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old idaho penitentiary site in boise idaho

Christopher Salerno — Thu, 08 Apr 2021 15:02:48 +0000

Boise, Idaho / USA – July 14 2011: Old Idaho State Penitentiary Site. The Old Idaho Penitentiary State Historic Site was a functional prison from 1872 to 1973 in the western United States, east of Boise, Idaho.

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/boise-idaho-usa-july-14-2011-1256363944

#idaho #idahopenitentiary #historic #museum #shutterstock #boise #idaho

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Why do I need Facebook for my business?

Christopher Salerno — Thu, 28 Jan 2021 14:23:06 +0000

Why do I need Facebook or Social Media for my business?

Answer: You do not exist to the Y generation

Create the hub for your business on Facebook

Your Facebook Page makes your business:

Discoverable: When people search for you on Facebook, they’ll be able to find you.
Connected: Have one-on-one conversations with your customers, who can like your Page, read your posts and share them with friends, and check in when they visit.
Timely: Your Page can help you reach large groups of people frequently, with messages tailored to their needs and interests.
Insightful: Analytics on your Page will give you a deeper understanding of your customers and your marketing activities

When you set up your Page, you can request a web address like “facebook.com/yourgreatcompany,” which makes it easy to find. To maximize the impact, include this address on your business card, website and other marketing materials.

Remember: your Page is an extension of your business. It’s an easy way to share updates and more with the people who matter most. It’s ready to help you engage your customers on desktop and on mobile.

Think about who you’d like to meet, and introduce yourself

Not only can you reach more people through Facebook, you can reach the specific people who are most likely to become your customers.

To help you connect, consider:

What do your ideal customers have in common?
How old are they, and where do they live?
How can your business help them?
Would one group be more interested in specific messages, products or services? A sale or a timely offer?

To build your audience, encourage your current customers and supporters to like your Facebook Page. They’re the people most likely to see your posts in their News Feed. Also explore the options under the Build Audience button:

Invite your friends: Let the people in your life know about your Page so they can support you by liking it. This initial audience helps you establish credibility and spread the word right away.
Share your Page—and be sure to like it yourself. Be a spokesperson for your business.
Invite your businesses contacts: Upload a list to send people an email so they know about your new Page.

Remember: it’s not about the number of likes. It’s more important to genuinely connect with the people you engage with on Facebook. If you do, they’ll help tell your story.

Make your business come alive on Facebook

As you post updates, photos and more, think about what your customers find interesting and inspiring. Experiment with different kinds of posts. Does your audience love photos or prefer when you share useful links? You’ll find out quickly by looking at your Facebook Page Insights.

Be authentic: Share what you’re genuinely excited about and your customers will be excited too.
Be responsive: When people comment on your posts, show that your business is listening and that you care. If you need more time to answer a question, let them know you’re looking into it.
Be consistent: The more regularly you post, the more opportunity you have for connecting with people and building trust. Setting a schedule for your posts can also help maximize your team’s time.
Do what works: Replicate your success on posts that get more engagement.

Make successful posts into successful promotions: When you notice that a post is getting a lot of engagement, promote it to reach even more people. When people like, comment on or share your posts, their friends are also eligible to see those posts in News Feed.

Remember: Your recipe for success is to create Page posts and ads that are interesting and valuable to your customers—and to target your messages so the right people see them.

Connect with more people who matter to your business

You can use Facebook Ads to raise awareness, stay connected and drive sales. Boost your posts so more people will see them, or create targeted ads for different audiences based on their location, interests and more. You can set your budget and measure the results of every ad. You can create an ad right from the admin panel of your Page to engage more people, or you can use the ad create tool. Once you’ve built a community around your Page, use the ad create tool to target your ads to reach the friends of the people who already like your Page. Be specific about the audiences for different ads. You can create sets of ads to connect with different target audiences. People are more likely to respond to a message crafted just for them. To make sure your ads look great wherever they’re seen on Facebook, you can see the Facebook Ads guide for detailed specifications like image dimensions.

Add a private list of your current customers to Facebook using custom audiences and then use lookalike audiences in the Ad Create tool to find other people who are similar to them. When you create an ad using the ad create tool, use “interest targeting” to reach people who already like or have a connection to other things on Facebook that are similar to what you’re offering. Remember: you can maximize the return on your investment by creating ads for specific audiences.Find out what’s working well, so you can maximize the impact of every post and ad

Facebook has a lot of different tools to help you measure how you’re doing. Your Page Insights will keep you up to date on activity on your Facebook Page. Use Page Insights to understand who responds to your messages. Make sure to look at the gender, age and location of the people who are the most engaged with your business so you can continue to engage them through targeted ads and promoted posts. When you create your ads, try out different images and headlines to see what works. Facebook will automatically optimize your campaign so that more of your budget goes to the ad that’s performing the best. Ask how people heard about you—at the end of a call, in a survey, or at the point of sale—and keep track of what they say. It will supplement the data Facebook’s tools provide. Remember: marketing your business is all about helping you achieve your goals.

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Why do I need Twitter for my business?

Christopher Salerno — Thu, 28 Jan 2021 14:11:47 +0000

What value does Twitter or Social Media do for my business?

Answer: You do not exist to the Y generation

Businesses across the globe use Twitter to generate awareness, connect with customers and drive sales. Businesses across the globe are finding value in Twitter. How organizations use the platform varies, but here’s a few suggestions for different ways your business could get value from Twitter:

Listen and learn.

Find out what’s going on in your industry and what your customers are interested in. Use Twitter search to listen to the relevant conversations that are happening and jump in where you can add value.

Drive awareness.

Raise the profile of your business and increase the impact of your marketing by using Twitter to regularly communicate with your followers. Extend your reach even further with Twitter Ads.

Provide customer service.

73% of SMB Twitter users said Twitter provides them with a quick way to reply to customer service issues.* Use it to quickly and easily respond to support queries and to develop a good reputation for your business and strong relationships with customers.

Connect with influencers.

Twitter breaks down the barriers and enables you to connect with anyone. It’s a great way of joining or even starting discussions with influencers and industry experts to raise the profile of your business and build valuable connections. Your Twitter profile shows the world who you are. It’s the entry point for your audience on Twitter, so it’s important to invest the time in getting it right.

Learn how to to set up a Twitter business page to drive potential customers to your profile. Every element of your profile — your photo, header bio and pinned Tweet — should reflect your business identity and personality. Use them to showcase your best content. Conversations on Twitter are just like the face-to-face encounters you have with customers each day. When you’re ready to start Tweeting, use these tips to write Tweets that establish an ongoing dialogue with your followers and stick to your content marketing strategy.

Listen and observe.

