Pest Control and Bug Exterminator Blog

Awhile back I participated in the Phoenix Warrior Dash, well that was tough enough for me. But a couple of my co-workers here at Bulwark Exterminating decided to do the Tough Mudder. Here is their video clip… produced by the Bulwark Exterminating Marketing Department.

Yes that was a Back Flip into that muddy water… Yes there were 1000 watts running through those wires, which caused Derrick to fall forward after loosing muscle control. Certainly not an event for the weak. Crawling through water filled tunnels. Swimming through ice cold water, chilled to the bone by dry ice. But apparently not too much for the Phoenix Scorpion Control team that kills the most deadly US scorpions you can find on a regular bases. Kicking butt and taking names.

Bulwark Exterminating… Hiring guys who aren’t your average pest control guy. You may call it over the top… I call Bulwark Extreme.

Thanks Team Bulwark for the awesome event and awesome footage.

Are you a Bulwark fan, customer, or employee? Want a sponsor for your local sports event? Contact me:

Bulwark Exterminating
40 N Central Ave #1400
Phoenix, AZ 85004
(602) 652-2251
http://www.bulwarkpestcontrol.com/phoenix/

Today was to be the internet blackout day in protest of SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act). Mike Halvorsen named some big names in his blog post on those that were going to protest: http://michaelhalvorsen.com/2012/01/google-amazon-facebook-twitter-shutting-day-protest-sopa/

Among those names were Facebook, Twitter, Google, Amazon, Yahoo, and Ebay. None of these have actually closed their sites for the day, but a few are voicing some protest on their site. Other big name websites, like WordPress, Reddit, and Wikipedia have stepped up to the plate. Here are screen shots of websites protesting the “Stop Online Piracy Act”.

WordPress

I actually found WordPress.com to have the more unique and creative protests. Imagine how many wordpress blogs could be in danger of SOPA regulations. In fact, this entire blog could be shut down for even using a screen shot of the wordpress homepage. Clearly wordpress has not blacked out their entire site due to SOPA, as this is a wordpress.com blog, and I am personally grateful they did not.

WordPress.org also strikes in opposition of SOPA. Although at the bottom of the page you can find a link back to the old wordpress.org page.

Amazon

In case you missed Amazon’s protesting efforts…

So look again and you will see a small box in the top right hand corner labeled “Reasons to oppose or modify SOPA.” Amazon is walking a fine line here as many authors may have reasons to support SOPA.

Google

No doodle from Google in protest of SOPA. The google logo still appears on the google maps vertical, but does not appear in google’s other vertical searches. The link on google’s home page takes you to their page dedicated to protesting the movement and includes the following nifty PDF. < click the image to download it >

Surprisingly YouTube shows nothing in opposition of SOPA.

Wikipedia – Biggest Protester

Very compelling message by Wikipedia, a site built upon FREE information. They also implement a great call to action to help push phone calls to “your representatives.” Their goal is to melt Washington D.C. phone lines. Worthy attempt. Although wikipedia did not have a complete blackout, and they are employing a rather sneaky redirect. Although I assume that Google will most likely ignore this black hat tactic. You will notice that the above page loads first then the redirect loads on top of that page. My guess is that Wikipedia understands the damage that could occur to their SEO should they show the search engines a bunch of duplicate content and/or pages down. And if you really need Wikipedia to do your homework then try http://simple.wikipedia.org.

Other Notable Protesting Websites

Mozilla‘s home page:

Mozilla’s blog mentions the protest but their blog and all other internal pages are still live.

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Reddit‘s Entire Website for 12 hours:

This includes all of Reddit’s internal pages.

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Wired.com is censored in protest of SOPA

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Pinterest.com, upon login gives the following message and screen shot in protest.

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Slickdeals.net adds a notice on their homepage.

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Congress Woman @RepAnnaEshoo of California is protesting on her site:

Anna Eshoo represents California’s 14th Congressional District–the heart of Silicon Valley. She is Ranking Member of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee.

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Craigslist.org is also adding a protest to their local directories, but with a link to click on through.

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Slashdot.org marks through their logo and posts two articles at the top of their page explaining SOPA.

