Many people whom I know and respect have engaged in self-imposed Twitter bans recently. I have found myself fuming over tweets and fussed about it to people who don’t care, for ages and ages it seems. However, I totally rely on Twitter to keep me informed about absolutely everything that’s going on in our industry. If someone writes a blog post, I find out through Twitter. If Google decides to do something insane, I hear it through Twitter. I don’t rely on RSS feeds or bookmarks or word of mouth anymore; it’s just me and Twitter. However, Twitter is quickly killing my goodwill and sanity. The self-promotional tweets about how much money you just made or how many job offers you’ve just turned down turn my stomach. The bickering and bitching suck me in until I’ve read 10 blog responses to 1 inflammatory blog post, and hey, it’s time to go pick up the kids already. I no longer have time for such a mess.

What can you do though, if Twitter is your go-to source for information? Once you’ve been clued in for long enough, being out of the loop seems terrifying. What will you miss? Will so and so be fighting, again, and you won’t get to see the mean tweets back and forth? Will you not immediately know when some blog has published a post so that you can rush to comment on it and again and tell us how great you are? Will you stumble because you want to do something yet you’re unable to due to having become reliant upon follower feedback for every step you take? Does my new avatar make me look fat? Can you believe what this mean person said to me in my blog comments?

Think back a few years to how you consumed industry news pre-Twitter. There was Sphinn, which has gone away. There were RSS feeds which are still being used. We bookmarked blogs and checked them every now and again, and we participated in forums. Sometimes we had to actually dig for information. That was kind of fun, and not nearly as overwhelming as Twitter has become for me.

We now have Marketing Land and My SEO Community (both of which I am very proud to be a part of) and we have lots and lots and lots of curation. People are doing some seriously great roundups. Tamar Weinberg’s Best Internet Marketing Posts of 2011 was truly amazing, for example, and full of articles that were concerned with topics that aren’t just relevant for 3 days. We have Google Plus which already seems to be spammier than Facebook, with much of it being a repeat of what’s on Twitter and Facebook, but hey, there seems to be a bit less whining and bitching there right now. And, of course, there are still forums! There are private Facebook groups and group Skype chats. There ARE alternatives to staying informed.

My latest favorite way to keep an eye on this is by visiting Coconut Headlines, which is a fantastic overview of all the big SEO news. Just a quick glance at the headlines is helpful enough to keep you clued in on a basic level. You get the big SEO news site headlines, Q and A from Moz, forum topics, and more. Spend 5 minutes just skimming headlines here and you’ll save god knows how much time on Twitter.

But back to My SEO Community for a minute…our first blog entry in the Mad SEO contest truly blew my mind. In it, Pete Wise describes how to use Yahoo Finance to track what’s going on in Google.  He didn’t try this because Twitter irritated the pants off him or anything, but I think it’s a great idea. In the comments, Pete says “The more creative you can get with information filtering, the less you have to spend time sifting through it yourself.” We do have information overload so I like reading about great ways to stay posted on things but still be productive (and not keep giving a crap about what Joe said to Terry that was rude and now she’s going to get all her friends to block Joe.)

In the end though, I could never give up Twitter. It’s like smelling bad milk. You HAVE to do it. I’ve unfollowed some people who annoyed me the most but during calm moments, I kind of miss being so easily irritated by them. Just in writing this post, I think I’ve spent 2 hours reading tweets. After writing this piece, after thinking about alternative news sources, and after fussing and being annoyed, I’m probably still going to run right to Twitter to see what’s going on in the industry today. It’s just nice to realize that if I decide to give it up, I can still keep up.

I scored better than 8% of Adwords accounts in my spend range. Wow, that’s…humiliating, and quite humbling.

Wordstream has an awesome new Adwords performance grader tool that’s free and compares your account to others in your spend range (that they have previously graded, but they say that it’s millions) using more than 60 different factors. You get a general idea of how you’re doing then recommendations, in sections, for improvement. I like.

