Jayme Soulati, Author at soulati.com

The Online World Of Negative Product Reviews

03/25/2013 By Jayme Soulati

I got bought, and I bet you’ve been bought at some point or another, too…right there in the online product reviews of Amazon.com. I don’t feel good about it, I actually am upset that I caved.

Let me share:

1. Kidlet wanted a new iPod case; none of them were available or appealing at Best Buy.

2. In a search on Amazon for “iPod cases” this Harry Potter SkinIt brand “case” appeared.

3. We bought as it was the most reasonable price; it arrived and to my chagrin and lament, it was a sticker.

4. Then I felt dumb; ah-hah, the “SkinIt” brand was all about skins as stickers and not skins as gel cases or what not. How was I to know? A mom trying to appease a pre-teen with what she wants with nary a look at the fine print.

5. We went to Target and found a white case; kidlet trimmed the SkinIt to fit and now she’s happy. But, Mom wasn’t.

Write A Product Review

When the request came to write a product review (it caught me at the right moment as I had ignored the request many times previously), it was the right moment. I gave it 2.5 stars and said that maybe I was a dumb mom for not knowing SkinIt meant sticker.

Wait several days and here comes the product team for SkinIt. “We have refunded the prices of your purchase, will you please now alter your product review to something more positive? After all, the fine print says explicitly that this is not a case at all, blah, blah. Here are the steps you take to change your review to a positive one.”

A Range of Emotions

From the “I got bought” trashy feeling to the “really? Are you kidding me?” and the “I’m so pissed off” emotions, I ranted and raved internally and was none too happy with this chain of events.

Options were to:

1. Oblige them with a new glowing review.

2. Do nothing.

3. Delete the comment totally.

4. Rant and rave in the comments section for all the world to see.

5. Write a blog post on the experience.

Before I share my decision, let me share one of my peer’s blog posts with you; it was so timely it was uncanny.

Mark Schaefer’s Dongle Blog Post

Mark Schaefer, blogger at {grow}, shares a scary post about the world in which we now live policed by onlookers and bystanders (no longer innocent) looking for an instant of fame (in this case negative) to influence the what-used-to-be-jokester mentality of peeps having fun in and amongst themselves.

In a gist, two guys yak together about the “big dongle;” the girl in front of them snaps a photo of them, posts it to Twitter with an “I’m offended” comment and what ensues is where nightmares are written. I want you to read Mark’s post to get all the gory details, and how this is relevant to me is the following:

1. Your fellow man is no longer trustworthy.

2. The online world is scarey and full of those wanting to take advantage.

3. Employers are caving to the online pressure of negativity by a few who have taken advantage.

4. Innocent people (who joked amongst themselves) are losing jobs as a result and fighting back via cyber attack.

5. And, me? I wrote a negative online product review because it was true and was bombarded with the appeal of a refund and strong request to alter the truth.

What did I do? Number 3 and number 5.

By Jayme Soulati

You might like Mark Schaefer’s latest book, Born To Blog:

The Happy Friday Series: Embrace Happiness Today!

03/22/2013 By Jayme Soulati

happiness is a choice
Photo credit: heycatie

Can happiness really be yours?

The state of happiness is simply a decision usually achieved by those who got sick and tired of being robbed of living by unhappiness (a broken heart).

Our life is impressed mostly by things we don’t see or understand. That is why happiness seems so elusive.

The first thing we associate with happiness are outwardly things like fame and fortune.

Happiness cannot be bought.

Money has zero impact on whether you are truly a happy person.

There are miserable rich folks who live pathetic, unhappy lives who do the darndest things (waste) with their money.

On the other hand, there are the poorest of the poor souls around the world lifting up hands with joy and thankfulness, happy for the gift of another day.

The truth is, there are either things that are more important to you than happiness, or you’ve just simply lost your way (mind).

Happiness thrives in recognizing and being thankful for the simple things in life.

Most folks do everything they can to complicate their life by seeking to indulge pleasures they believe will bring them happiness.

Big problems get created right about here for many!

Drugs, alcohol, sex, big houses, fast cars – nothing can fill the void within you except happiness itself.

Happiness thrives in quiet time within so you can understand who you really are.

There are some folks who are just lost in the woods; they don’t have a clue as to who they are or where they’re going.

There’s nothing more unsettling or confusing than not knowing who you really are.

This usually stems from living a life that others think is right for you, or going out of your way to please others with no regard for your own happiness.

