I have to say welcome to SEO Blog World to SEOLoser, who posted his Pubcon experience on his SEOLoser blog. It is so real it is funny, and it is so funny most of the people he lampoons won’t realize most of it is so true.

I won’t reproduce his words here because you should go there and read them, but I will comment for those who have read them (and for the man himself).

First, the answer is “yes” to the question, “Is this the way people behave when fans come up and say ‘wow’ and stare at them?” You didn’t need to go to Pubcon to learn that. Go up to any human and stare at them in admiration and wait and eventually they will get uncomfortable. Still, it was fun to read your story.

Perhaps more more meaningfull comment is how you are exercising blog power on the SEO world. I try and preach this to my clients, and most don’t get it. You were nobody, wanting the attention of the SEO world, and so you blogged on-topic and in a timely fashion, and got the attention. That’s the story here.

Sure there’s Link Bait and Baiting in general (which you did to Rae and Shoemoney) but then there’s hook-humility (where you self-efface and wait for people to say “no you’re not! You’re not a loser!“. You did those, too. And they worked, too.

But I would like to suggest that they worked not because those people are easily baited, nor because they actually care about your low self esteem. They worked because dude, you can write.

Humans are drawn to potential. I don’t care what edition of How to Pick Up Girls you buy, or how many Dale Carnegie books or dating web sites tips you read, the bottom line is you are evaluated for your potential within seconds of first contact. I don’t believe Shoemoney is as much of a genius as he is an opportunist. You presented yourself to Shoemoney as a nothing. No opportunity. No conversation, no added value. And I don’t believe Rae Hoffman is as much of a genius as she is hard worker. Shawn Hogan? I don’t know him but I know he’s a very hard worker and a very smart guy. What potential did you show in your first few minutes of engagement? Nothing there for Shawn.

And let’s not forget that there are two polarities for potential : positive and negative. Your blog posed both to some of those who responded to your bait. Why risk bad vibes from you? (negative potential…detected by Shoemoney, even if his first judgement missed it). Why miss possibly looking good in front of the readers of your blog as it gets popular in SEO world, especially among contrarians? (positive potential…I see Todd posted. He is a gentleman that Todd).

Lucky for you, you’re not an SEO loser yet because you haven’t tried and failed as an SEO in SEO land. You’re off to a decent start as long as you stick to IM, email, and forums. You may be a loser socially, as you report, but that can be cured with practice (and those Dale Carnegi books).  

There’s still time to prove yourself to be an SEO Loser, though. Now that everybody in SEO world has expectations for you, let’s see how you do. Let’s see how you navigate the SEO world. That’s up to you, not the Rockstars.

Personally, the reason I am promoting you here is I agree with much of what you have hidden inside your post, and marvel at how you did it naturally while many of my clients fail to understand it. But I also want to say there are “SEO not-stars” that get plenty of value out of Pubcon, too. Sadly, you missed much of that because you spent so much time waiting for a bracelet to crash the Yahoo! party, or stalking Shoemoney till he had to use the restroom.

Truthfully, guys like you can be very interesting. People who come from the trenches of web world, bring to Pubcon clues that we SEOs need to compete. True, SEO Rockstars bring promotion potential, and are thus very attractive to people seeking attention. But if you are real, working SEO seeking attention of consumers on the web, there is more value in knowing how a particular industry is dominated by one company that is very immature on the web (that’s potential…see it?); or in learning the background and personality of the web master who leads in a new market niche you have entered; or impressing the hell out of a guy who has been impressing a whole crowd of others for 30 minutes with his SEO knowledge, so he then says in front of them “wow…you really do know your stuff“. You can’t buy that external validation through ecommerce. It’s only for sale in person.

At Pubcon I was a lucky winner of a Nintendo DS Lite from the Opera booth. I have to admit, I didn’t even know what that was, but I have always loved the Opera browser and especially on my mobile device (Windows Mobile 5). The Opera Mobile browser automagically re-renders an html page to fit the device window, which makes it virtually impossible to tolerate Pocket IE which requires you to scroll all over the place to see a page. Honestly, as I told the Opera people, Opera Mobile beta came out at the time I got my XV6700 and I use dit before even using Pocket IE. When the beta expired, I was left depending on using my PDA phone for web and had to try IE and ….. well it was minutes at most before I was downloading the full version of Opera. There was no comparison in speed or ease of use.

