OHMYGOSSIP — Creative design agency ModOp has a client roster full of well-known and hip brands like Sony Pictures, PlayStation, Fender and Belvedere Vodka. And the agency (it has locations in New York, Los Angeles, Portland, Ore., and Panama City, Panama) has offices that are just as cool as the companies it serves.
Recently its Los Angeles outpost relocated to new quarters, and president and co-CEO Jeff Suhy saw the move as the perfect opportunity to display his numerous collections. The former record label exec used mementos like fan mail, folk art and radio show props to personalize every corner of his new space. “I’ve been lucky enough to have had several careers from music, architectural design and technology and now advertising,” he said. “I’m a collector and I wanted to share some of my artifacts with our clients and employees.”
OHMYGOSSIP — Prince Harry is reportedly eyeing up a £3.6 million mansion. The 31-year-old royal is said to have set his sights on Water Hall in Norfolk, a seven-bedroom luxurious abode complete with a pool. A resident told The Sun newspaper: “It’s away from any neighbours, so would be the perfect party pad.”
The 5.5 acre site comes complete with a tennis court and games room as well as luxurious grounds, perfect for holding summer parties in.
Describing the property on their website, Savills estate agents said: “Water Hall is an exceptional family home, enjoying a wonderfully private and peaceful setting within the Stiffkey Valley, with the River Stiffkey meandering along the western boundary and with fine views across the water meadows and the delightful 5.5 acres (est) of gardens and grounds.
“The extensive property, set at the end of a long drive, includes a detached cottage, annexe, garage block with games room and studio above and a traditional Norfolk barn with planning consent for conversion to a five bedroom dwelling.
“Over the past 15 years the property has been the subject of a thorough and sympathetic programme of restoration, renovation and extension alongside landscaping of the gardens, the creation of an impressive walled garden housing the swimming pool and pool house, and the substantial garaging adjoining the house … All bedrooms enjoy fantastic views of the gardens and water meadows beyond.”
Featured image: Ohmygossip.com
Find more OHMYGOSSIP Royal news HERE
OHMYGOSSIP — Prince Harry has made a “personal donation” to a campaign to help purchase Rio 2016 Paralympics tickets for local Brazilian kids. The flame-haired royal has dug deep in his own pockets to give the #filltheseats initiative some money to enable youngsters in Rio de Janeiro the chance to watch some of the Paralympics unfold in their city.
A post on the Kensington Palace Twitter read: “Prince Harry has made a personal donation to #filltheseats so Rio kids can see Invictus & Paralympic competitors in action. Enjoy the games!”
At the time of writing, the campaign has raised more than $53,000, 18 per cent of its $300,000 target.
It’s not known how much Harry has donated to the cause. A promotional video on the campaign’s fundraising page urges people to donate to turn empty seats into roaring crowds.
It then asks: “And what if those invited were the kids of Rio?
“Come on world. Donate. #filltheseats”
In August, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee got behind the campaign, which aimed to make up to 10,000 tickets available for kids in Rio to attend the Paralympics.
Coldplay have also endorsed the initiative.
The #filltheseats campaign originally aimed to raise $15,000 to send 500 children to the Games, but after raising more than $20,000 in one week the IPC and Rio 2016 asked the initiative to remain open so more tickets could be donated to local Brazilians from the world.
Featured image: Prince Harry (Ohmygossip.com /Helena-Reet Ennet)
Find more OHMYGOSSIP Royal news HERE
OHMYGOSSIP — Prince Harry has wished the 11 Invictus Games competitors aiming to win a medal at the Rio 2016 Paralympics good luck. The 31-year-old royal – who is patron of the Invictus Games Foundation – told the paralympians, who are representing five nations, to “have fun” and thanked them for “inspiring millions” in their bid for glory.
He said: “To those Invictus Games competitors representing your five nations, all I have to say to you is what an incredible achievement – well done for your selection. You have trained harder than ever, but the fight to the finish line won’t be easy.
“You all know this better than anyone. Cherish this moment as you get to serve your country again. Absorb the applause and atmosphere for inspiring millions, but most importantly – have fun!”
