Let’s face it, while connecting with like-minded people and making friends may be among our many motivations to engage in social circles, there’s also a component of selfishness involved. The vast majority of us, at some point, hope to use the networks we invest so much time in building to help us accomplish a goal. You wouldn’t ask a stranger to buy you lunch. What makes you think asking a stranger to promote your content is any better?

No matter what our goals are, most of them will require contributions from others in order to succeed. Whether we are hoping to make sales, gain referrals, build brands, generate reviews or just spread the word, online networks have changed the game for businesses big and small. “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know…” is something we’ve all heard. In days gone by relationships with the “right” people were like a golden ticket in a Wonka bar. I suppose that’s no less true today, but initiating and building those relationships is vastly different.

The opportunity to cultivate any kind of one-on-one relationship used to be pretty limited by geography. Unless you were willing to spend a few hundred dollars a month on long distance phone calls, you were much more likely to invest your time getting to know those closest to home. For local business owners, putting forth a lot of time and effort focusing on people who live across the country, or even across the state, might not offer much return on that investment. It’s a new day…

Unprecedented Opportunity for Engagement

How many people do you suppose knew Dale Carnegie personally? How many would have liked to? In 1912 his influence was limited to those with whom he engaged in person. In the days before the multi-billion dollar self-help craze, Carnegie’s original book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People“, changed the way people approached interacting with one another. It has earned a place among the first and most useful texts on dealing with people ever written. And many of those principles still ring true today, albeit in some different ways.

Our opportunity to engage with others was once severely limited by geography. That’s not the case anymore. On a given day I may carry on conversations with people from Canada to Australia. My industry circles include people from around the world, including Israel, Iceland and New Zealand. Many aren’t merely business acquaintances, but friends – people with whom I have much in common and whose viewpoints I respect. A decade or so ago such an opportunity to build rapport with people around the world wouldn’t have been possible.

That said, most of the people who introduce themselves to me online these days are dicks. And they don’t even have the decency to pretend they’re not dicks. Okay, maybe they’re not actually dicks…maybe they’re just socially challenged people whose deficiencies are even more pronounced online than they would be in person. I have a feeling they’re the same people who 30 years ago would have made their rounds in a hotel bar handing a business card to everyone at every table with the exclamation that he can take care of all their insurance needs. Online or off, no one likes that guy.

Learn From Others’ Mistakes

Here’s the thing: building rapport is no easier online than off. In fact, it’s harder. Without body language, tone of voice and facial expressions, it’s even more difficult to determine what kind of person you’re really dealing with. With so many people vying for attention online, first impressions may be all you have. If you come off wrong in your initial introduction, you may have sealed your fate with that person forever.

Here’s an e-mail that highlights some of what I’m talking about:

Hello Mate,

I just see your profile in Sphinn.com, we’re on the same line, internet marketing, SEO, SEM, SMO, SMM.
I’m just studying all of these to become an expert someday. :-). I would enjoy being your friend, to learn from you and to
share some SEO articles, tips and breakthroughs.

If you want I will vote your stories, in exchange vote mine. :-)

Thanks!..

Yeah, there’s 20 seconds of my life I’ll never get back. This one isn’t even one of the most egregious examples. What really sticks in my craw is the, “If you want I will vote your stories, in exchange vote mine…” part. Really? This is how you introduce yourself to a total stranger? At least I know now why he’s introduced himself to me.

It’s not because he’s read my blog. It’s not because he’s seen my tweets. It’s not because he’s actually interested in engaging in any kind of constructive conversation or exchange. He just wants me to Sphinn his shit. Guess what? I’m not going to. Ever. Because he’s trying to use me. Don’t be that guy.

Being Memorable for the Right Reasons

This dude wanted to get my attention. Well, he did. And I won’t forget him. Because of the approach, that’s not a good thing. I know what you’re thinking. “Geez, Alysson…you’re harsh and kind of a bitch.” Well, you’re not the first to say it. You won’t be the last. Maybe I expect too much of people. Or maybe I understand, and have always understood, that there are effective ways and ineffective ways to go about trying to engage with people. The more time I spend online, the more I realize how few people really understand that.

