SEO Update from Chicago

Everything just got a bit harder with the new Google Caffeine update for the search engine. If you haven’t heard about it yet you can check out the API to see how your website will rank in the new engine compared to the old engine.

I would say that most people began to understand the old engine in a logical way from experimentation over time and many businesses thought they were just “following the rules” building sites in a way that fit with that logic. Now the new engine will be completely different and all that work will be gone. I looked at some sites and saw how they will compare between the 2 and the results are a challenge.

One site went from 12th to 44th for a key search term. Another went from 5th to 23rd. It is almost universal that everyone who develops a business model around search will be hurt by the change whether they are spammy or not.

I am all for reducing and removing spam/affiliate networks/link schemes from google to reveal the real content but the actual companies with the products/services/tools that businesses and professionals use will be hurt by the update and some may suffer financially as a result. Google just doesn’t have the human ability and reasoning skills in a robot algorithm to tell whether a site is spam or not. They’re going after spam and hurting other legitimate businesses.

Investing in marketing might be something we start looking at like investing in stocks/bonds/401K/the market. They have had long standing recommendations on asset allocation between stocks/bonds/international funds/currency and other types of investments. They associate risk levels with each one and say things like; invest the percentage in bonds that matches your age or diversify and reallocate to maintain that level of diversification between investment types 2-3 times per year.

Investment Strategy with Marketing may look the same someday. SEO might bring in X% of revenue and cost Y% of budget but is highly risky, so you don’t invest as much in it, because it is all potentially going to vaporize when Google decides to update. Things like Branding on TV and Radio and Outdoor are more expensive and not trackable, but companies have been using them for decades and they are very low risk. You spend that money on awareness and people know who you are after that. PR is another wild card and social networking (viral) marketing is another component with low cost and high risk.

Companies may want to diversify their marketing and advertising dollars based on risk as well as the ROI because within a few clicks of a mouse in California, the entire web changes and all your efforts may go up in smoke. This idea definitley favors the old methods and in some ways, internet banner ads. Display advertising on the internet is way undervalued right now and people are also starting to look at ads online like they used to on TV. They are actually paying attention sometimes. The conversion rates have gone down on average, but for mainstream brands and trusted sites they are near 5% (up from .01% years ago) when you include post impression data (people who never clicked, but went to your site anyway).

So, I guess the mood I am feeling today is one that is cautious optimism about old advertising methods in light of Google pulling the rug out from under companies, in the way they always do. It doesn’t help that adwords pay per click costs are as high as $20 for many mainstream words and can go as high as $100 perclick. Then when the conversion rates are so low, nobody will pay that. Most of my clients are abandoning ppcads and someday may do the same with SEO. It just doesn’t pay.

Most Offensive Wedding Gift Ever – An Apron

With all that has happened in the last 100 years in women’s suffrage and our battle for equality of the sexes,  I am surprised and a bit offended that this company thinks that a 1950′s style apron is the perfect wedding shower gift. Who thinks that? Getting a blender that both you and your husband can use to make smoothies from twice is at least equal. An apron says: Hey you, woman, go make dinner! Grunt grunt…

Haven’t we fought hard against female stereotypes and the opportunity to be self sufficient, smart and hold an equal career and home responsibilities with a man? How can these aprons possibly be appropriate when they plunge us right back at the turn of the last century? A girly apron like this is only worn by a woman, never a man. Why not get a more functional William’s Sonoma Gender Neutral Apron that both he and she can wear depending on who is doing the messier cooking? Why say: Hello, I am not good for anything but cooking or cleaning, don’t ask me to think… with one of these career limiting sexist aprons?

Eww. All I have to say is if I ever get married, don’t get me one of these. Please, I would rather have a blender.

Greeting Cards Contest – Art Students

If you are a weekend artist or you have always wanted to work for Hallmark or Martha Stewart this might be for you. When I was a kid I did a lot of drawing, I don’t anymore but it is still something a lot of people go to school to learn and keep active with throughout their lives. I ran across a contest and wanted to blog about it because it offers a $10,000.00 prize for the winner and you get your design published on a greeting or on corporate christmas cards as well. It is a great stepping stone into that profession of graphic design for cards and paper products that a lot of people want to get into. Here are some of the rules to enter the greeting cards scholarship contest:

You have to be over the age of 14

You must be a student enrolled in high school or college

You must be a legal US resident

Only one application entry is allowed per person

The submitted artwork or photos must be your own original work 

The contest ends January 15, 2008

If you submit it they own it and can use it as they like even if you don’t win which could still be a stepping stone fr your career even if you aren’t the big winner.

