On the flip side, I am also a hobby blogger with a decent following and increasing influence in my niche.

Even if it’s positive, don’t talk about us
On my hobby blog, I frequently write about my experiences as a volunteer with a local non-profit organization. I believe wholeheartedly in what we do and the benefits of our service, and my goal in sharing my stories is to spread the word. I want people to know this service is out there for their family members or as a volunteer outlet. And I’ve had great responses from my readers.

Until the organization discovered my site and asked me to stop talking about them.

While they appreciated that I said good things about them, they were worried that they could be hurt. And they were especially concerned that, heaven forbid, I had used their organization’s name. Somehow, all that great stuff I said was going to come back and bite them.

I’ll certainly respect their wishes, but I’m disappointed that their views of the internet, blogs, and online marketing are so misinformed. Even if someone is giving you negative press, it’s a bad idea to ask them to stop. It only feeds the fire. But why get in the way of someone who talks glowingly about you?

The single PR spokesperson is out
I studied public relations in college, and one of the points the professors drilled into our heads was that an organization needs ONE spokesperson. That ONE spokesperson knows the company and its core message, and is adept at handling media and other people invested in the organization. The idea was to avoid conflicting messages that would reflect badly.

And years ago, it worked. But now, people no longer trust ONE representative advocating a unified, and perceived inauthentic, company marketing spiel.

Hail the unintended spokesperson
With the advent of the internet, everyone with a connection now has a voice. If someone loves—or hates –your product or service, they can talk about it and have lots of people listen. When they feel strongly enough to write about it, especially positively, they are staking their reputation on you. When their reviews prove trustworthy, other people start to listen.

Your customers are reading reviews and blogs and forums and making their decision to buy based on what other customers say. They aren’t making decisions based on your corporate about page or how great you say your customer service is. They are listening to online “friends,” many of whom they’ve never met but have come to trust. Sometimes these influencers are customers, sometimes they’re employees, sometimes they are just brand evangelists. They are men and women of all ages, backgrounds, careers, education, and interests. And they have a lot more to do with how you are perceived than you do.

Embrace those who want to talk about you
Countless organizations have embraced their “unintended spokespeople.” And plenty haven’t, doing themselves and their most loyal customers a great disservice.

Jared of Subway fame is a classic example of embracing an unintended spokesperson. He lost over 240 pounds eating turkey and veggie Subway sandwiches, talked about his experience, became a brand evangelist, and then was brought on as the official Subway guy. When Subway discovered him and the story he was sharing, they encouraged it wholeheartedly. Jared had a great experience with this company and talked about it before he ever appeared in a commercial, which is what makes him so trustworthy. Subway didn’t respond by saying “How dare you use the phrase Subway Diet! Our marketing director didn’t endorse that.” No, Subway went out on a limb and provided more outlets and actually paid Jared to keep talking.

If you find people blogging about how great you are, find ways to encourage them.

• Send them samples of new products, give them a free membership, offer whatever service you can that will show your appreciation (and give them reason to talk about you even more).
• Ask their opinions on your customer service, marketing campaign, whatever you think might interest them and their readers.
• Give them exclusive information, interviews, or breaking stories.
• If nothing else, at least say thank you!

These are just a few ideas of ways to appreciate your unintended spokespeople and to encourage them to keep talking. Keep in mind, though, that your focus should always be providing value to them and their readers. The positive efforts you make will spread like wildfire online and will help your bottom line more than any on or offline marketing campaign. Poor handling will spread even faster.

While the old adage “any kind of press is good press,” doesn’t necessarily ring true with the internet, good internet press is the best kind of marketing you can get. And even better, it doesn’t cost you a thing beyond being willing to give up a little control.

I Love Tractors!
I’ve been watching a few websites over the past few years. Watching the evolution of design and content on certain websites has always been a game, and a nice way to keep the pulse on the evolution of marketing on the internet.

The interest in the first was one spawned by Nick Usborne, after listening to his presentation on Writing for the Web in 2004. He showed the John Deere website that had promotional copy for the 4000 series tractor that was some of the softest, spineless, non-committal and vague content one could ever find. Don’t take my word for it, Nick’s caption for this example was “What has the reader learned?

The content reads:

Underneath their familiar green and yellow exterior isn’t just a redesign of the compact tractor, but a transformation. Where power is no longer measured by horsepower. Where implements practically attach themselves. And comfort is no longer at odds with productivity. One hundred and twenty improvements. Zero gimmicks. And countless firsts. These tractors are ready. 120 Improvements. Countless Firsts. Zero Gimmicks.

