If you are looking for SEO/PPC bench mark data to make a case for a SEO budget this guide from MarketingSherpa(this guide has to be bought) will be a useful tool.

Also available (but a little old!) is the guide on Search Engine Optimization as told by 3000+ marketers (the link opens a PDF file) The guide/report was done in 2006 but still has a lot of relevant information for companies just starting out in the SEO space.

Taxpayers won’t notice. Will they?

Royson James
rjames@thestar.ca

See below for some excerpts from an article written by Royson James in The Star. Toronto Councillors have it to easy and we need to start making a noise about it. I find that the majority of us complain and sit back and do nothing about it! Get the F__K up and make a frigging noise… We are being managed by a bunch of bullies.

Mr. Lobo

“So, for the rare people out there who care about such matters, note that councillors gave themselves a 1.9 per cent hike, retroactive to Jan. 1, lifting their pay to $96,805 and the mayor’s to $163,040.”

“What has concentrated governance provided GTA taxpayers in the last year? Above-inflation property tax hikes; higher vehicle licence fees; thousands of dollars of land transfer fees when a property is sold; massive water rate hikes; increased garbage-collection fees; higher recreation fees. And the administration boasts we now have a balanced budget.”

Ever since the first time I tried their subs, I have always marveled at Quizno’s high quality and attention to detail on every visit. Although relatively high-priced, I was always willing to forego my lunch budget for a tasty, toasted, indulgent treat. Almost immediately, I fell in love with their Honey Mustard Chicken salad, which comes with mouth-watering garlic toast, juicy chicken, bacon bits, grated Parmesan cheese, croutons, cherry tomatoes, and the best-ever honey mustard dressing.

Last Friday, I decided to take our new guy, J.S., to our local Quizno’s on the corner of King & Dufferin in Toronto. I was eagerly awaiting the first taste of my favorite $8.00 salad and was completely oblivious of the angry-looking guy taking my order. After hearing my spiel about the Honey Mustard Chicken salad, J.S. also decided to indulge, and we sat there for 10 minutes, waiting for our masterpiece to arrive. After paying, we look into our bags to admire our salads, but immediately recoil in horror when we see their appearance (see at side and below). I couldn’t believe it – I was paying $8.04 for a head of lettuce, Single Slices, and a sprinkling of chicken?! Oh yeah, and I forgot the best part – the side of saltine crackers that came on the side. When I ask the girl at the counter why I didn’t get garlic toast, she sheepishly tells me that they ran out.

J.S. and I slowly walk back in silence, horrified at the prospect of eating this ‘salad,’ when all of a sudden he stops and tells me he that we should go back and talk to the manager. I immediately agree, and we storm back into Quizno’s and go over to talk to the manager. I show him the salad and tell him that we didn’t receive any garlic toast, bacon bits, Parmesan cheese, croutons, or tomatoes. He starts yelling at the girl, who smirks and tells him that they’ve run out of all this stuff. The manager then turns to the guy making the subs and orders him to find some croutons, while he fills a portion cup full with bacon bits for the two of us. He then apologizes and tells us that his two lazy, ignorant employees are new. Funny, I remember the sub guy from the last time I was there about two months ago…

The moral of the story? Never, ever, go to the Quizno’s located on King & Dufferin – you’ll end up paying $8.00 for a salad that looks like hurricane-ravaged remnants (Note: these pictures were in no way altered by computer graphics). Stay tuned for the follow-up story when I launch a formal complaint with Quizno’s Director of Public Relations…

- Ms. Hurley