Web and SEO

So inspired lately - thanks again to my friend Jalna for taking pics of our community day yesterday: http://jalna.blogspot.com/2011/06/giving-back-to-aina-with-mano.html

Welp, I've gotten back into building websites and doing search engine optimization for some folks here in Hawaii. Surprisingly, the techniques I learnt while working with Apartment WIZ in Texas, which I believe were the best practices in the industry, don't seem to be duplicated and/or utilized here on island. I've been applying those SEO techniques with some of the sites that I'm doing and it's working like a charm. Folks are surfacing on Google page 1 within a few weeks of organic searches. It's good to stay on top of best practices in anything you choose to do.

Still no urgency to build a site for myself, we'll just take it a step at a time. Gonna start a non profit with some friends here in Honolulu called the Vietnamese Business Resources Association of Hawaii (VBRAH). Will heavily optimize it and crank it out within a month.

Peace,

Mano

Progress

Thanks to my wonderful friend Jalna Amoy, who inspires me with her kind heart and gentle soul, I've decided to contribute to my blog more frequently. Allowing our passions to lead us if you will. I'm in the process of building my personal website and have realized that it's actually hard to do your own. With that said, I managed to acquire another client and so I'm currently in the process if building another one for a local car detailing company in Honolulu. Will post again as things unravel.

Very proud to launch so far:

www.blazinsteaksatkinson.com (<---Jalna's pics!!!)

www.paradiseopticalhawaii.com

Mano

Website Design | SEO | Social Media

Since 2007, I've been able to learn the intricacies of search engine optimization (SEO) while I was in Texas working for Apartment WIZ, which gets an average of around 50,000 hits per month on their site. Some other SEO gurus I was working with built out the entire Atlanta and San Antonio Apartments section which ended up surfacing on Google page 1 within two weeks after the bots crawled the site. Pretty amazing stuff, we basically followed SEO Moz's algorithms down to a T and other best practices in the industry. It was a highly functional site that did and continues to do it's task: leasing high volume apartments in and around the larger cities in Texas. I never really cared for the design and layout of the site, artistically, it sucked. As I'm criticizing the site's artistic value, that's not where my strengths lay either. So if I can't design something, I know plenty of people that can. It's all about surrounding yourself around people to compliment your weaknesses...

Since last year, I've been learning a lot from a few real good buddies of mine in the IT field. I started picking up a few clients of my own. Seeing if my SEO techniques still work, I did a little research to see if the same algorithms still work for 2010 and what do you know, my clients were side by side with their competitors on Google page 1. (jumping high fives all around the room).

So what I like to do is build the site, at the same time optimizing it completely while building it, and implementing social media into it. If there are opportunities to build linking campaigns then we explore those options as well.

IMO, Hawaii small businesses lack the online marketing trifecta (website presence, SEO, & social media). I've seen many opportunities in various industries to tap, just don't wanna spread myself too thin right now. Since there has been slight demand for my services as of late, I need to create my own website, give it a catchy name, decent brand logo, and run with it! More to come...

Social Media

There's so much information out there that we have to do our best with our own critical thinking. Is Social Media (SM) that convenient or are we slaves to it? So much info to put out to so many outlets. My lack of posts on here have obviously been scarce because of the various other SM outlets that I post on.

Lately been having discussions with folks from my church at IDCC regarding the usage of SM, pros & cons. Today I stumbled upon http://mashable.com/2011/02/19/anonymous-westboro/ and a group of "Hacktavists" totally skilled are threatening to virally attack an activist hate group. As I'm completely supportive of Freedom of Speech, I also feel that folks need to be accountable for their actions and words. Everyone's still prone to getting an ass kicking for saying the wrong things to the wrong people. Nothing wrong with an old fashioned ass kicking...

So I can tap into my SM more efficiently, I'm gonna cave in and get an iPhone, we'll see when... soon.

Teachable Moments

Single parents all have their own stories and struggles. I have mine. My handsome boy comes out during the summer times to visit. As I talk to God sometimes, I always ask Him to give me opportunities to spend and teach my son ways to become a well balanced man. It's hard living so far away from him as I'm in Honolulu and He's in Texas. Summer time visits are good but something that hit home even more this summer was when we got into a car accident. Jude and I were turning left (we had the right of way) and a car on our left assumed that I was going straight when he decided to pull out and turn left also. He ended up hitting us on the left side of the car. We fish-tailed but luckily, no one was injured. Irate, I started getting furious with colorful words, but then realized how God immediately intervened and allowed it to be a blessing. The teachable moment was what I've been waiting for as I calmed down in front of my son so that he can see that we have choices when things go bad. Like responsible adults, the person that hit us and I, swapped insurance information with one another, shook hands, and went on our way. There could've been a 100 different things I could've done but the good Lord inspired me to handle how I think He would've handled it... What a way for that lesson to unfold in front of my eyes. Teachable moments are gift wrapped around every corner if you constantly open your eyes and heart to the Lord... Here's a pic of Jude with yet, another book in hand....

Community

A few months ago I nervously went up in front of Imago Dei and poured my heart out to a new family at Imago Dei Christian Community in Foster Village. Thank you for allowing me to express how God has miraculously been working in my life. I've always been the one to ask, "Show me a sign". Little do we all know that signs just don't come up and slap us in the face but the signs that God sends us may take weeks to months to finally see the big picture. Having said that, as I try and fail but try again to grow the the Lord, I've learned to be patient through dark times and tough times. The hardships in life have challenged me to stay patient and just keep holding on until the clouds dissapate as God brings back sunlight into our lives again... A constant effort indeed as I didn't hold on with such a firm grip in the past and slipped into a cyclical darkness. Thanks again for your support for my wife and I as we grow together with Christ in our new marriage and thanks for the open arm embrace to be accepted into the community. I look forward to getting involved, giving back and participating in a soul care group when I head back next month...

Warmest Regards and God Bless,
Mano Nguyen 2/23/2008