About

Tamar Weinberg is a freelance writer and author of The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web (O’Reilly, July 2009) who specializes in social media consulting and strategy, blogger outreach, reputation management, and search engine marketing (SEO, link building, and Pay Per Click Marketing). She has been involved in the Internet since the early 90s and has dabbled in social online interactions for more than fifteen years. Tamar has been working nearly exclusively with Internet Marketing side since 2006, though she also has experience with web hosting and technical support and can handle complicated WordPress installations and configurations with ease. At the present time, Tamar is the community & marketing manager of Mashable and consults at social media marketing agency M80, in addition to working alongside other companies in her own role as a consultant.

In my own words:

I’m a passionate person. When I want something, I’m determined to get it. As a young child, I wanted to be an author. My mother told me that if I were going to be an author, I would be subsisting on small amounts of food and my luxuries would be minimal. For awhile, I was going along the path of pursuing a law degree which seemed to fit well with my personality traits of persistence as well as the ability to argue a point well when I knew it was the right thing.

But even from a young age, I became involved in computers. From my first “computer,” a Speak-N-Spell, I always had the fascination with a smart interactive machines.

When I was in grade school, it was an Apple IIgs. In middle school and ever since, it was a PC. I’ve played with flavors of Linux too. I remember “breaking” my first computer because my curiosity took me outside Windows 3.1 and I decided I should try FDISK. Oops.

Despite my interest in writing, I didn’t cultivate it publicly despite a published poem at the age of thirteen. In fact, I also stopped reading when I got a computer — that was where I was most excited. Because I was not afraid of trying new things (not much can get worse than FDISKing your MBR when you’re a preteen), I quickly became interested in everything computers and tried not to focus on one single aspect. I graduated from Barnard College / Columbia University with a degree in Computer Science just so I can have the programming background (though I don’t know how to program after all I studied). As a student, I worked as a Residential Computing Consulting, so I learned a lot about academic networking. I focused on network security as a Security Consultant. I learned Linux in 2001 while working as a Junior Unix Administrator. I designed some nice
websites. I never wanted to be in one place, because the world of computers was vast.

In the end, however, I was particularly taken by the Internet and emerging technologies therein. After the world of BBSes, my first paid online service cost me $5.95/hour on a slow 2400 baud modem (my largest monthly bill was a whopping $267.48). I joined many social networking websites even if my friends didn’t. I generally had a solid idea about the trends to follow (if only my parents, who were more stock-market savvy than I was, would have invested in my interests).

I love learning how websites work, the social communities that surround them, the news and hype surrounding websites (especially search engines!), and I especially love administering the servers upon which they reside.

techipedia.com is my blog where I journey through technology news that interests me with my personal spin. By blogging, I’m able to combine that first love of writing with love of the Internet, social networks, and technology. I hope you enjoy the journey.

More information about Tamar can be found on her official biography page, which is located at Tamar Weinberg. She is also active on many social communities, including (but not limited to):

• Digg – tamar
• Flickr – pixelopera
• LinkedIn – Tamar Weinberg
• delicious – tami
• MyBlogLog – tamar
• Twitter – tamar
• Facebook – Tamar Weinberg
• StumbleUpon – tamar
• FriendFeed – tamar
• Mixx – tamar

Tamar has also contributed to numerous online publications, including the 10e20 blog, Search Engine Roundtable, Mashable, Macgasm, Real Simple Magazine, Pistachio Consulting, or on Lifehacker.

Oh, and one more thing: What’s with the funny email?

I’m assuming that those of you who know me may wonder why I have such a funny nickname. Back in ’93 when I first got AOL, I was using a super slow computer on a 2400 baud modem. The lack of RAM and the consistent fights over the phone line caused my computer to get disconnected from the online service, a term that oldies used to refer to as “punted,” numerous times a day. I fit that bill entirely. I was your classic case of being punted. Being the creative type for a 12-year-old (and since I was also dabbling in poetry at the time), I decided that it would be cute to append “runt” to the nickname. Thus, punt runt was born. I still use the name to this day because old habits are hard to break (and it’s really easy for old friends to find me!). Over a decade later, the nickname still fits: I’m still a computer geek and I love to write. However, when I can, I prefer to use “tamar” instead. (Note to the Gmail team: I’d love tamarATgmailDOTcom if you’d ever allow for 5-letter usernames!)

Notable Achievements and Speaking Engagements

• Listed #18 on NxE’s Fifty Most Influential Female Bloggers
• Listed #12 on NowPublic’s Most Public Influencers in the Web from New York City
• Listed as one of the top 21 Social Media Superstars Under 30 in 2008
• Listed in the Twitter Elite for New York City
• Considered one of the Top 100 Most Influential Marketers of 2008 by Invesp, ranked #61
• Considered one of the Top 100 Most Influential Marketers of 2009 by Invesp, ranked #11
• Moderator at Sphinn.com, an Internet Marketing social news site and community
• Editor at Kirtsy.com, a women’s focused social news site and community
• Moderator at Tipd.com, a financial news social news site and community
• Guest Lecturer, CUNY Baruch College, 2009
• Guest Lecturer, New York University, March 2010 and July 2010
• Guest Lecturer, University of Denver, 2010
• Speaker at WebmasterWorld conferences: Pubcon Vegas 2007 and Pubcon Vegas 2008 (bio)
• Speaker at Search Marketing Expo Social Media, New York City, 2007 (bio)
• Speaker at Search Marketing Expo East (SMX East), New York City, 2009
• Speaker at IZEAFest, Orlando, FL 2008 (bio)
• Speaker at Cool Twitter Conferences, New York City, 2009 (more)
• Speaker at Search Marketing East, New York City, 2009
• Columnist, Search Engine Land
• Featured Guest, The Rise to the Top, 2010
• Featured Guest, Search Marketing Now, 2010
• Featured Guest, A2SM, 2010
• Featured Guest, Escaping the 9 to 5, 2010
• Featured Guest, TechnoGirlTalk, 2010
• Featured Guest, The Daily SearchCast, 2008
• Featured Guest, AustinCast, 2008 (watch full video)
• Featured Guest, Tech PR War Stories Podcast, 2008 (listen)
• Webinar presenter, introNetworks, 2009
• Advisory Panel in the search for Alicia Keys’s head blogger, 2010
• Cast member alumni for Social Blend Podcast
• Winner, 2008 SEMMYs, Viral Marketing
• Nominee, 2010 SEMMYs, Online Marketing/General
• Nominee, 2009 SEMMYs, Social Media
• Nominee, 2008 SEMMYs, Link Building, PPC, Social Media, and SEO
• Techipedia: Second place, Search Engine Journal’s Best Social Media Optimization Blog of 2007
• Search Engine Roundtable, Winner, Search Engine Journal’s Best SEO Blog of 2007
• Search Engine Roundtable: Winner, Search Engine Journal’s Best Search Conference Coverage of 2007
• Member of the AdAge Power 150
• Listed on the Internet Marketing Top Blogs at Winning the Web
• Expert Judge, SEOmoz’s Web 2.0 Awards
• Expert Judge, 2008, 2009, and 2010 SEMMYs
• Expert Judge, Marketing Pilgrim’s Search Engine Marketing Scholarship
• Expert Judge, Search Engine Strategies Awards 2008