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Let's Have Fun!

By Li Evans

Tonight's the night here in the Delaware Valley (SouthEast PA, Southern NJ, Northern Delaware & Northern Maryland) were a few of us Internet Marketing Professionals are going to get together and have dinner.  If you don't have any plans, come on over to Bennigan's in King of Prussia, we've got a table reserved and are just waiting for you to join us.  The fun starts around 6:30, so stop on by!

I'll be posting pictures later this evening and a brief "wrap up" about the fun we all had!

Update: Well we had a blast!  Even met some new people!  Snow made my drive home a lot longer and I am quite beat, so I'll hope to get the pictures up and have a small recap tomorrow for you!

Update 2:  Pictures are up - wrapup coming later today! :)

Women of Internet Marketing Wednesday Part 7

By Li Evans

This week, I'm starting out asking you the audience for some input.  Please, please, please (have I said please enough?) drop a comment here or email me (s m g -a t- searchmarketinggurus.com) with who you'd like to see in the upcoming weeks.  I've got a few women in mind, but I'd really like some help from all of you!

Now, for this week's two wonderfully talented women.  Both of them seem to be DaveN fangirls (hey we have a club you know!) and both are just a blast to hang out with.  I got the privilege of meeting the both of them in Chicago this past December at SES, and wanted to introduce them to all of you.  Tonight let me introduce you to Carolyn Shelby and Becky Ryan.

Carolyn Shelby
Carolyn, or "cshel" as she's known in the WebmasterRadio.fm chatroom is one technically talented woman.  Prior to really settling into Internet Marketing, Carolyn was aiming to be a Systems Administrator, however, she was told that since she couldn't grow a "ZZ Top Beard", didn't have a pot belly or didn't wear red suspenders she never truly could be a real hardcore sysadmin or BOFH (bastard operator from hell).  Lucky for us, she decided to concentrate more on the marketing aspect of the interenet and found her true calling.

Along with having the network administrator experience behind her, she also can code websites.  She recently just rebuilt an e-commerce site that has over 60,000 subscribers.  From coding to networking to marketing Carolyn's got an amazing wealth of technical knowledge.  Check out Caroyln's website too!

Now for our traditional Q&A:
Q:  What did you do before you got into this industry (if anything else)?
A:  When I was in high school I worked for my dad's wife as a slave... er, carpenter. I spent summers lugging bundles of steel studs around, insulating walls, hanging drywall and installing drop ceilings. She even had me on the company paperwork as VP, but that was really only to avoid having to pay me union wages for the work I was doing. I got to be VP and paid $5/hr instead of being Jane Carpenter and making $20/hr, but I guess at 15/16 years old that isn't really so bad.  Then while I was at Purdue (for the whole 5 minutes I was at Purdue anyway), I was a waitress at Denny's. So right before I got into the ISP/web hosting business, I was asking people if they'd like fries or hashbrowns with their Moons Over My Hammy.
Q:  Why do you like/love this industry?
A:  I love the conferences and I love how close knit everything feels. Everyone I've met has been nice and open, and I've yet to encounter anyone I'd classify as a jerk.
Q:  What aggravates you most about this industry?
A:  What aggravates me most are companies posting jobs asking for "SEO Gurus" or wanting someone to do SEO and be the webmaster and be a project manager, but barely want to pay $40k/yr to work downtown Chicago. I guess that might fly if you're in the middle of BFE nowheresville, but I don't understand how they seriously expect to get quality candidates at those wages.
Q:  What big “thing” do you think will prevail in 2007?
A:  Social media is clearly getting bigger, so I think the biggest trick this year is going to be finding a somewhat reliable and *repeatable* process for leveraging social media on behalf of clients.
Q:  Who’s your favorite blogger to read?
A:  I don't know if I have a specific favorite blogger, but Threadwatch is definitely my favorite read in the mornings.
Q:  Right now, how many women bloggers do you read?
A:  SEOFanGirl, SugarRae, and Rebecca at SEOMoz.
Q:  Who do you feel is a leader in this industry and why?
A:  Danny Sullivan really seems to just have his finger on the pulse of what's going on in the industry, and I know I can't start my day w/o listening to the daily search cast.

