For some reason, and for some obvious carelessness, I now find myself stuck at Sea-Tac Airport for the next 11 hours. The reason? I missed my flight.. yesterday -_-.

Don’t ask me why or don’t ask me how it escaped me, but after some failed attempts at checking in at my Alaska Air kiosk just a few short moments ago, I proceeded to double check my email and make sure I was typing in the right flight number. “Sat”. Damnit. Customer Assistance… “Tonight at 6:50.” Damnit x10.

To say I feel lost is kind of an understatement. If I could sum up my feelings at this moment, it would have to be feelings of great stress, mixed with emotional letdown, and above all else, sadness. I’m leaving my family, my baby, my home for whatever it is Phoenix is, and at an airport…? I can’t even check my bag yet! Sure I could have someone drive down to keep me company until 3 or so, but do I really want to do that? Quite honestly, I don’t know if I’ve ever felt more alone in my life.

But to sit around and sulk at my current misfortune, I suppose it is in my best interest to work.

Peace

I hope you understand.

In the mean time, and while I’m here in Washington on vacation, get ready for some new exciting posts on search, social, and everything in between.

Peace

For a while now, I have used Yelp.com to find new places to get good food. Although I can’t agree with every single restaurant review on the site, I do have to say that it has helped me discover some great culinary finds both in Seattle and in Phoenix. But while my consumption of the site has been steady, the production of my own reviews has been null… until today.

After setting up a Yelp account, I have managed to check into three different places, write a review, and gain a few friends. Small potatoes, sure, but I think it is a great start to something I could totally see myself getting hooked on. From the check-in statuses, to member specials, or just the sheer bliss of having someone think a review of yours was helpful.. the benefits to being an active community member on Yelp.com does have its advantages. Let’s just see how much time I can devote to yet another social network though. Honestly.. a simple review shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes or so.

My advice: check out Yelp.com and don’t just USE the system… be a part of it. Isn’t that what social media is all about? Also while you’re there… look for me: gudmundson.yelp.com

Peace

Any ways, after checking the average rates, trends, yadda yadda yadda, I did a simple Google search for “National Mortgage Rate” and came up with this ingenious paid search ad:

Interesting huh?

So let’s dissect this just a tiny bit… It looks like a Paid Search ad, there’s a heading, some content, and then a link.. but then there are some radio buttons and a ‘Compare rates’ button. That’s new, well at least, it hasn’t shown up in a Google search result for me before. After a quick click-through, this is what I came upon…

Click the image to get a better view

Do you see what I see?

Sure it might just look like a great way for us to put in our home loan information and then shop around for the best refinancing options available.. I mean its just a phone call away right? But let’s just think about this for one second. Google has all of this information. We’re still at Google.com… we still see our iGoogle login at the top of the screen… why is Google helping me make this very life-changing decision by giving me some valuable information?

Want the hard truth? Google has stepped into the lead generation spotlight. Really.. and I think they have poised themselves to pretty much kill everything, or at least alter, in their wake.

If Google is able to put THEIR link on the TOP of their paid search listings… (Yeah.. it looks new.. so people are going to click it), why would anyone shop around further? I would think they’d stick around on Google for a little while longer right? So let’s just say they do so. Now, people are given hard numbers.. prices, rates.. even phone numbers! If I can see that I can pay $300 bucks less on my home loan with all of the same loan information and all of the same valuation, I’m going to go out and contact that particular bank.. for sure. So where does Google make it’s money?

Instead of Google Adwords selling a company a single click, now they are able to sell a company a true and honest lead. Oh my God. How much do you think companies are willing to pay Google if someone has actively shown an interest in their company and are very serious about buying a home or refinancing? It is really staggering to imagine the money that can be flowing between Google and their advertisers. But I guess that is life right?

So whats next? I say.. look for these same types of comparison shopping (aka Lead Generation) advertisements to flood your searches. It’ll be a while before it hits everything.. but if you’re looking at purchasing a big  ticket item… (mortgage/home, online education, insurance, etc) look out. By all means, USE IT! But understand that Google has poised themselves to get some major bang for their buck when it comes to lead gen.

