About Ron Castle & Ron Castle Webs
I guess I can call this a BLOG just to be trendy?

Hey, my BLOG is better than your BLOG.  I have pictures.  If it's not fun, I'm not doing it.
If you are not in the mood for fun and other useful information and just want to know about Ron, jump down the page here.

July 24, 2007

My good friend & SEO colleague Dave Barry has recently launched a SEO friendly content management system named Site Search Architect.  Site Search Architect automatically optimizes your website for higher rankings in the popular search engines and improves your site through proper indexing of your content, exceptionally clean code, proper Meta tags and other critical areas.  Check out www.site-search-architect.com and tell Dave Ron Castle sent you.

May 28, 2007

During the Memorial Day weekend we celebrated at www.nealcreekfarm.com with friends Roger, Rose, Norm, Charlotte, L.J., Gail, Henry and Kathie (who just returned from a year in India) and family Kristan, Marc, Hunter, Alex and Camden.  On Monday we floated the Elk River fishing for trout and grandson Alex got two barbs of a treble hook caught in his forehead.  He was a real trooper, not one tear, and made a successful trip to the ER for painless extraction and a cool looking bandage.

Should we call him Little Cleo (the name of the lure) or
Old Lure Head? He says Little Cleo with a grin.

April 18, 2007

One Track Mind: aka "Anderson Cooper 360 Minus 359 = AC1"  I was going to watch the news last night but the news only consisted of one thing regarding the Virginia Tech shootings and that happened a couple of days ago so it's not exactly news which lead me to the conclusion that the news wasn't on?  CNN wanted us to believe they were doing an astounding job of interviewing weeping Hoakies.  CNN = Cingle News Network?  Why is it that we can only report on one tragedy at a time?  I Googled this morning and have some up with a couple of new words that presently do not exist in the Google index:  newsmanogamy or manonewsgamy which is a news organization, etc. stuck on the same story to the exclusion of all other news, used as an adjective it could be something like Anderson is a really manonewsgamous guy.  The other new words that could go along with these are journalimanogamy or manojournaligamous, but if you are stuck on one story I am not sure that is journalism?  The antonyms are newspolygamy or polynewsgamy.  Apparently manonewsgamy is what it takes to keep your ratings these days so that the average American who watches, reads or listens to less than 15 minutes news per day thinks you are covering the story?  It sucks.  Give me the BBC or shortwave or NPR.  AC1 is not news and is not journalism.

April 17, 2007

Worried About Your Health?  I recently chose a new primary-care physician. After two visits and exhaustive lab tests, he said I was doing "fairly well" for my age.

March 2, 2007

Interested in overseas travel and doing valuable volunteer work?  Check out volunteer opportunities in Kenya with Codec Volunteers.

February 9, 2007

Need a good laugh?  Feeling insecure?  Need a boost for your self confidence.  Learn more about Tequila.

February 2, 2007

How about a little environmental bluegrass?  I wrote this song a couple of years ago in response to the decimation of Tennessee's forests.  The Pine Beetle wiped out about 300,000 acres of non-native southern loblolly pines planted by Bowater and others.  Bad forestry has done serious damage to much of the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee where I live.  Enjoy Terry Zimmerman and crew.

January 1, 2007

I first met Walter Coleman in 1981 when I was Director of Sales and Marketing for Tennsmith and Walter's manufacturers rep company handled the line.  Walter was a big man both physically and mentally, sincere, honest, thoughtful and humble with a great sense of humor giving 101 percent to everything he did.  Walter introduced me to the Twin Oaks restaurant in Rhode Island, a great place to eat.  With his son, Bob, towering above me on one side and Walter towering over me on the other, as we were taking in the door Walter said, "Ron, you are going to love this place, they have great food and BIG portions."  When his wife suffered a severe stroke, Walter was her primary care giver until she passed away.  We will see you again, old friend, but not yet.

Tribute to a Great Man and a Great Friend

Walter K. Coleman
July 3, 1916 - January 1, 2007

CRANSTON, RI – COLEMAN, Walter K., 90, of Alpine Estates Dr., died Monday at Kent Hospital, after a long heart related illness. He was the husband of the late Winifred G. (Catley) Coleman, to whom he had been married to for 49 years.

