My friend and partner on some projects, Derek Chew, recently quit Yahoo! and started his new job over at PriceGrabber online shopping. He’s also started a new blog, which hopefully he’ll keep up to date with some great posts.

http://www.derekchew.com/

I’ve got a client in the furniture and mattress industry who is very gung-ho about SEO. The money that they’ve put into their website and SEO-related investments are paying off nicely. This weekend is a big furniture expo in Tupelo, MS. The client is heading down on Saturday afternoon and coming back Sunday.

Not much time for checking things out.

But his mention of the conference brought up a few great ideas that I think can catapult his website to an entire different level, if only he had more time. So next year, I told him to invite me along, and let’s plan on spending a full two days or so there. Here’s what we’ll do:

1. Take along a video camera. We will shoot everything from walking in from the parking lot to our walk around the convention itself. That video will go on YouTube with the appropriate tags. Then we’ll post a link to it on the client’s website.
2. We’ll set up interviews (just short 5 minute ones) with various vendors. We’ll ask them about their new products, ask them why they think they are the best, etc. These interviews will each be posted separately and will have their own ‘content page’ on said clients site, complete with interviewee’s and manuf/vendors name. We’ll use it to rank for local terms and vendors names that we don’t even sell.
3. For vendors of products that the client currently sells, we’ll videotape someone ‘testing out’ the mattress or bed, and then we’ll ask them what they thought. The good responses will go on the website as additional fodder for that particular product.
4. We’ll hand out tons of business cards for my client. You’d be surprised how many people we’ll meet that will check out his website a few days later, and will be highly impressed at the work he’s doing. Some of them will call my client, and he’ll gladly refer them to me. Bonus.
5. There are bloggers at every convention.  Scope them out and get a quick interview if possible.  Tell them you’ll have a full write-up of the days events on your clients’ site.  Hand them a card. They’ll link to your stuff.  Yummy industry-related links!
6. Speaking of write-ups, we’ll do one for each major ‘event’ that takes place at the convention.  If there are special seminars on certain items, we’ll attend the ones we can and do a summary of what happened.  Naturally those things will become linkbait, or sorts, for other Internet-savvy people that were at (or wanted to attend but couldn’t) said convention.

The next time you talk to your SEO clients, ask them about industry-related conventions. Go to it with the thought of promoting their business as well as gaining tons of free content that is available. Since 85% (I’m guessing here) or more of the vendors at conventions aren’t focusing on SEO (they’re hoping to sell their widget), they’ll be more than happy to spew on and on about it. Get it on tape and let them spew.

There’s big money in those conventions. Even while you’re there promoting your client, people will ask you who you are. “I’m Will Hanke, an Internet marketer. I’m here with John Doe and am helping him promote his widget store”. You’ll be handing out cards too, I promise.

Recently I stumbled upon a nice money making idea, and after a few weeks I mentioned it to another guy that I know online. I said too much, and now he’s doing the same thing, taking a good chunk of the traffic I had.

Stupid me.

Learn from it, and keep quiet when you find a small (or large) gold mine.

I’ve been a volunteer at the local library for several years, teaching classes on HTML, blogging and SEM. The classes are 3 to 4 hours long, and I always have a great time.

Well this year I’ve decided to only teach one class, my marketing (SEM/SEO) class. The class in the past was always called Marketing Your Business Website. I named it that so that I could (hopefully) target business owners to sign up. In the local newspaper, they list it as “Seminar on marketing your business website”.

This year, however, I’d like to do a little test. I’ll be teaching the same class, but each monthly class will have a different name. I want to see how many people and what demographic of people sign up for the different classes.
So far I’ve come up with the following names (thanks to some friends in the WebmasterRadio chat)

• Improving Your Search Engine Placement
• Your Website is Useless if No One Can Find It
• Attracting Customers with Search Marketing
• Why Your Website Isn’t Listed in Yahoo
• Improving Your Website’s ROI
• Your Business on Page One of Google
• Destroy Your Competition on Google
• Helping Customers Find Your Website
• How Romanian Kids Make More on the Internet than You Do as a Grocery Clerk (ok maybe not that one)

Do you have any other suggestions?

Well 2008 will be the year that I finally plan on going to not one - but two conferences!

Those of you that read my site already know that I’m a Local Search nut. The money is too easy and ranking isn’t very hard either. So I’ll be going to SMX Local for sure.

And the other one I would like to go to is the big one in San Jose. Since that is the week that my kids start school, I kinda doubt I’ll be able to make it. So I’ll probably be looking for another conference. Maybe SES Chicago, although I hear it’s not all that great.

The folks over at Search Engine Guide are going to be hosting a new seminar for small businesses that are wanting to get into search marketing. The event is in mid-April and the early registration is $850. It’s called Small Business Marketing Unleashed.

There will be some good speakers there (not me, but still some good ones) speaking on a nice variety of marketing topics. The seminar looks to be geared towards small businesses who have little/no online marketing but would like to get started in that arena. It also may be a good seminar for those just starting out in SEM/SEO.

Plus, Texas in April? How can you go wrong?

Link: http://unleashed.smallbusinessanswers.com/

Lastly, for those of you already into SEM/SEO - there are some nice sponsorship opportunities as well

Disclaimer: This is not a paid post. I did this on my own free will and am not receiving any compensation for posting this information. Have fun and come back and tell me how it was.

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