Speaking Guru, Dr. Tony Alessandra's Search Engine Marketing Experience
This article by Dr. Tony Alessandra is a reprint (republish) from Speaker Net News, a Speaking Professional industry news letter created and published by NSA or The National Speaker Association.
Search engine marketing — By Dr. Tony Alessandra
If you have kept your eye on the evolution of marketing, you may have read about the shift from outbound marketing to inbound marketing. In fact, one form of inbound marketing called Search Engine Marketing (SEM & SEO) makes sense in that it enables you to have your own target market find and contact you when they are ready to buy, and it would provide a better return than the old “shotgun” outbound approach.
Just recently, I have thrown my hat into the inbound marketing arena and the results were even better than I could have imagined. The key was to find the right SEM partner. I did the research and learned some very important details about finding the right vendor. Here are some pitfalls to keep in mind:
• Webmasters, IT techs and Web designers usually do not have the necessary skill set to get this job done right
• There are no shortcuts; be prepared to have the quality and quantity of work done to get page one listings
• Be very careful of implementing a “sponsored ad” campaign as it can be quite costly if not done correctly
• Don’t be short-sighted; make sure you have a long-term program, as quality SEM can’t be done in 2 or 4 weeks
• Understand that even a very expensive Web site holds little value if your audience can’t find it with accurate keywords
• Make sure your keywords have gone through a detailed analysis, as this is really the foundation of your SEO campaign.
The last piece of advice I can offer is talking with a company that has proven themselves to me right from the start. I am recommending Virtual Support Systems & Daniel Shlifer (dan@virtualsupportsystems.com), (941) 927-2028).
I hired Daniel and his company to work on one of my Web sites so I could gauge their effectiveness. I found that they really are experts in inbound marketing. They never made outrageous promises and explained everything very clearly at each step of development. The results have been stronger and quicker than my expectations because I partnered with an SEO firm that has the experience, the knowledge and the service that separates an average company from a top-tier company. If you need to get your message in front of the search masses, I encourage you to speak with Virtual Support Systems.
(Editors’ note: Tony shared lots of great ideas in his SNN teleseminar E-Business Strategies for Speakers: E-Products Equal E-normous Income. You can order the CD or MP3.)
