2008-09-26 Hi Everyone! We have a ton of session recaps from our Small Business Marketing Unleashed Conference. Keep in mind these are done live and so there may be a few mistakes. Have a great week! Rachel Phillips
 Free and Low Cost Tools to Get the Job Done - SBM Unleashedby David WallaceAs a small business owner you may not always have the money to invest in the tools you really need. That's ok. You might actually be surprised to learn how just how many great low cost and even free tools there are to help you improve your online marketing. In this workshop, Matt McGee of Small Business Search Marketing walks attendees through a variety of tools that handle all sorts of marketing related tasks. He'll also provides some insight into which tools are worth paying for and how you can start cheap and work your way toward investing in higher...  Podcasting and Videocasting Workshop - SBM Unleashedby Jackie BakerThere's something to be said for a little personality. Once you meet Sage Lewis, you'll see there's a whole lot to be said if you have a big personality. In this workshop Sage Lewis walks you through the best ways to interact with your readers. He'll guide you through technologies like podcasting, video blogging and discussion forums and show you how to leverage them to build a stronger community around your brand.... Blogging Workshop - SBM Unleashedby David WallaceMack Collier of The Viral Garden did an excellent presentation yesterday on why businesses should blog. With some background on why blogging matters and how companies are using blogs to spark conversation, this workshop is designed to provide everything you need to know to build a successful blog from selecting your blog software to planning your blog strategy....  Copywriting Workshop - SBM Unleashedby Diane AullStrong website copy can increase your conversion rate and improve your search engine rankings. In this session, Heather Lloyd-Martin and members of the audience review and offer suggestions for websites offered by three volunteers to help them improve their website copy. You're sure to find ideas here you can apply to your own site....  Usability and Conversion Workshop - SBM Unleashedby Scott AllenMatt Bailey discusses the foundational elements of creating a user-friendly site that will encourage users to convert. If you weren't here you missed out! It was jam-packed with info on making an intelligent site that leads users down the right path. On-Page SEO WorkShop - SBM Unleashedby Scott AllenStoney and the crew at Pole Position Marketing created a fictitious site called "Galaxy Quest Airlines". Instead of just going through a checklist of things to look for, he created an interactive audience participation experience where the audience members peruse the site and find on-page SEO problems. Connecting the Dots: Online (Brand) Reputation Management - SBM Unleashedby David WallaceAs online conversations grow and spread, there's a good chance people are "talking" about your brand using the tools of social media. But how can you find out what they're saying...and how should you be responding? In this workshop, Christina Kerley ("CK") of ckEpiphany Marketing educates and empowers you by connecting the dots of how to monitor what people are saying about your brand, how to leverage their talk to grow relationships and revenues and which techniques to use in responding to positive and negative feedback--as well as tips for engaging brand advocates. All this talk = a lot of... Email Marketing - SBM Unleashedby Jackie BakerWhere should email fit in your marketing mix? While search and social media can help traffic come to you, the latest email techniques are essential to attract and retain customers in the long run. One of the best ways to do this is through ongoing email marketing and email newsletters. Learn how to grow your mailing list and how experienced marketers increase delivery rates while avoiding the latest spam filters. Understand US law and how to avoid three simple mistakes that can land you heavy fines or even jail time. Michael explains common email measurement techniques, such as open rates... Viral Marketing Workshop - SBM Unleashedby Diane AullHave you considered launching a viral marketing campaign? When it goes well, viral can be a cost-effective way to get the word out about your product or service to huge numbers of people... but, unfortunately, most viral marketing campaigns fail. What do you need to know, what do you need to do to maximize your chances for success? Jennifer Laycock shows us the way, with real-world examples of campaigns that worked. Learn not only what succeeded, but why....  5 Ways to Beef Up Your Blogging Teamby Manoj JasraIf you are the sole contributor to a personal or corporate blog and have been the main source of content for quite some time, you can understand the pressure of trying to provide unique content day in and day out. There will be times where you simply lack inspiration and will look for help to bare the load. Finding consistent contributors (guest authors) is not the simplest thing to do since everyone has their own priorities and writing articles can be quite time consuming. Below I have outlined some ways to help you beef up your blogging team... Drive Business Without Driving Yourself Crazy - SBM Unleashedby Diane AullAnita offers ten tips for small business success based on her own experiences. Learn realistic and practicals ideas on how to make the best use of your time, leverage partnerships and maintain the kind of focus that leads to business success.... Local Search With Matt McGee - SBM Unleashedby Jackie BakerThe days of flipping through a big fat yellow book to find a local business are quickly coming to a close. After all, why settle for a simple phone number when an online search can also net you menus, pricing, hours and consumer reviews? In this workshop, Matt walked attendees through the most popular local search engines and will show you the best ways to leverage them to promote your business online.... Understanding Analytics - SBM Unleashedby