Neutered content
This content has no flavor, no meat. It’s boring and borderline ridiculous. They aren’t selling luxury cars here; they are selling tractors to people who have very specific needs. The funny thing is that I was in the market for a tractor, and this hit home. I was looking for something that I can get dirty tilling, mowing, digging and landscaping. Not something that looks nice on a glossy brochure. Plus the fact that NO attachments attach themselves – that’s just an out and out dirty lie. Power is no longer measured by horsepower? Please – that’s just insulting. Can it drag fallen Oak trees? Because that’s what I NEED.

Get More Done
Fortunately, things change and most times they get better. The new page for the 4000 series tractor makes so much more sense – as if they realized that people have needs, and this page speaks to it!

Content:

GET MORE DONE
With 133 attachments available you can:
Mow up to 20 acres
Till up to 5.5 acres
Lift up to 2728 lbs
Dig with a 36-inch bucket up to 8.5 feet deep.

Now that’s action – those factors speak to my needs for a tractor! This makes me excited, this allows me to envision the possibilities of what I can do, and creates the need for me to own this tractor.
On the down side, this amazingly explosive content is tied up inside of an image, rather than allowed to live on and propagate in an HTML format. Placing this content inside of a graphic keeps it contained to those who see the graphic. Allowing it to be HTML text allows it to be searchable and published in search results, copied, sent, and highlighted by those people who, like me, love this tractor stuff.

Words
The other site that I found a while ago was petsafe.net.
The homepage just struck me as soon as I found it, as it was very generic and totally image-focused. The main problem is that it was focused entirely on one image. Unfortunately, the navigation did not help this site, as the first navigational choice was “product information”. Now think about this for a second. The word product does not carry any power at all, it’s a generic word. The second problem is that the word is singular. There is no visual or contextual indication that there is an entire catalog of pet supplies. The large image dedicated to one product and the non-contextual navigation stop any user that does not have a need for that particular product. Nothing draws the viewer into the website.

Fast-forward a few years, and the new PetSmart website is miles beyond the prior installment. This homepage provides a clear explanation of the website:

Safe Pets. Happy Owners.
Awesome tagline! You know what they sell and what they are about in only a split second of looking at the page. The links and groupings allow people to instantly get into the deep content of the website, either through the pet product finder (relational links) or specific product links (utility links).

Thankfully, the navigation was changed to “Products” which is still generic, but plural, implying many more products are available through that link. The new page has much more emphasis on content, the customer testimonial is a nice bonus, and the content directs people to the importance of loving your pet. This connects on a different level, as you will buy products to protect and benefit your pet because you love them, not so much because you need to be sold into it.

I am assuming that the change in this site to this new homepage has made a significant impact of increased traffic and search engine rankings. By implementing more html-based content, it gives the search engines a little more ammunition for contextually classifying your website. But the best result of creating content that connects with readers is that it works. It provides benefits, ideas, answers. And that’s what people are looking for.

Creating Explosions

I love seeing companies get the content right on their websites. I don’t mean explode from the bulk of content, but exploding in relevance and power. Too many companies rely on spineless, filler content in the place of real words that have actual meaning. Customers aren’t looking for filler, they are looking for explosions that will motivate and inspire them to action.

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Creating a Customer Experience

The Unleashed conference was all about community both in the sessions and the networking.

1. I was able to network with almost all of the other attendees and build lasting relationships with many of them.
2. The speakers emphasized building and marketing websites focused on the visitor, rather than the search engines.

Real-live handshakes, face-to-face conversations, and more than a few tweets
One of the pros of the internet is that we can easily connect with people all over the world. On the flip side, the con is that we spend more and more time online with virtual friends—and less time face to face. Working in the internet marketing industry naturally allows for a widely distributed client and colleague base, many of whom we never see. So I loved Unleashed because I finally got to meet many virtual friends and colleagues in person.

The crew behind Small Business Marketing Unleashed—Jennifer Laycock, Robert Clough, Rachel Phillips, and Vickie Evans of Search Engine Guide and Small Business Brief—were brilliant in starting off the conference with a speed networking and charity event. (Think speed dating with three minutes and business cards and no evaluations.) By “forcing” all of us to talk to each other, any speaker/attendee cliques that could have potentially formed were broken up from the start. Pushing us out of our comfort zones to meet new people on that first night made it a whole lot easier to do so throughout the rest of the conference.

• Internet marketers shared knowledge with business owners.
• Speakers befriended attendees.
• Neighbors asked and answered each other’s questions during sessions.
• Previously total strangers hung out talking about the industry and life in general until the wee hours of the morning.
• My Twitter tweet rate quadrupled at least as we are continuing the conversations now that we’ve returned to our homes all over the country.

As a result, I came away from the conference with a head full of knowledge and a contact list full of friends and resources willing to share ideas and input. And a whole lot of new friends.

Information-packed sessions with a focus on people
I was looking forward to Unleashed because it was a smaller conference (purposely) yet offered some of the best professionals in the industry as speakers. I knew the sessions would go into each topic in-depth and send me home armed with practical applications. And I wasn’t disappointed.

