Why Solar Energy Is a Good, Renewable Energy Source?

These days we hear a lot about using organic products, biodegradable products, recycling plastics, etc., to minimize carbon footprint and save the environment. But we do not realize that unless and until we minimize consumption, we can not really save our environment. For example, look at the world consumption; Today’s products are manufactured, used and disposed of at a higher rate than the earth can accommodate in a less harmful way. Therefore it is important that we move to green alternatives now, otherwise, will be covered by pollutants and toxins produced in the normal course of the manufacture of non-biodegradable products like plastics. In this article, we will discuss as a green alternative that has a remarkable effect on reversing the negative effects that we created by technological progress and industrial revolution.

There are many ways to fight climate change, but the transition to a power of clean, renewable solar power is an ideal way. So let’s look at some of the interesting facts about solar energy.

· It is the most abundant source of energy. The amount of energy the Earth receives in one minute is approximately 10,000 times the energy needed worldwide.

Undoubtedly, solar energy is the energy source of cleaner available on the planet. Unlike fossil fuels, solar power produces no toxic byproducts. Solar panels use photovoltaic system that has no harmful effect on the environment and humans.

· Solar energy is practical, versatile and flexible in relation to wind energy and the main source of solar energy is the sun that is accessible to all parts of the globe. Unlike hydropower (which is also a source of renewable energy and cheap energy), solar power is not a threat to marine life and / or people on Earth.

· Worried increase utility bills and looking for a way out? Well, solar energy is the solution. By installing solar panels will not only reduce their utility bills, but is also increasing the value of your property. Although solar panels are little expensive at first, they turn out to be efficient and profitable in the long term. The best part is they do not require much maintenance and saves additional costs as well as being sustainable.

One of the misconceptions about solar panels is that they are expensive and affordable only to the elite class is wrong. Solar panels require an investment of time after which you do not have to invest in regular maintenance. In fact, in most countries, the government provides special tax benefits and other advantages of solar energy. Once installed solar panels, freedom of utility bills is obtained, power outages and enhance the value of their property by being friendly to the environment.

The Biggest Competitive Advantage I Have

I’m sprawled out on my bed writing to you. My son is reading a copy of Retro Gamer and my daughter is playing Splatoon (it’s a Wii game that your kid probably wants). Lately, I’ve been thinking about this blog, about you, about my business, about what I stand for. That kind of stuff.

The Biggest Competitive Advantage I Have is Openness and Honesty

But that sounds like I’m trying to be virtuous. I’m not. I just think it’s easier/better/faster to just tell you what I think and feel, instead of worrying.

Continue Reading

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Friction: The Mobile Conversion Killer [+Free Mobile Landing Page Checklist]

Friction can be helpful if you’re stranded on a desert island, but not so much on your mobile landing pages. Source

Mobile landing pages have the unenviable task of conveying enough information to make visitors convert, with much less space to do so than on a desktop.

Driving home your message has to be done with fewer elements and fewer words. Every single element on a landing page must avoid friction at all costs.

What exactly is friction?

Friction on your landing page is both real and perceived:

• Perceived friction is the mental block that happens in the mind of a landing page visitor when they come across a mobile landing page with unreadable text, a form with too many fields or an offer that doesn’t compel them to convert.

• Real friction happens when people struggle to fill in that many fields with their thumbs, or they can’t click the call to action button because it’s too small. Or maybe your page is not optimized for mobile and they have to scroll or pinch and zoom to get to the form.

In short, friction is a huge killer of conversions in mobile marketing campaigns. Thankfully, there are preventative measures you can take.

Let’s take a look at how smartphone users are consuming content, the challenges faced by mobile marketers, and a few simple things that you can do to reduce the friction on your mobile landing pages.

PLUS: We’ve put together a free mobile landing page checklist for you to get started with. You can download it at the end of this post.

The device itself is the first point of friction

The first point of mobile friction is the device itself, and all the challenges that arise when browsing on a smaller screen.

Both perceived and actual friction are lower on a desktop than on a mobile device. People can view more information on a landing page all at once, and they’re able to use a keyboard to quickly enter information as opposed to the small screen-based keyboard on a mobile device.

As a result, purchases are less likely to actually be made on a mobile device, but mobile is still a very important part of the research phase. According to designer and conversion rate optimizer Alex Harris:

Mobile users tend to do research on their phone and then complete transactions and purchases on their other devices (tablets and computers).

That means marketers can use mobile lead generation landing pages in conjunction with a strong lead nurturing strategy in order to glean that conversion later on on a desktop.

Let’s say you’re promoting short-term rental properties. Instead of directing mobile search traffic to a page where they’ll have to go through your many properties on their phone, you direct them to a mobile landing page where they will get a summary of your properties and a form that promises to send them more information.

The email that they receive should be persuasive enough (as with any marketing email) to entice them to your properties page with strong copy and a solid CTA. If they open that email on mobile, it should get them interested enough to revisit the email when they’re on their desktop, where they’re more likely to convert to a sale.

As long as those first, brief impressions from your emails generate enough interest to get people to revisit the email on their desktop, you’ll re-capture their attention where they’re more likely to convert to a sale.

Loading time is another huge conversion killer

Not everyone has a 4G or LTE connection. Even if they do, that connection could be unstable – and the more data on your page, the longer it’ll take to load.

Download speed isn’t always the issue, either. Some phones just do not have the processing power to display information quickly, even after receiving it.

Because we know that 43% of users are unlikely to return to a slow-loading landing page or website, keeping that page light is key to keeping people on your page.

