Think Blogger

2006-10-16T11:50:00.000-07:00

Paid to blog - Controversy or Natural Reaction?

TechCrunch discussed the issue as they pointed out, despite the controversy, venture capitalists have pitched a few million bucks into the pot to see what happens. The idea of "shills," or "paid reviewers" is an old one - dating back to roadside salespeople, then new anchors and now bloggers. My take on this situation is this: As long as people are speaking their mind and throwing valid, REAL opinions out, who cares if they are paid to do it. When it gets spammy is when people say things that simply are not true. And in a world full of money and greed - this tends to happen. One thing you can count on from Think Blogger is the truth. So if you're going to speak your mind truthfully, go ahead and make some cash with blog advertising.

2006-03-08T11:56:00.000-08:00

So its been a few months...
Some of you may know I am going to be a father. Preparing for a family is the most exciting and beautiful thing I have experienced so far in my life. Its changing me beyond any predictions I may have had. My fiance and I tell each other to "drive safe" every time we leave, we cook all our meals at home now and drive in the slow lane...

Its also made me think about my career and what I have to offer the world very seriously. I am an artist at heart and I deeply hope I will inspire many throughout my life with it. To bring home the bacon I currently do all the eMarketing, Advertising and Brand/Web Development for a Venture Capital companies portfolio of companies. I have been very successful promoting these companies online and offline, achieving top placements in Google, MSN and Yahoo for keywords that have millions of competitors, managed successful Paid Search Engine Marketing campaigns and developed tools that have made many peoples lives easier and more efficient.

In the past 6 months I have decided to organize all of my knowledge, techniques and connections and have been working on a book to help businesses succeed online and offline. I believe that showing everyone from the Home Based Business Owner to the Corporate Marketing Professional and everyone in between how to succeed with their business is the best thing I can do. I have realized that as long as the steps I have learned are followed, and quality is emphasized in everything you do, ANYONE can take their business to the top.

I will update everyone on the progress of my book as I go.

2005-12-14T15:24:00.000-08:00

Grassy roots and family man: Guerilla Marketing + One on One + Baby Time

Seems things are more tied together than we like to admit.

Just recently found out I'm going to be a father, my theory that one on one grass roots marketing taking over is right and no matter how hard we like to think that things fall into place... you have to work like a guerilla to get to the top, if that's where you want to be, and you have to work to be a good farther... and hopefully all of us men want that.

Top of the trees, top of the ladder... top of your family man abilities... providing, teaching, protecting, whatever: NOTHING HAPPENS WITHOUT "good old fashioned elbow grease" and lots of it. Maybe its not walking up hill in the snow both ways, but it sure takes a hard worker to make things happen, in the work place and in the home. And I'm not just talking testosterone here... a good marketer and a good father really CARE about his audience and his family, and if he doesn't, well, we'll just leave those people to their spamming.

Smart work is just as important... spreading yourself too thin in areas that are not focused towards your goal just leaves your inbox overflowing and the light at the end of the tunnel farther and farther away.

I just finished cleaning my inbox today, realized it was a "must do" 2 weeks ago when I started realizing I was working hard... but not as smart as I should be (took me the whole two weeks and a couple hours a day and 16,000 messages later when I COULD have just stayed on top of it five minutes a day). Focusing on the little tasks every day (like cleaning out your inbox) and working a bit on your long term goals for the future REALLY makes the day to day things not only bearable, but enjoyable.

I even have time today for the first time to blog. /Sigh... all is good in cyber world.

Reading the article on business week about the impact MySpace and other social networks is having on the marketing world and how it is changing the way advertisers think is a HUGE revolution in my book. Read it here. I have been preaching grass roots and word of mouth marketing since I was a kid and THANK GOD (or whoever) I did not go to advertising school only to be inundated with "make flashy 3 second ads that people won't forget" because now its finally about getting a quality buzz going... with style AND politness. The other side of this coin however is that you simply cannot just sit and pray that a buzz will start and as much as it pains me to admit, a lot can be learned from the Guerilla Marketers that work on generating traffic for gambling sites... forget the spammers, I'm talking thier tactics and PR, and if you don't believe me, read this article, with caution: Gambling Marketers Tactics

2005-11-17T10:27:00.000-08:00

Digital Point...

