Mar 13, 2024
Digital Marketing Social Media Is Not Owned Media
Social media isn’t owned media. I could write a huge, theoretical rant about social media and the definition of owned media. Thanks to my pal Elon Musk, I don’t have to.
Writing
The blog.
These days, I write for fun, not survival, so there may be a little less going on here. Have a look at the 1,000+ posts I wrote on Portent.com.
Jun 8, 2023
Content Aug 9, 2022
Digital Marketing Data Visualization For Marketers: SERPStat Webinar
SERPStat invited me to talk about one of my favorite topics/pet peeves: Data visualization. I learned (after about 20 years) that if no one understands you, being right means…
Feb 23, 2022
Randomness Building, Running, & Selling An Agency
I’ve given this talk a couple of times now. Building and running an agency is all about controlled chaos. These are a few lessons I learned (or failed to learn) along the way.…
Jun 17, 2021
Personal Diversity And Inclusion Matters
Ian Lurie, LLC is committed to fostering, cultivating and preserving a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion… OK, look: Ian Lurie, LLC is pretty much one person. Me. I work…
Mar 10, 2021
Content Content Creation For Really Small Teams
All the case studies about content that generated 50,000 customers can make you feel like a complete loser, and I’m here to say you’re not, and you’re not alone. This morning I…
Nov 12, 2020
SEO How To Run An Internal SEO Training Program
Training internal teams is one of an SEO professional’s greatest opportunities. It can also be a living hell. Seattle Search Network invited me to talk about it, so I did. Here’s…
Sep 23, 2020
SEO E-A-T & SEO: MNSearch Presentation & Links
The MNSearch community is one of the best on the planet. They let me babble on about E-A-T and SEO today. This is the deck, and a couple of relevant links.
Aug 3, 2020
Randomness The Perfect Blog Post
Read this to plumb the depths of my despair as a marketer and writer.
May 15, 2020
Digital Marketing In These Uncertain Times, Marketing Copy Can Still Show Empathy
Most of us, including brands and the copywriters that work for them, want to show empathy. Particularly during a crisis. But you don’t need to start your ad with “In these…
May 7, 2020
Digital Marketing What Digital Marketing Does
Digital marketing is not a business strategy. It connects your customers to your value (your product) when they need it.
Apr 17, 2020
Digital Marketing Site Replatforming: 51 Must-Do To-Dos
I have a love/hate relationship with site replatforming projects: Migrating from one CMS/e-commerce platform/whatever to another is an opportunity. Great things can happen! Yay!…
Apr 10, 2020
Randomness Every Shitshow is Different: Running An Agency In A Crisis
If you run an agency, you’re going to face tough times. There’s no avoiding them. These are my experiences and how I (and my agency) survived them.
Mar 27, 2020
SEO SEO 101: URL Permanence
If you create repeating, date-based content on your site, like an annual ‘best of’ list or buyer’s guide, use the same URL every year. Archive previous years to date-based URLs.…
Mar 17, 2020
SEO SEO 101: The Blank Sheet Of Paper Test
SEO Rule Number One: Fully describe your content. Heck, that’s copywriting rule number one. Everything that describes content should pass the blank sheet of paper test: “Will…
Feb 25, 2020
Randomness Marketing Haiku, 2.0, aka I Still Have Writer’s Block
Yep. I still have writer’s block. I’m so desperate I’m rewriting old fluff pieces and publishing them in a futile display of attention grubbing. So here you go: More Marketing…
Feb 5, 2020
SEO Putting The Brakes On Python
Python is a fantastic SEO tool, until it breaks your heart. Tools are tools and you need to pick your battles. Ask yourself these questions before you code.
Jan 31, 2020
SEO What’s A Good Outgoing Link? Use Common Sense
What’s a “good” outgoing link? The SEO world has generated a mindboggling mound of utter crap on this subject. I try to simplify and make sense of it all.
Nov 26, 2019
Randomness Advanced? It’s Not What You Think.
Advanced isn’t what you think. “Skilled” isn’t the same as “advanced.” “Skilled” means you know how to do a thing. Skills are crucial. “Advanced” means you can recognize the…
Nov 4, 2019
Content SEO Copywriting: The Blank Sheet Of Paper Test (presentation)
Carol Schiller invited me to talk SEO copywriting at her class on Saturday. It was great fun, replete with Capybara. I focused on The Blank Sheet Of Paper Test: “Will this…