By Kaity Nakagoshi, Published November 7, 2014
Go figure.
One of the very first emails that I ever generated as a “true freshman” link builder, circa September 2011, got published as a blog post. Don’t believe it? Boom – See for yourself. But just to clarify, despite what presumably seems like an overt display of a passive aggressive #HumbleBrag, thirst for praise actually plays a minimal role here.
Nevertheless, here’s what the original email said, verbatim:
Greetings Chris!
I started to comment on your “Thinking End to End on Product Packaging” post but then I realized I had too much to say, and composing an e-mail would be more appropriate.
I’m jealous that you were in San Francisco last year. I live in Florida but of all the places on the west coast, it is the place I want to visit most. I’m a sucker for some crab cakes and trendy cities. I actually work for the University of San Francisco’s online certificate program and I’m not surprised about the decrease in carbon emissions. The school is one of the few that offers a masters certificate in sustainable supply chain management. As your witty blog heading points out, supply chain management is often overlooked by consumers, and even by managers. Even worse, not all companies are on board with the “environmental footprint” movement. Implementing a sustainable supply chain effectively is a sure fire way to gain positive public opinion and stay competitive in the industry.
Now back to your post. I love that you were at the farmer’s market. I bet San Francisco has great ones! There is one by my house every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month at an outdoor shopping mall. I look forward to it every time because I am willing to pay a little bit more for quality products in order to support local businesses. I have a dream of starting my own small business (something with food J) and would hope locals would support me as well. Last time I went to the farmer’s market I bought pierogis (I put apple sauce on them!) and honey. The honey vendor said that consuming the honey of the current season might help with my allergies.
As for the actual bottle of cranberry juice….the plastic vs. glass strategy is, like you said, “simple, yet effective”. I mean sure, glass looks pretty and it can be recycled. But plastic can also be recycled, and it doesn’t break (loss of inventory). Some companies, like Starbucks and Zephyrhills Spring Water, have even figured out how to reduce the amount of plastic used in their products. As a consumer, it is nice to see positive changes like that. And as a manager, I’m sure it is nice to see a decrease in costs.
Happy day!
Kaity Nakagoshi
*goodness this girl is long-winded….*
Valid point. At least in this particular case. As someone who despises talking on the phone and is easily turned off by lengthy emails, or any reading material for that matter, I wouldn’t blame you for thinking the email message above is too long. On the flip side, over three years have gone by and I’ve relinquished my rookie link builder status, but I still stand by the message I sent to Mr. Sciacca.
Truth be told, it would be an absolute blessing if ALL of my link building emails could mimic the same approach. Even though I’d consider myself a seasoned SEO link builder at this point, the process certainly hasn’t gotten any easier with years of experience under my belt. How can that be? After all, practice makes perfect….
Wrong. Search Engine Optimization is one of few things in life that can’t be mastered by means of practice, which is what makes this SERPs game so fiercely competitive and frustrating. Just ask some of the MVP’s of SEO – Matt Cutts, Rand Fishkin, and Eric Ward – the SERP monster never sleeps! 
Algorithm changes and updates are basically the rulers of all of search engine land. Those that are obedient and loyal to their wishes are rewarded with higher rankings. In order for your website to avoid punishment from the Google algorithm gods, your SEO strategy must stay up to date. Link building methods that were once “white hat” are now doomed for darkness, and what’s best for SEO today could very well be gone tomorrow.
It’s a vicious cycle, or “virtual insanity” if you will. However, just because there are a multitude of roadblocks in the way of link building, that doesn’t mean you can’t win. These days, link building is all about quality over quantity – quality content and quality back links. Producing such quality demands a considerable amount of time and effort, the kind of time and effort that was put into my email that was published.
*Sigh* Those were the good old days….
The kicker about the email is that even though it was sent for link building purposes, not once did I mention anything about a guest post, links, or SEO. As luck would have it, that well thought out and genuinely composed email resulted in one of the easiest back link I’ve ever gotten. It makes me wonder what kind of SEO success could be had now, if I actually had the time to focus strictly on value, and worry less about workload volume. It’s simply not feasible for someone juggling multiple job roles along with a generous handful of SEO clients. It’s also a prime example of why every domain needs a designated link builder.
Recommended Reading:
Search Engine Watch – It’s Not an SEO’s Job to Create Content by Jon Ball – http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2375158/Its-Not-an-SEOs-Job-to-Create-Content
Search Engine Land – Why Your Content Marketing Team Needs a Link Builder – http://searchengineland.com/content-marketing-team-needs-link-builder-201403
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