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Posts Tagged ‘Local’

Exotic Green Getaway: Lush Villa Made of Local Materials

05 Apr

[ By Steph in Boutique & Art Hotels & Global. ]

Alila Villas Eco Travel 1

Merging traditional Balinese visual flair with the openness of modern architecture, Alila Villas Uluwatu is a picturesque resort with individual villas connected by bridges over sparkling expanses of water. The hotel is set on a gently sloping hillside, and eschews typical high, pointed Bali-style roofs in order to maintain a democratic view of the sea. Made of locally sourced materials, the hotel and villa development aims to balance environmental responsibility with a sense of luxury.

Alila Villas Eco Travel 5

Alila Villas Eco Travel 2

Located in Uluwatu on the Bukit Peninsula of Bali, Alila Villas has 50 hotel suites and 35 residential villas.  Rather than standing out in stark relief against the natural setting, like many other self-consciously tropical resorts in the area, Alila Villas follows the natural contours of the land.  The terraced, low-pitched roof of the main structure was made of Balinese volcanic pumice rock that can support the growth of ferns and other vegetation, mimicking the look of local hillside farms.

Alila Villas Eco Travel 4

Each of the hotel rooms faces the gardens, which are full of reflecting pools and native plants, making them feel as if they extend into the outdoor spaces. The villas are glass structures encased in slatted wood, which screens the sun and provides a bit of privacy. Each has its own pool with a cabana overlooking the ocean.

Alila Villas Eco Travel 3

The stone walls of the resort came directly from the site itself, and all other materials were sourced from either Bali or the neighboring island of Java. Sustainable materials, careful preservation of vegetation, rainwater collection, a greywater recycling system and large roof overhangs that provide natural cooling come together for an eco-friendly getaway that honors the local culture and history.

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[ By Steph in Boutique & Art Hotels & Global. ]

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Posted in Creativity

 

Abandoned App Leads You to Local Urban Exploration Sites

26 Feb

[ By Steph in Gadgets & Geekery & Technology. ]

Abadoned App 1

Half the fun of exploring abandoned places is the hunt – stumbling upon obscure sites, or determining the precise location of better-known ones with a collection of vague clues from previous urban explorers. It’s not a great idea to have hordes of curious people descending upon crumbling ruins and dilapidated structures for obvious reasons, ranging from trespassing laws to dangerous conditions. But for abandoned places aficionados who’d rather cut to the chase, the ‘Abandoned’ iPhone app by THE FORM pinpoints locations on a map.

Abandoned App 2

The community-based app relies on user input to determine where abandoned sites are located. And beyond mere maps, the app allows you to post photos and stories of your own adventures. Not only does this help fill out the lore of interesting places, it can help people avoid dangerous areas or give precise instructions for easy access.

Abandoned App 3

GPS mapping automatically locates and displays abandoned sites near you, and you can store a private log of your own locations if you don’t want to share with others. Rate sites from one to five stars, share your comments and contribute to locations submitted by others.

Abandoned App 4

Urban exploration has long relied upon word-of-mouth. In many cases, people in the know share information about certain sites only with others who can be trusted not to damage the site, call attention to themselves, or take risks that could result in injuries. For that reason, this app might receive mixed response from dedicated urban explorers, and those interested in keeping certain sites secret from the public at large. But on the other hand, a lot of abandoned sites are in serious need of attention, and the sooner they’re saved, the more of their history can be preserved. Get it at iTunes.

via Pop Up City; top image via nocturne

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[ By Steph in Gadgets & Geekery & Technology. ]

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Photography SEO And The Importance Of Local Marketing

18 Dec

So far in this photography SEO series, we have discussed local link building, local relationship building and today we are going to talk local marketing. Photography SEO isn’t only about the algorithms. In fact, relationships and marketing efforts also play a big role. Especially with the ever-changing algorithms and importance of social signals.

photography seo local marketing

Photography SEO & Local Marketing

Building relationships is also marketing, however there are additional local marketing techniques that can be used.

Incentive

Provide your relationships with an incentive to send more business your way. For instance, a 5% referral bonus for every new customer you get. Make the bonus exclusive to partners you have exchanged links with.

Local Listing

Utilize local marketing sites and get your business listed on the most important websites, the ones your potential clients would be browsing.

Associations

Display your associations and memberships on your website, and make sure you are listed on theirs. For instance, if you are a wedding photographer it could be important to be listed on Best of Wedding Photography in your local area.

Host & Education

If you have a studio, host a meet and greet there. If you do not, partner with one of your relationships to use their venue. Offer a couple of presentations where you can further educate your partners so they can be an indirect and unofficial sales person for your business.

Local Metrics

Use Google Webmaster Tools and Bing Webmaster Tools and identify what local keywords are working for you and where you need improvement.

Answer Questions

Use social sites like Quora, searching for local questions worth answering.

