I missed last week while we put on the SEO Class, which went very well. We had a nice turnout of non-profit organizations, and were able to cover some excellent material that should help with driving more targeted, relevant traffic to their sites. Plenty of folks had nice things to say, and I’m sure we’ll have their testimonials up in the near future. Without further ado - here’s this week (and some of last weeks) favorites:
Monday April 9th 7-10pm
Town Tavern 134 W 3rd St & 6th Ave.
3 Hour Open Bar Party for $40 donation at the door
All money goes to Ronald McDonald House Charity
Charity Party is open to everybody
Big thanks to BOTW & TLA for covering the cost
http://www.im-ny.org/events.html
Thanks to Greg for putting this together.
It actually pains me to put Jason C’s name in a title after all the attention he gleans with the attack hook. This time he actually managed to get himself free SEO consulting as well. I just don’t bother to argue with the haterz like this anymore (at a certain point the skin thickens, and just knowing that your right provides more solace than public outbursts), but I have to commend Neil on taking the time to prove this guy wrong after all the flack and disrespect JC has shown the SEO community. He’s certainly not the first, but he has definitely been the extreme. It is admirable that Neil took the time to explain to someone who will never “get SEO” anyhow - if only to shut him up for a few minutes. Check out how Neil won the bet with only 10% of recommended changes made (Here’s the info on the challenge). It’s painful to think that Neil is helping to give the guy MORE of a soapbox to yell stupidity from, but at least everytime the subject of SEO pops up, the facts will speak for themselves (assuming he’s actually smart enough to implement the rest of the changes Neil provided). We’ll be looking forward to that official “SEO is awesome” statement, and timing how long it takes you to contradict yourself Jason.
Andy Beal started a really cool scholarship last year, and has brought it back this year. With an esteemed group of judges and then me - he’ll be giving away a bunch of great SEM prizes worth upwards of 10k to the lucky winner. There was some really excellent entries last year - and the big winner was Ben Wills, a very sharp dude (and also a real good guy) who wrote about the 5 Pillars of Social Media Marketing. Find out more about the search engine marketing scholarship at Marketing Pilgrim.
Michael Gray ranted a bit recently about how most SEO bloggers should step away from the keyboard. I disagree with him totally. I think there should be MANY MORE SEO bloggers because it helps keep people that may know what they’re doing away from search results that may compete with mine (and it’s hard enough already). I think the whole “How write and promote your blog that will make millions, get you laid twice a day, and help you live forever” concept is a bit tired, so I am going to attempt the alternative. This guide will absolutely not get everything that you write onto digg, nor will it get you worshipped by the world. I take no responsibility if you succeed at being an idiot blogger that no one likes.
As any type of company or consultant, the WRONG clients can destroy your success. It is often very tempting to keep clients, since the money seems nice, but when you drill down to the nitty gritty, they are often not very profitable at best, and a complete resource drain that can damage your pocket book and your quality of life at worst. Beyond strictly fiscal drains, a bad client raises your stress levels, and makes life much more difficult all the way around. In just about any company, the pareto principle applies to bad clients. 20% of clients create 80% of the problems. Breaking it off with a client can be a scary experience, but those that practice "culling the client heard" can attest to just how important it is. If you continue to take on clients that are not great, you will end up in a vicious cycle of doing work you don’t like for people you don’t like. Don’t think twice - break up with them. Here’s some tips for breaking up with the wrong types of clients whether you do design, development, marketing, or ANY type of service based occupation as a consultant or company.
Kris, Jeremy, Neil, and I will be chatting about social media stuff this week, and doing a live Q and A session. Check it out if you can make it:
SEO/ Internet Marketing Training
