Meeting with an Internet Marketer

**armenh** · 04-16-2009 01:55 AM

I just wanted to share some details with the community and see what their opinions are, because I am not an internet marketing specialist. We had an internet marketer come in for my dad's business today.

At first I was expecting an innovative and creative solution but he kept proposing that SEO is the way to go. I always am a kind of guy who believes in the balance of everything, not too much not too little. We are in the telecommunications industry and it is a niche business. We are a service and retailing company. We serve Los Angeles and the the surrounding, so any sort of advertising or marketing out of our area would be a waste, because we install and service phone systems, networks, etc in this area.

My father and I both feel that an online presence is crucial for the further growth and development of this business. I have been reading up about Twitter, Aweber and many other internet marketing solutions lately and trying to see how it will be effective and how it may be integrated into our own business platform. I plan on integrating Web 2.0 and other sorts of marketing into this campaign, which I will discuss next...

SEO is a must, but I am not sure if we should concentrate more on PPC or SEO. PPC campaigns have the option for regions, while in SEO a client would have to search for that certain location. I wanted the opinion of some professionals in the field of internet marketing as to other forms of MLM and Web 2.0 Marketing we can integrate into our system. That is the way for the upcoming years and we want to start early. We are dedicating a good sum of capital to this campaign and want it to be as professional as possible meaning, a marketing plan and strategy plan are all musts. If you are interested in taking on this project or have suggestions just post here. I would like to also hear from people who have experience in the technology or IT field. I don't want this to sound like an ad or anything, I simply want your take on this...

**kimbeckers** · 04-16-2009 08:48 AM

Hi,
I agree with you in that too much or too little of anything is not good. I think that SEO is an important part of getting your website out there on the web but it also takes time. PPC is fast and as you said you can target your market but with long tailed keywords and the right SEO this can be accomplished with and without PPC as well. I would consider a combination of PPC and SEO for your website.

I also think that using an autoresponder such as Aweber or another is also an important part of your web presence regardless of what niche you are working in.

**Lambo** · 04-17-2009 08:20 PM

internet marketing is a must now days

**r_p** · 04-17-2009 09:54 PM

Originally Posted by armenh

SEO is a must, but I am not sure if we should concentrate more on PPC or SEO. PPC campaigns have the option for regions, while in SEO a client would have to search for that certain location. I wanted the opinion of some professionals in the field of internet marketing as to other forms of MLM and Web 2.0 Marketing we can integrate into our system. That is the way for the upcoming years and we want to start early. We are dedicating a good sum of capital to this campaign and want it to be as professional as possible meaning, a marketing plan and strategy plan are all musts. If you are interested in taking on this project or have suggestions just post here. I would like to also hear from people who have experience in the technology or IT field. I don't want this to sound like an ad or anything, I simply want your take on this...

why not both? they both are a great avenue for advertising,

**Chris Brooks** · 04-17-2009 10:24 PM

All great comments! I agree that SEO and PPC are crucial, be sure though to have a narrow and targeted scope on whatever market you choose. I would continue hitting the social media sites to get a personal feel for your niche market. That way, by contributing and asking the right questions you can get in the heads of your customers and really see what makes them tick when it comes to buying decisions.

**thc2009** · 04-19-2009 09:35 AM

It is also important to consider other advertising media as well. I was also big believer on SEO and PPC and thats what I have been doing until recently. I started sending out postcards and also started ad in print media, it costs little bit more but so far it is working very well. I got full page in pennysaver in California and the resposne was very good.

**SendBlast** · 04-19-2009 10:41 AM

Can't forget email marketing!

HTML Email Marketing with Sendn

**elliotiscool** · 04-19-2009 02:41 PM

SEO is one of the best and low costing methods for online exposure. PPC is not bad either. A nationwide company I work for uses it and gets several leads a day from it. Keep in mind you have to pay for each click to your site. The good thing about SEO is that it can maximize your search engine exposure for a one time price (usually). Although your company would have exposure all over the world, it would still definitely hit people in the Southern California area.

