I’ve seen some decent instruction on how to use Google+ out there on the Web. But nothing on how to best take advantage of it for the purpose of Internet Marketing or as a web professional. So I shot a 14 minute screencap video to show the basics and my thoughts and impressions for best practices.

I haven’t posted to my blog in a very long time. Nearly two years. Can’t believe it.

But that’s kind of how my life is. I pay great attention to different areas for periods of time, and then I move on to other things. I don’t worry about managing absolutely everything, all the time. Yes, it leads to some problems, but there’s very little stress in my life.

The reason I haven’t posted is that I haven’t felt the need to shout anything from the rooftops lately. That’s really what a blog is, in my mind, more than a journal. It’s a soap box.

Believe it or not, the world of SEO hasn’t really changed all that much in the last couple of years… at least on the side of “best practices”. If you build quality sites with solid, unique content on them… and then do your best to get other sites to link to them; you’re set.

There have been some MAJOR changes in the algorithm at Google in the last couple of years, but those changes really haven’t affected best practices. It is rather satisfying, though, that two of my big predictions have come true recently:

1. Google will start incorporating visitor behavior into their ranking algorithm. This started just over a year ago.

2. Google will stop giving full weight to duplicate content. This changed a few months ago.

I’ve predicted these two things for many years; dating back to 2003. In fact, I was getting a bit disappointed with the big G for not making me right sooner. But we all know that Google takes its time when incorporating big changes in their natural listings algorithm. They don’t like gigantic shifts. They get a lot of angry emails when they make drastic changes. After all, there are a whole lot of people’s lives dependent upon Google these days.

So there’s only one big change you can make in your SEO strategy as a result of these changes: Get more non-Google origin visitors to your site. Facebook and its ilk used to be completely useless for SEO. Now, the more people you get to your site, the better you’ll rank. And it’s sticky. So you don’t have to work on this every day, or even every month. You can prove this to yourself if you have an email subscriber list. Take a site of yours that is ranking somewhere in the top 10, but not #1. Send out an email blast with a link to it. Check your rankings afterwards, and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

In other areas of my life: My kids are awesome, doing well in school, and the joy of my life. My sister won an EMMY for her film; Split Estate. I was promoted to Lieutenant at Beulah EMS, where I now spend a lot of my time (because I can!). Chickens, goats, and yaks are still a part of my life. Google, as always, brings me great joy and much of my income.

Perhaps I won’t wait so long for the next post…

Nathan Anderson

I am so incredibly proud of my sister.

She has been working for YEARS on a very special film project. This is at the same time as her normal work activities as a film and television editor. (She’s edited all kinds of kewl stuff like “Dog the Bounty Hunter” and Biography Channel specials on David Letterman and Adam Sandler).

This film project is on a very important topic to people where I live. In Western states like Colorado and New Mexico, huge areas of the states were sold off without their mineral rights. In fact, a majority of land in Colorado is in a “Split Estate” situation, where the landowner doesn’t own their mineral rights.

Most landowners don’t even realize they don’t own their mineral rights.

That is… until the oil company shows up and starts drilling in their back  yards. You see, the mineral rights supercede the rights of the surface owner. So an oil company can plop an oil derrick 150 feet from your front door if they feel like it. And they do.

There’s a whole lot more to the story, so I’ll leave it up to her to tell you. But the film has already won a whole mess of awards, and has been picked up by the prestigious Docuweeks 2009 Showcase in theaters in New York and Los Angeles August 7-13. So if you’re in New York or Los Angeles, you need to get to one of these showings!

You can see the trailer on the website for the film: Split Estate .com. You’ll also be able to view the film on the Discovery Channel’s Planet Green sometime in October.

Love you sis!

I’ve been watching twitter.com a lot recently… tracking trends.

One of the most interesting is the “TEA Party” movement.

It stands for Taxed Enough Already, or some such. Really, it’s Republicans trying to rally the troops. Newt Gingrich is one of the guys really pushing the rallying cry.

I have one thing to say to TEA Party people… and you’re not going to like it.

Where were you when GW was spending this country into oblivion?