Sessions that stood out included:

Intro: SEO Success Pyramid by Matt McGee
During the overview session, Jennifer Laycock, Wendy Piersall, Matt Bailey, and Matt McGee set the tone for the rest of the conference. Jennifer made the excellent point that “search engines are like Pinocchio. They just want to be a real boy.” She meant that search engines continually try to think more and more like real people. Build and market websites geared focused on your visitors, and you will be successful in the search engines. This theme was carried on throughout the conference.

Matt McGee shared his SEO Success Pyramid, a great concept he recently developed to guide the SEO process. The pyramid has five levels:

1. The foundation: has nothing do with your website. The foundation is about preparing yourself for success by ensuring that you have a unique product, good customer service, etc.
2. The first steps: preparing your website for success. This includes design, usability, analytics, etc.
3. Nuts and Bolts: improving on your website with content, crawlability, and contextual links.
4. Reaching out: getting involved on other sites.
5. What its all about: gaining trust.

I loved this concept because it’s the same thing we preach at SiteLogic: SEO is about so much more than putting keywords in appropriate places. It’s about selling something people want, building a website that is easy to use, focusing your visitor on your goal, and building a good reputation that will have longevity. Download Matt McGee’s SEO Success Pyramid for free.

Website Architecture with Stoney deGeyter
Stoney broke his presentation into three main topics:

1. Domain and URL structure
2. Page and document structure
3. Link structure.

Stoney emphasized that the most important thing to keep in mind when building or maintaining a website is “Don’t make them think.” Make navigating and using your site as obvious and as easy as possible. If visitors can’t figure it out, they’ll just leave.

The session was filled with good technical information without being confusing to those who come from a marketing background. This laundry list of items of which to be aware is essential for any marketer or business owner who wants their website to be effective for visitors and search engines.

Building a Community with Wendy Piersall
Wendy shared methods for successfully building a community around your website. She said the most important thing to remember is WIIFM, or “What’s In It For Me?” This is the question visitors will ask themselves when they come to your website. If you answer that question well, they’ll stick around. Always remember to focus first on your visitor, and last on your own ideas.

Blogging For Business with Mack Collier
Mack, a regular contributor to Search Engine Guide and blogging expert, provided some great information in his speaking debut. As did many of the other speakers, he emphasized the importance of focusing on your visitors above all else. Mack’s elements of a great blog include:

1. content
2. posting schedule
3. comments
4. sidebar elements

Mack strongly recommends including a picture of you and a brief bio of you on your blog. Allowing visitors to really know who you are adds to your credibility and personality and encourages them to stick around.

He also noted that blogs are great for targeting long-tail keywords.

Keywords and Content with Heather Lloyd-Martin
Seeing as Heather practically invented the concept and has a witty, energetic speaking style, she was a no-brainer to lead this session and workshop. I appreciated her focus on writing copy that focuses on the visitor and helps them to understand and navigate your site. Heather strongly emphasized that people’s decision to purchase stems from an emotional connection. She also explained that shoppers are willing to pay more if they relate to your company. Building that relationship and trust is where small businesses can really shine. Thus, it’s essential to create that emotion through your website’s copy.

Heather’s power placements for primary keywords are:

• Headlines
• Subheads
• Benefits statement based on keyphrases
• Links and anchor text

Link Building with Debra Mastaler
Debra is the queen of link building, and I was really looking forward to the opportunity to learn the secrets of the trade from her. Between the day one session and day two workshop, she blew through a ton of great information. While my brain felt a little fried at the end, I walked away with a solid understanding of how to run a link building campaign and knew exactly how to get started. At the workshop, Debra provided a “blueprint” for link building with the best methods for getting started. They include:

• searching for authority sites
• directory submissions
• article directories and content sites
• press and media links
• utility linking
• social buzz

Viral Marketing with Jennifer Laycock
I attended the viral marketing and link building workshops back to back, and came away completely inundated with great information. If you needed to know what viral marketing is, how to plan and run a campaign, and how to choose the tactics that are best for your organization, you would have been completely prepared after Jennifer’s workshop. She talked about:

• the benefits and pitfalls of viral marketing
• creating the idea
• tips for creating and running a campaign
• types of campaigns with pros, cons, and examples
• identifying influencers
• and pitching bloggers

She so well prepared us in her presentation, no one even had to ask questions!

Off and running across the internet
We are all now back home and off and running with new and improved internet marketing campaigns and tactics. Needless to say, if you weren’t at Small Business Marketing Unleashed this week, you will not want to miss out on it next year! You can expect to come away with a plan for how to best market your website online and greatly improve your organization.

• Small Business Marketing Unleashed conference website
• SBMUnleashed photos on Flickr
• Live blogging recaps of conference sessions and workshops on Search Engine Guide

Precisely. It’s not.