And now for a little fun....
Q:  Do people come up to you and say “I see CShell selling seashells down by the seashore?”
A:  Yeah... all the time. I've given up trying to explain that "cshel" really only marginally has anything to do with actual seashells and is more a unix-y play on my name.
Q:  What do you like better – Danny’s singing of Danny’s rants on the Daily Search Cast?
A:  I love the singing. Anybody can go on rant, but it takes a real man to burst into spontaneous song ala Julie Andrews in the middle of a broadcast.
Q:  Stuntdbl (Todd Malicoat) or The Princess (Neil Patel)?
A:  Oh.... how can you make me choose? Can't I pick both?
Q:  Who’s got the best “Radio Voice” on all of the WebmasterRadio.fm shows?
A:  Daron has the best radio voice hands down in terms of the traditional, velvety, deep DJ voice, but I gotta tell ya... I have a major weak spot for British accents. I could listen to Dave Naylor just read the phone book for hours.

And now for our next wonderfully talented woman, Becky Ryan.

Becky Ryan
Becky's well know at all the conferences and her smile lights up any room and is incredibly contagious!  She's also the gal that keeps Dave, Larry and Hilton inline at Trellian.  I kept hearing about Becky or "Web Moxy", but it wasn't until Chicago that I actually - finally - got to meet her face to face.  Her wonderfully friendly nature just makes you want to hang out with her and have fun all night long.

Becky found her way into Internet Marketing through gaming.  Yep, you read right, she played video games and use to surf the bulletin boards for cheat sheets.  "The next thing I knew, I was learning all sorts of things from those bulletin boards," she related to me.  Prior to getting into Internet Marketing Becky had her own custom horse blanket business, worked in retail and was even a hair stylist!

So now for our  Q&A time with Becky:
Q:  What is your most successful industry accomplishment?
A:  The night before SES Chicago many attendees and speakers congregate at the hotels' Irish pub. This last time while catching up with friends, Danny Sullivan walks in with a box of donuts. He offers them to people as he makes his way through the bar. He then says to me "Becky, would you like a donut?" ... Danny knew my name! I was on a high! .He said MY name. he said my name!!! My heart is beating fast as I relive this moment! :)

Professionally, I think my most successful industry accomplishments have been to help mega corporations build and train their in-house marketing teams.

Personally, my spirit loves people helping people with organic search. With the right knowledge and effective tools, it easy for even the smallest company to succeed - and I love every time I see that happen.
Q:  Why do you like/love this industry?
A:  Internet is so interwoven into my make-up that I actually have built an extended family. I see and communicate with this community more than many of my own "blood" relatives! I was lucky to have started working on the Internet very early in its evolution.

Back in '90, I was starting a family, living in "the sticks" way outside Atlanta. I would log unto Compuserve, Archie and local BBs, to find out everything I could about gaming, programming and web design.  By the mid nineties, I had a job with a banner exchange company and managing many doctors' sites. I was building their loyalty programs including through Listservs, IRC Chat programs. I offered my clients "progress reports" aka Website Analysis and Competitive Intelligence.  It was crude but beneficial!

This early hands-on learning, paired with working on a degree in web development, has given me a firm foundation, which eventually got me into trouble!  In 1999, I convinced my clients' to pull their sites down as I upload new high-tech flash site. Within weeks of the implementation my world changed. As their sites were nose-diving or had crashed, I was flying on a plane to Boston praying to God . to save my clients, employees and my family's new found income.

My first SES became a paradigm shift! Within a few sleepless weeks spent making radical site changes - my clients were back in business. I am still indebted to wonderful people like Paul Johnson, Greg Boser, Mikkel, Bruce Clay, Det Lev Johnson, Heather Lloyd Martin, and Robin Nobles. I can attribute the advice they gave me as being instrumental both to saving my clients and to putting me on this path!
Q:  What big "thing" do you think will prevail in 2007?
A:  An SE Lottery!  The winner gets one year of top rankings on terms like "Satellite" and "iPod"! Now that would be exciting!

