The Mario Lemieux Foundation was created by the one and only Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins (you know…hockey…ugh, nevermind). I’ve been a proud supporter of this charity for about 10 years now. I’ve volunteered there, made donations, and support the charity each NHL playoffs by growing a bad-ass hockey beard. Last year my beard raised closed to $1,000!

To give you some background, the main objective of the Mario Lemieux Foundation is to fund promising medical research projects being conducted by talented scientists. The foundation makes donations to critical programs, including the Children’s Hosptial of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh’s Medical Center.

In addition to making these donations, the Mario Lemieux Foundation has also setup other important charities, including the Austin Lemieux Neonatal Research Project which supports babies that are born prematurely. There are a number of other amazing organizations that the Mario Lemieux Foundation supports and I’d love to be able to make a huge donation through Purposeinc’s Poker Tournament in PubCon.

In the meantime, I encourage you to make a donation to the Mario Lemieux Foundation today!

Let’s go Pens!

This is a post from Taylor Pratt's blog: Awesome SEO

My Favorite Charity: The Mario Lemieux Foundation

Hello all of you awesome RSS subscribers! I wanted to give you the heads up on a very special project I’ve been working on that won’t be showing up in your RSS feed. I have put together a very thorough and comprehensive step-by-step guide to using Raven Internet Marketing Tools.

I really think their toolset improve the efficiency and quality of your Internet marketing work. If you haven’t done so already, sign up for their free 30 day trial and use the guide to help you get used to it.

I’ll be constantly updating it as they continue to release new features. Without further adieu: The Raven Internet Marketing Tools Manual.

Enjoy!

This is a post from Taylor Pratt's blog: Awesome SEO

Raven Internet Marketing Tools Guide Released!

Well folks, the time has come for me to start something new. As you may recall, I stopped blogging back in July when I determined that I wasn’t getting enough return for the effort I was putting into my blog. Things have changed.

I’ve been itching to get back into the blogging world, and I’ve decided it was time to revamp my blog, and ultimately change my blog name. It was time for me to shake Gonzo SEO and go with something even more…awesome.

My tagline suggests why I chose the name Awesome SEO (because anything less would not be awesome!). I plan on blogging regularly again (for me that means about two posts per week), and I’ll be focusing on SEO, conversion, analytics, and of course, client management. 

I hope you all are as excited as I am about Awesome SEO, and I hope you’ll subscribe to my RSS feed to keep up to date with what is going on here. If you’re interested in guest posting, fill out my contact form, I’d love to have you. Within the next 24 hours my first “real post” will go live on Awesome SEO. Until then, you can catch me on Twitter.

This is a post from Taylor Pratt's blog: Awesome SEO

Goodbye Gonzo, Hello Awesome SEO!

Pubcon is my favorite conference to go to each and every year. There is such a large turn out and there is always something to do (it is Vegas after all!) Many people, including myself, have been keeping an eye and ear open for the best events to attend. Fear not, my faithful readers, there are great resources at your finger tips to figure out where you want to be each and every night.

Kate Morris posted her Pubcon itinerary for the week.

Joseph Morin is keeping us all up to date via his Twitter feed. Make sure you subscribe!

Pubconr is an aggregate of all the Pubcon talk on Twitter. You can also use Twitter Search.

Purpose Inc. is holding some awesome networking events. Including the Poker Tournament (I finished 10th last year), HighRoller meetup, and a FightClub.

Dan Perry is also putting together an in-house marketers meetup. It sounds like a blast!

SEOmoz will be holding their 2nd annual werewolf…thing. It was a lot of fun last year.

Search Bash will be taking place Thursday night, as well. I’m looking forward to attending it for the first time.

I’ll be arriving in Vegas early Monday evening, so if you’d like to get together for drinks at TI, let me know. I’d love to get together with as many people as possible, so leave me a comment or shoot me an email < pratt dot taylor at gmail dot com> if you want to meetup.

Also, I’ll try and keep this post updated, so if you see any events I’ve missed please let me know in the comments. See you there!

UPDATE: dk pointed me in the direction to the Pubcon schedule he put together. It is an excellent resource and you should all bookmark it! Thanks dk!

This is a post from Taylor Pratt's blog: Awesome SEO

Going to Pubcon?

Let’s face it, it is much easier to complain than it is to actually do something about a problem. When it comes to the turmoil that is the United States, I think it is time everyone got off their ass and did something about it.

Kate Morris asked me if I registered (since I’m new to Texas and all), and my response is, “hell yeah!” Let’s make a difference this year. Don’t let your voice go unheard, speak up for what you believe in. I’m not going to tell you who you should vote for, I just want you to care enough to vote. Can’t you see that now is the time to act?

Now let me ask you guys:

Karl Ribas
Shana Albert
Brian Chappell
Pamela Lund
Anne Haynes

Are you registered? Are you going to vote?

This is a post from Taylor Pratt's blog: Awesome SEO

Vote Dammit!

A few folks have been asking me why I haven’t updated Gonzo SEO in a while. The answer is quite simple, really. This blog doesn’t make me any money. I recently discussed my thoughts about not blogging anymore with Karl Ribas and Rae Hoffman. Ultimately those discussions (as well as a few great posts), have led me to the conclusion that I’m wasting time (a.k.a. money) by blogging about things that are discussed over and over again on thousands of blogs. Anything super original that I would want to blog about, I keep to myself.