Born in Providence, and raised in Pawtucket, he was a son of the late Frank and Annie (Schaler) Kozubski. He had lived in Cranston for the past 44 years.

Mr. Coleman was an executive with the Porter Cable Machine Tool Company, and later with Rockwell Mfg., before he founded the W. K. Coleman Company in 1962. He retired in 1978 to care for his wife. His company still operates today.

He was an alumnus of Pawtucket High School and Mt. Hermon Academy, and a graduate of Brown University. He was an officer in the Army Air Corps during WWII, and was a Radio/Radar/Gunner with a B-25 crew that was stationed in the Aleutian Islands. He was a 32nd degree Mason of the Pawtucket Royal Arch Chapter #4-RSM, and was also a member of the Rhode Island Shriners AAONMS, Cranston.

His hobbies included collecting antique clocks and following the sports activities of his grandchildren.

Walter enjoyed caring for his family, and later in life, spending summers on Block Island. Those who knew Walter will remember him as a big man, who made a difference in anything or anyone he touched. He will be fondly remembered and sorely missed.

He is survived by his children, Sharon A. Coleman of Newport and Robert L. Coleman of Cranston; his grandchildren, Susan, Lisa, John, and David Coleman, as well as his great grandson Brady all of Cranston.

December 18, 2006

Ready for some fun online competition?  Play Snipe FingerBilliards.

October 6, 2006

Do you have a Yahoo Stores ecommerce website?  Better read this: Yahoo Stores Trojan Dynamically Creates Duplicate Content

September 27, 2006

William McDonough, one of the world's leading experts on sustainable design, spoke in Nashville yesterday evening at Vanderbilt University and I was in attendance, saved an aisle  seat for my good friend Tennessee's Department of Environment and Conservation State Naturalist Mack Prichard, who is always on a tight schedule. When everyone stood up to applaud, Mack, who is a renowned photographer and I snuck up the aisle and sat on the floor at the front of the hall during the question and answer period. I then proceeded to be the first person to talk with William after his presentation. I reminded him that we had previously met when he and Denis Hayes (the father of Earth Day) were the keynote speakers at the Virginia Sustainable Development Conference a few years back where I was also a speaker. I handed him my EcoCover business card which is a business card glued to a same size piece of EcoCover mulch mat. I said cradle to cradle (the title of one of his books) and he asked for a brief explanation. He said, "May I keep this?" Absolutely. He gave me his card and wrote on the back call this guy in the morning and get your products registered with us.  Don't know William McDonough?  Read The Hannover Principles.  Don't know EcoCover?  Read about our paper mulch mats.

September 14, 2006

I have a hard working friend who asked me recently, what's a vacation?  My reply:

A vacation is something that you double bust your ass for beforehand so you can go spend a week recovering so you can go back and triple bust your ass to get caught up from being stupid enough think you should take a vacation to begin with.

Unless, you live in Europe where everyone takes the entire month of August off and doesn't give a damn.  Americans are idiots when it comes to work versus vacations.

September 11, 2006

Rod Wheeler Got Me!

I had something interesting happen today that hasn't happened to me before in my 6 plus years of web marketing and SEO work for hire: I am getting stiffed by a "celebrity."  Unfortunately, it is NOT Paris Hilton.  Rod Wheeler of Fox News fame contacted me on August 4 regarding redoing his website.  We came to an agreement, he started giving me to-dos which included a change in direction to create a new website GetRod.com.  During August this involved several hours work, making preparations for receipt of content which was never provided.  I sent off a little invoice at the end of the month as is my custom for non-charity clients.  Long story short, Rod made the gracious offer of paying me only what he through he owed me, not what I invoiced him.  Last message from Rod said "I recant my last offer of a good faith settlement.  I suggest you consult with you legal advisors from this point on if you feel any monies are due you."  Any monies would be anything over zero because he never paid me anything.  So, a couple of philosophical business thoughts for you.  If you are doing business with "celebrities", make a very careful evaluation or get your money up front because they probably think they are doing you a favor by having you do work for them.  If you run into Rod Wheeler, get Rod before Rod gets you.  Cash in advance for Rod.  This  publicity cost me $250.  That's big bucks for a celebrity, apparently?

