A while back I bought a new computer and forgot to transfer all my RSS feeds over to the new one. Starting from scratch, what all cool feeds should I be reading?

Do you like any obscure hidden gems?

My internet connection was down for 4 or 5 days recently (due to a short in the line), and when I came back to it I did not feel that I missed that much (eek, what an underinspiring blogger).

It is kinda weird, because most any success I have ever had has came from the web, but sometimes I do not necissarily appreciate how fortunate I am, while other times I feel so lucky that I resist change at nearly any cost. Both of which are opposite extremes and probably a bit bad.

It is easy to think that what made you do well in the past will make you do well in the future, but that is not always true. While offline I did not go out link hunting, I created no new content, and did not post on any forums. Oddly enough my income was about the exact same as it was when I was online a bunch, which means that something outside of what I attributed my doing well for was causing my income.

Ultimately a lack of posting will lead to less visitors, a lower share of voice, and lower income, but sometimes it is worth changing things up a bit though. I think if I posted far less frequently and put far more thought into each word I would be more helpful to others and far better off myself.

At times I think I have gotten a bit ahead of myself, and realize that most any success I have had has come from friends my than myself. Recently I pissed one of them off really bad, and to her I say sorry.

I hope to be spending a bit less time on the web in the near future such that I am more efficient with the time that I do spend, and so I do not get stuck in ruts.

My customer of quality service has probably slid a bit recently due to downtime and deciding that I need to have a business model that makes sense. Some people send me like 40 emails that take a half hour each to answer, and that is a lot of work for one ebook purchase (although I am sure it leads to word of mouth marketing) but there has to be some balance to that.

I need to take time to re evaluate many of the things that I am doing such that I am not stuck in ruts and I need to make sure I do not piss off friends, because without them there really is little point to the web.

A while back I got a cease and desist letter from Traffic Power, citing an obscure federal law about hacking information systems which seemed less than relevant to my websites.

The only way I could have complied with it is if I shut my site down and gave them contact information of everyone I have ever contacted. Since it was impossible to comply without destroying my business model and potentially getting my friends and customers spammed or cold called I asked a friend about the situation.

A well known friend (I am not sure if he wants to be identified, but he knows who he is and to him I say thanks) asked them some questions, like why there were no specifics in the letter, etc. and Traffic Power backed down from their cease and desist position.

I have been told that other people recently got similar letters and I am not too pleased with the bully activity. When are these people going to learn? The whole reason I took well to the web is that it allowed me to avoid that sort of crap.

Some other sites have already caved to pressures from Traffic Power, but it is not something I intend on doing anytime soon. A copy of the cease and desist letter which now hangs on my wall is posted in the extended portion of this entry. Max D. Spilka, Chtd.
Attorney at Law
830 West Sahara Avenue, Suite 290
Las Vegas, Nevada 89117
Telephone (702) 933-5400
Fax (702)227-0799

June 10, 2005

(Via Certified Mail #7005 0390 0001 2059 5176 and U.S. Mail)

Aaron Wall
SEO Book.com
144 Dahlia Drive
State College, PA 16803

Re: Software Development and Investment of Nevada dba
Traffic-Power.com ("Traffic Power")

Dear Mr. Wall:
This office represents the above-named Traffic-Power and related
companies. It has come to our attention that on a website you control,
namely www.SEO Book..com, proprietary and confidential information
related to Traffic Power's business has been published. The published
information violates the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18
U.S.C. Sections 2510-2521, and is subject to certain contracts between
Traffic-Power and its former and/or current employees. The published
information has been pirated from Traffic Power and you have obtained
the information illegally, all of which you knew or should have known.

You are to cease and desist immediately from the same or any similar
activity. In the event you fail to do so, Traffic Power is prepared to
initiate litigation to obtain an injunction to enforce its rights. In
addition to obtaining an injunction, Traffic Power intends to seek
redress for any legal damages sustained, which damages could exceed
the sum of $1,000,000.00.

Finally, consistant with recent court rulings you may now be obligated
to disclose the source(s) of your information. Accordingly, within ten
(10) days of this letter, you are to do the following:

1. Provide a list of the sources of your information complete with
name, address, and telephone number; and,
2. Remove from www.SEO Book.com website all information relating to
Traffic-Power.

