Crypto-Blockchain Revolution:

Bringing Change to the World of Finance

Banks have existed since the late 1700s and have been the go-to financial institution for generations. But like how they made barter trading obsolete, banks are currently facing what could very well bring their end. Cryptocurrencies, through blockchain technology, are gradually taking control of the world of finance, ushering in the era of decentralization.

With the help of these virtual currencies, the grip that financial institutions and governments have over people’s money is weakening. In fact, people can now directly transact with one another with the only requirement being that they have a working cryptocurrency wallet. Well, while impressive, these are just the beginning. The rest of the revolution is yet to come.

Trading Made for All

There’s no denying that, even today, buying and selling shares isn’t as easy as it should be. To start trading, you need to open a brokerage account, which may require you to provide all sorts of personal information including your address, phone number, income, and net worth. You may also be asked to present other means of identification like your social security number. 

Say you don’t have all that’s needed to open an account with a brokerage firm, or you simply don’t trust them enough to willingly give up such information. That means you wouldn’t be able to trade. In other words, you will be locked out of this opportunity regardless if you have the financial capacity and knowledge to take part in it.

In addition, having to do things through a brokerage translates to additional expenses and potential delays. This, of course, leads to reduced profits and missed opportunities. With the help of blockchain technology and its decentralized ledgers, the traders of tomorrow may finally get rid of these middlemen, buying and selling shares with minimal delay and cost.   

Hope for Businesses

Blockchain won’t only affect finance in the context of stock trading. It will also transform the global business landscape as entrepreneurs and small corporations will have access to partners that they otherwise won’t be able to reach. Take, for example , businesses in Asia that wish to work with their counterparts in Africa.

Despite the advantages of doing business with one another, these firms used to have no choice but to ignore such opportunities due to the cost of remittance in Africa being among the highest in the world. But now, as digital exchange platforms that make use of both crypto and blockchain are starting to emerge, these companies can at last send and receive payments without the unnecessarily high price and complexity of traditional means. 

These platforms likewise make it possible to effortlessly convert bitcoin and altcoins into conventional currencies. In a way, this allows business owners to choose to hold onto their cryptocurrency, only cashing it out once the time is right—meaning they can further increase their gains, assuming of course that they do make the right call.

Many More to Come

As the world becomes more and more familiar with cryptocurrencies and the technology they’re based on, new ways of harnessing their potential will surely be developed. Some may think it too optimistic, but it’s hard not to believe in a future where finance has become decentralized, transparent, seamless, and most importantly, accessible.   

Once upon a time, there was a kind prince named Google. Bloggers delivered him amazing presents in the form of tribute. There were rumors that he was the Google god, after all.

Bloggers delivered Prince Google rich treasures in the form of blog posts. The blog posts helped Prince Google’s people, the search engine users. Bloggers were handsomely rewarded for these gifts in the form of search engine traffic.

Over time, Prince Google became dissatisfied. He became more and more demanding.

Bloggers, ever fearful, made their gifts richer. Their thousand-word blog posts became 3000. Prince Google still was not satisfied.

Bloggers quaked and added videos, images, infographics, and tables with data. Prince Google continued to want more and more. “Beat the competition,” he bellowed.

The bloggers resorted to getting special tools like the MozBar and spent time learning how to get into MozBar. Naturally, video-making tools like Video Instasize soon followed.

Then Prince Google became really cross. He only implied what his demands were. Did social shares even matter to this now ambiguous ruler? Despite the disadvantages of Instagram, bloggers promoted on Instagram and other social share sites. They even promoted on obscure social share sites like MeWe social media.

Prince Google continued his vague demands. He now spoke in acronyms. “Meet the E-A-T criteria,” he shouted. Over time, Prince Google kept screaming, “More, more.”

One rebellion occurred. “Prince Google, we have done what you ask. We want our blog traffic now. We are tired of waiting.”

Prince Google sneered. “How does it feel to want?”

He snickered. “Blog traffic requires longevity. I give traffic to older blogs. Didn’t you read the fine print? Blogging takes patience.”

