Are you struggling to monetize your Social Media and SEO efforts?

The SEO & Social Media Success Online Seminar expert instructors are hosting a unique online training event shared by hundreds of marketers who want to learn how to align their SEO and Social Media to improve their search marketing results.

From implementation to tracking, the SEO and Social Media Success Online Seminar will lay the foundation for effective search engine optimization (SEO) and Social Media Marketing (SMM) during 6 days of enlightening presentations, step-by-step instruction, and networking with industry experts. This seminar sets the bar for other online marketing events—offering comprehensive training with no sales during any of the comprehensive 18 online classes.

A-list Search and Social Media leaders will be sharing unparalleled experiences to help improve your search marketing ROI. You can check out the free one-hour preview on June 28^th How to Boost Your SEO Results Using Social Media–presented by Nick Stamoulis, CEO of Brick Marketing. Stamoulis will teach insightful tactics on how to optimize your Social Media efforts to help boost SEO rankings and visibility.

The seminar runs from September 7-27 offering instructive classes on mission-critical SEO and SMM strategies for both B2C and B2B. Attendees will walk away with the essential tools necessary to align their SEO and SMM for optimal search marketing results.

SEO and Social Online Success Classes Will Teach You How To:

• Optimize your social media to get the best SEO results
• Integrate social media SEO into your marketing strategy
• Utilize Social Media to rank better on Google
• Learn the most productive social media networks to spend your time
• Measure your social media marketing and SEO efforts
• Develop, grow and engage a loyal social media following

Don’t miss the complimentary preview webinar How to Boost Your SEO Results Using Social Media (June 28^th 11:00 AM/PST) with Nick Stamoulis, CEO of Brick Marketing.

If you are looking to monetize your SEO and Social Media efforts, than you can’t afford to miss this training. Registration is going on now and you can save 50% at SEO and Social Media Success Online Seminar.

SMS is a partner of the PPC Summit/Internet Marketing Institute, hosting the SEO and Social Media Success Online Seminar.

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Do you want to improve your AdWords campaign ROI and take your profits to the next level? Then you can’t afford to miss the AdWords Advantage Online Seminar (May 10-19, 2011) to learn the latest from the AdWords experts – during 18 online classes you’ll learn mission critical pay per click secrets to success. Here are the Top 10 Reasons to Attend and How You Can Learn the Most Effective AdWords Strategies to Maximize Your ROI…

The AdWords Advantage experts include the industry’s best: Craig Danuloff, David Szetela, Dennis Yu, Fred Vallaey’s, Justin Cutroni, Kevin Lee and many more. These experts will help you learn the quickest ways to get ahead of your AdWords competition with improved website rankings, better Quality Score and lower keyword Cost-Per-Click.

Top 10 Reasons to Attend the AdWords Advantage Online Seminar, You’ll Learn How to:

1.  Setup an effective AdWords campaign and grow your business
2.  Apply proven PPC techniques that yield higher conversions
3.  Leverage social media to improve your AdWords campaign performance
4.  Personalize your keywords to meet the needs of your specific market
5.  Utilize the top tools and solutions to save time and cut ad costs
6.  Control costs and improve conversions on content campaigns
7.  Optimize AdWords and track your campaigns using Google Analytics
8.  Develop an effective AdWords and Social Media marketing plan
9.  Improve your Quality Score and combat costly mistakes
10.  Properly measure AdWords beyond the last click

This is a great training seminar for all marketers who want to grow their business using AdWords. You can reserve your spot and Save 50% Now!

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In his article, “What Should You Really Do At Digital Marketing Conferences?” Jeremy Burton discusses the four types of conference attendees and what each is looking for in marketing events such as these. Taking each of the four types (the marketing professional, the exhibitor, the industry novice, and the job seeker), Jeremy uses his experiences at numerous digital marketing events to offer advice on how best to spend your time there. Of course, a large part of your time will be spent at the variety of educational seminars and presentations that are a staple of conferences, but Jeremy offers concrete tips on how to approach the networking opportunities on the exhibit floor to make the most of your time there.

The complete article follows …

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Early registration for an event often means savings in the way of an early bird discount or other incentive, so it’s not too soon to begin planning where you will choose to travel to take advantage of all the fantastic educational opportunities available at the various conferences scheduled for different parts of the US and overseas.

Make a note to check our calendar as the year progresses, as we add more events as information on them is available, agendas are released, and registration pages are put up. If you have an event coming up that we haven’t included, drop me an email at frances@searchmarketingstandard.com and I’ll look into adding it to our schedule.