Harry also admitted he is “incredible proud” of what the paralympians have achieved so far.
He added: “I remember watching these competitors at the 2014 and 2016 Invictus Games. And now they’ve been selected for the Rio Paralympic Games. I can’t think of a better example of showing how important sport can be for recovery.
“I know they’ll compete with the same Invictus spirit that we saw in London and Orlando – motivated not just by winning, but by pushing their bodies and minds to the absolute limit to prove to the world there is life beyond injury.
“They will lift everyone around them and whether you’re watching in Rio or on TV around the world, they will inspire you. I’m incredibly proud of what they’ve achieved and will be cheering on every single competitor during the Games.”
The 11 going for gold in Rio are made up of Team GB’s Dave Henson, Micky Yule, Joe Townsend, Mikey Hall and Nick Beighton. Australia’s Curtis McGrath, Canada’s Christine Gauthier and Italy’s Monica Contraffatto will also take part in the Games, as will Americans Elizabeth Marks, Jennifer Schuble and Shawn Cheshire.
Featured image: Britain’s Prince Harry (Ohmygossip.com /Helena-Reet Ennet)
Find more OHMYGOSSIP Royal news HERE
OHMYGOSSIP – Let’s talk blogging etiquette. While we like to say there are no “rules” to blogging, as each person’s blog is unique to their life and voice, there are some unspoken guidelines all bloggers should take into consideration. Most of these seem like common sense, but you’d be surprised how often we see these etiquette guidelines broken!
1. Don’t steal photos.
Simple enough right? Don’t take photos from another bloggers blog, Facebook page or instagram and say they are your own! You shouldn’t take photos from Pinterest and edit them to look like they aren’t from Pinterest. It’s just plain wrong to take another bloggers photos!
2. Don’t steal content.
Often times you will see similar ideas for posts on different blogs. This happens, especially with things like holiday post, recipes and craft ideas – hey there are only so many ideas out there, right? But, to blatantly copy-paste from another blogger’s post? That is just a huge no-no!
3. Post your disclosures.
If you received product or monetary compensation, you must disclose this information in your post. This is more than just etiquette, it is actually an FTC guideline. Be sure to disclose that you received free product or compensation in exchange for your post and use the hashtag #ad when you post about said products on social media. Remember, these are not blogger “perks,” they are considered payment for your services as a writer.
4. Give credit when credit is due.
If you do use someone’s photo, with permission of course, be sure to give credit to that person! The same goes for content ideas- it’s courteous to say you were inspired by so-and-so’s post or recipe or even to link over to them if you are using one of their ideas in your post!
5. Act professional.
If you are making money as a blogger, you are a professional. Even if you aren’t making money you are building a brand around yourself! How do you want others to see you and your brand? Be proud of your work and demand to be treated as a professional by acting like it!
What are you tips for blogging etiquette? We’d love to hear your thoughts! Source: northeastbloggers.com
OHMYGOSSIP – All bloggers sooner or later will experience a drop in visitors numbers. And at some point in you blog life browsing the internet envying ‘more successful’ blogs can demotivate you enormously. You keep wondering what you are doing wrong and how to get more visitors and keep them on you blog. Maybe even subscribe to your blog by email so you know they are more likely to return. First of all: Do not doubt yourself!
If you planned your blog carefully, it is probably just a dip because of the holidays or something like that. But check yourself carefully: did you make any changes? Do you blog on a different subject, a different time maybe or share your blog post in a different way. Are you still following trends? Being your informative self? Following the plan you mapped out for you and your blog? How about your style? Are you blogging about yourself a lot lately? Do you still mix your blog posts and subjects enough or are your blogs just a long bore of self promoting writings?
To write about personal experiences and personal life is a great blog subject. People want to get to know you, but be careful not to make yourself into the main subject of your blog. Make sure there is diversity. Share what you’ve learned from a first-hand perspective,but also share how readers may use it to their own benefits. Your blog should always be a well balanced mix of resource and personal posts.
