Kaizen Internet Marketing Santa Barbara

I wrote this a few years back but is good to recycle this time of year. Helps me remember the beauty all around me and to also give thanks for the trials and challenges as well as the ease and obvious goodness. May our diamonds be polished even finer! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Giving thanks

I left to go walk up Fir Canyon this morning
and ended up in this timeless place
just me and my creator
giving thanks

Thanks for the cool, autumn-charged air
so crisp and clear and full of bay leaf and sage
I want to draw it down deep
into my fingers and toes

Thanks for the warmth of the midday sun
for the miracle by which I can see
rays of light shining thru trees
of blue-green spruce and golden maple

Thanks for the breath of the gentle wind
that coaxes the unsure yellow leaf
to let go of its moorings and fall carefree
dancing back and forth on currents of air

Thanks for the song of a thousand voices
singing so joyously in the cascading water
as it tumbles over the rocks and courses thru my veins
singing: “Glory be to earth and sky!”

Thanks also for the fallen acorns
rolling like so many marbles under my feet
even for the swarm of tiny flies
that gathers now and then about my face
thru your trials I find the strength
to let be the things I cannot change

Thanks especially for giving me today
the ears to hear your waters singing
the eyes to see leaves dancing on your breath
the lips to taste your fullness
the heart to feel wonder at your beauty

And thanks for the time
to devote this glorious day
to be here
in this place
in these moments
giving thanks

-Wayne Marshall

Tags: giving thanks, gratitude, thanksgiving

As there are now over 350 Million active Facebook users, with 1/2 Million added daily, with the fastest growing demographic being over 35 and in higher income brackets, even business to business is now being done via Facebook Pages. Time spent on Facebook increased by 566% from December 2007 to December 2008, compared to around 18% for the web overall. The time for businesses to jump into social media is NOW! See Why Is Social Media Important.

In response to a growing demand, Kaizen Marketing is offering a new packaged service: the creation and customization of business and brand oriented Facebook Fan Pages.

Here’s what we do for you:

• Build the basic fan page connected to your personal FB account (or mine but yours is recommended)
• Create a personalized avatar graphic from your logo that shows up on your page and all your posts
• Tie in any blogs you may have via Facebook Notes – this will auto post all your blog posts from WordPress, Blogger or whatever directly to the Facebook page and to the feed of your page fans.
• Use the Facebook version of html (FBML) to custom create a sidebar under the fans area. This can include any graphics and links you wish out as well as an opt-in form for your email list, if you have one.
• Use FBML to create a custom landing page that only NON-FANS will see. This can be a large graphic or short video, following by an invite your friends box so that folks landing can become a fan and also invite their friends to do so right away. Once they are fans, they will go direct to the Wall. See ALL ONE Vitamins fan page for an example – and become a fan while there.
• Once have 25 fans, we help you apply for a custom, vanity URL of your choice (only one per Facebook) eg: here is another fan page I have produced with URL for Nutiva, now over 1500 fans: http://facebook.com/Nutiva/
  
• Assuming your chosen URL is available, you can start using it in your marketing.
• Optional: if you have any videos on Youtube, we will help add a custom tab up top that will display your YouTube channel.
• Optional: we will help you install the “Fan Box” widget on your own site, which shows recent updates and a sampling of your fans, and allows folks to become a fan directly from your site.
• Lastly, we provide a “10 ways to build your fan page” special report to help with strategy and best practices for using and building your Facebook Fan Page.

The price for all of the above is $397, about half of what competitors are charging for similar services. You can use the Paypal button below to order now and contact us with your details so we can get to work for you! Or contact us to pay by check, if you prefer.

Tags: custom facebook pages, facebook fan pages, facebook marketing

Google’s new algorithm, code named Caffiene is being rolled out starting today and will come in stages,  data center after data center.

On the developer sandbox testing page, is now this message:

We appreciate all the feedback from people who searched on our Caffeine sandbox.

Based on the success we’ve seen, we believe Caffeine is ready for a larger audience. Soon we will activate Caffeine more widely, beginning with one data center. This sandbox is no longer necessary and has been retired, but we appreciate the testing and positive input that webmasters and publishers have given.

Most sites WILL see some fluctuation in the rankings and for some this will be good news and for others, not so good. Don’t be surprised to see your sites’ Google positions go either way. And even if your rankings go down, there’s no need to panic. Just keep on doing good SEO, stick to the best practices as taught here and on high-profile SEO sites such as searchenginejournal.com, searchcowboys.com, searchengineland.com and many others. Bottom line: post good content, keyword focused but not overdone, using related terms, build high quality backlinks – these are still all solid foundations. The grey hat tricks may come and go but basic search principles will endure such changes. Provide what searchers are looking for and optimize your site to get in front of that traffic.

I have heard from Google expert and guru Colin McDougall that the “conversation domination” model, where folks get multiple listings on the front page of Google from related sites, will NOT be as easy to achieve. And video, news and product search may be more prominent in the results, making it all the more important to make it into the top 3 listings to be seen.

I suggest you monitor your sites with a tool called Rank Tracker. You can get a free copy of  Rank Tracker and keep an eye on your rankings fluctuations.

Stay tuned and keep doing your SEO work. The SEO Success Plan is still the best bang for your SEO buck anywhere. We guarantee front page results for 10 of your keywords or we keep working for free until we get you there.

Tags: front page listings, google caffiene, rank tracker, SEO, seo success