Pubcon in Vegas – LinkWorth Happy Hour

LinkWorth will be making our first visit to the annual Vegas WebmasterWorld Pubcon Conference November 14-17.  We have had several clients ask if we would be in attendance and show interest in meeting with us, therefore, we are considering putting a LinkWorth Sponsored Happy Hour Wednesday evening at an undisclosed location.

Our options are still being determined and we will post the location and exact time as soon as it is nailed down.  Participants can be existing clients, as well as potential clients.  We would even like to meet some of our market peers if the time and location fit your schedules.

So check back and we will have the LinkWorth Happy Hour exact location and time posted for those interested in a few drinks on the house.

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SES New York City 2010

pdf_iconIt’s a new year and we have quite a few conferences lined up for 2010. Of course, there are the usual staples of each year, like PubCon in Vegas, but we’re switching things up a little this year. New places and maybe a few new shows we’ve never done. It’s not all set in stone, but I can tell you we will be attending SES NYC (Search Engine Strategies in New York City) on March 22-26. The expo hall will be the 23rd and 24th.

If you are in the area or want to attend this show, we have a discount coupon you can download and use for purchase online or at the show. If paying at the show, print it and take it with you. It’s a 20% discount off of a Conference Passport or 20% off of a 1 day pass. Incisive Media, who puts the show on, doesn’t give discounts on passes, other than early bird registration, so this is a pretty hip thing they do for their exhibitors, which we get to pass on to you.

If buying your pass, or passes online, the code you need is 20LINK. This will make all of your wildest dreams come true…if those dreams consist of getting a discounted pass to SES NYC 2010! Or you can click the PDF icon above to download the actual coupon to print or save and if you have any troubles with the format use this pdf converter.

We hope to see you in wonderful New York City.

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Tell Us What You Would Like To See

Those that use LinkWorth usually have the best suggestions on how to make improvements to what we currently have. Periodically we’ll reach out and try to get good feedback on what you would like to see improved or added on to our existing system.

As always, we’re constantly adding new updates that make our Control Center function more efficiently, but it’s your turn to tell us what you think. All comments will be well thought out and if it makes sense, we’ll get it on the list and once it’s live, we’ll make an announcement and name it after you.

Now we already know that all Partners want more business, but this is not what we’re asking for. Keep this to improvements that will make what you do in your account easier. Just comment below with your suggestions.

(***Side Note*** if you’re planning on attending PubCon in Vegas next week, let us know. We’re thinking about having a little happy hour if there are enough customers that will be there. )

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LinkWorth : 2008 – 2009

Now that the holidays are behind us and things are back on track, it only makes sense to sum up 2008 and look forward to 2009. The economy was one of the biggest headlines, along with the history making presidential election, but what did all of this mean to LinkWorth?

Numbers of 2008:

  • New accounts were up over 90%, marking our biggest year on record. Even after our largest increase of 554% in 2007
  • Our partner inventory is up over 110%
  • Published ads are up almost 400%
  • After a dismal year for most companies, our sales were up 17% and marked our 4th consecutive yearly sales increase
  • The year marked 5 different record monthly sales
  • Money paid out to partners was up nearly 25% equaling many millions dollars paid to our partners in 4 years
  • The only number that was down is how many advertisers we lost, which is down from 10% in ’07 to 7% in ’08
  • Over 2 million people laid off in 2008, with over 100k in the tech industry. LinkWorth layoffs, zero

In a year of economic turmoil, LinkWorth has come through with flying colors. There is no doubt we were worried as much as the next business as we watched company after company laying off people, but we have been very lucky to not be affected.

What to expect in 2009:

  • We are forecasting another record year in sales, which means even higher payouts
  • At least 2 new product offerings, with the possibility of 4
  • The addition of more staff to help support customers and manage accounts for advertisers
  • Video tutorials and more online help to assist in common tasks
  • Cutting down on steps with common tasks
  • Listen to our customers on what they feel we can do to improve
  • LinkWorth tour including the usual stops, SES, SMX, PubCon and SXSW, with new stops being added including Ad-Tech, DMA, trip to Europe and a few local shows

Many think the economy will continue to fall, but when we are down to idiots asking for a porn bailout, that tells me the worst is over. LinkWorth will continue to improve and find new ways for advertisers to market and partners to earn even more money, so we’re positive this will be another exciting year. Thank you to everyone that has helped us continue to grow the past 4 years and we look forward to the years to come.