“…the ability to deal with people is as purchasable a commodity as sugar or coffee. And I will pay more for that ability than for any other under the sun.” ~ John D. Rockefeller

When I first started in SEO I spent a lot of time online reading blogs, reading comments, reviewing sites, etc. By a lot I mean an absolutely obscene amount of time. Lucky for me, I had a co-worker and friend to point me toward the best sources of information, so I didn’t waste a lot of time going down the wrong paths. For months I sat quietly in the corner. I didn’t leave comments. I didn’t publish anything. I didn’t call any attention to myself whatsoever.

Delay is preferable to error. ~ Thomas Jefferson

When I finally did decide to participate, I didn’t do it by sending out unsolicited e-mails to total strangers in industry circles. I didn’t send Facebook friend requests. I didn’t try to connect with industry vets via LinkedIn. I did what I would want someone to do if they’re trying to get my attention.

I started making constructive and useful comments on their blogs. I started asking questions. I started Sphinning stuff. I even submitted a post or two to Sphinn. And, at first, I got my ass handed to me. Right, Edward? :) I’d encourage you to follow Edward on Twitter, but he hates that.

I started participating in the community I wanted to be a part of. I knew I still had a lot to learn – still do – and I didn’t want to alienate the people most capable of helping me do that. On the other hand, I didn’t want to be that irritating fly buzzing around everyone’s head either. I didn’t want to get swatted away. I wanted people to read my comments and think, “Hey, she might not be entirely full of shit…perhaps I should check out her blog.” And that’s what happened. It didn’t happen overnight. But it did happen.

Super-Secret Silver Bullets

If you think I’m going to tell you there’s only one way to succeed online, you’re wrong. I bet you’re hoping I’ve drawn up some enchanted treasure map that will lead you right where you’re dying to go. Well, I haven’t. No one has. Anyone who claims otherwise is lying…first sales pitch will come about 5 minutes in.

There are as many paths leading to Oz as there are clouds in the sky. There are some tips and best practices you can follow, but no concrete answers. Be genuine. Just be yourself – no matter who that is, some audience out there will appreciate it. Give at least as much as you take. Don’t participate in social circles just because of what you can get out of it, but because of what you can contribute to it.

I’m proud of the online circle I now, perhaps a bit undeservedly, consider myself a part of. I have the utmost respect for my industry pals. And I hope I’ve earned a bit of their respect, as well. If I have, it’s partly because I didn’t make an ass of myself doing the virtual equivalent to the “OOH! OOH! PICK ME!! LOOK AT ME!!!” routine.

I’m not saying my approach is the only approach. I’m not saying it’s the best approach. I’m not even saying it’s the right approach for you. What I am saying is that choosing the wrong approach is the best way to alienate and piss off the people you might want most to get the attention of. Choose wisely. Don’t be that obnoxious guy in the hotel bar. You can’t un-ring a bell, so once you decide to ring it you better make sure it’s in tune and doesn’t make people want to run away from it screaming.

Making Friends & Building Rapport is a post from: SEOAly - offering affordable small business website design, SEO Audit and Keyword Research services.

Just like how other modes of marketing tools need some forms of monitoring or measuring tools to analyze their effectiveness, video marketing needs some yardstick to grade its performance, too. This is where “Video Analytics” comes in. Video analytics is a tool that is used to measure the actual effectiveness of your video marketing campaigns on the internet. It is a grading system that can measure all the parameters required for analyzing the reach and impact of your videos. After all, everybody likes to see returns on their investments. The same applies to video marketing strategies. Video analytics helps you to study the viewer patterns, their responses, number of views, geographical viewership, impact, and also the results of your video marketing method.

Basically, video analytics works on streaming videos, and can get you results on the following metrics. The start and end times of your videos, pre-roll and post-roll advertisement metrics, time played in seconds, negative and positive consumption metrics, and core content analytics. Geographical response in terms of who watches your videos from which regions are also analyzed and recorded. YouTube has a video analytics tool called “YouTube Insight” that can help you analyze the popularity of your videos in relation to other videos, whether your videos are reaching your target audience, how much time people spend on your videos, and also the rate at which your videos reach peak viewership figures.

