“Rae Hoffman-

I am confused your website comes off as really credible and you seem to be connected some what to the blogging/internet arena but you have ignored 2 different emails sent telling you that we are having a problem with your plugin…I wonder what your community would think of that?

James Cook
www.kawink.com”

Well, my thought is that folks might think that people running a real business should hire a programmer and not send a blogger emails threatening to expose them for not providing free support. So, my response was:

“I think my community would be kind of surprised at the audacity that you demand I help you troubleshoot a plug-in I paid xxx dollars to have developed that I no longer support because I no longer need it that you didn’t bother to donate anything to but feel entitled to receiving support for.

In short, don’t threaten me asshole.

Rae”

So what say you community? What do you think?

UPDATE:

He responded to my email with the following:

Rae-

I will not even lower myself to start slinging names back and forth however tempting it might be. Who threatened you? Myself and others who use word press ‘QUITE” often will email developers of plugins if they have issues and in “MOST” cases will get emails back fairly quickly “ATTEMPTING” to help “OR” simply saying WE DON’T OFFER TECHNICAL SUPPORT after all who would know the plug-in better than the person who built it or paid for it in your case….In any case most fellow Bloggers try to help out their fellow Bloggers. Your a real piece of work Rae it took the last email in order for you to respond back within minutes yet you could not take the time to help someone reaching out to you for help…which ironically is why the world is in the exact shape that it’s in right now is because of selfish people just like you.

I have 50 niche blogs and I will make sure I attached a post to ALL of them with our communications and your choice language as a lady…and even if just one person pulls up this post and sees you for your true colors I will be pleased. People dont email you nor any other developer knowing how much the person paid to develop thier plugin or any of that other stuff “RAE” or even with the “AUDACITY” in mind you spoke about they email you because they simply may need your help…and our IT person tried to trouble shoot it first but the next logical step is to contact the developer????????? Here’s a tip take the down the plugin OR post the contact info of who developed it before you crash or ruins someone else’s blog since your not updating OR supporting it…we lost 100’s of would be registars on just 2 of our blogs because your plugin most likely does NOT work with current versions of word press and it was NOT until someone took to the time to email me saying your captcha IS NOT WORKING….

Get a clue…with your attitude it’s amazing how you have done so well…but then again I was just telling my wife how it always seems to be the most arrogant and selfish people who rise to the top, sometimes it really makes everyone else scratch their head in disbelief…

I will email you a link to the post…

Have a fabulous day fellow blogger glad our experience with other developers has not been like this…

We wish we could take back our vote for you as we had voted for you thinking how great your blog was and all the other yada yada stuff thanks for flashing us your true colors now your marked and we see you!

CEO SMEECEO…

Note: Spelling errors and typos are obviously his, not mine.

Guess I should send him the link to mine…

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

James Cook of Kawink Wants to Know What You Think

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

James Cook of Kawink Wants to Know What You Think

This is a post aimed at every ignorant ass out there who has done any of the following things during the busiest shopping season of the year.

Some of the things below might be perfectly acceptable if they weren’t done within the two weeks before Christmas. However, when done within those two weeks, they risk your health and well-being. At least if I am the person who has had as much as I can take behind you.

#8: Parking in front of the store

First, it is never legal to park here. It’s a fire zone you morons and you are not only being an asshole blocking traffic, but you’re risking the lives of everyone inside should a fire ensue.

Secondly, you’re blocking traffic and forcing people to drive around your ass in a crowded parking lot after waiting ten minutes for the people coming the other way who are in a “no way are you cutting in front of my ass, I’m sick of this yuletide shit and I want to get to Futureshop before it closes” mood.

Pedestrians are every where, little kids are running all over the place and you’re literally risking lives. Added points for also thinking that you are so damn important that you can’t be bothered to park in the parking lot and WALK TO THE DOOR like the rest of us. Picking up a big item? Bring other people with you to carry it to your car. I know, but can you believe the concept actually works?

#7: Dropping someone off in front of the store

While perfectly acceptable in non-busy shopping seasons, especially if it’s grandma, this is utterly unacceptable during the holiday shopping season. The asshole in number eight is already causing traffic problems and then you want to come along, stop and let someone, who is always slow as fuck and oblivious to the fact that they are causing a traffic clusterfuck, get out slowly in the “no way are you cutting in front of my ass, I’m sick of this yuletide shit and I want to get to Futureshop before it closes” lane?

No. And, beware the attempts to do so may result in some angry driver simply losing their damn mind because they need to get to Futureshop too and stepping on the gas to send grandma flying up and over the windshield (or at least cause further traffic issues while I daydream about doing it). Unless you have two wooden legs, your ass can walk from the parking lot like everyone else.

#6: “Catching up” with sales clerks

There is a time and place for catching up with old friends. In the two weeks before Christmas, in a hot and packed store when the “old friend” is a sales clerk the rest of us need to talk to in order to buy the things that will give our loved ones some fucking merriment is not one of them.

I don’t give a shit how big Charlie is getting or if Dan still lives on the west side. I need this shirt on the mannequin in a medium and can’t reach the top shelf where they are being stored. And funnily enough, I need the person who works here that you’re inconsiderately bullshitting with to get it for me. And I still have to go to fucking Futureshop people! Give the clerk your number (after you move off to the side to write it down) and let the rest of us get on with our lives.

