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After the Demon SEO Panel at the London Affiliate Conference (LAC), (btw it wasn’t videoed so if you didn’t attend tough luck) I [...]

When SEO Gets Dirty is a post from: Dave Naylor’s SEO Blog.

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When SEO Gets Dirty

I’m flying to New York City today for the Audience Conference, so I thought I’d share a quotation about the relationship between writers (or any content creator) and the people they hope to connect with.

When talented people write badly it’s generally for one of two reasons:

Either they’re blinded by an idea they feel compelled to prove or they’re driven by an emotion they must express.

When talented people write well, it is generally for this reason:

They’re moved by a desire to touch the audience.

~Robert McKee

Let’s discuss. What do McKee’s words mean to you?

About the Author: Brian Clark is founder of Copyblogger and co-founder of DIY Themes, creator of the innovative Thesis Theme for WordPress. Get more from Brian on Twitter.

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Here’s Something to Think (and Talk) About

Due to my recent overload of travel, I’m not at the SMX East conference this week in New York City. Yes, I’m skipping the conference put on by the people who pay me to write for Search Engine Land. (That was a fun email to send. “Dear Danny, sorry but I can’t help out this year at one of our signature events. Love, Matt.”)

Anyhoo, if I was there, I’d have grabbed a front-row seat at the Ranking Tactics for Local Search session. Since I wasn’t there, I’ve had to settle for reading Lisa Barone’s recap on the Outspoken Media blog. Would suggest you do the same….

This is a post from Matt McGee’s blog, Small Business Search Marketing.

Local SEO Tips from SMX East

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Local SEO Tips from SMX East

I love speaking at conferences. I love the buzz of being infront of a crowd of people who have chosen to come to a session that I am in, who have made the effort to part with their cash and attend the conference, taking time out of their busy lives. The other part of conferenceing that I really like is meeting up with old friends and meeting lots of new and interesting people.

Over the years I have learnt a few lessons along the way since I’ve been on the conference circuit for around 8 years now. I have recently come back from Budapest where I was on the SEO Panel at the Budapest Affiliate Conference and I’m really pleased that I kept my control again.

SEO Panel at BAC - Bob Rains, Me, Jason Duke & Gary Beal

Control .. what do I mean by that? Well its all about being able to party and socialise with a crowd of your peers and manage to get up the next morning for a good breakfast and the day ahead. I have learnt over the years to be able to go to the parties that are plying all the attendees with free drinks and to make sure that I don’t over do it.It’s not to say that I don’t drink, but its about how you drink to stay in control and know your limits.

Many of my friends will have witnessed a different Dave to this and there have been times that I have stayed up for 48 hours solid at conferences and done sessions along the way, drunk myself sober and made an arse of myself but things have to change. Perhaps I’m just getting old … or perhaps its because I am tending to go to more conferences with Becky and we get ourselves into business mode.

If people have paid good money to see me speak I kind of feel that I need to give value for money to the crowd and to the conference organisers …not that I don’t always give good value for money, I just prefer not to feel really rough while needing to think intelligently.

One other thought while I’m on the subject are the the parties at conferences. Yes they are a good opportunity to network with people but with the offering of so much free alcohol there is sometimes no wonder why the early morning sessions are low in attendance. In Budapest the main party was in one of the best clubs called the White Angel but since the noise level was so high no one can hear each other, plus with the majority of the party goers being men there never is much dancing going on. I’d suggest that if the party was to be held in a big venue like a club that the noise level could be lowered a bit to let people continue to network. But again perhaps I’m getting a bit old and serious about the business that I run with the main aim to focus on the reason why I’m actually at the conferences.

Top Tips:

1. Get some networking in before the parties – Never be afraid to approach people and introduce yourself on the conference floor

2. Arrange to go to dinner with people as you’ll have a more focused conversation, plus you’ll not be drinking on an empty stomach

3. Throughout the day drink plenty of water / fluid as you’ll easily dehydrate during the day

4. Stick to one drink – don’t mix grape & grain

5. Know when to call it a day, and never be afraid of going off to your room – it’s not a competition to see who can stay up the latest

6. Plenty of water before you sleep, set the alarm, have headache pills at the ready and make sure you get breakfast.

Dave

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Speaking at Conferences

It’s that time again! Another conference around the corner calls for a liveblogging schedule, wouldn’t you say?

