The subjects covered at SES included: SEO, PPC management, social media, keyword research, local advertising, mobile engagement, link building, duplicate content, online video, site optimization, usability, and high-level strategy. The conference also featured an exhibition hall with over 100 companies, networking events and parties. The Net Impact team attended various informational sessions including: Search, PR and the Social Butterfly, Secrets of Top-Converting Websites, SEO through Blogs & Feeds, How to Become a Link Magnet, Mobile Marketing Strategies, and more.

“One of the most interesting things I learned was about the importance of citations in Google’s new organic caffeine algorithm,” said Lauren Pesko, Internal Marketing Associate at The Net Impact. “Google is now looking quite a bit at social networking sites and how many times your website or blog has been mentioned or linked to. This is really great to learn from an SEO standpoint. The speakers emphasized the importance of adding feeds to your “static” website and turning it into a blog. This can have an SEO benefit because Google’s new caffeine algorithm is giving weight to blogs due to the fact that they offer up to date information – caffeine is all about the real time.”

The first and perhaps the most memorable part of the week was keynote speaker – Jeffrey Hayzlett, Celebrity CMO, Best Selling Author & Former Eastman Kodak CMO. Jeff discussed the changes in the world of marketing and changes his former company, Kodak, had to undergo in order to compete with its competition and adapt to the growth of technology. To achieve this, Kodak’s brand image had to shift from an “old” and trustworthy to a more “modern” brand, while not abandoning their core values. Kodak was actually the first company to hire a Chief Listening Officer. Kodak tweets in 12 different languages over 120 countries, while monitoring all online communication surrounding their brand name. Jeff preached that “passion is not a substitute for planning” and that “creative people should never compromise what they do, or how they do it.” 

“Jeff’s presentation really resonated with me and was a motivating beginning  to our week at SES. His underlying message of the importance of keeping creative people engaged, challenged and free to make mistakes in order to implement positive change is a concept that people from all professions and organizations, large and small, should take into account,” said Web Account Mangager at The Net Impact, Angela Trokey.

The Net Impact Internet marketing team is looking forward to putting together an informational session to share with clients and friends what they learned at SES this September!

“This has been an exciting year for the ever-changing Internet marketing industry,” said Project Manager at The Net Impact, Mandy Christanell. “At SES we learned how to implement proven techniques for transforming tactics into proven strategies that garner results for our clients today, while ensuring they stay ahead of the competition tomorrow.”

Vickie’s many responsibilities as Director include developing business growth opportunities, building and maintaining relationships with existing clients and prospects, as well as marketing and selling the Auctori:law legal content management system and Auctori:law’s wide range of Internet marketing and web design services. Vickie brings with her an extensive background in the legal online marketing industry, and we are excited to have her on board!

Read the Press Release

Auctori:city has partnered with The Net Impact to offer custom web design and Internet marketing services to Auctori:city clients. In addition to city web design and Internet marketing services, through this partnership, Auctori:city offers social media marketing services such as city social media design and management. With the Auctori:city Facebook module, an article, news, event update or press release will automatically populate a city’s Facebook page through an RSS feed. This option saves time and effort for Auctori:city users by allowing them to keep their social media marketing current from one main interface. In addition, Auctori:city allows you to have multiple RSS feeds for different social media applications.

“Today’s citizens want a more active, participatory relationship with their government and to have 24/7 access to reliable and valuable information that affects their everyday lives, and there is no better vehicle to reach a community than a city’s website,” said Steve Thomas, President of The Net Impact. “We are proud to partner with Auctori:city to offer cities a functionality-based website that improves the direct interaction with their community.”

Read the Press Release!

The new websites’ features include enhancements to the ways in which products are displayed and indexed on the sites. Website visitors can now search for instruments, set-up a wish list and add products to an online shopping cart. Unlike their competitor’s websites, Bausch + Lomb’s websites pioneer user-interaction, including improved product detail with “click to enlarge” functionality on all product images and product videos. The rebranded Bausch + Lomb logo design was created to coincide with the corporate rebranding, and the website colors, imagery, design and navigation elements were also updated for corporate consistency.

The new websites’ relationship between design and product create an engaging experience for the user while reinforcing Bausch + Lomb as a credible industry leader in the medical community. Check out the Press Release!

Auctori:law is a search engine friendly content management system that puts the power and control of a law firm’s website in the hands of attorneys and legal professionals. In addition to standard content management features, Auctori:law is equipped with features designed specifically for legal industry, such as an attorney biographies module, news and articles module, and an images module. The Net Impact partnered with the Auctori:law team to provide legal clients with the opportunity to manage their own professionally designed, custom website.

