I am a big fan of the book Groundswell and almost all research I can get my hands on concerning social media and how to apply these concepts into companies big and small

Groundswell is a step by step blueprint on how to implement a social media strategy in your organization. The book focuses on social media strategy and reveals why starting with technologies is a mistake

An interesting quote from the presentation that rings true in most situations- companies jump into social media without knowing what they want to get out of it.

Companies know they need to have web sites, blogs, email and be involved in social media. The problem is most organizations try to solve the problem by throwing up sites or technologies rather than addressing what it is they wish to accomplish and the results they are looking for

The presentation mostly followed the book with updated examples. I enjoyed the video from http://bringtheloveback.com/ a video showing how out of touch the advertiser is with the consumer and what the consumer wants to see out of the advertisers he/she deals with

Another excellent set of points from the presentation was how can companies measure ROI from social media campaigns and activities. The concept of Micro Metrics was discussed. Companies can use micro metrics to measure social media campaigns in terms of customer involvement vs. revenue

Sample Micro Metrics can include:

# of customer feedback

# of comments

# of referrals

# of issues addressed

# of implemented ideas

The presentation was a great refresher for the book and I now have a signed copy! Thanks Charlene!

Tags: Groundswell, social media, Tempe Center for the Arts, Southwest Seo

Post from: SouthwestSEO.com

I attended Affiliate Summit in Las Vegas back in January and the show in Miami was far better in my opinion. The meet market on Sunday was bigger and better as well as the exhibit floor. There were also exhibitors for the meet market that did not participate in the regular exhibit hall which made both events very valuable and unique in my opinion

I agree one of the top reasons for attending Affiliate summit is networking with other affiliates but one area some may miss is the value of the vendors present at the show. I signed up with several CPA networks at the show not even one day back in Phoenix (still jet lagged) I was getting follow up calls from these networks setting me up in their system and assigning a representative to my account to help me get started and become more successful as an affiliate.

I’ve been receiving personalized help and instruction from these vendors along with alerts to new affiliate programs I wasn’t even aware existed. This is far different then my experience with the likes of Commission Junction who you can do very well with but never hear from or speak with. Having someone to communicate with and the ability to ask questions is very powerful.

I also realized most of the vendors use AIM to communicate with which I signed up for and have been using quite regularly to communicate with different affiliate networks and representatives

I really enjoyed the show and look forward to attending next February in Las Vegas!

Tags: Affiliate Summit East, Southwest Seo, affiliate marketing, cpa networks

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I also got this great T-shirt allowing me to proudly proclaim I had been freshly squeezed. It was little things (ok big things!!) like this that made Affiliate summit in Miami great!

Tags: affiliate summit, affiliate summit east, affiliate hug,southwest seo

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SEO Training: Small is the New Big:
“Are these smaller conferences/seminars competition for SES and Pubcon? Yes and no. SES runs multiple conferences world wide and I believe there will be just one Pubcon conference this year in Las Vegas. Bigger conferences are attractive to companies that want to send their people to a venue with a broader selection of topics and others enjoy them for networking and prospecting.
There’s a tremendous demand for SEO/SEM education these days and staffing is an issue as well. Big conferences are useful the first 1-2 times, but after that, the information may seem redundant to more experienced search marketers. A smaller, more hands on event with legitimately top practitioners could be very appealing.
For conferences like SES and ad:tech, the speaker selection process is an interesting alchemy that uses a combination of popularity/friends/expertise and I think many repeat attendees are tired of the sales pitches and lack of practical, hands on information.”

I have been to a variety of SEO and Affiliate shows in the past year from SEO pub com to Search engine Strategies to Affiliate summit and
I agree with some of the above comments. It seems I now go to these shows for the networking and to talk to vendors vs anything else. The sessions are up and down from too much focused on beginners to off topic to I’m just not interested in this.

The quality of the presentations are also up and down. you just never know what your going to get. I guess I’m spoiled from my corporate days of presenting and training.

