I always love getting over to the VCU BrandCenter to talk to the students about search engine marketing. The students are active, engaged, and endlessly curious.

They got more detail than they bargained for when they started asking deep questions about Quality Score and Google’s impending “big brother” reputation, but it makes for a fun couple of hours.

My goals were to educate the future creative and brand strategists about Pay Per Click advertising basics, how to incorporate PPC strategies into larger marketing plans, and how to effectively manage a PPC program. Much of the detail was voiced over, so if you can’t make sense of it, it’s probably because I prefer pictures to words on the actual slides.

Even if they never log in to Google AdWords themselves, they are a little more prepared to work with the folks like me that do it every day.

Most people in Richmond don’t realize the amazing advertising talent in this town, much less the post-graduate educational opportunities available at the BrandCenter. Thanks to Chris Busse of Fahrenheit Emerging Media for the invitation to speak to his class!

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I had a great time presenting to the AMA Richmond chapter this morning. Huge thanks to Studio Center for hosting and Mike Rose for organizing.

P.S. If you are looking to hire an experienced senior marketing exec, Mike is your man.

P.P.S. The picture on slide 3 is my son…you had to be there.

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The following is an outline of my upcoming presentation at the Richmond chapter of the American Marketing Association on Tuesday, March 29nd. If you are an AMA member, it’s free!

There’s no shortage of advice about how to improve your website’s search rankings and increase traffic from search engines. But how do you know if your efforts are paying off? Hint: It’s not where you rank on Google.

The old adage is true, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.”

Join us for a conversation about accountability in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising, and website analytics. Andrew Miller of Your Search Advisor will help you understand the relationships between strategies, tactics, and performance metrics that really matter.

If you don’t know the ROI of your AdWords campaigns or SEO initiatives, this Market Dialogue is for you!

We’ll cover a wide range of topics related to improving e-commerce sales, generating more sales leads (phone and email), and increasing your company’s ability to measure all of your online marketing efforts against your specific business objectives.

Afterwards, you will be able to assess whether or not your SEO and PPC campaigns are running as efficiently and effectively as they could be, how your competitors’ results compare to yours, and how to prioritize your next moves.

Hope to see you there!

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The cobblestone streets, historic tobacco warehouses, lazy canal and occasional train whistles remind of the historic forces that made Richmond what it is today. The new culture of creativity and marketing are evident even in the shadows of towering banking and finance centers. Ever since I left The Martin Agency six years ago I have missed the vibe and personality that Shockoe Slip offers.

After three years with CarMax and three years in Ann Arbor…

It’s good to be home

It’s taken a while, but I’ve finally migrated back downtown. I knew it would happen some day. My new office feels like some sort of weird professional homecoming. The space is in the Watkins-Cottrell building, next to La Diff and across the street from the now defunct Southern Railway Deli.

117 South 14th Street, Suite 310. Stop by and say hi! Here’s a map…

Photos courtesy of Rick Whittington Consulting.

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[Update: Slides posted]

Here are the slides from last night’s meeting. The crowd may have been small, but the vibe was enthusiastic. Most of the content was voiced over and the slides are sparsely worded. Hopefully the images and text convey enough meaning, otherwise you’ll never understand the references to the Dharma Initiative (and cake).

Wondering how to measure phone calls in addition to standard web metrics and online conversions? Are you in or near Richmond (or can be next Tuesday)?

I am presenting Phone Call Tracking for Marketers at Refresh Richmond‘s monthly meetup. I’ll come up with some interesting ways to cover the following topics:

• What is phone call tracking?
• Why track calls from your marketing campaigns? (hint: because your clients don’t know they need it yet)
• Build or buy?
• Merging call data with campaign data
• Optimize, refine, repeat

Here are the details:

• Date: Tuesday, January 18th
• Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm (after party at Popkin’s Tavern)
• Location: INM United office, 201 West Broad Street, Richmond, VA

Hope to see you there!

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Go. Now. NOW!

Are you:

• Withing 150 miles of Richmond, VA?
• Interesteed in WordPress as a blogging and/or CMS platform?
• Designing or developing WordPress sites?

You won’t want to miss WordCamp Richmond 2010. Registration is now open and there are still a few speaker slots left.

Last year’s event was amazing. We had about 60 people show up to hear some fantastically useful presentations…which may or may not include my presentation on SEO.

What’s Better in 2010?

• Due to last year’s sellout crowd, we’ve more than doubled the number of tickets available to 130 (but don’t wait!)
• Two tracks: Content Creation and WordPress Design & Development. There’s something for everybody.
• T-shirts for all attendees!

Head over to WordCampRichmond.org to check out the rest of the details and stay updated on the schedule and speakers.

See you there!

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I am pleased to announce a new client site launched last week: RVAMortgage.com. The site supports Colonial 1st Mortgage‘s objective of capturing more qualified leads and we’re pulling out all the stops to support the site and increase traffic:

• Pay Per Click advertising
• Organic Search Engine Optimization
• Content Marketing

Dan Dougherty and his team of mortgage brokers are some of the finest people I’ve met in the industry. Their customer-focused process insures that they find the best deals for their clients by comparing mortgage and refinance offers from multiple lenders. This saves the home buyer time and money. The next time you need a mortgage broker in Richmond or have questions about refinancing your home, please give them a call. You’ll be happy you did.

Lead Tracking Capabilities

It’s not just a pretty site, it’s also a lead tracking powerhouse. The hand-coded site is brimming with analytics and lead-tracking tools, including a highly customized Google Analytics installation, a phone call tracking solution and a custom lead database that allows the client to “close the feedback loop” by signaling which leads eventually convert.

We evaluated several content management and CRM systems but ultimately decided to build our own to allow for the fine-grained analytics and landing page optimization coding required to fine-tune the site and supercharge conversions.

Need a Custom Solution?

The site was built, coded, and optimized in partnership with Rick Whittington Consulting. Contact us and we can talk about how custom solutions like this can supercharge your lead generation efforts.

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