Your failure to do so will result in initiating the aformentioned litigation.

Govern yourself accordingly,

Max D. Spilka

MDS/kd
cc: Traffic-Power

Overture:
I am sure I am the guy in the glass house throwing stones here, but why is it that after you get to the bottom of your Overture add listings page the button right there is the opposite of what you just did.

Like if you make 50 different listings the button there would be for the create one ad for all keywords, and the regular continue link would be a little lower over on the other side of the page. Click the more conveniently located button and erase your work. Yippie!

There are many other factors that make using Overture a purely frustrating experience, but that was just one example.

MSN Small Business Directory:
I can't log into my damn account because my one stupid proprietary MicroSoft account does not match up with the other stupid proprietary MicroSoft account. They give me some bullshit options to create security keys and other security garbage.

• Why the hell did they give me one account if they already knew they wanted to migrate me over to their other dubious services?
• Why is the migration wizard such a hunk of crap?

• Why is the original SBD login stuff hidden away until after I tried my non matching Passport email account?
• Why do I have to fill out a ton of forms to send an email for a personalized response when they really ought to know that their migration wizard is a hunk of crap from the feedback many people have surely already gave them?

Passport.net = hunk of shit. As a bonus I like how it disables the back button.

Here is an example of the login experience:

• click the sign in button: nope. that's NOT your correct Passport details. Don't have a Passport account? try our supper cool migration wizard (and don't ask us why we wasted your time creating that other account. don't ask us why this process isn't seemless or automated).

• thrown off by the Passport stuff you can forget your login details, so you click the I can't remember my bCentral password button.
• that launches a help pop up with a couple options, namely:
  

  If you've lost or forgotten your bCentral password, go to the Password Retrieval Form, type your e-mail address, and then click the Submit button.

• click that link and you wind up here, where they say "Type your registered e-mail address and click SUBMIT once."
• they know they are migrating the account service over. at this point you have indicated that you do not know your password three times, so you enter your email information and think nothing of it. click submit.
• the next page gives me drop down form options, where I have to specify account type, product, and problem, and then give them my email and information AGAIN.

I just sent them this feedback:

Complete hunk of shit usability IMHO. Bad enough to write a blog post about. I hate your migration wizard and am unsure what account I signed up with. If most business had this type of usability and customer interaction they would go bankrupt.

So I just got an affiliate commission notification for a piece of SEO software that I thought was cool about a year ago, but no longer think is that great.

So the question is, how do you go about maintaining older posts. Is it ok to delete or edit profitable posts if you feel that they undermine your current credibility? Should you edit them? Should you delete them? Even if you do prune the past you will likely miss a few posts. Should you feel guilty because someone bought bunk software? Should you not feel guilty since the person ignored the post was a year old? Should you feel guilty editing or deleting them as though you are hiding your past?

This also reminds me about handing out recommendations and testimonials. It can be a great link and reputation building activity, but after stuff ages and loses its value (as SEO software is known to do) it could likely wear your credibility thin to endorse too many products. Many people who are eager for testimonials are also greedy hucksters who will make sure you pay for your endorsements. As a web marketer my reputation is by far and away the most valuable thing I have.

I am not afraid to admit that I am sometimes wrong or make lots of mistakes, but it does make little sense to leave errors that could and should be easy to fix, right? I think the forward going answer is to always be cautious and forward looking with your endorsements.

Am in the UK now. A few observations:

• everyone uses the word "ish"

• NFFC was wearing an eSpotting looking shirt. Clearly a reason to like FWHT :)
• the Down Hall hotel is in a pretty cool remote setting
• JasonD likes the Gaping Void t shirts
• a bartender gave a mate 7-UP when they ordered a lemonade
• they have street signs that say Queing
• Gurtie does not like the nickname TheGurtster
• Z is for some reason zed in the UK
• Rumours have it DaveN was showing off his back end?
• my friend argued that they drive on the right side of the road, but clear as day it is the left side

Just got done doing another update of my ebook right before I left, and would think everyone is really really cool if I sell a bunch of them while I am gone. Of course, they may be cool anyway, but like peanut butter, SEO Book makes everything better. Buy the book. Wear a smile ;)