A general theme that we hear from prospects who utilize inbound marketing currently, is the general lack of communication from their current provider. Now, I’m not here to say this hasn’t been a problem for us either. The results are there for our clients, and ultimately  that is what they are paying for. However, a lack of knowing what is happening with their accounts throughout the month are questions and concerns we are hoping to alleviate through our new project management and communication tool.

Project Management
This tool will serve as a project management tool for internal purposes to ensure nothing is ever missed or forgotten and allow our operations team to have manage the daily tasks associated with every account. It also allows our web strategists to see what has been done with accounts and what still needs to be done – all in real time.

Client Communication
The primary reason for this tool being developed was to ensure that clients always knew what was happening with their account. Being alerted with what is being done will allow our clients to better understand our services and at the same time have a more integrated experience with SEORCHERS.

With these two aspects being tied together, SEORCHERS clients will always be in the know with what is being done on their behalf. In addition, we still have our backend reporting tool that can be accessed at any time to monitor results.

We are looking forward to this being put in place in the next couple of weeks and are excited about how this will continue to position our inbound marketing services and SEORCHERS above our competitors.

Inbound Marketing Agency Helping You Get Found Online - SEO Company based in Scottsdale, AZ

The biggest challenge in business is often sited as lead generation. Companies are confident in their abilities and products to service their customers, but how do they get more? The overwhelming answer was word of mouth and referrals (read why we like networking).

We have compiled a group of business experts to answer the question, “What has proven to be the most effective method for generating leads and sales?“

The absolute, hands-down, second-to-none method to attracting clients for our business is networking. But … it’s a neck-and-neck race between traditional networking (chambers, lead groups, meetup, etc.) and social networking (LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.). My business partner, Andrew Kolikoff, is a master of connections in both face-to-face and online networking. What’s the key to his success? Knowing that you have to give, give, give before you are ever going to get, and connecting with people in a manner that builds trust and likability before asking for anything.

Architect and genius behind brilliant and innovative outsourcing sales and marketing company called Synergy Sales & Marketing. Synergy Sales & Marketing is capable of producing massive increases in sales with a proven, integrated marketing and sales program.

Our company has grown by leaps and bounds due to word-of-mouth. If you offer great service along with a valuable product, others will be happy to spread the word for you. Give people a reason to talk about you – and they will!

Gelie is the founder of NetworkingPhoenix.com, an online resource that has become the Valley’s leading resource for professionals, entrepreneurs and business owners looking to network and connect locally..

We sell business-to-business services, so rarely do leads come from the first point of contact. Usually after hearing our name 5-6 times, and after the needs arise for our services, a potential client actually reaches out to us. We start every quarter by internally targeting our current customers. Many of our clients do not use all our services and if we can convince them to expand their relationship with us. It’s been great and fairly effective. Our marketing consists of a mix of PPC and SEO with old-fashioned face-to-face networking and direct mail. Our customers range in age, so there is not a “perfect medium” that covers everyone. Of those listed, networking has, by far, the highest percentage of close rates – but requires the most time. We even talk to non-competing companies and create relationships for future referrals. I would also suggest having some form of gift or “thank you” for those that refer business your way. If you are in retail – advertise! About 50% of all purchasing is motivated by ads. My only caveat is to be targeted in your approach to guarantee the highest return on investment.

I’m the managing partner of an advertising and design agency Davidson & Belluso  based in Phoenix. With over 15 years in advertising and graphic design I’ve pretty much seen and done it all. .

That’s easy. Word of Mouth (WOM) referrals is by far the best method for generating leads I have found for my company over the years. In fact, WOM even powers some of my other marketing tactics. For instance, almost without fail, when I send out one of my email marketing newsletters, not only do current clients call about a new project idea but new leads contact me as well – people who were forwarded my eNews from someone on my current mailing list. By the way, that is why it’s important to include a “Refer a Friend” button on your eMails. One way to help fuel your own WOM machinery is to ask for referrals from your network.

Founder of Satow Strategies a brand marketing consultancy, and CoFounder of Buzzuka, the Pitch Place.

The most effective method I’ve found in our business is personal one-on-one relationships that are mutually rewarding.  This takes time and effort, but building up a long-term relationship based on trust (doing what you say you’ll do) goes a long way and also generates referrals to others.  Although I have not used it much, I think that social media such as FaceBook will be a great way to continue building trust relationships that are mutually rewarding.

Malcolm is the CEO of SmartWrap, the CEO at SmartShield, and the Owner of Inyati Truck Bedliners.

