NEW TRENDS IN DIGITAL PR WORKSHOP (0)
New Strategies in Digital PR
CultureFish Media’s CEO Lonnie Hodge and and Sam Flemming, founder of CIC, China’s first Internet Word of Mouth research and consulting firm, are the featured speakers at the New Trends in Digital Media Conference in Shenzhen, China. Topics to be discussed include: Benefits of Online News Releases, Myths and Realities of Digitization, Trends in Digital Online Ads, applications of Internet word of Mouth and Online Reputation Management methods. The event will give attendees a competitive advantage over the competition by revealing information needed to catapult a company, event, brand or website to top positions in search engines world-wide.
The conference is part of a trio of charity events designed to entertain and inform while raising money for important charities. The three events include a golf tournament, a concert with Virgin records star Che’Nelle and the Digital Workshop.
Veteran and apprentice PR, Advertising, Online Reputation Management and SEO and SEM specialist will equally benefit from the half-day seminar to be held at the famed Mission Hills Resort. Known for being the world’s largest championship golf complex Mission Hills is also a 5-star conference facility.
All proceeds from the workshop benefit two literacy projects: The Library Project in China which builds facilities in rural villages and orphanages and the Reading Tub which supports opportunities for under-privileged youth in America.
Cost for the workshop is $200 USD and covers lunch and dinner at the resort. All attendees can bring their families and discounted rates up to 50% for rooms and activities will apply.
To register for the events simply pay online at the Dream Bash: http://dreambash.eventbrite.com
The workshop is sponsored by Digital PR and Marketing Specialists CultureFish Media.
—You may also attend ONLINE. The workshop begins at 1:00 PM China Time
Posted 2 May, 2008 in Seach engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, SEM, SEO, Internet marketing China, Chinese Media, SEO China Expert, Online Advertising, Online Digital Marketing, seo expert services guangzhou china, China Business Consultant, Seo China, Chinese Internet, China web 2.0, China Consultants Directory, China Search Engine Marketing, Global SEO Services, China Editorials, China Cartoons, The Internet, China Web 2.0, 中国, China Business, China SEO
Happy Earth Day From China (0)
chinaPosted 22 April, 2008 in In the news, Environment, 中国, cartoons, China Cartoons, China Humor, Asia, Humor
What the Shrek?!: Animation in China (2)
Meet some of the world’s best animation industry experts–like the co-director of Shrek– and a ‘who’s who’ of the China animation industry in historic and beautiful Suzhou, one of China’s most beautiful Canal Cities.
TV, film, education and training, games, mobile, advertising, and online animation will be featured at the workshop/conference. Animation, fast becoming one of the strongest youth market categories in digital media, is something everyone involved in Internet Web 2.0 should know more about.
X|Media|Lab in Suzhou has been concentrating on a “wealth of animation” and has brought together a stellar range of animation experts from all over the world:
The Keynote Conference Day focuses on four themes: Animation Industry Development; International Business Opportunities; Quality Assurance and Management; and Technologies and Skills.
The Business Matching Forum focuses on participants. There will be an opportunity to meet up with animation industry experts, directly discuss your own animation ideas, and network yourself right into the heart of the animation industry, and explore business matching and partnerships with the other international participants at the Lab.
