“Hands on” is one of those funny phrases, if you think about it. I’m a person who loves words. You’ve got

  • All “hands on” deck – meaning for all the able-bodied seamen (and seawomen) to rush up onto the deck of a ship, and hopefully save it.
  • “Hands on” drivers’ ed – meaning the behind-the-wheel stuff, rather than the written stuff.

Hands On SEO and Hands on Internet Marketing: Knowing and DoingJulie Child Teaches SEO, Social Media, and AdWords

I like to contemplate a word or a phrase, in this case “hands on.” For a long time now, I’ve had an ambivalent relationship to the Guy Kawasaki’s and Seth Godin’s of the marketing world. On the one hand (oh, there’s that hand again), I love their books.  Ideavirus and Tribes, in particular, are just fantastic books on marketing (in case you haven’t read them), and if you get the chance to see Guy Kawasaki speak – drop everything, and go! He’s fantastic. But… after you read their books, you’re left totally inspired yet with no “hands on” sorts of tasks. You can be “blown away” and yet, at the end of the experience, have not a clue as to what to do – in practical terms – to help your small business or San Francisco non-profit.

I like “hands on,” in contrast. Yes, I love theory! I can debate PageRank with the best of them, or contemplate whether a “nofollow” link truly is a “nofollow” link in terms of the Google algorithm. Is Facebook’s Edgerank real? Yes (and no). But what I really like is practice: getting down and dirty with a client, and implementing their SEO and/or social media marketing in real terms. Writing real stuff for their blog, creating real infographics to be shared on Facebook, and measuring (always measuring) their results.

“Hands on” is how I teach SEO (not just in San Francisco but online, too), and how I do SEO. It’s how I “do” social media, as well. You gotta gotta do it.  Not just think about it. Not just pontificate about it, or enjoy it. You gotta get down and dirty. On this note, let me point you to one of my favorite (viral) videos on Julia Child.

Julia Child Teaches SEO, AdWords, and Social Media (Really)

To be a good cook, you need inspiration but you need perspiration too. You’ve gotta do it. So whether you are in San Francisco or anywhere else in the globe attempting to “learn” SEO, Social Media or AdWords, don’t just “do the theory” but also “do the practice.” Go “hands on”.

Here’s the video on Julie Child. Watch it, and realize that she says a lot about SEO and Social Media and not just about cooking. Save the liver!