Timothy Pascoe - date: 2011/02/11 09:24 am

Dear Maurav,

Thanks for your great comment - your honesty is refreshing. As you say, in many of these things, I or you (as the individuals involved) may be the only ones, who know whether we acted rightly or wrongly, honestly or dishonestly. But, we live with the consequences in our hearts and minds.

I certainly don't claim to be a paragon of virtue. There are many things I do even today (in my relationships, etc.) where I regret my hasty or unthinking actions. However, from time to time, we get something right. I hope that is what I did with the Black Hat/White Hat choice.

Such challenges can come in many forms as I illustrate in the Potshot itself re my actions in relation to a board decision in a small company I was running. I look back on it with regret still today - even though, in that case, I was naive rather than consciously dishonest.

Thank you again for your comment.

Timothy

Gaurav Mishra - date: 2011/02/11 08:52 am

Dear Sir,

I don't know what is right and what is wrong... Its all in terms of Google and the WWW Consortium which made the rules to let some smart people not take the whole advantage with the means which (for those for whom that idea didn't click)is/was unfair.

I would like to share one lesson from my life:

I did my schooling and then my graduation. I have always been one of the smart students, one who never studied for marks so never got them and so never cheated for it... "till"....

I was always proud of my knowledge and creativity in helping others with their simple problems. I always held my head high ("till") for not cheating and passing my classes.. [though it took me long to pass them because of the CGPA method (and I was never inclined to change my way of understanding or studying.. which was stubborn part of me I think !)].. "till"...

"till": I asked for a favor from my teacher and at night (at around 1:30 AM) I was asked to contact few students. I contacted them and got 4-5 questions to prepare. Studied with those students, took the exam next day and got the passing marks in that subject. I was not the only student who got the questions. 3 of us were having that backlog and all of us got them. I got to know that all the students of our batch got them too. But somewhere in my heart I feel guilty. This "till" has stuck with me for the rest of my life and I take care not to repeat my mistake.
I took that decision as I was in tremendous pressure of the subject and my surroundings ... but I am still uneasy with what I did.


Note: Are you comfortable with others using Black hat techniques for SEO to beat you? You are the one who has to answer this.

Baseline: It is all in our heart! Its your call. None of us shall ever know which step (Black hat / White hat) you took. But till the time you can held your head high, you are a leader. :)

Timothy Pascoe - date: 2011/01/07 08:15 am

Dear Phadke and Langdon,

I'm sorry Phadke that it has taken me a few days to respond to your kind comment. As always, you offer a broad perspective - highlighting the need for all of us to keep on learning and sharing our learning. Absolutely correct.

This links well to Langdon's post, which emphasises the importances of us all caring for the systems that underpin and support our personal and professional lives. If we abuse these, why shouldn't everyone? All aspects of the world around us (whether the natural environment or the man-made structures and systems) are ours to care for.

Many thanks to you both,

Timothy

Langdon Stevenson - date: 2011/01/06 06:07 pm

For the record Timothy, I am certain that you did act the right way on this issue.

Regarding SEO, my advice is always the same: do our actions improve "the system" (i.e. the value of the Internet and search engines like Google) for the people we want to do business with? Or do they just benefit us while reducing the overall usefulness of the system (by distorting the results and information that it returns).

Some people will say "if it's not illegal, then we should do it". There are two reasons not to do this:


The first is purely practical - if the actions break the terms of service of Google et al and risk having the site's search ranking lowered, or the site dropped all together, then any website owner would be CRAZY to take the risk. In this day and age, if you are not listed in Google, then your business is dead.

The second is ethical - we live in a world where everyone seems to take the attitude that all that matters is _them_ and their success. They don't stop to think about (or perhaps care about) what their actions cost society as a whole. We see examples of this every day all around us - people living to the letter of the law for their own benefit, while needlessly making life harder for others around them.


As a matter of leadership, trying to trick the system strikes me as very poor form. And falling back on the excuse of "everyone else does it, so we should too" just doesn't cut it ethically.

I am really pleased to see that the other comments here are so strongly aligned on this issue.

Regards,
Langdon

Timothy Pascoe - date: 2011/01/05 12:30 pm

Dear Matt,

Many thanks for your thoughtful comment.

I think it's fair to say that we are of one mind in this matter.

For a leader, cutting corners infects the culture of the whole organisation.

Best wishes,

Timothy

Phadke Subodhkumar Narayan - date: 2011/01/05 07:35 am

Namaste sir,

My suggestion is you have tremendous wealth of experience & knowledge. This wealth is needed by many ones across the globe. Reach out and share with all of them and empower them. By doing this, tons of people across the globe will be able to "create new history" for themselves in their professional/personal life - learning or unlearning or relearning from you, from your knowledge & from your experience.

And this is what personally I learned, unlearned & relearned and am still learning, unlearning & relearning everyday. Having said this, I also appreciate all other comments. My comments are based on my personal experience and Indian history books + Indian freedom books that inspired me.

