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Category: News

It’s SNEAUXmageddon!

Down here in New Orleans, let’s just say we are not used to the cold. With freezing temperatures threatening, the entire city is shutting down, (but here at Search Influence we are still hard at work!) Although many people are referring to the winter storm as Sneauxmageddon (the world is ending, didn’t you know?), others are taking advantage of the unusual circumstances.

Hemline Metairie is offering hot cocoa to shoppers, urging them to spend their days off shopping at their store.

Over at Hattie Sparks, they are taking a different route. Closing for the day to stay warm, they are offering 40% off to online shoppers who have plenty of time to spare while at home.

The brave restaurants that have remained open are serving warm treats that we know all too well: hot gumbo, steamed mussels, and anything to keep us warm.

At Search Influence, we are bundling up with scarves, hats, and coats hidden deep in our closets. And to be sure we remain productive in the cold weather, we resort to some interesting methods. Check out Influencer Lauren Christy‘s hand-warming mouse pad!

Although the temperatures are dropping, creativity is on the rise. Websites like isitsnowinginnola.com, have popped up to add some local flair to the typical weather report (chanting “Snow me something, mister!”) Currently, the forecast states that the snow is “No, it ain’t.”

Hashtags have also emerged to describe the wintry weather in New Orleans. The graphs below from hashtags.org show that they are definitely catching on!

See what others are up to by following hashtags #Sneauxday and #Sneauxmageddon. What’s been your favorite thing to come out of the winter storm?

January 29, 2014
LocalU Is Coming To Dallas!
Local businesses and small business marketers in the Dallas / Fort Worth area are in for a treat! The traveling road show of local online marketing, LocalU, is making its way to Dallas, TX on Thursday, January 23. I had the opportunity to attend LocalU when they came to New Orleans, and we even invited some of our clients to attend.

Audubon Nature Institute’s Lani McWilliams even provided us her key takeaways from the event – there’s so much info presented at these events that she couldn’t even narrow it down to just 10. These top 14 takeaways are just a small sampling of the info that you will learn at LocalU to help market small businesses online.

What You’ll Learn:

LocalU, my friends, is a must see seminar if you want to learn all things related to local business marketing online, including:
- local search engine optimization
- social media
- review management
- paid online advertising
… and, at $89 with the discount code LocalU, it’s a steal-of-a-deal!

Who You’ll See:

At the half day / four hour event, you will hear from the brightest minds in local online marketing including:
- Search Influence’s own CEO, Will Scott
- Mike Blumenthal
- Mary Bowling
- David Mihm
- Mike Ramsey
- Ed Reese
- Aaron Weiche
When and Where:

LocalU Dallas
Thursday, January 23
Pegasus Ballroom/Magnolia Hotel on Commerce St.
Check-in: 8:00 am
Sessions: 8:30 am – 12:30 pm

The faculty hopes to see you there!

Buy tickets here!
January 17, 2014
Search Influence Holiday Party

Here at Search Influence, we do things a little differently than most companies. Our office artwork is created by our employees, we play the same song every Friday at 5pm, and our holiday party is… well, a little later than most holiday parties.

This year, our holiday party fell on January 11, 2014 and employees didn’t have to travel far to get there (it was downstairs from our office at Oak Wine Bar)! For a special holiday bonus, the party fell at the same time as the Saints vs. Seahawks playoff game, so many Who Dat fans showed up in jerseys and other black and gold attire. Much to our dismay, the Saints couldn’t pull out a win, but we still managed to have a great time despite the loss!

Before the party, the whole office voted on the holiday drink name. Some ideas were “Will Scotch” (after CEO, Will Scott) and “The Optimizer.” The grand winner was “Under the Influence,” which was a delicious concoction of vodka, prosecco and St. Germain.

Many influencers enjoyed the photo booth at the party. The pictures from the photo booth are some of the best, and I think we may have broken a record for the most people in a photo booth picture (sorry Boogie Booth)!

All in all, the holiday party was a huge success. Who knows, maybe we’ll be lucky enough to have another holiday party in 2014!

January 15, 2014
Influencer Profile-Erica Rench

As Search Influence continues to grow, so do the departments! Erica Rench joined the Search Influence team in December to fill the newly created Operations Associate position, working under Operations Director Jeremy Brown. Erica comes to Search Influence after living and working in New Orleans for several years as an undergraduate student at Tulane, and as an Associate Director for Tulane’s Undergraduate Office of Admission. While working for Tulane, Erica also received her MBA.

