The Geek Algo

How geekeristic is your communication

[CromeYellow]

Yesterday I was trying to explain SEO to a local chocolate shop owner who is planning a website (yes because I reckon bartering services for chocolate might be the new money).

After the first two coffees I noticed she was starting to glaze over - and I was just getting started.

To avoid this happening again, I would like to propose a geekerism algorithm that can be used for analysis:

Cy's Proposed Geek Algorithm

The level of geekerism depends on:

1) How long it takes to explain your topic to a level that an averagely non-knowledgeable person can grasp the basics

2) The depth of glaze encountered after 1, 5 and 15 minutes

3) The extent to which you cannot understand how someone could not be as fascinated / excited as you about it

This should, I hope, help me avoid being a right boring b*stard.

Any other additions?

[Goober]

Zzzzzz....

Maybe we should use analogies. If the person is making chocolate, try to link SEO to the steps in making chocolate.

It seems to hold up, unless your talking with someone who makes fertilizer.

;-)

Goober

[Essex_boy]

While a student I attempted to encapsulate the corrlation between the number of drunks in a bus station and the size of X.

X being the square footage of teh bus station, passers through, buses leaving or someother thing.

never did solve it.

I bet your eyes are glazing over even now.

One mans quest is another bore

[Syzygy]

unless your talking with someone who makes fertilizer

If another's eyes glaze over when spoken to, one must be talking fertiliser..;-)

Syzygy

[greenleaves]

I like the analogies one. Here is how I explain SEO (to the complete computer iliterate):

The internet is like an infinit library. Search engines are the librarians that people use to find books (web sites). The librarian has billons of books to reference people to.

Houndreds of millons of people go to this library every day. If someone ask the librarian for a topic related to your business (i.e. widgets) the librarian can only give this person so many books. Odds are, your book (web site) is not going to be picked. I know speciall techniques, which will make it so that when someone ask the librarian for a widget, your book gets shown among the first books the librarian presents. Being show first translates into potential clients seing your bussiness, and that translates into sales, many of them.

Do you want your book (web site) to be shown for topics related to your business, or do you want your competition to be shown first?

[bunltd]

library <--- good analogy, I like that one!

Here's an analogy for e-mail: Your (dial-up, dsl, cable, aol, etc.) is your car, you have to use your car to drive to the post office to check your mailbox. If your car isn't working, you can't get to the mailbox to get your mail.

LisaB

[macrost]

bunltd,
<glaze>

What's a post office?