Ditto the sales clerks chatting with each other. You’re almost as bad since you’re both being paid to waste precious moments of my life. I say almost because I have zero hesitation in interrupting your asses to get me my shirt.

#5: Blocking the aisles

The stores are crowded enough and shopping in the two weeks before Christmas is already the task from hell. You people who make it harder by blocking the aisles with your baby strollers and fat asses aren’t helping anything. Here are a few what normally would be called etiquette tips that in this two week timeframe can be referred to as survival tips.

First, if the store is extremely small (think of most “EB Games in a mall” size stores) leave your freaking stroller outside, scoop precious up into your damn arms and carry him in. Better yet, have someone else wait outside with precious AND the obstruction to foot traffic. If you think someone won’t knock you AND precious over to get the last Wii Fit in the tri-state area, you’re sadly mistaken.

Second, if you must stop to look at something, please stay as close to the actual shelves as possible, be aware of people trying to pass you and make it easy for them. And for fucks sake, get off the cell phone before someone yanks it out of your ear and shoves it down your throat.

#4: Walking while oblivious

As a tip, blindly walking into the parking lot in front of cars who have spent 10 minutes dealing with the morons in number eight and number seven is not a smart move. Contrary to public belief, people not wanting to hit you, even if you’re an asshole walking in front of cars without any nod of “go ahead” from the drivers inside them is not the same as you having the “right of way”. I WILL hit you if there is a chance I might not make it to Futureshop before it closes.

#3: Cockblocking your parking space

I know you saw me asshole. Yeah, me. The person who saw you leaving, never bugged you and simply turned on their blinker and waited for you to put all your bullshit in your car slow as hell because you’re on your cell phone. The person who waited for you as you continued to talk on the damn phone and warm up your car. The person who will now finally get gratification as you start to pull out.

Until you exit the space in a way that blocks me from being able to get into it and lets that asshole coming from the other direction to slip in even though I’ve been waiting for six minutes and thirty-two seconds. And I can’t even blame the other guy – they simply jumped on an opportunity. It was you, you inconsiderate asshat, who saw me waiting and cockblocked your space.

#2: Cutting in line

This is likely the second most deadly thing you can do during the holiday season. To the bitch whose boyfriend was in front of me in Mexx the other day, we all know you fucking saw us. Yeah us. The people who stood patiently in line waiting to pay for our designer threads.

The people who watched you come up, AFTER he had already paid for his purchase and his items were being bagged and slap an extra item on the counter that you paid for (not him), with your credit card (not his) and waited for it to be put into your bag (not his). That made it your purchase (and not his) and meant your stuck up, valley girl, daddy probably pays my credit card bill ass CUT IN LINE.

I’m the bitch who point blank asked you who the hell gave you the right to cut in front of everyone behind you as you paid the store clerk who began to shake at thoughts of the impending riot about to happen. I’m the bitch who told the store clerk he was “gutless” for not making you go to the back of the line where you belong and was met applause from six of the other people you cut in front of for doing so.

You’re lucky Futureshop was only open for one more hour or I might have slapped the hell out of you instead of yelling out that you were an asshole as you walked from the store with your sullied purchase.

#1: Forcing a price check for less than one dollar

This is extremely annoying during any time of the year. But when you force a price check over seventy nine cents with double digit people waiting behind you (one of which is me standing there with my items waiting to check out of Futureshop and be done with this holiday hell) three days before Christmas, you have earned the world’s biggest asshole award.

I wish there was a way to make you swallow that seventy nine cents. I even offered to GIVE you the seventy nine cents. But no, your cheap, pathetic ass insists on the price check. The clerk hates you. We (the people behind you) hate you. And the person you’re buying that gift should hate you. Cause you’re an asshole.

Merry Christmas folks.

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

Reasons Even Santa Would Hurt You

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

Reasons Even Santa Would Hurt You

The more and more exposure I get in this industry, the more and more I realize what bitches some people can be, especially when they have a monitor and anonymity to protect them. Over the years, as I’ve come more and more into the fold, I’ve experienced more and more bad behavior by folks.

I’ve been betrayed and fooled by “friends” in this industry, but mostly behind closed doors and even though some people running their mouths with nonsense has probably caused some people to form mistaken opinions of me, believe it or not, I try to turn the other cheek, on a personal level, and be the bigger person, as much as I can. People will find out the truth on their own eventually.

I rant and rave and voice myself on public matters, but I don’t air behind the screen drama in public, even when I’m not at fault or have been wronged. And if I do bring public criticism to an actual human being, I try my best to stay focused on the business related issue at hand and steer clear of their personal being. But either way, if I do say something, I do it under my own name. Signed, notarized and personally delivered. Not only that, but I’d have the balls to discuss it with you in person.

And as much as I can take other people’s insecurities being thrust at me in the form of anonymous verbal attacks online, sometimes, frankly, it gets hard. Partially because I don’t like pussies bullies (aka, people who need to prop themselves up on putting other people down) and partially because I know 99.9% of them wouldn’t have the balls to say shit to my face.

But I guess the big mistake I made when making the (now questionable) decision to be a bit more public, was thinking that I could be a “public person” in any arena and expect that some people wouldn’t act like total asshats.

