It’s no secret that if you want to be successful in business, you need to be creating content. Content for your website, content for your products and services, content for social media, and maybe even some content for your content. Some brands and individuals are doing a better job of this than others.

Which brings me to my idea of an example of someone who is doing it very, very wrong. Gary Vaynerchuk, a serial entrepreneur, recently told Forbes that he is hiring someone full-time to “shadow his life” and record his every remark in order to create a bottomless well of content for his various social media accounts.

Vaynerchuk’s overall concept is that in order to make an impact, he must create as much as he can with the hope that something will eventually stick. While Vaynerchuk is trying to establish himself as a social icon––reaching new audiences by producing a flood of noise––I’m of the belief his approach will ultimately backfire by annoying anyone foolish enough to pay attention to him in the first place.

Just as my colleague Kit pointed out for us, I’m all for making an impact. I think that utilizing social media is a great way to expose your ideas, standpoints, businesses, and products. But is more content really the answer to getting noticed? I would argue that it isn’t. I believe time is better spent creating content that serves a purpose and reaches an intended audience rather than existing just to hit a quota for the week.

Furthermore, I would doubt that if you are putting out all you can, as much as you can, all of the time, you are portraying yourself or your brand in the best light. Less is often more. And better is, well, better.

I can’t tell you how many times I have unfollowed someone on social media for the simple reason that they were clogging up my newsfeed with re-purposed, uninventive, redundant, self-absorbed and otherwise dog crap content all day and all night. Nobody wants that from a friend, and they certainly don’t want it from a brand. It gets old. Give me a chance to miss you, and I will be much more likely to read your post.

To be honest, I’m troubled by the the idea that many others will follow in Vaynerchuk’s footsteps; in fact, Vaynerchuk himself states that he believes there will be 500 to 5,000 people this time next year that will employ a full-time content person. What levels of vanity must one succumb to to believe your entire existence is worthy of documenting? This sounds terrifying.

Our problem today is not that we don’t have enough content. There is so much information online that we often get overwhelmed by it all and don’t know where to focus our attention.  It’s time we focused more on what we are saying instead of how many times we say it.  In the end, it makes it very hard to find the information you are looking for from the people who do know what they are talking about. This dilutes the in-depth and well thought-out material that should be getting our attention in the first place.

There is more to being a leader in the field than being the loudest person in the room. We all have things to say, lots of things to say, but that doesn’t mean we should always be talking. If you want to get someone to listen to you, bring something compelling to the table. No one wants to be the person in the room that everyone stops listening to because they keep raising their hand to validate that their voice still works. The same should apply to the web. Raise your voice when it’s going to add something to the conversation. When it won’t, learn how to take a back seat to those doing their part to bring value above the noise.

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Everybody wants those fifteen minutes of fame. Whether it is waving a bright yellow sign frantically behind the hosts of the Today Show or turning your taxidermy cat into a helicopter, it is a natural human desire to leave something of yourself behind. Now, that residual trail may not always be grand or end up leaving you in a positive light, but nevertheless, it allows you to be seen. Those desires for being noticed may vary, but in the end we all want the same thing: to make an impact in some way.

Since the advent of the Internet, a grand stage has formed and with it the ability to get noticed has been amplified. It has given each of us an audience, but the real question that you have to answer is, “What do you want to do with it?”  While visibility is important, it only makes a difference if it leads to something more and invokes a sense of participation. This battle between gaining visibility and also sparking some kind of involvement is one that every Internet user goes through. It isn’t a challenge that just big brands and conglomerate corporations deal with, but rather one that each of us face, whether it is a blog post we write or a painting we are trying to sell.

Taking Control of Your Own Fate

More people are realizing the growing amount of opportunities the Internet offers, but the real mystery is how we can have a hand in our own fate. One industry that has really taken an interest in this is the self-publishing world. The indie author market is exploding, writers now turning away from the traditional route of submitting endless queries to agencies and instead publishing their work themselves. Part of the appeal lies in writers’ having control of the entire creative process as well as deciding on price points for their books. What once was a “last-resort” is now considered a practical and lucrative option, but this has also created a much more competitive landscape.