But it’s also crucial to scoring more conversions – according to KISSmetrics, a one-second delay can result in a 7% conversion loss.

You definitely don’t want that, do you? Here are some tips to help you speed up your mobile landing pages load times:

1. Go easy on the design elements

The fewer design elements you use, the faster the page can load. The information will be passed to the device faster and the phone will process it faster.

In his article, Mobile Landing Page Checklist for Optimizers, Craig Sullivan discusses the importance of reducing design elements:

The connection of your phone to the mobile phone [tower] and then onto the internet incurs a delay. This is called latency and it adds up for every object you pull down. Two pages of 100Kb — one of which has 5 objects and one of which has 90  —  will show markedly different performance to the user.

In other words, even if the pages are the same size, a page with five graphical elements will load more quickly than one with 90. Keeping design elements minimal reduces the time it takes for a page to load – and that helps keep people around so they can convert.

2. Optimize images for mobile

Once you’ve narrowed down the images to only include those you absolutely need, you’ll need to optimize them to their full potential. That means reducing your overall file size and making sure images scale to any device people might be using using.

This post on the Google Developers blog outlines exactly how to go about making sure your images are done right on mobile. In short, the article recommends:

• Tricks for compressing images
• Learning to select the right image format
• Reducing the number of unnecessary pixels in an image by scaling images to their display size
• Removing unnecessary image metadata

By investing time in learning how to best optimize your images for mobile, you’ll be reducing friction by speeding up the loading time of your landing pages.

3. Remember that every screen is different

I get a lot of comments about my phone. I have a Nexus 6 that, with the giant idiot-proof case that surrounds it, looks like a small tablet.

Mine is just one of dozens (maybe hundreds?) of different phones out there in the hands of your prospects. The new iPhone 6’s screen is different from that of the iPhone 5, or the LG G3 or… you get the point.

Image source.

Mobile landing pages need to respond to every size.

Responsive design means adapting to the device accessing the content and displaying the information in the way best suited to that device.

You may find that you need to cut back on some of the content to make the experience more enjoyable for mobile users. Test your heart out, and remember that at the end of the day, you’re trying to give them the information they need to convert.

4. Make your content readable

Larger fonts help readability. In the example below, it’s tough for the reader to go through the content and figure out what’s there. While not strictly a landing page by definition, the page below is one of the paid results I got when searching for “mobile marketing.”

The first mistake they made was not using a dedicated landing page for this campaign. The next was making the content on the page barely readable as the font is so small.

Each of the sections on landing page designer Jen Gordon’s homepage is optimized for mobile, and has font that is readable.

You can see that snippets of information have been broken up into readable sections, which encourage the reader to keep scrolling down the page. This is exactly how a mobile landing page should look. The friction generated by forcing readers to pinch and zoom to get to your content is eliminated, and they’re free to find out what you have to offer.

Testing your mobile landing pages

Once you’ve optimized your mobile landing pages for those four things, your work isn’t done. You’ve still gotta test.

Your A/B tests are an invaluable part of learning what your audience responds to because at the end of the day, they decide which version of your page is the best.

But before you start A/B testing different versions of your page, make sure you do some basic user testing:

• Does the page work on all devices?
• Does the page load quickly?
• Does it work on all browsers?
• Does it display within all break points?

Why is troubleshooting the technical side of things essential? As Unbounce Senior Conversion Optimizer Michael Aagaard said:

If your variation breaks the layout and mobile users end up seeing a totally screwed up version, your data will be 100% useless and you might as well not test.

What’s more, your tests should not stop at the conversion on the landing page.

Are your visitors converting into sales further down the line? Does one page seem to contribute to sales in the future more than another?

Ask yourself these questions regularly to help you decide on the best way forward.

Killing mobile friction

As results-oriented marketers, we can sometimes get behind the curve on design trends, but make no mistake: mobile is not a trend. Mobile is a real and viable channel for reaching customers.

Remember that if you’re sending your mobile traffic to pages that cause friction, you will lose the opportunity to convert that traffic – possibly forever.

Take the time to understand your customers’ needs on mobile. Design the best experience you possibly can. Give your customers the opportunity to interact with you on their terms. And when they’re happy, you know that you’ve reduced friction.

​Thanks for downloading the checklist.
Now go put it to good use!

Download the Checklist Here (PDF)

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Blockbuster Content Marketing Success: Xerox Marketing VP Jeannine Rossignol #CMWorld

Everything is bigger on the silver screen: hopes and dreams, heroes and villains, successes and failures. Simple human drama can become mythical when projected onto a giant movie screen. We go to the movies to laugh, cry, and gasp along with our fellow moviegoers, all of us sitting in the dark together sharing the experience. It’s a powerful example of how great content can create an experience that not only informs, but makes you feel. Creating those experiences is a whole crew of specialists, actors, director and producers, each playing their part.

Similarly, every successful content marketing program has a team of people working behind the scenes to create quality content that connects with customers. One trailblazing example of a marketing leader creating great content experiences is Jeannine Rossignol, VP of Marketing for Large Enterprise Organizations at Xerox.

Jeannine will be making her first appearance at Content Marketing World this year, discussing how senior marketers and CMOs can structure marketing around content. I connected with Jeannine to talk about content marketing strategy, top challenges facing content marketers, and content marketing lessons to be learned from Charlotte’s Web.

I work with amazingly talented people to tell stories that start conversations with the right people.

Can you share a little more about your role at Xerox and what you enjoy most about it?