But, when people talk about me on a personal level, people who don’t even know me – as a woman and a mother (oh, yes, someone went there), from the anonymity of their computer, my first reaction is “fuck this shit and fuck these people, I don’t need to put myself through this”. If I had the ability to instantly react, my blog, twitter account, speaking profiles and every shred of information related to me in this industry would – *poof* – be gone.

But, as I think about it for a few days, I look at the younger generation of women in this industry and realize that backing down is letting them down in addition to letting myself down. No one, especially not an anonymous bully, has the right to push us into a corner or tell us who we can and can’t be.

So to all the anonymous asshats, I have a few things to say:

• If I don’t act how you expect a “girl” to act, then maybe you shouldn’t try to shove women (be you a man or a woman) into some stereotypical profile.
• If I make you insecure in your manhood, get a bigger pair.
• If I make you feel insecure in other ways, see a counselor and work on your own self esteem.
• If you can’t handle me dropping the F-bombs on a regular basis, then unfollow, unsubscribe, don’t read and don’t listen. Last I checked, no one had your eyes pinned open and your browser stapled to Sugarrae.com.
• And lastly, if you get pissed at people voting for me because I asked them to, get off your ass and work hard to make your own fucking ass friends/connections/business acquaintances like I have the last ten years.

Maybe at some point in time I’ll regret some things I’ve said in my life and in my career. But if I ever do, I’ll man up, admit it and move on. I’m not perfect. I make mistakes. I’m not afraid of being wrong. What I am afraid of is wasting what little time we have on this earth being who you think I should be and not being who I think I should be.

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

I Am Whatever You Say I Am

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

I Am Whatever You Say I Am

This “community” is fucked and way too wrapped up in its own communal and deluded level of self importance and needs to get a life.

For those of you who have been asking, here is the truth on why I haven’t blogged lately… I don’t want to be known as an “SEO blogger” or as an “SEO rockstar” because frankly, being associated with the SEO “community” these days is an embarrassment at best and a liability at worst.

The back-biting, the personal laundry being aired in what is now laughably supposed to be a professional environment, the regurgitation, the constant top list reruns no one gives a shit about but everyone aimlessly “Sphinns”. It’s a joke. It’s sad. I’m bored out of my mind.

I don’t care what the ratio of female speakers – or male speakers – at the latest conference is. I don’t care what the latest Cuttlet rage is (Matt has canonical errors! Matt said paid links are bad! Matt commented on my blog! Matt pissed at 10:32 a.m. PST!). I don’t want to know the top twelve ways to bore the living shit out of an experienced SEO/marketer. And I certainly don’t care who your boyfriend is fucking (or who you think is trying to fuck him).

If you want the truth, I will give you the truth. Three quarters of the people you idolize and want to grow up to be like barely make a living on their own or couldn’t at all. Most of the people you read regularly are smoke and mirrors. Some speakers are given subsidies to speak at conferences, not because they refuse to come without it, but because they can’t afford to without it.

Some of the top bloggers spend their days showing clients success reports that show they’ve moved from #22 to #18 for “custom baby stroller wheels” because they can’t handle clients in the high dollar, high competition sectors (and unlike those with real talent they don’t refuse to take clients on in those topics because they could [and do] make more in those sectors as affiliates/on their own).

But there you are – wasting your day following the latest drama from a what is mainly a bunch of talentless hacks. Why the hell should I waste my time outlining my affiliate business plan (which I didn’t guess on, but actually implement with success) to people who won’t even read the whole thing, but will vote it up on Sphinn and then never act on it.

Most people don’t experiment anymore. Most people don’t innovate anymore. And even if they do, they get less attention then the drama king in desperate need to regain the self worth that was taken from him in high school when he was picked last for dodge ball and was purposely tripped in the lunch room and uses you to feel good about himself. In one small, insignificant sector of the blogosphere he’s (or she’s) important. And they live for it. They need it. The define themselves with it. And the convince you to waste your time feeding it.

I’m done with the industry drama. If I want baby mama drama, I’ll watch Maury. Most of the rest of this “community” seems to be content being the Drama King’s (or Queen’s) bitch. Rock on… it leaves less real competition for me.

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

Dear SEO Community, It’s Not Me, It’s You

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

Dear SEO Community, It’s Not Me, It’s You

I emailed Matt to ask him what’s up, because as a career affiliate, that category is an important one to me as a member of the community. Matt admitted that unfortunately, the limitation of the first year of the SEMMYs is that he only had his own personal reading list to pull from (and he’s not an affiliate).

He also pointed out that if the community liked the idea of the SEMMYs, next year’s nominees would be pulled in a much broader way than this year’s nominees. Of course, this sentiment is something Matt has already expressed.

But, of course, by the SEMMYs only being pulled from Matt’s feed reader, it meant some posts that deserved to be on the list wouldn’t be there. And that of course, meant people were going to bitch.

Because, if other people had taken all of the time and effort (they didn’t) to put this together for free (while costing them money via cash and time) they certainly would have gotten it perfect (notice the huge dose of sarcasm here if you don’t already) the first time.

Previous awards programs, like the search blog awards are completely unbiased, because anyone can be nominated (providing they read the SEJ blog of course to know *to* nominate themselves).

