongol Rally and the Rickshaw Run. Overland travel is one of my favorite ways to travel. I believe the closer you get to the ground, the more countryside you visit, the better to get to understand a place. Sadly, I’ve never done a big overland rally but one of our community members has! Ric, another fellow Bostonian, has driven almost 7,000 miles in races and rallies across the globe. He’s an adventurous traveler, and in this interview he shares his tips and insight to help anyone learn how to travel off-the-beaten path!

Nomadic Matt: Hey Ric! Thanks for doing this! Tell everyone about yourself. Ric: I’m Ric from Boston. I am just a guy who previously worked in the financial services industry after college. Now, I’m based in Bangkok for about half of the year. I go back to the US to visit for a couple of months, and then I am traveling and exploring for about four months a year.

Besides my blog, GlobalGaz, I am a podcaster at Counting Countries, where I interview people who have traveled to every country in the world (I’m hoping to accomplish that goal one day soon). I co-lead Bangkok’s Travel Massive as well as organize a 2,500-person Meetup.com group. I enjoy bringing together people who love to travel to share their passion.

I’ve also published three books: two on road rallies I participated in through India and the Caucasus region, and the third is a photo journal of when I slept over at Chernobyl (I am a bit obsessed with photography). I have produced two full-length travel documentaries and keynoted at the PATA Adventure Travel and Responsible Tourism Conference.

When not on the road I enjoy hanging out with my wife and our new dog Khan Mak, a Pomeranian and Chihuahua mix.

It sounds like you’re on an epic quest! How did you get started traveling? Getting fired was helpful! I was laid off from my job on three different occasions in five years. Each time I got laid off, I took the severance package and embarked on months-long international road trips. On the third trip, I realized I couldn’t go back to my former corporate life and needed to make my passion — traveling — my life.

Since then, each year I spend more and more time overseas — now typically 9-10 months a year. My goal is to visit 20 new countries this year.

What led you to embrace this nomadic lifestyle? While I was making good money in the financial services, it was not a fulfilling career. I began to dread going into the office more and more. I had volunteered a bunch of times in Armenia, Tanzania, and Thailand, and these experiences are what really drew me to living overseas.

In 2004, I volunteered in Yerevan, Armenia, at an orphanage. I am ethnically Armenian, so this was a great way to connect with my roots. I spent a lot of time bonding with the kids — who today are young adults — and have been back every year to visit them; from 2004 to 2010, I hosted an annual festival for the children at the orphanage. I also volunteered at an after-school group where the children learned about film, photography, and journalism.

In Thailand, I have been fortunate to be associated with the Mercy Centre in Bangkok. For the last three years, I’ve been a volunteer teacher for kindergarteners. The time spent working with others has made a big impact on me, and I find it to be very rewarding.

You’re trying to go to every country in the world. Can you tell us more about that? As I visited more and more countries, I decided that I wanted to visit every country in the world. According to the UN, there are 193 countries. I have been to 110 so far. As the list dwindles, the countries become more difficult to visit, whether it is a difficult visa to get, a remote country, or simply dangerous to visit.

I celebrated my 100th country last year in Iraq. Iraq is not your typical holiday spot, but I found my trip to be both rewarding and educational. I was received with warmth and gracious hospitality by the local Iraqis. I spent an entire afternoon with an elderly gentleman who I met drinking tea. He escorted me around the local market, introduced me to his friends, and treated me to lunch.

I also have had some interesting experiences visiting countries that “don’t exist” such as Transnistria, a country of 500,000 people located between Moldova and Ukraine. Transnistria is not recognized by the UN as a sovereign country; however, you need a Transnistrian visa to enter it. It has its own flag, currency, army, and government. It is a quirky place to visit, if you get a chance.

What do your friends and family think about your constant travels? What did they think when you first started? My dad has always been supportive of my travels. In fact, he has joined me on some epic trips, such as traveling to the Galápagos Islands and Antarctica.

My friends are sometimes intrigued with my travel tales and will come to me for travel advice, and the more adventurous ones will join me on a trip. I’ve also made an entire new group of friends from around the world who are fellow travelers and travel bloggers. They are a great resource for support and advice.

What’s your number one piece of advice for new travelers? Of course, the first piece of advice is just to get out there. If you are apprehensive or not experienced, start out slowly. If you want to dip your toe in the water, start off with Western Europe. If you want to take the next step, consider Thailand, Bulgaria, or Argentina (countries with good tourist infrastructure and very affordable). As you get more comfortable and experienced, spread your wings, and travel to more off-the-beaten path places.

To make your travel and life more fulfilling, I would make two suggestions:

Volunteer – This is an effective way to become part of the community. You will be able to build genuine friendships with the locals and really learn about the culture and country you are visiting.

Join an adventure rally – Rallies allow you to get off the beaten path and see parts of the country that you would not typically visit. The rallies allow for real interactions with the locals.

Tell us more about rally races. What are they and how did you get into them? A “rally” is a challenging adventure, where participants travel from point A to point B within some sort of parameters (think Amazing Race). Some rallies specify what kind of transportation to take, such as a tuk-tuk. Other rallies require participants to ride a cart led by oxen, ride a sailboat off the island of Zanzibar, or pilot a paramotor for 1,000 miles in the sky.

My first rally, known as “the Caucasian Challenge,” was 17 days, 11 countries, and 7,000 km and from Budapest to Yerevan. In 2010, two friends and I bought a 1993 Jeep Cherokee in Budapest for $2,300 USD with 250,000 km already on it. Our team, named “The Yerevan Express,” competed against 10 other teams. During our journey we got lost and ended up in Montenegro (a country not on the itinerary), and we witnessed the breathtaking mountains of northern Albania. The rally ended when I literally abandoned my car between Georgia and Armenia and took a bus to the airport to leave the country.

Next was the “Rickshaw Challenge.” In 2012, I embarked on a 12-day, 2,000km sprint across India (during the monsoon season!) piloting an auto-rickshaw. India is amazing, but it can also be a bit overwhelming on the senses. This is especially true when attempting to navigate the country in a seven-horsepower (think a riding lawnmower) rickshaw. During these 12 days, we were constantly running out of petrol, driving up to 14 hours a day, getting detained by the police, and eating too many samosas to count. Needless to say, crossing “the Rickshaw Challenge” finish line was rewarding.