Being an indie author requires you to step onto that grand stage whether you like it or not. Writers can’t just be writers anymore; they have to be marketers, promoters, and advocates, all trying to sell the same thing: themselves. It becomes more than just selling a book. It is about selling a connection to an audience, about giving back to a community and maybe not getting anything back in return.

A major concern among indie authors is, “Well this is great and all, but how can I turn that visibility into book sales?” David Gaughran, a prominent self-published author, took a stab at answering this question by highlighting a situation where visibility didn’t exactly lead to the type of participation that was intended. He shared the experience of indie author Genevieve Pearson who appeared on the reality TV show, King of the Nerds, with the hope that she would gain more exposure for her books. Once the show aired, her social media accounts started blowing up, giving her a much larger and more diverse fan base than before. However, when that exposure didn’t lead to increased book sales, she realized her TV stint might have done more for her social presence than it did for her bottom line.

So What Went Wrong? Exposure = Sales, Right?

While social media is a great platform to promote and market, it has yet to be established as a viable sales platform. Social media is just that: social. It is designed to share and connect the issues with the people that care about them. Pearson thought there was a disconnect between her books’ target audience and her fans, but I believe that is only partly true. Working in the digital marketing industry has taught me that connections can be made if you find the right message. It’s not about beating a system or tricking the algorithm, but it’s about finding the common ground that connects different kinds of demographics. While her fans aren’t her ideal readers, there is a great chance that someone they know is. Pearson should ask herself what she has in common with her new fans and how those commonalities relate to her books. It could be a shared interest in science fiction or a passion for figuring out the unknown––it’s just about finding those things that bring us together. By utilizing social media to start these conversations, it will spark social engagement (likes, shares, comments, etc.) and allow Pearson to reach those extended layers of connections who just might be her next customer. Earning visibility is only a small part of it; how you use that visibility to bridge those gaps is what matters most.

It all comes back to this idea of “fifteen minutes of fame”. While a two week craze does have the power to get you visibility in front of millions, it is up to you to decide where to go from there. This grand stage is only getting bigger but the curtain is falling even quicker. However, I believe that those fifteen minutes are only the beginning. Digital marketing is about taking a fleeting impression and turning it into something more. If you find a way to ignite something in an audience––sparking that need for participation––you can leave something behind that will last.

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Last week, Terakeet partnered with the Future 40 Belowers Program to give high school students from the Syracuse City School District a pre-professional job shadowing experience. The reviews of our first time hosting job shadowers were unanimous across the entire company: HUGE success!

The idea to participate in such a program was sparked from discussions in our weekly Terakeet Community Engagement Team meetings, where we discuss ways to build our local community presence and give back to various groups. Personally, I was a member of peer mentoring and job shadowing programs both in college and through my National Honors Society in high school; as a result, I’ve learned what goes into these activities and, undoubtedly the best part, what you can get out of it.

Two students visited our office last Thursday so they could spend a day in the life of a Terakeet-er as well as get a head start in their professional pursuit. We covered a variety of topics with the students including our company history, the ins and outs of what we do at Terakeet, and general advice for entering college and the working world. Of course, the day wouldn’t be complete without some pizza and a friendly foosball competition.

I knew that an environment like Terakeet would be ideal for students to be exposed to. Being a company with so many young employees––and with some of our team members having attended Syracuse City Schools themselves––we all recognized the opportunity to make an impact, no matter how small. One of the events we had during the day was a group discussion about each of our personal experiences in college. What we thought would be an eye-opening experience for the students ended up being an inspiring one for all of us. It was encouraging to see teenagers so proactive about their futures and how we could serve as an example. One student said, “Everyone here is so young…I want a job like this.” We asked another student what type of environment she sees herself working in one day, and she responded, “One just like this!” Being able to motivate these thoughts in a student’s mind is incredible, and we hope this can carry over and continue in today’s youth.

