Just when you think something can't get any better, something sneaks in to surprise you. Back in April when we hosted our first ever Small Business Marketing Unleashed (SBMU) conference, we were astonished at how great the response was. The show was small, but the attendees ranted and raved about the quality of the speakers, the content and the networking.
As 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...
There'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....
Strong 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....
As 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...
Where 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...
Have 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....
Anita 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....
The 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....
Matt 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...
Marketing 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 (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....
One 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 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....
The 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....
Need 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....
Many 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....
One 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....
There'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....
While 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....
Sage unleashes his endorsement for Search Engine Guide's Small Business Marketing Unleashed conference that is coming to Columbus, OH this September 22-23. Day one is full of general sessions to get your feet wet in everything from site architecture to blogging for business and link building; day two dives you down deep into hands-on workshops such as viral marketing, copywriting and usability. Sage's favorite aspect about SBMU is how intimate the environment is. With only 100 attendees, everyone meets everyone and you learn more. Check it out at SBMU.com....
If you've been thinking about joining us at Small Business Marketing Unleashed this fall, but aren't sure if the content is going to be a good fit for you, here's your chance to find out. I'm about to completely revamp my viral marketing talk, so I've released my old one into the public domain by speaking at Podcamp Ohio. That means you've now got the chance to hear my one hour Viral Marketing talk (and test drive our SBMU content) for free.
I'm pleased to announce that Anita Campbell, CEO and editor of Small Business Trends will be joining us in Columbus, Ohio this fall to serve as keynote at the second Small Business Marketing Unleashed Conference. If you aren't familiar with Anita, you should be. When it comes to small business, she's one of the most respected sources on the web.
If you missed the first Small Business Marketing Unleashed event in Columbus and have spent the last month kicking yourself, it's ok! We wouldn't be us if we didn't try to do everything we could to take care of you! So, Jen, Rachel, Robert and Vickie have spent the last three weeks with our nose to the grindstone to line up a second, BONUS edition of Small Business Marketing Unleashed this fall in Columbus, Ohio.
Sage Lewis interviews Abby Prince from WebPro News at Search Engine Guide's Small Business Marketing Unleashed Conference in Houston, Texas. We not only learn that Abby was covering the conference for WebPro News but also that she comes from a traditional journalism background at a local TV news station. Abby points out Matt Bailey's analytics workshop as one of the many informative sessions at Unleashed, and she talks about how the internet creates more opportunities within the field of journalism....
Want to know what conference you should attend, especially if you're "green" in the web marketing industry? Karen Lea of Brainwavestoys.com extols the virtues of Search Engine Guide's Small Business Marketing Unleashed Conference during her interview with Sage Lewis. Karen says that one of the best things about the conference is learning she has a whole community of support available to her....
Wayne Small from SBSfaq.com in Sydney, Australia shares his Aussie input about Search Engine Guide's Small Business Marketing Unleashed Conference during his interview with Sage Lewis. According to Wayne, one of the most beneficial aspects of the conference was the presence and participation of speakers in sessions other than their own. Wayne touches on the usefulness of Matt McGee's SEO Pyramid and Stoney deGeyter's website architecture class, while emphasizing how SBM Unleashed really focuses on the fundamentals of web marketing....
Wondering what it takes to build a community? How do you get people to follow you? Sage Lewis of Sage Rock leads up this session that focuses on building up communities through YouTube & Facebook....
Considering a viral marketing campaign? Not sure if it can work for you? While there are no guarantees about what will go viral and what won't, Jennifer Laycock had some great hints, questions to ask yourself, and ideas for planning/pitching to give you the best possible chances....
If you've ever tried to find the spare toilet paper in someone else's bathroom, you've experienced a usability issue. Just like the owner of that bathroom, we sometimes get so used to our own sites, we can't see what needs to be fixed. In this workshop, Matt Bailey, Founder of Site Logic Marketing will walk you through common problems that can make your site a hassle for visitors to use. Find out how even the smallest change can make a dramatic impact on your site's conversion rates....
The 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 McGee, SEO Manager at Marchex will walk attendees through the most popular local search engines and will show you the best ways to leverage them to promote your business online....
Need 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, Owner of Alliance Link walks attendees through the world of links. Find out why search engines rely so heavily on links, where to find links and why a good link can send sales through the roof....
Matt Bailey from Sitelogic presents a really informational session about analytics and how data is just data unless you apply segmentation. From page visits, to time on site, that data is useless you apply wisdom and knowledge to them....
Mack Collier's presentation on Blogging for Business covered a lot of tips for small businesses thinking of getting started with blogging. It's not just a matter of writing a bunch of posts about your business (in fact, that's not such a good thing to do, as it happens). Read more to find out what you should be doing....
While pay per click advertising can be a quick and easy way to drive traffic to your web site, it can also be a quick and easy way to drain your bank account. Christine Churchill, President of KeyRelevance reveals how to get the most bang for your buck from each of the major paid search engines by choosing the right keywords, writing relevant ads and optimizing your landing pages. She will share the simple tweaks you can make to dramatically cut your average cost per click while increasing your sales so you have the best chance against companies with much...
Continuing with coverage of the Small Business Marketing Unleashed conference, here's Heather Lloyd-Martin's presentation on keywords and content....
This is a live blogging of Stoney deGeyter's Site Architecture session at Search Engine Guide's Unleashed Conference for Small Business Marketing. Stoney covers Website Architecture, Page / Document Architecture and Site Linking Architecture in this great session....
Bummed because you couldn't make it to the Small Business Marketing Unleashed conference? Fret no more! Here are the highlights from Jennifer Laycock's Social Media Conversations session for your edification and entertainment. Enjoy!...
There'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. Find out the best ways to build up a loyal readership and how to get your visitors more involved from the queen of community herself, Wendy Piersall, Founder of Sparkplugging.com....
Search Engine Guide's first conference, Unleashed, kicks off with a great opening panel discussing the Common Sense Approach to Online Marketing. Matt McGee, Matt Bailey & Wendy Piersall all present a great overview into why Online Marketing is very important and taking a very common sense approach to things will help your small business.This is a "live blogging" relation to you the audience of what happened in this opening session....
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