At Xerox I lead demand gen, content marketing, digital, social and sales enablement globally for our Large Enterprise Operations division. I work with amazingly talented people to tell stories that start conversations with the right people. I get a rush when I think about all the changes that have happened to the practice over the past few years and can’t wait to see what the future holds… and maybe even help shape it a bit.

The key is that content provides insight, and valuable information they need.

How do you define content marketing?

Content marketing provides our clients and prospects with the insight they need to make a decision. It doesn’t have to be the decision to buy. The key is that the content – whatever form it takes – provides insight, and valuable information they need. Otherwise, we’d simply keep calling it marketing brochures (collateral). When you’re elbowing for position in the early stages of the consideration, good content marketing works hard. It creates brand awareness, differentiation and credibility.

When it comes to approach, never forget the customer is in charge.

It seems many brands’ approach to content marketing has focused mostly on creating more content with a recent emphasis on better quality content. What do you think are the major drivers for content marketing strategy and approach to content?

I have a hunch that the brands producing the most content are often the ones that lack a clear content marketing strategy. A clear strategy should include who you target, what their buyer’s journey looks like, and most importantly, what are the questions they need to answer to move from one stage in the journey to the next. Every piece of content should go back to that strategy.

When it comes to approach, never forget the customer is in charge. Be engaging. Add humanity.

Content is an integral component of every aspect of marketing.

How does content marketing relate to the overall marketing pie?

Content is the golden thread that brings marketing together, not just marketing but marketing and sales. It isn’t a separate program, but rather an integral component of every aspect of marketing.

Content marketing is growing for two reasons. 1) Many disparate marketing components are now taking roles within a larger content marketing strategy. With some adjustments and refocus on customer interest, they have become content marketing tools. 2) Content marketing is also taking on a bigger role because so much of it can be tied to measurable results.

We have to recognize that not everyone wants to consume information the same way.

How important are non-text content marketing assets to your marketing? For example: audio, video, and interactive.

Critical. We have to recognize that not everyone wants to consume information the same way. Just as important as understanding the type of content your audience wants, you also have to know what format they prefer it in. Added to that, we are a visual society. Memes. Instagram. Buzzfeed. Pinterest. Emoticons. They help us connect in ways that can often feel more real than words. Which is great news for international marketers, by the way.

What are some of your own content marketing examples that you’re proudest of?

In B2B marketing, especially for services, we talk to our clients about their challenges. We took a different angle with Optimism. One that is focused on the opportunities for that business … looking past the challenges and focusing on opportunities … We were excited about it, our management and sales organizations were excited, and the feedback we’ve received from customers demonstrates they like it as well.

We brought the idea of Optimism to life with a publication called Chief Optimist.   We needed to get in front of decisions makers with our content. The idea of the publication seemed like a great way to get past the gatekeeper and end up in the “to-read” pile. We partnered with Forbes to publish the magazine. We knew their name would add credibility to the magazine, and most of all it would help us supplement our original content with theirs. As it turns out by partnering we are more credible than trying to do it on our own.

Do you have any advice for marketers who feel overwhelmed by the challenge of consistently producing a variety of engaging content?

• Don’t do it alone! Partner – internal SMEs, 3^rd party experts, your agencies, trusted business resources, analysts, etc.
• Editorial calendar – map it out for the year, it won’t seem as overwhelming
• Remember at the end of the day it is a person reading your content. Make sure it is interesting and has a point.
• Never be afraid to fail. In today’s digital world it is easy to make course corrections, but you can’t correct (or learn from) what was never done.

Great technology can’t fix bad content, nor can great content deliver results without technology.

What are some of the biggest content marketing challenges facing large companies today? Or the biggest misconceptions. What should they do about it?

Content marketing can expose your “ugly baby.” If you have a product or service that doesn’t have a unique value prop or truly meet the needs of the marketplace, coming up with insightful content will be near impossible.

Great technology can’t fix bad content, nor can great content deliver results without technology.

Data hygiene is critically important. The best content is highly targeted and relevant. But if you can’t trust your data, you can make some silly mistakes on a massive scale.

Forgetting the first rule of content marketing: take your brand out and put the customer in.

Companies seem to be most challenged by measuring content marketing performance and ROI. What advice can you share?

Marketing went from not being able to measure anything, to being able to measure everything. It is overwhelming, but pick a place to start… pick one question you want to answer and go from there. Get it roughly right, and keep refining.

What are you presenting on at Content Marketing World? What do you like best about the conference?

I’m on the panel discussing “How Senior Marketers and CMOs Are Structuring Around Content Marketing. This will be my first CMWorld. I’m beyond excited; it has been on my list to attend for years. I would love to hear from veteran attends, tweet to me what you like best about the conference.

In the spirit of the CMWorld conference theme of vintage Hollywood “Big Lights, Big Content”, what is your favorite movie?

There are so many to choose from… I’m the mother of 4 small children so bear with me; the only movies I see these days are children’s movies! Let me give you a favorite that is not only a great movie/story, but also a great example of content marketing in action: Charlotte’s Web. Charlotte’s content, the words she spun in her web were creative, powerful and beautifully targeted to save the life of Wilbur the pig. It perfectly showcases that content can deliver powerful results, or in this case, save lives!

Ready to Become the Star of Your Brand’s Content Marketing Movie?

Reserve your space at Content Marketing World 2015 to learn strategies from over 200 top experts in the industry.

For a preview of coming attractions before the conference, dim the lights, silence your electronic devices, and read our new eBook, Measuring Your Content Marketing Box Office Success.

Binge Read the Entire Content Marketing World Triple Feature!

