The Bombay High Court on Tuesday rejected the appeal filed by Lt Col Prasad Purohit against the special court order rejecting his bail in Malegaon blasts 2008.A division bench of Justice Ranjit More and Justice Shalini Phansalkar Joshi was hearing the appeal filed by Lt Col Purohit seeking for bail after the NIA filed its supplementary chargesheet dropping charges of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act against him.The Bench reserved the order on February 17 and said the appeal is dismissed on merits and that trial court should not be influenced by this order.On September 26, 2016, Special Judge S D Tekale at the City Civil and Sessions Court rejected his plea by that “prima facie” there is evidence and a case against the Col. The court said, “Considering all the facts as well as peculiar circumstances of the case, nature and gravity of the offence coupled with restrictions imposed by provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), he is not entitled to be granted bail on this ground,” the judge said.He has charges of murder, voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons, promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony on him. He is also being charges with relevant sections under The Arms Act, The Indian Explosive Substance Act, and UAPA
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It’s hard to be Roger Federer. When he wins, he has to answer gamut of questions and when he loses he grilled. And when he walks through a first round match at The Championships, there are still many more questions from the media to be answered.On Tuesday, as Londoners enjoyed bright sunshine and the swirling winds forced people to pull out their woollens, Federer did not have too many problems.The six-time champion took his time to check out newcomer Mikhail Kukushkin from Kazakhstan before forcing a 7-6( 7/2), 6-4, 6-2 victory in the first round.Since the time Federer landed in London last week, he has been repeatedly asked how he feels about going for Pete Sampras’s record of seven titles at the Wimbledon. On Tuesday, Federer answered some of those questions he served well and handled the tough conditions find his feet on Centre Court.Playing on the big stage for the first time, Kukushkin was composed and even had some of the fans cheering for him. Federer didn’t mind it really as he has seen so many of these journeymen in his career.A third seeding for Federer here is something unusual. And even as people fuss over Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, Federer was happy to put away Kukushkin, with his potent serve again catching the eye. Proof of it came through the 12 aces he rifled in.”It’s nice to win in straight sets. I thought I played a really good match. Tough conditions as it was windy out there,” said Federer. As one who has seen the highs and lows at Wimbledon, Federer knows it is best to get past the first round as quickly as possible.advertisementAndy Roddick got past Andreas Beck of Germany 6-4, 7-6, 7-3. Like Federer, Roddick also spoke of how it felt good to get past the first round.”There’s always anxiety before you play your first round.You saw last night with Andy Murray and then he found his groove. It’s just a matter of getting through,” said Roddick.Novak Djokovic made a highly impressive start to his bid for a first Wimbledon title with a crushing 6-4 6-1 6-1 win over Jeremy Chardy on Tuesday.The Serbian second seed, who has only lost one match all year, overpowered Frenchman Chardy with a superb display of grasscourt tennis as the evening shadows slowly made their way across breezy Centre Court.Djokovic, wearing a strap below his left knee, broke the world number 54 twice early in the second set to storm to a 4-1 lead. The third set was largely repeat of the second as Djokovic broke the 24-year-old’s first service game to take an early lead.On Monday, Andy Murray swept the last 15 games after an uncertain start to beat Daniel Gimeno- Traver 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-0.Playing under the roof because of rain, the fourthseeded Murray broke for the first time in the seventh game of the second set and didn’t lose another game.- With inputs from agencies For more news on India, click here.For more news on Business, click here.For more news on Movies, click here.For more news on Sports, click here.
Keeping Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes next season looks an obvious decision but the Formula One champions need to consider their long term options, team boss Toto Wolff said after the Finn shone in Sunday’s British Grand Prix.”It is almost a no-brainer,” he told reporters at Silverstone.”I would just like to set the puzzle together and it’s not only about 2018. I think that is logical. I think it’s about looking forward and what happens in 2019 and 2020, the risk and opportunities,” added the Austrian.”That’s why after Budapest, hopefully a good race again, I’m going to contemplate on a beach about what’s right and wrong for the team.”Triple world champion Lewis Hamilton won Sunday’s race, a record-equalling fifth victory in Britain and his fourth in a row at Silverstone, to slash Sebastian Vettel’s championship lead to a single point.The Briton has also won five times in Hungary, the last race before the August break.Bottas has proved an ideal replacement for retired 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg since he joined in January on a one-year deal and Hamilton, out of contract at the end of 2018, has emphasised how well they get on.After Rosberg’s sudden decision to quit last December, Mercedes will want a clear indication of Hamilton’s intentions while also keeping themselves open to any top talent that might become available.Ferrari’s Vettel is out of contract at the end of this year and there has been talk of Mercedes lining him up for 2019. There has also been speculation that Hamilton could seek to see out his career at Ferrari.Wolff recognised that the Italian team was one every racer dreamed of driving for, but added that Hamilton had the fastest car at present, while the dynamic in the team was “the best”.”So all of the talk outside has no relevance to me. Zero,” he said.Bottas has triumphed in two races that Hamilton was in no position to win, denying Vettel important points and also proving a loyal team player.On Sunday he started ninth thanks to a five-place penalty but fought back to anchor the team’s second one-two of the season and pass Vettel, who dropped to seventh after a late puncture.While Ferrari have relied on Vettel, winner of three races, for the bulk of their points, the Mercedes drivers have been more equally matched. Bottas is third overall and 22 points behind Hamilton.
Who would have thought that a holiday that began as the commemoration of an ancient saint would become one of the biggest spending days of the year? According to the National Retail Federation, the average person will spend $130.97 on… Full Story,Aside from the temperamental weather, scarcity of holidays and pervasive universal cranky moods, one of the worst parts of winter is the feeling of being trapped indoors for months at a time. While bears are too busy hibernating to take… Full Story,I recently joked to friends that late last year most of the updates on my social networks involved mass food consumption (and accompanying pictures.) For the first week of the New Year, most of the updates involved or included exercise… Full Story,We are three days into the New Year and you may already be having a hard time following through with your resolutions. Financial resolutions are always popular choices but sticking to a budget and tackling your financial goals is an… Full Story,My inbox is full of questions about how to usher in the New Year while getting the most bang for your buck. As with most of my Q&A columns, the following are composites of several similar questions. At Home Celebration… Full Story,You’ve made your list and you’ve checked it twice. You’ve even added it to your Google calendar and synced with your extended family members. You are probably so efficient that every gift on your holiday list is not only accounted… Full Story,It’s December and you know what that means: The frenzy of the gift-giving season has begun again. I’m a fan of gifts of experience and “two-part” gifts. The gift of an experience can harbor memories that last a lifetime. For… Full Story,One of the more interesting facts to emerge from the Black Friday shopping weekend is that a majority of us splurged on ourselves instead of others. Since many of us still face daunting gift lists, I’ve enlisted the help of… Full Story,If you’re reading this, chances are good that as much as you love the turkey, trimmings and time with family, you’re already secretly plotting the best holiday shopping plan of attack. To save you time crowded against thousands of other… Full Story,If there is one wardrobe staple that gets a lot of play every winter, it’s your coat. It doesn’t matter how well cut your pants are or how striking your sweater is, and even if you live someplace only a… Full Story
My birthday is on Halloween, so every year I get super excited. I plan what my costume will be, decide how I want to celebrate and text all my friends to let them know. Last year, I was finally able… Full Story,Technology has transformed the way we dine out in groups. Gone are the days when friends take turns treating each other to nights on the town. Now that apps make money accessible everywhere, tabs are paid down to the cent… Full Story,Occupation: Copywriter Industry: Digital Marketing Age: 29 Location: Indianapolis, IN Paycheck (BiWeekly): $2,100/mo after HSA and 401(k) removed Monthly Expenses: Rent: $462.50 Car lease: $300 Insurances: $85 All other expenses Utilities: $200/mo Pet supplies: $30/mo Phone: $50/mo Streaming services: $15/mo… Full Story,Occupation: Digital advertising Age: 30 Location: San Francisco Bay Area Income: $5,200 month net post 401K, health insurance / HSA, and taxes Total Debt: $0 Monthly Expenses: Rent and utilities: $1,800 Auto: $275 including car insurance Internet/mobile: $120 10:00 am:… Full Story,The holidays are time for family. Here are some fun ideas from our friends at Quotacy on how to make the most of this holiday season with your loved ones, with a bit of humor. ? With the rise… Full Story,Occupation: Social Media Manager Industry: Digital Marketing Age: 26 Location: Indianapolis, IN Paycheck: $2,500/month after health/vision insurance deductions Monthly Expenses Rent: $700 Car Insurance: $65 Renters Insurance: $16 Utilities: $75 (Internet, Electric, Gas) Dental Insurance (not through work): $15 Hulu:… Full Story,On November 30th, The Financial Diet is kicking off their nationwide book tour for The Financial Diet: A Total Beginner’s Guide To Getting Good With Money in New York. Join us when the tour hits your city and don’t forget… Full Story,Occupation: Data Analyst Industry: Digital Marketing Age: 31 Location: Menlo Park, CA Paycheck (BiWeekly): $1,700 after auto-savings, 401k, ESPP purchase, renters & auto insurance and health care removed I have everything removed automatically as I have trouble with in-the-moment spending…. Full Story,Occupation: Account Services & Freelance Writer Industry: Digital Marketing Age: 39 Location: Longmont, CO Paycheck (3): $4,700/mo includes salary and three freelance clients (side hustles) Monthly Expenses Rent: $900 Car loan: $275 Credit card payment: $450 All other expenses… Full Story,If you’re still in college or a recent grad working with a limited budget, the idea of implementing a healthy lifestyle can seem overwhelming and very expensive. If you aren’t careful, you might find yourself shelling out lots of cash… Full Story
