OVBlogger: Blogging and SEO

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OK… You guys happy now? I changed my theme.

I kind of like this new one, and don’t plan any changes for a least oh… the next quarter at least. Let me know what you think… Especially those of you who were hating the last one. You’re my review crew!

So, got home today from jvAlert, and I have to tell you that the last day was totally rockin’.

I was there for Simon Leung. Whoa. The guy knows the backroads of Google because he used to work for them. There are things he can’t tell you because he signed a non-disclosure agreement, but what he can tell you and told us was invaluable.

Believe this…

Simon says (no pun intended) that you should have a different landing page optimized for EACH keyword that you have in AdWords. Whoa. He even said it’s a lot more work, but that’s Google. He gave us about 12 strategies about what Google wants to see. Since I run the AdWords campaigns for Overcome Everything, it was a pretty cool perspective. I think I’m going to study Simon quite a bit more.

“Million Dollar Mike” Morgan was up next, and I just think the world of him. He’s been great to me in the past and I can’t wait until the call on the 19th. He gave some pretty awesome copywriting pointers and made everyone smile. Mike just rocks, and I finally got to meet him in person. kewl

I got a lot more than just information at jvAlert, folks, with the most valuable being a whole new bunch of friends.

The first day, I made a friend from Slovakia named Lucia, who is just starting out. (You’ll be hearing from her; I have no doubt. ) Lots of newcomers like Kevin Puls, Bonnie Cramner, and Steve Leadbetter. Lots of people coming on in some pretty interesting niches. Keep a lookout.

And totally lookout for Carrie Wilkerson. She’s a hoot! And a very smart business lady, who walks around without her shoes on. She runs… what else? TheBarefootExecutive.com I really enjoyed spending just the little time with her that I could.

And there were my old friends, Brian Edmondson, who introduced me to Jason James and other friends of his; Cyndi Parker of TrafficMOM.com and Birgit Ratz Cheung and her husband Eugene. All tops. Oh, and how could I forget, my old friend Charles Burleigh? I’m was so glad to see him out and about, meeting folks and having fun. Of course, Mike Paetzold was there, ribbing me about my old theme (Happy now, Mike?) and Steve Roye, who never fails to make me laugh harder than I should. Har. And Ross Goldberg and Eric Stafford were there, too.

I also made new friends Willie Crawford, who I was fortunate enough to sit beside at dinner the other night; Alan Bechtold, Laurie Steffen and Jeff Wark, and even met Bob the Teacher.

But the coolest thing was when someone came up to me and told me that they were on my list and asked what I was working on. I totally enjoyed meeting Bonnie and having a long chat with her.

And another long chat with Deremiah, a truly incredible man. In an world with an overwhelimgly high percentage of “me firsters,” this guy is “you first.” He never fails to ask what he can do for you, and that’s pretty cool. He’s gaining lots of respect by this attitude in the IM world, and there’s no doubt in my mind that he WILL go far. And sing? The man sings better than Stevie Wonder. We got to hear a really great Deremiah version of Happy Birthday at dinner on Saturday. Nice.

Ken McArthur is wonderful, of course, and everyone loves him. What’s not to love?

But the whole weekend, the question I kept hearing was, “What’s with Tellman’s hair?” LOL I told him we love him both ways–with or without.

So, that’s about it. jvAlert totally rocks the block, I’m telling you.

Popularity: 39% [?]

I’m getting to be a real whiz with Camtasia. I guess when you make enough videos, that happens. Well, if you go through Camtasia’s course, which I plan to do someday, you know all this stuff up front. But I’m the kind of chick who likes to learn by doing, you know. I just jump right in and only look for help when I want to do something that I think is cool, but don’t know how to do. I’m terrible that way. I never read directions, either.

Anyway, today, I was making a pretty simple video, and I didn’t like the beginning. But… I thought. [see the little light bulb go on over Pat's head] Well… hmm… a PowerPoint could spice this up a bit.

But the trouble was: How the heck do I get the video and the PowerPoint to live together in one short film?

huh.

Well, when I thought about it, it was pretty simple actually.

• Record a video for both the PowerPoint and the screen capture. (I did the screen capture first, which was smart because then, I knew what I had to say when recording the PowerPoint. I left pauses where I wanted the video to kick in, you know? You can edit those out, which is pretty cool.)

• Then, on the storyline, put the PowerPoint in first, then split it where you want the video to come in.

• Plug in the screen capture video at that point

• You can split the video where you want the PowerPoint to come back. If it’s the end, that’s really easy because the end of the PowerPoint will still be there. But if you want PowerPoint and video to alternate, you can just continue splitting and alternating.

You may think it makes things jerky, and it probably will if you do it too much. Yet, Camtasia does a good job of making smooth transitions. You can always add transition screens to make it look even cooler, too.

This is probably soup simple for the video tech heads, but it’s an adventure for moi.

I’m really getting into this video creation stuff. It’s not just fun, it’s important! I really think it’s the way of the Web, folks. If you’re not at least exploring the possibilities of video, you’re behind the curve. I’m learning a lot working with Brian Edmondson, who’s doing some kick butt stuff for Overcome Everything, too. Brian is da video guy and he rocks.

But… I’ve also been watching Andy Jenkins’ videos about making videos over at StomperNet. Whoa.

Nothing like learning from a pro. I feel blessed. And thanks, Andy! You rock — out loud.

My site on blogging is all step-by-step video, so this is making it better all the time. Love it!

Popularity: 53% [?]

Well, sort of.

I got Launch Formula Marketing for my membership site. $250. Easy to use, right?

Totally wrong.

It’s probably mostly my fault because I’m not a PHP programmer. I understand it ever so slightly and can do things like alter my blog template, for example.

But I can’t do anything with my membership site.

It’s working for members, which is what my main concern is. They’re great, and they make me feel good about what I’m doing almost every day. I have the best members in the universe. Really. They rock!

But…

I’m setting up this fabu teleseminar series. It’s got people like:

Tellman Knudson (of course) of The List Building Blog

Brian Edmondson (why definitely) from Blog with Brian He’s got an awesome customization. I’m jealous.

Mike Paetzold (a real WP kinda guy) from Mike Paetzold Recommends

Reed Floren, who’s amazing on Facebook. His JV group is really active and once I’m settled in with this membership site stuff, I’ll be getting in on some really great JVs, just from being a member.

Ken McArthur, who uses his JVAlert blog for some amazing bonding with his audience. JVAlertLive starts tomorrow!

Andy Duncan of Netslingers.com, who uses his blog for a niche audience.

Stephen Pierce–don’t you just wait for his dtAlpha Talkback emails each week? I know I do. I love to listen to this man talk. He’s very generous with his information and the way he gives it to you is totally charming and inspiring.

Ted Demopolous, who wrote Blogging for Business, and a few more books on the topic. Smart and very nice guy.

And lest I forget, one of my favorite people–Mike Morgan, or “Million Dollar” Mike Morgan. His copywriting skills are so STRONG that his sales letters have already pulled in a million bucks in a day. Wish I could afford him.

And there’s going to be a cool mystery guest, too.

So you can see why I’m desperate to get this working. I just contacted a programmer. In my heart of hearts, I hope he can fix this.

Or, I’m going insane.

Want to come?

Go sign up for the series at http://blogging4boomers.com It’s free!

And then, check out the membership site. I have tons of great stuff inside and add more every month. You don’t have to be a Boomer, but we’re the ones coming online, trying to eke out just a little extra to survive.

I hear you! I feel your pain! I’m a Boomer, too!

Popularity: 48% [?]