As part of the Operations Department, Erica works to analyze and implement processes that support the Influencers in producing high quality work. Erica told me she loves getting to know everyone at Search Influence and seeing what she learned at Tulane being “put into action.” She is excited to see the company continue to grow at a rapid pace and loves how the variety of departments at Search Influence allow employees to discover what they’re really passionate about.

In her free time, Erica makes custom wedding headpieces for Wedding Belles bridal boutique on Magazine Street. She first became interested in wedding headpieces when planning her own wedding and realizing that there wasn’t a place in New Orleans where brides could hand pick headpieces, rather than ordering online. Erica also enjoys running, cooking, and exploring the local restaurant scene.

January 9, 2014
New Influencer Faces: January 2014

We are excited to welcome 12 new employees to the growing Search Influence team!

Account Management Team

Amanda Ball has been hired as an Accounts Coordinator. Born and raised in New Orleans, Amanda graduated from Delgado Community College with an associate’s degree in applied science with a concentration in Computer Applications. Prior to Search Influence, she worked for Ochsner Health Systems and recently did an internship at Delgado as an administrative office and technology marketing intern.

Chris Dopper has been hired as an Account Associate. She is originally from The Netherlands and moved from Amsterdam to New Orleans six months ago. Before joining Search Influence, Chris has worked for five years in Amsterdam and Brussels for Sanoma Media, one of the biggest publishers in Western Europe. Here she worked as an Online Marketer and Lifestyle Editor for brands like Cosmopolitan and Marie-Claire. Chris graduated from Rijksuniversiteit Groningen with a Master Degree in Communication and Information Science.

Cory Badeaux has been hired as a Junior Account Associate. Though born and raised in New Orleans, Cory has also lived in Connecticut, New York, and California. She attended Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communications. Before joining Search Influence, Cory worked in events and promotional marketing in Malibu as well as in New Orleans.

Kimberly Dominguez has joined Search Influence as an Account Associate. She graduated from Loyola University New Orleans with a degree in Mass Communication and a minor in marketing. A New Orleans native, Kimberly has a social media background working for local businesses such as ACCENT on Arrangements, a DMC Company, FestiGals, Gulf Coast Bank and Trust, and The Son of a Saint Foundation.

Lily Chen has been hired as an Account Associate. A New Orleans native, Lily received her bachelor’s from Vanderbilt University and recently her masters in marketing from New York University. Before returning to her home town, Lily has worked for various other companies executing both offline and online marketing campaigns.

Mallory Logan has been hired as an Account Associate. Mallory is excited to specialize in the fast growing industry of online marketing. Formerly, she worked on nation-wide political campaigns as a political account coordinator and the Louisiana International Film Festival as Social Media Manager. She enjoys being part of the unique culture in her hometown of New Orleans and cheering on her alma mater, the LSU Tigers.

Maureen Morphy has been hired as a Junior Account Associate. She was born and raised in New Orleans, and graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree in General Studies. Prior to joining Search Influence, she worked as a Public Relations Intern for BCBG Maxazria Corporate in their New York showroom, and as a Sales Associate for Saks Fifth Avenue.

Presley Brouillette has been hired as a Junior Account Associate. Originally from Baton Rouge, Presley graduated from LSU with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication with a concentration in public relations. Prior to graduating and working for Search Influence, Presley interned at SophistOccasions and Pelican House, both located in Baton Rouge, where she learned valuable marketing experience.

Online Advertising Team

Anne Rucker has been hired as an Online Advertising Associate. Originally from Texas, she received her bachelor’s degree in communications from Texas Tech University. Before moving to New Orleans from Austin, Anne worked as a project manager in the political sector.

Operations Team

Erica Salm Rench has been hired as an Operations Associate. Originally from the Greater Chicago Area, Erica came to New Orleans in 2004 to start her undergraduate years at Tulane University, where she earned both her Bachelor’s degree and her MBA. Before joining Search Influence, Erica worked as an Associate Director in Tulane’s Office of Undergraduate Admission.

January 7, 2014
Christmas Exploded in Here!

It’s the time of year again. Thats right, it’s time for competition, secrecy, a bucket of elbow grease, and years of training. Am I talking about the 2014 Winter Olympics? No, I can only be referring to the ruthless Christmas desk decorating contest!

