Jennifer Laycock (thejenn), Moderator: Jimworld.com

The legacy that Jim Wilson created with his collection of JimWorld sites is one that has impacted my life dramatically. In late 2000, after years of working as an Internet Marketer and Web site developer, I began researching the idea of Search Engine Optimization. Having visited dozens of sites and a handful of forums, I stumbled upon Search Engine Forums and the JimWorld sites.

It was Search Engine Forums that first got me interested in the idea of Search Engine Marketing. Jim's desire to help every webmaster understand how to better market his or her web site was evident in every post of Search Engine Forums. Jim was about sharing the ideas with anyone who would listen, not discovering secrets to success and then keeping them to himself, or charging others for the privilege of his knowledge. I read his words and his Gazette with admiration, and within a few months, I was blessed enough to become part of his "team" of moderators.

I've learned nearly everything I know about SEO from Jim's sites. I've learned a moderating style and a teaching style that only a man like Jim could have passed on. It was through Jim's sites that I gained the experience and the knowledge to land my first clients, and to eventually leave my full-time job to work from home as a professional SEO while starting and raising a family. Jim wasn't just about teaching people to make money, he was about teaching them to better their lives through their work.

Although Jim took ill shortly after I joined his staff, the legacy that he has left behind in the moderators and members who knew him personally remains evident in the forums. It is a legacy that myself, and others have promised to uphold and grow. A legacy that will continue as long as there are web site owners looking for a place to learn.

-Jennifer Laycock