Ideas for Business

SMX Advanced is less than a week away, and let me tell you, I am excited. Not only is Seattle one of my favorite cities in the country, but the agenda for the 2 day long search marketing event looks outstanding.

Along with the keynote speakers - Kevin Johnson and Matt Cutts - here are a few other sessions I am really looking forward to.

SMX Advanced Day 1

• Blow your Mind Link Building Techniques - Want to learn how to build a database of high-value link acquisition targets? Want to know how to get on the radar of nonprofits, government and university departments and compel them to give you some of that sweet, authoritative link love? Want to learn the most coveted secrets to "buying" the links the engines would never consider a "paid link?" This, along with non-traditional link sources, linking strategies and nofollow PageRank "scuplting" or "siloing" are covered in the session.
• Creating Value in your SEM Businesses - Hanging out your shingle is not building a business. Creating value that others will recognize and ultimately pay to own (read "buy") takes vision, planning and execution. In this session, you’ll hear case studies from SEM business executives who have conceptualized and implemented strategies and tactics that make their companies intrinsically valuable.
• Buying Sites for SEO - Forget the debate over buying links. How about buying entire web sites to gain success in search. This session looks at how to find the gems out there, criteria to consider, ways to negotiate and how to best leverage your new purchase. Tips, tricks, success stories, and painful lessons learned will be shared.

SMX Advanced Day 2

• Search Marketing and Surviving a Recession - Many expect a recession to hit and no one knows how search will weather it. This session looks at strategies and tactics for those who want to prepare in advance for a worse case scenario.
• What You Should be Measuring – But Aren’t! - CPA, ROI, CTR, ROAS — these are metrics commonly used to assess the success of a paid search campaign, but are they the right ones? This session looks at other metrics to also consider, along with some things to track that you might be overlooking.
• Analytics Every SEO Needs to Know - It’s more than just rankings and traffic reports to measure the health of SEO efforts. This session focuses on analytics that SEOs should be considering.
• Give It Up! - No more secrets time. In this session, our panel of noted SEOs all share some of their favorite and largely overlooked SEO tips. Then we turn to the audience for more sharing. **We won’t be blogging this session, as all attendees agree to a 30-day waiting period before acting on these secrets, but it will definitely be exciting to see.

For a full agenda of the event, please visit the SMX Advanced 2008 page. Here you can see information regarding the SMX After Dark networking event I will be attending, as well as see pictures of the beautiful conference hall we will be in.

To those not attending SMX Advanced next week, I hope you follow our blog to read up on the conference and see a lot of pictures from the event.

And to those who will be in Seattle next week – see you there!

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Mark this date on your calendar - June 9th, 2008.

That’s the date of the next Biz Blogger Meetup Group.

I started this group to help Minnesota business bloggers network better and to learn new Web 2.0 strategies that they can use in their blogging. Plus, it’s more fun than a barrel full of small business monkeys!

We meet in Wayzata and the group is growing by leaps and bounds! 51 members so far, and we’re growing fast! Come see why.

There is no fee to join the group or attend the meetings. Just show up and network with other business bloggers in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and learn and grow with us.

Take a look at what some of our members are saying about the Biz Blogger Meetup Group:

“If you have questions about blogs and want to learn from others, this is the perfect opportunity.”

— Chad (Apr 28, 2008)

“This a great way to become introduced to the blogging world–well worth the time!”

— Deborah (Apr 28, 2008)

“Thanks so much Caroline. The information shared tonight was AWESOME!”

— Melissa Sachse (Apr 8, 2008)

See more member comments here.

When it comes to business blogging, why not learn it from others like yourself who have been there and done it. Learn from the learners then teach then teachers. Please join us Monday, Jun 9, 2008 at 5:30 PM at Latuff’s Pizzeria, located at 11333 Highway 55, Plymouth, Minneapolis, MN 55441.

I’m a big believer in linkbait. You all know that. But there was a big story recently of an Internet marketer who invented a story for the sole intention of getting linkbait. The story, he now admits, was completely made up. He got the linkbait he wanted and now he’s in hot water.

Not legally. But integrity-wise. No one will now consider him credible if he ever decides to print something that is true. And that’s sad.

Here’s a great article that sums up the issue for Internet marketers.

Matt Cutts even mentions it.

I’m with Matt Cutts on this one. I see no reason why Google should honor links that point to a totally made up article that poses as a true news story for the sole purpose of attracting linkbait. It’s not that writing stories for the sole purpose of attracting linkbait is bad. That’s OK, as long as your intended audience can trust that the story isn’t a fabrication of a news story. In other words, if it is what it appears to be then all is OK.

It is too easy to create a fictional story that is believable online. And if this is the type of tactic that you use to garner linkbait (which I don’t recommend) then at least have the smarts not to admit to it publicly. Otherwise, you have no reason to expect Google to honor any links you get. Nor do you have any reason to expect others to link to you in the future. Otherwise, linkbait is cool.

Today’s small business is as likely to be home-based as to be anything. With the rising cost of fuel and other expenses, small business owners can’t afford to commute or pay for office space. That’s why home-based businesses need to find every way possible to cut costs while maximizing business opportunities. Blogging is the perfect tool for meeting both objectives.

With a home-based business blog you can communicate directly to your potential customers in a personal way without spending a lot of money. Write your blog yourself and you’ll save a bundle. Of course, preparing blog posts and writing them takes time. Even if you hire a ghostwriter to handle your blog writing for you, there is still value in blogging for your home-based business.

What you have to keep in mind when you write a business blog - even for a home-based business like yours - is your audience. What do they expect from a business like yours? What are they looking for? If you can meet people at their point of need then you’ll go a long way to communicating what you want to communicate and attract the type of people that you want to do business with. Instead of going out looking for them as you do in traditional ways of marketing, they will come looking for you. A blog makes it easy for them to find you.

Learn more about home-based business blogging from Small Business Mavericks.

As our client base continues to grow, our need for experienced Internet Marketing Specialists does too. Our Internet Marketing Department is looking for two qualified candiates to join our team. Find out the details for these positions by visiting http://www.smtusa.com/jobs/. Here we GROW Again!

Sales & Marketing Technologies is located just North of Orlando, Florida in Altamonte Springs.

Tags: internet marketing, internet marketing specialist, seo, ppc, seo job, internet marketing job, job, pc job, sem job