The era of “there’s no such thing as a free ride” is coming to an end. So many things are free now days I often wonder how anybody makes money anymore, especially competitors trying to sell what someone else gives away.

But free works. This has been true long before the web was invented.

Searching a name as uncommon as Stoney deGeyter, you may not be surprised to find him in all of the top ten results, but each and every one of the top one hundred results are either articles Stoney has written himself or are about him. I stopped checking after page 10.

When searching for Pole Position Marketing (no quotes), the top 21 are all directly related to the company, with the results still very heavily relevant but starting to get more scattered after that.

If you don’t have a unique personal or company name, what can you do to promote your company in the search results? Join and become active in a variety of social media. Great examples are LinkedIn , FaceBook, and Twitter.

And when you’re interested in knowing what anyone else is saying about you or your company, you can use Google Alerts. It may be good to know when a YouTube video appears with you as the underdog!

Many of these things are frowned upon in the SEO industry, and I understand why. It’s because there has been an abundance of “SEO” companies that engage in these methods, perform crappy service and ultimately rip people off. Every industry has its thieves. The ones in the SEO world have created a black mark that makes the entire industry look bad and has caused many in our industry to frown on legitimate forms of advertising.

Before I go any further, let me state I’m not for blind cold calling or email spamming. Good marketing via direct mail is highly targeted, not just sent to random addresses. The same holds true for cold calling and email marketing. Good and proper marketing rules must be followed if you want your business to succeed long term.

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Have you ever speed dated? I’ve been married long enough that I’ve not ever had the opportunityneed to attend a speed dating meeting, yet I’ve seen it on TV. (wow I feel like I just almost made a bad quote, “I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV.”)

Last Night I attended Charity Speed Networking as part of Small Business Marketing: Unleashed and it was FUN. Honestly, if I were single, I may seriously consider speed dating if I was looking for someone with common interests.

Do you know how this works? Well let me tell you. We had one long row of tables, and along one side we had the “movers” and on the other side, the non moves. We were given three minutes to talk to the person across the table from us, and then the movers got up and moved down one seat to talk with the next person.

What a great way to force everyone into talking with other people who they otherwise might not ever speak with. My most memorable date discussion was with someone who had no idea what Search Optimization or PPC were. I got to TEACH! Problem was, three minutes wasn’t enough time. I ran out of time in talking to other people too, where I was learning information from them.

After the Speed Dating Networking, we had time to catch up with whoever we may have missed (due to time limitations, the movers didn’t get matched up with all the non movers) or may have wanted to follow up with.

Things to bring if ever speed date network

• Big stack of business cards
• Hand sanitizer

Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla Firefox is the greatest open-source browser available. Firefox offers users complete control over the browser featuring tabs, pop-up blocking, useful toolbars, and many themes. Firefox is W3C compliant which means developers will not have to slave to make sure CSS is rendering correctly like IE. In addition, the browser has thousands of extensions that will aid developers and SEOs alike.

Google Docs

Google Docs has made document creation and sharing simple through an easy-to-use web document interface. Google Docs offers users an alternative to Microsoft Office with tools for word processing, spreadsheets, and more recently presentations. Google Docs allows users to share documents with other users ensuring easy collaboration. For more info, check out the Google Docs Blog and WebWare’s Five Google Docs Hints.

Adium

Adium is a Mac-based application that allows users to connect to multiple instant messenger accounts at the same time while using a single application. It works with AOL, MSN, Google Talk and more. Looking for a close PC cousin? Try Pidgin.

Google Calendar

Google Calendar makes keeping track of important dates easy. The web-based software easily integrates with Gmail and all other Google products. Check out Lifehacker’s guide to using GCal and all the tricks that are possible.

Programmers Notepad

Programmer’s Notepad is a very easy to use HTML editor similar to Notepad. Unlike Notepad, however, PN is a text editor with several extra features such as syntax highlighting, quick search, docking tools, and code outlining. The program is very easy to use and a straightforward solution for SEO’s and developers alike.

Handbrake

Open source program Handbrake is an easy to use DVD to MPEG 4 ripper. This tool allows users to make backup copies of DVDs as well as import movies into iTunes or iPods. This isn’t exactly an “seo tool” but everyone needs to have some time to relax, right?