September 6, 2006

From down under in beautiful New Zealand, Jennie and Scott Milne show off a nice fish that Jennie caught in her "back yard."  Scott is part of the EcoCover team.

August 9, 2006

Don't miss my new poem Google on Your Shoe and if you are doing any web or optimization work in Thailand, look at Globlet, Ltd for online advertising, interactive marketing and search engine marketing in Bangkok.

June 10, 2006

My grandson, Hunter, with his first rainbow trout caught in the Elk River below Tim's Ford Reservoir in Middle Tennessee.

April 19, 2006

Tacticus, Ltd.  Columbus, Ohio
A good friend and former client is starting several new businesses based around a consulting firm specializing in security and law enforcement technology and training.  His team of professionals are former or career local, state, federal and military law enforcement and security professionals each with over 20 years experience.  The new business includes on-line retail stores offering Security Technology and Self-Defense Products.  There are two nice affiliate opportunities.  Check them out and sign up.

• http://www.personalsafetyguys.com

• http://www.spywareguys.com

April 3, 2006

Well, we are famous in New Zealand now.  I have 6 Kiwi clients and hope to have a lot more.  Brian Megaw, member of the Rangitikei District Council www.rangitikei.com (like a county commission in the USA) and owner of www.rivervalley.co.nz is also the chairman of the Tourism Committee.  He put this little blurb about our services in the April tourism newsletter:

Brian’s bites

The second site is http://www.roncastle.com/index.html.  Ron has done some SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) for our own website www.rangitikei.com.  Wondering just what SEO is?  Well have a look at Ron's site as it includes lots of valuable links and information on how to increase the profile of your website to potential visitors.  Read the newsletter here.

March 27, 2006

A photo you don't see very often?  Lhasa, Tibet, taken by my friend Lirong Zheng in China.  See a larger image of Lhasa, Tibet.

March 21, 2006

Check out friend Jason's new web The eBusiness Guide, all about starting your own money making website.

And, check out a great forum Green Business Network.  I'm a member!  You should be, too.

March 18, 2006

Great deal on cell phones and cell phone plans with no hassles. 

September 26, 2005

Attention choco-haulics.  Check out my pal Holly Schott's web in Atlanta, www.schottchocolateimages.com where Holly and crew creates custom printed images on top quality chocolate shapes of all sizes.  I would give you one of my chocolate business cards with my picture on it, but I ate them all.

August 11, 2005

I are one:

Ron Castle is SEO certified
by Search Engine Workshops.

Learn more about
Search Engine Optimization Certification

August 4, 2005

An attractive gal in the real estate business in Florida, Pauline Flores, contacted me today about a link exchange.  She has added a link to my web from her site, which is the right way to start.  Her web information is Palm Coast Real Estate  and the description she asked me to use is Real Estate In Palm Coast, but, she did not say Florida, which she should.  There are 1,500,000 competitors on Google for palm coast real estate not in quotes.  Could she make the first page on Google for that phrase?  I took a quick look.  The answer is maybe.  A quick point here, if you are working on a link campaign, is that you should use search phrase research to establish your link anchor text and link to an appropriate page with supporting content.  If your goal is to build page rank, then it should link to the home page.  If you goal is to convert clicks to inquiries and sales, it should be a page targeted to the link anchor text.  Look at this, the top 10 search phrases to palm coast.  The predict is the average number of daily searches.
 

I ran across a web yesterday that has some interesting software for common web marketing tasks.  Check out the Internet Marketing Tool Box: Quality Software For Your Home And Business.

July 19, 2005

I don't own any Cisco Systems equipment but if you do, you might want to check out Teksavers who purchases and sells returned & refurbished Cisco equipment.

July 17, 2005

Our client in New Zealand, www.ecocover.com, recommended using Skype for voice communications computer to computer, which is also called VoIP.  I am here to tell you that Skype works great.  And, it is FREE.  Voice to voice via computer is 100% free worldwide.  Works on Windows PCs or Mac and other devices.

