Google can create or destroy the Internet
It is said that Google is the universe, it is the first page on the Internet – does that not sound a little scary? What if Google refuses to work for just one day? I am sure that would mean a loss of billions of dollars in just over a day. The guys from SouthPark (the TV show) showed us the aftermaths of Internet bring unavailable in their episode titled, “Overlogging”. That was for fun, what if it becomes real?
According to post by Courtney Mills on SearchNews, an error that occured on Google literally stopped everyone’s access to the Internet; at least the share of Internet routed through Google. As per the article,
This occurred at about 6.30am PST on Saturday. During this period all search results in Google were being flagged as malware with a message stating – “This site may harm your computer“.
Google’s own website was no exception to this glitch either. As rightly put by Courtney Mills in her post, Google Broke the Internet!
- Source: SearchNews
Upon clicking a search result, the following page opened.
- Source: SearchNews
Global Piss Off – the untold Prophecy
The glitch reportedly, occured due to human error when an anti-malware update was executed on Google. As per the sources, Google made $5.7 Billion in the last quarter, so per hour it makes around $2.6 Million. Since the glitch happened during early morning hours, the loss is being predicted to be less than average earning that Google makes in peak hours.
This was just a 1 hour outage and just imagine a day without Google. This would mean over 500 million searches that day are jeopardized, leading to nothing. Total chaos that would be, a total entropy over the Internet for one complete day. That day will be remembered as the Global Piss Off Day. Maybe Professor Chaos (from the TV show SouthPark, played by our very own Butters) should try this out one day 
Curry with certain entropy!
Indian Internet Services Industry – Truth the Funnier Way
I was about to start a post on Link Building but just then I got an IM from this guy who has been bugging me for over 2 weeks; appears to be some middle-man who was asking for content writing projects. Let me tell you this guy has pathetic English and is trying to pitch me for being my content provider. Lame!
Tips to avoid bad experiences with Internet services vendor (SEOs and Content Writers)
Today, I just thought I’d play along and try to chat with him in the same pathetic language of his. God I enjoyed and laughed; not at this person’s inability to communicate in proper English but the fact that this guy is trying to run a business that is purely language based and has been following up like crazy as if I’m a stupid who’ll fall for his garbage. It seemed to be more fun when I started with gibberish sentences of my own . I’ll tell why I chose to write about this funny incident after you read the conversation, which went on exactly like this – word by word:
————————————————–
freelancersrealm: Hello Abhishek
You there
me: hi
freelancersrealm: How’s u
me: me is fine // 
I got funnier right from the beginning
freelancersrealm: Actually we chatted before too but you was quite busy so cud not continue.
me: yes i was quiet busy so cannot able to talk at you
freelancersrealm: Hope you have some time Now!!
me: now i have the lot of time
freelancersrealm: Oh thanks
me: you go tell me what is your propsing?
freelancersrealm: Well I was looking for some work of content writing..if U can provide me ..
me: current time i have not a single project for outsource to you
freelancersrealm: Oh
me: you can send the few samples of of you work
freelancersrealm: no problem.
I send You before too but u did not notice i guess..
Well m sending again few sample of our latest work..
me: ok you can sending now
freelancersrealm: do give a look..at least
me: i will try look this time
freelancersrealm: Ok sure..
me: ok fine then ok
we chatted later one more time
bye ok?
freelancersrealm: Ok
just check your mail..m sending u few sample articles
me: ok
freelancersrealm: done!! do give a look ..
me: can you say to me about your experience in field of the content writer?
freelancersrealm: Well “wisden Writer” is writing contents from different clients from last 1 and half year..but Some of My Writers are doing it from last 2-3 years too..And you are added in my Wisden Writers ID as well..
This ID is for Writers…
our website is also just started..
www.wisdenwriters.com
me: ok
how much do you have experience of writing?
freelancersrealm: if You are talking about Me Only the Sir I dont write ..I have writers from different part of India
me: ok
you working with freelancer and get projects for them
Sent at 22:07 on Monday
freelancersrealm: yes..but most of the writers are our regular..
Sent at 22:08 on Monday
me: so you are work is to middle man in projects
Sent at 22:12 on Monday
freelancersrealm: Well Not just as Middle Man.I hv to arrange Everything and soon planning a based firm in delhi.
Sent at 22:13 on Monday
me: so what will your role is? in a content writing company
freelancersrealm: ”Founder”
me: ok those are fine
i will contacting you very sooner
bye ok?
freelancersrealm: Sure
Give us a chance at least to prove us
yes Bye
Tc
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Now that is not something surprising. I keep on getting such lame pitches and follow-ups. And I feel sad about what is becoming of the indian IT services and Internet industry. If such people go out and start pitching to international clients then God save us and those clients too.
