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How to apply PR strategies to improve your company’s SEO | Chappaqua Realtor

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Public relations and SEO have always been destined to converge.

PR is about building relationships with media professionals and key influencers to help increase a company or individual’s visibility and profile; SEO is an iteration of that relationship. The only difference is that we operate in the digital sphere, and we measure these relationships through links, social signals, and other trust indicators. In the past, many SEO strategists focused on building a high volume of low quality relationships to get their company’s names out to the Web. Times have changed.

As Google’s ability to distinguish the quality, intent, and relevance of a link improves, SEO strategists need to start thinking more like PR professionals. Rather than “manufacturing” and “building” links, the SEO process should be more about the cultivation of key human relationships, and reacting effectively to real-time PR opportunities.

What can we learn?

PR has always been a multifaceted discipline. The techniques that PR professionals use to generate positive press are numerous and diverse. That said, there are three key areas of crossover that, if mastered, will help us all learn from the PR experts and improve your company’s SEO.

1. Content, content, content

This should come as no surprise since content has been one of the fundamental pillars of traditional PR for years. If you create content that is topical, timely, and can spark an interest in your target audience, it will get picked up.

So, what types of content can you use to create opportunities for positive PR, and what SEO value do they have? Do photos on a GMB listing really matter? Sure, we should be posting slideshares, videos, images, and blog articles provide outreach to our target audience. To be honest, most people are getting pretty good at it now. The key factor when you are planning and producing your content is to always think about the PR opportunities it might be able to create.

Teatown Lake Reservation | Chappaqua NY Homes

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Teatown Lake Reservation
October 24, 2013                                                                                  Like us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterFind us on PinterestView our videos on YouTube

All programs require pre-registration. 

To register call 914-762-2912 x 110 unless otherwise noted.

Click here for more of Teatown’s upcoming programs.

 

Visit Teatown

1600 Spring Valley Road
Ossining, NY 10562
914-762-2912
Nature Center hours:
9:00am-5:00pm everyday
Trails are open 365 days a year from dawn to dusk.

Teatown Lake Reservation’s mission is to conserve open space and to educate and involve the regional community
in order to sustain the diversity of wildlife, plants and habitats for future generations.

Your donation can make

an immediate impact to help

conserve and protect the

diversity of wildlife, plants

and habitats…

today and into the future.

 

Like us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterFind us on PinterestView our videos on YouTube
In Teatown’s Gallery
Through December 31

Natural Light
Teatown Area Photographs by
Berl Brechner

Berl Brechner, an area resident for over 35 years, presents 30 scenes from nearby that he has captured,  most of them from trails, nooks and crannies of Teatown Lake Reservation. Much of the exhibit has been created with a relatively simple digital camera, with special attention to form and light.  All photographs are for sale, and all proceeds will be donated to Teatown Lake Reservation.

It’s a Bad Rap! Sunday, October 27, 1:00- 2:00pm
Some animals always get a bad rap – they’re maligned and misunderstood. Come see how animals like snakes, bats and spiders have a positive role to play in their environment. All welcome. Free for members, $5 for non-members.
Tech After Hours
October 26, November 2 & 9, 9:00am- 1:00pm
A special weekend series for teens, called “Ecology,” for those interested in working in environmental science is being offered by Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES and is being held at Teatown. In this course, learn and participate in hands-on exploration of several ecosystems including lake, stream and forest. The course will build students’ knowledge of science research and give them an opportunity to explore and learn about the field of ecology. 

Ages 12- 15.

 

Register here 

If you have questions, contact Gerry Battista, School Counselor, at The Tech Center. 914-248-2220

FOCUS ON NATURE Series
Through October 29
Jacob Burns Film Center

Fall and Winter Thursday, October 24, 7:30pm

 

Matt Anderson spent five years driving across the US searching for answers to the country’s ecological and other problems- and was stunned to find many creative people devising ingenious new strategies for the future. With breathtaking images, Fall and Winter is a hypnotic, disquieting voyage into our contemporary crisis that also charts a way out again.

