Posted by Jody Raines
Congratulations to Jody Raines, President of WebMarCom.net and newest certified partner for Hubspot. "There are approximately thirty partners across the US, said Raines, and it's truly an honor to be among this elite group". The Partner Certification means that Ms. Raines has passed a rigorous test that measures knowledge of Search Engine Optimization, Internet strategy, website design, social media marketing, blogging, public relations on the Internet, creating effective websites, generating leads through online marketing and the components of an "Inbound Marketing" program.
"My frustration with doing the things the old way was the catalyst for starting WebMarCom.net. Many of the 'Old School' web companies are still just building pretty sites. A website has to be an effective tool for the company, otherwise, why invest in fixing it?"
Raines started WebMarCom.net in November, and it has already rising in Alexa rank to one of the top nine percent in the United States. This means that it's outranked over 91% of the websites that are out there. "I use the same techniques for my clients that I use on my site" Raines stated. "They are effective and they work."
The goal for a website is to become a "lead generation magnet". It's first important for the site to be found, by practicing great search engine marketing. This is an ongoing process - if you can imagine, with all the blogs and new websites and updates every day, nothing is static. A website should continue to change and adapt to maintain ranking. In addition, it's not enough just to be found - once the site is sound, the content has to be excellent. Plus there has to be a call-to-action or reason for a potential client to ask for you to contact them.
'I'm gratified and excited", Jody shared, "and I'm ready to work with businesses, not just in Philadelphia, Cherry Hill and Voorhees, but in the entire south Jersey region as well as Philly metro who recognize that their website is not working and they want to make it into a 'lead generation magnet'."
Posted by Jody Raines
Argh. Are you tired of Cold Calling? Another week of rejection on the phone?
Recently, when I attended the Voorhees Business Association lunch, one of my business acquaintances was sharing his frustration with making fruitless calls. It occurred to me, something is wrong with that picture...
Wouldn't it be a wonderful world if the leads came to you instead of doggedly pursuing them? Imagine a business where potential clients volunteer their contact information and even request you call them when they are ready to buy! Even more exciting, imagine that there are so many of these leads coming in that you barely have time to respond to them.
What's a sales person to do?
If your company is smart, they'll get on the band wagon of a new wave of Internet Strategy called inbound marketing. Inbound marketing in a nutshell, is positioning your website in a way that it becomes a lead magnet... But let me explain...
As an "Internet Strategist" my role is to help businesses take advantage of the power of the Internet to get found. How? The method I use is not really a secret, and I'm happy to share this with you.
Formula for inbound success on the Internet:
1. Develop your website with correct architecture. If your links are broken or your code is 'funky', you risk Google or Bing or Yahoo spidering your site and penalizing it. Make sure that your website is constructed correctly, and if you are not sure, try using our website grader. You can find this at www.websitegrader.com
2. SEO is important, but content is KING. Do you have a blog? Are your pages optimized? Is someone checking to be sure that you are being found in searches? What terms would your customers be using?
3. Are you posting comments and articles? Using Social Media? When did you post on Facebook last? How is your Linked In account holding up. Has your business created a Linked In business profile? Are you Tweeting on Twitter and if so, are you tracking the clicks on the shortened URLs?
4. Once you've been found, do you have a call-to-action that is compelling? Are potential customers sharing their contact info with you?
5. Who does your lead nurturing? What is the system you are using to follow up when someone submits their info?
SO much to do, so little time.. but if you consider that most people will search the Internet before making that large purchase, it makes sense to be found, and it makes sense to connect.
In closing, keep us in mind if you'd like a plan to help put an Internet marketing and strategy program together for your business. In the meantime, put your rap hat on and enjoy the video...
Posted by Jody Raines
In the spirit of keeping my resolutions, my last blog post promised that there would be more! And, being a person who intends to do what I resolve, I kept promising to sit down and write this blog post.
Time was passing and while I had these resolutions and blog media tips in my head, the process of committing to paper (or screen) means time. Plus, of course, the mere posting of articles means more opportunities for keywords, for optimizing my site (yes, links to your blog do help with Google ranking if your blog is part of your website), for adding content (another SEO tactic), and also for sharing my resolutions!
Therefore, I think you'll get a chuckle out of these next resolutions.
6. Time Management - Always important to make a list and prioritize. If you are like me, I start on one project and especially when it comes to the Internet, I can be sidetracked to others. Which leads me to our next resolution, but I'll explain: For example one of my tactics to improve SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is to post comments on articles in the blogs of others. This helps me two ways - first, it helps me connect with the writer of the blog - everyone wants to think that their post is being read, it's a compliment to see that it is. Second - when I post a comment, it typically asks me for my email address and my website. If my comments are well thought out and someone who reads that blog wants to know more about me, then they can click on my name and find my site. This also means that I've generated an inbound link to my site. (Again, very important for SEO. Incidentally, this is also know as Search Engine Marketing or SEM.)
7. Inbound links - As mentioned in number 6, it's a goal to produce inbound links. I'd like to say that I'll do this every day, but reality is that I'm committing to at least once a week. My goal is to do this more. I find that by grouping my contacts on Twitter by their interests helps me to find great articles to comment on. Using Tweetdeck or Seesmic to follow Tweeps by their interests enables me to quickly read the most recent posts and see which I want to dive into the links to read the articles. It's great Social Networking and also a great way to use (SMM) Social Media Marketing.
8. LinkedIn - I truly think LinkedIn is one of the neatest social media sites. I like to think of it as a business community and living contact directory. When one of my connections winds up changing companies, I know about it and can send a congratulatory note. I can keep in touch with former co-workers and share with them what is going on with my business. I can join groups (such as the Cherry Hill Regional Chamber of Commerce, or Voorhees Business Association) and be appraised of upcoming networking events. I can find new groups and meet new people. I can comment on my business and "crow" about upcoming events that I'll be speaking at. I can post questions or responses to questions to position myself as a "thought-leader". Bottom line, my resolution is to use LinkedIn more as a tool to establish my business. At least once a week, I will post or answer a question. At least once a week, I will update my status. (This helps with inbound links too, by the way). Also, here's where I share my shameless advertisement that I am available to Speak on "How To Use LinkedIN to Build Your Business". Which leads to resolution 9, but that's coming soon...
Well, it looks like we will have resolutions part three coming soon! Stay tuned.
Posted by Jody Raines
The
Voorhees Business Association (VBA) hosted its monthly luncheon and network
meeting on Wednesday, November 18th at Elite Catering located at The
Coliseum on Preston Avenue
in Voorhees.
Guest
speaker Jody Raines, President of newly formed WebMarCom.net, discussed the
benefits of “Social Networking” for business professionals. Strategies for
Linked In, Face Book and Twitter were highlighted. Over 70 guests were in
attendance. The VBA Board of Director election also took place, with Robert
Earl from Express Pros Staffing being re-elected as Board Chairman for
2010-2011. Jay Levenson from SSTi Software Development was also newly elected
to the Board (see attached photo of – L to R - Jay Levenson, Jody Raines and Robert Earl). 
The
VBA luncheon on December 16th will feature entertainment from the Eastern High School Chorale. To register, please
contact the VBA at (856) 489-8511
or register on-line at www.voorheesbusinessassociation.com.
Luncheon fee $18 in advance or $20 at the door. Businesses may also join the
VBA for $95 per year.