7-Zip

7-Zip is an easy to use file archiver to pack / unpack all types of files such as zip, tar, gzip, etc. 7-Zip is a much faster alternative to the zip programs installed on Windows XP and Vista.

Windows Live Writer

Windows Live Writer isn’t just another Microsoft program. Although I’ve already bashed the company twice in this post alone, I can’t say that there wasn’t any decent program to come out of the MS developer warehouse. Live Writer is a tool aimed at making blogging easier. It allows users to publish directly to most blogs like Blogger, Typepad, etc., in a very easy to use interface. The program allows users to preview their posts and compose entries while offline.

Gmail

What need I say about Gmail, quite possibly the greatest email program in the world. For starters, Gmail offers users up to nearly 6GB of storage, tagging, email conversations, and more recently IMAP. Gmail easily integrates into programs like Mail and Thunderbird, as well as iPhones and other mobile devices. Plus Gmail continually strives to make improvements aimed at bettering the user’s experience. Web-based mail is here to stay.

Google Analytics

At this point it’s safe to assume Google is taking over the world since three of my ten faves all come from the search engine monster. But in any event, Google has gotten analytics right. Google Analytics is a free web-based program designed to improving your site’s marketing and results. The program features a very easy interface and provides web owners a variety of features ranging from search trends, site trends, geography reach, and much more. Every SEO ought to at least try out this program to see what it can do for you and your site. Check out the Official Analytics Blog for more info.

This Cirque Du Soleil show has been creating an awe-inspiring visual spectacular for over 10 years. I found the quality and level of entertainment provided by the musicians, acrobats, dancers and those handling the staging and lights to be astounding. Mystère provided the opportunity to the viewer to interpret the performance in many ways. Was it is intended to share the potential of the individual as one makes her way through life…or was it all the dream of a small child?

Every act was unique and exotic in its own right, and all together the show left me breathless and dreamy. The longevity of the show itself proves that Mystère is a must-see attraction in Las Vegas, and I hope my personal praise encourages you to make this experience yours!

Stoney introduced Rob and me to some pretty fun people. Rob asked me how it felt to be going to dinner with 12 guys, and I said: “Popular.” I also felt quite popular with all the rubber necking our Pole Position Marketing team shirts caused. We were quite the collective object of many a heads turning and fingers pointing. You could read people’s lips Check out the cool shirts. I bet next year there will be impersonators.

The first session of the morning was “Introduction to Search Marketing.” Having learned on the fly most of what I knew about SEM, I felt it would be good to sit in on a session where the majority of attendees would be the newbies. There wasn’t a whole lot introduced that I hadn’t already been exposed to. This session was not specific to paid advertising, but what I did appreciate was that I was able to take somethings that were mentioned and was able to apply them in my head to how I want to utilize that idea in one of my client accounts. The message that everyone should have come away from after this session, is that search marketing is all about three things. TEXT, TEXT, and TEXT.

The second session was titled “Ads in a Quality Score World” where we were introduced to many different aspects of the elements that figure into the Quality score, both for keywords and AdGroups. We got to hear from Clay Bavor, the product manager at Google, David Pann, Vice President of Marketing Design and Matching, Yahoo Search Marketing, and Brian Boland, Group Marketing Manger from Microsoft adCenter.

The third session I thought I was going to fall asleep during, but that was only because it was just after lunch, and lunch was good! The session was “Search Advertising 101.” This session really made me feel better about what I already know. Which isn’t to say there wasn’t something valuable to take away from the hour and a half. I didn’t take many notes during this session, but I enjoyed the Q&A that took the last thirty minutes. What I was glad to hear is something I’ve tried telling our PPC clients. Using Google to find your ad (using your keywords) just to check and see where your ad ranks, actually hurts your ranking. It was explained that Google can tell when the same URL searches for the same term, and doesn’t CLICK THROUGH any of the ads. When they notice the same URl search time and time again, it will start serving them a different set of ads, the thinking being this: If they’re repeatedly looking for widget A and don’t find anything to click on, we must be serving the wrong ads. Instead, use the Ad Preview Tool.

