Internet Marketing

For months now, Portent CEO Ian Lurie and Director of Search Marketing Elizabeth Marsten have not slept. They have not eaten. They have missed out on critical episodes of True Blood. Why? Because they have been brewing brilliance with co-authors John Arnold, Marty Dickinson, and Michael Becker, developing the second edition of Web Marketing All-in-One… Read More

Internet Marketing

These are the notes from my Mozcon 2012 presentation. I emphasize ‘notes’. There’s quite a bit of stream-of-consciousness going on here. If you want to see the presentation and supporting materials, instead, go to the bit.ly bundle, or check out the slides themselves, right here: I think the folks at SEOMOZ are mad at me.… Read More

Internet Marketing

If you want to skip the babbling and just sign up, click here, then install the app. Life is very random. You’ve probably noticed. For example, did you know that I like Marilyn Manson’s music, but I’m also a fan of Beethoven. I love to watch the NFL but not baseball. I like electric cars… Read More

I biked to work today. Which has nothing to do with this post, except that I biked back, too. My ride home includes a 500-foot climb that pitches up to a 10%+ grade in a few places. No big deal when I was 30 (or even 40). But now, at 44, with about 10 extra… Read More

PPC

Froogle, Google Product Search, Google Shopping- whatever you call it, it’s integrated with AdWords – now more than ever. And if you think Google is going to stop there…yeah, right. This just got a bit more competitive is all. Oh yeah, and less free. If you’ve been following along with the recent announcement that Google… Read More

I went to read The Skills Gap Myth on Time.com this morning, and I saw this: I know I’m off Diet Coke, and low on caffeine, and my brain’s working in slow motion. But still, that’s an awful lot of uninterrupted text for a Monday morning. When you’re writing online, you need to break up… Read More

Today, Portent is moving to the Smith Tower. But before we can say hello to downtown Seattle, we have to say goodbye to Tukwila Life. If you’re unfamiliar with the phrase “That’s Tukwila Life” – it’s the motto of the city of Tukwila, where Portent has made it’s home for the last ten years or… Read More

SEO

If I say ‘Google Penguin’ to an SEO pro, they shudder. In the SEO world, Google’s Penguin update is the nastiest, scariest update since, I dunno, Florida? Here’s an explainer for all the marketers who are wondering what the hell just happened to their traffic: What’s an update? The engineers at Google constantly tune their… Read More

You remember that episode where Homer Simpson goes into space as a NASA astronaut? He only got to go because Barney Gumble has an alcoholic relapse and Homer was the second runner up. Scientist: Well, Homer, I guess you’re the winner by default. Homer: Default? Woo hoo! The two sweetest words in the English language:… Read More

Analytics

Who saved Middle Earth? No, not Frodo. His will shredded like wet toilet paper. Gollum took the lava bath, destroyed the ring, and saved everyone from a 36″ Dark Lord. Does he get any credit? Nooooooo. Nine-fingered Frodo is the hero. The ladies all swoon at Legolas and Aragorn. But not poor Gollum. Internet marketers,… Read More

Internet Marketing

I’ve put in some time lately talking about what internet marketing is not. I thought I’d take a crack what internet marketing is, for a change. Internet marketing’s driven by three principles that are often in tension: Note that I didn’t say The three principles of internet marketing. These are principles of internet marketing. But… Read More

Random

No, Portent didn’t merge with another company. But we just finished merging my blog, Conversation Marketing, into the Portent web site. From now on, you can find all the same stuff I used to write on Conversation Marketing here, instead. Why’d I do it? Let me count the reasons: The rest of the team at… Read More

Random

In business, everyone keeps confusing information with knowledge. They’re different. Even the dictionary says so: Information: Facts provided or learned about something or someone. Knowledge: Information and skills acquired through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. Information is ones and zeros. It’s raw data, or a list of facts. It’s… Read More

Internet Marketing

I want to emphasize that this is a friendly discussion between Rand and I—we’re colleagues and friends, plus our companies are close enough together that he could bring his much more numerous minions to Portent and wipe us out in one afternoon of horrifying nerd slap-fighting. I’ve received a few comments I deleted because they… Read More

Internet Marketing

Once again, I get to subject you all to my utter lack of artistic skills. I’ve been working on a simpler diagram of the internet marketing lifecycle for about six months. It’s finally ready, I think, for a public glance. This one boils it all down to a less-pretty but hopefully more clear concept. BE… Read More