Antarctica 3D: On the Edge Tuesday, October 29, 7:00pm
 Filmmaker, adventurer, author, and oceans expert Jon Bowermaster (SoLa: Louisiana Water Stories) joins us for a discussion featuring film clips about his extraordinary experiences in Antarctica while kayaking the coastline and filming for National Geographic, followed by a first preview of his dazzling new 40 minute 3-D film about climate change in Antarctica. With absolutely extraordinary images, the likes of which you have never seen before.

Click here for more details about the series.

This series is presented by Jacob Burns Film Center in partnership with Teatown Lake Reservation and Scenic Hudson and made possible through generous support from the Hoch family and the van Hengel Family Fund.

 

Teatown Members may purchase tickets for any of the films in this series at the JBFC member price.
Reap the rewards of being a Teatown Member!
Join today at  teatown.org
Earth Art After School

October 25, November 1, 8, 15, 22, 3:30- 5:30pm
Kathryn W. Davis RiverWalk Center,
Kingsland Point Park, Sleepy Hollow
Children recharge after school while exploring the Hudson River and its

shores with wonder, shared discovery and creative expression time. In this Nature, Art and Science program, children are encouraged to develop observation skills, create art with natural materials, and learn about native plants and animals. Through art, they learn creative problem solving skills and enjoy teamwork with new friends. Ages 8- 12.
To register contact Strawtown Studio at (845) 558-0877, strawtownstudio@gmail.com or online at strawtownstudio.com
OSSINING IN 3D

Art Exhibition
On display through October 26, 2013

Teatown Participates in App for Ossining 3D Walking Tour:

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A walking tour app for the art exhibition, Ossining 3D, is now live and available free of charge at the iTunes app store-click here.  When you download the app you will find audio recordings for each of the artists who donated sculptures for the exhibit.  At the end of the walking tour you will see a link to an audio about Teatown with directions to our preserve.

Four in Five Mortgages Seen Failing QM Rule | Chappaqua Real Estate

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Only about 20 percent of today’s mortgage applications will pass muster with the new QM rule that takes effect January 10, according to a leading software platform used by lenders to comply with the Dodd-Frank Act and other federal rules and regulations covering mortgage lending.

The platform, ComplianceEase, analyzed the effects that the QM rules will have on current mortgage loans , finding that more than one in five loans originated today would not qualify for the QM Safe Harbor. Specifically:

  • More than half of such loans have fees that exceed the new 3% points and fees threshold;
  • Loans with fees that exceed the 3% threshold typically exceed it by nearly $1,500; and
  • The rest have APRs that are too high to qualify for the safe harbor classification.

Loans that fail to comply with the QM rule will not be eligible for purchase, insurance or guarantee by government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) or government agencies. Moreover, due to lack of marketability, lenders generally try to avoid originating loans known as “high-cost” loans, which are subject to restrictions in the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA).

With new, stricter points and fees thresholds in the amended HOEPA, close to 3% of loans in the study that previously weren’t HOEPA loans would move into the federal “high-cost” category. On average, those loans would exceed the new HOEPA points and fees threshold by more than $1,000.

“We simulated current lending patterns under the forthcoming rules. The results have given us a good idea of the impact that the new rules and, in particular, the new thresholds will have when January comes around,” said Jason Roth, CMT, senior vice president of Product Development at ComplianceEase.

As part of the Dodd-Frank Act, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is implementing broad regulatory changes to require that mortgage lenders verify that borrowers have the ability to repay their loans.  The QM designation offers an alternative to those provisions in exchange for tighter limits on fees, APR, and other terms of the loan. Starting in January, loans that aren’t eligible for purchase, insurance, or guarantee by GSEs or government agencies must also comply with new underwriting standards.

Whether a loan is originated according to QM rules or the ability-to-repay provisions of Dodd-Frank, compliance requirements are both comprehensive and challenging. Lenders are especially concerned about non-compliance with the new rules because legal liability can potentially be assigned to their institutions and any secondary investors or servicers for the life of a loan.  In all cases, lenders will need to retain detailed records of their process and their data to substantiate their findings, making technology a must in order to stay in compliance.

 

 

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/10/four-in-five-mortgages-seen-failing-qm-rule/

 

5 Big Reasons Why You Should Consider Google Plus Marketing | Chappaqua Realtor

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It snuck up so quietly that a lot of people didn’t even realize it was  happening.

