Google is enacting a new algorithm that is going to penalize over-optimized content.  As a communications professional who has been actively blogging for more than 6-years now, I’ve been wondering when Google was going to put their foot down.

I, like many online content writers have spent countless hours writing content that our readers find valuable; not to mention the attentive nurturing it takes to comment, connect and cultivate the online relationships we develop,  into invaluable professional and personal friendships. Over the years, I found it unnerving to think that businesses with an abundance of money could “Out Do” me online with their multitude of unscrupulous links – many of which were not generated from  authentic content.

Google has changed the playing field and we are in the midst of a new day.  I say, “Allelujah”!

Last week, at SXSW, Matt Cutts, the head of Google’s search spam team, announced that Google developed a new tweak to its algorithm that will punish sites that are too optimized for SEO.

In a recent Hubspot article, Matt explains the changes in this way….

“trying to make the algorithm more adaptive,” or being more understanding of sites that have good content even if it isn’t search engine optimized like many marketers have learned to do. The sites that will be penalized are those that “throw too many keywords on the page, exchange way too many links, whatever they’re doing to go beyond what a normal person would expect.”

Read the article in it’s entirety on Hubspot

Kara works with legal marketers and small to mid-size businesses to create a more clearly defined focus and distinctive business strategy that will provide them with a competitive advantage for new business, higher reputation recognition, and enhance their ability to attract, win & retain the clients they really want.

You can reach her at 917-856-5410

After 22 wonderful years in New York City, Kara Smith, the principal and founder of Karasma Media is relocating to Phoenix, Arizona.   As of Sunday, January 30th,  I will be operating out of Phoenix and support New York clients and travel to NY City and other locations from there.

In addition to operating Karasma Media, I’m actively searching for a position as a marketing/communications/social media manager and adjunct college teacher and will be getting my certification to tutor elementary & secondary English once I arrive in Arizona.

My mother is 82-years old and very active and I want to enjoy this very special time of our lives together.   We’d been talking about my moving there fore several years, and during my last Christmas visit, I saw that now was the time to migrate West…   I also met a very special man whose family is close to ours, so this move is the beginning of new adventures for me on multiple levels!

If you have friends & colleagues in the area who may be able to assist in my “life-recreation, please do to connect us!

Kara works with  small to mid-size business and  legal marketers to create a more clearly defined focus and distinctive business strategy.  This new design provides a competitive advantage for new business, higher reputation recognition, and enhance their ability to attract, win, and retain the clients they really want.

You can reach her at 917-856-5410

I received word today that three graduate research I published on The Social Science Research Network (SSRN ), made their 2010 Top Ten Lists.

*UPDATE: I received an e-mail from Gregg Gordon, the President of SSRN early the morning of January 4th, containing the following text:

We apologize for sending you one or more incorrect email messages last week. While testing some new functionality, our servers sent “Top Ten” emails to the top one hundred downloaded papers in certain ejournals instead of the top ten.

Oh well… I made the top-20 in two categories, and the top 50 in others…

My papers:

“A Semiotic Analysis of the African American Character Ben in the Film Night of the Living Dead, in Relation to Literary Media Theory“

• Listed on SSRN’s Top Ten download list for AFAM Subject Matter eJournals, Film eJournal – Forthcoming, HRN African-American Studies Research Network, HRN Performing, Visual, & Fine Arts Research Network, Literary Theory & Criticism eJournal and PVFA Subject Matter eJournals. Downloaded 126 times

“Jazz Interpolation and Improvisation: George and Ira Gershwin’s Fascinating Rhythm as Recorded by Ella Fitzgerald and Dianne Reeves”

• Listed on SSRN’s Top Ten Download List for Music eJournal – Forthcoming.   Downloaded 64 times

“African-American Media Images of Death and Mourning”

• Listed on SSRN’s Top Ten download list for AFAM Subject Matter eJournals and HRN African-American Studies Research Network. Downloaded 76 times

I’ve begun a job search for a college level teaching position in communications based in Arizona, where my mother lives; specifically at Arizona University West Campus
and The University of Phoenix.

