See how I regained my spot by visiting my Crusade for #1 in Google Post.

So I have been doing a lot of research and actions in the hopes to regain my rightful spot in the search engines.

I was kind of spoiled in a sense with blogger because it’s automatically optimized for Google, because they own it.  After switching to wordpress there were many adjustments I needed to do.  I also had the problem of having all of my blogger post’s indexed and having a different url structure once I transitioned to WP.  When I clicked the blogger url in google I would get a 404 error.

So here’s what I’ve done so far based on some great advice from Lorelle on WordPress , Kyle Eslick , Nate from Unique Blog Designs, Neil Patel and others:

• Adjusted the settings in my WP dashboard which were automatically set for “Only Allow people to find my blog, not search engines” – Who knows why they made that the default?!?
• Changed my permalink Structure: from the default (www.davidbrim.org/?p=6) to a custom url (www.davidbrim.org/sample-post)

• Downloaded a permanent re-direct plug in for WP which makes sure that there is only one URL per post.  When a old url is clicked it is automatically re-directed to the new post
• Created a sitemap and submitted it to Google’s Webmaster’s tools
• Began tagging my posts more frequently with relevant keywords
• Pinging my blog each time I update it in technorati and google

As of now it appears that when searching for David Brim I am first in Yahoo, but still not on the first page of Google or Ask results.

I am anxious to regain my rightful spot(s) in the SERPs, especially the Google ranking and will keep everyone updated.  If the other David Brim from illonois see’s this post…I’m coming for you!

Ps…Regarding my crusade picture: Halloween is around the Corner and I just got my costume today, give me a break…lol

On Tuesday night Ashley and I had dinner with Chrissie Brodagan, VP of Plum TV,  then went to Time Square.  Now I’ve been to Time Square several times and I’ve enjoyed it, however I always said that  being there was a bit of a sensory overload.  Chrissie said it best: “Being in Time Square is like Your Being Raped by Marketing Messages”.

If Social Media as a whole was to compare itself to Time Square they would be at complete opposite sides of the spectrum.

There’s a “Pop-up Ad” equivalent on every corner in Time Square (most likely multiple ones on each block).  Hey take this flyer? Purses here $10…Hey want your picture taken? There’s also traditional forms of advertising as far as you can see…Digital billboards on sky scrapers, Posters  on store windows, display ads on cabs, and people flaunting their favorite name brand gear, in essence becoming walking advertisements.  Ads are everywhere, people are shouting, every corner has a vendor with food that tempts you as you pass by…it’s a complete sensory overload!

No real engagement, just loud marketing messages being shouted at you from all angles. I think all the hype & marketing messages every where is a major part of what makes Time Square so special and I think most people would agree.  But I wonder how Time Square will change over the next 10 years…Will Time Square 2.0 be any different…if so how?

If you have any thoughts on this issue please share them

1) When you do it consistently and over time it will yield great results. You don’t have to be in the gym all day to be effective. Doing 15 minutes of quality exercise is better than being at the gym for six hours messing around and not getting a lot accomplished. We all have busy lives, but if you are willing to invest time into social media & building your online presence it can lead to more clients, friends, or even job opportunities.

2) It’s always good to “spot or support” others. You’ll have better relationships with those in the gym and in the social media realm if you show your support. In the gym this could be spotting someone as he does a tough excersise…In the social media realm it can be as simple as commenting on someone’s blog, writing on someones wall, or replying to someone’s tweet. Anything that shows the person who initiated the conversation that you are listening and care about what they are saying.

3) Having a Membership isn’t enough. What you do at the gym is more important than the fact that you have a membership. The same is true with social media. You can be a member of every social networking site on earth, have a blog and twitter account but if you don’t actually use them there’s no point. Content is king and what you do at the gym and on social media sites is what really creates value.

4) Sometimes working out can make your sore. That friend who is spotting you on on the bench press can sometimes push you a bit too hard. Just like you may go out with a friend(s) drinking and they push you to have more shots or more drinks…then the next day you have a bunch of drunk tweets and photos all over facebook and flickr. Always know your limits and watch what you do, because your actions could easily be broadcasted to the world in today’s digital age. In addition to this there are always going to be people at the gym who don’t like you. They think your a show off, or just don’t like the way you handle yourself.  They could talk bad about you to the cute girl at the gym, or post something bad about you on a blog. Take this for what it’s worth, address it openly if needed, but don’t let it distract you from your work out or business objectives.

5) Be Honest & Transparent About your Accomplishments/Endeavors. If you say your going to the gym everyday and look like you’ve been sitting on the couch drinking beer and eating twinkies its apparent. Likewise don’t take steroids and pretend like your doing everything by the books. This is the same with social media. Don’t lie about yourself, your company or your accomplishments. Eventually what’s done in the dark will come to light. If you don’t disclose yourself properly eventually someone else will or it will be blatantly apparent.

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I look forward to seeing Never Let You Down progress in the upcoming years.  I know James has the Never Let You Down mentality engrained in his heart and know great things will be coming to him.