After that came the “Cambo Challenge” in 2015, organized by Large Minority (a company that organizes awesome rallies in Sri Lanka, the Amazon, Cambodia, and the Philippines). This was a 1,600km circular route through Cambodia over 12 days. The rally took place on a Cambodian tuk-tuk (for anyone who has been in one, you’ll understand the struggle!). We navigated our way through the magnificent temples of Angkor Wat, drove past floating villages, stayed with families in an ecovillage called Chambok, camped near temples, and swam in the Gulf of Thailand. “The Cambo Challege” was another great way to discover realness of this commonly overlooked country while also giving back with Large Minority’s commitment to local community (10% of their revenues support local projects).

I documented both “the Rickshaw Challenge” and “the Cambo Challenge” by producing a full-length, adventure travel documentary. My partners and film crew were my former students from Manana, the after-school group in Yerevan.

What advice would you have people if they wanted to do this? What resources are out there? Great question! Had I not seen a captivating banner hanging in an Armenian café, I’d have never known myself. There are four primary companies that organize most of these rallies:

Large Minority

Travel Scientists

Dakar Challenge

The Adventurists

Some of these rallies provide virtually no support, while others provide guidance and assistance (such as route planning, luggage support, or even an ambulance) as you race across the country. Some rallies last ten days (like the Lanka Challenge) while others can top two months (the longest is the Mongol Rally).

You have to fund these rallies yourself (or get a sponsor). Some rallies provide the vehicle, hotels, and support for an inclusive price (which can total a couple thousand dollars per team). Other organizers require you to provide the car and practically everything else, and offer minimal support, for a smaller entry fee (several hundred dollars). Other costs vary greatly, based on what type of accommodations you stay in, the food you eat, the cost of your airplane ticket, and of course, if you have to buy a car for the rally.

You can participate in rallies around the globe. “The Ice Run” takes place in the Siberian Arctic for 12 days. You can participate in “the Monkey Run” in the Saharan Desert covering 1000km. “The Banjul Challenge” follows the coast of West Africa for three weeks. “The Philippines Challenge” places you in the crystal blue waters of the Philippines over nine days.

Besides the official websites, check out this overview of some of the best rallies, and these specific blog posts about the Philippines Challenge, the Lanka Challenge, the Central Asian Rally, the Amazon Challenge, and the Mongol Rally.

What’s been the biggest lesson you’ve learned so far? I have learned so much from being on the road. But there are two lessons I always try to remember: perspective and the power of perception.

In my former corporate life, I would have spent several thousand dollars on a luxury watch, but not now. I’ve grown to value experiences and relationships more than material possessions. Travel definitely changes your perspective.

When it comes to the power of perception, I have one story that stands as a telling example. In 2004, I was chatting up a bartender in Moscow. After I informed him that I was from the US, he told me how much Russians hate Americans (I was a bit surprised, naively thinking the Cold War was over!). He went on about how Europe and the US fabricated Serbia’s hostilities against its neighbors and used false facts to justify attacking Serbia (Russia’s ally). When I mentioned the mass graves of Muslims in Srebrenica, he told me that they didn’t exist and the West fabricated their existence. So my second lesson from the road is your truth is not the universal truth.

*********

All of Ric’s adventures stemmed from his desire breakthrough the normal 9-5 and explore the world. He didn’t jump into adventure races and rallies on his first trip, he took one trip, then another, and built up his confidence on the road. Eventually, he began driving across the world!

Hopefully, this post will inspire you to think outside the box a bit and figure out ways to use your passion and skills to get out there, escape the cubicle, and see more of this world.

Become the Next Success Story

One of my favorite parts about this job is hearing people’s travel stories. They inspire me, but more importantly, they also inspire you. I travel a certain way but there are many ways to travel the world. I hope these stories show you that there is more than one way to travel and that it is within your grasp to reach your travel goals. Here are more examples of people who are traveling the world in a unique (some may call it strange) way:

How Ryan drove overland from Seattle to South America

How Tomislav travels the world on $3,650 USD per year

How Arielle got paid to travel worldwide on a yacht

How Will adventurously travels on a budget of $20 USD a day

P.S. – Want to travel with me? There are only 2 spots left on my next reader tour! I’ll be taking readers on an intimate group tour of Vienna and Prague, where we will visit all my favorite sights, restaurants, bars, and off the beaten path places! Come explore the world with me!

The post Adventure Races and Overland Travel: An Interview with Ric appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

[fadingfartconnoisseur]

Adventure Races and Overland Travel: An Interview with Ric

There are some amazing overland adventures around the world like the Mongol Rally and the Rickshaw Run. Overland travel is one of my favorite ways to travel. I believe the closer you get to the ground, the more countryside you visit, the better to get to understand a place. Sadly, I’ve never done a big overland rally but one of our community members has! Ric, another fellow Bostonian, has driven almost 7,000 miles in races and rallies across the globe. He’s an adventurous traveler, and in this interview he shares his tips and insight to help anyone learn how to travel off-the-beaten path!

Nomadic Matt: Hey Ric! Thanks for doing this! Tell everyone about yourself. Ric: I’m Ric from Boston. I am just a guy who previously worked in the financial services industry after college. Now, I’m based in Bangkok for about half of the year. I go back to the US to visit for a couple of months, and then I am traveling and exploring for about four months a year.

Besides my blog, GlobalGaz, I am a podcaster at Counting Countries, where I interview people who have traveled to every country in the world (I’m hoping to accomplish that goal one day soon). I co-lead Bangkok’s Travel Massive as well as organize a 2,500-person Meetup.com group. I enjoy bringing together people who love to travel to share their passion.

I’ve also published three books: two on road rallies I participated in through India and the Caucasus region, and the third is a photo journal of when I slept over at Chernobyl (I am a bit obsessed with photography). I have produced two full-length travel documentaries and keynoted at the PATA Adventure Travel and Responsible Tourism Conference.

When not on the road I enjoy hanging out with my wife and our new dog Khan Mak, a Pomeranian and Chihuahua mix.

It sounds like you’re on an epic quest! How did you get started traveling? Getting fired was helpful! I was laid off from my job on three different occasions in five years. Each time I got laid off, I took the severance package and embarked on months-long international road trips. On the third trip, I realized I couldn’t go back to my former corporate life and needed to make my passion — traveling — my life.

Since then, each year I spend more and more time overseas — now typically 9-10 months a year. My goal is to visit 20 new countries this year.

