Cincinnati Internet Marketing Blog

Video Interview with Krista Neher of Boot Camp Digital

Last week I got to have lunch with and interview the lovely and awesome Internet marketer Krista Neher, whose new company, Boot Camp Digital (www.bootcampdigital.com) has begun offering digital marketing consulting and training courses in Cincinnati.  Here is the video of Krista briefly describing her background and experience with Internet marketing, as well as Boot Camp Digital's services.

On the Boot Camp Digital website is information regarding and you can register for the upcoming courses "Blogging from Start to Finish" and "Social Media for Marketers".

Special Offer for Blog Readers: 50% off Search Marketing Standard

After my last blog post with online SEO resources my friend Kevin Gold over at iNet Interactive emailed me to make a great and generous offer to YOU, my blog readers: 50% Off a subscription to Search Marketing Standard magazine!

Yep, just visit the Search Marketing Standard website and on step two of the subscription process apply the coupon code (CINCY50) and you'll get 50% off the $29.95 subscription price. 

I subscribe to the magazine and can tell you each issue is full of excellent, informative articles by Kevin and other search marketing authors who know their stuff, so if you want to learn more about the latest trends and techniques in Search Engine Optimization, Pay Per Click advertising, link building and other forms of search engine marketing, this is a great deal.

My thanks to Kevin Gold for making us this offer.    

Your CMO Cincinnati I-marketing Group Member Spotlight

Business Name:  Your CMO, LLC

 

Business Website Address: www.yourcmo.com

 

Contact Name & Info (feel free to include blogs, profile links (LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.):

Steve Phelan

steve@yourcmo.com

(513) 240-9845

http://yourcmo.blogspot.com/

 

 

Internet marketing or Web/Interactive services you provide:

Search Engine Advertising

Content development

 

 

Other marketing and related services offered:

Strategic Planning, Direct marketing, Product development, Qualitative research, Sales promotion, Campaign management, Consumer Relationship Management programs, Sales support

 

 

Time in business / Experience of Principals and/or Staff:

30+ years of B2C and B2B marketing

 

 

Unique Selling Proposition (positioning, why someone should work with you):

Focus on understanding and fulfilling target customer needs.

Experience from developing and introducing 21 different products & product lines.

 

 

Describe your typical client profile (size of company, industries):

Small to medium.

Specialties in Consumer Packaged Goods and Financial Services.

 

 

Case study of a successful client, project or design portfolio sample:

Managed acquisition (direct TV and online direct) and retention (email CRM) for a general purpose prepaid Visa Debit Card company. Increased cardholder base 50% in 14 months.

 

 

What is one important trend or problem in your clients need to address, & how do you provide clients solutions to it?

Advertising should be the last step in the marketing process. Before they are ready to generate awareness, most firms need to put a great deal more effort into selecting proper target customers, fine-tuning products, and improving their customer-facing functions (such as customer service and billing).

Crowbar Marketing Cincinnati I-marketing Group Member Spotlight

Business Name:  Crowbar Marketing

Business Website Address:  www.crowbarmarketing.com

Contact Name & Info:

Pete Healy

859.630.7356

pete.healy@crowbarmarketing.com

www.linkedin.com/in/petehealyky

Internet marketing or Web/Interactive services you provide:  Full alignment and integration of online/interactive into strategic creation of the consumer brand experience.

Other marketing and related services offered:  Brand positioning and strategy; brand asset development (brand/business alignment); experiential/holistic marketing strategies and programs.

Time in business / Experience of Principals and/or Staff:  Crowbar Marketing since 2005; 20 years of strategic marketing and international sales for brands such as Mentos^®, AirHeads^®, Jelly Belly^®, Lindsay Olives^®, and Fetzer Vineyards.

Unique Selling Proposition (positioning, why someone should work with you):  Crowbar Marketing enables forward-thinking mid-tier CPG manufacturers to boost their growth, profitability, and brand strength through the strategic creation of powerfully unified, multi-faceted brand experiences across all media and environments, turning consumers into fans.  If you’re a consumer brand marketer, Do Your Customers Rave?