We rely on two major channels to fuel our business. Referrals and web. From my previous business I declared I would prefer to grow slowly and more stable with Printing Solutions. I strictly focused for the first two years on building strategic trusted relationships. Through this process we have aligned ourselves with partners who we work together to provide more value to our clients. Our second most valued source is through web. We are in the mindset to utilize technology as much as possible to enhance our communication and fulfillment process. We couple this with great SEO work and we have seen 60% growth for the past 3 years.

Matt Blanton is the President and CEO of Printing Solutions, LLC and works closely with companies to assess their current printing and production environments to create a more marketable, effective, and efficient portfolio.

If you’re a startup, the fastest way to get the cash registers ringing is a little-used method that involves forming “host-beneficiary” relationships with established businesses that cater to a target audience similar to yours. Then you promote yourself to their database with a special offer presented as a gift from the older business. The beauty of this arrangement is that the startup (the beneficiary) can instantly reach large numbers of highly qualified prospects with the tacit endorsement of the established business (the host). The host is willing to participate because it’s a way to reward loyal customers without incurring any costs. The rookie gains new customers, while the veteran gains goodwill. One startup that successfully used this technique was a high-end women’s clothing boutique. The store arranged to give a free silk kimono to every female customer of a local BMW dealership who brought in a letter sent by the dealership offering the gown as a gift for their past patronage. The kimono had to be picked up at the boutique. More than 600 women responded, picking up $100 kimonos that cost the store just $16 apiece. Those 600 women spent an average of $400 on other merchandise during their initial visit. Do the math, and you’ll see that the startup spent $9,600 to generate some $240,000 in sales – and, not incidentally, to begin building its own clientele.

Bill Stack is a business coach with ActionCOACH and helps business owners to successfully grow their business.

Inbound Marketing Agency Helping You Get Found Online - SEO Company based in Scottsdale, AZ

I always find A/B tests and Google Website Optimizer fascinating tools. Making little tweaks to your website can have a dramatic impact on your conversion rates. I mean, who knew that the ideal call to action button size was 225×45? Or that by adding an arrow to your button, it could improve conversion rates by 20%?

Learn that and more in this week’s visual learning infographic originally put together for Zippycart.

Curious to know how you can improve your conversion rates? Order a Web Conversion Optimization Analysis and learn everything you’ll ever need to know.

Inbound Marketing Agency Helping You Get Found Online - SEO Company based in Scottsdale, AZ

Reading is something I do on a regular basis. I try to read at least one book per month, preferably two if time permits. The book I just finished reading was, “Book Yourself Solid” by Michael Port. Before that, “The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries. I wanted to plan for my next book, which is partly the reason why I compiled this post. At the same time, however, I felt this would be beneficial to those who like to read in order to have a better business understanding.

So, we’ve compiled a group of experts in the business community to help answer the question, “What is the best business book you have read in the last year and why?”

I have been reading a couple of different books on how to remain happy during a seriously challenging time. I can’t remember the title or the author but they have been very helpful. We have a tendency of getting self absorbed in our lives and these books helped pull me out of that.

Since 1998, Dave Sherman has been a professional speaker, trainer and bestselling author. He has helped 1000s of small and medium sized businesses to find, meet and connect with more new business prospects. He has written three best selling books on the topic of networking. Visit Dave’s Speaking Website, Dave’s Product Website, and Dave’s Training Website for more information.

“The Progress Principle by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer.  The book presents strategies that sparked my creativity, maximized my performance, enabled me to experience a greater passion for my work, and provided greater results in my career.  There is not enough positive feedback that I can provide regarding the valuable insight and tips presented in “The Progress Principle.”  I highly recommend “The Progress Principle” to anyone.

Assertive, dynamic, passionate, self-motivated, and tenacious customer service and sales professional with a proven ability to build new business, establish genuine rapport, and achieve high customer satisfaction levels within diverse industries. Jason is the Executive Director at Phoenix Rotary 100 and sits on the Board for the Phoenix Philanthropists.

This is a really hard one. Good to Great is a bit dated but it really helped us focus on core competencies instead of trying to be all things to all customers. It also helped us evaluate current talent and changed how we looked at future hires. However I have on my desk Rework, Killing Giants and The Method Method so maybe I should keep you posted.

Currently I am a partner at Defero which is an integrated digital agency that helps our clients make strategic use of “new media” which includes solutions like facebook apps, mobile apps, web dev, email marketing, web video, SEO, social etc.

