SUPERNAUT!

Derby City Blues: Mint Julep Alchemy

admin — Sat, 07 May 2011 19:28:23 +0000

I haven’t lived in the Dark and Bloody Ground since late 2007. I tell you this because when I am back home on Derby Day I have a ritual of sorts. I enjoy a mint julep, although not just any one will do. I have a special recipe that I’ve kept secret but would now like to share. Some folks may frown upon my alchemy of the traditional Southern drink, and they can make theirs how they like – these are simply a delicious deviation from the original.

If possible, you should use Sterling Silver cups. If not, a pint glass will do, but under no circumstances should you make my tasty bourbon drink in a plastic container. This may sound pretentious, but the bourbon does not chill properly, nor does the mint crush properly in a plastic container. One of the other secrets for proper taste is having crushed ice instead of cubes. Be sure to crush the ice in a blender or use a bar towel and a mallet if you did not purchase it pre-crushed. For best results, enjoy on a warm day.

The Main Ingredient:
Bourbon - Evan Williams Single Barrel is my favorite whiskey to drink neat. For this recipe, the brand matters not, but I use Kentucky Gentleman or Early Times for large batches.

Ingredients:
1-2 tablespoon of sugar depending on your taste
1 tablespoon of Meyer’s Dark Rum
6-7 mint leaves
1 sprig of mint for garnish
shot of hot water
3 ounces well, call or top-shelf bourbon
Crushed ice
fresh clove of nutmeg

Directions:
Put the sugar in the bottom of the glass along with a tablespoon of dark rum and dump a shot glass of hot water in there with it. Give it about 30-60 seconds to cool a bit. Next, put your mint in the glass and bruise it with a muddler. Then pack the glass with crushed or shaved ice to the brim. Finally, pour your jigger of bourbon in and shove a straw along with mint garnish into your chalice of splendor and grate a tiny bit of nutmeg on top. Now prepare to bet on ponies and get crunk with the classy.

5 Tips for Quitting Smoking

admin — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 19:00:48 +0000

After doing business with them for 20 years, I am done with the Lords of Richmond. Entering my mid-30′s, exemplifies the fact that I am not invincible and that I am also not nearly as active as I once was. I felt the need to make a change in my behavior towards myself, and smoking cigarettes is most certainly destructive. My kids and wife are my main motivation, and I have armed myself with gum and lozenges containing nicotine to ease the withdrawal pains of addiction. But 20 year old habits are not easy to break, especially when you are as stubborn and resistant to change as I am. So what can I do to keep me on the path to eliminating tobacco from my life. Meltdowns are inevitable, as Korean and Irish roots both carry a reputation of short-fused, and immensely explosive properties – so – great, I have that going for me. Here are the 5 actions that I can practice to keep my alter ego at bay:

1) Let my loved ones know ahead of time that I will probably be irritable and even irrational insane while I withdraw from my smoking habit.

2) Begin martial arts training as an exercise regimen. Exercise relieves stress and helps the body recover. Martial arts demands commitment and discipline in order to advance. Start off in the beginner’s class if you must. Consult your physician before beginning any exercise program, especially one so rigorous.

3) Learn what triggers my desire for a cigarette, such as stress, finishing a meal, driving to work, drinking beer or coffee, etc. Avoid these triggers or if that’s impossible, plan alternative ways to deal with the triggers.

....can't smoke on this plane, eh?

4) Meditate by deep breathing each day for 3 to 5 minutes. Breathe in through your nose very slowly, hold your breath for a few seconds, and exhale very slowly through your mouth. Try breathing with your eyes closed and visualize your way to becoming a non-smoker. See yourself enjoying your exercise. See yourself turning down a cigarette that someone offers you. See yourself throwing all your cigarettes away, and winning back your health for doing so. Develop your own creative visualizations. Visualization works.

5) Believe in yourself. Believe that you can quit. Think about some of the most difficult things you have done in your life and realize that you have the willpower and mental/physical fortitude to quit smoking. It’s up to you.

Gonzo (Inhouse) Linkbuilding Survey

admin — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 14:19:32 +0000

Link building savant Garrett French of Ontolo asked me to complete a survey for inhouse SEO’s to determine what challenges and advantages insiders have that agencies may not. These answers are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of my employer. Working for a law firm has me disclaiming everything these days. For those keeping score at home, the survey can be found on Ontolo’s site:

>>Day to Day Link Building

>As an inhouse SEO, what are your top 5 most important link building tasks and responsibilities?

