Business Management Consultant - Stuntdubl Search and Marketing Consulting

I really needed some new business cards for pubcon - but I wanted something creative. I’ve always been impressed by Hugh MacLeod’s theory of marketing - so I thought I’d take it for a spin. Hugh allows folks to use is art work so long as it is not for profit, and credit is given. This increases his exposure, and makes everyone happy.

These business cards were actually a combination of theories - 1. Hugh and 2. Aaron Wall - who doesn’t carry cards. I give Aaron a bad time for this - but his logic is sound - mainly that if people don’t remember him it wasn’t a very good, worthwhile conversation - and not worth pursuing (or something to this affect).

I figured “snake oil 2.0″ had made me laugh out loud - most people who “get” SEO have heard it called snake oil - and hey, we’re all about 2.0. Yes - it would be easy to take the joke the wrong way - but those that got a chuckle are most likely people I’d prefer to work with.

So most of this post is tripe - but I just wanted to make sure I gave the proper credit - Hugh’s site is freakin’ hilarious, and now you have absolutely no good reason not to be subscribed to it, and I really doubt you’d be at my site if you haven’t been to Aaron’s (you should still buy the book).

There’s a gentleman by the name of Ted Leonsis at AOL that wanted to rank well for his own name - I’m sure he’s a decent chap - and thought I’d help out by linking to Ted Leonsis at threadwatch, and Ted Leonsis at Johnon, and Ted Leonsis at Wolf-howl.com He’s a great example of why folks should be proactive about rep management for their own names.

Other sites:
Teddie at scoreboard
Ted at squidoo
Ted Leonsis - via AOL
Ted Leonsis - via AOL corporate
Ted Leonsis - via washington capitals
Ted Leonsis - via wikipedia
Ted Leonsis - via Washingtonpost
Ted Leonsis - via Imedia
Ted Leonsis - via Edge
Ted Leonsis - via Technorati
Ted Leonsis - Richard - playing for blackbear soccer united.

Euphemisms are used in many areas of politics. The definition of cloaking to an engineer, and to an SEO is marginally different in terms of semantics. Cloaking has been villafied by search engines when users and bots are served different content. Engineers believe bots are pretty smart (they normally are) - and SEO’s believe bots should be lead around by the nose only to appropriate areas. “Cloaking” often implies intent and extent that conflict with SE terms of service - but there are many very grey areas as far as what is acceptable and what isn’t. By definition - cloaking is NEVER acceptable - so be sure you are using the proper terminology. Of course this is a bit tounge and cheek - but the point is that there are certainly valid reasons for selectively delivering content - and that “cloaking” is mainly defined by intent. I’m pretty glad I’m not the guy at the SE’s that has to determine the intent of redirects.

1. IP delivery
2. Geo-targeting
3. Flash Detection
4. Server speed analysis
5. Duplicate content detection and reduction
6. Member experience discovery
7. User agent detection
8. Browser extension
9. Spider detection
10. User experience maximization.
11. Selective demographic delivery

What are the best reasons for “selective delivery” that you’ve heard? Do you think search engines would frown on that type of delivery if detected?

Thanks to Dan, Marshall, Brad, Neil, and Cameron for their contributions to the conversation that spawned this.

Since I’m shortly getting ready to head off to pubcon - I thought I’d put together a quick resource on tips and tricks for those newer to the show. The number one tip would be - don’t be shy - talk to people, and talk to LOTS of people. There are few opportunities to discuss all your pressing questions about SEO/SEM with people that ACTUALLY might know the answers. Everyone at the show will be as excited as you to talk about work for longer than 10 minutes without their listener’s eye’s glazing over. Here’s some tips, tricks, and resources, and best practices on understanding conference etiquette.

18 Tips for attending a conference -

1. Always start conversations - always introduce yourself if given the opportunity. Don’t be afraid to say something stupid - it’s better than saying nothing at all. Jim has a good list of conversation starters.

2. Wear Your Namebadge- It’s difficult to remember names without meeting someone repeatedly - and while it personally embarasses me when I don’t remember people by name after meeting them a few times - after a few days of great information - names are probably the first thing to leak out my ear.

3. Sidle in on conversations - apologize to be sure it is okay and introduce yourself - wait until the conversation lulls to ask your questions. Don’t be overly pushy if a small group of people is in an intense conversation - you can always approach them if you see them later. It’s okay to introduce yourself a few times.

4. Don’t try to overly pitch people - you’ll reek of desperation - you’re here to make contacts and prospects - not get someone to sign the contract (well maybe - but don’t be the pushy salesguy). There’s no better way to get ostracized from a conversation. It’s the only time I’ve truly seen rudeness at a pubcon show. Don’t spam people with business cards or handouts.

5. Don’t tell people overly specific information about other people’s sites and ideas - unless you don’t want those people to tell you something ever again. Learn to give sweeping generalizations as examples to get a point across. Respect a certain level of confidentiality even though you’re having drinks with friends - they could be competitors of your other friends.

