massa
I too am having a banner year surpassing all our projections so far, so I certainly undertstand the concept of not blaming anything or anyone else for my own issues and controlling my own destiny but I do think the post and responses kind of illustrate how SEO as an idustry tends to be a little self-centered and view the world from their perspective while showing little grasp or understanding of the real problems that others face. I’m thrilled with the success my company is having and in a large sense due to the negative perception of a global economic meltdown but that does not in anyway diminish my empathy for the people and families who have been hit by the realities of a coountry facing multi-trillion debt and having it’s loans called in.This forces companies to lay off people who have done nothing wrong in their job. It forces companies to put expansion and construction projects on hold. It forces banks to stop lending working capital and it forces employers to make the kind of decisions that have a real impact on the lives of the people who depend on them for the survival of their families. That’s a powerful thing and can be very traumatic. If you have spent the last 5-10-or more years doing a particulr kind of job that has afforded you and your family a comfortable lifestyle only to wake up one morning to find yourself unceremoniously given new career opportunities, it can be a little stressful.Even for those lucky few who have the ability to envision enduring the slings and arrows associated with being an entrepenuer, realizing the potential market for your "great idea" is all of a sudden much smaller than yesterday, it can be a little daunting.I just think calling everyone that blames the economy for their problems a whiner does not alter the fact that the enonomy actually is causing a lot of problems that scare the shit out of a lot of people.I wish as an industry, SEO was a little more broad minded and able to appreciate the differeces in how different people respond to different situations. Keep in mind that the world of SEO too is changing rapidly and many of us speaking here today may not be here in another 12 months. How are we going to feel when we look for support in the form of understanding and we’re told to stop whining and work harder? If we dismiss people so easily, we cheat oursleves of the opportunity of learning about human nature and how to best capitalize on that nature. I believe all people have value that can be validated and exploite err I mean employed, even the ones who are freaked out and seeking a way to understand something bad happening to them.As SEO changes and some choose to give up, they still have skills that could be a huge asset to many online marketing companies, (what seo will be called in another 2 years), AND at an equitable wage. How are we going to effectively evaluate their skills sets if we see them as a whiner? See them as people facing a real problem and opportunities magically appear.heh?massa
I’ve always admired Jill’s ability to talk tech without talking down to the less initiated massa’s. While nothing if not prolific, this is one of her best IMO.Kooo dose 2 wailin
I’ve known Ralph pretty well for quite a while now . We have the same personal barber and we go to the same gym PLUS there’s a family connection. My sister-in-laws cousin used to date Ralph’s step mothers ex-boyfriend.And after knowing him that well what I think is most important for the sphinn communiity to know is that whether you agree with him or not, whenever he speaks search or marketing , the wise listen. Discard him at your own peril. He is one of the very best conceptual teachers on the net.
personality management. and I believe you are exactly right FM about adwords,not relelvancy,being the driving force.If it converts,it couldn’t hurt!
* going to get criticized for both not moving forward and for moving forward*Ambiguous at best.I don’t think anyone would critize anything if all these self-serving,additional pageview producing advanced features were offered as opt in as opposed to by default but you can turn it off simply by adding (4iosu(UY^%$RWONS(USMM)ODNN GSWIYESY^Y&ASOOSBB + search) OR if that is too hard just go download a bandwidthheavy program that will remove the feature you didn’t want in the first place.
I’ll try one more time to get my post to show up,but if not,then I give up :-(**********************************>I bed Doug Heil is on the phone as we speak applying for that open position at MOz.<Who ??? I thought I knew everyone in this industry that had ever said anything even remotely intelligent but that name escapes me.As far as outing anyone:Let he without sin cast the first stoneWhen you point a finger at someone you have three more pointing back at youA man is known by his actionsI believe Gillian and Rand as a team make up one of the best online marketing teams on the net and I also believe little gets done without forethought. Hell, with them kids,it could be up to fivethought by now.I believe Aaron is ALWAYS right whatever he says. Finally :who gives a damn? I gotta go sell some crap.
>I bed Doug Heil is on the phone as we speak applying for that open position at MOz.<Who ??? I thought I knew everyone in this industry that had ever said anything even remotely intelligent but that name escapes me.As far as outing anyone:Let he without sin cast the first stoneWhen you point a finger at someone you have three more pointing back at youA man is known by his actionsI believe Gillian and Rand as a team make up one of the best online marketing teams on the net and I also believe little gets done without forethought. Hell, with them kids,it could be up to fivethought by now.I believe Aaron is ALWAYS right whatever he says. Finally :who gives a damn? I gotta go sell some crap.
