Noozhawk Reviews Search Engine Pros & SBBE
Craig Allen: Santa Barbara Business Expo a Resource Gold Mine for Business Owners
NOOZHAWK – The Second Annual Santa Barbara Business Expo (SBBE) will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Fess Parker’s DoubleTree Resort, 633 E. Cabrillo Blvd.
The 2013 expo brought in more than 175 attendees, the majority of whom were local business owners. The overall impression expressed by attendees was the high level of professionalism, the warmth and attentiveness they received from the exhibitors, and how much they learned from the speakers.
This year’s expo is expected to draw more than 500 guests, most of whom will be local business owners, business leaders and entrepreneurs seeking to increase their visibility and profitability.
The SBBE is an interactive business convention designed to provide business owners, entrepreneurs, students and consumers the tools and resources to connect, learn and network. The expo has been designed to facilitate this dynamic activity with a careful selection of speakers and exhibitors, as well as the overall expo layout and program. The expo is a Business-to-Business (B2B) event, as well as one that enables the local business community to become aware of the resources that are available.
The SBBE was founded and is directed by Sandy and Gino Goe, local business owners and entrepreneurs who have a vision and mission to bring the business community together by encouraging collaboration, improving profitability and encouraging social responsibility by giving back to the community. The Executive Planning Team consists of local business owners and professionals who share in the vision and desire to serve.
All types of businesses are welcome. Both men and women entrepreneurs and large and small businesses will benefit from the dynamic speakers, the programs and the overall expo floor complete with tables for successful networking with like-minded business owners.
The second annual SBBE will bring together some extraordinary keynote speakers, authors and service providers, all to help business owners improve their online presence, while benefiting Hope Refuge. These keynote speakers will address a wide array of especially challenging topics all business owners face, and will include:
» Sloane Reali (The Power of Voice)
» Gary Kravetz (Executive Search)
» Patty DeDominic (Leadership, Stewardship & Impact)
» Ellen Reid (How to Be an Expert in Independent Publishing)
» Taylor Reaume (How To Rank Your Web Site by Helping Others First)
» Melissa V. Moreno (Start-Up Funding 101)
» Calla Gold (Using Online Networking to Increase Your Off-line Networking Results)
» Nick Cavarra (Effective Social Media: The Five Top Channels)
» Ernie Halter (What Is Crowd Funding and Why Is It Important in Today’s Marketplace?)
» Robin Eschler (Funding Options for Small Business)
» Devon Johnson (Loan Fund Manager — Small Business Loan Fund)
Attendees will find expert solutions for some of the most frustrating aspects of developing an effective online marketing strategy. The expo will, in addition to the featured speakers, provide extensive guidance on key marketing trends; emerging web technologies; best business practices; business services for business owners and entrepreneurs offered by exhibitors; on-site headshots by Linda Blue Photography; professional fashions and accessories; an author’s showcase; growing business relationships in Santa Barbara; local resources for financial, personal and professional needs; and strategies for connecting with prospective clients within the community. Business owners, professionals and entrepreneurs will find actionable intelligence that will directly address some of the most challenging issues we all face when building our online presence.
“Business owners today are struggling with their web strategy, and attending this event will help them take their businesses to the next level,” according to Taylor Reaume, one of the keynote speakers featured at the expo and founder of Search Engine Pros.
“My speech will stress the importance of adding value to others first, and being a helpful resource to others around you. There are many ways to add value to people around you. For example, business owners can create educational top 10 list articles, sharing remarkable statistics and time-saving resources, and connecting their audience with trusted partners.
“Adding value to people will naturally increase the numbers of hyperlinks, or ‘votes,’ for the business owner’s web site. If the business owner can successfully increase the number of hyperlinks pointing into their website each month, they will see a direct correlation with the increase in their Google rankings.”
Admission fees (general admission and students) are $10 per person, and include access to all exhibits, author showcases and the art show. VIP Seminar tickets are $125 per person, or $195 for two. VIP access includes all areas available to general admission ticket-holders, plus entry into the exclusive stage area, which includes keynote speakers, workshop style presentations, refreshments and a VIP gift bag.
Raffle tickets will be sold to benefit Hope Refuge, whose vision is to provide a refuge for American girls rescued out of the sex traffic industry in California. The Goleta-based organization is raising funds to acquire a facility to set up a home. All proceeds from the raffle will be donated to Hope Refuge, and additional donations can be made at the expo.
For more information on the Santa Barbara Business Expo, email Sandy Goe at sandy@wcbn.net, or call 805.452.3632.