Sometimes when you get really into a series, there is nothing more tortuous than waiting for the next release. By clicking any of the links below, you’ll get immediate, on-demand access to each of the eBooks in our series.

The Big Picture of Content Marketing Strategy

Making Content Marketing the Star of Your Marketing

Measuring Content Marketing Box Office Success

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© Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®, 2015. | Blockbuster Content Marketing Success: Xerox Marketing VP Jeannine Rossignol #CMWorld | http://www.toprankblog.com

The post Blockbuster Content Marketing Success: Xerox Marketing VP Jeannine Rossignol #CMWorld appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

Most Efficient Solar Panels

In trying to create the most efficient solar panels, pay special attention to the portion of the backsheet of the panels.

A backsheet layer is the solar panel which solar cells are arranged. The other side of this backsheet, more precisely in the upper middle area is the junction box. A backsheet are often made of vinyl fluoride or PVF which is similar to PVC, or polyvinyl chloride, the material used in pipes and water pipes. P.V.F. It is commonly used in aircraft interiors and vehicles.

DuPont, the US chemical company founded in 1802, created in the 1940s, polyvinyl fluoride polymer (PVF). After about 10 years, they have begun to develop products according to the invented material. 20 years after the invention, the trade name Tedlar was finally registered by DuPont in the United States. Finally, Tedlar has become the first choice of material for the back sheets of solar panels and is also recognized as the standard in other industries it serves.

Polyvinyl fluoride (PVF) has excellent release properties so it is easy to clean. It is also weatherproof and can prevent water from entering the solar cell. It also does a good job keeping the steam penetrate. Another important feature of the FSP is their low thermal resistance, which is essential in the operation of solar cells. Low heat resistance means that the material is capable of supporting the solar cell heat transfer that can affect layers that compose it. This is also why some solar panels do not work as expected when the temperature exceeds 25 degrees C (77 degrees F). All solar panels on its data sheet have a term called “temperature coefficient Pmax” and this determines the percentage of yield reduction for each additional degree above 25 degrees Celsius. If the “temperature coefficient Pmax” is -0.47%, the maximum power from your solar panel is reduced by 0.47% for each degree increase in temperature (Celsius). Conversely, when the temperature is less than or equal to 25 degrees Celsius, the most efficient solar cells and may increase above its nominal power.

Making the most efficient solar panels requires high quality materials such as Tedlar, but if you make one on your own, an alternative would be just a plain plywood. This painting plated against, with a protective coating such as acrylic latex paint to do the job in UV resistant and prevent water ingress. Plywood is also nonconductive, but may not have low thermal resistance that has PVF.

Marketing Superstars Tell All: Measuring Content Marketing Box Office Success

“Show me the money. Show me the money!” – Jerry Maguire

In the summer of 2010, the Internet was abuzz about the upcoming movie Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World. It was based on a comic book with a rabid cult following and directed by the indie darling behind Sean of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. When the movie was released, the buzz intensified, dominating social media for its opening weekend. By almost every measurement, it was a blockbuster success. Unfortunately for the film, the one metric it missed was number of tickets sold. Scott Pilgrim was very good at generating excitement, but failed to deliver on the one metric that mattered.

In content marketing as in movies, it’s important to measure success with metrics relevant to business goals. But measuring the ROI of content marketing is no easy task. Content Marketing Institute found that fewer than 25% of B2B and B2C marketers say they are successful at tracking the ROI of their content marketing programs. The challenge for content marketers is to look past the vanity metrics and uncover what matters.

To help you separate the buzz from actual box office success, TopRank Online Marketing and Content Marketing Institute present the thrilling conclusion of our content marketing trilogy: Measuring Your Content Marketing Box Office Success. ‘

This final chapter combines Hollywood movie magic with no-nonsense advice from 13 content marketing superstars. It’s a feature-length collection of tools and tips, but it’s also a sneak preview of what you will see at Content Marketing World in 2015.

In this content marketing feature, you will discover:

• Valuable metrics for measuring content marketing success
• How to link content strategy to results
• How to create content with measurability in mind
• Tools for tracking and measuring effectiveness

In the grand tradition of Return of the Jedi, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the third and final installment of our trilogy wraps up the series on a high note (until the inevitable gritty reboot). Here are a few content marketing ROI tips from the marketing thought leaders in the eBook, in handy tweetable format:

Joe Pulizzi – Content Marketing Institute
Want to better measure the value of content marketing? Create a subscription program. @joepulizzi tweet this

Jeannine Rossignol – Xerox
When selecting metrics for content marketing, pick one question to answer & go from there. @j9rossingnol tweet this

Rebecca Lieb – Altimeter Group
There is no content strategy without measurement. Understand what you want to achieve. @lieblink tweet this

Julie Fleischer – Kraft Foods
Content marketing success starts by determining what critical measurements drive spending decisions. @jfly tweet this

Todd Wheatland – King Content
Define real-time & long-term content marketing results that align w/ business objectives. @ToddWheatland tweet this

Michael Brenner – NewsCred
Your content marketing has to generate real sales w/ real people to be successful. @brennermichael tweet this

Andrew Davis – Author, Brandscraping
The two simplest ways to measure the value of content marketing: revenue by post & subscriber. @tpldrew tweet this

Carla Johnson – Type A Communications
Monitor, learn & adjust your content marketing measurement strategy as you go. @carlajohnson tweet this

Jason Miller – LinkedIn
If your content marketing is encouraging engagement, that’s a sign of relevance. @JasonMillerCA tweet this

 
Lee Odden – TopRank Online Marketing
For marketing success, make content accountable & measurable to attract, engage & convert. @leeodden tweet this

Heidi Cohen – Actionable Marketing Guide
Begin by stating your business goals & creating content to achieve those objectives. @heidicohen tweet this

Ian Cleary – RazorSocial
Find your most linked-to and shared content and produce more of this. @IanCleary tweet this

Chad Pollitt – Relevance
Identify baseline measurements for content marketing by researching audience, media & competitors. @chadpollitt tweet this

Here’s the full Content Marketing Measurement eBook:

View the Entire Content Marketing Triple Feature Whenever You Want!