Naturally, this all ties into their PPC management software, which is available on a free 7-day trial. As PPC isn’t my main thing, I won’t be trying that out, but I do really like comparison systems, as I think they give us a great idea for where we stand in, um, comparison to everyone else. Everyone else, that is, who has run their account through this system. Still, it’s millions!!

So in addition to learning that I’m worse than 92% of people in my spend range, what else can this tool tell me?

• I am wasting a lot of money and should add negative keywords to my campaign.

• My keywords are too broad. They are like the backside of my fattest chicken, S. Epatha Merkerson.

• I have no good longtails.

• I am neglecting my account and probably losing ground to competitors due to a full 0 recent actions in the past month. That is dedication that you don’t find with just anyone.

• I don’t have enough ads for each group. However, with my worst ad showing a CTR of over 4% (the expected average is 2.3%) I am still smirking slightly.

• I have way, way fewer landing pages than my competitors. I like it that way though, so take that! Why create a landing page just for PPC? I know people do it, but how is that any different than cloaking? OK I’m joking. That rhymes.

Good news though! My Quality Score kicks ass!! I’m better than the rest of you monkeys with a 7.4 compared to the average of 5.2. Go me!!

My CTR is also awesome!!

OK that’s really all I’m doing well here…but seriously, this is one cool FREE tool. My favorite part is the end where there are happy green thumbs up images or scary and sad red thumbs down ones. I’m 50/50.

Now, I have said many times that I love free tools…I also really like tools that spit out data in eye-pleasing ways. I may be about 6, but I do love the graphics here because it makes the analysis much less boring. Once your report is ready it emails you a permanent link in case you want to look at it over and over and over again, or, more professionally, make tweaks to your campaign, then check your performance later on.

Here’s the thing about this tool: it does not compare your campaign to others in your niche, which means that while it is very valuable, you still can’t determine that just because you don’t have the same performance for asbestos removal as you do for discounted boots, you must suck. As mentioned above, it also compares your performance to others who have run their accounts through the grader. Still, since I like to look at performance in terms of trending rather than exact metrics usually, I do think that it’s really useful. I’d also find this quite nice to show to a client who balks at making changes. For example, I don’t have conversion tracking on this account for various reasons. Yes I know it’s critical, so don’t fuss at me, but still, I do not have it. I am not always at liberty to choose the ad wording or keywords either. A report like this is helpful because then my client doesn’t just think it’s me deciding to do something crazy just because I’m bored.

So try it out. It’s free, it’s cool, and you get to either feel superior to others or you can cry into your warm cereal at dinnertime.

On August 16th Abercrombie and Fitch asked Jersey Shore cast members not to wear their brand. Pretty rich coming from the company who was making pushup bikini tops for children.  Still,it was definitely a very clever marketing idea involving two tacky enterprises. Abercrombie certainly were all over the media right before all the kids who wear their overpriced and boring clothes went back to school. Clever indeed.

In my own tacky marketing move, here’s a gratuitous and totally irrelevant shot of hottie Raveonettes singer Sune Rose Wagner, doing nothing at all related to this industry or this post. He’s just maddeningly handsome. I think it’s quite obvious that he’s sadly toasting not being married to me right now. Poor man.

At first this did look like a smart attempt to prevent brand corruption. While I happily confess to never having watched that show, I am bombarded by images of Snooki with her big hair and tiny outfits and The Situation’s abs (less hair but still unnerving) every time I read my (FREE…I swear on my grandma’s grave that I did not subscribe!!) copy of the heinous rag Star Magazine. You can’t go to Harris Teeter and buy the usual box of wine and a can of Pringles without seeing these guys whilst trying to figure out why your shit won’t scan whilst (again yes sorry, I like the word) the cashier stands there judging and not coming over to help you. Yeah, I know the damn Uscan is open people, but it never works for me so that is why I’m in THE LINE FOR AN ACTUAL PERSON. Anyway, initially I thought of how Tommy Hilfiger became a joke in the States as it went from classic American sportswear to something a bit more…urban. 10 years ago, who’d have imagined that Tommy would hit Axl Rose? Brand corruption did it, I am telling you. I won’t even get into the Burberry-chavs thing in the UK because it is still a source of agony for me, owning Burberry and traveling to the UK where I am unable to display the goods (the bag I mean) without someone asking me where I’m from in Essex. I don’t even have a fake tan so not sure why they make that assumption.

