Acknowledgments

Wow. Writing this book was more intense than I had imagined. I daydreamed about writing for a few hours each day, then spent the rest of my time managing client projects, exercising, napping, learning about Feng Shui, attending culinary school, and taking up a hobby. Um, writing and client projects took center stage. Sometimes, I made it to the gym.

Tapping into nearly 10 years of my search engine experience while including today's top tools and techniques was time-consuming . But I wasn't alone in my efforts. I had a wonderfully-supportive team of statistical research and case study providers, mentors, reviewers, editors, publicists, and even cheerleaders.

I'd like to thank my first mentor in this industry, Danny Sullivan. When you spotted my postings on an online discussion list and invited me to speak at the 1999 Search Engine Strategies Conference, I was introduced to your Search Engine Watch site and a community of other search engine marketers. You created an educational hub which was, and still is, instrumental to my education. Thank you for building this extensive network of resources. And thank you for inviting me to contribute to it over the years.

A huge "thank you" goes out to my book team. Shari Thurow introduced me to New Riders Publishing and acted as my book coach. Thank you for all of your ideas, comments, and inspiration. This book was born with assistance from the New Riders staff ‚ especially Stephanie Wall, Lisa Thibault, Michael Thurston, and Aren Howell. Stephanie, thank you for supporting my vision and walking through this process with me. Lisa, my fellow Virgo, your attention to detail and deadline reminders were much appreciated. Michael, thanks for your "hawk eyes" in perfecting page layout and content. Aren, love the cover. And many thanks to my content reviewers: Craig Fifield, Jeremy Sanchez, and Troy Perkins.

Numerous companies shared their research, tips, and experiences for this book. The search engines played a key role ‚ especially Overture (Dina Freeman, Craig Wax, Angelin Tan) and FindWhat.com (Karen Yagnesak, Dan Ballister, Bryan Chaikin, Yvette Fernandez) ‚ in providing additional content and recommendations. I also appreciate the case studies and information provided by the following companies: 1ShoppingCart.com (Rob Bell), Alchemist Media (Jessie Stricchiola), Baker & Hostetler (Deborah Wilcox), Bruce Clay (Bruce Clay), Commission Junction (Nathan Fish, Lisa Riolo), Did-it.com (Kevin Lee), Osterland Enterprises (Eddie Osterland), eMarketer (David Berkowitz), Epic Sky (Tim Ash), FawnKey & Associates (Marty Fahncke), GO TOAST (Dave Carlson), Hitwise (Lizzie Babarczy), iProspect (Fredrick Marckini), Jupitermedia (David Schatsky), Microsoft (Craig Fifield, Kirk Koenigsbauer), NetIQ (Anne Lindberg, Derek Fine), Referencement.com (Sylvain Bellaiche, Cesar Henao), REVShare (Joseph Gray), Shopping.com (Krista Thomas), Urchin (Scott Crosby, Brett Crosby), WebSideStory (Erik Bratt), and Wilson Internet Services (Dr. Ralph Wilson).

Fredrick Marckini, you gave me my first taste of authorship by inviting me to write a chapter for Search Engine Positioning . Thank you!

The Search Engine Strategies Conference first offered , and continues to offer, me a place to share my experiences with other search engine marketers. Thanks to Karen DeWeese, Chris Elwell, Beth Ritter, Chris Sherman, and other Jupitermedia team members who make this event happen.

Great big hugs go to my mom, dad, sister, family members, and friends who cheered me on during this process. A special thanks goes to my mom, who listened to me frequently ask, "Are we there yet?" Yes, we are. And it's spa time!