In reality, this is probably the year of broader acceptance of blogs and social communities. It is about creating quality content that people want to read and both blogs and social communities provide that. As for the owners of these types of sites it creates an ideal platform for advertising and building on loyalty.
Q: Who's your favorite blogger to read? 
A:  Li, I visit your site every day! (awwwh, another one loves us!)
Q:  Right now, how many women bloggers do you read?
I read tons! I can't accurately give you a number. I read a lot of many female blogs! I go to yours everyday and I recommend SugarRae's and Lisa Barone's a lot.  I have also found some new up and coming female bloggers since joining MyBlogLogs, I have been reading a lot from Andrea Schoemaker, which I think are really building a network of followers.  I am excitedly waiting for Meg Walker's and Marie Howell's blogs. I know they have some great information and they are building their site right now!
Q:  Who do you feel is a leader in this industry and why?
A:  When speaking of females I think of Steph Leffer of Monster Commerce. She appeals to programmers, SEO, SEM's and companies. She has taken her product and produce a corporation that is respected within many communities.

And now for some laughs with Becky...
Q:  Do you Google yourself on Google, yodel yourself on Yahoo!, ask ASK if you exist and pray you live on Live?
A:  Well after a particular party at Pubcon, I not only Yodeled, Google and Asked myself, I even set up alerts!!
Q:  Who's the sexiest SEO Guy you know?
A:  Please Li, next show do the signs thing like HatBait but with "Gay, Straight or Taken" I would love to narrow my list down!!!

These are the hottest and in Alpha-betical order particular order: Loren Baker, Ray Comstock, Ben Hadley, Jim Hedger, Dax Herrera, Chris Hooley, Joe Martin, Neil Patel, Mike Sack, and Werty. Dang they are all hot!
Q:  Who throws the best parties (at Search Industry Events)?

• #3 Google SES/SJ: "GoogleDance" the nicest way to jam, drink and handle the shock of another SEO year passing.
• #2  Yahoo! YPN throws very exclusive private parties. They select a handful of people and bring them to some ultra special location. They even add to the excitement and might not always announcing where the event will be. In Vegas, they spared no expense and rented out the Hugh Hefner suite!      
• #1 SearchBash - This is the ultimate premier event! Brandy Sharpiro-Babin and Daron Babin, from WebmastRadio.FM, know how to throw a party. They invite everyone!! They pick fantastic big locations, and they know how to rock in style. If you go, bring a tons of business cards, as everyone will be there. Warning show up early to avoid the lines!      

Q:  DaveN (David Naylor) or ShoeMoney?
A:   Shoemoney: He is sooo nice! A genuine person and knows his stuff! He is everywhere: Internet radio show, chatrooms, blogs, social sites and SEO retreats. He stands out with his smoooooth head, big heart, great laugh. When I first met him, I was instantly impressed with how funny, witty (highly intelligent) but genuinely kind. I really love his videos (check his Myspace) account! Lets go back to the smooth head, Hot!      
DaveN: I have known DaveN for years. This guy is amazing; smart, funny, and brilliant with a hot edge! Don't forget the British accent! His write-ups are usually very direct and to the point. He covers many industries and has a lot of new adventures coming up in 2007. He is also a good family man. But lets go back to the British accent and his aggressive edge, Hot!
Answer: DaveN as he has access to all of my emails from www.TickMe.com. (*private message to DaveN* - I have under a 75% rating! What the *&^%!  We need to talk about that!!! See u in London)

And before y'all ask - That's DaveN's face on Shoe's body - but you have to ask Becky where she got that to send to me! ;)

So there you have the "low down" on web moxy and cshel!  What fun I'm having, each week I get to learn a lot more about all of these wonderful women!  Stay tuned for Part 8 next Wednesday!  As always, visit our Women of Internet Marketing category to see our past weeks' wonderful women and don't forget - let me know who you want to know more about!

Superbowl Winner? Colts, Bears or J.P.?

By Li Evans

UPDATE - Proposal to be on Veronica Mars

I got an email from Joe Morin, while contract negotiations are still being worked on, it's amazing to find out what's happened!  Just the other day Joe had over 48 media requests for J.P. and himself.