Brand corruption is obviously not what this Abercrombie stunt was about though, but initially I did think “wow, they are doing the right thing here, even if it’s just plain obnoxious” but after a bit, I realized that it’s just another way to generate buzz. It’s linkbait. I used to like things like this and appreciate them for their cleverness, but now? Not so much. Yes, they got loads of attention, but what did it actually bring them? Did more people buy their clothes? Did anyone forget they once offered padded bikini tops to kids? Press of any sort can be a good thing but will their historical bouts of nuttiness simply lead to their own brand corruption? Other lower-priced retailers already sell Abercrombie-clone items anyway (with the exception of the aforementioned padded bikinis for kids.) If your polo shirts are $12 you can probably get away with pissing people off or just irritating them, but if they’re $68? Jaysis. You need to be making a name for yourself by giving a free $68 polo shirt to kids in need every time some frat boy buys one.

Speaking of good ideas like that, here’s another one…a photo of Alex Kapranos from Franz Ferdinand, who is not guilty of anything to do with brand corruption, polo shirts, or bouffants! He is only guilty of being insanely good looking and fronting a truly amazing band. People reading blogs like to see images it seems, and he’s prettier than Snooki.

See how my ridiculous interjection of shots of men I like kind of take away from my message? Hey, at least I’m not selling a polo for $68. Tacky seems to be the new thing though, so I’ll roll with it.

Is this like the boy who cried wolf? Is it like Lyndon Antcliff’s divisive hooker story that brought out issues of trust and industry ethics? (for the record I thought that story was highly entertaining and honestly, anyone believing it should stop sniffing glue every morning) Not to pick on Lyndon at all here, but if you had the idea that he was indeed an untrustworthy shyster and he wrote something that was on the edge of believability again, would you trust him? I would, of course, as I actually understand satire and don’t think the Irish are really actually being told to eat babies. However, if Abercrombie does come out and say that they’re donating $10m to help clean up Vermont after Hurricane Irene, will it make you drive to the mall, risking being shot (or is that just here in Greensboro?), to go buy a $68 polo and hopefully see some nude models? Or will you just sit back and wait for the punchline? I’ll sit back and wait.

Coming back from PR hijinks can of course be done. Alec Baldwin has a successful show after that phone call. My lovely husband still gets us business after his performance in Seattle. However, it takes a lot of work and honestly, after dealing with fallout, why bother in the first place? Broken trust is very hard to rebuild. It’s difficult to trust a person who has betrayed you. It’s hard to try another BK veggie burger after you’ve bitten into one containing an ink pen. Hey, at least it wasn’t a tooth I suppose…

Lastly, let me leave you with this image, as it would be quite rude of me not to showcase Udo Kier. QUITE RUDE.

Hi there, it’s me…Julie, the one who used to be prolific here but is no longer due to maddening amounts of chaos in my life that now includes a killer bloodhound, a flock of 6 hens, and a fledgling attic squirrel population. However, considering it’s this site that brought a lot of the aforementioned chaos (ie blogging opportunities and proper business) I should take it a bit more seriously, especially as I’m vacationing with the Viking and her family in August and France is the perfect spot for her to beat my ass, because we’ll all be consuming loads of Camembert and local wine. Oh, and omelettes, because that’s listed as the main vegetarian option in Normandy. Yay.

Anyway, looking back over the years, we’ve had some amazing posts here, and I love finding older articles when I do a search for something industry-related mostly because I love seeing how the industry changes, how what we think about a certain metric or technique goes out of fashion or stands up. With that in mind, here’s a list of the 20 most popular SEO Chicks posts over the past 4 years, for your viewing pleasure.

