Lorna Li | Green Marketing 2.0

This past weekend I was reminded of the importance of community. I think the competitive nature of our Western society has a tendency to create a sense of isolation from each other. We find ourselves stretched too thin, having to take care of everything alone, needing to be perpetually hyper-vigilant, invulnerable and strong - especially in the world of business.

Eventually this becomes exhausting and results in burn-out.

I’ve been feeling rather burned out lately from the tech scene, and took a trip with my friends to a gathering at a community called Kayumari.

The Kayumari community is responsible for the creation of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers, an alliance of 13 medicine women who are catalyzing international recognition of indigenous traditions through prayer, peacemaking, healing and global activism.

It’s been many months since I’ve had a chance to visit Kayumari - it’s located at the foothills of Yosemite, which make its rather challenging for me to get to. The land there is beautiful, wild, and untamed. The community is, sadly, leaving this location.

Here I was reminded that the support of one’s friends and family is indeed beautiful and necessary for personal well-being, and that one should never feel weak for having to seek it.

I am grateful to have a connection with this incredible community of people who are committed to honoring and preserving indigenous wisdom traditions.

Thus, the quote of the day from Paulo Coehlo’s Manual of the Warrior of Light is:

When a warrior is a victim of some injustice, he usually tries to be alone, in order not to show his pain to others.

This is both good and bad.

It is one thing to allow one’s heart to heal its wounds slowly, but it is quite another to sit all day in deep contemplation for fear of seeming weak.

Inside each of us there lives an angel and a devil, and their voices are very alike. Confronted by a problem, the devil encourages that solitary conversation, trying to show us how vulnerable we are. The angel makes us reflect upon our attitudes and occasionally needs someone else’s mouth to reveal itself.

A warrior balances solitude and dependence.

Shelly and Bob Boyle, one of the wisest and kindest souls alive.

Marlo, soaking in the cool river - where you can still pan for gold.

Technorati Tags: kayumari, manual of the warrior of light, paulo coehlo, indigenous wisdom traditions, international council of 13 indigenous grandmothers, grandmothers council, lorna li

Photos courtesy of Brent Csutoras

I really believe in the power of intention, synchronicity, and manifestation - the clearer your intention, the more synchronicitous events pop up in your life, and the greater the likelihood you will manifest your desire. A key success factor is going with the flow, and being open to others who may play a factor in the manifestation of your intention, rather than trying to control, own, and micromanage every aspect of it - which is where a lot of people sabotage themselves.

My colleague Jaime Lapena and I were discussing how great it would be to do a search marketing happy hour - network with other search engine marketers, share tips and ideas, have a pint/ cocktail.

Next step - create a network of local Bay Area search marketers, whom we can then invite out for a drink on a regular basis. LinkedIn Groups is still under construction, so I decided to create a Search Marketing LinkedIn Network as a workaround. A group would be better, but heck, we can migrate peeps later.

Then, I’m out covering a Monster Cable event for bub.blicio.us, where I win a killer set of floor speakers in a raffle draw. I meet Daniel Riveong of e-Storm, a San Francisco-based interactive agency with a search marketing division.

Mention the SEM happy hour concept. 3 weeks later, he emails me and says, “Remember how you were talking about starting a search marketing happy hour? Well it ends up that I had to organize one for Todd Malicoat, of Stuntdubl. It’s next week - you’re invited.”

With Brent Csutoras

With Neil Patel

Friday, August 10 at SF’s Gordon Biersch - 20 search engine optimizers at one long dinner table, followed by more drinks at the Cigar Bar. SEOs I got to know include:

• Niel Patel, who started dong SEO at the tender age of 16, and is currently the CTO of Advantage Consulting Services, a social media marketing and search engine optimization agency - though he hasn’t yet graduated from college.
• Todd Malicoat of Stuntdubl, premier SEO consultant and the guru of link strategy.
• Natasha Robinson, That Girl From Marketing, who gave me excellent advice on how to do an SEO site audit.
• Will Radcliffe and Forest Kolb, of BizzFlip, a community where people can freely conduct business, cultivate ideas, and explore the infinite potential of today’s business world.
• Brent Csutoras of Weird Asia News, who occupied the number one spot for the world’s largest orgy (he’s now number 2).
• Daniel Riveong and William Gaulthier of e-Storm.
• David Mihm, small business web site designer and internet marketing consultant.

Saturday, August 18, dinner and drinks at the Liberties, in SF’s Mission district included the same posse and more.