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InkWorth: The Sequel

LinkWorth loves Vegas. Maybe too much, in fact.

Some of you old-schoolers might remember the story from a couple years ago when yours truly got stamped with our logo along with a client of ours. Well, fast forward two years and voila! De ja vu!

This time, it was our own Jeffrey Marek that stepped up to the tattoo-plate. Ron planted the seed before we left and by Thursday night it was ON. SearchBash was at Rain at the Palms on Thursday night and by the end of it we were all SearchSmashed to put it mildly! (Insert a special shout-out to Dan Leon with Idea Launch. Thanks for the hook, dude!) Carey Hart has a great tattoo little shop there so we went down with a couple friends for some drunken tattooing. (Shannon & Sven…we had a blast hangin’ out with y’all!)

I don’t remember much, but apparently I was taking a bunch of pictures. Here are a couple shots of Jeff mid-ink and post-ink…

Great times. Oh, and Jeff….that most certainly is a permanent link…er…ink!

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What happens on Twitter

TWEET TWEET!!! No, that’s not a bird you hear, those tweets are from the new LinkWorth’s Twitter Profile. While most have probably heard a lot of buzz about the up and coming micro-blogging service Twitter, there are many who still may be in the dark so let us briefly explain what Twitter is. According to Wikipedia, “Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users’ updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.” Basically Twitter is a whole social network devoted short little messages, I like to think of it as the evolution of the Instant Messenger “away message” from online days of yore (back when AIM was king).

LinkWorth on Twitter

So why has LinkWorth joined Twitter? In the long term Twitter could very well become a useful way of communicating with our users, but right now the whole reason for the LinkWorth Twitter Profile is to provide real time updates on our trip to the 2008 PubCon Search Marketing Conference in Las Vegas Nevada, November 11th – 14th. We’ll be “tweeting” all the latest search news from PubCon, as well as documenting our teams shenanigans out on the town! What happens to us in Vegas, probably will stay in Vegas… but everything that doesn’t will end up on the LinkWorth Twitter Profile. Be sure to check it out November 11th – 14th.

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SES San Jose 2008 Discount Coupon

We haven’t mentioned much about our travel plans for this year, other than our trip to SXSW Interactive. I know we said we didn’t plan on attending the usual conferences this year, however, we are going to be exhibiting at a few. One being the Search Engine Strategies Conference in San Jose, August 18-21.

This is one of the premier SES shows due to it’s location, right down the road from Googleplex. Google has their Google Dance which is always a blast. Kind of a time when everyone puts down their guns and all hang out together for fun, food and beverages. If you haven’t been, I’d highly recommend this one. Matter of fact, we can get you 20% off of a Conference Passport (aka Platinum Passport) or a 1 day pass. If you just want to go to the expo, this coupon gets you in for free.

SES San Jose 2008 Coupon

Future conferences we’ll be attending:

  1. Dallas/Ft. Worth Franchise & Business Expo – May 16-18
  2. SES San Jose 2008 – August 18-21
  3. SMX East New York City – October 6-8
  4. Pubcon Las Vegas – November 11-14

Look for discounts to the other shows as we get them.

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Judith deCabbit Lewis – Chocoholic Cybersex Pioneer

My “random interview series” continues with Judith Lewis (a.k.a. deCabbit, SEO Chick, fitness pole-dancer) who was recently named one of the UK’s 8 Most Respected SEO Bloggers. We’re not talking keywords or title tags here, though! decabbit.jpg

Matt: I thought you were very intriguing when I met you at PubCon last December. Our booth was right across from a beautiful blue Ferrari and one of the first things I remember about you is how you described that car. You said something like, “Look at that ass” referring to the back end of the Ferrari. It was pretty obvious right then that you were somewhat of a car buff but I quickly learned that you’re a full on gear-head who loves Formula 1. Where does that come from?

Judith: *LAUGHS* An ex-boyfriend! One of the few enjoyable times I had with him were the early morning coffee and muffin runs to Tim Hortons before the F1 races. That, the sex, the sex pills from Mens Journal and BBQ back ribs with Mateus. *grins* I did carry my enjoyment of the racing on through my life to my marriage and I still watch and follow. In fact, a friend and I swap between our houses hosting F1 racing days.