Do You Want To Rank For Large Fish?
Oh My Christ They Got Facebook
The Local File Google Local Business Hijacking Issues
Top 10 Favourite WordPress Plugins By A Pregnant Chick
Twitter Is Not A Social Media Strategy
How To Get More Followers On Twitter If You’re A Girl And Aren’t All That Interesting
SEOs Should Moonlight
How Keyword Matching Is Just A Little Like Online Dating
Shock Horror Blackhat SEO Discussed At SMX Advanced
Why Relevant Links Are Irrelevant
SEO Sheep Are Baaaaaaad
Google I Don’t Get It! Com vs Co.UK
Even A Blind Hog Finds An Acorn Now And Then
The Best Job In The World
How To Interpret What Your Clients Want
Could A Chimp Do SEO? Heck Yes!
What’s Changed In The Matrix? Ehm I Mean Algos
Yoda’s Ultimate Tool List Part 1: Competitive Research
Our Princess Leia: An Interview With Dazzlin’ Donna
Let’s Talk About Spaceships

Here’s a bit of advice for those of you looking for someone to help you out with your online marketing:

Don’t be such a complete asshat. For some of you, this is easier said than done (at least judging by some of my recent encounters) but try, please.

Here’s Bill O’Reilly in case you aren’t sure exactly what an asshat is.

Over the past few years I’ve learned that there are quite a few warning signs that tell me that no matter how much money this guy is waving around, I don’t want him as my client. As I co-run the business with my husband, we try our best to agree on which clients to take, but occasionally one of us has accepted a client that the other person didn’t warm to immediately. Due to one of these issues, we’ve lost a lot of money on a client who refused to pay us. As a small business, this kind of thing can be detrimental, as you can imagine. I have 21 employees to protect and after a few bad experiences, I’m simply not going to let my gut instincts be secondary any longer. I disliked this guy immediately as he spoke over me and did lots of name-dropping about all the famous SEOs he knew. He was, and still is, what I like to refer to as a complete douchebag and if I’d only been stronger is voicing my misgivings and standing firm, things might be different right now. Live and learn though right?

So I’m not going to just keep quiet about all the bad signals. I’m not going to risk my business to take on anyone willing to pay my rates. Therefore, here are some things I’d really, really rather you not do if you want to earn my business, and that of any other professional in this industry.

Don’t insult my accent on a professional business call, first of all. Yes, I am Southern and when I hear a recording of myself I do gasp and immediately think of banjos and fried chicken but some of you don’t really sound much better. If you’re also Southern but you live in a “big city” then, um, still don’t freaking insult my accent. You’re sometimes even more Southern than I am. Don’t call me a hick on a business call, and don’t assume that just because I don’t sound like I could cough up a hairball of disgust and indignation like some posh Brit, I’m stupid. I’m just not insecure enough to hide my accent. I also really can’t hide it due to it being pretty damned thick.

Don’t ask to speak to my husband if I’m the one you contacted initially after reading MY articles. Yes, he’s the CEO but when you ask if he’s around because you’re prefer to speak to him and not me, all that says is that you have issues with women. Or Southern women. He’ll just tell you whatever I tell him to say ANYWAY.

Don’t ask me to sell my services to you. First of all, right now (thank God) I don’t need to, Secondly, what that says to me is that you’re going to make my life a living hell if I take you on. I want to spend my time working, not checking in with you and kissing your arse. I don’t feel like being asked to sell my services mainly because if you need what we’re offering, I will sell it, maybe even indirectly. If you start out being cocky and condescending and ask me to tell you why you should hire me, you’ve already pissed me off enough that I wouldn’t work with you anyway. I totally understand that potential clients want to make sure they are making the right decision in hiring an SEO of course, but any SEO worth his or her reputation is going to sell services in various ways when you first make contact. We’ll sell by reputation, or word of mouth, or references. We don’t need you to immediately start trying to totally call the shots and tell us what to do. In this same line of thought, don’t obnoxiously say you’ve never heard of me when you did, in fact, send ME a damned email. Please realize that I haven’t heard of you either, most likely, especially if you’re a schmuck running a network of sites trying to promote overpriced gated real estate in Texas.

