SEO Chicago - search engine optimzation talk

WHATS NEW CHICAGO? Oh ... yeah.... The Great Chicago Fire Festival

cantuii@aol.com (Ted Cantu) — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 22:43:00 +0000

THE GREAT CHICAGO FIRE FESTIVAL - 2014

As soon as I heard about this experience I was hooked on the idea. I found a picture on social media about a 1871 style Chicago wooden house set on afloating barge in the river with the sign, “Come Watch Me Burn” and I was intrigued with it. I made it a point to get over there to see what all the fuss was about. Now of course this type of thing was hyped up for months on the radio and social media and it got the locals all riled up. There was a reported $2 Million dollars roped into this deal and some of the residents didn’t like the idea of it getting thrown away on an arts festival.

The idea was to have this floating river festival with these burning houses. To me, that was all I really needed. I might grab some food down there and people watch – you know? No big deal. I disregarded all of the social media yammering from the local, “crabasses”, my new favorite word, (thanks Chicago) and went there for a good time. Lo and behold there was a reported 10,000 people at the river front and the crowds were building up by the minute. This was no small thing and there was a lot of media coverage overhead with helicopters and spotlights. It turns out the locals arrived in droves. Over the river I could see the patio for Dick’s Last Resort and it was jam packed with party goers. There were people celebrating this event on the big river cruise boats and to my right it looked like some people even rented out rooms in hotels and were throwing parties. There was lights, people, and car traffic backed up all around the Michigan avenue bridge and the State street bridge.

Now, you know how this story ends right? It’s all over the news as being one of the biggest busts in Chicago history. But before I get to that part I want to get into the drama of this thing. People were waiting for something to happen. The sky blue and magenta lights were focused on the floating house raft. No fire but we were hopeful. Apparently there was supposed to be some sort of pageantry from the Red Moon Theater people. I was like, “Okay, but hurry it up – we’ve been standing here for almost an hour already…..”, (we got there early). First this boat comes out with the Chicago Children’s Choir on it singing about theloss of lives to the people who died in the fire. I’ll be honest with you I got a little emotional. I mean I was nice and I got a little weepy. But damn, they didn’t stick around long they just sort of zipped right though and cleared out of the way fast.

Then we got these kayaks out there with these flaming cauldrons attached to the back ends of them. It was kind of confusing because they were slow. People started cheering and we thought they would light the houses on fire. Nope. They just kind of circled around them while people cheered. I didn’t have the printed program in front of me so I was unclear of the events. There was some guy on the loudspeaker who was narrating the thing but there was no clear objective to what we were supposed to be experiencing. Sometime either before or after the kayaks there was some guy on a boat banging on some kind of gong for whatever reason. I totally didn’t get the reason why or what he was even there for but I’m sure it was significant. I just missed the reference because I had no guide and was just kind of going with the flow but now by this time my foot was falling asleep. I wanted this thing to get on already. It was about 8:45 PM by this point and I couldn’t stick around much longer I had tickets to go see Agent Orange at the Double Door.

There was a weird steamship that came out too. It was zipping around the houses shooting fire out of its steam stack or something. It was odd looking and was definitely homemade for the festival. It has been referred to as the Steampunk ship but it looked out of place with the theme of the festival. Speaking of festival I didn’t see any food trucks or beer tents from where we were standing. I wished I had stood over by Dick’s Last Resort… I’mserious.

Sometime around this point the narrator comes back on and is talking about the actual fire. Back at the time of the Great Chicago Fire the whole city was made out of wooden buildings and wooden sidewalks. There was talk of a drought and how the whole city was a tinderbox. The lights on the houses were now orange and red to give off a firey glow. The music was cranked up and it was a Tim Burton-esque kind of sound on a loop. This horrific music permeated the air for about 2 minutes and I could see the crowd get agitated because by now we were all elbow to elbow and there was still more people coming down the stone staircases to join us by the river. That music continued to blare on and after about 10 minutes it felt like torture. I was worried that it was going to enter into my subconscious and stay there infinitely.

There was an announcement telling us about technical difficulties. There was moans in the audience. I assured the crowd, “Hey I can start a fire faster than these guys can…. Anybody want to see a fire?” the whole crowd cheered, “YEAH !!!”. It turns out that some rain had damaged the ignition switches on these floating houses and this prevented a fire from happening.

A cow wiped out half of the city. That’s what we have all been told and I’m thinking we should’ve hired a cow to run this thing right. What a disaster. I couldn’t wait around any longer I had to get going so I could get to the show. I had four bands to review so I started to make my way back to the stairs. People were still waiting around for something to happen when I left. There was supposed to be fireworks too. I understand those did happen.

I was looking forward to seeing these houses burn on the river. To me that sounded like a pretty interesting time. But the pageantry or program as it were was a confusing fiasco to watch. The overall experience was that of frustration and confusion and turned into a test of endurance. We stood on a grassy river embankment at an angle so the calves on my legs were feeling great strain after almost two hours of nothing.

There is supposed to be a second annual next year to this thing. So I’ll tell you what. I will be there but will be watching it either from Dick’s Last Resort enjoying a nice drink and some appetizers. I won’t be standing on the riverside waiting for things to happen. I hope next year’s presentations is shaved down to about 30 minutes tops.