Peace

So what fluff am I talking about? To make a long story short… it’s content.

We all understand that ‘Content is King’ and that content drives links, which drives traffic, which makes us successful…  yadda yadda yadda. But have you ever stopped to think about just what kind of content people are making these days? Are we all best selling authors? journalists? or celebrity personalities? No, we’re content creators, but I think the line between us and those traditional publishers is getting finer and finer by the day. But for differing reasons than what you might be thinking.

Sure I’m not Shakespeare, but the words I say and the things I do are relevant to me, as well as a small population of individuals who get a kick out of learning more about me. Although I don’t appeal to the mass audiences of the online world, I know there is a place for me somewhere.. either a well known niche, or just my own backyard. It’s kind of a brand thing. But as consumers begin to rely less and less on mass media and more and more on specialized media, personal opinion, or voice, it is clear that our viewpoints are becoming a lot more important to the continuously increasingly educated population. Although some people might think this is a fallback on progress and the romanticism of emotion and personal feeling..  I will argue that it is the humanization of progress. A necessary evil needed to make sure we don’t end up like the workers on Metropolis. (I’ve never thought about falling in love with a robot)

Do I think my own blog or my own content is fluff content? Sometimes, but to all of you who read this, there has got to be a least one simple takeaway you can gain, right? There is no question that that vast majority of information out there has some kind of agenda to it, but I think that has kind of been the name of the game since the idea of popularity first plagued our minds. “What do I need to do in order to get this…?”

The moment when too much effort is put on the result and not enough on the execution, we will see the masses becoming wise to the publication of fluff content. But although it is not really a bad thing, it could eventually lead to the restructuring of how we make, see, and use data on the internet as we know it. Agendas are fine, but make sure you’re actually giving someone a reason to be a part of your agenda… otherwise, you’ll lose them all in the long run.

Peace

Although I know the answer, I feel that I need to persuade myself again and again the reasoning behind it.

I don’t consider myself an expert at anything, but I think the underlying purpose of blogging is primarily for personal growth. Today, social media has turned into a business of communication. While blogging is a vital aspect of this communication, the personal blog has become a strange conundrum for the working professional, especially if that person focuses in social media on a day to day basis. While we tell ourselves that the coordination between personal and professional humanizes our professional appeal, it also seems to ‘mechanicalize’ our personal appeal, which I think can be damaging. Is it too much to suggest that every one of us is a sell-out to our own personal brand? No, but then again, that is what makes our brand… personal.

So to make a long story short, I will be the first to admit my personal brand is pretty chaotic. Although it was first built on a foundation of appeasement to all those interested in listening, it began to turn into personal heartfelt story, and now is a vast juxtaposition of creativity, logic, and pure insanity. Is that really who I am? Maybe, but I think everyone one of us has to be a little insane.. it’s what makes life fun right?

So what is next you may be asking? I guess it goes back to that whole idea of personal growth. It was a sad and gloomy day when I realized I couldn’t make millions of dollars through my subpar writing skills, but that is not going to burst my bubble! Recollection, description, and logical creativity in a natural prose is really what I’m trying to produce for me and me alone. Whether other people come by and say hi, I will never know, but I do know one thing for sure… actually I don’t.

Peace

Needless to say, there was a central theme that somehow made itself heard throughout all of the mumbo jumbo. With the divide between social and SEO becoming more and more blurry, the actual digital content/assets on the webpages themselves are beginning to take central stage in where everyone wants to lay high importance towards. Without universal understandings of what and how you actually want to optimize a piece of content, you are sometimes better off not putting the content up in the first place. Without a general integration strategy, or even simple plan of attack, the marketing and promotion efforts you have put so much money into, can sometime turn sour! So what do I do?

