luni, 21 septembrie 2015

A Picture of You: Results of the 2015 Moz Blog Reader Survey - Moz Blog

A Picture of You: Results of the 2015 Moz Blog Reader Survey

The Moz Blog is built to help you all become better marketers. We couldn't possibly succeed in that goal if we didn't have a good sense for who you are and what you'd like to (and need to) see, so we did what anyone would do to get that sense: ask.

This summer, we released a survey to ask you all about yourselves, your work, and your thoughts about the Moz Blog. This is the second time we've done this in the last several years, which makes these results all the more exciting—now we have trending data.

The results from the survey are below, with a list of key takeaways at the end of the post (feel free to scroll for the tl;dr). We've included stats, where available, from the 2013 survey as well, giving the data a historical benchmark.

We'll use what we learned to keep making the Moz Blog more relevant, more actionable, and more valuable for you all, and we'd like to extend our sincerest thanks to the more than 750 of you who responded.

Let's get down to it!

What is your job title?

Back in 2013, as as we expanded our products to emphasize areas of marketing outside of just SEO, we all thought our community would expand along with them. When we released this survey in December of that year, more than six months after rebranding from SEOmoz and a few months after we rolled out our new suite of software, still very little had changed.

Now, nearly two years later, after countless blog posts about content marketing, local search marketing, social media, branding, and more, we're only just beginning to see a shift.

I'm normally not a huge fan of word clouds, but they're fairly effective in illustrating things like this. Here's a cloud made from all of your job titles in this year's survey:

And here's the cloud from the 2013 survey, nearly two years ago:

Job Title Wordle 2.PNG

It's remarkable how similar the two are, but we can begin to see the change.

Our audience is clearly predominantly marketing managers with a heavy emphasis on SEO. The word SEO is smaller in this year's cloud, though, and "digital" and "content" are larger. It definitely looks as though we're seeing more content marketers among our audience, and the numbers back that up.

In a numerical breakdown of the words we see most often (and the total number of responses in each survey was nearly identical), "seo" drops from 233 to 194, and "content" jumps from 34 to 51. Here are the rest of the most common words seen, along with the number of times they occurred in each year's survey:

Word	2015 survey	2013 survey
seo	194	233
marketing	235	169
manager	137	154
specialist	84	55
director	61	52
analyst	38	44
online	35	43
consultant	24	42
strategist	44	37
content	51	34
ceo	15	31
search	21	30
marketer	19	26
owner	20	24
social	15	9
chief	3	3

What percentage of your day-to-day work involves SEO?

The idea that our audience is finally broadening is supported by another statistic: the amount of SEO that our readers do in their day-to-day work. Whereas the 2013 survey skewed a bit more toward the high end of the scale, there's a significant spike in responses between 0-10% this year. The median value reported dropped from 60% to 50%.

On a scale of 1-5, how advanced would you say your knowledge of SEO is?

The plot thickens, though, when we turn to actual SEO ability. We asked everyone to self-report their knowledge of SEO, on a scale from 1 ("I'm a beginner") to 5 ("I'm an industry expert"), and the similarity to the 2013 survey is staggering:

There are fewer people reporting themselves as industry experts, but not many. So, people have the same skill level, but SEO is less a part of their day-to-day work. To me, that implies their skill sets are growing, and the industry is simply demanding a broader gamut of work from them. They're becoming more and more T-shaped.

Do you work in-house, or at an agency/consultancy?

One note before we dive into this one: There should have been an additional option on the survey for independent freelancers. Without that option, we assume (since those folks do some of their own work and some work for clients) that most of them fell into the "both" category below, but we can't really be sure.

With that grain of salt in mind, there are clearly more in-house marketers than agency/consulting marketers in our audience:

At the same time, nearly half of our readers have some work for external clients. It's good to know that the set of skills unique to that type of work are relevant on our blog.

What are some of the biggest challenges you face in your work today?