I’m really not a petrol head but I do know what I want in a sports car and a low ride that fails to corner and rips its guts out on a speed bump certainly isn’t it 🙂 And I mean really – a sports car should have beautiful smooth lines that are elegant and smooth – well-rounded. I should want to stroke the car – touch it lovingly. I shouldn’t worry about slicing my hand open. Now, the McLaren Mercedes SLR is a car I could have sex with – growwwwlllll!

Make sure to check out Pokimane onlyfans leak and other amazing streamers on Twitch and have fun at home.

Matt: Hey, life is all about getting the most out of your experiences, right? At least “Mateus” was good for something! And let me be the first to encourage you to use a “car-cover” if you ever get with that McLaren! 😉

Judith: It’s not like the car will make me pregnant *laughs* and if I could afford that car, I have a feeling I’d want to keep it clean anyway *laughs* 😉

But life is about experiences. I’ve been able to experience a few different cultures, lots of different foods and lots of different techniques. That’s SEO techniques by the way… *grins*

Matt: Since you follow F1 so closely, I have to assume you must have a favorite driver. Lewis Hamilton? Just a guess…

Judith: I used to be a big Damon Hill fan – I’ve never been a Schume fan and got bored when Ferrari dominated. I started watching qualifying as the race was boring since you could predict the finish.

I stayed a Williams fan as the team began their slide. I did follow several drivers casually but was never really a fan. Lewis Hamilton is impressive – I’ve switched from being a Williams fan to being a McLaren fan because of him (and that rather sexy road car). He had an impressive rookie year and really, I was surprised he held it together for as long as he did. The pressure must have been phenomenal. I’ve actually visited the Honda F1 factory on a tour and played in their F1 simulator which was an absolute highlight for me. I did learn a tight leather suit was not the best thing to wear while trying to get in and out of a F1 car 😀

Matt: As seems to always be the case with me, our conversation in Vegas turned to music at some point and I was excited to hear that you’re a bit of a rocker-type. Who are your favorite bands?

Judith: Ooooo now you’re asking. I have a CD – the soundtrack from “Wayne’s World” – and it weirdly represents some of my tastes. Of course, I love Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” as does anyone who has ever heard it. I mean, the only people who don’t like it are the people who haven’t heard it! I also dig Jimi Hendrix, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Alice Cooper, Procol Harum, Enya, Loreena McKennitt, Eric Clapton, Pink Floyd, The Guess Who, Steppenwolf, Trooper, Barenaked Ladies, Robbie Robertson… I’m boring you now, aren’t I? And I haven’t gotten in to the old stuff I like such as Shirley Bassey, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby and the beautiful crooner himself old Frank Sinatra. Many layers… like an onion… or a ball of rubber bands… 😀 I so get in to this music I have it in the car, on my music player, in the bathroom – everywhere. I could listen to “Wish you were here” and “Dark side of the moon” over and over and over.

And Japanese anime music – Escaflone, Tenchi Muyo, Lodoss Wars, Bubblegum Crisis… Hidden depths… 😉

Matt: Talk about musical preference diversity…wow. I never get bored talking about tunes. I’ll admit, the anime through me for a loop but, then again, I haven’t heard much from that genre. (And by “much” I mean “any.”) Dark Side of the Moon, however, is one of my favorite albums of all-time and The Division Bell tour in 1994 was BY FAR the best show I’ve ever been to. Ever seen them live? Any thoughts on “The Dark Side of Oz” theory? Talk about hidden depths!

Judith: I’ve never seen them live, child that I am. *laughs* I have seen Deep Purple live and would have liked to have seen Iron Butterfly live. I have seen Loreena McKennitt live but I have to admit to being a bit of a wet blanket and not really going out to enjoy bands live. I’m more of a ‘put Cat Stevens concert on, grab munchies, chill’ kinda gal.

That’s a fascinating theory! You so know what I’m doing this weekend – shopping for the film and trying it out!!! I like Japanese animation music because it evokes the emotions of the anime itself. For example, when I hear certain songs from “Lodoss Wars” I can see the action, feel the emotions… I can lose myself in that fantasy world for just a short time. When I hear “Bubblegum Crisis” music, I can remember the action and excitement/tension of that moment. Much like other music 😀 I know when I listen to Bob Marley and the Wailers I’m instantly transported back to the bar on the sandy, sunny beach I first heard him at. Not live of course. *laughs* I’m a huge anime fan with tons of Japanese animation in the house. It almost rivals the book collection but the Laser disks are thick and the tapes have been put away and replaced with DVDs so they take up less space now *smiles*

Matt: I want to try and stay away from industry stuff, but I am still really interested in how and when you met your husband. Y’all (yeah, I’m from Texas) were sort of “pioneers” in an industry that is now HUGE. But you two were involved as “users.” Do you know where I’m going with this?