YouTube has become a separate search engine unto itself, and most video marketing strategies are directed at YouTube these days. However, the importance of other sites including social networking sites in helping you with video marketing campaigns cannot be undermined. Having to upload your videos on all the sites that your customers or peers frequent, one by one, is very difficult. Sites like www.tubemogul.com help you with this. TubeMogul can be the single point of entry for your videos. You can upload your videos here, and have your videos posted on all the video sharing sites of your choice. TubeMogul also has a powerful video analytics tool that analyzes viewership frequency and geographical viewership.

By using video analytics tools such as the ones above, you can know precisely who is watching your videos and for how long. You’ll know if your target customers are viewing your videos, and if your videos are not reaching your target audience, you can analyze the data, and change your video marketing strategies accordingly. Just as how Google analytics has been an effective tool for analyzing the results of your SEO campaigns, video analytics is just as effective a tool to measure and improve your VSEO strategies.

About The Author: Ryan Sammy is a Social Media Analyst for Search & Social.

Video SEO Analytics is a post from: SEOAly - offering affordable small business website design, SEO Audit and Keyword Research services.

photo credit: www.ericcastro.biz

I read a post recently that made me laugh, but not for the right reasons. On the other hand, it also made me think about how easy it is for someone who is new to Twitter and the Social Media sphere in general to make a huge mistake and alienate a lot of people who could have shortened the learning curve for a n00b significantly.

In a few keystrokes the potential to build a rapport and some quality online relationships is lost. Not only that, it’s also pretty easy to make yourself look like an ignorant tool.  I’m not picking on people who are new to Twitter. Twitter is so new that it hasn’t been long since EVERYONE was a rookie.

That said, there are some who navigate the learning curve really quickly and others that don’t. There’s nothing wrong with being among the latter, provided that you recognize you’re still learning and don’t make the mistake of pretending that you’re not. The blog post that amused, as well as sincerely disappointed me, was entitled “Stop Twitter Spam PLEASE!“.

I detest Twitter spammers, so I was excited that someone decided to take a shot at them. Excited, that is, until I reached sentence 4 of the post and realized this poor, misguided soul had no idea what he was talking about. I hesitated to name the post specifically – but in the end, I had no choice. I can’t really illustrate my point without referencing the original post and giving people the opportunity to read it for themselves. In order to put things into perspective here, let’s take a quick look at what a Twitter spammer’s profile actually looks like:

If you compare that to the screenshot used as an example of a “spammer” at the post on iThoughts, you will see some significant differences. Actually, you’ll see absolutely no similarity whatsoever between the image I have included above and Gerald Weber‘s Twitter profile. None. Zip. Zero. Nada. To put it simply, that’s because @the_gman is NOT a Twitter spammer…not by a long shot.

I loathe “Twitter rules” posts. I’ve said it numerous times. There are as many ways to use Twitter as there are Twitter users. There are some common sense approaches to using Twitter effectively – like making sure your profile has a bio and a picture, but if someone is stupid enough to want to keep the ugly default avatar and tell people nothing useful about themselves, who am I to judge? Some people will tell you that “don’t curse” is a Twitter rule. To that I say, “Eat shit – I’ll cuss if I want to…” If you don’t like it, don’t follow me. The end.

No one is a Twitter expert – no one. If they tell you they are it’s because they’ve got an e-book they want to sell you about how to use Twitter to make money. Blah. It’s all a bunch of crap. On the other hand, some people have more experience using Twitter than others. So, if you’ve been using Twitter for a couple weeks and are so unfamiliar with it that you don’t even know there is a setting that allows you to control which @replies appear within your Twitterstream and which don’t, I would encourage you to refrain from writing a rant-like post throwing around accusations of spamming.