Included in the three-day long exhibition are nearly over 100 educational sessions on the latest technologies, business solutions and emerging trends. Auctori:law Representative and President of The Net Impact, Steve Thomas, will lead the vendor showcase session:“Growing your Legal Business through Social Media and Search Engine Optimization”. This interactive presentation will cover the hot topics of social media and search engine optimization and how they are relevant to the legal industry. The educational session will take place on Monday, May 3 from 1:30 pm – 2pm.

Auctori:law will be exhibiting at booth #420. The booth will feature live demonstrations, product information and “relaxing” product prizes from The ROHO Group Inc.  Attendees may register at www.Auctorilaw.com/relax.  Auctori:law representatives will be on hand to answer questions and show you how Auctori:law can make maintaining your law firm website stress-free. This will be the first ever presence of Auctori:law at the Annual ALA Conference.

Check out the Press Release

AIRHAWK, a comfort seating system for motorcycles manufactured by ROHO Group Inc., announces the March 18, 2010 launch of their website, www.airhawk.net. The Net Impact and XG-ad, a full service advertising agency specializing in print advertising, combined services to create the website design for the comfort seating system’s website, which is powered by the Auctori, web content management system (WCMS) built for search engine optimization.

AIRHAWK’s parent company, The ROHO Group Inc., approached our team to work with AIRHAWK’s print advertising agency, XG-ad, to create the web design for the premium product’s website. We took XG-AD’s Phohotshop design work, and made it web ready before placing it into the Auctori web content management system. The Auctori solution provides AIRHAWK with the opportunity to strengthen their Internet presence and their overall brand reputation by giving users a cutting edge yet professional site as well as the power to maintain their content in real time.

“This was one of the smoothest web launches I’ve managed.  We had the best of both worlds for design and internet marketing utilizing The Net Impact and XG-Ad.  The design is edgy and fresh while the back-end that I oversee is so user-friendly, easy to understand and of course, completely search engine optimized.  These two companies made a great team and in the end, produced a fantastic site that we are very proud of and excited to promote,” said Rebecca Heckert, eMarketing Coordinator, The ROHO GROUP.

Read the Full Press Release!

I recently had the honor to speak in front of 160 students and professionals at the American Marketing Association Student Conference.  Chance conversations before, during and after the conference put me into a real dialogue with both students looking for their career start and professionals in transition about the changing face of marketing in 2010 and the requisite skills employers want to see on a resume.   

One person I spoke with told me they wanted to work in event marketing.  Their resume however did not say this nor did it display any experience in that area.  Another person told me that they wanted to pursue a career in Internet marketing.  Yet again, nothing on their resume said, “I’m involved in it today”.

Think about.  If you are pursuing a career in Internet marketing, what makes your resume stand out?  Most of today’s competing candidates will have great educational background, strong grades and references.  Everyone may even be comparable in the way they express their personal and career goals.  Even in the interview you may be practiced and polished.  But the request that may decide the hire is, “tell me about your experience in this area.”

Now it may seem unfair to state that you have to have experience before you can get the job that will provide experience.  Catch 22 right?  Yet, I can tell you that, as an employer I look for that experience, even if the experience is self-propelled or unpaid.  I really want to work with people who are passionate enough about their stated career choice that they are already involved.  This prerequisite involvement is not as hard to get into as you may first think.  You just need to know where to start.

As a recent graduate just starting your career or as a professional in transition how do you garner experience without already having a position in your chosen field?  Let’s talk about where to get started.  Are you on Linked In? If not, join.  It’s free.  Sign up for a few LinkedIn clubs that are in your area of interest.  Next let’s do some relevant career research. You will find that  there are  numerous professional organizations for every field that offer frequent webinars, case studies and meetings.  Take AMA-STL as an example.  For anyone interested in keeping up to date with marketing trends AMA is a terrific resource. 

True, these steps will not provide “work” experience but will show passion and involvement.  This elective involvement is also a good start in finding pathways to work experience. For a student, if you are lucky enough to get on as an intern performing work that will get you hired then congratulations.  If not, then while on campus maybe try to figure out who can use your assistance and self-propel into some experience.  Could it be your club, fraternity, sorority, church, family member or maybe even a teacher that gives you the chance to perform research, write  blog or run an event?  If not, I can assure you that there are dozens of non-profits in every community that will take you on in a heartbeat.   Even a local business may be interested in some cheap but capable assistance. (Will blog for food?)  Again, one of your goals is to put something under that “Prior Experience” heading on your resume that will make you stand out.

Many professionals today have their own website.  If you wish to be equally ambitious yet don’t claim to be a html expert, why not start your own blog?  Blogs require about zero technical knowledge today.  They are also cheap to create, host and maintain.  The primary requirements in having a great blog are using your brain, having the willingness to create a community and the discipline to commit adequate time.  What to write about?  Some of the most widely read blogs contain posts that inform their readers about case studies, work related information and excerpts from other authors that the blog owner finds interesting.  Wouldn’t it be great to respond to a question from a prospective employer with, “yes, I know what you mean.  As a matter of fact in my blog, I noted an interesting study in that same area and I thought…..”  That’s a person the interviewer will remember.  Equally, the people you blog about, the members of your LinkedIn groups and your  fellow charity co-workers could just possibly be the faces you see across the table during a job interview. 