This year Search Influence decided to challenge everyone in the office to gussy up their workspace all in the name of friendly competition and Christmas spirit. Candidates came from far and wide to participate in the annual games and bring the gold and the glory home to their department. The judges were chosen, the stage set, and the stakes were high.

As soon as the gun went off teammates Alison Zeringue and Gabrielle Benedetto bolted to the lead with a warm and classy gold touches, twinkling lights and garland. With their eyes on the prize, Maggie Bomze and Amanda Ball got creative with a Mean Girl’s themed desk complete with pink ribbons, pink lights, and candy cane grams!

Seeing the competition start to heat up, Kimberly Dominguez and Chris Dopper took their workspace to another level by wrapping their entire desk in red wrapping paper, hanging a garland christmas tree from the ceiling, and topping off their work with red ribbons. Armed with tape and Christmas glory, teammates Erika Karas and Jordan Polhemus wrapped their desks in bright green wrapping paper, hung tinsel and bows from every stationary object, and adorned the room’s only fireplace with stockings, garland, lights, and santa’s shoes coming down from the chimney.

In the final moments of the competition Maggie Emerson and Rebekah Durel pulled out all of the stops, hand making the largest wreath many of us had ever seen, hanging stockings, adorning their desk in white lights and it was all pulled together with a pink Christmas tree!

Right when we thought the competition was over, Sarah Gallagher and Samantha Wright charged ahead with the holiday gusto of old Saint Nick himself! Cindy Lou Who and the Grinch stole Christmas and the gold in the last second, just in time for the closing ceremonies! They came in full costume, had a poster of “Mount Crumpit,” and even stole odds and ends from everyone’s desks in true Grinch fashion.

From the ruthlessness we’ve witnessed at Search Influence I believe it is safe to say that no holiday contest is too “un-cool” for us Influencers. I’m looking at you, Groundhog Day!

January 2, 2014
Best of the Search Influence Blog in 2013

We’re proud to have our team members contribute to the Search Influence blog regularly, providing online marketing news, tips and tricks, as well as updates on SI. There’s been a lot going on in our industry in 2013, so we would like to share our most popular blog posts from this year. Based on traffic and pageviews, we present to you the “Best of the SI Blog in 2013:”

#1 12 Worst Social Media Mistakes of 2012 (And How to Avoid Them)

by Laura Manning (Account Associate)

#2 6 Ways Your Surgery Practice Can Market the New Gummy Bear Breast Implants

by Tina Hua (Account Manager)

#3 Surprise Oscar Winner: JCPenney’s #YoursTruly Real-Time Marketing Campaign

by Paula Keller (Director of Account Management)

#4 Switching to Trello from Pivotal Tracker

by Luke Ledet (Lead Developer)

#5 Why Call Tracking Numbers in Local SEO Make Me Angry

by Will Scott (Founder and CEO)

#6 How To De-Personalize Your Search Results

by Jeanne Gaudet (Senior Online Advertising Manager)

#7 5 Tips for Proper Hashtag Usage

by Marisa Michell (Account Associate)

#8 Don’t Be ‘That Guy’…Top 5 Networking Faux Pas

by Scott Holstein (Business Development Associate)

#9 Proprietary CMS vs Open Source: It’s a Little Like Renting vs Buying

by Amy Arnold (Director of Research & Development)

#10 Found: Yelp Reviews Copied and Published as Google Reviews

by Amy Arnold (Director of Research & Development)

December 31, 2013
Influencer Spotlight – Mary Silva

Mary Silva has been a part of the Search Influence team for nine months, and in that time she’s gotten a reputation for hard work and dedication. She’s become the go-to person for managing clients’ online presences when it comes to Google, Yahoo and Bing. She is also the person people run to when they need a call made to Google. Additionally, as an Internet Marketing Associate, Mary does basic editorial work for the content team and helps to create monthly reports for clients.

Mary Arthemise Silva, not be confused with her Aunt Arthemise Mary, carries on the tradition of bearing this family name, which gets flipped with each generation. So Mary has an aunt named Arthemise Mary and a grandmother named Mary Arthemise. As a native New Orleanian, Mary tells me all locals always want to know where you went to high school. So for all you locals out there, Mary graduated from Cabrini High School.