If you watch Entertainment Tonight, J.P.'s going to be on there tonight.  After the SuperBowl,  there's a planned "whirlwind" media tour of the newly engaged couple.  Where?  Just take a look at where Joe told me that the two are going to appear: Good Morning America, The Today Show, The Early show, Fox Morning Show, Entertainment Tonight again, Inside Edition, Letterman, Leno, Global National TV (Canada), The Ellen Show and more to come.

Wow - all of that started with a few blog posts and a Press Release.  Word of Mouth Marketing, certainly is a powerful thing!

I'll update you all when Joe finally seals the deal.

Dave Pasternack - The Frog Prince of Did-It

By Li Evans

Please Note:  If you are looking for Dave Pasternack the famous Chef, please visit his restaurant's site: ESCA (The Southern Italian Seafood Restaurant)

Threadwatch is pretty fed up with Dave Pasternack (the guy who is from Did-It, not the chef), so much so they've announced a contest to see who can rank the highest for the term "Dave Pasternack".  I think we are all sick of Dave Pasternack by now, but he's not taking the hint, maybe this contest  will give him a clue.

I have to say, after David Wallace emailed me earlier today, I just groaned seeing that this guy is yet again yammering about the same old crap.  David's actually got a great post about Dave Pasternack's "Bakery Ramblings". 

Baking a cake, *shakes his head*, wow, I wonder how long he had to sit around to come up with that one?

Normally, I'm not one for using a blog to criticize one individual, but geesh, doesn't Dave Pasternack know when to give up?  We all know, as David Wallace pointed out, it won't be long util Kevin Lee will be trying to sweep up the floury mess from yet another failed baking failed publicity stunt experiment.

Look, will someone please tell Dave Pasternack, to *pretty please* just go back to your PPC world.  We heard you the first time, the second time, the third time...... we're tired of hearing you beat this horse to death.  Go pick on Digg, or the entire Social Media industry and tell us the sky is falling there, maybe someone will care, or listen ..... but then again, maybe not.

Techmeme vs. Digg - Knowing Your Audience & Client

By Li Evans

Techmeme vs. Digg?  There really shouldn't be a comparison, should there?  However after thinking about this for a while there is a bit of a comparison when it comes to "getting noticed".  After reading Kim Krause Berg's post about not Digging being Dugg on Digg, I sat and thought about this a bit more in depth.  It's really about knowing who your audience is, or who your customer's audience is and knowing whether or not Techmeme, Digg or any other of these social media and social news services, fit.

I'm sure who 85% of my audience is.  It's readers who want to learn more about the Search and Internet Marketing Industry.  My readers are people who tend to be Tech Savvy or at least Internet Savvy, professionals who are over the age of 20.  These are professionals who understand or at least acknowledge that most of SEO isn't spam.  These people will tend to read and trust what they see on Techmeme before Digg.

Digg, although the traffic numbers are very alluring, is NOT my audience.  The majority of users on the service do not understand anything about this industry and consider the majority of it as Spam.  They might be educated in other areas, but a decent portion of the highly active users are much younger and haven't a clue what this industry is really about.  That much is apparent by the comments they leave on Digg and also on the blog articles that are Dugg.

When I look at a client's audience, I find for the majority of them, Techmeme isn't the ideal place to look at to attract new audience members.  Digg, Netscape, Reddit & Newsvines are more of a fit for my clients.  Other social media services like Stumble Upon or MySpace might also offer another place to find new audience members. It is all about knowing your client intimately enough to understand how to reach their target audience.

If you are a new blogger, don't worry about getting Dugg or even hitting Techmeme, that's secondary to providing good content.  Concentrate on establishing and knowing who your audience is, then decide what social media option best for you -- and your audience.  Once you have your hands around who's reading your blog, then experiment a little with providing some different types content, but remember, your base audience is your most loyal - don't piss them off.

If you write great content that serves a purpose and is valuable (and not all about you), other bloggers and people will notice and link to it.  Over time, you'll build a great base that will help to build your audience on its own.  Sure it's great to be Dugg, and you'll find a few good additions to your audience, but the more valuable audience member is one referred by a current reader.

So keep this in mind, in the end, it isn't about writing for Techmeme verses writing for Digg - it's about writing great content for your audience that keeps them coming back for more. 

Do You Know if Your Audience Likes Klogs, Godfathers, Digg or Oneboxes?

