Successful Blog

Personalised? Potential Problems? Perhaps …

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A Guest Post on Personalised Search by Christopher Angus

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Anyone that’s been in any branch of internet marketing such as Search, SEO, Social Media Marketing and the like will fully understand what I mean when I say that Google is always changing. The animal we seek to master is impossible to tame, if merely for the fact that the algorithm behind the Google search engine is never really still. Stable, arguably so, but the fact remains that engineer upon engineer, programmer after programmer are spending their time constantly tweaking the code and structure of Google, often leading to unexpected twists in the SEO trail.

The point that I’m getting at is that as a marketing expert, Search professional, or SEO company, one must be prepared to change with the times. Resistant to change some of us may well be, but change we must, if we are to survive. Of course, some changes are easier to accommodate for than others, some are small, some are large, the difficulty to change with the times sometimes – but not always – scales with the size of the change.

However, once in a while comes a change that is just incredibly awkward to deal with. A change that is so downright frustrating that it makes you wonder why you ever got into this business. A change like that has happened in recent days and continues to still happen. That change is typically referred to as “personalised search”, the process via which a Google search can become “personalised” or “unique” for a given user, particularly when logged in to one’s own Gmail/Google account.

It works by giving alarming priority to popular branded sites (presumably ones that Google thinks has a high amount of “trust” built up) and pushes these to the top of related search results, so you end up being more likely to find these branded sites in a better position than other, smaller, “less trusted” websites. This also has a literal knock-on effect of pushing the websites that were previously ranking well for related keywords (the smaller sites) out of the way entirely, as they’re moved to one side to make room for the “big ones”. From an SEO point of view, I’m sure you can understand the frustration here.

The popular stuff is getting clicked on all the time, which then subsequently becomes personalised and then you’ll continue to keep seeing those same websites every time you search for those related keywords. Search is rapidly becoming a popularity contest instead of a relativity contest, or at least whatever you want to call it: it’s not that anymore.

Another hurdle on the path to success @ Search has arisen and so we must deal with it, or it will deal with us.

How are YOU dealing with the idea of personalised search?

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Christopher Angus is a successful internet marketer and SEO, having been rated the 26th most influential marketer in the world in 2009. His company is Warlock Media and he can be reached via email at info@warlockmedia.com

Thanks, Chris. I love learning about new tech … 🙂

–ME “Liz” Strauss
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Have the BIG Idea for the Next Twitter? What’s that Worth?

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A Guest Post by Carol Roth

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What if you had the BIG IDEA that trumps Twitter — the one that could get everyone to leave the Fail Whale for your newly imagined super-site? Or maybe your idea is for the next VitaminWater or Under Armour – what would that be worth?

You may know someone who came up with a great idea, or maybe you came up with one yourself – an idea that someone else pursued and made major money from. If you could just find a way to get paid for thinking of the next big business idea, you would be set for life. .

The problem is, you can’t.

The biggest bummer about business is that the ideas behind them aren’t worth anything. As Chris Brogan says, “I could totally do that doesn’t mean anything if you don’t.”

A penny for your thoughts … if you’re lucky

Nobody whose head is screwed on straight will buy a business idea from you (or anyone else) because any value related to a business idea is in its implementation. Maybe if you give someone a business idea they will one day send you a coupon for a free product, but that is about it.

The further something gets away from an idea, the more value that exists. Things like

  • customers
  • profits
  • innovative technology
  • competitive barriers to entry

create value.

The reality of the lack of value in business ideas is a shock and a disappointment to many people who want to get compensated for thinking of “the next big thing.”

Sure, the idea kicks off setting the business in motion, but coming up with an idea is a one-time thing that isn’t particularly difficult, doesn’t require much risk and doesn’t take a lot of work. Even if you laid in your bed fine-tuning the idea every night before you went to sleep for six months, this work pales in comparison to the amount of work required to get the business started and to make it successful. The more action you take and the greater the results that you achieve from that action, the more value you will create.

That BIG Idea for the next Twitter, Vitamin Water or Under Armour really isn’t worth anything at all.