If you’re marketing yourself personally, this can be a really enlightening experience. You don’t always take a step back and analyze just who you are personally. Whereas if you are marketing or promoting a business or separate entity, this experience can also be very rewarding in that you can take it upon yourself to ultimately understand without a doubt just what it is you are optimizing or selling. Sure you can pick and choose those high trafficked keywords that YOU think will work, but are they relevant to your product… Are they relevant to your product in 6 months?… or even, are they relevant to you business as a whole? As an individual who specializes in SEO, one should take it upon themselves to reach out, talk, and work with everyone in the company who are willing to help grow your understanding. In addition, work on planning press releases, articles, social campaigns, and whatever else around your SEO strategy as well. If you can communicate and optimize your plan, your keywords, and your vision with your company, people will more likely want to jump on board, and help you help them in the long run. Because that is what you are doing right?

Although there are tons more issues revolving around the simple concept of optimizing content for SEO, a good first step in any plan is to INTEGRATE. Sure your body parts can all have separate jobs, but if you want to learn how to dance, you’re gunna need some coordination.

Peace

Any ways, because Andrea delivered about four weeks early, X-Man spent his first 5 days or so in the NICU unit at the Children’s Hospital at Banner Good Samaritan in Phoenix. Although we wanted desperately for the little guy to come home with us right from the beginning, we can’t help but thank the doctors and nurses enough for the help and assistance they gave me and my family during the time we were there.

With everyone home, healthy,and resting (in increments of 3 hours) things are going great… except for our house of course. Actually, work to our kitchen and living room is nearing the last trimester of their renovation plan, even if it did take a few extra weeks. Paint is up, cabinets are up, counter-tops are just about up, and to make things even better, our backyard now has grass!

Sometimes it is crazy to think about everything that has happened over the last 2 months or so. Actually, really.. over the last year. With Andrea’s and my move to Phoenix almost two years ago, we never really knew what to expect, or how our lives would change. But as I sit here (at work) writing this blog entry, I have to say things are going really well. Sure we really do miss our families and friends from back home, but our time by ourselves has really made us grateful for each other, our 1 year old basset hound, and now our son.

So I guess it’s back to work. Blogging? Sure why not. Writing.. yes of course, and venturing… the sky is the limit.

Peace

As Andrea is nearing the end of her pregnancy, we been fairly busy with our landscaping projects, kitchen remodel, and the nursery. To make a long story short, we’ve had our hands tied up in home improvement projects for a few months now, but things are beginning to iron out and come to fruition. For starters, our kitchen should be close to being finished by the end of next week, along with a new coat of paint in practically the entire house! I can’t wait to smell that -_-. Also, all of our rock, and brick in our landscaping has been laid and set, so now we’re just kind of waiting around from some nice new grass. That should be coming down the pipes in the next week as well.

Finally, Xavier’s room. As final preparation for Xavier is underway, his nursery is coming more and more together with each passing moment. Which is a good thing since Andrea went into the hospital last week for premature labor. Thankfully, she’s alright, and Xavier can bake a little longer Still, Andrea’s not to happy to be on bed rest for the next three weeks.

Any ways, as you can probably tell, things are happening fast and furious right now. I know I haven’t blogged, or even updated my Twitter status in ages, but I promise some good content (including pictures) really soon. I just don’t want to show you a pile of dirt in my yard

Peace.

Any ways, to give you an idea of what we’re doing though, here’s our todo list:

• Create landscape design (rock work, pavers, grass, new plants).
• Purchase and install new pavers, rock, and plants.
• Repair sprinkler system.
• Plant new grass (seed in front, sod in back).
• Wall up kitchen door.
• Make new kitchen door.
• Take out cabintry.
• Update plumbing in kitchen.
• Update electrical in kitchen (and rest of house).
• Lay new hardwood floor.
• Install new cabinetry.
• Install new plumbing fixtures.
• Divert gas line to kitchen.
• Frame new walls for kitchen.
• Drywall new walls.
• Install new lighting.
• Update vents, take out old.
• Install new vents in bathrooms.
• Finish Xavier’s room.

That about covers the major stuff. Again, I don’t have any pictures, but check back Friday, and I should have some pictures for you then. In the meantime please keep your fingers crossed that this stuff gets completed in a timely cost-effective manner. I’m crossing my fingers as hard as my fingers can cross.

Peace.