I became an SEO last week by accident. I also created an e-commerce website with affiliate program (again by accident) a few months ago. How did it happen? I don't know but it was about time. I was fifty two and still asking "What do you want to be when you grow up, Rick"? My main website had suddenly become one of the top Netcraft and Alexa rated web sites on the Internet, again by accident. Now I knew I had a work at home business, not just a hobby. But still the idea went through my mind, "What do you want to be when you grow up, Rick?" All my peers were physicians, lawyers, CPA's, plumbers, electricians, scientists, and mid to high level corporate executives. I was sitting at home trying to raise my Google rankings. Was this normal? Had I lost my mind?

The first two decades of my adult career were rather "spotty". I went into my father's century old family business because I was "supposed to". When someone is supposed to do anything the natural reaction is rebellion. Knowing this, I kept plugging away thinking the rebellion was a phase of some kind and I would work my way through those issues. It was not to be.

At that point in my life, my communication skills were dismal at best, and it seemed if things ended, they had to end dramatically so the world could see how "victimized" I had been. To show this I went from high paying real estate professional to bartender, thinking, of course, my father would "see the error of his ways" and beg for me to come back and treat me right. Again, this was not to be. He didn't flinch. He was too smart.

This rebellion or as I called myself "A rebel without a clue" took me to large cities with low paying fringe jobs. I was amounting to nothing, and I had no idea why.

At one point I was driving a cab in New York City driving a taxi and performing stand-up comedy at night. My cab driving instilled more laughter than my skills at comedy.

As more and more people discovered the ratings of my web site, they began to ask me if I could raise their SEO. I didn't even know what it stood for much less SEM. So I came to ezine sources like this one and other sites in which I could study and find out what I now was (since I guess at age fifty two one has grown up, like it or not).

I had to learn the difference between "doorway" and "organic seo" and choose which I wanted.

I found I could get immediate results for my clients using backdoor tactics but they were not so ethical and major search engines were beginning to catch on. So I had to learn not only what organic SEO was and is, but how to explain to my client the difference and how patience was and is the key.

What is organic SEO? You are looking at it right now. It is writing articles, blogging, etc. about a business that is not too spammy and is not full of web addresses in the text (below the signature seems to be proper etiquette but even then it is a sensitive issue.

This article is part of an organic SEO campaign on my own businesses. I will be writing more in different categories but not necessarily talking about my business or businesses but making it more of a teaching/learning atmosphere. I love to ask and answer questions. My mother was a teacher and I know there are no dumb questions.

Where do you start your own SEO campaign? Right here is a good start. Just start writing about what you know.

A blog to your site. I recommend a blog with your own domain name rather than someone else's. Remember "branding" is a big word these days and getting people to remember your name rather than your name at at some generic well known blog.

I tried a lot of blogs and didn't like the results. Well, I didn't actually SEE the results, one rarely does. But I was not and am not a social blogger. I blog to get the word out, network with other SEM's and affiliate program managers and candidates, and don' t have a hidden agenda.

So now I (think I know) what I am now that I'm grown up. Cartooning and my cartoon stores are my hobby. SEO and managing affiliate programs is my job.

Do I make as much money as I did in real estate? Believe it or not, almost. But that doesn't even matter. It's worth the difference commuting 100 feet to my computer rather than putting on a coat and tie and driving downtown to work.

Well time to put on my winter jogging suit and get to work. I enjoyed writing. Hope it is of service.

Rick London
http://www.seostreetsmarts.com