Getting physically fit takes discipline, effort, and more than a little energy to get to where you want to be. Regularly moving your body and sticking to a fitness plan isn’t easy, and doing so is certainly commendable—and comes with… Full Story,Table of Contents Benefits of Working During Retirement Phased Retirement Types of Employment Recommended Jobs for Seniors Resources for Seniors Retirement looks different for everyone. Some people dream of playing golf and visiting their grandchildren, while others see it as… Full Story,A study conducted by Charles Schwab just last year found that three in five Americans live paycheck to paycheck, yet only one in four has a written financial plan. In fact, the majority of Americans are hesitant to receive any… Full Story,Life is unpredictable. Some days aren’t all sunshine, like when your car breaks down or your house needs a repair. These situations happen to everyone. That’s why it’s important to save while things are going well, so you can cover… Full Story,Structure is the key to growth. Without a solid foundation – and a road map for the future – it’s easy to spin your wheels and float through life without making any headway. Planning allows you to prioritize your time,… Full Story,Car accidents are not only scary but also a monumental hassle. That’s largely thanks to what comes after the accident itself. After an accident, you’ll likely have to spend ample time on the phone with your insurer. Then there’s dealing… Full Story,If you’re a furloughed government employee, you are likely feeling a good deal of stress and uncertainty about how to manage your finances during the government shutdown. While missing a paycheck is a financial moment no one wants to experience,… Full Story,Buried underneath paying bills, digging out of a debt hole, and saving for your kids’ college is the marathon of money goals: retirement. Cue the fantasies of spending your days at a leisurely pace, working on The Great American Novel—at… Full Story,When I’m on top of finances, I’m all up in my money management apps, checking my balances and the swift progress I’ve been making on my savings goals. But when things aren’t going so hot? I’m like an ostrich with… Full Story,With all of today’s home-based tech gadgets and virtual personal assistants, smart homes are quickly becoming ubiquitous. And with high demand for connected products, so too comes ease of use, accessibility and affordability. But as with all expenses, it’s important… Full Story
A research team composed of scientists from the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and IBM Research has produced a new synthetic molecule that can target and kill five multidrug-resistant bacteria. This synthetic polymer was found to be non-toxic and could enable entirely new classes of therapeutics to address the growing problem of antibiotic-resistant superbugs.The synthetic molecules are called guanidinium-functionalized polycarbonates and were found to be both biodegradable and non-toxic to human cells. Essentially, the positively-charged synthetic polymer enters a living body and binds specifically to certain bacteria cells by homing in on a microbial membrane’s related negative charge. Once attached to the bacteria, the polymer crosses the cell membrane and triggers the solidification of proteins and DNA in the cell, killing the bacteria.“We have demonstrated the first example of a biodegradable synthetic macromolecule with broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity in mice, unique killing mechanism and no toxicity,” says Yi Yan Yang, one of the authors on the study. “Once the polymer finishes its job of killing the bacteria, it will be naturally degraded after three days and will not remain in the body. This antimicrobial agent shows great promise for the treatment and prevention of multidrug-resistant systemic infections.”In mouse experiments the molecules were successful in eradicating five commonly known superbugs found in hospitals around the world. The process showed no notable signs of toxicity in the mice and following multiple treatments the bacteria displayed no signs of developing a resistance to the polymers.Researchers at IBM have been working for several years to develop synthetic polymers that have a variety of medical uses. Back in 2012, a research team stumbled across what they then called “ninja polymers.” The revelation that these synthetic molecules could target and kill bacteria led to an exciting series of discoveries the team calls “macromolecular therapeutics.”“In 2016, we demonstrated the efficacy of synthetic polymers to combat deadly viral diseases,” explains James Hedrick, from IBM Research. “The current research for treating bacterial infections rounds out our ability to someday treat a spectrum of infectious diseases with a single, new type of mechanism without the onset of resistance.”The next phase of the research is to work to develop the technology into a specific antimicrobial treatment that can be clinically tested in humans and hopefully become a new way to treat infections in the body.Source
They’re an unlikely aid, but lemons can help women across the UK detect breast cancer symptoms.The important message is from Worldwide Breast Cancer’s Know Your Lemons campaign. The helpful infographic uses images of lemons in an egg box to depict the different signs and symptoms of breast cancer in a clear and colourful way. Follow them on Instagram here.With breast cancer being the most common form of cancer in the UK, it’s a life-saving message which every man and woman needs to acknowledge and share.The founder of Worldwide Breast Cancer, Corrine Beaumont, created the Know Your Lemons campaign as a simple way to show how the symptoms of breast cancer look and feel, the BBC reports.After Corrine lost both grandmothers to breast cancer, she wanted to spread more information about how to detect the disease. ‘Some patients don’t want to talk about breasts or look at them,’ she told the BBC. ‘Often women used in campaigns don’t look like ordinary women – but even those with little literacy can understand this.’The campaign, which begun 2003, has gone global. It’s been translated into 16 different languages and is educating people from the US to Lebanon. More recently, it has gained momentum after Erin Smith Chieze shared it on social media.This message comes at an even more crucial time as a recent survey of 1,000 women, carried out by Breast Cancer Care, found that a third of women don’t check their breasts regularly for symptoms. It is essential to self-asses as often as you can so you are aware of what is normal for your body and, in turn, be able to pick up on anything new and different.Many of us know to look out for the obvious signs of a lump, but are less in the know that dimpling, indentations or nipple changes can also be signs.Source
SELECT A YEAR: By 2020: we will have baked in almost 1°C of warming above pre-industrial levels In other cases, health-damaging pollutants and climate-changing compounds are emitted at the same time. For example, when coal burns to provide energy, health-damaging fine particles, sometimes laced with toxic mercury, are released along with greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.Strengthening Climate Commitments Will Improve Air QualityThe instruments for climate action could bring important new momentum to tackling air pollution and improving public health. We should use them.For example, the international Paris Agreement asks countries to submit strengthened national climate plans, or “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs), by 2020. These are powerful instruments to direct finance and bend the global emissions trajectory. This is not only necessary for limiting warming to 1.5°C, it also makes good economic sense: Research from the New Climate Economy finds that bold climate action can result in a global economic gain of $26 trillion by 2030.Situating short-lived climate pollutants centrally in strengthened NDCs could advance both climate and health goals. A recent study shows that curbing climate change can prevent air pollution-related deaths—benefits that far outweigh the costs of reducing emissions. In fact, the value of health co-benefits can sometimes be more than double the costs of mitigation efforts. For China and India, the costs of reducing greenhouse gas emissions can be compensated with the health benefits alone.A new WRI/Oxfam working paper presents options for how countries can incorporate targets, policies and actions on short-lived climate pollutants and key related sectors into new or updated NDCs. This will allow countries to reap immediate climate and health benefits while ensuring that those least responsible for our changing climate aren’t left to deal with its increasingly severe impacts.How would taking early action on short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) and long-lived greenhouse gases (GHGs) affect global temperature increase in this century? Note: Global temperature increase relative to pre-industrial levelsSources: Shindell et al. (2017); Shindell (2018); CCAC (2017).Tackling Short-Lived Climate PollutantsIt’s important to note that curbing climate change and reducing air pollution-related risks aren’t exactly the same thing. Exposure, the intersection between people and pollutants, is the key determinant of health, while ambient air quality, the concentration of pollutants in the air regardless of whether people are breathing them, is the key focus for climate change. But aligning health action with climate action could bring several new and innovative strategies to bear. Tackling short-lived climate pollutants offers an important avenue to address air pollution and curb runaway climate change.
1.5°C Paris Goal More than 7 million people die prematurely every year due to air pollution. That’s like the entire population of Hong Kong dropping dead due to a cause that’s ultimately avoidable.The World Health Organization (WHO) is turning its attention to this issue this week at its first global conference to improve air quality, combat climate change and save lives. It’s time to gather all allies in the fight for clean air. As policy, community and scientific leaders look closely at the public health impacts and the case for clean air, the climate world also offers some important instruments that can drive broader action.Air Pollution Is a Climate AND a Health ChallengeA recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) made the case for climate action more starkly than ever: The world is way off track for limiting global warming to 1.5°C (2.7°F), the cap necessary for staving off the worst impacts of climate change. We need to change course rapidly to phase out coal, increase renewables, improve energy efficiency and revolutionize the way we produce food—all while growing sustainably, improving air quality and providing a better life for people.This attention is a force for health as well as climate goals. A little-discussed fact is that the causes of air pollution and climate change overlap. In some cases, the chemicals are actually the same.Short-lived climate pollutants, such as methane, black carbon, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and tropospheric ozone, have a powerful effect on global temperatures, and many are also damaging air pollutants. For example, methane is a potent greenhouse gas with a global warming impact 86 times higher than that of carbon dioxide over a 20-year time horizon. It is also the largest precursor to ground-level ozone, a major component of smog, which can worsen bronchitis and asthma and damage lung tissue. Tropospheric ozone exposure alone is responsible for an estimated one million premature deaths each year.
