(Quit checking her out! I’m on the clock here)

If I had 2 minutes to sell you on Search Engine Marketing:

1) I would play the 90-second video from the Google Adwords home page – Google’s Pay Per Click Sponsored Search Engine Marketing Platform

and with the remaining 20 seconds I would:

2) then I would send you to the Google Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide and tell you to read it when on your own. (Google “SEO”, click on the Google Webmaster link, then click on the link in the box towards the top of the Google Webmaster page).

3) Reference you to the post I wrote on Golden Tech’s Internet Marketing / Web Design Blog discussing PPC Marketing

And there would still be time left over for you to by me a Gumballhead

And our working relationship would be off to a tantalizing start.

How would you sell Search Engine Marketing in Two minutes or less?

(Photo Credit:  Tattoed Yarn via Flickr)

I’m sitting here in my friend’s office at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. The first class I taught went suprisingly well. Of course I broadcasted the event on UStream but didn’t record it. Mistakes to be corrected tomorrow. I was also happy to see I had so many asking questions, staying attentive, and stopping by after the session.

A radio show just finished up and we’re waiting for the director of the show to stop by and discuss what more we can do to his site. I like the site, like the content, but already have a list in mind.

Anyway, while catching up on blogs I came across one HubSpot just posted regarding the Edelman trust barometer survey of 2010 which polled the trust people have in traditional media markets and marketing methods. The numbers were compared to the results gained in 2008.

What it showed was, across the board, that half as many people trust their news sources as compared to 2008. Even word of mouth plummeted to 25%. Here’s a link to the Edelman 2010 Trust Survey regarding media / marketing outlets.

Of course the running joke would be, “If those trust numbers are so low, would anyone trust the survey?” But assuming they might, the question would be:

How to Get People to Trust You Using Inbound Marketing 2010

I ask the question because for the most part I’m not sure about the answer. I’m looking forward to testing it out, but I have a few theories I’d love to get y’alls advice too.

Things I’m Going to Focus to Maintain Trust

1) We Are Family – continue to focus on Trust. Continuing to add links from where I get sources when the article calls for a source and then explain in the notes why the source is important. Marketing is all about fraternization and positioning. Keep the fraternity partying and don’t haze the newbies.

2) Run with Friends - As Brogan & Smith’s Trust Agents would indicate, I will continue to highlight why I publically acknowledge my friends when I acknowledge them.

3) Be the first – Trust in society usually starts again when someone lends a hand. There’s a power that stems from being the first to trust, to take the leap of faith. And if someone tries to bite that hand, their’s justification for beating them back into the depths of hell from whence it came.

4) Candid – My friends are often upset by my “freedom of information act,” when it comes to their stories. I don’t keep their secrets unless they officially call them a secret. I try to do this when marketing as well. I’m not one for hiding the warts. I’m one for lasering them off in public – usually while on ustream or something

5) Smile - These times suck a**. Might as well admit to it. Blues it. Identify it. Know that them days are gonna get better.

Trust in the day and know today will help tomorrow.

What approaches are y’all gonna take in this trust-less environment?

(photo credit by Open Your Heart via Flickr)

Blue Ice 1.17.2010

Originally uploaded by Notley

My 99 week plan was cut short by 89 weeks, and that’s alright by me. I had a week of work where I felt more refreshed at the end of the week than when I started the week.

That’s a good sign.

I was also afraid being unplugged from the inbound marketing industry for 10 weeks was going to leave me behind. It only took a few days to catch up.

It’s because I didn’t have to relearn it all.

And that leads me into today. In a bit I’m taking a trip down to Columba, Missouri to teach a couple classes on SEO and Journalism at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. It’ll be fun and exciting. I’m looking foward to seeing where these sect of students are in relation to SEO.

At this point, mots speakers would have their own powerpoint deck so they can throw it on SlideShare.

I’m not a fan of the approach, especially not in a college setting.

What I’m going to do instead is give them something they can use. Most of these students will start blogging – if they aren’t already – and the demand for web copy far exceeds the need for journalists. So, instead of giving them a self-promotional presentation, I’m going to use the Google Search Engine Optimization Start Guide during my presentation. It’s a PDF. They can download and use it.

