Update: Pictures uploaded HERE and THERE.

So there goes a first for me, and well.. what can I say? Who wouldn’t be honored to experience something like this for the first time (and in the first ever Search Engine Marketing Conference too), with some of the best Internet Marketers in and out of the country? There I was, youngest in the lot, looking like a teenager, and being one of the only three female speakers — starstruck as I see those people I just used to know and admire online in the crowd, wondering what in the world I’m doing in a place like that.

Geesh, I must be really blessed.

To have the opportunity to share what I know; To have a chat with The Aaron Wall and his wife, Gio; To sit next to the SEO World Champion Benj Arriola the whole day (Day 2) and get loads of pictures with him (which got corrupted, by the way haha); To spend time with some great guys from SEO Philippines; And to learn from top marketing professionals from various fields.

Yes, that’s how small I am compared to the gigantic event that SEMCON 2007 is.

Photos courtesy of Jen and Sharm.
Good job, Sharm, for capturing my powerpoint presentation too, haha.

I learned a lot — starting from when I stepped down from the stage after my talk, that is. It was quite hard focusing on the speakers BEFORE my talk (welcome to the real world, newbie). Good thing there were lots of great topics after mine, plus there’s a whole Day 2 for me to enjoy without thinking about link building anymore. Hehe.

I picked a lot of insights and was especially inspired by Marc’s talk on Landing Page Optimization; Hans Koch’s PayPerClick Strategies; Faith Ponte’s Email Campaigns; and Dustin Andaya’s Affiliate Marketing success. I would have mentioned Google’s Derek Callow too, but I’d be lying if I said his talk was insightful coz truth is, I was too focused on his face and his voice and his cute Australian accent (ugghh, I melt now, mate) to understand what he was talking about. I would have mentioned Yugatech too but, gah, I’d mention him just to get in his good side, you see, I don’t want to see my name in his tabloid. LOL. Peace, Abe, joke lang.

On the other hand, it’s rather sad to hear some people comment that they didn’t learn anything new from SEMCON. I’ve seen a lot of people express disappointments, disagreements, un-met expectations, and getting “just skin-deep SEO.” I guess it’s expected to get feedbacks like this, after all, everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion (maybe next time, they should be the ones teaching the rest of us hehe). I say, if you claim to not learn anything from SEMCON, then good for you. You probably know more than the rest of us! You’re an expert already!

Now if you’re an SEO Specialist or a webcopywriter, you’re probably using Wordtracker or KeywordDiscovery for hours every single day of the week to test and compare keywords. Perhaps you already know what KEI and long-tailed keywords are also. But isn’t it interesting to find out how Gio does it?

Or say, if you’re a copywriter and you have your own style of copywriting that already works for you, it doesn’t mean you have to do Jayvee’s style of copywriting. Jayvee, however, shares what he knows and what he has observed (mostly leaning towards his non-SEO background) since he’s got experience writing and handling writers himself.

Joni’s right when she said that being there affirmed what she already know, hence, she became more sure that she’s on the right track. We have to face it, a lot of us SEOs are experimenting with the techniques ourselves. The SEMCON speakers were there to present strategies that worked for them, NOT necessarily absolute truths of what to do or not. At the end of the day, it’s still up to you how to apply what you heard.

I could go on and on. But I’m gonna have to agree with Todd Malicoat when he said, “Hey, there is no secret in SEO.” You deal with the basics, learn from what worked for others and what didn’t, and you strategize from there. I guess that’s what SEMCON was all about.

So hey, SEMCON 2008? What ya say?

Being in an industry that is relatively new, it’s usually hard to try to explain to people what I do. So usually, I just dismiss the explanation part and tell them “ohh, I’m doing Internet Marketing.” And when they stare at me as if waiting for further explanation, I would simply say, “Ohh it’s just like advertising.. but our market’s the internet.” And then they would start to nod, and change the topic. Heh.

Anyway, to those who are curious about this whole Search Engine Marketing industry (whether you’re interested to consider being part of the industry, or you’re already doing SEM yourself and you’d like to know the secrets and tried-and-tested techniques of the, err, experts), we present to you, *drumroll please* the first ever Search Engine Marketing Conference Philippines 2007.

 World-renown SEO guru Aaron Wall, (author of the SEO Book), will be the keynote speaker, and together with experts, both local and foreign, from different scopes of Internet Marketing, we hope to “showcase beginner-to-advanced sessions on a wide range of Internet marketing topics.” (see SEO Philippines founder Marc’s blog to know more.)