The Power of Backlinking - The Missing Ingredient

cantuii@aol.com (Ted Cantu) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 17:39:00 +0000

"WHY IS THIS CALLED THE - SECRET SAUCE ?"
http://www.1seonewyorkcity.com/images/seo_search_engine_optimization_new_york_city_ted_cantu.jpg

There is an incredible way you can get to page one of Google. The power of this technique can build economic empires and reshape the way we do business. It is overlooked and this surprised me when I was doing a recent seminar in Metro Detroit, WCCC last month. It appeared that many people did not realize that you can structure an entire campaign around the popularity of other sites that have a high Google PR ranking. This is one element of online marketing that is seriously overlooked and really under appreciated.

We covered this a little bit in this new ten part video series. There are some other insightful moments on the subject of social media. This is taking the country by storm. Twitter and Facebook are mere stepping stones to what is really possible.

You can read about seo and search engine marketing here.... We are taking these building blocks and creating substantial jumps... the record so far is 28,000,000 pages in just 7 days. If that is not exciting I don't know what is. Imagine now if you wrap up an entire campaign based on these strategies you could begin to build substantial wealth and and a long lasting brand.

More to come...

SEO, search engine marketing and web video news from Ted Cantu, (creator of 50+ markets online and abroad)

"The No Nonsense Online Article Base"

cantuii@aol.com (Ted Cantu) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 13:13:00 +0000

Now you can steal and grab content and throw it on your sites. The Google spiders love it so why not add more OOMPH to your web sites and blogs?

Here is what its all about.....

"So you wanna be an entrepreneur eh? Maybe you already have a company and your online rankings absolutely suck!

Either way you need a serious game plan.

These articles are designed to help you get your thinking straight when it comes to online marketing. You do not have to be a “Super Genius” in Search Engine Rankings and Google technology but you do have to get off your duff and take action.

As you can see we have taken companies from zero rankings
and positioned them for HIGH VISIBILITY. We are getting 5
out of the Google top 10 in just a short period of time. We are
also taking ecommerce sites and positioning them to make
real passive income online.

Just read a few of these mind bending search engine optimization and web marketing articles and keep an open mind. Feel free to print them out and even post them on your own sites and blogs. We ask that you include our footer just as a courtesy to us when you re-post them.

That being said…. ENJOY!"

Ted Cantu
i-Mobile Media
February 2008

Source: http://1seomichigan.com/articles.html

Posted on Feb. 11, 2008 at 8:20 AM by Ted Cantu

The Seven Families of Search Engines, (For Smart SEO's)

cantuii@aol.com (Ted Cantu) — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 04:43:00 +0000

When I first blurted out that I work on 7 to 9 different types of search engines a lot of professionals flipped out. I mentioned that only 10% of all searches are performed on traditional search engines. This caused for a lot of turmoil among my colleagues.

But there really is no cause for alarm. This opens up more opportunity for you as a web developer and a business owner....

Here is a sample of how you can use these new strateges....

Do you really want to start fresh from scratch week after week? Or would you rather build an infrastructure and have consumer penetration? This is the cheapest way to build up a brand. With web site hosting being as low as $10 bucks a month it would be wise to build multiple sites.

An example of these would include:

1. Video testimonial sites, (let others do the selling for you)
2. Article information sites
3. Lead generation sites, (lead capture sites)
4. Ebook giveaway site
5. Members only site
6. Audio testimonial site
7. Dot Info, (.info) sites, (they get indexed quicker than dot coms)

Get the entire article here....
http://www.1seomichigan.com/michigan_seo.html

Ted Cantu posted this on Feb. 2, 2008 at 11:47 PM EST and can be found at i-mobile media. Cantu writes for several different sites and creates large infrastructures for companies of all sizes. Currently he occupies 8 spots out of the top 10 for just about every category he submits to.

SEO - Direct Marketing Podcast

cantuii@aol.com (Ted Cantu) — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 19:38:00 +0000

Click here to get your own player.

Here are some great tips and software reviews for your online marketing efforts!
All new for October 2007 - Enjoy!

Posted by Cantu on Oct. 27, 2007

Forget Grey Hat SEO - What Ever Happend To Honesty?

cantuii@aol.com (Ted Cantu) — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 02:54:00 +0000

Whenever I talk to other SEO's I am always asked what kind of hat do I wear? Obviously I do not participate in black hat SEO tactics. Mainly because the ones I know about are so dog gone hokey and ridiculous it would be a deliberate throwback to the year 1992 and who really wants to go there for anything?

White Hat SEO seems a little uppity for me personally. Grey Hat is just silly when you get down with it. There are tactics that you can employ on your sites today that are borderline. They may just get you banned in the near future. Yet people continue to use them until they get caught or are told to cool it. There are software programs too that in a few months I am sure will prove to be ineffective when it comes to honest Internet Marketing.

For me, I am into honesty. I play a straight game yet I utilize the tools that Google sets forth. The end result is that I get amazing results because I know how to talk to these different services. The best way to get along in this online world is to play fair and honestly. By actually living it you are creating great habits. It makes following the rules a heck of a lot easier in the future. I say that I participate in NO HAT SEO.

