Ok, I am taking a big leap of faith on this blog in that today I began allowing DoFollow links on comments and trackbacks. Why is this a leap of faith? Well, I already get TONS of spam bots sending over their junk comments by obvious amateurs who are clearly just buying the next easy commenting software. For the most part, Akismet picks these up well and I don’t have to deal with them. Obviously it is not my intention to increase this.

Rather, when reading a blog post today by a trusted blog and SEO software company, I came across a little note on their comment form about KeywordLuv. And, being the curious person I am, I clicked to find out what it was.

Well, turns out this little plugin allows users to leave a comment AND get the anchor text link juice in the specific keyword set they want to link for by adding @Their Keyword to the end of their name (WordPress by default hyperlinks the name with whatever URL is entered in the URL field). Hmmm, sounds interesting!

Allowing DoFollow Links (Gulp)?

Allowing DoFollow Links, Step One, Get a Clean Slate

So, in order to have a good statistical start, I cleared out the few hundred comments awaiting moderation, and off we go with the test.

Google+ Brand pages are here, and you should be taking them very seriously (Google is, hint hint). Like Facebook Pages, you now have the ability to quickly display your brand in a Google+ Page. Here are the simple steps to creating your own Google+ Brand page:

1. Getting Started
2. To get started, sign in to your Google account and then go to http://www.google.com/+/business/. There is a video to watch, but it is not very helpful so don’t waste your time.
3. Click on the blue icon to Create your Google + Page.
4. Create Page is shown on this step.
5. Pick up a category of your choice. The categories are:
• Local Business or Place (Hotel, Restaurant, Places, Stores, Service)
• Product or Brand (Apparels, Cars, Electronics, Financial Services)
• Company, Institution or Organization (Company, Organization, Institution, Non-profits)
• Arts, Entertainment, or Sport (Movies, TV, Music, Books, Sports, Shows)
• Other (Use this if it doesn’t fit into any of the other category)
6. Clicking on any of the above category provides you a page to enter the following information:
• For Local business or Place – Choose Location and Phone number
• For the rest of categories Page Name, Website (Optional), Select Category, Content Appropriate for (all, 18+ years, 21+ years, Alcohol), Check box for Page terms and conditions check box and Informing the users on future page releases and other relevant information.
7. After entering the above, the page is created with a startup page.
8. The startup page asks for (which can be filled in later also):
• Tagline of 10 words that describes your page best
• Profile photo for upload
9. Click on Continue
10. You can share the page with other G+ users and friends by Get the word out (Optional)
11. Click on Finish
12. Your Google+ Brand Page is now ready to go!
13. Google+ page is very similar to the Google+ individual page with streams, posts, hangouts and other features.

Here is a list of the top 100 motivational quotes to get you inspired for life.

They include 100 quotes from Michael Jordan, Aristotle, Albert Einstein, Gandhi, Teddy Roosevelt, Mark Twain, Robert Frost, Henry Ford, Isaac Singer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, etc. and I’d say the are in a pretty good order of 1-100:

1. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.
- Aristotle

2. The best way out is always through.
- Robert Frost

3. Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.
- William B. Sprague

4. Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.
- Albert Einstein

5. Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.
- Henry Ford

6. I know for sure that what we dwell on is who we become.
- Oprah Winfrey

7. “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
- Michael Jordan

8. You must be the change you want to see in the world.
- Mahatma Gandhi

9. What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.
- Goethe

10. You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.
- Zig Ziglar

11. Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.
- Mahatma Gandhi

12. Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything.
- Napoleon Hill

13. Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.
- Truman Capote

14. Vision without action is daydream. Action without vision is nightmare.
- Japanese Proverb

15. In any situation, the best thing you can do is the right thing; the next best thing you can do is the wrong thing; the worst thing you can do is nothing.
- Theodore Roosevelt

16. If you keep saying things are going to be bad, you have a chance of being a prophet.
- Isaac B. Singer

17. Success consists of doing the common things of life uncommonly well.
- Unknown

18. Keep on going and the chances are you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I have never heard of anyone stumbling on something sitting down.
- Charles F. Kettering, Engineer and Inventor

19. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
- Mark Twain

20. Losers visualize the penalties of failure. Winners visualize the rewards of success.
- Unknown

21. Some succeed because they are destined. Some succeed because they are determined.
- Unknown

22. Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want.
- Dan Stanford

23. Setting an example is not the main means of influencing others; it is the only means.
- Albert Einstein

24. A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.
- Hugh Downs

25. If you’re going to be able to look back on something and laugh about it, you might as well laugh about it now.
- Marie Osmond

26. Remember that happiness is a way of travel, not a destination.
- Roy Goodman

27. If you want to test your memory, try to recall what you were worrying about one year ago today.
- E. Joseph Cossman

28. What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

29. We judge of man’s wisdom by his hope.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

30. The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.
- Mark Twain

31. Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.
- Mark Twain

32. Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it’s time to pause and reflect.
- Mark Twain

33. Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.
- Mark Twain

34. The surest way not to fail is to determine to succeed.
- Richard B. Sheridan

35. Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

36. ”Act or accept.”
- Unanonymous

37. Many great ideas go unexecuted, and many great executioners are without ideas. One without the other is worthless.
- Tim Blixseth

38. The world is more malleable than you think and it’s waiting for you to hammer it into shape.
- Bono

39. Sometimes you just got to give yourself what you wish someone else would give you.
- Dr Phil

40. Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.
- Stephen R. Covey

41. People become really quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things. When they believe in themselves they have the first secret of success.
- Norman Vincent Peale

42. Whenever you find whole world against you just turn around and lead the world.
- Anonymous

43. Being defeated is only a temporary condition; giving up is what makes it permanent.
- Marilyn vos Savant, Author and Advice Columnist

44. I can’t understand why people are frightened by new ideas. I’m frightened by old ones.
- John Cage

45. Setting an example is not the main means of influencing others; it is the only means.
- Albert Einstein

46. The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.
- Unknown

47. The best way to predict the future is to create it.
- Unknown

48. Anyone can do something when they WANT to do it. Really successful people do things when they don’t want to do it.
- Dr. Phil

49. There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.
- Dr. Denis Waitley

50. Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.
- Sir Winston Churchill

51. Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes but don’t quit.
- Conrad Hilton

52. Attitudes are contagious. Make yours worth catching.
- Unknown

53. Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
- John Wooden

54. There are only two rules for being successful. One, figure out exactly what you want to do, and two, do it.
- Mario Cuomo

55. Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can.
- Richard Bach

56. Vision doesn’t usually come as a lightening bolt. Rather it comes as a slow crystallization of life challenges that we one day recognize as a beautiful diamond with great value to ourselves and others.
- Dr. Michael Norwood

57. Success is a state of mind. If you want success, start thinking of yourself as a success.
- Dr. Joyce Brothers

58. Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.
- Samuel Beckett

59. Flops are a part of life’s menu and I’ve never been a girl to miss out on any of the courses.
- Rosalind Russell

60. Cause Change & Lead
Accept Change & Survive
Resist Change & Die

- Ray Norda, Chairman, Novell

61. Winners lose much more often than losers. So if you keep losing but you’re still trying, keep it up! You’re right on track.
- Matthew Keith Groves

62. An idea can turn to dust or magic, depending on the talent that rubs against it.
- Bill Bernbach

63. An obstacle is often a stepping stone.
- Prescott

64. Life is “trying things to see if they work”
Ray Bradbury

65. If you worry about yesterday’s failures, then today’s successes will be few.
Anonymous

66. Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.
Dennis P. Kimbro

67. We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

68. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

69. In matters of style, swim with the current;
in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
Thomas Jefferson

70. I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right.
Albert Einstein

71. Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great.
Machiavelli.

72. Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.
Mahatma Gandhi

73. ”You are what you think about all day long.” — Dr. Robert Schuller

74. What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say” — Ralph Waldo Emerson”

75. “Success is not to be measured by the position someone has reached in life, but the obstacles he has overcome while trying to succeed.”
Booker T. Washington

76. ”Talent is formed in solitude, character in the bustle of the world.”
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

77. “To avoid criticism do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.”
- Elbert Hubbard

78. If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you have to do is wake up.
- J.M. Power

79. By working faithfully eight hours a day you may eventually get to be boss and work twelve hours a day
- Robert Frost

80. “I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.”
- Maya Angelou

81. “The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.”
- William James

82. “When I hear somebody sigh, ‘Life is hard,’ I am always tempted to ask, ‘Compared to what?’”
- Sydney Harris

83. “Don’t let life discourage you; everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was.”
- Richard L. Evans

84. “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.”
- Robert Frost

85. “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you stop to look fear in the face.”
- Eleanor Roosevelt

86. Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.
- Seneca

87. Do first things first, and second things not at all.
- Peter Drucker.

88. The only people who find what they are looking for in life are the fault finders.
- Foster’s Law

89. Defeat is not bitter unless you swallow it.
- Joe Clark

90. I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.
- Winston Churchill

91. Positive anything is better than negative thinking.
- Elbert Hubbard

92. People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

93. Those who wish to sing, always find a song.
- Swedish Proverb

94. If you’re going through hell, keep going.
- Winston Churchill

95. The sun shines and warms and lights us and we have no curiosity to know why this is so; but we ask the reason of all evil, of pain, and hunger, and mosquitoes and silly people.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

96. Life is a shipwreck but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.
- Voltaire

97. Enduring habits I hate…. Yes, at the very bottom of my soul I feel grateful to all my misery and bouts of sickness and everything about me that is imperfect, because this sort of thing leaves me with a hundred backdoors through which I can escape from enduring habits.
- Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science, 1882

98. There is no education like adversity.
- Disraeli

99. He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.
- Friedrich Nietzsche

100. Adversity introduces a man to himself.
- Author Unknown

Where will you go to buy your next cell phone, the Verizon store or will you check with Facebook or Twitter friends first to see their opinion of the next model first? When you buy music, will it be the record store (do those even exist anymore), or will you check Spotify?

Social media has infiltrated the purchasing funnel, helping consumers make informed decisions, from what to have for lunch to where to go on vacation. Depending on the decision, sometimes you turn to your social connections, and sometimes you turn to Google. So, as a brand marketer, you want to know what online channels you should be targeting in order to reach the perfect audience for your product.

But regardless of what kind of consumer you’re trying to reach or what you’re selling, your SEO better be top notch — search is the most important influence on the web.

The infographic below, featuring data from M Booth and Beyond, analyzes the differences between high and low sharers and various purchasing decisions, helping brands to understand how should be targeting consumers.

What kind of consumer are you? Let me know in the comments below.

via Social Consumers and the Science of Sharing [INFOGRAPHIC].

Just how important is your social footprint now if you are looking for a job, well, 91% of recruiters use social networks to screen candidates now.

In a recent study by the social media monitoring server Reppler, results showed more than 90% of recruiters and hiring managers have visited a potential candidate’s profile on a social network as part of the screening process. And a whopping 69% of recruiters have rejected a candidate based on content found on his or her social networking profiles — an almost equal proportion of recruiters 68%, though, have hired a candidate based on his or her presence on those networks.

Check out this infographic below for more results from the survey, including what details on a candidate’s social profile make recruiters jump at the bit.

via How Recruiters Use Social Networks to Screen Candidates.

Google+ Feature Update (Finally)

In response to user feedback, Google has launched a new section of the Google+ center dedicated to Google+ feature update.

The “What’s new in Google+” section is essentially a list of release notes for the Google+ Project. The updates are smaller than Google’s traditional blog posts, but longer than most of its Help Center pages. It’s a centralized location for finding out what new features Google has added to its social network.

Most of the “posts” include YouTube video explanations about the feature updates (recorded by Googlers), along with a link to the Google+ post where the feature was announced. The search giant is clearly trying to eat its own dog food when it comes to Google+.

Google+ Feature Update – Does it cut it?

While we appreciate the centralized location for getting updates about Google+ features, we believe the company would be better served setting up a blog for the Google+ project and updating that on a regular basis. At least that way we could subscribe to the updates in our Google Readers (which still counts as the big G eating its own dog food).

Check out the video explanation of the “What’s new in Google+” section from Google+ Community Manager Natalie Villalobos below:

via Google+ Gets a Feature Update Center.

While we believe this is a step in the right direction for Google+ Feature Update, come on Google, you can do better!

