Over the past few weeks I’ve helped put together a proposal for a large regional prospect in one of our markets. This got me thinking of easy ways to prep an account for both print and online.

In addition to the Account Prep Worksheet, here is a quick method to prep and analyze a prospect in 5 minutes.

Minute 1:
Google the business and read what comes up. Recent articles or news links to their websites and organizations they are a part of. This is all valuable information that goes beyond small talk.

Minute 2:
Search for your prospect at Zoominfo.com, or Hoovers.com these are great sites to get a snap shot of the company. These sites may also provide competitors, or related businesses that you can look into and leverage your comparison in your recommendations.

Minute 3:
Look at and read their website. This simple step will allow you to position your recommendation very effectively. First, if they don’t have a website – sell them one. Our packages are extremely affordable. Second, if they have a site and it’s old, outdated or run by another YP site – sell them one of ours.

Third, if their website is awesome, has great content, up to date, looks professional, this is a great sign. Not only does this prospect understand the value of online marketing but they have also provided you with a wealth of information about themselves. If this is the case, your recommendations should include packages that drive traffic back to their website – i.e. Banner, Skyscraper and Sponsor placement.

Minute 4:
Analyze all of the information you’ve found. How many businesses does this prospect run/own? How many locations (potential sites to include in recommendation, (i.e. LakeCharles247, Alexandria247, Shreveport247 and Beaumont247)? What categories should we recommend? Remember if your recommendation for print would be a large package, your recommendation for the internet should provide an equal exposure and ROI.
Minute 5:

Review all of the information and your recommendation from the prospects perspective, and ask yourself if this makes sense for their business. If the answer is YES, you’re prepared. If the answer is NO, or I DON’T KNOW, then start the 5 minute drill over again.

In summary, it is important to remember, Luck is when Preparation meets Opportunity. The more prepared you are, the better chance for success you’ll have. Make your own luck.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of making websites easily to find and rank by Google, Yahoo, Bing and other search engines. This type of search is generally referred to as “organic” or “un-paid” search.

Statistics show that the first page (10 listings) of a search receive over 68% of the clicks, and only 8% review more than the first three pages or results. The closer to the number 1 position you can be the more traffic your site will receive.

All of our online communities like Cleveland247.com, LakeCharles247.com and Tulsa247.com have been developed with SEO in mind. Not only are all of our pages search engine friendly, but the profiles within our directories are individually optimized for search.

How do search engines find and rank sites? For demonstration purposes, we’ll use Google, considering their market share is 64.6%. They use computer programs to automatically scan or “crawl” the internet for new web pages. Google then uses an algorithm to determine what order or “rank” each website gets for every search. This algorithm is top secret and consists of over 500 million variables.

In essence Golocal247.com provides direction and maps for Google to use to find all of the information and pages on our website, in addition to staying educated on the various factors of the Google algorithm to provide the best ranking possible.

Lately we’ve been hearing a lot of concerns over “guaranteed” first place ranking. It has come to our attention that there are businesses selling such a guarantee. To be frank, this is a lie. Because Google’s algorithm is top secret and has over 500 million variables, no one can guarantee anything, not even a first page ranking. I’ll be writing more about this in the coming week, so stay check back often.