Now I have this cool little white clamshell “game boy” and it runs Opera Mini. Fast, easy, and amazingly well integrated with the DS, this thing detects and signs in to hot spots like I wish my laptop computer could. In Vegas my Thinkpad was sent off for IBM service, leaving me with only the Nintendo. There’s this little ice cream shop inside the Wynn that has free wifi and dang if it wasn’t just seconds to get online and browsing. Awesome. Starbucks? Piece of cake. Secured wifi at home? Just as easy… no worries, found the MAC no problem, added it to the control list and it and worked the first time I put the key in.

The holidays are coming and I can recommend the Nintendo DS Lite as a perfect gift for your kids, provided you also buy the Opera Mini cartidge and are able to confiscate the DS Lite whenever necesary for bad behavior, inadequate school performance, sub-optimal attention to chores, or even less-than-completely-respectful-comments if you are desperate enough to get online.  It just takes a “Hey. That’s your salad fork. Use your dinner fork like I taught you for the main course. That’s it. Give me that Nintendo back. You’ll get it back when you learn to mind your manners”, and that baby is all yours.

Sorry, but today Akismet caught 7 different dumps of blog spam which had each 400+ lines of href’s to IE7 exploit downloads (the one that launches embedded media player). All that garbage coming in means I won’t be scanning the Akismet catch basin any more. And that means that if you are one of those who get snagged by Akismet, you’re not going to show up in the comments anymore unless you get Akismet to white list you.

If anyone knows how to add a white list to Akismet locally, do let me know. I’d rather include everyone who comments here.

That is the question. And the answer is…. johnon.com.

Thus marks the return of johnon.com to the Google SERPs. Not the greatest #1 spot to hold, I agree, but given that a mere 15% or so of the traffic to this blog ever came via Google referrals, not that big a deal either. What about the more desireable SERPs? Well, I’m on the top of page 2 for John Andrews which isn’t far from reality pre-Google ban. And if you look for me in Seattle, I am back. I’m also still an SEO, but that might be because I walked around pubcon with a bright red SEO badge around my neck. One can never really know how effective those off-line promotions can be, you know?

I have to note that Black Hatter Dave Naylor is still #1 for Christine Dolce Nude, however, which was supposedly related to my ban somehow. He’s also #1 for Christine Dolce Naked. Go figure.

I really don’t care too much about those SERPs, but it is nice to know that I rank #1 for Christine Dolce desires John Andrews while Dave is ranking at the very top for Dave Naylor is not Christine Dolce’s favorite SEO. To confirm the now obvious, check out who ranks #1 for Christine Dolce’s favorite SEO. It’s not Dave:

While playing with a new “medication alerts on your cell phone” service invented by one very dedicated pharmacist, I linked over to a news article that John’s Hopkins had run a marathon organ exchange surgery day. Five healthy people donated 5 kidneys to 5 desparate patients in one session, across 6 operating rooms, involving over 100 surgeons, doctors, nurses and other health professionals. Wow.

As serious as kindey replacement surgery is, this sounds like a publicity stunt. And publicity it is getting for the hospital (one of the best in the world, of course) and the law barring payments to donors of organs (it may be too broad, preventing reimbursement for expenses and such).

The part I liked the best:

The couple turned to Johns Hopkins Hospital’s organ-exchange program, which they had discovered during an Internet search. 

John’s Hopkins is no stranger to marketing. I have appreciated their radio “medical minute” spots for many years, not for their content but for the way they injected “John’s Hopkins” into the conversation on topics other than lacrosse (okay, I grew up on Long Island in the 80’s so maybe that’s an atypical branding impression but it’s mine nonetheless).

I am convinced there is no upper limit to the amount of online promotion that could be done for such causes. Mayo Clinic grabbed onto the web early. Hopkins is so good offline, but the market is moving on line.

Scott over at Fused Nation said it well:

Now here’s a thought for the forum junkies out there.  For every stupid comment made without thought that is subsequently brought to light - how many aren’t?  Worth considering while you base the future of your business on information you read on forums.