As it was in 2013, this is my favorite question we asked. It was open-ended, and thus was such an easy question for respondents to skip (not many people usually want to type their own answers in a survey), but 621 people responded out of just over 750 total times the survey was taken. There were some easily visible recurring answers, and the top 20 are as follows:

Challenge	# of Mentions
Constant changes in the industry/technology	73
Lack of knowledge and unrealistic expectations of colleagues/clients/bosses	65
Convincing clients of value of the work	60
Lack of time	53
Content creation/curation	35
Link building	33
Team/resource constraints	33
Analytics	30
Proving ROI	28
Overwhelmed by too much content, too many tools	26
Budget constraints	23
Finding and promoting to the right audience	22
Communication/trust issues, politics	18
Rankings	17
CRO	14
Juggling different kinds of work/clients	14
Diversifying skill sets and proritizing channels	14
Complexity of work	14
Integration of siloed marketing teams	12
Reporting	12

Of note, half as many people noted content marketing as a great challenge this year as noted it in 2013. If that's any indication, we're getting better at it, or at least are better able to wrap our heads around it than we were before.

Above all, though, the top issues are largely the same: The industry is constantly changing, and it's incredibly difficult to find time to stay abreast of those changes. There's too much shoddy content to sift through (likely thanks to the rise of content marketing), and clients and bosses still largely don't understand the value in our work, as it's quite difficult to prove the ROI of what we do.

How often do you read posts on the Moz Blog?

We asked readers how often they read the Moz Blog (which has a new post published nearly every weekday), and there's definitely a difference from 2013:

In all likelihood, this is largely due to the broader gamut of topics we include in our editorial calendar these days. We now have content marketers in our audience who aren't always interested in advanced SEO, and technical SEO veterans who aren't interested in brand strategy. For that reason, more people are reading regularly, but fewer are reading every day. This also likely has something to do with the lack of time we noticed in the question above.

On which type(s) of devices do you prefer to read blog posts?

This was surprising in 2013, but the numbers were even more extreme this time around:

A whopping 71% of blog readers prefer to read posts on a desktop or laptop machine, up from 68% a couple of years ago. Just about all the numbers are the same here; it seems as if a group of folks who switched between laptops and tablets decided they'd rather stick to full machines.

Of note here is a theory we had last year that Moz Blog readers decided they preferred desktops because our blog wasn't mobile-friendly. We had, in effect, trained them to prefer reading on full screens, because it was just plain difficult to read on mobile devices. By the time this year's survey was sent out, though, the blog had been mobile-friendly for more than two months. There's always the chance that habits take more than two months to break, but if you ask me, that's evidence that our readers really do prefer to read posts on a laptop or desktop.

What percentage of the posts on the Moz Blog would you say are relevant to you and your work?

While there's not much change from the 2013 numbers, we're still quite happy to see that the majority of readers say that the majority of posts are relevant to their work. There's a slightly greater concentration of posts in the 11-40% range than there was before, which we can expect to go along with a broadening of post topics. Interesting to also see an increase in responses in the 91-100% range—I'd guess an increase in marketing generalists, and fewer folks with narrower sets of skills, leads to that change. (I'd love to hear any other theories in the comments!)

Do you feel the Moz Blog posts are generally too basic, too advanced, or about right?

One thing we regularly wonder is whether the posts we're publishing are too basic to actually be valuable, or if they sail right over the heads of our readers. As it turns out, it's pretty well balanced:

The inner circle in the donut chart above is data from 2013. The numbers from this year (the outer circle) are nearly identical, moving a few (statistically insignificant) responses from "Too basic" to "Just right."

We also asked readers who didn't say posts were "just right" to quantify the extreme to which they thought the posts were either too basic or too advanced:

This is interesting—people who see posts as too advanced feel more strongly about that response than the people who see posts as too basic. That implies we have some true beginners among our readers who would benefit from coverage of the basics in easy-to-digest formats.

In general, what do you think about the length of Moz Blog posts?

This is a question we didn't ask last time. We wanted to get a sense for whether readers had any strong feelings about the length of posts. Our suspicion was pretty well confirmed:

More than 1/5 of responses indicated our posts are too long, a much greater percentage than we'd like to see. This is really good feedback; we do tend to err on the comprehensive side, but could certainly put more effort into removing extraneous text from posts.

What, if anything, would you like to see different about the Moz Blog?

We also asked an open-ended question about whatever you all would like to see different about the Moz Blog. Reading through the responses was one of the most heartening things I've done in my time as the manager of the Moz Blog—a heartfelt thank-you to everyone who offered words of encouragement and ideas for how we can make this blog even better.