SMX East in New York City is taking place the week of October 5. If you haven’t already bought your pass, there are several good reasons to get on it… now!

Tomorrow, Friday, September 11, is the last day to get the early bird discount. After Friday the cost of registration returns to the standard price structure, but you can still save some dough on an All Access Pass by using the discount code smx15bruceclay.

If you’re not sure if you’ll be attending yet, allow me the chance to explain what you’d be missing. First of all, Search Marketing Expo is an online marketing conference that spans experience levels and specialty fields.

For instance, if you’re an advanced-level SEO and don’t know if SMX has anything to offer you, check out Bruce Clay’s Advanced SEO Dream Agenda for the conference. A rigorous schedule like that is enough to keep an SEO hopping all week. There are also dream agendas crafted for beginner SEOs, PPC professionals and in-house marketers, links to which you’ll find on the SMX East home page.

You’d also miss out on Bruce Clay’s one-day SEO training course on Thursday, October 8. An extension of the conference, Bruce presents a condensed version of our SEOToolSet Training course targeted for a convention audience. And, as we all can attest, with the speed of change in the industry, ongoing training on SEO best practices is a helpful thing. Beginner SEOs will learn more than I can even pretend to explain right now, while advanced SEOs almost always walk away with a new kind of understanding.

Now, if you’re on the other side of the spectrum and you’ve looked over the SMX East agenda and have no idea what session to go to first — oh, all the amazing choices, I know! — it might help to know what sessions I’ll be liveblogging at the show. That way, if you can’t decide which great panel to attend at 3:45 on day one, you can see that I’ll be liveblogging Increasing Conversions through Better Usability, so you can attend the other session without worrying about missing too much.

Before I jump into the liveblogging schedule, I have a quick request. You’ll notice that on the third day at 12:45 p.m., I’ve listed two sessions on my schedule. No, that isn’t a typo. I’m really asking for your input.

Would you rather I cover Social Media, Search & Reputation Management or Pumping Up WordPress For SEO? I couldn’t decide because both speaker line-ups look fabulous. I also like my liveblog coverage to have a healthy balance of online marketing fields (a scoop of SEO, a sprinkling of PPC, a dollop of social — I think the blog tastes better that way), and as it stands, day three is already weighing in heavy on the social media side of things. So rather than trying to predict what you’d like to read about most, I figured I’d just ask! Have your say in the comments, please!

Monday, October 5

Tuesday, October 6

Wednesday, October 7

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SMX East 2009 Liveblogging Schedule

If you’re in Melbourne Australia (or can get here) on 22-23 September you should check out the Marketing Now conference. I’ve mentioned it previously but since doing so there have been some changes.

Previously this conference was $1000+ to attend - the organizers were going to donate the profits to charity. However they’ve rethought things and have decided to go with a new approach. It’s now FREE - on the condition that you make a $100 donation to charity.

The speaker list is pretty cool and the agenda is one that I think many will find useful.

I think it’s going to be a great couple of days and am really looking forward to being a part of it. I’m also excited that it’s now much more accessible pricing wise and that from what I can see on Twitter the numbers are going to be quite large as a result.

I also think that it’s great that this conference is all about raising money for charity - I’m donating my time to speak and am excited to see the local blogosphere and social media networks joining together to make a difference - whilst also learning from one another.

I hope you can join me!

Post from: Blog Tips at ProBlogger.

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Aussies! Join Me at MarketingNow Conference in Melbourne [Now FREE]

So last week I was at SES San Jose and thought I’d share a few thoughts …

I’ve got no idea what the actual attendance for the show was, but it seemed a little bit lighter than previous shows, which I would mostly attribute to to the weakened US economy, but the show was well attended. The keynote from Clay Shirky was awesome, and really enjoyed it. As I’ve been to a few shows over the years, I tend to avoid the beginner and introductory panels, and stay with some of the more advanced panels, such as “igniting viral campaigns” and the “Advanced SEO Roundtable”. However my favorite panels are the site clinics. The thing I really like about site clinics, are how it separates the “men from the boys”, you can tell who has some idea what they are talking about and who can think on their feet. The best site clinic panel I attended had Matt Cutts, Tiffany Lane, Greg Boser, Vanessa Fox with Elisabeth Osmeloski moderating. This clinic had an excellent variety of sites ranging from adult toys, RV’s, cheap airport parking and hookah’s, it was that awesome.

