First, you’ve got to start your gumbo with a good roux…

Aunt Pearl’s Two Beer Roux

3/4 cup butter

3/4 cup flour

This takes about 20 – 30 minutes to make properly.

Aunt Pearl calls this a “2 beer roux” because it’s usually ready by the time she’s done drinking her second beer.

1. Melt butter in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium to medium-high heat.
2. Slowly sprinkle in the flour a little at a time, stirring constantly.
3. Continue to stir constantly.
4. Do not walk away!
5. If you burn it even the tiniest bit, it is unusable.
6. You will notice the flour beginning to brown.
7. The darker the flour, the darker the gravy.
8. For gumbo, when the roux reaches a deep dark chocolate brown color it is done.
9. At that point, you add your seasonings (such as onion, garlic, bell pepper and celery).
10. You can make this ahead of time and keep it tightly covered in the fridge or freezer.

Now, for the gumbo itself…

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

1 whole chicken (cut up)

Andouille sausage  (I highly recommend andouille if you can find it.  Use as much as you want.  I use at least a pound…sometimes two because I freakin’ love andouille sausage)

Chicken broth (you can use canned, but I recommend boiling your chicken and making your broth from scratch)

Butter

Flour

1 large onion (diced)

1 large green pepper (diced)

2 celery stalks (diced or cut into small curvy pieces)

Salt

Pepper

Cajun seasoning  (Tony Chachere’s is THE BEST!  Slap Yo Mama seasoning is good, too.)

1. Boil your chicken until it falls off the bones.  You will definitely be using the broth:)
2. Debone your chicken (some Cajun folk just leave it on the bones, but it’s up to you)
3. In a heavy bottom pot, make the roux with the roux recipe above
4. Once the roux is done, add the onion, bell pepper and celery
5. Add some salt, some pepper and a some garlic and saute all the veggies for a little while.  (Saute to preference…I usually saute until the onions start to caramelize)
6. It doesn’t matter how long you saute’ as long as you don’t burn ‘em
7. Add chicken back into the pot
8. Start adding your broth slowly, stirring the whole time
9. You will know when you have enough by how thick or thin your gravy is
10. If you want thinner gravy, use more stock…for thicker gravy, use less stock
11. Season with more salt, more pepper and the Tony Chachere’s seasoning
12. Bring just to a boil and lower heat to a simmer
13. Add sausage and simmer for about an hour to an hour and a half.  Let your tastebuds be your guide.
14. Serve over rice.  You can mess with measuring your rice and water if you want, but it’s easier to just boil your rice in a big pot like you boil pasta and then drain it the same way.
15. Club crackers taste good with this gumbo…so does some good hot buttered French bread

Enjoy.  Share this with your friends and neighbors…they’ll love you for it:)

Searches are becoming more and more personalized on the Internet and I believe that in some way, shape or form they will continue to become more personalized or at least give you the option of having personalized searches as we move into the future.

Personally, I have mixed emotions about it.  On one hand, personalized searches allow you to basically get recommendations from your friends in your searches through the use of the “+1″ button and Google Plus, so if you’re looking for a really good table and chairs set (see pictures below) your friends’ recommendations will show up higher in the search results than they would in a non-personalized search and have their picture and “John +1′d this” next to it to let you know which of your friends recommended it (see picture above).

On the other hand, for you and your business, it could hurt your search engine ranking as search results will be skewed because Google chose to make this feature automatically enabled…basically, most people aren’t even aware that they have to “opt out” of it to get true organic search results.

On a humourous note, Twitter and Facebook have proven that a lot of people don’t think before they post something, so we will undoubtedly learn things we never knew about our friends by what they choose to recommend with a “+1.”   lol

It’s important to be aware of the personalized search and, as I posted at an earlier date, add the +1 feature to your site and encourage friends and visitors to “+1″ your website.  At least for the foreseeable future, you as a business person will have to reckon with this virtual SEO monkey wrench and a good SEO consultant will help you understand and navigate those waters.  Frankly, if you or your consultant are doing your SEO properly,  just keep doing what you’re doing because it only gives you a more solid foundation and ranking that will ultimately endure.

Google ticked off more than just a few people when they introduced this personalized search last week because it was automatically activated on your Google account, forcing you to “opt out” rather than giving you the choice to “opt in.”   Now the FTC is investigating the fairness of it, etc., but for the time being we have to deal with it smartly and properly.

The moral of the story?

For the time being, be aware of your truly organic search results as opposed to the personalized results.   It’s really easy…just make sure you’re not logged in to your Google account when you do a search on Google.   That will eliminate the “+1′s” showing up in your search and give you a true reading of where your business ranks in the organic results.

Whenever the quagmire of getting found on the Internet doesn’t make sense to you, give me a call or drop me an email here on my site:)

Kinda like Nuprin, but it’s a different color.

But I digress.   Five words with regard the Google +1 Button:  Get One OnYour Website.

It’s an important part of your long term SEO and Internet Marketing strategy.

Some months ago, an article appeared online (and disappeared rather quickly) with a headline that was something like “Use Google +1 Or Kiss Your Ranking Goodbye.”  While that’s harsh, there’s a lot of merit to it and I’ll show you why.  While you read this, keep in mind that over 260 million people have Google accounts.

