I got an email today asking for my ideas to help a foundation. The writer wants to see his church get good quality results in search engines. I want to read more about this kind of SEO activism.

I believe in a lot of good causes, but frankly, I've never thought of using SEO to try to reduce criticism/negative search engine results and increase positive search results.

He writes:

"We track 100's of church-related keywords and the kind of content that comes up in searches. We have sort of a unique SEO challenge since we want to promote good websites, but we don't care if they belong to us."

It seems like they'd want to try the traditional approaches: getting good backlinks. Start by creating a network of positive sites with good page ranks to link to each other. Paul Allen runs church related sites. That would be a good start. Also, they could help positive sites increase page rank with some educational outreach.

I hope he has a web site for the foundation that ranks high on the search terms he tracks. With that he'd want a solid directory of supportive sites (we recommend…).

Another idea is to use email lists advertising your cause. Write articles for magazines that cater to believers. Give suggestions and enlist their help. Note what people like Moveon.org do to rally people around their cause.

These are some initial thoughts. Anyone else care to chime in?

When you buy Jeremy Palmer’s affiliate marketing ebook you get access to his support forum. It gets better all the time. He keeps a directory of everyone who’s on it, what they posted, and their web address. Yesterday was the most traffic to my blog yet. His forum was partly responsible (take note, try it yourself).

So buy the ebook, then jump on the forums. Jeremy has posted 72 times so far (far more than anyone else). He’s tough to get in touch with. But right now, if you ask him on a forum, you’re chances of getting an answer are pretty darn good. That may not always be the case as more people join.

This is a chance to learn from a pro who made over a million in just 2 years. I’m impressed how he and others have risen so high so fast. They’re under 30 years old. My relative built a solid profitable company. It took about 15 years to reach the tipping point.

If you live in Utah, take advantage of the great minds. They are totally approachable, average, good guys. I usually ask people to lunch or interview them for a story. They’ve enriched my life. One does VoIP phone systems, one does Adsense, and then Jeremy who does affiliate marketing.

Now, if I only knew one woman in the group…

A few days ago I quit my day job. I didn't think it would happen this soon but I can't wait to dig into affiliate marketing full time with my new Apple laptop.

I'll be a full-time affiliate marketer starting Wednesday.

I have a lot of ideas. I can hardly sleep because I wake up and write them down. 

I want to add community elements to my new site. Anyone have recommendations? Forums, a classifieds section, online store review software.

I need to find a local programmer. I'll trade someone a 5-foot LoveSac with a microsuede cover for help (oh, and part-ownership if it goes well)!

Last night I bought an Apple Macbook Pro laptop. Now I need to learn about insurance for it. I wish I had an affiliate link here…

If you can get on the subscriber list you're in. Each month, just days before the meeting, you'll get an email with the place and agenda. The meeting place changes every month so as to keep the identities of some of the best marketers in the state a secret.

Yesterday found us in the depths of one of Utah's most organized companies. I asked my boss for time off (vacation hours) and drove an hour to pick up on the latest. Note: the parking lot discussions can be almost as lively as the regular group.

Due to the secret nature of RMAMA, I cannot reveal much. But I here are some juicy tibits for you to chew on. If you want more, you'll have to join and pay your dues. Email me at  grocerybikeatgmail.com and I'll try to get you hooked up.

•  Wikipedia is getting as big as dmoz for google rankings. get a link by keeping it relevent.
•  Yahoo's Oddly Enough News: a great way to do a virual marketing campaign. I already have an idea for QuitYourDayJob
•  PRWeb's $30 level is probably the most effective for sending press releases.
•  $300 Yahoo directories listing can be worth the cost just to be in the recent additions when you're new

I was happy to be included on this list of Utah Bloggers: 

http://specialoffersbulletinboard.org/usefulwebsites.htm

They say it's a: "Listing of Movers & Shakers, interesting personalities and companies located in Utah Valley"

If you don't already read Diggs, you should. I'm almost powerless without a notebook or my blog (this is my head made searchable).

Explore all sorts of ways to take notes, from the high tech to the low tech. If I had lots of time I'd find out which I prefer. Until then, where's my notebook?

http://www.solutionwatch.com/368/fifty-ways-to-take-notes/

The SEO Book by Aaron Wall

My friend Jonas is a stellar programmer and search engine expert. As he admits, he's black hat, which I steer clear of. However, he's a standup guy, brilliant, and he's been hugely successful with SEO (search engine optimization).
He recommended an ebook in his blog: The SEO Book by Aaron Wall. Just on his recommendation I'm buying it.

I also signed up for the affiliate program. Now here is an INGENIOUS way to motivate. I got $20 just for signing up. Sent to me via Paypal. But you have to have a minimum balance of $49.99 first (sell one ebook). The beauty of ebooks, is he can do that and still have room for a nice profit. Also by ordering it through my affiliate link I save $25. That means I pay $35 rather than $80. I noted the program he uses: Affiliate Software By iDevAffiliate v4.0. Check out the talking video woman on the site.

I want to write an ebook & have an affiliate program. I love to write. I just want to make sure it's exactly what I want to write and know enough to do the subject justice. In the meantime I think there's a good ebook for just about anything you might want to know about. It's usually very current information (unlike regular books that can be outdated upon completion). Plus you can pay for it and start reading immediately.

I'll read Wall's ebook and let you know what I think. Please do the same.

I'm a fan of ebooks because they are instant usually up-to-date information. However the quality varies. Some are updated constantly (like Jeremy's ebook about being an affiliate marketer). Others are poorly laid out, or a big ad, or a waste of money.

I had to get past the web pages for many ebooks. They're often written in the direct mail in-your-face style.

I recently bought the ebook "Turn Words into Traffic". It reviews good writing in general. It also teaches you how to maximize your exposure (get more web traffic and in turn make more). One way is to ad bios or ads at the end of everything you write and how to find opportunities to get more articles published.

This ebook is a great primer in effective writing. The formulas for writing well are winners. It also has bonus materials about interviewing people effectively. I find it to be very helpful when developing content for my sites.

Bambi Francisco wrote today about something I've been discussing with a friend I made from my Connect article. We talk about transparency and how it will affect our religion, business, and how we view life. In many ways, I love the benefits of transparency and how it can help expose injustice, fraud, or incompetency. I'm pretty transparent in my approach to life (thanks to a hippie heart that can be fairly open source).

She writes about how blogging, community sites, and the generation that embraces it is changing our culture. For the most part, it's good. We choose to do it because of the benefits of connection. It does have implications and it will change how we approach life. I love being part of these changes. I think we'll figure out how to minimize the negative implications.

Men can troll chat rooms and prey on children, which is horrible. At the same time it's easy to look up every sex offender in our community. I think we'll begin to solve these problems because we can pinpoint and track things more precisely. I believe we'll adjust our approach (like providing privacy locks for children on the internet, like we do for TV) and minimize the bad.