You’ll piss off the people who can help you learn. You’ll make yourself seem ignorant. You’ll alienate those who might help you to promote worthwhile content in Social Media circles at some point in the future. You’ll cause people, perhaps inaccurately, to come to the conclusion that you’re not all that bright and don’t understand the very definition of the term “spam”. The moral of the story, don’t be a tool. As in real life, you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.

Use Twitter As A Tool – Don't Be One is a post from: SEOAly - offering affordable small business website design, SEO Audit and Keyword Research services.

So…here I sit in the library trying to get some work done because my Internet connection at home is down. Little did I know, I can’t get access to my hosting accounts’ cPanels from here. DOH! So, instead of working on the projects I intended to work on, I’m writing a blog post about my personal Twitter follow policy.

I’m a born multi-tasker. It isn’t often that I’m not doing 3…4…7…12 things at once. It’s just my nature. I’ve always been that way. That said, I spend all day online tackling a variety of things at once – working on site audits, finishing site designs, doing WordPress installations, writing blog posts…and last, but certainly not least, Tweeting. I am a Twitter addict. There, I admit it – I feel better now. I love it. Twitter is to me what crack is to a junkie. If I’m away from it for too long, I start to get the shakes.

Reciprocal Following and Auto-Follow…I Just Don’t Get It

It seems not a day passes now that I don’t get a crop of new followers. Among them are always some dumbass spammers whose profiles consist of nothing more than a link to some bullshit website and a single update touting their excitement over receiving a free laptop or how they’ve made $100 in ten minutes with the Internet’s latest get rich quick scheme. Does anyone really fall for that crap anymore? I mean, if there were actually a way to “get rich quick”, I’d have jumped all over it already. Therein lies the inspiration for this post.

I follow just under 300 people on Twitter. Most have ties to the search marketing industry, website design, Social Media, etc. Many of them, like Kim Krause Berg, Michael Gray (who actually just started following me TODAY…perhaps partially due to my whining that he still wasn’t following me – but whatever…) and Jill Whalen didn’t follow me back initially. Why would they? They had no idea who I was, what I was about and, frankly, that I wasn’t a complete tool. It wasn’t until after I had interacted with them that I earned a follow back. And that is as it should be.

Alysson…What’s Your Freakin’ Point?

Geez…I’m getting to it. I don’t reciprocal follow. I don’t believe in it. I don’t believe that someone following me on Twitter means that I should also follow them. Let’s take this one step further and address the very concept of the “auto-follow”. It is asinine. Auto-following is absolutely ludicrous, pointless and I can’t imagine a better way to render Twitter absolutely useless. I can’t fathom what my Twitterstream would look like with much more than 300 people in it. I probably miss out on a lot of useful tweets that pertain to search marketing or my other interests as it is. Why would I want to follow someone who sells soap just because they’ve followed me?

Frankly, I don’t understand why some of the people that are following me, follow me. I’m a sometimes vulgar, wildly opinionated, Buddhist smart ass who couldn’t be further from the right wing of politics – no, really…I couldn’t be. I have nothing in common with the intolerant, radically judgmental, holier-than-thou, neo-conservative, evangelical, right wing hate monger movement. Yet, some of my followers include within their bios things like “God-fearing Conservative” and “Rush Limbaugh Supporter”. Um, okay…welcome, but your likelihood of being offended on a daily basis just went up exponentially – enjoy!

Sometimes the things that lead to my getting a new follower are hilarious. For instance, I tweet back and forth with @kim_cre8pc about her knee injury and before you know it, @TheKneePainGuru starts following me. I talk about beef jerky and low & behold, @ObertoAlpha starts following me. Go figure. By the way, I am now following @ObertoAlpha because they carried on a conversation with me via Twitter – and offered me free jerky, which didn’t hurt their cause. See how that works? Engage me in some way, and I’m likely to follow you back – voila!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful for each of my Twitter followers, aside from the spammers that have yet to be identified – I’m coming to block you, I promise. I hope I bring something useful, or at the very least amusing, to your Twittersphere. On the other hand, if you want me to follow you back, give me some sort of reason. Carry on a Twitter conversation with me. Ask me a question. Comment on a post I’ve written. Give me some feedback on a question I pose via Twitter. Something. And no, trying to sell me something or telling me how to get a free laptop won’t cut it. Throw in a free Snuggie, some Mighty Mend-it and a Shamwow…maybe we’ll talk. ;)

So, here’s your chance to tell me how wrong I am about my opposition to reciprocal following. Think you can talk me out of it? Think you can convince me…convert me…coerce me? Leave your comments and see if you’re right.

