Interview

a conversation with Conversation Marketing’s Ian Lurie

Saturday, May 22, 2010

cartoon crusader in green

Ian Lurie, president of Portent Interactive, writes a humorous, at times biting, but always informative blog about search engine optimization, and internet marketing at Conversation Marketing. I spoke with him on how a blogger could best get traffic to their blogs in a simple, uncomplicated way. In this free flowing interview he gave several tips for bloggers.

1. write good content.

2. keep at it consistently.

3. use Twitter influence and don’t be insulted if people don’t follow you.

4. master the art of writing.

5. have an image on the site.

6. build relationships with other bloggers.

7. write posts to link to other bloggers.

8. answer comments when they are posted on your blog, acknowledge them.

Ian’s cartoon character reflects his personality. He is at once funny, yet always on point. A law school graduate, turned copywriter, he started The Written Word, Inc. in 1995, which then evolved into Portent Interactive, an internet marketing company. With one client (his former boss) the company slowly grew and evolved in 15 years to having a full staff focused on SEO and internet marketing consulting.

I asked him with the over 20,000 SEO companies out there, with prices ranging from $200.00 to over $5000.00 per month for their services, how does someone decide, not strictly based on cost, what to look for in a SEO company? His response:

1. basically the first question you want to ask is how do you measure success, if the answer is page rank, walk out the door!

2. ask what analytical they are using, not just Google Analytics, which you can get yourself.

3. do they talk about the process in ‘clear terms’, because there is no system.

4. can they communicate their message in writing.

5. interview at least 3 or 4 SEO companies and go with your intuition.

the real Ian Lurie/photo Sean Dreilinger

Ian’s Conversation Marketing Blog is a wealth of knowledge and information for anyone at any level of knowledge of search engine optimization and internet marketing. He speaks in clear terms and has free tutorials as well as giving great freebie advice from SEO to web design to writing content.

He struck me as a bit of rabble rousing crusader as his way of really helping people. I am glad to have met the man behind the cartoon.

You can find Ian Lurie @portentint on Twitter. On LinkedIn, Facebook.

Filed in blogger, interviews, SEO, social media | Tagged blog, bloggers, Conversation Marketing, Ian Lurie, portent interactive, portentint, search engine optimization, SEO, tips, twitter, writing | Comments (0)

Winslow Eliot~ writer mentor poet

Friday, April 23, 2010

If I had to pick a pen name it would be Winslow Eliot. The name evokes writer, romance, poetry.

Winslow Eliot is all of that and more. The author of The Bright Face of Danger (St. Martin’s Press 1993), which has been published in four separate French editions, published Heaven Falls , by independent publisher Telemachus Press, March of this year. She also writes a newsletter, Writer’s Spa, which she calls “an oasis for writer”. In her newsletter she presents relaxation techniques for writers to open their muse, as well as Fun Writing Practices. She is presently working on a new novel, A Perfect Gem.

Ms. Eliot was raised on books. “Writing came naturally to me due to my environment, my parents were always writing, so I never questioned it,” she said.

Her mother, Jane Winslow Eliot was a writer and her father Alexander Eliot was the Art Editor of Time magazine. She speaks lovingly of the admiration she has for her grandmother, Ethel Cook Eliot, who remains her favorite children’s author. “My grandmother wrote with a mystical quality, with elemental beings.”

family Marseilles, France, 1966

A romance novelist, she remembers reading her first romance novel, The Cyprus Love Affair, by British romance novelist, Denise Robins, which influenced her at a young age. Growing up in England, Winslow was also influenced by Anne Douglas Sedgwick, a contemporary of her grandmother, as well as Victorian writers George Gissing and Anthony Trollope, who was a contemporary of Charles Dickens.

There is also the poet, Winslow Eliot. “The first thing I do each morning is write a poem, I have been doing that for years,” she said. She has recently begun poetry readings and will be reading May 4th in Housatonic, MA. She is considering publishing an anthology of her poems.

“I love to mentor, teach and coach writers”, she said. This is apparent when speaking with her and in reading her newsletter. Ms.Eliot also teaches English at Great Barrington Waldorf High School in western Massachusetts. Writing and teaching are her two professional passions. “Teaching is about holding hands, I learn as much as I teach”, she said. She would like to devote more time to coaching and mentoring rising writers. She has coached and mentored some well known writers. Her belief is that “if you can speak, you can write.” Aspiring writers need to connect on a human level she maintains, “Love what you do and love others, the only way to be free is to do the work and to get excellent at your skills.”