The new Martha Stewart Blog

It looks like Martha Stewart has really taken to blogging lately. First Martha got a MySpace page and updates it regularly. Then she got a Facebook page and is pretty into that too. Now Martha Stewart has a new standalone blog also which means that there are 3 blogs to update every week or few days. She seems to either have someone with her at all times to document what she does or she is pretty handy with a digital camera and a blogging platform. She seems to have pictures of all her weekends and trips and likes to hear from people about the new things she posts. I hope she reads the comments once in a while if someone else is posting all this for her. But all in all, blogging to the public in a conversational style is a good skill for CEO’s and executives to have. People want to know that these big deal people are real too and have real voices. They are more apt to think positively of them if they have a blog or site like this because it makes them more human and distracts people from the ugly things they have to do and say yes to in the name of profits. So will you be Martha’s MySpace or Facebook friend?

Renegade Craft Fair Chicago December 8-9

I have been really getting into http://www.Etsy.com lately and now I am buying christmas gifts, baby gifts and christmas cards all online there. I may get all my christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving! One of the cool things about crafters is that they are bringing back the idea of the craft fair and they are making it cool again. There is one coming up in Chicago for the holidays that I would like to go to and check out all the cool hand made stuff. Its the renegade craft fair. Here is the info I got on the email update I got today:

Just a reminder that the deadline to apply for this year’s Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Sale is just one week away! Late applications won’t be considered – so get yours in before November 1! Visit our website to apply -

http://www.renegadecraft.com/holiday/index.html

The fair is scheduled for the weekend of December 8 + 9 from Noon – 8pm at The Pulaski Park Fieldhouse, which is located at 1419 W. Blackhawk in Chicago. Hope to see you there!

Etsy Love

I just wanted to take a moment to state my love for Etsy. I am someone who loves to craft but doesn’t have time for it right now. So I go buy a craft or two for very reasonable prices when normal store type stuff just doesn’t fit the bill.

For example, I got this great real garnet pendant from mcfarland designs for 36 bucks and I love it so much I am going to get them for christmas gifts for some people on my list.

I also got this solar lamp from Etsy but I haven’t gotten it in the mail yet, becasue I just ordered it yesterday.

I like surfing through all the listings, but a lot of the stuff isn’t really my style and keyword searching doesn’t seem to do the trick. (not all sellers may have things tagged correctly) but once in a while you find some really polished professional made goods at very reasonable prices. And I love that.

Plus you find cuter than buttons baby things like these cherry booties , messenger baby bags and sushi baby costume. Stuff that is so creative it’s great. They have everything from artwork, to home goods, to clothing, to jewelry, to kids toys and clothes to eco friendly pet items. So check out Etsy for some really interesting and unique finds this holiday shopping season.

What groceries people buy…

Last weekend I was at the Jewel food store and I was waiting in a long line with all the other working people who had the 2 day weekend to get all their shopping and household chores finished and I couldn’t help but notice what other people were buying. I get picked on a fair amount among friends and relatives for not knowing how to cook. I can boil and egg, make fried eggs, scrambled eggs, an omlette, pancakes, french toast and bake cookies but that’s about it. If it’s not for breakfast or with an egg I probably can’t cook it. Especially if it involves meat and no grill. I am the kind of person who thinks that putting a frozen lasagna in the oven for a hour is both cooking and stressful because I am not really sure how to operate my oven. (although I bought this place 6 years ago)

What I was suprised to find was that it looks like I am not the only one who occupies this category of shopper. And I wonder if I am this way because I want to be, and I find things that are no-cook to support my needs? Or if I was driven this direction by the prepared foods movement that all the food manufacturing companies have invented and deposited in my grocery store? The age old chicken or egg question?

