My long term e-commerce and SEO client RVSani-Con recently sold to Thetford Corporation, an Ann Arbor Based RV Parts Supplier. RV Sani-Con makes waste management systems for RVs - a product you will appreciate in an increasing amount proportional to the amount of time you spend with your rig.

“The acquisition supports our long-term strategies for growth within the recreational vehicle and marine industries,” Thetford Chief Executive Officer Jack Tierney said in a statement.

Lannie Stegall, Founder of RVSani-Con exemplifies the spirit that every entrepreneur should strive for, and I’m proud of him and his folks for building such a great company and product. He’s the kind of guy that sees obstacles as opportunities, and will explain in no uncertain terms how he intends to solve them in a smooth, confident southern accent. No wonder he is able to establish relationships world-wide as easily as he can over a hot brown in his home town. He was also a terrific listener from what I could tell and took a lot of my SEO/SEM advice to heart - and I’m glad to say most of it worked well - as we maintained page #1 positions on SERPs for 5 or so years for his key products, such as “macerator pumps.”

I wish Thetford and Lannie the best of luck in their new ventures!

I think, starting today, the “Worlds Biggest Web Host” , 1&1, now offers built-in Google Site Map Tools in their Package-level domain lists, making it extremely easy to create a sitemap for any domain hosted with their services. Too Damn Easy. They’ve had such tools in their “marketing tools” before but now it’s much more “in your face” while you view your domain names in the hosting. The “standard” webmaster tool settings creates a very basic Google sitemap 0.84 schema, uploads it, and says “thank you” . Bam, it’s that easy.

You do not have to drink the Kool-Aid folks (more…)

Wouldn’t Google Street View be more interesting if Immersive told us when and where they were doing the photos? We could spruce up our businesses, pull up our pants, and line the streets with voluntary interestingness. Right now, people are just freaking over privacy concerns (good move on the removal system.) Let us wave! It’s wierding people out that we aren’t really sure when/if you’re coming by.

But please don’t sneak around like an imperial probe droid.

People already get nervous as hell when I used to carry around my camera with a right-angle lens for human interest shots, like this Opteka Voyeur Right Angle Spy Lens. I ended up stopping after using it only a couple of times despite the awesomely funny pictures you can get. People would stop me even when the camera was hanging from my shoulder, even though it was really hard to tell it was on there. Paranoia is pretty powerful.

Oh yeah…If you have a dark colored VW bug, you can have great fun right now by mounting a little tripod on top and putting something that looks like the camera (above) on top. You may get people acting nutty around you all day long, making your commute just a little less boring.

I guess it remains to be seen how many actually use the system. For tourism and relocation, this has to be one of the biggest leaps forward I’ve yet seen.

I’m certain it will shortly be integrated into auto navigation, hand-held systems, and even phones. I am sure people will find ways to use it in art, literature, and other socially fascinating modes.