I think the market is changing where there is a need and a desire for smaller more directed training classes. The costs are high at this point averaging $2500-$5000 for two days of training. If you think about that and add in the costs of travel, lodging, other expenses you could purchase about two days of consulting at over $200 an hour.

A typical client fits into mainly one or two categories:

• Selling their own product or service- small business owner, retail, direct mail reseller or other

• Affiliate marketer- selling other peoples goods or services

Most clients have web sites and have tried pay per click marketing, creating landing pages, promotions and other web promotions.

If I pay an SEO for three days to come to my office and sit down and examine my website, my promotion and my failures and craft a plan of attack and work by my side to walk me thru how to achieve greater success- isn’t that of more value?

I don’t have to share my info with others in an audience and I get one on one focus on my problems and my ideal results.

Afterwards maybe one hour a month of phone/web cam consultation or email support.

I think the problem is SEO’s are spread wide and thin thru the United States I’m sure if you live around San Jose or San Francisco you could probably throw a rock and hit an SEO or if you live in Las Vegas people will volunteer to come to your location but if your in Salt Lake City, UT or El Paso, Texas it could be a problem

I see SEO consulting following the path of Tech Consulting- building firms of people certified in SEO (yes I know that doesn’t exist and if it did you would have to re-certify after every google update) and following a plan of success to help clients in their local areas. Moving from one off seminars to local seminars driving business to local consulting firms set up to support a variety of web customers. Who’s to say one day when a small business wants to hire an SEO they don’t go down to the local Shoemoney Consulting office

Tags: SEO, Southwest SEO, Affiliate marketing, SEO conferences

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It was quite a different makeup than previous shows I had attended such as Search Engine Strategies and Webmaster Pubcon. Some of the remarks were attendees found some great new vendors to work with and give a try. 

After I returned from Las Vegas as usual I poured out the bags of info and swag that I collected at the show along with a fistful of business cards and other information. Unfortunately that’s as far as most of the info gets- I decided to change that and put together the list below of each vendor present with a url link to their website. No special promotions or offers just the link to their site.

I intend to go thru each one and sign up for quite a few and report back on my successes and/or failures. I hope you enjoy the list and please let me know if any of the url’s are incorrect 

