Straight off (pardon the pun) the news wire today…

Country superstar George Strait is taking a swing at another passion besides music.

Strait and partner Tom Cucisk have purchased the Tapatio Springs Golf Resort and Conference Center in Boerne, about 25 miles northwest of San Antonio.

Strait and Cusick, who lives in the Texas Hill Country community, finalized the deal April 1. Terms were not released Friday when the purchase announced.

The seller was Textron Financial Corp., which last June bought the resort for $4.5 million during a foreclosure auction.

Strait, who’s an avid golfer, says he’s lived near Boerne and played the resort’s courses, always believing the complex "could be a real jewel."

The resort, founded in 1981, has three nine-hole courses and more than 100 hotel rooms.

Copyright Associated Press

I may have to round up a posse from the Business Golf Country Club, Business Golf Advisory Group, She Kan Golf and the Biz Golf Guru to go down there and put on a ClamBake Cafe Business Golf School.  Maybe George will play us a tune.

Can you believe we are almost 90 days into the New Year.?  I think it is time for a break. Naturally, when I think of taking a break I am thinking of loading up the golf clubs and heading to Arizona or Southern California…if not both.  Why don’t you join me?

I am going to meet up with my friend and business partner, Dave Bisbee, out in Sedona, AZ for a three day weekend outing.  Those who join us will be treated to some very special pricing and an opportunity to either play a couple of rounds of golf or have Dave take you through is Two Day Complete Golf School.

Opportunities Galore

Maybe you are one of the many business focused peopled who need to find out within the first three sentences of a Blog on ‘What’s In It For Me’ and need a ‘Solid Purpose’ more than Golf to attend.  Hey, we totally understand and we have you covered.

For those who are looking for a business reason to attend a golf outing, Dave and I will offer you the Business Golf Camp. The BGC is delivered in a two half day session on the essentials of business and golf.   Dave and I are introducing the Business Golf Camp at this gathering for those who would like to attend.  The BGC is a separate function of the Clambake Cafe and advance registration to this session is required since there are a few prerequisites to the sessions.

The two sessions are set in a business seminar environment and covers a variety of subjects related to increasing productive in the workforce, professional awareness, business operations style of social media and, of course, new ideas on how to make your business more profitable.  Plus a few other surprises thrown in for good measure.  We will guarantee for those who attend the Camp you will leave Sedona with more than a relaxed attitude and a better golf game.

If you are interested in attended the camp, send me an email through this site with the Subject: Camp, and I will send you the details.

Golf Heaven

But, lets not forget what you are Really going to the golf outing to do…getaway.  If you have been to Sedona then you know I am not exaggerating any when I say playing golf in Sedona is like being in Golf Heaven. If you have not been to Sedona, well, you have got to go.  Sedona Golf Resort is rolling out the red carpet and really set to show you the best of the Sedona area.

We have two choices for your golf outing interest:

1. Two rounds of Golf at Sedona Golf Resort, including Breakfast, or
2. A Two Half-Day Sessions Complete Golf School conducted by Dave Bisbee, Breakfast and Lunch, along with Two rounds of golf on the Sedona Golf Resort Course.

There are a number of things that are of non-golf interest available to explore in Sedona everyone has an opportunity to enjoy if they choose.  Dave and I are just hosting this opportunity and offering the experience to you at below costs so you can get away, golf, learn and have fun.  Everything has been discounted so there is no excuse to not attend.  And Hey..guess what…we will doing another Clambake Cafe but you have to come to Golf Heaven to find out when and where.

Plus, for those of my close friends who know me well, there will be something going on each day after the golf has been played that generally turns into a party.  So, come join in the fun.  Space is very limited..so do not delay in signing up.  Let me know how I can help.

Many of you are aware I am a firm advocate of social media and golf.  Depending on my mood, I could change in a moment’s notice to it being Golf then Social Media, but I am sure you know I work to merge them together when I can.

Last evening I attending the monthly gathering of the Social Media Club of Dallas and was again offered another fabulous opportunity to learn more about what is behind Social Media.  In this case, we learned more about what the big deal is about SEO.  Bottomline: If you are going to make your time online worthwhile you need to understand SEO.