Cool thing is that you can have a conference call for up to 9 Skypers for free.

Skype offers several services you pay for if you want them.  I bought voicemail for 15 Euros a year (about $18.50).  I can send voicemail up to 10 minutes in length to any of my Skype partners, and, if they call me via Skype when I am offline or busy, they can leave me a message.

You can get a SkypeIn phone number, whatever area code you want so that people can call you from any conventional phone to your computer.  This costs Euro 30.00 per year and includes voice mail.

And you can also get SkypeOut which allows you to call any conventional phone number in the world from your computer.  You buy time in advance, like a prepaid phone card.  Rates vary according to where you are calling and appear to be a little less per minute than the best phone cards.

Skype also has a chat feature, like Messenger, and can also be use to transfer files too large to email between computers.  Skype is good, very good.  I like it!

Free voice to voice via
computer, worldwide.
Check out Skype
Free downloads for Windows and Mac

June 26, 2005

Google Aging Delay: The antithesis of Google's company mantra "Don't be evil".

Back in February 2005, search engine Google updated their algorithm, what is called the "Bourbon" update, and in the process decided to penalize new websites by not awarding new webs the rankings that a web that has been online for a while the rankings its deserves based on the merits of optimization.  Apparently, some overly  savvy "black hat" SEO folks (that's the guys and gals who stretch the rules) were creating lots of new temporary webs (what is commonly called a throwaway) that included artificial links from link farms in order to target specific search phrases and gain a high PageRank in record time.  In the process, Google also penalized  new legitimate "white hat" SEO webs (that's the good guys and gals who follow the unwritten rules) including all the websites of small business owners, professionals and nonprofits who are my customers.  Google makes the rules, it is their search engine.  Have folks complained?  I have.  You want to complain?  Read on.

It is my opinion that apparently Google HQ and the White House have more in common that one might imagine.  Saying one thing and doing the opposite are quite fashionable these days.  Clear Skies, Healthy Forests, the Downing Street Memos, all good examples. The Google aging delay for new webs can be summed up in this little ode to Google:

When your web SEO's AOK
And your web page gets indexed one day
But your page can't be found
By searching around
You've been Googed* by the aging delay.

Google may actually be an anagram, there is a hidden message here somewhere?  Check this out:

EGG LOO
LEG GOO
GEL GOO
OGLE GO
OLEG GO
LOGE GO
EGO LOG
EL GOGO
LEO GOG
EL GOOG

El Goog? A new word that defines itself by the two words that come immediately before and after it in the dictionary.  In my dictionary, the words before are:

goofoff n. (slang) = a person who goofs off.
goofy adj. (slang) = stupid.

and the words after:

gook n. (slang) = grimy sticky slimy wet material.
goon n. (slang) = 1. a hired thug. 2. a dull or stupid person.

Googed* sounds right to me: n., v. and adj.  In case you can't tell, I am not real happy with the aging delay.  It is a lazy stupid slimy idea that is mugging new web sites that don't deserve to be mugged.  Welcome to another bad idea and the law of unintended consequences?  I would hope so, but based on other experiences I have had with the GoogleTeam recently, I can't be sure.

Some sentence examples:

• n.  That guy is a real goog.

• v.  Give me all your money or I will goog you.

• adj.  I have a goog website, what have you got?

The end result is that Google does not provide the most current search information on the internet (I want to emphasize that, sorry, it's for the GoogleBot) and new small business webs like most of my clients and one of my own (www.seo-optimization.com) get googed by Google.  I asked Google if the idea was to sell more AdWords to new web owners?  Google says naw, they wouldn't do that.  Search engine results and AdWords have nothing to do with each other.  Oh, OK.  Their mantra: "Do no evil".  In Goog We Trust, don't we?  GOOG YOU, Google.

Want to be a Google whiner?  If you are a web owner, go here.    If you are a webmaster go here.  I say Goog unto others as they goog unto you.  Cheers.

May 28, 2005

Doing something today I don't typically do enough of, working on MY website!  Best wishes for the Memorial Day holiday weekend and thanks to those who serve our country.

