Posts Tagged small business
Steve Thomas – B2B Social Media
Posted by admin in 2010 Conference News on April 6th, 2010
Who is Our Target Audience?
Posted by admin in 2009 Seminar News on June 26th, 2009
Yesterday a potential event attendee called and said he had a few questions. Among his questions was one I thought was terrific: Who is the Intended Target Audience for this Seminar?
Excellent question.
Our intended audience for the Look at Me seminar in August is:
- Business owners who have probably heard of SEO, Facebook or Twitter but know little or nothing about them. They probably know that they “need to know” about these thigns, but most likely don’t understand exactly what they are, or how any can help them.
- Marketing executives who are in charge of, well, marketing. These individuals are like those above, they know that SEO is a great way to increase marketing and branding, but they are unsure about where to start.
- Businesses that aren’t growing. Whether they are simply relying on word of mouth, drive-bys or Chamber of Commerce meetings. They are waiting for the customers to come to them, but aren’t sure how to “put themselves out there”. These businesses also are usually unsure of where to put their marketing budgets, and this is where they usually go wrong after spending $10k, $20k or more.
- Web Developers that want to move past just building websites. Anyone can build a website, but it takes a special kind of individual to not only build a site, but add tremendous value to their clients’ site by being very ’search aware’. This is what separates the boys from the men, you could say.
I think that pretty much covers it. Questions from the crowd? Just email us and we’ll be glad to help you out.
Saint Louis Needs This
Posted by admin in 2009 Seminar News on June 24th, 2009
I’ve been in the computer business since 1997. I’ve always been a smalltime, under-the-radar kind of guy, and up until the last few years it’s suited me just fine. But now my business is growing like mad. Why? Because in 2004 I discovered Search Engine Optimization thanks in part to a prank that I had no idea how to market.
Once I started really getting into SEO, I realized what a HUGE thing it was for businesses – both in St. Louis and nationally. Businesses really can grow their customer base and revenues by being online.
But not just being online, but being found online.
It’s incredible how I can take a small mom & pop store that’s been in business since the 80’s and help them realize new markets and post eleven straight record months. And it’s incredible that any business can do the same thing.
But they don’t.
Why? Because they don’t understand how to do it. As I’ve tried to market my SEO services, I’ve realized that most business owners in Saint Louis think you’ve fallen off the crazy train when you tell them that there is an entire industry out there based around helping businesses climb to the top of Google for searches their customers are doing daily.
Some areas of the US are much more knowledgeable about SEO. Say ‘SEO’ in Seattle, Phoenix or LA and most business owners know what you’re talking about. Say it in Saint Louis, and they’ll just look at you with suspicion.
Saint Louis needs a seminar/workshop/conference like MarketSTL. We aren’t New York. We aren’t LA. But we’ve got some of the coolest businesses in the US right here, and they have no idea how to market themselves. That’s something I believe this event will help change.
The Look at Me event in August will show St. Louis area businesses how to be aware of search, how to build or modify a website so that the search engines ‘like’ your content, and even how to start engaging customers through social media. It will be in a classroom-type of setting, and there will even be plenty of time for handing out business cards to others.
The speakers won’t be trying to sell their services during our sessions (something we made them agree to when signing up), we will simply try to explain (in limited time) how you can take your business to a new level by paying attention to your website.