I have recently re-read the book, Grinding It Out: The making of McDonald’s by Ray Kroc with Robert Anderson. The principles that were important to Mr. Kroc, when he partnered with the McDonald Brothers and then ultimately when he bought them out, are still the principles that are important in successful businesses today. The two main elements of the McDonald’s business that I admire are the attention to internal training and market research. How many companies have internal training to the level of Hamburger University with such an intense emphasis on consistency, customer service, cleanliness, quality and excellence? And their focus on research, in order choose the best locations for their restaurants, is something that has been imitated over and over again by their competitors, with good reason. I feel this book had many good lessons for entrepreneurs and business, in general, that it was well worth the time to read.

Anna is the Principal at Pinnacle Peak Marketing and sits on the board for American Marketing Association – Phoenix Chapter. She is a marketing professional with extensive experience in promotion implementation, brand building and new business development. Responsible for driving revenue/profit and growing sales and market share for new products, services and technology.

“Why Should Anyone Be Led by You” by Robert Goffee & Gareth Jones is the book that truly stands out. It was easily among the best I’ve read as the concepts presented on being an authentic leader were so universal. I often find most business books being ‘one guy’s opinion’ while this great book was backed by amazing research, interviews, and case studies.  Plus this book was published by Harvard Business School Press the publishing arm of Harvard Business Review blogs.hbr.org which I can’t recommend enough.

Jacob is the Market Developer for Laimoon, a Dubai based online recruitment service, and a principal shareholder with GoMobile Innovations, a mobile web content management provider. He is a Senior Business Development Director with international expertise and success in increasing profit at start-up and large companies by sales strategy, process management, and project coordination including; marketing, web consultation, social media and search engine optimization implementation, as well as effectively leading others.

“The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries.  This book took what I had felt and slightly understood and helped me to get them into concrete ideas. Having an engineering personality usually leads me into building products before I have done due diligence. This book helped me with the idea to limiting building something until I have defined a testable hypothesis beforehand. If you build something just to build it, or see what happens, you will always be successful in seeing what happens.

Noah is a serial entrepreneur who currently serves as the Web Services Directory for CellTrust.

Inbound Marketing Agency Helping You Get Found Online - SEO Company based in Scottsdale, AZ

How to use inbound marketing to generate leads and sales online.

Seminar takes place today from 11am to 1pm!

Sign up here: http://seorchers.eventbrite.com/

9 out of 10 people go to a search engine when looking for products and services. 99% don’t go passed the top pages. Don’t you want your website listed on the top of search engines?

Attend this interactive workshop to learn the following:

• Basics of SEO to rank well in search engines
• How social media plays a role with your search engine rankings
• How to take existing website traffic and convert that into more leads and sales.

And MUCH more!

You MUST attend this workshop if your website hasn’t generated many leads or sales. Signup today!!

Don’t take our word for it, here’s what attendees from previous seminars had to say:

“What an education!! SEO Seminar by Jim Kulla of SEORCHERS.COM Great information and reasources. Thanks Gelie for getting me there!!”
~ Rizalde Sherwood

“#FF #FollowFriday @NetworkingPhx and @SEORCHERS because they hosted a great event this week on SEO.”
~ Sue Kern-Fleischer

“Thanks for the great presentation today! It was funny to see you go from ultra-serious to hilarious in minutes.”
~ Linda Reyburn

Location

Keller School of Management
18500 N. Allied Way
Suite #150
Phoenix, AZ 85004

Sign up here: http://seorchers.eventbrite.com/

Inbound Marketing Agency Helping You Get Found Online - SEO Company based in Scottsdale, AZ

Later today you will be able to find us at the NetworkingPhoenix.com Signature Event. This event is taking place at Casino Arizona, and is a relatively large local networking event that takes place every quarter. With over 2,000 attendees expected, many business deals are sure to take place.

This might not seem like a place you would find an Inbound Marketing Company. However, we are firm believers in networking and ALL forms of marketing provided they are done correctly. In fact, the top of a typical sales funnel looks like this when drawing out where leads come from:

If you have engaged with us as a prospect, seminar or webinar attendee, or met with us for any reason, you have probably seen the rest of this funnel drawn out to show you how it all works together. You will notice though, that all four of those quadrants are methods for generating leads. Some are more suitable than others, some are more affordable than others, yet they can all generate leads when done correctly. Networking is a strong source of leads, referrals, and third party relationships (vendors, referral partners, etc).

