November 2006

Barry Schwartz, had 100 promotional RustyBrick laptop bags made. Since he only has 100 of them & it’s almost the holiday season, I assumed I wouldn’t be getting one because they would all be going to clients, employees, friends, family and any one of a hundred or so search VIP’s.

However… a few are up for grabs. Barry mentioned on his personal blog that he needed to come up with some contest ideas so he could give some away. My suggestion was that he have a “Contest Idea” contest. Or… Whoever comes up with the best contest idea gets a bag and so does the person who wins that contest.
Barry liked the idea enough to send me one of the first bags filled with Search Engine Roundtable YoYos!
So… Help Barry come up with some cool contest ideas and get yourself a sweet new bag.

I’m going to keep at least one or two of the SER yo yos, but I’ll be giving the rest away. Just email me your address and I’ll send you one while supplies last.

davezuls at gmail dot com.

Aloha,
Dave.

Congratulations to Jim & Mary Boykin; the proud parents of their new baby boy, Nathaniel Thomas Scott Boykin! Great name! It has lost of possibilities for when he becomes an adult. I have a feeling that he will be known to his friends as Nate Boykin though. I have no doubt that he’ll be the #1 ranked person of both names on all the search engines.

Happy Birthday & Welcome to the world Nate!
Aloha,
Dave.

I’ve been experimenting with Yahoo! Answers for a few weeks to see what it was all about. Anyone can ask questions about anything they want and anybody who wants to; can try to answer the question.

The beauty of the system is that you can search for a topic like “Hawaii” and subscribe to all the incoming questions via RSS like it was a Blog.

Lots of questions are being asked by potential Hawaii visitors on a wide variety of travel related subjects. People want to know where to stay, what to do, where to get married, etc.

Here is a sample of some of the questions that have been asked and some answers that you might have been able to give.

Q: Does anyone have a recommendation for a condo or hotel in Waikiki Beach, HI area?
A: Stay at my condo.

Going to Oahu, we want to go to a Luau…?
A: Go to my Luau.

Q: Where’s your favorite place to hike on Oahu? Or other island?
A: I am a guide. I’ll take you there.

Q: Where can I find the best prices on flights to Hawaii?
A: I’m a travel agent. Give me a call.

Q: What are the best places to wed in Hawaii?
A: I’m a wedding Planner. Please visit my website and give me a call.

Unfortunately, you don’t see these kinds of answers. Most of the people answering these Hawaii Travel and Vacation related questions are not travel professionals. Most people answering these questions aren’t even from Hawaii. This creates and opportunity.

These types of questions come up over and over. If you answer a question once, you can re-purpose that answer every time the question comes up again.

Yahoo! Answers isn’t exactly a lead generating goldmine at this time, but it’s super easy to subscribe to a topic and be alerted when a potential customer is asking for your help.

Reach out to these people, give them a link to your website and start a dialogue.

Lee Dodd, Aaron Wall, David Taylor & Shoemoney are putting on a conference of their own called The Elite Retreat in San Antonio on December 18-19. They are trying to limit the attendance and keep it small so the participants can get the most out of it.

The Price - $4850

At first I saw this number and thought it was overpriced. But then I remembered that attendance is limited and people who do go will have access to four people who can seriously help them. One-on-one SEO and Online Marketing consulting at this level can cost some serious cash but I believe people who attend the event will have more then enough time bouncing ideas off of these guys to make it worthwhile.