So, of course, it was no surprise when I saw a trackback from a guy quite pissed off not to be nominated for the SEMMYs. And maybe he has a right to be… like I said, this year is an admittedly limited list that is likely missing some great posts. But, in true and typical back biting fashion instead of stating his case, this blogger decides to attack Matt and everyone involved with the SEMMYs either by being a judge (volunteering their time) or being nominated (something nominees had no control of).

First on Andy’s blog post on the SEMMYs being controversial he commented:

“Please, it has no credibility with me. Maybe I don’t run around tickling everyone in that incestuous community’s balls every week but, IN THE VERY LEAST, I certainly deserved a NUMBER of nominations.”

And then on his own website:

“However, I don’t actually write about controversial marketing directly – I leave that to the academics. As the saying goes, “Those Who Can’t DO, Teach.”

So, here is my response. Fuck you. And every ungrateful person running around this industry. You know, if it weren’t for that “incestuous community” spending their fucking time posting things to give back to the community, many people, including myself, wouldn’t be where they are at today. I don’t assume that anyone who isn’t nominated is a know nothing moron, so I’m not sure what the hell makes someone so quick to decide that anyone who was nominated is full of shit.

Here’s an idea, if you’re that fucking desperate for the fame, then promote yourself the same way you say you can promote a website. Get your feed counts above a couple of hundred and get on the radar. This industry doesn’t have many silver spoons. The large portion of “names” became names by either busting their asses to do so or being remarkable enough that they didn’t need to.

But I will let you, and every other person desperate for the “seo rockstar” moniker in on something. It sucks. Because everyone feels like they can be pissed at you for being what they want to be but won’t work hard enough to get. You’re “lucky” in their eyes. You get to open up your wordpress dashboard in the morning to see someone who doesn’t know you talking shit about you and some of your friends in a temper tantrum of jealousy.

There is no “cash bonus” for being that public target either. There is no “secret society” you suddenly become a member of that opens up all of the world’s seo secrets. Instead, people feel like you owe them something.

Miss responding to an email or have to rush away from someone at a conference because you’re late for a business meeting as they are trying to introduce themselves and you’ll likely get a blog post about what a stuck up bitch you are.

Have people walk up to you and know how old you are, where you live, how many children you have… have people follow you around at a conference to the point that they are actually making you nervous to be alone or fill out profiles on social media sites pretending to be you and being able to know the correct information to put right down to the high school you attended.

Spend thousands of dollars of your own money to fly across the country to speak at a conference to give back to a community that then blasts you for not speaking slow enough to write everything you say down to post live on the Internet for those people who didn’t bother to spend any time, money or effort to attend. Because, after all, you deserve something for nothing.

So here is my request to all of you – don’t vote for a single one of my posts that have been nominated at the SEMMYs… because I’m over it. I wish there was a way to give “the fame” back. I wish there was a way to close Pandora’s box and simply run the companies I own (that survive on organic seo and not consulting) without a ungrateful spotlight on everything I say and do. And I wish there was a way to make some of the rest of this industry into better human beings.

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

The SEMMYS Launch, The WHINEYS TBA

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

The SEMMYS Launch, The WHINEYS TBA

At that point, I figured, why not launch a real site on the sugarrae.com domain (incidentally, a few months before, due to a shitty host, I lost my entire personal blog – shut up, I am now the *queen* of backups, lesson learned). So, in February of 06, the doorway came down and the new Sugarrae blog went up. Within two weeks, it was flooded with inbound links in part to friends linking to me from their own sites and in part from an interview I did with YPN. I had also redirected my then/now defunct personal blog to Sugarrae, along with a few vanity domain names (i.e. raehoffman.com).

When it launched, it was on Expression Engine, which I later found out was a complete nightmare in regards to SEO, so I then moved it to wordpress. I also put up a magazine style homepage and moved the blog to the root. This past summer, I decided to get rid of the magazine style homepage and move the blog back to the root with the main blog on the homepage again.

The point of giving you all that history was to partially let you in on how Sugarrae evolved. I posted some stats on the blog’s first birthday and rest assured that the numbers/increases are much higher now. The other part is to let you know that I changed url structures… a *lot* over the almost two years the blog has been open as well as had several *legitimate* redirects to the Sugarrae site.

It was a few months in that I noticed the blog didn’t “act” right in the Google serps. I wasn’t ranking for things I should have been ranking for (as in very peculiar queries that had exact matches on my blog – not mainstream terms). Something was wrong. So, way back when, I went, privately, to some of the biggest names in this industry because it was driving me nuts and I figured I was too “close” to see the problem.

The responses I got ranged from “you need more content”, to “you need more trust”, to “you need more time”, to “maybe the personal blog redirect is getting you caught in some filter” to “you’ve recently changed url structures, give Google time to sort it out”. Deep down, I knew none of these were the issue.

But, I now have more content, I (should) have trust, I’ve waited, all redirects, including the vanity ones, were removed a long while back (I didn’t want to leave anything untried) and Google has had more than enough time since my last url structure change in the summer to “figure things out”. And the site still doesn’t act right.

So now I am going to state the obvious – what I’ve known for a long time – and give you the evidence that supports this conclusion. Additionally, since it’s undeserved, I am going to officially put my face on the poster for the often referred to “collateral damage” (because I am going to assume that this is in no way a “personal thing” between me and Google and that it’s a result of getting caught in some filter).