So basically what I’m saying is that if you are a jerk, I’m not going to work with you, ever. I doubt I’m the only one who feels this way. However, let’s look at what types of things make me say “wow, I’d love to work with these people!” because there are a LOT of signals for that as well, and I am happy to say that my gut instincts on loving someone upfront have never led me astray. If I like you immediately, I’m going to keep liking you.

I like nice people. Being nice doesn’t mean you are dull, or unintelligent. It means you have a basic sense of politeness and some good social skills. By and large, most of the contacts I receive really are from nice people, and I’m very, very thankful because I do not at all mind taking the time to respond to these queries, and always I am happy to help these people out in any way that I can, regardless of whether they have money, or fit into my schedule, or just need some questions answered and I know I’ll gain something concrete out of the exchange. Our oldest client (well, oldest to us…) is our nicest. No matter what he needs, he respects what we do and it shows. He was immediately nice and he’s never failed to be nice. Did I mention that I like nice people?

Here’s Judi Dench. I think she’s a nice person. Yes, I’ve been thinking for years about how to work her into a post…

Somewhat similar to this is a sense of gratitude. I like to deal with people who actually do seem appreciative of my time and what our business can do, again, regardless of whether we form a client relationship with them. I have never been as busy as I am right now, and most people I know are the same way. I don’t have much time to spare some days but if someone recognizes that, I’ll make time.

Lastly, I like dealing with people who challenge me in some way, whether it’s to answer questions that stump me or to somehow bring about a new way for me to think about something. My link builders are geniuses at this (especially cute little Rachel Alton), and some of my clients are. Many of the people who contact us ask truly fantastic questions that make me think about something besides spreadsheets, management, keeping timesheets updated, and HR issues. They make me remember the days when I was first getting into all this and couldn’t get enough. I’ve never known a single SEO who didn’t drool at the thought of figuring out an SEO problem.

I remember seeing Steve Carrell on some talk show ages ago when the US version of The Office first came out, and he was talking about what an asshole his character is…he said something like (and I’m paraphrasing) “if you don’t think you know this guy it’s because you ARE this guy.” I think the same holds true here. If you read this and think, god she’s a princess, well…you may be an asshat.

So if you do need help, now or later, respect the experience, knowledge, capabilities, and time of the person you contact. SEOs are fantastic about giving out loads of information as we write, participate in and run forums, function as industry journalists, and just respond to emails and IMs. Go on Twitter and ask a question and see everyone rush to help you out. Why would you ever want to insult these people?? Ah…it’s because you may be an asshat. Right.

The lovely Joanna Butler with her ridiculously crappy clothes pegs! In fact Joanna won hands down on the votes, pretty much 90% of you agreed that clothes pegs is a pretty crap Christmas present. So Joanna you are the winner of the #SEScrapmas competition and you will recieve a full conference pass to SES London 2011, whoop whoop!

Ultimate Crappy Xmas gift – “the clothes pegs”

On a different note, it was pretty funny how many comments and tweets we had objecting to the “Search Tower” lego set being a crap gift, aww all the lego fans (including my hubby).

Lastly, thank you to everyone that tweeted, facebooked and voted. Until next year…

Wow, now that’s a dodgy and gramatically incorrect title if there ever was one. So sorry I’m so late in posting the finalists for the #SEScrapmas competition . Turns out Wednesday (which was the deadline) was actually yesterday, days kind of blur when you are on maternity leave. The other day I walked out in my slippers, have also found my house keyes in strange places, you get the drift – I’m “two sandwiches short of a picnic” at the moment.

Anywho, thanks to everyone that entered the competition and hellped us spread the word, we had some cracking coverage and entries. We had so much fun hearing some of the stories and seeing the pictures of your “crap” Christmas gifts. Now YOU choose who will WIN the SES London conference ticket. And as us SEO’s have a tendency to spam the fuck out of online polls (come on we’ve all done it) SEO-Chicks have decided that votes will be cast via the comments instead. So without further ados here are the top 3 entires:

Entry 1. Andy Blackburn @andyblackburn who got a Lego of “Sears Tower” in Chicago, niiiiice, oh dear, we recon that is a pretty rubbish Christmas gift.

