Ryan O'Meara

K9 Magazine Wins at Specialist Media Show

Ryan — Tue, 31 May 2011 11:26:43 +0000

I am delighted and very proud to announce that K9 Magazine was recognised by the Specialist Media Show with an award for our digital magazines innovation.
I will write a more comprehensive report of the event – where I was also speaking – shortly, but wanted to put a couple of pictures on my blog in the meantime.

Recognition from the publishing industry is something everyone at K9 Magazine is thrilled about.

Experiences With a .co Domain Name

Ryan — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 14:18:37 +0000

Last year I took the plunge and invested in some .co domain names. .co is the country code for Columbia but there was a lot of hype around the extension with many people predicting a new domain name gold rush.

For me I was just interested in acquiring a few domains that I knew I could develop and which were memorable and content specific.

The first site we launched under the .co was DogTips.co

My reservations about this domain extension were:

1. I always like to evaluate a domain name based on how memorable it would be if you told someone over the radio. I feared that saying "DogTips.co" would have many people just assuming I missed the .uk off the end.

2. In terms of looking at the domain, I feared that many people would assume the domain was missing an 'm' and was really a .com

Both of the fears remain. If given a choice, a solid .com domain would always be my first choice. But the real dynamite .com's are all gone unless you have a BIG budget to acquire one.

So the acid test now is how well the domain ranks, does Google have any built in prejudices toward the name that will lead to a downgrade vs a comparable .com and do people actually care that they are visiting a .co rather than a .com or .co.uk

Well it seems Google likes the site – we have established some solid rankings.
It also seems people don't seem to care too much about the ending – traffic is very solid.

So the only question remaining is can we get the site to no 1 for the chosen search term ('dog tips') and will the site be a commercial success.

I'll report back when we have some results!

New Book: Clever Dog Life Lessons From Dogs (by Ryan O’Meara)

Ryan — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 09:36:36 +0000

A new book claims man can take on some spectacularly successful life lessons from man's best friend.

Ryan O'Meara, dog trainer and publisher of K9 Magazine claims in his new book 'Clever Dog: Life Lessons From Man's Best Friend' that thinking like a dog can improve our happiness, prosperity, friendships and decision making abilities.

In arguably the greatest self-help book of all time written by the man who literally wrote the book on how to get more from life, relationships and careers, Dale Carnegie's 'How to Win Friends and Influence People' tantalisingly revealed a life lesson that deserves the attention of a more comprehensive study.

Carnegie's seminal work named the dog as "the greatest winner of friends the world has ever known".

The self-help guru then went on to say:

"Did you ever stop to think that a dog is the only animal that doesn't have to work for a living? A hen has to lay eggs, a cow has to give milk, and a canary has to sing. But a dog makes his living by giving you nothing but love.”

If one of the most illustrious self-help minds of the past century can spot the value of thinking and behaving in line with man's best friend, Ryan O'Meara has taken the concept on to the next level in this book which reveals the hidden secrets behind…

The dog's unique approach to conflict resolution. (learn to settle disputes favourably and without shedding blood).

The dog's incredible (world famous) abilities to endear themselves to people and other animals, with a mere wag of a tail. (how to win REAL friends for life).

How to the dog deploys unique mental techniques to cope with stress, illness and high pressure situations (how to be happier and healthier with positive mental attitude)

Identifying and understand pack dynamic and prosper (how to get ahead in life, career and become prosperous without hurting people)

How to survive when the odds are against it. (how to tough out the harshest of times and come out smiling)

Clever Dog examines the pivotal role dogs have played in the evolution of society, countries and culture. Did you know: had it not been for a dog, we may never have even heard about Alexander The Great?

The book is a fresh and innovative study of how man's best friend earned his name and, more importantly, how we can copy him to improve our mood, financial success, survival skills and ability to make more friends than we'd even know what to do with. In short, if you want to learn the secret to why the dog is the most loved animal on the planet, read this book.

Find out more / order the book Clever Dog: Life Lessons from Man's Best Friend by Ryan O'Meara – CLICK HERE.

Animals Slaughtered Without Stunning

Ryan — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:40:46 +0000

Today the British Veterinary Association announced their disappointment at the EU decision NOT to make it compulsory for meat that has been slaughtered without being stunned to be appropriately labelled.

I've discussed this issue with many people and I've found that, often, folks are completely unaware that it is possible, in the UK, for meat to be slaughtered without prior stunning for 'religious reasons'. This bothers me. A lot.

Ignoring the theological arguments for a moment and the fact that it is widely considered to be inhumane to kill without stunning, the mere fact that certain laws can be by-passed in the name of religion really, really concerns me.

Now, add to that, the fact that the meat we buy could very well have been slaughtered in this manner and we are given NO RIGHT to actually learn this via the labelling and it makes me doubly upset.

BVA statement:

The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has expressed its significant disappointment with the EU Council decision to scrap plans for compulsory labelling of meat from animals slaughtered without stunning.
In June the European Parliament voted on new food labelling rules including new country of origin labelling and a requirement to label meat from animals slaughtered without stunning (according to certain religious traditions).
At Monday’s meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels it was reported that the European Parliament amendment for the compulsory labelling of non-stunned meat and meat products had not been accepted in the Council’s Common Position.
Commenting, Harvey Locke, BVA President, said:
“This is a huge step backwards. The BVA believes that all animals should be stunned before slaughter. But as long as slaughter without stunning is permitted, consumers should have the right to make an informed choice.
“We hope that Members of the European Parliament will look at this issue again and push for compulsory labelling to be brought back into the plans.”