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Fark.com Homepage Support for SOPA

Watch Why You should Support SOPA Video. Farks deeper pages are all still active. And instead of a blackout they went with a white-out.

Non Protesting Sites as of Today:

Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, and Ebay have nothing on their homepages in opposition of SOPA. Bing announced it’s protest, but nothing on Bing shows them as protesting. And while Godaddy was once listed as a supporter, they have nothing on their website going either way.

Perhaps it’s because the bill is nearly dead at this time, but with the exception of Wikipedia and Reddit, I feel that the protesting websites have failed to actually “BLACK OUT”, and their protests are weak. As a business, I can understand the actual costs involved in shutting down for a day. Google would loose millions if it closed it’s doors for one day. Wikipedia has the luxury of being a Non-Profit, so no money will be lost. As for Godaddy, they are smart for staying out of the political heat.

Feel free to add any additional sites in protest to the comments below.

Related articles

• Microsoft opposes SOPA (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• SOPA blackout list grows, as Google confirms plan to include link on homepage (100gf.wordpress.com)
• Stop SOPA/PIPA Censorship! WCMA Joins the Strike! (wcma2.wordpress.com)
• SOPA to be resurrected after blackout protests (slashgear.com)
• Say NO to SOPA & PIPA! (jeenus.wordpress.com)
• Stop SOPA And PIPA (neilperkin.typepad.com)
• What it SOPA & PIPA ? Why it is matter ? (ictreview.wordpress.com)

A Promoted Tweet on Pest Control term by an electrical company?

“Technology has to be invented or adopted.”  – Jared Diamond

Okay so this a cool quote and all, but why?

Why would GE want to promote this tweet on the pest control stream? Where is the connection? Did someone just do some keyword research and find pest control related to technology?  Are exterminators a large consumer of light bulbs? Sorry, just not getting it.  Pest Control Technology… Hmmm…. I mean there is a pest control technology magazine. And I often feel that Bulwark Exterminating is becoming more of a technology company than a residential pest control service… but still not getting the full picture here. I guess the plus side to this is that I am blogging about this simply out of awe. But does it make me more inclined to buy from the promoter of said tweet?  

Related articles

• DIY Pest Control to Prevent Pest Control Problems This Fall (blogpestcontrol.com)
• Tulsa pest control Exterminator gets Complimented (pestcontroltulsaok.com)
• Twitter is a link building tool. (pestcontrolseo.wordpress.com)
• Pest Control Charlotte (pestcontrolcharlottenc.com)

Just a couple of fun highlights from my trip to Raleigh, NC for the internet summit.

The 100 Mile Race

Flying out of Phoenix Sky Harbor, I spoke with a man that told me he had just run 100 miles. I thought he was being sarcastic. Nope. He was in a 100 mile race. He says that they call them UltraMarathons. He told me that he fly in just for the race and was leaving. He’s not a professional, and says that there are very few professionals in Ultramarathons. His run was 6 loops. You drop a bag with food and minimum supplies about the half way point. And he finished his 100 mile run in just over 26 hours. The winner finished in about 17.5 hours.

Never Been on the Internet

From Baltimore to Raleigh I sat next to a couple that were retired and living in Florida. They were upwards of 70 years old and had been retired for less than a year. I asked if they stayed in touch with their family in New York via Facebook. Nope. They have NEVER been on the internet. NEVER. They have never owned a home computer. What about text messaging? Nope. She told me that she just got,… “what is it called, you know a phone that you take out of your home.” … I took a guess, “A cell phone?”. She had her first cell phone in her hand about 5 months ago. Still no text messaging, but they got one just for safety reasons.

North Carolina BBQ

North Carolina has it’s own unique BBQ. They claim it to the “REAL BBQ”. Interestingly they even have two different types, an East and West NC BBQ. It’s vinegar based. The West BBQ adds a little molasses to the vinegar. Definitely different, and I kinda liked how the vinegar brought out the flavor of the meat a little more. Not bad at all. Sadly I couldn’t think of a single cuisine unique to Arizona, cactus fries maybe???

Need Raleigh Pest Control? Try Bulwark Exterminating.