If you are outside the Phoenix area, look up networking events at your local chamber of commerce and start making those connections. If you are local to the Phoenix area, be sure and stop by our table at the NetworkingPhoenix.com signature event. More details can be found here.

Have networking figured out and want to start a lead generation campaign? Download our guide on how to expand your online reach!

Inbound Marketing Agency Helping You Get Found Online - SEO Company based in Scottsdale, AZ

Love is in the air. After all, it IS Valentine’s Day. Some of you might not be that happy about the holiday, and I’m not talking about just those that are single.

Here at SEORCHERS, all of us LOVE various elements of Inbound Marketing, but the one our clients love us for most is top rankings. So that is the inspiration for this blog post. Here are four reasons why you should love SEO:

Direct Response
Companies that appear at the top of search results are in front of potential customers right at the moment they are looking to buy.

Credibility and Trust
Studies show that companies who rank at the top for specific keywords are more trusted than those companies who pay for advertisements on page 1.

Brand Awareness
It might take multiple impressions for you to ultimately earn a customer’s business, but consistently being positioned at the top of search engines for various industry related keywords is a great way to build that brand awareness.

Increases Company Value
An often overlooked value of SEO, is what it brings to the value of your company. A recent client of ours was able to sell his online business primarily due to the number of quality rankings we had gained, which drove tons of targeted traffic to their website. What did this client do after he sold this business? Started a new business and instantly used SEORCHERS to build it for him!

If that wasn’t enough, check out a blog post I put together last year that outlines the Top 10 reasons to use SEO.

If you are convinced with what SEO can do for you, request an SEO Quote today!

Inbound Marketing Agency Helping You Get Found Online - SEO Company based in Scottsdale, AZ

M. Lawrence Light, former CMO for McDonalds said, “It no longer makes sense to send an advertising message to the many in the hopes of persuading a few.” Today’s buying decisions are not solely based on advertising. Buyer’s are becoming much more savvy in their purchases and want to buy things their friends are talking about or what they can research themselves via search engines and reviews.

Inbound marketing isn’t about sitting back and waiting for people to find you. It is about being proactive through SEO, blogging, social media, content marketing, etc. Primary emphasis is on content creation. Original content will bring in the links. It is how I was able to attain page 1 ranking for the keyword “web marketing” with my blog over at www.idowebmarketing.com. Regular blogging, social bookmarking, link building, etc. Most companies do not have the time for this though, which is why they seek outside companies and want to partner with an inbound marketing company.

Spark Inbound Marketing recently put together a fantastic infographic that explains why companies need an Inbound Marketing Agency:

Ready to take your marketing to new levels? Request an Inbound Marketing or SEO Quote today and have potential customers seeking you out!

Inbound Marketing Agency Helping You Get Found Online - SEO Company based in Scottsdale, AZ

In the B2B world, your website has ONE purpose: to generate qualified leads. Even if your website is generating leads now, you can always use more leads, right? Mind you, the goal is to not only increase the number of leads, but to increase the number of qualified leads. Easier said than done!

Your first step should be to review the blog post made last week on creating a buyer’s persona. The right contextual messaging alone will go a long ways towards having an impact on your lead generation. But ultimately, here are 5 more things to do to generate qualified leads for your sales team:

1. Have clearly defined calls to action! Making this hard to find can be a major hurdle in your conversion efforts.
2. Create downloadable guides and tip sheets to begin a lead nurturing process.
3. Pin point tangible results of your product or services within your website and follow up content.
4. Have a quote page that asks qualifying questions.
5. Have a blog that is updated regularly that clearly demonstrates your expertise.

Be sure that once you have leads in your funnel, you continue to pepper them with valuable content such as relevant white papers, tip sheets, etc. Just because they aren’t ready to buy now, doesn’t mean they won’t be ready to be weeks or months down the line!

The name of the game is generating leads. If your website is not working for you to generate enough qualified leads, then partner with a lead generation company!

Inbound Marketing Agency Helping You Get Found Online - SEO Company based in Scottsdale, AZ

Did you know that over 50% of local searches are now being performed on a mobile device? It is projected that mobile internet usage will overtake desktop internet usage by 2014. In fact, last quarter smartphone sales overtook PC sales for the first time.

Basically – it is more important than ever to have a mobile friendly version of your standard website. This infographic illustrates 10 considerations to make to ensure your mobile site is user friendly:

Want a website that is mobile friendly? Contact us today and see how we are helping transform small business web design.

Inbound Marketing Agency Helping You Get Found Online - SEO Company based in Scottsdale, AZ