I used to think that Arianna Huffington was a complete opportunist, and I still do. But she is a very interesting woman. Remember when she was the protégé of Newt Gingrich? How times have changed. She did an about-face, left her husband about the time he lost his bid for California governor and came out of the closet. Arianna moved on. Yes, the HuffPost is gossipy, opinionated and cheesy. But it also reflects my politics and opinion, so it’s okay with me.

The journalists that the HuffPost has lured onto its pages have increased the prestige of the HuffPost, a big part of what enhanced its value is savvy keyword/SEO strategies–specifically, stealing headlines from other publications. It all comes down to googling and search results. The value of the HuffPost was predicated on the number of page views.

While many HuffPost visitors come to read political commentary and news, a big chunk come for the splashy headlines and articles, including a recent story, Chelsy Davy & Prince Harry: So Happy Together. According to The New York Times, this was not really a HuffPost article at all; rather, it was two sentences and a slide show of the happy couple. Eye candy: yes; news value: absolutely none, unless you’re a royals watcher.

Apparently Chelsy Davy was one of the top searches on Google that day, and the HuffPost quickly took advantage of a high-profile series of pictures and a sexy topic; their function was simply that of an amalgamator.

They quickly recognized opportunity, created a headline, a few sentences and a link to the Chelsy Davy article which actually lived on the People website. The result was that when someone googled Chelsy Davy, Google results included not just People, the original site, but the HuffPost, who really just stole a headline.

This is what obsessive SEO experts are doing to drive traffic to their websites. Does this raise some moral issues? I think so. Do I see this changing? Not at all. We live in a world where a whole generation of people are learning to communicate in 140-character sound bites.

We have launched wars against two countries in the Middle East who only want us to leave. We’ve spent more money in Afghanistan than we spend on our own homeland security. We’ve bombed the hell out of this country that is reduced to a pile of rubble, a country whose literacy rate is a whopping 10% and is the one of the most corrupt nations on earth. Why are we still in this cesspool when our own people are living in poverty and people are going hungry? Our infrastructure is shot and cities and states are bankrupt. Moral issues? Are they even relevant any more?

Janet Peischel, Top of Mind Marketing and Business Development. .

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One thing they don’t tell you is that you’re going to get spammed. For each directory, you have to enter your contact information. For many of these, you will receive an additional email to which you must respond in order to activate the account. The thing to remember is that they now own your email address. And as you know, once you get on a mailing list, it can be very difficult to get off it.

Be diligent in looking for that tiny little box asking you if you want to receive further notifications. The sneaky part: this is generally already checked as the default. If you miss this, you have just signed up for their communications and well may be on this list for life. You can scroll to the bottom of an email and click on Safe Unsubscribe, but these guys may not bother to update their databases to reflect this change, so when they get ready to send the next communication, they simply export their contact lists, and guess what–you’re still on it.

So how to avoid these unwanted communications? Spam filters can help, but frankly, I think this is the cost of doing business. My advice? Take a look at these newsletters that hit your inbox–they are often a source of good information and may provide ideas for your next newsletter or blog. Don’t be afraid to poach ideas.

Also talk to me about SEO. Now that I’ve become an expert, I’m providing this service for my clients, including writing and posting articles, at different support levels. For a couple of clients, I completely write and post these. For others, it’s a collaboration. The methodology is completely up to the client. I know many people who are good writers, but finding time to write and post articles just doesn’t happen. For these clients, I am happy to become their voices.

Janet Peischel, Top of Mind Marketing and Business Development. .

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Key West, on the other hand, doesn’t appear to sleep at all. We were out hitting the bars one night until 2:00am, and people were still wandering the streets with drinks in hand. Partying–make that drinking–seems to be the major industry. Bands start playing at noon and the biggest decision is whether to kick off the day with a Bloody Mary or an iced cold beer.

