Don't Miss the Small Business Marketing Unleashed Conference

Unless you are selling the Collected Works of the Luddites, marketing has gone online baby!

"Yeah, that's great" you say, "but I'm a small business and I don't have the budget to hire an expert, or the knowledge to do it myself." Don't despair my friend, I have the perfect conference for you.

My friend Jennifer Laycock and Search Engine Guide along with Small Business Brief have teamed to create the Small Business Marketing Unleashed Conference, in Houston, April 21 & 22. Aside from Jen, I worked with 3 of the other speaker's on the High Rankings Search Marketing Seminar.

Matt Bailey of Site Logic Marketing is a phenomenal speaker. He knows his material and is passionate about usability (making your site user-friendly) and conversion (insuring that visitors become buyers). He speaks in plain English with some humor thrown in for good measure.

Christine Churchill, of Key Relevance knows paid search inside out, backwards, forwards, on the diagonal, you name it, she knows it. She is fanatical about being up to date and thorough in her presentations. When I worked with her, that meant that she was tweaking her information literally until she walked up to the podium. Christine has been around the block a few times with paid search and she has the battle scars to prove it, but she wants you to learn from her mistakes.

Debra O'Neil Mastaler of Alliance Link is the Link Goddess. She lives, eats and breathes linking (washed down with a Diet Coke). Most people don't realize the importance of links to a website's rankings in the search engines. They also don't really know how to go about acquiring meaningful links (HINT: not all links are good links).

Jennifer Laycock is doing a session on Viral Marketing and she knows of what she speaks. She can speak from experience about the good (see this) and the not so good aspects of viral marketing. I bet she'll talk about how she used viral marketing to market this conference. You know like this.



I don't know the other speakers personally, but they are all well known names in the field of search marketing.

Yeah, yeah, yeah you say. The speakers are great, but I've been to conferences before and while I leave with ideas, when I get back to the office, I feel paralyzed about what to do next. Not this time. The total attendance is limited to 200 people, and the individual workshops are limited to 50 attendees. With these numbers you will truly get a chance to have your most burning questions answered (register early and sign up for one of the site clinics, you won't regret it). This time, you'll leave with a plan and the steps to complete it (including worksheets on a flash drive). As an event organizer, my biggest problem with the speakers listed above, was prying them away from conversations with attendees when it was time for them to present. They know what they are talking about and are passionate about sharing their knowledge.

The cost for 2 days is ridiculously reasonable at $950, but if you register before March 15th it is only $850. That's more than what it would cost get just one of these speaker's to consult with you for a day. Oh it is includes your meals too! This is where I shake my head in wonder because I know what it takes to put on one of these conferences and that's a great price.

I am not receiving anything for this post (Jen didn't even ask me to blog about it). I am being sincere when I say this will be an amazing event. If you are a small business and you need help with your marketing, you should not miss this event. What are you waiting for? Go to unleashedconference.com and register today!

Making Connections in the World of Social Media

I am a people person. Anyone who knows me well knows that is an understatement. I know a lot of people, and I have a really good memory that retains all kinds of details about people. I get a kick out of connecting people who might share a common interest. Although I genuinely enjoy doing it for the pleasure of building a community of friends and business associates, I will also say that what goes around comes around and I’ve had the great fortune to be introduced to some really cool people as a result of the introductions I’ve made.

So yesterday I’m minding my own at my computer, head down, nose to the grindstone, when I notice that my friend Jen has changed her status to @ GOT SOCIAL MEDIA. Got Social Media is a one day workshop based conference in Houston, TX that brings together some of the top minds in social media.

I know this because my BlogHer buddy Katie mentioned it on her blog and when I read it, I drooled and contemplated attending for oh about 30 seconds, then reality set in.

So, when I realized Jen was there, I knew that she and Katie had to meet. I just knew they’d hit it off. At first Jen thought I was nuts.

“me: Ok so while you're in Houston, say hi to my friend Katie for me she works for Schipul

Jennifer: lol, I'll shout it out when I'm on the streets after this event :)”.

I narrowed Jen’s search field to Got Social Media attendees and sent her links to Katie’s photo and assured her they’d hit it off. She said she’d ask around. I also sent Katie an email telling her Jen was there and included links to Jen’s info.

Late in the day I got emails from both of them saying they had indeed met (in the bathroom of all places) and each was psyched to make a connection with the other. SCORE!!