Ideally I’d like to provide tips to individuals who are interested in this, however when looking most of the content I found was very low quality.  Mostly just individuals trying to make a few bucks “teaching how to flip sites.”  Here is the process I used which worked well for me.  I’d flip a site over about 2-3 months.  Buy a promising blog, spend several days writing articles to post, and time-stamping the articles for the duration of the time I planned to own the site.  In addition I would work on making sure I had proper SEO plugins installed so that the site would do well in the eyes of the Google.  Normally after the period of several months a clear improvement could be seen in traffic and SEO rankings, at which time I would sell the site for a profit.

Actually I may need to purchase a site soon to develop a case study on flipping a site?

If you will be attending either of these events, or live in the area and want to get together, either follow me on Twitter and send me a tweet, or leave me a message here and I can try to make arrangements.

Search engine optimization is something i’ve noticed a few articles pop up about today.  Per usual people saying how to do it, or what works (for now).  I came across one particular article on powazek.com that sums it up, plain and simple, “Make something great. Tell people about it. Do it again.“  That idea is not my own, I can’t take credit for it.  Now this great straight-forward concept I will say isn’t just for Google and SEO, but it is great for creating social media.

I am going to take my current tasks explain them, explain how they fit into this simple recipe for social success, and make readers of this blog see how darn simple creating social content is.  I am a huge Detroit Red Wings fan.  Right now they are playing the Buffalo Sabres.  I do not own cable TV.  However I am listening to the game, streamed via the Internet.  The simple process I went through to do this, Google “Detroit Red Wings”.  I clicked on their official site link.  I clicked go to site when offered a deal for tickets.  Then right on their first page I see I clicked on the Live On 97.1 FM link.

How the hell does this fit into the social content process?

Make Something Great: Stream your favorite sports team
Tell People About It: Professional sports teams have a rather large fanbase
Do It Again: Next Red Wings game I’ll probably be streaming too!

I’m also on the defacto social media network Facebook.

Make Something Great: Share a video or message with all your friend in your network
Tell People About It: Sites like MySpace, Facebook and Twitter send out your updates to followers and friends
Do It Again: next time you feel like telling your friends what you are making for dinner, rest assured Facebook is listening.

We are social creatures, creatures of habit, and consume as well as create content in the Internet of today.  By continually making something great, sharing it with others, consuming, adapting and creating more content, you will not only engage those who view your content, you will grow the base of users from which view your content, and hopefully provoke reaction, interaction, and communication.

If I were to suggest to a company how to setup an online brand the three tools I would recommend would be Facebook, Twitter, and a blog.  Facebook is NOT just for the tweens, Twitter doesn’t seem to be lapsing after its 15 minutes of fame, and well blogs are here to stay.

Twitter is a perfect micro-blogging tool with built in search capability to keep an eye on your company in a global sense, also a great way to start and add to conversations that your company wants to be part of.   Also, Twitter is great for letting people know about new blog posts, or events coming up at your company.  Launch a new product or tool, make a tweet.  Make a new post on your blog, let your followers on Twitter and Facebook know.

Facebook.  Yes, that may make some people grimace.  The super social media behemoth isn’t just for high school and college kids anymore.  With the ability for companies to create custom pages to promote and gain fans, Facebook becomes a must-have for companies looking to make their mark in social media.  Once again these custom fan pages are a great place to keep fans up to date on your blog posts and the goings on at your company.  If your company has a web developer on staff or you work with a web agency, it may be beneficial to try to use a Facebook Application called Static FBML to create customized tabs on your fan page to really make it stand out from the crowd.

Your blog.  If you don’t have one, get one.  A company blog is the single best way to give your company a sounding booth.  If you just want to post about product updates or company events, that works.  If you have a member of your company who is a pundit or well known figure in your company’s field, let them have a voice.  A blog gives your company a voice.  In today’s internet, a company without a voice is silent.

If your company can correctly balance and use the three tools listed you should be able to start, influence, and be part of the global conversation.  Not only to these three tools help your company build a search engine presence but also helps to break down the wall between your company (your brand) and the consumer.

Really I meant the iPhone browsing experience. The iPhone has been out over a year and for the largest part browsing the web on the iPhone is a hassle. With all this movement and noise about accessibilty what about building for mobility, and designing toward the edge not the lowest common denominator. Are we more interested in our readers who browse on iPhones or 15inch monitors?