International participants include:
- Raman Hui - Guest of Honour - Co-Director “ Shrek the Third ” (Hong Kong, San Francisco)
- Michael Johnson - Moving Pictures Group Lead, Pixar Animation Studios (San Francisco)
- Duncan Brinsmead - Principal Scientist, Autodesk (Maya Software)
- Suresh Seetharaman - Founder and President, Virgin Comics and Virgin Animation
- Sue Erokan - Supervisor, Character Animation, Dreamworks
- Dan Scott - Head of Global Production, Nokia Games
- Masakazu Kubo - Executive Producer, Pokemon Film and TV Series (Tokyo)
- Xavier Nicholas - Managing Director, Lucasfilm Animation Singapore
- Heather Kenyon - formerly Director of Development, Original Animation at Cartoon Network
- Dale Herigstad - 5-time Emmy Award Winner, Schematic (LA)
- Nickson Fong - Founder, Egg Story (Singapore)
- Paul Steed - Founder, Exigent Studios (Los Angeles)
- Madhavan - Founder, Crest Animation (India)
- Michael Stevens - Board Member, Park Road Post (Wellington)
- Tatiana Kober - Founder, Bejuba Studios (LA and Toronto)
- Anand Gurnani - Founder, Animation ‘Xpress (India)
- Tim Brooke-Hunt - Head of Children’s TV, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Sydney)
- Alan Lindsay - CEO, Vue DC Group (Perth)
China participants include a ‘who’s who’ of the China animation industry including: the Dean of Animation, Beijing Film Academy; President, Great Dreams Cartoon Group; Executive Deputy Secretary General of China Animation Association, and Head of Digital Media Technologies, Beijing Institute of Technology; Executive Vice President of China Animation Association; Deputy Director of Digital Animation Creation R&D Centre, China Art Academy; Secretary General of Mobile Animation Industry Association; CEO of China Animation Association; Managing Partner of China Renaissance; the Vice President of ID Tech Ventures; and many others.
XML Suzhou will be the perfect place to make contact with some the best animation people from all over the world – whether you are interested in creative development, best practices, or business opportunities internationally or in China.
Suzhou is one of China’s animation centers of excellence, about 90 minutes north of Shanghai - and it exemplifies the “New China”: hundreds of huge new buildings springing up out of the ground, great vitality, and a commitment to developing the digital media industries.
Marketing partners the The China Business Network and International Online Reputation Management and Search Engine Marketing Agency Culturefish Media have a sign-up link here: Animation Workshop
从创意到财富——2008XML苏州动漫产业大会
5月8日-10日|苏州
结识四海精英，给你最好的融资拓展和国际市场方案！
★ 业界巨星阵容
★ 全新咨询模式
★ 黄金人脉拓展
全球顶尖的动漫行业精英首次云集中国苏州, 从商业模式、创意研发、生产管理、国际合作等各个角度为动漫公司提供咨询服务和发展机会。
18位国际顾问嘉宾包括《怪物史莱克3》导演Raman Hui, 皮克斯工作室电影部 负责人Michael B. Johnson, Autodesk（Maya软件）首席科学家Duncan Brinsmead, 维基漫画与维基动画 创始人兼总裁Suresh Seetharaman, 梦工厂角色动画 总监Sue Erokan等。更多名单详见www.xmedialab.com.cn。
9位国内顾问嘉宾包括香港万宽数码有限公司总经理黄宏显, 宏梦（上海）卡通实业有限公司首席执行官/宏梦卡通集团首席运营官王敬, 哥伦比亚广播CBS户外传媒（中国）有限公司合伙人刘均海 ,水晶石影视动画科技有限公司副总裁陈明等。更多名单详见www.xmedialab.com.cn。
从创意到财富——2008XML苏州动漫产业大会包括向所有动漫行业专业人士开放的一天专业论坛，以及接下来的两天封闭式实验室环节。
业界公司在XML精心设计的结构中有充分的机会和主动权结识任何感兴趣的嘉宾，展示自己的项目和团队，并获得他们的私人建议和业务支持。这种XML为业界公司提供的机会在全球动漫会展中都绝无仅有。
跨媒体实验室（X|Media|Lab）是一个享誉全球的数字媒体智囊团与创意峰会，专注于正在崛起的数字媒体市场的行业发展服务。
跨媒体实验室承诺所有的参会公司将获得：
1、 项目发展： 获得帮助以实现自己的项目创意。
2、 专业发展： 通过与全球范围内最好的从业者一起工作，丰富专业知识，提
升专业技能
3、 高价值的国际人脉网络：获得无可挑剔的全球专业朋友圈
跨媒体实验室致力于通过分享借鉴全球最好的动漫专家的知识和经验，协助打造成功的国产品牌。
更多资讯详见 www.xmedialab.com.cn .