Networking is the best way to grow your contacts, your business, build sales and relationships. I’ve found that the more pervasive social networking tools are online; they still reflect the primary essence of personal networking. I have met countless people online, yet when we are able to finally meet face-to-face, it changes the relationship and deepens it. There is a shared commonality at first, but then a friendship ensues.

Networking Breakfasts
I’ve been a member of many breakfast networking groups, which I’ve always enjoyed. Meeting new people and visiting with acquaintances has always been an enjoyable draw to attend those meetings. It is also something that I miss, being so digitally driven these days. Nothing can really take the place of face-to-face interaction.

Back to the point . . . . One of the networking meetings that I attended opened every week with the introduction that we “do business with those that we like, know and trust.” That is the essence of networking and building a network of people. These are also three things that can’t be faked easily. It was easy to spot the people that came to the networking meetings expecting a quick sale. They would usually attend for about 3-4 meetings, but then quietly left. The potential of quick sales was not there, only the investment of time into other people. Networking isn’t a quick fix for sales; it is an investment in getting to know other people.

Another easy spot in the networking game is the “what can you do for me?” person. They realize that they quick sale may not happen, but you can’t talk to them without feeling as though they are sizing you up all of the time. With very little genuine interest in you, the conversation focuses on them. They like to keep score, and expect much from others.

Relationship First
John makes an excellent first point of networking best practices:

It’s never about the sale, it’s always about the relationship – build first by giving

Regardless of the social media website, widget, or campaign, building relationships always proves to provide longer-lasting results. It also makes a big difference as to who invites you to join new networks, as many people hold higher levels of trust and like-ability. People are more likely to take a recommended action when you have proven yourself to be trustworthy, like-able and knowledgeable.

Investments in People
Taking the time to simply talk with people is an invaluable investment that has far-reaching results. Many times, I’ve been able to visit with a networking group that I haven’t attended in years, but still experience a warm reception. That only happens when it’s about the people and not the business.

Business has to take a back seat when building relationships. Honest conversation and care is genuinely felt by others, and it is something not commonly experienced on a daily basis. A good networking group discusses more than business, but business happens naturally.

How do we take this Online?
Well, there is the question. How do we take networking online?

1. Listen. The best advice is simply to search and listen at first. Find your market and sit back and listen to the conversation first. Don’t be “that guy” and jump into a conversation that you know nothing about. Listen first.
2. Give. Contribute something of value. advice or additional support. Your first foray into a new network should never be a pitch. Rather, it should be helpful information that benefits the group, forum, discussion, whatever.
3. Build. Build your reputation. Build your credibility. This is the time to establish yourself as a knowledgeable asset to the community. The more you contribute and help others, your estimation will increase. The help you provide will pay off down the line as an investment in your character.
4. Respond. When the time is right, someone will ask you for a direct opinion. Or, something that may arise that will provide the perfect situation for you to assert your knowledge and prove an opportunity to “sell” yourself. However, the difference now is that you are a person and not a (gasp) “marketer”.
5. Educate. Don’t sell. if you have followed the prior steps with patience, you can have the credibility to educate rather than sell, which always provides an opportunity to show yourself as an expert in your field. Educating is much more powerful than selling, and when it is done in the best interest of the community, it is welcomed.

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Privacy not invaded, but given away
I’ve done many presentations to parents about social networking and what teens are doing online. Many are frightfully uninformed. The largest danger is the thinking that social profiles are private, when they are just the opposite. Public profiles, for teens and young adults, can be a vast repository of personal information

My favorite story is about a guest speaker that taught a class of high school students about online privacy. When the students entered the room, they were shocked to find papers taped all over the walls of the room, all of which contained their conversations, profiles, pictures, and things that they assumed were private. All of which were found by the speaker online with only a few pieces of information. None of the students realized how public, and how findable, everything they did online really was.

Everyone is a Brand
Related to this is the fact that everyone is becoming a brand. Every person is your brand, and you will have to manage your online reputation just as any company would. Earlier this year, the John Edwards campaign came under fire for hiring two bloggers that made inflammatory remarks in their blogs (NYTimes). Some of those remarks were even contradictory to the views of the Edwards’ campaign. What may have been acceptable on a personal level was not acceptable for the campaign. The two bloggers ultimately kept their new positions, but not without Edwards distancing himself from them and their views, all of which created a large distraction for the campaign.

I believe that more and more people will have their online “cybertrail” taken into account as employers, prospects, recruiters, and possibly even clients start to realize the wealth of information about people at their fingertips. At one time, private investigators were the primary means of finding out this much information about people. Now, it seems, people are very willing to let everyone know their latest escapades.

