RomaGeber Blog

The steps you take to brand and market your professional services firm is not radically different from your steps up the corporate ladder. In either case, it’s typically not an overnight accomplishment - and if it is, you’ve probably done something disingenuous or perhaps illegal to get there. Is that the “60 Minutes” van outside?

Selling services is selling people - primarily yourself and secondarily your firm as a group of diverse people with a similar, cohesive goal. So, where do you start building that brand and planting the seeds that grow the elusive word-of-mouth success?

Start with your cube neighbors. Do they know what you’re about and what you’re doing? Can your employees, associates, partners, accountant, attorney, and current customers recite your elevator pitch? Are you staying in contact with them with news, developments, accomplishments? It’s a captive audience and they can be your biggest advocate.

Don’t set off the BS alarm. Start with talking in plain English, everywhere. On your website, in written and oral communications, in your collateral material. Buzzwords are for you and your comrades. The people don’t get them and glaze over when you use them. Not a good thing.

This is the first step to what James Gilmore and Joseph Pine term “exceptional authenticity” in their book Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want. Gilmore and Pine remind service providers in particular that “people tend to perceive as authentic that which is done exceptionally well, executed individually and extraordinarily by someone demonstrating human care.”

Become that helpful, smart coworker. Be a thought leader in your area of expertise and give away your ideas at every turn. Become an expert and the media, other influencers, and eventually the right customers will stop by your cube and form a line.

Use the web as a forum for raising your stature. Blog, write and distribute white papers and case studies about what you’re doing (psssst - see the MCT blog). Speak at events. Call reporters back within five minutes when they do call you.

Tell your story until your voice fails - or until you are promoted. Individual self-promotion and professional services self-promotion is essentially the same thing. The key is creating and refining efficiency in your message - meaning discovering and developing your spiel, then creating all the fun stuff - logos, taglines, websites, printed materials, ads and press releases.

Mark Harrison is a marketing, public relations and advertising consultant who lives in Matthews, NC. His business website is http://www.my-creativeteam.com His blog can be found at http://harrison.prblogs.org

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We’ve dealt with many companies and websites in a search engine optimization capacity. The search engine optimization world is one surrounded by mystery. Although there is a thriving online community, search engine optimization is not typically offered as a course at schools or universities around the country. It is very much a skilled learned through experience.

But, often time’s companies or “SEO experts” don’t know exactly what they’re doing. Not only is this unacceptable as you may be paying these companies or individuals good money, but in the long run some techniques employed by less experienced search engine optimizers or those willing to take short cuts can cause your site to become permanently banned by the search engines.

Over the years we’ve learned that education is the key to success. Whether you’ve just begun the process of looking for a company to provide search engine optimization services, are well along the process, or already have a company you’re dealing with and want to make sure they’re doing things correct this is a helpful and simple 5 question guide:

1) Can you get my website to the top of the search engines?

This is an important question, and one you may have already planned to ask. What you want to look for is whether or not the company digs deeper and what their response is. For example you should expect to hear things like:

• what would you like to rank for?
• are their competitors in your market that you believe have a great web presence with search rankings you would like to emulate?

Without intimate knowledge of your industry as well extensive research it is hard to know what you really need to rank for and whether the terms you think are important will actually drive results. Additionally watch out for too quick of an answer. Although a great search engine optimizer may be able to get you to #1 for something you want, it should never be guaranteed and it isn’t an overnight process.

2) Once my site is created, how do you make sure I show up on the search engines?

Many search engine optimizers or firms will talk about website submission. In reality all that is really needed for search engines to know that your website is there is a link (from any site on the Internet) back to your site. Some firms may talk about repeated search engine submission, but this is completely unnecessary and could actually end up hurting your rankings as the repeated blasts may be considered spam. One key thing to look out for when discussing this question is the mention of sitemaps and webmaster tools. Many powerful websites (content management sites, shopping carts, etc.) can automatically create a sitemap (a single file that shows the location of every page on your site). When this file is setup under a search engine’s webmaster tool console it can help significantly to increase your rankings and should be a staple of any search engine optimizers toolset.

3) What is link building, do I need it, and how do I do it?

3 questions in 1, I know, but this one is important.

Although on-page optimization (the way your website is built, text, etc.) is important, link building comes in at a very close second. Yes you do need link building! And the company you commission needs to assist in this process. If they don’t mention this run the other way. Your website needs links-in from other websites across the Internet to help you rank well. Links act like votes of confidence - the more you have, the more powerful your site. There are a number of quick ways to get links, but link building is a long process, but well worth the time or expense.

One thing to watch out for in link building campaigns is the creation of many smaller websites that then link back to your main site. Although in theory it is not a bad idea the truth is because of the nature of the search engines it is a colossal waste of time and money that would be better spent actually building quality links to your main site - from existing established sites throughout the Internet.