如希望采访请联系： 袁培丽+ 86 139 1169 4727
Posted 16 April, 2008 in Reputation Management, Chinese Media, SEM, Online Digital Marketing, Online Advertising, Suzhou China, Animation, SEO, Internet marketing China, China Business, China Cartoons, 中国, Censorship, Chinese Internet, The Internet, China SEO
Doing Business in China: Strategies (2)
Doing Business in China Part 2:
The third strategy in our series on Doing Business in China involves: “Besieging Wei to Save Zhao.” Basically this means that you don’t need a bigger army if you’ve got relative superiority at key points of contact. Ask anyone who has ever played the Japanese game of Go if they have ever lost due to “target fixation” by fixating on the larger battles and getting overtaken by the troops in the skirmishes. The story involves a general of Zhao, who allowed an opposing army to lay siege to the major city of Wei (one of 7 “key” cities) so that his army could exhaust his opponent and defeat them later.
During our time in China, and having traveled to meet dozens of top expatrapreneurs, we feel confident we could amass a formidable staff in your campaign for business superiority in China. The metaphor, however prosaic, stands to give you the information needed for relative superiority at any point of business contact:
Without a doubt, you’ll need China Law Blog as your JAG. If you have a question about the law you should be talking to Dan and Steve.They have the most powerful and best researched China blog on the Internet and don’t let the name fool you: they talk with good humor and keen insight about all aspects of life in China both personal and professional.
And recently we met Sam Flemming, CEO if CIC in Shanghai. His company, once providing niche research has created a mainstream standard in China and is an absolute necessity: to learn the latest IWOM buzz on your brand, Sam’s team provides the latest in searched-for terms for your product or service on in the China websphere and identifies for you all critical advertising data, reputation management information. Our Online Digital Marketing Company, Culturefish Media, has resolved not to enter into a large campaigns for clients without the thorough recon’ work offered up by CIC. Equally helpful is China Vortex, who keeps abreast of the latest Internet news, trends and information in China. And for in-depth knowledge about consumer markets in China, Shaun Rein and his team will prepare the field via white papers and in-depth reports that will guide you to success. And las, but not least is Marc Vanderchijs’ blog. Marc is a Dutch Entrpreneur and co-founder of the China video sharing site Tudou. Reading his blog wiill make you feel like you a fireside chat with a real veteran. There is much to be learned there.
For a good quartermaster, we heartily recommend All Roads Lead to China for the latest information about logistics, shipping, and import-export here in China. As for logistics, kinakontaak…kinaahgk…kinkatonkie the tall Scandanavian guys on the small motorbikes at Kinakontakten and the publicly traded kings of online savvy at Global Sources are two reliable resources for keeping supply lines open and moving with quality products.
For Engineers capable of helping you build a great business, Globe Forum and its SME incubator methodology will connect you with the world’s fast-growth and corporately responsible companies and opportunities.
In public affairs, Kaiser Kuo, Web Wednesday and Danwei are the best at what they do. All of them know the lay of the land and are not afraid to speak or change their minds as the truth mandates. If it is relevant, Kaiser, Napoleon and Jeremy have likely already talked about it over lunch or Twittered, Facebooked and Blogged it throughout the Middle Kingdom.
China biz needs an expat Signal Corps: men, women, and sites dedicated to quality digital content, keeping up with the latest in online technology developments. China Web Review 2.0 will keep up to date on the latest in Internet trends, David Feng will brief you on the latest updates on technology and trends (especially Apple Products), and ChinaOnTV will provide you with high-quality digital videos about anything from history to contemporary Kung Fu and Chinese Recipes. Meanwhile, China Webmasters will keep you ahead of the power curve and put your website on track for visibility in China.
For cultural affairs, Shanghaiist stands out as a great collection of the most interesting cultural news in China. From updates on the Worldwide Pillow Fight in Shanghai to updates on F-visas, these guys know what is going on. The defense language institute belongs to Chinesepod and The Lost Laowai Blog.
For personnel needs, look to ChinaBiz Speakers and the wealth of great knowledge these speakers can tap into. The top aggregator of talent driven content about doing business in China is the China Business Network. CBN, hosted by our comrade-in-arms Christine Lu, is a one-stop Linked-In connection for Web 2.0 in China and Silicon Valley leaders and visionaries.