I mean, a TRUE conservative is conservative all the time… no matter what. And a true conservative would be completely OUTRAGED that someone calling themselves conservative was behaving in a liberal way. That’s probably why GW had a 29% approval rating in his last years. Conservatives had finally given up.

But now… the country elects a liberal… and you’re upset enough to rally?

I will admit… I had hope for Obama. Hope that he was a Washington outsider, and would bring real change to this government. But it’s pretty clear… so far… that he’s a party-line Democrat. That can and may change, and I hope it will.

But he’s behaving in the exact way anyone would expect a Liberal to behave… and you rally?

Where were you when the president was a hypocrite? A Liberal in Conservative garb?

It reminds me of the story of the man that rescues a snake from a terrible blizzard. The viper is nearly frozen solid, but the man is able to nurse it back to health. Then one day, for no apparent reason, the deadly snake bites his rescuer whilst being fed.

“Why did you do that? I saved you from the storm!”

“I am, after all… a snake! You are surprised that I bit you? Really?”

Thus it is with Obama. You’re really surprised that he advocates taxing and spending? Really?

This is one of the most Conservative generations in the history of the country, yet we elected a Democrat. I chalk that up to complete generational confusion. They confuse their Liberal social ideals with Democrat liberal social ideals. Freedom is the most important ideal… yet we don’t want to have to pay for everyone else’s freedom. Even if I supported a woman’s right to choose, I shouldn’t be forced to pay for her procedure.

Truly, this generation is Libertarian.

I think we all need to admit it, and embrace it. Conservatism has its greatest future hope in the Libertarian party. Libertarians can’t hide behind causes and excuse spending in the name of anything. They can’t be in favor of taxation nor spending for any reason. That is why the Republican party is completely bereft of a soul. They’ve been able to make excuses for their behavior for social reasons… to repay their election supporters just like the liberals. Republicans and Democrats alike just belly-up to the public trough and hand out the money to those that paid for them to get their position.

Libertarians simply cannot do that.

That is why the Libertarian party has been so weak for so long. They cannot repay their campaign donors.

So that’s really the point I wanted to make… Anyone at a TEA Party should totally rebuke the Republicans and never again give them the time of day. You’re a Libertarian, and you may not even know it yet… But don’t ever let a politician convince you that this or that government program is necessary. Government is there for protection… providing for National Defense… and for regulation of trade between the States. That’s all.

Everything else has to go, and the majority of this generation agrees. Let’s just embrace it and GO!

There’s a fad going around Facebook… (shocking, isn’t it?) of tagging friends and asking them to post 25 random things about themselves in the notes area of their account.

Donna Fox tagged me.

Thought I’d post them here on my blog:

I like random. I like stream of consciousness. So here goes:

1. I don’t like crowds. Unless the whole point is to be a crowd. Like the “Mall Crawl” in Boulder from eons ago… 30,000 people in just a few blocks. I liked that. Otherwise, count me out. I live in the middle of nowhere for a reason.

2. I have an excellent sense of direction. Go for a walk with me, and I can always point directly back to where we came from. Only been lost once… and it was a doosey!

3. My thumbs are double-jointed. The top joint swings fully both directions. All four of my kids inherited the trait.

4. My favorite food is Sushi. Don’t know why… just seems like there’s something in there that I totally need. Sad I can’t eat it too often because Dr. Mercola thinks there’s too much Mercury in most fish.

5. I shoulda been Tony Stark. All my life I’ve daydreamed by designing weapons and propulsion systems. Sometimes I design some really amazingly cool stuff. But I could never live with myself if I went that direction.

6. I don’t know why I love raising chickens so much all of a sudden… It’s just so stinking cool. You put in water and feed, and out pops eggs. It’s like magic.

7. The first person I followed in IM was Corey Rudl, but the first product I bought was from Frank Kern over a year later. (ain’t I CHEAP?) Instant Internet Empires taught me that anyone can do this stuff.

8. Sometimes I’m cheap, and others I’m quite the opposite. I once bought an $800 bottle of wine… and served it to my customers.

9. Did I mention that I got an invitation to go to the Inauguration of President Obama? Still pretty proud of that. I got one for President Reagan as well… my Social Studies teacher gave it to me back in 1980.