— Craig Allen, CFA, CFP, CIMA, is president of Montecito Private Asset Management LLC and founder of Dump That Debt. He has been managing assets for foundations, corporations and high-net worth individuals for more than 20 years and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA charter holder), a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and holds the Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) certification. He blogs at Finance With Craig Allen and can be contacted at craig@craigdallen.com or 805.898.1400. Click here to read previous columns or follow him on Twitter: @MPAMCraig. The opinions expressed are his own.
– See more at: http://www.thesearchenginepros.com/santa-barbara-marketing-company-sbbe.html#sthash.QML0c9DM.dpuf
Top 4 Factors to Consider When Choosing an Advertisement
Online advertising is a part of the entire marketing mix. You will need to consider the price of the product/service to target the audience before choosing the medium of advertisement. It is important for the target audience to afford the products/services without turning out to have cheap taste or cheap quality. It is equally important to consider how the products /services will be packaged to ensure they are appealing to the specific target audience. The factors to consider when choosing an advertising media include:
· The cost of the media
In case you are considering running an advertisement campaign, online or offline, Print, Pay per View, LED Display for rent, Television, Pay per Click or any other channel it is important to consider the cost of the media and its effects to the business, as measured by the returns and conversions. Failure to consider the cost of the advertising campaigns means you are footing an advertisement that is too expensive, converting too little.
· The extent of the media circulation
This is an important factor that is like running an advertisement in the local newspapers that covers the happenings in the neighborhood. The product and/or service you have in mind require more exposure and circulation than what the local newspaper can offer. It is important to consider the extent and reach of the mediums circulation. Therefore, you can choose advertising also in Google, MSN and Yahoo which have the ability of generating results.
· Nature and type of the product/service intended for advertising
The nature and type of product or service should never be overlooked. The advertisement should appear like presenting better deals to the prospect. If you consider advertisements run by the large companies you will discover they have been on the fore front for many years.
· The target market the advertisement media is intended
Some type of advertisement is directed to the mature generation while others are directed towards the younger generation. Advertisements that are directed to the youth should feature effective channels such as social sites where many of the youth spend their time. If the advertisement has to do with housing it is best directed towards the older generation therefore an effective channel should be used to convey the message to the right people.
For businesses to breakthrough it is important to invest in advertisements. Therefore, online advertising among other Medias of advertising have become a necessity for businesses. This way they are able to reach out to potential customers around the world.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7754732
Do I Need Responsive Web Design for My Website?
The term “responsive web design” refers to websites that change and adapt their appearance for optimum viewing on all screen sizes, tablets, smartphones, ipods, kindles along with desktop and laptop computer screens. Occasionally, in the digital arts industry, it is called “fluid design”, “adaptive website design” or “RWD”. Unresponsive websites do not change to fit different screen sizes, which means they can be difficult to navigate and look at on smaller devices.
Desktop sales have been surpassed by mobile sales already, and most digital media education sources predict that mobile web use will overtake desktop use by 2014. Hence, it only seems logical that desktop search will be overtaken by mobile search soon as well. Sixty percent of web users say that they would be more inclined to buy from mobile optimized websites. Therefore, businesses that depend on SEO would have a lot of sense to start making the move towards mobile friendly sites, and responsive site designs specifically. Especially as the new Google algorithm updates now frown upon separate mobile only sites. Such as those with a.mobi in the url. More and more, new websites are built using responsive design methods to eradicate the requirement for standalone mobile websites. Also, this decision dramatically improves the user experience. This leads to more customer interaction and sales, as prospective customers are not alienated by tiny text and difficult navigation.
To make responsive designs work, a media query is used to determine the screen size that the site is being accessed from. The script can detect all devices, whether they are tablets, laptops or smartphones. Then, it uses CSS to show the website in a suitable format. Images can be re-sized accordingly to fit on screens that are smaller. The text is made bigger and the menus can switch to a variety of different dropdown formats, as opposed to the mostly standard horizontal display.
The benefits of using this kind of design, compared to setting up a mobile version of your website that is completely separate from your original site, are obvious. Whenever you update your website, it will updated for every device and display correctly on every screen. You only have to update in one location, where with a separate mobile site would require a separate location requiring updating as well. Often, your websites will be accessed from a tablet. If you have a two separate sites, a mobile and a desktop version, it is anybodies guess which version of the site tablet users will be seeing. With responsive design you get to control (mostly) what every screen size will be viewing.
Several companies provide both fluid design and mobile design for websites. However, RWD methods are constantly improving, so there appears little point in having a standalone mobile website. The only time when you might want a separate site, would be if you prefer to advertise differently to laptop or desktop users, compared to how you would advertise
to mobile users. For instance, a fast food company might wish to target individuals on the go with an instant special offer, but display their upcoming promotions and menu to laptop users. Nonetheless, in many cases, a website will cater to all users in an identical manner, thus a responsive design is the preferred option.