Take a moment to see what other businesses are doing on Twitter and develop your own content marketing strategy by deciding what you like about others’. You can find competitors and monitor relevant conversations using search.twitter.com. When you see how other businesses interact with customers and what types of content they share, you can try testing similar tactics to see which resonates most with your followers.

Use the 80/20 principle.

80% of your Tweets should focus on driving interactions with your followers, such as Retweets, replies, and favorites. Once you’ve built some rapport, you can mix in direct offers or promotions that get followers to take actions, such as clicking on a link or making a purchase from your website. The value of Twitter extends beyond our millions of active users – it’s how these users engage with the product.

Twitter users have passionate conversations, explore topics and share interesting content. Becoming a part of that active and energetic engagement is a great way to build relationships and create advocates for your business. To increase engagement with your Tweets, we’ve made it easy to create campaigns that serve up relevant content to your followers and to those who’ve yet to discover you.

Even a single follower can benefit your business in these ways. Now multiply that benefit by your total number of followers. Then consider Twitter’s millions of monthly active users and the followers that you can attract in the future. That’s the true size of the opportunity for your business on Twitter.

Twitter can be an effective marketing channel to drive more potential customers to your website. Whether you want to push your community of followers to your site or target new potential customers, setting up a website clicks campaign with Twitter Ads is the easiest way to get more people from Twitter to your website. Leads, or potential customers that have expressed interest in your products or services, are what drive your business forward.

On Twitter, you can generate leads by collecting email addresses from these potential customers. Once you’ve captured these new email addresses, you can nurture these potential customers through regular email marketing campaigns. To help you build your email contact list, we’ve made it easy to create campaigns that enable users to share their email address with you from directly within your Tweet.

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2018 Florida Statute 718.111 – Condominium Law

Christopher Salerno — Thu, 08 Nov 2018 18:57:55 +0000

The Florida State Congress’ House Bill 1237, (HB 1237) has many moving parts and condominium associations and property managers need to be aware of them. Condominium Association Website of Florida wants you to be fully armed and understand the law as it is written. In this blog post, we have re-formatted the Florida statute 718.111 for easy online reading. We have also attached a downloadable Adobe Acrobat PDF version of HB 1237. You can get the FREE Adobe Acrobat Reader here. Finally, we have also added links to the Florida Senate’s online version of HB 1237 and to Chapter 718 of the Florida Statutes on Condominiums.

718.111 The association.—

(1) CORPORATE ENTITY.—

(a) The operation of the condominium shall be by the association, which must be a Florida corporation for profit or a Florida corporation not for profit. However, any association which was in existence on January 1, 1977, need not be incorporated. The owners of units shall be shareholders or members of the association. The officers and directors of the association have a fiduciary relationship to the unit owners. It is the intent of the Legislature that nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as providing for or removing a requirement of a fiduciary relationship between any manager employed by the association and the unit owners. An officer, director, or manager may not solicit, offer to accept, or accept any thing or service of value or kickback for which consideration has not been provided for his or her own benefit or that of his or her immediate family, from any person providing or proposing to provide goods or services to the association. Any such officer, director, or manager who knowingly so solicits, offers to accept, or accepts any thing or service of value or kickback is subject to a civil penalty pursuant to s. 718.501(1)(d) and, if applicable, a criminal penalty as provided in paragraph (d). However, this paragraph does not prohibit an officer, director, or manager from accepting services or items received in connection with trade fairs or education programs. An association may operate more than one condominium.

(b) A director of the association who is present at a meeting of its board at which action on any corporate matter is taken shall be presumed to have assented to the action taken unless he or she votes against such action or abstains from voting. A director of the association who abstains from voting on any action taken on any corporate matter shall be presumed to have taken no position with regard to the action. Directors may not vote by proxy or by secret ballot at board meetings, except that officers may be elected by secret ballot. A vote or abstention for each member present shall be recorded in the minutes.

(d) As required by s. 617.0830, an officer, director, or agent shall discharge his or her duties in good faith, with the care an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would exercise under similar circumstances, and in a manner he or she reasonably believes to be in the interests of the association. An officer, director, or agent shall be liable for monetary damages as provided in s. 617.0834 if such officer, director, or agent breached or failed to perform his or her duties and the breach of, or failure to perform, his or her duties constitutes a violation of criminal law as provided in s. 617.0834; constitutes a transaction from which the officer or director derived an improper personal benefit, either directly or indirectly; or constitutes recklessness or an act or omission that was in bad faith, with malicious purpose, or in a manner exhibiting wanton and willful disregard of human rights, safety, or property. Forgery of a ballot envelope or voting certificate used in a condominium association election is punishable as provided in s. 831.01, the theft or embezzlement of funds of a condominium association is punishable as provided in s. 812.014, and the destruction of or the refusal to allow inspection or copying of an official record of a condominium association that is accessible to unit owners within the time periods required by general law in furtherance of any crime is punishable as tampering with physical evidence as provided in s. 918.13 or as obstruction of justice as provided in chapter 843. An officer or director charged by information or indictment with a crime referenced in this paragraph must be removed from office, and the vacancy shall be filled as provided in s. 718.112(2)(d)2. until the end of the officer’s or director’s period of suspension or the end of his or her term of office, whichever occurs first. If a criminal charge is pending against the officer or director, he or she may not be appointed or elected to a position as an officer or a director of any association and may not have access to the official records of any association, except pursuant to a court order. However, if the charges are resolved without a finding of guilt, the officer or director must be reinstated for the remainder of his or her term of office, if any.

(2) POWERS AND DUTIES.—The powers and duties of the association include those set forth in this section and, except as expressly limited or restricted in this chapter, those set forth in the declaration and bylaws and part I of chapter 607 and chapter 617, as applicable.

(3) POWER TO MANAGE CONDOMINIUM PROPERTY AND TO CONTRACT, SUE, AND BE SUED; CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—The association may contract, sue, or be sued with respect to the exercise or nonexercise of its powers. For these purposes, the powers of the association include, but are not limited to, the maintenance, management, and operation of the condominium property. After control of the association is obtained by unit owners other than the developer, the association may institute, maintain, settle, or appeal actions or hearings in its name on behalf of all unit owners concerning matters of common interest to most or all unit owners, including, but not limited to, the common elements; the roof and structural components of a building or other improvements; mechanical, electrical, and plumbing elements serving an improvement or a building; representations of the developer pertaining to any existing or proposed commonly used facilities; and protesting ad valorem taxes on commonly used facilities and on units; and may defend actions in eminent domain or bring inverse condemnation actions. If the association has the authority to maintain a class action, the association may be joined in an action as representative of that class with reference to litigation and disputes involving the matters for which the association could bring a class action. Nothing herein limits any statutory or common-law right of any individual unit owner or class of unit owners to bring any action without participation by the association which may otherwise be available. An association may not hire an attorney who represents the management company of the association.