Here were some of the most common themes:

Request	# of responses
More step-by-step / how-to guides	37
More WBF / video-based content	27
More case studies	22
Too wordy/verbose; more to-the-point	18
Shorter posts	18
More posts	11
More Rand, Dr. Pete, Cyrus	11
More international content & translations	11
More accessible for beginners	9
More explicit takeaways for each post	8
More interactive elements	8
Better categorization / IA	7
More technical posts	7
More posts from respected influencers	6
More news / timely analysis	6

This was a telling question when we read through the responses in 2013, and not a lot has changed:

Which of the following topics would you like to learn more about?

Search engine trends, Mobile SEO, and CRO are all new categories we added this year. Other than that, the top three remain the same—advanced SEO, content marketing, and data analysis. Social media was bumped down a few spots, and branding was bumped down a few more spots. Design/UX was bumped up significantly, and one of the biggest gainers was basic SEO—something that, until recent years, we didn't see a lot of demand for on our blog.

More than anything, it's pretty clear that SEO and content marketing are still the hottest topics, and there's far more demand for advanced SEO than there is for basic SEO. That said, we're definitely seeing demand for a wide spectrum.

Which of the following types of posts would you most like to see on the Moz Blog?

We added a few options to this question this year to try and get a better sense for your preferences. Two of the strongest categories weren't chosen quite as often, causing a general flattening of the graph, but it's still quite easy to get a feel for what you all like to see by checking out the results:

A word we often use to describe great posts is "actionable." If readers can finish the post and immediately have a new tool or tactic at their disposal that they're excited to use, we've done our jobs well. It's easy to see that reflected in the above results. Making people think is good. Getting them to put their own work in new contexts is great. But the posts that really win are those that show instead of telling, offering readers a quick lesson that helps immediately improve their work.

Now we go to work.

This is a wealth of data that can help us continue to improve the Moz Blog, and the next step is to put it all into action. Here's a good start:

Primary takeaways

The greatest challenges faced by our audience haven't changed much in two years. Keeping up with a constantly changing industry. Convincing other people (clients, bosses, etc.) that channels like SEO and content marketing -- while long-term investments with fuzzy ROI -- are worthwhile investments. You all are constantly battling to have work in the first place, let alone actually get that work done, and there isn't enough time to get all that done. Our job now is to take those challenges (and the rest that you all named above) and find industry experts who can help you through them.
The traditional blog format, where all posts are published to a single channel to the same audience, is no longer cutting it. Our range of topics is broad enough and our audience diverse enough that we need to find better ways to deliver our content to readers, helping them filter out what they don't need and more quickly hone in on what they do.
The vast (vast) majority of our readers still prefer to read blog posts on desktops and laptops, so while we're happy the Moz Blog is finally responsive, we won't shy away from developing features because they primarily benefit desktop/laptop users.
We have a growing contingent of beginners in our audience. While the majority of readers are more experienced and advanced, we should focus on making all of our posts as accessible as possible, reducing unnecessary jargon and linking to additional resources. Nobody should feel like a post goes straight over their heads, or like they're not experienced enough to glean value from it.
Two full years after the rebrand from SEOmoz, our audience is shifting ever so slightly toward a broader skill set than its SEO roots. It is continuing to become more T-shaped, as even the experts among us are finding less of their day-to-day work to do with SEO. Our posts (while never forgetting those roots) should continue to reflect that diversification.
Through their self-identification as agency employees or consultants as well as their predominant challenge in convincing clients their work is worth time and money, it's clear that agency professionals with client-based work make up a large portion of our audience. We haven't posted much to specifically help this group, and will likely make more of an effort along those lines.
There is a general call for shorter posts, but it's not simply shorter: It's more concise. More compendious. We'll work on continuing to hone our editorial rigor to ensure we're cutting verbose language and off-topic rambling. We certainly don't want to make you all read things you don't need to.
With that concision in mind, we'll address the clear demand for more case studies and more actionable how-tos and step-by-step guides.

All of that, combined with your stated preferences for topics and styles, gives us a great place to start making improvements.

Thanks again to everyone who sent us their thoughts; we couldn't do what we do without you. =)

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Seth's Blog : Tires, coffee and people

Tires, coffee and people

The most important part of a race car is the tires. Good tires will always beat bad ones.

