Yesterday was my first seminar of the fall 2008 season.  I may end up doing another, I’m not sure.

I’ve been teaching Internet Marketing now for 4 years. Originally the size of the seminars/class were packed out, but now they are waning.  I was teaching one every month, now it looks like maybe 4 a year.

I think part of the problem is perceived value.  The seminars are free, and therefore not much value is passed on.  I bet if I charged $50 for the seminar, people would be more likely to come.  Problem is, I can’t do that as a library volunteer, since its a library sponsored class.  I’d have to find another venue, which means costs for me.

I received only good feedback from the class, which is always nice, but I often wonder what happens after the people leave the class.  Are they simply overwhelmed by the volume of information they got, and don’t know where to start?  Are they overwhelmed to the point that they just say ‘forget about that’ because its so time-intensive?  Or do they simply file this in the ‘I need to do this stuff’ category, and probably never do.

I was asked about my fees, which are comparable to most local SEO firms, probably a little cheaper.  However, as usual, the fees are received with an “Oh wow” or “Oh my gosh” kind of tone.  This probably goes back to the classes being free.  The people that do show up are not those that are apt to spend a lot on their business marketing.

It’s a bummer, really.  There are so many local businesses that could use SEO to their distinct advantage.  I’m continually very surprised by the lack of big businesses that are doing this, giving small businesses in the area a HUGE opportunity to profit, but they don’t see it.

A local furniture store owner, however, has seen it.  He hired me late in 2006 after attending one of these seminars, and has seen record months for nearly a year now.  Record months, month after month!  They are on track to a record year, and they’ve been in business for over 20 years.  They attribute this to SEO, no bones about it.  They’ve dropped their YellowBook ad size significantly, they’ve added some more ‘hip’ products (like organic mattresses – who knew?) and they’ve ramped up their SEO spending.  They are outranking some big furniture stores in the area, and even nationally.  They’ve started drop-shipping some items because of their sudden national exposure.  All these things have resulted in their best year ever, even with the economy in the dumps!  Why don’t other businesses get it?

I implore everyone who has taken my class to take advantage of the information I’ve given you.  I don’t care if you hire me, but use the techniques I’ve shown you and watch your business grow.  It’s really that easy.

As for upcoming seminars, I will be on an SEO panel for an upcoming blogging convention in St. Louis in September, and I may do another free SEO seminar in October.  It may be my last.