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SEO News and IdeasWe've Been Acquired! 13 Jan 2010 at 12:08am Posted by Stephan Spencer I'm very pleased to announce that the company that I founded way back in 1995, Netconcepts, has been acquired by Covario Inc., the leader in search advertising software and services. It's exciting to think about what the future holds with the merged company. Netconcepts' GravityStream technology combined with Covario's Organic Search Insight promises an end-to-end SEO solution like never before seen. Together we'll enable the SEO practitioner to scale SEO across large dynamic websites by automating aspects of keyword research, on-page analysis, link building, web content management, and more. Our mantra at Netconcepts has for a long time been "data-driven decision-making". Turns out that's been Covario's mantra too! Another bonus... with the merger we also significantly increase our market reach. We've really established ourselves in the retail vertical, not as much in other verticals. Covario, on the other hand, services Fortune 500 global brand advertisers across a number of verticals -- including media, high tech, consumer electronics, and CPG (consumer packaged goods). So now, those are all our verticals, and our clients, too! Exciting times ahead! The Convergence of Nanotech, Biotech, Infotech, Cognitive Science 6 Jan 2010 at 11:22pm Posted by Stephan Spencer Once in a while, I attend a conference that I am not speaking at. It’s a rare occasion, but it is a welcomed one when it happens because I don’t have to be "on" in my presentation mode. I can just sit back, relax and take in the sessions, network and go to the parties-- just be myself. One such conference I got to enjoy like this was Convergence. It's hard to believe it was over year ago now (wow time flies). This conference had nothing to do with search engine marketing, ecommerce or online marketing. It was named Convergence because it was a conference about the converging of technologies -- namely nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, and cognitive technology. You know... doubling the human life span, autonomous machines that think and feel, that sort of stuff. It was fascinating. The conference was done in an "unconference" format -- like BarCamp and FooCamp -- where the agenda isn't determined until the start of the event and anyone can propose a session. Even though I wasn’t planning on doing so, I ended up co-leading a session on the "future of search" with Powerset co-founder Barney Pell. I'm not going to elaborate here on that session (refer to my Future of Search post from a few months ago if you want a dose of SEO futurism). Instead what I'd rather do here is share some of the things I learned about anti-aging and extreme life extension. This topic really appeals to the biology geek side of me (I have a M.S. in Biochemistry). Though "extreme life extension" doesn't fascinate me enough to the point of wanting my head frozen for future reanimating (you can spare me the Ted Williams treatment, thank you very much). Cryonics is all the rage with Convergence geeks; you could spot them easily enough by looking for their metal "Alcor" bracelets. The anti-aging/life extension session was run by Dr. Terry Grossman. Dr. Grossman is coauthor of the book Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever. His coauthor on the book is none other than the artificial intelligence guru, inventor and futurist, Ray Kurzweil. (I'm a big Kurzweil fan, by the way.) The premise of the book is to help the reader live long enough until the arrival of molecular nanotechnology (when nanobots will be self-replicating) and of "strong AI" (when AI is no longer "artificial" but "autonomous"). Then we’ll be near to what is known as The Singularity. This is when all the known laws of evolution and evolutionary biology will break down. That means it's beyond prediction. Who knows what will come of the human race. Will we be obliterated by AIs because we're a plague? Will we have our consciousness downloaded into some sort of computing "substrate"? Will it be a Dilbert existence for all of us? It's anybody's guess! So anyways, back to this session about extreme life extension. Dr. Grossman focused on ways that you can extend your life through healthy eating, exercise, screenings and proactive testing. Here are some of his recommendations (or at least what I interpreted from re-reading my cryptic notes): Get the following tests regularly: carotid IMT (only costs about $250), ultra-fast CAT scan of your heart (again, only about $250), genomics test (e.g. 23 and me), APO-e blood test ($90), vitamin D levels (you want 40 or above; it's $50), PSA test, insulin levels, blood pressure (130 over 85 is too high), CRP levels. Supplements : 3-a-day multiple (or 2-a-day; but not 1-a-day). 