The Sugarrae website is penalized, devalued – whatever the hell you want to call it. Google has given it the smackdown.

It’s photoshopped people

Before I present my exhibits of evidence, let me first explain that the Sugarrae website currently has over 20K backlinks. And if you look through them, you see that I certainly am not, on a sane planet, lacking authority or trust in regards to those backlinks.

I do not now, nor have I ever sold links (though it would be easy to confuse that and make the wrong decision) – and since my toolbar PR is fine and has not been destroyed as some other people’s have – I don’t think that is the culprit anyway. This penalty, devaluation, whatever, has been going on long before the idiocy of trying to identify unidentifiable paid links.

I certainly don’t buy links for this site, spam in any form for this site or anything else that would be considered shady. The redirects originally put towards this site were domains I owned that ranked for “rae” – it isn’t like I changed topics (and remember, those redirects have been removed for over six months anyway). The *only* questionable thing this site does is that it has text under the top navbar graphics and the logo that are word for word what is said on the image itself. Not a single alteration. Now, according to the former comments re: hidden text via css, supposedly, according to Matt:

I’m not saying that mouseovers or DHTML text or have-a-logo-but-also-have-text is spam; I answered that last one at a conference when I said “imagine how it would look to a visitor, a competitor, or someone checking out a spam report. If you show your company’s name and it’s Expo Markers instead of an Expo Markers logo, you should be fine. If the text you decide to show is ‘Expo Markers cheap online discount buy online Expo Markers sale …’ then I would be more cautious, because that can look bad.”

So, assuming Google isn’t instituting insane filters that are grabbing text underneath my images that contain no “keywords” and penalizing me for them with no discretion or intelligence (”me see hidden word, me penalize site”), then that shouldn’t be the problem either. And assuming Google knows its head from its ass in regards to redirects, the changes in url structure shouldn’t be an issue either. And I’d hope that Google can tell the asshole on the .net of my domain (get in line to yell at me for not registering it) is not the original.

So now you might be saying to yourself:

Ok, Rae, we get it. Your site is an authority in the niche, it has trust, it doesn’t do anything it’s not supposed to… what, you whining because you’re not ranking for “seo blog”?

No. when I say I don’t rank for things I should, I mean the hell out of it. Here we go:

— link experts sugarrae – all five sites ranking above me are linking to me… additionally, by default, having sugarrae – a made up word – in the query and not having my site return as the number one result is insane.

— monkey balls seo – now, even if you buy that themadhat (love you Aaron) should rank above me for that term in spite of being a younger, less linked to site (he did post it first after a twitter message about it), there are two scraper sites (who scraped *my* site, and not Aaron’s) ranking above me and two video game sites that don’t have the phrase appear as exact match on the page.

— google face of evil – I could buy the sites appearing above me, until you hit the scraper site (again, scraping *my* site) right before mine.

— shameless stuntie mybloglog – Note that stuntdubl’s site appears first with a scraper site underneath. Now repeat the search with omitted results included. Oh, there’s my site! Look, it is being considered a duplicate of stuntdubl’s page, even though the *less than one sentence* of duplication that appears on his page is a trackback from my site complete with a link back to me.

— “a note to my fellow women of seo” sugarrae – I don’t think I even need to explain why this serp result is beyond fucked up for this query. And before you ask, yes, it is indeed indexed.

As most of you know, I’ve been linking to the troublemaking whore with whore in the anchor text for almost a year now. I’m guessing that you finally understand why we’ve been doing it now. So get this…

— outing people for taking naps during the day whore – I don’t know how much more obscure you can get. Granted, this one is without quotes (be patient). Now, let’s ignore that fact that *I* am number 8 for this serp, even with exact query match. The whore himself doesn’t rank in the top 1000 for the query, even with an exact phrase match linking to him.

— “outing people for taking naps during the day whore” – Now I’ve done the search with quotes (hey, at least now I’m number one) but take notice of the fact that I am the *only* result for this query.

Now we’ll stop, because if you don’t already get the point of the above two slides, you might need a little bit of knowledge to do so. When you do a search for rae hoffman you’ll notice that MFE Interactive is at the top of the second page. If you look at the cache, you’ll notice that the following phrase appears: “These terms only appear in links pointing to this page: rae hoffman”.

You should get now why only my site appearing for the outing phrase in quotes is a bit troubling since the outing whore has a direct link to his page. For whatever reason, Google is not counting my link to his page. Whether or not that is true of *all* of my links I have no way of knowing.

Ladies and gentlemen of the blogsphere… after the evidence presented here, one is only left to conclude one of three things:

1. Google doesn’t know its head from its ass

2. Someone at Google dislikes me on a personal level (again, we’re not going there, as I don’t believe this to be the cause, even though it must be listed as an option)

3. I’m penalized or devalued – collateral damage from some filter or whatever you want to call their “spam detection efforts”

Either way, it’s annoying as hell. I run a good site, that follows “the rules” (gag me, but it does), I get a lot of links, a lot of traffic – and I’ve been slapped by Google for no reason. I’m pissed off – not only because I don’t deserve whatever the hell is going on – but also because I’m smart enough to understand what’s happening when a lot of other people (meaning non search marketers) aren’t.