Metric The marketing takeaway? Publish more content to give a boost to your inbound marketing program!Webinar: Advanced Business Blogging Total articles (end of month)112 14025% increase Topics: Average website visitors / day455523% increase Change Visitors from Google search32637716% increase February Blog Optimization
Blog subscribers (RSS & email)16524649% increase Most marketing experts will tell you that if you blog more frequently – or publish any original content more frequently including photos, videos, and podcasts – you will get more web traffic and subscribers to your blog (by RSS and email).To test that hypothesis, I did a little experiment – not on the HubSpot website or blog – but on my personal website because it is a test case similar to the average small business. Like many small businesses, I have had my site for a long time, my site gets about 1,000 visitors per month, and I have about 500 links into my website. From my experience this is a typical situation for many small businesses.Normally I write about 8-10 blog articles per month. None of them are that great because all my best content ends up on this inbound marketing blog you are reading. So, compared to most small businesses that usually have not started to use a business blogging system, I already had an advantage because I had over 100 articles on my website.For the experiment, I decided to write a new article every single day (even weekends) for the month of February. The hypothesis was that by producing more content and being active in the blogosphere, more people would find me, I would have a larger footprint in the search engines, get some SEO benefits from more inbound links, have a more interesting presence in social media which would drive more traffic, and just generally power up my inbound marketing program.Here are the results: more traffic from search engines (Google), more traffic from social media (Twitter), more blog subscribers, more website visitors. I probably would have had more leads too if I had a decent call to action on my website and cared about leads. This is very similar to the marketing ROI that other companies report from implementing inbound marketing. Visitors from Twitter30233310% increase Learn how to build your business blog into an inbound marketing machine.Download the free webinar to learn how to create a thriving blog. January Originally published Mar 9, 2009 8:19:00 AM, updated October 18 2015 Don’t forget to share this post! AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to TwitterTwitterShare to FacebookFacebookShare to Email AppEmail AppShare to LinkedInLinkedInShare to MessengerMessengerShare to SlackSlack
Topics: Originally published Sep 26, 2012 11:30:00 AM, updated October 20 2016 Don’t forget to share this post! AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to TwitterTwitterShare to FacebookFacebookShare to Email AppEmail AppShare to LinkedInLinkedInShare to MessengerMessengerShare to SlackSlack Does your company target a global audience? Are you a European marketer looking to scale your business to other European nations? Are you in the U.S. seeking the attention of a French or Spanish audience?If you’re challenged with targeting an audience across multiple countries or languages, you probably have a lot of questions about how to create a successful global social media content strategy.Before you start tweeting and Facebooking, it’s important to map out your global social media strategy so you can create a program that scales. Here are our top six tips to keep in mind as you’re building your global social media content strategy:1) Segment Your Audience SmartlyFirst, determine how you want to segment your social media audience by deciding which countries and languages you want to target, and set some social media goals for each of these audiences. If you need more instruction here, download our new free ebook, The Complete Guide to Global Social Media Marketing.Next, decide if you can use the localization features of the most popular social networks to segment your audience rather than creating a brand new page or profile for each one. Facebook and LinkedIn have the most comprehensive localization features, so you can limit specific status updates to only appear in the news feeds of specific segments of your audience. Specifically for global marketing, you can choose to segment by geography, language, or a combination of each. 
You can find more detailed instructions for using the localization features in Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter in our new ebook. In general, to save yourself from creating more work by maintaining a social media account for every language, use social networks’ localization features wherever possible. And if you’re targeting multiple languages where different social networks are more popular, then create those social media accounts when appropriate.2) Provide Native TranslationsDon’t simply take a blog post from your English blog and copy/paste it into Google Translate for your Spanish blog, or vice-versa. Same goes for tweets and Facebook status updates. Your content will just end up sounding Google Translated to anyone who speaks the language natively. Talk about unprofessional! Instead, get help from someone who is fluent in the language you’re creating content for. Here are just some of the translation service providers you can choose from:MilengoTranslations.comLingo24Verbatim SolutionsTake note that you shouldn’t mix languages on the same blog. Even though you might think this might make your blog “global friendly,” it will not help your overall user experience. Mixing languages on social networking sites is more acceptable because when you send out an update, it’s mostly consumed via users’ news feeds, not via your page or profile itself.In addition, be aware of variations in spelling from region to region. For example, American and British folks may speak the same language, but there are certain nuances that are important to address (e.g. color vs. colour; optimization vs. optimisation; etc.).3) Solicit Content From Local ContributorsFrom each region you’re targeting, recruit guest bloggers who can provide local insights you can’t provide yourself. This is especially important if you decide to set up a separate blog for each language or region that you’re targeting. This will keep the content on your blog fresh and varied, as well as relevant to your local audience. In addition, along with guest bloggers comes inbound links from global domain extensions, giving your global blogs an SEO boost. Furthermore, recruit local help to manage and monitor your foreign-language interactions. Translation services are great for the social media publishing schedule you plan ahead for each month, but they’re no substitute for native and on-the-fly social engagement, especially if you’re using your social media accounts as customer service resources.4) Post Relevant ContentWhether you’re posting content on one of your global blogs, Facebook Pages, or Twitterprofiles, there are certain content creation best practices for global audiences that you shouldkeep in mind.Make sure you’re either on top of the hot topics and sensitive issues in each of your target markets, or you hire someone to specialize in each market. In addition, make sure you’re only posting content that’s relevant for each specific audience. In other words, a news story in Australia may not be relevant to your audience in Ireland. Each of your global blogs and social media accounts should cover topics relevant to that audience. For example, on your blog, you could include content such as:Educational guides, which can be applicable to multiple audiencesThought-leadership pieces that are new to certain culturesIndustry news from relevant regionsProduct updates relevant to the region5) Use High-Quality Images Wherever PossibleRemember: An image doesn’t need a translation. Visuals are much easier for international audiences to understand, especially if you’re not creating separate profiles for each region or language. They also happen to drive engagement. In fact, according to Simply Measured, just one month after the introduction of Facebook timeline for brands, visual content — photos and videos — saw a 65% increase in engagement.Here are some social network-specific tips for using visuals in your social media marketing:Facebook & Google+: Use the photo share functionality — which displays images more prominently — and make sure your cover photo is both eye-catching and appropriately portrays your brand.Twitter: Use TwitPic or Instagram to frequently share photos with your Twitter followers from around the world.LinkedIn: On your Company Page, share URLs of pages that have an enticing image; this image will be automatically pulled into your LinkedIn company update. In general, start making it a best practice to include a high-quality image on every web page and blog article you publish, for these very reasons!6) Understand Color ConnotationsFigure out what certain colors mean in different countries before designing your blog and social media profiles. In most of Europe and the Americas, white is associated with purity and marriage. In Japan, China and parts of Africa, however, white is traditionally the color of mourning. Make sure you’re aware of these types of nuances for your different target audiences so you can be sensitive to them in your social media marketing.7) Link All Your Social Channels TogetherYour ultimate goal of participating in social media is likely to drive traffic back to your website so you can convert those visitors into leads. If that’s the case, you’ll want to make it as easy as possible to direct your social media fans and followers back to your website where those conversions can take place. Therefore, make sure you link to the appropriate blog/website within each social media account’s About Us or URL sections.As we mentioned in our second tip, if you have a more sophisticated global marketing strategy that requires more personalization because you’re targeting multiple languages where different social networks are more popular, you’ll likely have more social media accounts to maintain. If this is the case, be sure to link all of your social media channels for each language together. Your goals here are to:Make it easy for people to find your other channels in their language.Make it easy for people who have landed in the wrong place to find the channels most relevant to them.Creating a global social media strategy early on will help you plan for all the challenges global social media marketing poses, such as creating content for multiple languages, in multiple time zones, etc. — and will keep you from overextending your resources.What other content tips would you give to companies just getting started with an international social media campaign? Please share your tips in the comments below. Social Media Strategy
