SEO results

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) has been around for quite a while now. A great number of people around the world know about it, but very few actually know how to do it. The truth is, there is no actual recipe that will guarantee that your website or blog will be in the first place of search results. Although there are certainly several tips, and things that you can do about it, ultimately he who holds the keys to your SEO heaven is Mr. Google himself.

Sure, Google isn’t the only search engine out there, but we all know it is indeed the highest authority among its fellow search engines. Search engine marketers will definitely pay attention to anything Google might have to say about the subject, especially when it comes to rules to play the game.

Matt Cutts, the expert Googler on SEO, has a YouTube channel, a website and other resources that will definitely help search engine marketers in their endeavors. And Google’s search engine protoocols, like Penguin (the latest release) are a must read for anyone interested in knowing what you can and cannot do if you want your site to be right on top.

Although there are plenty of books and other resources that search engine marketers can study, SEO is also about the marketer’s creativity, and other secret ingredients that Google and other search engines just will NOT reveal to the common public. Why is that? Because search engines do give you a little  push into succeeding at ranking your site, but they also like to keep the game “fair” by not revealing absolutely everything their spiders and crawlers take into account.

So, what does this really mean for search marketers or your website’s ranking success? It means that although you may have all the tricks and tips down, there is only so much you can control. It may take up to 6 months before you see real ranking results for your website. Why such a long wait after so much work? Since Google or other search engines won’t reveal the entirety of their recipe, some call this waiting period “Search Engine Purgatory“.

But don’t worry, your hard work does pay off eventually. Also, if you are in a hurry, you can always back up your strategy by using Google AdWords in the meantime. This paid alternative (Search Engine Marketing) will place you website at the very top of search results, of course, that’s if you plan out a nice CPC campaign.

The Lean Startup

I had heard about the book “The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries through peers, people I met through networking, and even co-workers. Finally, I had heard so much about it that I went to Amazon.com and ordered a copy. Long story short: I learned so much more in the three evenings it took me to read through the whole book and making notes about it, than I would dare say most of my college literature.

“She’s exaggerating” or, “she’s fishing for a compliment from the author” some may say, but no. I truly do mean it. But let me be entirely clear about it. I say this because most of my college literature always had to do with international business or traditional marketing strategies (think “Mad Men” meets 21st century). It never really had a whole product development meets marketing and strategy process enclosed in a single book, much less with the scientific method as its poster child.

In my days of college, especially because I majored in Marketing, all business plans and ideas needed to be preceded and based on simple forecasts at least, although market research and a proper study would be the best methods to have a clear idea of what the customer wants. But here’s the one line of information in “The Lean Startup” that came to antagonize that: “The customer doesn’t know what she or he wants“. And it’s not just because a celebrated book mentions that phrase that all of a sudden it makes it true. My experience as a digital marketer made me confirm that realization in my mind.

The next realization that I found myself embedding in my own brain was the fact that no matter if you’re a big enterprise, a startup, a technology-related industry or any other industry, this method if for you to constantly seek innovation in your own field of expertise. Ries’ definition of a startup is as follows: “A startup is a human institution designed to create new products and services under conditions of extreme uncertainty”.

The entire Lean Startup model by Eric Ries is based on scientific method applied to startups. It is also inspired on Toyota’s lean manufacturing method (ever heard about “Just in time”?). As you can imagine, there is an infinite measured process of learning and iterating, making this an everlasting learning loop. That means that it’s not enough to innovate today and relax tomorrow. Innovation is a constant process, otherwise, you get to a point in which innovation is just a commodity.

Phrases like “Genchi Gembutsu” (go see for yourself in Japanese), or “get out of the building and start learning” by Steve Blank are the core believes in this book. You see, in order to learn, you need to go out there and experience for yourself and take a look with your own two eyes of how your idea or product can adapt to the real world. In your mind, your business idea or product is probably the best thing you’ve ever though about. However, even though it might be the next great thing, people may not relate to it, or modifications need to be made; your mind is set on a certain idea, your target market might not. Who do you think you should listen to, then?

Of course, learning realities mean nothing unless you actually do something about it. That is why each time you learn something new, you must do the appropriate arrangements for the product to meet that new knowledge. Then experiment with that new version, measure its success and start over again, constantly. It may sound like an exhausting process. You may be right, but in the long run, if you establish a process, then things can go more smoothly, rendering results faster and with less effort.