Everyone needs a Morale and Welfare Corp, and in China’s all-too-serious blogosphere, some down-to-earth chopping wood and carrying water is needed. The Library Project, which builds literacy in orphanages and rural schools around China, does a great job of spreading goodwill as does The China Dreamblogue, whose purpose is to create travel, charity and educational opportunities for Westerners and Chinese while promoting engagement with all that is positive about China. CCTV9’s Culture Express provides a surprisingly well produced source of information about China’s remarkable past and contemporary cultural heritage. And since we live on the south we look to GZ nightlife, Shenzehn Stuff and the newest gourmet dining spot in the area belogs to our friends at Wilbur’s Guangzhou Restaurant–They even have their own private-label house wine if you get tired of that Rothchild’s brand.
There is plenty more to come. Not nearly as many links, but a footlocker full of books, movies, and other valuable resources….
Posted 2 April, 2008 in Internet marketing China, Chinese Internet, The Internet, New Blogs, SEO, SEM, China Law, SEO China Expert, 中文, Chinese Media, 中国, Top Blogs, Greater Asia Blogs, Hong Kong Blogs, Top China Blogs List, China web 2.0, Intercultural Issues, China Editorials, In the news, China Business, China Cartoons, China SEO
Doing Business in China (4)
Doing Business in China Guide
Part 1
(whew!)
This is our latest series on doing business in China. In these posts, our advice will correspond to the thirty-six strategies designed by the ancient and great Song general and strategist Tan Daoji–that is, we predicate all this advice on never using the 36 strategies as a way to do business in China. We have bookshelves stacked full of expensive kindling labeled “how to do business in China” that we will later use to heat our house.
The first listed strategy is “Deceiving the Heavens to Cross the Sea,” or man tian guo hai(And no, it’s not a reference to a sea-going Dali clique). While the strategy typically involves deception and refers to an advisor who got the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty so drunk and engaged in feasting for three days that the ruler had no idea he was on a boat–akin to the Beijing guides who accompanied press on yesterday’s “Meet the Lamas” broadcast.
Instead of learning to deceive the heavens, your best bet to getting introduced to China is learning some Chinese. Among our billions of dollars of unread books, unopened CDs, and untouched lessons, here are some tools we actually used to learn the language and culture of China:
The Rosetta Stone: though sometimes maligned for its interface, we give props to the English-free interface of the program and its integration of reading of and listening to Chinese characters from the beginning.
FSI language courses: a full and free year’s worth of free Chinese language instruction. This is the stuff the diplomats used to use and despite that it is hands down a great free tool for helping people learn to pronounce and listen to standard Chinese.
Chinesepod: Have a random question about Chinese? Allergic to parsley? Unsure about a specific word for sports? Head for Chinesepod. With a vibrant community of online learners, free daily podcasts, and a great selection of different tools like flashcards and online lesson reviews, Chinesepod’s collective of learners deserves its rock-star status on the net.
Lost Laowai: As always, well crafted by Ryan; Canadian accent comes free of charge, aye.
Berlitz: The only “learn Chinese in 30 minutes!” that actually works.
The next step is to get some culture (God knows we could use a lot more):
Lost Laowai, offers up real-life experiences of expats in China. We are hoping for the reality show to displace “swin in China.”
The HaoHao Report, everyman’s aggregator with Digg-like China focused features.
Panda Passport: Everything about China cyberspace you wanted to know but were afraid you’d get busted for on an IP violation.
RConversation, the most harmonious blend of blogging and citizen journalism on the web.
CDT, all the news from China blocked in China.
ESWN, a blog that brings together news from the East and the West–not the best in its class, but rather a species by itself.
Global Voices: China. The World is Listening. Are you?
China Herald, all the news that fit for bandwidth.
Cal Poly MBA Trip, a blog from the MBA Program with no ballast to throw overboard.
Thomas Crampton, former correspondent for the International Hong Kong International Herald Tribune, Mr. Crampton shares on-the-ground and insider info about the latest web innovations and websphere happenings in Hong Kong and greater China.
Imagethief, named for his photography habits and not for any actual Interpol related activity, is the creator of such marvels as the Stupidvator. a blog to lightens the cargo of the China blogosphere.
