"Knowledge has to be improved, challenged, and increased, constantly or it vanishes" `Peter Drucker

Knowledge has to be improved, challenged, and increased constantly, or it vanishes.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/p/peterdruck154448.html?src=t_knowledge

Knowledge has to be improved, challenged, and increased constantly, or it vanishes.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/p/peterdruck154448.html?src=t_knowledge

Knowledge has to be improved, challenged, and increased constantly, or it vanishes.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/p/peterdruck154448.html?src=t_knowledg

 There is truth to be said, to this quote. Today, with the constant change and fast moving pace of technology, we no longer have a choice to remain ignorant. Unless of course you have deep pockets in hiring full time staff, or pay huge monthly fees to have someone else do it for you.

 I did look into some of these companies which specialize in search engine optimization,  with a hefty price tag, I simply couldn't afford. Not really understanding what I was getting for my money, didn't give me the desire to opt in. Frankly, unless you know the terms and jargon in what you're getting, won't guarantee you to be on top of the first page landing of search engines. It's like, looking for a needle in a haystack, it won't happen miraculously. You have to be in control to make it happen.

 I asked a friend  of mine that does SEO implementation, to have a look at my website, and tell me what I was missing. He came back with his prognosis, and explained that Google changed the way it performed and had recently made changes to how it ranks websites. Bottom line, my website was no longer meeting the new criteria set for ranking on the first page of search engines. This explained why, my phone lo longer was ringing. I was so desperate to find a solution,  I was no longer a viable company among the 50 million other sites, fighting for top ranking on the first landing page, I was losing huge amount of sales to the competition

It didn't matter if I had the best keywords or metta tags, in my browser, that wasn't enough anymore. Constant updating and adding fresh content to my website would have search engines pick up on the important stuff it based itself on. Please be aware, when I mention fresh, it can't be something that you copy and paste from another site Plagiarism is something search engines don't like, it will push further down the page.  Mapping your site is crucial.

 Getting back to why I am writing about this experience that recently happened to me, is buyer's beware. I had one of the better known online directory company call me a few months ago. The sales rep called me  see if I was still at the same address and if the number was correct, yes, I replied. Then she started telling me about the directory service. I didn't know at the time if it met my budget, $50/monthly can take a toll on slower months. But insisted the importance of being listed, without realizing what I was doing,  I agreed that, yes, it could benefit my company, I hung up and left it at that.

 To my surprise, this week, I  received a bill for that same company, which I totally forgot about. According to the bill, I was 2 months in arrears. I immediately called the company for an explanation, I told the customer service agent, that I never asked for this service to be implemented, and that my understanding was the sales rep, I spoke with, would follow up with a phone call and an email which never came. The customer service rep,tells me, my initial conversation  was recorded, she put me on a brief hold while she went to listen what was being said. She came back to say, I had agreed to the service. After arguing with the rep for about 15 minutes, she transfers me to her superior, I repeated  once again to explain that I never asked for this service, she was unflappable, she told me with her chirpy voice, that she would be more than happy to send me the recording, and low and behold, I received it in the next 5 minutes as promised. Weird, I'd like to point out, on never receiving the sales rep follow up email to what we discussed but within 5 minutes, I receive the recording.

I hang up, with no resolution to the matter but being forced to pay for something I don't recollect. I immediately start researching, the validity of a verbal recorded agreement. According to the information I found on a law website , a verbal agreement is legally binding. Damn! 

At the end of the day small business owners wear many different hats and so much more diversified than before. In my case, I am in the  distribution of spray tanning and lash products as well a trainer. In the midst of doing my everyday business, I became an accidental geek. Seriously, I have never worked so hard in my entire life than having to start reading and learning in how to, "Do it Yourself" Search Engine Optimization.

 Last year, I felt so overwhelmed by the amount of advertising large companies did on every social media platforms, which catapulted a decline in sales in my business, because, I didn't have the expendable cash to spend on advertising dollars.  It literally sent me in a downward spiral of anxiety and depression. After a year of feeling like I could no longer get out of bed, I took the matter into my own hands. I could no longer blame the economy, it was now in my hands, I took responsibility. And to understand and validate what I am saying, watch the movie, "The Big Short" and start digging for valuable knowledge.