In conclusion, it doesn’t matter if you are an employee or an entrepreneur, this book can change your working days and even your lifestyle. If this method is good for the workplace, why not take it as daily learning in your life?

Think Digitally and Strategically

We’re living in an era in which the “there’s an app for that” jingle is one of the statements that can best describe it. Almost anything you can think of is served, assisted or solved by an app. Of course, there is no app yet than can properly feed you just yet. For all things logical though, our life has been simplified by tiny squares visible across our screens.

Now, after the burst of the internet bubble at the beginning of the millenium, and of course the exponential rise of tech start ups around the globe, people have started to pay closer and more serious attention to this industry. Hardly any other industry can take the promise of the American dream to reality that fast: become rich in just a few years. It sounds too good, it’s almost as a 21st century gold rush. However rich people may have become “overnight” thanks to this industry, it certainly does not go about like watching rain fall from the sky: “Do not expect the results you haven’t worked for”.

The hard truth is that only one among a few start ups or ideas are well planned out and attractive enough for investors to even look at them. There’s an unimaginable amount of work throughout the entire process. Coming up with an idea that can be worth millions of dollars is the easy part. After that, mark my words, it’s heavy lifting until you can see clear skies and plump apples hanging from your idea tree.

Most people seem to ignore that and just think that by coming up with the next best thing – quoting from a very peculiar fellow I met once – Google, or any other tech giant for that matter, will come up with pockets full of cash to exchange it for that “next best thing”. If I had a dollar for every person that has thought about developing a restaurant directory or foodie experience app… You’d be surprised by how many people think that by coming up with that idea alone, they will become the next Instagram or Facebook. Interestingly enough, most people that “come up” with this idea, aren’t in any way technologically prepared either in skill or knowledge to develop an app like that. Of course, if they did, they wouldn’t think that a good idea at all. It’s all “fool’s gold” I’ve heard it be said a number of times.

Don’t take me wrong, I’m not looking at them from under my nose, rather I think there’s a gigantic knowledge gap between people that develop these things and people who use them. It’s a compromise we should take as to narrow the gap as much as possible. Take the iPhone for example. A lot of people buy it and even commit to paying a lot of money for an iPhone, yet they don’t use it for anything else other than text messaging and answering phone calls. I know, the iPhone, as well as many other smartphones, were designed not to have an instruction manual read before use, but rather for it to be so simple under your touch, that you’ll slowly learn the tricks about it and use it as a proper tool for whatever it is you do. But then again, what may be obvious to some, isn’t at all for others.

As for other more basic things that we take for granted, other people that are not at all involved in technology or digital strategy know about websites and social media and are interested in investing in them as strategies for their business, yet don’t know what to do with them or how to profit for them. There are professionals like myself that make our living out of designing the proper strategies for these elements for succeed. Yet one thing is to design an appropriate digital strategy for a brand, another is for the brand owner to be completely clueless about anything digital. Which is why our job is not only to design appropriate strategies, but to narrow the gap between what we take for granted and the things that are standing on people’s blind spot.

So how can you get everything done and still get a few hours of sleep? I’ve tried several methods to keep my list all checked out. First of all, I started keeping reminders on my calendar, so that I would know that by that time of day, I should be doing the next thing on my to-do list. Sadly, once the notification came up, something or someone would call my attention to deal with a pressing matter, an unforeseen situation like a new price quote or modifications to certain projects, and so on.

This trail of developments made me realize that having notifications show up on my devices wasn’t enough. I started trying good old hand writing. I started jotting down a simple list on my moleskine of all the things that needed to be done ASAP. One by one, I would need to check them off. This little habit of having to write down the old fashion way would do tremendous help to my brain. It would be lime literally closing my eyes and picturing how I wrote down the task, and remember each detail that went on in my head as I was writing it. This indeed helped a lot in my daily task achievements, but something else was missing.

I then started jotting down the same tasks, but this time, on post-it notes. I would stick them on my blackboard, but not before splitting my blackboard in three areas: to be done, doing and done. I would pile up all of my tasks on the first area, and the slowly pick one up and move it to “doing”, and then finally leaving them on “done”. This method would help me focus on one task at a time, getting things done much much faster, without forgetting about the rest of the list. And if during the day more tasks would pop up, I would just jot them down on another post-it note And add it to the “to be done” pile.

Lately, I must confess, I have been sticking a bit more to a single, hand-written list on a notepad or my moleskine, seeing that I sometimes don’t have the time for post-it notes. But truth be told, stickies have their charm.

And then tonight, as I was browsing through Flipboard, I came across an article that described a similar thing. The author of course would have his own list of tasks to do during the day, and he always listed them down his digital calendar. He then goes on by saying that it had been a long time since he last wrote anything down. He then went back to listing things on his moleskine. Turns out, there is a scientific explanation as to why we really do need to hand write things. Our brain simply learns faster because hand writing pin points a moment and event in time in which you are establishing something, making it easier for the brain to reference a piece of information from the past. Turns out I wasn’t so wrong after all!

After a long 30 day wait, with a few misunderstandings about how and when the new iPad mini I had bought online would get to my home, it is finally here. The experience started since the moment I got an e-mail from Apple telling me to check out the new iPhone 5. Anyway, in my mind I had already decided that a longer screen just wouldn’t cut it for me to upgrade my existing iPhone 4s, yet I decided to browse the Apple store.

Once I got in, I knew I had forgotten about the iPad mini, so I clicked on the specs and started browsing through the information. I didn’t have any kind of tablet before this one, although I do have other Apple products; none of them have disappointed me (yet). From holding and using regular iPads belonging to friends of mine, I knew the iPad didn’t really call out for me, but as soon as I learned about the iPad mini, I knew I would get all the Apple benefits in a decent, manageable size. After punching in my credit card number and an engraving, off it went all the way from Hong Kong to my home.

After 30 days, and being told that it would get here via “Global Eagle” [had never heard of them], it finally got here. The set up process was easy and after 30 minutes of poking around and downloading my favorite apps, it was ready and customized for my use.

I have to tell you: I’ve had 48 hours with it and it already has done so much for me and my customers I can’t even tell you the whole story. The speed has no comparison. I’ve been to a couple of meetings and even a start up meet up, people can’t stop looking a it, asking me if they can hold it and poke around; they all agree on one thing: even if they’re not Apple fans, they liked it.

Functionality is great, performance is more than satisfying and the grip is absolutely great. Display is ultra clear. Yet, some apps, like YouTube are not fitted for an iPad (be it a regular or a mini). Is it because of the read-between-the-lines quarrel between Apple & Google? Perhaps, but still, it would be great to have more cooperation between them.

As far as typing, it’s pretty comfortable for a tablet. Battery has lasted a couple of days now (though I’m plugging it in as I type this). Overall, I’m a happy customer with a great purchase. Best of all, I got an early bird iPad mini. Since I bought it online, it got here before it did to stores, so I won’t be crushed in line to pay for the few units they ship over. If you do get one though, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

iPad Mini

It seems it is an entirely new era for Apple. Even if the world hadn’t learned about Steve Jobs’ passing away and Tim Cook taking over the direction of the company, one need only take a look at the latest developments chez-Apple to notice things have definitely taken a new direction.

First off, the iPhone 5 has taken heavy criticism. Even though people stood in line for hours outside Apple stores around the world to get their hands on the new iPhone, many have also felt there hasn’t been true innovation in the latest iPhone model. Other than it being slimmer, lighter and of course taller, there are other things that haven’t really changed. To be fair, the new aluminum model maintains the innovative model, and an easy grip.

The real annoyance was with the new Apple Maps application. Routes, streets and general addresses are inaccurate and practically unusable.  I have personally tried to use them several times, and there’s an even number between failure and success to find my way thanks to the app. Tim Cook had to publicly apologize to all users, saying that in truth, the new Maps app has fallen short from high expectations. Samsung of course took huge advantage in this flaw to start campaigns like “With Samsung, you know where you’re going”

iPhone 5

What does really come as something new, is the iPad Mini. When Jobs was still around, he often refused the idea to come up with a smaller iPad model, mainly because he did not want to “go down” a level and compete directly with the Kindle Fire. Still, interestingly enough, after Tim Cook announced the new tablet, there was mention that Jobs was “reconsidering” his statement days before he passed away.

However, the iPad Mini is much more affordable, and even though it is not equipped with retina display, a great number of users are extremely satisfied with the mini tablet. Online sells have run out of stock [fortunately I could get one of the last online purchases of the iPad Mini myself - does it show that I'm an Apple lover?]. To play devil’s advocate, nothing can be perfect forever. There are bound to be flaws, even from the greatest companies in the world.

Both products have run out of stock mostly as soon as they are released in different parts of the world. Not to mention the never-ending lines outside retailers. If you ask me, the video shown at the Keynote by Cook on the new opening of an Apple Store in Barcelona was a tad much, even tacky if you will.

Just to sum it up, as they say “God – or the devil? – is in the details”, as is Tim Cook or Steve Jobs once upon a time. Can you tell the difference yourself?

watch?v=SvAjFZ0gWNc

iOS6 Update

So it’s that time of year when Apple presented the new iPhone to the world with a unique keynote (others would call it a sales pitch). Aside from mentioning the new iPhone 5 now that everyone is talking about it, let’s focus more on the iOS update. Even though there are camping lines outside Mac stores in Asia and Australia to purchase the iPhone 5 , the rest of the world is updating iOS on their previous iPhone versions.

There are quite a few features that have changed in iOS 6. The thing that has stirred up a few loud opinions is Apple’s move to discard Google Maps and replace them with Apple Maps. Although indeed there is a 3D mode to view these maps, there is no street view and the UI seems a bit more austere when it comes to hybrid view.

Apple Maps vs Google Maps

Another move from Apple is to have removed the pre-installed YouTube app. Yet on the other hand, iOS6 now has a native Facebook app; among other things, this allows for you to directly share your media from your camera roll onto Facebook, as opposed to previous iOS versions in which you had to pull your media from the Facebook app. These changes have driven some to believe that there is an alliance between Facebook & Apple to try to keep Google out of the competition. Now if we all remember the part in which the late Steve Jobs vowed to crush Android because of its “stolen” technologies, well, there isn’t much room for doubt.

Another very interesting improvement is that now Siri speaks other languages, including Spanish. You can also include other voice commands, like Tweeting via Siri.

Tweeting with Siri

The App Store has a whole new UI and even has recommended apps for you to download. It no longer asks for your Apple ID password. There are plenty of other sutil changes you’ll notice as you navigate through your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. If there are any you like or I didn’t mention, please drop me a line and I’ll make sure to include it in this post.

What is your opinion of iOS6? Would you stay with the previous version if you knew beforehand?

Technology has always been there to make our lives easier. Get things done quicker, with less hassle and of course with better quality. But today, with a smartphone being a lot of people’s personal savior, apps do almost everything, everywhere.

However, something that can be noticeable and trending in the last few months is self-improvement. Being apps, or gamification features in certain brands (like Nike +), their ultimate goal is to make you stick to your goals and always be looking for self-improvement. This results in a win-win situation: you get things done in a better, faster way and brands have you engaged.

As mentioned before, Nike + has a very interesting gamification plan. It gets you to buy the appropriate gear to be in the game, or at least download their Nike+ app for iOS (iPod nano, touch and iPhone included). Personally, I’m hooked with this game plan. Not only do I now save Gym money, but I actually use my gear and run 15k a week. What keeps me going? The fact that I can track my progress and share my results with my friends via social networks. It’s nice to see a histogram of your performance and then compare the actual results in your every day life.

Now, as far as self-improvement apps go, there are several start ups with this idea in mind. For example Lift. As described in Venture Beat, Lift is a one-year-old start up in San Francisco that is looking to make people seek self-improvement –guess post it notes on your mirror aren’t cutting it anymore–. You set up alarms and tasks so you know what you have to do, when you have to do it; and of course, it exposes you in front of your friends via social media. Avoiding the judgmental finger perhaps? Well, apparently with this and many other examples, it does help to be in the spotlight, whether you’re doing things right or wrong.

Brands call it engagement, people call it motivation. Whatever the point of view is, in the end, you achieve your goals and thank a brand for it in the process.

Scribble your Search on Google

Lately, there are more practical ways for you to input information on your smaller screens, especially when it comes to Google products. Not only has  for Android been recently released, but now you can scribble on your touchscreen for whatever it is you’re looking for on the Google Search Engine.

Google has now enabled a small button on the bottom right corner of your touchscreen for you to scribble block letters or cursive writing. As you go on scribbling, the autocomplete feature will be changing according to what you have written; then you can select the best option or the closest one to what you wrote.

TechCrunch says that ”The new feature will work on iOS5+ devices, as well as Android 2.3+ phones and Android 4.0 tablets.”  Be that as it may, the new handwriting feature will not replace keyboard input. It will only make it easier for you to look for something while you’re holding a cup of coffee or are busy with other activities.

In order for you to use it, you first need to enable the handwriting option on your device’s Google preferences. Once you do, you’ll notice a small button on the bottom right corner, once you click on it, scribble away!