Just found a great resource that anyone who is anyone in the webmaster would either frequents or knows about... www.digitalpoint.com

They have amazing tools for tracking data related to Search Engine Optimization and Marketing, as well as a forum that some really bright users spend a lot of time on.

If you want your site to be seen or meet people with the same thirst for technical creativity, check it out.

2005-11-11T08:43:00.000-08:00

Quotes to remember...

"Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity." ~ Charles Mingus

"The life of money-making is one undertaken under compulsion, and wealth is evidently not the good we are seeking; for it is merely useful and for the sake of something else." ~ Aristotle

"People aren't stupid. They are just too busy or too distracted to care as much as you do about the stuff you care about."

2005-11-08T13:19:00.001-08:00

Ti, i, eee ime is on my side... Yes it is.

No matter how hard I try it seems... More and more just gets piled into my inbox, and the tasks I feel will utilize my talents in the best possible manner seem to get farther and farther away from completion...

Then I realize I'm 22. I have only been in my industry of choice for 4 years, and I am actually making a lot of progress.

Are you too? Then don't only focus on where you're going. Take time to think about how far you've come... And relax, its only a job.

Spending time with my family and friends, feeding my creativity and staying healthy are high priorities, and I am always reminded that balance is the key to success... In any area.

don't think too hard, spend too much or laugh too little.

2005-10-25T09:14:00.000-07:00

Food for the brain:
Creative Relationships

Is there anything else? Some say there is a certain 'way' to be a good boss, husband, wife or friend. I am constantly taught by life that there are really only appropriate and inappropriate actions in relationships... and the best ones are those approached creatively based on what has or has not worked in the past. Remember what has helped the relationship before and really ask yourself how to best address the given situation based on both yours and your partners needs.

There is usually a goal in any encounter, whether its to work out a problem with a loved one or to get that raise you have been looking for. I had lunch with a smart man who manages his employees and relationships flawlessly, and he reminded me that most times people want to walk away from an encounter feeling like they got something out of it. So when hoping to gain something yourself, it may be to your advantage to offer the person you're dealing with something in return. Whether its a kind voice and a helping hand, or a profit center that puts more money in your boss's pocket to go along with that raise your asking for.

This attitude may seem selfish but if the goal in the relationship is contentment and trust, then it only seems fitting that the more positive exchanges the better.

2005-10-21T15:56:00.000-07:00

Get non stop traffic for life!!?!?

Wow. I get more offers to "ensure" high search engine placement and "non-stop traffic" than I can count. Ignore any and all of these if you get them too. Stay AWAY from software that offers to place you instantly or guarantees high numbers of links in day.

Getting to the top of the list is something any webmaster or business owner wants. DO NOT BE TEMPTED. If you have spent any time researching this topic then you probably know that being ranked high, for a long time, takes A LOT of work, carefull planning and definitely does not involve bombarding the world in hopes that a half a percent of your inquiries for links are heard and placed.

First of all this kind of approach will piss off a lot of people, one of those people could report you as a spammer or worse, list you as a "poor" operation with the BBB. If you are ok with this, go ahead. If not, then you should probably do your homework and approach each possible partner one at a time.

Also be cautious of any directory you list yourself on, directories can do a world of benefit or a world of harm. Some business retain 25% of their traffic from yahoo directory and the google open public directory, DMOZ. Listing your site with directories that are littered with mortgage and penis enlargement offerings will only place you in the same moral category.

So if traffic and long term high search rankings are what you're after... stay away from the "overnight traffic" lure that spammers are offering.

