I really enjoyed Lee Odden's interview with Todd Malicoat who runs the Stuntdubl blog (and works at WeBuildPages). Todd's one of the friendliest guys to meet in person (Kat's going to be hanging out with him next week during the Link Ninjas seminar) and a remarkably intelligent SEO. Some notable quotes:

The biggest valuation factor to any technology sector company (from what I’ve seen), has to be the future potential of the company. I would argue that the valuation should be based on things like:

• Human resources/ intellectual property (good people)
• Quality of Analytics
• Scalability of SEO process
• "Network" reach (content, ad inventory)
• Tools, code, and scripts for automation and information
• Client base value and future value
• Current and future expectations for revenue streams and profit centers
• Industry reputation
• Lead generation potential
• Sales process and potential
• Vision (good management)

I love his analogy of SEOs to old grandmas meeting to knit:

As far as being an “SEO B-lister”, I have to congratulate Andy on the wild success of his linkbait. It is really fascinating to see the types of things that are viral that people will REALLY talk about and link to. I’ve mentioned to Nick_W and others that Threadwatch was a perfect name for a community, as SEO’s are about as gossipy as a sewing circle.

He's also got some very smart things to say about the "black hat" vs. "white hat" issue:

Some people prefer a high risk, short term, “all-in” approach to SEO. Automation is a big part of this. I tend to think of the blackhat camp as the one with lots of great tools and very little concern to the industries from which they make money from. There are of course, low level spammers that fit the mold as well. Obviously pills, pr0n, and gambling are big business on the internet, and there are many very wealthy SEO’s that promote these areas. The tools they use for optimization and promotion in these fields is really amazing. I don’t work in any of those industries myself, but I am fascinated by some of the techniques that they use and applying them to less high profile, high risk ventures. There are some brilliant minds at work in what I would deem “ultra-competitive” industries, and they are consistently on the bleeding edge of search engine advancements. These are a good people to listen to on certain matters.

I wish that I had been more forthcoming & erudite in my own interview with Lee. They (Todd and Lee) have done a great job of creating linkable content with this one - a good primer on the technique for those seeking to provide one-on-one coverage.