In the fast approaching future, all websites should have responsive designs, as users will come to expect it. Therefore, in a couple of years, businesses that build unresponsive websites will have to pay for a new site to make up to their users the lack in their website. Consequently, before starting any new website design projects, it would be advisable to learn more about the cost and advantages of adaptive designs.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8114631
Career Options In An Advertising Agency
As the world comes closer every day, the available career options have grown wider. Gone are the days when a graduation degree from college was the only option, before one began a career. With modern technology and improved lifestyles, the demand for employment in various fields has increased tremendously. New career options are available for people to help them explore their creative side, and turn their passion into a profession.
Today, we give you a small insight on the various career options, which you can explore in the field of advertising. A full service advertising agency demands for expert skills in various departments for different personalities, with varied creative talents. Here are some of the career options that one can explore in an advertising agency
Account Executives: This type of career option is best suited for people who are well organized and possess leadership qualities. The job of an account executive is to prepare media plans, control budgets, give suggestions on strategy issues, etc. Account executives are well paid and there is good scope for career growth.
Copywriters: Creative and witty people who can swiftly put their ideas in words are best suited for the copywriters’ post. The job of a copywriter is to visualize an idea and present it in limited words. They must hold a strong command over the English language, and have the knack of converting an idea into words.
Media Manager: People who are good with public relations skills are best suited for this job. The job of a media manager is to buy space in the media and update clients with the progress of their work. It is very important to be bold and quick for the job of a media manager.
Graphic Designer: People who have good knowledge about colors and are creative in nature, have the capacity to pull off this job excellently. It is very important to have good knowledge about color combination, design principles and typography. There is a lot of scope for growth for designers in digital media.
Photographer: People who have good knowledge about photography have a high demand in an creative advertising agency. Ad agencies demand for expert skills and do detailed work on their projects. Photographers have great scope for showcasing their talent and creativity in such firms. It is very important to have technical as well as practical knowledge about photography.
There are many more career options available in the world of media and advertising. The current generation will do great in any of these career options, because of their vast knowledge and understanding of the media world.
Use of internet and exposure of western culture has broadened the imagination levels of the 21th century youth. This level of exposure increases creativity in outdoor advertising, transit advertising, online advertising, etc., and encourages more employment opportunities in the field of advertising.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8067868
The Numerous Benefits of SEO Services
There are numerous benefits of SEO services and using SEO services provided by a professional and experienced SEO company can help your business to scale new heights in online marketing and search engine rankings. Search engine optimization services are customizable and cost-effective and there are numerous types that include:
SEO Copy-writing
Internet Marketing
Website Redesign
Link Building
Social Media Optimization
Email Campaigns
Reputation Management
Each of the solutions mentioned above should be provided in a systematic manner so that they will give your business the maximum advantage.
SEO services should be provided by companies that have a vast amount of experience in the various elements involved in the complex world of SEO. This experience coupled with the close relationship that you should have with your SEO company, ensures that any SEO service you pay for do not prove to pointless and should also mean that your SEO services do not lose focus.
Finding a company that provides flexible and client-friendly website optimization can bring you huge advantages as these solutions can be tailor-made for your needs. Ultimately you will get more traffic through your website which can mean increased conversions. This will be as a result of positive rankings in the major search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that all this together will lead to a higher return on investment.
When SEO services are working for you, you should always be ready to capitalize on innovations and fresh marketing opportunities. Your SEO Company should be looking out for changes in search engine algorithms and should also be able to identify new opportunities such as social media opportunities. As and when these changes and new opportunities appear you can react quickly and capitalize on them if you SEO Services Company is taking care of your search engine optimization correctly.
SEO copy-writing services will take care of the content in your web pages, blogs and articles and should ensure that they are user-friendly and informative and are also optimized for keywords. They should also ensure that the content of your web pages is worthy of social sharing and is something that visitors will find useful and even share the information with the friends and followers. This can be a vital means of generating back-links.
Social Media Optimization is becoming increasingly important and web designers should make your website user-friendly by adding the relevant social media buttons. You can also provide social sharing opportunities from your shopping carts on E Commerce websites and internet marketing experts at your SEO Company should be able to identify new and diverse advertising opportunities. These can include pay-per-click, banner advertising, email campaigns, click-through-ads and many more.
A professional SEO company should know that all these processes are interrelated and should ensure that they are integrated efficiently for the best results and to provide you with the best return on your investment in SEO services.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7558537
My Media Services Blog 