There were two parts of the show that didn’t live up to expectation, the Charlene Li keynote and “social media black hat vs white hat”. I’m not sure Charlene Li had a grasp on “who the audience was”, and I felt her material was below everyone, except the first time conference attendees. The social media panel was a great idea but IMHO opinion the moderator kept putting the brakes on it every time it got interesting. For most sessions you don’t want panelists arguing back and forth, but for a “black hat vs white hat” you want to encourage, foster, and nurture an atmosphere for healthy debate. When thst moment of conflict occurs let it happen and play out.

This was also the first year without the Googledance, but  the folks at Webmaster Radio stepped up and threw and excellent party at search bash, and the IM charity party was a success as well. However for me the most fun was shooting a PSA with Matt Cutts about hacking for links.

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To conclude, conferences like SES provide a really great opportunity for new and intermediate level marketers to grow their skill set. For advanced attendees it provides an opportunity to get face time with your collegues and peers, talk about issues, problems, theories or things you are seeing. However as my friend Everett remarked the most important thing you get from a conference is a renewed sense of motivation:

So long SES San Jose thanks for a great show looking forward to San Francisco next year.
photo credit: toprankonlinemarketing

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SES San Jose 2009 Recap

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SES San Jose 2009 Recap

As SES San Jose looms around the corner, I’m a bit sad that this is the first year that I have missed the conference. We made a decision back in May that I just couldn’t spare the time to take a week out of the office, as we have started many new clients this year and have new staff to settle in. Its a real shame to miss it but I’m sure I’ll be back there next year.

The next speaking gig that I have will be in September over in Budapest. I have been asked to be on the SEO Panel at the Budapest Affiliate Conference (BAC) which is being held from Thursday 10th - Sunday 13th September. The SEO Panel is at 14.15 on the Saturday and I’ll be alongside Bob Rains, Gary Beal and Jason Duke. In April at the Amsterdam Affiliate Conference (AAC) we shared some of the latest SEO techniques and answered lots of questions from the audience, so the Budapest session promises to be more of the same. Registration is still open for BAC and affiliates go free!

Becky and I will be heading to Budapest on the Thursday evening and heading back to the UK on Saturday evening. Hopefully we’ll have a bit of a chance to take in some of the city as well as the conference centre and parties. Unfortunately this means that I won’t be able to attend Think Visibility which is happening at the same time as it was a really good weekend back in March over at Leeds.

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Speaking at Budapest Affiliate Conference (BAC)

My Twitter $5,000 Twitter contest with Clickbooth ends at midnight tomorrow. If you haven’t entered yet, you have until then to do so. There’s really no reason not to enter because it’s one of the most simple contests ever made.

With Affiliate Summit East right around the corner, we’ve decided this was the ideal place to pick the winners. So on Monday, August 10th at 12:30pm, we will meet up at the Clickbooth booth (#2217) with a 3rd Party Person (that’s not involved with the contest in any way) who will help Clickbooth and I randomly select the winners for each tier.

As of right now we have hit the first two tiers which means there will be at least two winners picked at the booth. If Clickbooth can hit 5000 followers by the end of this month, there will be a tier 3 prize of a 24” iMac or a Trip for two to Las Vegas. They care currently at 4,194 followers. Think we can get them to 5,000? Let’s go for it!

How to Enter:

• Follow @JohnChow
• Follow @Clickbooth
• Send the following Tweet to your followers:
  

  I’ve just entered to win a $5000 Twitter contest! Just follow @JohnChow and @clickbooth and RT. http://xr.com/clickbooth

If you are attending Affiliate Summit East and you are entered in our $5000 Twitter contest, make sure you head over to the Clickbooth booth on Monday to see if you are a winner! If you’re not attending the conference, no worries, we will be filming the entire thing and posting it on the blog once we return. (FYI You DO NOT have to be at the conference to claim your prize. All winners will be contacted via Direct Message on Monday, August 10th)

Good luck and enter now!

Find out what I’m doing right now by following me on Twitter.

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$5000 Twitter Contest Winners will be picked at ASE