And let them know where my life is know.

And then ustream it so my buddy – their teacher – can use it to test them later.

Looking’ forward to watching a Missouri sundown tonight. Can’t wait to get in the car and go. It looks like I won’t be making my Fort Myers, Margaritaville return trip so this will have to do for now.

How many of you have read the Google SEO Starter Guide?

In about an hour I get to go my first #NWITweetup as a free agent. The last few I’ve gone under the banner of the employer. Luckily a few things seem to be going my way in my plight to be my own employer. Hopefully those things pan out a little better in the coming days. Too bad they aren’t solidified enough so I can tell me friends at the event.

A little nervous, a little excited about the event. Today was the first day where I didn’t wake up enveloped in a panic. Phantom pains are waining. I’m sure they’re never go away. I still look up at a clock and if it reads just before 7:30pm, I go into a panic as if I still Valet Park cars at the boat and the cruise is about to launch.

I teased my ex-fiance today about showing love instead of sucking up and now I got this song stuck in my head.

I just tried to make it apply to my day and, strangely enough, it has.

Must be the season.

All the same, if you’re going to the NWI Tweetup, I hope to see you there.

Date: November 17, 2009

City: Valparaiso, IN

Location: Pestos Italian Restaurant

Time: 7:00 PM CST

I’ve spent the last 90 minutes obsessing over a 2.0 concept just because Chris Brogan wrote a post titled, “Content is Not King.”

“I hate him sometimes,” lied Finn.

The intent of the post was to reinforce the human aspect of social media – putting the “social” back into Social Media. As he put it, “Content is currency. You’re the king.”

I am a fan of the idea. Not just ’cause some would call me a Broganite (reading his posts make up for me not going to church enough ), but because the purity of his ideals are the standards for which we should strive.

And, “yes,” I’m still the same idealist I was at Denominational University.

That being said, content is and always will be our king in the 2.0 space, especially when graphics and video are included within the term. How do I know content will always be king? Well, I just tried to tell y’all my reasoning using telepathy but y’all didn’t receive it in this post (except @ktatgenhorst). Or y’all are ignoring me. So, I had to put content in this medium to tell you or you’d never hear it.

As I commented on the post, content is one’s essence in action. It comes through via our message. Our message goes through a medium. In this case, blogs, tweets, 2.0 tools, email and the like…

Content is essence in all aspects of life, from a 2.0 world to a metaphysical endeavor.

Content is our substance, no matter how we convey it. If you don’t embrace your essence, you become enslaved to it.

There was more because the post made me rethink everything. Find me tomorrow as I talk about who i think the kings of 2.0 really are.

A final reminder for Northwest Indiana Twitterers and Tweeps to mark your calendars and update your crackberries: livemercial will be hosting a “Second Tweet-Up” at Pikk’s Tavern in Valparaiso, IN tonight, TUESDAY October 6th.

And when you get there, let the people at Pikk’s know you’re there for the tweet-up and then head on down to the basement – at the end of the entrance hall, turn right and follow the stairs down.

Appetizers and a cash bar will be available to the first 25 attendees. Livemercial CEO Johnny Mathis will be giving an introductory speech, introductions will be made, tweet-up business will be conducted and it sounds like a Wii might be there too. Also, representatives from Opportunity Enterprises will on hand with a few of their fine pieces of arts and crafts which will be auctioned off at the end of the tweet-up. The proceeds of the auction will go to benefit Opportunity Enterprises.

Please bring your liveliness, your conversation, and most important, yourselves.

Special Northwest Indiana “Second Tweet-up” time: 6pm-8pm+ CST
Special Northwest Indiana “Second Tweet-Up” Date: TUESDAY, October 6th, 2009
Location (always a special place): Pikk’s Tavern, Valparaiso, IN

Map to Pikk’s Tavern:

View Larger Map

And as a reminder, this “Second Tweet-Up” will be hosted in addition to the regularly scheduled Northwest Indiana tweet-up, which is usually held on the 4th Thursday of the month. The place of that event has yet to be determined at the time of this post.

