Monday, December 8, 2008

Starting A Search Engine Marketing Firm

Many entrepreneurs have changed their entrepreneurial direction over the past ten years as some have chosen to make coming up with solutions for businesses a business.Others have gone on to invent new consumer services based on needs not even identified yet.Another great new business opportunity has many entrepreneurs excited today - search engine marketing.Businesses wanting to rank high in Google and Yahoo!have two choices today - master the constantly changing methods or hire a search engine marketing firm.

This article details what it takes for entrepreneurs to launch their own SEM agency so you'll appreciate the value knowledge and experience offer.

Building The Confidence Of Your Clients

Before hiring you, clients want to have confidence in you and your abilities to help them reach the top spots, including both the paid listings and the organic results.

The most effective method for building that confidence in your clients is by mastering the craft of optimization and communicating how your SEO skills can help them achieve their goals.This may involve boosting sales, improving the return on investment for a pay-per-click campaign, or showing how a top position for your client's most important keywords can translate into profit.

Meeting Your Clients' Expectations

The success and profitability of your search engine marketing firm depends on both setting goals and meeting or surpassing your clients' expectations.

This is crucial for two important reasons.First of all, many of your clients will have extremely unreasonable expectations about what you will be able to do for them.For example, your client may think you can outrank ESPN for the term "sports." Secondly, when committing to deliver specific results but failing to do so, the client will not believe you can help their business in the future.So, if you can't guarantee the top position for the word "sports," don't say you can.

Getting Results Equals Making money

It all boils down to results equals money.

If your chosen company delivers results, your business will flourish.If you fail in the delivering the results promised, your clients will go elsewhere.Bottom line - you must have a total grasp of the algorithms used in the paid and organic listings to get results for your clients.You also have to stay updated on the constantly changing algorithms of Google and Yahoo.Expert SEM drives the entire industry and it requires results.

Ongoing Support Is Critical

Many entrepreneurs starting a search engine marketing firm neglect an important aspect - providing their clients with critical ongoing support.

This is a huge mistake for several reasons.First, providing ongoing support works to build clients' confidence in your business.In addition, by allowing a client's website to sit, they'll quickly be outranked by competitors.Lastly, you can always add more ways for how your agency can add value to a clients' business.If you have the knowledge, it is not likely your clients can take advantage of the search engines without you.By offering ongoing support, you can help them stay on top of Google and Yahoo!

Starting Your Own Search Engine Marketing Firm

If you think starting one of these companies is like other service-related businesses, your're right.

You must focus on the client - all the time, defining problems, building confidence, setting expectations, delivering the results promised, and providing your clients with ongoing support.The algorithms constantly change along with PPC and SEO strategies.Over time, the one constant will be your clients.If you focus on meeting their needs, you'll have a successful search engine marketing firm.
About the Author

Aaron Wittersheim writes informative articles for Whoast, a search engine marketing firm.

They help their clients' websites rank competitively in the organic and paid listings as an expert search engine marketing agency.

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Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Conversion Drive Attendance to Your Seminar

Youve told everyone that you are having a seminar, tele-seminar, webinar, etc.As a strategy to gain visibility, you invested in Google ads and Facebook ads.Youve promoted to your database and posted the event on your website.Youve blogged about it.Yet, you look at your registrant list and it is not at the level you had hoped.Hey, you know your stuff Youre an expert on this subject.Why arent people signing up

Whether you are hosting a paid event or a free one, driving attendance is challenging.

All of the advertising in the world does not put people in your event.It just informs people that you are having an event.How do you drive attendance for your event How do you get people to move from an inert state to an active one The key to registrant conversion is the event description.There is a five-step formula that takes "tire-kickers" and makes them participants.

Issue.The traditional way that event descriptions are written is to tell the reader what the event is all about.The parallel to sales is to tell a prospect of a solution when you have not yet identified a problem.Look at the way this article has been presented to you.I didnt start with telling you my methodology.I presented a challenge that faces anyone who hosts events.The description should start with a problem that the target audience for the event is experiencing.Thus, the first one, at most two, paragraphs explain the issue, or problem to the reader.

Impact.We all have problems and issues in our lives.Yet, we arent trying to solve all of them this minute.Once the reader has been presented with the issue, they need to also understand the impact this is having on them, their business, their family, etc.Without this element, the reader will simply look at this as another problem they have and metaphorically throw it in the bucket with the other ones.The impact creates a sense of urgency and tells the reader, "Of all of the problems you have, this one needs to be dealt with right now.Its critical and here is why." The best way to present the issue is to finish the "issue" portion of the description with the impact.If you dont tell the reader of the impact, they will not feel a sense of urgency to resolve it.

Solution.The solution portion of the description is the opportunity to explain to the reader what information will be presented during the event that will help the attendee with the issue that was presented above.It should be clear, concise, and action oriented.Think of energy words like action-packed, hands-on, powerful, interactive, etc.You will also want to be mindful of seo when writing the solution as it will help search engines to increase visibility to your event.