Keep your eyes peeled — some even have special discounts and deals available for Search Marketing Standard readers!

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Twenty of the world’s top conversion experts will come together to share their strategies (see the great lineup here). They’ll reveal all the latest techniques and proven business-building tactics you need to know to immediately turn a sluggish website into a star performer.

This fully online conference starts November 30, and runs for 3 weeks (You won’t want to miss a single class, but if you do the content will be viewable online for 90 days.)

PPC Summit reports that more than 96.5% of attendees at their last online event voted the content excellent and many said that the tips shared helped boost their ROI (sometimes by up to 300%. This seminar looks to be full of conversion-boosting techniques in the 18 brand-new dynamic sessions.

For more information, visit here and take advantage of a 50% savings if you register NOW!

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“Join thousands of your marketing peers as they share ideas, hear from expert practitioners and learn best practices in Social Media, Search, Email, Analytics, Demand Generation and Website Strategy. Thought-leaders, authors, world-class brand marketers and leading online practitioners from Kodak, REI, DuPont, Wharton, and Google AdWords will share their experiences and successes from the front lines of online marketing. Here’s why you’ll want to attend the OMS 2010 22-City Tour and the Virtual Summit:

OMS 23-City Tour

• Social Media Training Workshop and Breakfast offered by the Online Marketing Institute in association with Wharton Interactive Media Initiative.
• Unparalleled networking opportunities with industry experts and hundreds of peers in sales-free environment
• Panels and sessions led by industry thought leaders, experts and practitioners discuss how to apply fundamental and advanced tactics.”

A number of sessions have already been held, but there are still many left in the next three months. Sixteen cities still remain on the summer agenda. The locations and dates are:

• June 21, Long Beach, CA
• June 23, Denver, CO
• June 25, Minneapolis, MN
• June 28, Milwaukee, WI
• June 30, Chicago, IL
• July 7, Boston, MA
• July 8, Philadelphia, PA
• July 9, New York, NY
• July 12, Washington, DC
• July 14, Atlanta, GA
• July 16, Charlotte, NC
• July 19, Dallas, TX
• July 21, Austin, TX
• July 23, Houston, TX
• August 3, Orlando, FL
• August 5, Miami, FL

For full information, agendas, and registration, visit the site here.

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We also post a PDF version of the two-page calendar of events so you don’t have to remove the pages from your print magazine in order to post them up on your bulletin board to serve as a reminder of upcoming events. The URLs for each conference are also clickable in this PDF version for easy access to more info on each event. The most current version of the Events Calendar from the Summer issue is now up on our site and is located at http://www.smstandard.com/calendar. There are even two coupon codes for two of the events identified on the calendar that can save you a ton of money. You can download the calendar, print it out, and post it on your wall easily and quickly and still keep your magazine from missing any pages. Enjoy!

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Join Senior B2B Search Strategists and Experts to Learn Proven ROI-Boosting
Solutions for Search Marketing, Online PR, Social Media, Landing Pages and more!

B2B Search Strategy Sessions Will Teach You How To:

1. Increase lead generation with proven B2B search engine marketing strategies.

2. Beat your competitors with advanced Paid Search Advertising techniques.

3. Utilize Social Media Marketing to increase branding and increase leads.

4. Blend Online PR, Social Media and Search Marketing to drive more B2B profits.

5. Learn effective Landing Page Optimization specifically for B2B sites.

6. Discover how expert B2B Marketers reached dramatic ROI gains.

Register Now at http://www.ppcsummit.com/151-8-3-17.html — save $300 with code SMSB2B!

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There are three primary reasons for attending SEM conferences: marketing, education and networking. Marketers see conferences as an opportunity to get their message out via sponsorships and exhibition. Other attendees see it as a professional development opportunity for catching up on the latest industry news, tools, tips, and trends.  Others prefer to focus on exploring business development opportunities by networking with other conference attendees.

Marketing

SEM conferences have been around since cavemen attended the First Annual Hunt & Gather Conference & Expo in the early Holocene era. Shortly thereafter, companies looking to reach out to potential customers realized the potential value of marketing to a captive audience composed of business owners, marketing managers and professionals (etc.).  Common forms of conference marketing include sponsorships and trade show exhibits.

