#Like I pressed the three dots and told it to NOT RECOMMEND THAT CONTENT. I reload the page...

[call-me-chips]

Ok, idk why, but Tumblr keeps throwing kinky vids and pics of fat MEN at me

I'M NOT SEARCHING FOR THESE!

I HAVE NEVER INTERACTED WITH ANY POSTS LIKE THESE

WHY DOES TUMBLR KEEP RECOMMENDING ME THESE?????

I'VE SEEN LIKE, 5 JUST TODAY

TUMBLR STOP

IT'S GROSS

I'M A LESBIAN FOR PETE'S SAKE

[tori-tumbls-04]

Alright, by popular demand and after much anticipation, I present to you:

The Jedi Culture and Religion as Presented by Me, Tori

Now why the hell should you read this? I mean like, you don't have to. This is tumblr dot com, not a social sciences class, and I have not assigned this as required reading. However, I took a class on Star Wars, and we essentially discussed the irl religions and moral philosophies that influenced many things in Star Wars. This class really helped me understand the Jedi in a broader sense, so I think that my summation of it will help you too

WARNING: This post contains incredibly broad descriptions of religions that do not always apply to every aspect of said religion (This was a short class and we were mostly comparing religions, so going into a deep analysis on all the traditions would not have been helpful for our purposes. Also, because any religion is hopelessly complex, we learned the mainstream versions of them, so not everything I will say will always completely apply to every person who practices these religions)

If you want to read more, click on the links where I've attached them for references or just ask me! I'd love to gush about the Jedi so give it a go

Table of contents:

Buddhism

Daoism

Christianity

Conclusion

Before we get into this, let me give y'all some context.

Overall, Star Wars was inspired by the book The Hero of a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. In it, Campbell claims that every religion is, by in large, the same, which he argues by distilling down what he says are the main hero stories of every religion into a step-by-step plot line that can supposedly apply to every religion's stories. This is the monomyth, or the original Hero's Journey.

Source

From a religious studies standpoint, this is WILDLY untrue. Campbell picked and chose his stories elements based on what he believed fit the narrative, and not even all Western hero stories fit this narrative, let alone Eastern stories (for example, Jesus never really has a Road of Trials. He's born, there's a twenty year time skip, and suddenly he's the all-powerful Son of God/God Reincarnate. I think a lot of Christians would say that Jesus is their hero- a perfectly valid and acceptable thing to say, since that is indeed the point of Jesus!- but nevertheless, he doesn't follow the Hero's Journey). Also, you can't claim that every religion is inherently the same, that's ignoring literally everything that makes religion religion, and it makes white idiots from Seattle think they understand everything about Confucianism just because they read that one book. It's also not super well written and the book kinda sucks overall.

However, this was a really popular book and it influenced a lot of minds on storytelling, including George Lucas's. It's mostly regarded with scorn in religious studies spheres today, but a lot of screenwriting classes assign it because the Hero's Journey creates stories that audiences want to hear told. Lucas used it for this reason, but also claimed that the Jedi were every religion in the world distilled into one, taking broad themes and building a culture around it (paraphrased- I can't find the exact quote and I didn't write it down so just like trust me bro). This is Hero with a Thousand Faces, plain and simple. I think we'd be hard-pressed to apply the Jedi religion to every religion, but there are three religions that emerge as the core for the Jedi, plus a few philosophies. These chosen few are Buddhism, Daoism, and Christianity.

Buddhism

(Source)

Anyone who's been on the pro-Jedi side of any social media site probably saw this one coming. Jedi are inherently Buddhist in practice and culture, and we see it everywhere. But for the previously uninitiated, here's the rundown.

What is Buddhism?

**Disclaimer: I am not an expert in Buddhism. What I know is what I've learned from this class and from one of my best friends who is Buddhist. If you want to know more, I recommend doing outside research because I'm really only equipped to talk about Buddhism in relation to the Jedi Order**

Buddhism was created in about 5th century BCE by Siddhartha Gautama, who was a wealthy prince that grew weary of the material and physical pleasures of this world. He left his titles, wealth, and wife behind and traveled for years to learn meditation techniques and ancient truths about the world. Eventually, he became the Enlightened One, or the Buddha.

Buddha taught with the Four Noble Truths:

Life is characterized by suffering

The cause of suffering is desire and delusion

Suffering has an end

You can alleviate suffering by following the path to Enlightenment (aka nirvana)

Yeahhh Buddha wasn't really Mr. Happy Fun Guy. Essentially, to Buddha, everything is suffering, and I really mean everything. Everything bad is bad, everything good comes to an end and becomes bad, and the more invested you are in earthly affairs, the more you'll suffer because of how they'll work out (eventually bad). The solution? No attachment to earthly affairs. This allows you to stay on the path to Nirvana without making yourself suffer (and here's the kicker) or making the people around you suffer. The goal is for no human to suffer.

Now, Buddha recognizes this is hard. Like, he got it in a few years, but he's also The Best At Everything Ever. Most people take multiple lifetimes to get to the point of nirvana (reincarnation exists in Buddhism), and by multiple, I mean somewhere around 500. So the goal of your life is not to achieve complete non-attachment by the time you die, but to get yourself closer and close to non-attachment and non-suffering with each life. That means continuously and consciously working to do good and reduce suffering everywhere, even if you can't reach nirvana just yet.

Source

"But Tori!" you may protest, "How in the hell are we supposed to do that??? How do we know what will make people suffer and what won't???"

That, my friends, is why the good Buddha came up with the Eightfold Path to Enlightenment, or what I call the Cosmic Playbook for Doing Good. Here's the Eight Folds:

Right Understanding (accepting Buddhist teachings)

Right Resolve (committing to action)

Right Speech (telling the truth)

Right Action (avoiding wrong behavior)

Right Livelihood (not having an occupation that does harm)

Right Effort (controlling one's mind)

Right Mindfulness (being present in the moment)

Right Meditation (mental calm)

The Eightfold Path is based on three pillars: Wisdom, Morality, and Meditation. Wisdom says you must have understanding and fight delusion; Morality says you must have benevolence and never give into anger; Meditation says you must be non-attached and never give into greed (Is this starting to sound familiar?)

Now here's the key part: Buddhism teaches selflessness and compassion. And like yeah, I mean this in the Western sense of "don't be a dickwad," but there's also a Buddhist-specific reasoning behind this.

Selflessness in the Buddhist sense literally means no self. As in you do not exist, except in a constant state of change. Your self is not permanent, therefore tying things to yourself (attachments) is going against nature and preventing you from reaching nirvana. If we accept that we are fleeting and the things associated with us are as well- money, power, influence, things in general- then we may act selflessly and with compassion to other humans. We are all connected, so acting with compassion to other people will spread compassion further throughout the universe, alleviating suffering further.

Ultimately, this is what Buddha wanted for his followers to act, and this is why Buddhism distinguishes between "good" and "bad" attachments. "Good" or selfless attachments are connections made for the goal of helping others. The focus is not you, and when the time comes, you are content with parting ways. This person is not a part of you, simply a part of this point in your life. This doesn't mean they can't have a lasting impact on you or you can't have emotion towards them, but it does mean recognizing that nothing is permanent and accepting it with peace. "Bad" or selfish attachments are people you latch onto as part of you. Bad attachment is making it about you: you have to have this person or you will die, you have to have their love or support or whatever and you're unwilling to compromise. When they leave, you can't except it because you believe both you, your self, them, and their self are permanent, and it causes you to lash out to protect your self. According to Buddha, this is the cause of all aggression, and that is why selfish attachment is to be avoided as much as possible.

Buddhism and the Jedi

I started with Buddhism because, in my opinion, the Jedi religion has its foundations in Buddhism. If you don't understand Buddhism, you can't understand the Jedi, and I think that's why many people believe that Jedi philosophy doesn't make sense. Cause lowkey, from a Judeo-Christian standpoint, it doesn't. But if we start with Buddhism and work from there, the understanding might come better.

Let's take a look at the pillars of the Eightfold Path again:

Wisdom (Understanding, no delusion)

Right Understanding (accepting Buddhist teachings)

Right Resolve (committing to action)

Morality (Benevolence, no anger)

Right Speech (telling the truth)

Right Action (avoiding wrong behavior)

Right Livelihood (not having an occupation that does harm)

Meditation (Non-attachment, no greed)

Right Effort (controlling one's mind)

Right Mindfulness (being present in the moment)

Right Meditation (mental calm)

Now compare it with this version of the Jedi Mantra:

"There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force"

(Source)

Some of these are not relevant right now, since they come from Daoism or Christianity (and also, we'll come back to the other version in a minute). But you can already see the parallels between Buddhism and the Jedi, especially in the Meditation pillar. Right Meditation and Right Mindfulness correspond directly to "There is no emotion, there is peace" and "There is no passion, there is serenity." Also, Right Understanding and Right Resolve feel very "There is no ignorance, there is knowledge" to me. This means that "There is no emotion" does not mean there is no emotion ever, it simply means controlling your gut reaction and staying calm. Reacting with gut emotions sometimes means that people around you will suffer, especially when your gut emotions are anger and hurt. Remember, we're not about suffering in this house, so there will be no gut reactions here when we can help it.

Also, the idea of attachments comes straight from Buddhism. In Buddhism, delusion leads to anger and greed, which leads to further suffering, and we delude ourselves by being selfish (remember, in this sense selfish is thinking our self is permanent, not necessarily being a dickwad). Now, I really hope this sounds familiar, because this is "fear leads to anger leads to hate leads to suffering" in practically the same words. Here, delusion of the self and fear of losing it are one in the same, and the Jedi fight this by not being attached to one state of themself, and everything that entails. Ultimately, the Jedi exist to alleviate suffering throughout the galaxy. That is their literal job description and what they sign up for when they become Knights. In Buddhist philosophy, having selfish attachments is directly counter to this idea, as we see in Anakin.

Because this definition comes directly from Buddhism, this does not mean that Jedi cannot make connections. In fact, Buddhism says we are all connected (just like with the Force! Wow it's almost like that was planned), and we should have compassion for everyone. The Jedi also say this, plain and simple, in broad daylight.

(Source: @ gffa, David Thibault on Pinterest)

The best example of a Buddhist Jedi is Yoda, who was based off of literal Buddhist monks and has non-attached compassion down to a science.

So, in summary, we got the Buddhist ideas of attachment, compassion, and selfishness for the Jedi. What about everything else?

Daoism

(Source)

Next up is Daoism/Taoism! This one is possibly the least obvious if you don't have familiarity with Eastern religions and philosophies (or maybe it is for everyone else, but I was kind of surprised to see Daoism and how well it applies to SW/the Jedi). Let's get into it

What is Daoism/Taoism?

**Same disclaimer for Daoism that I had for Buddhism! Except I know even less about Daoism than I do about Buddhism. Again, if you have more questions, I recommend doing outside research because I'm about to tell you just about everything I know on Daoism here**

First things first, how do you spell it? Daoism or Taoism?

There's no actual difference between them. The sound at the beginning of the word doesn't really exist in English, but it's somewhere between D and T, and translators often switch between the two. I use D because I just like the way Daoism sounds better than Taoism, but that's literally such a dumb reason. Call it whichever, people will understand you! There's gonna be a lot of those in this, since Chinese to English translation is tricky on the best of days and translating Daoism is... well, we'll get to it

Lau Tzu, from source

Daoism is one of the six great philosophical schools of China. It emerged around 3 century CE when Lao Tzu wrote the Dao De Jing (also known as the Tao Te Ching. To keep my spelling of D/T consistent, I'll be using the Dao De Jing spelling). The story goes that he was a great sage of his time, and he was stopped by Chinese border patrol one day. When the agents recognized who he was, they begged him for advice and pearls of wisdom. So, he gave it to them, and someone (possibly Lao Tzu, possibly one of the agents) wrote it down. This would be awesome and hilarious, because the Dao De Jing is a short book, but it has 80+ poems/maxims/stories in it, which means mans was there for way longer than the border patrol probably wanted him there

It's also possible that Lao Tzu doesn't exist and the Dao De Jing was actually written by multiple people buuuuut the other explanation is more fun so let's go with that

Dao De Jing roughly translates to "The Book of Virtue and Wisdom." In it are a lot of verses that explain the Daoist school of thought. They can be translated in many ways, but the version I read was in poetry. Here are a few excerpts that I think explain the Daoist religion the best:

"The way you can go isn’t the real way. The name you can say isn’t the real name. Heaven and earth begin in the unnamed: name’s the mother of the ten thousand things. So the unwanting soul sees what’s hidden, and the ever-wanting soul sees only what it wants. Two things, one origin, but different in name, whose identity is mystery. Mystery of all mysteries! The door to the hidden."

Source: "1, Taoing" Tao Te Ching, trans. Ursula K. Le Guin

"Not praising the praiseworthy keeps people uncompetitive. Not prizing rare treasures keeps people from stealing. Not looking at the desirable keeps the mind quiet. So the wise soul governing people would empty their minds, fill their bellies, weaken their wishes, strengthen their bones, keep people unknowing, unwanting, keep the ones who do know from doing anything. When you do not-doing, nothing’s out of order."

Source: "3, Hushing." Tao Te Ching, Ursula K. Le Guin

"Be completely empty. Be perfectly serene. The ten thousand things arise together; in their arising is their return. Now they flower, and flowering sink homeward, returning to the root."

Source: "10, Returning to the Root." Tao Te Ching, Ursula K. Le Guin

Now if you think that these are confusing and difficult to parse, you'd be correct. It's not just cause they're written as poems and not just cause they're translations between two difficult languages to translate; the Dao De Jing is intentionally written to be difficult to understand. You have to work to understand the Dao (the Way), and that's how Lao Tzu intended it. But part of the work in understanding the Dao is part of the experience of the religion. In other words, putting the work to try and understand the Dao is already halfway there!

Because I'm nice and because I want some baseline understandings for this discussion, I'll go ahead and give you broadly accepted interpretations of and concepts from the Dao De Jing.

The goal is to be unified with everything around you. All things cycle into each other and influence each other, and the goal of the Way is to be one with the natural flow of the universe

There is a common delusion that things are separate from each other. In Daoism, this is false. Nothing is truly separated- all things flow into each other and become each other in time (This is where yin and yang come from)

Adding off of that last point, identifying things too much will result in privileging one over the other. In Daoism, humans operate too much in absolute terms- what is good, what is bad, why each is each, and how to keep the good without having the bad. But all things must cycle into each other (dirt to flowers to dirt, sun to moon to sun, winter to summer to winter, etc), otherwise there is no balance, and no Way to follow

To follow the Way, you have to practice wu wei, or non-doing. In its absolute simplest terms, non-doing is going with the flow, but in a very specific way. Non-doing requires acting organically and adapting as specific opportunities arise. Having an end goal is contrary to the Way. Instead, the philosophy of wu wei says that what you need/want will come to you naturally if you follow the flow of nature

Expect things in unexpected places (but not... like... expecting? Cause you gotta Go With The Flow y'know? Anyways)

Pacifism to the Max

You must follow the Way completely and fully. Half-assing the Dao will result in being generally unhappy since you're not actively pursuing your goals either outside the Way or inside the Way. So it's just like lose-lose no matter what

There's like... more. But that's enough to delve into the Jedi methinks so let's do it.

Daoism and the Jedi (and Star Wars overall)

Jedi are notorious for defying expectations. A crotchety old frog is the most powerful Jedi in the Order. The most devout Jedi Padawan ends up being the person who tried to blow up their Temple. The person who will become The Villain of All Time is regarded as being well on his way to being one of the Best Jedi in the Order, if not already there. The list goes on. The same crotchety old frog says everything as cryptically as possible to force his students to do the work to understand what he's saying (a mannerism that many Jedi copy, if they're not as cryptic as Yoda). The Jedi are not pacifists, per se, but they go out of their way to be non-violent as often as possible (this overlaps with the Buddhist idea of attachments and their relation to violence). The Jedi also try to treat within their Order the same, and hierarchy is pretty loose.* Also, the Force is the Way. It literally flows through everything, it doesn't get more obvious than that. Also, "do or do not, there is no try," anyone?

*This point is contentious, I know, but looking canon it's true. The Jedi do not privilege one Jedi over another- councilor members seem to be treated roughly the same inside the Order as every other Knight or Master. The difference between Knight and Master is nebulous at best and the only difference between the two seems to be raising a Padawan. But at what point beyond that does a Knight become a Master? Why are Knights also called Masters and vice versa? Padawans and younglings are a different story, but certainly within ranks there is little differentiation.

But more than that, the world that the Jedi operate in is very Daoist. The Light and Dark side of the Force come from yin and yang (though, due to Buddhist and Christian influences, yin isn't quite the Dark side and yang isn't quite the Light, but the idea definitely came from Daoism). Light and dark people have bits of both in them, as Clone Wars goes out of its way to demonstrate over and over again. In The Last Jedi, Luke outright states that the Force is what ties together the Light and the Dark, and that they cycle into each other. This is reinforced over and over again. In Mortis,

Source

On Ahch-To,

Source

And just about every time anyone says where there is great light there is also great darkness, plus a lot in Legends content because Legends writers apparently love playing with this.

Also, time in Daoism (and generally in Eastern religions/philosophies) is cyclical. In the West, we view time as cyclical- one thing happened back then and it won't ever happen the same way again. But in Daoism, the same events happen over and over again in a continual cycle, just as they do in nature. Star Wars operates in the exact same way. The Republic rises, then the Empire, then the Republic, then the First Order, and on and on. Characters rise and fall with their times, and at times, it seems like the same story is doomed to play out over and over again. Where exists bright light, also exists deep night; every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

Alright, back to the Jedi Mantra. Now that we're in Daoism, let's look at the weird one:

"Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. Death, yet the Force."

Source

Many interpretations of this mantra have focused on the idea that both exist, and I personally agree with that interpretation, especially in the context of Daoism. The key with Daoism is that Daoists aren't trying to change the world, like Christians or Buddhists. They're simply trying to be one with the universe, as is the natural state of things. They do not deny the chaos, but harmonize with it instead. They do not deny death, they simply follow the Way/Dao/Force to death when it's time. The key to Daoism is holding contradictions together and finding the way between them like water in a stream, instead of choosing one side over another. Also, tell me this doesn't read like the Dao De Jing? You can't because it does.

(Side note: the holding contradictions together thing is also the explanation behind Obi-Wan's iconic line "Only the Sith deal in absolutes." Sith cannot acknowledge shades of gray or sides that are not their own: for the Sith, there is only their side and everyone else's side, and their side is always right. Jedi are trained to see the white dot in the black swirl and the black dot in the white swirl. Sith can only see the black or the white, nothing in-between. This is also known as obsessive and/or antagonistic thinking.)

The best example of a Daoist Jedi is Qui-Gon Jinn, aka Mr. "Let's-Bet-On-Some-Kid-Who's-Never-Won-A-Podrace-In-His-Life" whose middle name is Maverick. Need I say more?

So, in summary, we got the "weird" and confusing parts of the Jedi religion from Daoism (though I hope I cleared some of them up! But they are meant to be confusing lmao)

Christianity

Source

"But Tori," you protest, "If the Jedi are supposed to be following the Way and the Way goes between what's good and bad, why are Jedi constantly the Good Guys who do Good Things instead of being neutral monks on their mountain?"

Well my friend, let me introduce you to a little thing called Christianity.

Now, in my opinion, the Jedi are possibly least inspired by Christianity. By in large, most of their themes and Main Religious Points can be found in either Buddhism or Daoism. But so far, all we have for motivation of why the Jedi do good things is compassion and to alleviate suffering. How do they know how to do that? The Jedi say they do it by following the Force, but how do they do it by following the Daoist Force, which says they have to be neutral as possible and one with nature?

Let's pivot to Christianity (with no disclaimer for this one because I was raised Baptist and Catholic (long story) and I actually know quite a bit about Christianity).

What is Christianity?

Christianity grew from followers of Judaism right around 0 CE. Though the Torah (the primary Jewish religious text) is official canon in Christianity, Christians follow God and Humanity's savior, the Son of God, Jesus. When Jesus was alive, He preached gospel to His followers over the course of a few years. Though there are many things that make up Christian theology, Jesus's teachings are often first, foremost, and the foundation of that theology. These were written down in the Bible in the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John, and further expanded into the New Testament of the Bible (the primary Christian religious text).

Jesus was real simple. He preached that there is a Good and a Bad, and both of those things are determined by the creator of the universe, God. A true Christian will do Good things, like feed the poor and respect your fellow man. If you do Bad things, that's okay! You just have to confess and repent, and you will be forgiven by God. Other Christians also must forgive you, because that is one of the Good things that All Christians Must Do. If you refuse to repent, you go to Hell when you die. If you believe in and worship God, follow all the rules, and do all the Good things, God will reward you in the afterlife by sending you to the Kingdom of Heaven, where there is No Bad Ever.

Tl;dr: don't be a dickwad and say thanks to God every once and a while and you're good homie.

Therefore, Christianity is based around three pillars: Faith, Love, and Hope. Have faith in your God to know what to love and what to do, and hope for a better tomorrow and afterlife.

Everything else is kind of extra and we don't really need it here (including the Ten Commandments, since the Jedi don't really follow them), so like... don't get mad at me for summing up Christianity like this please haha

Christianity and the Jedi

I've already alluded to this, but Jedi get their moral compass from belief and faith in the Force to essentially tell them what to do. This is fresh outta Christianity ladies, gents, and enbies; though themes overlap a bit in Daoism, Christianity takes pains to make it clear that its moral compass come from God and Jesus. If you want to read more about this, CS Lewis articulates the argument really well in Mere Christianity.

Now, this bit can be a little tricky to see clearly with the Jedi, since the Force doesn't act like the Christian God. The Christian God is generally fairly active in a Christian's life, especially in the Bible. God will straight up send heavenly messengers or like communicate with people himself in the Bible to tell them what to do, but the Force is more subtle than that. Obviously the Jedi can feel the Force, but they rarely- if ever- know what the Force is trying to tell them. So instead, Jedi seem to use more of a river current approach: where the Force flows is obviously Good, so they try to feel the Force tugging them in that direction and go there. But you can swim against the flow of a river, and sometimes it's super easy to do in still spots. That's okay! As long as you repent and turn around, it's all good.

The practice is obviously Daoist, but the Force as the Ultimate Moral Good is a Christian concept. This is why Jedi are the good guys and why following the Force generally leads to the most narratively rewarding and best outcomes- if they were purely Daoist, they'd spend their days doing things like eating wood and carving cart wheels perfectly right (Daoist stories can get more exciting, but generally Daoist hero stories revolve around mundane things like this to emphasize that the way to live is to be perfectly in tune with the world around you). Instead, Jedi often present themselves as Christian heroes. You know, the ones who follow God and defend their city from evil forces, magically know which food is poisoned, carrying people across a near-impossible to cross river, levitating and making things fly across rooms, and more. Any of this sound familiar?

The Jedi morals themselves are influenced from many places, as we've already seen. But the Dark side vs. the Light side are Western/Christian; it's very reminiscent of heaven vs. hell and the motifs in both mirror that. The Dark side is cold, aggressive, and "bad," and the Light is warm, kind, and "good" (in Daoism, these concepts are flipped). The visuals draw from Western visuals of both.

Also, Jedi are supposed to look like a cross between samurai and Christian monks, and many of the other aesthetic choices for Jedi come from one of those two influences.

Source (1, 2, 3+4)

The Vatican compared with the Jedi Temple in AotC and RotS

Jedi are also literally called Knights. How much more obvious can it get.

Christian Jedi are a little harder to nail down, but if it came down to it, I'd probably place my bets on Obi-Wan Kenobi. Obi-Wan has doing Light Side things down pat, as well as forgiveness and repent. Plus, tell me he didn't sound a bit like God when he was talking to Luke in ANH.

Conclusion

So, if I had to sum up the Jedi, I'd say it like this (Bold is from Buddhism, italics is from Daoism, and bold+italics are from Christianity):

"The Jedi Order is a Force-sensitive religious group dedicated to the alleviation of suffering throughout the galaxy. Though they are mainly trained as peacekeepers, all Jedi are proficient with a lightsaber, and the Order encourages this practice as long as they use their skills to defend.

Due to their Force-sensitivity, Jedi can connect to the living things around them and sense emotions, thoughts, and sometimes memories as though they were their own. Without proper emotional regulation, Jedi can become overwhelmed and pass out or obtain other psychic damage. For this reason, the Jedi practice mindfulness and non-attachment through meditation. From a young age, Jedi are trained to regulate emotional instincts and react mindfully to their surroundings to not overwhelm themselves or others.

The Jedi follow the Will of the Force. Though this can be difficult to interpret, Jedi train their entire lives to recognize the signals of the Force as they are presented to them. The Jedi follow the "Light Side"* of the Force, which puts them in direct opposition to the Sith, who follow the Dark Side. The two have been mortal enemies since time immortal, and will continue to be so as the cycle of light and dark continues to chase itself.

*it's worth noting here that at no point in time is the Force that the Jedi follow referred to as the "light side," it's simply the Force. This implies that the Jedi truly are just following The Way, and the Sith have completely convoluted The Way.

There are two versions of the Jedi Mantra, which outline their philosophies well:

"There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force"

"Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. Death, yet the Force."

The Jedi believe that fear leads to anger, which leads to hate, which leads to suffering. Therefore, Jedi try to conquer fear and selfishness as much as possible, which is how the Jedi principle of non-attachment came about. Though Jedi believe in compassion and love, their duties and Force-sensitivity require them to forgo attachments, or unhealthy and obsessive relationships with others. This is a struggle that many Jedi work through their entire lives. Jedi also believe in non-material possession and contentment in the natural world. Since the natural world and the Force are intertwined with each other, this allows Jedi to listen to the Force better."

Finally, the way the Jedi follow the Force is not the only or "correct" way of following the Force. Just irl as there are no correct cultures or religions, just the ones that align with you, personally, the best, there is no correct way of practicing the Force (though the Sith are generally set up as bad guys in Star Wars, the Dark Side of the Force is corruptive by nature, and Sith are almost always rampaging killing machines, so I think we can make an exception for them). The Force seems to manifest in many different ways, so therefore the religions can too.

I hoped this helped you guys answer any questions you may have about the Jedi! This got so long so if you read to the bottom you're a real trooper. If you still have questions, feel free to rb or shoot me an ask!

[bakubub]

kiss me / w/k: 800

in which a simple misunderstanding leads to your first kiss with bakugo katsuki...

a/n: I highly recommend listening to kiss me by ed sheeran bc it was on repeat when I was writing this :P

I adjust my shirt, making sure its sitting right, and hold my boyfriend's hand. we stroll down the pier, having already had dinner together, the sun is already long gone and the stars are twinkling down at us.

as we walk, the comfortable silence between bakugo and I makes me think of how we were when we first met, and for a whole three years after that. always yelling, me constantly matching his anger and talking back, him getting even angrier and unconsciously activating his quirk- it was a very repetitive cycle, but I found myself looking forward to these interactions every day.

that's when I realised I'd developed feelings for the blond gremlin.

now fresh graduates of ua, on our third official date, hand in hand and strolling like an old married couple, I smile widely.

as we pass by a particularly romantic setting of people slow dancing in front of an outdoor restaurant, I hear the familiar beat of kiss me by Ed Sheeran, and give bakugo a side-long glance.

he sighs, knowing exactly what I was silently asking for. looking around as if to make sure no one from school is around, he clears his throat.

"wanna dance?" he asks gruffly, but with a hint of a smile on his face.

I laugh as he leads me to the dance floor, placing a hand on my waist and holding my hand up with his other. I raise my eyebrows, shocked that he knows what to do.

"the old hag taught me, saying a young man should always know how to dance, just in case." he admits, a light blush blossoming on his frowning face.

I feel my face soften and can't help but lean in to give him a kiss on the cheek. He falters, missing a step, causing me to step on his foot.

"sorry!" I exclaim, looking at him worriedly as he regains his composure.

"s' nothing." he mutters, looking straight ahead. I giggle once more, resting my head on his chest as they replay the song, as if just for us. closing my eyes, I unconsciously match his rather loud heartbeat to the steady beat of the song, sighing contently. in bakugo's arms, I feel safer than I've ever been. warm, comfortable and best of all, the sweet smell of caramel that I can't seem to get enough of.

his soft voice interrupts my thoughts, "what did you say this song was called?" he asks, kneeling his head down to speak lowly into my ear.

goosebumps erupt on my neck as I answer him, "kiss me," I say, leaning back to look up at him, if only because I don't think my body can physically handle being that close to him without either melting or combusting.

he looks taken aback by my answer, his eyes flickering to my lips as he licks his own. as if uncertain, he leans in and presses them against mine.

my eyes wide and my breathing unsteady, I kiss him back, trying to not make it obvious that this is actually my first kiss and that I had zero experience.

he breaks off a few moments later, letting both of us regain our breath.

"what was that for?" I ask, breathing heavily, unable to meet his eyes.

he softly grabbed my chin, making me look at him as he clarified, "you just told me to, dumbass."

I furrow my eyebrows in confusion, and just as the dots connected I let out a slight gasp. "oh! I meant the song's name, is Kiss Me by Ed Sheeran..." I say, trailing off as I feel a dark blush scatter my cheeks. except, unlike him, I probably look like a tomato.

by this time, they changed the song, a more upbeat song playing. as the people around us whoop and start jumping around, his blush almost matches mine as his eyes widen, "the fuck? so you didn't want to kiss me then?" he asks, leaning further away from me.

"don't be stupid, bakugo. I liked it..." I confess, mumbling the last few words.

a smug look overtaking his features, he leans in to mutter, "its katsuki to you," before kissing me once more.

as if in our own bubble, the music fades, his hands both go to my waist and my arms instinctively wrap around his neck, running my fingers through his spikey and yet soft hair. coming up for air once more, I only have one thought on my mind-

this must be what it feels like to fall in love

notes, interactions and reblogs are highly appreciated <3

[emoboijk]

jjk | calla lilies

“The calla lilies are in bloom again. Such a strange flower—suitable to any occasion.” (Katherine Hepburn) or You're trying to help set him up with his boyhood crush and things don't go according to plan. —hanahaki disease au, non-idol au, friends-to-lovers au, flora & fauna series

6,222 words

p.cred

The waiting room is beige with a dark brown carpet, the kind that has either always been that color or is that color as a result of years of use. There are paintings (ironically) of flowers on the walls, and potted plants stationed randomly between the chairs. A receptionist sits behind a counter, typing on a computer and answering the phone when it rings. Aside from her, there are seven people scattered about the room.

Jeongguk sits in the corner, eyes flicking between the different patients without paying any real attention, bouncing his leg and drumming his fingers on his thighs. He’s always been an overachiever, but this takes the cake. Of all the flowers to infest his lungs: calla lilies. And black ones at that. How fucking emo.

He presses against the earbuds in his ears even though they aren’t falling out; he wants to disappear. It’s easier with loud music, so he’s been blasting Linkin Park (a favorite from his teen years) ever since he first coughed up the dark black calla lily petal three days ago. Although he didn’t so much “cough it up” as pull it slowly, painfully from his esophagus, because calla lily petals are long as fuck. But even with the reverberations of Linkin Park in his ears, he can’t escape the image of the woman stumbling to and from the bathroom, or the boy all but curled into the fetal position in his chair. His jaw is clenched as if that’s all it will take to keep any more flower petals or blood from coming up his throat.

Jeongguk nearly jumps when his music is interrupted by a harsh ding in his ears. He takes out the earbuds, wincing when he can hear the girl vomiting harshly in the bathroom; he immediately puts them back in. Of course, he thinks once he pulls out his phone, you have a sixth sense about these things.

Hey, is everything okay? It’s been like 12 hours since you texted me so ofc I’m freaking out :D

He smiles at his phone like an idiot.

JK: haven’t been feeling well

JK: at the doctor’s now

Oh! Want me to stop by with some soup later?

He chuckles and wonders if soup could burn up all the flowers in his lungs.

JK: no soup but you can stop by if you want

There are immediately three little dots beneath his last message, so he already knows what you’re going to say. And then a nurse comes out; despite the music he knows she’s said his name. He raises his hand as if in school, flushing at his embarrassment, before removing the earbuds and stuffing them and his phone into his pocket.

“Come on back." He follows behind her noiselessly, hands balled up into his jacket pockets.

The nurse asks the questions with a bored tone, typing his information into a computer, measuring his blood pressure and pulse. She has to scold him three times before he can finally calm down enough to stop drumming his fingers on the side of the table.

“The doctor will be in shortly,” she says before closing the door. He wished she’d given him some kind of indication of how bad it was.

His fingers hit the metal table even harder and when he can hear voices outside the room and the clock on the wall ticking slowly, he stuffs the earbuds back into his ears.

Cool! 3 okay?

JK: yes!

It makes him feel better, knowing you’ll be there to talk to later. He hasn’t told anyone about his…condition; he wanted to wait until he knew for sure what was going on. But if he was going to tell anyone, it would be you.

He takes his earbuds out again when the doctor walks in, smiling warmly at him before perusing his chart. The doctor isn't old but he has started graying; there are laugh lines around his eyes and mouth. Jeongguk immediately trusts him.

The doctor raises his eyebrows and looks up at him, “Calla lilies, huh?”

Deep, deep sigh. “Yes.”  

The doctor almost chuckles at his patient’s whiney tone. He pulls a stool over and sits in front of him. “I’m Dr. Moon.” He holds out his hand and Jeongguk takes it, bowing his head respectfully.

“I’m going to listen to your lungs and take a look down your throat, but we may need scans to survey the full extent of the infestation,” the doctor says. Jeongguk nods. He feels like the tortoise trying to catch up with the hare. Dr. Moon continues, “But before we look at the physical signs, I have to ask about your mental state.”

“My mental state?” Jeongguk cocks his head to the side.

“Yes. Truth be told, Hanahaki starts with the mind. There are many cases in which the patient only believes that their love is unreciprocated, and yet that is enough to kill a person. Grief, despair…those are the killers.” Dr. Moon looks solemn for a long moment before continuing, “So. What’s your story?”

Jeongguk’s eyes widen because it feels like such a personal question. He’s barely told you all of the details, how is he supposed to tell a stranger in a lab coat?

Dr. Moon senses his hesitation and pats Jeongguk’s shoulder, “Trust me. I need to know.”

Jeongguk sighs and says, “Um. I don’t really know her, I guess. We went to school together for a long time, had a few classes…” He flushes as he speaks, his cheeks going beet red because what kind of an idiot gets Hanahaki disease for a boyhood crush? He hides his face behind his hands.

“I see,” the doctor says, standing and patting his shoulder again, “Okay, let’s take a listen.”

Dr. Moon presses the stethoscope to Jeongguk’s chest and back; he breathes deeply when cued, only having to stop once when a matte black calla lily petal inches up his throat. Jeongguk frowns as he holds it between two fingers, dropping it in the trash can Dr. Moon offers.

“So,” the doctor says when he’s finished, “it doesn’t look too bad.”

“Really?” Jeongguk’s face brightens.

“You’re in the early stages. But you’d be surprised how quickly things can escalate. You have some options for now; I’m going to prescribe some anti-growth pills that should keep the flora from progressing too much. And…” he pauses, choosing his next words carefully, “I would recommend finding a way to get over this woman. It’s always best to avoid surgery if you can, but if there’s no way of overcoming the mental and emotional hurdle, you might want to consider the surgery…” The doctor twists around to retrieve a pamphlet from the counter.

Jeongguk takes it carefully, the cover reads Flora Removal Surgery: What You Need to Know. He takes his bottom lip into his mouth and worries it slightly, frowning at the image on the front of a man with a rose growing in his chest.

Dr. Moon scribbles on a pad of paper before ripping it off and handing it to Jeongguk, “Get this filled today, and let’s make an appointment for a follow up in a couple of weeks.”

“Okay,” Jeongguk whispers, head swimming with the doctor’s words.

An hour and a half later Jeongguk is walking home, toting a small paper pharmacy bag and a wrinkled brow. The pamphlet the doctor gave him is burning a hole in his pocket, and he’s so lost in thought that he doesn't see you.

You're learning against the door of his apartment in a patch of sun, squinting as you see him round the corner. He's stressed. You can tell by the way he carries himself: the hunch of his shoulders, the wrinkle in his brow, the downturn of his lips. Right now he resembles the quiet boy you knew in middle school, not the confident young man he actually is.

As soon as he’s in touching distance, you press the back of your hand to his forehead and say, “How are you feeling?”

Jeongguk jumps at the sudden contact. But once he realizes it’s you he chuckles and shakes your hand off, “I’m fine.” But even he doesn’t believe himself. He unlocks the door to the apartment and sighs in relief for the air conditioning.

You follow behind him, picking up the supermarket bag you’d abandoned on the ground as you do so. He said no soup, but he hadn’t said anything about snacks…so you bought all of his favorites.

When you finally get in, closing the door behind you, he’s buried in the fridge (unbeknownst to you, he drops his prescription there in a rush). He’s chugging a carton of orange juice in large gulps. You avoid looking at him (sweaty and shedding his layers of clothing so that his shirt rides up…) and make yourself comfortable on his couch, dumping the contents of the bag onto the coffee table.

“Sick!” Jeongguk grins, swiping a bag of chips from the table and landing next to you on the couch.

There’s a pain in your chest as his arm brushes against yours but you can’t make yourself move away. Instead, you press your hand against his forehead again and frown, “You feel warm.”

“I’ve been walking in the sun for fifteen minutes,” he shrugs, chewing with his mouth open.

You wrinkle your nose at this; it’s one of his more annoying habits from childhood that, unbelievably, has grown on you.

“What did the doctor say?”

Jeongguk clams up. He puts down his bag of chips awkwardly, wiping his mouth to buy time before saying, “It’s not…that bad.”

“What?” Your eyes narrow.

Jeongguk avoids eye contact with you. Jeongguk “Golden Child” Jeon is pretty much good at everything, even lying (when the occasion permits it). He’s like Korean Superman. But his Kryptonite?

Sitting next to him on the loveseat and watching him so closely it burns.

He shrugs and bounces off the couch like he’s spring-loaded, rubbing the back of his neck, “Nothing. A cold.”

You cross your arms and lean into the couch, watching him twitch nervously as he tries to decide why he stood up. “Which is it?” you ask, “Nothing? Or a cold?”

He still won’t look at you. “I mean…it’s a cold. But it’s not anything serious. So it’s nothing. A nothing cold.”

You stand up and touch his arm gently. He finally turns to look at you, his expression guilty. You brush a piece of his hair from his face, and say, “For the record: I don’t believe you. But, fine, you don’t have to tell me.” You shrug, then hit the back of his head, “But you do have to tell me if it gets serious!” You narrow your eyes again before picking up a box of Poky and plopping down on the couch.

Jeongguk stares at you for a moment too long, his chest feeling the lightest it has in days. He adores you, his best friend, his confidant, his person. Watching as you sink deeper into the couch, pulling your knees to your chest and scrolling through Netflix on the TV…it feels like he can breathe again.

But he only gets through half an episode of Hwayugi (a recent discovery on Netflix and an instant favorite of yours and his) before his chest begins to feel tight. Jeongguk coughs harshly into a closed fist, feeling something wet on his palm and already knowing what it is instinctively.

“Gguk?” you gasp when he rises suddenly, bolting across the room and dropping to his knees in front of the toilet. He heaves violently and when he opens his eyes there’s a mix of blood, bile, and dark calla lily petals swirling in the water. Ironically, the sight (and the smell, dear god) makes him nauseous.

He leans away from the bowl, resting his back and head against the wall, trying to calm his heart and get the taste of blood from his mouth. A surge of thoughts hit his mind and he jumps when the toilet flushes.