I set the pages up as to not cause embarrassment in the future. End of story.

Posted by Cantu on OCT. 26, 2007 at 11:02 PM

Are Trained Monkeys Doing SEO?

cantuii@aol.com (Ted Cantu) — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 12:54:00 +0000

I am wondering - quite seriously if trained monkeys are doing SEO in offshore companies. This has got me thinking after visiting some very simple looking directories. Most of them are just asking for basic things:

* Name of the site
* Description
* Meta information, (sometimes)
* Keywords

They are looking for you to plop them into a submission box and send it off. This is a very busy part of getting your pages indexed but it is not the only way to do it. Now instead of waiting for weeks, if not MONTHS to get attention you can do this in a few hours.

But still, I am wondering what these off shore SEO firms are really doing? Maybe now I am beginning to understand why this is so cheap.

THE DISADVANTAGE
The problem with hiring someone for four cents an hour is that they don't do a complete job. Just plunking pages into directories is only a small part of the equation. You have to do a lot more to get this whole thing to work right. In fact you have to do a heck of a lot to get your pages set up properly so they will get picked up in the first place.

Doing a half job will only result in confusion. You certainly won't nail 8 out of 10 top spots like the way we do it. But still a lot of companies are turning to these sweat shops to handle something as critical as online marketing.

Scary.

And its getting closer to Halloween. I guess that makes this article quite timely.

Posted by Cantu on Oct. 24, 2007 at 9:00 AM

Temporary Heroes - The Dangers of Link Buying

cantuii@aol.com (Ted Cantu) — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 16:00:00 +0000

For $1600 a month I can make you popular.....

Seriously.....

Well, you don't have to wait for me to do it. You can do it too just by purchasing your own links. So let me rephrase myself. You can make yourself popular - for a while.

The problem with buying your links is that you have to maintain that buying relationship each and every month. The second you miss your payment you lose those links. You lose all those incoming links to your site. No doubt this is going to make your Google PR slip. So in a sense you will go from a PR 9 to a dud in literally overnight.

This is going to be a problem for you if you want to establish yourself as an expert online. Google is watching people who buy links or obtain links on questionable terms. These sites will get dropped from the index and that is worth mentioning.

THE HIGH COST OF FAME
As I go through these link exchange sites I am somewhat astounded at the cost of these services. I may understand if this is a one time fee but this is an ongoing monthly thing that can literally shake and break your foundations. This is where a lot of your money is going to go -quite literally - right down the drain.

But thats not the worst of it. The worst part is that Google and other search engines are watching and may punt you off for good.

Posted by Cantu on Oct. 23, 2007 at 12:14 PM

Van Halen and the Power of Innovation

cantuii@aol.com (Ted Cantu) — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 02:11:00 +0000

Its okay to be a rule breaker. In the case of Eddie Van Halen this has never been more true. In 1978 there was a barrage of musical styles. This recent post puts things in perspective.

From a marketing stand point it is okay to be an innovator in this changing economy. It may not be a great format for a corporate environment that is stuck in its ways. The innovator may have to leave and go his own way. But this is how we get new products and services....

Here is from our recent post....
http://911copywriters.blogspot.com/2007/10/rebel-marketing-true-essence-of-van.html

Rebel Marketing – The True Essence Of Van Halen
Last night Van Halen came to the Joe Louis Arena. It was the first time that lead singer David Lee Roth joined up with the band in the last 20 years. Ironically, the last time I saw Van Halen play was in 1984 at the D.C. Capital Center. So I reunited with the band as well. I never had any inclination to see the band with Sammy Hagar. For me the true sound, intention and meaning of this band had a lot to do with David Lee Roth.

For the whole article click here....

Posted by Ted Cantu on Oct. 21, 2007 at 10:23 PM

The FCC Plans To Be More Lenient

cantuii@aol.com (Ted Cantu) — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:37:00 +0000

For years the standard cardinal rule was that you could not own a newspaper and a radio or television station in the same area. According to the New York Times there is a push to change some of the old habits.....

A local investor, Samuel Zell, is looking to buyout the Tribune Company by the end of the year which includes: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Hartford, and Miami - Fort Lauderdale. This would allow him to control the newspapers and television stations in those states.

PRINTED MEDIA TAKES A HIT
As advertising gradually slides over to Internet Media the newspaper market is slagging in sales. Part of that is due to the speed of delivery and instant gratification of getting the news when you want it. The consumer can log on line or read the headlines off an RSS feed in his/ her Blackberry and keep on moving. There is almost no time for news in this fast high tech world. Television and Internet media knows how to deliver a story. Often times the news is delivered quick and fast in two minute segments to give you an idea of what is happening. Then it will repeat itself again so you get the point.

CNN has been doing this 30 minute coverage thing for years. It just gives you the headlines of whats going on. Even Internet video clips are 2 minutes max. Media groups like TMZ understand the speed and often restless minds of the public.

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH DIRECT MARKETING??????

Hold on -- one more thing and we'll moooove this along.

The last time I ordered The Wall Street Journal it turned into a big fiasco. It appears that the Journal has outlet centers that handles their outbound calling for new customers. So when they screw up, (and they do) you have to track down the calling center who placed your ads. It appears that none of these groups have a central information bank. So if for some reason they get your address wrong you're flat out of luck. But don't shed any tears my friends they still get YOUR money.