(4) ASSESSMENTS; MANAGEMENT OF COMMON ELEMENTS.—The association has the power to make and collect assessments and to lease, maintain, repair, and replace the common elements or association property; however, the association may not charge a use fee against a unit owner for the use of common elements or association property unless otherwise provided for in the declaration of condominium or by a majority vote of the association or unless the charges relate to expenses incurred by an owner having exclusive use of the common elements or association property.

(5) RIGHT OF ACCESS TO UNITS.—

(a) The association has the irrevocable right of access to each unit during reasonable hours, when necessary for the maintenance, repair, or replacement of any common elements or of any portion of a unit to be maintained by the association pursuant to the declaration or as necessary to prevent damage to the common elements or to a unit.

(b)1. In addition to the association’s right of access in paragraph (a) and regardless of whether authority is provided in the declaration or other recorded condominium documents, an association, at the sole discretion of the board, may enter an abandoned unit to inspect the unit and adjoining common elements; make repairs to the unit or to the common elements serving the unit, as needed; repair the unit if mold or deterioration is present; turn on the utilities for the unit; or otherwise maintain, preserve, or protect the unit and adjoining common elements. For purposes of this paragraph, a unit is presumed to be abandoned if:

a. The unit is the subject of a foreclosure action and no tenant appears to have resided in the unit for at least 4 continuous weeks without prior written notice to the association; or

b. No tenant appears to have resided in the unit for 2 consecutive months without prior written notice to the association, and the association is unable to contact the owner or determine the whereabouts of the owner after reasonable inquiry.

2. Except in the case of an emergency, an association may not enter an abandoned unit until 2 days after notice of the association’s intent to enter the unit has been mailed or hand-delivered to the owner at the address of the owner as reflected in the records of the association. The notice may be given by electronic transmission to unit owners who previously consented to receive notice by electronic transmission.

3. Any expense incurred by an association pursuant to this paragraph is chargeable to the unit owner and enforceable as an assessment pursuant to s. 718.116, and the association may use its lien authority provided by s. 718.116 to enforce collection of the expense.

4. The association may petition a court of competent jurisdiction to appoint a receiver to lease out an abandoned unit for the benefit of the association to offset against the rental income the association’s costs and expenses of maintaining, preserving, and protecting the unit and the adjoining common elements, including the costs of the receivership and all unpaid assessments, interest, administrative late fees, costs, and reasonable attorney fees.

(6) OPERATION OF CONDOMINIUMS CREATED PRIOR TO 1977.—Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter, an association may operate two or more residential condominiums in which the initial condominium declaration was recorded prior to January 1, 1977, and may continue to so operate such condominiums as a single condominium for purposes of financial matters, including budgets, assessments, accounting, recordkeeping, and similar matters, if provision is made for such consolidated operation in the applicable declarations of each such condominium or in the bylaws. An association for such condominiums may also provide for consolidated financial operation as described in this section either by amending its declaration pursuant to s. 718.110(1)(a) or by amending its bylaws and having the amendment approved by not less than two-thirds of the total voting interests. Notwithstanding any provision in this chapter, common expenses for residential condominiums in such a project being operated by a single association may be assessed against all unit owners in such project pursuant to the proportions or percentages established therefor in the declarations as initially recorded or in the bylaws as initially adopted, subject, however, to the limitations of ss. 718.116 and 718.302.

(7) TITLE TO PROPERTY.—

(a) The association has the power to acquire title to property or otherwise hold, convey, lease, and mortgage association property for the use and benefit of its members. The power to acquire personal property shall be exercised by the board of administration. Except as otherwise permitted in subsections (8) and (9) and in s. 718.114, no association may acquire, convey, lease, or mortgage association real property except in the manner provided in the declaration, and if the declaration does not specify the procedure, then approval of 75 percent of the total voting interests shall be required.

(b) Subject to the provisions of s. 718.112(2)(m), the association, through its board, has the limited power to convey a portion of the common elements to a condemning authority for the purposes of providing utility easements, right-of-way expansion, or other public purposes, whether negotiated or as a result of eminent domain proceedings.

(8) PURCHASE OF LEASES.—The association has the power to purchase any land or recreation lease, subject to the same manner of approval as in s. 718.114 for the acquisition of leaseholds.

(9) PURCHASE OF UNITS.—The association has the power, unless prohibited by the declaration, articles of incorporation, or bylaws of the association, to purchase units in the condominium and to acquire and hold, lease, mortgage, and convey them. There shall be no limitation on the association’s right to purchase a unit at a foreclosure sale resulting from the association’s foreclosure of its lien for unpaid assessments, or to take title by deed in lieu of foreclosure. However, except for a timeshare condominium, a board member, manager, or management company may not purchase a unit at a foreclosure sale resulting from the association’s foreclosure of its lien for unpaid assessments or take title by deed in lieu of foreclosure.

(10) EASEMENTS.—Unless prohibited by the declaration, the board of administration has the authority, without the joinder of any unit owner, to grant, modify, or move any easement if the easement constitutes part of or crosses the common elements or association property. This subsection does not authorize the board of administration to modify, move, or vacate any easement created in whole or in part for the use or benefit of anyone other than the unit owners, or crossing the property of anyone other than the unit owners, without the consent or approval of those other persons having the use or benefit of the easement, as required by law or by the instrument creating the easement. Nothing in this subsection affects the minimum requirements of s. 718.104(4)(n) or the powers enumerated in subsection (3).

(11) INSURANCE.—In order to protect the safety, health, and welfare of the people of the State of Florida and to ensure consistency in the provision of insurance coverage to condominiums and their unit owners, this subsection applies to every residential condominium in the state, regardless of the date of its declaration of condominium. It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage lower or stable insurance premiums for associations described in this subsection.

(a) Adequate property insurance, regardless of any requirement in the declaration of condominium for coverage by the association for full insurable value, replacement cost, or similar coverage, must be based on the replacement cost of the property to be insured as determined by an independent insurance appraisal or update of a prior appraisal. The replacement cost must be determined at least once every 36 months.

1. An association or group of associations may provide adequate property insurance through a self-insurance fund that complies with the requirements of ss. 624.460–624.488.

2. The association may also provide adequate property insurance coverage for a group of at least three communities created and operating under this chapter, chapter 719, chapter 720, or chapter 721 by obtaining and maintaining for such communities insurance coverage sufficient to cover an amount equal to the probable maximum loss for the communities for a 250-year windstorm event. Such probable maximum loss must be determined through the use of a competent model that has been accepted by the Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology. A policy or program providing such coverage may not be issued or renewed after July 1, 2008, unless it has been reviewed and approved by the Office of Insurance Regulation. The review and approval must include approval of the policy and related forms pursuant to ss. 627.410 and 627.411, approval of the rates pursuant to s. 627.062, a determination that the loss model approved by the commission was accurately and appropriately applied to the insured structures to determine the 250-year probable maximum loss, and a determination that complete and accurate disclosure of all material provisions is provided to condominium unit owners before execution of the agreement by a condominium association.