2005-10-19T16:38:00.000-07:00

SEO? SEM? SEWHAT?

Any web administrator or owner of a site that has registered virtually anywhere online has probably stumbled across these acronyms. Spammers have given Search Marketers a bad name, but then again, advertisers have always been fairly divided, so its no surprise. There are those who cheat and those who "do it right". Sometimes the ones cheating don't even realize they're doing it, they have contracted some Search Marketing Firm who simply uses their undiscovered link farms to increase link popularity or one of many other "shady" ways of going about it.

The only thing that is really going to happen over the next decade or so is the same thing that happened in the print, radio and TV advertising world along time ago... scammers got moved to their own papers, stations and channels while the others, with honest marketing approaches remained and were forced to work with astronomically high advertising expenses (and salaries). So sit back and relax... spam will be herded into its own arena and the rest of us will be rewarded greatly for our efforts, with higher salaries and lower numbers of black hat competitors.

The reason this is so hot in everyones minds is because its still "new" and when something new gets bombarded with scammers we all grow wary... but if you really think about it is a great thing... the ones we are all trying to avoid are teaching us how to, and forcing us to find our targeted marketplaces and trusted resources. Mark my words, in 10 years "cheaters" will have a hard time making it online and will probably try and go back to telemarketing.

2005-10-18T16:22:00.000-07:00

Food for the brain:
Seeding and Shilling - Pretending to be a happy customer when you own, work for or represent the company.

If you read reviews of products or services then you have most likely seen seeding and shilling. False testimonials have been around for a while, but now it is estimated that over 30% of book reviews on amazon.com are fake!

Ask yourself how you feel about it. Aren't honesty and integrity are the most important things to a consumer?... When a company is found to be deceptive shouldn't they be shut down?...

Well... MSN is taking a slow but sure nose dive while google is rising to the top because google believes in HONEST business practices. Back in the day some of our favorite Usenet news groups or chat rooms were our local hangouts, and slimmy users always tried posting spam... We HATED them. HOWEVER, when the owner of a new company would sign in to a related group and get to know the users, make a recommendation regarding his product or service... we were ok with it for the most part... and this is still true now.

Maybe we should all look to google and loyal user group members for advice. If you are, work for, or represent the company you are trying to get a "buzz" going for, why not simply introduce yourself as such and recommend your product or service in a friendly manner.

2005-10-17T14:28:00.000-07:00

Check this out:

"Google Earth" - it'll blow your mind, see if your buddy in Iraq has a car parked in his driveway or not.

"Blog Spam" - search for it anywhere... its coming to bite us in the... Search Engine Watch has a good article.

"Failure" - it used to only be "miserable failure" but now if you search for "failure" in google you get our lovely president George W. Bush's page at the Whitehouse website... thank bloggers and search engine optimizers for that one.

2005-10-17T11:26:00.000-07:00

Remeber how it was before the internet?

Once upon a time it took hours to find the proper book at the library, or worse, weeks to wait for the last person who checked it out to bring it back so you could soak in that particular piece of literature.

It took driving, walking, and people-watching for an afternoon at your favorite hot spot to meet a new person active in your area(s) of interest... now we have the world wide web, and its flourishing an environment where seekers of information and people can quickly connect. I couldn't be happier.

Building a web-presence can be great for both personal and business goals, the desire to create a world-wide, 24/7 available personal home has always been there... Take Boing Boing for example, a blog started by a celebrity-likened, attractively eccentric computer geek featuring nerdy (and hip) culture and news. Boing Boing is the most popular (backlinked) blog out there, with over 62,000 links says Technorati... so I think its safe to say, the world is thirsty for more than just CNN news.

This wonderful environment offers us seekers of information and like-minded users a chance to not only speak our minds, but be heard... connect... and network... And if we happen to be running an online business, we can even gain customers.

Think Blogger

2005-10-14T10:52:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Think Blogger - just wait...