Hey Barry. I agree with pretty much everything you have said there except one thing that I have always been a little muggy on. the whole follow/no-follow links idea has always made my head hurt and its for this reason (I know Andy Beard will probably kill me for this but here goes, before I go into it though I like the idea of do follow).
Lets take Wordpress. Standard install it is nofollow all the way along the link structure, be it internal and or outbound. you can pro-actively make the links do follow with plugins or coding. Who does bar the real hardcore advocates?
Look at any "normally" designed website and its links will be nofollow unless it has been definitively decided that they should be do-follow. If this is the case in the very vast majority of websites out there, then ...how can do-follow matter?
The links that people are achieving are working anyway, so why get on the do-follow boat?
Wednesday, 15 September 2010
The great do follow and no follow link debate
Saturday, 11 September 2010
Google instant quality research
Thank you for taking the time to do some decent quality research in respect to Google instant and how it impacts (or could impact ) on you and your interaction with searchers and results.
I have been so fed up with all the doom talk this week from, some might say prominent, individuals and experts in the Search and Search Engine Optimisation field who where so desperate to get something wrote and on the internet regrading the launch of Google instant that I wondered if they actually understood what the significance of it was.
Don't worry they just made complete idiots out of themselves by doing so and you have honestly put them to shame, and surprise surprise, your a travel blog.
Great work, and well done.
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
Auto follow on Twitter a waste of time
Waste your time if you wish with this method. What your suggesting is exactly the same as cold calling alphabetically in the phone book and if your happy to have your professional name associated with this type of practice in twitter then I would expect your account will get banned sooner rather than later. In fact, why do you? even need twitter? Sure why not just carry the phone book directory around with you...its got pretty much the same effect.
You will get 10000 times more value out of a solid network built from the ground up with other professionals and individuals who are willing to pass on your details, information or marketing requirements than you will by shotgun blasting and hoping to hit something.
I'm not expecting that my comment , or indeed Amy, Mark or Chris's, will change your outlook on this but I hope you seriously reconsider your approach now before continuing down this line and understand the value of twitter and social media in general.
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
How to deal with negative reviews
There is absolutely nothing more that can be said without going into specifics Dawn. This has now become my master list for dealing with negative reviews in the on line environment for myself and my clients. Well thought out, concise and structured. Love it.
in reference to:"There is absolutely nothing more that can be said without going into specifics Dawn. This has now become my master list for dealing with negative reviews in the on line environment for myself and my clients. Well thought out, concise and structured. Love it."
- Sensei » Blog Archive » How to Deal with Negative Reviews (view on Google Sidewiki)
Monday, 6 September 2010
Think Visibility Tips on Brand Failure
Dace is spot on with his example. Also “Why do we as SEO’s get blamed when our clients don’t follow our advice?” I think that’s the old “the customer is always right” coming into play and its something we as an industry conveniently forget when we quote for new business.
Few of us have the relationships in place (or the brains it seems) to respect each others abilities and ask the previous SEO for advice or input.We quickly forget the last time that a client made us look bad from not following our advice.
I make a point of never admonishing another’s work in any way until I know the project and know the client inside out and by then there’s no point in complaining, its better to just get on with it.
Tuesday, 24 August 2010
Not Free social media data
Why say "FREE" when its not? Annoyed that its being marketed as free when it is in reality a "7 day free trial". That is really misleading and it just pisses me right off! Not good, especially as it mentions nothing about that until you complete the signup process when it asks you to choose a preferred subscription plan.
Wont be using it or recommending at all now.
Monday, 23 August 2010
FaceBook will eventually kill your blog or website
I like this outlook Jay as calling it now means that we can think hard about it before it happens or make moves to prevent it but in all honesty I find it very unlikely that it will occur. FB will become the social network as Google is to Search and then the technology will advance and a new "breed" of established sites will evolve. God knows what those will be.
Alos 500 million users (minus boring people with no firends) is nothing to be sniffed at but still, theres 6,000,000,000 internet users worldwide (http://www.
Regardless, Google cant operate with websites to index and FB can only satisfy a small amount of the desire for information consumption that is outside the realm of "social". After all, it is a social network aimed at connecting and that will never change I would guess, but sometimes, I need to go to an expert to read their opinions or thoughts and thats why the blog or the personal website will never die.
Gonna be an interesting one to watch anyway!
