SMX Advanced 2009 Live Bloggers from Outspoken Media Killing It!

We have decided in recent weeks to transition our blog’s focus so it becomes an educational resource to executives and marketing folks at companies who are NOT full time internet marketers. It gets really easy in this industry to become addicted to the “SEO Conferences” and the “potential fame” of being a part of the “in group” (yep… like high school!) with the goal of being asked to speak on panels and attend VIP parties. While it’s important to have relationships with knowledgeable people in the industry… it’s not always the best decision for growing a company to focus solely there… because your clients aren’t there.

Heads Up… This Paragraph Contains Whiny Complaints That Are Irrelevant.

As I have experienced, it can be vital to have personal, face to face relationships with people in the industry because you’re not often judged by what you know and what you’ve done… but by who you bought drinks for at a few conferences. Like when your site is removed from a recommended vendor list because you fired the guy who had the “one on one relationship” with the lists owner, even though you’ve built 2 successful internet marketing companies and other “experts” vouch for your experience and knowledge. Am I bitter? Yeah… a bit… but that’s ok… I still send my money every month for my “Pro Account“.
😉
OK… off the inappropriate soap box.

Internet Marketers Shouldn’t Waste Time At Internet Marketing Conferences.

OK, that headline was intended to get you to read this paragraph, the conferences are actually very useful. The fact is, however, that speaking at events like PMMI, a conference that I spoke at a few weeks ago in Chicago, allows us to meet hundreds of executives and business owners who didn’t previously understand internet marketing at all or the potential that it has for their business. In other words… we speak at specific conferences not related to the seo industry and get tons of awesome new clients. It’s a win win. They get entertained and learn a lot and we get their business.

However, one of the problems with speaking at “non-internet marketing” conferences multiple times per month is that there’s little time left to attend industry shows related to internet marketing. That’s where people like Rae Hoffman, Lisa Barone and Rhea Drysdale come in. They work their arses off at almost every single conference session live blogging to make sure that people like me, my staff (and of course their clients) can be “in the know” about what takes place.

Here’s Where Outspoken Media Comes In.

I was reading posts this morning about what was happening at the conference and just as the jealousy set in because I didn’t feel like I actually knew what was “happening”… I remembered Lisa Barone’s conference posts from last year and I switched over to Outspoken Media’s blog to see if she was doing the same thing this year.

Note To Lisa:

Lisa… awesome job. Your SMX Advanced 2009 Wrap Up posts are not only entertaining to read… but they’re also informational. As my team and I read them we feel like we actually know what happened in the sessions because you take the time to talk about Vanessa Fox’s hatred for you and Rae breaking the computer. Fun + Education = All Star Live Blogging.

So while our team is sitting in our Lancaster, PA offices billing our 30 client hours per week each… we thank you for live blogging the events so that we can still be educated and on top of things in a way that we actually want to read.

“Thanks, Ladies!”

- The ProspectMX team

Stay tuned for a summary tailored for our clients of the information given at the conference.