expertSEM

Though the PPC Handyman is currently landlocked in mountainous Colorado, there was a time when surfing was a daily adventure. For any Angelenos out there, Topanga was my spot. A few things about California surfing for those not familiar: (1) early birds get the worm—by the afternoon you are dealing with windchop that cuts up the surface; (2) it only looks easy, really it takes years of practice and work to achieve the facility that makes it so seductive to observers; (3) fight for the big ones—king size waves aren’t guaranteed, so when one rolls your way, be prepared, fight for position and go, if you don’t the next guy in the lineup will, and you’ll just have to watch his cutbacks as you scan the now flat horizon.

The last few weeks I’ve had the chance to really dive into my firm’s latest local advertising product (shameless plug), Local Search Traffic; as objectively as I can put it, this is one of those big waves. If you have a cell phone in your pocket, you are aware that information technology is saturating everything about how we live and interact with our surroundings. If you’ve rented a decent car recently, you’ve surely seen the spectacular innovation of onboard maps and navigation. The wave on the horizon is the pairing of all of these technologies, which will benefit users so greatly that old methods of finding information (yellow pages and phonebooks come to mind) will be washed away entirely. LST promises to get companies on their boards to ride this big wave while everybody else is wondering where the hell it came from.

The problem is, not everyone has the trained eye to see this coming, and I really, really want my friends to see it so they can ride along. Having worked in paid search for the astonishingly long time of three and a half years, this opportunity reminds me of so many others I’ve seen come along (Bid Jamming, API Controls, the MSN AdCenter beta test, Arbitraging and so many more) many of which are gone for good, having run their course.

Of course, jumping on a giant wave when other people are letting it go by carries some risk. “Do they see something I don’t?,” “Are there obstacles I don’t see?” “Can I handle this with my skill level?” These doubts pervade surfing, even more so when you don’t know the surfspot. But I’ll recount one of my best days ever, take it for what you will.
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To reach Boneyard, you have to hike down a cliff along a goat trail. When you get there and it’s breaking at eight feet, you have to paddle for your life through kelp strewn shorebreak or risk getting hammered on the rocks. I went out on such a day, and after clawing my way out, I was scared;. dropping in meant full commitment and quick reflexes to avoid genuinely dangerous rock stacks. I let one or two pass as I saw other guys have quarter mile rides down the point break. I looked back and saw a big one approaching. I turned and paddled my ass off standing up almost too late to maneuver around the rock stacks, but I made it and once I was up, I had the most elegant left-breaking smooth shoulder I’ve ever ridden. The size made it easier to gain speed and stay in the sweet spot. Almost a quarter mile later, it started curling and I got the deepest barrel of my life, and even better, I made it out and over the saddle before it washed to shore.

I decided I’d never miss a great swell or a rideable wave like that again. I hope you, dear reader, can come along for the ride.

*Sorry for the gratuitous surfer dude metaphor, you can take the boy out of the saltwater, but you can’t take the saltwater out of the boy.