Being a local company founded by Syracuse-natives, we at Terakeet strive to stay connected to our roots and help build up the next generation in any way we can. We are both happy and honored to have met such wonderful kids! Job shadowing is just one example of an effort in our grand plan to make a difference in the ‘Cuse community, so stay tuned!

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This was no different when I announced that I was pregnant.  Hugs were shared, I received numerous high fives and spirits were high as the entire crew embraced my step into motherhood.  It’s an exciting time and I can’t wait to bring my little one into the Terakeet family.

I then started thinking about the future and thought of a few possible predictions about bringing my baby into a modern marketing world; the world of earned visibility…

My Baby Predictions

5.  My child will know what a SERP is before your child.

Anyone within the SEO world understands that SERP stands for “Search Engine Results Page.” We toss it around the office more than the phrase “search engine optimization” itself, so I’m confident my little one will have a good grasp of it’s meaning.

4.  Instead of using summary, my child will use the words “meta description.”

I can see it now.  Writing book reports with meta descriptions to help his/her teacher understand the basic premise of the book.  Genius.

3.  My child will understand that items that he or she wants can be earned, but not bought.

Self-explanatory?

2.  His or Her LinkedIn profile will be properly completed for the best chance at pre-school acceptance. 

Having a strong history of social media, including LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter profiles will help our little bug rank well within results.  Is the hospital nursery too soon for social networking?

1. Birthday parties will be more about the user experience, filled with rich content fun activities that other pint-sized partygoers will talk about, share, and eventually vote as the #1 party in the neighborhood.

Ranked #1 Among Friends

Forget the clowns and balloons.  Our little one’s friends will experience parties that will bring them back for more.  Birthday parties will be customized so each child receives exactly what they are looking for.  Better cake, personalized door prizes and a better overall user party experience is what they will receive.

As you can see, I’ve got big plans for our little one.  Maybe his (or her) love for digital marketing won’t be as great as mine, but I’ll at least know that I’m bringing a child into an exciting and ever-changing world.

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Understand that Personalization is Inescapable

I assure you, 99% of your customers have no idea what this logo represents.

We disable customized results as they relate to various social logins. We search from anonymous IPs. We analyze ranking sets from dozens of data centers to determine where fluctuations may occur. We may indeed practice and refine our art as search marketers in a laboratory, with controlled variables that mitigate our assessments of causation and correlation, but the reality is that the real world does not.

No, indeed if our client isn’t seeing what we are, the greater likelihood exists that neither are their clients or customers. And so, while certainly there is value in understanding how to isolate variables that we ourselves can control, we need to understand that personalization (in one form or another) is generally inescapable and rather than run from customization we need to find opportunities to thrive alongside it.

Location, Location, Location

More than just realtor sales jargon, location needs to be a very real concern of search marketers today. Local search, as a method of personalization, is likely the most difficult to wash our hands of as marketers.

It’s no secret that search engines will seek to customize a user’s search results based on their location, but how do we create desired outcomes for our clients as they relate to geo-targeted searches?

Success in local search begins with understanding local search intent, or more specifically geo-specific intent. It may be presumptive, but individuals familiar with specific locales generally do not query generic search phrases like “Syracuse restaurants.” These queries are going to be fed through the searcher’s Google+ local results that are marked with the appropriate structured data.

If the searcher is situated in the locale while performing the search, a restaurant listing with no markup may indeed find it’s way into the results. However, as this type of query is most often performed by those researching specific restaurants in anticipation of visiting one, it’s possible the search could be occurring anywhere on the globe. Listings which are structured appropriately using Schema.org and other structured data language have a better chance of landing in that local result set for generic searchers occurring in any location.