The Google +1 button sits there next to the Facebook “like” button, StumbleUpon button, Reddit button, Digg button, and the other social media sharing buttons on a web page or blog post.  All of those buttons are very valuable in getting your website viewed by a much wider audience and building your following online.  The Google +1 button might just be the most valuable of all, as it can affect where you appear in the search engine results of people who click on it.

The way it works is when a visitor has a Google account and clicks on the +1, it will give them a little message that says “You publicly +1′d this as (their name here).”  From that point forward, whenever they do a search for your kind of business you will rank higher in their search because they publicly +1′d your site.  Basically, Google takes the fact that they gave your site (or a page on your site) a “thumbs up” in the Google platform and factors that into the algorithm of their personal search.

To illustrate this, look at the search results picture above.  Bob is ranked near the top of page 2 for the search “Elizabethtown PA real estate.”   Now look at the search results picture below.  He’s in the middle of page 3 for the same search.

The difference?  I did the first search while logged in to my Google account, hence the +1 and my avatar next to the search result…AND hence the higher placement.  Searching while being logged in personalizes your search.

More and more, this kind of “personalized” searching is becoming the norm.  It only figures that Google will work their own offerings (i.e. Google Places, Google Plus) into the algorithms and reward those of us who are smart enough to use them.  Google is by far the largest search engine with 75% – 80% market share.  Don’t take that lightly.

Get the button, and if you don’t know how just give me a call:)

Contact me at 717-538-8940 with any questions about Internet Marketing or SEO, email me at marqeteer@marqeteer.com or visit my website:  Top Real Estate Coaches/Top Internet Marketing Consultants

Proper SEO consists of your onsite SEO (keywords, titling, tags, content management) and the aforementioned offsite SEO.  As with all proper SEO, link building isn’t the magic key in and of itself, but if you use it right or have an SEO professional do it right for you, you will build your search engine presence and improve your ranking.

My good friend David Brown (the REAL Neo) shared with me this SEO Link Building tool he and his team created that will help you build links to your website, while offering links as well.  It’s completely free to use.

Reciprocation.  Just like a REAL relationship. lol

Click on this link: Free Link Building tool

From there, just follow these instructions:

1.  In the “keyword” box, type your business/area of interest (“real estate agent”, “farm equipment,” etc.).  If you want to be area specific just add your desired area, i.e. “farm equipment lititz pennsylvania.”

2.  Click “continue.”

3.  The page will then appear with a list of websites (you may have to scroll down) that have link pages.  The link page URLs will look something like “www.buyhomesfromme.com/agent-referral.”

4.  Start on the top of the list and click on each link, fill out your informaton for them to link to you, then you will get the info to link to them on your site.  That’s pretty much it:)

5.  In SEO, content is king and linking is queen.  Links tell the search engines, basically, that you have friends and you’re ok.  Set aside 20 minutes a day or at least 3 days a week to do this, or hire someone who knows what they’re doing to handle it for you.  But please…make sure it’s someone who knows what they’re doing and are doing it properly or it could hurt your ranking.

Contact me if you have any questions or if this just isn’t making sense.

This is a great example of the reciprocal relationships that the search engines promote through their algorithms.  It’s really quite amazing…just remember that the primary goal of the search engines is to keep a level playing field for all business.

Contact me at 717-538-8940 with any questions about Internet Marketing or SEO, email me at marqeteer@marqeteer.com or visit my website:  Top Real Estate Coaches/Top Internet Marketing Consultants

About a month ago, my website was hacked and subsequently flagged by Google for MalWare.   In the wake of trying to fix the problem, my good friends at MIND Development and Design said it was a good idea to go ahead with a site redesign as the MalWare became embedded in my website theme.

To say I was crushed and disturbed by this hack attack is an understatement, but it happened and it can happen to anyone.  The important thing is to be prepared and know how to handle it.   One of the things I love about Google is that they provide a lot of free tools that many people still don’t know about, and it’s important to get versed in these tools on your site or make sure your SEO or Internet marketing person is using them.

That being said, if you don’t already use Google Analytics go to the site and sign up for it.   It’s merely a matter of putting an HTML code on your site page or pages that will allow you to track the traffic to your site, what pages they’re looking at, where they’re coming from, etc.

Yes, you can get these reports and statistics through Google…everything you wish you could have done with traditional marketing you can now do with just a few mouse clicks.

Finally, register with Google Webmaster Tools because if there ever is a problem with your site Google can tell you what and where the problem is.  Thanks to the Google Webmaster tools I was able to more easily identify the problem, fix it and get a review to get that miserable red warning page off my site.

In closing, be careful who you link to.  Sometimes you can link to someone and inadvertently be flagged for MalWare because they unwittingly have MalWare redirect links on their site that you don’t know about.   It happened to me and I hope it never happens to you:)

In the meantime, call me if you want to pick my brain and make sense of all this stuff or just shoot me an email at marqeteer@marqeteer.com

Cheers and thank you for stopping by my site.  I hope you find the information helpful:)

One of my favorite features is the Market Conditions page.   You can literally go to this page, choose your state, choose your specific area and give a brief professional opinion of your current real estate market climate.  There’s one problem:

Many areas have not been updated or reported upon in over a year!