Judith: Where _are_ you going with this? *LAUGHS* You mean cybersex pioneers? Kind of suit up and get off? Afraid it was not so cybercool *giggles*

I have been online since 1986 when I took my first programming class and got access to the MUSIC system and through that (and raw telnet), the internet. I grew up and learned how to date online, to do the same, learn here. I learned how to be extroverted online as well. As such, when MUCKs and MUDs came around, friends from the old BBSes and related online net groupings introduced me to them. These were text-based virtual worlds where if you wanted anything, you had to code it. Lucky for me, I was good at begging code 😀 Dave and I met on FurryMUCK. I needed a place to live instead of constantly waking up under the bandstand robbed of stuff and clothes. We eventually got to know each other and over time (2 years) fell in love, met (which was the way to do it back then) and here I am in the UK where he lived and where my dad is from. The Adult Toy Depot has a ridiculous amount of sex toys that you can buy online so look there for the best selection. I stayed involved in IT got involved in search around late 1996 and haven’t looked back!

Matt: You said it…not me! I just knew you two met online (ahem… ) Thank goodness for the “vacancies” command, right?! And FurryMUCK, I would assume, also plays a role in the origination of your online persona, deCabbit, right?

Judith: Strangely enough, no. A cabbit is what Ryo-oh-ki is – a cross between a cat and a rabbit. Ryo-ohki changes from a cute and fluffy creature in to a big spaceship 😀 My husband calls me his little cabbit due to my tendency to bump in to things so when I needed a name to be known by in the SEO community (I have different IDs that go back to my MUCK days), I chose that.

Weirdly, everyone says they don’t see me as a cute and furry creature which makes me wonder what the heck I seem like! I mean, OK… I’ll give you I am not rabbit like but it’s the look that people give me with the assertion that the character doesn’t fit me that worries me. *LAUGHS*

Matt: I thought it was really cool of you to share some of these killer chocolates you had in Vegas with us. As I’ve come to realize, this isn’t a random or isolated incident…chocolate is a big player for you. (And I’m totally with you on that.) What’s your favorite form of chocolate? Or do you even have a favorite?

Judith: I do have a favourite! The Chocolate Society truffles – both milk chocolate and champagne.

The ChocBait chocolates were M&S Belgian truffles which I kind of stumbled upon (ha ha… get it? *snickers*) and traveled well. However ChocBait 3 was not a success at PubCon. Much like Star Trek films, the odd number ones don’t seem to work. I really enjoy good, high quality chocolate like Gorvett & Stone – they have a fantastic like of medal-winning chocolates. And did you know that there is a Chocolate Week in London? I occasionally eat Hotel Chocolat chocolate (peppermint creams and milk chocolate truffles) and I’ve enjoyed Paul A Young chocolates.

Matt: And I thought I was a chocolate connoisseur! I have to disagree with you on one point, though. ChocBait3 – PubCon – was not entirely unsuccessful. That’s how I met you. And although you might not have collected the tons of inbound links you were after, all the LinkWorthers in attendance were exceptionally grateful for the chocolates you were dishing out…YUM! So what’s next…ChocBait 5 The Final Frontier?

Judith: *LAUGHS*

If it was a link building exercise it would have been a huge failure! No, it wasn’t a failure for the lack of links but for the lack of chocolate distributed. I left 3 boxes behind! It was fantastic to meet you guys though – tons of fun! I have yet to wear the t-shirt for a wet t-shirt contest but I’ll see about taking it to pole dancing for fitness classes. The pain those classes cause is extreme! I’m not sure what is next for chocbait. I suppose it will depend on whether work decides to send me to SMX Advanced or not. Also if we move from a Star Trek to a Star Wars analogy, it could be “ChocBait V – The Chocolate Strikes Back” I just want to say THANKS to Judith for being such a fun interview subject…I had a blast trading emails with her. Make sure you go read her stuff about SEO & SEM… Hope to see you again at PubCon this year and I’ll personally make sure you don’t leave there with any surplus chocolate!