Incredibly, people still smoke, love their food fried; and there’s very little evidence of our obsession with local, sustainable products; in other words, the food sucks. We tried a few rum drinks which were not very good and switched to ice cold beer. One bartender tried to seduce us into trying a pickle shooter–a shot of Jamesons followed by a shot of pickle juice. Think pucker. We resisted this drink as well as the urge to strip down and dance at a clothing-optional bar. A few people really did shed their clothing, many were topless and still others were indulging in a range of sexy behaviors. One woman appeared to be clad in strategically placed tattoos only. There were some gay bars and a drag show which had many people gawking.

But the best thing about Key West is free–the culture. Casual, laid back, warm and sunny with a tropical breeze. It’s very seductive. The utterly glorious Sunset Celebration also carries no price tag and happens every single night, regardless of season. People stream into the plaza to watch the sun drop below the horizon in a riot of pink and orange.

In Key West, people give themselves permission to not do much of anything except drink. It’s like a frat party for grownups, and I can’t wait to go back.

Janet Peischel, Top of Mind Marketing and Business Development. .

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Watching Sister Sarah self-destruct. I know. Maybe it’s not fair to keep picking on her, but it’s so much fun! I watched her the night of the Arizona memorial service and as always, was perplexed that this idiot was juxtaposed on the news with the President of the United States. She’s sporting a new haircut with some trailer trash streaks.

On the question of whether/not she will run for president? Get a grip. Her approval ratings are in the 20s and plummeting, and she’s just way too lazy to be president–it’s a 24/7 job, for crying out loud. Sarah couldn’t even sustain interest in a four-year term as governor of a state with fewer than a half million people. Try this: Close your eyes and try to picture her on the global stage, interacting with leaders from around the world. Scary.

Following the dysfunction of the Tea Party. These Don’t Tread on Me people are not team players. Here’s what I see happening: These divisive boobs are not going to be interested in joining together for either the good of the party or the country which means that the Republicans will be even more fractured and will accomplish very little. John Boehner will finally have a real reason to weep. This bodes badly for the country, but will be a boost for the Obama Administration, which has accomplished extraordinary things in two years. Obama’s ratings are way up for a good reason. He’s tackling big issues and has evolved into an extraordinary leader.

Thoughts of spring and warm temperatures which means baseball. One of my old pals, a diehard Chicago Cubs fan, thinks that Pitchers and Catchers Report are the sweetest words in the English language. In a little more than a month and we can be reading about our favorite team in spring training. Expectations are high, with a lot of conversation about whether Brandon Belt can belt and whether or not Pablo’s fitness program is working. Face it: we’d all like Pablo better with a little less of him.

Trying to figure out what’s going on with Dick Cheney. Like Pablo, he’s lost some weight and is now sporting a pump that lives outside his body and apparently keeps his heart beating. This is all a little chilling, especially because I never thought he had a heart.

Getting out of Afghanistan. We’re spending more there than on our own homeland security. Is there some reason why we continued to be mired in this cesspool? You can’t help people who don’t want to help themselves. I just saw the excellent documentary about Benazir Bhutto and her mantra was that democracy is the best revenge. That well may be, but I’m not sure it is possible in the world’s third most corrupt country with a 90% illiteracy rate and complete lack of infrastructure. Time to deal with the many problems here in our own country.

Janet Peischel, Top of Mind Marketing and Business Development. .

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He’s a candidate for a heart transplant, except the clock is running out. The former vice president is 69 and looks it. Furthermore, it appears that once you hit 70, you are no longer eligible for a transplant–they go, instead to younger, healthier people. (Though it wouldn’t surprise me if he somehow got caught up in some kind of illegal organ smuggling scam.) This power tripper has sent so many other people to die in the unnecessary war in Iraq that it might be some kind of divine justice for him to realize that he is, after all, mortal.

Janet Peischel, Top of Mind Marketing and Business Development. .

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Okay. Let’s take a look at the steely, smart and extraordinarily effective outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She has been a remarkable leader, a critical player in the passage of key legislation, including the healthcare bill. She has been a formidable fundraiser and leader who has elected to stick around Washington when many politicians in her situation leave town with tails between legs. (Remember when big, fat Dennis Hastert threw in the towel when Pelosi became Speaker.)