Your face is confused and concerned as you watch him breathing heavily. Chewing on your bottom lip, you sink to your knees to sit across from him in the small space. "So...it's nothing, huh?"

Jeongguk almost smiles, his lips quirking upward just slightly, dyed red from the blood. He shrugs, his chest hurting with the effort of breathing, “Well…the doctor said it didn’t look too bad.”

“Jeongguk,” you sigh. You reach forward and push his mop of dark hair away from his forehead. There’s a sheen of sweat shining in the light that filters in from the window and you can see his Adam’s apple bob as he swallows down blood and bile, his chest heaves with the exertion. You have to bite your tongue to keep your composure.

You twist around so that you’re sitting next to him, knees touching as he almost subconsciously starts to lean into you. Fighting against the pain, you rest your cheek against the top of his head, sighing again, “Who is it?”

Jeongguk scrunches his face together and you can feel shame shed off him in waves, “Lisa.”

There’s a split second where you can feel a fresh pain in your chest and you almost cry out. Instead, you smile and force a seemingly involuntary snort from your nose, nudging him with your elbow.

“Lisa Em,” you chuckle. Lalisa Manoban from Bangkok. She’d transferred in the middle of fourth grade and had thus made quite an entrance; she was popular instantaneously. All of the teachers had struggled with her last name (for reasons unbeknownst to you) and had unanimously called her Lisa Emmmm.  

You remember the first time Jeongguk saw her. He was ten years old, eyes wide like galaxies and in awe of her. She’d been assigned to your and his reading group; ten-year-old Lisa had pulled out her chair, smiled and bowed shyly at the group, then complimented JK’s sketch of the tree in the courtyard. You’d watched from across the table as a new kind of light hit his fourth-grade face.

In retrospect, after you’d received your official diagnosis, you’d wondered if Hanhaki could start that early. You guessed probably not. But then again…

“Don’t laugh,” Jeongguk whines, but he’s smiling as he buries his head in your shoulder.

“I’m not laughing,” you grin.

“I know I’m an idiot,” he chuckles.

“True,” you joke, pinching his knee playfully, “but not because of this.”

“What should I do?” he whispers as if contemplating it out loud will cause the room to shatter.

“What did the doctor say?” You’re whispering; such delicate and sensitive topics are not meant for the light of day.

“To get over it.”

You roll your eyes, “They did not say that.”

Chuckling despite himself, he clarifies, “He suggested I do what I can to get over her. But he gave me some meds for now, and a pamphlet on the surgery.”

You let out your breath abruptly as if his words were a sudden weight on your chest. You cough almost violently, and Jeongguk pushes off your side to get a good look at you.

You wave your hand at him so he won’t worry, but when you manage to swallow the clotted dandelion seeds in your throat (a habit your doctor has told you multiple times will speed up the progression of your disease) he still has that same expression. To distract him, you say, “Do you want to get over her?”

Jeongguk watches you for another long second, pouting when he decides to answer, “No, of course not.”

“Well then let’s fix you two up!” You’re a little too loud with your explanation, like a goose squawking. You hope he doesn’t notice that your teeth are now stained pink.

“What?”

Awkwardly you lick your teeth, tasting iron on your tongue, before you turn to face him. “That will make the flowers go away! Hanahaki disease is motivated by the brain; you think it’s unreciprocated which makes the flowers grow. If you two get together, you no longer think it’s unreciprocated, the flowers go away!”

Jeongguk runs a hand through his hair and you try not to watch the way his fingers move or his arm flexes. “But in my case, it really is unreciprocated. I only see her when we pass each other on campus. We just…wave,” he says lamely.

“So? Even if you go on a couple of dates, that will do it!”

For the second time, he watches you suspiciously, “Why do you know so much about Hanahaki disease?”

“Um,” you look at the grimy blue bath tile, “I had to research it for an elective?” You mean to make it a statement, but your voice goes up on the end like a question. But the plan has had enough time to percolate in Jeongguk’s mind and he’s too excited now to notice.

“Where do we start?”

Three days later and you’re hiding behind an untrimmed hedge in the quad with Jeongguk. He has his hand shoved into a bag of chips and you keep twisting around to shush him because it’s too noisy.

“I think you’re taking the stealth thing a little seriously,” he chuckles, loudly crunching on chips just to be annoying.

“You’re the one dressed all in black.”

“This isn’t for stealth, this is my aesthetic.” He puts a dramatic emphasis on the word aesthetic, but it’s ruined when he immediately starts crunching loudly on his chips.

You finally look away from the central part of the quad to side-eye him, “Are you sure they meet up here?”

Jeongguk nods seriously and you can see he’s using his tongue to pry chewed chips from his teeth. “I always see Lisa and BamBam sitting around here after my three o’clock class.”

“BamBam” is BamBam Kunpimook, an exchange student from Thailand.  He and Lisa were friends from childhood (before she moved) that had reconnected last year. After a couple of strategizing sessions (in which you and Jeongguk played video games and talked aimlessly about Lisa), you'd decided he posed the biggest threat to Jeongguk’s future success.

You turn back to look at the quad, squinting against the sunlight and Jeongguk puts his chin on your shoulder to watch with you. He stuffs the empty bag of chips into his hoody pocket and frowns, “Are you sure about this?”

You find it hard to concentrate with him all but sitting on top of you. Ever since you’d learned about the Hanahaki disease, he’d amped up the skinship. You’d always been close, and not necessarily shy about skinship, but lately it seems like he’s been hanging off you constantly. Normally, you wouldn’t complain, but it makes it hard to breathe. Literally. The doctor said one of the side effects of Hanahaki, although rare, was that any kind of touch from your unreciprocated love could make the flowers grow.

Jeongguk leans against you heavily, his back pressed against yours and his chin almost digging into your shoulder. He inhales deeply; you smell like soap and laundry detergent (his two favorite things) and it makes his heart flutter. He lets the scent settle in his mind, conjuring up images of you that make him smile. Then he takes another deep breath because it’s easier when he’s close to you.

“Of course,” you whisper, but you don’t turn to look at him. You can feel how close he is and if you turn he’d be right there and with so many possibilities. “This is your life,” you add, shrugging him off gently when you see BamBam’s lithe stature from across the quad.

You stand and raise your arm in a wave, “BamBam!”

Jeongguk almost falls on his ass without you there to steady him. He takes a shaky breath, wincing at the stabs of pain in his lungs now that you’re gone.

BamBam cocks his head at you but doesn’t stop walking, taking his earbuds out and saying your name like a question. His confusion is warranted, considering you’ve only ever had one class together and it's not one in which you’ve ever talked.

“Do you have a second?” You stop in front of him, squinting because he’s standing in front of the sun, “I lost the homework assignment for composition…”

He shrugs good-naturedly and swings his backpack off, turning to place it on a bench as he digs through the papers. You catch sight of Lisa and turn to wave discreetly at Jeongguk.

“Shit,” Jeongguk whispers, bouncing up once he’s seen her. He doesn’t realize his strength and flies about half a foot in the air from the force, landing shakily and almost losing his balance. He jogs across the quad to meet her.

You snort at his antics, shaking your head to turn back to BamBam. He’s holding out the assignment and watching you with a curious expression.

“You like him.” He’s smirking and it isn’t a question.

You hope your blush can be attributed to the mid-afternoon sun. “Of course, he’s my best friend.”

BamBam shakes his head and puts his homework away. You don’t even bother with the ruse anymore, too focused now on your defensive strategies. “Not like that,” he says. He looks above your head now and you turn to follow his line of sight.

Lisa is laughing happily at something Jeongguk’s said and he has his nose scrunched him in a smile so you know he’s pleased. It creates an odd mixture of feelings for you. You’re happy for him because he’s happy; you’d do nearly anything to get him to smile like that. But there’s a sharp pain in your chest, and before you know it you’re coughing up blood.

“Oh my god,” BamBam says, his hand on your back, “Are you okay?”

You wave your hands around as if to say I’m fine, don’t worry, but it just comes off as frantic. BamBam digs into his bag again and pulls out a towel, “Here.”

You take it and wrinkle your nose because it smells like sweat but use it to wipe your mouth anyway. You swallow, but the seeds won’t go down and you cough again, holding the towel to your face and covering it in blood.

Lisa’s the one that points it out to Jeongguk, pointing in your and BamBam’s direction. He turns casually and with a smile, expecting you to be watching his success with pride. But his blood runs cold when he sees you collapsed on a bench with BamBam leaning over you.

Jeongguk can’t think. His heart is pounding so hard in his chest that it’s knocking against his rib cage. It only takes three seconds to run across the quad, but it feels like that dream where no matter how fast he runs he can’t get to where he’s going.

Until he’s there, heaving painless breaths without noticing and crouching over you. His hand is hot on the back of your neck and he’s startled by how cold you are. When he tilts your head to look at him there’s a little crease between his eyebrows.

You’re a bit delirious and all you can think about is kissing that crease.

But then he says your name so earnestly that it cuts through the delirium and the blood loss. You feel BamBam’s towel still in your hand and swiftly push it off the bench, waving your other hand at Jeongguk carelessly.

“I’m fine,” you insist.

“What happened?” Jeongguk whispers. Never, in the entire time you’ve known him, have you seen Jeongguk get loud when he’s upset. He always gets quiet. Lots of people, particularly in high school (pre-Junior year when he went through his growth spurt and started working out), took this as a kind of meekness. You know that to be the furthest thing from the truth. There’s a strength in the depths of his eyes as he watches you now; it makes sharp dandelion stems stab your lungs.

“I just got lightheaded,” you say softly. In his eyes, crouching down beside the strength, you see fear. You place a hand atop his wrist so that he knows to let you go. His hand travels to yours and he helps you stand, tightening his grip when you wobble. “Dehydrated,” you try to explain, watching as BamBam notices the blood on the towel and opens his mouth to contradict you. You make a face before he can and add, “Haven’t had any water today.”

Jeongguk calls you an idiot softly under his breath and you would be annoyed but you’re too tired and you know he’s just scared. Instead, you let him loop an arm around your back to help keep you upright (you need his steady hold more than you can say) and let him walk you away.

Lisa stands next to BamBam and watches the two of you go, “That was weird.”

Only when you’ve both turned the corner does he reach behind the bench and retrieve the bloody towel. He holds it out to Lisa and frowns, “She’s sick.”

The next two days are spent on Jeongguk’s couch because he won’t let you leave. You gave up trying midway through day one because, frankly, he’s bigger and stronger than you. And he has a nice couch.

But he’s been force-feeding you water (8 ounces every hour, on the hour) and you’ve missed nearly all of your classes by now.

“Where are you going?” Jeongguk says when he sees you toeing on your shoes in the entryway. He’s standing at the other end of the hall with a bag of gummies and a hurt-puppy expression.

“Home. To shower. And then to class.” You tighten the straps on your backpack and reach down to get the lip of your shoe over your heel.

“But—”

“I can come back afterward,” you say, smiling at his forlorn expression. “But I have to go to class today because he’s handing out midterm assignments. And if I’m going to class, I have to shower. I’m surprised you put up with it this long.”

Jeongguk frowns, “You do smell pretty bad…but you can use my shower!” He flings his arm in the direction of the bathroom and gummy candies fly out of the bag.

You chuckle and say, “Gguk, I’ll be fine. I’m so hydrated I’m practically a liquid.” You wink at him boldly and disappear out his front door.

Jeongguk stays frowning at the door for a long moment. He places a hand over his heart self-consciously, muttering unhappily, “My chest hurts.” Then he turns on his heel, abandoning the gummy candies he’s spilled.

You get winded walking back to your apartment and you have to pause before you climb the stairs. As you unlock the door you make a mental note to schedule another doctor’s appointment. Even not having taken any the last couple of days, you know you’re running out of anti-growth pills.

You’d thought about sneaking some from Jeongguk’s stash while he held you hostage but it left a sour taste in your mouth. He needed those. Instead, you did your best to hide the coughing and the blood.

You take off your shoes, drop your bag on the ground and immediately turn into the kitchen. The anti-growth pills are sitting on the counter like always and when you twist the cap open you’re disappointed to find you only have ten left.

“I guess that’s what happens when you take them five at a time,” you whisper, shaking out that many and gulping them down without water.

Then you choke. Because you’ve never been badass enough to take pills without water, so you scramble for a glass as you cough. Your phone buzzes as you lean against the sink, breathing heavily.

JK: make it home ok?

The message causes a warm stir of fluttering in your stomach and you smile down at it.

Yes! Stop worrying!

JK: don’t tell me what to do!

Jeongguk has put on jeans and he regrets it. They’re a couple of years old and while he stares down at your messages, waiting for you to reply, he keeps adjusting his crotch in them. They’re a bit tight.

But since you’re going to class, he figured he might as well. Not Calculus, of course (he still thinks that’s some kind of elaborate practical joke pulled by the university), but probably Advanced Photo Comp. and Music Theory. So he showered and pulled a giant black t-shirt out of his closet and the only clean pair of pants he has (he’s been too busy hydrating you the last two days to do laundry): three-year-old jeans.

He stares at his phone the entire walk to campus, checks it every two minutes in both classes (enough that Mr. Kim actually snaps at him), and is still watching it as he crosses the quad on his way home.

“Hey, Jeongguk!”

Lisa Em. He’s startled when he sees her because, as terrible as it sounds, he had kind of forgotten she existed.

Jeongguk furrows his brow, placing a hand on his chest. Nothing but a dull ache. His jaw drops at the realization.

“Lisa,” he smiles at her, “What’s up?”

She shrugs, “I was just wondering if your friend was okay. BamBam and I have been worried.”

His head tilts to the side in confusion.

Lisa says your name and points to the bench, “The girl you’ve been hanging out with forever? The one who was coughing up blood three days ago?”

Jeongguk freezes like there’s ice in his veins. His heart is pounding so loud in his ears that it’s all he can hear. “What,” he whispers. His mind is racing back to the day, to the last couple of days. Why would you cough up blood and not tell him!

Lisa is saying something but he doesn’t listen. “I have to go,” he says, rushing past her.

The professor has just begun explaining the midterm project when you reach down to your bag for a fresh pen and your head starts to swim. You steady yourself on another chair, unable to right yourself.

“Woah,” you whisper. Breathing is like wading through cement.

Your vision goes black and you hit the floor with a loud thump.

When Jeongguk gets to the Modern Languages Building, he’s sweating and out of breath. One of the knees on his jeans has ripped from when he tripped and fell; blood is seeping into the fabric from the scrape on his skin. His lungs burn with the strain but there’s none of that prickly feeling he had grown so used to.

He stops dead in his tracks when he sees the ambulance turn the corner. His knees feel weak and he might’ve hit the ground if BamBam hadn’t come up behind him.

“Hey,” he says softly, patting Jeongguk’s shoulder.

“What,” Jeongguk is panting, still watching the spot he last saw the ambulance, “What happened.”

“She fainted,” BamBam says and holds out a bag. A jolt runs through Jeongguk as he recognizes it; the dorky video game and anime buttons, the spot where Jeongguk scribbled a cartoonish sketch of himself your senior of high school, the orange juice stain…

Jeongguk tugs the bag from BamBam’s grip and clutches it tightly to his chest. BamBam seems to sense his thoughts before he voices them and says, “They’re taking her to Seoul Central.”

Jeongguk is gone.

By the time he arrives at Seoul Central Hospital, Jeongguk has convinced himself that it’s too late. That whatever’s wrong with you has progressed too far and you’re gone. His eyes hurt from holding back the tears.

He approaches the counter of the emergency room like a man walking to his death. His grip on your backpack is so tight the pattern on the handle has dug into his palm. The nurse watches him with a concerned look.

Jeongguk clears his throat and his voice is polite as he says your name. The nurse looks it up on the computer and he can tell she’s found it. But she hesitates.

“We’re not supposed to let anyone but family back,” she says.

“We’re family,” Jeongguk insists, “We’re family,” he repeats it several more times like a mantra.

“Okay, okay, honey,” the woman stands, “Room 1132, two lefts and a right. Go on back.”

Jeongguk nods and pulls your backpack up to his chest, hugging it tightly as he wanders down the hall. All urgency has left him, now he only feels a sense of doom. But she would’ve said something if you were dead…

He doesn’t notice the tears that slip down his cheeks and hit the floor.

“1132,” he whispers, opening the door with a shaky breath.

You’re. Awake.

Jeongguk drops your backpack in surprise and stares. Now he does fall to his knees because he’s so relieved his body can’t hold him up.

“Woah,” a nurse says, jogging from your side of the bed to Jeongguk’s crumpled form on the floor. He lifts him by the armpits and places him in a chair, waving a hand in front of his face. “You okay?”

“Jeongguk?” It hurts to say aloud. Your voice is raspy and raw and soaked in emotion.

At the sound of your voice, Jeongguk is up so fast that he sends the nurse reeling. He takes your hand and squeezes, “What happened? Are you okay? Why did you faint?”

The nurse rolls his eyes and shakes his head. He walks back over to your other side, “That’s what happens when you put off life-saving surgery,” he jokes. He cracks the ice pack he’d been prepping before Jeongguk walked in and then presses it to your head (the spot that hit the ground when you collapsed), “Keep this here. The doctor will be right in.”

“Surgery?” Jeongguk wonders but you won’t meet his eyes. When he finally looks away from you he spots an x-ray in the corner. He assumes it’s yours. A ribcage, dark shadows in the shape of lungs and…a messy infestation of flowers. His eyes turn wide and fearful, “Hanahaki?” His voice cracks.

You nod, tears slipping down your cheeks. Jeongguk stumbles back in disbelief.

“But,” he whispers, over and over again. “Who?”

Tears are spilling over your eyes unbidden, seamless and silent like rain on a window. You try to look at him even though your vision’s blurred. “It’s you, Jeongguk.”

Jeongguk is a statue. Frozen in time. The gears in his brain try to process that statement and they refuse to. He blinks and that’s how you know he’s alive.

You keep crying, still noiselessly, but you cover your face. You’re mortified. And your chest feels like the crack in the concrete where flowers bloom, split open by nature and forever scarred.

It’s a long minute before Jeongguk finally says, “What.” His eyes flick to you and stare like you’re an abstract painting he doesn’t understand.

You frown and your face is itchy with wetness. Your voice is soft and raw, “You’re my unrequited love, Jeongguk.” Your voice cracks on his name.

He points to himself as if you may have gotten him confused for someone. “Me.”

You almost laugh. You do smile. He’s ridiculous.

“What do you mean unrequited?” he frowns, and it’s really a pout. He can’t believe that you could be friends for two decades and you think he doesn’t love you.

You sigh; your smile is gone. “I know I’m your best friend and you love me, but…”

“I’m in love with you,” he blurts and then looks sheepish.

You shake your head, “Don’t just say that.”

Jeongguk furrows his brow, “I would never just. Say. That.” He’s balled his hands into fists and he’s about as angry as you’ve ever seen him. He chews on the inside of his cheek and stuffs his hands into his pockets. He can’t take it anymore.

Jeongguk lunges forward boldly, clumsily taking your face in his hands and pressing his lips to yours. He’s determined and his lips stay frozen against yours for a long time; your eyes are open as you stare at him, bewildered.

When he pulls away there are tears in his eyes, “It’s not going to work if you don’t kiss back.”

“What’s not going to work?” you whisper, brushing a tear from his cheek.

“Making the flowers go away,” two more tears, “If you kiss me back, you believe that I love you…they’ll go away. Kiss me back.”

This time when he kisses you you’re ready. He tastes like mango chapstick and desire. His hands are warm against your cheeks and his kiss makes you feel warm everywhere else. When he pulls away so you can breathe, he lands soft butterfly kisses all over your face.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers, kiss, kiss, kiss. On the side of your mouth and your cheeks and your nose and you’re forehead. “I’m sorry. I love you.”

A doctor clears their throat and Jeongguk leaps away from you like he’s been electrified. He stares at the ground sheepishly and it makes you giggle and blush. The doctor is standing in the doorway watching with a  bemused expression.

“Well,” the doctor says, standing in the doorway casually, “I guess we should do an x-ray to confirm there are no more flowers.”

author’s note—happy birthday jeongguk-ssi (now watch this tweet go crazy)

for more of my works check out my m.list

[silvorr]

Lost In Paris

In the origins episode, it’s mentioned that before giving Marinette and Adrien their miraculous Master Fu had once before committed a mistake. In this AU, that mistake was giving the Ladybug miraculous to the wrong holder. The Evil holder is eventually defeated but unfortunately the Ladybug earrings are lost, and they remain lost until they’re found by a 13-year-old Kerryn:

A city slept in the dark of night, and a young girl picked up the sound of footsteps closing in. She couldn’t have been more than thirteen years old, bright golden eyes wide with fear as she scurried on her way. Still, when the footfalls behind her started coming closer to her own, quiet as a mouse she slipped into the shadows of a narrow alleyway. She pressed herself within those shadows and waited with bated breath as her pursuers paused at the mouth of the passage, no doubt looking for her.

She slipped deeper into the space between the two buildings, careful not to make any sound and after a tense minute or two, her pursuers decided to continue on past her hiding spot. She waited another minute or two before making to slip outside, but not before something in the deep of the alleyway caught her eye. She paused and looked to see a soft red glow coming from somewhere up ahead, almost completely muffled by the shadows. Her curiosity got the best of her, and when she came to stop before the source of the glow, she realized that it was coming from two dots on the dust covered cobble stone floor. When she crouched down to look closer, she saw that the two dots were actually a pair of earrings that were emitting a soft red pulse.

Something about them… they seemed to call to her. Before she could study them further, however, she heard voices closing in to where she stood. Before she could think too much of it, she had scooped those strange earrings up and into her pocket and was on her way.

·       Tikki was attracted to the Kerryn’s aura for a certain reason and that’s why she risked being found, even when there was a chance that Kerryn could have been a bad person. It was a situation where it was better Kerryn than someone else.

·       When Kerryn finds the earrings, her first desire is to use them as a means of finding freedom. She is young and growing, and with her parents constantly away she seeks approval from those around her. Tikki realizes this and allows the use of her earrings as long as Kerryn is careful and good.

·       Thus, Red Bandit is born, a vigilante who’s content to stay in the shadows. Tikki encourages Kerryn to be secretive, afraid that any flashy use of the earrings might attract the wrong kind of attention. In a way, Kerryn keeps from using her super powers too much, and whenever Red Bandit is active, she mostly sticks to using her enhanced sense. This means that whenever Red Bandit is featured in the news, she’s just seen as a normal person and not someone with magical superpowers.

·       Tikki soon comes to realize that while Kerryn is becoming better as Red Bandit, its clear that she does not suit the Ladybug miraculous. The reason Tikki was attracted to Kerryn was because she’s a very good fit for the Black Cat miraculous, and since that is Tikki’s other half, she trusted Kerryn to protect her.

·       The reason Tikki doesn’t have Kerryn take the earrings to Master Fu is because she doesn’t know where he is, the Guardian having changed location after the last time her earrings were misused. Also, having the earrings and the Black Cat’s ring in separate locations is better, as anyone looking for both would find it more difficult to acquire them.

·       Kerryn will eventually come to understand that the Ladybug miraculous will never belong to her and she will have to give it away once the true holder is found. She is mostly okay with this, even though she’ll miss Tikki immensely once she’s gone.

·       In the end, Kerryn gets to keep her miraculous for three years before disaster strikes.

-

(A/N: The following is when Hawk Moth first makes an appearance, and our protagonist is faced with the choice of having Red Bandit making her official debut as a super hero, or finding the true successor for the Ladybug miraculous (Also, this when Kerryn is 16)):

“Almost… There…” Kerryn felt her fingertips brush against the book on the top shelf. She felt the step ladder wobble beneath her and grabbed the bookshelf to keep herself from falling, but no one could have warned about the tremendous shockwave that ran through the ground seconds after and shook her right off her perch.

“Owwwwwww… What the fuck?”

“Kerryn! Are you okay?” Kerryn looked up to meet worried violet eyes and managed a pained smile. “M’ fine Tikki. What was that though?”

The little kwami shrugged. Kerryn got up and brushed herself off, highly aware of the distant screaming that was audible even in the usually quiet library. She made her way to the front and saw the librarian standing a few feet in front of her desk, eyes glued to her phone. When Kerryn peered over the woman’s shoulder, she was met with the image of a stone… monster? Yes, something that seemed to be a stone monster, terrorizing the streets of Paris.

“What is that?”

By the wide-eyed look the librarian spared her, something told her that she was just as lost as Kerryn felt. Kerryn slowly backed away until she was hidden behind a bookshelf and Tikki slowly floated out to join her. “Tikki, what’s going on?”

“It’s- It’s an akuma…” With a spark of fear Kerryn realized that never before had she seen the little god this afraid. Between them Tikki was often the optimist, always one to see the bright side of a situation. While Kerryn often ended up in messes she did not mean to cause, Tikki was all about finding ways out of them. She was the kwami of creation for a reason, after all. (It always seemed like a bitter reminder to Kerryn. As if she needed further proof than Tikki’s own words that the Ladybug miraculous had never been meant for her, that she was just a simple place-holder until the true Ladybug was found.)

“Hey, come on, look at me Tikki.” The little kwami had her mouth set in a worried frown, “Its okay. We’ll find our way out of this. I know things have been really rough for you for a really long time, but you found me, didn’t you? And I promise, I promise, I won’t let you down Tikki, not if I can help it.”

The little god gave a soft smile, “Thank you Kerryn. I knew I made the right choice reaching out to you.”

“Hell yeah you did. Come on now, back in. I’ll see what I can learn about the situation.”

-

After running around Paris for about half an hour Kerryn was none the wiser. From what Tikki had told her, an akuma, a name for the kind of creature that was currently running around, was basically a champion for a dark butterfly miraculous holder. The butterfly miraculous had the power to give out superpowers so that normal people could possibly help in a fight, but an akuma was basically the butterfly taking advantage of people’s negative emotions. According to Tikki, only the Ladybug miraculous holder could possibly stop and ‘purify’ an akuma.

Nobody knew what the current butterfly was currently after, but Tikki’s best guess was that they were probably looking for the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculous. Wielding the two together at the same time meant gaining ultimate power, and who didn’t want to rule the world?

Kerryn made to follow after the akuma but made sure to keep a safe distance. Her first instinct was to analyze the akuma, and after watching a number of failed attempts from the police it became evident that StoneHeart, as the akuma called itself, only got bigger whenever he was hit. The police didn’t seem to register this and kept attacking anyways but they only succeeded in further angering the stone being. StoneHeart seemed to be shouting a particular name wherever he went, and Kerryn had to make a guess that this was probably the name of the person who had angered him in the first place.

She was currently hiding behind a building and out of sight as StoneHeart rumbled around the city.

“Do you think Red Bandit will need to make an appearance Tikki?”

“Absolutely not.” Kerryn looked down to see Tikki poking her head out of her jacket, “You know you’re not suited for the Ladybug miraculous Kerryn.”

“Tikki, you know as well as I do that Red Bandit would rather stick to the shadows and never make her debut if she could help it, but unless the Guardian gives out a miraculous and soon, Red Bandit is really the only person who can stop StoneHeart.”

“Well what about- “Before Tikki had the chance to continue there’s a sound of metal against cobblestone as a someone in black leather comes crashing down in front of them. Tikki quickly ducks back into her jacket and Kerryn bends down to help the poor soul to his feet.

“You okay?”

“Yup! Just peachy!” the enthusiasm in his voice is contagious and Kerryn finds herself smiling at him.

“Strange get-up you got there.”

“Thanks. Don’t know about you, but I’m still new to this whole super-heroing thing.” The boy, whose probably younger than Kerryn if not her age readies the baton he’s carrying against the sidewalk, “See you later miss!” the baton extends and becomes impossibly long and the boy vaults away, leaving Kerryn to stare after him.

“Looks like we better make our decision quickly, Tikki.”

-

Kerryn decides that she’s had enough running around for a while and finds refuge in a nearby bakery. She vaguely remembers her friend recommending this place to her, something about how this was probably the best bakery in the whole of Paris. Whatever it is will do, because if she’s right then the Ladybug miraculous will become active soon enough no matter what, and Tikki needs to keep her strength up for it. She buys herself and her kwami a couple of macaroons to munch on and keeps an eye outside while she watches the news on a nearby television.

“I’m home- Ack!” Kerryn turns just in time to see someone trip into the bakery, arms out and flailing as the girl tries to keep herself upright. Before Kerryn can move to help the girl a gasp sounds from her jacket, catching both her and the new comer’s attention. Kerryn moves forward to cover it up and extends a hand to the new girl, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” The girl excepts her hand and pulls herself upright, “I’m really clumsy so this isn’t anything out of the ordinary.”

Kerryn smiles, “If you say so.”

Once the girl has drawn away from her and to the owners of the bakery Kerryn slips into a quieter corner of the shop. She glares down at her jacket, “What was that Tikki? You almost gave yourself away.”

Tikki whizzes out of Kerryn’s pocket, “Kerryn, she’s the one!”

Kerryn gives Tikki a startled look, “The one?”

Tikki nods excitedly, “I can feel a really strong Ladybug aura from her! It’s quite possibly the strongest I’ve felt for a while now!”

There’s a sharp intake of breath, “Are you sure Tikki? You know we can’t mess this up.”

“I swear! You have to trust me on this.”

Kerryn worries her bottom lip between her teeth. So, this was it, huh? Her years as Red bandit were over, and there was a high possibility that she’d never see Tikki again.

“Hey.” Kerryn looks up to meet kind eyes, “I’ll miss you a lot Kerryn. You were most possibly one of the best holders I’ve ever had, even when we didn’t get to save the world together.”

Kerryn manages a small smile at that, “I’ll miss you too Tikki. Come on, lets sneak your earrings into her room.”

-

When Marinette later goes up to her room, her attention is caught by a black pair of earrings kept in front of her computer that she can swear weren’t there before.

-

@tyagressian @zazzlejazzle

[localwebmgmt]

Weekly SEO Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 328

Click on the video above to watch Episode 328 of the Semantic Mastery Hump Day Hangouts.

Full timestamps with topics and times can be found at the link above.

The latest upcoming free SEO Q&A Hump Day Hangout can be found at http://semanticmastery.com/humpday.

Announcement

All right, welcome everybody to Hump Day Hangouts. This is Episode 328. It is the 24th of February 2021. Now we got some really important date information out of the way we can get into saying hi to everybody. And then get into your questions. We do have a couple quick announcements, but we will get to those shortly. So let’s see. Gonna go around the circle here and start with Chris. How you doing today?

Excellent. Here, I noticed your shirt. And

when this mic coming over, I kind of like go for like, fair enough. Yeah, we got to get one door set up. So yeah, I pulled this one out. I forgot I had it. This thing’s in like mint condition. It was hiding in the back of my closet. So I haven’t got that’s why it’s looking so neat. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So Oh, anyways, Marco, how you doing today?

Oh, you’re muted.

Hello, there we go.

Gaming now.

I was gonna say,

Oh, I was going to, if I go too much into the window, then I start disappearing off into the light. I’m being called into the light. It’s not a fake background. It is what it is. I’ve been showing it. In fact, for over a year now. The plan was to show it for a year, every Wednesday night. so that people could see this is Costa Rica, no matter what. What let you never see me in a sweater. Ever, ever. I don’t need it. I mean, this is what it is. It’s beautiful. My Fortress of Solitude. We talk about TOEFL all the time, right? Like, what’s your, what are you going to define as your bow? This is part of mine. This is what this is where I choose to live is where I choose to be. I don’t have to be here. Many people are stuck in a place where they have to be where they have no choice. I tell people get away from it get away from not having a choice. And the way to give yourself the choices that you want or that you need are to follow the path to po foo position of fuck you where you can just decide what you’re going to do how you’re going to do and nobody I mean, nobody tells you what to do, or how to do it.

No, I think what we might have to do is get like get someone to go through the videos and put together a flipbook of you for all the Wednesday so we’ll just have someone you need someone to go on Monday. I shot Yeah.

Hernan you are you there? I’m here, man. How’s it going? Good. They didn’t let you in. For some reason. It’s not like I’m getting drunk in the middle of a bunch of ruckus. I don’t know, man. Are you bouncer at the door? Now? I’m wondering if you’re getting drunk in the middle of the day? Yeah, no, I’m not I sort of got the bouncer at the door. The door slammed me and now I’m good man. I’m happy to be back. Last week, I was traveling and was visiting clients consulting a little bit and it was good. Happy to be back. Back home back in the routine. I was craving for some routine even a week, you know, completely bust my productivity. But we get we get go. Alright. And last but not least Bradley, how you doing today? Good. I’m good, busy. And it’s like, almost 70 degrees here in Virginia in the middle of February, when just like three days ago, it was like 22 degrees, you know, in the middle of the afternoon. So it’s really weird. But it’s warm up here. And by the way, my Semantic Mastery shirts awfully worn Look at that.

Like you can get through its paces for a few years. Yeah, I’ve I’ve gotten my use out of this one. That’s for sure. So I need a new shirt just like you, Adam. All right, well, we gotta get that set up, then I’ll get the ball rolling on that we’ve had a few people pinging us about getting some shirts or some like a baseball cap. So we’re gonna get that stuff set up. And once we do, we’ll let everyone know about it. Obviously, it’s a setup. So before we get into the questions, just wanted to say first of all, thanks for watching. We knew a lot of people check it out. Not everybody’s able to attend live and whether you’re live or watching the replay on YouTube, we appreciate it. Let us know you’re watching. Say hi. You don’t have to ask a question. If you don’t want to. We know some people just like coming by seeing what’s being answered and kind of picking up the knowledge they can. So that’s fine to just say hi or leave a comment. And if you’re new to semantic mastery, or mgib best place for you to start is the SEO shield calm. That’s the word de and then Seo field.com. Right, find out how to shield your site, you don’t worry about algorithm updates. Again, it’s free training, just go check it out. And that way, you’ll also know what the hell we’re talking about when we say SEO killed, which is very good, and it’s gonna be very good for you down the road. So go check that out. If you’re looking for something more in line with kind of a bigger overview as far as what we do in terms of SEO results, check out the battle plan. You can get that at battle plan dot semantic mastery.com. And then next, we get people asking us a lot of times about hey, I’m either a small agency owner or consultant, I want to get more clients I want to grow my revenue and I want to scale my team. So if you can answer yes to any of those two x your agency is what you want to

Check out that’s just 2xyouragency.com. You can find out more about that. And then last but certainly not least, you want to grow your digital marketing business, although we do have some some business owners in this group as well. But the mastermind is really where you want to be. If you want to experience community and fast access to real world info, then go check it out mastermind dot semantic mastery.com.

And also, we mentioned brother I just mentioned that SEO shield not too long ago, you can find out about the SEO shield syndication networks, the link building press releases all this done for you stuff we talked about over at mgyb.co. And we talk about that a lot, because it’s services we use as well. And we’d recommend you do too, we understand sometimes you got more time than money when you’re getting started. And you got to put in the time build it yourself. But especially if you’re doing client work, you should be outsourcing this or training someone to build that stuff for you. So either go through the trading, or get stuff done at Mt ye save yourself time and allow yourself to grow that way.

Alright guys, that’s it. on my end. Is there anything else we need to talk about before we dive into questions? One last thing, charity webinars?

We just got finished on Monday it I mean, we outdid ourselves. I know I’m I’m biased. But but that’s what people are saying. I’m seeing it on my page, I’m seeing it in our groups. That it was it was just, it was massive was I gave away the farm. Basically, if people know what to look for, if people were paying attention that people understand what it is that they got. Alright.

But that’s the whole point understand it. So during the last webinar, what we did was put it together.

So that this kind of what do you call a plan of attack, a way to go and and get results. Because we got just massive information, Bradley gave the farm away, he gave a whole course away, you gave a whole course during the first webinar fantastic. Then comes Dixon Jones content and entities and comes Jordan with how to brand yourself how to create that brand and how to hook it up with the idea how to deliver the message properly. And then we got Brian cattle showing how entities work in images and how we can spam Google with images and get our entity more recognition. And then the last one is we put it all together. And so it just because they’re finished doesn’t mean that people can’t access that they can donate, just go donate you follow the instructions, send proof of the donation to the Gmail that I’ve been sharing. And then you’ll get access to the recordings. Because the last one will be uploaded probably today or tomorrow. It needs to it needed a little bit of editing.

Sweet, awesome. And Marco, you got the instructions on the hump day hangouts page for people. I will drop it in there. Awesome.

Cool. Let’s check out the questions. All right. I’m good to screen.

Would It Be Beneficial To Make A Subdomain To Target A Product Subtopic?

Okay, yeah, we’re zoomed in. So it looks like we’re starting with ChazB today. He says, Hey, guys, thanks for answering my question. Last week, I have another and not a hypothetical one. I’m building out a site at the moment, the subject or main keyword is like Google, and I’m targeting a product subtopic but a very original specific name given to a certain product line that is related to the brand. For the sake of this question, I’ll call it F Google. My question is in regards to subdomains, would it be beneficial to make a subdomain for example, Google dot brand domain.com slash f Google. I know I can make a subfolder for Google, but I’m thinking of keeping the hops to a minimum. From what I’ve been told in Jeffrey Smith SEO Bootcamp course Google reads and takes keywords for this left priority per se, by the way, a great course for you guys have recommended for the last few years. So he’s talking about Jeffrey Smith’s SEO Bootcamp, which is a fabulous course. And that is a question that I honestly, am not sure how to answer. Marco, that is definitely one for you.

I’m not sure. What do you what he’s looking to do? Because why have a subdomain with somebody else’s brand? Is that was that what he’s saying? Because he could just go subfolder if you if what you’re looking at for power. And to avoid additional half, instead of being in the subdomain, just move it into a subfolder.

Okay, so to me, that’s a misinterpretation. I miss interpretation of what Geoffrey Smith is teaching because he’s going thinking that the URL structure should keep the I see what it means. That should keep that subdomain name to the lessons that include the keyword, but no proper URL structure would be your brand. And then the subfolder Yeah, so that’s what the bottom two stands right. So so the way

And just to kind of reiterate what you said, but maybe in a different way. And I would agree that I would rather have my brand name first the root domain, and then in this example, Google as the primary topic or a category, and then F Google as a subcategory. Is that what you’re saying? Absolutely, yeah. Okay.

So there you go. Hopefully, that answers your question about a category, or he can even I mean, insert, which is if you don’t want to go sub subdomain if you want to bring the subdomain, something like a subdomain to the root domain, then what you do is you install a subfolder. But again, yes, you’re right, you don’t need that. But you need to simply a category that’s titled, f Google and work from there that the top-level category and try to rank that, and you’re going to see that you start ranking for all the low hanging fruit when you try to deliver all that power to that top-level category. Yep.

Yeah, cuz the way he’s got this, it’s almost like it’s two different sites, there’s the brand because he’s talking about installing it on a subfolder or subdomain. So that would be like a separate site. So I’m not sure what the configuration why you would do that.