Instead of trying to lead the SEO industry back to the great community it once was, I’ve decided to quit bogging myself down with the drama and pretty much stay out of the conversation period. I should be using my “talents” to do something that makes me money.

I’m sure I’ll post things in the future based on what I’ve learned from the new sites I start up, but I’m not going to feel the obligation and give in to the time commitment it takes to run a great blog. I highly recommend that my subscribers look at the Gonzo SEO’s that I endorse on my blogroll. They offer great tips and advice.

I’m a very active twitter user if you miss me!

This is a post from Taylor Pratt's blog: Awesome SEO

Why I Don’t Blog Anymore

My friends,

I know I have been lacking in updating this blog, but I promise that once wedding planning calms down, I’ll be much more attentive. In the meantime, I would greatly appreciate your help in marketing my new article on Marketing Pilgrim for their scholarship contest.

Any stumbles, sphinns, comments and links are greatly appreciated and encouraged!

The State of the SEO Industry Address

This is a post from Taylor Pratt's blog: Awesome SEO

Help From My Friends

As we enter yet another summer season with talks of insanely high gas prices, I am forced to remind people that we don’t actually need to drive anywhere. You can do everything you need to do, right from your computer! The only reason people aren’t doing this now is because they aren’t used to doing it! Think I’m making it easier than it really is? Let’s take a look at the most common reasons people drive:

To get to work. This is simple. Quit your day job and get a job online. You can work the hours that you want, work in your bathrobe and be your own boss! From affiliate marketing to search engine optimization, there are plenty of online jobs that you can dip your hands into.

To buy groceries. Welcome to the 21st century! You can buy all of your groceries online and have them delivered right to your doorstep! As an added bonus, you won’t have to wait in any more lines!

Go on vacation. Pff. For what? Sunbathing? Head out back, lay a towel down in the yard and soak up the sun. Oh, you want to see a beautiful sunrise and take in the scenery? Piece of cake. Google Earth allows you to watch sunsets from different places around the world! If you want to just take in the scenery, head on over to Flickr and look at the millions of photos from all over the world. Let other people spend their money!

Meet other people. Seriously? Do I really need to explain this one? Sigh. Forums, chat rooms, Facebook, Twitter and online dating sites will have you connected with thousands of people faster than a Chuck Norris’ roundhouse kick!

Family Reunions. Like you really want to go to these. To get out of it, all you need to do is setup Skype. You can call them on their computer for free, and if you setup a webcam, you can look at them too! As an added bonus, you get to control the level of interaction with your in-laws! If they start getting on your nerves, just hang-up on them and blame it on Skype! It will feel great. If you want to get even more family members involved, use Yahoo! Live.

Don’t even think about saying, “but I can’t hug my niece!” Sure you can, just convince them to come visit you. It doesn’t defeat the purpose because they will be driving, not you.

Take your kids to school. Public schools are overrated. Your kids can learn anything they want from Wikipedia. Just sit them down in front of the computer for 8 hours, and you won’t believe the things they learn!

Go to a bar. Just like you can do with groceries, you can purchase alcohol online! Have as much alcohol as you want, and don’t worry about getting a DUI!

Medical reasons. I’m not the biggest fan of doctors, and I will only see one if forced. In reality, can’t you just live with whatever is ailing you for a little bit longer? Have a sinus infection? It will go away soon enough. Just get some rest and be patient. If it is a real emergency, you can just dial 911 and they will come to you!

I guess a better question is: Can you think of something that you can’t do online?

This is a post from Taylor Pratt's blog: Awesome SEO

Quit Bitching About Gas Prices – You Don’t Need to Drive!

Let me first apologize for being AWOL for the last month. I thought I would be able to get back to blogging on the 17^th, but that obviously didn’t pan out. To give everyone (who cares) a little update on what I’ve been up to:

· I just moved to Austin, Texas, so if you are an SEO/SEM in that area – give me a shout!

· I just started a job as a Search Marketing Specialist at nFusion Group, LLC.

It doesn’t sound like a lot, but it sure was a lot of work. With the assistance of my fiancé and Mom, I loaded up a 22’ Penske Truck, towed my car behind it, and drove the 26 hours from Pittsburgh to Austin. That was a huge mistake and I highly recommend that you use movers whenever you move.

I’ll hopefully now be posting regularly again (which is 1-2 posts a week for me). Thanks for your patience!

This is a post from Taylor Pratt's blog: Awesome SEO

I’m Back!

As you already know, I’m headed down to Austin, TX to start a new job. Between house hunting, packing, and planning a wedding, Gonzo SEO has been neglected the last week. I’ve decided to put it on pause until I move in.

Blogging will resume on April 18th, and I’ll be back to posting more regularly (i.e. more than once a week). Sorry for the delay and if you have any questions (like, “want to meet up in Austin?”), email me at pratt [dot] taylor [at] gmail.com.

Best,

Taylor Pratt

This is a post from Taylor Pratt's blog: Awesome SEO

Posting on Hold