Reciprocal and Auto-Following on Twitter = Bad Idea is a post from: SEOAly - offering affordable small business website design, SEO Audit and Keyword Research services.

Think about how you use your computer today vs. how you used your computer 15 years ago.  I’d venture to say 15 years ago the vast majority of people who had computers used them for writing letters and business-related presentations, checking e-mail and briefly surfing the Internet for information…and that’s about it.  And that seemed like a big deal.  Ah…remember when a 14.4 modem was “state of the art”?  HAHA!  Now, think about the technological world we live in today.

I can take a picture of something and send it to someone on the other side of the globe literally in a matter of seconds WITH MY PHONE.  Remember address books and those little binders designed to hold business cards?  There’s no doubt those things still exist, but it won’t be long before they’re a distant memory (like 8-track tapes) and something we bore our grandchildren with when we start telling “when I was your age…” stories.  I actually said “8-track tape” once to my niece…she looked at me as if I were speaking a foreign language.  :)

These days we do EVERYTHING online.  People don’t just USE the Internet anymore – they RELY on the Internet…not just to exchange information with people they know, but for day-to-day tasks like paying bills and scheduling doctor’s appointments.  Just the other day my friend was instant messaging his DOCTOR with questions about the medication he had prescribed.  Hello…that is AWESOME!  10 years ago getting those few questions answered would have involved a phone call (perhaps more than one phone call), leaving a message with the receptionist and then waiting hours (or perhaps days) for a call back.  Instead, my buddy got his questions answered and the information he needed instantly.  In this constantly evolving technological world, there is almost nothing that can’t be accomplished online.  THAT is the evolution of Web 2.0 as it applies to the real world.

Does anyone remember the days of calling “Time & Temperature” or “The Weather Line”?  I do.  How many do you suppose still do that?  I’d say it’s a vastly small percentage of people, if the services even still exist at all.  There are plenty of sources for weather information online and with the advent of WiFi, Blackberry, iPhone and the like, you’re never more than a keystrokes (or screen touches) away from whatever it is you might want to know.  I can pay my cell phone bill FROM MY PHONE.  Who would have imagined that 20 years ago?  And keep in mind, 20 years ago I was the same age my niece is now.  She will never know a world without such technology…and I’ve not yet decided whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

The evolution of the Web 2.0 world has also given people an unprecedented opportunity to take control over their own reputations, whether personal or professional.  For a business, it’s no longer enough to just HAVE a website.  You must have a website, without question.  Once people have found your website, many likely go on to search for the company by name and peruse the results.  Do you know what comes up when someone types your company’s name into the search query?  Have you ever even thought to look?  You might be surprised…

Online reputation management is no less important for an individual.  Have you ever typed your name into a search query?  If you’re actively managing your reputation, as you should be, you should see a variety of results that include your LinkedIn profile, Facebook profile, profiles you have created with well-known sites in your given area of expertise, etc.  Do you know what comes up in the search results when someone searches for you by name?  You have more control over that than you think.

LinkedIn is a perfect example of this theory in action.  LinkedIn profiles are a great source of information regarding a person’s professional experience.  Moreover, LinkedIn recommendations give anyone viewing the profile the opportunity to learn about a person based on others’ experiences with them.  It is much the same premise as website testimonials, but on an individual basis.

This is useful for both the self-employed seeking freelance or contract work, but also for any potential job hunter!  Instead of having to do the whole, “Hey, I put your name down as a reference on when I applied for [this job], so you might be getting a call…”.  People can now leave standing recommendations for you on the LinkedIn profile that will save both you and a potential employer time and resources.

