Doing the right thing, more to "feel good" about...

This is a story that centers around a football game but really has nothing at all to do with football.

The real story is about a community trying to heal, a young man turning his life around, and what happens when they collide.

"Thamail Morgan took the kickoff and headed up the field.

He was at the 20 ... 30 ... 40

He had been avoiding, dodging or just simply running through tacklers along the way. By the time he hit midfield, only open space was ahead of him. The two-time Arkansas all-state player was headed for a touchdown.

40 ... 30 ... 20

He glanced at the clock and saw the final seconds ticking away. He realized his team, Cave City, was on the way to a victory over Yellville-Summit, comfortably ahead, 34-16. He also realized two other things: This wasn't an ordinary game. And he wasn't the same Thamail Morgan.

When he reached the 2 yard line he stopped, took a few steps back, and then took a knee at the 5-yard line."

And with that the game was over.

Sure, now you know how it ends, but you'll want to read how they got there, just follow this link.

The King of the ring!...

I hadn't planned it this way, it just happened, but I have saved the best for last in this two week series.

Posting this late in the day is extremely unusual for me, but I have spent most of the day perusing the wealth of resources from one of the top providers of search engine optimization information, Planet Ocean.

Planet Ocean has been in the SEO business for 12 years which tells me two things, they must know what they are doing, and they must be making their clients very happy.

At $97 it's certainly not the most expensive option we have discussed during this series, but it is the most "complete package" and offers by far the best guarantee.

Here's a snapshot of just some of the things you get:

1. You get "The UnFair Advantage Book" - a 104 page downloadable .pdf that contains six lessons

Lesson 1 - Search engines listed in order of their importance and what you need to do to be listed on each

Lesson 2 - All about Keywords, what they are, why they are important, finding the right ones for you, their proper placement and proper density

Lesson 3 - Link Building , the basics, inbound & outbound links, reciprocal links, choosing links wisely, and getting links that match your topic

Lesson 4 - Critical Competitive Analysis, how to analyze your competition so you can do it better

Lesson 5 - Choosing the Right Domain Name , getting domain names that please customers and the Search Engines

Lesson 6 - Site Architecture, making your web site easy for Search engines to read and index

2. The Search Engine Master Chart - this provides you submission information for Google, Yahoo, Bing, and Ask. Indexing guidelines for each, important ranking factors, and the things that could get you penalized.

3. The Ultimate Directory & Social Media List - a list of the best and most popular directories on the web, their submission guidelines, and links that take you directly to their submission page.

4. Advanced SEO Tutorials Study List - 22 of the most detailed and comprehensive tutorials on SEO out there.

5. Site Strength Indicator - you can plug in your web address and you will quickly learn the strengths, weaknesses, and what you need to do to address those weaknesses.

6. SIX Month subscription to SearchEngineNews.com - which gives you access to everything listed above and more. Each month all these resources are updated to include any changes that may have been implemented by search engines and directories the month before.

7. A six month, no questions asked guarantee if you don't think your money was wisely spent. Think about that for a minute, how many other companies offer you their product to try for half a year and then offer to give you back 100% of your money.

And they offer more resources than I have listed here.

I am not trying to bore you with a list but to impress upon you the number and quality of the tools and resources that is being offered for the money.

Of all the things I've read today the one thing that impressed me the most was their integrity, and I'm not just talking about how they stand behind their product, but how they go to great lengths to be sure the reader fully understands the difference between right and wrong by demonstrating the unethical tactics some folks take to fool and trick search engines in hopes of a better ranking.

They bring our attention to these tricks not just to make sure we don't accidently wander into the wrong areas as we promote our websites, but to make sure we understand we should steer clear of those areas because it is wrong.

There is guidance in the former, but there is entegrity in the latter. An important differance.

I can't recommend the "Unfair Advantage" from Planet Ocean enough, you have nothing to loose and only business to gain.

Thank You!...

We have just one more post (later today) on social media, social networking, and SEO (search engine optimization), but many of our readers are not professional photographers, don't derive their income from a camera, might not even have websites, and don't really have a need for this marketing series.

They come here because they love to take pictures, they love photography.

So these last two weeks have been at the very least boring, and at worst as painful as a stick in the eye.

So for all of you who have been patiently waiting for this series to end I promise you we will get back to the "clicking of the lens" on Monday.