But what Marco is saying is that it’s better to go as a subfolder than it is a subdomain. And years ago, we taught, you know that, and I did it myself, I used to always use subdomains for just about everything. So for example, for a multi-location local business, or lead generation, whatever, I would have the root domain, but then for each additional location, so each additional GMB location, essentially, I would have a subdomain that was named after that city. So it would be city dot brand domain.com. And I would have separate WordPress installs for each one. And that, you know, that worked, in part because Google would treat a subdomain as a standalone domain as opposed to like, so for example, if any one of the locations were to catch a penalty, it wouldn’t affect the other locations, and it wouldn’t affect the root domain. Whereas if we had put them on subfolders, so they each had, or, or just built one site, and then did everything through categories, and perhaps tags, which is the way that I do it. Now, then, if any one of those locations were to catch a penalty, then it would affect the route because it was all built on the root domain if that makes sense. So I used to segregate or separate everything, keep them separate for that reason. But you know, over the years now, since really Marco and started developing, like the entity-based SEO and Semantic Web, SEO, and all that kind of stuff, I haven’t had any problems with any of my locations. So I stopped doing sub-domains and started building everything out now on just the root domain. And using standard category, taxonomy, and tags now for location silos. And I do all that on the root domain, as opposed to having multiple subdomains or multiple subfolders. And it just makes it so much easier to manage a brand and multiple location projects. So I’m just speaking on that because I think it’s similar to what it is that you’re doing. If you use the types of methods that we’ve been teaching, you shouldn’t have to worry about catching a penalty to your root domain at all. So it’s better for SEO to do and also easier to manage if you can keep it all under one WordPress install. But if you needed a second WordPress install, then it’s recommended. Now if I correct me if I’m wrong, Marco, but to do that as a subfolder, as opposed to a subdomain, is that correct? We go so far that people have to understand even dub dub dub. is a subdomain whatever. You’ve seen a dub dub dub, however, many dubs you want, dub dub, dub dub to they’re all subdomain, the root is anything after the so. If you want to power up the root, yeah, we go into sub-domains, and you install that subdomain, excuse me, but subfolders and install as many as you want. Because you are not going to smash those subfolders. And not like we used to, we used to beat up the subdomain, where, you know, we did it that way, because we’d expect to catch a penalty. And then we could just disconnect that subdomain. But I mean, we protect the money sites so much, that isn’t necessary anymore like you said, I mean, that’s, that’s what we look to do now. Because we see the power that the drive stacks have with the expansions, right? We’ve seen the power that develops over time. And so from seeing that we understand that installing everything on the root domain is where all the power should accrue so that you can deliver it any way you want.

Does Having More Backlinks Give You A Better Chance Of Outranking Local Service Business Competitors?

Sweet All right, thank you for that. So rocket blasters up he say the more backlinks the better chance I have at outranking my competitors for a local service business already purchased some SEO shield now. Not necessarily.

It’s not about the quantity it’s about relevancy, right quality relevancy and also, you

Again, the way that we teach is building all to this SEO shield as opposed to the money site. So I don’t know how Margo, how would you answer this one?

No, that’s not it’s me. And even john Mueller came out and had something to say on this. It’s not the number of backlinks we’ve been saying this for years now. Yeah. It’s not the amount, but the quality of the back activity, relevance trust, and authority in accordance with the distance graph algorithm and the distance graph patent with which measures how far you are, are away from a trusted source.

We did this presentation on Monday, guys, go and Donate to the charity and understand why an orphan website with a backlink will not have the power that a relevant website that’s related to an entity has to go, we explained it, we showed it. We did. Rob did the relational comparison between the Google relational database and the way that we approach entity building, and how you can mimic that to the greatest effect. Taking advantage of the distance graph, which measures hops away from authority, authoritative, and trusted sources. I’m not talking Moz, I am not talking about any third-party vanity metrics. I’m talking about the Google patent the algorithms that matter, which is Google’s and nobody else’s. And if nobody else has to know because they won’t give it up. But understanding how these algorithms work, meaning that we are as close to the belly of the beast as possible, there is no more trusted and authoritative source on the web than Google. We all know that. The second most trusted and authoritative source on the web is Wikipedia. Google trained, its AI Empire on Wikipedia, you start understanding this and applying it and putting it all together, then you then you’ll know the answer to this question.

I mean, we do a million backlinks, they work perfectly well, but dedhia categorizes, right, his web 2.0 profiles, so that they’re relevant. And they provide further relevance. And they’re going into our drive secondary site, which is Google. And so that’s trust and authority there. So we’re taking full advantage of activity, relevance, trust, and authority so that we don’t have to master 2000 something ranking factors, positive and negative. We don’t have to know that. All we have to know his activity, relevance, trust and authority, and everything. In these over 2000 ranking factors fall under one of that category.

Can You Continue Buying More Links And Point Them Back To Existing Links In The SEO Shields To Create Tiered Links?

Sweet. Alright, so the next part of that was once I receive my backlinks, can I continue to buy some and point them at the previous backlinks to create tiered links, you can. However, when you order the links, you can order tiered links. And that’s what we recommend if you order some of the link building packages that are kind of pre-created, or you can create your own and you can always add additional layers to that link building order. So

I’ll just tell you how I do it. I don’t take the link building. So when we get link building gig has been delivered, right? We get a Google Sheet that has all the tier one links, and then the second tab has all the tier two links.

And I just send those to an indexing service. And I don’t even send my the second-tier links in from the Google Sheet to an indexing service, because it’s typically 10s of 1000s of them. But I’ll do the first-tier links, right? I’ll send those to an indexing service. And then that’s pretty much it, I might run it through an indexing service again at a later date. But other than that, I’ll just buy additional link-building packages to power up. The SEO shield properties or syndication network properties are specific post URLs from the syndication network or whatever, right? So essentially, just depending on what it is that I’m trying to target, but I don’t. And again, maybe there is some benefit to building links to the previously built backlinks. But I don’t do that just because I’m constantly powering up different URL sets from my tier one entity assets if that makes sense. Because I ordered tiered link building when I ordered a link building gig, it’s already tiered. So I don’t then build additional links to those links. I just continue to build links to different URL sets from my tier one entity assets.

I hope that was clear. Does anybody want to comment on that? No, that was perfect. But it could make sense to run a tiered link building gig into a tiered link building gig for better indexing. That’s true. I’ve seen many times that when you do that you get better indexing not only the on the previous tier.

The building set, but also like into the syndication networks and into drive. But that’s simply a matter. And we’ve shared this before of pushing the further tiers further in the more activity, relevance, trust, activity, relevance, trust and authority, or the art of art that takes place in the outer tears, the further that they come in. Now, you can imagine this as tears on a cake, where I mean, you put your finger on the lowest tier, and then you go up to the next tier, and the next one. And the next one. I mean, that’s actually what you’re doing, you’re moving up in tears, or think of electrons moving closer, right, moving closer in the house or jumping in hybrid is that you want to look at this activity, relevance, trust, and authority brings the outer tears in so that there’s better indexing suite.

Is There A Way To Bulk Mirror Location Pages From The Money Site To The GSite With The Same URL Structure?

Okay, so the next question is from Jackson, he says, Is there a way we can bulk mirror location pages from the money site into the G site with the same URL structure rather than manually creating all the pages? insights.google.com. And, Marco’s, that one’s for you? Because I still, we still might my team still does it manually. So.

Alright, so Bob, mirror location? No, it’s manual.

Okay. Give me a second. Let me just see what he’s talking about location pages from the money signed into the D site with the knot, you can’t do it with the same URL structure?

You can’t? How can you do the same URL structure when your domain is your brand.com. And the Google site is sites.google.com dot one dot whatever unless you mean that you want the same set of keywords that are in the original URL, and that are in the original URL into this. And the only way I know how to do this in an automated way is through the software that we use. And that’s never getting out of in Haskell, we paid a whole lot of money for that. A whole lot of time went into development. just crazy hours into doing that. And that’s never seen the light of day. I’m sorry. Now, this is a question I’m asking. Because I’m curious Marco.

Now, like something like you bought studio doesn’t work well with G sites, does it?

I’ve never tried it. You bought studio, we had that really bad experience with a US studio, one of the top guys in there. And then I just never tried it might have been the guy it might not have anything to do with you bought studio, but it left a really bad taste in my mouth. And I don’t want to ever go through that again. Yeah, and I’ve never tried to, you know, build out anything like that. I was just curious if because I know that you and the team had tried to build out. And I know we’ve got something on the back end that we use for automating some stuff. But almost everything that we do is still manual. So I was just curious if you’ve never had any experience trying to automate anything like that with you, but because I don’t know if it could be done or not with you. But we did it. I mean, that’s how we create the expansion stacks. That’s how we expand them, right? We can add whatever we want into the URL structure. And we can copy the drive Second, the G site that that’s all software, that again, guys, I can’t give you that. I mean, you can go and buy it from us. You’re more than welcome to that. But we spent a ton of money. And not only the money that we spent, and are still paying to this day but the hours that I spent on that and the hours that developers spent on that and what do you call it Cesar? and Rob ridiculous hours? No, I can’t give that away. You. You’re welcome to use it. We made it available in our mgyb.co store. You can order expansion stacks all day long. But I mean, we came up with it. And that’s the service that we provide not the How to.

There you go. Yeah. And I remember you and your team working on that for months and months. And so yeah, I can understand not wanting to reveal that for sure. All right.

Does Using GSuite Offer SEO Benefits Than Using Zoho Mail?

ninjas up, says, Hey, guys, when you come to using email providers, do you see any SEO or other benefit of using G Suite versus something like Zoho mail. Zoho suite has a huge number of apps that make life much easier for running a business with all totals under all tools, excuse me under one roof. I’ve been trying to integrate G Suite mail with Zoho, but at this point, I’m not sure it is worth my effort. Thanks for the input, okay. I have no experience with Zoho whatsoever. I use. It was formerly G Suite. But now it’s Google workspace or workspaces. I think it’s a workspace. Anyway, that’s what I use and I have been now for a couple of years.

For cold email contact and prospecting. But I’m also using a high level, which is an app that will allow me to automate and turn Google workspace and email through SMTP into an automated emailing platform. Now, it’s not technically designed for that. Like they recommend inside a high level to use mailshake, which is an SMT provider as well, or excuse me, not mailshake, they recommend in high level to use mailgun which integrates with high level and I don’t like that though. So I’m still using G Suite, but I’m also doing prospecting, cold prospecting. So sending out cold emails, I’m doing low volume, so much more targeted type emails, instead of doing mass emails. So I can’t comment on Zoho because I’ve never used it. I like using Google stuff, Google domains, or Google workspace, excuse me for emailing for a number of reasons. Number one, it’s Google, I’m familiar with it. I’m used to using you know, I built my entire business on Google Apps. My entire business is really built to optimize Google stuff for clients, you know, so I’m just comfortable with that, number one, number two, it integrates with high level, which is my chosen platform for marketing automation. And in number three, is it’s a Google property. So by buying a domain, and paying Google like that, instantly, add some authority and validation entity validation for whatever brand it is that I’m using it for. So there’s a couple of reasons or several reasons why I can’t choose to use Google workspace. Now, that all said,

I just launched a new agency, and just started prospecting last Monday. So it’s, we’re about a week and a half in and getting really, really good results already. I’ll be talking a lot more about this kind of stuff in the mastermind. But I took a really, really good inexpensive cold email course, that I just got. It attracted me from a Facebook ad. But anyway, it’s called cold email mastery.

And it’s on gumroad. And I can’t remember the guys’ name. But if I pull it up, it’ll probably look like, here it is this one right here. And the only reason why I’m pulling this up guys is that first of all, it’s only 125 bucks. And it’s an outstanding cold email course for prospecting, right for using cold emails to get your foot in the door or to open up a conversation with your target prospects. It’s outstanding. It’s real short to the point. It’s no fluff, it’s all actionable stuff. I love the guy style. He’s, he’s a much like Marco in that he cusses in his trip, money, it’s he’s real to the point like there’s no fluff, no Polish nothing. So it’s a really good course I would recommend it. And he talks about using mailshake as the best emailing platform, now I haven’t used it, I think I may start to try that at some point as my prospecting volume increases for my new agency. If I get to a point where I feel like I’m reaching the limits that a G Suite or Google workspace account should be doing for cold emails, then I will, then that will be the app that I test, which is mailshake. But that’s only because again, I thought this course was outstanding, and that’s what he recommends. So I can’t speak on Zoho. But I personally still to this day, even for my new agency, I’m cold prospecting right now, and I’m using Google workspace. But I’m using a high level to automate it. But as I said, if I needed to upgrade to something that is more designed for cold email marketing, then it’s likely I will go with mailshake. And by the way, again, I highly recommend anybody that’s doing cold emailing for prospecting, check this course out, it’s fabulous. Any comments on that? How long ago did did did I write the ROI is a black book about three, four years ago? Yeah, at least. And didn’t we talk about paying Google extra drive space, G Suite, back then whatever it is. Now, whatever iteration it is, did we mention that and we talked about it, and we spoke why we were talking entities back then now it’s the big thing. Four years ago, when this was done when our academy was released. over five years ago, we went and said, focus on your entity, make sure it’s not a known entity. But make sure Google knows and understands that you are a real person with a credit card and that you become a customer rather than a leech, rather than someone who uses the free resources and only the free resources. And what that does is it’s not going to necessarily directly is that cause and effect and how it will affect your rankings. It’s there’s a correlation though, between paying Google and IBM being safer, being able to get away with more.

And the way that I see this is they have your credit card on file or your debit card or whatever it is that you’re paying them.

They know that it’s a customer and they can make money from you. So it’s unlikely that they’re going to mess with someone that’s making them money. So I think, and again, this is one of the only times that I’ll share theory, my theory is that the bot will move elsewhere before coming back to you and checking, or whatever it is that you’re doing. So it’s just a way to provide extra protection for whatever it is that you’re doing.

Yeah, and as I said, I’ve been using Google domains. Oh, and that’s, again, I’m not even gonna get into that. But some, I mean, just some amazing stuff that was taught in this course, about like, even using Google domains to purchase your domain, on through a G Suite account, because now you’re registering a domain through Google domains, under like through an existing Google workspace account, and will automatically set up a Google workspace on the new domain with the SPF records, your DKM records, all of that stuff is all done instantly. And it’s three bucks more than it costs to buy a domain from Google domains than it is from Namecheap. And so I don’t know, I picked up a lot of really good tips from this course. And as I said, I’ve been using Google domains now for I don’t know, like the last three are Google workspace excuse me G Suite for emails. For like, the last maybe three years, might only be two, but two or three years and it’s definitely hands down my preferred method. So for any new project that I start, that’s the first thing I do is I go set up a Google workspace now I’m going to start buying them through Google domains likely buy domains through Google domains, but usually, I buy domains from Namecheap. And then I would instantly go set up a G Suite account for that new project, or a Google workspace account. So yeah, I’m a big fan of Google workspace for email.

Okay, that’s a great question. By the way.

Does User Intent Prevail Domain Authority And Page Authority All Together?

A next is BB with multiple questions, as always, he goes, number one is does user intent prevail over I guess, over domain authority and page authority altogether? In my opinion, yes. And that’s just because that’s, again, the methods that, you know, we’ve been teaching about activity, relevance, trust, and authority. And I stopped caring about third-party metrics.

Several years ago, probably four or five years ago. And we’ve really focused on relevancy and user intent, right, which is, it’s huge. We’ve proven that activity, relevance, trust, and authority. So if you’re getting traffic, especially from a relevant audience, especially from unknown relevance or relevant audience by Google, so a defined audience by Google, can move the needle, even for SEO. So you know, just those engagement signals from an audience that Google understands or knows, have an interest in that right that that’s a great ranking signal. So Marco can answer this better as far as the metric side of things, because, but I can tell you, I stopped giving a shit about third-party metrics, four or five years ago, and I have not looked back since I honestly just don’t care about them. I care more about relevancy. Ever since we started talking about activity, relevance, trust, and authority, the art of art, domain authority and page authority are Moz metrics.

What’s the other trust flow citation flow? Yeah, that’s Yes, majestic, then we have whatever, ah, I think is a is Ahref. Domain rank, I think, whatever algorithm it is that they’re developed, none of those are Google. And the distance map none. Now that might have a lot of smart people and might have a lot of former Google people, they might have a lot of engineers and smart people and I get it. And we all have access to the math, and we can all do the math. But only Google knows how the algorithm works.

Having said that, we’ve seen time and again, how someone coming in and providing insight user intent is the activity of that user on your website, what that user doesn’t on your website. So does the user come in, spend time on your website, watch your videos, scroll via images, and then give you the information, fill out fill out the form or if the if the goal that you said is to watch a video, or if the goal that you set is for a phone call, are the users doing that because if they’re not, then the final goal isn’t being accomplished, and Google will send them elsewhere. Where they can fulfill whatever it is that that search query was looking to. It also depends on a search query, what it is that person is expected to do on the website. This is all AI now that’s watching all of this flow and watching for the for that whatever the completion is, has the customer been fulfilled? Or do they go elsewhere? and look for something else that and do they take action there? Well, then that gets a better signal than whatever you did, or did they do a comparison and come back to your website? That’s even better. So they went a little

They looked at others as comparison shopping, they come back to you, and they give you the information boom, cinched. I mean, that activity, not user intent, but activity, Trumps anything on the web, I don’t care what it is, you can talk about speed, speed, and all this other shit that Google’s coming up with to try to trick people into doing things other than what they’re supposed to be doing, which is focusing on that entity and getting that person to complete the goal that you set for them on that page.

Have You Experienced Getting Into The First Page Within 1-2 Months For Semi Easy Or Semi-Tough Keywords?

There you go. So question number two of many is, have you ever experienced fast rankings on the first page, let’s say one to two months on a regular domain, non G site? for easier semi-easy or semi tough keywords? Yeah, I mean, many times, although I haven’t experienced that lately. But I haven’t really been set to start a whole lot of new domain projects. But yeah, I mean, in the past, I’ve absolutely done that. more so with GMB stuff, but yeah, I mean, sometimes. And it’s interesting, I did a test this was years ago, probably five or six years ago, but it was a test inspired by Terry Kyle. But it was about testing different domains just to see sometimes, like, sometimes even a new domain that has never been previously registered for some reason, just it’s like it gets it goes into a sandbox and just doesn’t, it just won’t rank, right, or it just doesn’t respond well to anything. And so I did a test it to kind of, and Terry Kyle had a blog post about this many years ago, where he said that he had a hypothesis that, you know, it was some sort of random, random chaos or something like that, I forget what he called it, but he had a name for it. And he was saying that, like, if you were to take, you know, buy five new note five domains that have never been previously registered, and pretty much optimized them with the same sort of content, you know, they would, they’d have to be different, but the same sort of content, and you just send them out there like to be indexed. And then just track to see where they would initially index right to see where they initially index, he says, you know, out of those five, even if they’re all like gibberish type content, or whatever, you’ll see that usually, one or two of them will be terrible, like, they won’t, though index, maybe that’s many, many pages back or you know, whatever. And then maybe one of them out of those five will end up indexing quite well. And there’s really no rhyme or reason, random, I can’t remember what he called, he had a specific term for it. But I thought it was a really interesting test. And I did it myself for and I remember, I did a case study for this mastermind, and I guarantee they’re still in the archives, but we’re talking about from like, 2014, or 15 timeframes. But I did that with plumbing domains, I bought several different plumbing domains, they were all-new, never been registered. And I tested that. And sure enough, one of them ended up like landing on-page, you know, two or whatever, when an indexed, and it was like, all the other ones were, you know, several pages back. And for whatever reason, there was no way for me to determine which one of those domains was going to rank better. But that was the one that I chose to end up building a client project on, because it ranked well, initially right out of the bat with nothing being done to it other than just being indexed. And so I thought that was a really interesting test that, you know,

I’m not saying every time you go to start a new project that you go out and, you know, register five domains and see which one ranks best and then build a project on that, although that’s not a bad idea. That’s a lot of additional work. I just thought it was an interesting test. So have I done it before? Yes. I haven’t seen it more recently, but it would GMB is I have if you optimize the GMB correctly, and it’s in a lower competition area, then sometimes that GMB will pop right into the three-pack for you know, a search within its immediate local area. And that’s that that happens. Again, if it’s if I haven’t seen it lately, but I have done it in the past. And I’ve even done GMB ranking in the three pack within the first month within, you know, the last year. So I’ve done that. So yes, I’ve seen it. Mark, do you want to comment on that? didn’t call it the randomness factor? Yeah. Random ranking factor, maybe that was it? Something, something? Something like that, where it just won’t index or for whatever, it’ll go into the sandbox, and Google will just refuse to rank it? Yeah, random ranking. I think it was a random factor. Yeah. It’s just that the algorithm burps it’s so complex, that that there’s constant degradation, right. I mean, I talked about this.

Last night, the mini mastermind, we talked about random algorithmic degradation. We talked about algorithmic bias we talked about, I mean, just a whole bunch of things that are taking place. While all of these algorithms are thinking about millions of lines of code, the algorithm degrades over time. And if you’re trying to predict behavior, it degrades even faster, trying to predict that behavior. And so all of these training models are degrading and these people are having to go and update these things constantly. It’s not that Okay. What is the image that we have of Google? It’s like an overseer, all-powerful, all-knowing us that seeing everything and all it is, is a set of servers with a set of code with a whole bunch of people working on the code.

It can’t be anything else. That’s what it’s not. Yeah, they do come on a manual, when they come out on a manual is someone in a computer coming and looking over your website through their computer? It’s all it is. It’s not magic. I tell him it’s not magically delicious. This ain’t Lucky Charms, man. That’s not what it is. And so with all of these factors and things taking place in the algorithm, it’s just going to burp from time to time. And then when that happens, no matter what you do, you can’t get it to wreck. Yeah. I remember calling that the alpha Ric alpha algorithmic anomaly. And that’s, that’s what it is. And just really quick, this, this, I just did a search on that term, random terrico random ranking factor and it pops in a blurb from diggity marketing. And he talks about, you need to expect the random ranking factor. This is a random ranking factor is a phenomenon, phenomenon coined by SEO, Terry Kyle. So that’s exactly what I’m talking about. So this would probably be a good article just to read through if nothing else.

So there you go.

Okay, cool.

Can You Automate Money Site Post Creation For Content Kingpin?

Next, let’s see is another one from BB. He says, Is there an automation content kingpin for money site, post creation? No, all of my bloggers, which I’ve only got two now on staff, do everything manually. And, and we’ve always done it that way. Because, first of all, the content. I mean, there there is one tool that I could say, you could probably get away with automating curating content. And that would be Damon, Nelson’s RSS master technology. I don’t personally use that, again, my team still does everything manually.

Like, for example, Esther, my best blogger, she’s my primary blogger, she uses Feedly. And we build-out, we add content feeds to feed the, but then we also add content to what’s called content boards. So we can set up different categories, and subcategories and all that kind of stuff and add content to content boards. And so whenever she goes to blog, she just goes in and pulls open a content board finds articles that will complement a topic that she’s trying to blog about, in other words, sometimes it’ll reinforce an idea that she’s trying to convey, sometimes there will be opposing opinions that she so it’s kind of like an argumentative essay if you took, you know, college English classes, you’ve probably had to do that my point has, like, all the content that we could ever need is in Feedly, that’s our content library that then she uses to create, to curate posts for clients. And she’s very, very efficient at it. And very good. Her posts are outstanding. She’s been working for me for five, probably longer six or seven years, maybe even longer than that. And she’s really, really skilled at it. So we do everything manually. But I think if there was a tool that could automate that, and again, I’m not sure if there are other tools out there that may be able to do this, but I know Damon, Nelson’s RSS mashup technology would likely be able to automate curated posts to a degree. And you could set up some sort of a function where, you know, it creates an RSS feed from the RSS master technology that Then could you could trigger publishing posts to your money site.

Again, I still prefer it manually just because we have more control over everything. But I think if you were going to try to automate it, that would be a good tool to attempt it with, although I’ve not done it myself. Any comment on that guy, we’re using Jordan’s method that taught him that he taught him powerful, which is using the software as a service to tune the content, I mean, razor-sharp, tune it for the bot, tune the entity. And so what you get is a template, more or less or a guideline on what it is that you’re supposed to write. Now once you have that you can just go and like maybe FAQ, but you shouldn’t be doing you should have a VA that’s doing all of this train your VA on how to do it our VA my VA no knows how to go into the different software build it from the two software that we use, pull the schema because they will give you the additional schema that you should have with that. And then from that, she will write the content that’s now focused on the entity that we’re trying to push up in the ranking. It works fantastically well. You can do the same with curated content by the way the Dixon Jones for men links which is one of the SAS products that we use just wrote a great blog on on on how to use curated content as how you take our Content Kingpin. Have you run it through the different software? And it’ll come out a tune? I don’t know what you mean, you can do it automated. But why would you when you can have something that’s hyper-focused, hyper-tuned for the entity, and whatever else is related to the entity because all of the AI told you how to create those relationships, it works incredibly well?

Yeah.

What Is A Solid Local Business Directory To Find Business Contracts For Architects & Home Builders?

So the next one is from Nigel. By the way, we got awesome charity webinars, so comment on that. But Nigel asks, What is a solid local business directory to find business contacts? Like, for example, business adjacent to real estate?

With contact information? I’m not sure I understand the question. Goal, I want to find all architects and Home Builders by geography with some solid information that can be used for targeting not spamming. Okay?

If you’re talking by geography, okay, so what I would say, so you’re looking to find specific contacts that’s in a specific industry, but also by location. So first and foremost, I would just go to Google and do searches for industry, whatever that is. Business Directory, right. So in my case, like tree service, business directory, right, or tree contractor business directory, or something like that, right, and just start collecting the URLs of those industry or niche-specific directories. That’s number one.

Number two, look at industry publications. So like associations, you know, member associations, for example, you know, like TCI, a tree care industry of America or something like that, right. So you can usually find industry publications, or membership organizations, associations, those types of things that are industry-specific. And oftentimes, they will have business directories or professional directories for, you know, companies and professionals in that industry. So look for association or industry, you know, publications, membership groups, that kind of stuff, that that’s another great source for that kind of thing.

So those are two that I would recommend right off the bat. Another one would be and I just started testing more like literally today, I just started testing some more, I’ve got them open and some of my browser tabs, in fact, but started testing for LinkedIn, LinkedIn might be also another good opportunity for you to find your specific target prospect. And you can, you know, I’m still using the free LinkedIn account right now. But I’ve been in the past, I’ve used Sales Navigator, and Sales Navigator opens up a shit ton of additional filtering options and a lot of additional contact options. So you can get a lot of Intel from that. I am, I just started testing what’s called octopus CRM. That’s this one right here. It’s, it’s a LinkedIn tool. I just start again, I just signed up for this today. And I’m going to start testing this. But this in conjunction with something like LinkedIn Sales Navigator will give you a ton of data. And you can create messaging sequences and automated follow-up sequences and all kinds of stuff with this kind of a tool. So and even LinkedIn funnels, which is really cool. That’s part of the reason I signed up for this one. So like, you can, you know, set up automation, and funnels and stuff all within LinkedIn, which is really cool. So again, I would recommend those three things. Go to Google, do an industry, Business Directory search, right, so you can start collecting industry directories specific to your niche or topic or chosen industry. Number two, look for associations, memberships, organizations, things like that, likely, you’ll be able to find some and oftentimes they will have their own professional directories. And then lastly, I would also encourage you to check out LinkedIn because even tree contractors, which I was really surprised free contractors are not the type that would typically be on LinkedIn, but a lot of them are even if they’re not active on LinkedIn, they still have profiles. So it’s worth attempting outreach on LinkedIn as well. So again, I would highly encourage you to check that out. Anybody else?

Is There A Specific MGYB Done For You Service For Real Estate Leads?

Okay, next, the next question is a second question if I could any good real estate leads advice. And best MGYB done for you services that can be used specifically for local real estate leads with some context. Real Estate leads advice, I guess it would depend Nigel on what you’re trying to, like. Who are you targeting? are you targeting residential homebuyers? are you targeting residential home sellers? are you targeting investors? are you targeting realtors and real estate agents? Like I’m not sure what it is.

If you want to clarify since you’re commenting, Nigel. Do you want to clarify what type of targeting I might be able to provide some insight, you know, I have a real estate business, I buy and sell vacant land. So, you know, as an investor, I’m just a marketer. Like, I’m not actually a real estate investor, I’m an I’m marketer in the real estate industry, right. And, and so I know how to generate leads for that business. But that’s, again, for my own business. So I’m not sure you know, what your, who you’re trying to target that’s going to determine or that will determine what the best answer is, if that makes sense. So I’ll move on, and I’ll come back to this. Marco, he’s asking all of the above for mortgage broker, okay.

Yeah, well, then, I mean, again, I would start targeting different aspects of different segments of the broad real estate market. So you’re gonna have specific messaging targeting buyers, right? You’re gonna have specific messaging targeting sellers. If it’s a mortgage broker, well, I guess sellers are probably going to need a loan to buy a new home anyway. Right. So So yeah, I could see that. But, so, again, it’s going to depend on what market segments you’re targeting, because you’re gonna have different messaging to different segments of the market. And they also congregate, right? Those you’ll find those market segments in different places too, right. So again, if you’re talking about wanting to target real estate professionals, LinkedIn, a great source for that Zillow, you know, realtor.com, like you can find realtors in specific locations or areas on those types of sites and scrape that and I know that there’s, there are tools out there that will scrape stuff like that. You might want to look at Phantom Buster comm they have a lot of really good scraping tools, LinkedIn included, but probably Zillow, scrapers, and everything else, I’m sure.

But you know, targeting homebuyers that you know that they’re going to be in a different place than perhaps some sellers would be. So you have to kind of figure out where your target audiences are. And then develop messaging, and ad copy or content, or what, however, you’re going to be targeting them that fits in where they’re already located, like the medium that they’re frequenting. Right? And and and target them that way. So I don’t know if that was helpful, but that’s, again, you know, real estate is so broad, you really have to fine-tune your message based upon the segment that you’re targeting. Hopefully, that makes some sense.

As far as the question about MGYB stuff, let me go back to that Marco, maybe you can answer this he says, and best mgyb.co done for you services that can be used specifically for local real estate leads with some context.

Ah.

So the first thing that comes to mind is proper keyword research, sellers and buyers, right? Because of its mortgage brokerage, you’re going to need that.

And then it’s going to need doesn’t matter what it is the entity is going to need, the SEO shield is going to need to be, you’re going to need to establish the footprint.

Everything that we teach is is a process, a method a system to like repeating myself, it’s a system that systematizes how everything gets done. It’s a process, the way that we set up the niche is irrelevant, the niche doesn’t matter. Because the process takes care of it. As long as everything is set up the right way. We set it up so that it’s successful, no matter what it is, I mean, the content production has to be done. Has the homepage has to be right. The schema has to be right. I mean, in everything that we do, you’d probably benefit from the heavy hitter club.

That’s where you probably find the most benefit because that’s how we show you how you can best make use of your entity and how you can take that entity approach for anything that you’re doing. You’ll never hear me talking about how to go after a specific niche. Because the process is always the same. It’s the procedural process by the Department of redundancy department, right? Yeah. I love that. The Department of the Department of redundancy department I love that. Um, so I just did a quick Google search for Zilla scraper. I thought Phantom Buster might have one but it doesn’t look like they do.

But this is neat. They’ve got some really powerful tools but I just did a quick search for Zillow web scraper because I know like you know Zillow is a wealth of information if you’re in the real estate industry. And I know it pisses a lot of realtors off because and even investors because Zillow is kind of like they took that they actually entered like the realty market themselves as well as they’re also buying up properties that are listed on Zillow for discounts, you know that kind of stuff. So they’re also like acting as a real estate investment, trust type thing, all kinds of stuff. It’s crazy. So Zillow is a powerhouse in the real estate industry and even though a lot of people.

You’re mad at them. Like I mean, you can’t fault them for just being really good at what they do. Anyways, Zillow web scraper. I just clicked on this one down here because it shows December 10 2020, which seems to be the most recent on page one.

And there you go, like, I mean, I haven’t tested any of these. But you might want to look into doing something like using a Zillow web scraper to extract real estate professionals because remember, you’re gonna find listing agents, as well as buyer’s agents on Zillow, and maybe even mortgage stuff I don’t know because I don’t typically look as I do in cash based real estate business without loans and stuff. So I don’t deal with mortgage loan lenders, but you might be able to find mortgage information on Zillow, like, you know, lender information that are advertising in such on Zillow, if that makes sense. So and that’s just one of many guys remember, there’s realtor.com is Trulia. Redfin, there’s a bunch of other websites that are specific to real estate, that you could probably get a shit ton of information from building a really good prospect list. Okay.

That’s a good question, though.

All right. We’re almost out of time. Let’s see. Yeah, they hate Zillow. Yeah, you’re right. And I know because I was just at a real estate investors meeting last night, and we did it once a month. And there were realtors that come in that want to either start their own investing, like investing side to their business, or they want to work the realtors that want to work with investors. And it’s funny, but you’re right. realtors, they really hate Zillow. I like Zillow because it helps me in my business as an investor because it’s just the data that I pulled from Zillow. It’s invaluable the data that I get from Zillow, and so I like Zillow for that reason. Anyway,

If The SEO Shield Was Created With Incorrect Keywords, Should You Just Let It Sit And Order A New One?

let’s see. The last thing is J. Duggal says if a shield was created, this is a great question. By the way, I read this one earlier. If a shield was created with incorrect keywords he didn’t fully comprehend at the time of ordering and provided keyword plus location etc. Instead of the top-level brand. Should I just let the seal the shield sit in order a new one or what would be the best move forward, I’m gonna tell you what I would do and, you know, but Marco’s advice is going to be probably the best. What I would do in that situation is probably just set it to not public in order a new one. The only other thing you could do would be to manually go in and change everything, which I certainly wouldn’t want to do if I had somebody on my team that knew how to do all that maybe I would have them do it. But I might just set it to not public and then go order a new one. But that’s me, Margaret, what would you do?

I don’t want to do all that manual work. I don’t want to. I know we’re going in there and trying to correct it. But I’m like I’m not seeing it. Like that would be a problem where he did keyword press location.

I mean, if he got the keyword research right now it was okay. It was created with incorrect keywords. Yeah, order it again. Because you have ambiguous your entity set everything that you have to the public. Now anything else that was created the syndication network, and everything else will have to be updated. And you’ll have to write to support at mgyb.co. To see it whether it be we don’t really provide that service but I mean, we could have someone go in and update it for you with the new keyword research with the new keywords for the brand. I will try to set up a one-off payment. I don’t see why not.

Sweet. Good question. All right, everybody. Thank you for being here. Thanks for the awesome questions, Nigel, and thanks for participating. That appreciates that and I’m glad it was helpful. So we’ll see you guys next week.

  Source: Semantic Mastery Weekly SEO Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 328 published first on your-t1-blog-url

[daynamartinez22]

Weekly SEO Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 328

Click on the video above to watch Episode 328 of the Semantic Mastery Hump Day Hangouts.

Full timestamps with topics and times can be found at the link above.

The latest upcoming free SEO Q&A Hump Day Hangout can be found at http://semanticmastery.com/humpday.

Announcement

All right, welcome everybody to Hump Day Hangouts. This is Episode 328. It is the 24th of February 2021. Now we got some really important date information out of the way we can get into saying hi to everybody. And then get into your questions. We do have a couple quick announcements, but we will get to those shortly. So let’s see. Gonna go around the circle here and start with Chris. How you doing today?

Excellent. Here, I noticed your shirt. And

when this mic coming over, I kind of like go for like, fair enough. Yeah, we got to get one door set up. So yeah, I pulled this one out. I forgot I had it. This thing’s in like mint condition. It was hiding in the back of my closet. So I haven’t got that’s why it’s looking so neat. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So Oh, anyways, Marco, how you doing today?

Oh, you’re muted.

Hello, there we go.

Gaming now.

I was gonna say,

Oh, I was going to, if I go too much into the window, then I start disappearing off into the light. I’m being called into the light. It’s not a fake background. It is what it is. I’ve been showing it. In fact, for over a year now. The plan was to show it for a year, every Wednesday night. so that people could see this is Costa Rica, no matter what. What let you never see me in a sweater. Ever, ever. I don’t need it. I mean, this is what it is. It’s beautiful. My Fortress of Solitude. We talk about TOEFL all the time, right? Like, what’s your, what are you going to define as your bow? This is part of mine. This is what this is where I choose to live is where I choose to be. I don’t have to be here. Many people are stuck in a place where they have to be where they have no choice. I tell people get away from it get away from not having a choice. And the way to give yourself the choices that you want or that you need are to follow the path to po foo position of fuck you where you can just decide what you’re going to do how you’re going to do and nobody I mean, nobody tells you what to do, or how to do it.

No, I think what we might have to do is get like get someone to go through the videos and put together a flipbook of you for all the Wednesday so we’ll just have someone you need someone to go on Monday. I shot Yeah.

Hernan you are you there? I’m here, man. How’s it going? Good. They didn’t let you in. For some reason. It’s not like I’m getting drunk in the middle of a bunch of ruckus. I don’t know, man. Are you bouncer at the door? Now? I’m wondering if you’re getting drunk in the middle of the day? Yeah, no, I’m not I sort of got the bouncer at the door. The door slammed me and now I’m good man. I’m happy to be back. Last week, I was traveling and was visiting clients consulting a little bit and it was good. Happy to be back. Back home back in the routine. I was craving for some routine even a week, you know, completely bust my productivity. But we get we get go. Alright. And last but not least Bradley, how you doing today? Good. I’m good, busy. And it’s like, almost 70 degrees here in Virginia in the middle of February, when just like three days ago, it was like 22 degrees, you know, in the middle of the afternoon. So it’s really weird. But it’s warm up here. And by the way, my Semantic Mastery shirts awfully worn Look at that.

Like you can get through its paces for a few years. Yeah, I’ve I’ve gotten my use out of this one. That’s for sure. So I need a new shirt just like you, Adam. All right, well, we gotta get that set up, then I’ll get the ball rolling on that we’ve had a few people pinging us about getting some shirts or some like a baseball cap. So we’re gonna get that stuff set up. And once we do, we’ll let everyone know about it. Obviously, it’s a setup. So before we get into the questions, just wanted to say first of all, thanks for watching. We knew a lot of people check it out. Not everybody’s able to attend live and whether you’re live or watching the replay on YouTube, we appreciate it. Let us know you’re watching. Say hi. You don’t have to ask a question. If you don’t want to. We know some people just like coming by seeing what’s being answered and kind of picking up the knowledge they can. So that’s fine to just say hi or leave a comment. And if you’re new to semantic mastery, or mgib best place for you to start is the SEO shield calm. That’s the word de and then Seo field.com. Right, find out how to shield your site, you don’t worry about algorithm updates. Again, it’s free training, just go check it out. And that way, you’ll also know what the hell we’re talking about when we say SEO killed, which is very good, and it’s gonna be very good for you down the road. So go check that out. If you’re looking for something more in line with kind of a bigger overview as far as what we do in terms of SEO results, check out the battle plan. You can get that at battle plan dot semantic mastery.com. And then next, we get people asking us a lot of times about hey, I’m either a small agency owner or consultant, I want to get more clients I want to grow my revenue and I want to scale my team. So if you can answer yes to any of those two x your agency is what you want to

Check out that’s just 2xyouragency.com. You can find out more about that. And then last but certainly not least, you want to grow your digital marketing business, although we do have some some business owners in this group as well. But the mastermind is really where you want to be. If you want to experience community and fast access to real world info, then go check it out mastermind dot semantic mastery.com.

And also, we mentioned brother I just mentioned that SEO shield not too long ago, you can find out about the SEO shield syndication networks, the link building press releases all this done for you stuff we talked about over at mgyb.co. And we talk about that a lot, because it’s services we use as well. And we’d recommend you do too, we understand sometimes you got more time than money when you’re getting started. And you got to put in the time build it yourself. But especially if you’re doing client work, you should be outsourcing this or training someone to build that stuff for you. So either go through the trading, or get stuff done at Mt ye save yourself time and allow yourself to grow that way.