The most important part of a cup of coffee is the beans. The grinder, the machine, the barista pale in comparison to the quality of what you start with.

And the most important parts of an organization are the people you begin with. Not the systems or the policies or even the real estate. Great people make everything easier.

And yet...

And yet we spend money on 4 wheel drive instead of snow tires.

And yet we upgrade our coffee maker instead of buying from a local roaster (or roasting our own).

And mostly, we run classified ads to find the cheapest common denominator employee and spend all our time building systems to protect our customers from people who don't care...

• Email to a friend •

duminică, 20 septembrie 2015

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Tsipras Wins Reelection in Low Turnout, Same Coalition to Govern; Rule Number One

Posted: 20 Sep 2015 11:23 PM PDT

Syriza party leader Alexis Tsipras who resigned in the wake of his cave-in to the troika is back in office following Sunday's snap elections.

The election was supposed to be extremely close, but it wasn't.

Greek polls are notoriously unreliable. Tsipras won his first election by a huge vote even though polls were close. On Sunday the result was the same.

Pollsters had New Democracy running neck-and-neck but in a low turnout Syriza received 35.5 per cent of the vote to 28 percent for New Democracy.

Greek election rules give a huge block of parliament to the plurality vote, so in parliament the score is 145-75 out of a total of 300.

145 is short of a majority, but close enough so Tsipras can form a coalition with the Independent Greeks party (Anel), just as Syriza did after the last election.

Syria Wins Again

145 + 10 = 5 seat majority.

Whether the coalition proves stable is anyone's guess.

The Financial Times provided the above chart (purple highlights mine) and this commentary.

Alexis Tsipras's radical left Syriza party secured a clear victory in Sunday's Greek general election, suggesting his gamble on snap elections after striking a deal on a new €86bn bailout had paid off.

With 90 per cent of the votes counted, Syriza was on 35.5 per cent of the vote, giving it 145 seats in the 300 member parliament, well ahead of centre-right New Democracy on 28 per cent and 75 seats.

Mr Tsipras's win cements his place as the pre-eminent figure in Europe's far-left anti-austerity movement and is likely to galvanise sympathisers including Spain's Podemos and Jeremy Corbyn, the hard-left leader of Britain's Labour party.

Mr Tsipras insisted Syriza would govern for a full four-year term, even though his revived coalition with the small nationalist Independent Greeks party (Anel), announced on Sunday night, looks far from stable with only a six-seat majority in parliament.

But he warned there would be no easy exit from the country's six-year recession. His first task as re-elected prime minister will be to implement more tough austerity measures demanded by creditors in return for a new €86bn rescue package.

Early results put turnout at only 55 per cent, suggesting many young leftwing voters angered by Mr Tsipras's decision to capitulate to Greece's creditors and accept more harsh austerity measures in return for a new bailout had declined to take part, as experts had predicted.

Radical Left?

The above comments by the Financial Times in regards to Tsipras being the "pre-eminent figure in Europe's far-left anti-austerity movement" should have every one laughing or gagging. Take your pick.

Tsipras first ran on a radical left platform, but this time his platform was virtually indistinguishable from that of "center right" New Democracy.

I have no sympathy for radical leftists (or leftists of any kind actually, but I also have no sympathy for blatant liars and hypocrites.

Rule Number One

The number one rule for politicians is "Say or even do anything necessary to stay in office".

With that comment, I congratulate Tsipras for pulling it off, while noting that his problems have really just begun. Good luck with that five-seat majority Alexis, you will need it.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock

Parade of Fed Parrots Squawk About Rate Hikes This Year; Toss Out the Script

Posted: 20 Sep 2015 11:13 AM PDT

In an effort to convince the market that rate hikes are coming, an amusing parade of Fed parrots squawked in full force over the weekend, within an hour or so of each other.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard

Bullard Squawks: Bullard Says He Argued Against Fed's Call to Leave Rates on Hold.

"The case for policy normalization is quite strong, since Committee objectives have essentially been met," Bullard said in slides prepared for a speech in Nashville, Tennessee. "I argued against the decision at the FOMC meeting."

Bullard is not a voting member of the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee in 2015, but will vote in 2016.

