Recently in Portent Interactive Category
Standing up and talking internet marketing is one of my favorite things. And no, I’m not being ironic. I really do love it. So, here are some of the speaking gigs I’ll be at in the next month or two: SMX West: March 2-4, 2010, Santa Clara. I’m a panelist in Analytics Action Plans For PPC & SEO, Day 3. You can get a nice discount for an SMX West all access pass if you use the partner code ‘smx15speaker’ on the registration page. SEMPDX Searchfest: March 9th, 2010. I’m on a reputation management panel. I’ll talk about various dirty
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Continue reading Where I'm speaking in the next 2 months
Who says on-the-job research can’t be fun - and heavily caffeinated? Last week, Portent Interactive took a field trip to the Seattle headquarters of what is quickly becoming our tastiest new client: Zoka Coffee Roaster & Tea Company. In the Name of Research A field trip seemed like the logical thing to do - even the biggest coffee junkies among us admitted that drinking four cups of Folgers a day did not a coffee-expert make. And getting to know our clients - their passions, their work ethic, their product - is a huge perk of the job. So who were
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Continue reading Portent Interactive Visits Zoka Coffee
Todd Mintz interviewed me for Search Engine Journal. If you’re looking for a chance to embarrass me at the next internet marketing conference, this interview has lots of good material: Read the interview here. You can follow Todd Mintz on Twitter at ToddMintz. Recommended reading! Also, best title award goes to @AlanBleiweiss:
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Continue reading Interview on Search Engine Journal
In January of 1995, I took my one credit card, purchased a Pentium 75 PC (running the latest version of Windows 3.0) and a business license, and launched The Written Word, Inc. That company is now named Portent Interactive. The date on that first business license is January 7, 1995. So, as of tomorrow, we’ve been around for 15 years. For perspective, when I started my company: There was no such thing as wifi; My 2800 baud modem was state of the art; Google and Yahoo! didn’t exist; Actually, neither did Firefox, Blackberry or cell phones that weighed less than
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Continue reading 15 Years
We’re expensive, I know. A long-term engagement with a quality Internet marketing agency is pricey. So we’ve developed a 1-on-1 consulting package that lets you get started without breaking the bank, and without a long-term retainer contract. As part of the program, you get: A custom report listing 10 things you can do to improve your site. 1 hour of 1-on-1 consulting with me, via phone, to explain the recommendations. If you’re a blogger, a small business or just want to test out Portent’s expertise, the 10Things package is perfect. Click here to learn about it, and to sign up.
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Continue reading The 10Things Site Review, by Portent
I’ll be running the Curmudgeon’s Web Copywriting Site Clinic on Tuesday at SES San Jose. 10-11 AM. Bring your web site and I’ll put it up on the big screen, walk through tweaks and changes to copy, and hopefully teach a little at the same time. Here’s all the info: Tuesday, August 11th, 10:00am - 11:00am The Curmudgeon’s Web Copywriting Clinic
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Continue reading Speaking at SES San Jose
If you host a web site with Portent, you’ve been kept apprised of the situation that started Thursday night at 11 PM. At this point, all sites are back ‘live’. The Fisher Plaza East data center is running on temporary power from Caterpillar generators that the City of Seattle set up outside. Here’s a quick rundown of what happened, why, and how we can avoid it in the future: Chain of Events Thursday 11 PM: A fire breaks out in the electrical hub at Plaza Center East. The sprinkler system activates, but floods and shorts out the emergency generators. Plaza
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Continue reading Fisher Plaza: Service Restored, Portent Response
I’ve been writing about the 5 S’s quite a bit of late. They’re 5 different kinds of optimization - story, search, strategy, spend, site - and they’re the core of our internet marketing philosophy. They also tie our services together. We have a long list of skills inhouse here at Portent, but really what we do is much more than a few items on a menu. Hopefully, this video explains a little bit about it: The 5 Kinds of Optimization: How Portent Works from ian lurie on Vimeo.
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Continue reading The 5 S's: How Portent Works
A proud day at Portent: Elizabeth Marsten (our lead PPC guru) and myself worked with three other authors to publish Web Marketing for Dummies All-in-One. I won’t belabor it, but I’m allowing myself a brief bit of pride. I wrote about 400 pages of this 800+ page book. I’m particularly proud, though, that one of my team is also an author. I feel pretty lucky to get to work with such a talented group of people. Marty Dickinson wrote Book 1: Web Presence. I wrote Book 2: Search Engine Optimization And Book 3: Web Analytics Elizabeth wrote Book 4: Online
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Continue reading Portent Team Co-Publishes a New Dummies Book
Copywriter/Social Media Strategist About Portent Interactive Like a clever viral ad, our upbeat internet marketing agency provides an atmosphere of effortless fun and seamless ingenuity. Like any good moderator, we are canny and selective about whom we target to join our close-knit community. Critical thinkers. Quirky characters. Shameless geeks. People who thrive in a choose-your-own adventure environment where each day is different, and where you are free (and encouraged) to customize your work experience. The Prospect: Are you the plug-in Portent is missing? We are searching for a smart, savvy copywriter with a strong marketing/social media background. An ability to
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Continue reading We're hiring: Copywriter/Social Media addict wanted
