I guess it all started when the finance company I worked for was bought over and went into administration back in 2008. (It was a mortgage broker on the cusp of the biggest recession the UK had seen in 60 years, what did I expect?). It was a cozy existance until then, I was happily cruising along, pay per clicking, sem’ing on a team of 6 in the Marketing department, with Nic sitting opposite me.

Soon after, the company began a wave of restructuring and with it, redundancies. At this point, Nic made a bold (and genius) move to pursue our Internet Marketing Company SEOcials. Eventually our team of 6 went down to 1, me, and the Internet marketing aspect of my role ground to a halt. No time for SEM when there are leads to buy and contact attempts to monitor, management meetings to attend and grievence hearings to avoid, you get the picture.

Enter last month… one more redundancy. It was me! How could they right?! Um, they were still a mortgage broker battling through the remains of the recession. But who was going to buy leads in, provide comedy relief during management meetings, ensure the company made it through these tough times (well, you get the picture). My answer? Anyone but me!

Shock and redundancy payment over and I am not looking back! SEOcials or Bust!

I think we’ve all read the heavily documented In-house SEM vs. Using an Agency so I won’t waste our time…. on that. However, I would like to waste a bit of my time by listing 10 Things I Personally Won’t Miss about working for the above mentioned finance company. Afterall, in the end this blog is about Nic n Cher, hear me roar.

10 Things I Won’t Miss…

1. Nipple Rings - on display in the office. I don’t care if plaid is on trend and your shirt is all snaps, keep it to yourself.
2. Bum Cracks and Calvins - (Aimed generally at the under 30’s in the office) As much as you may think wearing your jeans around your crotch and your underwear at your bellybutton is attractive, it’s not, and I’m guessing it also doesn’t help you answer the phone any faster either.
3. Fungal Fridge & Bachelor Pad Kitchen – I’m not your mother, take responsibility for something around here and clean up your own mess. P.S. while you’re taking responsibility for something, why don’t you call your clients on time as well? Just sayin…
4. Manager Love In’s – I would punch my husband in the throat if he made me talk about my feelings, never mind colleagues who have nipple rings, low riders and an unhealthy tendency to cuddle. This is an office, not an anti-war protest at MTV.
5. Grievances – Cry me a river and get on with your below standard work.
6. Blame Game – Nobody likes the blame game. Fess up already, it doesn’t matter what excuse you come up with, we all know it wasn’t us.
7. Ego-stroking – If someone is actually going to stroke your ego, take it with thanks as it will probably never happen again. If you are thinking of stroking your own ego…again, you looked like an idiot the first time, best not to do it.
8. Working with Unskilled Drinkers and Dancers - Ping Pang Poo, I like to drink at my own pace, which is faster than you anyway and coffee-grinders are the gateway to a good time! You’re young; you have jobs, give it a shot!
9. Not Being Able to do My Job - I am an Internet Marketer, this means that I am not just hangin’ out on Facebook and Twitter, it’s called social media marketing, someone should tell the marketing agency that ‘replaced’ me.
10. Speakers & Monitor - I won’t miss them because I took them with me.

Moving forward, look to this blog for the honest and animated opinions of Nic n Cher in anything and everything. Regurgitating SEM Industry news worked it the noughties but it’s time for a change. Let’s start over!

I am confused!

When so much time has passed and so much has happened how can you start over?

Is it easy?

Should I pretent nothing has happened… business as usual, or should I make a point of apologising…

I am not so sure…. Maybe it’s a shiny new design that is needed…

Who the hell cares…

Who am I kidding, it’s just us kids reading this anyway…;)

What you thinking Cher, ready to get this blog out of the doldrums

Nic

• Seriously, is that all? (in retrospect, brand new shiny husband was right, don’t bring laptop to the beach!)
• Oooh I want my ads in front of these people!
• How much of this time is spent gaming or porning indulging in other vices…. at work.
• 1 in every 8 mins is spent on facebook, sounds about right
• In comparison, how much time are Brits spending in the gym? Looking out my window in Glasgow, I could hazard a guess… Um, when I say window, I may also mean mirror. Note to self.

Enough deep thoughts by Cher, here are a coupla stats from new research conducted by uswitch.com:

• On a normal working day,  hours spent online are - 2 hours for professional or work purposes and 3 hours for pleasure and leisure
• On weekends an average of 3 hours is spent online however, almost 2 in 10 18 - 24 year olds (19%) now spend more than 8 hours a day online at the weekend
• 93% of the population now shops on the internet. Over 38 million people (79%) spend up to 2 hours a week doing so

Have a good weekend! See you online people!