Being in SSRN’s top-10, three times is very exciting news, as I build this new leg of my career, and it is exhilarating to receive affirmation that my work is being read.

However, in today’s world of on-line research availability, I can’t help wondering how many people are plagiarizing, and how many professors aren’t catching the students doing so — for a multitude of reasons.

I would very much like to hear other published professionals and educators about this issue and safe guards/software you utilize to offset it.

I’ll be keeping a leg of Karasma Media here in New York to continue to service clients here, and traveling as needed. We’re launching a new platform in February, so stay tuned!

Kara works small to mid-size business and  legal marketers to create a more clearly defined focus and distinctive business strategy that will provide them with a competitive advantage for new business, higher reputation recognition, and enhance their ability to attract, win, and retain the clients they really want.

You can reach her at 917-856-5410

On Saturday, July 17th,  Troy Johnson of AALBC.com (The African American Literature Book Club) has invited me  to co-host Publishing YOU-niversity, includes four, 1-hour, standalone workshops on social media marketing for authors and small to mid-size organizations.

Attendees will be provided with a foundation for using a website, Blog, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to promote themselves and their businesses.

Every web interaction has the power to influence a potential client’s decision to purchase your book, product or service.   So, if your website does not provide an informative and satisfying experience and you don’t engage your visitors through social media, then they will find an author who is interested enough to have a dialog with their audience and a business who’s interested in what they have to say.

We’ll be discussing how social media can help convert your online visitors to viable business prospects and customers after interacting with your website.

Register today for:

1. Using a Website to Generate Business
2. How to Use Facebook to Build Your Personal and Professional Brand
3. What is Twitter All About?
4. Social Media Beyond Facebook and Twitter

Location:

Thurgood Marshall Academy (Classroom 211)
214 West 135th Street
New York, NY 10030

Participants who enroll in ALL FOUR workshops will receive a complementary “Jumpstart Your Social Media” Booklet

Troy is a technology expert and industry leader in marketing books on the World Wide Web. Mr. Johnson is the founder and webmaster of AALBC.com LLC.   AALBC.com was launched in 1998, and is now the largest and most frequently visited web site dedicated to books by and about black people.

He has been recognized in articles that have appeared in Publishers Weekly, Essence Magazine, The New York Times, The Amsterdam News, Black Issues Book Review and Black Enterprise.  Troy has also appeared on numerous radio and television programs including C-Span2’s Book TV and The Black Family Channel’s Literary Living; and in 2005 was named one of the 50 Most Powerful African Americans in Publishing by Black Issues Book Review magazine.

At this point, any public relations person stating that they possess a level of expertise using tools of social media, should have the level of this skillset illustrated in their online presence.  Personally, I’ve garnered numerous speaking engagements and broadcast coverage for both myself and my clients, using a combination of social media outreach and traditional PR.

You can see some of the coverage here:

Fox 5 News, Newsweek’s Online Magazine, 10/10 Wins, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, NY 1, Harlem Torch Magazine, and Black Enterprise Online.

More About The Harlem Book Fair

The Book Fair was founded in 1999 by QBR/The Black Book Review as a community event and forum for African American readers to discover and celebrate their history and culture through books.

It is now a week long event and the country’s largest community gathering of African American readers and book lovers. It has evolved into a national brand that is expanding into new markets each year. The Harlem Book Fair now draws over 50,000 attendees, and 15 million viewers via C-SPAN’s Book TV. Last year, the Book Fair was broadcast live in Europe and Asia for the first time.

The 2010 Harlem Book Fair spans two avenue-long blocks on West 135th Street with tents, pavilions of books, food, and cultural concessions. Fair space has more than doubled since its inception.

