One Entrepreneur On Web Marketing: Dennis Brown

This is part of a series called "The Entrepreneurs on Web Marketing."  This interview is with Dennis Brown.

What are your primary ways of promoting yourself and your business online?

Personally I am a pretty active Linkedin and Facebook user, I just wish both of these tools were around 10 years ago! Regarding my business we do a lot of online marketing including search engine optimization, link exchange, monthly newsletter, press releases, weekly diesel price update, various free reports, Facebook, Linkedin, some ppc/banner advertising as well as different email campaigns to our opt in email subscribers which totals over 5,000.

Do you use social networking?  If so, how is that working for you?

Social media is a staple of our freight broker agent recruiting program, particularly Linkedin and Facebook. Social media allows us to identify and network with talented logistics professionals around the globe that we are then able to approach about our agent program. Many of these people never show up in resume databases like Monster, Hotjobs or Careerbuilder so for recruiting they have proven to be invaluable to us.

We also use social media to identify and contact prospective shipping customers. Typically it involves networking with traffic/logistic managers which typically control freight spend. We have found the level of sales intelligence you gain from using social media make new business development much more productive than straight cold calling. Social media in conjunction with sales intelligence is critical so I strongly recommend the book “Take the Cold Out of Cold Calling” by Sam Richter.

Do you have any techniques or routines that help you succeed with web marketing?

A few techniques that have really paid off for us over the years when it comes to getting ranked #1 on Google and on the first page of results for many of the other search engines like Yahoo and Bing is to first make sure your content is updated regularly and to make sure it is geared specifically towards the key words you are focused on. Second is exchanging links with other logistic/transportation related sites while making sure link exchange content placed on other sites are key word specific, particularly the titles!

How important is web marketing to your business?

We are not a media or ecommerce site so our web marketing efforts are predominantly for lead generation as it pertains to new shipping clients, for recruiting new freight broker agents and for overall branding. We generate a good amount of traffic to our website but more importantly its targeted traffic. In 2009 we did over $18 million in sales but more importantly we can link over $1 million in new business directly back to our web marketing efforts and we believe that number could double in 2010.

Any final thoughts on web marketing?

No matter what size your business is you have to embrace the internet and all it can do for you.  When you first start it seems like this huge hill to climb and that you will never get to the top but trust me if you are disciplined and persistent you can make the web work for you. I would stress that you need to be realistic about web marketing, it is not some magic bullet that is going to make you rich tomorrow but if you approach it as more of a marathon than a sprint you can see some great returns in the long run.

Dennis Brown is the CEO of Logistic Dynamics, Inc. a Buffalo, NY based third party logistics provider that in 2008 and 2009 was ranked by Inc. magazine as one of the fastest growing logistic providers in the United States. The company offers logistics professionals the ability to own and operate their own freight broker agency, where in 2009 LDI paid their average agent over $100,000 in commissions with top agents earning over $300,000.

One Entrepreneur On Web Marketing: Renee’ Gatz

This is part of a series called "The Entrepreneurs on Web Marketing."  This interview is with Renee’ Gatz.

What are your primary ways of promoting yourself and your business online?

I primarily promote my book on my blog site where I share updates regarding events I will be participating in, reviews about my book, my monthly newsletter, press releases, my weekly wise words and witty expressions, which provide my readers with encouragement in dealing with various life issues.  I also have written articles that share how my book became published. The key being that my site is not only promotional but provides my visitors with information they may find helpful. 

I share my blog posts on Facebook and Twitter through HooteSuite, a program that automatically uploads my feeds to Facebook and Twitter. I have researched the various groups and organizations that would be interested in my book and post information on those sites aswell.

I have also taken advantage of iContact, an email distribution service that sends emails to my distribution list and tracks the number of contacts reading, forwarding, and clicking through my email messages. I have noticed that I have gained some loyal readers who follow me each time I send a message. When I am at events I bring a sign-up sheet to build my distribution list, which I do with intent of raising awareness for me, my book and gaining potential future sales.

Because my product is a book, I also promote my book on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and take full advantage of the various services they offer to bring more awareness to my product. I am also going to begin utilizing Google Books and Bowker, sites which are geared to helping those looking for books find what it is they are looking for, which allows me to become more discoverable.

What percentage of your customers or clients would you say come from your web marketing efforts?

Since I am an unknown quantity who has just launched my product only eight months ago, I am seeing the majority of my sales still coming from events I attend and through word of mouth, which should never be underestimated. I am, however, seeing a slow progression of awareness for my book through web marketing. I am seeing sales come from various areas across the U.S. and new readers registering for my monthly newsletter. I am confident as I grow my market presence on the web, I will continue to see this improve. I have been able to quantify this growth through sales, obviously, but also through the use of Google Analytics where I can see the penetration of interest worldwide. I am always excited to see my presence grow stronger in areas and fascinated with international awareness for my book, which I know would be impossible if I were not taking advantage of web marketing.