And a big THANK YOU for your loyalty and your patience.

Review of the BIG Folio DVD "Rank Higher"...

I am willing to bet that the number of photographers who have flash websites is in the high 90 percent.

One of the bad things we often hear about flash sites is that search engine spiders and bots don't do a very good job of indexing them.

It's not because flash websites can't be optimized (they can), but it does take a bit more work and effort that too many folks just don't put into it.

Well the web experts at BIG Folio (yup, the same BIG Folio that designs websites for photographers like Joe Buissink and John Michael Cooper) has made our lives soooooo much easier with the release of their DVD "Rank Higher".

This package (DVD, workbook, documents, and additional free resources) was put together for photographers who can't spell "html", those who do their own web work, and everyone inbetween.

Don't know what a text editor is? They explain what it is, why you need it, how to use it, and where to get a really good (and really free) one. And the same goes for stats, rank checking tools, ftp, code validators, and more.

There are many things I love about this DVD, like the fact that they use a large number of screen captures that give you a visual representation of exactly what they are talking about, because it would be too easy to get lost or confused when someone is discussing a topic you've never heard of before, but is crystal clear when you can "see" what they are talking about.

I loved that it comes with a workbook/checklist so as you are watching the DVD you can actually be performing the task being discussed and then check it off as "done" (though they recommend that you watch the DVD all the way though once, and then on the second "pass through" begin implementing changes).

"Rank Higher" does not have you working in a vacuum, it also comes with an online forum where additional updated videos, applications, and resources are posted and where you can ask questions and share information with other photographers and experts from BIG Folio.

There is also a good deal of information that has nothing to do with flash, like how to build a link network, or what a city search is and how you can use this to boost your websites visibility.

Writing this blog as provided me the opportunity to watch many good training/instruction DVD's, but this is the first one ever that has given me the opportunity to ask questions of peers and experts, receive additional guidance, and updated resources after the purchase.

I understand the value of a dollar and $79 is not an insignificant amount of money, but if you weigh the cost of the DVD (and all of the free resources that come with it) against your increased web presence (and the business that would represent), the returns will cover the cost of "Rank Higher" many, many times over.

"Rank Higher" is both a good educational opportunity and a very wise investment.

If you have questions about what comes on the DVD, how to access the forum, or even if you can sell the DVD after you are done with it be sure to read the "questions & answers" section here.

Using social media to promote your blog...

This seven minute instructional video is courtesy of one of the most successful bloggers out there, Darren Rowse, publisher of Pro Blogger and Digital Photography School..

If we are going to learn, then we should learn from the best.

Socialnomics... The book...

When you are looking for news or information do you turn on the TV or your computer?

Do you even have to search for it any more?

Socialnomics, by Erik Qualman, walks us through the rapid evolutionary growth of social media and how it has changed / impacted our lives.

Things have changed dramatically, we are no longer looking for things online (information, news, reviews), it is finding us on our mobile devices while we're sitting in the movies, driving in our cars, or waiting for us when we wakeup.

And this is not a one way push of information, it's a two way conversation, because companies will hear from us regarding their products and behavior, they don't dare ignore us because our thoughts and concerns will reach more people by twitter, Facebook, and YouTube faster and more thoroughly than their advertising budget ever could.

Companies are making the shift from "creating and pushing" to engaging, listening, and reacting to our needs.

Socialnomics is an easy and insightful read whether you want to understand how social media can help your business or if you simply want to understand how it shapes today's society.

A great example is the chapter on how Barack Obama's success was driven by social media, it has forever changed the face of political campaigns.

One of my favorite lines from the book is "live your life like your mother is watching, because she probably is".

On a recent trip away (without my family) I was surprised by how much we used Facebook to communicate, unlike the telephone, it allowed us to communicate at times when it was convenient for both sides.

The new social media world is here, we can either learn to live in it, or be left behind.

If you are part of the first group, Socialnomics will give you a better insight of the new world and help you better navigate in it.

It gets two thumbs way up.

You can learn more about (and from) Erik at his blog or Search Engine Watch where he is a contributing writer.

Socialnomics...

Seeing this video is what made me decide to do the series on social media and if this doesn't drive the "new media" point home, nothing will.

And again, I apologize to all of the subscribers, but to watch this powerful video you will need to return to the blog to view it.