No, I did not run out of topic to blog about. I’m just going to share some of my experience on introducing search engine marketing to others that might not be so familiar on such topic.
I joined a business referral network last month, looking to expand my search engine marketing services to more people. I’ve met more business people in one month than everything combined last year.
All in all, it’s a great experience, especially needing to put everything into layman’s term to the fellow business owners (oh, did I mention that my company registration wasn’t approve for the first time because the company registration department doesn’t understand the term “search engine? Ok, another post.) And, it amazes me how much myth and misconception other people had about this business:
“So you have to pay a listing fees to Google and renewable every year?”
Most people misunderstood that search engines work the same way classified directories do.
“Oh good, you are in the search engine marketing business. It’s nice to hear that you are competing with Google and Yahoo.”
And some people misunderstood that I’m the Malaysia version of Larry Page/Sergey Brin.
“No? The search engine ranking is not determined on first come first serve basis?”
Actually, or should I say literally, this is partially correct. Google does give a lot of weight to domain age.
Search engine marketing? Just put all the keywords inside meta tags right?
This comes from better tech savvy person (normally web developers or designers).
At the end of the day, I spent much time trying to sell the concept of search engine marketing than my services. Well, at least Hanson Toh ( Google Country Consultant for Malaysia ) must be happy to hear that.
Am I marketing to the right people? Or the Malaysia companies still see no value in the search engine marketing market? Only time will tell. But for now, I have to hit the right button first.
What’s your experience on introducing search engine marketing to your local business owners?
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Ron Jones 06.01.07 at 2:21 am
You’ve got to think IN-side the box when you’re explaining search engine marketing to a bright but uninformed audience.
Try approaching it from a perspective that lets you frame the explanation so that you can present it in simple terms.
For example, you might say something like: “You know how these days every company has a website? Well, my job is to help you turn your website into a revenue-generating sales channel that adds real numbers to your bottom line.”
If they ask “how do you do that” then you have just developed a potential lead.
All you’ve got to do is come up with a simple way to present the traffic & conversion cycle so as to make it clear to them that:
links = traffic and more buyers per visitor = increased conversion.
When I was in the military, we had a phrase that referred to teaching new concepts to the uninitiated: You’ve got to “Break it down Romper Room style.”
fred 06.02.07 at 7:56 am
A lot of business ppl in malaysia that i met before have no idea about SEO, and hence they have no idea how costly it can be.
I gave quite a lot of quotation to potential clients before, mainly referred by my clients, 90% of them never reply me after seeing the price. I’m not trying to over charge, even those i am not able to do one, i’ll just let him know the cost involved and get him to look for a better person.
Imagine someone comes to you and say, ‘hey, i want to be number in search engine, when ppl type jewellery or diamond, i have a new ecommerce site.’ From the conversation with him, i feel that his budget is less than 500 ringgit, one time fee. What the hack?? That’s not even enough for me to spend my time to browse his site.
They have no idea how much money can be brought in via search engine, because they have no idea how ppl pay for such service in the other part of the world.
There are too many ppl think they are using technology to enhance their businesses just because they got a website or a ecommerce store, lame….
I think it will be better for you to talk to companies with webmaster, at least they will have a little more clue on that :-)
Do keep your hard work.
Darren 06.12.07 at 9:08 pm
BNI is a great business networking tool.. but if you are looking for something more serious on boosting sales.. you should check out SuperSales.com.my .. I am currently involved in setting up their backend system and sales support… Feel free to drop me a line if you need more information. Good luck!
Lim CS 06.18.07 at 2:34 am
Thank you for the excellent suggestions, Ron and Fred. It’s definitely helpful ;)