Bulwark Exterminating
19 W. Hargett
Suite 700
Raleigh, NC 27601
USA
919-481-0007

Related articles

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• Pest Control Scorpions (pestcontrolseo.wordpress.com)
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• Mike Krzyzewski Makes Duke Blue Devils Underrated (bleacherreport.com)

22 Months for 3:25 minutes of video? That certainly is dedication. It also took 30 people to create and 288,000 Jelly Belly Jelly Beans. The feat is nothing short of amazing. But was it worth it? How much money was spent? Simply attaching a dollar amount to a project does not mean its worth what was spent. When I think of artistic master pieces that took years to create I think of the Sistine Chapel, the Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore.

But this was still pretty cool.

The benefits are things like social mentions, links, and most of all fame. Is that lasting fame? Only time will tell.

Related articles

• Kina Grannis, Jelly Beans Make Amazing Music Video (thehollywoodgossip.com)
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• David’s Signature ‘Beyond Gourmet’ Jelly Beans™ To Ship Next Month (prweb.com)

Social media platforms are constantly put in head to head comparisons. So when Mat Siltala from Dream Systems Media did a post about his scorpion sting on all 3 social media platforms simultaneously, the intuitive nature of Mat kicked in. Between Facebook, Google+, and twitter, which platform would be most responsive to a post about scorpion stings? What would be your guess? The results may surprise you a bit.

Google+ Count

Have Matt in circles (2158) – That is a fairly good audience. Google+ is fresh. It’s the new upbeat social hang out. One could speculate that it has more real users… or not. But Google didn’t take the cake for Mat’s scorpion sting post.

Twitter Count

3,618 Followers – That is a healthy twitter following. Mat Siltala has been a very busy busy body on twitter. His follower to follow ratio is fantastic. He puts out a steady stream of useful content. And he laughs out loud some funny infographics. But can twitter compete with the socialness of facebook?

Facebook Social Weight

Friends (602) – Clearly Mat is more selective with his Facebook audience. With a count of 602 the facebook audience is a fraction of Mat’s Google+ and Twitter following. But honestly, Facebook seems to be more intimate. Mat’s lower friend count is because Mat is selective about who views his Facebook stream. And in Mat’s case, he shares things that are bit more private. So I naturally believed that Facebook would be the best setting for a conversation about scorpion stings. Regular life happens on facebook.

And the Scorpion Sting Survey Says…

Twitter wins!

So wait… twitter isn’t just about news and high-tech stuff? You can actually have a conversation on twitter about life? Do you want to know what I had for breakfast?

Okay… I will keep the meal tweets to a minimum. But I was shocked that twitter got the bulk of the interaction. Granted, this wasn’t a planned out scientific test so there are a number of variables that alter this example. But even still, a pest control guy can pick up a conversation on twitter about bugs. And if you know how to converse then you can effectively communicate with twitter. If you can communicate then you can market.

What are your thoughts on operation Scorpion Sting?

Related Articles

• What does a scorpion sting feel like? (bulwark pest control .com)
• FDA approves Scorpion Anti Venom for scorpion stings (blogpestcontrol.com)
• Video: Personal story of Anascorp saving young boy’s life.  (youtube.com)

I know sad that I must blog my own quotes…

As Shakespeare so put it, “Brevity is the soul of wit.”

Apparently this tweet was liked, as I received some mentions on it. This concept is the summation of a key element in search engine rankings and therefore the core of gaining search engine rankings.

Is Content King?

The search engines want to believe that the best content on the internet will win. They gauge this by links. If you like something then you will share it with others by linking to it. Who hasn’t gotten an email with a link in it to a funny video. Funny is almost always likable. Who doesn’t like things that are funny?… Okay maybe its not best to crack a joke when in a heated argument with a wife. But let’s not get into timing right now. The idea of the search engine tallying up links is to find the sites that are most liked by all. Content should incite people to like you. Content should give people a reason to link to you.

Offline Likability = Online Linkability

To expand this concept one step further, I believe your offline likability is also proportionate to your online link-ability. This is going beyond what the search engine would expect. Search Engine’s believe that people more likely to naturally link to an awesome hotel’s website after having a fantastic weekend of sterling customer service. Hence the best hotel wins. I ..Perhaps. But popularity of lesser hotels may out weigh the likability of awesome less known hotels. I believe we are now taking this one step further. I am more compelled to share articles from individuals that I know and like. I win more links from people I meet and establish a relationship with. Take for instance Dennis G., he’s likable and thus linkable. I am much more likely to link to Ebay after having met Dennis.

