Today at 3.00 (PST) I will take part in a live interview with RSS Ray on WS Radio on the subject of Online Reputation Management.

If you miss the show it will be available by podcast on my blog and on the WS Radio site within two days.

I read with interest Andrew Goodman’s synopsis of SES Toronto and Lisa Barone’s comments over on the Bruce Clay Blog.  If you refer to core SEO for what it is and always has been, a good quality site with great content, well indexed with good organic links which have not been bought, stolen or borrowed then yes Core SEO is more important than ever.  With more and more non web pages showing up in the results due to universal search good SEO will help you stay afloat amongst the noise.  If you are talking about the many types of ’so called SEO” we have touted as an industry then no its not valid now nor has it ever been except for a quick fix or short term gain. 

The good SEO’s who have never deviated from that core SEO as described above are now in a position of strength.  They know how to rank sites and web pages and keep them ranked.  That core strength can now be applied to the world of Web 2.0 and social media.  They can use their skill to optimize videos, podcasts, photos, articles, create RSS feeds and the list goes on.  The one thing that has never changed in this ever changing industry is that great content is king.  Good optimization specialists can apply their skills to the many types of content and apply their skills to positioning content in multiple channels.  Our own company recently underwent a re-branding to become a digital marketing agency.

We have found that the term search engine optimization is what is out of date.  With the multiple channels the web now offers and numerous opportunities to optimize content for these channels digital asset optimization is a more appropriate term for what we do until we think of something better or this one sticks.  Let’s face it as my friend Mike Grehan says (I think he is still my friend haven’t seen him for a while, and I am not on his buddy bloggerlist ) when did anybody ever optimize a search engine. 

While I was gone one of the most alarming plans to hit the industry in a long time was announced.  Yahoo annnonced that it will basically become a relseller of Google ads.  I like Google, I think they are a great search engine but its beginning to look like a one man shop again and its almost impossible to imagine Yahoo ever bridging the gap now.  Yahoo obviously realise it and have given up trying so they join Google instead.  This is very bad news for consumer choice. 

Kevin Ryan wrote a great commentary on the subject over at Search Engine Watch and since he put it so well and so eloquently you can read the full article here.

I just got back from a blissful two week vaction in the west of Ireland near Belmullet .  We had a much needed rest and I am now trying to catch up on the news while I was gone.  I had to travel 15 miles to an interent connection and after the first few days of fresh sea air I forgot to do that.  It was very strange to be so ‘disconnected’ so to speak.  My children looked shell shocked for the first few days and the Grandma had no cable either so my youngest daughter played football with the dog and my oldest discovered reading again. 

We all had a wonderful time and sadly US Airways runined our trip back with delayed flights and lost baggage.  I really will never fly with US airways again unless there is no other option.  Lost the bags on the way over also.  At least they are consistent.  We flew with Aer Lingus on the transatlantic legs and its refreshing to still fly with an airline that provides genuine good quality customer service.  The 6.5 hour flights flew (pardon the pun) by with wonderful friendly staff, good food and non stop entertainment on the indivudual entertainment system they provide to each traveller.  What has happened to US air travel and why has the travelling public put up with letting it get this bad. 

We are very pleased to announce the launch of our new brand- Elixir Interactive. After many months of planning today we launched our new name and brand. We are now a digital marketing agency and are very pleased to offer our expanded portfolio of services in response to the evolving interactive landscape.

Elixir, has operated for the past 5 years as a specialist in search engine optimization and paid search. We will now offer a full-suite of digital marketing services including social media optimization, reputation management, email, mobile and user-experience design. The company will target the mid-market, which I believe has been under served.

In order to extend the reach of one’s brand in the digital space content needs to be available across a variety of channels. By leveraging our experience in search we will help our clients create, optimize and distribute targeted content that reaches the right audience in the right place at the right time.

Search provides a rich source of information about how people think. By combining the intelligence gathered from search with the power of the social community Elixir Interactive can help its clients better understand their customers, extend the reach of their brand, manage their online reputation and create compelling user experiences that truly connect with the target audience.

Our clients expect an integrated approach to digital marketing. They realize that a balanced interactive program consists of search, email and, increasingly, social and mobile. Expanding our portfolio of services by leveraging our core competency in search will allow us to aptly serve our clients’ needs.

Search Engine Optimization once the core of our services is now a tactic which we deploy in our overall strategy. Our response to the changes in the web over the past two years is to create Elixir Interactive and offer client’s what they really need to compete in the space today.