If you missed the first and second eBooks in the series, you can view the entire triple feature here: Developing a content marketing strategy, making content the star of your marketing and measuring content marketing ROI.

Be sure to visit the Content Marketing World website to learn more about the conference and to reserve your seat. You won’t want to miss it!

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How to Buy an Ideal Solar Power System for Your Home

Concerned about the sudden increase in their electricity bills? You want to get rid of this problem? Why not switch to solar energy and live a tension free life thereafter!

As electricity prices are increasing day by day, people began to feel the pain of this abrupt question mounting. Many owners of the world are moving towards a better option and expense, ie, “solar energy”. Installation is no doubt that this type of power system in your home is the best way to use the sun’s energy and cut all electricity bills, but there is a big question that arises here, namely, “Is it a good investment or not? This is one of the most popular these days and millions of people believe that the issues are worth investing in. Many people think that the transition to this form of energy can save nature and pockets.

Adaptation of the solar panels is the best way to back up all your utility bills

Solar energy is free, clean, cheap, efficient, autonomous, sustainable, environmentally friendly, easy to install and requires little maintenance compared to electricity. It offers a solution to the energy produced by coal, which significantly reduces the emission of greenhouse gases. When it comes to buying these systems, there are many options available these days, but not all power systems are of the same quality, so it is important to choose the right one for your home.

Written below are some useful tips that you should keep in mind to buy a solar panel for your home perfect.

• Ask for help – it is important that you get the help of friends, relatives, family members and ask for feedback. This will help you know more about the product, its advantages and disadvantages.

• Look around and choose the right – You have to look around and visit companies that offer different solar equipment. By doing this, it allows you to compare prices and choose the one that suits your budget without compromising quality.

• Guarantee Search – Once a panel ideal energy for your home, make sure it meets all the essential requirements and check if the company offers a sufficient guarantee of their product is selected! In addition, you must take into account the duration of the warranty and the company provides adequate support in case of problems with the team in the future.

Advantages of solar energy for businesses

You will receive many benefits of installing these panels, such as:

• Reduce operating costs
• Return on investment
• Increased reliability
• Easy maintenance
• environmentally friendly approach
• Elimination of electric bills
• Promote your business in a better way
• Increase the effectiveness of your departure

Therefore, in order to take care of the installation process, it’s best to hire an expert and stay tension free.

Use Solar Energy to Earn a LEED Certification

LEED certification for buildings or commercial facilities by installing a solar power system is a way to save costs on your bottom while establishing energy independence. As a happy side note, LEED designation and use of solar energy is also a very effective way to generate additional positive PR and word of mouth for your business. If you plan to build a new plant or upgrading of an existing building in the near future, consider adding a solar energy system to reduce or eliminate their dependence on local public services providers.

LEED certification reduces operating costs

Probably the most convincing of the appearance of LEED certification through the installation of solar energy is the ability to reduce the overhead of your business. By incorporating a solar photovoltaic system design or renovation of its installation, the ability to start producing energy without almost immediately you enter. For States that provide the C-PACE program, you can finance your solar power system with very favorable conditions. Otherwise, many solar energy providers also offer a financing program to the conditions that are even more attractive than the C-PACE program offers. You can install solar panels virtually no pocket money and start saving money almost immediately. This is particularly attractive for companies who are remodeling or modernization of an existing building. Solar firmly on the figures LEED rating system, allowing you to reach a desired item quickly and easily.

Establish energy independence solar and LEED

No matter the size of your business, you have been to thank you for your local electricity provider since the day it opened. The adoption of solar technology and other renewable energies energy autonomous will help you break this link. You respect the other requirements for obtaining a LEED certification, you will reduce the energy needs of its facilities and its need for the municipal network. Using more insulation and other construction methods that reduce their electricity needs of the installation is a bit more to avoid ridiculous monthly electricity bills your business has paid off.

The use of solar energy and LEED to leverage public relations

Business owner warned today care about the bottom line, as well as energy independence, because these factors provide a distinct advantage to support business operations. As the economy fluctuates or political position changes the way they are forced to operate while remaining profitable ways your organization can keep rolling. Public relations benefits of the optimization of solar technology are an important part of this equation. Many existing customers, especially those who are outraged by the bloated government, look for companies that share their ideals. Never client money was more influential than it is today, and appealing to their shared sensibility, can position your company as they can be identified. Even the few well-placed press releases mentioning his proactive stance against the government and control utility supplier will brand your company as a pioneer, a hero and a person who want to do business with.

If you have considered adopting some of the LEED standards for installation, contact a solar energy provider in your area. They can assess your installation and determine the size of the system that best suits your goals and earn maximum LEED credits. The adoption of alternative energy systems is a favorable plan for many reasons, if you finally decide to seek LEED certification.

What Is a Photovoltaic System?

This is a common question from the uninitiated. A photovoltaic (or PV System) is an installation of solar panels that can be used to provide electricity and if you generate more energy than it needs, can be fed back to the network.