*I have to apologise to you Jay as I think I have had this post open in a tab on my browser, for like two weeks or so with the intention of commenting, hence I might be messing up your analytics a tad! Whoops!
Facebook places problems
Facebook Places seems like a right nightmare! Seriously though, this could result in some expensive divorce cases or people getting fired if its abused. I think I might change my settings now... back in a bit. Nice catch Samir.
in reference to: Mess With Your Friends Using Facebook Places - Samir Balwani (view on Google Sidewiki)disclosure always in social media
Not really affected by any guidelines or regulations here in Europe (yet) but are covered by some common sense and decency.
Then again, sometimes its nobody else's businesses how or why you decide to mention, RT or promote something and what relationship is in place with it. At least, that's how more privacy orientated people I know view it
I guess i will just assume that anything mentioned about a product or service that costs money will be done in some sort of affiliation and then if I click it or move forward then I do so because I trust the referral. Otherwise... why would I click it in the first place or even be there reading it.
Strange subject and gonna be fun watching how this develops.
Thursday, 22 July 2010
World of Social Media Consultants
“An advocate for small business, Marty works hard to share accurate information in a world suddenly overrun with “social media consultants.”
Ohhh Cheekyyyy!
I demand you change that to:
“An advocate for small business, Marty works hard to share accurate information in a world suddenly overrun with “social media consultants.” (Except Justin Parks cause he rocks).”
Then I wont have to kill you with my social media consulting abilities.
Tuesday, 20 July 2010
Blooging will you just die...No.
Anyone who thinks blogging is dead, is near dead, or will die out needs to think long and hard about a thing called Internet Explorer 6.
Christ... We WANT that to die and it wont sodding go away so how can anyone expect something as powerful as blogging to disappear and die... oh yes, I know, people wish it would because it requires effort.
How to piss people of on Facebook fan pages
I can do nothing more but heave a heavy SIGH when I see these tactics being employed.
Spam is Spam is Spam and the fact your highlighting it Danny and they have their name against it is the best and most positive means to making the point that its not acceptable to you me or anyone else.
I cannot fathom how this company find it ethical, logical or acceptable and are willing to damage their reputation with this type of lazy, uncreative, and downright annoying attempt at promotion. We should give them a call Danny, they seem to need our help.
Sharon Wright reveals the truth about Dragons Den
Hi Sharon!
Remember these?
http://www.justinparks.com/
I cant believe that things have evolved into this situation for you. I remember writing those posts after seeing you on Dragons Den and actually being inspired to think to myself, "She will go far!".
I am so sad that it has turned into this and hope that you have every success with the book and the truth comes out!
Monday, 5 July 2010
What Works in Human Response Advertising
You obviously didn't have a Granny like me (I loved her dearly) but she used to scold the hell outta me all the time, in a nice way, so actually, that image creates some fond memories for me but still, I wouldn't click it because the copy underneath was crap. Its done its initial job though of bringing my eye to the ad.
The second advert is crap. Its dull, unclear and confusing. Who cares about some idiot surrounded by a gaggle of reporters with nothing to say. It just fails in attracting the eye. The copy underneath though is clear and descriptive and actually quite interesting.
Two ads both "nearly" getting there.
I agree with the essence what your saying Chris but its never just one single thing in advertising, the whole package has to be consistent and simply "work" in order to succeed.
Test, test and test some more!
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Link exchange attempts
Your quite right in your sum up here John, but this debate has some serious underlying issues nevermind some astonishing misconceptions. Couple that with a hefty dose of misinformation and you end up with techniques and practices just like this and the average website owner having no idea if this is a good thing, bad thing or if they are indeed missing out on good opportunities.
Its Googles and the Search Engines fault as much as their benefit as they cannot openly tell anyone how the link profile algorithm works, that would give the game away, but suffice to say, your closing comment is exactly what they encourage and indeed want. Write interesting and knowledgeable material and the links will naturally occur from those who recognise it. Its not a short term thing, but anything worthwhile doing usually isnt!
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
Wasting time in your business
Ahhh Time Wasters. Would we not love to remove them all, forever.
Lets be honest though, sometimes time wasting isn't the intent, it just works out that something both parties are trying to achieve wont work out, there's no "meeting of the minds" or an agreement cant be reached. These are not the time wasters your referring to though I'm sure Jim (even though we would love to cut out the ten meetings it took to figure out that things where not going to work out!)