What led you to embrace this nomadic lifestyle? While I was making good money in the financial services, it was not a fulfilling career. I began to dread going into the office more and more. I had volunteered a bunch of times in Armenia, Tanzania, and Thailand, and these experiences are what really drew me to living overseas.

In 2004, I volunteered in Yerevan, Armenia, at an orphanage. I am ethnically Armenian, so this was a great way to connect with my roots. I spent a lot of time bonding with the kids — who today are young adults — and have been back every year to visit them; from 2004 to 2010, I hosted an annual festival for the children at the orphanage. I also volunteered at an after-school group where the children learned about film, photography, and journalism.

In Thailand, I have been fortunate to be associated with the Mercy Centre in Bangkok. For the last three years, I’ve been a volunteer teacher for kindergarteners. The time spent working with others has made a big impact on me, and I find it to be very rewarding.

You’re trying to go to every country in the world. Can you tell us more about that? As I visited more and more countries, I decided that I wanted to visit every country in the world. According to the UN, there are 193 countries. I have been to 110 so far. As the list dwindles, the countries become more difficult to visit, whether it is a difficult visa to get, a remote country, or simply dangerous to visit.

I celebrated my 100th country last year in Iraq. Iraq is not your typical holiday spot, but I found my trip to be both rewarding and educational. I was received with warmth and gracious hospitality by the local Iraqis. I spent an entire afternoon with an elderly gentleman who I met drinking tea. He escorted me around the local market, introduced me to his friends, and treated me to lunch.

I also have had some interesting experiences visiting countries that “don’t exist” such as Transnistria, a country of 500,000 people located between Moldova and Ukraine. Transnistria is not recognized by the UN as a sovereign country; however, you need a Transnistrian visa to enter it. It has its own flag, currency, army, and government. It is a quirky place to visit, if you get a chance.

What do your friends and family think about your constant travels? What did they think when you first started? My dad has always been supportive of my travels. In fact, he has joined me on some epic trips, such as traveling to the Galápagos Islands and Antarctica.

My friends are sometimes intrigued with my travel tales and will come to me for travel advice, and the more adventurous ones will join me on a trip. I’ve also made an entire new group of friends from around the world who are fellow travelers and travel bloggers. They are a great resource for support and advice.

What’s your number one piece of advice for new travelers? Of course, the first piece of advice is just to get out there. If you are apprehensive or not experienced, start out slowly. If you want to dip your toe in the water, start off with Western Europe. If you want to take the next step, consider Thailand, Bulgaria, or Argentina (countries with good tourist infrastructure and very affordable). As you get more comfortable and experienced, spread your wings, and travel to more off-the-beaten path places.

To make your travel and life more fulfilling, I would make two suggestions:

Volunteer – This is an effective way to become part of the community. You will be able to build genuine friendships with the locals and really learn about the culture and country you are visiting.

Join an adventure rally – Rallies allow you to get off the beaten path and see parts of the country that you would not typically visit. The rallies allow for real interactions with the locals.

Tell us more about rally races. What are they and how did you get into them? A “rally” is a challenging adventure, where participants travel from point A to point B within some sort of parameters (think Amazing Race). Some rallies specify what kind of transportation to take, such as a tuk-tuk. Other rallies require participants to ride a cart led by oxen, ride a sailboat off the island of Zanzibar, or pilot a paramotor for 1,000 miles in the sky.

My first rally, known as “the Caucasian Challenge,” was 17 days, 11 countries, and 7,000 km and from Budapest to Yerevan. In 2010, two friends and I bought a 1993 Jeep Cherokee in Budapest for $2,300 USD with 250,000 km already on it. Our team, named “The Yerevan Express,” competed against 10 other teams. During our journey we got lost and ended up in Montenegro (a country not on the itinerary), and we witnessed the breathtaking mountains of northern Albania. The rally ended when I literally abandoned my car between Georgia and Armenia and took a bus to the airport to leave the country.

Next was the “Rickshaw Challenge.” In 2012, I embarked on a 12-day, 2,000km sprint across India (during the monsoon season!) piloting an auto-rickshaw. India is amazing, but it can also be a bit overwhelming on the senses. This is especially true when attempting to navigate the country in a seven-horsepower (think a riding lawnmower) rickshaw. During these 12 days, we were constantly running out of petrol, driving up to 14 hours a day, getting detained by the police, and eating too many samosas to count. Needless to say, crossing “the Rickshaw Challenge” finish line was rewarding.

After that came the “Cambo Challenge” in 2015, organized by Large Minority (a company that organizes awesome rallies in Sri Lanka, the Amazon, Cambodia, and the Philippines). This was a 1,600km circular route through Cambodia over 12 days. The rally took place on a Cambodian tuk-tuk (for anyone who has been in one, you’ll understand the struggle!). We navigated our way through the magnificent temples of Angkor Wat, drove past floating villages, stayed with families in an ecovillage called Chambok, camped near temples, and swam in the Gulf of Thailand. “The Cambo Challege” was another great way to discover realness of this commonly overlooked country while also giving back with Large Minority’s commitment to local community (10% of their revenues support local projects).

I documented both “the Rickshaw Challenge” and “the Cambo Challenge” by producing a full-length, adventure travel documentary. My partners and film crew were my former students from Manana, the after-school group in Yerevan.

What advice would you have people if they wanted to do this? What resources are out there? Great question! Had I not seen a captivating banner hanging in an Armenian café, I’d have never known myself. There are four primary companies that organize most of these rallies:

Large Minority

Travel Scientists

Dakar Challenge

The Adventurists

Some of these rallies provide virtually no support, while others provide guidance and assistance (such as route planning, luggage support, or even an ambulance) as you race across the country. Some rallies last ten days (like the Lanka Challenge) while others can top two months (the longest is the Mongol Rally).

You have to fund these rallies yourself (or get a sponsor). Some rallies provide the vehicle, hotels, and support for an inclusive price (which can total a couple thousand dollars per team). Other organizers require you to provide the car and practically everything else, and offer minimal support, for a smaller entry fee (several hundred dollars). Other costs vary greatly, based on what type of accommodations you stay in, the food you eat, the cost of your airplane ticket, and of course, if you have to buy a car for the rally.

You can participate in rallies around the globe. “The Ice Run” takes place in the Siberian Arctic for 12 days. You can participate in “the Monkey Run” in the Saharan Desert covering 1000km. “The Banjul Challenge” follows the coast of West Africa for three weeks. “The Philippines Challenge” places you in the crystal blue waters of the Philippines over nine days.

