Here is an infographic by Single Grain that makes it very easy for anyone to understand who was negatively affected by Panda and what you can do to ensure your site does well.

[Via: Single Grain - A Digital Marketing Agency]

In case you were not aware I am now the managing editor at SearchEngineJournal.com. I am going to list some recent articles I have written on SEJ and list some good posts below that I think could be informative for you.

Recent Articles

• 6 Tips for Being A Good Blogger in 2012
• 9 Audiences Your Content Marketing Should Address
• Klout Myth Busters: Thoughts From the Experts

Recent Posts

• Stats on Facebook 2012 [Infographic]
• Interview with Annie Cushing on Google Analytics
• Interview #1 with Joanna Lord for PPC Beginners
• Interview with Chris Winfield about BlueGlass LA

My Favorite Video For the Week

My life has changed a lot in the last two years. Work is great, but on a personal level I have encountered something that has changed my life in a massive way. A lot of people know me in this industry. I can be fun and goofy and I love people. What people don’t know is there was a significant amount of trauma in my childhood that I dealt with every single day. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to get passed these issues, I just couldn’t. However, my life has changed in significant ways and for the better. I feel like I have a purpose and that is to help keep big cats alive, happy and well. I just wanted to share my experience.

How it Started

Two years ago I walked into a place that made me feel like I could breathe. It made me feel alive and that was the Big Cat Habitat and Gulf Coast Sanctuary. They have all kinds of animals, but it was the tigers that gave me peace. Just looking at them gave me peace, but they also made me feel really alive at the same time. I went up to an employee, Meg Ozbirn, and offered to create a new website for them for free. I said I would optimize it and do everything I could to help them succeed. They said yes and what I consider a new life began for me.

While creating the site I had to have pictures taken of many of the animals and had to have names to go with them. That meant I walked with them and took notes. They told me that all the tigers looked different and I thought they were nuts (but now I am shocked that people can’t tell them apart). I got to see the cats more and more and I was in awe of them. I found that just sitting on the floor with them made me feel better and I did a lot of it while I worked on the site.

What I Have Learned

These cats have been raised around humans their entire lives and this goes back 6-7 generations for most of them. They have never lived in the wild and they wouldn’t survive there if you released them. What shocked me is how much they wanted human interaction and how well they responded to it. The habitat owners have made a point to interact with them and make them feel loved and the cats are amazing. I own house cats and they can get mad when you go away for a few days; well the tigers do too. They come to depend on you and how amazing is that? (see video below)

Each and every cat has a completely different type of personality. No two are alike. Some are very happy to see you, many you have to work to earn their trust and some you just say hello to, but don’t get in their space. Kind of like humans. These are wild animals that can easily hurt you by accident and there is a switch in that head of theirs and anyone can turn into prey. As long as they don’t feel threatened by you,  you respect their space and act responsible all is fine.

What I Have Gained

I for the first time in my life have a peace that I didn’t have before. I am no longer hounded by unhappy memories and my stress levels are so much lower. In fact, I have dealt with TMJ for a long time and since the cats have not had to deal with as many issues because I believe my stress is lower and I am not clenching my teeth at night.

I also realized that clients were causing so much stress that I wasn’t enjoying work anymore. I said goodbye to a few of them and focused on the cats. I feel like I have been given a new life, I am happier and I am thankful for it. Words can’t express what these cats have done for me.

There is nothing like opening a door to a tiger habitat and having tigers get up excited to see you. The tiger chuffing noise is like a gift each time they greet me with it. They are a gift for just being alive.

I love them all, but I love four cats like they are my kids – Tony, Brutus, Nelson and Clarence. There was another that I was really close with and went to see everyday, but he passed away from liver cancer, but I don’t want to get into that and start getting weepy through WordPress.

What I Want You To Know

Getting involved with anything that will benefit others is a great thing. Could be helping people, associations or animals. Big cats may not be your thing, it could be dogs or birds or reptiles or any other creature. If you are drawn to a certain type of animal (I have had big cat stuff all my life) make an effort to get involved. It will help the animals and will most likely help you as well. If you have dealt with trauma in your life you may find that animals can help you let go of a lot.

Extinction

I also want you to know that there are less than 3,200 tigers left in the wild. Due to poaching and morons there may not be any left when your children have children. Some say there are less than 20,000 lions and some say less than that. Leopards and Cheetahs are in danger of extinction as well. We have to fight for these big cats to stay alive. Visit sites like SaveTigersNow.org and National Geographic and learn how you can help.

Lastly, I have had many people tell me how upset they are that the cats are not free. Someone has to take care of them and there are habitats all around the world fighting to do that. Please don’t attack them and judge them. Help them. We can’t export them because it is against the law. Most habitats take in big cats from people that thought they wanted them as pets, from facilities that can no longer afford to care for them and from abusive situations. They can’t be free in the US, but they can have great habitats with donations.

I also want to thank the owners of the Big Cat Habitat for making my life a lot better and giving me a chance to experience some of  the most amazing and beautiful creatures on earth.

Video of Clarence

Clarence does not like it when I talk to anyone else, especially his brother. This is how mad he was after I talked to Bama, his brother. I edited out the lecture on arguing…

All photos have been taken by me and are owned by me – Melissa Fach

Google’s Matt Cutts discusses a very common myth I hear often, which is that if you pay for AdWords your site will do better in the rankings.

