Living the pest control dream!

So last week was a pest control conference for Bulwark. I was busy. I got to run into a lot of friends. I am honored to work with such a great group of people. Some of these pest control managers truly amaze me. Don’t get me wrong. They are not the most articulate bunch. Many of them don’t have college degrees. And I don’t think any of us will be making the top 10 Gorgeous Pest Control Guys List, myself included. No, what amazes me about this good group of pest control guys is how much they care. They really care about people. They care about employees. They care about customers. They find satisfaction in serving and making people smile.

So upon seeing one of my fellow exterminators and asking him how he was doing he replied, “Living the pest control dream.”

Not to knock the guy, but I thought about this… yes a little too much.

“Living the Dream”

What does Living the Dream mean? Is that a good thing? I know that most intend for that to be a positive expression, but what about “Living life” or just “Living” or “Being Alive”? I don’t mean to knock the whole dream concept, but I feel that when you reach a point in life where you rather be awake then asleep, when getting out of bed in the morning is more exciting then dreaming, then you are really there.  My kids hate bed time. They want to stay up. They want to keep awake. They have a different outlook on living life versus dreaming about it. When did this change happen?

When did submersing one’s self in an alternate reality, like dreaming, become better than reality?

Again, I am not an extremist, and I recognize the need and importance of sleep, and yes dreams are good. But what I am getting at is this, while dreams are good, reality is better.

I don’t want to just dream about holding someone I care for dearly, I want to hold them in real life. You don’t want to just dream about Hawaii, you want to go to Hawaii. Yes. Have great dreams and goals, but make them a reality.

Getting ready for SMX Seattle.

Will be my first time in Seattle and first SMX event.  Looking forward to getting away with my wife for a few days as well. Just making some last minute preparations.  Tweaking a website here and there…. But what I am most eager to share are these shirts:

“I know being a SERP I shouldn’t say this but Don’t worry about the searches”

~ @MattCutts

“There is no such thing as Black Hat, White Hat, or Grey Hat SEO. It’s all calculated risk.” ~ @BruceClay

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“Thinking of dropping your link spam? Consider this. Seriously, STOP & READ. The guy who runs Google’s spam fighting team? I know him pretty well.” ~ @DannySullivan

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“When the SEO cesspool is cleaned up, all that should be left are unicorns, rainbows, kittens, ponies and puppies!”  ~ @AlanBleiweiss

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“Do you really think that a girl with … two obvious features is going to help make you 10k a month?” (Don’t answer that.) ~ @Matt_Siltala

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IDon’tNeedToAdvertiseMySiteOnMyShirt.com

is a proud supporter of @ArnieK and Vertical Measures.

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“Estimated that I’ve spent ~2,500 hours blogging over the last 6 years. This means I need another 18 to reach “outlier” status.” @RandFish

“You know how when you’re drunk and singing in the streets after a conference, you hope there’s no video camera around?” @RandFish

I am Michelle McManus, and I am inspired by Physics. What more do you need to know about my SEO qualifications?  @OHLtweets

“There is always a message to get out, and you are always hoping for an action, but if you push too hard you end up cannibalizing any of the time spent on getting the message out there.” @JoannaLord

IDon’tNeedToAdvertiseMySiteOnMyShirt.com

is a recognized fan and follower of @Efishkin

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(yes I did that on purpose)

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IDon’tNeedToAdvertiseMySiteOnMyShirt.com

The funniest thing about this shirt is that by the time you realize it’s a joke it’s too late to stop the permanent stamp my website is leaving on your brain.

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“Getting your quote on a t-shirt is like good SEO. Build a good website, put it in front of the right people, and it will be found. Say something worth repeating in front of the right person and it will get quoted.”

~ @tshirtSEO

IDon’tNeedToAdvertiseMyBlogOnMyShirt.com

is a supporter of www.searchenginepeople.com and follower of @jquipp

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“I agree with Bruce Clay. Forget about white hat, grey hat, black hat SEO… go with Black Shirt SEO!”

~ @tshirtseo

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“I prefer to keep most of my SEO in House, so I don’t have to deal with the out-house crap. =) ”

~ @Thos003

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“You’re a marketing company cold calling me… If your marketing is that great then why are you calling me?”

~@Thos003

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“I didn’t build my site for the search engine I built it for me.”

~ @Thos003

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“I am sorry, but we have no marketing budget this year for things that don’t work.”

~ @Thos003

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IamADomainJunkiE!com

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“I am sorry but the owner does not want to move forward and I advised him that he shouldn’t.”

– @Thos003

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“Might just use Bing all day. Getting tired of Pac-Man noise.”

~@ArnieK

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“It’s kinda a mix between white hat and black hat, I call it Green Hat.”

–    @tshirtSEO

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“If your proposal isn’t good enough to send me in an email then I’m probably not interested.”

–    @Thos003

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BTW if you take me too seriously then you don’t really know me… but get to know me and then you can take me seriously… on the serious stuff of course.

“YES I JUST QUOTED MYSELF ON A T-SHIRT.”

@Thos003

Here goes SMX ADV – Seattle 2010

If you want a shirt and you’re not on the list then you better tell me NOW.

BTW- Thanks Matt for the post! Good Example of Getting Yourself Known. Just so you know that post was completely unprovoked and was not requested.  Thanks again Matt and the pleasure was all mine.