That means no Realtors are reporting on these areas, which is a huge mistake.  Not only is this nice exposure on a high profile real estate news site, you get a link to your website each time you leave your opinion/assessment on your local real estate market!

I would recommend you give an update on your market once or twice a month.  Don’t go too overboard, as you want to reflect an honest opinion and true assessment of your market, but once or twice a month should do the trick and establish you as a dependable resource for visitors…and get you the all important quality link to your site:)

Leave your local market conditions assessment on Realty Times’ market conditions page here.

While there are some insightful arguments made, I could not believe the rash and juvenile expressions (he calls social media consultants “blood sucking hucksters” among other colourful adjectives) this supposed professional used in burning the concept of social media consultants at the stake.

Pure and simple, social media consulting is necessary deprogramming.  It’s the purging of all the narcisistic and “money motivated” sales tactics we’ve been subject to for the past 30 years.  Consumers are sick of it and have progressively distanced themselves from it.

Think about it.  From throwing away junk mail to screening calls to voice mail to do-not-call lists, consumers have been trying their hardest to filter out pretenders for years to find those professionals they can trust.

Now, with the social media era, we have to learn the art of “people helping people” all over again and forget the sales ‘tactics’ we’ve been alternately taught and been subject to over the years.

What’s sad is the verbage that Mr. Yiannopoulos uses in the article.  Always remember as a consumer and as a business person:  People who are confident in their work and earnest in their purpose never have to result to condescension and name calling.  Mr. Yiannopoulos represents himself as the very kind of individual that social media forums and social media consultants are there to protect you from.

The proverbial bully.

If you are looking through your sphere of influence contacts and are prone to do a purge every so often, don’t be so quick to remove people from your contact list.  Everyone has their own timeline and as a professional, you have to be ready and willing to negotiate all phases of all timelines.  Here is the original article:

There’s hardly a day that goes by where I don’t encounter a handful of real estate pros who “purge” their database of people who haven’t return contacted them in the past 90 days.   In years past this may have worked, but considering the resources for long-term contact that we have at our fingertips today it’s an almost ludicrous strategy.

With the CRM technology available to salespeople of all realms, there is more power in the hands of the individual today than ever before.   Sales has always been a “numbers game,” but how you manage those people-formerly-known-as-numbers in your database is more important than ever.   CRM’s make it easy and very affordable to maintain long-term contact with a larger database than you’ve ever been able to manage previously.

When email drips are used properly, they’re a valuable tool for maintaining long-term contact.   CRM’s make email drips easy.   Don’t purge your database…that is your marketing microcosm!   Instead, make sure everyone in your database is receiving some kind of monthly email drip to let them know you’re still there.

Forget: The “7-Year-Itch” Rule that has been pounded into our heads for the past 2 decades and states that “the average homeowner moves every 7 years.”    Think realistically:  The average homeowner will need you once…maybe twice in your lifetime.   You need a lot of people in your database.

Remember: If you purge your database, you’re shrinking the number of people who will be aware of you you’re making it easy for people to assume you’re no longer in the business.

Your database is your own marketing microcosm of people who will, over time, become familiar with and comfortable with (and ultimately care about) your name in whatever business realm you’re in.   Time can build credibility inherently.

If you’re new to CRM’s and could use some advice on what to look for, drop me a line at marqeteer@marqeteer.com or 717-538-8940:)

Within a minute or two you will receive an email with your PDF file attached.   Great service that has helped me out when I’ve been in a bind and I recommend it if you don’t already have a conversion program

Yes, Facebook has made quite a few changes over the past months…many of them unnecessary.  But that’s what fear and panic will do for you.  Panic and fear distort your ability to determine what is really necessary when making changes to your product or service.  In Facebook’s case, they’re panicking a bit because it’s Google.  And Google will probably keep on trying until they hit on something that’s successful.

What’s interesting, though, is the fact that in this scenario Google has a lot in common with Bing in the search engine scenario.  Will Bing ever overtake Google in the search engine market?  Probably not.  But there’s room for Bing to have a reasonable market share, build their own following and maintain a level of success.  Google is basically the Bing of the social media market.

Truth is, if you try to be all things to all people you will spread yourself too thin and quality will suffer in your services.

While Google Plus may not offer much functionality to make it a necessary part of your social media marketing mix, it’s important to remember that it is a Google product and can inherently help your Google search engine ranking.  It’s not something Google really likes us to discuss, and there has already been one article concerning this that strangely disappeared from the Internet a month or so ago.

Think about it logically…Google has 75% – 80% search engine market share.  If you’re using their social media service, it only makes sense that it will help you in their search engine algorithms…much the same way your Google Places listing does.

Is Google Plus necessary from a functionality standpoint?  For most people, probably not and I don’t see it seriously challenging Facebook’s market share.  However, from the standpoint of SEO and search engine ranking you most definitely want to have a Google Plus account.

For more information on Google Plus vs Facebook, including a link to a direct comparison, click here.