I’m guessing it is number three with a dash (ok, maybe a spoonful) of number one thrown in. Either way, we always hear about “potential collateral damage” from Google’s (sometimes warranted, sometimes insanely overzealous) crusades, but rarely see the faces of those who become it. The problem I have now is how to fix a penalty I didn’t do anything to receive and therefore have nothing to “fix”.

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

Google Puts the Smackdown on Sugarrae

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

Google Puts the Smackdown on Sugarrae

First, a little background on me since I’ve learned repeatedly in other posts that people don’t bother to research a person and tend to instead make assumptions… I started in seo with a pristine whitehat. I didn’t even know it was a “whitehat”. I simply started building websites and marketing them.

A few years in, the “blackhat” side I was hearing about fascinated me and I started playing in that space as well. It was during that time, I learned that one of the largest “thoughts” in seo was complete bullshit… that blackhat seo’s were seo’s who did “blackhat” because they couldn’t cut it in “whitehat”.

Let me be very clear in saying that some of the best seo’s I know on the planet are what many would call “blackhat seo” types. Secondly, I’ll say something I’ve been saying for years… any *good* blackhat seo can “whitehat” their asses off. Being “blackhat” really is about is figuring out what works for whitehat seo and figuring out how to automate or find “loopholes” to get to the end result faster.

That said, about two years ago, I stopped any new “blackhat” ventures. To me, the longevity process – remaining a successful affiliate marketer – with a long term vision and plan was the direction I wanted to head. Of course, nobody believes me on that latter part, but, C’est la Vie.

Now, I would like to continue my rant by responding to some of the quotes from what I guess is being called an “article”…

In other words, she assumed that I practiced black-hat SEO. I was mortified because I sat right in front of her and talked to her about graduate school. I had just been accepted into my graduate program of Library and Information Sciences with a specialty in Human and Computer Interfaces (HCI).

So, let me ask, what the fuck does graduate school have to do with anything. What, because you attended college, you can’t possibly be a “shady, worthless criminal”? I’ve got news for you, there are plenty of shady worthless criminals with pristine education resumes. That’s why we have white collar prisons. Of course, I’m assuming that it was simply an example of why you think you’re better than all those “worthless, shady criminals” who certainly wouldn’t have college degress [rolls eyes].

Many people assume that I do not respect my black-hat colleagues, an assumption that is completely false. I have a great deal of respect for their knowledge and expertise…and their cleverness.

You sure as hell have a funny way of showing it. If I say I respect you and then slap you in the face, which one rings more true? I’m guessing it’s the one that leaves the mark and the sting. Actions speak louder than words.

But I am against creating these piece-of-crap sites purely to generate AdSense income. Who is monitoring and allowing these piece-of-crap sites?

Not every shit made for Adsense site is owned by a “blackhat” Shari… there are many crap sites being promoted utilizing completely legit, above board and “within the Google guidelines” methods. Blackhat and whitehat are terms used for search engine optimizers… meaning they are related to how one markets a website, not to the quality of the website itself.

I remember one statement very specifically. “Google is NOT the government!” exclaimed panelist Michael Gray, to the great delight of the audience, who erupted with applause. I laughed at that reaction. It was cute.

And that comment was nothing but drivel meant to be demeaning to the conspiracy theory whore and every single person in the room who applauded him. Disagree with the man and the audience reaction all you want – lord knows I do at times – but maybe try doing it with a little less of an “I am so much better than all of you idiots” tone next time.

The reason I do not like being lumped in with black-hat SEOs is because they lack honesty and integrity.

If you and that entire post was an example of honesty and integrity, then I’m glad as hell that you think I have none of it.

Unfortunately, I have been an expert witness in legal cases involving SEO fraud. Clients were not fully informed about the SEO methodologies utilized to promote the site. One case in Europe involved the SEO firm stating (in writing) that they followed all of the terms and conditions set forth by the search engines.

Whoa there Shari. These are called crooks and criminals. Not blackhats. A blackhat is not defined as someone who lies to their clients or utilizes methodology without their knowledge and consent of a blackhat nature. Those are scumbag seo’s. And there are tons of them. There are plenty of talentless hacks charging companies shitloads of money for “pure whitehat” seo too.

Even further, there are talentless hacks being paid shitloads of money by clients in arenas where blackhat is rampant and they don’t even understand the techniques the competitors are using because they have no experience with them themselves, and not informing clients that it makes them a less effective seo for them. Some seo’s are shit seos and their fucking hat colors have nothing to do with it.

Stating that all blackhat seo’s are criminals are no different than stating all teenage men with their pants below their ass standing on streetcorners at 1 p.m. in the afternoon are drug dealers. Or any different than when you stated that “women in seo” seemed to be more geared towards sem than the technical side (as a side note, the article where Shari stated this seems to be missing from ClickZ, however, Amanda Watlington, quoted the statement in blog post she has disagreeing with it here). It’s called a sterotype. It’s insulting to blackhat seo’s that have never been involved in fraud – remember what they say about assuming – and it’s insulting to whitehats, the search marketing community as a whole and insulting to Search Engine Land as a publication.