Even though we can’t attend, we still wanted to give the duders and especially DK a high five grab and shake for all the hard work they’ve put in organising the ThinkTank!

The 3 day event includes plenty of networking, problem solving, strategy sessions and of course the standard fun in the sun you would expect from DK and his crew in sunny San Diego! (Did I mention that some areas of Scotland have received more than 50 days in a row of rain?)

I expect there will be just as many zany antics as last year, if you’re curious check out the ThinkTank 2008 pics, SEOs in swimwear? You know you wanna.

Good next week DK, we’ll be following along from under our umbrellas!

Having probably read my post ‘Why Am I So Indecisive?‘, the team over at Hunch have created a practical decision making engine to put an end to the unscientific coin flipping and eeni meeni miny mo methods.

Based on the theory of using collective knowledge for decision making, the idea behind Hunch is that the more people that use it and contribute information by answering questions, the more accurate the engine will be. I don’t do the algorithm justice, so here’s the full story: How Hunch Work

Anyway, I’m off to find out if I should resurrect my doc martens. Let me know what you get a hunch on!

Having failed to sell his home which featured on Grand Designs in 2007 (pre mortgage market fallout), Tim Bawtree has turned to Twitter in hopes of offloading it. With inspiration from the Million Dollar Home Page, he will give the house away if he can attract enough advertising to his website Pixahome linked to his Twitter account at £200 a pop.

Including a donation to charity, Bawtree requires at least 90% of his ad space to be filled. With 3,626 followers and 6 advertisers including a holiday home for sale and a company specialising in embroidery, @pixhome still has a long way to go!

Follow the thread at #freehouse to keep up to speed, and of course follow the guy for a chance to win!

PS. There is no entry limit.

Read more at Grand Designs House on Twitter - Web User

SPRING BREAK!

Complete with a Reggae Band, plentiful open bar parties and rumor has it, a healthy female to male ratio… this conference has it all.

Get a load of the swEEEEt line up of speakers and keynotes including Chris Winfield, Neil Patel, Brent Csutoras, Frank Watson, Tod Mailcoat, Rae Hoffman and more.

Running from April 2 - 4, the first day is dedicated to social media, day 2 is SEO and last day is for affiliates. Quite a line up, but don’t just take my word for it. Check it out, they’ve even got a website!

Nic n I won’t be able to make it but we will be following #imsb on our Tweetdecks.

If the #sesny tweets were any indication, we will be right there with you!

The Internet Marketers of New York are hosting another legendary IM Charity Party! The Free Bar event on March 23, 2009 is a great place to rub elbows with conference speakers and meet other SEO’s toiling away in the Internet Marketing world.

I can vouch for these parties. I have some very fond memories! The dance moves alone are reason to go. If you need more convincing though, please take 2 mins to watch this brief vid:

Remember, even if you can’t make it, you can still support the cause with a raffle ticket. Prizes include 1 Year SEOmoz PRO Elite membership ($2299) and Launch Fee on Pepperjam Network ($2500) Courtesy of Pepperjam.

Kudos to BOTW and We Build Pages for sponsoring the event.

BUY TICKETS NOW

Enter BOTW! The Best of the Web have come out with their own Economic Stimulus Package offering a 25% discount on all web and blog directory submissions.

The discount code is SAVE25 or you could always just click on our BOTW ad, (top right) to kick a little back to your friendly neighbourhood SEOs…

Get in there, the deal end March 31st!

We are delighted to announce that BOTW will be showcasing their newest edition to the Best of the Web arsenal:

Best of the Web UK at London SES!

Utilising the framework of the original (since 1994) and highly successful US directory, Best of the Web, users can expect a comprehensive view of quality websites organised by region (UK and Ireland) and topic. Complete with editors based on this side of the pond, the directory will reflect the priorities and interests of UK users integrating sites that target the specific needs of the British, Irish, Scottish and Welsh audiences.

The new UK Web Directory will allow local businesses to reach out to their communities in new and productive ways.

And… what would a launch be without a DISCOUNT CODE!   So, come and find us on the expo floor to get your hands on this year’s conference discount code for BOTW UK & US web directories.

See you out there!