Conference Buddies

How to Build a Business Brand on Yelp, LinkedIn, Facebook, & Google
Moderator: Shawna Causey, Comcast Business Class

Google

Panelist: Ryan Hayward, Product Development & Marketing, Local Business Center, Google

• 80% + are looking for businesses through Google & Google maps
• Business Listing is free
• Helps you get more business
• Can see a daily report of your traffic
• Anatomy of your listing on Google: Business name, business hours, description of business, photos, reviews of that business, location on Google maps and Google street view, photos are provided by the business, Google pulls info from City Search and other websites
• To optimize your business on Google: add photos, keep all info up to date, add a thorough business description, select all appropriate categories and describe specific products sold, give unique details and use specific keywords
• google.com/lbc, add your business, verify that it’s really your business

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Google for Technophobes: How to Secure Your Number One Spot on Google
David Rodnitzky, Founder, PPC Associates

SEM vs. SEO

SEM is not magic, best practices in SEM can improve your business, but cannot cure your business. If you don’t have a competitive business, no amount of SEM will help you.

The seven habits of highly effective SEM:

1) Search engines.

The big 3 are Google (78%), Yahoo (11%), Bing (8%), the 2nd tier, AOL & Ask.

Google search:

Good: easy, reliable, and large.
Bad: competitive, direct-response, quality score

2) Content:

2 types: content & placement.

Google:

Good: easy, less competitive, latent demand, no quality score.
Bad: inconsistent, complex, requires effort

Google makes 1/3 of their revenue from their content network

Yahoo & MSN (Bing):

Advantages: no as much people are using using it, so it is less competitive. Focus on Google first, then use these (if you have time)

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Why Blogs are your #1 Search Marketing Tool

Speaker: Chris Baggott, Compendium Blogware
10/15/2009, 11am – 12pm

Notes:

• Blogging is the number one corporate focus. It is the fastest growing corporate initiative
• Blogging is a great way to get out information (to searchers)
• The goal is to get more first time searchers
• comScore: 43% more searches this year than last year
• Search is a way to find a solution to your problems
• Companies that have blogs have 55% more visitors to their website, with 97% more traffic to inbound links

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What Travel Marketers Look for in Blogs

Mike Taylor: B.L.O.G.S.

(B)ring the Basics: give general, pertinent information. Less than two paragraphs, your audience, affiliated publications, metrics, unique visits, ratings

(L)inks/Relationships: find ways to develop relationships, pitch blogs with specific content, reach out to establishments

(O)n Top of the World factor: the bells and whistles that set you apart from others, videos, photos, contests & promotions, fresh new ideas, become an influencer & let people know who you are

(G)oods: be up front, communicate what you can deliver, your focus, set the expectation, doesn’t always have to be editorial in nature, can be book tours, tweetups, present opportunities

(S)end and Share: what is your distribution strategy? E-mail, Twitter, Facebook? Are you independently well known?

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Travel Blogging 2009 & Beyond

Travel Blogging Tips & Advice

• Write stories about things that are happening, things you see, people you met
• Don’t do it because of money, do it because you love what you’re doing
• Make your travels into interesting stories
• Blog in conjunction with twittering, use bit.ly to put links on there

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The Value of Blogs To Hospitals, New Organizations, and Industry

Notes:

• Represent what you and your institution stands for. Why would anyone not do that?
• People like seeing posts of medical institutions, statistics, new medical breakthroughs
• Everyone else is talking about us, why aren’t we? Large Corporations might have legal & regulatory constraints, but they can give out new info, respond to customers, address issues

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State of the Medical Blogosphere

Speakers: Kerri Morrone Sparling: www.sixuntilme.com
Kevin Pho: www.kevinmd.com
Nicholas Genes: www.medgadget.com, www.blogborygmi.com
Kim McAllister: www.emergiblog.com
10/15/2009, 9:45am – 10:45am

Evolution of the Medical Blogosphere

• 60% of patients use the internet as their first source of information
• Doctors need to get on board to connect with their patients, answer questions about medical news and new medical info
• Patients are blogging about their experiences as a way to find other people like them
• People are leaving the Blogosphere due to privacy and employer issues

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SEO/SEM

Speakers: Rhea Drysale: Outspoken Media
Stephen Spencer: Net Concepts
Brett Tabke: WebmasterWorld, PubCon
10/16/2009, 4pm – 5pm

SEO/SEM Tools

• seo-browser.com: scans websites for SEO content. Tells you what type of redirect it is.
• Yahoo Site Explorer: free tool, log in to get comprehensive data, exclude internal links, only inbound links from other sites, lists not all, but most of your inbound links
• getlisted.org to claim your business on several local search engines & see how your business is listed at Google, Yahoo, and other top local search engines

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How Twits Lay Golden Eggs:
The Art of Social Engagement for Business

Speakers: Nicole Nicolay, “Nic Nic“, author: Twitter for Real Estate Twits
Jodee Rich, @wing dude, peoplebrowser.com/wingdude
Chris Brogan, President, New Marketing Labs
Nick Halstead, @nickhalstead, Tweet Meme
Laura Fitton, @pistachio, author: Twitter for Dummies
10/17/2009, 4:15 – 5:15pm

Key Twitter Tips and Advice:

• Put a link to your site on Twitter, put your Twitter on your site so people know that your Twitter account is authentic (one forty.com)
• Look to see what your competitors are doing, see who is following them. Research keywords in Twitter, see who comes up.
• Always follow people back, or they’ll get mad at you
• Listen, learn, care, serve.
• Google: Grow Bigger Ears. Use search.twitter.com
• Use seesmic.com or TweetDeck to manage your account
• If you keep seeing the same question to you more than once, don’t keep tweeting the answer, post the answer on your website under your FAQ

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Building A Sustainable Online Community: ChicagoNow

Speaker: Tracy Samantha Schmidt
10/16/2009, 3pm – 3:30pm

Tracy Samantha Schmidt wrote for Time magazine. They wanted her to get a student eyewitness at the Virginia Tech shooting. She reached out to people through the Virginia Tech group on Facebook and found a survivor. She beat out 800 other journalists to get an exclusive interview. She believes in using social media to get facts and to reach people.

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