View the Press Release

Other articles you may be interested in:

Should European in-house lawyers be allowed to be members of the bar – Legal pros using social connect internationally

Update to Legal Marketers – Tweets are Embeddable as of May 4th 2010

Alain L. Locke Elementary School – P.S. 208 Featured in Brazilian Newspaper

A Real-Time Social Web Clock Watcher for Curious Legal Marketers

Legal Marketers: Responding to social media inquiries is more important than you think

Kara works with legal marketers to create a more clearly defined focus and distinctive business strategy that will provide them with a competitive advantage for new business, higher reputation recognition, and enhance their ability to attract, win, and retain the clients they really want.

You can reach her at 917-856-5410

At a Meet-up I attended recently hosted by Adrian Dayton @adriendayton asked what I thought about the online platform FourSquare and its viability and value for legal marketers. At the time, I’d only done some minimal dabbling with it so I said, “The jury’s still out on this one…”

Over the last 8-days though, I’ve been using it and am very impressed with the added interaction, both business and personal, it’s been providing.

The platform works via GPS, and I can see it added value already when it comes to doing what we say we’re doing and actually showing “Proof with The Pudding’!  It’s  an entirely new level of authenticity!

The SanFrancisco Chronicle reported that FourSquare “Check-Ins” grew more than 50% in the last month…

That’s up 50% from 600,000 just a month ago, and more than double the 400,000 checkins per day it was doing in March, just three months ago.

I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on this!

Other articles you may be interested in:

Update to Legal Marketers – Tweets are Embeddable as of May 4th 2010

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the Influence of Legal Marketers

Facebook’s “LIKE” Button – Are you a pro or con legal pro?

A Real-Time Social Web Clock Watcher for Curious Legal Marketers

Legal Marketers: Responding to social media inquiries is more important than you think

Kara works with legal marketers to create a more clearly defined focus and distinctive business strategy that will provide them with a competitive advantage for new business, higher reputation recognition, and enhance their ability to attract, win, and retain the clients they really want.

You can reach her at 917-856-5410

Thinking about being a leader in legal marketing community, in New York City, in my my life  — is daunting at times to say the least.

For the last few days, I’ve been in the midst of being overwhelmed by “the thinking about”  of the responsibilities I’ve taken on in my community, my family  and myself…  There were days when I can hardly breath, let alone write!

It’s all occurring to me like — There’s no time to feel like this.  This is Horrible!

But what if that’s not “The Truth”.  What if occasionally I just need a “pick-me-up”?  What if all that I’m going through is simply a human phenomena, rather than there being something wrong.  Ahhhh — I just exhaled…

For the next year, I’m in Landmark’s Wisdom Course, and incorporating fun into my life.

This is a photo of my “Community Circle” as a work in progress, illustrating the groups of people or “Communities” I interact with on a daily basis.

With all of the pressure I constantly put on myself, no wonder I’m so exhausted some days that I don’t want to get up and moving, let alone write…

There are times when the thoughts I have about hearing a “No”, or not getting a response, or getting negative feedback — keep me from being very enthusiastic about taking any more actions at all that could actually be positive or result in an affirmative.

You know the craziest thing… I always feel awful when I get “bogged down” . Inevitably,  inactivity for self  business generation will show up in my Google Analytics and the results I produce at the end of the week.  See, I’m a terrible person!  And Oh!  Let’s not forget — People are watching!

No wonder I’m so tired all the time!!!

All this being said, I think it’s time to shift my daily writing and morning routine from a “Have To” to a  reward I give myself?  I’m also shifting what I call my daily exercise from “Working out” to “Going Out to Play.”

No wonder life was so much fun as a kid!  Look what us adults end-up calling  the things we need to do!

Writing for me is extremely therapeutic, as is the completion of  most things I frequently avoid responsibility for.  So I have some catch-up to do,  but only because I made up that there’s somewhere else I’m supposed to be.

The goals we set for ourselves are great inspirational / motivational tools, but when they start to take the joy out of living — It’s definitely time for some reinvention!

I’ll keep you posted about the results of my Self Generation of Business is Fun — and playing more.