I called the Journal and they informed me that they weren't responsible. I had to track down the calling center. So I had to wait 6 months until my subscription ran up before the culprits reared their gruesome heads again... and they did. They called back looking for money and at that time I explained to them that I never recieved the paper. So we made peace and I got my paper FINALLY.

The problem is the total lack of responsibility and the apparent ability to accept fault. I was not overjoyed with this ordeal and preferred to get my news online. I have had other foibles with the Detroit Free Press harrassing me all hours of the day and night to buy their paper. The lesser known contemporary Oakland Press used to call me as well. I admit I feel sorry for the smaller Oakland Press going through financial crunches and considered a subscription out of sheer sympathy.

WELCOME TO THE NEW AGE
As a marketer you can see the big guys are scrambling to keep things afloat. The entire news system as we know it is falling apart at the seams. One hand things are getting worse for print media and on the other hand things are getting more complex on the Internet. But in that cyber jungle beats the heart of true entrepreneurship.

Direct Marketers have an advantage here that literally spits in the face of media giants. You can funnel your video clips, audio messages and printed articles and get them into circulation -- even if you live in the same town. Thats a no brainer. For an example consider this simple blog. It is outfitted to partake in the mass media.

I can get subscribers -- run 10 min. video clips -- send out my audio commercials -- run testimonials and hawk my products. I do this without having to sign up any $50,000 dollar radio or television contracts.

And unlike the Wall Street Journal my subscribers have direct contact to me. That is to say my news gets delivered. Its not sitting in the rain in someone elses driveway for weeks on end. The other great thing is that I am totally reachable to my subscribers. They can contact me whenever they want to without walls of burreacratic bullshit. I don't have multiple customer service lines set up with horrible music and pre recorded messages that drive away loyal consumers.

The printed media empire has taken serious body blows from Internet media and direct marketers. Take a look at their slagging advertising sales.

Things are beginning to look very interesting for rebel marketers.

Posted by Ted Cantu on Oct. 18, 2007 at 7:24 AM

Building a Better Mousetrap - Perfecting Your Profit Funnel

cantuii@aol.com (Ted Cantu) — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 01:26:00 +0000

"When Is The Right Time To Worry About Your Online Profit Funnel?"

If you're honest - its when the boss gets back from his business vacation. Lets face it. If its not your company or investment then getting something like an excellent online prospect funnel takes the back seat.

If you're REAL honest -- you probably need to build a better mouse trap. This is a very common problem to have in todays hectic world.

GREAT SEO = ONLINE TRAFFIC? ... RIGHT?
A common misconception is that a great SEO campaign is going to take care of all your listings and your online traffic. But the truth is that these two things are completely different disciplines. There are a combination of things that make them work. There are about 50 ways to do it wrong. When you deal with a committee or an organization there is a greater chance that this process will get screwed up. I don't mean to say that its corporate America that can get this wrong.

But this goes for any organization that lives to delegate things that are too important to hand off to an expert. Sometimes when you appeal to a mass ego and try to pacify the group by handing out very important elements of your campain --- in the hopes of keeping the peace -- you are burying your company in quicksand.

Great SEO is one element. Web traffic and how you get qualified prospects who do not put up ANY resistance to being contacted is a delicate art form. These are all OPT IN people of course and that is all part of the beauty. Now how you go about that requires a steady hand and a strong sense of knowing whats right.

Respect both components because you are going to need them.

Posted by Ted Cantu on OCT. 14, 2007 at 9:35 PM

Digital Web Video - When Dancing Bears Attack!

cantuii@aol.com (Ted Cantu) — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 01:31:00 +0000

Green Screens And Web Video - A Match Made In Heaven
A few days ago we shot a green screen shot for financial planning legend, David Newby. He walked onto the web page via green screen and delivered his sales pitch for his live seminar in Mataki, Philippines on Oct. 16, 2007.

This was a great way to introduce new viewers to Newby's amazing services. The Dancing Bear - is a live full body shot that gets loaded onto your web page. This works preferably on a "squeeze page" that captures viewers email addresses and other vital customer information. This is a trend that has a lot of marketers taking notice.

This is a very popular way to get new customers and generate interest......

No Small Production
You must keep in mind that as you do your own green screen shots that there are a lot of steps in the process. The green screen has to be well lit. There are a number of quality soft lights and dimmers that need to light it fully to get an even tone. And by no means should you have sharp shadows or creases in the screen itself. These tend to create a visual disturbance and ruins the effect. The other thing you need to know is that these lights get VERY HOT. So hot in fact they can blow a fuse or even set your living room on fire.... no joke.

If you are going to run these type of lights you may have to hire a professional Gaffer. You can find these professional electricians on WWW.MANDY.COM. They are traditionally used for live video and film shoots. They can read the circuits through your shooting area and find out if you are in a danger or not of blowing a fuse or worse. These guys do not come cheap and they usually have a day rate. This is going to factored into your budget.