Healthy and Delicious Snacks Fitness Experts Actually Eat

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A Friendly 2007 Farewell and a 2008 Outlook

Here we are, the office has skipped out a little early to prepare for their big night to welcome in the New Year, Matt and I are still working and 2007 is about to be gone in the blink of an eye. Something tells me that in my mind, I’ll be making another post just like this in what will seem like a couple months, asking, “what happened to 2008?”

Overall, 2007 was a great year for LinkWorth. Sure there were bumps in the road here and there, but what doesn’t kill you can only make you stronger. Luckily the business of online marketing is going nowhere, so that means we’ll continue to morph into a better marketplace for our advertisers and for our partners. We definitely want to thank “ALL” of our customers that continue to make LinkWorth one of the biggest and best ad networks in our industry.

To keep this interesting and not so sappy, because that is so not my style, I wanted to send a few 2007 farewell’s in bullet style:

  • Farewell to: All of the conferences we attended: SES, SMX, Pubcon and Affiliate Summit. . .
  • Farewell to: All of the cities that put up with us: Seattle, San Jose, Vegas, New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, D.C. . .
  • Farewell to: American Airlines and their HORRIBLE delays, the special emergency landing, decent 1st class and pitiful coach seats. . .
  • Farewell to: Our departed staff: the good, the bad and the greedy. . .
  • Farewell to: The almost $2mm in payouts our partners earned!!. . .
  • A special thanks to: All of our wonderful advertisers who helped LinkWorth continue on. . .
  • Farewell to: Greg “The Hammer” Williams, aka Motorcycle Greggo, aka Sweet Greggo, aka Robot Greggo, aka Common Man. . .
  • Farewell to: The horrible scoring system known as PageRank. . .

As we send 2007 out the door, let us welcome 2008 in along with a few bullets for what to expect here at LinkWorth:

  • 08 Outlook: More blogging with tips, tricks and secrets to making LinkWorth work even better for you. . .
  • 08 Outlook: Create new ways for partners to gain more exposure to Advertisers. . .
  • 08 Outlook: Improve our daily spider check to cut down on “not found” messages (already in progress). . .
  • 08 Outlook: Introduce new advertising products with a focus on vintage methods. . .
  • 08 Outlook: New contests with new prizes. . .
  • 08 Outlook: The purchase of Google and Yahoo with my next few saved paychecks. . .
  • 08 Outlook: Growing the LinkWorth staff with new smart and exciting people. . .
  • 08 Outlook: Spread the LinkWorth brand to new markets attracting new advertisers. . .
  • 08 Outlook: Making 2008 better than 2007 and having a great time doing it. . .

Obviously, both lists can have loads more bullets, but this is what came to me before I walk out the door for the evening. 2007 was such a great and big year for our customers and our company, anything short of what we’ve already experienced isn’t really an option.

Directly from the LinkWorth crew, we wish everyone a very safe and happy new year!

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So Many Conferences, So Little Time

blue skyThere is no doubt that our industry has plenty of conferences to attend. With so many to choose from now, how do you decide which shows are the right one’s to attend. While there are plenty of others, the most popular are:

Search Engine Strategies – the most well known.
Search Marketing Expo – new, but one of our favorites already.
Pubcon – another popular, mostly because it’s in Vegas.
Affiliate Summit – different crowd, but a great event.
Ad-Tech – geared towards the advertising and corporate crowd.

LinkWorth will be exhibiting for our first time at the SES San Jose in a few weeks. We’re pretty excited about it and glad to take the leap. The who’s who of search will be at the San Jose show and the big fun will be the Google Dance. Here is a good video of a previous SES San Jose show.

Matt and I will be in New York City for the SMX Mobile show, part because the SMX Seattle show was so good, part because it’s NYC and part because we’re ending the week with a bunch of friends coming up for a good weekend. The SMX show has taken conferences to the next level and it definitely caters to those who frequently attend search expos.

The most interesting story of all these conferences is WebmasterWorld Pubcon 2007. Our plans are to have a booth this year but the crew over at Pubcon is really dropping the ball. We’ve made several attempts to make our plans, but I’d have to say their lack of customer support is really beginning to make us feel otherwise. Take Vegas out of the equation and I wonder just how popular this show would be. Bottom line though, it is in Vegas and it is a great time.

Update:
Seems we already signed up to Pubcon! Those guys responded today and said we were the first signed up back in May. Woops. I will change the lack of support to my lack of memory!

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