Richmond Fed Jeffrey Lacker

Lacker Squawks: Fed's Lacker Says Economy Strong Enough for Higher Rates.

"Such exceptionally low real interest rates are unlikely to be appropriate for an economy with persistently strong consumption growth and tightening labor markets," Lacker said in a statement.

He was the lone dissenter among the 10 Fed officials who voted at the meeting. Lacker said the Fed's target should rise by a quarter point.

Lacker has a history of dissent in Fed policy meetings. In 2012, he voted against eight straight policy decisions by the central bank. At the time he was urging the Fed to wind down asset purchases that were aimed at stimulating the economy.

San Francisco Fed President John Williams

Williams Squawks: Fed's Williams Still Sees 2015 Rate Hike After 'Close Call'

An interest rate hike will likely be appropriate this year given the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision last week to stand pat was a "close call," a top Fed policymaker said on Saturday.

John Williams, a centrist and president of the San Francisco Fed, said the arguments for and against beginning to tighten U.S. monetary policy are about balanced now that the economy is on solid footing, giving him confidence in continued economic and labor market growth.

Balancing Act

If the arguments for and against the hike are "balanced" and the case for a hike "quite strong" then why was the vote 9-1?

By the way, wasn't the case even stronger a year ago? If not, why?

The answer to that is the Fed had a script that said "hike in 2015".

These economic illiterates not only ignore obvious asset bubbles, they actually believe a quarter of a point hike can sink the real economy. They also did not want to surprise the market with early hikes.

Why All the Squawking?

The Fed parrots are out in force, loudly squawking the same tune, because Yellen really wants to hike, provided of course the market goes along. Lately however, the market has had other ideas.

The market did not go along with a hike in September so that forced Yellen to come up with a basket of excuses for not hiking. In response, the market has moved the hike odds to 2016, but the parrots don't like that.

Toss Out the Script

Bloomberg says Wall Street Tosses Out Bond-Trading Script After Fed Meeting

Neil Bouhan at BMO Capital Markets expected the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this week. Now he's questioning all his views on the central bank.

He's not the only one. Strategists and traders across Wall Street are re-examining their approach to predicting the Fed's moves after officials kept their target near zero Thursday and released an unexpectedly dovish policy statement. Fed Chair Janet Yellen cited a range of concerns -- from slowing growth in China to global market volatility -- to explain the decision to hold the benchmark overnight rate at historic lows.

The tone of her comments in a press conference after the announcement surprised the bond market, fueling the biggest rally in two-year Treasuries since March 2009, when the Fed said it was expanding its bond-buying program. It also left many prognosticators struggling to pinpoint how to trade in the lead-up to the next policy meeting less than six weeks away.

"There is really no way to look at this market if you can't handicap Fed policy, and they've made that much more difficult," said Bouhan, a Chicago-based strategist at BMO. He doesn't expect the central bank will raise interest rates until 2016.

Lesson Learned

"What we learned from yesterday is that Treasuries are a buy either way," Guy Haselmann, head of capital market strategy with Scotiabank, wrote in a note to clients Friday.

John Briggs, head of strategy for the Americas at RBS Securities Inc., echoed the plea for more clarity. He compiled a list of 10 broad economic concerns that Yellen cited in the press conference, including energy prices, U.S. financial conditions and weaknesses in emerging markets.

"It's not common for the Fed to name all these things," he said from the firm's Stamford, Connecticut, office. "Where do they rank? Now we don't even know what to look at to determine whether they will raise rates or not."

Shifting Odds

Following the FOMC meeting, I reported Rate Hike Odds Shift to January 2016; 16.1% Chance of Hike in October.

The parrots are not happy with this shift in opinion, so they are squawking. They should have tried squawking at the meeting or before the meeting instead of now.

As a result, anyone with any bit of common sense wonders if the Fed will hike at all.

I concluded "By December, the economic data is likely to be weakening so much, that the Fed may not hike until the next recession is over."

Mike "Mish" Shedlock

Seth's Blog : Pathfinding

Pathfinding

Some simple arithmetic will show you how much time you're spending on finding the path:

[The amount of time it took you to do it last time] minus [the amount of time it will take you next time]

If you come up with something close to zero, then you're running the path, doing it consistently and spending almost no time at all finding a path. You've already found one.

