I am thinking about getting a place here at the Atlanta airport. Geez. I have spent enough time here today. My plane landed at 5pm – and my connecting flight to Charlotte wasn’t until 8pm … but there was a problem with the incoming plane, so now it won’t leave until 11pm. Looks like I get home at 1am.

What are the bets that I get a speeding ticket on the way home?

I just sent out an update with the idea of “keyword targeting” which isn’t talked about much for some reason. Look into it – your SEO efforts will thank you.

Best Line of the Day: Some guy tried to approach this attractive woman to buy her a drink at the Vegas airport. She told him, “Go to hell!” and she turned and walked away. As she walked away he said, “Can I buy you a drink when I get there?” I couldn’t stop laughing …

I am on my way back from Vegas this morning. Will be a 12 hour trip back home … so I will have lots of time to sift through all the information and start to putting my massive review of PubCon together. In all, the sessions were disappointing – even the Search Engine Smackdown, which is usually always great, wasn’t.

But best part was my contacts and I am working on some solid offers for the membership too. Have a great Friday – and look for the wrap-up next week.

The sessions were a little better yesterday, but still below Webmaster World standards in my view. It is almost like SES – very little useful content, but great networking opportunities. The Google party last night was good. They ran out of food pretty quick, and only had a few engineers. I had a good talk with the Sitemaps team, and got some really good info I will be posting.

Matt Cutts showed up and he came over and shook my hand. We chatted briefly and he remembered that he owes me an interview. He said things would be too crazy to meet up last night to talk search so he gave me his personal email address. I’ll pass off some questions to Matt, and we can hopefully get the interview set up soon. I heard some great techniquest that I had never thought of from some other marketers, and I will be testing those when I get back.

I had dinner with Michael Marshall (creater of Theme Master) and Scott (Salse at Fortune Interactive) … he’s at their booth. I will have all the questions answered by today from our membership – but today is the best day. Jake Baiile on competitive intelligence and, of course, the Search Engine Smackdown!

Okay, so I had dinner last night with Robert Wright (Mr. Web Guru) and Link Connector. I found out why I was rated as a five star affiliate without doing much – Ros hard coded me as a five star to get better deals from affiliates. That is good business. I will be supplying the members of the SEO Revolution her contact information. If you are an affiliate, Link Connector is an affiliate network that you need to be a part of.

I am going to be doing something today that I have never done at PubCon. I am going to blow off most of the presentations and spend the day like I did yesterday. Talking with affiliates, webmasters, SEOs and merchants. I learned a ton yesterday talking to some real heavy hitters. I’ll be sharing everything as soon as I get back.

Enjoy the day – and if you are here – track me down!

Okay, for the new members, here is the drill. I post lightly during the show and then compile all of my notes at the end and post similar to what I sent out over the weekend.

How was Day One? I can sum it up in one word: sucked. I have never walked out of more presentations. The material presented was not only unuseable, but it was presented unprofessionally. It was a major disappointment. However, the conversations that I was a part of were excellent. The highlights were meeting Vanessa Fox of Google Webmaster Tools, whom we threatened to kidnap (she took that well). Ross Phillips, Senior Affiliate Manager for Link Connector, whom I am meeting with her and another Senior Manager to discuss their affiliate network. I’m a “five star” affiliate with them … and haven’t really done anything – so their scale is pretty weak.

Anyway, I’m here in the main salon, where Ask is “buying” everyone a free drink. The line is huge. What people do to save $5.00. Amazing.

More later. I have an article idea for keyword targeting – and I will get it out this week.

If you are here – I’ll be in the Envy bar in about an hour!

I am headed downstairs to begin the festivities. First up, talk to as many people as possible before the presentations start at 10am!

I was too tired from the trip to post last night, so I’m posting at 4am Pacific … as it is only 7am according to my body ….

I missed the crowd getting the bags, and picked mine up and walked outside and saw the “normal” line in Vegas to get a cab … it was at least an hour wait. Then I recalled the tip the gentleman next to me on the plane offered me. Find the guys in the red hats that offer bag service and they get you a cab immediately. It worked to perfection. He was not only extremely professional, but he asked the hotel I was going to and got me a cab with a fellow WMW attendee. The lack of a wait and his professionalism earned him an Andrew Jackson.

I found out during the ride that his company sells advertising and is in the web hosting industry. He didn’t have a business card, but his name was Ben and he picked up the cab fare. His company has a booth at PubCon and you can be sure they will be featured here.

Nice move with picking up the cab fare. You might say he just bought some links.

Let me cover Pt. 2 of our discussion of getting what you want without being a jerk.

Just after I had the hair cut fiasco, I headed over to pick up my new glasses. I am getting blind in my old age. When I had my exam, I was very clear that I needed them first thing Monday morning for my trip. In a classic Monday, you know what happened. They weren’t there, but they were at their other location which was a 15 minute drive … in the opposite direction of the airport. I calculated the time that I had, and if I drove there, got the glasses and took off for the airport, I’d barely make it. Now, you and I both know that you can never just walk in and pick up glasses. There is always a wait involved, fitting them, etc. So, I just took off for the airport and made a call from my cell.