China Rises: Journalist and great story teller Robert Johnson: The only chief corresponsdent in China with hand-written instructions and a GPS reporter locator given by Central Government for any coverage of Tibet the Olympics.
China Blog List: a comprehensive guide to the many blogs passing us in the night.
The Opposite End of China: Life’s a Riot, and this blog reports on it. Veteran journalist Manning is as good as it gets and still chooses to farm tomatoes along the silk road.
More to come…
Posted 28 March, 2008 in Charity in China, 中文, Podcasts China, Chinese Proverbs, Chinese Media, Search Engine Marketing, China Book Reviews, SEO China Expert, China Business Consultant, Book Review, 中国人口福利基金会, Cal Poly, 中原, China Law, China Expat, china books, Seach engine Optimization, SEM, Teaching in China, China Editorials, China Cartoons, Intercultural Issues, Top China Blogs List, China web 2.0, Book Reviews, China Business, Confucius Slept Here, Internet marketing China, SEO, Seo China, Chinese Internet, 中国, The Internet, China SEO
The Differences…. (11)
Between Chinese and Western Culture…
Meal Times
My Facebook Friend Wu Ya Xian posted these images on her profile page. With most pictures being worth a thousand words, these are far more weighty.
the origial post was copied from here: YANG LIU
and were part of a 2007 art exhibition in Germany by Yang Liu, a Chinese woman, educated in Germany. The originals were meant to reflect differences in those two cultures, but obviously hold up pretty well in a US-Sino comparison…
I think these are perfect for a contest culminating in a book that can be used in Language and Culture classes.
Enjoy:
Social Networks
Communion with Nature
Sunday on the Street
The Child
Ideal Beauty
Refreshments
Sense of Time
Way of Life
Transport
Shower Time
Restaurants (and Cantonese Tour Busses)
Lines/Queues
Parties
Problem Solving
Me/I
And yes, I took some liberties with the translation….
Posted 2 February, 2008 in Confucius Slept Here, Weird China, 中国, Chinese Media, 中文, China Cartoons, Expats, China Humor, Asian Humor, Asia, Intercultural Issues, Humor
China SEO Expert…. (3)
I am not at the top of the rankings as a Martian Search Engine (SEO) expert ( I am only 3rd), but I might be after this post! The algorithms that govern what is and is not registered by search engines like Google and Yahoo! are shape-shifters: They catalog combinations from blogs and websites that can mystify, amuse and swindle you. For example, I am #2 in Google for Adult Pampers Makers even though I can’t remember mentioning diapers on this blog. Maybe, I am too old to remember using them and too young to worry about them just yet. I believe, like Robin Williams, that diapers are like politicians and should be changed frequently because they are both full…
But, I digress…
I know about this listing because someone searched for the term, and my analytics program identified from whence they came. There are other authentic one-hit wonders for which I rank highly, though I am clueless about why people searched for them or why I showed up tops. They ALL beg for an aside, but I am resisting, thinking that you can use your imagination: Pocket Fisherman Diagram, Plentiful Breast Pictures, Professor Asshat, China Olympic Professor Blog, Hairy Chinese Women, Wedding dress Market Report in China, I had my hepatitis shot, but the test says I have no immunity, Naked nurse teaching in China, Anais Nin commerative coin, American Prostitute Self, Naked nurse teaching in starbucks china, quota of America to China, You Tube Hong Kong Free Sex Video, How culture affects the way we use utensils, and Cartoon Photos of a man being massaged among hundreds of others…
Some SEO “Experts” list some of the keywords they claim to have earned in Google’s top ten rankings. They claim that these listings attest to their prowess, and they use these words to convince you that they can move your blog, site or company into a position where you will get more hits and gain international fame and fortune. Most of the words are like the ones above.
Far too many so-called expert Chinese SEO firms prey on clients using this strategy. And most businesses, woefully unaware of SEO methods, are bilked out of thousands of dollars every year. The cost for a “hot word,” one with search results in the millions (think “Buddha,” “free buffet,” or “online video game”), is staggering: the top ten in Google is 20,000 RMB a year ($2,500 USD). A “cold word” with low search returns (think “delicious rat recipes” or “Japan learned everything it knows from the Tang dynasty”) will pull 10,000 RMB ($1,250 USD) from your wallet.