On the other hand, if the first time it took you to write that novel was 8 years, and retyping it would take five days, you're spending virtually all of your time finding out where you're going, not actually typing. Which is why writing novels is more difficult than commuting to work.

A few things to consider as you develop your skills as a pathfinder:

If the value you create is in finding the path, are you being patient and generous with yourself as you hack your way through the weeds? You're not a typist, you're an explorer.
Are others significantly more efficient and productive at finding paths in your industry? If so, it probably pays to learn what they've figured out.
If you're not spending much time at all on pathfinding, what would happen if you did?

Lots of people run paths. Very few have the guts to find a new one.

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sâmbătă, 19 septembrie 2015

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Showdown in Spain: Independence Parties to Increase Majority in Regional Parliament; Spanish Banks Warn Against Catalonia Independence

Posted: 19 Sep 2015 12:22 PM PDT

On September 27, the Catalonia region of Spain holds parliamentary elections.

It now seems near-certain that Catalan political parties favoring independence will increase their outright majority of seats, putting the region on a collision path with the central government in Madrid.

Voter Intentions

Thanks to reader Bran who lives in Spain for the El Pais Article that contained the above graph. Translation and anecdotes by me.

Together for Yes

Earlier this year, the political parties Convergence and Union (CiU) and the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) entered a coalition. The result was Junts pel Sí which means "Together for Yes".

If the outcome is as expected, "Together for Yes" would fall one vote short of an outright majority. However, the Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) is expected to pick up 10-11 seats.

Although CUP did not join the "Together for Yes" coalition, it is firmly in the independence camp.

Total them up and you have 78 votes for independence and 57 votes to remain with Madrid.

Spanish Banks Warn Against Catalonia Independence

With that backdrop, Madrid and the banks are both upset.

The Financial Times reports Spanish Banks Warn of Financial Risks of Catalonia Independence.

Spain's leading banks issued a blunt warning about the financial and economic risks surrounding the Catalan campaign for independence, saying they would have to reconsider their presence in the region should a breakaway state find itself outside the eurozone.

"The exclusion of Catalonia from the eurozone, following the unilateral rupture of the constitutional framework, would mean that all banks with a presence in Catalonia would face serious problems of legal uncertainty," said the joint statement issued by the country's two main banking associations.

Spanish business leaders and top bankers are taking the issue seriously enough to abandon their long-held position on the sidelines of the secession debate.
The statement was issued the same day as another Spanish business organisation warned of "grave damage" that separation would inflict on the Catalan and Spanish economies.

Crucially, the document was signed by Caixabank and Banco Sabadell — the two largest lenders based in Catalonia itself. In a phrase that echoes arguments made by the Spanish government, the document says that "the constitutional order and the membership of the eurozone for all of Spain must be preserved at all times".

Catalan independence activists argue that an independent state would still belong to the EU, and that issues surrounding the access of Catalan banks to the European Central Bank and other eurozone institutions could be easily solved. Senior European leaders, however, have been consistent in their message that an independent state would be left outside both the EU and the eurozone, at least temporarily.

Showdown in Spain

Soon after the election, expect more talk of a referendum for Catalonia to leave Spain. Also expect the central government in Madrid to declare a referendum illegal and threaten to send in troops to stop it.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock

Remembering Dana Lookadoo - Moz Blog

Remembering Dana Lookadoo

Posted by jennita

Today we mourn the loss of our dear friend, long-time community member, and constant shining star in the industry, Dana Lookadoo.

She passed away early Monday morning after struggling with pain and other issues she endured resulting from her bicycle accident in 2013. Her husband Ed posted about her passing in a private Facebook group many folks were a part of. They will be setting up an education fund that we'll post more about when we have all the details.

Earlier this year we wrote more about the accident, and more importantly about how much Dana has given to this community. From her comments on the blog, to running webinars, and speaking at MozCon, she's been an active, welcoming member for as long as I can remember.

In early 2009, I was the newest member of the SEOmoz SEO Consulting team (yea, we had that back in the day). Let's just say I was slightly scared to death because I was a big nobody, and everyone else on my team was a "somebody" in the SEO industry. What I found, though, was a community of folks who welcomed me, and who made me feel right at home.

