So true. I still think we are secretly being productive in the down town. SEO is much more creative than people give it credit for. A little bit of everything involved!

In general, 301 aren't bad unless you have a whole string of them. For instance if a 301 redirected to another 301, then another, etc... If 301's are shallow they usually do not present a problem.

That is such a huge problem. Too much of my time is spent fending off these guess that over promise results with no basis. They just take blind shots and hope to pick up some $$$. Makes the entire industry look bad.

Actually a 301 (permanent) redirect does pass the "link juice" along to the new site. I've done it several times and it always works.