Unfortunately, sponsorships at top tier SEM events can be prohibitively expensive, and are often ignored.  Exhibiting, however, can be more expensive when factoring in hard costs, but it does offer valuable face-to-face interaction.  Beyond cost, the downside of exhibiting is the level of competition for an individual’s attention on the show floor, which is at a premium.  The battle for getting bodies into booths often leads to extravagant and costly promotions and gimmickry.

Being a guest speaker can be good for the ego, but it’s also kind on the pocket book.  While presenters usually attend for free, they also get the additional benefit of free exposure and a level of credibility that money can’t buy (assuming they have decent content and presentation skills).  The fall-back plan for cost-conscious attendees is to gain press credentials, which also offers a comp pass and unique backstage access to key individuals and resources.

Education

The primary objective of the average SEM conference attendee is to learn and grow their career.  If this is your objective, be sure to do your homework when selecting a conference to attend.  I recommend researching individual sessions for relevance, presenter credentials and identifying other attendees to meet. Even the list of sponsors can help qualify the quality of an event.

Once you’ve determined if a conference is appropriate, start formulating a plan, including selecting sessions to attend, which presenters to meet and which booths to visit.  One efficient way to cover a content-heavy SEM conference is to tag-team concurrent sessions with a co-worker, peer or even a stranger you befriend at the event (trust me, it works).

Don’t expect to retain more than a fraction of the content thrown at you during the many sessions.  Take diligent notes, ideally via laptop, to aid with organizing, proofing and dissemination to peers.  Last but not least, it is critical to bring closure to the event.  Review notes and presentations thoroughly and separate out action items to be taken once you return to work.

Networking

If marketing or education takes a back seat to your desire to building your network, you’re not alone.  A significant number of SEM conference attendees are primarily interested in identifying and building rapport with potential clients, partners or employees.  If you fall into this category, don’t forget to bring cards (double the number you think you’ll need, as it’s better to take them back home with you than to lose out on a deal due to a lack of business cards).

Many networking-savvy attendees do not properly prepare.  Beyond bringing a nice suit and stack of business cards, they rely on charm and luck to develop new connections.  If you’re like me and prefer not to fly blind, I recommend reviewing your initial SEM conference research to provide insights into companies and individual contacts to target.

Rather than bugging target attendees while sitting together in sessions or walking through the halls, take advantage of natural networking opportunities.  People are generally more receptive to conversation when eating or drinking, so make an effort to mingle.  Obviously, alcohol is a bulldozer when it comes to breaking down barriers, so plan to stay up late if you want to close that (business) deal.

SEM Conference Overview

There are a variety of SEM-focused industry conferences currently in production, with many more in development.  Below is a brief recap of the most popular and relevant SEM conferences available today:

Search Engine Strategies – (New York, April 10^th -13^th) Hosted by Danny Sullivan, SES is the oldest and most popular SEM-focused event.  Although expensive, the cost is justifiable.  Advanced SEM professionals value the marketing and networking opportunities, while beginners appreciate the educational aspects.

PubCon – Produced by WebmasterWorld, this technically-focused event is more affordable and intimate than SES.  The conference is ideal for education (at all levels) and networking with limited marketing opportunities.

ad:tech – (San Francisco, April 25^th – 27^th) This conference targets advertising industry professionals interested in learning more about the realm of interactive marketing.  The events are ideal for marketers interested in networking and marketing opportunities within the advertising industry (with some educational value for beginners).

As the SEM industry matures and evolves, a number of SEM-focused industry events are being created (Elite Retreat) or gaining momentum (Search Bash).  Industry trade organizations like SEMPO and SEMpdx are also developing their own educationally-focused events.  For a helpful laundry list of Internet marketing industry events visit:

http://www.cumbrowski.com/CarstenC/NewsAndEvents.asp

Coffee is for Closure

Whether your objective is to build awareness, generate leads or learn, the overall benefit of attending a conference isn’t truly realized until you get back to the office.  To maximize your investment in your marketing efforts, follow up with tradeshow booth leads within one week.

The same is true for questions for presenters, or leads generated by presenting.  Many otherwise unapproachable SEM industry gurus will be receptive to your inquiries stemming from a conference (for a week or two afterwards at least).

At a recent conference, I gave my card to a presenter and requested a copy of their recent white paper.  It took him nearly two months to send me the paper I requested.  By that time, I was so disappointed that I made a mental note not to do business with the company.  Ironically, the culprit was an email marketing company with the word “response” in their name.