April 26, 2005

Our new web www.seo-optimization.com is ranking #2 on MSN Search this morning, not bad for being online 10 days?

April 16, 2005

Our new search engine optimization services web site SEO Optimization went online today.  Check it out!

March 4, 2005

VideoConferencingAdvisor.com - Categorized Video Conferencing Sites, Video Conferencing Articles, eBay Listings and News

December 20, 2004

Our work with a New Zealand web for Incept Marine Ltd. has resulted in first page rankings for a New Zealand only search engine www.linknz.co.nz.  If you are searching for New Zealand web sites and information, check them out.

October 29, 2004

A free marketing idea for you: Web Directory of Resources, including Marketing and Advertising, Free Submissions are Welcome.

August 17, 2004

SparePartsWarehouse.com is in Dayton, Ohio, one of my favorite towns!  Laptop Parts, Printer Parts, Laptop Repair
Sparepartswarehouse.com - Factory Direct, New and Used Laptop Parts/Notebook Parts, Printer Parts, PC Parts and Server Parts for Toshiba, Sony, IBM, HP, Compaq, Lexmark, Okidata and Xerox

August 11, 2004

We have swapped links with an interesting SEO competitor Search Engine Optimization Position Research utilizes search engine optimization research and technology for top search engine placement.

July 19, 2004

We are working on a UK web for www.aluminiumcraneco.com and have come across an interesting and informative web in the UK, a good information resource for all things internet related to web sites:  www.firstwebsitedesign.com Web site design and the World Wide Web: Guidance for those contemplating their first Web site with information on choosing a Web designer, domain names, Web hosts, HTML, optimization, promotion, and much more.

May 7, 2004

No excuses, just too busy right now to be blogging.  A good tip for you regarding laptop replacement screens:  check out www.screentekinc.com and www.lcds4less.com.

February 5, 2004

I am negligent, again, on postings to the BLOG but Graeme in Sweden gave me a good reason to get back at it.  Not much ice fishing in Tennessee but the boys in the far right photo have a nice perch and a walleye with another nice walleye in the near picture.  Graeme says it is was the first time he have fished for them through the ice, it's the legal size of 40 cm and weighed 850 grams.  That's about 16 inches and not quite 2 pounds to non metric Americans.  Nice job, guys!
 

December 2, 2003
Boy, have I been negligent!  No BLOG postings in over two months, too busy with work as the economy picks up.  Graeme in Sweden, a friend of friend Holger, sent me these photos to prove that there really are fish in Sweden.  Holger never sends me any pictures to I don't know if he actually catches anything.  Graeme, on the other hand, sends proof.   The arctic trout at far right look like fun and the ice is probably thick enough by now?  Let's go ice fishing.  We will have to wait until June for the pike, or "jacks" as they call them in Canada. 

September 17, 2003
What happens when you go on a wilderness fishing in British Columbia for two weeks?  All sorts of things, like not making a BLOG posting for almost a month.  My apologies.  We had a great trip: Dave and John (left) from Montana, Mike from California and Mike (right) from Ohio.  Did we catch a lot of steelhead?  No, but the fish we caught were terrific.  Personally, I went fishless.

Scenery was spectacular.  Four days of great weather followed by for days of rain from hell.  No fish caught the last four days.  No bears in camp, which was good.  Some pretty wild whitewater.  Dave's Water Strider rafts were terrific.  Visit www.waterstrider.com.  The photos speak for themselves.

The helmet cam worked well for taking whitewater video, better than I did, actually.  That's me at the far right in the yellow raingear with red life vest.  Video production will be completed by mid October, lots of tape to edit.

If you are interested, I am planning on printing some photos in high resolution limited editions.  I can send you a collection of images to preview.  I have traveled to many parts of the world.  British Columbia is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular places on the planet.

To the far right is a right place right time shot of a bald eagle flying past "Eagle Hole" on the river.  To the left is another amazing opportunity that presented itself, an almost sunset rainbow over the ridge on the far side of the river with glacier capped mountains in the background.  A photographer's luck is significantly enhanced by always having a camera in hand.