3. When determining the adequate amount of property insurance coverage, the association may consider deductibles as determined by this subsection.

(b) If an association is a developer-controlled association, the association shall exercise its best efforts to obtain and maintain insurance as described in paragraph (a). Failure to obtain and maintain adequate property insurance during any period of developer control constitutes a breach of fiduciary responsibility by the developer-appointed members of the board of directors of the association, unless the members can show that despite such failure, they have made their best efforts to maintain the required coverage.

1. The deductibles must be consistent with industry standards and prevailing practice for communities of similar size and age, and having similar construction and facilities in the locale where the condominium property is situated.

2. The deductibles may be based upon available funds, including reserve accounts, or predetermined assessment authority at the time the insurance is obtained.

3. The board shall establish the amount of deductibles based upon the level of available funds and predetermined assessment authority at a meeting of the board in the manner set forth in s. 718.112(2)(e).

(d) An association controlled by unit owners operating as a residential condominium shall use its best efforts to obtain and maintain adequate property insurance to protect the association, the association property, the common elements, and the condominium property that must be insured by the association pursuant to this subsection.

(e) The declaration of condominium as originally recorded, or as amended pursuant to procedures provided therein, may provide that condominium property consisting of freestanding buildings comprised of no more than one building in or on such unit need not be insured by the association if the declaration requires the unit owner to obtain adequate insurance for the condominium property. An association may also obtain and maintain liability insurance for directors and officers, insurance for the benefit of association employees, and flood insurance for common elements, association property, and units.

(f) Every property insurance policy issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2009, for the purpose of protecting the condominium must provide primary coverage for:

1. All portions of the condominium property as originally installed or replacement of like kind and quality, in accordance with the original plans and specifications.

2. All alterations or additions made to the condominium property or association property pursuant to s. 718.113(2).

3. The coverage must exclude all personal property within the unit or limited common elements, and floor, wall, and ceiling coverings, electrical fixtures, appliances, water heaters, water filters, built-in cabinets and countertops, and window treatments, including curtains, drapes, blinds, hardware, and similar window treatment components, or replacements of any of the foregoing which are located within the boundaries of the unit and serve only such unit. Such property and any insurance thereupon is the responsibility of the unit owner.

(g) A condominium unit owner policy must conform to the requirements of s. 627.714.

1. All reconstruction work after a property loss must be undertaken by the association except as otherwise authorized in this section. A unit owner may undertake reconstruction work on portions of the unit with the prior written consent of the board of administration. However, such work may be conditioned upon the approval of the repair methods, the qualifications of the proposed contractor, or the contract that is used for that purpose. A unit owner must obtain all required governmental permits and approvals before commencing reconstruction.

2. Unit owners are responsible for the cost of reconstruction of any portions of the condominium property for which the unit owner is required to carry property insurance, or for which the unit owner is responsible under paragraph (j), and the cost of any such reconstruction work undertaken by the association is chargeable to the unit owner and enforceable as an assessment and may be collected in the manner provided for the collection of assessments pursuant to s. 718.116.

3. A multicondominium association may elect, by a majority vote of the collective members of the condominiums operated by the association, to operate the condominiums as a single condominium for purposes of insurance matters, including, but not limited to, the purchase of the property insurance required by this section and the apportionment of deductibles and damages in excess of coverage. The election to aggregate the treatment of insurance premiums, deductibles, and excess damages constitutes an amendment to the declaration of all condominiums operated by the association, and the costs of insurance must be stated in the association budget. The amendments must be recorded as required by s. 718.110.

(h) The association shall maintain insurance or fidelity bonding of all persons who control or disburse funds of the association. The insurance policy or fidelity bond must cover the maximum funds that will be in the custody of the association or its management agent at any one time. As used in this paragraph, the term “persons who control or disburse funds of the association” includes, but is not limited to, those individuals authorized to sign checks on behalf of the association, and the president, secretary, and treasurer of the association. The association shall bear the cost of any such bonding.

(i) The association may amend the declaration of condominium without regard to any requirement for approval by mortgagees of amendments affecting insurance requirements for the purpose of conforming the declaration of condominium to the coverage requirements of this subsection.

(j) Any portion of the condominium property that must be insured by the association against property loss pursuant to paragraph (f) which is damaged by an insurable event shall be reconstructed, repaired, or replaced as necessary by the association as a common expense. In the absence of an insurable event, the association or the unit owners shall be responsible for the reconstruction, repair, or replacement as determined by the maintenance provisions of the declaration or bylaws. All property insurance deductibles and other damages in excess of property insurance coverage under the property insurance policies maintained by the association are a common expense of the condominium, except that:

1. A unit owner is responsible for the costs of repair or replacement of any portion of the condominium property not paid by insurance proceeds if such damage is caused by intentional conduct, negligence, or failure to comply with the terms of the declaration or the rules of the association by a unit owner, the members of his or her family, unit occupants, tenants, guests, or invitees, without compromise of the subrogation rights of the insurer.

2. The provisions of subparagraph 1. regarding the financial responsibility of a unit owner for the costs of repairing or replacing other portions of the condominium property also apply to the costs of repair or replacement of personal property of other unit owners or the association, as well as other property, whether real or personal, which the unit owners are required to insure.

3. To the extent the cost of repair or reconstruction for which the unit owner is responsible under this paragraph is reimbursed to the association by insurance proceeds, and the association has collected the cost of such repair or reconstruction from the unit owner, the association shall reimburse the unit owner without the waiver of any rights of subrogation.

4. The association is not obligated to pay for reconstruction or repairs of property losses as a common expense if the property losses were known or should have been known to a unit owner and were not reported to the association until after the insurance claim of the association for that property was settled or resolved with finality, or denied because it was untimely filed.

(k) An association may, upon the approval of a majority of the total voting interests in the association, opt out of the provisions of paragraph (j) for the allocation of repair or reconstruction expenses and allocate repair or reconstruction expenses in the manner provided in the declaration as originally recorded or as amended. Such vote may be approved by the voting interests of the association without regard to any mortgagee consent requirements.

(l) In a multicondominium association that has not consolidated its financial operations under subsection (6), any condominium operated by the association may opt out of the provisions of paragraph (j) with the approval of a majority of the total voting interests in that condominium. Such vote may be approved by the voting interests without regard to any mortgagee consent requirements.