100mg alpha-lipoic acid. High quality fish oil (such as Carlson brand). Vitamin D. Red yeast rice (e.g. Zymogen brand). Plant sterol pills. Examples of healthier foods: Lentils. Steel-cut oatmeal. If you must drink milk, make it sugar-free. If you must eat omelets, use egg white only. My cryptic notes above are not meant to be considered medical advice. Standard disclaimers apply. Go read Terry's book, and check out his site. Good stuff! Well worth your time. Also see my post about The China Study for more tips on extending your life so that you can hopefully witness The Singularity in action. This assumes we survive 2012 of course. Got Time? 1 Jan 2010 at 10:10pm Posted by Stephan Spencer As you dream up your New Year's Resolutions for 2010, take a moment to think about where you spend your time. You define your life by where you decide to spend your time. Here are some stats that you may find interesting: 80% of employees do not want to go to work on Monday morning. By Friday, the rate only drops to 60%. The average person uses 13 different methods to control and manage their time. The average person gets 1 interruption every 8 minutes, or approximately 7 an hour, or 50-60 per day. On an average day, there are 17 million meetings in America. The average worker sends and receives 190 messages per day. Over one billion people around the world survive on less than $1 per day. One species becomes extinct every 15 minutes A new McDonald's franchise opens every four hours. 98% of American homes have at least one television set. The average American sees 200,000 televised acts of violence by the age of 18. The average adult spends 4 minutes a day outside. More stats here and here. VIDEO: Teen AdSense Entrepreneur 21 Nov 2009 at 3:44am Posted by Stephan Spencer Yes, teenagers can make passive income from Internet marketing. Here's living proof: Isn't she amazing?!? Yes I'm a little biased, since she is my offspring. But still, you have to admit it's impressive when a kid can start an online business and make it onto the speaking circuit by the age of 16, and have such composure in front of the camera. I remember when I was a teenager trying out Junior Achievement, going to a couple of meetings, and thinking how incredibly lame it was. The meet... An Interesting Blog SEO Technique 14 Nov 2009 at 4:13am Posted by Stephan Spencer Bummer that I missed PubCon this week but I have just been traveling way too much lately. Speaking of traveling, I was in Indianapolis last week visiting the offices of Compendium Blogware. I got a demo of their hosted blog platform -- including a look under the hood -- and it's pretty slick. There were features and functionality I had never seen before in blog software. One of the key differentiators, and the reason for the company's name, is the "compending" capability that their solution d... VIDEO: Learn from Shoemoney, my daughter, Duane and Steve (oh, and me too!) h... 4 Oct 2009 at 10:42am Posted by Stephan Spencer I'm in NYC for SMX East which starts tomorrow and I'm really looking forward it. But I'm also gearing up for Blog World Expo in a couple weeks. That's because my daughter Chloe Spencer, the Neopets blogger, is going to be speaking there on a panel called "Are You Getting The Most Money Out Of Your Blog As You Can?" along with heavy hitters Dave Taylor, Tim Jones, and Chris Pirillo. The session is scheduled for Friday, October 16 at 11:30am. Thinking about this panel reminded me of another pa... Creating a Buzz-worthy Blog Contest in 7 Easy Steps 18 Sep 2009 at 12:59am Posted by Stephan Spencer One way to bait for links is a blog contest. If you do the contest right, even the most un-sexy of products (like stationery) can become sexy, creating a buzz that can drive a torrent of search traffic to your virtual doorstep. Consider for example the contest we (Netconcepts) dreamed up for the overnight printer of stationery and business cards OvernightPrints.com that I mentioned a few posts back ("Hiring a Link Builder"). The contest was to design Internet celebrity and Technorati Top 100 ... EXCLUSIVE: Interview with David Allen 12 Sep 2009 at 8:01pm Posted by Stephan Spencer http://www.marketingspeak.com/audio/david-allen-interview.mp3I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing David Allen a little while back. David's the author of the best-selling book Getting Things Done, and he's the creator of the stress-free productivity methodology known as "GTD". I'm a big fan of David's, and of GTD. I've written a few articles on GTD and productivity: Clearing the Clutter Hop Off the Time Management Treadmill Outsourcing and Delegating And presented on the topic at a pr...  About Susanna | Testimonials |
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