“If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know that is poetry.”
Emily Dickinson

Filed in authors, interviews | Tagged author, interview, WinslowEliot, writer | Comments (0)

Twitter’s @RayBeckerman

Thursday, April 15, 2010

“A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you are on Twitter, you may have wondered how and why your follower/friends got started on Twitter. What are they all about IRL (In Real Life).What is the catalyst that moved them to join Twitter.

@RayBeckerman
“I got into Twitter by way of a blog I had in 2004,” he said. During the presidential election of 2004, Ray, a litigation lawyer from New York, travelled to Ohio to work on the voter’s protection phone line. There he discovered what he called a “massive fraud” in the election process. He was stunned with the over 100 different frauds he saw in the election there. He also saw the media engage in what he believed to be a coordinated lie. When he returned back to New York, he sent an email to some 50 to 60 people who were interested in what he had experienced in Ohio. To his utter surprise, he noticed a geometric progression in his email. They were clearly being forwarded and re-transmitted to thousands of people and also posted on websites and blogs.
He decided to turn his blog into a central spot for the Ohio election results and comments. So fairnessbyBeckerman.blogspot.com came into being. From there Ray became involved with fighting the Recording Industry Association of America(RIAA). He had a client who decided she did not want to settle with the RIAA. Again he realized that there was no central meeting place for attorneys and folks who were fighting the RIAA. Ray instituted the recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com. This is a directory of defense lawyers and litigation documents with permanent posts. He believes that these blogs and the internet are a way to start a grassroots organization. Self admitted to not being “a techie”, Ray is in the slashdot.org Hall of Fame with over 2300 followers, unheard of, especially for a “country lawyer”, for his questions to techies about uploading and downloading music.
It was because of his involvement with blogs and friends talking about social media that got him to sign up for his twitter account. He had originally thought that it was foolish, who in the world would want to know what he had for breakfeast or where he was going to dinner. Ray found an entirely different experience. “Twitter is about sharing and discovering friends, thoughts and ideas, which are so precious,” he said. Ray enthusiastically tells the story of one of many Twitter introductions he has initiated. This of a woman follower/friend from Borneo to a woman in the Philippines who were both indigenous persons and how they so related to each other.
He believes that “people on Twitter know him better than his next door neighbors.” His theory is that In Real Life there are constraints on people, whether it be at the office, or at a cocktail party or anywhere in between. “Relationships are limited as to what we can say or not say, it may be a boss or co-worker, someone you just meet, so you are not certain of what their beliefs are political or otherwise,” he said.

“On Twitter I can say what I want, feel, and be who I am.” People who may disagree with him can stop following him, and if he doesn’t feel someone is being honest or is “just trying to sell” him something, he can un-follow them (he has a re-follow policy on his profile).
“I have said things on Twitter that I haven’t said in decades,” he stated. Freedom and reality is much greater he thinks than IRL. He has learned much, grown and shared so much since his joining more than a year ago. He loves Twitter and confesses that he spends too much time tweeting but the attraction of “the sharing” is what keeps him online tweeting. “It’s all about the people, I may never meet the majority of them in real life, but they are my good friends”.

Filed in interviews, social media, twitter | Tagged blogging, social media, twitter | Comments (2)

All that jazz-interview with Juan-Carlos Hernandez

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Juan-Carlos Hernandez

Jazz and photography – the mix for Juan Carlos Hernandez. A long time passion for jazz along with a breakup from his long time girlfriend led Juan Carlos Hernandez back to his love of photography combining it with jazz. In 2004, after a month of being as he said “a sad bear I had the idea of going to a jazz club and trying to take photos”. He had not really taken any photographs other than the usual holiday snapshots since he was 12 year old. He reflected back to that time, “My friend, Martin had a reflex camera and the two of us as children would go out together and take photos, things on the street and soccer games. “Unfortunately his friend moved away and with that Juan’s photography life was kept on hold for twenty-one years. A native of Switzerland, with a Spanish heritage from” blue collar parents, I did not wish to ask them to buy me any photography gear”, he said.