Alright guys, that’s it. on my end. Is there anything else we need to talk about before we dive into questions? One last thing, charity webinars?

We just got finished on Monday it I mean, we outdid ourselves. I know I’m I’m biased. But but that’s what people are saying. I’m seeing it on my page, I’m seeing it in our groups. That it was it was just, it was massive was I gave away the farm. Basically, if people know what to look for, if people were paying attention that people understand what it is that they got. Alright.

But that’s the whole point understand it. So during the last webinar, what we did was put it together.

So that this kind of what do you call a plan of attack, a way to go and and get results. Because we got just massive information, Bradley gave the farm away, he gave a whole course away, you gave a whole course during the first webinar fantastic. Then comes Dixon Jones content and entities and comes Jordan with how to brand yourself how to create that brand and how to hook it up with the idea how to deliver the message properly. And then we got Brian cattle showing how entities work in images and how we can spam Google with images and get our entity more recognition. And then the last one is we put it all together. And so it just because they’re finished doesn’t mean that people can’t access that they can donate, just go donate you follow the instructions, send proof of the donation to the Gmail that I’ve been sharing. And then you’ll get access to the recordings. Because the last one will be uploaded probably today or tomorrow. It needs to it needed a little bit of editing.

Sweet, awesome. And Marco, you got the instructions on the hump day hangouts page for people. I will drop it in there. Awesome.

Cool. Let’s check out the questions. All right. I’m good to screen.

Would It Be Beneficial To Make A Subdomain To Target A Product Subtopic?

Okay, yeah, we’re zoomed in. So it looks like we’re starting with ChazB today. He says, Hey, guys, thanks for answering my question. Last week, I have another and not a hypothetical one. I’m building out a site at the moment, the subject or main keyword is like Google, and I’m targeting a product subtopic but a very original specific name given to a certain product line that is related to the brand. For the sake of this question, I’ll call it F Google. My question is in regards to subdomains, would it be beneficial to make a subdomain for example, Google dot brand domain.com slash f Google. I know I can make a subfolder for Google, but I’m thinking of keeping the hops to a minimum. From what I’ve been told in Jeffrey Smith SEO Bootcamp course Google reads and takes keywords for this left priority per se, by the way, a great course for you guys have recommended for the last few years. So he’s talking about Jeffrey Smith’s SEO Bootcamp, which is a fabulous course. And that is a question that I honestly, am not sure how to answer. Marco, that is definitely one for you.

I’m not sure. What do you what he’s looking to do? Because why have a subdomain with somebody else’s brand? Is that was that what he’s saying? Because he could just go subfolder if you if what you’re looking at for power. And to avoid additional half, instead of being in the subdomain, just move it into a subfolder.

Okay, so to me, that’s a misinterpretation. I miss interpretation of what Geoffrey Smith is teaching because he’s going thinking that the URL structure should keep the I see what it means. That should keep that subdomain name to the lessons that include the keyword, but no proper URL structure would be your brand. And then the subfolder Yeah, so that’s what the bottom two stands right. So so the way

And just to kind of reiterate what you said, but maybe in a different way. And I would agree that I would rather have my brand name first the root domain, and then in this example, Google as the primary topic or a category, and then F Google as a subcategory. Is that what you’re saying? Absolutely, yeah. Okay.

So there you go. Hopefully, that answers your question about a category, or he can even I mean, insert, which is if you don’t want to go sub subdomain if you want to bring the subdomain, something like a subdomain to the root domain, then what you do is you install a subfolder. But again, yes, you’re right, you don’t need that. But you need to simply a category that’s titled, f Google and work from there that the top-level category and try to rank that, and you’re going to see that you start ranking for all the low hanging fruit when you try to deliver all that power to that top-level category. Yep.

Yeah, cuz the way he’s got this, it’s almost like it’s two different sites, there’s the brand because he’s talking about installing it on a subfolder or subdomain. So that would be like a separate site. So I’m not sure what the configuration why you would do that.

But what Marco is saying is that it’s better to go as a subfolder than it is a subdomain. And years ago, we taught, you know that, and I did it myself, I used to always use subdomains for just about everything. So for example, for a multi-location local business, or lead generation, whatever, I would have the root domain, but then for each additional location, so each additional GMB location, essentially, I would have a subdomain that was named after that city. So it would be city dot brand domain.com. And I would have separate WordPress installs for each one. And that, you know, that worked, in part because Google would treat a subdomain as a standalone domain as opposed to like, so for example, if any one of the locations were to catch a penalty, it wouldn’t affect the other locations, and it wouldn’t affect the root domain. Whereas if we had put them on subfolders, so they each had, or, or just built one site, and then did everything through categories, and perhaps tags, which is the way that I do it. Now, then, if any one of those locations were to catch a penalty, then it would affect the route because it was all built on the root domain if that makes sense. So I used to segregate or separate everything, keep them separate for that reason. But you know, over the years now, since really Marco and started developing, like the entity-based SEO and Semantic Web, SEO, and all that kind of stuff, I haven’t had any problems with any of my locations. So I stopped doing sub-domains and started building everything out now on just the root domain. And using standard category, taxonomy, and tags now for location silos. And I do all that on the root domain, as opposed to having multiple subdomains or multiple subfolders. And it just makes it so much easier to manage a brand and multiple location projects. So I’m just speaking on that because I think it’s similar to what it is that you’re doing. If you use the types of methods that we’ve been teaching, you shouldn’t have to worry about catching a penalty to your root domain at all. So it’s better for SEO to do and also easier to manage if you can keep it all under one WordPress install. But if you needed a second WordPress install, then it’s recommended. Now if I correct me if I’m wrong, Marco, but to do that as a subfolder, as opposed to a subdomain, is that correct? We go so far that people have to understand even dub dub dub. is a subdomain whatever. You’ve seen a dub dub dub, however, many dubs you want, dub dub, dub dub to they’re all subdomain, the root is anything after the so. If you want to power up the root, yeah, we go into sub-domains, and you install that subdomain, excuse me, but subfolders and install as many as you want. Because you are not going to smash those subfolders. And not like we used to, we used to beat up the subdomain, where, you know, we did it that way, because we’d expect to catch a penalty. And then we could just disconnect that subdomain. But I mean, we protect the money sites so much, that isn’t necessary anymore like you said, I mean, that’s, that’s what we look to do now. Because we see the power that the drive stacks have with the expansions, right? We’ve seen the power that develops over time. And so from seeing that we understand that installing everything on the root domain is where all the power should accrue so that you can deliver it any way you want.

Does Having More Backlinks Give You A Better Chance Of Outranking Local Service Business Competitors?

Sweet All right, thank you for that. So rocket blasters up he say the more backlinks the better chance I have at outranking my competitors for a local service business already purchased some SEO shield now. Not necessarily.

It’s not about the quantity it’s about relevancy, right quality relevancy and also, you

Again, the way that we teach is building all to this SEO shield as opposed to the money site. So I don’t know how Margo, how would you answer this one?

No, that’s not it’s me. And even john Mueller came out and had something to say on this. It’s not the number of backlinks we’ve been saying this for years now. Yeah. It’s not the amount, but the quality of the back activity, relevance trust, and authority in accordance with the distance graph algorithm and the distance graph patent with which measures how far you are, are away from a trusted source.

We did this presentation on Monday, guys, go and Donate to the charity and understand why an orphan website with a backlink will not have the power that a relevant website that’s related to an entity has to go, we explained it, we showed it. We did. Rob did the relational comparison between the Google relational database and the way that we approach entity building, and how you can mimic that to the greatest effect. Taking advantage of the distance graph, which measures hops away from authority, authoritative, and trusted sources. I’m not talking Moz, I am not talking about any third-party vanity metrics. I’m talking about the Google patent the algorithms that matter, which is Google’s and nobody else’s. And if nobody else has to know because they won’t give it up. But understanding how these algorithms work, meaning that we are as close to the belly of the beast as possible, there is no more trusted and authoritative source on the web than Google. We all know that. The second most trusted and authoritative source on the web is Wikipedia. Google trained, its AI Empire on Wikipedia, you start understanding this and applying it and putting it all together, then you then you’ll know the answer to this question.

I mean, we do a million backlinks, they work perfectly well, but dedhia categorizes, right, his web 2.0 profiles, so that they’re relevant. And they provide further relevance. And they’re going into our drive secondary site, which is Google. And so that’s trust and authority there. So we’re taking full advantage of activity, relevance, trust, and authority so that we don’t have to master 2000 something ranking factors, positive and negative. We don’t have to know that. All we have to know his activity, relevance, trust and authority, and everything. In these over 2000 ranking factors fall under one of that category.

Can You Continue Buying More Links And Point Them Back To Existing Links In The SEO Shields To Create Tiered Links?

Sweet. Alright, so the next part of that was once I receive my backlinks, can I continue to buy some and point them at the previous backlinks to create tiered links, you can. However, when you order the links, you can order tiered links. And that’s what we recommend if you order some of the link building packages that are kind of pre-created, or you can create your own and you can always add additional layers to that link building order. So

I’ll just tell you how I do it. I don’t take the link building. So when we get link building gig has been delivered, right? We get a Google Sheet that has all the tier one links, and then the second tab has all the tier two links.

And I just send those to an indexing service. And I don’t even send my the second-tier links in from the Google Sheet to an indexing service, because it’s typically 10s of 1000s of them. But I’ll do the first-tier links, right? I’ll send those to an indexing service. And then that’s pretty much it, I might run it through an indexing service again at a later date. But other than that, I’ll just buy additional link-building packages to power up. The SEO shield properties or syndication network properties are specific post URLs from the syndication network or whatever, right? So essentially, just depending on what it is that I’m trying to target, but I don’t. And again, maybe there is some benefit to building links to the previously built backlinks. But I don’t do that just because I’m constantly powering up different URL sets from my tier one entity assets if that makes sense. Because I ordered tiered link building when I ordered a link building gig, it’s already tiered. So I don’t then build additional links to those links. I just continue to build links to different URL sets from my tier one entity assets.

I hope that was clear. Does anybody want to comment on that? No, that was perfect. But it could make sense to run a tiered link building gig into a tiered link building gig for better indexing. That’s true. I’ve seen many times that when you do that you get better indexing not only the on the previous tier.

The building set, but also like into the syndication networks and into drive. But that’s simply a matter. And we’ve shared this before of pushing the further tiers further in the more activity, relevance, trust, activity, relevance, trust and authority, or the art of art that takes place in the outer tears, the further that they come in. Now, you can imagine this as tears on a cake, where I mean, you put your finger on the lowest tier, and then you go up to the next tier, and the next one. And the next one. I mean, that’s actually what you’re doing, you’re moving up in tears, or think of electrons moving closer, right, moving closer in the house or jumping in hybrid is that you want to look at this activity, relevance, trust, and authority brings the outer tears in so that there’s better indexing suite.

Is There A Way To Bulk Mirror Location Pages From The Money Site To The GSite With The Same URL Structure?

Okay, so the next question is from Jackson, he says, Is there a way we can bulk mirror location pages from the money site into the G site with the same URL structure rather than manually creating all the pages? insights.google.com. And, Marco’s, that one’s for you? Because I still, we still might my team still does it manually. So.

Alright, so Bob, mirror location? No, it’s manual.

Okay. Give me a second. Let me just see what he’s talking about location pages from the money signed into the D site with the knot, you can’t do it with the same URL structure?

You can’t? How can you do the same URL structure when your domain is your brand.com. And the Google site is sites.google.com dot one dot whatever unless you mean that you want the same set of keywords that are in the original URL, and that are in the original URL into this. And the only way I know how to do this in an automated way is through the software that we use. And that’s never getting out of in Haskell, we paid a whole lot of money for that. A whole lot of time went into development. just crazy hours into doing that. And that’s never seen the light of day. I’m sorry. Now, this is a question I’m asking. Because I’m curious Marco.

Now, like something like you bought studio doesn’t work well with G sites, does it?

I’ve never tried it. You bought studio, we had that really bad experience with a US studio, one of the top guys in there. And then I just never tried it might have been the guy it might not have anything to do with you bought studio, but it left a really bad taste in my mouth. And I don’t want to ever go through that again. Yeah, and I’ve never tried to, you know, build out anything like that. I was just curious if because I know that you and the team had tried to build out. And I know we’ve got something on the back end that we use for automating some stuff. But almost everything that we do is still manual. So I was just curious if you’ve never had any experience trying to automate anything like that with you, but because I don’t know if it could be done or not with you. But we did it. I mean, that’s how we create the expansion stacks. That’s how we expand them, right? We can add whatever we want into the URL structure. And we can copy the drive Second, the G site that that’s all software, that again, guys, I can’t give you that. I mean, you can go and buy it from us. You’re more than welcome to that. But we spent a ton of money. And not only the money that we spent, and are still paying to this day but the hours that I spent on that and the hours that developers spent on that and what do you call it Cesar? and Rob ridiculous hours? No, I can’t give that away. You. You’re welcome to use it. We made it available in our mgyb.co store. You can order expansion stacks all day long. But I mean, we came up with it. And that’s the service that we provide not the How to.

There you go. Yeah. And I remember you and your team working on that for months and months. And so yeah, I can understand not wanting to reveal that for sure. All right.

Does Using GSuite Offer SEO Benefits Than Using Zoho Mail?

ninjas up, says, Hey, guys, when you come to using email providers, do you see any SEO or other benefit of using G Suite versus something like Zoho mail. Zoho suite has a huge number of apps that make life much easier for running a business with all totals under all tools, excuse me under one roof. I’ve been trying to integrate G Suite mail with Zoho, but at this point, I’m not sure it is worth my effort. Thanks for the input, okay. I have no experience with Zoho whatsoever. I use. It was formerly G Suite. But now it’s Google workspace or workspaces. I think it’s a workspace. Anyway, that’s what I use and I have been now for a couple of years.

For cold email contact and prospecting. But I’m also using a high level, which is an app that will allow me to automate and turn Google workspace and email through SMTP into an automated emailing platform. Now, it’s not technically designed for that. Like they recommend inside a high level to use mailshake, which is an SMT provider as well, or excuse me, not mailshake, they recommend in high level to use mailgun which integrates with high level and I don’t like that though. So I’m still using G Suite, but I’m also doing prospecting, cold prospecting. So sending out cold emails, I’m doing low volume, so much more targeted type emails, instead of doing mass emails. So I can’t comment on Zoho because I’ve never used it. I like using Google stuff, Google domains, or Google workspace, excuse me for emailing for a number of reasons. Number one, it’s Google, I’m familiar with it. I’m used to using you know, I built my entire business on Google Apps. My entire business is really built to optimize Google stuff for clients, you know, so I’m just comfortable with that, number one, number two, it integrates with high level, which is my chosen platform for marketing automation. And in number three, is it’s a Google property. So by buying a domain, and paying Google like that, instantly, add some authority and validation entity validation for whatever brand it is that I’m using it for. So there’s a couple of reasons or several reasons why I can’t choose to use Google workspace. Now, that all said,

I just launched a new agency, and just started prospecting last Monday. So it’s, we’re about a week and a half in and getting really, really good results already. I’ll be talking a lot more about this kind of stuff in the mastermind. But I took a really, really good inexpensive cold email course, that I just got. It attracted me from a Facebook ad. But anyway, it’s called cold email mastery.

And it’s on gumroad. And I can’t remember the guys’ name. But if I pull it up, it’ll probably look like, here it is this one right here. And the only reason why I’m pulling this up guys is that first of all, it’s only 125 bucks. And it’s an outstanding cold email course for prospecting, right for using cold emails to get your foot in the door or to open up a conversation with your target prospects. It’s outstanding. It’s real short to the point. It’s no fluff, it’s all actionable stuff. I love the guy style. He’s, he’s a much like Marco in that he cusses in his trip, money, it’s he’s real to the point like there’s no fluff, no Polish nothing. So it’s a really good course I would recommend it. And he talks about using mailshake as the best emailing platform, now I haven’t used it, I think I may start to try that at some point as my prospecting volume increases for my new agency. If I get to a point where I feel like I’m reaching the limits that a G Suite or Google workspace account should be doing for cold emails, then I will, then that will be the app that I test, which is mailshake. But that’s only because again, I thought this course was outstanding, and that’s what he recommends. So I can’t speak on Zoho. But I personally still to this day, even for my new agency, I’m cold prospecting right now, and I’m using Google workspace. But I’m using a high level to automate it. But as I said, if I needed to upgrade to something that is more designed for cold email marketing, then it’s likely I will go with mailshake. And by the way, again, I highly recommend anybody that’s doing cold emailing for prospecting, check this course out, it’s fabulous. Any comments on that? How long ago did did did I write the ROI is a black book about three, four years ago? Yeah, at least. And didn’t we talk about paying Google extra drive space, G Suite, back then whatever it is. Now, whatever iteration it is, did we mention that and we talked about it, and we spoke why we were talking entities back then now it’s the big thing. Four years ago, when this was done when our academy was released. over five years ago, we went and said, focus on your entity, make sure it’s not a known entity. But make sure Google knows and understands that you are a real person with a credit card and that you become a customer rather than a leech, rather than someone who uses the free resources and only the free resources. And what that does is it’s not going to necessarily directly is that cause and effect and how it will affect your rankings. It’s there’s a correlation though, between paying Google and IBM being safer, being able to get away with more.

And the way that I see this is they have your credit card on file or your debit card or whatever it is that you’re paying them.

They know that it’s a customer and they can make money from you. So it’s unlikely that they’re going to mess with someone that’s making them money. So I think, and again, this is one of the only times that I’ll share theory, my theory is that the bot will move elsewhere before coming back to you and checking, or whatever it is that you’re doing. So it’s just a way to provide extra protection for whatever it is that you’re doing.

Yeah, and as I said, I’ve been using Google domains. Oh, and that’s, again, I’m not even gonna get into that. But some, I mean, just some amazing stuff that was taught in this course, about like, even using Google domains to purchase your domain, on through a G Suite account, because now you’re registering a domain through Google domains, under like through an existing Google workspace account, and will automatically set up a Google workspace on the new domain with the SPF records, your DKM records, all of that stuff is all done instantly. And it’s three bucks more than it costs to buy a domain from Google domains than it is from Namecheap. And so I don’t know, I picked up a lot of really good tips from this course. And as I said, I’ve been using Google domains now for I don’t know, like the last three are Google workspace excuse me G Suite for emails. For like, the last maybe three years, might only be two, but two or three years and it’s definitely hands down my preferred method. So for any new project that I start, that’s the first thing I do is I go set up a Google workspace now I’m going to start buying them through Google domains likely buy domains through Google domains, but usually, I buy domains from Namecheap. And then I would instantly go set up a G Suite account for that new project, or a Google workspace account. So yeah, I’m a big fan of Google workspace for email.

Okay, that’s a great question. By the way.

Does User Intent Prevail Domain Authority And Page Authority All Together?

A next is BB with multiple questions, as always, he goes, number one is does user intent prevail over I guess, over domain authority and page authority altogether? In my opinion, yes. And that’s just because that’s, again, the methods that, you know, we’ve been teaching about activity, relevance, trust, and authority. And I stopped caring about third-party metrics.

Several years ago, probably four or five years ago. And we’ve really focused on relevancy and user intent, right, which is, it’s huge. We’ve proven that activity, relevance, trust, and authority. So if you’re getting traffic, especially from a relevant audience, especially from unknown relevance or relevant audience by Google, so a defined audience by Google, can move the needle, even for SEO. So you know, just those engagement signals from an audience that Google understands or knows, have an interest in that right that that’s a great ranking signal. So Marco can answer this better as far as the metric side of things, because, but I can tell you, I stopped giving a shit about third-party metrics, four or five years ago, and I have not looked back since I honestly just don’t care about them. I care more about relevancy. Ever since we started talking about activity, relevance, trust, and authority, the art of art, domain authority and page authority are Moz metrics.

What’s the other trust flow citation flow? Yeah, that’s Yes, majestic, then we have whatever, ah, I think is a is Ahref. Domain rank, I think, whatever algorithm it is that they’re developed, none of those are Google. And the distance map none. Now that might have a lot of smart people and might have a lot of former Google people, they might have a lot of engineers and smart people and I get it. And we all have access to the math, and we can all do the math. But only Google knows how the algorithm works.

Having said that, we’ve seen time and again, how someone coming in and providing insight user intent is the activity of that user on your website, what that user doesn’t on your website. So does the user come in, spend time on your website, watch your videos, scroll via images, and then give you the information, fill out fill out the form or if the if the goal that you said is to watch a video, or if the goal that you set is for a phone call, are the users doing that because if they’re not, then the final goal isn’t being accomplished, and Google will send them elsewhere. Where they can fulfill whatever it is that that search query was looking to. It also depends on a search query, what it is that person is expected to do on the website. This is all AI now that’s watching all of this flow and watching for the for that whatever the completion is, has the customer been fulfilled? Or do they go elsewhere? and look for something else that and do they take action there? Well, then that gets a better signal than whatever you did, or did they do a comparison and come back to your website? That’s even better. So they went a little

They looked at others as comparison shopping, they come back to you, and they give you the information boom, cinched. I mean, that activity, not user intent, but activity, Trumps anything on the web, I don’t care what it is, you can talk about speed, speed, and all this other shit that Google’s coming up with to try to trick people into doing things other than what they’re supposed to be doing, which is focusing on that entity and getting that person to complete the goal that you set for them on that page.

Have You Experienced Getting Into The First Page Within 1-2 Months For Semi Easy Or Semi-Tough Keywords?

There you go. So question number two of many is, have you ever experienced fast rankings on the first page, let’s say one to two months on a regular domain, non G site? for easier semi-easy or semi tough keywords? Yeah, I mean, many times, although I haven’t experienced that lately. But I haven’t really been set to start a whole lot of new domain projects. But yeah, I mean, in the past, I’ve absolutely done that. more so with GMB stuff, but yeah, I mean, sometimes. And it’s interesting, I did a test this was years ago, probably five or six years ago, but it was a test inspired by Terry Kyle. But it was about testing different domains just to see sometimes, like, sometimes even a new domain that has never been previously registered for some reason, just it’s like it gets it goes into a sandbox and just doesn’t, it just won’t rank, right, or it just doesn’t respond well to anything. And so I did a test it to kind of, and Terry Kyle had a blog post about this many years ago, where he said that he had a hypothesis that, you know, it was some sort of random, random chaos or something like that, I forget what he called it, but he had a name for it. And he was saying that, like, if you were to take, you know, buy five new note five domains that have never been previously registered, and pretty much optimized them with the same sort of content, you know, they would, they’d have to be different, but the same sort of content, and you just send them out there like to be indexed. And then just track to see where they would initially index right to see where they initially index, he says, you know, out of those five, even if they’re all like gibberish type content, or whatever, you’ll see that usually, one or two of them will be terrible, like, they won’t, though index, maybe that’s many, many pages back or you know, whatever. And then maybe one of them out of those five will end up indexing quite well. And there’s really no rhyme or reason, random, I can’t remember what he called, he had a specific term for it. But I thought it was a really interesting test. And I did it myself for and I remember, I did a case study for this mastermind, and I guarantee they’re still in the archives, but we’re talking about from like, 2014, or 15 timeframes. But I did that with plumbing domains, I bought several different plumbing domains, they were all-new, never been registered. And I tested that. And sure enough, one of them ended up like landing on-page, you know, two or whatever, when an indexed, and it was like, all the other ones were, you know, several pages back. And for whatever reason, there was no way for me to determine which one of those domains was going to rank better. But that was the one that I chose to end up building a client project on, because it ranked well, initially right out of the bat with nothing being done to it other than just being indexed. And so I thought that was a really interesting test that, you know,

I’m not saying every time you go to start a new project that you go out and, you know, register five domains and see which one ranks best and then build a project on that, although that’s not a bad idea. That’s a lot of additional work. I just thought it was an interesting test. So have I done it before? Yes. I haven’t seen it more recently, but it would GMB is I have if you optimize the GMB correctly, and it’s in a lower competition area, then sometimes that GMB will pop right into the three-pack for you know, a search within its immediate local area. And that’s that that happens. Again, if it’s if I haven’t seen it lately, but I have done it in the past. And I’ve even done GMB ranking in the three pack within the first month within, you know, the last year. So I’ve done that. So yes, I’ve seen it. Mark, do you want to comment on that? didn’t call it the randomness factor? Yeah. Random ranking factor, maybe that was it? Something, something? Something like that, where it just won’t index or for whatever, it’ll go into the sandbox, and Google will just refuse to rank it? Yeah, random ranking. I think it was a random factor. Yeah. It’s just that the algorithm burps it’s so complex, that that there’s constant degradation, right. I mean, I talked about this.

Last night, the mini mastermind, we talked about random algorithmic degradation. We talked about algorithmic bias we talked about, I mean, just a whole bunch of things that are taking place. While all of these algorithms are thinking about millions of lines of code, the algorithm degrades over time. And if you’re trying to predict behavior, it degrades even faster, trying to predict that behavior. And so all of these training models are degrading and these people are having to go and update these things constantly. It’s not that Okay. What is the image that we have of Google? It’s like an overseer, all-powerful, all-knowing us that seeing everything and all it is, is a set of servers with a set of code with a whole bunch of people working on the code.

It can’t be anything else. That’s what it’s not. Yeah, they do come on a manual, when they come out on a manual is someone in a computer coming and looking over your website through their computer? It’s all it is. It’s not magic. I tell him it’s not magically delicious. This ain’t Lucky Charms, man. That’s not what it is. And so with all of these factors and things taking place in the algorithm, it’s just going to burp from time to time. And then when that happens, no matter what you do, you can’t get it to wreck. Yeah. I remember calling that the alpha Ric alpha algorithmic anomaly. And that’s, that’s what it is. And just really quick, this, this, I just did a search on that term, random terrico random ranking factor and it pops in a blurb from diggity marketing. And he talks about, you need to expect the random ranking factor. This is a random ranking factor is a phenomenon, phenomenon coined by SEO, Terry Kyle. So that’s exactly what I’m talking about. So this would probably be a good article just to read through if nothing else.

So there you go.

Okay, cool.

Can You Automate Money Site Post Creation For Content Kingpin?

Next, let’s see is another one from BB. He says, Is there an automation content kingpin for money site, post creation? No, all of my bloggers, which I’ve only got two now on staff, do everything manually. And, and we’ve always done it that way. Because, first of all, the content. I mean, there there is one tool that I could say, you could probably get away with automating curating content. And that would be Damon, Nelson’s RSS master technology. I don’t personally use that, again, my team still does everything manually.

Like, for example, Esther, my best blogger, she’s my primary blogger, she uses Feedly. And we build-out, we add content feeds to feed the, but then we also add content to what’s called content boards. So we can set up different categories, and subcategories and all that kind of stuff and add content to content boards. And so whenever she goes to blog, she just goes in and pulls open a content board finds articles that will complement a topic that she’s trying to blog about, in other words, sometimes it’ll reinforce an idea that she’s trying to convey, sometimes there will be opposing opinions that she so it’s kind of like an argumentative essay if you took, you know, college English classes, you’ve probably had to do that my point has, like, all the content that we could ever need is in Feedly, that’s our content library that then she uses to create, to curate posts for clients. And she’s very, very efficient at it. And very good. Her posts are outstanding. She’s been working for me for five, probably longer six or seven years, maybe even longer than that. And she’s really, really skilled at it. So we do everything manually. But I think if there was a tool that could automate that, and again, I’m not sure if there are other tools out there that may be able to do this, but I know Damon, Nelson’s RSS mashup technology would likely be able to automate curated posts to a degree. And you could set up some sort of a function where, you know, it creates an RSS feed from the RSS master technology that Then could you could trigger publishing posts to your money site.

Again, I still prefer it manually just because we have more control over everything. But I think if you were going to try to automate it, that would be a good tool to attempt it with, although I’ve not done it myself. Any comment on that guy, we’re using Jordan’s method that taught him that he taught him powerful, which is using the software as a service to tune the content, I mean, razor-sharp, tune it for the bot, tune the entity. And so what you get is a template, more or less or a guideline on what it is that you’re supposed to write. Now once you have that you can just go and like maybe FAQ, but you shouldn’t be doing you should have a VA that’s doing all of this train your VA on how to do it our VA my VA no knows how to go into the different software build it from the two software that we use, pull the schema because they will give you the additional schema that you should have with that. And then from that, she will write the content that’s now focused on the entity that we’re trying to push up in the ranking. It works fantastically well. You can do the same with curated content by the way the Dixon Jones for men links which is one of the SAS products that we use just wrote a great blog on on on how to use curated content as how you take our Content Kingpin. Have you run it through the different software? And it’ll come out a tune? I don’t know what you mean, you can do it automated. But why would you when you can have something that’s hyper-focused, hyper-tuned for the entity, and whatever else is related to the entity because all of the AI told you how to create those relationships, it works incredibly well?

Yeah.

What Is A Solid Local Business Directory To Find Business Contracts For Architects & Home Builders?

So the next one is from Nigel. By the way, we got awesome charity webinars, so comment on that. But Nigel asks, What is a solid local business directory to find business contacts? Like, for example, business adjacent to real estate?

With contact information? I’m not sure I understand the question. Goal, I want to find all architects and Home Builders by geography with some solid information that can be used for targeting not spamming. Okay?

If you’re talking by geography, okay, so what I would say, so you’re looking to find specific contacts that’s in a specific industry, but also by location. So first and foremost, I would just go to Google and do searches for industry, whatever that is. Business Directory, right. So in my case, like tree service, business directory, right, or tree contractor business directory, or something like that, right, and just start collecting the URLs of those industry or niche-specific directories. That’s number one.

Number two, look at industry publications. So like associations, you know, member associations, for example, you know, like TCI, a tree care industry of America or something like that, right. So you can usually find industry publications, or membership organizations, associations, those types of things that are industry-specific. And oftentimes, they will have business directories or professional directories for, you know, companies and professionals in that industry. So look for association or industry, you know, publications, membership groups, that kind of stuff, that that’s another great source for that kind of thing.

So those are two that I would recommend right off the bat. Another one would be and I just started testing more like literally today, I just started testing some more, I’ve got them open and some of my browser tabs, in fact, but started testing for LinkedIn, LinkedIn might be also another good opportunity for you to find your specific target prospect. And you can, you know, I’m still using the free LinkedIn account right now. But I’ve been in the past, I’ve used Sales Navigator, and Sales Navigator opens up a shit ton of additional filtering options and a lot of additional contact options. So you can get a lot of Intel from that. I am, I just started testing what’s called octopus CRM. That’s this one right here. It’s, it’s a LinkedIn tool. I just start again, I just signed up for this today. And I’m going to start testing this. But this in conjunction with something like LinkedIn Sales Navigator will give you a ton of data. And you can create messaging sequences and automated follow-up sequences and all kinds of stuff with this kind of a tool. So and even LinkedIn funnels, which is really cool. That’s part of the reason I signed up for this one. So like, you can, you know, set up automation, and funnels and stuff all within LinkedIn, which is really cool. So again, I would recommend those three things. Go to Google, do an industry, Business Directory search, right, so you can start collecting industry directories specific to your niche or topic or chosen industry. Number two, look for associations, memberships, organizations, things like that, likely, you’ll be able to find some and oftentimes they will have their own professional directories. And then lastly, I would also encourage you to check out LinkedIn because even tree contractors, which I was really surprised free contractors are not the type that would typically be on LinkedIn, but a lot of them are even if they’re not active on LinkedIn, they still have profiles. So it’s worth attempting outreach on LinkedIn as well. So again, I would highly encourage you to check that out. Anybody else?

Is There A Specific MGYB Done For You Service For Real Estate Leads?

Okay, next, the next question is a second question if I could any good real estate leads advice. And best MGYB done for you services that can be used specifically for local real estate leads with some context. Real Estate leads advice, I guess it would depend Nigel on what you’re trying to, like. Who are you targeting? are you targeting residential homebuyers? are you targeting residential home sellers? are you targeting investors? are you targeting realtors and real estate agents? Like I’m not sure what it is.

If you want to clarify since you’re commenting, Nigel. Do you want to clarify what type of targeting I might be able to provide some insight, you know, I have a real estate business, I buy and sell vacant land. So, you know, as an investor, I’m just a marketer. Like, I’m not actually a real estate investor, I’m an I’m marketer in the real estate industry, right. And, and so I know how to generate leads for that business. But that’s, again, for my own business. So I’m not sure you know, what your, who you’re trying to target that’s going to determine or that will determine what the best answer is, if that makes sense. So I’ll move on, and I’ll come back to this. Marco, he’s asking all of the above for mortgage broker, okay.

Yeah, well, then, I mean, again, I would start targeting different aspects of different segments of the broad real estate market. So you’re gonna have specific messaging targeting buyers, right? You’re gonna have specific messaging targeting sellers. If it’s a mortgage broker, well, I guess sellers are probably going to need a loan to buy a new home anyway. Right. So So yeah, I could see that. But, so, again, it’s going to depend on what market segments you’re targeting, because you’re gonna have different messaging to different segments of the market. And they also congregate, right? Those you’ll find those market segments in different places too, right. So again, if you’re talking about wanting to target real estate professionals, LinkedIn, a great source for that Zillow, you know, realtor.com, like you can find realtors in specific locations or areas on those types of sites and scrape that and I know that there’s, there are tools out there that will scrape stuff like that. You might want to look at Phantom Buster comm they have a lot of really good scraping tools, LinkedIn included, but probably Zillow, scrapers, and everything else, I’m sure.

But you know, targeting homebuyers that you know that they’re going to be in a different place than perhaps some sellers would be. So you have to kind of figure out where your target audiences are. And then develop messaging, and ad copy or content, or what, however, you’re going to be targeting them that fits in where they’re already located, like the medium that they’re frequenting. Right? And and and target them that way. So I don’t know if that was helpful, but that’s, again, you know, real estate is so broad, you really have to fine-tune your message based upon the segment that you’re targeting. Hopefully, that makes some sense.

As far as the question about MGYB stuff, let me go back to that Marco, maybe you can answer this he says, and best mgyb.co done for you services that can be used specifically for local real estate leads with some context.

Ah.

So the first thing that comes to mind is proper keyword research, sellers and buyers, right? Because of its mortgage brokerage, you’re going to need that.

And then it’s going to need doesn’t matter what it is the entity is going to need, the SEO shield is going to need to be, you’re going to need to establish the footprint.

Everything that we teach is is a process, a method a system to like repeating myself, it’s a system that systematizes how everything gets done. It’s a process, the way that we set up the niche is irrelevant, the niche doesn’t matter. Because the process takes care of it. As long as everything is set up the right way. We set it up so that it’s successful, no matter what it is, I mean, the content production has to be done. Has the homepage has to be right. The schema has to be right. I mean, in everything that we do, you’d probably benefit from the heavy hitter club.

That’s where you probably find the most benefit because that’s how we show you how you can best make use of your entity and how you can take that entity approach for anything that you’re doing. You’ll never hear me talking about how to go after a specific niche. Because the process is always the same. It’s the procedural process by the Department of redundancy department, right? Yeah. I love that. The Department of the Department of redundancy department I love that. Um, so I just did a quick Google search for Zilla scraper. I thought Phantom Buster might have one but it doesn’t look like they do.

But this is neat. They’ve got some really powerful tools but I just did a quick search for Zillow web scraper because I know like you know Zillow is a wealth of information if you’re in the real estate industry. And I know it pisses a lot of realtors off because and even investors because Zillow is kind of like they took that they actually entered like the realty market themselves as well as they’re also buying up properties that are listed on Zillow for discounts, you know that kind of stuff. So they’re also like acting as a real estate investment, trust type thing, all kinds of stuff. It’s crazy. So Zillow is a powerhouse in the real estate industry and even though a lot of people.

You’re mad at them. Like I mean, you can’t fault them for just being really good at what they do. Anyways, Zillow web scraper. I just clicked on this one down here because it shows December 10 2020, which seems to be the most recent on page one.

And there you go, like, I mean, I haven’t tested any of these. But you might want to look into doing something like using a Zillow web scraper to extract real estate professionals because remember, you’re gonna find listing agents, as well as buyer’s agents on Zillow, and maybe even mortgage stuff I don’t know because I don’t typically look as I do in cash based real estate business without loans and stuff. So I don’t deal with mortgage loan lenders, but you might be able to find mortgage information on Zillow, like, you know, lender information that are advertising in such on Zillow, if that makes sense. So and that’s just one of many guys remember, there’s realtor.com is Trulia. Redfin, there’s a bunch of other websites that are specific to real estate, that you could probably get a shit ton of information from building a really good prospect list. Okay.

That’s a good question, though.

All right. We’re almost out of time. Let’s see. Yeah, they hate Zillow. Yeah, you’re right. And I know because I was just at a real estate investors meeting last night, and we did it once a month. And there were realtors that come in that want to either start their own investing, like investing side to their business, or they want to work the realtors that want to work with investors. And it’s funny, but you’re right. realtors, they really hate Zillow. I like Zillow because it helps me in my business as an investor because it’s just the data that I pulled from Zillow. It’s invaluable the data that I get from Zillow, and so I like Zillow for that reason. Anyway,

If The SEO Shield Was Created With Incorrect Keywords, Should You Just Let It Sit And Order A New One?

let’s see. The last thing is J. Duggal says if a shield was created, this is a great question. By the way, I read this one earlier. If a shield was created with incorrect keywords he didn’t fully comprehend at the time of ordering and provided keyword plus location etc. Instead of the top-level brand. Should I just let the seal the shield sit in order a new one or what would be the best move forward, I’m gonna tell you what I would do and, you know, but Marco’s advice is going to be probably the best. What I would do in that situation is probably just set it to not public in order a new one. The only other thing you could do would be to manually go in and change everything, which I certainly wouldn’t want to do if I had somebody on my team that knew how to do all that maybe I would have them do it. But I might just set it to not public and then go order a new one. But that’s me, Margaret, what would you do?

I don’t want to do all that manual work. I don’t want to. I know we’re going in there and trying to correct it. But I’m like I’m not seeing it. Like that would be a problem where he did keyword press location.

I mean, if he got the keyword research right now it was okay. It was created with incorrect keywords. Yeah, order it again. Because you have ambiguous your entity set everything that you have to the public. Now anything else that was created the syndication network, and everything else will have to be updated. And you’ll have to write to support at mgyb.co. To see it whether it be we don’t really provide that service but I mean, we could have someone go in and update it for you with the new keyword research with the new keywords for the brand. I will try to set up a one-off payment. I don’t see why not.

Sweet. Good question. All right, everybody. Thank you for being here. Thanks for the awesome questions, Nigel, and thanks for participating. That appreciates that and I’m glad it was helpful. So we’ll see you guys next week.