Much of the same thought process above can work for transitioning professionals, but what if you are looking for a career in a non-marketing related discipline?  Again, I think most employers are looking for passionate, involved and creative people that can show experience even if through their own initiative.  That is especially true if you are “recreating” yourself for your next career opportunity.  Knowing your subject matter from a working world perspective, writing about your desired area of employment, proving your thought leadership and being involved in a like-minded community go a long way in making a great first impression.  More importantly, they allow you to answer “yes I do” to the question “Do you have any experience?”

Join a great lineup of marketing specialists, including Steve Thomas, President of The Net Impact, St. Louis-based Internet Marketing Company, on February 26th, 2010 at Maryville University, for a 1/2 day seminar presented by the American Marketing Association - St. Louis Chapter.  AMA-STL’s annual student conference is well known as one of the premier marketing conferences in the Midwest. Connect with hundreds of students and marketing professionals and learn from the experts at this year’s seminar -  ”The New Decade of Social Relationships”.  Register today!

These were just a few of the questions answered at The Net Impact’s Search Engine Strategies Session on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010. The seminar covered current trends in search engine optimization and highlighted the best presentations from the The Net Impact’s SEO team’s recent trip to the Search Engine Strategies Session held in Chicago December 2009. The three presentations presented focused on B2B, Blended Search and Linking.

The first presentation, presented by Angela Cicerelli, Web Account Manager at The Net Impact, covered blended search. Blended search enhances user experience and is another way to engage with potential customer. If you are having troubles ranking for a keyword, blended search just may be the answer. The presentation discussed why we should care about images and videos in search. Social media sites, such as Flickr and YouTube, are now becoming major sources of  website traffic and are appearing in search results. What to take away from the session regarding blended search – The web isn’t about pages anymore, it’s all about streams, feeds and syndication. If information is important, it will find you.

The next presentation, led by Lauren Williamson, Web Content Manager at The Net Impact, highlighted the importance of linking. Link popularity measures the quality and quantity of links pointing to a web page. Recently, social media marketing has become one of the most practical and high quality ways to earn links. The Chicago Search Engine Strategies Session touched on three main reasons why it is important to have a linking program: improve rank, boost traffic and to increase brand exposure. Lauren closed with the statement: “Building links is similar to building relationships – it takes works and is all about quality, not quantity”.

Sonya Sawall, Web Account Manager at The Net Impact, led the final conversation on B2B. Business buyers and decision makers are online, using search engines. Business professionals engage in social networking in order to build relationships that bring business. They rely on search, sometimes throughout the whole buying cycle, and in order to be successful, Internet marketing experts must align their messages with buyers needs throughout each phase of the buying process.

The most important thing learned at The Net Impact’s SES Session: There is one certainty about SEO – the game is always changing. “If you are following a best practice that dates back to 2008 or earlier, toss it away.  It’s now wrong”. 2010 is the year of real-time, personalized results, growing importance of social, community and web mobility. We need to continue to adapt our SEO strategies to stay ahead of the curve.

We hope you all enjoyed the presentation as much as we did, and we look forward to seeing you at the next TNI event!

Check out some great pictures from the event on Flickr!

Unidev and The Net Impact are joining forces with the the St. Louis Area Foodbank to sponsor a food drive this holiday season. The canned food drive will be held from December 18 through January 5 at our office in Chesterfield, Missouri.

“Unidev and The Net Impact are looking forward to getting involved with such a wonderful organization. The FoodBank is at the center of a network of charitable people who want to make sure that no one in the area goes hungry, and for this reason, we are excited to be in a position to help those at this generous organization feed those in need this holiday season,” said Steve Thomas, President of The Net Impact.

The St. Louis Area Foodbank has grown to become the bi-state region’s largest non-profit. Through their mission “to feed hungry people by distributing food through partner agencies, and to educate the public about the nature of and solutions to the problems of hunger”, the St. Louis Area Foodbank is on track this year to distribute 20 million pounds of food and personal care items through their network of 500 partner agencies.

Looking for a way to give back to the community this holiday season?!

Stop by our office from December 18th through January 5th, weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., to donate  canned goods that will help the foodbank ensure they have the needed supply to get through the holiday season! Our office is located at 16690 Swingley Ridge Road, suite 260 in Chesterfield, Missouri 63017.

Learn more about how your organization can benefit the Greater St. Louis Area Foodbank by visiting: stlfoodbank.org

Read the full press release here!