Prologue:
This post today isn’t about the technicalities of SEO. It is not about scamming digg or how to buy links without getting caught. There are plenty of places to go and find information on those things. Even I, on a different day, enjoy discussing and disclosing the practical application of this technique or that. The seo guru calls out John Andrews for a showdown.
But today is different.
Today the post is about the essence of SEO. It is about the only real reason for SEO to even exist. It is about people and how you deal with them to get the most results using the least resources.
It’s often easy to forget the real purpose of SEO when so much of our time and focus is consumed with the technology of our profession. Today the Guru hopes to remind you of what REALLY makes SEO work. People. People interacting in a way that results in something happening that you and them wanted to happen.
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And of course --- the N word.
I’m actually a quarter Cherokee Indian but for all intents and purposes, I’m a white guy. Being accepted as a white American man in a white American man’s world,(things are changing by the way), I’ve never really had to bear the slings and arrows of racist remarks. Honky and cracker being about the worst insults I’ve had to deal with and frankly, when compared to spic, chink, heeb, raghead, mick, beaner, camel jockey, slope head, wet back, spear chunker, kraut, dink, guinea, kike, jungle bunny, pollock and canadian, honky and cracker just ain’t that bad.
And of course, the N word.
I’ve never had to experience how it would feel to have someone completely and totally invalidate you as a person. To have someone take from you every single shred of dignity and humanity with one word. Until this past Monday.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about making the proposition of outsourcing core functions less threatening and a much easier pill to swallow. It was about building trust in a service carrying some negative reputation baggage by not charging until AFTER results were delivered. The SEO Guru Kills the In-house/out-house debate As one might expect, we’ve been pretty busy this past couple of weeks handling new inquiries, (that would be enquiries for my friends across the pondJ).
Focus On The Clients That DO Pay Instead of Focusing On The Ones Who Don’t
We knew when we decided to make such a bold announcement that there would be those who would try to take advantage of our good nature, (and lack of judgment?), but my philosophy has always been to focus on the good clients and not allowing ourselves to focus on the bad. Sure enough we have had a few bad experiences and already we have had to perform some work at our expense that we did not get paid for.
Just a cost of doing business in our opinion and we are still thrilled to have the new clients that we are a good fit with. But something happened yesterday that made me realize that there is another lesson I could share with everyone to help them not only with their seo efforts, but in dealing with their clients, their providers and their employees better and with better returns on investment.
I had an email, requesting a skype chat and I complied. For about 15 minutes I listened to him tell me how I shouldn’t try to rip him off because he was an seo and knew all about how meta tags needed keywords in them and how PPC would ruin your organic listings and how, (this one killed me and I could barely contain myself from laughing out loud), he knew about placing white hat keywords in alt tags???? :0 !!! ???? I don’t have a clue of what he was talking about there but I am sure it had nothing to do with any kind of hat.
Pack your bags –we’re takin a side trip
Let me interject an old adage here that is a lesson to us all whenever we are interested in something but fear looking stupid or being taken advantage of due to our own ignorance of the topic at hand.
It is often far better to keep silent and have others wonder at your true ability than to speak and remove all doubt.
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I didn’t care for his tone or his arrogant demeanor but I knew from experience that people who do that kind of thing are just scared so I listened. Until we finally got to the part where I asked, “so what is it you would like me to do for you”, and he replied, “I want you to use your link Ni***** to get me enough PR that I can sell links”.
I literally felt sick to my stomach and starting shaking as the shock from the verbal slap to the face turned to adrenalin. In my younger days I was no stranger to giving and getting a few bloody noses but in my entire life I have never wanted to beat the crap out of someone as much as I did right then. As I’ve grown more mature, I’ve come to abhor violence, (mostly because younger guys could kick my ass now days), but I’m sure had this person been within range I would have knocked him on his ass.
For the first time I realized with blazing clarity why a man would be so offended by that word coming from someone using it to illustrate their total lack of respect for that person as a human being.
After a few seconds I realized the guy was still talking but I hadn ‘t heard a word. I interrupted and told him I was not interested in any job he could offer me and I would appreciate him never calling me again for anything. I then said the best I could do to help him was to advise him to stop talking so much and then I clicked the little red phone button.
The term link monkey doesn’t carry quite the same suggestion of contempt as the other term BUT, the underlying sentiment remains.
How would you feel if I called you up as said, “I want your seo monkeys to make me a lot of money from my site?” Would you feel like I was a professional considering entering into a mutually profitable relationship with you? Would you feel like I had respect for you as a professional or even as a person? Or would you more likely feel I thought you were stupid enough to work really hard, really cheap so I could get rich while you remained perfectly content to live on the kind of wages that barely fed your children?
It’s Not About the Money – It’s About Respect
It’s not about money. It is true that there are gaps in the global economy that provide opportunities to produce superior quality at reduced labor costs by taking advantage of those gaps, but what is also true is that people all over the world are not that different when it comes to wanting respect and to be able to maintain their dignity as a professional and as person.
If you go in search of link monkeys, what level of service do you really expect? Then when your site gets busted or after 90 days of no results, do you run to Sphinn, http:www.sphinn.com and post a story about how you got exactly what you should have expected or do you post about how you got ripped off?
There is some value in having low level employees do the tedious, repetitive work that you don’t want to do. There is also the fact that your time is likely much more valuable than to spend doing activities that bring in little while taking great effort. But would you really expect to get focus, loyalty and a dedication to quality from a link monkey?
It's perhaps those low level employees doing the tedious work that you should show the MOST respect to ehh? What do you think goes through the mind of that “link monkey” when you turn your back? At best you can expect them to be ready to quit you in a heartbeat for the next person that will pay them one penny more. At worst, you should be prepared for that monkey scheming on revenge for invalidating them so completely.
As for me and Techndu, you refer to anyone on my staff as a link monkey, a rag head, a sand n*****, or any other term I may not have even heard of yet that illustrates a lack of respect and I assure you, our conversation is over. I demand respect from my employees and my clients and expect them to demand respect from me.
What Can a Link Monkey Do For You?
If you want someone to not think about what they are doing and simply act, a link monkey can do that for you.
If you have no regard for quality and are willing to accept any link from any place, a link monkey can do that for you.
If you want to pay the absolute least amount of money for the absolute lowest quality, a link monkey can deliver that for you.
If you want to constantly have to worry that you are being cheated, a link monkey can do that for you.
If you want someone to hate your guts because you have no respect for them or their efforts, a link monkey can do that for you too.
What a Link Monkey Can NOT Do For You.
Provide reliable reports
Consult with you on in-the-trenches trends and industry changes
Review and select based on stated objectives
Schedule their time to get maximum results
Consider your image and reputation when performing work on your behalf
Try to provide a value-driven service
Treat you with respect as a professional and a business partner
I don’t care if you think looking for link monkeys is the best way to further your business objectives, that is your business. I do care that you would look for link monkeys and then publicly post how outsourcing is a rip off, because now that is MY business.
If you look for the cheapest crap you can find, don’t be surprised when you get cheap crap. If you expect anything different, then who is the real monkey?
There is nothing in this world that can not be produced with less quality and sold cheaper. Those who consider price alone are this man’s lawful prey.
A bargain is not getting the lowest price. A bargain is getting the best quality at the best price.
Link Monkeys don’t get customers saying things like:
I just want to chime in here and vouch for Techndu from a customer standpoint. I have been using them for an SEO project for several months now and am VERY happy with the results.
Shawn Pringle
CEO the PR Prowler
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