Entry 2. Joanna Butler @JoannaButler who actually got Clothes pegs for Christmas, that really made me giggle. It’s useful but not really high on your wish list I bet, a typical “caring Auntie” gift.

Entry 3. David Reynolds @Reynolds_UK who got a signed photograph of Matt Cutts, lol brilliant! At least the person that gave you this David had a sense of humour, I’m kind of secretly wishing it was from your girlfriend, that would be so funny. Oh Matt , if you read this. no offence, the SEO chicks would of course love a signed photo of you, any day

In addition, we would like to give an honorable mention to Claire Carlile @clairecarlile and her “nipple tassles” (yes seriously), which just raises several questions I don’t dare thinking about But as we know Claire already has a ticket to SES London we figured someone else would get the chance to attend. But thank you Claire for entertaining us and making us giggle, you’re too funny!

All votes will be counted and winner announced by Tuesday 18th January (figured I would extend the voting a few days as I’m a bit slow publishing the finalists). Let the voting begin!

SES London is just around the corner (22-24th February), and as official, associated sponsors; the SEO Chicks have a little Christmas love for you. And no greater love can an SEO have to give, than a free conference pass to one of the hottest search events of the year. Yeah,.. that’s right. I said “hottest” and “search event” together, (and that’s before we get to the party that Nichola Stott and Joanna Butler are organising – supported by SES. More to follow on party details later)

Now; we Chicks don’t just give our goodies away. Oh-no! You have to work for them.  So we thought it would be great to put on a little festive competition to give YOU the chance to win this fabulous SES Conference Pass!

Here’s the deal; have you ever received a crap Christmas gift? Of course you have! You remember the reindeer jumper from Aunt Edna? Daddy Day Care  on VHS, or the funny present from your brother that just wasn’t funny? (I once recieved a packet of crackerbread for christmas, it was wrapped and everything. I mean, really? WTF?). And have you every thought; “man I wish this was a ticket to SES instead”? Ok so maybe not that thought exactly, BUT the idea is you finally get to exchange your #crap for #win. Tweet us a pic of your crappest gift, in exchange for a ticket to SES London (2011) – and it’s a full conference pass (worth £1195 none the less).

Here’s an infographic, because it don’t mean shit till you see the infographic right?

Into this:

Here’s the deal:

1. Take a picture of your crappest christmas gift (preferably also with your lovely “mug” in the pic).
2. Tweet the photo along with the hashtag #SEScrapmas

We will then select the top 3 crappiest Christmas gifts and let our readers vote for the ultimate crappiest one and the lucky winner will then be able to exchange his/hers crappy gift for a shiny ticket to SES London!

The final 3 photos will be chosen and published on Wednesday 12th January and the winner crowned Friday 14th Jan 2011. Happy crappy christmas recieving..ehm that don’t even make sense….you get the drift.

ps: You can of course enter even though you don’t live in the UK but the price is for the conference ticket only, not hotel and flights, just so that’s covered.

In advance of SES Chicago; which kicks off in about *glances at watch*, now; we thought we’d share this little video to whet your appetite.

Jonathan Allen over at Search Engine Watch put this one togther, and you will notice a rather heavy focus on our own Lisa Myers’ other ‘arf, Jon D Myers. Apparently Jon is too tall to ever be properly captured on video. FACT. (D, of course, stands for Daddy. Plus big hello to our newsest SEO Chick.)

Have a look at the video, get your swag hashtag on #seschi and let’s get this show on the road. Please do let me know what YOU think will be the future of search.

Final p.s. – hat-tip to Bob Tripathi of Instant E Training, for supplying equipment for the vid.

Along with the list of skills that you need to possess in order to be a good SEO, I’d like to add the following:

Knows how to find a good mentor.

I’ve been in the industry for enough years that I do think that, for the most part, I know what I’m doing. I know what’s going on, I can adapt to industry changes very quickly, and I feel confident that the advice that I give is valid and worthwhile. However, I’m not stupid enough to believe that I can’t be wrong, which is why I am so fond of having mentors. No matter how much experience you have, someone else has more of it, and someone else has better quality. Also, if you think this is an arse-kissing post…you’re damn right it is. I owe a lot to these people.

