Talks from the other keynotes were fantastic; Sahar Hashemi, founder of Coffee Republic, was particularly inspirational in her talk about being an entrepreneur, Professor Malcolm McDonald‘s gave a great talk about the truth about marketing with some very funny quotes, some of which I had to list here:

• “The good thing about being mediocre is that you’re always at your best”
• “An increase of 100% on nothing, is still nothing”
• “You don’t analyse the ROI (return on investment) of the wings on an aircraft”

Helen Jeremiah, Head of Marketing for Boots, also gave a great talk explaining the history of Boots and their aims and philosophies behind their current marketing strategies.

If you’re interested in web analytics, come and see me speak in London at A4U Expo on the 14th October – you can use my special offer code SEOCHOC10 for 10% off!

Related posts:

1. I’m Speaking at A4UExpo London 2009
2. Online Marketing and Me: 2008 to 2009
3. 5 Online Marketing Motivators

My SEO Workshop Slides from the Chartered Institute of Marketing Conference is a post from: Search Engine Chocolate

It brings me to say this: get offline! I (probably like many of you reading this) spend a lot of time reading news websites and blogs, using social media to connect to people and brushing up on my skills online. But nothing substitutes actually meeting other professionals in the flesh and sharing your experiences. Unique and exciting opportunities arise from relationships forged in person.

Never networked before? Don’t panic! Most events such as Nott Tuesday have a really relaxed atmosphere – just be yourself! As a first networking event I highly recommend going down to your local Twestival charity meet tomorrow night (events in 175+ cities worldwide, I am helping organise the Nottingham Twestival). Why? It’s about as informal and fun as a networking events get PLUS it’s for charity! If you use Twitter now, it’ll be like meeting your friends for a drink after work. Except better because you may meet a potential new business partner, employer, colleague or friend!

Networking is also a great way to air new business or career ideas too – so many great minds in one room; it’s the perfect forum.

Here’s a handful of other organisations with networking events to try:
(These are UK based – if you can recommend events outside the UK, feel free leave a comment!)

• The Chartered Institute of Marketing: marketing-centric seminars, workshops and networking events held nationwide.
• Business Link: seminars and events for businesses on anything from starting up to tax to IT and eCommerce.
• eBusiness Clubs: nationwide events on a wide range of topics including marketing, business, legal issues and business advice.

Related posts:

1. Online Marketing and Me: 2008 to 2009
2. My SEO Workshop Slides from the Chartered Institute of Marketing Conference

Online Marketeers and Technology Professionals: Get Offline! is a post from: Search Engine Chocolate

2008 began by making the decision to move into online marketing. Having previously been a professional website designer for over 8 years, the step into online marketing was one of my best decisions yet. My first step was to enroll on an online course with the Chartered Institute of Marketing and gained a Professional Development Award in e-Marketing in July. Becoming a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing alone has opened many new doors; I’ve been to as many seminars, workshops and networking events as I possibly can and loved each one as they’ve either given me the chance to learn something new, meet other marketeers or teach people about Internet marketing.

As a web marketing consultant I also became a Qualified Google Advertising Professional. Simply studying for the exam was a great experience – it’s not often you have the chance to get a qualification from one of the key players in your industry. I also created web marketing packages to offer to clients for services such as search engine optimisation, Google AdWords, email marketing and more, and gave one-on-one training sessions.

One of my most exciting achievements of 2008 has to have been speaking at web marketing seminars. It’s something I’d never thought I’d want to do, but I got an incredible kick out of it. Having the opportunity to actually talk to a room of professionals about their understanding, concerns and needs for online marketing was fascinating. I came away able to drastically improve my approach to my current and prospective online marketing clients by understanding them better and improving our packages and support.

I’d had experience of search engine optimisation (SEO) as a web designer in the past, but never had the chance to focus 100% on it, research it to the depth I have now or create and implement an SEO marketing plan. In 2008 I did exactly that and got a new website ranking on page 1 in Google for its top 10 keywords, from initially appearing on page 10, in just 1 month. A personal best (so far – watch this space!) and something I wasn’t even sure was possible in such a short time frame, but with a lot of planning and hard work, including with the great team I’ve been working with, we did it.

So what does 2009 hold for online marketing? I’ve been using more and more relatively new services such as Twitter, and as everyone is predicting, those services will undoubtedly become more and more widespread. It won’t be long before I’ll be creating web marketing packages for my clients that will include them in their overral marketing plan. Customer relationship management and online PR is made so much easier with those services, and taking advantage of them will be key to keeping a competitive edge online in 2009.

As for my career? Hopefully, much more of the same rewarding experiences and achievements. I’ve learned that qualifications in marketing are great for creating firm foundations of knowledge, but it’s the experiences that are the most valuable. Therefore, I’m going to be grabbing every opportunity that comes my way with both hands and giving it my all. But also, just as online marketing creates a unique two-way communication channel between businesses and clients, I’m going to make sure I give as much as I get in this industry by contributing where I can to research, development and training in online marketing and become a true online marketing evangelist!

What are your career goals or online marketing predictions for 2009?

Related posts:

1. Online Marketeers and Technology Professionals: Get Offline!
2. 5 Online Marketing Motivators
3. My SEO Workshop Slides from the Chartered Institute of Marketing Conference

Online Marketing and Me: 2008 to 2009 is a post from: Search Engine Chocolate