1) Figuring what keyphrases to target for anchors
2) Determining what competitors in my space have that works
3) Developing relations throughout organization and their outreach for opps
4) Measuring success/retention rates monthly + reporting of quantity, quality, effectiveness
5) Always look for new opportunities (paid ad campaigns, content bait, press releases a-text)

>What, if any, link building tasks would you be comfortable outsourcing?

I enjoy the challenge and the glorious triumphs of link building, but if I could spend more time strategizing other projects to maximize conversion I’d have a larger budget next year based on ROI (projecting 87%). So, I would outsource the whole damn process to the right company, but I’d want to learn from them – most lb co’s aren’t down for that (but I can think of one exception).

>How much of your time is spent on link building related tasks on a day to day basis?

Based on a timesheet, I’m gonna say 2/5 of every weekday – but every moment I am clocked in, once I got obsessed with seeking link opportunities.

>What are your top 5 most important link building tools?

1) Garrett French is a total tool, and he also builds links. - Seriously, having an industry thought leader to learn from is priceless GOLD + all the widgets make data intensive tasks easy for an over-caffeinated, aggro SEO.
2)Telephone/Email
3)Brand recognition in my competitive space
4) Ontolo’s Query Generator
5) Raventools tied with SEO for Firefox

>> Inhouse Link Building Campaign Design

>If a fellow inhouse SEO asked for help in developing a link building campaign, what questions would you ask them?

What are your core MDKW’s?, have you looked at what your competitors have that works?, Is your on-page sufficiently automated so you can dedicate most of your time to linkbuilding?

>What link building tactics work better for inhouse SEOs than agency link builders? Why?

Exploiting the outreach of the firm’s contacts – I can accost someone at the coffee station about his alumni status and his recent publication in industry manuals. I have access into their personal and professional interests on a more intimate level.

>As an inhouse SEO, what link building techniques have you found that scale (if any…)?

Anatomizing competitors by practice area focus. Our firm has many practice areas, I find the highest ranking local and nationwide competitors in those spaces and apply their tactics to my project.

>> Internal Credibility and Influence for Link Builders

>Can you describe techniques or tactics you’ve used to grow your internal trust and credibility with colleagues?

By showing results both in SERP’s and in quantity of links attracted. helping the casual blogger with their basic SEO. I show them in their own parlance – the same way they would compile empirical data for a case, I do the same in terms of showing them my ‘body of evidence’.

>How do you get colleagues to perform tasks related to link building?

By explaining the importance of linkbuilding to my job. Teaching them that every press story, donation made, community event that we take part in, contains an opportunity to link. Showing them that they are an extension of my abilities – (they too are linkbuilders).

>How have you grown your colleagues’ ability to identify and act on link opportunities?

I realize that you can’t beat some people over the head with a link building brick because they’ll not learn by any means until the pop culture demands it of them. I start with the online community; the fantasy sports player, the casual blogger, the type that can grasp galactic concepts such as “get the webmaster of your church to point a link from the church’s website to your business profile on our website”. I then seek out members of the marketing department in other channels – because if I win, they win.

>What metrics do you use to convey link building success to upper management?

The simpler the better. I show acquisition reports from Raven Tools that display what I have acquired, as well as what I am attempting to acquire. Charts and graphs of quality/quantity always help them visualize progress. Moving up 23 spots to #3 for a highly competitive term with minimal content requires no explanation.

Small Town SEO Showdown

admin — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 02:03:34 +0000

I want to begin this post with a background narrative to set the stage of sheer stubbornness on the part of my protagonists – the Web Dudes. I grew up in Elizabethtown, Kentucky and I understand the area’s indigenous folk as an outsider. I’ve experienced racism and clandestine nepotism amongst this small town’s ‘elite’. I returned to my hometown 9 years after living in Durham, North Carolina and San Mateo, California. I was lucky enough to work with a great business mind by the name of Gary N. that started a web company to challenge the existing home-grown company’s product. Gary’s vision was to educate business owners into DIY webmasters and provide a platform for clients to make money. He appointed me Director of Business Development and I got right to it. I made connections with some good people in the civic organizations and local businesses and got things rolling in the client acquisition department. The cross-town rivals were beginning a serious decline. They were already wearing out their welcome with their clients by overcharging for 2nd rate services and even stealing their clients’ business models and then selling the remnants of failures to them for inflated prices. I punked the sales guyand his proposal to one business lunch networking group because his company failed to arm him with the proper ordnance to defeat a guy like me that can see your parasitic business habits. They failed to see me coming, and when I called them out in the open, they were naked on the battlefield. Employing Sun Tzu’s tactics, I brought the battle to them. A couple of months into the campaign, I got a really good offer in Florida and my third kid was on his way so I left CX Design for the experience and benefits, not to mention the weather and beaches in F-L-A. I felt like G-man had things under control and could automate his process to where he could operate without me. The greener pasture turned out to be lethal humidity and swamps, because I really didn’t care for the weather or the beaches…and the economy tanked 8 months later so I got laid off. I regret that move for many reasons, but the chief of which is that we were poised to turn our hometown into a rural hub of web entrepreneurs and evangelists of quality web products. CX is still around, they are just not the force they could have been if I continued to wear down the opponents with their own incompetence.