Although I do not know how your business is ran, the path I would take is finding a low cost SEO specialist/business and also integrate PPC into your advertising. Do research on the PPC advertising and see if you can create an advertising campaign that would be cost effective for you.

The company I work for gets charged around 50 cents per click, but it is VERY minimal of a price for us because the product we sell ranges from $5,000-$20,000. If you are selling a product or service that is very cheap, lets say ranging from $10-$50, it may not be as effective for you. The best way of going around this though is doing a test. Put some money in the advertising and see what your results are and work up from there to maximize the amount clients you are gaining without having an excessive expense. Your internet marketer should be able to do all of this for you.

**armenh** · 04-19-2009 04:24 PM

Originally Posted by thc2009

It is also important to consider other advertising media as well. I was also big believer on SEO and PPC and thats what I have been doing until recently. I started sending out postcards and also started ad in print media, it costs little bit more but so far it is working very well. I got full page in pennysaver in California and the resposne was very good.

Yea we will definately do offline marketing too. But we first need to update our website then we can promote through flyers, brochures, postcards, mailers, etc..We are definately looking at other media, like social media like MLM to promote the site aswell. That was my point in the main post that this guy that came just wanted to promote SEO, and I didn't like that. We want a balance of internet marketing (includes email marketing, network marketing, web 2.0 applications as well) and offcourse SEO and PPC.
Thanks for all the positive feedback, but keep them coming!!

**F4F** · 04-19-2009 07:12 PM

SEO is extremely applicable to a local business. You mentioned you were in telecommunications. Let's say your business retails cell phones. Trying to optimize your company's web presence for the keywords "cell phone" would be a Herculean task, since you would be directly competing against Cingular, Verizon and the like. But tack on a keyword that adds local relevancy, such as "cell phone los angeles" or "cell phone la" and you'll find that getting your site on to the first SERP is a far more achievable goal.

I definitely agree with the other comments about PPC. If you have the budget, its a great way to reach out to your customers. In addition to basic AdSense campaigns, I'd also suggest experimenting with the advertising platforms for Facebook and Yelp.

Facebook Ads allow you to target exactly who the ads are shown to by demographic. The amount of granularity you can specify is incredible. Going back to a cell phone example, if you're advertising a Family Plan, you could target only people who are married or engaged in the greater Los Angeles area. Since its a relatively new platform, it can be substantially cheaper than AdSense.

I haven't personally used Yelp for marketing, but I've heard good feedback from retail businesses who have utilized their sponsorship and advertising options. Yelp's user base is concentrated on the West Coast, with San Francisco at the epicenter. Still, Los Angeles also boasts a solid number of users and makes Yelp worth looking into.

**diknox00** · 04-19-2009 07:14 PM

Without knowing your target market it is difficult to say whether a PPC or SEO campaign or even web 2.0 technologies would be effective.

Is your product so specialized that certain keywords would only be indigenous to your firm? If so, then perhaps SEO might be better.

Is your product a mass market product? If so, then to obtain a competitive advantage you may have to consider PPC.

A combination of PPC and SEO is usually recommended. No use relying on PPC soley when the price of your keywords can fluctuate.

I'd be happy to consult or even consider taking on the project for you.

Martez

**rejoice** · 04-20-2009 06:28 AM

if the guy mentions SEO ... he is on the ball ... SEO is innovative/sustainable/long-term/scalable/etc ... as other's have mentioned above, different keywords must be targeted, these keywords are like a silo and fall under different categories ... if done properly you can rank on Page 1 of Google and all the other search engines for all the keywords you would otherwise be paying via PPC ... (SEO includes social bookmarking, link building, "web 2.0", proper coding of website with tags/etc) ... follow that up with a gang busters news letter to keep your brand in the consumer's eye