The fourth and final session of the day I was tired. I didn’t even realize how brain dead I’d gone with information overload until I sat down here to write out all about the sessions. Having lost complete track of which sessions I attended, I pulled out my schedule and checked. Only then did I realize I sat in on the wrong session. (shhhh, don’t tell Stoney) I was supposed to have gone to the “Contextual Ads & AdSense Clinic,” where instead I went to “Advanced Paid Search Techniques.” For having gone to the wrong session, I think it was an excellent choice. I think this session was the one that I got the most new information from. Matt VanWagner of FindMeFaster discussed Dynamic Keyword Insertion. I’ve done quite a bit of this but still enjoyed hearing about it.

By the time you’re all reading this little update, I’ll be sitting with eager ears through another day. Day 2, assuming I don’t forget what sessions I’m supposed to attend, I expect to learn about “Ad Testing: Research & Findings,” “Converting Visitors into Buyers,” “Creating Compelling Ads,” and finally “Landing Page Testing & Tuning.” The evening will be capped off with the GOOGLE DANCE 2007. We’ll be wearing our shirts. I’ve promised Rob that he doesn’t really have to dance.

Want to waste the next couple hours?

If you’re interested in Viral Marketing and understanding how it works, you may want to head over to the Ultimate Meme Database [link no longer available] (before they called it viral marketing they were called “memes”). What does or doesn’t go viral is a subject that can leave your mind pretty boggled- especially for someone trying to spread the word about a product or service, rather than just fishing for attention on the internet.

The best way to learn has always been just diving in, though, so why not go check these out for a bit.

Consider yourself warned though:

You can’t watch just one

Star Wars Kid (wikipedia entry)

These videos spread for a reason. Take the above video: The Star Wars Kid. This video damn near sparked a religion. Not only did it spread, but it spawned at least 20 different remix videos and has been parodied on half a dozen TV shows.

You may not understand them

The Numa Numa video (wikipedia entry)

One thing I love about most viral content is that most of the people I show them to don’t get them. That’s the thing- many of them aren’t universally loved- BUT to the computer savvy niche who made them and consumed them they are slices of fried gold.

The above video, “numa numa” is a fat kid lip-syncing. That’s it. And I laughed so hard I cried blood the first time I watched it. My grandparents, on the other hand, wouldn’t understand it at all. In their defense though, they’re dead.

You never know what’s next

We’re In Business (wikipedia entry for artist)

This video, “We’re in Business” is by and singer named Andrew Thompson, and it’s hilarious. On paper it has all the qualities a viral video needs. It’s jam-packed with nerd-friendly references, it’s massively funny, it stars a nerd and a robot, plus it’s a catchy song. So why has it only gotten 24k views in 8 months when so many others have millions of views? Why doesn’t the video have a lengthy wikipedia article like the others? I’d say on the one hand it’s luck. On the other hand, viral marketing it getting more crowded every day and it may need some help (hey Andrew, I’ve got some ideas for your site – call me!)

Can you market your product with robots and fat kids? Probably not. But if you can figure out what need these viral videos meet, you’re one step closer to figuring out how to harness the power of word of mouth.

I’m starting a new series here at EMP dedicated solely to the horrible “black hole” experiences we all have from time to time- Really Bad Adventures in Search. Join me, won’t you, while we explore our latest, the Case of the Round Bed.

Lately my wife and I have been giving our place a makeover of sorts (translation: tossing out all our crap and buying stuff we actually want.) Last week she threw me a bit of a curveball.

“Hey! I just found this really old round bed on craigslist- it just needs a new mattress. Oh honey let’s get it!”

“Round bed?” I asked, “how does that make any sense- it will make the room all off… plus how do I find a mattress for it?”

“Do you have any idea how much sex we’ll have if you get me this?”

*gulp* “I’ll grab my laptop.”

And with that I was off to find a round mattress for a bed we hadn’t yet seen, in the hopes that I would soon be a very, very busy man. At this point in the story I’d like to say that through my great and awesome powers of search-ninjary that I found what I was looking for.

If that was the case, I wouldn’t have the time to make this post.

My goal: find a round mattress (or even whole bed) that costs less than $1,500.00 including shipping.

After 3 hours of seriously abusing Google, here are my results:

The number one result for “Round Bed” is actually a hammock with some memory foam
Note to actual makers of round beds: a key phrase you may want to rank highly in is “ROUND BED.”

The number one result for “Round Mattress” takes you to a site where there is almost no indication that they actually sell round beds.
Usability issue: If I found your site via a search for “Round Mattress,” don’t make me click around for 5 minutes looking for it.