Other articles you may be interested in…

Creativity and Play Intertwined in Legal Marketing and in Life

Chris Brogan on Legal Marketing: An Interview With Karasma Media

The Space Between Center Rejuvenates the Creative Spirit of Legal Marketers

Lawyers Preparing to Launch Your Own Boutique – Here’s a video you’ll want to see

Kara works with legal marketers to create a more clearly defined focus and distinctive business strategy that will provide them with a competitive advantage for new business, higher reputation recognition, and enhance their ability to attract, win, and retain the clients they really want.

You can reach her at 917-856-5410

You’re  Informed -  It’s time to engage your audience
As a professional marketing legal services, there is a need for you to distinguish your services.  Obviously, all information is not created equal, and it is more important now than ever for you to reach out to your audience as a viable information source in your area of specialty.  You need to provide a venue for them to be able to interact with you easily, and these interactions will translate into the quality clients you want to attract.

News and information sources today have never been more accessible and anyone with an internet connection can contribute to the broadcast of information.  A  new survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and the Project for Excellence in Journalism makes clear, we have become a nation of news grazers whose “relationship to news is becoming portable, personalized and participatory.

But as the concept of “journalism” expands to include citizens with cellphone cameras, Twitter Facebook, and LinkedIn, the survey’s responders reflected something we all feel, with 70% of them feeling overwhelmed by the amount of news and information from different sources, and 72% think most sources of news are biased.

All of us consumers want to be connected to the people and products we can  trust.   There’s no better way for professionals marketing legal services to distinguish their credible information from misinformation and propaganda than by being in control of their online presence.  Journalists will seek you out as an expert and when you approach one of them, being able to reference articles your online articles written by firm members and associates will be invaluable.

Your Results Will Reflect Your Efforts
I published an interview I conducted with Social  Media expert Chris Brogan last week, reviewing his perspective of social media’s impact on legal marketing services.  The next day, I featured the article in my e-mail newsletter and posted it on the Karasma Media Platforms on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

It’s important to note that  fresh information is kept flowing on these platforms on a daily basis.    Since the article’s initial publication (8-days ago at the time I’m writing this):

The Alexa rating of the Karasma Media Marketing Blog has gone up more than 15%, which translates into an increase of almost 40 readers per day, three calls from prospects and two requests for in-person interviews.

Once legal marketers put their infrastructure of information into place infrastructure is in place and the information is flowing, your potential clients and legitimate journalists are going to use it.  Today, legal marketers need to think like journalists because they are  increasingly serving as informational gatekeepers, both by creating and publishing original content online and by passing on (and thereby endorsing) news and information created elsewhere.

The Federal Government’s Providing Educational Support
The Federal Communications Commission’s National Broadband Plan, which was released last month, offers an important opportunity to increase news-literacy education to millions of students. The plan, authorized in the $787 billion stimulus package last year, is a long-overdue effort to shore up our digital infrastructure by extending high-speed Internet access to the entire country.

The online infrastructure’s in place, and the government is backing it.  Now is the time to put your legal information structure into place and bring your online platform up to full speed.

USA Today article referenced:  As Journalism Changes, So Must You

Other articles you may be interested in:

Social Media as PR in Legal Marketing is Underused and Under Funded

Legal Marketers and Our Responsibility

Why technology and social media need to be integrated into your branded legal marketing strategy

Ease, Steadiness and Awareness Work for Legal Marketing Social Media

Kara works with legal marketers to create a more clearly defined focus and distinctive business strategy that will provide them with a competitive advantage for new business, higher reputation recognition, and enhance their ability to attract, win, and retain the clients they really want.

You can reach her at 917-856-5410

After the day I had yesterday, and considering the business challenges I know many of us are having,  I  found a post by Seth that hit home.  My favorite excerpt:

Finding the bravery to shun faux reassurance is a critical step in producing important change. Once you free yourself from the need for perfect acceptance, it’s a lot easier to launch work that matters.

