I know I said I didn’t want much for Christmas this year, but there is something *you* can help with.
For the longest time, I was the #2 Travis Smith on Google. And you know, I was OK with that. The #1 guy was a drummer in a rock band, and designed album covers. That’s, you know, COOL, and who am I to want to trump coolness? That would be uncool. I was cool with being #2.
But then the other Travis Smiths started showing up. Travis Smith, the pitcher for the Atlanta Braves. Travis Smith, fictional character in the TV series Oz. Travis Smith, robbed yet another liquor store.
And now, there’s a guy who calls himself Travis Smith Inc. and says he’s “a seasoned internet marketer.” And now I’m, like, #7, below a guy named Travis Smith who does original automotive artwork.
That just ain’t right.
It’s time for me to make a stand.
And that’s going to take some help from you.
What I’d really like is for you to link to me. From your blog, from your twitter stream, from your Links page, anything. Here’s some handy code to help:
<a href="http://www.hopstudios.com/nep/unvarnished/"
title="Travis Smith, Web developer">Travis Smith, Web developer</a>
Anyway, that’s what I could really use, a little more respect in Google this year, thanks to my awesome friends. I really appreciate your help!
“I’m not bitter about what happened to me as a child, and my mother was instrumental in keeping me from being so. ... She taught me to be grateful for my life regardless of what that entailed, and that’s directly related to the image of Christ on the cross and the example of sacrifice that he gave us. What she taught me is that the deliverance God offers you from pain is not no pain—it’s that the pain is actually a gift. What’s the option? God doesn’t really give you another choice.”
After over a decade of user testing, it is clear that the way we search the web is similar to the way we would search our home for valuables as it was burning to the ground. Frantically.
“We must shift the focus of companies back to the customer and away from shareholder value ... The shift necessitates a fundamental change in our prevailing theory of the firm… The current theory holds that the singular goal of the corporation should be shareholder value maximization. Instead, companies should place customers at the center of the firm and focus on delighting them, while earning an acceptable return for shareholders.”
You can scroll right easily by holding down the SHIFT key and using your scroll wheel. (Firefox users trying this will end up jumping to old Web pages until a) Firefox releases a fix, b) they change their settings like so.)