p>1&1 Internet Inc. – Booth #310
http://www.1and1.co.uk/

Access Technology Solutions – Booth #315
http://www.accessts.com

AdBrite – Booth #203
http://www.adbrite.com/

ADsational – Booth #224
http://www.adsational.com/

Advertising.com – Booth #234
http://advertising.com

Affiliate Classroom – Booth #117
http://affiliateclassroom.com/

affiliateCREW – Booth #304
http://www.affiliatecrew.com/

Avanquest Software USA – Booth #128
http://www.avanquestusa.com/

AzoogleAds – Booth #321/323
http://www.azoogleads.com

CA – Booth #237
http://www.ca.com/

CafePress.com - Booth #135
http://www.cafepress.com

CardOffers.com, Inc. – Booth #212
http://www.cardoffers.com

CardScan, Inc. - Booth #126
http://www.cardcscan.com

Chexx Inc. – Booth #207
http://www.chexxinc.com

ClickN’ KIDS - Booth #327
http://www.clicknkids.com

Clicksor.com Inc. – Booth #236
http://clicksor.com/

ClickSpeed Marketing – Booth #303
http://www.clickspeed.com /

CollegeandUniversity.net – Booth #336
http://www.collegeanduniversity.net

Converseon – Booth #208
http://www.converseon.com/

CoverClicks – Booth #337
http://www.coverclicks.com/

CPA Empire® – Booth #107/109
http://www.cpaempire.com

DGM – Booth #127/129
http://www.dgmaustralia.com/

Direct Response Technologies – Booth #118
http://www.directtrack.com/

Digital River, Inc. – Booth #116
http://www.digitalriver.com

eComXpo – Booth #201
http://www.ecomxpo.com

Filinet.com – Booth #227
http://www.filinet.com/

ForgeBusiness USA Inc. – Booth #335
http://www.forgebusiness.com/

Homestead Technologies – Booth #223
http://www.homestead.com/

HometownQuotes Insurance – Booth #333
http://www.hometownquotes.com/

HydraMedia – Booth #329
http://www.hydramedia.com/

InsureMe – Booth #214
https://www.insureme.com/

Intermark Media – Booth #200/202
http://www.intermarkmedia.com/

Internet Media Affiliates – Booth #306
http://www.internetmediaaffiliates.com/

Joe Bucks Affiliate Program – Booth #216
http://www.joebucks.com/

Kasamba – Booth #221
http://www.kasamba.com/

LeadPile.com – Booth #140
http://www.leadpile.com/

LeadPoint – Booth #308
http://www.leadpoint.com/

LinkConnector – Booth #217
http://www.linkconnector.com/

LinkShare Corporation – Booth #225
http://www.linkshare.com

Market Leverage – Booth #307
http://www.marketleverage.com/

MaxBounty.com – Booth #209
https://www.maxbounty.com/

Media Traffic Agency – Booth #215
http://www.mediatraffic.com/

Microsoft – Booth #228
http://www.microsoft.com

Moniker – Booth #317
http://www.moniker.com

NETexponent.com – Booth #104
http://www.netexponent.com/

Net Margin – Booth #204
http://www.netmargin.com

Network Solutions – Booth #222
http://www.networksolutions.com

NeverblueAds – Booth #123
http://www.neverblueads.com

PartnerCentric, Inc. – Booth #300
http://www.partnercentric.com

PartnerWeekly – Booth #229/231
http://www.partnerweekly.com

Pepperjam – Booth #137
http://www.pepperjamsearch.com

Performics – Booth #125
http://www.performics.com/

PlattForm – Booth #332/334
http://www.plattformad.com

PopShops.com – Booth #133
http://www.popshops.com

Revenue – Booth #136
http://www.revenuetoday.com

RevenueWire Inc. – Booth #320/322
http://www.revenuewire.com

RewardsGateway.com – Booth #110/112
http://www.rewardsgateway.com

Rextopia – Booth #324
http://rextopia.com/

RocketProfit (Hot Rocket Marketing, Inc.) – Booth #113
http://www.rocketprofit.com/

Schaaf Consulting – Booth #230
http://www.schaafco.com/

Share Results – Booth #326
http://www.shareresults.com

ShareASale – Booth #131
http://www.shareasale.com

SiteSell - Booth #302
http://www.sitesell.com

TARGUSinfo – Booth #121
http://www.tragusinfo.com

TaxBrain – Booth #312/314/316
http://www.taxbrain.com

Telezone – Booth #114
http://tech-terra.com/telezone800

Ten Golden Rules – Booth #325
http://www.tengoldenrules.com

TheBizOppNetwork – Booth #111
http://thebizoppnetwork.com

TheUseful – Booth #101/103
http://theuseful.com

Things From Another World, Inc. (TFAW.com) – Booth #210
http://www.tfaw.com

Think Partnership Inc. – Booth #309/311
http://www.thinkpartnership.com/

TicketNetwork Direct – Booth #120
http://www.ticketnetworkdirect.com

UnsubCentral – Booth #206
http://www.unsubcentral.com

ValueClick, Inc. – Booth #328/330
http://www.valueclick.com

VentureDirect Worldwide – Booth #233/235
http://www.venturedirect.com

Virtumundo Inc. / vTarget Affiliate Network – Booth #226
http://www.virtumundo.com

WebmasterRadio.FM – Booth #138
http://webmasterradio.fm

Wellness Watchers – Booth #124
http://www.wellnesswatchers.com/

WeRLive – Booth #211/213
http://werlive.com

WorldClass Strategy – Booth #232
http://www.worldclassstrategy.com/

Wynn Las Vegas – Booth #313
http://www.wynnaffiliates.com

XY7 – Booth #115
http://www.xy7.com

Zanox – Booth #301
http://www.zanox.com

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