A HIPPO Internet Marketing Training blog by Corey Creed

I’m currently on the plane flying home from Social Fresh East held in Tampa on April 18, 19. This is my first conference since being hired on as the Director of Client Services at Ephricon. It’s my first conference I’ve attended as an “agency guy” instead of a “consultant” or “entrepreneur”.

Jason Keath always puts on an incredible conference. I’ve worked with him quite a bit the last few years and it always amazes me how skilled he is as a content curator. He chooses great content for his blog. But his social media conferences are downright amazing. He pulls together incredibly smart people who are fantastically skilled presenters.

This year, my work with the event was mostly behind the scenes. Primarily, I had the pleasure of catching several of the speakers and interviewing them as soon as their presentations were over. This included Chris Brogan, and the key social media managers for Jet Blue and ESPN. I tried to come up with good behind-the-scenes questions for each of them.

It was very enjoyable and interesting. I’m hoping Jason shares the videos online soon. If you want to watch them, just sign up for the Social Fresh email newsletter to find out when they are available.

So, what did I learn from Social Fresh this year?

The title of this post was the teaser. Here’s the explanation… Read More

After ten years of owning and operating Hippo Internet Marketing (R.I.P.), I’m now moving on.

As of next week, I’ll be joining the team at Ephricon, a local Marketing Agency focused on SEO.

This was not something I was expecting, but the own Jon Payne approached me about a month ago asking if I knew anyone that could fill a role he needed. (I get questions like that a lot because of having several students and colleagues that know and learn SEO.) I’ve known Jon for several years now and have respected his agency.  It has a great reputation.  I also personally know several members of his staff and like them very much.

But I did not know anyone that could fill the role he had in mind.

On his site, it is listed as:

Director of Internet Marketing Services
Location: Charlotte, NC

This is a senior-level position that will oversee the delivery of all client services. The position is responsible for “what we do”, “how we do it” and must ensure the overall quality and effectiveness of our service and the results we produce for all clients. This position will help kick off campaigns for new clients, advise on strategy, manage a team of internet marketing professionals, and ensure the success and satisfaction of existing clients. You must be passionate about internet marketing, and you must have a gift for explaining the various components to clients, prospects and new hires.

Your job is to:
• Oversee the successful delivery of all client services
• Manage team of 5-8 Campaign Managers
• Develop and refine tools, processes and systems related to all client services
• Assist in the development of client strategy
• Ensure satisfaction of all clients

However, after talking with him more, the opportunity sure sounded interesting. We got together a few times in person, and the rest is history. I’m in. I can’t wait.  I start on Tuesday, January 22, 2013.

Speaking as an entrepreneur, it’s not too often that a job comes along that is really exciting. Working for yourself, you get to do what you want to do. (Well… Not really. But you do have some freedom as to what you outsource, etc.)

This job is different. It’s not just Internet marketing.

It’s working with other smart people and learning from them. It’s teaching. It’s working with processes. Most importantly, it’s helping others. That’s what makes me happy. It’s what I enjoy doing. I hope it’s what I’m good at.

To all the contacts and friends I’ve made while building up my business, Hippo Internet Marketing, please stay in touch. I’m obviously keeping my social profiles as is.

For those of you that have benefited from Hippo Internet Marketing training, mentoring, content, or otherwise, I’d love to hear your comments below or on this Facebook post. In fact, I’d really appreciate a positive comment (or even just a simple endorsement) on my LinkedIn Page here.

Thanks for your support all these years.

Today is the last day for HIPPO Internet Marketing.  R.I.P.

Over the past two weeks, I’ve parted ways with all my clients, talked to most of my students, and am currently in the process of editing the HIPPO websites.  Today is Jason Dockery’s last day working with me and I’ll be starting the next phase early next week.

The whole thing has happened very quickly.  (More about that later)

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As of yesterday, iTunes sent out a new version 11. Some are heralding it as the iTunes you always wanted.

Let’s face it, Apple products are pretty nice. But their software has not been that great. For years now, iTunes has been clunky and weird. If you’re honest about it, you only like it because you are used to it.

Interestingly, this week’s TWiT podcast stated that Google has been great at Internet services, but not so great at design of physical products. Yet, Apple builds great products, but is not so good at software and Internet services. Read More

For those of you that have attended my classes or attended my meetups, you know I’ve been a little “under the radar” lately. So here’s an update:

For the past two years, I’ve been working a lot with Social Fresh and for a few clients. I’ve also reopened the Hippo Internet Marketing classes on Search Engine Optimization, Google AdWords, Blogging, and other topics.

But last month I moved my office from Huntersville to Mooresville. It’s a closer location from home and a little cheaper. But more importantly, it’s setup to do video better.

So to test it out, I’m re-launching Hippo Academy. My Academy is an online portal for learning Internet marketing topics. But it also includes 4 hours of one-on-one consulting from me personally. We can talk about and work on whatever you like.

I have not opened the doors in over 16 months, so if this is something you think you’d find interesting, visit www.Hippo-Academy.com now, before I close it again.

Hope to hear from you soon.

I got an awesome question from a colleague today.  He asked

“Can someone start a new blog today and have ??K subscribers in 6 months with a monetized system? IF yes, how would you teach others to do it, too?”

Here’s my answer…

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From time to time, it’s good to step back and take a look at who exactly is in your network.

Now, don’t confuse network with audience.  Your audience includes your followers, your subscribers, and your customers.  It is your sphere of influence.  Your goal is to grow that list.

Your network is different.  It’s those you learn with and learn from.  It is your list of peers that have similar goals to you.  Don’t try to endlessly grow this network.  A good network works best when you know each individual well.  This takes time and effort.

Keep your network small and cultivate those relationships.  Try to include individuals that have unique abilities and that you enjoy being around.  Learn from them.  But more importantly, show that what you are learning.

Here’s a short list of about a dozen of some of MY favorite people to network with on a regular basis.  Several of them are long-time friends.

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Every now and then I get asked about the networking events that are available in Charlotte for business professionals and marketers.  It’s been 3 years since my last list.  So I jumped on Twitter today and pulled a list together in about an hour, thanks to many helpful and friendly Twitterers in Charlotte.

Here they are (in alphabetical order)…

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Need Instagram followers?  Why?

I just finished reading a nice blog post on “How to Get More Instagram Followers“.  It details 7 practical steps for how to ethically get more followers.  Interestingly, when you start looking around online, you’ll find websites that you can buy Instagram followers on.  (Seems like a less ethical method to me.)

But why?  What’s the big deal with more followers on Instagram?

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Here’s an interesting report that was recently released by a social data and analytics provider named General Sentiment.  It is called their Q1 2012 Global Brands report.  It uses data from social media and news media in an attempt to determine the sentiment toward major brands.

Check it out.  What surprises you on this list?

Personally, I find it hard to believe Target and Starbucks are so low on the list.  I assume that is because they are not talked about as much online as the tech businesses toward the top of the list.