Arash Blog

Search Featured: Tali Shapiro from Marketer Review

Tali Shapiro from Marketer Review came onto the SEO scene just recently, but already made an impact. She is one of the hot new people I intend to interview as I come accross them. Here are my questions and what she had to say. Enjoy!

Mike: Tali, back in the days I have made a lot of mistakes, for example I didn’t get the good domains I could have. I also underestimated my own value when it comes to SEO for example.Now it seems like everyone is catching on and there is not much more room to do anything significant or monumental when you’re new to either industry. What do you believe the next hot thing or best kept secret is when it comes to the future of online marketing?

Tali: - I think everyone in a creative line of work get these doubts. And don’t kid yourself- business is a creative line of work. You can’t reinvent the wheel- You can only improve it. Thinking about the abundance of whatever’s out there will only depress you. I know a lot of top business gurus (and I say that with complete respect) are screaming “innovation” , but usually that would require a lot of resources. For me, personally, as a customer, I’m missing good service and meticulously customized products (yes, long tail is the way to go for small businesses). Also, a saturated market doesn’t equal a quality market. Take the ebook, for example (I know it’s far from saturated, at this point), I’m dying to get one- let me rephrase: I need one. Why haven’t I just bought one, you ask? Because the product just isn’t good enough yet. All these companies are pretty much doing the same thing, some do it better than others, but as a customer, who compares merchandise on the web, I gotta’ tell ya- Public opinion is 50-50.
Which brings me to “the next hot thing”. This is no secret- we all know it, the net is going social and it’s going mobile. Imagine Paris Hilton going shopping. All of a sudden, she’s hit with a striking dilemma: The blue Manolo Blahniks or the red ones? Whatever shall Paris do?! Quite simply, Paris will take out her iPhone, connect to StyleFeed.com and ask all her friends, real or virtual, what lady-killers she should by. Of course no euphoric orgy of a shopping experience, will ever be complete without Twittering pre/mid/post coitus. Innovation-wise (the hard part), if you can create a web/phone application that is simple and social, you can own a piece of the nearest future. Improvement-wise, you could monetize it, simplify it, make it more customisable or have it work with other already established systems (here’s a thought: what I wouldn’t do for an all-social-network-encompassing browser bar that can inform me of what I want to know.)

Mike: On http://www.marketerreview.com I have noticed that you have a good eye for what is fresh and new and worth reading on other people’s sites. Which blog post or piece of information you have featured has made the biggest impact on you and your readers and why?

Tali: The most amazing ebook I read, was definitely the Clutrain Manifesto. It’s the Jules Verne of business models. They knew it all 10 years ago. Speaking of innovating, many businesses would gain the world, if they just opened forums, where their customers can gripe and moan and wish for improvements. The Cluetrain pack suggested it a decade ago. And it’s free, god bless them.
There’s also Yaro Starak’s Blog Mastermind program. It ain’t cheap, but it’s worth it. Starak really understands teaching. He breaks it all down, so you can’t go wrong. I also love his approach to business, which is all heart (80-heart/20-mind ). I guess that just personally resonates with me. I take my time when I write, and I want my work to be quality (it’s also a writing portfolio!).

Mike: Tali, one thing I have noticed is that we are entering the era of fusion meaning that designers learn SEO, domainers start using their domain for more than landingpages and internet marketers are starting to understand the importance of branding.Do you believe that this trend will continue and where do you see it leading us?

Tali: You found the perfect person to ask that I’m an artist, who became a coder, who turned designer, who transformed into an SEO socialite. In my case, and many other small entrepreneurs’ case, it’s the reality of starting from scratch on a shoestring budget. And if us, younglings don’t get all this- it will, in fact, be our downfall, because we won’t be able to compete. I think a better label for this “trend” is “evolution”. This is what it takes to be the fittest, now. To most of us, who have been in business for even a short while, it’s obvious you need a team. Or at least a hired hand to ease the strain of parts of the job you don’t like, or are simply not good at. Not that it’s impossible to work alone, it’s just healthier - for you and your business.

Mike: I am seriously amazed with the skills some kids out there have, like this guy:http://getranked.searchfeature.com/index.php?topic=55.msg276#newI also know that many of the young ones have some serious hacking skills and I wouldn’t be surprised if an 8 year old takes down a major bank’s website in a few years. How do you believe society will change thru the power that the internet is going to enable younger and younger kids to have over some serious adult business?

Tali: This kid (if he really is who he says he is ) is obviously gifted. That helps in any endeavor in life. This thought is like the aforementioned ”every thing’s been done” thought. It’s depressing and disproportionate to reality. There’s always someone brighter/more skilled/younger out there, but that’s not your short-coming. This kid probably has someone he adores, envies and fears. You forget that 8 year olds have some other skills they need to learn. One bank-hacking second grader doesn’t make anyone obsolete. It’s true that today’s generation is born into this world, while we’re still having sentimental debates about film Vs. Digital camera. What I’d be thinking about, is how to accommodate this virtual world to their needs, because they’re the heavy users, while we’ll still be cuddling up to a paper book. We can free the internet, make it safe, and create tools for us to interact with them, or we can sit in the corner, shaking of fear, when our baby’s first word is “BorderGatewayProtocol” .

Mike: I have to bring it up, you are one of the sexiest SEO girls in the world now. Can we get a speech now?

Tali: I’d like to thank my good-looking and able-minded parents for getting down that night.

Mike: What would you say if I told you that in a few weeks Steve Forbes is going to give us an interview and what would you like us to ask him on your behalf?

Tali: I’m a liberal humanist, border on anarchist, you sure you want an answer to that.

Mike: Have you gone to any internet marketing conventions and if so, what do you think about them and what do you think could be done to improve them?

Tali: Unfortunately, I live in israel, so the people I’d like to see speak, are currently out of my reach. In Israel I know there are conferences, but there are no real teachers to follow, at this point. One day…