Of the 4-5 companies that actually sell round mattresses, none of them is under $4,000.00 and none of them is anywhere near me.
Another note: if you happen to sell affordable round mattresses, you would do well to optimize your page so people know.

There is a company in my area who is paying to show up in the search “Round Bed,” and yet they don’t sell any round beds.
Looking for a company to manage your PPC campaigns? Call me. *hand up to face with pinky and thumb out*

The L.A. Times believes round beds are making a comeback.
I’m such a trend setter.

Now, here’s where it gets good

Hours into my search, a friend walked into our house and told me she had just seen round beds for about $900.00 at the nearest IKEA.

This is the same IKEA who’s site didn’t come up in my search at all.

A couple sites mentioned that IKEA might have them, but when I had searched the site, the nearest one that offered them was in Canada, and on the message boards people were beginning to believe it was a myth.

So I did the 1980’s thing and picked up the phone to call IKEA – where I was forced to listen to a message which told me over and over to just hang up and use their website.

Hey IKEA: If you value my sexlife (and your profits) you really, really ought to take care of your optimization issues. *Call me.*

What do you do when you have key phrases that are personal in nature i.e. “make my writing better” as a core term? You could use it as a headline to spark your readers curiosity, but at times that may be an awkward act to follow. The most simple way to do this is to use customer quotes or testimonials.

“I took the course hoping to make my writing better and now I’ve published four short stories this month!”

Make it a little more believable than this, but you get my drift. This method can also be read like an aside, commonly used in Shakespeare’s plays to inform the crowd. The quote should read as if the visitor is talking out loud or overhearing someone else’s conversation. However, if you are using the key phrase in a testimonial, get permission to make your changes from the original author of the testimonial.

Another clever way to incorporate those tricky, personal key phrases is to point out that the visitor probably never thought they would be looking for that specific key phrase.

Now that you’ve finished grad school, you never thought you’d enter “make my writing better” in the search field of Google.

A secondary gain to this structure is that you are now speaking directly to the visitor. You’ve made direct contact and can keep your visitors attention by speaking in the present tense and second person.

You don’t have to ignore high-traffic, personal keyphrases because you can’t work them into the copy. You just have to be a little creative.

The creation of personas is not an easy task, but with some online resources that you may not have thought of, it can be done quickly and efficiently. Social outlets such as myspace, facebook, flickr, technorati, wordpress, live journal, and blogger (just to name a handful) can be a great way to find out how customers interact with you. Just do a search on any two of those services for your top keywords and your brand name and you should be able to find a wealth of information.

Another great tool is the link: operator in Google. If you have back links that you didn’t have to fight for, chances are they were given to you by someone who has seen your site. A great way to find out what people think about you is to check with the users that are actively talking about your site and linking to it.

So, enough of that sounds easy to do, right? Well, let’s try it out. I’d like to take a well known brand (for a frame of common reference) and flesh out a few of these. Let’s say, the Transformers movie?

First step: search for people talking about it:

MySpace search for “Transformers Movie”

Wow, Mute Math did the new theme…

Live Journal search for “Transformers Movie”

Not a lot going on there, but still something can be gleaned. Maybe we should try again without the term “movie”.

Flickr search for “Transformers Movie”

Both collectors and people taking pictures of the movie sets.

So, we have this dearth of information, what do we do with it? Some personas are easy to guess at, but confirmation is always nice. Is it really all males from 8-25 that are into cool giant robots? Let’s see what we find:

A movie and entertainment buff, prefers content in video form and swears indie brand allegiance to most of the mainstream emo stereotypes. Has a collection of friends that he sees offline that are of a similar vain. Welcome to the late 20’s disaffected youth, who has money to burn on things that grant temporary happiness:

Found here

A late twenties woman that creates a living off of creating. She finds a love for robots and the classic chic of the 50’s blends well with her neo-leasre lifestyle. To go to as many events as she has, the roster of her affiliation with multiple online retailers must be decently profitable for her. Her interests lie in marketing and creating in an old meets new manner.

From here to here which leads to here

A toy collector who indulges his past and love of imagination through spending copious amounts of money on finding every variation of transformers toys that he can. Lives well despite his collection, as he is a home owner and has several pets in good health. He is likely to compare the new versions of his favorite characters with every previous iteration.