Happy people have embraced the fullness of who they are and as a result of being that “complete” person, their happiness over-flows to others.

Happiness thrives in the moment.

It’s easy to lose your moments of happiness in the busyness of life.

The mind runs a million miles a minute about the past, the future, your problems, needs, goals, and the pressures of life, which pretty much doesn’t leave much time for your moments of happiness any day.

They are moments you will never get back. Gone forever.

Have you heard the saying, “Stop and smell the roses?” There is a reason it’s such a well known phrase…

Happiness requires that you shut off your mind and open your eyes and embrace the happiness that’s right in front of you.

This is where happiness exists.

NOW is the only place you’ll ever experience it and be it.

So, why not choose to be happy today? You deserve it!

About The Author

Hi, my name is Mark Harai and I help entrepreneurs get their ideas out of their head and into the marketplace. I share real life tips, know-how, lessons I’ve learned, inspiration and insights I think might be helpful to you.

You can connect with me here: Personal Blog, Facebook Page, Twitter, LinkedIn and Mark on Google+.

Crutchfield Direct Meets Content Marketing

03/21/2013 By Jayme Soulati

Crutchfield-Direct-Mail There are few marketing catalogs good enough to devour and some you should trash. For them all, you ought to get on the “do not mail” list (can I get a personal assistant, please?).

The catalog I devour is Crutchfield. It is full of the most advanced tech gadgets from stereo speakers on a carabiner to cameras, earphones, and deck speakers for that outside life we all love to wish for.

I’m not an audiophile, but I sure do love tech toys. Didn’t I recently tell you we were all game players? I digress.

Direct Mail Say Hi To Content Marketing

Crutchfield is taking the direct mail catalog to new heights, and they are impressive ones:

On page 12 of the most recent not-junk-mail sales catalog is a piece fit for a blog post, “Making A Mustang Rock; We do the research so you know exactly where it fits.” It gets no link because it’s not online; it’s in print and mailed to me.

The article (yes, I said article) is for Mustang enthusiasts interested in souping up stereo speakers in the dash for Mustangs built in 2005-2009.

Throughout the authoritative piece that smacks of research and original proven content are photos of the speakers for sale.

In the sidebar is a feature of the guy, Jason, who’s been working for Crutchfield 18 years. He’s the savvy dude who fits your car with tech gear.

At the bottom, are two call outs —

First is oriented to establishing more authority, “We’ve done profiles like this for 38 more vehicles; hit crutchfield.com/vprofile to read more, etc.:
The second is definitely a favorite of Crutchfield customers and prospects…Outfit My Car, where Crutchfield has created a database of 17,000 autos and what the audio requirements are for each with a lot of “free installation accessories.” Check that out at crutchfield.com/whatfits.

Why Crutchfield is #RockHot

Have you heard that content is king? I know you have or else you’ve been under a rock for two years.
This type of blog-postesque content that melds sales with content marketing is brilliant.
Not only that, the experts behind the story are featured right there; authority zudes from the content.
They showcase their database of extensive vehicles and product requirements.
Products are seen in action and help illustrate the story IN THE SALES CATALOG.

If you are a content marketer, it’s time to get creative, just like this. We’re living in a souped up time for business opportunity…just like those Mustangs Crutchfield is outfitting with sound systems.

By Jayme Soulati

We Are All Toymakers And Game Players

03/20/2013 By Jayme Soulati

Nick Kellet, someone impressive you should know. Woah.

The best new shiny gadget launched this week to much fanfare; did you see it? It blew up Triberr and subsequently, the blogosphere. Or, is that the other way around?

What is this new toy that kindly brought to the hungry game players? Why, it’s– making them for eager readers to tick off and feel good about themselves.

At least, that’s what I read in one of the posts last night that was touting this new social game to feed the masses.

Apparently, people love lists, and the more you make them, the more they show up on the blog to read what’s on the list, to tick off what they already know, and to walk away satisfied that they are better off than the rest of the jamokes who had 1-2 ticks from a list of 10.

I can attest to that behavior…first off, when I write list posts (which I do all the time and seldom tout in the headline; I better change that up), more readers stop in.

Secondly, when I see a is famous for, and he is off the chain when he does these, I read each to see if I’m engaged, aware, have it, done that, already in the works, and I’m happier that I’m not behind the eight ball as much as the rest of those poor readers. Then, along comes who insists on being a big tease, just sayin’.

— We Love Lists

So, have brought you a new shiny plaything, and everyone is rejoicing because “Facebook is boring,” said one Triberr mate last evening, as I was catching up on my stream.

