A CEO’s Perspective On SEO, SEM, SMM, PPC, and ROI

I acquired an internet company 10 years ago in a less than shrewd business transaction. Having been trained as a stock broker with no experience handling a technology company. I was compelled to hire others that did. I have been very fortunate to be able to surround myself with a talented team that I trust without hesitation.

I am currently attending the SMX West Conference in an attempt to further my knowledge about an industry that I seem to be in the middle of. My hope is that with this increased knowledge, will come very wise and prudent strategic decisions. I am the lucky one, however, since virtually all of my business associates running major companies have no clue about how to market themselves online.

SMX

After attending the SMX Bash last night, and the meetings today, it is not a surprise to see an attendee population that probably has a median age under 30. I am amazed at the collection of bright, talented, focused, driven, competitive, and forward-thinking individuals.

My message today is directed at all of those employed in any way with any of the following: SEO, SEM, PPC, SSM, or any other acronym that starts with the letter “s”. Unlike you, I am not quite as bright and new concepts don’t come quite so easily. I am, however, still very competitive and have the ability to write big checks for who or what I want.

Here are my suggestions to the Online Marketing Industry in no particular order:

Forget the tech talk

Find a way to help me understand you, trust you, and then I will fund whatever you ask. I will do this because of your results, our history together, and you having an understanding of my concerns.

Be Honest With Me

If our first attempt fails, tell me. I can take it. But you had better come prepared with why our first effort fell short and your proposed changes to make the outcome better the next time around.

Most Of Us Are From Missouri, The Show Me State

A little less talk and a lot more action. I know your world is complicated and even the smallest detail, crucial. Allow me to connect to your world on some level. Show me the process and then be patient while I embrace it completely.

I Don’t Know That I Need Social Interaction

Digg to me is something done in the yard. Delicious is a hot fudge brownie. Reddit is a book I have already read. Facebook is for lost friends that I prefer stay lost. And YouTube is a place where wannabes try to be somebody, usually showing me what thy have and usually far more than I want to see. The majority of the senior execs I know have never experienced any of these social sites and don’t need new friends, so they are naturally skeptical of being told to spend money on something they don’t feel they need.

Enter At Your Own Risk

Any regulated industry usually has severe growth pains that come with a steep price tag, a price usually paid by an unsuspecting or uneducated busines owner. I would encourage any dialogue that somehow builds a governing body in the SEM industry with the primary charge to educate the masses and penalize or expose the poor operators or rip-off artists.

The Bottom Line

This morning’s keynote address by Danny Sullivan was very informational, at least to me, and showed me just how far behind I really am. I was pleased however that he and I both concluded the same thing regarding a recent merger proposal from Microsoft to Yahoo. He says traffic, I say shareholder value! Microsoft has a bleed on their income statement and their share price reflects it. Yahoo shareholders have the flu that could lead to something worse if immediate actions are not taken. And now Google is hemorrhaging with a share price down over $200 per share from their October highs.

Bottom line is that the guys writing checks have a lot to learn from each of you at this conference and in the search industry. Remember when all is said and done that we are all in the people business, so handle with care. And some of that wealth will flow quickly to those with the ability and patience to work with us, even though our pace may be slower than you are used to, or comfortable with.

The Search Marketing Industry is on the front end of what could prove to be the greatest business opportunity in history. The rewards will only be realized however if each member of this elite and young group of professionals understand his or her own responsibilities to the overall health of the industry.

Good luck to all and thanks to my extraordinary staff!

Post Created Friday, 29. February 2008 at 19:03.
Posted In: Basics of blogging
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9 Comments »

  1. Well done & I love this quote “Digg to me is something done in the yard. Delicious is a hot fudge brownie. Reddit is a book I have already read. Facebook is for lost friends that I prefer stay lost. And YouTube is a place where wannabes try to be somebody, usually showing me what thy have and usually far more than I want to see.”

    Comment: Anthony a.k.a. Old School – 05. March 2008 @ 8:27 pm

  2. I really appreciate this article. I’m a computer nerd that now does internet marketing and often find miscommunication my biggest weakness.

    Comment: Jon Pape – 06. March 2008 @ 10:04 am

  3. The search industry is a pure spy game that enables SEO guys or any marketer to apply it for his own powerfull locked-in acquisition channel.

    I loved this quote:

    Bottom line is that the guys writing checks have a lot to learn from each of you at this conference and in the search industry. Remember when all is said and done that we are all in the people business, so handle with care. And some of that wealth will flow quickly to those with the ability and patience to work with us, even though our pace may be slower than you are used to, or comfortable with.

    The Search Marketing Industry is on the front end of what could prove to be the greatest business opportunity in history. The rewards will only be realized however if each member of this elite and young group of professionals understand his or her own responsibilities to the overall health of the industry.

    Comment: Elias Kai – 06. March 2008 @ 11:45 am

  4. Absolutely true! Can’t argue more..^^

    Comment: Internet Marketing Joy – 06. March 2008 @ 1:53 pm

  5. This client side perspective is almost always missing in this SEO/SEM talks. I just sent the article to my StumbleUpon blog to spread the news and remember myself (read: kick me in the butt before talking to clients :-)

    Thanks!

    PS: The ’send’ button says ’search’???

    Comment: Markus Merz – 07. March 2008 @ 8:12 am

  6. “I Don’t Know That I Need Social Interaction”

    Well some business social media doesn’t really work as well as others. Still the idea of letting users or visitors socialize your content can really take a lot of the legwork out of your employees/consultants hands.

    Comment: Jaan Kanellis – 07. March 2008 @ 2:00 pm

  7. Being the check writer of my one man show it is nice to have a reminder of what the person across the table thinks.

    I once had a sixty something CEO look me in the face and say. “If I cared about how or what I wouldn’t pay you. Show me the dollar signs and we have a deal.” That two line statement changed the way I present results to this day.

    Thank you for your insight.

    Comment: Chris Estes – 08. March 2008 @ 6:11 pm

  8. Eggs Actley,

    this should be required reading for everybody who works online.

    It mirrors my own experience of 10 years ago.

    I was charged with developing a new marketing channel for the business on the web in 1998.

    None of the web gurus in my home town (Perth, Western Australia) had a clue about business or marketing. Seriously, their eyes used to glaze over and their faces went blank every time I started talking about ROI, business objectives etc.

    I went further afield but no-one in the country could help me.

    I ended up hiring some upstarts from New York, (which is a helluva a long way from Perth) called Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg who have gone on to become world leaders in this area.

    And yes, I sign off on big cheques, and advise other CEO’s on signing even bigger cheques.

    I know more about seo, css, server optimization than I ever wanted too, and certainly it seems I know more than most so called experts in the area. Not because I wanted to, but because no-one could answer my questions.

    So as the above posts highlight, when you come and see me, you better have your business and technical chops together, otherwise I won’t even listen to you.

    Comment: Mark – 11. March 2008 @ 7:40 pm

  9. A serial entrepreneur at the ripe old age of 49, I have had many prospects and clients comment that it is nice to have someone older than their kids explain SEO/SEM to them. Over the past 12 years I have tried to explain SEO as simply as possible. There are 3 parts to increasing your ROI: the engines have to be able to read the site, find the correct words when they get there and determine that you are popular. Everything else is in the details. Nice article.

    Comment: Arizona SEO – 24. March 2008 @ 5:43 pm

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