Much more than tracking someone’s profile online, I realized that most people put more information on their social profiles than employers are legally allowed to ask in an interview. This isn’t just for kids, it’s for anyone that may complain about a boss, a co-worker, or have any problems at work. It’s about your personal life available online for anyone to find and judge. Once it is posted online, it is there for anyone to see. If an employer wants to find out more about a prospective employee, they don’t have far to go.

Managing a company’s reputation takes work; negativity is usually the result of bad products, practices, mistakes, or vocal critics. However, personal reputation may take an even bigger brush to cover, especially with the broad range of social media outlets. I have a funny feeling that personal reputation management will be a lucrative business in the near future.

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My wife loves wind chimes, and I found some very interesting and different types of chimes. However, as most ecomm sites go; there is usually a picture and a small description of the product. This is hardly enough to go on when looking for a gift that goes beyond a static visual image. The chimes I found were made of ceramic bells rather than metal or wood, so I was very interested to hear them. This is one product where the lack of sound is a deal breaker – I can’t imagine that many people purchase wind chimes based solely on looks. I wanted to hear what they sound like before I place them permanently on my patio.

How many other websites are taking advantage of the amazing technology that is available to them right now and at no cost?

Think You have a Boring Product?
Who says pens are boring?
A pen maker who creates wooden, turquoise and malachite pens created a humorous video using Statler and Waldorf from the Muppet Show.

He uploaded it to YouTube and the clip received 800 views in three months. Unfortunately, he did not add a link in the video description or in his YouTube user profile to help users find his website, www.woodenpenworks.com.

How many more product could engage a user by showing them the manufacturing process? Online video is no longer expensive and having it posted to YouTube can also increase exposure in ways never imagined by some marketing departments.

Where Customer Experience is the Sale
After this year’s Annual SiteLogic 4th of July Celebration, my shopping for fireworks has taken on a whole new level.

How do you shop for fireworks when all you see at the store are brightly colored boxes? Well, you go to the website and see a video of what the box will produce:

One of the favorite displays of the night was a box called “Guns of Navaronne” which we were able to preview on the Phantom Fireworks website. Sound and Video! All of which resulted in a very happy viewing audience.

Guns of Navaronne – Windows Media
I also know that I will be getting the “Strategic Air Defense” display next year!

For selling a product that cannot be seen until after the purchase, these videos are critical. At the fireworks store, it was obvious which people were buying based on researching the website and which were simply wandering the store.

In another instance that I learned about in Europe, The Royal Theater in Madrid, Spain mapped the entire theater for seating views.

Now, prior to purchasing tickets online, a guest can see the view from their seat prior to visiting the theater. Many felt that this would harm ticket sales, as many of the seats with bad views would go unsold. However, it increased sales as well as the average ticket sale! People knew what they were expecting when choosing the less expensive seats, which were available as others upgraded their tickets .

Image and Multimedia Optimization
Once a company begins to develop audio, video, and pictures to help sell the products, the standard website optimization rules still apply. Each media file contains information that is critical for search engines to find, index, and show in search results. The file itself needs to be named appropriately, containing a specific description of what is contained in the file. Use keywords naturally.

Each type of media also contains author information, such as title, subject, author, category, keywords and comments. Use each of these fields to adequately describe the content and link back to the website, preferably to the specific page in the website that is relevant for the media file.

It Might Be Happening Right Now – Without You!
How much more can you create a customer experience by adding additional audio or video of your products, production process, or the products results? In many cases amateur video uploaded to YouTube has created a demand and an awareness of a product long before a company was able to produce the same results. Bloggers who review products have all written about amazing reactions by people who purchase the product after they have seen someone use it and can see for themselves the benefits of how to use it properly.

Not only bloggers with video, but the travel trade has been turned upside down since the 90’s with the internet and social sharing networks. Currently on Flickr, I can view hundreds of photos of Mount Rushmore from almost every angle. Visitors to Mount Rushmore upload their photos and then add geotags, even down to the square foot they were standing upon!

In my own case, I uploaded video of a tree mower that was being tested back in January; As a result, the company that makes it has been receiving requests for the machine from all over the country, even before it was released. How’s that for an inexpensive marketing campaign?

There are multiple stories of everyday people filming products they have either enjoyed or experienced disappointed. Those consumers have been far ahead of corporate marketing departments, and have had a greater reach. They are setting the stage for the customer experience rather than the company that produces the product.

What are you doing to be a part of that experience and how can you create your own?

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Scenario #2: You are at a networking event, maybe for a chamber of commerce or a conference. You are in a group of people discussing industry “stuff”. Suddenly, a new person joins the group, inserts themselves into the conversation, and talks about their business and why everyone should work with them. Amazingly, they are selling themselves and their business when no one asked anything about it. (Again, people walk away.)

Scenario #3: Telemarketing Calls.

How do these three instances relate? I’m sure many have been in these situations and can identify with at least one or two situations. They all focus on someone interrupting the flow of a conversation and not “playing by the rules.”

