Hey everyone! I finally finished my personal website. It is something I’ve been working on for quite some time. Once again, my designer (Jon Bolden) has hit this one out of the park. He’s amazing.
Please visit www.CoreyCreed.com and let me know what you think. I’m pretty excited about it. I think it represents me and all that I do.
Leave any comments below about what you like or don’t like about it. I could use any feedback you can provide.
Most of the time I keep this blog pretty light. I talk a lot about what’s happening in the SEO community in Charlotte and touch on various Internet Marketing topics.
But here is some serious SEO info. It may be a little deep for some of you, but it contains valuable information you can use. It comes from Leslie Rohde, a StomperNet faculty member.
Truth is, StomperNet is impressive. I get their magazine and recently attended StomperNet Live. But they can be a bit high-pressure and their stuff tends to be expensive – valuable, but expensive nonetheless.
Regardless, Leslie Rohde is a serious SEO Engineer. To put it in prospective, Jerry West once told me over lunch that HE thought Leslie is a genius. Quite frankly, Jerry is a genius in my book. So I think you get the point.
Leslie Rohde released a video this weekend that de-bunked LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing). If you find that interesting, go watch this video. If not, the really good stuff is in the next video found here.
If you do any SEO for clients or for your own websites, you need to watch that 2nd one! It is 14 minutes long. But the explanation that he gives about harmonizing your on-page factors, your internal linking, and your external linking is DEAD ON!
Seriously, it explains exactly why many of the techniques we have been using over here at Hippo Internet Marketing have worked so well and always will.
Check it out when you have the time and leave a comment below if you like it as much as I did. I look forward to your thoughts.
I am currently in the planning process for a fantastic live panel discussion for anyone that is interested in making real money online via e-commerce. I’m doing it for our local Charlotte SEO Association.
I hope that if you are local to Charlotte, you’ll think about attending live in person. If not, hopefully you’ll watch it live as we stream it online via Ustream.
So far, I have two other successful local e-commerce businesses that are going to sit in on a panel discussion. I have two others that are thinking about joining us. Here is how the meeting will progress…
1. I’ll start with a brief introduction and opening comments.
2. We will then introduce one panelist at a time. They will start with a 30–60 second introduction of who they are and what their industry and/or online business is.
3. They will then have ten minutes to give us a top-five list of the keys to their success in e-commerce. We will ask that they be prepared and give special attention to marketing and SEO.
4. I will then take questions from the audience (probably via Twitter if we can have Internet access).
I will be moderating the event so that we don’t get too off-topic and/or so that we can take the best questions that will be of benefit to the entire audience.
I’m hoping I can talk Keith into letting us stream the whole thing live. But I know that the recording of it will only be available to SEMCLT members.
I’ll keep you informed as the date gets closer. But you can always learn more by visiting the Charlotte SEO Association. This event will be posted on there very soon.
I’ve gotten confirmation that I will be on a panel to speak at an upcoming Charlotte Chamber of Commerce “Metro Chapter Breakfast”.
The topic will be “e-Marketing: Maximizing Your Web Potential”.
It will be held at the Westin on April 28, 2009 at 8:00 AM.
In the past, the Charlotte Chamber events that I have attended have had a very good size audience, so it should be interesting.
Scott Harrington, the president of New Way Media will be on the panel with me. I have not met him, so I’m looking forward to that as well.
You can see the event information and register ($20) on the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce website here.
Since my podcast on e-commerce, I’ve received a lot of questions on how to get started. This especially came up in yesterday’s Blogging class.
There are two ways to do this. You can get the parts you need and put them all together or hire someone to do it all.
THE PARTS OF E-COMMERCE
1. The program (back-end) you will use
These days, I recommend investigating Volusion or Magento Ecommerce.
2. The design
Some programs offer free templates. But if you are serious at all, you need to go hire a designer. Mine is Jon Bolden. The guy is awesome.
3. Configure the program
No matter what program you use, you will need to setup shipping, sales tax, and your gateway/merchant account. How you do this will depend on which program you use.
4. Add your products
This is different for each program too. It can be a ton of work. Or it could be as simple as an import. Do it yourself or hire someone.
5. Market your site
This is the hard part. Rewrite pages with SEO in mind, get links, etc.
ALL-IN-ONE E-COMMERCE
If all of the above seems like a lot of work, you’re right. But it’s the only “good” way to do it unless you have thousands of dollars to spend.
If you are ready to drop several thousand dollars or more on a vendor that will do most of the above, you can investigate JanMedia, FastPivot, or any number of other businesses that do so.
(I would still recommend you do most of the marketing yourself. Marketing is not part of owning a e-commerce business, it is the e-commerce business. Don’t out-source it. It’s too important. – IMHO)
WHO WOULD YOU RECOMMEND?
Honestly, I don’t have a lot of experience with the above e-commerce providers. I do my own stuff. So if anyone has good experience with one locally or elsewhere, please leave a comment below.
Please be sure to comment on why my students and colleagues should choose your business or a business you have used for building an e-commerce store.
Thanks!
I know that many of my readers and followers are in Charlotte, but I still have a fair amount of followers, colleagues, students, and friends back in the Asheville area.
I lived in Asheville, NC from 2003 to 2007.
Here are a few interesting things about Asheville for those of you who are not real familiar with that part of North Carolina…
1. There is an old saying in Asheville, that if you don’t work for Biltmore Estate or Grove Park Inn, you don’t work! It’s not entire true. But those are the big players, for sure. Notice: Both are in the hospitality industry.
2. There are more Bed & Breakfasts and Inns in Asheville than practically anywhere else in the country. Try www.BedandBreakfast.com and you’ll see that Asheville is huge for B&B.
3. Lots of businesses want to succeed on-line in Asheville. It is a beautiful place to live and has a good amount of “culture” for a small city. Therefore, if you can start an online business anywhere in the world, many choose to do so in Asheville, NC.
4. Back in 2003, there were only a few individuals that really did SEO, PPC, etc. They were mostly freelancers. There are more now than ever, but the freelancers are still some of the best ones.
5. One of my favorite web developers is Totsie at www.Totsie.com. She is a real pleasure to work with and to be around.
6. One of my favorite online marketers that I still keep close in touch with is Fiona Dudley of www.Weaversites.com. She is a very hard worker and never charges as much as she should. (How many times have I told you that, Fiona!?!)
Given all of the above. Here are my two suggestions…
1. If you are looking for a nice place to spend a long weekend, go visit a Bed and Breakfast in Asheville, NC. Personally, I’ve worked with and enjoy the Albemarle Inn but many others are nice, too.
2. If you are in the hospitality industry, please go read Fiona’s whitepaper on Internet Marketing for Hospitality and Accommodations which is downloadable on her blog. (She’s good. Real good!)
PS: You can follow Fiona on Twitter too.