Are you using calls-to-action in your marketing? What about dynamic calls-to-action? As far as I’m concerned, dynamic calls-to-action are the only calls-to-action.Not hip to the difference? Whereas a standard CTA is the same for every viewer, a dynamic call-to-action (CTA) — or a Smart CTA as we refer to it in HubSpot’s software — is one that changes based on the person viewing it. Dynamic CTAs can change based on a person’s profile data or history of interactions with that particular company or website. Because of that, dynamic CTAs are much more personalized to the viewer. And if you weren’t aware, personalization = more effective marketing. When we analyzed over 93,000 calls-to-action from our database of customers, we found that calls-to-action targeted to the user had a 42% higher view-to-submission rate than calls-to-action that were the same for all visitors. In other words, if you’re not taking the time to personalize your CTAs, you’re leaving quite a few conversions on the table. Download Now: 28 Free CTA TemplatesSo what are some ways you can target your dynamic CTAs on your blog, website, or in your email marketing? Here are a few ideas to get your wheels turning.6 Strategies for Targeting Dynamic CTAs in Your Marketing 1) Promote Different Offers to Different PersonasIf you’re a savvy marketer, you’ve likely bucketed your target audience into different buyer personas. And as you know, different personas have different interests and needs. So why not use what you know about your audience to cater different offers to those different personas?In our marketing at HubSpot, for example, we might show our ecommerce audience a CTA for an ebook about how to get started with ecommerce marketing, but to our nonprofit audience, we may show a CTA to sign up for our upcoming webinar about content ideas to help boost fundraising dollars. Much more effective than showing both groups a more general offer that only slightly appeals to both audiences, eh? Download this free template to help you map content to your various buyer personas.2) Promote Different Offers to People in Different Lifecycle Stages When it comes to CTAs, the persona level isn’t the only way to segment your audience. Try thinking about the different stages in your sales cycle. Someone who is visiting your website for the very first time is probably much less qualified to buy from you than a visitor who has already downloaded some of your content and attended a product webinar. As a result, different offers will likely appeal to each of these groups.With dynamic CTAs, you don’t have to risk neglecting any one of these audiences — you can show a different CTA to appeal to people in each of these lifecycle stages. So maybe you show a free trial offer to those more qualified visitors, and an educational ebook to those brand new visitors. Learn more about mapping content to lifecycle stages in this post.3) Promote Different Offers Based on Pages Visitors Have Seen Visits to certain pages on your website can tell you a lot about individual contacts. If someone has visited your pricing page, for instance, there’s a good chance they’re actively evaluating your products or services and are much closer to buying than someone who hasn’t explored your website past your blog. That sounds like a great opportunity to promote some of your more product-focused offers, like a product demo or a trial. This kind of page-based segmentation can also be great for retargeting. Say a visitor landed on the registration page for your upcoming live event, but didn’t sign up. Maybe you could show them a CTA that offers a discount code for that event to entice them to register.4) Promote Different Offers to People Who Have Already Downloaded/Signed Up for an Offer Once that person has registered for your live event, there’s no sense promoting a call-to-action for that same event to them, right? Don’t waste the opportunity — show them something else instead! Ideally, you’d offer something that helps to propel them further down the marketing funnel, from one lifecycle stage to the next. 5) Promote Offers Based on What People Have Already Shown Interest InThink of it like the Netflix recommendations of CTAs. Depending on what types of content people have viewed or downloaded from you in the past, you can get a sense of what those visitors are interested in. Use that information to show them CTAs for offers that appeal to those same interests. For example, if a visitor downloaded our introductory ebook about using Twitter for business, knowing they have an interest in Twitter, we could choose to show them a CTA for our intermediate-level ebook about how to use Twitter to generate leads.6) Customize the Messaging of the Same Offer to Appeal to Different Audiences Sometimes you truly do want everyone to see a CTA for the same offer. Maybe it’s for your brand new, yearly research report that appeals to a wide variety of audiences, and you’re trying to get it seen by as many people as possible. No need to use dynamic CTAs for that, right? Wrong. The offer may be the same for everyone, but the way you position it doesn’t have to be. Personalizing the copy and messaging of your CTA can help you appeal to different audiences and generate more clicks.For example, in promoting registration for our upcoming INBOUND conference, we might create a CTA that highlights the opportunity to attend sessions that will teach attendees how to use HubSpot’s software more effectively and promote that version of the CTA to HubSpot customers, whereas we might create a different CTA that features the performance of Janelle Monáe at INBOUND and promote that version to brand new visitors. What other strategies do you use for segmenting your dynamic calls-to-action? Share them in the comments! Originally published Jul 17, 2014 12:00:00 PM, updated November 29 2017 Don’t forget to share this post! AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to TwitterTwitterShare to FacebookFacebookShare to Email AppEmail AppShare to LinkedInLinkedInShare to MessengerMessengerShare to SlackSlack Topics: Smart Content
Australia batsman Marnus Labuschagne is mighty impressed with the way “classy” Cheteshwar Pujara batted on the Day 1 of the fourth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). Continuing with the run-scoring spree, Cheteshwar Pujara struck his third century of the series to give India a solid start in the series finale on Thursday.Cheteshwar Pujara was unbeaten on 130 as India reached 303 for four at the close of play. Cheteshwar Pujara was also involved in three fifty-plus partnerships to put India in a comfortable position.Pujara joined Mayank Agarwal (77) at the crease in the second over after KL Rahul (9) poor form in Test cricket continued. The duo added 116 runs to revive India’s innings before Pujara and captain Virat Kohli (23) put on 54 for the third wicket.Pujara had another 48-run stand with vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane (18) and an unbroken 75-run partnership with Hanuma Vihari (39 not out).”He was very classy, wasn’t he? His time, patience around the crease and just the way he batted was very good,” Labuschagne said after stumps.Marnus Labuschagne, who will bat at No.3 in the match, has played two Tests for Australia having made his debut against Pakistan in October last year.”I think it’s something I personally can take a lot from. He just batted a lot of time and I think that’s something he’s done through this whole series. That’s what we’re going to need to do and all our batters are going to need to step up and put a big score on the board.”advertisementMarnus Labuschagne, has played 43 first-class matches and has scored 4 hundreds and 15 half-centuries, is also looking forward to the challenge of batting at No.3 in international cricket.”I’ve pretty much batted most of my time at Queensland at three. It does give me confidence going out in a position that I’m comfortable with. It’s going to be a good challenge and one I’m looking forward to,” Labuschagne said.India, who have never won a Test series in Australia, are on the cusp of rewriting history books. They currently lead the series 2-1 and are favourites to capture the series.Also Read | Are you not bored yet Pujara? Nathan Lyon asks India’s run-machineAlso Read | Why Cheteshwar Pujara reminds Michael Clarke of Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar
Whether you’re just starting out with content marketing or you’ve been using the same approach for a while, it never hurts to revisit your content strategy plan — to make sure it’s up-to-date, innovative, and strong.After all, you’ve got more competition than ever. According to the Content Marketing Institute, the most successful B2B marketers report spending 40% of their budget on content marketing as of 2018 — up 1% from 2017.The first step to getting a leg up on the competition is to have a solid, smart content marketing plan in place. If you’re having trouble planning for the upcoming year or need some fresh ideas to include in your plan, read on.Click here to try our free Blog Ideas Generator tool.In this post, we’ll dive into:What content strategy is.Why your business needs a content marketing plan.The exact steps you will need to take to create your strategy, including:How your content can generate leads.How (and what) to publish on social media. Content Marketing Strategy Blog postsIf you haven’t already noticed, you’re currently perusing a blog post. Blog posts live on a website and should be published regularly in order to attract new visitors. Posts should provide valuable content for your audience that makes them inclined to share posts on social media and across other websites. We recommend that blog posts be between 1,000 and 2,000 words in length, but experiment to see if your audience prefers longer or shorter reads.Check out our free blog post templates for writing great how-to, listicle, curation, SlideShare presentation, and newsjacking posts on your own blog.EbooksEbooks are lead-generation tools that potential customers can download after submitting a lead form with their contact information. They’re typically longer, more in-depth, and published less frequently than blog posts, which are written to attract visitors to a website.Ebooks are the next step in the inbound marketing process: After reading a blog post (such as this one), visitors might want more information. This is where calls-to-action (CTAs) come into play, directing people to a landing page where they can submit their contact information and download an ebook to learn more valuable information for their business. In turn, the business producing the ebook has a new lead for the sales team to contact.Case StudiesCase studies, also known as testimonials, are your opportunity to tell the story of a customer who succeeded in solving a problem by working with you. A case study is perhaps your most versatile type of content marketing because it can take many different forms — some of which are on this list. That’s right, case studies can take the form of a blog post, ebook, podcast … even an infographic.Your goal in a case study is to show the people who are considering your product that the proof is in the pudding. Before choosing a customer for a case study, you should determine which form the testimonial will take and the area of your business to which you’re trying to drive value.TemplatesTemplates are a handy content format to try because they generate leads for you while providing tremendous value to your audience. When you provide your audience with template tools to save them time and help them succeed, they’re more likely to keep engaging with your content in the future.InfographicsInfographics can organize and visualize data in a more compelling way than words alone. These are great content formats to use if you’re trying to share a lot of data in a way that is clear and easy to understand.If you’re ready to get started, get our templates for creating beautiful infographics in less than an hour.VideosVideos are a highly engaging content medium that are shareable across social media platforms and websites alike. Videos require a bigger investment of time and resources than written content, but as visual marketing increases in popularity — after all, it’s 40X more likely to get shared on social media than other types of content — it’s a medium worth experimenting with.HubSpot Research recently found that video is the most preferred form of content. Video also captures people’s attention more than any other content format.PodcastsStarting a podcast will help audiences find your brand if they don’t have time or interest in reading content every day. The number of podcast listeners is growing — in 2018, nearly one-third of the U.S. population has listened to a podcast in the last month. If you have interesting people to interview or conversations to host, consider podcasting as another content format to experiment with.Here’s our comprehensive guide to starting a podcast.Social MediaOnce you’ve been regularly publishing content on your own site for a while, it might be time to start thinking about distributing your content on other sites. This could mean repurposing content into new formats and publishing them on your blog, creating original content specifically for external sites — such as Medium — or publishing website content on various social networks.Considering Medium? Check out our insights from our first year of publishing original content on ThinkGrowth.org.Posting on social media, however, is pivotal to amplifying your brand’s reach and delivering your content to your customers where you know they spend their time. Social networks on which businesses often post include:FacebookInstagramTwitterLinkedInPinterestSnapchatYouTube (yep, this is technically a social network)When launching a business account on any of the social networks above, it’s important to post the type of content your followers expect to see. On Instagram, for example, users want photos, videos, and graphics that reflect current events, show off user-generated content, or even go behind the scenes of your organization.On Facebook, your options for what to post open up a bit: Not only can you share your blog posts and website content, but you can also post native Facebook videos, product promotions, and original memes that resonate with your customers. You can also interact with other businesses that have a similar audience as your own.While the goal on social media sites like Instagram or Snapchat is to connect more intimately with your audience, your goal on platforms like Facebook and Twitter is to expand that audience, drive traffic toward your website, and start conversations in your industry. Do some basic market research to discover which platforms your buyers are on, and mold your content to their expectations.When you’re ready for more ideas, there are a plethora of different content types to diversify your website. Check them out below:7. Publish and manage your content.Your marketing plan should go beyond the types of content you’ll create — it should also cover you’ll organize your content. With the help of an editorial calendar, you’ll be on the right track for publishing a well-balanced and diverse content library on your website. Then, create a social media content calendar so you can promote and manage your content on other sites.Many of the ideas you think of will be evergreen — they’re just as relevant months from now as they are today. That being said, you shouldn’t ignore timely topics either. While they may not be the bulk of your editorial calendar, they can help you generate spikes of traffic.Most people count on incorporating popular holidays such as New Year’s and Thanksgiving in their marketing efforts, but you don’t have to limit yourself to these important marketing dates. If there are niche holidays that might appeal to your audience, it could be worth publishing content on your blog or on social media. HubSpot’s Service Blog Editor Sophia Bernazzani compiled this ultimate list of social media holidays — keep an eye on it when you’re planning your calendar.We know this is a lot of information, but the work has just begun. It takes time, organization, and creativity to grow a successful content marketing strategy. From building the foundation of your content marketing plan to adding tools to better manage your content, setting up your strategy for the new year won’t be a hassle if you follow the steps and explore the resources here.For additional guidance, use HubSpot’s Marketing Plan Generator to create a 12-month strategy in just a few minutes.Happy creating. Originally published Sep 4, 2018 12:20:00 AM, updated February 15 2019 Topics: What Is Content Strategy?Content strategy refers to the management of pretty much any tangible media that you create and own: written, visual, downloadable … you name it. It is the piece of your marketing plan that continuously demonstrates who you are and the expertise you bring to your industry.You might’ve heard how important content creation is to the growth of your business, but as you’ll see throughout this post, it needs to have a well-planned purpose. When you develop a content strategy, there are some key things to consider:Whom You’re Creating Content ForWho’s the target audience for this content? For how many audiences are you creating content? Just as your business might have more than one type of customer, your content strategy can cater to more than one type of reader or viewer.Using a variety of content types and channels will help you deliver different content to each type of audience you have in mind and engage everyone your company does business with.The Problem it’s Going to Solve for that AudienceIdeally, your product or service solves a problem you know your audience has. By the same token, your content coaches and educates your audience through this problem as they begin to identify and address it.A sound content strategy supports people on both sides of your product: those who are still figuring out what their main challenges are, and those who are already using your product to overcome these challenges. Your content reinforces the solution(s) you’re offering and makes your customers more qualified users of your product.What Makes You UniqueYour competitors likely have a similar product as yours, which means your potential customers need to know what makes yours better — or, at least, different. This is where content comes in. In order to prove why you’re worth buying from, you need to prove why you’re worth listening to.The Content Formats You’ll Focus OnWhat forms will your content take? Infographics? Videos? Blog posts? Having identified the topics you want to take a position on, you’ll need to determine which formats to budget for so you can best express that position.The Channels Where It’ll Be PublishedJust as you can create content in different formats, you’ll also have different channels you can publish to. Channels can include owned properties, such as your website and blog; and social media properties, such as Facebook and Twitter. We’ll talk more about social media content strategy in the step-by-step guide later in this article.How You’ll Manage Creation and PublicationFiguring out how you’ll create and publish all your content can be a daunting task. It’s important for a content strategy to know who’s creating what, where it’s being published, and when it’s going live.Today’s content strategies prevent clutter by managing content from a topic standpoint. When planning a content calendar around topics, you can easily visualize your company’s message and assert yourself as an authority in your market over time. Learn more about topics in content strategy in the video below.Why Do Marketers Need to Create a Content Marketing Strategy?Content marketing helps businesses prepare and plan for reliable and cost-effective sources of website traffic and new leads. Think about it — if you can create just one blog post that gets a steady amount of organic traffic, an embedded link to an ebook or free tool will continue generating leads for you as time goes on.HubSpot’s Sales Blog Team found this to be key to their strategy to increasing traffic to the blog over time. Read about their blog strategy here.The reliable source of traffic and leads from your evergreen content will give you the flexibility to experiment with other marketing tactics to generate revenue, such as sponsored content, social media advertising, and distributed content. Plus, your content will not only help attract leads — it will also help educate your target prospects and generate awareness for your brand.Now, let’s dive in to learn the specifics of how to create a content marketing plan.How to Create a Content Marketing Strategy1. Define your goal.What’s your aim for developing a content marketing plan? Why do you want to produce content and create a content marketing plan? Know your goals before you begin planning, and you’ll have an easier time determining what’s best for your strategy. (Want help figuring out the right goals? Download this goal planning template.)2. Conduct persona research.To develop a successful plan, you need to clearly define your content’s target audience — also known as your buyer persona.This is especially important for those who are starting out or are new to marketing. By knowing your target audience, you can produce more relevant and valuable content that they’ll want to read and convert on.If you’re an experienced marketer, your target may have changed. Do you want to target a new group of people or expand your current target market? Do you want to keep the same target audience? Revisiting your audience parameters by conducting market research each year is crucial to growing your audience.3. Run a content audit.Most people start out with blog posts, but if you want to venture out and try producing other content pieces, consider which ones you want to make. For instance, if you’ve been doing weekly blog posts for the past year, creating an ebook that distills all your blog posts into one ultimate guide would be a one way to offer information in a different format. We’ll go over several different types of content you can use further down on the list.If you’ve been in business for a while, review your content marketing efforts and the results from it in the last year. Figure out what you can do differently in the upcoming year and set new goals to reach. (Pro tip: Now is a great time to align your team’s goals with the rest of your organization’s goals.)4. Choose a content management system.Have a system in place where you can manage your content. A few vital parts of content management include content creation, content publication, and content analytics.If you’re a HubSpot customer, you can plan, produce, publish, and measure your results all in one place using HubSpot software. Another content management system is a WordPress website hosted on WP Engine.5. Brainstorm content ideas.Now, it’s time to start coming up with ideas for your next content project. Here are some tools to get the wheels turning:HubSpot’s Website GraderHubSpot’s Website Grader is a great tool to use when you want to see where you’re at with your marketing. From your blogging efforts to your social media marketing, Website Grader grades vital areas of your marketing and sends you a detailed report to help you optimize and improve each area.With this tool, you can figure out how to make your website more SEO-friendly and discover new content ideas.BlogAboutGet your mind gears going with IMPACT’s unique content idea generator, BlogAbout. This tool works a bit like Mad Libs, but instead of joke sentences, it shows you common headline formats with blanks where you can fill in the subject you have in mind.This brainstorming technique helps you put general ideas in contexts that would be appealing to your target audience. Once you have a headline you like, BlogAbout lets you add it to your “Notebook” so you can save your best ideas.HubSpot’s Blog Ideas GeneratorGet blog post ideas for an entire year with HubSpot’s Blog Ideas Generator. All you need to do is enter general topics or terms you’d like to write about, and this content idea generator does all the work for you.FeedlyThis popular RSS feed is a wonderful way to keep track of trendy topics in your industry and find content ideas at the same time.BuzzSumoDiscover popular content and content ideas at BuzzSumo. This company offers a number of market research tools, one of which uses social media shares to determine if a piece of content is popular and well-liked. In turn, this information helps you see which content ideas would do well if you were to create content about them.Blog Post Headline AnalyzerCoSchedule’s tool analyzes headlines and titles and provides feedback on length, word choice, grammar, and keyword search volume. If you have an idea in mind, run a few title options through the Headline Analyzer to see how you could make it stronger, and to move your idea further along in the brainstorming process.6. Determine which types of content you want to create.There are a variety of options out there for content you can create. Here are some of the most popular content formats marketers are creating, and tools and templates to get you started.Types of Content MarketingBlog PostsEbooksCase StudiesTemplatesInfographicsVideosPodcastsSocial Media Don’t forget to share this post!