Yawn. The eve of Thanksgiving. Normal people are at home, roasting chestnuts, sipping port on this chilly evening. Perhaps there’s a fire for the first time this winter. Meanwhile, a new set of IPs start crawling the web looking for “search engine spam”. Bwahahahahahahahahahaha.

Editor’s Note: That was not a rhetorical post. The IPs were from Yahoo! and started with 74.6.81.*

Paul Kedrosky notes that Flickr has begun to publish trend data on camera popularity. Not everyone is aware that jpeg’s created by digital cameras contain meta data (known as EXIF data). That meta data includes the camera make and model used to capture the image, the exposure settings, and other data about the camera and the shot. Flickr is aggregating the camera make and model data from uploaded images and plotting charts of camera popularity. Smart move. It’s early, but if it proves useful, it may be an opportunity for producing market data that has commercial value.

Extending the concept, I know my Canon EOS EXIF data includes the number of exposures I have recorded with my camera to date, and the lens I used for the image. That means if I upload jpegs directly to Flickr, Yahoo! knows how much I use my camera, and how close I am to having “used it up” (Canon’s EOS 10D has an expected lifetime rated in # exposures). In other words, Yahoo! (owner of Flickr) knows when I am a good candidate to buy a new high-end digital SLR camera. They know I own a 70-200mm IS lens with anti-vibration technology, so I am a high-end buyer. They know I also own a 135 f2 L series, also a higher-end lens. In fact, if I upload enough photos, Yahoo! can make a pretty good guess of which lens I don’t yet own (a super wide) and pitch it to me. 

That, my friend, is targeted market research data. And every time you upload an image to Flickr, you give that away for free. And someone else will monetize that either now, or someday in the future when it is worthwhile.

If you are doing anything on the web you should be paying attention to possible monetization strategies as you go down the road. They are everywhere, and many may require just a bit or two of additional data storage for optimization. Although most will not be worth pursuing when recognized, the day will come when your little bag of monetization ideas has real cash value.

Sample EXIF data grabbed off the web. Note the camera make and model, lens, and image numbers are in there:

FileName: IMG_9984.JPG
FileSize: 3187868
FileType: 2
MimeType: 0
Make: Canon
Model: Canon EOS 10D
Orientation: 6
XResolution: 180
YResolution: 180
ResolutionUnit: 2
DateTime: 2003:03:18 14:09:12
YCbCrPositioning: 1
Exif_IFD_Pointer: 196
ExposureTime: 1/250
FNumber: 8
ISOSpeedRatings: 100
ExifVersion: 0220
DateTimeOriginal: 2003:03:18 14:09:12
DateTimeDigitized: 2003:03:18 14:09:12
ComponentsConfiguration:

CompressedBitsPerPixel: 3
ShutterSpeedValue: 261023/32768
ApertureValue: 6
ExposureBiasValue: 0
MaxApertureValue: 97349/32768 (3.0)
MeteringMode: 5
Flash: 0
FocalLength: 21
UserComment:
FlashPixVersion: 0100
ColorSpace: 1
ExifImageWidth: 3072
ExifImageLength: 2048
InteroperabilityOffset: 2330
FocalPlaneXResolution: 768000/223 (3,443.9)
FocalPlaneYResolution: 409600/119 (3,442.0)
FocalPlaneResolutionUnit: 2
SensingMethod: 2
FileSource: 
CustomRendered: 0
ExposureMode: 0
WhiteBalance: 0
SceneCaptureType: 0
InterOperabilityIndex: R98
InterOperabilityVersion: 0100
RelatedImageWidth: 3072
RelatedImageHeight: 2048
ModeArray: Array
ImageInfo: Array
ImageType: IMG:EOS 10D JPEG
FirmwareVersion: Firmware Version 1.0.0
Camera: 220105445
ImageNumber: 8999984
OwnerName:
CustomFunctions: Array

I have a head for details. I have always been very observant, and I remember even tiny details of conversations, environments, and facial expressions. Sometimes it bugs me, as I over-analyze and seek meaning in probably meaningless gestures. But more often, those little details fall into place later and provide clues for understanding oberved paradoxes. Paradoxes like, if he’s so successful at SEO, why did he quit and take a corporate job in order to “have a regular salary“? Or, if she’s a full time SEO but blogs on the web virtually all the time, when does she do actual SEO work?