I explained my situation briefly, clearly and never rose my voice. In closing I said that I was frustrated. She said my “favorite” phrase. “I will transfer you to someone who can help.” Now, we know what is coming now? Either voice mail or a disconnect. I got voice mail. I left a message and said basically the same thing. I hung up with the realization that I wouldn’t be going back and doing business with them again.

While parking my car at the airport, she called back. Asked for me to update her on what happened. I did. Again, in a clear, brief, non-threatening matter. I used the word again – frustrated. I never used any cheap attacks on her, the business, I just expressed my frustration. Was her response like the first owner? An excuse? Hiding behind policy? No. She asked, “What hotel are you staying? Can you get me an address and I will have your glasses FedExed for arrival tomorrow.

I didn’t ask her to do that. She offered that herself because she wanted to keep my business. She also stated that it was a lot easier to come to a solution when she wasn’t being yelled at. She hates that. I think we all do.

What I wanted in both situations was for my problem to be solved. In the first I wanted to use my American Express card as it is the card I always use and makes my bills easier to handle and take care of. The second, I just wanted my glasses. In both situations, I could have gotten nasty. I had the right to after being lied to. The situation could have been really awkward for me if I didn’t have an alternative method of payment.

As a consumer, when you have a disagreement with the merchant, express your problem clearly and briefly. Make sure you speak to someone who can make a decision, such as a manager or the owner direct. Give them an opportunity to make things right and keep your business. Phrases such as, “What can you offer me to regain my trust so I will do business with you again” are golden. Because what you just said is that trust has been broken, but you want to repair it … and you allow them to make an offer. Remember, the person who talks first often loses, so let them offer, as they will often offer more than what you would ask for. And the goal here isn’t to get as much as you can. The goal here is to get your problem solved to the point that business can be done again in the future.

One business owner didn’t want to make things right. Therefore, I stood my ground and I will not be going back. The other earned my trust and I will be going back. In your business, what are you doing to ensure that the right customers keep coming back? One parting shot … the customer is NOT always right. The RIGHT customer is always right and the WRONG customer is always wrong. There are some customers that you don’t want for any reason, and it is best to let them go. And for the record, they are often the ones who are screaming, “But the customer is always right!”

Always do business with the people you want to do business with. Solve your customer’s problems, and the majority of the time they will keep coming back. While that is true for traditional brick and mortar businesses, it is also true with affiliate marketing.

I just touched down in Vegas and if there is one thing that I have learned … is that you take your time getting down to baggage claim. It is NUTS down there, and they cram 4-6 flights on one – so you get 4-5 people deep. So, I thought I’d take a few moments and blog … it is a great way to unwind, no?

Okay, I promised you two experiences, and here they are … getting what you want without being a jerk.

There are two examples, because even though you always get what you want, it isn’t always the best – but that’s okay. What’s vital is that you stand up for your principles and beliefs…

Example One: I don’t know what it is about where I live, but business owners seem to be afraid of the American Express card. I have a pet-peeve that I will not do business with a company that doesn’t take American Express. Why? In my view, they are a second rate company. And you can’t argue this point with me – because I will always win. Well, that’s not true. I was wrong once. I married my first wife.

I got my hair cut this morning from the only hair salon that takes American Express (or so said the receptionist on Saturday when I booked the appointment). The salon was nice, the service was good, and I was pleased. I went to pay … and was told they don’t take American Express.

“But that’s the reason I came here – because you take it. I called Saturday and that was my first question. And I was told you accepted it.”

The response? “You must have misunderstood, we don’t take that card. It is too difficult to keep track of all of their changes.”

So, let me understand this. It is too difficult for you, the business owner to keep track of the changes, so you make things harder on me, the customer. I then explained that I wouldn’t be doing business with them in the future because of their policy as I wrote a check.

“I’m sorry you feel that way”, was the response from the owner.

I left.

Stay tuned for “Part Two”…

Due to a mechanical problem on the plane – it was late getting here, so I am spending a big ten minutes in Cinci. The story will have to wait until I get to the hotel tonight. Things are starting to heat up…

I made my first layover in Atlanta … aka Hot-lanta – one of the few airports that I love. Very easy to get from terminal to terminal and people are so friendly here. Even if you just have that “I’m lost” look, people stop to ask if you need help – and I don’t mean the employees of the airport – just people. That’s cool.

I’m cranking out some affiliate pages and getting ready to launch a pretty big site. Life is good.

Getting back on the plane … this time, headed to Cinci. When I get there, time permitting, I’ll share an experience this morning of “getting what you want without being a jerk”.

We’ve all witnessed “jerks” screaming to management to get their own way … this one is a much more civilized approach.

…. and that’s always good.