  Source: Semantic Mastery Weekly SEO Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 328 published first on your-t1-blog-url

[thegreatmercutio]

“The Overlook Hotel” A Malec AU Fanfiction. Summary: It’s Winter 1977. Bestseller suspense and horror writer Alec Lightwood is having the worst case of writer’s block and his publisher is on his ass with the deadline for a new horror novel. When the Overlook Hotel owner posted a help wanted aid for a winter caretaker during the hotel closing season. Alec applied, even against his editor’s advise. Alec hopes that hotel’s seclusion will help him finish his overdue novel. Bring his boyfriend, Magnus Bane, the world-renowned dancer and choreographer, who also in need for some isolation from the world after a highly publicized scandal. Thinking an entire hotel to themselves will inspire creativity and healing…And some alone time is always a plus…but unfortunately, they’re not alone. Rating: Mature. It’s a horror flick, 80’s rules applied. Genre: Horror, romance, supernatural, psychological thriller, suspense…channeling my inner Stephen King…but I am no Stephen King. Hahaha. Just someone who loves Halloween, horror movies, and Malec. Inspired by the spirit of Halloween, “The Shining”,…both versions Stephen King’s novel and the Stanley Cooper’s interpretation…and of course Malec.  Chapter 1: The Grand Gesture “Are you sure you want to do this?” Alec reached for Magnus’ hand. He gave it a squeeze. His eyes still on the road. Magnus held Alec’s hand to his lips, kissed it. He smiled, pushing long strains of Alec brown curls back. It was the 100 time, Alec has asked Magnus. Now only 40 minutes away from their final destination. Magnus found it sweet that he still worried, but the truth is it’s too late to turn back. “Alexander, yes…I want this. You and me…alone.” The sound of metal clicking in the backseat and a soft meow. “…And Chairman.” Magnus smiled, looking back at their grey tabby cat in his carrier. He turned back on the road ahead, completely in awe of the beauty. Miles of land, untouched and untamed. Blue skies and sunshine. Oceans of trees and snow. Alec placed a kiss on Magnus’ palm. After three days on the road. The Overlook Hotel was finally in view. Standing alone and grand on high hills, surrounded by mountains and deep endless forest. Magnus took a deep breath while biting his lower lip. Two months away from civilization and drama. Alone with only Alec and Chairman for company. He held Alec’s hand tighter and closer. He needs this. They need this.  Writer’s block. Consuming and numbing writer’s block. After the success of Alec’s first book, The No Man’s Game and his critical acclaimed follow up, The Photographer—Alec Lightwood became an instant household name. He was in high demand by his fans and his publisher, both have been on his ass for a year for a third book, demanding a possible sequel to The Photographer. He wants to be Stephen King. He was no Stephen King. The third book has been beyond complicated and difficult. A messy office in Brooklyn filled with manuscripts since the days he began to write, but none ever worthy for Alec Lightwood’s third book pedestal. Truth is he’s in turmoil and the pressure is hitting him hard. Endless nights of wasted papers and cold coffee was getting him nowhere. He wasn’t sure where to go? The inspiration has been dry. He needs to write but getting pass one sentence has been a battle. The public’s high anticipation added with his own self-expectation was overwhelming him. Alec was desperate. When a random word of mouth about a hotel in the mountains in Colorado was looking for a winter caretaker during their closing season. The idea of an enclosed hotel enthralled Alec. An isolated hotel away from the public and the world. To Alec, it was a writer’s dream. Alec made the call. His editor, Ragnor was against it. He recommended Paris, London, coffee shops, or a train ride through Europe. Anything but cabin fever. Alec passed on all the suggestions. His family thinks he’s crazy too. However, his choice was not only for him but for Magnus too. He needs to take him away. He wants to hurt them. Kill them. Eliminate all those who dare to hurt his Magnus. Thoughts of vengeance and pure rages filled his mind. Yet he had to follow a moral code, he resisted and decided that the best thing he can do is to take Magnus away from the drama. Magnus needs time to heal. Alec needs to learn to tame the monster inside.  Magnus Bane. His one and only. Magnus was a world-renowned dancer and a choreographer. Traveled world since he was an infant. A prodigy and the only son of the infamous music legend and composer Asmodeus. Since the age of 5, Magnus spoke 7 different languages, composed his own music, and directed his own dance ensemble. He was accepted in Juilliard at 14. He was the youngest ever accepted. Extraordinary was not enough to describe Magnus.  Alec met Magnus during Alec’s sophomore year at NYU. Late at night, on his walk back to his tiny studio apartment in the Bronx. From the library, he would make a shortcut through the Performance Art building. He heard music—sad but perfectly synced music echoing in the halls. Following the song’s trance, he found Magnus. He was alone on an empty stage under spotlights. There were no audiences. Just a dancer and a recorder player. He was beautiful, magical, and magnetic. Completely in his own world dancing like moving art, unknown that at that very moment by the doorway—Alec was falling in love. When their eyes locked. Magnus‘ soft brown eyes on Alec’s hazels, that hid behind a messy shag of dark brown hair. Magnus was covered in sweat, yet he smelled so sweet. The kind of sweet that made Alec thirsty and determined. Magnus was trying to catch his breath, bare-chested with a pair of very tight black dancer tights. He gave him a shy smile and “hello.” Alec knew then, Magnus Bane was his one. His only.  Magnus was younger. He was only 18. Alec was 23. He called him…Alec, like everyone else. They were friends at first. Best friends with inside jokes and movie marathons. Inseparable and unbreakable. Then one day, Magnus looked at him and called him, “Alexander” for the first time. He told him that he thinks he like girls…and boys too. He admitted he was interested in a particular tall, dark, and handsome man. He had hazel eyes and had a smile that melts Magnus’ insides. Who laughs at his jokes, buy him ice creams when he’s sad, tells him he’s beautiful and inspires him to greatness. Magnus admitted he has been flirting with this man, but he’s little clueless in the message. Alec was jealous at first thinking some stranger has won Magnus’ heart, then he connected the dots and blushed. Sometimes he’s an idiot. Alec confessed then too.  Alec was gay. He knows he is. He has always known since he understood the difference between girls and boys. But the world is cruel. He understood that fairness and equality is a long battle. Through his younger days, It was harder. He hated himself. He believed everything they said about his feelings, that it was a mental illness and a sin. He was already damned for loving a man. Magnus would tell him, at least they will be together. Even in hell. Alec is contented, if his afterlife is predetermined to the eternal fiery furnace, as long as he had Magnus. He’ll take it. Only a few knew. His siblings, his agent, editor, and Magnus. It took years for him to make a compromise with himself. He knew how he felt. He knew who he loved. He just had to make a compromise. It wasn’t justice and peace, but at least he can wake in the morning. Well, most mornings. Alec chose to keep his sexuality away from the public. It was the 70s. Being an openly gay man was a risk. He has always been a private person. He preferred it, despite his newly found fame as the “It” horror-suspense author. His agent also advised that it would be wise to keep his bedroom affairs from his profession. Though Alec’s life and honesty are limited to the public world, his writing is his truth. Even when he’s writing about monsters and demons. The truth is there.  Within a year of their confession, Alec and Magnus moved in together. Behind closed doors, in their own world. They were more than friends, beyond lovers. However, the outside world didn’t know that. On the lease, they were known as “friends” or just “roommates” sharing rent. At the present time, Alec was fine with it. As long as Magnus was near him. With him. He didn’t need the world’s approval. He has no plan to share Magnus anymore than he already has to.  The scandal. Post-Vietnam war, being Asian in America was more troublesome and melancholy than before. People looked at Magnus on the streets as the enemy. That every Asian living in America was the reason for the war. A war that left thousands of people…bitter, angry, and confused. Magnus spent his entire life, breaking thick walls to be accepted in a White man’s world. The first struggle was to overcome the shadow that was his overbearing and tiger father. Magnus worked hard. He left home. Earned an education and status as The Magnus Bane. When he earned the title of the ballerino, the lead male dancer for the New York City Dance Company. It was big news, but before it hit the hot press. He lost it. Unfortunately, in a world of art where beauty and difference should be celebrated become a world of narrowed politic. Having an Asian lead dancer was a bad idea for the company. Investors and benefactors threatened to leave the company’s financial bank if they promoted Magnus. He cannot be their face. Instead, Jean Peters became the lead. Magnus was pushed further back. Strangely, he called his father that night to tell him the news. He rather hears the words of the devil than the defeated words storming inside of him. Asmodeus, as always was truthful. His honesty was hurtful but comforting because it was true. Magnus knew he was different. He stood out in the crowd of privileged children, he was a tan Indonesian while most of his peer last named ended in names like Adams and Milton. But Magnus grew up with a silver spoon too. He was Asmodeus’ son. Asmodeus taught him to be proud of his heritage and his race. But when he was told, that all his hard work meant nothing. That’s his “face” was no longer welcomed. He never felt so ashamed for being different. He came to realize that years of work only concluded that the world only saw him as an object. A worldly and exotic Eastern import. A thing, that people indulged in so they can pretend that they were cultured and respectful. However pushing Magnus Bane “back” created a stir of gossip. There’s were already been speculations about Magnus relationship and living arrangements with Alec. Words came out soon that Magnus was gay. That his ex-girlfriend Camille blamed their break up because Magnus was cheating on her with a man. Magnus as furious. One, he wasn’t gay. He was attracted to both men and women. Two, he never cheated on her. He loved her. The betrayal was heartbreaking. However, he kept his mouth shut, afraid that any encouragement will lead to Alec. Soon, the rumors were getting out of control. Magnus couldn’t step into a club or even a room without people looking at him with their current assumptions and speculations of his life. In one week, he became the whore. Rumors of him sleeping with both men and women for advancement in his career. That he had an STD and AIDS. That he was doing cocaine at studio 54 while in a threesome in the VIP room. That he was a member of the communist party. That he was a Russian spy. That he’s nothing without his father’s name and fortune. Magnus quitted the company. Unemployed, depressed, and he locked himself in the loft. Yet, the rumors continued. Alec was angry. He stood by Magnus and told his agent, he planned to “coming out” to the public. He will tell them in the past 5 years, Magnus and him were in a serious relationship. He would clear all the rumors about Magnus. His agent advised him not to and Magnus stopped him, saying that this was not the way to come out. He didn’t want Alec to be near this. Alec was not pleased. He was angry. Yet another compromise had to be made.  When they arrived. They greeted by a man named William. He was older, most likely in his late 40s. He directed them to where to park their car. “I’ll get some help to get your bags to your rooms.” He looked at Magnus with an intensive stare. Magnus took Chairman’s carrier. Magnus is not sure he liked him. There was a bad feeling Magnus was getting from him. Alec led the way to the front. They passed a few staff members walking out. Clearly, leaving for the winter. When they entered the hotel. The air smelled of evergreen and mint. The hotel was beautiful and massive. The hotel was a Victorian styled surrounded by oak woods, red bricks, and white paints. The interior designs were grand, with strong uses of warm tones, patterns, and velvet. They greeted by a bellboy, a young man named Tim. Who smiled at them and lead them to Mr. Connor.  “There are 220 rooms here.” Mr. Connor said. His narrowed intensive blue eyes on Magnus and Alec. Alec wondered if Mr. Connor was curious about the relationship between Magnus and Alec. Why a White man was showing up at their hotel with an Asian man and a tabby cat? Alec informed Mr. Connor about the surface information. That was enough. Mr. Connor was the hotel manager. A short-stacked man with blonde hair and a thick tamed mustache. “The room keys are locked in the cabinet at the front desk. We want all the rooms to remain locked.” He said with a strong stern in his tone. He stared at them for a long second, to make it clear that rooms need to be locked and undisturbed. “I was told this was built in 1903?” Alec looked away. He did some research on the hotel. He loved history. “Yes, the hotel was built by Lord Stanley and his brothers. He was very ill with tuberculosis and built this place to heal. He recovered and was impressed by the area healing elements…especially the fresh dry air in the summer. He then decided to transform it into a hotel. Of course, more rooms were added…including a ballroom and a greenhouse in the back.” Mr. Connor answered. He then led them to the grand ballroom. Magnus was in love. It was big and spacious. He is definitely going to claim this room. Crystal chandeliers on the ceilings and large open windows letting the sun in. Alec smiled, catching the glee in Magnus’ eyes. This would be a perfect place for Magnus to practice. Mr. Connor led them to a long hallway that led to the kitchen and food supplies. “There should enough food to last you two for longer than your stay. The walk-in freezer is over there, there is a fully-stocked pantry, and we did stock some fresh vegetables in the fridge. The greenhouse also has vegetables there too…we do want you to manage the greenhouse as well.” Alec nodded. Magnus handed Chairman to Alec as he explored the kitchen. He saw some frozen streaks in the freezer and red potatoes and green beans. Now, where’s the vodka? He wondered “Thank you.” Alec was pleased. “This way…will lead to the staff living quarters.” Magnus and Alec followed. “Here, is your room Mr. Lightwood and down the hall is yours, Mr. Bane.” Magnus grinned at Alec, taking Chairman’s carrier from him. The rooms were basic. A queen size bed, a desk, a lamp, and a TV in the corner. Each room there was a connected bathroom with a standing shower. Magnus let Chairman out in Alec’s room. Their room. The room they appointed him was smaller. He smiled as Chairman made his way out of the carrier, stretching his body and legs. Magnus felt bad. The poor kitty, such a long drive.  Mr. Connor showed them the pool, the greenhouse, the cigar room, the lounge, the storage rooms, the basement, and the garage. He told them there snowmobiles in the garage and extra gasoline for emergence. After the tour, they returned back to the front desk. “This is the radio. Do check in every day and night. It is also connected to sheriff department in the nearest town. However, with the heavy storm that may take them some time to travel up here. We do have a landmine…William is our groundskeeper. He knows the area very well. I believed you met him outside. He has a cabin a few miles from here. He will check on you…time and time.” Magnus looked at Alec, he wasn’t sure about William. “Okay…” Alec checked out the radio. He turned it on and off. “Where are the backup generators?” “Yes, I’ll show you them…they are located in the back near the greenhouse….there is one in the manager office and one down by the staff living area for emergency only. Also beside the manager office is what called the nurse office, there are medical supplies there.” He replied. “Good to know.” Magnus replied, eyes at the hallway’s paintings. There were paintings of landscapes and a large dominating standing portrait of an older man with dark eyes and white hair that stood down the hall. He was wearing a black periodic Victorian suit. That must be Mr. Stanley. Magnus concluded. “Mr. Lightwood, it’s really simple, we expected you to do a walk through the hotel every day and ensure the doors are locked. Keep the heater on at a low 65 degrees so the piles won’t freeze…Of course, you can change the temperature in your rooms and use the fireplaces. It will be very cold here. Any mess or damages will be your responsibility.” Mr. Connor looked at Alec and followed his eyes to Magnus, who was wandering away. “Will do, Mr. Connor.” Alec nodded. He handled Alec a set of keys. “These are master keys to the manager office and main doors…I’ll show you the generators and the back shed…the tools are there for any needed maintenances.” Magnus have walked off. Alec followed Mr. Connor.  Alec found Magnus back in the ballroom. He was looking out towards the mountains. “Do you like it?” Alec asked. He stood next to him. “I love it. It’s quiet and peaceful. Definitely, a great place to work on your novel. And I can work on some projects here too.” Magnus smiled. Alec can feel it. A calmness and excitement in Magnus that he hasn’t felt in weeks. “I was thinking that when we get back, I am going to start my own dance company…my our productions, my own shows…what do you think?” Alec smiled, seeing Magnus hopeful made him happy. “You can do anything. I will be right here.” He wanted to kiss him. Magnus can tell, so he grinned and stood closer. “Alexander, this was a wonderful idea…I think this plan is going to work out.” He smirked. “Get this whole place to ourselves…no unwanted distractions and surrounded by nature…and I can dance naked.” Magnus purred, he bitted his lips. Looking directly at Alec’s eyes. “Naked, huh?” Alec faced him. They were close, dangerously close. “You love it when I dance naked.” He said softly. Alec smiled and nodded. Magnus, dancing and naked. Alec can’t help but think things. “I saw that large red velvet couch in the lobby when we got here…I am going to fuck you on that couch tonight.” He said firmly, staring at Magnus lustful and bold. Magnus took a deep breath. He was impressed. Alec is filled with surprises. “Yeah?” “Yeah…” Alec smiled and nodded.  Mr. Connor was the last to leave. He wrote down a list of phone numbers and told them he will call them every day to check in. He asked that they be careful and stayed warm. The upcoming storm was not be taken lightly. William and Tim left after helping Alec with carrying their luggage, bags, and a few boxes of personal supplies into their quarters. Willam did inform Alec that he will call in morning and at night every day to inform him about the current area status and the weather. He also advised Alec to do his walkthrough in the morning and never at night and like Mr. Connor but eerier and coldly told Alec to not unlock any of the rooms’ doors. He added one important note. That it was also very important to stay busy. As he said, “To keep the mind…sane”. Alec took it as, Don’t be lazy, do your job. While Alec prepared dinner. Magnus did the unpacking and fed Chairman. He found a nice corner in the lobby for chairman, setting out his cats toys, litter box, and bed. Chairman, the ever curious cat was loving the place. He roamed the rooms and halls. Finding warm places to nap and stare. Dinner was grilled steaks, baked potatoes, and streamed garlic green beans with white wine. Dinner was delicious. After dinner, Alec set his writing area in the main lobby by a large fireplace. He had his typewriter and boxes of fresh paper. He started a fire to keep the room warm. He sat at the desk for an hour, staring at his typewriter. It was just day one. He wasn’t going to pressure himself yet. He will get there. He feels more confident than yesterday. At least that’s a start. He did note down some ideas and then he played with Chairman. Magnus joined him later, he showered and was dressed in his silk purple pajamas. Face fresh and innocent looking. He greeted Alec with a kiss. “How is it going?” “It going somewhere.” Alec looked up and smiled. “You will get there, babe.” Magnus kissed his forehead. Alec nodded. He was determined to start and finish this book. He dragged Magnus and himself all the way to Colorado. He has to accomplished this. The goal is success. Magnus smelled lovely. He smelled of Chanel no. 5. Magnus doesn’t go anywhere without his Chanel. Alec pulled him closer to kiss him deeply. One sweet kiss led to heavy breathing, lips glued, and tongues tugging at each other. Alec carried Magnus to the red large velvet couch by the fireplace, that he has been eyeing since he arrived. He badly wants to see Magnus on it, naked and under him. He pulled at Magnus’ waistband. His lips never leaving Magnus’ soft and warm skin. He pushed Magnus’ legs apart and looked at him. His eyes hungry and desperate to be inside Magnus’ warmth. Magnus licked his lips as he unbuttoned his nightshirt, leaving him bare. Alec’s heart stopped. Magnus golden skin and warm brown eyes were lit from the fire’s glow. He’s gorgeous and lovely. Magnus kept his eyes on him as he reached for Alec’s belt. “Mr. Lightwood, you’re a man of your word. I was told that you’re going to fuck me on this particular couch?” “Yes, Mr. Bane. I am a man of my word.” He reached up to kiss him.  “I love you.” Magnus whispered softly as he tucked his head underneath Alec’s neck and rested his head on his chest. “I love you.” Alec kissed his head. He pulled their comforter over them. He wrapped his arms around Magnus. They decided to sleep on the couch for the night. The room was warm and comforting. They were exhausted from the long day. Chairman has settled on a nearby loveseat. They both closed their eyes. Listening to the sounds of fire woods cracking, synced heartbeats, and Chairman’s soft snores. They all fell asleep.  Outside the clouds were forming, thick and dark. The winds speed up and it created strong hallowing sounds around. The snow began to fall. On the second floor, in room 217. An echoing click of the door unlocking. The door opened with sounds of footsteps making it’s way downstairs. Lights dimmed and the rooms grew colder. Chairman was awake. He stood at the bottom of the stairway. His ears and yellow eyes locked on a figure standing on the steps with a large grin on its face.  So….it begins. Happy Halloween!!!! Thanks for reading, Chapter 2 will be posted and the monsters are coming. insert…*evil laugh* Hahahahaha. Fun Fact: Stephen King stayed in room 217 at the Stanley Hotel. He actually stayed there with his wife alone as the only guests of the entire hotel before they closed down for the season…It was this room that started the book, “The Shining.” Please…any feedbacks are welcomed. Special hello to: @viridian99 , @childoftheopenroad , @xainshadowslinger , @inapeculiarlife , @curlyandboobearziam , @lovelightwood008 , @kjulissa , @flibbertigibbetboogers, @flibbertigibbetboogers, @if-stars-were-to-die, @rhetoricianx, @jarrivepasatrouverunpseudo, @hannabellaisnotmyname, @countingstaarss

[taehyung-the-baehyung]

COMPANY || six.

◦ pairing: reader x hyungsik

◦ rating: pg [angst]

◦ word count: 2.5k

◦ a/n: A little bit of Hyungsik POV so we know what’s going on in that head of his… ;)

table of contents | one | two | three | four | five | six | 

m a s t e r l i s t

cr.

“Ah, Mr. Chairman,” I leaned back, crossing my leg. I settled into the hard wooden chair, the mahogany bars pressing into the curves of my back. Sit relaxed, and sound relaxed, I could almost hear Father’s voice encourage me. “How are you?”

“I’m doing well, but I’m afraid I must cut right to the point, Mr. Park.”

My thighs tensed against the seat. Even if you’ve lost your confidence, don’t ever let them know… the deep thunder of his tone was so clear in my mind; it was like he was beside me. I exhaled the tension from my body. What would my father do in a moment like this? All the files and folders of my plans for the company rushed through my head. Each colored tab and scribbled note was fresh in my mind, and how pleased the Board appeared when I last pitched my ideas to them– it was nothing to worry about. They were impressed, even she had said so. And she hated to admit I was right. “By all means, Mr. Chairman.”

“The Board has lost its confidence in you. You pitched great ideas in your recent meeting, but unfortunately, we are not certain if you are still capable of carrying this company forward.”

“Sir–”

“Hyungsik,” the Chairman sighed, and I could practically see him rubbing the bridge of his nose as he did. “Kid. You have been running this company at mediocre performance. You keep your head down and though you have not decreased our overall profits, you have not increased by a significant margin either.”

I felt nauseous. If my entire body had not just frozen up as it had, I would have hurled all over the place. My eyes flashed around the room, hoping something here might help. Fresh yellow flowers dotted the room at nearly every corner. Oncidiums, I think they were called. Funnily enough, I only knew that because she would scribble it down on a sticky note and put it on my desk that mine were dying. God, I wished she was here.

Just a week ago, the Board had been thrilled to hear my next steps for the company. Now, they had flip flopped entirely. I couldn’t believe this was happening. Somehow, she would have known what to do. “You too, huh?” I held my breath at the end of my sentence. The Chairman shouldn’t know I was only guessing.

“E-Excuse me?”

Of course, I wasn’t entirely going out on a limb. I had been suspicious for some time now. “Mr. Chairman, you are not suggesting that the Board has completely reversed their decision of trust in me, are you?” I had spent the last couple months secretly looking into the Board. It was all just a gut feeling. Something was wrong, and I couldn’t explain it. Unfortunately, I couldn’t prove it either. “Because that would make me believe something is going on. Something like a third party involvement, perhaps?”

I hadn’t been sure, and it was no use to put anyone else in panic. Hell, I had even hid it from her: the one person I could trust with this whole company. The thing was, she was always nervous around me –not that I made it any better with the way I treated her– and everything between us had been going so unusually well. I didn’t want to ruin that. I wanted to forget that I had ever made this stupid agreement with her in the first place. I wanted her to forget too.

A weak stutter came from the other end, ending only in a cleared throat. So, I pushed. “Mr. Chairman, I hope you are aware that any and all board members who receive bribe money from a third party to vote a certain way will be punished.”

“Mr. Park, I hope you are not accusing me of taking a bribe?”

“I was only referring to the directors of our Board, sir, but if there’s anything I should know, now would be the time.”

Everything I did was in caution; Park Investments was my father’s and though he had entrusted it to me, there was no way I would dare to take a big risk with the company. The Board hated me for it, and I knew that. And yet, here I was, accusing the Chairman of taking third party bribes on what was a nearly baseless suspicion. I felt like laughing at it all.

I spent the first couple of years carrying the company forward with caution. I hardly inched in progress or investment, or even profit. With each coming year, the Board grew uncomfortable. I was unproblematic, but drab in the shadow of Father’s innovative footsteps. Then I hired her, and it all seemed to get easier. I thought it was just me, that maybe it was simply because she put me at ease. She made it easier to share the burden of running a company, one that Father’s reputation was banked on. With her, I wasn’t alone. But it wasn’t just me. She put the Board at ease as well, and I wondered now, if she could be behind it all.

Thinking of her made me want her here all over again. She was always silently judging all my decisions, second guessing every single move I made. She acted like she knew better and I hated it. And despite all that, I wanted her next to me right now as I risked the entire company. No, no. She couldn’t possibly be behind this. I trusted her. I didn’t even know why, but I did. And that was probably the worst part of it all. Had I just been blinded by her?

With a deep breath, I continued with an air of confidence. “Chairman, I advise that you relay this to the Board. Our customer loyalty has risen dramatically. People trust us. Park Investments is the recommended investment company for everyone and their grandmother. They will continue to invest with us even as we look into new technologies and encourage our customers to do the same. If the Board questions my judgement due to my age, know that my father himself trained me for this position, and my business plan is reliable. If, however, the Board suddenly questions my judgement due to a large sum of money deposited into their off-shore checking accounts, I will take action. Let that be clear.”

The Chairman cleared his throat once more. Must be old age, or guilt. I was certain now that I was right. Someone was paying off the Board to vote a certain way on my decisions, and on me. “The Board has an external candidate who can advance the company, hold it to a higher standard. If they vote, I will be forced to make the decision to remove you as CEO of Park Investments.”

Always command authority, even if it’s slipping from you, Father had said. And that’s what I did. Despite the room seeming to whir around me, I spoke with ease. It was something I had perfected in all the years of running this company. No one takes you seriously when you’re this young unless you make them. “Well, Mr. Chairman, you should advise them prior to any voting that I am well-informed about the third party involved.” Bluff. “I suggest everybody make decisions based solely on their professional expertise.”

The Chairman searched for words, fragments of his sentence coming through before he stopped himself. “Yes, Mr. Park. I’ll keep you updated.” He decided finally before hanging up promptly. Good choice, I thought to myself.

My hand was close to shaking, my entire body trembling with a fear I hadn’t thought I would feel. I was losing this company, and someone was behind it. Father had spent nearly half of my life grooming me for the would-be position of CEO. It was mine as soon as he began the company. It was a dream, a shared one. We wanted to do it together. I was going to be the CEO and he was going to stand behind me proudly every step of the way. And I was losing it.

It’s been almost a year. The first two years of running Park Investments had been a breeze. Of course, in those years, I was never really running it alone. It was our dream come true, really. Any lack of courage or confidence in my decisions was compensated by the company of my father. Then, the cancer grew more adamant on taking him away from me.

It hadn’t been the worst thing, according to my father, at least, not until it spread to his hands. When he couldn’t hold a pencil anymore, when he couldn’t draw– that was when he felt that universe had come for the debt he owed it. I think he gave up.

And then, I was doing the whole thing alone. I was always determined on preserving his legacy. His employees and colleagues looked up to him like he was a king. Having me in charge of Park Investments without any guidance, –and being only in my mid-twenties– that worried everyone.

It was the Chairman that had told me to get an assistant. Two was better than one. Even if I didn’t get a seasoned professional; everyone thought I needed help. And god, when she walked into my office for her interview that day, I remember my mind going completely blank.

I’d be exaggerating if I said she was the most beautiful woman ever, but she had this safety to her. Even though she was clearly out of place in the city and her eyes scampered nervously whenever she crossed the street, she somehow knew exactly what she was doing. She was qualified, smart, and determined with plenty of her own ideas for the company. I was ready to hand over the entirety of Park Investments with confidence as soon as the interview was over. And that, was terrifying. It was terrifying because maybe everyone was right, that I did need help. So, I panicked.

As quickly as I had made the decision to hire her, I went straight into self-destruct mode. Having someone like her around to constantly challenge my direction for the company would only make work harder for me. I tried to sabotage the whole thing by making a pass at her– a bold one, at that.

“I’m going to need...company, from time to time.” I had paused to paint a smirk over my lips, the filthiest kind: shameless and full of greed for her body. It wasn’t hard when she had been wearing that thin blouse. Her eyes went wide and her entire body froze. I remember the way she blinked, trying so hard to wrap her head around the words coming out of her new boss’s mouth. “Of course, I can always hire someone else.”

I had hoped then that she would run out of the building and never come back, never make me feel like I couldn’t run this company myself. But she stayed. So, then I pretended. I pretended because I was Park Hyungsik, CEO of Park Investments and I did not need anyone. I hid every ounce of respect I had for her, any hint that I might like her in any magnitude– I packed it under a layer of apathy and hostility. And still, she stayed.

I fingered the edge of the open sketchbook that sat on the desk in front of me. The edges were stained with pale-colored water and the stem of an oncidium bookmarked this page. Funny. Father had kept the flowers around to remind him of his wife, whom he had walked away from. And now that same damn flower reminded me of her. Even if she may very well be the person ripping everything I valued away from me. I was thinking of her. These flowers weren’t even as beautiful as roses or daisies or lilies or whatever other girls liked.

A fading sketch filled the paper, Father’s last one. My nose stung each time I looked at it, but I had learned to accept the reality now. It was a traditional family-style portrait: Father, his wife, their son. Then, with an arm on Father’s shoulder, standing behind him, was me. The family photo that Father could never take, his only dream after he walked away that day. I beat myself over it, even though I had been young, I knew it was my fault that Father walked away from his family.

I raked my hand back through my hair, wishing I could just yank all the strands out. Being in Father’s old studio was supposed to calm me. I came here to visit him; he always said a piece of him had been left here with his sketches. Now, I had to figure out who was paying the Board to vote against me. I had to secure my position in a company that was created for me. I just had to prove to the Board that I was meant to be here, that I wanted to be here. I needed to know who was behind this. The Board has an external candidate. That’s what the Chairman had said. No Board of Directors in their right minds would dismiss the CEO, especially when that CEO was the founder’s son.

My phone vibrated against the wooden desk: (1) Inbox. Even when I took a personal leave, the work never seemed to stop. The thought of smashing my phone against the wall was growing more appealing by the minute, but I couldn’t even be annoyed. I was still the CEO, for now.

Sliding the notification, I opened the email. I swore I’d never wished for death to collect me as fast as I did when I saw the photos. My heart seemed to crack right through my ribs, all oxygen sucked out of the room. Forget whoever was paying off the Board. I was done for regardless. If anyone saw these, that would be the end, and I would lose her too. She would think I did this. I tapped on the photos, swiping through them as they filled my screen. Despite how small they looked on the phone, they held so much power.

But the angle- these photos were taken from inside my office. My breath quickened as my body pleaded for air. There had to be a way out of this. Who could be behind this? Did she really plant a camera there? That would only humiliate her as well. Her face, her breasts, the hickies, the sex– it was all there. Photo after photo. Would she want to get rid of me that badly? No, it couldn’t be her...could it?

The press would have a field day and the Board wouldn’t have any other choice. Even if they had liked to me to begin with, I was done for. It was all over. I lost Park Investments. I lost the company.

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Weekly SEO Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 324

Click on the video above to watch Episode 324 of the Semantic Mastery Hump Day Hangouts.

Full timestamps with topics and times can be found at the link above.

The latest upcoming free SEO Q&A Hump Day Hangout can be found at http://semanticmastery.com/humpday.

Announcement

We’re live. Oh, there we go. I see it now. So regardless, we’re live. Welcome to Hump Day Hangouts. Today’s the 27th of January 2021. And we’ve got some good stuff for you guys today. As usual, we got a few quick announcements and then we’re gonna jump into answering your questions. But real quick, just want to say hi, looks like we got most of the guys here today. Let’s see. I’m gonna start with her Nan today. How are you doing, man?

Dude, I’m good. I’m good.

I’m just melting down here. It’s really hot and humid, but it’s okay, man.

We’re supposed to have rain tomorrow. So gonna cool off. Happy to be here.

Nice. what’s the temperature there in Celsius?

And Celsius is like 36. I think so. 36. See, it’s pretty warm. Yeah.

Yeah, that’s 96 points, 97.

All right, that’s getting up. Yeah, that’s on like, maximum temperature scale. So I know you’re a hardware guy. But yeah, some rain on top of that. That sounds nice and humid. So you enjoy that. Yeah. Awesome. Marco. How are you doing today?

Um, I mean, what can I say? Groundhog Day. If you guys understand how it is that you can take $1 and change it into a million dollars. Give me one. Give me a hill. Yeah, let me see. Fuck. I hate those cheesy markers, man. Look, hard work. You gotta work. You gotta do the dude, you got to pay your dues. It’s very people who hit on that one idea with absolutely nothing. But sweat equity. Turn it into a billion-dollar idea. The rest of Us to get to anyone, whatever. I gotta work. I don’t just sit here and do nothing. I yeah, it’s beautiful. It’s a great place to work. I step outside. It’s sunny. It’s warm. It’s beautiful. Got the sun? Got him. Got this. When did my hair look, man? Come on, man. Very few things require no work as most people tell you to should is hard work. And it’s not easy. It’s not easy, but it’s not complicated. It can’t be simplified, which is what we’ve done for you. Alright. So if you want to know how, and you want to know why we’re in the middle of our charity webinars, Bradley killed it on Monday. With his ads for branding. And entity Monday, I’m gonna call it what it is entity manipulation. It was fantastic. A lot of great ideas, a lot of information that literally I’m telling you on Monday would have cost 1000s of dollars anywhere else. You got it for free. Next Monday. What’s the Dixon Jones, internet legend Dixon Jones is coming to show you how to do entities and content. And so this is going to be a recurring theme entities entities entities, brand new entities brand. I wonder why I wonder what’s working in SEO, what has been working, what’s working out what will be working. Anyway, I don’t want to take too much time. Thank you to those of you who donated if you haven’t, then I posted a how-to on the page. I know the information is there. Again, I don’t want to take too much time. And even if you did and you did not register, you won’t be able to access that page. Now. Because that page is gone. We moved it, you can still contact the email that I’ve set on there and you will get access. If you’re given the note no donation, you will get access to the replay. And if you haven’t donated, send proof of the other donation to the email and get access guys’ information. I’m telling you, you would end up paying I know barely one time paid nearly 20 K. And the information was nowhere near as good as the shit that we give away for the price of a donation. I can guarantee it. He told us what the information that he got not that it was useless. But the information that we’re giving away for a charitable donation. I’d be dead. There’s no comparison anywhere. Guaranteed.

Outstanding Marco, something you said at the beginning. I’m just gonna ask you and for those of you watching, I didn’t ask Marco this earlier or anything. But the something you said kind of tickled something in my head. I was wondering Have you read the book The Art of contrary thinking?

Of course.

Okay. I had never heard of it until a couple of weeks ago. And I just picked it up and started going through it. And anyway, I was like, You know what, I bet this is a book Marco would recommend. And just this is a total tangent, but would you recommend people to read it because I’m like 10 pages in and I’m like, I can tell this is gonna be a big one.

I mean, I recommend that you read period, right?

Yeah, read it.

And not just that it’s not just reading that one book but this other but Well, when everybody thinks, Oh, here we go, let me see if I get the quote, right. When everybody thinks the same when everybody thinks alike, everybody is likely to be wrong. Think about that. Think about that. All right. So the art of contrary thinking, Humphrey, was a Yo, yo,

yeah, Neil.

Yeah. Yeah, guys, read the book, read the book. Go read the art of war. Mandatory, mandatory. And then read the commentaries on the art of war. Don’t just read it. Try to figure it out while you’re like trying to read the Bible without the commentaries, right? Without going into the original text. But yeah, definitely, if you can, like a book a week, by all means, for those who can’t just listen to it, listen, listen to books, all the audiobooks are everywhere. But yeah, absolutely recommended.

Awesome. All right. The library tickled something else too. I just put the link down for anyone interested. We should probably we could update this year. We’ve got a recommended reading list which I don’t think the art of country thinking is on my add that on, but I just put it at semantic mastery comm slash books. So go check that out if you’re watching and interested in some of these we’re mentioning so. Okay, sorry, a little bit of a tangent there. But last but not least, Bradley, how are you doing today?

Doing great. Busy as all hell as usual, but doing well. Glad to be here.

Sounds good. All right. Well, I got a little thing to get through here. I wanted to let people know because we do have new people watching every week people coming in on YouTube are catching the replay. So first of all, thank you for watching. You’re in the right place.

Hold on a minute. Did we forget Chris, didn’t we?

Is Chris here. Chris is here. Oh, man. I’m sorry. Well,

I can go again as well. If you don’t like me here today. Chris snuck in the back door when Adam wasn’t looking.

That’s good. I feel bad because we got the little strip up at the top and zoom. So Chris, how are you doing? Man? My bad.

Yeah, doing well here. I didn’t know.

I was wondering because now I wish the most.

Sorry, what are you saying?

I don’t know. I’m shorting the markets, especially on the SEO niche. Not having anything else. Alright, well stay away from GameStop. So that’s already? Yeah. All right, well, let’s get into it. So like I was saying, if you’re here and you’re watching live, let us know how you’re doing. Even if you don’t have a comment, just say hello, get let us know where you’re at, or how you’re doing. And if you’re new to semantic mastery, you’re new to MGYB you’re new to heavy hitters club, the best place for you to start find out how to shield your sites don’t have to worry about algorithm updates again, and it’s a free training that’s available at the SEOshield.com. That’s the word, the SEOshield.com. And you’ll hear us talking about all the stuff that’s involved in that. So if you’re not familiar with words, like SEO shield, that’s a great place for you to get started. From there, definitely recommend picking up the Battle Plan. Alright, that’s step by step processes. So you can get SEO results. And it’s how we do things and the tools we use and the services we use. And you can get that at Battle Plan dot semantic mastery.com the next one after that we also get questions about right as consultants like myself, agency owners like Bradley, people who are, you know, wanting to get more clients who want to grow the revenue, they want to scale the team, they’re still you know, grow at still in growth mode. It’s hard to get that one out of the mouth. And you know, before they’re big enough, they’re thinking, How can I do this? How do I do these three really important things so Bradley and Hernan a little bit, they’ve put together this training last year, that is just amazing? It’s called 2xyouragency, 2xyouragency.com. Just head over there and you can find out more. And for those of you who are serious about growing your digital marketing business or the digital marketing side of your business, and you want to be part of the experienced community, then the mastermind is definitely for you. And that you can find out more at mastermind.semanticmastery.com. And now I mentioned MGYB if you’re not familiar with it, it’s mgyb.co. Alright, that’s done for you services, things like the SEO shield that I mentioned, syndication networks, link building press releases, and a ton more. I believe we’ve got an update coming soon. Right Marco we’ve got a kind of an overhaul on the system coming down the pipeline, right.

We have a complete overhaul of the system. But I mean, Bradley’s in there. So you can tell. He can tell me but I mean, we’re doing several things right. So it’s not just that syndication Academy. Right, that’s coming guys, that’d be an overhaul. And then, of course, we’re gonna have updates and is going to be a new person who just wants to be friendly more time, honestly, than what he could then want to get dedicated to it. It needs more time. So It can work the way that it should. Bradley couldn’t dedicate the time to it. So we just brought someone in. She learned the way. And she was here. I mean, you guys met her, you guys met SC, she’s the one that that’s redoing, syndication Academy, she was doing updates, she’s going to be going into a whole bunch of new profiles and websites that we can use to manipulate the entity. Remember, entity-based, worthless SEO. That’s what this is about the charity webinars are about that, how we’re winning today’s we’re manipulating the entity and showing Google what we want. And we’re getting Google to do what we want Google to do. That’s how we do the dope.

Outstanding. Well, like Marco was saying earlier, if you haven’t yet, you can still get access to the charity webinars highly recommend you do that that is on the page. If for some reason you’re watching this, you can’t find the link, you’re not sure what’s going on. But you know that you want to get in on that you can just send an email to support at semantic mastery comm we’ll get you sorted out and gets taken care of. So with that said, Guys, anything else before we dive into it?

All right, we’re good.

Right, grab the screen.

There it is. Alright,

so it looks like the first one is from mini min. Rob. Hey, guys, I’ve received my order from MGYB. But I don’t know how it works. Well, which order? Is he? Which order? Is he talking about? SEO SEO. But I don’t know.