I like to attend networking events, they are fun for me and I especially like the local chamber of commerce events, as I have made many friends over the years. They are well worth the time, as I learn about local businesses and the people behind them. Ultimately, the goal of any social networking group is to refer business to each other because we like them and trust them. It’s a significantly strong network.

However, I have also been in networking groups that force the relationships, simply because a member provides the service. Those don’t typically last long. The best networking groups are those that focus on the long term relationships and building those “like and trust” ideals.

Much like those networking situations above, the internet tends to devolve people into conversation interrupters. I am not really sure when it became cool to drop a link into someone else’s blog. Link exchange requests have always been suspect, in my opinion, as I have no knowledge of this person, their site, or even their business. Why would I offer a link to a site where I have no knowledge of the content or the purpose?

It seems as though the entire principle of interrupting conversations has taken on a whole new light.

First, the obvious comment spam (which didn’t even pass the spam block):

Then, the insideous link dropper, interrupting the conversation to talk about himself:

This is just terrible grammar, the depth of which is superseded only by the arrogance of the link. When the commenter states, “SEO Article” he is attempting to make it look like it is MY article he is referring to, when the hyperlink obviously shows that it is HIS own article that he is complimenting. Funny enough, when I followed the link to his site, it does everything that I preach against; keyword stuffing, repetitive usage, non-contextual positioning. Bottom line – it’s nowhere I want to send my visitors.

The questions in my mind when I see a link in a comment are:

1. Who are you?
2. What is the purpose of the link?
3. Do you contribute to the conversation?

To me, this is worse than spam. It’s SEO’s who know enough to work things to their advantage, and it looks like crap. No wonder SEO is getting a bad reputation.

Now, I’m not totally against link-dropping in comments. There have been times that I’ve allowed them to go through. Here is one from the Accessibility Blog that I allowed:

The author of this comment contributed actual content to the conversation. When they link to a resource that everyone can use, and it is on context with the conversation, so it was helpful to everybody. At that point, I didn’t mind the link to an article on their site – they contributed and marked it as such.

As Nigel Tufnell observed, “It’s such a fine line between stupid and clever.”

So, here are my rules for conversation . . .

1. Have something to say that contributes to the conversation.
2. Don’t be forward in linking to your own stuff. Build a reputation first.
3. Don’t “trick” the author into getting a link. Link text appropriately.
4. Most visitors don’t read blogs to see other people’s comments – it’s the author’s blog, not yours.

and finally,

5. Ask Yourself – Would you do or say the same thing in an offline conversation among a group of people?

Do you have rules for allowing comments on your blog? Are they more or less strict?

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Linkbaiting is a hot topic right now. However, one of the funniest definitions of creating linkbait was to “forget linkbait, think about the user first, and develop content for them.” Sounds noble enough, yet I find it extremely humorous. Mainly because of the language involved.

The word “linkbait” implies that someone would not have linked to you unless they were tricked into doing so. But in recommending that people develop content for users, without thought to the link benefit, the definition does not fit the word. Here is my concept of Organic Link Building:

Networking
Yes, good old fashioned face-to-face networking. Developing those connections and contacts that you already have is the best source of both business and links. You can’t beat it for effectiveness, and it is what most business owners tend to do naturally. Unfortunately, this lost ability can also be one of the greatest assets to link building. The concept of networking was to build relationships in markets, similar and different, and also to find people that you like and trust enough to do business.

After a good networking event, you typically come away with a handful of business cards, a few names and faces in your memory, but you also have a few specific people that you know that you need to call and follow-up. This is where blogging has been such a boon to the networking and linking practices. Summarizing your experiences in networking is link building. It may be making a link in the personal sense, but it can be easily translated into website links.

I would suspect that many SEO professionals who preach linkbaiting can look at their incoming links increase after they speak at an event or even talk with people in a bar. I see this as well, most of the links that I receive after an event that I attended are based on conversations that I had with people. They recount those events and conversations in their blogs. I usually watch this with a little bit of smugness, as the links were results of our conversations, and not any sort of baiting. Conversation is an interesting and natural thing . . .and highly underrated.

Joining the Conversation
The guys at ClearSaleing understand this. New to the blogging world, they have posted some great content about PPC strategies. They’ve jumped into the conversation with both feet. In commenting on link building strategies, they focused on networking (online and offline), joining the conversation, and developing your own network through blogging and press releases. Especially interesting was the comment that the best link opportunities are usually from existing contacts. “These contacts will normally be the people who know you the best.” Sounds simple enough, but it does imply that one is out networking in the industry, making contacts and developing a network. Links don’t come to you if you aren’t active in the conversation.

Unless people know who you are and what you bring to the party, they won’t talk about you, ergo = no links. Bringing new data, a twist in something that is previously accepted, or a new perspective will go far in getting attention and engaging your peers in conversation.