Here are 20 ideas on how to get more traffic to your blog:
Visit other people’s blogs and leave comments
Tell stories
Write more and shorter posts
Blog regularly
Add sharing buttons
Be the answer to peoples needs
Use h2 and h3 to subhead your posts
Use tags and categories
Promote your blog on social media, and interact with other people on social media
Write less
Contact sites that will help others and exchange links or blog posts
Ask friends and family to share your posts on social media
Embrace the art of paragraphing
Write with a sense of humor
Write about emotions
Print blog business cards and promote your blog on live business events, do some serious networking
Write powerful headlines
Optimise your site for search engines
Make sure your website is mobile friendly
Be yourself!
It happens to all of us: one day you hit the ceiling and you need a breakthrough to go to the next level. We all become afraid that we have lost the magic one day or another. It may cause a lack of inspiration or motivation and you may enter a continues circle of self doubt over this. If so: get this book and write smashing blog posts.
OHMYGOSSIP – Most bloggers know it: the blunt comments often very short-sighted and sometimes even verbally violent that enter your mailbox through the comment section, that stand out in the comments on Facebook and YouTube or that fill up you twitter timeline after posting something and totally ignorant of doing so, stepping on someones toes. Or not even that, it also can come from that one visitor that has an opinion about you, the way you look, write, the topic you write about or anything else that triggers them to be their true friendly self.
This blog is written not only for the Blogger dealing with it, but also for those who feel triggered to write a comment. The commenter needs to find his or her own personal red button before writing a comment that bursts with criticism, and you reader of the post, feeling what you feel, need to find yours.
Lets take a deeper look into the art of feeling triggered Writing this I’m speaking for my own audience as well. If there is something I’m not good at it is handling criticism. For me it all comes down to self-esteem. Lots of people see me as a self-confident woman ready to travel the world. But I know the little scared and wounded girl deep inside me sitting next to my exclusive red button, hand raised to push it any inconvenient time, when she hears something that triggers her.
In my childhood the message that came across was me being dumb, stupid and bothersome. And i believed them since nobody took time or care to tell me otherwise. I’m working my way out of this for some time now. But still there is this red button .
Do you know the feeling of getting flushed from head to toe your skin prickling?
I do, and I know where it comes from. Very cliché to say: from my childhood, but in my case it does. I call my trigger point ‘the Red Button’ It took me a few years to discover but once I got grip on the how and why, it was a battle convincing the little girl inside me not to push that button immediately and send me into a corner to sulk, but to hand the matter to me, the adult, and cope with it.
Today I will share my coping strategies with you. When you are a blogger you will get negative feedback occasionally and you will need a thicker skin to cope with that. I got an email a few days back from someone telling me I was completely out of my mind because of what I’m about to do. I was totally ignorant to the world around me. It caught me at a bad moment and triggered me from a sunshine day right into self-reflection. I really needed to put that email into perspective.
1. Who is the other person? Separating bullshit from facts. Most people commenting on your writings, acting and person, don’t know you. That is a fact.
They interpret your writings within their own perspective and that might not be a wide, world-friendly frame build on lots of experiences and common sense. That’s another thing: what common sense is to you might be completely out of sense to someone else. There is no such thing as common sense no matter how hard we live to believe it.
People are likely to identify with you, specially those who do return to your blog, they bond, and they get the feeling they have the right to interfere and give their opinion, without any background information. To you as a blogger the art of separating the bullshit from the facts.
Someone judging you while being a complete stranger to you? Just ignore it. Do not excuse yourself or try to explain yourself, you will end up in a meaningless discussion, that can take nasty turns, take it from a pro. No matter how hard your red button is pushed, just say something neutral like: thank you for commenting, stop by again any time you like.
Do take a closer look at your writing, why is it this person is interpreting it the way he does? Do you need to change anything?
I once received a comment on a blog about trying to loose weight, it a blunt reply that I should be careful, before I know I could not wipe my own butt anymore. Being shocked by the comment at first,and not knowing how to reply, I did look back on my last few blogs and they were all about going out for drinks, having fingerfood….I probably created the impression my life was all about wining and dining. A point of improvement.
Preventive: when I’m tired, sad, in a bad mood, easy irritated, if I do not feel strong and self-confident I will not read the comments or handle email from strangers.