Professional lights for green screens are also very heavy. The ones we rented came straight from the days of Ed Sullivan and they were freakin heavy. They came packed in a giant scuff proof suitcase about the size of an Iron Maiden... no joke. This thing was like trying to lift a box full of cement cinder blocks. If you are trying to pull this off in a big city you are going to have problems. Think about getting a truck to unload this stuff at your shoot and make sure your building has freight elevators.

The tripods are also something you will have to contend with. These are not the Best Buy variety. Think along the lines of professional filmmakers variety. These extend to about 9 feet tall and can handle a 10 pound spot lights and diffusers.

CHROMA KEYS R US
As you can see in this clip I knocked the background out and made it all white. Of course you can run any kind of background behind your subject. That is the beauty of working with green screens. Your subject can be on the beach or in a busy city street. You can run video clips behind him or make him walk in a POWERPOINT environment where he becomes one with a presentation. Talk about geek heaven.

** Find out more about David Newby and his Financial Planning seminars, (and how he retired at age 32) at www.prosperouspinoy.com/makati.html

Posted by Ted Cantu on Oct. 13, 2007 at 9:46 PM

Digital Web Video - Defining Your Moment

cantuii@aol.com (Ted Cantu) — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 22:35:00 +0000

The headline read as follows......

INTRODUCING: New, IPOD Web Video Commercials That Get You Instant TOP Level Web Traffic Rankings.... Guaranteed Or Its Free !!

The response was met with skepticism and disbelief. But the bottom line was absolutely true. While so many web services out there are promoting video email and singing its praises another revolution is taking off.... somewhat quietly. See, while the video email business is taking off there is another use for web video that nobody really thought of.

That is the MAGNETIC FACTOR of RSS and high level keywords that pull niche traffic. These are embedded right into the web video itself. From there it is uploaded into the web where it acts like a magnet pulling interested prospects from literally thin air.

This may sound a little too far fetched to seem realistic but that is exactly whats happening. The beauty of this operation is that there is a lot of great potential for web sites that are not popping up on the search engines. This set up allows you to become somewhat of a household name. Your web pages start to pop up in the high levels of Google. This is phenomenon.

BROADCAST FROM THE MOON
I just picked up this 20' Green Screen from an online vendor. I tried to buy one from a local place here in Michigan to support local business. But nobody ever heard of a green screen. The local camera and video places had no idea what I was talking about. So out of frustration I went online and got the one I wanted.

Thanks to chroma key I can knock the background out. My subjects in the video can literally be anyplace -- even the moon if I so choose. This type of arrangement is outrageous. There are no limits to what we can do with this technology.

Imagine being inside the CNN newsroom. How about a cartoon background. Maybe you always dreamed of giving your infomercial from the sunny beaches of Southern Florida. Or perhaps you wanted to do your broadcast from Times Square. Now you can do all that. Its entirely possible.

THE SECRET IS IN THE LIGHTING
You have to know a thing or two about lighting this type of set up. You cannot just throw hard light on your subject as it will make dark shadows which are hard to eliminate with chroma key. Then there is the issue of how many lights you want to use . Studio lights are what you want to stick with. There are some that go soft and some that are spotlight like in nature.

The green screen must be evenly lit for best effect.

WHAT MAKES THIS SO DIFFERENT FROM OTHER VIDEO?
When web video is handled with RSS and SEO your clients come looking for you. The other thing that we never expected was that search engines actually love this stuff. Days after we uploaded our footage we popped up in a lot of other directories. Now we didn't place our stuff in there it just happend to get picked up and distributed. This was pretty interesting.

It didn't just stop there. Our clips started to get watched and passed on to different blogs. You see when the code is created in Google or Youtube.com other people can copy it and place it in the blogs, web pages and so on. There are a lot of places where your clips can pop up. You just sit back and watch your star rise.

To be continued.....

Posted by Ted Cantu on Oct. 12, 2007 at 6:53 PM.

SEO FIRMS ARE A JOKE!

cantuii@aol.com (Ted Cantu) — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 01:46:00 +0000

Man, I gotta lay it on the line.

I was cruising through Google to see where my company popped up and I found something that outraged me to no end. Sure, I'm on the first page for my SEO Firm but thats not whats bugging me. There are a lot of "fly by the night" SEO firms that sprung up out of the woodwork like cockroaches. I have no idea where these firms come from....

Well, hold that thought, I may have some idea....

Let me show you how you can be a REAL SEO FIRM TOO.....
http://www.dreamweavertemplates.com/

Plunk down 60 bucks and get a template and PRESTO! You're an instant SEO firm. Forget certification, forget battle scars, forget time in the field, hell you don't even need to have stepped into a real advertising marketing firm... You're nothing but a scam artist.. ya dig?

And that is precisely what is happening. The other thing about this type of company is that anyone can approach the game this way with no experience. Get a PPC account and all of a sudden you can get a piece of the market share.

For a while anyways....

But can you do this?
http://1seomichigan.com/seo_michigan.html

You see, after my recent trip to New York City I learned something. I found out from top sources that I am in a league of my own. I was the only one on the scene who was knocking out 8 out of the TOP TEN searches in just about every category I got my mitts on. And the kicker was that I was doing this legitimately. Sure, I got a lot of criticism and even a little hate mail. But who cares. I'm a success. I'll take some slander.

Thats what happens when you get to the top.