Read Seth’s post in it’s entirety

Other articles you may be interested in:

How to Be the King (or Queen) of Social Media At Your Firm

As the Legal Marketing Industry Shifts — We Can Differentiate By Making A Difference

Mixing Business With Personal — Legal Marketers, it’s OK to “Cross-Brand”

Kara works with legal marketers to create a more clearly defined focus and distinctive business strategy that will provide them with a competitive advantage for new business, higher reputation recognition, and enhance their ability to attract, win, and retain the clients they really want.

You can reach her at 917-856-5410

I just gave the groups I belong to on LinkedIn a makeover, mostly due to the commentary by some of the members.

Social Media is an interpersonal public relations tool.  It is not about ‘linking-in’ to as many groups and people as you can as fast as possible, and talking the loudest to stand out.   It is about cross communication, cultivation of relationships, heart-felt sincerity and quality of service.

Too many legal marketers are Bulls in the China Shop of the online communities they belong to, particularly on LinkedIn.   It’s no wonder so many of legal professionals become frustrated because no one responds.  Then, they authoritatively declare that social media — or the on-line platform they’re working on at the time,  is a waste.

Lawyers, there are already a ton of misconceptions in the world about who you are.   Don’t empower these negative perceptions by not being conscious of how your messages are landing.

Seth Godin wrote a terrific post connecting to an audience who’s responsive and will spread the word…  Drive by Culture and the Endless Search of Wow

Other articles you may be interested in:

Legal Marketers – Now is NOT the time to give up on Twitter

Legal Marketers, For Social Media PR to be Truly Effective It’s Important To Remember That Good Things Take Time

How to Be the King (or Queen) of Social Media At Your Firm

Lawyers, Forget About “Quitting Facebook” – Expanding Your Comfort Zone to Communicate is Key

Kara works with legal marketers to create a more clearly defined focus and distinctive business strategy that will provide them with a competitive advantage for new business, higher reputation recognition, and enhance their ability to attract, win, and retain the clients they really want.

You can reach her at 917-856-5410

About 2-years ago, when I finished graduate school, I published two of my papers on SSRN, The Social Science Research network.  I was notified last week that

“Jazz Interpolation and Improvisation: George and Ira Gershwin’s Fascinating Rhythm as Recorded by Ella Fitzgerald and Dianne Reeves” was listed on the   SSRN Top Ten Download list for Music.

It’s now been downloaded  49 times!

Gee, I’m either getting famous or just picked a great topic for kids to plagiarize.   Either way, you can view the abstract and download the paper here

Classic Jazz, Modern Jazz, Beebop, Swing, R&B, Pop, Classical all of these words lend apt description to the sounds emulating from my office on any given day.

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines jazz as:

American music developed especially from ragtime and blues and characterized by propulsive syncopated rhythms, polyphonic ensemble playing, varying degrees of improvisation, and often deliberate distortions of pitch and timbre.

I equate the way I do business a lot like this…

“Distortions” in public relations has nothing to do with manipulating the truth!

Rather, it’s about shifting the perception of how much what we do really matters, and “raising the bar” on our ability to be of service to our clients and giving back to our communities.

I view the conversations I have here and with people who call me, a lot like the dialogue that happens between jazz musicians and their audiences.  Information is delivered in a familiar format, with some interesting, intriguing and often captivating turns thrown in to keep us all interested and ideally, coming back for more.

Dianne Reeves

Ella Fitzgerald

Top Ten Lists are updated on a daily basis, so if you’re interested download my paper and keep it at the top!

View the Top Ten list for the Journal Music Top Ten

View all the music papers in the Journal

Other Articles you may be interested in:

As the Legal Marketing Industry Shifts – We Can Differentiate By Making A Difference

7 Deadly Business Mistakes Legal Marketers Can Avoid

Legal Marketers Can Step Out of the Box With Video

There Has Never a Better Time for Legal Marketing Brands to Engage in Social Media

Mixing Business With Personal — Legal Marketers, it’s OK to “Cross-Brand”

Kara works with legal marketers to create a more clearly defined focus and distinctive business strategy that will provide them with a competitive advantage for new business, higher reputation recognition, and enhance their ability to attract, win, and retain the clients they really want.

You can reach her at 917-856-5410