(m) Any association or condominium voting to opt out of the guidelines for repair or reconstruction expenses as described in paragraph (j) must record a notice setting forth the date of the opt-out vote and the page of the official records book on which the declaration is recorded. The decision to opt out is effective upon the date of recording of the notice in the public records by the association. An association that has voted to opt out of paragraph (j) may reverse that decision by the same vote required in paragraphs (k) and (l), and notice thereof shall be recorded in the official records.

(n) The association is not obligated to pay for any reconstruction or repair expenses due to property loss to any improvements installed by a current or former owner of the unit or by the developer if the improvement benefits only the unit for which it was installed and is not part of the standard improvements installed by the developer on all units as part of original construction, whether or not such improvement is located within the unit. This paragraph does not relieve any party of its obligations regarding recovery due under any insurance implemented specifically for such improvements.

(o) The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to timeshare condominium associations. Insurance for timeshare condominium associations shall be maintained pursuant to s.721.165.

(12) OFFICIAL RECORDS.—

(a) From the inception of the association, the association shall maintain each of the following items, if applicable, which constitutes the official records of the association:

1. A copy of the plans, permits, warranties, and other items provided by the developer pursuant to s. 718.301(4).

2. A photocopy of the recorded declaration of condominium of each condominium operated by the association and each amendment to each declaration.

3. A photocopy of the recorded bylaws of the association and each amendment to the bylaws.

4. A certified copy of the articles of incorporation of the association, or other documents creating the association, and each amendment thereto.

5. A copy of the current rules of the association.

6. A book or books that contain the minutes of all meetings of the association, the board of administration, and the unit owners.

7. A current roster of all unit owners and their mailing addresses, unit identifications, voting certifications, and, if known, telephone numbers. The association shall also maintain the e-mail addresses and facsimile numbers of unit owners consenting to receive notice by electronic transmission. The e-mail addresses and facsimile numbers are not accessible to unit owners if consent to receive notice by electronic transmission is not provided in accordance with sub-subparagraph (c)3.e. However, the association is not liable for an inadvertent disclosure of the e-mail address or facsimile number for receiving electronic transmission of notices.

8. All current insurance policies of the association and condominiums operated by the association.

9. A current copy of any management agreement, lease, or other contract to which the association is a party or under which the association or the unit owners have an obligation or responsibility.

10. Bills of sale or transfer for all property owned by the association.

11. Accounting records for the association and separate accounting records for each condominium that the association operates. Any person who knowingly or intentionally defaces or destroys such records, or who knowingly or intentionally fails to create or maintain such records, with the intent of causing harm to the association or one or more of its members, is personally subject to a civil penalty pursuant to s. 718.501(1)(d). The accounting records must include, but are not limited to:

a. Accurate, itemized, and detailed records of all receipts and expenditures.

b. A current account and a monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly statement of the account for each unit designating the name of the unit owner, the due date and amount of each assessment, the amount paid on the account, and the balance due.

c. All audits, reviews, accounting statements, and financial reports of the association or condominium.

d. All contracts for work to be performed. Bids for work to be performed are also considered official records and must be maintained by the association.

12. Ballots, sign-in sheets, voting proxies, and all other papers and electronic records relating to voting by unit owners, which must be maintained for 1 year from the date of the election, vote, or meeting to which the document relates, notwithstanding paragraph (b).

13. All rental records if the association is acting as agent for the rental of condominium units.

14. A copy of the current question and answer sheet as described in s. 718.504.

15. All other written records of the association not specifically included in the foregoing which are related to the operation of the association.

16. A copy of the inspection report as described in s. 718.301(4)(p).

17. Bids for materials, equipment, or services.

(b) The official records specified in subparagraphs (a)1.-6. must be permanently maintained from the inception of the association. All other official records must be maintained within the state for at least 7 years, unless otherwise provided by general law. The records of the association shall be made available to a unit owner within 45 miles of the condominium property or within the county in which the condominium property is located within 10 working days after receipt of a written request by the board or its designee. However, such distance requirement does not apply to an association governing a timeshare condominium. This paragraph may be complied with by having a copy of the official records of the association available for inspection or copying on the condominium property or association property, or the association may offer the option of making the records available to a unit owner electronically via the Internet or by allowing the records to be viewed in electronic format on a computer screen and printed upon request. The association is not responsible for the use or misuse of the information provided to an association member or his or her authorized representative pursuant to the compliance requirements of this chapter unless the association has an affirmative duty not to disclose such information pursuant to this chapter.

(c)1. The official records of the association are open to inspection by any association member or the authorized representative of such member at all reasonable times. The right to inspect the records includes the right to make or obtain copies, at the reasonable expense, if any, of the member or authorized representative of such member. A renter of a unit has a right to inspect and copy the association’s bylaws and rules. The association may adopt reasonable rules regarding the frequency, time, location, notice, and manner of record inspections and copying. The failure of an association to provide the records within 10 working days after receipt of a written request creates a rebuttable presumption that the association willfully failed to comply with this paragraph. A unit owner who is denied access to official records is entitled to the actual damages or minimum damages for the association’s willful failure to comply. Minimum damages are $50 per calendar day for up to 10 days, beginning on the 11th working day after receipt of the written request. The failure to permit inspection entitles any person prevailing in an enforcement action to recover reasonable attorney fees from the person in control of the records who, directly or indirectly, knowingly denied access to the records.

2. Any person who knowingly or intentionally defaces or destroys accounting records that are required by this chapter to be maintained during the period for which such records are required to be maintained, or who knowingly or intentionally fails to create or maintain accounting records that are required to be created or maintained, with the intent of causing harm to the association or one or more of its members, is personally subject to a civil penalty pursuant to s. 718.501(1)(d).

3. The association shall maintain an adequate number of copies of the declaration, articles of incorporation, bylaws, and rules, and all amendments to each of the foregoing, as well as the question and answer sheet as described in s. 718.504 and year-end financial information required under this section, on the condominium property to ensure their availability to unit owners and prospective purchasers, and may charge its actual costs for preparing and furnishing these documents to those requesting the documents. An association shall allow a member or his or her authorized representative to use a portable device, including a smartphone, tablet, portable scanner, or any other technology capable of scanning or taking photographs, to make an electronic copy of the official records in lieu of the association’s providing the member or his or her authorized representative with a copy of such records. The association may not charge a member or his or her authorized representative for the use of a portable device. Notwithstanding this paragraph, the following records are not accessible to unit owners:

a. Any record protected by the lawyer-client privilege as described in s. 90.502 and any record protected by the work-product privilege, including a record prepared by an association attorney or prepared at the attorney’s express direction, which reflects a mental impression, conclusion, litigation strategy, or legal theory of the attorney or the association, and which was prepared exclusively for civil or criminal litigation or for adversarial administrative proceedings, or which was prepared in anticipation of such litigation or proceedings until the conclusion of the litigation or proceedings.

b. Information obtained by an association in connection with the approval of the lease, sale, or other transfer of a unit.