I ended up breaking the record and got the xBox 360 video game NHL 2k9…Too bad I don’t have an xBox 360. Regardless it was a good time…Check out the video

I love how I checked the wind-factor before my second jump…lol

Ted: Hey..What are you doing this weekend?
Me: No plans really, why?
Ted: Want to go to Vegas with me tomorrow for a Conference?
Me: Hell Yeah!
I had to be up at 4:45 the next morning and our flight was at 6:50. When we got to Vegas they didn’t waste any time. There were slot machines ready to be played right after we stepped out from our gate.
We then headed to our hotel- The HardRock. Because we had no car we took cabs every where we went during our trip. I can honestly say either you love your cab driver or are totally annoyed by them. They either can’t understand english and don’t follow directions or they are really cool and have very interesting stories to tell. One cab driver we had was telling us that he always picks up hoes and that he hates it because they are so cheap. He said these hoes out here will “Crack a dude for 2 G’s ($2,000) then leave you a dollar tip.” Right after that he said “Yeah, I’ve seen all kind of crazy shit in this cab. People always get it on in the back there and I don’t even clean it up.” –> It’s a good thing he told us that just as we were getting out because we prob would have waited for another cab, even though all cabs are probably like that…Ignorance is bliss…lol

The conference was really cool. I got to see some great key notes and discussion panels on social media, SEO, monetizing your blog etc. I would say that one of my favorite speeches was done by Gary Vaynerchuk, of Wine Library TV. The best thing about attending events like this one, and IZEAFest is the networking, during the conference and after. Ted and I went to some great after party’s and got to hand out with Brian Clark, Michael Brito, Loren Feldman, Gary V, Chris Brogan, Shoe Money, Brian Solis, Pete Cashmore and many more. It was really an awesome experience and I feel some great things will come from it for IZEA.

• Michael Brito is a strategic social media marketer with 10 years of online marketing experience. He currently works for Intel managing their consumer social media and has held previous marketing positions at Yahoo!, HP and Sony Electronics. He is a really cool guy as well. We had a few drinks and hung out different times during the weekend. He also mentioned that he liked GroupTable, my start up, and even posted a link to it on his facebook account. Thanks Michael!
• Brian Clark is a new media writer/producer, entrepreneur, and recovering attorney. A ten-year-veteran of Internet publishing, Clark has racked up millions of dollars in sales thanks to a mix of online educational content and direct response copywriting. He built three successful offline businesses using online marketing techniques before switching to a producer model that involves building, monetizing, and occasionally selling online media properties. His blog Copyblogger has over 37,000 subscribers and is one of the most popular in the world according to Technorati. I ultimately want to make moves like he does. He is also very down to earth and knowledgeable.
• Jeremy Shoemaker went from unemployment to eight figures in only four years, Jeremy “ShoeMoney” Schoemaker is a blogger’s “American dream.” Starting with absolutely, no capital he educated himself and began building ecommerce sites to earn revenue. During this time he started blogging his experiences at Shoemoney.com and then used the blog to spring board new companies like Auctionads, which had one of the most impressive launches of any online advertising company ever. Jeremy continues to launch new startups and also chronicles his adventures on his blog. Oh yeah and he had a $134k adsense check in one month…that’s unbelievable
• Neil Patel is the CTO of ACS, a search engine marketing firm located in Orange County California. ACS is a full service firm that specializes in web strategy consulting, online marketing, search engine marketing, buzz/viral marketing, social media optimization, brand management, community building, design and development consulting. He is a very successful, young entrepreneur. Not to mention he is funny as hell. Def someone I could see myself hanging out with if we lived closer.
• Loren Feldman is the President of 1938 Media. Loren directs the overall operations of the company and is responsible for corporate development and strategic planning. Prior to founding 1938 Media, Loren founded and published NY Hotshot magazine and was a creative director at MusicVision, an interactive advertising agency, where he developed online advertising campaigns for companies such as Nokia and Scion. He has to be the funniest video blogger on the web. Check out this video he produced of him and Jeremy Shoemaker. He also produced a funny video called Where are All the Black Tech Bloggers, def controversial, but I thought it was funny as hell…I decided to screw with him a bit and introduced myself to him at the party Thursday night and said Hi Loren…I’m a black tech blogger. Good times…lol Ne way he’s doing his thing and def has my support.
• John Chow is the founder and CEO of TTZ Media Inc., an advertising network that provides shopping comparison banners to its affiliate sites. He is also the creator of John Chow dot Com, one of the most successful personal blogs on the Internet. John is best known for showing the power of blogging when he used his blog as an income case study. He took the blog from $350 per month to a over $30,000 per month in just over one year. Check out his videos at our office and on the scavenger hunt they are funny as hell.

There were a lot of other great people and speakers I met at IzeaFest as well. Here is a short list…Tamar Weinberg from Mashable, Steve Spalding from how to split an atom and groove shark, Sean Livingston (He was the MC for the event and did an awesome job!), Johnathan Dingman (Really cool kid, owner of fireside media), Merlin man who is a great speaker and entrepreneur, and Lena West a successful entrepreneur and marketing consultant. One more speaker I’ll note is Scott Allen. Though I knew Scott before, he actually did the design for GroupTable, he gave a good presentation during the blog make over session. There was a significant amount of other speakers there and all did well. Those mentioned above were those that I had a chance to meet and talk to or left a lasting impression on me. (Sorry if your excluded…I’m sure you rocked!)

Besides the conference, there was an izea party basically every night Thursday-Sat, we even had open bar on Thursday and Saturday. Below is a picture of my girlfriend Lindsay and I at the party Saturday night.

After the conference was over on Saturday we also had a scavenger hunt called IzeaHunt. I was a team leader and we had to do all kind of different things. You can see John Chow’s post & video about IzeaHunt here.

As I said the event was really a big success. Extra props to Ashley Edwards, Ted Murphy and all the speakers who really made the event an unforgettable experience.