Besides the official websites, check out this overview of some of the best rallies, and these specific blog posts about the Philippines Challenge, the Lanka Challenge, the Central Asian Rally, the Amazon Challenge, and the Mongol Rally.

What’s been the biggest lesson you’ve learned so far? I have learned so much from being on the road. But there are two lessons I always try to remember: perspective and the power of perception.

In my former corporate life, I would have spent several thousand dollars on a luxury watch, but not now. I’ve grown to value experiences and relationships more than material possessions. Travel definitely changes your perspective.

When it comes to the power of perception, I have one story that stands as a telling example. In 2004, I was chatting up a bartender in Moscow. After I informed him that I was from the US, he told me how much Russians hate Americans (I was a bit surprised, naively thinking the Cold War was over!). He went on about how Europe and the US fabricated Serbia’s hostilities against its neighbors and used false facts to justify attacking Serbia (Russia’s ally). When I mentioned the mass graves of Muslims in Srebrenica, he told me that they didn’t exist and the West fabricated their existence. So my second lesson from the road is your truth is not the universal truth.

*********

All of Ric’s adventures stemmed from his desire breakthrough the normal 9-5 and explore the world. He didn’t jump into adventure races and rallies on his first trip, he took one trip, then another, and built up his confidence on the road. Eventually, he began driving across the world!

Hopefully, this post will inspire you to think outside the box a bit and figure out ways to use your passion and skills to get out there, escape the cubicle, and see more of this world.

Become the Next Success Story

One of my favorite parts about this job is hearing people’s travel stories. They inspire me, but more importantly, they also inspire you. I travel a certain way but there are many ways to travel the world. I hope these stories show you that there is more than one way to travel and that it is within your grasp to reach your travel goals. Here are more examples of people who are traveling the world in a unique (some may call it strange) way:

How Ryan drove overland from Seattle to South America

How Tomislav travels the world on $3,650 USD per year

How Arielle got paid to travel worldwide on a yacht

How Will adventurously travels on a budget of $20 USD a day

P.S. – Want to travel with me? There are only 2 spots left on my next reader tour! I’ll be taking readers on an intimate group tour of Vienna and Prague, where we will visit all my favorite sights, restaurants, bars, and off the beaten path places! Come explore the world with me!

The post Adventure Races and Overland Travel: An Interview with Ric appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

via Travel Blogs http://ift.tt/2uTOhHn

[theladyjstyle]

There are some amazing overland adventures around the world like the Mongol Rally and the Rickshaw Run. Overland travel is one of my favorite ways to travel. I believe the closer you get to the ground, the more countryside you visit, the better to get to understand a place. Sadly, I’ve never done a big overland rally but one of our community members has! Ric, another fellow Bostonian, has driven almost 7,000 miles in races and rallies across the globe. He’s an adventurous traveler, and in this interview he shares his tips and insight to help anyone learn how to travel off-the-beaten path!

Nomadic Matt: Hey Ric! Thanks for doing this! Tell everyone about yourself. Ric: I’m Ric from Boston. I am just a guy who previously worked in the financial services industry after college. Now, I’m based in Bangkok for about half of the year. I go back to the US to visit for a couple of months, and then I am traveling and exploring for about four months a year.

Besides my blog, GlobalGaz, I am a podcaster at Counting Countries, where I interview people who have traveled to every country in the world (I’m hoping to accomplish that goal one day soon). I co-lead Bangkok’s Travel Massive as well as organize a 2,500-person Meetup.com group. I enjoy bringing together people who love to travel to share their passion.

I’ve also published three books: two on road rallies I participated in through India and the Caucasus region, and the third is a photo journal of when I slept over at Chernobyl (I am a bit obsessed with photography). I have produced two full-length travel documentaries and keynoted at the PATA Adventure Travel and Responsible Tourism Conference.

When not on the road I enjoy hanging out with my wife and our new dog Khan Mak, a Pomeranian and Chihuahua mix.

It sounds like you’re on an epic quest! How did you get started traveling? Getting fired was helpful! I was laid off from my job on three different occasions in five years. Each time I got laid off, I took the severance package and embarked on months-long international road trips. On the third trip, I realized I couldn’t go back to my former corporate life and needed to make my passion — traveling — my life.

Since then, each year I spend more and more time overseas — now typically 9-10 months a year. My goal is to visit 20 new countries this year.

What led you to embrace this nomadic lifestyle? While I was making good money in the financial services, it was not a fulfilling career. I began to dread going into the office more and more. I had volunteered a bunch of times in Armenia, Tanzania, and Thailand, and these experiences are what really drew me to living overseas.

In 2004, I volunteered in Yerevan, Armenia, at an orphanage. I am ethnically Armenian, so this was a great way to connect with my roots. I spent a lot of time bonding with the kids — who today are young adults — and have been back every year to visit them; from 2004 to 2010, I hosted an annual festival for the children at the orphanage. I also volunteered at an after-school group where the children learned about film, photography, and journalism.

In Thailand, I have been fortunate to be associated with the Mercy Centre in Bangkok. For the last three years, I’ve been a volunteer teacher for kindergarteners. The time spent working with others has made a big impact on me, and I find it to be very rewarding.

You’re trying to go to every country in the world. Can you tell us more about that? As I visited more and more countries, I decided that I wanted to visit every country in the world. According to the UN, there are 193 countries. I have been to 110 so far. As the list dwindles, the countries become more difficult to visit, whether it is a difficult visa to get, a remote country, or simply dangerous to visit.

I celebrated my 100th country last year in Iraq. Iraq is not your typical holiday spot, but I found my trip to be both rewarding and educational. I was received with warmth and gracious hospitality by the local Iraqis. I spent an entire afternoon with an elderly gentleman who I met drinking tea. He escorted me around the local market, introduced me to his friends, and treated me to lunch.

I also have had some interesting experiences visiting countries that “don’t exist” such as Transnistria, a country of 500,000 people located between Moldova and Ukraine. Transnistria is not recognized by the UN as a sovereign country; however, you need a Transnistrian visa to enter it. It has its own flag, currency, army, and government. It is a quirky place to visit, if you get a chance.

What do your friends and family think about your constant travels? What did they think when you first started? My dad has always been supportive of my travels. In fact, he has joined me on some epic trips, such as traveling to the Galápagos Islands and Antarctica.

