Tag: conference

  • Three Top Picks for The Big Idea at New Orleans Entrepreneur Week

    Three Top Picks for The Big Idea at New Orleans Entrepreneur Week

    New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (March 11-18, 2016) is fast approaching, and we’re getting excited for the festivities. It’s a full week packed with events dedicated to celebrating, promoting, and helping New Orleans entrepreneurs from various industries from food to education.

    Search Influence is proud to be participating, with our co-founders (entrepreneurs themselves) Will and Angie Scott, serving as a speaker and a panel judge, respectively.

    Perhaps our favorite event of the week is the final event of NOEW: The Big Idea.

    The Big Idea puts 10 entrepreneurs’ ideas in front of a large crowd and allows the crowd to vote for their favorite idea by purchasing a $25 voting chip they will give to the business of their choice.

    Voting will take place now through March 7 on NOLA.com to select the top 10.

    My Top Three Picks:

    1. Bayou Baby Bites

    Because your baby needs fresh food and you don’t have time to make it yourself!

    What mom wouldn’t want to start their baby’s eating habits off right with locally sourced baby purees, created and handmade by a classically trained chef and Nutritional Therapy Practitioner who also happens to be mother to a 10-month-old? Bayou Baby Bites offers home-delivered purees of fresh fruits and veggies that your baby will love—even YOU would like this baby food!

    Thanks so much for participating in our weekend giveaway! Congrats to the winners- you’ll get a personal msg from me ???

    A photo posted by Celeste Landry Baer (@bayoubabybites) on

    2. Lionheart Prints

    Because everyone loves a handwritten note.

    Lionheart Prints makes the list because paper and the art of hand lettering is making a comeback. I love giving and receiving a handwritten note, whether that be a birthday card, thank you note, or a sweet note just because. Lionheart Prints makes that even more fun with their great designs and non-conventional sayings. 


    3. Thinkerella

    Because science IS cool.

    In conjunction with teachers, Thinkerella creates after school programs teaching STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) in a fun environment to young children. I love it because it benefits both the students and the teachers by providing supplemental income to their salaries.


    Vote for your favorite (or one of mine) today, and you can vote every day through March 7!

    Heading to NOEW? Look for Will and Angie at the following events!

    Local + Social: Like Peanut Butter and Chocolate
    Tuesday, March 15, 9:00 am @ The Chicory
    Will Scott will share insights on how you can make social + local online marketing work for your business.

    SEO Is Dead, Again. Long Live Online Marketing!
    Thursday, March 17, 10:00 am @ The Chicory
    Will will present again, this time on how and why it’s not too late to get on board with online marketing.

    Cox Business / Inc. “Get Started” Pitch Competition
    Wednesday, March 16, 7:00pm @ The Chicory
    Angie Scott will be joining a panel of judges to give feedback to entrepreneurs in a live Shark-Tank style pitch format.

    We hope to see you at New Orleans Entrepreneur Week 2016!

  • A Series of Influencing Events: Search Influence Pros Take to the Road

    Search Influence Pros Take To The Road

    Search Influence’s reach is expanding around the country!

    Whether you’re on the East coast or the West coast, there’s an Influencer coming near you this spring! CEO Will Scott and Director of Account Management Paula Keller will be representing Search Influence and imparting their local search wisdom in Williamsburg, Seattle, Portland, San Jose, and Nashville in 2016.

    Read more below to find out which conference most speaks to your marketing strategy needs!

    Seattle: MozCon Local – February 18 & 19, 2016

    MozCon

    Diving deep into the world of local marketing and SEO, MozCon is hosting a local-focused conference, MozCon Local, at their world headquarters in Seattle. Gauged at the intermediate to advanced crowd, MozCon Local isn’t your average search conference. Moz has gathered a well-rounded crew of experts to provide you the opportunity to participate in live Q&A, meet and network with fellow industry players, and consult with expert publishers and analysts.

    Moz has teamed up with LocalU to bring you workshops on Thursday and a full-day conference of hand-selected speakers on Friday.

    Local Search Processes – Expert Panel/Q&A – 12:55 p.m.

    Paula Keller, Director of Account Management at Search Influence, joins industry experts Darren Shaw of Whitespark, Mike Ramsey of Nifty Marketing, and Aaron Weiche of GetFiveStars for a panel discussion and Q&A on best practices and best processes to use in marketing your local business online. It’s a powerful info session you won’t want to miss!

    Fake It Til You Make It: Brand Building for Local Businesses – Seminar – 2:05 p.m.

    Paula will provide real-world examples and success stories about local businesses establishing brands that both customers and Google will recognize and reward! Learn what you can do to keep up in this changing world of ranking factors. As Paula strategizes with businesses on improving their search, social, and online ads results, she lends credible knowledge to the subject matter and will share tactics on how she manages her team’s 800+ local business clients.

    Local Targeting of Paid Advertising – Workshop – 2:50 p.m.

    Now it’s time to break out and ask your questions directly. If you run or want to run an AdWords campaign for your local business, you have or will very soon realize that Google puts a lot of options in front of you—but you may not be sure how to best leverage them. Paula will be ready to answer your AdWords strategy questions and share her tips for local targeting from choosing the right ad extensions to when to use increased mobile bidding.

    Register now for MozCon Local!

    San Jose: SMX West, Local Search Advantage Workshop – February 29, 2016

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    Heading to SMX West in San Jose this year? You will want to arrive one day early and attend the Local Search Advantage Workshop. Will Scott will be on-hand at this action-packed event to offer practical advice and best practices for digital marketers, brands and business owners of all sizes looking to be found by online buyers. Sessions range from local presence management and mobile SEO to localizing social media, reputation management and multi-platform attribution.

    Register now to attend the workshop or get an all-access pass and stay for SMX West in San Jose.