I have been contacted by several recruiters as a result of the resumes they’ve found on CareerBuilder and Monster.com.  Rather than using the standard “References Available Upon Request” statement found at the bottom of the vast majority of resumes, mine states, “References Available at http://www.linkedin.com/in/alyssonfergison”.  Many recruiters have openly stated that the information within my LinkedIn profile set me apart from others who had actually already applied for the position and were actively interviewing.

Let’s say a hiring manager for a company has two seemingly equally qualified applicants.  Both made it through the interview process with flying colors, they have comparable education & experience and each appears more than able to carry out the day-to-day tasks required of the position.  In the past, hiring managers often had no choice but to just flip a coin and take a chance on one or the other.  The evolution of the Web 2.0 world has eliminated the need for such guesswork.

Today, that hiring manager has the opportunity to find information about each candidate online simply by searching for them by name.  Among the top five results for one candidate is her LinkedIn profile, which the hiring manager promptly reviews.  On her profile is a detailed work history, education information, groups and associations she is a member of, recommendations from prior colleagues and clients, etc.  The other candidate, on the other hand, has no such results for her name and, as such, has likely just been beaten out for the position by her competitor – due to nothing more than poor online reputation management.

The world is becoming ever more reliant upon technology.  I can’t tell you the last time I wrote a check for a bill and actually sent it through the mail.  That’s just not the world we live in anymore.  As I look at my 12-year-old niece I realize she may never write a check…she may never pay a bill that she doesn’t pay online…she may never know what it is like to have to actually GO IN to the bank to deposit or withdraw money.  These days you don’t even have to go in to a bank to open an account…or even refinance a house!  Those who learn to ride the Web 2.0 wave will continue to succeed…those who don’t will be crushed by it and bludgeoned by the rocky bottom of the technological ocean.  It is natural selection – simply on a virtual and technological scale.

What Does Web 2.0 Mean In The Real World? is a post from: SEOAly - offering affordable small business website design, SEO Audit and Keyword Research services.

First, you should know that I have just installed “Social Profiles“.  It is likely one of several in a series of WordPress Plugins from Sugarrae.com due for release in the coming months.  It was developed as a result of Rae Hoffman and Joost de Valk joining forces again.  Without a doubt, it’s a great plugin! I can’t say enough about it.  And unlike some plugins I’ve tried, I’ve not had any issues with it whatsoever. 

No installation problems.  No functionality issues.  No lack of compatibility with any other plugins.  What does this mean for commenters?  It means that you can now register, input your social profile information and have links to those profiles included along with the link to your website/blog URL each time you leave a comment.  This is, however, only available to registered users that have logged in prior to commenting.  Ah…there’s always a catch!  ;)  Hey, you can’t expect just anyone to be able to take advantage this, right?  :)

Second, I recently wrote a post entitled “Why NOFOLLOW My Comments?” indicating that I had elected to remove the NOFOLLOW commands from the comment links within my blog in an attempt to improve the number of comments left, encourage discussion and build a greater sense of community in general among regular contributors.

I’m not an idiot…I didn’t JUST remove the NOFOLLOW commands.  I did so using the “NoFollow Free” WordPress plugin and have customized the settings to help avoid potential abuse by spammers.  Thus far, it’s working perfectly.  That said, the number of comments a registered and logged in user must leave is considerably less than an unregistered user must leave in order for the plugin to remove the NOFOLLOW command from your comments.  That’s one of many configuration options available with NoFollow Free.

I thought long and hard about whether or not to do it…and then long and hard again whether or not to announce it.  Because one of the primary goals of my blog is to encourage discussion, I ultimately decided that the pros outweigh the cons…especially for me at this point.  Anything I can do to encourage people to visit and/or participate in discussions is certainly worth trying!  The new plugin just released at Sugarrae is yet another step in the right direction.