As I looked around at the people’s carts in line around me I saw a lot of similar things to what I had in my cart. Bread and sandwich makings, salad vegetables, frozen vegetables, frozen lean cuisine, yogurt, fruit like apples, grapes and peaches. Sports drinks, mostly by people who look like they haven’t played a sport in at least 10 years, packaged snacks, granola bars, chips, dips, soda, milk and cereal. None of which require any cooking at all.

Where was the Martha Stewart clone with the flour, eggs, paprika, spices, sugar, rare vegetables, fresh meat and freshly grown herbs? Isn’t that what they put in the grocery store commericals and print ads??

So, we still have that image of a grocery store as a place to buy raw ingredients but we don’t actually buy them. Why don’t they advertise grocery stores as no-cook grocery stores? That would be a niche for people like me. Nothing for me that isn’t coming out of a cardboard box please. Oh right, those stores are called convienient stores.

I wonder if it is our societal laziness and procrastination that leads us to this place where we consume foods manufactured with ingredients from China (which has no FDA regulations) and consume additives that we can’t pronounce while trusting the agribusiness and food manufacturing companies the whole time. We really have no idea what the effect will be on the lifespan of our generation who was raised on Chef Boyardee rather than Chef Mom the cook. Will average expected lifespans shorten? Will we all shrivel into a lump of red number 5?

I am not sure, but if I can be a Martha Stewart fan and not know how to cook a chicken to save my life it is possible that at some point the grocery stores won’t carry the ingredients anymore and only pre-prepared foods. I think sometimes that living more organic and less processed would be good for me and for our country as a whole, but alas, I have no idea how to do that and working 50 hrs a week doesn’t really allow for a cooking class. So I guess I am not going to find out…

Fall Colors – What I like about Autumn

I ahve been feeling that fall is almost here, and this weekend I think it hit. Here are some of my favorite things about fall:

1.  Walking through crunchy leaves on the sidewalk. Both the color and the sound are great.

2. The trees turning great colors and the falling leaves as you walk or drive by.

3. Pumpkins on everyone’s front step. Some carved around halloween and then the squirrels cart them off in pirces to be eaten.

4. The decorations on all the houses and all the candy in the office, although too much of both is not a good thing.

5. The temperature out. It’s perfect with a light jacket in Chicago, but not too cold yet.

6. The harvest moon and the indian summer sunset.

7. The beginning of a new Fall TV season and all the Oscar Hopeful Movies that are thinking movies rather than gratuitously stupid entertainment.

8. Leaving the windows open so the cat can enjoy the sounds of the outside for a few weeks before it gets too cold.

9. Getting my pre-thanksgiving tradition of getting all my shopping done, and avoiding the cold and the crowds of the Holidays.

10. Little kids in costumes at Halloween. Big Kids in costumes aren’t as cute.

Have a great Fall.

Christmas Shopping already? Yes!

Yes, I am thinking about the holidays and shopping already. I have started to make a list of gifts for family and friends but what I actually get will depend on what is available as I save money across the next few months. I know that friends, parents, significant others, siblings and coworkers are hard to buy for depending on what they like and do for fun. I have always taken pride in being able to find unique gifts that are particularly fitting to each person and are exactly what they need and want. So this year should not be any exception. Here are some tips I use for always getting good presents for people I know.

First off, I use online shopping coupons any time they are available. You can do a google search for the store you need when you are at checkout and find what you need to save an extra 10% or get free shipping.

Second, I try and take note of anything that people are interested in as hobbies or sports to find something within the range that they would like. I also listen closely about if they need something mundane but important and they haven’t had the time or money to get it.

Lastly, if they are the person who has it all and nothing is of particular interest, or they live far away, I usually go with a gift card certificate for a store they like. Target Coupons, Old Navy Coupons and Amazon Coupons are always great for most people.

Organic Bedding And Home Products

Organic food has gotten popular in the past few years because of the feeling that pesticides and artificial additives and antibiotics in our food is really doing more harm to our health than good. I have shopped at whole foods on and off for about 6 years now. There is a movement to go beyond food though now. It is a mix of sustainability causes and health reasons that cause people to make the switch. Organic Bedding, Furniture and Toys are just some of the new products that are on the market that meet the socially acceptable needs of organic lovers. I also have heard about biodegradeable soaps and detergents. All these products help us change our ways of living a little bit more and to treat ourselves better and the earth.