LinkedIn has become one of the most powerful Social Media platforms for business, and with simple these simple changes below to your LinkedIn Profile you will quickly create a LinkedIn Marketing Machine. Plan on spending a couple of hours to make these changes to your LinkedIn Profile.

My LinkedIn Profile

Many of you will hopefully already have some of these “Must Dos” in your profile. Others are probably really incomplete. Here’s what I think you must be doing and why (*note: if for some reason any of this violates LinkedIn’s terms of service, I’m not aware of it- so feel free to correct me):

Top 12 LinkedIn Profile Setup Tips

1. Understand Your Keywords: Understand what keywords you want to rank for first before completing your LinkedIn profile. Once you know the keywords you want people to find you from, you will be using these extensively throughout your LinkedIn profile. This is how people will find you in the search. Tip: LinkedIn is one of the only sites I know of that still ranks the density of keywords in your profile to where you appear in their search results, so the more you use your keywords throughout your LinkedIn profile, the higher you will rank for that term in the search results. If you want to get an example of what other people are searching for, just use the search bar on LinkedIn. If no one is searching for the keywords you think are good, find one they are search for and use that.
2. Complete Your LinkedIn Profile: Make certain you complete your entire LinkedIn profile! LinkedIn will tell you what percentage your are complete and exactly what to do. Not completing your LinkedIn profile is a guarantee your LinkedIn profile will not rank high in LinkedIn search.
3. Use Your Main Keywords in your Headline:Your headline, the line just below your name, is one of the most important factors in search. Make sure you use your keywords there!
   

   LinkedIn Profile Heading

4. Select the appropriate industry: How do you know where best to put yourself? Look at what other people have used that rank high for the terms you want to be found for and use what they used (don’t recreate the wheel if not necessary)
5. Fill your profile with interesting facts about you: Use real captivating words up front, not like “works at XYZ company”, but instead, like an advertisement for you, because that’s what LinkedIn is!
6. Add Multiple Current Jobs:Current jobs is another way you will be found for your keywords on your LinkedIn profile. Don’t worry if you really only have one job since all of us wear multiple hats nowadays. If you have a blog (or multiple), use it. Then in each job description, use your keywords (I hope you are starting to get the point of keyword importance in your LinkedIn Profile about now)
   

   LinkedIn Profile Current Jobs

7. Add Multiple Previous Jobs: The same rules apply from the above LinkedIn profile Tip.
8. Add your email address to your current job listing: For someone to connect to you without directly knowing you, they need to know your first and last name, as well a valid email address. Make it easier by adding your email to the most recent job description of your LinkedIn profile so it reads “Job description” and then your email address (example: Software Designer + myname@myemail.com). This gives people an easier way to connect with you.
9. Complete Your Summary:Make your LinkedIn profile summary section complete and really easy to read. I suggest using your main keywords by section and breaking down each section using simple headers for each with a colon afterward (example: Internet Marketing Strategist:).
   

   LinkedIn Profile Summary

10. Use Your Keywords in Specialties: In your specialties section, use all of your keywords followed by a line break to make it easily readable.
11. Solicit colleagues and friends for recommendations: People love to read reviews. And there is no better review then someone else talking about YOU. Make sure you’ve got some great recommendations for the work you have done. Don’t be afraid to solicit recommendations. I always recommend in return for every one written about me. The trick is: write what you truly feel about the person in the nicest possible terms, and never oversell someone you don’t recommend. That can come back to bite you.
    

    LinkedIn Profile Recommendations

12. Add plenty of passion: People who are going to bother to read your profile want to know who you are. If you merely put down that you’re an operations manager at XYZ company, that’s all they have in their minds about you. Add that you’re passionate about Cub scouts and that you play guitar and sing in the shower. Make sure people know about YOU, not just your job history.

The trick of setting up your LinkedIn profile is spending a little focused time upfront to reap the benefits thereafter. If you put up a LinkedIn profile that poorly covers the details, and barely populates the profile with much of interest, you will likely not get connections beyond former coworkers looking to make a lame connections. Should you be seeking to cast a net, develop relationships, and eventually find other opportunities through your LinkedIn profile, you’ll want to put a little more effort in and use these LinkedIn profile tips.

How are YOU using your LinkedIn Profile?