Practice: I do not receive any email notifications on comment on the website, I just check in every other day to see if there is anything that needs my attention. Just to make sure it does not hits me in a bad time, when facing a deadline or on my way to an important meeting or something. Same thing for social media.
2. transform criticism into a positive attribution
There are comments that are only posted to hurt, there is no positivity in those. Try to ignore them by handling them the way I describe before. But there is criticism that can add value to your live. Like the one about being to fat to wipe my own butt. I looked at my writings and saw there was no balance, my writing was all about eating and drinking. And by doing so I created an image that was not correct. I see it in travel blogs also: they are always about sunshine, fun, beach and flip-flops. I sometimes feel the urge myself to push someones button by asking if there are never any rainy days.
I do receive a lot of mails on my spelling. Since English is not my first language and being dyslexic as well, it is difficult for me to write error free content. The first two emails on that topic, I felt so ashamed, I even turned up the urge to perfectionism beyond normal (is there normal perfectionism?) I was so scared to publish my next post, what would people think of me? I learned to laugh about it, like the blog post I used ‘ass’ instead of ‘as’ and only reader number 200-something took the politeness to email me. We made fun about it. I’m glad when people correct me on that, I have accepted I’m not perfect.
Can you separate the bullshit from facts and than turn critique into something positive?
If you can’t, it is posted by idiots that can’t fight their way out of a paper bag. Vinegar pissing visitors just passing by with nothing meaningful to do in their pity little lives. So, there you go!
3. Find yourself a world-famous role model
Everybody famous out there gets criticized, rejected and bombed with negativity, so you can take it as a compliment when you have lots of annoying, negative comments and email. Living a mediocre live it not the live of a blogger. Mediocrity is safe, shielded from the outside world and fits in almost everything. You as a blogger chose to stand out in the crowd, with your product, opinion and stories. There is nothing mediocre about you and that is why people feel they can put you down. Or that is why people can act jealous.
I received an email from a person that stated that: I was discouraging other people to start a blog because I was afraid there would not be enough money out there for me and since I had such high income already…blablabla……well did she get it all wrong.
She definitely needed a pair of reading glasses and some English lessons.
I immediately though of Mary Robinson, the firs female Irish President, now that’s a woman with a thick skin, an independent politician giving women in Ireland a voice, fighting for rights of those oppressed. She is a strong woman and my role model when it comes to perseverance.
I was elected by the women of Ireland, who instead of rocking the cradle, rocked the system – M. Robinson
You as a blogger can rock the World Wide Web. Let nobody or nothing stand in your way
create blog titles5. Find your own red button
In order to rock the World Wide Web by writing authentic, world-changing content, and to persevere under criticism, you have to find your own red button. What triggers you when you read criticism? What makes you sulk over ‘all your wrong doings’ and what gives you the idea ‘all your works sucks’ and that you are ‘no good at all’?
OHMYGOSSIP – Websites are like private islands. No one can visit the island unless somebody “builds a bridge” to it. To succeed online, your website must have connections to other websites. Think of these connections as bridges. The best bridges deliver the most traffic and clients. Doing business online does not end in hiring experts who are trained to create a website. Building websites has only a small contribution to the success of every online endeavor.
Fortunately, there are a lot of “bridges” that could turn your website into a money-generating machine. As an online entrepreneur, the term search engine optimization (SEO) and traffic generation should already be familiar to you. So I’ll talk about website traffic and SEO later on.
Social Media Today, social media platforms like Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and Facebook are considered as excellent venues to redirect potential viewers to your website. In fact, they already serve as a venue for customers and service providers to meet. Many people would check out these social media platforms before running through the streets, or using the old phone book, looking for plumbers and electrical service professionals.
Experts initially had low hopes for using social media in their marketing strategy. But as time went by, social media started playing an integral role in getting high volumes of website traffic. Social media serves as a perfect means for online entrepreneurs to reach their target audience at a faster pace.
Some say that search engines wouldn’t really care much if your website content gets thousands of retweets or likes. While the number of retweets or likes may not have a direct impact on SERP. When topnotch and influential person decides to feature your website or share a link to it, this usually generates a lot of traffic. This could mean business for you!