Wrapping Up

Did Prince Google and the Bloggers live happily ever after?

Prince Google continued his demand for power. Today, Prince Google is a great king. People speculate he is indeed the feared Google god after all.

As for the bloggers, they continue to please the Google god. Today, the bloggers continue to serve the Google God as his slaves.

Will there be an end to King Google’s rise to power and the bloggers’ never-ending quest to please him?

Not as long as people need search engines, this story is not limited to fairy tales.

This post first appeared on Medium.com in May 2021 under the title “The Tale of Prince Google.”

Understanding Blockchain:

From Decentralization to Anonymity

If you’ve heard of bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency, then you’ve surely heard about the technology that makes it all possible—blockchain. And in just a matter of years, this so-called digital ledger became synonymous with words like “decentralization” and “anonymity”, inspiring confidence among traders and businesses around the globe.

But, being someone who’s yet to decide whether to go all in on cryptocurrencies, you can’t help but be a bit skeptical. Does it truly embody these buzzwords? Is it as infallible as everyone makes it out to be? Your mind is filling up with these kinds of questions. Well, it’s about time to find some much-needed answers.

How is Blockchain Decentralized?

The technology, by design, stores information throughout a network of computers. No single participant in that network has authority over others, and so, changes need to be approved through consensus. This means that if a copy of the data gets tampered with, it will simply be rejected by other members—seeing that it no longer matches what’s stored by the majority. 

This decentralized approach isn’t simply about shifting power away from a single entity or making it easier to detect fraudulent data entries, however. For one, in the case of bitcoin in relation to conventional banking, people won’t have to worry about following business hours and can simply carry out transactions anytime they wish. 

Another perk to a decentralized system is not having a single point of failure. Even if one computer breaks down or is compromised (such as in the case of hacking incidents), the ledger itself won’t be affected. There won’t be downtime either. This isn’t the case with banks, of course, where technical troubles often cause frustration to everyone involved.   

Just How Anonymous is Blockchain?

Truth is, the technology only provides a good level of confidentiality, not anonymity—especially in the context of its financial applications. Confused? Many who believe that it’s anonymous tend to focus at the lack of personal info needed for creating a wallet and the use of public keys whenever transactions are made.

If those are the only things you’ll need, identifying you won’t be possible. But since you have to rely on exchanges to convert your crypto into cash and vice versa, you will still end up providing your personal details as you sign up for these services. With this, your wallet or the key representing your transactions can realistically be traced back to you. 

This is why people with shady intentions have to do all sorts of schemes to blur their trails. For example, some use mixer or tumbler services to combine their crypto with those of other people before finally sending it to the intended recipient. Fortunately, authorities worldwide are constantly developing new ways to identify and trace these “dirty” virtual money.

An Intriguing Future Ahead

All in all, blockchain does support decentralization, making it easier to shift power away from a single authority. While this has its perks, there’s also the risk of it being used illegally. And so, it’s interesting to see how things will unfold as cryptos go mainstream. Will increased regulation shape its future, or will it still be the people who’ll determine its fate? Only time will tell.    

The Challenges All Online Retail Stores Face

In the last 10 to 15 years, e-commerce has revolutionized the retail business, and eCommerce not only made progress rapidly but transformed with time to meet the ever-changing desires and requirements of consumers of the modern time.

eCommerce is the best way to grow your business. There are various options, and every option has its own set of e-commerce challenges. 

Some people sell their own items to start an online business using other sites like Offer Up; on the other hand, some people prefer product drop-shipping. Through the drop-shipping of products from third-party manufacturers, lots of people made their own companies while some people purchase products to resell them online. 

Running an online eCommerce store is not so easy all the time, there are so many challenges for entrepreneurs. and they fail to solve them.

Here are some of them.

(more…)

I’ve been getting questions about keyword research, how to find “buying” keywords. I’ll give you the answer in two parts. First up are two popular keyword tools. The Wordtracker Labs Question Tool and the Google Keyword Research Tool.

