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A wise man once said that if you are really successful in an industry, it is your responsibility to promote not just yourself, but if you are given the chance, the industry as a whole.

Now before you disagree, follow my logic. At some point, if you are considered a frontrunner in the field, it won’t matter if you do promote others; in fact, by doing so, it’ll just make you look better. Danny Sullivan is a good example of this.

Danny Sullivan is seen by many as a leader in the Search Engine Marketing field. He has a lot of clout in the industry and he does a lot to promote the industry as a whole; he is gracious when he can be without sacrificing himself or his business. Danny comes off as a very straight forward kind of guy who is comfortable with himself and is not afraid to give back when he can. I believe that makes him even more successful. Even if Danny Sullivan does not admit to it, he really is a marketing genius: he wields his power with benevolence.

This week, I saw another leader in the industry, Brett Tabke, take credit for his own business when he could have promoted the Search Engine Marketing Industry as a whole.

Yesterday on his front page was the title “WebmasterWorld SEM Contestant Lost on Martha Stewart’s Apprentice Last Night.” Instead of stating this person was just a member of the industry, he titled it such it appeared the contestant was only part of WebmasterWorld.

The thing is, WebmasterWorld is considered an 800 pound gorilla in the industry, and considered a major news source for it. Tabke, himself, makes millions from conferences. The fact of the matter is, Brett doesn’t need extra publicity, he can afford to give some of it away to others: he chose not to be gracious, but instead to be greedy. It really made WebmasterWorld and Tabke look bad.

I have to say I was disappointed. Brett should know by now what power he wields in this field, particularly as a news source, and realize that with power comes responsibility.

Today, the headline was changed to “WebmasterWorld Member SEM Contestant Lost on Martha Stewart’s Apprentice Last Night.” A small change for the better, however, Brett could have removed the WebmasterWorld reference altogether: that there was someone on a very popular television show giving light to search engine marketing is a win for us all, not just WebmasterWorld.

God knows we all make mistakes. Maybe that’s all this was. However, if you are in a position of leadership, you really need to think before doing things, and realize that you need to wield your power wisely.

Let me first say, this is a rant. I apologize in advance.

Apparently in google, you can bid on certain key phrases, but you can’t use them in your ppc ad.

For example, you can bid on the term ‘bulk email software’ and all terms similiar to that, but according to Google’s rules, that is deemed ‘unacceptable content’ around which to base your ad. Apparently, the phrase ‘bulk email software’ cannot be used in your ad copy. Even if that is what it is.

Granted, we all hate spam, but many of us also enjoy and subscribe to newsletters. Both are sent with software called “bulk email software’.

I have to tell you, I’m at a loss. I don’t get it at all.

Customer service at Overture is horrible. Sorry Overture, but that’s the truth.

After much frustration with Overture, I used a method I learned back when I was in sales to build up a phone book of Overture.

(I also learned through this method that overture reps don’t use their real last names, and they do this because they’ve had livid advertisors screaming in the phone at them. Overture’s technique to dealing with those people is to tell the angry advertisor that “so and so” doesn’t work there anymore, and transfer you to someone else. Like I said: Horrible Customer Service.)

I will tell you now, this method is of ~questionable~ taste. I use it only when I have tried every other avenue.

You build a phone book. That way, when you need to talk to a person, you can keep dialing until you get a person. The process is a little time consuming, but simple. What you have to do is listen to people and write down the important stuff. If you ever talk to a person, get a name. Always. And if you can, try to get something else about which you can talk to that person.

I start by demon dialing — that is dialing the main number and then entering a random extension to see who you get — just to talk to a voice. Make sure you note the number and the extension. (I usually dial the number and then start at 100, then 101, etc)

If you talk to a person, get as much information as you can from them. A good way to do that is to act lost.

The conversation goes something like this:

When they answer the phone, they’ll usually say “This is ___.” (We’ll say ‘Michael’ answered the phone.)

Me, “Oh. *pause* Um. *pause again* I’m sorry, Michael. I’m trying to get Cathy in the sales department. Is this the sales department?” (Cathy is a good name to use because it is a common female name. “Dave” is a good male name.)

Michael,”No, this is the accounting department.” (You write that down.)

Look at the information you have so far: you know that a guy named Michael works in the Accounting department, and you also have his phone number. The conversation continues:

Me,”Oh, I’m sorry, I’m trying to get ____ I must have written their number down incorrectly, I dialed [the number you dialed.]”

Michael,”No, that’s my phone number. Here, let me transfer you to Cathy at extension 456.”

Now, you know that Michael, is in accounting, and you know his extension and that he is very helpful. If you ever need his help again, you can tell him that he helped you before, you don’t mean to bother him again, but could he help you.

Then, I repeat the process.

If you need to speed up the process a little, it is actually much faster to do it on the weekend when nobody is there to answer their phones. It is amazing how much information people leave on their voice mail messages:

“Hi, I’m so and so, the [position at company]. I’ll be out of the office from [date] to [date] but if you need immediate assistance, you can talk to my assistant [name here] at extension [number here].”

You’ve learned a wealth of information from that voice mail:

• phone number
• Name of person
• Their department
• Where they’ve traveled to (which is a good conversation point for later.)
• That person’s assistant
• The assistant’s extension

Now, I know what you’re thinking. I know you’re thinking. “People will know that I’ve never talked to them before and know you are feeding them a line of crap.”

Well, *most* of the time it does work. You’d be surprised.

Usually, if I get into a pinch and the person insists they don’t know me, or says something “Now *who* are you again?” I give them a name of a person in another department and say they referred me. At that point, they’ll usually say “Oh” and try to help you, or they will say “I can’t help you, but I think [someone else's name] can.” At that point, try to get the new extension by telling them that you’ve been cut off before, and they’ll usually do it.

Don’t call around too much in the same department at the same time, or else people will start to understand the game.

This is not a technique you can use with small companies, but it works really really well for large corporations. And, it is how I deal with Overture. Good luck.