August 20, 2003
Something important to talk about:  FISHING in Africa.  A friend of my cousin, Kjell, recently went fishing in Namibia on the Zambeze for African tigerfish.  Kjell reports that they are great fun on light tackle and can weigh up to about 20 pounds.  There are also sunfish, look something like a rock bass, that weigh up to 5 pounds.

Sport fishing is beginning to catch on throughout Africa and represents a sustainable ecotourism enterprise on the continent that needs economic enterprise most of all.  I haven't been to Africa, yet, but when I go you can be sure I will be taking my fishing and video gear.  I am ready when you are.

August 19, 2003
The blackout last week did not make it to Tennessee but I made it to Michigan on Wednesday for an industrial photo and video shoot near Ann Arbor and was just getting ready to board the shuttle bus from the car rental place to the terminal at Detroit Metro when the power went out.  Long story short, I met a nice couple, Will and Erica, while standing in line for a couple of hours at the Southwest counter.  They were going to California for a long weekend.  When we found out there would be no flights for a couple of DAYS, they adopted me and took me home.  Wonderful people.  Had a great party, cooked everything in the refrigerator on the gas grill, drank some wine and I slept in my clothes on the balcony of their apartment, the coolest spot around.  Erica, the most connected woman in Detroit, found me a one way rental car and I finally made it home on Saturday evening.  Great adventure, great new friends and fun?  Yeah, why not.  We could have chosen not to have fun.  Why people do that, I don't understand.  No point being pessimistic, wouldn't work anyway.  We made lemonade out of a big lemon situation.  Now we are all anxiously awaiting the next blackout so we can have another party.  I can tell all you orphans out there, it is really nice to be adopted by Will and Erica.  Thanks a million!

This was the most serendipitous road trip in memory.  Totally by chance, I also met Fred B in Saline, Michigan, undoubtedly Michigan's most talented and creative fishing fly tier and got a terrific deal on a large bag of Michigan proven steelhead flies for the upcoming Dean River Expedition in BC.  And, I met Jay in Ann Arbor at the bar in Chili's, an avid fisherman from Ohio who wants to do a web for his instrument calibration business.  Everybody, Erica, Will, Fred and Jay all want to go fishing.  Sounds like another celebration is in order.

August 5, 2003
I have met a new friend, Iain, a friend of my cousin in Angola in southwest Africa who is the International Game Fish Association rep in Luanda.  Iain has lived in Angola for about 30 years.  At the far right is Nisa, and her husband Hakan with a Giant African Threadfin caught by Nisa on 16 pound test line after a 45 minute fight at the Rio Kwanza, on board the 'Bitchalitte'.  The fish weighed 108 pounds!!  That's Iain on the left.

At the near right is a 700 pound Blue Marlin that was caught and released last season.  The fish was not boated so the exact weight is unknown but Iain has caught enough Marlin in his day to make a pretty good estimate of the weight.  We are talking about putting together a small group tour for an Angolan fishing adventure in Africa:  Threadfin, Marlin, Tarpon, Dorado.  They are all there and waiting.  If you are interested, send me an email and I will keep you posted on our discussions as they progress.  For more information about Angola visit http://www.iaqi.com/angola/ .

August 4, 2003
Great news on the SEO front.  Over the weekend www.google.com indexed www.coastalequipment.com and we are at the moment ranking #1 on Google in our six most important word phrase searches: material handling Maine #1 out of 81,800 iterations, material handling New England #1 out of 326,000 iterations, material handling fabrication Maine #1 out of 3,850 iterations, material handling fabrication New England #1 out of 10,500 iterations, custom fabrication Maine #1 out of 11,800, and custom fabrication New England #1 out of 17,200 iterations.  This is a total out of the park home run, first I have ever had!  Read more about SEO.

July 30, 2003
One of the more fun projects I have worked on recently is as web master for the Nashville, Tennessee Catfish Out of Water City Art Festival.  The festival is a collaborative project of the Cumberland River Compact, Parthenon Patrons (you know we have a full sized replica of the Greek Parthenon in Nashville?  In a lot better shape than the original.) and Nashville Greenways.  Ever hugged a fish?  That's Vera in the Gills the Cumberland River Catfish in the suit.  She's worth hugging.  Check out all the catfish here.  Great fun.

