Alright, this is getting ridiculous. How on earth am I supposed to be the last person on Twitter when I’m now getting bombarded with e-mails from friends and contacts wanting me to join?
Stop it!!!!!!! You’re supposed to be my friends, so start acting like it, fer cryin’ out loud…..
I love when people use my Flickr photos on their articles and blog posts. Found three such cases in the last week or so:
If you browse through the Greatest Hits section on Sphinn, you’ll see the charts dominated by many of the most familiar names in SEO and Social Media: Tamar, Danny Sullivan, Lyndon, Lee Odden, Vanessa Fox, Rand, John Andrews, and I snuck in there, too.
In each case, these are people who have been on Sphinn for a long time and have a measure of name recognition — they’re on the charts a lot, their submissions go hot on a consistent basis. But like any Greatest Hits chart, it wouldn’t be complete without the obligatory One-Hit Wonder. And Sphinn has its own one-hit wonder right here:
That’s currently the fourth-hottest hit in Sphinn history, and it comes from a user with the name KangoTraveler. Here are a few things to know about KangoTraveler:
In other words, KangoTraveler is Sphinn’s very own Gary Numan, A-Ha, and Toni Basil all rolled into one. Somehow, Sphinn’s Greatest Hits just wouldn’t seem right without him.
So with that in mind, a quick note to KangoTraveler, wherever he is: Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars. 
Busy day today for me. Here’s what I was posting on various social news / social media sites on Easter Sunday, usually with chocolate scattered all over my desk.
Hmmmm. No way this pace keeps up all week long.
A couple weeks ago, I was invited to speak at SearchFest 2008, which took place at the Portland Zoo. In the offices/conference area, not in the monkey habitat.
As the event was winding up, the zoo gates closed and since we were already inside the grounds, I basically had the run of the place. As a zoo lover, I couldn’t resist. I’ll get around to posting more photos to Flickr down the road, but this polar bear shot is one of my faves so it gets uploaded first.
Magnificent animal, isn’t it?
My father-in-law died in the wee hours this morning. He was 71. I didn’t really get a chance to say goodbye to him….
Dear Grandpa Ned,
I trust there’s a good Internet connection in Heaven, and that you now have automatic RSS feeds from all your family and friends. So here are a few things I need to tell you.
You were a great father-in-law. I feel so bad for people that hate their in-laws. I’ve been blessed with wonderful in-laws that have become family to me over 16+ years of marriage.
You were a great Dad. You raised a wonderful girl, and two sons with big hearts. Good people all around. You grilled me when I called for permission to marry your daughter, not because you doubted me, but because you love her so much. I hope you think you made the right choice when you said “yes.”
You had a great sense of humor, but came up with the worst puns and one-liners ever. I’ll never hear another terrible pun without thinking of you. In fact, bad jokes are usually referred to as “Ned jokes” in our house. Worst of all, I’ve started picking up your sense of humor. My poor kids…..
You were an amazing grandfather. Not because you gave our kids nice gifts, but because you gave them your time. I don’t know of any other granddad that would call, not to talk to his daughter, but so he could talk to his grandson — sometimes for 20 and 30 minutes — about life, school, sports, you name it. I’ll try to do the same when I have grandkids. You were one of Sean’s best friends. Thank you for that. He took a photo of you into school today for the weekly sharing time they do. He’ll miss you as much as anyone does.
You were a good man. I miss you already.
Your son-in-law,
Matt
Here’s what I shared on various social media sites over the past day or so.
First things first: I hate credit cards. I’m as guilty as anyone of being fiscally irresponsible with them in the past, but I also think a special circle of hell should be reserved for credit card companies. In the past year, the McGees have paid off and cancelled 6-7 credit cards, and we still have some to go. There will be a colossal party (paid with cash) when we finally pay off and cancel the last one. It’ll be so loud, you’ll hear us … no matter where you are.
Since we still have some credit cards, I decided a couple months ago to call each one to request a lower interest rate. It worked awfully well. I believe we’re paying, on the whole, somewhere around $90/month less simply due to lower interest rates. Doesn’t sound like much, but who wouldn’t take an extra $1,000/year if the only requirement was to make a few phone calls to Satan’s helpers?
On The Consumerist today, they shared a sample call script for making such a phone call:
“I think I’ve been a good customer. I’d like to stay with you, but I really want you to lower the rate on my card. Can you help me?”
Simple, but effective. It’s similar to mine, although I took a more drawn out approach and actually got the credit card employee to agree I was a great customer before agreeing to lower our interest rates. Here’s how the conversations typically went:
Me: Hi, my name’s Matt McGee. Do you have my account information in front of you? (Several times I had to punch my account number into the phone before reaching a human, but if not, I’d give my account number at this time.)
Them: Yes, I do.
Me: Great. You’re going to help me with a few questions and then I have a request after that.
Them: Okay. How can I help you?
Me: How long have I been a customer? When was this account opened?
Them: 1990 … 1994 … (or whenever).
Me: Great. And according to your records, have we ever missed a payment?
Them: No. No missed payments. You have a perfect payment record.
Me: Cool. Thanks. So, we’re longtime customers with an outstanding balance and we’ve never missed a payment. Would you agree that makes us a great customer?
Them: Yes, you’ve been an excellent customer. (One person even shared with me that, according to their private, internal rating system, we were in the top class of customers.)
Me: Thank you. Now here’s why I’m calling: We keep getting mail from your competitors offering really low interest rates on balance transfers, usually for the lifetime of the outstanding balance. They’re offering rates that are way below the XX% (I gave them the exact rate here to show I’d done the research) you’re charging me. So, since we’re such good customers, I’d like you to match the rate they’re offering me. Can you do that?
etc……
Admittedly, they were never able to match the 3.9% rates that others were offering me, but they were able to come close enough that it wasn’t worth the hassle of switching. (Plus, regular shifting of balances from one card to the next is supposedly a black mark on your credit rating.) And now we’re saving about $1k/year on interest. I’ll take that anytime.
(photo: Michael Brenton)
… when your customers enter you in this contest:
The Consumerist Presents: Worst Company In America 2008
Ouch.
I’m happy that no current clients are in the competition. There is, however, one former client and one owner of a current client. Should be fun to watch, regardless…..