4) How do you measure the SEO process?

The advent of new tools and technology has made the measurement of search engine optimization and your website’s overall success easier than ever. Another key component to a successful search engine optimized site or campaign is the installation of proper metrics tools and the review both by the company being commissioned, as well as you the site owner. Like many things search engine optimization varies depending on a number of different factors, so implementing techniques is important, but measuring and refining are key next steps.

5) Do you start with pay per click marketing?

A good search engine optimization campaign should start with pay per click marketing and the company you commission should at least suggest this, even if you are opposed to it.

Why should you start with pay per click marketing?

Well, to understand why you have to start with pay per click marketing you have to first understand the difference between paid search (PPC) and organic search (search engine optimization). Organic search engine optimization is a long process. When you first launch your site it can take weeks or months for the search engines to even place you. On top of that, it will take months and sometimes years to rank well for competitive terms. Additionally, organic search engine optimization is not done for thousands of different key terms and phrases. It typically involves just a handful of terms, and is very specific.

Pay per click marketing or paid search on the other hand is immediate; allowing you to get in front of your audience right away and usually includes thousands of key phrases. You will literally pay for ads or listings when certain key phrases are searched for.

So, before you spend the time and money on all of the little details that help your site rank well organically (search engine optimization) how do you know what terms to select?

Research! And the best way to accumulate that research (while bringing in qualified customers) is through paid search. Paid search is the ultimate research tool and will help weed out less popular or less desirable terms and illuminate well performing key terms all while driving desirable traffic that will help your site get customers, leads, sales, etc.

Ask these five questions, analyze the answers questions carefully, and use your best judgement!

Zachary Katkin is the founder & CEO of Fort Myers Web Design Firm, Atilus Web Development & Internet Marketing.

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How can you maximize the earnings you get from your site?

By displaying Adsense advertisements, that earn you money every time someone clicks on them. Many people are now realizing that good money is made doing just this. Do the math, and you will discover a profitable source of side income, all through negligible effort.

Google Adsense is a fast and easy way for website publishers to earn money by posting relevant, text-based Google ads on their web siteâ??s content pages. The ads displayed are related to what your users are looking for on your site. This is the main reason you can earn money through using Adsense, and enhance your site.

How much you will earn depends on how much the advertisers are willing to pay. It will depend on the keywords required. If the keywords the advertiser have chosen are in high demand, you could receive more dollars per click. On the other hand, low demand keywords will earn you just a few cents per click.

How can you start making profits out of your website using Adsense?

1. Sign up for an Adsense account. It will only take a few minutes of your time.

2. When the site is accepted, you will receive a clip code to include in your web pages. You can insert this code in to as many pages or web sites that you want. The AdWords will start appearing immediately after.

3. You will be earning anything from a few cents to a few dollars per click. However, trying to earn false revenues by repetitively clicking on your own ads is a no-no. This will result in a penalty or the possibility of your site being eliminated completely. The money you have already earned may also be lost.

4. View your statistics. Adsense earnings can be checked anytime! Just log in to your web site account.

Once you have a working account, you may still want to copy the many sites that are earning more money than you are. It is important to note that there are factors affecting how your website will perform and the amount of money it will give you.

Donâ??t get over eager! Once you begin making some money, it is easy to focus on making more instead of managing what you already have. Remember that it will take time, not to mention trial and error, to get to where you want to be financially. Once you feel you are ready to go to the next level, the question becomes:

How do you increase your Adsense earnings?

1. Choose one topic per page. It is best to write content for your page with just a few targeted phrases. The search engine will then show the most relevant ads, which will get you more clicks. Remember that clicks equal cash!

2. Use white space around your ad. This can make your ad stand out from the rest of your page so visitors can spot them easily. There are also other color choices, so choose those colors that harmonize your ad and your webpage.

3. Test your ad placement. It is recommended to use a vertical format to get positive results. You can also try both horizontal and vertical formats for a certain period of time to see which one will give you better results.

4. More content-based pages. Widen the theme of your website by creating pages that focus more on your keyword phrases. This will optimize the pages for the search engines. This not only attracts traffic but also makes them more relevant to the AdWords.

5. Site Build It. This is the perfect tool to be used for creating lots of Adsense revenue. Site Build It has all the tools necessary to quickly achieve a keyword-rich site that can rank high in the search engines. This will also produce a flow of traffic to your site of highly targeted visitors.

As you can see, Adsense is a great way to begin earning some extra income. Not only that, but it dramatically increases your siteâ??s visibility!

It’s easy! anyone can make money with google adsense secrets videos… Come and grab yours today!

Chris Taylor - author, internet marketer and SEO specialist - Catdynamics.com

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