The purpose of the project is to create awareness and community involvement to help preserve the quality and quantity of water in the Cumberland River, which is the primary water source for almost 2 million people in Tennessee and Kentucky.  Greenways and open space are important to water quality and art is a great way to capture peoples' imaginations and get them motivated.  Check out the catfish.  Artists from all around Middle Tennessee have done a great job.

July 29, 2003
My cousin Ritch reported in from Luanda, Angola in southwest Africa overnight and sent along a few photos of recent fishing adventures including Ritch's really nice dorado at the near right and what looks to be an Atlantic sailfish.  Rich has been working in Angola for several years and has several years left to go so he had his boat shipped over from Texas and is fishing both fresh and salt water every chance he gets.  He advises that the local fishing is very good and that the Americans in the local sport fishery have been teaching the locals about the importance of catch and release, with a few exceptions.  Rumor has it that there was a recent catch of a 93 pound dorado, which would beat the IGFA world record by about 6 pounds.  The poor bloke who caught the fish did not know what he had, filleted him out and put him in the cooler because he was too big to go in whole.  Oops.  Ah well, who wants a world record?  You can always brag about eating one - just don't mount the results on the wall.

July 28, 2003
Waiting on new webs to be found by search engines is a trying past time.  And working to move up in rankings if you screwed up and did it wrong the first time is even worse.  Hey, should have called us!  We were contacted recently by Steve P, owner of  www.priorityelectronics.com  regarding helping to improve his already good rankings, especially on Google.  If you search at Google for "laptop batteries" Priority Electronics is now #1 at the top of the first page in a target word niche with over 366,000 iterations.  Steve says, "I improved my keyword density for the words important to our web. I also got more links pointing to our site. And, as recommended by Ron Castle Webs, I modified the title on my homepage. I think that the combination of these things helped us become #1."  Outstanding work.  Steve has decided to become a sponsor of our Dean River Expedition and has offered us some absolutely dynamite prices on enough batteries to run 3 cameras for 8 days in the wilderness.  Thanks, Steve!  Do yourself a favor, if you are looking for a really great deal on laptop batteries, hard drives, laptop replacement components and parts, contact www.priorityelectronics.com first.  You will be glad you did.

July 26, 2003
Google's new Toolbar Beta 2.0 for Internet Explorer has some neat features.  One is a pop-up blocker that works.  The other is an auto fill feature that will add your name, address, etc. to an online form with a button click.  If you fill out a lot of forms online, use eBay, etc. this feature will save you a lot of keystrokes.  It's free.  Check it out at http://toolbar.google.com/ .  Ecommerce work is complete for www.cumberlandrivercompact.org.  Visit their page and make a donation.  The Cumberland River is the primary water source for 1.2 million people in Tennessee and Kentucky and the Compact is working hard to make sure it stays clean and plentiful.  They deserve your support.  Great trout fishing on the upper Cumberland around Burkesville, Kentucky.  BIG browns.

July 25, 2003 (too early in the morning)
The last two weeks have gone like a flash, or maybe I should say faster than a Steelhead?  Last night talked to Dave Inks up in Montana of www.waterstrider.com.  He is working on a new book on the history and utility of "kickboats", the little known term used to describe one man white water fishing rafts, of which the Water Strider is king, my opinion.  Kickboat is a lousy keyword, by the way if you are into SEO, but if you search for kickboat on Google Dave is Numero Uno.  So are his boats.  The photo at the right was taken July 24 and that is ole Dave running the chutes and rapids on Montana's Blackfoot River.  Looks like Class 3 water to me.  We are getting ready for the Dean River in BC, as previously mentioned below.  Got my gear list together and made my final video equipment purchases yesterday.  Back to business, have been working on two NEW webs the past couple of weeks: Coastal Equipment Corporation up in Maine and an ecommerce site, Checkmate Marketing for Moe in New Hampshire and Bob in Rhode Island.  You have got to check out Checkmate's Loc-Lite® LED flashlights.  These are the coolest LED light.  Order some.  We are going to take Loc-Lite® on the Dean expedition and I will report back with photos.  Also last week added ecommerce donation capability to the Tennessee Parks & Greenways Foundation web and am going to do so for the Cumberland River Compact and the Friends of South Cumberland State Recreation Area, Inc.  Nonprofits are on hard times like many of the rest of us.  Support your causes.  The coffee is ready and the keyboard is warmed up.  Gonna be a busy Friday.