c. Personnel records of association or management company employees, including, but not limited to, disciplinary, payroll, health, and insurance records. For purposes of this sub-subparagraph, the term “personnel records” does not include written employment agreements with an association employee or management company, or budgetary or financial records that indicate the compensation paid to an association employee.

d. Medical records of unit owners.

e. Social security numbers, driver license numbers, credit card numbers, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, facsimile numbers, emergency contact information, addresses of a unit owner other than as provided to fulfill the association’s notice requirements, and other personal identifying information of any person, excluding the person’s name, unit designation, mailing address, property address, and any address, e-mail address, or facsimile number provided to the association to fulfill the association’s notice requirements. Notwithstanding the restrictions in this sub-subparagraph, an association may print and distribute to parcel owners a directory containing the name, parcel address, and all telephone numbers of each parcel owner. However, an owner may exclude his or her telephone numbers from the directory by so requesting in writing to the association. An owner may consent in writing to the disclosure of other contact information described in this sub-subparagraph. The association is not liable for the inadvertent disclosure of information that is protected under this sub-subparagraph if the information is included in an official record of the association and is voluntarily provided by an owner and not requested by the association.

f. Electronic security measures that are used by the association to safeguard data, including passwords.

g. The software and operating system used by the association which allow the manipulation of data, even if the owner owns a copy of the same software used by the association. The data is part of the official records of the association.

(d) The association shall prepare a question and answer sheet as described in s. 718.504, and shall update it annually.

(e)1. The association or its authorized agent is not required to provide a prospective purchaser or lienholder with information about the condominium or the association other than information or documents required by this chapter to be made available or disclosed. The association or its authorized agent may charge a reasonable fee to the prospective purchaser, lienholder, or the current unit owner for providing good faith responses to requests for information by or on behalf of a prospective purchaser or lienholder, other than that required by law, if the fee does not exceed $150 plus the reasonable cost of photocopying and any attorney’s fees incurred by the association in connection with the response.

2. An association and its authorized agent are not liable for providing such information in good faith pursuant to a written request if the person providing the information includes a written statement in substantially the following form: “The responses herein are made in good faith and to the best of my ability as to their accuracy.”

(f) An outgoing board or committee member must relinquish all official records and property of the association in his or her possession or under his or her control to the incoming board within 5 days after the election. The division shall impose a civil penalty as set forth in s. 718.501(1)(d)6. against an outgoing board or committee member who willfully and knowingly fails to relinquish such records and property.

(g)1. By January 1, 2019, an association managing a condominium with 150 or more units which does not contain timeshare units shall post digital copies of the documents specified in subparagraph 2. on its website.

a. The association’s website must be:

(I) An independent website or web portal wholly owned and operated by the association; or

(II) A website or web portal operated by a third-party provider with whom the association owns, leases, rents, or otherwise obtains the right to operate a web page, subpage, web portal, or collection of subpages or web portals dedicated to the association’s activities and on which required notices, records, and documents may be posted by the association.

b. The association’s website must be accessible through the Internet and must contain a subpage, web portal, or other protected electronic location that is inaccessible to the general public and accessible only to unit owners and employees of the association.

c. Upon a unit owner’s written request, the association must provide the unit owner with a username and password and access to the protected sections of the association’s website that contain any notices, records, or documents that must be electronically provided.

2. A current copy of the following documents must be posted in digital format on the association’s website:

a. The recorded declaration of condominium of each condominium operated by the association and each amendment to each declaration.

b. The recorded bylaws of the association and each amendment to the bylaws.

c. The articles of incorporation of the association, or other documents creating the association, and each amendment thereto. The copy posted pursuant to this sub-subparagraph must be a copy of the articles of incorporation filed with the Department of State.

d. The rules of the association.

e. A list of all executory contracts or documents to which the association is a party or under which the association or the unit owners have an obligation or responsibility and, after bidding for the related materials, equipment, or services has closed, a list of bids received by the association within the past year. Summaries of bids for materials, equipment, or services which exceed $500 must be maintained on the website for 1 year. In lieu of summaries, complete copies of the bids may be posted.

f. The annual budget required by s. 718.112(2)(f) and any proposed budget to be considered at the annual meeting.

g. The financial report required by subsection (13) and any monthly income or expense statement to be considered at a meeting.

h. The certification of each director required by s. 718.112(2)(d)4.b.

i. All contracts or transactions between the association and any director, officer, corporation, firm, or association that is not an affiliated condominium association or any other entity in which an association director is also a director or officer and financially interested.

j. Any contract or document regarding a conflict of interest or possible conflict of interest as provided in ss. 468.436(2)(b)6. and 718.3027(3).

k. The notice of any unit owner meeting and the agenda for the meeting, as required by s. 718.112(2)(d)3., no later than 14 days before the meeting. The notice must be posted in plain view on the front page of the website, or on a separate subpage of the website labeled “Notices” which is conspicuously visible and linked from the front page. The association must also post on its website any document to be considered and voted on by the owners during the meeting or any document listed on the agenda at least 7 days before the meeting at which the document or the information within the document will be considered.

l. Notice of any board meeting, the agenda, and any other document required for the meeting as required by s. 718.112(2)(c), which must be posted no later than the date required for notice pursuant to s. 718.112(2)(c).

3. The association shall ensure that the information and records described in paragraph (c), which are not allowed to be accessible to unit owners, are not posted on the association’s website. If protected information or information restricted from being accessible to unit owners is included in documents that are required to be posted on the association’s website, the association shall ensure the information is redacted before posting the documents online. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the association or its agent is not liable for disclosing information that is protected or restricted pursuant to this paragraph unless such disclosure was made with a knowing or intentional disregard of the protected or restricted nature of such information.

4. The failure of the association to post information required under subparagraph 2. is not in and of itself sufficient to invalidate any action or decision of the association’s board or its committees.

(13) FINANCIAL REPORTING.—Within 90 days after the end of the fiscal year, or annually on a date provided in the bylaws, the association shall prepare and complete, or contract for the preparation and completion of, a financial report for the preceding fiscal year. Within 21 days after the final financial report is completed by the association or received from the third party, but not later than 120 days after the end of the fiscal year or other date as provided in the bylaws, the association shall mail to each unit owner at the address last furnished to the association by the unit owner, or hand deliver to each unit owner, a copy of the most recent financial report or a notice that a copy of the most recent financial report will be mailed or hand delivered to the unit owner, without charge, within 5 business days after receipt of a written request from the unit owner. The division shall adopt rules setting forth uniform accounting principles and standards to be used by all associations and addressing the financial reporting requirements for multicondominium associations. The rules must include, but not be limited to, standards for presenting a summary of association reserves, including a good faith estimate disclosing the annual amount of reserve funds that would be necessary for the association to fully fund reserves for each reserve item based on the straight-line accounting method. This disclosure is not applicable to reserves funded via the pooling method. In adopting such rules, the division shall consider the number of members and annual revenues of an association. Financial reports shall be prepared as follows:

(a) An association that meets the criteria of this paragraph shall prepare a complete set of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. The financial statements must be based upon the association’s total annual revenues, as follows:

1. An association with total annual revenues of $150,000 or more, but less than $300,000, shall prepare compiled financial statements.