Domestic photovoltaic systems have two main options installations. Existing properties tend to opt for a mounting system “roof”, where the panels are sitting slightly above the roof surface. This causes the least disruption of the structure and the tiling of existing coverage. The alternative is a system of “roof” where the panels replace the shingles. This is most suitable for a new house a home that is to have the roof replaced.

Photovoltaic panels produce energy even on cloudy days because they use not only direct sunlight but also diffuse solar radiation. The question is how energy is achieved at night? Well a residential installation usually connected to the national grid so you can buy energy to the national grid at night.

PV systems are also available for commercial and industrial purposes. Freeholders, in particular, can use the system effectively to generate revenue. They can use a large plant on earth to produce energy for sale to the network. They also work well in farm buildings for energy, where it is difficult to connect to the national grid.

Most roofs are strong and large enough for a residential installation. The panels are reasonably robust as they have to withstand the weather frequently. Interestingly, the approach of the Council to see whether the planned system will require a building permit. When choosing a company to install your PV system, ensure that you are looking for a (Microgeneration Certification System) certified company MCS.

There are, of course, other forms of alternative energy such as wind power, hydropower and geothermal, but these are much less suitable for a residential installation!

Climate Change – The Real Deal

It was in the spring of 2011 which was long remembered by the scale and horror of many violent tornadoes that tore through the Midwest and parts of the eastern United States. With the massive flooding of the Mississippi River in Illinois all the way to New Orleans created a catastrophic disaster. It seems like every spring has seen its share of storms where torrential rain causes immense suffering and loss of life. Once again we have drought conditions in many areas of our country and through out the world.

We realized that climate change increases the risk of hostility and conflict. The sea level rise today already cover the coastal landscapes around the world forcing people to leave their homes. In general, we are seeing migration, while due to the rising waters forced. This migration of refugees of climate change continues to grow each year. With drought conditions worsen shortages have become the strongest fresh water and food. Consequently, there has been and still is an increased competition for remaining resources never there. And this increased competition continues to exacerbate tensions, not only in all the countries concerned but throughout the world.

To understand the impact of climate change today is that one of its consequences has led to instability in Nigeria. This instability, now operated by the terrorist group Boko Haram continues to exasperate economic conditions worsen and throughout Africa. The drought and subsequent food shortages not only rising food prices intensified, has helped fuel the riots in early Syria. Today, with the country torn by civil war and the rise of ISIS caused serious risks, not only for the global economy, but has also had disastrous effects on humanity as well.

In the US, it has not been since 1920 in this country has experienced such devastation of nature in many places in a short period of time. Following all this devastation left much of the United States almost helpless. Too many lives lost, so much destruction, and many livelihoods in ruins was the result. Today, nature in all its fury unleashed chaos and destruction that continues to shake that nation. Man-induced climate change is attributed to a global quagmire of misery and death?

Throughout the centuries mankind has continued to upset the balance of nature. Man laid the foundation for the natural disasters that have transformed our world. Each nation is guilty of some environmental atrocity of one kind or another. Voluntarily or not the man continues to pollute, destroy, steal and our environment without worrying about the consequences of our actions, inactions and now to facilitate the devastation. To speculate that the Earth goes through its normal cycle of climate change as the reason why there are so many homes storms, longer droughts, earthquakes or massive flooding is too casual.

Monetary restrictions imposed by the reactions always change in the environment caused by human interference. The tragedies of humanity are imbued with blatant disregard for the environment, nature and all the inhabitants of the earth. Even with all the currently available more pollution than any other period of history is continuously discharged into our rivers, streams, lakes and oceans causing catastrophic damage to marine life technology, people from coast, all economies around the world . The need is very obvious, the technology is available, and resources can be provided to eliminate global pollution that threatens our very existence.

What it has happened since the arrival of the first industrial revolution in which man continues to drain the oil fields, groundwater deposits of coal and other minerals, which is a parody of our planet. Our continued reliability of fossil fuels on earth creates large gaps that contribute to the movement of earth plates along the lithosphere resulting from earthquakes, tsunamis, and even sink holes that cause terrible damage man and the nature. We also have to realize what humanity has done to the tropical forests of the Amazon. Destruction and almost total annihilation of the greatest resources of the stability of Earth’s climate, now it has become the greatest threat of the planets climate instability.

To not capitalizing the already abundant, automatic replenishment, and environmental sources of renewable energy humanity has made the land can not remain stable. Of course, the planet has experienced throughout the history of climate change, but mans continued escalation of fossil fuel consumption only increases and accelerates a change in the climate of the earth. When the weather changes drastically in a relatively short time period of great upheavals they have always happened. Worldwide, more frequently and with greater intensity have become. Always in the most horrible human suffering, nature and the environment and it is almost powerless to restore stability. All this while the costs to restore balance and stability today far exceeds the cost that would have been spent to prevent such disasters from happening in the first place.

All that is needed is the will of nations once and for all band together to solve the climate of the earth is directly related and influenced by human interference. To curb the acceleration of global warming, end the catastrophic pollution, and restore our depleted forests every nation must help restore the delicate balance of the earth. This, for humanity now be able to end the massive human suffering that causes more aggression and destabilization of nations worldwide-out. All this can be done using the technology available today. By making the sources of the first and second electrical obsolete industrialization is the fastest way to restore stability worldwide. The availability of solar, wind, hydro electric, magnetic energy and other green energy sources are easily available now. All that is needed is the political will to make them more accessible and affordable. The ability to restore the balance of nature on earth is at hand. And doing so could only alleviate many human tragedies that have placed man about to fall back into the caves of the Neanderthals.