childhood friend Martin circa 1980

“When I first took some photos again some 6 years ago with my newly purchased Canon 300D, I remember they were terrible photos!” he said. Digital format was new to him but he kept on taking photos. He went to jazz concerts and continued to take photos and continued to learn getting more comfortable with the digital format. He remembers that concert, “It was an American saxophonist, Ken Vandermark from Chicago, I took a lot of bad photos but one was fantastic and it is still fantastic”, he said. Luck he believes plays a good part in photography, being at the right place having the camera ready to frame a shot and of course having ‘the eye’. He continued to go to jazz concerts taking photos and then one day he decided to submit them to a friend of his, Christian Gauffre, who was the deputy editor of Jazz Magazine, and a former journalist for Photo magazine, the highly respected French photography magazine. “I trusted his opinion.”, he said. M.Gauffre asked Juan if he could use some of his photos for a gallery on the magazine’s website. It was called “Jazz in Switzerland”. This gave Juan the confidence he needed to pursue a career in photography. As he was self taugh, he decided to take 17 hours of photography classes.Juan was further encouraged by his teacher who told him that he had ‘the eye’, that he understood instinctively the art of photography. La science du cadrage-the science of framing. He became almost compulsive about his photography. He covered more and more concerts and “then one day a singer dropped me an email asking me if I sold my photos, she needed one for her promo for a festival”, he said. He charged what he now considers a ridiculous price, and so he sold his first photo in 2005. Little by little he felt himself becoming more professional. “I then began buying better gear, better lenses, and better photography bags,” he said. He began to trust his skills as a photographer. He worked at his job with the Government during the day to support himself and followed his passion at night.

Kenny Barron with Classical Jazz Quartet

b11 Ron Carter january 2010 geneva juan carlos hernandez jazz IMG_1272

Ron Carter-Geneva

jazz singer Cassandra Wilson at Victoria Hall

Matt Penmann

In 2007 he was working part time at his day job and in March of 2009 he left and was working full time as a professional photographer.

He will be publishing his first book with Spanish text “Estelas de Jazz”( Jazz Trails) a portrait of 123 jazz musicians, a tribute to the music and the musicians. It will be available soon on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Marc Copland

He now gets requests for his photos from newspapers and magazines, as well as from musicians for their promotional material. He also gets assignments which he enjoys as it expands his field of vision and welcomes it as a challenge. He feels he is always the apprentice, always learning. “I tend to be never satisfied and always searching to be better,”, he said. He makes it clear that he is not only a photographer of jazz musician. The work of a photographer is varied and Juan exhilarates in all of it. “To be an artist, we have to take risks, the principal risk is to quit a job for an artist’s life’, he said. “ It is hard work and the income is not the same, but it doesn’t matter to me because now I am free.”

b8 101 27.08.2007 Jamila Dorner with Cie Zanco -Rêves du Faubourg-La Rue est à vous-Jonction-Genève

Jamila Dorner with Cie Zanco - Geneva

Goin'Home

Filed in interviews, jazz, photographs, photography | Tagged interview, jazz, Juan-Carlos Hernandez, photographers, photography | Comments (11)

Exhibition at Bonhams: Pure Sixties. Pure Bailey.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Events at Bonhams.

John Lennon & Paul McCartney, 1965 gelatin silver print edition of 10

Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski 1969

David Bailey’s photographs have been gracing the pages of Vogue since the 1960′s. He is noted for his simple, yet expressive portraits. He is known for his lighting and stark backgrounds.His 50 years chronicles such icons as The Beatles, Salvadore Dali, The Rolling Stones, to mention only a few. Mr. Bailey, born in London’s East End first became captivated with photography in 1956 as he was taken with exotic Singapore while stationed there with the RAF. In 1960 he return to London, with his Rolleiflex in hand, and began his professional career with Vogue. In an interview with The Scene in 2006, Mr. Bailey was asked if he thought his photography was way out then(i.e. 60′s) he responded, “No, it’s because I’m totally dyslexic so all I can really do is paint or take pictures. I had no education in the East End. I don’t think I started school ’til I was about 8 because the war was on and then I left on my fifteenth birthday. Fortunately I didn’t get educated because if I’d got educated I’d be an educated fool now.. “

Bailey continues to work for Vogue as well as publications ranging from GQ magazine to The Times. He is currently planning an exhibition of his sculpture.

