I spent a good chunk of my time this past week at the Houston AdWords Seminar for Success training program. It was refreshing to hear stories of how many small businesses, mainly mom-and-pops, had taken advantage of search marketing during the recession. The consensus seemed to be that search was among the best performing channels in keeping the attendees’ businesses afloat.

I was stunned at how many participants were actively looking for  SEO firms, though. By actively looking, I mean yelling out during breaks “If you’re an SEO company I want to talk to you!”

Since I’m working in-house now, I kept myself out of this game; but the future consultant in me did more than a little eavesdropping between the SEO companies attending the seminar and the SMBs scouting for business cards. What did I learn?

SEO is still a haven for the misinformed and confused (and those are the service providers!)

It amazes me how many SEO providers read an outdated book or two, come up with some cookie-cutter techniques (or some hyped software), and call themselves professionals.

Though it’s been posted for a couple weeks, Ian Lurie’s 10 questions to evaluate an SEO is pretty spot-on. It reminds me in spirit of Jill Whalen’s classic The Evolution of a Search Marketer.

If you’re looking for an SEO, do the hard work of educating yourself about search and find someone you trust with your best interests, since no reputable SEO will guarantee their results. Start by looking for an SEO that’s bright, curious, conversion-oriented, and meets Ian’s criteria.

Caring about usability implies empathy, right?

In the face of overwhelming evidence that real people struggle online, pretentious geeks prove they don’t get it yet again.

It’s unconscionable how many web professionals, front-end designers and developers alike, treat coding for the web like some precious voodoo rather than what it is -  a means of assisting real users in getting stuff done online.

Explaining away usability problems, particularly as a fault of your users, is unacceptable. The comments to the stories above are revealing – a lot of supposed pros don’t give a damn. I’d suggest using it to your advantage.

No wonder venture capitalists are so hard to get a hold of

Among the tsunami of conjecture and stupidity following the announcement of the iPad was this nugget from ReadWriteWeb:

Imagine never having to give a bland elevator pitch ever again. If an entrepreneur and a venture capitalist find themselves in the proverbial elevator ride, a VC will be pretty impressed by the startup that can pitch and demo their business in a matter of seconds while on-the-go.

The point of the elevator pitch is to succinctly express one’s unique value proposition; to pique interest, to provoke a response of “tell me more.” If you can’t verbally express your value proposition to gain the privilege of another’s attention, why in the hell would one think they’ve earned the right to harass another with an impromptu presentation?

The ability to communicate value succinctly is a prerequisite for attention and interest in the real world. Fantasy presentations with hypothetical devices are for the deluded. This discussion of the iPad is more realistic than the scenario above.

Got trust?

It is so easy to talk about trust and credibility; yet individuals and companies still struggle with the most basic elements of honesty and transparency. Case in point: Staples, 1-800-Flowers, and Orbitz. Go get ‘em Cuomo.

While we’re at it, John Moore has some tough love for Starbucks. The coffee giant is patting itself on the back for incorporating feedback from its customers. Not so quick…

Enough with the negative, already

There are those who resist change, and those who thrive with change. Far from dead, the music industry is entering an exciting new era; one in which musicians have more control over their destiny than ever. Lady Gaga gets it. Let’s all shut up and dance .

Here are a few items that caught my attention during the past week:

Royal Caribbean is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

On the one hand, they are donating money and resources (including delivering mass quantities of relief supplies) to the cause of the victims. On the other hand, their ships dock as normal on the Haitian peninsula of Labadee. Can you deliver relief to suffering earthquake victims while your customers enjoy the luxury of the cruise experience?

Royal Caribbean is doing a deft job of communicating under difficult circumstances, and the discussion at Amy Mengel’s blog is worth a read.

What if search marketing continued its spectacular growth and nobody noticed?

The incessant chattering about social media tools and tactics continues unabated as we march into 2010. Lost in the din are little nuggets like this that point to the continued growth of the search market. The fact that most SMBs have failed to understand the nature and promise of search marketing en route to being distracted by the bright shiny of social is not lost on me. Don’t let it be lost on you — relevance never loses it’s beauty.

Sticky and sweet

Every time I’m convinced it’s near impossible to create and monetize a niche blog, a site comes along and reminds me how ridiculous that kind of thinking is. This week’s case study: Waffleizer. ‘Nuff said.

Get legal, get a bank account, yet going

Lots of people, myself included, whine about how difficult it is to start a business. Actually, the steps are not that hard, it’s the motivation and follow-through to move from thinking about it to doing it that’s a pain in the ass. Up for a bit of motivation to move your venture from fantasy to reality?