• Roger Monti, aka MartiniBuster, WebmasterWorld moderator and consultant who offers web site review,PPC consultation, link development and web design services.
• Carolyn Shelby, Webmaster, SEO, former co-host of Webmaster Radio’s ‘Rush Hour’, current co-host of SEO 101, and uber-achiever with a schedule much like mine.
• Lawrence Coburn, founder of Rateitall and Sexy Widget.

Caveman and Laura Lippay

Todd Malicoat and Roger Monti

Todd Malicoat is contemplating moving out from upstate NY to the hip, technocentric SF Bay Area, but only if SF Bay Area search marketers can rally for regular SEO happy hours.

Todd Malicoat

I think it ironic that, while I intended to organize search marketing happy hours, I was apprehensive about the time and energy launching a regular event would take, as I’m already maxed out on time and energy. At the end of the day, all I needed to do was kick back and go with the flow.

Expect more search marketing meetups to come.

Technorati Tags: seo meetup, seo, search engine optimization consultants, search marketing, sem, todd malicoat, neil patel, brent csutoras, daniel riveong, william gauthier, david mihm, will radcliffe, forest kolb, natasha robinson, lawrence coburn, carolyn shelby, roger monti, lorna li

I really enjoy Paulo Coelho’s Manual of the Warrior of Light. It’s one of those books I can open randomly to any page, and what I find is exactly what I need to reflect upon at that moment.

Sometimes I wonder if my crusading to save the world, the rainforest, indigenous cultures, ancient wisdom traditions is more talk than walk. I’m certain at times it is. Other times, I collapse in exhaustion, complaining that there simply aren’t enough hours in the day. I feel most guilty when I slow down my pace in order to take some much needed rest, reflect or create some clearer mental space - which means I’m not working on something, not actively producing. It’s those moments when I feel like I’m all talk, no action.

I think it’s really important to take a step back and honor ourselves as activists, to forgive ourselves for not being able to work around the clock. It’s OK to be talking a little more than walking once in a while.

So here’s the quote of the day from the Manual of the Warrior of Light:

A warrior of light is reliable.

He makes a few mistakes, he sometimes thinks he is more important than he really is, but he does not lie.

When people gather round the fire, he talks to his friends male and female. He knows that his words are stored in the memory of the Universe, like a testimony of what he thinks.

And the warrior asks himself: ‘Why do I talk so much, when often I am incapable of carrying out everything I say?”

His heart replies: ‘ When you defend your ideas in public, you then have to make an effort to life accordingly.’

It is because he believes that he is what he says he is that the warrior ends up becoming precisely that.

Technorati Tags: paolo coehlo, manual of the warrior of light, lorna li

Xin Sarith Azuma Phan Wuku is the Ninja for Hire. In an effort to break into feature films, he created a video highlighting his martial arts skills. He swiftly became a legend of viral video, gathering over 4 million hits on YouTube.What I love about Xin is not only his physical prowess, but his clear determination to break into the movie industry - cheaply, on YouTube. Xin Sarith Azuma Phan Wuku, Ninja for Hire, is an impeccable warrior.

Before the days of Web 2.0., breaking into pictures was hard for your average Joe. With the social media revolution, talented guys like Xin have and deserve a chance to be discovered.

Social media has made it possible for web savvy, self promoting individuals with a penchant for working the participatory web to rocket from anonymity to stardom.

Take the example of Tila Nyguyen, a.k.a. Tila Tequila - queen of MySpace. Tila has over 1.5 million MySpace fans and Tila’s MySpace profile has been viewed over 50 million times.

According to Time Magazine, “Nguyen clearly grasps the logic of Web 2.0 in a way that would make many CEOs weep. She sells Tila posters, calendars, a clothing line of hoodies and shirts. She has been on the cover of British Maxim. She has a single due to be released online. She has a cameo in next summer’s Adam Sandler movie. She has four managers, a publicist and a part-time assistant. It’s hard to know how to read the rise of Tila Tequila. Does she represent the triumph of a new democratic starmaking medium or its crass exploitation for maximum personal gain? It’s not clear that even Tila knows.

But she knows why it works. “There’s a million hot naked chicks on the Internet,” she says. “There’s a difference between those girls and me. Those chicks don’t talk back to you.”"

Sources:

Time Magazine Article on Tila Tequila

Technorati Tags: social media, social media optimization, smo, personal branding, web 2.0, lorna li

This evening, our yoga instructor made a statement during class that struck a chord in me. In the writings of Carlos Castenada, according to Don Juan, a Yaqui elder and brujo, there was one main difference between an ordinary person and an impeccable warrior.

Ordinary people see life as a series of blessings and misfortunes.

An impeccable warrior sees life as a series of challenges.

Every challenge has the opportunity to awaken us to life.