There are millions of social media users around the globe so let these millions of users spread the word for you. It no longer can be denied that social media and SEO always go hand in hand. So if you intend to get high quality and massive traffic, then you should learn to integrate social media with your other marketing strategies.
Local Citations Local citation plays an integral role in sending your website traffic generation project into an overdrive. It is a process which involves mentioning your website in local listing services and external websites.
Citations usually include your business name, address, and phone number. These three are often referred to as NAP.
There are lots of local directories listed online but Google My Business, Yelp!, Merchant Circle, and Yellowpages.com are the most popular in the US. With their millions of subscribers and active users, getting listed in these local directories should deliver incredible traffic to your website.
Local citation strategy works best for companies that aim to do business with people in a specific geo-location.
Blog Posts Creating blog articles with keyword-rich topics is also beneficial in building traffic. The use of proper and relevant keywords as well as meta-tag descriptions has a significant impact in indexing your website.
Writing guest blog posts for popular blogs is a proven strategy for attracting website traffic. Your site gets not only visitors, but also converts them into loyal subscribers
Online Ads According to research, placement of online ads is also cost effective in increasing website traffic.
A properly created ad with Google can boost website traffic almost overnight.
As of this writing, Facebook ads are some of the most cost effective and well targeted ads available. Placement of ads in the news feeds of Facebook users significantly increases your probability of getting traffic.
What All of the Above Have In Common Through the years, many entrepreneurs have realized the importance of back links in optimizing their websites for search engines as well as skyrocketing their website traffic.
Back links, also known as inbound links, play an important role in getting to the top pages of popular search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
Websites with high quality back links usually get high Domain Authority from Google, thus they are considered as a more relevant search result.
Eventually, this achieves increased ranking on a search engine results page.
The quality of back links is usually measured by the relevance of the content of the other sites that are linked to the website.
Quality Website Traffic Requires More Than SEO Visitors arrive at your website from many sources. Each source of website traffic is just one bridge to your website. Search Engine Optimization is just one of the many bridges that your website needs.
It takes a lot of effort and time for SEO to deliver significant results.
Back links from Social Media, Local Citations, and Guest Blog Posts bring traffic faster than SEO.
Remember, the fastest way to acquire web traffic is through online Ads.
Nowadays, entrepreneurs have realized that traditional and digital marketing strategies are crucial ingredients to business profitability.
There is no magic bullet, or secret sauce to profitable web traffic.
Fortunately, there are number of digital marketing experts out there who are willing to lend a hand to entrepreneurs who are struggling to capture a larger market. Through their expertise, business owners are able to focus their full attention to their business while their minds are at ease that their online marketing strategies are working at the optimum.
OHMYGOSSIP – Want to grow visitors numbers on your blog? Get the Blog Tools! A website with lots of interaction is a website found by Google. But how to attract visitors and make their visit worth while. Most business blogger or wannabee bloggers I speak, have great trouble to find subjects and maintain a blog. Read these 7 subjects for self-employed bloggers that have proven to appeal to your visitors!
1. Introduce yourself
Your Blog is your business card. Tell people about your motivation as a business owner, about the things you do in your free time, about your favorite book. What made you decide to become a business owner or self-employed?
What’s your expertise and how do you go about it?
2. Introduce your business.
What services do you offer. Do you have any specialized products that make your service unique among others? Why should people hire you for the job or buy their products with you? What distinguishes your business or services from your colleagues.Why should they choose over you instead?
3. Answer questions
Every costumer asks questions, answer them by writing about it. Lots of websites have frequently asked question sections, each question, or each topic can be an appealing blog post. But also specialized questions that only occur once can be a great opportunity to show your knowledge and processes. People get to know you and the way you go about your business and services by answering questions.
4. Make announcements
You can write about:
business announcements, like upcoming events you will attend to or you are organizing
discount
special offers
seasonal products or services
new products to arrive
Make a planning of upcoming events. For the web shop I used to own, I even wrote about the delivering of stock and the fun of unpacking those boxes full of new products. People loved to read about that. I made a picture of every step of processing the goods and showed them a little of how the shop looked at my end.
