In his most recent game, I correctly guessed that it was Kim Krause Berg’s Cre8tive Flow blog. Kim who is one to give credit where credit is due wrote;

One teeny clarification…the blog is not entirely mine. It’s the Cre8asiteforums blog and has a staff of writers from both the Membership and the moderators. It’s Editor in Chief is Elizabeth Able.

So Chris asked me a few questions so he could write a bit about my blog. Normally I’d just send him the answers in email but I wanted to let everyone know about the great job he is doing at the MIMA blog so I’m posting the answers here. Of course Chris can get my answers and put them on the MIMA blog but he’s already mentioned me several times and I think his readers may be tired of hearing about me. My site China Search Marketing Tour was the subject of game 3 and he interviewed Boris Mordkovich about the hot magazine, Search Marketing Standard and reviewed the edition that included my article on sem training.

Here are the questions Chris asked;

There are quite a few training courses popping up around the industry, what should people look for when trying to decide which one to take? * Are there any standard certifications that are accepted industry wide? Do you think there is any practical way of creating one? * How do you think search marketing education will evolve? One last thing: how did you guess Kim’s site?

There are quite a few training courses popping up around the industry, what should people look for when trying to decide which one to take? Chris there are indeed quite a few sem training courses popping up these days. I think people interested in taking these courses should look for the training that best fits their needs. You can tell pretty quickly how advanced some of these courses are and you should find one that meets your skill level. People should also see who the instructors are and do a little research about them. And finally, find one that fits your budget.

Are there any standard certifications that are accepted industry wide?Good question Chris, the simple answer is no. Since there are no industry standards then any of the certification programs have to stand on their own merit. For example SEMPO offers their own search marketing certification but those courses are developed by SEMPO members and the standards are based on what those members determine to be best practices. That could be different standards than other sem certification or training courses.

Do you think there is any practical way of creating one? Again because of there are no industry standards then developoing an industry wide acceptable certification would be difficult. I’d like to see some independent organization rate the training programs and help integrate an experience component to the certification.

How do you think search marketing education will evolve?I think there will be more and more sem training and certification courses popping up as the need for search engine marketing experts grow. The good ones will rise to the top as people who took the courses get hired by leading search marketing firms and the others will struggle. Again experience will always trump a certification so people should make sure they develop a portfolio of their work.

One last thing: how did you guess Kim’s site?Now Chris if I told you that then everybody would use my method and it wouldn’t be fair. Let’s just say I like to network on MyBlogLog and leave it at that.

Thanks Chris for you work on the MIMA blog and for the fun “Guess the Internet Marketing Site”, game. Best wishes to you and all the MIMA members.

Planned retreats are scheduled this year in San Francisco, Orlando, Chicago, Phoenix and Dallas. Here’s a recap from the San Antonio Elite Retreat by Chris Hooley.

The next Elite Retreat is being held in San Francsico March 19th and 20th. The Elite Retreat is in fact “elite”, as in exclusive and pricey coming in at $4, 950. So is it worth it? Well I’ll give you 7 reasons to go and then you tell me.

1. Guy Kawasaki – Keynote Speaker – venture capitilast

2. Jeremy Schoemaker – sem expert

3. Lee Dodd – social networking expert

4. Aaron Wall - seo expert

5. Darren Rowse – blogging expert

6. Kris Jones - online media expert

7. Neil Patel – marketing consultant

So you tell me. Is it worth it? All I know is this is a pretty impressive lineup and I’d sure go if I could. Go ahead, treat yourself. By the way, Joe Whyte has some great interviews with some of these guys over at Lunar Pages Blog.

Date: Monday March 19th and Tuesday March 20th

Location: San Francisco Downtown Courtyard, San Francisco, CA

Meals: Breakfast and lunch will be provided Monday and Tuesday.

The Leaders: Jeremy “Shoemoney” Schoemaker, Lee Dodd, Aaron Wall, Darren Rowse, and more!

Attendees: This event is very exclusive and has limited availability. Attendees will be chosen by an application only process. The purpose of this event is to take your business to another level, from good to great. Bring your business plan or current site objectives with you and we will help you optimize your business structure. This would definintely benefit you to bring your team or just your coder so you can work together on what you learn.

Hotel Information: The San Francisco Downtown Courtyard is located in the heart of beautiful San Francisco. The rate for hotel rooms is $209/night and reservations may be made by calling the hotel at 415-947-0700 and use “Elite Retreat” to get the discounted rate. The deadline to book your room at the group rate is by March 10th.