Where Your Customers Are

Your customers hang out on Facebook and Pinterest. You may not realize it, but Pinterest is important for photographers and more so for local marketing.

Plus Local

Google Places is now called Google Plus Local. Even if your customers are not on Google Plus, it is important to have your business set up and merged with your Google Plus Local listing.

Like with anything else, this list can go on for a while. So I want to hear from you. Comment below and share your advice for photographers to utilize local marketing for photography SEO.

Thanks for reading,

Scott

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Posted in Photography

 

Photography SEO And The Power Of Local Relationship Building

11 Dec

Previously we talked about Photography SEO and link building. Today we’re going to talk about the relationships you have to make to get the ball rolling for links. I am going to use a bakery as an example.

Photography SEO  local relationship building

Photography SEO & Local Relationship Building

There are three steps to local relationship building. Below I will discuss each one.

Identify

Identifying your local relationships is step one. If you know that a local bakery is preparing food for many local events, then they are a the perfect place to start.

Outreach

Once you have identified that the bakery is your first relationship to build, it is time to reach out Stop in to the bakery and talk with the employees, meet the owner and bakers. Become friendly and spend some money buying some food if you can afford it or have it in the budget. Visit the bakery’s website and comment on their blog articles. Visit their social media channels and interact with more comments, Likes, Tweets, +1s, etc.

Build

After the engagement becomes a two-way street, it is time to send your letter. Here is a template to get you started:

Hi Tom,

I have really enjoyed the food that your bakery has prepared and the kindness from your employees. I honestly feel your bakery is the best around.

I was thinking that I could start a partner section on my photography website where I refer clients vendors I believe it, like you.

Would you consider having a similar page and exchanging links? I think it can benefits both of us and it would be fun to work together at events.

Let me know your thoughts.

See you Monday morning,

Scott

You might even offer for them to guest post on your blog.

There you have it. A simple three-step approach to photography seo relationship building.

Feel free to comment with questions,

Scott

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Posted in Photography

 

Photography SEO And The Power Of Local Link Building

04 Dec

For photography SEO, there is one extremely effective tactic that can get your website to the top of search engines. Link building is the process of generating links on external websites, facing your yours.

For instance, a link from DSLRBlog to your photography website, would be link building.

photography seo local link building

The best way to go about link building is by guest posting on photography websites. However, I want to talk about local link building.

Now being in such a niche category, link building for photography SEO is tricky. Commenting for links doesn’t work anymore, so what is there to do?

Photography SEO & Local Link Building

If your photography business is local based, and not a full-time traveler, then there is a really good method to try. Create a section on your website where you discuss partners, venues, etc. Reach out to venues that often host events where you are photographing. Write a very personal email explaining that you would like to partner by recommending each other to potential customers. The partnership requires an exchange in links. No money is to change hands, as it is an agreement between companies to increase business.

You can also exchange links with other photographers. If you are a New York City wedding photographer and never photograph an event in Las Vegas, then partner with a Nevada wedding photographer in the Las Vegas area and recommend him/her for potential clients.

Other local businesses you can partner with:

  • Bands
  • DJs
  • Florists
  • Bakers
  • Caterers

Local link building is not only great for photography SEO, but also for relationship building, business and it is also a lot of fun.

Do you have additional local partners you would like to see added to the list? Comment below and we will add them.

Thanks for reading,

Scott

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Posted in Photography

 

NYCTA Bus: M15 Local and +Select Bus Service (D60HF + LFSA) at Water / Wall Street

25 Nov

Subscribe / Rate Video too =)! NYCTA 126th Street Bus M15 Local & +SBS | South Ferry to East Harlem, Manhattan ENJOY =)! Video Taken: Sept 6, 2011 C550D @1080p

The unboxing of Sigma’s latest Tele-zoom lens, the 70-200mm F2.8 with an all new Optical Stabilization (OS) system. The lens also has flourite glass elements to increase image quality by decreasing color aberrations. With the EX series logo stamped onto the lens, it is sure to perform at a professional level. Music by – LMFAO ft. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock – Party Rock Anthem (Radio Edit)
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Posted in Nikon Videos

 

Windows 8 – For Privacy, Prevent Flash from Storing Local Data

16 Oct

Prevent the Flash plug-inside Internet Explorer from storing local data on your machine, and clear previously-stored data.

The Flash plug-in that runs inside Internet Explorer in Windows 8 can store local information such as game high scores, favorites when viewing groups of information, preferences, or as cookies that can identify when you access a particular website or application multiple times.

While some of this data may be required by certain Flash applications, you may be concerned about your privacy. Thus you can configure Flash to not store data on your machine, and to clear data that may already be stored. Doing so, however, may make it difficult, if not impossible, to run certain Flash apps or visit certain web sites….

Read more at MalekTips.
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Posted in Technology