Rob, if you’re here mini broad. I’m just gonna call it mini Rob. Sorry, man. This may be your actual name. But it makes me think of like a little tiny version of Rob. Yeah. If that’s the case, we need to know more information, right? We can’t tell you what’s going on. We don’t know if you ordered a press release or a link building order or keyword research. So we’re kind of stuck here. So if you let us know, we could probably help you. And then I would also say you probably want to talk to us first and come to Hump Day Hangouts. And if you’re like, maybe I should use this SEO shield thing or the press release thing. If you ask that first, we could definitely explain it. But since you’ve got it now, let us know exactly what you’re doing. And then that’s how we can help you I guess.

That’s good. Okay. All right. So yeah, we can try to answer a few. I’m sorry, I just got was looking at an email that just came in what’s the next question is what’s the best way before? Before you go to the next question, the SEO shield comm if you got an SEO shield, right, the seo.com is the place to go for the training. It’s free. And at the end of that, we even throw in a coupon for you to order whatever it is that you need.

How Do You Push The Link Juice To Power All PDFs In The Entire Amazon S3 Folders?

Beautiful. Okay, so the next one is what’s the best way to push link juice through entire Amazon s3 folders to power up all PDFs within? Also, is it possible, like Google Drive to embed folders to show all files inside the bucket? Thank you, um, the best way to power up an s3 folder? I’m not sure if you can power up a full folder. I’ve never tried that. Usually, I just extract the URLs from within the folder and then just hit those with backlinks. If there are URLs that I want to do that to Marco Do you know, can you make a public folder itself public? Like? I don’t know if the folder has its own URL or what?

Alright, guys, I have no idea. If the s3 folder itself, we know that the HTML documents that we place in their images or whatever it is that we placed in there can be made public. But I’ll tell you what, give me about I’m gonna say three months because we’re about to do some nasty stuff in s3, I was just talking about it with my team, or I shouldn’t call it my team partners. Just the SEO crew that I’m with where we’re going to go and just really look into s3 and how much power there actually is in there. So if you come back, I mean, if not just go in and do it yourself and see if it’ll if it can go public and then the best way to push power to that. The Darya Nuff said an embed gig or a link building gig or both from dedhia to that will push all the power you need. I’m not sure about the folder, but I can guarantee that in about three months. I’ll have all the answers you want about s3.

Is There A Way To Get More Branded GMBs In Different Locations To Boost The Footprint Of A Real Business With No Fixed Address?

Sweet. Next question. Is there a way to get more branded GMBs in different locations to boost the footprint of a real service business that doesn’t have a fixed address and works remotely? Yeah, I mean, if you can, I mean, there’s a couple of ways you can buy GMBs from places that will sell you verified GM bees we used to and MGYB. But I don’t think that’s available anymore. There are still some places that will do it. I even found somewhere that I placed an order but it was way back in November and it still hasn’t been delivered. So you know, I think it’s getting harder to do it. But there I know there are still some vendors out there that will sell verified GM B’s. I’m just not going to recommend any of them because again, the one that I just attempted to use in November, I still haven’t had one delivered yet. So I don’t recommend any of I don’t have any to recommend is what I’m saying but there are GMB verified. You know, you can purchase verified GMB, there are vendors out there that do sell them. The other way is the way that I’ve before people started selling them, I used to always just use Pio boxes, you can go to post offices, one thing you want to do is don’t you don’t want to get to GMBs too close to each other. Right. So if you’re going to do a service area business, which I understand doing that makes total sense, I would have them at least 15 or 20 miles apart. Depending on what your service area is, it could be even bigger, larger, you know further distance between locations. But what you can do is find a post office. And then you fill out a form, it’s free, but it’s to use the street address option. So in other words, like if you go you can do all this online, too, by the way, you can register a PO Box online. And they’ll give you they won’t issue you the box number and till you go to the post office like you have to physically go to the post office and show your IDs and sign the paperwork at the post office. But you can reserve it online and pay for it and everything else. But you do have to physically go to the post office to sign the paperwork and then they’ll assign you the box number at that point. So let’s just say it’s a box one on one. If if the post office is at 123, Main Street, whatever town right, then you can fill out an additional form, it’s free to do it doesn’t cost anything else. But you fill out an additional form to use the street address option. And then you would end up using the address for the GMB listing 123 Main Street number sign like the pound sign 101 right, and that that will work. You can’t add a p o box to GMB as the physical address. But you can do a street address with you know, basically a box number a suite number, but it’s just the pound sign and the post office is very particular about you only using the number sign the pound sign before the box number not sweet. Not box, none of that it’s just the number sign. And again, they’re very particular about that. But that’s the way that I had always done it prior to people selling GMB’s.

And it still works, you know. So that’s another alternative way to do it. And in fact, I actually still prefer that method after but over buying them except for the fact that you have to physically go to the post office that sucks. Because you know, especially if it’s far away, but if it’s within reason and you can drive to it, then I recommend going that route over purchasing GMB listings from vendors. And the reason I say that is because it’s still tied to a real physical address this way. And I feel like those are safer than using the spammed ones because of some of the spammed GMB listings that I have. They don’t have any physical location even referenced or tied to them, which I don’t even know how happens. But like there’s no physical address actually connected with it, and it causes problems with the proximity filter. So and what I’m saying is, even for service area business guys, you understand you have to clear the address like you’re not supposed to per Google’s Terms of Service, you’re not supposed to publish the street address for a service area business. Right. So in other words, if it’s a service area business where the customer or excuse me, the business serves the customer at the customer’s location, then you’re supposed to delete them or clear the physical location when you set your service areas then you’re supposed to clear the physical location from showing and when it does, it literally clears it from the GMB dashboard and it will not any longer show the physical address, the street address in the maps listing or anything. But what I’m saying is, some of the GMB is that I had purchased. They don’t have any street address associated with them at all and I don’t know how they even did it. But it causes issues to where it doesn’t show for like near me searches and stuff like that because there’s no physical location associated with it. And again, I don’t know how they do it because even when you register a new GMB, let’s say It’s a legit business and your service area business and it has a legit physical location where the office or you know the business owner lives or whatever, you have to add that address. When you set when you go to claim or create the GMB listing, you have to add the physical address and then wait for a postcard or a card to be delivered via us a mail to that location that has a pin number in it so that you can verify that that physical location that the business really resides at that physical location. So even when you clear the address to make sure that it’s not published, there is still a physical location associated with that GMB and you don’t see that on the GMB dashboard. But for example, I just recently started using local Viking to manage GMB posts and stuff because it integrates with some of my CRM and stuff. So anyway, I’m using that and when you import GMB listings into local Viking, it shows the street address, even if it’s an unpublished street address, and I’ve got a few listings in there that just no street address appears at all, there’s no physical location associated with it. And those are the ones that I’m having trouble getting to appear for proximity searches such as, like near me, keyword phrases, or search queries. And so again, I would recommend it, the spam listings, they can still work, but there are some drawbacks in them that I don’t like about them. Were the P o box way to get one with an actual physical address tends to work. Still, it still works. And I like that one better, except for the fact that you have to physically go to the post office. Does anybody want to comment on that?

Not me. Okay, moving on then.

But yeah, absolutely. That’s I mean, that’s a great way to do it for large, especially business with large service areas, if you can get multiple maps listings, that’s best. Another way to do it, by the way, just quickly, is you can go to Craigslist and post an ad for that I’ve done that I’ve been successful in the past where I’ve posted an ad and in the, you know, in the area that I want, and say, you know, tell them that I’ll pay him 50 bucks to receive a Google postcard. And, you know, tell me when they when they’ve received it and and and and, you know, call me or text me with the pin number inside the card. Most of the time what happens is you’ll find renters that do that instead of people that own homes because they don’t care if somebody registers a business to a rental property like the renters don’t care. The landlord might, but the renters don’t. So I found that I’ve done that in the past several times when it when they when I was trying to get a GMB in an area that I couldn’t that I just wasn’t you know, it wasn’t feasible to drive to and get a PO Box, then I will use Craigslist. So that’s another way to do it. Okay. Moving on.

Is It Possible To Get Wiki Links To An SEO Agency That Offers Other Services And Has A Blog On Non-Marketing Tech Resources?

Next question, given Wikipedia is a negative view of SEO, is it possible to get links from Wikipedia or wiki data to an SEO agency that also offers other services and has a blog with lots of non-marketing tech resources? Sure, but you can also purchase wiki links. Just like we were talking about spam, GMB listings you can buy. We sell them@mgyb.co, our store. And they work I mean, occasionally something will get edited out like, but I’ve actually had one recently that was edited out. And then I just submitted a support request, and I got it restored on another Wikipedia page. So you know, you can buy links, say is it possible? Yeah, cuz you can buy them. I don’t know how to do the edits myself, because I’m not a moderator for Wikipedia. But, you know, that’s one way you could do it is to hire, you know, a Wikipedia editor or moderator, I should say, those are generally really, really expensive. So the other way is just to find a service, like what we have in MGYB, where you can buy them there. I don’t know of any other way to get them to you, Marco.

I mean, there are other ways, but you got to pay for them, or you got to get yourself a Wikipedia page. And you have to be eligible, you have to be able to provide all the documentation that Wikipedia requires. That’s the best thing. The best thing is to get yourself a page on Wikipedia. And Dixon Jones is going to explain on Monday, that’s the most important Wikipedia link that you could possibly get that mentioned in Wikipedia. And then from that, I mean, the next best thing is getting a link on the top page and then getting a link on a page referring to another page as long as it’s relevant. Right. You got to maintain that relevance. But yeah, I mean, just go to MGYB to look for it. We offer it.

What Is A Good Way To Get Lots Of Footer Links Without Having Lots Of Clients?

Sweet Suraj is up he says what’s a good way to get lots of footer links without having lots of clients trying to rank in a competitive area for web design and all other competitors dominate with footer links someone’s exact text. So I’m assuming he means exact anchor text exact match anchor text was hacked footers. Yes. stuff I ever saw.

Yeah. Yeah, that’s funny. Do you say that? Because I, when I read this question earlier and asked what I was gonna suggest, was the only other way that I would know how to do it is the safe network. A lot of those links are hacked footer links, and that when I’m What I mean is like, they literally hack other people’s websites, put links in there for you. It’s so blackhat. But um, you know, it can work. I used to use a lot of safe links years ago when I was doing a lot more blackhat stuff. And I guess there’s really no hats. But when I was doing a lot of really spammy, like, you know, dark alley ship, I used a lot of safe links. I don’t do that anymore. But that’s one way to do it. I don’t recommend it. But that is one way to do it. Anyway, you got any suggestions, Margo?

For further length, Now, why? Alright, so here’s the deal. Um, and I’m gonna say this again. And we explained that I’m going to keep referring back to the webinars on Monday, we explain why we do things, the way that we do, why we create the entity, the way we the way that we do, I’m not gonna go through it here. But we become master mimics. We look at the big dogs. We do what the big dogs do, at the part level, at the algorithmic level, at the patent level, that’s how we do it. All right, if you want to learn how, and why make a donation. Go see our footer links the only way to compete or is there something more powerful than I am missing? Yeah, I mean, I, I don’t think I would go out use that strategy. I’m not I don’t think I know I would use that strategy. I would do other things. So the SEO shield? Yeah. Start there. And then there.

How Can You Run Ads For A Client If You Don’t Have Access To Their Website?

Fitz is up. He says, Hey, guys, hope everyone is well. How can you run ads for a client if you don’t have access to their website? Thanks. You don’t need access to some you can run ads to any URL. The problem is conversion tracking and remarketing and all that other stuff, you know, but you can run ads to any URL that you know. I mean, as far as I know, I don’t think if you have if, if you have a URL, you can run ads to it. The question is why, like if you don’t have access to their website, then you’re not going to be able to install, like the conversion link or code conversion tracking. You know, Google Tag Manager remarketing. You know the remarketing tag all of those things that you would need, but you don’t need them. But I would hate to piss money away on Google ads, or ads period if I couldn’t track conversions. And if I couldn’t build a remarketing list from anybody that visited the page or the site,

so I don’t know why you would want to do it without having access to the site. Go ahead.

Yeah, I’m just wondering if maybe it’s one of those where he’s saying he doesn’t have, edit access. But if somebody can, or if you can talk to the client be like, hey, you just need to take these two steps. You need to copy this code, you need to install it, tell them where to do it. Because Yeah, if you’re in that situation, where for whatever reason, you don’t have access, you need to maybe impress upon them the importance of, hey, you need to get this code on there. Otherwise, you’re gonna be losing money. You know, because you can’t retarget you’re not building retargeting lists, you won’t know about conversions.

Yeah, if you have, if you have, you know, if there’s a webmaster or somebody that is maintaining this site that you just don’t have access to yourself, then you can absolutely still do everything because what I would suggest you do at that point would be to set up Tag Manager. And then just contact, whoever’s managing the site. So the webmaster or the business owner, whoever’s managing the site, contact them and send them the container code for Tag Manager, one goes into the header, one goes into the footer, or right before the closing body tag, either one. And it’s just two snippets of code to get added to the site globally, right, so it’s site-wide code, and then you can add and subtract all the tags that you need inside of Tag Manager which you would have access to meaning you can add tags and triggers and all that stuff and then deploy it all through Tag Manager and will automatically update the website from a remote from tag managed from the Tag Manager dashboard. Once the container code is there, you can add or remove tags, remarketing tags, a conversion tracking all of that stuff. Jason, you can add structured data schema.org All kinds of stuff that you can use Tag Manager for. If you don’t have access to managing the site, the webmaster can install Tag Manager and you can use that.

Any other comments?

No, that’s fine. Okay,

Does It Make A Difference If You Already Added The Supporting Documents Prior To Getting The SEO Location Shield?

so the next one is from Landry. Now I get it, I couldn’t figure out how to pronounce your name. So I appreciate you spelling it out phonetically because Hooked on Phonics works for me. So thank you for that. So Lanre says, Hey, Bradley, I noticed you had problems pronouncing my name. It’s pronounced Landry as an rio. So I’ve got it this time. Now, my question is this, I bought my keyword research from you guys. I built my site, I added three categories with content, and five supporting articles per category, I now need to order my SEO location shield to establish my brand. Okay, I’m not sure that you want to order locations, you know, maybe you do, I don’t have the full context of your project. But let’s just assume that the SEO location showed us what you want to order? Does it make any difference? If I already added the supporting documents prior to getting the SEO location showed? I don’t quite understand the question. Does it matter that you’ve started to build out your site with categories and adding depth to the silos? No, it doesn’t matter at all. Because again, I don’t know that the location, I don’t have the full context, I don’t know what you’re doing. But just from this little bit of detail that I have. I don’t know that the location shield is really what you want and the SEO power shield should be for the brand. And then typically, for top-level silos, you want to do the are the expansion stack, right? Dry S Drive expansion, or drive stack expansion, excuse me? Not necessarily location shield. So if you go take a look at the SEO shield, and you take a look at the three different versions, what does it locate starter shield locations to power shield, right? Power shield is going to be for the brand, that’s what we recommend. But then our wireless expansions, which is a separate product in the store, it’s not on the SEO shield page, cry is drive stack expansion. Go in there. That’s what I would recommend that you buy an expansion for each top-level silo. Does that make sense? Does anybody want to comment on this Marco, do you?

Yeah, I mean, don’t look at it like that. Landry. Don’t look at it like that. You’re done with the website, you can continue working with the website. Yeah, you can have dummy content on the website, you shouldn’t. But you at least need that RSS feed. So yeah, you do need some supporting articles or posts. You have that already. Go in order and SEO shall not a location shield. Because you don’t want to pigeonhole yourself into a geographic location. All right, not if your branding, not if your branding, you can do you can take care of the locations through location-driven pages. On the inner part of the G site, in the beginning, you’re just trying to create I’m not gonna say the keyword, yet but it is its brand plus a keyword, relationships, how your brand relates to the keywords in whatever niche It is, it is that you’re in, especially the top-level keywords, we add it, we intersperse it, we go through all of the documents, everything gets filled with keywords, especially if you order our deep keyword research gig, which this is perfect for, it’s perfect for giving you all of the relevance necessary to really carry out a proper the proper content structure of your website will give you suggestions, you know your project better than we could ever hope to know it. So you have to follow what you know, with what our suggestions are. Once you have all that and once you get the SEO show delivered back, especially the G site that the following that as the ad ID and ordering an expansion won’t interfere with the ad ID. So what you see is okay, now I have a top-level category. So I’m going after gold. Now I want to do gold bars. Well, gold bars go on the inside. So let’s say you’re saying you’re in a city already, and you want the adjoining city. So gold bars add joining the city, however, it is that you choose to pursue that well, we build that for you we can build you an interface so that you don’t have to, and an intersect. So you’re expanding the power of your original branded stack, and G site. And the whole point of this is to keep expanding. So you’re adding depth and breadth to that T site and dry stack the same way that you’re doing it on your website as you find categories. And as you use supporting posts to boost that top-level category that you’re trying to rank eventually you should be pushing so much power. And I see this time and again, that even an empty folder is added. This is when true power will you push it to power and you’re building up that PageRank and ranking score. An empty folder will rank for the keyword that you’re assigning it. And it’s incredible when when when this thing happens, or you’ll pop in and like a new location, and a brand new GMB and you see all kinds of action in the GMB. And you’re wondering why? Well, it’s because you iframe it on the G site or you iframe that on your website, or it’s part of a really deep and wide drive second site. And that’s when the power really comes into play. That’s why I tell people, it’s hard work, you cannot expect to rank with one page for gold. It’s not gonna happen, you can’t ever hope to outrank Amazon with one page, and a couple of supporting posts. Not gonna happen. That’s, that’s a trillion-dollar company that you’re going after you can’t do it for a buck 50. All right, so all of this power and all of these things need to continue taking place, you need to do your press releases, you need to do the link building, you need to do the embeds plus link building. And you need to continue broadening your profile throughout the web, making that footprint bigger, wider, relating more profiles one to the other. This is what the big boys do. You see Apple everywhere you see Amazon, everywhere. So that’s what you have to do. And one of the ways that we do it is exactly the way I just described. Now that takes a lot of work. The way that I like to put this is it like people see it. And it’s really simple. I ordered the SEO shield, and then I just produce content. And magic happens. No, it doesn’t. I’ve been online for 18 years. This is 18 years in the making. Bradley has about a decade and I know her Nana’s around there. Chris has so many years and Adam, I think Well, I know. I’ve known him for six, seven years. So he has at least that long online. So you’re getting decade’s worth of thinking of strategizing of putting everything together into what you see as the SEO shoot. But that’s what it’s for. And that’s what you should order not the location shield, but the branded SEO power shield. Yeah.

Yeah, that’s why I just pulled up the pages on the store, just to demonstrate what Marco was talking about. The SEO power shield is what we recommend for the brand. For the main brand, right, and then from that, because it gives you the syndication network, the drive stack with the G site, and then the IDX page. So that’s for the main entity, right the brand itself, and then from there, you go from the store, go click into the Google RYS expansion stacks. And these are the expansion stacks of each top-level silo. Right? So each silo on the site. So top-level category, top-level keyword, you should have an RBS expansion stack. If you’re doing a local business and you’re you have location-based silos, however, you do that, I do it using the tag structure inside of WordPress, then I also order a separate expansion stack for each location, if that makes sense, but I don’t want to confuse you. As I said, if you’re doing it on just topical stuff, then you’d want a separate expansion stack for each one of your top-level silos. You don’t need additional ID pages and then additional g sites, which is what happens when you order location shield. So in fact, I would we would recommend against that.

Okay, so hopefully that clarifies that.

All right, moving on.

Does it make a difference in priority? No, no, it doesn’t, you can just as long as you have, all that you need is you need the web, the URLs, when that you’re going to push, you know uses your main target URL for your drive stack. And then for each one of your expansion stacks you’re going to get, you’re going to have a field that you have to submit your main target URL, it’s going to be one primary target URL per expansion. As long as those URLs are available, like on your site, that’s fine. It doesn’t matter whether there’s content there or anything, to begin with, you can order it with just the URL. The only thing that has to have content is the RSS feed for the SEO power shield order because the syndication network, if it’s an RSS driven syndication network as opposed to YouTube, then it needs the RSS feed has to have so the RSS Feed URL has to contain at least one item it can be the Hello World post for that matter, it doesn’t matter. As long as it has one item in the RSS feed, then they can set up the applets inside IFTTT but that’s it though the rest of the site doesn’t need to look at content on it. If it just has the URLs available in. That’s it. And for anybody watching this at this point watching the replay, enlarge the video so you can get the information about donating to the charity and accessing the webinar.

Do You Have Any Tips In Using Linktree Other Than Hammering It With Backlinks?

Okay, sweet. Let’s keep moving. Jim’s up. What’s up, Jim? He says, Hey, gang, I was curious if you guys have any tips or tricks to apply to link tree? That’s a good site. I just started playing with that a little bit more actually. Other than the usual hammer the shit out of it with backlinks. You can embed it. So yeah, it’s pretty much the same thing that we would always recommend hammer with backlinks. You can also embed link tree itself, the link tree page, which is just a collection of links, right. So that’s just you can also do embeds and backlinks to the embeds. Anything else?

Scorched earth Seo? hammer? I don’t know any other strategy. I don’t understand anything else other than if it can stand it, give it more. And if it takes that much, then try some more. Well, you know what it is man? Just go do the do.

How Would You Silo Structure A Website With Multiple Topics?

Alright, baby, what’s up, man? He says, Hey, guys, a better example for last weekend’s question how Google treat pages that are not related topically to the site, say you are a site about marketing. The silo is about software. Let’s say all the marketing software goes here. But what if we add non-marketing software pages to the silo to that silo-like employment software, or betting software, etc. So the new silo be opened to nonrelated marketing software? No. And in a case like that, BB, I would have subcategories. So I would use a complex silo structure for that type of site because the software would be the parent category, the top-level category, but then you would create subcategories for the different types of software marketing software is a subcategory. What were some of the other one’s employment software being another sub sub category, and then betting software or investing software? Right. forex software, like there’s a, you know, productivity software, like every one of those could be sub-categories. And then you would add supporting articles, which could be reviews of those types of different software in their appropriate subcategory. So in a situation like what you’re describing this time, in which you provided more context, this time than you usually do. So thank you for that, by the way, then then, yeah, I would use a complex silo structure for something like that. And I would add subcategories and appropriately place the articles and supporting articles and such within the correct cat subcategories. That is something that you could do.

Comments?

yeah, treated as a directory for marketing? And how would you build that directory then for marketing related categories and subcategories, and maybe some not so specific categories that do relate to marketing, but not in a direct manner, you could totally do that. Just be careful how far in the weeds you go, because you could end up somewhere totally not relevant to whatever it is that you’re doing. And then in that case, it’s not as if you’d be penalized or anything, it’s just that you’re not going to get any, well, you shouldn’t get any action, because the AI will know that there’s absolutely no relationship between that uncategorized or irrelevant category, and everything else that you’re doing, with the caveat that if you’re pushing enough power, it will rack it just takes monster power to do it.

Yeah. Yeah, and, and actually, you know, that’s, I, I prefer using simple silos as much as possible. But in the situation that you’re describing here, that’s perfect for a complex silo. And you can push a shit ton of power with the complex silo guys if you know how to how to set up your internal linking correctly. Complex silos can push a ton of power to the top-level keyword. So again, you know, you got to map that out before ever starting a complex silo site, spend some time mapping it out, like not just the immediate need, but your future needs as well, because that’s part of the problem with a complex silo structure is it’s real easy to get started and think that you have an idea of what you want your silo structure to look like when you’re starting off and you have, you know, a finite or a limited amount of content and ideas. But as the project grows, you’re probably going to figure like, Oh shit, I should have figured it. I should have structured the site in this way instead. And that’s part of the problem with complex silo structures is their complex just like the name? Just like, that’s why it’s in the name, excuse me. But if you do it correctly, if you map it out, right, then you can I mean, it’s just amazing. And how much power you can push with those. But again, it’s like I remember, that’s part of the reason I like to do those anymore at all is that I would spend literally hours upon hours a day to, you know, a day or two on just mapping out the site before starting the build. And even then even after doing all of that mapping work and trying to decide on how I was going to structure the site, a lot of the times, at some point in the future, I would end up kicking myself for structuring it that way, because I should have done something else, you know what I mean? So I prefer not to do that if needed. But if so, I mean, if that’s the route, that you’re going to go spend some time on the front end, you’ll, you’ll be glad that you did. And yeah, you can push a lot of power that way, for sure.

Well, that’s if you’re building a directory, this complexity in building a directory to start with. So try to keep it simple. And don’t spend hours trying to map out the site, just get to work on it, and try to work it out conceptually, as you go, you’re still gonna run into problems and having to 301 and having to redo your URL structure. But that’s a lot better, man.

Do Semantic Mastery’s Methods Only Work On Google Search Engines?

So the next question is, do your methods work only on Google search engines and YouTube? Or should they should it also work on search engines like Facebook or Pinterest search, etc. I mean, we optimize for Google? Because you know, that’s what 70 or 80% of all search traffic. I can’t speak for Facebook or Pinterest, those algorithms are totally different. But oftentimes, when we optimize for Google, then we end up ranking in Bing and Yahoo because many and Yahoo are one and the same anymore. But it’s only I think, they’ve got a little bit more market share than they used to, but it’s somewhere around 30%, I think. But I don’t optimize for Bing, or, I mean, I just optimize for Google. Because that’s, you know, that’s where the bulk of all traffic comes from. And usually, we end up ranking in Yahoo, and Bing also, comments on that?

Yeah, I mean, we want Google search. That’s what we’re after. In some places in some countries some areas, over 90% of the search market, is in Google. So if you have something that’s search-based, which is totally local business, or whatever, then it just stands to reason that you’re going to focus on Google. Now, if you’re going to go and work on the Pinterest algorithm that you have to learn the Pinterest algorithm. And some of the methods that we teach might not work in Pinterest, but I’m not gonna get into how Pinterest works here works differently. The same thing with Facebook, the Facebook algorithm works differently. It just does. They’re similar. So as the Bing algorithm, they’re all based on the same thing, right, trying to see how they rank for a certain query. At the end of the day, that’s what you’re trying to do. But you have to learn the requirements. So you mentioned Pinterest, and, and Facebook, you’d have to try those people want Amazon, we have to go in and figure that one out. Then Bing, Yahoo. Why when we can get 80 to 90%. In Google, and then the other ones, we can just run ads and get results. Yep,

I agree.

Have You Ever Ranked Something Using Citations Only?

All right. Ah, next question. Have you ever ranked something with citations only and without links? Let’s, let’s say you have a non-local site, say e-commerce does brand citations without backlinks. Will that work? First of all, I don’t know because all I do is local stuff. I’ve ranked local stuff with just citations like a local business directory or business directory citations like structured citations. Sometimes they’ll contain links, oftentimes, they’ll contain links. It’s been a long time since I’ve tried to rank any local business project with just citations. It’s probably possible still, but citations are just a part of an overall picture. Now that’s talking about, like, structured citations like business directory listings for local type business sites. I think what you’re talking about is like co-citation, right? where somebody is talking or a citation, I guess, in a broader sense, can be just a brand mention, right?

I’ve never tried that. I don’t know why you would mean, I’ve never tried it. So I can’t answer that. Can you know, because the citation is a backlink? So I don’t get it. I don’t get the question to start with. And let’s, let’s see, let’s say you have a non-local site. That’s e-commerce does do brand citations without backlinks work, or will they work? I have no clue because that’s not how we do. We actually use citations as part of the entity. It’s all part of entity-based. worry less SEO, especially local, like the broader you go The less necessary they can put your branded citations if you can get them in the big ones in the data aggregators, as a matter of fact, work really well because they’re links. They’re places where Google goes to see the data to pull data, but it. Alright, so this question I’m not gonna pick on you, I’m just saying is missing the point of the ranking score and PageRank algorithm, and of every other algorithm, because Google has to go through a link somewhere to get to the server, wherever this branded or number, enter the citation or wherever this other thing is, without that link, there’s absolutely no way that Google can go from one server to the other, it’s not magic, Google cannot teleport, it can’t jump into another server, right? It’s a, it’s HTTP or HTTPS. That’s the protocol. As well, there has to be something that connects them that connect, now you what you’re talking about. And, again, I’m gonna go back to our webinar Monday, it was killer, you have two nodes, is what you’re talking about. One is your brand, whatever. And you have another note somewhere that mentioned your brand, Google has to get that get to that, each of those and relate them some way. And the way it does that is through links. So the more links that are connected to your e-commerce site, and to wherever that brand citation is, right, the more power it will have, because that Google can start creating the relationship for the distance graph algorithm with again, I’m not going to get into any of that. What I’m just saying is, you need to start conceiving in this another way, because the things that you’re asking are a little bit conceptually off on this. I’m reading this incorrectly, in which case I’d like you to explain what it is that you mean, you did a really good job on the other one of explaining what it was. Yeah.

Yeah, I agree. So I said I was more contents context in that last question than what we’re used to from BB. So. Okay, so the next question is from is not really a question, as Jim says, He says, but rather a wiki experience, I have a site that has six wikilinks pointing to it from different or two different articles. I didn’t pay for them, they were added in a natural manner. So organic links. That’s awesome.

Those quotes, I’d like to know what those natural means is it’s in quotes. Well, that’s true. That’s true. But I think he means that it’s just he’s got good content, and somebody, you know, linked to it naturally from an article. That’s how I interpreted but you’re right, since it’s in quotes, it might be. Anyway, those links are very powerful. And I highly recommend trying to get one through whatever means necessary pro tip have the best, most thorough, most documented article on a subject and then cross your fingers. You know, that’s a great point, Jim, because here’s the thing. You can purchase wiki links, right? Like, we just talked about that from, or links from Wikipedia or links, you can get a link on Wikipedia by buying it from our service. But don’t just link to like something that, you know, if I recommend that you are linking to something that has some well-written content, not just like, you know, a spammy page or something like that on the site. I mean, you can try to get away with that. But the problem with that is it it’s likely going to get moderated out at some time. Like even if your link gets placed. At some point, somebody’s probably going to discover that it’s linking to something if it’s not linking to something that is resourceful, right? That is a resource that is relevant to the page that the Wikipedia that Wikipedia is linking from, then it’s going to end up being moderated out at some point, it’s almost guaranteed it’s just a matter of time. So I recommend that if you are going to buy Wikipedia links that you do link to a piece of content on the site that you’re linking to that is relevant, and has some useful information on there. Right. So that it’s less likely to get moderated out at some later date by some other Wikipedia moderator. Okay.

Comments, good?

No, no, I mean, fantastic if you can get them and I saw that later on. He said, organic. That’s fantastic. You can get organic links if you can become the source or a source for that Wikipedia page. That’s fantastic. Because now that now you have a relationship to that seed site. I’m going to talk seed sites and seed sets are I don’t want to confuse all y'all up. But that’s what happened. You related to trust to trusted and authoritative sources. Thereby you become a trusted and authoritative source. Which is why it’s working so well.

Adam, you on, you turn your camera on. So I’m assuming you got something to say?

Unknown Speaker 55:08 No, it was let’s say I’m going to reach out to Jim, I want to ask him a question because he’s had some interesting comments over the last couple of weeks. So talking about AI stuff. And then now with organic Wikipedia links, so Jim, I’m gonna track you down, are you if you can find me, so shoot me a message. But yeah, I just actually had a note on the kind of the last, or sorry, the last question of the day here.

Thoughts On The AWS Email About Allowing Public Access

Okay, cool. So, Jay says Amazon AWS sent out an email warning about allowing public access to an s3 bucket. Yeah, I’ve gotten dozens of those emails. Yeah, the wording was such that it sounds like they’re removing public access. And if you are in disagreement with that, I don’t think that’s the case. That’s not the way I read it. Yeah. And

I just pulled it up to double-check just did a quick read through. And they don’t say that they just say that. You should have some buckets configured that way, that may not be what you intended. So we suggest you fix it. And then, you know, talk to us if you have a question, but it doesn’t say that we’re gonna change it or anything like that.

Yeah. Thank you, Adam. Because that’s when I read his question. Or when I read this question, I thought about that. I was like, you know, I better go back and reread, because I mean, I’ve gotten dozens and dozens of those emails. And I’ve read through them a couple of times. And the way that I interpreted it was what Adam just said was, like, it’s telling you like, Hey, you probably didn’t mean for the bucket to have public access. But if you did, it’s not recommended. But I didn’t see anywhere where it said they were going to revert them to protect. A lot of problems.

Yeah, the only thing is one line. If you have a business need to maintain some level of public access, please see an overview of managing access, and they give references for more in-depth instructions on managing just to make sure you’ve done the correct level of access. Yeah.

Yeah, when I set up my buckets, I set them up to where objects can be public. But the folder itself, or the bucket itself isn’t entirely public, it just allows for individual items to be made public. That’s the way that I set up all my buckets so that I can pick and choose whether I want them to be public at the time that I upload the files. So hopefully, that makes sense. we’re about out of time, Jim says sorry, natural and organic. Yeah, we saw that. Thank you. Jim, by the way, reached out to Adam BB says I mean, so this is a guest clarification for his previous question. He says, I mean, you have an e-commerce site for dog food named SM doggy will a mentioned citation that way mentioned or a citation of that, and other sites will promote the site without a backlink? Again, I don’t know. I mean, for local businesses, having the name, address, and phone number published online, even without a backlink count as a citation, which is like a vote of confidence, right? It’s just because what is it doing? It’s just validating entity information. Does that make sense? That’s why it’s so important to have a name, address and phone number always published exactly the same. Because even having punctuation different or using the ampersand sign instead of A and D, or something like that, right are sometimes having IMC or LLC at the end. And other times not all of them. If you have variations of the name, address, and phone number published even with no backlink, then that can start to ambiguous. The data, right and that’s why local businesses have published mention of the name, address, and phone number, even without a backlink does count as a citation and can help to rank now, can it be can you purely rank on that? I don’t know. I’ve never tried it. But when you’re talking about that type of citation for a nonlocal site like an e-commerce site? I have zero experience with any of that whatsoever. I can’t imagine that it would but I can’t say whether it does or not. Because I’ve never done anything like that. comments.

It creates co-occurrence. It is a no co-citation or a citation. If it’s the full local citation, right? Name, Address phone number, the NA p other than that I don’t know I’d like depends on the competition. If there’s no competition, I see where it just mentioned, of your site on powerful sites would make a difference. But if like, like most places, that the competition is fierce, then no, you’re not going to get away with something like that.

Yeah, and I think it’s kind of interesting to backing this up a level away from purely the SEO benefit and saying, Well, if your name let’s say the SM dog food brand is mentioned on Huffington Post, like yeah, you know what, I bet Our website is gonna see some increased traffic and it’s not a direct link, right. It’s just by getting out there and building the brand. You know, that’s kind of what’s happening there as to how I see it without getting into the technical side.

Yeah. And you know, actually, just to follow up, Adam, that’s a really good point. And I know this to be true, because when I started my land investment, my land flipping business, I experienced it firsthand. And that is if you can get a name published online, right, and somebody but it’s not a backlink, but somebody reads the name and they’re curious, they’ll go Google that. And then it pulls up the brand. And then they click through that’s a navigational or brand search query, that then a click through. So that’s a huge SEO signal, when somebody reads a name, brand name somewhere and then goes in Google searches and then clicks through that’s a fantastic SEO signal. And I experienced that with alpha land Realty, my business, my real estate business because when I first started, I was just running ads, I didn’t do any SEO at all, nothing, I just have a single and it’s still to this day, just have a single landing page on click funnels. For you know, for that business, basically. And all I started I was sending I was running Google ads to that but no SEO and then I started sending a direct mail out to property owners with my brand name Alfa land realty on it. And what happened was I started seeing alpha land realty ranked number one for even like, my keywords like sell land fast Virginia and things like that. And I couldn’t figure out why because I hadn’t done any SEO work whatsoever. And then I started digging into it. And I realized that people were doing navigational search queries because they would get letters from me direct mail letters from me that would state you know, hey, alpha land realty wants to buy your property, if you’re interested, go here, blah, blah, blah. And they would go to Google and search alpha land Realty and then click through and because of that, I started to rank in a matter of like three weeks with zero SEO work. And it was because of those brand searches, which is why we talked about engagement signals are absolutely critical, are super powerful. You want to comment on that, guys before we wrap it up?

Yeah, I think that’s good.

Okay, thanks, everybody for being here. We’ll see you guys next week. See ya.

Source: Semantic Mastery Weekly SEO Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 324 published first on your-t1-blog-url

[daynamartinez22]

Weekly SEO Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 324

Click on the video above to watch Episode 324 of the Semantic Mastery Hump Day Hangouts.

Full timestamps with topics and times can be found at the link above.

The latest upcoming free SEO Q&A Hump Day Hangout can be found at http://semanticmastery.com/humpday.

Announcement

We’re live. Oh, there we go. I see it now. So regardless, we’re live. Welcome to Hump Day Hangouts. Today’s the 27th of January 2021. And we’ve got some good stuff for you guys today. As usual, we got a few quick announcements and then we’re gonna jump into answering your questions. But real quick, just want to say hi, looks like we got most of the guys here today. Let’s see. I’m gonna start with her Nan today. How are you doing, man?

Dude, I’m good. I’m good.

I’m just melting down here. It’s really hot and humid, but it’s okay, man.

We’re supposed to have rain tomorrow. So gonna cool off. Happy to be here.

Nice. what’s the temperature there in Celsius?

And Celsius is like 36. I think so. 36. See, it’s pretty warm. Yeah.

Yeah, that’s 96 points, 97.

All right, that’s getting up. Yeah, that’s on like, maximum temperature scale. So I know you’re a hardware guy. But yeah, some rain on top of that. That sounds nice and humid. So you enjoy that. Yeah. Awesome. Marco. How are you doing today?

Um, I mean, what can I say? Groundhog Day. If you guys understand how it is that you can take $1 and change it into a million dollars. Give me one. Give me a hill. Yeah, let me see. Fuck. I hate those cheesy markers, man. Look, hard work. You gotta work. You gotta do the dude, you got to pay your dues. It’s very people who hit on that one idea with absolutely nothing. But sweat equity. Turn it into a billion-dollar idea. The rest of Us to get to anyone, whatever. I gotta work. I don’t just sit here and do nothing. I yeah, it’s beautiful. It’s a great place to work. I step outside. It’s sunny. It’s warm. It’s beautiful. Got the sun? Got him. Got this. When did my hair look, man? Come on, man. Very few things require no work as most people tell you to should is hard work. And it’s not easy. It’s not easy, but it’s not complicated. It can’t be simplified, which is what we’ve done for you. Alright. So if you want to know how, and you want to know why we’re in the middle of our charity webinars, Bradley killed it on Monday. With his ads for branding. And entity Monday, I’m gonna call it what it is entity manipulation. It was fantastic. A lot of great ideas, a lot of information that literally I’m telling you on Monday would have cost 1000s of dollars anywhere else. You got it for free. Next Monday. What’s the Dixon Jones, internet legend Dixon Jones is coming to show you how to do entities and content. And so this is going to be a recurring theme entities entities entities, brand new entities brand. I wonder why I wonder what’s working in SEO, what has been working, what’s working out what will be working. Anyway, I don’t want to take too much time. Thank you to those of you who donated if you haven’t, then I posted a how-to on the page. I know the information is there. Again, I don’t want to take too much time. And even if you did and you did not register, you won’t be able to access that page. Now. Because that page is gone. We moved it, you can still contact the email that I’ve set on there and you will get access. If you’re given the note no donation, you will get access to the replay. And if you haven’t donated, send proof of the other donation to the email and get access guys’ information. I’m telling you, you would end up paying I know barely one time paid nearly 20 K. And the information was nowhere near as good as the shit that we give away for the price of a donation. I can guarantee it. He told us what the information that he got not that it was useless. But the information that we’re giving away for a charitable donation. I’d be dead. There’s no comparison anywhere. Guaranteed.