5. Ask questions
Organize polls, ask questions in blog posts, involve them in development of new products and services. Answer to each of the comments or even write a blog post about a specific comment. Asking questions can be a source for new blog post as well.
6. Share knowledge
Now I can hear you think: but my knowledge is my product. Yes, but share wisely. People are searching the internet for knowledge. Share it with them. Don’t give away your secret, but pretend you do. I’m sharing my knowledge about blogging with you guys as well, but my insights and the knowledge you really want and need you get in a full blog-advice, which is an actual product. Still you get lots of knowledge about blogging on this website. As you do on other websites about blogging.
7. Share some good practices
Or even bad ones for that matter. Who cares? They care! They want to know how you solve things, they want to know you are human. You and your business should appeal to costumers over the business of your colleagues and what better way to show how you handles mistakes, solve processing problems and correct flaws? It only makes you human and authentic and that is what people love.
Final tip for more interaction on your blog: When people respond in the comment section or the contact form: always reply!
OHMYGOSSIP – Those of you who travel the world know how brutal a long-haul flight can be. Unless you are one of the few who can afford First or Business Class, a long flight may be a real test of endurance. From bloating, to swelling, to migraines and fatigue you are likely to experience a wide range of unpleasant sensations when you are on a plane. While there is no miracle pill that you can take to alleviate the discomfort, there are a few things that you can do to make a long-haul flight more bearable.
1. Moisturize before and during your flight
Pressurised cabins have low levels of humidity and are very dry places to be for any length of time. Skin gets very little oxygen during the flight as you are enclosed in this environment. The results is dehydration, sensitivity and tired dull skin. It’s important to hydrate your skin before or even during the flight. Many international flights provide moisturizing lotion in the lavatories, but bringing your own is always better.
2. Wear Compression Gear and Comfortable Clothes
As we get older we are more likely to collect edema fluid in our lower legs if we stand or sit too long. You may notice “sock marks” when you take off your shoes and socks after a long flight. Wearing compressions stockings considerably improves that symptom. The gradual compression on the leg will prevent the swelling, but if the stockings are too tight they may prevent your blood from flowing properly and do more harm than good. That’s why getting the right size is very important. Also, wearing loose and comfortable clothes that will allow movement is essential.
3. Take a good night sleep before your flight
When you travel to a different time zone your body clock will be out of sync for a while. Some lucky folks may easily fall asleep under any circumstances, but for most people a minimum of comfort is necessary in order to fall and stay asleep. Unfortunately, with airlines trying to squeeze more rows onto every plane, seats are getting harder and narrower every year making your chances to drift to sleep slimmer and slimmer. So getting a good night sleep before a long-haul flight is vital. The longer you go without sleep, the weaker your immune system becomes.
4. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate
Dehydration is the biggest issue for most travelers who fly, so it’s very important to keep yourself hydrated. The fact that you can’t bring liquids through security shouldn’t keep you from bringing an empty bottle with you, which you can later fill at the water fountain. It is important to start drinking at least an hour before you fly and keep drinking during the flight as well.
5. Avoid carbs and alcohol before or during the flight
Skip the alcohol and caffeine and you’ll arrive with a much greater chance of staying healthy. Many people don’t realize that alcohol and caffeine are extremely dehydrating, so drinking prior to or on a flight in combination with the low cabin humidity, lowers your resistance to cold and flu germs.
6. Stretch and move during the flight
Sitting still for long periods in cramped conditions can cause deep vein thrombosis (DTV), a potentially life-threatening disorder in which blood clots form in the legs. As we get older, the risk factor gets higher. To prevent DVT you need to keep your muscles active, which is more difficult when you are stuck in a seat for hours. While on a long-haul flight, try to walk around the cabin at least every every hour. You can also do some simple stretching exercises while seated, like ankle turns, foot lifts, arm bends, forward bends.
The above is by no means an exhaustive list of things you can do to keep your body healthy during a long-haul flight. We each have our own tricks that make plane rides fun and comfortable. What’s your go-to strategy for long-haul rides?
Featured image: Tel Aviv airport (Ohmygossip.com/ Helena-Reet Ennet) Written by: Anda Galffy/ travelnotesandbeyond.com