Content writing is an essential part of any intelligently planned SEO campaign. If you screw your content you screw your chances of being on top of search engines, after all they’re not fools who say that, “Content is King“.
Tips to avoid sucker vendors – How to filter out the junk?
1. An SEO who cannot speak or write correct English – how would he/she understand the correct combination of the keywords or how would he/she go about optimising your website’s content? This is true for most of the SEO’s.
2. SEO’s generally give guidelines to writers. You as a buyer should review them too, just to make sure the content you will get will mean something to the readers. Don’t fall for gimmicks like keyword density and keyword repition. Approve of only what English grammer approves of.
3. There is no such thing as SEO content – there is either bad content or good content which is liked by readers. Knock off such SEO’s.
4. Content writing is about aligning the content to your business goal, i.e. your SEO and Keywords should align with your business goals not the other way round as suggested by most junk SEO’s.
5. Most of the good SEO companies will bundle Content Writing Services with SEO, because they understand that both of them are inter-related and crucial for the success of your organic growth plan. Must Read: SEO is not about Packages
If you are about to outsource content writing work to India then please do so but not to weirdos like this one. Be very careful with the vendors you choose to work with. Content writing and SEO are two sectors typically which have been plagued in India.
There are good and exceptionally very good Internet services companies in India (like eRACHNIDA – www.erachnida.com) who care about standards and quality but most of them are full of jerks who’ll take up your SEO project for $50 (INR 2500) a month and write content for $0.50 (INR 20) per 100 words. What do you get in return? An all expenses paid trip to “This-ain’t-what-I-wanted Island“; beware, be cautious, be smart enought to ask the right questions while talking to your vendor.
SEO is Not About Packages
Filed under: Search Engine Marketing, Tips for Startups
SEO is everything but a packageable service and on the contrary current scenario in the search marketing industry is a grain field of SEO Packages – paranoia. 20 Keywords | 6 months | USD $$$$ | Weekly Reports | Consultancy | Submissions | Link Building | Content Editing included - that’s the sound of it, an SEO package.
If you are a small business aiming to reach out to new clients for a defined service or product then there’s no harm in going for such a package because it will serve you just right. But if you are to grow big and that too organically with search engine rankings then you are about to board the flight to “that’s-not-what-i-wanted island”.
Many SEO companies today are selling SEO packages without any commitments or assurance of organic growth . There is nothing wrong is giving a structure to your offering and packaging a service but SEO just has to be an exception. Don’t sell it as a package to everyone! Must Read: SEO in 5 Basic Steps – Search Engine Optimisation Fundamentals
I know that these companies (and most of optimisers) are not going to like me for this but I do have a point backed with logical reasoning here. Limiting a service which has to be an ongoing exploration and research process is cheating a consumer because after the package span expires, which is usually 3-6months, the customer has nothing but a temporary ranking on Google or Yahoo for few keywords only. Genuinely done SEO takes time and gives guaranteed results and performance. Packaging it and bounding it in a package with a fixed set of deliverables is just not fair. Let me tell you why!
Why not to go for an SEO Package?
1. The number of targeted keywords are fixed - with this you are confining your options because search trends keep on changing every now and then. What people are searching today won’t be the same 6 months hence. Your SEO strategy should be able to accomodate such trend swings in order to get the early mover advantage. Keyword research should be an on going process and should be repeated after every 3 months or so to keep your website’s content updated with fresh content.
2. The service time span in a package is fixed - when this time span expires you either have to upgrade to a better package, renew your package or remain unsatisfied with the results. Competitive keywords (the one’s which actually make you big) are the hardest to optimise for and it takes time for your rankings to get to the top and stabilise for those keywords. No point limiting yourself to a time-bound package when you’ve jotted a long-term organic growth strategy.
3. Fixed set of services - again by confining the scope of research and analysis you are narrowing the thought-span of your SEO vendor. Let them think broad and ask them to come up with newer innovative ways to optimise your site. Your SEO company might offer some nick nack services without charging you but would charge you for other services by giving you gimmick explanations like “SEO takes time for new website”, “go for paid links”, “start a blog for your website”. Don’t do anything with your website unless you think it might add true value to your visitors.
Getting rankings naturally is about building a website that is of some value to its visitors. If your visitors like it then the search engines will like it too.