I’m actually disappointed and embarassed that SEL published this sterotypical drivel that is the equivalent of “seo hate speech” too.

Nonetheless, until I see most SEO professionals take full responsibility for their actions and their consequences, I will still use the label of white-hat SEO

Again, this is a scumbag seo and a scumbag business person. This has nothing to do with the blackhat/whitehat seo monikers. And again, there are plenty of talentless hacks performing seo services within the Google guidelines who are providing no value to the companies hiring them – which could also be called “fraud”.

Based on the way you came off in that article, I could form the opinion that since you are using the moniker of “whitehat seo” that all whitehat seo’s are pompous, self righteous, better than you people with small minds and who form sterotypical opinions based on their limited experiences…

But I won’t, because I know there are a lot of fantastic, kick ass, whitehat seos out there who wear their whitehat – including myself – without wrongly sterotyping those who may wear a hat of a different color.

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

Hey Shari Thurow – Stop Sterotyping SEOs

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

Hey Shari Thurow – Stop Sterotyping SEOs

1. Happy birthday :)

2. You said…

“Rae’s point seems to be that if you don’t have something called “SEO chops” or “social media spamming chops” or whatever it is, then you’re just an unskilled loser”

And yes, that it was I said, but it was directed at those who were upset they couldn’t market themselves (not websites containing information) by getting *their* submissions Sphunn and *their* pictures next to the stories making it to the whats hot homepage.

It was not a statement that if you didn’t market yourself on Sphinn you were a “loser” – it was me saying that if you want glorification for *being* a top Sphinn “face” or any form of “SEOlebirty” for that matter, if you can’t market *yourself* enough to obtain it, *if* that is what your goal is, then you probably don’t have marketing skills *worth* being known for. And I stand by that statement armed with a bat to defend it. ;-)

3. You said…

“But I’m not trying to get my mug to the top of Sphinn. I’m trying to get customers to buy drills, travel, lightbulbs, enterprise software, and… you know… products and services.”

I’d have to ask you to re-read my post. I specifically said there were people who were *great* marketers who couldn’t give two craps about building a “Sphinn celebrity status” or an SEOlebrity status. And more power to them. Many of my friends are in that category. And the massive whole of my business resides in that *same* category. My post was not aimed at Sphinn *users* – it was aimed at those whining that they couldn’t get *their* works or submissions noticed.

I’d venture to say if you can’t get your drill site, travel site, enterprise software site, et al noticed, then you wouldn’t be much of an SEO. Whining about not being able to achieve celeb status in the seo sphere, *if* that is your goal is no different to me than whining about how you can’t rank for power drills. Compete or find a new venture.

4. You said…

“Like Mike Grehan, I’m hopefully in business because there’s more to life than a thin concept of what some consider to be “SEO chops” — for example, the real-life corporate marketing”

First, I adore Mike, so he had to get a link. Second, I respectfully ask before you read one post of mine and make an assumption on my overall theories of what it takes to be successful in SEO that you take the time to read some other stuff I’ve written. I have no doubt been one of the louder voices in the industry discussing how marketing is marketing.

Well over a year ago I was trying to get people to realize link development was merely traffic development also known as straight marketing and I’ve long been building sites that aim to market and survive the coming evolution.

Better yet, refer to your memory as you and I specifically exchanged an email conversation in regards to my speaking slot at Toronto SES (which I later had to cancel out on due to uncontrollable circumstances) and what I planned to cover where I said, and I quote; “[listing of more traditional marketing meet web marketing methods I was going to cover] and a few of the things from my presentation from last year, which was link development versus traffic development and how search engine optimizers by default have to become straight marketers online in addition to SEO’s to obtain their end goal – links.”

5. You said…

“I didn’t know anyone with a full-time job who really partook of the exercise.”

Come on Andrew, some of the best guys in SEO whore, long story have the process down to a science – and you’re right, most don’t have full time “jobs” – they’re running the businesses that employ those with the full time jobs.

6. You said…

“I mean it’s not exactly like Joe Rutabaga, a genuine consumer of media to be used for building his retail business just sort of stumbled across Jill’s article”

That’s because Sphinn is aimed at search engine marketers. It’s isn’t aimed at Joe Pool guy looking to optimize his pool service website. It is aimed at professional search marketers… a talented SEO *is* the Joe consumer here. “Newbies” or people outside the SEO sphere have no reason to be reading a site that is grouping the top (perceived) SEO stories in the industry day in and day out. He needs information on how to market his local small business site or other information aimed at a single retailer.

7. You said…

“Hey Rae, sorry I just whined about the guy spamming the restaurant site, but nope, I don’t respect his “chops”.”

Come on Andrew, you know damn well that isn’t what I was referring to. But, I will say this, as I’ve been saying it for years (see message by chrisnrae, my old username) – bitching about the guy ahead of you does nothing – your time is best spent figuring out a way to get ahead of him.

8. You said…

“How in the sophomoric world o’ Digg”

And I got the feeling you were referring to me as “sophomoric” of search engine marketing. Again, I’d ask you to look into me a little further. My “public” voice isn’t old, but my face to those in this industry and marketing skills are… I’ve been playing on this playground for a lot longer than I’ve been advising other people how to do so. I was here before pagerank, when Yahoo was only a directory site and long before the age of social media. Don’t assume because I don’t resent social media marketing that I must be one of those “newfangled kids” on the block.