2. An association with total annual revenues of at least $300,000, but less than $500,000, shall prepare reviewed financial statements.

3. An association with total annual revenues of $500,000 or more shall prepare audited financial statements.

(b)1. An association with total annual revenues of less than $150,000 shall prepare a report of cash receipts and expenditures.

2. A report of cash receipts and disbursements must disclose the amount of receipts by accounts and receipt classifications and the amount of expenses by accounts and expense classifications, including, but not limited to, the following, as applicable: costs for security, professional and management fees and expenses, taxes, costs for recreation facilities, expenses for refuse collection and utility services, expenses for lawn care, costs for building maintenance and repair, insurance costs, administration and salary expenses, and reserves accumulated and expended for capital expenditures, deferred maintenance, and any other category for which the association maintains reserves.

1. Compiled, reviewed, or audited financial statements, if the association is required to prepare a report of cash receipts and expenditures;

2. Reviewed or audited financial statements, if the association is required to prepare compiled financial statements; or

3. Audited financial statements if the association is required to prepare reviewed financial statements.

(d) If approved by a majority of the voting interests present at a properly called meeting of the association, an association may prepare:

1. A report of cash receipts and expenditures in lieu of a compiled, reviewed, or audited financial statement;

2. A report of cash receipts and expenditures or a compiled financial statement in lieu of a reviewed or audited financial statement; or

3. A report of cash receipts and expenditures, a compiled financial statement, or a reviewed financial statement in lieu of an audited financial statement.

Such meeting and approval must occur before the end of the fiscal year and is effective only for the fiscal year in which the vote is taken, except that the approval may also be effective for the following fiscal year. If the developer has not turned over control of the association, all unit owners, including the developer, may vote on issues related to the preparation of the association’s financial reports, from the date of incorporation of the association through the end of the second fiscal year after the fiscal year in which the certificate of a surveyor and mapper is recorded pursuant to s. 718.104(4)(e) or an instrument that transfers title to a unit in the condominium which is not accompanied by a recorded assignment of developer rights in favor of the grantee of such unit is recorded, whichever occurs first. Thereafter, all unit owners except the developer may vote on such issues until control is turned over to the association by the developer. Any audit or review prepared under this section shall be paid for by the developer if done before turnover of control of the association.

(e) A unit owner may provide written notice to the division of the association’s failure to mail or hand deliver him or her a copy of the most recent financial report within 5 business days after he or she submitted a written request to the association for a copy of such report. If the division determines that the association failed to mail or hand deliver a copy of the most recent financial report to the unit owner, the division shall provide written notice to the association that the association must mail or hand deliver a copy of the most recent financial report to the unit owner and the division within 5 business days after it receives such notice from the division. An association that fails to comply with the division’s request may not waive the financial reporting requirement provided in paragraph (d) for the fiscal year in which the unit owner’s request was made and the following fiscal year. A financial report received by the division pursuant to this paragraph shall be maintained, and the division shall provide a copy of such report to an association member upon his or her request.

(14) COMMINGLING.—All funds collected by an association shall be maintained separately in the association’s name. For investment purposes only, reserve funds may be commingled with operating funds of the association. Commingled operating and reserve funds shall be accounted for separately, and a commingled account shall not, at any time, be less than the amount identified as reserve funds. This subsection does not prohibit a multicondominium association from commingling the operating funds of separate condominiums or the reserve funds of separate condominiums. Furthermore, for investment purposes only, a multicondominium association may commingle the operating funds of separate condominiums with the reserve funds of separate condominiums. A manager or business entity required to be licensed or registered under s. 468.432, or an agent, employee, officer, or director of an association, shall not commingle any association funds with his or her funds or with the funds of any other condominium association or the funds of a community association as defined in s. 468.431.

(15) DEBIT CARDS.—

(a) An association and its officers, directors, employees, and agents may not use a debit card issued in the name of the association, or billed directly to the association, for the payment of any association expense.

(b) Use of a debit card issued in the name of the association, or billed directly to the association, for any expense that is not a lawful obligation of the association may be prosecuted as credit card fraud pursuant to s. 817.61.

History.—s. 1, ch. 76-222; s. 2, ch. 78-340; ss. 2, 3, 5, ch. 79-314; s. 1, ch. 80-323; s. 1, ch. 81-225; s. 1, ch. 82-199; s. 5, ch. 84-368; s. 5, ch. 86-175; s. 2, ch. 87-46; s. 4, ch. 87-117; s. 6, ch. 90-151; s. 4, ch. 91-103; ss. 3, 5, ch. 91-426; s. 2, ch. 92-49; s. 1, ch. 94-77; s. 231, ch. 94-218; s. 2, ch. 94-336; s. 35, ch. 95-274; s. 854, ch. 97-102; s. 2, ch. 98-322; s. 74, ch. 99-3; s. 52, ch. 2000-302; s. 20, ch. 2001-64; s. 8, ch. 2002-27; s. 4, ch. 2003-14; s. 1, ch. 2004-345; s. 2, ch. 2004-353; s. 37, ch. 2007-1; s. 4, ch. 2007-80; s. 6, ch. 2008-28; ss. 1, 3, ch. 2008-240; s. 87, ch. 2009-21; s. 9, ch. 2010-174; s. 49, ch. 2011-4; s. 2, ch. 2011-196; s. 4, ch. 2013-122; s. 2, ch. 2013-188; s. 8, ch. 2014-133; s. 69, ch. 2014-209; s. 2, ch. 2015-97; s. 1, ch. 2017-161; s. 1, ch. 2017-188; s. 1, ch. 2018-96.

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YouTube Video Marketing

Christopher Salerno — Wed, 06 Sep 2017 15:34:11 +0000

YouTube Video Marketing

Incorporating video content, YouTube Video Marketing, as part of a larger marketing plan is a great way to create brand recognition and boost your online visibility. With creative content and focused keywords, a video from YouTube can rank highly on Google’s search engine. A well-rounded online marketing campaign will include website SEO, PPC (Pay per click) marketing, Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc..), Email Marketing, Blogs, Press Releases, News Feed and Video Marketing (YouTube, Facebook Live, Video, etc…). Some online marketing plans go further with Podcasts, Affiliate Marketing, and Contest Giveaways.