Especially in the web marketing industry, the best conversations to get involved in are not in the boardroom. Most times, they aren’t even official. They usally take place in the hotel bars of conferences, impromptu (or barely formal) get-togethers, via IM or email, or coordinating travel schedules. Casual, relaxed conversations can be the greatest source of information, content and making contacts.

A great example of this was making a road trip to Philadelphia a few months ago (I happened to be in town while working with a client) and a great meeting of SEO’s took place. I got to meet new people and reconnect with old friends. The conversations that took place were more stimulating than most panel presentations at a conference.

Content
The second concept is content.
Yes, I know, everyone preaches content in linkbaiting. However, content is organic – it grows when it connects with the right audience.

People always stress the “good” in content, as content is generic, but good content takes creative and skilled work to present. Good content is what makes people listen or read and stay attentive. However, good content can still be good, but not meet the needs of the audience. If the audience finds no need for the content at that time, or no personal benefit, then the content has little value.

This is where adding to the conversation can get you noticed. People notice good content, they pay attention to it because it is a new perspective, new data, or something interesting. When real, quality content is brought to the market, people take notice.

Context
The value of content is in the relevance and context of presentation to the reader. The site visitor determines if the content is relevant to them. The visitor’s perception of value is based on the expectations they have coming to the website. If your site satisfies their expectations, you have engaged that visitor, hopefully to a level of action, such as a conversion or a link. Most times, however, you have a visitor that is satisfied with the answer to their question or makes them think.

The Best Link Building?
This part is purely my opinion based on my own data:
In reviewing my site analytics, I have found that the best visitors have come from contacts that I have made face-to-face, and resulted in an online link to my site. Sure, I have links that send a lot of visitors, but the most effective links have been from people that I met either as a result of networking or joining a conversation.

However, more than just links, I’ve developed some very good friendships that started out as an email exchange which then developed into a very reliable and fulfilling friendship. I didn’t intend to get a link, but when people know that you are more interested in them rather than the link, they tend to be much more responsive.

Related Posts:
The Three C’s of Marketing: Revisited – Content, Context, Community
The Lost Art of Sales
10 Ways that Website Marketing is like Sales

However, in a recent business meeting, an associate explained their 3 C’s as the following (which was remarkably similar): Content, Context, and Community. I have to say that this resonated with me much more than the other version.

Context
In the first article, it was Content, Contact and Community. The difference is context, which is something that has come around more than once in my writing, analysis, and observation. In my opinion, context is quickly becoming the authority for many aspects of web marketing; as one example, it is changing the field of search engine optimization from rote tasks to truly understanding the site visitor and persuasively presenting the site to them, rather than simply targeting random high-volume words for search engine rankings.

Links and content, by themselves, are the building blocks of a website, but it is the context of both that determines true relevance to a visitor and to a search engine. The context of words on the page is as important as the words themselves. Links are incredibly important, but the context of the link can increase sales, damage a reputation, build relevance in the search engines, or attract a click-through from a searcher.

Context is what provides the overal perspective of a site’s content, links, and architecture.

Essentially, it distills down to a few simple principles of community. The concept of Web 2.0 is successful because it focuses on a community to create content within a strong context.

Context of the Community
While the social media new sites, such as Digg, can create impressive traffic spikes, there is very little common context among the visitors that come to a website from the social news site. The context increases with search traffic, as people are looking for information concepts, and they may find the information on your site. Context increases firther for visitors from related subject forums and industry publications. From continuing analysis of website traffic, the highest levels of visitor engagement are recorded by visitors from blogs. Blogs are especially effective as blogrolls, interlinking, and cross posting create a high level of context within a community that is typically built around a specific niche. A “contextual community” as I have been calling it.

In the contextual community, there isn’t a high level of competition for the reader’s attention. Links are within the context of a “conversation” with only a few selected blogs or publishers, and they are usually relevant to the common context. This is why visitors from blogs are engaged at such a high level. When they follow a link to a new blog or a website – other than a friend’s email, it is the closest thing to a true word-of-mouth referral online.

The bottom line is Content. (links are content as well)

Context of Content
Content is not equal. The same content on a webpage can be irrelevent and valuable at the same time, depending upon who reads it. The value of content is determined by the community and context in which it is presented. This is why directories have become almost useless, even irrelevant, with the increase of blogging – the community has migrated.

Amazingly, old-fashioned marketing principles apply, grow what works. Find your audience and build a conversation with them. If an event happens that gives you instant popularity, such as getting on Digg – ride the wave, have fun. However, be warned that trying to duplicate the wave without first building your contextual community will only provide very short-term results. Ultimately, you need to know your audience, invest in the community, and be a trusted source of information.