July 13, 2003
Over the weekend, the Elk River was the test site for Helmet Cam and underwater video camera testing during a 10 mile canoe trip on Saturday.  The Helmet Cam works perfectly and withstood destructive testing when I hit myself in the camera with my paddle handle.  It is scary as hell taking a perfectly good $900 camera and sticking it under water.  Everything works according to plan.  If you have been receiving 404 file not found errors on this web site, or even if you haven't, you should check out my new 404 page.

July 8, 2003
Helmet Cam Man!  Don't confuse this with the cheap imitation version and low morals of that guy on the Playboy channel.  This is a REAL whitewater helmet with a REAL JVC palm sized DV recorder securely mounted on top on a tripod type screw with the bolt NOT penetrating my skull.

Why?  To take video on the Dean River in British Columbia while running the rapids in a one man raft made by Montana's Dave Inks of www.waterstrider.com fame.

Why?  To produce a video for Dave and one to sell to fly fishing enthusiasts.  This may be a new vocation - surrogate fisherman.  Travel all over the world catching big fish and making videos of same for those unfortunates who are working too hard, don't have enough vacation, wives and girlfriends won't let them go.  Interestingly, women fly fishers don't have these problems.  Only men.  Jane W in Nashville spends all summer guiding in the Wind River Basin. 

My "friends" have said things like geek, weirdo, nerd, half brain, etc., and that was BEFORE I got my helmet cam.  Both of them are creeps, my friends that is. What do they know?  Wonder if this will attract any of those Bunny types?
June 28, 2003
I am trying not to be as dumb as the average American when it comes to vacation time.  When not creating or consulting you can find me fly fishing for BIG fish, last year in Alaska (see bottom of the page here for an unretouched photo of me with one of many big salmon).  We caught all the fish we wanted to catch every day for a week.  This year it is an 8 day wilderness float trip on the Dean River in British Columbia with Dave Inks from Montana of www.waterstrider.com to catch the world's mightiest steelhead sea run rainbow trout and hopefully a few big cutthroats thrown in for good measure and running the river in Dave's one man white water fishing rafts.  A broadcast quality video infomercial for Dave is part of the deal, and an hour long DVD production on the experience of the Dean will be in the making by the end of 2003.  Let me know if you are interested in a copy, will be on line in time for Christmas.  I also have a rough 15 minute video of salmon fishing central Alaska in the Susitna River basin near Talkeetna.  Tell Heather Zimmerman at the Talkeetna Hostel hello if you are up there.  I nicknamed her "Sled Dog Woman".  She mushes dogs in the winter for a living.  Her hostel is a great place to stay and cheap.<Photo of Dave Inks on the Dean with one of his smaller steelhead.  By the way, this is catch and release.  We are steelhead exercise trainers.  We don't eat them.
 

About Ron Castle
I feel a need to be trendy so have started this whatever you want to call it.  BLOG.  OK, there I said it.

Ron Castle Webs is a sole proprietorship owned and operated by Ron since 2000.  I am native Texan who came to Tennessee in 1981 to repay the favors of David Crockett et al at the Alamo.  I have been successfully and actively involved in web design, strategic marketing and e-communication since 1995 (read a true story here). Hey, all my stories are true. My goal for every client and every project is to cost effectively meet the creative and business development needs of fellow sole proprietors to Fortune 100 corporations.

I have an MBA in International Business from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California - the campus was in the Watts combat zone of West Los Angeles when I went to school.  Watts is where I learned Kung Fu and how to run like a jack rabbit.  Just kidding about the Kung Fu.