Martha Macy’s Christmas Tree (Marshall Fields Walnut Room)

I was shopping the other day at the State Street Macy’s store (formerly Marshall Fields) and saw all the Martha Stewart products that they are carrying now. I wasn’t impressed with the quality of the materials and the designs were just ok, and not as fabulous as you would expect from Martha Stewart, but I found out something interesting while talking to one of the sales people. They said that Martha Stewart was commissioned to do the Marshall Field’s Christmas Tree in the Walnut Room this year. She mentioned it because the Christmas department of Macy’s was being unpacked right now and they expected it to be open to the public by September. Then in November they have an official Walnut Room Christmas tree lighting ceremony the week before Thanksgiving in November and Martha Stewart is supposed to be the guest of honor and light the tree. I think she must be doing ornaments and tree decorating designs for all the Macy’s stores, but it is nice that Martha will fly all the way out here for the ceremony at Macy’s. I wasn’t to keen on her housewares, kitchen utensils or bedding linnens this time, but I am hopeful that she will do some vintage beautiful designs for the enormous Walnut Room tree.

Marshall Field’s Walnut Room has been a tradition for many families for years. Macy’s was nice and left it pretty much the same when they bought the store and you can still see the giant tree in the middle of the room. The Walnut Room is a nice restaurant (with wood paneled walls of course) in the middle of the department store. It is on the 7th floor, on the opposite side of the food court. There you can take a break from your shopping trip and have an elegant lunch or dinner in their dining room. They have a lot of favorites there that have been on the menu for years. For the Holidays and Christmas they take the tables out of the center under the 3 story cathedral celing and assemble a giant 3 story tree. Then a special designer like (Martha Stewart in 2007) is asked to decorate it with custom designed ornaments specially for Marshall Fields and now Macy’s. You can buy the special ornaments too to take home for your tree. The last ones done for Marshall Fields in 2005 were from Swarofski and I bought one because it was the last year we would see the tree as Marshall Fields. Last year was the first year the Walnut Room was open with Macy’s ownership and we went and it was nice. Wedgewood china was the designer of the tree last year in 2006. The entire tree sparkled with twinkling lights and had light baby blue and white ornaments on all the branches. The dining experience at the Walnut Room hasn’t changed much, it was still good. I recommend the pot pie and the Pointsettia drink. (champaigne and cranberry juice)  The service is good and the prices are reasonable considering this is downtown Chicago on State Street.

Martha Stewart’s Macy’s Line Sucks

I was downtown yesterday and had to use the bathroom so I went to the old Marshall Fields store which is now Macy’s and used the bathroom. There are few places you can find a public bathroom downtown so I appreciated that when I was running to the train after having drinks with some friends at the Park Grill in Mellennium Park.

I entered the store and ran straight into a Martha Stewart section dedicated to displaying all her furniture, bedding, dishware, place settings, glassware and kitchen products together. I would find this same type of taking over the store setup in 4 other locations while walking around. And the biggest suprise was looking at this stuff thinking, it’s not that great, and it even kind of looks cheap and crappy really. I used to like Martha’s stuff when it was from the web store in her site. It was pretty ok stuff that was unique that you couldn’t find it anywhere else.  She singlehandedly brought Jadeite back into style while reviving countless other early 20th century styles and traditions that the new techno generation had forgotten about when their grandmothers passed away. And it worked, it reminded us of a classier time and a more elegant and self crafted way to live. You knew what was in the food you ate because you made it from scratch, you didn’t throw out furniture you refinished it, you didn’t have a boring green box lawn you planted some trees and a flower and vegetable garden.  It was what we all aspired to be.