Related Posts:
Social Media Under the Microscope
Social Networks to Replace Portals?
The Lost Art of Sales

The National Pork Board contacted Jennifer and gave her a very sincere apology, and they are talking to her about rectifying the situation. Knowing Jennifer, she’s not out for herself. She’s mainly upset at the derogatory remarks made about breastfeeding made by Faegre and Benson lawyer, Jennifer Daniel Collins. Interestingly, there has been no word from Faegre and Benson, about this issue. It makes me wonder if this C&D letter was written with knowledge from the Pork Board, or if this was the result of the firms’ actions. Regardless, someone made the call, and the incorrect judgments, inflammatory statements and fuzzy legal interpretations came with Ms. Collins name attached.

The Power Shift
Here’s my take on this Blogstorm and from observing many others. Corporate attorneys are not popular. (Say it isn’t so!) But really, in the past, corporate attorneys, especially Intellectual Property lawyers were able to send out threatening C&D letters to anyone and intimidate them into complicity. What we have been witnessing lately is a complete reversal of that power, and I can name many situations in the past year to support this assessment.

The power is now in the hands of the citizen marketer, especially one with a personal blog. Anyone who has a dispute with a corporation or a corporate attorney can now bring their case to the court of public opinion and have it heard by thousands of their peers. As any attorney knows, the court of public opinion is critical, and almost more important than anything that happens in a courtroom. The citizens are able to bring their case online and have it analyzed by other practicing attorneys, apply to the Digital Rights Foundation, or bring attention to their matter with a few posts, emails, and contacts with the right people.

This means that we are closing the era of unleashed corporate attorneys who intimidate small businesses and individuals with confusing legalese and strong-arm tactics. The blogosphere crackles to life when these situations happen because it feeds the frenzy. The crowd mentality develops its own sense of justice.

The culture is changing, and bloggers are building a louder voice and capturing more of the public opinion. Their word spreads faster and with more momentum. A press release is like a cymbal in the storm when bloggers are in full swing. I am interested to see where this goes in the future, and how many more cases will be tried in the blogosphere. Bloggers don’t speak legalese; we have conversations with each other. When another person, usually a corporation or an advertiser, enters the conversation with a sense of entitlement to be heard, it will be rejected. One-way messages don’t work here.

Now, a personal judgment.
I did a simple search on Google for the “trademarked” phrase, “The other white meat.” What I found in the first four pages of results had me scratching my head. I found amazingly blatant examples of trademark infringement on the EXACT phrase. Why go after a breastfeeding mom with a “small” blog, who isn’t even using the same words, when there are blatant examples so easily found?

Here are some of the Google results for “The other white meat”

PrankPlace.com, selling T-Shirts with the slogan “Cat: The Other White Meat”

Animal Defense Militia, “Grandpa, the other white meat”

The Urban Dictionary – multiple phrases, including “Baby, the other white meat”

Amazon.com, book –“Poodle: The Other White Meat”

Seattle Weekly – Video – “Eat Whale the Other White Meat”

CaféPress, T-Shirt with the slogan “Cat: The Other White Meat”

The Washington Post – “Cicada, The Other, other white meat”

Snopes: Website – “Rat: The Other White Meat”

Movie: Porn Industry – Pink: the other white meat

YouTube, Mars Volta concert footage of the song “Abortion: the other white meat”

You have to be kidding me
Is this enough to make you sick to your stomach about the choice of target for Faegre and Benson lawyers? They go after a mother who is raising money for the cause of helping premature babies, and ignoring the blatant, tasteless and even offensive trademark infringement that is within well within their ability to find. Yet breastfeeding has tarnished their client’s good image? How about the association with abortion, the adult film industry, and whale hunting?

One blogger noticed 56 copyright violations on Cafe Press of THE ACTUAL PHRASE! Now, why target one CafePress user, who has a shirt that is a play on the phrase rather than the actual phrase itself? And why did CafePress quickly remove Jennifer’s shirt and not any of these other, more obvious infringements? What kind of legal tactic is this, where they ignore the elephant in the room?

My deduction is that Jennifer looked like an easy target. However, if they would have taken the time to read her blog they would have quickly realized that Jennifer was fresh off organizing a protest against Delta Airlines for their “boob” job.

Looking to the future
I hope this is a shot across the bow, as blogs are changing the way and the speed that people communicate. It doesn’t take long to communicate to like-minded people, and most of them will do what they can to do bring light to a situation they feel is unjust.

However, it doesn’t have to be all bad. Good news travels too, not as fast, but many bloggers are just as willing to compliment business for their professionalism and god works as well.

Thanks to the Pork Board, for apologizing and doing what is right, though I suspect they were a third part in all of this, they are still doing the right thing with the apology and working things out with Jennifer.

Related Posts:
Pork Board protects image While I have Beef for Dinner

Viral Marketing Gone Wrong

Coca-Cola Watches the World Pass By