And getting there takes a lot of hard work. So when I see these firms pop up with no credibility, proof, or clout or credentials I shake my head in disbelief.

When did this become, "THE IN" thing to do? I never knew being a SEO techno geek was so popular. There is only one difference with all this hypey nonsense.

I make this look good.

Posted by Ted Cantu on Oct. 11, 2007 at 9:54 PM

Perfecting Your Online Digital Life !!

cantuii@aol.com (Ted Cantu) — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 08:17:00 +0000

Click here to get your own player.

Posted by Ted Cantu, creator of http://www.911copywriters.com and posted this at 4:17 AM, Oct. 4, 2007

TRUTH TO A MAGIC SALES COPY FORMULA?

cantuii@aol.com (Ted Cantu) — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 13:24:00 +0000

IS THERE A REAL MAGIC FORMULA?
In print its anything goes. There is no wrong or right really as long as you get in front of the right type of people. This can definately change though when you deal with an online audience. At that point you will have to be very precise and careful about how you approach your subject. There really is a specific number ratio that you will want to stick with when you create online content for your audiences.

But to say that keywords only need to exist in your body copy is a severe understatement. There are many other places on your site where this numbers formula need to apply. You must be strategic about how you place these so that you not only stay relevant but also beat out your competitors.

How Would You Like To Attract More Customers Online?
A lot of industries are not flexing enough marketing muscle when it comes to online advertisements. Short, cute and quaint sales copy with a phone number slapped on is not enough to garner enough attention. You will need to get in front of more people by being REVEALING, RIVETING, AND BOMBASTIC.

AVOIDING THE TROUBLE SPOTS
There still are a lot of reports of rip off SEO firms that fly by the seat of their pants and get a lot of business by ripping off as many people as possible. This includes such unsavory tactics as cramming keywords into javacript navigations, doorway pages that are litered with keyword spamming, and the all time favorite of mindless link exchanges, (some valid, some not).

A NEW KIND OF GAME
Imagine if you were in a casino and had an unlimited amount of chips! The more you lost the more chips you can use at the gaming table. Would you or would you not stay at the table as long as possible until you scored a win?

Your Keywords are the chips in this online game! In fact, it is a drastic understatement that the very keywords that you use in your web pages are going to propel you to wealth, glory and fame. But only if you use them wisely.....

A few years back in Chicago we had a very unsettling habit of building monstrous web sites with astronomical costs and rely on outdoor advertisements to get them seen. In fact, the problem grew to be such a problem that very few of these sites actually saw the light of day.

Want to take a guess as to when this occured?

Was it.... 1991? 1990?

It was 1997, in fact this was just ten years ago when all this money wasting occured. You had to look at a subway or bus and write the web site address written down and then go home and try to find it online. Search engine technology hadn't really raised its head just yet. So to survive in this turbulent time we had to figure out a way to connect the people to the sites.

In short, a lot of money was wasted.

This is why getting the formula and applying it to your sites is absolutely critical. In fact, its the only game you should be concerning yourself with. This is a very powerful way to get more visibility. Now, being visible is good but you also want to get the right type of people to come to your site. And to do that will take a little effort on your part.

1. Think of who you want coming to your site
2. What is your dream customer?
3. What kind of groups do you want visiting your online space?
4. What kind of money return are you looking to make online?

** We wrote an article on niche traffic just recently.
Cantu explains niche traffic and web hits

Posted by Ted Cantu on Oct. 4, 2007 at 9:48 PM and can be found at http://www.1seomichigan.com

Stop Waiting To Be DEFINED - Avoid The Inevitable

cantuii@aol.com (Ted Cantu) — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 01:53:00 +0000

No matter what cause you choose to side up with you will be faced with critics. This is for anyone in the arts, music, programmers and anyone with a free thought. There are those who take action and live in a state of " CAN DO " and those who sit on the sidelines and kick their heels into the dirt and live to criticize.

THE PROBLEM WITH ONLINE MARKETING
There is no one good way to get to an online destination. There are many ways to achieve the goal. In fact, getting top rankings may include blowing a fortune on pay per click. But more commonly there is a more schematic power structure that you must be aware of. Taking something as complex as online marketing to a corporate level is dangerous ground. It is here where doing simple calculated steps can get tripled, and quadrupled into repetitive costly steps that prove ones worth..... hence, the EGO.

But lets be perfectly frank here. This is where "individual achievement" can fall into the picture. This is where promotions are created and where one can earn the corner office. This often takes place in a marketing production agency but what about the investing client? He/She is often taken for a ride - promised the moon and is quite literally left stranded there to fend for oneself.

There are lots of tools being asked for in a typical SEO job description. If you look closely list at the growing criteria for these positions you will notice one disturbing thing. No two SEO job descriptions are alike. And why is that?

1. There are too many 3rd party software packages that can do the job
2. There are too many combinations that may or may not work
3. Depending on the team, it is left up to trial and error
4. The sales copy used is too dry and is not niche market focussed

The end result is questionable results. The end of a SEO job shouldn't be an open ended question. It should have results built in that can be identifiable.

HOW DO WE GET 8 OUT OF 10 TOP SPOTS?
The last thing you will want to do is wait around to be defined by a studio. You want your product in front of the right people. You have to have this type of perception online as well as offline. It is amazing to me how many companies ignore both facets of this very critical fact. There are too many things that can go wrong when you ignore your niche market.