Then her company went big time and since about 2005 (when this whole let’s be Oprah on TV thing started) her ideas have fallen flat. The magazine is still ok, but no where it once was. The TV show is a talk show and not a hot to show anymore. The web site has had more new faces and looks than Madonna in the past 10 years and every one keeps getting more difficult to navigate and the information is organized in deceptive ways to get you to click on adsense and other ads, rather than find, read and stick to the site for content. K-mart’s stuff was ok,we accepted that it was cheap-o, because it was from K-mart, but I didn’t buy more than 1 or 2 things. (and not the paper like bath towels) Her furniture line has been called a success, but while I think some of it is nice, I think all of it is grossly overpriced. No one pays that much for furniture unless they are millionaires or really stupid and like debt. So the ideas in the magazines I fell in love with in 1994 have long since gone away as Martha went to jal, came back and had a bunch of uber aggressive sales people running the company and magazine while young 20 something cooks and crafters came up with all the ideas. That’s where the wheels fell off the truck. It’s not unified anymore under what ”Martha” likes and wants anymore. It’s got too many people and too many goals to achieve that are counterproductive to one another. And, it is all in the name of the evil greedy need to increase REVENUE!! 

So then I heard about this Macy’s co-branded line online, I clicked to the Macy’s site and saw that the stuff looked ok-ish but not really matching or complementing the original Martha Stewart green jadeite plates and silverware I have at home.  I didn’t go any further then, because I don’t really ahve extra $ for buying more home stuff when I have more dishes and bedding than I alredy need at home and I didn’t see anything until I ran smack into it at Macy’s last night.

What I saw was some very nice displays but some very cheap chinese made stuff. The plates and dishware is thin and very breakable although it costs $8 dollars for a cereal bowl. My original Martha bowls I think cost 3 or 4 dollars each in the 2001-2002 days and they are thick heavy green glass. Why the markup on lower quality stuff? So it’s overpriced, nothing new huh? Some plates and bowls are somewhat pretty in white, but the patterned ones are just butt ugly. I don’t know what vintage pattern they used, but the colors and the gradient and the pattern should all be scrapped. I liked the ferns, but they are stupid expensive. Is this supposed to be fine china? I don’t think so…just every day dishes.

The Bedding was worse. I touched the duvet covers that had the 2004-ish coral patterns all over them in the signature beige, robins egg blue and green. They felt like copy paper. The towels were hard too, and had a very sparse loop pattern meaning they use less cheap thread in making the towels by spreading out the loops farther. Plus they weren’t even soft. There was no bounce or fluff at all. The sheets were papery too, and the shower curtain was cardboard. I am all for synthetic fabrics when they are soft to the touch, but who really wants to dry their face on cardboard? And at those prices???

The kitchen ware area was equally dissapointing. The melamie bowl sets looked ok, but were not in good color palletes and $30 dollars for something that cost about 2 dollars to produce? Are you kidding? They should be $12.00 and they would be flying off the shelves even in the bad colors.  The collapsable collanders are interesting but not that great. They feel cheap and that takes away from the innovation there. The pots and pans are just par for the course and the teapot was not any different than the chinese ones offered at target for $9.99 but it was $40 dollars. What gives? I am not spending that for the name on it.

Whant to save the sinking ship martha??? Here’s what you do:

1. Fire all these people aranging these short term liscensing deals with companies that put your name on their ultra cheap products made in China. They have ruined your brand and name. You need to reclaim it.

2. Fire all the people who designed your site for monetization and not for content. Hire some content people from the Chicago Tribune or New York Times, who are not influenced by the green devil and have a background in online content publishing, search engine optimization and social networking. (those moms like to network and share tips you know, but you’re not launching a whole networking site, so don’t get carried away)

3. Start recoiling your products into specific lines and quality levels that make sense. Entry level (Kmart) and exclusive posh stuff (your own high end stores in NY, LA and Chi Like a Tiffany’s of homekeeping). (Skip Macy’s)You shouldn’t be able to get your products everywhere, just one store for each level, and online through your site. Stop cobranding everything from fridges to cleaning products. They are dumb and only make your popularity shorter.

4. Make your products as good as the vintage stuff you find and love and the exclusive stuff you personally buy in Europe or here in the US. Make it in the USA if possibe, but if you insist on getting it on a slow boat to China, get it made of only high high end materials and in classic styles.