Story: SEO-Time for a Reality Check
What I loved most about the article was the prominence of terms such as search marketing professional, and search professionals being used over SEO.It’s no secret I feel it is high time to let go of the albatross around all our necks that is the very reason we all get requests like that. If we want to be known as and paid as search marketers and have people know and understand what they are paying for, it seems to me the first step is to stop using a term that describes something we do NOT do and start using descriptive terms that illustrate what we DO DO.(hehehehehehehe,he said doodoo, heh heh heh heh)
I considered some remark alluding to the death of the free internet but then I realized it died long ago. Assuming of course it ever existed in the first place.
be sure to subtract out the searches being done by other seo’s before you start mortgaging the house ;-0
We’re destroying and abusing the very nature of social media. Which is ironic when so many of the articles we produce ourselves describe processes to leverage social media.< It isn’t a thing that "we" can destroy. It is what it is. By definition, it is the actions and reactions of human being in a social environment. It simply reflects what it is that makes us human. I think that is sad and more than a little scarry but it simply is what it is. We all have the right to choose to participate or not and Donna has publicly announced her decision. I applaud her and desperately hope it helps to raise the bar on online social etiquette ---- but I doubt it. For me, I choose not to participate except in very rare cases, but rather observe, accept and use the data to formulate strategic plans to capitalize on the cause and effects.
certainly helps to reduce the need for extenisve speculation doesn’t it? Most revealing line IMOSimilarly, if you tend to prefer results from a particular shopping site, you will be more likely to get results from that site when you search for products.
I’ve known Andy for a long time and even though he may not tell you what you want to hear, I’ve always known him to tell the truth. naturally, there are some who would take issue with that.
You may not like hearing what Ammon is telling you Milan, but he is trying to help you. You have confirmed that your traffic has dropped Milan but that is not what is commonly known as the sandbox. Something happened to your traffic I’m sure and you just have the wrong terminology BUT if you continue thinking it is the sandbox and look no further, you will not find the "real" reason it dropped.
Hmmmm, I thought I was familiar with everyone that has ever said anything even remotely intelligent or even interesting about seo or sem but in #11 who is this heil person he’s talking about?
Maybe I can help at least a little with this particular topic. The key is to NOT try to explain what you do to them and instead listen to what they say when you ask what they would like to see happen. Maybe the problem is not them not listeing to you, maybe it’s more of you not listening to them.Stick to explaining what they already understand and you’ll get much better communication. Get better communication and you’ll be able to help a lot more people, faster and with less stress on both of you.
*Why is it on the front page*It is on the first page because enough people who don’t seem to share your sentiments voted it there. My point is simply that you could have voiced your own opinion of the quality of the content without insinuating those who may disagree made a mistake. You’re entitled to your opinion as are they.
It would appear the basic concepts of a democratic system are also difficult to grasp. Like I said before, I’m not offended but by asking the question you are questioning the judgment of your peers not me. your question doesn’t come off as demeaning to me. it comes off as disrespectful of the opinion of others.
maybe it is more difficult to read for some than others Jim Bob. I’m truly sorry you didn’t find any value in the post. I always try very hard to only choose topics that I honestly feel provide some useful insight. I chose the topic because the value of directory submissions and pretty much all free links are a hot topic in the seo community and I just wanted to let my readers know there is value in them if you are willing to put in a little extra work. It works for me anyway and there’s nothing I do that you couldn’t do as well.I don’t care much about people not enjoying my posts. you can’t write anything and expect everyone to like it. But I do want to point out how rude you are being to the people who sphunn the article. It is actually them you are insulting more than me. A little decorum and respect for your peers goes a long way in tight knit communities.bob "poorly structured" massa
I’d even go as far as to say that you owe the Sphinn community an apology for casting them in the light that you did. You’re completely missing the point. It has very little to do with Sphin beyond the familiarity of a specific market with the target. It is not about sphinn at all. It is about marketing and if you are offended by it you are losing out on the EXTREME value of one of the most insightful posts I’ve ever seen. As a marketer, you shouldn’t be offended, you should embrace the concept. 1. Voluntarily Sphinning = "Honest" LinkingTHIS has always been the thing I most wished I knew how to change. there seems to be this very strange perception that paying for what you want is somehow less honest than just hoping it happens. There is nothing dishonest with paying for what you want that you don’t own or control. In fact it could be argued that in many ways it is far MORE honest. You may think that Google does not understand that concept because of their war on paid links, but I believe what John is trying to point out is that they DO understand it far better than most of the people calling themselves seartch marketers.
I don’t think anyone is being a crybaby any more than anyone is trying to create a level playing field. There is simply no such thing. It’s just business and Google has a right to run it’s business legally. So do you.http://www.seo-scoop.com/2007/04/20/the-internet-marketers-manifesto/
Absolute gold !! This should become the book of pricing in every marketers bible!Michel Fortin, btw. is a name the SEM indusrtry doesn’t speak often enough in my opinion.
Story: Jackie Nerito On Wide Circles, Andy Beard and fake .NET website