Found here

Now that we have these people (and this was just a rough overview generated in a brief period of time, not exclusive or all encompassing at all) what do we do with them?

Well, if you are a transformers merchandiser or working at a theater showing the transformers movie the trick to all three of these people seems to be to make them feel special through “exclusive” opportunities. They all have disposable income, all like to follow trends, and all are constantly on the lookout for something new. Two out of three of them are also staunchly determined to liven up the past through new experiences, so bringing up old catch phrases, design elements, and characters with references to the franchises past will greatly appeal to them and make them feel comfortable during the conversion process.

The power of persona profiles lies in how you use them. Analyze the way your customers are likely to talk to each other and communicate with brands in general. If you dig for a while you might just be able to get into their head and see their point of view.

What’s better for a marketer than seeing the customers point of view and being able to communicate with them in a way that’s comfortable and inviting? But be careful, user’s can smell a wolf in sheep’s clothing a mile away. Don’t go overboard.

Now go figure out who your users and potential customers are, you might be surprised at what you find.

Transform and roll out!

1. Not setting a strategy before you start. “We should have a blog” says the CEO. And so it begins…

Tossing your company’s hat in the social media arena is extremely popular right now, and you might even feel pressured to “not be the last on your block” doing it, but failing to chart your course before you begin can doom your efforts.

Are you thinking of leveraging social media for your company’s marketing efforts? Have you taken the time to draft a strategy that’s in line with your company’s overall plan? Do you know the landscape? Do you have the resources (it’s not as “free” as it looks)?

Take a minute to check out Catherine’s post and avoid the temptation of the deadly social media sins.

HT goes to Jennifer Laycock

Consider this: Who can compete with Wal-Mart on price? No one. If you are a store and you sell, pretty much anything, then it will crush you beneath its giant, omnipotent smiley face. So how did Target survive its battle with the juggernaut? Target offers something Wal-Mart can’t: a fun experience. It’s cute, it’s cuddly and you can admit to your friends you go there. Shopping at Wal-Mart on the other hand, offers a glimpse into a nightmarish hell from which you only escape with a fraction of your sanity.

Likewise, how can a little search engine compete with Google? Offer a better experience. Now, Google may not be filled with screaming children and lumbering, mulleted employees, but its strength has never been its ambiance.

Enter the new Ask.com. It’s cute, it’s got great atmosphere, and best of all it has hot chicks with swords.

Attractive Presentation

• Ask.com and Target: Kitschy & cute. They each position themselves as the hip alternative.

• Walmart and Google: Spartan & unfeeling- almost cold. Logos and happy faces don’t make up for it.

The new Ask.com has rounded corners, super cute glossy icons and shading. It’s cute. It feels stylish. It gives you that same trendy, fun youthful feeling you get walking through a Target: “Hey, I may not need any of this crap, but dangit I feel better about myself for choosing this one over Blah-Mart.”

Google, on the other hand, with its stark layout, superpowerful algorithm, privacy concerns and half the page devoted to ads, has an image more akin to some soulless Orwellian online big brother. As an afterthought, they’ll put up a shamrock on the logo every St. Patricks day, but otherwise it looks like robots built it. Wal-Mart’s image is extremely beautiful, if you were raised in rural Arkansas and find blue vests and huge smiley faces sophisticated.

Comfortable Surroundings

• Ask.com and Target: Inviting and pleasant to journey through

• Walmart and Google: Only slightly better atmosphere than a flea market

Ask.com has 3-D search. Does your engine search in THREE DIMENSIONS? Didn’t think so. With Ask’s new layout, you get one column for search suggestions, one for results and one for supplemental results like images and video. It’s like running naked on a spring day through fields of awesome. Taking a similar approach to customer care, Target has always welcomed its guests with wider aisles, clean crisp product displays and simple easy to navigate floor plans.

What’s Google’s approach? Well, now with their new universal search they just toss all your possible searches into a milk crate in front of you and tell you good luck. For ambiance, you get one cold, unfeeling pile of search results from all their categories which are crammed next to a tower of paid results to your right. As for the WM, with cramped aisles and teaming masses constantly barreling through them, Wal-Mart’s atmosphere ranks just below a parking garage. A parking garage at night… with an illegal underground fight club going on.

Cheesy Commercials

• Ask.com and Target: Just a tiny step away from the seizure-inducingly horrible Old Navy ads.