Solar Panel For Home

Learning that the solar panel for home, a person can use in a DIY situation, pay attention to the parts of the solar cell is essential.

A photovoltaic cell, also called a solar cell, is the main component that generates electricity in a solar panel. Photovoltaics is a term that refers to the production of electricity at the junction of two semiconductor silicon is exposed to light (not necessarily sunlight) and comes from the word “photo” means light and electricity, meaning “voltaic “. When grouped together, they form a module which can then be inserted into a frame to a solar panel. Solar cells are found in some computers, satellites, and even in the Mars rovers are also called solar cells or panels. Any light that hits a solar cell can cause a reaction in the creation of electricity. The light source would be the most effective sun.

Parts of a solar cell are:

1. P-type Semiconductor

– This is a very thin layer comparable to the thickness of a paper or a card that is designed to have a false and move the positive particles called “holes”. Imagine this layer positive particles that want to bond with people who are negative and keep moving until they find an inverse correspondence takes.

2. n-type semiconductor

– This is essentially the same as the p-type layer, except that carries “electrons” free movement. Imagine a being that carries negative particles that are also always looking for positive partner face. This is also the part of the cell where the light passes through.

3. PN junction

– This is the part of the solar cell that is created when the P-type semiconductor and N-type are connected. This is where the electric field is created and separated “holes” (positive) “e” (negative). This splitter or union is then affected when hit by light causing the particles to move passion on either side of the partition.

4. Positive Lead

– This is the layer at the bottom of the P-type semiconductor and functions as a way for the particles to pass from P to N, or vice versa. This is where the positive cable is connected.

5. negative lead

– This also serves as a route for the same particles as the positive conductor layer. This part of the solar cell is generally represented by the bands above the N-type semiconductor, in which the light is emitted. This is where you connect the negative cable.

6. antireflective coating

– Silicon may reflect an estimated 35% of sunlight and hence a layer that can prevent this must be put in place. This is the task of the anti-reflection layer where sunlight is issued, effectively providing a better basis for semiconductors.

How do they work these parts is very simple (but can be complicated in detail); P type containing the positive particles while maintaining the N-type negative effects; They are then moved when the light hits the PN junction; the movement is then extended to channels that are the positive and negative conductors that create the electrical current when intercepted can be used to power electrical devices.

The solar cell can be combined to make a chain which can also be combined with similar channels creating a module that, when mounted in a frame, makes a solar panel, which, in turn, can be connected to other solar panels creating a solar panel. Provided the cells are combined, the output power increases, thus providing a plurality of devices, or even an entire city. You are now on track to build the right solar panel for the house.

Online Marketing News: Less Filling Facebook, Organic Is Live & Well, Mobile Makes Modest Move

The Evolution of Twitter – Twitter which was launched way back in 2006 has definitely gone a long way eversince it was created. To date, there are more than 288 million users who are active in sharing and sending tweets in a day. In using Twitter, you can now share and read tweets anytime and anywhere. Check out the full history of Twitter in this infographic. Tech & Science

STUDY: Facebook Pages’ Organic Reach Is Not Quite Dead – The conventional wisdom about Facebook pages is that organic reach is virtually nonexistent and posts with photos perform the best, but a study by social analytics and reporting firm Locowise poked holes in those theories. SocialTimes

Study: Searchers Use Question Formats 27% Of The Time – A new study analyzes how searchers type in queries by looking at the query format and query length. Search Engine Land

Marketing Departments to Move Majority of Apps to Cloud in 2 Years – Forty-seven percent of marketing departments will have 60 percent of their apps on a cloud platform within two years. Almost half of marketing departments will have two-thirds of their applications on a cloud platform in two years, a report from 451 Research has revealed. ClickZ

Facebook Partners With Shopify to Launch Its Own ‘Buy’ Button – It was announced today that Shopify and Facebook are teaming up to launch a ‘Buy’ button that will enable people to buy items found in the news feed without having to leave the world’s top social network. Search Engine Journal

Facebook Announces Facebook Lite – This week, Facebook introduced Facebook Lite, a new version of Facebook for Android that uses less data and works well across all network conditions. Facebook

Content Marketing Now Comprises 40% of LinkedIn’s Ad Revenue – LinkedIn generated revenue of $119 million selling ads during the first three months of 2015, a 38% increase over the year-earlier period, the company said Thursday. But the outlook for the second quarter and full year was weaker than expected, and headwinds for display ad sales meant a lot rides on the continued expansion of LinkedIn’s sponsored posts. Ad Age

STUDY: Envy of Friends, Family Can Make Facebook Use Depressing – All of these studies suggesting that Facebook use causes depression, are, well, depressing.The latest comes from University of Houston researcher Mai-Ly Steers, who found after conducting two separate studies that some Facebook users find themselves comparing their lives with the activities and accomplishments of their friends and family on the social network. SocialTimes

Report: YouTube Still Trumps Facebook Video For Brands Over The Long Haul – Visible Measures data shows Facebook with 35% of video views from a sample of March campaigns, but over time the balance shifts in YouTube’s favor. Marketing Land

Report: Mobile Search Queries 29 Percent Of Total But Growth Modest – comScore released its latest “Digital Future in Focus” compilation of key stats for the US market. Most of the material has been previously exposed in one form or another. However for the first time comScore released search volumes for mobile. Search Engine Land

Twitter Improves User Experience with New Block Tools – The platform is going to enable users to block multiple unwanted accounts at the same time and share lists of accounts they have blocked. ClickZ

REPORT: Page Likes Down 3% to 4% After Facebook Cuts Inactive Accounts – Social analytics provider Quintly broke up pages into two groups — those with fewer than and more than 1 million likes — and found that pages in the former group saw their like totals drop by an average of around 3 percent, while that figure was approximately 4 percent for the latter group. SocialTimes

What were the top online and digital marketing news stories for you this week?