Well, post Pubcon, I returned to the SERPs armed with a collection of verbal claims from SEOs and marketers just begging for verification.

“I’m #1 everywhere for __________“, said one. Well, not from here you’re not. In fact, not from any of the 12 geo-located proxies I have set up across the country. Yes you rank, and that is impressive, but #6 and #4 are not the same as #1. And, it’s not “everywhere” and certainly not Ask nor Google. Also, the reason I looked to verify the claim in the first place: I believe it takes significantly more “power” to hold a #1 spot consistently in your niche, than a top 10. You, my friend, are not as powerful as you may believe.

Of course it may have been the beer talking, and as I said I still have great respect for anyone holding the top spots in competitive areas. It’s simply not “#1″, and it’s simply not “everywhere”.

Another case: “I wrote an ebook on _________ and got it to the top and sold XXXX copies last year”. Okay! I love to hear success stories, and I don’t doubt one bit that you did just what you said. Sometimes, timing is everything, right? But, isn’t it too bad that your ebook is no where to be found today? And not mentioned by anyone, or linked to by anyone? It would have been GREAT to keep selling it organically, right?

Again, nothing personal, and much respect for the work and success… but perhaps you told everybody about it at the last Pubcon or SES, and caused a competitive surge or something because I can’ find any evidence of it today. On second thought… I wish you had told me about your current money-making ebook. I bet it’s kicking butt in the SERPs right now….

How many times did I hear people at Pubcon say “SEO is easy. It’s so basic, and people just don’t know it”. Yup. I, to, saw that after suffering through a few sessions, especially the expert panels that “tore apart” selected websites. How many times did I hear the same things… certainly enough to imprint them permanently on the brains of new SEOs. “Keywords in Title tags, not too long” and “you’re www is a 302 to your canonical domain - fix it!” and “what’s with the images? Spiders can’t read images”. Gee… is it really that easy? Maybe every webmaster should start selling SEO services tomorrow, because this stuff is easy.

I saw many people writing down tips to bring back home. I heard several say “if I just get a few god tricks and tips, it paid for my visit”. Yes, that is the con in pubcon, and yours is the bias that ensures those tips will be believed, the value will have been delivered, and you will remain thristy for more SEO next year.

I think more than ever before, Pubcon is about introducing web masters, business owners, and marketers to the concept of SEO, and introducing SEO practitioners to each other on a hierarchical basis. The consumers (web masters, business owners, and marketers) see what SEO can do, and sometimes get the wrong message (that it is easy). That’s ok, because until they fail a few times they don’t make for good SEO clients anyway.

And the SEO’s? Well, that hierarchy is also an economic system, pushing the funds and new talent upwards to the established elite. Newbies are told constantly of the opportunity to mingle with the experienced folks at the pubs around pubcon, yet usually only find each other at those bars. The real people arrange their rendezvous, and inclusion is a process of selection. Did you get included/invited? Or excluded? I bet it made all the difference in your Pubcon experience.

This is not SEO, but it is about Google and Google’s desire to “own” municipal WiFi. Google and Earthlink have a partnership for WiFi in San Francisco, and it seems Google is also, in addition to the partnership with Earthlink, asking for separate “real estate” rights on 1500 light poles in San Francisco.

Light poles have power (obviously) and are maintained clear of trees and vegetation, and generally have a line-of-site view of their neighbor light poles. Remember when cell antennas showd up on top of water towers across the nation? Now Google wants to put WiFi repeaters (?) on light poles.

I think Google Local has only just begun.

Kimo Crossman posted this to Seattle Wireless, and also noted :

When Brian Roberts of DTIS, the city IT department staffer that is performing the negotiations testified at a public hearing on Friday 11/17 he didn’t reveal this major development even though the discussion happened at least a week earlier.Streaming video here of 11/17 hearing is available at http://sanfrancisco.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=16&clip_id=2790