Buzz Online Media » Search

The Provisional Allergic Reaction to and for All Category Selection: Happy Hour!

Jamie Svenson — Sun, 05 May 2013 05:54:35 +0000

HAPPY HOUR! Such a fun time. Nice times. Fun little booze and wine with nice appetizer at a reduced price right after work. Sweet and innocent. But apparently EVERY single…with…out….exception…..every single category collection across the “profile universe” – from Yelp to Google, from Yahoo to Bing, from YellowPages to InfoUSA…not ONE of them allows you to input the simple, almighty, fun, innocent, OBVIOUSLY people are searching for it and we should have it as a category nice little puppy dog that just wants love from everyone: Happy Hour. But apparently, everyone in the category universe is allergic to this possibility. Maybe it’s the word “happy” associated with the concept of time, hour! I have no idea. But the latest and greatest in category selection – Google+ – even they have an allergen to this concept. No Happy Hour! Sorry. And Happy Hour results on Google…even those are a little off. They want to be a part of the in crowd with local results and all of that, but no…it just looks a little schleppy (not a word), a little left handed, a bit adopted and organic result-like and random and mish-mash and kind of like a search thrown together, caught off guard, not quite sure you were going to knock at the door.

And here’s the thing: It gets a TON of results, at least RELATIVE to other searches. In Seattle as of tonight: 14,800 (blended). Not bad for a step-search.

Website Updates “One of” “Thee” Most Important Aspects to Ranking Well!

Jamie Svenson — Sat, 04 May 2013 16:30:09 +0000

It amazes me how difficult it is to get my clients to make updates to their website at all, let alone on a continual basis. There’s the whole rigamarole with website access and “webmaster’s” off in India or Cambodia for their yearly 6 month soujourns, or web dev guys just deciding not to get back to you, or…lost id and passwords and millions upon millions of sites floating out there “in” the internet like space junk. But even when they have access, clients i.e small businesses are just unable, unwilling or not wanting to “get” why it’s important to update content on their website on a regular basis. Beyond that, even if they do “understand” or nod their head, they’re still unwilling. NOT ALL! Not all. Some do. And those that do, or those that let me do, rank better.

I’m going to go crazy now updating my clients websites over the next few months – those clients that let me update their sites, either through proxy via their ‘webmaster’ or directly. Either way, I guarantee…I call as Babe Ruth did in whatever World Series he pointed his bat out to left field and hit a home run – I analogously call a home run here IN COMPARISON to those guys that, with all things equal i.e. link building, profile management, social, etc, that those that update their sites CONSISTENTLY with great content will “wash away” those that don’t.

Local is getting HUGE!

Jamie Svenson — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 06:09:41 +0000

You need to pay attention! Google is. They just re-assigned Marissa Mayer, who used to lead the ‘search’ group at Google i.e 98% of Google’s revenue. Was this a demotion? Some speculate yes, others speculate that in fact local search is on Google’s radar as ‘thee’ next big thing, along with ‘mobile’. Which is like saying “sauce and cheese” are becoming really big…and so is ‘crust’. It’s gonna be bigger than pizza! It’ll take a lot of innovation to intelligently put together all the moving pieces of location based local search (think Foursquare & Gowalla), Twitter, Facebook, check in’s, “Groupons”, Yelp, user reviews, more search, social media, make your head spin.com, etc. And with more and more of this ‘local’ stuff involving not only search and mobile, you – the small business owner – should really get on the ball and start managing and paying attention to this. It’ll pay dividends in the future, if not now!

The Power of Story

Jamie Svenson — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:32:36 +0000

Last night I was at Bartell Drug’s looking for bleach to clean my deck. There was a lot of grunge and grind out there and I needed something strong. As I walked in I noticed “Seventh Generation: free & clear” Chlorine Free Bleach. This particular bottle of bleach read “non-toxic * hypo-allergenic * degradable” – furthermore it pronounced, ever so humbly in the top right hand corner: “In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations. – From the Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy”

I’m going to be honest: I’m not entirely sure what “hypo-allergenic” means. I could look it up on Wikipedia, but that would disingenuous- I didn’t know what it meant when I chose to buy the Seventh Generation brand. More importantly, I’m not entirely positive the gradation of difference the level of “non-hypo-allergenic-nous” the Seventh Generation brand “has” over the pure run of the mill bleach brand either. I know I could incline myself to say “well, bleach is bad…and of course this stuff is clean…it comes in a white bottle and it says so” but that would miss the point. I’m not sure what “non-toxic” means and even though I know they are a Native American Indian tribe, I’m not quite sure the whole story behind the Iroquois either.

So why did I end up paying double for “Seventh Generation”? Because I like the story! I’m not sure to what extent I helped to save the environment this morning as I cleaned my deck and brushed the run off down the pipes, but it was sure worth the extra $3.00 I spent to know: “At least I did my best to do right by myself and environment”. It ‘felt’ clean. It’s a good story.

I admit whole heartedly: I’m not a scientist and to be totally honest, I’m not sure what all the green verbiage means. And if pressed, neither do most. The point is not how much we know about it – the point is the story! People are buying a story when they walk into Whole Foods and when they buy a Prius. Sure you can try and coordinate rational differences between a Prius and Hummer: miles per gallon, fuel efficiency, etc. But really – tell me the difference? What is the REAL difference to you – the atoms that compose the structure that is your body – in eating organic v. conventional?

Lewis Black said it best: “And for all we study about health, we know nothing! Is milk good or bad?” Not a hand amongst sold out, silent hall went raised. “I rest my case” as everyone burst into laughter.

We love the story. We buy the story. And I’m happy to do it. I feel better: physically, mentally, and spiritually.

As a small business, take heed: define your story. The story about you and your business is already there – it’s not a question of that – it’s a question of how much you want to participate in the active formation of what that story is.

What is the story you’re telling every day?