Edited to add: Since I wrote this last night, the original post Andrew made seems to have been deleted. *Shrug* For now, you can still find it cached in Google.

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

Alright Andrew Goodman, Let’s Rock and Roll

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

Alright Andrew Goodman, Let’s Rock and Roll

Marketing a website is all about making it popular. From the origins of link popularity (hence the word popularity) a huge portion of online marketing boils down to your ability to make the site you’re focusing your marketing efforts on (say it with me) popular. Google didn’t stop there either. Pagerank actually took it further by saying being popular was no longer enough, you had to be in with the “right” people. Then came trustrank – the need to not only become popular, and with the right people, but you also had to become popular with trusted people.

And once you’ve gotten your website popular (aka made it rank) its popularity breeds even more popularity. When a reporter or researcher does an article, they’ll often cite the top sites listed in search results as examples simply because those sites rank well in the engines. Bottomline is, if you have any search engine optimization skill, you know how to even make some boring topic like misting fans popular within it’s own niche or target market.

Of course though, not every skilled search engine optimization person wants to be personally popular. They build their sites, get them popular, cash their checks and are happy to live in the shadows of this industry. But, some people want that personal popularity (obviously) and complain that “the popular people” are ruling the roost.

It might be to be able to charge higher consulting rates, to land a speaking gig to boost your resume, because you like feeling loved or because you see a chance to finally be a “cool kid” – but if your goal is to be a “popular” and “noticed” person in the SEO sphere and you think that you can’t do it because “rockstar status” is nothing but a popularity contest, I have four words for you…

I say again, duh.

And if you have any marketing skills worth being noticed for and want that personal fame, then you’ll have the ability to achieve it in spite of others already having obtained it before you. Taking yourself and becoming popular for your search engine optimization skills and insights in spite of others already being popular is no different than taking a website from conception to a top ranking property – even though there are tons of already popular sites out there.

I repeat, *IF* you have any skills worth being noticed for.

This industry isn’t old enough for anyone to have been born with a “silver spoon” in their mouth in regards to it. The social media whore started blogging less than three years ago. Stuntie started making a name for himself in 2004. Rand has only been speaking for three years and I know he didn’t start the blog until after that. The Sugarrae blog has only been in existence a little over a year (though I’ve been speaking for almost three now).

Boser and many other old schoolers may have time on their side, but they also spent the early years creating the industry so many choose to specialize in today. There was no one to learn from and they became the leaders through their own sweat and trial and error. Lisa may work for one of the oldest companies doing search engine optimization but it was her wit, writing style and increasing knowledge that made her rise to the blogging fame some of the posts above cite her for.

So, if you want that personal fame, you have two options. Do what it takes to achieve it and market yourself like you want to be glorified for marketing websites or whine about how you’ve got the deck stacked against you and all those “popular people” (who you might overlook busted their respective asses to become popular) are out there hoarding *your* limelight.

If you choose the former, good luck and rock on. If you choose the latter, please spare us from the whining. Tough – maybe. Harsh – maybe. But if one person listens to this, gets off their ass and shows us what they’re made of, maybe I’ll eventually be made aware of a new blog worth reading.

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

Newsflash: You’re Damn Right It’s a Popularity Contest

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

Newsflash: You’re Damn Right It’s a Popularity Contest

When Li Evans interviewed me for her women in search series, she asked me what women bloggers I was reading, but the question and my answer didn’t make the final interview. My answer was longwinded as usual, but I ended it by stating that I’d like to think that many women marketers are like me. I’d rather be known as a kick ass Internet marketer and search engine optimization professional, regardless of whether or not I wear a bra.

Being a woman is something I’m proud of, and I’m not blind to the ratio of women to men – especially among those with widely heard voices – within this industry. But being a successful woman in this industry doesn’t mean you’ve “overcome” some kind of odds. There are many successful women in search engine optimization. Two in the immediate forefront of my mind are Christine Churchill and Anne Kennedy.

For the record, I don’t respect either of them for being a “woman” in this industry. I respect them for their business sense, knowledge and contributions to search engine optimization. And that is why you should respect them too.

I catch some flack sometimes for being outspoken, perceived as “one of the boys” and for not being willing to conform – but I have to be “me” and take what comes with it. To others like me, and to women still trying to find their inner confidence to be themselves and take the opportunities they make in life, rather than those simply “presented” to them, I share a quote with you: “Women who behave rarely make history.”

Which is a modernized version of the original: “Well behaved women rarely make history” and sometimes also quoted as: “Well behaved women seldom make history” by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. Be yourselves, never see being a woman as a disadvantage, an advantage or above all, an excuse.

Yes, I’m representing two sides of the same coin. Be proud of being a woman and representing women well. But don’t feel the need to be acknowledged for being a successful woman. Look to derive your satisfaction from being a success, period.

And in the spirit of never conforming, my response on the matter is simply this: For those looking for validation as a successful woman in this industry, get over it. For those who take their validation from spanking ass in the serps without needing their sex acknowledged along with it, rock on ladies.

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

A Note to My Fellow Women of SEO

This post originated at the Sugarrae online marketing blog, home to online marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

A Note to My Fellow Women of SEO