The Customer Factory

Although I started using and recommending Constant Contact from just about the time they opened their doors in 1995, I know why many people avoid marketing with email – or don’t do as much with it as they should.

And even though email marketing has the highest ROI of virtually any marketing channel (20x higher than direct mail), and is the best way to communicate with up to 500 of your closest friends for the impossibly low price of $15 per month, I understand your hesitation.

I know because I have gotten scores of clients up and running with email marketing over the years.

And Constant Contact knows because they’ve helped their customers face and overcome the same 3 hurdles tens of thousands of times.

The Three Biggest Obstacles Slowing You Down Are:

1. Gathering Your Contacts

2. Creating Your Email Template

3. Deciding What To Write & Finding The Time To Write It

But never fear. Because we have all these problems solved  and will show you what to do at a special educational seminar  at The Microsoft Store in Arlington next Monday morning February 18, 2013 from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m.

Getting Started with Email Marketing

In this fast-paced one-hour seminar you’ll learn how to quickly get up to speed with email marketing and begin making the most of this powerful marketing channel.

We’ll talk about seeding, growing and managing your list. You’ll learn how often to mail, what to say, how to get the most people to open, read and share your message, and how to read the reports when you’re done.

If you’ve been meaning to do a better job with email marketing (for years?) now is the time to learn how.

Is Your Business Invisible Online?

After we spend an hour learning how to grow your organization with email marketing, we’ll take a deep breath and then spend 60 minutes talking about how to get your information on the front page of Google – pronto!

Few things confuse entrepreneurs and non-profits more than the topic of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Everyone has an opinion on what the most important factors are to ensure a good placement on Google search results. But no one would argue that this is not a critical factor in local business marketing today.

By the end of this seminar you will understand more about the topic than you may have thought possible.

And you’ll walk away with my DIY SEO handbook:

Three Weeks To Local Search Domination

So, join me, won’t you?

Getting Started with Email Marketing

PLUS

Is Your Business Invisible Online?

Monday February 18, 2013

8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.

The Microsoft Store

The Fashion Centre at Pentagon City

1100 South Hayes Street | Arlington, VA 22202

Admission is Free but Seating Is Limited!

Click This Link to Register Now

Customer Factory Client Dominates The First Two Pages of Google

Click The Graphic Above to Embiggen

I am often asked what Search Engine Optimization (SEO) really means.

I try to explain that optimizing your web site means making it easy for your local clients and/or prospects to find you when they are running a search for your products or services on Google.

Does that mean anything to you?

If not, please allow me to present the graphic to the left, which shows the search engine results you will see if you type “rocco doors fairfax station” (without the quotes) into Google and hit GO.

In other words, let’s say you are a homeowner living in Fairfax Station, Virgina and you are searching Google for a new Rocco Door for your house.

<– This is what Google would tell you.

Click on the graphic to see it in full size and then follow along with me please.

Or, better yet, please type that search phrase into Google for yourself to see that I am not fudging the results.

What you will see is that, not only is my client Fred’s Best Windows, Doors & Siding #1 out of 310,000 results, they are actually Numbers 1-19!

That’s right, results for Fred’s Best search engine optimized web site created by The Customer Factory cover all of the Page One results and nine out of the first ten Page Two results.

That isn’t just Search Engine Optimization, that is Search Engine Domination!

Naysayers may note that “rocco doors fairfax station” doesn’t sound like a search phrase that is frequently entered into Google. To which I would make three responses:

1. It WAS entered into Google just a couple of days ago. That’s how I found it in Fred’s Best Google Analytics report.
2. Even if the searcher didn’t add “fairfax station” to their search phrase, Google would add it to the mix if the searcher’s computer’s IP address was in Fairfax Station, Virginia. Google knows!
3. When someone DOES enter a very specific search term like that THEY ARE READY TO BUY!

Locally-optimized, long-tail search terms are what The Customer Factory’s Search Engine Optimization services are all about. What your locally-focused company needs are local clients who are looking for a fast solution to their current problem.

If they type in their need instead of your name they are probably not going to find your site, unless you’re one of our clients.

Need more proof? Please type these search terms into Google for further validation:

• “high end fitness centers” (without the quotes) will deliver you to my client Synergy Health & Fitness
• “rides for seniors northern virginia” (without the quotes) will deliver you to my client Independent You
• “shared office space old town” (without the quotes) will deliver you to my client Connect113
• “horse boarding lucketts va” (without the quotes) will deliver you to my client DeVaux Farms
• And “mobile marketing northern virginia” (without the quotes) will deliver you back to this web site

These are the kinds of real, everyday search phrases that purchase-ready local buyers enter into Google.

If you’d like to find out how we can produce the same results for your company, please give us a call at 703-348-7390.

The Customer Factory Builds A Search Engine Optimized Web Site for DeVaux Farms in Leesburg.

We recently completed a project for DeVaux Farms in Loudoun County, Virginia that included creating a web site and blog to promote their riding school, boarding and training services and horse shows to the Northern Virginia horse community.

Just like any other Northern Virginia small business, DeVaux Farms is always on the lookout for new customers. And just like all buyers of local goods and services, DeVaux’ prospective clients are searching for riding lessons, stalls for rent, horse and pony training and upcoming horse shows on search engines.

This site has already brought in a number of new clients for DeVaux and consistently ranks very high on Google for all of their targeted key words and phrases. This site is also mobile optimized, meaning that, if you view it on a smart phone, you will not see the full-blown home page above but rather the phone optimized page below with instant buttons for “Call Us” and “Directions.”

The logo, color scheme and background images were all created by Shannon Yard, a very talented 15 year-old photographer and graphic designer who is also a DeVaux student.

If you’re looking for a great place to teach your child to ride, be sure to check out DeVaux Farms web site.

Ten Signs You're Working With The Wrong SEO Company

Or How to Choose Your New SEO Provider

I follow and learn from an Internet marketing consulting and education company called HubSpot. They offer a great deal of free information and I have found most of it to be “spot on.”

This morning I found an email from them offering a free eBook entitled How To Spot Bad SEO Services, which you can learn more about at this link (registration with HubSpot required).

Here’s a quote from the book’s introduction that sums up its entire message:

Many of these “professionals” and SEO experts are counting on clients’ SEO ignorance to get quick cash without delivering long-term, sustainable SEO improvements. Even worse, some of the practices used by SEO firms can actually hurt your business in the long run.

After reading the eBook I wanted to share their 10-item checklist on how to sniff-out bad SEO (Search Engine Optimization) providers and also share my thoughts on each of their points.

HubSpot’s 10 signs that your SEO firm isn’t worth the money

Sign #1: Making promises that are too good to be true. (more…)