I noticed the Chamber of Commerce was ‘under new management’ and the new president lost his bid for County Executive (Controller) a few years back. Nice guy, just makes the same old tradition of trying to keep a constituency while practicing nepotism and cronyism. HINT: It doesn’t work, because we’re not all hillbillies. Some of us pay attention and can speak up for the ignorant. Well – they got duped, by their own kin for SEO services on the re-launch of the Chamber’s website. Proof here: Website Grader – This is why my hometown never evolves, because those jokers keep making the same mistakes of hiring their nephew to do a job that should be handled by a professional. I hated to call them out the way I did, but at least I provided some tools and data to not just back up my stance, but to help them at least get an understanding of the on-page neglegence they were committing. Leave it to at least one fanboy to try to tell me that they searched for the Hardin County Chamber of Commerce and found it… So, I didn’t expect the KVN Operator to understand search – but the guys that call themselves professionals should at least understand that NO ONE is going to be searching for a Chamber of Commerce to find information about the area before they move or visit there. Some people asked me why I even care since I no longer make Central Kentucky my home. To this I answer, because my friends and family still live there, and should not promote or purchase services from a company that cheats their clients and tarnishes my trade with snake oil. The fact remains that these charlatans have regained their footing in that micromarket and are regaining steam…and that does not bode well with a bare-knuckled guy like me. Scratch the not boding well…I’m simply appalled.

A Cameron Crowe Film

Bruce Springsteen Tune For the Nostalgic

“I want to be in Kentucky when the end of the world comes, because it’s always 20 years behind.” – Mark Twain

The Journeyman

admin — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:12:50 +0000

No, not the short-lived and ill-fated time travel drama on Fox (the broadcast network with less attention span than their viewers). Not the Clapton album of his brand of blues. I’m talking about myself, and many other search engine optimizers that remain behind the scenes. Often times, I get amused at folks that want to be revered as experts so bad they drop cleverly foolish statements like: “I’m gonna know more about SEO than you because I read more about it than you”. Yeah, I read Gray’s Anatomy, doesn’t mean you should allow me to perform Lasik surgery, even if it is a simple procedure. People that read and are instant experts should be avoided for advice on that subject at all costs. This type of behavior is a large part of what I feel is the source of the bad connotations our industry receives. I don’t claim to be a master of search engine optimization, but more of a journeyman. Years ago, (15 if you’re counting) I apprenticed pipe-fitting under a renown plumber. I recall asking him when he became a master plumber and he replied that he hadn’t. “But Tucker, you’re the most sought after guy for these government scale jobs because they know the craftsmanship that you present! How can you still be an apprentice”? He chuckled and said that a tradesman that has completed his apprenticeship and has been paid for his services that is not a master is referred to as a journeyman. I asked him why he never became a master of his craft and he had several reasons, the chief of which were: 1) he had no desire to submit any of his work to be judged by guys that did not ‘sweat copper’ every day, and 2) since he was not a Union member, he did not wish to be ‘over-qualified’ by holding a master’s certificate and ultimately be passed over for a lower wage-earner on jobs he wanted to work. I wasn’t sure what to make of Tucker’s cynicism at the time, but now it all makes sense to me. It wasn’t cynical, it was leveraging his expertise and reputation to get the jobs he saw challenging. Tucker’s measure was that of application in the field. He was the guy that met with the general contractors to develop the plans. When an improbable feat of mechanical wizardry stood in the way of inspections passing, Tucker was brought in for consulting. Flash-forward to today, I have since switched career paths from industrial pipe-fitting to internet marketing (the money is a bit better, but more importantly the manual labor is minimal and the mental labor is more stimulating). I have a new respect for Tucker and his philosophy on career advancement and his demand of as long as I worked under him, that I learn something new to try every day. I learned that when you hold the flame away from the joint, the flux paste sucks the solider into the desired seam of the coupling. This is not a sometimes, but if…else discovery – it works every time. I learned that a pipe-cutter cannot be forced to work faster or you’ll break the wheel applying too much pressure. These constantly equal results, render the practice of copper pipe-fitting a science.