In case you were wondering why I have not been blogging lately this is a picture of me for the past two weeks.  This is not a cartoon its a real picture of me.   As soon as the backlog is cleared I will be back!!!!

Next week we will be attending and exhibiting at SES New York. I will also be speaking on the subject of viral marketing for small to mid-sized companies. You can read about that here.

The SES New York show is one of my favorites. There is always a great buzz and numerous networking opportunities. I am thrilled to be back there with our booth. If you are in the exhibit hall please stop by our booth #2225 and say hello. It has always been a great business development show for us and I am looking forward to the best ever!!

Good luck to Kevin and the Incisive team on this their first New York show together. If SES Chicago is anything to go by then New York should be one to remember.

While in New York I’m planning to do some sight seeing and also pick up some Broadway tickets and see a show!  I’m also heading to the Museum of Modern Art for one of their gorgeous lunches!!

We are only days away from Search Engine Strategies New York and its shaping up to be a great event. I am personally very excited about returning to New York as an exhibitor and speaker. More about that later.

The networking events are first class as usual and this year SES has put together a pub crawl to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Being from the Emerald Isle myself it was fun to help orgnaize the route and the bars. Its very likely that due to the crowds it may be very difficult to get a drink!! However the fun and games involved in getting round the ‘course’ should make attendance a must. The pub crawl leaves the Hilton at 7.00 p.m. immediately after the SES networking event.

We will reconvene at the Hilton (at a time to be announced on the night) and of course hangovers are completely banned on the 18th as there are way too many great sessions to attend!! I have always been fascinated by the green beer they serve here on St. Patrick’s day.  I wonder if SES will provide green ibuprofen the next day!! I would avoid the green beer it looks highly suspect and I hear green dye poisoning is worse than a hangover…just ask my daughter - when she drinks the dyed drinks (non alcohol!) - she goes bouncing off the walls!!!

A special thanks to our client Maps.com the world’s largest online map store for allowing us to use their map making software.  For your New York City Map visit their map store. 

My dear friend Kaay Grosso has been a tireless advocate for the women and girls of a tiny village of Nawantale in Uganda.  I recieved this e-mail from her today and its message is one of hope in a place where there is little else.  Please consider donating to this worthy cause.  Kaay travels to Uganda and sends regular updates to all the supporters here in the US.  We have so much and all we do is complain and want more.  Let’s just take a moment to consider the possibility of what a $10 brick can do for the future of these girls.

Here is Kaay’s E-Mail:

Fifty village women of Nawantale, Uganda are writing “Washing Without Water, Cooking Without Soap” to raise money to help build the school they so desperately need.  What would you do if you had to feed your 4 children tomorrow, but first you had to send them to find enough water to bathe while you scour your small  garden for potatoes and greens to cook?  First, you had to choose between bathing or using the meager supply of water you have while you wait for more to cook your recipe for matoke (banana stew with sauce) in the only cooking pot you own?
 
Nandi, Martha, Esther, Sylvia and fifty other women ask you to help them use their new English literacy skills to raise money to publish their book “Washing Without Water, Cooking Without Soap.”  Won’t you help?
 
You all know me…Mom Kaay Grosso!  My Board and I are tirelessly getting the word out about this village, its desire to help themselves (even in their terrible poverty), AND these women who will write their recipes about cooking when they have no water.  Without water, they cannot wash the food, cannot wash their hands free of germs.  When the children come home with cans of water, they have no soap to wash when they bathe!  It’s a terrible, awful truth these women live in every day!
 
We need to help them get access to water, and help them regain food and germ-free security!
 
Each story brings hope!  Each recipe is a “Brick to Build a School!”  Won’t you help the women and me build the school they want?  Go to www.nawantale.org and meet Nandi!  View Nandi’s video about “poverty in Nawantale hindering education for girls!”  Help Nandi and her friends write this book!  These young and older “wise” women will turn their poverty around if you can give them support.
 
Tell your female friends about “Washing Without Water, Cooking Without Soap” today!  Please go to www.nawantale.org and donate.  We women and men can use our strength, our connection, our empowerment to boost these sisters half way around the world up!  They are writing their way out of desperation!  Won’t you help us?
 
Sincerely,
 
Mom “kaay” Grosso, Director
The Uganda Community School Project, Inc.
nawantale@yahoo.com
www.nawantale.org