Takeaways.The traditional event description usually has a section presenting what you will learn.Thats nice to share, but is not necessarily an effective way to drive conversion.Consider telling the reader what they will be able to do immediately following your event that they either cant do now or cant do as well now.This approach creates action and energy.It allows the reader to visualize themselves being more proficient at tackling the problem you presented earlier.

Credibility.Unless you have a household name, credibility is a critical requirement of the event description.Without that, you will not be able to convert registrants that are not already familiar with you.In most cases, there are thousands of people who present similar content.Since time and dollars are fixed, precious resources, the reader needs to know that you are an expert on this specific subject and others can vouch for you.What they need to see is: "Of all of the people in the world from which to learn this information, why you

There are two components to establishing credibility.

The first is to present, in a few sentences, what makes you an expert on this specific subject matter.This is very different than a bio.It is specific to the topic of this event.Why are you passionate about this subject Passion sells The second is the use of testimonials.Testimonials are critical for converting those who dont know you into registrants.Use testimonials that vouch for you as an expert on this topic.A testimonial for you as an author is meaningless when you are delivering content on financial planning.

With those five elements presented, the obvious question is how long should the description be.The true test of that is to ensure that the value of the event is consistent with the description.A description comprised of two sentences and three bullet points does not convey value.The best suggestion is once you have created your description, test it on colleagues.Do they see the value Would they be motivated to attend Once the polish is applied, you are ready to drive registrants to your event
About the Author

Lee B.

Salz is the C.E.O.of business Expert Webinars, President of Sales Architects, and author of "Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager." Lee can be reached at

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Sunday, August 17, 2008

5 Law Firm Marketing Strategies to Retain Clients

Okay, youve landed a couple of good clients through your law firm marketing program. But landing them is only the first part of your task. Now the real work begins as you find a ways to keep those clients you have worked so hard to get. business has been picking up since you revised your marketing strategy and things are looking up for steady growth in your practice.

Along with new clients comes the inherent need for more time to spend on their cases. Now the problem is not enough new clients but work flow and time management to handle them all. With such a limited schedule, how do you keep them happy so they dont run off and hire your competition

It is a situation that many attorneys find themselves in and the stress and frustration is overwhelming at times. The best thing to do is stop, take a deep breath and know that there is a simple solution to manage this situation.

The following five strategies are designed to help you maintain a good working relationship with your new client. You managed to land them, now get to work keeping them

1. Begin work on the case immediately. As soon as the client signs on, spend time that day or the next working on the case. This is not only to protect your clients best legal interests, but also to show them their need for immediate legal help. It also shows them that you genuinely care about them.

2. Send the client some form of written communication within 48 hours of taking the case. It isnt enough to start working immediately on their case. You must show that you are working and making progress by e-mailing them a copy of everything you do. Consider time stamping your e-mails so that your client sees you have begun working on their case almost as soon as you landed it.

It is also wise to send a tangible copy of all of your communications with your client. Often, it is easier for people to pay for services they can actually visualize. When they can see some physical evidence of your work, it seems worth more to them.

Follow-up letters after phone calls or in-person meetings are another great way to clarify and avoid misunderstandings. They also serve to protect you from malpractice accusations because you have everything documented and dated.

3. Send out a brief survey directed at new clients. Within one week of landing the new client, send out a one-page survey. This can be a great way to collect data on vital questions for use in future law firm marketing strategies; this is also a good time to ask them for their birthdays and anniversaries so you can send a card, which is a great
marketing strategy.

Why did they select your firm
Who else were they interviewing
What do they like best/worst about working with you
How can you improve
How fast was your response time to their initial request
How did they find you
Do they know of anyone else who could use your services
Additional contact information, etc

4. Send out a client satisfaction survey after you have completed the case. This is another great way to maintain good communication with clients. It also shows them that you really care about their opinions and feelings. They will see that their cases and how it all turns out are important to you.

5. Send the client a hand written thank you card. Nothing says you care like a greeting card. Send out the card the same day they select you as their attorney. It doesnt have to be anything fancy, but you should do it because no one else does.

While this seems like just a catchy line from a greeting card commercial, it really is useful. If you have taken the time to not only find a card, but to personally sign it, you will once again be showing your client that you really do care about them on a personal level.

Clients must feel like you are there to serve in their best interests because you want to be there. Lawyers have the negative reputation of only being in it for the prestige and the money. While these are two important factors from your business view, they are of little concern to your client. You must show you care through your law firm marketing efforts and your communication with your clients. If you dont care about them, they wont care about you.


About the Author

Stephen Fairley is CEO of The Rainmaker Institute is the nations largest law firm marketing company that specializes in helping small law firms generate more and better referrals and create a 7 figure law practice. Over 6,000 attorneys have benefited from our proven Rainmaker Marketing System. Attorneys: claim your FREE legal marketing CD 7 Keys to a 7 Figure Law Practice at

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