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

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5 Real Estate Landing Page Templates for Your Appraisal

If showing houses were this easy, no one in real estate would need a landing page. But it ain’t. Image source.

Do a Google search for the name of your city + “real estate.” Click on a few of the sponsored ads. Did you find a landing page?

Chances are you didn’t, because most real estate agents have not yet caught on to the fact that they need to be sending their paid traffic to dedicated landing pages.

If you’re a real estate agent, a broker, realtor or even an agency working on behalf of any of these people, this represents an awesome opportunity for you to stand out from your competition, establish trust and collect a lot more leads.

A few weeks back we held a landing page design competition with our friends over at ThemeForest and got more than 100 submissions in 18 categories. Here are five outstanding real estate landing page templates that anyone can use to give their business that extra edge over the competition.

We’ll break down what’s great about them, and how you can use them to make your marketing more successful.

1. WorkMan

This real estate template comes in two styles: click-through and lead generation.

You can use the click-through template (pictured) for showing off specific properties. Give readers a taste of the houses you’re selling along with a description.

The lead generation template has a form for potential buyers to fill in their information right at the top of the page. This one would be most useful for real estate agents who want to offer prospects a quote or give their visitors information about the service they offer. This information could come in the form of an ebook about how to purchase real estate, a guide to city neighborhoods, or any other content that might be of value to potential homeowners.

Each version of the template has a nice, big space for your hero shot at the top of the page. This is perfect for real estate agents, as it gives you the opportunity to show your prospects some aspirational image that can help them get a better idea of what you’re offering them. As Unbounce’s co-founder Oli Gardner says in his 5 Essential Elements of a Winning Landing Page post:

The idea here is to get your customers to empathize and place themselves in a scenario where they are using it.

In this case, “it” refers to the house you’re selling. On a real estate landing page, that image might be a happy couple in front of a house, a family playing in the backyard, or some folks relaxing on a porch. Whatever you choose, it should help people imagine themselves living in that house.

2. Luxra

This page uses conversion centered design, and includes a feature that will be of particular interest to real estate agents — the video section.

Videos increase the length of time people stay on your page, giving your message more time to sink in. And if you feature yourself or company employees in the video, it gives prospects the opportunity to get to know you better. There’s a reason real estate agents put their face on “for sale” signs; people are more likely to buy from people that they know and trust.

Video can be used to address buyer modalities. These are profiles that describe different buyer behaviors.

As CRO extraordinaire (and friend of Unbounce) Angie Schottmuller explains, different buyers require different amounts of information. Video appeals to buyers who need more information and visuals.

If you’re using multiple advertising channels (AdWords, Facebook, Bing, etc), be sure to A/B test a page with video versus one without. This will help you to establish which of those channels is most receptive to video.

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Use video to appeal to landing page visitors who want more information!
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3. Agents

I love this lead generation page. It reminds me a bit of the benches or billboards that you see with pictures of real estate agents’ bright, smiling faces. Except that this page has a form where folks can immediately send you their information so that you can get in touch with them.

A real estate agent could, for example, offer a free consultation to potential customers on this page.

As a real estate agent, you know the importance of selling yourself to potential clients before you sell a house, and this landing page template offers the opportunity for you to really let your personality shine through.

4. Avira

This is a landing page that would work well for someone selling multiple properties in a new suburban development, for example. From top to bottom, each section gives you the opportunity to show off features of the community that set it apart from others, and the different types of dwellings one might find there.

The map next to the icons that display the amenities in the immediate area is a great touch, as well. It gives your readers a sense of the neighborhood, and may very well generate further interest in the property.  

The other thing this page has going for it is contrast. Notice the use of whitespace, which gives the page plenty of room to breathe. This breaks up the page and draws the eye from one section to the next, allowing you to present your message in nice, bite-sized pieces.

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Whitespace on a landing page gives content *and* visitors room to breathe.
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5. Homes

Now that literally* everyone has a smartphone, landing pages that are mobile responsive are not just a nice thing to have – they’re a necessary part of any marketing campaign. In June of 2014, Google searches from a mobile device totaled 27% of all real estate-related searches. A Google Consumer Study from April 2014 states:

Most people would use their mobile device to do at least one of the following: search for listings, find directions to a house, look for more information on a listing, call or e-mail an agent directly, or watch a video while out looking for a home.

Like the others in this category, this page is mobile responsive. But this page has something that might help readers keep scrolling when they first arrive on their mobile device.

The arrow that points towards the form at the right of the page is a great directional cue that helps draw attention to your form. When designing for mobile, you could take that arrow and point it downward instead. This would give your readers the impetus to keep on scrolling down the page to get all the information they need to convert.

Little touches like this can go a long way towards capturing leads on mobile, so make sure to make the most of them (and test them too)!

*Not literally.

Get what you need to convert

There are more than 170 Unbounce landing page templates on ThemeForest, so if you can’t find what you’re looking for here, make sure to get over there and take a look.

And don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty with some A/B testing. The most important thing you can do when using landing pages for real estate marketing campaigns is to test variations to make sure that you’re reaching your audience in the right way.

You never know what might make the difference between a page that sends you qualified leads, and one that gets ignored.

Be sure to test, test, and then test again!