My friends are sometimes intrigued with my travel tales and will come to me for travel advice, and the more adventurous ones will join me on a trip. I’ve also made an entire new group of friends from around the world who are fellow travelers and travel bloggers. They are a great resource for support and advice.

What’s your number one piece of advice for new travelers? Of course, the first piece of advice is just to get out there. If you are apprehensive or not experienced, start out slowly. If you want to dip your toe in the water, start off with Western Europe. If you want to take the next step, consider Thailand, Bulgaria, or Argentina (countries with good tourist infrastructure and very affordable). As you get more comfortable and experienced, spread your wings, and travel to more off-the-beaten path places.

To make your travel and life more fulfilling, I would make two suggestions:

Volunteer – This is an effective way to become part of the community. You will be able to build genuine friendships with the locals and really learn about the culture and country you are visiting.

Join an adventure rally – Rallies allow you to get off the beaten path and see parts of the country that you would not typically visit. The rallies allow for real interactions with the locals.

Tell us more about rally races. What are they and how did you get into them? A “rally” is a challenging adventure, where participants travel from point A to point B within some sort of parameters (think Amazing Race). Some rallies specify what kind of transportation to take, such as a tuk-tuk. Other rallies require participants to ride a cart led by oxen, ride a sailboat off the island of Zanzibar, or pilot a paramotor for 1,000 miles in the sky.

My first rally, known as “the Caucasian Challenge,” was 17 days, 11 countries, and 7,000 km and from Budapest to Yerevan. In 2010, two friends and I bought a 1993 Jeep Cherokee in Budapest for $2,300 USD with 250,000 km already on it. Our team, named “The Yerevan Express,” competed against 10 other teams. During our journey we got lost and ended up in Montenegro (a country not on the itinerary), and we witnessed the breathtaking mountains of northern Albania. The rally ended when I literally abandoned my car between Georgia and Armenia and took a bus to the airport to leave the country.

Next was the “Rickshaw Challenge.” In 2012, I embarked on a 12-day, 2,000km sprint across India (during the monsoon season!) piloting an auto-rickshaw. India is amazing, but it can also be a bit overwhelming on the senses. This is especially true when attempting to navigate the country in a seven-horsepower (think a riding lawnmower) rickshaw. During these 12 days, we were constantly running out of petrol, driving up to 14 hours a day, getting detained by the police, and eating too many samosas to count. Needless to say, crossing “the Rickshaw Challenge” finish line was rewarding.

After that came the “Cambo Challenge” in 2015, organized by Large Minority (a company that organizes awesome rallies in Sri Lanka, the Amazon, Cambodia, and the Philippines). This was a 1,600km circular route through Cambodia over 12 days. The rally took place on a Cambodian tuk-tuk (for anyone who has been in one, you’ll understand the struggle!). We navigated our way through the magnificent temples of Angkor Wat, drove past floating villages, stayed with families in an ecovillage called Chambok, camped near temples, and swam in the Gulf of Thailand. “The Cambo Challege” was another great way to discover realness of this commonly overlooked country while also giving back with Large Minority’s commitment to local community (10% of their revenues support local projects).

I documented both “the Rickshaw Challenge” and “the Cambo Challenge” by producing a full-length, adventure travel documentary. My partners and film crew were my former students from Manana, the after-school group in Yerevan.

What advice would you have people if they wanted to do this? What resources are out there? Great question! Had I not seen a captivating banner hanging in an Armenian café, I’d have never known myself. There are four primary companies that organize most of these rallies:

Large Minority

Travel Scientists

Dakar Challenge

The Adventurists

Some of these rallies provide virtually no support, while others provide guidance and assistance (such as route planning, luggage support, or even an ambulance) as you race across the country. Some rallies last ten days (like the Lanka Challenge) while others can top two months (the longest is the Mongol Rally).

You have to fund these rallies yourself (or get a sponsor). Some rallies provide the vehicle, hotels, and support for an inclusive price (which can total a couple thousand dollars per team). Other organizers require you to provide the car and practically everything else, and offer minimal support, for a smaller entry fee (several hundred dollars). Other costs vary greatly, based on what type of accommodations you stay in, the food you eat, the cost of your airplane ticket, and of course, if you have to buy a car for the rally.

You can participate in rallies around the globe. “The Ice Run” takes place in the Siberian Arctic for 12 days. You can participate in “the Monkey Run” in the Saharan Desert covering 1000km. “The Banjul Challenge” follows the coast of West Africa for three weeks. “The Philippines Challenge” places you in the crystal blue waters of the Philippines over nine days.

Besides the official websites, check out this overview of some of the best rallies, and these specific blog posts about the Philippines Challenge, the Lanka Challenge, the Central Asian Rally, the Amazon Challenge, and the Mongol Rally.

What’s been the biggest lesson you’ve learned so far? I have learned so much from being on the road. But there are two lessons I always try to remember: perspective and the power of perception.

In my former corporate life, I would have spent several thousand dollars on a luxury watch, but not now. I’ve grown to value experiences and relationships more than material possessions. Travel definitely changes your perspective.

When it comes to the power of perception, I have one story that stands as a telling example. In 2004, I was chatting up a bartender in Moscow. After I informed him that I was from the US, he told me how much Russians hate Americans (I was a bit surprised, naively thinking the Cold War was over!). He went on about how Europe and the US fabricated Serbia’s hostilities against its neighbors and used false facts to justify attacking Serbia (Russia’s ally). When I mentioned the mass graves of Muslims in Srebrenica, he told me that they didn’t exist and the West fabricated their existence. So my second lesson from the road is your truth is not the universal truth.

*********

All of Ric’s adventures stemmed from his desire breakthrough the normal 9-5 and explore the world. He didn’t jump into adventure races and rallies on his first trip, he took one trip, then another, and built up his confidence on the road. Eventually, he began driving across the world!

Hopefully, this post will inspire you to think outside the box a bit and figure out ways to use your passion and skills to get out there, escape the cubicle, and see more of this world.