All of the other facets of starting and running the business, of which there are many, are quite difficult to do. They require a lot of risk to do and to do well. They aren’t done once, but have to be attended to on pretty much a daily basis. They take a lot of hard work. So, in looking at this whole thing we call a business, would you place a lot of value on a one-time idea that took no risk to produce, or on the other myriad tasks that have to be done indefinitely, day-in and day-out, that take a ton of risk and hard work?

Bottom line: It’s not the idea; it’s the execution over time that counts.

Are you ready to put the work into that BIG Idea of yours?

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Carol Roth writes Unsolicited Business Advice (TM) or aspiring entrepreneurs, solopreneurs and other small business owners, at CarolRoth.com You can find her on Twitter as @CaroJSRoth

Thanks, Carol. Ideas are everywhere. Execution is not.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
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How Experts Can Really Help Beginners

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A Guest Post by Amanda Markham

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My Story:

I wanted to take my blog, Desert Book Chick, from its place on WordPress.com to a self hosted WordPress.org site. I signed up with a webhost, got my shiny new domain name, got in the driver’s seat, and off I went. It took two painful weeks before I finally had my site looking vaguely like I wanted it to look. Along the way I learned a lot. Being an anthropologist, I’m always looking for hidden cultural ‘memes’ and understandings. In the course of reflecting on my experiences, I found I wasn’t alone – and this conversation was born.

The Trouble With Beginners:

In our mind’s eye, we beginners have ‘the picture’. It’s the biggest, best, most eye-popping blog or website you’ve ever seen. It’s our baby, part of us, and we want to get it happening as soon as we can. Even worse, we desperately want to do it ourselves. Yet, lurking just beneath the surface of our shiny new websites are various shady characters like code, blogging platforms and flashy custom themes. Pretty soon, we beginners are stumbling around in the dark, losing weeks as we ogle tutorials, cut and paste code like mad cows, and trawl forums for answers.

And it’s a jungle out there! There are hundreds of thousands of sites offering tutorials and help, and the forums are like labyrinths, complete with the occasional cranky, biting creature that leaps at you from out of a dark corner.

Most of the time, (a nod in the direction of Donald Rumsfeld) we beginners simply don’t know what we don’t know. We don’t know that it’s not etiquette to ask for help in the comments sections of expert’s blogs (I’m not sure why this is), nor we do know that the same question we’re asking might have been asked 1000 times before in seven different ways. To be blunt, we just want to get on with creating our blogs and adding content.

A Few Words on Experts:

Whilst I can’t speak about setting up a blog from the point of view of an expert, I can speak about the characteristics of experts. They’re experts at writing code, plugins, tweaking the intestines of SQL databases, and other even more arcane and mysterious rituals that I can’t begin to imagine. Expert at things that make my mind go blank – in the same way the phrase patrilineal exogamous moieties probably looks like incomprehensible dribble to you. But I’m an expert in my field, I hang out with other anthropologists, chat online with them, read journals and ethnographies. Not for a moment is the phrase ‘patrilineal exogamous moieties’ strange or meaningless to me or my ‘tribe’.

The Anthropologist’s Gaze:

Beginners and experts are two very different ‘tribes’, speaking very different languages. I’m not telling you anything here that you don’t already know. What I’m highlighting though is the importance of listening and learning to speak each other’s language. After all, the ultimate purpose of tutorials and other resources written by experts for beginners is plain old communication and education – in other words, a conversation aimed a imparting knowledge.

Sometimes, however, the language barrier gets in the way: beginners can’t really hear what experts are saying. Other times, the way in which beginners work gets in the way, using both blogging platforms and tutorials in very different ways to which experts do.

That’s where some anthropological fieldwork -some user-based ethnography- comes in handy. Microsoft, Xerox and IBM employ ethnographers and anthropologists to go into homes, observe and understand just how people are using their products. They then use this information to improve existing or create new products. But rather than hire an anthropologist to start such a conversation, I’m going to suggest that beginners and experts get together and start a ‘conversation’.