• Google and Wal-Mart: Commercials? What commercials? Oh I guess Wal-Mart has a couple.

Nothing says “rise from your parents’ basements and join the revolution” like 45 seconds of a dude surrounded by singing, dancing hot chicks with swords. In the same way that Target’s commercials do little more than confuse me with their monochrome scenes and that poor poor dog with a bullseye on his face, Ask.com hypnotizes you with bubbling streams of hot, gooey cheese. Forget that it’s undoubtedly alienating the same demographic they’re courting with all the rounded corners and cutesy icons- its hot chicks. With swords. Man, I love cheese.

Near as I can tell Google doesn’t bother with TV commercials and Wal-Mart’s spots are as captivating as the direct-to-video flicks in their $4.99 DVD dumpster. True, they score a few points for having a sword in their spots occasionally, but it’s in the hand of a smiley face dressed like Zorro meets the Hamburgler. Those points are tainted.

So who wins this round? I would say Ask.com’s hand has been well played. A week ago most people didn’t know about them, but by cleaning up the place, making it more comfy and offering up a heaping bowl of “hot chicks with swords” they just might be able to become the Target of web search.

But it begs the question, “Since you want so badly to emulate Target, what’s in store for the future?”

• Dormroom Accessories Search?

• Ask.com BabyRegistry?
• Online Pizza Hut Express?

Be in control of your copy, but let the reader think they are in control at all times. Never make them feel like you are pushing them in a direction they don’t already want to go. Lead them in that direction and they will go willingly. If you do this successfully, they won’t even know you are leading them anywhere. Here’s a few tips to help you refrain from being a control freak:

• Trust people
• Let the customer do the driving
• The visitor is the center of attention
• Remember, you can’t do this by yourself
• If the customer is always right, you could be wrong
• Don’t be insulted if others don’t take your advice
• Listen to others with enthusiasm, not boredom
• You don’t know what’s best for everyone
• Get used to different styles
• Nothing is perfect, even you
• Learn to like surprises
• People can disagree
• Be patient

Leave room for interpretation

Most importantly, let the customer position your product or service. Don’t tell them a set use for your service or product. Make suggestions, but don’t discount a use they may come up with on their own. So what if they want to use the spatula as a pooper scooper. You’re sure as hell not going to suggest this, but if they do, go with it. Tell them how its patented design enables scooping with ease and let them run with it. Always leave room for creativity.

Use bullet points or a numbered system to:

• Break up your copy into consumable pieces
• Aid in the clean design of your page
• Make it easy for the reader to reference previous points
• Save time when reading through dense copy

Just like clothing styles that rotate in and out of fashion with the occasional new concept joining the cycle, the words used to describe the trends move in cycles as well. What was “cool” yesterday is “hot” today. Or maybe it’s “wicked” or “awesome”, “boss” or “sweet”. You most likely won’t find accurate definitions for these terms in Webster’s Dictionary. But, if you’re going to be in the marketing game you better know today’s definition of the word.
Having an understanding of your target’s demographics current linguistic nuisances not only establishes your credibility with your audience, but its helps them better understand your message. It also makes them feel like your message is for them, not aimed at them.
So how do you acquire such rapidly changing language skills?

You PARTICIPATE in conversation with your audience and when they are speaking you LISTEN.

These can’t bet forced conversations in marketing studies that would feel like some sort of discover channel study either. Real conversation and interaction with your target group is the only way to be sure you are speaking the same language. This interaction should take place in the normal surroundings of your audience. You can’t drag two teenagers into an office building and expect to get a feel for how they speak and interact with each other in the outside world. It must be real, not simulated interaction. Only then will you be able to convey your message properly, using words that feel right to your audience.

When these terms have incorporated themselves effortlessly in your various forms of communication and they feel natural to you, then you are ready to market to the group. But be warned, as soon as you think you’ve got it, you can be sure that the lingo is already changing. If you can’t keep up your better off having a translator then to even try.

Although it is presented as an unbiased update of current events, the nightly news has become the worst form of reality TV. The difference between House or Survivor and the news is that we aren’t duped into thinking that the shows are anything other than entertainment. We don’t make decisions about our daily lives, nor have our views and thoughts influenced nearly as much based on who gets voted of the island or who the new cast member is. These shows know this and do not attempt to tell us otherwise.