Outstanding Marco, something you said at the beginning. I’m just gonna ask you and for those of you watching, I didn’t ask Marco this earlier or anything. But the something you said kind of tickled something in my head. I was wondering Have you read the book The Art of contrary thinking?

Of course.

Okay. I had never heard of it until a couple of weeks ago. And I just picked it up and started going through it. And anyway, I was like, You know what, I bet this is a book Marco would recommend. And just this is a total tangent, but would you recommend people to read it because I’m like 10 pages in and I’m like, I can tell this is gonna be a big one.

I mean, I recommend that you read period, right?

Yeah, read it.

And not just that it’s not just reading that one book but this other but Well, when everybody thinks, Oh, here we go, let me see if I get the quote, right. When everybody thinks the same when everybody thinks alike, everybody is likely to be wrong. Think about that. Think about that. All right. So the art of contrary thinking, Humphrey, was a Yo, yo,

yeah, Neil.

Yeah. Yeah, guys, read the book, read the book. Go read the art of war. Mandatory, mandatory. And then read the commentaries on the art of war. Don’t just read it. Try to figure it out while you’re like trying to read the Bible without the commentaries, right? Without going into the original text. But yeah, definitely, if you can, like a book a week, by all means, for those who can’t just listen to it, listen, listen to books, all the audiobooks are everywhere. But yeah, absolutely recommended.

Awesome. All right. The library tickled something else too. I just put the link down for anyone interested. We should probably we could update this year. We’ve got a recommended reading list which I don’t think the art of country thinking is on my add that on, but I just put it at semantic mastery comm slash books. So go check that out if you’re watching and interested in some of these we’re mentioning so. Okay, sorry, a little bit of a tangent there. But last but not least, Bradley, how are you doing today?

Doing great. Busy as all hell as usual, but doing well. Glad to be here.

Sounds good. All right. Well, I got a little thing to get through here. I wanted to let people know because we do have new people watching every week people coming in on YouTube are catching the replay. So first of all, thank you for watching. You’re in the right place.

Hold on a minute. Did we forget Chris, didn’t we?

Is Chris here. Chris is here. Oh, man. I’m sorry. Well,

I can go again as well. If you don’t like me here today. Chris snuck in the back door when Adam wasn’t looking.

That’s good. I feel bad because we got the little strip up at the top and zoom. So Chris, how are you doing? Man? My bad.

Yeah, doing well here. I didn’t know.

I was wondering because now I wish the most.

Sorry, what are you saying?

I don’t know. I’m shorting the markets, especially on the SEO niche. Not having anything else. Alright, well stay away from GameStop. So that’s already? Yeah. All right, well, let’s get into it. So like I was saying, if you’re here and you’re watching live, let us know how you’re doing. Even if you don’t have a comment, just say hello, get let us know where you’re at, or how you’re doing. And if you’re new to semantic mastery, you’re new to MGYB you’re new to heavy hitters club, the best place for you to start find out how to shield your sites don’t have to worry about algorithm updates again, and it’s a free training that’s available at the SEOshield.com. That’s the word, the SEOshield.com. And you’ll hear us talking about all the stuff that’s involved in that. So if you’re not familiar with words, like SEO shield, that’s a great place for you to get started. From there, definitely recommend picking up the Battle Plan. Alright, that’s step by step processes. So you can get SEO results. And it’s how we do things and the tools we use and the services we use. And you can get that at Battle Plan dot semantic mastery.com the next one after that we also get questions about right as consultants like myself, agency owners like Bradley, people who are, you know, wanting to get more clients who want to grow the revenue, they want to scale the team, they’re still you know, grow at still in growth mode. It’s hard to get that one out of the mouth. And you know, before they’re big enough, they’re thinking, How can I do this? How do I do these three really important things so Bradley and Hernan a little bit, they’ve put together this training last year, that is just amazing? It’s called 2xyouragency, 2xyouragency.com. Just head over there and you can find out more. And for those of you who are serious about growing your digital marketing business or the digital marketing side of your business, and you want to be part of the experienced community, then the mastermind is definitely for you. And that you can find out more at mastermind.semanticmastery.com. And now I mentioned MGYB if you’re not familiar with it, it’s mgyb.co. Alright, that’s done for you services, things like the SEO shield that I mentioned, syndication networks, link building press releases, and a ton more. I believe we’ve got an update coming soon. Right Marco we’ve got a kind of an overhaul on the system coming down the pipeline, right.

We have a complete overhaul of the system. But I mean, Bradley’s in there. So you can tell. He can tell me but I mean, we’re doing several things right. So it’s not just that syndication Academy. Right, that’s coming guys, that’d be an overhaul. And then, of course, we’re gonna have updates and is going to be a new person who just wants to be friendly more time, honestly, than what he could then want to get dedicated to it. It needs more time. So It can work the way that it should. Bradley couldn’t dedicate the time to it. So we just brought someone in. She learned the way. And she was here. I mean, you guys met her, you guys met SC, she’s the one that that’s redoing, syndication Academy, she was doing updates, she’s going to be going into a whole bunch of new profiles and websites that we can use to manipulate the entity. Remember, entity-based, worthless SEO. That’s what this is about the charity webinars are about that, how we’re winning today’s we’re manipulating the entity and showing Google what we want. And we’re getting Google to do what we want Google to do. That’s how we do the dope.

Outstanding. Well, like Marco was saying earlier, if you haven’t yet, you can still get access to the charity webinars highly recommend you do that that is on the page. If for some reason you’re watching this, you can’t find the link, you’re not sure what’s going on. But you know that you want to get in on that you can just send an email to support at semantic mastery comm we’ll get you sorted out and gets taken care of. So with that said, Guys, anything else before we dive into it?

All right, we’re good.

Right, grab the screen.

There it is. Alright,

so it looks like the first one is from mini min. Rob. Hey, guys, I’ve received my order from MGYB. But I don’t know how it works. Well, which order? Is he? Which order? Is he talking about? SEO SEO. But I don’t know.

Rob, if you’re here mini broad. I’m just gonna call it mini Rob. Sorry, man. This may be your actual name. But it makes me think of like a little tiny version of Rob. Yeah. If that’s the case, we need to know more information, right? We can’t tell you what’s going on. We don’t know if you ordered a press release or a link building order or keyword research. So we’re kind of stuck here. So if you let us know, we could probably help you. And then I would also say you probably want to talk to us first and come to Hump Day Hangouts. And if you’re like, maybe I should use this SEO shield thing or the press release thing. If you ask that first, we could definitely explain it. But since you’ve got it now, let us know exactly what you’re doing. And then that’s how we can help you I guess.

That’s good. Okay. All right. So yeah, we can try to answer a few. I’m sorry, I just got was looking at an email that just came in what’s the next question is what’s the best way before? Before you go to the next question, the SEO shield comm if you got an SEO shield, right, the seo.com is the place to go for the training. It’s free. And at the end of that, we even throw in a coupon for you to order whatever it is that you need.

How Do You Push The Link Juice To Power All PDFs In The Entire Amazon S3 Folders?

Beautiful. Okay, so the next one is what’s the best way to push link juice through entire Amazon s3 folders to power up all PDFs within? Also, is it possible, like Google Drive to embed folders to show all files inside the bucket? Thank you, um, the best way to power up an s3 folder? I’m not sure if you can power up a full folder. I’ve never tried that. Usually, I just extract the URLs from within the folder and then just hit those with backlinks. If there are URLs that I want to do that to Marco Do you know, can you make a public folder itself public? Like? I don’t know if the folder has its own URL or what?

Alright, guys, I have no idea. If the s3 folder itself, we know that the HTML documents that we place in their images or whatever it is that we placed in there can be made public. But I’ll tell you what, give me about I’m gonna say three months because we’re about to do some nasty stuff in s3, I was just talking about it with my team, or I shouldn’t call it my team partners. Just the SEO crew that I’m with where we’re going to go and just really look into s3 and how much power there actually is in there. So if you come back, I mean, if not just go in and do it yourself and see if it’ll if it can go public and then the best way to push power to that. The Darya Nuff said an embed gig or a link building gig or both from dedhia to that will push all the power you need. I’m not sure about the folder, but I can guarantee that in about three months. I’ll have all the answers you want about s3.

Is There A Way To Get More Branded GMBs In Different Locations To Boost The Footprint Of A Real Business With No Fixed Address?

Sweet. Next question. Is there a way to get more branded GMBs in different locations to boost the footprint of a real service business that doesn’t have a fixed address and works remotely? Yeah, I mean, if you can, I mean, there’s a couple of ways you can buy GMBs from places that will sell you verified GM bees we used to and MGYB. But I don’t think that’s available anymore. There are still some places that will do it. I even found somewhere that I placed an order but it was way back in November and it still hasn’t been delivered. So you know, I think it’s getting harder to do it. But there I know there are still some vendors out there that will sell verified GM B’s. I’m just not going to recommend any of them because again, the one that I just attempted to use in November, I still haven’t had one delivered yet. So I don’t recommend any of I don’t have any to recommend is what I’m saying but there are GMB verified. You know, you can purchase verified GMB, there are vendors out there that do sell them. The other way is the way that I’ve before people started selling them, I used to always just use Pio boxes, you can go to post offices, one thing you want to do is don’t you don’t want to get to GMBs too close to each other. Right. So if you’re going to do a service area business, which I understand doing that makes total sense, I would have them at least 15 or 20 miles apart. Depending on what your service area is, it could be even bigger, larger, you know further distance between locations. But what you can do is find a post office. And then you fill out a form, it’s free, but it’s to use the street address option. So in other words, like if you go you can do all this online, too, by the way, you can register a PO Box online. And they’ll give you they won’t issue you the box number and till you go to the post office like you have to physically go to the post office and show your IDs and sign the paperwork at the post office. But you can reserve it online and pay for it and everything else. But you do have to physically go to the post office to sign the paperwork and then they’ll assign you the box number at that point. So let’s just say it’s a box one on one. If if the post office is at 123, Main Street, whatever town right, then you can fill out an additional form, it’s free to do it doesn’t cost anything else. But you fill out an additional form to use the street address option. And then you would end up using the address for the GMB listing 123 Main Street number sign like the pound sign 101 right, and that that will work. You can’t add a p o box to GMB as the physical address. But you can do a street address with you know, basically a box number a suite number, but it’s just the pound sign and the post office is very particular about you only using the number sign the pound sign before the box number not sweet. Not box, none of that it’s just the number sign. And again, they’re very particular about that. But that’s the way that I had always done it prior to people selling GMB’s.

And it still works, you know. So that’s another alternative way to do it. And in fact, I actually still prefer that method after but over buying them except for the fact that you have to physically go to the post office that sucks. Because you know, especially if it’s far away, but if it’s within reason and you can drive to it, then I recommend going that route over purchasing GMB listings from vendors. And the reason I say that is because it’s still tied to a real physical address this way. And I feel like those are safer than using the spammed ones because of some of the spammed GMB listings that I have. They don’t have any physical location even referenced or tied to them, which I don’t even know how happens. But like there’s no physical address actually connected with it, and it causes problems with the proximity filter. So and what I’m saying is, even for service area business guys, you understand you have to clear the address like you’re not supposed to per Google’s Terms of Service, you’re not supposed to publish the street address for a service area business. Right. So in other words, if it’s a service area business where the customer or excuse me, the business serves the customer at the customer’s location, then you’re supposed to delete them or clear the physical location when you set your service areas then you’re supposed to clear the physical location from showing and when it does, it literally clears it from the GMB dashboard and it will not any longer show the physical address, the street address in the maps listing or anything. But what I’m saying is, some of the GMB is that I had purchased. They don’t have any street address associated with them at all and I don’t know how they even did it. But it causes issues to where it doesn’t show for like near me searches and stuff like that because there’s no physical location associated with it. And again, I don’t know how they do it because even when you register a new GMB, let’s say It’s a legit business and your service area business and it has a legit physical location where the office or you know the business owner lives or whatever, you have to add that address. When you set when you go to claim or create the GMB listing, you have to add the physical address and then wait for a postcard or a card to be delivered via us a mail to that location that has a pin number in it so that you can verify that that physical location that the business really resides at that physical location. So even when you clear the address to make sure that it’s not published, there is still a physical location associated with that GMB and you don’t see that on the GMB dashboard. But for example, I just recently started using local Viking to manage GMB posts and stuff because it integrates with some of my CRM and stuff. So anyway, I’m using that and when you import GMB listings into local Viking, it shows the street address, even if it’s an unpublished street address, and I’ve got a few listings in there that just no street address appears at all, there’s no physical location associated with it. And those are the ones that I’m having trouble getting to appear for proximity searches such as, like near me, keyword phrases, or search queries. And so again, I would recommend it, the spam listings, they can still work, but there are some drawbacks in them that I don’t like about them. Were the P o box way to get one with an actual physical address tends to work. Still, it still works. And I like that one better, except for the fact that you have to physically go to the post office. Does anybody want to comment on that?

Not me. Okay, moving on then.

But yeah, absolutely. That’s I mean, that’s a great way to do it for large, especially business with large service areas, if you can get multiple maps listings, that’s best. Another way to do it, by the way, just quickly, is you can go to Craigslist and post an ad for that I’ve done that I’ve been successful in the past where I’ve posted an ad and in the, you know, in the area that I want, and say, you know, tell them that I’ll pay him 50 bucks to receive a Google postcard. And, you know, tell me when they when they’ve received it and and and and, you know, call me or text me with the pin number inside the card. Most of the time what happens is you’ll find renters that do that instead of people that own homes because they don’t care if somebody registers a business to a rental property like the renters don’t care. The landlord might, but the renters don’t. So I found that I’ve done that in the past several times when it when they when I was trying to get a GMB in an area that I couldn’t that I just wasn’t you know, it wasn’t feasible to drive to and get a PO Box, then I will use Craigslist. So that’s another way to do it. Okay. Moving on.

Is It Possible To Get Wiki Links To An SEO Agency That Offers Other Services And Has A Blog On Non-Marketing Tech Resources?

Next question, given Wikipedia is a negative view of SEO, is it possible to get links from Wikipedia or wiki data to an SEO agency that also offers other services and has a blog with lots of non-marketing tech resources? Sure, but you can also purchase wiki links. Just like we were talking about spam, GMB listings you can buy. We sell them@mgyb.co, our store. And they work I mean, occasionally something will get edited out like, but I’ve actually had one recently that was edited out. And then I just submitted a support request, and I got it restored on another Wikipedia page. So you know, you can buy links, say is it possible? Yeah, cuz you can buy them. I don’t know how to do the edits myself, because I’m not a moderator for Wikipedia. But, you know, that’s one way you could do it is to hire, you know, a Wikipedia editor or moderator, I should say, those are generally really, really expensive. So the other way is just to find a service, like what we have in MGYB, where you can buy them there. I don’t know of any other way to get them to you, Marco.

I mean, there are other ways, but you got to pay for them, or you got to get yourself a Wikipedia page. And you have to be eligible, you have to be able to provide all the documentation that Wikipedia requires. That’s the best thing. The best thing is to get yourself a page on Wikipedia. And Dixon Jones is going to explain on Monday, that’s the most important Wikipedia link that you could possibly get that mentioned in Wikipedia. And then from that, I mean, the next best thing is getting a link on the top page and then getting a link on a page referring to another page as long as it’s relevant. Right. You got to maintain that relevance. But yeah, I mean, just go to MGYB to look for it. We offer it.

What Is A Good Way To Get Lots Of Footer Links Without Having Lots Of Clients?

Sweet Suraj is up he says what’s a good way to get lots of footer links without having lots of clients trying to rank in a competitive area for web design and all other competitors dominate with footer links someone’s exact text. So I’m assuming he means exact anchor text exact match anchor text was hacked footers. Yes. stuff I ever saw.

Yeah. Yeah, that’s funny. Do you say that? Because I, when I read this question earlier and asked what I was gonna suggest, was the only other way that I would know how to do it is the safe network. A lot of those links are hacked footer links, and that when I’m What I mean is like, they literally hack other people’s websites, put links in there for you. It’s so blackhat. But um, you know, it can work. I used to use a lot of safe links years ago when I was doing a lot more blackhat stuff. And I guess there’s really no hats. But when I was doing a lot of really spammy, like, you know, dark alley ship, I used a lot of safe links. I don’t do that anymore. But that’s one way to do it. I don’t recommend it. But that is one way to do it. Anyway, you got any suggestions, Margo?

For further length, Now, why? Alright, so here’s the deal. Um, and I’m gonna say this again. And we explained that I’m going to keep referring back to the webinars on Monday, we explain why we do things, the way that we do, why we create the entity, the way we the way that we do, I’m not gonna go through it here. But we become master mimics. We look at the big dogs. We do what the big dogs do, at the part level, at the algorithmic level, at the patent level, that’s how we do it. All right, if you want to learn how, and why make a donation. Go see our footer links the only way to compete or is there something more powerful than I am missing? Yeah, I mean, I, I don’t think I would go out use that strategy. I’m not I don’t think I know I would use that strategy. I would do other things. So the SEO shield? Yeah. Start there. And then there.

How Can You Run Ads For A Client If You Don’t Have Access To Their Website?

Fitz is up. He says, Hey, guys, hope everyone is well. How can you run ads for a client if you don’t have access to their website? Thanks. You don’t need access to some you can run ads to any URL. The problem is conversion tracking and remarketing and all that other stuff, you know, but you can run ads to any URL that you know. I mean, as far as I know, I don’t think if you have if, if you have a URL, you can run ads to it. The question is why, like if you don’t have access to their website, then you’re not going to be able to install, like the conversion link or code conversion tracking. You know, Google Tag Manager remarketing. You know the remarketing tag all of those things that you would need, but you don’t need them. But I would hate to piss money away on Google ads, or ads period if I couldn’t track conversions. And if I couldn’t build a remarketing list from anybody that visited the page or the site,

so I don’t know why you would want to do it without having access to the site. Go ahead.

Yeah, I’m just wondering if maybe it’s one of those where he’s saying he doesn’t have, edit access. But if somebody can, or if you can talk to the client be like, hey, you just need to take these two steps. You need to copy this code, you need to install it, tell them where to do it. Because Yeah, if you’re in that situation, where for whatever reason, you don’t have access, you need to maybe impress upon them the importance of, hey, you need to get this code on there. Otherwise, you’re gonna be losing money. You know, because you can’t retarget you’re not building retargeting lists, you won’t know about conversions.

Yeah, if you have, if you have, you know, if there’s a webmaster or somebody that is maintaining this site that you just don’t have access to yourself, then you can absolutely still do everything because what I would suggest you do at that point would be to set up Tag Manager. And then just contact, whoever’s managing the site. So the webmaster or the business owner, whoever’s managing the site, contact them and send them the container code for Tag Manager, one goes into the header, one goes into the footer, or right before the closing body tag, either one. And it’s just two snippets of code to get added to the site globally, right, so it’s site-wide code, and then you can add and subtract all the tags that you need inside of Tag Manager which you would have access to meaning you can add tags and triggers and all that stuff and then deploy it all through Tag Manager and will automatically update the website from a remote from tag managed from the Tag Manager dashboard. Once the container code is there, you can add or remove tags, remarketing tags, a conversion tracking all of that stuff. Jason, you can add structured data schema.org All kinds of stuff that you can use Tag Manager for. If you don’t have access to managing the site, the webmaster can install Tag Manager and you can use that.

Any other comments?

No, that’s fine. Okay,

Does It Make A Difference If You Already Added The Supporting Documents Prior To Getting The SEO Location Shield?

so the next one is from Landry. Now I get it, I couldn’t figure out how to pronounce your name. So I appreciate you spelling it out phonetically because Hooked on Phonics works for me. So thank you for that. So Lanre says, Hey, Bradley, I noticed you had problems pronouncing my name. It’s pronounced Landry as an rio. So I’ve got it this time. Now, my question is this, I bought my keyword research from you guys. I built my site, I added three categories with content, and five supporting articles per category, I now need to order my SEO location shield to establish my brand. Okay, I’m not sure that you want to order locations, you know, maybe you do, I don’t have the full context of your project. But let’s just assume that the SEO location showed us what you want to order? Does it make any difference? If I already added the supporting documents prior to getting the SEO location showed? I don’t quite understand the question. Does it matter that you’ve started to build out your site with categories and adding depth to the silos? No, it doesn’t matter at all. Because again, I don’t know that the location, I don’t have the full context, I don’t know what you’re doing. But just from this little bit of detail that I have. I don’t know that the location shield is really what you want and the SEO power shield should be for the brand. And then typically, for top-level silos, you want to do the are the expansion stack, right? Dry S Drive expansion, or drive stack expansion, excuse me? Not necessarily location shield. So if you go take a look at the SEO shield, and you take a look at the three different versions, what does it locate starter shield locations to power shield, right? Power shield is going to be for the brand, that’s what we recommend. But then our wireless expansions, which is a separate product in the store, it’s not on the SEO shield page, cry is drive stack expansion. Go in there. That’s what I would recommend that you buy an expansion for each top-level silo. Does that make sense? Does anybody want to comment on this Marco, do you?

Yeah, I mean, don’t look at it like that. Landry. Don’t look at it like that. You’re done with the website, you can continue working with the website. Yeah, you can have dummy content on the website, you shouldn’t. But you at least need that RSS feed. So yeah, you do need some supporting articles or posts. You have that already. Go in order and SEO shall not a location shield. Because you don’t want to pigeonhole yourself into a geographic location. All right, not if your branding, not if your branding, you can do you can take care of the locations through location-driven pages. On the inner part of the G site, in the beginning, you’re just trying to create I’m not gonna say the keyword, yet but it is its brand plus a keyword, relationships, how your brand relates to the keywords in whatever niche It is, it is that you’re in, especially the top-level keywords, we add it, we intersperse it, we go through all of the documents, everything gets filled with keywords, especially if you order our deep keyword research gig, which this is perfect for, it’s perfect for giving you all of the relevance necessary to really carry out a proper the proper content structure of your website will give you suggestions, you know your project better than we could ever hope to know it. So you have to follow what you know, with what our suggestions are. Once you have all that and once you get the SEO show delivered back, especially the G site that the following that as the ad ID and ordering an expansion won’t interfere with the ad ID. So what you see is okay, now I have a top-level category. So I’m going after gold. Now I want to do gold bars. Well, gold bars go on the inside. So let’s say you’re saying you’re in a city already, and you want the adjoining city. So gold bars add joining the city, however, it is that you choose to pursue that well, we build that for you we can build you an interface so that you don’t have to, and an intersect. So you’re expanding the power of your original branded stack, and G site. And the whole point of this is to keep expanding. So you’re adding depth and breadth to that T site and dry stack the same way that you’re doing it on your website as you find categories. And as you use supporting posts to boost that top-level category that you’re trying to rank eventually you should be pushing so much power. And I see this time and again, that even an empty folder is added. This is when true power will you push it to power and you’re building up that PageRank and ranking score. An empty folder will rank for the keyword that you’re assigning it. And it’s incredible when when when this thing happens, or you’ll pop in and like a new location, and a brand new GMB and you see all kinds of action in the GMB. And you’re wondering why? Well, it’s because you iframe it on the G site or you iframe that on your website, or it’s part of a really deep and wide drive second site. And that’s when the power really comes into play. That’s why I tell people, it’s hard work, you cannot expect to rank with one page for gold. It’s not gonna happen, you can’t ever hope to outrank Amazon with one page, and a couple of supporting posts. Not gonna happen. That’s, that’s a trillion-dollar company that you’re going after you can’t do it for a buck 50. All right, so all of this power and all of these things need to continue taking place, you need to do your press releases, you need to do the link building, you need to do the embeds plus link building. And you need to continue broadening your profile throughout the web, making that footprint bigger, wider, relating more profiles one to the other. This is what the big boys do. You see Apple everywhere you see Amazon, everywhere. So that’s what you have to do. And one of the ways that we do it is exactly the way I just described. Now that takes a lot of work. The way that I like to put this is it like people see it. And it’s really simple. I ordered the SEO shield, and then I just produce content. And magic happens. No, it doesn’t. I’ve been online for 18 years. This is 18 years in the making. Bradley has about a decade and I know her Nana’s around there. Chris has so many years and Adam, I think Well, I know. I’ve known him for six, seven years. So he has at least that long online. So you’re getting decade’s worth of thinking of strategizing of putting everything together into what you see as the SEO shoot. But that’s what it’s for. And that’s what you should order not the location shield, but the branded SEO power shield. Yeah.

Yeah, that’s why I just pulled up the pages on the store, just to demonstrate what Marco was talking about. The SEO power shield is what we recommend for the brand. For the main brand, right, and then from that, because it gives you the syndication network, the drive stack with the G site, and then the IDX page. So that’s for the main entity, right the brand itself, and then from there, you go from the store, go click into the Google RYS expansion stacks. And these are the expansion stacks of each top-level silo. Right? So each silo on the site. So top-level category, top-level keyword, you should have an RBS expansion stack. If you’re doing a local business and you’re you have location-based silos, however, you do that, I do it using the tag structure inside of WordPress, then I also order a separate expansion stack for each location, if that makes sense, but I don’t want to confuse you. As I said, if you’re doing it on just topical stuff, then you’d want a separate expansion stack for each one of your top-level silos. You don’t need additional ID pages and then additional g sites, which is what happens when you order location shield. So in fact, I would we would recommend against that.

Okay, so hopefully that clarifies that.

All right, moving on.

Does it make a difference in priority? No, no, it doesn’t, you can just as long as you have, all that you need is you need the web, the URLs, when that you’re going to push, you know uses your main target URL for your drive stack. And then for each one of your expansion stacks you’re going to get, you’re going to have a field that you have to submit your main target URL, it’s going to be one primary target URL per expansion. As long as those URLs are available, like on your site, that’s fine. It doesn’t matter whether there’s content there or anything, to begin with, you can order it with just the URL. The only thing that has to have content is the RSS feed for the SEO power shield order because the syndication network, if it’s an RSS driven syndication network as opposed to YouTube, then it needs the RSS feed has to have so the RSS Feed URL has to contain at least one item it can be the Hello World post for that matter, it doesn’t matter. As long as it has one item in the RSS feed, then they can set up the applets inside IFTTT but that’s it though the rest of the site doesn’t need to look at content on it. If it just has the URLs available in. That’s it. And for anybody watching this at this point watching the replay, enlarge the video so you can get the information about donating to the charity and accessing the webinar.

Do You Have Any Tips In Using Linktree Other Than Hammering It With Backlinks?

Okay, sweet. Let’s keep moving. Jim’s up. What’s up, Jim? He says, Hey, gang, I was curious if you guys have any tips or tricks to apply to link tree? That’s a good site. I just started playing with that a little bit more actually. Other than the usual hammer the shit out of it with backlinks. You can embed it. So yeah, it’s pretty much the same thing that we would always recommend hammer with backlinks. You can also embed link tree itself, the link tree page, which is just a collection of links, right. So that’s just you can also do embeds and backlinks to the embeds. Anything else?

Scorched earth Seo? hammer? I don’t know any other strategy. I don’t understand anything else other than if it can stand it, give it more. And if it takes that much, then try some more. Well, you know what it is man? Just go do the do.

How Would You Silo Structure A Website With Multiple Topics?

Alright, baby, what’s up, man? He says, Hey, guys, a better example for last weekend’s question how Google treat pages that are not related topically to the site, say you are a site about marketing. The silo is about software. Let’s say all the marketing software goes here. But what if we add non-marketing software pages to the silo to that silo-like employment software, or betting software, etc. So the new silo be opened to nonrelated marketing software? No. And in a case like that, BB, I would have subcategories. So I would use a complex silo structure for that type of site because the software would be the parent category, the top-level category, but then you would create subcategories for the different types of software marketing software is a subcategory. What were some of the other one’s employment software being another sub sub category, and then betting software or investing software? Right. forex software, like there’s a, you know, productivity software, like every one of those could be sub-categories. And then you would add supporting articles, which could be reviews of those types of different software in their appropriate subcategory. So in a situation like what you’re describing this time, in which you provided more context, this time than you usually do. So thank you for that, by the way, then then, yeah, I would use a complex silo structure for something like that. And I would add subcategories and appropriately place the articles and supporting articles and such within the correct cat subcategories. That is something that you could do.

Comments?

yeah, treated as a directory for marketing? And how would you build that directory then for marketing related categories and subcategories, and maybe some not so specific categories that do relate to marketing, but not in a direct manner, you could totally do that. Just be careful how far in the weeds you go, because you could end up somewhere totally not relevant to whatever it is that you’re doing. And then in that case, it’s not as if you’d be penalized or anything, it’s just that you’re not going to get any, well, you shouldn’t get any action, because the AI will know that there’s absolutely no relationship between that uncategorized or irrelevant category, and everything else that you’re doing, with the caveat that if you’re pushing enough power, it will rack it just takes monster power to do it.

Yeah. Yeah, and, and actually, you know, that’s, I, I prefer using simple silos as much as possible. But in the situation that you’re describing here, that’s perfect for a complex silo. And you can push a shit ton of power with the complex silo guys if you know how to how to set up your internal linking correctly. Complex silos can push a ton of power to the top-level keyword. So again, you know, you got to map that out before ever starting a complex silo site, spend some time mapping it out, like not just the immediate need, but your future needs as well, because that’s part of the problem with a complex silo structure is it’s real easy to get started and think that you have an idea of what you want your silo structure to look like when you’re starting off and you have, you know, a finite or a limited amount of content and ideas. But as the project grows, you’re probably going to figure like, Oh shit, I should have figured it. I should have structured the site in this way instead. And that’s part of the problem with complex silo structures is their complex just like the name? Just like, that’s why it’s in the name, excuse me. But if you do it correctly, if you map it out, right, then you can I mean, it’s just amazing. And how much power you can push with those. But again, it’s like I remember, that’s part of the reason I like to do those anymore at all is that I would spend literally hours upon hours a day to, you know, a day or two on just mapping out the site before starting the build. And even then even after doing all of that mapping work and trying to decide on how I was going to structure the site, a lot of the times, at some point in the future, I would end up kicking myself for structuring it that way, because I should have done something else, you know what I mean? So I prefer not to do that if needed. But if so, I mean, if that’s the route, that you’re going to go spend some time on the front end, you’ll, you’ll be glad that you did. And yeah, you can push a lot of power that way, for sure.

Well, that’s if you’re building a directory, this complexity in building a directory to start with. So try to keep it simple. And don’t spend hours trying to map out the site, just get to work on it, and try to work it out conceptually, as you go, you’re still gonna run into problems and having to 301 and having to redo your URL structure. But that’s a lot better, man.

Do Semantic Mastery’s Methods Only Work On Google Search Engines?

So the next question is, do your methods work only on Google search engines and YouTube? Or should they should it also work on search engines like Facebook or Pinterest search, etc. I mean, we optimize for Google? Because you know, that’s what 70 or 80% of all search traffic. I can’t speak for Facebook or Pinterest, those algorithms are totally different. But oftentimes, when we optimize for Google, then we end up ranking in Bing and Yahoo because many and Yahoo are one and the same anymore. But it’s only I think, they’ve got a little bit more market share than they used to, but it’s somewhere around 30%, I think. But I don’t optimize for Bing, or, I mean, I just optimize for Google. Because that’s, you know, that’s where the bulk of all traffic comes from. And usually, we end up ranking in Yahoo, and Bing also, comments on that?

Yeah, I mean, we want Google search. That’s what we’re after. In some places in some countries some areas, over 90% of the search market, is in Google. So if you have something that’s search-based, which is totally local business, or whatever, then it just stands to reason that you’re going to focus on Google. Now, if you’re going to go and work on the Pinterest algorithm that you have to learn the Pinterest algorithm. And some of the methods that we teach might not work in Pinterest, but I’m not gonna get into how Pinterest works here works differently. The same thing with Facebook, the Facebook algorithm works differently. It just does. They’re similar. So as the Bing algorithm, they’re all based on the same thing, right, trying to see how they rank for a certain query. At the end of the day, that’s what you’re trying to do. But you have to learn the requirements. So you mentioned Pinterest, and, and Facebook, you’d have to try those people want Amazon, we have to go in and figure that one out. Then Bing, Yahoo. Why when we can get 80 to 90%. In Google, and then the other ones, we can just run ads and get results. Yep,

I agree.

Have You Ever Ranked Something Using Citations Only?

All right. Ah, next question. Have you ever ranked something with citations only and without links? Let’s, let’s say you have a non-local site, say e-commerce does brand citations without backlinks. Will that work? First of all, I don’t know because all I do is local stuff. I’ve ranked local stuff with just citations like a local business directory or business directory citations like structured citations. Sometimes they’ll contain links, oftentimes, they’ll contain links. It’s been a long time since I’ve tried to rank any local business project with just citations. It’s probably possible still, but citations are just a part of an overall picture. Now that’s talking about, like, structured citations like business directory listings for local type business sites. I think what you’re talking about is like co-citation, right? where somebody is talking or a citation, I guess, in a broader sense, can be just a brand mention, right?

I’ve never tried that. I don’t know why you would mean, I’ve never tried it. So I can’t answer that. Can you know, because the citation is a backlink? So I don’t get it. I don’t get the question to start with. And let’s, let’s see, let’s say you have a non-local site. That’s e-commerce does do brand citations without backlinks work, or will they work? I have no clue because that’s not how we do. We actually use citations as part of the entity. It’s all part of entity-based. worry less SEO, especially local, like the broader you go The less necessary they can put your branded citations if you can get them in the big ones in the data aggregators, as a matter of fact, work really well because they’re links. They’re places where Google goes to see the data to pull data, but it. Alright, so this question I’m not gonna pick on you, I’m just saying is missing the point of the ranking score and PageRank algorithm, and of every other algorithm, because Google has to go through a link somewhere to get to the server, wherever this branded or number, enter the citation or wherever this other thing is, without that link, there’s absolutely no way that Google can go from one server to the other, it’s not magic, Google cannot teleport, it can’t jump into another server, right? It’s a, it’s HTTP or HTTPS. That’s the protocol. As well, there has to be something that connects them that connect, now you what you’re talking about. And, again, I’m gonna go back to our webinar Monday, it was killer, you have two nodes, is what you’re talking about. One is your brand, whatever. And you have another note somewhere that mentioned your brand, Google has to get that get to that, each of those and relate them some way. And the way it does that is through links. So the more links that are connected to your e-commerce site, and to wherever that brand citation is, right, the more power it will have, because that Google can start creating the relationship for the distance graph algorithm with again, I’m not going to get into any of that. What I’m just saying is, you need to start conceiving in this another way, because the things that you’re asking are a little bit conceptually off on this. I’m reading this incorrectly, in which case I’d like you to explain what it is that you mean, you did a really good job on the other one of explaining what it was. Yeah.

Yeah, I agree. So I said I was more contents context in that last question than what we’re used to from BB. So. Okay, so the next question is from is not really a question, as Jim says, He says, but rather a wiki experience, I have a site that has six wikilinks pointing to it from different or two different articles. I didn’t pay for them, they were added in a natural manner. So organic links. That’s awesome.

Those quotes, I’d like to know what those natural means is it’s in quotes. Well, that’s true. That’s true. But I think he means that it’s just he’s got good content, and somebody, you know, linked to it naturally from an article. That’s how I interpreted but you’re right, since it’s in quotes, it might be. Anyway, those links are very powerful. And I highly recommend trying to get one through whatever means necessary pro tip have the best, most thorough, most documented article on a subject and then cross your fingers. You know, that’s a great point, Jim, because here’s the thing. You can purchase wiki links, right? Like, we just talked about that from, or links from Wikipedia or links, you can get a link on Wikipedia by buying it from our service. But don’t just link to like something that, you know, if I recommend that you are linking to something that has some well-written content, not just like, you know, a spammy page or something like that on the site. I mean, you can try to get away with that. But the problem with that is it it’s likely going to get moderated out at some time. Like even if your link gets placed. At some point, somebody’s probably going to discover that it’s linking to something if it’s not linking to something that is resourceful, right? That is a resource that is relevant to the page that the Wikipedia that Wikipedia is linking from, then it’s going to end up being moderated out at some point, it’s almost guaranteed it’s just a matter of time. So I recommend that if you are going to buy Wikipedia links that you do link to a piece of content on the site that you’re linking to that is relevant, and has some useful information on there. Right. So that it’s less likely to get moderated out at some later date by some other Wikipedia moderator. Okay.

Comments, good?

No, no, I mean, fantastic if you can get them and I saw that later on. He said, organic. That’s fantastic. You can get organic links if you can become the source or a source for that Wikipedia page. That’s fantastic. Because now that now you have a relationship to that seed site. I’m going to talk seed sites and seed sets are I don’t want to confuse all y'all up. But that’s what happened. You related to trust to trusted and authoritative sources. Thereby you become a trusted and authoritative source. Which is why it’s working so well.

Adam, you on, you turn your camera on. So I’m assuming you got something to say?

Unknown Speaker 55:08 No, it was let’s say I’m going to reach out to Jim, I want to ask him a question because he’s had some interesting comments over the last couple of weeks. So talking about AI stuff. And then now with organic Wikipedia links, so Jim, I’m gonna track you down, are you if you can find me, so shoot me a message. But yeah, I just actually had a note on the kind of the last, or sorry, the last question of the day here.

Thoughts On The AWS Email About Allowing Public Access

Okay, cool. So, Jay says Amazon AWS sent out an email warning about allowing public access to an s3 bucket. Yeah, I’ve gotten dozens of those emails. Yeah, the wording was such that it sounds like they’re removing public access. And if you are in disagreement with that, I don’t think that’s the case. That’s not the way I read it. Yeah. And

I just pulled it up to double-check just did a quick read through. And they don’t say that they just say that. You should have some buckets configured that way, that may not be what you intended. So we suggest you fix it. And then, you know, talk to us if you have a question, but it doesn’t say that we’re gonna change it or anything like that.

Yeah. Thank you, Adam. Because that’s when I read his question. Or when I read this question, I thought about that. I was like, you know, I better go back and reread, because I mean, I’ve gotten dozens and dozens of those emails. And I’ve read through them a couple of times. And the way that I interpreted it was what Adam just said was, like, it’s telling you like, Hey, you probably didn’t mean for the bucket to have public access. But if you did, it’s not recommended. But I didn’t see anywhere where it said they were going to revert them to protect. A lot of problems.

Yeah, the only thing is one line. If you have a business need to maintain some level of public access, please see an overview of managing access, and they give references for more in-depth instructions on managing just to make sure you’ve done the correct level of access. Yeah.