OK, for you newbies in my community, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.  The term SEO is an overused term and listening to conversations on SEO in large doses will generally generate a nauseating feeling.  SEO is a hard concept to grasp. The SEO experts who were on last evening’s panel featuring Tony Wright, Tom McCracken and Jerod Morris moderated by Cameron Gawley did a great job.

However, SEO is only part of social media and needs to be understood if you are out to use social media correctly.

Keywords is another term that means different things to so many different people, but is the bases of SEO.  Bottomline:  How does SEO work.   Google’s search engine looks for words in the content it reviews that match the words entered into the Google Search field.  If your blog or website has these words in it,..or ‘Keywords’ as it is called…, then the entire article or blog that has these keywords will be listed in the trillions of listings Google posts in the search results.  The game that is played is..How to Get to the Front Page of the Google Search.

In the past SEO was much simpler to understand and as the result of so many people, places and things circumventing the process, to gain advantage of the Google Ranking on the search page, Google keeps making understanding SEO very difficult by frequently changing the rules for Ranking.  There are so many situations and rules in place now that understanding all of the SEO guidelines is a near impossibility.  Bottomline:  It is much harder for a grassroots effort to influence a higher ranking on the Google search.  So, to many, using SEO to get a higher placement on Google searches will be a real uphill experience.

However, there were a few tidbits of SEO information passed along to us last evening that actually could be heard over the rabble rousers in the back of the room who had a pocket of drink tickets to burn. One of the most catching bits of info was placing Keywords in the Title of a blog along with the Title.  Hummm..  So, as you see, I tried it above to see how it works.  Guess I’ll find out.

But enough of this SEO stuff..what about the Golf?  What I have learned about golf is, like Social Media, you have to actually practice playing golf like you practice using social media.  Of course, Golf is offline and social media is online, but wouldn’t it be great if they both were balanced equally online and offline?

Bottomline: Wouldn’t the world of golf benefit more if more golfers using the internet other than a place to record their scores?  Wouldn’t social media benefit more if more of the online talk was moved to offline venues?  And, Ultimately, wouldn’t it be great if golf and social media were used in more online and offline endeavors?  Wow, what a concept.

Of course, being the innovative thinker I am I do what I can to keep ahead of all these great ideas by creating places and things that address these very issues.  For Golf I created the Business Golf Country Club and the Business Golf Advisory Group .  For social media I created the ClamBake Cafe .   All were developed to balance online and offline social media efforts for the golf industry and for business people who play golf.  Bottomline: If you are a golfer and out to learn more about social media then these places and things I have created are the places to be.

As far as SEO..did you count the number of times I used the term SEO?  And as far as using SEO for Golf and Social Media..the same question goes for how many times I used the word golf and social media.  Bottomline: Quit playing games online and learn to play the game of golf.  It will keep you from having to worry so much about using SEO to develop business online by offering you a way of developing business offline as well.

Help golf by helping me put business back on course…the golf course.  Let me know how I can help.

People ask me all the time… What exactly is it you do?   I guess it’s time to toot my horn a little.

There are not many of us left anymore…,or should I say… available. Those of us who are capable of doing what I do, and have experience in doing what I know how to do, are becoming very rare. I am an overly trained in Process Management and a vastly experienced Business Operations Manager with knowledge of how social media really works in the real business world TODAY.

I also have an acute knowledge of the values of a prominent Web Presence.  If nobody is finding you on the web then I have some solutions for you.

I spent 30 years in the middle of the worst messes a fortune 100 corporation can get its operations into and played a huge part in developing the many solutions that got them straightened out. Crisis Management is in my blood, solid solutions are in my DNA and ‘not stopping until the job is done’ is just my way of life.

If you are a business person needing someone to help make the tough business decisions …I am your man.

If you are uncertain with what direction to take your business in this fractured economy…yes, I am still your man.

If you just need someone to take on a project …yep, I am still YOUR Man!

I you need someone to fill in your foursome…I can do that as well.