I think the ones you mean are the purposeful time wasters. The ones who never had any intent of using or paying for any service or product. The milkers, tire kickers or leeches, whichever term you prefer. There is no real way of spotting them I think but common sense and a bit of a hard nose can help.
I find that most start the conversation with some sort of incentive. For example "Lets do a good deal on this project and I will have ten more to come after it" or "I have lots of high net worth contacts that I can put you in touch with if you do a cheap but high quality job". This sets alarm bells ringing straight away! Why feel the need to tell me this in the first place!
I sort them out by replying "Well, lets do this, I will do this job for double price and then half price for the next two" or "Really? So lets get those deals in first then we can see to accommodating you for the excellent referrals!"
As you can imagine I am left in peace to get on with real and profitable clients quite quickly.
The other side of the coin is of course the unprepared lot (most of us to be honest). They approach web based projects with some half assed idea scribbled on a cafe napkin, no business plan, no marketing strategy and ultimately, no money to see it through. Then they offer youy 50% of the IDEA if you do all the work for the next 12 months for free...
Seriously now. Why the hell would I need that in the first place...
Thats my couple of centimos anyway Jim!
Thursday, 3 June 2010
52 Questions To Ask When Hiring A Social Media Company
“All great questions, but will they know what the correct answers are?”
Anna is on the money with that point.
The list is excellent If your a social media company hiring someone to work as a social media expert but most businesses and clients would struggle with understanding what hosting is never mind this check list and indeed I think Curtis raises good points which more or less back this up:
“My clients like to ask these questions, but they are yet to put much value on good answers – because good answers cost a lot of money.
So for now they accept my simple answers with my full intention to minimize my effort with regards to social media. They are happy with someone talking the talk, without doing much – as long as they don’t have to pay for it. ”
Most businesses wont have an marketing expert working for them who will understand what the “correct” answer is and yes, even then, most folks could blag their way to the correct answer and say just what you want to hear and consequently, any business asking these questions would have the budget to back them up, which “normal” businesses” do not.
The list I’m used to goes something like:
1. Whats this social media thing?
2. Is it expensive / How much is it?
3. I don’t have time to do stuff, so will it take a lot of time?
4. Can I make money from it?
5. Is it expensive?
Such is life I guess.
"52 Questions To Ask When Hiring A Social Media Company"
- 52 Questions To Ask When Hiring A Social Media Company (view on Google Sidewiki)
Wednesday, 2 June 2010
7 Common Social Media Marketing Problems and Their Solutions
A well wrote and concise list of points that I have encountered on different levels with different businesses already.
I might save myself a lot of trouble by turning this into a questionnaire and asking clients to read it and fill it in before meetings so they begin to understand just whats involved ;P
"7 Common Social Media Marketing Problems and Their Solutions"
- 7 Common Social Media Marketing Problems and Their Solutions - Online Marketing Blog (view on Google Sidewiki)
Thursday, 11 February 2010
Clarification on Social Media Pricing
That is perfect Mack and makes a lot more sense.
I thought for a minute I was seriously under charging for the work I do based on the presumed pricing I listed but those clarifications make sense and are in line with what I would address and implement as well.
Thanks for taking the time to reply so concisely and clarify the points raised. You just raised the transparency bar one more notch. Nice one.
So how much will a social media strategy cost?
Very interesting breakdown on prices Mack, and hat tip to you for the revelation.
“While it’s almost impossible to give any company an accurate quote without talking to them about the above and so much more, I’ll share some ranges with you to give you an idea of what to expect.”
While I agree with the figures you mention in theory and I know the difficulty in making these types of sweeping statements and guesstimates, especially with annoying buggers like me floating about, the thing I would ask is how much time and resource this actually involves or what type of commitment it entails from you and consequently the company using your services.
This cost may be factored into the prices you mention in terms of their required commitment to social media as a route to market or as a form of engagement but I find very few companies, small or large, have that type of financial liberty or willingness to commit hours and resources to the medium at this stage and especially with the bean counters staring over their shoulders and demanding to know what the ROI is on every key stroke made. (Bear in mind I am in Europe and social media is relatively new here compared to the USA).
