Because I often speak and write passionately about the value of white hat SEO and broader white hat inbound marketing, there seems to be a weird misconception that I must naturally despise all who engage in black or gray hat tactics. That’s definitely not the case, and I want to make the distinction clear. Doing
A Massive, Worldwide Middle Class
There’s a common refrain that entrepreneurs are, by nature, optimists. I certainly fit in that classification. I’m optimistic about people, about companies, about technology, about the progress we’ve made as a species in the past 200 years vs. the prior 20,000 and the past 20 years vs. the prior 200. Reading Foreign Policy’s analysis of
Minimalist Lifestyle & Time Management
I got a question last week over email that I realize I’ve never answered publicly on the web before: Whenever I hear anybody in the office say “I don’t have time to do that” I usually refer to you. That you manage to write blog posts, tweet, answer Q&As, participate in forums, email people back, plan
Women Underestimate their Performance, and that’s a Good Thing
I truly enjoyed Sheryl Sandberg’s commencement speech given at Barnard College last week. It was not only inspiring but featured a call to action that I love and support – that women can and should reach for higher heights in their careers, and that there are specific tactics they can employ to get there. However,
The Problem w/ “Fire Fast”
It’s universally accepted in startup-land that “hire slow, fire fast” is a mantra to live by. The benefits are clear – by adding only the best to your team, and constantly pruning for non-cultural or skill fits, you can build the best possible team. And, of course, the best teams always win. This universal advice,
Impostor Syndrome
Someday, if you achieve great things, a man will show up at the door with a clipboard, ask you some questions and take away the life you’ve built and love, to replace it with the one you dreaded. If you’ve achieved any modicum of success or happiness in your professional life, you almost certainly fear
Analysis of 1 Million Employees Helps Explain Retention & Loyalty
We run monthly managers’ meetings at SEOmoz with the goal to improve communication between managers, hone individual skills and discuss issues that can help make all of us better at our jobs. Unlike the weekly eTeam meeting (which I need to write about), the managers’ meeting includes anyone in the company who has a direct
The Web’s Publishers Can Only Take So Much
The article 11 Sexy Girls with Star Wars Tattoos that You Don’t Have the Right to Publish should be scaring marketers and content creators at least as much as algorithmic updates from Google like Penguin and Panda scare SEOs. Content marketing is a phenomenal tactic, but this type of thing has real potential to ruin
Our First Foray into NetPromoter Scores
SEOmoz’s retention team, led by the phenomenal Joanna Lord, recently completed a NetPromoter survey project. Below is what Renea (from Joanna’s team) put together and sent out. Note on how Net Promoter score is calculated: those responding with results 9 or 10 are considered promoters. Responses 0 through 6 are considered detractors. Net promoter score is reached by subtracting detractors from promoters (7
The Power of Support
Sarah (Moz’s COO) and I snuck in a quick 10 minute sitdown today in between some other meetings. We do this pretty regularly – informal, non-calendared check-ins to chat about the big and little things we’re both handling. Sarah’s working on a potential acquisition and getting ready for our annual audit. I’m keeping an eye