By Li Evans

Yes, another crazy title, but when I do a link round up, it usually about a lot of different things!  Check out what I'd like to share with you all tonight.

• Karl Ribas is livening up the MyBlogLog fun.  If you don't know, Karl has "The Klog Blog" much like those garden gnomes you see, Karl's Klog has adventures too!  In the spirit of making MBL interesting and fun - you can win a Klog by joining his community - go on join!  Besides, really what are the chances of winning a Zune, and if you're a woman, Shoe's community icon really isn't a turn on. LOL
• Speaking of ShoeMoney, he's asking who you think is the "GodFather of Search".  To me, Danny Sullivan is hands down the winner.  However, I think though there are two people who aren't on that list who should be considered - Daron Babin (SE Guru) and Mike Grehan, if there's anyone who might know more than Danny - it'd be these two.
• Vanessa's got a run down on the past year at Google's WebMaster Central - Wow, they've been busy bees out in Kirkland.
• Scoreboard Media's got a great post about Linkbaiting only being 20% of the equation.  Check out what he thinks is the remaining part of the equation.
• Kim Krause Berg doesn't Digg being Dugg.  For that matter, I tend to agree with her!
• SEOIdiot has some good advice for publishers using Adsense.
• Brian Mark at OneBoxer has a tip on working with the Google Onebox.
• Barry Welford asks if Edelman really understand's the Blogosphere.  A lot of people have been asking that in the last 6 months.  I think Steve Rubel understands it, but the rest of them at that company need a course or two taught by him.
• James over at Cre8Buzz asks if you know who your audience and customers are?
• And last but certainly not least - Mr. "MyBlogLog" himself - David Temple has a neat little "Pop Quiz".  See if you can figure out who said what and who tagged whom!

Does It Matter That Wikipedia Made Its Links NoFollow?

By Li Evans

Carsten Cumbrowski over at Search Engine Journal picked up that Wikipedia is now tagging all their links with "NoFollow".  Apparently this is an official decision by Wikipedia's CEO, Jim Wales.  I think that is a decision that will eventually lessen the spamming of Wikipedia by those who are gaming it to gain page rank.

However, what if the gaming for page rank isn't the objective?  What if it is just to get the link into the article, to get the eyeballs to see it and the fingers to click on it and drive that traffic in?  The NoFollow attribute won't mean a thing there.

Also, the NoFollow doesn't mean that the spiders from the search engines won't go to those sites, it just means that Wikipedia isn't giving its "trust" to the link.  Although I applaud Wikipedia's steps with the NoFollow, they are still similar to Digg in the aspect that a link from a popular Wikipedia page, means traffic to the website the link is pointing to.  There are times where the objective isn't Page Rank at all, it's strictly to drive traffic.

Anything that is community driven always leaves the element of "being gamed" whether its from aggressive marketers, programmers or even from within the community's own walls.  We are human, we just want to "belong" and be noted as "important", and that's the lure of being on Digg or Wikipedia.  That is something that I don't think Wikipedia's Jim Wales can solve through tagging.

Google Behind Microsoft With Advertising In Video Games

By Li Evans

Believe it or not, there are a few places where Google is behind or isn't even "playing in the game", yet.  One of those markets is Video Game Advertising, both In-Game and Published Title Releases bought in the store.  In this space, Microsoft's Massive Incorporated is a major player along with Double Fusion and IGA Worldwide.  There is a lot of news being reported this weekend that Google is in talks to buy its way into this advertising and marketing space by acquiring Adscape Media, Inc.

Last year, Microsoft acquired Massive Incorporated for what was speculated at somewhere between $200 and $300 million, although dollar amounts were never disclosed publicly. I wrote about Microsoft stepping into In-Game advertising back in September, when EA Games and Microsoft announced their deal to provide live in-game advertising within EA's games that can be played through the XBox 360 and PC's.

I'm involved with a project outside of my day job that keeps me pretty active in news on the video gaming front (I know David Temple's going to ping me and say "When do you find the time?!").  So, from experience, I am familiar with the fact that Adscape Media, Inc. is a "new kid" on the block when it comes to this particular market.  There are other companies that have a lot better foothold in this particular area, but they probably aren't quite as open to Google's courting since they have a lot more publishing deals signed and established titles than Adscape Media does.