Subjectivity, however, presents another challenge. The local game changes each time a searcher introduces a subjective appendage to the query, like “best Syracuse restaurants,” or “top Syracuse bars.” Google interprets these queries as searchers looking for objective opinions, and their results often satisfy this by providing review aggregators or positively-reviewed local listings.  In these cases, structured data becomes even more important. Aggregator sites like Yelp, Urbanspoon, and even TripAdvisor own the majority of the search real estate as user review hubs. In order to compete in the Google+ local results for these phrases, it’s imperative your listings include rich user reviews of your business or establishment.

Pleasing Your Frequent Flyers

Much has been made of the relative slow growth of Google+ proper as a social network, and while it still may have growing to do in terms of becoming a “network” in the traditional sense, it’s still having a tremendous impact on search personalization and customizations. Given the growing segment of not-provided traffic you’ll likely notice in your Google Analytics data, we can’t discount the population of searchers actively allowing their search results to be customized as they relate to their search and Google account histories.

The easiest way to compete in customized results is to create positive user experiences on topics for which you and your site represent the authority within, rank organically for those terms, and then cover your bases with appropriate subpages from there. In a sense, it’s important to gain the trust of your user for your hub topics, anticipate the logical information retrieval process for that which you monetize on, and reap the reward of the return user.

Let’s say your site represents a personal injury attorney focused on medical device torts. Your monetization terms include queries like “hip replacement attorney,” “DePuy hip replacement recall,” and others. However, it’s unlikely that a user’s first search will be one that you monetize on. In fact, a user’s first opportunity for interaction with your website may be terms like “hip pain” or “hip replacement pain.”

It’s imperative to rank organically for these terms based on the strength of your information and content, and to breed positive user experiences. (Remember* traffic for general terms is much less competitive to come by than that of your conversion terms!) If your site was able to satisfy the more general queries for a signed-in user, Google is more likely to customize that searcher’s results to rank your site for your money terms.

If we understand the learning process of our users as it relates to our site’s core topics and areas of expertise, it then becomes about having the right content to bridge the gaps to your areas of monetization. Cover your topics diligently (but not excessively to the point that your pages are never receiving traffic) and you’ll come out on top in most customized result sets.

Social Opportunities

While it can be argued that Google+, as a cross-disciplinary platform, may not ever live up to its potential as the penultimate convergence of search and social media, it obviously represents a tremendous opportunity (and challenge) for brands attempting to cater to personalized search.

Many brands were confused when the +1 function became integrated into search results, and imaginations ran wild as to how it may somehow impact their rankings. Many of us thought the signal would be too easy to game before realizing that the purpose of the +1 was larger than rankings, but served to connect members of a social circle to sites they liked. While Google’s “Search plus Your World,” created customized search engine results within a given circle, more powerful were the “stamps of approval” listed in the organic results (i.e. Jane Doe, John Doe, and Sam Smith +1’d this).

Terakeet’s own brand visibility guru, Angela Trapasso has already illustrated for us the power of social referrals or word-of-mouth as a differentiating factor in how people make decisions online today. Google appeared to be out in front of this as well, and created personalized ranking sets based on providing you the referrals of your friends and other social circles. So while direct impact on rankings is likely minimal, click-through performance of heavily +1’d sites is increased, particularly where Google is able to pull +1s from a signed-in user’s circles.

Lest we forget, even with just under 17% of the global search volume, Bing has access to data that Google can only lust after; Facebook. The integration of Facebook and its 1 billion users with Bing’s small, albeit loyal, user base creates formidable competition for Google and its own social efforts.

A Better Product for You = A Better Product

SEO-in-a-vacuum purists may be challenged by the growing presence of search personalization and customization, but search engines don’t design their products for SEOs. In the end, a more personalized search engine product is a better one for the great majority of its users. And when we really think about it, many of the methods we’ve outlined for competing in personalized search are simply extensions of the tenets of fundamental search success. Well-formatted websites, objective peer review, intuitive content structures and social proofing are all signals that we as earned visibility purists should swear by anyway.