How important is web marketing to your business?

Web marketing is critical to the success of my business. As a full-time marketing and communications professional with a staff of one, me, and little funds for publicity, web marketing is the most effective way I can get my book in front of the largest number of potential readers who will purchase it for least amount of cost to myself. It is also the most effective way for me to make the public aware of speaking events that I will be participating in, which drives more awareness for my product.

Any final thoughts on web marketing?

I would suggest entrepreneurs research the sites your audience visits and make your presence known there. Be sure to include details about your product that are meaningful to your audience and include as many recommendations or positive client or third party feedback as possible to gain market credibility. Build a website to drive traffic to it by including key words that you know your audience would use on search engines to find your product. Use those key words in your subject lines and as often as possible within the body of your content on your website. Don’t be exclusively self-promotional. Provide your audience with helpful information that will encourage them to come back and visit your site often or refer a friend to your site. By keeping a consistent drum beat going, your site will rise up in Google ranks and be viewed more often, which can translate into greater sales.

Renee’ Gatz is the author of “Wise Words & Witty Expressions,” a collection of the expressions her parents said to her growing up to help her navigate her way through life’s ups and downs. Gatz did not appreciate the value of these expressions-profound funny and sarcastic—when she was young. It was only as she grew that she was amazed at how they would come back to her at the appropriate moments in her life to help her laugh, understand and survive. You can learn more about Renee Gatz and her book by visiting www.reneegatz.com.

One Entrepreneur On Web Marketing: Stefanie Luna

This is part of a series called "The Entrepreneurs on Web Marketing."  This interview is with Stefanie Luna, co-founder of Wallin and Luna Counseling Associates.

What are your primary ways of promoting yourself and your business online?

We have had a wonderful experience using Google Adwords. It's great because we can set our budget and adjust it as often as we want. We also have the ability to tailor our ads so they show up for our target demographic. We also have found it helpful to develop profile pages with websites specific to our field of mental health. This is a way to get our company name on a site with a high volume of people looking for your exact product or service. We use Goodtherapy.org and psychologytoday.com and feel we get a great return on investment. More and more people are looking for goods an services on the internet.

Do you use social networking? If so, how is that working for you?

We have a Facebook Page where we link to our blog or announce new services or events. I don't think we've quite mastered how to make that work to our benefit yet but we're still interested in exploring this as a possibility. Primarily it's been a way of connecting with other business owners in our community. We have not seen much in the way of new business from these efforts. We also have a Twitter account but to date have not actively used it as a means of promoting our business.

What have been your keys to success when it comes to growing your web presence?

It seems to be a combination of things. Since we started the blog it has really helped move our site up in search engines. One piece of advice we got was that the search engines are continuously indexing sites and new content is important in that process. That coupled with the use of paid advertising and getting our site linked to by other larger websites with good SEO processes such as psychology today has given us more of a presence online.

Do you have any techniques or routines that help you succeed with web marketing?

Having a quality website and good, pertinent content has been important to ensure we get our "ideal customer". We were clear from the beginning that we had a specific vision for our practice and that really helped us tailor our web presence to speak directly to that demographic. All our web marketing has been with the intention of giving the reader a sense of who we are so they can make an informed decision about working with us.

How important is web marketing to your business?

About 80% of our client's find us on the internet so it's huge for us. We tried joining local networking groups, advertising in the yellow pages, posting flyers and sending mailers, all with very little return for our time and money. The internet has taken our business from a part-time endeavor to a full-time business.

What percentage of your customers or clients would you say come from your web marketing efforts?

80%. Maybe more.

Any final thoughts on web marketing?

The internet is here to stay and many people now judge a business' credibility by their web presence or lack there of. Having an appealing, quality website gives your business the image of being qualified, current and progressive. I think a business may seem more "legitimate" if they have a good website (whether or not this is true is another issue).

Many of our client's have stated that they chose our practice for their counseling needs based on our website. So we are given opportunities we might not otherwise get based on our website or profile. Then it's our job, as professionals, to keep their business by delivering high quality services, as advertised.

Wallin and Luna Counseling Associates is a private counseling practice in Albuquerque, NM with a specialized focus on Reproductive Health Issues such as infertility, postpartum depression and miscarriage. We are licensed marriage and family therapists. We also provide individual and couples counseling.

More info: About Stefanie Luna | Psychology Today Profile