With Internet as a God gift & blessings. All the walls are broken and we all are living in global village. Who will benefit from whom and for what? No one can write a mathematical formula that can be used as a standard process and/or SOP. In turn trying out every idea and that too using one of the cheapest tool like web is the best option available for all smart people like you/all and me.

Sincerely I remain,

Phadke S. N.

Matt Smolecki - date: 2011/01/05 02:19 am

Tim,
You answered your own question and the bottom line succinctly when you use the terms "black-hat," "clandestine" and "deceptively."
It is clear these ideas did not sit well with you and you chose what you felt was the right way (and is).
What is sad is that so many business leaders don't possess that ability to feel the moral wrong and only think that their success is tied to the profitability. Even worse are thsoe who do feel it and still choose wrong.
You have created an incredible and useful tool. It will grow in time as more leaders receive the link from others who see it and pass it along.
While there are great demands on any organization to grow and increase profits for shareholders their leaders should never circumvent the moral and ethical path to get there. Doing so eventually catches up... Savings and Loans, Bank Failures, Automakers, Enron, Worldcomm, etc., etc., etc.
Stay true to yourself and you will be rewarded and exaulted in due time. Much better then receiving the proverbial "rough end of a pineapple" as explained on a visit to Australia many years ago.

Cheers and all my best wishes for a great new year.

Matt

Timothy Pascoe - date: 2011/01/04 10:45 am

Dear Ian,

Many thanks for taking time to comment on my most recent Potshot.

Like you, I'm not seeking a deck chair by the water in the sun-drenched Bahamas - at least not if it takes being dishonest to get there.

Better, as you say, to take the road less travelled: putting in the effort and time to build something solid.

I'm delighted you added your voice to the discussion. Please do so from time to time. The more the merrier - and more helpful to everyone.

Timothy

Ian Reid - date: 2011/01/04 10:41 am

Dear Timothy,

I dare respond in this dog eat dog world. I posit that my view may not lead me to a deck chair by the water in the sun-drenched Bahamas with sunglasses and Pina Colada. But then - who knows?

There seems to be an underlying principle and that is 'honesty' or 'trueness'. The 'black path' seems to have something in common with 'blackmail' and that is that to embark on that path there is no turning back. If that is the path of the squabbling throng and it distinguishes itself by being without distinction.

The 'white hat' path on the other hand suggests a slower passage through the network (of corporate leadership consciousness). The growth will be organic and stable. 'Quality' is valued and will be passed on as such through a network of individuals who value quality. This covers the commercial aspect.

I posit it will lead to a more solid network though perhaps achieved more slowly but will, like the Himalayas, create its own weather.

Leadership is a personal quality and demands venturing on paths less trodden. Its prime requisite is the inspiration of trust through honesty, fairness, sound judgement and the ability to make decisions - and to stand apart from the mob.

As a leader I would feel better to choose the solid ground of pursuit of quality rather than bluster for points by common practice in competition with the hungry mob.

Timothy, if I'm wide of the mark - Happy New Year anyway! Kind regards

Ian Reid

Timothy Pascoe - date: 2011/01/04 10:31 am

Dear John,

We are of one mind. My reaction to the original proposal was very much like yours. However, I was worried lest I was being too old-fashioned. I'm delighted that at least I'm not alone! And, as you say, life is a long journey: and the sound path gets you there in the end.

Having said all of that, Stephen's comments raises an important point in terms of what falls between the white and black options. The grey territory is more complex.

All the best for 2011.

Timothy

John Burrows - date: 2011/01/04 10:08 am

Timothy
I would hope that you would avoid 'gaming'. To game tarnishes your brand.
You sell ehtical relevant leadership for life and commercial success. Going into the 'black' doesn't support your brand and could demean all you stand for.
Taking this stance also avoids you being lost among the vast number of people who purport to sell leadership. Look for the way to standout with discretion, this will be far more profitable.
Happy New year...
jbb

Timothy Pascoe - date: 2011/01/04 08:55 am

Dear Stephen,

Many thanks for your very helpful note.

It's good to be reminded (for this as for most discussions), it's not a black/white choice. Most decisions have to be made in the grey space between.

I still have plenty to learn in the SEO/online area.

Again thanks,

Timothy

Stephen - date: 2011/01/03 11:35 pm

Dear Timothy,

Most blackhat techniques are not illegal and only go against Googles terms of services.

There are a variety of blackhat techniques, some obviously subversive and some that can simply be called "gaining a competitive advantage".

I would certainly steer clear of automated backlink spamming, cloaking techniques and other google bot subversions.

However, there are some very good techniques for mixing black hat safely with white hat (=gray hat) including:

1. Article marketing: publishing quality articles to internet directories (adding high page rank backlinks pointing to your white hat site).

2. RSS: Create RSS feeds for your content and publish to aggregators. Other site owners will pick up your content and publish on their website, creating a fresh backlink to your website.

3. HelpaReporter: Write articles for reporters and have then published on high ranking websites with a backlink to your website.

4. Blog Network: Create your own network of interesting blogs on different FREE hosts and add backlinks from them back your website.

amongst others.

Regards
Stephen Ryan