I checked out Adscape Media's site, (if you are a SEO - please stop twitching, the site's done entirely in flash) today to see if they had any new titles signed on or publishers added, but nothing was listed.  Usually these firms are really eager to boast the titles they have locked in like Double Fusion and IGA Worldwide do.  This is important in the world of game development.  Game publishers want to know that these advertising companies are experienced in this realm of advertising and want to be able to converse with other publishers about their experience, especially in the area of "creative control".  They don't want some company who's going to make their titles into a parking lot of ads.

This is also an area where your normal "mom and pop" advertisers are likely not going to be able to play as readily.  The major barriers I see are: understanding how it all works, price/budgets and what exactly is the model?  It certainly isn't PPC, so for Google, if they do "seal the deal" with Adscape Media, Inc. early this week, will it be more like the radio and print ads that they have in beta now?  I think it will likely take a road similar to that, but again, it will take a lot of eduction of the customer that is the advertiser.

For Microsoft, acquiring Massive, Inc. made sense since they are the maker of the XBox.  However, for Google, this just seems like a much cheaper "YouTube like" purchase.  It is another way to quickly acquire the eyeballs that they are missing out on, and figure out how to monetize the acquisition in a "Google Way". 

If you would like to learn a little more about Adscape Media, (who by the way boasts over 100 years experience in the Video Gaming Market) check out Gamasutra's interview with Adscape Media's CEO Chris Gilbert.  He gives his thoughts on Microsoft's acquisition of Massive, Inc., what he believes is their competitive advantage, hurdles this particular industry faces and bit more.

My Super Proposal Gets Some Super Coverage

By Li Evans

UPDATE: Proposal to happen on Veronica Mars

I just got done hopping around the major news sites, of course Hilary's the big news right now, but my eyes fell upon something a little "closer to home" when I came to MSNBC's site.  Joe Morin's efforts to help J.P.'s "My Super Proposal" have hit the front page of MSNBC. 

With about 3 weeks left till the Super Bowl's kick off, I certainly hope we get to hear some good news, and I'm really cheering for Joe's efforts.  MSNBC is reporting in the article that something is going to be finalized on Monday - apparently 6 companies are in the running!  What an amazing turn of events, and a lot in part to Joe's efforts.

Joe himself is even getting a little press for Storybids, Inc., with a couple of paragraph mentions about how Joe became involved and what his role and Storybids' role is with My Super Proposal.

I'm keeping my eyes glued to Joe's blog on Monday, that's for sure, I'll make sure to pass on what I find out too.

Microsoft Live Search One Box?

By Li Evans

As part of my normal routine I do a lot of research at Commerce360, today was no different, and I was doing some research with Microsoft's Live Search (or MSN Search).  I came across something that made me go "hmmmm" I haven't seen this before.  I did a little scouring of the blogosphere and the other search engines to see if anyone else had seen this yet.

Microsoft's Live Search seems to be putting up a "one box", very similar to Google's one box.  There are some differences of course, like Microsoft is asking for feedback with a "did this help" sort of link.  Take a look at the results I got for "women's clothes", "pda", "movies", & "TV shows".

I tried to find anyone who has reported on this before, but couldn't find any instances.  Has anyone seen this recently?  This is an interesting development, in light of the market share slippage that Microsoft has been seeing. 

The one box listings are from shopping.msn.com listings for the product listings, however, I didn't catch where the movies link was taking users (although I suspect it takes you to the Movies Section of MSN..  I came home from work and I can't reproduce the movies one box that I did at the office, but you can clearly see it in the screen cap above.  If you click on the "Is This Useful" link, you are taken to a "Windows Live Search Answers" feedback form.  I'm not sure if that's correct, since this isn't really an "Answers" issue, perhaps they are reusing the form?

If Microsoft is now incorporating their own box features, this is something search marketers should be paying attention too, and perhaps give serious consideration to submitting clients retail products to the MSN Shopping feed.  Just like the Google Base/Froogle  product feeds the one box area on Google, it seems to be the MSN Shopping is feeding this one box on Live.com.