Firstly, animals being killed without stunning is a real concern for me.

Secondly, denying me the right to know that the meat on my table could have been killed in this manner is just absurd.

Yes, yes I know – I could choose any number of methods to avoid eating meat that may have been killed inhumanely and I do do research in to the various policies of the supermarkets. But even so….remind me what year this is? Can anyone make a cohesive argument as to why meat slaughtered without stunning should not be – by law – labelled as such?

Little Ginger Chloe on BBLB

Ryan — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 09:39:25 +0000

She’s such a sweetheart.

Chloe and her happy face on an episode of Big Brother’s Little Brother with Dermot O’Leary

petbuzz: social marketing for pet companies (new!)

Ryan — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 15:44:56 +0000

Very pleased to be involved with the launch of petbuzz, a new social media and marketing agency exclusively for the global pet industry.

We (K9 Media) have been working on building the petbuzz infrastructure and syndication network for the best part of 10 years so it's really exciting to be rolling it out (gently) in 2010.

The basic premise behind petbuzz is beautiful in its simplicity: helping pet businesses get their message out to the most relevant pet owners in a cost effective way.

Harnessing the power of social media and the reach of the K9 Media network along with Total Pet Publishing and a large portfolio of syndicating partners.

You WILL be hearing more about petbuzz in the very near future. In fact, we wouldn't be doing our job very well if you didn't!

http://petbuzz.it">

social media & marketing for the pet industry by: http://petbuzz.it"> " style="width: 87px; height: 27px;" />

The Downside to Owning Female Dogs

Ryan — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 09:38:07 +0000

I wanted to 'test' out how well my dogs would take to being looked after by my parents.

They being very spoiled dogs, whenever I've gone away in the past I've always had someone they know come and live in my (their) house so they have very little disruption. Asking my parents to actually move home for a while to look after my dogs when I'm away seemed a bit much so I thought, in order to satisfy my own mind, I'd let Mia and Chloe go and stay at my Mum and Dad's house for a 'test' run.

We set the date.

Mia came in season.

Mission aborted.

Waited for Mia to come out of season….set the date….

….Chloe came in season.

Those two dogs – clearly – understand what's going on and they're deliberately scuppering all attempts for this mission to be a success!

Profiting From Digital Magazines

Ryan — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 14:34:51 +0000

I'm getting ready to launch a new coaching program for entrepreneuers all about how to start up and run their very own digital magazine publishing business.

Digital magazines (and digital / eBooks) are set to be MASSIVE over the next few years and beyond.

Fortunately, we moved in to digital magazines quite early and have now really perfected the model in terms of understanding what works (and what doesn't!)

The great thing about digital magazines is the low start up costs and high value of the output.

Compared to print magazines, the advantages are too numerous to mention here.

ANYONE can start a digital magazine (if you know how!) – so, if you'd like to know how, I'd encourage you to visit and register at

http://www.magazineprofits.com

A Truly Massive Business Opportunity

Ryan — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 21:06:47 +0000

There's only one business autobiography I've read (or to be more accurate, listened to) more than THREE times. It's Ted Turner's.

I honestly had no expectations going in to that book. I knew who he was, but not much else.

I genuinely felt inspired to just get on and do MORE. I always felt like I was multi-tasking hard, running a few businesses at a time. Well, it seems not.

Turner seemed to not only be in the real fast lane with multi billion dollar companies, he was also going off and winning major sailing competitions and doing a hell of a lot.

I really liked him. And I really liked his approach to getting stuff done, problems solved.

But more than anything, what stuck with me was Ted's advice for anyone starting a business today.

He was absolutely, 100% convinced that getting in to clean, renewable energy was the most obvious way to increase the odds of success.

When you think about it, he's right. In fact, it's screamingly obvious. As the worlds' supply of fossil fuels and 'dirty' energy depletes (it's finite after all) there HAS to be a new wave of energy. In many respects, it's a bit like being given the opportunity to get in on the ground floor in much the same way as the original oil tycoons once did. There is really very little downside. Clean energy IS going to be the future. And nobody is ever going to end up poor providing a service that's

– cheaper
- cleaner
- in demand
- supported by Governments all over the world

To someone like Turner (who's invested in solar energy if I recall), it must seem like a very simple approach.

There is a demand, a need…so someone should try and fill it.

And that is, when you think about, the very essence of a successful business.

The question is, how to get started?

I’d Like to Have a Loft Conversion

Ryan — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 20:39:09 +0000

So we recently had a bit of a clear out and a tidy up and that lead to me having to put a load of old paperwork and files up in the loft.

Normally I’m only ever in the loft to get down or put back the Christmas decorations and I find I’m either too excited or too depressed to really notice what’s in my loft or how it spans pretty much the entire area of my house. On this recent visit to the loft though, I had a good look around and thought how cool it would be to have a really stylish / trendy loft conversion.

I absolutely LOVE the open brickwork type conversions but saw this image on south london loft conversions that looked like some sort of medieval castle type affair and thought how cool it would be to have a normal house, but a stairway to the loft, unveiling a totally different style of room – like something out of a Knights of the Round Table era castle.