    Williamsburg: LocalU Advanced – March 5, 2016

    Meet with all of the experts in the local search game! No matter the size or type company you work for, your search marketing questions will be answered at LocalU Advanced in Williamsburg, VA. Order your tickets for info-packed presentations featuring all of the most up-to-date information about what’s working and what’s not in local SEO. Join experts like David Mihm, Mary Bowling, Mike Blumenthal, Search Influence’s own Will Scott, and more for an informative and fun day!

    Search Fundamentals: Inspired Local Linkbuilding Tactics – 9 a.m.

    Will Scott joins Mary Bowling of Ignitor Digital, Mike Ramsey of Nifty Marketing, and Mike Blumenthal of GetFiveStars to discuss the power of locally relevant links that build value for your business. If you’re looking to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the power of link building in today’s algorithmic world, look no further!

    Deep Dive: Competing And Winning in A Pay-to-Play World – 11:30 a.m.

    After the joint session, Will’s going solo! “It’s been said time and again that there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” Learn what it means to join the pay-to-play world of social media marketing and come away with some key strategies for utilizing paid platforms to generate leads for your local business. Leave your preconceived notions about content marketing, social engagement, and lead delivery at the door, and get on the right track so you can stay afloat in the ever-changing world of online marketing.

    Register now for LocalU Advanced!

    Portland: SearchFest – March 10, 2016

    Join the marketing experts at SearchFest, hosted by SEMpdx, at the Sentinel Hotel in Portland to experience multiple learning tracks, including workshops and panel sessions designed to provide direct insight into the most up-to-date strategies and advancements in SEO, SEM, and social marketing. You’ll find some of the biggest names in almost every niche of online marketing at SearchFest.

    Lifting Your Local Brand Above the Internet Cesspool – 11 a.m.

    Paula Keller shares the stage with Cori Shirk of Seer Interactive to educate us on how a local business can “act” like a big brand and how a big brand can “act” like a truly local business. No matter the size of your business, make sure you’re expressing your brand properly so you can attract the most qualified audience and enhance your ROI.

    Beacons & Retargeting – 2:45 p.m.

    Take a dive deep into the technology of the “Minority Report” society we live in. Will Scott will discuss the intricacies of retargeting the right audiences, and using actual beacons of technology to deliver your message. Don’t miss this one!

    Register now for SearchFest in Portland!

    Nashville: Hospitality Marketing Symposium – April 5, 2016

    The HMS is a conference focused on Internet marketing and technology and purposely crafted to benefit innkeepers, owners, marketing staff, and vendors in the hospitality industry. Will Scott will lead a session on social media marketing trends, and will provide practical tips and tricks to stay one step ahead of the competition.

    Register now to reserve your seat for the HMS in Nashville.

    We can’t wait to see you on the road! However, if you can’t meet us in any of these locations, you may want to make plans to attend one of our new Search Influence University webinars, the first of which is on February 25. Click here to see a list of our upcoming topics.

  • 8 Must Visit Eateries For BIA Kelsey SMB Digital Attendees

    8 Must Visit Eateries For BIA Kelsey SMB Digital Attendees

    SoBouNolaCracklinImage
    Cracklin. Yes. Cracklin. Tasty.

    My colleague Neal Polachek, a noted analyst and advisor, wrote me an email asking my opinion on New Orleans restaurants. He is coming to town for the BIA Kelsey LEADING IN LOCAL: SMB Digital Marketing event. He mentioned Cochon, which is excellent, but I had a few other recommendations.

    If you’re coming to New Orleans for the BIA Kelsey show, then please look up Search Influence. We’re only a few blocks from the Hyatt and we would love to see you.

    The following is a transcript of my email to Neal:

    As you know, there are TONS of great places in New Orleans. I do love Cochon. Your only challenge may be the noise level.

    Donald Link’s group has another new restaurant called Peche which is also great.

    Others you should consider off the beaten path:

    Lillette – One of our current favorites, on Magazine St. just passed the Garden District towards Uptown.

    Gautreau’s – Hidden in an Uptown residential neighborhood – worth the trip!

    Pascal’s Manale – Also in Uptown, it’s classic, quintessential New Orleans.

    Oddly enough, one of our current favorite restaurants is actually inside the Hyatt pavilion, called Borgne.

    Another current favorite that is seldom as busy as it should be is SoBou, which is attached to the W in the French Quarter. You can make a meal of the appetizers alone.

    If you want a super-fancy wine and dine, a hot prospect or a hot date kind of thing, there’s R’evolution in the french quarter just past Bourbon Street. This restaurant is excellent. We just ate there for the first time a couple of weeks ago.

  • LocalU Is Coming To Dallas!

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    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!

     

     

  • Will Scott to Speak on Local Search Ranking Factors at SMX East

    President and founder of the New Orleans SEO company Search Influence, Will Scott often participates in conferences and seminars. Oct 5-7, he will be presenting at the Search Marketing Expo East 2009 on how important local search ranking factors help drive traffic to small business Web sites.

    In a recent press release announcing the session, Will Scott talks about the Local Search ranking factors – 49 of them thought to make or break local business listings.

    He also points out the increasing competition for Internet traffic and business visibility on the web. By using the local search ranking factors, companies like Scott’s own Search Influence can maximize the effectiveness of website promotion for clients. He also says that “collaboration, as in the Local Search Ranking Factors study, can help us predict trends in adjust our tactics accordingly.”

    There are negative factors that can prevent visibility too or example, more than one business with the same name or having an 800 number as the primary contact number.

    Will joins a star-studded panel including:

    SMX East is jam-packed with very current information. Some of the brightest minds in SEO will be presenting.

    Some of the presentations we’re really looking forward to (and there are a ton more):