Oh, and I’ll be one of the speakers, by the way. Que horror! I’ll be talking about Advanced Link Building Techniques — or at least try to, as I’ll most likely be starstruck and shaky and nervous the whole time anyway. (Aaron Wall is gona be there, ohmy ohmy.) This is going to be my first speaking engagement in front of industry experts so technically, you’ll be witnessing history in this life of mine. (Please be nice, thanks. Oh, and thanks for the prayers too.) Hopefully, it’s not gona be the last time you’ll see me. Haha. *faints* Seriously though, I sure hope I would be able to contribute to the success of this event.

Registration is at P8500 per head. Check out the official website and the list of speakers and topics for mre details. See ya there!

If I wasn’t aware of the effects of linkbuilding, Google bombing, and SEO in Google’s search results pages for the keyword “Filipina“, I still would have joined this advocacy. How much more that I have a clear grasp of how powerful links and viral marketing can be in changing the image and reputation of a certain concept that has been widely misconstrued online. Hence, consider myself counted. This is Pinkseo, joining the flock. Filipina SEO represent!

Let me just say that I’ve lost count of the number of times I said in this site that I’m an advocate of women empowerment — of females being exceptional at what they do, excelling in their own fields and in their own rights. Precisely why this site came to be in the first place: my way, as a bewildered female newbie (and a proud Filipina at that) to make my voice heard in a man’s world such as this industry that I’m in.

Having said this (over again), you can tell that I share Miss Noemi and Miss Dine’s dismay on the misconstrued reputation of Filipino women online, as shown in the Google SERPs (search engine results pages) everytime one queries the keyword “Filipina”. True enough, to associate Filipino women with made-to-order brides and sluts is disturbing and unacceptable, when we can proudly say that our country is blessed with Filipino women who are loving moms and wives, world-class writers, bloggers, and webmasters, and successful professionals in their own fields.

So the goal is simple. To reshape the Filipina image online by making a specific website, Filipina Women’s Network (which defines the true image of a Filipina), overtake those sites that defines Filipina as anything less. But aside from our positioning in the SERPs, what’s equally important is to have as many Filipinas make their stand and have their voices be heard on their blogs. One blog post and one link speaks in gazillion decibels. Filipinas Unite!

Joining the campaign can be done in three easy steps. With initiatives by outstanding Filipina moms, Noemi Dado and Dine Racoma, here’s how to make yourself counted:

Continue reading →

You know how a typical day is like in an Internet Marketing Department by just looking at the group’s Yahoo! Status Messages.

Have we become slave drivers already? But gaaah, I loooove these people — very promising, indeed. Their enthusiasm to learn and to grow into this industry is simply contagious. Reminds me of those days when SEO was still very new to me. (Er, ok, it still IS.) Reading their status messages this afternoon made me want to scream “grouphug!!”

So there you have it guys. The next SEO guru in the Philippines could be one of those people in the list. Watch out.

We interrupt our regular programming to congratulate the man who ruled the recently concluded SEO World Championship, a Filipino no less, and a respectable SEO Philippines guru, Mr. Benj Arriola! Brand new car for the grand winner!! That is waaay cool.

That’s right, Benj, kick em all! (Image taken from Benj’s friendster account)

When I asked him to help me 301 this site, I didn’t realize I was demanding PROBONO services from the next SEO World Champion (So embarrassing!). But that’s just the kind of man Benj is — always willing to walk extra miles to help, always taking time to chat when you need someone to talk to regardless if it’s SEO-related or not, always sharing his life and the things he’s gone through so you can learn from them. When I met him on the night of the Ituloy Angsulong awardings, he is, undoubtedly, a very humble and funny and down-to-earth kinda guy. (But no, I don’t want to make this sound like a eulogy or a hallmark greeting card so ok I’ll stop haha).

Benj did an awesome job with his Global Awareness2007 contest entry. Topping 2,060,000 Google search results; 2,880,000 Yahoo results; and a couple more thousands from MSN, Benj got the highest accumulated ranking over hundreds of participants around the world. His success is definitely something, we, Filipinos, should celebrate and be proud of.

Benj said, in his blog,

I would like to add that 20% of my efforts in getting the top spot in this contest were through the help of the many SEO professionals in the Philippines. This win is not completely my win. It is a win of SEO Philippines. Where competent and skilled SEO professionals are, SEO professionals in the Philippines have high reliability in off-shore SEO outsourcing.

Right on! Ultimately, Benj’s victory is one proof that Filipino SEOs have reached the vicinity of “world class”.

Congrats Benj! I hope Pinkseo’s helped your rankings in any way.

PS. Pasakay sa bago mong car!