ZAGG  offers a variety of iPad / iPhone / iPod accessories, cases and skins. About the contest,  ”On Black Friday, November 25, 2011, starting at midnight (MST), we’ll be giving away an iPad 2 every hour. 24 iPad 2s over 24 hours. Each hour is a new opportunity to enter the giveaway. So yes, you need to go to the giveaway page each hour and enter.

Entering the giveaway will be simple. To enter, just submit your email address. For additional entries, you can share on Facebook and Twitter. A Facebook share is worth two additional entries and a Twitter share is worth one additional entry.”

For more information visit ZAGG – iPad an Hour Giveaway and on Black Friday visit this link to try and win.

Good clients are a blessing and they do pay us a great deal of money. I think it is a good idea to let clients know you are thinking about them during the holidays, but as we all know choosing a gift can be hard. Here are some inexpensive ideas that allow you to give back to your clients and as a bonus these gifts can help your business as well.

Company Gift Cards – Two Ways to Win

You can get gift cards made for a specific dollar amount, an hour of consulting or whatever you choose. Here are two ways you can use them:

1. You can give them to your clients to use with your company
2. You can give them to your clients to use as gifts this holiday season (they can give them to a loved one or their own clients)

Either way you win. With #1 your client gets something for free (we all know how much they love something for free) and you can strengthen or maintain your relationship with them. With #2 you have a really good lead that can easily turn into a client.

Your gift cards can be made of hard plastic like a regular gift card and I recommend a nice design that is not holiday specific because you want to be able to use these cards again. Example, when a client has a birthday, at special events, give-a-ways or on other holidays. Look at them as lead generators, free advertising and a way to give back to your clients.

Custom Flash Drives

Almost everyone need flash drives and they can easily become advertising tools for you. You can have flash drives made that have your logo on them and some can actually be shaped like your logo. Tip, quality and gifts that people can use are successful.

Shirts / Hoodies with Your Logo

Most people I know love t-shirts and even non-nerds still need them for exercising, going to the beach or relaxing. At every conference I have ever been to the the t-shirts are the first to get grabbed. Hoodies are also a great gift and they are a great way to keep warm during the holidays.

When you give any type of shirt you are also getting free advertising. You never know who will see that shirt, so try to include a URL.

Customized Tumblers, Coffee Cups or Water Bottles

These are items that are pretty affordable and we all have to drink out of something. People love creative mugs, bottles and cups. If you choose any thing that has a snap lid you increase the possibility that people will carry the cup with your logo around. Every time this gift is used your business is being advertised. This is another win for both you and the client.

Custom iPad Covers and Sleeves

You have to be careful with this one. People love their iPads and they love having cute/cool covers. Put a lot of thought into this gift idea because you want it to be displayed in someway. Put your name or logo on it, but make it small and do not let it take over the design.

Custom Candy Jars

The great thing about candy jars is that they can be used for anything. You can fill them with candy, nuts, organic pasta, paper clips or something else the client likes. They are also pretty inexpensive, but attractive. They can be used and reused by the client because everyone always needs containers for storage.

This is a great advertising option for you. If you fill these with candy clients tend to just put them out for their clients.

Overall Goal of Holiday Gifts?

Of course you want the client to be happy, but you also want to advertise your business as well. Maintaining a healthy business relationship is really important and this is one simple and affordable way to do give back.

We all hear about the massive amount of unemployment in the United States and other countries everyday. I have had many people tell me they have searched job sites on the net and had no luck. Tonight I used the hashtag #jobs and have watched the stream for about 30 minutes. The diversity of jobs and locations is amazing. From Saudi Arabia to South Korea to the USA I saw an extraordinary amount of jobs passing so fast I could barely keep up.

If you are looking for a job or know someone that is you may want to search Twitter with #Job. I tried #work and the results were not great, but it may be worth a shot. I know #career is also another term that gives some decent results.

New To Twitter?

If you haven’t used Twitter before just go to Twitter.com and sign up for an account. With an account you can follow some fantastic people and businesses that do nothing but Tweet jobs all day. Once you are a member use the search box at the top and type in “#Job” and also try “Career”.

Examples of Jobs Tweeted

Do spelling and grammar matter when evaluating content and site quality? Matt Cutts answers.

There are some major changes that have occurred in the last few weeks for me and as a result will change things for SEO Aware. I was offered a job as the Managing editor of SearchEngineJournal.com and I decided to take it.

I have read SEJ forever and have respected what they offer since day one. SEJ offers fantastic information for those who work in this industry and for those that are attempting to manage SEO or Social Media for the companies they work for.

SEO Aware Clients

We will be keeping our current monthly clients and new clients will be chosen carefully. I have begun other profitable ventures as well, so my time is very limited.

I am very excited about this new opportunity and my goal is to make the owners of SEJ proud. Now go read SearchEngineJournal.com!

Melissa – Dork Extraordinaire.

Lee Odden of TopRank Online Marketing, Steve Rubel of Edelman, Li Evans of LiBeck Integrated Marketing, Barry Schwartz of RustyBrick, Loren Baker of BlueGlass, and Mari Smith discuss Google+

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