Search engine engineers realize the capability limitations that machines possess as they relate to decision-making. Rather than attempting to recreate these experiences, they lean on elements of human behavior that they perceive to impact human decisions and provide them as much or as little information as the user desires. While traditional SEO, as a practice, clung to a user’s loyalty to what they perceived to be impartiality, many users have found personalized search to be a more comfortable bed to lie in. It’s just up to us now to fluff the pillows.

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There’s something to be said for the softness and innocence of nomenclature surrounding these updates that leaves an aura of comfort around an earned visibility organization like Terakeet.

Why? Because these updates are not meant to wrack punitive damage to search marketers attempting to gain visibility for their clients the right way.

Terakeet understands the types of relationships our clients need to foster across the web and we seek out the people we need to speak with to build those. We understand the types of content that inspire people to mobilize, to share, to act, to be inspired, and we work to create that engagement. We research and cultivate the types of citations that reinforce the authority of the brands we work with and we inject our client’s core competencies into those resources.

People had been whispering about an impending crackdown on steroids in baseball since the late 1990s. In 2005, after much wrangling with the player’s union, anonymous testing, and public outcry, Major League Baseball instituted its first comprehensive testing program for performance enhancing drugs. Over the eight years since, people haven’t stopped hitting home runs, but they’ve become harder to hit for those who couldn’t pump stananzanol into their back-side. And like the juiced ball era in baseball, the “juiced link” era in search is over. Systemic controls built into the algorithm now allow for the true cream to rise to the top.

At Terakeet, we too have been listening to the whispers of search leaders for a decade. If you’re a progressive web marketer and have been listening to things Google has been saying for the past decade, these updates should neither surprise us or disrupt us from amplifying the things that make us and our clients great. This isn’t modern search engine optimization. It’s modern marketing. The confluence of the two is now just algorithmically blurred by Google and other search engines.

Since the Panda and Penguin pendulums had begun swinging in early 2011, not one of Terakeet’s clients has been negatively impacted by an algorithmic change.

None. Zip. Zero. Zilch.

While we certainly monitor this type of change, as we’re likely to benefit from the devaluation of some of our less prescient competitors, we do not fear and will never fear, the furry or the feathery.

Military campaigns are often named things like ‘Operation Sparrowhawk Strike’ or ‘Furious Lion.’ When Google starts naming their updates like that, then I’m going to be scared. But it’s clear right now that different than military campaigns, this isn’t a war on search engine optimization or marketing, it’s a battle for quality and search marketers need to embody quality rather than try to exist alongside it.

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We are seeking an on-site or remote lead web designer with 5+ years of professional and front-end web design experience. Candidates with a strong balance in his/her approach for media responsiveness, identify, audience emotion and behavior is preferred. Projects range from small micro-sites to expansive web properties communicating topically rich material to varying audiences.

Candidates for this position must have excellent written and oral communication skills and the ability to work in a varied, fast paced environment.

Ideal candidates will also possess the following skills:

• Able to work independently and efficiently to meet deadlines;
• Able to promptly answer support related email, phone calls and other communication;
• Self motivated, detail-oriented and organized;
• Team player willing to teach and learn;

Proficiencies should include (but are not limited to):

• Experienced with UI/UX design and usability across device mediums;
• A strong understanding of design software (Adobe Creative Suite, etc.);
• Comfort working quickly based on internal or client creative briefs;
• Collaborating with other members of the Terakeet team to visually achieve internal or client-specific goals and objectives;
• Contributing conceptual ideas and feedback during organizational and client-specific team meetings as needed;
• Facilitating the continued development of a work environment that stimulates personal growth and advancement across the organization;

Compensation and Benefits:

• Health Insurance
• 401k with Matching
• Parking Stipend
• Corporate Gym Membership
• Competitive Salary

For consideration, please submit:

• Your résumé;
• A commercial web project, including multiple conceptual revisions, you’ve worked on (highlight specific responsibilities for larger team-based efforts);

Please send your résumé, portfolio attachment, and any links to: jobs@terakeet.com

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