10. I owned a coffee shop back in 1996. I can tell good coffee from crap. Seriously.

11. I had a job as a donut baker in 1987. 22 years later I still can’t eat donuts.

12. I had a job as a pizza chef in 1986. It’s been one of my favorite foods ever since. I still “flip pies” on special occasions.

13. I have the gift of Prophecy, but not of Interpretation. I see visions of the future and get the meaning wrong just about every time. But the visions are always exactly right.

14. I’m the son of two Doctorates. Taking the last 3 credits to finish my B.A. would have been a really nice thing to do for them. It was a 100-level speech class. Now I’m a professional speaker. Go figure.

15. I took piano lessons for 4 years as a kid. I can still play pretty well.

16. I’m an ordained minister, and have performed 4 weddings.

17. I once read 23 books in a month.

18. Disc Golf and Ultimate Disc are two of my favorite sports to participate in.

19. My wife gave birth to a baby that wasn’t mine… or hers.

20. My son is named after the nickname of a friend. Is he still his namesake?

21. The longest job I ever held was also the last job I ever had: a newspaper production manager. I loved that job!

22. One of my passions is Bricolage. And I’m not talking about the software…

23. I scored in the top 1% of the country in Math; but I went into advertising in college.

24. I really hate phone calls – making or getting them. I sometimes don’t listen to messages for months. Thank goodness I have a wife! And for some reason, Skype doesn’t count.

25. I really like accents. I can generally tell what country you’re from, or what state you grew up in.

Whew. 25 was a lot for some reason…

Nathan Anderson

Whether you spell it turgooducochiqua or turgooduccochiqua, it’s pronounced the same… and I can’t.

It’s the latest trend… just check Google!

Here’s what it is: Stuff a Quail inside a Cornish Hen, stuffed inside a Duck inside a Chicken, and stuff all that inside a Turkey that’s stuffed inside a Goose. Oh, and don’t forget to layer bacon between.

I’m out here on the Eastern plains of Colorado with my inlaws for Thanksgiving, and I’m thinking of trying it! Problem is, we don’t have all the elements available… so I’m going to have to improvise. We certainly have turkey and chicken and bacon. But no cornish hen or duck… Plenty of quail and pheasant though! So I’ll leave out the game hen and substitute a pheasant for that duck.

So my version is: Turgoophechiqua!

Think we can deep fry all that in peanut oil?

Sometimes I surprise people.

After all, I’m a pretty technical person. I work on the Internet. In fact, I’m an expert in a pretty technical area of the Internet – Search Engine Optimization. Even within that genre, I count myself in a very technical corner of SEO: Statistical Analysis of Search Results.

So when I tell people about my latest hunting trip, or mention that I have to go feed the chickens, I get some pretty funny looks!

I’m a strange, but more and more common combination of stereotypes: A geek AND a hick.

After all, the Internet is making it possible for people to work and live pretty much wherever they like. So people that enjoy Country life are being allowed to live there and still make a living.

I’m a Heek.

I put up a blog where I can post stuff about it at TheHeek.com.

The latest post is about my recent hunting trip. It’s a doosey.

Are you a Heek?

Stop by the blog and leave a comment…

Okay, so I’m thinking that next time we re-do a room in this house, we’ll do it using custom made furniture. Normally, I’d say that’s a luxurious waste of money, but it turns out that prices are pretty similar to non-custom high-quality furniture.

Here’s a neat video of the manufacturer in action:

Look like something you’d like as well? You can see this company’s custom made furniture thusly.

We all have negative crap in our past.

It’s just part of being human… making mistakes and not thinking before acting.

I’ve had some negative stuff come gurgling back up from my past in the last couple of days, and I was feeling kind of down about it. This is my notice to the world that I’m not letting bygones get in my way. I’ve forgiven those involved.

Did you know that’s what forgiveness is for?

It’s not for the person you forgive, it’s for YOU. Holding on to negativity is just terrible for your mental and physical health. By forgiving those that trespass against you, you’re giving up that negativity. Let it go, or give it to God. Moving forward is a lot easier without a bunch of baggage.

Who have you failed to forgive?

It can, and usually is, someone that personally wronged you. But it can also be someone that you’ve never even met.