Most notably....

** The wrong type of traffic shows up
** They do not have an inclination to buy anything
** They have stumbled upon you -- often, not sure why

Your ROI will suffer.

Keep in mind too that when you get a web marketing campaign kicked off and you hire a firm you are taking on THEIR culture. They may be a bit fuzzy on the edges and may not be able to deliver something that is best suited for you. This could be due to the fact that they are swamped with too much work to deliver a high quality customized job.

** And any combination of 3rd party software will deliver you questionable results.
But most importantly not every studio works the same exact way.

But here is the most important rule of them all.... KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE.

Posted by Cantu on Oct. 3, 2007 at 10:13 PM

New Podcast - Google News - Googleotomy

cantuii@aol.com (Ted Cantu) — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 23:06:00 +0000

The Money Machine: The Online Marketing Show
Give it a listen!
GOOGLEOTOMY - Let Google Make You Famous

Enjoy! -- 911 Copywriters

posted by Cantu on Sept. 15, 2007 at 7:07 PM

Can SEO Really Help WIth Realtors?

cantuii@aol.com (Ted Cantu) — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 03:54:00 +0000

"What Kind Of Realtor Business Do You Have -- Superstar Status - Or Expensive Hobby?"

I have spent the last week with real estate professionals to see what makes them tick. What I found out was that many of them are doing the same old predictable things. Some of them are better than others of course and some are able to create phenomenal results.

With all the latest tools with YouTube.com, MeFeedia, RSS, Podomatic and so many others its amazing to think what this can do for your real estate business. Yet, with all this innovation it is easy to slip into a state of procrastination. While you're shuffling your feet you are missing out on the great opportunities that are available today.

The problem is that many of us do not know where to start.

So while Ipods and Iphones grab all the media attention in the Business section of the New York Times the rest of us are wondering on how to use these tools.

Whats The Problem With Current Real Estate Sites?
Paying for Pay Per Click and Sponsored listings can be very expensive. One of my coaching clients, Brian Teets complained to me that he recently just threw $500 bucks down the drain with very ineffective PPC. Once the money runs out your sites lose their ranking literally overnight. The other problems that stem from this are too many competitors.

* Pay Per Click Is Expensive
* Too Many Competitors In Your Area
* Real Estate Pre-Made Sites Are Not Search Engine Friendly
* Web Sites Cannot Interact With Other Forms of Online Media

The list goes on......

From a search engine optimization standpoint there really isn't much we can do for assembly line type sites. These are sites that are pre-fabricated from the big guys like REMAX, Century 21 etc. There are key elements that need to go into your web pages if you want to appear at the top of the search engines......

If your site does not contain these elements you can expect poor results. This is going to be a problem down the line. You are just another ant on the hill. There is nothing that is going to make you stand out among your competitors. Worse, you have no way to GEO TARGET your area and showcase your listings for your territory.

When you look at it this way having a web site is pretty much useless.....

But we figured out a way that you can win in this game.....

Details are coming soon....

Cantu posted this on Sept 14 2007 at 12:25 am

New Business Video Profiles in Michigan

cantuii@aol.com (Ted Cantu) — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 00:35:00 +0000

"New Video Business Profiles Showcase the New, Bold and Eclectic"

A new service launched in the Detroit Metro area showcasing businesses online. These clips are backed up with solid search engine optimization so that they will be found on the web. They even have links connecting the profile pages right to the web sites of participating companies. This is the brainchild of Ted Cantu and Internet Direct Marketing legend Jon Mykala.

Here is a sneak peak.....
Rumor has it that they are already scoping out Chicago area businesses. SEO Search Quest now has properties in Florida, California, New York City and Nevada.

Cantu posted this on July 30, 2007 at 8:39 PM

Updated Google Policies

cantuii@aol.com (Ted Cantu) — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 12:42:00 +0000

The big news this week is that Google is changing its cookie policy. Instead of waiting until 2038 for your cookies to expire they will be null and void in two years !!

This means that if you want to have high search engine rankings you need to keep valid. You need to have spiders reference your site with updated content. This is actually pretty good news for you when you really get down to it.

Consider for a minute how many web site companies out there who don't take care of their customers. Its in the millions trust me. Then combine that with the number of web site owners who don't give a hoo-ha about their own web sites. What you are left with are a lot of neglected web sites who just sit around collecting cyber dust.

This new policy screams for new content. But more importantly you need to alert the search engines so that your pages stay relevant. Apparently there is a loop hole for this and sites can still get ranked and listed.

This is a good thing for those who want to stomp all over their competitors.

Ted Cantu posted this on July22, 2007 at 8:49 am

SELLING SUCKS - NO DOUBT

cantuii@aol.com (Ted Cantu) — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 01:58:00 +0000

"Get The Straight News From People
Who Got Fed Up With The System"

This is one of the smartest books I have read in quite a while. This is one ballsy book. The title alone is a slap in the eyeballs. It demands attention. It demands that you take action. Twenty bucks is a painless drop in the bucket to get some serious answers. If you want fast answers on how to attack your sales problems it does not get any more straight forward than this.