Has LinkedIn opened doors for you? Do you have LinkedIn profile or LinkedIn Marketing tips I didn’t cover that you’d recommend to other LinkedIn users? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments, and let’s open the discussion to better understand the ways to change/use your LinkedIn Profile for building opportunities for you in the future. Also, you may want to take a look at other relevant articles on this site to help you with your social media marketing.

Update: Where Did I Learn This Great Information About LinkedIn Profile Setup?

A few people have asked where I learned so much about LinkedIn Profile setup. Well, my good friend Lewis Howes gets the credit on this one. He is a total whiz on LinkedIn and has a complete training program on using LinkedIn HERE (affiliate link). Check it out if you want to really master everything about using your LinkedIn profile effectively for marketing on LinkedIn.

Today, Twitter has taken a few small steps to alleviate one of their biggest issues for users by introducing Advanced Twitter Search to their user interface.

In a post on their blog, Twitter notes that an update to their search algorithms will now suggest key accounts to follow for any topic you search for. For example, if you search for racing, you’ll get a bunch of NASCAR and other folks suggested to you. Previously, these searches were only looking for a term like “racing” in an account’s name or username. So yes, this is much smarter, and better of the advanced Twitter search functionality.

Advanced Twitter Search: A new day for Twitter users!

The other key change is buried at the bottom of Twitter’s post:

One more thing! Now, when you search on Twitter.com, you’ll see a tip from Twitter. This tip points you to a set of search operators and our advanced Twitter search page, which help you more quickly find what you’re looking for.

Yes, Twitter has finally ported over Advanced Twitter Search to Twitter (or “New Twitter” if you can still call it that). Previously, these advanced Twitter search options like phrases, hashtags, people, places, sentiments, and others only resided on the Advanced Twitter Search standalone site. Some of these features have been very useful, but no one uses them because it has been nearly impossible to find them unless you knew about the advanced Twitter search site.

Now, Twitter is highlighting advanced Twitter search under the main search box after every search you do. And the entire thing resides on twitter.com instead of a separate sub-domain.

Advanced Twitter Search, Making It Easier

via techcrunch.com

Advanced Twitter Search: Perhaps Twitter Does Care?

To be clear, even with Advanced Twitter Search, Twitter is far from where it needs to be in search — results still only go back five days. But this is a good first step. Perhaps Twitter is beginning to realize their lack of concern for users is affecting the engagement of their users overall on the platform? Therefore the much improved alignment between search topics and users is a positive change, and with this step of making available Advanced Twitter Search, perhaps Twitter does care a tiny bit about their user’s experience.

Twitter professes to have over 120 million users, but how many Twitter users are there really? To answer this question, one must first understand what a real user on Twitter needs to be doing.

I am breaking them down into 4 groups. You decide how many Twitter users are there really.

How Many Twitter Users Are There Really?

The Shell Accounts

First to answer the questions of How Many Twitter Users are there, users should be connected to other people, otherwise known as followers. According to the Twitter API data gathered by Silicon Alley Insider, only half of the 120 million users are following 2 or more people. Not much of a conversation happening there. Therefore, I call these users Shell Accounts and they should be thrown out entirely. So to determine how many Twitter users, that leaves 60 million left to examine.

How Many Twitter Users: Friends and Family Accounts

Additionally, only about 10% of Twitter accounts follow more than 50 people, or about 12 million accounts.

This could be considered the friends and family plan for Twitter users. Perhaps these users are the ones who follow a few, and then get bored or were never interested in the first place. They don’t continue to follow and engage with other like minded people.

How Many Twitter Users: Marketers and Power Users

I believe the power users truly answer the question of how many twitters users there are. These are the folks that use Twitter daily, either as promotion for their content, and general conversation and engagement of followers.  According to Twitter, there are about 1.5 million users in this category. I believe this group is the real number of true users.

How Many Twitters Users: Super User Accounts

The chart shows there are only 2 accounts that follow more then 524,000 people. Clearly the users that are able to scale this high, since there is a ration of 120% following to followers, don’t need to or choose to follow many people back. What is this percentage for you stats nuts like me…. .00000167%.

So, four groups. In a previous post we looked at the truth about the average Twitter user. Now, cast your vote below in a comment to decide how many Twitter users are there really.