Outside of Search Influence, Mary works as a freelance photographer and musician. While she usually focuses on synth, guitar, and vocals, she can actually play seven different instruments. Recently, Mary had the crazy opportunity, through a co-worker, to photograph the band Fun. Mary specializes in creative portraiture photography and usually shoots senior portraits, live bands, and headshots. Every year, she photographs NOLA Fashion Week for designer Noël Martin. Fun fact: Mary also shot photos for the Search Influence website! In addition to working at Search Influence and freelancing in her spare time, Mary is also a marketing major at Tulane University and is looking forward to receiving her BSM in May 2014.

One of Mary’s photos from the recent Fun. concert in New Orleans.

When I asked Mary what the best part of working at Search Influence she said, “My favorite thing about working at SI is the people. I love my coworkers and have literally never had a bad experience with anyone in the office in the nine months that I’ve been here. We also have an awesome team building committee that puts together fun quarterly events for the company. It’s a really great way to interact with fellow Influencers since we spend a lot of our time working behind a computer.”

December 23, 2013
A Few Tips for Balancing School and Work

Here at Search Influence, we have several employees who are still in school in addition to working here part-time or full-time. Some are in grad school and some are in undergrad at schools in the area like Tulane and UNO. Since I am not one of these ambitious employees, I thought we could all gain some insight from them in time management and life skills. I asked a few of my co-workers questions like “Why are you doing this?” and “How do you do it?” I got some thoughtful responses with a few common themes.

1) Know Your Priorities
Zachary has only been here for a month, but he already knows to be careful not to “load too many responsibilities on yourself, or you will crash and burn and fail at all of them.” If you intend to be an active member of several school clubs on top of working 20 hours a week, you will probably end up overwhelmed. Work, school, and a couple other activities will be plenty enough to fill your time.

2) Figure Out Your Interests
Mary says that working at a place like Search Influence where what we do is meaningful has made the stress level of balancing school and work a lot more manageable. If you like what you are doing (whether that’s your class subjects, job description, or extracurricular activity), you will be more likely to thrive since you are interested in all your daily activities.

3) Get You Some “ME” Time
A common theme for all the employees I interviewed was that you must set aside some time each week to unwind from the chaos of balancing school and work. Figure out something that makes you feel relaxed like reading, exercising, or hanging out with friends. If you can set aside a whole day to de-stress, that’s the best case scenario, but even an afternoon should do the trick!

Search Influence is constantly hiring for new positions, so if you think you can handle the time management challenge of school and work, be sure to check out our employment opportunities page!

December 3, 2013
Search Influence Goes to Digital Agency Conference

Search Influence had the opportunity to send our VP of Sales & Marketing Kelly Benish to Local Media Association (LMA) and BIA Kelsey’s Digital Agency Summit, which was held in Chicago on November 6th and 7th. The Digital Agency Summit is described as “two days dedicated to the best case studies and practices being employed by digital agencies owned or partnering with local media companies.” SI is a member of both the LMA and BIA Kelsey, and we are always strategizing ways to better serve our clients and partners by speaking at, sponsoring and attending these Association conferences.

(L-R) Jed Williams, BIA/Kelsey; Aswini Anburajan, BuzzFeed; Peter Newton, GateHouse Media; Lindsay Jacaman, Dallas Morning News/Speakeasy; Kelly Benish, Search Influence

Kelly was selected to be a conference panelist on a session entitled, “Native Advertising/Sponsored Content – A New Revenue Opportunity” and was honored to share the stage with some very well known representatives in the digital space including Aswini Anburajan, Director of Partner Development, BuzzFeed; Lindsey Jacaman, GM, Digital Services, Dallas Morning News/Speakeasy; and Peter Newtown, President, GateHouse Ventures/GateHouse Media.

The session was moderated by Jed Williams, VP Consulting and Senior Analyst, BIA Kelsey, and panelists shared with attendees how native advertising has been a valuable revenue opportunity that media companies and online marketers have adopted.

Anatomy of Native Advertising Placement

Kelly highlighted the differences between advertorial, native ads and content marketing, as well as ways to implement native advertising into digital agencies’ product menu through sponsored blog posts, sponsored Facebook stories, infographics and white papers. With 20% of all web traffic coming from shared content, Search Influence offers these online strategies for both our direct clients and partners. Many publishers do not have the dedicated content teams to create native advertising pieces and properly market them to targeted audiences.

Search Influence has a process in which we work on behalf of the publisher with their advertisers to make the dream of offering native content pieces a reality. This cutting edge new revenue stream was the main initiative presented in the session.

Contact us to learn how native advertising can help your newspaper property or business!

November 15, 2013