So, as an example, “China Expert SEO Consultant,” at 2 million returns, would cost you 20,000 RMB and bring you absolutely no traffic. “China SEO Expert Guangzhou” will get you two hits a day. I’m always suspect of the word “expert” anyway: In bomb school, an expert was laughingly referred to as a “former drip under pressure”–never a good thing in explosives. It was a surefire way to tell someone was not what they purported to be.
I have many great search results I’m proud of, but were someone to actually come to them, I would worry about their mental health or my ego. I am number one for “American professor” in Google, hands down, and I frequently use this in lieu of a business card when I forget one. I am also in the Google China top ten for “American blog” (out of half a billion returns) and number 1 for “handsomest American in China” (move your Canuck ass over, Da Shan!) And in all humility, I found I rank quite high for “China blog about nothing” and “Lonnie isn’t exactly the sharpest guy in the world,” which isn’t exactly what you’d want when you are trying to build up your consultant site that’s already number 1 for “china business consultant blog” in Google, Google China and Yahoo.
If you are really interested in a legitimate search engine marketing provider, drop me a note at via Culture Fish.
FYI: I am doing SEO work or global marketing lectures free for nonprofit groups or companies who agree to donate my normal fee to the China Dreamblogue project.
For a quote or a assessment of an Expert China SEO/SEM project in Guangzhou or elsewhere you may need please fill out the form below at EXPERT SEO SERVICES CHINA
Posted 25 December, 2007 in Internet marketing China, Guangzhou, SEO, SEM, Seo China, Chinese Internet, Hong Kong Stars, The Sharpest Guy on the Planet, Censorship, The Internet, Seach engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, China Expat, Beijing Olympics, UK SEO EXPERT, china expert seo services guangzhou, China Business Consultant, SEO China Expert, Chinese Media, 中文, American Professor in China, Guangzhou China, 中国, Greater Asia Blogs, Asia, Japan, China Expats, Asian Women, Asian Humor, China SEO, China web 2.0, Humor, China Humor, Intercultural Issues, China Editorials, Just Plain Strange, cartoons, In the news, Top Blogs, Weird China, China Olympics, China Cartoons, China Business, Gratuitous Cheesecake, Uncategorized
Zaijian…. (46)
Books have been virtually replaced by blogs. But, puns aside, many of them showcase the transformative elements Pablo Neruda* suggests as essential to written art in Ars Magnetica:
“From so much loving and journeying, books emerge.
And if they don’t contain kisses or landscapes,
if they don’t contain a woman in every drop,
hunger, desire, anger, roads,
there are no use as a shield or as a bell:
they have no eyes and won’t be able to open them….”
Here I have I have tried to smooth the stubble of memory, share poetry, attempt humor, journal my social conscience, and reconcile my longings while shoutng to you in some far-off room. I leave here absolutely bewildered that anyone, other than my long-suffering friends, ever returned to listen. I am grateful you did.
(more…)
Posted 2 August, 2007 in Entertainment, Guangzhou, Travel in China, New Blogs, The Great Firewall, Guangzhou China, The Sharpest Guy on the Planet, Censorship, China Book Reviews, Charity in China, Beijing Olympics, China Law, UK SEO EXPERT, China Business Consultant, American Professor in China, 中文, Chinese Education, Hainan Island, 中国, In the news, Expats, Teaching in China, China Editorials, Intercultural Issues, China Expats, Hong Kong, China Humor, Hong Kong Blogs, China Cartoons, China Business, Confucius Slept Here, Just Plain Strange, Photos, Weird China, China Photos, Cancer Journal, American Poet in China, The Unsinkable Ms Yue, China web 2.0
Things to do in China when you are dying…. (0)
I am a believer in synchronicity. I am convinced that external events happen in concert with internal “business” that begs attention. And, I believe, that these seemingly random, unplanned instructional happenings occur with an intuitive precision that defies the laws of chance.