What kind of a career would Pelosi have had if she had broken down in public? That’s easy–she would not have had a career in public office. She would not have represented her district in Washington and helped shaped public policy for more than 20 years. It looks like we’ve got a little double standard going on here, but then, that shouldn’t surprise anyone.

Janet Peischel, Top of Mind Marketing and Business Development. .

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But the one that really has me reeling is the protest outside of Elizabeth Edwards’ funeral. The congregation of Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church has made a name for itself for its very vocal demonstrations against homosexuality. God Hates Fags is their war cry, and they’re prepared to save us from the evils of the LGBT community. Great. We here in the Bay Area are all pretty scared of our gay population.

Now these people are picketing this funeral because the Edwards’ son Wade died in a car crash in 1996. So here’s their rationale: “When the Edwardses were visited from the Most High God with the death of their 16-year-old son, they did not humble themselves before His mighty hand. They reared up in rage, decided they would show God who is boss, and meddled in matters of the womb, resulting in two more children–now motherless.”

So much for mourning the tragic death of a vibrant, accomplished mother of three. According to these crazies, she now resides in hell and it is their job to picket the church. This would be a great time for people not to take their jobs so seriously.

Janet Peischel, Top of Mind Marketing and Business Development. .

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No one wants to read about the woman who Karl Rove thinks hasn’t the necessary gravitas to be the Republican presidential candidate in 2012. Gravitas? Get a grip. She’s a mess, but the only Republican potential candidate who’s getting any attention at all. Who’s interested in Mitt Romney and Mitch McConnell when we can listen to Sarah spout off on any number of topics on which she has no understanding or knowledge.

I read an editorial this morning that suggested that she’s really not interested in the presidential sweepstakes because she is basically very, very lazy. Look at her performance in Alaska. Once she tasted the limelight, she lost all interest in the heavy lifting of government. Karl Rove believes that appearing on your own reality TV show doesn’t necessarily qualify you to run for president of the US. For once, I have to agree with Karl.

My message to Sarah is to keep it up. Nothing would be better for the Dems than to be running against Sister Sarah. This crazy woman will split the ticket in a way that hasn’t happened since Ralph Nader ran for office and split the Democratic ticket so badly that we ended up with W.

Janet Peischel, Top of Mind Marketing and Business Development. I help my clients increase sales by 15%/quarter.

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I have always loved the holidays–I love them for the many things that don’t cost anything–the smell of pine boughs, the lighting of the Christmas trees, the flicker of lighted candles, the sounds of Christmas carols, my silly Rudolph earrings that I wear once a year, getting together with friends and family and sharing time with those I love.

I was talking with a colleague who has neither the money nor the interest in buying endless breakable, battery-operated toys for her two daughters. Their tradition is to give each other one gift–and it’s always a homemade one. Homemade means made at home and made with love. She’s been able to make her daughters understand the joy that comes from giving something that comes from your heart. Something into which you pour your creativity and imagination. Lovingly made, beautifully wrapped and presented with the pride of accomplishment and the conviction that someone’s going to love you for what you have done.

She has inspired me. I plan to spend less and enjoy a lot more this year.

Janet Peischel, Top of Mind Marketing and Business Development. I help my clients increase sales by 15%/quarter.

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People like Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, who will be the new Speaker of the House, have cooked up a strategy that consists only of defeating President Obama. Nothing about working tirelessly across the aisle to come up with creative solutions to all of the problems that plague our country. No collaboration to figure out how to get out of Afghanistan, deal with terrorism, shore up our own infrastructure and continue to build relationships with foreign countries–all foreign countries. Instead, these people promise to focus on overturning healthcare, tax cuts and any social programs that might help a lot of people get back on their feet.

President Obama swept into office offering hope, intelligence, experience and the resolve to solve the problems that plague our country. We’ve now voted in a group of dullards. I’m reminded of the Bush years, and I feel like we’re moving inexorably backwards once again.

Janet Peischel, Top of Mind Marketing and Business Development. I help my clients increase sales by 15%/quarter.

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