I see a pattern forming in the plugins that Rae has released thus far.  The first, “Customize Your Community” (a.k.a. “CYC”), was developed to help blog owners create customized login and admin pages that flow seamlessly with the design of a site, rather than having to accept the default WordPress design for user pages.  While I’ve not tested the plugin myself (yet…sorry, Rae), I have reviewed it in all its glory having logged in to my profile at Sugarrae.  Works like a charm!  Would you expect anything less from those two?  ;)

Rae & Joost’s second collaboration is no less dedicated to promoting a blog’s sense of community.  This plugin, on the other hand, has nothing to do with design or aesthetics – it’s about taking advantage of the many popular social networking sources on the web and rewarding those who contribute to your blog’s comments with links to their individual profile pages.  On blogs with a large readership, this plugin could provide individual commenters with a great deal of potential exposure!  It will help blog owners express their dedication to helping visitors build a rapport with other users, as well.

Worried about all that link juice flowing out from your posts?  Don’t be!  If you’re concerned about that, simply select the “nofollow” option in Social Profile’s settings.  I really can’t say enough about how great I think this plugin is.  I believe it will not only create a greater sense of connection and community with commenters, but it also provides some additional exposure and lends greater credibility to the individuals taking the time to comment.  Kudos on both the concept and excecution!  This plugin has officially been added to my “Must Have WordPress Plugins For Newbies“!

Reasons To Login Before Commenting is a post from: SEOAly - offering affordable small business website design, SEO Audit and Keyword Research services.

The fact of the matter is that I want to encourage people to leave comments on MY blog.  I also want to offer them something in return for doing so…and all I have to offer is a link back to your website.  Sphinning a post is awesome…submitting it to StumbleUpon is much appreciated…bookmarking on Delicious.com or Digging a post is fantastic, but those things don’t actually get the person taking the time to do it ANYTHING.

Therefore, I’ve decided to remove the NOFOLLOW attribute from my comments section to see if it gives anyone incentive to actually carry on a conversation here.  Oh, and for the record, you have to have left a specific number of comments already before the NOFOLLOW will be removed from the links.  I set it at a purposely low number to weed out those who would initially use it as SPAM.  :)

UPDATE (09/09)

I started thinking more about my motivation for removing the NOFOLLOW from my comments after I’d gone to bed last night, so I decided to elaborate a bit more.  First of all, I’m kinda new to the game of SEO.  Not “new” as in the sense that I have no experience, but “new” in the sense that until recently “SEOAly” lived only in my head as a persona…a symbol of how I would go about learning more about how to promote a website on the Internet.  She was the anonymous conscience…my guide for learning the ins & outs of SEO and trying to figure out how all of the puzzle pieces fit together to make up the big picture.

Once I decided to turn that conscience into a website, she became more of a muse.  The site has become a place conduct testing of theories, like the internal use of NOFOLLOW to pages that are designated NOINDEX.  It’s also a place to to chronicle some of my experiences based on testing different aspects of on-site SEO…like the use of NOSNIPPET.  In the process, though, SEOAly has also become somewhat known and that loss of anonymity gives me the chance to get some of the best and brightest in the search marketing field to read what I’ve written and comment on it.  For taking your valuable time to comment and participate in the discussion, you get a link – it’s not much, but in this game it’s the only “bonus” I have to give out.

UPDATE (12/03)

Still no SPAM or PageRank issues to report.  The naysayers that claimed removing the NOFOLLOW attribute from my comment links was a stupid idea appear to have been a bit off base.  Aww…too bad.  Looks like some people just don’t know as much as they thought they did about the repercussions of removing NOFOLLOW.  

I’ve also seen this issue discussed on a wide variety of posts since this was originally published.  Many of them have also elected to remove the NOFOLLOW attribute from their blog comments.  Kudos to those of you who followed your instincts and didn’t allow yourself to be swayed by the know-it-alls in the SEO world.  :)

Why NOFOLLOW My Comments? is a post from: SEOAly - offering affordable small business website design, SEO Audit and Keyword Research services.

The biggest difference between kwippy and other microblogging apps is that it integrates IM statuses into the time line.  While I’ve not yet taken the time to play around with this feature because I don’t change im IM status much during the day, that integration appears to be one of the most notable differences between kwippy and the other microblogging platforms like Twitter.  I invited my Twitter following to join the fun at kwippy and look forward to playing around with it more!  You can learn more about kwippy and what sets it apart from other microbloggers by checking out…what else…their blog!