During my first SEOmoz Training Seminar (now known as MozCon) that year, Dana Lookadoo made a point to find me and welcome me personally to Moz. She asked if she could get a picture of the two of us. I thought she had to be crazy to want a picture with me. Some nobody. But that's who Dana was. She would go out of her way to make you feel comfortable, to introduce you to other folks, and she always had that big warm smile.

From that point on, Dana and I became industry friends and would run into each other at conferences all over the country. She would inevitably take lots of photos and introduce me to people I was too shy to talk to (yes, I can be shy).

One time at SMX West 2010, I had decided I was going to make a video asking people industry-related questions to see if they knew the answers. But I was having a hard time asking people. I mentioned this to Dana. Of course, she had no problem talking to folks, so she began helping me, introducing me to people, getting the conversation started. She was so dang good at it, so I simply let her roll with it. What came out of it was a silly, somewhat awkward (and a bit horrifying to see the old me), wonderful video.

"Man on Street" - A Who's Who in Search Marketing
Posted by Moz on Wednesday, March 10, 2010

I'll never forget telling her in 2010 that I had just found out I had colon cancer and that I'd be having surgery in a week. She was concerned and worried, but all her thoughts were about how to ensure my recovery went well. We talked about changing diet habits, then went on and on about how to be healthy.

Then in 2011, after I'd been going through chemo treatments for almost eight months, one morning I couldn't get out of bed. I had pushed myself too hard, fallen into a deep depression and my body had given up on me. Dana often called me, and although I didn't actually want to talk to anyone, I would answer, and then just cry. She'd just listen to me cry and tell me how much I was loved. She was concerned and went through the trouble of finding me a well regarded naturopath, made me an appointment and offered to pay for the services! I will never forget her love and her generosity during that horrible time.

The day I told her I had cancer.

After her accident, I went to visit her at her home. I remember feeling so happy to be able to return the love and friendship she had given me during my time of need. Dana will forever be a shining star; she will live on in our hearts and memories.

Dana was always full of love and light. She cared deeply about helping others and connecting people. We all have a story about Dana. I'd love to hear yours.

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Seth's Blog : Ad blocking

Ad blocking

By most accounts, more and more people are automatically blocking the ads in their browser.

Of course, people have been blocking ads forever. By ignoring them.

Fifteen years ago, when I began writing about Permission Marketing, I pointed out that when ads are optional, it's only anticipated, personal and relevant ones that will pay off.

And advertisers have had fifteen years to show self restraint. They've had the chance to not secretly track people, set cookies for their own benefit, insert popunders and popovers and poparounds, and mostly, deliver us ads we actually want to see.

Alas, it was probably too much to ask. And so, in the face of a relentless race to the bottom, users are taking control, using a sledgehammer to block them all. It's not easy to develop a white list, not easy to create an ad blocker that is smart enough to merely block the selfish and annoying ads. And so, just as the default for some advertisers is, "if it's not against the law and it's cheap, do it," the new generation of ad blockers is starting from the place of, "delete all."

Ad blockers undermine a fundamental principal of media, one that goes back a hundred years: Free content in exchange for attention. The thing is, the FCC kept the ad part in check with TV, and paper costs did the same thing for magazines and newspapers. But on the web, more and more people have come to believe that the deal doesn't work, and so they're unilaterally abrogating it. They don't miss the ads, and they don't miss the snooping of their data.

This reinforces the fundamental building blocks of growth today:

The best marketing isn't advertising, it's a well-designed and remarkable product.
The best way to contact your users is by earning the privilege to contact them, over time.
Making products for your customers is far more efficient than finding customers for your products.
Horizontally spread ideas (person to person) are far more effective than top-down vertical advertising.
More data isn't the point. Data to serve explicit promises is the point.
Commodity products can't expect to easily build a profitable 'brand' with nothing but repetitive jingles and noise.
Media properties that celebrate their ads (like Vogue) will continue to thrive, because the best advertising is the advertising we would miss if it was gone.

Media companies have always served the master who pays the bill... the advertiser. At some point, the advertiser will wake up and choose to do business in a new way, and my guess is that the media that we all rely on will change in response. But in the meantime, it seems as though many online consumers have had enough.

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luni, 21 septembrie 2015