“A selling exhibition of David Bailey’s iconic images of the 1960s – the 50th anniversary of a decade that changed our cultural history – will be hosted by Bonhams in New Bond Street. The ‘Pure Sixties. Pure Bailey.’ exhibition will be on view at Bonhams, 101 New Bond Street, Now – 7th April, 2010.

Bonhams is one of the few surviving Georgian auction houses in London which was started in 1793 by Thomas Dodd, a renowned antique print dealer and book specialist Walter Bonham. Bonham now has a worldwide network of offices and representatives in 25 countries.

photos/Bonhams

Filed in arts, exhibitions, photography, publishing, shows | Tagged 60's, art, auction, photography, sixties, the beatles, the rolling stones, UK Bonhams | Comments (3)

Mark David Gerson: the muse’s call to write – an interview

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Biting my truant pen

Beating myself for spite-

“Fool!” said my Muse to me

“Look in thy heart and write.” Sir Philip Sidney

energy portrait

Mark David Gerson was led through 40 states in his writing journey by his muse. “My trickster, which is what I like to sometimes call my muse, put me on the path to writing ; on a course that I never saw coming”, he told me at the beginning of the interview.

A deadly fear of judgment led him to focus on math in his high school and college years believing that with math came no judgments or criticism. But his trickster had a different road for him. It began quite innocently and “without the threat of criticism” with his being asked to write a small press release for his high school play- one in which he had auditioned yet was not selected to play the part. His muse slowly leading him. That one article led him to writing publicity through his college years and then five years out of college to becoming a freelance writer and as he put it “suddenly I was a writer.” The trickster muse again leading his path.

“Suddenly I was a writer”

While working as a editor for a magazine in his hometown of Montréal, Mark David was somewhat coerced into taking a writing class by the managing editor. “Attending that workshop changed my life. It was there that I began channeling my muse.” And it was here that Mr.Gerson learned to live with and through his inspired muse.

“inner wisdom’ … to creative powers.”

His curse of fear of criticism and rejection became a blessing (thanks to his muse). He began to recognize that creativity and spirituality were indeed entwined. “Spirituality sparked my creative awakening”. It was this realization which led him to begin his writing workshops and coaching. He contends that fear of rejection and writers’ block comes from a deeper place inside oneself. He wanted to share his experience and knowledge to help other writers. His mission is to guide writers and non-writers to get in touch with their ‘inner wisdom’ to open the channels to their creative powers.

He is certain his muse led him to New Mexico to finish the novel he had started several years earlier on his journey, Moonquest: A true fantasy which won the 2008 IPPY(Independent Publisher Book Award).

Along with his creativity coaching and spirituality, Mark David also creates energy portraits ” which “tunes into the clients energy (they need not be present). This portrait will help propel the client to the next level of realization and continue to activate until it has been fully integrated into daily life.”

Mark David lives his life in-spirit. His belief is that “the human heart at its deepest level always speaks the truth. That’s where our most powerful stories come from. That’s where our truth resides.”

________________________

Mark David Gerson is currently working on a memoir and a sequel to The MoonQuest. His book The Voice of the Muse: answering the call to write won the 2009 IPPYaward.

Filed in authors, books, interviews, writers | Tagged authors, inspiration, interview, markdavidgerson, muse, writers | Comments (0)

Social Media and the Bottom of the Pyramid : The Development Dossier

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Social Media and the Bottom of the Pyramid : The Development Dossier. posted by Saabira Chaudhuri

Filed in blogger, facebook, publishing, social media, twitter | | Comments (0)

Art Review – New Jersey – Lalla Essaydi Revives the Exotic to Critique Exoticism – NYTimes.com

Monday, March 8, 2010

Art Review – New Jersey – Lalla Essaydi Revives the Exotic to Critique Exoticism – NYTimes.com.

Filed in art, commentary, reviews | | Comments (0)

Winslow Eliot~ writer mentor poet

All that jazz-interview with Juan-Carlos Hernandez

Exhibition at Bonhams: Pure Sixties. Pure Bailey.

Mark David Gerson: the muse’s call to write – an interview

“Suddenly I was a writer”

“inner wisdom’ … to creative powers.”

Art Review – New Jersey – Lalla Essaydi Revives the Exotic to Critique Exoticism – NYTimes.com

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