Credit: Popular Mechanics

In my current studies/career, I’ve been elucidated to the fact that the practice of law is an art as the practice of medicine is an art. Most people would assume that medicine is a science, and the study of which is a science because it is learned with exact same results in a controlled environment. In practice, no two patients are the same, so the results will vary – making the practice of medicine an art. The same goes for the law, no two situations will be identical, and if they are, the first is referenced for interpretation by the latter. I learn about SEO or ‘manipulating the search engines to like your website’ (as Jimmy Tucker would bluntly put it), by reading what other industry master’s have researched and and then applying them into my practice if it meets the ROI requirements and if it can be measured and most importantly, if it can be proven effective. I don’t knock anyone for trying to educate themselves through reading, hell – we all should. Having said that, I would rather go to a mechanic than have my neighbor (and his crusty 1984 Chilton’s for a Datsun Roadster) fix the brakes on my ’04 Nissan Quest for the peace of mind that the guys that change brake pads every day offer. If you set your career path to something, it will take more than reading about it to become successful and it will take more than everyday practice for me to become a master of my trade.

Special thanks to the people that don’t laugh or scoff when I ask questions and the ones that encourage and challenge me to perfect my skills. - DJR

Classic Rock and Search Engines

admin — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 17:20:15 +0000

The start of my day generally consists of studying SERP reports and consumption of copious doses of both caffeine and traffic data. This absorption of keyword rankings and wake-up juice requires a soundtrack. Monday’s are usually the most intense mornings because of the extra load of the weekend’s reports combined with yearning for the Outer Banks paradise I just left hours ago. This requires a certain amount of chutzpah to get blood flowing to the proper channels of the brain. My Grooveshark knows the exact tunes to turn it on and keep it lit. Starting off the show is almost always AC/DC’s ‘Shoot to Thrill’ followed by a somewhat obscure Foreigner favorite of mine; ‘Long, Long Way From Home’. I always imagine a B-52 carpet-bombing my competitors with top results while they suffer the effects of my superior firepower on the first page to the first tune and a Bullitt style city car-chase/shoot-out scene to the second. This helps my brain process that despite being 60-70% dominant on the SERP’s, there are many other battles to fight and I haven’t won the war yet.

The next two tracks on the normal play list are two backbones of my philosophies: Black Sabbath’s ‘Supernaut’ and the Rush classic ‘Tom Sawyer’. The theme to my strategic attitude is that of an intergalactic being that can change time/space at will, and I am a modern day rebel, a free-spirited individualist striding through the world wide-eyed and purposeful. Noting what problem areas and ranking dips while air-drumming waiting for pages to load has reaped a few laughs from C-level executives passing by my workspace, but they leave me alone because they get marvelous results from me. The couple of hours before lunch are among the most grueling, that is when I run and study link reports, then I plan some link building and prospecting exercises before I break for midday. I always go out on Mondays because I hate the vendor that delivers to the firm. Once I return, I am usually sluggish and ready for a nap. That’s when it pays to have a voluminous selection of GNR, the Who, Def Leppard, BOC, KISS, Dokken, Bad Company and Golden Earring. These guys make sure I stay awake for the actual link acquisition process which is sometimes a frustrating as it is tedious. Spreadsheets and outreach letters are among my weaknesses as a search marketer, so it helps to have Axl and Co. start off the after lunch show. For those late thirty-somethings and 40-plussers, yes – GNR is now considered classic rock because Appetite for Destruction came out when I was in middle school, which was over 20 years ago making it ‘Classic’.

The last part of my Monday is spent anchoring text into articles, and revising metadata on page. I generally wind down with Steely Dan or ‘Floyd and also try to look for a good drum session song for my commute (those that live in Raleigh-Durham may have seen me on the freeway). I don’t limit the drum session songs to classic rock, sometimes I do a Weezer, Arctic Monkeys or Green Day hit, but the choices of rocking out are generally slimmer with new music, or perhaps I’m just growing old. At any rate, I just wanted to share how classic rock helps this In-House SEO cope with a case of the Mondays.