Diane AullMatt Bailey says analytics are fun - and by the end of his presentation, you'll not only agree, but you'll probably love analytics almost as much as Matt does. In this lively and entertaining session, you'll learn the difference between people and cows, the importance of "buckets," why ranking number one for the term "UPS" might not be all it's cracked up to be, and why you might want to avoid wearing a red shirt (at least, if you're on the Starship Enterprise and Captain Kirk is looking for volunteers to beam down to the planet below). Even better, you'll... Big Impact Branding for Small Businesses - SBM Unleashedby Diane AullMarketing doesn't necessarily take a lot of money, but it does take being smart. Even small businesses can brand themselves or their products. So what is branding? In this session from Christina Kerley, you'll learn the answer to that question, plus six strategies for small business branding.... Pay per Click Marketing - SBM Unleashedby Diane AullPay per click (PPC) is a wonderful compliment to organic search engine optimization. But even big organizations sometimes miss basic elements of running an efficient and effective PPC campaign. Christine Churchill covers the essentials you need to know to get started with PPC without breaking the bank.... Universal Search: Lessons From a Simple Board Game - SBM Unleashedby David WallaceOne year after the release of Universal Search, Google's search results pages been completely rearranged. Some listings have been pushed off the page, and new listings have generated unexpected traffic for site owners. This session taught by Michael Stebbins of Market Motive shows how this system works including how to get in early as well as how the strategy for getting into Google's universal search results differs from traditional SEO. Michael covers basic strategies for getting image listings, local listings, news, video and images indexed by Google and other search engines.... Social Media Conversations - SBM Unleashedby Diane AullSocial media isn't about marketing, it's about the conversations. Jennifer Laycock's presentation covers practical tactics for engaging your customers in those conversations, and points you to some social sites to consider.... Site Architecture - SBM Unleashedby Diane AullThe foundation of any search marketing campaign is to have a user-friendly and search friendly site. If your site architecture isn't up to snuff, the search engines can't easily index your pages, which means you're basically dead in the water before you start. So what does it take to have a search friendly site? Stoney deGeyter covers the essentials of effective site architecture in this lively session.... Link Building - SBM Unleashedby David WallaceNeed links? Of course you do! In order to rank well and successfully promote your online business, you need an effective link building program as part of your over-all SEO strategy. Link guru Debra O'Neil Mastaler of Alliance Link walks attendees through the world of links. She reveals why search engines rely so heavily on links, where to find links and why a good link can send sales through the roof.... Blogging for Business - SBM Unleashedby David WallaceMany businesses are trying to figure out whether they need to integrate blogging into their marketing plans. What will be the ROI from blogging? Will customers be more inclined to buy because you have a blog? These are just some of the questions being tossed around by intrigued marketers.In this session, Mack Collier of The Viral Garden touches on blogging as a component of a greater marketing scheme for your small business including engaging content, customer feedback, and sales tools. Mack also offers tips and tricks in building your blog and your audience.... Creating Great Content - SBM Unleashedby David WallaceOne of the biggest stumbling blocks for small business web sites is their content. This session, taught by Heather Lloyd-Martin of SuccessWorks Search Marketing Solutions, will reveal why content and copywriting plays such a huge role in the success of your web site. It is designed to show what type of content is essential to include and provides some tips and insight into how the words you use can impact the actions people take once they reach your web site.... Building a Community - SBM Unleashedby David WallaceThere's no doubt the best endorsements come from happy and loyal customers. So what if there was a way to build a community around your web site? A community that helped keep your content fresh, your ideas flowing and the links 'a coming. Turns out, there is. Of course to build a community, you need to have some personality. In this session, Sage Lewis of SageRock Marketing, will reveal how to leverage your personality and build a happy and loyal community around your web site.... A Common Sense Approach to Online Marketing - SBM Unleashedby David WallaceWhile it's easy to get overwhelmed about going up against big businesses in marketing realms like search engine optimization, blogging, viral marketing, community building and analytics, a good dose of common sense can really level the playing field. This panel which features Jennifer Laycock of Search Engine Guide serving as moderator and speakers Matt Bailey of Site Logic Marketing, Stoney deGeyter of Pole Position Marketing and Matt McGee of Small Business Search Marketing aims to set the stage for the rest of the show by helping you change your perspective on competing with the big boys....  Bet You Didn't Know Micro Blogging Could Be This Simpleby Karri FlatlaWhen I finally did get on the micro blogging bandwagon (and no, I don't count Facebook, not even the "new" one), I put my profile on pretty much all of the Twitter-ish sites I could find. Hey, why not? It's sort of like one of those drinking games where you do a bunch of different shooters in about half an hour, realize most of them just make you want to throw up and go back to your favourite beer the following Saturday. Return to the Top of this Page 
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