We could even Expand this chain to:

 Likable = Linkable = Tweetable = Diggable = Stumbleable = Remarkable = Rankable

As one comment I received stated… “Wow, thanks for that. I have to summarize today why losing links is a big deal, ane explain why they are going to lose their rankings.”

Glad I could help. =)

“So this is good and dandy for individuals but what about businesses. Are we in business to be friends with people?”

If you have not figured out the new online order, YES, YOU NEED TO MAKE FRIENDS.  Granted, being likable does not mean being buddy-buddy. You don’t need to be a BFF. But as a business you do need to serve a purpose and people need to like you doing that service. Disney probably puts it the best:

“Do what you do so well, that the people who see you do it, will want to see you do it again, and will bring others to see you do it.“

Adding a smile to your service helps bring them back for more. Being friendly helps them share your business with their friends. In today’s online world this is amplified over several thousand social connections. Social media works best for those that know how to act socially acceptable and be sociable. I am a pest control guy. My first priority is to get rid of bugs, my second is to make you smile a little longer.

Now go out and be LIKABLE!

Okay… I like Spiderman and all, but did it really out rank Ironman? I mean, I even have a biased to the spider since I am a pest control guy and all, but Iron Man nailed it! … But putting them in a real order wouldn’t leave much to debate here. And at least now I have a couple of rentals to consider since I haven’t seen several of your top 25. Cowabunga!

http://blog.moviefone.com/2011/05/10/best-comic-book-movies/

Here is their list:

25. ‘Shogun Assassin’ (1980)
24. ‘A History of Violence’ (2005)
23. ’300′ (2007)
22. ‘Road to Perdition’ (2002)
21. ‘Hellboy’ (2004)
20. ‘X-Men’ (2000)
19. ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ (2010)
18. ‘Persepolis’ (2007)
17. ‘Sin City’ (2005)
16. ‘X2′ (2003)
15. ‘Ghost in the Shell’ (1995)
14. ‘Iron Man’ (2008)
13. ‘Lupin the 3rd: Castle of Cagliostro’ (1979)
12. ‘Spider-Man’ (2002)
11. ‘The Rocketeer’ (1991)
10. ‘Superman’ (1978)
9. ‘American Splendor’ (2003)
8. ‘Men in Black’ (1997)
7. ‘Batman’ (1989)
6. ‘Spider-Man II’ (2004)
5. ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ (1990)
4. ‘Ghost World’ (2001)
3. ‘Akira’ (1988)
2. ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008)
1. ‘Blade’ (1998)

Well, where to begin with this list. Let’s just start with #1… SERIOUSLY? Sure the logic is sound, but I doubt that the general public would even place Blade in their top 10 list let alone #1. And I am surprised that 2 sequels beat out the originals (Spiderman II, and Dark Knight). In fact, Batman Begins didn’t even make their top 25. It only made mention to why Blade was number one. Which may not be all that honorable of a mention considering that they mentioned Daredevil in sync, which also didn’t make the list. If they were dipping into the top 25 as legendary status they also missed Tales from the Crypt, an EC comic book. And then you have to think about Dick Tracy being skipped over for a couple of less known animations films. Which is especially insulting when they didn’t add in any of Marvel’s full length Comic Book Animations. “Batman: Under the Red Hood” was an amazing movie. But I can see why you wouldn’t want to add another Batman to the list.

I must think that there is some criteria that is not being explained in the author’s selection. Some unwritten rule about it having to be a Comic Book prior to being a movie, which is understandable. I mean the Stars Wars and Indiana Jones movies made the comic books. But this doesn’t explain why Transformers was left off the list. Granted it was a Toy prior to it’s TV and Comic Book debut. But none the less, Transformers was a comic book at the same time it was a TV series, so without proper exclusion from the list for being a toy first, Transformers should have made the top 25. The author also included “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” which was graphic NOVEL, not a comic book.