I had been struggling with the writing of this this post for weeks; and then, two nights ago I watched Elizabeth Edwards on 60 Minutes, talk about terminal illness and I knew it was time, ready or not, to type you this confession. First, I will digress a bit (imagine that)….
In high school I remember reading Carlos Castenada’s tales of enlightenment via teachings imparted by a Mexican Socerer named Don Juan. Castenda learned from his teacher, among other things, to live with death over his left shoulder and then passed on the message to us to “live life to its fullest” from one moment to the next. This thinking has helped drive me through enchanted landscapes on an amazing dialectical journey.
Anais Nin said, “People living deeply have no fear of death.” and Issac Asimov made it delightfully simple with: “If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn’t brood. I’d type a little faster.” Ms Edwards, like the Unsinkable Ms Yue, has made a similar decision: she will get on with life. The choice for any of us is the same as hers as we don’t know what will befall us. We celebrate life or accede to dying. She has made the only reasonable decision there is to make. Ms Yue has done the same: Fund raising efforts for her have failed and business associates have stolen money and merchandise that were meant to aid her, but she remains un-embittered. She has days of doubt, but seems well equipped to cast a cold eye on death. She still laughs with perfect abandon.
I have to be honest: It hasn’t always been as easy for me. Last week one of Ms Yue’s relatives, a successful web designer in Hong Kong, died of cancer. He was in his thirties. In the days before his passing the stomach cancer made him so thin that his spirit was kept earthbound only by the weight of his family’s love. This event and contact with five of my students, all in their twenties, diagnosed with various cancers, Ms Yue’s ongoing battle and I often find myself in need of emotional waders. And that is why I have not posted about my battle, until now.
My body’s immune system is too vigilant. My natural defenses have enlisted in a war against healthy tissue and I am an uninvited host of the conflict. Treatments to date have not been effective and it is likely that I will die, and much sooner than I had hoped, from autoimmune disease. It has already claimed a gall bladder, nearly killing me in the process, and is now in the late phases of damage to my liver.
Some of you who know me well are aware that I taught Mind-Body Medicine long before it was fashionable. So, yes, I have been doing those things I should be doing to bring back health and homeostasis. But, sometimes a vessel is just flawed. Jim Fixx a celebrated runner/author died in mid-life of a heart attack owing to his genetic make-up. Many people wrongly viewed his passing as a case against the benefits of jogging. The opposite was true. And I am sure that, like his, my life has, and will be, prolonged by exercise, prayer, meditation and other interventions. But, the inevitable it is just that….
Not long before his death John Steinbeck drove his camper, Rocinante (named for Don Quixote’s horse), across America with his poodle Charley as his companion and penned a wonderful journal during the trip. I have longed to for such a land voyage ever since…
So, rather than lament my fate I have decided to take on a new project: I will be traveling next year to all 22 provinces in mainland China. I will end my trip in Beijing in time for a climb up the Great Wall before the Olympics. I have a fellow writer (he looks nothing like Charley or Sancho…) who will be joining me and we look to do some pretty ambitious things (videos, photo logs, the completion of Confucius Slept Here….) during our travels.
So, there will be soon another blog that will chronicle the adventure and it will be structured it so it can raise funds, via ads, for various causes while raising global awareness about a China not often presented to you by Western media. Andrew Young said, “It’s a blessing to die for a cause, because you can so easily die for nothing.” And while I am not so grandiose that I think I am creating a noble exit for myself, I do want this time to count for something more than a grand tour of the Middle Kingdom. Like Elizabeth and John Edwards I hope to be of service in the process of fulfilling a dream.
Today I was reminded of Somerset Maugham who thought death to be a dull and dreary affair and I advise you, as Maugham did, to have little to do with it. The new blog will be about China life on life’s terms and about those who choose to live it well.