On the other hand, the news portrays itself as the absolute truth. Bringing the light of knowledge to the ignorant darkness of the masses, the news reports on all the new information of the day. From Anna Nicole’s baby, to Brad and Angelina, and maybe even something about that thing going on in Iraq, the news prioritizes and discloses its juicy tidbits over the course of its allotted time slot. The ratings depend on the importance of the days issues. If the stations get really lucky they have a day like yesterday.

Thirty-two people were killed yesterday in Virginia in the worst college campus shooting incident in the nation’s history. A tragedy of epic proportions, this will be the lead story for the news for few days. The flocks of reporters will descend upon Blacksburg, Virginia and try to get the most compelling (entertaining) story they can. These emotional vampires have no true personal connection to the people or the incident itself and their feigned sympathy is ridiculous. The media will mourn in solidarity with the friends and families affected by this event until the next story takes the headline. Those affected will be forgotten and left to carry the burden of their grief alone. I am not suggesting the news has an obligation to support those affected by tragedy, I am in fact suggesting the opposite. The news should be obligated to deliver the news devoid of emotion. Let the viewers hear the information without the addition of editorial content so they can form their own opinions. We have enough celebrities from other areas of entertainment espousing their views as if it is the indisputable truth. We don’t need to create them on our news programs.

How do we address this situation? I suggest remove the advertising allotment for news programs. It should be part of the responsibility for the station to provide the news to maintain their license to broadcast. I don’t know if this action would solve the problem but I do think it would be a positive step towards removing the sensationalistic aspect out of the information being imparted to the audience.

I place very high value on the principal of freedom of the press in this country. I feel that it is an important part of a complex system of checks and balances that help prevent the country from wrong doing and in theory attempt to educate the populace.

I would just like to see the content delivered with a little more dignity and a little less drama. Unfortunately, it seems drama is more marketable than dignity these days.

Destination Marketing is about creating an creating an exceptional web resource that inspires visitor loyalty by delivering on the promise. When a user clicks through, they find what they need and more.

Should there be a standardized valuation scale which assigns reasonable price-ranges for various search marketing activities?

Search Engine Marketing as a profession doesn’t yet recognize a governing body which sets forth industry standards and best practices. Perhaps it never will, more importantly; perhaps it doesn’t need to. Based upon my observation of what the majority of SEOs consider “optimization” I certainly don’t want my own work to be stifled by a majority-rules idea of what SEO should be.

This still brings us back to the problem of formulating a reasonable logic for valuation of SEO services. Should we even concern ourselves with this issue? Should the value of SEO remain simply whatever the highest bidder is willing to pay? The bottom line is that a top ranking for a top keyword is still worth its weight in diamonds to the right website. Certainly a successful campaign leaves very little room for complaints, especially complaints about the investment required to produce a successful campaign. Should we be satisfied with that? Or is it our responsibility to explore this issue further?

Pros – Dr. Clotaire Rapaille is a genius. His innovative approach to understanding the unconscious associations all people make to their world and everything in it is ground breaking. By applying his knowledge of human psychology and anthropology, he shows us how he cracks the “culture code” for a variety of topics. The hypothesis is that we are all subject to imprinting during our formative years. These imprints have a permanent affect on our perception of everything in our lives. The key to accessing these imprints is The Culture Code. The system goes on to explain why different cultures are drawn to or repulsed by the same product. Why was Chrysler’s PT Cruiser such as success in the American market? Why did Chrysler’s German executives think the project was going to be a disaster? The answer to those questions is: The Culture Code. When applied to the marketing goals of his clients, Rapaille is a force to be reckoned with. His system allows the advertiser to directly access the public’s subconscious perception of their brand and tap into those primal urges. His proven methods are behind many of the marketing campaigns of the Fortune 500. The reptilian brain, as Rapaille calls it, always wins.

Cons – Dr. Clotaire Rapaille is a genius, and he makes sure to tell you that. His ideas are great, but allowing the reader to make that deduction on their own would have made for a better read. The results speak for themselves and I am convinced of the merit behind the concept and the methodology of The Culture Code. I do not need to be told, repeatedly, about the brilliance of the culture code. I can draw my own conclusions.

Overbearing ego aside, The Culture Code is the first marketing book I have read that didn’t tell me how to think, but instead offers a convincing reason to explain the way I already think.