Disclaimer: I am not a certified comic book specialist. So don’t mind me, just a Phoenix pest control guy doing my pest controlling.

You know I am often amazed how effective baits are in pest control.

The Fire Ant Bait

I sit in awe as fire ants emerge from an ant mound that was just disturbed by a human hand, and upon finding what smells like food, they quickly gather it in and take it down to their colony. How do they so easily forget that the hand that destroyed their peaceful rest is the hand dropping this tainted bait? Yet their swarm of furry and haste to horrid food ultimately leads to the demise of the entire strong hold. Oh little fire ant, leave the bait be.

The Harvester Ant Bait

Harvester Ants are  a bit smarter. Any bait laid directly on their mound is not trusted. They simply sweep it aside. Therefore to bait a harvester ant one must be a little more patient and not so direct. Sprinkle the bait about 6 inches from the mound. Do not disturb the mound. Let them be. Be subtle in your attack. Then patiently wait for the ants to emerge and search for food in their normal way.

Morale of the Story?

Sun Tzu says “Know the opponent and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril.”

As a pest control operator, if you don’t know the opponent then you are not going to know the best way to conquer. You must also be willing to know yourself. Which means knowing your limitations and being honest enough to stop and say, “I don’t know how to win this one.” Being brazen and forward moving as if you know everything may be the quickest way to prove you know nothing. Do that publicly and you will damage your reputation. It is better to be still and move when you know what your best move is. It is best with customers to acknowledge that you might need to do a little more research and work to make sure the problem is solved properly.

So I have been involved with Google tags for a little while now, since the beginning. Today Google announced that the sponsored tags for businesses would be no more.

“We’ve made a decision to shift our efforts toward other present and future product offerings for local businesses, and will be discontinuing this trial.”

http://googlesmb.blogspot.com/2011/04/update-on-tags.html

Honestly I hate to see these tags go.

Google tags may not have driven hordes of traffic, but that wouldn’t be any surprise as they were so localized. The truth of the matter is that they worked well for many small businesses. The sponsored tags did eat up some of the clicks a business may have received otherwise, but they added a few more that a business wouldn’t have gotten. This is one product that I openly endorsed for Google. This was a good product for most small businesses. Granted, I may have moaned a bit when they took away the view website option, but perhaps that’s because they replaced with … “View More Google Place Pages” options. Which means more views for Google Adsense. Sadly, this move to remove Google Tags sings the same song of “What’s Best for Google?”

Pushing the Google Boost Ads

My full review for Google Boost Ads. The Pros & the Pests to Automated Local Advertising

Google Boost has a lot to offer. And Google Boost has a lot lacking. From my perspective, what it lacks most is similar to what Google’s sponsored tags lacked, CUSTOMER CARE. Or better yet, what Guy Kawasaki stated, “IF you want your customers to trust you then you need to trust your customers.” There is a serious problem when a paying customer following Google’s guidelines gets a “Place no longer exists.” branded below a business name, simply because their trusted anonymous user says it to be so. And there are a myriad of other issues that Google’s local search team is also suffering much of it seems to stem from a trust factor and or customer care perspective. But…. Google’s local search is still the best out there! Heck, Bing isn’t even taking reviews right now. Plus Bing’s maps are horrible for embedding.

So here is my biggest complaint, Google wants to get rid of an nice entry level platform for Local businesses, the Sponsored tags. In it’s place they want to push, Google Boost. The reason this doesn’t look good is because the customer care part still doesn’t exist. But it looks even worse because the song I am hearing from Google is, “What’s going to make Google the most money? That would be Google Boost… So we have decided that Boost is what’s best for our customers.” “We know what’s best for you?” “Just Trust us?” That’s a pretty big step for business owners to take. Trust is most often built with time and history. One step at a time. Anybody that would marry after a first date is considered “NUTS”. Building a business relationship is the same way.

Will Google Boost work? Is it good for local businesses?

I would like Google boost to work for local businesses. But, it’s a completely automated system. As much as I trust the auto pilot on an airplane, I still need to be reassured that their is a real pilot to correct it’s mistakes. Do the math.

But I am just your local pest control guy, so don’t mind me.