(Jennifer Crawford of HSN, Sullivan Productions, and QVC England was our host for the corporate promotion. Yes, she accidentally bumps into Anthony Sullivan as he’s filming “PitchMen!”)

Even through Lydia’s WisconsTin it hadn’t registered that I was going to be in Las Vegas for a few days – with room, board, and adventures paid. On through McCarron Airport, the airline gate slot machines, and the long walk to baggage claim, I was still not thinkin’ about it. Down the escalator and to the limo driver – Stephen – who was holding up my name on a sign, nothing triggered a giddiness within me. The limo ride down the strip, checking in, droppin’ off the luggage, and then meeting the sales team at Caesar’s, at no time did I get overwhelmed by the fact I was in Las Vegas.

“How did Finn find us so easily?” asked my boss.

It’s Because Las Vegas Feels Like Home to Me

I guess I worked along the riverboats too long, but the lights, the sounds, the energy, it’s like coming home.

I’m not a gambler. I hope to get back into playing tournament-style poker, but I expect to see what I see when I get there much like I expect the fireplace to be my view when I walk through the front door of my mother’s house.

Most people get excited when they go to Vegas. I tend to relax. It made it easier to work.

It worked out well too because while all the melee of the Paris Hotel convention floor was going on around me, I was able to stay focused. I was running multiple Twitter accounts. And not just broadcasting, but monitoring and engaging in discussions that focused around the topics. I was also displaying my very amateur photography skills with the camera while running the the still video camera, monitoring the broadcast streams and catalogging clips on UStream, liveblogging. and running the company booth by ways of directing traffic and engaging with clients who were looking for our busy Account Executives.

Our social media marketing efforts captured the attention of Billy Mays, III.

“Nobody else is doing this here,” he shouted in my year. He’s actually soft-spoken so it wasn’t too loud.

I also had a great time getting to know the crews of both Discovery Channel’s “PitchMen!” and CBS Radio’s “The Big Biz Show.” Both productions were flittered with good peoples.

I’m told I did very well. I don’t know if I would have done as well at my first trade show were it not in Las Vegas. So to that silver city, I say, “thank you.”

I also thank my company, the Big Biz Show crew, the PitchMen crew, and to all the people I met while in Las Vegas.

I hope the time comes around where I get to do that again.

the "magic" answers from Lydia's card trick

Last month I got to liveblog and tweet my first trade show from the trade show floor instead of from the office. Company jet, hotel room, and everything.

The day before my first flight in the company jet and I found out I was getting bumped and sent commercial because we were picking up “clients” in Vail, Colorado. Fine with me, either way. The speed and convenience of a private jet is always nice, but I’m not on the sales team and our video guy had the equipment. So commercial flights I go. I”ll have to eat breakfast in Vail on some other day.

The flight had one stopover, in Minneapolis. Not sure how going from Chicago to Las Vegas via Minneapolis works, but whatever saves a dollar nowadays.

The stopover took a couple hours so the event planner and I got in a nice dinner.

During dinner I checked our gate to see how long the delay was going to be. Ahead of me seemed to be a nice girl. Dressed for travel, unassuming and casual. Then she spoke.

And her British accent came out. M’mm, sounded like a soft-spoken Joss Stone.

I went back to dinner and told the event planner who I was traveling with about my weaknesses for girls with accents and how one was at the gate.

Leave it to him to go on ahead of me to the gate after dinner and be sitting next to her by the time I got there.

Her name was Lydia. She had been traveling from England for 36 hours at that point and her flight / plight to San Francisco was getting rerouted yet again. This time, she was going on our flight to Vegas.

We talked. She is a sweetheart. Reminded me that Good peoples are still among us. Not only Good, but she’s going to be Bible college in Redding, CA. My BA in Religion from Denominational University gave us common ground.

I showed her the card trick I learned when I was seven and traveling cross-country. That’s when she showed me the trick where she was going to guess my answers to three questions. And she did. Then I told her how she did it.

