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This is really, really geeky stuff for a Friday. Plus, I had to dig waaaay back to my college Sociology courses to figure it out. You've probably heard a lot about the fact that a person can only maintain relationships with 150 people... Read More »
One tradition in marketing: If something works, you beat it to death, and then some more, until it's a broad, flat spot on the ground. So, after folks loved my first piece, 10 questions to evaluate a social media expert, I've decided to... Read More »
I'm talking about the movie Groundhog Day, not the day when we try to predict the weather using a large rodent (I know it's not really a rodent, but come on). Quick synopsis: Bill Murray lives through the same day again and again... Read More »
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February 5, 2010 by ian
This is really, really geeky stuff for a Friday. Plus, I had to dig waaaay back to my college Sociology courses to figure it out. You've probably heard a lot about the fact that a person can only maintain relationships with 150 people before their brains are frappe'd into cottage cheese. It's a valid assumption. Try to keep actively in touch, day-to-day, with more than 150 people. It's hopeless. That 150-person limit is called Dunbar's Number. It's like the speed of light (C, if you're a hardcore geek): Current physics says you can't exceed the speed of light. You get…
Continue Reading Dunbar's number and warp drive: Building your social network beyond 150 »
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February 2, 2010 by ian
One tradition in marketing: If something works, you beat it to death, and then some more, until it's a broad, flat spot on the ground. So, after folks loved my first piece, 10 questions to evaluate a social media expert, I've decided to do another about SEOs. Face it: If there's one industry that's even more rife with con artists than social media, it's SEO. One way to deal with it is to just say "Screw SEO, it's all a sham anyway. After all, Scoble says it doesn't matter." If you want to do that, fine with me - one…
Continue Reading 10 questions to evaluate an SEO »
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February 1, 2010 by ian
I'm talking about the movie Groundhog Day, not the day when we try to predict the weather using a large rodent (I know it's not really a rodent, but come on). Quick synopsis: Bill Murray lives through the same day again and again as the universe tries to show him the direction to take his life. Hilarity ensues. Bill gets clever, though, learning to play piano, preventing accidents that he's seen happen over and over again, etc.. I like it! If I got to live through 2/2 again and again, I'd: Memorize stock prices and become the ultimate day trader.…
Continue Reading Introducing The Fat Free Guide: What I'd do on Groundhog Day »
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February 1, 2010 by ian
I'm probably way too excited about this, but hey, it's stuff like this that compensates for lots of nights writing blog posts. Thanks to everyone who voted for my post, 10 Questions to evaluate a social media 'expert'.…
Continue Reading 2010 SEMMY Winner: You like me! You really really like me! »
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January 30, 2010 by ian
Rey Ybarra of the New Media Radio Hour interviewed me last week. Here's the recording, if you want to listen:…
Continue Reading My BlogTalkRadio Interview with Rey Ybarra »
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January 28, 2010 by ian
At Pubcon Las Vegas 2009 I gave a presentation about copywriting and SEO. I finally had time to re-record it. Here it is, minus my quick work as a tech support specialist: Good copywriting and SEO don't get along. That's what folks want you to think, anyway. Good copy and SEO fit together just fine. Learn some tips for making them work together in this video.…
Continue Reading How SEO ruins Copy, and how your customers can fix it for you »
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January 28, 2010 by ian
Blake Cahill of Visible Technologies invited me to present tomorrow in the first of his 2010 webinar series. The subject: The disappearing divide between search and social. I'm going to talk about how you use social media to boost your SEO efforts. Plus, I guarantee at least one photograph of a smug lemur. Really. You can register here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/807915257…
Continue Reading Webinar tomorrow: The disappearing divide between search and social »
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January 27, 2010 by ian
I used to do these ultra-marathon cycling events. 'Used to' means '16 years ago', by the way. You'd get up in the morning, ride 200-500 miles in a single day, and then go pass out. Insanity. But I learned something really important: No matter how long the ride, the second 50 miles is the worst. In the first 50 miles, you're charged up. You've been carbo-loading for a month, have your bike totally in tune, and it's 5 AM, so there's no wind. Then you hit the second 50 miles. The sun comes up, and with it, a nasty headwind…
Continue Reading Internet Marketing and the Second 50 »
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January 26, 2010 by ian
SEO is really, really hard. Not because it's mysterious: If you can't do the math there are always smarty pants out there analyzing the algorithms. You can always just read their stuff and learn. No, it's hard because it's nearly impossible to figure out where to start. Here are the 10 site upgrades I usually look at first. They're relatively easy and, if you need 'em, you'll see solid results: Put your brand at the end of your title tag. Search engines place more weight on phrases that come at the beginning of the title tag. Hopefully, you already rank…
Continue Reading 9 SEO upgrades you can make right now »
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January 25, 2010 by ian
There have been a lot of rumblings lately about eHow, one of many massive content farms, hurting their writers' revenue. Accusations include: Copying articles from the US site (where writers get paid for pageviews) to the UK site (where they don't); Keeping their payment algorithm a mystery, so no one knows how or why they earn what they do; Mucking with the payment algorithm to reduce writer payments; Deleting negative comments in the writers' forums in an attempt at spin control. Side note: What is eHow? Read Rishil's article Content Farms - The Who, What, and The Why, for…
Continue Reading eHow, I call bullshit »
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