One minute you could post a comment on YouTube just by logging into your  YouTube account, and the next you’re being asked to sign in through your Gmail  or Google+ account. The same goes for Zagat and other Google owned digital web  assets.

Google+ may not have caught on with users as a Facebook alternative yet, but  the service’s “Plus 1” symbol is ubiquitous within social marketing,  and top name brands are commonly listing the Google+ icon on television ads  right next to their Facebook and Twitter symbols. Whether you like it or not,  Google+ is quickly becoming a significant player in the social media marketing  world because it has one thing going for it that no other social site has:  Google.

Google plus is now the second largest social media network behind Facebook and can  no longer be ignored.

So Google plus marketing needs to taken seriously in your marketing  strategy.

Reason #1.  Search

Google’s approach for Google+ has been to seek success through visibility.  Because of this, Google is constantly launching new applications that integrate  Google+ with search results. A search for information about the election of Pope  Francis in March 2013, for example, shows several Google+ post results from  TIME, NBC and CTV, as well as author posts with images of the Google+ registered  author catching the eye of the casual searcher.

For Google+ users, as long as you share blog posts with relevant, new  (un-copied) information on a regular basis, you are that much more likely to be  pushed up through the ranks of search results.

Google Plus marketing

As with any search engine, keywords are a big factor in these results. How  can you push your Google+ page up in search results?

  • Post on a regular basis using relevant keywords in your text, but also  integrate those keywords in other aspects of your Google+ page, such as in the “about” and “video” sections.
  • Linking back to your own website where possible also improves your Google+  and personal website optimization.
  • Creating a Google authorship for you and your most frequent posters helps  your posts appear higher in search results, with the bonus of a personal author  photo.

Reason #2. Google Authorship

There’s something about being able to look people in the eye that makes the  advice or information you receive from them more reliable. But when you can’t  look them in the eye, seeing a picture makes them seem a little more reliable  and trustworthy. That’s the basic psychology behind Google+ authorship.

 

 

 

Read more at http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/10/14/5-reasons-why-you-should-consider-google-plus-marketing/#HShJharmsiTdu4bF.99

A New Houzz Survey Reveals What You Really Want in Your Kitchen | Chappaqua NY Homes

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Let’s talk about two of everyone’s favorite subjects: you and your kitchen. In a recent Houzz survey, we asked homeowners to answer a series of questions about their kitchen remodeling plans. The results are in and, wow, you all really hate your current kitchen countertops. Can’t we all just get along with tile and Formica? Apparently not. Of the 7,812 people who responded, 94 percent plan to replace their countertops — and fewer than 10 percent intend to use either of those classic materials.
Half of you will choose granite as the replacement, followed by 36 percent who will choose quartz. In fact, based on what the survey found, we can pretty much guess what your dream kitchen might look like.

It looks a lot like this, which — surprise! — happens to be the kitchen photo that’s been added to the most ideabooks on Houzz, and is one of the top 10 photos saved to ideabooks from July through September of 2013.
What is it about this kitchen that so many of you like? Well, 75 percent of you want soft, neutral colors in the kitchen. And 65 percent of you will choose stainless steel appliances, half will select a tile backsplash and 35 percent will opt for hardwood floors.
The majority of you are starting from scratch, either designing a kitchen as part of new construction or gutting your existing kitchen and beginning anew. So why not make it exactly what you want?
If you could really have it your way, most of you would opt for a nice, big range like this one. More than 50 percent of you said a “chef’s stove” was your dream appliance, followed much farther behind by double ovens (18 percent) and an induction cooktop (9 percent).
My mother would toast the 7 percent of you who said a wine refrigerator topped your kitchen wish list.
Three-quarters of you will create a kitchen that’s open to other spaces, like the dining and living rooms. Naturally, this offers an ideal opportunity to incorporate an island into your design, so 61 percent of you plan to include one.

Bob Hope’s 1939 Toluca Lake ‘dream house’ is for sale | Chappaqua NY Real Estate

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Richard Nixon’s helicopter once landed on the back lawn so the president could play a round at the nearby Lakeside Golf Club. Lucille Ball and Jack Benny drank and gossiped at the holiday parties in the living room. And the homeowner, Bob Hope, tried out punch lines on his kids in the dining room.