“Ohhhh, no one ever figured it out before.”

I wont tell you the trick in case she shows you down the road.

We talked a lot of nonsense. And it was alright with me. Her accent made whatever she said sound like a symphony. Even when I had to set her straight that she flew over Wisconsin not “WisconsTin” to get to Minneapolis. I bet she still thinks I”m lying. It’s okay. She knew the US states better than I knew the provinces of the UK.

The event planner got on my case for not trying to get her number. My thought was that she was in the states for about 24 hours and she’s off to bible college. If I’m supposed to meet her again, I will.

Sometimes it’s those little things that come your way when things don’t go your way that make life all the more enjoyable. With that in ind I have to thank legendary TV pitchman Anthony Sullivan for taking my seat on the company jet (but don’t tell him I said that). That “jackass.”

And that was before I got to Vegas.

(Chris Brogan with Duncan Alney of FireBelly at BlogIndiana. I’m trying to practice what I speak, I swear)

I was glad to have had another year of Social Media / Blogging / SEO under my belt when I went back to BlogIndiana. Instead of trying to understand the language, I was able to bring poignant questions along, consider concepts, and fill in the gaps on what I forget to do in not only my corporate life but in my personal career as well.

6 Social Media / Blogging strategies I came away with at 2009 Blog Indiana

1) I should have been using Ping.fm the whole time

I was confusing “autosubmitting” – a faded black hat SEO strategy – with “syndication.” RSS isn’t dead. It’s simply being allowed to fulfill its purpose. A “thank you” goes to Douglas Karr for reassuring me of the difference.

Social media platforms are already combining accounts – FaceBook n Digg, Open ID… and Ping could be the gateway to aggregate Social Media IDs. Or it could forgotten. Thank you to Erik Deckers for pointing out how to set up Twitter to autotweet a newly-published post and then have that tweet be picked up by your Ping.fm account, where then your post is auto-syndicated based on your account settings. Ping.fm doesn’t cover everything, but it’s a real fine way to start.

2) What’s in it for the readers?

Especially for the business blog, write for the readers. Give them something they can feel. Don’t write solely to show your thought leader mousy worth. Add a CTA and if the post topic applies, tie it in how your company can help them. Don’t just broadcast product spew at them. It’s hard to connect to readers if you don’t extend an invitation.

3) I knew I knew my video SEO

My video SEO theories were dead-on correct. The graphics department is going to hate the extra work, but they’ll have to adjust. I learned about it during the Video SEO Session with Chad Richards of FireBelly. Though 99% of it was about YouTube optimization, I asked a couple questions at the end. Thank you for indulging me, Chad. I’d say what my questions were, but the industry I presently work for has some cutthroat ba#^%$@!

4) “Work to Eat” or “Eat to Work?”

There is a reason Chris Brogan is so well-respected in Social Media. Not only is he cool to hang out, but the man has literally starved on more than one occasion in his pursuit of Social Media excellence. Take his concept of Leverage. He talked about the need to get to the big conventions and conferences and not only learn but networked. During the teaching of his concept, Brogan admitted there were times he went hungy and could only afford the free food at conventions. But he was there: learning, networking, and growing.

And now he’s traveling around the world and getting paid to do so.

5) Outline Your Thoughts First, D*mbass.

It sounds like a 7th grade English class lesson, but Erik Decker’s reminder to outline your thoughts is crucial. It’s absolutely spooky how often we need to be reminded of the basics. The light went off in my head. And If I would have adhered to his reminder, this post would have taken half the time.

6) WordPress Canonical Plugin

I didn’t even realize it was out. I suppose I should have known. Thank you, once again, goes out to Douglas Karr for that nugget. Blogs run duplicate content. In order to make sure you post gets the credit it deserves, use the canonical plugin. The canonical plugin will place a canonical link in the source code which will tell the SEs the URL where the content was originally posted. Google, Yahoo!, and Bing have all agreed to honor the canonical.

What concepts have you learned recently at conventions / conferences that have helped you out?