…I mentor…I consult…I coach…I manage…I help…and most important…I LISTEN! …I am serious…I am fun and I am part of the solution..not the problem! Contact me if you are need of my help…I am ready to go when you are.

I have never hidden the fact I sell advertising space on my Mr Business Golf blog site.  I also now offer a number of other services for those who are interested in improving their web presence or need a hand with their social media.

Don’t Let Hit Counter Reports Fool You

What you may not realize is my blogs has even more viewers than the hit counter reports will show.  How so? Well, I use all my sites for training purposes.  My blog and other IBGS sites are all up on a screen being viewed by dozens of people at a time.  Usually, there is someone asking me about how to place ads on their blogs..or will say…OH, is ‘So-n-So’ a sponsor?..as they point to one of the ads on my site.

This means you are not going to be able to go by the hit count to my site on what coverage you would get for advertising on my blog site. Plus, I do more for my advertisers than any other golf blogger.  I blog about the product or services as part of the deal.   I offer social media marketing on the advertiser’s behalf for a period of time.  All this is included in the advertising rates.

Check out my Ad Rates here or click on the tab at the top of this blog for Ad Rates….

Even More Good News!

I also offer additional marketing services for my advertisers like web presence support, videocasts promotions, visibility to your efforts on the ClamBake Cafe Podcast. 

Plus, with the addition of the Business Golf Advisory Group you now can have your business plan reviewed by a panel of experts in business operations.  For more information, contact me through my blog site.

So, now…that didn’t hurt, did it?  Now you know a little more about who I am and what I do, let me know how I can help.

John Raser, aspiring PGA Tour profession, entrepreneur and fellow social media Jedi Knight Ninja was on the ClamBake Cafe with me this morning.   I have been communicating with John through a number of social media tools used out here in La-La-Land and have been trying to get him on the ClamBake Cafe since he joined the Business Golf Country Club.  Finally, the moons aligned and we got on camera together for the first time to meet each other and chat.  I had a delightful time visiting with John and finding out more about what the Real Speed Raser is all about.  Below is the video for you enjoyment and I really hope you will pass it on to those you know who could learn from what John has to say.

John is an outstanding example of how young aspiring pro golfers should go about taking a shot at playing on the PGA Tour.  There is a lot more to John (Speed) Raser than people see of him out in La-La-Land.  He has a plan and is working hard towards making the plan work.  On the way, he also has principles in how he is going about mounting his campaign to being able to afford the costs associated with just trying to make it to the ‘Big Show’.

Internet marketing is more important today than it ever has been.  Unfortunately, as John and I agreed, there are far too many people who have not a clue how to use the internet so they go about marketing whatever they are doing using unrealistic old school methods of marketing that do not work on the internet.

john and found a lot of common ground on how many people are muddying up the water around the online golf industry.

“There are too many golf sites selling tee times and reviewing golf equipment and not enough real golfers providing any real content about who they really are.”, John reports.

John brings a refreshing, yet serious, energy to social media for golf industry.  He also is a member of the Business Golf Country Club .  If there is one thing for sure, John is focused on bring awareness to his sponsors through the effective use of Social Media.

I hope you enjoy the following interview had with John Speed Raser as much as I did producing it.

John can be found at:

• Web-site: www.gospeedraser.com
• Twitter: @johnraser
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/johnraser
• LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/john-raser/8/867/a59

John Raser, aspiring golf professional who is working his way to the PGA Tour, will be making his appearance on the ClamBake Cafe.  John has been a member of the Business Golf Country Club for over a year.

When it comes to Social Media, not many surpass John’s grasp of the golf market.  His influence on the game of golf and the internet has been phenomenal and was made famous online with the now infamous match between him and Christina Kim broadcasted live via their iPhones.

John brings the freshness the PGA tour needs to keep it going.  His interview on the ClamBake Cafe will bring you another opportunity to hear from him what his goals are from making the PGA Tour.

My video interview of John will be posted Monday, August 23, 2010, on the ClamBake Cafe, the BGCC and other video sites.  Make sure to bookmark the CBC so you don’t miss this interview.