Yeah, when I set up my buckets, I set them up to where objects can be public. But the folder itself, or the bucket itself isn’t entirely public, it just allows for individual items to be made public. That’s the way that I set up all my buckets so that I can pick and choose whether I want them to be public at the time that I upload the files. So hopefully, that makes sense. we’re about out of time, Jim says sorry, natural and organic. Yeah, we saw that. Thank you. Jim, by the way, reached out to Adam BB says I mean, so this is a guest clarification for his previous question. He says, I mean, you have an e-commerce site for dog food named SM doggy will a mentioned citation that way mentioned or a citation of that, and other sites will promote the site without a backlink? Again, I don’t know. I mean, for local businesses, having the name, address, and phone number published online, even without a backlink count as a citation, which is like a vote of confidence, right? It’s just because what is it doing? It’s just validating entity information. Does that make sense? That’s why it’s so important to have a name, address and phone number always published exactly the same. Because even having punctuation different or using the ampersand sign instead of A and D, or something like that, right are sometimes having IMC or LLC at the end. And other times not all of them. If you have variations of the name, address, and phone number published even with no backlink, then that can start to ambiguous. The data, right and that’s why local businesses have published mention of the name, address, and phone number, even without a backlink does count as a citation and can help to rank now, can it be can you purely rank on that? I don’t know. I’ve never tried it. But when you’re talking about that type of citation for a nonlocal site like an e-commerce site? I have zero experience with any of that whatsoever. I can’t imagine that it would but I can’t say whether it does or not. Because I’ve never done anything like that. comments.

It creates co-occurrence. It is a no co-citation or a citation. If it’s the full local citation, right? Name, Address phone number, the NA p other than that I don’t know I’d like depends on the competition. If there’s no competition, I see where it just mentioned, of your site on powerful sites would make a difference. But if like, like most places, that the competition is fierce, then no, you’re not going to get away with something like that.

Yeah, and I think it’s kind of interesting to backing this up a level away from purely the SEO benefit and saying, Well, if your name let’s say the SM dog food brand is mentioned on Huffington Post, like yeah, you know what, I bet Our website is gonna see some increased traffic and it’s not a direct link, right. It’s just by getting out there and building the brand. You know, that’s kind of what’s happening there as to how I see it without getting into the technical side.

Yeah. And you know, actually, just to follow up, Adam, that’s a really good point. And I know this to be true, because when I started my land investment, my land flipping business, I experienced it firsthand. And that is if you can get a name published online, right, and somebody but it’s not a backlink, but somebody reads the name and they’re curious, they’ll go Google that. And then it pulls up the brand. And then they click through that’s a navigational or brand search query, that then a click through. So that’s a huge SEO signal, when somebody reads a name, brand name somewhere and then goes in Google searches and then clicks through that’s a fantastic SEO signal. And I experienced that with alpha land Realty, my business, my real estate business because when I first started, I was just running ads, I didn’t do any SEO at all, nothing, I just have a single and it’s still to this day, just have a single landing page on click funnels. For you know, for that business, basically. And all I started I was sending I was running Google ads to that but no SEO and then I started sending a direct mail out to property owners with my brand name Alfa land realty on it. And what happened was I started seeing alpha land realty ranked number one for even like, my keywords like sell land fast Virginia and things like that. And I couldn’t figure out why because I hadn’t done any SEO work whatsoever. And then I started digging into it. And I realized that people were doing navigational search queries because they would get letters from me direct mail letters from me that would state you know, hey, alpha land realty wants to buy your property, if you’re interested, go here, blah, blah, blah. And they would go to Google and search alpha land Realty and then click through and because of that, I started to rank in a matter of like three weeks with zero SEO work. And it was because of those brand searches, which is why we talked about engagement signals are absolutely critical, are super powerful. You want to comment on that, guys before we wrap it up?

Yeah, I think that’s good.

Okay, thanks, everybody for being here. We’ll see you guys next week. See ya.

Source: Semantic Mastery Weekly SEO Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 324 published first on your-t1-blog-url

[roguenewsdao]

YOUR SIGNATURE IS MONEY

Here are two habits, using old school methods, that will end and prevent banks and the government from stealing your signature, its value, and committing forgery and counterfeiting. The section that follows will discuss new technology for utilizing your signature and protecting it from becoming a “blank check” for bankers, businesses and the government.

This article is written specifically in response to the billions of dollars of counterfeit and forged promissory notes that have recently flooded the United States and have been used to steal American homes and wreck our economy. The problem is now solved (at least going forward). However, we need to adopt the following practices whenever entering into any promissory note arrangement, especially when it is going to be secured by a trust deed or mortgage lien against our homes

FIRST – PANTOGRAPHIC SECURITY PAPER

When you first obtain your closing documents, the first task should be to locate the promissory note and print it from the file or copy it onto the following type of paper:

This is pantographic security paper. It can be purchased in 8 ½ x 11” or 8 ½ x 14” dimensions, in 25 Lb. or 60 Lb. Bond Void Blue, Pantograph on one side, 1-up on 8.5″ x 14″ sheet. You can usually buy 250 sheets/pack and it usually has ten or twelve security features. It is also compatible with copiers, laser, inkjet and offset presses.

I will recommend one brand, but there are many more that you can find yourself. Kan’t Kopy® K2 is one-sided security paper that has 10 security features with counterfeit resistant printing to secure originals. The security features include:

● Pantograph (hidden message) – When an unauthorized person tries to copy or scan the original, a “Void” hidden message appears.

● Color Match – The original color of Kan’t Kopy® paper can not be reproduced with any type of copy process.

● Kan’t Kopy® Artificial Watermark – An artificial watermark is manufactured onto the paper.

● Anti-Copy Coin Rub – Watermark on the back turns black when rubbed with a coin.

● Erasure Protection – Guards against erasing/modifying and scanning.

● Acid Free – Preserves documents for a longer period of time.

● Toner Grip – Enables ink from your printer to stick to the paper without it flaking or smudging.

● UV Paper Dull – Ultraviolet light will not brighten the paper.

● UV Paper Glow – Paper has embedded security fibers only visible under ultraviolet light.

● Chemically Reactive – Spots will appear if chemicals are used in an attempt to alter a Kan’t Kopy® document.

You can find more information and similar products at https://www.blanksusa.com and search the Internet for “pantograph security paper”.

In security printing, void pantograph refers to a method of making copy-evident and tamper-resistant patterns in the background of a document. Normally these are invisible to the eye, but become obvious when the document is photocopied. Typically they spell out “void”, “copy”, “invalid” or some other indicator message.

Void pantographs work by exploiting the limitations and features of copying equipment. A scanner or photocopier will act as a low-pass filter on the original image, blurring edges slightly. It will also not be perfectly aligned with the directions of the document, causing aliasing. Features smaller than the resolution will also not be reproduced. In addition, human vision is sensitive to luminance contrast ratio. This means that if a grey region consists of a grid of very small dark dots the filtering will produce a lighter grey, while a region of larger dots will be affected differently (“big-dot-little-dot”). This makes it possible to see a pattern that previously was invisible. Numerous variations exist, including printing the marks using a raster of lines in one direction on a background of lines in another direction, or using fine line patterns that alias into a visible moire pattern when copied.

SECOND – EMBOSSED SIGNATURE SEAL

When you affix your signature, use blue or red indelible ink and then emboss your signature with an embossing stamp such as the one illustrated here. Be sure to emboss over part of your signature with the image you have created for your embosser seal.

I found this example at www.thestampmaker.com. It’s a desktop embosser you can customize with your own symbol or art and this gives a crisp, clear seal impression. You can send your artwork or image in one of the following file formats: tif, .pdf or .eps.

This is an example of what the embosser does to paper and the reason why it cannot be counterfeited or forged:

It costs only about $50 or $60 and ships in one business day. Use this seal to affix your custom artwork or symbol over your original signature on the pantagraph paper. If the bank ever tries to foreclose, it will be obvious that unless it has this original document, identified by your security paper and embossed and sealed signature, the bank can never foreclose.

No one can tell you what your signature must look like or how to make your signature, this freedom is what makes your signature legal and binding and worth money. You will be able to us these two practices in every note you ever sign. These two steps will eliminate the bank fraud, forgery and counterfeiting forever, we just have to pass this information around to everyone and encourage everyone to order his own security paper and embosser seal and use it at every chance.

If you can see what I see, we can use these two simple methods to end the note fraud and we don’t even need to write more laws or file lawsuits. Remember that your signature is your private property and it is worth lots of money. You have the right to decide how and when it’s used. This is your responsibility. If we act responsibly using the information in this article, we can eliminate many of the consumer debt and corrupt banking and courtroom practices that we have witnessed in recent years.

THIRD – BLOCKCHAIN

A blockchain is a type of distributed ledger, comprised of unchangeable, digitally recorded data in packages called blocks.

These digitally recorded “blocks” of data is stored in a linear chain. Each block in the chain contains data (e.g. bitcoin transaction), is cryptographically hashed. The blocks of hashed data draw upon the previous-block (which came before it) in the chain, ensuring all data in the overall “blockchain” has not been tampered with and remains unchanged. 

A distributed ledger that is a consensus of replicated, shared, and synchronized digital data geographically spread across multiple sites, countries, and/or institutions.

Blockchain applications can allow multiple parties to jointly sign documents, legally binding and replacing the need to having them notarized in such a way that no one can repudiate it’s date, content or signatures.

Documents are encrypted, uploaded and their required signers selected, granting them immediate file access. Participants authenticate themselves, download, decrypt, review and digitally sign the documentation. Finally, when fully signed, documents are notarized.

It’s useful on contracts, company workflows or any paperwork between parties; but it can also be used by oneself to record immutable proofs, like digital works attribution or integrity checks.

I like to think of your “signature” as “the nature of your sign”. It is literally an expression of one’s will. It demonstrates consent, which leads me to the question for you, “When do you ever give unconditional consent to anything?” You don’t, not even in marriage. So why do we affix our signatures to terms and conditions without any terms of our own? Why do we give “blank checks” to the corporations, governments and banks? It’s because no one ever asked these questions or suggested that there was something to question about how we sign agreements or express our consent.

Your consent should have terms. You can endorse a check, such as “without recourse”. This means that when you endorse a check with this endorsement, it then requires your bank to collect against the issuing bank if the check is no good. Today, the banks won’t accept this endorsement. The banks want you to do all the work, even though the bank is making money from your account and you are paying fees.

Do you know who is using your signature once you sign documents with your doctor, or retail business, or government agency? If I told you just a fraction of what is being done with your signature, you would be fighting angry and rightly so. Banks and debt collectors pass around your documents like their playing poker at a casino, with no restrictions and no protections for your privacy or future and new obligations that are routinely created for you, just because one day in the past you expressed your unconditional consent by affixing your signature to a document with terms that a long list of attorneys probably developed over many years and in which you are expected to sign with only a moment’s cursory review. It’s time to act like a responsible adult and begin imposing terms on the use of your signature, restrict the parties who can hold or have access to the terms you sign, impose an expiration date for your signature, impose privacy terms and information management conditions with penalties for any violations. Here is an example of what I call a “Data Retention Policy” that can be ascribed to your signature as an endorsement, you simply include the phrase “with terms” above or before your signature.

http://tinyurl.com/zrfebhd

This is just one example, but I wanted to walk you into this idea because the best way to use it will be when we are using the blockchain to express our agreements that are attached to our signatures on the blockchain, at an address on the Internet, with as much or little privacy as you want.

Imagine a signature with two or three factor authentication. It’s kind of like having two or three signers on a business bank account so that no one signature can authorize the release of funds. Remember, this article is about how your signature is money, you should act like it.

Each time you express your consent with your signature, whether or not your sign your name with the letters in your legal name, or your signature is a phrase or a symbol or a blockchain address, it should be guarded with security and given with conditions and it should have a value placed on it, you should place a value on each signature of yours that you use.

FOURTH – CONSENT

Many times, companies force upon us terms of service that include provisions that only protect the interests of the company.  That is not a problem in itself, you want companies to protect themselves against liability, this is what facilitates them in providing products and services that we want; however, in recent years, these provisions have become so unreasonable that they are harmful to people or their customers.

One of the best examples is the “binding arbitration” clause, where you waive your rights to resolve any disputes in the court system that you pay taxes to use when you have disputes that need a resolution.

Another example includes the so-called “privacy statement”, in which nearly every one that I’ve ever read tells us what privacy we do not have and how the company can violate our privacy without penalty.

Even though these are “adhesion contracts”, meaning, “take it or leave it terms”, unreasonable or unconscionable terms are void unless you fail to object or express your option to exclude them.  In other words, whether or not the contract gives you an option to “opt out” of a provision, you can opt out of a provision that is not reasonable or unfairly prejudices your interests by serving notice upon the company at an appropriate, physical mailing address, such as its registered agent, general counsel, or dispute resolution address, or all of these simultaneously.

Your “opt out” notice will simply include the date it was sent, and express your objection and intention to exclude the particular provision or clause from the agreement.  You are not asking permission, you are simply placing the company on notice as to what terms you are excluding, and you don’t have to explain yourself, sometimes I do, but it’s not necessary.  Be careful about creating conditions where you make a substantial change to the company’s risk, such as interfere with its obligations, you only want to be specific to what reasonably can be changed to protect your interests.  Here is one example, while I usually want to opt out of an arbitration agreement, sometimes I will only change it to agreeing to “non-binding mediation” which is consistent with the intent of the agreement, but still gives me access to my court system if we don’t reach a favorable resolution of the dispute (hopefully we never have a dispute).

When you express your consent, be very careful about the terms to which you are consenting and realize that you do not always have to “take it or leave it”.  These are corporations, “persons” without a conscience, we are people, we have a conscience, we have natural rights, corporations are permitted to exist by people, they are subservient to people, act like it. This is no different than parents acting like parents with their children, or the boss being the boss on the job, or the people who created government in the first place, who then provide indemnification for the business (corporation) to function in our society by providing products and services to the people who created its rights in the first place.

[humorepoch9-blog]

Tips from students to help improve your teaching (opinion)

The first recommendation of the American Academy’s recent report "The Future of Undergraduate Education" is simple: we should work to improve undergraduate instruction.

But how? In many disciplines, we don’t have rigorous measures of learning, so we cannot easily identify the best practitioners and simply copy what they do. Undergraduate students, however, experience numerous teachers and a lot of instruction, some good and some bad. They are a source of valuable information about what constitutes good practice.

So, at a recent event co-sponsored by the Center for Ethics and Education, the University of Wisconsin at Madison College of Letters and Science, and the American Academy, we asked five undergraduate students at the university to describe instructional practices that they’ve encountered rarely but were especially effective -- and that they think should be more widely shared. Of course, some strategies work in some disciplines better than others, in some kinds of classes better than others and for some instructors better than others. Here’s what the students at the event told us.

Christian Cuevas, a senior majoring in computer science: One strategy that more professors should use, especially in STEM classes but also anytime a complex solution or process needs to be explained, is to explain all the details. While that can result in professors covering information that may seem painfully obvious to them, it saves students confusion. When professors skip over steps of a problem and only focus on those they feel are the most crucial or important, it puts the burden on students to connect the dots in their heads, while still trying to pay attention to the stream of information in the lecture.

Few steps in a solution are obvious to students who have never encountered a similar problem before. Even if some steps are easy to figure out upon reflection, students lack the bandwidth to reflect while also taking notes and ingesting the lecture. Skipping steps risks students leaving the classroom with little understanding and having to put the scattered pieces together on their own.

By covering solutions in their entirety, professors allow their students to focus on absorbing the complex new information in front of them. That frees students to ask questions and leaves them with complete examples in their notes, which can be crucial when they are trying to solve similar problems in their homework or when studying for exams.

Imagine you were trying to bake a cake and you had never done it before. Suppose that the recipe skipped directly from beating the eggs to putting the finished batter in the oven, ignoring all the steps in between. You would fail! The missing steps might be intellectually uninteresting to the master baker, but the novice baker has to learn them. Just as we need to be guided through every detail when baking a cake for the first time, we also need thorough guidance when approaching a difficult calculus or physics problem for the first time.

Alexis Argall (B.A. 2018), a political science and communication and life sciences major: At a large research institution like UW Madison, it is easy to feel like “just another number.” Many professors would like to know their students personally but don’t know how to do it; others seem to share information with students and then forget about them until next class period. Yet a professor in one of my classes used a strategy that others should try.

Participation was worth 30 percent of our grade, and it included a requirement to email the professor weekly with a connection that we had made between something that we’d discussed in class and something outside of it. That connection could come from another course or from our personal lives -- anything that made us stop and remember what we had learned that week. It forced me to think about the material outside of class and helped me find practical applications for what I was learning.

We were not graded rigidly on the content of our emails but rather just that we had made some sort of meaningful connection. Grading them on a submission basis rather than a content basis saved a lot of time for my professor, while still pressing us to process the information.

For my professor, the benefit was learning more about us as “whole people” rather than just students in her class. It gave her a more holistic view of us students, as well as forced us to actively process what we were learning. The requirement made us learn more, and the sense that the professor knew who we were made us want to learn more.

Joe Venuta (B.A. 2018), a philosophy major: One valuable lesson I’ve learned has been how to approach negative feedback. Specifically, I have come to realize the value in engaging with criticism and improving the work on which it is given. And I would not have discovered this without professors whose classes required me to do so.

In many classes, faculty members give comments on assignments in writing along with the final grade. While that kind of feedback can be a tool for improvement, it is too easy for students to brush comments off and simply keep those things in mind for next time rather than consider how they might be addressed. Furthermore, students often see such comments as the instructor’s justification for giving a less than perfect score rather than what it really is: an opportunity to improve that particular assignment.

My professors have used two main strategies for inducing students to process negative feedback. One was to require the submission of a draft in advance. While successful students often work through multiple drafts anyway, submitting a draft for review forces them to consider major weaknesses in their assignment that they may otherwise overlook. In addition, submitting an improved final draft after responding to any criticism can help show students the value and achievability of addressing shortcomings.

Another strategy is through in-person conferences. A back-and-forth discussion requires students to face specific criticisms head-on. It also allows them to become more comfortable with defending their work while staying composed -- a valuable skill in any field. While in-person conferences do require more time from both the student and professor, a conversation lasting even 15 minutes can help.

Personalized criticism from professors is a valuable resource, one that is too rarely used. Whether through multiple drafts or in-person discussions, engaging with negative feedback can benefit students in any area of study.

Kailey Mullane, a sophomore majoring in communication arts and economics: My first thought when I was invited to speak was, “I am not qualified to be giving world-renowned professors technical teaching strategies that will solve all their classroom problems.” But then I thought about what makes classes valuable to me. Numerous factors come into play: material, class size, other students and so on. However, I realized that one simple thing consistently makes classes better: when teachers make the students introduce themselves at the start of each class period in the first few weeks.

Students introducing and saying a little bit about themselves (like majors and hometowns) really changes the dynamic. Knowing a classmate’s name instantly creates a more inviting environment and is the first step in developing a relationship. In those classes, I notice that instead of sitting silently staring at screens, students actually talk to one another before class starts. They talk during class: students are more willing to offer comments, ask questions and disagree with one another. And they talk to each other outside of class, often about the material -- which means there is more outside learning.

Time is precious. But in small classes, introductions take just three to five minutes. Large lectures are more difficult, but TAs can effectively administer that process in discussion sections. Just taking time at the start of each class to have students introduce themselves can have invaluable effects in and beyond the classroom.

Chlodagh Walsh, (B.B.A. 2018), a finance, investment and banking major: My first semesters of college were filled with mostly large lecture classes, the "weed out" type that could ruin your GPA or force you to change your major. On the first day of class, professors would outline the predetermined curves and tell us exactly how many students would receive A's, regardless how much we learned. One professor told us that, while we should be able to complete 80 percent of the exams using his lectures, we could not prepare for the more nuanced application of the material that constituted the remaining 20 percent.

The first class in my major was accompanied by a 19-page syllabus that we were tested on. The professor graded us based on our class rank; if you did better than half of the 300-person class, you received a grade of 50 percent. He set the grading practices to mimic the business world that we were set to enter: cutthroat and ultracompetitive. The syllabus stated that if you aced an exam, the professor would take you out to dinner -- as far as I know, he has never had to follow through. Most class participation was involuntary; the professor cold-called students unsystematically, so we shied away from wearing clothing that might draw his attention. I found a good hiding place, just outside his usual line of sight.

I had a different class in the same room a year later. It was another large, entry-level class that was subject to the GPA restrictions of the business school, which sets a maximum average class GPA of 3.0. So I was pretty surprised when the professor said she had hoped to see high test averages. She explained that our test scores were an indication of her teaching; if she were doing her job right, we should score well.

She made me view my GPA as a reflection of not only my effort but also the quality of the instruction I was receiving. The way she framed the class from the beginning emphasized our learning ahead of grades, which I came to understand are not synonymous.

Since many people performed well, the letter grade differentials at the high end reflected the GPA regulations more than student competencies. I can understand the business school may have reasons to regulate govern grading, so I was not frustrated by that. Instead, with the help of the professor, I learned to value the knowledge and skills -- the learning -- that I gained more than whatever direction my GPA moved after finals.

Students admired this professor and volunteered topics to discuss at the onset of each class. She invited us to her office hours and made us welcome when we came. The TAs spoke highly of her in discussion sections. The atmosphere was remarkably different than the lecture style I was used to and reduced the interstudent competition that other large classes encouraged. I wasn’t afraid of being caught off guard and embarrassed by answering a question wrong, so I didn’t need to hide in class or avoid eye contact. The environment made us less afraid of failing and more intellectually ambitious.

I applied this perspective to other classes, regardless of each professor's structure. I was less stressed about exam scores and more concerned about my actual understanding. As a self-identified really good crammer, I had perfected scoring high and learning little for years, but that seemed less attractive now.

Knowing my class standing was less interesting, too: my own learning was what mattered. I have found most students succeed when professors don’t intend to intimidate, reduce the reliance on grades as a measure of success, and identify student learning as the measure of their own success.

*******

One point of publicizing these students’ comments is just to provide good additions to the instructors’ toolbox. Of course, for any suggestion, the instructor has to reflect on whether it will work for them, in their discipline and in their situation. The second point is to encourage administrators and instructors to seek out and disseminate considered student suggestions. Thoughtful students are invaluable resources when we are looking to improve, and their insights are solicited too rarely.

Source: https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2018/09/04/tips-students-help-improve-your-teaching-opinion

[andreafestefano]

Our beautiful back door transformation!

Goodness! I've been so excited to share this transformation with you! It's been in the works for a few months and then the lovely folks at Kwikset asked if I'd like to share a door transformation with you and it all worked out so perfectly! It is SO GOOD!

Years ago we replaced windows in our family room with these double doors: 

They were a total game changer for our house. They let in so much light and make everything feel so much more open. One of our best decisions ever. 

You'll notice they look like French doors, but only one side opens -- we were told that double exterior doors (that both open) can cause problems over time. This was such a great compromise. The look without the issues!

You might remember that I painted them a pretty blue last summer: 

I think I told you then that I had big plans for this spot outside...I've had this in mind for a long time! 

The doors have held up great, except for this middle section -- no idea why the paint started flaking but it was making a mess: 

AND that hardware had seen better days for sure. 

I used a scraper to take all the excess paint off before doing anything: 

Then I did a very light sanding to make sure all the chippy paint was gone. 

I repainted that part of the door and then tackled the hardware. I was so thrilled when Kwikset offered us new hardware for our exterior doors. One, because they were looking worn after all these years. TWO (this is the best part) -- they provided stylish and durable products with Kwikset's SmartKey security feature as well. Because I've changed out our hardware years back we were using THREE different keys for our exterior doors. It was way too much. This awesome product not only helps to protect against common and destructive break-in methods, but it also allowed me to easily change the key so that ONE works for all the doors. 

Mind blown. 

But first, more about the pretty hardware. 😍 There are a few DIY projects that I know people avoid because they seem too difficult. This is one of them -- but I think it would surprise you how easy it is to change out both interior and exterior door hardware. 

For the knob you just unscrew the hardware and pull it apart. Then replace it with the new version and match up the screws to the holes inside. It's pretty easy!:

Looking better already, right? If you paint your doors you really should take the hardware off -- it's really not that bad! I've learned from experience that you'll kick yourself for not doing it if you ever change your knobs later. 

Because I was changing this out from a knob to this nicer handleset, I only needed to add one hole at the bottom to screw in the lower part of the handle. I just used a drill bit to drill through the door and then screw it in. 

For the deadbolt it's not much different -- their instructions cover every single issue you may run into.   Again, you need to just unscrew the two pieces and take them off of the door: 

Then you'll need to replace the deadbolt part. Just remove the two screws and pull it out: 

This is the Smart Key awesomeness I was telling you about earlier:

More on that in a bit! 

The Kwikset SmartKey product offers better security because of their unique design that protects against lock picking and lock bumping -- I had to look up that last one. There's been an increase in those occurring in home burglaries. 

I also love that they provide the really long screws that you should use to secure your deadbolt plate to the door frame:  

The longer the better for these!

The lock part goes together like the bottom -- you match up the insides and then insert the screws to pull everything together. (More on that in a bit!) 

But this is the best part...they provide this little tool that allows you to re-key each lock to work on the same key. You follow their very short instructions with your old key and the new one, and insert this into the little slot:

And presto! Your key works on ALL OF THE LOCKS. Hello! I cannot tell you how nice and convenient it's been to operate with one key! 

I was able to change out our front door hardware as well -- and followed the same process. There are a couple little tricks the Kwikset hardware offers that I wanted to mention because you may need to know these if you tackle this project. 

When you fit your two pieces together on the door (front and back), there's a half circle metal piece that inserts inside the door. If you've ever installed hardware you know what I'm talking about. You can see it here:

If your hardware has this section facing the other way the fix is EASY -- you just tug on that half circle metal and then twist. It flips over to the other side. Takes two seconds. Brilliant. 

This next one is awesome. When you install your new deadbolt or door latch, you'll want that hole in the center to be in the middle of the circle:

If yours isn't centered this fix is easy too. 

You just press down the little buttons and slide it to the length you need: 

It was at 2 3/8 and I needed it to be 2 3/4. Again, so easy! 

I was able to switch out all of our doors in about 90 minutes. It worked so well and I'm still geeking out at how pretty it looks. (And...ONE key.):

I used the Chelsea handleset for this door and this Avalon set for the front door -- both in the Venetian bronze finish. 

Remember -- when you install hardware the screws always go on the inside! :) This goes for in the house too. You want to make sure you can use a screwdriver from the inside if you're ever locked in a room for some reason. 

OK! Now for the transformation I couldn't wait to share with you! I've always wanted to do this, but when we finished the pergola last it was decided it would happen. We just weren't sure when. 

The back of our house is all vinyl so I've always wanted to break it up a bit (see the before pics above). The double doors helped a ton, but I knew this would make an even bigger impact. I'm obsessed. :) 

Check out those doors now!: 

Holy cats, isn't it beautiful?? I've been dying to show you! 

It all came together so beautifully. We had the trellis built over the back door to match the pergola -- it's a similar design but simpler. 

Our door opens out (something else I'm so glad we did) to save space inside. It's not been a big deal at all, but we knew from the start we'd want to add a little something over the door eventually. Not a roof, but just enough that it would provide some cover from rain and block some snow from falling right there. 

This has helped already! And it looks SO good. On our RV trip a few weeks ago I ran into an IKEA and found these pretty trellises in their outdoor section. They match our stain perfectly!:

I've had the pots for years -- I spray painted them a couple years ago to give them new life and it's held up great. And aren't those pillows perfect with the door color? 

I picked up the chairs from Meijer on clearance for another spot and then put them on each side. My mind needs symmetry...it is my friend:

It really helps to break up the expanse of vinyl on the house. We just adore it. 

Our son said it looks like a place in the Bahamas and I just love that! ;) You can see that I strung some vine through the trellises -- I'm hoping they'll take to it and keep going! How pretty will that be?:

It ties in so well with out pergola design: 

Here's another before pic from last summer: 

And here's how it looks now: 

Gah. I just love it. The expanse of vinyl has been broken up just enough. 

It took a few months to pull it all together but I'm so happy with it. It's just beautiful. And the new hardware is like pretty jewelry on the door -- it makes it feel like so much grander of an entrance. 

Here's a look at night -- we love sitting out here in the evenings, and during the day this provides plenty of shade so we can sit out here and enjoy the space then too:

Thank you to Kwikset for the hardware -- I can't recommend that Smart Key feature enough. If you ever lose your keys or they are stolen, this makes it easy to re-key the lock in just seconds. I couldn't believe how easy it was. The kind folks at Kwikset are offering their Juno knob and deadbolt combo pack (with the SmartKey) in Venetian Bronze to one of my readers! If you'd like to be entered just leave a comment here! We'll have it sent out to the winner. (Deadline to enter is noon EST on Wednesday, July 5.) I've been dying to share this one with you! I hope you enjoy it. If you have questions about anything feel free to ask! This post is sponsored by Kwikset and they provided the hardware I used. All opinions are my own and I only share brands that I know and love with my readers. 

This content is property of Thrifty Decor Chick LLC. If you are reading this on any other site other than http://ift.tt/1kRxOJ2 or one of her social media platforms, please contact her immediately (thriftydecorchick at gmail dot com). Any other use of this content is strictly forbidden.

This industry information is provided by ThompsonsComfortConnection.com.

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[bestnewsmag-blog]

New Post has been published on Bestnewsmag

New Post has been published on https://bestnewsmag.com/internet-cutoff-is-just-the-latest-trouble-for-wikileaks-assange/

Internet cutoff is just the latest trouble for WikiLeaks’ Assange

The digital megaphone of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange appears to had been silenced, and Britain is also transferring towards Russia’s foreign media operations.

WikiLeaks introduced through Twitter Monday that it had launched “contingency plans” after unnamed state hackers severed the net hyperlink used by Assange, who is under siege within the Ecuadorean embassy in London, taking pain tablets for infirmities and not using a get right of entry to daylight or outdoor area. WikiLeaks later blamed Ecuador itself for the cutoff, reported The Associated Press.

It changed into one of the state-of-the-art actions in a chess healthy that Assange has waged for years with U.S. And British authorities and that now has the Australian anti-secrecy recommend on middle stage in the U.S. Presidential campaign, releasing heaps of pages of leaked emails to thwart Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid. The U.S. Government accuses Russian state hackers of acquiring the emails and passing them to WikiLeaks.

In a separate flow, RT, the Russian nation cable and satellite tv operator as soon as called Russia Today, said it became informed that Britain’s National Westminster Bank would no longer offer it with banking services.

RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan told RIA Novosti that the broadcaster might now not close down operations inside the United Kingdom, however “it is clear to us that this is not the closing step the United Kingdom is prepared to take to limit our broadcasting.”

Whether there has been a connection among Assange’s loss of internet and RT’s loss of banking offerings changed into the unknown, but the timing of the two occasions regarded remarkably coincidental.

WikiLeaks posted a tweet early Monday that stated Assange’s “net hyperlink has been intentionally severed by way of a kingdom party. We have activated the precise contingency plans.”

What those contingency plans are become not clean. But WikiLeaks has been the target of efforts to silence it before.

During its release of State Department cables in 2010, Amazon.Com, at the request of then-Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut canceled its settlement to host the WikiLeaks site, and for years U.S. Credit card organizations refused to method donations to the organization. WikiLeaks additionally maintained scores of so-referred to as “mirror” websites to host its content material to save you hackers from blockading get admission to via what’s known as a directed denial of carrier assault – the practice of freezing a domain with millions of automatic efforts to contact it.

The silencing of Assange came with a chunk of drama. Hours before the declaration that his internet connection has been cut, WikiLeaks published 3 tweets that regarded to contain encrypted code, and rumors began to swirl that it was a “useless man’s switch,” a code revealing rather labeled facts that would ensure guide upon his demise.

The tweets have been later erased from the WikiLeaks Twitter account, however no longer earlier than rumors erupted over Assange’s health and protection. The Ecuadorean embassy has issued no announcement.

“I am listening to that Ecuador has caved to Clinton & Co. And (Assange) will either be extradited or lifeless in 12 hours,” a user calling himself RottenScoundrels published on Reddit.

WikiLeaks Internet recently cutoff celebrated trouble its tenth anniversary, saying it had launched greater than 10 million mystery documents.

Since early October, WikiLeaks has released greater than 12,000 emails, a number of them taken from the account of Clinton campaign Chairman John Podesta, part of a purported trove of 50,000 that the group says screen the inner workings of the Clinton campaign, along with the way it dealt with primary debates and its often-cozy courting with the information media. A tenth batch became made public Monday.

Party leaders have responded with outrage, blaming the Russian government for the hack extracting the emails from Democratic Party servers and chastising WikiLeaks for doing the bidding of the Russian government by using publishing them.

“Our intelligence community has made it clear that the Russian authorities are chargeable for the cyber attacks geared toward interfering with our election, and that WikiLeaks is part of that effort. This revelation has to deeply trouble all Americans in each party,” meantime party Chairwoman Donna Brazile said remaining Tuesday in an announcement.

Assange, forty-five, seems to have orchestrated the leaks even as dwelling in a tiny room huge enough most effective for a single bed and a small cabinet, and an adjacent room with a treadmill, his domestic at Ecuador’s embassy in London.

Three weeks ago, WikiLeaks posted a 26-web page “psychosocial profile” of Assange that it says an expert wrote after engaging in five prolonged visits to him within the embassy. Assange has been dwelling there considering June 19, 2012, when he sought political asylum to stay away from British efforts to extradite him to Sweden for questioning approximately sexual assault allegations. Assange has said he fears Sweden might turn him over to U.S. Government, though no U.S. Criminal charges are recognized to exist towards him.

The document says Assange “is taking painkillers every day” to cope with intense pain in his right shoulder this is “developing regularly worse.” It says Assange’s doctor is unable to diagnose the problem without carrying out an MRI scan but that the British authorities refuse to guarantee his secure passage to a hospital. In an additional woe, Assange is in want of a root canal and gum surgical operation due to a cracked tooth, it says.

After a mental-kingdom examination, the document says, Assange is an idea to suffer from moderately excessive depression.

His bedroom measures only 60 square ft, and he has access to an adjoining room with a desk and treadmill measuring 270 rectangular ft, the document says. The embassy occupies half of-of the ground in a Victorian constructing in London’s Knightsbridge district.

Assange told the evaluator his sleep has been disrupted from time to time through “banging on the wall or window of his bedroom” by using British police who body of workers surveillance cordons around the embassy.

“Embassy CCTV pictures confirmed to Mr. Assange that the bang was external,” the file says, adding that it showed a British police officer throwing an item at his window.

“The incident prompted Mr. Assange to sense chronically insecure approximately going to sleep,” it says, a sense compounded while he found out that police had occupied an adjoining flat belonging to a member of the royal own family of the United Arab Emirates.

WikiLeaks has cast Clinton as a person who wants to see its founder dead.

On Oct. 3, it tweeted a hyperlink to a story on the True Pundit website purporting to summarize an assembly among Clinton and senior aides in 2010 as WikiLeaks organized to launch secret navy emails approximately the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“ ‘Can’t we simply drone this guy?’ Clinton openly inquired, offering an easy remedy to silencing Assange and smother WikiLeaks via a planned navy drone strike, in step with State Department resources,” the True Pundit tale claimed.

How To Make Money On The Internet As A Beginner

We all recognize that loads money is changing fingers on the internet and the quantity is growing normal, however, how do you get your hand into the sport? This article will display you the way to get started and begin mountain climbing the net money ladder regardless of your degree of revel in. Never in records have you had such a lot of options available to you at so little fee.

The First Thing To Understand

Platforms! You ought to apprehend systems to get off to an actual begin to making money on the internet and you have come to the right vicinity. Just due to the fact you have got an internet connection would not mean you’re set to make money, you have to plug into a few net platform to make cash. What is a web platform? The easy answer is they are a prepared manner to speak offers and take in the money. A platform is the nuts and bolts that allow you to make an offer, someone sees that offer, receive it, then buy it and regularly to have it shipped to them. When it involves making a living, platforms are the entirety.

Here is a critical point whether you’re on the net or within the actual international: To make massive cash you have to understand commercial systems, which means what they may be, how they work and the way to use them, even a way to cause them to.

Let’s begin with an actual international instance after which take it to the net international. A Walmart keep is a large cash platform. Go to Walmart and you may see the item, pick up the object, recognize the charge of the item, buy the item and go home with it. That is a real global, bricks and mortar platform for being profitable, but get this, they do quite a lot the identical issue over the internet on their internet site as they do in the store. You can not cope with the products, but you may see it in several snapshots. Just like the store you could check it out, see the fee and purchase it. The Walmart brick and mortar store is the Walmart brick and mortar platform and the Walmart net site is the Walmart internet platform. Simple up to now, proper? Right!

Take Amazon, Etsy, eBay, Craigslist and Walmart, the net web sites of these groups are all net cash systems. All of these and many, many greater dot-coms are net cash platforms. Not all dot-coms are net money platforms, however, all traditional net structures are dot-coms or have a commercial “organization call”.Com internet address. This may seem apparent, however, endure with me. It gets better.

Your First Decision

The first choice you will have to make in relation to your on-line business and platform is whose platform will you use, yours or a person else’s? You can sell objects on Amazon’s platform or eBay’s platform, another employer’s platform or you could make your personal platform. It doesn’t need to be high-priced to make your own, but it probably could be time eating or even frustrating in case you are not acquainted with things like shopping carts, fee structures and figuring state to state sales tax.

If you are not familiar with net sales and advertising I advise you exercise first with the aid of shopping for a few matters online after which promoting some things online using a person else’s platform. Just about something you may purchase at a bricks and mortar keep you can purchase online. Get your purchasing listing and get commenced. Once you find out how it works you can climb the internet ladder from consumer to dealer and on for your own platform in case you want.

What Are The Successful Companies Doing?

When you purchase things online first take note of how they may be presented. Did they use a picture? More than one photograph? Other photographs? Buyers Reviews? Did they provide different alternatives? Did they offer an up-sale; supplying something greater luxurious or maybe an accent or a bulk bundle of multiple gadgets to make the price of the wholesale move up, as a result the time period up-sale?

Next, notice the way you test out. Did you visit some other web page? Did you go to some other corporation’s website that processed the order? What logo’s did you spot alongside the way? Different credit score card businesses? Processing corporations? Did you spot a reimbursement coverage?

What alternatives did they offer for delivery? Did they have a general transport preference that became covered in the acquisition charge? Did they provide one of a kind shopping corporations and perhaps the USA Postal Service as an option? Do they provide global transport? You had the higher figure that one out whilst you provide something or you might be unpleasantly surprised to find out how pricey it is to deliver 30 kilos of products to a far flung place of the world and also you were offering unfastened delivery!

Starting With Someone Else’s Platform

So you’re making all right widgets for the eating room. You notion it’d be fine to sell them at the net. Great concept, but how will you do it and how can you get paid? Why no longer begin with someone that has figured that each one out? Etsy is a platform for selling arts, crafts and sure other products. That is probably an awesome vicinity to start. Then there may be eBay where you could auction off merchandise. Put “promoting arts and crafts” right into a seek engine and you’ll find much more.

Here is the benefit with eBay or a few similar on-line public sale organization, in case you don’t know what to rate in your product put a few up for public sale on eBay and notice what they carry. Cheaper than paying a business enterprise to research your product, search the market for similar objects and prices, get returned to you in a few months with a predicted marketplace rate and a massive invoice!

PayPal and eBay have split, however, it still is nice to have a PayPal account. You can get one and a commercial enterprise debit card totally free. I have one in my pocket. Square and other businesses procedure bills online. There became a time you had to go to a bank and pay ridiculously excessive expenses and signal contracts to have a merchant account to technique bills online. Not anymore. Don’t like PayPal or Square? Other fee processors are a search engine seek away. Speaking of search engines like google and yahoo Google has a fee system and so does Apple. It seems like every person is moving into this, even Microsoft.

What about Craigslist for the matters around the residence you can trade for cash and now not pass over? Craigslist is a little one-of-a-kind because human beings often meet in man or woman, trade the cash on the assembly and the customer virtually incorporates the item domestically. Still, it’s far a platform and you can analyze some things whilst cleaning out the basement or garage and make cash in addition!