By the way – THANKS, KWIPPY!  Glad you liked my kwip…

08/29 UPDATE: There is also now a Facebook application available that allows you to update your Facebook status through your kwips.  Seems pretty cool.  They’ve got some work to do making it seamless with the Twitter Facebook app’s automatic updating of your Facebook status, but they’re on the right track…

Kwippy – New Microblogging Platform is a post from: SEOAly - offering affordable small business website design, SEO Audit and Keyword Research services.

For a small business owner that is solely responsible for his or her own marketing, this technology-based world in which we live has created the need to develop a whole new set of skills that often have nothing to do with the small business’ focus.  While most small business owners understand the need for a website and driving visitors to it, that’s typically where their understanding of process ends.

Why Social Networking Is Important

The phrases “building an Internet presence” and “developing an online reputation” are often approached with a great deal of ambivalence, as well as a simple lack of experience marketing a business online.  Building a reputation today is no less important than before the advent of the Internet, but the manner by which small business owners can accomplish that goal has changed enormously.

The term “word of mouth advertising” used to apply primarily to the people with whom your customers interact with personally every day.  Now, a customer can publish his or her experiences with little more than a few keystrokes…and unlike having to repeatedly share their experience, it is now in print for the entire world to read – like word of mouth advertising that never shuts up.

Building A Reputation Isn’t What It Used To Be

The means by which a business builds rapport with potential customers has changed.  Making sales in today’s digital world is no longer about face-to-face or telephone sales pitches…at least not initially.  Your business may still ultimately require a face-to-face or telephone meeting to “close the deal”, but your online reputation will often determine whether or not they’re even willing to give you that opportunity.  In this technology-based market, it is essential that at least some attention be focused on building your online reputation.

Don’t get me wrong, building a reputation in your local community is no less important than before – but even your local clientele is likely to do research on the Internet long before ever considering with whom to do business.  So…what does that mean for small business owners?  It means get in the game!  There are a number of things you can do to begin cultivating an online reputation.  The most important thing is to get involved in the online community that is your target market…and the easiest way to do that is through blogs.

“Blogs…I own a small business.  I don’t know anything about blogs…”

That’s okay.  Regardless of whether you’re selling women’s shoes, office supplies or cupcakes, there is probably already a community of like-minded people discussing the topics that apply to your business.  If you expect consumers to see your small business as a relevant resource in your industry, you have to share what you know online.  The first step in building an online reputation is to get yourself in front of your target audience – and that’s by communicating with them.  By participating in existing blogs, discussions and forums you introduce yourself to a large number of potential visitors that might never know you exist otherwise.

You may be shocked to find out just how many blogs likely already exist that apply to what you do – and equally shocked at the number of visitors that some of them receive.  Never forget that search engines love information…and information is the essence of a blog.  If I were selling office supplies for instance, I would likely start my search for blogs by going to Google and inputting “office supplies blog”, and go from there.  While a site might really struggle to achieve a good ranking in Google for the term “copiers”, participating in a blog discussion about copiers can expose it to an entire community of people already discussing copiers.

Don’t Be A Jackass

If the extent of your participation in an online discussion is dropping links to your site and mentioning new products you’re trying to peddle, you’ll quickly be labeled a spammer and you’ll have ruined your reputation before you’ve even had the chance to build it.  What you contribute to a discussion should be worthwhile, relevant and useful information based on your experience.  The same rules of selling apply today in the online world as in the days of door-to-door sales – the more people like you, the more likely they are to buy from you.

The difference today is that you can participate in a discussion that could include people from your town, your state and the entire country – or even around the world.  If you hope to attract business from a national or international customer base, carrying on online conversations is often your only chance to build a rapport with potential clients you will never have the opportunity to meet personally.  Dip a toe in the social networking pool – your effort will be rewarded if you take the time to become a part of the community you hope to service!

Social Networking For Less Internet Savvy Small Business Owners is a post from: SEOAly - offering affordable small business website design, SEO Audit and Keyword Research services.