For the first time since the long-lived entertainer built his home in a San Fernando Valley walnut grove in 1939, Hope’s 5.16-acre Toluca Lake estate will go on the market Monday, at an asking price of $27.5 million.

The compound that Hope shared with his wife, Dolores, and their four children has a nearly 15,000-square-foot house, a golf hole, an indoor pool and a manicured rose garden. The flat, sprawling lot is unusual for the upscale neighborhood and others like it; in Toluca Lake and similar ZIP Codes in Sherman Oaks, Encino, Studio City, Bel-Air, Holmby Hills and Beverly Hills, there are only 22 properties of more than five acres that belong to a single owner, according to a property search conducted by the estate.

The comedian and movie star collected real estate and at one point was one of California’s largest individual property owners, holding some 10,000 acres in the San Fernando Valley alone. But it was the house at 10346 Moorpark St. that he considered home, according to his daughter, Linda Hope, who still lives a few blocks away.

“The Moorpark house is a very special property in the Valley and something that meant a whole lot to my mother and dad,” she said. “They built what for them was kind of a dream house.”

The sale will mark a major change in the neighborhood that the Hopes helped to shape.

The home, which is listed with Jade Mills of Coldwell Banker and Drew Fenton of Hilton & Hyland, has grown and evolved over the years. Architect Robert Finkelhor designed the original English traditional-style main house, and in the 1950s, John Elgin Woolf renovated it in a more contemporary style, using glass to accommodate Dolores’ desire to bring the expansive feeling of the grounds inside.

 

 

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-hope-house-20130923,0,2485953,full.story

Euro Zone Sees House Prices Rise | Chappaqua NY Homes

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Euro-zone house prices rose slightly in the three months to June, the European statistical agency Eurostat said on Thursday, in another indication that the currency area’s economy is slowly mending.

Separate national figures released since June suggest the rise may have continued in recent months, with Dutch and Irish prices rising in July and August. Eurostat has only recently begun issuing the euro-zone data on housing prices.

House prices across the 17-country euro zone were 0.3% higher in the second quarter of this year compared with the first three months, although they were still 2.2% lower than in the second quarter of 2012. The quarterly gain was the first since the second quarter of 2012, when prices rose 0.1%.

House prices in the euro zone are still 5.5% below the peak reached five years ago, according to Eurostat. Home prices plummeted in some countries as the impact of the 2008’s global financial crisis caused banks to reduce mortgage lending and many people lost their jobs. Now, with the economy emerging from an 18-month-long recession in the second quarter, conditions are beginning to change.

“The economies which are showing reasonable strength at the moment are beginning to see their housing markets improve,” said Professor Michael Ball, housing expert and professor of urban and property economics at Henley Business School at Reading University in the U.K. “There is evidence of economic growth, rising jobs and mortgage availability is quite good, and above all mortgage interest rates remain quite low.”

Rising house prices make homeowners feel wealthier and more willing to spend. They also reduce the risk that banks will suffer losses on their mortgage loans.

Nevertheless Mr. Ball advocated caution. “One quarter of rising prices doesn’t make a boom, and in real terms prices are still falling in many countries,” he said.

 

 

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303382004579127162132681226.html

 

 

 

The Beautiful Thing About Dad’s Chair | Chappaqua Real Estate

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n a recent weekend afternoon, I awoke from a much-needed nap to find a curious new addition to our living room: a big, bulky, well-worn, dark blue leather recliner. I rubbed my eyes in disbelief like it was Christmas morning. Funny how you can never know how much you really needed something until it’s right there in front of you. My wife’s father had just dropped off the chair. It was a gift from his mother, my wife’s grandmother. I’m told that my wife’s grandfather had sat in this chair for many, many years before he died. I stared in awe at the thing. I finally had my first Dad Chair. And then a peculiar thing happened. Neither my wife, son nor I had laid claim to the chair, but in my mind it was immediately obvious that it was mine. This was for Dad. Me.
I felt territorial and possessive. My mind raced with thoughts of me sitting in the chair drinking scotch and saying wise things, of reading thick leather-bound literary tomes and, of course, watching football games every Sunday. But we don’t even have a TV. And I hate scotch. And I read trashy detective novels and rarely say wise things! What gives?

