HairBoutique Blog

Well the title for this blog felt right, but certainly I am not an expert on Alexa. Even though I have owned and run a number of web sites since the mid 1990s I’m a babe in the woods when it comes to understanding the true mechanics of this amazing ranking system.

I guess my website ownership history makes me one of the old ladies of the web having been working on HairBoutique.com, my primary website, since 1997, on a daily basis.  I will confess I have been eating, sleeping and obsessing about HairBoutique.com since the very first day.

What I find about Alexa Rankings, which I personally value for a traffic analysis viewpoint, is that the more I think I know, the less I actually know.   Which tracks with my knowledge of SEO, Google words, Twitter traffic patterns and other mystical, magical things that as a web businessperson I need to know.

Yes, it’s true there are many Alexa, SEO, Twitter, Social Media gurus out there and I follow as many as I have time and eyeball energy to do.  I have two in-house web experts who have worked with HairBoutique.com since the very beginning of the site.  However, I have learned that the buck stops with me and if I don’t at least try to figure some of these things out, I am the one who loses.  (more…)

The LA Times reported today that two F-15 fighter jets escorted a commercial flight bound for Hawaii back to Portland International Airport after a passenger became disruptive.

A spokesman for North American Aerospace Defense Command says the fighter jets intercepted Hawaiian Airlines Flight 39 at about 1 p.m. Wednesday, shortly after the pilot decided to turn around.

Keoni Wagner, vice president of public affairs with Hawaiian Airlines, says the passenger failed to cooperate with crew. He did not elaborate, and additional details on the disruption were not immediately available.

The plane was carrying 231 passengers and a crew of 10.   Wagner says the plane landed safely in Portland and the passenger was removed. The plane was then refueled, and the flight departed again.

I for one was happy to read this LA Times Blog because a experienced an abusive passenger and her male companion on an American Airlines flight from Dallas, Fort Worth to Palm Springs, California in July of 2009.  I was traveling to the NAHA hair awards in Las Vegas by way of Palm Springs. (more…)

A former friend of mine who recently resigned as an editor of a major magazine was chatting with me today on the phone about her ongoing quest to find good free lance writing jobs which pay a fair price for original, high quality journalism.

I was commiserating with her about the constant Web write around “authors” who target long standing articles and “rework” them in order to publish them on the legions of pay-for-content sites all over the web.

It used to make me angry when I would see my own long published content “reworked”.

Now it just makes me sad the free lance industry has been basically destroyed by anyone who can find a good quality article on just about any topic and then “steal” it, rewriting it enough to avoid legal action in exchange for a quick payoff of a few bucks.   (more…)

In a recent statement to UsMagazine.com, TAG Heuer President and CEO Jean-Christoph Babin has said Tiger Woods will continue on as one of their brand ambassadors for their prestigious line of watches.

Babin has said “the partnership with Tiger Woods will continue.”  Tiger signed on with TAG Heuer in 2002.

(Image of Tiger Woods - Image by Keith Allison - All Rights Reserved)

Originally there were reports that Tiger had been dropped due to all the recent adultery scandals.

CEO Jean-Christoph Babin has told the media Tiger will continue with some temporary modifications.  Babin has said “we will downscale the use of his image in certain markets for a period of time, depending on his decision about returning to professional golf.”  Tiger, 33, is currently on complete hiatus from his golf career. (more…)

Wishing you a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

A dear friend of mine for over 25 years, Jean Colombo sent me the following little story this morning to wish me a Happy Thanksgiving.  I’m not sure where she found it but it was touching so I decided to share it in my Thanksgiving blog.

It’s always hard on the Holidays not to sound cheesy or goofy but Jean’s story on Perspective seems to fit the bill.

(Image courtesy of Monmart - December 13, 2005 - All Rights Reserved).

Perspective

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, ‘How was the trip?’ (more…)