5. Take back the magazine yourself, and have someone else host the TV show, just make occasional appearances. After all this time you have gone from looking awkward and halting on camera to kind of ok, but wouldn’t it be more popular if Jennifer Garner hosted your show? Then get back to the idea generation, organization and management of your company. Bring back those things you discover and craft and not your staff. Please work with them and not against them though, because they’re tallented. Only put the things in your magazine that you want to jump up in your chair and tell everyone about. Stop trying to pass mediocre or crap off as amazing. Give us amazing like you used to. (the only thing that hasn’t slipped is the amazing photography that changed the way magazines were photographed for back 10 years ago)

6. And don’t be afraid of saying no to money. Money isn’t what life is about, neither is global domination. It is far better to have your company last decades because it is so dependable, high quality and consistent rather than make a billion in 5 years and then crash out of business and loose it all. Run your business with the old time traditions that you cherish. Yearly traditions with cosumers, your staff and your products. Plus you have more money than you will ever need, and those other people at your company do too. Please lay off these six figure boss management people who know nothing about home keeping and are just about maximizing profts. You don’t owe them anything. They are exposing your brand to the world as a cheap replicatable brand right now because these people have talked you into offering cheap crap with your name on it. Take control and take your company back soon or people won’t know who you are in 5 years or buy anything with your name on it.

Garage Storage Cabinets Organization Systems

Not all of us are Martha Stewart, thats for sure.

Some of us collect and accumulate things faster than we can account for them or find places to store them. And then one day you wake up and you have a garage full of Junk. Oops! I firmly believe that once a year the garage needs cleaning out and if you don’t have adequate shelving, cabinets or storage you should make the basic investment in some. Most houses and garages don’t come with them, it’s more a custom aftermarket thing you have to install. Luckily there is a company that offers these great garage organization systems that you can buy online. They are moderatley easy to assemble and put up even if you aren’t from This Old House. A closet cabinet can go a long way for keeping garden tools, car parts and car parts off the floor and from looking a mess.

Adopt a Cat – Cat Nap from the Heart – Chicago Suburbs

I recently decided to adopt a cat because I don’t have any pets and I missed having a cat. When I moved out of my parent’s place my cats stayed with them, because cats don’t like moving much, and I was just starting out and stress over taking care of a pet would have been a bit much to figure out along with everything else at the time.

I found a cat shelter in LaGrange Park that is a no-kill shelter and has a lot of great cats available for adoption. (Cat Nap from the Heart)My folks got one of their cats there 2 years ago and I was suprised at how it has grown since then. They are the only no-kill shelter (the humane society does put pets down after a certain amount of time and they don’t get adopted, which is sad) in Cook County and for most of DuPage County. So it’s needless to say that they have a lot of calls from people who find cats as strays or have to give up cats because they don’t want them anymore. (which is also sad)

I realized that these no kill shelters save these cat’s and kitten’slives but they are cooped up in a cage the entire time they are there.  It’s better than no being alive, but they really need to be adopted. Plenty of people come in for the kittens because they get so many, but the 1-2 year old cats shouldn’t be forgotten. They are still spry and fun and don’t have the bahavior issues that a kitten might have as it’s growing up. I decided on Zeus who is a 2 year old buff color male shorthair and he is beautiful. I won’t have to worry about him while I’m at work because he is an adult and can be alone during the day where as a kitten needs 24 hour care and entertainment. I think that more people should consider going to Cat Nap for a pet in the chicagoland area and they should consider a full grown cat that will be a loving companion for years and a good fit for your lifestyle when you are at work all day like me.

Living room sofas and furniture

I am looking to sell my condo and move into the city soon and the more I look at new condos and townhomes, the more I want to get rid of my living room furniture. I got it cheap second hand/used when I first moved in and it was a step up from a futon, but now I look at it’s brown chenile print and giant rolled armrests and think 1996. What seems to fit better in most city appartments are sofa sectionals. Many of us remember sectional sofas from the 1970s but they’re back and they are more stylish and modern than they were last time around. Plus they are built in sections so it is easier to move them into small condos with small doorways. I also have seen some leather sofas that are really nice. Contrary to what people think, a leather couch can last a long time and be very durable if it is taken care of properly. I also think a nice leather couch just looks classy when people come over, and never goes out of style. So I have some home decorating to think about, and hopefully I will find a buyer for my place soon.