I will tell you more in weeks to come. Onemanbandwidth will still be here during the trip and I hope you will be as well. For the record: I am in China for the duration and in the interim: I am typing as fast as I can…
Posted 28 July, 2007 in Personal Notes, The League of Extraordinary Chinese Women, cartoons, 中国, Travel in China, The Great Wall, American Poet in China, Cancer Journal, Asia, Asian Women, China Expats, China Editorials, China Olympics, China Cartoons, Videos
# 1 Martian SEO Expert…. (6)
I am not at the top of the rankings as a Martian Search Engine Optimization (SEO) expert in the universe, but I might be after this post! The algorithms that govern what is and is not registered by search engines like Google and Yahoo! are shape-shifters: They catalog combinations from blogs and websites that can mystify, amuse and swindle you. For example, I am #1 in Google for Adult Pampers Makers even though I can’t remember mentioning diapers on this blog. I am too old to remember using them and too young to worry about them just yet. I believe, like Robin Williams, that diapers are like politicians and should be changed frequently because they are both full…
But, I digress…
I know about this listing because someone searched for the term, and my analytics program identified from whence they came. There are other authentic one-hit wonders for which I rank highly, though I am clueless about why people searched for them or why I showed up tops. They ALL beg for an aside, but I am resisting, thinking that you can use your imagination: Pocket Fisherman Diagram, Moscow Prostitute, Pig League Facials, Plentiful Breast Pictures, Professor Asshat, China Olympic Athlete Blog, There is the sex that americans admit to, Hairy Chinese Women, Wedding dress Market Report in China, I had my hepatitis shot, but the test says I have no immunity, Naked nurse teaching in China, Anais Nin commerative coin, American Prostitute Self, Naked nurse teaching in starbucks china, quota of America to China, You Tube Hong Kong Free Sex Video, How culture affects the way we use utensils, and Cartoon Photos of a man being massaged among hundreds of others…
Some SEO “Experts” list some of the keywords they claim to have earned in Google’s top ten rankings. They claim that these listings attest to their prowess, and they use these words to convince you that they can move your blog, site or company into a position where you will get more hits and gain international fame and fortune. Most of the words are like the ones above: once in a Martian moon sighting you will get a hit. Some seem remarkably credible like “UK SEO Expert.” He sounds, or can make himself sound, like the marketing go-to guy in England–that is, until you do some research on Submit Express and discover that on any given day there are ZERO searches for that term.
Far too many Chinese SEO firms prey on clients using this strategy. And most businesses, woefully unaware of SEO methods, are bilked out of thousands of dollars every year. The cost for a “hot word,” one with search results in the millions (think “Buddha,” “free buffet,” or “online video game”), is staggering: the top ten in Google is 20,000 RMB a year ($2,500 USD). A “cold word” with low search returns (think “delicious rat recipes” or “Japan learned everything it knows from the Tang dynasty”) will pull 10,000 RMB ($1,250 USD) from your wallet.
So “UK SEO expert,” at 2 million returns, would cost you 20,000 RMB and bring you absolutely no traffic. I’m always suspect of the word expert anyway: in bomb school, an expert was laughingly referred to as a “former drip under pressure”–never a good thing in explosives. It was a surefire way to tell someone was not what they purported to be.
I have many great search results I’m proud of, but were someone to actually come to them, I would worry about their mental health or my ego. I am number one for “American professor” in Google, hands down, and I frequently use this in lieu of a business card when I forget one. I am also in the Google China top ten for “American blog” (out of half a billion returns) and number 1 for “handsomest American in China” (move your Canuck ass over, Da Shan!) and ridiculously #1 for America’s Best Blog. In all humility, I found I rank quite high for “China blog about nothing” and “Lonnie isn’t exactly the sharpest guy in the world,” which isn’t exactly what you’d want when you are trying to build up your China business consultant site that’s already number 1 for “china business consultant blog” in Google, Google China and Yahoo.
If you are really interested in a legitimate search engine marketing provider, drop me a note at [*santini47@yahoo.com *]–spambots, eat your heart out (thanks R)! I’ll turn you on to the likes of Fili, Ryan, CWM, or someone else who will be able to get their hands out of your Paypal pockets at some point. And if you’re considering marketing to Martians anytime soon, you know where to look…
FYI: I am doing SEO work or global marketing lectures free for nonprofit groups or companies who agree to donate my normal fee to the China Dreamblogue project.
By the way, with this many links in a post, doesn’t it look like Dan Harris wrote it?