Topics: Optimizing Your Amazon Product Pages Amazon Marketing Services (AMS) In today’s e-commerce universe, Amazon is a behemoth.We all know it, and we all use it … whether we want to admit it or not.But today’s consumers don’t just use Amazon to buy stuff. They also use it to check prices (90% of consumers use Amazon to price check a product), discover new products (72% of consumers visit Amazon for product ideas), and start product searches (56% of consumers visit Amazon before any other site).Have you utilized Amazon for any of these purposes? I know I have.Here are some other fascinating Amazon statistics:Amazon sells over 12 million products, not including books, wine, media, and services.Amazon has over 310 million active users, including 90 million U.S.-based Prime members.Amazon Prime members spend almost $1.5k every year. 7% of Prime members purchase something every day.Wow. Like I said — behemoth.In 25 years, Amazon has grown exponentially. It sees over 2,000 new sellers every day. Whether you’re a veteran Amazon seller or considering becoming one, it can be an intimidating place.That’s why we’ve built this guide — to help you build a profitable marketing strategy and succeed in the jungle that is Amazon. Literally.Bookmark this post for later, and use the chapter links below to jump ahead to sections of interest.Download Now: Ecommerce Marketing Plan Template Amazon Marketing Now that you’ve optimized your Amazon product pages, you’re ready to start driving traffic to your products through a well-crafted, profitable Amazon marketing strategy. Note: Most of these strategies work in tandem (as you’ll see), so don’t be afraid to test out one or two at the same time.Amazon Advertising (or Amazon Marketing Services)Amazon sellers advertise on the platform through Amazon Marketing Services (AMS). AMS is similar to Google Ads in that sellers pay only when shoppers click on ads. The service uses keywords, related products, and shopper interests to place ads where consumers are most likely to click on them.As a seller, you can choose how you want your product to be seen. Product Display ads show up on the side or bottom of Amazon SERPs and along the side of related product pages. When clicked, Product Display ads lead to a product page.Sponsored Product ads appear in the Amazon SERPs and on product pages before the product description. When clicked, Sponsored Product ads lead to a product page. Direct Marketing Strategies How to Create an Amazon Marketing Strategy Amazon Marketing Strategy Amazon SEO
Originally published Apr 25, 2019 7:30:00 AM, updated April 25 2019 Headline Search ads are the most customizable Amazon ad. They appear at the top of Amazon SERPs and can include custom ad copy as well as link to a branded landing page on which you can feature custom navigation, branded imagery, and select products. Sellers should create an Amazon marketing strategy to attract consumers to their Amazon product pages and convert them to customers. Generally, an Amazon marketing strategy is comprised of five components: Amazon Marketing Services, Amazon SEO, reviews, direct marketing, and affiliate marketing. Optimizing Your Amazon Product Pages12 million-plus products. That’s a dense jungle. It might seem nearly impossible to find success as a seller on Amazon, but the answer is actually quite simple: You must think like a buyer.Before you build an Amazon marketing strategy, you must ensure your Amazon product pages are ready to receive new shoppers. You can do this by optimizing your pages to attract buyers. (These practices also support Amazon SEO — which we’ll get into later.)Amazon is a remarkable platform because, unlike Google and other search engines, people who visit Amazon are already in a “shopping” mindset. Any traffic that hits your Amazon product pages is already primed to buy, even if they’re merely checking prices or researching new products.It’s your job as a seller to recognize this primed audience and optimize your page to capture a potential buyer.Let’s review the specific components of your product pages as organized from top to bottom. (If you’re interested in what Amazon has to say, check out their Quick Start Style Guide here.)Product TitleThis is an Amazon product I actually purchased. You’ll see this example throughout the piece.Your product title is a consumer’s first introduction to your product when browsing Amazon. While you should keep your titles concise, Amazon does allow up to 200 characters. Use this character limit wisely, though.Here’s what we recommend including:Your brand nameThe product nameSpecific features (such as size, color, material, quantity, etc.)One or two distinguishing benefits or valuesAdditionally, here are some of Amazon’s title formatting rules:Capitalize the first letter of every word (except for words like “and”).Use “and” instead of “&” and numerals (“10”) instead of written numbers (“ten”).Don’t put pricing, seller information, promotions, and opinion-based copy (words like “best” or “leading”) in the title.Leave out details like color or size if irrelevant to the product.Your title is prime real estate for two things: product information and keywords. For most products, these are one and the same, but some sellers opt to add a few additional keywords to increase their chances of popping up on Amazon SERPs.Ultimately, your title should match the words shoppers use to discover your product and educate them on your product before they get to your page.👉🏼HubSpot Tip: Use tools like Merchant Words and Simple Keyword Inspector to research potential keywords and their search volume.Product ImagesWhile your titles communicate your product information, consumers use your imagery to decide whether or not to further explore your product page. On a long list of Amazon search results, product imagery can help your product stand out.Once a shopper visits your product page, however, imagery is even more important — it can dictate whether a consumer makes a purchase not. Amazon allows up to nine product images. We recommend using all of them, only if you have nine high-quality, relevant images.Amazon requires your main product image needs to be on a plain, white background, but here are some tips for your other eight product images:Capture your product from different angles.Show your product being used or worn by a real person (not a mannequin or computer-generated human).Include content submitted by real customers — and make note of that on the image.Upload images that include charts, lists, or competitor comparison tables.Amazon also offers shoppers the ability to zoom into each image, which is why your product images should be at least 1,000px x 1,000px.👉🏼HubSpot Tip: Test your product images to see which one converts more shoppers (like an A/B test). To do this, record your sessions, sales, conversion rate, and revenue over the course of a week or month — and make a note of which image was set as the main image. Then, change the image and capture the same data.Product Key Features (Bullet Points)If a consumer makes it past your product title, images, price, and purchase options (if applicable), he or she will find your product key features, or bullet points. These bullet points allow you to go more in-depth about your product’s features, benefits, characteristics, and details.Successful Amazon sellers use these bullet points to expand on features and benefits and to address common questions, misconceptions, or issues.Here’s how we recommend you approach your product key features list:Write a paragraph for each bullet and include two to four sentences or phrases that are relevant to that bullet’s topic.Capitalize the first few words of each bullet to emphasize the feature, benefit, or question you’re addressing.Treat these paragraphs as you would an advertising campaign. This copy could be the key to converting page visitors.Avoid wasting space on information that’s obvious from product images or mentioned in your product title.👉🏼HubSpot Tip: Look at reviews, complaints, and FAQs to learn what your customers love and not-so-love about your products. Proactively include and address these points in your list .Product Description Don’t forget to share this post! If a consumer makes it to your product description, you can assume they’re on the cusp of making a purchase. How do we know that? Consumers have to scroll down a bit to find it.Seriously. They have to scroll past Amazon ads, sponsored products, and other featured information. If they make it to your product description, they’re expecting to learn more about your product and finalize their purchase (or ditch your page altogether).So , use your product description to expand on your product bullet points, address some lesser known features and benefits, and perhaps include some more images of your product. Additionally, consider listing details that sets your product apart from competitors’.Amazon provides basic HTML markup in this section — bold, italics, and page breaks — so utilize these to avoid publishing one big, boring paragraph of information.👉🏼HubSpot Tip: Utilize Amazon’s Enhanced Brand Content option to make your content more scannable, professional, and consistent with your overall branding. We cover how to do this next.Amazon Enhanced Brand ContentEnhanced Brand Content (EBC) is a way to “upgrade” your Amazon product descriptions for no additional cost. Historically, Amazon reserved EBC for products sold through Amazon and seller in the Vendor program, but they recently opened up this feature to all sellers through Seller Central under Advertising.EBC provides pre-built templates that allow you to add additional features to your product descriptions, such as banners, tables, bullets, and interactive images and copy.SourceSimply opening an Amazon seller account won’t give you access to EBC. You’ll also need to open an Amazon Seller Central account with a Pro subscription, enroll each of your brands with Amazon Brand Registry, and possess a registered word trademark for each brand name. Like with your Amazon marketing strategy, consider creating an Amazon advertising strategy to best target your ads and drive shopping traffic to your product pages.Amazon SEOAs I said above, Amazon is a very popular search engine. (To reiterate what we said above, over 70% of shoppers visit Amazon for new product ideas, and over 50% start their product search on Amazon.) Amazon isn’t just an e-commerce site; it’s also a search engine. And as a search engine, it has its own search engine optimization, or SEO.Amazon’s search engine is called A9. It operates on its own algorithm and comes with its own unpredictable updates — similar to Google. A9 is similar to Google in another key way: it cares about its buyers (a.k.a. searchers), and its buyers alone.This is great when you’re shopping … but not so fun when you’re selling.However, it’s important to remember this as a seller, too. Think like a buyer, and you’ll get along with A9 just fine. (Remember how we talked about optimizing your Amazon product pages to think like a buyer? This is one of the main reasons why.)When it comes to A9 and Amazon SEO, you want to optimize your content for three things: discoverability, relevance, and sales. In other words, you want shoppers to see, click, and buy your products.DiscoverabilityLet’s talk first about discoverability. Think: What will help shoppers find my products?Invest in Amazon advertising (as we discussed above) as well as Facebook and Google Ads to drive traffic to your product pages.Create product titles that read naturally and reflect a handful of relevant keywords. Use special characters (like | or — or ,) to make your title more readable.Place the most relevant, searched-for terms first (in an order that makes sense).Look at competitors’ titles, especially those in the first few spots on the SERP. They’re doing something right if they’re ranking that high.Take advantage of Amazon’s backend Search Terms, found under Keywords as you edit a product listing. Amazon allows for up to 250 characters (including spaces, commas, etc.), so use this space wisely. Use hyphenated words (like water-resistant) to cover all possible combinations and the individual words, too. SourceRelevanceNext, relevance. Think: What will help shoppers click on my products?Ensure your product images are crystal clear and display your product in the best light … literally. Shoppers will decide whether or not to click based on your main image.While your product bullet points can’t necessarily influence your product’s ranking, they can support product relevance once a shopper lands on your page. Use relevant keywords in your bullet points (especially those you couldn’t fit in your title) to further entice shoppers to buy.The same tips apply for your product titles, too. Shoppers will judge these for product relevance.SalesFinally, sales. Think: What will help shoppers purchase my product?Ensure your product page delivers on what your product title and images promise.Optimize your product page for conversions. We talked about this at the beginning of this guide.Feature as many customer reviews as possible. We talk about how to do this next.Product ReviewsCustomer reviews and ratings are important. They’re even more important in the world of e-commerce, where shoppers can’t physically see or touch a product before buying. In the case of Amazon, almost 90% of shoppers have said they wouldn’t purchase a product with fewer than three stars.Amazon recognizes the power of customer reviews, and — true to their buyer-first mindset — make reviews a major part of each product page. Shoppers can view customer images, filter reviews by suggested keywords, search for content within reviews, sort reviews by stars, and review customer questions and answers.As a shopper, I’m very grateful for this. Whenever I’m shopping on Amazon, I always browse customer reviews for products before I buy. My favorite section is the customer images, where I can see the product used or worn in real-life.As a seller, you should also prioritize reviews. They can make or break a shopper’s decision to purchase — perhaps more than your optimized product pages.While you can’t incentivize reviews anymore, you can kindly ask your customers to complete one. Here are a few ways to do this:Include a thank-you note and review request in your product shipmentSend a follow-up email with a review requestSell a reviewable productFinally, Amazon allows sellers to respond to reviews. This is yet another way to engage with customers, express gratitude, and address issues or complaints.Learn new tactics for responding to customer reviews — the good, bad, and the ugly — in our free Ultimate Guide to Customer Reviews.Direct MarketingA lot of Amazon marketing takes place within the platform (through advertising and SEO), but some sellers follow traditional direct marketing methods, too. While they require extra work, they can be beneficial for creating loyal customers and eventually bringing business off of Amazon to an e-commerce site (if you’re interested in that).Note: Be sure to read through Amazon’s prohibited seller activites and actions to ensure you remain compliant.EmailHave you ever ordered something off Amazon and received an email from the seller afterwards? I have. I’ve received emails thanking me for my purchase, asking for a product review, and even offering a discount code for my next purchase.The first few caught me off guard (I was only used to emails from Amazon about my purchase), but I could appreciate the seller’s intent. Many sellers opt to conduct separate email marketing practices to promote their store and grow their list.👉🏼HubSpot Tip: If you decide to do email marketing for your Amazon products, don’t forget to ask subscribers if they want to opt-in!Social MediaSome Amazon sellers also create social media profiles for their brand. This serves as another avenue through which to connect with customers and potential customers.Use your social media to share product updates, announce sales and giveaways, and invest in some paid advertising.👉🏼HubSpot Tip: Share your social media accounts on your Amazon brand page and product listings to build your follower list.WebsiteDid you know that over 80% of Amazon sellers also sell through other channels, like eBay, brick-and-mortar, and third-party websites? It’s not uncommon to own and operate a separate e-commerce website in addition to your Amazon store.While Amazon can help you be discovered and subsidize your shipping and customer support cost, creating a separate website can help build your brand beyond Amazon and aggregate customers and email subscribers of your own.👉🏼HubSpot Tip: If you have no interest in building and managing an entire website, create a simple landing page to start. This will at least give your brand an online identity outside of your Amazon store and provide another place to collect emails and promote your social media.Affiliate MarketingI’m a big fan of those product round-ups published by Buzzfeed or other bloggers. It’s so easy to scan a list of recommended products and — best of all — be sent directly to Amazon to check out the ones I’m interested in.SourceHave you ever wondered how those products end up on the list? Through affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is essentially marketing your products through an affiliate — in this case, Buzzfeed. In exchange for your product being published/mentioned/shared, you pay a small fee if readers click and purchase. It’s a win-win and helps you drive sales, collect reviews, and build awareness.👉🏼HubSpot Tip: Tap into Amazon’s Affiliate Program. It’s free and easy to use and immediately connects you with approved affiliates.You’re Now the King 👑 (or Queen) of the JungleAmazon doesn’t seem so scary now, does it? The platform may be 12 million products wide, but as a seller, your priority should be on your products alone.First, optimize your product pages so that your marketing efforts can drive buyers that convert. Next, apply these Amazon marketing strategies above to capture new traffic and more profit.In two simple steps, you’ll see your Amazon products meet consumers wherever they are — whether they’re researching products, comparing prices, or looking to buy.
