People Who Matter

It’s late on Sunday night, February 12, 2012 and last night pop singer Whitney Houston passed away at the age of 48.  She started the trend that gave us pop diva’s like Mariah Carey and Katy Perry.  Whitney had a voice that could simply blow you away. I’m not ashamed to admit that I very much enjoyed many of her songs and particularly loved her rendition of the national anthem at the super bowl (I believe it was in 1991 – but I might be wrong).

Naturally there have been lots of tributes all over the news and social media and tonight the Grammy’s were filled with emotional messages and tributes. During dinner NBC ran an hour long show all about Whitney’s life. 

I guess she deserves all this fuss – her voice was a gift and blessed any ear it touched, but all the attention seems misplaced to me. There are so many people who have given so much; soldiers who have died in battle, doctors who have cured thousands, or scientists who find solutions to our most perplexing problems and yet we never hear about any of them.  On CNN’s website there has been prominent displays of all the Whitney Houston news coverage – which is great, but why isn’t there a box on the front page of their website paying tribute to soldiers who have lost their lives, or doctors who heal people?

I know our culture is obsessed with celebrity’s and athletes and too often the more outrageous the personality the more we like it. Maybe it’s a necessary distraction from the tedium of our lives. Maybe we look at those people wishing we were them or wondering what it’s like to be famous and have lots of money. 

I don’t think it’s bad to look up to people, but I wish we looked up more often to people of intellect and character who make a real difference in the world. I’d love to see a poster of Einstein or George Eastman or Bill Gates hanging on my kids walls rather than Michael Jackson. 

I appreciate the gifts that Whitney Houston shared with the world and it’s sad to see her life end prematurely, but I’m also saddened that so much attention is paid to someone who was an entertainer and admitted drug addict while so little attention is paid to others who have contributed so much more. 

Perhaps those who have contributed more prefer it that way. 

Keyword Madness

With workingmenshealthandfitness.com well under way I have been trying to learn the art of keywords and SEO.  Of course there a million resources available on the internet, but this is one of those things were you have to roll up your sleeves and get dirty.

Last night I dug in and formatted my first article and tried to get a good title and good keywords into the body, but I’m not sure I succeeded. Part of the problem is that the millions of articles about keywords and SEO also contain millions of opinions and strategies. I’ve been following a strategy laid out by Pat Flynn from smartpassiveincome.com because his makes the most sense and he’s demonstrated considerable knowledge and success, unlike many ‘experts’ who have accomplished little besides flapping their gums. 

I am not a patient person, but I’m learning to how to be one. Generating traffic and letting people know what we have to offer is a slow process, but we have already seen a little traffic on our website, our Facebook page, and our Google + page. 

Hopefully in the future I will be able to hire someone to take care of all this keyword and SEO stuff for me, but for now it’s a valuable lesson into how things work.