You’ve heard of “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs”, the theory by Abraham Maslow that belonging is third only to physiological and safety needs. You need look no further than the organization of the web to understand that concept. If you want to “belong” on the web and learn about social networks, pick a topic that interests you (for me that’s food, wine, traveling, college prep for my teenage son) do some research about your favorite topic and you’ll find tons of information by people just like you sharing what they know about the topic.
User generated content has been around for awhile, but it has never been more powerful than it is today. MySpace was one of the pioneers of social media this is a great place to start learning about social networking and social media. The great part is that, though the internet gets bigger every day, it’s becoming easier to become a part of social networks. Don’t confuse social networking with advertising. Never use a social network as a way to shamelessly plug your product or service, rather utilize it as a way to educate and be educated. It’s true that social media is a great way to raise awareness about your business, but it should only be done with the best of intention. Try social networking for a personal interest or cause first, then think about how you can raise awareness about your business using this great Web 2.0 tool. Here’s a great starting point, create a profile on LinkedIn today.

I went to Disneyland last week with my family, wonderful experience! if you’ve ever been to Disneyland, you know there are 100 things that can go wrong-a ride can be delayed, ice machines can break (meaning only warm water on a hot day), fireworks can be cancelled due to high winds, but how does Disneyland still manage to be the happiest place on earth? They do an exceptional job of creating expectations. On any ride with a wait you’ll see a sign that determines how long you can expect to wait, it can be 5 minutes, or it can be 90 minutes (as was the case with the new Submarine Finding Nemo Adventure). Is anybody happy about the wait? Not really, but how can you be mad when you’ve been told what to expect. As service providers, retailers and business owners, we all want to achieve great results for our customers, under promising and over delivering is a great philosophy, regardless of your business model. It’s amazing how empowered we feel when we have all the facts and we can make decisions based on reality. As I stood with thousands of adults, my teenagers and countless small, tired children, the announcement that warned us that fireworks may be cancelled due to weather conditions was sobering. Here we stood, cotton candy in hand, expectations of seeing the magic kingdom spectacularly lit up pink, purple majestic sky was so close, so tangible, but (maybe for today) out of reach. Surprisingly families, for the most part, made the best of it, enjoying the beauty of just standing still for the first time all day with those they love most. And when, 15 minutes after what should have been start time, the fireworks began, we weren’t just happy, we were ecstatic. When the collective ahhs and wows subsided it all seemed just a little more special because it happened at a time when we didn’t expect it. So what should we learn from Mickey and his friends? Be honest, do your best to create expectations, even if they’re sometimes a little unknown, under promise and over deliver. As search marketers, we are trying to understand different algorithms, presented differently by ever major search engine. Then we create expectations based on what we think (based on past experience) will happen. According to Google Engineer, Matt Cutts, there are more than 200 elements to their algorithm-elements that they aren’t going to share. What we do know is that they do the best job possible to deliver the most relevant results to every search query. So as I learn every day how to be a better search marketer, it’s my vow to all my customers, current and future, to do a better job of creating expectations-and though Disneyland owns the position of “Happiest Place on Earth”, maybe we can learn from them and share a little of that magic in our day to day search efforts.