6. Take a small notepad for important notes - you THINK you’lll remember them, but you’re gonna be more bombarded by information than you ever thought possible. Mix in a few cocktails and sleep deprivation, and you’ll just be happy to remember your name and how to speak by the third day.

7. Sit down at a few different tables and introduce yourself to a group at lunch. It’s amazing who you can meet sometimes over a crappy box lunch. Be sure to get into some conversations outside your comfort zone and areas of expertise.

8. Spend a little time researching new products and services in the exhibition hall. Have good questions for the vendors - and don’t waste their time with BS like “show me your product” if you never intend to use it (okay maybe just a little if they have cool swag). You know how to research online - you can do that later. Find out why they are unique.

9. Take notes on the back of business cards - You WILL forget your conversations no matter how great they were at the time. Take notes on the back of cards about what you discussed and how you might work together.

10. Enjoy the speakers - but catch them later in the day to ask questions that are specific to YOU. Ask general questions in the sessions that will benefit EVERYONE. Also - don’t go to the sessions you already know everything about. If you do mainly SEO - sit in on some PPC or shopping feed sessions. You’ll generally get inspiration in the areas you HAVEN’T thought much about.

11. Take a list of your most pressing marketing questions and ask several people. The more good opinions you get - the better position you are to form your own. Don’t take any answers as FACT. Even the smartest minds in the business have their areas of expertise - and best guesses can often be wrong.

12. Don’t hang out with your work crew - split up and compare notes later. It’s also intimidating to other people to talk with a group of people that knows each other well, and you’ll have less people approach you.

13. Find a group for dinner - it’s a nice bonding experience. Order appetizers and drinks because you’ll likely split the bill evenly unless you want to be a huge pain in the ass to your server.

14. Don’t be pushy about what people do - there are lots of competitors in the same place - and some have a need to be more guarded with their information. On the flipside - don’t tell EVERYONE your businessplan step by step. Even good people can sometimes “borrow” a great idea or two - don’t tell people something you may regret.

15. PLEASE don’t even THINK about blogging what you hear in the bar Don’t blog any conversations without explicitly asking the person first (if you ever want anyone to trust you again). If you DO blog something even remotely close to what you heard - let them look over your draft. Always assume that anything outside what is said on the podium is off limits unless you specifically ask for permission to publish. There’s no better way to ensure you won’t learn any of the “good stuff” than by being a blabbly blogger.

16. Don’t try to buy Matt Cutts a drink, and don’t hound the poor guy. Matt is a great guy - but do you REALLY think you’re the first person to try to get him liquored up and ask him about the algo? Pretty sure he’s secure enough to handle peer pressure on that front. If you have an important relevant question that you MUST ask - ask him and give the guy a break. There are also plenty of other google engineers that will answer you’re questions, that you’ll more likely get a little face time with. Don’t think they’re going to tell you their algorithm, or break any secrets to you - just enjoy some mutual interest conversation about search or emerging technology.

17. Create the biggest bar tab you possibly can - and the ROI will still likely be incredible.

18. Ask Oilman about his post pubcon recovery remedies - he’s been to more pubcon’s than anyone but Brett - and you don’t want to be out of work sick when you return. Conferences can be rough on the body. I recommend vitamin C-blast, lots of water, and about a day of straight sleep upon return home

More Resources on Search Conferences:

• 2005 official pubcon thread
• Jim’s list of tips
• Getting the most out of pubcon by Greg
• Matt’s SES tips - Video
• Who Michael wants to meet at pubcon
• How pubcon is like starwars
• Tips from Nathan B.
• Pubcon first timer tips

I recently spent some time doing an interview with Karl Ribas for his site. I think it came out prettty decent. Check out the interview here if you get a chance. My personal favorite answer:

As you’re well aware, Search Engine Marketing is a very fast-paced industry and has the ability to shift gears at the turn of a dime. In your opinion, where do you see the Search Engine Optimization industry being 5 to 10 years down the road?

It’ll probably be something like the movie “Minority Report” and we’ll have to fend off those creepy little soldier spiders with mirrors and magnets, and clone eyeballs to effectively market to people. Many will die in order to find the weak areas of the creepy spider AI algorithm.

Read the whole interview with Karl.

I’ve really liked the idea of “Review Me” since I first heard about it. It’s kind of like “hot or not” for smarter people. It will allow immediate feedback on a variety of new ideas by paying for the valuable asset of people’s time to think. The success of the idea will depend on the willingness of intelligent people to accept a new ad model, and keep the network quality high. If everybody writes positive reviews of CRAP - it’s a surefire way for the whole idea to suck. It’s not a surprise that people will accept money to write reviews or analysis - the big question will be HOW MUCH it costs for a review. Pay to blog is a great topic that will always be worthwhile - in the same way that questioning how a journalist is paid is. I didn’t follow much of the pay per post debate prior to this, but I’m sure it will get nice and interesting with a bigger fish in the pond. I hope it will make Doc Searls smile - when he realizes the people who got on the cluetrain can finally make good money while they review products and services like actual human beings without a “professional voice”. It’s cool to see the dialogue can still be PAID for - but not forced to be ROBOTIC.