One way to overcome the language barrier and really get into the minds of beginners is to get a group of them together and say:go for it guys! Give them your tutorial and get them to record step-by-step what they do and what it is they have in mind to achieve at each step of the process. Get them to write down the problems they had in understanding instructions. Ask: What do they do? How do they do it? Why are they doing these things? From this, you’d really be surprised what you’ll learn.

As an aside, I’ve used this method when consulting with Aboriginal Elders about all kinds of major works projects (like phosphate mines!) -trialling posters, 3D presentations and 3D storylines set up in creek beds and dusty tracks in the Australian outback. The process of asking people whether the story I tell is one they can understand, and their gentle advice on how to improve the stories I tell, has helped me learn how to speak their language and do my ‘thing’ better. It’s been an invaluable lesson that I’ve taken into every aspect of my life.

So think about it. Conversations, storytelling and listening: hardly rocket science, but the foundation of speaking each other’s languages.

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Amanda Markham writes at Desert Book Chick about books and the people who write them. You also find her on Twitter as Amanda467

Thanks, Amanda. We all need reminders like this one. Talking inside a fishbowl is a real social web problem for all of us!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

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Use the Power, Wonder Working Power in the Words

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A Guest Post by Hollie Pollard

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This week a christian hymn has rung in my head. The refrain goes like this “there is power, wonder working power in the blood”. With that song ringing in my head I got thinking about power and the power we have as bloggers. The dictionary defines power a couple of ways that I think applies to us as bloggers.

” ablitity to act or produce an effect” and “possession or control, authority, or influence over others”

Each of us who sit down to our computers to write has a power. Have you ever thought about the power behind your typed word? I have learned there is a power to words I and other bloggers use. We tap into that power each and every time our fingers hit the keyboard.

Every time we type we have the ability to become educators, entertainers, comedians, sharers, reporters, engagers, healers, builders of community and the list goes on. As a fairly new blogger I have realized there is power in the word and I have a responsibility with that power:

1. I must be authentic. My words have to be mine. I must share my way. I try hard not to compare myself to others in my niche. I think my story is pretty unique thus my perspective and twist may be different and may connect in ways others would not and with that comes power.

2. I want to inspire. I want to move people to action or at least engagement. In almost every post I try to achieve this goal. For me it is about finding ways to make life a little easier, a little simpler, a little less expensive but then I am a frugal mom blogger. I share how I am doing it. If I can get you to do something then I have tapped into that power.

3. I want to encourage. Every day there are enough trolls and critics. I find there is a real need for encouragers. We need more people willing to lift up others. After all don’t we all need our own cheering section. When I reach out to others I want to build community and lift it up and for me that is the best use of my power.

I have recognized that there is power in the word, wonder working power. Have you? What do you do to utilize the power that is your typed word and how can it make you more successful? For me, I feel successful as a blogger if I am able to tap into that power to be authentic, inspire and encourage.

How do you use the power of your words?

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Hollie is a solo flying frugal mom with a love for all things Internet related. You can find her blogging at Common Cents Mom or SimplyHollie.
You can find me tweeting at as well as @CommonCentsMom.

Hollie is also the winner of the FREE trip to SOBCon2010!

Thank you, Hollie!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz to become more visible on the web!!

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Beach Notes: Priceless Beach Art

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by Guest Writers Suzie Cheel and Des Walsh

Installation: “Flotsam, upright, after the storm”, Duranbah Beach, February 2010

Materials: Sand, found objects (timber)

Artist: Some Anonymous Surfer Dude

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Duranbah (accent on the second syllable, as in Duran Duran) Beach is only used by board riders and boogie boarders. Walking there one morning this week after big storms, we saw trees, branches, seaweed and various other bits of flotsam and jetsam strewn along the beachfront. Then this, with the upright pole definitely not even a freak effect from the storm.

Tantalizing.

We were reminded of many contemporary art exhibitions in trendy galleries we have visited. Only here there was no cheap wine and crackers, no little card explaining in artspeak what the work “means”. Nor any red sticker, or price tag

Literally, priceless.

Look around. Find some priceless creation today in your neighbourhood.

Suzie Cheel & Des Walsh