Become the Next Success Story

One of my favorite parts about this job is hearing people’s travel stories. They inspire me, but more importantly, they also inspire you. I travel a certain way but there are many ways to travel the world. I hope these stories show you that there is more than one way to travel and that it is within your grasp to reach your travel goals. Here are more examples of people who are traveling the world in a unique (some may call it strange) way:

How Ryan drove overland from Seattle to South America

How Tomislav travels the world on $3,650 USD per year

How Arielle got paid to travel worldwide on a yacht

How Will adventurously travels on a budget of $20 USD a day

P.S. – Want to travel with me? There are only 2 spots left on my next reader tour! I’ll be taking readers on an intimate group tour of Vienna and Prague, where we will visit all my favorite sights, restaurants, bars, and off the beaten path places! Come explore the world with me!

The post Adventure Races and Overland Travel: An Interview with Ric appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

Adventure Races and Overland Travel: An Interview with Ric http://ift.tt/2uTOhHn

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Adventure Races and Overland Travel: An Interview with Ric

There are some amazing overland adventures around the world like the Mongol Rally and the Rickshaw Run. Overland travel is one of my favorite ways to travel. I believe the closer you get to the ground, the more countryside you visit, the better to get to understand a place. Sadly, I’ve never done a big overland rally but one of our community members has! Ric, another fellow Bostonian, has driven almost 7,000 miles in races and rallies across the globe. He’s an adventurous traveler, and in this interview he shares his tips and insight to help anyone learn how to travel off-the-beaten path!

Nomadic Matt: Hey Ric! Thanks for doing this! Tell everyone about yourself. Ric: I’m Ric from Boston. I am just a guy who previously worked in the financial services industry after college. Now, I’m based in Bangkok for about half of the year. I go back to the US to visit for a couple of months, and then I am traveling and exploring for about four months a year.

Besides my blog, GlobalGaz, I am a podcaster at Counting Countries, where I interview people who have traveled to every country in the world (I’m hoping to accomplish that goal one day soon). I co-lead Bangkok’s Travel Massive as well as organize a 2,500-person Meetup.com group. I enjoy bringing together people who love to travel to share their passion.

I’ve also published three books: two on road rallies I participated in through India and the Caucasus region, and the third is a photo journal of when I slept over at Chernobyl (I am a bit obsessed with photography). I have produced two full-length travel documentaries and keynoted at the PATA Adventure Travel and Responsible Tourism Conference.

When not on the road I enjoy hanging out with my wife and our new dog Khan Mak, a Pomeranian and Chihuahua mix.

It sounds like you’re on an epic quest! How did you get started traveling? Getting fired was helpful! I was laid off from my job on three different occasions in five years. Each time I got laid off, I took the severance package and embarked on months-long international road trips. On the third trip, I realized I couldn’t go back to my former corporate life and needed to make my passion — traveling — my life.

Since then, each year I spend more and more time overseas — now typically 9-10 months a year. My goal is to visit 20 new countries this year.

What led you to embrace this nomadic lifestyle? While I was making good money in the financial services, it was not a fulfilling career. I began to dread going into the office more and more. I had volunteered a bunch of times in Armenia, Tanzania, and Thailand, and these experiences are what really drew me to living overseas.

In 2004, I volunteered in Yerevan, Armenia, at an orphanage. I am ethnically Armenian, so this was a great way to connect with my roots. I spent a lot of time bonding with the kids — who today are young adults — and have been back every year to visit them; from 2004 to 2010, I hosted an annual festival for the children at the orphanage. I also volunteered at an after-school group where the children learned about film, photography, and journalism.

In Thailand, I have been fortunate to be associated with the Mercy Centre in Bangkok. For the last three years, I’ve been a volunteer teacher for kindergarteners. The time spent working with others has made a big impact on me, and I find it to be very rewarding.

You’re trying to go to every country in the world. Can you tell us more about that? As I visited more and more countries, I decided that I wanted to visit every country in the world. According to the UN, there are 193 countries. I have been to 110 so far. As the list dwindles, the countries become more difficult to visit, whether it is a difficult visa to get, a remote country, or simply dangerous to visit.

I celebrated my 100th country last year in Iraq. Iraq is not your typical holiday spot, but I found my trip to be both rewarding and educational. I was received with warmth and gracious hospitality by the local Iraqis. I spent an entire afternoon with an elderly gentleman who I met drinking tea. He escorted me around the local market, introduced me to his friends, and treated me to lunch.

I also have had some interesting experiences visiting countries that “don’t exist” such as Transnistria, a country of 500,000 people located between Moldova and Ukraine. Transnistria is not recognized by the UN as a sovereign country; however, you need a Transnistrian visa to enter it. It has its own flag, currency, army, and government. It is a quirky place to visit, if you get a chance.

What do your friends and family think about your constant travels? What did they think when you first started? My dad has always been supportive of my travels. In fact, he has joined me on some epic trips, such as traveling to the Galápagos Islands and Antarctica.

My friends are sometimes intrigued with my travel tales and will come to me for travel advice, and the more adventurous ones will join me on a trip. I’ve also made an entire new group of friends from around the world who are fellow travelers and travel bloggers. They are a great resource for support and advice.

What’s your number one piece of advice for new travelers? Of course, the first piece of advice is just to get out there. If you are apprehensive or not experienced, start out slowly. If you want to dip your toe in the water, start off with Western Europe. If you want to take the next step, consider Thailand, Bulgaria, or Argentina (countries with good tourist infrastructure and very affordable). As you get more comfortable and experienced, spread your wings, and travel to more off-the-beaten path places.

To make your travel and life more fulfilling, I would make two suggestions:

Volunteer – This is an effective way to become part of the community. You will be able to build genuine friendships with the locals and really learn about the culture and country you are visiting.

Join an adventure rally – Rallies allow you to get off the beaten path and see parts of the country that you would not typically visit. The rallies allow for real interactions with the locals.

Tell us more about rally races. What are they and how did you get into them? A “rally” is a challenging adventure, where participants travel from point A to point B within some sort of parameters (think Amazing Race). Some rallies specify what kind of transportation to take, such as a tuk-tuk. Other rallies require participants to ride a cart led by oxen, ride a sailboat off the island of Zanzibar, or pilot a paramotor for 1,000 miles in the sky.

My first rally, known as “the Caucasian Challenge,” was 17 days, 11 countries, and 7,000 km and from Budapest to Yerevan. In 2010, two friends and I bought a 1993 Jeep Cherokee in Budapest for $2,300 USD with 250,000 km already on it. Our team, named “The Yerevan Express,” competed against 10 other teams. During our journey we got lost and ended up in Montenegro (a country not on the itinerary), and we witnessed the breathtaking mountains of northern Albania. The rally ended when I literally abandoned my car between Georgia and Armenia and took a bus to the airport to leave the country.