Disclosure:
I was paid $125 for this article by ReviewMe.com - I probably would have written it for free since I consider the folks behind it friends - You can see that this nice little blog transaction definitely had a positive ROI for me personally. Honestly - I doubt that I’d review people I didn’t know personally for that price, since I value my credibility quite high most the time - though if I truly thought something was a good service, I’d gladly take a few hundred bucks to tell about how I thought it was worth while. Want to pay me $100 to tell people about something I think is cool? If I think others would like it - I would certainly consider it.

Since I know the people behind this project, and think they are a good group, I was willing to review their site for that amount. It reminds me a bit of the “ebay of online advertising”. I am able to sell “ad space” with very little friction - and I still maintain my editorial control. In the case of Reviewme - I’m looking forward to testing other GOOD ideas and/ or products for the right price. If the product SUCKS and I accepted it - I would probably write the bare minimum 200 words and not lambaste it too badly (no swears about it anyhow) - or I can choose not to do it altogether. I could also choose to just offer an analysis and feedback while giving my honest opinion.

My review of reviewme:
I felt kinda like I had mission impossible thing going on with having to blog within 48 hours (I was really hoping my site wouldn’t “self destruct”). I am kind of lazy and scatterbrained so writing an entry under a time constraint can sometimes be a challenge. Seems like good motivation from the advertisers side though. For this particular review - I was given 48 hours to write. It lit a fire under my butt - and I got it done at about 2:30 a.m. (I wonder if they’ll dock dollars for poor spelling?).

In the reviewme control panel - you can choose your sites and tags. This is a pretty handy feature for deciding the types of projects you will want to review. I initially added myself under the “business” tag - and I still might go that route - but the point is - that the choice for what to publish still remains my own. This should be very empowering to micro-publishers.

Will it scale?
Will traditional media be willing to have the transparency to disclose exactly WHO the hand that feeds them is? If anyone can reach the critical mass this idea needs, it’s the guys reviewme.

There are certainly going to be some discrepancies that arise when people start writing negative reviews that don’t get accepted. Fortunately, I think the dimwits that start these inevitable skirmishes will be ignored from the “conversations” ultimately.

Editorial integrity vs. disclosure
I myself am usually paid the form of consulting work from my clients - I will gladly write about clients for money if I believe in their product. I will gladly tell people who read my site about things I would like that are related to what I normally discuss. I’m nearly certain that ReviewMe will succeed because of the thinking that went into the issues of editorial integrity vs. disclosure. I would not sacrifice credibility to potential consulting clients just to make a quick buck on a blog post - blogging is far too much work.

There are times when I discuss products on my site from people that I have confidence in. Normally, I politely decline to post about things from people I don’t know - the same will probably hold true even if they offer to pay me - perhaps RM will just reveal what a person’s (or site’s) true price is.

David vs. Goliath
The really interesting thing here is that smaller bloggers will be behind this 110% because it’s a decent way to make some money - and you can still choose what you write about something. It will be even more interesting to see the defense that the increasing supporters will mount for such a fascinating and controversial new concept of revenue model monetization. I think this monetization strategy will only help to multiply the creation of useful micro content. I’ll be excited to see the first few big advertisers that are willing to put their brand up to the scrutiny of micropublishers and PAY for it - those that come out with good strong reviews (that they PAID for) will certainly achieve some greater levels of success.

Conclusion:A review can be a very valuable asset. Good reviews and feedback from people who use your product is a good thing if you have the determination to build a GREAT product or service. It will take BALLS for an advertiser to use this new model - and put good products and services out on the block for reviews from anyone willing to try it. For those companies with the BALLS to try it, it’s going to pay off well I’m sure.

There will definitely be haters to the paid review model - but I think this is going to be a pretty amazing opportunity for many advertisers and publishers. It will be interesting to watch the inventory gain traction - and see how willing publishers will be to accept this level of honesty to disclose in their advertising. It is definitely going to blend the “church and state” that we normally assign to advertising and content in a more creative way than normal contextual advertising (even with the “blend” technique).

I really can’t wait when bigger bloggers start to admit that we all, in fact, have a price for our time and opinions. Because I think this is a very cool product based on who uses it - I’ll post links to my favorite reviews of Reviewme.com

I enoyed werty’s fine Reviewme analysis:

Screenshot from the simple interface of Reviewme:

I thought I’d add the introduce yourself thread as top level navigation, since it’s always nice to know who reads here. If you haven’t done so before - please do it now. Lookin’ forward to meeting lots of new friends at Pubcon - and it’d be nice to know a little bit about YOU before we chat (since you know what a dork I am:)