For example, if your market is in the weight loss niche, just type in the root word ‘weight’ and look at the results.

The Wordtracker tool shows the questions that people are asking. Every one of these questions would make an excellent blog post, or article.

Put the question as the title of your page, or post, for maximum SEO benefit. Then proceed to answer the question in your content.

The Google tool is sorted by relevance when you open it. That’s a key point to remember.

Most people look at the numbers and sort by competition or searches. That’s the wrong way to go about it… at first.

The right way to find the content that should be on your page, is to not click on anything. The moment you search for your root word ‘weight’ the Google tool sorts by relevance.

The competition, number of searches, trends, etc, are all irrelevant at this moment. What matters are the keywords in the order they appear.

So if you scan your eyes down the keyword column, those are the keywords – according to Google’s LSI engine – that should appear in your pages and posts.

As for what to sell, go to Amazon.com. Type in your keywords, then click on the drop down menu where it says, Choose a Department to enable sorting. Choose to sort by best selling.

The resulting list from Amazon, features the hottest selling products in America right now. You’d be wise to feature similar products on your sales pages.

As for the second half of the question, about the “buyer” keywords, there used to be a tool by MSN to look up commercial intent. It’s constantly being hammered by bots, so it’s rarely available.

If you can’t get the MSN tool to work, you can use the Google tool as a “commercial barometer” of sorts. Once you enter your root term, look for the Columns button and select Show All columns. The results will refresh with new data.

Look at the estimated CPC or cost per click. That will show you the “commercial” keywords most likely to convert for the advertiser. The logic being, that most people won’t throw their ad budgets into non converting phrases.

To get true commercial intent though, we have to go back to the old school method. That means a combo of common sense, linguistics and server logs.

Here are some hot keywords with great commercial intent. They are very likely to lead to a sale.

Hot Keywords; refill, removal, service, solutions, retailers, store, sale, buy, where to, get, purchase, fix, rent, parts, repair, relief, cure, stop, replacement, reservation, reserve, book (as in booking a flight, or room).

Here are some warm keywords that are commercial in nature, but the intent isn’t quite as clear. They are more research based and informational in nature. They may, or may not lead to a sale.

Warm Keywords; help, tips, advice, information, news, recipes, articles, newest, improve, training, courses, prevent, create, prepare, instructions, learn, info, start, how to, compare, reviews, shop.

A few words you may want to avoid, because they’re competing on price alone are; discount, cheap, specials, prices. And a few words if you’re selling to businesses might be; bulk, wholesale, volume, suppliers.

As a general rule of thumb, but not always, long tail keywords that are very specific, are usually commercial in nature. The head of the search, which uses short generic phrases, are used for information gathering and research.

For example, the head phrase ‘cell phone‘ could be about anything. It could be about networks, tethering, GPS, accessories, makes, models, model numbers, comparisons, general info, history, GSM, technology, etc.

Even the phrase ‘buy cell phone‘ although commercial in nature and intent, leaves the search engine scratching it’s noggin wondering… Ok, what make and model number? New or used? What carrier? Retail or wholesale? Local or national?

To convert into a sale, the search needs to be more specific. Most likely it will be a long tail phrase. The research will be over. And the prospect will be in a buying mood.

For example, if someone is searching for the phrase ‘buy nokia n95 replacement battery‘ there’s little doubt as to the commercial nature, or their intent. You might even want to use that exact phrase as your page title.

The same holds true for other accessories and parts. Words like; charger, adapter, handsfree, handsfree kit, leather case, antenna, passive repeater, power supply, wall adapter, etc.

If you combine a make and model number, along with an accessory, you’re pretty much assured that the searcher knows what they want. Then, if you add in a couple of hot ‘commercial intent’ keywords, and combine them with that make and model, you’re pretty much assured of making the sale.

Question by windleox: What is an advertisement plan (and its contents)?

I am asked to become an advertisement plan expert for my marketing class. That is I have to know what an advertisement plan is and what contents are in the plan.

I wouldn’t mind looking for reference in my school library, but I have no idea what keywords I should look for.