I typically follow up with potential leads no more than 48 hours after returning from an SEM conference.  Lastly, I tend to tier business cards/leads I receive from networking and follow up with my top tier immediately.  The second or third tier cards may not get my attention for a week or two, if at all.  Instead, I prefer to wait for them to contact me to confirm their interest in further discussions.

Regardless of your objective: marketing, education or networking, well-produced SEM conferences offer a valuable combination of all three.  Always be sure to map attendance of each conference to your needs, weigh the costs against those needs, and keep costs down by attending local events when possible.  Armed with these tips, you can start planning for your next SEM conference today.

_____________

Kent Lewis is President of Anvil Media, Inc., a search engine marketing agency based in Portland, OR.  He is also President of SEMpdx, a Portland-based trade organization for search engine marketing professionals.

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Marketing Professionals. You’re a solid marketer in your field and attending the conference helps you fulfill an employer mandate for career development.  The digital conferences I have attended usually provide both topical seminars and an exhibitors’ area where vendors promote their offerings.  As a marketer, online or otherwise, take the opportunity to interact with others (yes that means talk to other people outside your company).  Doing so will yield incredible opportunities to learn about product ideas, industry trends, and other key information that can position you favorably in your company and alert you to potential threats in your career path.  This is the type of information that can give you a competitive edge both internally and externally.  You don’t want to be that last person to find out that your skills are on a technical deathwatch list.

Exhibitor. You are attending to directly (or indirectly) offer your product or service. Indirect offers take the form of branding opportunities or lead generation.  From recent experience, take some time to walk around the other exhibitor booths while listening carefully. You can discover a lot about your competitors by do nothing more than listening to them deliver their value statements to prospective customers and listening to what the customers discuss then and directly after they walk away from the exhibitor booth. After your mission impossible impersonation you should really make a point of honest self-reflection.  From what you have seen and heard, several questions you should be asking yourself right about now are:  Is my offering compelling?  Does it compare favorably to other competitors at the conference? Are there new disruptive technologies or trends that will impact the viability of my offering? What is my company doing well and what could we really improve on to be more competitive.  Take a legal notepad and jot down your discoveries, thoughts, and impressions.  If you are working in your employer’s exhibit, continue to take notes on the common relevant questions asked by attendees.  If you don’t take the time to note these learnings immediately, you are probably going to have a hard time trying to recall the information, especially at heavily attended conferences where you may literally speak to thousands of people over a two day period.

Industry Novice. You are attending because you want to know more.  Maybe your starting or thinking about a career change, thinking about starting a new business or believe you may become an enthusiast of the technology or industry.  Develop contacts with the exhibitors and some of the attendees.  Take note of the companies that are exhibiting and where they are located on the floor space.  You’ll get a rough idea of what a company is willing to spend by where they are located – good location generally equates to higher exhibitor space rate. If the company is willing to spend big, it’s a good bet that they are doing well. Also note the number of companies offering similar products and services.  This can be a good guide to the level of competitiveness and the maturity of the industry. If you uncover a new technology and few if any exhibitors, this might indicate an early trend which can yield considerable upside opportunities for new startups.  Talk to these companies and get a feel for their level of competence.

Job Seeker. Industry specific conferences are an excellent venue for gaining employer referrals. Please note that I didn’t say jobs but referrals.  If you are specifically targeting an industry conference as a path to a new career, don’t go with the intent on handing out resumes.  The larger companies often send account managers, sales associates, and/or junior managers to staff their booths, though smaller companies will often send higher-level employees.  The best approach is the networking approach. Use the opportunity to talk with the exhibitor staff about the company, express interest in the industry, provide some relevant background experience indirectly in the conversation, and ask about their path to employment with their current employer.  If you do find a senior level employee, ask him or her for general advice on how to get into the industry.  Most senior level employees will usually provide the advice freely. Your objective should be a referral by your contact to someone within their company who is either a senior level employee or someone in human resources.  A couple of things you should not do in your search: (1) don’t bring up that you are unemployed or hate your current job, (2) never act or say you are desperate (even if you are in fact so), (3)do not freely distribute your resume at the exhibitor booths (you’ll look desperate and stupid), (4) don’t be overly assertive – you have to create the opportunity for the exhibitor to want to provide the referral not coerce it.

Industry conferences like AdTech, Search Engine Strategies, and others provide a great venue for learning outside the actual seminars.  Most attendees don’t take the time to really use the conference to its maximum learning and earning benefit.  With an anemic economy and an ever evolving workplace, do yourself a favor by expending a little extra effort.  Be valuable not replaceable.

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