Describe your typical client profile (size of company, industries):

- Mid-tier food and beverage manufacturers

- Non-food CPG manufacturers and B2C service providers

Case study of a successful client, project or design portfolio sample:

- Mentos Geyser craze (2006; see The New Rules of Marketing & PR, David Meerman Scott, pp 91-96); “Mentos Intern” online campaign (2007; see http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/16062.asp )

- Jelly Belly comprehensive package redesign, marcomm revitalization (2003-04; see www.jellybelly.com )

What is one important trend or problem your clients need to address, & how do you provide clients solutions to it?  As a CPG manufacturer or B2C service provider, how do you protect your brand from sliding into “commodity limbo”?  There’s just one answer: Understand what matters to your consumers in their daily lives, and make your brand an ongoing part of it.  “No duh” concept—but rarely done well.  The solutions that Crowbar Marketing provides include: (1) Research on your consumers’ demand-scape and their perception of your brand; (2) Brand positioning review/rework; (3) SWOT analysis of your internal and external resources and processes; (4) Alignment of brand objectives and investment with your corporate financial and strategic goals; (5) Development of unified marketing programs that create a powerful, multi-faceted brand experience for consumers, while strengthening a robust internal brand-driven culture in your business.

How can folks get started? (Preferred form(s) of communication for prospects, offers of a free initial consultation, report, call to action, etc.) Phone or email (per contact info above)

Cybervise Limited Cincinnati I-marketing Group Member Spotlight

Business Name: Cybervise Limited

Business Website Address: www.cyberviselimited.com

Contact Name & Info:

Carmen Krupar

Carmen@cyberviselimited.com

513-484-9669

Internet marketing or Web/Interactive services you provide:   

·          Website Updates & Fixes

·          Database Maintenance

·          Report Delivery

·          Be My Webmaster

·          Website Advice

·          Website Optimization Services

·          Content Review & Redesign

·          New Navigation - Information Architecture

·          Rent a Cybervise Expert

·          DIY Support Line

·          Website Maintenance Services

Other marketing and related services offered:

Education Services – guest speaker

Time in business / Experience of Principals and/or Staff:

Carmen = Since 1998

Cybervise = Since 2006

Unique Selling Proposition :

We work with companies that have an existing website to help improve what they already have and create a tool that will grow their business. Our core business is not the technical work of building/fixing website, but customer service.  We answer the phone.  We turn work around quickly. We work with customers to create a pricing proposal that will allow them to get started with the budget they have. We are interested in a long-term relationship, we don’t want to sell you on a project and then finish and walk away.

Describe your typical client profile (size of company, industries):

Small to medium sized companies that have a website that has been live at least for three months, most of our customers are located in Ohio, so we can meet them in person. Usually our customers do not have in-house staff that can work on the website on a regular basis.  We also work with a few IT/Network Services companies, a couple of Business Coaches and a couple of graphic designers/marketing firms to help with customer service & site building for their clients.

Case study of a successful client, project or design portfolio sample:

www.puretranquilitysalon.com – I received this customer recently through a referral.  The website had not been changed since the business was launch in January 2007.  Once the site had launched, their designer no longer wanted to help them and passed them off to someone else.  They had not been able to reach the new person for over six months. Lack of website updates was costing the salon money. The pricing for all of their services is listed on the website and some of prices were off $20/hour. The salon was having to honor the pricing since it was posted on their website.  Once I received their email with the list of changes needed on the site, I was able to track down the login information to their hosting and account and make the changes within two hours of the first contact.

What is one important trend or problem in your clients need to address, & how do you provide clients solutions to it? Customers come to us because they are unhappy with their current vendor.  The upset usually happens because of lack of response and communication. We focus on the details. Even the smallest web change is priority to us, while at the same time people are waiting for months to get simple changes from their designers.

Ryan Clark StrongMail Systems Cincinnati I-marketing Group Member Spotlight

Ryan Clark has been in the Cincinnati Internet marketing scene for several years and in that time I and lots of other people have been working with or leaning on Ryan for help in the area of email marketing.  Ryan was the local Exact Target rep for a while and this year moved to StrongMail Systems and provided the Member Spotlight info below.  If your business needs help with your email program, you should give Ryan a call!

Business Name: StrongMail Systems, Inc.

Business Website Address: www.strongmail.com

Contact Name & Info:Ryan Clark

Corp Phone 650-421-7122 / Local Phone 513-774-8784

rclark@strongmail.com

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/4ryanclark

Internet marketing or Web/Interactive services you provide:   

StrongMail Systems provides businesses with commercial-grade, on-premise solutions for marketing and transactional email. StrongMail integrates its proven email delivery, tracking and campaign management software on high-performance servers that are optimized for maximum deliverability.