Any helps would be appreciated. Thank you.

Best answer:

Answer by ALASKA F

First you have to identify your market clientele Men/women/animals????
Then their demographics where they are what they do.
Target the group .Age, sex, preference, single married,……….
How do you reach them?
Sunbathers tow a banner on the beach……
Pilots at airport or flying magi zens……
scuba divers dive shops or magi zines…..
you get the picture
about 15% of your gross income should go back in to advertisement.
Be very careful where you spend you advertising dollar,
Possibly have a article written about your service in the trade publication for trade of the product, this only cost a small amount compared to the return,
Do some thing out-landesh to get attention, climb a tall building with your web site written on your back. hide out behind new paper reporters with your web site in the background.
Think if you were the one who wanted the product, where would you go to find it.
good luck there are a lot of people out there.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

How to hit the YouTube home page and earn money from your viral videos.

I was watching a network news journalist interview a teenage girl and her family. Her silly music video generated over 250,000 dollars in the first couple of months alone.

Now her family is quarter million dollars richer! Not bad for an average teenager, with an average voice, and less than stellar video production.

How did she do it? With ads in the video.

As soon as you hit about 1,000 views, Google will ask permission to advertise on your video. When you login to your account you’ll see, “Apply for partnership to take advantage of your popular video.”

If you can make it into the “Featured” or “Trends” section, you’ve hit the YouTube jet stream. The highly coveted home page, in front of millions of people.

To get there takes a mighty viral push. You’ll need to wrangle the support of all your social networks, Facebook and Twitter followers. Here’s how…

SEO for your YouTube video depends on four things:

– How many views you get
– How many thumbs up you get
– How many comments you get
– How quickly you get all the above

Keep in mind the following tips…

A view counts if it’s over 5 seconds long. Make the opening seconds surprise and amaze.

Tell them in the text under the video, to click on the thumbs up icon, aka the “Like” button. Don’t assume they know what to do.

Make an emotional appeal to the viewer. Ask them to leave a quick comment. Even if its just a single sentence. Every little bit helps.

Notes on Viral…

Most viral videos are funny, amazing, surprising or entertaining. Without one or more of these, your video will sputter on the way to the jet stream.

How to Optimize Your YouTube Channel…

– Put your most important keywords in the video title
– Repeat the keywords in the description and tags
– Don’t use a fancy design or border around the video
– Keep the page design simple, with a white background
– Make sure the video preference is set to auto play
– Put a clickable links in video’s description (Facebook, Twitter)

Important Notes from TubeMogul.com
(The video syndication dudes.)

TubeMogul’s data shows that video has a short shelf life. They did a case study of 10,000 videos that had at least 1,000 views. The biggest traffic spike came at three days.

They suggest that you put out a lot of videos, because they peak early. The maximum views come when you do a series of short videos and upload a new one every few days. Thursday afternoon and Sunday evenings are peak viewing times.

They also suggest that you, “Put the name of your brand in the video title, because some services list only the title. It’s important to be consistent and put out topically related videos, as it increases your overall rankings in Google.”

Additional Promotion

In addition to doing the SEO for YouTube, ask your viewers to bookmark you on Delicious. If you make it to their “What’s Hot” home page, you can get a boost of extra momentum.

Be sure to monitor your keywords using Google Alerts and the Twitter home page. (AKA the Goobert method.) Participate in every discussion about you and your brand. Link to the video everywhere you comment.

Be voracious thank you note writers. Jot a note every time someone mentions you. Even if its just a couple of words to say thanks. It goes a long way.

Remember what TubeMogul said, the biggest spike comes at the three day mark. So upload that video and spend the next three days promoting it like crazy, using the strategies I’ve outlined above.

Who knows, maybe your video will hit the jet stream and go viral. Say yes to Google advertising and one silly video could generate all the coin you need for a lifetime. It happens to others. It could happen to you.

So be sure to take your video camera along and keep shooting, because you never know when something funny, amazing, surprising or entertaining will happen near you.