Heres a clue. This book frowns down upon business breakfast meetings and martini cocktail hours. Get out of the endless lines of nonesense and into some serious profit margins.

You can get through this book in about a couple of hours if you are hungry enough. There are so many hot tips in here that just one of them alone will help you fine tune your approach.
Here is the official word:
The focus is always on what top sales pros do (get hot referrals, think like business owners, get free public relations, build communities of prospects) and don't do (go to networking clubs, make cold calls, use traditional techniques like cold calling and closing pitches). So stop selling and start creating the optimal buying conditions; the results might amaze you.

Source: Book review......

Ted Cantu posted this on July 17, 2007 at 10:05 pm

Not All SEO Experts Are Created Equal

cantuii@aol.com (Ted Cantu) — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 04:36:00 +0000

Here is a run down of the latest and greatest tools:

http://1seomichigan.com/3.html

**If your looking for real SEO experts this is the site worth checking out.
Even though its going through some major renovations there is a lot of
meat in it. The main source of content is bundled up in the presentations
and scattered through various blogs.

This is going to be cleaned up quite a bit in the days to come. But the major
thing to remember is that this SEO business is technology driven. So instead of
shuffling our feet over what passes for decent Internet marketing we are looking
at pushing the envelope.

Over the recent months we have purposely not listented to other podcasts
in the field of Search Engine Optimization. We currently hold the number ten spot
NATIONWIDE for our online marketing podcast on Podomatic. This entire approach
is intentional. We didn't want to sound like everyone out there.

We wanted to have our own unique position.

This approach has landed us in a bit of hot water with our business partners. We actually
give back 110% return if we fail to do our job of getting you top search engine results.
This is a bold claim that not many people would take on.

In either case, its worth checking out if you haven't already done so.

COMING UP THIS WEEK:
MINI LESSONS - HIGH SEARCH ENGINE RESULTS

Ted Cantu posted this on July 8, 2007 at 12:43 am

IPHONE PODCAST

cantuii@aol.com (Ted Cantu) — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 01:52:00 +0000

Click here to get your own player.

"Cantu Blurts Out More Truth - IPHONE MARKETING"

Who is going to grab the gold in the Midwest? Will Chicago have more vision than Michigan in this historic moment in mass media? The revolution is here and the technology is in place for perhaps one of the most fantastic moments in recent memory.

Take a listen.....

Ted Cantu posted this on July 5, 2007 at 9:55 pm

What Channel Are YOU Watching?

cantuii@aol.com (Ted Cantu) — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 03:40:00 +0000

"Paris Hilton's Brave Last Stand To Be The Center of American Attention"

You're a lot better off just turning the TV off these days. Seriously. The NUMBER ONE story of the hour is drunken starlets going round and round for a night on the town and ending up in the county clink. CNN broadcasted the exploits of "wannabe something soon" Paris Hilton every ten minutes for close to 48 hours during her bizarre suspended drunk driving sentence.

Meanwhile, Lindsey Lohan was photographed drunk with her mouth wide open passed out behind the wheel in the Enquirer. This one actually made the front page of a couple of tabloid magazines. Then there is the strange saga of Rachel Ray and her depressing sexual escapades.

There is only one little problem with all this, "news".

I don't care about these people. I don't know them either. But even as an innocent bystander whose only mission in life is to do good and to create substance in other peoples business lives -- I really do not care about these celebrities.

My question is does anyone? Seriously. Does anyone care about these self indulgent people who do nothing in the media except hog it up, stamp and stammer, cry on cue and morrose on and on about how miserable their lives are? I don't support their careeers in media, film, or audio. Yet they are constantly vying for my attention. CNN is steadfast to give it to me. I do not want it. So, I turn it off.

But then again, so do a lot of other people.

IT is no mistake that YOUTUBE.Com has over 100 million viewers of clips per day. That means that while Paris Hilton is going bananas.....

* People are getting customized sports
* Customized comedy
* Uploading independant films
* Uploading product shots
* Creating video clips of their services

The list goes on. And yes, people are downloading them and watching them to boot. The numbers of confirmation of viewers is somewhat mind boggling.

CUSTOMERS FLIP THE VIEWER DEMOGRAPHIC UPSIDE DOWN

A typical viewer on Youtube.com will watch an entire 7 minute clip. They will watch 10 minutes of footage that appeals to them no matter how crappy the quality is. I find this to be very amazing. Recent tests done at SEO Search Quest shows that customers will watch mundane productions and watch them right until the end. They never take into consideration that the production values are somewhat transparent or even nonexistent. They are into the subject matter and what they percieve as news.

The average viewer on broadcast will use the remote and literally zip by hundreds of commercials every hour. These are the commercials that companies pay for so they can reach the customer base en masse. They go through a lot of customers to get the right kind of impressions and make some sort of headway with making thier brand stick into the minds of their public.

If you look at what is really going on it is nothing short of a revolution. And with typical SEO companies flopping around on their bellies like dead fish and media companies charging WAY TOO MUCH to produce high end video clips the job falls into the hands of the new professionals. Street savvy rebels with a cinematic eye and a sense of direction behind the lens.

And they are taking to the streets.

Ted Cantu posted this on June 20, 2007 at 11:57 pm