It’s only a matter of few days before we get to see the brand new iPhones for 2019. This year, the hype may not be as high as it was last year for the iPhone XS and iPhone XR but there’re still a lot of upgrades that we will be able to see on the iPhone XI series. Rumours and leaks have suggested a triple camera setup for the flagship models and a lot of other meaningful updates. And if you are even remotely interested in the new iPhones, you will probably be interested to see Tim Cook unveil the phones. Well, Apple has made it easier for you this year.Because unlike previous years, Apple has finally decided to stream the iPhone 11 launch live on YouTube. This is possibly the first time Apple is doing it, i.e. livestreaming its launch live on YouTube. In India, you will able to catch the Livestream from 10:30 pm on September 10, i.e. Tuesday. The iPhone XI launch is possibly one of the biggest events for Apple this and knowing that people would be interested in watching it online without having to rely on Apple devices, it is a nice move.Previously, Apple has always live-streamed its launches via the Keynote app on Apple devices. Last year, Apple made an exception for the first time when it broadcasted its iPhone XS launch live on Twitter. Apple usually uploads its launch event shows on its YouTube channels after the broadcast is over. But this is for the first time there will be a live broadcast on YouTube.advertisementSo far, the launch invite for the iPhone XI launch has hinted at new colours for this year’s iPhone models. The Apple logo on the invite shows translucent shades of green, yellow, red, blue and violet. Given that last year’s iPhone XR came in five different colour variants, it is expected that the iPhone 11R could get these playful colours.However, the biggest upgrade for the iPhone 11 series is expected to come in the camera department. The iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Max are expected to sport triple rear cameras for superior photography capabilities over the older generation. The iPhone 11R meanwhile will gain a dual camera setup with a similar squarish camera module at the back.ALSO READ | WhatsApp is rolling out audio playback feature to some iPhone usersALSO READ | New iPhones for 2020 to finally get new designs: New form factor and better cameras in storeALSO READ | Apple expected to launch cheaper iPhone SE successor next year
Smart speakers have become somewhat ubiquitous these days. There was a time when everyone was rushing to buy a portable speaker that they could use anywhere. However, with the recent boom in smart gadget industry, if I may put it that way, Bluetooth speakers have become outdated now. Now everyone wants a speaker that not only sounds good but is also incredibly smart. Bose, the company that has mastered the art of producing pitch perfect sound, entered this arena with the Bose Home Speaker 500, which we reviewed earlier this year, and the Bose Home Speaker 300, which is the star of today’s review.Bose launched the Bose Home Speaker 300 in India earlier this year for Rs 26,900 in Black and Silver colour variants. It features the same aluminum frame design that is sported by its Home Speaker 500. Of course it is compact than its elder sibling and lacks an LED display that shows details like the time, name of the track and the singer, however, it sounds just as good. Simply said, Home Speaker 300 might be short and stout but it’s as they — don’t judge the speaker by its size as it produces a sound that is as good as the Home Speaker 500, which in case you are not is “distinguishable, textured and clear.”Now, design and sound quality are great, but price is one thing that might drive a lot audiophiles away. After all, 27K is not an easy sum to pay, especially when you can get the second generation Amazon Echo Plus (REVIEW) for Rs 14,999 or a brand new Amazon Echo Studio for Rs 22,999 (if you want to buy something on the expensive side). To compliment its stylish design and great sound with another interesting feature, Home Speaker 300 comes with built-in Alexa and Alexa and Google Assistant integration (did I tell you it’s a smart speaker?). This means that you can ask Alexa or Google Assistant to do your personal chores just like you would tell an Amazon Echo smart speaker or a Google Home..oops..Nest smart speaker.advertisementStyle? Check. Sound? Check. Smart stuff? Check. Is everything perfect in case of Home Speaker 300? We will find out in the review below.Looks gorgeousIn my past reviews of Bose products I have repeatedly mentioned how the company is known for its sound quality. But I need to amend that statement now. So here it goes: Bose is a company known for great audio quality and a stunning design. All its products – whether it’s the Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700 (REVIEW) or the Bose Sleepbuds (REVIEW) – all its products look gorgeous. The Bose Home Speaker 300 is no exception to this rule. It looks simply stunning!Home Speaker 300 measures 6×14.2 x 10.2 cm and it weighs 0.9 kg. By contrast, Home Speaker 500 measures 20.3 x 17×10.9 cm and it weighs 2.15 kg. Needless to say that Home Speaker 300 is a lot more compact than Home Speaker 500. Apart from obvious reduction in size, Home Speaker 300 looks exactly…I mean exactly…like its older sibling if you discount the LED screen in the front. It comes with an anodized aluminum case that features an elliptical design. On the front it has a sleek space which glows White as you interact with virtual assistant. On top it has a set of controls that you can use to control the volume, play or pause the track, connect the speaker with your smartphone or laptop via Bluetooth, connect the speaker via AUX cable, prevent the smart speaker from listening in on your conversations and of course, invoking the virtual assistant of your choice – Alexa or Google Assistant. It also has a set of six preset buttons – just like Home Speaker 500 — that you can use to get tap access to your favourite and more commonly used channels like Amazon Prime Music and Spotify.At the back there is a port to connect the AUX cable, below which there is another button for connecting the power cable. One interesting feature that Home Speaker 300 has is the ability to silence the alarms by patting on the head or should I say tapping on the top of the smart speaker. This is particularly helpful if you are a kind of person who has sets multiple alarms in the morning – some a bit too early — to wake up.Sounds good but Alexa needs helpWhile reviewing the Bose Home Speaker 500, I had written that Bose’s very first smart speaker produces a “balanced audio output”. And while reviewing the Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700 I wrote that it produces a “crisp, clear and balanced” sound. The point here is to focus on the pattern. Bose products – speakers, smart speakers and headphones – focus on clarity and produce a balanced sound clear. The Bose Home Speaker 300 does all of that a bit more. To break the suspense, it offers a powerful bass effect as well.advertisementBass effect produced by the Home Speaker 300 is so prominent that you can feel the thumping of the music permeating throughout the space where you have kept your modernistic smart speaker. This bass effect is enhanced by the presence of speakers in all directions. This enables the Home Speaker 300 to project sound in all directions uniformly, which in turn gives the users a stereo-sound sort of an experience. This is supported by the speaker’s loud volume. The Bose Home Speaker 300 is loud. I mean really loud. It is enough to be the life of a party at your home. To give you some perspective, it is so loud that you cannot go beyond 50 percent volume in your room.During the course of my review, I listened to a whole bunch of songs. I listened to David Guetta’s Titanium, Avril Lavigne’s Sk8er Boi and Bryan Adam’s Summer of 69. For most parts the sound was well rounded, that is the mids were clear and the lows were balanced. Over all the sound was pleasant even at extremely high volume levels. But at 100 percent volume, these tracks missed out on the clarity a bit.I also listened to Photograph by Ed Sheeran, Whiskey and You by Chris Stapleton and Die a Happy Man by Thomas Rhett and as expected I could clearly distinguish between every guitar strum, every piano note and every single beat of drum. Listening to Sufi songs like Arziyan by Javed Ali and Iktara by Amitabh Bhattacharya was an equally pleasurable experience even at extremely high volume levels. One possible explanation for this differentiation could be issue with the tracks. The other could be that the Home Speaker 300 in general (or at an optimum sound level) is more compatible Acoustics, EDM, Country and Sufi music genres.Coming to the smart features, you can connect the Home Speaker 300 with either Google Assistant or Alexa and they will perform all your routine chores like setting an alarm, checking news updates, booking a cab, setting reminders etc with ease. And if you have Apple devices, you can connect your Bose smart speaker with them using the Apple AirPlay 2. I paired the Bose Home Speaker 300 with Alexa and I found the entire experience to be a bit bumpy. Alexa is responsive and she obeys all your commands yet it’s not a smooth sail – as it is in case of Echo smart speakers — all the time. For instance if you ask Alexa to set multiple alarms, she would do so without fail but sometimes she would be at a loss of words while confirming her actions. Similarly, sometimes it would be difficult for me to get her to play a specific song or adjust the volume. Needless to say that the speaker’s Alexa integration needs some tweaking. Beyond that everything – the app, the presets and the connections – works without a hitch.advertisementShould you buy Bose Home Speaker 300?Yes, if can afford it. Bose Home Speaker 300 is a smart addition to your smart home. It is compact, it is stylish and it has a balanced sound. And additional qualities like its loudness, its sound projection and AirPlay 2 support just make it that much more enticing. Sure Alexa experience is a bit bumpy, but that’s not something a software update cannot fix. Qualitatively, it’s a good buy.Coming to the price, now that’s a tough one. Home Speaker 300 costs around 27K, which is nearly half the price of 2G Echo Plus. You can even get Echo Show 2G – the giant smart speaker with a display for a price less than that. For your reference it costs Rs 22,999. But it ultimately boils down to a simple fact – what exactly are you looking for. If you are looking for a smart display then Echo Show is worth considering but if you are looking for smart speaker with great sound quality then the Home Speaker 300 should definitely on your list.Bose Home Speaker 300 review8/10ProsBalanced soundStunning designCompactConsPriceyAlexa is bumpy
Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray, who made history by becoming the first member of his family to take poll plunge, has marked his arrival inMaharashtra politics with a bang and is likely to play a key role in the next state government and help expand his party.The 29-year-old next-gen Aaditya Thackeray, whom his party wants to be the deputy chief minister in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Sena alliance government, won with a thumping majority from Mumbai’s Worli constituency.The Yuva Sena leader is now likely to make his party, which was rooted in the ‘sons of the soil’ agenda and later embraced the Hindutva ideology, more inclusive and broad-based.In the run-up to the polls, Aaditya Thackeray conducted several roadshows, foot marches and raised issues like cutting of trees in Aarey Colony and Mumbai’s nightlife and said that he wants to make the constituency a “model of development”.Aaditya Thackeray also reached out to non-Marathi voters in the constituency to romp home a big win.A pass out of the Bombay Scottish School in suburban Mahim, Aaditya Thackeray is a graduate in English Literature from St Xavier’s College and has a law degree from KC College.Aaditya Thackeray has always managed to keep himself abreast of civic issues and concerns of youth in the state.The Maharashtra government’s decision to ban plastic is partly credited to his campaign against the widespread use of the material.In a bid to attract young followers, Aaditya Thackeray proposed the revival of Mumbai’s nightlife by allowing malls and restaurants to be open all night.The Shiv Sena-ruled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has approved the proposal, which is now pending with the chief minister for clearance.Aaditya Thackeray also sports a creative side like his grandfather, father and uncle.His grandfather, the late Bal Thackeray, who founded the Shiv Sena in 1966, was a cartoonist, an art shared by his estranged uncle Raj Thackeray, the chief of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).Aaditya Thackeray’s father, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, is a professional photographer. Aaditya also shares his father’s passion for photography.His first book of poems, “My Thoughts in Black and White” was released in 2007 by Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan. He also wrote lyrics of a private album ‘Ummeed’.Aaditya Thackeray hit the headlines in 2010 for leading a protest against author Rohinton Mistry’s book “Such a Long Journey” in the University of Mumbai’s English Literature curriculum. Since then, he has been at the helm of several such protests and campaigns.While some of his campaigns saw several takers, a few other projects didn’t quite hit the mark.Aaditya Thackeray tried to implement his plans for open gymnasiums in Mumbai’s open spaces. However, the plan ran into trouble as the gymnasiums were set up without the civic body’s approval.Under his leadership, the Yuva Sena continues to dominate the Mumbai University senate for the last two terms.Despite belonging to a political dynasty of sorts, Aaditya Thackeray is the first in his family to become a member of the state legislature.His win has the potential to bring in “achche din” for the Shiv Sena, which over the past few years has been forced to play second fiddle to senior ally BJP, a Shiv Sena leader said.Aaditya Thackeray is a voracious reader, and has the ability to hold his own in debates about the metropolis and the state, and has a connect with the grassroot Sainiks.”All these factors strengthen his appeal,” the Shiv Sena leader said.Aaditya Thackeray joined politics in 2009 and since then has been actively working in the organisation, building a cadre of new young leaders by being in the background.”In the last ten years, he travelled across the state to understand and grasp the issues on the ground. Hence, he decided to break the family tradition of not contesting polls,” Harshal Pradhan, a close aide of the Sena president, said.According to the Shiv Sena, Aaditya Thackeray is the “only leader in the country below the age of 30” who has already toured the entire state through his ‘Jan Ashirwad’ Yatra and addressed over 75 ‘Aaditya Sansads’ (a two-way communication with youth).Also Read | Worli Election Result: Aaditya Thackeray thanks mom, dad after winning by over 67,000 votesAlso Watch | Uddhav Thackeray pushes for 50-50 formula for CM’s post
Transfers Rudy welcomes Bayern interest in Man Utd and Liverpool target Goretzka Robin Bairner Last updated 1 year ago 23:45 1/8/18 FacebookTwitterRedditcopy Comments(1) 
Getty Images Transfers Bayern München Bayern München v Werder Bremen Schalke 04 v Hannover 96 Schalke 04 Bundesliga The midfielder has been linked with a switch to the Premier League but Sebastian Rudy is not opposed to the Bavarians making a move Bayern Munich midfielder Sebastian Rudy has welcomed Bayern Munich’s interest in Leon Goretzka.The Bundesliga club have a long-standing interest in the midfielder, but face competition to sign him from numerous clubs in England, reportedly including Manchester United and Liverpool.Out of contract at the end of the season, the player is available to start negotiating terms over a Bosman move and Schalke are hopeful that he will announce his intentions for the future imminently. Article continues below Editors’ Picks Lyon treble & England heartbreak: The full story behind Lucy Bronze’s dramatic 2019 Liverpool v Man City is now the league’s biggest rivalry and the bitterness is growing Megan Rapinoe: Born & brilliant in the U.S.A. A Liverpool legend in the making: Behind Virgil van Dijk’s remarkable rise to world’s best player Although he would provide extra competition for Rudy’s position in the Bayern midfield, he remains hopeful that the 22-year-old will sign.“It’s normal that Bayern have good players and want to add more,” he told TZ. “Reinforcement of the squad is always good. We have to think as a team because it’s about team success.”Rudy, meanwhile, has admitted it is his aim to be part of the Germany squad for the 2018 World Cup.“I want to attack the second half of the season and improve myself – and my game,” he said. “Everyone here wants to play. There’s great competition in my position but I’m hungry to come out on top.“The World Cup is a big goal of mine. For that, I will have to be at my best. But I’m optimistic that it will come together this year and I’ll earn my ticket.”Rudy has played 21 times this season but has featured increasingly rarely since Jupp Heyneckes took over from Carlo Ancelotti in the autumn.
While you’re here, we’d like you to consider subscribing to Pistols Firing and becoming a PFB+ member. It’s a big ask from us to you, but it also comes with a load of benefits like ad-free browsing (ads stink!), access to our premium room in The Chamber and monthly giveaways.The other thing it does is help stabilize our business into the future. As it turns out, sending folks on the road to cover games and provide 24/7 Pokes coverage like the excellent article you just read costs money. Because of our subscribers, we’ve been able to improve our work and provide the best OSU news and community anywhere online. Help us keep that up. Here’s a quick update to the CFP vs. 100+ computer polls I posted last week. Let’s see how the Committee stacks up this week.
Green means you are rated higher by the CFP committee than the computer polls. Red means you are rated lower. A few notes:Iowa remains at No. 8 in the computer polls, but their 40-20 win over 2-9 Purdue was enough to push them up a spot in the Committee’s rankings. They are now rated four spots higher than the computers rank them.Michigan State moved up four spots in both sets of rankings this week — CFP and computers. Still, they remain two spots higher in the CFP rankings than they do in the computer polls.Ohio State dropped from 3rd to 8th in the CFP rankings, but only dropped one spot in the computer polls. As a result, they are now 4 spots lower in the CFP poll than the computer polls.Northwestern gained respect in both sets of rankings this week, but the Committee remains enamored with them, as they have defeated three Committee members’ schools (Stanford, Nebraska, Wisconsin). I’m sure that doesn’t have anything to do with it, though.TCU dropped five spots in the computer polls this week, but the Committee only dropped them one spot after OU’s 1-point win in Norman. This seems like either a sign from the Committee that they got TCU wrong last week, or – more likely – shows the Committee’s newfound respect for OU.Washington State. I had to check to make sure I had this one right. The Committee was impressed enough with Wazzu’s win over Colorado that they moved them into the rankings at No. 20. Meanwhile, the computers have them 16 spots lower at No. 36.Temple’s win over Memphis propelled them to No. 25 in the CFP rankings, eight spots higher than the computers.Who got left out? LSU is 20th in the computer poll but unranked by the CFP Committee.Here’s how it looks by conference:
The Pac 12 looks way out of wack, but that is really just one team – Washington State. Outside of that anomaly,once again it’s the Big 10 that is favored by the Committee and the Big 12 that is frowned upon.Here’s how the conferences stack up according to the computer polls this week:
