WebConnoisseur

Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” just came out. In 2004, George Bush took the honors. In 2005, it featured Bill & Melinda Gates, plus Bono. This year, Time Magazine decided to feature me! Or you. Depending on who’s holding up the cover featuring a mylar mirror.  

As I read through the feature (on their site of course–I would never pay for the magazine), I noticed it really shouldn’t say you. It should say “Web Junkies” because when they describe “you,” they talk about video bloggers, Wikipedia editors, Flickr posters, Firefox creators and YouTube founders. Hardly an example of your typical American or Time Magazine subscriber.

Regardless, my first thoughts were: Cool. Someone finally gives recognition to those who have contributed to the growth of the Web. But after reading through all their features, I realized this really was just about recent Web hype.

The cover might as well said “YouTube” instead of “You” as YouTube must have been mentioned a hundred times. YouTube is great, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see YouTube decline in popularity in favor of the next wave of Web 2.0 newcommers. It would almost be the online communities’ way of slapping traditional media back in the face. I can almost hear the public now: “You Don’t Determine Who Is the Person of the Year – We Do!” Because let’s face it, should Time editors really get to determine who the person of the year is? Let’s face it, when Time picks the person of the year, it is all really about Time and not the person they pick.

Okay enough dissing Time. I do appreciate them pickin “us” over political figures or CEOs. Ironically, I’m signing off to go cast my nominations for Webby Person of the Year…

I’ll be attending my first PubCon, starting today! Being trapped in-house doing SEO work, I always look forward to these conferences because they are my only chance to speak SEO with others. I find it valuable to speak to the wide range of people, from Google engineers to out-of-country black-hat search-spammers. Knowing what each is doing can help you build a strategy that will ensure the long-term success of your search placements because many of the algorithms are built in an effort to weed out spam, even at the cost of well-intentioned sites.

I experienced my 3rd 2.5 hour one-way commute in the last week. Two of the commutes from hell can be attributed to the worst flooding in my area in the last 50 years. One thing is for sure, wasting time just trying to get to work is a not-so-gentle reminder that I should be working from home.

A few years ago I thought most people with web-related jobs would work from home. But when I was looking for a job a year-and-a-half ago, I turned down two job offers because they wanted me in office 5 days a week. I took the job that allowed me to skip one commute day each week. The funny thing is that all three companies said “we want you in the office so you can participate in hallway discussions and hear what is going on around you.” Fast-forward a year-and-a-half, most communication (even with the person in the cube next to me) is via email and most employees have headphones on.

I’m surprised more companies haven’t taken advantage of brilliant people who want to work from home. People have different reasons for working from home (mine would save me 12 hours of commuting each week) and as long as they are productive, I don’t see any problems with it. My p/t job at About has a virtual workforce, but it is rare that I hear of a person who has a job (other than their own company) that lets them work out of their own home.

When will more companies start adopting a decentralized online workforce? When will more companies hire people they’ve never even met? I’m positive it will happen… I’m just surprised how long it is taking.

I’m back from a much-needed 2.5 week vacation. I apologize for my lack of postings thus far and promise to keep the blog fresh going forward. I suppose it is better to slack on your blog when your readership is next to nothing, then when it has a greater following.

I was trying out Google’s new 200 year search feature, and came across one of Time’s listings. I applaud them for being one of the few providers that don’t charge a subscription or access fee, but I found the page a bit comical.

Aparently, Time has been doing a bit a Time travel. According to their site, they posted the following article in 1927:

According to their site, they posted the article 80 years ago! That’s 64 years before the first web browser was even created or 68 years before the Netscape navigator was released.

Obviously, the article was written in 1927, but Time’s developers may want to consider changing the text claiming it was posted on their site 67 years before Time even registered their domain name!

I’m a pretty easy going guy. It takes a lot to shock me, but I must admit I was shocked to discover Danny Sullivan will be leaving Search Engine Watch and the Search Engine Strategies conference.

I’ve been silently following Danny’s career for almost 10 years now. I didn’t meet him until SES San Jose 2005 when he invited me to be a panelist. I was lucky enough to spend even more time with him at SES San Jose 2006. I can’t say enough about Danny. He is a true class-act. I can think of no other leader suited to lead our ever-popular industry.

Though the news saddened me at first, I realize this is all for the better. I applaud Danny for taking a bold move to stand up for what he believes in and what he is worth. I like my Danny without handcuffs, without corporate bullying. Danny needs ownership in his own venture.

My advice to Danny, if he gets a chance to read this:

Avoid temptation. I’m seeing silly offers in the comments of your blog, but I know many more serious, tempting offers are being thrown your way privately. Don’t be impressed by big name companies. Don’t drool over compensation packages.

Do what you love best. You may have thoughts of jumping into other industries or doing other things, but search has been so ingrained into your life, leaving it would be a mistake. Search is the most fascinating, complicated and rewarding industry.

Don’t work for the man, be the man. I am certain big impressive companies are contacting your right now (or will in a couple months once they get their acts together). You started this business from scratch once before—you can do it again! You will always be happiest working for yourself. Start up the next version of SEW and SES (just promise me you won’t call them 2.0).

Do it fast. Yes, you do deserve a break. However, speed to market is extremely critical here. Your new conference needs to be tied to the Google Dance and major industry announcements. Don’t make us choose between SES and Dannyfest next year, make Dannyfest (I’m sure you’ll come up with a better name) big enough that it is the conference to be at, not SES. I honestly believe you can accomplish it – the leaders & influencers in the search industry believe in you, not Incisive.

Wherever Sullivan travels, we will follow.

This is the first official post on my WebConnoisseur blog. You may be thinking “Boy he’s late the game – he calls himself a Web Connoisseur?” In truth, I’ve been paid to blog for nearly 6 years at my About.com mutual funds site. I’ve also messed around with blogs in the past, but was never motivated to blog without pay until now.

I can no longer resist the urge to write about various Web topics. I spend much more time doing Web-related stuff than mutual funds. My primary interests are SEO (natural search optimization), search engines, Web analytics, video, Web strategy, online marketing and wikis.

In terms of SEO, Web analytics, online marketing and Web strategy, I’ve been focused on them as a career since 1998 with great success and have been immersed in the Web since getting my first email account in 1992 (my freshman year of college) and running sites since 1995 where I built and ran a site for NASA.

I’ve always worked in-house as the Web expert for a select few companies, only doing consulting in very rare cases, which is why my presence has been fairly hidden until now. Though I am championed by anyone I have ever worked for, or with, I’ve decided it is a bad career move to remain so hidden. Let the fun begin…