Recommendation – go in for a customised SEO solution because every website needs to be marketed in a different way. Ask your SEO company to educate you with latest search trends and it also becomes your duty to update them with buildups in your trade. If done effectively, SEO can start giving you results within 1-2 months and things only get better as the time goes on.
A true search engine marketer will always try to create a differentiator for you, others will only work to get you rankings as per the package.
Talk to atleast 10 different SEO companies and atleast 10 search marketing professionals in order to decide who is more compatible with your growth plan. Sometimes having a 3rd party SEO professional review the ongoing work is also beneficial. Be careful and avoid getting yourself to the ‘that’s-not-what-i-wanted island’ 
Happy New Year 2009
Concept Curry team wishes you all a Very Happy New Year 2009. May all your wishes, all your plans for your startups, all your entrepreneurial dreams come true.
Running a Startup the Need-Want Way
I am not writing this post because they’ve been saying that the economy is recessive. Need-Want Way has nothing to do with cost cutting or wise investing; it is more like a talisman or a lifestyle that anyone should adhere to no matter how good or bad the economy is. Its sole aim is to help build a culture of wise spending and basic economics in one’s life. Such a skill is also required in a startup because while running a startup one should learn to differentiate between a need and a want.
Running a startup requires more than just being frugal. As a bootstrapping entrepreneur you will often find yourself in a situation called “Should I or Should I Not” – and the dilemma is worst when you are stuck with the decision on whether or not to ‘buy’ something. Every ambitious entrepreneur behind a startup dreams of a plush office which is fully staffed with best talent and has the best infrastructure for the team to work in to make the right impression in front of the clients or customers. And those dreams may even make him want to have the latest PDA, an Armani for the conference and a Ferrari – all just to make the perfect impression. Now that is something he would ‘want’ to have but not neccesarily something he would ‘need’ to run a successful startup.
To be honest, there is nothing wrong in having such desires, afterall, everyone has the right to desire. But when you are an entrepreneur you should know what and when to buy and how much to spend. To buy in a startup means a cost, an outward cash flow, a loss, an expense. This however is not always true because the whole idea of entrepreneurship houses on a hope of return on investment which in itself is an “expense on nothing” to begin with. But to ensure a 25th anniversary for your newly started business you need to learn how to spend wisely. And living by the need-want rule will make it easier for you to make the right decisions for yourself and your team.
What is the need-want way of life? What is the need want rule?
Whenever you are confronted by dual thoughts on buying some thing, evaluate the urge as a need or a want. If that something is your need then buy it, but if it’s a want or merely a desire then don’t.
Turning a small startup into a big business is about fulfilling all the right needs; desires and wants can be fulfilled when you’re big.
How to know if the urge to buy is a Need or Want?
The demarkation between a need and a want is blurred and both of them overlap at certain instances of life. But there is a way in which you can differentiate between the two:
1. Want is short-lived
When you think you need something really bad then don’t be impulsive. Wait for sometime and try concentrating on business goals. A week spent focused on business goals will definitely give you an insight into what you real needs are. If the urge dies out, then you will have found the right solution to your urge.
A dire need will keep pinching your heart even when you have tried avoiding it by trying focusing on business goals. If that is the case then go ahead and buy that for yourself or your team when you have enough money.
2. A need is replaceable, wants and desires are not
When you’re really in need of something then you tend to innovate, i.e. try to find a cheaper alternative that best solves that need. Desires don’t let you go the alternate way. When you want an iPod for music because it has cool features and extensive storage, then you don’t want to use your Sony Ericsson Walkman Phone with extended memory.
We tend to stick to desires because they mean accomplishments to us. When we fulfill a want or a desire we think that we have achieved something – a happy moment in life. Wisely spending on needs will help us reach those happy moments. So if you think the latest Cannon “Printer Scanner Copier Fax” is what your business needs then do give an alternative a chance; a cheap fax machine and an inexpensive Epson printer could be a solution.
3. Needs are everyone’s
Do a quick dip stick within the team and have everyone’s opinion on whether they feel the same way you feel for buying something for office. If everyone (e v e r y o n e) thinks as you do, then go ahead and bring that accessory into your office.
That is the beauty of working in a startup – you can have everyone to put forward their opinion. It would also make your team feel great about working with your organisation.
4. Wants hurt later
Budgets are generally tight in startups and anything your regret buying later on could just have been a want. When you’ve spent on a need then that usually does not hurt because you did what everyone else needed.
Do let me know if the above rules help you in taking the right decisions for your startup. Sip this curry , spend wisely on gifts and office accessories in the holiday season.