The reason I ask is that if I took your guide prices at face value then added up the top line figures, your basically saying that to implement a year long (more or less) social media effort would cost:
Top level pricing
blog – 6000 per month
twitter – 5000 per month
facebook – 6000 per month
strategy – 12000 per month
Total – 29000 per month
and at the short term, 3- 6 months, minimum price:
lowest level pricing
blog – 1500 per month
twitter – 1500 per month
facebook – 2000 per month
strategy – 2500 per month
Total – 7500 per month
I’m not trying to pick holes in your guide prices (as I mentioned I understand they are rough guidelines), but am just trying to understand the extent of the service provision you are describing Mack as the prices seem rather high for each individual aspect! (Not that I wouldn’t want to be charging that, and getting it myself, believe me!)
But I wonder if you could clarify a little if I’m accurate here or completely off on a tangent? (I also know I am fudging the numbers a little here as they include things like customer management and content creation in the longer term stuff and that costs for quality but I have to ask!)
"So how much will a social media strategy cost?"
- So how much will a social media strategy cost? | MackCollier.com (view on Google Sidewiki)
Thursday, 21 January 2010
Twitters Advertising Model
Your not the only one who thinks that advertising on twitter is wrong, even detrimental to its stability and future growth. Im with you there.
They are promising an advertising model of some description that will "rock"... not sure how and am most certainly interested to see how they implement it and how they roll it out but currently I'm sceptical that it will be beneficial to the core values that twitter itself has, the very values that have mad it so popular, and as of this moment I can only see these values being "rocked" rather than being reinforced.
There are so many ways that twitter could generate independent revenue that I think I would need to start a new blog with all the angles to cover it! But I guess we can only wait and see what happens.
Monday, 18 January 2010
Foursquare Marketing and Business
Foursquare has not really taken on in the UK and Europe, i think because the roll out only focused on the USA to begin with but it is gaining ground here now.
I am a later arriver to Foursquare and am messing around with it now, and its definitely interesting as a business option, if they are clued in to the functionality and system and are prepared to leverage it but like you mention Angie, it can be positive and negative if they do not put their customers first.
The biggest and most important point I have noticed about Social Media and related products such as this are the inherent need for creativity (and some risk) in order to be effective. The standard, run of the mill, come here, buy this, push style message simply wont cut it in this environment.
This, in my book, is not a bad thing, creativity makes it fresh and pushes the envelope, so I'm glad to see it. The real beauty of it is though, that it will not cost a fortune to be creative, it doesn't have to be expensive. Just new, fresh and most of all different and that's for all the different mediums in social media, not just Foursquare!
Saturday, 2 January 2010
Making Money through Plugin Development
I will be really interested to see what comes of this as the whole situation regarding the lack of financial support for developers disgusts me quite frankly. I think people should get paid for their time and effort and currently the donations system is a joke because every one loves to take but are not so inclined to give, even when they are using something invaluable.
The whole argument about community also annoys me. Community works together and at the moment its all very one sided. No one can tell me its asking to much to donate one euro or one dollar and if the community did we would have full time devs working on free, professional quality apps with no worries cause they would be loaded and the community would be better off a a whole. Such is human nature I guess.
@Boone Georges , the post you quoted is an excellent read iand I think I will have to read it at least x3 before I can digest all those points of view!
How to rectify the situation? Well, that is a tough one though recently I have seen more “premium” plugins appearing and worth every penny they are as well (at least the ones I have bought are), though that’s alot more cost than a donation would ever have been.
I will be knocking about to see how this discussion progresses and if any ideas are bought up which have merit!
Making Money through Plugin Development
I will be really interested to see what comes of this as the whole situation regarding the lack of financial support for developers disgusts me quite frankly. I think people should get paid for their time and effort and currently the donations system is a joke because every one loves to take but are not so inclined to give, even when they are using something invaluable.
The whole argument about community also annoys me. Community works together and at the moment its all very one sided. No one can tell me its asking to much to donate one euro or one dollar and if the community did we would have full time devs working on free, professional quality apps with no worries cause they would be loaded and the community would be better off a a whole. Such is human nature I guess.
@Boone Georges , the post you quoted is an excellent read iand I think I will have to read it at least x3 before I can digest all those points of view!
How to rectify the situation? Well, that is a tough one though recently I have seen more “premium” plugins appearing and worth every penny they are as well (at least the ones I have bought are), though that’s alot more cost than a donation would ever have been.
I will be knocking about to see how this discussion progresses and if any ideas are bought up which have merit!