Mentors Who Are Fun To Socialize With

I have many mentors that are my contemporaries in some ways (although usually much better at everything) and they’re the ones that I value the most. Lisa Myers and Anita Chaperon, with whom I started this blog, are the people who first encouraged me to write about what I do. Before that, I didn’t trust myself enough to do anything publicly. Since then, I’ve realized how important it is to be able to back up anything that I say, and to admit when I’m wrong. Just putting myself out there and open to criticism has been the best learning experience of my career. I can also say with 100% certainty that every single one of the SEO Chicks is just stupidly fun to go out with, if you ever have the chance.

Legends in the Industry

Since then, all of us at SEO Chicks had Dazzlin Donna as our mentor. She was like our mama chick, keeping us all in check and, because she was writing for us and therefore giving us a vote of confidence, it made me triple check every single thing that I said. No one was willing to let her down, and even though she never scrutinized us, she did offer enough guidance to keep us on the straight and narrow, even when I was fighting about how cloaking and paid links were peachy keen.

When I was asked to write for Search Engine Land, Debra Mastaler immediately reached out to me as her fellow columnist and Southern link builder. I cannot tell you how much it meant to me to have someone so revered in the industry act as if I was on her level. Liana Evans asked me to write for Search Marketing Gurus and was the first person to ask to interview me. I was so nervous that for days I could barely think of anything else…and then we had an amazing chat and I realized why everyone likes her so much.

People Whom You Trust 100%

Now, lest you think that because this is a female-written site I only have female mentors, there’s my current favorite SEO on earth…Paul Madden. I love knowing people who are much, much smarter than most of us but they don’t act like assholes. Even though he tries his best to get me to say something mean to him, he’s an amazing man who knows just about everything about SEO. He’s the one I want to bounce all my ideas off, because he will see the holes in my logic, and he’ll point them out without being a jerk. He also has a fluffy bunny that he loves.

Prolific Writers Who Rock

I read absolutely everything that Ann Smarty writes. I am totally in awe of her constantly useful posts and the fact that she never seems to sleep. She has definitely inspired me to try and write about ideas that are actually useful. That may sound silly, but I do have a fondness for the non-useful writing.

Common Sense

Jill Whalen is probably the most logical person in this industry. Whether you agree or disagree with her, her opinions don’t ever seem to be fueled by ego or rage. I’m not saying that she doesn’t care about the industry, certainly. I just love the fact that she seems to speak her mind without getting into a tizzy about things. You don’t usually see her ranting and raving. I admire that. It’s taught me to stop taking things so damned personally. Now, if she’d just turn blackhat…

The Model of Class

Christine Churchill. I don’t think I really need to say much more than that. I’d really like a WWCD bracelet (What Would Christine Do?) I was lucky enough to be able to interview her once, and she thanked ME.

Blackhat Scum

It’s no secret that I like the black hat boys and girls. I’ve learned more about SEO from chats with them than I ever have with strictly by-the-book whitehat types. I love that they have crazy and clever ideas that are just absurd enough to work. I love their passion for constantly figuring out something new to try, and I love that they’re the ones testing tactics that I might be able to use successfully. I won’t mention any names here lest people start making hateful comments, of course. They know who they are.

Your Own Little Flock

I particularly like to think about all of these mentors and what they’ve done for me when I deal with my own staff. I love nothing more than for one of them to ask me a question that I can’t immediately answer. I love it when they think outside the box and can trip me up. I love seeing them grow and become really, really good link builders who also happen to know more about SEO than they think they do. I love that they feel comfortable asking me questions, even if they preface them with “I know this is crazy/silly/stupid but…” and I love that THEY make me think. They make me think A LOT, even my newbies. It’s tough to explain SEO to people outside the industry. It’s tough to start someone out in the field, who has no knowledge of it, but it definitely is a truly worthwhile thing to do.