by Mitchell Parker

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Email Photo
You can see here that the chair is nothing outstanding. (But man, it’s comfortable.) So why am I feeling so animalistically “manly” about a simple piece of furniture?
Turns out, there are a lot of factors involved with my brutish behavior. “Generally, the Dad Chair is a protected base for the dominant male in a home,” says environmental psychologist Sally Augustin. By “generally,” Augustin is referring to the obvious fact that there are many different households, some without any males at all. My emotional behavior concerning this chair is really a culmination of biological as well as cultural influences.
eclectic living room by Shannon Malone

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Let’s take a look at the latter. “There is a lot of nonverbal communication going on with these chairs,” Augustin says. “From the first ‘50s sitcoms, dads have had control of the living room recliner, and that recliner now screams Dad to all of us raised in the West.” That might help explain my impulse to drink face-contorting malt whisky and watch a sport I care very little about.
And I do have many memories of my father’s claimed territory throughout multiple houses we lived in when I was growing up. He never really had a Dad Chair, but he certainly had his spot, marked by an indention in the sofa, where he would sit every night, his knees bent and his feet tucked up under himself, with a slight lean against the left armrest so he could reach his glass of wine on the side table. He and my mother moved to a new place in San Diego about a year ago, and sure enough, the sofa arrangement is the same, and his spot was reclaimed.

New Castle Group Hosts Meeting On Coyote Safety | Chappaqua Real Estate

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Team New Castle 2013 will hold a meeting to discuss coyote safety on Thursday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m at Horace Greeley High School.

James Horton of QualityPro Pest and Wildlife Services will discuss different methods of maintaining coyote’s fear of humans, such as hazing. Effective forms of hazing include using a noisemaker such as an air horn when confronted with a coyote.

Horton was the licensed wildlife control expert hired by Rye Brook after a coyote attacked two children, a 2-year-old and a 14-year-old.

Nearby towns such as Rye Brook, Rye, New Rochelle,  Danbury, Conn. and Brookline, Mass. have become proactive, hiring trappers to trap coyotes.

The first 100 guests will receive a free air horn necklace.

Horace Greely High School is at 70 Roaring Brook Rd in Chappaqua.

 

http://chappaqua.dailyvoice.com/news/new-castle-group-hosts-meeting-coyote-safety

 

Survey: Affluent homebuyers will give up space for amenities | Chappaqua Real Estate

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The vast majority of luxury homebuyers used an agent, are willing to give up square footage for an amenity they want and wouldn’t live in a home that isn’t tech-friendly, according to a survey commissioned by Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate.

The online survey of 500 affluent homebuyers, conducted by Wakefield Research between May 20 and June 4, also showed that most luxury homebuyers believe homeownership is a more sound investment than the stock market, would rather live in a “smart” home than a “green” home, and would rather have an upgraded home than more square footage.

“The luxury consumer is considered a trendsetter in most industries, and to see the strong connection this consumer has with ‘home’ is very significant as we look at the real estate market as a whole,” said Sherry Chris, president and CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, in a statement.

Luxury homebuyer survey statementPercentage of respondents agree
Used an agent for real estate services96%
Willing to give up 1,000 square feet of living space in their next home for a lifestyle amenity they want94%
Believe their house is the best on the block93%
Wouldn’t live in a home that isn’t tech-friendly87%
Homeownership is a more sound investment than the stock market75%
Consider a “smart” home more important than a “green” home66%
Rather have upgraded home than more square footage60%
Own multiple homes58%
Homeownership is a bigger indicator of success than their job or title*57%
Prefer owning multiple “lifestyle” homes to support recreational activities like skiing and theater-going53%

Source: Online survey of 500 luxury homebuyers between May 20 and June 4, 2013, conducted by Wakefield Research *Of those luxury homeowner survey respondents who have jobs

A majority of the affluent homebuyers surveyed said they used an agent for neighborhood lifestyle insight (65 percent) as a source of advance info for new listings (64 percent), as a go-to source for housing trends (55 percent) and for support through the homebuying process (53 percent).

More survey results:

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/09/10/survey-affluent-homebuyers-will-give-up-space-for-amenities/#sthash.r1LgFpQO.dpuf