Next was the “Rickshaw Challenge.” In 2012, I embarked on a 12-day, 2,000km sprint across India (during the monsoon season!) piloting an auto-rickshaw. India is amazing, but it can also be a bit overwhelming on the senses. This is especially true when attempting to navigate the country in a seven-horsepower (think a riding lawnmower) rickshaw. During these 12 days, we were constantly running out of petrol, driving up to 14 hours a day, getting detained by the police, and eating too many samosas to count. Needless to say, crossing “the Rickshaw Challenge” finish line was rewarding.

After that came the “Cambo Challenge” in 2015, organized by Large Minority (a company that organizes awesome rallies in Sri Lanka, the Amazon, Cambodia, and the Philippines). This was a 1,600km circular route through Cambodia over 12 days. The rally took place on a Cambodian tuk-tuk (for anyone who has been in one, you’ll understand the struggle!). We navigated our way through the magnificent temples of Angkor Wat, drove past floating villages, stayed with families in an ecovillage called Chambok, camped near temples, and swam in the Gulf of Thailand. “The Cambo Challege” was another great way to discover realness of this commonly overlooked country while also giving back with Large Minority’s commitment to local community (10% of their revenues support local projects).

I documented both “the Rickshaw Challenge” and “the Cambo Challenge” by producing a full-length, adventure travel documentary. My partners and film crew were my former students from Manana, the after-school group in Yerevan.

What advice would you have people if they wanted to do this? What resources are out there? Great question! Had I not seen a captivating banner hanging in an Armenian café, I’d have never known myself. There are four primary companies that organize most of these rallies:

Large Minority

Travel Scientists

Dakar Challenge

The Adventurists

Some of these rallies provide virtually no support, while others provide guidance and assistance (such as route planning, luggage support, or even an ambulance) as you race across the country. Some rallies last ten days (like the Lanka Challenge) while others can top two months (the longest is the Mongol Rally).

You have to fund these rallies yourself (or get a sponsor). Some rallies provide the vehicle, hotels, and support for an inclusive price (which can total a couple thousand dollars per team). Other organizers require you to provide the car and practically everything else, and offer minimal support, for a smaller entry fee (several hundred dollars). Other costs vary greatly, based on what type of accommodations you stay in, the food you eat, the cost of your airplane ticket, and of course, if you have to buy a car for the rally.

You can participate in rallies around the globe. “The Ice Run” takes place in the Siberian Arctic for 12 days. You can participate in “the Monkey Run” in the Saharan Desert covering 1000km. “The Banjul Challenge” follows the coast of West Africa for three weeks. “The Philippines Challenge” places you in the crystal blue waters of the Philippines over nine days.

Besides the official websites, check out this overview of some of the best rallies, and these specific blog posts about the Philippines Challenge, the Lanka Challenge, the Central Asian Rally, the Amazon Challenge, and the Mongol Rally.

What’s been the biggest lesson you’ve learned so far? I have learned so much from being on the road. But there are two lessons I always try to remember: perspective and the power of perception.

In my former corporate life, I would have spent several thousand dollars on a luxury watch, but not now. I’ve grown to value experiences and relationships more than material possessions. Travel definitely changes your perspective.

When it comes to the power of perception, I have one story that stands as a telling example. In 2004, I was chatting up a bartender in Moscow. After I informed him that I was from the US, he told me how much Russians hate Americans (I was a bit surprised, naively thinking the Cold War was over!). He went on about how Europe and the US fabricated Serbia’s hostilities against its neighbors and used false facts to justify attacking Serbia (Russia’s ally). When I mentioned the mass graves of Muslims in Srebrenica, he told me that they didn’t exist and the West fabricated their existence. So my second lesson from the road is your truth is not the universal truth.

*********

All of Ric’s adventures stemmed from his desire breakthrough the normal 9-5 and explore the world. He didn’t jump into adventure races and rallies on his first trip, he took one trip, then another, and built up his confidence on the road. Eventually, he began driving across the world!

Hopefully, this post will inspire you to think outside the box a bit and figure out ways to use your passion and skills to get out there, escape the cubicle, and see more of this world.

Become the Next Success Story

One of my favorite parts about this job is hearing people’s travel stories. They inspire me, but more importantly, they also inspire you. I travel a certain way but there are many ways to travel the world. I hope these stories show you that there is more than one way to travel and that it is within your grasp to reach your travel goals. Here are more examples of people who are traveling the world in a unique (some may call it strange) way:

How Ryan drove overland from Seattle to South America

How Tomislav travels the world on $3,650 USD per year

How Arielle got paid to travel worldwide on a yacht

How Will adventurously travels on a budget of $20 USD a day

P.S. – Want to travel with me? There are only 2 spots left on my next reader tour! I’ll be taking readers on an intimate group tour of Vienna and Prague, where we will visit all my favorite sights, restaurants, bars, and off the beaten path places! Come explore the world with me!

The post Adventure Races and Overland Travel: An Interview with Ric appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

from Travel Blog – Nomadic Matt's Travel Site http://ift.tt/2uTOhHn via IFTTT

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What’s the Difference Between Small Business and Large Enterprise SEO?

What’s the Difference Between Small Business and Large Enterprise SEO? written by Guest Post read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Big data and cloud-based software have definitely helped level the playing field for businesses of all sizes. Yet, despite easy access to data and improved large-scale management capabilities, small businesses still have to approach some parts of their business differently. Like SEO.

It’s important to note that just because the approaches to SEO are different, this doesn’t mean that small- and large-sized businesses can’t compete in search rankings together. The goal is the same for both: reach that first search engine results page (SERP) and increase your profit while doing so. The difference solely lies in how they reach that destination.

If you’ve spent any time working in administration, management, marketing, or sales for a larger company, then you understand that the mentality there is a totally different beast, in general. Whereas when you’re running your own startup or managing the marketing for a smaller organization, the bootstrap mentality is acceptable if not entirely encourages, which means you can be much more flexible, agile, and creative in your business’s marketing solutions.

So, what I’d like to do today is discuss the differences in these two approaches to SEO and define some of those key differentiators that lead to small business success in search.