With YouTube Video Marketing, it is important to know your audience and their expectations. Creating cat videos when your business is about boating does not make sense and you may lose subscribers if there is no continuity to your channel. This is not to say that a video “off topic” to your business would not be a success, but it may detract from your overall message. Also, when creating and posting videos online, do not expect the subscriber rate to be that of Ryan’s Toy Review.

Target Market

After understanding you audiences expectations, you will want to create your video to target them. The below video was created to market electrical contractors and home “do-it-yourself”consumers to upgrade their current incandescent and/or halogen lights to LED lights. When posting your video, it is important to use keywords and phrases to target your market. This includes using phrases and keywords within the written text of the YouTube video.

Branding and Copyright

To brand the video, we used the company logo at the beginning and end of the video with a sound effect. This sound effect is part of the branding and is found as the intro and ending of all company videos. The next piece of branding and a type of copyright is using the logo as a watermark in the bottom right corner of the video. This is designed to associate the logo with the actual business doing the marketing. The watermark also makes it difficult for someone re-edit the video for their own use. We also make sure that there is descriptor text in the video details something unique to the company. Finally, during the video’s audio, dropping the company name also has the same effect of branding and creating a non-removable copyright.

Advertising

If you are looking for more visibility over basic SEO, you may want to use Google AdWords to promote your video. This may be advantageous if your video is your primary selling tool for your product or service. We have seen with specific product demonstration videos and instructional videos that using AdWords can boost the overall sales when compared to SEO only marketing. Viewers looking for instructions on how to install or use a product will consider the video owner an expert in the field. This translates to a product sale or service call when marketed properly. Conduct A/B testing to see what works for you.

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Black Hat Acquiring of Emails by Website Scraping

Christopher Salerno — Tue, 29 Aug 2017 20:55:26 +0000

Website scraping to get email lists and spamming

As a digital marketing professional, I am sometimes confronted by clients who do not understand the proper techniques in acquiring email lists. Typically, the client is under the impression that any email found is an open invitation to solicit or spam. Spam or spamming as it is known when done, is the act of sending unsolicited emails or messages to an individual or group of recipients without their consent. To acquire the emails from a paid list or website scraping is known as a “black hat” SEO technique.

In most situations I am able to convince the client that these techniques are frowned upon in the world of internet marketing. It is also not in the best interest for a business or organization to anger potential customers with the electronic version of “junk mail” that you typically receive at your home address. Most email campaign companies will also do their best to discourage users of this practice by asking where the emails originated from and if the receivers of your message have given their consent to email them.

The Clients Decision

In some cases the client wants what the client wants. In once such situation my client wanted to capture emails from businesses in the local area that would be in need of his product. This product is something that would benefit these potential businesses, but the method of scraping these company websites for email addresses falls into the realm of black hat SEO. To be honest, there is nothing illegal or unethical in the process of scraping websites to get email addresses. Google will “spider“, also known as a web crawl, websites around the world to create a searchable index we all use on a daily basis. This is how we find websites and blog of interest attained from the Google search. The difference is that Google does not solicit to the websites where my client wants to send them an advertisement.

Spamming by method of email has a low ROI compared to proper email techniques but can pay off for the solicitor. The University of California, Berkeley did a study and found that the response rate of 12.5 million emails was 0.000008%. Even with a poor response rate, the act of spamming is relatively low and in many cases, worth the effort. The act of spamming became so bad in the early 21st century that congress pass and President George W. Bush passed into law the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. This law is enforced by the FTC, Federal Trade Commission, but lacks the teeth to actually stop spammers.

My client not being dissuaded from wanting to move forward, demanded that our team follow through with the campaign. We acquired an app called Atomic Email Hunter from a company called Atomic Park. This international company out of Romania puts together a rather nifty program of scraping website of email addresses for only $79. From the technology side of things, this program works well and is fast.

Outcome

Just to be clear, I do not recommend using this method to email market potential customers. In an effort to keep the bounce rate low and not get banned from our email campaign provider, we parsed and cleaned the emails as best as possible before inserting them into the queue. Still the bounce rate had reached a 15.5% rate and we attribute this to a few factors. Most newer websites today do not show or advertise their email address to the public. This is to protect them from exactly what we are doing. When the website scraper hits these site, it just passes by without picking up an email address. Older website were typically designed with a clear text email address in the back-end of the contact form or visible on the “contact us” page. These type of website are prime for scraping, but the email address may no longer be active or managed. An email box that is unmanaged or full will give a soft bounce and those accounts that are shut down give a hard bounce. A high bounce rate is a clear sign to the email campaign providers that the solicited list of email addresses were not provided by the email recipients. It is only a matter of time when the email campaign provider will shut down the account and ban the spammer.

#microfile #blackhat #spam #emailmarketing #seo

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Tilt-Shift Photography & Miniature Faking Using Digital Post Processing

Christopher Salerno — Thu, 03 Aug 2017 20:08:46 +0000

Tilt-Shift

The combination of digital photography and photo editing programs like Adobe Photoshop and Corel PHOTO-PAINT have opened up a Pandora of fantasy images no one could have ever imagined. The above image shown uses a technique called “Tilt-shift”. A tilt-shift lens is also known as a perspective control lens and can cost well over a $1000. Back in the film days and before image processing programs existed, this was the only option to achieve the effect of creating a shift type image. The primary use is to keep parallel lines from converging in your image. The convergence of parallel lines is seen mostly when someone is standing on the ground and taking a picture of a tall building. The human eye and brain correct this issue when looking at the building in real life, but a camera cannot without the assistance of such a lens. An optical illusion is the name given to the human mind straightening the lines in a building when it looking up.

Today, there are image processing programs to correct the converging lines in an image. Unlike the limiting control by an enlarger in the film days, many adjustments can be made on the fly to achieve the best effect. This also allows the amateur digital photographer to manipulate images to look like a professional without the hefty price tag of the tilt-shift lens.

Miniature Faking

The cool thing by using the tilt-shift effect during post processing is that you can create some fun miniaturization pictures. The outcome is to make the objects in the image look like a toy model. This post’s image is a promotional photo for client and was used on their front website page and social media during the event. The digital post processing was done in Photoshop CS5 to create a miniature “faking” image. As my own critic, the image would look more like a miniature play set if there were no people in the background. This was not possible due to my location during the shoot and timing of the shot. This was taken hanging out the window while in a moving truck going up a ramp to the highway. It was part of a 30 shot burst out of my Canon EOS Rebel T2i camera using an EF 50mm f/1.4 lens.

I acquired the technique of miniature faking in Photoshop from a YouTube video by Zozzy at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Cv-r7ajO7I . Please check out her tutorial for the method used. You can also find this image in the Microfile portfolio where you can find other skills I have learned and are offering to my clients.

#microfile #digitalphotography #miniature #tilt-shift

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