Time in business / Experience of Principals and/or Staff:

I have been in software for 14 years covering Alphabet Soup (ERP, CRM, SCM, and Email and Marketing Automation).  StrongMail has been around for 5 years.

Unique Selling Proposition (positioning, why someone should work with you):

If you have been managing your email process in-house and have outgrown it, or you are tired of the ongoing costs of an Email Service Provider, let’s talk.

Describe your typical client profile (size of company, industries):

I work with all types of clients across industries.  The one thing they have in common is that they have experience sending Marketing or Transactional emails.

Case study of a successful client, project or design portfolio sample:

Here are many: http://www.strongmail.com/resources/our-customers/case-studies.php

What is one important trend or problem in your clients need to address, & how do you provide clients solutions to it?

The email market has matured.  Many people in the marketing/ecommerce space have managed email campaigns at some point in their career.  As marketing channels converge, you need to have control of the process to leverage what is still the most profitable channel, email.  By leveraging the expertise and technology you already own, you can put in place the architecture to meet your strategic goals and see a rapid return on your investment.

How can folks get started? (Preferred form(s) of communication for prospects, offers of a free initial consultation, report, call to action, etc.)

Gimme a ring and let’s talk.  If I can’t help you I promise to get you pointed in the right direction.

Member Spotlight: iNET Interactive

We had a good meeting last Thursday at the office of Profitability.net as nine companies showcased themselves at our Cincinnati I-marketing Group Member Spotlight. 

This is the first of what will be a series of regular posts here on the group blog, a Member Spotlight.  These Member Spotlights will feature information from each company profiled meant to provide a snapshot of the local Internet marketing firms that make up our local Cincinnati Internet community.  This week iNET Interactive starts us off. 

Business Name:  iNET Interactive

Business Website Address:  www.iNETinteractive.com

Contact Name & Info (feel free to include blogs, profile links (LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.):

www.iNETinteractive.com/about/team

Internet marketing or Web/Interactive services you provide:   

iNET Interactive is a social media company operating prominent online communities for technology professionals and technology enthusiasts. Our vertically-focused communities incorporate user-contributed ratings, reviews, and discussion augmented with professionally-produced content. The end result is an engaged community of experts generating content with depth and timeliness found nowhere else.

Other marketing and related services offered:

Advertising opportunities via banner advertising, text advertising, sponsorships, video, podcasts, and email marketing.

Time in business / Experience of Principals and/or Staff:

iNET Interactive is a 5-year old Internet media company.  It has been under its current management for two years.

Troy Augustine, President and CEO, has been in Internet-related businesses since 1998.  Prior to iNET Interactive, Augustine was an executive at Tradec, a Kleiner Perkins-funded startup in Silicon Valley.

Chris Ainsworth leads iNET Interactive’s Product team.  He has 10 years experience in Internet media and web-based product design.  Chris came to iNET from Yahoo! Sports in Los Angeles.  Prior to Yahoo!, Chris was the director of product development at Cincinnati.com. 

Kelly Kleiner leads iNET Interactive’s sales team.  Kelly has over 15 years of advertising experience.  Most recently, Kelly was the director of advertising sales at F+W Publications.  Prior to F+W, Kelly was director of new business development for On Target Media/Healthy Advice Networks.

Unique Selling Proposition (positioning, why someone should work with you):

iNET Interactive is a social media company, operating the premier network of online communities for technology professionals and technology enthusiasts, delivering over 20 million page views and over 3.3 million unique users each month. These decision makers turn to iNET for the critical information they need to perform their jobs, run their businesses, and make buying decisions. 

Describe your typical client profile (size of company, industries):

iNET Interactive has more than 1,500 active advertising clients in primarily three tech vertical markets- Internet Services, Web Development and Technology Hardware.   These include recognized names like Hewlett Packard, Go Daddy and Google, to more niche-specific companies such as Rackspace, Interspire, and HostGator. 

What is one important trend or problem in your clients need to address, & how do you provide clients solutions to it?

Many of our clients are small businesses, who offer very specialized products and services.  They need a way to affordably reach their highly-targeted audience of potential customers.  We help them design effective marketing campaigns and we provide the forums to deliver their messages—we connect buyers and sellers.