For example, I know someone that stews with hatred toward our current President and his actions over the last 8 years. Every day, nearly every hour, comments pour forth from them about their anger. That person desperately needs to forgive him. The President doesn’t need it. The person that forgives is the one that needs it.

Who can you forgive today?

Nathan Anderson

Time to get Political again.

And it has to do with Religion, too. So strap in and prepare for some honesty.

I just recollected my day, and realized I’d spend a good amount of time explaining my beliefs today. My beliefs both political and religious. So I thought that perhaps I should write them down for easier dissemination.

I’m a Constitutional Libertarian, and a Christian. I believe those go together seamlessly. If you’re curious about it, and want to know clear definitions of both, as well as what a Democrat is, and a Republican is, in plain English… read on. (Man, was that a run-on sentence or WHAT!?)

In one conversation today, several very nice examples came forward. Criminalization of drugs, helping the poor, and legislation of Morality.

Here we go.

Republicans are social conservatives, as well as fiscal conservatives (at least this was true up until 2000). They believe that laws and government are a bad thing, unless we’re considering Morals. “Keep your hands out of my pocket and business… unless it involves doing something I think is morally wrong.” So taxes and government are bad. But we need to protect our kids from drugs and open gay-ness. In my view, a total copout for lazy parents.

Democrats are social liberals, as well as fiscal liberals. So they believe that government can cure all sorts of societal ills. We can have government take care of the poor, and protect the masses from the moral strictures of one religion or another. “Everyone should be free to do what they want. That freedom comes with a price – taxes. We need to protect everyone’s rights to the point of paying for everyone to excersize those rights.” An extreme would be government funding of abortion.

Libertarians are social liberals, but fiscal conservatives. My simplistic explanation is, “People should be free to do whatever they like, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else… and as long as I don’t have to pay for it!” Government is an unfortunately necessary evil, and should be limited to its absolute minimum. After all, it is intrinsically inefficient in getting anything done, and highly susceptible to corruption and unfair influence. Separation of church and state is obvious. Government shouldn’t have time for such silliness.

Democrats like to think “We care for the poor and disenfranchised.” But the fact is, they really DON’T like caring for them… they would rather have the government do that for them. They can just pay their taxes and feel good about themselves. They can ignore the fact that the government takes three times the cash to do the job as a good charity or church… after all, they don’t want to “judge” anyone in the process.

Don’t think Republicans are off the hook on this one. They like to deal with societal problems by… not doing anything about them. Unfortunate circumstances are merely a motivation for people to “pick themselves up by their bootstraps”; or worse – Social Darwinism dictates that these people need to be allowed to be culled from society. If they want help, they can seek it in the Church.

Libertarians would prefer to handle these kinds of problems themselves. Don’t take away my disposable income in the form of taxes to help the poor… I can get thrice the bang for my buck myself! We should be actively contributing to local charities and churches, both financially and with our labors. Taking all that away and relegating it to a government agency steals me of my personal satisfaction of participating in the effort myself.

So what about this same-sex marriage thing? Didn’t I just say I was a Christian?

I see one very prominent theme in the Bible. It’s the basis for everything! God gave us Free Will. It is how we deal with this freedom that forges our character. It is how we make decisions within that freedom that brings us closer to, or more distant from God. If we design a society that legislates that freedom away from everyone, we’ve taken that God-given free will away. Isn’t that a direct violation of what God set up for us?

So making same-sex marriage illegal is outside the bounds of government. So is making mind-altering substances illegal. Take the temptations away… and free will is not in effect. I, personally, draw the line at abortion. That falls under the “do what you like as long as you don’t hurt someone else” statement. Killing an unborn child… is hurting them in the extreme.

When presenting government in this sort of “plain English”, I’m not surprised to find most young people classifying themselves as Libertarian. It is just plain logic. The Constitution really is the only needed law of the land. The framers of it were primarily Christian, and wanted to protect their freedom to practice their religious beliefs from outside intervention. They spent an ENORMOUS amount of time and debate in creating it, and making it timeless. They made it terribly difficult to modify – as any modification would inevitably involve a whole lot of private interest and undue influence. It should only be changed if just about everyone agrees to the changes.

So everything that’s been tacked on to that very simple codification of Law should be repealed.

Let freedom ring!

Nathan Anderson