Lisa will be speaking on the “Marketing 2.0 Issues: Online Reputation Management, the dark side of SMM” panel at Searchfest which will take place on March 10th, 2008 at the Portland Zoo. Purchase your Searchfest 08 tickets now.
1) Please give us your background and tell us what you do for a living?
I have worked in the web space for 10 years. Originally a freelance reporter for Pacific Northwest Magazine and the Statesman Journal, I worked with a small internet company, Surplus Direct (eventually purchased by software company Egghead), in 1997 as a writer and transitioned to the marketing department. I started MEDIA forte marketing in 1998 and our business focus is Search Marketing, we provide web development, design, content development and full service SEO/SEM.
Search is becoming a broader, more encompassing proposition as the importance of search continues to grow. Our customers are challenged with understanding how search can impact their bottom line. We help them participate in the search conversation through education, empower them with the tools needed to impact search and then create a Search Project Plan tailored to their needs so they can experience how search benefits their bottom line.
2) Sometimes, it’s hard enough to convince clients to do SEO. How do you then sell them on the value of SMO (Social Media Optimization).
When we redesign a site, we remind our clients that as a business owner, you have more than one audience to consider online. You have your customer, the search engines and your social communities and you can’t afford to neglect any of them. One way to create understanding for clients is to remind them that SMO is important to having a presence in their social/online communities. Your customers (and influencers) in your niche communities will talk about you with or without you, it’s best to be an active part of the conversation.
3) Most people know how to be social online and most also know how to be strictly professional. How can you teach somebody to be both simultaneously?
The best way to understand this is to relate it to real life, I have certain people that I am social with and people I am strictly professional with, these two may overlap, and though I have a separate and sincere persona for each (I probably wouldn’t send a message from LinkedIn full of slang) it’s important to be genuine, be yourself whether you’re being social or professional. We also teach them to be consistent in their SMO efforts, your views and input are more welcomed if you’re an important, consistent part of your community.
Todd Mintz knows PPC…knows Social Media…knows SEO…knows Blogging…knows Domaining…and knows them all real well. He runs growth marketing for )and is also a Director & Founding Member of SEMpdx: Portland, Oregon’s Search Engine Marketing Association, and he can be found here on Twitter and Facebook.