In Search of SEO Success

Now, before I start comparing what most people would consider traditional SEO tactics (the ones employed by larger companies) and more concentrated efforts that small businesses should use, I want to quickly touch on the SEO strategies every business has in common. Without a firm understanding of the entire SEO picture, you won’t be able to accomplish much with the more targeted efforts I’m going to discuss shortly.

Basic rules for good SEO

Research and preparation:

Any foray into marketing requires thorough research and brand definition before beginning. Know your voice, your unique selling proposition, and develop consistent messaging around your brand.

Keyword optimization:

When you think of SEO, keywords are probably the first thing that come to mind. But when it comes to actually optimizing content with those keywords, this means selecting a focus keyword and including it in all the key areas of your content: metadata, header tags, URL slug, and image alt tags.

Site map indexing:

Metadata won’t be able to read your site’s content nor rank it without a site map to index or a schema markup to review.

User experience:

There are a number of factors that contribute to a positive user experience on your website (all of which the search engines look favorably upon). These include fast-loading pages, high-quality design, clean coding, no broken links, no duplicate content, and regular site updates.

Security:

This is a no-brainer. As the web becomes a more dangerous place, the search engines expect website owners to do everything they can to protect their customers as they readily offer up their payment or personal identifier information.

Images:

With attention spans shrinking more each year, any opportunity you have to cut down on text and increase the amount of high-resolution and relevant imagery will be more than welcomed by your audience.

Linking opportunities:

While link-building scams are strictly barred from search, gaining links on high-authority websites is still a very important part of SEO.

Mobile friendliness:

Websites can no longer consider mobile friendliness optional. In fact, a mobile “friendly” website is no longer acceptable. It needs to be responsive.

Social media:

With each passing year, the search engines give more clout to a business’s presence on social media. Give it some love and you’ll find your search presence improve.

As you can see, what matters most to search engines is that 1) you play by their rules, 2) you provide a high-quality on-site experience for visitors, and 3) you make an ongoing effort to provide relevant and valuable information on your website. The small business differentiators below will tackle all these points, too, the main difference typically being in the target audience’s needs (since small business customers don’t really resemble those of the enterprise).

Key Differences Between Small Business and Large Enterprise SEO

When it comes to small business website search optimization, there’s really no secret as to what makes it work. It’s simply a matter of understanding your specific audience’s needs and how those needs translate to online searches. Then it’s your job to optimize your site and general web presence to meet your audience halfway: on the search engine results page.

Keywording

Now, for enterprises that have large websites, keywording takes quite a bit more work for them. Keywords need to be specific enough to what each page, product, service, or article is about, but they also need to be weighed carefully against the competition.

For small businesses, keywording is a whole different story. While something generic like “Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, etc.” would work for someone like Amazon, that’s not going to work for a small business. That’s why long-tail keywords are more effective. If you think about the way you type out your own online searches with more natural and longer phrases like “kids clothes in Sacramento”, that’s how you’d approach creating a long-tail keyword for your business’s site.

Small business websites should also consider including other company’s names in their content. For a more popular website, this could have a negative effect, but typically not so for a small business who could benefit from the association. So say you created a sales software similar to Salesforce, but your business is brand new. You could probably mention how similar your solution is to Salesforce and benefit by association (at least until your site becomes an equal rival of Salesforce).

Personas

Every website needs to have a target persona (audience). It’s this definition of who you’re selling to that will shape how you approach all your marketing efforts. That being said, for enterprises, the research aspect of this takes much longer because they most likely have multiple target personas. For small businesses, though, this process is probably much more straight-forward and easy to define, especially if your audience is local.

Geography

Unless your business is 100% online, geography should play a role in your SEO efforts. Why? Because as a small business, you’re most likely (at least not right away) trying to reach a global audience. So why give yourself such an open-ended set of search optimizations that do nothing to help you drill down and get granular in your efforts?

For large enterprises who target a global or multi-national audience, SEO is going to be more difficult—and expensive. For small businesses, however, the trick is to focus on using local-specific keywording. If you’re located in a specific city or sell to a certain region, those words definitely need to be in your site’s keyword list.

Content

Content is the lifeblood of your site’s ability to rank in search. Without well-crafted content, there’s going to be no reason for search engines to send traffic your way.

But when you create content for a small business website, it’s important to remember that you don’t have the same amount of resources as enterprises do to create it. Rather than burn yourself out trying to produce a blog post every day, a white paper every two weeks, and a press release every month, go with a pace and an amount of content that works best for you.

Also, focus on your strengths. Do you enjoy creating video content? Do you have an administrative assistant who likes to design infographics? Or do you really just enjoy crafting well-thought-out and lengthy articles every week? Don’t force the content. Just go with what makes sense for your business.

Design

Obviously, no one wants to show up on a website that looks like it’s straight out of the early ‘00s or one that has broken links and is littered with misspellings. As visitors run into websites like these and bounce off of them right away, search engines are bound to take notice and penalize those sites in the search rankings.

So, what do you do as a small business owner with limited resources as well as web development skills? Enterprises can afford to hire in-house designers and coders to take care of this for them.

If you want a site that can compete with that, then you’ll need to “outsource” that work to various tools. Content management systems like WordPress are particularly great for this as they offer free or relatively cheap themes (design templates) that take care of the web design piece for you. And if you want your site to really shine but have no idea how to create popups or code forms, you can use plugins or extensions to do the work that other companies pay developers to do.

Images

Images play an important part in the experience of users on a website. Part of it is because they help to break up large chunks of text into more easily digestible bits and part of it is because they just look so darn nice. Large companies can hire photographers and videographers to create unique and original visual content for their site, which does put them at a slight advantage.

However, everyone these days has a high-resolution camera on their phone and can do the same on their own—it’s just a matter of knowing what to photograph and when. Even if you’re not comfortable wielding your camera for the purposes of creating visual content for your site, there are other options available. You can turn to high-quality stock photography sites like Unsplash that offer free photos that look just as good as the original stuff the big guys are putting out.

Summary

Since three-quarters of people will never take the time to scroll past the first SERP, SEO is an aspect of marketing that simply cannot be ignored. For small businesses that take the time to understand their audience’s unique set of needs and expectations, they’ll fare better than the competition in the game of search.

About the Author

Nathan Oulman loves to contribute about his marketing knowledge around the web. Some say he even has a magical pen. When he is not writing he operates the Dailyhosting blog.

from Duct Tape Marketing https://www.ducttapemarketing.com/small-business-and-large-enterprise-seo/