Is Facebook boring? Hmm, shall we make a list? The Top 10 Reasons Facebook is Boring, comes to mind.

Do you automatically see the impact List.ly is going to put on blog fodder? Those bloggers without ideas of what to write can head on over to the new toy. Mind you, I haven’t gotten there yet, but I sure will. (Correction: Since I wrote the post and fixed it up to publish, I have my first list building on List.ly!)

That’s the beauty of being a social media game player…the first to pass Go wins. Maybe I still win if I’m the 100th to pass Go?

Why Social Media May Not Earn SEO Benefit

03/19/2013 By Jayme Soulati

Whoever thought that social media is the sole solution for a failing SEO campaign is bound to face more disappointments. Although social media is highly recommended and lauded by SEOs and marketing experts, it is not an SEO tool that will immediately function with just one click, producing concrete results a few seconds later. The benefits that some websites have indeed experienced did not appear overnight.

Although the majority will still say that social media is useful for SEO, and for sure you yourself believe it to be true, it is important to recognize and acknowledge the flaws of social media so that you and your SEO company can do something to circumvent them.

Flaws in Twitter

Social marketing experts favor Twitter because it seems to be the most effective in influencing the SERPs and getting a newly published page indexed by Google. This is true to, as proven in so many experiments. However, there is a clincher: In most of the experiments conducted to test Twitter’s influence in Google SERPs (including one conducted by the SEO giant SEOMOZ) the tester requested people to retweet a link for an experiment. People complied and within hours, the links have been retweeted hundreds of times. Within hours as well, the links were later found on the first or second spot in the SERPs.

This tells us two things: one, Twitter can do your website a lot of good, and two, you need to have the cooperation of your Twitter contacts and the public in general.

There’s actually a third lesson here too: Twitter activity is only significant if Google uses its direct, real-time data. When Google turned off the Twitter Firehose in 2011, the massive amount of activities that went on there went largely unnoticed by the search engine.

So, how do you deal with this flaw? The first thing obviously is to use Twitter more as an engagement tool than an SEO one. Second, when you compose a tweet, leave enough space for Re-tweeting.

Flaws in Facebook

Considering that Facebook has the most number of members, you’d think that it will have a wealth of information sitting in its archives waiting for users to have access to them. It’s actually false on the first, and a “we’ll see” on the second.

The content posted in Facebook is very limited; you’d be hard-pressed to find valuable information from its users. Actually, at present it’s quite impossible to search for valuable content in Facebook. The search bar on top will only conduct search matches for user accounts, not content posted on timelines and shared among users.

Besides, active users socialize in this website. That includes companies, websites, and blogs that have Facebook accounts. If ever they do post significant content, they can only do so by posting links to articles and web pages outside of Facebook. The site is also riddled with privacy settings, and they can meddle with your search queries.

The most you can benefit from Facebook search is if the search is an exact match with your account name or your About page.

Facebook intends to level-up its search feature and is set to introduce its Graph Search (which is powered by its partner, Bing). The Graph Search will not function like a regular search engine like Google. Rather, it will consider social signals in generating search results.

It will only post results that are popular within your community and the groups that you belong to. Many recognize this as similar to what Google+ was first meant to do: incorporate social signals into your search results by virtue of the +1 function.

The Graph Search is yet to be launched though, and while that may be an improvement for an SEO-minded Facebook user, the totality of its benefits are yet to be seen.

Flaws in Google+

As mentioned above, Google+ is the social arm of the search engine. It is supposed to be the provider of social signals so that Google will be able to present users with more personalized results. There are two problems here though:

First, there are too few Google+ users compared to the numbers present in Facebook and Twitter. It needs to grow more in order to be a reliable measure for social signals for websites vying to rank first in the SERPs.

Second, the social integration of search results will only work if the user has a Google account, and if he/she is currently logged in to it when he conducts his search. While there are advantages in getting personalized searches, many users still prefer to see actual, organic search results.

Having said that, with Google giving weight to authorship by displaying pictures of authors next to their post (if they have set up rel=author), and talk about author rank becoming a crucial ranking factor in 2013, it looks like Google+ may become more powerful as an SEO tool.

So, if you have a blog on the web, it will be a prudent move to set up your authorship profile to make the most of Google+.

About The Author

Emma-Julie Fox writes for Pitstop Media Inc, a Vancouver company that provides SEO services to businesses across North America.